It all started with a jacket. It had been innocent enough, sweet even, but somehow it landed Bubblegum in the bathroom's doorway with a pair of jeans and a sweater in her arms, gaping at the naked back of Marceline. She'd only meant to sneak in and briskly drape the clothes over the towel rack, but a black flash distracted her and she peered in the direction of the movement. Marceline had forgotten to close the shower curtain and she had her hair splashed over her shoulder as she scrubbed at her head, back entirely exposed to Bubblegum. Her shoulder blades danced as she washed her hair and, without meaning to, the princess followed the path of Marceline's spine and so on, until she reached her feet.

Realising that she was ogling, Bubblegum quickly slung the clothes over the towel rack and left the bathroom, face flushed.

All day she'd been tending to her people, who had recently caught a new sickness that originated from the Slime Kingdom. The Candy People had developed slick surfaces and slime was oozing from their mouth, nose, and ears. It had something to do with contaminated food and now the Slime Flu was sweeping the land. Bubblegum had been working on a serum that would not only cure her people of the flu, but also prevent them from getting it again.

Between comforting the ill, preparing for the upcoming Grand Meeting of Ooo Royalty, and concocting an antidote, Bubblegum had very little time to think about the vampire in the dungeon. The vampire that was meant to be a monster, the vampire that, despite her past, managed to uplift Bubblegum's spirits. Her personality was trickling out for the princess to see, to admire, but Bubblegum tried to convince herself that Marceline was still dangerous, no matter how safe and charismatic she seemed.

But that night when she entered her room, Bubblegum was delighted to find Marceline sprawled across her bed, limbs outstretched. She grinned, goggles glinting in the lamplight as she tilted her head towards the princess.

"I hope your guards aren't always this lenient," she said, crossing one leg over the other. Her boots had been haphazardly kicked off by Bubblegum's nightstand, who sat by the vampire and yawned.

"No, they're only like this under my orders. It confused them at first, but I suppose they stopped viewing you as a threat and relaxed when you didn't try to break out," she explained.

"It's true," Marceline murmured thoughtfully.

"What is?"

"I'm not a threat to you," she affirmed with a pleasant smile.

"No, I don't think you are," Bubblegum returned, studying the stretched lips and sharp teeth that didn't induce even a thread of fear inside her. Was her unguarded behaviour foolish? She shivered then, the colder weather being too recent for her to think to wear a warmer gown. Marceline noticed this and removed her jacket, bending forward so she could place it over Bubblegum's shoulders. She stopped herself.

"Sorry. You'd probably rather be cold than dirty, right?" she asked, realising the state of her apparel. She'd worn the same thing for so long. Her enchanted clothes were slow to deteriorate, but they still needed to be washed from time to time. The vampire hadn't showered since she'd started this mission. Well, technically, she had been caught in the rain, so that counted. Sort of.

"I don't mind," Bubblegum assured, grabbing the sleeves of Marceline's jacket and tugging them down so that it landed over her shoulders. It wasn't warm at first, but it eventually reflected her body heat and she sighed. "How improper of me," she chastised.

"What's that?"

"It's not too late, so please feel free to use the bathroom to shower and I will lend you some clothes while I have these washed," Bubblegum said, indicating to what Marceline was currently wearing.

"Princess, no, it's cool, I-"

"You'll smell like a corpse soon," she interjected. Marceline stood from the bed and walked towards the bathroom, looking over her shoulder as she swept off her hat.

"I already am one."

She closed the door behind her.

As Marceline came out, Bubblegum's clothes hanging loosely from her lanky body, the princess frowned when she saw that, despite this casual appearance, Marceline still wore her goggles. She'd only been able to imagine what kind of hard gaze Marceline had, which, Bubblegum thought, was silly considering she'd already seen the vampire's butt.

"Take those off," Bubblegum ordered lightly. Marceline smirked and then shrugged.

"If you say so," she consented, reaching for the loaned pale yellow sweater and started pulling it up, her taut stomach peeking out through the slit that grew as she raised the sweater higher and higher.

"No, no! I didn't mean that," Bubblegum mended, quickly pointing to the vampire's face. "I meant your eyewear."

The smirk fell from Marceline's face like her sweater fell to circle her hips. She made no move to take off her goggles and she drifted into the air uncomfortably.

"I'd rather be a faceless murderer, Bonnibel. You can't hide me forever, you know; I'll have to leave soon."

"I don't want you to go..."

"Why?"

"I just don't."

"Do you expect me to sneak out of my cell every night to come see you? To let you feed me?" She roughly grabbed at the sweater she wore and proceeded: "Clothe me? Care for me like I'm a useless kid? Am I to remain your secret?" Marceline interrogated petulantly.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Bubblegum countered, furious because she truly didn't want Marceline to leave, but she didn't see any options other than the ones the vampire had listed.

Marceline wasn't prepared for Bubblegum's question and with an engulfing bout of hopelessness, she sank back down to the ground. Her jaw clenched tightly as her bare feet hit the carpet and her fangs pierced her bottom lip- blood trickled down her chin. With a swipe of her thumb, Bubblegum caught the drop of red, and a rusty smear was left in its place.

"Until either of us know the answer, please," she clutched Marceline's arm, "stay with me."

The vampire didn't speak, and she didn't show any gesture of agreement. She maintained her glacial silence while she slowly floated over to the chamber door. Saddened, Bubblegum glanced away and informed dejectedly, "I'll make sure to give you your clothes before the guards check on you tomorrow."

When she looked back up, she was alone.