Somehow, even thought it made absolutely no sense, it hurt even worse when he wasn't inside her. Without the distraction of that odd sensation of being overfilled, the aches and pains were all that were left.
She didn't blame him though, she really didn't. The way he looked at her, when she had made him stop before was like a starving man staring at a banquet table that was just out of reach. He even looked as if he had been starved, she wasn't entirely sure but he seemed thinner than usual, his cheekbones more clearly defined and the hollows bordering on gauntness. When she was the medicine of a clearly sick man, she couldn't hold it against him if he took his first dose too eagerly.
Even if she had been angry with him, that still wouldn't have stopped it from hurting anyway. There was no point in it. But more than that, what upset her the most was the overwhelming sense of disappointment.

The romanticism of loosing her virginity had been crushed for her. Even though he had made her feel good at first, coupled with how awful she felt now and how uncomfortable she had been trying to figure out what the hell was happening ninety percent of the time, her first experience with the full measure of sex was not the shiny, rose-tinted thing she had imagined it would be. She truthfully hadn't expected it would end up going there tonight. Perhaps a little touchy feely if he had had a good reason, but nothing more. She had thought she would've been more prepared, been more used to being with Marshall and being around him romantically.
Even then, she had still expected it to be a little awkward. But she hadn't expected it to be so frantic and scary at times. Watching Marshall-lee struggle to keep a hold of himself when she was so vulnerable to him was frightening, and the fact that he hadn't suceeded only made the disappointment worse. Because she couldn't help but wonder what it might have been like if he wasn't so desperate.

' F-Fionna? Baby?' Fionna blinked rapidly and realised she was crying when she felt a tear drip down the side of her face. His voice was enough to rouse her from her thoughts and when she saw he wasn't on top of her anymore, she sat up automatically. However, with the clench of her abs came a short sharp shock of pain, and she cringed and made a small noise, gritting her teeth. One arm automatically spasmed protectively towards her mid-section and her body curled around the damaged area, hunching her back.
Marshall watched her in dismay, experiencing an extraordinary amount of guilt, so much so that it made him feel slightly sick.
' Fuck. I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Glob, Bunny-blue, I'm so, so sorry.' He apologised all in a rush, reaching out and putting one of his arms around her shoulder. He was grateful that she didn't cringe away from his touch, putting to rest his fears that she would be afraid of him now. But the look on her face. It couldn't hurt worse if she picked up a dagger and slotted it between his ribs.
' Fionna, I didn't- I-I tried, I tried so fucking hard... Baby, I-' His voice was growing thick and he realised he was nearly crying himself. This was not what happened when you had literally just finished having sex.
' Don't.' She interrupted with one curt word, curling up into a tight little ball and falling against his chest, the side of her forehead resting on the middle of his collabones. Marshall encircled her with his arms and stroked reassuringly down her bicep with his thumb, putting his chin on the top of her head. It was like all his internal organs were liquifying into a grainy soup of remorse, and he swallowed against the fat lump of conscience in his throat. She felt so incredibly fragile encased in his grasp, so small and delicate compared to his immortal self. It was hard to reconcile that feeling with how tough he knew she was. But she couldn't power through everything in life, especially not love and sex, a woman that could was rare. She was only sixteen and she was still learning, able to be warped and broken. He hadn't handled her carefully enough.

'Fi, I-'
' I thought I said... t-to stop apologising? It's not your fault, you didn't know what would happen anymore than I did. And I decided to go through with it, s-so shut your mouth.' She sniffed, and Marshall rubbed her shoulder soothingly, obliging her even though it seemed cruel.
This girl was a freaking angel that heaven sent to earth by mistake. Somehow she had completely understood, from his terse explanation. She didn't even seem to want to blame him, and considering how completely he'd failed her that was a fucking miracle. However, he also felt like she was deliberately taking some of the responsibility from him by acknowledging he had little choice in the matter, while she had nothing but. He didn't want her to shoulder all of the conscience for the pain she was feeling. He may not like responsibility (and that was putting it mildly) but he wasn't going to pawn it off to her. Especially her of all people, considering how he felt at the moment.
Thing is, he knew she didn't see it like that. She only felt she was accepting the consequences of her own actions, not wrongfully justifying his. Which is what it was like to him, whether that was the case or not.

' I could've stayed away. I could've just not told you, stayed home and waited for it to wear off and then nothing would have happened. I knew that I might hurt you and I still-' He muttered, chewing unhappily on his lip and squeezing her protectively. Fionna shook her head, letting go of her knees and placing one of her hands gently on his forearm.
' No. It was killing you, Marshall-lee. You weren't lying when you said that.' She pushed herself away from his chest and gave him a wobbly smile.
' Besides, everyone knows that the first time you do something it won't be the best. My first adventure sucks compared to some of the ones I've been on since, it's only special because it was the first. We've got six months to get better, right?'

Marshall huffed a disbelieving sigh and blinked at her, shaking his head slightly at her unfailing optimism and goodwill. For Satan's sake. A person like her should be impossible. How had she not used up her quota of forgiveness and tolerance several years ago?
Actually, he could answer that. It was because the place she drew both from was limitless. It made her even more precious.
Even the people she disliked, the ones she could assume the worst of, she held no sort of grudge against them. People like Ice Queen and Lumpy Space Prince, the ones she didn't necessarily get along with, she would still help them if they needed her for a good enough reason. And if they changed, she wouldn't hold who they had been against them. It wasn't that she was a person who forgives, she was just a person who gives, period. Eventually she would disappear because she'd have given everything she was away.

' You're too fucking nice for your own good, y'know.' He told her, cupping her face with one hand and swiping his thumb across the drying salt snail trails on her cheek. Fionna gave a watery chuckle, and looked down shyly as she placed one of her hands over his.

He took her into his arms shortly after this, and they stayed cuddled up for a while, Marshall doing his best to communicate his emotions without words. He could do the whole thing with words but it just didn't seem right, especially since half of the words he needed to use would be banned under Fionna's 'Don't Apologise.' policy.
After she had stopped crying, Fionna had hidden her face in his chest and hadn't moved since. The distinct lack of a heart beat in front of her was unsettling. It was odd to feel his chest expanding with every breath he took but with no familiar two-beat drum track accompanying the movement.
She was sort of surprised at how relaxed she was being naked with him now. She wasn't one of those people who let absolutely no-one see her starkers, but Fionna had a healthy sense of inhibition and she was no streaker. Considering Marshall was a dude, and the first one she'd ever seen au naturel, it could only be expected that she would've been less than comfortable being held by him in her current state.
But she totally wasn't. After what they had just done, being prudish would be ridiculous. He'd touched everything, whether he saw it too would make no difference. But also, it just kind of felt nice. Even if there was no heat there, his skin was a pleasant temperature and it was smooth and just weirdly right in texture against her own.

'Fionna, I gotta get you something.' Marshall murmured eventually, after a long internal debate about when he should bring it up. He had made so many gobdamn mistakes earlier, and he had to keep rectifying them.
Fionna sniffed then pushed herself away from his chest, and Marshall began a mental scrapbook starting with how sweet she looked with her bangs all mussed and sticking out in all directions.
' What is it?' Marshall extricated all of his limbs from her and the curling blonde tendrils fanning across the sheets, and stood up next to his bed, absently fixing his hair. Fionna tried to be subtle about how she eyed his body, noticing how much thinner and more equilateral he was compared to Flame Prince. The Fire elemental used to look very similar to the vampire, but when she saw him the other day she had noted a very sturdy physique with broad shoulders and thick, compact muscles. Marshall-lee's shoulders weren't all that much wider than his hips, and beneath the long, gentle definition there were points where the base of his ribs and the tops of his hipbones were just visible.
However, even though he was clearly not as built as he had the potential to be, he was obviously physically fit, and his stance was graceful and lithe rather than firm or domineering. She wondered how she'd feel about it without anyone to compare him too, but she was kind of glad Marshall wasn't a mountain of a man. That would've only made her frightened of him. The way he looked made her feel like he wasn't much of a physical threat, even though in reality he was much stronger, older and incredibly dangerous to her.

' You like what you see, baby?' He automatically questioned with a smirk when he noticed her looking. His brain caught up with his mouth only after he'd already said it and informed him that "You sound like an asshole, man. You just hurt her, too soon". Fionna wasn't looking when his smile faltered because she had immediately looked down when she felt blood flood into her face.
' I-I don't not like it.' She muttered shyly, fiddling with a lock of her hair that was draped across her knee as she shifted into a cross-legged position. Marshall heaved a brain-sigh of relief, picturing both his angel and devil that were supposed to be on everybody's shoulders cringing as they facepalmed and peeked through their fingers in mortification, shaking their heads at one another at how stupid he was. He leaned over and picked up her face gently with one hand, kissing her for a few moments until he felt that evil fucking energy ball in his chest expand and pulsate hopefully, like when a dog smells steak and lifts its head. Only the steak was sex and the dog was his dick. Nope. Not happening. He firmly told his extremely enhanced libido to shut the fuck up.
Keeping with that line of thinking, Marshall tugged back on his jeans (He went commando more often than you'd think.)(Or probably want to know.) before he walked over to his bathroom, and crouched down in front of the poky little cupboard beneath the sink, jostling some bottles. He was pretty sure that among the condom boxes and various pain medications he'd tried and established were useless over the years, there were morning-after pills. Just in case, and it was the one thing he'd ever thank his bachelor lifestyle for.
When he found the pink and white box (And randomly grabbed one of the pain pill bottles as well, wryly reasoning that was probably a good idea.) He took one and two from them respectively, then took his toothbrush from a glass sitting on the sink and filled the glass with water.

'You've taken pills before?' He asked when he walked back in, holding all of this. Fionna had wrapped herself up in his sheets, one wound across her front then behind and over her shoulders. She nodded as she reached out for them, seeming more curious then confused.
' Yeah, when I've been to the candy hospital sometimes. But what are these?' Marshall sat down next to her and put a hand on the back of her head, stroking down her hair then gripping her waist through the fabric.
' Two of them are painkillers- They don't work on me, but now I'm glad I didn't throw 'em out- and the other one's a morning-after pill. So you don't get preggers, Fi.' Fionna's eyebrows played chicken with her hairline as she looked back at the pills, and Marshall-lee chewed his lip.
' I meant to put on a condom but-'
' You were a little distracted?' Fionna interrupted, looking more dryly amused then displeased. Marshall was a little surprised by this, and gave a small laugh as he scratched the back of his head with his free hand.
' Uh- I was gonna say I forgot, but that works.' Fionna sighed out her nose, and sucked on her lower lip with an odd expression Marshall couldn't quite place (it wasn't completely disappointment, which was something), before putting all three pills in her mouth and downing them and the whole glass of water in one go.

There was silence that refused stoically to break after Fionna put the empty glass down on the bedside table then looked at Marshall expectantly. He wasn't quite sure what she was waiting for.
' Now what?' She eventually offered rather bluntly, having passed out of her hysterics from earlier and arrived at Apathy station. Marshall considered her question for a second, annoyed at how the first thing that came to mind was ' Now you let me fuck you again.' Gob, he hadn't realised the five-time dream was a prophetic vision into how he was gonna feel. The exhaustion was gone, but the stress of resistance was still there. Just that what he was resisting was much, much easier to grasp if he gave in.
' I told you that I'm gonna want you constantly for at least four months, Fionna. But seeing as I fucked up pretty tragically just now, when you let me have you again is your choice. If and when.' Fionna sighed, he wasn't quite sure if from relief or for release, and she shook her head at him.
' Just when, no Ifs. I don't go back on things, you should know that.' Marshall gave her a tentative, crooked smile, one of his fangs poking out.
' And I'm fucking lucky that you don't, babe.' Fionna rolled her eyes and pushed his shoulder.
' Damn right you're fucking lucky.'

Marshall-lee involuntarily raised his eyebrows, causing Fionna's expression to go blank like a child who realises it's done something wrong but isn't quite sure what.
' W-what?'
' Sweetheart, do my ears decieve or did cute little Fionna the Human just cuss?' Fionna blushed and shoved his shoulder again, causing a disbelieving grin to crack a wide chasm over Marshall-lee's features.
' Oh, give over, Pasteface. You and your friends were gonna have some sort of influence eventually. Cake thinks swearing is uncouth and stuff, so when she was around almost constantly it wasn't like I was gonna break out the big ones. So it didn't feel natural, but she's been gone and well...' Marshall-lee shook his head, huffing out a huge breath of air from puffed cheeks and collapsed back onto the bed. He grabbed Fionna's arm and tugged her down next to him as he fell, making her squeal in shock.
' Wow. I don't think I've even heard you say crap before.'
' Well, I ain't a compulsive potty-mouth like you, Marshall-lee.' Fionna squeaked again in surprise when quick as a flash, Marshall had twisted his body over so that his chest was poised diagonally over her. There was a light glowing in the back of his eyes, which had brightened back to their usual crystalline colour. But with that sparkle playing through the faucets of his irises, his gaze was hypnotising, and she didn't even realise how close his face was to hers.
' I'd be mad at you, but dammit, Fionna. When you say my name...' He captured her lips after this breathless half-statement, and Fionna found that she was able and willing to respond to his passion. It was only kissing after all, his hands weren't even touching her, and when he wasn't chomping on her he was rather excellent at it.
He had kissed her a lot in the short time she had been here, and she liked the more innocent gesture, like a wind-down from the frantic antics of earlier. There was a weak rhythm forming in the way their mouths moved together, and she actively tried to make it stronger, looking forward to the familiarity that would cement it. Marshall was too high off of Fionna-brand ecstasy to notice that she was learning from him, trying to match herself to his style. She believed that easier the physical stuff became, so too would the emotional stuff. Everything had happened too fast for her to figure out how this made her feel about him, but once she was used to what had happened, it would probably become clearer.

She thought, as Marshall switched momentarily away from her lips and bit her neck, that she didn't actually mind biting as such, he just needed to be more gentle. Flame prince bit sometimes as well, though he'd always get flustered and apologetic if he realised what he was doing. Fionna wondered if it was odd how much she was comparing the two, and resolved that she would ask Femme if that was normal before telling her brain to shut up when their mouths reconnected.

The one who was panting the hardest when the two broke away for air was the one who didn't actually need it. Marshall blinked and swallowed as Fionna ran her hands over the top of his shoulders, her thumbs sliding along his collarbones.
' ...I like it,' Marshall gasped, finishing his sentence.' Fionna, if I'm getting too- enthusiastic, just push me away or punch me in the face or something. Actually just push me away, it hurts when you punch me in the face.' He amended quickly, and Fionna sent him a look as she grabbed his neck, making Marshall bite involuntarily on his lower lip when her fingers brushed past his scars. Fionna noticed, and filed it away for later exploitation.
' That one time. You faked your death dude, you deserved it.'
' Ehh...'
' Don't you 'eh' me. And don't be scared of biting either, just remember that my mouth meat is still alive and not a hamburger.'
' So wait, you do like biting?' Fionna tugged his face down to hers, neglecting to answer until she cheekily caught his lower lip between her teeth and heard Marshall give a small noise in response.

' I don't not like it.' She grinned at him, and it took Marshall a second before he got it.
' Ha. Smartass.' He said appreciatively, simultaneously giddy and terrified by the aura of happiness his energy orb had begun to radiate. It was filling him up like a bunch of bubbles with rainbow-coloured oil slicks on their spherical surfaces, and he didn't know how much of it was to blame on the imprinting. Though he wanted to think precisely all of it. But looking at the coy little smile Fionna was giving him, her buck teeth sticking out and her nose wrinkling her freckles into a new pattern and her eyes the most stunning kaleidoscopic shades of blue- he just couldn't be one hundred percent sure that his nature was entirely culpable.
He had always thought she was pretty. He had always liked her. Still, he was ninety-nine point nine-nine percent sure that how euphoric he felt with her like this was because currently she was his mate and as far as his body was concerned, he'd just done his level best to knock her up.
That little point zero one percent though. It was a quiet, but insistent thought, trying to tell him that he felt like this because he was kissing a girl he was starting to fall in love with.

'What're you looking at?' Fionna asked, a smile in her voice after several silent second of Marshall staring at her. She blinked at him curiously as his eyes darted over her face, his expression caught somewhere between wonder and hunger.
' You.'
' Why?'
' 'Cause you're fucking beautiful.' He drank in the sight of her cheeks filling with colour like a blind man seeing the sunset. His mouth was on autopilot, and somewhere he vaguely felt like it was cruel to let her inside his head when his mind wasn't entirely under his jurisdiction anymore. The army of hormones that had stormed in unexpectedly had managed to set up a sizable camp. No wonder the sane and normal parts were so bloody terrified, he hadn't been on this much dopamine since- well, never really.
' T-That's just your instincts-junk talking.' Fionna stammered hesitantly, her fingers suddenly twitchy and nervous on the back of his neck. Marshall stopped for a moment, unsure whether he wanted to confirm or deny that statement. The majority dreamily shook it's head " no," while the oppressed minority curled in its bachelor corner threw up its hands and frantically screamed "fuck yes!"
So instead of answering, he just ducked his head against her neck and started licking and kissing her lavishly, taking in as much of her flavour as possible without actually biting her.
Her skin had an odd salty taste to it naturally, not just sweat, and it reminded him of the ocean. She would look gorgeous on the beach. Bare feet, white summer dress, long blonde hair frolicking with the wind and a frangipani or something tucked behind her ear. She'd look like a goddess from greek times, a modern-day Aphrodite.
He bit her ear as his mental movie camera zoomed in on her face, and Fionna yelped in shock, the tips of her fingers threading up into his hair, but the film didn't even pause. Twilight when he met her there, burnishing everything faintly bronze, and putting the blue of her eyes into sharp contrast. Starlight when she lost her clothes to the wind and walked into the water, her fingers laced between his as she pulled him along behind her and then welcomed him into her while the waves lazily swayed around them.
'Marshall-lee!' Fionna gasped with a hint of worry, but it was enough for a reminder of that heaving sense of regret to send a nauseous pang through his stomach, and he immediately stilled. He hadn't even realised he had started pawing at her breast with one hand through the sheet, nor that the other was wrestling with it where it obstructed his hips from slotting between her knees.
' Not there again. N-not yet,' she said, her tone just slightly, gut-wrenchingly wobbly.

'Fuck,' He muttered curtly, pushing himself off of her and curling in on himself, one hand tangling firmly in his hair and the other holding his ankle in a death lock, his knuckles white as sea foam. Fionna sat up and took a few calming breaths, before turning towards him.
His face was hidden by his hair but she could see his breathing was laboured, every muscle pulled taught and strained as he fought against his impulses. It seemed that after the all-consuming desire was finally sated, even if only for a short time, he could now haul himself back into the safe area before he lost control. She could see how difficult it was for him to keep himself there though, and how hard he was trying to keep her safe. It broke her heart to see him so frustrated.

Fionna crawled around on her hands and knees until she was in front of him again, and she peeked up around his arm to look at his face. His eyes were tightly squeezed shut, but when they snapped open moments later she could see his pupils had shrunk to slits.
He didn't resist when she lifted her head and started kissing him again, sweet and slow rather than sexy ( She hadn't quite figured out how to do that) but after a moment his hands were suddenly on her shoulders, pushing her away.
' Stop. I can't.' He muttered through gritted teeth, avoiding her eyes. He shook his head, letting go of her and both of his hands fisting against his temples as his mouth formed the same words over and over again.
' I can't I can't I can't I can't I-I... I just can't! And I won't. I won't hurt you again.' Fionna swallowed, her eyebrows creasing together as she watched him. She really felt for him, but she was so sore. Nothing more could happen tonight.
Well, actually.
The galaxy is more than the star at its center.

Fionna bit her lip, wondering whether she was really okay with experimenting like that. Even if it had already been inside of her for goodness' sake, that was a different kind of up close and personal. She hadn't had to actually touch it or even really look at it.
Ugh, she was mentally censoring herself again. His dick. She had not actually touched his dick.
'Marshall-lee... Do you trust me?' She parroted back his earlier words, shifting onto her knees and picking up his face in both hands. His eyes were wide and frightened, but as he comprehended her words they filled with disbelief.
' Course I do. You've never given me any reason not to.' She smiled at him, failing to notice the disbelief remained as Marshall realised he had told her the truth. He really did trust her. What the fuck, that was unprecedented. He trusted pretty much no-one, not wholly.
' Well then trust me. You won't. 'Cause I can.'

Author's note: And guess what? I'm back at highschool! hahaha ha ah ahah huh uhhuuuwaaahh *raises gun to head* So yeah, that's why this took so much longer because I have fucking homework and waking up earlier so I can't write at like four am anymore which is usually when I write best because what are circadian rhythms even. I think the next chapter won't be exclusively these guys again (so much for a fiolee story) as I want Cakers and Femme to get involved again, possibly Gumball and maybe even Flame prince will reappear! wow, very character, much story, so plot. God that's an old meme. I apologise. Anyways, I hope you guys can be patient for a lil' bit and yes, as you may have guessed from that ending, there will be either a handjob/blowjob next chapter. Haven't decided yet. Review and tell me what you'd prefe- *suddenly, Marshall* BLOWJOB, EVERYONE VOTE BLOWJOB- Get out of here, Marshall-lee *shoves*
See you in the next chapter!

-WRA

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