"I'm the one who ended everything with her, and it was ages ago…so why do I feel so- Ugh!" Bubblegum pulled at her pink gummy locks in frustration.
Her laboratory lay in ruins; the titled floor littered with papers, pens, ink and other unknown substances and her lab bench overflowing with crumpled papers and overturned test tubs. Folding her sleeved arms, the princess buried her face in-between her arms and sighed noiselessly. Studying and experimentation always had distracted her from illogical, silly- well, emotions sorts-of-things, but now it seemed to worsen her already aggravated mind. Pressing her forehead against the cool bench, the throbbing in her head eased and her white knuckles relaxed to a rosy pink.
"Glob…" She mumbled under her breath, "This is ridiculous."
Lifting her head from her arms, she gazed down to the grey surface below her fingertips. She could not help the small tender smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth as she contemplated the smooth grey top of the bench. The cool feel and hue reminded her of skin she knew quiet well long ago. Her mind wandered to warm summer nights spent strolling in the lush, royal gardens, taking moonlit picnics and kissing under the inky shadows of the outdoor arches of the candy castle. But more particularly focused on the night, she began to unravel and let her royal duties tumble.
The silence of the spacious pastel room buzzed in a fuzzy stream of static as Princess Bubblegum listened eagerly. She shifted under the thick, hot-pink comforter of the soft bed that currently felt unsettlingly soft, but stiffened when she thought she heard the latches of the window creak. Straining her ears, a slight, almost inaudible, groaning of the windowpane interrupted the silent buzzing. An impish grin crossed her features as she readied her surprise attack. Sitting up abruptly and throwing the airy covers off her body, the princess bellowed out,
"BOO-! Uh…" Blushing, her breath trailed off into a quiet hum –no one was there. Rubbing her plum-hued eyes, she felt heat radiating off of her cheeks. How embarrassing. Even though no one was there to witness it, it was just awful. She was glad Marceline hadn't been there to see her make a fool of herself. Why she thought she could scare a vampire whose age reached past a millennium was beyond her. She was a scientist, a logical thinker, the pink monarch asserted as she cast her legs from the bed's side. But… this girl just made her mind go fuzzy.
Standing, she turned to make her way around the queen-sized bed to the double bathroom doors which stood slightly ajar on the left side of the room. The girl's feet made the familiar trip across the carpeted floor without fault, her hands grew clammy, and her face burned in the cool darkness of the room. She really was a fool; Marceline could not possibly feel the same. Bubblegum, honest with herself, did not completely understand her own feelings. The bliss she felt upon just seeing her was so immensely filled to the brim with a longing that she had no logical terms to describe it. Her ribcage would itch from the inside in a strange throbbing while her skin would grow warm and her knees quivering. Everything about the vampire girl seemed so imperfect that she became perfect through her very nature. The way her clothing loosely gripped her body and her inky locks weightlessly assaulted the pervading air was so peculiarly attractive to the princess that she really could not help but stare.
"Glob help me…" Bubblegum sighed pushing the orange doors open the remainder of the way, revealing salmon walls ahead.
Stepping onto the flat, pink patterned titles, Bonnibel strode toward the large sink that stood dead-center of the smaller room. The space lay bathed in a dim, blue light; she did not bother flicking the lights switch on. She would not be long, her crown placed gracefully on the white counter's edge. Its surface caught her rosy reflection as she grasped its rounded sides. She placed the gold crown atop her head, adjusting its position and looked ahead into the mirror's reflection. A flushed face glared back at her, its hair messily draping over its shoulders and its eyes lacking sleep. No wonder Marceline hadn't come in a week, who would want to look at her? She looked like a wreck. The girl pulled the crown from her head, tossing it into the sink, and as it hit the mint counter its sound clinked sharp and loud. Marceline was her best friend; she shouldn't and wouldn't have these strange unfound feelings for her. The vampire immortal needed her independence and Bubblegum had a kingdom to rule. She was expected to up hold the royal standards and these selfish, foolish- stupid emotions were muddling her judgment. She felt heat gathering in her eyes as they bristled with sugary water. Princesses were not supposed to cry.
A loud clatter caused the princess to jump and shift, turning swiftly toward the noise's source. Her eyes caught hold of a shadowed figure hunched over in the faint light leaking from the double doors. Bubblegum quickly flipped the switch of the vanity lights in alarm, her hair standing on end.
Black hair pooled around the female who sat in the center of two broken perfume bottles. Crouching to stand, her skin's grey hue tinted her cheeks while her wine-colored eyes locked with the candy girl's.
"I-..I'm really sorry, Bonnie, I was- uh I…Are you alright?" The vampire fumbled in question as her red boots left the ground.
Now hovering, her puzzled expression focused on Bubblegum as she moved nearer. After completely registering the meaning of Marceline's words, she became uncomfortably aware of the sticky trails the tears had left down her cheeks. Swiftly, she brushed away the marks with back of her forearm hoping that her vampire friend lacked the natural sharpness she was known for.
"Bonnie, are you crying …?" Marceline asked, bobbing as if the air were thick, but weightless like water.
"I wasn't. I was flushing my eyes. You know, it's the beginning of candy apple season –and my allergies always seem to flare up around this time, and…" Her words ran dry from her mouth and ending like a slow drain of sand.
By simply raising an eyebrow and placing her hands on the bone of her hips, the undead girl spoke without words. Now, if the words had been uttered aloud, the princess imagined they probably would have gone along the lines of: "Cut the bull gunk", or: "Do you think I'm an absolute idiot?" Ripping her eyes away from the ever-closer female, Bubblegum turned, staring into the large vanity mirror. Temped for only a fraction of a second to pour all her feeling into some kind of long-winded expression her own confusion, her toes grew numb in a tight tingling and her throat so dry she was sure her voice would crack with speech. Pink hands trembled as they moved down into the hollow of the sink and took hold of the smooth, rose-gold metal. Her eyes held a constant gaze into the mirror's reflection over her left shoulder. The mirror reflected back dark, pink walls and ceiling-high cabinets, but nothing else despite knowing Marceline lingered close behind her. Bubblegum positioned the blue-jeweled crown atop her head, remaining silent. The air felt thick with a strange tension as she turned, the heels of her feet squeaking quietly. Flipping down the striped switch, the light from the room collapsed, falling into darkness. The princess started forward, her eyes unseeing, facing only the French-doors.
"I-I had a terrible nightmare. I'm sure it was caused by stress, you know running a kingdom and all that biz." The pink girl stated with such flatness of tone that her voice became mechanical, rehearsed and cold. "I just need sleep, I guess. You may leave, Marceline, I think you might find my company unpleasant tonight."
She continued past the grey-skinned vampires, whose boot tips barely grazed the titled floor. Bubblegum's eyes remained fixated away from her, she could not bear to see her expression. She needed to keep a responsible, clear head, and knew with one look all her heart-guts would spill to the floor.
"I'm very sorry for your tro-" The princess was cut off as she was roughly seized by the shoulders and pressed firm against the white cabinets that cornered the exit.
Marceline held her securely with tense, curled fingers.
"Okay, Bonnibel, can you be real with me for just a moment? Like seriously look me in the eye and tell me that you're okay…" Marceline's voice was abnormally calm, but strained tight in a deeper pitch. "You've been weird for the past month, I'm done letting you dodge my questions. So let me in…tell me what's up with you."
The princess furrowed her eyebrows, allowing her eyes only to take in the tiles marbled sheen. Her heartbeat pounded in a deafeningly loud rhythm which pumped fiery blood into her cheeks and ears. She swallowed the dry knot in her throat that grew stiffer and prevented her from proper breathing; she needed to compose herself or she would only dig her grave deeper then it already was.
"Th-This is highly distasteful, Marceline! I…I demand as ruler of the Candy Kingdom, you release me of your hold and be on your way." Voice cracking only with starting speech, the robotic-trained tone returned easily, but the normally strong eyes remained focused away.
A shrill clank of metal filled the room as the crown bounced twice before rattling and settling to the chilled ground. The disturbance caused the constrained girl to finally raise her eyes in shocked disbelief. Marceline had actually smacked the crown from atop her head, the royal crown, as if it were nothing. She was met with narrowed eyes, brimming with a flare of emotions which she lacked the vocabulary to explain.
"When I speak to you, you aren't some high and mighty princess, you are just Bonnie…So don't order me around like some kinda…I don't know, subject who's at your disposal because to you I'm a…a- well I'm not exactly sure what I am to you, but I'm not your servant. Got that?" The undead girl hissed gently, her grasp loosening on the yellow nightgown-covered shoulders.
The princess could only nod in response, her stomach forming into a warm stream which ran from her fingertips and down to her toes. The fragrance of murky rose incense radiated from the woman who now stood grounded at her front. Bubblegum could not help taking it in, she was far too close.
"Now tell me, Bonnie, what's on your mind?" Marceline's smooth voice flowed softly into the princess's ears, whose face, if possible, tinted an even darker tone.
If only the vampire knew what those, and pretty much any, words she spoke did to her, how they pressed her chest in longing and made her bones turn to jelly. The metal weight was always worn (especially around her vampire friend) as constant reminder of her obligations, and now that it was missing she felt clouded in a warm storm within herself. She was going to mess up, absolutely ruin all that she's kept emotionally maintained.
"Bonnie?" Marceline questioned again, her mouth more inviting with each word, "Usually I can't get you to shut up and now you're-"
Ending in a sort of muffled surprise, her undead friend through shocked confusion, jolted her head away from the sudden invasion of space. Had Princess Bonnibel, Bubblegum, the oh-so-tough, detached, brainiac and sole ruler of the Candy Kingdom, just attempted to do the unthinkable? Had she really tried to kiss Marceline the Vampire Queen, or was this all some kind of accidental fluke? There was no opposing it now. It was unmistakable that she truly had.
Bubblegum's lips seemed to have brushed only slightly against their intended target. She felt sick. Eyes again dropped to the ground as they focused on the yellow mud that encrusted the bottoms of her friend's boots. Shallow, panicked breaths made her unable to form logical thoughts. She stood ridged, her insides boiling. Frickin' gumdrops, everything was over—this was it.
"Bonnibel…" her voice melted into the soft blackness surrounding their forms. "Please look at me…"
Feeling a cold hand cup her chin, she allowed its pull. There was no use in denying anything anymore. Eyes stinging, face scorching and palms damp, she tried to mentally prepare herself. She was sure her best friend would want nothing to do with her after this night. Tears fell freely as the candy princess stifled a sob. Closing her eyes, she readied herself for the harsh words she was sure to be met with.
Instead, hands drew her frame close, one moving to her mid-back and the other taking hold of her blushing cheek. The unexpectedly warm lips that followed further startled her, making her dark plum eyes snapped open. Marceline's lids were closed and her eyebrows slightly elevated, while Bubblegum's arms hung limply at her sides. Droplets of water dangled from her lashes, rolling further from her upturned jawline. The vampire's hand migrated to the back of the princess's head, holding securely, but gently, all while guiding the overwhelmed girl. Somehow, Bonnibel managed to awkwardly wrap her arms around the other's waist and attempted to push her wanting mouth harder against the full lips.
A sharp prick caused the Bubblegum to pull away with pained surprise. Marceline's hand swiftly fell from the base of Bubblegum's neck to meet her other palm resting on the small of her back. Drawing blood, a canine had snagged on the princess's lower lip and she could now taste the coppery sweetness escaping from the corner of her mouth. It was a decent-sized gash. The princess's eyes, ablaze with longing, searched the Marceline's expression
"B-Bonnie, I…I'm so sorry! I..I-" Marceline blushed, before interrupted once again by the princess, who swiftly threw her arms around the vampire's neck, roughly claiming her lips to press back against her own.
Needless to say, the princess had quite a few nicks across her lips after the clumsy night of mostly innocent kissing, but found herself quite pleased and blissfully entangled with someone who could possibly be referred to as hers. It was one of the greatest nights of her life.
Bubblegum sighed and stood from her bench. Taking off her white lab coat, she pondered with a feeling of expanding emptiness whether or not her vampire friend still thought of her. Walking toward the pale orange door, she hung her coat on a hook adjacent to it and wiped her eyes. The likelihood that Marceline still held any feelings for her was small after what she had done, but either way it did her no good to dwell on fantasy, she had a responsibility to her Kingdom. Switching the light off, the room now appeared cell-like. The princess's hands clenched into tight fists, it just was not fair—but then again nothing was. Leaving the room, she then closed the door behind her; the chilled lab was cast into an obscure blackness. The lock clicked quietly in isolation at her leave.