#ler!charles

[starleska]

so those of us who've been writing for and discussing the Toymaker have found it a little tricky at times to discern the Toymaker's characteristics, given how often he changes up his accent, appearance, and temperament!! so, we developed a very silly solution 🙈💖 what's more fun that arbitrary categorisation? these are the different 'facets' of the Toymaker we've noticed - or rather, the characters he plays - and the shorthand names we use for him!! each name corresponds to a particular presentation of the Toymaker, largely tied to changes in voice, appearance and personality. there are moments where these distinct characters bleed into one another! we have:

1920s German Toymaker: the playful, teasing, pseudo-German speaking Toymaker who sells Charles Bannerjee Stooky Bill, and who menacingly juggles at the Doctor and Donna. this is the Toymaker at his personal best: fully invested in his character and thriving in a toy-themed performance. 🧸

French Cabaret Toymaker: the charming, lipsticked, French-accented dancer who accosts the Doctor on the street and sways amid the mayhem of The Giggle. this is a Toymaker who revels in chaos and destruction, and who is equal parts stunning and disquieting 🕺

Marionettist Toymaker: the frightening and severe puppeteer who grows to an impossible size, pulls marionette-Charles' strings and speaks in rhyme. this Toymaker feels the most similar to the original Celestial Toymaker played by Michael Gough! although superficially similar to other Toymakers, his hair is noticeably different and his demeanour is far more sinister 🧵

Showman Toymaker: the volatile ringmaster whose emotions shift on a dime, and who seems equally torn between performance, play, and injustice. this Toymaker is marked in contrast to Marionettist and 1920s German due to the occasional appearance of his American accent, and the apparent sincerity with which he delivers his show for Donna. 🎪

British Card Dealer Toymaker: the cool, calculating cardician whose respect for the game overshadows any desire for drama. much like with Showman, little glimpses of the Toymaker's other characters peek out here, but this Toymaker has a marked seriousness about him that's only knocked by his excitement upon gaining an advantage or winning. 👑

Band Leader Toymaker: the impossible menace with a distinctly feral energy. this Toymaker is a sadist: causing wanton pain, destruction and murder and loving every moment of it. Spice Up Your Life indeed 🌹

WWI Pilot Toymaker: the furious child who refuses to lose. this Toymaker is one who has grown frustrated with those around him who won't play his games, and these frustrations make him unable to maintain his previous playful persona: instead, we see lashings of anger coupled with violence, and the notable sadism of Band Leader 👨‍✈️

(Bonus) Flat Toymaker: the loser, and the lost little boy. i will admit, this was originally because i wanted an even set 😂💖 however, there's an intriguing moment of vulnerability from the Toymaker here, when he begs the Doctor for mercy. for a moment, we get a look into that 'vastness that will never cease' beneath all of the Toymaker's pomp and frills, and we see how truly frightened he is 🎁

[sensitivedevelopments]

Distractions (Cherik)

Tag: @tickles-tea

AO3 Link

Summary: Charles offers to help Erik with his training. Erik isn't sure what to expect.

Warnings: Tickle fic. Skip if that's not your thing.

Lee!Erik, Ler!Charles that eventually switches to the reverse.

OOC, perhaps, but fits into the First Class timeline.

Erik had been through a lot of trials in his life. None of them had been like Charles Xavier.

Perhaps it was unfair to compare someone as genuine and sweet as Charles to the other things he had been through—to Shaw and his tables with straps and his implements—but at times like these, when faced with the full force of that sincerity, he found that he had even less defenses against it than he had against Shaw. With Shaw, he knew what to expect. With Charles, he always felt lost. Off kilter.

Charles was all warm hands and gentle words, then at once a fierce insistence that Erik was worth it, that he belonged there with them. It was enough to give one whiplash, were it not for the fact that it was all so irrevocably insistent of his own goodness and worth as a person. If he could expect nothing else, he could expect whatever Charles would do to go in that direction.

That did nothing to help him right now. Days ago, Charles had asked him, so calmly, so sincerely, if he was allowed back into Erik’s head. To help him train, ostensibly, but that was only part of what had happened. He had reached into Erik’s memories like reaching into the reeds of a pond and pulled out something so precious to him that it might have been made of gold and physical between them. A memory of his mother, of celebrating with her. Being safe with her.

It rattled Erik at first. Knocked him off his pedestal of anger and hate and had him face-plant right into the soft grass of whatever this was that he had with Charles. But then he had began to realise the similarities of it to what was happening here. With Charles, he was not afraid of being betrayed. In Charles’s house, he did not fear waking up with knives in his flesh and Shaw towering over him again.

Was this safety? It was not exactly the same as that memory, but it certainly felt close to it. With Charles, he found himself able to smile. To relax. He should really known better than to do that.

Not because he was betrayed, but because Charles could be playful when he least expected it. Erik had no idea how to deal with that, no practiced defenses against it.

They were out on the grounds that day, hidden amongst the trees around the lake. Charles was watching him as he trained, levitating various bits of metal they had found around the house, forming complex shapes around himself and the rustling trees. Charles had informed him that one of those trees was his favorite, from his childhood. What a ridiculous concept. He still took a little extra care not to graze it with the odd pair of scissors flying about.

They were alone out there, in part thanks to the ridiculous comments Raven and Alex had offered the one time they were allowed in on Erik’s training (it was not juggling, damn it). Mostly, though, it was just nicer to be out in the quiet, and Charles only offered his opinions if he thought it might help. This, Erik was quite proficient at, and so the professor remained still, sitting in the grass behind him. At least until he got an idea, as Erik would soon come to learn.

The metal was forming a snake that slithered around him in the air, curled over the canopy of the nearest tree, and twitched to a stop in the air as Charles’ voice sounded behind him. Erik turned to look at him, arms still outstretched in the other direction.

“I was wondering,” Charles said, “if you wanted some help with your practice.”

Erik raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

In response, Charles raised his hand to his head, wiggling his fingers next to his temple in a familiar way.

“Test your concentration, perhaps?”

They both knew very well what kind of focus it took to use their respective powers. It was a correct angle from which to approach helping, but what exactly was he suggesting? Erik frowned as he watched Charles rise to his feet.

“Keep going,” he said, nodding his encouragement. “It’ll become clear.”

There was something in his expression that put Erik on edge. He knew that playfulness by now, but it came in so many different forms. Still, he turned back and guided the metal snake to curl around the trunk of the tree and slide back down. At the roots, he began to split it into tendrils that curled in different directions.

Then something brushed up his side, light as a feather.

He startled, convinced that something that lived in the trees or bushes had found its way into his shirt. The metal stalled, but did not fall as he reached down to smooth his sweater over the area. When he felt nothing more, he turned his attention back to the metal.

It happened again, almost immediately. This time, it was two quick swipes, up and down his ribs. He brushed at it once again, and found that this time, it didn’t help. The feeling didn’t dissipate.

Confused, he turned around, immediately spotting Charles, fingers at his temple and a smile on his face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, impossibly innocent. “I thought you were focusing?”

Stilling the metal in the air, Erik raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Really, Charles?”

Charles gave a shrug, and his fingers stayed in place.

“All’s fair in love and practice.”

Erik raised the other eyebrow then, and his sudden burst of amusement was clearly felt by Charles, whose smile widened the slightest bit.

“I’ll make sure to remember that the next time you’re training,” he said.

He turned back to the metal, but not before he could see Charles open his mouth and find no retort. The sound of him trying was almost imperceptible, just an aborted breath or two, but Erik noticed. His smirk, however, did not last for long after that.

Charles was evidently done being subtle, but Erik was stubborn if he was anything. The next touch moved up both sides, and it felt more like fluttering fingers than feathers. Erik’s arms clamped immediately down to his sides, the metal made a jagged motion sideways, and he clamped his mouth shut. At his armpits, the feeling dodged up to his shoulders instead and cascaded like skittering nails down his back. It made him shiver more than anything, and he was going to have to ask Charles to do that the next time he needed help sleeping, but it did not break his concentration.

If Charles was noticing the way the metal shivered in the air, he said nothing about it.

Slowly regaining his confidence, Erik selected a smaller section of the metal—a haphazard mix of scrap parts and loose staples that wouldn’t be missed. Everything else lowered to the ground, and he brought it closer to himself, letting its parts curl around each other and melt into one uniform piece. Curling his hands in the air around it, he began to form it into a cube.

Something curled teasingly over his lower ribs and down his sides, heading with singular purpose towards his hips. He would never admit to the sound that escaped him as he realised that.

It didn’t stop, and Erik fought for his life. The feeling curled like gentle nails over his hips, and he suddenly felt less like training and more like curling up into a ball and disappearing. The compromise between that and his pride was his knees bending halfway to a crouch and his hands shaking as he struggled to hold on to the metal. He clenched his teeth, refusing to let out another sound.

Then that something--that nefarious, nebulous feeling—turned without warning to a pinching squeeze around the base of his hips.

The metal cube followed him down to the grass like an obedient dog as Erik came to the conclusion that the best solution here would be to hunker down like a crumpled hedgehog and suffer through the feeling. There was another sound, not a laugh, but some sort of whine, then a strangled “Charles”.

There was a chuckle from behind him, warm like honey and sweeter, still. The feeling didn’t let up, even as he let go of the metal to cover himself uselessly with his hands. At his first breathless laugh, as though it was the trigger of a gun, Charles let loose with it.

Hands or feathers or something else entirely—Erik was too far gone to tell—skittered and danced up his sides to his armpits, down over his thighs, rolling over his belly. Erik made a sound like a wounded animal and descended into giggles that no one but Charles would ever find out he was capable of. It felt like torture. It felt light and warm. He was unable to make any sense of the feeling.

“Chaharles,” he pleaded, his voice higher than he had ever heard it before. There was another laugh from behind him, this one louder and delighted, and Erik was not so far gone that he couldn’t appreciate being the reason for Charles to laugh like that. For a moment, the sounds mingled, like harmonizing notes. Though the result was nice, Erik felt a little bit like he was actively dying at this point.

He had never laughed at length, had never had reason to, and while Charles had tried tickling him before (likely the reason he dared to do it now), it had never been this intense. Erik found himself lying sideways in the grass, an imperfect metal cube forgotten in front of him. It watched him impartially as Charles methodically took him apart. He could do it from a distance. He could do it without lifting a finger.

He was terrifying, and Erik would be turned on about that if he wasn’t so busy giggling like a child.

“What?” Charles asked, and the laugh was clear in his voice. “I thought you wanted to practice!”

His tone lowered a bit, but he was no less amused when he added, “You look lovely like that, by the way.”

Erik realized with some difficulty that Charles was teasing him, and was that not just the cherry on top of all this? He had run from a lot of things and fought through a lot of things, but few of them were as paradoxical as this. This should be humiliating, and he should be lashing out. Instead he felt completely safe, a feat only ever possible because it was Charles doing this. Charles who had proven as much as one could that Erik could trust him. That he wanted him to feel safe and comfortable. And apparently to be tickled beyond coherency.

He knew that Charles was at least shallowly in his head now, keeping what boundaries he could while making sure that Erik wouldn’t be overwhelmed. But to hell with that, he thought. Clearly, training was over, and this was nothing if not a provocation.

His laughter had gone from a loud, boisterous thing to a breathless sort of wheezing at this point, and it was a struggle to move at all with the feeling creeping all over him like vigorous ants. Still, Erik was a stubborn man, and Charles had not been careful that day. He was still wearing metal. A watch on his left wrist. Cufflinks. A pair of slacks with a metal zipper. All enough for Erik to reach out with one swift, uncoordinated hand and yank him gracelessly through the air as Charles yelped like a startled child. The tickling feeling disappeared in an instant, and Erik had time to take one breath before Charles landed on him with all the grace of a man tumbling off a cliff. It was all Erik could do to raise one arm and try to catch him, but they still ended up in an uncoordinated roll across the grass.

“Erik!” Charles was yelling, but they had slowed to a stop and Erik was already ensuring that he ended up on top. Surely, Charles was going to say something about this being childish or their clothes getting dirty, but Erik was faster. The next sound Charles let out was a loud, startled laugh around his next words.

“This—ah—thihis is nohot part of ihihit!” He was flailing, reaching for Erik’s hands, but vengeance gives one reflexes like no other. Erik dodged him at every turn and dove inside that neat jacket with no preamble to find the soft skin of his belly. The laughter raised an octave as Charles tried to curl up like a shrimp, and Erik grinned triumphantly down at him. In the next instant, Charles’ hands had been yanked above his head and pinned to the ground by watch and cufflinks both.

“All’s fair in love and practice,” Erik parroted, smug beyond belief. He could feel the whispers of tickles over his thighs and hips, but Charles was too distracted now to make it all that effective. Erik huffed.

“Come on. You can do better than that. Show me your legendary focus, Charles.”

Charles did no such thing. Instead he curled sideways as much as he could and laughed his head off, eyes shut and cheeks red. The sight of him so loose and carefree was almost enough to distract Erik from the task at hand. Almost.

“We’ll keep at this until you can get out, you know.” He did not imagine the way Charles’ breath hitched between laughs. “Show me your escape strategy.”

The undeniable thrill in the back of his head was not his own.

[knizmokat]

Smile For Me

first tickle fic on the new blog and it's a goddamn First Class domestic fluff piece that is completely self-indulgent

tags: @dannystheone

fandom: x-men (foxverse)

characters: lee!charles, ler!erik (first class era)

a/n: call your dentist, because this fic is gonna make your teeth rot

"Charles, won't you take a break? You've been at this for hours," Erik said, watching his boyfriend scribble away in the hefty notebook that was cradled in his arm. He stood by the wardrobe, pulling a plain, navy t-shirt over his head that hung somewhat loosely from his broad shoulders.

It was late in the night; roughly half-past ten and after a long day spent training, Charles and Erik had retired to the formers bedroom. The curtains were shut and all that lit the room were the small yet elegant lamps on either side of the king-size bed. Charles' shirt and pants had been tossed over an armchair in the corner, leaving him in a white tee that wasn't quite his size and flannel pants that Erik were sure belonged to him.

Charles turned to the next page, not tearing his eyes away from the paper. "Just a couple more minutes, darling." The words left his mouth without him even thinking about it. He continued writing, forehead crinkling as he knit his eyebrows together.

Erik faltered and his heart suddenly fluttered in his chest. He ignored the slight warmth that spread across his face. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside Charles. "You'll work yourself to the bone at this rate," Erik said. leaning over his boyfriends legs, hands on either side of his body, causing the mattress to dip slightly.

"I'm planning to open a school, Erik." Charles turned the page, scribbling something down in the already bursting margins. "That takes work, and planning."

"Well, I think you've done more than enough planning for today," Erik said. He reached out, gently pulling the large notebook from his boyfriends hands.

There was little resistance.

"What do you suggest I do instead, then?" Charles asked. He did nothing to stop Erik, just folded his arms over his chest and watched.

Erik pursed his lips together and kissed his teeth, then shrugged.

"Relax, maybe smile a little."

Charles raised his eyebrow, scoffing quietly. "Smile?" he echoed, narrowing his eyes slightly. The corners of his lips curled up as he watched Erik put his notebook on the bedside table, and then lean back over him. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

Erik moved in, closer, so their faces were only inches apart. His hands started to slide up Charles' thighs, and they didn't stop until they found his sides. "I can think of something.." His eyes took their time finding his boyfriends face.

Charles felt his heart skip a beat and he swallowed silently, trying to pretend like his face wasn't turning bright red. The way Erik's voice dropped so low sent shivers up his spine that he wouldn't mind feeling again.

But then, he felt the subtle, all too familiar twitch of ten fingers against his sides and reality came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks.

Erik noticed this, of course. The gradual widening of his boyfriends eyes gave everything away. He chuckled softly, leaning over Charles outstretched legs and putting his weight on them. "You figured me out then, did you?"

Charles looked warily at his boyfriend, lips twitching as he tried to fight off the nervous smile already trying to plaster itself onto his face. His hands came down, fingers wrapping gently around Erik's wrists.

"Erik, don't-"

"Give me one good reason~" Erik whispered, smiling to himself as he watched that nervous, wobbly smile finally force its way onto Charles face.

And just when it felt like he couldn't get any more bloody handsome.

"I- behecause it's completely childish." Charles regretted those words the minute they left his mouth, but he couldn't take them back, and he was forced to watch in real time as that loving gaze on Erik's face turned into pure mischief.

"Childish?" Now it was Erik's turn to be the parrot. He curled his fingers into Charles' sides, giving them a quick squeeze and absolutely relishing in the way his body jolted.

"N-Now, Erik, hah-HANG on!" Charles gasped, fingers tightening their grip. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face now even if he tried.

Erik chuckled softly, fingers uncurling as he rested his hands on Charles' waist. "Why should I?" he asked, looking into the blue eyes that had captivated him since they first met.

Charles floundered. He was trying to think of a way to convince his boyfriend not to completely ruin him, but he came up empty. His eyes flicked down to Erik's lips.

..That could work.

"Because then I can't do this," he whispered, then leaned in and pressed their lips together.

Erik was caught off guard--but quick to melt into the kiss. He closed his eyes and relaxed his hands. One of them slowly moved behind Charles and came to rest on his lower back.

Meanwhile, Charles found himself loosening his grip on Erik's wrists. One of his hands slid up the mans arm until it found his bicep. Another smile tugged at Charles' lips--though it wasn't remotely as innocent as before.

They stayed like that for more than a few seconds, until Erik eventually broke away to take a breath. He pressed their foreheads together, letting his hand slide back to its original position.

Charles breathed a loving sigh. His arms were covered in goosebumps of the best kind. He felt Erik's hand move back to his waist, but thought nothing of it. Surely, he was in the clear.

For a moment, there was silence, and then..

"Did you really think that would save you?"

Fuck.

Charles' eyes widened again, but before he could do anything, he felt fingers curling into his sides, kneading and squeezing the flesh. He pulled away from his boyfriend with a squawk, and failed to stop the flurry of boyish giggles that burst out of him. "Erihik! Yohou bahastahard!"

Erik just smirked, pinching his fingers indiscriminately up and down Charles' sides. "Honestly, Charles you should've seen that coming. You're a bloody mind-reader."

"You knohow I dohohon't use ihit unlehess I hahAHAVE tohoho!"

"One of the more irritating things I love about you," Erik sighed, shaking his head from side to side. He couldn't put into words how gorgeous Charles looked at that moment—with his scrunched up nose, face more red than the finest of roses and a smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle.

Charles made countless, useless attempts to grab Erik's hands and pry his fingers away. He even made a desperate swipe at Erik's torso in hopes of somehow turning the tables.

He was unsuccessful, clearly.

"You're shouting my name an awful lot, Charlie, is something the matter?~" Erik feigned concern, knitting his eyebrows together as he vibrated his thumbs into the meat between Charles' poor ribs.

Then, Charles cackled, arching his back as he felt thumbs dig into the bottom of his ribs. This was promptly followed by a squeal as eight fingers wiggled into his lower back—just behind his sides. He tried to escape them, but no matter where he went- up or down- Erik's fingers were there to meet him.

It was quite unfair.

"ERIHIHIK!"

Charles snorted, squeezing his eyes shut. He felt his face heat up at that bloody nickname. His fingers dug weakly into Erik's bicep as he twisted and turned, like he was trying to shake free of the tickling fingers.

Erik chuckled and, with one swift motion, climbed onto the bed and knelt over his boyfriend. His fingers came to a halt, but his hands never left Charles' body—not even for a moment. He could feel the younger man trembling as quiet titters and giggles sputtered their way out; chest heaving softly as he panted for breath.

But they followed him wherever he went, practically glued to his body. Part of him was loving it, the other part considered tossing his boyfriend across the room.

"Yohou knohohow eHEXAHACTLY whahat the blohoody mahatteher ihihis!"

"Are you quite alright?" Erik hummed softly, twitching his fingers just so he could feel Charles jolt beneath him.

It was beyond intoxicating.

Charles opened his eyes hesitantly, looking up at Erik with a wobbly grin that made his boyfriends heart beat faster. "Erik, plehease, I implore you-"

"To what? Have mercy?" Erik interrupted, raising his eyebrow. "Charles, how could I possibly when you look like that? Besides, you'll just pick up that notebook again and go right back to work," he said, twitching his fingers again and soaking in the sound of his lovers gasp.

"Anyway, I still have one more thing to do.."

"Ahah, d-do I even wahant to know what that IHIHIS—ERIK." Charles let out a shriek, eyes widening and hips bucking quite violently as he felt thumbs swirling into his divots.

Erik was quick to trap Charles beneath him, straddling his thighs and pressing his knees against them. He looked down at Charles and, God, the way he laughed.. It felt like falling in love all over again.

Erik still remembered the day he first laid eyes on Charles Xavier. They were in the Paraná river, and the water was freezing. Erik had been sure he was going to drown, but then something pulled him up. When he surfaced, he locked eyes with Charles and it was like everything else just melted away.

In all his reminiscing, Erik almost forgot he was bringing his boyfriend to tears. He shook himself out of his thoughts and looked down, a loving but cruel smile gracing his features. He couldn't resist. Erik dug his thumbs in that little bit more and picked up the pace, just to hear Charles shriek again.

He could do this for hours if only the genius professor could survive it, but Charles was so ticklish that he'd probably start getting dizzy soon.

"How is it that you're one of the most powerful mutants on the planet, and yet I can take you down just by wiggling my fingers?" Erik tilted his head, staring down at his love. He wanted to memorize every minute detail of him; from the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled to the subtle dimple in his left cheek that you could easily miss if you weren't paying attention.

Charles, of course, was incapable of answering. He was too busy losing his mind, head thrown back into the pillow with his eyes shut tight, fingers still wrapped around Erik's wrists. He fell silent for a moment before suddenly erupting into a new bout of frantic laughter that had Erik thinking about engagement rings.

Eventually, Erik had to take pity—mostly because he was actually starting to feel himself get pushed back by something unseen as Charles smacked his arm with a weak hand. He chuckled softly and pulled back, letting his hands rest on his boyfriends waist.

Charles took a deep, giggly breath of air and his arms came forward to cover his face, crossing over each other as he trembled and panted.

Erik couldn't look away.

No matter how hard he tried, which frankly wasn't that hard at all, Erik Lensherr could not tear his eyes from the man trapped beneath him.

Charles' flustered state only made him more irresistable—something that Erik hadn't thought possible. His eyes were full of tears that, in the soft glow of the lamplight, made them glisten like morning dew caught in the sunrise, and the red flush in his cheeks that spread to the tips of his ears and the bridge of his nose was just.. well, adorable.

Everything about Charles Xavier, in that moment and all others, was just breathtaking.

Erik climbed off his breathless lover and settled into the empty space beside him. "Are you alright?" He smiled, reaching out to card his fingers through Charles' messy hair.

The younger man simply rolled over and buried his face into Erik's shoulder with a quiet giggle.

Erik chuckled again and wrapped his arms around the professor while planting a soft kiss on his head. "I'll take that as a yes." He spared a glance to the bed, which was a complete and utter mess now.

The blankets and quilts were hanging over the end, threatening to fall to the ground if either of them so much as shifted.

It brought his mind back to the previous night—though the bed had been thoroughly messed for much different reasons.

Erik decided not to dwell on that and started rubbing Charles' back, letting the man catch his breath and calm down.

"You are quihite cruel," Charles said, finally raising his head to look at Erik. He did everything in his power to muster up a glare, but it was far from threatening.

The latter simply smirked, bringing one hand forward to cup Charles' face and tenderly brush his thumb over his cheek.

"Charles, I am known for many things to many people, but I can assure you that cruel will never be one of them; not to you, anyway."

Charles' face softened and he let out a quiet breath. His hand came to rest gently on Erik's chest. The subtle thumping of his heart was comforting in ways that Charles couldn't describe.

"Have I ever told you how much of a sap you can be?" he asked, voice lowering as he leaned in closer.

Erik tilted Charles' chin up and did the same. "Many times.."

That was the last thing he said before their lips touched and his eyes closed.

[princesslightgiggles]

Laughter, rediscovered

After their myriad spectral adventures, the Dead Boy Detectives, Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine, had been granted a peculiar reward: life. Restored to the living realm in their boyish forms, they found themselves wandering the lush gardens of their boarding school, a site once familiar in its spectral gloom, now vibrant and filled with the hustle of life.

One crisp autumn afternoon, while the golden hues painted the leaves in fiery tones, Edwin found himself particularly engrossed in a classic novel, his brows furrowed in concentration. Charles, on the other hand, had grown restless with the stillness of the day and was looking for a bit of mischief.

"Edwin, have you ever considered that perhaps, just perhaps, there's more to life than dusty old books?" Charles teased, trying to snatch the book from Edwin's hands.

Edwin adjusted his glasses and replied with all the seriousness of a seasoned scholar, "This isn't just any book, Charles. It's a masterpiece of literary—"

Before he could finish, Charles poked him in the ribs, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. To Charles' surprise, Edwin jumped a foot in the air, letting out an uncharacteristic squeak that shattered his usual stoic demeanor.

"What on earth—Charles!" Edwin exclaimed in shock, his face flushing with embarrassment.

Charles burst into laughter, unable to resist the temptation of his discovery. "Oh, Edwin! Who knew you were ticklish?"

"I am not!" Edwin protested. But Charles, delighting in the reaction, darted forward and launched a full-scale tickle assault.

Edwin squirmed and writhed under the onslaught, his scholarly composure melting into peals of genuine, uncontrollable laughter. The sensation of being tickled was overwhelming; each poke and prod ignited a spark of laughter that cascaded uncontrollably from him. His usual reserve shattered, and he found himself giggling hysterically, his body jerking in spontaneous, erratic movements as he tried to evade Charles’s playful fingers.

"Stop, Charles! This is—this is most undignified!" he managed between his giggles.

“Oh, come now, Edwin! It’s just a bit of fun!” Charles chuckled, relentless in his tickling. The sight of Edwin so out of character only spurred him on.

The feel of Charles’s fingers were like electric impulses, sending jolts of laughter through Edwin’s body, utterly disarming him. He was embarrassingly aware of the involuntary spasms and giggles that betrayed his stoic facade. But as he gathered his wits amidst the laughter, he saw an opportunity and flipped their positions, pinning Charles down with a sudden, surprising strength.

"Now, let's see how you fare, Mr. Rowland!" Edwin declared, his fingers finding Charles's ribs. Charles’s reaction was immediate and explosive. As Edwin tickled him, his laughter boomed across the garden, a sound so hearty and infectious it seemed to echo off the school walls.

Charles tried to squirm away, but Edwin was quick and merciless with his tickling, discovering every sensitive spot with a playful yet determined precision. "Mercy, Edwin! Mercy!" Charles begged between uncontrollable bursts of laughter.

"I thought you enjoyed a good tickle fight, Mr. Rowland!" Edwin teased, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he continued his playful assault. Charles's laughter, pure and uninhibited, filled the air, transforming the usually serene garden into a playground of joyous sounds.

Their tickle fight evolved into a rolling, laughing tangle of limbs on the grassy lawn, the seriousness of their former lives forgotten in these moments of childish glee. Finally, breathless and spent, they lay side by side on the soft earth, the late afternoon sun warming their faces.

Edwin, his composure thoroughly undone but his heart lighter than it had been in decades, glanced over at Charles and chuckled. "Well, that was thoroughly unbecoming of a gentleman."

Charles propped himself up on an elbow, grinning at his friend. "Perhaps, but I daresay, Mr. Paine, sometimes it's perfectly fine to be a little ungentlemanly."

And as the shadows lengthened and the laughter echoed in the cool breeze, Edwin found himself agreeing. For the first time in a very long time, he felt truly alive, not just in body but in spirit. And all it had taken was a little bit of laughter—a language, he realised, that was just as important as any he had ever read about.

[leis-da-madrugada]

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Bukowski, Definição de amor.

[eunchancorner]

Don't Negotiate With Terrorists Ellie

No one can stop me from writing Triple Threat tickle fics

-

“Get back here, you thief!”

“You’ll never take me alive!”

Henry listened to the yelling as Charles chased Ellie around the house with a nerf gun in hand, playing some game that sounded like something 7-year-olds play on school playgrounds. Ellie had snatched one of the whisks while Charles was trying to bake and was running around, evading him, meanwhile he’d apparently kept a nerf gun stowed in a cupboard for just such an occasion, which came as no surprise, given that both Ellie and Henry were guilty of stealing cooking supplies while he was mid-meal prep.

Henry had opted to stay out of it, quietly watching videos on his phone, curled up peacefully on the couch as his roommates yelled and laughed and ran around the house loudly.

But slowly, their spirit began to become infectious. He began to want to join in. Would it be awkward to join in now? What would he even do?

Then, suddenly, he got his chance.

“Henry, grab her!” Charles shouted, and without hesitation, Henry tossed his phone aside and lunged at Ellie as she rounded the couch, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist.

In hindsight, not having a tighter grip was his first mistake.

Ellie easily spun with his movements, grabbing the back of his shirt with her free hand and pulling him up. Her other arm wrapped loosely around his neck, holding the whisk so close that he could almost feel the cold metal against him, and the arm that had grabbed him was now wrapped around his midsection. On instinct, he put his hands up as all three of them halted in their positions; Henry prisoner in Ellie’s grasp, Charles pointing his nerf gun at Ellie.

He had quickly turned from a helper to a hostage.

“C’mon, Ellie, you don’t wanna do this! Just let go of Henry, give me the whisk, and this’ll all be over!” Charles warned, failing to force the playful grin off his face.

“You don’t even know what I’m planning with him! What if I’m planning to do…” Ellie seemed to think for a moment, before a mischievous grin lit up her face, curling her empty hand into a claw above Henry’s stomach, earning a startled yelp. “This!”

Henry was caught looking between her hand and Charles, trying and failing to force down nervous snickers, all too aware of how his face felt like it was on fire. He shook his head nervously, not sure what he was protesting, but protesting all the same.

“You wouldn’t dare!” the pilot gasped, feigning a look of horror.

“Oh, but I would! You know as well as I do how stupidly ticklish Henry is, so you’d better drop the gun!” she warned him.

“E-Ehellie no, no plehease-” the poor hostage tried to beg before he was cut off by his own squeal as she pinched his belly lightly.

“Begging will only make me want to tickle you more, Henry, so you better keep quiet,” she said, before turning her attention back to Charles. “This goes one of two ways. Either you figure out how to mix a cake the old-fashioned way, or Mr. Squeaker here ends up too tickled out to have any. What’ll it be, Charles?”

“What do you even want a whisk for, anyway?!”

“Well, it’s… uhm… uh…” she seemed to struggle to think of something, so Henry chimed in.

“I-it’s a good stim toy,” he whispered, earning a nod.

“Yeah, like he said, it’s a good stim toy!”

“Henry, why are you siding with her?!”

“Sh-she’s got my death spot, gihimme a break, man!”

Charles took a deep breath. Henry could almost see the cogs turning behind his eyes as he tried to formulate a plan. Suddenly, he cast the nerf gun aside, leaping for the pair.

You fucking idiot.

Faster than Henry could process, Ellie suddenly had them both pinned on the floor beneath her, the whisk clattering to the ground near Charles’s head. Henry shot him a glare at his idiocy, while the pilot simply snatched up the whisk he’d been ‘fighting’ for this whole time. 

“So, what was the plan there?” Ellie questioned, crossing her arms as she looked down at the pilot. Henry watched Charles fumble for an answer.

“I-I’m gonna be honest, the plan was to go with the flow… but uhm… the-the flow ended up with me on the ground… so… I-I’m not sure where to go from here,” he admitted.

“Well, lucky for you, I have an idea of where to go. You’re gonna go straight to Tickle Hell, alongside Henry of course,” she smirked down at the two, her arms crossed. “Or maybe you’ll go before him, so he can see what happens when you decide to side against me. Or maybe, you’ll go after him, since I did threaten to tickle him first, so it’s only fair that he gets it. Hm… now that I think about it, I’m absolutely doing one at a time. Two hands, twice the tickles, and I get to fluster the hell out of one of you. So who’s first?~”

The boys looked at each other before pointing at each other. Neither wanted to face the consequences, and Henry was half-hoping he’d be able to get away while Ellie was distracted.

“Well, that’s no help… Hm, fine. Charles, you can go first because you’re the one who chased me around with a nerf gun for 20 minutes,” she decided.

“Hey, you took my whisk, I was just trying to get it back!” he defended, but quickly shut up with a squeak as Ellie curled her hands into claws above him, the same as she’d done to Henry earlier.

“Hey, Charles, do me a favor… Shut up and laugh for me~” she ‘requested’, immediately going for his ribs, making the poor pilot squeal instantly as he pressed his arms to his sides in a poor attempt to defend himself.

Henry wanted to feel smug about not being first. He did. But he just couldn’t, because he knew he’d be next. And yet he couldn’t look away from Charles’s doom. From what was soon to be his own. He watched as Charles twisted and laughed and squealed, as he struggled to escape, an effort made in vain. He listened as all the poor pilot could do was laugh. Because tickles, ironically, were one of the things that got him to stop rambling.

And Ellie knew it, too.

“Aww, poor Charles, can’t even tell me off because he’s just too ticklish! Isn’t that just the cutest thing, Henry? Something that you’d expect someone so rambly to be able to do is attempt some speech about how ‘evil’ and ‘horrible’ I am because I won’t stop tickling him, or teasing him, or calling him the cutest, most adorable little puppy boy ever! But not Charles, because he’s just too ticklish~” she cooed at him, leaning closely over him so he couldn’t look away from that evil smile she wore. Henry finally managed to tear his gaze away, hiding behind his hand, his face one again feeling like it was on fire. 

“What’s wrong, Henry? Don’t wanna watch Charles get his karma? I thought you loved watching people get what’s coming to them,” Ellie purred, having noticed Henry’s change. “But then again, I guess you’ve never liked it when the karma comes for you, huh? And you know that’s exactly what’s gonna happen when puppy boy over here’s tickled out.”

Beside him, Charles whined through his laughter, which brought Ellie’s full attention back to him.

“Speaking of which, you done down there?” she asked him, and after a short while his laughter calmed to giggling, which indicated to Henry that he’d probably managed some kind of affirmation. Of course, once Charles could speak properly again, he did.

“Dohohon’t… dohon’t call mehe puhuhuppy bohoy… Ihihi… aham a grohohown ahass mahahan… Ihi am… ihin the mihilitahahary… I aham…”

“You’re adorable. Like a puppy. Now shush and go rest, okay?”

“Okahay…” he giggled out, though Henry dared to peek and see him roll away onto his side, still giggling as Ellie let him go. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

“Ready, Henry?”

Ah. Shit. That’s right.

“Uh… w-wehell…” he mumbled, having trouble finding the words to say, finding himself averting his gaze again now that he was under Ellie’s full focus.

“C’mon, I need an answer. Or are you saving your breath until I actually start?” she asked, tilting her head at him with that same evil smirk. “I mean, I get it. Listening to you talk nonstop and still manage to say absolutely nothing is pretty funny. But I would at least like you to say you’re ready.”

“Ihi… I-I’m ready…”

And just like that, she dug into his belly, making him squeal brightly at the tickles. He tried his best to roll in some direction, any direction, so long as it would make it less intense, but no matter where he tried to go, there she was. So, his brain defaulted to the next best thing it could think of to get him out of trouble.

“WAHAHAIT!! WAITWAITWAIT! PLEHEASE EHEHELLIE!! NAHAHOHOHO!! PLEHEHEHEASE!”

“Hey, you said you were ready! You don’t get to tell me to wait anymore, now switch up the tone before I decide you’re not laughing hard enough~” she warned him, earning a flustered squeal.

“PLEHEASEPLEASEPLEASE!! I CAHAN’T!! NOHOT FAHAHAIR!! IHIT’S SOHOHOHO BAHAHAHAD!!” he complained, grabbing at her hands as they kneaded at the pudge on his tummy. It was hard to overstate how much it really tickled; he felt like his whole midsection was filled with electricity, buzzing through his torso and lighting his nerves on fire. This was the kind of thing that was so hard to describe entirely but so unique and distinct in a way it had no business being. He’d probably have felt bad for Charles if he had the brain function for it right then.

“I know it’s bad, that’s why I chose this spot, dumbass. It makes you react so much and it’s just so fucking cute! You have no idea how much I just wanna squeeze the shit outta you every time I get you to laugh like this, but I might end up actually hurting you so this is the next best thing!”

“FUHUHUCKING CYHYCLE!!”

“I mean, yeah, but that’s not the point. The point is, you’re an adorable puppy boy, just like Charles.”

“PLEHEHEHEASE!! EHEHELLIE! SOHOMEWHERE EHEHELSE!!”

“Give me one good reason~”

“DYIHIHIHIHING!!”

“Oh please, you drama king, you’re not dying!” she rolled her eyes at him, although she couldn’t hide how amusing it was. “I mean, I’ll move spots, but you’re not dying.”

And true to her word, she took his hand into hers, gently fluttering her nails over his palm, causing his hysterics to calm into bright giggles.

“Chrihihist… youhuhu… ahare ehehehevil…” he managed, feeling like his brain was turning into soup now that it was able to relax a little.

“If I was ‘evil’, I would’ve kept tickling your belly,” she pointed out with a smug smile, “You should be grateful that I’m giving you any mercy at all with that shitty excuse.”

Henry had no good response to that, so he gave in to just giggling his head off, his free arm draped over his face, staying like that until Ellie finally got bored and let him go, standing, letting him struggle to regain composure.

He couldn’t tell what she was doing, but he heard her begin to walk into the kitchen and say, “Maybe I can try to make this cake myself. Maybe I’ll set the house on fire, maybe I'll actually make something edible, let’s see.”

The sound of Charles scrambling to his feet only made him giggle harder.

[ratfc]

"Tamos a comparar a obra prima do mestre com a prima do mestre de obras" a melhor frase que já ouvi.

[captainreecejames]

Wrong City - CL16 smau

in which you commit to the bit on Instagram

authors note : I hope you guys like this one! Originally it was going to be a different post every city and driver, but I didn't think that would really be enough so it became a short story on charles. Let me know if you want one on a different driver as I still have a few captions in the notes.

pairing : Charles Leclerc x FEM!reader

warnings : none

ynusername posted --------

liked by bsfinstagram, yourmominsta and others

ynusername as the french say "soo la voo" or whatever

joris_trouche and who ate that second gelato? ↳ ynusername I had both duh 🙄🙄🙄 ↳ joris_trouche and that isn't Charles favorite flavor ↳ ynusername it's obviously my second favorite

pierregasly what??? ↳ ynusername isn't that what you say? I'm confused ↳ francisca.cgomes looks right to me ↳ ynusername thank you!

username22 quick flex in italy

username14 oh to kiss Charles leclerc in front of the trevi fountain in Rome, Italy

carlossainz55 I'm telling!!! ↳ charles_leclerc booo you whore ↳ charles_leclerc yn made me type that ↳ charles_leclerc but please don't tell

yourfriend1 did you try those gelato places I sent? ↳ ynusername yes, we agree they were so good! ↳ joris_trouche we??

username12 a woman in a white dress in italy will always have me going 🤨 ↳ username36 miss yn do you have anything you want to share with the class

username29 she's chronically on tiktok like me

landonorris get this off the tl ↳ charles_leclerc just cause youre chronically single doesn't mean we need to cater to your needs ↳ ynusername get him babe!

liked by georgerussell63, lewishamilton and others

ynusername when in rome 🇮🇹🤪

pierregasly don't fucking piss me off ↳ ynusername oooh someone's even more sensitive than the monagasque

francisca.cgomes you are so pretty it actually hurts me ↳ ynusername babe look in a mirror ↳ francisca.cgomes our spot in 15 ↳ ynusername see you then babe

username27 oh she's committing to the bit huh ↳ charles_leclerc you have no idea ↳ username27 CHARLES HI

username83 when will it be my turn?? 😭😭

joris_trouche was the croissant good ↳ ynusername yep and I didn't share it ↳ charles_leclerc she tripped running away from me when I asked for some ↳ ynusername i thought we weren't sharing that info ↳ charles_leclerc sorry ma cherie

oscarpiastri you let that croissant touch the wall? ↳ ysusername of course not, what do you take me for? a loser

lorenzotl hope you had a good time ↳ ynusername we did <3

liked by yukitsunoda0511, pierregasly and others

ynusername what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

username71 can't wait for the Vegas post now

username26 okay now she's teasing us about Vegas '19 ↳ username38 LER US KNOWWWWW

arthurleclerc bestie!!! ↳ ynusername little bro!!! ↳ arthurleclerc 😑🤧

username45 she really is feeding us with boyfriend charles content ↳ username28 I know, thank you yn. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

bsfinstagram she's everything, he's just there ↳ charles_leclerc accepting my role as trophy husband ↳ bsfinstagram husband 🤨🤨 ↳ charles_leclerc you know what I mean 😑

username74 now why are Arthur and BSF being weird ↳ username90 asking the right questions cause why are they being weird 🤨

alex_albon stop kissing on the tl, there are kids here ↳ ynusername weird to use third person but to each their own ↳ alex_albon im talking about logan

liked by scuderiaferrari, lilymhe and others

ynusername you know I love a monaco boy 🇲🇨

load more comments

username82 HE LOOKS SO GOOD OMG ↳ username82 LIKE THAT POST RACE GLOW IS JUST 🧑🏼‍🍳💋 ↳ username82 WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE ↳ username82 WHY ARE YOU IN ALL WHITE MS. YN

username63 Ma'am, you simply cannot post this then disappear

charles_leclerc ma cherie 🤍 ↳ ynusername you called?

lewishamilton congrats! ↳ ynusername thank you sir lewis. ❤️❤️

sebastianvettel wishing you two all the best ↳ ynusername thanks seb, from both of us

scuderiaferrari can't wait to welcome mrs. leclerc to the paddock!

username20 that post race glow hit so hard they got married

username30 yn please tell us he didn't wear that to the chapel ↳ ynusername he looked very handsome at the chapel, don't worry ↳ username30 that somehow doesn't make me feel better. was he wearing a costume?

tomholland2013 congrats you two! ↳ zendaya i guess our invites got lost in the mail? ↳ ynusername reception soon!!

yourmominsta my beautiful girl and handsome son-in-law ↳ ynusername love you mama ↳ charles_leclerc love you maman

username93 when she goes from the g in wag to the w >>

olliebearman you look amazing yn! congrats ❤️ ↳ ynusername awww thank you ollie ❤️

maxverstappen1 congratulations, no inchidents hopefully? ↳ ynusername you just can't let it go, huh? 😭 ↳ maxverstappen1 nope, little leclercs will know this story from my point of view ↳ ysusername please slow down 😐

lilymhe party soon? ↳ ynusername yes! I need a proper bachelorette party

username29 wait this wasn't planned?? ↳ username22 girl, vegas weddings are not really ever planned ↳ username29 yeah but when did he propose to her? if they didn't even have time for the bach parties, then i don't think they thought about this at all, makes me sad. you don't get married on a whim ↳ username22 take a breath. this is not your relationship ↳ username94 also they've been together for years, so this really isn't something out of the blue. plus they've joked about getting married on twitter and insta before, so it's something they both wanted. not that any of this is really our business

bonus post

liked by ynusername, andferrari007 and others

charles_leclerc and ynusername forever

[chalterdh22]

Helping an Old Friend - Squealing-Santa 2024

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!!!

Fandom: X-Men Prequel Films

Lee:  Charles Xavier

Ler: Erik Lehnsherr

Warnings:  None!  All fluff!

Normally Charles was the glass is half full professor.  He usually saw the better of people and circumstances.  Erik, on the other hand, was the complete opposite, which is why they balance each other out so well.  It had been years past since Charles’ accident.  So, it wasn’t anything new, but today was a rough day.

“Charles, I swear, I wish there were times I could mind read like you do, to know what exactly is going on in that head of yours.”  Erik said, sitting on a chair in the mansion, and Charles was trying to move himself from the wheelchair to the couch.  “Why are you trying to get yourself to the couch anyway?  There are plenty of other seats around.  Why pick the hardest one to move to?”  Erik was now all but yelling at the professor, who was sweating on how hard he was trying to get over to the couch.

“Erik, I know I don’t say this enough, but please, shut up old friend!”  Charles said under his breath, not looking up.

Erik now stood up and kneeled next to his friend, who now just had his head in his hands, seemingly taking a break.  “Here,” Erik said softly, trying to help his friend over, only to get swatted away by Charles’ hand. 

“Please, do not touch me.”  Charles was looking straight in Erik’s eyes, piercing right through him.  For some reason, this made Erik smile and puff out a laugh.

“Charles, are you really so stubborn as to not accept help from me?” Erik asked, as he now sat on the couch that Charles was trying to get to.  “What would be the point?”

“It’s nothing, nevermind.”  Charles voice seemed to dry up a little. 

“Come on, tell me what’s going on?”

“No, I’ll pass for now, but thanks.”  Charles responded.

“Charles, tell me, or I’ll have to……”  he stopped mid-sentence and realized Charles was paying no attention to him whatso ever.  He was completely deep in thought, so Erik, stoop up slowly, reached for his bag and put his helmet on, so Charles couldn’t read his mind.

When he sat back down, Erik had a huge grin on his face.  It wasn’t often he got to best the professor, mostly because of the mind control.  But he had watched Charles once getting a massage and the masseuse made him giggle and squirm.  He never knew Charles to be ticklish, but he was.  Erik didn’t think Charles would even remember such a miniscule detail, but Erik did.

After Erik hadn’t moved or said anything in a few seconds, Charles caught wind of not being able to penetrate his friend’s thoughts, and his head shot up quickly to see Erik wearing his beloved helmet.

“Erik, why do you have that on, may I ask?”  Charles asked nervously.

“No reason, but I do have a few questions for you?”  Erik said softly, putting his hand gently on Charles shoulder, which he shrugged off immediately.

“I told you; I don’t want to discuss anything.  Please just let me be.”

“No, because you never let me have those moments, and I want to know what’s bothering you.” 

Charles was now sitting straight up, shaking his head no.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll have to take drastic measures.”  This made Charles laugh and smile.  He had never gotten tickled by Erik, so he had no idea that’s what he was planning to do.

“Really? Well, let’s see what the mighty Magneto can do.”  Charles said smugly, crossing his arms, facing towards Erik now.  And since Charles couldn’t move quickly, Erik knew he could get him to talk.

Erik, shrugged his shoulder and reached one hand and pinched Charles side on his lower rib case, making him gasp and swat his hand.

“Wh-what are you doing?  Have you gone mad?”

“No, actually.  I’m thinking quite clearly.”  He reached out and pinched the other side and received the same reaction.  “If you won’t tell me what’s bothering you, I’ll make you talk!”

Charles tried to push his arms on the couch to scoot himself away in his wheelchair, but Erik used his powers and locked the wheels.  “Now where do you think you are going?  We are just getting started.”

“Erik, don’t.”  Charles said sternly, not smiling the least bit.  Erik knew he had touched a nerve.    He moved over on the couch closer and moved the wheelchair that had his helpless friend in it, so it was facing him directly.

Using his powers again, he moved the belt buckles on the wheelchair and tied them around Charles’ wrists, tying them to the arms of the wheelchair.  “Now this is better.”  Erik said softly, with still a smile on his face.  He reached both hands out to his lower ribs and gently squeezed them up and down, moving his fingers in between each trapped rib.

“Naaaa, Noooo Errrriikkkk!  Sttttoooo-ooopppp!”

“Tell me what’s bothering you and I will”, although Erik secretly hoped he would hold out a little longer, because this was too much fun for him!

Erik pulled his hands back for just a second, and then shot them up into his armpits, earning a huge gasp and squeal, not one he had ever heard from his friend before.  He again pulled his hands back out.  “I think I found a nice, tender spot; wouldn’t you say?”

Charles was shaking his head frantically, pulling hard with his arms, trying to protect himself.

“I think we’ll go back there.”  And this time he moved at a turtle’s speed, reached slowly towards the professors under arms again, which now had a small, sweat stain peering through his nice, button-down shirt.

Still shaking his head, and gathering his breath, he was stammering, “Not, th-there, pl-please.”

Erik still moving at the same speed had Charles laughing already, and he was even being tickled yet.  “No, no, not until you tell me.”  Charles just kept shaking his head no, cheeks flushed and sweat glistening his face.

Erik then moved quickly back to his under arms and massaged them like before, sending the professor almost shooting straight out of his wheelchair if he could.  Erik’s mouth grinning, slightly opened was softly squishing and digging into the sweaty flesh, sending Charles into hysterics, throwing his head back and forth, pushing his upper body as much as he could to get away.

Charles was gasping and not laughing aloud anymore, so he pulled back, crossed his legs, and gave him a few seconds to breath.  “Well, what will it be?  Answering a simple question to a friend who only wants to help you, or continue to be stubborn and allow me to find other sweet spots?”

Charles starting to catch his breath, still shaking his head no, with a huge smile splattered across his face, “No, please, hold on, just hold on for a minute.”  As he said this, Erik reached out and tickled behind his ear, making him turn his head quickly to out maneuver it.  “Ok, ok.  Damn, Erik, you are relentless.  I’ll tell you, and then please stop!”

“Deal.”

Charles took a few more breaths, leaned back in his wheelchair, feeling a bit safer. 

“I was trying to get to the couch because some students were sitting there, showing each other some photos, and wanted me to see them.”  He paused; the seriousness started coming back to his face.  “I believe it was out of habit, the on student tapped the seat on the couch next to him, as to say sit here and I’ll show you.  I know he didn’t mean anything by it and immediately felt embarrassed by his action, which made me feel worse.”

He paused again, looking at Erik, who was looking back at his helpless friend.  “I don’t want people to feel embarrassed around me, or feel they have to do anything special to accommodate me.”

“Isn’t that what we all do here, accommodate to each person’s unique abilities?  Why are you so different?”

“I’m not.”  He paused to think about that.  “I do understand what you’re saying though.”  Erik just nodded his head. 

“Do you feel a little better?”  Erik was standing in front of Charles now, looking down.

“Yes, but please, do me a favor?”

Erik started to walk away and turned his head.  “And what’s that?”

“Don’t ever do that to me again.”  Erik huffed a laughed and then realized he might never be able to take his helmet off again.  Oh well.  It was worth it.

The end.

@squealing-santa

@tickly-tufts!

[sensitivedevelopments]

Surprise, Surprise (Cherik)

Welp. I suppose I've lurked for long enough. Have a little story.

Edit: Now on AO3 as well

Summary: Surprising a telepath is difficult, but definitely not impossible.

Warnings: Tickle fic. Skip if that's not your thing.

Lee!Charles, Ler!Erik, brief mentions of the reverse

Technically fits into FC, pre-beach divorce, if perhaps uncharacteristically fluffy.

Erik learned quickly and efficiently that you cannot surprise a telepath, especially when the two of you are dating.

Sure, Charles had agreed and then sworn on his life that he would not meddle in Erik's head without his permission (which Erik was unsure if he could ever give). It did quickly become apparent, however, that this was not the only problem his powers could cause.

"There are some things I cannot shut off," Charles said mournfully after a conversation where he had seemingly slipped up without thinking about it. "If you think too loudly, I get a general impression of it. Feelings and images, sometimes. Words, sometimes. I’m not always fast enough to block it out.”

There was apparently a difference between "inside thoughts" and "outside thoughts" as Charles worded it. Mostly, the outside ones were impulsive, emotional ones. If Erik got excited about something, or struck with an episode of terrible memories, Charles struggled to block that sort of thing out. But it wasn't his innermost thoughts, he could remind himself. They were just instincts. If he actively contemplated something, he could focus on keeping it to himself. Charles was also eager to show him how to keep the thoughts “quiet”, as it were.

Though this might never be enough for Erik and his anxiety, it did keep it at bay most of the time. It helped that Charles was so very earnest about it, apologizing so profusely, blocking him out so deliberately when he noticed. Eventually, carefully, Erik began to relax a little on this matter. Charles knowing that his spontaneous little surprises made him happy--really, truly happy--was not a bad thing after all. 

Surprising Charles in return, however, was next to impossible, and Erik found himself wanting to surprise him. If only for revenge. 

It started when Charles discovered that he was ticklish. A fact that was impossible to deny, not only because of the physical reaction, but because the feeling of it rolled like waves from him straight to Charles.

He hadn’t laughed in so long before then. Actually, physically laughed. It was a light, fluttering, terrifying feeling.

Okay, so perhaps he did not hate it. That did not mean he wanted Charles to do it in front of the others. This was quickly and obviously communicated after the first innocent little poke next to where Hank was working. A look and a mental surge of discomfort was all it took for Charles to back off completely. 

But that did not stop him when they were alone, to Erik's mixed embarrassment, chagrin, and delight (though he would never admit to that last part). Charles pounced when he could, looked for the smallest moments of privacy, and it was not always tickling. Sometimes it was just physical contact or the odd kiss that Erik did not want the others to see. The tickling, however, was the only thing that really warranted revenge. 

But Erik was apparently a loud thinker when it came to that sort of thing. In conversations, around others, even mid-training, Charles would gracefully side-step if Erik came at him with anything more than the intention to put a hand around his waist. Erik found it infuriating. He also relished the challenge.

This required some time alone to think. At first, he solved this by taking walks around the grounds whenever he had some time left over. However, this eventually lead to Charles offering (so kindly, so innocently) to join him. This lead to some very nice walks and some interesting conversations, but it certainly did not lead to a solution to his problem. That came by accident one day.

Erik woke up early most mornings. The exceptions were after difficult missions, when he woke up aching and one or two hours later the next day. Charles often struggled with the same concept. He did not have the perfect internal clock that one gets from a lifetime of life-or-death and living on the run.

This lead to a morning where Erik had the rare chance to not only wake up in a leisurely manner, but also to do so in Charles' bed, a deeply sleeping telepath slung over his arm and his mind whirring with the possibilities of it. How had he not thought of this before? How could he have missed this?

There was no time to dwell on this, however. The early bird and the worm and all that, and if he spent too long thinking too loudly about the serendipity of this, Charles would surely be woken up from the sheer glee rolling off him in waves. So he laid closer and curled up around Charles, rolling him onto his back and slipping the hand that was buried beneath him into the fold between the shirt and pants that Charles had been to tired to shed the previous evening. It took a second, a moment of prodding and pinching, but then Charles was squirming closer and burying his head in Erik's chest. 

Erik did not stop, and the feeling did not go away. It was with victory in his heart that he watched Charles’ eyes flutter open and listened to the sound of a hum of discomfort turning into a high-pitched yelp of surprise when he ventured further up to the ribs. There were no barriers, no guard to keep up. Charles was laughing immediately. 

It was lovely.

“Erik!” he was squealing, squirming this way and that, but the way Erik was wrapped around him made him unable to do more than press his arms tightly to his sides to keep out the wriggling fingers. This did nothing to deter Erik, and he made sure that Charles knew it. His laughter was high and light, boyish and carefree, and Erik couldn’t get enough of it.

“Yes?” Erik asked, feeling unusually playful for being, well, him.

“Sto-“ he broke off with a shout as the hand slipped up into his armpit. The reaction was instant and practically violent, to the point where the bed frame twitched with Erik’s instinct to restrain, to protect. He quickly squashed down the feeling. This was not a fight. This was play.

Perhaps he should appreciate more just how much Charles had been teaching him to play.

“Please!”

Charles was turning red, laughing against his chest and no longer bothering to squirm away. Erik was still new to this, and he did not want to hurt him. Carefully, his fingers stilled, but there was no hope of removing them with the way Charles was still squeezing them close. He seemed unable to do anything else at this point.

“That,” Charles panted, “was rude.” He was still giggling a little bit.

Erik realized at once that he was smiling, wider than he had done in a long time. He could not imagine how he looked in that moment, but perhaps that was not so important now.

“Payback,” he muttered into Charles’ hair. He pressed a kiss to the scalp, going for soothing, but Charles was still squirming in his grasp.

“Stop it,” he muttered, amusement clear in his voice. “You’re feeling too loudly. Stop being so happy about this.”

“Make me,” Erik muttered back, for once perfectly happy that Charles was unable to shut him out. The joy was practically a feedback loop now. When Charles felt enough—joy, awe, arousal—he tended to project his feelings outwards, and suddenly Erik felt like he was the one able to read minds. It gave him some insight into why Charles loved his power so much, and certainly made it easier to deal with it on difficult days.

The idea was sudden. A surprise as much to him as to Charles, and it worked a charm. All it took was an image, the memory of wiggling his fingers, and Charles shut his eyes and let out a whining sound.

He was so sensitive. So hyper-aware. It made sense now why he did not let Erik do this anywhere else.

If Erik was a little ticklish, Charles was extremely ticklish, and Erik loved him for it.

“E-Erik!” Charles was once again giggling into his neck, squirming closer, despite the fact that Erik’s fingers remained perfectly still. “Please, this isn’t fair!”

And oh, Erik loved him.

[heartstopper-tword]

Prompt #33 for N & C ler/lee please

A/N: hi anon! ty for the prompt :) hope you enjoy!

if you want to send me prompts to my inbox you can find the list here!

Prompt #33: "Oh? You want me to tickle you that badly?"

Missing You Making Me Laugh

Two weeks away from each other was enough.

Charlie had known Nick was going on holiday with his family well in advance. Nick had told him about his family's tradition of traveling to Menorca every year to get together with the rest of his extended family, and how one day he wanted to take Charlie with him. Even a few hours apart from one another at school was agonizing for the both of them in general, so two weeks in different countries was absolute hell.

Luckily, Nick had kept his promise of calling Charlie every night to talk to him, checking in on his mental health back home and updating him about his cousins' antics around the vacation house. He'd send him pictures of the dogs together, him and other relatives, and so on, but Charlie still felt lonely without the older boy next to him.

He wasn't afraid to let his boyfriend know how he felt when he'd call, and every time Nick would answer with, "I know, I miss you too. It's only a few more days and I'll be back." Then he'd give him that classic, charming Nick Nelson smile that always stole Charlie's heart.

It wasn't just Nick's company Charlie was missing. It was something else. Something that made Charlie blush whenever he thought about it, giddiness and nerves overtaking him on the inside.

Charlie was known by his friends to be extremely ticklish. He, Tao, Elle, and Isaac had had their fair share of tickle fights and ambushes, and for as long as he could remember, Charlie very nearly was always being ganged up on. He couldn't help it, of course. He'd always been a walking tickle spot since he was little, Tori taking advantage of it as her duty of being the older sibling. It was something he'd tried and obviously had failed at hiding from Nick once they began dating, more out of embarrassment than anything.

When Nick had figured out Charlie's ticklishness, he'd gushed about how adorable he found it and that it just added to one of the things he loved best about him.

Charlie had been extremely embarrassed at first, but slowly became comfortable with the fact that Nick wasn't weirded out by him. In fact, Nick tickled him at almost every chance he got, almost anywhere they were. It made Charlie feel overjoyed by the fact that someone wasn't afraid to be physically affectionate with him, even if it meant being at the receiving end of it all.

But now, Charlie almost felt starved by this absence. He didn't have Nick whispering teases into his ear as he held him close against his chest. He didn't have him chasing him around his house and cornering him before tickling him into hysterics. He missed Nick's goofy self whenever he got into his moods, and he wanted it more than anything. And he needed that now.

He was currently sitting at his desk in his bedroom, on one of his daily calls with his boyfriend. The sun was setting through the window, and Charlie knew he didn't have much time until he needed to get ready to head off to bed. He could hear Nick talking about his afternoon, helping to babysit the younger of his cousins, but he wasn't truly listening. His thoughts kept going to that one specific thing he had on his mind all day.

"Charlie?" On the screen, Nick's face was filled with concern, his head tilted slightly. "What's wrong? You look all flushed."

Charlie cleared his throat, "I-I'm fine." Then as an afterthought, "Sorry."

"No," Nick shook his head, his eyes narrowing. "No S-words from you, sir. I thought we banned that word for good."

Charlie bit his lip, his heart racing in his chest. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry."

Nick wasn't oblivious. He could see the beginning of that cheeky smirk even through the screen of his phone.

"Charles Francis Spring," He said slowly, causing Charlie to shiver in his chair, "Are you purposely trying to rile me up right now?"

Charlie felt like his whole being was on fire from how hard he was blushing. Even through the phone screen he couldn't look Nick in the eye.

"Talk to me. What are you thinking in that pretty little head of yours?"

"I-I-" the younger swallowed, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He knew Nick had caught on to what he wanted. Of course he had. Nick could read Charlie like an open book. It felt like he was right there in his bedroom with him.

"Is there something you want from me?" Nick couldn't help his own smirk from appearing on his face, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend teasingly.

"Stooop," Charlie whined, covering his face with his hands, a nervous giggle escaping his lips.

"I'm just asking a question!" Nick laughed, and Charlie shook his head, still hiding his face. After a moment of silence, Nick leaned in a little. "Charlieee..."

"Do I have to say it?" Charlie asked, finally peaking through his fingers at his boyfriend and trying not to combust.

"I'd love to hear it."

They kept their eyes locked with one another, both of them grinning like idiots. Finally, Charlie let out a long sigh, looking down at his hands.

"I- I want you to..." His voice was barely audible, and Nick chuckled as he trailed off. "What? I'm sorry, you want me to...?"

"You know what." Charlie said playfully exasperated, and Nick crossed his arms over his chest, remaining silent.

Charlie's leg was bouncing under his desk, and he let out another sigh, squirming in his seat. "Iwantyoutotickleme."

"Again?"

He rolled his eyes. "I want you to... tickle me."

"And it finally comes out." Nick leaned back again in his chair, looking at his boyfriend smugly.

"Shut up."

"Oh? You want me to tickle you that badly? You miss me teasing you and playing with you? You miss me making you laugh so hard you can barely breathe? You miss me making you all flustered to the point you can't speak in complete sentences?"

"Shut up!" Charlie squealed, closing his eyes as nervous giggles began pouring out of his mouth. He could almost feel the sensation of Nick poking at him playfully, and it was driving him nuts.

"Oh Char, just you wait until I get back. Because I miss it too. I've nearly gone insane without hearing your adorable laughter. I miss seeing you squirm underneath me. So as soon as I get home, you better be ready. We'll have to make sure my mum isn't home. She'll think I'm murdering you."

"Nicholas, I will hang up on you." Charlie threatened, though by the tone of his voice, Nick knew he wasn't serious. However, he decided to egg him on once more. "Go ahead. That'll just seal your fate even more."

"Ugh, stop!" Charlie grabbed his phone, both boys laughing at this point. "You're impossible!"

"Okay, okay." Nick raised his hands, finally relenting. "You're just too cute to not tease you."

Charlie scoffed, moving to his bed and falling onto his back, his phone raised above him. "You're a menace, you know that?"

"Oh, I know." Nick winked, and Charlie felt his heart flutter in his chest. "Anyways, I have to get going. My family's going to be eating dinner soon. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay." Charlie felt slightly disappointed. He always hated hanging up with Nick at the end of a call.

Nick must've sensed his change of moods, and his expression softened. "Only a few more days, mon amour." He whispered, and Charlie nodded.

"Only a few more days."

[princesslightgiggles]

Time Tickle Twist

Charles felt a sudden jolt, as if reality itself had been rewound. His surroundings morphed into a sepia-toned version of the 1980s. Confusion swirled in his mind until the realisation hit him like a ton of bricks—he was back in time, inhabiting his alive self's body, yet retaining all memories of his afterlife adventures as a Dead Boy Detective.

Beside him, Edwin shimmered into view, his spectral form flickering with an ethereal glow. They weren't alone.

A ghostly figure materialised before them. It was another spirit, a remnant of the past with a grudge against Charles, determined to alter the course of history and erase his existence as a Dead Boy Detective.

As Charles struggled against the spectral restraints, Edwin leaped into action, confronting the vengeful ghost with a ferocity born from years of friendship and loyalty. With a swift strike, Edwin banished the ghost.

Charles exhaled a sigh of relief. Edwin moved to untie him, his spectral fingers deftly working at the knots. However, in his haste, one accidental brush against Charles' ribs elicited a surprising reaction.

“Crap” thought Charles, he had forgotten how ticklish he was when he was alive.

Edwin tried again and Charles gasped and twitched involuntarily, the sensation spreading through his body like wildfire. Edwin paused, an intrigued expression crossing his face as he realised the unexpected discovery.

"Ticklish, are we?" Edwin's grin widened mischievously as he couldn't resist the temptation to explore further.

Before Charles could protest, Edwin’s ghostly touch descended upon him with calculated precision. Feather-light strokes danced along Charles’ sides, sending shivers of ticklish delight coursing through his veins. Every nerve ending seemed to be on high alert, amplifying the sensation to unbearable levels.

Edwin revelled in the usually calm and collected Charles’ reactions. It had been so long since he himself had been alive and able to feel that he could not remember if he had ever been ticklish. Whilst it was most unlike him to engage in such childish games, seeing Charles thrashing around and giggling was so much fun, he couldn’t help but take advantage of the situation.

Charles writhed and squirmed, desperately trying to evade Edwin’s relentless assault, but his efforts were futile. Edwin’s ghostly fingers found every ticklish spot with uncanny accuracy—tracing delicate patterns along Charles’ ribs, teasing the sensitive skin beneath his arms, and dancing merrily across his belly.

Laughter erupted from Charles, a symphony of giggles and gasps echoing through the timeless void. His protests were drowned out by the overwhelming tide of ticklish ecstasy, each peal of laughter punctuated by desperate pleas for mercy.

“Edwin, please!” Charles gasped between fits of laughter, his breathless pleas falling on deaf ears as Edwin continued his playful torment with unabated enthusiasm.

As the scene fell away to be replaced by the present day and Charles ceased to feel Edwin’s torturous fingers, echoes of their laughter faded into the temporal abyss.

Charles felt grateful for the timeless bond they shared, transcending both life and death, past and present but was grateful for the torture to be over and the knowledge that Edwin wouldn’t be able to use this discovery against him now he was a ghost once again.

[a-fluffer-nutter]

C, F, K, P, and V for good ol’ Arthur Morgan, pls?

C: Chase | What are their chances in a chase, both as a lee and ler?

Pretty well depending on how determined he is. If he is going after John, he will get him no matter what, especially sincr John always calls him an "old man."

F: Fight | What is their behavior in a tickle fight like?

All in if it's an actual fight. It's normally the younger members, Lenny, Sean, and Joh, that will start one with him, so he won't hold back in teaching them a lesson.

K: Killer Move | As a ler, do they have special skills to use against their lees and drive them crazy with?

He has stubble. Enough said.

P: Partner In Crime | If they were to go after a lee and accept the aid of a tickle partner, who do they prefer to join hands with and why?

Normally wouldn't get help from anyone else, but if Charles was around, he would ask him to hold someone down.

V: Victim | As a ler, who is their favorite lee and what makes this person their ultimate victim?

John. They are definitely siblings and will pick on each other and bicker like brothers.

Ask me about more characters with letters from this list!

[calicocatsarecute]

YAYYY thank you can I request a ler!angel and alastor x lee!charlie?

N☁️ anon

Of course my dear anon! Enjoy!

__________________________________________

Alastor had just got back to the Hotel for the afternoon. He had just finished having tea with Rosie; which was always an exquisite experience. Everything seemed to be all nice and dandy… but there was no sign of Charlie.

“Nifty, my dear, have you seen our Princess around here?” Alastor asked the little lady, but she just shook her head no.

“I was actually gonna pay her visit right about now. You care to join Al?” Angel Dust, one of the hotel’s residents, leaned in to ask.

“I guess I could… accompany you; as I also wish to speak with her.” Alastor said as they started walking to the Princess’ room.

When they arrived at the closed door, they looked at each other, then back at the door.

“Should we knock? Or should we, just barge in!” The spider-like demon asked.

“Knocking is always more polite Angel.” As the Radio Demon said that, he gently knocked in the door.

They waited for about 20 seconds. Nothing, not even a shuffle. Alastor knocked a second time. And still, absolutely nothing.

“Sooooo… can we barge in now?” Angel asked, smirking a bit.

“I guess….” Alastor sighed, opening the door.

Inside the room, Charlie was wrapped up in two layers of blankets on her bed. Razzle and Dazzle were cuddled up at the foot of her bed.

“Should we wake her up?” Angel whispered to Al.

“I guess we could…”

“Alright! HEY CHARL-” Angel was cut off by Alastor.

“I have a better solution.” Alastor smirked as he whispered his plan.

Angel smiled excitedly, his eyes lighting up as they walked towards the girl.

She snored a bit as the two men sat on either side of her.

They braced themselves and then….

“Wake Up Princess!” Both men cheered as they dug their fingers into her sides.

“W-whahahahahahaha?! Whahahat’s hahappehenihing?!” The princess giggled out, hugging her torso.

“Well my dear, me and Angel have decided to wake you up.” Alastor glee was present in his statement.

“Yeah! Everyone knows tickling is the BEST way to wake someone up~”

“Nohoho ihihihihihihit’s nohohot! EHEHEHEHE! NOHOHOHOT THEHEHERE!” Charlie squealed when her stomach was scribbled on.

“Oooooooo, bad spot my dear? How wondrous!” Alastor’s grin got bigger.

“IHIHIHIHIHIHIT TIHIHICKLEHES SOHOHOHO BAHAHAHAD! IHIHIHI CAHAHAN’T TAHAHAKE IHIHIT!”

The two boys kept tickling the poor girl until….

RAWR!

Two tiny little roars rang throughout the boys’ ears. Razzle and Dazzle had pulled the two boys off of Charlie, letting her breath.

After breathing a bit, Charlie called the goat-dragons to her side.

“Did you have to do that?” Charlie asked, an annoyed expression on her face.

“Come on Char! Everyone needs to laugh at some point.” Angel answered.

After that, they had a lot of explaining to do.

[mah-t-wordblog]

DÉSOLÉ

Lee: Charlie Spring

Ler: Nick Nelson

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Ships: Nick x Charlie

Warnings: This is a tickle fic, if you don’t like, just scroll down

This fanfic is originally in Portuguese, my English is translated using an automatic translator, if there are any big errors you can tell me so I can fix them

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Nick came out of the bathroom of the hotel room in Paris

Charlie was playing on his cell phone alone in his bed

Nick threw himself at the boy's legs

“Nick! You’re heavy, idiot!” Charlie laughed when he felt the other on top of him.

“But it's so good here~” Nick turned his head to look at his boyfriend, seeing that he was smiling he had to smile too

“Lie down next to me like someone NORMAL” Charlie emphasized that last word by nudging Nick with his foot.

“But Char~”

The older one started running his fingers over the other's feet.

“Nihihicolahas”

“And since when has my name been that, mon’Amur”

Charlie, with nowhere to run and his face now red, started kicking his legs until Nick was thrown out of bed.

Nick stood up and looked surprised.

“DID YOU THROW ME OUT OF BED?” He exclaimed

Charlie laughed “you didn’t give me a choice”

Nick started to walk slowly towards Charlie, the youngest started to feel butterflies in his stomach

Nick crossed his arms “apologize”

“NO” Charlie exclaimed laughing “you deserved it”

Nick jumped on top of him, started squeezing every sensitive inch of his body, kissing his neck, squeezing his sides and ribs and especially that special little place on his knee.

“NIHIHICK NOHOHOHO” Charlie was a mix of blushes, squeals and very cute giggles

“Apologize, mon’Amur,” Nick whispered with an additional (and purposeful) breath in his ear.

Charlie can't answer

Nick began to squeeze not only the front part of his boyfriend's body but the back as well.

“AHAHAH” Charlie exclaimed

“On saying that someone doesn’t need to manage quelques chatouilles~”

“NOHOHOT FREHEHENCH”

"Apologize"

“SOHOHOHOHOHORRY”

“In French~”

Charlie threw his head back

“DÉSOHOHOLÉ”

Nick stopped, just lying on top of his boyfriend while the other panted and laughed softly.

“You are so horrible”

“And you’re so stupid if you think you make me believe you don’t like it.”

Their eyes met, they kissed

Nick got up

“Come on Charles. Allons-y mon petit ami chatouilleux”

“Oh how bilingual you are Nicolas”

“And you’re just a Brit.”

They both burst into laughter

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Thanks for reading 🌸🌸

[notyourbambina]

starter fechado com @christopherd-amato

piazza montaldi

Com um copo de café e um cigarro pendendo dos lábios pintados de vermelho, Catarina se sentia quase invencível; isso é, se não fosse o fato que mancava de uma das pernas, tendo que evitar qualquer esforço na sua perna esquerda, vestígio da missão agitada imposta por Zafira. O que era mais irritante de toda aquela história, além do seu novo colega de praça que parava para ler todos os dias com ela, era o fato que quase não havia aprendido nada sobre a situação. Havia levado um tiro e participado de algum ritual ocultista estranho, com efeitos especiais altamente sensíveis, mas ainda pouco havia aprendido. Era como se tudo sobre aquela cidade e aquela história estivesse por trás de um véu o qual ela não conseguia puxar. Quanto mais parecia alcança-lo, mas distante parecia se encontrar. A corrida contra o tempo pouco lhe fazia sentido, mas nada podia fazer. Era enfurecedor, porque apesar de viver no caos, ela tinha certo controle sobre as coisas que acontecia com ela, mas na situação em que estava parecia que o controle havia lhe sido roubado. Era como se estivesse sentada esperando a próxima coisa acontecer.

Bem, naquele momento, era exatamente o que fazia, enquanto esperava o ferimento cicatrizar por completo.

Com a sua inabilidade de fugir para as colinas, fosse por pena ou para irritá-la, Christopher agora era uma figura cativa nos seus dias, quando ela parava para ler seus livros ainda cedo pela manhã. Ela não podia correr e nenhum dos seus olhares atravessados parecia adiantar para colocá-lo para correr. Ele obrigatoriamente se sentava no mesmo banco que ela, apesar de tudo estar livre naquele horário. Definitivamente queria lhe chamar atenção, Cat havia colocado em sua mente, mas era uma guerra silenciosa, porque ela não falava nada, nem ele parecia ousar a quebrar o silêncio. Naquele dia, ela tinha a cópia antiga d'O Ser e o Nada, de Sartre, que havia achado em uma pequena livraria em Paris. Um dos livros que a trazia conforto, como se o entendimento da natureza humana pudesse, de alguma forma, aliviar os surtos sobre uma certa maldição. Poucos poderiam entender o gosto de Catarina, mas com a seleção de livros que a sua companhia não requisitada trazia, ela achava que tinham alguma coisa similar, para o seu desgosto. Quando ele sentou no final do banco nessa manhã, ela não desviou os olhos do livro, mas empurrou uma cópia de Factotum, por Charles Bukowski sob o banco sem olhar para ele, mas atenta ao seu próximo passo.

( @khdpontos )