Chapter 9: The Princess and her Vampire

Princess Bubblegum woke from the sweetest dream. She dreamt that she had a wonderful night with Marceline, who was hers again, in sweet bliss. Smiling with her eyes still closed, she stretched her arms above her head. Strangely, she found resistance and her hand hit suddenly against something cold.

"Ow!" a familiar voice said. "Hey, Bonni. Did you have a nice nap?" Bubblegum's eyes flew open to see Marceline lying next to her. So it wasn't a dream. She stared into the vampire's face, who was looking back at her with eyes that seemed to be saying the same things Bonnibel was feeling and gave her a loving kiss. She rested her head on Marceline's shoulder as the vampire put an arm around her. Bonnibel delicately stroked the smooth stomach with her fingers and sighed. She felt Marceline's head look down at her. "What was that for? Was it okay?" Marceline asked worriedly.

The princess flushed, not daring to look at the other girl. "It was more than okay. It was perfect," she sighed. She felt Marceline's chest shake up and down quickly in a chuckle, and the princess buried her face Marcy's neck. "Don't laugh at me! I can't believe I just said that. I'm so embarrassed."

Marceline kissed the top of her head. "I'm the one who should be embarrassed. I'm far from perfect."

It was Bubblegum's turn to look at the vampire, who had turned her head away. She was gazing out the window at the night sky with an indescribable expression on her face. The princess said, "I told you before – I don't need perfect. You can't help it if you know how to push my buttons just right."

Marceline continued to stare out of the window. "Yeah, I get it. You want me for my body. It's cool. I know I'm irresistible," she said with a sardonic tone.

"No! That's not what I meant. Of course, your body is amazing; your full silky hair feels wonderful in my hands and your tongue…" Bonnibel shivered with the recent memory of the way Marceline's tongue felt all over her body. "But that's not it. It's the passion in everything you do. The emotion in your voice when you sing moves me so deep inside. Despite everything you've gone through in your life, you've still managed to keep your sense of humor."

Marceline got up and slowly flew around the room, searching the ground for something. "Hmpf, my sense of humor. You never appreciated my 'humor.' It was always too juvenile for you," Marceline mumbled. She stopped and found what she was looking for. She picked up her shirt and returned to the bed.

Bubblegum propped herself up on her side with her elbow. "The fact is you still have one. You can be such a butt sometimes, like a… a boy, but at least Finn and Jake get it all the time. You know you DO have friends." Marceline held her shirt out for the princess, but she just looked back at the vampire perplexed. "What's this for?"

Marceline shrugged. "Put it on. I don't want you to get cold."

She hesitated, but she reluctantly took the shirt and put it on. True, she was getting chilly as the night wore on. The windows in the castle were nothing more than rectangular breaks in the walls. As she pulled the shirt on, she made a mental note to at least have curtains installed to help cut the breeze as it blew in. She looked again at the vampire. "Hey, Marcy? Thanks."

Marceline lied on her back bed with her arms folded behind her head, and looked at Bubblegum. "Thanks for what?"

"For staying with me. And for the song." She leaned in and gave Marceline a long and tender kiss. When their lips parted, Bonnibel put her hand to Marceline's face. "You know, I have a confession to make. I was thinking about you before my nap in the forest."

Marceline's smile was finally genuine. "Oh? What a surprise! What were you thinking about?"

Pink fingers played along Marceline's lips, and slowly reached in to lightly touch the vampire's fang. She gently pushed her finger against the point, wincing with the slight pain, and watched as the smallest bit of pink was drained before withdrawing. She felt a small moan in Marceline's chest. "While I was flying, I found some strange bushes. When I landed, I saw that they were wild strawberries growing just inside the border of the Candy Kingdom! I remembered when I used to feed you the red of strawberries, and they were still as sweet even when they were gray. So I picked them. I was going to make some dessert, but I'd rather give them to you."

The vampire gave a frightening laugh. "The princess found my stash. I was secretly growing those strawberries closer to home. What's the punishment?"

Bubblegum quickly took one of Marceline's nipples between her fingers, giving it a little squeeze and twist, just enough for the vampire to let out a soft groan of mixed pleasure and pain. "Oh, I'll think of something…" Then she let go, and sat up in the bed looking around her. "Put something on. We'll run to the pantry and have some strawberries."

There was some shuffling about the room. Not wanting to take off Marceline's T-shirt, she just put on her form fitting skirt and tossed Marceline her pink sweater. Marceline was trying to pull on her jeans with her hands, so she caught the sweater with her teeth. The two girls shared a laugh, and Marcy pulled the sweater over her head. Bubblegum took up her cloak and placed it around her shoulders. She smiled at the sight of Marceline wearing her pink sweater. The vampire gave Bonnibel a quick pat on the butt before opening the door.

The two happily made their way down the hall, playfully teasing each other and stealing kisses, still riding the endorphins from their spontaneous sexual romp. Princess Bubblegum felt like she was still dreaming. Finally being with Marceline again was better than she had ever thought possible.

As they neared the end of the hall, Marceline stopped with sudden realization. "Grob-dobbit! I forgot about those stupid Lemonheads!" Marceline started opening doors along the hall at random trying to find the room.

The princess folded her arms in exasperation, but not nearly as upset as she could've been. "What did you do to them anyways?" she asked, mildly curious. She just stood in the middle of the hall. She may not be angry about the prank anymore, but she wasn't going to help Marceline find them.

Marceline leaned her head into a room, and then slammed it shut in frustration. "I lured them into some glass room somewhere. Like I said, it wasn't even fun. When they realized I was trying to prank them, they just laughed. Actually, one of them kinda freaked out. It was funny at first, but then it just got weird." She crossed the hall to open another door. They heard a loud squawk, then Marceline slammed the door shut again.

Bubblegum walked towards the room. "What was that?" she asked. However once she opened the door, she didn't need the question answered. Inside was her swan, taking a bubble bath in a four-clawed bathtub in the middle of the room. The swan let out a barrage of outraged honks and squawks, still able to be heard when she closed the door. "Oh… There's my swan…"

Marceline clasped her stomach in laughter and followed the princess as she passed a few doors down the hall. After embarrassing herself, she opted to help find the earls. When she opened the door to the Reconditioning Chamber, Marceline flew swiftly passed her into the room. "Wait a minute," the vampire said. Bubblegum followed into the room and saw Marceline floating still in the room. She looked around to see what Marceline was waiting for.

The two Lemongrabs were sitting cross-legged on the floor inside of the chamber, staring at each other. What was strange was the door to the chamber was wide open, yet the two earls remained seated inside.

Marceline whispered, "But I locked the door… Why is it open? More importantly, why are those two idiots still in there?!" She halted in confusion, talking more to herself than the princess.

Bubblegum walked into the chamber and announced, "Lemongrabs! It's Princess Bubblegum. You're free to go! The prank's done."

A Lemongrab laughed, but held his gaze upon his companion. "Mmmmhmmm! No, Princess! The ones called Finn and Jake said we had to stay this way until they collected us!"

She was surprised. "Finn and Jake? When did they say that?" The second Lemongrab also gave a forced laugh, but didn't say anything. He only reached over and gave his friend a quick poke in the thigh with his finger. The two Lemongrabs continued to stare at each other without another word to the princess. Occasionally, one would poke the other in the thigh with his finger again, but nothing more. Shrugging, the princess left the room. "Come on, Marcy," she said as she took the other girl by the hand. "Let's find out what's going on."

Continuing down the hallway with the vampire floating behind her, and holding the cool hand in hers made the heat rush to Bubblegum's face. She hoped that her hand wasn't sweating too much, and that Marceline couldn't tell, but she wasn't going to let go. Something just as simple as that didn't necessarily make her feel fireworks, but it just felt right.

When they reached the throne room, they found Finn and Jake playing catch. They were each wearing one of the Lemongrabs' many mitts, Jake wore one on each hand an one on his head. Finn was throwing lemons while Jake caught them in his mouth.

Princess Bubblegum stopped just inside of the entrance and put her free hand on her waist. "Finn! Jake! I demand to know what you're doing here!" she cried.

The two froze, and turned their head towards the sound of the voice. Jake swallowed the lemons in his mouth, and Finn dropped the pile he held in his mitt. They both removed the catchers' mitts, Finn throwing his in the corner, and Jake threw his at Finn's head. "Princess! Marcy! You're done!" Finn said.

Jake hastily said, "You're here!" He gave Finn a stern look, then looked back at Bubblegum.

The princess blushed and she felt Marceline's hand give hers a small squeeze as she felt their eyes travel between the two girls many times, and sometimes stopping to note their hands still clasped together. Bubblegum was sure Finn noticed the patch of gray on her neck, and she nervously draped her hair over her right shoulder. "I'll ask again," she said quietly, "what are you guys doing here?"

Finn looked towards the girls, but avoided eye contact with both. "Uh… Peppermint Butler sent us. You never called to let him know you arrived safely."

Bubblegum let go of Marceline's hand. "Oh, no! How could I have forgotten!"

"I-it's okay, PB. We called already. Don't worry," Finn reassured, gesturing to the phone in the room.

Marceline floated a few feet closer to Finn. "How did you know Bonni was here…?" she asked strangely, almost threateningly.

Jake cowered and gave a little shudder. "We didn't see anything!" he shouted in a panicked voice. The princess's face grew redder, and Marceline began hovering over the two.

Finn's earnest face met Marceline's glare. Without breaking eye contact he said, "Peebles, are you okay? What I mean is… you two. You girls are okay?"

Marceline hovered higher, and growled, "What do you mean by that?!" Her eyes began to glow that dangerous shade of red they all knew so well.

Jake jumped behind Finn and hid, but Finn matched Marceline eye for eye. "Hey, I get it. You're two sexy and awesome ladies, and that's math. I know it's not supposed to be any of my business. Y'all can do whatever you want, but I just want to know you'll be okay. Ever since that junk with the Door Lord, I knew there was something deeper there but I couldn't figure out what it was. You seem so different, but I know you're more similar that y'all think. I just need to know that it's going to be okay."

The princess slowly walked over, put her arm around Marceline's waist and pulled her closer to the ground so she wasn't so menacing to their friends. She was touched by Finn's comments, but she also understood what he meant. She had alluded to it before, when Finn was beginning to date Flame Princess. He knew she struggled between duty and her own heart, and that being with someone threatened her position as the ruler of the Candy Kingdom.

"Finn… I appreciate your concern. Marceline and I are… complicated." She looked up into the vampire's face, which was looking down at her with a mixed expression of love and worry. She turned again to the young boy. "Of course we'll be okay. I don't know what will happen next, but this is what makes me happy. You're so sweet to be concerned." She leaned forward and gave Finn a quick kiss on the forehead. When she stood erect, she could feel Marceline stiffen next to her. "Adult relationships are more than just about being happy. Sometimes life gets in the way, and duty and responsibility-"

Jake stepped out from behind Finn. "With all due respect, Princess, but happiness doesn't always have to come at such a price. If there's one thing I've learned from being with Lady is that relationships require compromise."

The princess sighed. Somehow, she knew her friends were right. It sounded so easy when they said it, but it didn't seem that way years ago when she tried to have the same conversation. She looked at Marceline who was uncharacteristically looking down at the ground, fiddling with her fingers. Then she looked back at Finn and Jake, who were each looking between the two girls again. The four of them were still in the awkward silence, each lost in their own trains of thought.

It was Finn who finally broke the silence. "Hey, Marcy. Are YOU going to be okay?" he asked.

She gave a haunting laugh. "Kid, I'm 1000 years old. Now why don't you run along home. We've got some unfinished business." She looked at Bonnibel and gave a little wink.

Bubblegum blushed again. "Marceline!" she scolded playfully.

Finn and Jake looked at each other, and then grinned at the two ladies. Jake gave them a big wink and gave a couple of clicks with his mouth. "Okay, have fun you two! We'll see you tomorrow back at home?" Finn asked.

The princess looked at Marceline and gave sultry smile. Without looking at the boys, she replied, "Well, Peppermint Butler said I didn't really have anything to do for a couple of days… So maybe not tomorrow, but, ya know. Eventually."

Without another word, Finn and Jake left the castle.

Marceline took the princess into her arms and lifted her up into an intense kiss. She held the princess tight, floating her a few inches above the ground. Bubblegum put her hands around her face and returned the kiss with equal fervor. "So… I make you happy?" the vampire asked.

Heat rushed to Bonnibel's face. "Yes. You do, you really do. Not just your music, not just your body, but YOU." Marceline slowly placed the princess back on the ground. "It looks like I'm on vacation for a short while. I want to take full advantage of showing you exactly what I mean."

Princess Bubblegum led the vampire to the pantry where she collected her loot of strawberries into her basket. They made their way back up to the bedroom, and Marceline made sure to lock the door behind them.

The End.