#ticklish!jaser

[kanene-yaaay]

The Other Ending (A Brand New Life)

Kanene's notes: After finishing Enigma of Fear I IMMEDIATELY cried for like 10 minutes, opened the doc of this fic and forgot I had any other wip in my life so jhgfdfghjkjhg welcome to a story with no sense that only wants a happy ending for everyone

Warnings: LOOOOTS of spoiler from the game, some hurt/comfort, angst, mentions of child abuse, domestic fluff, found family, fluff, family tickles, Ticklish!Jaser and Ler!Calisto + Ler!Sofia. This sounds more serious than it actually is but I swear that there's plenty of fluff and comfort to make up his sad past. Around 6.500 words.

Also!! Verity = Veríssimo; Pai = Dad; Mãe = Mom

[~*~]

Jaser was staring at the bundle on his arms, barely conscious of everything else that happened around him. Even before Veríssimo turned to him with relieved eyes, he was already trembling non stop, now, with the infant (with Mia-), he felt like he was Golias, watching his own body like an outsider, seeing it move automatically to carry the baby trusted to him automatically, without really processing what was happening.

This is all wrong.

None of this was supposed to happen, in no ending, in no place, in no reality. Yet, the little whimpers and wiggles in his arms couldn’t be anything but real. The ragged, quiet (and alive) breaths of Sofia next to him could be nothing else but real and that was the first time since… the first time he actually felt anything. 

Veríssimo moved closer and Jaser’s arms curled protectively around Mia, pulling the baby to his chest. For a maddening moment he wondered if they were all being poisoned, with how difficult it was to breathe.

“You’re an older brother now, Jaser.” Veríssimo said somewhere close by. The words made his head whip around so fast his vision disappeared for a moment before focusing on that worried, exhausted face. For a flash, the crinkles on the corner of his eyes were older and his beard was as white as part of his hair, dotted with drops of blood. Jaser could almost feel the burning on his stomach.

One blink and the memory was gone, this Veríssimo was still young, not so marked. He looked serious and kind, as if Jaser’s reaction (his first reaction) was nothing new, something expected. 

The boy (but not really) didn’t understand. He had always been a brother, older, younger, whatever fit at the moment, but not like this, never like this.

“Say hi to Mia.”

He looked down to the tiny infant, ugly and unaware of the world around her, at how her simple existence broke something that had always existed and would continue to do so for decades and decades to come. How did something so finite break their cycle, his personal loop?

(Had it always been so fragile to be undone like this?)

“Hi.” He croaked. 

Sofia, if she was awake, would’ve smiled at him bright like the sun at his first words, cradled him nicely in her arms and made everything disappear in a sea of warmth. Veríssimo showed his happiness in a different kind of way, and so, he quietly put his hand on his shoulder and looked down to both of his children. The corner of his eyes were soft. 

Jaser began to laugh, first with gasps, each one more hoarse and painful than anything, but the insane feeling bubbled across his chest up his throat until he was roaring with laughter, with surprise, with revolt, with how maddening all of this was. When the baby was lifted from his arms and a strong hand guided his face to an equally stronger chest (that in such a short time of years would look so small and mortal). Only when the wet fabric of his shirt began gluing on his face Jaser realized he was crying, an ugly kind that he couldn’t stop no matter how he tried.

His Vision was faltering, words coming and going in flashes and flicks of light, his objectives shining in a vivid green behind his eyelids no matter how tightly closed he pressed them, warnings blasting on his mind, screaming about his Role, the Prophecy and his Meaning. He was above everything else the Unhaunted one, no matter what, he should keep going through the plan. 

In the middle of that cacophony, Jaser gripped a single thought with all his strength and pushed it forward: he was not walking away now, because his Vision was wrong, it had been wrong about this Ending and it had lied to him and he was not going to obey it anymore.

(If it lied to him about this reality, then where did those lies stopped? How many lives has he thrown away for his role? How much of it all was pointless? How much would’ve he gotten back if he had fought it before?)

His mind was convulsing and collapsing. There was a feeling choking on him that Jaser could recognize, the usual darkness that would grant him peace every time he passed out, usually because of his father’s senseless violence. It was a good thing, he thought, at least he would be in control of everything again when he woke up.

The loud sound of a door hitting a wall shot through the place and Jaser felt a stronger paranormal presence, a cold wind came rolling and howlering across the room, trying to pull him away with barely any resistance at all, with how his body felt weak.

But then, just as the cold had clung across his torso and pulled, a high pitched cry filled the space and Veríssimo’s tensed like steel as he brought him even closer to himself, shouting something Jaser could no longer process.

Then, there was darkness.

(...)

The first time he discovered about it. It was in an inconspicuous morning

As Sofia walked to the kitchen, yawning and still barely awake from Mia’s decision to call for their presence the entire night, she almost shouted when he saw the boy standing still in front of the oven, green eyes glowing in the darkness like spotlights. They flicked over to her hand, which was holding tightly onto a dagger and showed no expression, the younger simply turning around to stare at her fully, completely clothed and with his hair combed and on his daily clothes.

“Sorry for disturbing you, mãe. I simply wanted to make breakfast.” Ever since they got out from the Perimeter, Jaser started to talk more, his voice going from hoarse to a more smoother tune. Sofia is sure that in a few years he will have a low, deep voice not so much unlike Veríssimo. The thought, together with him adapting so easily to her new address (mom! she is really a mom, now!) made her heart melt, a hand slowly (because he was still wary at receiving touches) resting on his hair, combing it with her fingers for a couple minutes before pushing a few words out of her mouth.

“What do you want to eat?”

Usually, as Veríssimo kept working at home with fewer cases and late days were more common, besides the kids, they didn’t really have breakfast besides some fruit and, in Sofia’s case, a good cup of hot tea. Until recently, Jaser didn’t also eat much, preferring to skip his breakfast as well, only changing his mind when Mia kept stopping her own eating to shove pieces of fruit uncoordinatedly at his general direction. The only way to subdue her was seeing him nibbling on something, even if she kept babbling irritatedly and pointing at him if Jaser ate too slowly for her taste.

“You are still recovering from giving birth, I will take care of the carcass.”

Sofia wondered if the tiredness was making her listen things. “The… carcass.”

Jaser blinked, unmoved at her confusion. “Yes, for our meat.” Then he stopped, considering. “Unless dad has already taken care of it when he came back yesterday?”

Yesterday Veríssimo had come home bloodied in the middle of the night, giving her a heart attack before he explained he had to take care of an urgent case of blood zombies before coming home. Jaser didn’t see much surprised or interested at the time.

“We don’t usually hunt,” they had fish, but for the state of the Statch’s house (especially Golias room) when they rescued Jaser, she really doubted he was talking about that. “But we do have some frozen meat if you want, there’s also ham and eggs that we can make to put in your bread.”

Jaser frowned at the content on her fridge. “Thank you, but I can hunt and gut a pig for you. If you want fresher meat.”

“No, no, dear, there’s no need.” She quickly began gathering tomatoes, bell pepper and a couple of bananas and apples on his arms, before he could try to follow through with his idea. She didn’t really cause a problem with whatever neighbor who was raising pigs nearby. “We can stick with what we have here, right?

Carrying her own supplies (butter, bread and some delicious carrot cake covered with chocolate that Veríssimo bought yesterday) she let him cut the vegetables for the scrambled eggs while she made a floral tea for her and, much to her demise and immense nostalgia, a cup of coffee for Jaser.

As the table was set and they were enjoying their breakfast, the high shrieking sound of crying shot across the house and Sofia drank the last sip of her tea before preparing to get up, only to be stopped as the tall shadow of her husband tumbled across the corridor to Mia’s room, the crying only resounding for a couple minutes before fading away. When she looked at Jaser, he was already halfway across the living room, a tight and worried expression on his face.

“Jaser?”

“I will… help him.”

He had only arrived at Mia's door when Veríssimo got out, Mia sitting on his arms and patting his face, absolutely delighted by his beard before turning to Jaser and squealing, her chubby little arms reaching for him.

The boy with green eyes scanned her and relaxed, holding her hands and shaking them lightly with a tiny smile, wisely keeping them away from his hair. 

“Good morning, Mia.”

Veríssimo bounced her softly and she replied with babbling, which, in Sofia’s opinion, was just a step away from forming “Mama” and therefore Veríssimo should stop deluding himself saying that her first words would be “Papa”.

“Did you sleep well, Jaser?”

“Yes, pai.” When they locked eyes, it seemed like there was a silent conversation going on. “I apologize.”

“One is not faulty for the house they are born in.” Veríssimo stared at him, serious and kind. “But there’s always the light from the future to take over the dark of the past. Your eyes will learn to see it.”

“Maybe one day.” 

Seeing they were still standing in the corridor, Sofia made a show of putting more food on her plate, humming and remarking a little too loudly as she served another cup of tea. “What a kind husband I have! Leaving all his breakfast for his hungry wife to eat since he’s too busy philosophizing to reclaim it.”

Before she could get another bite from his bread there was a large shadow in front of her, accompanied by gurgling baby noises and she smiled, ignoring both and chewing smugly.

“Sofia…” Veríssimo said, both fond and exasperated when she gasped in fake surprise, looking up with wide eyes. 

“My husband!” Because he has a butter melting heart, Veríssimo only looked in love at her and her smile before turning her attention to Mia, immediately answering to her reaching arms and lifting her out of her husband’s grip, throwing her high in the air. “And who is this? Ohh, maybe it’s my little sleeping beauty, huh? It is, it is!”

“A beautiful princess, must have inherited from her mother.”

Sofia huffed. “More like she inherited my powerful lungs.”

Still squealing, Mia wiggled in the air, which rid a bit of her shirt and reminded the adult something Calisto used to love when he was around that age.

“Is that a chubby tummy that I see, huh?” Gasping once more, she brought Mia next to her face. “A very tasty tummy for me? Oh, my thank you!”

Shoving her face on her belly, she began blowing softly and making ‘nhom nhom nhom’ noises, relinquishing on the high pitched, baby laughter that filled the entire place, happy and loud. Sofia began giggling as well, moving so she could take a look at Mia’s beautiful smile, reddish-brown eyes looking at her while her hands pushed her face away uncoordinated, she pretended to nibble her little fingers only to she the baby pull them away with another laughing shriek. 

“Hmmm, such a delicious baby. You don’t want me to eat your cute tummy?” As her giggling began slowing down, Sofia lifted her high once more, smirking at the other joyful squeal that brought. As if wondering out loud, she teased. “Maybe I should try to have another thing for a snack, then? I know!! What about these cute little toes right here?”

Back to nibbling and blowing raspberries, she laughed along with her kid, tickling her a little bit more and then bringing her close so she could kiss that small smiling face.

When she felt Veríssimo resting his hand on her, she let him grab Mia, both pretending to not see his fondly exasperated face, as he took the baby to her special chair. It was a good thing if Mia got all her energy out now, perhaps her morning bath would be even easier.

(Or she would be too pent up for breakfast and make even more of a mess than usual, they would know the answer in a couple of hours.)

“If our Tickle Monster is already satisfied, maybe she can let Mia have her meal as well?”

Sofia smirked. “I don’t know, I feel like I could go for a second serving.” Staring directly at Veríssimo, she had the perfect view of his eyes widening, mouth opening to a clever reply before thinking better, turning around and quickly helping Mia with her breakfast. She laughed and turned around to give Jaser a conspiratory wink, only to find him staring at the scene with a slightly tilted head and confused frown.

At her wink, he blinked back at her and showed a small, closed lipped smile staring at Mia once more before beginning to eat, staring thoughtfully at his meal.

Sofia went to make another cup of coffee for Veríssimo, a bit of warmth in her heart. It was good, even if sad, that Jaser was starting to get used to their displays and affection.

(...)

The first time he felt, it had been in an unmarked night.

When Veríssimo looked at his side, as he expected, Jaser was there, not even pretending to look at the starry night or the floating leaves in the cold wind. He was using a coat, at least, which was going to save both of them from a scolding later. Just in the corner of his collar, there was the hint of a white symbol that Veríssimo was pretty sure was not there when he bought the coat for the kid. 

He sighed and turned around fully, the conversation they were about to have was not about it, possibly.

“Don’t you wish to know what would have happened if the prophecy had been completed?”

“There are questions that must not be answered.”

At this, Jaser smiled with an expression that was too old for him. He said nothing else and Veríssimo was glad, there was a kind of knowledge that must never be obtained for the strings attached to it not to be lost. To know everything is to lose everything, and Veríssimo already knew too much only by noticing how those green eyes would linger too much on his face or his sword.

There was no helping, sometimes, at wishing that he arrived earlier, before the kid was forced to grow up too much for his age. 

(What an unattainable thing to wish, Jaser would say if he heard him. I never had a beginning or an end, my life was a song never actually born and always on repeat, a copy with no original piece, unable to limit what it was or it will be. And yet, if someone could wish to find that end, it could be only the two of you.)

But he said nothing, because there was no need for things to be said.

“Mia is going to like growing up in this house, with both of you.”

“Good.” The implications were there, Veríssimo purposefully looked in the other direction. “She is going to like having you as her brother. You must be an example and teach her things about life that she may never ask us about.”

“I have nothing to teach, no thing to give.” He said, a hint of fear in his tune, a broken kind of thing in his smile. “This is my first time here, I know nothing about this life.”

There was no helping the amused huff that left him at his words and the confusion as the boy stared at him.

“Then none of us will teach her anything. This is my first time here, too, afterall.”

And so Jaser huffed a laugh, looking at the sky with a lighter smile. 

“So this is it… The Unhauted one becomes a brother and nothing more. Things really have changed.”

“No, I don’t think the Unhaunted would ever be a brother.” Jaser freezes, fingers clasping on his sleeves before being forced to open, a neutral expression taking over his face as he stares at the adult. “But I think Jaser will.”

Veríssimo put a hand on his hair, messing it while the kid still didn’t care about his appearance enough to push him away. 

After a while, both finally turned fully to enjoy the stars and cold wind.

“Mãe won’t like that you came outside without a coat.”

Veríssimo sighed, part of him glad to hear the slight joking tune that wouldn’t be there in months ago. “Please don’t tell her.”

Jaser hummed non concomitantly and Veríssimo let his hand slip to grip the kid’s shoulder and shake him, not even realizing when his fingers brushed the unprotected neck by mistake, pulling an uncharacteristic yelp and jolt from the younger.

They stopped for a moment, staring at each other a bit confused and a bit wide eyed. Veríssimo was the first to understand, the corner of his lips quirking upwards.

“Be careful to not let Sofia find out this.” He said in that cryptid tune of his, that said any and everything, helping in nothing the puzzled expression in Jaser’s face as he brushed the tingling feeling out of his neck. He looked at Veríssimo’s hand with the corner of his eyes, as if it would answer his new waves of questions.

Verissímo, on his turn, simply turned back to get into his house, knowing he had already tempted the luck enough by spending that much time outside.

And if he caught Jaser kneeled in front of Mia’s crib, calling Mia his sister in whispers on another completely different time, he was careful to walk away quietly enough to not disturb any of his children.

(...)

The last and also, in it’s own way, first time it happened, was during a visit.

“Miaaa, aren’t you happy to see your favorite uncle?” 

The baby screamed and giggled non stop, although that was mostly because Calisto was spinning her  around, not really an answer. The adult cheered either way, though.

Sofia, the only voice of reason, replied from her place on the couch. “You’re her only uncle.”

“And therefore her favorite!”

Sofia refused to rise to the bait. “Stop throwing and spinning her around so much! She will get nauseous and you will be the one cleaning it up.”

“Throwing babies around is good for them! It adjusts their senses about the world surrounding them, you know? I read about it… somewhere.” Calisto rolled his eyes but obeyed nevertheless, bridging Mia close and bouncing her on his arms. Sofia looked at him with one doubtful, crooked eyebrow at which Calisto made a face before turning to his niece. “Aren’t you excited for when your mom will stop being a worrywart? I will be able to show you so many fun places. We’ll get into so many adventures together.”

“You’re not taking my baby to coffee shops, she will not be inheriting your bad habits!”

“Hey! I know plenty of other places in the city other than coffee shops.”

“Is that so?” She challenged. “Name five of them.”

“Five?! With how small this city is, if I know three it’ll be more than enough to satisfy her for her entire life!” Calisto sniffed petulantly and sat next to his sister, probably only so she would listen to his conspiratorial whispers to Mia. “Don’t worry, my dear niece, you mommy doesn’t have any culture to pass on but your favorite uncle is here to save you from that boring life, ok?”

Mia, nor Sofia, answered, the latter instead scanned Calisto up and down, eyes sharp and lightning with understanding, when Calisto turned around to investigate the sudden silence, he was pinned down by her glare.

“You’re stumbling on your words again and your leg doesn’t stop bouncing.” Sofia narrowed her eyes. “How many cups did you have today?”

“....Two…?”

“Calisto Besatt, I’ve changed your diapers, you don’t dare to lie so boldly in my face.”

Like a flower without water or sunshine, Calisto whitled. “Four.”

“Calisto! It’s not even five in the evening, how much more do you plan to drink tonight?!”

“What, you want me to keep deciphering all of those rituals without my little bit of happiness? You know how much I need them for my work, Sofia.”

“What you need is to sleep and create an effective routine to not accumulate so much paper and need to spend an entire night awake to finish it!”

It was hard, and a bit interesting, to try to reconcile both of his memories of an inexistent ending and his new reality, sometimes things were different enough that Jaser had no problem distinguishing both, other times, those same differences left him disoriented in his actions.

Looking at Calisto, he kept waiting for that broken, mad man inside the Perimeter, someone who understood his words and warnings on a level that no one else would ever be able to, murmuring non stop to himself, analyzing every symbol and every ritual with eyes that saw almost the same as his own, who would spend nights without sleeping and sacrifice all he had to save what he lost. 

Jaser kept looking into those brown eyes and hoping to find a green hue just like his, only to find nothing. 

That was a good thing.

Sometimes his disorientation hit for other reasons. Before, Jaser never really cared about how broken and different his family had been, he never even looked or interacted with his own siblings outside carrying on his objective, and never even got to know if they had cared about him on any level before they were led to their end. 

Even so, Jaser couldn’t imagine doing this again with Mia, just like he couldn’t imagine Veríssimo knocking him out with punches or Sofia haunting the corridors whispering madly about a song. To see the strong bond between Sofia and Calisto, it made him wonder if that was how siblings really acted around each other, playing fight, faking arguments and running to each other’s side the very moment they are needed.

Therefore, Jaser tried to be next to Calisto every time he visited, even if he didn’t know exactly how to answer to his attempts at conversation and interactions, he could still try to learn something from him.

A loud shout brought him back from his thoughts, only to see Jaser almost laying on the couch with how much he was squirming away from his older sister, whole body trembling not from fear but with laughter, a gigantic smile on his face that was mirrored by Sofia as she followed him close, a hand burrowing on his stomach and the other holding his shoulder to not let him fall.

And there it was that thing again. The one that made the person laugh and yet try to get away from the sensation. Sofia kept doing it and Jaser had yet to understand how it even worked.

“Sohohohohofia!! Sohohohfia, plehehehease! I wihihihihihill drop MiahAHAHAHAA!”

The last word disappeared in a laughing scream as Sofia pushed him to fall completely on the sofa, the two of them being the most careful while adjusting Mia to lay as well on his chest. After this, Sofia used both her new free hands to sneak underneath his shirt and… Jaser twisted his face this and that way, only seeing that there was a movement over his sides, but not really what was happening. With this, however, Calisto arched his back and began kicking his legs as funny kind of sound (a strange mix between those snorts from pigs and a hissing kettle) appeared amidst his laughter, one arm holding his niece close and the other missing all the attempts in pushing his sister away.

“NOHOHOHOT THEREHEHEHE!”

“Awww, can’t little Calisto have his belly tickled, huh? Is it too much for him to get a few belly rubs?” A high pitched sound, and yet more laughter. Jaser really didn’t understand what was happening. “What if I go here, instead?” With a strange kind of fascination, Jaser watched as her hands moved upwards and rested on his armpits, which, somehow, morphed completely the laughter from the other, transforming it into a giggly, high pitched and long winded sound not so unlikely Mia did when she was excited.

“Eheheheeeeeek!! No! Nononohohohoho! Geheheheeeeet ohohout! Sohohofiaahahahhaahaha! Ihihihim dying!”

“Is that so? My little brother must be really getting old, you lasted so much more in our tickle fights when we were children!”

“Thihihihis barehehely-eeek a fight!” Another one of those squeals and even more high pitched laughter, even Mia was senselessly pushing her hands on her uncle’s torso, although somehow differently from what Sofia was doing, the sparse “oof!” sounds Calisto let out showing the difference.

What was that word again? Tickle?

That was when Calisto found his gaze and extended an arm at him (or tried to, since something happened again and not even half minute later he was cluing that same arm on his torso and doing that snorting sound), still laughing, still smiling, still squirming away. “Jaahahahahaseher! S-Saveeheheh meehehe! Yohohour motheheheher wehent crahahazy.”

Sofia gasped, affronted (but not really, like faking an affrontement), taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a loud, muffled sound on Calisto’s belly. Partially muffled and partially disappearing at the loud shriek from the other, with, again, more laughter.

“Mãe?” Jaser asked, as she lifted her head, ready to reply with something else and, just like she did every time Jaser called her, Sofia turned her full attention to him, also smiling. Like they were having fun. “Let him go, please?”

She laughed. “Alright, alright. Turning my own son against me, you have no shame.” One last squeal and Calisto was left panting and letting out those tiny, fast kind of huffed laughter. Something must have shown in Jaser’s face, to gain Sofia’s next words. “Don’t worry, Calisto is just being dramatic, he can take much more tickling than this. He actually likes it!”

Tickle and tickling, Jaser guarded those words in his mind where he kept all the new information about his new family. Calisto likes it and Sofia likes doing it too. “I see.”

Calisto groaned. “Sofia! Stop embarrassing me in front of my niece and my nephew!”

“Stop being embarrassed, then. It's cute! Besides, everyone is ticklish.”

So, it’s something embarrassing but not. He added ticklish to the information.

“Yeah, you’re right. Everyone is.” He pointed that by poking Sofia on her back, making her jolt on the same place at turn to him with a playful smirk.

“Me too?”

Both adults stopped and turned to Jaser, who kept staring at them. Something sad flashed on Sofia’s eyes while Calisto put a hand on his chin, thoughtfully. “I mean, yes, probably. Every kid that I know is.” Then, his mouth curled in another playful smile, his sister and him were really alike. “Want us to tickle you?”

“Yes.”

Calisto blinked, astonished, before being nudged by his sister, scotting aside to open a seat between the. Sofia patting it in an invitation while Calisto adjusted Mia into a more comfortable position, the infant watching Jaser with big attentive eyes. For some reason, as he walked and sat between the adults, Jaser felt a zing of anticipation. 

He remembered Mia squirming and wiggling, Veríssimo’s tactical retreat and Calisto trashing, but also they incessant and bright laughter. Something that made you both keep on smiling and running away at once… How would that even feel like?

“Am I going to hurt you?” 

“No, we’re going to be very careful. And if you want us to stop, just ask and we will, alright?” Sofia smiled reassuringly as the young kid looked at her.

“Do I have to do anything?”

Calisto snickered, a bit of amused and a bit of fond. “Not really. Although it might be hard to not do something when you’re very ticklish.” Looking at his slightly confused face, Calisto smiled. “You’re going to see.”

With a single finger, Sofia lightly traced his neck and Jaser barely had time to process the strange feeling before he let out a quick funny huff and quickly threw himself away from her 

“It might feel a little funny at first.” Calisto remarked “Sorry, it got me by surprise.” Jaser straightened himself, feeling a hint of heat on his cheeks as he went back to his previous position, much to both adults’ joy, and embraced himself again for the strange, sudden spark of sensation.

“My turn, now!” Following his sister’s lead, Calisto’s hand began to dance and wiggle on Jaser’s neck. Where his fingers touched, a different kind of electricity spread, making all of his nerves tingle and his body to try to act on its own. He wanted to squirm away once more and to giggle uncontrollably. At the giant grin appearing on his face, his eyes closed on their own and a silly kind of laughter started to crawl up his throat, trying to get free. 

Jaser barely lasted a few seconds at all of this before falling to the other side with a couple of muffled, quiet giggles.

Sofia watched him, now resting on her arm, with eyes shining and soft, but with a playfulness on them (now directed at him) that made a shot of adrenaline run across his blood.

“It looks like someone is ticklish.” Sofia pointed out the obvious and Jaser couldn’t help but let out a short, fleeting noise, too quick to be stopped when the sudden sensation of someone poking his ribs made him almost lose his control and scramble away from the tickles. Almost. “I got a lovely squeak, now! Thank you, Jaser. Maybe we can do that again?”

That he did. As she kept poking at his ribs, more and more squeaks flowed from his mouth, sometimes in quick, short bursts of noises and sometimes louder, depending if she attacked his ribs with fast pokes or if she took  the opportunity to prod and dig on the bone. Jaser couldn’t stop himself from squeaking and letting out tiny huffs and puffs, a humming kind of laughter that he didn’t even know he could do.

A soft tracing on the shell of his ear and on the - seemingly - extremely ticklish skin right behind it made him shake his head involuntarily with a shiver and the sudden tickly sparkes that filled his sensation, louder snickers and a couple of bouncing noises of surprise flying in the air with the new attack. 

“Look at this, I got two giggly yelps.” Calisto pointed, proud, at his discovery. Jaser wondered if the siblings were making a competition of his reactions. That thought only made him smile more, body wiggling from one side to another, running away from the absurdly soft touch from one side only to fall into more pokes and prodding that kept making him jump and jolt in the same place.

“Are we just-” His voice sounded funny, higher, wobblier, words stumbling and dancing across giggles and chuckles as a result of the tickles. “Ticklish everywhere?”

“Not everyone.” Calisto pointed, focusing on an especially sensitive spot under his chin that made him squeal and try to protect the place by bringing his chin down to his chest which, considering Calisto’s hand was still there scratching and scribbling over and over the spot, but now unlocked between his chest and neck, didn’t really help. “Some people are ticklish and certain places that others are not. We still don’t know why humans are ticklish at all and why we laugh when that happens. There are papers that say it’s a reflex for protection or some social aspect of humanity. In general, children are mostly ticklish everywhere, though, probably because….”

There was a slight pause, filled with a kind of anticipation that Jaser would probably be prepared to understand in any other circumstance in which he was not having his mind completely overcome by the hand now crawling upwards on his torso towards his armpits. It finally made him understand why Calisto was squirming so much that time and also completely destroyed his simple desire to just stay still, every rational thought disappearing, taken over by tiny, funny sounds and quicker, fast-peaced guffaws. 

If Jaser could actually stop to analyze that silence, he would’ve realized that, technically, he was currently the child his uncle was talking about.

“They’re all soft!”

It was too late, and suddenly two hands clamped on his sides and began squeezing non stop, making him fall once again on his mom, another failed attempt as the tickling followed him and his squirms. A loud, screeching sound left his mouth, followed quickly by louder, stronger crackles and hummed chuckles taking over the room as Sofia also used the opportunity to softly spidering and scratching his armpit, pulling a snort. Jaser could barely register the next words being said.

“Or at least they should be! Sofia, where is the rice and beans for this kid?” He began squeezing his hip bones as well, searching and finding the most ticklish spots with the deathly precision of an investigator who had done this for years, analyzing all the reactions of his victim only to latch on them. And latch he did, Calisto drummed and tased a place where his stomach met his side and clawed at his hipbones, prying more and more squeals and crackles, delighted in seeing his usually so closed and suspicious nephew having so much fun. “Jaser, you’re still so skinny. I can feel your bones!”

“Plehehehease dohohon’t!”

A poke on his bellybutton and he was curling into a ball of protection, another squeaky squeal flying high in the air. His eyes crinkled where they were sealed tightly shut and there was a slight soreness on his face, Jaser doesn’t think he ever laughed that much.

“Calisto,” they stopped tickling him and Jaser discovered that even without any movement, he still could feel a newer, softer tingling which created another wave of ghostly tickles. It  slowed his laughter but kept the snickers coming at the same time. 

When both adults adjusted themselves on the couch, Jaser almost flinched at the anticipation of a new attack, the stubborn wobbly smile on his lips never leaving his face for not even a second. 

Sofia started. “I think it’s time for our grand finale.”

With a so deeply serious tune that could only be fake, Calisto agreed. “That’s right, it seems so!”

“Are you alright with it, Jaser?” Finding his eyes, she showed him a bright, incredibly soft and happy smile. “It’s fine if you had enough fun, too.”

“Whahahat is ihit?” Curiosity sparkled in his voice at the same light it twinkled in her eyes, as if she was feeling just as much joy as him.

“It’s an extra special tickle surprise.”

“Our trademark, our friends would say.”

“Do you want to discover it?” 

“Ok.” Jaser answered Sofia’s question and watched as both siblings exchanged a determined nod, as if connected by a mental link. In sync, both of them grabbed one of his arms and pulled upwards.

“Keep those here, ok?” Calisto patted his head and Jaser almost flinched in anticipation, this time a bit more conscious of the opening he was giving them since all his tickle spots (as it seems) were concentrated on his upper body. “It will help a lot for our trick.”

“Ok.”

“One...” Sofia started.

“Two…”

They stared at him, who for reason stared at Mia, who simply started clapping. Electricity continued to run wild across his nerves, setting each of them alight. Eventually, Jaser completed. “Three.”

Calisto and Sofia took twin deep breaths and in that very same moment Jaser knew exactly what was going to happen, he barely had time to let out a squeak when two faces shoved themselves on his sides and belly in a huge “PFFFFBBBT” sound, shaking their heads as if to increase what was already the most murderous, effective tickle attack Jaser ever felt.

“IYAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Jaser fell backward on the couch, completely boneless, trying to become a tiny ball and being continuously caught off guard by more and more tickles. No matter how much they did it, each new blowing-air-tickles kept leaving him in shrieks of laughter, the sensations feeling like they exploded everywhere across his stomach and explored in a buzzing feeling every tickle spot nearby. They were both long winded tickling and also tiny airy attacks that were peppered all across his sides and ribs, leaving him crackling and snickering at each one. With this, all the kind of funny reactions were pried from him, snorts, squeals, squeaky and an uncontrollable, unstoppable kind of laughter flying across the space and taking over the entire house.

The more they tickled him, the more ticklish Jaser felt, as if that playful activity was self sufficient on itself, and the more he was tickled, the more he laughed, and the more his laughter kept coming, the more those lighter and fuzzier feelings took over his mind, making his entire body more relaxed and, therefore, more vulnerable to more tickles, which would start the entire cycle again. 

So he just kept snickering, giggling, crackling and guffawing non stop.

When his uncle and mother stopped, he was still left giggling and huffing laughter as their warm hands rubbed his back and combed his hair, the waterfall of titters slowly coming to a stop a couple of minutes later. Jaser took wobbly, deep breaths and felt his own face smile a giant grin that had never before lived in his expression, a mark of joy that refused to disappear from his face. His entire body felt like all his bones had melted, relaxed like never before.

“It was… fun.” He said out loud, in a tune with a tad of disbelief and surprise. “Really fun.”

“Aww, see, Calisto, he got that from you.” As his uncle sputtered and batted Sofia in retaliation, who simply continued her teasing. “Mia will have so much to learn about tormenting brothers from her mother.”

Jaser snickered at the batter, his reactions much softer, easier than before. What a silly thing to say, Mia definitely wouldn’t remember any of this moment since, as it seems, normal, non-Unhaunted children didn’t really attain every single memory from the moment of their childbirth, right?

Even so, he turned around to look at his younger sister, who had been particularly quiet the entire discovery, staring as those attentive eyes glued on him and she smiled and giggled.

…Right?

Jaser huffed and offered a finger for her to grab, smiling as well.

(He could understand Calisto perfectly well, now. There were people who really were worth sacrificing everything for.)

For this little life, the tiny infant that changed his entire life, who gave him this chance of reality, who was kind enough to share her family with him, who changed him, Jaser really wouldn’t mind learning everything he could to keep and make her happy.