"Bubba.." Marshall whispered wrapping him into a tight hug. Gumball hugged him back just as tight and their senses heightened.
Emotions flooded Marshall all at once. He missed the prince and finding out what he had to go through alone tugged at his heart strings. Gumball was his first male interest, and he loved him. Yes, he had been hurt and angered for so long, but even after all this time his heart guts melted. The walls crumbled down at this new revelation. They both breathed in each other's scent, tears running down their cheeks.
Prince Gumball had an overwhelming longing grow inside him. Marshall was the first person he ever connected with. The only one he had any form of affection or companionship from before Lord Monochromicorn became his pet. Before he met Marshall he didn't know what it was like to have a friend; to have someone who cared. It hadn't taken long for him to develop stronger feelings. Of course he loved him. He always had. No amount of pain or distance had changed it.
Marshall pulled away to wipe away the tears on Bubba's cheeks. Gumball stares into the vampire's eyes, and move his hands up behind his head pulling his face connecting their lips. Marshall holds his face as they kiss gently. Gumball grips Marshall's hair and moves their kiss deeper making his knees weaken. As they were lost in the moment they almost don't hear the footsteps running towards them. They push away from each other in pure panic. Gumball falls backwards onto his butt and Marshall floats straight up into the air five feet.
"I'm back!" Fionna jumps out into the garden doing a flip ending with her hands up. Apparently her eyes were closed, because when she opened them she had a weird expression on her face. "What's up you guys? Gummy, did Marshall push you? Are you guys fighting?" She asked running over to help the candy prince up.
Prince Gumball's face was red as he shook his head. Marshall floated on his back facing up so Fionna couldn't see his face or expression.
"Nope, me and Gummy just catching up." He said trying to keep his cool cutting his eyes over to see her face. Prince Gumball smiled sheepishly. Fionna look back and forth from the prince to the vampire a couple times and then shrugs. The guys quietly sigh relieved.
Marshall lands his feet onto the ground next to her and Gumball. Fionna grabs a glass of lemonade and drinks it down. The guys laugh at how fast she drinks causing her to blush.
"Glob Fi. Think you might want the pitcher instead?" Marshall jokes. She punches him in the arm and PG chuckles.
"Hey! I was thirsty from running."
"Ow! Always so violent!" Marshall says in a childish pout voice floating behind Gumball acting like he's a shield.
"Oh no you don't, she's not going through me to get you!" Gumball playfully moves to the side to get out of the way.
Fionna then chases the vampire who chases the pink prince. Soon it became a game.
"Come on Gummy! Hide me!" He calls laughing. Prince Gumball is now running down the garden path laughing. "No way fang boy!"
Fionna tackles Marshall to the ground, and quickly rolls into a flip popping back up onto her feet.
"You're it Mar Mar!" Fionna yells giggling. Marshall has a huge smile.
"Better hide then, because you guys are no match for my vampire speed!"
Fionna and Gumball giggle while running into separate directions. Gumball climbs up into the old candy apple tree, and Fionna jumps into some shrubs on the other side of the garden. Marshall gets up from the ground wiping away the dirt from his clothes.
"You might as well come out, because you know I will find you." Marshall calls in a sing song voice.
Fionna tries to quiet down her breathing. PG didn't even care if he was found. He was just happy for the moment. It had been so long since he last cut loose like this and truly had fun. He closed his eyes thinking back all those years ago when he and Marshall would do stuff like tonight.
"Boo!" Marshall whispered in a deep voice beside Gumball's ear from behind. Prince Gumball jumped from his daydream and smiled.
"Been a long time, hasn't it?" Gumball said quietly blushing while looking back to Marshall.
"Too long, Bubba." He replied just as quiet his red eyes glowing.
"What are we going to now?" Gumball asked barely above a whisper.
"I don't know.. What can we do? We have already told Fionna how we feel about her. I do love her. How could I not fall for her, Bubba?" Marshall looked away his eyes holding conflict.
"I missed you, Marsh. We have the barriers down… I don't think I can go back to the way it was now. Plus, I love her as well."
"Well, maybe we don't have to…." Marshall said thinking. "What if you and I both have her?" Marshall asked. Gumball thought a moment in question.
"The three of us..?" he asked to clarify what was suggested.
"Yes. Think about it Bubba. She's the perfect balance for both of us. Without her we are too extreme. We wouldn't be a leveled relationship. It's like she brought us together again and evened us out." The candy prince thought for a while.
"I agree that she is the catalyst, but how would we.. start? She doesn't even know about us before, and to find about it now might be too much of a shock for her." Gumball raised a hand and moves it into a circle to emphasize the 'before' word, and then pointed his finger down to emphasize 'now'.
"We would have to introduce ourselves getting along first, maybe? We will have to be careful to not overwhelm her. Maybe we should introduce it gently by getting her used to me and you touching her and getting into her space." Marshall suggested throwing ideas for the prince to think over.
"So… you would like to work on being with me? Not just Fionna?" The candy prince nervously asked.
"It seems so." Marshall replied with a smile.
"YO! GUYS! Way to leave me hangin'!" Fionna yelled standing at the bottom of the tree with her hands on her hips. The guys laughed.
"Hop on up here bunny!" Marshall smirked sticking his tongue out. "This tree grows the best candy apples in the kingdom." He picked one and sucked out the red.
Fionna jumped grabbing a branch and quickly swung herself up easily. The guys watched admiring her athletic body and gracefulness. Fionna sat perched like a cat on a branch across from the candy prince. Marshall now sat on one above Gumball, and tossed the now gray apple to Fionna. She caught it and took a bite.
"Mmmm, this is good!" she said chewing. "We should pick some for later!" Marshall chuckled and Gumball giggled.
"Whatever you desire, Fi." Gumball replied with a smile. Fionna blushed as her heart pattered a little harder. Marshall could hear it, and he smiled to himself.
'Maybe this really could work out for all of us.' He thought to himself.
"So, what should we do next?" Fionna questioned taking the last bite of her apple and tossing it over her shoulder.
"How about changing and preparing for bed? It is about eleven after all." Prince Gumball suggested. Marshall liked where he was going with this.
"Okay, I guess it'll be nice to be comfortable." Fionna put a hand to her chin thinking and smiled. "Alright, let's go!" she jumped out of the tree.
Marshall floated down beside Fionna as they waited for the prince to climb down. Fionna picks up the tray of lemonade and they walk through the door way into the hall. She spots her back pack, but before she can pick it up Marshall does so for her with a grin.
"I hope that it will be acceptable to stay in my personal room. My room has the most comfortable bed in the palace, and it is quite large. We will have plenty of room to have personal space." Prince Gumball remarks as they reach his door.
Fionna blushes and her heart skips a beat. 'Staying the night in his actual room?! And sleeping on his bed? Oh glob… And earlier…. What he said.. I do still like him that much?… more than I should? But what about my love for Marshall Lee? Do I love both of them? I have always had this thing for Gumball., but then this flirtatious thing with Marshy. I don't feel the hotness towards PG like I do Marshall, though. Why am I so drawn to both of them? Ugh, this is so confusing! And why are they getting along so well all of the sudden?' She was lost in thought and didn't realize she was just blankly standing in the door way.
"Uh.. Fi? You going to go in?" Marshall pointed into the room.
Fionna blinked her eyes and looked behind her. The guys had a confused questioning look on their faces waiting for her to walk in. She jerked her face away blushing and stumbled into the room embarrassed. The guys followed and she traded the tray with the vampire for her bag not taking a chance at looking up.
'I wanna hide now.. jinga man!' "PG, can I use your bathroom to change?" she asked wanting to get away to sooth her beet red face and calm down.
"Of course. You already know where it is." He said amused by her behavior.
She ran into the bathroom quickly closing the door behind her. Looking into the mirror she saw her face could rival a cherry.
"What do you suppose that was about?" Prince Gumball asked looking over to Marshall.
"Knowing her I still couldn't tell ya. Maybe thinking about spending the night in your room with two guys." He leaned over toward the prince suggestively making the candy prince blush.
"Marshall! That is most inappropriate!" he said in a whispered yell. Marshall chuckled landing his feet on the floor beside him.
"Inappropriate?" He leaned closer to whisper into Gumball's ear. "I could do more than that to be inappropriate, gummy." He purred making the candy prince shiver.
Prince Gumball turned around to face him a blush still covering his cheeks. "Let me remind you that earlier today we were still enemies. Fionna is not aware of what is going on. We have no idea how she is going to react. She may only accept one of us, or refuse us both. We must approach the matter carefully." He said in a stern whisper.
Marshall backed away a step. "You're right. She is very innocent." His face became more serious. He may have his feelings for Gumball, but Fionna…. He would not ever risk losing her. Living without her couldn't be possible for him. To be honest, he didn't want to think about it.
Fionna quickly changed after calming down. She put on a black t-shirt that Marshall gave her. The front had a logo of the vampire king's band Scream Kings. She shuffled through her bag for her shorts. 'Thank the cosmic owl I shaved today.' She thought to herself pulling on the blue short shorts. She brushed her teeth and hair, and before opening the door she took a deep breath.
The guys turned their attention to her as she walked out of the bathroom and placed her bag next to the door. Marshall floated up into the air belly down checking her out. Prince Gumball swiftly gave her a glance from her feet up before she turned around.
"Hey guys, are you ready to play truth or dare?" Fionna said in normal voice, though inside she was feeling a strange giddiness.
The guys just nodded their heads. Fionna sat down on the floor next to the window and patted the floor for them to come over and sit. Marshall floated over to sit next to the young adventuress. Prince Gumball walked over to his dresser drawer and pulled out a change of clothes.
"I would prefer to prepare for bed as well before we commence." He said walking to the bathroom.
Marshall and Fionna nodded their heads. They sat quiet while waiting for the prince to finish changing. When the candy prince emerged he was wearing a black band t-shirt and light pink pajama pants. Smiling he sat next down.
"My apologies. Now I am ready."
"I forgot that you had a band shirt. Marshall gave you it, right?" Fionna asked observing his shirt.
Prince Gumball gave a smile. "Yes. He gave me this shirt a long time ago as a gift."
"Let's start our game. You can ask questions then." Marshall said ready to start. It was guaranteed to be an interesting game tonight.
"Alright…. Gummy, truth or dare?" Fionna asked with a devilish smirk.
"….. Truth." He was hesitant due to her facial expression. Fionna thought a moment.
"Hmmm.. How did you meet Marshall?" She asked sticking a thumb to Marshall.
"I met him when I was thirteen while I was in the candy apple tree in the garden." He simply stated.
"Truth or dare Fionna?"
"Dare." Fionna did not want a truth, because she worried what he would ask.
Prince Gumball furrowed his eyebrows while he thought. A sly smile curved at his face. "I dare you to wear a dress for the whole day tomorrow.. One of which I will pick." He grinned at her, and Marshall fell back floating into laughter. Fionna on the other hand, was not amused.
"Fine." She grumbled crossing her arms and looking the other way.
Prince Gumball laughed at her sudden disgruntle attitude over a dress. "Honestly Fionna.. a dress is not that terrible. It's not like I dared you to jump off the balcony."
"Dude! That would have been awesome!" She answered with her face lighting up.
Marshall laughed again and Gumball chuckled shaking his head. Fionna looked over to Marshall.
"Marshall Lee, Truth or dare?"
"Dare." He answered in a daring bad boy tone. It wasn't easy to find a dare he wouldn't do, so Fionna had to really think about it. She snapped her fingers and smirked with deviousness.
"I dare you to let me cut some of your hair!" She pointed to his head.
Marshall jumped up and covered his head. "NO!" he answered sounding a child who didn't want to share a toy. Prince Gumball and Fionna laughed. Marshall glared at them.
"You know what that means!" Fionna said gasping for air trying to catch her breath. "You have to tell us a secret." She put her hands into her lap looking to him intently. Marshall huffed.
"When I was eighteen I killed a vampire who ended up being the vampire king. I didn't know. It resulted in me gaining the title, and all of his powers."
Fionna was surprised to hear this, but when she glanced at Prince Gumball he had an empathetic expression. She couldn't help but feel like this was something Gumball already knew, and that there's more to the story. It seemed as if Gumball and Marshall used to be really close friends. It's not like the vampire king is an open book after all.
"Fio, truth or dare?" the vampire looked over at her with deviousness written clear as day on his face.
"..Um.. dare?" She didn't want to back down and seem like a pansy. If she said dare to Gumball she had to do it with Marshall, but after her last dare with the dress she felt a pang of regret. Marshall grinned showing all of his teeth.
"I dare you to swim in the ocean." His voice was almost evil sounding. At least to Fionna it was.
"NEVER!" She yelled as if her life depended on it making Marshall and Gumball burst out in laughter. Her face turned red, and she felt embarrassed. 'They don't know about the ocean being deep rooted for her..' she thought to herself. "It's not funny you guys." She said pouting.
Prince Gumball stopped laughing and cleared his throat trying to make his composure normal again. Marshall laughed a bit longer but settled down. Fionna huffed in annoyance.
"Okay, well now I guess I can tell you my secret. You already know that when Cake's parents found me I was left with my bunny hat. Well, there was one other thing, too. There were also two journals. On my sixteenth birthday Cake gave them to me. Apparently a note was taped on each of them when they found me with them. It told whoever found me my name, and that I was a human. Also, that I couldn't read the journals until I was sixteen and that it held great information. For some reason I wouldn't be ready for the information until then. That our people were killed by some kind of creatures, and we had to cross the ocean to escape. On our way here there was a storm and my father was killed in the storm. It also said that I had relatives here in the land of Aaa. Some had the ability to live longer, and some were mixed with other species. Some even practiced witch craft and were considered great. But I have never found anyone. I guess they already died…." Fionna trailed off looking down. It was hard being the only human. It was so lonely. She had to hold back the tears. Pulling her legs to her chest she laid her face on her knees.
Marshall looked over to Gumball, who had a shocked mixed expression. Marshall tapped Gumball's side, causing him to jump. He shook his head from his thoughts and looked over to Marshall who pointed at the now down hearted Fionna. Prince Gumball had questions for the young adventuress, but now wouldn't be the time to ask. Fionna needed to be comforted.