The cool night air is nipping at the my heels as I speed through the confusing trails of the forest just beyond my castle walls. Clinging to the small scrap of paper I found pinned to the bureau in my bedchambers just a few hours ago, I am desperately trying to remember the exact location of the tree stump I am supposed to meet this note's mysterious sender at. For some reason I do not remember it being this far away from the castle proper...
I say mysterious as if I have no possible idea who could have left that note. As if I have no recollection of the dark and simple scent of licorice on the scrap of paper. As if I have no recognition of the hastily scrawled 'M' as the bottom of it.
Finally breaking through the foliage and into a small clearing, I see a solitary and familiar tree stump. And sitting upon that tree stump, her back turned to me, her hair spilling around her and to the ground like a spill of black ink, is none other than Marceline the Vampire Queen. Before I can even greet her, she turns to me and smiles, her fangs catching the glint of moonlight.
"Hello, Bonnibel."
"Marceline." Unamused as per usual, I continue to walk towards her. "Is there a reason that you decided to leave this note for me? Could you not have called me, or even just stayed and waited for me? If it is of such importance, you could have just waited."
"Sat around in that pink monstrosity you call your room for who knows how long? No way. Sneaking in to pin that note for you was hard enough."
Still less than amused, I roll my eyes at her and look around the clearing. "So what is it Marceline? What is so important that I had to come out here in the dead of night? In my pajamas?"
The vampire curls her lips upwards, and stands to capture my gaze and look me in the eyes. She leans close to me and smirks.
"We should hang out sometime, Bonnibel."
Not sure what to say, we hold our positions awkwardly for a few moments. Marceline and I have been acquaintances for quite some time now, our positions as royalty resulting in me meeting her at a relatively young age. Almost 16 now, I have seen the monarch at various meetings and councils. We have always been civil at the least, but friendly at the most. Which is why, standing here in the middle of the forest in the dead of night in my pajamas and no shoes on, I am finding it difficult to find an answer to her very casual phrased request to spend more time together.
"Hang out?"
Marceline laughs, and slowly raises off the ground as she speaks. "Yes, princess. Hang out. You know, do stuff other than attend meetings and solve formulas and attend to all the ridiculous problems of your precious candy folk. See a movie or go to a concert or something. Hang out."
Still skeptical, but my scientific nature making me a little more than intrigued, I look up and follow her with my eyes as she slowly floats around me.
"...Okay, Marceline." I begin tentatively, "We should do that. Hang out, that is."
"Really?", she beams. "You mean it?"
"Absolutely. I have not found myself doing something other than the aforementioned activities for quite some time now. A change of scenery might be good for me."
Rather quickly, the vampire queen falls to the ground and lands on her feet with a quiet thud. She grabs me by the hand, looking at me with a large, toothy, fangy grin.
"Good! What a better time to start than right now?"
Before I have the chance to argue, Marceline is raising us both off of the ground and into the night sky.
"Marceline!", I yell. "What in all of Ooo are you doing?! Put me down!"
"Right now? Put you down right now?" She slowly begins to loosen her grip on my hand, my fingers beginning to slip almost immediately.
"No! No no! Get closer to the ground first, please! Then please put me down! Please, Marceline!"
Ignoring my pleas, she simply laughs. Thankfully, she does return her firm grip on my hand though. Making the rather ill-planned decision to look down, I see the trees of the forest passing by quickly beneath my feet and fade to the flat and swaying grass of the grasslands. Slowly, the gaudy and thick-hearted noises that I can only assume to be coming from a multitude of guitars and other instruments begins to fill my ears. I look back up at Marceline, who's grin has turned into another large smile. She is slowly bobbing her head in time with the music that is playing. The monarch looks down and catches my gaze, though I tried very hard to look away in time. She simply continues smiling.
In moments we have reached the outskirts of a very large collection of people, I even spy some candy people in the crown, that are all surrounding a raised and very well lit stage. We touch down, Marceline making sure I didn't tumble once being on solid ground again. I look around at the group, all clad in black and ripped clothing, some of them with their hair in colorful vertical styles I have never seen before.
"Marceline!", I whine more than say. "I am hardly dressed for such an occasion!" I gesture down to my light pink sleep shorts and pale yellow hoodie, making sure to wiggle my dirty and bare toes to emphasize the fact that I am indeed barefoot.
"Hmm," the vampire looks thoughtful as she stares me up and down. Longer than I am accustomed to, and I am very happy when she finally averts her gaze to her own apparel. She is wearing a pair of grey jeans that, honestly, could have been painted onto her body they are so tight, along with a faded black t-shirt and a leather jacket, all accentuated with a pair of red high-rise boots. "You're right."
She takes off her leather jacket and shoves it towards me. Then, pulls a hair tie from the painted-onto-her-skin jeans and places it in my still extended hand.
"Put the jacket on. Put your hair up. No shoes makes you punk rock, princess. Let's do this!"
Not sure what else to do, now that I am already out here in the middle of the grasslands, I put the leather jacket on over my yellow hoodie and pull my hair back into the messy ponytail.
"Better?" I say quietly, almost positive that there is no way I look at all acceptable for this type of occasion, even with the slight adjustments to my look. Marceline just smiles.
"Much. C'mon, Bonnibel!" She grabs gently me by the wrist and leads me through the crowd to the front of the stage.
