Finn groaned as he knocked over his glass, the scarlet liquid sliding out over the snow white tablecloth. The red against the white looked slightly eerie, and he looked away as he stood up to get a cloth. Marceline watched him disappear into the kitchen, then turned to look at Jake, who had come in to watch at some point during the lesson. She smiled at him, and was rewarded with narrowed eyes and a scowl.

"Has he ever dated anyone before?" Marceline asked, raising her eyebrow as if she already knew the answer. Well, she practically did. This was Finn, after all. Jake's expression confirmed her answer even before he replied.

"No. He hasn't." Jake paused. "How much longer are you planning to keep him here?"

The Vampire Queen raised a jet black eyebrow. "That sounds dangerously close to an accusation." Shrugging, she toyed with her fork as she replied. "Depends on how long it takes him to get to the point where he won't end up making a fool of himself."

Jake sighed. "Tell Finn I'll see him back at the treehouse."

She watched him disappear out the door, amused that after all this time he was still affected that much by her presence. Turning slightly, she looked down at the spilt liquid, licking her stone cold lips.

Finn wasn't really all that surprised when he returned to the room to find the stain a steel grey rather than its original crimson hue, drained of all its colour. He wiped the mess up with a wet cloth, then chucked it back in the bucket before sitting back down. He was about to ask why Marceline was sitting in her chair rather than floating above it when he paused, realizing that Jake was missing. Turning to face Marceline, he saw her picking at a nail, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"Jake left. He's gone back to the treehouse." Once again, he wasn't too surprised. Jake hadn't exactly been happy when Finn had suggested going to Marceline for help.

"Dude!" Jake cried, his eyes widening in disbelief. "What makes you think she could help? Last time she tried to help you with Bubblegum, you ended up getting banned from the Candy Kingdom!"

"You weren't much help either."

Finn hesitated when he saw Jake's eyes narrow. Holding up his hands to fend off his friends glare, he tried to argue the idea.

"Look, even if she is an ancient vampire, she's still a girl - and her age means she actually has more experience than both of us combined! You..." He paused, trying to choose the right words.

"... aren't going to be able to help much - Lady Rainicorn and Princess Bubblegum are different when it comes to that sort of thing -"

Jake interrupted him excitedly, "hey, what about Lady? She knows the Princess better than anyone!"

Silence followed his suggestion, followed by a sigh.

"Look, Jake, Lady might know the Princess, but so do I. I doubt that Lady's gone on a date with Princess Bubblegum."

"Neither has Marceline!"

"I know, but rainicorns don't date! At least, not in the way humans... candy people... vampires... whatever. They don't date the way Bubblegum does, and Marceline's probably been on that sort of date before."

Once again, the treehouse went silent. For a moment, Beemo's beeping was the only sound in the treehouse as he watched the two friends argue, a small worried frown on his screen.

"... Alright, you have a point. But I still don't like this."

Finn stared at his plate, lost in his memories, wondering if maybe Jake was right. But if Marceline can't help me, who can?

"This is useless. I'm never going to get the hang of this." He sighed, obviously irritated that they hadn't managed to make it through one 'meal' without him messing up.

Marceline tilted her head slightly. "You haven't made that many mistakes. In fact, up until you knocked over the glass, you hadn't made any mistakes that time." She didn't add the 'yet' that followed in her thoughts. ... But looking at Finn's face, she didn't need to.

"Look," she began reluctantly, "if PB asked you out, she obviously must care about you, and if she cares about you, I doubt that she's going to care that you spilled a drink."

"I know," Finn murmured, his face scrunched up with worry, "but I still want to impress her, I don't want her to think it was a mistake to ask me out…" He paused, looking up at Marceline in surprise. "Wait, since when are you nice?"

He regretted adding that last part, withering under the weight of her glare. There was a long, awkward pause, Finn's words hanging in the air. Then she stood, beginning to clear up the plates.

"I think that's enough for one night." She spoke crisply, snapping the words off with her fangs. "Come back tomorrow at sunset and we can continue. Don't be late."

Finn watched sheepishly as she disappeared into the kitchen, wishing he hadn't said anything. He stood, pausing to wait for her before he realized she had left through the back door to go exploring. Frowning, he turned and let himself out.

AN: Sorry for the delay, when I got back to school almost every one of my teachers smiled before handing me an assignment. Yay school. Anyway, hopefully next chapter Finn will learn to take his foot out of his mouth before speaking. And Marceline will be a little less… Um… Well. Touchy? –gets attacked by an angry vampire with a red bass guitar axe- Joking! I think I have a habit of writing small chapters at the moment. I don't like small chapters. However, it does keep me updating more often. I have three reviews! Yeay me! If you're reading this story and want more, you tell me which you'd prefer. Short chapters and frequent updates, or long chapters and less frequent updates. Tell you what, short chapters I'll do once a week, and long chapters once a fortnight. Approximately. Don't hold me to that. Your choice. Let me know, I do so love people giving me advice and feedback!

Have a lovely day! :D

Rai. xoxo