The rest of the day passed in a blur.
Bubblegum helped Marceline pack for the camping trip, although they both knew full well that she would have to leave before the sun came up. It would most likely end up being less of a camping trip and more of a sleepless night in the dark with a fire. It seemed fine with Marcy though; she was obviously just excited to have something to do besides eating and being subjected to experiments.
"Finn and Jake will supply the marshmallows, since you don't have any here, and I don't really want to risk going back to the Candy Kingdom just yet." Bubblegum was saying while she stuffed her own sleeping bag back into her backpack. "We'll set up the tent, even though we won't be staying. It'll provide a better atmosphere. Do you still have that old tent somewhere around here?"
Marceline raised an eyebrow, kneeling in front of an overflowing bag of blankets that was proving to be impossible to zip up. "How would I know?"
Bubblegum stood up, smacking the dust off of her pants. "Right. I'll check the closet."
The tent was there, wrapped in plastic and walled in by a lofty pile of Marceline's junk, covered in several years' worth of dust. Yeesh, when was the last time they had used this thing? When was the last time Marceline had so much as opened this closet door? To Bubblegum's relief, the tent slid out smoothly, and Marcy's stuff didn't tumble from the closet avalanche-style like she had worried it might.
"So… camping," Marceline said, running a finger through the grime coating the plastic bag that Bubblegum now had hoisted over her shoulder. "The only thing I remember is a couple constellations, I think there's a fire." She looked to Bubblegum for reassurance. "Right?"
"Essentially," Bubblegum answered offhandedly, wondering at the same time the best way to clean this thing. She decided they might as well just set it up as it was, considering they probably wouldn't so much as set foot inside it let alone sleep in it. She dropped the bundle on top of the rest of their stuff. All packed. "It's about that stuff, sure. But it's more about being connected to your surroundings. Returning to your origins, you know?"
"Not in the slightest, Bonnie."
Marceline's voice was so deadpan that Bubblegum couldn't help but laugh. "You'll see, Marcy. Sometimes things don't make sense until they do."
Marceline chuckled and tossed a couch pillow in Bubblegum's direction. "Yeah, that doesn't make sense."
"But it will!" Grinning, she swatted the pillow away. "You'll see."
Before Bubblegum knew it, the already dim light coating the inside of the cave melted into darkness. Nighttime at last.
Marceline had graciously offered her bed to Bubblegum with the idea that the vampire queen could sleep suspended in the air somewhere else in the room. It wasn't quite what Bubblegum had planned, but this was fine. At least she didn't have the unforgiving discomfort of the floor to deal with tonight.
As Bubblegum was fluffing up Marceline's pillows, a crease formed between her brows. "Marcy?" she said, turning to the vampire. She was floating in the corner, arms behind her head in a relaxed posture, hair cascading toward the floor in a waterfall of onyx. She almost looked like she was sleeping already, and Bubblegum pursed her lips. Perhaps it could wait till morning.
"Yeah Bon Bons?" Marceline answered. She didn't bother to open her eyes, and Bubblegum looked toward the ceiling. It was interesting that even though she didn't remember much, Marceline still managed to come up with those dang nicknames.
"I was just wondering… I was wondering if, now that you remember some things, if maybe now you might… view me differently?" Bubblegum winced. Well, that hadn't come out right. She had meant to confidently ask if Marceline's opinion of her had changed in the last few hours, then she would pretend not to care either way. She had not intended to spill that mess of word soup like she had.
Marceline still did not open her eyes, which would have been frustrating had Bubblegum not been so embarrassed. "Nah."
"Nah." Bubblegum's eyes narrowed. "Nah?"
Marceline shrugged, cracked one eye open. "I mean what I remembered seems to line up with the way you've acted so far." She closed her eye again. "I'm just gonna roll with it."
Bubblegum hadn't been expecting that, especially that last part. Over the last few days Marceline had, for the most part, acted like another person entirely. But every now and then it was as if the old Marcy resurfaced just to launch a sassy remark in her direction only to sink back into this new version of herself. Bubblegum itched to hook the vampire back up to that machine and run more tests, but she refrained from even mentioning it.
"That's good, I suppose." Bubblegum laid herself down on the bed, thankful that it was actually soft, and that the sheets were clean enough. She flipped the switch on the lamp next to the bed and the room was submerged in darkness. All was silent enough for a while, but Bubblegum could hear Marceline tossing about, could hear her hair smacking the wall as she thrashed and her grunts of annoyance—quiet as she was trying to be—when she obviously couldn't find a way to get comfortable. She was most likely fighting the age-old instincts that told her that night was the time to be awake.
"Ugh!" Marceline's internal frustration was finally voiced. "I can't sleep."
Bubblegum coughed to cover up a laugh. "Try counting sheep."
Marceline didn't say anything, but something soft—albeit thrown with a very firm hand—hit Bubblegum smack in the face. No swatting it away this time. "Marcy!" Bubblegum didn't bother to hide her smile in the dark as she sat up and chucked the pillow back in Marceline's general direction.
Bubblegum was hit again, this time with enough force to know that Marceline was much closer. Instead of going on the offense right away, Bubblegum closed her eyes—a tactic she often used while concentrating intently—and waited for the telltale whoosh of the pillow before ducking underneath and sending her own pillow careening straight at her target. It hit its mark, if Marceline's surprised "oof" was anything to go by, and Bubblegum laughed out loud.
After a second, Bubblegum felt Marceline drop onto the bed beside her, and she turned in her direction, smirking. "Admitting defeat already?"
"Course not," Marceline's disembodied voice was haughty, but it softened as she went on. "We've done this before."
It wasn't a question, but Bubblegum nodded anyway as she laid her head back onto the pillow, wondering how clearly Marceline could see her in this inky darkness.
Perhaps Marceline had grown bold in the dark—as she often did—or perhaps she was just tired, but she went on. "I have all of these memories of us, together. But they all feel old. Stale. And this whole time I've been wondering if its because my brain is just super messed up or…"
She didn't finish, and Bubblegum didn't say anything. She felt Marceline's sigh more than she heard it, and Bubblegum closed her eyes. "It's a long story," she said, "but I'll tell you if you want to hear it."
"That's the thing, Bons. I know I should want to know, but all I have are happy memories and I kind of want to keep it that way." Marceline's voice became muffled, and Bubblegum surmised that she had covered her face with the pillow. "Have I always been this much of a mess?"
Bubblegum thought for a moment, wondering at the best angle of answering that question, but Marceline interrupted her thought process with a groan. "Never mind, don't tell me. That pause does not feel promising."
"You're not a mess, Marcy." Bubblegum reached for her friend, hesitated, took the leap and placed her hand on Marcy's shoulder. "Well. Maybe a little. But that isn't your fault. Something happened to you and now you're confused. We—you'll sort it out."
"I dunno. The more I remember, the more confused I get." Marceline patted Bubblegum's reassuring hand. "I'm glad you're with me now."
Bubblegum withdrew her hand. "I can't stay forever Marcy. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
Bubblegum probably should have left it alone, but her stupid mouth kept saying words. "You'll be all alone. Without knowing anything."
"Yep, thanks for that." Marceline sounded a bit miffed, not that Bubblegum was surprised.
"I'm just saying that maybe you should think about your other options a little more. Like," Bubblegum just couldn't stop at this point. Maybe she had some sort of brain-to-mouth word-vomit disease. The idea was almost reassuring, or at least it was easier to blame her thoughtlessness on something she couldn't control. "Like how are you going to navigate Ooo without knowing anything about it? How are you going to find food if you can't even find your way to the store? Do you even know what day it is? I'm pretty sure you don't own a calendar—"
"Yeesh, Bonnie, stop it already!" Marceline's hand was firm over her mouth, much to Bubblegum's surprise. "I get it, you don't think I can handle it, and that's fine. I can change my mind any time I want to, right?—You said so yourself. I'm not stupid. I can ask for directions and I can buy. A flippin. Calendar. Ouch!" Marceline's hand was yanked away.
Bubblegum was seated in an instant, trying to assess Marceline's condition in the dark. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Etc.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just angry. And how many times have we fought in my bedroom? It's like my brain's about to blow up with the force of all these dang memories."
Bubblegum withdrew without a word, frowning. It was true she had planned to force some more memories out of Marceline's head, but none of this was going as planned, and nothing was more maddening than when Bubblegum's carefully laid plans went astray.
"Look. I'm not even mad. I get that you think you're helping, but you have to let me figure this stuff out on my own. It's my choice."
"Of course Marcy. I'm sorry." Bubblegum was not, in fact, sorry. She was angry and frustrated and she just wanted to make Marceline understand.
But most of all she wanted her friend back. The real Marceline, not this shell of a person lying next to her. And maybe that wasn't entirely fair. Maybe this—the way Marceline was now—maybe that should have been enough. Heck, it was the perfect opportunity for their friendship to start over, for Bubblegum to be more honest and open and less antagonistic, less judgmental. (Although, she grudgingly admitted to herself, that hadn't necessarily been the case so far.)
"I'm sorry," Bubblegum said again, this time a bit more sincerely. "This whole thing is just rattling and—and I'm used to being in control."
"Don't sweat it Bonnie." Marceline yawned, and Bubblegum could imagine her fangs in clear detail. "All this remembering is making me sleepy." She tensed as she felt Marceline's arm drape over her chest, but she relaxed just as quickly and leaned her head on the vampire's shoulder.
But Bubblegum didn't close her eyes. "We can't stay like this."
Marceline pulled back a little, hurt evident in her voice. "Not even for tonight?"
"No, I mean we literally can't stay like this." She stifled a giggle. "We used to try this all the time, but you always end up floating toward the ceiling in your sleep."
Marcy laughed and again moved closer to Bubblegum, squeezing her arms around her tightly enough to elicit a smallish gasp from Bubblegum's mouth. "Well if I hold you tight enough, maybe I can take you up there with me."
"Maybe," Bubblegum said. She nestled closer to Marceline and closed her eyes at last.
