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

18. When Possible, Make Her Smile

"What is the one thing that can always help you in your time of need, lead you to accomplish your goals, and has everything?"

Apple thought it over for a second. "The power of friendship?"

"Try again."

"Is it you? We've gotten so far in reading lessons lately-"

"I'm telling a riddle, not getting all sappy," Marsh interrupted. It was a flattering enough comparison, but it was so obvious that Apple had to learn the answer. "Here's a hint: we're carrying a bunch of bags from it right now."

"Ooh, ooh! It's Walmart!"

"You got it."

"Yes!"

'Walmart. The only place to save money AND live better... and I don't say that as a former stockholder.'

Marsh pushed a Walmart cart thrice her height in front of her, with bags of all manner of things stacked even higher than its cagey gray walls, things you could only get at Walmart.

Looming gray sky and withering green hills extended around Marsh in all directions. The trees they came across were nearly bare of leaves despite the temperate spring season, in stark contrast to the vibrant apple trees near the hotel.

It was going to rain, and it was going to rain hard. Marsh only hoped it didn't get them before they got home.

Seconds later, a single, fat, raindrop dropped on her head. She opened an umbrella from the cart and fixed it in one of the gaps on the cart. "Ugh, we have to hurry up, it's about to rain."

"Huh? But I love the rain."

"It's fine when you're not walking in it," Marsh grumbled. "Marshmallows get soggy pretty quick, and then they get colds."

"For serious? What about that water challenge in season one?"

Marsh shivered a bit at the memory. "The one where we dived into feces? I remember not landing in the water, then putting up with you for an hour."

"No no no, the one with the coin."

"Almost worse. I had a cold for two weeks even though I didn't get that wet because it was still cold out when we did that challenge."

"I was eaten by a shark; I don't remember."

"You tormented me as soon as you were revived, Apple," she deadpanned. "For two weeks."

Apple clung to Marsh's arm and frowned. "I'm so sorry; I don't remember, but I really don't like thinking about hurting you!"

"And I don't like thinking about the show."

Apple was silent, staying on her arm and staring with a quivering lip. Marsh felt guilty for her harsh tone and gave Apple a pat near her stem with her other arm. "Sorry."

"Oh."

Marsh put aside her angst and gave Apple's arm a playful punch, getting her to stop clinging. "Don't worry about it; we're alright now, and that's all that matters."

"Mmph, I guess..."

"C'mon. Aren't you going to ask me what chemistry means or something? Expand that head of yours? Err, sorry." Being upbeat like that felt so fake, between the fact that the rain was starting to get intense around them, and the fact that Apple still looked sad.

"...Okay."

"Oh come on, do I have to be sappy to get you out of your shell?"

Apple looked at her with renewed interest. "Yes. You do."

She glanced ahead and noted that the mansion was still about five minutes away. She sighed, and thought of something it'd be natural to get sappy about.

(Granted, she could fake a compliment, but she couldn't help the sense that Apple would be able to tell the difference between true sentiment and fake sentiment even if she didn't know the difference between "there" and "their.")

Luckily, it only took about half a minute of thinking for her to come up with something to wax idioms about:

"Then how about we talk about your smile? It's, uhm, great. I'd really like it if you did it right now. It's like you don't know anything about how cruel this world can be. ...Which, granted, you probably don't. B-but anyway, uhh, seeing it makes me smile, too. You know why? It's because..."

'It's one of the only smiles that's lighthearted enough to get rid of some of the darkness in my heart. If you didn't do it, I'd wake up screaming, the nightmares would get so bad.'

Marsh blinked in surprise at the potent thought, and simplified it to, "You make me happier than I would be otherwise."

There was silence for a moment. Then Apple asked, "...Is it your favorite smile?"

"Yep!"

Finally, Apple chuckled. "Thanks, Marsh. I didn't realize it was your favorite smile. If it makes you that happy, I'll keep doing it." She grabbed her hand and pulled her effortlessly away from the cart. "C'mon, Marsh, let's go have fun before the rain gets too bad."

"But we'll get-"

"Germs don't scare me!" Apple declared, pointing to the sky dramatically. "Even though I forget what germs are, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!"

"But-"

"No buts, Marsh! We're gonna go up that tall hill over there and we're gonna slide down on the wet grass. It'll be fun!"

'An apple a day is an idiom, you idiot. That'll make us both sick.' Then again, it wasn't like there was much of a choice. Apple had her dragged halfway up the thing, anyway. "...Fine. But only for a minute."

Marsh didn't smile for the first minute. She didn't smile until one minute became two, and two became five. But once she did, she couldn't stop for the rest of the time they were out there.

The inevitability of becoming sick and agonizing over how a best friend's smile could possibly help that much with her mental state was a hard pill to swallow.

But the second she did, it was well worth it to have some childish fun for once, to see that simple smile she somehow adored.