A Marshmallow's Guide to Loving a Complete Idiot (Inanimate Insanity)(Marshple)

16. Don't Hold Back the Compliments, Either

It'd been a month and a half since reading lessons had been kicked off with a library trip (and about three since Marsh fled from the show), and Marsh had to admit, Apple learned fast.

The only lamp in the house burned bright over them. She stretched comfortably on the arm of a huge blue armchair as Apple read the vividly-colored children's book in her lap:

"And the, the brown bear sleeps in the branches."

A cursory glance over earned a grin from Marsh. "Spot-on."

Apple did a celebratory fist pump, then turned the page. Without a stutter, she managed to read the sentence 'the red hen sleeps in the barn.'

'I must be doing something right. That, or she has just enough alphabetical knowledge to skip alphabet-learning.

"...That was the last page. How'd I do?"

"You did well, Apple. I've got to admit, I expected you to struggle more with this... Your progress is monumental."

Apple blushed lightly and rubbed her stem. "Oh, w-well, it's only because you're such a great teacher..." Despite the humility of her words, Apple looked absolutely chuffed.

"Once you get some more vocabulary into that brain of yours, I could read one of my novels to you by Christmastime, and you'd get most of it."

"Cool! ...What's 'vocabulary'?"

"It's like a list of all the words you know," Marsh explained without missing a beat. "For example... you know what a 'bear' is, so it's in your vocabulary. Usually it applies to harder words than 'bear,' though."

Apple's face lit up with recognition. "Ohhh! Yeah, expanding that would be awesome. I've always wanted to understand what people were saying to me!" Without warning, Apple yanked her close. "Thanks so much for being my bestest friend, Marsh."

Perhaps it was how excited Apple was, or how Apple tugged her so close she was practically on her lap, or maybe even hunger because dinner wasn't ready yet, but Marsh couldn't suppress a giggle. "N-no problem... you really are sweet." Marsh got off the chair and began walking to the door with a grin; dinner would be ready to be served soon. "In a way, it's kind of funny... I'm the sugar-based product in this house, and you don't really look like a Granny Smith apple, either. But I guess that's how this goes."

She stopped when she realized there were no slightly-heavy footsteps following hers. She turned back and raised an eyebrow.

Apple was still sitting in the chair, her expression one of wonder. Tears glistened in her eyes, glittering a bit in the lamp's light. "Apple?

"Marsh... that's such a nice thing to say! Thank you so much! Nobody's ever said so many nice things about me in a row before... You're the nice one!" Apple zoomed up to her and picked her up. The hug was so tight that the air was squeezed out of her. "You're so smart, and nice, and amazing, and incredible, not to mention hilarious! I hardly even get that joke but I still find it funny!"

Marsh chuckled weakly. "...Apple, too tight..."

She only loosened her grip a bit. "Best friends to the end. The bestest pals to ever pal. That's what we are, Marsh!"

"Apple... DINNER!"

Apple hugged her for a few seconds longer, her grin huge... then a look of shock appeared on her face. "Oh my gosh, you're right!" Her grip loosened just enough for Marsh to break away and make a mad dash for the kitchen. The noisy sizzling of the stove reached Marsh even from across the room. She jumped onto the stepping-stool set up in front of it and leaned precariously close to the hot food to turn the dial to "off."

The delicious, nutritious asparagus was almost entirely blackened.

Marsh stared at the pan, despairing. "...Great. This is just great!"

"Hey Marsh, you okay?" Apple approached from behind.

"They're ruined." Marsh showed Apple. "It's horrible. I tried so hard. Why do I fail at making good food? Is it because I'm basically just sugar? Ugh."

"This is hardly any more burned than usual; you'll get it eventually!"

'Of course she'd say that,' Marsh thought with an inward roll of her eyes.

Apple took a stalk of it and took a crunchy bite off the end. "This is really good!" Apple soon took another stalk, and then another. "I never thought veggies could be so warm and crunchy. There's candy out there that tastes much worse! For example, once I found a piece that was... okay, but had such a metallic aftertaste... I think it was on season one? Anyway, this beats that one by loads."

'That's because that was a literal piece of garbage. It was a can. Nothing is worse than eating a can!'

"Doesn't change that it sucks."

"C'mon. You win some, you lose some." Apple put a hand on her shoulder and gave her an out-of-place, yet comforting pat. "What's this called again."

"Asparagus." Marsh got to her feet; it was weird being taller than Apple, so she jumped off the ottoman.

"Right, asparagus. If you put your mind to it, you'll be a chef just like they have on the boob-tube channels. But anyway, yeah, you got this!"

Marsh sighed. "Thanks for being so encouraging, I guess."

"No problem; this really is good stuff. Try it with an open mind and an open heart, and it'll taste great."

'Well, that's the cheesiest thing I've heard in months.' Marsh blinked, taking stock of Apple's hopeful expression, then took a piece.

It didn't taste half-bad, actually. Too crunchy for Marsh's taste, and rather dry, but the core taste was still there. "Not half bad for being ruined by me, right?"

"I guess not," Marsh agreed. "Still-"

"My compliments to the chef. It's pretty cool!"

'You know what else is pretty great? The fact that you're there to cheer me on. Gee, living here rules, and it's not always thanks to the quiet, either...'

"Marsh? You're staring into space. C'mon, let's eat!"

Marsh shook herself out of the trance and grinned. "Oh! Right. Yep. Let's do it."