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

41. Less is More

There were no real words to be shared the following morning, in Marsh's opinion, but of course Apple found things to chatter about anyway.

"Doh, I can't come up with a good enough word to describe last night! 'Good' isn't enough. 'Great' isn't good enough, either. But 'the best' is two words, so that doesn't work."

Marsh could only smile and nod, a willing captive to Apple's chatter as they walked back to the mansion.

"Maybe 'fantastic,' but that doesn't work because you don't like talking with our fans. And I don't even know what 'stupendous' means..."

"'Stupendous' means really good."

"Ah. That's definitely not enough. Hmm... 'Super'? Nah, too heroic. Uh..."

She hadn't made any progress on her dilemma by the time they reached the mansion's grand door. "Bestest isn't a word, is it?"

Finally, Marsh sighed. "It's not. There's only one word that means perfect."

"What's-"

On impulse, she spun around and pecked her cheek. Marsh resisted the urge to move away by bracing her hands on Apple's shoulders. Apple stared at her with a few surprised blinks.

"Perfect. That's the word."

"I-I guess, but... it's too simple, don'cha think?"

"There's no such thing as 'too simple' to describe stargazing, or us. Simple is good. Just because you have the vocabulary doesn't mean you should use it always."

Apple looked a little lost for a split second, then grinned. "Guess you're right. 'Perfect' is perfect in this case. How long did it take you to figure that out?"

"Not long," Marsh admitted gently. "Now, I love listening to you, but would it kill you to let the silence sink in a little?"

"...Haha... Guess not." Apple rubbed her stem with a self-conscious grin.

XXX

"We should probably add table manners to the list of things we learn about."

Apple raised an eyebrow and swallowed. "What are you talking about?"

It was the first string of words that had come to Marsh had said in a while - not in response, at least. There'd been a few minutes of silence between them as they heated up their pancakes, but little more.

'Where do I even start? Occasionally you forget to use a fork. Almost without fail you drop some food, especially when it's something messy, like the maple syrup this morning. And we put our elbows on the table. Don't get me started on how you lick the plate when you're done. I like that you appreciate it, but that would be pretty rude in a restaurant setting. And-'

"It's nothing," Marsh replied. "It's probably for the best that we didn't do a fancy dinner last night."

'Last night.' Marsh couldn't help the huge smile that came onto her face.

There was nothing grand about "last night", practically speaking. It'd just been talking and cuddling at face value. It wasn't a euphemism for something else. Even the "I love you" was unsurprising; it took a blind person not to see it coming.

'The only remotely grand thing about last night was that question I was going to ask. Even then, it wasn't that grand. Asking her to help me with my problems isn't the biggest thing. It's not like she hasn't already wanted to help.'

And yet... It still felt grand.

"Yeah," Apple agreed, then went back to eating. Marshmallow rested her face on her cheek.