Chapter 8: frenimies

His breath was hot against her lips. He warmed her to the very last nerve as he licked them than kissed them hastily. It was like she was the radiant sun and he was the distant moon. This was their eclipse. This was their only chance to touch, and he squeezed every last drop out of his chance. Gravity tugged at her body as he lowered her down on wrinkled sheets and flat pillows. He pulled back to look down at her with those sharp green eyes of his. She stared back. Where was she? What was she doing with him? She needed him. She hated him, yet needed him so much. He ducked back down, running his top lip against her neck and leading to her mouth. With his lips barely brushing hers, he whispered.

"Fionna,"

The blond snapped out of her daydream and looked over at Cake. They were in the middle of making crowns out of the flowers for their customers.

"Yeah?" She replied. Cake rolled her eyes and tapped the side of her head.

"Earth, to Fi! Get your head outta the clouds!" She yelled. Fionna rolled her eyes and looked back at the crown she was working on.

"I'm not in the clouds, I was just thinking," Fionna told her calmly. Cake cocked a brow.

"About what?" She asked. Fionna hesitated and bit her lip. A light pink started to dust itself across her cheeks.

"Uh…nothing," she answered shortly.

"Nothing?" Cake questioned.

"That's right, nothing." Fi repeated.

"Fi you can't think about nothing," she sassed. Fionna rolled her eyes and told her to drop the subject, but Cake only persisted more.

"We're you thinking about Marshalllllllllllll?" She asked with a malicious smile. The blond glared up at her and blushed furiously.

"N-no, why would I be thinking about him?" She grumbled.

"Well…he's tall, and he's handsome, and he can be sweet when he wants, and…" Cake paused, and looked as if she was trying to remember something. "Oh, what was that last thing? Oh yeah! He's been starring at you this entire time."

"What!" Fionna looked over at the booth next to them and saw Marshall painting a little girls face. She frowned and looked back at Cake.

"Liar," she accused and slapped her shoulder lightly.

"Nu-uh, he has," she insisted.

"No, he's been painting faces," she pointed out. Cake sighed.

"Girl he's been side eyeing you this whole time. Every five seconds he's glancing over, and when he washes out his brushes he's looking you up and down like a gourmet dinner."

"No way…"

"Yes way! Just watch," she insisted.

Fionna sighed and decided to watch for him to look over as he painted the little girls face. She couldn't quite make out what he was painting, but it was something bright and colorful. Probably a butterfly or hearts or something, yet he still looked focused as if each stroke of his brush was vital. Instead of waiting for what Cake had claimed, she found herself watching him work. It intrigued her how gentle he held his brush, and how lightly he rested his pinky on the girls chin. He was soft, and she had troubles remembering if he had ever looked so serene. As soon as he pulled his brush away and cleaned it off Fionna blinked and looked over to Cake again.

"Did you see him?" She asked.

"Uh, no I got distracted." She mumbled and looked down at the flowers in her hands.

"C'mon! He looked at least five times while you were looking over there," she groaned. Fionna blushed.

"Sorry, I just got sucked in to watching him paint," Fionna confessed. Cake chuckled.

"Try again," she smiled. Fionna glanced up and instantly snagged her gaze on his. She quickly looked back down and her cheeks turned to the color of the roses in her hands. Cake laughed, of course. Fionna had no idea why she felt so…embarrassed.

"Took you long enough," she snickered. Fionna frowned and slapped her arm again before looking over one more time to catch the smirk on his face as he finished up. Great, now he thinks she's madly in love with him or something. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"Whatever, you got a hair tie?" She asked.

"You know what, I do. You know I normally don't because my hair is too thick for that shit, but I was thinking of you and bought some this morning," Cake said and pulled a pack out of her pocket.

"Thanks, I owe you one."

"Specifically, you owe me 3 and half," she said with a smirk as Fi took the pack and took one out.

"Really? Man, these are getting expensive," she mumbled as she started to gather up her hair in a high pony.

"Inflation, dude. It's a thing," Cake pointed out.

"Ugh, don't remind me. The company I buy my daffodils from raised it five cents more a bud, can you believe that? It's already the cheapest company I know and they're starting to catch up to the normal prices. I'm gonna have to start charging more…" she rambled in disgruntle.

"People come by your shoppe for more than flowers, so I wouldn't worry about raising the price ten cents," she assured the stressed blond.

"What else do they come for then?"

"Girl don't play dumb. You're super nice and make everyone feel good about themselves," Cake sassed. Fionna smiled a little and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not super nice. I'm just decent, and there's not a lot of decent people out there so it's…new to people," she told her and continued weaving flowers together. Cake chuckled and set her flowers down.

"Whateves, girl. I'ma head down to the little girls room and take care of some business. See ya," she announced before standing up and walking off in the direction of the bathrooms at the opposite end. The blond watched and smiled as her fiend left. She walked across the grassy field, noticing a few people on her way and making Fionna shake her head slightly before resuming her focus on her flowers.

"Wow, she is definitely out there," spoke a familiar voice. Fionna jumped slightly, fumbling her fingers with the stems as she looked up at Marshall leaning against the post of her cover.

"Oh…" she looked to where he was watching and giggled. Cake was full on flirting with some stranger on her way to the bathroom. "Yeah, she's a bit…people crazy," she agreed.

"People crazy?" He questioned, squinting to see the black beauty better.

"Yeah. I'd say boy crazy or girl crazy, but she really hits on anyone," Fionna explained. He chuckled.

"I can see. I honestly can't tell that persons gender," he said when he finally looked down at Fionna. She was still observing her friend, but shortly realized he was starring.

"Y-yeah, I guess some people are like that," she stuttered slightly, and blushed a soft pink. He nodded and noticed the flowers in her lap and around the grass.

"Pretty," he said simply. Fionna blinked up at him and blushed deeper.

"Huh?"

"Your flowers. They're pretty," he reiterated.

"O-oh, they're just fabric. If I was to make one of these with real flowers I'd have to wear gloves and keep them cool and stuff like that," she told him.

"Yeah? That sounds interesting," he crouched down next to her and picked up one of the finished crowns.

"It's not good to touch petals with your bare hands, the oils on our skin can cause it to wilt and die prematurely," she explained.

"Hm, I didn't know that," he said as he looked up from the fake petals and smiled at her. Fionna felt too nervous to smile back, so instead she looked away and busied herself with her flowers.

"P-people don't know a lot about flowers. All they care about is how beautiful they are, so it's my job to know this stuff and provide the flowers." She felt her heart pound in her chest and his eyes burn in to the side of her face. For some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was starring at her mouth. He chuckled.

"Wow you really like flowers, don't you?" He asked.

"Yes, I do."

"I don't blame you…they're gorgeous-"

"Oh, I don't like them because they're beautiful," she interrupted and finally kept a steady gaze on his.

"You don't?"

"Not really."

"Then…why do you like them?" He questioned.

"Well, despite them being able to die and wilt, they last forever," she said simply. Marshall frowned and furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Think about it. Flowers have been around for millennia, and much longer than humans if you follow the theory of evolution. You can see them in countless works of historical art, and are the most famous symbol of romance. Once you add flowers to something, it's instantly romanticized. A simple white rose on a coffin suggests the person who died is just as loved in death as they were in life. They instantly turn something ugly into something delicate and beautiful, and an experience like that lasts for ages. There's a reason people like to receive flowers as a gift, it's because it makes them feel special and beautiful and that memory will last them forever. Of course flowers die, everything dies. If people don't what things to die they should lock themselves up in a stone cellar or something. It's the fact that they'll wilt two weeks later that makes them…so special," she finished with a sigh as she smiled down at the fake flowers. Marshall blinked.

"That's a pretty good reason to like flowers. You're really poetic," he noticed. Fionna laughed a little and shook her head.

"No, I'm just obsessed with flowers," she giggled.

"I can tell-"

"Marshall! Fionna!" Shouted a shrill voice. They looked up to see Peggy waddling over while fanning herself with her clipboard. "The next challenge is in a half an hour, you guys should start heading down there," she panted.

"Oh, okay," Fionna said and stood up with Marshall.

"What's the challenge this time?" Marshall asked. Peggy took a moment to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her forehead. In her defense, it was a very hot day, but she was really out of shape.

"Uh, you're gonna have to go down there because I forgot."

"Um, okay. Gotcha. We'll see you down there," Fionna replied and patted her shoulder, instantly pulling back and wiping the sweat on her grey tee-shirt. Peggy nodded and continued walking around the track to the other teams.

"That's kinda irresponsible to forget what the challenge was," Marshall muttered.

"Oh give her a break, there's a million things she needs to worry about and your attitude is not one of them!"