Two Halves of the Same Heart (FIOLEE)

In Which there is pure fluff

As we were eating, I asked, "So why do you hate the king?"
He choked, and starting banging on his chest to alleviate it. It quickly dissipated, and he replied testily, "Why do you want to know?"

"Because you mentioned it, and you won't tell me any of your background."
He scowled. "I thought it was obvious? I get chased from town to town? And occasionally play music?"
"But what does the king have to do with that?"

"Tobias is a dick." Marshall simply said.
"Most people don't plot regicide over that."
"His sons are also dicks. His daughter is cool."
"I didn't know he had a daughter."

"Sharing time is over."
"Marshall, do you know him?"
"No, that would imply we're friends or something. Hey, I have a great idea, let's plan our wedding."

"Marshall, stop trying to change the subject whenever we talk about your past." I demanded.
He huffed. "Absolutely not. I deal with it by not thinking about it, and it's worked so far."
"Fine, is there anything you want to know about me?"
"Yes-- how is your sister a were-cat?"

"She was born that way. Our parents were both were-cats." I told him.
"You're not." He pointed out, leaning against a nearby tree.
I nodded. "I was adopted. I tried to tell you, they found me wandering alone on the mountain. They took me in and raised me alongside my sisters, and they're my family. You don't have to be related by blood to have someone be your family."

"True." He agreed. "Wait, you said sisters. As in plural. There's more than one?"
I nodded, before leaning against him. "Yeah, Charmiane. She lives a long way away, and she's not as rowdy as Cake or me. She used to have Mom and Dad's stuff before their house burnt down. Mom and Dad collected so many demons' stuff, it was algebraic! Mom and Dad used to go adventuring all the time together, and one time Mom built Cake and I a dungeon and..." I trailed off, grinning at him.

He smiled back. "Sounds like quite the life. Fine, you get a detail about my past. When my mom was... out of the picture... there was a woman who took care of me. Her name was Simone, and she was like a mother to me. A better mother, anyway. As Tobias came to power, she watched out for me, hid me from the guards moving through. You know how they were, taking whatever they could find; money, food, kids... anyway, she took care of me for a long time. But... she was ill. She started to-to forget me. To forget Bertram, her soulmate who had left her. She started to think she was an Ice Witch, and then I had to leave and then... whoops, looks like story time is over too. Just like sharing time."

I pulled him into a hug, and he put an arm around my waist to keep me from teetering.
"Stop shutting me out. I'm not going to judge. I just want you to be happy."
He gave me a wry smile. "We didn't even know each other a month ago."
"So? You're mine, and I'm yours. We're soulmates."

He grinned. "Yeah. But that doesn't mean you get my entire backstory all in one go."
"Please?"
"Ha, no. Seriously. Come on, I'm usually smiles and jokes and pranks. You're trying to drag the sadness to the forefront."
"The sadness is there anyway."
"It's not like you can kiss it better."

"I can try."
He quirked an eyebrow, smirking. "Really? Now I'm interested."
"I can't promise anything."
"No?" He laughed. "And here I was hoping you could fix my complex mental issues with a few kisses."
I flushed. "I was just..."
He grinned, before kissing me. "You do make me feel a little happier, even if you insist on dragging out my tragic backstory."

"You barely told me anything."
"Mmm... maybe you'll get it later. You probably will, in bits and piece. But enough about me. I refuse to believe that your entire past is snowflakes and rainbows."
"...a few years ago, I met my birth mom. She... she was a con artist. And she just abandoned me again. I mean, it's no big deal, Josephine and Mark, my adoptive parents were great, but they were already dead by then."

"How old were you when they died?"
"Eleven. I lived with Cake until then."
He gave me a squeeze, before sighing, "See? It's not fun talking about tragic backstories."
"No, talking about it with Cake helped me get through it. Bottling it up almost destroyed Charmiane."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're sure it wasn't because you and Cake went wandering around and left her with demonic possessions?"
He grinned, and I frowned at him. "Was... was that a play on words?"
"Yep. Kind of, anyway." His grin widened. He was clearly very, very proud of himself for that.

I laughed. "Are you going to keep telling me awful puns and wordplays?"
"Oh, of course. I finally have an audience." He grinned. "This isn't like music where everyone can hear it and it might earn me a few coppers."

I covered my ears. "Noooo."
"Oh, yes. What did one shoe say to the other?"

"I'm not listening!" I laughed.
"'I think we're sole-mates!'" He practically sang.
I covered my face with my hands, partially to hide my grin. "You're awful!"
"I am a half-demon after all. And you're stuck with me forever." He gave an evil laugh, before smirking. As hard as he tried, it faded into a smile. "Hey, you're not feeling too bad right now, right?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling great."
"Good, I just... I don't want to lose you after I just found you, okay? And you scared me."
I hugged him. "I'm not going anywhere."

*Author's Note*

This is what the kids call, 'padding'.
However, I, as the author, want some fluff before Marshall inevitably (spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler), in the (spoiler spoiler) arc.

I mean, (spoiler spoiler) is going to show up, guys. Good things don't exactly happen when (spoiler) is around. And Marshall and Fionna are going to (spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler). Enjoy the fluff.