InK-on-her-fingers: Well okay then!

FadedBurn: I seriously try for 2,000, but always fall short :( to about 1,000-1,500. Some meet or exceed my word quota, but most do not. And OH MY GLORY I JUST FANGIRL SQUEALED WHEN I SAW YOUR PROFILE! Yah that's not creepy...XD

Ed Nigma: Don't apologize; be happy! I actually missed the episode The Lich (sadness!), but I will see it at some point in time! And yeah, I see those. Hm. I'll spend some time with 'em and check them out thoroughly, but they'll probably appear up on my profile.

Random: Everyone has darkness in them, even Finn. Vampires can't be seen in light mirrors because their souls have simply been polluted (nut not destroyed!) by darkness.

Pablojcd: Suspiciousness!

Ovks and Marceline: :D

Mr. penguin991: Thanks! My mom gets angry at me for writing it (she thinks this is a porn site) and forbade me from ever coming on here again...like three years ago when she discovered it. Whoops, must've forgotten.

Kittles: I believe that souls belong to everyone...yes even vampires. And in the wild, dogs (wolves, to be exact) have a highly advanced social structure! What do cats do? They sit there and be lonely.

BladeGuy9: Finn's desire to do anything for Marcie will come back...next chapter! Heheh.

Marceline of the Nightosphere: :3

FincelineForever: Will check it out!

Heavywolfblade: :)

Suko: Wow, thanks! Honestly, I'm not entirely sure...I haven't written him in yet, but I can always try to squeeze in some extra action somewhere!

He23t: Ask the goblins XD I didn't think, just wrote

radicaldizzytacoz: You are an amazing person :)

Disclaimer: I hate having no more originality...


Chapter 28: Days Off


Finn smiled as he awoke to the pleasantness of being loved by a vampire. He kissed her forehead, awakening her from her deep slumber. She blinked and looked at him through a sleepy haze, and she was beautiful even then.

"Morning," he said softly.

"Shut up, you," was her wry response as she floated out of the bed. He sat up and pulled her down, into him, so her hands were pressed into his chest and her head was lower than the rest of her. They lay back on the bed together and just cuddled for a bit, each enjoying the feeling of love pulsing tangibly from the other.

But all good things must end, this one with Finn's grumbling stomach. Marceline poked it.

"Hungry, much?"

"I didn't eat dinner, remember?"

"...Oh yeah..." she grinned as she remembered exactly why he hadn't eaten dinner.

"I'm making us breakfast today," Finn said.

"Mm...you do look like breakfast," she traced patterns on his bare chest.

"Marcie! I'm serious!" he whined. "You pretty much always make up the food'n stuff. Today, I'm giving you the day off."

"Pft. Only if you take a day off from doing hero stuff. Alone. Without me. 'Cause you always tell me that it's your 'bro time' with Jake. Which is technically not alone…"

"Uh, well..."

"Then I guess I'll have to make dinner, and clean the house, and—"

"Fine!" he cut her off and she smirked with triumph. "But only if you get offa me."

"There are a lotta terms to this," she stuck her tongue out briefly, "whatever we're doing."

"Only because I love you and want what's best for you," he teased.

"Oh shut up," but she was grinning.

"So we're both taking the day off to spend time together," Finn confirmed. Marceline nodded, and he smiled.

"Well. What should we do first?"


They ended up just hanging out.

"...so then, Jake says—"

"Hang on a sec. You're saying you went into the Mines of Despair, fought the gilded troll, won, moved on to the gilded dragon, and had enough time for Jake to make a snappy comeback?"

"Well yeah. The troll wasn't too tough, and the dragon was super slow getting started," Finn blushed a little.

"Liar. That's why you came over all beat up; you lost a fight."

"No I didn't!"

"Loser!"

"Grargh!" he tackled her to the ground, and they rolled until she was on top.

"Can't best a vampire, sweetie," Marceline teased him a little, seemingly oblivious to his very real anger. Finn released a deep breath.

"Just...just don't call me a loser," she let him up, and they sat there on the roof for a time.

"Why?" was her eventual and inevitable question.

"I...I'm...all the other kids called me that whenever we'd play a game and I'd lose. Jake and Jermaine would always defend me, but..."

"I get it," Marceline didn't comfort him physically, but he felt her soothing touch in his mind and in his heart.

"Okay," he leaned into her, and she leaned back, both of them now shaded by her hat. "I believe you," and he did.

"How 'bout we go beat up those gilded punks and take the treasure?" Marceline suggested. Finn frowned.

"I thought you said—?"

"I'll be with you, weenie," she knocked on his head. "I said 'alone' earlier."

"Oh. Well in that case..." Finn grinned. "I'm in."


"So..." he said as he dodged a punch by a giant, pig-headed, golden-furred beast with a clubbed tail. "Is this a date?"

"No, Finn," Marceline dodged the tail's swipe and swung her ax bass as a hand came up to grab her. "This is definitely not a date."

"Oh I think it is," he rolled aside as the troll stomped at him, then leapt to his feet and started to climb up its leg.

"No, it's really not," she flew up between the monster's eyes, only to have it grab her in one hand.

"Why?" Finn whined as he ran down the troll's arm and stabbed its hand. It howled and dropped Marceline, who immediately swung her ax bass around.

"Well for one, we're kinda fighting a troll, and for two, your breath stinks."

"Hey!" Finn protested. The troll picked him up, dropped him, and prepared to sit on him.

"Oh no! Uh-uh! Nobody sits on Finn but me!" Finn didn't exactly see what happened, but he knew that his girlfriend was kicking troll butt...er, face. Front. Whatever. As the troll toppled backwards, Marceline scooped him up in her arms and flew him clear. They hovered there, in the dank mines lit only by pale lanterns, for a few seconds.

"Onwards, m'lady!" Finn finally shouted. She raised an eyebrow.

"You sir, can walk," she dropped him a good ten feet to the ground. Finn landed in a crouch and rolled dramatically to leap to his feet. Marceline laughed, and they moved onward.

"Hey Marcie?"

"Mm?"

"...Never mind."

"What the heck, Finn! You know I hate when you do that!" he just chuckled. "Okay, what?"

"You're adorable when you're mad," she tossed up her hands, whapped him upside the head, and floated away. Finn laughed and chased her, grabbing her waist from behind.

"Finn, get off!" she tried to dislodge his hands.

"No," he held her tighter. "I love you too much," he could almost feel the blush he knew was there.

A roar broke the shared silence, and a gold-scaled dragon reared up from a previously unnoticed chasm to snarl at the couple. Marceline grabbed Finn's hand and flew him into a shadowy crevice behind a rock, shielding them from a sudden onslaught of flames.

"Okay genius. Any ideas?" she was grinning madly at their close proximity.

"Kill it?"

"Well duh. How?"

"Um…you draw its fire and I'll ambush it! From behind!"

"Awesome. Good luck," she kissed his cheek and flew out. "Hey! Your breath smells like socks!" when the dragon turned its head to blast her, Finn fell like a rock.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!" he whipped out his sword and jabbed the dragon in the eye, the blade going straight up into its brain. The dragon screeched and fell into the chasm. Finn looked up at Marceline as she caught him by the hand. "Anticlimactic?" he guessed, remembering her saying that word back in the Cloud Kingdom. She nodded. "Uh…" he looked at where the rock was starting to crack, reddish-orange glowing through. "What's that?"

"Well Finn, the Mines of Despair were built into a dormant volcano…"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning we'd better get the heck outta here!" she began to fly, just as the magma began to explode from the wall, filling up the chasm to the brim.


After barely escaping the volcano with their lives, Finn and Marceline headed back home in time to receive a phone call for Marceline.

"Well, I'm going to visit Bonnie. No boys allowed," she said as she put down the phone.

"Aww…"

"Yup. Don't do anything stupid!" He feigned innocence, making her laugh as she flew off, then sat on the couch to think.

Marceline.

He knew he wanted to spend his mortal life with her, and he knew he would be happy to die defending her health.

He knew that he loved her.

And in that instant, Finn knew what he had to do.

He grabbed some bug milk and a piece of chalk, drawing the smiley face on the wall.

"Maloso vobiscum et cum spiritum!" Finn cried, watching the fiery portal open. Marceline's dad wasn't standing there, so he had to jump through. He landed in the same living room as before. Shrugging, Finn looked around.

"Mr. Abadeer? Mr. Abadeer..." Finn called over the roaring fire. Marceline's dad walked in, scowling.

"Finn? What are you doing in the Nightosphere?"

"I'm here to talk to you."

"About what?" Finn took a deep breath.

"Sir, I'd like to marry your daughter."