Bleep-bloop
R/R and enjoy.
Chapter Five: The Bumpy Road Ahead.
Princess Bubblegum and Jake had covered allot of ground since Marceline parted ways with them. They exited the kingdom, ventured through the great candy forest, traversed the Grasslands; passing by the Treefort, continued directly south crossing the hole near the centre of the world. Now found themselves on the boarder of the Badlands. The only thing that now stood between them and the desolate desert, left riddled with only bandits, was a cluster of large dark mountains; it would be quicker to climb through them, than walk around.
Bubblegum and Jake had reached the boarder much quicker then she expected, as a reward to them both they threw down their gear on a solid flat enough clearing on the mountain face and set up camp; it wasn't night just yet but they deserved to rest.
Bubblegum unbuckled her chest rig, resting it next to the duffle bag. After fishing around inside she pulled out a pink sleeping bag for herself and Jakes blankey they picked up when they swung by the Treefort. There was a spare sleeping bag for Marceline but Bubblegum left it stored since the vampire wasn't present, and she honestly wasn't even sure if she'd need it, but came prepped anyway.
There was virtually no trees around to get fire wood, unless either of the pair was willing to walk all the way back down the mountain. Bubblegum came prepared for that too, she brought a portable, rechargeable heater to keep them warm for when the sun set, the desert and especially the mountains became surprisingly cold at night. They laid out there gear among the flat rock surface, to keep herself occupied Bubblegum couldn't help but bring some of her lab gear and her diary to jot down notes to research some of the nature around these parts and help keep her thoughts clear; she'd likely go insane without her praised diary to clear her head.
Bubblegum rarely got to leave the kingdom for expeditions to explore the wonderful land of Ooo, and most certainly never got the time to come this far out. The only opportunities that would arise were when she would be called out to attend a court or a counsel in another kingdom. Along the journey she would halt the carriage if any sights peeked her interests, and would always make up an excuse for her lateness upon arrival.
Bubblegum sat down with her equipment, grabbing a bag, emptying it contents on a cloth, it held a mixed bunch of flowers she collected and picked along the journey. Bubblegum usually experimented with candy contents and materials, yet she did like broaden her research, using materials she never got her hands on before.
While the princess was busy with that, Jake laid down on his back closely behind her on his blanket, reading a old book called "The Dos and Don'ts of Parenting." He hardly read in his free time at the tree house, it always just sat there on the shelf with many other old books his mother handed down to him. Due to the news of his soon to be new born puppies however, he felt he had a duty to fill, to learn as much as he could to be a good father to his new borns. Besides he didn't want to go into parenting blind, he needed some advice from somewhere, and what better time to learn.
About 20 minuets past, Bubblegum let out a bored and disappointed sigh, her experiments were going slow, something she was used to, but also not to plan due to the lack of equipment.
With nothing else but time to burn through she took attention to Jakes activity. He didn't notice her looking, with the book held right up to his face; he seemed invested into the information the book was giving him; or trying really hard to keep focused from boredom.
Growing curious and breaking the long silence between them, Bubblegum fully turned around on the spot and asked. "What-cha reading Jake?" Her legs were crossed and arms held her slouching head up from the chin.
Jake turned on his side a little, facing away from Bubblegum to hide the book a little from her sight, slightly embarrassed to show her. Though, unable to think of a good lie, he simply said, "It's a-uh... a book... on-uh.. parenting." He announced the topic of the book stubbornly to hopefully avoid any further questions about it or what the title was. Jake knew it was stupid to act all embarrassed around his friends about this matter, especially Bubblegum, he still couldn't help himself.
His plan failed, Bubblegum persisted. She could tell the way he spoke a hid the book he was reluctant to pursue the conversation, she further prodded questions, not to spite or tease him, though she does get an adorable amusement when Finn or Jake get all flustered. She felt it would be good for him to just be up front about his feelings.
"On parenting, eh? Getting ready for the puppies I see; do continue – what's it called, what subjects does it cover?" She fired all kinds of questions at him he wasn't sure what or how to answer.
He stalled, trying to think of an escape out of this, but in his pause Bubblegum shuffled behind him, leaning over, taking the book from his nimble hands as he was in deep thinking.
"Dahh! Give it back, I'll loose the page!"
She closed the book to read the title, keeping a finger on the page he was on. "Hmm, The Dos and Don'ts of Parenting, huh? Daw Jake, there's no need to be so content about this, its sweet."
Jake retreated from his aggression, "Sigh. Yeah, I-I know, it's just, eh.. I don't know where I'm going with this..."
"You're thinking about it too much. You will be a great dad and there's no shame in seeking advice from other sources. In fact you could have asked me." She reassured him, handing his book back.
"I guess your right." He thought about it for a second, wondering how Bubblegum would know about parenting; then Lemongrab and Goliad came to mind. He didn't ask. "So, uh, what you doin' over there?" He directed the attention at her experiments.
"Oh, I was trying to splice these two flowers-" She picked up a purple bulb, and a flower with wide green petals, "-together, and these one's over here, I was trying to make sentient, but I need more of my gear, I only brought enough to perform basic experiments."
Jake nodded along, he was lost the moment she said 'splice'. "So when do you think Marceline is coming back? Can she even find us?"
The mention of the vampires name erupted an uncomfortable, queasy feeling in her gut, reminding her that she was still a problem to deal with. "I'm not sure Jake, I expected her back by now. I am sure she will be back." She wasn't sure at all, it unnerved her that Marceline was on the loose and she couldn't monitor what she was doing.
The area fell back in silence, Bubblegum attempted to salvage her works on the flowers, while Jake returned to his reading. Now with the subject on his mind, and with the wanted distraction to not continue reading, he asked the princess, "Hey Bubbs, are you ever gonna settle down with someone else, some handsome prince from far away, you always seem to, uh, avoid it."
Bubblegum didn't turn around to speak, she kept her focus on her small science project, but she didn't ignore his question. "Oh I don't know, there's just never been the right person. I guess I'm married to my work, its the only thing I get, and it gets me back. I love science."
"But doesn't a kingdom, well, you know... need a prince or king as well?"
Bubblegum turned her head to Jake, stopping with her fiddling for a second. "Are you saying a women can't do the job on her own?" She slitted her eyes slightly, giving a disappointed look.
"NO, no, no, nah, its just... never mind, it came out wrong." He tried hiding his shame behind the book cover.
Bubblegum returned her focus back on the project. "I just don't have any interest in marrying a king, or prince, or any man. It would be more of a hindrance to me then happiness. He will get part say in my affairs with the kingdom, there will be conflict in opinions, he will want to see me often and I just don't have the time with all my work. So no. I have no such interest any time soon; besides I am only twenty-two (she lied), I have plenty of time to change my mind."
Another thought climbed into Jakes mind, but he was reluctant to ask straight away, thinking of different ways to word it, in the end he settled with the simplest form. "So-um... you like.. girls then?"
Bubblegums eyes widened with the unexpectedness of the question, "What!?" she suddenly turned with all her attention put on Jake again.
Jake realised it was probably a bad idea to mention it, he tried to justify his statement, "I'm not judging or anything, its cool if your into that..."
"And what made you insinuate, I'm into 'that'?" Bubblegum didn't like the fact she was being questioned her sexuality.
"Well its just that earlier, you said there's never been the right person, you specifically mentioned a man, and you also said you didn't want to marry a king so, uh, yeah... I'll stop talking now..." Jake stopped, and tried retreating back to his book once more for protection.
Seconds later, she said, "Guh, to answer your question, no, I am not into 'that'..." and tried dismissing the conversation, getting back on track with her work.
"...Okay... I'm just saying if you are, its fine and..."
"Jake!" She warned with growing aggravation in her voice.
"Okay-okay." He yet again backed down from the accusation, quickly, before he made her mad.
Hours past, it was sundown, and started to get dark and cold, Bubblegum turned on the heater, it lit a small perimeter around them with a orange glow, since they had nothing else to do, they got ready to sleep early. Jake scuffled around on his blanket trying to get comfortable, he remained very close to the heater for warmth. Bubblegum slid into her sleeping bag, zipping it up, it was already quite warm so she slept on the edge of the light from the heater. After they both were comfortable they said goodnight and went to sleep.
Jake was unsettled through the night, he kept waking up, hearing noises, like rocks being tossed about or whispering in the wind, and feeling a presence other than Bubblegum. He felt like he was being watched. He didn't wake the princess, every time he woke up and stayed on alert for five minuets or so to see if he could catch what it was; nothing happened. But he was almost certain something was there, it couldn't have been a wild animal, it would have left by now or if it was vicious it would have struck.
Jake closed his eyes again after another five minute scan of the area, the moment he did he heard it moving again, it was toying with him. This time however Jake decided to keep his eyes shut and lure it out into the open. It sounded like his plan was working, after a while of it scuffling about around the perimeter of the camp, it slowly approached the deceitful dog, once it was only a couple of feet away, and he could hear its deliberate, cold heavy breathing.
He opened his eyes and performed a short dive to were he thought it stood, hitting his chest the hard earth, the air was forced out of his tired lungs upon landing, letting out a loud huff grunt, almost waking the princess. There was nothing, he was certain he heard it, it was starting to drive him crazy, 'Maybe it was a dream, and I woke up thinking it was real.' Jake pondered to himself laying back down on his blanket drifting to sleep. As he was on the verge of passing into dreamland could feel a glorious sensation on his stomach, which made him start to drool and slip further into drowsiness, until it slipped into mind, 'What the clams is stroking me?'
He sprung up off his back, franticly looking around. Turning right and before his eyes could process the information, his ears beat them to it, hearing a calm casual voice say, "Hey Jake." and a pat on his tummy. He leapt away in panic, getting tangled up in his blanket screaming in fear, up till his brain assuredly registered that voice, it was none other than Marceline.
The vampire queen laughed away, rolling around holding her sides at Jakes panic. Bubblegum was awaken by his loud, childish screaming, quickly grabbing a torch out of her bag, to check what all the commotion was about. Bubblegum pointed the bright light over in Marcelines direction. She sheathed her eyes, letting a small hiss slip, due to the discomforting glare of the torch. "Ah! Bonnie its me! Turn that thing off, you could have almost blinded me."
Bubblegum pointed the torch down at the ground, keeping it on to still light up the area a little more efficiently. Marceline dropped her hands from her face to see Jake still cowering, entangled in his blanket, the sight made her let out another short snigger; Bubblegum begun to ask, "Marceline, what took you so long, and why are you trying to creep on us in the night?"
Marceline floated over and around Bubblegum, explaining, "I told you, I needed to pick up some things." She grabbed the strap of the bag that hanged on her shoulders, resting by her hip, and slung the strap over her head, tossing the bag on the floor next to Bubblegums. "And besides, I haven't been home in six weeks, had to make sure everything was the way I left it. And I was 'creeping' on you because its called having fun, you should try it some time." She mocked, hovering down, resting her head on the bag she tossed on the ground.
"I cant get enough of his reaction every time, its been too long; isn't that right puppy?" Jake popped his head out from under the fabric bounds he was caught up in, with a angered embarrassment on his face.
"Okay Marceline, you've had your fun, now lets all get some rest; its going to be a long and tiring walk when we are in that desert, we will need all the energy we can get."
"Nuh-uh, lets stay up and tell ghost stories. I got one that'll make you scream so loud, Jake, that the demons of the Night-O-Sphere would hear you. It's about this fisherman all alone one night at a lake-"
"Marceline this is serious! Finns life is in danger, can't you be mature for once?" Bubblegum scorned, putting a stop to Marcelines mischievous behaviour.
"Damn I was just trying to lighten up the mood, why do you always have to be such a downer, you act like you're the one who's been locked up for six weeks. Sigh, fine, I'll leave you two, to your precious sleep, I'm going to head up to the top of the mountain." She spoke in a cranky tone of voice, bringing herself to her feet, jumping in the air as a boost to flying to the mountain peek.
Bubblegum scratched her head at Marcelines behaviour, she seemed so much more calmer, like earlier never happened. "Does she seem to be acting odd to you Jake?"
Jake let out a yawn, as he untangled himself, before answering. "Not really, same old Marceline. Oh glob she going to freak the junk outta me even more now that I locked her up!" Jake rolled up on the floor trying to get back to sleep; his paranoia, expecting the vampire to jump out at him, at any given moment didn't help though.
"Hmm" Bubblegum reach over to her notepad and flicked a couple of pages in, skipping through the already used up pages full of research. She titled the notes 'Marceline's condition' along with the date, and went on to write: 'She appears, from what I have currently seen, to be experiencing personality splits. My evidence towards this speculation started in my room, at the castle, she was perfectly okay in my presence, even just several hours after being freed from the prison I ordered her to be locked up in. She did not seem to hold a grudge or seek any vengeance. I had more banana guard patrol outside my room because I thought she would try and murder me if we were alone, but she was fine.
And then before we left the castle this morning, that's when she shows signs of hostility, and heavy sign of distrust, speaking of trust, I recall her asking me if I 'trusted her'. What does it mean? Why would she ask that; could it be she doesn't trust herself? Does a part of her mind know she is experiencing instability, and its warning me... I don't know maybe I'm thinking to deep into it.
But there's certainly something not right. Just now she seemed fine again, back to her old self, seeming to forget about our small confrontation in the castle. Could it be be, being lock up in a confined space, with no company other than herself did this? Surely not, its too short term for these types of mental symptoms. Or could it be her emotional attachment with Finn, exposing her feelings to him took her allot of courage, and now all this. I really don't know, I'll have to keep a close eye on her behaviour; maybe the best way is to talk with her about it. Either way I will continue writing my findings in here.'
Bubblegum closed her notebook, returning it back beside the duffle bag. She shuffled down back into her sleeping bag and tried to get some rest for the journey tomorrow.
Marcelines behaviour is all wishy-washy at the moment, what do you think she is going to do when the time comes?