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Marceline approached the inner doors of the rosy castle, gliding silently, hands wrapped protectively around the bag hung across her body. Banana guards stood on either side, dopy smiles unmoving, bright eyes fixed on the space in front of them.
“Hi, guys,” she started, “hard at work or hardly working?”
“Oh, you know,” the guard on her right said a little too loudly, turning to her suddenly.
“Mind if I hang with the Princess for a while? If she’s not too busy.”
“Sure!” The guards burst out in unison and then scrambled to open the doors for her.
“Oh, it’s okay, I can— okay, you guys got it. Thanks,” she replied, swooshing through the gilded doorway, and slowing once inside as the doors shut behind her. She had spent so much time inside the castle over the years, had known it so easily at one point, but more recently the hallways tripped her up and made her hesitate. If she had to guess where to go, she should try checking Bonnie’s lab first, and think of other options only if she found it empty. She swung left at the fork at the end of the hallway, and found a doorway at the end with a spiral staircase ascending in a tower. She mosied up the stairs, although she could have flown almost straight up if she was in a hurry.
At the top of the staircase she found herself in another pink crystalline hallway, lined with smaller, less ostentatious rooms where the princess went about her duties, slept and spent time alone. Up ahead on the right, a block of fluorescent light was thrown into the hallway through a doorway. Bonnie’s lab, Marceline remembered, half of her mouth pulling up.
The door was open, and Marceline slowed and knocked so as not to startle her friend.
“Knock knock,” she said, and cringed internally at the unsure crack in her voice.
Bonnie was standing at an island in the middle of the room, forearms resting on the table as she scanned a book in front of her, mouth pinched to one side in thought. She wore a white lab coat and her goggles. The table was strewn with books in varying stages of use and reference, pencils, and a few bottles and beakers with mysterious colored compounds inside. Bonnibel’s eyes flicked up and she broke into a smile, then reached to take the goggles off of her face and drop them to the table with a clatter.
“Marceline! Hi,” she exclaimed, moving out from behind the island and to the doorway. Science the rat began squeaking urgently from a book’s open pages in the middle of the table. Marceline’s eyes landed on Bonnie and her feet drifted to the floor as she watched the distance between them close - ten feet, five feet, one foot. Bonnibel threw her arms up and wrapped Marceline in a hug. Marcy’s arms stuttered up to return the gesture as she squeezed her friend close. Stepping into the bounds of the kingdom already smelled like wading through sugar, but Marceline noted the familiar smell of the princess, pink and chalky but with a hint of something sterile, a cleaner she used in the lab.
“Hi,” she finally replied, as they stood there smiling at each other in the doorway. “I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out. I could have sent a message, sorry. But like, no pressure if you’re busy also! I— ” she groped for the bag at her side, gestured into its void, “I brought a book, so if you’re working and you don’t mind I could just sit, you won’t even know I’m here—” She realized she was rambling. A voice in the back of her head asked, Since when do I ramble?
“No no!” Bubblegum interrupted, saving her any more embarrassment. “I can definitely hang. I was kind of reaching a natural stopping point, I can come back to it later.”
“Oh, I mean, are you sure? I don’t want to throw you off, or like pressure you—”
Bonnie cut her off as her hand came up to rest on Marceline’s forearm through her long-sleeved shirt. “No, really. This is good, I need a break.” Marcy’s eyebrows quirked up, despite herself.
It had been a few months since Bonnie moved back into her castle and reprised her role as caretaker of the kingdom, but she had managed to spend time with Marceline a couple of times since then. They probably saw each other more, actually, since Bubblegum left her cottage on the hill. Even with this knowledge, Marceline still found it hard to believe at times that Bonnie’s attitude was so different these days. Centuries ago, when Marcy wanted her attention, her mind was always churning, cycling through her never-ending list of worries and tasks to be done around the kingdom, only able to be distracted for a few moments at a time, and then brought back to task with increased worry and a sense of lost time.
“Okay! Yes, yeah,” Marcy said, her face stuck in a smile.
“Come on,” Bonnie said, gently squeezing past Marceline in the doorway, only spinning around briefly to take her hand. Marceline let herself be led down the hallway.
Marceline was pulled into a room a few doors down, closer to Bubblegum’s bedroom, if she remembered right. The room was set up like a living room - a purple couch sat across from a television, and between them books, bowls, and cups overflowed on a coffee table on a green and white peppermint-swirled rug.
Bonnie dropped Marceline’s hand as she walked in and removed her lab coat then hung it on a coat rack. Her hand raised to her hair as she tugged her hair tie out, then tried to shake out and settle her long hair at the back of her neck. Marceline’s eyes lingered on her outfit: a powder blue, short-sleeved, thin button-up blouse that reminds her of an office, and a pair of grey slacks.
Since Bubblegum moved back to the Candy Kingdom, she also seemed to opt for her more ceremonial dress less often, and now usually chose something a little more casual. Marcy wondered if she had gotten these neat, business-y clothes only recently, in a conscious decision to change her style. She couldn’t have imagined that the clothes had been sitting in her closet since before, collecting dust. An image popped into her head of Peppermint Butler rushing through the city, weighed down with shopping bags up and down both arms as he buzzed from shop to shop.
The clothes were a little dressy for Marceline’s personal taste, but she smiled as she watched Bonnie scoop up bowls and cups from the coffee table. They were right for her - clean and professional, starched and stylish, practical and lovely.
“Sorry about the mess,” the princess said as she went through a door into an adjacent room, flicked on a lightswitch, and deposited the mugs and containers quickly by a sink. She seemed to be moving at double speed as she came back in and shut books randomly on the table and stacked them on top of each other, trying to make space.
“Oh no, no worries,” Marceline replied from the doorway.
“Come on in,” Bonnie pats the couch. “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”
“Sure, that would be good.” Marcy floated in and pulled her bag over her head, then flung it on the floor at the side of the couch before flopping down on her back with a contented sigh.
Bonnie blew air through her nose in a soft laugh, picked up a remote and tossed it onto Marcy’s stomach.
“Pick something, and I’ll get snacks?” Without waiting for a reply she went back into the narrow attached kitchen.
“Yes ma’am,” Marcy said and saluted from where she lay sideways on the couch, though Bonnie couldn’t see her. She turned on the tv and began to browse.
Bonnie returned bearing a huge bowl of popcorn and another small bowl, then brought another armful of things from the kitchen.
“Popcorn, some chocolate, chips, red jelly beans,” she explained, then heaved a small bag at Marceline.
Marceline sat up to make room and turned the bag over in her lap - soft strawberry licorice, one of her favorites.
“Aw, thanks Peebs,” she said, touched that her friend had remembered this old taste of hers.
PB stood up to turn off the lights and waved her hand at Marcy dismissively, then scooped out a handful of popcorn.
“So what are we watching?”
“So, I was thinking about this movie I wanted to see a while back, it’s kinda scary, I heard it was good.” The tv screen showed the movie title - The Haunting of Lindt House - and a description, which Bonnie skimmed.
“Oh okay, I’ve heard of this. Sure! But it better not be too scary, cause I can’t be having my REM sleep getting interrupted with nightmares. That’s peak brainstorming time, like I’m-working-on- downloading-those-thoughts-to-video good.”
“I don’t think it’s that scary!” Marceline held her hands up. “I hope not, otherwise I’ll need to sleep on your bedroom floor tonight maybe. Or a few nights.”
“Deal.”
Marceline hit play on the remote, tore open her bag of licorice and reached for some popcorn. They both settled back on the couch, and Marcy kicked off her boots, then stretched her feet out on the coffee table, wiggling in dingy blue socks. PB’s hand shot out and slapped her leg.
“Uh-uh! Not in my house,” she chided, but then patted her own lap.
Marcy lifted her feet in the air hesitantly, then swung them to the right to where Bonnie sat, and into her lap. Bonnie patted her shins absentmindedly and reached for the popcorn.
They peppered the movie with their own feedback and suggestions (“This guy is sketchy from minute one. If I was her, I’d do a background check that very night and soft-block him, boom, none of this happens,” PB argues). In a moment of suspense, as the music meandered and swelled, Marceline threw her hands over her own eyes and Bonnie’s, with cracks in her fingers over her face so she could keep watching - “Too scary!” she called.
“No!” Bonnibel gasped, far too invested. With both hands, she took hold of Marceline’s hand in front of her face and lowered it just slightly so she could peek over it at the screen.
The credits rolled and the screen flashed, the only island of light blinking in the dark room. They sat in an easy silence and watched the names glide by. Marceline stretched and yawned. Her right arm had at some point come up to rest on the back of the couch behind PB’s head. She looked at the screen with a soft, contented smile.
Bonnibel turned her head slightly and watched her friend’s face, lit up bluish across from the TV. She smiled, and worried her lip between her teeth for a moment. Her mind raced with a million thoughts. Things are soft and easy like they’ve almost never been and why would she want to do anything to change that? It had taken hundreds of years to get back here, sitting curled up with her best friend. But against her better judgment she pulled in a breath and steeled herself.
“Marceline, I…” she started, and tilted her head down in the space between them as she struggled to find the right words. Marceline turned to face her, with her arm still hooked around the back of the couch and legs spilled over Bonnie’s lap.
Bonnie saw her friend looking at her, her thin dark eyebrows arched in curiosity and expectation. She searched Marceline’s face and found it only open and smooth with peace in the flickering light from the screen..
“I, “ she repeated, but her body thought better of it and cut her off. Bonnie’s right hand lifted up in the space between them, a timid moth to a flame. The pads of her fingers came down feather-light on Marceline’s cheek, cupping it.
Marceline’s breath hitched, almost silent, but she remained stone-still. Bonnie held her gaze and leaned into her face, heart wailing against the walls of her chest. She leaned in and touched her lips to Marceline’s.
Bubblegum’s eyes had shut in that last second and so she relied on her other senses, the feel against her lips, to inform her of what might be going on. She felt Marceline’s lips freeze and for an agonizing two seconds nothing happened, and the noise in her head swelled to a panicked buzz.
Unseen by her, Marcy’s eyes widened as Bonnibel leaned in to kiss her and remained that way for two seconds as her brain seemed to power up, catch on some gear, and short-circuit immediately. In the quiet and comforting sizzle and probably ensuing electrical fire, her eyes fluttered closed and she kissed Bonnie back.
From that kiss they moved into a second, and third and fourth, as Marceline brought her hand from the couch to the back of Bonnibel’s neck and pulled her in closer.
Bonnie leaned in and let her hand hold Marcy’s face in earnest. Her breath stuttered in her chest and she felt light-headed but did not stop.
Marceline’s tongue swiped Bonnie’s lips and Bonnie felt a dangerous step closer to passing out. She whined lightly and opened her mouth, and Marceline licked at her tongue, first tentatively but moving towards urgently. Bonnie reached her arm around to Marceline’s back and pulled her forward into her lap, then broke away for a second.
“Is this okay?” she breathed.
Marceline’s eyes were trained on her lips but moved up and met hers, and she nodded.
“Yeah,” Marcy whispered back, and then crashed forward into another kiss.
The room felt considerably hotter, and Marcy had one hand threaded through Bonnibel’s hair and the other beginning to graze the skin of her stomach.
Bonnie heard her groan into her mouth, and melted.
They remained in this embrace for a few more minutes before Bonnie pulled back to breathe again. She felt the flush in her face and wondered if it was noticeable against her skin, if Marcy would notice. Marceline’s chest rose and fell as well, even if breathing was more of a reflex kept out of habit than a necessity. Bonnie touched their foreheads together gently.
“Marcy,” her voice broke, and she could feel tears threatening to prick at her eyes, “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I was so caught up in trying to be the perfect leader... we were young, but I was so... and we have something good now, it’s taken us so long to be friends again and I’m so happy to have you back in my life, I don’t want to ruin it now, but I just—”
“Hey, hey,” Marceline murmured, and lifted a hand to Bonnie’s face. “You’re not ruining anything… I’m here too. I want this too,” she trailed off as her eyes flicked down to Bonnie’s mouth and back up, almost imperceptible, before she continued. “And you’ve apologized to me before, you don’t have to do it again. You apologized for being a jerk sometimes, it’s okay. And it wasn’t like it was just you who messed up.”
Bonnibel blinked, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry too. I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate your work or support you enough, and I was a jerk.” She smiled. “We’re both terrible, terrible people.”
PB laughed a little and wiped tears from one side of her face.
“You don’t hate me?” she asked.
Marceline shook her head decisively and dipped one side of her mouth down. “How about you?”
Bonnie let a big breath out of her nose.
“I couldn’t… it’s been so long. And there was so much and I tried to throw myself into a million things and the years kept coming and coming but. I could never get you out of the back of my mind, no matter how hard I tried.” She lifted her hands to hold both sides of Marcy’s head. “But it’s you. It’s always been you,” she breathed reverently.
Marceline’s eyelids drooped as a lazy smile took over her face. “When did you get so sappy?” she murmured as her thumb made light strokes on the back of Bonnibel’s neck.
Bonnie’s eyes shone with the promise of tears but she smiled back. “A few hundred years was a lot of time for me to wax poetic… I’m hoping I still have a few things up my sleeve that can surprise you.”
“You been thinking a lot about this or something?” Marceline teased, then let her mouth fall into a softer smile as she met Bonnie’s eyes. She leaned forward and paused with her lips by Bonnie’s ear. “...Me too.”