Born of Two Worlds Chapter 2

Mrraow, Mrraow!! The alarm clock above Princess Bubblegum opened and the purple cat descended on its spring, pawing at her face before withdrawing back into the clock. Princess Bubblegum groaned, turning over and placing the pillow over her head. Marceline, who had been awake for some time, looked over at the grumpy monarch. She slid across the bed, wrapping her arm around Princess Bubblegum’s waist.


“Didn’t you sleep well, babe?” she asked. Princess Bubblegum made a noise that clearly answered no. She pulled the pillow off her face and rolled over into Marceline’s arms, wrapping her arms around the Vampire Queen. Marceline felt the Princess’ face pressed firmly against her chest, eyes shut tight.

“I had bad stomach cramps last night,” muttered Princess Bubblegum, “That’s why I didn’t sleep very well.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Marceline in slight surprise, running her fingers through Princess Bubblegum’s hair.

“You were asleep,” replied Princess Bubblegum, “I didn’t want to disturb you.” Marceline sighed. That was her Bonnie, thoughtful to a fault.

“How long have you had these cramps?” asked Marceline.

“Just under a week,” replied Princess Bubblegum. Marceline frowned.

“Bon, maybe you should book an appointment with Dr. Dextrose,” suggested Marceline.

“But I’m fine,” protested Princess Bubblegum, “It’s probably just stress or something. I’ve had a lot to deal with lately.” Marceline narrowed her eyes.

“You said probably,” she muttered, “I’d rather we knew for sure.” Princess Bubblegum sighed. She knew that if she didn’t give in Marceline would just keep talking about it until she caved in and went.

“Alright,” she mumbled, “I’ll book an appointment. Happy now?” Marceline pretended to be deep in thought for a moment.

“Yeah,” she murmured, nestling her head back on top of the Princess’ head, breathing in her sweet scent. Princess Bubblegum sighed contentedly as the Vampire Queen moved her hands in small circles on her back.

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Princess Bubblegum sat down on one of the hard backed chairs in Dr. Dextrose’s waiting room. She put her chin in her hand. As far as she was concerned this was a pointless exercise and she only did it to satisfy Marceline. She knew the Vampire Queen worried anytime she got sick. It was only natural she supposed.

“Princess Bubblegum?” said Nurse Barley Sugar from the doorway.

“Yes?” replied Princess Bubblegum.

“The doctor will see you now,” said the nurse. Princess Bubblegum got up and followed her down the corridor to Dr. Dextrose’s office. Dr. Dextrose was a short stout marshmallow with red curly hair. He wore a white lab coat and had an earpiece fitted to the side of his head.

“Ahh, Princess Bubblegum,” smiled Dr. Dextrose, “How can I help you? Please, have a seat.” Princess Bubblegum sat down on the seat indicated.

“It’s nothing really,” she began but the doctor cut her off.

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that,” he said firmly.

“Well, I’ve been having these stomach cramps this last week,” explained Princess Bubblegum.

“Do they happen when you’re doing anything in particular?” asked Dr. Dextrose.

“They happen mostly at night, when I’m lying down,” replied Princess Bubblegum, “As a result I haven’t been sleeping all that well.” Dr. Dextrose nodded, jotting down a few notes in his notepad.

“Well, I’d better examine you, just to be sure,” he said, taking out his stethoscope. He listened to Princess’ Bubblegum’s heart and checked her breathing before taking her temperature and blood pressure.

“Well, you do have a slightly elevated heart rate,” he concluded, “This is most likely caused by stress and could be a trigger for your stomach cramps. I want you to take one of these daily and most importantly, I want you to rest for the next week or two. Put your feet up.” He handed her a prescription bearing the name of an Anti-arrhythmic medication. She walked out of the doctor’s surgery and dropped by the pharmacy to pick up the medication on the way back to the palace. Marceline was waiting for her in the main hall.

“Well?” she asked. Princess Bubblegum shook the packet she was holding.

“I’ve just got to take one of these a day and get some rest for the next two weeks,” replied Princess Bubblegum. She didn’t want to mention her elevated heart rate in case Marceline started worrying.

“Alright, I heard that,” smiled Marceline, “You go chill in the living room then. I’ll take care of things.”

“Are you sure?” asked Princess Bubblegum, “I mean, there’s a lot on today. Maybe I could do just half.”

“No, no, no, Bonnie, you heard the doc, you aren’t to do any work for the next two weeks,” replied Marceline, shaking her head. She led the Princess into the living room and encouraged her to sit in the recliner. She kissed her on the cheek.

“I promise,” she soothed, “I can handle this.”

“Just...let me know if you need any help with anything,” replied Princess Bubblegum.

“I’ll be fine,” Marceline assured her, “You rest. Vampire Queen’s orders.” Princess Bubblegum smiled and nodded. She leaned back in the recliner and watched as Marceline lit the fire in the fireplace.

“Hey, I’m not an invalid, you know,” she protested as Marceline put a rug over her knees, “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“I’m just being a good wife,” teased Marceline as she left the room. She made her way down to the main hall where Peppermint Butler was standing up on a ladder, changing some of the candles in the chandelier.

“Hey Peps,” she called up to him, “Where does Bonnie keep the weekly schedule?”

“Up in her lab, I think,” replied Peppermint Butler, “Is something the matter, your Majesty?”

“Bonnie had to go to the doctor’s today,” began Marceline, “She-.”

“Her Majesty is ill?” interjected Peppermint Butler, “I’ll go get the-.”

“Peppermint, calm down,” replied Marceline, “She’s just got stomach cramps. The doctor told her to rest so I’m taking over her duties for the next two weeks.”

“Are you sure you can handle things?” asked Peppermint Butler.

“Yeah, yeah, of course Peppermint, it’ll be a piece of cake,” replied Marceline. Before Peppermint Butler could say anything more she flew off in the direction of the lab. “Glob, why does everyone think I can’t handle things?” Marceline muttered to herself as she reached the lab. She opened the door and made her way over to the drawers where Princess Bubblegum kept all her notes. She began rifling through the drawers. Gradually a pile of papers she wasn’t looking for began to pile up on the floor at her feet.

“Glib globbit, where is that schedule?” she muttered, “Aha, there you are.” She pulled out a scroll fastened with a pink ribbon. Pink, how surprising.

“Let’s see what Bonnie has scheduled,” murmured Marceline, unrolling the schedule, “Okay, so the next thing she has is a meeting in the conference hall at 4. That sounds easy enough.” She looked at the clock on the wall.

“Oh glob, it’s five past four already. I’m late,” she cried. She shot out of the room and down the stairs towards the conference room. She burst through the door, earning a lot of startled looks from the candy people assembled.

“Okay,” she gasped, “I’m here. I’m standing in for the Princess while she’s having some time off.” A lot of worried muttering started at this. “Hold on everyone,” continued Marceline, “It’s nothing serious. She just needs a rest. I’m perfectly capable of taking over in the meantime,” she pulled out a sheet of paper, “Okay, so the meeting is on...Recent troll attacks and....I’m the speaker.” Her voice trailed off at these last words. She gulped nervously. Public speaking really wasn’t her thing. She floated slowly up to the lectern and turned to face the assembly.

“Okay, so, recently there have been a lot of troll attacks on the kingdom. Umm...well, in order to decrease the level of risk...I suggest we....,” began Marceline. She hesitated, feeling the eyes of the crowd upon her, “We should appoint more banana guards to, well, patrol the walls armed with bows and arrows...to take out enemies from a distance.” There was a rumble of agreement at this.

“And what about those who get past the archers?” asked a gumdrop.

“We’ll....,” replied Marceline. She looked around the room for inspiration. She caught sight of Finn and Jake sitting in the front row. They were pointing to themselves and smiling. Marceline smiled as she figured out what they meant. “We’ll appoint Finn and Jake to take on any that get through our defences.” The gathering nodded at this. Finn and Jake were widely respected, particularly after their recent exploits alongside Lady, Flame Princess and the two monarchs.

At last the meeting came to an end and they filed out of the conference hall. Marceline sank back against the wall with a grateful sigh. That was tougher than she had expected. She took out the scroll and read the next entry.

“Okay, I’m on call to settle disputes and solve problems until dinner,” she read aloud, “This should be fun. Where does all this take place anyway? The throne room, ok Marceline, let’s do this.” She made her way down to the throne room where she hovered above the gilded chair. The first to arrive was cinnamon bun. “Uhh, where’s Princess Bubblegum?” he asked.

“She’s taking some time off,” replied Marceline, “I’m standing in for her. So, what seems to be the problem?”

“Well, it’s a maths problem,” explained Cinnamon Bun. Marceline cringed inwardly. Maths was not her strong point. “Go ahead,” she said bravely, praying to Glob it would be an easy one. When she saw the paper with the problem on it she nearly laughed out loud. Clearly maths wasn’t Cinnamon Bun’s strong point either.

“Okay, do you think you get it now?” she asked after explaining the maths problem.

“Yes, thank you, Marceline,” replied Cinnamon Bun before leaving the room.

In the time that followed Marceline helped sort three quarrels, two accounts of theft and advise on how to keep sky elves out of the dovecots. It was with a grateful sigh that she sat down at the dinner table with the Princess.

“How are things going?” asked Princess Bubblegum. Marceline didn’t let her expression show how tired she felt as she answered.

“It’s going great, Bonnie,” she replied, “No problems.” She smiled reassuringly at the Princess who gave her a funny look as though she knew exactly what was going on. After a few moments the Princess went back to her spaghetti.

After dinner they made their way into the living room where Marceline sprawled out on the sofa. Princess Bubblegum lay down next to her, resting her head against Marceline’s chest. The Vampire Queen wound her arms around the Bubblegum princess, breathing a contented sigh as she finally allowed herself to relax. Before long she fell asleep with her face buried in her pink hair. Princess Bubblegum looked over at the exhausted vampire. She planted a kiss on her grey lips.

“Not as easy as you thought, was it?” she murmured. Marceline smiled in her sleep as Princess Bubblegum ran her fingers through the Vampire Queen’s midnight hair. “Sleep tight, Mar-Mar,” she whispered. She nestled closer to the Vampire Queen as she stifled a yawn.