#critickle role

[sunstone-smiles]

The Legendary Vox Machina Tickle Fight

Original request (from 🦋 Anon): "LE GASP!!!! UR A FAN OF VOX MACHINA TOO 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 Omggggg can you PLEEEEEASE do day 18 tickle fight with the Vox Machina group? They're all so cute together and I'd love to see that!"

Author’s note: Omg, this turned into a huge fic, but I have no regrets, Lol. Here’s Day 18 of Tickletober: “Tickle fight” from August’s Prompt List! I hope you enjoy!

Series: The Legend of Vox Machina

Characters: Pike, Grog, Scanlan, Keyleth, Vex, Vax, Percy, and Trinket

Word count: 4,585

Summary: The Vox Machina crew is having a boring day, so Scanlan attempts to lighten the mood, but Grog’s misunderstanding of one of Scanlan’s words soon turns into a playful fight between the party.  Enjoy!

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It’s just that kind of day, where the Vox Machina crew gets to relax with one another, but they’re teetering on the edge of drab boredom. They don’t want to go out. Too much effort. So whatever is available in their current cozy sitting room is what keeps them occupied.

Pike, standing on a chair so she can see better over a wooden table, cups a pair of dice in her hands; the sound of the dice clicking can be heard as she shakes them. Grog sits across from her with the table height at his stomach due to his large size. The muffled collision of dice can be heard in his hands as well.

“Ready, Grog?” Pike asks her friend.

“Ready!”

At the same time, they throw their dice onto the table. Pike counts the two numbers on her dice quickly. “I got a six!”

“A three! I win!” Grog celebrates.

“I hate to break it to you, buddy, but six is higher than three,” Pike says sweetly, understanding that her friend has difficulty with numbers.

“Aww…” Grog deflates a little. 

“It’s okay, buddy! We can try a different game.”

Grog leans back in his chair like all the muscles in his body have gone limp. “But we’ve already tried so many. I’m bored.” 

“Heh,” Pike leans her elbow on the table, “Can’t blame you there, buddy.”

“Don’t worry, everyone! Your savior is here!” Scanlan walks into the room, making a performance out of his entrance. He runs up to the same wooden table Pike and Grog are at, hops up onto a chair and onto the table like it was a stage and he was a vendor. “I saw that it was a little dreary in here today, so I know just how to lighten the mood,” Scanlan moves his eyebrows up and down when he says “mood.”

“Oh goody, more mind numbing dirty jokes,” Vex says from her seat across the room. Trinket’s head is in her lap as she passes the time by brushing his fur. Vax sits in a separate chair next to her, polishing his daggers. Meanwhile, Percy draws in his sketchbook as he sits in a chair up against the front wall near the doorframe, while Keyleth sits next to him in another chair and touches up the leaves of a potted plant.

“No no, nothing dirty,” Scanlan replies. “I have tailored this joke to be pristine and appropriate. Ahem!” Scanlan clears his throat loudly. 

“What do you call a cow that’s good at playing an instrument?” Scanlan asks his crowd of friends. He waits and looks around at each of them to keep them in suspense. Then, he answers. “A Moo-sician! Eh? Eh?” he winks and elbows the air.

All of his friends slowly look at each other before looking back up at Scanlan, unamused and in total silence. If crickets were in the room, they would be chirping.

Scanlan puts his hands on his hips. “What? Nothing? Tough crowd.”

“It sounds like you need to get better material, my friend,” Vax shows a brief smile.

“Yes, I would think you of all people would come up with better material than simple puns, Scanlan,” Percy teases.

“I don’t know. I thought it was a little funny,” Keyleth admits.

Scanlan gestures an appreciative hand to the Ashari. “Thank you, Keyleth! But as for the rest of you! How did you not find it funny?! That was one of my best rib-ticklers!”

Grog places a finger to his chin. “Oooh, wait! No wonder no one laughed, Scanlan!” Grog exclaims. The goliath stands from his seat and walks around the table to be behind Scanlan. “That wasn’t a rib-tickler! You got to use your hands. Like this!” Grog finishes his sentence by swiftly moving his hands under Scanlan’s arms and tickling his ribs. The smaller man jumps with a yelp in surprise and throws his elbows down to his sides. 

“Grohohohog!” Scanlan already begins giggling, “I didn’t mehehehean it literally-hehehe! It’s a figure ohohohof speech!”

Grog tilts his head, genuinely confused, “You’ve lost me.”

Pike perks up, a grin brightening her features like the glow of her divine magic. “Oh, yeah! Now this is something exciting!” She stands up straight like she was preparing to charge into a battle. 

“Tickle fight!!!” Pike calls out with the same ecstatic tone as if she was announcing a tavern brawl for everyone to see. She leaps onto the table and rushes over to Scanlan. 

“Grog, hold him for me!” she exclaims.

“You’ve got it, buddy!” Grog keeps his hands under Scanlan’s arms, easily holding the bard in place as his fingers wiggle against his ribs.

“Nohoho, no, no! Pihihihikehehehe!” Scanlan’s laughter increases when Pike joins in and scribbles at his sides. Scanlan curls himself to the side and tucks his face in his shoulder as Pike and Grog successfully team attack him. Scanlan’s joke may have not lightened the dull mood of the room, but his own laughter certainly does.

“Heh,” Vax chuckles as he watches from the sidelines. “Too bad for you, Scanlan. Looks like you’ve waged a war with Pike and Grog.”

“Remember our scuffles that usually turned into tickle fights?” Vex smiles at her brother.

“Ah, yes. You mean the ones I always won?” Vax returns a smug grin.

“Excuse me?” Vex says, playfully offended. “If I recall, you are more ticklish than I. I’d have you begging for mercy in seconds.” Vex places Trinket’s brush on her seat, keeping her eyes trained on Vax.

Vax places his dagger on the table and leans forward, keeping his grin and his eyes on Vex. “I beg to differ, Stubby.”

“Well, I’ll show you, Scrawny!” Vex exclaims and lunges her hands at Vax, immediately getting a solid scribble to his ribs. Vax yelps as the pulse of ticklishness hits his form, momentarily paralyzing him before he clamps his arms down to his sides, then shifts tactics to try and shove his sister away.

“Vehehehehex!” the male twin leans himself off his chair, then crashes to the floor. Vex pounces down after him and tickles his ribs from behind, causing Vax to release a secondary burst of giggles before he curls up and rolls onto his back to attempt to grapple his sister’s wrists. He leans his head back and kicks his legs behind her.

“See, now what did I tell you, dear brother? You’re still the more ticklish one,” Vex teases and easily slips her hands from Vax’s grasp to continue tickling him. There’s no follow up response from Vax except a continuous stream of giggles and a loud snort. Knowing the sound he just made, he curls himself onto his side and tries to hide his face in his arm.

“Aww, and you still snort too. How adorable,” Vex lays the teases on thick.

“Shuhuhuhut up!” Vax finally responds.

“Hey, that’s not very nice. It seems I just have to tickle you more to change your attitude,” Vex smiles and scribbles a hand towards her brother’s belly, causing him to curl himself up tighter. As the twins scuffle, Trinket happily growls at them before trotting off towards the doorway to lie down.

“Hehe, looks like the twins have already roped themselves into the fight,” Keyleth chuckles from her seat.

“It’s inevitable that siblings will get themselves into little squabbles from time to time,” Percy says beside her, not even taking his eyes off his sketchbook.

Keyleth turns to him with a smile. “Did you usually get into tickle fights with your siblings, Percy?”

He glances up at her. “Me? Oh no, no. I don’t do tickle fights.” He returns to sketching.

Keyleth tilts her head. “Huh? But, it definitely sounded like you were speaking from experience…”

Before Keyleth can ask another question, there’s a Scanlan sized giggly scream from the other side of the room. Grog has grabbed Scanlan’s arms and pulled them to the side to allow Pike to scribble into his underarms.

“A lihihihittle hehehehelp here wohohohould be–hehehe nice!” Scanlan shouts out to whichever one of his party members is willing to listen.

“Hold on, Scanlan! I’m coming!” Keyleth answers the call. She places the plant on her chair, then runs over in the direction of Pike. The Ashari makes it to the edge of the table and tries to swipe at Pike, like she was attempting to catch a rabbit, but Pike jumps back.

“Whoa!” Pike says. “Oh no, Keyleth!” Pike already giggles as she turns to run. She hops off the table and Keyleth chases behind her.

“Oh no you don’t, Keyleth!” Grog immediately puts Scanlan down and rushes to Pike's aid. Before the chase has even begun, Grog snatches Keyleth off the ground in a hug as she passes by the corner of the table. He places Keyleth’s feet back to the floor and scribbles into her sides, earling a squeak from the Ashari.

“Eehehehek! Grohohohog!” Keyleth giggles and squeezes her arms down. “Thihihihis height difference mahahahakes it sohohoho unfair!” she says as she realizes the ticklish predicament Scanlan must have been in.

“Sorry, Keyleth! But if you mess with my best buddy, you mess with me!” Grog grins as he carefully wiggles his fingers to Keyleth’s ribs, keeping her in place as she sways like a leaf in the breeze.

Pike twists on her heels once she hears Keyleth’s laughter. She smiles at her buddy Grog as a thank you. Past Grog’s form, however, Pike sees the wooden table they were just at. The once giggling form of Scanlan is now missing. 

“Huh?” Pike wonders. “Where did he–”

“Sneak attack!” Scanlan loudly announces his presence behind her as he digs his fingers into Pike’s sides.

“AHA!” Pike yelps from being taken off guard. “Hahaha! Scanlahahahan!” Pike darts her hands down in an attempt to pry the bard’s hands latched onto her sides.

“You thought you could just tickle me and get away with it? Oh no, no, no, Pike. You see, now it’s my turn to even the playing field,” Scanlan grins. “Who would have guessed that under all that armor that the mighty Pike is so ticklish?”

“Ohoho, yohohohou’re going to rehehehegret saying thahahahat!” Pike giggles.

“I regret saying a lot of things, but this is not one of them,” Scanlan replies.

Seeing six out of the seven party members get thrown into a tickle fight, Percy places his sketchbook on the side table next to his chair, then stands. “Well, if you all are going to continue fooling around with each other, then I think I should take my leave.”

Percy turns towards the doorway to exit. However, as the big brown bear sees Percy walking in that direction, Trinket trots in front of the doorway and blocks the exit. The bear growls at the white-haired man.

Percy takes a step back. “Wha– Trinket?”

“Good thinking, Trinket!” Vex says, seeing the exchange between her bear and the noble occur. “You’re not going anywhere without first joining the fight, Percy.” Vex glances to her bear, “Trinket, be a dear and get Percy, will you?”

Trinket happily growls at Percy. The noble takes another step back.

“Wait, Trinket!” Percy puts his hands up.

The bear growls again and charges at Percival. Trinket headbutts Percy square in the stomach, with enough force to push him, but not to hurt him. Percy hits the back wall as Trinket charges at him and, being the large bear that he is, Trinket easily traps Percy to the wall by having his head right up against his stomach. With another happy huff from the bear, Trinket begins nuzzling his snout into Percy’s stomach, finding a way under his dress shirt and vest for his snout to be most effective.

Percy flinches and his mouth twitches upwards; he tries to restrain his snickers while he attempts to shove Trinket’s big, playful head out of his shirt. “Trinket! Stand down, boy! I am not a toy for you to cuddle!”

“Good boy, Trinket!” Vex exclaims. She leaves her brother in a crumpled pile of giggles and runs over to help her bear. 

“Let me lend you a hand, Trinket,” she says, now standing beside her furry companion. “Or perhaps, two hands?” she wiggles all of her fingers at Percy.

“V-Vex! Don’t you da–AHare!” Percy closes his mouth shut once Vex lunges her hands at his ribs. A few restrained snickers start to trickle from the man as he turns his face away into his shoulder.

“Percival, you’re holding out on me,” Vex teases. “You do know that it’s a tickle fight, right? So, laugh a little,” she moves her hands up his ribs and into his underarms. Rather quickly, his snickers sputter and turn into full blown giggles.

“Vehehehex!” Percy completely breaks into an outpouring of bubby joy. He bends his arms down for protection, but that doesn’t stop the loveable bear from nuzzling into his belly. He tries to wiggle his way out of his predicament.

“There we go! We got him, Trinket!” Vex glances at the bear before looking back at Percy. “See, Percy? You would have missed out on all this fun had you walked out.”

“I will nohohohot be subjugated to-hohoho thihihihis childish gahahame!” He wiggles to the side and successfully dislodges himself from Trinket and the wall, then wastes no time in sprinting across the room.

“This isn’t over yet, Percy!” Vex exclaims. Right before she takes off for the chase, a woosh of black cloth passes by her.

“I’ll deal with you later!” Vax glances over his shoulder to his sister as he runs by.

“Yeah, right. We’ll see about that,” Vex smiles before following suit and running back into the frey.

Percy, knowing he’s a target, skids behind Grog and Keyleth and takes cover.

“Grog! Let me use your body as a shield!” Percy peeks out from the side of the goliath.

Grog’s view turns towards Percy. “Uh, okay.”

“I’ve gotcha, Keyleth!” Vax says from Grog’s other side and leaps onto the table, then he jumps off towards Grog. He lands on Grog and wraps his arms around the goliath’s neck, piggy-back style.

“Hey!” Grog tries to snatch Vax from over his back, releasing Keyleth from his hold. “Get over here, pipsqueak!” Grog spins from side to side to toss Vax off of him, but Vax keeps his grip. Grog sidesteps one way and nearly crashes into Percy, sending the noble stumbling backwards and onto the floor; when Grog sidesteps to his other side, Vex also stumbles backwards and onto the floor when she tries to dodge.  

Grog halts his movement to try and get a better grip on Vax, but the dagger wielder shows him a smirk and uses one hand to scribble at the goliath’s ribs while Vax’s other arm holds himself up by staying wrapped around Grog’s neck.

Grog jolts and a bigger smile grows on his already large features. “Hehehey! Vahahahax!” he tries to reach up at the half-elf again. “Nohoho fair!”

“No fair? We’re playing a tickle fight with a guy twice our size. Creative strategies have to be used, my friend,” Vax smiles at him. 

“And don’t forget about a little bit of magic!” Keyleth recovers and faces her palm towards Grog. Her hand glows and vines sprout from the floor, wrapping themselves loosely around Grog and brushing up against the rest of his torso.

Grog stops going for Vax and pulls his arm down as deep laughter booms from his chest. “Ohohohokay! Mahahahaybe I earned thihihihis!” Grog says through his giggles.

Vex stands up and leans an arm on Trinket. She sees Percy still on the floor, but she’s quite amused with the sight of their tallest ally being overpowered by tickling. She’ll call off her chase, for now.

“Ohohoho no! Grohohog!” Pike says through her own laughter as she hears Grog being felled by giggles from across from her.

“Oooh. What a shame,” Scanlan says over Pike’s shoulder. “It seems like you and Grog have fallen to the same tragic fate of revenge—WHOA!”

Pike uses a burst of strength to yank one of Scanlan’s arms and fling him to the floor in front of them onto his back. As he lifts his head up to regain his bearings, Pike pounces at him like a wolf and knocks him back to the floor. She dives her hands towards his sides, earning a shriek of laughter from Scanlan.

“Pihihihihike! Yohohou already had yohohour turn tickling mehehehe! Hahahave mercy!”

“I’ll consider it, if you help me help Grog,” Pike negotiates with a smile.

“Nohoho way! Hehehe started it!”

Pike shrugs, “Suit yourself then.” She crawls her fingers back up to his underarms, causing Scanlan to kick his legs out behind her and his giggles to increase.

Pike glances beside her to Percy, who’s still leaning back on the floor as he watches Grog’s current fate. “Percy! Come help me with Scanlan!” she says to him.

The noble shakes his head. “No, thank you. I’ve had my fair share of this fight for one day.”

“Come on, Percy. You’re got to have some fun once in a while.” She puts on a smirk. “Or are you too much of a stick-in-the-mud noble to do so?”

Percy’s stunned. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Pike’s tone is one that’s begging to be challenged. Percy narrows her eyes at her, but Pike has already turned her attention back to the giggling bard.

“Now Scanlan, are you willing to help me assist Grog?”

“Yehehes! Yes!” Scanlan raises one arm above his head and purple magic begins to swirl around his hand. Pike pulls her hands away from him, allowing Scanlan—breathless and full of residual giggles—to summon his magical purple hand and glide it towards Grog. Scanlan rolls onto his stomach to see the world upright and controls the magic of “Scanlan’s hand” to tap Keyleth on the shoulder.

Falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book, Keyleth turns to look at the hand. “Huh? Hey!” She exclaims when the hand drifts down to tickle her side. When she twists to avoid it, the hand follows her and tickles the rest of her torso. Scanlan and Pike snicker from the sidelines.

As Keyleth giggles, her concentration on the magic vines falter and the vines retract back into the floor.

Now free, Grog swings his hand behind his back and grabs a hold of Vax’s ankle. He yanks the half-elf from his back and holds him upside down in front of him. A mischievous grin across the goliath’s features is what Vax is met with as he dangles from the ankle. 

Vax releases a nervous chuckle. “Any chance that you’ll put me down, big guy?”

Grog shakes his head like a child who’s gotten their way. “Nope. None,” Grog says and plunges a hand into Vax’s belly. The half-elf barks out a surprised laugh and clasps both of his hands to Grog’s singular large one in any attempt to pry it from his giggling belly.

“Well it wahahas wohohorth a shohohohot!” Vax says.

“All right, Grog!” Pike cheers. Scanlan dissipates his magic hand, releasing Keyleth, then plops onto the floor to take a well deserved break. 

“I’m coming to help!” Pike gets up to dash over to Grog.

“Hold on a minute, Pike!” Percy swoops in behind her and scoops her up into his arms, causing Pike to shriek as he lifts her in a hug off her feet. He has his arms wrapped under hers like he was holding a cat.

“Allow me to show you that a noble can indeed have fun,” Percy smirks. He tightens one arm around her while his other hand starts to scribble into her side. Pike jolts with another burst of giggles and attempts pushing on Percy’s arm to squeeze herself free.

“Pehehehercy, wahahait! I was just kihihihidding!” she kicks her feet in the air.

“Of course. I know that, Pike. But I have to protect the reputation of my good name. You understand,” he smiles. Pike’s squirming becomes strong enough to where Percy nearly drops her, but he catches himself and places Pike safely to the ground, though still with one arm wrapped around her and one tickling her to keep her in place. Percy chuckles as he kneels down, takes a seat on the floor, then pulls Pike into his lap to now have the ability to tickle her with both of his hands, sending her giggles even louder. 

Keyleth eventually recovers, arms still wrapped around herself. She processes her surroundings, noticing Vax’s situation.

“Oh no, Vax. Not again,” Keyleth straightens herself out and prepares her hand to summon more vines.

“I’m going to stop you right there, Keyleth!” Vex rams into the Ashari with a giant hug.

“W-What?! Vex, what are you–dohohohoing?!” Keyleth squeaks at the end of her sentence when Vex takes her turn at tickling the Ashari. 

“Well, you were about to help my brother out of his predicament, and I’m quite entertained by his situation. You wouldn’t want to cut that entertainment short, now would you?”

“Buhuhuhut Vax is in trohohohouble!” she giggles in response.

“Nooo, he’s fine. Look at him. He’s smiling, laughing. He doesn’t need our help,” Vex grins. Trinket happily huffs to himself. Seeing that his allies are enjoying themselves, Trinket trots away over to a spot behind a still resting Scanlan to lie down and watch the rest unfold, until his assistance is requested again.

Just then, a giggly scream from Pike catches Grog’s ears. The goliath turns his head to see that Percy is scribbling a hand at Pike’s belly while the gnome kicks and curls her arms around herself.

“Pike! Buddy!” Grog shouts. He drops Vax to the floor like a bag of gold and dashes over to Pike. Percy looks up just in time to see the massive goliath barreling towards him. His eyes go wide and immediately lets go of Pike. He crawls backwards on his arms and lifts himself to his feet as Grog approaches.

“Grog, wait! We can talk about this!” Percy turns to run, but Grog instantly snatches him off the floor and into his arms, holding him very similarly as Percy did to Pike. Grog spins to face his buddy, then wastes no time in digging a set of his fingers into Percy’s side. Percy lets out a startled chortle before his giggles find their way out again. 

“Pick on someone, your own size!” Grog grins behind him.

“Thahahat’s rich cohohoming from yohohohou!” Percy responds. He wiggles and slips his nimble self from Grog’s arms, ducking under them before running. 

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Grog says before he and Pike take off after him.

Vex witnesses Percy is involved in another chase. She chuckles. “See, Percy! Told you it wasn’t over!”

As she finishes her sentence, Vax suddenly lunges at her and tackles her to the floor. 

“And I told you that I would come back for you later,” Vax smirks above her as he darts his hands towards his sister’s sides. A minor shriek releases from Vex before she slaps a hand to cover her mouth, though Vax can see her smile twitching from under her fingers. Her other hand attempts to shove at Vax while the heels of her boots dig at the floor.

“Ah, ah, ah, sister. We will be having none of that. You saw me giggling my head off, it’s only fair that I see yours,” Vax crawls a hand up to her underarm connected to the hand blocking her smile. Vex yanks her hand down with a shriek that results in the joyful sound of laughter.

“Vahahahahax you a–ahahahaha!” The rest of Vex’s sentence is erased by her giggles. 

“Language, sister,” he playfully scolds her, knowing exactly what she was about to say. He turns to the Ashari. “Keyleth, want to provide some assistance?”

Keyleth nods with a smile, “Okay!” The Ashari makes her way over. She sits on her knees on the floor next to Vex’s other side and joins in, scribbling at Vex’s stomach. The giggles of the female twin grow higher in pitch as she attempts to protect and slap away the two pairs of hands scribbling across her torso.

“Twohoho against ohohone? Well I cahahahan play thahahat gahahame too!” Vex exclaims. “Trinket! Hehehelp me!” she shouts across the room.

The bear growls and lifts himself to his feet. Trinket begins charging forward. Scanlan hears the loud pounding of paws behind him and turns his head to see Trinket running in his direction. Scanlan leaps to his feet and runs straight, keeping his eyes on the bear. Meanwhile, Percy turns the corner on the other side of the room and runs right towards Vex, Vax, and Keyleth, though his eyes are also on his pursuers.

Almost at the same time, Scanlan and Percy look forward, seeing not only are they going to crash into each other, but into Vex, Vax, and Keyleth as well. They try to slow their movement, but Pike and Grog crash into Percy, while Trinket crashes into Scanlan, sending everyone crashing into the twins and Keyleth—which creates a party-sized dogpile with all the Vox Machina members.

As the “dust” settles, Trinket, who was on the edge of the pile, lifts himself up and finds Scanlan lying on the edge next to Grog. The bear nuzzles Scanlan’s neck as an apology, which slowly pulls Scanlan out of his dazed state. 

“Trinket,” Scanlan giggles as the bear gets in one final tickle at his neck. He shoves at the bear’s snout. “Come on, cut it out.” 

The bear growls with glee. As Trinket steps back, everyone else begins to slowly emerge from the pile. Eventually, they untangle themselves and stand to stretch their previously squished bodies.

“Well, that was a fight that I bet none of us were expecting,” Vax says as he stretches out his back.

“To think we were taking a day off and ended up fighting each other instead,” Vex mentions. “But that does seem like something we would do, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know about you all,” Keyleth chimes in, “but I thought it was fun. I know I said something earlier with Scanlan’s joke and no one agreed, but I can’t be the only one who thought this was fun, right? I mean, it was enjoyable enough for Percy to join in.” She gestures a hand towards the white-haried man.

Percy crosses his arms. “My hand was forced into the fight, thank you. Under no other circumstances would I have joined.”

Pike shrugs. “Eh, all it takes is a few teases and poking fun at his royal title to get him to hop in,” she teases and smiles at Percy. Percy rolls his eyes, though he returns a warm smile to her as well.

“It was unexpected, but at least it brightened the mood,” Scanlan says. He turns to look up at the goliath. “You did good, Grog,” Scanlan compliments.

“Hehe, thank you,” Grog takes the compliment. He blinks a few times and puts a finger to his chin. “Um…what exactly did I do good again?”

Vax pats him on the arm. “You were just being yourself, big guy.” 

“And we love ya for it,” Pike hugs his ankle. 

“Aww, come here, you!” Grog picks her up in a gentle, but firm hug, then places her on his shoulder with a grin.

Some would say that they’re one odd bunch of adventures, but to them, they’re just one big happy family.

[thebest-medicine]

oooh how about 5. “I’m just… sensitive” with Percy/Vax 👀👀👀

Prompt 5 - "No- I'm just- uh- sensitive."

A/N: yessssssssSSSSSSSS. the boys are flirting.

,,,

“What’s wrong?” Vax asked, drawing back the arm he’d draped around his companion’s neck as he’d flinched away at the contact. He smirked. “Nervous being so close to–”

“No.” Percival pressed, cutting him off. Then, he let out a nervous breath. “I’m just- uh- sensitive… there.” He said quietly.

“‘Sensitive’, Freddy, really?” Vax's smirk widened at him. 

Percy gave him the most annoyed glare he could muster at the moment, but Vax wasn’t buying into it in the slightest.

“Where? Here?” Vax’s arm was back, hand grasping toward his neck. 

“Vax! Leave me alone!” Percy squawked, reeling backwards. “Stop it!” He swatted at the half-elf’s hands and scrambled back a few more steps before he knocked into a chair and nearly tipped over it. “Vax.” 

Vax was beaming, that curious gleam of mischief in his eyes. “Percy…” He sang, then caught him around the shoulders with one arm. It looped tightly, while his other arm scribbled swiftly up to his neck to scamper about for sensitive spots. He smiled jovially as Percy began to squirm, tugging uselessly at his arm. “Did you tell Vex? Kiki? They’re going to love this.”

“Stahop!” Percy hissed, gritting his teeth. “This is undignified!” 

“No, not yet. But you’re about to be!” Vax teased. “Once I find that spot again…” 

Percival screwed his eyes shut, trying to tug his chin down to his chest to no avail. Vax caught a particularly sensitive spot near the nape of his neck that had him squirming madly, butterflies rising in his chest. His knees buckled as he wheezed out a short laugh, and Vax brought them both down to the floor, clamoring over the gunslinger. 

“Dohohon’t!” Percy cried, his face contorting into a smile he desperately sought to avoid. 

“Too late for that now, Mr. ‘Sensitive’.”

…

[more sentence starter fic prompts]

[other sentence starter fics]

[read this & further CR drabbles on ao3]

[thelaughtercafe]

Tension

Tea Type: Subtly Sweet Tea

Potential Triggers: Nothing comes to mind, but let me know if you think something should go here!

Pairing: Vax/F!Reader (Can be read as romantic or platonic!)

Length: 2.2k+

Summary: Vax's observant nature helps him discover you're hiding a few juicy secrets, and he helps encourage you to be more honest in the future.

A/N: So, new fandom, who dis? Yes, I'm now binging Critical Role Campaign 1, and completely whipped for Vax and Percy both. I'm up to the beginning of Episode 40, so no spoilers please but I have quite a few tword fic ideas. Also, I know Silence doesn't work in DND like this, but shhh fic liberties-

Vax was what many would call observant. Used to lingering in the shadows as he was, he found it almost comforting to look over his friends and family both if they lingered where he could see them. He sipped on his ale, watching as you chatted with Vex and Keyleth about something or other. Percy was tinkering with his machine’s as usual, paying the conversations around him no mind, and Scanlan had found himself a friend for the night. Grog had no such luck but he was no less happy to be enjoying ale by the mug full. Pike had also retired early, claiming tiredness and needing to work in a quiet environment unlike Percy. Vax himself was situated just by the bar, debating if teasing Percy or his sister would be more fun when he spotted something interesting. 

You’d quirked up and seemed to be waving your hands in a sheepish refusal. He couldn’t hear it from here what about, and opted to drift closer, expertly maneuvering the crowds of dwarves before he leaned against the wall by the stairs. 

“Really Grog, I appreciate the offer but it already feels better, I promise!”

“Do you doubt Grog’s masseuse skills?”

Vax felt a smile twitch at his lips, eyes narrowing perceptively as you refused again.

“Not at all! All the others rave about how great they are, I just genuinely don’t need one. It was just a spasm! Besides, Percy looks way more tense than I do, look at how the poor guy is hunched over!”

Grog lit up at that and grinned, whacking you on the shoulder cheerfully before moving to attend to Percy. 

“Grog can help with that! Great idea!”

You let out a sigh the moment the goliath turned his back to you, after ensuring the others were occupied. Vex had gone with Keyleth to grab more drinks and they were talking to the bartender, and you didn’t spot him, all but melded into the shadow of the stairs as he was. He saw the way you rolled not one, but both of your shoulders and winced, fingers pressing into and attempting to release the tension stored there.

He smirked darkly.

You were a clever little thing, weren’t you? Redirecting Grog, lying so he wouldn’t worry, feigning. You had a secret and if there was one thing Vax enjoyed? It was finding out that which should not be known. 

…and maybe punishing you, just a little, in the process for trying to pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t and being a naughty little liar. He'd warned you before, as had the others, it wasn't his fault you didn't listen. You had a nasty habit of trying to take on everyone else's burdens while denying your own. 

He figured you’d be retreating to your room sooner rather than later and after a gentle tap and a whisper to Vex telling her not to wait up, he found himself surprised as his sister grabbed his wrist before he could slip away. 

“Take care of her, will you? She’s been rubbing her shoulder anytime she thinks we’re not watching. If you hadn’t come over, I was going to press the issue. Shall I inform Pike?”

He cleared his throat in embarrassment, smiling sheepishly. Of course his sister had seen right through him, and you both. 

“Aye. You know I will. I’ll tell her, depending on how bad it is.” 

His eyes moved from her to where you were watching Percy try to escape Grog with fondness in your eyes. 

“...I have a feeling there’s a reason she’s dodging Grog’s attempts. Something she’s flustered about, if I had to guess.”

A smirk tugged at his lips as his mischievous eyes returned to his sister’s. 

“A shame, that. For her I mean.”

Vex’s look turned scolding. 

“Try and go easy on her, brother.”

He shrugged, amusement flooding him.

“Depends how quickly she folds, I suppose. If she’s stubborn, even I can't help but have a limit to my patience, you know. Besides, she may even enjoy my methods of persuasion. You certainly did~”

A flash of teeth and he dodged her playful slap with a laugh as she blushed. 

“Shut up, Vax! Honestly, I asked once, why can’t you just let it go?”

“Are you actually whining? Heh, does Percy know? Maybe I should-”

Vax couldn’t dodge fast enough this time as Vex tugged him down to hiss in his ear. 

“Breathe a word and Trinket will have your head.”

“Alright, alright, you win! Always so violent to your dear brother aren’t you?”

He brushed off his clothes before looking back over towards you. 

“Alright, I’m off. Wish me luck, hm? And be a dear and cast Silence for me, won’t you?”

Vex’ahlia sighed and with a moment of focus and a mumble it was done. 

“Doing that for her, not you!”

Was called after but Vax waved her off. 

Now all he had to do was hang out; he was sure you’d follow shortly. 

------

You cracked your neck and barely stifled a wince as your shoulder seized again. You hadn’t injured it, but thanks to holding all of your tension in them, and your neck; you were really feeling the effects. 

You felt bad redirecting Grog like that, but you’d seen the way Percy had grasped his shoulder too, and knew he wouldn’t crumple like you would. Lesser of two evils. He gave in eventually, and lucky for him, he probably wasn’t in pain anymore. It was early in the night, but you bid your remaining party goodnight and retired to your room. You jumped at the sight of Vax on your bed before relaxing, rolling your eyes. 

“You could’ve asked and I would’ve just given you the key to my room you know.”

He shot a boyish grin your way. 

“Where’s the fun in that? Besides, it’s good practice for my fingers. Got to keep them loose and limber, you know.”

“Mmhmm.”

You brushed him off as you flitted about your room and got changed for the night behind the folding screen. It had been a pleasant surprise the inn had one as many didn’t. 

You emerged in your nightgown and crossed your arms as you raised an eyebrow at him. 

“So…what’s up? Did you need something?”

He pretended to be stabbed in overdramatic fashion.

“Oh, you wound me! Can’t I come check on my favorite party member without ulterior motives?”

“Sure, you can and have before. But you’re typically chatty, and occasionally tipsy. You seem barely buzzed and you’ve been oddly quiet for you in general, let alone if this was one of your typical calls. You can tell me if I’m wrong but…I don’t like that look in your eye.”

He smiled, and moved to sit up from where he’d been laying on your bed, tossing his dagger carelessly. He placed it on the bedside table. He was already changed, you noted. In black two piece pajamas, and you’d spotted his black robe behind the curtain. Was he planning on staying overnight? You didn’t mind, of course but again…this was too meticulous. He was planning something, you just weren’t sure what. 

“What look might that be, darling?”

You hesitated and then swallowed, something giddy and nervous at once stirring in you as you felt heat in your cheeks and it made you look away. 

“Anticipation. You look not unlike the cat who got the cream. You almost look…predatory, if I had to pick the right word.”

“How frightening~ It’s nothing so serious as all that! “

He moved to stand and you stood your ground as he approached you, finally returning your gaze to his hazel eyes.

“How’re your shoulders?”

He placed his hands on your shoulders and he felt the way you tensed, racking your brain for an excuse. 

“Oh, you heard my conversation with Grog earlier, huh? Like I said, it was just a spasm. I’m fine now-”

His smile widened a tad and then he squeezed, with just the right amount of pressure to get the reaction he guessed at. 

“For reheHEal!” 

You tried to play it off as a cough, bending over and shoving at him to try to get him to release you. He did, backing up a step or two as he observed you. 

“Sorry about that. Worst time to get a cough.”

You mustered an apologetic smile, shaky though it was and Vax let his eyes narrow. 

“...Do you think I’m an idiot? You’re lying again? This is starting to become quite the habit. C’mon, lemme see.”

The expression you made was priceless but Vax kept his unamused expression as he grabbed you by the arm and dragged you over to the bed, gently sitting you down and then looking at you expectantly. Poor thing. You were clearly having an inner debate in your mind over what to do. Shame he wouldn't give you any more time. He motioned to the bed as he moved to stand. 

“Well? Go on, lay down. Let me see how bad it is.”

“It’s really nothing Vax, I swear! Just drop it!”

“Oh right, because you jolting like a scared gob’ was so subtle. If there’s truly nothing wrong then let me see.”

Gods he was such an asshole. Why did your reactions have to be so damn entertaining? …Still, he was absolutely going to Hell for leading you on like this. 

You reluctantly laid down face down and he situated himself at your hips, ensuring you weren’t in pain before continuing. 

“Alright, now you better tell me if anything hurts. I’ll know if you lie again. Got it?”

You nodded and he couldn’t help his smirk now that you couldn't see him, though his voice kept that concerned, slightly hard edge as he dug into your shoulders at once. 

You damn near about seized and your hand rushed to cover your mouth.

“Did that hurt?”

You shook your head and he growled. 

“You must really think I’m blind or something! You can’t even talk!”

Oh, yeah. Definitely going to Hell. 

Now that he was feeling your shoulders, though, it was obvious you had a lot of tension. No wonder you’d been rubbing them earlier. He let his thumbs do most of the work digging in and though he heard you squeak, now and again, every time he asked if you were in pain you denied. It was when his index and middle finger found a knot of tension on the cusp of your neck and shoulder that you finally broke, and tried to reach back to tap his leg, laughing. 

“Fhuhuhuck Vax please! It doesn’t huhuhurt it-it thihihihihckles!!” 

He giggled himself and stopped for a moment to crack his fingers before he answered, all casual nonchalance. 

“About time you admitted it.”

You whimpered in embarrassment and he would bet money you were beyond grateful he couldn't see your expression as you hid your face in your pillow. 

“You knew?! Why didn’t you say anything then!?”

“As payback. For lying, both to Grog and most especially, to me. Next time, tell the truth and I won’t have to be so…”

He spidered fingertips over your shoulders to hear you laugh before pulling back again. 

“Willfully ignorant.”

You groaned. 

“You’re the worst.”

“I hope you know I’ve just started. All joking aside, your shoulder and neck are wrecked, love. Ticklish or not, you’ll feel leagues better if I work these out.”

“You can’t!”

Your instant response gave him pause. 

“What are you so worried about? Surely you must know I’d never judge you for something as paltry as being ticklish.”

“It’s…not that. Gods, Vax, I swear if you tell anyone else-”

You whirled to look at him and he met your eyes unflinchingly. 

“I won’t. I swear it.”

You hesitated and then hid your face again after deeming him to be telling the truth.

“I…I don’t entirely hate it. Truth be told, it’s the opposite. I really…enjoy it.” 

He couldn’t help snickering, but he was quick to clarify at how silent you got, to reassure you. 

“I-hehe. Oh, shit. I’m not laughing at you. I promise. Just, oh Lord, give me a second.”

He finally collected himself, running a hand through his hair and sighed.

“You’re not the first person to tell me that. It’s too cute for me not to laugh. If you ever want to be tickled you know all you have to do is ask.”

“You say that like it’s easy but-”

“But you’d prefer to be a brat to get me to tickle you instead because it’s easier, hm? In character for you. I’m fine with that. For now.”

“For now?”

“Yes. For now. If you keep hiding things from us for what you believe is our benefit, and putting yourself down- now I have the perfect way to punish you. Maybe then the lesson will stick that you are anything but less than.”

“Vax…”

He brushed off the vulnerability with ease, returning to his playful affect, as if he hadn't said anything.  

“As I said for tonight, however, I’m more than happy to put you in your place when you act up but…”

You squeaked as he dragged his index finger down your spine, making you shiver. 

“There’s still the matter of all this tension you’re holding. Do I have your permission to deal with it, even if it tickles?”

“Mm…mmhmm.”

“Heh. Good. I’m not going to go easy on you now that I know you like this, I hope you know.”

He leaned down to blow air into your ear before whispering. 

“We’ve got quite a lot of lost time to make up for~”

[bow-of-aros]

Day Twenty-Nine: Magic

Summary:

Mollymauk's been messing with Caleb for the past couple days, and Caleb decides it's high time to return the favour.

Hey folks! This is simultaneously half-assed and probably one of my longer Critical Role ones, so I'm not totally sure what to do with that. I think it's pretty fun though, so I hope that y'all enjoy!! <33

Mollymauk had been pushing his luck as of late.

Sure, he’d already had a penchant for messing with the people in their little family, paying special attention to the so-called “grumps” which basically only included Caleb and maybe Beau on occasion if he was feeling lucky.

But he’d been growing bolder in the past few days. Especially since he’d discovered Caleb’s weakness. Or his “Human switch” is Molly was to be believed.

“One poke and boom! Real human Caleb with a real human smile!” Were his exact words.

His little attacks had been growing more and more frequent. At this point it didn’t matter if they were on an isolated road or a crowded tavern, Molly had gone from tickling him every few days, to every day, to multiple times a day.

It was always in the brief moments when Caleb was distracted, engaged in conversation or reading a book, there was always a purple tail poking at his torso pulling out some humiliating noise or another.

Caleb didn’t exactly mind it per se, but the brief attacks left him an anxious, jittery mess. His guard was almost always up, his eyes were constantly darting over his shoulder, and he was getting tired of it.

He thought about having a proper conversation with Mollymauk about it, but he didn’t want to upset the tiefling, and it truly wasn’t that serious.

So, instead, Caleb figured that he could give Molly a taste of his own medicine.

It didn’t take much planning, truth be told. Caleb’s not exactly the sneakiest of the bunch, but, he does know the spell Unseen Servant. Schmidt was going to be his partner in crime.

It went off without a hitch.

He started cautiously, sending Schmidt to goose Mollymauk’s sides when he was standing next to Jester, earning a startled squawk and immediately sparking a battle between the two of them.

Then, Schmidt would claw into his ribs in a crowded marketspace. The shriek he’d let out had earned his a few stares but was quickly forgotten.

Once, before going to sleep, he’d had Schmidt swipe a line up Mollymauk’s spine and the resulting scream had been deeply rewarding. Caleb had nearly lost the battle of impassivity as he watched Molly launch himself an impressive distance into the air.

Molly’s own attacks began to dwindle as he fell into the same cycle of vague paranoia that Caleb had. Except he didn’t know who to retaliate because it just couldn’t be Mister Caleb no fun Widogast.

Maybe it was time to finally talk to him.

That night, Caleb ensured that they would be taking first watch together and angled himself towards Mollymauk when he took his seat beside him.

“Mighty fine evening, wouldn’t you say, Mister Caleb?”

Excellent. Caleb didn’t even have to start the conversation. “Yes. It’s always nice when I’m not actively freezing.”

Molly huffed out a surprised laugh at the joke, shoulders relaxing as he stares out into the twilight sky.

And then Caleb has Schmidt poke him one last time in the side, just for fun.

“HEY!” Molly’s head whipped around to where Schmidt stood, completely invisible, and then back to where Caleb was sitting, proud smirk on display for all to see.

Molly pointed an accusing finger at him, “You?!” He stammered for a moment, at a loss for words for a moment and eventually settling on, “How? Why? I thought I was losing my damn mind!”

Caleb started ticking off the answers on his fingers, “Unseen servant, for revenge, and ja, how do you think I felt? I am already on edge all the time! I have been unable to relax over these past few days.”

At least Molly had the wherewithal to look a bit guilty at that, which made Caleb feel a bit better.

“Shit, yeah. I guess I got a little over-excited there.” Molly shot him an apologetic grin, “I’m sorry, Caleb. I’ll make sure to cut it out.”

And that brought up a whole new problem. Caleb could already feel his face getting red.

“Ah, well, I don’t entirely mind it, Mollymauk. But—” Caleb was sure to cut off Molly when he opened his mouth, glee colouring his features, “Not all the time. And I truly cannot handle being held in suspense, I really would prefer if I could see it coming so that I can at least get some sleep at night.”

Molly was silent for a while, then held his hand out, “I think you’ve got yourself a deal there, Mister Caleb!”

Cautiously, Caleb reached out to shake his hand and, to his surprise, was allowed to draw his hand back.

About two seconds later, a mischievous grin spread across Molly’s lips and he lifted his hands in order to wriggle his fingers at Caleb.

“Now, is this enough warning for you?”

Nobody could say that Caleb couldn’t think quick on his feet because, the second he saw Molly’s weight shift forward, Schmidt’s hand shot out and wrapped itself around his tail. Molly only had enough time for his eyes to widen as Caleb directed fingers to scratch at the underside of his tail and he pitched face forward into the dirt.

“CahaHAHAHAHALEB! Nonononono SHIT! I CAHAHAHAN’T!” He looked up at Caleb through pleading, watery eyes, and Caleb simply smiled back down at him.

Yes, he could get used to this arrangement.

[tick-fic-nick]

I'm alive! My Christmas treat to you guys, is a drawing of the amazing fic I have linked above. Go ahead and check it out because it's a good one that I always come back to. love your work Poe!

@poesparakeet-fics

[august-anon]

Hey! I just started watching critical role and im lowkey obsessed. If you like the idea, can i please request #9 “Hey, cheer up” with Molly and Caleb (romantic or platonic)? And no pressure since you said you were hesitant about writing for that fandom. thanks!!

no longer taking these prompts, just catching up!

------------------------------

Of course of course!! It's been a While now since I last watched an episode, so hopefully this isn't too OOC lol -- hope you enjoy it!

------------------------------

Cheer Up

Fandom: Critical Role: Mighty Nein

Ship(s): Widomauk (can be read as platonic or romantic! or pre-slash lol)

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Caleb/Ler!Mollymauk

Word Count: 455 words

Summary: Caleb seems a bit sour after things don't go his way in a magic shop. Mollymauk endeavors to cheer him up.

[ao3 link]

-----------------------------

“Hey,” Mollymauk said, bumping their shoulders together. “Cheer up. We’ll find another magic shop. Spells galore.”

Caleb stared down into his untouched ale. “I am not upset.”

Mollymauk leaned over the table and slid into Caleb’s vision, just for Caleb to be able to see him raise an eyebrow.

“I am not.”

Mollymauk hummed, sitting up and downing the last of his ale in one smooth motion. He shoved Caleb’s full drink in the direction of Nott. “Mind swapping roommates for a night?”

Nott narrowed her eyes, but they were hazy with the alcohol she’d already consumed that night and they were quickly drawn to the fresh tankard slid in front of her. Jester jumped in, nearly knocking over Nott’s chair.

“Ooh, we can have a girl’s night! Beau, Yasha – what do you think?”

“What, and Fjord gets a room all to himself?” Beau’s outraged gesture went wide, nearly knocking Caleb in the nose if not for Molly pulling him back.

Instead of listening to the ensuing argument, Caleb found himself tugged out of his seat and toward the stairs. Mollymauk kept a firm grip on his wrist, even as he unlocked the room he decided would be theirs for the night.

“What are we doing?”

“We are going to get a smile on that face if it kills you, which it just might, I’m not sure – when’s the last time you smiled?”

Caleb gave him a flat look. Mollymauk gave him a salacious grin that quickly fell into a wince.

“And then, we are going to get some real rest. Seriously, you look like shit. Have you been sleeping at all?”

“And how exactly do you intend to get me to smile?” It felt like the less loaded question of the two. “I don’t suppose you know any good jokes.”

“Oh, I know plenty. I lived in a circus, after all.” Molly guided him towards a bed, pushing him to sit at the edge of the lumpy mattress. “But I have a much more foolproof method in mind.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”

Mollymauk lit up, his tail twisting into mischievous curly-cue’s behind him as he raised his claws to wiggle in the air between them. Caleb felt all his air leave him in a rush and desperately hoped the flush rising to his cheeks would be hidden by his beard.

“Tell me, Mr. Widogast – are you ticklish?”

Scheiße.

“Mr. Mollymauk–”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

As Caleb was tackled back onto the bed, he spared his last coherent thought to hope that they didn’t get a noise complaint. He wouldn’t want to explain to the rest of their party why he and Mollymauk had gotten kicked out of the inn.

[soft--dragon]

Loosen Up

So recently I finished Vox Machina and if you haven't seen I highly recommend it!! SUCH a good show oh my lord. Can't wait for the third season to drop :D

You can view the relationships however you like, I don't mind ^^ (except Vex and Vax, they're siblings, don't be weird :/)

Word Count: 3,138

Warnings: Kinda spoils a plot line in season one but nothing major ^^

This is a SFW tickle fic, if you don’t like that then don’t read :)

It isn’t a secret that Percy is a bit of a stick in the mud.

Rarely did he let his walls down and simply be. Too caught up in his world of smoking guns and exploding inventions. A lifetime of heartache shutting his heart away in a cast iron keep that very few had a key to access. This also meant emotions such as joy, love, and contentment were rare to be exposed from behind those defensive gates.

That was before Vox Machina. 

A chaotic, rambunctious group of outcast individuals working with the skills they had to make it through another day. A ragtag family doing its best to survive in a world that would spit at their feet and tell them to fuck off. 

However, this family knew how to tell the world right back to fuck off too. 

Percy honestly couldn’t imagine his life with these people a few years ago, but now he simply could not fathom a reality without them. Tight-knit and stupid and loving, never faulting in their care. It was something Percy told himself to never take for granted, no matter how much they tested his patience. 

Much like tonight, where he was being subjected to the most irritating forces known to man: Vex and Vax when they were on the hunt for entertainment.

Percy is sitting near the fire, sketchbook in hand with rough charcoal drawings of new inventions scattering the pages. Vex and Vax have boxed him in by sitting on either side, peering at his notes and asking such incomprehensibly odd questions Percy wanted to know who the hell tutored these two monsters.

Honestly Vax, why would a pistol need a compartment for snacks? 

It took almost fifteen minutes before Percy's patience gave in and the notebook snapped shut with a dull thud. “Are you two quite finished?” Percy demands, staring at the duo with a narrow gaze. 

Vex grins, raising a hand in surrender. “We’re curious about your new inventions, love. Is there something wrong with that?”

Percy huffs, tucking his book into the folds of his jacket that is laid not too far from the flames, warming up for the night ahead. “Only when you keep badgering me to make a glove that turns whatever it touches into gold.”

“It would be quite helpful, dear.”

“And far out of my current capabilities, I’m not a wizard.”

“Oh, give yourself some credit, Freddy,” Vax grins. “Grow a beard and I’d say you’re plenty wizard-like. With your lifespan, you’ll need a cane before you know it, and it could act as your staff.”

Percy glares at him under half-lidded eyes. “Thank you, Vax’ildan,” he says sarcastically. “Remind me that I will die much sooner than the rest of you, just what I needed to hear tonight.”

Vex snickers, gently bumping his shoulder with her own so those green eyes look at her. “Oh come on, we’re just messing with you, Percival. What’s got you so grumpy this time?”

Percy gave her a mildly incredulous look. “I’m not grumpy.”

“He says while glaring, and with a bitter tone of voice,” Vax murmurs with a grin. 

Percy shoots him a dry look which the male elf only laughs at. “See? That’s exactly what I mean, man!”

Vex’ahlia laughs, dropping her arms over her bent legs and cocking her head to the side. “What is it gonna take to make you loosen up, Percy?”

“A good bottle of wine, some peace and quiet, and a book.”

“We have two silver to our name and a bear,” Vax counters. “Can’t quite match your aristocrat taste, but Trinket tells great stories.”

Trinket, nestled comfortably at the edge of the cave where the other party members are conversing, does not indicate that he knows, nor cares that his owners are talking about him. Percy envied that damn bear, able to go to sleep and easily block out the surrounding sounds. What a dream life. 

“Trinket is busy sleeping,” Percy tells them, “his stories will have to wait.”

Vex isn’t dissuaded by Percy’s bristling attitude, instead leaning more into his personal space just because she can. “Darling,” she says, “We just want to help you relax, is this such a big ask?”

“...Yes.”

“Aeugh, the drama of this man,” Vax chuckles through an exasperated breath, elbowing Percy’s side gently. 

The white-haired human flinches away from the contact with a start, his hand shooting down to rub the area. “Yes, yes, you’ve stated I am a dramatic piece of shit more than once, Vax. I believe your point is made.” 

The twins aren’t listening to Percy’s grumbles. The second he flinched, they’d locked eyes, a conversation played out with expression alone.

Vex narrows her gaze. Hurt?

No. Healed by Pike from the last mission.

Just startled, then? 

Seemed more than that. He knew we were right there.

So what are you thinking? 

Perhaps…

Vex perks a brow at her brother when his expression suddenly brightens in some kind of realization. Her eyes flit over to Percy who was unaware of their silent musings, still resolutely crossing his arms with a scowl that the fire did not deserve to be subjected to. She looks back to her sibling who is grinning now. Vax gives a small flex of his fingers, his eyebrows jumping up and down. Understanding hits Vex and her smile turns evil, nodding minutely. They wink at each other, the excitement for a game making them giddy though they contained it. Couldn’t let Percy catch on too early after all. 

“Percy~” Vex coos in her sultry voice, not missing the slight twitch in his face from her tone. The sight makes her all the more eager to extract the plan she and her brother had silently communicated. She lifts her fingernails to her eyes to examine them. “You sure we can’t convince you to loosen up at least a little?”

There was a scoff. “I’d like to see you try,” Percy muttered.

Oh excellent, an invitation. 

“Well, if the man insists, Stubby, who are we to ignore him?” Vax leaps for the opportunity with a grin that’s all charm and Cheshire-like. 

“I agree,” Vex smirks. “Shall we?”

Simultaneously, the two half-elves grab one of Percy’s wrists each and fling him onto his back, his arms being pinned by his head. A startled yelp leaps out of the human, the sudden gravity shift leaving him to stare up at the pair of matching grins. He tugs at his arms. They won’t budge. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Percy asks, bewildered and slightly on edge. 

“You said we could try and loosen you up,” Vex answers.

“By wrestling me to the dirt and pinning me down?” 

“Oh no, we just had to get you in a better position, dear heart,” Vax smirks.

“A better pos- for what?” 

The bemused and exasperated question only delights his captors further, and this is where Percival Fredrickson de Rolo the Third realizes a very fatal error. He had been encouraging the chaotic force that was the Elf Twins. He'd practically been asking for trouble. This realization only sinks in further when Vax’s free hand comes down to rest on Percy’s clothed stomach.

“Percy, you wouldn’t happen to be ticklish would you?” 

Oh.

Oh gods, no.

Memories spring to Percy’s mind of laughing himself hoarse while dogpiled under his siblings from the silly battles. The sensations scuttling everywhere, unstoppable and unbearable. His realization shows up in his face in the form of a pink flush and the beginnings of a wobbly grin that he desperately tries to keep under control.

“Oh, I see a smile trying to come out there!” Vex leers keenly, lowering her own hands to wiggle her fingers close to Percy’s side, delighting in his immediate response to wriggle away despite his efforts to seem indifferent to his dilemma. 

“V-Vex, this is ludicrous-” Percy splutters, his grin becoming wider by the second, his resolution foiled from years of inexperience in this game. 

“So you are ticklish, then?” Vax questions, his fingers gently pressing from where they are resting atop Percy’s lean stomach. 

The flinch and sharp intake of breath was answering enough. Percy’s ears were starting to burn from the attention, torn between wanting to wrench away and escape this playful teasing, or staying and trying to muscle through in a show of defiance. 

“I’m- it’s been a very long time since someone has tried,” Percy answers stiffly. 

The way the twins lit up made him cringe back, instantly knowing that was the worst thing he could’ve said.

“Well now we have to tickle you,” Vex exclaims like her word is law. Though, with her role in the group, it may as well be. 

Percy is most definitely blushing now. It was honestly adorable. “N-No you don’t!” He protests, his boots now shuffling into the dirt in hopes of dislodging his sudden capture. “I’m not even tihicklish!” Damn it.

“Was that a laugh?” Vax coos, delighting in a sound so rare from Percy who barely even grins on a good day. Percy is doing his best to try and become an ostrich with how far he’s turning his flushed face into the ground, stumbling refusals not quite managing to leave his lips coherently. 

“Why my dear brother, I think it was,” Vex chuckles. ‘Shall we see what else we can pull from our resident sour puss?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Electricity crackles through Percy’s sides and stomach in a split second, a strangled sound being pulled from a forgotten section of his vocal cords. His whole body instantly jack-knifes, legs trying to pull to his stomach to protect the sensitive areas suddenly under attack. Stubbornness makes him clamp his lips shut and bite his tongue, not wanting to give the twins the satisfaction of hearing him laugh again. He refused.

“Hmm, seems we’ve got a stubborn one in our hands, Vex,” tuts Vax, his fingers probing up and down Percy’s ribcage, noting every flinch and muffled grunt let out by the human. 

“Oh don’t worry, he’ll crack eventually.” Her eyes meet Percy’s and her smile makes his stomach twist in anticipation. She winks. “They all do.”

Her hand starts to slink down to his hip bones and- Nope. Nope. Nope. Not gonna happen, he’d rather get possessed by a demon again. Percy’s struggling kicks up, trying to find momentum with his legs to dislodge the grip pinning his wrists to the cave floor, still fighting not to crack as Vax’s fingers deftly squeeze his sides. He almost manages to heave himself to sit up, but a well-placed scratch at his lower back sends him crashing back down. His legs fly up to his stomach again, desperate to protect some part of his sensitive body while his chest shakes with restrained laughter. 

“Uh uh, not yet mister, we’re not done with you until you laugh~” says Vex, her hand dropping to lightly scuttle behind Percy’s knee that was right beside her.

Percy yelps, immediately kicking his legs back out, and scrunches into himself in a fast motion. The reaction made the twins pause, and he knew he was royally screwed. 

“Interesting, he might be like you. I think the gentler stuff works better on him,” Vex says to her brother, her hand dropping to Percy’s hips once more and scuttling her nails featherlight across the man’s skin.

“NoHAHaha!” Percy protests, his yelp swimming between stolen laughter that tries vainly to escape his throat, his head being tossed back against the floor as his body tries to do an emergency lockdown on his vocal cords. 

“Brilliant, sister,” Vax chuckles, and before Percy can prepare himself, he spiders his claws up along Percy’s stretched torso with a softened touch.  

Immediately, Percy sputters, and the dam finally cracks. “S-Shihihihit! Vehehex! Vahahax! Ohoho gohohod!” Percy gasps out through fits of boyish laughter, a sound so out of character for the gunslinger that it takes the twins aback in surprise.

His cheeks are flushed a rosy pink, standing out against his pale complexion and white hair. A wide, mirthful smile cracked out against his brooding face, nose scrunching in a way that couldn’t be described as anything but endearing. His body didn’t know whether to fight or fold, the long-forgotten instinct of childhood leaving him withering and laughing from the soft fingertips spidering along sensitive skin.

“Well, how about that,” Vax murmured, something gentle in his voice despite the mean wiggling of his nails on a particularly sensitive rib. “He can laugh.”

“Oh much more than that, dear brother,” Vex smiled fondly. “He isn’t grumpy now.”

Experimentally, her fingers swirl up Percy’s unprotected ribs to dance gently under his arm to see if it would have much effect. Oh, and it does. Percy practically squeals. High-pitched and panicked and childlike, his struggles for his pinned arms make a reappearance as the sensitive hollows are attacked by softly brushing nails. 

“Nononononohohoho VEHEehehex!” He pleads, scuffing the heels of his shoes into the floor in a half-baked bid for relief. “Fuhuhucks sahahake!” 

“That is utterly adorable,” Vax laughs, his own hand coming up to stroke deftly down Percy’s arm from wrist to armpit in a maddening pattern of soft touch. The strokes only elicit more half-bitten squeals and squeaks of protest, most noises swallowed up or blended into Percy’s laughter.

He knew he should feel embarrassed, his pride shattered into pieces from a few measly fingers and well-picked words to crack his defenses, but Percy couldn’t recall a time he’d last been in the middle of a play fight such as this. The sensations are foreign but not forgotten, too much and yet not enough at the same time. It was a conflicting state of escape or endure.

However, when Vax slipped a hand under his buttoned shirt to ghost gentle nails on his bare lower back, he was pretty sure his body got struck by lightning. 

“VAHAHAX! OHOHOhoho mihihy gohohod plehehehease! P-PLEHEhehehease!”” 

Vex and Vax pause in their movements and watch with awed amusement as Percy laughs himself mad from the briefest touch to his back, his full-bodied laughter quickly melting down into rich, honey-sweet giggles that shake his entire body. It didn’t seem real, that a sound so adorably childish could come from Percy’s mouth, and yet here he was, half curled on the ground, giggling up a storm. 

Vex and Vax share a fond, endeared smile and let go of Percy’s wrists, leaning away so he could have space to collect himself. The human wheezes through his tumbling giggles, his arms shifting to wrap around his middle as he slowly calms down. His eyes, which had been tightly closed, flutter open to show mirthful tears at the edges.

“F-Fuhucking hehehell,” he gasps, “I thohought I wahas gohohing to dihie.”

“Oh relax, we like you too much to kill you,” Vex snickers, offering her hand to Percy. She has to hold back a snort when he flinches mildly at her fingers, eyeing them distrustfully. “We’re done,” she promises.

After a suspicious look, Percy grasps her hand and allows her to tug him into a sitting position. One of his arms is still wrapped protectively around his stomach, his hand reaching far enough to rub that damn spot Vax had tickled for three seconds which caused him to fall apart. 

“Remind me to never piss you off,” Percy rasps, taking off his glasses to rub the tears in his eyes away.

Vax leans over to his supplies to snatch up his water skin, offering it to Percy who took it gratefully. “So,” Vax starts, watching Percy drink water like he hadn’t had it in years. “Soft touch and bad back, huh?”

Percy almost chokes. With a rough swallow, he recorks the water skin and clears his throat, stubbornly not looking at either of the twins. “Like I said, it’s been a long time. I didn’t think I still even was… well, you know.”

“What? Ticklish?’

Vex’s gentle tease makes Percy’s face burn for what felt like the millionth time that evening. He shoves his glasses back on his face despite the heat in his cheeks making them fog up mildly. The reaction makes the twins chuckle.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, Percy dear,” Vex soothes, an arm wrapping around his shoulders and rubbing gently at the nape of his neck - tension knotting the area from hours of leaning over a workbench while inventing. Percy winced at the attention, both from the anticipation of another attack and the ache of his tense muscles. 

“It’s embarrassing,” Percy grumbles without much heat, sounding like a petulant kid. “My siblings always ganged up on me because of it.”

“You have a nice laugh, I can see why they would,” Vax hums, tucking his water skin back into his nearby cloak.

The surprised look on Percy’s face almost made Vex tackle him back to the floor and tickle him again just so he could hear how precious his laugh was. She held herself back though, he’d had enough for tonight anyway. He hadn’t been tickled in years, he’d need to be introduced back to the game slowly. Tonight was an excellent first lesson. 

“So, Percy’s ticklish then?”

The sudden voice made the trio jump and look up to the other side of the cave where the rest of Vox Machina were watching them with grins. Scanlan, who’d asked the question, chuckled at the human’s sudden flush. “Yeah no, we saw the whole thing, de Rolo. Don’t expect this to be the last time, that was cute as fuck.”

Grog chuckled deeply. “Very cute,” he agreed in that rumbling voice of his. Pike, who was sat atop his shoulder nodded enthusiastically in agreement. 

“Had no idea you could laugh like that, Perce,” she chirped, glancing at Keyleth who giggled softly. 

“It was quite sweet,” the Air Ashari tacked on.

Percy stared at the group of people he called family, his eyelid twitching slightly and cheeks flushed a rosy pink. His gloved hands come up to press over his face, knocking his head into his bent knees, wishing the floor would just cave in and murder him quickly. 

“Aww, I think we’re embarrassing him,” Vax cooed, his hand resting atop Percy’s head and gently ruffling his hair in a brotherly fashion. “It’s alright, Giggles, you know we do it out of love.”

“F’ck off and die,” came the muffled grumble buried into Percy’s hands.

The twins cackled, pleased that they not only thoroughly shattered Percy’s indifferent demeanor, but got him flustered beyond repair from simple, playful affection and loving words. They were gonna have fun with this new information. It was their right as a family to carry on the de Rolo tradition of making Percival Fredrickson de Rolo the Third laugh, they wouldn’t let Percy’s late siblings down on that front.

[amazingmsme]

Looking For This?

AN: Aaahh, it’s that time of year again! Tickletober is finally here, so why not get cozy & read some great fics? To kick things off I have a really cute Fjord/Jester fic for y’all to enjoy! Can’t wait to see what this month has in store!

Fjord was going to go crazy. He was currently searching his cabin frantically, turning the room upside down in search of one accessory. A very important accessory. Without it, his whole look was ruined. A captain's hat needed a large feather.

It was regal, it was a status symbol, and it just tied the outfit together. Without it, he'd look fucking stupid.

He didn't even know how he'd lost it! It had been pinned to the hat, and last he had checked it had still been there. They were supposed to be leaving soon, and he refused to leave without it. He was Captain Tusktooth, and he needed to look the part.

Jester watched from the doorway as Fjord grumbled to himself, looking through drawers and pulling back the covers on the bed. She smirked to herself, hiding the source of his frustration behind her back.

"Where the hell did it go?" he finally cried in frustration.

"Looking for this?" she asked in a lilting voice, pulling the feather out from behind her back. Fjord jumped at the sound of her voice and turned around, relief washing over his voice.

"Jester, you're my hero! I've been looking for that everywhere, thank you!" he exclaimed, holding his hand out expectantly. His relieved smile faded when Jester just stood there with a wide, innocent smile, twirling the feather between her fingers. "Um, are you gonna give that back now?" he asked, eyeing her hands nervously.

She giggled and cocked her head to the side. "And why would I do that?" she asked sweetly. She rocked back and forth in her feet, tail lashing behind her mischievously.

"B-because I need it. Because it's mine-"

"Finders keepers though! I just found it sticking off this goofy hat, and thought, "hey, wouldn't it be better if I just took it?" So I did!"

"Goofy? Your mother gave me that hat!"

"Oh relax Fjord, I'm just teasing! I think you look very handsome in your hat," he complimented, mostly to keep him at ease.

"So can I have it back?" he pressed, motioning with two fingers for her to return it. She bit her lip and gripped it closer.

"In a minute."

"Jester-"

"I just wanna play with it first!" she whined, jutting her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. Fjord furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Play with-" it suddenly dawned on him and his eyes flew wide and he cut himself off mid-sentence, "No! Jester, don't! We're supposed to meet Caleb and Essek soon, we really don't have time-"

"There's always time for a bit of fun. Don't you think?" she cocked her head and batted her lashes, the picture of fake innocence.

"No. I'm serious, please give it back," he requested yet again, trying not to let his nerves seep into his voice. But she could read him like a book, and knew that he was getting worked up. It was too perfect not to take full advantage of.

"But you're so tense Fjord! You need to loosen up before we go to dinner," he insisted, taking a step forward. He took a step back.

"Absolutely not! Stay away from me!" he threatened, pointing at her accusingly.

"What? I thought you wanted it back. I'm just returning it to you," she was doing a poor job of holding back her grin. He shook his head.

"Mm-mm, I'm not falling for it."

"Falling for what?"

"Jester!"

"Fjord!"

He leaned back, griping fistfuls of hair and groaning in amused frustration. He wore a flustered smile, watching her from the corner of his eye.

"We have to get going, they'll be waiting on us.”

"They can get a table! It won't kill them to wait a few minutes."

Fjord whined, realizing there really was no way out of this.

"You're lucky you're so cute. Alright fine. Five minutes, but no more," he finally caved.

"And no less," she purred, waltzing over to him proudly now that she got her way. She began slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

Fjord opened his mouth to quip back, but a breathy chuckle escaped as she drug the feather down his chest. He twitched away, but she followed the movement, caressing the skin with soft plumes. He snorted when she moved down towards his ribs, throwing his head back when she sawed the feather in the spaces between the bones.

"Jehehes- plehehease!"

"Please what, Fjord? I'm not a mind reader, you know," he teased, sweeping the feather higher towards his armpit. He clamped his arm down with a loud bark of laughter, heat rising to his cheeks.

"Oh come ohon! D-don't behehe mehean!" he snickered as the feather traced his belly.

"Aw, don't you worry, I am being so nice right now."

"Thahahat's debahatable!" She gasped at his words, fluttering the feather a little faster. He shrieked before falling into a fit of giggles. He blushed and latched onto her wrists, but didn't bother pushing away.

He offered her five minutes of fun, and he was a man of his word.

And, well, maybe he was enjoying himself... just a little.

[stray-tickles]

Concentration

Read on AO3

Summary: A tickle fight breaks out, but Caleb can't participate because he needs to concentrate on his spell. No, really.

--

Jester hadn’t met any other tieflings before, besides her mama. Hadn’t met many other people, really, until she’d gone off travelling and found her group of friends. She hadn’t known what she’d expected to find out in the big wide world, but Molly was one that she’d never dreamed of.

Her mama had told her how not everyone felt the same as they did about things. How humans and half elves and orcs and goblins were a bit odd about touch in a way that she’d never understand. Jester had never been one to resist the urge to cuddle, to hug, to poke and play with those closest to her.

Molly, apparently, was the same. Jester had barely squeaked out a few giggles at his teasing prods to her belly when she pounced, fingers slipping past the edges of his coat to wriggle at his ribs and draw out delighted snorty laughter.

She giggled at how quickly he folded. “You could have asked, Molly.”

He definitely flushed at her words, illuminated by the edge of Caleb’s dome. “No- pfhaha- no fun!”

Jester could hear the others talking in the background, their voices coloured with amusement. Molly was curled up into a weak ball, twitching at her tickly assault, otherwise not resisting but to hiccup with laughter.

“You have such a good smile Molly, I should tickle you forever, then it would never stop!” Her fingers climbed to burrow into his armpits and earn a loud shriek. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Molly was laughing and kicking too hard to speak, but he managed a nod amidst his squirming.

Jester chuckled evilly. “Hehehe, did I find your worst spot, huh?” She continued to wriggle her now trapped fingers in his armpits, loving how dark purple he got. “Is this your tickly tickle spot?”

A soft voice just behind her made her jump. “Try his tail.”

Jester stopped in surprise, looking around to see a somewhat awkward looking Yasha, eyes fixed deliberately on the rain falling just past the edge of their little dome.

Molly wheezed for breath, feeling very warm and buzzy. “Traitor!” He shouted weakly, rolling onto his back for completely unrelated reasons.

“Oh?” That seemed to get Jester’s attention back on him. Presently, Molly wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not. “Is she right?”

Molly swallowed nervously, that giggly anticipation swelling up in his stomach. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

She giggled. “I’m gonna find out!”

He could feel himself grinning, and made no move to get up. “Best of luck to you!”

Jester glared playfully and made a grab for his tail, which Molly smugly twitched away at the last second. He was chuckling by her third attempt to catch it, and was just about to say something mocking when he felt something that sent a shock up his spine.

Jester’s tail, which had apparently wormed its way under him to the giant weak spot that was his lower back.

His eyes locked on to hers with horror, noting her smug satisfaction. So it had all been a trick. “You little- SHIT!” Molly was interrupted by a loud shriek when Jesters tail started wriggling like a worm against his back, and also, horribly, allowing her to finally catch his tail, which she assaulted with fingers that fluttered so lightly he felt like he’d die.

And okay, Molly could admit that he loved this, loved the play and the laughing and the warmth and the touch, but that didn’t mean he could handle it.

He managed barely a moment of squealing laughter before the thrashing began, twisting and rolling around to escape her tail from poking and wriggling against his back as he cackled wildly, tugging frantically at his own tail if only for the chance to catch his breath.

Then Jester’s tail found the hem of his shirt, and the moment it touched bare skin Molly shot straight out of her grip with a scream, right out the side of the protective dome.

Jester burst out laughing, only laughing harder when Molly returned a moment later, plastered with rain and catching his breath.

“Oh, you think this is funny?” Molly asked playfully, then surprised Jester by pouncing past her, somehow tackling Yasha to the ground.

“No- Molly wait-” She managed, before clasping both hands hard over her face and giggling.

Jester cooed at Yasha’s flushed face and soft laughter, then let her eyes scan over the rest of them for her next target.

And, well. Their wizard’s ears were very red.

She grinned. “Oh Caaay-leb…”

He glanced up from his bedroll, jittery as usual. “J-ja?” Then caught the look in her eye. “Ah- no, no, nein!” He yelped, scrambling backwards away from her. “Nein!”

Jester snickered, following him and wiggling her fingers playfully. “Are you like, super ticklish or something?”

Caleb curled in on himself, locking his arms at his sides. “Nein!” Oh gods, this was bad, he could tell from Jester’s smirk this was bad.

Then a familiar clawed hand squeezed at his side and it became worse. “AHA- noplease!”

Nott snickered. “But Caleb, you just said you’re not ticklish!”

“Yeah!”

He was trapped between them, and Caleb knew, knew he was going to perish. “No- wait! The spell, I need- I cannot lose concentration!”

A lie. One he was honestly quite proud of given the circumstances, but one that they could very well see through.

Instead, Jester shrugged, a disappointed pout on her lips. “Ugh, right.” She paused. “You can recast it though…”

Nott batted her away, clearly cowed by the thought of letting the rain in, and the two backed off, leaving Caleb sitting on the soft base of the dome, watching Jester leap onto Fjords back and dig her fingers into his stomach in a way that had him cackling in seconds.

This was… good. This was what he’d wanted after all. He was not being attacked, not made to laugh like a fool, to shriek and squirm like Nott was after her attempt to get Beau backfired. He didn’t want to feel like that, even if they did look happy and close in a way that made Caleb’s heart ache. This was… better.

It wasn’t like he could bear to look any of them in the eye once they found out how godforsaken ticklish he was anyway. It had never been a trait that had felt like it fit him. Caleb was awkward and stuffy and dry, it- it didn’t suit him to drop to the ground giggling from the littlest wiggle at his stomach.

It was silly.

Besides, it had been years since anyone had felt comfortable and playful enough to tickle him, Caleb wasn’t sure it would even work, if he remembered how he was supposed to react.

He’d never known how to react to things properly. He felt his lips twitch up slightly. That had always been what felt so… easy, about being ti- touched like that. He had no choice in his reactions, no chance of saying the wrong thing when he couldn’t speak for laughing, his self-consciousness unable to bury his smile in the face of that bright sparkling silliness.

Ah, gottsverdammt. He wanted that.

He glanced over to Molly and Yasha, who had now switched places, Yasha’s fingers worrying at Molly’s ribcage enough to have him in fits of giggles, flushing dark violet and grinning so big it looked like it hurt. Caleb’s arms tightened around his sides, his sympathetic smile getting a little wider. He could almost feel it, Yasha’s fingertips softly but persistently plucking at his own ribs, melting away his resolve in a moment, turning his bones into goo.

Caleb cleared his throat in a way that he hoped was just attention-grabbing enough, and unbuckled one of his books from its holster, finding that for once he wasn’t able to concentrate on the words on the page in the way that was normally so distracting for him, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was normally distracting. That he couldn’t maintain concentration while reading.

They all knew that.

Which was why it was so disappointing when they were all so distracted by their playful roughhousing to notice. After a few minutes, Caleb half-faked an irritated sigh and summoned his lights. It was getting to dark to read, which would be a problem if he was trying to read. It did have three globules of light circling his head though, and that had to be enough.

It was, to his eternal chagrin, not.

Mollymauk was curled up in a giddy giggly ball by the time Caleb realised that this wasn’t working, and decided to tuck himself into his bedroll and pretend to sleep. At least this way he didn’t have to look at them.

He didn’t quite notice Fjord’s now wheezing giggles come to a halt, nor the soft footsteps creeping over to him. In fact, Caleb didn’t notice anything at all until a hand snuck under the edge of his bedroll and a nail drew a very quick, very ticklish line up his foot.

“Scheisse!” He sat bolt upright, feet curling up to him and a hot flush laying claim to his face. It only grew hotter when he saw the mischievous grin levelled at him.

Jester giggled, hopping onto his knees. “Hiiiii Caleb.”

He swallowed. “Uh- H-hallo, Jester.” Oh dear.

She leaned closer, grin widening, and actually this might have been a mistake.

“So, you like, totally need to focus so the dome stays up, right?”

Caleb cleared his throat. “I-ah… Ja.” He barely resisted the urge to push himself backwards.

Jester pretended to think. “Is it super hard to concentrate when you’re sleeping?”

The question spurred a smug snicker from Molly, who was still giggly and floppy, snuggled up to Yasha.

“U-uh… ja.” Oh dear, he was getting jittery.

Fjord snorted an exhausted laugh. “Quit messing with him and get to it.”

“Ja!” Caleb blurted, then flushed red. “I-I mean nein, no!”

Jester laughed delightedly. She loved the game. “Sooooo… don’t stop messing with you?”

“Jester bitte!”

She grinned widely. “Maybe I should just let you go…”

By the way her eyes glinted, Caleb knew she had noticed his hesitation, his startled silence at her words, his lack of real protests. She knew that he wanted this, and the thought had him shrinking back and squeezing his eyes shut.

Jester held back a giggle. Well, if he was going to leave himself open like that…

Soft hands latched onto Caleb’s sides, followed by surprisingly gentle claws scratching at the fabric of his shirt and skin and he let out a loud squeak, flopping onto his side. He was already smiling, he could feel it, trying desperately to muffle further squeaks and giggles that the niggling, playful feeling elicited, shit.

Jester’s smile grew bigger. “Aww, Caleb you have such a sweet smile!” She cooed. Caleb’s hands came up to cover his reddening face, and her fingers shot up under his arms, getting a loud snort and breaking through what little control he had.

Caleb’s elbows snapped down too late, only trapping Jester’s hands in what was, apparently, a very ticklish spot, though he didn’t have the time to think about that given he was trying and failing to control his stuttering laughter. One eye cracked open and he immediately wished he hadn’t, when he saw the fond, knowing grin that Nott was giving him from her bedroll. She knew, of course she knew, and the thought had him burrowing into his own bedroll.

That playful laugh melded with his own squeaky giggles for a moment. “Where do you think you’re going?” Jester teased, even as Caleb burrowed deeper, away from her delightfully horrible claws. Not to escape, even in his growingly delirious state he didn’t want to get away. But there was nothing quite so delightful as being chased.

Fingertips vibrating under his arms already had Caleb cackling helplessly and writhing like a fish on a line, but when Jester’s littlest fingers started delicately scratching at his top ribs at the same time he screeched.

On the edges of sanity, a chuckle broke through. “Oh, this I gotta see.”

Schiesse.

Caleb wasn’t sure it would be possible to curl up into a tighter ball than the one he was in, but he tried his best, as he heard the footsteps coming closer.

It was a mercy that Mollymauk only moved the blanket aside enough to whisper in his ear. “Doing okay there, Widogast?”

Even his breath tickled, Caleb lamented, keeping his helplessly laughing face as hidden as he possibly could.

Molly laughed quietly. At a guess, none present had seen Caleb laugh before, or smile beyond that wry smirk he sported once in a blue moon. And this, this was something else. Who would have thought their wizard could get so melty? A quick glance to Jester confirmed it, they were definitely doing this again. Regularly, if he had any say in it at all.

He let his claws trace down Caleb’s neck experimentally, eyes widening at the full body shiver that ran through the wizard. Oh. This was too good.

Caleb… wasn’t sure if he was capable of thought, anymore. Jester’s hands had migrated to poking and squeezing at his abominably sensitive ribcage, and Molly, damn him, was tracing and scratching at his ears and neck, laughing just close enough that his warm breath brushed Caleb’s skin as well, and everything was tingles and static and tickles.

He hiccupped. “Please- ehe- ohno please!”

Jester’s hands slowed, Caleb could just about make out her disappointed pout. Mollymauk’s teasing claws only continued to trace and skitter around his neck and ears, wiggling teasingly under his chin as he leaned closer. “Please what?”

Jester caught on quickly. “Oooh, please keep tickling you?” She started gently kneading his stomach, getting wheezing laughter and a fiery blush in response. “Oh my gosh, Caleb, you’re ticklish, like, everywhere.”

Caleb whined, past the point of doing much other than curling up into an utterly ineffective ball. “J-Jehester please, Molly!”

Molly’s claws had migrated to wriggle under his arms. He leaned closer, amid the wizard’s incoherent begging. “Do you want us to stop?” He murmured, to quietly for any but Jester to hear.

Caleb knew the answer to that question. “Nein!” He squealed. “Nein!”

Molly pressed a long kiss to his cheek, smiling. “I thought not.” He grinned, then with a parting pat on the head, leapt away to wrestle one of Caleb’s legs from the blanket.

Knowing now that he was safe to, Caleb kicked playfully, as if he had any chance of deterring Mollymauk whatsoever.

He squeaked unexpectedly when Jester wormed her fingers around him to scratch at his lower back. She laughed. “Molly he’s almost as bad as you here!”

He grinned in return, getting a good grip on Caleb’s ankle. “If he were any worse, I think he’d die.”

Caleb cackled his agreement.

“Now, I hear humans have more toes than we do.”

What?

Caleb looked over at him in confusion, panting for breath. “Nein, I do not think-” Then he caught the evil smirk and flushed bright red.

Molly chuckled. “Well, I should count to be sure.”

Caleb mumbled incoherently into his hands, reaching to pull his pillow over his face and shrieking when Jester made as if to dart her fingers under his arms. She snickered. “Aw, I think he’s almost done, Molly!”

“Hmm.” Molly cocked his head at the blushing, giggling lump known as Caleb Widogast. He did seem pretty far gone. But he also seemed happier than Molly had ever seen him, tickle drunk and all.

Always nice to end these things gradually. “Guess I’ll have to take this slow then.”

He noted that Caleb didn’t protest.

He did giggle uncontrollably with every toe that Molly caught between his fingers, wiggling teasingly and scratching a nail up each. Cute.

Caleb was well past the point of doing even as little as curling up in a ball. His mind had become giggly mush, and all his body could do now was shiver and laugh, burying his face in his thin pillow to hide from the world, from anything that would end this sooner than it absolutely had to.

“Hm, you know, I think I’ve actually forgotten how many toes tieflings have.” Molly said, pretending to think, only to quickly knock Jester onto her back and grab her leg too. He smiled wickedly. “Let me check!”

Jester squealed delightedly, already laughing. “Molly!”

He only grinned back, swiping a nail up her sole and getting a loud laugh and sending Jester flopping back onto the ground, right next to a still giggly Caleb.

Molly quickly sat atop both legs, keeping them both pinned and laughing. “Okay, now count with me, you two!”

Jester snorted and burst into loud laughter the moment Molly started wiggling her toes, as much from the silliness as from the tickles. Caleb wasn’t much better, hiccupping with giggles and unable to even try hiding his wide grin from the world. Cuuute.

His eyes cracked open for a moment, squeezing shut again when he noticed Jester’s affectionate gaze on him, arms coming up to cover that smile again.

Oh, no, definitely not, Jester decided, and rolled as close to him as she could with Molly still tickling her like that. Caleb flinched with a loud laugh when she reached for him, only to melt completely into her embrace once he realised what she was doing, burying his face into her shoulder, unable to get rid of the smile for anything.

Molly stopped a moment later, grinning up at the two of them and barely needing Jester’s grabby motion to convince him to join the cuddle pile.

Jester smiled and pressed a kiss to that mess of red hair. Maybe not every human was as different from her as she’d thought.

[thelavendersquid]

Weak Spots

Tickletober Day 4

Essek denies having any weak spots. It doesn't take long to determine that is a lie.

Fandom: Critical Role (The Mighty Nein)

Words: 1.5K

AO3 Link

“So,” Fjord begins, once the little group is settled into the comforts of the dome somewhere deep inside Aeor. Essek is left pondering their comfort in such tight quarters. It’s stressing him out.

Fjord goes on. “We’re probably going to be fighting Lucien in the next day or two and I think we need to get prepared. I know our plans usually go to shit at the last minute but we should at least try. Let’s start with what we’ve got - strengths, weaknesses, put it all out there. I don’t want him to find anything he can use against us that we aren’t prepared for.”

Essek starts to zone out, tuning out the rest of this conversation. They’ll have to forgive him - he really doesn’t need to listen to a list of weaknesses and potential solutions. He’s already accepted his fate. He leans back against one side of the dome, staring off into space and letting his mind drift to the dunamis the group discovered earlier, running through what it could possibly mean.

He’s snapped back to the present when the conversation suddenly shifts to him. “Essek? What about you?”

Essek blinks quickly and pushes himself up a bit straighter, turning to look at the others. “I'm sorry, what was that?”

“I was just asking if you have any strengths, weaknesses, anything we could use against Lucien or he could exploit against us?” Fjord raises an eyebrow at him.

Essek shakes his head. “No particular strengths you haven’t already seen, I’m afraid.”

“What about weaknesses?”

Essek pulls his cloak around himself like a blanket and shakes his head again. “Only that I am like Caleb, a bit - ah, what did you call it? ‘Squishy’.”

“Wizards,” Fjord agrees with a wry nod. He turns back to the others. Essek leans back against the dome wall again, relieved that the conversation seems to have moved on from him.

Beau pipes up from a few feet away across the dome. “Any specific squishy weak spots? Caleb has several.” She shoots both Essek and Caleb a smirk.

Essek blinks in surprise but shakes his head. “Not in particular.”

It’s at this moment that Essek feels something against his sock. He flinches away sharply with a muffled yelp - and looks down expecting to find an insect crawling on him. Instead he finds Veth, crouched and grinning up at him - and holding one of her feathers mere inches away from his foot.

The energy in the dome shifts in a split second. Essek can feel it and is not comforted by doing so. He doesn’t have to look up to be acutely aware that everyone is grinning at him. The sudden sense of mischief is palatable, and Essek can’t imagine how he’s going to get out of this one.

“What was that, Essek?” Veth asks. She’s still grinning up at him with a downright evil look.

“Nothing,” Essek says quickly. He starts pulling his foot away, going to tuck them both underneath his robe. “I-“

He’s cut off as Veth, with lightning-quick reflexes, grabs his foot before he can successfully hide it and flutters the feather over it again. Essek yelps again - louder this time, causing a flush to leap to his cheeks - and his ears flick as a spasm runs up his leg and throughout his whole body.

Jester squeals and claps her hands in delight. She is suddenly very close, Essek realizes - it is not a comforting realization.

“Es-sek! Are you ticklish?!”

Essek opens his mouth to respond. He doesn’t get a chance before Jester grabs his other foot (how did that happen, he thought he’d pulled that one underneath his cloak already) and spiders her claws against the heel. And Essek yelps his loudest yet and slaps a hand over his mouth to stifle any more noise - as well as the grin that’s forcing its way onto his face. He leans back against the side of the dome, as far away as he can get, squeezing his eyes shut.

Jester laughs at him and it’s almost enough to make him break and let out the giggles that are threatening to spill over. Instead he squeezes his eyes shut even tighter and shakes his head frantically.

Jester giggles at that. “I think you are!” She sets to work scratching against his heel again.

Before he can even begin to adjust to that, Essek feels a second set of fingers grab his other foot - Veth, who has given up on the feather it seems. “You know what this looks like to me?” Veth asks, grinning brightly and holding up his foot. “A weak spot.” She punctuates this with a sudden scribbling across the sole of his foot.

And Essek can’t hold back - he bursts into giggles, muffled against the palm of his hand. His ears are twitching frantically and he shakes his head side to side, kicking his feet in a desperate attempt to break free.

He hears the others start laughing too. His face flushes white-hot.

There’s shuffling and then another set of hands grabs his foot. Beauregard’s voice breaks through Essek’s giggles. “Here, I’ll hold his foot so he can’t get away.” And then, sure enough, he can’t move his foot even an inch - and Jester, with a delighted giggle, sets to work scribbling and scratching and working her way up towards his toes.

Essek’s brain short-circuits. His hand flies away from his face as his body jackknives and he attempts to frantically bat Jester’s hands away. To no avail - and he dissolves into laughter. “NOHOHOHOHO NOHAHAHAHA NOT THERE!” He falls back against the dome again, laughing.

Essek doesn’t notice the others moving in closer, but he does notice when his other foot suddenly becomes just as immobile as the first. His eyes blink open just long enough to see Yasha, smiling at him as she holds fast to his foot, while Veth pokes one finger under his toes and scribbles others over the top of his foot - and why does that tickle so much?! Essek yelps again and attempts to yank his feet free - but Beau and Yasha hold firm and he gets nowhere. Instead he collapses back against the wall, turning to bury his face in his arm and resigning himself to laughter.

Veth’s grin is clear in her voice. “Wow, Essek, you’d better hope Lucien doesn’t find out about this! We would be screwed!” Essek could never hope to respond, laughing himself silly as he is.

There’s a sudden feeling against one of Essek’s ears - which have been twitching frantically as he laughs - and Essek spasms so hard he almost pulls out of Beau and Yasha’s hold. Almost - they quickly grab him again and hold on tighter. Caleb, who is now sitting right next to Essek’s head (Essek realizes he’s slid almost all the way to the floor - that’s unfortunate), runs another finger over the elf’s ear, wiggling it ever-so-gently. Essek cackles.

Caleb laughs and tries it again, and Essek feels as if he’s going to shiver out of his own skin. He shudders, twisting frantically away from Caleb’s evil, evil fingers and slapping at the ground. He's laughing harder than he ever thought possible.

Fjord laughs from somewhere to Essek’s left. “Two weak spots? Man, Thelyss, how do you function?”

“SHHUHUHUHUT UHUHUHUHHUHUP!” Essek’s retort carries no malice, he can barely get the words out through his laughter. Fjord laughs along with him.

There’s another shuffling sound and a warm, fuzzy hand flutters against Essek’s other ear. Light above, they’re going to actually kill him. Caduceus’ slightly fuzzy fingers are even more ticklish, if that were possibly. Essek’s laughter kicks up another octave. He spasms again, leaning forward and hands suddenly flailing desperately in attempt to push someone, any of them away - but he can’t coordinate himself enough to even began to manage that. He collapses back into laughter and falls over onto Caleb, burying his face in his shoulder as he shakes apart with laughter.

Caleb smiles and brings a hand up to wrap around Essek’s shoulders and pull him closer. This means, mercifully, that Caleb’s hand is no longer scratching against his ear. Less mercifully, Caleb brings his other hand into play - slipping it underneath Essek’s cloak to wiggle against his ribs. Essek yelps again and slaps a hand against his back involuntarily. He feels more than hears Caleb’s chuckles along with him.

Fjord slides in next to Caleb and joins in, hands sliding underneath Essek’s coat and tickling. Essek feels sure his face is going to split open with how wide he’s beaming and his whole body is sure to explode into a million pieces from laughter.

Nevertheless, it’s nice. He had forgotten what this felt like, the warm feeling of laughing and being held close and tickled apart. Never in a million years would he have thought he’d find himself enjoying it with friends - but here he is. Perhaps he shouldn’t be too surprised, life has certainly handed him stranger surprises in the last few months.

Jester’s fingers are under his toes again. Caduceus is scribbling behind his ear in a way that makes him want to scream. Veth, Fjord and Caleb are methodically taking him apart. Beau and Yasha are joining in the fun, fingers spidering over his feet and legs, squeezing at his knees. They’re all laughing at him. And all Essek can do is laugh and laugh and laugh.

Perhaps having weak spots isn't so bad.

[rosileeduckie]

Not So Fast-Travel

No matter the genre or universe, there's always someone in the middle seat of the car.

Yasha and Caduceus find a way to pass the time while traveling, and their friends join in the fun. First piece (yes, on day three; it's practickly tradition for me:) for Tickletober 2023

Critical Role/Mighty Nein tickle fic. Warnings: none.

Word count: 2,928

~*~

She may have grown up in the wastes of Xhoras, but Yasha could find little love left in her for her home. Sure, the cities to the north had been fascinating to explore for the first time, and traveling with the odd bunch that was the Nein made any place entertaining, but the wastes were just as dull and dangerous and endless as she remembered, not to mention her backside was starting to get sore from the endless ride across the bleak plains. Maybe she was biased, but anyone who'd suffered a long rocky upbringing and then one ass-numbing journey on those wastes was justified in finding them bleak.

At least she had a good riding companion. Not that any of the party would be bad to travel with. Still, Yasha was glad she'd lucked into sharing a beast with Caduceus. The firbolg was fuzzy and warm, which gave Yasha all the more reason to keep her arms wrapped around his waist to keep from flying off the back of their beast. With both adventurers' armor pieces lashed to the saddle, Yasha could rest her cheek against Caduceus' back without his usual beetle green chest plate clocking her in the nose, for which she was grateful. His heartbeat was steady beneath her ear, and she could every so often hear vibrations from when he would softly hum or croon in his deep voice to their moorbounder. If said moorbounder's loping gait wasn't so tumultuous, Yasha might have fallen asleep. She didn't blame Clarabelle, though. Hopefully the huge cat-thing was enjoying the exercise.

It had taken a bit for Yasha to become comfortable with Caduceus. Part of it was due to her own solo journeys apart from the Nein, making her miss some of the voyages they'd all bonded more deeply on, even though they'd embraced her back into their midst each time as though she'd never left. But it was also how kind the firbolg was. Yasha had only met one other person with so warm a heart, and she had a hard time trusting that another person so good could cross her path. Through his relentless kindness, he'd worn down her walls, and his courage and wisdom helped her see how genuine he was. Yasha respected that. He was also very warm to sleep next to in the Nein's camping bubble, which Yasha was privy to where the others were not for complaint of Caduceus' snoring. Yasha didn't mind. The thunderous sound was comforting to drift off to. 

"Doin' alright back there?" Caduceus asked, his easy smile visible as he looked over his shoulder. Yasha's hands were folded over his middle, but the firbolg, though thin, was a full head taller than her. Yasha adjusted to look up at him, resting her chin on his shoulder blade and tipping her head back to meet his eye.

The barbarian hummed affirmatively, closing her eyes and offering a tired smile. "Could use a cupholder."

A chuckle rumbled through Caduceus' chest that made Yasha's jawbone buzz, and her smile softened into something fond. "I'll see after this adventure if we make enough to get a few improvements for our saddle, sound good?"

"Yeah. Just think, we could have tea on the road."

"Ah," Caduceus said, grin beaming as he urged Clarabelle onward to keep pace with the rest of the group. "That'd be nice."

Yasha turned to rest her cheek once more on Caduceus' back. The view this way hardly varied enough to interest Yasha, the sky the same ever-dark and clouded and the scraggly scrub grass silhouetted and whistling in the cold late season wind. It was a relief, then, when Clarabelle charged forward, catching up and keeping pace with the two larger moorbounders and giving Yasha the colorful view that was Jester and Fjord atop their bounder. Ironically, Fjord looked green, his arms clamped tightly around Jester's waist and his face buried in the  back of her neck. For a moment, Yasha wondered if the half-orc had somehow gotten seasick from the lumbering, racing stride of Yarnball, Jester's mount, but when Fjord lifted his head, Yasha could see that his features were twisted in embarrassment—brows furrowed and newly growing tusks exaggerating his lower lip as he pouted—rather than nausea. Yasha's wondering then wandered to whether what had flustered Fjord was Jester teasing him or just her inevitable closeness from their riding positions on a single moorbounder, and apparently such musing was easy to read from her soft chuckle because Fjord caught her eye and glared. Meanwhile Jester's smile was just beaming, her shoulders wiggling delightedly and her tongue poking out between her fangs.

At the encroach of sharp-tongued Zemnian, Yasha shifted to rest her other cheek against Caduceus' back. To her left, she could now see Caleb and Beau atop Jannick, the largest moorbounder among the group's. A moment later, Yasha saw Nott, popping her head out from where she was evidently sandwiched between the two humans. Beau's arms, folded and resting on Caleb's shoulders, served as a crown for the disgruntled goblin that boxed her small frame in. Caleb had hardly finished chastising the pair over his shoulder before Nott sent an elbow sharply and bodily backward into Beau's abdomen. The movement jostled both women and nearly unseated them, Beau balancing herself by gripping fistfuls of moorbounder fur on either side of the trio's saddle and Nott flailing for purchase by clawing at Caleb's coat and hanging on tight. Caleb swore again, Nott pulled sour faces, and Beau only laughed. At the sound and the grin Beau threw her way, Yasha prayed briefly and gratefully that Caduceus was too busy driving to notice how her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks warmed beneath her dark eye paint.

"It seems you have some problem passengers, Mr Caleb," said Caduceus, and the wizard huffed.

"Nothing escapes your notice, Caduceus."

Nott relaxed her grip in favor of crossing her arms the moment she had reclaimed some semblance of balance. "PassenGER," Nott said, speaking to the firbolg cleric but with a squinting side glance toward Beau. "I'M not the one causing problems. And how could I be, when I'm the size of a carry-on?"

Beau rolled her eyes and replied with a shove that squished Nott's face into the back of Caleb's coat. "Maybe if you'd quit SHIFTING—"

Before the monk could say more, Caleb, seething to the point of smoke nearly coming out of his ears, barked over his shoulder, "If you won't BOTH behave, I swear I'm feeding you to Jannick the moment we stop to camp for the night."

"See, Cad, Yasha, here's the thing," said Beau, swinging her leg over so as to ride side-saddle and politely face the pair she spoke to and less politely lean an elbow on Nott's head and anchor a hand on Caleb's shoulder. "When we left the city, I, very honorably and fairly, called dibs on not having to sit in the middle. It's Nott who's got a problem with that and making it everyone else's problem."

"I wouldn't have any problems if you'd stop SQUISHING me!" Nott whipped her head back to hiss at Beau and grinned smugly when the monk flinched back momentarily. Only to hiss all the more when Beau stubbornly hugged her tight and pinched her ears.

Caduceus chuckled and turned forward once more as Clarabelle, evidently done with the bickering noise, took a few pounces further ahead of the pack. 

Yasha turned back with a smirk as Nott yelled. "No, Caduceus, Yasha, come on! We need an impartial third party! Ow--! Make Beau switch seats with me!” 

The two women launched back into bickering, and Caleb’s shoulders hunched all the higher until he swore at them and yanked his mount’s reins, prompting Jannick to offer an irritated and deep meow to the collective complaints department. 

Caduceus’ ear flicked toward the sound, and Yasha’s attention was drawn from the squabbling caravan. It really showed how dull the journey had been that Caduceus’ ear, of all things, was suddenly so fascinating a sight to Yasha. But she could hardly nitpick at the odd--at any--entertainment.

Unlike Yasha's which were close to her head and small and rounded and pale, Caduceus' ears were more bovine in nature, long and droopy and covered in thin grey fur (the backs were, anyway, that she could see). They looked soft, and it was not the first time she'd thought so. She may have developed a bad habit of pinching her friend's ears to get their attention. At least, it had always worked on Molly, and, though she hadn't tested it nearly as much, it seemed to be equally effective on the Nein, certainly on Beau and Caleb. Height posed a challenge with some of her friends, so, while she could physically pick up Nott if she needed her attention, Yasha hadn’t given Caduceus many ear pinches. He didn’t annoy or ignore her enough to give her real reason to. They had poked and elbowed one another in the past if they needed to rise quickly from a contented, quiet snuggle, but that was mutual. Yasha didn’t think she annoyed Caduceus. She certainly hoped not, but would have fully understood if that changed after what she was about to do. Lifting her hand, Yasha curled her index finger and gently ran her knuckle along the back of Caduceus’ ear. Yup, she was just deciding, downy and soft as a baby angel’s wing–when Caduceus jolted, twitching forward with a huff. Yasha drew her hand back and furrowed her brow. Huh.

“Don’t tell me,” Caduceus chuckled, looking over his shoulder at her, “you came up with an even better improvement for the journey than a cupholder?”

“Maybe.” Yasha crossed her arms on Caduceus’ back and rested her chin atop them, tilting her head slightly to one side to watch his face. “Are your ears ticklish, Caduceus?” she asked, a crooked smirk rising on her lips.

From her vantage point, Yasha could easily see Caduceus’s mouth tighten into a pinched smile–and, he didn’t blush like some of the other Nein but, Yasha swore she saw tiny flowers begin to bloom in his long pink hair–before he scoffed. “I have siblings,” he sighed, turning to face the road ahead but grinning. “I know there’s no right way to answer that question.”

“Sure, there is.” Yasha’s ears didn’t twitch, but she could still hear when Caleb’s swearing grew louder, either closer or snappier. “You could threaten to feed me to Clarabelle.”

Caduceus snickered and said again, “I have siblings. You’d have to do a lot more than tickle me to annoy me enough to where I’d threaten that.”

Yasha grinned, uncrossing her arms and holding her hands up behind Caduceus’ ears. “I can accept that challenge.”

She didn’t attack right away for two reasons: the first was because she didn’t want to be too mean to Caduceus, in general but, because he was driving, and the second was because she had a funny thought she wanted to test, and doing so would only build up the butterflies of anticipation. (In her earlier life, she hadn’t had much experience with comforting and playful touch, but since finding family in the Nein, she’d become something of an expert in receiving and giving it. And maybe wielding its effects as easily and sharply as her sword.) Moving carefully as she could while on the back of a lumbering beast, Yasha moved her index fingers at a snail’s pace toward the back of Caduceus’ ears, keeping out of his periphery and just shy of actually touching him.

Her head was still tilted to one side as she said, soft and lilting, “Caduceus~”

His left ear flicked back toward her voice, only to brush against her waiting fingers. Yasha grinned as Caduceus flinched forward and gave his head a little shake. When he returned to his previous posture, Yasha didn’t let suspense prolong; she traced her first and middle finger down the length of Caduceus’ right ear. Said ear swatted at her like she was a buzzing gnat while the ear’s owner ducked his head and snorted.

Some combination of boredom and hearing that adorable sound ignited something in Yasha–a fire of mischief, a blazing villainous streak, what have you–and was definitely to blame for her becoming the worst traveling companion for the following few minutes.

Yasha rested the heels of her hands against the base of Caduceus’ skull and, gentle but unyielding, fluttered the tips of her fingers along the back of his ears. She took care not to hold too tight if Caduceus needed to hunch forward and out of reach, and the gentle half-giant tensed under her hands but didn't actively pull away. His body seemed to want to, instinctively, but–because he knew Yasha could be very stubborn or because he also needed some diversion to lighten up their tiresome trip and maybe because he didn’t mind her tickling all that much–Caduceus held firm against that instinct, and, if he couldn’t help but duck his head, he rounded his back to curl closer to her and stay within reach. Maybe such a feat of willpower was possible because his ears weren’t his most ticklish spot. Yasha’s little demon flared up again inside her, and she grinned, fluttering her fingers a bit faster. Caduceus might have been in for a bit of trouble if he ended up next to Yasha in the camp cuddle bubble that night, because she was absolutely going to be searching him for spots that would make him laugh so loud that the Nein would wonder how they ever complained about the volume of his snoring. As of yet, his laughter was quiet, huffing breaths through his nose and the occasional, adorable snort.

“Doin’ alright up there?”

Caduceus groaned, and, when he looked back to glare at her, she could see how big and gritted his smile was.

Though the little demon in her longed to, she didn’t push further. She wanted to be his traveling companion again at some point to get to play this game again, after all. Slowing her fingers, Yasha rotated her hands so she could reach the spots on either side of the jaw that always seemed to carry tension for her, and she pushed her thumbs gently into those points. Caduceus hummed, then coughed up a squeak when Yasha’s fingers curled into his hair, her nails gently scratching his scalp. Her heart seizing momentarily at how cute the cleric was, Yasha thumped her head against his back. How had their journey suddenly gotten so much shorter and so much longer so fast?

Yasha lifted her head at the sound of a delighted squeal–Caduceus’ ears also flicked toward the sound, and she dusted her fingertips along them–and looked toward it, finding Jester and Fjord having loped up alongside them. “Yasha, that’s such a good idea!” Jester clapped. “This trip was taking forever. A tickle fight would definitely pass the time!”

The tiefling wrangled her reins into one hand and reached behind her, fingers splaying and curling dramatically as she grabbed at Fjord’s side. Fjord wasn’t having it. Apparently, however Jester had been teasing him the rest of the journey, he was ready to have equal footing and even, since he had both hands, the advantage. He grabbed her wrist with one hand, smirking, “A fight, huh?” His other hand shot under her arm, fingers wiggling, and Jester crumpled against his chest with a burst of bright, happy laughter.

“Don’t even think about it!”

Yasha looked to her other side, and, sure enough, Beau and Nott were grinning at one another behind Caleb, whose glower now featured a prominent flush and arms pulled tight to his sides.

“It really is a good idea!” said Nott, snickering as she watched Fjord and Jester play atop an oblivious moorbounder. “And I’ve got another one.” She grinned toothily at Beau. “Let’s put Caleb in the middle.”

“Nein–” Caleb snapped, but Beau had already wedged her hands under his arms and lifted him out of his seat enough for Nott to scurry under and claim shotgun.

“Why didn’t we think of this sooner?” Beau exclaimed, hooking an arm around Caleb’s waist to keep him pinned to her front and to prevent him from accidentally squirming himself off of their riding beast from what Beau’s other hand was doing, stuffed underneath the book holsters on his ribs and fingers surely digging in mercilessly, judging by the sudden shriek of cackling, swearing laughter from Caleb. “It’s been a long ride for everyone; our drivers could use a break.”

“But don’t break him,” Nott giggled, taking up Jannick’s reins. “Hyah!”

Their moorbounder leapt forward with an eager yowl, making Nott and Beau join Caleb in wild laughter. “Thanks, Yasha!” Beau called over her shoulder, beaming, and Yasha fought the urge to bury her face in Caduceus’ back again.

Having satiated her own appetite for mischief and inspired enough playful chaos for the moment, Yasha gave Caduceus’ ears a little pinch each and then ran her fingers through his hair, weaving pink braids. “I know you said you won’t feed me to Clarabelle, but I haven’t annoyed you so much that the cupholder is off the table, have I?”

Caduceus chuckled, leaning back into her touch as he urged their beast forward to keep up with the rest of their silly little group. “Nah.” He turned his head to smile down at her. “But you’re driving next time.”

[sunstone-smiles]

A Serious Case of the Pent-up Giggles

Original request (from @gladdygirl18): "As a fellow Vox Machina fan, how about day 15 "are you ticklish" with Lee Percy and ler(s) the Elven Twins?"

Author’s note: Aaaaah!!! I’m soooo excited to share this because I’m super happy with how it came out! Gosh, I love Percy. Here’s Day 15 of Tickletober: “Are you ticklish?” from August’s Tickletober List! I hope you enjoy!

Series: The Legend of Vox Machina

Characters: Percy, Vax, Vex, and the rest of the Vox Machina crew

Word count: 1,712

Summary: Vex and Vax think that Percy needs to be “cured” of his case of the pent-up giggles. The twins know just how to help. 

---

There’s nothing like a warm fireplace, a comfortable chair, a sketchbook, and some company to fill the air with ambiance—at least to Percy, that is. And currently, he has all four. His quill delicately lines his pages with a draft of one of his newest project ideas, with intricate details of mechanical functionalities and notes on aesthetics if there’s time or resources. Yes, Percy’s productivity is at its peak. Honed in. Focused. Eyes and mind tethered to his work as he pictures the pieces to sketch. Nothing can distract him now.

Except for a sudden jab to his side. That’s distracting.

Percy restrains a yelp and jumps in reaction. He nearly drops his sketchbook from his hands. Pulled back to his surroundings, Percy glares through his glasses to the left of the couch seats. 

“Vax! What was that for?” Percy snaps at his ally.

“Whoa! Easy there, de Rolo,” Vax puts his hands up in defense. “I tried calling your name, but you weren’t answering. We were just reminiscing about the time Vex was using whole cooked chickens as target practice. I thought you wanted to chime in.”

Percy adjusts his glasses. “I know what you were talking about. I was already satisfied by just listening.”

“That was quite a jump there, Percy,” Vex chimes in from his right. She leans forward on the sofa that her, Percy, and Vax are sitting on so that Percy and her brother are both in her view. “I know Vax surprised you, but you nearly leapt off the couch.”

Percy reopens his sketchbook. His head is dipped down and looking away from Vex. “I was taken off guard, is all.”

“Oh, I totally get that,” Keyleth says from her spot on the floor by the fireplace. She’s been braiding Trinket’s fur with flowers as the bear sleeps beside her. “One time, Scanlan snuck up on me while I was tending to the flowers outside. I nearly fell into a pile of mud.”

“I wasn’t sneaking up on you on purpose!” Scanlan pipes up from an armchair. His legs are propped up on the side while he restrings his lute. “Those bushes are my height. I didn’t know you were there!”

Vex returns the group to the topic at hand, still keeping her eyes on Percy. “See, I would believe you Percy…” She pauses for a moment. A smirk crawls onto her face. “If I didn’t know you were faking it.”

“Excuse me?” Percy scoffs. 

“Well, maybe not faking it, per say. You were taken off guard,” Vex shrugs. “But there’s a second reason why you jumped that high. Actually, I have my suspicions.” 

Vex makes eye contact with her brother. She glances in Percy’s direction before looking back at Vax with a smile to inform him of her thoughts. Vax raises a brow, but after looking at his sister’s smirk and briefly observing where he poked Percy, an understanding grin forms on his own features.

“Oh, I know!” Grog raises his hand in excitement from his chair, “Maybe Vax’s jab was so strong that he nearly pushed Percy off the couch!”

“Or maybe it accidently hurt?” Pike guesses from her seat by the coffee table. She stands and approaches Percy. “Because if so, I can try to heal you–”

“No,” Percy says faster than intended, like he is on edge. He reassures Pike. “I’m fine. Thank you, Pike, but that won’t be necessary.”

“Oh no, Pike. Magic won’t help. What Percy has is a far more serious case,” Vex exaggerates her words.

Vax puts his arm on Percy’s soldier. “It’s a case that explains why he scowls all the time.”

“Why he doesn’t laugh as often,” Vex adds.

“An ailment that eats away at his chest!” Vax says.

“Trapped inside, just bursting to come out!”

“Alright! Out with it already!” Percy growls.

Vex leans back in her seat. Calm. Casual. “What you have is one serious case of the pent-up giggles.”

“What?” Percy scowls at them. He leans forward to place his sketchbook and quill on the table in front of their seats.

“Oh no! Percy, you’re sick?” Grog questions.

“I am not sick,” he answers Grog. “Sick of these two maybe,” he mutters while glaring at the twins. “But not physically ill.”

“But there is still a very important question we need to ask you, Percy,” Vax mentions. “And that question is this…”

The dagger wielding twin stares Percy straight in the eye. A mischievous grin curls up on the corner of his mouth.

“Are you ticklish?”

Percy glares back at Vax. His senses are sharp. His expression remains unfazed. “No,” Percy makes his words crystal clear.

“Ah, denial,” Vex shakes her head.

“One of the main symptoms,” Vax sighs as if hearing bad news, though his smile is still wide.

“Don’t worry, Percy,” Vex says. “Vax and I know just how to cure you. You’re in good hands,” Vex grins. She immediately follows up her words with a poke to Percy’s side. 

The man jumps and wraps his arms across his torso, now glaring at the female twin. “Vex–”

Percy jolts again, now whipping his head to the other side to glare at the male twin who poked his other side again. “Vax!”

Vex smiles at her twin. “Shall we brother?”

“We shall, sister.”

The two half-elves turn their smiles in Percy’s direction. Immediately, they pounce at him, tackling him into the back cushions of the sofa.

“Wait!” Percy exclaims as the twins put their mischief into action. He squeezes his arms to his sides and tries to wiggle from side to side to avoid the onslaught of pokes. “This is ludicrous!” he manages to yell out, right before Vex catches a well aimed scribble to his side.

Percy jumps away from her and releases a giggle-filled yelp. He immediately slaps both of his hands to his mouth before moving one hand to push at Vex’s shoulder, while his other hand continues to contain the bubbling sound of joy that lies beneath. 

Big mistake though. He forgot there were two twins.

Vax sneaks his hands from behind and scribbles into Percy’s unguarded ribs. The human instantly clamps his arms down with a shriek and jolts forward, but he’s easily pulled back by Vax as the rogue gleefully digs his fingers between the stubborn noble’s ribs. Vex also launches her hands at Percy’s sides now that his defenses are lowered.

A snort comes from Percy’s restrained snickers, which is soon followed by an outpour of wheezy giggles that continuously spill from Percy. He nearly knocks over Vax through his squirming, but the male twin holds him up and keeps in prime position for their playful method of "healing."

“Vehehehex! Vahahahax!” Percy shouts at them through his laughter.

“Nice going, brother,” Vex smiles to her twin. “See, Percy? Look at how many giggles you had stored up! You must be so relieved to finally let them all out.”

“Yohohou both are sohoho de-EHehehead!” Percy squeaks in the middle of his sentence from Vex finding another ticklish spot above his hip. He drags the heels of his boots into the seat cushions.

“Can’t throw your famous insults at us when you’re like this, huh?” Vax teases from behind.

“Yes, indeed,” Vex agrees. “I kind of like Percy this way though. He’s a lot less sassy, that’s for sure.”

“Whahahahat? Sahahahassy?!” Percy says, trying to defend the title of his good name even through his giggling state. “I am nohohohot sassy!”

“Ah, a shame. That was a sassy response right there,” Vex fakes a sigh. “It looks like the sassiness is still present through the tickling after all.”

“Maybe we have to tickle him more to remove the sassiness out of him,” Vax says, grinning.

“No-HOho!” Percy's voice goes higher in pitch from the sheer speed he said the word. “Nohoho more! Let me gohoho, yohohou menaces!” Percy nearly rolls off the couch, teetering on the edge of the cushions.

“If you say so,” Vax grins and releases his hold on Percy. Percy immediately crashes to the floor, as the only thing keeping him steady was Vax’s grip. 

Percy peels himself from the floor by pushing himself up on his arms. He glares at Vax from below.

The rogue shrugs. “What? You asked me to let you go,” Vax ends his claim with a smile.

Percy shakes his head with a growl. He retrieves his sketchbook and quill from the table as he gets back to his feet. He looks at his spot on the sofa between the still grinning twins.

He narrows his eyes at them both. “If I sit between you again, will there be any more funny business?”

Vex tosses up her hands. “None from me, darling. I’ve had my fun for today.”

“I’ve still got a little more fun left in me,” Vax says before reassuring him, “But I will save that fun for another time.”

Percy rolls his eyes. He returns to his spot on the cushions and immediately opens his sketchbook to bury his face between the pages. No doubt everyone’s conversation will be skewed towards the sight just now. He’s bracing himself for the following humiliation that his ears are going to hear next. 

“So…” Vex speaks first. 

Gods, here it comes. 

“Where were we in the story, Keyleth?” Vex finishes her thought.

Percy’s features suddenly ease to that of pleasant surprise.

“Oh, right!” Keyleth recalls. “So then I held the chicken really high above my head…” Keyleth resumes her story about the time of Vex’s target practice. The rest of the group begins chiming in again, as if the story was never derailed in the first place. 

Percy lifts his head and glances at Vex. Vex glances back and gives him a wink before turning back to the group. Percy looks to the pages of his sketchbook with a thankful smile.

She has his back. They all do, really. They’re the ones that placed him in an embarrassing set of circumstances in the first place, but perhaps it’s not all that bad when the people around him don’t see his embarrassment as a way to judge his character, but see it as a way to love him even more. He really is lucky to have a family like them.

[thebest-medicine]

Day 28: Massage

Tickletober 2023 - Critical Role - C1 Vox Machina - lee!Vex

[see my other tickletober 2023 fics]

[read on AO3]

A/N: Perc’ahlia gang rise! They both seem the type to be ticklish but in denial about it and embarrassed. Revenge would be wicked.

Words: 480

—

Percy’s fingers work their way down along Vex’s shoulder blades, tending to the sore muscles. As he works out a particularly tense knot, she lets out a delighted little sigh of relief.

Smiling down at her, Percy leans in to kiss the skin along the back of her neck. It shudders under his lips, another small noise escaping her throat—this time —she quickly transforms it into a sound of pleasure. It’s a clever disguise, but one that Percy could see through any time with ease. 

“Ticklish there? Sorry.” 

“What? No, not at all, darling.”  

He leans back down to her neck; unlucky for Vex’ahlia, she can’t see the smirk on his face from her angle. 

She hears him take a deep breath, tries to turn to ask him what he’s doing, and then the room erupts with noise. Loudest of them all is Vex’s shriek of surprised laughter. There’s the thumping of squirming limbs against the mattress, the silly sound rippling out of Percival’s mouth and across the skin of her neck, the laugh he lets out a moment later when he pulls back and starts massaging again, pretending as though nothing happened.

“You little bastard!” Vex hisses, barely holding in a laugh. She turns, pushes him away, and he’s smiling wide as he falls next to her on the bed.

Percy turns to take her in—blushing and failing to hold back a smile. 

“‘Not at all’ ticklish, hmm?” He prods. “That seemed rather ticklish.” He skitters his fingers along the backs of her ribs.

“Not.” She digs in her heels, biting her lip to fight back a smile. Then, Vex’ahlia is on him, fingers wiggling deftly into his sides. 

Neither of them are fighting off their laughter now, Percival from the tickling nails climbing under his nightshirt and Vex from the high of turning the tables on him. 

“See how you fucking like it–” Percy hears her grumble before she’s ripping his shirt up and throwing the bottom of the fabric onto his chest and in his face. 

“NO–” He utters, pawing the shirt back away from his face just as she leans in to blow raspberry after raspberry on his stomach. 

Percy’s hands are tangled in her hair a moment later, his feet beating against the mattress as hers were just a minute earlier. He cries out a desperate laugh as she takes her time, fucks with him a bit longer, until he calls out. “Fuck, mercy! Please!” 

She relents, satisfied in her victory to make up for the prematurely ended massage. 

Percy heaves a few breaths. “Remind me never, ever to piss you off.”

“Better not even dream of it.”

She’s not sure she wants to push for him to get back to the massage tonight, though… despite what he may say, the temptation of revenge would be much too inviting, and she didn’t feel like taking any losses tonight.

[bambinella]

Day 6 - Hiding

Critical Role - Jester x friends

A/N: I've never written about the Mighty Nein before, and I'm aware this is a crime. Therefore I decided to change that now because I don't wanna go to jail. Enjoy!

“Hey, have you seen my blue ribbon? You know, the one I put on my staff?” Beau said as she walked into the living room of the Xorhaus. Fjord looked up and shook his head.

“Can’t say I have. When was the last time you saw it?” He asked, earning an eye-roll from the monk, as if he’d asked the dumbest question ever.

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be asking you,” She retorted, earning a chuckle from him. She had a point.

“Come to think of it, I was looking for my captain’s hat this morning too. I haven’t touched it in a while, but I’m sure I left it in my room and didn’t move it someplace else,” He said, rubbing his beard with his thumb. Beau raised an eyebrow at that, leaning her shoulder against the door frame.

“Some of the trinkets I put in my hair are also missing,” Yasha suddenly piped up from where she was reading, momentarily startling Beau and Fjord. Sometimes she was so quiet he would forget she was there to begin with.

“Okay one item missing is fine, but two or three things from different people missing at the same time? Now that’s suspicious,” Beau commented. A smile slowly spread on Fjord’s face.

“I think I have an idea where our items went. Follow me, ladies,” He said. The three of them went towards Jester’s room, and he gently knocked twice on the door.

“Come in~!” The familiar voice sang from inside, prompting them to enter the room. Jester sat on her bed and was busy sketching as usual, looking up as she saw the trio. Her eyes brightened at the sight of her friends, yet Fjord could also see a twinkle of mischief in them. He knew that twinkle all too well.

“Oh hey there Jester, what have you been up to?” He asked with a smile, folding his arms as he slowly walked up to the bed. Jester closed her book and sat up straight, looking at them with a big grin.

“Oh you know, the usual! Drawing tiny dicks, chatting with the Traveler,...” She summed up, her tail moving across the bed. Beau seemed to catch on where Fjord was going with this, standing next to him as she smirked.

“Some of our items have gone missing. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, right?” She questioned, and Fjord noticed how Jester’s smile grew a little.

“Beau! Are you accusing me?” Jester gasped playfully while putting a hand on her chest, earning another eye-roll from the monk.

“Actually I am, because you’re not answering my question. Did you take our stuff, Jes?” Beau questioned again, taking a step closer while putting her hands on her hips. Jester huffed. “I have NO idea what you’re talking about Beau! Maybe you should take better care of you– hey!” She squealed when the human suddenly reached forward and jabbed several times all over her torso. Now Fjord had seen Beau stun many enemies during their travels, and those hits always seemed very precise and to hurt quite a bit. But with how much Jester was giggling, he figured that these jabs probably tickled a lot. Beau’s hands were weapons in multiple ways, he realized with a shiver.

“Well what are you waiting for? Get her!” Beau said as she straddled Jester’s lap. Fjord crawled onto the bed and trapped her in a tight hug, which made both Jester and him blush, and Yasha sat herself down on her shins.

“Beheheau! That was mehehean!” Jester protested with a wide smile as her movement returned, looking into the brunette’s eyes. Fjord grinned and placed his chin on the tiefling’s shoulder.

“Last chance, Jester. Where did you put our things?” He questioned, his breath tickling the shell of her pointy ear. She let out a squeal and moved her head, and he had to avoid getting stabbed by one of her horns.

“You’ll never make me talk!” She declared, no longer playing dumb as she stuck out her tongue at them. It was all the confirmation they needed. Beau reached forward and scribbled her nails over Jester’s stomach, making her throw her head back with a loud squeal. She instinctively reached forward to stop Beau’s hands, yet found herself stuck as Fjord used his arms to hold her’s away from her body.

“Oh is that so?” Fjord asked teasingly, sending a shiver down her spine as he gently rubbed his beard against her neck, which sent her in another fit of giggles.

“Fjohohohord stohohohop! Thahahahat’s cheheheating!” She shrieked, scrunching up her shoulders to hide her neck. As playful and mischievous as she was, Jester was reeeeally bad at handling tickles. And it was, of course, the group’s favorite way of punishing her for all the pranks she pulled on them. And they all knew it was her favorite way too, so they had zero compassion right now.

“You can easily make this end Jes,” Beau grinned, playfully jabbing between her ribs with a single finger. Each poke got a squeal from their blue friend, and Fjord had to use all his might to keep her arms trapped.

“Whehehere’s the fun in thahaha– OHOHO! OHOHO YASHA NOHOHOHOO!!” Jester suddenly cried out, making Fjord and Beau look up at their friend. Yasha had casually reached back with one hand and was gently tickling along Jester’s toes, giving them a shrug.

“What? She looks like she’s having fun,” She said, a sly smile playing on her lips. Fjord suppressed the urge to shiver again. But she was right, Jester was having fun.

“It looks like Yasha is winning by making her laugh the hardest, you better amp it up a little,” Fjord teased, causing Beau to playfully grumble and glare at him. Her hands moved up and started fluttering under Jester’s arms, eliciting a shriek of laughter from the tiefling.

“EEHEHEHEE! OHOHOHO GUHUYS STOHOHOHOHOP!” Jester cried out, shaking her head side to side, a blush covering her cheeks. Beau chuckled and merely shook her head.

“Now we all know you don’t really mean that,” She teased, noticing how Jester’s tail had been wagging side to side on the bed, just like Nugget when he was excited. This only caused her to blush harder, the teasing and the tickles really getting to her.

“Now if you really want it to stop, you just need to tell us where the it– hey!” Fjord protested as he got interrupted by a sneaky tail prodding at his side. He returned the favor by blowing a raspberry on her neck. 

“AHAHAHAHAA! OKAY OKAAY OKAHAHAY!” Jester finally cried out – the raspberry and Yasha continuously tickling her toes had been enough to make her give in – and they immediately stopped, giving her a well-deserved break.

“Well?” Yasha asked with a raised brow, playfully wiggling one of her big toes. Jester squealed at the playful threat, giggling softly.

“They’re under my bed,” She relented and sat up as Fjord released her from the hug. Beau dropped on the floor and retrieved the ‘stolen�� items, ruffling Jester’s hair afterwards. Fjord was pretty sure he heard her say ‘little gremlin’, yet due to Jester’s loud giggles he wasn’t sure. When both Yasha and Beau left the room, he tilted his head.

“Why did you take our items, exactly?” He asked, actually curious for the reason. Jester would often prank them, but not usually multiple people at the same time. She shrugged.

“Everyone seemed a little more gloomy recently, so I wanted to prank you guys to cheer you up!” She declared with a smile, and while it seemed a very reasonable explanation, Fjord knew there was more to it by the look in her eyes. He could tell that rather than cheer them up, she had been needing some cheering up for her own. As playful and happy as she was, even she needed a laugh from time to time, especially in these times. He cursed himself for not noticing earlier.

“You know I’m here for you right?” He blurted out before he could stop himself, and he could feel his cheeks heating up a little. Jester looked at him with a soft smile, before nodding.

“Of course Fjord!” She declared. He smiled at that.

“And you know I’m gonna tickle you to death the next time you touch my hat, right?” As expected she started giggling.

“Of course!” She said again, this time with a wide grin. He chuckled.

“Good. Because I haven’t forgiven you yet, and you have about five seconds to run away before I get my hands on you,” He said with a smirk. Jester’s eyes widened as she squealed, immediately hopping off of the bed to dash out of the room. He grinned and didn’t even bother to wait five seconds to chase her, because if he was really honest?

Her laughter brightened his day.

[bow-of-aros]

Day Twenty-Six: Ticklish Kiss

Summary:

It's a beautiful morning. The sun is rising, the birds are chirping, and Caleb has a clingy tiefling hanging off of him.

Hey folks! Sorry if this one feels stilted, writing this kind of stuff isn't really my thing so hopefully y'all enjoy it anyway!! Have fun <33 (Additional thank you to @thebest-medicine for the prompt!)

Caleb was sitting on a log as the sun finally rose. He’d taken the last watch and had sent Nott to get some rest after her fourth yawning fit. It had been clear that they were safe for the rest of the night, the plain they had set up camp on stretched on for miles and he had a bird’s eye view thanks to Frumpkin.

It was beautiful, the sun painted the sky with streaks of red and gold in a likeness of flame that Caleb couldn’t find himself entirely minding.

A true testament could be made to the way the Mighty Nein had worn down down his defenses as when a pair of arms wound themselves around his neck from behind, Caleb only startled slightly before relaxing back into infernal heat.

“Hallo, Mollymauk.” A small grin spread across his face when the tiefling in question hooked his chin over Caleb’s shoulder, being mindful of his horns.

“And a wonderful morning to you, Mister Caleb!” He nuzzled in a bit closer to press a quick, affectionate kiss to his neck before saying, “How’d you know it was me?”

The question was ridiculous, but he’s fairly sure that that’s why Mollymauk asked it, so Caleb deigns to humour him.

“You are purple, Mollymauk. It does not take a genius.” A huff against his neck had Caleb flinching away, a nervous smile beginning to grow as he felt strong arms tightening around him.

“Well spotted, Caleb,” Molly pressed another kiss being his ear, smirking when a giggle slipped out, “Only you could be so perceptive so early in the morning. And after the last shift, truly you are impressive.”

Caleb can feel blood rushing to his cheeks as Mollymauk continues to litter his neck with brief kisses, occasionally rubbing his nose along Caleb’s ear to draw out a snort.

It’s very peaceful, if he’s being perfectly honest. The sun bathed them both in a warm glow, it was peacefully quiet save the soft giggles spilling out of him.

He let it go on for a bit before he heard the rest of the party start to stir and, as nice as this is, he does not want Jester to see this and get excited. It would put them significantly behind schedule, and Caleb wasn’t a fan of that idea.

“Ahahahalright, Mollehehey,” Caleb said while gently guiding Mollymauk’s head away and pressing a quick kiss to his lips before standing up, “You’ve had your fun.”

Mollymauk pops up beside him as they walk back into their camp, “That I did! You are just marvellous fun, Mr. Caleb!”

His friends make teasing remarks about the redness of his face and the grin on his lips and Molly shoots his own remarks right back at them, saving Caleb from having to say anything.

So, as Nott handed him some breakfast, Caleb returned her soft grin and decided that today was going to be a good day.

[sapphicquill]

Critickle Role: spin me right 'round, baby (chapter 1/2)

(ao3 link!)

Rating: Teen

Characters: Essek Thelyss, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Caleb Widogast, the Mighty Nein (Veth and Cad are there, just not by name!)

Wordcount: 2149

Nothing the Mighty Nein ever did made terribly much sense to Essek—at least not right away. The group had a habit of putting their own unexpected twist on just about everything they did, no matter how mundane. Considering Essek had only recently emerged from “the sheltered kid-from-a-strict-religious-family cave” (Veth’s words, not his) he didn’t really have much “real life experience” to lean on, so the group’s antics were a relatively moot point anyway. 

But Essek was about ninety-five percent sure that Spin the Bottle was supposed to involve kissing, and the glaring lack of any was a bit confusing. 

Essek relied on a lifetime of maintaining a completely neutral expression at all times to keep from staring bewildered at the screeching puddle of tiefling that was the current focus of the loose circle of friends. Mollymauk, sprawled out flat on his back underneath Jester, was writhing and wriggling as the young woman mercilessly drilled her claws into her victim’s sides. A lavender tail lashed wildly, the only part of Mollymauk in that moment that still had a full range of motion. 

From beside the pair, Caleb cleared his throat.

“That is time, Jester. Let my boyfriend breathe, please.”

Instantly, the blue tiefling sprung off of Mollymauk, though not without groaning theatrically and turning to the human, her own tail wavering behind her in a way that reminded Essek of Frumpkin before the cat pounced on someone. 

“Caaay-leb, come ooon , that wasn’t two minutes!” 

“Ja, it was exactly two minutes, just like it always is.”

“You’re just whiney because you can never make Molly safeword out, Jes,” Fjord pointed out from his spot across the floor. Jester let out a frustrated noise as she crawled back over to her unoccupied spot in the circle next to her own boyfriend. 

“I totally have before, I just want to do it again!” 

“Try harder next time, darling,” Mollymauk said, voice coming out a little wheezy as he sat back up and grinned over at their host for the evening. 

- - -

Essek was, admittedly, getting better at keeping up with the Mighty Nein. With all of them being so genuine and good all the time (and the somewhat inconvenient, very large crush he was harboring on Caleb and Mollymauk), it was hard to resist the siren call of their unspoken offers of friendship and connection. The longer Essek spent around the collective chaos of the Nein, the easier it was to just shrug and go with whatever happened, regardless of how preposterous Essek found it. 

When Caleb had offhandedly invited him to attend the monthly Jester-mandated party/sleepover (a tradition that long predated Essek’s own knowledge of the group), he had accepted without even thinking about it. His nerves over being in such close, extended proximity to Mollymauk and Caleb were easy enough to tamp down, he hadn’t even gotten close to having a proper panic attack over it. He hadn’t even flinched when Jester’s mutt of a dog nearly knocked him on his ass when he cleared the doorway of her and Fjord’s apartment. 

When Jester had lowered the music and excitedly announced it was time for Spin the Bottle, Essek had taken pause, eyes darting to where Caleb and Mollymauk began untangling themselves to get up from the small overstuffed sofa, laughing and whispering to one another between quick kisses. All the same, after a half-second of hesitation, he took a seat on the floor next to Yasha, who was providing rather aggressive scritches to Nugget while Beau not-so-subtly fed the dog little bits of pepperoni, and resolutely ignored the hammering of his heart.

Jester’s version of Spin the Bottle had, apparently, been a tradition for almost as long as they’d been having these gatherings. At least, that’s what Essek had gleaned from Beau’s exaggerated complaints about how unnecessary having the rules explained again was. Jester’s eyes had met Essek’s from across the circle, alight with mischief, before she continued: either say the safeword—“licorice,” for some reason—or last the full two minutes. Before Essek could ask what, in particular, might necessitate a safeword for a kissing game, Jester had leaned forward to grab the bottle in the middle of their circle.

Honestly, Essek should have been less surprised then he was when Jester’s hearty spin of the empty spirits bottle resulted in the young woman tackling Mollymauk and unleashing a rather brutal tickle attack. One of the first things Essek had accepted as “Nein-normal” was the group’s extremely comfortable relationship with tickling. Caleb had tried to fill in the gaps as much as he could—it had, of course, started with the tieflings (“Look, of all the stereotypes, this one’s probably the sweetest and most accurate,” Molly had said) and had spread from there. It was to be expected, if one spent even five minutes with some configuration of their friend group, that some sort of tickling would occur. 

Essek had seen Fjord tweak Jester’s sides as he passed her by; had seen Yasha loop her arms around Molly’s waist and hold him still while Veth unleashed revenge for whatever antics the tattooed tiefling had gotten up to; had seen the soft, sweet, surprisingly gentle tickling that Jester was fond of showering on Caleb. Essek had witnessed quite a lot. 

He’d never participated, though.

- - -

 “Careful, you know she’ll take that seriously,” Beau said, rubbing Nugget’s head roughly enough for Essek to realize she was probably wiping off excess pizza oil on the dog. 

“I’m hoping for it,” Molly shot back, already half-crawling closer to the middle of the circle. With practiced ease, he sent the bottle into rapid circles, watching intently as they began to slow. Essek glanced at Caleb out of habit—it was he who Essek had gravitated toward first, and then whenever he felt out of his depth around the rest of the Nein—and felt his heart stutter against his chest as crystal blue eyes met his own. A small, comforting smile graced Caleb’s lips, the one that always made Essek feel a bit like there were several tiny birds swooping around in his stomach, before the group around them gave a collective, nearly comedic gasp. Essek watched Caleb’s brow furrow slightly, his eyes dropping down to look at the center of the circle before darting back to Essek’s face. His expression was… strangely unreadable. 

Finally looking away from Caleb, Essek felt another swoop in his gut as he took in the scene before him: the others staring at him, Molly’s grin turning nearly feral, and the empty bottle’s neck pointing squarely at him. 

It felt a bit like time had paused, without the sharp ozone of recently-cast dunamis. 

“Ah, Mollymauk—”

Caleb’s voice was soft, his expression still impossible for Essek to parse, as he curled a hand over one of Molly’s shoulders. His boyfriend turned to face him instantly, and Essek felt quietly relieved that the two’s attention was off of him, if only temporarily. 

“Essek’s new to this, ja? So be—” Caleb paused, seemingly searching for the right word. 

“Gentle?” Yasha offered quietly from beside Essek, and if his mouth wasn’t suddenly so dry, he thought he might thank the woman. 

“Of course, darling,” Molly replied seemingly to the both of them, his voice much sweeter than Essek had anticipated. The tiefling turned, and Essek tried to calm the rapid beating of his heart as Molly crawled the rest of the way across their circle of friends. On his knees, Mollymauk was practically towering over Essek’s seated form. Essek expected that same devious grin from earlier to still be settled on his face, but was surprised again to see a much friendlier, kinder smile curling at his lips. 

It was the same smile Molly wore when he and Caleb got lost in discussing complex arcane theory, or when Essek admitted to not understanding some turn of phrase someone had thrown out. 

The flock of birds in his gut doubled. 

“Remember the rules, dear?”

When had Molly gotten so close? Essek licked his lips, eyes glued to the two sets of claws hovering mere inches from his torso. 

“Ah, say ‘licorice’ to tap out…”

“Or last the full two minutes that Caleb counts out,” Molly finished for him, leaning ever so much closer into Essek’s space. 

“Right. Yes. Two minutes.” 

The last time he’d been tickled he’d been a child, Verin pouncing on him after declaring he was being a stick in the mud and unleashing an attack that had left Essek in blubbering hysterics. 

“Ready?” The question seems mocking, but the look in Molly’s eyes is shockingly genuine and Essek didn’t know if he wanted to run or to kiss him. 

“As, um, as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

The air in the room was still and silent, even Nugget stopping his tail whacking down on the carpet as everyone seemingly held their breath. 

Essek squeezed his eyes shut tightly, bracing for kneading fingers as Molly descended even further. Nervous energy danced like lightning down Essek’s back. 

Then there were two light claw tips, slowly skating down from the tops of Essek’s ribs on either side, and he felt his breath hitch without permission. The light, pinpoint sensations felt a little like pure electricity shooting into his nerves and he started gasping out giggles without even realizing it. It didn’t even tickle that badly—between the anticipation and the fact that it was Mollymauk doing it, Essek felt a bit like he was going insane from the lightest touches. 

He didn’t say anything, though, much less “licorice.” Molly was being so gentle. He could last through this for two minutes. 

Then, the claws reached his hips, and suddenly they were moving much faster and in circles and Essek couldn’t have ever hoped to stifle the surprised laughter that punched out of him. His eyes flew open at the shock of sensation, and the look on Molly’s face made his stomach do a backflip. The tiefling’s eyes glimmered with delight and the kind of affection Essek had only ever seen directed at a certain human wizard. Impossibly, the tickling felt ten times as intense. 

Molly kept valiantly on at Essek’s hips, alternating between skittering spirals and random patterns that Essek couldn’t make sense of. While the majority of his conscious thought consisted of white noise, a tiny section of his mind quietly pondered how different this would be if the rest of the Nein weren’t there—if it was just him and Molly and Caleb sprawled out on the ridiculously opulent bed he knew the two had in their apartment. Maybe there wouldn’t be a countdown at all, just Essek getting slowly driven to pleasant delirium by the two men who had captured his attention and his heart. 

How in the name of the Luxon had it not been two minutes yet?

A sudden third spot of ticklish sensation lit Essek’s nerves like a string of firecrackers. He didn’t even have to open his eyes (though he severely doubted he would even be capable of that at the moment) to know that a lavender tail’s spade tip was dragging ever-so-lightly back and forth cross Essek’s right inner thigh. That, combined with the attack still concentrated on his hips, nearly had him screaming. 

Just as it felt like he might pass out from lack of air, someone spoke up from elsewhere in the circle. 

“Scheiße, that was two minutes and, er, roughly forty-five seconds, sorry, sorry.”

Instantly, Molly let up, his tickling ending so abruptly that Essek almost felt dizzy. Phantom tingles of sensation raced across his skin and his laughter dropped into breathless giggles once more. If not for the near lifetime of practice in self-restraint, he would have let out an aggrieved whine and a soft plea for more. A delightful haze of dazed happiness had descended without Essek even noticing . 

“Wow, Essek, that was like, super impressive for your first time playing!”

Jester’s chirping voice popped the joyful bubble encasing Essek’s mind in an instant, and instinctual chilled terror shot down his spine at the reminder that the rest of the Nein had seen that entire ordeal play out in front of them. He sat bolt upright, vision hazy and unseeing. 

“Ah, ex—” Essek started, a shivering ghost of a laugh rudely interrupting. “Excuse me, I, hah, need to, uh—”

Without even finishing his sentence, Essek stood and hurried from the crowded living room. A chorus of voices sounded behind him, but he didn’t stop. The apartment’s tiny guest bathroom offered a safe place for him to sink to the ground and press his face into his hands, breath slowing even as his heart thrummed rapidly in his chest. 

Even with embarrassment and mild panic coursing through him, Essek’s mind could only conjure the image of Caleb and Mollymauk looming over him with warmth and mischief and affection in their eyes. 

Fuck.