#HERE IT IS ENJOY KHGJH

[ticklishpeter]

loosen up (diego/lila)

my first umbrella academy fic!!!!! i don’t feel great about it but diego & lila are just,,, everything to me so i felt like i definitely had to do something.

summary: there were so many details about diego that lila wanted to memorize; the crease between his eyebrows when they furrow, every curve of his lips, his bone structure; all of it. one that she’d only seen once or twice before, that she wanted to see so much more of, was his smile. 

word count: 1,221

             there were so many details about diego that lila wanted to memorize; the crease between his eyebrows when they furrow, every curve of his lips, his bone structure; all of it. one that she’d only seen once or twice before, that she wanted to see so much more of, was his smile. 

     she’d hoped her staring wasn’t too obvious as she popped a crisp into her mouth. “hey,” lila’s british accent piped up before diego turned his attention to her.

     “you know, you really need to loosen up, kiddo. smile for once, why don’t ya?” lila sneered, placing a poke at diego’s side. “shut up,” the hargreeves' reply dripped with his trademark cynical sass, but the flinch that had preceded it did not go unnoticed. a small hum left her lips as she nonchalantly put the bowl of crisps the two were sharing onto the table in front of them. a squeeze soon found it’s way to the same side, this time a bit closer to his ribs. the larger body twisted away from the touch, an unexpectedly aggressive reaction. 

  “what’s this?” heavily-lined eyes lit up, a teasing grin already plastered on her face. she already knew exactly what it was, but she knew he’d never admit that he actually was ticklish, and decided to have a little bit of fun with him.

“i-it, i...” diego tried his hardest to mask his sudden nervousness, “it hurt a little. i mean, it didn’t hurt, it just...” his brows furrowed as he gulped all but subtly, “it felt weird.” the male cleared his throat, crossing his arms and sitting back up to where he’d been before, but lila was clearly on a mission at this point. 

  “weird, huh? would you say,” the attack escalated quickly as she wormed her two index fingers under his folded arms and down his sides, poking repeatedly and dangerously close to his stomach, “tickly? does this... tickle, perhaps? you’re not ticklish are you?” she knew exactly what she was doing. knowing from personal experience, hearing the words always made it worse.

 diego’s face heated at that dreaded word, and his mind wandered back to the tickle fights that he was always a frequent target of when he and his siblings were children. the memory mixed with the unwavering jabs at his worst spots caused an embarrassingly loud snort to leave his mouth, followed by a tiny giggle, “n-n-no, no. ihi’m — i’m not.” he attempted to cover up any following giggles by clearing his throat again as he squeezed his arms closer to his midriff, attempting to stop the sensation. diego managed to stay mostly quiet until he felt a hand move to his uncovered stomach, five fingers scribbling around the center. “no!” he yelped in an uncharacteristically loud and high-pitched yelp before dissolving into silent giggles. weakly grabbing the offending wrist, he covered his face with the other, “stop. stohop!” 

  the brief smile she’d seen was cute, but much too small, lila thought. “let’s move those pesky arms, huh?” the female said over the other’s stuttery protests. luther had just walked by, almost as if he knew, although seemingly oblivious to the whole situation. and duh, if she had the opportunity to hold his wrists together with one hand, the ability to mimic any nearby superpowers, of course she had to take advantage. 

  “no!” diego shouted in the toughest, gruffest voice he could muster as he tugged on his arms the best he could, “fuck youhou!” the superpowered vigilante couldn’t help but giggle before she even touched him. he knew what was coming, and he didn’t know whether he was cursing at luther, lila, or himself for breaking so easily.

      “i haven’t even touched you yet, darling!” she laughed smugly, almost in disbelief. she leaned her face closer to his, as she straddled his lap, voice softening to a somehow more menacing tone, “not ticklish, my ass.” her free hand immediately got to work, vibrating her fingertips into the left side of his stomach. 

  diego let out another snort and kicked his leg out, knocking the bowl off of the table in front of them. full giggly belly laughs were audible now throughout elliot’s loft as diego tried his hardest to hide his face in his shoulder. “nohoho. god, you fucking suhuhuck —” he managed before bursting into uncontrollable laughter at the feeling of one teasy finger making it’s way around his whole midriff. “nonono FUCKINGSTOPIT, i’m so gonna gehehe — hAHAHA,” the offending finger dipped into his bellybutton, somehow having snuck under his shirt, and his cackles faded into silent laughter, interrupted only by small squeaky hiccups.

   “it’s just one little finger, you big baby.” she giggled, and couldn’t help but melt at the typically stoic man’s frantic reactions to just a few harmless well placed pokes and tickles. she was having an utter field day with this newfound weakness. laughing right along with him, she spidered her nails around the spot beneath his navel, and cooed, “tickletickletickletickletickle!” 

   diego’s least favorite word mixed with some “kitchie-kitchie-koo”s left her lips with such a smooth and torturous tone. “STOHO —” he choked out hoarsely before falling back into a fit of silent laughter. his furiously kicking legs threatened to break the glass coffee table but lila was laughing almost as hard as diego, so she didn’t want to stop anytime soon. “sh-sh-sh-shUT UP! stop it, stop s-s-saying that!” he squeaked and flailed his body around as much as he could, but his arms just wouldn’t budge. 

  “aww, what is it, lovey? d’you want me to stop? you want me to stop tickle, tickle, tickling you?” a fake pout on her lips as she squeezed his side, quickly switching spots all over his torso, even occasionally moving up to an armpit. 

  “yehehees!” he whined. all of his dignity, at this point, had been reluctantly thrown out the window, and he silently thanked god that none of his other siblings were home. unbeknownst to them, luther had been snickering to himself at diego’s noises in the other room, purposefully staying close to the wall so lila could access his power.  

  “yes? yes?” the babyish tone she used was brutal. once more, she moved her smirking face closer to his blushing one, “sounds to me like you might like it. the word ‘yes’ has a very positive connotation, y’know.” she clawed all five of her fingers and scribbled over his bellybutton again, “NO! y-yohohou asked if i wanted you to sTAHAHAHAHA — STO-STOHO-*hic* STOHOHOP! *hic* FUHUCK!!” hiccups had began to take over his laughter, and he was nearly positive that he’d never blushed this hard in his life. “sTOP IHIT OKAY! OKAHAY I’M TICKLISH, I’M TICKLISH, WE FUCKING GET IT!!” lila decided to give him a rest when he noticed his breathing pattern become a bit too irregular. eyes stinging with tears, his strong arms whipped down to wrap around his torso the second that lila let go of his wrists. 

 she stood up, pausing for a second before doubling over with laughter, “you’re seriously such a baby, aren’t you? oh, that was priceless. you should’ve seen yourse —” a squeal of her own interrupted her words as diego leapt towards her, utilizing the exact same poking method she’d just tormented him with. 

it was a long day, to say the least.