Alternate Title: Night of Silence Part 2

Even if it is the annual Night of Noise, Marshall Lee has never been more silent about his true feelings. And even if he's not sure what he feels except confused and hurt, he won't say a word.

Flint sat comfortably on the edge of the wall above the Candy Kingdom gate, looking down inside where the stage stood. Several other people had copied his idea, perching on the walls nearby for the incredible view. He'd been cheering and applauding all night and was glad when midnight came around and he saw what he'd come for in the first place; Fionna's flute solo. She had worked on it for weeks with Marshall Lee and pulled off the magicks in the tune perfectly, so well that it had created a dragon that was still flying high above the kingdom and spiraling in time to the music below. He'd been watching the dragon even since Fionna had finished as it swayed and drifted to a beautiful folk song played on Cake's hammered dulcimer.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw white bunny ears appear from the tower near him. He turned to see Fionna coming from the tower stairs, looking a little flushed either from embarrassment or exertion. Flint guessed the former, likely at the hands of Marshall Lee. Either way, he gave her a peaceful and motioned for her to join him. She sat as close as was comfortable, which was fairly close considering how calm and peaceful he was at that moment.

"Hi," she said softly, making Flint's smile soften.

"Hello yourself," Flint leaned back, his arms propping him up from behind. "That song was absolutely awe-inspiring, Miss Fionna. And the dragon has been lovely to watch."

"Thanks," she blushed a bit at his compliment. "Um… listen… I was talking to Marshall Lee…"

"Mhm?" He tilted his head slightly, his smile never fading even as she trailed off.

"And I asked him for some advice…"

Flint chuckled, "I shiver to think what advice you could possibly ask of the Vampire King."

"I asked him his opinion about seeing someone… y'know, dating."

"Oh?" She had his full attention then and he sat forward, feeling a slight pain in his chest at the idea that Fionna was thinking of seeing someone. "What did he say?"

"He told me to be careful and to think really hard about it, which I have been for a while… but he basically told me to go for it."

"…And?" Flint dreaded to hear her next words, so certain that her choice would be Prince Gumball.

"And I'm gonna. So… I was wondering if… maybe you wanted to have dinner sometime this week. That is, if you're interested at all."

Flint stared at her as if he'd been frozen solid. The only evidence that he hadn't were his flames flickering slowly brighter around him as a red blush colored his cheeks. "… As… as a date…?" He whispered, hardly daring to imagine it.

"Yeah. I mean… if you want it to be," Fionna added quickly, unable to meet his eyes.

"I would be honored," Flint's gentle tone had Fionna raising her gaze to his own. "I only wish I'd had the courage to ask you first, Miss Fionna."

Fionna let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, and she very nearly hugged him, but caught herself before she set herself on fire. Flint gave her another warm smile and she decided right then and there that she'd find a way to connect with him more deeply, even if it was just holding hands.

Marshall Lee left his position as MC to Gumball for an hour, telling the Prince that he needed to recharge a bit. He took Fionna's flute with him after she'd forgotten it beside his guitar, and he flew high into the massive candy tree that stood over the kingdom at the top of the palace. Quietly, he strummed chords on his guitar as he thought about what Fionna had told him, and what he'd said to her. He felt like a coward for not telling her how confused he was about his feelings when she'd directly asked his opinion, almost even his permission to date Flint. Why did she ask Marshall Lee, of all people? Why not Cake? Or Gumball? Or a freakin' normal person, for Glob's sake! He sighed angrily as he struck a sour note thanks to a string coming out of tune.

Twisting the tuning peg until it was perfect again, he strummed a G-major and began to hum. He thought about that annoying tune he still couldn't put words to, but it gave way to another.

"It's not enough that we're near,

Because it feels like we're miles apart.

It's not enough that you're here

When I'm not in your heart…

Fio-onna…. Fio-o-onna…

Why can't I get over you…?

What's wrong with me?

Why do I suddenly care?

A thousand years of nothing…

And suddenly, you're there.

Fio-onna…

Fionna…" He let the last note fade away as his chest squeezed in pain. What was this awful feeling? He knew what love felt like… didn't he? Why wasn't this the same? Laying aside his guitar to let it hang from a branch, Marshall Lee lifted his dark eyes to the nearly-full moon and the mist dragon racing across the skies. Then, he looked to Flint's glow on the walls, where he could barely make out the Flame Prince and the Hero of Aaa talking and enjoying themselves. So it'd gone well.

Marshall Lee didn't return to be the MC, leaving it to Gumball with the excuse that he was losing his voice and one of his strings had broken. Gumball knew it was a lie, and Marshall could see it, but Gumball was kind enough not to push it or pry. Marshall went home early, forsaking his most favorite holiday to be alone and away from the sight of the happy new couple. He settled in at home with his white cat Schwable on his lap, losing himself in a few movies til morning. He didn't want to think. Especially not about Fionna.

Flint and Fionna remained on the wall, talking animatedly about this and that once the original embarrassment and heart-fluttering had given way to their usual and casual ways. Flint was always the attentive gentleman and Fionna was the life of the conversation with the occasional random blurt about something vaguely related to whatever they were discussing. This went on until sunrise, when Gumball led the entire kingdom in the traditional Song of Sunrise to mark the end of the Night of Noise.

O, sunrise, on another new day

In the land of Aaa-a-a.

O, night, fade to another new day

In our land of Aaa-a-a.

For the song is done

And the music is laid to rest.

In the new lands of Aaa-a-a-a-a…

Of Aaa…

That last song is actually a real song I wrote the music to. As soon as I have tableture and a recording, I'll leave a link on this chapter. Let me know what you thought, leave me a review!

-Taiylor Wallace