"Jake! Jake, Bubblegum's invites have arrived!" Finn flounced through the door waving a flier. It was on pastel green paper, the thick, heavy duty kind.

Jake looked up from his sandwich. He had two pairs of arms, one for holding the bread and one to play BMO. He put down BMO's controller though to snake an arm over to his friend and take the leaflet.

"Cool bro," he said around a mouthful as he read. "We're going right?"

"Only of course. It'll be math, man. I wouldn't miss it!" Finn was positively beaming, his face nearly split in two by the smile.

"Uh…" Jake mused, putting his sandwich down on the plate his stomach was making. "Did you read all this?"

"Nah, it's telling us we can go. That's all that matters."

"Finn, this is a fancy dress party," he groaned. "We have to wear… you know… fancy dress."

Finn shrugged. "So what, man? I've got plenty of fancy clothes."

Jake raised an eyebrow. "No you don't. That cowboy hat doesn't count. And neither does that pair of black glasses, the top hat or the stick-on moustache."

"Aw, man, but that'd be so cool to wear."

"Well…" Jake began, scratching his chin. "Maybe you could wear the top hat. But you'll still have to find something to wear with it."

"Nuts! Where are we going to find stuff like that?"

They sat in silence for a moment. Well… silence except for BMO beeping softly. Then Jake snapped his fingers.

"Got it!" he crowed. "Do you remember that night we went to that old haunted house and I tricked you into thinking we were all dead?"

"Yeah so?"

"We wore fancy dress to that. The clothes are probably still here somewhere." Finn started smiling again. "BMO, have you seen them?"

BMO's screen changed and a little 'v' appeared on his brow as he thought. "Perhaps," he said. "They look like this yes?" He brought up a photo of Finn and Jake running around the house wearing the clothes.

"Yeah that's them. Do we still have them?"

"I dunno," BMO replied. "I don't wear them."

"BMO…" Jake warned.

The little green robot sighed. "In the knothole."

Finn raced down the ladder and stuck his arm into the little knothole on the side wall. He grumbled as he rummaged around. "This would be faster if you did it Jake," he called. "I can't even see what I'm grabbing."

His hand hit something soft and squishy, then something tacky that snapped at him as he pried his fingers loose. Then he collided with something rasping and sharp, then something smooth and silky. Closing his hand in a fist around it, he yanked. Black cloth came flying out of the hole and he cried out, tumbling backwards as he lost his balance.

"Don't worry bro," he called, righting himself and inspecting the clothing. "I found it. When's this party again?"

"Tomorrow night," Jake informed him, snaking down the ladder. He shrank as he reached the bottom, returning to a regular dog shape. "Why?"

Finn sniffed the clothes. "We might have to wash them."

Jake laughed.

Flame Princess was surprised Finn asked her to the party. She and Bubblegum might have worked out a… tenuous arrangement and they'd even worked together to make an outfit for her that wouldn't burn. But she was still nervous about going.

But he was so excited, so she put on a smile and told him she'd go. He'd almost hugged her before remembering that'd she'd crisp him without meaning to. Finn looked dashing in his tuxedo, a top hat sitting somewhat crookedly on his blonde locks. His usual white hat was stuffed in his pocket just in case he got bored of the other. But she hoped he wouldn't take it off, it was nice to see his hair, and dressed up he was quite fetching. Her dad – having popped out of the fireplace to say hello just as Finn arrived to pick her up – had even believed he was a prince.

Now, wearing her foil outfit, long silver gloves reaching her elbows, he was dragging her by the hand through the streets of the Candy Kingdom towards the big pink palace in the centre. The feeling in her core was still sort of… unstable and the sugary citizens gave her funny looks like they expected her to torch them. Anxiety.

"Come on, FP," Finn said, turning slightly to grin at her. "Don't want to miss anything."

"Course not," she replied.

They hurried up the stairs, Jake and Lady had arrived early to help PB set up. When they stepped inside, Flame Princess couldn't help but gasp. The entrance hall was decked out with little fairy lights and paper lanterns. They didn't seem to hold a flame which fascinated her; how could they give light without fire? She'd have to ask. Long trestle tables ran down each side of the room and were surrounded by white wicker chairs. Floral pastel cloths were draped over each table and piled on top was plate after silver gilded plate of food. At the far end of the room on a raised platform that she assumed had been assembled for tonight only, was a band. Soft music came from the piano, but the rest of the musicians were still tuning their instruments. A disco ball hung from the ceiling and Manfried kept shooting it sidelong glances that spoke volumes. The curtains had been taken down on the wall-windows behind the food tables on one side and several doors let out into the gardens.

Princess Bubblegum was with LSP by the band. The floating purple blob seemed to be having an animated conversation with the drummer and Bubblegum was merely a bystander. The dress the princess was wearing was carmine, a pink shade, as was her usual practice. Flame Princess wasn't sure Bubblegum owned a single article of clothing in a colour other than pink. How boring.

"Come on, FP," Finn repeated, taking her hands in both of his. "Let's dance."

She raised one fiery eyebrow. "Uh… Finn the band isn't ready. How about we go get something to eat instead?"

He beamed at her and she couldn't help but smile back. He was always so cheerful, it was infectious and she loved being around him. It made her feel… normal. And not evil like her dad kept insisting she was. "Great idea. Then we can dance."