Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Adventure time.
X: Ice and Shadow
Bubblegum set her tiara and the keys by the vanity. Rubbing her palms, she hid the cigarettes somewhere secure, had managed to snatch about three from him and still suspected he had more.
She shook her head.
About the advisor thing. He'd be a decent addition, that's for sure. But for now, she was uncertain and it might all be a lie too, like the tactician story. She sat on the edge of her bed and fell backwards, flat on her bed as she swung her legs. For her, something like an advisor was unneeded anyway. Even if it became absolutely necessary, Pineapple was too much of an enigma for her to be sure about anything. A wildcard, too unpredictable. That alone was enough to stay clear off him.
Even so...
She wanted to make the offer just because she didn't want him working for someone else. If he chose to work for her fine. If he was too lazy to work, even better. As long as he wasn't doing it for somebody else.
Sounded greedy but it was common sense to have a valuable piece for her side rather than against. A few kingdoms she knew needed advisors and if they found out Pineapple was one, they'd snatch him up irrespective of how good he was at the job. If they found out he was actually an expert and, what's more, a human, then... Along with great accommodation, he'd also be sitting on a really large sum.
If Pineapple chose to actually work and find a job, he wouldn't struggle. Not one bit. It'd be the easiest thing infact. Advisors were rare, humans were rarer. Human advisors? Zero.
But whether he was human, or he was an advisor, or both, that was far from the point. If that was the only prerequisite, then they could have him. It was fine.
But he wasn't just a human advisor, he was Pineapple. That was the problem.
Princess called him a genius once and while she might have said it as a joke, up to this point, nothing had disproved that statement. Not his constant annoyed look, not his possible nicotine addiction, not the laziness. Personally, she still couldn't tell if he was or was not. And that fact only served to further prove the statement.
And all that... was leaving out the magic he used.
That was why, no matter how much he was paid before, she was financially confident enough to double or even triple it, just so he didn't fall into the wrong hands. That would be bad. Really bad.
If it made her greedy, so be it—
Her door slammed open and her lights flicked on. She bolted up to a sit, startled with her face burning.
Pineapple stood by the door, he'd opened it so fast and wide the door was touching the wall. When she said he could come to talk to her directly, she didn't mean at any time.
"Are you out of your mind!" she screamed. "You... You perv!"
"Huh..." He pulled away from the switch.
Bubblegum gave an incredulous look. "Don't just barge in and go 'huh,' what's wrong with you!"
He raised his hand to his ear, wincing a bit. Only then did he register her. "Oh, uh, sorry bout that..." Pineapple said.
Again. It sounded like his mind was elsewhere and when she took the time to register the situation, it unnerved her enough to calm down.
"You locked the balcony door this time, right?"
"Ugh." She checked. "Y-Yeah, twice." She breathed into her palms. "And I'll be locking my front door now, thank you."
He nodded.
"Anything else?"
Pineapple looked past her. "Uh, not really, maybe shut the aircon so you don't catch a cold," he said and she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not a child."
"Never said you—"
"You implied."
He sighed. "Sorry for the intrusion."
"You better be. Knock next time."
He nodded and left.
Glob, that split her soul and body apart for a second. Ugh. Pineapple should learn not to barge into people's rooms like that.
The breath of relief never came.
Because it... didn't seem like something he'd normally do. Would he leave his room—bed—and rush here for something as trivial as that? Would he barge in for it?
A dreadful discomfort swept her and she nibbled on her fingers. What did he really want? Was she overthinking? Was she supposed to overthink? Agh, she wasn't sure. With Pineapple, she was never sure.
Another shiver struck her spine. Yeah, he said to shut the aircon. Well, she was going to do it anyway not because he said it. But, was... was that it? She found the aircon remote and looked at it, turned it over but couldn't find anything unordinary.
She sighed and hit the power button.
The air conditioner switched on with a loud beep.
Bubblegum lost a shade of pink, and the mechanical hum of the aircon haunted her. She... was supposed to look at it first, wasn't she? Her hands refused to stay still until she dropped it. The sound of the remote coming apart from the impact startled her and she yelped, her head whirled around the room as she slowly backed away to the door.
The loud beep and hum of the air conditioner had marked her failure.
Her cupboard creaked.
Bubblegum turned and hurried for the door, dared not look back even when she heard the cupboard door slammed behind her. She reached for the front door and missed the knob by an inch. The door got farther and farther. She opened her mouth to scream but cold blue hands kept them clasped shut. The snicker, this chilling blue hands, it was him... the Ice King.
Ah... She was a fool for letting him stay. Of course he'd take the benevolence for granted. Of course he'd pull a stunt like this. Sick or not, a leopard never changed its spots.
Where would he take her? What would... Bubblegum couldn't even feign ignorance. She knew where they were going, she knew what was going to happen.
She thrashed about, over and over and over. The more she did, the more futile it felt. The environment blurred and she felt something trickle down her cheeks. She blinked, but it didn't dry out.
Just the thought of existing for even a second in a dungeon, alone, and at the mercy of someone like him... Her chest stung and a lump formed in her throat.
Anything she reached for was a finger too far and before she knew it, they were out the window. The perfect view of the starry night crushed her spirit.
No. No. No... She screamed, at least someone—anyone would hear the muffled noises. Her mouth refused to budge. Her lips were frozen shut and the ice had made its way up her nose. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.
Her body trembled and her heartrate shot. The place became blurrier. At that moment of helplessness, she thought of Pineapple. He'd warned her about three times—indirectly, yes—but she failed to grasp the warning. B-But, if he was that wary that'd something would happen. He'd... have a plan, right? He'd come rescue her, right? Of course... he saw this coming, right? He wouldn't just warn her and go back to... sleep... right...?
The lump in her throat grew even more and her eyes freely poured tears after she'd held it in.
Who... was she kidding? No how he'd have thought that far—
She felt her captor stop abruptly, his hand slipped away from her lips as the ice slowly melted off her face. She blinked. He seemed stuck just a few ways under her window.
Like a fly in a web, his beard flapped but he couldn't make it out of the wall, like he was glued to it. She saw his eyes widen as his arms pushed her up—seemingly against his will—giving her a boost to her window. She was then able to grab the windowsill and hurriedly climb into her room.
Bubblegum peeked out the window, he was still stuck there.
"Can I get a little help?" He said like he didn't just try to kidnap her.
She backpedaled, trying to calm herself until she tripped and landed on her butt. Her hands shook and she had to bite her lips to keep them from trembling. She glanced down and half-jerked. A dark line stretched from underneath her door crack, straight to her window.
Her head snapped up.
The lights were on, bright. Ah, he'd flicked it when he barged in.
Wait, he... he actually thought this...
She blinked then looked at the shadow that stretched from the door crack straight to her window, no bends, no cuts, like he knew they'd be there. Once again, he'd used the magic, blind...
Her knob turned and the door came ajar before he stopped and shut it. This time, he knocked first—like she'd told him to—then opened the door and walked in.
What a pain, he muttered, blinking to keep his eyes open.
Pineapple... he came... he actually came to help...
No. He'd planned to help from the beginning, hadn't he?
She stared at him, frozen and a bit wide eyed. She didn't think he'd come... she...
She pressed lips together and slowly nodded, fighting the water that glistened in her eyes.
He... He actually thought that far?
"Yeesh, don't look so surprised." He yawned, rubbing his eyes as he chuckled. "Feint with the first hand, strike with the second. That's just common knowledge—"
Bubblegum tackled him, he managed to hold her and wrap a hand around her head as he fell on his butt. She rested her head on his chest to dry her eyes and her fingers dug into his shirt, wrinkling it with how hard she squeezed. She couldn't stop trembling and her breathing had turned into hitching mess.
Thank goodness. Glob... thank goodness.
She soaked his shirt with tears, failing to regain composure. It didn't help that her eyes wandered to the floor and she almost choked.
Either jumping at him somehow interrupted his magic or he'd stopped his magic to catch her. Either way, nothing was binding the ice king anymore.
"It's fine." He patted her hair. "Just calm down."
She nodded into his shirt, didn't bother to look at the Ice King. Bound or not, as long as Pineapple was there, she felt safe.
"S-S-Shadow magic?" The voice of the old wizard rang through her ears. But this time, it was concerned, almost distressed.
What was he talking about? Shadow magic... was that a bad thing?
Pineapple sighed. "Ah, it's not—"
The ice king yelled, "Get away!"
"Watch out!" Before she could even register what Pineapple said, he shifted, adjusting her position as a gust of icy wind sent him crashing into her front door.
"Pineapple!"
The Ice King flew towards her as she scrabbled back. He reached for her and stopped, looking past her then slowly looking up, a look of terror across his eyes. She understood because numerous sharp lines of shadow shot past her. The old man managed to narrowly avoid one of them, it tore through his shirt and spiked into her cabinet.
The look the ice king had was somewhere between shock and horror. The shadows snaked after him, like a clew of worms slithering past, over and under the other. Piercing through clothes, hair, furniture, and despite the chaos, the shadows avoided her.
All the wizard could do was draw back, even worse, when he tried to pull out another gust of icy wind to deter the tendrils, it went right through them yet they could latch onto the old man, ripping apart bits of his clothing. She could empathize with the look of horror he had on his face, empathize with the shock he had in the first place.
Seeing it like this... Pineapple's magic... It was chaotic, dangerous and—to someone who didn't understand how it worked—unfair. How did one fight against something they couldn't touch but could easily latch onto them?
It chased him till he was out the window and even then, it didn't stop. Followed him far enough outside until the light from her room couldn't carry it any further. It stopped a few feet from the ice king who took the initiative to levitate between the moon to block out the possible light source.
Now the wizard knew how his magic worked and its weakness.
Despite how horrifying it seemed, she actually... liked Pineapple's magic because unlike others she'd seen, his was logical. That made it intriguing, fun and easy to understand. But, that was also a bad thing.
Bubblegum was still sitting on the ground, her body refused to pick itself up. She wasn't even afraid of the ice king anymore.
She froze as Pineapple walked past her, closer to her window but the usual tired and annoyed look he carried on his face eased her mind. She didn't know what kind of deity or entity granted such horrifying magic but she was glad they granted it to Pineapple.
As it was, though, his shadow magic had been figured out. The ice king could just remain outside and shoot ice shards at them. She saw his hand sparkle with frost. Wait, he was actually going to do that? Did he really want Pineapple dead?
"Ah... he's not going to run away?" he complained. "What a hassle."
"P-Pineapple w-wait, don't—"
Pineapple shifted and caught a small ice shard *by hand* before it could pierce right into her eye. Didn't even look. She could see the glint in the ice crystal. Bubblegum shifted backwards as Pineapple hummed while he threw and caught the ice shard, up and down, like he was juggling a knife. Like he knew how to juggle a knife.
She blinked at him.
"How did... how did you—"
A shadow tendril swatted another crystal ice shard away. And another, and another, until it became rapid fire. They were fast but his shadows were faster.
"Hold on, uh, let me do something about him first."
She grabbed the hem of his shirt before he could go any further. "I beg you. Be... Be careful."
"It's fine. I, ah, already have a plan."
Again?
She almost sighed but after hearing that, she nodded and let him go.
Levitating a few ways between her room and the moon, the wizard ceased fire, breathing heavily. He still looked sick but if he could do this, then Bubblegum didn't care how he looked.
Pineapple brought his hands together in single, odd hand sign. This time, his shadow split into two tendrils. Just two. One of them latched onto the biggest shard of ice the wizard fired into her room while the second shot out the window towards the ice king.
The ice king maintained his distance, knowing the tendril wouldn't reach him. But, that was just a distraction, wasn't it?
While he was focused on the first shadow, the second one catapulted the ice shard at the ice king.
Her heart sank when the ice king shifted a bit to dodge the large ice crystal while still maintaining his distance. She thought for sure that would be enough to take him out.
But... that was when the first shadow tendril shot past its previous limit, thinner, and it latched onto the ice king, wrapped around him like a boa. Bubblegum blinked, about to question it before she noticed the ice shard had reflected the moonlight from behind the ice king as it flew past him. Before the ice crystal could fall off and stop reflecting light, his shadow dragged the ice king into the room so fast he crashed into her room floor and it effectively knocked him out.
Pineapple sighed, his shadows rid the room of as many shards they could, tossing them out the window.
Bubblegum stared at the unconscious ice king, her breathing slowly reverted, the breath of relief she'd sought finally came. She sighed, yet, the ice king's behavior towards Pineapple was downright odd. Why go that far?
She managed to get up and shut her window first then she screamed for the guards. They poured in, half-asleep, half-awake, all at once, they tried to squeeze past her door and ended up toppling over one another.
She was mad at them but too tired to yell. They never learned anything anyway so it was a waste of time.
They grabbed the sick old man and sent him away, back to the hospital, took every ounce of willpower not to send him to the dungeon—well, more like every ounce of Pineapple was standing there and she didn't want to seem like a tyrant—this time she instructed they strap him to the bed. Thrice.
For some reason, that order in particular made Pineapple chuckle. She watched his shadow go back to being just a shadow. That old wizard seemed to know something about Pineapple's magic.
When they'd taken him a good distance away, Pineapple turned to her.
"You good?"
She took some breaths to calm herself completely and then she replied with a nod.
"Alright. I'm off to bed, lock your window this time." Like nothing happened.
That guy... Not only had he sorted out a way to save her in the span of a few minutes but he just met the Ice King and somehow managed to use his powers against him.
She watched him stroll down to his room.
After what'd happened, she could tell... It was true, wasn't it? What he'd said in the lab. He was his kingdom's lead tactician and she'd laughed at him. A small frown made its way up her lips. Ugh, in hindsight, she shouldn't have done that because if she ever asked about it again, Pineapple would comfortably and proudly deny it.
Still, that didn't explain how he somehow managed to dodge and catch that shard, so quick, without a single glance in its direction. What kind of reaction was that? That wasn't something 'just an advisor' could do. She thought he couldn't fight? Did he lie? Did he just leave out the truth? Agh, Bubblegum couldn't tell anymore. For someone so desperate to shy away from attention, he was certainly full of surprises.
He was halfway through the hallway when he stopped and sighed.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
Bubblegum stopped following behind, pillow and blanket in hand. Well, if the events of tonight did not faze him, it did her. She straightened up and cleared her throat, so she didn't look too scared.
"I'm sleeping in the lab."
"What?"
"I'm not going back there, what... what if he comes back somehow?"
"What makes the lab any safer?"
"But..." Ugh. Good point.
"Just sleep in your room."
She fiercely shook her head.
"Good night," she said, heading downstairs.
He stopped her.
"I'm not sleeping there."
"You can't sleep in the lab either." He sighed. "Let's swap rooms then."
She blinked.
"It's a win-win. You don't have to sleep in your room and you can still sleep on a bed."
"Wait, where will you sleep?"
"Your room." His features flattened. "That's the whole point of, you know, swapping."
Bubblegum narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't allow that. Not because he'd sleep in her room but because she had a feeling he would not.
"I won't snoop around or touch anything, of course."
She shook her head. "No."
He opened his mouth.
"You'll just sleep in the hallway and pretend like you swapped rooms."
Pineapple sighed. Seemed she was right on the mark.
"Fine, I'll stay in my room." She poked her fingers and mumbled. "B-But get the butler... I...I don't want to stay there alone."
He stared at her—not long, for some reason, he couldn't—and a look of understanding crossed him. He nodded and patted her shoulder like a parent would to a scared child.
"I understand," he said, and just when she thought he actually understood, he added. "Do I leave the hallway lights on too—"
"Get out."
She crossed her arms, hot across the cheek but her frown conveyed how unamused she was. No matter how ridiculous he made it seem, she refused to believe her fear wasn't justified. She was so close to being kidnapped and she would've if it wasn't for... well... Ugh.
"I'll go get the little guy." He chuckled.
"Yes, yes, quickly." She tore away her gaze and dismissed him with a wave of her hand.
It didn't take long and Peppermint Butler was already in, crosschecking and locking every opening, twice—thrice if possible—and generally putting the room in order.
She stood by the door with Pineapple who was just counting the seconds before he could head to bed. Lazy as he was, it was surprising he could make time to help someone—to help her.
"Uh... what's up?" he asked and Bubblegum realized she'd been staring all the while. She didn't stop, though, and her lips curled into a smile.
"Thanks."
"For?"
"Are you..." She held her waist. "You saved me, you ding-dong."
"Ah." Like he just remembered. "Don't stress."
Compliments and even gratitude, he waved off. Pineapple was wary of any kind of spotlight, wasn't he?
"I'm done, princess," the butler said.
"I'll be there in a few." She looked over at Pineapple. "I... I really mean it."
"Like I said."
She waited for him to continue before it clicked. Pfft.
"Go to bed," he said.
"R-Right." She slowly nodded. Took a step into her room and stopped, looking at her feet and twiddling her fingers as if contemplating something. Before he could say anything, she turned, shortened the distance between them and hugged him. Tight.
His body stiffened but she didn't let up.
He'd been right on time. A minute or more and she would have...
She buried her head against his chest and tightened the hug, hands squeezing the back of his shirt.
"Thank you..." she said, a shiver ran through her body and Pineapple eased up, letting her keep the hug... either from pity or he'd given up, she didn't know and, honestly, she didn't care. "Thank you so much."
She felt the bandages through his shirt and a small frown crawled up her lips. She hoped it healed soon. If it ever opened up again... that would probably be the last time he... Ugh, she banished the thought from her mind.
Bubblegum waited for a minute extra before she let him go, raising her hands to wipe the water that stung her eyes.
"S-Sorry about your shirt." She sniffed, chuckling.
"It's, ah, just a shirt—"
"Thank you."
"You already—"
"Pineapple..." she looked at him. "Just... accept it, please?"
He blinked and his features softened up, he looked at her for a bit before averting his gaze as usual. "You're welcome."
Bubblegum rubbed the side of her arm. She thought to ask about the advisor thing. Today's incident just proved he was better on the candy kingdom's side, her side.
"Hey... would you like to, um... "
He gave a quizzical hum.
"N-Never mind. Later." She shook her head. "But tell me this."
He gave his attention.
"You were your kingdom's lead tactician, weren't you—"
Pineapple blinked. Soon, his lips curled into a smile and he stifled a laugh.
"Of course not," he said.
There it was. Typical. She frowned. Just... typical. She clenched her fist, pouting. He could deny all he wanted but if he wasn't, then what was all that back there?
"Ugh, good night, Pineapple."
She stepped into her room, shutting the door behind her, a small smile slipped across her face. Gee, some hero he was. So apathetic. He just saved a princess, certainly, that was enough to be proud of. But no, he probably thought it was a hassle or something.
He and Finn were like night and day, she stretched, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
"You seem to be in a good mood, princess."
"Ah!" She almost jumped. Forgot Pepper was there. She frowned and turned away, grabbing a blanket from the cupboard.
"Strange, despite what happened, you can still smile—"
"Ugh, m-mind your business!" She stomped all the way to her bed. "Geez."
He chuckled and shut the lights. "Mhm, definitely a good mood."
Ah, how annoying. She plopped on her bed as he carried a night lamp and climbed her beanbag so he could read a magicky book.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think—"
"Fun fact; peppermint tea has a lot of medical benefits." She glared at him. "Especially when served hot."
"Ah... I see," he said. " Good night, princess."
"Sweet dreams."
—