"See this here? This is where I'm stuck, if we could find a way to bypass the overheating the entire process would just go a lot smoother and…"
Bubblegum turned around, preparing for another onslaught of science and technical terms for her cousin but her words were fallen on deaf ears. He was sitting close by on a desk chair, at one point taking vigorous notes as she spoke.
One major advantage to his visiting Ooo was that now she had another person who was just as scientific as she was. Though she had surpassed him, Gumball was the only one that could keep up with her which meant he could also assist her. All of her experiments could be completed in half the time with his help.
Assuming he would help.
His efforts were valiant, his notes were accurate and up to standards however he was behind, struggling to keep up. Which was not normal.
"Gumball are you alright? You seem distracted today"
He looked up and put on a small smile, "O-oh no it's fine I…"
"Bubba…" her voice was firm, she knew him better than that.
He sighed, removing his goggles and pinching the bridge of his nose"…well if you wish for honesty then no…I'm not alright"
She pulled up a chair and removed her goggles as well, teleportation and traveling through interdimensional portals can wait for now.
"Care to talk about it?"
He stared at her for a moment, unsure as to where he could start. But her willingness to listen was more than enough to convince him to just go for it.
"Have…you encountered any vampires…of the opposite sex?"
Bubblegum blinked at this seemingly random question, despite her confusion she thought back to her recent vampire encounters.
"Not personally"
Gumball huffed in disappointment, stroking his chin in though, "…hm…well I heard in vampire folklore that they can cast spells on their victims, some even more powerful vampires can do this without even the victim being aware of it. Granted I assumed the opposite sex, I had heard it was easier to do but then again I'm sure it would be just as easy to do it with the same sex depending on the vampire's power but regardless it is very do able and-"
"Whoa whoa whoa wait a second" the princess' eyes narrowed at her cousin, "You think Marceline put a spell on you?"
He sighed, "I don't know…it's a theory…I just…I don't have any other explanation for the way I've been lately"
A curious eye brow was raised at this, "Such as?"
"I didn't sleep well last night, I wasn't hungry this morning, I'm not in the mood for science or baking like I normally am and I just can not, for the life of me, stop thinking about her" he groaned, gently rubbing his temples as another headache began to grow.
He had been thinking, evaluating, making theories and examining his strange condition for hours and had no luck figuring out exactly what was wrong with him.
Gumball looked up as Bubblegum reached over and gently pat his knee with a sweet smile on her face, "Bubba…my dear sweet cousin, listen to me very closely"
He nodded.
"I think you just have a crush on her"
"…oh"
The faint blush that crept along his face was more than enough to confirm just that.
Bubblegum chuckled lightly, patting his knee once more before standing up, beginning the ever so interesting task of cleaning up,"…which confounds me, she almost killed you yesterday…" she added.
"I don't quite understand it either but…it would appear you are correct" he mumbled, standing up and following her to a separate table covered in tools and notes to be put away.
She began carefully picking up each individual paper of scribbled notes that were blown away by their first test run, "Which brings me to my next point, you didn't exactly have a wonderful first impression"
He huffed, taking on the duty of yanking out the tools that were lodged into the table and wall, also due to the first test run, "That wasn't my fault! She knew where I was from and connected that with her brother"
"And isn't her brother your best friend?"
"Yes…I didn't tell him where I was going either, he would've reacted the same" He sighed, thinking back at the lies he had to tell his own friend. Luckily he seemed to have bought the "First Annual Royal meetings of royals in another country not quite discovered" story.
"…and if he finds out I'm crushing on his sister, whom he despises…." Gumball paused a moment, just thinking about what he would do…
He whimpered and placed his head against the wall, "Oh glob what do I do?!"
Bubblegum turned around to find her cousin hitting his face against the wall repeatedly in frustration, she sighed, "Bubba you came here to find peace, now you're more stressed out than when you got here…and…I'm just not sure this is the right time, you're still getting over her"
…as well as matters of your heart being broken, I humbly request you return to Ooo for a short holiday.
The prince removed his face from the lab wall and continued his work putting the tools back in their proper place, however at a much slower pace than before.
"I lost Fionna because I was too hesitant, and too stupid to notice the signs. She's happy now and I don't want to impede on that" he recalled the day she "introduced" him to her new boyfriend, the Prince of the FireKingdom. He hadn't seen her that happy in months.
"I don't know…it's not scientific but call it fate that as soon as I arrive there this vampire girl is there and…"
The blush returned with a vengeance.
"Bonnibel you talk about her in your letters but…you never mentioned…I mean...she's beautiful!"
In the land of Aaa, yes there were many of the female gender but nothing like the Vampire Queen. There were heroines, and psychotic witches. But this girl…was something else entirely.
The Princess placed her neatly stacked papers on the lab counter and sighed; she turned around and leaned back against it, thinking carefully on choosing her words.
"Bubba, don't get me wrong, she's my best friend and I love you but its just….Marceline is…unpredictable…She's a thousand years old and has only been in one relationship, to my knowledge…"
His face fell into surprise," One relationship?"
"Besides, you came here to relax like I said" she crossed her arms and glared at him.
He opened his mouth to retort but her stern look told him to hold it in. It would appear he would be getting no assistance from his cousin but that didn't mean he would give up.
His shoulders sagged as he let out a fake sigh of defeat, "…yes I suppose you're right…she's not here all the time anyway right?"
Because fate enjoys toying with Prince Gumball, somewhere down the hall another wall just exploded via small human boy crashing through it.
"GLOBBIT"
Followed by an annoyed Vampire Queen
"Finn get up!"
"I can't feel my legs!"
As Gumball's eyes gleamed with excitement, Bubblegum slapped her own forehead.
The sun finally began its decent behind the hills of the grasslands after a rather long and busy day. With a rough prototype complete and a nearly successful test run of an interdimensional teleportation device, the two pink scientists decided to take a break.
While Bubblegum left to do her own royal duties, Gumball took this moment to escape to the Castle gardens. The moment the door behind him clicked shut and a soft breeze of sweet flowers and blooming cupcake gently brushed by, he was immediately hit by old memories.
Summer days spent as a child with Bonnibel playing in the gardens, chasing butterflies and conducting small scale solar panel experiments. Good memories were had within the rows of donut sprinkled bushes.
And for some reason, there was also a shoe, within the rows of donut sprinkled bushes.
Gumball paused in mid step to find not only a shoe; it was connected to a leg, just sticking out and right in his path. The Prince carefully stepped over it and peaked over the short donut bush, in which upon close inspection, was rather lacking in donuts.
He laughed, finding Finn and Jake lying flat on their backs, looking utterly exhausted, bruised, full bellies and half eaten donuts, cupcakes and what ever else they picked from the garden.
"Rough day fellas?"
The two looked up at the prince with panic on their faces but too tired to make any attempt to move.
"Please tell me you're here to enjoy the sunset and not send us back to Marceline" Finn begged desperately.
"I hate vampires" Jake whined, stretching his own ears over his body like a blanket, in need of a nap.
It would appear to have been a long and busy day for the heroes of Ooo as well, "You may rest easy, I am in fact here to enjoy outside…" his words trailed off as there was a moment of realization.
Bubblegum was elsewhere.
The boys were here taking a break from training, meaning there was a slim chance she could still be around.
Possibly alone.
"Um…however…would you happen to know where she is?"
Just as Finn opened his mouth to answer, a paw slapped over the boy's mouth. Jake sat up, eye brow raised in curiosity, "Wwwwwhhhhyyyyy?"
Gumball quickly noted Jake's wit, "I…was…just…wondering…" he coughed.
The dog stared at the prince for a moment, the awkward shuffling of feet, the anxious look on his face. Jake grinned mischievously.
"Hey, you see that rose bush over there?" his free hand, extended well over their bush fortress and pointed to the left. .
Gumball followed Jake's arm, sure enough there was a small section of rose bushes against a wall, separating the gardens from the village outside.
"Yes?"
"Go on and sit over there"
Gumball blinked in confusion," What?"
Jake's long arm grabbed the prince by the shoulder and gently pushed him away towards the roses, "Just trust me"
"Uh…well ok then…thank you I guess?" he called out as he went off on his own without the aid of the gentle push.
Feeling rather accomplished for the day, Jake chuckled to himself and returned to his normal size, legs crossed and arms behind his head.
Finn coughed and wiped his mouth free from his friend's dirty paw, "What was that about Jakey?"
"I know that helpless look anywhere" he laughed, recalling only a few months ago he had seen the same look on the human boy's face when in search of the Princess of the FireKingdom.
Meanwhile, it didn't take too long for the prince to realize what Jake was doing, within a few feet from the thorny bushes of roses, was the clear sound of music.
A deep smooth sound accompanied with a soft hum.
He couldn't see her, but he knew she was on the other side, relaxing like everyone else with her music.
'The sun is setting, she's on the other side where it's shaded then…' he thought to himself. As instructed he took a seat on the grass with his back against the wall, closing his eyes and listening.
She hummed and plucked the strings, there was no set song or rhythm. She just played whatever she felt like. Which boggled the mind of a scientist, who needed detailed planning to do much of anything yet somehow she was able to just play and let it flow and it was beautiful.
His squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on listening as her soft hums became faint words, "Love Bites...but so do I...so do I…"
He found himself completely lost in her new song, not at all noticing the figured looming above him.
"Bubba…"
His eyes shot open and he scrambled to his feet, brushing his tunic of dirt and grass.
Bubblegum stood before him with her arms crossed, and her foot tapping.
"What? I'm not doing anything" he mumbled, feeling like a child being scolded.
She rolled her eyes, giving up on her hopeless romantic cousin she turned around and waved him off, "Alright but don't blame me if she comes out and bites your face off"
"…would she do that?" he gulped.
"Probably" and off she went.
Gumball sighed; he will be hearing it from her later that was for sure.
"Yeah sure sounds like Marshall…" he muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me?" A voice from above, and she was not happy.
Gumball nearly jumped out of his skin and whirled around to find the Vampire Queen standing on top of the wall with the massive axe bass over her shoulder.
"O-oh I uh…I…s-sorry…I didn't…" there was plenty more he wished to say, but as she slowly floated downwards towards him, his ability to speak appeared to have died somewhere in his throat.
Soon she was eye level with him, though still floating and still appearing much taller than what he was currently feeling right now, "I don't give free performances your highness" she growled.
He put his hands up in his defense, "A thousand apologies I didn't mean to…I just…" he paused a moment, he knew what he wanted to say, it was just a matter of was it the smart thing to say.
"You're amazing" only one way to find out, "You're very talented"
Marceline was officially caught off guard, her face fell in surprise, and a small blush crept along her face.
There was a moment of hope in his heart but she shook her head and looked away.
"Yeah well…whatever" she grumbled, crossing her arms and began to fly off.
Gumball smiled to himself, she may have played it off but he knew he had her for a moment there. But now she was leaving, again.
I lost Fionna because I hesitated.
"W-wait!" he called out to her louder than he had planned, but regardless she stopped and glanced over her shoulder.
"Please I know you don't want to associate yourself with me because of your brother. But give me a chance"
Marceline turned around completely and asked, "Why?"
"….because…I…uh…" once again his words failed, but this time, he truly had no idea why. His brain went over many different possibilities and outcomes of this conversation, yet somehow the simple question of why eluded him.
"I actually don't have a reason…so…" he gulped, taking the plunge into the unknown, against every scientific instinct in his body,"…why not?"
Thankfully, his risky answer was appreciated, as a small smile graced her lips.
"I'm not sure if you're stupid or if you have guts dude"
He laughed nervously, "Heh…I'm not too sure either"
Stepping forward, he brought his hand out to her a second time, "Can we start over?"
If he knew anything about vampires, especially after yesterday's mishap, there was no doubt in his mind that she could hear the insane thumping of his heart against his chest. This was his theory of course, as she had a knowing smile on her face.
She shrugged, reaching out and taking his hand finally. But much to her surprise, it wasn't a hand shake he was seeking.
He cleared his throat and bowed slightly before properly introducing himself, "My name is Prince Bubba Gumball of the CandyKingdom in the land of Aaa"
With that he placed a small kiss over her knuckles.
"U-uh…" she somehow didn't see that one coming, her face exploded into a fierce blush.
He stood up and smiled sweetly
"M-Marceline…Vampire Queen…" she somehow managed to mumble out.
Gumball's smile couldn't get any bigger knowing he made her blush and fluster, she gently slipped her hand out of his grasp and coughed,"Alright Gumgum, you got your second chance in exchange for not mentioned that retard in front of me ever again"
"Consider it done"
With that she turned back around and floated away, "and I guess I won't rip your face off for eavesdropping" she laughed.
He scratched the back of his head nervously, "Uh…it's…most appreciated…"
It wasn't clear whether or not she had heard him, regardless he let out a lung full of air he apparently had been holding in the entire time, and plopped back on his rear by the wall, mentally exhausted.
"Well at least she's talking to me now…" he sighed, looking over the gardens where Marceline reached into the not so solid bush fortress and pulled both Finn and Jake out, ready for round two.
The boys whined but one nasty growl the two were off running back into the training room with the banana guards. She laughed and followed, gently stroking her knuckles when she thought no one was watching.
He smiled.
"Love Bites" by Halestorm
This band will be a big part of the story in the future. Just fyi.
~Swd
