A Different Kind of Night {Megs}

[Marceline Abadeer]

Lying in the damp grass staring at the clear night sky, Marceline
could already feel the water soaking through the ass of her jeans. It felt good, that nice, cool feeling. Marceline was pretty sure it was actually morning dew or something; she didn't go in for all that science-y stuff. That was Bonnibel's thing. Marceline's thing was music, which she usually coaxed from various guitars. well, she guessed it was guitar now: the only one she had lay in the glass next to her. It had been an axe at some point in its history, but she'd managed to turn it into a guitar some time ago. Boy, had that been a fun conversation with her dad.

Marceline reached for it now, pulling it close. Even her guitar felt different. Marceline was betting it had to do with not being a vampire anymore. Or a demon. Or whatever. The suits had said she was human now; that was enough for her. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and just enjoying the situation. Her fingers moved to the strings, drawing across them nearly by reflex. The guitar's humming soon coursed through the air. Marceline might have lost a good deal of her power, but there seemed to be some left in the awesome guitar; it certainly worked better than it should.

As Marceline played, she felt something hovering nearby. It must have gotten tired, because she soon felt it nestling on her shoulders. Then another. And another. Finally Marceline peeked open her eyes, only to find that several fireflies had hovered about her. They clung to nearly every part of her, outlining her body in glowing, winking lights. "Gnarly," the girl said, shifting. The fireflies buzzed for a bit, then seemed to hover around. Marceline lowered her hand, letting her fingers strum the guitar. The tune hit the air, and the fireflies seemed to dance. Inspired, Marceline strummed, letting the fireflies dance about her. It was through their light, however, that she thought she could see a shape approaching...

"Hey," she called, raising her chin slightly. "What's up?"

[Deleted]

He walked alone, no particular destination in mind. Just a lone figure clad in a long trench coat moving silently across the field. Now and then his coat would brush over a lengthy patch of greenery with a light swish. He liked this particular garment, its flowing fabric reminiscent of the capes he often wore in the past. A breeze struck the back of his neck sending a chill up his spine. He reached up lifting the coats collar to cover his neck, that’s better.

He was out walking because he was to nervous to sleep. Had tried tinkering around with a couple small projects but concentrating had proven futile as well. The cause? Shool. Yes soon he was to begin his job teaching. Ridiculous isn’t it? He was a grown man! Almost thirty for crying out loud and he was nervous about going to shool! Of course this whole situation was quite preposterous. He should be reacting as Miss Sparkle. Diligently searching for answers and a way out. But he felt an odd contentment to just go with the flow of the place. Whether this was being driven by his own devices or some exterior force was yet to be known. Perhaps a combination of the two?

A sound emerged from the silence. Some sort of string instrument. Curiosity pulled him along, the sound growing louder. He stopped when the source came into view. Someone sitting on the grass. If not for the lightness of her skin and the glow of fireflies she might have completely blended in with the night shadows. He turned about to walk away but paused and looked back. It is in the nature of most things to seek the companionship of others right? Why should he be any different? So rather than just walk away he shall join this musical gathering if only long enough to say hello. He moved in closer until she became aware of his presence with a Hey and What’s Up. “Ollo.” Bernard Megs greeted in his own strange way. “You’re very good at playing that.”

[Marceline Abadeer]

"I know," replied Marceline. She flashed a slightly toothy smile at the man, one that demonstrated the still slightly elongated canines in her mouth. She wiggled a bit, getting into a slightly more upright position. From there, she could scan the guy, giving him the once over. The light wasn't the best, but if it was one thing that Marceline could do, even without all her usual powers, it was see someone in the dark. Lanky, glasses, disheveled hair, totally a professor look. Actually... he kind of looked like Simon. Marceline even squinted a bit. No way would Simon use the word Ollo though.

"You look like a dude I used to know once," she said, nodding. "He was cool." She let her fingers cross over the strings again, watching as the fireflies danced around her. She stared at them for a few moments before looking back up at Megs. "He doesn't say 'ollo' though. That's kind of weird," the fingers plucked a few more notes, before she smiled and nodded. "I like weird." A few more notes. Then she smiled up at him. "Not a fan of nerds though."

Just the one, the one who he kind of looked like, actually...

[Deleted]

Why did she think it was weird for him to say Ollo? Oh wait. The correct word is hello isn’t it. Oh well, maybe one of these days he would get it right. There was something slightly off with the girls smile but she seemed to have a pretty good vibe going. He had met one girl who was really a purple unicorn. What kind of being was lurking under this persons new form?

“Nerd?” Megs said quietly to himself taking a quick glance at his current clothing. Had been going for normal not nerdy. However she smiled when she made the comment so maybe it was more in jest and not intended as insult. Someone used the term nerd with him once, used to exchange banter with him. Could not remember who but did know he had liked them, liked them very much. Perhaps some witty banter was just what he needed to put his nervous mind to rest.

A playful twinkle came to his eyes a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Do not let the looks fool you.” He turned, trench coat swinging out with a flourish before he dropped down to sit beside her. “I, Bernard Megs, am quite the bad boy.”

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline chuckled a little at his protest over nerd, before raising her brows. She swung her eyes over him, taking in the scraggly frame, the wild hair, and the totally not cool clothing. Oh yeah, this guy was a total nerd. Dweebo. The playful twinkle did alleviate some of the nerdy, not to mention igniting a similar spark in Marceline's own eyes.

"You're a bad boy?' repeated Marceline. She chuckled a bit, before plucking a few more notes on her guitar. "Yeah, sure. I can totally picture you in leather, dancing down the street as, like, your minions tear the town apart," she chuckled again, stopping her hands for a moment. Marceline stared at the fireflies for a moment, letting them weave the image her words had provided. Not literally; she didn't have any powers and liked it that way. Figuratively though, the blinking lights outlined a leather clad scrawny man bee-bopping his way down a street. It was enough to make Marceline chuckle.

"So," she said, looking back down at her guitar and picking a few more notes, "did you have henchmen and stuff? Because everyone knows real bad dudes have henchmen."

Marceline looked up at him, eyebrows raised in expectation yet again.

[Deleted]

Megs smiled at her description of him dancing down the street. She had hit the nail on the head pretty well. He leaned back using his hands to prop himself up, legs stretched out in front. It did not take long for a firefly to land on his shoe. It rested there flashing its light while his new companion strung out a few more notes. He gave his foot a shake but it refused to budge. A harder shake and the creature took flight rejoining its brethren. They were like little flying stars, he mused.

“Oh yes I had henchmen, evil robots, leather, spikes.” He was certain some kind of fish was involved as well but that was a bit fuzzy. “Was even Evil Overlord for awhile. But that job turned out to be such a bore.” He gave his eyes a roll for dramatic effect. There was truth to the admission. He had indeed been bad, super villain bad, but ended up turning to more heroic endeavors.

“Now you tell me.” Megs turned his green eyes to Marceline taking in her rocker chick look with a quirked eyebrow. “Are you a goody two shoes in disguise? Or an evil siren using your song to lure men to their utter demise?”

[Marceline Abadeer]

"Totally," agreed Marceline, nodding. "People don't usually get that. Being an Evil Overlord is just so much work. You should tell my dad that sometime."

Marceline chuckled at the thought of her dad and this nerdy dude sitting down and having a conversation about Evil Overlording. Actually, that idea wasn't too far off: Hunsen Abadeer was the type to sit down and have a cup of coffee with someone, especially if they were evil. Marceline wasn't getting the evil vibe from this guy, and she was usually pretty good about that, but he was definitely keeping at it. Marceline kept strumming her guitar, only looking up when she felt eyes upon her. She met Megs' gaze, somehow still managing to keep strumming, her fingers easily following practiced movements.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, smirking. "I'm totally a siren babe. I lure dudes in and then suck their blood to keep my eternal youth and awesometude. It's a rough gig, but somebody's gotta do it."

She plucked a few notes before strumming a bit harsher of a code. The fireflies seemed to jerk for a moment, as though the music surprised them, before generally falling into suit. They really seemed to like the nerdy guy too, judging by the way they hovered near him. Of course, Marceline had her share too, and they were kind of cute, though not nearly as cute as the creatures of Ooo.

[Deleted]

Megs kept his steady gaze waiting for an answer. She replied with a gaze just as steady, never shying away or faltering from her strumming. Seemed she was not one to easily back down. He liked that. A nod of confirmation was given to her answer. “Just as I suspected. Of course I will not fall for such trickery. You will have to wait for another victim to replenish your awsometude.”

He looked to the fireflies watching how their flying pattern changed to match Marceline’s new rhythm. “Perhaps I can keep you company until then.” He laid back onto the grass, hands moving behind his head feeling the sensation of his fingers running through hair. That was something he was still getting used to. Having actual hair. Not just some holographic image that could be turned off by the twist of a watch. But actual real hair. He felt the grass as well. It was a bit damp but he didn’t mind.

His gaze drifted from the dancing earth bound stars to the actual stars above. A question made its way to the forefront of his mind and he decided to go ahead and ask. Couldn’t hurt right? “So. Is this world a lot different from yours. Assuming this is not your original world, or dimension.” He gave a small shrug. “Whichever term you prefer.”

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline nodded. "Yeah, you do look like a smart cookie," she drawled. The edges of her lips tugged a bit too, as though she wanted to point out how very closely that matched her earlier label. Nerd, smart cookie, all the same thing. Fun to poke around and see what came up, see if there were any sore spots. "I usually don't go after evil overlords anyway. Too spicy."

She chuckled and kept on playing. The rough rhythm transitioned into something softer, more laid back, definitely melodic. The fireflies seemed almost flustered by this, as though they were just getting into the other tune. Still, they shifted easily enough. Marceline couldn't help but wonder if there was something to them. Wasn't like she had any of her powers or anything, and she didn't usually use her guitar anyway.

Thoughts of dancing fireflies proved so distracting that Marceline nearly missed Megs' question/assertion. She did catch it, the words slicing through the music and the quiet of the night. Her eyes again wandered up to him, though they took their time. Eventually she was giving him that slightly lidded look. "It's pretty different," admitted Marceline. "Less weird stuff. Less cool stuff too, but eh, you take what you get," she shrugged. She stopped playing for a few moments, staring out into the night. Definitely different from Ooo, almost too different to try and explain to someone who didn't understand.

"I kinda like it here though. Easier. More laidback," she said. Marceline nodded. Then she grinned, looking back up at Megs. "'sides, my totally lame dad's not here. Oh, and I'm not a vampire. Sunlight's cool, y'know?" she spread her smile enough to display the still prominent canines, then plucked a few more notes on her instrument. "What about you? Place reminding you of home? Or are you thinking of looking for the first interdimensional portal outta here?"

[Deleted]

So this new acquaintance was a vampire. Interesting though not surprising since the last young lady claimed to be a purple unicorn. Something that still tickled his funny bone. Could understand Marceline's statement about sunlight. Most lore depicted vampires bursting into flames when exposed to the suns rays. “Yes I’m sure sunlight is less troublesome for you now.” A firefly floated overhead threatening to land on his nose. He lifted a hand to gently shoo the creature away. They could be somewhat troublesome couldn’t they. That was alright, they meant no harm.

When she asked about him he paused looking at his hand that was currently not blue. “Well. This place is not much different from my world.” He laid his hand back onto the grass green eyes wandering back up to the stars with a wistful look. “The only thing that’s really different is me. Well..there is one other guy but he looked like a normal human and everyone loved him from the start. Me...not so much.”

He really did not like thinking back to that time. Did he want to go back? Sure the people there eventually accepted him as a hero but no matter how many good deeds he did he would always be an alien among them. The only one of his kind. Unless there was a good reason to go back? A couple images flashed through his mind, just quick glimpses that slipped away before he could fully grasp them. A woman and that fish again. What is it about that fish?

Megs realized he had fallen silent for some time, cleared his throat and sat back up again. “So to answer your last question. I’m not sure yet. I might just hang around for awhile see what its like to be human like everyone else.”

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline nodded, half lost in a haze of fireflies and cool tunes. She still listened to Megs' words, though she seemed to be paying more attention to the mesmerizing dance of the bugs around her. The strumming was as routine and relaxing as ever, downright chill, in fact. It worked somewhat well as soundtrack to their reminiscing, almost as if encouraging them to call to the surface all that stuff.

As for the specifics, that definitely bummed. Marceline could definitely see parallels between Megs' story and her own world. Weird people who were among others who didn't understand them? That defined nearly the entire population of Ooo. Though it sounded more like Megs came from one of those worlds that was a lot closer to the world they were currently in. The feeling though, that sort of bluesy sadness that still held out some grain of hope, that Marceline could understand. She felt that herself, though she usually buried it deep.

She waited for him to finish, even letting that silence hang for a bit. There was that awkward cough, which made the edge of Marceline's lips curl up in a half smile. "Yeah, I can dig that," she agreed, nodding. She patted her guitar. "I got the most important thing. Well, thing thing. I miss some of the people from back home," she shrugged, adjusting her feet to stretch out a leg, working it back and forth for a bit, as if she couldn't quite sit still but couldn't be bothered to get fully to her feet. "People suck," she said, then nodded. The next words came out in a sort of half-singing, "They really suck~ They never know what they're missing~ when it's in front of them~ Like the wrong people~ Hate the wrong people~ People, they suck."

She strummed her guitar, then tapped it, staring at the fireflies. "Needs some work."

[Deleted]

He saw Marceline’s lips curl up in a small smile and his followed suit. She seemed so accepting of his presence which was kind of nice, just being able to sit and chat. “Don’t have much of a souvenir myself. Unless you count my watch.” He lifted his arm pulling back the coat sleeve to reveal the time piece around his wrist. “It was able to project holographic disguises but that technology disappeared during the shift and I have yet to recreate it.” In fact there were several high tech gizmos buzzing around his smaller non-blue noggin but it seemed the key element to their completion was just out of his reach. “Can’t seem to recall anyone I should be missing.” His eyes fell to the ground as he quietly spoke that statement to himself.

When she started her short song he looked back up his smiling growing. Yes. People could most definitely suck.There was much truth to those few short statements. He chuckled when she finished, the laugh drifting across the almost empty field. “I like it. You could give MusicMan a run for his money.” He thought for a moment and a rather enticing idea came to mind excitement lighting his green eyes. “Crazy thought but how about we hit the town? There’s a place called The Basement I have been meaning to investigate. Drinks on me. We can toast to your awsometude and to peoples suckage.” Another chuckle escaped and he looked at Marceline with a look of excited eagerness awaiting either acceptance or rejection of the idea.

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline's gaze fell on the watch for a while, taking in the details not only of the device itself but its owner's description. She hadn't heard about technology fritzing on the Shift over, but then again, it wasn't like she went around chatting up nerds all that often. Still, you had to take everything in stride, and she still couldn't help but think that the whole Shifting thing still fell quite firmly into the "Good Thing" category.

"That sucks," was all she could provide in response to the memory thing. She guessed that was another of the bad side effects of the whole Shifting thing. Seemed like there were more of those for this guy than there were good. Marceline got somewhat lucky, really. She'd lost most of her abilities, sure, but she'd lost a lot of the drawbacks that came with them as well. It felt good to have a heart that pumped normal red blood, and she definitely dug being outdoors at all hours of the day. For Megs, well, it seemed like Marceline's song could easily have been "Shifting Sucks" and proven just as true for the guy.

The song seemed to work though, and Marceline nodded, gracefully accepting the compliment. She was good; she knew she was good; didn't seem to be any reason to pretend otherwise. As the eyes seemed to shimmer, however, she paid attention, even cocking her head as he laid out his plan. As he finished, Marceline smirked. "You asking me on a date? You're still not my type," she tapped her fingers for a bit, before chuckling. She used her guitar, sturdy instrument that it was, to lever herself to her feet. "I'm game for drinks though. Don't think I've been to the Basement yet either. Sounds cool."

She settled the axe into place, before nodding for Megs to take the lead.

[Deleted]

“A date?” Her question caught him a little by surprise. A date! Was she serious?! Did he just ask her out on a date? That certainly was not his intention. Sure he was asking for her company during said venture into town but not in the romantic date sense. When she chuckled at the notion he let out an inward sigh of relief. Good it seemed she had only been joking about the date part. “Yes I heard they have some good music.”

He stood taking a moment to brush off the back of his coat before leading the way out of the field and towards town. Did not have his current mode of transportation on hand but it was a nice enough night for a walk. “And I’m sorry to disappoint you but this is not a date. I’m a smart cookie remember.” He gave his temple a tap at that comment. “I shall not fall prey to your crafty siren ploys. Besides. Can't be a date when I don’t even know your name.” It occurred to him that he had yet to learn just what her name was. “Care to share or should I just call you the Lady of the Field?”

[Marceline Abadeer]

Marceline nodded, affirming Megs' assertion regarding the music. Though she was still making her rounds of the local establishments, that matched up with what she'd heard too. Of course, she fully intended on adding her own music into that mix, which would, of course, make things even better. Marceline kept waiting though as Megs caught up, watching him with an almost lazy eye as he stood and brushed up. Times like this, she really did miss the floating thing. If she could have that without the bursting into flames or possibly getting infested by a demonic entity part, she'd totally dig it.

For now, Marceline had to settle for pulling herself up the old fashioned way. She spent a few seconds knocking some loose grass and such off her clothes. she could still feel the damp clinging to her clothes, but she kind of liked that. By the time she finished, she was up and grinning in response to Megs' banter. Because who didn't like some good banter?

"That's what you think. So far, everything's going to the master plan," she tapped her forehead with a finger a few times before chuckling. Marceline moved to adjust the guitar, getting it into something resembling a comfortable position. Again: not floating sucked. "I don't know, Lady of the Field does have a nice ring to it. Sounds more like a song though," she paused, her face contorting in thought, before singing out in her clear voice: "I met the lady in the darkness fair~ she was laying, we were both star-gazing~ But when I asked her her name~ oh when I asked her her name~ all she said was~ I am the Lady of the Field..."

It was a bit breathy, obviously improvised, but quite clear and sharp, with some crisp vocals that were entirely on pitch. Marceline clicked her tongue for a moment, as if she were tasting the very words she'd just warbled out so easily. "Not bad. Have to remember that. Oh, yeah," she extended a hand, "I'm Marceline."