"Here Marshmallow, you can have this drawing!"

A sheet of paper was thrust into her arms by an overly-excited Apple. Even in the dark she could tell what it was. "Wow! Another picture of the two of us... that's inventive." She couldn't keep the dryness out of her voice.

That didn't mean Apple picked up on it, though. She was dense. Very dense.

"Great, isn't it? You're so welcome, Marshmallow. I'm going to draw you something else right now!"

Marsh sighed and slotted the drawing into the increasingly-thick yellow package she'd procured. At this point there had to be at least fifteen drawings in there if not closer to twenty. Then she laid the stick Apple had given her over it as a paperweight.

'It's like dealing with a TWO-YEAR OLD,' thought Marsh with gumption. 'You can't say anything mean, you have to use little words, and she just doesn't know how to leave you alone.'

'No, Marshmallow, think of the positives! It could be so much worse. Oh, so much worse. You could be having a one-person bonfire with Knife. You could be stuck at the crappy cliff. You could be dealing with Apple when she hates your guts.'

Marsh stopped drawing for a second, and squinted to see her work in the relative dark. 'Yeah, that'd be a lot worse.'

It didn't beat Wal-Mart, but it wasn't that bad.

"Yo Double-M, Vitamin C, you gotta come!" The two looked up to see Lightbulb running over, lighting up the evening. "We're doing a Bright Lights Bonfire, and you know you can't have a bonfire without s'mores."

'Uhh... I get the reference, but that's mildly terrifying.' Marsh picked up her stick and folder. "As long as Knife isn't there, count me in."

"Sure, sounds awesome! I'll just finish this later." Apple slipped it into Marsh's trusty folder, then jumped to her feet.

Three episodes of the show had left the Bright Lights a smaller team than it'd been at day one; Tissues and Cherries were already gone. Thus, there was ample space around the little bonfire.

Lightbulb rushed to sit beside Paintbrush, who nodded approvingly as they arrived. "Glad you could make it, guys! It looks like we're all here for the first official Bright Lights teambuilding session." Marsh sat beside Yin Yang, who seemed relatively stable at the moment. Apple took the spot on her other side. "We figured that, if we knew each other personally, we'd do better in challenges."

"I calculated it," Test Tube chimed in. "Assuming Team Grand Slams doesn't do a similar bonding exercise, our chance of winning goes up in the tenths of percentage points. The tenths!"

"'Tents?' We aren't camping." Apple looked confused.

Marsh sighed. "'Tenths,' not 'tents.' It means we have a better chance of winning if we do this."

"Very keen, Marshmallow." Paintbrush stood up and opened a cooler behind them. "Now that we're all here, we have food, we have decent company... let's improve our teamwork."

"Couldn't've said it better myself, Painty," Lightbulb seconded. "We have jellybeans!" She threw some like confetti for emphasis; one hit Fan in the face.

"I love jellybeans!" Marsh exclaimed. 'It's been so long...!' Lightbulb passed her a brown bag full of them, and instantly she began snacking on them. The flavors were explosively fruity on her tongue; in between bites she held the open end out to Apple, who took a few.

"I love them as well! Can I try some?" Marsh shook a few beans out of her bag and into Yin's hand. "Yay! I love jellybeans!" There was a loud slap as Yin Yang slapped his arm, sending the candies flying. "They're stupid and I hate them! NO! They're good! SHUT UP, THEY DISGUST ME! Don't be rude!"

"Yin Yang, stop arguing!" Paintbrush yelled.

"I should have never even been stuck to you!" Yang shouted. Yin Yang got to his feet, pointing dramatically. "I hate you! I'll KILL YOU ALL! No! We can't kill our friends! Can't we just share and give them jellybeans?" "S'MORES ARE WAY BETTER!"

Suddenly Marsh was in the air, hoisted over Yin Yang's head. She screamed as they ran to the bonfire. The heat of it was sweltering as Yin took control for just one more second: "I'm so sorry!"

"NO! That's my Marshmallow! TAKE ME INSTEAD!"

Suddenly Marsh crashed to the floor so hard that the air was knocked clean out of her. She forced herself into a sitting position and watched in horror as Apple got on top of Yin Yang and slapped him in the face repeatedly. "Ow! OW! Ow! OW!"

"Break it up, break it up!" Paintbrush shouted.

It only took a split second of Yang taking control to throw Apple off him and lift her. "You BET I'll break her up!"

There was a sickening cracking sound. Apple screamed. Within seconds, apple juice splattered all over the place, some of the sharp, sweet stuff even going into Marsh's mouth.

Apple had been split clean in half.

Yin Yang laughed maniacally and turned to the petrified team, as if deciding who to take. Then Yin flung them into the fire; within moments Yin Yang melted into it, screaming all the while. "I'm sorry! NO I'M NOT! I am; murder is wrong! No, murder is fine!"

There was silence, save for the sound of fire roaring with its new fuel. Marsh spat to get the apple juice out of her mouth and then stared at that which remained on the ground. It soaked the stick and one end of the folder containing the drawings. She could vomit at the sight of it coating the jellybeans Yang had scattered everywhere.

Then Paintbrush sighed. "We'll just call it a night for now. Maybe next time the hard work of arranging all this won't be put to waste."

'...I know Apple will be back by morning, but can't you guys be a little upset about it? If nothing else, that was gruesome!'

By the time she was done with the thought, nearly all the Bright Lights had filed out. Paintbrush put out the fire with a weary sigh and left carting the cooler behind them without another word.

Marsh just sighed and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for protecting me from being s'mored, I guess..."

It felt like she should have said more, or maybe said them to her while she was alive, but she knew there'd be little chance of getting a word in edgewise once Apple came back. Better to say them unheard than to not say them at all, right?