Disclaimer: Adventure Time belongs to Pendleton Ward/Cartoon Network.
A/N: Thanks to Rinney and Anna for proof-reading, and also thanks to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited! This started out as just a silly one-off AU but I am thinking of merging it with the show timeline, only things would happen a bit differently what with Flame Princess being around from the beginning. So there would be eventual Finn/Flame Princess and also Bubblegum/Marceline when Marcy finally decides to show up again. Does that sound like something you guys would want to read?
Princess Bubblegum leaned against the viewing window, looking down into the test chamber where Flame Princess was sitting amidst a pile of charred paper. The little elemental wasn't restrained, free to toddle around the room as she pleased. The only reasons that she wasn't allowed the same freedom in the rest of the castle were that most of the candy people were still terrified of her, and she still had a tendency to burst into flames if she tripped or ran into a closed door. She was only a few months old, so Bubblegum was hopeful that she could teach her not to do that in time.
From her studies, the candy princess was now sure that the fire girl had some level of control over her powers, even if it was only rudimentary at present. Flame Princess seemed to love bright colours and was currently halfway through melting a bucket of crayons. Bubblegum watched as the little girl picked up an emerald green one, which began to melt and distort in her grasp. But unlike the first dozen or so, it wasn't reduced to a puddle of wax in seconds, Flame Princess seemed to have realised they kept doing that and was making an effort not to melt it.
"That's right," Bubblegum said encouragingly, even though there was no way that the little elemental could hear her through the thick glass. "You're learning."
Putting the crayon to the singed paper in front of her, Flame Princess scrawled a thick green line across it. It was already covered in multicoloured handprints from where previous crayons had melted in her grip, but this was the first time she'd actually managed to draw something. With a delighted chuckle, the little elemental scribbled wildly across the paper, then picked up another crayon in her other hand, a pink one this time, and started to draw with that one as well.
Bubblegum giggled softly as she watched Flame Princess continue to scribble on the paper, wondering if she was actually trying to make a picture or just enjoying the colours. Whatever it was, the little princess certainly found it entertaining, gurgling happily as she covered the paper in a layer of multicoloured wax.
It happened very suddenly. One moment Flame Princess was drawing, the next there was a bright flash of flame and the paper in front of her was reduced to ash, the crayons in her hands melting completely and dripping to the floor. Bubblegum sighed; the little elemental must have gotten too excited and lost whatever control she had over her combustion levels. Flame Princess didn't seem to have realised quite what had happened, gazing in bewilderment at the pile of cinders that had been paper a moment ago. Then her face fell as she whimpered and the temperature of the test chamber rose as she started to cry.
Before the little elemental could get too worked up, Bubblegum went into the chamber and picked her up, already wearing her protective gloves and apron. "It's okay Feuer, I can get you more crayons," she said soothingly, holding Flame Princess in the crook of one arm. Even though she was crying, the tiny fire girl wasn't burning nearly as hot as she had the day she'd been terrified by the Lich video. She settled again as she looked up at the candy princess, smiling at her toothlessly.
Bubblegum smiled back, brushing strands of fiery hair back from the little girl's face with a gloved hand. "Let's see now," she began, starting to pace up and down the chamber as she often did while deep in thought, only this time carrying Flame Princess with her. "Fireproofing the crayons probably wouldn't do much good, because I would have to do that by mixing them with a heat resistant polymer or something. And if I did that, they wouldn't work very well at all because they'd be harder, and they need to react with friction on the paper to draw, don't they?"
Flame Princess' only response was garbled baby sounds, but she was still looking up at Bubblegum attentively as the candy princess continued talking. "Paper isn't a very good material for you either because it's just too flammable. Maybe I could use fire-resistant cloth? No, that definitely wouldn't work, I'd need to change the composition of the crayons to get them to draw on fabric with any effectiveness, and that wouldn't be compatible with heatproofing polymers either..." Stopping her pacing, Bubblegum looked slowly around the test chamber as if in search of inspiration.
"Come on Bonnibel, if you're half the genius you think you are, the answer should be clear as…" Her words trailed off as she looked up at the test chamber's window. "…glass," she finished thoughtfully. "Hmmmm…"
o.o.o.o.o
"Uhhhhh, milady, are you sure this is wise?" Peppermint Butler asked nervously as he watched the princess tightening the bolts on the miniature glass furnace.
"Well it's not going to hurt her P-butt," Bubblegum replied, tugging hard on the wrench to make sure the bolts were secure. She definitely didn't want molten glass leaking everywhere. "She's a fire elemental, she could put her hand in this thing and it would be like putting it in water for you or me. And besides, she needs something to keep her occupied."
Peppermint Butler rolled his eyes, knowing that the princess couldn't see him from behind the furnace. "Well, forgive me for speaking plainly milady…"
"…don't you always…" Bubblegum muttered, half to herself.
"…but I still think you should reconsider," the mint man finished. "Yes, Flame Princess may be completely immune to heat, but I was more thinking of the floor, the walls, other people and the like. You did say you were trying to teach her control after all, so a hobby that requires extreme levels of heat may not be the best choice. With respect, milady."
There was a long pause as the candy princess thought it over, tapping the wrench against her palm. Peppermint Butler did have a very good point there, she'd been so caught up with her idea that she hadn't looked at the implications of letting Flame Princess play with molten glass. To keep it in a liquid state it would need to stay at over 2000 degrees Kelvin, more than twice as hot as the little elemental had burned when she was upset. On consideration, encouraging the little elemental to burn hotter rather than cooler was probably not the best idea if she wanted to teach her control.
"Okay Peppermint, I admit it," she said grudgingly. "You're right. Do you have any suggestions for an alternative?"
"As a matter of fact I do," he replied with a self-satisfied grin that immediately raised Bubblegum's suspicions.
"If this involves the Nightosphere then I swear to Glob…" She left the sentence hanging, the threat clear, but Peppermint Butler shook his head.
"No, no, of course not!" He couldn't hold back a nervous giggle though, since he did have more than a few ideas involving the realm of chaos, but none of them involved Flame Princess. Not at the moment anyway. "I was thinking that sugar might be a better idea Peebles, we have plenty of it, it melts much more easily, we can dye it bright colours, and if she gets bored of playing with it she can eat it."
"And it'll burn if her combustion levels are too high," Bubblegum added thoughtfully, rubbing her chin. "So that would help her learn control as well. That's a really good idea Pepbutt."
"Why thank you milady," he replied with a bow. He had absolutely no intention of telling her that he'd gotten the idea from Cinnamon Bun. Or rather, from the way the little elemental had melted his frosting…
o.o.o.o.o
"Okay, let's give this a try then," Bubblegum said to the little fire girl who was sitting in her lap on the floor of the test chamber. In front of them was a large white ceramic tile, and to one side was a laboratory hot plate that the princess had jury-rigged into a heated palette with the addition of a copper sheet that she'd hammered several depressions into. She'd set it to 450 Kelvin, so the handfuls of coloured sugar that she'd placed in each depression were now pools of viscous caramel.
Putting a long-handled copper spoon into Flame Princess' hand, Bubblegum showed her how to scoop up a small amount of bright red caramel and moved her hand over to the tile. The little elemental watched the molten sugar drip onto the white tile curiously then slapped it with the spoon, transforming the droplets into a large splatter. That definitely got her attention, Flame Princess giggled at the mess she'd made and hit it with the spoon a few more times for good measure.
The caramel was already cooling and solidifying on contact with the tile, so again Bubblegum moved the little girl's hand back to the copper palette to get more. This time Flame Princess didn't need to be shown what to do with it, she brought it back over to the tile and catapulted the coloured caramel in its general direction with the spoon, spattering it across one corner. Laughing uproariously now, the little elemental gathered more molten sugar with the spoon and added it to the mess, using the utensil to spread lines of it across the surface of the tile.
"How is it working out, Peebles?" Peppermint Butler asked, looking cautiously around the door but not entering the room.
"I think it's working really…" Princess Bubblegum made the mistake of taking her eyes off the fire girl as she replied, and before she could stop her Flame Princess had grabbed the entire palette and upended it over the tile, sending streams of multi-coloured caramel everywhere. As if that wasn't enough, she then started hitting it as hard as she could with the spoon, splattering molten sugar in every direction.
"I think it's working," Bubblegum corrected herself. "But it could definitely do with some refining. Feuer, no!" She took the spoon off Flame Princess before she could spread the mess any further. "I'm glad you like it, but if you make this much mess with sugar then you'll just end up stuck to something again, won't you?" The candy princess did her best to sound firm, but her stern expression cracked into a smile as the little elemental looked up at her, her face spattered with colourful sugar droplets. "You are so lumping lucky that I can't stay mad at you, you know that? And that I can't give you a bath," she added. "I really need to come up with a way to keep you clean that doesn't involve water…"
"Wa'at."Flame Princess replied, then giggled.
