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shwoo · 2 years

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I continue to love Reverseworld, even if it’s been a few years since I’ve posted anything about it. It’s also been a few years since I wrote anything about it, but I never posted this last one. Reverseworld was created by fridjitzu and coffee-elemental.

Title: Proxigean Tide Summary: It’s been a month since Betty destroyed the Ice Kingdom, and she’s still not sure how she’s feeling about her and Simon. (Also on AO3)

Lakes were so much grosser to be in than the sea. Rivers weren't great either, though they usually had faster currents that carried the grossness away before it could build up. And they were all so... stale. Without salt, the water barely tasted of anything, except maybe algae. The land dwellers called this stuff freshwater, and that was such a joke.

Sitting at the bottom of this muddy mountain lake was probably not helping Betty's mood. On the other hand, it was distracting her from what she was really upset about, which was how badly she'd lost control in her fight with Finn-Ice. It had been a couple of weeks now, but she still wasn't over it, and she couldn't even talk about it with Simon, because he didn't seem to understand what the big deal was. Or at least he didn't understand why she'd be upset.

Maybe Simon was right, and he was totally to blame for what had happened. Maybe what she decided to do had never mattered, and her dad had been right to put her in prison to keep her from hurting anyone. Maybe she'd been deluding herself by thinking anything else.

She'd been to this lake once before. Simon had taken her here when they'd first met, and she'd hoped coming back would give her some insight. But it was just a boring, gross lake, which had seemed a lot nicer last time she'd been here. Maybe it was because it wasn't winter this time. She could believe that if she tried.

What if things didn't work out with Simon? Betty didn't even know if they were still together. They hadn't spoken since the argument, and other than her dad, he was the only thing keeping her away from the Ocean Kingdom. Well, Simon, her dad, and her research, but she was running out of favours to call in to smuggle her books out of the royal library. The punishments for that were severe.

Someone plunged into the water behind her, and Betty jumped and turned around.

"Whoa, hey! Betty, right?" It was a grey-skinned land dweller that Betty vaguely recognised.

"Queen... Marceline?" She was the queen of the Monster Kingdom, a particularly powerful kingdom in Uuu's north. She was also a good friend of Simon's.

"Weird weather, huh?" said Marceline, who didn't seem bothered by being out of the air. Maybe she was using waterbreathing magic, but she was some variety of undead, so maybe she just didn't breath.

"What?" said Betty. She looked upwards. The sky had darkened since she'd come up here, and it seemed to be raining mud. That was weird. Weather was one of the few surface things she had a pretty instinctive understanding of, and usually it rained water, frozen water, or sharp implements. Not mud. She reached out to it with her powers to confirm. "is that... Ice cream?" It was cold, and it contained milk, cocoa, and sugar. It was definitely chocolate ice cream.

"Yeah, it's like this whole thing," said Marceline. "I'm trying not to think about it."

Betty could understand that.

"Hey, you look like you could use some distracting too," said Marceline. "I'm on my way to a party in the Monster Kingdom. You should totally come along." She held out her hand.

Betty narrowed her eyes at her. She had a hard time believing that Marceline had just happened to be passing when they were halfway up a mountain. Had Simon sent her to check up on her? No, that wasn't his style. Besides, there was no way Marceline didn't know what Betty had done to the Ice Kingdom. Most of Uuu knew by now. She had enough motivation on her own to want to check up on her.

But Marceline was right that she needed to take her mind off things. And even if it was a trap, it was better than staying in this muddy and increasingly sugary lake. "Sure."

Betty rolled her watery covering into another room and leaned against the wall. Being on land was exhausting. Gravity was everywhere, always trying to pull her water into a puddle and suffocate her in the air. She was getting better at fighting it, but she doubted she'd ever be completely comfortable up here.

Having to deal with gravity was sort of distracting her from her problems, but the party itself was a bust. She'd tried networking with Slime Princess, but hadn't got much further than agreeing that they were both princesses before she'd given up. What did it matter if she had good relations with other rulers? She was just going to break stuff and hurt people. What if next time, she hurt someone she liked? What if she hurt Simon?

This room was small, but it seemed nice and empty. It wasn't a huge party, and mostly seemed to be happening in the living room and kitchen. She doubted anyone was going to come looking for her. And there was what appeared to be a cage on the far side of the room, with some sort of bird sitting on a perch. Maybe she could pet it. She'd heard that was a good excuse to be alone at a party.

As she got closer to the cage, the bird resolved itself into a vaguely bird-shaped lump of black wool and white spider silk. It had a piece of plastic stuck into the head part as a beak.

"Whoa," she said. She reached in and petted it tentatively. "Close enough?"

There was a gasp behind her. "You like my pet bird? His name is Gunter, but he's not a penguin. He's a petrel."

Betty jumped, and turned around. If she'd been underwater, she would have known there was someone behind her. But she was on land. She kept forgetting she had to rely on her eyes and ears on land.

The speaker was a giant, fuzzy spider that Betty vaguely remembered being introduced to earlier. His name was Jumping Spider, and he was the party's host.

"I couldn't get a penguin because all the penguins talk," continued Jumping Spider.

Betty wasn't sure what to say. "Uh... So... You like petrels?" She was surprised he knew about them. Petrels were seabirds that rarely travelled to the land, and in Betty's mostly Simon-based experience, land dwellers usually only had the most basic knowledge of the ocean.

"Seabirds are cool," said Jumping Spider. "You don't like parties?" he added. "Me neither."

Betty frowned. "This is your party, dude." She couldn't figure out what this guy's angle was. Maybe he was just an idiot.

"Yeah," said Jumping Spider. "You know who does like parties? Queen Marceline likes parties. Are you friends with Queen Marceline?"

"I don't know," said Betty. "I just met her. She seems... nice?"

"She's nice," Jumping Spider agreed. "She's not very good at being a queen. She always parties instead of solving problems." He laughed, like that was a joke.

Betty frowned again. "What do you mean?" Simon hadn't mentioned that, but now that she thought about it, he'd never really talked about Marceline's queening at all. He always just described good times he'd had with her that Betty hadn't been there for.

"I dunno," said Jumping Spider.

She should have expected that. "Look, sometimes nothing you do matters. Why shouldn't you party?" She knew she wasn't talking about Marceline anymore, but it felt good to finally say it out loud.

"Uh..." said Jumping Spider. "What?"

"If you're just gonna break stuff and hurt people, why shouldn't you party and not do anything?" said Betty.

"Ohhh," said Jumping Spider. "You can't do anything? Wow. That must be really bad for you."

He didn't sound all that sincere, but it was hard to tell with the weird way he spoke. What was more important to Betty was that he hadn't told her that of course what she did mattered, or that what had happened wasn't her fault.

Validation from an idiot was still validation. And he'd picked up that she'd been talking about herself, so maybe he wasn't as much of an idiot as she'd thought. "I mean, I nearly killed Finn-Ice. Simon likes him! I think." As she spoke, she gestured out the window at the Ice Kingdom, which was still melted and flooded. And, for some reason, glowing, although Betty didn't think she could claim responsibility for that. "And Simon thinks it's his fault! Everything I do is someone else's fault. This is just like before. Why did I even bother to leave home? I don't know what I'm gonna do if me and Simon have to break up." Maybe they weren't the mildly star-crossed soulmates she'd always thought they were.

"Simon is nice," volunteered Jumping Spider.

"Yeah," said Betty. "He's nice. But does he have to blame himself for everything? I know, he had a bad childhood, but I had a bad childhood too!" She hesitated. "But I don't really know anyone else on the surface. And I'd do anything for him." She sighed. "I guess I'm just jealous. He's got such a great future, and I... don't."

No, she wasn't jealous. She was... frustrated? She felt like nothing had changed since she'd left home, and nothing was going to change. She was dangerous and isolated, and she was going to stay dangerous and isolated, forever.

"You're a princess," said Jumping Spider. "You can be like Marceline! In the future. Right?"

"Partying and never solving problems?" said Betty.

"Yeah!" said Jumping Spider.

Betty still couldn't really read him. "I can't go home, man. If I went home, dad would definitely make me go back to the tank. I'm too dangerous! I just proved that."

She thought about it for another second, and then said "Actually... It would matter if I... And I'd have more responsibility... and the library..." She couldn't help smiling.

Jumping Spider gasped, and said "You're going to go back and overthrow your dad!"

Betty didn't know how he'd got that from what she'd said, but she said "That's right! Thanks for giving me the idea, Jumping Spider."

Jumping Spider stared at her for a second, then said "We're friends" in a relevatory tone.

Betty opened her mouth to say that they weren't, and that they'd just met, but she found she didn't want to upset him. "Yeah. We're friends." Maybe it was time she met more surface people.

The Ocean Kingdom wasn't as big as the Monster Kingdom, but it was a lot friendlier looking, in Jumping Spider's opinion. And prettier, too. He liked the wavy houses on the city outskirts. You didn't get things like that on land.

Breathing underwater was pretty similar to breathing on land, except he'd needed to create a bubble of air with silk and fit it around his abdomen first. He'd heard about sea spiders, and thought maybe that meant spiders could breathe anything without any problems, but apparently not. Betty, who was very smart, had told him about rivers spiders that made diving abdomen-helmets out of silk, so he'd just done that. It was weird, but it was actually a little easier to breathe like this than normal.

As they entered the centre of the city, a silver-scaled fish swam up to them, looked them over, and yelled "It's the princess! The princess is back! With a horrible monster from the surface!"

Jumping Spider looked around for the horrible monster. Maybe it was that weird wiggly-legged starfish scuttling towards them? But that seemed a bit judgemental.

Betty had covered her ears. She uncovered them. "Hi." She looked around at the small crowd that was developing, and added "If any of you guys even think the word "kidnapping", I'm going back to the surface."

"It's the king!" called the same fish as before. "Alone! With a spoon!"

Everyone turned to look at a long-tailed merman with a crown. He looked pretty angry, and he was holding a small spoon.

Betty smiled, a little nervously, and said "Your majesty, hi. Did I spoil your desert?"

The king looked at the spoon in his hand, and dropped it. It slowly sank down to the seafloor. "Don't give me that snark, young lady. So you finally learned your lesson?"

"No," said Betty.

"I kept your tank the way you left it," the king began, then said "What do you mean, no?"

"I'm not coming back with my tail between my legs," said Betty.

The king looked puzzled. His mouth moved as he looked at Betty, then at Jumping Spider.

"It's a land saying," said Betty. "Never mind. I'm not here to go back to jail."

"It's not jail!" the king protested. "It's a developmental tool endorsed by several child psychologists that allows you to explore your nascent abilities in a safe environment!"

"Whatever," said Betty. "I've "developmental-ed" beyond that. I'm here to challenge you for the throne."

A gasp went up from the crowd. Jumping Spider looked around at them, and gasped as well, a little late.

"No you're not," said the king. "You know the penalty for failure."

"What's the penalty?" said Jumping Spider. Nobody had said anything to him about a penalty.

Betty didn't seem to have heard him. "Yes. I know the penalty."

"What's the penalty?" said Jumping Spider again.

"Exile," said the king. "The penalty for a failed challenge is exile. She has no idea--"

"You're gonna be exiled?" said Jumping Spider. That was pretty harsh. If Betty won, the king would lose his throne, and if she lost, he'd lose his home? Why did they even have a law like that?

"No, not him, me!" said Betty. "If I win, he loses the throne, but if I lose, I can't ever come back here."

"But..." said Jumping Spider. "You're from here. That's a bad law." They didn't have laws like that at home. He thought. He could never remember what was a real law and what people did just because they thought it was a good idea.

"It's meant as a deterrent," said the king. "But it's obviously not working. You're being ridiculous, Betty."

"I know the law, dad," said Betty. "I'm an adult now, and I'm first in the line of succession! You can't refuse a challenge from your primary heir."

"I knew I should have raised the age of majority," the king muttered. "Betty, listen to me. You're my daughter. I don't want to have to exile you. Stop this, and come home."

"I'll see you at the Waters of Proving and Postulating," said Betty, and swam away from the crowd.

Jumping Spider swam after her. "Bye, your majesty!" he called.

After a few silent seconds, Jumping Spider realised that the challenge might not be the intense video game tournament he was envisioning. "What are you gonna do in the challenge?" he asked.

"Oh," said Betty. "Regular ocean stuff. Underwater wrestling."

Jumping Spider's mental image was replaced by ostentatious muscley men hitting each other with folding chairs. "Oh, that's cool."

"Dad is better than me," said Betty. "But I know I'm stronger. I was stronger even before I left." She sighed. "The last person I fought was Simon's heart, and he was a joke."

Jumping Spider assumed that was a metaphor, although he wasn't smart enough to understand what it meant. But it was probably very deep and romantic.

"But, I've been practising," Betty continued. "I know his special moves. They've been the same since I was little. I think I can beat him now."

She didn't sound completely certain.

"What will do if you lose and get exiled away from home forever?" said Jumping Spider. He'd assumed that Betty would definitely win, until she'd said all that.

Betty shrugged. "I guess I'll get really good at partying."

"Oh, okay." He was glad the stakes were so low.

Simon dug some stray ice out from behind his ear. That really could have gone better. But at least the Ice Kingdom was safe. Still melted and flooded, but safe.

"That was algebraic!" said Finn-Ice. "We should hang out more often!" He was walking next to Simon. Gunter was on Simon's other side, and Marceline was floating above and a little ahead.

"Sorry about all that," said Gunter. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Don't blame yourself, Gunter!" said Finn-Ice cheerfully. "Blame Jake! He's been a very bad boy."

"Maybe we shouldn't have let him keep the crown," said Simon. Gunter had obviously scared Jake when he'd put on the crown, but despite Gunter's apologies, Simon could tell he'd mostly been bluffing. If Jake was smart enough to figure that out, there could be problems.

"It's a good thing Cool Zombie Dog Princess was there," said Finn-Ice.

Marceline gave an embarrassed laugh. "I should have been here from the start. I just-- woah!" A flying, disembodied ice tentacle smacked into her, and she grabbed it in a chokehold.

Simon looked up, and decided it was probably a one-man fight. "Finn-Ice, listen. I know you're homeless right now until Jake finishes rebuilding the Ice Kingdom." He didn't think Jake should have to be the one to rebuild it, but Finn-Ice shouldn't either, and Simon couldn't see any end to that conversation that didn't involve offering to put on the crown and rebuild it himself. Maybe he was a coward, but he couldn't bear to even consider that.

Her dad rushed her from out of the gloom, and she stretched out her hands and turned the current against him. He started to negate it with his own power, but not soon enough to stop him from going flying. He slammed against the opposite side of the arena, and she swam after him, eager to press her advantage.

"I've been sleeping rough," Finn-Ice replied. "Living off the land. Settling down wherever my feet take me."

Simon was pretty sure Finn-Ice had been spending most of his time in seedy Monster Kingdom hotels, but didn't say so. "Well, I feel awful about what happened, and me and Gunter want you to know that you can always stay with us if you need to."

Gunter wasn't as okay with that as Simon pretended, but he'd reluctantly agreed when they'd talked about it earlier.

Finn-Ice gave him a strange look. "Uh... Why?"

Simon pushed down his annoyance, and said "Because you're homeless."

"No, I mean, why do you feel terrible?" said Finn-Ice. "It wasn't your fault. It was, uhh..." He looked up at the sky for a second. "Your crazy ex's fault! Yeah!"

"She's not crazy!" said Simon, louder than he'd intended. "Or my ex! We just had a fight. Okay?" He didn't know how to make things better without apologising, which she didn't seem to want him to do. He wanted to fix things, but he had no idea how.

"Ooh, riiiiight," said Finn-Ice. "It was your sane, current girlfriend's fault."

"The whole thing it was my idea," said Simon. He didn't really want to go into the dreams that had sparked all this. He was beginning to think he shouldn't even have told Gunter. "I tried to tell her I was sorry for messing everything up, but she just got mad at me."

Finn-Ice frowned. "You told her that? No wonder she got mad. Why didn't you tell me, your best friend and closest confidant in the whole of Uuu and also the entire universe and who you think of as, like, a cool uncle," he took a deep breath, "earlier?"

"You were there!" said Simon.

"Man," continued Finn-Ice. "You need to talk someone who knows about this kinda jazz. Maybe Simone."

"Finn, I don't need to talk to a girl version of me that you made up," said Simon. He'd thought being away from the crown made Finn-Ice a little more lucid, but today he was as confused as ever.

"If she was here, she'd say something like..." Finn-Ice frowned, and put on a falsetto. "'Stop calling your girlfriend crazy, she's just messed up in the melon from spending her entire childhood in a tank and she doesn't like it when you take credit for something she did even if it was something bad.'" He took another deep breath, and went back to his normal voice. "Wow! So wise!"

Simon made a face at Gunter.

She struggled in her dad's grip. He'd wrapped his tail around her, and was squeezing the water from her lungs. She couldn't breathe. If she didn't break out soon, she'd pass out, and he'd win by default. She couldn't breathe.

Gunter did not make a face back. He looked thoughtful.

"What?" said Simon.

"She... I mean he... He has a point," said Gunter.

Simon made another face.

"I didn't want to say anything," said Gunter. "I thought it might upset you."

"I'm plenty upset already, Gunter," said Simon.

Gunter looked worried. "The fact is... You do tend to... Make... No, no, I mean, you think... you think everything that goes wrong is your fault."

"It usually is!" Simon protested.

Gunter shook his head. "You can sometimes... put yourself at the centre of events that." He cleared his throat. "Don't involve you."

Simon managed to figure out what Gunter was avoiding saying. "You think I'm selfish too?" First Betty, and now Gunter. Maybe they were right. He really was no hero.

There was a loud shattering noise from above, and small pieces of ice rained down on them. Marceline floated back down to ground level. "Of course we don't think you're selfish. Right, Gunter? And Simon, Betty's gonna be fine. She was still a little messed up this morning, so I invited her to a party. I think she was into it."

Simon didn't think that would help, but didn't say so. He couldn't trust himself to know anything about Betty's reactions anymore.

"Oh, no, I don't mean to say you're selfish," said Gunter. "More like... the opposite of selfish, what's the opposite of selfish?"

"Buybird!" said Finn-Ice immediately.

"No, no, that's not it..." said Gunter. "You... you only do it when it's something bad."

Simon thought for a second. Gunter thought he was... selfish about assuming blame? That he took responsibility for things that weren't really his fault? That did sound like something he'd do. But he couldn't see why that was a bad thing. Nobody liked taking the blame.

Although... Simon suddenly remembered Betty ranting about how she'd never got to do anything herself until she'd moved out. He remembered her burning her hand in an experiment, and excitedly telling him about it afterwards. He remembered her trying to fix some delicate, cursed scientific equipment that had recently come into her possession, destroying it, and shrugging it off. He wouldn't call her crazy, or even "messed up in the melon," but she did seem like having the chance to try more than she minded failing.

She hadn't had to focus her powers like this in so long. She was exhausted, and yet her dad seemed fine, from what she could see of him in the dimness. He was faking. He had to be. She was ready to collapse, and she was stronger than him. If he was as tired as she was, she could use the last of her strength to pin him and win the match. If he wasn't...

What choice did she have? She raised her hands, and lowered them again, bringing the weight of five hundred feet of water directly onto her dad.

He was still pretty sure he was at fault for putting the idea of fighting Finn-Ice in her head, but if Betty wanted to take the blame for the stuff she'd done, maybe Simon should let her. He didn't understand why it would upset her, but maybe he just had to understand that it did. "Guys," he said, "I gotta go apologise to Betty."

"Okay, I'll do it!" said Finn-Ice suddenly. "I'll room with you in your treehouse of wonders!" He jumped into the air like he was trying to fly, fell on his face, got up, and ran away. "Whoosh!"

Marceline watched him go, and said "Doesn't he need a key?"

"He already has one," said Simon distractedly. "Marcy, did you say you saw her today?"

Simon wasn't surprised to find that Betty wasn't at the party anymore. She wasn't a very social person. What was surprising was that she'd apparently left with Jumping Spider, who Simon was pretty sure she'd never even met until today.

But that still wasn't as surprising as where she'd gone, according to the note Jumping Spider had left on his birdcage.

"Why would she go back to the Ocean Kingdom?" said Simon, as he and Marceline stared at the note. Gunter had gone home to remind Finn-Ice he didn't need to keep breaking their windows to get in.

Had Betty given up? If Simon had done that to her by blaming himself... Wait, should he feel bad about that or not? He'd have to ask her when he saw her. If he saw her. When he saw her.

Marceline picked up the note and sniffed it. "Hm. It's still fresh. Maybe we can catch up with them."

Despite the situation, Simon had to laugh. "Marcy, you can't smell that." She had a lot of powers, but enhanced smell was not one of them.

"Hey, you don't know everything about me," said Marceline, with a smile that made it obvious she was joking. "But we better go after them."

As they swam closer to the Ocean Kingdom and there was still no sign of Betty, Simon finally couldn't even pretend to be distracted by the jokes and anecdotes Marceline was trying to distract him with.

"I can't believe Betty went back home. If her dad put her back in the tank..." He clenched his fists. He'd been struggling with his temper a lot lately, but right now, that seemed like a good thing.

"Try not to cause an international incident, dude," said Marceline, smiling.

With an effort, Simon smiled as well. "I'll tell them I'm not a viscount first." He hadn't been back to the Ocean Kingdom since his first visit, and he'd never been clear on whether he was allowed back. It was his fault the library had been destroyed.

Or maybe it was Betty's fault.

They made it through the city outskirts, and into the more solid city centre. Nobody stopped them, or even seemed to care they were there.

"Wow, this place has changed since the last time I was here," said Marceline, looking around. "What happened to the brain coral farms? I swear there used to be brain coral farms." She pointed at a patchwork of green and orange fields of what appeared to be seaweed.

Simon tried to remember what Betty had told him about Ocean Kingdom history as they swam up the side of the palace to the main entrance. She'd said something about ecology and climate change... Something about ocean currents? "Brain coral hasn't grown here for, uh... three hundred years."

"Man," said Marceline. "I've been slacking off."

They reached the top of the palace to find two sharkmen guarding the entrance, just like last time Simon had been here.

"Hey!" said one of them. "How are you here already? We haven't even left yet!" He looked at his partner. "Did we already leave and come back?"

The other guard shook his head.

"Weird," said the first sharkman. He looked at Simon. "You've been summoned. You can just go in. You too, queeny."

Simon and Marceline looked at each other, and went in.

"Do you think she's in jail again?" said Simon, as they floated down the main shaft to the throne room. "Why would her dad summon me?"

"Whatever happens, I got your back, Simon," said Marceline.

Simon smiled. Obviously she wasn't that worried about international incidents.

Simon was prepared for a fight when he entered the throne room. He wasn't prepared to see Betty on the throne, and the king floating behind her, looking disgruntled.

"Simon!" said Betty. "You came! Oh, hi, Marceline."

The Ocean King coughed. Or was he just Betty's dad now? He and Betty both had crowns, but only Betty was on the throne. Had she actually usurped him? How? Why?

Betty rolled her eyes. "Queen Marceline."

"Hey," said Marceline. "Looks like you ranked up last time I saw you."

Betty shrugged and said "I won a wrestling match."

"I let her win," said Betty's dad.

"No you didn't," said Betty, almost before he'd finished talking.

Simon had spent a lot of time thinking about what he'd say to Betty the next time he saw her, but he'd never expected her to overthrow her father and become the queen of the ocean. That made every one of his ideas obsolete. Maybe he should just be direct. "Betty, I'm sorry."

"What for?" said Betty carefully.

Simon sighed. "I'm sorry for trying to apologise for things I didn't do. It was wrong of me."

Betty sat up straighter. "Wait, really? Simon..." She cleared her throat. "You're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" said Simon. She had much more right to be upset at him.

Betty started to say something, then seemed to change her mind. "Listen, Simon, I'm gonna be really busy from now on and I have to know. Are we still together?"

"Y... Yeah!" said Simon. "Yeah, of course!" This was so much less painful than he'd thought it was going to be. But he didn't know what to think about her becoming queen. He'd been a king once, and it hadn't agreed with him. Would Betty still be allowed to do all the things she wanted to do? What if she changed her mind? Would abdicating put her dad back on the throne?

A silk-clad Jumping Spider entered the room in a panic. "Betty! I forgot! Who was I supposed to summon?"

"It's okay," said Betty. She pointed at Simon. "He's here already."

"Hey, Jumping Spider," said Marceline. "You defecting to the Ocean Kingdom?"

Betty's dad stared her down. "Is that a question or a threat?"

"Glob, you Ocean Kingdom guys are so official," Marceline complained. "Jumping Spider can do what he wants."

"Simon," said Betty. "I... have a question for you. I know what you do is important... I can get any book you want from the library... Queening is gonna be hard..."

"Yeah?" said Simon, who had no idea what she was getting at. She couldn't be breaking up with him, could she? After she'd just asked if they were still together? She couldn't be that cruel.

"Do you wanna move in with me?" Betty said it all in one breath, like she wanted to get it over with.

"What?!" said her dad.

Betty was going to keep Simon permanently off-balance if she kept this up. He stammered for a bit before managing to say "I-I can't yet. Sorry, Betty." He couldn't articulate his exact reasons, but part of it was that he didn't want to get so serious right after making up from their first real fight.

Betty looked disappointed, but didn't seem that surprised. "Are you sure? I think I've figured out how to set up a permanent water breathing situation. How attached are you to breathing air...?"

"There's too much I gotta do on land," said Simon, although right now he couldn't think of a single thing. "And Finn-Ice-- I just invited him to stay at my place." He was about to add that it was his fault Finn-Ice lost his home, but stopped himself just in time. "Maybe in a couple years." The idea was tempting, but in a potential future way, not in a right now way.

Betty took a deep breath. "It's okay. We're not much further apart than we were before."

"Good," said her dad. "You might be queen now, but you're still my daughter, and you're not throwing your life away for some fickle, land-dwelling human."

Betty snorted. "Simon would never abandon me. I told you before, I love him, and this time it's true."

Simon was touched. "I... I love you too, Betty."

#Adventure Time #atimers #Reverseworld #fanfiction #Simon Petrikov #Betty Grof #Shwoo's Writing #Scientific terms: For when titling it after the common term is a bit too on the nose #I had to put in the fight scene so there was at least some action going on #Not that there's much action going on in the episode it's based on #Oh mein Gott zees is eine Story full of Itäliktypen

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hillariat · 3 years

Text

Bubbline fic finished!

Posted the final chapter of my Bubbline fic, check it out!

Also huge thanks to @hehe-food for beta-ing both the 3 and the final chapter

Unexpected

Setting: Highschool AU

Status | Wordcount: Complete | 5,770

Tags: Fluff, emotionally confused PB.

Summary: Marceline confesses to her long time friend Bonnie. It takes an unexpected turn and, just as things were back to normal, takes another one.

AKA It's Bonnie's gay awakening.

Read it on AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/30298620/chapters/74678148 OR down below

The hurried pat-pat of Bonnie’s footsteps echoed through the hallways. Her legs, exhausted from a student council meeting that dragged on for far too long, begged her to slow down by at least 30%. She ignored them. She really didn’t want to keep Marceline waiting any longer than she had to after all.

When Bonnie reached the music room, she heard a familiar tune being played. Smiling to herself, she pushed the door open and saw Marceline perched upon a table and chair in a seat-footstool combo, strumming on her bass guitar. The raven-haired girl turned to Bonnie and smirked.

"’Sup Brainlord, how’s the prep meet?"

“Terrible, Becky wouldn’t shut up about adding more “tasteful” food to the school breakfast program even though that’s clearly out of our budget. It literally took us over half an hour just to move on to another topic.” Bonnie sighed and continued. “If she wasn’t so high up the pecking order, I’d have kicked her out. Personally.”

Marceline nudged her shoulder.

“I could do it for you”

“And be expelled? No thanks. As much as I hate Becky, I don’t think you leaving is worth it.”

Her heart lurched, practically begging to be freed from her chest. She opted to shrug it off, instead turning away from Bonnie to start packing her bass.

“Maybe I could do a prank instead. Y’know something that says, ‘fuck off from student council or else.’”

Bonnie raised her brows.

“Oh, and what would this prank be?”

By the time the girls left the school building, several rotten sandwiches and a passive aggressively typed note were left in Becky’s locker.

__________________________________________________________

"Thanks again for waiting up for me."

Bonnie entered the front passenger seat of Marceline’s car, inhaling the familiar scent of leather, strawberry and wood that probably came from an acoustic instrument lying around somewhere.

“Dude not this again. I told you, you don’t have to thank me every time I wait up for you. It’s like, our thing to hang out on Tuesdays anyways.”

Bonnie buckled in her own seatbelt whilst Marceline started the engine.

“Still, I appreciate the gesture. Not everyone would wait 2 hours just to have afternoon tea with their friend.”

Marceline felt a blush threaten to reveal itself on her cheeks. She really needed to get those butterflies in her ribs under control. She raised her hand, the other hand focused on driving out of the parking lot. “No. Stop with the sap. You’re turning me into a marshmallow.”

“You’re already a marshmallow, Marshmaline”

She gave a playful whack, accompanied by a glare. “Shut up! I am not a marshmallow, I’m too punk rock!”

Bonnie rolled her eyes, unfazed by the other’s glare. They had long lost their terrorizing effect on her. “Sure you are. Oh! That reminds me”

She dug through her bag, fishing out a pack of guitar strings and handing it to Marceline. “Gauge 9 right?”

“Wha- Bon. You didn’t have to.”

Bonnie waved her hand dismissively. “Nonsense. I distinctly remember a certain someone complaining about forgetting to buy them for 4th week in a row yesterday.” She turned away from Marceline, opting to look at the passing traffic. “and… well, I just happen to pass by the music store when I was at the mall with Lady yesterday.”

Marceline gave her a heartwarming smile.

“Aww, thanks mom”

Bonnie huffed.

“What would you do without me?”

Marceline snorted, smile still evident on her face.

“Forgetting them for another week probably.”

Bonnie chuckled.

“Damn right”

__________________________________________________________

The girls reached their destination, a quaint little café tucked in a quiet neighborhood near their school. Marceline introduced it to Bonnie a while ago, insisting that the red velvet cakes were “to die for”. Bonnie wouldn’t put it the same way, but she did admit that the food was “more than acceptable”. The place quickly became their favorite hangout spot, next to the diner ran by their friend’s ( Finn’s) parents. Though that diner was more of a clique hangout spot. This was more of a 'just them' spot.

They ordered their drinks, an apple pie to share and of course, a slice of red velvet cake for Marceline. They sat at their table, indulging in said items whilst making idle conversation, ranging from the food to Marceline’s music to school gossip.

Bonnie noticed how her shoulders were a little tense, how she would pick and flick her own fingers and how her eyes wandered in a way that said her thoughts weren’t entirely focused on the present. Marceline was clearly bothered by something.

The Bonnie of 5 years ago would’ve pried her incessantly, but now she knew better. Marceline was the kind of person that needed space to figure things out. She would tell Bonnie what was eating at her when she was good and ready. Any prying on Bonnie’s end would lead to scathing remarks and, if allowed to escalate, a fight. Hence, despite the well-meaning itch that urged her to figure out what was bothering her best friend, Bonnie didn’t ask. Respecting Marceline’s boundaries was more important.

When Marceline’s giggling fit died down after a joke about a certain lemon-faced principal , she took a deep breath. She warily made eye contact with Bonnie.

“I need to tell you something. Its -It’s important”

“Okay”. Bonnie nodded and kept her eyes at Marceline expectantly, conveying that Marceline had her full undivided attention. A long, pregnant pause ensued. Bonnie was tempted to break the silence, but Marceline got there first.

“I’m gay.”

Okay. That wasn’t what Bonnie expected. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, no not at all. Bonnie was just very unfamiliar with coming-out-of-the-closet etiquette. After all, most of her friends were straight.

She was clearly out of her element here. How should she respond to this? Did Marceline want a boisterous congratulation? Or a simple acceptance? In the end, Bonnie did what she always did when she was uncertain about things.

“Okay, what am I supposed to do with that information?”

Marceline raised her brows in surprise. She was expecting more of a reaction to that. Bonnie had just…. rolled with it. Maybe her fears were indeed unfounded. Maybe. It was still too early to tell.

Marceline took a deep breath, gathering what little courage it could provide and continued.

“I’m gay for you. As in, I like you. Like, like-like you.”

For a moment, Bonnie was tempted to make fun of Marceline’s unironic use of “like-like” but knew better than to do that. Instead, she was contemplating her response to it. She knew exactly what she should say, she knew her answer to that obvious unsaid question, but the vulnerable expression on Marceline’s face made her hesitate. Marceline looked so fragile, as if a gentle breeze could shatter her. The only other time Bonnie saw the other like this was when Marceline’s mother had passed.

Bonnie furrowed her brows, bit her bottom lip, and took a deep breath. It was definitely going to hurt, but she was good at making tough decisions for the people she cared about.

“I … don’t feel the same way. I’ve only ever seen you as a friend. I’m sorry Marceline.”

She could see Marceline shattering right in front of her. The girl’s shoulders slumped, a frown formed on her face and, most troubling of all; the light in the girl’s eyes dimmed. For a moment Bonnie wanted to take her words back, to make Marceline beam instead with an acceptance. But she knew from experience that giving false hope was worse than a flat-out rejection, so she kept her mouth shut.

In a flash, Marceline’s demeanor switched. She had a smile plastered on her face and her posture likewise improved. Perhaps it was a prepared response, as if she already knew this was the probable outcome. Though her newfound demeanor couldn’t quite reach her eyes.

“It’s cool. It’s cool.”

She paused as if unsure as to whether she should utter the next line. She opened her mouth, her voice wavered before she could even muster the first word.

“We can still be friends, right?” Accompanied with, again, a vulnerable expression. But this time it came from a girl who was already kicked down.

“Of course.” and Marceline wasn’t the only one who wanted to believe that.

They fell into silence, neither girl looking at each other anymore. There were no more words to be said on the matter. Bonnie glanced at the clock in the café. Time ticked by slowly, as if a second was enough time to write an entire thesis.

She searched for a change of topic, not wanting the silence to stretch into awkward territory. Her eyes wandered the surroundings and found it on their table. She gestured to the item.

“Are you going to finish that cake?” Bonnie’s fork was already threateningly hovering above the slice of cake.

Marceline smirked and hoped she didn’t misread Bonnie’s seemingly playful tone.

“I swear, one day you’re gonna get diabetes Bon. You’re such a sugar slut.”

Bonnie completely ignored her friend’s warning and grabbed the last bit of cake, eating it with a slight smile on her face.

“And you – She pointed to Marceline with her empty fork- are distasteful.”

Marceline laughed at that, the tension now fully leaving her. Bonnie could say the same, though she was just smiling at her friend.

Things were going to be okay.

Chapter 2: Confusion

The coffee cup made a clack as it landed on the table.

“Figured you’d want this.” Marceline flashed a toothy grin, though this one was softer than the usual mischievous one. Still, it was one Bonnie was well acquainted with.

Her stomach squirmed. She blinked. Odd. She didn’t remember having shellfish the night before.

“Uhhm, thanks.” She didn’t know why she fumbled. Marceline always got her coffee for their afternoon study sessions. She took a sip. Caramel Macchiato with an extra shot and drizzle, just the way she liked it, though for some reason, today it tasted a little sweeter.

Marceline plotted herself next to Bonnie and started rummaging through her bag. “So, what’s on the agenda today Bonbon?”

Bonnie scribbled in her notebook, having already started on her work. “Maths. We have 2 assignments due soon so I figured we should start.”

Marceline nodded and got her stuff out. For a good half hour, the only sounds that came from their table were the scrawls of pens, the clicking of calculators, turning of pages and occasionally, some curse words muttered under Marceline’s breath. Eventually though, the relative silence was broken.

“Hey, what’d you get for 3c?”

“69.3”

Bonnie saw a toothy grin appear on Marceline’s face. She frowned and shot a glare in return. That girl better not do wh –

“Thirst much, Bonnibel?”

She groaned. “Really Marceline? Get your head out of the gutter.”

Marceline shrugged. “Hey, I’m not the one writing innuendos as answers.”

“Not my fault the teacher likes putting innuendos as answers”.

Marceline chuckled, then she glanced over to Bonnie’s notebook. “Anyways, how’d you get that number?” She leaned over to get a closer look at Bonnie’s homework, now just close enough for Bonnie to smell what shampoo the other used. It was strawberry. Bonnie took note of Marceline’s face, how her brows scrunched in concentration, how her green eyes always held a beautiful shade of green, how her raven hair cascaded down her face, framing her sharp jawline and how her lips pouted at a formula she obviously didn’t understand. Bonnie wondered if those lips felt soft. Wait, what?

“Earth to Bonnie? You there? Hello?” Marceline waved her hand in front of her face.

“Huh? Oh. Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said what’s the deal with this guy? -She gestured to some convoluted looking math term- How did it get to this?”

“Oh, well..” Bonnie went on to explain how she derived the expression, going through it step by step as she usually did, pushing away any strange thoughts of the girl next to her. They were just a fluke after all. Nothing more than spontaneous curiosity.

__________________________________________________________

It happened again a couple of days later. Marceline was casually humming along to a punk rock song in her car with Bonnie seated next to her, quietly scrolling through her phone. The song was crass, mocking, harsh even, filled with edginess that stereotyped the genre. But somehow when the same song came from Marceline’s vocal cords, hummed in a low tone, it sounded so much more…beautiful. Smooth. Gentle. It felt like a cloud was encompassing her, warm and welcoming.

Bonnie felt her insides turn to jello. Strange how she never noticed Marceline's voice having this effect.

She frowned. Something was up. Lightning never struck twice in the same place after all.

“You got your thinking face on Bonnie. What’s up?”

“Oh. Nothing, I was just zoning out”

Marceline smirked, “Lemme guess, thinking of another experiment? Or wait, OH. Trying to answer one of the greatest mysteries of life.”

Bonnie glanced at her lap. Her hands were fiddling with loose jean threads. “You could say that.”

__________________________________________________________

The rest of the week, and the next, followed the same pattern. Bonnie and Marceline would hang out and Marceline would do something utterly mundane and Bonnie would find herself getting the squirmies. Her insides would twist and turn in all sorts of funny ways and she would find her cheeks embarrassingly warm.

She found herself lying down on her own bed, gazing at the ceiling with a half bolster clutched in her arms and contemplating the confusing experiences of the previous weeks. This was the 5th night in a row she had done this.

She has had both male and female suitors confessing to her before, though none of them were as close to her as Marceline was. However, she never gave them more than a second’s worth of thought as she preferred to utilize her brain’s resources on more important things. Chiefly; her schoolwork, independent science projects and her student council duties.

She blinked. Once. Twice.

Could she…like Marceline?

She frowned; brows scrunched and lips upturned in confusion.

She had never experienced a crush on a girl before. What she had told Marceline was nothing but honest, she genuinely had never seen the other girl in a light that wasn’t platonic. Marceline was indeed only a dear friend to her. Nothing had changed between them, so why did her insides turn to mush when Marceline did something as mundane as laugh at her own joke or open a door for her. It didn’t make any sense.

Bonnie’s clock read 02:14am and she figured she should get some sleep before school. With heavy lidded eyes, Bonnie concluded that she should do what she always did when she was uncertain about things.

__________________________________________________________

Bonnie found her in the music room, as usual. She was alone. Good. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and gripped her bag strap tightly. She didn’t know why she was the one who felt terrified, after all she was the one planning on basically cornering Marceline with a potentially awkward situation. She took a deep breath and entered the room.

Marceline turned to her, ceasing the strum of her bass. She flashed a warm smile. “Hey Bon, what’s up?”

“Marceline, do you want to go on a date?” At the sight of Marceline’s confused face, she added “With me. Romantically.”

Marceline raised her brows, even more confused than before. “Dude, I thought you weren’t into me that way? You said so like 2 weeks ago.”

She was right. Bonnie only hoped that her persuasion skills were good enough. “While it is true that I've never seen you in that way before, I don’t think it’d be a bad idea to try?” She paused, not really sure how to phrase it less awkwardly. “So, let’s go on a romantic date and see how that goes.”

Marceline looked downright offended by that offer. Was there some homosexual etiquette Bonnie was missing out on?

“I don’t need a pity date.”

Oh. OH. Oh god was that it how it sounded like? Bonnie knew she had to rectify the situation and soon.

“No no. It’s not that. It’s…“ Bonnie broke eye contact with Marceline, instead favoring the ground. She wasn’t sure why she felt so flustered, maybe it was because admitting the truth was embarrassing. “I’ve been thinking about us. How I feel about you, ever since that day you confessed.” Bonnie started fiddling with her hands.

Marceline tensed. She didn’t know where this was going, but she was paranoid and listened to every echoing thought in her head that said this was going to end up bad. Crap. She thought she was out of the woods after that day in the café.

”and I know I said that I hadn’t felt anything but platonic towards you before, and that’s true. But now I’m not so sure.”

Marceline furrowed her brows. What did she just say, was she implying that – “I…I might like you romantically. Or not. I don’t know. I was hoping that going on a date would help me figure things out. Its more for me really.”

Marceline blinked. Once. Twice. Thrice. Bonnie had…mixed feelings for her? No, rather Bonnie wasn’t sure how she felt. Marceline released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding until now. It wasn’t an ideal outcome, but it was certainly not the worst that could have come from her confession to the redhead.

Taking Marceline’s prolonged silence as a no, Bonnie continued. “I’m sorry. It was selfish of me to even suggest that considering everything you’ve been through. Just forge-“

Marceline raised her hand to stop her babbling. “I get it. Figuring out your sexuality is hard and you’re not exactly swimming in gay friends. I'm down for it. But you have to promise me this.” She looked straight into Bonnie’s eyes, holding down probably the most serious stare she could muster. “The moment you figure out your feelings for me, you have to tell me. Even if it hurts me. Its just-I just need to know as soon as possible.” Her voice wavered. “Please.”

Bonnie nodded, understanding the gravity of this.

Marceline let out a huge breath, visibly relaxing. She smiled.

“Alright. You free Friday night?”

Bonnie smiled back at her. “Yeah, pick me up at 7?”

Chapter 3: Consolidation

Bonnie didn’t think she would be one of those girls. The ones that would empty their entire closet and prance around their clothing littered room wondering why nothing there was good enough for their date. But here she was doing exactly just that.

It was just Marceline after all. They’ve hung out a billion times before.

Except it wasn’t just Marceline was it?

Bonnie groaned; this was infuriating. She dug through another pile of clothes on her bed, burying herself in thoughts of what to wear instead of trying to unpack the queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

In the end, she settled for a white sundress. Well, “settle” was a stretch considering she was going to change again if she hadn’t been interrupted by a ring from the front door. She rushed out of her bedroom, hurriedly making her way down wooden stairs with a tap-tap from her feet.

“Is that Marceline?” Her mother called out from a distant room. Knowing her it was probably the living room. Bonnie did get her love of sappy cable TV rom-coms from her after all.

“Yeah, I got it! I’ll be back by midnight.” Bonnie replied. “Alright, text me if your plans change.” After a brief moment of silence, she added, “Oh, and keep yourselves out of trouble okay! I do not want to hear a peep about either of you from the cops again!”

Bonnie giggled, reminiscing that exact event from 6 months ago.

“Oh. Wow.” Bonnie’s gaze was fixated on the sunset, a bleary mix of reds, oranges and yellows fading into dark blues that casted a looming shadow, outlining the town center. Bonnie and Marceline were on top of a ruined four story building without a roof which was nestled on top of a steep hill, giving them a brilliant vantage point that overlooked the entire t-

“Right.” Marceline flashed a cocky smirk. “Told you this place had the best view.” And she wasn’t wrong.

Bonnie scoffed. “Well sorry I thought otherwise when you dragged me through a forest, a chain link fence and an abandoned construction site.”

Marceline snorted. “What did you think I was gonna do?”

“Kill me and the hide the body?”

“Pfft, if I did that, whose homework would I copy of off?”

“Uh,” She tapped her chin, actually giving the question some thought. “Finn’s?”

Marceline looked at her with bewilderment, one eyebrow quirked above the other. “Dude, you know the whole point of copying off someone else is to pass, not fail.” Bonnie huffed, “Okay, fair point. But – "

“Hey, what are you two doing here?! Get down now!”

They snapped their heads to the source of the yelling. Down on the ground floor stood a middle-aged security guard, practically steaming with red-hot fury. Both girls looked at each other, conveying some unsaid message to each other, seemingly in agreement.

Then they ran.

After hopping through several cinder blocks and steel beams sprinkled with a few swears and complaints about thinking the place was abandoned, they got to a chain-linked fence. Knowing that they were pressed for time with the security guard hot on their tail, they opted to try to squeeze through a tiny gap on the bottom of the fence instead of climbing over it as they did before.

Bonnie crawled through just fine, merely getting some scuffs and dirt marks on her pullover. Marceline on the other hand got stuck, her “fashionable” ripped tank top getting caught on stray fence wiring. Both girls rushed to untangle Marceline, but with the stomp-stomp of booted footsteps coming ever closer to them, Marceline pulled Bonnie’s hands away from herself.

“Bon. I’m fine, just.. go ahead without me”

“But- “ Marceline pushed her away, stopping any argument Bonnie would give out.

“Go! I’ll text you when I’m home.” Bonnie stared at her for a moment in concern. Her eyes darted back and forth between her friend and the direction of the encroaching footsteps. Then she blurted,

“Shut the fuck up” and scrambled to get her friend out.

They both got caught.

After a phone call, a drive and long drawn-out conversation between Bonnie's mom and the police, both girls found themselves on the receiving end of a stern mother's gaze whilst seated on Bonnie's couch.

"Explain."

Before Bonnie could get a word out, Marceline started. "It was my idea Mrs. Butler, I dragged Bonnie to the construction site up at the hill near the end of town. I wanted to show her the sunset from up there.”

"The abandoned one?"

Marceline gave a sheepish smile "Well it turns out it wasn’t so abandoned after all".

Mrs. Butler wasn’t so amused. “Uh-huh.” She glanced at Bonnie, who was squirming in her seat from nervousness. "Bonnie, I know it wasn’t your plan but you still tagged along. You’re grounded for a week. That also means no access to the garage lab."

Bonnie groaned but didn’t feel the need to protest that decision. It was fairly light considering they did get the police involved.

Her mom turned to Marceline. "And Marceline. It’s late so you can stay over, but in the morning, I am going to have a talk with your father, got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

“Good, now I’m going to head to bed, it's late. Bonnie, be a dear and help set up the couch for Marceline” With that, Mrs. Butler went to her bedroom. Bonnie and Marceline started setting up the couch in silence, bringing out blankets and extra pillows from a nearby closet. Marceline wondered if this would be a good time to say what was on her mind, but was interrupted by Bonnie asking her to grab the duvet. When she dragged the duvet to the couch, Bonnie noticed her stumble a little. And then again. She was limping.

“Marceline, your leg!”

“Huh?” Marceline glanced down, seeing a small trail of blood running from her knees. Her very battered and cut knees. “Oh shit”

Bonnie immediately pushed Marceline to sit down on the couch, then ran off into the kitchen muttering something about alcohol. She then came back with a small first aid kit and began treating Marceline’s wounds. Marceline figured this was as good of a time as any.

“Sorry I got you in trouble. I didn’t know there was security there, I checked out the whole place and didn’t even see any keep out signs.” She fiddled nervously with the duvet below her.

Bonnie flashed a warm smile. “It’s fine, just…” She glanced down at Marceline’s knee and frowned, then looked up and made eye contact with her. “Be more careful next time?”

Marceline gave a reassuring smile.

“I will.”

Ding-ding-ding-ding! God, Marceline was one hell of an impatient girl. Bonnie rushed to open the door, silently cursing herself for zoning out for so long.

Marceline was clad in a red-black plaid flannel paired with a dark grey top and ripped black jeans. 'Classic Marceline,' thought Bonnie. Though in the raven-haired girl’s words it would’ve been classic gay, whatever that meant.

Marceline started, “Hey.” She flashed a gentle, earnest smile. She can do this. She’s good at playing cool. She’s the coolest person in school. Totally cool. Absolutely not having a heart attack right now.

“Hey.”

“You look great tonight.”

Bonnie smiled, soft and sweet. “Thanks, you look nice too.” She gestured to the other.

Marceline snorted. “Pfft, this is my normal outfit, what are you talking about?”

She smirked. Oh, it was all too easy to tease Marceline. “Maybe I think you look nice normally.”

Marceline spluttered into some incoherent murmurs. Her cheeks flushed crimson red and she scrambled to look at anywhere except Bonnie. Bonnie found it amusing.

She noticed that the raven-haired girl had her hands tucked behind her back, as if hiding an object from her view. Before she could ask though, Marceline beat her to it, having recovered from her gay panic.

“I, uhh, got you flowers.” She presented a bouquet of soft pink and white roses.

"Flowers?"

Marceline averted her gaze, instead staring at the small scuff marks on her shoes."Yeah. Figured I'd, uhmm....give you the full date experience." But the flustered cheeks and wavering voice said there was more to it than that.

Bonnie felt a heavy pang strike through her chest. She didn’t say anything about it though, figuring that it was a little too late to back out now. "Thanks."

She took the flowers into the kitchen and quickly deposited them into an empty vase. Then she rushed back out and hopped into Marceline’s car and they drove off. She turned to Marceline. “So, where are we going?”

Marceline smirked. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“At least tell me if it's legal. I promised my mom I wouldn’t get in trouble with the cops tonight.” She crossed her arms and pouted. Marceline thought it was adorable and wondered if she should comment. She didn’t.

Instead, she let out a cackle. “Nah it's totally legal. Don’t worry about it.”

They continued the drive in relatively peaceful silence, with only the radio to fill in the space. Bonnie’s gaze fell to her lap, where she fiddled with the hem of her dress. This was it. She was going on a date. With her best friend. Marceline was her date. Huh. Sounds weird.

Chapter 4: Conclusion

Bonnie glanced at the building, eyes widening at the familiar sight of the local science museum. "I thought you didn’t like science?"

Marceline shrugged, "I don’t. But I'm down for learning about the things you like.” She flashed a gentle smile and Bonnie's insides went into a tumbling frenzy of butterflies and thrumming heartbeats. “Now c’mon, this place closes at 9!"

Before her insides could murder her further, she found herself being dragged to the building, hands intertwined and all. Bonnie couldn’t bring herself to complain.

They grabbed their tickets from the ticketing booth and then trailed through the museum, weaving through various exhibits from electrochemistry to evolution to tectonic plates. They stopped by an anatomy exhibit; Bonnie having decided that the musculoskeletal system was an absolute must-see.

“Oooooh, the knee joint!”

Marceline quirked her brows, “What makes this one so special?”

"Well, it is the largest joint in our body, and y’know, THE joint that enables us to walk.”

“Yeah, but isn’t it like, weak? I always hear about people having busted knees or something.”

“That is true. That’s mostly because it does endure a lot of force when we’re using it, about one and a half times our body weight when walking and eight times when squatting.” Bonnie paused for a moment. ”Oh! And it’s also susceptible to numerous pathological conditions like arthritis”

Marceline hummed absentmindedly, then said, “Heh, y’know, you’re just like osteoarthritis” -she turned to her and flashed a toothy grin-” ’Cause you make my knees weak.”

Bonnie stared at her as if she grew another head. A pause ensued, just as awkward and confused as Bonnie’s expression. It went on for a bit, what with Marceline having no clue how to handle it and Bonnie trying to piece together what in the world just happened. She eventually broke the silence with a snort and a smile.

"Well," She moved closer to the other, interlinking their arms together. "You’re like a cation because you’re positively attractive.”

Marceline doubled down, practically filling the museum with cackles. Her cheeks were tinted red, though whether that was from being flustered or from the strain of laughter Bonnie couldn’t tell.

“Omg Bonnie that’s…” She took a breath in an attempt to get her chuckles to die down. ”That’s so you.” Another fit of laughter hit her.

Bonnie floundered, muttering a brief string of indecipherable words and turning away from Marceline in a vain attempt to hide her beet-red face.

“Hey, hey, c’mon. I didn’t say it was bad. It's….” Marceline rubbed her neck, eyes purposely averting Bonnie’s gaze. “It’s actually really cute.” She flashed a tentative smile. Her cheeks mirrored Bonnie’s.

Bonnie pouted, “Geez, you really can’t take a compliment, can you?”

“Welp, sorry, my parents are as emotionally constipated as I am.”

Bonnie chuckled, then tugged the other along to another exhibit.

They wandered through the exhibits one by one, with Bonnie rambling on about the four ventricles of the heart and some Newtonian mechanics and Marceline occasionally quipping in with a flirt or a joke (usually a pun).

“You wanna go watch a movie? I heard they’re premiering the remake of the Thing at the old theatre downtown” Marceline asked. They had finished a full round at the Museum, just in the nick of time as an announcement declared that the museum was closing. Now they were making their way to the carpark.

Bonnie was a little surprised that Marceline would have heard of the Thing. She didn’t seem like someone who would keep up with Sci-fi remakes, then again, the Thing was also a horror, that could explain it.

Bonnie shrugged. “Sure, sounds good.” She glanced down at their still intertwined hands. It was all still surreal to her. She really was on a date. With Marceline.

“Bon? You okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just…uhh, zoning out. Yep. Heh.” She really, really wished she was better at lying. Marceline raised her brows but didn’t comment any further, to Bonnie’s relief.

__________________________________________________________

They wound up seated in a small theatre, with Marceline sipping on her soda and Bonnie occasionally munching on popcorn. Bonnie glanced at Marceline, wondering if she should be doing something at this moment. Their arms were still interlinked, still a fairly platonic gesture. She wondered if she should push it, cross the platonic boundary a little bit more. After all Marceline clearly had with her incessant flirting. She supposed she should reciprocate by initiating something too.

And so, cautiously, Bonnie leaned in, slowly placing her head on the crook of Marceline's shoulder. Marceline tensed for a moment, and for that moment Bonnie wondered if she should retreat. But then Marceline relaxed and leaned in.

Cuddling wasn't something the girls ever did together in their friendship. Physical affection, whilst there with casual hand-holding, a hug here and there and such, was always kept at a respectable distance. This was new and if the butterflies in Bonnie’s stomach were anything to go by, it was a good kind of new.

Maybe dating wasn’t so weird after all.

__________________________________________________________

Marceline brought Bonnie to her doorstep in silence. Not the comfortable kind that they often shared. No, this was tense, heavy, as though there was a huge anvil weighing them down. Both of them clearly knew why, it was the end of their date after all. Neither of them really wanted to start, but, feeling obligated because this was her idea, Bonnie did.

"As cliche as it sounds, I really had a good time tonight." After a short pause, she added, "I'd like to do it again sometime."

Marceline’s brows shot up into her hairline. "Wait does this mean -"

“Ehp!” She croaked. Despite knowing what Marceline's reaction would be, Bonnie still found a lump rising in her throat. She took a breath and tried again.

“Yeah.” Bonnie smiled tentatively.

Marceline’s face went through various stages of metamorphosis, from confusion to disbelief to being completely flustered red. It finally settled on a dumbfounded smile with rose-tinted cheeks.

“That’s, wow.”

Bonnie giggled and crossed her arms. She just couldn’t resist the opportunity presented. “Really? You got your crush to like you back and all you can say is ‘wow’. Real smooth Marceline.”

“Sh-shut up!”

Bonnie could practically hear the pout from her. She snickered and Marceline desperately scrambled for a change in topic. She found one and smirked.

"Does this mean I can kiss you? Coz you were so obvious with the staring just now"

Bonnie scoffed. “We both know I wasn’t staring, nice try though. As for the other thing,” She averted her gaze and gave a non-committal shrug. “Maybe on the second date, or the third”

Marceline grinned. “Ooooh, there’s gonna be a third date now?”

“Only if you behave.” She deadpanned.

Marceline cackled, her voice echoing throughout the silent neighborhood. Soon enough, Bonnie couldn’t help but join and now in between the quiet of suburbia were the giggles of two girls.

They kissed on the second date.

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