//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Little Too Warm... 
// Story: Serving A Queen 
// by Harmony Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	Umbra awoke from her slumber with a groan, her head pounding to the beat of a drum she didn't care to listen to. She put a hand to her temple as she tried to mentally prepare herself for whatever nonsense she was to face after she fully awoke, then paused. It registered within her mind that she had awoken on her own time and not by her servant's assistant. She realized that she had woken up earlier than she was meant to.

'At least it means I can sleep more...' she thought as she snuggled back into her pillow. Her eyes cracked open at that thought. 'Wait a second, when did I fall asleep?' 

Umbra scratched through her mind to gain an inkling of memory, but found that there was nothing for her to grasp onto almost immediately. 

'Maybe I just slept through the night... So I shouldn't complain, seeing as how it's been forever since I've gotten a good night's rest.'

"Did ya sleep alright?"

Umbra's eyes popped open instantly. She hoped to whatever deity that resided over her and the world that seemed so intent on making her life miserable that she had merely imagined the voice. Yet, she couldn't deny the warmth that couldn't have possibly come from her own body.

Slowly, but surely, she turned around, praying to the gods above that what she thought had transpired actually hadn't. Unfortunately, as she expected, and dreaded, staring right back at her was Bubble Berry, who had his head propped up against his arm that laid on the pillow next to hers, smiling obliviously.

Umbra was silent for a moment, not sure what to say or do in any sense whatsoever. Finally, she did the only logical thing that came to mind at that very moment: 

She screamed like a banshee.

Umbra wasn't one to shriek, especially when she was usually so calm and collected, but, as she'd been learning, Bubble was the unusual, and he had a way of making others act like the unusual. Bubble, almost too quickly, joined in on the screaming, his voice somehow reaching higher ranges than Umbra, despite her extremely feminine vocal cords. And they both laid there, screaming in perfect resonance. Umbra wondered if they could break the windows in her chambers.

Finally, Bubble ceased his senseless screaming for a brief moment for him to shout, "Why are we screaming?!"

Umbra blinked in shock at his sudden, random question, and stared at him for a moment as she ceased her screaming. After she managed to gain control of her breathing, Umbra glared at him. "Just what in the name of Tartarus are you doing in my chambers?!"

Bubble blinked in surprise. "You don't remember?"

Umbra gaped at him. "I don't rem— Remember what, exactly?!"

Bubble held up a hand. "Please don't scream. You'll wake everyone else up!"

Umbra opened her mouth in preparation for a shout, but she stopped. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down and she faced Bubble with a calm, but rigid expression. "You have seconds to explain yourself."

Bubble sat up almost immediately, revealing pink pajamas adorned by blue and yellow balloons, then clapped his hands. "Yay, I get to talk about last night!"

Umbra spared Bubble's pajamas a once over. "What on earth are you wearing?"

Bubble grabbed hold of his button-up shirt and tugged on it. "These are my jammies! I put them on for the slumber party!"

Umbra blinked in shock. "Slumber... What?"

"A slumber party!" Bubble repeated. "You invited me here last night and we talked a bit before I offered to keep you company!"

'And I said yes?' Umbra thought, 'What was I thinking?'

"I was a bit surprised, but you insisted!" Bubble continued. "Besides, I didn't like to see you upset, so I decided it was important to make sure you were happy!"

"I was... upset?" Umbra repeated. She recalled her episode in the hallway, and pursed her lips. 

Bubble nodded solemnly. "Yeah, you were really stressed out, and I was just making sure that you felt better." He smiled once again. "So, I spent all night here and waited until you fell asleep! But, I didn't want to leave you alone, so I stayed here with you!"

Umbra gave him a deadpan look. "In my bed."

Bubble cocked his head to the side. "Is that a bad thing to do? Is it 'cause you're scared you'll wet the bed like you did when you were little?"

Umbra's face heated up instantly, partially out of embarrassment and partially out of anger. "How do you know about that?"

"You told me," Bubble said simply, "and I remember everything people tell me! It makes people happy when you remember little things about them!"

"But that wasn't a little thing..." Umbra told him. "I never told anyone about that..."

'Not that I ever had the chance to because there was no one to tell, but still...'

"Did I... tell you anything else?"

Bubble held a finger to his chin in thought. "Not really, just a couple of stuff, really..." He perked up. Like your birthday! You told me about how it's on the night of the ball every year, which is the annual celebration for the discovery of the Crystal Heart! It's cool how those dates overlap, huh?"

"Yes, it's fascinating," Umbra said flatly. "Care to tell me what else I told you?"

"Oh, lots of stuff!" Bubble proclaimed, "You kept on talking and talking and talking! Wow, I never met anyone who talked more than me! I guess I know how Gummy feels."

Umbra arched a brow at the mention of Gummy. "You talked about her earlier... Just who is Gummy?"

"Oh, here, you can meet her!" Bubble said before patting his head. "She's right here!"

"Beg pardon?" Umbra's eyes widened as a small green alligator poked it's head out Bubble's hair. "Oh, Tartarus!"

"No, that's Gummy!" Bubble said as he picked up Gummy and put her on his lap. "She's a total sweetheart!"

Umbra's eyes were still wide. "You have an alligator  living in your hair?!"

"Oh, no, silly!" Bubble told her with a giggle. "Gummy was in my room and I went and got her 'cause ya said ya wanted to meet her!"

"I did?" Umbra blurted out, completely shocked by what she had, apparently, done in the past 12 hours alone.

"Say 'hi' again, Gummy!" Bubble said before holding Gummy up to Umbra's face. Then, much to Umbra's surprise and horror, the alligator opened her mouth, revealing gums without teeth. And if it couldn't get any worse, Gummy's tongue lolled out of her mouth and immediately ran over Umbra's shell-shocked face.

Umbra let out a small whine of disgust. "Oh my, gods..." She shuddered. "That's... That's disgusting!"

Bubble put Gummy down. "She was giving you a kiss! She really likes you, you know!"

Umbra opened her mouth to make a retort, but she instead stopped herself and took a moment to ponder what she had just learned. First things first, she couldn't remember a thing from last night. Secondly, she had apparently vented to Bubble and had probably confessed her life story to him, along with the possibility of the Empire's secrets with her undying bad luck. Thirdly, she had somehow managed to kiss Bubble and forget all about it within a matter of hours.

What else could she have done?

"Hey, you OK?" Bubble asked, his voice breaking through her thoughts.

Umbra blinked as she returned to reality. "Er, yes..." She sighed. "I just... need a moment to try to process this..."

Bubble smiled at her reassuredly. "Hey, you want to get up and do something? We can go downstairs and I can make you some pancakes!"

Umbra opened her mouth to protest, but her stomach spoke before she did. Quite loudly, at that. 

She sighed. "Fine... Allow me to get dressed..."

Bubble nodded. "OK! Good thing I brought my clothes with me so I can change, too!"

Umbra's eyes widened. "Er... Bubble, you realize that I will be undressing in order to change, right?"

"Uh-huh," Bubble said, not even blinking.

"And that if you're in here, you'll be seeing me... indecently?"

"But, I'll be naked, too!" Bubble protested.

Umbra smacked a hand to her forehead. "Bubble, you can't be in here while I'm not fully clothed!"

"But, you're not fully clothed right now!" Bubble told her.

"What on earth are you--" Umbra froze as she looked down at herself. "Oh, Tartarus!" She pulled her covers up to cover her form. "Why didn't you say anything, you lecher?!"

"What?" Bubble said, "I'm in jammies and so are you."

Umbra's eyes widened at the sheer oblivion that Bubble displayed. "My gods, are you really this immodest?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Bubble said. "There's nothing wrong with being comfortable with yourself!"

Umbra gave him a deadpan look. "I beg to differ. I can't exactly walk around in the nude and be comfortable."

"Oh, I've done that! It's really liberating!"

Umbra shuddered. "Tartarus, nothing fazes you, does it?"

"Should something faze me?" Bubble asked. "'Cause I don't get why."

Umbra sighed. "Listen, can you just... turn around or something? I'd rather not have spectators for my getting dressed..."

Bubble opened his mouth to protest, but then froze suddenly. "Uh-oh... Feel a combo coming on..."

"Beg pardon?" Umbra questioned.

Bubble didn't seem to hear her. "Ear-flop..." 

His ears wiggled slightly. 

"Eye-flutter..." 

His eyelashes fluttered exceedingly fast. 

"Knee-twitch..." 

His knees, which had been pulled up to his chest, twitched and knocked against each other a couple times before stopping. 

Bubble's eyes widened. "Quick, lay down!"

"What?" Umbra blurted out, completely befuddled.

Bubble didn't say anything and instead laid on the bed like a plank, then rolled off and landed on the ground with eerie silence. Umbra didn't get to say anything to him as her chamber doors opened, revealing Rose Quartz, whose eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, Your Highness, I am so sorry!" Rose exclaimed. "I thought you were asleep!"

Umbra, thankful that her covers were over her exposed form, quickly waved her hand in dismissal. "It's fine, Rose. I don't mind it."

Rose relaxed, but only slightly. "I should have knocked, Ma'am... Pardon my intrusion, I was just making sure you had awaken... And that you were fine."

Umbra nodded. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, Ma'am?" Rose asked. "Because, correct me if I am wrong, but I could have sworn that I heard screaming."

"Yes, fine, fine," Umbra insisted. "Now, if you would excuse me, I'd like to get dressed alone."

Rose shifted uncomfortably, her eyes falling downcast. "Er, yes, Ma'am. I'll just leave you, then." She bowed and backed out of the room, careful not to turn her back to the Queen.

As soon as the door was closed and Umbra could no longer hear Rose's footsteps, she turned to where Bubble had fallen off the bed. "Get up and get out."

Bubble popped up, completely clothed in a yellow dress shirt with a pinstripe blue vest with matching pinstripe pants. "Okie dokie lokie!"

Umbra blinked. "How did you change so quickly? And where are your pajamas?"

"With Gummy," Bubble answered simply. "Come on, let's get you dressed! You said I could put ribbons in your hair!"

Umbra let out a ragged sigh. "Just what did I do last night?"