#the silly little fanfic that could

[fox-quills]

MOBIUS IS DONE!!!!!

[tired-all-the-time22]

I have been gifted with storyline revelations through the music master himself Jhariah and have gotten to writing into chapter 2 of my fic and have fuzzy ideas about how I’m gonna end it🎉🎉

In the meantime here’s another Red Son outfit! I imagine this one being from later in the story

I also incorporated a bit of MK’s design into it for ~symbolism purposes~

[kakushigotofanclub]

Sanemi and Obanai have the most important character dynamic in KnY to me right now and I so badly want to write queerplatonic saneoba fic but I feel like my writing style depends so strongly on dialogue that I just can't do it because it would 100% be an unsaid thing. Like I envision their relationship would be something like...

'I hate everyone, but I can tolerate being around you. I might even. I might even LIKE being around you, actually. But there's no way in hell I'm gonna admit that, so we're just gonna pretend it's a coincidence we spend so much time together. We just happen to be in the same place all the time. But I'm not attached to you and I don't get worried about you or anything like that. At all. Ever. That would be stupid, so don't get any wrong ideas (but god just please be careful I don't know what I would do if I lost you.)'

You know. Like cats.

[potato-lord-but-not]

How do you come up with sketch ideas? i stg your sketchbook is like a fucking sitcom or something, your doodle dumps make me laugh out loud. how do you do that????

honestly I just think about the fictional guys wayyyy too much. I’m a very visual person when it comes to my thoughts so really it’s just copying them down to the best of my artistic abilities. always putting those guys in situations and since I’m so averse to writing fanfics I make the most crusty sketches imaginable to cope

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Only two chapters left of Wobbly Hearts and then I’m DONE. 21 is pretty much finished I just got to edit it and look over it and all that, and 22 needs some tweaking but its almost done too and I’m AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA longest I’ve ever worked on anything like this and it’s almost done!!!!

[satsukidoodles404]

Day something, of being deprived of digital device for art. I thought I'd be fine, until Danganronpa decided to clutch me in its hold once again. ._.

So sketchbook and sticky note doodles I took pictures of in the dead of the night :D

[youchangedmedestiel]

Rewatched episode 9x17 yesterday evening with my sister (it's her first time watching) and when Dean is in the bar with Crowley and Crowley leaves to go to the restrooms, Dean spots a guy.

He thinks he is a hunter, but he is in fact working for Crowley. And I realized that the guy looks like Cas somehow. By that I mean he has blue eyes and dark hair. He tells Dean that his name is Jake.

So I thought, what if Dean talked to Jake to stop him on his way of killing Crowley differently. Listen to me. Dean has the Mark, he is on edge a little. So what if the guy provokes him more (he is working for Crowley after all). Dean could push him against the wall and Jake would try to kiss him, because why not, he is probably a demon but Dean doesn't know.

Dean would resist first, but there's no one there. Crowley flew away and won't come back probably. He needs to let go a little bit, because he is already fighting against the Mark.

Dean would kiss him back after all, pushing him further against the wall. Jake would push him away to go hide in a restroom. He would go down on his knees in front of Dean, unbuckling the hunter's belt while he'd look up at him with his bright blue eyes. Those seem too familiar to Dean and reminds him of someone.

When Jake would take him in his mouth and look at him with those same eyes, Dean would start thinking about Cas. And as he comes, he would moan Cas's name.

And then I thought, what if he would moan or think about it so loudly multiple times to the point where it ends up sounding like a prayer and Cas pops in the said restroom, seeing Dean eyes closed, teeth biting his lower lip with a guy kneeling in front of him.

[00fairylights00]

Hypersomnolence

Haha funny story, I was diagnosed with a sleep disorder in November after struggling with it unknowingly for give or take 18 months. Turns out I’m not crazy and falling asleep against your will multiple times a day is actually not a good or normal thing.

So permit me to write the puppet like a sap as I need this right now lol. Yes these are in fact all things I experienced but I am medicated for them now hooray!

One task, that was all you’d managed to get through today. You felt sick and heavy, opting to sit on the cold ground before your body made you, it was a battle to stay awake as sleep attacked you again.

It was only early afternoon and you’d struggled through your one task of sweeping, you were certain everyone at the hotel thought you to be lazy, even if they’d all told you otherwise.

You’d been sick like this for a long time, long before the petrification disease or the puppet frenzy, both events having a negative effect on the way you’d usually manage your symptoms. 

And while you appreciated the sanctity you’d been spared at Hotel Krat, the nagging feeling of needing to repay Lady Antonia for her kindness was not helping your case.

You sat with your head in your hands, slipping in and out of consciousness, losing the battle again. Usually, Polendina would find you, send you to your room to rest and that would be it for the day, once you were in bed you found it hard to do much of anything else. Which you supposed was good for your body but it made your emotional well-being an absolute wreck.

Lady Antonia had asked you time and time again to be kinder to yourself, to feel accomplished of the things you could do and that you were welcome here no matter how sick you were, and she would know a thing or two about being sick.

But, you had a bad habit of being nasty to yourself, and with your sleep-related illness only seeming to get worse you couldn’t remember the last time you’d spoken kindly to yourself.

You felt like shit.

A hand at your shoulder, delicate and tender shook you but it didn’t do much to rouse you. Your vision swam uncomfortably through the gaps in your fingers, your head being too heavy to lift up. Hands grasped your wrists, pulling gently to reveal your face that was then taken into those same hands, one soft and warm, the other firm and cold.

With the weight of your head now being supported by P’s hands you could somewhat force yourself to look at him. His expression was unreadable, as always, but his presence was a balm to your spiralling thoughts.

The friendship of Geppetto’s Puppet had been good for you, P didn’t care how tired you were he was just happy to see you, he didn’t expect anything but your presence and that was something you could give freely, tired or not.

He tilted his head in question to what you assumed to be your position on the floor, slumped over rather uncomfortably.

“It just came on, I had to sit down,” you mumbled, he seemed to frown, getting down on one knee and shifting you against him to pick you up.

With you cradled to his chest, he ascended the stairs. You burrowed down against his chest, relishing in how nice it was to be looked after. 

It was almost like the trip up to your room didn’t happen, one moment you were snug to P’s chest, the next you were under your sheets and propped up against the headboard. P took it upon himself to remove his shoes and coat and sit on the opposite side of the bed to keep you company.

“Sleepy?” P asked innocently, you nodded trying desperately to suppress another yawn. 

“I-“ he started, a thoughtful look crossing his face, “-want to help. How do I help?”

He gently took your hand in his own, his thumb rubbing over your knuckles. The astounding amount of care he treated you with was sure to tear you apart in the best ways, making your exhausted mind spin.

“Just stay here with me for a bit,” You laid your head on his shoulder, “I think that’ll help.”

“Okay.”

He mimicked you, resting his head on top of yours, pulling the sheets further up your lap. Doing what he could to keep you comfortable, a concept he was still trying to grasp.

“Thank you P,” you mumbled, snuggling closer, “love you.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to your head, nose buried in your hair, “I love you too.”

[pestercide]

Not going to lie, I’m surprised the fandom isn’t eating up the new tone shift and characters’ struggles in ep5. Maybe I’m not looking in the right spaces but fandoms usually love that stuff.

I KNOW I mean the amount of angst art that was made prior to the episode really made me think people were gonna take everything from the new ep and run with it. Though that's not to say people didn't. I've seen plenty of people discuss what happened in the episode (especially regarding John and his daughter/his family in general,, people were going insane over that and I get it like we're getting deeper into what happened to him and his family which I'm also super interested in. Plus seeing his photos in Ignacio's house really got people discussing his connections/past with the cult and how there's such a specific focus on John).

[d011zk1ll]

I'M FINALLY FINISHED HOLY SHIT

This work has jagged edges but it is my pride a joy because i've been working on it for SO FUCKING LONG OH MG OD

[icannotgetoverbirds]

here. a treat.

STT abigail @ kel like:

that is all.

[writerswho]

Morticia takes in the scene before her, trying not to regret the choices she has made in her life. Gomez is sitting at the foot of the stairs, a wound on his chest staining his clothes and everything around him with blood, Larissa is next to him, just as dirty, a dagger lying at her feet. Pugsley and Wednesday watch from their places beside their mother. The boy worried, the girl amazed.

Morticia sighs deeply and asks her children to go to their rooms, Wednesday complains and says that she wants to hear their cries, Morticia assures her that she will be able to hear them from her room, this makes the girl smile. She grabs her stunned brother's arm and drags him upstairs, not caring about stepping in the blood. Her bloody footprints paint the stairs to the top. 

“An hour,” Morticia says as the children disappear upstairs. “I left you two alone for an hour!” She tries to control her voice, but it is impossible. Morticia doesn't like to shout, but there are times, like this, when she feels she has to.

Larissa and Gomez exchange glances, their married expressions resembling those of a mischievous child afraid of being scolded. Gomez swallows dryly and attempts a smile that looks more like a grimace of discomfort than anything else, “Cara mia…” he begins, charming as always, but Morticia's sharp gaze kills any excuse he might have thought of. 

“Would you believe me if I said this is cranberry juice?” Larissa regrets her words as soon as they leave her mouth. Morticia's eyes fall on Larissa, who is silently praying to anyone who will hear her. The woman in black does not move, does not speak, just stares at them in a silence that consumes their souls. Morticia takes another deep breath, and they can see her breathing against the cold air of the mansion, or she is literally fuming. Either way, they feel a shiver run down their spines and a fear for their lives of an intensity they have never felt before. 

“Do not insult my intelligence,” her voice echoes heavily through the walls of the mansion. Morticia is cross, and that makes Gomez and Larissa's bones quiver. A cross Morticia is a very, very dangerous thing, even Wednesday knows that.

In an act of fear and basic survival instinct, Larissa and Gomez share a look one last time before one stabs the other in the back. The short man recounts the events that led up to that moment, blaming solely and exclusively the taller woman, who tells her side of the story, blaming him for everything, especially his own wound. Any other person might have trouble understanding what they were saying, not only because of the speed with which they spewed out the information, but also because they insisted on speaking together, shouting in a failed attempt to choke out the other's voice. Morticia, however, was no stranger to filtering, analyzing, and understanding everything that came out of their mouths. 

Larissa was trying to work and Gomez felt lonely and abandoned, and even when their wife repeated that Morticia and the children would not be long in coming, their husband, being an incorrigible dramatic, did not stop whining in the blonde's ear, whose irritation with work had already taken all her patience, leaving nothing for the man. 

“I had work to do, and he wouldn't shut up!” Larissa squealed in a mixture of desperation and irritation.  

“All I wanted was a little love and affection!” Gomez wails dramatically. 

“Did you have to stab him?” chides Morticia. 

“You weren't there, you didn't hear what he said to me.” 

“What did he say?” 

“He said, ʽwhat are you going to do, stab me?ʼ” 

“To be fair," Gomez interjects, “I would have stabbed me, too."

Morticia falls silent again, there are days like this when she wonders what she was thinking when she agreed to marry the two biggest idiots in the world. The answer, of course, is that she loves them, idiots or not, with all her heart. The woman with the long black hair glances at her husband once more, studying his wound from which no more blood is coming, she very much doubts that her wife has managed to do any permanent damage, the Addams Family curse would never allow it. 

Morticia examines the surroundings, the amount of blood on the floor is alarming at first, but she knows her husband and how he likes to dramatize everything, even a superficial cut, and although this makes no sense, it makes perfect sense to an Addams. Then her eyes fall on poor Bruno, sprawled out at the bottom of the stairs, his white fur dyed crimson. 

“You two will clean up all this blood,” she commands. “And bathe Bruno.” Her spouses open their mouths to speak, but soon close them under their wife's gaze. 

In silence, they decide that cleaning up some blood and giving a polar-bearskin rug a bath is easier and less dangerous than provoking Morticia even more, although Bruno really wasn't happy about having to take a bath at all, and has bitten Gomez at least six times. Still, it was definitely the safer choice. 

[julietasgf]

okay so hiii 5th chapter of the sejarcus christmas fic is up! as always, no warnings, just silly and unserious stuff for self-indulgence. featuring: my beloved hc that marcus can't stay up for long. if you give this work a chance, I'm already very thankful, and I hope you can enjoy this <3

[kanene-yaaay]

Bad Days and Good Nights

Warnings: This tickle fic contains angst, hurt/comfort, family tickles, fluff, family fluff, usual siblings shenanigans and cheer up tickles. (It happens after a few years of Mari’s accident. The story itself doesn’t focus on that but there are a few hints of how everything affected them). It has Lee!Kel and Ler!Hero with a quick Ler!Kel and Lee!Hero. Around 6.000 words.

Kanene’s notes: I am once again losing myself in scenarios w siblings being good bros and cheering each other up. So!! This one is for two of my faves boyos: Kel and Hero!!! yeshhh!!!

Tbh I don’t think that this is one of my best works but it still deserves its time under the spotlight. I hope you all enjoy the story!! Thank you for your attention <3

[~*~]

Today was not a good day.

Kel knew that. Deep down he was aware that his hands were more twitchy than normal, that his brain was really, really trying but all the words his teacher said simply stopped having meaning a long time ago and only felt like senseless background sounds being dropped in the room. 

He knew that when he took a sip of his usually tasty and favorite energetic orange drink and it tasted just like always but today the citrus felt almost unbearable on his tongue. He also knew that when he remembered that he was going to meet with his basketball group after school and how that usually would have him bouncing on his feet and smiling like crazy but that today it didn’t even make the bad heavy feeling on his stomach go away.

However, it was fine! That was no problem at all because everyone feels under the weather most of the time. It’s pretty normal and all you can do is just keep going with your life, act normally and anxiously wait for the moment when all the bad feelings will just disappear, right?

It must be. After all, it really did work! Even if sometimes (more often than not) the sadness would sneak back and cling on his back like a parasite, pushing memories inside his mind and making his chest ache about the moments that he would never be able to get back to and tremble with what that could possibly mean. But that doesn’t mean that the plan didn’t work in the first place! Just that… sometimes stuff takes effort to work. And it did work. It did. 

Most of the time. 

Sometimes.

…Often enough.

Still, he just had to smile, push forward and wait for it!

The bell rang, an ear splitting tune that always made Sunny flinch and grimace (Kel wondered how he was doing) ringing all across the classes and signaling the end of the period. The boy felt a relieved sigh leave his lips, a bounce taking over his movements. See? Waiting really did work! He began shoveling all his textbooks and stray papers (eh, they would end up with wrinkles and tears but that was an inevitable fate of every piece of paper in the world), a pep on his step as he got up.

“Kel, please have a little more patience and wait for me to give you your test back before dashing through the door.”

Astonished blink. The rest of the classroom suddenly came back to focus as his classmates’ snickers filled the space. Everyone was still sitting down except for him and the girl with green strands of hair and a cool tattoo on her arm (she knew some very good shows and always carried a kind of game around. What was her name again?) folding a paper (her tests) and putting on her bag before heading to the door. His teacher looked at him with an arched eyebrow and an amused stare, lightly shaking his head when Kel chuckled and scratched the back of his head, a bit of embarrassment running hot on his face.

“Sorry, teacher.”

“Patience is a virtue, but we all take some time to conquer it. I know that I didn’t find mine yet.” The adult winked and went back to calling his classmates names, handing them their grades and saying one or two things that Kel couldn’t really - nor wanted - listen to, still feeling a flaming kind of hotness racing through his veins. 

(Usually it wasn’t so bad. Usually he didn’t mind any poke of fun. Usually he would even make one or two jokes to follow it. But today was a bad day. Today everything felt too sharp around the edges. Like just the tiniest push would make everything explode.)

It didn’t take too long before the classroom cleaned and he was the last one there. It was kind of predictable when his name was called.

“Here it is, Kel.” A C+?? That is not bad at all! It wasn’t any five stars grade or anything worth a celebration but it really wasn’t bad. 

“Cool. Thanks, teach!”

He tried to open his bag, failing. The zip was stuck.

“You know, Kel. I also was your brother’s science teacher.” Kel hummed in agreement, that was the case with most of his teachers since he and Hero had very close ages, just partially listening to the words while fighting with the zip of his bag that probably got stuck with one of the crumbled papers inside it. Ick. “Henry was a very good student. He is now studying to apply for medical college, right? I hope he gets in.” 

Kel tried again to open and close the zip without damaging the paper inside the bag. It got stuck again. Yep. At least he tried to be gentle. Now the paper had to go down. It was its inevitable fate since the beginning of the times.

“I think you also have a great potential, Kel. The points you bring on your presentations are really good and while grading this test I can’t help but feel like…” Finally! Kel managed to fully open his bag and then place the science test inside. His teacher seemed almost done talking to him anyway, which was good. He was kind of hungry.

“I expected more from you, Kel.”

Ah.

Kel froze.

That was… fine. Normal. Teachers, parents, people in general weren’t ever very impressed at Kel’s grades. Or even happy. Or had any positive feelings about them in general.

“Hehe, sorry, teach.” The words came tumbling from his mouth before he realized what he was saying. Filling the air with a halfhearted laughter before the silence could get awkward. “I will try my best on the next one!”

(He had tried his best on this one.)

Yeah. He… he would. Science was one of his favorite subjects. He definitely could try better. Not that what the teacher said got into him or anything. It was fine! It…

It kind of stung.

Actually, it kind of stung a lot.

He said something else to which the adult replied, but once again it felt like the words tumbling right out from his mouth had no connection with his brain. He headed to the basketball court in the park, way too much feelings cutting and bubbling deep in his soul.

Irritation had always been normal to him, like a bug nipping at the corner of his brain and flaring its wings at any small kind of frustration or mean commentary thrown in his way. Now, however, it felt different. A hot, thick and slick kind of anger numbed his hands and filled his lungs, making him want to scream or do something stupid.

Today was not a good day.

(...)

Two hours had passed. He played basketball and it helped. The concentration, the methodic throws, constant running, sounds of sneakers hitting the concrete, mindless shouts and encouragement screams were good to push his thoughts away and let the adrenaline and feelings boiling in him explode all at once and gradually slow down until only a tired kind of exhaustion clung to his frame.

Kel arrived home, sighing in relief when he discovered that both mom and dad were out, probably buying groceries and having ice cream when mom complains that dad hasn't taken her out for a date in forever and how nowadays no husband tries to be caring and romantic anymore. Kel was just glad that he doesn’t have to show anyone his test to anyone right now.

His room was empty. Right. Hero was probably still out studying.

He hopes his brother remembers to take breaks and have a snack while he is there. He has been working too hard these last months. 

(It was great to know that at least one of them was trying their best.)

It’s nice to see him up and about again, the determined shine in his eyes subdued, but not completely erased, even if it took a too dark tunes sometimes. 

For all that Hero was smart and caring, he often forgot the simplest things, like that he is a human with basic needs.

His bag went to somewhere on the floor as Kel threw himself on the bed with a little too much force. He was tired. And should probably take a bath if he didn’t want to have a lecture about hygiene in some hours.

Oh well, sounds like a problem for future Kel, if he ever heard one.

The younger one fell into a dreamless sleep.

(…)

There were fingers caressing his hair, slowly pulling him back to consciousness and unfairly stopping the heavenly petting and beginning to mess the strand as soon as Kel showed signals of opening his eyes.

“Wakey wakey, Kel. It’s time for dinner.” Hero’s voice rang in a light tune and Kel incoherently grumbled in protest, mechanically sitting on the mattress with one swift movement. Not pushing the offending hand away only because he knew that doing so would just fuel the older to try to “show his giant brotherly love” further and Kel wasn’t quite in the mood for that right now.

He was feeling a bit slow. 

Better, but still slow.

Kel yawned, getting up and heading downstairs to the kitchen, missing the look Hero gave him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and a slight tint of a worried something else.

The good thing about family dinners was that his mother was always more than happy to fill the silence with stories about the past, about her childhood, their childhoods or events that happened earlier on the day. His dad prodded him about his day and Kel mentioned the basketball practice before letting Hero take over with his talk about his studies and the clubs he was in. So he was free to just concentrate on chewing and thinking about what more he could do to fill the evening so he wouldn’t take another hour long nap and ended up waking up full of energy in the middle of the night. 

(Maybe he should try calling Sunny ag-)

Heading upstairs was uneventful and the shorter one stopped in front of the television in his room with a thoughtful pose. He could watch his comfort movie but…

Kel shook his head and marched with determination to get the already old DVD case. It’s been years since Hero last played the game they always did when that movie was passing on TV. He probably wouldn’t even remember about it nowadays. Even if he did, he would be too busy studying to-

“Is that Cosmic Boy? Wow, it’s been a long time since I watched it!” Kel yelped, jumping in the air with how the sudden voice of his brother cut the air.

“Hero! Don’t sneak on me like this. I almost dropped the case.”

The older one winced apologetically. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to do that.” His features, however, quickly changed to a watchful gaze that ping ponged across Kel expression and body language, trying to find any hint about the reason of the quietness that washed over him during the whole dinner. “You are just very distracted today, Kel. Did something happen? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

Please don’t be about her, please don’t be about her I don’t think I am ready for this yet-

Kel shook his head with force, as if he could physically throw his thoughts from his brain with just this action, a habit both of them had, although it was unclear who copied it from who.

“It’s nothing.” 

There was a slight pause between the words. Hero never told Kel that but this was his biggest tell during his lies. Usually he was just so used to spilling anything in full honesty that when he tried to lie he always second guessed what he was going to say.

Besides, it wasn’t a ‘there isn’t anything’, but ‘it’s nothing’, so he was right, there was something that was really bothering his little brother.

While Kel moved his attention back to the TV, putting the DVD on the device, Hero subtly bit his lower lip, looking at his desk filled with books and papers scattered all across the place. The usual guilt of not studying at every single available moment in his life was already beginning to chew his brain.

However… 

Kel sat a few meters away from the screen, his orange basketball in hands, being clung to his chest in a shadow of a hug. He always looked so… small, sitting like that.

All the doubts vanished from his mind at this moment. There was just no subject or college in his world that could be more important than his brother.

He was not going to fail him again.

“I am going to get popcorn.” He smiled when Kel turned at him, pleased and surprised with the promise of a snack and company. “Mom is in a good mood today so I am going to try to convince her to open the box of chocolate she is holding on for the holidays.”

“I want the one with caramelized peanuts, the orange one and the big milk chocolate candy or also the one that taste like bananas-”

“That is dad’s favorite, there is no way for me to convince him to give it to us.” He chuckled as Kel whined as he fell on the floor, an annoyed pout blossoming in his face.

“It’s always dad's favorite. I wanted to try it.”

“That is the thing about favorites, Kel. they usually don’t change.” The younger one pouted more and rolled on his side to look at the TV, giving Hero his back in a grump style. “We can buy it the next time we go to the grocery store, you know? Just give me a reminder.”

Kel hummed, still looking at the screen, already uninterested in keeping their banter going. 

Yep, a very special cheering up and good ol’ brotherly bonding time was in order, then.

It didn’t take long, just a few charms, lots of puppy eyes and promises of buying another box and a nice something before he was sitting right next to the shorter one with a big bowl of popcorn and lightly nudging the boy to a more comfortable position to eat.

The movie started. Hero couldn’t lie, especially as he got older, but the film was nothing but just a simple animation with an even simpler plot too full of fond memories to be forgotten. Three friends being lost in space and finding - after years of their childhood being filled with rules, boredom and routines - a world with a colorful circus where they finally discovered what it was like truly being a kid and having fun.

When he was little, it had been one of his favorites and his love for it quickly spread to Kel, who were more than happy to weekly bother his older brother to watch it again and again, usually getting so excited about it that it was almost impossible to get him to actually watch the movie instead of just continue to jump around with his giddy energy, basically screaming the lines with the characters.

Most of the time it would take a while to get him to calm down and sit to enjoy the movie with him, especially because the little boy kept doing all the stuff to get him in his nerves. 

The older one glanced at his brother. It was almost unnerving how quiet and… not-moving he was now when he looked back at those memories.

… What did he even do to stop Kel from causing a ruckus and actually sit down to watch the movie?

There was a game, wasn’t it? How did it go, again…?

Mindlessly and lost in his thoughts, Hero stretched his arm to get more popcorn, which would be a totally fine and normal move if it wasn’t that movie and it wasn’t for that scene getting close, which meant that Kel had his eyes glued on him and his actions, knowing very well that if his brother remembered The Game, this usually would be the moment that he would start it.

That is why such yelp left his lips when Hero’s hand got closer, nerves buzzing and body throwing himself on his side while a hint of a smile grazed his mouth.

Hero only looked at him confused. 

“Kel? What wa-”

But before he could say anything else, the circus’ showman - one of the best characters of the movie - laughed and his excited announcement filled the space, taking, just like he always did when showed on the screen, all the attention to himself:

“A ride? Of course! We can visit any planet in the Universe! The planet of the infinite tickles, the planet of snickering elbows, the planet of the hilarious beetroots!”

The rest of the sentence disappeared as suddenly Hero’s brain was filled with plenty of giggling and squirming memories.

The planet of infinite…

Oh.

Hero remembered, now.

Kel, who was busy squinting and watching his brother with suspicion, trying to discover if he was truly confused or pulling his leg, squeaked, immediately recognizing the gleam that appeared in his eyes and the predatory turn of his smirk, fastly making his limbs turn around and kicking his legs to run away.

“Nonono! Hero! Think about what you're about to do!!” 

And Kel may be the most athletic of the two, but Hero always was good at reading his movements. While the younger one had the anticipation and stamina on his side, which made him successfully scramble away in wobbly dodges and quick jumps,  the taller ran to put himself in between him and the door, knees bended and arms spread wide, ready to catch any giggling younger one that tried to pass through him in the only true way to escape from his fate.

“You can’t camp at the door! This is against the rules!” Kel jumped on his bed, spinning around to point at him accusingly.

“Is it, now?” Hero blinked in the personification of innocence.

“Yeah!! It is and you know it.”

“I don’t think I remember the rules very well, dear little brother of mine.” Kel groaned at the affectionate nickname and would have let himself fall on the bed and complain about how embarrassing Hero was if it wasn’t for his non-laughing-safety being at stake. “Why don’t you come closer and explain them to me again?”

Kel raspberried at him, not moving a single finger in his direction.

They stared at each other.

Well, Hero internally shrugged. He tried. 

Showtime.

“Oh no!” He hugged his stomach, making a show of groaning and squirming around. “Kel, I was visiting one of your favorite planets and I think something is wrong with me now.”

He had to lower his face and press it on his chest to stop the snickering that bubbled from him when Kel basically shouted that “The planet of infinite tickles is not my favorite!!” so he wouldn’t break his character

“I think I am sick.”

“No, you’re not!”

“Owwww. I am terribly sick, Kel, I don’t think I can fight it any longer.”

“Hero!” Kel tried to not let his smile show on his tune too much, but he wasn’t successful, especially when Hero lifted his head and grinned at him, making a tickly kind of electricity run on his spine. “This is dumb. I am not a kid anymore. I can say that you’re lying.” 

“Sick! So sick. SO so sick. There is nothing we can do now. I am infected with the Need-To-Tickle-Tickle-Tickle-My-Little-Brother-Immediately disease and it’s only getting stronger as the seconds tick by.”

Silence. Kel seemed stuck between laughing in disbelief and groaning at his dramatics. Yet he didn’t step any closer to him. 

“Kel, you need to escape.”

“Then, get AWAY from the door.”

Hm. Maybe Hero would have to jump to plan B.

He pretended to not listen. “You must run away and save your life. I can feel it getting stronger, making my fingers wiggle and asking for your squeaky giggles in my mind.”

As he gave a quick glance upwards, he saw Kel looking at the window with squinted eyes and a thoughtful face, considering. 

No. Definitely not. Time for plan B.

“There is just - urg- only one thing that can save me.” He made a show of pulling something out of his pocket. The chocolate wrapping glinted in the light. “The forbidden banana chocolate that I got for Kel but now it will have to be used for the greater good.”

A gasp.

Kel knew it was a trap. For real, he knew it.

But he also really, really wanted to know why his dad had been obsessed with this chocolate since his early memories. Besides, Hero was distracted with his theatrics. If he tried to zig zag his way to his brother he could get it, he was sure of that. There was a reason he was feared at basketball and it wasn’t only for his deathly aim, but also for how fast he could be when he really wanted.

He could do that. He definitely could do that. Just dash, grab the snack and immediately bolt back to his bed. 

 Easy Peasy.

Hero wouldn't even notice him before it was too late.

He took a deep breath, eyes full of determination. Hero didn’t move, still dangling the chocolate in the air and slowly bringing it closer to his open mouth.

One, two, three and… RUN!

(...)

Today is a great day, Hero thought, as he whistled and sat in front of the TV, grabbing the remote and going back to the part of the film that they lost because of all the shenanigans. 

It was a little bit hard, but with some struggles he managed to not be hit in the face by a kick.

Today was a really good day.

“Hero!!! Hero you can’t do this with your own brother! Hero!!”

The sun was already setting and that let a dance of orange, yellow and red fill the room. Such beautiful and calm scenery. 

The taller one adjusted the bundle in his arms, eyes still glued on the screen, a satisfied smile grazing his mouth.

Peace.

“We can watch another movie! The popcorn will get cold and taste horrible and munchy and wither and then you’ll have to make another bowl and- No! Hero!”

One of the older's hands was lifted, his fingers clawing the air and chasing the squirming torso with a skill and tranquility of someone who played the same game a handful of times before and would keep playing it for plenty of times more.

He attacked.

Kel squealed, laughter immediately spilling freely from his lips as the wiggly, playful hands squeezed his sides non stop, fingers spidering and teasing the skin for a few seconds before chasing the lovely high pitched snickers that always appeared when Hero wormed his hands under his torso and tickled the base of his spine, prodding and poking his way to there and going back to attack his sides every time the younger tried to wiggle away.

As the clawing hands got bored, their curious fingers began hiking the sinuous patch to his armpits - being careful to scratch on each one of his ribs in the way, of course. What kind of a brother would he be if he denied their necessary dose of tickles? - which automatically made Kel titter non stop and his arms trash and skip around, in failed attempts to push such an unfair, horrible, tickly and silly attack away. 

However, everytime he tried to do that it was only to have the skittering fingers jumping away to dance on his belly, making his hands get out of the way and go back to clamping on his mouth to hide the traitor snorts away. This was the same technique Hero did everytime he tickled him and the fact that it still worked even after all those years only made his reactions grow stronger and giggli-er. Hero chuckled, starting, once again, the whole cycle of climbing and going back and then clawing up, up, up, getting higher every time the loop was repeated.

Uncontrollable laughter, tittering squeals, loud squeaks and high pitched yelps stumbled in the room in flocks and waves, stumbling right out of his mouth and spreading a funny kind of warmth all across his face and chest. A warmth that fought with the creeping cold that clued in his bones since the beginning of the day and scared away with a giddy, electric kind of energy the exhaustion on his moves, replacing them with kicks, wiggles and plentiful of squirms that always got him almost tumbling out of the lap and the trap he was in only for Hero to playful complain something about “running away from their brotherly quality time” and pull him right back at his previous blushy and giggly predicament.

And Kel remembered why this was one of his favorite movies. Because there wasn’t any Cosmic Boy without Hero, and there wasn’t any Hero without fun, without the sensation that he wasn’t alone, of a hand extended in his direction and attentive eyes that found and smiled at him on his quietest days. There wasn’t a Hero without the certainty that there wasn’t anything in this world that he couldn’t fix make it better by just being embarrassingly charming or a dork or an annoying older brother that would still try to get him to play his favorite game even if Kel was complaining about being too old and being insufferable the whole way.

So, Kel couldn’t really bring himself, even between his crackles because Hero kept focusing on this horrible, awful, terrific, unfair spot right in the middle of his ribcage and nononono! That is too ticklish! Very, very ticklish!! Get away, gehet away, stohohohop- , to mind the whole playful and honestly childish attack. 

That was when Hero got to his armpits, positioned his thumbs on the sensitive flesh and began drumming.

The resulting screeching was so loud that it made their windows shake.

Nevermind. Forget everything Kel said before, his older brother was evil and mean and this is the most horrible game to ever exist.

“Oh my god, I forgot how bad your armpits were.” Hero’s chuckles evolved to wheezes as he stopped his tickle attack to try to gather himself together and not fall in peals of laughter after such a loud reaction. 

Kel was still squirming, rolling from one side to another in an attempt to dislodge the offending hands out of his armpits and body instinctively jumping away when his own movements made the fingers graze and tickle the spot unintentionally, even if they stopped moving a few seconds ago. Yet, the knowledge that they were still there and that they could attack at any moment made tiny, buzzy shocks run across his torso and tickle his nerves and smile. 

Tears gathered on the corner of his eyes while airy chuckles intertwined freely with his protesting squeaky, fast laughter.

“Let me gohohoho!” But, his sentences couldn’t summon a single drop of true irritation or heat to fill them, especially when accompanied by such a gigantic, tittering grin and half hearted pushes. “Shuhuhut up!”

“Sorry, sohohorry! I swear I didn’t mean to laugh.” Hero said, laughing. “But your face was just-”

And he fell in a sea of sniggers again.

A sudden idea made Kel’s eyes sparkle and a teasy tune take over the corners of his smirk.

“Yeah? Bet it wasn’t as funny as this!”

And then his hands flew to Hero's sides, kneading there like there was no tomorrow.

Hero, in his turn, gasped in surprise at the feeling, his laughter getting stronger and quieter as the taller one tried to become a defensive ball, only to have his plans ruined by the younger boy laying still on his lap, his entire torso shaking with the force of his snickers and crackles.

"See? Pretty funny, huh? You can't even stop laughing!" 

Hero shook his head, the tip of his ears getting red.

"No?" Kel began crawling his hands downwards on the sensitive flesh until… there it was! Hero's head shot backwards, hiccups and snorts falling freely when Kel focused on delivering pinches on the hip bones with joy. "For someone who doesn't think this is funny, I think you're laughing a lot, huh, don't you think, Hero? Huh? Huh? Don't you think that this is funnyyyy~"

With an enormous force Hero managed to pull a whole sentence between his laughter. "I-I was supposed to snrk- to be the one cheering you uP!"

"And it's working!! Look how much happy I am for WINNING this fight and obliterating you with tickles right now! Ha!" Kel shouted triumphantly, letting the hips go in order to tease the unprotected neck of his brother.

However, he miscalculated Hero's stamina, and such a mistake couldn’t be left forgotten as two hands glued on his wrists with a firm grip and pulled them away. Shiny brown eyes found his.

"Oops." Suddenly, Kel’s voice got a much wobblier tune.

"W-winning the tickle fight, you say?" The way Hero's smile - even between breathless gasps and tiny hiccups - got shark-like made every siren scream in alert inside the younger's brain. "Lehehet me assist you, then."

"No! Wait!" But the other did not, in fact, wait, pulling the arms until they were pinned above his head, palms facing upwards. "Hero, I am already cheered up! I promise!"

“I don’t think so, Kel.” Hero positioned one of his hands on the other’s wrist, the tip of his fingers scratching the skin with soft and unbearable scribbles that made goosebumps run across his arms. Then, because Hero was an unfair meanie with no heart, he began walking the playful, tickly digits to the inside of his forearm. “Besides, the planet of the snickering elbows came all the way from the other side of the universe just to see you.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Planets can’t get people!!” Kel tried with all his will to pull his trembling ticklish arms from their torment only to feel a series of squeaky giggles climb up his throat, obliging him to concentrate all his efforts in not combusting in a mess of titters and giggles. 

“Do you think so? Because I think that the planet of the snickering elbows is getting closer and closer to someone’s very ticklish and very snickery arms…”

“I-I-I am nohot” He gave up, letting the uncontrollable and high pitched snickers wash them as his squirms grew stronger with all the giddiness filling his muscles and shooting like electricity across his nerves. “Tihihihihihicklish!! I am not ticklish!”

Hero’s expression got amused. “You’re not ticklish?”

His fingers focused in teasing and dancing happily on every inch inside his elbow, blunt nails creating and senseless doodles with every scribble and a couple or two of soft pinches that never failed to make the younger’s laughter get even higher and faster.

And still, Kel stubbornly shook his head. “Ihihi am not!”

“So, all these hilarious tickly-tickles aren’t affecting you at all?” Kel just continued to shake his head vehemently, laughing and smiling like nothing else mattered in his life, wrinkles on the corner of his eyes and nose scrunched up. “Not even a little bit? A silly-billy bit? A coochie coochie coo?” 

Kel’s kicks were renewed, the words falling between his lips being too much lost in between titters and squeals to be understood. If this was a protest against Hero’s embarrassing teases or the fact that his fingers were slowly and carefully crawling across his upperarms to his armpits was impossible to say.

Being the good, lovely brother who cared about his little bro’s wellbeing above everything else, Hero decided to keep doing both.

“Great!” Digging under his arms, Hero had to elevate his voice so he could be heard above the hysteric crackles of Kel. “Because the game just started. Do you know who else came to pay a visit to their favorite giggly boy? The planet of the hilarious beetroots…~”

Hands suddenly free, Kel only had a second before he felt his feet being held in a headlock. “And they would loooove to play This Little Pig with you again!”

And, of course, Kel should know that, in the position that he was, maybe it wouldn’t be the wisest idea to provoke the tickle monster that he called brother anymore.

But, the movie was still playing in the background, and soon enough they would be getting to the middle of it, which means that they probably would have to rewind all the way back to the beginning to watch it properly. And Hero had those dangerously joyful shine in his eyes that he hadn’t seen for a long time and Kel felt it would be a long time until he would be able to stop the chuckles and giggles that played run and catch in the room.

So, yeah, maybe if he stayed quiet, they would just go back to the game and soon everything would be over.

But he wasn’t much of the whole ‘being a quiet guy’ now, was he?

“Yohou’re sohohoho pfffft- hehe stupid!”

Hero’s smirk got wider.

And then, once again, he attacked.

(...)

“Hey, Hero?”

His brother hummed from his desk, showing that he was paying attention. It was night but the younger knew his brother would still pull one or two hours of study before following his lead and going to sleep. The lights of the room were still on but that was fine, Kel never had problems to fall asleep with them anyway. Especially after such an eventful day. He could already feel his eyelids droping close as he adjusted his blanket.

“Do you think that one day I will be as good as you?”

He didn’t look up, but by the sound of their old, badly lubricated office chair being moved, he knew that Hero was now staring at him.

This time, he waited in silence, not filling it with whatever word came to rest on the tip of his tongue.

Hero’s voice was soft as it floated in the night. “I think that I would be a very lucky guy… if someday I got to be half as cool as you.”

Kel snorted.

“Still,” he continued, “we’re both doing a good job at being just ourselves, don’t you think? It wouldn’t be very interesting if we just became like each other or you became like me. Your basketball group would certainly start a mutiny, and the fabric of orange joe would go bankrupt.”

“But… more than anything” and then Kel looked up, because that was Hero’s emotional voice and he could count in the fingers of one hand the moments he got like that (most of them weren’t good ones). “I would miss you a lot, Kel.” 

Ah.

Kel smiled and it soon evolved to a fun kind of chuckle.

“Heh. Thank you, Hero. You’re not going to start crying over me, are you?”

“Maybe.”

“Old man.”

“Old and taller than you.~”

A calm sort of silence poured in gentle drops over them.

Kel took a deep breath.

“I got a C on my test today.”

“Really?” Hero’s frown quickly eased when he saw the conflicted gaze in his brother’s face. “And how was it?”

“I tried very hard and it was biology! I love biology. And it was not even a bad grade! I could have gotten a D or even a F and failed the subject.” As quick as it came, his irritation went away, body too light and too sleepy to cling to it for too long, anyway. “I got more than half of the questions right.”

“That is great.” Hero replied, sincerely, not having a single idea of how that only sentence washed over the younger one like a breeze of relief. “Hey, when your tests are all over, we should have some ice cream to celebrate, what do you think?”

Happier, Kel could already feel the dream realm reclaiming him, so, before he fell asleep, a quick, glad answer was pushed from his mouth.

“Yeah. We totally should.”

For a second, he could almost hear a fond sigh and a faint “good night”.

The day hadn’t started great, but Kel couldn’t really deny that last sentence.

This was a good night. Indeed.

[florida3exclamationpoints]

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[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads

Winter’s Orbit

standalone space opera/romance

when his cousin dies, an imperial prince is rushed into marrying the widower - an ambassador from a planet they have a tenuous treaty with - to control rising political hostilities

neither thinks the other is happy with the circumstances, but they have to put on appearances for the public - and when they find out the death might have been murder and they’re implicated, they start to uncover a web of treason within the court and empire

arranged marriage, politcs, set on a wintery planet