Chapter 3: Hickies, Physical and Mental

"Sorry I haven't visited in a while. I've just been kinda busy running a bunch of errands for Prubs, training with Huntress, and working on my swordsmanship with Rattleballs." Finn sat against the great tree, it's only response to the conversation being the sway of its leaves in the nighttime wind. Only small remnants of what used to be Finn and Jake's treehouse remained, either laying around as small pieces of debris covered by dirt or damaged old trinkets strewn about in which nobody bothered to recover them.

"I-I'm kind of in an odd funk Fern….. It just feels like everything is going smoothly after the whole GOLB thing for the most part and that's a good thing….. Everyone is moving on and having a good time, but that's it I guess? I can't help but feel like something is missing." Finn slowly released his breath as he leaned his head back against the tree, looking up towards the Finn sword which sat firmly cemented within a branch.

"What if it's something with me? Something that I'm not doing right or differently? Most of the time it feels like I'm 'stuck'... Stuck thinking about skronked up crud from the past that shouldn't really matter anymore yet I keep finding myself falling back all of it you know?... Heheh, even now I'm all messed up over this dumb dream that I can't remember and it's probably not even important…. I just keep getting lost in my own thoughts lately instead of enjoying the present like everyone else or at least it feels that way anyway."

There was still no response from the tree. Of course Finn wasn't expecting an answer, but a small part of him wanted to at least pretend that Fern was sitting beside him, listening to his rambling or that the tree was somehow sending Finn's words to Fern like a messenger between worlds.

"I bet if you were here, you'd be telling me that I'm overthinking all of this. Jake would probably tell me the same thing." He began laughing to himself. "I mean hey, it's not all bad though. I'm keeping myself busy and I still have plans for the week until Jake gets back. Doing a bunch of jazz and what not has helped with the thought junk so far. Phoebe has another freestyle rap competition in the next two days. It's some kind of two versus two partner thing so we'll both be competing against Son of Rap Bear who wants a rematch and some new guy I've never heard of called Rotisserie Bob. There isn't really any 'rehearsing' involved. That would math up the whole 'freestyle' part of it. We've been practicing though. Aside from that, I think I'll go visit PB tomorrow and see if she has any more quests or important biz I can help out with. You know how she is, always has something that needs getting done."

Finn shifted around in his seated position, not quite being able to find a comfortable way to rest. Each move caused a sharp pain in his ribs to resurface along with the various other injuries he sustained from his earlier fight. Lowering his head back down, he began rummaging through his backpack. Pulling out the vial of cyclops tears he had packed this morning, he'd hoped to heal his beaten up form. Unfortunately, the vial was broken open, absent of any tears. It must have shattered when that alpha how wolf threw him into that boulder.

"Ah what?! Guess I'm rolling with the universe hickies ..." He said in a strained voice as he got up on his feet, deciding that it was probably time to head home. His face contorted from his body's protest to his sudden movement. Finn rested his hand against the bark of the tree one last time.

"Thanks for listening. I'll probably stop by next week." He took a few steps away from the tree before looking back at it one last time. "See you later Fern."

Traveling back to the castle atop Mount Cragdor tended to be nothing short of a light cardio routine for Finn though tonight was different. The soreness in his legs added an additional twenty minutes to the time it took him to walk up to the top. A sense of relief washed over his entire self as the front doors to the castle came into view. Dragging his feet across the ground, Finn lifted his hand lazily and pushed the doors open, stepping into the welcoming warmth of home. The very first thing he decided to do was let his backpack slide off his shoulders and fall onto the floor. Next, Finn pulled off his bearskin hat and hung it up on a nearby coat rack, shortly followed by him kicking off his shoes in random directions.

He was too tired to bother putting any of his gear or clothing away and opted for worrying about it tomorrow. Mid yawn, Finn trudged down the hallway and into his bedroom where he then plopped onto his mattress. Rolling onto his back, he fumbled with the connection port holding his cybernetic arm in place. After hearing a click here and there, followed by a low hum of the arm's power shutting off, the tired adventurer placed the prosthetic on his nightstand. The speed at which he drifted off into sleep was almost instantaneous, the world around him fading away as the sweet embrace of his weariness pulled him further from reality.

He had no idea how or when he had gotten there. The only fact that Finn could piece together was that he was back in the citadel. He was holding onto something, ever so desperately trying to not let go of it with every ounce of strength he had. Jake was calling up to him from down below.

"Finn! Let go, he's not worth it!" Finn looked up to see who Jake was referring to. The giant tube-like appendage which connected to a floating piece of debris tugged against him, causing his fingers to slip. Martin muttered something to the giant blue extra dimensional being standing next to him. Shortly after, The giant summoned what seemed to be a wormhole of sorts. It began moving the giant rock which his father stood upon, drawing it closer to its entrance and further away from Finn. The boy continued to struggle.

Please don't go! I just met you! There's so much I want to talk to you about! His internal pleas did little to help. Holding onto the vein-like structure that trailed down from the giant piece of broken earth, Finn's arm transformed before his very eyes. Giant green vines enveloped his arm, providing extra strength to his hold while Jake desperately tried to hold his other hand down. It wasn't enough. Subconsciously, he knew how this dream would end and yet he couldn't help but panic at the sight of his father disappearing, leaving him behind like it was nothing. He continued to grip tightly, refusing to give in. He would win this tug of war even if it was against something as imposing as a wormhole.

Just as he was sure he'd win, a very grim sensation reminded him of his inevitable defeat. A sharp horrendous pain began to travel from Finn's shoulder all the way down to his grassy hand. It was excruciating, the sensation of tendons in his arm snapping, the breaking of bone underneath his flesh, causing him to scream out in agony. Normally anyone would have let go by now, but he just couldn't accept it. It wasn't fair. He had come all this way just for the chance to reunite and build some kind of bond with family he never knew.

SNAP!

Finn was suddenly falling, taking in one last view of Martin as he, along with the escaped prisoners of the citadel, slipped through the portal with the remnants of Finn's vine covered arm following them through, a reminder of his fruitless struggle. He slammed into the pinkish liquid, as wide as any ocean, floating beneath the surface, utterly defeated. Finn tried swimming back up, but no matter how far he swam, he never seemed to reach the surface. The lack of oxygen in his veins was becoming frighteningly apparent. Once Finn could no longer bear it, he gasped for air, only for his lungs to be filled with the stinging sensation of the liquid that filled them. His heart beat against his ribcage like a drum, almost bursting free. The anxiety climbed higher and higher and higher….

Just like the morning before, Finn shot up out of his bed, gasping for air. His brain seemed to think he was still drowning. Beads of sweat coated his forehead while his hand was shaking. He began to slowly bring his fast breath under control, trying to lower his heart rate. He reached for his arm which was no longer there to see if it still hurt from being torn off. The pain felt so real in his dream and he silently cursed his brain for playing these kinds of tricks on him.

"AAAAGHH! Stupid flipping dream!"

Finn threw his legs over the side of the bed. Just as he prepared to stand up, the sensation of something wet hit his leg. It was once then twice.

"Huh?"

He looked down at his legs to see tear drops gathering on his upper thigh. He raised his left hand and felt tears streaming down his cheek. Hurriedly, he used both hands to wipe away the tears, as if trying to keep up his image of usual bravado regardless of the absent audience. Once his face was dry, he sighed as he ran both hands through his bedridden hair, undoing a plethora of knots that riddled his mane all the way down past his shoulders. Finally standing up, wincing from his still sore body, he walked to the doorway of the bedroom and opened the door.

Finn froze. A realization dawned upon him, causing a cold sensation to travel down his spine.

Wait a minute…

Earlier when he had hastily tried to wipe his face clean and fix the knots in his hair….. he felt it. Feeling not one, but two hands making contact with his face, two hands running over his scalp. He certainly wasn't wearing his prosthetic. Finn immediately looked down his right side, only to be met with the usual stump. He wiggled it around aimlessly just to be sure.

Glob I'm really losing my melon marbles.

Before trying to investigate the situation any further, a familiar sound echoed down the hallway from the kitchen. Breaking himself free of his stupor, Finn strained his ears. The sound wasn't just a sound, but more so a voice.

"Common BMO! I know you still have Kompy's Kastle still downloaded on your hard drive!" It couldn't be. It just couldn't or at least not until the week was over. Perhaps Finn really was starting to lose his marbles.

"What do you mean you deleted it?! I was gonna finally beat the final boss when I got home man!" It was definitely Jake's voice. The last thing Finn remembered about Jake was that he was visiting his family for the week except, the week wasn't over. Finn began walking down the hallway, breaking into a light jog without realizing. His arm ordeal from earlier already left his mind as he rounded the corner, his heart racing for more positive reasons this time. He entered the kitchen, quickly looking over at the dining table.

It was him. Jake was sitting in a pulled out chair with a cup of coffee in his hand, conversing with BMO.

"J-Jake…?"

Finn couldn't believe he was home. Sure it had been only four days or so since he left, but it felt like the magical dog had been gone much longer. Jake cut off his banter immediately at the sound of Finn's voice. Him and BMO turned to look at Finn, standing at the hallway entrance. Contrast to his earlier expression of frustration, Jake's face lit up like a firecracker as he jumped out of his seat and sprinted towards Finn.

"Finn buddy!"

Jake jumped at Finn, stretching his arms around the now laughing human until he was wrapped up like a christmas present.

"I missed you dude! Hahahaha!" Jake grew in size and squeezed Finn tight, causing him to wheeze out his next words.

"Urrrrgh! Jake! Ribs! Breeeeathiiiing!"

"Oh crud, my bad dude!" Jake released his hold on Finn, retracting his arms from him and taking a good look at him. After taking a closer look at his young brother, Jake looked perturbed and slightly worried.

"I Missed you too man! I mean wow it's felt like forev–" Finn took notice of Jake's change in demeanor, now raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Err…. Is something up man?"

"Dude what the hell happened to you!? Did you get into a 1v1 with The Farm recently! You look like you had a bunch of angry bears play ping pong with you and you were the ball!" Jake exclaimed as he stretched his arm out to point at each and every individual bruise, cut, or swollen part on Finn's body. The crusty patches of bloody scabbing over the gash on Finn's face and the tiny clumps of dried up dirt still decorating his long disheveled hair were cause for concern too. Finn then understood why Jake was taken aback. Awkwardly laughing, Finn looked off to the side while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I kinda um….. threw mitts with a giant wolf yesterday? I won though!" Finn finished, somehow convinced that the fact he won would magically erase Jake's worry.

"Ya I'd say that checks out. Look Finn, I know you're a tough nut and all, but you oughta be more careful about picking fights with everything you come across. Especially when your big bro aint around to watch your back, hmph." Jake had a bit of a whine in his last sentence while crossing his arms. Finn felt a little guilty for worrying Jake.

"Haha! You worry too much, but…. I'll be more careful from now on, ok?" Jake was still crossing his arms all stubborn like. Finn walked up to him and began scratching under Jake's ear, causing the canine to start leaning into his hand, letting his arms fall to the side.

"UUUuuuuuu…. Ok ya fine." Finn started laughing uncontrollably. Jake seemed like he was about to fall asleep standing up. The sudden high pitch chime of the oven caused Jake to shoot up and rush to open it. His arm stretched across the kitchen, into a drawer and then pulled his arm back with an oven mitt now sitting over his hand. Finn took a seat at the dining room table, excitedly slapping the table like it was a set of bongos. The scent that left the oven made Finn realize immediately what was on the menu before Jake even pulled the main course out.

"Meatloaf!? AH YEA my favorite!" Jake chuckled at Finn's excitement over the prepared breakfast. Jake set the steaming meatloaf onto the counter and cut it into serving sizes, putting the mouth watering meal on a couple of plates before walking back to the table with them.

"It's not exactly within the realm of breakfast foods, but I figured I'd treat my best bud to something nice this morning." Jake said as he proudly set the plate down in front of Finn who was practically salivating the moment the plate touched the surface of the table. Without hesitation, Finn picked up a fork and shoved a huge mouthful of the meatloaf into his mouth. Jake sat back down in his seat and took hold of his coffee while he happily watched Finn scarf down his breakfast.

"Glo– I louv mealoph. Ah musv beh realleh hungray." The mess of words escaped Finn's mouth while he was still chewing on his food. Jake sipped from his coffee before setting it back down on the table.

"Uh huh I'm sure that's a surprise." Jake said, playfully rolling his eyes. Jake then pointed at Finn.

"So what have you been up to for the last four days, other than getting mauled."

Finn gulped down whatever he was chewing, letting out a small content sigh before looking at Jake.

"Well, shortly after you took off to go hang with Lady and her parents, I spent some time looking for a new dungeon to crawl. Turns out I only found a few caves." Finn put on a pouting face. "I'm starting to get the feeling that I've cleared out almost all of the dungeons in Ooo because finding new ones has been dirtballs."

"Finn, don't tell me you've been spending the past four days looking for dungeons." Jake said with a look of doubt. Finn simply scoffed at the assumption as he laid back in his chair, giving his now meatloaf filled belly room to expand.

"Nah man, that would be mad lame. After that, I spent a day practicing my swordsmanship with Rattleballs. He told me that there won't really be much more to teach me pretty soon." The pride in Finn's statement had shown through a satisfied grin though in all honesty, he felt a little disappointed at the idea that Rattleballs would no longer have anything to teach him. "After that, I spent the last two days hanging out with HW at her place."

Jake could easily pick up on the vagueness in Finn's story, causing the yellow dog to fold his hands on the table and lean forward.

"Annnnd when did that happen?" Jake gestured towards Finn's damaged bits, causing Finn's eyes to widen slightly.

"Oh ya that. Well HW was having some sort of territory dispute with these wolves who decided to show up and start something. I just happened to be there at the time so I 'pitched in'."

Jake seemed satisfied enough with Finn's explanation and relaxed his posture.

"Hehehe I guess you've been spending a lot of time with your lady friend then? Had a feeling you two would hit it off from the moment you started helping her with that flute biz and you were all like 'No Jake, I'm just trying to be a good guy and help her summon the Spirit of the Forest, nothing else.' Go ahead and say it! I was totally right!" Jake began laughing after his rather high pitched impression of Finn's voice at which Finn turned a light shade of red. Finn grumbled as Jake took a few breaths, laughing a bit too hard at his own teasing. BMO stealthily climbed up onto the table and wandered over to Jake's untouched meatloaf shortly before burying his screen in the mushy sauce which covered the top of it.

"Agghhh! fine you're right!"

"Globbin right I am. Thanks to your wonderful wingman of a brother you now have a badass arrow slinging girlfriend." Jake stated, using his hand to stretch back his arm like it was a bow string.

"Erm…. well I wouldn't necessarily say she's my girlfriend."

"Say what now?!" Jake stretched his arms and placed his hands on Finn's shoulders from across the table, giving him a light shake. "What the blee-blob do you mean she ain't your girlfriend?!" Jake sounded like he had heard the most blasphemous thing on the planet. "You both practically smooch and hold hands like all the time! You've been doing it for like the past year and a half! That's what couples do Finn!"

Finn raised his hand, pointing a finger up at the ceiling like a mother getting ready to scold their child. "Ok firstly, Huntress and I actually spend most of our time meditating, hunting, or training. Secondly, yes we do stuff like kissing sometimes, but neither of us have ever explicitly said we were a couple."

Jake stopped shaking Finn, only growing more perplexed by what he was saying.

"So let me repeat what you said just to be sure I'm hearing you right." Jake said, disbelief still coating the tone of his voice. Finn nodded casually.

"You and Huntress have been hanging out for like a long time now AND you both already admitted to liking each other awhile back."

"Yep."

"Both of you kiss, hug, flirt, or whatever a typical couple would do."

"I guess."

"It smells like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck! why haven't either of you made it official?!"

"Well that's easy. Huntress and I–" Finn started to explain to Jake the reasoning for the complexity which revolved around his and Huntress Wizard's relationship, but he honestly couldn't come up with anything, leaving him frozen like a computer with a faulty CPU.

"You gonna spill your beans or what?" Jake pressed him with an expectant look. Finn opens his mouth to talk and then shuts it again.

"You know what…. I actually don't know either." Jake's stretched out arms let go of Finn's shoulders and fell limp to the table in response shortly before Jake hung his head back over the chair with a dragged out groan.

"Ohhhh you've gotta be kidding…." Finn grew embarrassed.

"H-Hey! Don't be like that Jake!" Finn couldn't help but feel a little ashamed now that Jake was making it out to be a big deal. "Look I just haven't found the right time or something, and I mean it's not like I'm unhappy with the way things are between us." Finn was trying to convince his brother that everything was the way it should be, but in all reality it sounded more like Finn was trying to convince himself.

Jake sat back forward in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his snout. "Let me ask you something, Finn. Are you really happy with where you and Huntress Wizard are at now? In the end it's not my place to tell you how to manage your love life. That's your p-biz dude, but if you can't be honest with yourself, then how are you going to be happy?"

The question hit Finn like a ton of bricks. No comeback or deflection would help him. He knew that Jake was right. Tapping the table with his index finger, Finn furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think of a proper way to express what he felt about him and Huntress.

"Well, if I'm being honest…. I really would like to take things further with her. You're right, it's been awhile since we started whatever we started. I don't really know how we got to where we are or why we're still there. The whole time I've been pushing it off or believing it was ok…. But like you said, If I am being honest with myself then ya, I'd like to make it official with her in one way or another. I really like her Jake." Finn kept eye contact with Jake, searching his brother's eyes for any sign of approval or disdain towards his explanation.

Jake Stretched his neck and arms until he was behind Finn. He began rubbing his shoulders.

"Then just be honest with her dude. Tell her how you feel and everything will happen as it should." It was such simple advice and yet every word of it resonated with Finn. Of course it made sense, it was all so simple. Finn pushed himself up from his chair. Jake retracted his head and arms then stood up out of his chair as well. Finn then swooped in and gave Jake a big one armed hug.

"Thanks man!" Finn shook Jake back and forth in their hug.

"Heheheh, no problem dude, any time." Both brothers pulled apart. Finn began hopping in place. "I'm all pepped up now!" He said, pumping his fist.

"You've got this in the bag dude!" Shortly after his enthusiastic pep talk, Jake began sniffing the air, followed by him pinching his nose and scrunching his fac. "Pee Yew man! You smell like you've been laying in farts."

Finn stopped hopping and smelled himself, resulting in a similar adverse response. "Oh man you're right! I stink! I was probably so tired last night that I forgot to bathe." Finn shrugged and began walking towards the entrance to the hallway to go take a shower. "I'd finish breakfast soon if I were you. We've got plans, the bro n bro adventure duo is back in town!"

"Sounds great." Jake said lazily while Finn disappeared around the corner. Jake clapped his hands together, rubbing them in anticipation. "Alright, time for Jake to finally have some meatloaf." Jake turned towards his plate to find BMO with his face still buried in the serving of meatloaf. "W-What the heck! BMO!? What are you doing to my meatloaf!?"

The little game bot lifted his face from the food, his cracked screen now covered in a mixture of sauce and meaty bits. "I was hungry! BMO wants breakfast too!" He said in the most innocent voice imaginable.

Jake could only sigh in response. How could he stay mad at such an adorable face? "Alright alright you can have that piece. I'll just go grab myself another slice." He strode over to the stove to grab himself another savory slice of his amazingly cooked breakfast. When he came within the vicinity of the stove, he looked down to find that meatloaf smashed and smeared as well. Jake's eyes widened, and in the literal sense as well.

"WHAT! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MEATLOAF!?" Jake screamed in horror as he grabbed his ears and pulled them down. Jake scooped up the tray in his arms like a fallen comrade in battle. "I only knew you for such a short time!" He sobbed over the defiled dish.

BMO looked over to Jake with a joyous smile, halting his desecration of the meatloaf on his plate. "Oh Ya! BMO ate that meatloaf too!"

Jake fell to his knees with the smashed meatloaf still in his hold. He threw his head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Finn hopped out of the shower and proceeded to dry himself off. Everything still ached, but the warm water had helped to relax his muscles and at least he didn't smell terrible anymore. Towel wrapped, Finn waddled out of the bathroom, steam escaping through the door behind him. He entered the hallway and started making his way towards the bedroom. Looking around, Finn took note of just how spacious his and Jake's new home actually was. The whole inside and outside had been upgraded with working electricity thanks to Finn's mom, Minerva.

The castle drew power sourced from personal solar arrays built on top of the stony fortress's watch towers. The sunlight beaming through the windows provided enough light during the day, but when nighttime approached, Finn and Jake could enjoy the benefits of installed lights, built into the rock walls of each room. Other essentials such as charging ports were included throughout the castle as well. Basic furniture like the dining room table, couches, and guest beds filled the place too. The red carpeting that covered the length of the hallway added a level of comfort that beat walking on the cold cobblestone flooring.

Despite this, the castle was so large that Finn and Jake struggled to even find use for half of the space. Many parts of the castle, including the hallway were barren, lacking any kind of decor thanks to most of Finn and Jakes things being destroyed along with the treehouse. Many rooms still sat empty, collecting dust. The only room beside the guest room and their bedroom that was put to use was the treasure room which was not gonna fill up anytime soon.

Finally making it to his bedroom, Finn stepped in, closing the door behind him. Reattaching his cyber arm was number one on the to do list, otherwise getting dressed would be a hassle in itself. It was as easy as pressing the arm up against the socket and giving it a twist, hearing the appendage click into place while it powered on. He threw his towel off and slipped on a fresh set of clothes. The bearskin hat may have been a little scuffed up from yesterday, but its level of cleanliness was passable. Now fully dressed and ready for the day, Finn stepped out of his room, humming a little tune to himself.

"Finn! This is terrible!" BMO came sprinting down the hallway as fast as his little legs would allow him. Finn knelt down, giving BMO his full attention.

"What's wrong BMO?"

"It's Jake! He's having another food meltdown!" BMO jumped up and down, pointing towards the kitchen further down the hallway, near the front doors. Finn quickly got up and jogged towards the kitchen.

"I'm comin' Jake!" He turned the corner, skidding to a halt to Find Jake dramatically sitting in a kitchen chair, draped over the backrest like a renaissance painting. Finn hurried over to Jake and lifted his head. "Talk to me man!"

Jake shakily lifted his hand and pointed at the smashed meatloaf, now laying on the floor.

"Meatloaf….. Ruinnned" His voice was weak and his words seeped out no louder than a whisper. A single tear fell from his eye, rolling down the side of his face. Finn jerked his head down, taking notice of Jake's tail. The tail began to move on its own, slithering across the floor, towards the wall where a fire extinguisher hung and beside it, a sandwich encased in glass. Finn followed the tail with his addled gaze. A small message on the glass case read 'Break glass in case of emergency."

The tail slithered up the wall and stopped right over the encased sandwich. Morphing into the shape of a hammer, the tip of the tail pulled back and then slammed itself into the glass. Smashed bits of glass fell to the floor while the tail wrapped around the sandwich and pulled it back towards Jake. His tail dropped the sandwich right under his face, causing Jake's nose to start twitching then sniffing.

"Mmmmmm." After giving a satisfied mumble, the dog stopped his 'dying in agony' act, lurching his head forward and taking a large bite out of the sandwich. The smacking of his lips accompanied by the content noms proved that Operation Sandwich was a success. Jake swallowed and took a deep breath.

"Phew!"

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Jake nodded. "BMO…" he muttered to himself, "I swear that little psychopath is trying to kill me!" Finn began to chuckle.

"You're such a drama queen." Finn said, trying to stifle his laughter. Jake couldn't help but laugh along. Once the laughter subsided, Jake sat up and twisted his upper body back and forth like he was stretching for a marathon. Finn stood up as well, patting Jake's back.

"Are you ready to head out now big guy?"

"Ya, let's go see Bubblegum."

Sitting high up in the sky, Finn and Jake enjoyed the ever reaching expanse of Ooo. Finn rode upon the enlarged dog's back. The light of noon shined over the grasslands, giving the rolling hills their usual vivid green accent. The snow from the Ice Kingdom reflected under the sunlight from the north. Clouds were rather sparse today, sparring no square footage of the environment from the sun's bright rays. Anyone would enjoy such a nice and surprisingly warm day considering the season, except for maybe Marceline.

"So why is it that we're headed to the Candy Kingdom again?" Jake's question broke through Finn's silent enjoyment of the scenery. Finn turned his head from the far distant structure of Bubblegum's palace to Jake who had already shifted his face to the back of his head for Finn to look at.

"We're just gonna see if Peebles has any work that needs gettin' done."

"Uh-huh and while you're at it, might as well see if she can fix you up dude. I'm pretty sure your eye looks more swollen than it did an hour ago."

"Whatever you say mom." Finn idly smacked his lips while Jake shifted his face back to the front.

"So, what made you decide on coming back from the Crystal Dimension so early. I thought you said you were gonna be gone for about a week?" Finn was super happy that Jake was back early no doubt, But he couldn't help but wonder why.

"To be real with you man, I missed the crud out of you. Lady must have noticed that I did and told me it was totally fine to come back early and check up on ya."

"To check up on me?" Finn asked befuddled. Jake silently nodded, jostling his brother on his back.

"I've been a bit worried about you for the past few months bro. BMO and Neptyr have been telling me that you're barely home anymore whenever I'm gone. From the way you've been telling me what's going on, it sounds like you're running yourself ragged dude. Dungeon crawling, nonstop training, constantly running jobs for PB, looking for random nuts to fight. Don't get me wrong, our lives are full of that, but you're doubling down like you have to be busy ALL the time. Also, every time I would ask you what's going on, you'd try to change the subject or escape the conversation."

As if on cue, the sound of Finn's flute filled the air. Jake grunted and shifted his face back towards Finn, catching him fiddling with the instrument and trying to act like they weren't just talking.

"Uh uh uh!" Jake tsked, shaking his head. "Not getting out of this that easy!"Jake grew an arm from his back and swiped the flute from Finn's hands.

"Aww hey! I was in the middle of making a totally hammacow tune!"

"No, you were in the middle of trying to avoid this conversation. You and I are gonna talk this out Finn. No more runnin' away from it!" Jake said sternly. Finn only responded by crossing his arms and looking away.

"There's nothing to talk about dude! I'm just a busy bee! Being the hero of Ooo calls for that. What's even the point in having this convo?"

"The point of this conversation isn't just to talk about you running around like a chicken with its head cut off. You're closing yourself off. You try to act like everything is fine, but as soon as anyone senses something is wrong you deflect and say you're ok when you're clearly not, just like the Dungeon Train! Nearly every night for the past year, I have caught you crying in your sleep or waking up in a cold sweat."

Finn would have tried to deny that part if Jake hadn't still shared a bedroom with him. Instead, he simply chose to slump forward and remain quiet.

"I'm your brother Finn. We've grown up together for Gob's sake… I know you and I both know something is weighing you down. Of course I'm gonna worry. What kind of brother would I be if I didn't ask you about all this junk?" Jake finished. His voice had slowly transitioned from a harsh tone, to that of despondence. Seeing how much his emotional brick wall was affecting Jake, Finn felt the barrier begin to crack. It wasn't fair to make Jake worry like this, to keep him in the dark. Finn sat back up and took a deep inhale through his nose, followed by an exhale of similar length.

"I–"

Where do I even start? Trying to put this into words would be difficult. Jake continued walking, patiently waiting for Finn to find the right words.

"After we defeated GOLB, when everything started to settle down, I was so glad…. glad that all the fighting and chaos was over. Everyone could start picking up the pieces and return to their lives. I enjoyed it for a while, the peace and quiet. After everything simmered down though, I had more time to myself, with my thoughts, all the junk sitting in my noggin that I didn't have time to sort through before." Finn was idly rubbing his thumb against the metal of his artificial hand. Jake's pace started to slow as he processed Finn's words.

"I started to think back on the jeffery'd up stuff that happened in the past and whenever I'd think about any of it, I'd get all messed up, soul searchy and weird… I started looking for more things to do because it helped to keep my mind off things. Martin leaving, Fern croaking shortly after we made up, all sorts of other things that could have gone differently If not for me skronking up… As for the secrecy, I guess that after seeing everyone finally being able to enjoy themselves and live in peace again, I didn't want to give them another thing to worry about… including you."

It was a vague recollection, but Finn hoped that Jake understood enough from what he said so far. Jake stopped walking. They were about half way into the Candy forest before he began to slowly shrink back down to normal size, grabbing Finn with his arms and setting him down on the ground.

"Umm, Jake why are we stopping?" Finn asked. Jake's expression was a mixture of sadness and worry, but also one of understanding, like he'd finally understood Finn's behavior. For the third time today, Jake gave Finn a big long hug. There was no playful tackle, no wrapping him up like a present. It was a simple hug.

"Heheh, you're on a roll with the hugs today man." Finn said awkwardly. Jake remained there.

"It's because you need them."

Finn stood there, watching Jake do nothing but hug him. Relenting, Finn leaned in and returned Jake's hug. Both of them could have sworn a minute had passed. Jake pulled away from the hug, as did Finn.

"Look Finn… what you just told me was some pretty heavy stuff, nothing to sneeze at." Jake began walking past a variety of cotton candy trees while Finn followed. "I can understand why you'd be all messed up. For crying out loud I was there for half of it. Let me put it this way, the stuff that's floating around in your melon right now is a natchy response to trauma dude. It's kinda like your… your um 'hickies from the universe.'" Jake said, snapping his fingers when he remembered Finn's analogy.

"Ya, but hickies from the universe never bothered me before. How is this any different?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's different in a lot of ways. Physical hickies go away on their own Finn. You simply just have to lay around and wait for them to heal." Jake morphed one hand into a miniature version of Finn and poked at its body to get his point across. "The hickies you're dealing with right now man? Those are mental hickies, not physical. That's a whole nother ball game. Mental hickies don't go away on their own. They'll get worse if you don't do anything about them." Jake then started to poke at mini Finn's head, causing mini Finn to slump forward in a depressed manner.

"As hard as it is, you gotta talk to people, Finn. Bottling up these emotions will tear you up from the inside. You have a lot of friends and family that care about you, who would gladly go out of their way to support you. Bubblegum, Marceline, Huntress Wizard, BMO, though maybe not the best avenue, your mom, and me, especially me. Being sad or lost over junk that's happened to you isn't anything to be ashamed of. A lot of these painful emotions are probably resurfacing now that Fern is gone and I get that. It's no different from when you and Phoebe broke up, no different from when you lost your arm. You had mental hickies back then too. Can you guess how you moved past that funk before?"

Finn shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked a small pebble out of the way while they continued walking through the candy forest.

"I communicated?"

Jake changed his mini Finn into a giant thumbs up. "Exactly! This shouldn't be any different. Don't be afraid to talk to me when you're feeling down in the doo doo dumps man. I'm happy to be there for you."

Jake's loving words made Finn have to put some effort into holding back tears. He was so lucky to have Jake in his life. He couldn't ask for a better brother. He didn't know where he'd be without him.

"Y-Your right Jake. I'll try a lot harder to talk to you from now on. The ol' vault ain't holding junk in as well as it used to anyway."

"You shouldn't be stuffing so much crud in there anyway. It's just not a healthy way to deal with your baggage. You're a young adult now brother and you are at an age where all this existential and self reflection biz becomes a lot more common. To be real with you, I'd be a lot more concerned if you acted completely unbothered by any of it."

As per usual, Jake was right as always. Talking about it now made Finn start to feel lighter, less burdened. Every time he would perceive a situation as complicated, Jake would always find a way to make it all seem so simple. The two of them breached the barrier of the candy forest treeline, stepping out into the open. The Candy Kingdom gates only stood a few more miles away.

"Looks like we're almost there." Finn said, holding his hand up to keep the sun out of his eyes. Jake grew to his giant size again, placing Finn on his back once again.

"Promise me we'll talk more about this later ok?" Jake said expectantly. He sounded stern, but it was only because he cared for his young brother.

"I promise."

With that, Finn and Jake strode off towards the sugary domain.

End Chapter

Yeesh! 7000+ words in this chapter! I just wanted to remind y'all who read my fanfiction and write comments that it means a lot to me. Reading your constructive criticism and compliments helps give me the motivation to keep writing this story and improve with it even if there aren't that many of you quite yet.

I wanted to touch upon a previous statement of mine which said that I would release a chapter at least once a week. I had truly meant that, but being new to writing fanfiction, I hadn't realized how hard it truly was to meet a quota like that while juggling my school and social life at the same time. I also realized that forcing myself to meet a quota could hinder the quality of my chapters. I want to give my readers the best quality that I possibly can and after some consideration, I decided that taking the time I need to make sure a chapter is written the best way possible would be preferable to having you all read something that could have been better.

That's it for now. Thanks again for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter!

P.S. There is some pretty dope cover art on the way!