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

12. Don't Question It

The several days after her conversation with Knife were distraught in a different way than the months before it. Somehow, once the option was on the table, it hung at the verge of every thought, as if it were a monster in a horror movie. It was certainly that intimidating of a thought.

What would the consequences be of breaking the rules? She remembered chillingly the punishment Bow got just for being her, and how the eliminated contestants had been thrown into a cage and then a hotel room for months on end as punishment for being on the show.

Knife was wrong; there were precedents. They just happened to be for far lesser crimes than walking out on a contract, but with heinous punishments.

Still, the prospect of freedom dangled over her like a fat orange carrot over a rabbit's nose. It was very soon that she decided living in the cycle was much worse of a fate. It wasn't even three days later that she slunk off into the night, only the moon and her heart to guide her steps.

XXX

"So, gimme the deets. How's life? You could ask me about mine, but heeeeey, that's long gone." Bow laughed uneasily. She did that a lot this visit.

Marsh slammed the container of Dr. Fizz onto the counter. "Apple seemed like she was the perfect friend. Clingy, sure, but I thought it was because she cared a lot about... me... But once I found out the truth, I can't help but think: is ANYTHING on this show real?"

Somehow the words came out in a tumble. It was far from every inhibition she'd experienced in the past years, but it was the first time she could say anything without feeling totally brushed off-

"Well, hah, she was eliminated, right? Out of sight, out of mind. Makes you think about me, huh?" Bow laughed.

'...So much for being listened to.'

They stared for a second before Bow continued. "Look, Marsh, I'll be frank with you, and I don't even know who Frank is. I don't think that kumquat was important. You could spend forever trying to figure out what her strategy was, but now that Inanimate Insanity is behind us, we gotta face the real world!"

"Uhh... I'm still on the show, unfortunately..."

Bow blustered. "Ex- still?! Okay, n-n-no, no. Nuh-uh. They have run that thing into the ground. And I'd know: I'm dead!"

"Heh, thanks for listening. Paintbrush just gets too caught up in the game to take a moment to talk!" 'I wonder how Paintbrush is doing, anyway. Have they noticed I'm gone yet? Maybe... I shoulda mentioned where I was going to them...'

An awkward laugh. "That shouldn't be a problem with me; I'm on break forever!" More awkward laughter. "I'm all that you need, right?"

Marsh recoiled. "WHAT did you just say?"

"Haha, nothing, nothing." Bow tossed the Dr. Fizz aside. There was the sound of shattering glass.

"...I feel like you're hiding something from me..."

"What?! I tell you everything! If I was lying, I'd tell you!"

"That's a lie within itself."

"It is! ...Not!" The words hung in the air between them.

The glare that hung between them was piercing, like a knife into a cycle. It was their first argument, in all the time they'd known each other.

It meant more than just a smudge on a record of perfect friendship. It brought about even more questions:

'If Bow is lying, then does that mean even she can't give me a realistic perspective on this? '

'What is she hiding?'

'Why is she hiding something?'

"Maybe YOU'RE the one that's lying! Maybe Kumquat WASN'T such a good friend to you! Maybe she DIDN'T deserve to have your friendship, and maybe I made her say all those things JUST SO YOU'D SEE THAT IT'S TRUE!"

Something inside Marsh died. Memories from all the way back, happy memories tainted by a purported strategy, came rushing back into her head.

Apple saving her from Yang back at the Bright Lights fire.

The late-night fingerpaint sessions, lit by moonlight and the warm glow of inspiration.

The exchange about motivations and experiences at the swingset.

Apple giving her all the blankets she could find on the night of the blizzard.

All the incessant hugging, the drawings Marsh couldn't stand to keep.

The handshake that started the truce.

'She really was a... great friend... Did I really throw away such a good friendship over... a misunderstanding? I-I saw her saying those things... even what I personally saw isn't even real? It has to be fake!'

"You... you what?!"

XXX

Soon Marsh had another lonely, determined trek through the night to her name.

'It's asking so much. It's living in a dark, creepy mansion in the middle of nowhere. Bow ruined our friendship, and they never really got along anyway. I'm the one who hit her with a mop and yelled at her without even telling her why.'

'The one thing I am sure of? I want to be her friend. If I have even a bit of doubt it won't happen. I'm her former rival asking her to run away with me to live at a dark mansion with two ghosts... and if I'm unquestionably genuine, she'll do it.'

There was a sharp shattering sound, and a scream. Apple rushed up to the window. Her eyes stretched wide at the sight of Marsh. The staring contest and silence stretched on for several seconds before Apple broke it. Apple eventually broke it.

"Marshmallow?"

'Time to make a second first impression.' Marsh straightened her posture and took a deep breath.