Five Short Thankful Graybles

A quaintly decorated dining table sat in the middle of a room housing a crackling fireplace. Outside the nearby window, it was fairly clear, with no evidence of the winter season. However, the fire signaled that while the time for snow wasn't quite here yet, it was getting there.

Suddenly, a strange noise sounded from the doorway leading to the dining room. It seemed like a whooshing sound, as if some kind of slushy substance was being hosed out of a funnel. Moments later, a short, robed man with a large head and interesting little hat stumbled through the opening, panting a bit and holding a fire extinguisher.

Cuber set down the red tank and took off his oven mitts.

"Oh boy, I guess I really should wait for the others to get here, I always forget I'm not much of a cook."

He then sees the people watching.

"Oh! Well hello there! I didn't notice you come in."

Cuber walls over and sets himself at the head of the table, happily smiling as he motions to a nearby chair.

"Please, take a seat."

The offer is accepted and Cuber sets his hands on the table, sighing.

"The family should be here soon, but it's nice to have some company. I'm always thankful for someone to talk with. Speaking of being thankful, how'd you like to hear some graybles while we wait?" … "Hoho, wonderful!"

The man tosses up a small projector, which immediately hovers and displays a green video screen.

"And remember, look out for the special theme."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Naturally, the Fire Kingdom wasn't being affected by the dropping temperatures all over Ooo; the land was basically its own fireplace. For the most part, it was a quiet and stale day. Within the walls of the palace though, two teenagers were making their way to the storeroom, hoping to find a certain ingredient for a special occasion. One was a female fire elemental; the other was a human boy.

As the pair made down to the correct floor, Flame Princess pointed to a large set of double-doors.

"It should be in there, Finn."

The young hero nodded and grinned.

"Awesome, let's go see."

They walked up to the twin doors and gently pushed them open, making Finn gasp in awe. The storeroom was filled to the brim with tons of crazy foods native only to the Fire Kingdom, mostly peppers, of course, but also some stuff that looked like fruits, vegetables, and a lot of other appetizing items.

Finn, however, set his eyes on the large barrel in the back marked 'lava beans'. He pointed over toward the container.

"There they are. Sweet, now I can make my super hot chili for the dinner."

The human was very excited to present his cooking skills to his friends, especially Flame Princess, although he'd never admit that last part. The two teens strolled past the various crates and boxes, interestingly peering at their contents as the back of the room drew closer. Eventually though, Finn's sight fell upon the fiery girl's attire.

"So is that what you're wearing to the feast?"

FP looked down at herself and smiled timidly.

"Yeah, I figured it I should take advantage of finally going out of the kingdom for once and dress casually."

The fire elemental had on a pair of crimson pants, which was rare considering she usually sported some type of skirt or dress. It was unknown what kind of shirt she was wearing, seeing as she had a bright orange hoodie on. Not that warmth was important to someone like her but she was getting into the whole fashion biz. Finn smiled.

"It looks nice. You should try that more often rather than that really bland armor."

FP glared at him.

"Are you judging my appearance!?"

The human backed away a bit and raised his hands defensively.

"No way! I-I'm just, uh, never mind. It's just good to see you letting loose instead of all cramped up in that royal stuff."

Flame Princess didn't reply to the response but calmed back down. The rest of the way to the lava beans was made in silence. At last, the two reached the barrel and Finn grabbed an empty sack out of his pack. While the boy leaned in to scoop up some beans, FP suddenly realized something.

"Finn! You don't have a flame shield on!"

The hero calmly finished his gathering and replaced the now full sack into his pack, followed by giving a grin to the fiery girl.

"Oh yeah, I couldn't find Flambo earlier so I just put on some fireproof shoes and decided to suck it up."

The human was noticeably sweating, now that the flame king looked closely. However, he seemed to be taking the heat quite well.

"Oh, that's cool."

Finn beamed and chuckled a bit.

"Yep, all that time- uh, doing, fire related stuff, has toughened me up."

He was blushing slightly, although FP luckily didn't pick up on it. The young hero continued.

"Well, we'd better get going."

Flame Princess nodded and led the way back down the length of the room, with Finn close behind.

"AAAHHH!"

A sudden ball of fire shot through the open doors of the storeroom, ricocheting off of numerous objects as it ping-ponged everywhere. Finn and FP covered their heads and backed off against the wall, freaked the math out as they tried to follow the path of the bouncing fireball, which kept sounded like it was, shouting?

More and more pings were heard until finally the blazing object struck a tank behind the two teenagers before blasting back out the room. The pair was unharmed and backed away from the wall, checking to see if anything had been damaged.

"Holy cow, what the junk was that?"

Flame Princess shrugged.

"No idea."

Finn's ears suddenly picked up a low groaning noise. He furrowed his brow and listened closer. It seemed to be coming from behind. The king had noticed it too by now and turned around to find its source. She was shocked to see the large tank of hot sauce they had been standing next to begin to fall towards her. The girl was too stunned to dodge out of the way. Luckily, Finn was not.

"FP, look out!"

The human swiftly threw himself at the fire elemental, pushing her out of the way as the tank slammed down on the ground and burst open, sending globs of sauce everywhere. Fortunately, Finn was able to get them far enough that it didn't spill all over them as well. As the hero recovered from the initial action, he let out a breath.

"Woo, that was close."

It was only when he opened his eyes from his break that he realized the position he was in. The boy lay on top of Flame Princess, who was staring at him with astonishment, her face only a few inches from his.

Both teens' cheeks grew incredibly red.

The pair lay there frozen for a few moments, as if unsure of what exactly they were supposed to do. Finn suddenly felt an extreme heat on his body, followed by some smoke. He quickly jumped up with a yelp, beginning to pat himself all over to douse the charring parts of his shirt caused by FP's slightly excited flames. The king slowly got to her feet as well, looking over to the hero hopping around patting his singed shirt.

Finally, he stopped the last of the burning and relaxed. A second later he gazed up at FP and gave a nervous grin.

"Heh, sorry."

FP stared at the uncomfortable human for a moment before shyly smiling back.

"Thank you, Finn. I'm pretty sure that tank would've hurt a lot."

Before Finn could reply, the sound of clanking boots entered the room. Both kids turned to the doorway, only to see a humanoid in what seemed to be a fire resistant suit. Coming closer, the figure was seen to be Princess Bubblegum. The candy monarch gave a smile and wave as she brought out a bag from her side pouch.

"Hey there guys, the guards told me I could help myself to some peepers, I need them for my part of the dinner."

FP shook off her blank look and rubbed her arm.

"Uh, yeah, sure, go ahead."

Finn quickly walked over to the nearest exposed crate of spicy peppers.

"Will these do, Prubs?"

PB nodded.

"Yep, could you toss me a few?"

She held up her bag, prompting Finn to grab an armful of the red veggies and begin to shoot them into the waiting sack. He cleanly made every shot, until the bag was full and PB slung it over her shoulder.

"Thanks, Finn. Um, what happened to you?"

The princess had noticed the burn marks on the boy's arms and shirt. The hero examined himself and couldn't help a nervous look.

"Uh…"

Peebles looked closer at the positioning of the char marks, then over at Flame Princess. She grew her own mischievous grin and giggled lightly. The monarch then turned to walk out, holding back a chuckle.

"Heehee, I'll see you guys later. Try not to hug again until you've got a flame shield."

Finn and FP blushed again.

"That's not what happened!" they both shouted in unison.

The candy princess wasn't listening; she had already made her way out of the storeroom and headed toward the palace exit. Once out in the open, she cupped her hands over her glass protected mouth.

"SCREEEE!"

She waited a moment, then was suddenly snatched up by the Morrow, which quickly flew her up high and through the ash clouds of the Fire Kingdom. A few seconds later, the two burst out into clear sky, heading back to the Candy Kingdom. PB examined her loot of peppers, determined to make the best casserole ever for her friends.

After a brief flight over the grasslands, Bubblegum saw the castle come within sight, easily overlooking a great distance from its high towers and walls. Upon reaching the colorful structure, the Morrow let down PB on a balcony and flew off to go rest. The pink princess eagerly rushed in while stripping away her suit, revealing her normal attire underneath.

She immediately bounded down several corridors with the bag of peppers still slung over her shoulders. Eventually, the woman burst through the doors to the castle's kitchen, momentarily startling the floating Vampire Queen inside.

"Jeez, Bonnie. You almost scared me to death."

Peebles instantly caught the joke but ignored it and rushed over to the counter, emptying out her vegetables. Marceline floated over to the princess as she quickly washed and sliced the peepers into neat, even pieces. The pale girl raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? Just give it up already."

Peebles shook her head as she went over to the whiteboard she'd placed on the wall earlier. It displayed various graphs, charts, and data notes. The pink lady slid her finger over several bits of information before dashing back over to the prepared peppers.

"No way, not until I can prove that science and math can create the perfect blend of flavors for this casserole."

Marcy groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Bonnie, the last one you made exploded, sending Peppermint Butler to the infirmary. Don't you think you should use that brain of yours to realize you're a terrible cook?"

Bubblegum scowled at her hovering friend.

"No! And I am not! Besides, it was Pep But's fault for poking it too hard with his fork."

The vampire sighed as the princess began circling the kitchen, tossing together exact measurements of ingredients with careful precision. It felt like watching surgery, boring Marcy out of her mind. Eventually though, her friend finished by adding the peppers on top, organized in a specific way that would apparently touch the right taste buds when eating the dish, giving maximum flavor effect.

"Ok, let's try this again."

Prubs put on her mitts and slid her creation into the high powered molecular oven she'd custom installed for the occasion. She then took her time punching in the right conditions of cooking, making sure not to mess anything up. With that done, PB pressed the start button and took a few steps back. Marceline opened her umbrella and used it as a shield, just in case.

The two patiently waited as the oven hummed its heating tune, preparing the food within it to the candy monarch's specifications. After a minute, a ding sounded from the machine, prompting Peebles to excitedly approach the oven and cautiously remove the steaming casserole from within.

Marcy watched in anticipation as her friend walked the dish over and set it on the counter. The pink lady then took a fork and experimentally poked the surface of the food. Nothing happened, much to her relief. She stuck the utensil in, still receiving no reaction. A triumphant smile reached her lips as she dug out a small chunk of the steaming dish.

"I told you I could do it," she smirked.

Marceline shrugged.

"Alright, I guess you can get your 'kitchen sense' on if you just try enough times."

Princess Bubblegum took a few more seconds to gloat before bringing the casserole to her mouth and biting down. The ruler steadily tested her theories on the taste, delighted that all seemed to be going to plan. Satisfied, she swallowed, licking her lips afterwards. Marceline let out a light chuckle, amused by how giddy her friend was being.

Suddenly though, PB felt her stomach groan. The girl placed her hand on her belly and her expression shifted to one of discomfort. Marcy raised an eyebrow.

"You ok, Bonnie?"

The princess struggled to nod her head as she walked over to the edge of the counter, now holding both hands to her upset tummy. The vampire followed and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, concerned about her condition. A split second later, PB's eyes grew wide and she slapped her hands over her mouth, swiftly bending over to the trashcan against the counter.

Next, she puked.

Marceline recoiled at the act, looking away and bringing her hands in front of her face to avoid being disgusted, even though the noise wasn't being blocked out.

"Oh Glob, Bonnie, that is so not princess-like."

PB continued to heave, unable to respond to the taunt. Eventually, Marcy began to feel bad about her comment and gingerly floated back over to her friend. Gently, the vampire began rubbing Bubblegum's back, hoping to sooth the nausea. She valiantly hovered by as the princess repeatedly lost her lunch, and likely breakfast somewhere in there.

At long last, the candy ruler stopped her traumatic expulsion and woozily held her head up, groaning slightly. Luckily, Marceline's back rubbing was really helping at this point to calm her. The princess managed an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Marcy."

The vampire sighed amusedly.

"No problem, you science psycho."

PB just chuckled softly, not really caring about the teasing. After a moment, a door on the far side of the kitchen was thrown open, catching Marceline's attention. A familiar face walked out, holding a white package.

"Simon? What are you doing here?"

Ice King paused his walk and looked over to see the two girls. The old man smiled and waved.

"Oh, hey you guys, don't mind me, I'm not here to kidnap; I'm just borrowing some sugar."

He held up the package, displaying the truth of his words. He then pointed with confusion to the disoriented Princess Bubblegum.

"What's with her?"

The vampire patted her poor friend on the back.

"She just needs to learn her limitations."

IK pondered the response for a moment then shrugged.

"Oh well, see you two later."

The wizard then resumed his pace and stepped through the double doors leading out into the corridors. The old man then found the nearest window and jumped out, flapping his beard as he made his way back to the Ice Kingdom. He was rather enjoying the chilling weather, since he spent all his time in a freezing environment anyway.

After a long and exhausting flight, the wizard finally made it to his icy mountain, floating in through the opening at the top and setting himself on the frosted glass floor. He then proceeded to stroll through to the kitchen, where the old man was providing his part of the big dinner: desert.

Luckily, he had help, in the form of the loyal robotic companion Neptr. The microwave bodied fella was busy using various mixing utensils to stir together various items in a big bowl. The substance within was white and fluffy. As IK walked up to the counter beside his helper, he placed the sugar next to him and smiled.

"Got the last ingredient, my boy."

Neptr happily looked over and grinned right back.

"Great job, papi. I'm almost done creating this wondrous confection of sugar-based deliciousness."

Ice King scratched his head.

"Uh, I thought you were making whipped cream?"

Neptr laughed.

"You're funny, father."

The wizard was still a bit lost but shrugged it off and started cleaning up the mess that the robot had made while making the all-important topping to a pie. Neptr himself was doing most of the work, since he was both a decent cook and could make pies at the snap of a finger. Ice King contributed by flying all over Ooo for several hours gathering what the mechanical being needed, since the old man never kept anything on hand.

Ik finished sweeping up and was left with a pile of what seemed to be ashes on the floor. He furrowed his brow and looked back to Neptr.

"Hey, what's all this black stuff about?"

The robot briefly turned to see what the wizard was motioning to and immediately understood.

"Oh, I had to clean out my pie generating compartment, sorry for the mess, papi."

Ice King smiled and waved him off.

"That's alright, it's good for my boy to be hygienic."

Neptr joyfully chuckled and returned to mixing the cream while Ice King bent down to sweep up the ashes in his dustpan.

"AAAHHH!"

A ball of fire shot straight through the ice walls of the kitchen, hitting the fridge before beginning to bounce off of the floor, ceiling, and other structures in the room. IK curled up on the ground, scared out of his wits. Neptr also dived to the floor, awkwardly lying there as the bundle of flames continued its ricochet around the icy surroundings.

Eventually, the fire struck the pile of ashes next to Ice King's face, pushing the black dust right into his face. Within a few more bounds, the fireball finally managed to shoot itself out the triangular window nearby, ending the chaotic event inside the castle. Neptr struggled a bit to get himself upright but succeeded in time and treaded over to the ice wizard, who was getting to his feet as well.

He had a strange look on his features, scrunching up his face and uncontrollably opening and closing his mouth.

"Ah, ah, ah…AH CHOO!"

A powerful blast of icy wind was shot out of the window, forming a strong gust outside that spun itself high into the air before being carried by a cold front out toward the grasslands.

Back in the ice castle, IK fully stood up and sniffled, dizzied by the force of his sneeze. Neptr rolled over in front of him and gave a concerned smile.

"Bless you."

The old man reached down and patted the tin can atop the robot's body.

"Thank you, Neptr."

The mechanical being produced a tissue for his father and handed it over. The old man blew his nose then smiled warmly at the helpful robot.

Meanwhile, the swirl of icy winds descended across the plains, slowly being nudged toward a very specific target. That target being the tree fort, which stood vigilantly as ever at the top of its hill. Within the house's hollow walls, a happy couple was busy preparing the last components of the big dinner that would soon be held just outside.

Jake hummed himself a tune as he cooked up some bacon, simultaneously using half a dozen extra hands to occupy the other burners with fried potatoes, green beans, and golden corn. The main focus however, was the massive main course in the oven.

Nearby, Lady Rainicorn was chopping up components for several salads she was making. The colorful girl took a moment to look over to her boyfriend, who was gazing through the oven window with a hungry look in his eyes, obviously excited by how good the food would be. Lady flew over to him and joined in staring at the strange dish.

"Jake, 그 일이 무엇입니까?"

The magical canine frowned and scratched his head.

"Um, I don't really know. Some kind of big evil bird that me and Finn slayed a few days ago. Marceline said it was close enough to a 'turkey' that we could use it in the dinner."

Lady raised an eyebrow.

"Tur-key?"

Jake shrugged.

"No idea; apparently a festive bird that humans used to eat a lot. Probably extinct by now."

The rainicorn looked curiously at the bird being cooked to a golden brown within the confines of the oven. She did admit it smelled really good. She went back to her salads, determined to finish before it was time to set up. As she did, Jake continued his humming and cooking.

Before long, the gust of icy wind floated down and entered the kitchen through the open window. The chilling breeze caught Jake in its grasp, immediately causing him to shiver and wrap all of his extra arms around himself.

"Brr! I've gotta turn up the heat in here."

The magical dog stretched an arm over to the ladder, all the way up one floor, and through to the other living room to get to the fireplace. Unfortunately, while he had incredible reach, he didn't have the best coordination. Jake managed only to knock over the logs stacked by the hearth.

"Ngh. Lady, keep an eye on the stove-top, ok? I have to send my eyeballs up my arm."

Any other girlfriend would've thought that was the weirdest sentence ever, but Lady knew her man well and simply nodded. The magical dog did as he said he would and left his visionless face behind. It was a little creepy, so his woman chose to strictly keep herself focused on the sizzling food. After a few minutes, Jake's mouth suddenly gasped.

"Oh shoot! I forgot my special seasoning!"

One of the canine's extra arms abandoned the stove and clumsily stretched itself over to the cabinets. The appendage bumped the wood a few times before managing to open it and reach in for a small jar. Lady watched the hand nervously.

"당신은 당신이 어떤 도움이 필요하지 않겠?"

The hand came back over and rested for a moment as its owner replied.

"No it's ok, Lady. I've got to do this, it's my secret seasoning technique."

The rainicorn watched with little confidence as the disoriented hand struggled to even find the right pan to sprinkle the ingredients on. Eventually, he stopped above one and tilted the jar. Sadly, he lost his grip and it fell onto the counter next to the stove-top. Lady's expression only grew more concerned as her boyfriend tried to feel for the missing item.

"여보, 당신은 자신에 화상을 입을 수 있습니다!"

Jake scoffed.

"Na, I do blind searches all the time. There's no way I'll-"

Suddenly, his fingers brushed the heated metal of the pan holding the bacon.

"YEOUCH!"

His hand immediately retracted at extreme speed, smacking his body in the face and dizzying him. Jake's body wobbled a bit before he finally lost his balance and fell over, his extra arms retracting from the loss of focus. A moment later, his eyes and original arm returned, while his mouth let out a groan.

The dog held up his hurt finger, which had been turned a tender red. He sadly gazed at the injury and frowned.

"Aw man, that actually hurt. Why can't I have my little bro's resistance to fire?"

Lady quickly surrounded her man and petted him on his head, giving a reassuring smile. Then, she placed a kiss on his reddened digit. Instantly, he perked up and gave the rainicorn a hug.

"Thank you, Lady."

She hugged him back and even squeezed him with her long coiled up body. After a moment though, the two realized the food would be charred if they didn't pay attention.

"Oh crud! We've gotta hurry!"

With great swiftness, the couple completed their share of the feast and gathered up all the food in a multitude of Jake's stretchy arms. This time, he paid close attention to what parts were hot. Instead of going out the front door, Jake just kicked the kitchen window out and stretched himself directly to the long wooden table far below.

After a quick placement of the dishes, the magical dog could sense others approaching. From the direction of the Candy Kingdom, he saw Marceline's giant bat form, carrying a not-all-too-swell looking PB on her back. As the two ladies landed, the vampire morphed back to normal and Bubblegum held up a square container.

"We've got the casserole."

Jake took a whiff and smiled.

"Wow, smells good, great job Peebles."

The lady nudged her head at her companion.

"Actually, Marceline gets credit for this."

The canine was visibly surprised but shrugged and gestured for the princess to place the food on the table with the rest.

Ice King flew in a minute later, carrying Neptr in one arm and a massive sealed bowl of homemade whipped cream in the other. They were greeted warmly and took spots at the table, as did PB and Marcy. As Jake was setting out the mass of silverware, he spotted two figures on the horizon.

Finn and Flame Princess closed in a moment later. The young hero was carrying a giant pot of steaming chili, which he promptly set on the table, causing it to shake momentarily. With everyone assembled, the whole gang took their seats and Jake used his powers to pour out drinks for everybody. Beemo also emerged from the house and sat down as well.

Finally, after all were settled, cheers were given to the magnificent meal and the group dug in. The food was all wonderful, having been made from scratch by only the most dedicated friends. They laughed, talked, ate, drank, told stories, or just poked fun at each other. It was truly a momentous gathering where all parties had a great time just being together as treasured friends.

At about sundown however, the gang heard a familiar noise fill the air.

"AAAHHH!"

The streaking fireball was back, first smashing into the tree house before emerging on the other side and plummeting toward the dinner table. The bundle of flames bounced off of the plate containing what was left of the bacon, making Jake cry out in sorrow. The blaze performed several more bounds before once again firing up in the air and swirling around, completely out of control.

Finn glared at the object then looked to the fire elemental sitting next to him.

"FP, take me up there."

The king widened her eyes.

"But Finn, you'll get-"

The human quickly pulled a baseball mitt out of his pack and slipped it on.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just nab that annoying butt."

FP dropped her protest and took the hero's outstretched hand. It surprisingly didn't burn that much. She then shot herself into the sky, aiming to get near the fireball. Once reaching a sufficient height, the fiery girl used a great deal of focus to keep Finn in the same spot.

As the flaming shot came around again, the human held out his gloved hand and braced to catch the shooting blaze. As it buried itself within the leather mitt, he cheered in victory.

"Gotcha! Ok, FP, take us down."

The young ruler nodded and lowered the two of them back to their seats, where everyone anxiously waited to see what had caused all the trouble. Finn opened his mitt, only to leave himself and the whole gang surprised.

"Flambo!" they all proclaimed in unison.

The tiny flambit lay in the glove, rubbing his temple as if he'd hit it somewhere, which he likely did. After recovering, he let out a relieved breath and opened his eyes.

"Heh heh, thanks brotha. I was worried I'd be stuck up theres foreva."

Flame Princess raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

Flambo hopped out of Finn's mitt and landed on the table.

"I came across that jerk Magic Man this morning. The guy looked pretty down, sees? So I asked what's the matta and he got all offended. The butt put a curse on that caused me to whizz all over the place."

The flambit grinned at Finn and FP.

"And he said the only ones who could catch me is a pair of hearts that got some serious bu-bumps goin on, hehe."

The fiery creature chuckled as the teens' faces grew red and they briefly laid eyes upon each other. The rest of the table flat out laughed, only furthering the twos' embarrassment. Before Flambo could resume his own chuckling however, he suddenly stopped and gripped his throat.

He let out several sharp coughs.

"Oh jeez…cough…I musta caught a bug in my mouth…cough!"

The table's mood changed to concern as they tried to figure a way to help the poor guy. Water was out of the question, since it would only make things worse. Finn though, had an idea and reached once more into his pack.

The human brought out a glowing container, which seemed to be temperature sealed. He unscrewed the heavy cap and offered the thick bottle to Flambo, who accepted it and began chugging its contents down. After a moment, the flambit lowered the thermos and let out a relaxing sigh.

"Ahh, that's so much better."

He looked to the hero.

"Thank you, Finn."

The boy held up his hand.

"No prob, bob."

While everyone cheered for their friend's quick thinking, FP grabbed the empty thermos and tipped it upside down. Slowly, a single drop of lava fell out and sizzled the grass upon which it fell. The girl gazed with amazement at Finn.

"You keep a bottle of lava in your pack?"

The human seemed to grow nervous, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, yeah. I keep in in there...just for you; in case you start choking."

As Flame Princess's cheeks turned red, the whole table 'awwed'. Finn looked away and grinned.

"Come on guys, let's get over this. How about a toast?"

Jake chuckled a bit as he held up his glass.

"Heh heh, alright bro. What's it to? Girlfriends?"

He hugged Lady with an outstretched arm. Finn on the other hand, flushed slightly.

"What, no! Jake, you know I'm past that stuff for the time being."

The boy's brother gave a mischievous smirk.

"Yeah right. Just last week when we got away from Kee Oth, you said you still love Fla-"

The yellow dog received a pie to the face split seconds before finishing his sentence. Everyone gasped. Finn held an upset expression as he put his arm back down from the throw. He wasn't looking but felt for sure that the princess of flames was staring at him.

"Dude!"

The ruined pie slid down the canine's face until it plopped down to the table with a thud. Beneath the gooey mess of boysenberry jam, Jake eyed Finn with a serious look. A moment later, he wiped the sticky substance off and got up on the table, taking hold of his own pie and growing a malicious grin.

"So, that's how it's gonna be, huh?"

Finn got up from the table and backed up.

"Jake, chill man!"

It was too late; the dog splattered his brother in the face with the tasty desert. After removing the jam, the human charged back to the table and retaliated with another pie. This time though, Jake smacked it aside, causing it to hit Marceline.

"Ah! I'll kill you!"

The vampire took hold of two pies and proceeded to nail both brothers. After several more exchanges, Lady, PB, Ice King, Neptr, Beemo, Flambo, and even Flame Princess were hit with the pies, all grabbing their own and starting a massive fight around the table.

After a bit, it escalated to a full out war, since Neptr was able to consistently supply more pie. Within a few minutes, everyone was running around laughing and having fun. Eventually, Finn backed into someone while looking for a suitable target. They both jumped and faced each other. The other was Flame Princess.

The two stared at each other for a moment, not really reacting. Then, FP grinned and leaned forward, pecking the human lightly on his cheek. He instantly froze up and dropped his pie, having all kinds of fuzzies shot through his body.

The flame king backed up, still grinning, and shouted out loudly.

"Hey guys! Finn's wide open!"

All eyes trained on the stunned hero, who stood still frozen as at least a dozen pies flew straight at him.

Aw man, not cool.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Cuber deactivated his holo-player and took it back in his hand.

"Hoho, wasn't that a great display of loving friendship? I'd be thankful for that any day. Now, have you grayblers figured out the theme yet? No? Well that's alright, I'll give you a few moments to think about it while you pause your viewer."

PAUSE VIEWER NOW

…..

…..

…..

…..

"Our theme today was, involuntary reactions. See, Finn and Flame Princess blushed when they, heehee, fell on each other, Princess Bubblegum puked when she ate the bad casserole, the blue guy sneezed from the ashes, Jake's hand recoiled from the hot pan, and Flambo coughed trying to get something out of his throat."

Cuber stood up and sighed happily.

"And of course, the underlying theme is to always be thankful for all the friends and family that are there to lend a hand."

Ding-dong.

"Oh my! Looks like the family is here. Well, I hope you all enjoyed our little journey to the days of old. I'll see you grayblers soon. Until then, I wish you all happy holidays!"

Well that was fun.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!