Fionna found herself smiling as she wandered through the streets of the Candy Kingdom. She was walking back from one of her rare dates with Prince Gumball.
Fionna cherished all the time she spent with Gumball, even if he just thought of her as his lab subject and on-call adventurer. Fionna could deal with that if he occasionally invited her on a date.
The day started when Gumball had invited Fionna and Cake over to test some strange new invention he'd made. Fionna never really liked being his test subject, but anything to be with Gumball was good enough for her. On the way to the Candy Castle, Cake had explained to her that she was being used. By utilizing her undying crush on him, Gumball made her do too many favors and lame jobs for him. Cake had to make it clear that is was rude for Gumball to abuse Fionna's crush on him. Fionna thought long and hard about this, and then she saw Gumball smiling towards her, and decided she didn't care.
After a long day spent experimenting, Prince Gumball graciously asked if they wanted to stay for supper. Cake, being the wonderful adopted sister that she was, saw Fionna's sparkling eyes and blushing cheeks as Gumball spoke to them. So she graciously dismissed herself.
"Oh, well I'd love to stay, honey, but I've got a pie in the oven to attend to. But feel free to stay Fi, I can manage on my own for a while." She winked at Fionna when the Prince wasn't looking and trotted back to the tree house.
Fionna had a nice date with Prince Gumball. But, it was very… boring. Peppermint Maid brought them delicious delicacies of the Candy Castle, and they ate in a sophisticated, civilized manner. But the refined way Gumball behaves just wasn't really the way that Fionna wanted to behave.
But she had no choice. Being here with him made her heart race and her cheeks turn red. She couldn't do anything else but try desperately to impress him. Despite how much she adored him, Fionna was she was never very good at keeping a conversation with Prince Gumball. They sat in many moments of silence, where Fionna squirmed and fidgeted while Gumball simply ate his dinner, not at all disturbed by the silence. Fionna on the other hand, did not like the silence.
Luckily, she still loved his company, so she didn't mind all that much. He was kind and asked her about the days adventures, which she loved to tell him about. To Fionna, the date seemed like it would last forever, just like the previous times she had spent with the prince. But, unfortunately, it never did.
When they were done, Fionna was almost sad that the uncomfortable dinner was over. The Prince walked her to the door and they stopped. He courteously opened it for her, letting in the cool evening breeze to rustle her blonde hair and cleanse her of her worries.
She was about to leave when he took her hand and brought it to his mouth. He was so regal and dignified; Fionna was simply captured by him. He kissed her hand lightly and said "Goodnight, Fionna."
Fionna felt all the blood rush to her cheeks. If Fionna's heart wasn't about to leap out of her chest before, it definitely was now. She giggled like a little girl and leaped down the steps of the Candy Castle, barely able to contain herself. She turned back and waved, "Goodnight, PG!"
He waved to her with a smile that set her heart aflutter.
She felt so blissful, she didn't even rush home. She meandered through the Kingdom streets, in high spirits. She said 'Hi!' to her friends and waved as she passed the many citizens of the kingdom. She walked past various food stands and trinket shops. But for some reason she strolled right into the Library. Maybe Turtle Prince and LSP would be there. Maybe they had a good book for her. Wait… A book?
She found herself grinning, thinking only of Gumball. She looked at her hand and felt it tingling in the spot where Gumball kissed it. She knew PG was the only reason she had an impulse to come to this place where knowledge was held. That boy loves books.
She laughed to herself and went to find Turtle Prince.
Marshall was having a very boring week. He resented it.
He had his electric guitar. That was at least something.
But he always grew tired of sitting in his house, playing random tunes on his six-string all day. And for some reason, his melodious creativity was lacking. He was having a hard time making his own music like he used to. He used to just be able to pick up his guitar and play a beautiful melody. Lately, he felt like his muse was gone. His inspiration; nowhere to be seen. He just couldn't come up with the tune, the lyrics, the rhythm, anything! Like someone had squeezed all his musical ideas out of him, leaving him dry and dull.
Out of boredom, he decided to go out and about the kingdom. When the sun set and darkness fell upon the Land of Aaa, Marshall Lee headed out of his mind-numbing home, and found himself floating to the Candy Kingdom. Even though he'd already explored most of the city, he still had fun visiting the kingdom.
Some of the Candy People were frightened by him; as he floated by the cowered in fear. He would simply shrug and drift away until they realized he meant no harm. But most took no notice of him.
Today he went to a new street he had not yet seen. He explored a quaint little shop he had found on the remote boulevard. It happened to sell instruments, which immediately caught Marshall's attention.
He floated into the store, hoping to find some musical inspiration. The little Gum-drop sitting at the counter raised his eyebrows.
Marshall held up a hand. "Hey," He said lamely.
"Hello," The candy Gum-drop said cautiously. "If you have any questions feel free to holler."
"Thanks," Marshall said, as he cast his eyes at the shelves. He drifted through the music store, finding himself thoroughly disappointed.
The shelves were full of wimpy instruments like flutes and maracas. There were trumpets and Violins, but no Guitars. Marshall poked his head out from behind a shelf and addressed the clerk.
"Hey, um, do you, like, have any guitars?"
"Guitars?"
"Yeah, like, an electric or a bass or anything?"
The little gum-drop man chuckled. "Sorry, buddy. Do we Candy People look like were big enough to hold a bass guitar?"
Marshall contemplated this while looking at the clerk's rather small stature. "Yeah, your right. Do you have any songbooks at least?" He brightened, thinking maybe he could find something new to play, rather than his same old songs. And maybe even playing some sheet music could help his songwriting talent come back to him.
"Hm… Songbooks." The clerk paused. "I think were out of sheet music at the moment. You could check the library, though. They're bound to have something you're looking for."
Marshall smiled half-heartedly at the clerk. "Thanks, maybe I'll try that."
He floated out of the store and found himself back on the street, out in the cool night. He drifted through the kingdom, clearly in no rush, until he found the massive building with a sign: LIBRARY.
He'd never been in the Library before, but he decided to try it just for kicks.
He pushed open the door and the overhead bell startled him with a little Jingle! Inside he found it peacefully quiet. He enjoyed the serenity of the Candy People in the Library. He gazed at the massive shelves of books. They seemed to be endless, stretching as far as Marshall could see.
"Ah-hem!" Someone cleared their throat beside him. He glanced over to see a rather conventional Turtle sitting at a dark-wooden desk with a crown atop his head.
The strange reptile smiled warmly. "Hello. Welcome to the Library! I'm Turtle Prince. Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"
"I was wondering if you guys had any songbooks. Or sheet music maybe?"
"Oh, of course! The music section is that way, to the right, 3rd shelf." He pointed.
"Oh. Um, thank you."
"No problem." The prince smiled as Marshall floated in the direction he had pointed to.
He browsed the shelves, occasionally taking out an old dusty songbook, only to discover the songs to be incredibly tedious and uninteresting. He could barely find any songs for guitars in the first place! The teen Vampire King grew tired of looking at dull books, and started to notice the girls.
Surprisingly, there were a lot of good looking princesses in the Library. Marshall Lee would never expect a Library to be a place where a lot of hot chicks hung out, but lo and behold, he was wrong. There were princesses all around, looking at books, reading, carrying loads of them to the checkout counter. Apparently chicks like books, he noted.
After studying his surroundings more closely, he noticed not very many of them were actually human, like he was. Although they looked like it, few of them were actually even close to being human. Most were some sort of candy or other whimsical creature. Then he had to remind himself he wasn't human either, he was a vampire.
I'm about as human as I'll ever be, Marshall thought bleakly.
Marshall flipped his hair and put on his best stunning grin. He was about to pick one of the peculiar ladies to approach, just when the door opened with a loud jingle from the bell.
A girl walked inside, radiating happiness. She grinned and giggled slightly to herself. Marshall was instantly curious as to what she was so happy about, even though it wasn't his business. He was shocked at how beautiful she looked when she smiled, which was a surprising thought to Marshall's usually negative brain. He peered at her from behind a shelf, wondering if she was a human. She wasn't wearing a crown, but she looked like a princess.
She was a quaint, conservative girl, wearing a blue skirt and a t-shirt. She had pretty blonde hair that spilled out of her bunny-eared hat. But, despite her plain clothes, she looked very pretty and her joyful disposition was infectious.
She looked like easy prey for a seasoned flirt like Marshall. He knew she would be no match for his smoldering smile and audacity. So, naturally, he tried to make a move.
He hung around for a while and watched as she browsed. It surprised him greatly that she headed for an aisle that read ADVENTURE/HORROR/MYSTERY.
The Vampire King was expecting the girl to go to the ROMANCE or TEEN MAGAZINE section. He thought that was unusual, but he pressed on anyway.
He pretended he was looking at book titles, while walking inconspicuously towards her. As she reached for a book, he cut in and made a grab for the same one.
She looked up at him, wide-eyed and surprised.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean—" Marshall stuttered, trying to look innocent.
She handed the book to him, blushing a bit. "Oh, no. I'm sorry, I-"
"No, it was my fault!"
"It's fine, here you can have it!"
Once he had seen her blush, Marshall knew he had her; hook, line, and sinker. Marshall didn't take the book, but he gave her a devilish grin. "You know, it's pretty intense," he mused, "sort of scary, you wouldn't really like it."
She furrowed her eyebrows, turning the book over in her hands. She thought for a moment, and then looked up at him with mischievous eyes.
"How would you know what books I like?"
"Well…" He chuckled. "I know princesses… And you look like the kind of princess that likes the cute, fluffy things in life." He flicked a finger at one of her bunny ears, flashing her a dazzling smile.
Her face turned red, but she managed to keep a calm, mature face. "Uh huh..." She looked him up and down. "Hmm, I see where this is going. First of all, I'm not a princess. And second of all, you're just looking for a chick to ask out or something, right? You're looking for a beautiful, adorable, sweet little princess to be your temporary lady friend," She gestured to the abundance of princesses in the library. "Am I getting warm?"
Marshall just stared. His eyes didn't turn red; he didn't turn into a shadowy monster or a big, daunting bat; none of the things he usually does when someone ticks him off. He just stared, unspeaking and shocked, listening to this odd girl tell him off like an angry babysitter.
"Well, listen up, dude," She said, poking him the arm. "If you knew anything about me or even anything about chicks, you would know that I am perfectly capable of picking my own books." She pushed him aside with the book and walked towards the checkout counter, leaving Marshall Lee very taken aback.
As he watched the only girl that had ever gotten away from him walk confidently out of the store, he knew his boring week had just become a whole lot more exciting.