TxW: Never Alone, Forever Together

Chapter 2: Even Simps Need Comfort

Tari POV-

I walked out of the gaming tournament area and into the halls of the mall, with a slight spring to my step as I'd get ready to look for someone to practice gaming with

"Ok, I'm ready to fight!", I said, with enthusiasm, "all I need now is a player..."

I looked at a friend of mine named Bob; at a guy in a brown cloak with swords for hands. He's generally known for scamming people and saying ridiculous stuff when he's in pickle of any kind. Though, these traits have come in clutch for me at many points where I or one of our other friends have needed it

"Eh... nobody wants to smash a cheater", I said, rejecting him as who I'd play Smash with

I looked at another friend of mine names Mario; one of the characters in the super smash brothers games who's generally known for being... a bit of a dummy at times and causing chaos. But whenever he genuinely does want to help out, it's pretty hard not to give him credit where's do

"Sorry Mario, but I'm trying to get better at this game, not worse", I said with a slight chuckle

I then looked at Belle; another Meta Runner just like myself, only she's got more courage and strength than I could ever dream of having. Maybe that's why she's such a rival to me...

"I... don't think a rival is going help me", I said, with a slight unhappiness in my voice

"Ouch!", said a familiar voice, who'd seemingly just been hit with the hammer like usual

I went to see what was going on, and it turns out my friend, Saiko, was dealing with Whimpu again. Saiko is one of my best friends, she's always been like an older sister to me and a mother to our group. She doesn't always care for hugs or physical contact, but I know deep down she is a big softy

"I'm sorry, my Queen", Whimpu said, "did I do something wrong?"

Saiko gave him a very angry look before saying, "I'm sick of you always being such a simp towards me, Whimpu. How many times do I have to hit you with a hammer before you realize I don't like you back!"

This visibly hurt Whimpu, as he looked down in same as Saiko kept talking

"You, and just about every one of our friends are over 20 years old", Saiko said, as she walks away, "so why don't you just act like it!"

As she walked in my direction, I tried asking her if she wanted to play games with me, but she hit me with a resounding "No" as she just kept walking

This saddened me a bit, though I understand she likely wasn't in the mood to talk or do anything with me right now

However, I noticed Whimpu was on the ground, crouched up against the water foundation and keeping close to himself. I felt bad for him, and I decided to come in closer and give him a little comfort. I sat next to him near the water fountain, though making sure not to get too close to him

"Hey, uh... Whimpu", I said, still figuring out how to approach him at the moment, "are you doing ok?"

Whimpu looked at me, visibly surprised as he did not realize I was there prior to me speaking. "Yeah... yeah I'm doing fine.", he said, with a slightly cracking voice, "I just don't know how I'm ever going to get her to like me."

"I've spent my whole life alone", he said, with his voice breaking more as he spoke", hasn't it been long enough?"

Whimpu began to cry for a moment. This may have been the first time in a while I've seen anything from him aside from how much of a simp he is, though, I'd be lying if I said I didn't now understand why