Just Pretending (Bubbline/Sugarless Gum)

Talking Trees and Close Proximities

Before Bonnibel could react and shift her brain into gear, Marceline was already up and looking through the peephole in an attempt to see who was there, before turning her head and saying, "Hey dude I think something's blocking the view, like a note or something. It's all black."

Curiously, Bonnibel walked over to the entrance door and slowly opened it, half expecting someone to be there or for a bomb to be on the floor - or who knew, maybe a cute black kitten. But instead she found no person and no item - that is until she opened the door completely, and just as Marceline had just predicted, there was a folded note taped over their peephole. "Whoa, check this out!" Bonnibel ripped it off and brought it inside for them to see, locking the door as she did so.

"What does it say?" Marceline maneuvered behind Bonnibel, resting a chin on her shoulder and using one of her hands to help rip the letter open, and after a bit of struggle, revealed to them a paragraph of messy writing that was similar to the first letter they received when they got here. Bonnibel determined that she would have to examine the similarities as soon as it was plausible to do so.

Dear Marceline and Bonnibel,

Please meet me by the forest line on the outside of the

building. I think I have information that could be of

great benefit to you both. Please come immediately

And lock your door.

P.S. I'm by that really short thick tree

P.P.S. I'm not the tree

"Uh, doesn't this seem like a trap to you?" Marceline reasoned. "This is really sketchy. I have a bad feeling about this Bonnie."

"Oh hush, you have a bad feeling about everything!" Bonnibel scolded, shoving the note into her back pocket. She shimmied herself into her coat and opened the door, leaving it wide open for Marceline to follow.

"Hey remember the whole stranger danger lecture you gave me like 5 minutes ago? What happened to that?" Marceline asked, closing and locking the door behind them and following Bonnibel despite being clearly hesitant about the idea.

"That's different."

"How exactly is that different? Because I see no difference."

"We won't be in danger!" Bonnibel said, looking over her shoulder to offer Marceline a confident smile. She noticed a blush spread across Marceline's face and if she wasn't so preoccupied with figuring out how a semi-dead person could blush then she surely would've reacted similarly. But after they reached the bottom floor and reached the semi-lit exit to the backyard area, Bonnibel noticed Marceline was totally zoning out.

"Helloooo, earth to Marceline!"

"Uh, sorry. Just thinking," Marceline said, shrugging. Bonnibel stared at her curiously, wondering what she could be thinking so deeply about when they're about to meet their informant and hello, who wouldn't be excited about this? But she let it go.

"Okay well, we're downstairs. You ready to go meet this guy?"

"How do you know this is a guy?" Marceline countered as they walked down the hall to the door with the large 'exit' over it, to which Bonnibel promptly shushed her. Marceline gave her a look and stuck her tongue out, to which Bonnibel rolled her eyes.

They reached the outside and quietly walked through the trimmed grass and the well-kept shrubbery that they were unintentionally destroying, checking around to make sure there was no staff or other attendees visible. Usually, around this hour, after lunch, attendees were left to their own devices and often had more leeway in what they were able to do so staff would often be inside and other attendees would be taking advantage of therapy sessions or participating in an activity. So thankfully, neither spotted staff nor patients.