I wanted to update sooner but I am prone to laziness. My apologies. Hopefully I get it together enough to update again sooner. Enjoy!
I'm sure I could have asked Lord Monochromicorn for a ride, but the night air was just the right temperature for a late stroll, so I chose to walk home from Fionna's. Even though it took a while, the movie was worth the wait. Fionna laughed so hard that she spit out her bubbly beverage all over Cake (who wasn't too happy about having to clean her fur). I enjoyed it as well, but was obviously able to compose myself more so than that. Self control is very important, although there were certain parts of tonight where that was lacking….but regardless, I give the party two thumbs up.
There are only two outcomes you can expect whenever Fionna is involved: Fantastic Success and Utter Disaster. Or, on some occasions, one followed by the other. Sometimes I forget how young she is. Regardless of her real age, she's a child at heart and desires to be taken care of. She likes to call Cake her sister, but sometimes I believe the term "mother" would be more appropriate. Call it whatever you want, they share a close bond. She's so lucky to have two people like that. It doesn't go unnoticed how fast her relationship with Flame Prince has progressed. Although I call her my friend, her two closest companions probably know more about her than I ever will.
As much as I'd like to be happy for her, I can't fool myself. There is a thread of jealousy woven into our friendship. Everyone likes her. My candy people adore her and I don't think I've ever spoken to anyone who's said otherwise. But I too have many people who think highly of me; that's not what inspires my envy. Even though I am constantly surrounded by my citizens, I still get lonely. It sounds foolish. I'm very aware of that. How my mind came up with such an unfathomable idea is beyond me. I just feel like there's no one I can talk to. Like really open up to. Someone that I can say is close enough to me that I'm never uncomfortable with them.
However, I don't believe it's possible. If I were to find such a person, I would have done so by now. Perhaps there is no one out there who's mind aligns with mine. I suppose that would be ok. I still have plenty of friends, and honestly, what does one gain from personal intimacy? I have more important things to focus on. For example, getting home before the sun comes up. In all my deep (non scientific and therefore useless) thinking, I must have slowed my pace. It isn't safe to let the mind wander while there is a task at hand, no matter how simple. Isn't my advice amazing?
I quickened my stride, slower than jogging faster than walking, and cleared my mind. It's a beautiful night and it shouldn't be spoiled with foolish thoughts. The Candy Kingdom is in sight, but it's still going to be awhile before I arrive. I stretch out my arms to feel the cool breeze flow across my body. It's so funny to me that even with all my internal struggles, the world is at peace. Just letting itself exist and be beautiful. I wish I could be like that.
While I admired the landscape, something drifted into my peripheral. It startled me when it appeared, then filled me with dread when I identified it. It's that fanged fiend. He was floating through the air with his instrument (that also resembled a weapon) on his back and an expression I didn't care to read. I stupidly turned when I saw him, so there was no way I could pretend to not have seen him, and I debated on if I should acknowledge him or not. Why is he out here anyway? Is he stalking me? I'm SO putting the banana guards on high alert tonight.
I decided that looking in his direction was acknowledgment enough and I kept walking. I didn't hear anything, so I was momentarily hopeful that he had done the right thing and avoided conflict. I should have known by now this was not the case. It's never that easy. Instead of speaking, he simply floated around me until he was blocking my path. I scoffed and tried to maneuver around him, but he moved with me and continued to be an obstruction. Is he serious?
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms before giving him a piece of my mind. "It's the middle of the night and I would like to go home. Could you please move out of my way?" I tried to use my most stern tone to hide the fact that I felt a bit intimidated. I mean, can you blame me? There's no one else around and this creep could try and do who knows what to me. Maybe I should start carrying around garlic. Unless that doesn't actually work, then it would probably just offend him. Either way. He gave no response and instead just stared at me. He wasn't smiling; his frown was heavy, but his eyes said serious instead of angry. I took a step back, as I felt fear building in my gut.
"Why don't you like me?"
….did I hear that right?
"What?"
"Why don't you like me?"
My brain struggled to make sense of the string of syllables that had just slithered out of the wicked boys mouth. Why don't you like me? What kind of question is that? Is this a joke? I am a master at finding conclusions and solutions, but I can't make sense of this. Why would he ask me that? Why would he care? I need more information. "What do you mean?"
"It's pretty straightforward. I just wanna know why you don't like me. You're always so nice to everyone, except for me. You act like I'm not even there or if you do acknowledge my existence you treat me like an inconvenience. Like I'm a problem. I wanna know why." Thankfully, he didn't maintain eye contact with me as he spoke. He looked away or at the ground, looking less serious and more...upset. He even looked like he was floating a little lower. Did I really make him feel like he was a….WAIT A MINUTE. Is he really still trying to stick with that soft and emotionally damaged interior from earlier? I wasn't buying it then and I'm not buying it now...right?
Let's say I did believe his sympathy act. I guess that would explain why he looked so sad during and after his song. Maybe I was giving him too much credit. I don't think he has the mental capacity or thespian skills to pull that off. But he does have a beautiful voice. Oh dear glob. Remove that thought from my brain. I have never considered how my attitude towards him may have affected his feelings, but I didn't think he cared what I thought, or what anyone thought. Isn't that his whole thing? Or did I make that up? Have I misjudged him?
Choose carefully Gumball
"Well, I wouldn't say I don't like you. I don't know you very well and I guess I assumed you didn't care to know me. However, I will say the few exchanges I've had with you have felt a little hostile." If memory serves, I have only actually spoken with Marshall 3 times, all at events I attended with or at the request of Fionna, and all unpleasant. He acts as though he has never said anything rude to me. Just last week at Fionna's outdoor celebration he was very snappish. I supposed I did try to ignore him then. My goodness...is this all on me? Have I projected my distaste so much that I caused him to feel such hatred?
Am I the monster?
He returned his gaze to me, letting his feet settle on the ground. He scratched the back of his head and scanned my face. I didn't know what he was looking for, but I figured I'd better look for any sign of treachery. He seems innocent enough. The moonlight really brings out his eyes. I could stare at them all night. Push some of his hair out of the way. Nice dark hair. Run my fingers through it….NO NO NO INCORRECT BEHAVIOR. I really need to see a therapist.
"Let me apologize for my hostility. I never meant to make an enemy out of you. How about we start over?" With that, he smiled and extended his hand to me. It wasn't that usual smug smirk (even though it sounded like he was mocking me when he said hostility), it was a much warmer smile. Hoping he wasn't about to rip my arm off, I took his hand and shook it.
"I'd like that." I did my best to return the smile. There was no violence as we broke off the handshake, and maybe even a little bit of lingering. He looked like he had something else he wanted to say, but it was at that moment I remembered I needed to get HOME. I was barely going to get any sleep before having to wake up and perform my princely duties. I didn't want to seem rude after we'd just "restarted", but I do have my priorities. "If you'll excuse me, I have to be up very early tomorrow and I need to get some sleep."
Marshall started floating again and thankfully moved enough that I could start walking. This was probably for the best anyway. I really need to sort out all these weird feelings that keep bubbling up around him and I'm still not certain if he's playing a trick on me or not. Ugh, it's too late for all this nonsense. I'll deal with it in the morning.
"Oh...uh… ok. See you later then."
"Goodbye Marshall."
Whaddya think? I know it's shorter but I hope it was good enough for y'all. Next chapter will have more interaction between these two so get ready for fluff stuff :) Follow Fav and Review
