Finn walked through Marceline's doorway, yawning. Day four. Will I really be ready by next week? Jake had tried to talk him out of his lessons last night over burritos, saying that he could teach him what he needed to know, that Marceline had got him in trouble last time she tried to help. Remembering Princess Bubblegum's face when she realized Finn had let wolves loose in her bedroom, Finn winced. Why he ever thought that was a good idea… Better than the lute suit though. Just. Looking around, he noticed that the table and chairs were still leaning against the wall as they had been when he left yesterday afternoon.

Finn turned towards Marceline, who was standing beside him. "Want some help setting up the chairs?" He was surprised to see Marceline's half-smile appear.

"We're not practicing your table manners today weenie. There's more to your date with Bonnibelle than eating, remember?"

Finn realized with a start that Marceline had replaced her usual jeans and boots with a long black skirt and tiny shoes that were… pink? Seeing his reaction to the shoes, she sighed.

"I've had them sitting in the back of my closet for decades. Mum gave them to me when I was a little girl, but pink has never been my thing."

Avoiding his questioning glance, Marceline took Finn's bag and put it next to the couch, bringing out a coat from a tuxedo. Giving it to Finn, she glided over to the stereo and turned it on, pulling a face as it began to play ballroom music. Finn put on the coat and walked over to her, watching as she took his hands and put one around her waist, holding the other out to her side. Planting her feet on the ground, she looked Finn in the eye.

"First we're going to learn the waltz."

She showed him the movements, which he picked up easily, much to their surprise. Within minutes he'd picked up the basics, and they began to move on to the more elaborate moves.

As they were practicing one particularly difficult move involving a twirl and quick footwork, Finn asked Marceline about the coat.

"That old thing? Ash left it behind when he moved out. I ended up keeping it, just in case I ever got a cat and needed something to line the litter box with." She grinned, displaying her fangs.

"What about the dancing? I wouldn't have thought you'd cared about this sort of thing."

Marceline shrugged. "I don't, really. Just sort of picked it up here and there."

Confused about her evasive reply, Finn accidentally stepped on Marceline's foot.

"Careful, if you step on Bonnibelle's foot she'll chuck you out of Candy Kingdom for life."

Finn began to worry before he saw her grin and realized she was joking.

A couple of hours later, Marceline turned off the stereo, sighing with relief as she took off the shoes and began to float. "I haven't used my feet that much in ages. I swear those shoes are smaller than I remember."

"I don't know which is worse, eating or dancing." Finn sank back onto her couch, yawning.

Smiling, she went into the kitchen to grab them both a drink. Taking two glasses out of the fridge, she filled one with tomato juice from the fridge, draining it of colour before refilling it and placing the juice back in the fridge. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she was in the process of filling the other glass with water for Finn when she looked up at the glass cupboards and froze.

A black figure floated next to her, featureless and menacing. Looking around, she saw no one. Slowly, reluctantly, she turned back towards the glass, dreading what she'd see in the reflection. But there was nothing there. Frowning, she blinked a couple of times, sure that she'd seen…

"Marceline?"

Finn was standing in the doorway, watching her worriedly. Marceline looked down to see the tap still running, the water pouring over the rim of the glass, over her pale skin and into the sink.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She muttered as she turned the tap off, tipping a little bit of the water out before handing it to the human. She grabbed her own glass and emptied it in one gulp, before realizing that she had drunk the liquid without draining it of colour first. Shit.

Sighing, she looked back at Finn to see him still watching her.

"I'm fine, Finn, stop being such a weenie. You're not the only one who gets tired, you know." She pushed past him, ignoring the concerned expression on his face. Walking upstairs, she turned on the top step to face him.

"Go home. Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Finn watched quietly as Marceline disappeared upstairs, wondering what in the name of Ooo was going on with her at the moment.

AN: Before I write any more chapters, I might go back and edit the ones i've already published. I feel that they're lacking description and need fleshing out - i'm doing my trick that I used to do back when I was nine where I get so involved in the story I forget to set the scene. That annoys me more than you can imagine.

Especially that first chapter. Eugh. I'm editing that as soon as possible. Reading it makes me ashamed to have my name on that chapter.

Also I think I have a clearer idea of where i'm going with this now... But I think this is still quite a rough piece of work overall, i'm mostly practicing my skills on this story. It seems like I need all the practice I can get. D:

Until the next chapter!

Rain. xoxo