Disclaimer: Adventure Time is own by Cartoon Network. This story for fun.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
It had been a few weeks since Finn and Jake first discovered the strange orange and red egg outside of their tree-house. A dragon egg, at that! For safety reasons, it was now in the basement of the Candy Kingdom castle, in an unused laboratory.
The egg itself was sitting comfortably atop a large, padded, Bunsen-burner tripod. Finn the Human sat beside it, warming his feet by the fire beneath as he glared at a leaking section of the ceiling.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
His eye twitched slightly. He'd heard that same, repetitive dripping noise for hours on end. The Princess had specifically told them to keep a close eye on it for any signs of movement. It was supposed to hatch soon or something.
Drip. Drip.
Even for someone who was used to the sound of Jake snoring every night (as he was currently), this was grating on his nerves like nothing else. If Princess Bubblegum didn't get back soon, he swore he was going to stab the stupid hole in the ce-
Drip.
"GAH!" Finn squealed, quickly lunging to his feet and running to the spot under the leak. Jake jerked awake, spluttering as he rolled to face the source of the screaming. "Buhuhwha? Who's gettin' eaten?!" He gasped, obviously still out of it.
"JAKE. I NEED TO STAB THE CEILING." Finn shouted back, picking up a beaker up off of a dusty counter and chucking it at the crack in the wall above. It shattered upon impact, and another drip sounded almost mockingly moments later. The boy growled loudly, his hands tugging at the sides of his hat in aggravation.
Jake just stared at him for a moment, and then groggily rose to his feet. "… Uh. Okay. But why? You okay, bro?"
"NO! I'M NOT OKAY! I NEED! TO PUNCH! THE LEAK!" Finn screeched, jumping as high as he could toward the ceiling above. Since the ceiling was about seven feet up, his jump fell short by a large margin.
"Oooh, the drip? Yeah, that's been buggin' me too. Got any tape in your bag?"
Finn paused, looking down at the floor. His rage seemed to dissipate into shame at not having thought of that. "… Yeah. I do."
Jake laughed softly, stretching his arms over and grabbing a roll of tape out of Finn's backpack. Within moments, a long strip of adhesive strip was stuck over the crack in the ceiling. "There you go, bro. Easy peasy."
Finn rubbed the back of his head, letting out a nervous giggle. "Ah… Sorry, I kinda just… flipped out there."
Jake shrugged, sitting back down in his spot. "It's no biggie. I can see why you'd be stressed out. We've spent a lotta time down here, and there ain't much to do beside nap and think about life."
The human sat down beside him, sighing softly. "And thinking about life just stresses me out more. Like, I still can't believe FP is the king of the Fire Kingdom. Er… Queen? Yeah, queen."
"I know. A lot can happen in a couple weeks." Jake said, shaking his head. "Y'know, it probably doesn't help that PB's been letting us do all the egg-sitting. It doesn't even do anything; this is boring as heck, bro!"
"I seriously think I'm starting to get a little stir-crazy or somethin'."
"I feel ya on that. The Princess should be comin' back soon, though, so we'll be able to go and stretch our legs a little, at least."
"That sounds really good right now, man, not gonna lie." He said, looking over at the door longingly.
It was only a few more minutes before Princess Bubblegum pushed the door open, but it felt like hours to Finn. She was clutching an armful of books, which she dropped on the floor in her usual sitting-spot.
"Hey guys. Did the egg do anything while I was gone?" She asked, brushing the book-residue off her hands.
"Nope, lil' eggy hasn't moved an inch. But," Jake said, gestured to the tape on the ceiling, "Finn and I fixed a leak! Pretty sweet, right?"
She turned around to look where he was pointing, and then made a noise of approval. "Oh! Well, that's… nice. Glad you weren't bored, at least."
Finn gave her a sheepish grin, "Well, uh, about that… Jake and I were hoping we could take a break for a while. I mean, we'll be back soon, 'cause we know the egg is gonna hatch soon, but-"
"- But it's boring as bunk down here! We need some air, yo!"
Princess Bubblegum shrugged, sitting down on the floor beside her books. "That's cool. I was just gonna chill and read. Go, be merry and all that junk. I'll call you if I need anything."
Jake and Finn both stood up quickly, smiling from ear to ear. "Thanks, PB! We'll be back for the next shift!" Finn called, rushing toward the door.
"No prob, Bob." She said, flashing them a quick thumbs-up and cracked open a book, not even looking up as they ran out the door.
"So, where we gonna go first? Tree-house? A dungeon? The super-market?" Jake asked between pants as they sprinted down the hall. Finn laughed, and was about to reply when they both yelped out in surprise. They'd just run smack into something. Or, uh, someone, more accurately.
Marceline floated backwards from the force of their collision, and didn't seem to recognize them at first. "Ouch! Hey, watch it, you-" She began to hiss, before the realization set in. Finn saw her look between them, going from hostile, to comfortable familiarity, then back to hostility all in an instant. "Oh. Hey Jake. Finn." She said coolly.
"Hey, Marceline! What's up?" Jake asked casually, apparently not having noticed this shift as he brushed himself off.
"Nothing much. Just came to see what Bonnie's up to. We had a hang-out sesh planned for tonight." She shrugged, hefting a bag up higher on her back. Casually, she added, "Simon's been kickin' it at my place for a while. Since, y'know, he hasn't had a place to live, and you guys treasure your space so much."
Finn winced, not able to meet her gaze. He could see Jake making a similar expression as he chuckled, "Uh, yikes. That's gotta suck."
She folded her arms, looking away aloofly as she said, "Yeah, s'whatever. He hasn't stopped talkin' about how rough it was trying to stay with you. Y'all can be mad hostile, you know."
"… Uh… He didn't really… mention that to us?" Finn said, offering her an apologetic smile.
"Oh, he doesn't mind. But from what he told me, you weren't exactly the picture of hospitality to him. He really loves you guys, even if you can be real passive-aggressive butt-trumpets to him."
"Hey, man, that's a little harsh!" Jake said, "You know we're still gettin' over his Princess-Nappin' biz. We've gotta be on our toes with him."
"Yeah, because your GRUDGE is so much more important than Simon's dignity or whatever!" She scoffed, floating closer to the two. "He's not a threat! He never was; I saw you guys take him down dozens of times. And you'd know that if you ever spent any time with him at all! But I'm gonna guess that someone doesn't wanna go through all the effort of actually trying to fix his problems. It's so much easier just to manipulate people into making them go away, right?"
Finn and Jake just stared at her for a moment, taking this fresh burst of anger in. Then, Jake stretched up to reach her height as he growled, "Marceline, we ain't in the mood to argue with you about dumb junk. PB is down in the basement, just go talk to her and leave us alone! U-uh, okay?"
Marcy fixed him with an icy stare as she slowly extended a hand- no, a large paw- and shoved them aside. Wordlessly, she floated past them and down the stairs they'd just come up from.
"… Man, what's up with her? Sayin' you're a manipulator and junk… and then pushin' us around in both senses of the word!" Jake grumbled, glaring after her. "Rude."
Finn sighed as he straightened up, "No, I mean… Maybe she has a point. I think I kinda… do manipulate people? Like… I dunno. There's been a few times I just apologize to… make stuff go away." He said, messing with his fingers nervously.
"Aw, hey, don't say that! You're the most genuine, down-to-Earth bro I know!" Jake said, slapping his arm. "Look, being in that room for so long must be messin' with you. Let's just go outside and have fun! C'mon, where do you wanna go?"
Finn thought for a moment, then hesitantly said, "… Well, uh… I guess we could go hang out with Simon."
Jake gave him a look, "Dude, what? Why would you even want to? He kinda gives me the creeps, to be honest."
"Bro. It's the only way I can reclaim my honor. We gotta go hang with IK for the greater good."
Jake gave him a concerned look. "… Yeesh. Bro, you can do that if you wanna, but… I think I'm just gonna go hang out with Lady. But, uh, you let me know how all of that stuff goes, 'kay?"
Finn nodded, expression hard with resolve. "Yeah. See ya, Jake." He said, waving as he set off down the hallway toward a side-exit. Jake sighed softly, but let him go. When he couldn't see Finn anymore, he realized that he wasn't sure which way was the proper exit. But he couldn't ask Finn, since that would be awkward. So, he just… kinda wandered around for a while, slightly lost.
"Do-do-do~, making the house look good!" Ice King hummed, taking a picture off of the pink wall of Marceline's living room and flipping it upside down before hanging it up again. "Dee-dee-dee, pretty for my la-dy~!" He sang. Then, added with a cough, "… Friend. My lady friend.
Marceline's dog, Schwabl stared up at the offending man blankly from his spot on the floor. The dog let out a snort of annoyance, obviously not used to this weirdo yet. Ice King turned around at the sound of the puppy's displeasure, and smiled at the tiny pup. "Aw, you itchy? Here, lemme give you a lil' scratch." He said, his back audibly popping as he bent down.
The dog slowly backed away, obviously not so cool with this idea. He kept his eyes fixed to the Ice King as he tried to make his escape. With a sharp yelp, the dog bumped right into one of the penguins in the house. The Gunter in question 'wenk'ed in response, utterly nonplussed by the whole ordeal.
"C'mooon, lemme pet you, doggo!" Simon whined, shuffling closer with arms out-stretched. Schwabl panicked, glancing about before scampering off into the kitchen. Ice King sighed sadly, "Aw, jeez. Looks like it's just you and me, Gunther."
He was knocked out of his momentary sadness by a quick rap on the door. The Ice King gasped, expression lightening instantly. "Ooh, the pizza's here! Don't get up, I'll get it!"
The Ice King pulled the door open, and grinned widely at his visitor as all thoughts of the pizza he never ordered slipped away.
"Hey, IK." Finn said, smiling at him uncomfortably.
"Finn! My main man!" He cried, clapping his hands. "What brings ya by, buddy?"
"Uh… I was… in the area, and I thought I'd stop by. See how it's hangin'." Finn said, chuckling nervously.
"Oh, yeah! Things are definitely hanging, my dude! Hey, why don't you come on in? S'cold out there!" Simon said, stepping aside with a little boy. Finn thanked him and stepped in cautiously, tentatively glancing around. Of course, he'd been to Marceline's loads of times before, and he'd spent some time with Ice King, too, but… for some reason, he felt a little weird being there without Marceline around. Like he's invading her privacy… again. And that definitely showed in his body language.
Dismissing this train of thought for now, Finn waved to Gunter as he sat down on the couch. The penguin was clearly aware of his gesture, but instead of responding, Gunter just stared at him blankly.
The room smelled faintly of sweaty socks and freezer burn, which was almost certainly due to a certain king of ice. Finn stifled a cough as he asked a question to break the i- relieve the tension. "So! How ya likin' it here, Ice King?"
"Eh, it ain't too bad!" Simon said, moving back to the framed picture on the wall and rotating it clockwise. It still wasn't right-side up, but that didn't seem to be his aim. "It isn't as exciting here as it is at your guys' house, but I like the lady's touch this place has. I mean, the couch is probably older than I am, but… Hey, it's better than nothin'!"
… Lady's touch? Finn considered that as he looked around.
Marcy's house wasn't exactly… feminine. Sure, the living room walls were pink, as was the outside, but it wasn't like she had a bunch of flowers and ribbons and gasoline everywhere or anything. In fact, most of the pictures on her walls were a bit disturbing to him.
Finn shrugged, "I guess so. The Tree House is kind of a dude-den, but girl's houses- Like Lady Rainicorn and PB- their houses are always so… clean! My house starts to smell like funk after a month or two without being cleaned up. Honestly, I'd love to have a girl around the house, even if she wasn't a girlfriend or whatever."
Ice King chuckled, "Yeah! I do have a preference for being able to smooch my home-maker, though. Why do you think I wanted a Princess so bad? The Ice Kingdom needs someone to pretty it up! I'm junk at pretty stuff."
Finn laughed softly, "Me too, bro. But I'm glad you're not trying to kidnap ladies anymore. That's mad disrespectful."
"Yeeaah… Well, at least right now, I gotta be nice. I mean, Marceline is letting me crash with her, and I like it here! Have you seen her room? It's all… hip!"
Finn glanced toward the latter to her room, and his face burned slightly. "Uh… Yeah, once or twice. It's cool."
"Right? And, man, is she great at her bass-stuff! I get to go to sleep to sweet tunes, most nights. Don't get me wrong, Marcy's no princess. But she is definitely nicer to me than real princesses!" He huffed.
Finn nodded, watching as Gunter (or, maybe that was a different one?) struggled to pull himself up on the couch. The boy reached down and pulled the penguin up, and the creature honked appreciatively. As he patted Gunter's head, he said, "I know what you mean, man. Princesses haven't been good to me lately, either."
The Ice King plopped down onto the floor, resting his chin in his hands and he replied, "Whaaat? Not good to Finn the Hero? That's impossible!"
"It's more possible than you think. I mean, I think I really messed up with her." He mumbled, then corrected himself, "Heck, not just one princess. Flame Princess, Princess Bubblegum... And Marceline, too, I think."
"Woah. What did you do, bro? Ruin a Princess Party? I've done that before." Simon asked, twirling his beard around his finger.
"… Uh… Well, you know how a while ago, I kinda… got you and Flame Princess to fight? Aaand kinda made her melt down most of your kingdom?" He said, wincing at his own words. The Ice King just nodded. Judging by his blank expression, he probably didn't really grasp what was being said.
Regardless, Finn went on, "Well… PB is really upset about that. She said that I put a lot of people in danger, since some areas are flooded from all the melted ice, and the Candy Kingdom could have been melted and stuff… And the worst thing is that she's right. I messed up. But no one is letting me forget it, even if I'm doing my best to make up for it!"
"Sheesh. That's rough, buddy." Simon said with a sympathetic smile. "And I KNOW Marceline is peeved at you about something. She gets all spooky whenever I talk aboutcha! Is she worried about the climate change, too?"
"… Uh… Well, to be honest, I think she's mad because I put you in danger. Which, y'know, I understand that! I should have thought about that! But, I don't know, she's acting like I got FP to fight her."
Simon tugged at the collar of his moo-moo. "Well, bro, if it helps at all, I forgive you. Marceline, though, she can hold a grudge for ages. Like, she told me about this guy a while ago who really donked her up. Sold her favorite stuffed animal, I think? Yelled at her a lot, that kinda stuff. Really manipulative, too!"
Finn nodded, looking down at the carpeting. He still felt angry about Ash. What a tool…
Slowly, a realization dawned on him that made his stomach twist. "… He was manipulative… That's the same thing she said about me when I saw her today. You don't think she's… like, projecting that stuff about Ash onto me, is she?"
"Who's Ash?" Ice King asked blankly.
"Marceline's ex-boyfriend. That guy you were just talking about? But, he… he was an evil dude! He pushed her around and treated her like a… like a toy! I didn't know him much, but that's what it… seemed like…"
"Yeah, and you're a great guy, Finn! I mean, sure, you might have made me a lil' homeless, but it was an honest mistake! You've saved lots of people, and, uh…" He said, pausing to think. "Oh, and when I was kidnappin' princesses, you hardly ever broke any of my bones! That takes skill, bro!"
Needless to say, that didn't soothe him much. Finn shook his head slowly, rubbing his face. "… Am I really that bad? … Dang…"
"What? No, no! You're a swell fella! And, uh… definitely a lot nicer than other people I know! Like, uh… Princess Bubblegum? She can be preeetty mean."
"… Seriously?" He asked, squinting at him. "I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not."
"No, I'm serious! She lead us BOTH on, man! I mean, she wasn't very straight-forward with her feelings about you, right? Never was with me!"
"… You have a point. She didn't ever really… directly turn me down… And she treats me like I'm a kid, even though I can take down monsters three-times my size."
"Exactly! Ladies are mysterious, my bro." Ice King said sagely. "I'd love to one day just… give her a piece of my mind, y'know?"
Finn gave him a little smile, a plan forming.
"… Hey, IK? How would you like to go visit PB?" Finn asked him.
Ice King smiled widely, nodding excitedly. "Heck yeah! What's the occasion?" He asked.
Finn smiled mischievously, then turned to look out the window, "I just think that she could use a nice talking to."
Ice King clapped his hands together, "Ooh, that's dramatic! If we were in some kind of movie or a story right now, that would be where the scene would change! Y'know, with the whole WHOOSH thing."
Finn gave him a look, then shook his head and stood up from the couch. "Yeah. I gotcha. Let's go, bro."
"Oh, yeah,yeah, just a sec." Simon said, pushing himself up with a groan. The boy winced as he heard Ice King's joints crack and pop loudly. "Eheh, 'scuse me. Now, just gotta… grab Gunter. Can't leave him alone here. He'll eat the curtains again!"
Finn just watched as Ice King hobbled around, muttering incoherently as he chased his penguin around the room. The penguin didn't seem too thrilled about this development, waddling behind Finn's legs in an attempt to hide.
"C'mon, lil' guy. We won't be there long." Said Finn, giving it a grin as he scooped it up under his arm. It 'wenk'ed a few times indignantly, but gave up as he lead the way outside.
"So, yeah, long-story short, I can't ever go back to that grocery store." Bubblegum said with a little giggle. Marceline gave the Princess a look as she laughed along, propping her feet up on a stack of her books.
"You are one crazy-lady, Bonnie." She remarked, "A crazy-lady with a big ol' egg in her basement. Y'know, you never told me what is IN this thing. Breakfast?"
The Princess snorted, "Yeah, you know how much the Candy People enjoy animal bi-products. No, this is a dragon-egg. And it's probably gonna hatch sometime soon, so you def don't wanna eat that thing."
Marcy gave her a surprised look, "Woah, a dragon? In your basement? Bonnie, what are you gonna do with that thing?"
She shrugged, "Use it to protect the kingdom. And if that doesn't work, I'll have Finn and Jake kick its butt back to the mountains."
"… That's kinda risky. I mean, I'm not the princess with the kingdom and all the planning skills. But, hey, call me up if Finn ditches you. I've always wanted to ride a dragon." She said, smiling playfully. But her grin faded as she added, "Wouldn't surprise me if he did, honestly."
Princess Bubblegum sighed softly, giving her a sympathetic smile, "You're still mad. I understand that completely. That boy really messed up."
She scoffed, "That's an understatement. He almost got Simon killed! And the way he treated his own girlfriend? Like some kind of… toy?!" She growled, glaring at the floor, "Makes me wanna barf."
Bubblegum considered this statement, and the implications behind it. "Yeah, I know what you mean. To be fair, though, Finn hasn't ever been very, uh… mature? At least on the concept of relationships and such." She said, making a non-committed hand gesture.
"That doesn't excuse him, though!" Marcy said sharply, "If he really can't be bothered to treat women with respect, then… I don't know, can we ban him from girls? Forever?"
Bubblegum laughed softly, putting her hand on Marceline's arm. "That would be nice, but would also infringe on his personal freedoms. I'll consider it, though."
The vampire seemed to let go of her momentary anger, letting out a long sigh. Marceline smiled as she thought, but as she opened her mouth to say something, the door to the laboratory slammed open.
The girls watched in surprise as Gunter waddled in, with Ice King scampering in after. Finn marched in confidently, his brows furrowed.
"Princess." Finn said sharply, "I've got somethin' to say to you."
[ TO BE CONTINUED ]
