Chapter 21: Knight in Shining Flannel
Bubblegum slumped pitifully onto her bead, burying her face fully in the sheets and (almost) wishing she would suffocate then and there. Or be swallowed up by a black hole or bed monster of some kind. Or maybe I could just disappear off the face of the planet whilst they all just get on with their lives! Suffice to say, she had had a bad (see: terrible, dreadful, awful) day with the Candy Council. Seeing as the princess was only fourteen, she was required to seek advice from a group of elder candy citizens when it came to running her kingdom. Yes, my kingdom, though those old…crabapples don't seem to remember that! She huffed and (if possible) sunk even further into her fluffy sheets, not even the warmth and comfort from those assuaging her displeasure.
What she wanted was Marceline. Why is it I always want Marceline? Oh who am I kidding…she's always been here and now that we're together it's just even better. I mean sure, we've only been on two dates and sure, we haven't kissed yet but it's my choice! Three dates, that's what she said. But then again, maybe I need to reevaluate that. She did tell me in a disconnected sort-of manner. Granted, they may not have kissed, but the candy girl certainly thought about it (very, very, very) often. In fact, though she would never admit it, she thought of it almost as frequently as she thought of the Vampire Queen. Nowadays, it seemed the thought of kissing Marceline and the thought of Marceline herself were one in the same. It isn't like you could blame me though…I mean…she's just so…everything!
Seeing as sighing into her comforter and breathing were difficult to do together without her passing out from lack of oxygen, she figured she had best get on with her evening and hope and wish with all of her being that Marceline would come in and whisk her away to their third date so she could finally kiss the vampire. She had envisioned it so many ways, and every way (no matter what) had been excellent and wonderful because she had been kissing Marceline. It had been around a month of their being a couple, and she was getting quite tired of waiting. Not that I can blame her, she does have a mystery kingdom to run and taking a girl on a date when no one must know and in the middle of the night too…I'm surprised we've got two dates under our belt at all…
The candy girl sighed in a dreamy way, her thoughts flowing back to her girlfriend and how wonderful it would be to feel her lips upon her own. It was more than a passing fascination, considering Marceline's condition (vampire). Will they be cold as ice? She's dead after all…what a thrilling sensation that would be! Or perhaps boiling hot for some strange reason. Maybe just normal. Oh and what would Marceline kiss like? I bet she would be an excellent kisser and be all passionate and forceful. Oh no! Maybe I'm a bad kisser! Oh glob! Oh cabbages, cabbages, cabbages!
She felt fear itch its way onto her face as she finished putting on her night clothes. Of course, all of her fears were pointless (at the moment) considering Marceline was nowhere in sight. Still, that didn't mean she wasn't around. The vampire had used her (seemingly) never-ending list of abilities to frighten and startle and tease the candy princess. The girl, put off by Marceline's apparent lack of arrival, sloughed onto her bed once more, this latest addition to her day putting the horrible icing of the dreadful cake. She hadn't felt like crying in so long, and now it hit her full force, bringing tears to her eyes.
Just as they threatened to spill over onto her pillow, a cheery fourteen year old voice said, "Why, good evening, Bonni!" The candy princess turned her head to the side to see a smiling Marceline entering through her balcony doors, which she almost always kept unlocked. Of course, upon seeing the state the young monarch was in, Marceline's smile instantly vanished. She floated over and sat (really sat) on the bed next to Bubblegum's knees, tucking one leg under the other. She placed a kind hand upon Bubblegum's head and asked, "Oh Bonbon, what's wrong?"
This, instead of making the candy girl feel better, made her feel worse, seeing as she was thinking about Marceline being wonderful which led to thinking about Marceline kissing which led to thinking about Marceline being a wonderful kisser which led to thinking about the two of them kissing which led to thinking about her being a terrible kisser. All in all it was a domino effect of disaster as she plunged herself into Marceline's collar and cried about her Candy Council meeting and being a terrible kisser and never being able to go on dates and ruining Marceline's shirt with her tears.
The young monarch had a lot on her plate.
She cried and sobbed out unintelligible words upon Marceline, who held her diligently and cooed soft-spoken reassurances. Eventually, the worst of it all had past and, seeing her head much clearer, Bonnibel pulled slightly (only slightly) away from Marceline, sniffling as she went.
The Vampire Queen swiped stray hair from her face and put on an understanding smile, one of the ones she unknowingly reserved for the candy princess. "So Bonnibel," she began softly, "Why don't you tell me what's up?"
Sniffling again, Bubblegum's tears began to flow, but she managed to speak out as she wrapped herself in Marceline as far as she could go. "I had my Candy Council meeting today and they were all so terrible! I know I'm only fourteen but they went on and on about how I was just some irresponsible child with her head in the clouds and how I wasn't going to amount to a good ruler if I didn't buckle down and to drop all my silly science experiments and…and you!" She squeezed tighter onto Marceline, glad she couldn't breathe for surely she was choking her.
"Oh Marci it was dreadful! They called my experiments stupid and a waste of time and they said that you were just a no good scoundrel who was only being my friend because you wanted leverage over me–whatever that means! It isn't like you'd need it over me for anything! And then they just kept going on about how I wasn't being responsible or respectful of my post and it was just the absolute, lumping-est worst!"
"They said those things to you?" Marceline asked incredulously. Bubblegum only nodded. "You are their Princess! They should be happy to like, lick the bottom of your shoe!" The candy girl couldn't help but giggle, and Marceline took this as her cue to continue. "Do you want to know what I'd have done if I was there?" Bubblegum nodded again, not expecting Marceline to pull away quickly. She turned onto the bed fully and lay on her stomach to look at the girl
"Alright lookie here, Pinkie." She said, having floated over to the end of the room with the balcony behind her. "So all those old fogies just waiting to rot over are talking smack, right? 'You're wasting time.' 'You aren't a good ruler.' 'You're most awesome and amazing friend Marceline is a crook.'" She put on funny voices that sounded like an old toad, a nasal-y stuffed-up librarian, and a mean professor respectively when she imitated the council.
Bubblegum giggled again, her tears well on their way to being forgotten. "Marci, that isn't how they sound…" She teased.
The vampire's head snapped towards her. "Of course they do! How else is an old bunch of old council dudes supposed to sound? That's exactly what they sound like!" she said insistently, pulling another laugh from the candy girl. "Right, anyway, so, 'Blah blah blah and me, me, me and we're a bunch of old ketchup packets' and so I, Marceline, am peering through a window right?" She puts up her hands as though looking through a mirror, glancing over at Bubblegum, making sure she is listening. The Princess has a huge grin on her face, simply loving and drinking in Marceline's clowning.
"And I see my Princess getting more and more distraught by the moment."
"You're princess?" Bubblegum asked, a rare smirk finding its way onto her features.
"Of course my princess! You certainly aren't their princess…unless you are, in which case…ugh…" Marceline gave a fake shudder, and watched devilishly as Bubblegum went from pink to red.
"Marceline that's like, super gross! Yuck!" She scrunched up her face like she'd eaten something sour, the thought of belonging to anyone on the council giving her the yuckies.
Marceline laughed. "Right, so, I see my princess getting more and more distraught under their torturous words. And just as you think you can't take any more–BLAM!" She jumped forward into the room a ways, brandishing her axe bass as though she had smashed her way through the window aforementioned. "In flies Marceline, you're knight in shining…uh…flannel!" she concluded upon looking down at her button up and realizing both its lack of shine, and its lack of being armor. Bubblegum gave a full hearted laugh that sounded like bells at that last sentence, and Marceline smiled for a moment before putting on her 'serious face' at the imaginary scenario.
"And so I say to them all 'You have like, no coolness at all, dudes!' And the one guy turns to me and says, 'But she has her head in the clouds!' and I take that guy and Wham-O! Carry that guy up to the ceiling and smash him right through!" She mimicked both the motion and the voice. "I laugh and say, 'Head in the clouds, indeed!' and I say 'indeed' because I know you like that word." She explained. "Then the next geezer turns and says, 'But her hooligan friend…!' and this guy is a cinnamon mind, so I suck him of all his red," she made a huge, wet slurping sound, pushing Bubblegum further, who was now laughing full blast with tears in her eyes at Marceline's antics, "And when I'm done sucking that doofus gray, I send him crying home to his momma! And then the last guy, 'she has stupid experiments!' he says."
Bubblegum calmed down a bit but still smiled as Marceline's voice turned a bit more serious. "To him, I say, 'You're a total idiot. Bonni's the smartest person in the kingdom, probably in Ooo, and probably on the planet so there!'" She turned to the candy girl and offered a sincere smile, floating her way back onto the bed and bringing herself face-to-face with the princess. "And then I punch his counseling butt right in the face." The last sentence was spoken quietly.
Bubblegum doesn't know why she does it or how it happened, but all of a sudden, she is kissing Marceline and it is wonderful. It's soft but passionate and kind and burning and Marceline's lips feel positively electric and to say she felt sparks was almost literal. It was as though the entire girl was buzzing with the sensation of being kissed by Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum. The princess wasn't worried anymore; how could she be? Kissing Marceline was so natural, so easy; it flowed off of her and into her girlfriend like the sweetest honey. The vampire wasn't too pushy or too eager, nor was she too shy or timid. It was nothing and everything Bubblegum had imagined it to be. It was more than that. She felt as though she could die kissing Marceline, like breathing was unnecessary because that meant stopping. Still, all too soon, the candy princess pulled away, a dreamy look on her face.
Marceline smiled hugely at her, and this slowly pulled her from her reverie, a sense of dread washing over Bubblegum as she realized. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. Marceline's brow furrowed in concern, but before she could voice anything, Bubblegum continued. "Oh Marci how could I? Oh no, oh cabbages! No I was not supposed to kiss you until after our third date and we haven't gone on our third date yet! This is terrible!"
Marceline looked at her a moment, checking to see if Bubblegum was for real, before breaking out in peals of laughter, causing the princess to go from distraught, to mad. "I–I–I'm sorry, Bonni!" She guffawed, "Is that all? I–I–I thought I did something wrong!" She gasped, before exploding with laughter once more. Moments passed, and she wiped a stray tear from her eye. Swooping down to face a haughty Bonni, she said, "Just give me a few minutes, 'kay Bonnibel?" And with a peck on the lips, Marceline flew out the balcony doors, leaving a stunned princess in her wake.
Bubblegum took to staring at nothing. I kissed her. I did it. I kissed her. She didn't kiss me first, I kissed her first. I did it. We kissed…we kissed! Oh and it was amazing and I'm going to have to tell her that she has to come over every day because there is simply no way in Ooo that I can go a day without kissing her! Oh it felt like electricity and dusk light and old books and shadows dancing and just everything! And she tasted like strawberries and candy and everything sweet and Marceline all wrapped up into one! Bubblegum, completely lost in dream-land, hadn't noticed Marceline come back into the room.
The vampire cleared her throat, and the princess turned to her, even dreamier now that the object of her affections was floating before her. "If you would be so kind as to accompany me on a brief fly, your highness." Marceline said with false pompous, giving a low bow and offering her hand.
Bubblegum giggled, and said, "Why of course, my liege. Please, lead the way." She said in her own fake 'royal' voice, before hopping into Marceline's arms bridal-style. They flew to one of the farthest and tallest roofs of her palace. There, Bubblegum realized that (somehow) Marceline had managed to get a whole café table and two chairs up there along with a complete pasta dinner with meatballs and Italian bread and butter. There were even two roses in a small vase at the center of the table.
Marceline placed Bubblegum down and pulled out a chair, pushing it in ever so gentlemanly as the princess sat. Marceline positioned herself across the table and scratched embarrassedly at the back of her neck. "The pink rose is you and the grey one is me." She said, motioning to the flowers in the center. "And I know it's just a pasta dinner on a roof top but it's all I could manage in ten minutes and I hope you count this as our third date and that it saves everything." She rambled nervously.
Bubblegum smiled that small smile that Marceline didn't know meant 'I love you.'
"Marci it's wonderful. It's perfect. And of course you saved the day; you're my Knight in Shining Flannel, after all!" they shared a small laugh, and ate their pasta under the stars.
A/N
First off I'd like to say I am so so so so SO sorry for not updating in over a week! You all must want to hang me! It was just bad timing and a bunch of other junk. But there is no excuse! And I will try my utmost to be better! I promise! Obviously, this is their first kiss, so requested by Mnemosyne and XxMoonstarxX. Hope it was okay! I actually really like this one. Thought it was cute.
PLEASE REVIEW AND SUGGEST!
I would like to thank you all and send all my love to those of you reading and reviewing this story. The response to this dinky thing has been incredible, especially seeing how small the community for Adventure Time is anyway. I was reading fics that are like, 'reviews=updates' and 'no new chapter until X number of reviews' and I want to punch those people in the face. That's writing for self-gratification, instead of for making people happy, which is what I hope I'm doing with this fic. Anyway I just wanted you all to know that it doesn't matter if I get zero reviews of 2834 reviews, I'll still write this, because someone out there is happy reading it. Next might be smut. You've been warned.
-JD