A/N: Sorry I'm late on updates! I've been in the middle of moving. The moving of my soul. No, I mean the moving of my body. To another grave. No, I'm alive. Mostly.
-O-
"So…whattya think?" Marceline asked, splaying her arms and hands to gesture at the rank den about them. "Pretty royal, yeah?"
The motion rustled her crown of ears, and they rustled and rasped together over Bonnibel's gag reflex. And yet, she felt herself exhale, unaware she had been holding her breath.
Marceline looked more harmlessly smug than ever. Gob, she was sassy. Even her thick hair was sassy.
And she toned. And very curvy.
No, we're angry, remember? Her mind buzzed.
Her feet swept forward, arms looping around the Queen in a tight embrace, her chin tucking over Marceline's shoulder.
Okay, we really need to work on angry.
"I thought you were dead," Bubblegum whispered, reveling in the relief the older girl's physical body brought.
Maybe later.
Marceline stiffened, cool hands grabbing her shoulders to gently pull her back.
"…I am dead," she half shrugged.
"I mean that dead." The Princess pointed dryly to the pile of bones serving as a throne.
"Oh—psh, no way. I'm The Queen, Bonni-beans," the vampire smirked, nudging Bubblegum's arm in a gentle roll of knuckles.
"The Queen of what, broken promises?" Bonnibel muttered, socking Marceline's bicep. The vampire winced, and then wrinkled her nose.
"Why are you always like this?" she growled, narrowed eyes flashing.
"Like what? Worried? I thought I had your blood on my hands," Bubblegum hissed, raising her scraped red hands. "Glad to see it's only mine!"
There we go.
"Whoa, hold up," Marceline said, fingers snatching hers. She peered at her grazed pink palms before pulling the surprised princess into her front.
You know what? Let's just reschedule.
"What are you doing?" Bubblegum gasped at the chilly hands running down her sides. They tucked up into her torn shirt with such casualty that the princess could only shudder at the nails ticking against her spine.
"Making sure you didn't totally bang yourself up falling down here," the vampire murmured, brow knitted in concern under loose bangs. "Y'know, Bonnie, next time you try to infiltrate us, you ought to make yourself a little more pasty…"
Bubblegum seized the hands now sliding down across her hips. "Marceline," she demanded, both girls nose to nose. "Did you decide to stay down here?"
The vampire's eyes darted between Bonnibel's, and something in them softened to a mirth Bubblegum hadn't realized she missed so much.
"Geez, you really missed me, huh?" the Queen asked, lip curving at its corner. Bubblegum frowned, her eyes rolling. But inwardly, she felt a burst of relief. The rest of the tension between them was dissipating.
Well, at least the killing one.
"Is this even blood?" Bonnibel quirked her brow. She reached up, smearing the red lines trailing down the vampire's chin across her ashen lips.
"I don't know, you tell me," Marceline muttered, and before Bubblegum could even blink, the girl leaned down and pecked her mouth.
"MARCELINE!" roared Bonnibel, her face burning as she scrambled out of the laughing Queen's arms. If she thought her lips had tingled before upon meeting the vampire's cheek…now the skin there was dancing.
And not the appropriate three-books-apart-dancing either.
"Ugh, my mouth was open and everything!"
"I know!"
"What is that, cherry?" Bubblegum winced, scrubbing her mouth with the back of her hand. It only made the tickling worse.
"Beginner's luck," the vampire dismissed with a wink, and the princess's stomach flipped. "But to answer your original question, I sent those moths inviting you down so you could see. Put this on a stick and lick it."
She brought her lips together in a sharp whistle, wrapping an arm back around Bubblegum's waist and pulling her close.
And the princess might have complained if the shrill note got to echo more than twice before the walls crawled to life.
Hundreds of shadows slipped back into the cave around them, claws scraping against rock. Bubblegum huddled a little closer to Marceline, eyeing the glinting stares appearing everywhere.
Only now, Bonnibel could see them more clearly. She squinted, brow furrowing.
"They're…they're wearing top hats. And they all have thin little moustaches…" Even the women.
"Yeah. You should feel dumber for wearing whatever you want to call this number," Marceline snorted, tugging at the hem of Bonnibel's pants. "Cause we fancy now."
Fancy and dumber feeling indeed. The vamp tramps were now vampi-sirs. Each one had his or her hair combed, their evening attire gowns and suits. Even Pear Nose had swapped out his molding fruit for a wooden set of nostrils, complete with a monocle.
"Fear not, my fellows," Marceline drew boringly, inspecting her nails. "Pink's the new black."
"Oh!" cried the smooth operator formerly known as 'Lumpy,' "Pink's in!" He tore his white button up shirt down the middle, revealing a magenta one beneath.
"No, I mean to drink," Marceline frowned. "How long have you been wearing those?"
"Wait, does that mean she's for drainin'?" someone in the crowd piped.
"Who said that?" the Queen snarled, and the vampires parted, revealing a rather porky one in parachute pants and mutton chops. He waved at Bubblegum, who strained a smile.
"Oh, never mind. He's expressed interest in eating everyone," Marceline explained. "Sup, Slendy."
Slendy waved harder, and Bonnibel turned back towards the Queen.
"Well, I can't say I expected this," Bubblegum murmured, shaking her head. "You got them all to drink color."
"I know, right—wait a minute, the only option your super aerodynamic brain gave you was that I failed miserably and died like a dog?"
"No," the princess tried. Marceline glowered.
"Well…"
Marceline dipped her head to level their eyes, her brow quirking.
"Like a noble dog."
"Are you kidding me-?" the Queen groaned, turning away.
"Like Jake after too many refried beans or something! Hey!" Bubblegum caught the girl's startled face in her pink hands. "You're right. I didn't think you could do it. But you did."
"So you're not mad?" Marceline asked, her lips squished between her cheeks in Bonnibel's grip.
"Nope," Bubblegum smiled.
"Then why are your nails digging into my face?"
"I'm just so happy that you're okay," the princess said, stretching the vampire's grey skin and letting it snap back to her facial bones.
"Hey…can we go now?" Slendy asked from below. "My arm's getting tired."
"So we're even," Marceline grumbled under a smile over her own, rubbing her cheek.
"Seriously…breaking a sweat down here," Slendy panted, falling to his knees.
And before she could even dare to tell herself no, Bubblegum leaned in with a quick kiss, jumping back to watch Marceline go blank in a blushing shock. Her grey fingers lifted to her lips dully, and something much deeper than playful struck at the princess's chords.
"Definitely cherry," Bonnibel whispered coyly, her eyes falling to her boots.
Oh, hey, she was standing with a major pigeon toe. Well that's embarrassing.
"Bonnie," Marceline called out quietly, and the princess felt the older girl's voice lift her head back up. The vampi-sirs, perhaps sensing something she was just beginning to feel on the verge of, were scuttling away.
"Yes, Marceline the Vampire Queen?" Bubblegum replied, gazing up into the vampire's face.
But she was staring behind her, dark eyes wide and narrowed. "Get behind me."
Bubblegum felt her body twist behind Marceline's with a single tug on her wrist. Her eye sight spun before landing on a tall and suited man.
Only he definitely wasn't one of the others. She could tell by the way her heart sank.
His red pupils slit through a pair gooey green eyes. They sat in the sort of bemusement a shark might express beneath a sharp widow's peak and over a pair of thin lips. Like the face of a leech. A leechy man.
"Marceline the Vampire Queen…that's got a ring to it," he hummed. His voice crawled down Bubblegum's insides in a cold ripple, and she felt a need to grab Marceline's hand and find a place to hide.
The Queen between them bristled visibly, her shoulders squaring.
"What are you doing here, Dad?"