Author's Note: I live! I LIIIVE! First off, I want to apologize very deeply to my readers for my extended absence, things are getting a bit heavy on my end: finals, organization, etc., and I let this get by. I honestly let this idle, and I'm sorry for that, I'm sorry to you all and to this story.
Good news, though, I finish this semester next week, so that should free me up for a more stable schedule.
Again, sorry that this update came so late, and thank you so much for sticking with me!
Okay, let's try this again!

Gumball paced around the well-lit room, that good ol' neurosis coming to the forefront of his brains again, reminding him of all the wonderful variables that could turn to the negatives, like for instance:

Did this setup look alright? Was it too much? Too little? Was his clothing okay?

Would he fail their expectations? Would this not have been worth their suspense?

Would they be uncomfortable? Would they laugh?

Did he pick the right colour scheme?!

He clapped his hands over his face, willing himself to calm. The fudge. Down.

"It's going to go well," he chided himself, "It will be just fine. This will be a nice, casual get-together, not some formal dinner party. Cake, Fionna, Marshall, and you, Monochro, will all be together in the same room. The personalities and natural social tendencies will be compatible and distract from any flaws in the setting, and the food has my personal influence and. . . Oh my glob, Fionna and Marshall will both be here in the same place at the same time with me at oooonce!"

Monochromicorn was by this time eyeing his royal companion with some concern, but this was largely overtaken by the general air of 'oh, there that guy goes again', followed by the general nonverbal indication of 'just get this over with, buddy'.

This required a brief retreat to the washroom, where the prince doused his face repeatedly with cold water to insure that that would be the assumed culprit for this accursed face-flush that darkened his natural hue.

He breathed in, and out, in, and out, and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Goodness, you are a chick." he told himself drily, and then smiled, which quickly turned to a slight frown at remembering Marshall's amused comment from that night of the Karaoke Party, and at his aura and assertion of pure dominance just a little while ago on that very balcony. He chuckled to himself, musing that he was probably going to tread into some dangerous territory, taking up that guy's subtle, probably unintentional challenge. But it had stung his pride a bit, after he thought about it, and he found that he wanted to prove Marshall dead wrong, pun definitely intended.

Besides, it was about time that the vampire had a few pages taken from his own book.

Taken, edited, and personalized.

Gumball then briefly wondered if it was a bit...cruel, using Fionna to validate his masculinity.

But then, he wanted her to see him as more than someone to be rescued, just as he wanted her to see that he saw her as more than some hero, more than some 'pal'. He wanted them both to see more, from every perspective.

He wiped his face off with a mauve towel, and looked with slight wistfulness at the color, but shook his head, looking at himself in the mirror again. He wouldn't need to get rid of anything to let them see what he wanted them to.

He simply had to show them what was there the entire time.

Yes, he thought to himself, tonight was going to be just fine.

He felt more than heard the fresh draft of air come in through the room outside, and left the washroom to stand next to Monochro, ready to greet his most welcome guests with a smile.

Fionna slid off quickly as Marshall landed on the balcony, turning around to watch him stretch as he morphed back. "Let's do this thing." he said, smiling, and she nodded back with a cheerful grin, as they pushed through the curtains together.

Marshall's reaction was expressed by both of his eyebrows rising into the scruffy-banged heights of his forehead.
Likewise Fionna's jaw dropped, her goofy gaping fish expression strangely endearing as the duo took in the room.
Cake 'oohed' appreciatively, pupils widening to take in the scene.

The room was lit appropriately for the evening, with bright, homey lanterns chasing away the corner shadows and giving the room an outdoorsy feel, despite the walls and ceiling. The ceiling light was strangely unlit, but probably so that the light, gauzy lavender drapes wouldn't catch fire. These drapes swooped gently down from the fixture to sort of subtly frame, enclose and accent the sitting area set up in the middle of the room. Big, baggy cushions and pillows and small lumpy-yet-nice-looking couches were set around a low table, and while there was still pink here and there, there were also reds, purples, and even oranges thrown into the mix.

The centerpiece itself was quite a sight.

When one looked closely at the large, low, circular table they saw that it could spin, and that its surface was subtly divided according to its contents, and its contents were essentially the makings of a tea party. But it made one strange tea party. There were different teapots, teacups, different kinds of sweets and foodstuffs, some looking elegant while others looked so humble, contrasting yet strangely compatible.
It looked fun, if food could be called fun.

Marshall grinned as he already saw some red-looking things placed here and there at each section, Fionna was already circling around to eye the spread as if it were her next opponent, eyes wide and fascinated and glittery.

The whole thing was odd, exotic, almost garish, yet comfortable-looking.

"Looks like a fine party, GB." Marshall approved, sounding casual to disguise his interest, floating overhead to look down at the cups. Some of them didn't even look like cups, they looked like dishes!

Cake had already hopped out of Fionna's hat to snuggle up to Monochro, who was already tapping out his crazy staccato lingo into the carpet.

Gumball smiled, leaning back on one of the couches, seeming to finally relax, "Thanks, I do hope you like it."

"What is all this stuff?!" Fionna asked excitedly, pointing to one pot of tea that smelled like hot oranges.

Gumball cleared his throat, straightening up, "It's all tea, essentially, in most of its forms. If you want, I could offer a more in-depth explanation, though it'll take some time and a slight history lesson."

"Hey, we're all here to get to know stuff, so enlighten us, man. I wanna know what I'm looking at here." Marshall told him, taking up what looked like a red cake-bun thing and turning it over in his hand, sniffing curiously.

"Well, for starters, a lot of this has its roots from before the Mushroom War," Gumball explained, watching with amusement as Fionna gently turned the table carousel around, watching the display pass by in her fascinated gaze. She really was raised by cats. "There was a lot of...of culture, back then, like a culture was a Kingdom, and a lot of those cultures made teas, according to their regions and traditions." He held up a hand, ticking off his fingers, "There was the Land of Europe, I think it was called, and in there, there was the French Kingdom, the British Kingdom, and then that Land of America place across their ocean. Then there was most prominently the East and the South Asia Lands, with a lot of the tea recipes coming from the Japan, Taiwan, China, and Tibet Kingdoms, but mostly the China Kingdom, or at least that's where I was able to get the most recipes from." He gestured to the table, "I couldn't get all of those cultures here, obviously. Some of the recipe ingredients were extinct or too heavily mutated, and frankly, some of it just turned out gross."

He paused when this made Marshall laugh, and smiled a bit, "Anyway, some of it's simply fascinating. The preparations involved, the meanings, the ceremonies, the effects, but honestly, I loved all the variety from such a beverage, and I wanted to share that with you all."

"That's really cool, GB." Fionna said happily, now simply moving the table back and forth, careful not to shake its load. "This stuff's awesome!"

She paused, and looked suspiciously at the saucers, "But how do you drink some of this stuff?"

Gumball laughed, getting up, "This is some of the fun part, here, let me show you. In fact, I'll serve you some, alright?"

"O-okay." Fionna said, blushing slightly, watching him fill up a saucer of hot orange tea for her, and listen to him tell her about some of the Chinese Kingdom.

Marshall noticed this, humming thoughtfully around a jaw-full of sweet red pastry that was gently fading to a tasteless gray, but didn't bother looking into it in exchange to hearing about a place he'd once known, but never really knew.

He later forgot about Fionna's blush, and Gumball's disturbingly thoughtful look to that blush, when the guy introduced to him a slightly spicy, citrus-y kind of red tea that was frankly freaking tasty. He could actually drink the whole thing!

This was an awesome night.

Cake lounged against her pillow-y boyfriend, enjoying the benefits of an herbal catnip tea prince-y boy had made just for her, feeling like a queen and having fun like a friend. She glanced at the trio, Gumball and Fionna listening as Marshall Lee told them about some guy named after the Marco Polo game. She'd never get humans. She was just fine with Monochro, but then again, she didn't get him either.

She glanced at the noir unicorn in question, playfully suspicious.

"You knowin' somethin' I'm not, hon, that why you bein' so quiet?" she asked not so playfully, catnip making her loose.

He reluctantly but firmly tapped something out.

She sniffed, "Yeah, yeah, pals before gals. But if whatever's goin' on gets her all cray-cray, I'm puttin' you out in the stable, and no amount of sweet-talkin's gonna woo this lady on that day, sugarcane."

His ears flicked idly when he nuzzled her, one hoof tapping smoothly.

Her fur fluffed a bit.

"Ooh, boy, maybe that talkin' might woo me." she purred.

Another bout of tapping. Her fur practically crackled like she'd taken on static electricity.

"Don't say stuff like that in front a' the people, ya shameless kelpie!" she giggled, swatting playfully at his nose.

Monochro chuffed at her, sipping idly from a sweet grass blend, glad that things weren't going too into a contemplative mood, and hoping to glob that whatever mess his friend was getting into wouldn't involve his love life.

The night wore on, and Fionna sat beside Cake, drinking one of the gentler teas in a cup she was more used to. Saucer cups were fine and all, but she kept feeling like she'd spill it. Her belly was full of hot beverage and tasty treats, her head pleasantly fuzzy as she watched a 'debate' between Monochro and Marshall, with Gumball as the translator and some sort of moderator. They were talking about foosball of all things.

Guys and their sports.

She kinda looked forward to girl time.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, Cake?" she asked.

"Hmm?" the cat mumbled, already groggy from the relaxing tea.

"I really am sorry about, y'know, blowing up at you back there." Fionna tugged at one of the ears of her hat.

"I didn't have to be that mad, it wasn't too much to be mad about, so I'm guessing it was kinda mean."

"Yeah, it was," Cake agreed bluntly, but she was smiling, and patted her sister on the head, "But I had some of the blame there, too. Can't help it that Monochro's hot. But you and me are gonna get some bonding time out of it, Fio, 'cause we both said our sorries now, yeah? Is all good!"

Fionna smiled, "Thanks."

Cake winked at her, and they both looked up when Marshall started shouting.

"Alright, I'll concede the back line having the most agility and point criteria, but you gotta give more credit to the strength of the middlemen!"

"Don't bite the messenger!" Gumball protested, as he'd been the one who got shouted at.

The vampire was snarling, fangs exposed, while the dark unicorn looked back at him coolly, apparently not crediting.

Marshall rounded to the couch, "Fur-ball, talk some sense into horse-face here!"

Cake sniffed, "I don't think I wanna if you're gonna spit names like that."

Marshall hissed, and she hissed back, but didn't move.

Marshall Lee glared, and then grumbled out, "Cake? Would you kindly convince your equine to give proper consideration to team dynamics?"

Fionna snickered as Cake grinned, "We-ell, I guess so, since ya asked so nicely for once. With big words, too!"

She hopped down as the Vampire King grumbled, and swished over to Monochro, "Okay, tell me the sitch, baby!" she purred.

Gumball left them, assured that Cake would be the new translator, and sat next to Fionna with a rough sigh.

"Well," he finally said, "I would never have considered our fanged friend for a sports fanatic."

"Really?" Fionna asked, watching them bicker, but it seemed friendly, "I thought he was more into music."

"Interests can diversify, Fionna." Gumball reminded her, and then looked at the table, "Oh, it seems we're running low on some of the food. I should get some more from the kitchen." He looked at her, smiling, "Could you help me, please?"

Fionna stretched, "Sure."

They both hopped up, collecting some of the dirty dishes along the way, "It's kind of cool, though." she told the prince, as they took the stuff back to the small kitchenette to set next to the sink. Thankfully he hadn't used any genuine articles for serving. All of the tea-things were made from a durable material.

"What is?" he asked.

"Some of this stuff isn't even sweet. That's pretty weird, but cool." she gestured with a cup that had held black tea.

He smiled down at her, "Some things don't need sweetness to be enjoyable."

He laughed, "Ironic isn't it? I had to learn that lesson the hard way."

"How?" she asked, and his smile turned a bit funny, "That's a story for another time." he told her.

She nodded, rinsing off some of the leftover food bits from a plate, while he took more food down from the cupboards.

She flinched a bit when his arm was suddenly reaching over her.

"Excuse me." Gumball said from behind her, taking down one tin, and then another from higher up, and Fionna was once again reminded of the guy's height. She could pick him up, sure, but she was short, and she was a girl while he was a guy.
She sometimes forgot that.

But she was certainly remembering it now. She stared up at the arm over her head as it rummaged for something he almost couldn't reach. "I'm sorry, am I crowding you?" she heard him ask, and she nearly jumped when she realized if she backed away even just a little she'd bump right into him.

"N-n-no, you're fine!" she told him, still staring up at the arm, feeling her face get hot. He was in a white T-shirt with short pink sleeves.

She could see his arms. When the hack had she ever seen his arms?

. . . They were pretty okay arms.

"—na? Fionna?"

"Ah-ba-ha, right, yes, what?!" she asked, darting to the side so she could look at him, holding the dish in front of her.

She was probably getting leftover food stuff on her shirt, and probably looking way too hyper. Fudge.

The prince blinked at her, and then laughed a bit, "Sorry, sorry, I guess I was crowding you."

He gently took the plate from her to put it in the sink, and laughed again, "Sorry, next time I'll put less sugar in the tea, hm?"

"R-right." she laughed back, fiddling with her hair.

When did seeing a dude's arms make her freak out this much?

"Do you enjoy this, Fionna?" she heard him ask, and looked up.

"Huh?"

"This 'party'. I've decided to call it a Casual Tea. I've had a lot of fun having it with you all."

He rubbed the back of his head, "I was hoping, in fact, that maybe we could try this again next week, just to relax."

Fionna paused, thinking it over, and looked at him, "It wouldn't be too much trouble to set up, would it?" she asked. He shook his head, "No, no, I was thinking of bringing variety to it each time. Maybe we can collect some ideas from the others for how the next Casual Tea goes. Do you think it's a good idea?"

Fionna frowned as she thought it over. If she remembered, they all didn't really get together like this often, outside of all the fancy parties and things. And it was a good idea, a chance to have a good time without worrying for the moment.

"Yeah, I think it is." she answered, and laughed when he grinned, "Excellent!"

He went back to stacking some of the tins, but paused, and turned back to her, a gentler smile on his face.

"I'm really happy that you like this, Fionna." he told her, and she smiled at him, a bit more at ease now that there was some breathing room.
"Yeah, it's pretty fun." she admitted.

"Better than helping the Fluffy People?"

He laughed as that made her stammer, and he lifted his hands to calm her, "Sorry, sorry, yes, it's just that I know that most things I propose aren't so adventurous for someone like you, unless I'm kidnapped or brainwashed or some random crisis happens," he had Marshall to thank for some of that helpful insight, "So I've tried to make things be a little less, well, 'lame'."

"It's not lame! Wasn't!" Fionna protested, "You're okay, it really, really wasn't! Daisy chains are cool and stuff, badawesome! With their petals looking like blades of white ninja stars ready to chunk into their enemies and—!"

Gumball crossed his arms, his smile taking on a quirk, "Fionna?"

She paused, looked at that expression, and stopped, clenching her jaw to prevent another fishy jaw drop.

That was the new expression, that 'un-Gumball' expression, and this time it was staying longer.

"Right. Sugar. Shutting up." she squeaked.

He finally relaxed, his smile going back to that benign Prince-y one, "I've never really expressed my gratitude properly, have I?"

He straightened, tilting his head a bit, as she heroically did not gape stupidly at this weird, 'un-Gumball' moment.

"You rescue me, you help my Kingdom, you help so much, being the hero you are." His smile widened, "Like in stories. Heroes need a proper thank-you from those they rescue, don't they? In the stories? So..." he leaned down and in, and her brain was shorting out as his face got wa-a-ay close to hers, and he laughed.

He leaned in those last few bits of air, and she felt something press against one of her cheeks, and stay, warm and soft, and then back off and press her other cheek, warm and soft and smelling like candy floss and something not so sweet. He backed off just a little.

"Thank you." he told her, and she could feel his breath on her face, smelling like tea.

This time the fish-face gaping was mandatory.

He backed off, smiling as if nothing had happened at all, and picked up the tins. "I think these have all that we need. I'll go set these up!"

She followed, her brains feeling like cotton candy and mush, her cheeks blazing, yet cool and tingling.

What the stuff just happened?

Marshall looked up from where Monochro and Cake were sketching a foosball field into the carpet, to see GB come out with more stuff for the table, followed by Fionna, who... Marshall frowned, Fionna who frankly looked like...like... He glanced back quickly to GB, who was smiling that same annoying smile he always did, but this one had that look of triumph. It didn't take a mathemagician to add one and one.

"Evil." he hissed quietly to himself, feeling displeased, annoyed, maybe even cheated, but also a little bit proud.

Author's Note: Fluff. Feel free to crit the fluff. I'm going to explain if some of the format comes out funny. I write these chapters firsthand into the document manager, which does have a full-screen I can use to estimate how it'll look, but in some cases it's plain hit or miss. I'm going to do my best to edit, but I'm going to do this when I have more time with which to do so. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks very much for sticking around. Again, sorry for the wait.
Please anticpate the schedule returning to normal! Sincerely, the hatchling.