Chapter 34: Lagnus, Hilda, Marvett & Sig: Curses by kirbymanx/huskynator

The commons room (also known as the hangout room), a room with benches, tables, plants, paintings, a coffee machine, and windows with a beautiful view of some of the mountains surrounding the school and a decent view of the city in front.

Lagnus was staring outside the window to the mountains, trying to ignore the fact his relationship with Arle was on the ropes again because he complimented Raffina's irresistible cosplay of a character he likes. Liked.

With him, as they often are, were his best friends. Next to him Marvett (& Rabbie) were writing(?) on their tablet, debating what kind of world this story should take place in. And on the other side is Sig, who's quietly on his phone.

Lagnus sighed. He felt he was this close to becoming a child again thanks to his brain running in circles of how unreasonable Arle was over admiring Raffina's nice cosplay. He just wanted to go home already to go and die. Or play a game to take his mind off of things, whatever comes first.

"You'll live, Lagnus." Marvett tried to be comforting. "She's done worse to you."

"Hm."

" ...hahaha!" The trio heard some laughter from outside the room. Hilda is imminent. Sig, Marvett, and Lagnus especially know the mood will be lightened. And yes, there she was. Holding in her laughter and it shows on her face.

Though she did her best to keep quiet. A few students took their coffee and left at the sight of the laughing girl. Hilda couldn't blame them, though that doesn't mean she likes it. Others waved hi to her.

"Hehehe-Hey guys." Hilda greeted. "May I sit here?" She asked half-rhetorically.

"Please."
"Of course."
"Hi, Hilda."
Lagnus, Marvett, & Sig replied in order. Hilda sat next to Sig and across from Marvett.

"Tha-hahahahehehe-nks. How's life pffft treating you three?"

"Arle's gonna dump me again, I just know it."
"Writer's block refuses to leave, nothing new."
"Coffee's too hot. Waiting on it to cool off."

"How's your life going?" Lagnus asked.

"Still on the job hunt break?" Sig asked.

"Snrk yes. It still bites that I can't ge-hehehehe-t one, but at least I heeheeheehee feel a little ahahaha better not being rejected aaaalllll haha the time."

"Tell me about it…" Lagnus slipped out bitterly.

Hilda comically reached out her arm over this big table to try and fail to reach Lagnus' shoulder. He took note of the sentiment though. "We-heeheehahaaahahahehee-'ll live through these curses. Snrk, whether they end or not pfufufufufu…"

"They better…"

"Amen." Hilda threw the clown haunt against/through the window. It popped back right behind her seconds later. But that didn't matter. It felt good doing so. Looked weird to those who couldn't see that clown very well.

"I'd hate to be cursed." Sig commented, scratching his head with his big red arm. Nobody reminded him he might as well be.

"Everyone does." Marvett said.

"I'd rather have any other curse than mine…" Lagnus mumbled.

"Pffffffft~" Hilda bursted in what seemed like genuine laughter. "Suh-ahahaha-sorry, I'd rather hahahahaaa-have some-Ahahahaha!-thing else too. In fufufufu-fact, what curse would ffffffff you rather have, Lag? And I guess you haha two too? You're sorta cursed."

Marvett looked a little insulted. She pulled Rabbie away from their tablet for a protective hug. "Rabbie is not a curse, we're just bonded." The ghost-like bunny nodded hard.

"Sorry." Hilda laughed. "But I-hihihihi I'm still curious haha. A-ha-ssuming you had a job-crippling curse, a-heh heh heh-nd this curse doesn't seem to be reversible like our things see-hee-m to be, but you could trade, what curse would rath-hur-her you have?"

Marvett & Rabbie opened a new noteblock file. They have no interest in trading each others' so-called curse. But this would give her some insight into her friends, maybe. Also maybe they could write a story out of this.

"I don't know…" Lagnus rather didn't wanna talk about this, but played along anyway. "Gluttony curse?" He threw out there. "No, that would suck."

"Spending the whole hahaha day eating and/or excising doesn't sound like pfffft a way to live." Sig and Marvett agreed.

"Exactly… I'd rather have a bad luck curse. At least I'll remain my age…"

"I don't think I'd want that. Sounds like a life of frustration." Sig said dryly. "Sorry." He said as he noticed Lagnus face.

"I'd prefer it too, hahaha! Beats laugh-hehehehe-ing to death each d-ahahaha-day!"

"You know what would suck?" Lagnus build-up this terrible curse. "An honesty curse."

The group groaned. "Yeah, that sucks." Sig concurred.

"Someone who never lies anyway could live with that." Marvett saw a bright side as her bunny bud wrote the awful aspects down.

"Hahahahaaaaa! Do those even exist? Haaaaa." Hilda had some real laughter it seems and the others had a small laugh along with her. "Hehehe~ You know what curse I could go for?"

"What?" Sig reacted in mild concern.

"Pfffffft! HYAHAHAHAHYAHAHAA!" Her laugher got her bad, it was loud, it hurt, and it went on. Her friends reached out until she became winded and deflated onto the table. The clown spirit haunting looked angry. Sig gently put his human right arm for her comfort. "Thank you~" She coughed out.

"Being cursed is the worst."
"I'm lucky."
Sig patted Hilda's back some more.

"I'd like… a mute curse..." Hilda's lost her voice in all that laughter. It will be back. "Real mutes manage, I don't see why I can't?"

"Sounds like a better curse than you've got." Sig agreed and the others didn't disagree.

"Uh-huh. What about you, Lag?" The light-headed Hilda pulled out some water to enjoy from her bag while the giggles died down. "I'd trade a speech-based curse for another one. Trade hehehe, your transformation curse for another?" She asked Lagnus.

The boy groaned. "Depends. Does it happen randomly, or is it triggered by something inconvenient?"

"Why would you want a curse to trigger randomly?"

Lagnus non-verbally replied touché to his fellow cursee. "It's no contest what I'd rather want." His curious friends leaned in, ears wide open. "I'd rather not be cursed." A collective "No duh" from him and the group. "I'd trade this stupid dumb stupid baby curse for…" Lagnus looked a little embarrassed all of the sudden.

"Spit it out."

"A genderbend curse."

"Oh."
"Really?"
"Huh." Marvett, Hilda, and Sig replied.

"It's the most preferable curse I can think of. I get to remain human, remain leveled-headed, I'll only shrink like a head in size instead of a meter so I can still reach a bunch of places, people are a whole lot nicer to girls than a brat with a short temper like me..."

"Those are your reasons?" Marvett naturally enquired further.

"Yes." Lagnus stood his ground. "It will make things awkward, and adjusting to the transformation would still be a pain, but I'll be fine with this. And while I'm at it, maybe I could be a better friend to you guys instead of driving you away when it's curse time…"

"Awwww~ Hehehe you thought this through haven't you?"

"In case if I ever get a curse trade offer. (I hope that's a thing…) It's a curse with a better chance to be a functioning member of society than with my current one."

"Not too sure about that?" Marvett mumbled. "But I haven't thought about it as much as you have, so… Iunno." Marvett wrote it down to explore that further.

"Sounds like a fast way for Arle to dump you again." Sig spoke up for the first time in a while.

"If anything I think she'd treat me better as a girl…" Lagnus passive-aggressively snapped at his non-present girlfriend. "Or she'd hate me more… Maybe I can date Silv? No, she's got Rafisol… And I'd probably ruin a relationship with her anyway… Better to stay friends…" Lagnus rested the side of his head on the table. Feeling like he'll turn into a kid any second because of how distressed he feels.

Hilda nervously grinned. Recognizing her curse talk may not have been the best choice. "Sorry, was laughing too hard. We can stop ta-hahaha-lking about this Pffffft (there it goes again)." She reached her hand out over the table.

"I'm… just gonna listen to my prescribed music." He pulled his Non-Specific Brand™ wireless earbuds out of his pocket for some music to keep him from triggering his curse.

"Gotchahahehehe." Nobody blamed him.

"If I was trading a curse for a less worse one," Marvett and Rabbie wanted this conversation to keep going. "I'd take one where I can't walk strai- Oh darn, sorry Sig."

"I'm getting better at walking in a straight line."

"Still, sorry. Uh… I wouldn't mind being a pseudo-werewolf." Her eyes instinctively looked Rabbisuke. Rabbie looked back.

"Sssssffffph. You wanna be a were-bunny, Marv?" Hilda laughed, no judgment meant with her laughter.

"If I had to be cursed. And remained myself. Being instinctive doesn't appeal to me, can't write on non-sapient instinct." Marvett added.

Rabbisuke seemed like he had something to say and spoke up. Marvett looked a little unsure. "What'd he say?" Sig prodded.

Marvett relayed: "If I were to have any curse, I would not mind being merged into to same person." Marvett bit her lip. She groaned at the thought. "I'm not ready for that yet…" Rabbie said some more but Marvett didn't relay it. "I forgot, we're talking ifs…" She felt a little better.

"I don't think I wanna think about what I'd cursed with." Sig admitted while looking over Lagnus zoning out, looking outside to the mountains. "Not an honesty curse anyway. I think we brought that up already."

"We did."

"I'd hate to have a curse where I just have to obey what anybody asks of me."

Marvett, Hilda, and Rabbisuke groaned. "I th-think hahahapffff that one is curable at the hospit-HA-al? I need to check the heehee list again what's curable again, snrk." Her and Lagnus' afflictions are too obscure and/or too arcane. "Random idea-yahaha: What about a Jekyl & Hyde curse?"

"Depends on the Hyde. Sounds like a handful to deal with." Marvett mused as Rabbie wrote it down.

"What's Jackel and Hide?" Sig asked.

"A book I should read but haven't." Marvett replied.

"Ah."

… "Uuuuuuuuuuuuh…" Marvett moaned.

"Got an awful curse idea?" Sig guess.

"Yeah. What if you could see the HP, a health bar," Marvett simplified for Hilda just in case. "Of everything?"

"I pffffft, don't think I get it."
"So you know when someone dies?"

"And see their numbers go down when you bump into each other." Marvett shivered. "Their number goes down just a little bit but you still have that on your conscience and you're fearful of whatever you touch as you're doing damage to everything. We're not gonna sleep well tonight, Rabbie." The bunny spirit sighed.

"No-hoho kidding… Ha."

"Doesn't sound as bad as being able to be remembered." Sig said.

"Or reliving the same day over and over." Marvett said reflexively.

"Hehehe, Guys, let's talk ha curses, not torture." Hilda had enough.

"There's no difference." Lagnus' unmoving head said.

"I'll say." A new voice said from behind Sig at the table behind them. It was Rafffina, wow~ The pinkhead leaned her arm on top of her and Sig's back supports and faced the group of friends.

"Oh, Raffina, didn't notice haha you there." Hilda gave friendly hello.

"I did." Marvett said dryly, Rabbie nodded. The writers plus Lagnus waved hi to this person waaaaay higher up to the popularity chain than them.

"Forgive me, but I happen to overhear your little talk about curses. I happen to… have a friend… that could use some advice on how to deal with untreatable curses until they're treatable? Asking for a friend."

"Have you tried asking Feli and Klug to find a counter curse?" Marvett threw out there, her friends either agreed or made cautious noises.

"Hnnnnngh. I'll let my friend know. Thank you. On behalf of my friend." Her eyes widened as she recognized Lagnus. "You! Before I forget." The popular girl pulled out a photograph. "I forgot to leave it on your desk. To my fan~ 0,-"

With two fingers she turned it around to show it off and with a winky face and a radiant face she stylishly tossed with careless grace to Lagnus with the same two fingers and got up to leave.

He picked it up as his friends looked at it. "Th-thank you." Lagnus shyly said with a red face.

"Ooo. I can see why Arle took it hard with an outfit like that." Marvett lightly snarked at the cosplaying Raffina in the picture. "Anime?"

"It's a… um… good one..." Lagnus said as he sheepishly put the picture away. "So… uh… what about a curse that makes all cake taste the same?"