AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, Florence M. Welch has brought it to my attention that some people MAY take the state that Gumball woke up in (sticky) and the fact that he was in Marceline's room to mean that they did Tier 15. THEY DID NOT! I cannot stress this enough- Marcy and Gumball are NOT back together. Not yet, anyway. Alright, now, putting my serious hat (It actually exists, an Australian flag cap) away, enjoy!

Marceline's P.O.V.

I carried my plate over to the kitchen sink, where Gumball was standing, washing dishes. I paused and took a moment to fully appreciate how girly he looked, an apron tied around his waist as he muttered darkly, glaring at a speck of grease on one of my plates as he scrubbed at it, a small pool of water collecting at his socked feet.

I snickered as I dumped my dishes into the soapy water. He looked at me, obviously confused at my amusement. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh, just how housewife-y you look right now."

"Hey!" He said indignantly. "How am I housewife-y?"

I tapped my chin. "Oh, you've left yourself open for so many things there, Bubs... how's about we start with the sparkly, kitten apron that you're wearing. Or should I voice how engrossed in washing dishes you are?"

"You're mean." He pouted.

"No, just a deviant." I grinned. "And you're a house mouse."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Prove it." I said.

"How?" He looked bewildered.

"Commando-spy jump." I pointed at the window between the kitchen and the living room. "Through there, I dare you."

"Alright." He dried off his hands and took off his apron, carefully folding it in half and draping it over the back of a chair. He took a few steps back before charging at the window and diving through, sailing across the room before crashing into my blinds over my window to outside, bringing them crashing down.

You may ask why I even have blinds. The reason is, during summer, at about 10.30 in the morning, there's this nice little semi-lethal sunbeam that shines through the mouth of my cave and in through the window. Reason: I don't want to fry.

Gumball yelped and tackled me out of the sunlight. "Oh, gob! I'm sososos sorry!" He babbled. "Are you okay? I hope you're not hur-"

"Gumball, shush for a sec." I held up a finger to him and stretched my other hand up, waving it through the sunlight, cringing in anticipation. For... nothing, apparently.

The sun glinted off of my scales, making me shine. Well, whatever they were, the offered sun protection. I noted that where I'd scraped them off yesterday, they'd grown back. I frowned. That didn't used to happen.

"You're... sparkling." Gumball breathed.

"I am not!" I hissed in mild anger, spinning to glare at him.

"What? What's wrong with sparkling?" He looked bewildered again.

"Same reason Marshall hates Edward. Twilight-"

"' Makes vampires look like total sissies, dude! They don't float or anything, hell, they don't even have decent healing!' I've heard it a million times from Marsh. I think it's the only thing you two agree on."

"Uh... okay. Well," I said, brightening, "I'm not gonna crispify anytime soon, so I'm gonna go do some gardening." I flew through my front door and out of my cave to my greenhouse, which was basically a glass-paned large-size garden shed.

I touched down and started weeding around my watermelons as Gumball stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised and his head cocked as I quietly hummed 'What Am I To You ', a song that Finn'd sung a while back. "What are you lookin' at?" I asked as I ripped a dandelion out of the ground.

"Just... gardening. Never thought you'd turn out to be a botanist." He shrugged. I continued humming, and he asked me what it was.

"Oh, just a song Finn came up with." I said offhandedly. I was thinking about the song because the question itself was ringing in my head.

"Cool. How's it go, if you don't mind me asking?"

I feigned ignorance, not wanting to alert him to my thoughts. "I can't remember. You'd have to ask Finn."

"Oh... what's it called?"

"Sorry." I shrugged. "I don't remember."

He smiled, and my heart would've thudded in my chest if it beat under normal circumstances. "Fair enough."

"You know, I need more tomatoes... Bubba, go get the tomato seeds." I commanded.

"Yes, Mistress." He simpered, giving a grin that would have made even the most trusting person instantly suspicious. He walked off, and I let myself relax a little.

Jeez, I was 1000 years old! Why would I like this weird, semi-sissy, nerdy, funny, smart, charming- WAIT! Bad brain! I'd only been in contact with him for a little under a week, and he was already messing with my head. I was making ties with Marshall's best friend, who'd probably desert me as soon as Marshall left. But... a small part of my brain whispered to me. 'Gumball's not like that. You know him,' I told myself, 'He won't leave you hanging. Especially not now, while you're going through all this weird stuff.'

I shook myself from my thoughts as he came back with a little paper bag. "These?"

I sighed. "What?"

"Are these the tomato seeds?" He repeated.

"Do they say 'tomato' on them?"

He paused and glance at the bag. "Yes."

"Then, yes, Gumball," I said with exaggerated patience, "Those are the tomato seeds."

"Yeesh." He dropped them in my lap.

"What?" I looked up sharply. "Just... seriously. I may be better acquainted with vegetables in the kitchen, but you don't need to be so snippy." He said, a hurt look on his face.

If it'd been Finn, I would've laughed it off and said I was just messing with him. If it was Marshall, I probably wouldn't have bothered. Bonnibell ,I would have rolled my eyes and laughed at her. But the look on Gumball's face made me falter. I hung my head, rubbing the back of my neck. "I'm sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind with the scales and... stuff." I said vaguely.

"It's okay." He said quietly.

We stood- well, strictly speaking, I was kneeling- there for a few moments, not looking at each other.

I stood and brushed my knees off. "Well. You're not such a stuffed shirt, after all." I said brightly. "Look at ya, you're out here in the sun, with a vampire rocker chick, getting your hands dirty in a garden, wearing a rock t-shirt and shorts-"

He glanced down and yelped. "I'm in my pajamas!"

I laughed. "Dude, don't freak out."

"But, but..." He spluttered.

"You look fine." I assured him.

"One would almost think that comment was biased."He laughed, and I blushed slightly.

"Whatever. They're good gardening clothes- you won't get your fancy pants dirty." I steered the conversation away from that territory as I scooped up a dirt clod and threw it at his legs.

"Hey!" He cried, grabbing a handful and tossing it in my direction.

I grabbed it out of midair, poked a seed into it, and patted it into the ground.

"Aw, what? No fair, that's cheating!" Gumball protested.

I laughed. "Natural abilities, Bubba. C'mon, help me with the pumpkins." I took step into the air to float. I didn't float.

I tripped and landed on my face in the dirt. "Yah!" I yelped as I fell.

Gumball launched forwards to help me up. I waved him away as I spat the soil out of my mouth, winded.

I stood up and started hopping in a circle, bouncing into the air, Fionna-style, and landing on my feet on the ground.

I couldn't fly.