Nightmares (FioLee)

Chapter Nine

"Alright, so it wasn't an actual fire, I didn't schedule a drill, I was watching Marshall Lee so he didn't do it in a pathetic attempt for attention--" 
"Hey!"
"--and I'm fairly certain that the Ice Queen would have shown up by now if she had done it to get a better shot at me." Gumball continued, before moving off to speak with a few of his citizens. 

"So..." Fionna began, before sighing. "Look, Marshall? I really, really like you." 
"I really like you too.  In like, a romantic kind of way." 
Fionna pulled him close, and he kissed her forehead. "So... what are we?" 
"Boyfriend and girlfriend?" She suggested. 
He pulled her into a long kiss. "Yes. Yes." 

"Alright, back to... oh. You two are making out quite... quite vigorously." Gumball said, returning to them. 
"Yeah, we're dating now." Fionna grinned, breaking away from Marshall. 
"Unless you've got a problem with that?" Marshall asked pointedly. 

"No, of course not. I won at least ten dollars. And besides, everyone was hoping it would happen." 
"Wait, what?" Marshall asked, caught off-guard. 
"Who did you make the bet with?" Fionna asked. 
Gumball waved her off. "You don't want to hear about that... anyway, why don't you two go do something together? Come along, Lich." 

"How is she not going to be traumatized by the memory of the creepy guy who looks exactly like her boyfriend?" The Lich asked. 
"What if the Ice Queen shows up?" Fionna inquired, ignoring the Lich. 
"And you didn't answer Fi's question." Marshall added. 

"I... well, I doubt she'll show up." Gumball pointed out. 
"I have some questions about your government." The Lich said. "First of all, why is it called a kingdom when it's ruled by a prince? Also, how have you managed to create a democratic absolute monarchy? How long are your terms? Also, why are there no republics in this land?" 
Gumball sighed. "I'll answer all of your questions as soon as you're safely installed back in your tank and these two are gone." 

"Wait, but--" Fionna began. 
"Go." Gumball made little shooing motions, and eventually Fionna and Marshall left. 

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"Hey, Fi." Marshall poked his head into the treehouse, grinning. 
Fionna and Cake jumped. 
"Hey, Marshall. What are you doing here?" 

He hopped up on her windowsill. "Do you want to hear your lullaby? I mean, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to a crazy party with me, but you're already dressed for bed, so..." 
"Yeah. I need to catch up on my sleep. I'm looking forward to getting a full night of it for once." She smiled softly, and he sat down next to her on her bed.

Cake curled up in her drawer. "To be honest, so am I." 
Fionna sighed softly, and leaned against Marshall. 
"You're half-asleep already." He sighed. "I'll show you tomorrow, okay? Just come by whenever. As a matter of fact, come by whenever you want. If I'm not home, the house'll be locked, and it's not like I don't want to see you, so..." 

"Your rambling is so cute." She smiled sleepily, before continuing. "No, no, 'm fine, I wanna hear you sing..." Cake began to snore softly as Fionna spoke. 
Marshall kissed the top of her head. "Are you sure?" 
"Can't make me any less sleepy..." She yawned. 

He smiled a little, and moved back to sit on the windowsill. Strumming softly, he began to play, singing gently. 
Fionna let out a sigh, before burying her face in her pillow and going to sleep. 
Marshall finished playing, before kissing her forehead. "Night, Fi. And hey, at least you'll never get bedhead." 

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Fionna sat up straight the next morning. "It worked!" 
"What worked?" Cake asked, sitting up as well. 
"When we defeated the Lich." Fionna explained, bolting out of bed and getting dressed. "I don't have nightmares anymore! Or at least, I didn't last night." 

"We're going to have to see." Cake pointed out. "Maybe we just got lucky tonight. What did you dream about anyway?" 
"Marshall, I think... I can't quite remember." Fionna shrugged, before heading downstairs. 
"So what are we going to do today?" Cake asked. 

"We should check up on Gumball... the Ice Queen seemed to think that just 'cause Marshall and I are together now, Gumball can be easily kidnapped." 

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Marshall moved his fingers up and down the frets absentmindedly, before noticing the bespectacled bruin with violet eyes and a lab coat sitting in his living room, just watching him. 

He started a little, and the bruin raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement. "How long have you been there?" Marshall demanded. 
"About thirty minutes." The bruin replied, pushing his glasses up his nose. 
"What, things finally got bad enough for the famous Dr. Tepes to come up here?" Marshall snorted. 

"Things got bad enough for Count Dracula to come up here." The other man reminded him gently. The doctor looked to be only a few years older than Marshall physically, but in actuality he was several hundred years older. 
"Yeah? What's my parliament doing?" 
"Embezzling money and exploiting your citizens. Your reputation for absence isn't helping. You've got to get down there." 

"I think I'm safer up here." Marshall replied sarcastically. 
The doctor watched him impassively. "Your mother is close to annexing our capital. Once she takes it, the entire kingdom will fall into her hands. Don't you care?" 
"Mom knows how to run a kingdom. I don't." 
"It's chaos." 

"Then step in." Marshall told him, finally meeting his eyes. "You're next in line for the throne. You have the right." 
"But not the desire." The doctor retorted. "What's so great up here anyway...?" 
"A girl." 

"Annie said you were lonely last time you talked to her." 
"Fi and I weren't really talking back then. Now we're dating." 
"Over the course of a few months...? Alright. But what were you doing, if you weren't with us, and you weren't with her?" 

"I... I don't want to talk about it." 
"Marshall..." The doctor frowned, before trying again. "Your Majesty... with all due respect, you can tell me." 
"It's stupid." Marshall pointed out. 

"...have you forgotten that my best friend is Caerwyn Moreland?" The doctor pointed out. "Trust me. I'm sure it's not that--" 
"I was looking for the sword of Caoilliann." Marshall blurted out. 
The room suddenly got very quiet. 

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*Author's Note* 

So... I kind of like to reuse characters. A lot. (I mean, this was kind of evident by earlier chapters but I'm addressing it now.) If they fit into the canon, they come along for the ride. Hence Dr. Timothy (J.? I want to say J., but I have to check) Tepes popping up here. Sorry for the anticlimactic note.