Marceline was dimly aware that it was in the afternoon when she finally woke. Simon was still in her arms, hugging her around the waist. She blushed, gently pulling away from him, pulling on her cloak to go and look outside. It was quite cloudy, the sun barely out. She wondered if perhaps she could go outside without her cloak.
She noticed a large bush with blue berries. They didn't quite look all that appetizing to Marceline, but she was sure that they were nonpoisonous; she could remember eating them before, however she dislike them. She only hoped that Simon would appreciate it. Glancing back to make sure Simon wasn't awake and that he was safe, she floated out and to the bush, holding out one of her cloak pockets, depositing the berries in.
"Oof!" Marceline grumbled, feeling something hard hit her on the head. Looking for the object, she found that it was an apple. She grinned, picking it up and examining it. It didn't look any worse than the berries, so she took that too, flying up to look for more apples.
Eventually, she made her way back to their small camping spot. Simon had just begun to awake.
"O-oh, hey Gunter…" Greeted Simon, his speech somewhat distorted as he yawned. Marceline seemed taken aback by the nickname, almost thinking he was referring to a certain penguin the Ice King had named unintentionally after her. She smiled sadly, knowing that the Ice King, Simon, would always remember the unimportant details.
"What'd you got there?" He asked scratching at his bearded chin, looking whatever was lumping up in her pocket. She smiled taking off her cloak in the shadows and pulling out the fruit onto the cloak, to make sure it didn't get dirty. Simon smiled, messing up her hair. She blushed again, wondering why she was going all red all of a sudden.
"Great work, Gunter! Now all we need is a bit of cereal… heh, like we could find any of that stuff around here, even if someone happened to leave some of I behind. Probably would have spoiled by this year anyhow…" He mumbled, beginning to become lost in thought. Marceline smiled and shook her head, beginning to break one of the apples in halves with her fingers, surprising Simon with her strength. Handing him the pieces and giving him all the berries she collected, she began to drain the color from an apple.
"Marcy, don't you think you should eat more?" He asked, looking at how skinny she was, even for a grown woman.
"You need the weight." She frowned, content with draining the red from the apple and taking a bite out of it.
Simon furrowed his brow, but didn't argue. Marcy had always been skinny, as she preferred to drain the red from anything. She was quite the picky eater, as she tended not to eat anything else. It had worried Simon a lot, but he suppose that Marceline now was actually eating things, as she was eating the actual apple instead of throwing it away.
After eating, Simon stretched, groaning at the pain in his back. He complained quietly, receiving a concerned stare from the vampire.
"It's nothing," He smiled, "I had that before the war."
Marceline frowned, having no choice but to believe him for now, but was determined to do something about it later. She helped him pack up everything; dusting off her cloak and pulling it back on, and floated after Simon.
"So, where are we headed?" She asked, floating by his side as they made their way down an abandoned road, passing a shopping mall and a beauty salon. Marceline stopped for a moment, wishing to go inside and see if there was anything wild she could do to her hair. Simon saw that look, and smirked to himself.
"Do you wanna go in there?" He asked, and was immediately hugged by the vampire and pulled inside, yelping for her to slow down, laughing a bit.
Once they were inside, she began digging through cabinets behind the register, near the area where the hair dressers would do their work. Simon chuckled, and looked about suspiciously, frowning. He suddenly felt a weight behind him, Marceline draped over his back.
"Want me to give you a hair-cut?" She asked, smiling.
"You know my hair grows back pretty quick, Gunter. What's the point?"
"Well, I can always show you how to cut your hair. It's gonna get hot soon, and I remember you constantly complaining about the heat." She smirked. Simon began to grouch a bit, but gave in. He dusted off one of the salon seats, sitting up in the chair. Marceline got behind him, scissors in hand. Simon couldn't see Marceline's reflection in the dusty and cracked mirror, which worried him a bit. She began to trim his hair a bit, not quite going past his ears. She had entertained the idea of giving Simon multicolored hair, but decided against it. She liked his hair the way it was. Teaching him how to cut his hair, she noticed a Mutant outside.
"Simon, would you wait here a moment?" She frowned, floating towards the entrance, going outside. The mutant makes some sort of… growling sound, although she didn't understand how. Flying quickly to it, she kicks it hard across the road; the creature smashing into the mall's broken up doors, falling inside. To her surprise, other Mutants began to exit from smashed windows and other areas where they could escape.
"Well, Glob me sideways…" She cursed, and flew back to the Salon, grabbing Simon up from under the arms, surprising him. She flew out the door, ignoring his complaints and questions. Simon understood what had happened, seeing all the Mutants scattered about as they began to trudge after them.
Finally, they arrived near a small one story house, looking safe enough, although half of the house appeared to had been destroyed. Marceline set Simon down.
"Sorry about that, but I didn't have time to explain." Marceline said, dusting off debris from his shoulders. Simon shook his head.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Marceline nodded, opening the door and checking out the house before allowing him in. After setting up a bit of a camp indoors, Marceline sat down on the ruined couch, patting the seat next to her. Simon sighed, stretching and groaning again before sitting down, reminding her of what she was going to do.
When Simon sat down, Marceline hovered a bit over him, rubbing at his shoulders, a small smile on her face.
"What're you doing?" Simon asked, slightly blushing. Marceline smirked, pushing gently between his shoulder blades.
"I noticed your back pain, so… I'm helping you, I guess." She said simply, looking to his back, not meeting his eyes. Simon groaned happily as Marceline worked out the knots in his back. She frowned, however, feeling how bony and fragile he was.
"You need to eat more…" She muttered.
"Yeah, yeah…" He sighed, quickly grabbing a blanket from his backpack.
When Marceline was finally satisfied she had gotten all the knots out of his back that she could, she sat down with Simon, who took out a couple of soup cans, spoons, and a can opener. Simon awkwardly fiddled with the can opener before Marceline got tired of waiting and took it from him, earning a slightly amused chuckle from the man. Opening the cans for them, she ignored her spoon and took a swig, making a face at the bitter taste.
"Wow, cold soup. I haven't had this since last week." She joked, Simon looking over with a slightly confused face before smiling, eating from his own can. When they were finished, they threw the empty cans behind the couch. Simon offered to take the floor, but Marceline rejected.
"You want to waste all my work on your back?! No, you're sleepin' on the couch with me." Marceline began throwing the cushions from the couch, grabbing a couple of pillows for them to lie on. Simon's heart was going unnaturally fast. Why did this feel kind of weird but somewhat… romantic? He shook his head, lying down beside Marceline, who leaned over him to tuck the covers in at his side. He chuckled, kissing her on the forehead, causing her to go pink. She laughed, giving him a quick hug, turning towards the wall.
Simon put his back up against the vampire's own back, happy to have her here, in whichever form. All he really needed was somebody.
Anybody.
TBC, everyone! How do you feel about this chapter? I'm so glad that I wrote it long. I suppose it makes up for the last chapter, yes? Thanks for reading so far!