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Perched on his work chair, Barnaby Gumball sat stiffly. His eyes wearily stared at the teacup before him that had just turned around on its own. Of course, Gumball knew that that was beyond impossible, an inanimate object could not possibly move unless it was animated or touched. Regardless of knowing this, the royal taffy was certain he saw the cup turn.

"I need sleep." Raking a hand through his jostled hair, Gumball continued to stare at the cup as he leaned back, desperately needing a break and some sleep. He'd been working on a new form of candy brick to help build better houses that could last the harsh cold winters without hardening but it wasn't easy. It had been weeks since he'd been working with one-hour naps and 5 cups of daily coffee. Of course, his troubles weren't for nought, he was making progress every day and at this point, he could get a two-hour nap in peace. If he took it. Though, he could get a good nights rest as well if he wanted to. It wasn't like the current houses would kill his kingdom, they were surviving and that's all that mattered but to Gumball, everything had to be the best it could be.

When Gumball was certain that the teacup was not in fact moving, He ripped his gaze off the porcelain container before rubbing his eyes and letting out a hearty yawn.

S c r e e c h

Porcelain rubbing against porcelain emitted a loud and rather irritating noise, irking Gumball's yawn to a halt. Surely Gumball wasn't imagining the noise? Violet eyes once again befell upon the cup, noticing the once horizontal handle had been turned to now face him. Either that cup was moving or Gumball was going insane. Quickly standing up, Gumball picked the cup up off its pitcher and started thoroughly examining the petite container. It still had some coffee in it but was too cold for Gumball to drink. There were no wheels on the cup and no way the wind could push such a heavy object without pushing around his papers first. Surely Gumball was hallucinating then?

Before Gumball's fatigued mind could even comprehend any other reason, the door to his room swung open and revealed the well known blonde adventuress and her sister. Gumball barely saved the cup in his hand from falling on to the ground, the sudden noise jolting him out of his thoughts and startling him greatly. Though sadly, a few drops of coffee did end up landing all over his clothes but Gumball could care less at this point, he had a more urgent scolding to give.

"Hey, Peej!" Fionna exclaimed, walking over to the Prince who was now rubbing his temples in slight annoyance with the cup back in its place which, in turn, made Fionna's sudden excitement simmer down to caution. "Is... Is everything ok P.G.?" Fionna rested a hand on Gumball's shoulder for comfort mostly but was weary it would upset him even more.

Gumball took a deep breath in through his nose. "How many times have I told you to knock before you enter?"

"Hehe, oops?" Fionna shrugged a little, forgetting the simple requests every time she came over. Gumball only sighed in response. "But, um... Hey, Peej?" Gumball hummed a yes, allowing Fionna to continue. "Is everything really ok...? I mean... You look more dead-er then Marshall?"

"Yea, yea! I just-..." Gumball trailed off, his eyes timidly glimpsing at the cup he'd placed down only to find out that there was no cup or pitcher on his desk at all. "I just really need sleep..."

Fionna tried looking at what Gumball was finding on his desk but only saw scattered notes with a lot of science junk she could not grasp. "Then you should get some sleep. Your brain won't work right if it's too tired and wants to sleep y'know?"

Gumball couldn't deny that. It was certainly something to consider and after so many hours of hard work, he deserved a break. "I'll think about it..." Turning completely towards Fionna, he continued. "Did you bring the cursed sugar sap like I had asked?" Fionna nodded, quickly kneeling down and placing her bag on the ground before searching through her two-toned bag for the requested item.

"Aha!" Once found, she stood back up with a triumphant grin. "Here it is Gumball! Just be careful though, it is cursed after all!" The sugar sap was in small and wile bottle, decorated with even smaller intricate designs. "You sure this would be enough for your entire kingdom?" By the looks of it, the bottle barely held two tablespoons of the sap and if Gumball planned to make houses out of this stuff, he would quite obviously need a lot more.

"Of course!" Gumball happily took the bottle from Fionna. "I just need to add two drops two a specifically large, portioned out, batter and it will work wonders! Thank you once again, Fionna! You may leave now." Fionna wasn't finished yet though, she still wanted to ask why the princes crown had just all of a sudden decided to float off his head and stay a few inches above instead but seeing as though she was dismissed, she decided to toss this on the list of 'probably a normal PG thing' and leave the room.

Upon hearing the door close to his room, Gumball nestled back into his chair all whilst throwing the idea of sleeping and giving himself a break, out the window. Of course, his tired body was not ok with this but the sudden rush of excitement had reworked his brain and was ready to go back to making his building blocks.

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An hour or so passed of Gumball finalizing his formula and once he was sure all he needed to do was create the concoction, he leaned back in his chair. He had one of two options, he could either go to sleep and create the bricks tomorrow or he could do that right now and start his next project as soon as possible. "Hm..." he pushed his lips to the side and examined the clutter of notes currently on his desk, Fionna's voice telling him to go to sleep still ringing in his ear. "Maybe I should sl-..." A taffy hand racked through the tuft of pink hair on his head only to notice his royal crown was not in its designated spot. "My crown!?" Frantically looking about, he got off of his chair and started searching under the mess he'd created only for nought. With a defeated sigh, he decided to scan the room to see if maybe he'd placed it somewhere else (though that would be unlike him).

His eyes caught on to the glimmering gold nestled atop his bed almost instantly. The crown was sitting in the centre of the said location which was quite intriguing to the prince since he would never, in his right mind, place it in such an inappropriate place but again, he wasn't in his right mind. Seeing there be no point in picking the crown up since he was going to take it off to sleep again anyway, he decided to change his clothes.

With copious amounts of fatigue still racing through his muscles, he decided to cut corners and just change in his room instead of the bathroom, deal with his clothes once he woke up and felt better. Fighting with himself to not be lazy for a brief moment, he sighed and let one of the deadly sins purge in without feeling too guilty. "Oh well." With a shrug to no one in particular, he let the lab coat slide down his shoulders before neatly being draped on his chairs' backrest. Having a better view of the white fabric now, he noticed the earlier coffee stains were truly there and it wasn't something he was hallucinating but then where was the cup? Looking back at his desk, he saw the cup back where it was supposed to be and in the way, he'd last touched it. Bewildered once again, he deemed himself on the brink of insanity and decided to work faster.

Grabbing the pink turtleneck from the bottom, arms crisscrossing one another for better movement, he slid his turtleneck off with ease and with one swift movement. Now, Gumball wasn't sure if he was also hearing things now but he could've sworn he heard a sharp breath being taken in by someone but there wasn't anyone there but him. Again, "Brink of insanity..." Moving on.

Flipping the turtleneck outside-in again, he placed it on top of the lab coat before making his way to his dresser and opening one of the many drawers presented before him. Bending down, he reached for his second last dresser to take a shirt out, only to feel a sharp sting on his ass. Letting out a loud yelp, Gumball shot up straight, rubbing the now aching butt cheek. This time though, Gumball was sure this wasn't his mind playing tricks since not even a few seconds after, loud cackling bounced off the walls and around the room, pissing Gumball off by the second. "MARSHALL LEE!!!" Gumball quickly pulled out whatever shirt he could find but did not wear it just yet, trying to find where the vampire was before he did anything else.

Marshall's laughter slowly subsided, simmering down to a few chuckles as he made himself visible again. A big smirk etched on his lips as he tried his best not to burst out laughing again. "Oh, Glob... You should've seen your face!"

Gumball's face heated up a bright red, his mind wracking up paragraphs upon paragraphs to scream out but none of them fit how angry he truly was.

Even though he was mad, he was far more tired then that. Seeing that there would be no actual point in scolding the vampire (only waste the small amount of energy he has) he took a deep breath, holding it for a second before releasing it. "Marshall..." Gumball once again debated if he should even give him any attention and even though he knew better then to do so, he still did it. "I am... I am beyond tired and I really do not have the time for this... Nor do I have the energy so just... Please. Stop." Taking another deep breath, he looked at Marshall and gave one last stern glare before starting to put his shirt on.

"No! Wait!" Marshall interrupted, stopping the taffy Prince in his tracks. "Don't put your shirt on, I can't take you seriously when you're shirtless-"

Gumball scoffed, offended by Lee's words. "What- Why?!"

"You've got very pink nipples..." Marshall snorted, trying to hold back his laughter.

"Oh, honestly!!" Gumball scoffed in disbelief, instantly tossing on the shirt and covering up his body. Marshall couldn't stop laughing afterwards, hollering and wheezing as he floated around the room, trying to calm down but nothing was working. Gumball, clearly annoyed by the lack of care from the vampire (he expected it honestly) decided not to care either and simply go to sleep while he was still sane.

Moving to his bed, he picked up his royal crown and placed it on his bedside table before laying under his covers. Marshall's laughter had long been subdued and instead was replaced with defending silence. Quite particularly odd and to gumball's dismay, unsettling. Deciding to see where his vampire friend had gone off to (or why he'd decided to actually quiet down; care for Gumball's sleep was not possible so there must've been another reason). Pink lids lifted up only to be shocked to see Lee's face inches away from his. Gumball attempted to scream, mostly out of shock but Marshall's hand was quick to cover the candy lips. "Shhhh! Why are you screaming...?!" The vampire whisper-shouted, not realizing that being super close to someone's face while they sleep is not only creepy but also scary as fuck.

Marshall, realizing that Gumball couldn't actually speak due to his hand, removed it and allowed Gumball access to his voice. "What do you th-...!" Before Gumball could actually speak though, Lee interrupted again.

"You kept my shirt? The rock one- the one that I gave you years ago...?" Gumball looked at Marshall confused, not sure what he meant by it but instinctively looked down at his shirt, only for him to realize what the vampire was talking about.

"Oh, yea... I wouldn't through it out, I mean- I wear it as pyjamas..." Gumball timidly replied, moving one of his hands to scratch the back of his neck. Marshall had given him a black graphic T-shirt with a picture of some rock band Gumball was not aware of but appreciated the vampires kind gesture and therefore had kept it. "It's a really nice shirt and I thought it was very kind of you to do something sweet for me...?"

"I think..." Marshall started, a very unreadable expression on his face. "You need sleep and that you've officially lost your mind..."

Gumball looked at Marshall in disbelief before scoffing and pushing the other away. "Oh honestly! I can't even think you're nice without you ruining it!"

Marshall didn't catch all of the sentence but one part really stuck out to him; "you think I'm nice...?"

Gumball chocked on his words. Of course, he thought Marshall was nice. Sure he was a major ass hole all the time but he was caring all the same. "Well..." Marshall moved away and Gumball took this chance to sit up. "Well, yea. I mean, you're a jerk a lot of the times but when it's important, you're just as nice as need be..."

"Oh..." Marshall awkwardly scratched the back of his head, not expecting that answer at all. "Do you... Maybe also think I'm fun...? Like, if I asked you to hang out with me tomorrow- or any other day... Would you be willing to...?"

Gumball hesitated to answer. He would definitely love hanging out with his good friend- no. Acquaintance? Worse. Someone close-but-not-so-close fit best for now. "I-..." But his work was again in his way. Though, he could simply lie for now. For himself if not for the vampire. "I would love to." A soft smile edged at his lips but he couldn't move his face at this point, he really was seconds away from sleeping and if Marshall asked one more question, he knew he'd end up snapping and being super cranky.

Whether Marshall realized this or not, he decided it was now too cruel to keep the taffy awake. "I'll see you tomorrow then!" Gumball just sighed before laying down, not bothering to respond to his ridiculous request. Marshall would've left if it were someone else reacting like this; why should he put so much effort to convince someone but oddly, he always put a little more then necessary effort on the taffy. "I'll um... I'll text you when I'll be coming, ok...?" He asked with obvious nervousness that he couldn't help but feel.

Gumball almost already asleep, hummed a yes. "Good night, Lee... Please don't make me regret... This..." Gumball half mumbled, expecting Marshall to fly off and leave him alone finally but to his dismay, it never happened.

"Um... It's 5:45 am right now, Barnaby..." Gumball crinkled up his nose at both the reminder of his first name and the actual time. He didn't care if he'd said 'good night' instead of 'day'. He was sleeping right now so it meant it was night for him. End of story. Though that's not what Marshall had meant when he stated the time and to make his point for her clear, he restated his earlier saying; "The sun's out... I can't- I can't really go home." He came here to just invite Gumball to hang out but fucking around with Gumball for the past 8 hours as an invisible vampire was far more fun. Well, technically he could also steal another one of the Prince's fancy sun umbrellas but annoying the groggy candy was starting to be more fun.

"Marshall-..." Gumball really didn't want to deal with this. So with a loud groan, he scooted to one side and patted the other with his hand, quickly thinking of this as the only solution to the problem with his current state of mind.

Both surprised and flustered at the offer of sleeping next to someone like Gumball, he let out a soft and uncomfortable laugh. As usual, though, he eased the edge off with a snarky remark. "Wow, asking me to sleep with you already? Didn't take you for the fast type in a relationship." He shot a wink for good measures but of course, Gumball didn't see. Instead, the taffy just shut his eyes tighter and huffed in defiance. Whatever else the vampire did was of his own accord, Gumball had offered more than enough.

Seeing that Gumball wasn't gonna give more of a reaction, he softly sighed to himself and kicked off his shoes. "Move your hand, Bubble-Butt." Ignoring the name, Gumball obliged however and moved his hand to give the vampire his space. Marshall hovered over to the large bed and tossed off his shirt, leaving his white tank-top on so it wasn't completely awkward laying next to another guy half naked (the way he usually slept). A guy that wasn't very fond of him. Regardless of not wanting it to be so, subtle awkwardness still lingered in the air.

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Gumball had long but fallen asleep, his breath steadily beating against the silence of the room. Soft noises could be heard of bustling candy citizens about in their busy day and it would be quite peaceful if it weren't for the fact the vampire was far too busy noticing small features on the Prince. How his breathing was so calming; how his lips parted just slightly to show how sharp his Cupids' bow was or even how even though the taffy strands were jostled, they still looked absolutely perfect-

"Fuck." Marshall smacked his forehead, creating a loud enough sound to stir the Prince but not wake him up. "Not today gay thoughts...." Marshall told himself, ripping his eyes off the other male trying to calm himself but it was too late. His mind had already started planting ideas that the two could have a romantic fantasy together but he was more than certain the other had stopped caring about a relationship long ago.

Liking a guy was not surprising to the vampire, after living for so long, he had learned to accept any form of attraction he could find, guys included. But this was different. It didn't matter if gumball was a guy or not because it would just never work, they were far too opposite and it was a waste of time on either end. "This'll go away in a day" or so he thought.

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It was now around 8 am, far too late for the Prince to be asleep but Butterscotch had allowed the royal to slack off if only to get the small amount of rest he barely gets. She knew he was asleep since Fionna had told her, so she wasn't surprised to see the Prince in his bed, though she was beyond shocked when she saw the vampire also sleeping next to him. "What in the-!" Speaking mostly to herself. She took a moment to check in with reality and once she was sure this wasn't another paranormal high, she scampered over to the taffy royal and slapped him awake.

To no one's surprise, Gumball jolted awake, eyes snapping from one end of the room to another as he sat up, his brain taking some time to register what had happened. Though, when his mind was stable enough, he realized that a very angry looking Butterscotch butler was glaring daggers at him and...?

Following her eyes, he saw that Marshall Lee was laying next to him. Barnaby was just as shocked as his butler but not for long. All the missing pieces in his brain were fitting slowly back together and everything made a little more sense now. "Don't worry about it." Was all he said to reassure his trusty butler, even adding a pat on her head for an added comfort bonus.

Butterscotch's eye twitched in annoyance, wanting a much clearer answer than this but it didn't matter now. The Prince was awake and that's all she was here for. The Prince's affairs were not her business to intervene in yet but soon. Very soon. "It's 8, sire. Yer duties await." She bowed slightly and Gumball only smiled, nodding.

"Thank you for waking me. I'll be down for breakfast shortly and I'll have whatever is most convenient. As for him," Gumball turned to look at the vampire, his smile dropping almost instantly. "I'll let him sleep." The Prince was still beyond tired but the two or so hours of sleep he'd gotten had helped quite a lot. He turned back to look at Butterscotch again and saw that she was quite concerned by his decision but did not push for any answers, gladly. Instead, she bowed once again with a nod and made her way out.

A hearty yawn escaped parted taffy lips as he tried to brush away as much of his fatigue as he could before he would use the bathroom, glancing at Lee one last time. He had originally planned to just make sure the vampire was asleep but his eyes couldn't help but notice the others steady breathing, how his chest rose and fell even though it wasn't required, it kept him in touch with his human side. How Marshall's jaw was a lot sharper then his own but also every other feature was so soft-

"Fuck-!" Gumball ripped his gaze off the vampire and awkwardly raked his fingers through his hair. What was he thinking?! Adoration is not something he felt for the vampire, at least not in this way. It wasn't the fact that he was a guy that shocked him (he never was into females) it was at the suddenness of the feeling. Though to be honest, the vampire and the candy never really got this close physically enough to notice these things. How messy the other's hair was or even how no matter how ruffled up it was, Gumball's fingers always yearned to go through them-

Again with the weird thoughts. Though, this time it was something he was willing to do. Moving his hand, he inched closer to the raven strings, swallowing harshly before gently brushing a tuft of hair behind the vampire ear, thankfully without waking him. Suddenly feeling flustered, Gumball rushed to his feet, then to the bathroom to quickly freshen up and change into his royal attire to start his day. That, and to hide the fact that a blush had ended up creeping to his cheeks. A blush that really should not exist.

Marshall was left alone in the room as Gumball got ready in the bathroom, unaware that the vampire wasn't actually asleep and the smile that crept on this cheek suggested he knew all too well of what Gumball had felt not too long ago.

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