Chapter 22: Sig & Marvett: A Friend In Need by warelander

After what felt like an eternity for most students, Saturday had finally had arrived. For many, this was THE day to finally hang out with friends at the local shopping mall, meet up at each other's homes, pursue their favored sport, and many other things.

Sig's House - Sig's Room

Usually, Sig cherished these days as a means to spend time with anyone he considered close to him, today though, he couldn't bring himself to exit the house.

Lying on his bed, with his earbuds plugged in and his trusty MP3 Player app doing its work, Sig stared at the ceiling of his room. This was always an effective means for him to shut out everything around him.

Letting the soft instrumentals and melancholic lyrics of his playlist take him, the boy stayed put. Quiet and without much of any movement, the only thing on his mind was a certain girl.

Lost in a sense of resignation he kept laying there, only the occasional sigh escaped his lips. In fact, he was shut off enough to not hear the doorbell and the increasing knocking on his door.

After some time, the person knocking gave up and opted to carefully enter the room. It was none other than Marvett.

''Sig. You alright?'' She asked, though one look to his bed confirmed her suspicions.

''Is he in his zone again?'' Asked a shorter girl next to her.

Dalida
Impressive I.Q., insufficient sleep

''He is. Thanks for coming along to cheer him up.'' Marvett just said now.

'''S nothing. 'S been a while since last time seeing him.'' Dalida responded matter-of-factly, slightly chuckling to herself. 'Not like I needed the extra sleep anyways.' She thought to herself.

Marvett stopped asking her little sister Dalida if she stayed up longer than she should have a long time ago.

Indeed, it's not as if the baggy eyes and choice of attire did much to help her hide it. The girl's hair was done in several shades of green, her sweater long enough for her sleeves to cover her hands up. She wore a green shirt and skirt to match her hair and by contrast, had mismatched green and purple socks on.

''Pfft-hehehe! We're gonna snap him out of his funk for sure!'' A taller girl with pink hair and a red checkered dress concurred while pushing the clown spirit haunting her with Rabbie.

Hilda
"Hahaheheha! Can't stop! Ahahaha!"

Hilda's Haunt
Her curse's embodiment

Marvett turned to Hilda, lending her a soft smile and nod.

'You're probably the most important one to have around for this...' She thought to herself.

It was time to enter the room and approach their friend. Unsurprisingly, Sig was zoned out enough to not notice them coming in. Even as the trio made their way to his bed, he did not move a muscle, remaining totally oblivious to their presence.

Gentle as she could, Marvett removed the earplugs from Sig's ears, noticeably catching the boy off-guard.

''Huh?'' Was all the boy could utter, though it did not take long for him to spot the culprit.

''Had to get your attention somehow.'' Marvett responded, with a good-natured tone and a warm look on her face.

Sig's own expression quickly relaxed, even more so when he spotted another familiar face.

''Hey, Dal.'' He greeted her.

''Back in our world, I see.'' Dalida couldn't help but quip, but quickly dropped the snark to instead hop onto her honorary big brother's bed for a hug.

Sig gladly returned the gesture, already feeling his spirits raise again and that feeling would only increase even further, when he finally spotted Hilda. It was obvious from his, subtle as it may be, body language, that he was surprised and happy to see the senior girl, which did not go unnoticed by her.

''Been too long since we got to meet!'' Hilda joyfully uttered, between giggle fits, affectionately ruffling his hair, with no objections from Sig's end.

Soon enough, all three girls sat on by Sig's side, on his bed, for a truly cozy get-together.

''What's up guys?'' The boy asked, making Marvett's face slightly fall into a more concerned expression again.

''We hafta talk with you, Sig.'' She went straight to the point, visibly confusing Sig on what she could be talking about.

Marvett was visibly trying to find the right words, not sure how to best go about discussing this.

''It's...it's about Arle. You've been thinking a lot about her recently, haven't you?''

Needless to say, Sig wasn't expecting that and noticeably tensed up. The girls were quick to notice. Hilda swiftly swung an arm around his shoulders, while Dalida hugged his arm, all with the intent to calm him down and provide him a sense of comfort.

''Sis said it's been getting to you recently.'' Dalida softly tried to ease the boy into the subject. Not like the three haven't talked about this before.

Sig could only sigh, they really knew how to read him.

''Was it that obvious?'' Marvett nodded. Sig internally let out another sigh.

''I know I shouldn't. She is happy with Lagnus and I should be happy for them...'' Sig could only face the floor. ''Why does it still have to feel so bad?'' He asked the question that would never leave his head. Hilda softly itched even closer to him.

''It's normal-Hahaha! I had plenty of boys run out on m-snrrrrk! Cause' they couldn't stand my laughter for long!''

''You don't deserve that.'' Sig spoke up in defense of Hilda, a gesture that didn't surprise but charmed the girl.

''Hehehe~ It's fine. It sometimes hurts, but I try to not think of it too mu-Hahahah!''

''And that's why we're here.'' Marvett cut in, glad to have arrived at the main point.

''Going forward, we want to help you get your mind off of it. So you can try and handle the whole thing easier.''

Now it was Marvett's turn to get closer, getting a hold of the same arm Dalida was hugging, in a desire to convey her feelings physically as well.

''You're my friend too, Sig, just like Lagnus. I'll do anything to keep you both happy.'' She said matter of factly, closing the statement with a more relaxed look on her face. It was something that would surely help to ease the situation for him.

Indeed, Sig was calm, happy even.

''...Guess I have been moping recently.'' He said, almost a little embarrassed, which made all girls in the group giggle a bit.

Marvett closed the distance further, sitting in front of him now.

''Hey. it's fine. You can lean on us if you need it.'' With that final statement, Marvett embraced Sig as well and Hilda swiftly did the same, with Dalida extending her hold of his arm to the rest of him too.

Silence befell the room. It wasn't like more needed to be said. All four teens and Rabbie were content to enjoy each other's close company. Eventually, it was Sig who spoke up.

''Thanks, girls...I feel things will be okay from now...''

Authors' Notes:

WARE: Sig and Quest's resident best girls. Totally not a self-indulgent chapter, nope sir, nooooooope.

HUSK: True.