A/N: Oh, wow. I honestly didn't expect so many reviews 0_0 Well, I'm flattered. Thanks guys. As a reward, here's the second chapter.
Disclaimer: I own my own imagination, and nothing else.
If someone had told Marceline earlier that day that she would be taking a kid, let alone a human kid back to her place, she would've laughed in their faces. She would've scoffed at them for suggesting such a thing.
And yet, here she was, carrying this little boy, Finn, back to her home. Her arms worked against her, instinctively hugging the kid tightly to her body to keep him from falling. She pretended to be interested in a nearby flock of deer just to keep herself from blushing.
Don't get attached to him. He's just staying for tonight. After he gets some chow and a good night's sleep, you can drop him off in the Candy Kingdom, or maybe with those magical dogs…
"Hey, Marceline?"
"Yeah?" She asked, looking back at the little blond.
"You said that you're the Vampire Queen…but were you turned? I mean, you have fang marks in your neck, so were you human once too?" His question caught her off guard. The only thing keeping her from instinctively reaching to touch her bite marks was the fact that she was holding him.
"It's not something I like to talk about." The young-looking vampire said in a solemn voice. "So…can you tell me about the monster you were talking about?"
Way to go, idiot! Tell him that you don't want to talk about your traumatic childhood, then ask him about his!
Surprisingly, though, Finn was more open, as he answered
"It was really scary. All I can remember was waking up in the middle of the night to everyone screaming, then the next thing I know, I'm running for my life. I only caught a glimpse of it, but I still remember it-a skeleton face looking at me from under a cloak…"
Marceline froze in mid-air. It couldn't be possible. It couldn't really be him, could it? No. It wasn't possible. She had been there the day Simon had stopped him. It couldn't be…
"Hey, is that your place?" Finn's voice pulled Marceline out of her thoughts, and she looked down to see that she had subconsciously flown them into her cave.
"Huh? Yeah, that's it." She descended, and Finn surveyed the modest house she lived in.
"You know, when you said you were a queen, I thought you'd live in, you know-a castle or something."
"Shut up." Marceline smirked, lightly slapping him upside the head. "Come on, let's see what's in the kitchen."
About five minutes later, Finn was sitting at the table, watching as Marceline kept floating back and forth, getting various food items from the kitchen.
"Grilled cheese and tomato soup sound good?"
"Yeah!" The little boy answered. Shortly after he said that, his stomach growled rather loudly, indicating just how hungry he was. Once again, Marceline bit her lip. There was no way of telling the last time the kid had eaten. For the second time that day, she thought back to when she was a little girl after the Mushroom War, how she'd gone days without food…
Heh, there you go again, getting all soft on the kid.
"Shut up!" She said irritably, hitting the side of her head.
"Huh?" Finn said.
"Wha? Oh, nothing." Marceline answered as she turned on the stove. "Just thinking out loud." Finn laughed a little, the first time Marceline heard him laugh all day.
"You're weird, Marceline. You're not going to suck my blood though…right?"
"Nah." Marceline assured him. "It's not really blood I like, just the color red." She floated right up to him, her eyes glowing like earlier, and said
"Though I might be tempted to come in while you're sleeping and give you a little nibble!" Finn squealed and nearly fell off his chair, and Marceline laughed.
"I'm kidding!"
"So, you live here by yourself?" Finn asked later as they were eating dinner.
"Yeah." Marceline smirked as she slurped the red from her tomato soup. "I'm a lot older than I look. Plus I'm really strong. I can take care of myself."
"Wow." Finn said. He took a bite of his sandwich, then looked back up at Marceline. "But…don't you ever get lonely?"
"It's better for me this way." Marceline said in a low voice. Despite his very young age, Finn caught the solemnity in her words.
"Marceline…"
"All done?" Marceline cleared hers and Finn's plates, then took him into the guest bedroom.
"This is where you'll sleep tonight." Finn crawled into bed, snuggling under the sheets.
"Wow. This is really comfy."
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it." Marceline said sternly. "Like I said, this is a one-time thing." She started to float out the door, but Finn's voice stopped her.
"Marceline?"
"Yeah?" She asked, not bothering to turn around.
"Thanks-for everything. I know you said that you're not good with kids-but I don't think I would've survived out there on my own if you hadn't come along. So thank you." The sweetness in his voice could give you cavities and diabetes at the same time.
"Good night, Finn." Without waiting for a response, Marceline closed the door.
A/N: Hope you guys liked this. BTW, to clear up confusion, no, Marceline doesn't have feelings for Finn yet. He's still a little kid, after all. No, the romance part doesn't come until later. Review, please!