Fionna stared up at the ceiling, her eyes tracing the same series of notches and lines in the wood for the millionth time. She could hear the clock ticking downstairs, and Cake murmuring quietly in her sleep about something like 'pig cluck.' Outside, the night was frosty, the wind playing carelessly and freezing itself so that its teeth chattered audibly and its bite was all the more vicious. But the sky was clear and full of stars, so many that anything or one that might've been outside would've been able to see exactly where they were going.
In spite of herself, she was waiting for him.
Because she wanted to beat his motherlumpin' brains out.

That perverted, sick, manipulative, opportunistic, violating son of a blee-blop! How in the fresh hell did he think he could get away with doing something like that!? There were lines that sometimes you couldn't help if your subconscious crossed, but woe betide anyone who dared venture past them in real life. He had no right, absolutely no right to do that to her, to take advantage of her like that! He frickin' tied her up! Nobody was allowed to do that to her, especially not somebody she'd been friends with for years. Sure, the emotional connection may be changing a little now that she was older, but... but... But hold the fuck up!
Even when she was just thinking, somehow Fionna still wasn't comfortable with using real swear words. She glanced over at Cake guiltily then mentally chastised herself for doing so. Cake couldn't read minds, why was she so paranoid? She could do whatever she liked in her own headspace, and whatever she liked in her own private time. But Marshall-lee was most definitely not allowed to listen in on said private time or do anything to her headspace whatsoever, much less play around in it like a gobdamned six year old.
He broke into her room, tied her up and- and...
Somehow she couldn't continue with that thought. She had been trying to for the past hour, ever since she had turned off the lights and faked sleep when Cake finally turned in. But she just couldn't comprehend how far she had let him go. She had let him. What the fuck did that say about her? Did that means she was easy? she had made out with a completely different guy only today, and she had only actually figured out what tier fifteen was tonight! It was way too much, she was diving into this whole world much faster than she had ever thought someone like herself ever would. She hadn't believed last night was really happening right from the start, right? That's why she had let him go that far, right?
Right?

R-regardless, It had happened. And she was mad.
But was she really mad at him, or at herself? Because she had let him. Marshall was right, She would've kicked him out if she really didn't want him there. Marshall could easily overpower her, but she could've screamed the place down if she had chosen to, and she didn't. She had let him, and she shouldn't of, that was the plain and simple truth.
So really, she was mad because in spite of everything he had done, she still liked him. Like that too.
And what did that say about her!?
Fionna tugged her pillow out from under her head and pulled it tightly across her face, screaming profanities for a few seconds then shaking it roughly above her in a choke-hold. She wanted to beat someone- in particular- up, but it wasn't like she was going to return his gesture and break into his fucking bedroom in the middle of the night. So she would have to settle for something or maybe someanimal. Either way, she definitely wasn't going to be sleeping much tonight.

She sighed and dropped her pillow down the end of the bed, then swung her legs over the edge of the bed, thinking about how she was going to get herself prepared without a light source. Just before her toes touched the ground, she heard a faint creak from downstairs, and almost dismissed it as the wind. Then she barely heard a tiny metallic click and realised the creaking had been the hinge of one of the windows.
Someone had just broken into her house.
And Fionna reckoned she knew exactly who that son of a bitch was.

It was hard to try and be as silent as possible when so much immediate rage-drenalin pounded into her system at the realisation, but she managed to cross the bedroom floor without making a noise. Growing up with a cat for an older sister helped in learning how to walk quietly. She crept down the ladder and as soon as she was in the main room, she grabbed her spare sword out of the umbrella stand and readied herself for a severe ass-kicking.
' Marshall, I know you're in here so show your face you perverted creep.' She hissed menacingly. There was silence for a few seconds, and then she heard the sound of air being inhaled between teeth.
' Oh dear. Ooh, honey this ain't good.' The voice was unfamiliar but the cadence reminded her of her sister upstairs, and Fionna was momentarily taken aback that she had been wrong. Marshall couldn't imitate voices very well, his own tone was so muliticultural it was much too distinctive.
' Who are you? If you try anything, I'll slice you up like lunchmeat.' Fionna half-whispered demandingly, unwilling to wake up her sister until the threat was real. She was a big girl, she could take care of herself and make her own decisions. Be responsible and clear-headed. Starting now, the last few days didn't count.
' I am Curious. Well that's what I am at least. What are you?'
' I'm- Uh, I'm confused? What are you doing in my house and what's your name, dammit!?' Fionna blinked in surprise when the candle balanced on a barrel by the windowsill suddenly whoofed into life. The brown-haired woman standing next to it flicked a reptilian tongue across her cheek, mouth open in a large scary grin with a faint wisp of smoke issuing between jagged teeth. As Fionna watched, her smile, no, her whole mouth shrank until it was similar to her own, though with thinner lips.

She was tall and slim, a figure that was long and smooth and flowing rather than full or lush. She wore grey suede high-heeled ankle boots, navy blue skinny jeans and a white tank top with a red bra beneath. Her mousy hair was straight and shoulder length, parted to the right and her features were long like the rest of her, eyes angled upwards and thin with sharp green irises.
The woman was unarmed and had adopted a rather casual stance, so Fionna lowered her sword cautiously. She didn't appear to be in any direct danger.
' Who're you?' She questioned. The woman deigned to reply, studying her for a good long time. She suddenly felt self-conscious in her conspicous lack of pajamas ( No way was she wearing the red ones with Marshall all over them. She had instead adopted an old t-shirt and underwear) and impatiently brushed her fringe out of the way.
' I'm Femme Filou, Shapeshifter, second guitarist for the Rock Gods and generally a fun gal.' She said eventually, when she had finished sizing up the girl in front of her. Fionna processed this for a second.
' I'm-'
' I know who you are. Well, sort of. Fionna, right?' Fionna froze for a second and frowned at Femme.
' Uh. yes. That's my name... How do you know that? And what do you want?' Femme laughed and walked over to Fionna's couch, plonking herself down and crossing one leg over the other. She rocked the upper one back and forth playfully, like a child anticipating a prize. Fionna watched her with mild annoyance. The hell was this lady?
' Well honey, I can answer both of those questions with three words: Marshall-lee Abadeer.'
All of Fionna's irks were instantly forgotten and Femme noted with some dismay the immediate scowl that crossed her face at the mention of this name. Oh, Marshall had stuffed up with this girl big somehow, but she wasn't quite sure exactly how. It's such a shame that the one girl he finally likes for more than her figure was also the one girl who apparently wouldn't put up with his bullshit for the sake of boning him. Come to think of it, that might have been why he liked her. Maybe it was time to do a little damage control on his behalf. She had torn his back to pieces, after all.

' ... Oh.'
' That didn't sound positive.' Fionna grabbed a chair from the kitchen and dragged it into the living room, positioning herself opposite the shapeshifter.
' I'm mad at him.'
' Join the club, girlie. Everyone's mad at him at some point, he's an idiot.'
' Well, how do you know him?'
' I said, I play second guitar in his band. We go back a long time, probably longer than you've been alive. Depending on what species you are, I've never seen one like you before. Are you Capuscid? Or a weird Rohamian-Faerin hybrid?' Femme saw that she had immediately left the girl behind and back tracked mentally, but before she could ask anything else Fionna replied.
' No, I-I'm human. Fionna the Human.' Femme's eyebrows shot way up and she covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile.
' Oh wow. Human?' Fionna nodded, and Femme couldn't stop herself from giving a short laugh. A Human girl. He really was an idiot, in every single way. Well, if they did end up together she wouldn't be human for long.
' Uh, yeah. That explains a lot. How the hell do you know him well enough to hate him if you're his dinner, darling?' Fionna shook her head, looking down at one of her hands then pensively biting her thumbnail.
' I don't hate him per say, but right now I'm... Right now, I want to hit him into next year with a baseball bat.'
' So you like him then? Usually?'
' I gue- Wait, why do you care?'
' I haven't seen Marshall in a while Fionna, and he hasn't had a girlfriend since he left Ashley. Naturally, being the good friend that I am, his female friends are of interest to me.' Fionna blushed and shook her head at Femme, raising one hand.
' No no, we're not- W-we aren't like that at all.' She said, blushing deeper and feeling herself becoming embarrassed and annoyed as she remembered last night. Femme watched her and smirked.
' So you might say, but your face gives you away. Plus when you thought I was him, you called me a perverted creep. What'd he do to piss you off, honey?' Fionna could feel her cheeks burning up and shook her head.
' He crossed some lines that should never be crossed without permission. That he didn't have.' Femme thought about this for a moment, unsurprised. So he had tried something on with her, definitely, only she wasn't receptive to it. But there was more to it than that.
' You ain't giving me the whole story. C'mon, I've known him for years, maybe I can tell you what's going through his head.' Femme helpfully left out the part that she knew exactly what was going through his head. She wanted to see both sides of the game board before she started to play.
Fionna sighed, and her mouth worked a couple times as she tried to decide what to say. Maybe this woman really could help her. If she had known Marshall for that long, she would also know what made him tick, really got him going. She could help her.
' See- Well, I-I... Okay, simply put: Even though he has violated every rule of common decency that exists in the past few days, I... Well, I-'
' You like him, don'cha?' Femme questioned indulgently, settling both her elbows into the valley between her knees, then leaning forward and balancing her chin on the base of her palms. Well, problem solved right there. Tell Marshall that she returned his feelings, then he could apologise for whatever he had done and rail her so hard he would break the bed.
Sure, that would've been the altruistic, good thing to do.
Pfft.
What fun was there in that?

Fionna blushed and nodded, groaning and pulling the top of her bunny hat down over her eyes.
' And I don't know why! I'm so f- I'm so pissed at him and he's been acting like such a douchecopter but even after all of that, still-'
' Yeah, you've managed to catch Marshallmania. It's highly contagious, about half of the straight women who are exposed to the source develop this condition. It causes the sufferer to forgive the source any and all misgivings, and develop an uncontrollable desire to let the source take them seven ways to heaven.' Fionna groaned again, but this time it was at Femme's long-winded joke, and she raised the bunny hat and stared at her, unimpressed.
' Oh, har-de-har. That was like, a weird amalgamation of something he would say, but with words that Gumball would use.' At the mention of the Candy Prince, Femme noticeably froze up, and her pupils dialated. Gumball. This girl knew Gumball?
' Y-... You know... Bartholomew?' She asked after a few seconds, her expression remaining exactly the same- slightly shell shocked. Fionna raised an eyebrow at her, tipping her head slightly to the side.
' Um, duh. I kind of work for him. Sort of. I do stuff for him, and he does stuff for me, it's more like a mutual trade I suppose.' She mused, going off on a tangent, unaware of how her words had affected Femme.
Fucking Gumball.
She used to call him Mew-mew. It made him mad at first, but then that one time, he admitted he liked it.
But only from her.
' You're not, um, doing anything for him right now, are ya?' Fionna shook her head, leaning back in her chair and huffing at her fringe.
' Nope. I kinda wish I was, then I'd have something else to focus on beyond Fang-face and how much he annoys me.' Yeah, Marshall and this chick. That was what she should be concentrating on.
Time to mess with stuff.

' So, you want a shot at the most unattainable bachelor in Aaa?'
' Wait, what?'
' Well honey, he's a thousand years old and he hasn't settled down, that kinda indicates-'
' No no, I meant who the hell says I want a shot with him, especially right now after what he's done?' Femme laughed, pointing a manicured fingernail at the adventuress.
' You did, cherie. You still like him after 'what he's done' so evidently nothing's gonna stop this train on it's crash course. Incidentally, what did he do? C'mon, don't be shy.' Fionna shook her head.
' He did stuff.'
' Oh, don't do that. The suspense is killing me.'
' He eavesdropped on me and he broke into my room at night two days ago.' Femme raised an eyebrow at Fionna, folding her arms and leaning back into the couch.
' In the scheme of what he can do, that's really not that bad.' Fionna gave her a look, sizing Femme up.
' He eavesdropped on me when I was alone, Then he pinned me to the floor and probably would've done I don't know, something if my sister hadn't come home and then he broke into my room at night and got into my bed. Then stripped me and tied me down. Then left, for no fuckin' reason at all. I thought it was a dream 'till I found the rips in my clothing earlier.' Fionna told her, her expression remaining completely deadpan and detached the entire time she was explaining.
Femme was silent for a few moments. So that's what was so shocking about red footie pajamas.
'... To be blatantly honest Fionna, to me that just sounds like aggressive flirting coming from him.' Fionna stood up and threw her hands in the air.
' What!? Bull, that's not flirting that's... He broke into my room and tied me up! Then he- he...' Fionna quietened down when she realised how loud she was being. Somehow, she didn't think Cake would appreciate her talking to a stranger in their living room in the middle of the night.
' Flirting is like, saying stuff and I don't know, trying to hug them or whatever.' Femme started laughing, smirking at Fionna's naievity.
' Not if you're Marshall. He's much more direct then that, not to mention impulsive to the point of insanity. Also I have to ask honey, have you even had sex before?'
' N-no, I've only had one boyfriend.'
' Well that explains a lot. I wonder if he likes then innocence? Regardless: Fionna, if you ever want a chance with him, you're going to need my help. Someone as inexperienced as you is liable to make a total fool of yourself otherwise.' Fionna felt vaguely insulted by Femme's assertion but she wasn't incorrect. She had no idea how to be sexy, or how to turn Marshall on (Though she had somehow done that without trying when he had her on the floor) and Femme knew him and also looked like she knew a thing or two about the other stuff. Street smarts. Or in this case, sheet smarts.
' But why do you want to help me anyways?'
' Oh, I saw Marshall earlier and he's such a sad sack at the moment, nowhere near as fun as he used to be. Maybe having a girl in his life will cheer him up.' Femme half-lied cheerfully. Fionna considered this for a moment. Femme watched her, then stood up and dusted herself off.
' Speaking of which, since I'll be sticking around here being cupid, I need to find a place to crash. You should go back to bed, 'cause we'll have some stuff to sort out tomorrow.' Fionna blinked at her then gasped in surprise as Femme turned into a nightingale again.
' W- you're a shapeshifter?' She exclaimed as Femme flittered over to the window.
' Uhuh, which means I can coach you without people even knowing I'm there. Trust me, I have only your best intentions at heart. Sweet dreams.' Femme twittered over her shoulder then flew off into the surprisingly non-dark night.

The moon was just beginning to wax, having been at it's fullest the night before. Femme could easily see where she was going. But where she was going was not something she knew, exactly. She needed to go find Marshall, to see what he was doing and to see if she could stay with him for a while. Ever since he and Gum... ball had ended up on bad terms, there was no way they'd be anywhere near each other, so she wouldn't have to worry about bumping into the aforementioned royalty if she was at his place.
Mew-mew.
She hadn't seen him in years.

Femme dropped down onto the grass and immediately shifted straight from the nightingale into the form of a wolf, who's fur shone slightly navy blue in the cold white light of the moon. She had been flying in roughly the same direction she had ended up chasing Marshall when he had come here the first time, and she could still pick up faint traces of his blood in the area. He had said he was going home, no reason to suspect he would've been lying. He probably wanted to go and sleep off his battle wounds and his post-coital regret from bonking that other girl.
Femme followed the trail that he had left behind and soon started smelling traces of varying degrees of age all over the general area, converging on a central point. She wound between some rocks and climbed over a wrecked road barrier, following her nose to the entrance of a high-ceilinged cave well concealed beneath a wrecked overpass. This is where Marshall had said to meet him earlier that night, he hadn't mentioned it was now where he lived.
Huh, a cave. Figured.

She padded down silently over the surprisingly smooth rock, the surface worn down like it had once been the bed of an underground river. Inside, she could see a small, unassuming cottage with a wooden fence around the outside and a deck over a huge underground lake out the back. When she got to the front steps, she shifted back into her usual form and fixed her hair, before letting herself in. The door was unlocked.
' Marshall? So this is your new bachelor pad. Why didn't ya tell me?' She said to a dark room. Above her, she heard a muffled groan and a trapdoor over on the opposite side of the room opened, light spilling through. Marshall's upside down visage popped through it, showing a vertically reversed expression of distaste.
' So you wouldn't turn up in the middle of the night, like you just have. Thanks for knocking.'
' Welcome.' Marshall looked unimpressed.
' What're you doing here?'
' I need a place to stay for a bit, and judging by what you told me earlier you need me around.' Marshall-lee raised an eyebrow at her, then disappeared for a moment. He then floated down through the trapdoor and turned on the lights down stairs. He was wearing the same jeans and shoes from earlier, but had changed into a t-shirt and a leather hoodie uptop.
' What makes you think I need you, or ever have?'
' Ouch. Right in the friendship.'
' You know what I mean, Femme.' Femme looked at him impetuously for a moment, then lent against the wall and started inspecting her fingernails.
' Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you literally curled into a snivelling ball on the grass and admitted to me that you were scared of believing you might be falling in love?' She said scathingly. Marshall-lee glared at her with real anger, and Femme eyed him impassively in return.
' Fuck you.' He replied curtly, then floated back up into his bedroom. Femme watched him go, then sighed, following him. There was a ladder on wheels pushed into the corner of the room, and she dragged it over so that she could get in.

Marshall's tastes really hadn't changed much, so she didn't spend time investigating the space. But she was surprised to see that there was a duffel bag open on Marshall's bed, full of clothing, a couple notebooks and other random items. Marshall was digging in his closet.
' What're you packing for?'
' I said I was going home. I meant home-home. Well, where I came from, thinking on it now it wasn't really much of a 'home' anyways.' Femme frowned at him.
'But you and your mom-'
'- Aren't ripping each other's throats out anymore. Guess who's fault that was.' He muttered with a mixture of cynicism and pain under his breath, taking a box out of his closet and putting it in the bag.
' Wow. Okay. That's actually kind of impressive. She didn't look like much.' Marshall shot her a look, doing up the zip on the bag.
' Don't pass your fucking high-and-mighty judgement on her. You don't know what she's like.' Femme blinked, too surprised to correct him as Marshall stalked past her and jumped through the trapdoor. When Femme climbed down after him, she heard the fridge opening and closing.
' That- Whoa, um. Okay Marshall, seriously. I don't think that's what you wanna do right now. Running away won't help you.' Marshall-lee returned with a bottle of bugmilk and a marker pen.
' Apparently you don't know me either.' He retorted, drawing a smiley face on the wall. When Femme said nothing back, he sighed, beginning to open the milk.
' Yeah, I'm fucking scared. Femme, she's a human. According to nature, me and her is literally impossible, even if our bodies will fit together. I might kill her if I'm too rough on her and she bleeds, and I-I don't want to. But right now I wanna fuck her even more than I want to keep her alive. I've got no control anymore.' He looked away almost as if he was ashamed, but Femme knew different. He was frightened, really and truly. Good gob, miracles did happen.

Marshall threw the milk on the smiley face, and it absorbed the substance then began to glow.
' Maloso Vobiscum Et Cum Spiritum.' The portal opened up and a puff of smoke drifted into the room, vaguely shaped like a crying woman. Marshall waved it away and shouldered his bag, but just before he could leave, Femme grabbed his arm.
' But- What does this do for you?'
' It means I- It makes it harder for me to get to her, no matter how much I want to. There's only a few ways out of the Nightosphere, and none of them are quick or easy. It can't be permanent, If I stay away from her then maybe- Maybe...' Femme could hear the desperation in his voice, and decided that she wouldn't stop him.

She didn't need him around to turn Fionna into walking seduction, and it would be a nice surprise if he came back and still wanted her, and hilarious if he didn't (actually, it'd probably be hilarious either way). He was a thousand years old, it was (about) time he became mature enough to fall in love with someone, for real. Fionna just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was only a shame (for both of them, currently) that his heart was apparently as impulsive as the rest of him. But in spite of the obvious drawbacks, she liked the coupling. They would look good together, a nice contrast. Marshall just needed to grow a pair when it came to emotional connections, and if running home to mommy was what it took then he could fucking sprint.
' Can I stay here while you're gone?'
' Fine, just don't touch my shit.' Marshall replied emotionlessly, then walked through the portal. It immediately closed behind him, leaving Femme alone staring at a crack in the plaster of his wall.

Author's note: Weow. So much drama. And yeah, of course Fionna's pissed. Wouldn't you be? But she's also rather confused poor dear, and it's not in her nature to stay mad at people so in all likely hood, Marshall will probably get off scot-free, like always. Maybe. I haven't decided yet. but I have started the next chapter, so hopefully not too long to wait for you guys :D

-WRA