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thelavendersquid · 1 year ago

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Weak Spots

Tickletober Day 4

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

Fandom: Critical Role (The Mighty Nein)

Words: 1.5K

AO3 Link

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What about weaknesses?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Es-sek! Are you ticklish?!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perhaps having weak spots isn't so bad.

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august-anon · 1 year ago

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Girl's Night

For Tickletober Day 8: Truth

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Fandom: Critical Role

Ship(s): None!

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Beau, Ler!Molly and Ler!Jester

Word Count: 769 words

Summary: What would Truth or Dare be without a little Zone of Truth? A lot more chaotic, as Beau finds out -- but it is her fault for letting the spell run out.

[ao3 link]

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“Don’t you fucking dare!”

Molly grunted with effort as he tried to climb atop Beau’s waist. “If you hadn’t danced around the question for so long that the spell wore off, we wouldn’t need to test it, would we?”

“Yeah, Beau!” Jester whined, trying to get a grasp on Beau’s wildly swinging arms. “And that was totally my last spell slot today!”

Beau spat out a litany of curses as Jester caught a wrist – clearly her inebriation was catching up with her. “Why do we even need the stupid fucking Zone of Truth in the first place?”

“Because of liars like you and me, dear.”

“Yeah, Beau! You can’t just lie in Truth or Dare – that’s like, the whole point!”

“You’re ruining the sanctity of Girl’s Night!” Nott cried out, and Beau couldn’t even see Nott anymore from her vantage point of the ground, but Nott had quickly moved into third place on her List. Jester and Molly were currently tied for first and second.

Beau let out a frustrated roar as Molly and Jester finally trapped her. With all the booze in her system, she wasn’t coordinated to buck Molly off, and even sober she wouldn’t have been able to beat Jester’s strength. She shot a desperate look over toward her last hope.

“Aren’t you going to, I don’t know, help me?”

Yasha stared at the three of them impassively, squinting her eyes as though she was thinking very hard about the question. “No,” she said flatly, slowly bringing her ale up to her lips.

Beau gaped at her.

Molly clicked his tongue. “Looks like you’re all ours.”

“You’re fucking dead, Tealeaf.”

“If you had just told us the truth in the first place, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Who the fuck answers that question?”

Jester blinked down at her. “Uh, me. I’m, like, super duper ticklish. It’s so much fun! Right, Molly?”

Molly nodded, cracking his knuckles. “Oh, of course. I am too, loads of fun – both sides of it, really.”

Beau sputtered for a moment. “Yeah, well, you two don’t count!”

“I’m ticklish, too,” Yasha said. “I don’t love it like they do, but I don’t mind it.”

Beau gaped at her again. Yasha shrugged.

“See?” Molly said. “Not so hard.”

Jester gasped. “Maybe we just have to tickle her until she says that she is!”

“No!”

“Oh, I love the way you think, Jester.”

Before Beau could curse the two of them out again, tiefling claws were crawling up her sides and down her arms. She held off as long as she could, but soon enough Jester’s claws were in her armpits and Molly’s fingers were pinching at her waistline and she broke. She spat out curses and threats between the laughter that bubbled out, but judging by her friends fond smiles, she wasn’t making much progress.

And the worst part was – she didn’t hate it. She’d never admit it even under pain of death, but Beau didn’t necessarily hate her friends tickling her. Maybe it was the booze, or maybe it was the silly atmosphere they’d created to give Jester her first real “Girl’s Night,” but, well, it was actually kind of… fun. Dammit, now she had a new question to avoid under Zone of Truth at all costs – and knowing Jester, it would be asked. But maybe, if she waffled around and refused to answer again, she would get this again without having to ask for it.

But tough, stubborn reputation or not, Beau was fucking plastered and she didn’t have the stamina to handle an extended tiefling tickle attack. She gave them a few minutes to have their fun – and a mirth-filled few minutes it was, seeing as they’d found tickle spots Beau didn’t even know she had – but before long, she was giving into their demands.

“Fucking �� okay! I’m fucking ticklish, alright? Cut it out!”

Jester pulled back immediately, her smile wide and beaming and bright enough that Beau had to look away. Molly took his damn sweet time, skittering his claws back towards his own body, poking a few sweet spots on his way for good measure. Beau laid there boneless as Jester released her wrists and Molly slowly crawled off her hips.

“You know,” Yasha said, slicing through the silence as she took another slow sip of ale, “you should try his ribs.”

Beau’s eyes shot to Molly’s. He swallowed, bringing his hands up in a placating motion.

“Now, now – let’s not be hasty.”

Beau lunged, a dangerous smile on her face. “Your turn.”

Needless to say, they had several noise complaints by the end of the night.

#tickle fic #tickletober #augtickletober2023 #tickletober 2023 #my writing #critickle role #lee!beau #ler!mollymauk #ler!jester #ticklish!beau #critical role #cr #beauregard lionett #jester lavorre #mollymauk tealeaf #yasha nydoorin #nott the brave

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tojisun · 3 months ago

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the apple that rolled over to the tree

!! fluff; f!reader; parenthood!!; simon-centric hehe >:3 // divider by @/plutism!

there is a… kid attached to your hip when simon returns home from a mission, his exhausted body stumbling into the kitchen where he finds you and it.

“what—”

he can’t even fathom the emotion coursing through him at the moment, what with shock triumphing over everything. still, you’d probably need to give him credit for not losing his goddamn mind at seeing a whole child — he couldn’t have been more than two years old with how he’s only three apples tall — clinging to you like a baby koala.

“oh my god, you’re back!” you squeal, unfazed at how dumbfounded your fiance has become, before shuffling close to embrace him.

simon reciprocates the hug anyway.

you step back, your lips still wobbling in your tears as you stare up at him, all awed like you couldn’t believe that he was back and simon wishes he can press his promises to your lips because he will always find a way to come back, he swears on his life, but also—

the child.

“sweetheart?” he begins, soft as to not spook you or the kid. “who’s, uh, who’s that?”

the child shifts, turning his little face from where it was burrowed onto your neck at the sound of simon’s voice. he rests his head on your clavicle, smooshing his already chubby cheek, before the biggest brown eyes that simon’s ever seen stare up at him, all doe-eyed and jarringly innocent, and simon, he—

well, not even babysitting tommy’s kids prepared him for this.

“this is yasha,” you murmur, pulling simon’s attention back to you. “or yakov, or james if he would want an english name.”

the boy reacts to you calling his name, and simon watches as those curious eyes tip up at you in question. you swipe your finger over his nose, the little thing scrunching up at the ticklish feeling, and simon becomes breathless at seeing the unadulterated joy in your face.

it is all parts soft and tender, but also anxious and worried, and simon begins to puzzle out the pieces.

“he’s my foster child. or ours, i guess, now that you’re here.” your voice is so fragile as you reply to him, your hand now beginning to rub soothing nothings on the boy’s back. simon wonders if it’s more to calm yourself down than it is to comfort the boy.

your lips purse, hesitating, and simon waits because while he he’s pieced out what you want to ask, he knows that this is something you would want to truly talk to him about. it is something he knows you have mustered up the courage to bring up so he gives it to you, open and ready, and he hopes that his face and his gait show that whatever it is you would want to say, simon will always support you no matter what.

“si?” you begin, looking heart-wrenchingly small in your worry. “i think i wanna adopt him.”

simon hums, stepping close but also being careful not to crowd yasha, before he curls his arms around you two — his family — and nuzzles his face on your other shoulder. “i’d love that.”

he offers you a smile, and squeezes your arm in comfort, then he watches as the tears come, easily springing up from your eyes. yasha startles, whirling to look up at his mother in worry. simon’s throat constricts at the thought of you being a mother and him, a father; how, now, there is someone else for simon to come home to. someone to fight for.

jesus. he’d need to tell the lads and maybe get wasted as a celebration.

“owies?” yasha asks, chubby fist balling your shirt.

“they’re happy tears, sweetie pie,” you reply, crooning. “i’m just so, so happy.”

yasha hums, nodding, probably already distracted, and simon takes that time to straighten back up. he pushes your hair away from your face, before he pitches forward to press a kiss on your forehead.

yeah, he’s happy too.

yasha gets spoiled, not that simon’s complaining given that he’s been the one doing all the spoiling.

“really, si? a new toly?” you ask, arms crossed over your chest in your exasperation.

toly or anatoly, or tory because yasha still can’t speak properly, is the name that yasha gave to all of his new stuffed toys. it all started with a dog plush that simon bought from the supermarket on a whim and gave to the boy. it was laughably quick how yasha had abandoned his blocks to make grabby hands to the toy, before squealing out that name.

the next stuffed toy that yasha received, which was just the softest and roundest penguin plush toy that simon’s ever seen, was also named toly. so was that teddy bear you bought for him. or that reindeer he got for christmas. somehow, every single one had been named toly.

the only thing you and simon can find about toly was that anatoly means sunrise. simon was so sure it was the russian word for animal, because why else would yasha repeat it, but who would have thought that their little fish is so imaginative?

like, of course he’s going to name all of his toys toly because they are as warm as sunrises. see? smart kid.

but this one, this new toly, set off world records. it was a camel plush that simon saw at the airport when he was out, pretending to be a civilian.

(garrick had been assigned with him for that mission, and was quick to spot and mention simon’s on-duty purchase.

“it’s for my boy,” he grunted in reply, forgetting the fact that he’s yet to truly break the news to his squad. garrick had never looked as surprised, and next thing simon knew, the news made its way to their group chat.

price was amiable about the whole thing. mactavish? not so much.

he just about begged to see a picture of yasha — “and yer girl again, if you wouldn’t mind.” — or even visit him. then he invited garrick to come and price invited himself too, so now the guys are going to swing by some time soon.)

when simon gave it to yasha, their boy had stared at it for a solid minute — simon counted — before screaming and then running to snatch the toy from simon’s hold. he hugged the camel close to his person, his little head nuzzling against the plush face of the camel, all the while absolutely vibrating in unabashed excitement.

he picked up thundering footsteps and turned around just enough to see you literally slide into the room. yasha continued to hug the camel, ignorant of the distress he caused, while you looked on in your panic, buzzing with worry because you just heard your boy scream, damn it!

“he’s fine, bub,” simon said before you could ask, and he watched as you came down from your frenzy, your breathing slowing down at the rationalization that if simon was not panicked, then everything’s alright.

then, your eyes landed on the new stuff toy.

“really?” you asked.

in his defence, yasha adores camel-toly.

in your defence, yasha’s room is running out of space for his tolys.

…well, simon does have all that military money. gonna have to spend it on something else, right?

[charlie foxtrot]

sriley: link

john2: ????

sriley: new address.

garry: oh? congratulations.

sriley: thanks.

johnp: 👍

yasha was shy when saying hi to price, then outright cried when he saw mactavish, which made simon bark out loud in laughter. yasha only stopped sniffling when he saw kyle. in no time, yasha absolutely adored garrick to the point that he would not even let him go.

dinner was prepared and while you called them all to eat, simon ambled out of the kitchen, where he had been helping you, and walked towards kyle and yasha to pick up his son and seat him on his high chair. but yasha had only looked at him, his head tilted in question, before ignoring simon and clinging onto kyle.

hell, he had even let go of camel-toly so that he could use two chubby fists to hold onto kyle. surprised, simon didn’t even know how to react and watched as his sergeant offered him an apologetic smile before carrying his son to the dining room. kyle rounded the table and sat yasha on his high chair, only, yasha made a scene when kyle did so, and he released a lungful of screams and cries, breaking everyone’s eardrums and their hearts.

kyle stood there, worried and confused, and hovered because he did not know what to do. hell, none of them did, and then you walked out of the kitchen, rushing to yasha, and hummed songs to comfort your son.

you crooned when he made grabby hands to be picked up and you did so with no hesitation, your touch soothing the boy into quiet sniffles. but even then, yasha wouldn’t settle down as he wriggled in your arms, short limbs reaching for—

simon glowered.

yasha was reaching for kyle. you were quick to giggle, asking kyle if it was alright that yasha would eat with him, and simon had glared at his sergeant, daring him to deny their son of anything, before reluctantly nodding his approval at kyle’s happy trill of, “of course, ma’am!”

yasha had finally calmed down when you sat him on kyle’s lap, and his boy was even polite enough to actually eat his soft veggies every time kyle beckoned him to open his mouth for a new spoonful.

simon did not startle, but it was close, when your hand landed on his thigh.

“you okay, baby?” you asked, eyes furrowed in your worry.

“yeah,” he remembers replying with, his throat all choked-up because he knows yasha must be excited to have new people to play with, but still, there was something that stung when his boy chose garrick over him.

not that it was kyle’s fault because he is a dear for even doing all that he did for yasha, but simon had hoped that he would always be yasha’s favourite.

too lost in his thoughts, simon had almost missed yasha’s call.

“-ddy? daddy?” yasha asked, startling simon.

it was not the first time yasha called him that, but every time he did, it never fails to make simon melt.

“yeah? what’s up, buddy?”

simon pretended that no one was watching the interaction.

yasha giggled, hiding his food-smeared lips behind his little palms, before turning to use garrick’s front to hide from simon. you snorted, murmuring to kyle how you swear you would wash his shirt before they go, but it’s all buzz to simon because his son — his darling boy — wanted to play with him during dinner.

yasha peeked at him again, before giggling once more when he caught simon’s eyes. this continued on until dinner ended, with simon occasionally miming growling monsters to induce more hearty giggles from his son, and being rewarded with the happiest laughter ever.

simon turned to you, with his heart on his throat, and beamed.

“aww,” mactavish sang from somewhere beside him. “ain’t that adorable— argh!”

simon had swung his arm out and thumped his fist on johnny’s stomach. thank god, yasha had chosen that time to hide his face again on kyle’s stomach.

“unca’ john?” yasha asks in a stage-whisper because everyone within earshot just heard him even with his attempt to be quiet. it’s only their training that stopped simon from acting like he’s noticed.

“yeah, bubsy?” john replies, sounding so utterly soft that this version of him is so foreign to simon.

“this tory,” yasha says and simon discreetly peeks to see which toly is being introduced to uncle john — it’s the elephant one.

price gasps theatrically like he hadn’t seen yasha drool all over this elephant toy before, and puffs out, “how cute!”

“mhmm,” yasha says, nodding, then smacks the face of the toy on john’s face. the trunk smooshes against john’s nose, and thank god that elephant-tory is soft because that aim would have been lethal if it wasn’t.

“jesus—” price gasps out.

“language!” simon hisses, and ducks his head back down just before yasha could catch him peeking.

yasha is now four and he still gets teary eyed when he sees johnny. simon placates his friend and says it’ll pass soon. maybe.

basically, i wanted to write a fic wherein simon’s reaction to being presented with a child is “what— oh okay, sure why not” and (literally in 20 minutes) “i will kill everything for this child” and so here we are

a simon spinoff - it takes a rampage (to be a dad)

#simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley #simon riley fluff #simon riley #simon riley x reader #suns

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tickle-bugs · 3 years ago

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Strongman

Summary: Jester is determined to prove Fjord as a good recruit for Molly's carnival. Fjord proves himself excellent entertainment, after all. Spoilers for the beginning of Campaign 2 if you squint really hard.

They’re a strange bunch, these ones. Molly’s in the business of the wild and curious, sure, but nothing is wilder or more curiouser than his traveling companions. Not a single one of them belong together--Caleb and Nott are too flighty to be trusted, Beau’s brashness makes her a pain in the ass, Fjord is too good, Jester too impulsive, and Yasha is perfect in every way.

He loves them all immeasurably. He’d die for them, even. A surprising thought this early in their travel, but something that brings him an odd measure of peace.

“Mo-lly~!” Jester’s voice is as harsh as it is sweet.

“Hm?” He looks up from his tarot spread as Jester bounds over. She skids to a stop and rocks on her heels, the frills of her skirt swaying with her.

“I have a new recruit for your show!” She takes Molly’s hands in hers and yanks him to his feet. He is under no circumstances reopening the circus, but he’s not about to crush the sparkle in her eye.

“Is that so?” Molly links their fingers together more for his own benefit—Jester would lose him otherwise. She’s like a puppy but with the wrath of the gods and a hankering for chaos.

“Introducing the strong, the brave, the handsome….Fjord!”

“Huh?” Fjord’s head snaps up.

“I was telling Molly that you could join his Carnival!” Then, she leans in close to Molly: “He’s very weak but pret-ty cool.”

“Aw, no. ‘M not really built for, uh, performance.” Fjord clears his throat and sinks into himself a little bit.

“That’s not something you want to admit out loud, but I’m sure you’re better than you give yourself credit for.” Molly curls his tongue a bit.

“Wh—circus performance. Not built for—never mind.” Fjord sighs into his hands. Jester bounces up and down on the balls of her feet.

“Fjooooord—“ Her whine seems to carry on for ages.

“What is it you want me to do, Jester?” He sighs deeply and resigns himself to stand.

Molly holds back a grin. It’s beyond entertaining to watch this half-orc—who’s nearly as imposing as Yasha herself—cave without a struggle to Jester’s demands.

“Um…uh….Oh!” She darts over to the nearby shops, running in front of a few storefronts and shoving people at the way as she goes. She gets distracted by a dressmaker’s shop window and presses her face against the glass, tail waving in excited patterns, but then she’s off again like a rocket. She snatches a few apples from a fruit stand and skips away, leaving the owner to yell at her retreating form.

“Jester!” Fjord’s booming reprimand slides off of her completely, much to his apparent distress, but Caleb is already making his way to the disgruntled shop owner, coin purse in hand.

“Okay, so. I will throw the fruit at you. You will show off your incredible, amazing, fantastic—“ She makes direct, piercing eye contact with Molly— “circus-worthy dexterity and cut it with your big knife!”

“It’s a falchion—alright. Sure. Why not?”

“Don’t embarrass me.” Jester points at Fjord. Her serious expression falls more on the side of a pout than anything else.

“I won’t, darlin’. Toss ‘em.” Fjord summons his falchion in a rush of salt water and gives it a twirl. Molly backs up towards Jester.

She unsticks her claws from the apples she’s grasping and shuffles them in her arms, face pinched in concentration. There’s a moment of tense staring. All breathing ceases.

Wham! The first apple speeds through the air. He meets it with his blade and sends two perfect halves spinning to the floor. He’s not quite as ready for the second one—he takes a reverse-grip backwards slice that cleaves the next fruit a little messily.

Jester lobs the last one directly at Fjord’s face. He extends his blade. The apple sticks perfectly onto the tip with a satisfying thunk. Fjord unsticks it and bites into it. Jester erupts into an enormous wave of applause and cheers. Her elbow in Molly’s side encourages him to join in.

“Thanks.” Fjord gives a half hearted bow as he chews. Jester yanks on his cloak.

“Ah ah, you’re not done!” She takes the apple from his hand, bites it, then puts it back. He rolls his eyes.

“I’m not?”

“Of course not! You showed us brave, you always show us handsome, now you have to show us strong! That’s how I announced you! The strong, the handsome, the brave!” Jester lightly smacks Fjord’s chest to emphasize each point. Somehow the last slap ends up making direct contact with Fjord’s backside.

“Do I really?” Fjord turns to Molly in search of reason—oh, he should truly know better. Molly takes a seat on the grass.

“Nothing kills a business quicker than false advertising, my friend.” Molly crosses his legs and leans forward.

“Fine—“ he takes a final crunch of the apple— “What am I doin’?”

“C’mere.” Jester waves him over. Fjord takes one nervous step, then another, then another until Jester gets frustrated enough to grab his bicep.

“What’re we doin’, Jes?” Fjord shuffles in place. Jester unclips her cloak, then his, and lobs both in Molly’s direction.

“Pick me up.” She throws her arms up.

“Okay…?” He hoists her in the air. Jester poses dramatically, hoisting and extending her legs every way she can think of. Fjord is a bit confused but he has the spirit--he rotates the both of them slowly.

“Gotta be honest, not sure what’s happening. Still a fan. Bravo.” Molly claps politely.

“Honestly, I just wanted Fjord to pick me up.” Jester climbs around to sit squarely on Fjord’s back. She hooks her chin over his shoulder and beams.

“Figures.” He sighs and locks his arms under her knees. She nuzzles into his neck and giggles.

A few rumbling chuckles rise into the air, like stormclouds rolling over a prairie, and all available eyes snap to Fjord. It takes him a second to notice, bless his heart. By then, it’s already too late.

“Fjord, darling—“ Molly’s tail lashes side to side as he strolls over— “Do you have something to share with the class?”

“Now. Molly, we can talk about this—“

“I’m sure you’d love that, but I’m not particularly interested.” Molly curls his fingers around Fjord’s waist, tap tap tapping, and the poor thing’s already nearly halfway to the ground. He goes cross-eyed trying not to drop Jester while dodging Molly’s hands. Jester fully buries her face in the crook of Fjord’s shoulder to pull more of those chuckles to the surface.

“Uh oh,” Molly sing-songs, “You’re in a bit of a pickle.”

“A-Am I?” It’s nearly a squeak.

“Oh, yes.” Jester drops off Fjord’s back and sidles up next to Molly, “You are.”

“We’re all adults. We can figure something out.” Fjord tries to pry Molly’s hands away. They ripple into his sides in response. Fjord doubles over and snickers.

“Of course. We’re nothing but reasonable.” Molly keeps twitching his fingers.

“Wise, mature—“ Jester pinches Fjord’s ass and giggles— “adults.” The three of them stare at one another as the air falls quiet.

Fjord makes a run for it.

“Why are you running?” Jester yells after him.

“Let him run. It’s more fun this way.” Molly grins wickedly and saunters after Fjord, whistling all the while. Jester skips besides him.

“Hey, Fjord. Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Yasha sets her blade back in its scabbard.

Fjord scrambles up Yasha’s form, locking his legs around her waist. She squeaks in surprise, reaching back for him, but Fjord climbs higher and higher, until he drapes himself over her shoulder like Frumpkin does Caleb.

“What--” Her eyes land on the two hungry-looking tieflings before her-- “Oh.”

“I apologize for this, I really do, but help me.” He points at Jester and Molly.

“What are you two doing to him?” Yasha’s hand comes up to cradle Fjord’s back, keeping him steady on his perch.

“Yasha, dear, we’re going to have to ask you to hand over that rather dashing half-orc scarf you’re wearing.” Molly tucks his hands in his pockets.

‘We’d hate to have to take him off of you.” Jester’s voice is all innocence but her eyes belie the full depth of her mischievous intent.

Yasha crosses her arms.

“I dunno, I’m kinda attached to him.” She gives Fjord an affectionate pat on the back. The idea of a playful challenge sparkles so proudly in her eyes.

Molly would never be so foolish as to face her on his own unless he was looking to be pinned and wrecked--and, to be fair, he usually is--but having Jester at his side is enough to bolster his confidence.

“Last warning, flower,” He smirks, fingers twitching at his side.

“Try me, Molly.”

Molly rushes her.

Yasha grabs him by the back of his coat like a scrappy kitten by the scruff. He’s not sure what comes first: being lifted into the air or the devious fingers up his spine, but both sufficiently knock the wind out of him. He kicks and lets out a strangled yelp.

“W-Wait!” He tries to shove himself out of her grip but she simply readjusts, pulling him flush against her. She grabs fistfulls of his sides and kneads with delicate care. Molly speeds past snickers and straight into shrieking hysterics. His shoulders are shaking too much to coordinate any sort of escape.

“Jester!” He squeals when hands start to fiddle with his tail. She snickers at him. He does his best to curl his knees and tail to his chest but Jester won’t let go, the traitor.

“Yasha!” Molly wheezes and shimmies.

“I’m listening.” He can hear her smiling. Fjord’s also laughing, thinking he’s safe on his perch. Molly makes a few errant swipes at him but it’s clear that it’s time for Plan B.

“L-Look behind you!” Molly squeaks. He prays.

Yasha turns, still tickling, albeit slower now--bingo.

The perfect distraction.

Jester leaps with a triumphant battle cry, claws finding delicate purchase on either side of Yasha’s ribcage. Yasha drops Molly like a hot pan.

“S-Sorry!” Yasha leans over, trying to check if Molly’s alright, but she just crumples into his lap in a giggling heap.

“You’re so cute,” Jester wails, almost genuinely distressed. Yasha curls up as much as someone her size can. Molly brushes her hair away from her face and Yasha screeches out her next peal of laughter--right, claws.

“I have to agree,” Molly hums, tracing her claws down the length of her neck. She pounds a fist on the ground and coils further inward.

“Jester, we have got to work on our teamwork.” He pokes her side to make his point.

“So we’re officially a team, then?” She vibrates at the prospect. Molly grins.

“Us tieflings need to stick together! How else will we witness such charming smiles?” Molly presses into the divots of Yasha’s ribs and she releases the most endearing screech.

“Noooo,” Yasha melts into a barbarian puddle, clutching her torso with soft snorts. Molly’s touch drifts to the back of her ribs because he’s mean. Yasha squeaks and releases a flurry of other high-pitched noises that surround them like snowflakes.

“You are! You’re adorable—Wait a minute.” Jester’s head pops up and swivels ominously over her shoulder.

“Get back here Fjord!” Jester kicks up clumps of grass behind her with the force of her run.

“Stay away from me!” A laugh cracks his baritone beautifully as he flees. Gods, that smile. Molly reigns his breath in before he loses it entirely.

“I have other business to attend to. You understand.” He kisses Yasha’s forehead quickly, not wasting an opportunity to scritch behind her ear. The shivering giggle that leaves her is more than worth sacrificing his head start.

Jester tackles Fjord full force and they both topple to the ground at Caleb’s feet. She cackles in triumph and shoves her hands under Fjord’s arms--the sound that leaves him is less than dignified. As he runs up, Molly can see Caleb mentally discard his plans for the afternoon to intervene.

“Ah-ah, Jester. I think you’re going to kill him.” Caleb chides, pulling her hands away gently. Jester splutters, flabbergasted, until she catches the gleam in his eye. Cheeky bastard, that wizard.

“Thank you--” Fjord sighs, head thumping to the ground. Molly takes a seat.

“Sometimes, when you want to crack a tough egg…” Caleb takes a quick, deep look at Fjord before his fingers gently find purchase in the softness of his lower sides. He makes a startled, urgent noise before that gorgeous smile resurfaces. He fights down any sounds beyond that.

“Hm.” Caleb frowns. He gives his patented ‘scary wizard’ face before he allows his fingers to roam, tripping gently over Fjord’s skin like a musician caressing a beloved instrument. Fjord snorts and Molly can’t help but gasp aloud.

“Caleb, you s-sohon of a bihitch.” Fjord giggles, a sound that Molly didn’t even know he could make. His fist comes up to muffle himself.

“Tch. Watch your mouth, schatz.” Caleb’s hands jump quickly under his arms and latch in. Fjord slams his head back and wiggles violently, heels drumming as much as they can beneath Molly’s weight.

“I’m impressed.” Molly bumps Caleb’s shoulder. After a hesitant moment, he returns it.

“Ja, well, it is good to understand your friends.” Caleb pulls his hands away and pats Fjord on the chest. Molly watches, intrigued. Perhaps he’d underestimated their wizard. Hm.

“That it is.” Molly tears his gaze away from Caleb. “Sweetheart, I’m going to ask you this once. Where are you ticklish? I’ll need a full list.” Molly slides to perch on top of Fjord, tail swishing happily behind.

Fjord sticks his tongue out and Molly barks out a laugh. He slides Fjord’s hands underneath his knees and settles back down.

“Your funeral, then.” Molly gingerly works his claws beneath the straps of Fjord’s armor and into the flesh there. Fjord’s entire being scrunches. He gives himself away so easily and it’s unfairly endearing.

“Where’d that silver tongue go?” Molly scritches a finger beneath Fjord’s chin, distressing the stubble, and he shivers. Wobbly giggles find their legs as Fjord tosses his head from side to side. So much to explore, so little time. So little hands, actually--

“Where’s my backup?” Molly pops up. “Jester?” He whips around and sees Jester perched similarly on top of Caleb, plucking at his ribs like a kitten with yarn. Figures. He can’t even blame her, honestly. The wizard’s wheezy laughter is more alluring than any siren’s call.

“Seems like it’s you and me, hotshot.” Molly leans close, almost so their noses touch. He ever so-slowly walks his fingers up Fjord’s side. His expedition ends beneath Fjord’s arms, one finger in each hollow. He’s squirming like a worm on a hook, cheeks puffed to try and regain some ground.

“Y-You’re a chatty motherfucker, ain’t ya?” Fjord flinches hard at the gentle scrape of claws. Even then, he’s smirking. Molly stops cold for a second.

“Oooh, poking the bear. That’s real wise in your position.” Molly worms his fingers underneath the bottom edge of the leather chest plate and Fjord nearly explodes. He tries to sit up but his abs can’t support him and the golden laughter ringing through the field. Stuttered half-pleas and curses begin to find their way in between bouts of overflowing giggles and frantic snickers--gods, it’s almost infuriating that Molly hasn’t experienced this sooner.

“I can’t believe we’re bunking together and I didn’t know this. This’ll make our sleepovers much more interesting.” Molly worms his tail underneath one of Fjord’s flailing legs and wraps it round, mainly to discourage him from kicking. How interesting, then, when Fjord shrieks at the contact.

“M-Molly!” His voice spikes into a scandalized upper pitch. He throws his head back and arches upwards. With nowhere to hide that gorgeous smile, it melds wonderfully with the midday sun. Molly gets an idea. The kind where you can’t help but grin. The kind where if he’d been a little shorter and aligned with a certain chaos god, he would’ve definitely cackled evilly.

It’s a little uncomfortable to use his tail this way, but Molly is willing to be a little sore. He starts gently scratching at the inside of Fjord’s thigh with the spade tip of his tail while he squeezes with the body of it. His brows furrow a bit with concentration but it’s more than worth the hysterics below him.

“No need to shout. What are you so excited to share with me?” He puts his hands on his hips while his tail continues its work. Fjord’s face pinches in exasperation that cracks quickly under the weight of his own laughter.

“Ffffuck! Molly, M-Molly it tickles, pleahahahase—“

“Oh? That’s quite the predicament you’re in.” Molly tuts and crosses his arms. Fjord’s cute like this. Shame he doesn’t see it more often. He gives another squeeze for good measure.

“I am going to kill you.” Fjord yanks a hand out from under Molly’s knee and grabs a fistful of his shirt.

”Promise?” Molly’s eyes flick down to his lips. He tickles at Fjord’s stomach again--he’s the foremost expert on poking the bear.

Molly catches that wicked glint in Fjord’s eye--the one he’s gonna have to try and summon more often--before his world turns upside down. Within seconds Molly’s gazing up at Fjord, held to the ground by a strong forearm.

He tries not to look too excited.

“Hey, what—are you guys fucking tickling Fjord and Caleb? Without me?” Beau’s yell echoes like a shot. Fjord’s head snaps up in her direction. Something like disappointment nestles in Molly’s core.

“Fuck off, Beau!” Fjord’s heels send fresh dirt and grass flying as he scrambles away. Caleb gives Jester’s hips a quick 1-2-3 squeeze and uses her surprise to roll out from under her. He runs after Fjord.

“Caleb!” Jester swipes at him and grabs an ankle.

“Fjord!” Caleb yelps and leaps out of Jester’s grip, occasionally glancing back at the Tiefling on his heels. Beau carves through the space like a train and barrels after both of them.

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amazingmsme · 3 years ago

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Hi here bestie I hope your tests went well okay so MOLLY

I am I'm love with molly entirely (especially as a ler)

As a ler molly loves to tickle literally anything what has a pule and he gets so much joy out of it.

He teases NON STOP literally even jester get flustered by his teasing because someone how he knows just the perfect way to tease them all

He found nott going through his stuff and fully held a grade, poor nott was begging for mercy withing a minute

Since he's so skilled at slight of hand he is MEGA talented at tickling people in all the right spots

He love tickling the self loathing caleb because he can tell how much caleb truly adores it and will fully endorse him in all the tickles he needs

(When molly is getting tickled I would bet money to say hes the type to just lay there and laugh openly about it)

I’m on episode 27 so I really fuckin’ needed this😭 I already miss him so much & I gotta live in lala land where everything’s fine & dandy & everyone is Most Definitely Alive lol

Molly is TOTALLY a ler. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a huge switch but he’s more ler than lee just because he likes making people laugh & watching their reactions. Plus he’s a fucking menace who takes evil joy in embarrassing his friends.

His teasing is fucking lethal ok, no one is safe. Like you said, even Jester, shameless lee as she is, blushes like mad & squeals when he teases her. Beauregard gets angry when she’s flustered & it’s honestly really funny to see her all flushed & huffy, but still wearing a genuine smile. Nott is also more on the pissy side when teased, but she’s more whiny & shy about it. Lots of “shut the fuck up”s & tattle telling to Caleb (as if he can do anything) Fjord is SUCH a nervous giggler, he can’t help it. Molly will be teasing the hell out of him & he curls in on himself, blushing & smiling like an idiot as a few embarrassed giggles slip out. He runs a hand through his hair or down his face as he tries & fails to hide just how effective the teasing is. & I saved the best for last. Poor Caleb is the easiest to fluster, which is surprising at first because he’s always stone faced & wears this neutral expression at all times that makes him look constantly bored & annoyed. But once Molly found out he’s ticklish it was over for our favorite wizard. Even just ASKING if he’s ticklish sends a blush across his cheeks & he purses his lips to try & school his features but he really gives himself away. The more Molly teases him the more he smiles & the redder he gets. He can curl up in the tightest ball to try & hide & given the choice of pushing him away or covering his face he’ll hide his red face every time. Teases about how much he blushes really get him & also pointing out how cute his laugh is. Pleads in Zemnian so expect to hear a lot of “nein nein nein”s in the mix.

He fucking told Nott not to go through his shit, but she just couldn’t resist! Poor Nott was like a terrified cat trying to scramble out of the room but Molly is faster than her & of course catches her. The entire time he’s just leisurely walking towards her saying he’s not gonna hurt her but she’s screaming saying that he’s too calm, of course he’s gonna hurt her! But when he finally catches her he just goes to town tickling her wherever he can reach & it takes Nott by surprise. She’s a squealing & thrashing mess in his arms but refuses to apologize.

Also when both Molly & Fjord set up that trap for Nott it REALLY made me 👀. Like maybe they’re both bored & decide they wanna fuck with her & set up another trap because they know she can’t resist. They just really wanted an excuse to bully her without Caleb gettin onto them for it.

Molly’s slight of hand tricks really come in handy when tickling his friends cause he moves so fast & the things he does tickle way more than they should have any right to. & when they’re all sitting together say in the cart or at a bar/table in some tavern he reaches around the back of whoever he’s sitting next to & tickles their other side to throw the blame on the other person. This has led to Jester pouncing on Fjord & a v flustered Beau challenging a rather confused & amused Yasha to a tickle fight. Yasha is well aware of his tricks but doesn’t rat him out because she likes to watch the chaos unfold, even when she gets wrapped up in it.

They only realize it’s Molly when he tries to frame Caleb for tickling Fjord & they all know he’s too reserved & shy to start shit like that. Caleb digs both of their graves by saying “I didn’t do that, it was Molly. He’s been pulling this little trick of his for weeks” & Fjord is like “you’ve known this whole time & you never told us?” He grabs them both & tickles them while whoever’s sitting on the other side of Caleb & Molly join in. It’s all very cute & aaaahhhh I need this

Caleb is definitely one of Molly’s favorite victims because the dude REALLY doesn’t smile enough & he always has something bad to say about himself. So of course Molly has to wreck him & cheer him up! He can just tell that Caleb likes it despite all the squeals & protests.

The most Mollymauk will do to get away is squirm around & curl in on himself. But he tries sooo hard to keep his arms up & just enjoy it & literally everyone knows he likes it because… well he’s rather vocal about it. He doesn’t deny he’s ticklish & always talks about how fun it is & that he enjoys it. He’s the king of provoking the mighty nein into attacking him, but when they don’t fall for it he makes a show of stretching out in vulnerable positions & sighing very dramatically. When that STILL doesn’t work, he will straight up ask demand that they tickle him. He’s such a bratty ass lee I adore him

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ticklishnonsense · 4 years ago

Text

yasha nydoorin is the ideal woman.

#assigned beau kin on main. oh well.#she's so cute. she's so big. thanks #maybe i am reading chock's essek fic and thinking about yasha. perhaps #hghhhhh #she's so awkward and so Big #ma'am are you free this thursday #i am thinking about... ticklish yasha #i might. have to write something about molly and her.#or maybe jester and her. or fuck it both #can't fight off TWO determined tieflings #especially when you're too afraid of hurting people to really defend yourself #everyone draws yasha like. toned buff like weight-lifter buff #enough of that i want to see the classic barbarian build #huge arms oak-tree thighs soft tummy with a lot of body hair #laughing helplessly between her two tiefling friends #too many hands worming their way into her sides. everyone laughing around her. can't Think.#ms nydoorin are you free thursday please hang out with me on thursday when i am free

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sunlitanon · 3 years ago

Text

The Orphanmaker

“Can you keep your ears still?” Yasha asks, smoothing the short sides of Caduceus’ hair down. She’s already braided the long parts out of the way, but as she considers where to start shaving, his ears keep wiggling. It’s making her nervous. “If I nick you with the razor that would be bad. Caleb isn’t this wiggly.”

“Huh,” Caduceus says, and under Yasha’s hands his ears slope down again, considering. “I’ve never tried.”

They sit still for about three seconds before Caduceus’ ears twitch again; he tries to flatten them back down and loses the battle to that little flick thing they do when he’s annoyed.

Molly’s tail had been like this; always swishing and flicking and swaying, giving away his feelings sometimes on the rare occasion he’d try to hide them, wrapping itself around Yasha’s arm while he pretended he had no control of it at all, Yasha, mind of its own, you know how it is, he couldn’t possibly untangle himself from her.

“You can’t help it,” she answers for him, and skitters her fingers across the back of one ear.

The ear isn’t the only thing that twitches; his shoulders jolt upwards a bit before he freezes them still.

Yasha does it again, because it’s very cute.

Caduceus huffs. “That tickles, Yasha,” he says. There’s an edge in his voice—this imperious, petulant thing that she’s only ever heard him use once, and that was on the littlest of the Clays, back at the oasis.

“Oh, I know,” Yasha says, evenly.

It takes Caduceus a second to process most things. Two, if she pitches her voice just right. That gives Yasha about two seconds to put the razor out of reach and then lock her legs tight around Caduceus’ chest.

“Oh,” he says, and then Yasha starts tickling in earnest and he can’t really say much of anything, just soft, huffy giggles and half-baked complaints.

“Whe—hehehehe—whehere’s the—hehehee—”

“The razor?” Yasha asks, when it doesn’t look like he’s going to manage the full sentence. “I’m not holding it. You’re safe.”

What a thing, to be able to say and mean it. They’re safe so rarely. For just a moment, Yasha has to swallow against tears, and leans forward to bump her forehead up against him. “I’ve got you,” she says. What a thing to be able to say, and mean it.

“This is nice,” Caduceus says, a little breathlessly. He has the unfortunate luck of reminding Yasha what she was doing.

She gives him a little hug around the shoulders. “Oh, we’re not done,” she says,

“Yasha, Yasha—haha—Yasha!”

“What?” And he’s squirmy, squirmier than Molly was, even, but he’s not very strong, so it doesn’t matter. He could wriggle his way free of Caleb, of Fjord maybe on a good day, but Yasha’s not letting him go anywhere. “Hold still.”

“It tickles!” he gasps out, like he’s being tortured. He doesn’t have horns, but Yasha twists the braid she just made around her wrist twice and that helps.

“Are you sure?” There’s a smile in her voice that Caduceus might be a little too preoccupied at the moment to hear. “You don’t seem ticklish here.”

“Mean,” Caduceus says, and oh, she’s never heard his voice go that high before. That must mean she’s doing something right. “This is mehehehehean!”

“Well, they don’t call me the Orphanmaker for nothing,” Yasha says. Right here, around the bases of his ears, is his worst spot, she’s discovering. Or at least the worst spot along his ears. “How about we find out how mean I can be?”

#critickle role #caduceus clay #yasha nydoorin #it is so fucking hard to spell yasha's last name guys did you know #where did it come from #where did it go #my fic

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stardustedknuckles · 3 years ago

Note

6 for BeauYasha, but it could be either nsfw OR simply one showing the other where their trauma triggers are so they don't touch those spots unexpectedly

Oooh, nice spin on it. It's a mix of both. More than 1k, rated T, first time together post-Aeor.

It turned out that kissing Yasha was both better than Beau had ever imagined and also way more...human. It surprised her to realize just how improbable her daydreams had been - she wasn't exactly someone who got carried away in romantic thought, as a rule, so the second time their teeth clicked together painfully she knew she had to be twice as red as she felt when Yasha pulled away. She was laughing at least, a quiet sound not at Beau but for and with her and which pulled a reluctant smile from herself.

"Slow down, baby. We have time."

Beau spent a whole silent second reveling in the feel of Yasha's thumb as it swiped gently over lip, the sense of being cradled between her palms like something precious as the blood roared in her ears. "I don't think I can, Yash. Not yet. I mean, look at you."

She gestured, but Yasha's eyes stayed on hers as she just smiled a little wider. "Well, how about we start with something else then?"

Beau frowned for a moment in thought. "I kind of thought kissing was ground zero. What did you have in mind?"

"Well." They were perched half-clothed on the edge of Beau's bed, Yasha stripped to the waist and Beau in nothing but her underclothes, and when Yasha collapsed slowly onto her side with That Look, Beau could do nothing but follow. The sheets were cool on her ribs, a nice contrast to the heat that flared in her again when Yasha's hand rested on her waist. "I was thinking maybe we could just touch a little." Her thumb dipped towards Beau's abs and back again, soothing circles which were definitely arousing but more as an afterthought. "We jumped into things so quickly before," she continued, "and it was amazing, but I feel like I'm just getting to know so much about you."

A huff of a laugh came from Beau even as she felt her muscles relax under Yasha's soothing touch. "I'm pretty easy, yeah. If you're touching me, it's probably good."

"Probably?"

"Definitely." Beau hesitated, grounding herself with the feel of Yasha's soothing hand anchoring her and blinking up to her girlfriend's placid face. "What about you? Are there places you like more or less?"

Yasha's turn to look hesitant, but it was only a flicker before she replied slowly. "I think it's probably best to avoid my neck for a while. Like with your hand. I think kissing would be okay, but..."

She seemed almost embarrassed, though the hand on Beau only seemed to increase pressure if anything. Finding comfort by soothing Beau - how very Yasha of her.

"I'm kind of ticklish," Beau blurted. Yasha's eyebrows seemed to invert, going from consternation to surprise and no small amount of mischief. "Not like a no-fly zone or anything, just. You should know you might get kicked if you're not careful like...here." She drew Yasha's hand gently under the seam of her breastband and shivered when her girlfriend curled her fingers softly over the skin there. "Feels good like that. Just sensitive."

"I promise to use this only for good," Yasha said solemnly.

Beau cracked a grin. "Whose good?"

"Yes."

She leaned forward to kiss Beau as they giggled together, and this time when Yasha's lips sealed on hers something settled in Beau instead of trying to burst out of her. She groped for Yasha's waistband and pulled them closer, running her hand up the smooth expanse of her ribs and massaging gently at her breast.

"Mmph," Yasha groaned against her. "I was getting to that."

"Oh sorry, is that a -"

"It's perfect," Yasha assured, hand already affixed to Beau's elbow to keep her from pulling away. "I was just going to say I like that a lot more than I remembered."

Beau squinted at her in sudden realization. "How long's it been since you had someone just touch you like this at all?"

Yasha's eyes flicked away; Beau didn't chase, just drifted her fingers up and down her ribs and waited. "Since Zuala," she said quietly. "Molly and I...he was kind, and we always had fun, but. Not like this." Her eyes found Beau's again. "I have ideas, but I'm not sure...things could have changed."

"Awesome," said Beau. Yasha blinked at her, head tilting slightly. "Just means we get to figure it all out together. Like, that's so special. I kind of wish I wasn't one big horny impulse you know, like it would be cool if I had secret stuff for you to figure out but mostly I'm down for anything. But you we get to chart."

Yasha's small, shy smile grew a little as Beau rambled, and once she'd fallen quiet she leaned down to press a kiss to the end of Beau's nose. "I love you."

"I love you too," Beau said readily, face scrunched out of reflex more than anything. "And I bet if you get those pants off we could find out some more about what you like."

"Oh I like you," Yasha assured. "But yes, I think that sounds like a good way to spend an afternoon."

"I was thinking a lifetime." It came out before Beau could stop it, and she felt her face surge red at the way Yasha froze. "I meant like - there's so much about you. We couldn't possibly get it all so quickly, there's no pressure to -"

She sank gratefully into the kiss Yasha cut her off with, melting in against her and groaning a little when her knee came up between hers.

"No pressure," Yasha agreed, smiling, "but a lifetime seems a good place to start."

"Wow," Beau managed. "I was just going to start with your pants, damn."

Yasha laughed at that, a quiet and joyful thing that translated to the kiss she pressed to Beau's brow. "Anything you want, baby."

#prompt fill #flash fic #beauyasha

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chockfullofsecrets · 3 years ago

Note

"If I'm not careful I'm gonna end up writing content for a character who literally never appears in 141 episodes"

I mean, you are more than welcome to. In fact, we will gratefully encourage this.

you encourage chock? you encourage chock like the author? oh! oh! tk fic for anon! tk fic for anon for Two Thousand Words!

(also, heads up that i am moving next week! have been working on Importance of Timing when i can, but the first chapter probably won't be here for another two weeks at least.)

---

Verin Thelyss, Essek knows, is a seasoned battle commander and strategist.

He’s also in possession of the instinct to tackle people when he’s excited, so Essek is well aware that it’s only those decades of training and experience that have his little brother pausing for the briefest instant as Caleb and Jester teleport him into the hold of the Nein Heroez before he launches himself at Essek in a dead run.

Veth and Caduceus are at their respective homes, Kingsley watching over the ship, but he is far from alone - Yasha and Fjord each have a supportive hand on his shoulder, a silent assurance from the tense minutes waiting for their friends to return from Bazzoxan. They swear in unison and scramble for their weapons as Verin screeches to a halt just shy of shunting Essek straight though the hull and yanks him into a rib-crushing hug.

He burrows into the junction of Essek’s neck and shoulder, made possible only by virtue of the activated floating spell that puts the coiffed swoop of his hair a full inch above Verin’s. “Thank the fucking Light, you’re not actually dead.”

“What the fuck, he’s like a swearing puppy,” Beau hisses. There’s a soft thwap as Fjord gently smacks her across the back of the head.

Essek is feeling out the edges of friendly intimacy, still, stumbling through every brush of fingers and shared look of exasperation, but even he does not need Jester’s frantic gesturing to prompt him to lift his arms and awkwardly wrap them around Verin’s shoulders.

It’s like wrapping a single thread of silk around one of Yasha’s biceps. Clearly he is not built for comforting.

Verin stiffens with a single sharp twitch of his ear against Essek’s collarbone . Essek’s thoughts flail wildly between an expectation of tears or a dagger to his ribs, but his brother just laughs, loud and hearty, and snuggles even further into his personal space. “I see someone’s finally taught you how to hug back - you should have written and told me, this is better news than any number of pages on den politics.”

Essek bristles. “Careful, or I will stop,” he huffs, somewhat more waspishly than he intends to.

Luckily, Verin has proven immune to his moods. “Oh, please don’t,” he insists, voice still crackling with glee. He grins, warm and wide enough that Essek can feel it against the side of his neck. “It just makes doing this that much easier.”

“Doing what,” Essek says reflexively, even as the tiny portion of his brain that he allows to remember his childhood starts to blare an alarm. “Verin-”

It’s far too late to realize that Verin’s hands have somehow been maliciously positioned just along the backs of his ribs.

Jester, standing with Caleb behind Verin, perks up in clear interest as the corners of his mouth start to twitch up. On second thought, Essek thinks he’d have preferred the dagger.

“Verin,” he hisses again, fighting back the anticipatory shiver crawling up his back. “Don’t - don’t you dare-”

It’s about then that Verin’s evil, evil fingers find the edges of his mantle’s arm slits and squeeze him even closer as they stretch to wriggle under his arms.

He snatches his arms back, but it’s too late - a dismayed giggle sneaks from his throat, then another, and then he’s beating helplessly at Verin’s shoulders as he dissolves into high, squeaking laughter.

Every single nerve between his armpits and his ribs squirms in unison - a bubbly, slippery sensation even more potent for how long it’s been since he last felt it. “No,” he shrieks. “I - ahaha! eeheee! - no tickling, no tickling, Verin-”

Jester looks thrilled - she’s bouncing on her toes, babbling something to Caleb that’s inaudible over the rush of his own laughter. Light, the Nein are going to tear him apart for this-

“Yes, tickling,” Verin protests, laughing right along with him. “All the tickling! You let me think you were dead! For months! I thought I was never going to get to watch my poor brother giggle himself to pieces ever again!”

He’s not, because Essek is going to kill him. “That - nahaha, hff, ahaaa! - that was - ha - it’s been decades - stop, stop, there’s people!”

“Yeah, people,” Beau says, loud and smug and far too close behind him. “Hey - Verin, was it? - does hotboi here have a worst spot?”

Oh no. Oh no. Essek squeezes his eyes shut in a desperate attempt to focus and does the only thing he can while laughing like an idiot.

With a shaky flick of his wrist, his floating dispels. Verin yelps in surprise as gravity takes Essek straight out of his grip.

The instant his boots hit the deck, Essek twists the rest of the way out of his grip and bolts.

There’s nowhere to go, really - the Nein have a room full of Counterspells, and Verin can run faster than he can, and he’s already tumbling halfway back into laughter in giddy anticipation of being caught. Still, it’s a surprise when he stumbles into a brick wall of leather and biceps that resolves itself into Yasha as she hoists him back into the air.

“Oh, where do you think you’re going?” She sounds admirably innocent given the soft, teasing smile she gives him.

“Noooo,” Essek giggles. Heat gathers in his cheeks as he tries to make himself stop - it doesn’t make sense, he’s not even being tickled anymore, but even the potential for it flutters light and fizzy at the bottom of his lungs. “I - I’m not ticklish anymore, I’m not-”

The Nein and Verin cluster around the two of them, bubbling with various levels of amusement. “Really?” Beau drawls. “It’s cute that you think denying it has a single fucking chance of working.”

The sarcasm helps him center himself, if only a little - he buries his face in Yasha’s arm and sucks in a deep breath that doesn’t do nearly enough to get rid of his blush.

He straightens as best he can while being bear hugged by a barbarian. “I am denying nothing,” he says carefully. Jester is still bouncing next to Beau, fingertips already twitching where they’re curled sweetly on her cheeks around a mischievous beaming smile, and Essek has to look away before the nervous snickers still wobbling on the back of his tongue can worm their way free. “I am well aware that Verin is - incorrigible-”

He hisses the last word in his brother’s direction - again, harsher than he intends, but he is so unused to being soft around him - and fails to contain a shy smile as Verin sticks his tongue out in retaliation.

Jester’s tail waves its way into the edge of his peripheral vision. He jumps and looks over at Fjord instead. “-but I, ah, I would ask for more respect from the rest of you-”

“You really shouldn’t,” Fjord says, grinning boyishly back at him. “I mean, you know us.”

And then, to Fjord’s right - “Essek?”

He’s been avoiding looking at Caleb. It is foolish, perhaps, to think that after all of the incredibly stupid things he knows Essek has done he will decide to judge him for this, but he cannot help the way his shoulders stiffen as he twists a little further to meet the gaze of the last link in their semicircle. “Yes?”

Caleb looks - focused, in an offhanded way, like he’s intent on something happening just slightly out of their current reality. Stunned might be a better word for it. He blinks for a moment before focusing those keen blue eyes somewhere near Essek’s eyebrows. “Ah - did you know that when you laugh, your ears -” He puts his hands up to his own ears and flaps them a little.

Drow do not run particularly warm, but that only makes it easier for Essek to feel the heat absolutely flood back into his face. “I-” he stammers. Nearly a century of politics is nowhere near enough to help him keep a straight face. “I - ah - eeh!-”

Caleb is close enough to reach out and run a questing fingertip over Essek’s left ear - it flicks wildly, trying to dislodge the unexpected tickle, but a surprised squeak still slips out.

There’s a moment of silence before Verin starts to snicker. “Oh, I like your friends,” he says merrily, beaming. “Go on, Light knows he doesn’t let himself laugh enough otherwise.”

“Don’t,” Essek gets out hastily, but Caleb is already reaching out for another go and Yasha’s grip is firm enough that all he can do is squeak again. “Wait - hm, hnn!”

Beau sidles up to Yasha’s side and gives him a self satisfied leer as she reaches out across their little group to pluck the feather from Fjord’s tricorn. “You got him, babe?”

“I do,” Yasha confirms and lets out a little squeak of her own as Beau reaches around her, no doubt squeezing something entirely inappropriate with company present.

“Hot,” Beau smirks, and reaches to flutter the feather over Essek’s right ear. “Aw, does that tickle? Thought you said you weren’t ticklish, man.”

Essek maintains some facsimile of composure for all of two seconds before his face crumples “Nnn - hehehe - eheehe - oh!”

His lungs are surely going to burst, with the way they’re shivering out desperate giggles as he shakes his head frantically between Caleb’s fingers and the teasing feather. He can’t move his arms, so he kicks his legs instead. “Please,” he begs, nearly incomprehensible even to his own ears. “Ah - aha, heeheehee! - tickles-”

Verin leans down and scoops his ankles up with one ridiculously sculpted arm. “Essek, you’re going to put a hole in someone with those boots.”

He looks up, raising his eyebrows teasingly, and Essek’s stomach drops like he’s cast something on it. “Here, I’ll fix that.”

Essek’s eyes, narrowed with laughter, shoot wide open. He doesn’t remember Verin being this evil - but then again, his brother’s never been egged on by five other people determined to render reports of his death more realistic.

“Verin, Verin, no-” he tries, but he’s giggling so hard that he can’t even get the words out. He twists as far away from Caleb and Beau as he can, flailing frantically, but Verin’s grip holds firm.

He pouts dramatically. “What? Is it my fault that my tiny, ticklish wizard brother insists on wearing metal-tipped boots that endanger everyone?”

Essek opens his mouth to reply and promptly dissolves into another frantic peal of laughter as Beau gets bored of his ears and shoves her feather in Caleb’s direction before jabbing a finger between his trapped arm and his chest to get at his armpit. “Your - shihihit, shit, ahahaaa, not there! - your arcanist brother is going to kill you just as soon as I can- hahaha!”

Verin just laughs, unlacing one of his boots and starting to slide it off. “Is that your attempt to convince me not to tickle your feet?”

Jester, practically vibrating, emits a sound that perhaps only weasels can hear. “Oh, that’s so cute! Can I have one of them?”

“One of his feet? Sure.” Verin hands over an ankle, grinning down at Jester. “You, I think you’re my favorite.”

As Essek gasps and struggles and falls further and further into a formless mirth that makes him feel so light he can hardly bear it, there’s a different sensation at his ear. A hazy portion of his brain identifies it as the rough bristle of chin scruff and an amused huff of breath.

“You don’t really want them to stop, do you,” Caleb murmurs. “I will help you, if you do.”

It’s quite unfair, Essek feels, to try and make him explain himself while he’s strung out and dizzy with laughter. He tries anyway, for a syllable or two, but Verin digs in between two of his toes and he ends up just tipping his cheek against Caleb’s and shaking, laughing too hard to make a single sound.

“Alright, then,” Caleb says. “In that case-”

He brandishes the feather with a flourish more suited to somatic casting, swooping it down the length of Essek’s nose before directing it back to his ear.

“Tickle, tickle...”

#asks #tickling #critical role #essek thelyss #verin thelyss #caleb widogast #chocfic

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spritewrites · 3 years ago

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day 14: horns

Caduceus really isn’t half bad. Not exactly up for the same kinds of fun as most of the others, but he’s agreeable enough to tag along. And he has the funniest reactions to things—he tried to tip for a meal with a platinum the other day, and simply couldn’t understand why the others were laughing so hard.

And he’s nice, which is a fun change of pace.

He always has to sleep in the middle of the dome, being the biggest and all, and he’s a fucking cuddle magnet—no matter where Jester starts the evening, she always ends up curled up on top of his stomach. And Veth’s incorrigible; she manages to tuck herself into the smallest, coziest places, and then teases the others for being cold.

Molly’s still readjusting, honestly. He’s fallen pretty easily back into the old circus routine with Yasha, which she seems like she appreciates. The dome makes it a bit different, but it’s enough like a tent that the tangle-your-limbs-together-til-you-can’t-tell-whose-leg-is-whose method still works for nights when the wind comes in from the north and they’ve fought something particularly humanoid.

But Caduceus intrigues him. Molly’s not above saying he’s kind of… not attractive, exactly, but magnetic. The kind of guy you want to be around all the time; the kind you want to make sure is watching the first time you try a new high-level spell. Maybe the kind you’d like to casually sidle up to after a hard day on the road. Definitely the kind who’d do that affectionate little huff and loop an unfairly-long arm around your shoulders.

So one night, Molly tries it.

Caleb puts up the dome, they all settle in, Yasha curls up next to Beau, and Molly—well, Molly tucks himself in alongside Caduceus. He’s a little nervous, at first, and he hopes that Caduceus can’t read tiefling tail body language, because he’s sure the way his tail wraps around his ankle is a dead giveaway.

But the firbolg doesn’t seem put off at all. Instead, Molly’s swept into the pile with the rest, maneuvering his horns around and eventually falling into a spot where his cheek can press comfortably into a skinny ribcage. It’s delightfully cozy, and Molly’s tiefling instincts are painfully aware of potentially ticklish sides just inches from his fingers—but it’s late, and they’re all tired, and he’s not even certain that Caduceus would respond a move like that, much less appreciate it. It can be hard to tell, sometimes; he takes a lot of their nonsense in stride. But it’s probably not that kind of night, even if the guy is ticklish.

A few curls fall across his nose, and he scrunches it uncomfortably, freeing the arm trapped against Caduceus’ stomach to push at his unruly hair. Caduceus makes some kind of rumbling noise deep in his chest—Molly’s definitely not familiar enough with firbolgs to know what that noise is—and shifts his weight, adjusting his limbs under the blue Jester-shaped blob on top of him.

For a moment, Molly is worried that he disturbed him—but then there’s a hand, large and soft and fuzzy, threading its way between his curls to scratch gently at his scalp.

Oh. Okay.

Molly isn’t— he’s gotten his fair share of affection, and he craves it like air, so this sort of thing is not entirely unusual. Caduceus just… he’s a bit of a wild card, still, and Molly really wasn’t sure where he landed on stuff like this, but…

Oh. Alright. Bit hard to think when he gets behind his ears like that.

Okay, okay, no thinking. Just cuddles. Taking each thing as it comes, fair enough. Molly can do that. Molly’s a pro at that.

He presses his nose into Caduceus’ shirt, breathing out a sigh of contentment. Caduceus has found that spot on the top of his scalp that’s got a direct line to his spine and makes him melt like butter, and suddenly the thought of moving his limbs at all sounds dreadfully exhausting. Best to just lay here, all night. Snuggled up. No thoughts. Head empty. Just scalp scritches.

But Caduceus’ fingers keep moving. They rub over his ears, back into his hairline, following the wave pattern of his hair like a ship on the sea, a victim of the current. Suddenly, the touch is gone from his scalp—only to reappear at the tip of his right horn, and oh, isn’t that wonderful. Not everybody thinks to touch tiefling horns. Maybe Jester’s taught him a thing or two.

It seems to be a bit difficult to navigate around his jewelry, but eventually the fingers on his horn settle into a nice firm massage that works its way back down toward his head.

This is nice. This is fast approaching perfect. Caduceus is Molly’s new favorite member of the Nein. Caduceus is the greatest in Wildemount. Caduceus is the best person to ever walk this plane of existence.

Caduceus is—

Whatever other thoughts his swiftly decaying brain might have hoped to spark suddenly vanish as the tips of furry fingers stir the hair between his horns, and Molly snorts.

The hand goes still.

Okay. Okay. Fuck. Okay.

Molly’s run this scenario through in his head more times than he could ever hope to count—the initial moment of discovery, then the realization, then (hopefully) the follow through. He’d pictured it with Caduceus; during a healing, perhaps, those can get rather touchy. Or he’d put his feet up in the traveling cart, right near where Caduceus was driving. Or in a tavern, or a Zone of Truth, or… or maybe one of the others would get their fingers in his ribs while Caduceus was in the room, probably Jester or Beau, and he’d narrow his eyes and scrunch up his nose and it would all slowly dawn on him—he’s got siblings, right? Didn’t he say that? He must be familiar with this kind of thing.

This isn’t anything like that. Molly’s lips are squeezed tightly together, Veth’s snoring in the crook of his knee, he can hear crickets and the wind in the trees, and this is not… it’s not really the best time for somebody to find out you’re ticklish, alright? He’s not trying to pass up an opportunity, by any means, but even he knows that.

Caduceus doesn’t know that.

Before he can even open his mouth to whisper some apology or other, the scritching has resumed, along with the rumble in the firbolg’s chest that he can feel more than hear. Caduceus has these short, blunt nails, probably excellent for gardening, and also unfortunately exactly right for finding that spot where his horns meet his scalp and tickling.

And it’s not like Molly didn’t know he was ticklish there (he’s rather an expert in this sort of thing, and he’s discovered over the years that he’s pretty much ticklish everywhere), but it’s midnight, and it’s Caduceus, and it’s all so surprising that he almost isn’t able to stop himself from bursting into giggles.

Almost.

His shoulders are shaking, his stomach muscles are quivering with the force of it, but he manages to grit his teeth and huff breaths of laughter as silently as he can into the night air. Caduceus’ touch is gently relentless, wriggling into the space between his horns, skating around the skin where scalp turns to bone, exactly where it makes Molly want to crawl out of his body. It’s—Molly’s still not even sure he’s doing it on purpose, is the thing; Caduceus isn’t the brightest, and it’s quite late at night—but it seems purposeful, the way the fingertips curl into his hair like they’re seeking the most sensitive spots.

Molly hiccups.

Oh. That’s new.

Caduceus doesn’t seem to mind, though, lingering on the spot that caused that reaction until it happens again. And again. And again.

Gods, if Molly had known Caduceus would be like this, he’d have hopped in his lap with his arms over his head weeks ago.

Still, it’s all too soon that the insistent tickle in his hair soothes to a rub, and then stills, a comforting hand still woven into the curls. Slowly, very slowly, the jumping hiccup in his chest also fades, a remnant of a laugh that was never born. The soft warmth of the dome comes back to him like a blanket, a comfort that’s only augmented by the sensation of firbolg fur against his cheek.

Molly buries his face in Caduceus’ shirt with a whine. Caduceus lets out a huff of his own, curling away slightly from the place where Molly’s breath is stirring the fabric, and oh, that’s something to explore later.

Maybe when the sun comes up. Jester can help.

For now though, he nuzzles in, navigating the sharp prick of his horns around the soft firbolg torso, and finds that the tingle in his scalp has faded just enough to find sleep.

#critickle role #tickletober2021 #samstickletober2021 #heyyyy no dialogue

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thebest-medicine · 1 year ago

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Day 1: Anticipation

Tickletober 2023 - Critical Role - Mighty Nein C2 - lee!Caleb

[see my other tickletober 2023 fics]

A/N: Will there ever be enough CritRole fics? No. Will I be posting more for Tickletober this month? No. Ha, I’m just kidding. Yes. Yes I am. C2 teasy fic featuring Beau and Yasha getting Caleb back for a prank. Continued here -> (part 2) (part 3) [read it all on AO3]

Words: 1.5k

—

It was really, really quite unfair of Beau to catch his shoulder with a stunning strike when Caleb tried to bolt from the room as he saw two of his recently-pranked friends enter. His hands barely start some well-practiced somatics to help get him further away from the close combat expert fast, before he freezes up, stunned.

She at least had the decency to catch him before he fell over and drag his limp body softly to the floor. The rug she’d caught him on, he notices, was soft enough that it wasn’t uncomfortable per say - although Caleb was not often one to lay in the middle of the floor, testing the softness of various carpets. She straddles him and waits a few seconds.

Caleb feels control of his limbs return from the stun and puts on a good show of struggling, even if there is no point. Speaking of which, Yasha moves closer, joining them on the floor a few seconds later as her eyes take in Caleb’s struggles and then track up to meet Beauregard’s grin.

“Got him, babe?” Yasha says quietly. It isn’t really a question.

“Of course, babe.” Beau replies, then refocuses on the wizard she has pinned between her knees, hands holding his wrists out to the side. Caleb’s feet thump against the floor behind her, their pace picking up as Yasha looms closer.

“Fuck you, fucking let me up!” Caleb spits, glaring up at Beauregard with frustration. “I don’t have time for your shit-”

“Oh, we’re gonna make time, buddy, you certainly had time earlier.” Beau grins down at him. “And fuck you too.”

When Yasha moves up above Caleb’s head and reaches for his arms, he squeaks nervously💞, but Beau gestures for her to wait. “Yash. Babe, you end up holding him down more often than not when we all get him.” She starts shifting Caleb’s arms around in her grip with little regard for his attempts at resistance. “He’s really fun to tickle, you should get a chance to do it more often.”

Caleb goes red at the mention of what they intend to do, even though he knew exactly where this was going. He stutters out a protest. “W-Wait, Yasha- don’t-”

Yasha ignores him with a smile that he is fighting not to match. She and Beauregard shift around the ragdoll of a wizard so that Yasha is straddling the top of his thighs, and Beau sitting over his head, holding him down flat on his back with his arms pinned under her.

Caleb makes a few annoyed sounds - whines really - and kicks weakly; he has no hope of getting out of here any time soon.

“Oh.” Yasha contemplates. “Hmm, where should I tickle?” Her eyes track over Caleb’s upper body, his slightly ruffled shirt, his leather book holsters, his flushing neck and face. “Where, oh, where, oh where..” She teases, darting her hands toward his stomach a few times, stopping just short.

Caleb squeaks, sucking in his stomach and flinching away.

“Maybe here?” She feigns to pinch the ribs just under his holsters and he nearly screams. “Maybe here?” She darts down toward his hips. Caleb shakes his head. “Hmmm, where should I start?”

She meets his eyes, hums again. It’s quiet for a long tense few seconds before Caleb speaks up. “A-Are you, are you asking me?” He says in disbelief, it almost comes out as a wail.

“Well no, I’m just thinking out loud, but I’m happy to hear any suggestions.” She says matter-of-factly.

Caleb turns his head, trying to hide his red face in his elbow or somehow behind Beau.

“Let’s see now, was this a good spot?”

He chances a peek out and finds Yasha’s fingers curling dangerously close to his lowest ribs on one side. “Hnnng- pf-aha no, no!” Caleb twists weakly away from the hand and she wiggles it more.

“No? What about up here?”

A single, pointed finger darts toward his armpit.

“No!” Caleb sucks in a breath, shaking his head as the smile he’s been fighting makes itself known.

“Wow, it’s not a good spot either? Are you sure? Well, where’s a good spot then, hmm?” Yasha teases, reaching to unbuckle his holster straps. Caleb shivers. “Maybe here?” She asks as she suddenly rushes both hands down to his stomach, wiggling and clawing just above the skin in a way that makes Caleb jump so hard he nearly rockets right up into her clutches.

“Yasha!” Caleb whines, laughter starting to trickle out. “Bitte, dohohon’t!”

“Hmm. Or, maybe I need to scoot down a little so I can squeeze your knees. Wait, actually, maybe I can-” She reaches back and taps her fingers once over the tops of each knee. She twitches her arms like she’s going to make a grab for him, really dig in, and Caleb yelps.

“I wonder if I can reach your feet from here.”

“No no no no-” Caleb whines quietly, the giddy, fluttery feeling in his stomach up and about - twirling, dancing, wriggling around. His mind is already starting to spin as his head shakes back and forth. “Yasha- please!”

“Please?” The monk above him repeats. “You’re so much fucking nicer when anyone else teases you, how come you’re always such a dick for me, huh?” Beau chides him, reaching down to poke a few times at his armpit, then rests her finger there in the center. He yelps. She can feel what little muscles he has in his arms tense and pull, willing any sort of protection to the spot.

“Be-hehe because- haha you-” He trails off in a drawn out giggle when she wiggles the finger in place a few times. “Because- oh fuck you!” Caleb gasps out when another hand makes an appearance on his opposite side and both of Beau’s hands suddenly take up residence just above his book holsters, scratching lightly along the rib.

“Because fuck me?” Beau laughs. She gets to work with what Yasha already started, unclasping the holsters earlier. She starts to tug them away from his chest slowly, works one finger on each side down under the holsters. Caleb squeals. She pulls them further away from his chest, leaving them on the floor on either side of him. He squirms valiantly.

“Scheiße- No, no!”

Her fingers return to the spot, now uncovered, and just stay there, barely tapping. She looks up at Yasha, grinning. “Come on, we gotta teach him some manners.”

“I think you’re right, Beau.” Yasha smirks. She leans in closer. “What’s wrong, Caleb, you don’t like it when I do this?” She reaches up to his ribs and stops just short, wiggling her fingers in the shape of claws. Caleb nearly screams. He shakes his head, closing his eyes to avoid the teasing.

“Nein- no, I can’t- I- I hate-” He cuts himself off with a strangled yelp of surprise when Beau’s hands suddenly reach down to his belly. His whole body flinches as she makes contact, but she’s just grabbing the edge of his shirt.

“I think I can help, so you won’t have to watch any more of Yasha’s teasing, Caleb.” He can hear Beau’s smirk.

He feels his shirt being tugged up and protests through giggles as his holsters are pulled along for the ride. Beau pulls his shirt up, up, and over his shoulders and neck. He squawks in disgruntled protest as she gathers it up and tugs it over his head. “No- no, nein- don’t!” Caleb cries as his giggles morph into full on laughter. He finds himself trapped in his own shirt. And, in an instinct of self-preservation, he shifts for a moment into Frumpkin - his cat is in the room, as usual content to watch their little squabble, unbothered by the commotion. Caleb gets a view of the scene before him as Frumpkin blinks his eyes open.

Beau has his arms pinned up under her legs, her hands twisting up the shirt-turned-blindfold and holsters so that it will stay in place over his head. Yasha towers over him, grin wide on her face, and she’s slowly wiggling her clawed fingers down toward his very trapped and now very exposed skin. It is quite the scene. “Gods- no.” Caleb squeals pathetically and resigns himself to the growing laughter. “I can’t-” He watches for a few heartbeats before he returns to his own vision- Beau was kind of right - it does make it almost a little easier when he didn’t have to see them. But, well, now he can’t get the image of them teasing out of his head. He giggles deliriously into the shirt, trying to catch his breath.

Caleb’s body jolts as soon as a finger makes contact near the middle of his belly. “Beau’s right, I don’t get to play this part much, so I’ll have to take my time, really find out for myself how ticklish those ribs are.” She draws a slow figure eight on his stomach that reaches up to the bottoms of his ribs.

“Yashahaha- plehehease, have mehehercy!” Caleb whines as she gently pokes around a few spots on his middle. He twitches and shivers beneath her.

“Oh, alright, alright. I suppose I’ll get on with it.”

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thelavendersquid · 1 year ago

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Love Persevering (Tell Me How You Feel)

@amazingmsme and @thebest-medicine - The wait is over! Thank you both for your encouragement to write this fic!!!

Summary: Fjord wants nothing to do with the tickle fights his friends keep starting. Yet he can't help but be drawn to the subject and the memories it brings…

The Mighty Nein talk about feelings and process their grief for Mollymauk through the ticklish love language they all share.

Some grief and light angst but mostly tooth-rotting fluff.

My contribution to Mollymauk Week: Day 4 - Joy

Words: 7,028

AO3 Link

Sequel to No Words Needed but can also be read as a standalone

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What is grief, if not love persevering?

****

Jester’s fingers scurry up Caduceus’ sides and he’s laughing immediately, stumbling sideways towards the tunnel wall and holding his hands up in a poor attempt to block her. Jester follows after him, laughing along as Caduceus’ back hits the wall and he throws his head back, squeezing his eyes shut tight and giving in to his laughter. He gives up trying to bat Jester's hands away and instead focuses on coordinating himself enough to retaliate - jamming his hands towards her armpits and wiggling as best he can possibly manage. His efforts are rewarded by a flinch backwards and sudden giggle. Caduceus can barely focus through his own giggles but he pushes forward, pressing his advantage, and feels Jester pull back slightly, succumbing to giggling.

Caduceus opens his eyes and finds her dancing from foot to foot, trying to escape his fingers without actually moving away. He laughs in an entirely new way, never stilling his fingers as they poke and prod up and down her torso and wiggle under her arms. Jester yelps and falls forward - throwing her arms around him and face planting into his stomach as she dissolves into full-out laughter.

That’s unexpected and Caduceus flinches as she does this, chuckling. Then he wraps his arms around her, pulling her in closer for a hug - as his fingers scribble up her back.

Jester shrieks. Heh. That trick always got his siblings too.

He feels Jester’s fingers pinching up his back just then - as she laughs into his stomach, which might be even more tickly. He’s laughing again.

Jester clings on tighter as Caduceus starts laughing - and he can’t let her win at hugging of all things, so he grips onto her even tighter in return. It’s a bone-crushing, tickly hug that has both of them laughing too hard for words. Caduceus can’t remember the last time he's laughed this hard and he’s reluctant for it to ever end.

Nonetheless, after a few moments it does - he slows his fingers and gently pulls Jester away so they’re facing each other. He squeezes her shoulder, still grinning ear to ear. “That was fun.” Jester beams back up at him. Caduceus looks up at the others - most of whom are looking distinctly uncomfortable. He gives them an easy grin. “You should try it, it’s a lot of fun.”

Jester spins to face the group too, looking delighted. “Yes! Oh Beau-oh! Are you ticklish?” She springs towards Beau, fingers wiggling and a downright evil grin on her face. Caduceus chuckles.

Beau, eyes wide as saucers and looking panicked, holds up her hand. “Wait, wait, no. I’ve got Caleb duty, I’m doing this, I’m busy.” She gestures frantically to her other shoulder, where Caleb’s hand rests.

Jester’s eyes travel up his arm to the glassy-white eyes indicating Caleb is watching them through Frumpkin at the moment. She turns back to Beau. “Alright fi-ne, but I’ll get you later.” She flashes Beau a grin which leaves Beau looking like she's seen a ghost - but with the faintest grin tugging at the corners of her mouth in return.

Jester spins towards the others. “Fjord! What about you?!”

If Beau looked panicked, Fjord looks downright horrified as Jester’s gaze lands on him. “Me? I, ah -“ he coughs and clears his throat, trying to bring his voice back down from where it seems to have leaped up an octave. “I don't have any idea what you’re asking.”

Jester has closed the gap between them with frightening speed. She flashes him that dangerous grin. “Yes you do. Fj-ord, I already know you’re ticklish!” And quick as lightning, her fingers scuttle up his stomach.

Fjord chokes on a gasp and reaches frantically for her hands. “Ah - Jester wait!”

Jester does not wait and Fjord fails to catch her hands, which means she continues wiggling her fingers over his stomach and up towards his ribs. She’s watching his face for any reaction.

It comes. Fjord sucks in a deep breath and clamps his mouth shut, biting down on his cheek.

Jester pouts at this and sets to work even harder. Her fingers poke and prod into the spaces in between his ribs. This has Fjord bending double and turning desperately away from her. Jester grins and flows with him. And Fjord can’t hold back a snort - which turns quickly into hearty chuckles he can’t manage to stop.

Jester laughs in delight and worms her fingers even higher, towards his armpits. Fjord splutters and dissolves into raspy laughter. “Jehehhehhehster ST-hahahahaha-stop ahahahahaha - STOP IT!”

Jester laughs along with him, following as he turns away from her even further. She glances over her shoulder, fingers still wiggling their way beneath Fjord’s armor. “Cad! Come help me!”

Caduceus is watching this with a slight frown spreading across his face. “Hmmm. Hold on a minute. Maybe you’d better give him a break.”

Jester catches something in his tone and turns around to face him. Her fingers on Fjord’s sides slow but don’t still entirely. She gives Caduceus a slight frown and he raises an eyebrow at her and nods towards Fjord. Jester turns back to look at her victim. Fjord is twisted as far away from her as he can possibly be, bent double trying to hide his face, tense as a board, and laughing through gritted teeth - clearly trying to stifle his laughter with little success. Behind the laughter he looks distinctly unhappy.

Jester’s frown deepens and she pulls her hands away. Fjord jerks away from her the moment he's free, turning so his back is to her. Jester blinks and drops her hands to her sides. “Fjord?”

Fjord is biting the inside of his cheek as hard as he possibly can to stop his chuckles. He coughs to clear the last of them away before growling over his shoulder. “Give me a minute. Go find someone else to torture.”

Jester's face falls. She turns to give Caduceus a sad look. He gives her a worried frown in return.

Fjord coughs a few more times for good measure. He can feel every eye upon him. He can also feel the heat rising up his neck. Ugh.

With a shake of his head, Fjord straightens up and turns to briefly face the group. His face is composed. “Come on. Let’s go.” His accent is firmly back in place and he stalks off down the tunnel, leading the way.

Fjord can hear muttering behind him as he walks away but he pointedly ignores it and walks on. Then - footsteps. And there’s Beauregard walking next to him, staring. Fjord glances over at her and she raises her eyebrows. Fjord clears his throat and gives a shake of his head, looking away quickly. Beau doesn’t say anything, but Fjord can feel her gaze locked on him.

Caleb, feeling Beau start walking again, drops back into his body. He blinks a few times to clear his eyes and looks around at the others with a frown. The energy has shifted so dramatically in such a short period of time. Caleb catches Beau's eye and raises his eyebrows at her. She gives him a shrug in return. Caleb frowns but stays quiet.

Jester stares after the others with a dejected look. She turns to Caduceus, who has collected his staff from where it was tossed aside. He gives her a sympathetic look, and slowly the two follow after the group, trailing behind alongside a confused-looked Yasha and Nott.

And so the group presses on in tense silence.

********************

It's several weeks before Fjord brings it up again. They’ve been busy, thankfully, and he hasn’t had time to let it occupy his mind. And mercifully, Jester and Caduceus have always left him out of their now-becoming-frequent tickle fights and ambushes on unsuspecting members of the Nein. The fact that Fjord makes a quick exit - or at least looks away awkwardly - whenever such events take place probably helps.

But he still can’t help but notice things.

It's not until the group is settled into their rooms at the next inn that Fjord says anything. The quiet night allows him far too much time to think, and he finds himself looking over at Caleb - who is definitely not asleep, Fjord can tell that much from his unsteady breathing.

He takes a deep breath and rolls over to lie on his back, staring up at the ceiling. A cough to break the silence, then - “Caleb? Can I ask you something?”

Darkvision allows Fjord to see Caleb visibly jump at the sound of his voice. He turns his head to face his roommate. “Ja, of course.”

“Do you like being tickled?”

There’s a spluttering sound from the other bed and Fjord sits up, alarmed - just in time to catch sight of the wizard in the middle of choking on his own spit. Caleb sits up too, coughing. He’s careful not to look at Fjord. “Ah. I’m sorry. I was not expecting that, is all.”

Fjord nods. Caleb coughs again and brushes an arm across his mouth before sliding back down into his bed. Even in the dark Fjord can see his face is a good two shades darker than before. This does not discourage him from continuing to press.

“I only ask because I’ve seen Jester get you several times now and you’ve never told her to stop or to knock it off, so-“

“Have you tried telling Jester to knock it off?”

Fjord chuckles. “Fair.”

Caleb gives him a hint of a smile, then turns away as it fades and sighs. “I….ah….” He trails off into silence without finishing the sentence.

Silence hangs between them for a long moment. Both staring at up the ceiling without a word. Finally Fjord breaks it. “I don't care, by the way. But can you tell me why? What about it do you like? It’s torture. How can you like it?”

This is met with a slightly strangled sound, then silence. Fjord shifts in his bed to look over at Caleb. The wizard is staring, wide-eyed, up at the ceiling.

Fjord sits up again, looking worried and regretting everything. He shouldn’t have brought this up. “Forget I said anything. We don't have to talk about it.”

Caleb does not respond, just continues staring at the ceiling. Fjord watches him worriedly for a moment, then slowly slides down into his bed. He can feel his own heart racing as he stares up at the ceiling himself. What was he thinking? Of course Caleb doesn't want to talk about it, neither would he if someone brought it up like this - in fact isn't that what Jester did when she grabbed him and reminded him what tickling felt like in the first place? And didn’t he react just as badly? Why would he think this would go any differently? Caleb didn't deserve this. How stupid and insensitive of him for dragging him into it.

With a swoosh, Caleb throws his blanket back and leaps out of bed. Fjord jumps. He pushes himself up. “Caleb?”

No response. Caleb swiftly crosses the room, pushes open the door, and steps out into the hall.

Fjord throws his own blanket back, his feet hitting the floor. “Caleb!”

Not even a glance in his direction. Fjord hurries out of the room. Blinking as his eyes adjust to the light in the hall, he sees Caleb knocking on the door next to theirs.

There’s a creak and the door opens. A sleepy-looking Caduceus stands in the doorway, blinking blearily at them. He takes in the sight of a frenzied-looking Caleb standing in front of him and a confused and scattered Fjord a few steps behind. His face shifts into a soft smile, and he pushes the door open and steps back to let them in. Caleb steps inside and Fjord, not seeing any reason not to, follows.

Caduceus shuts the door and follows behind them, rubbing his eyes. Across the room on the other bed, Yasha is sitting up and looking worried.

Caleb is standing in the middle of the room. He’s fidgeting with his coat and staring at the floor. “I am sorry to wake you both up, I don’t mean to be a bother…”

Caduceus just waves a hand. “Nah. Never a bother.” He waves towards the ground, gesturing for them to sit, before turning away to start making tea.

Yasha is already getting out of bed. “You’re not a bother, Caleb. Do you want some privacy?” She’s sheathing her swords and looking ready to leave.

Caleb shakes his head. “Nein. No. Stay, please.” He drops to the floor, sitting propped against Caduceus’ empty bed.

Fjord, for his part, stands in the middle of the room with his arms crossed. Caduceus turns around, carrying cups of tea. He hands one to Fjord before lowering himself down to the floor, sitting cross-legged and leaning against Yasha’s bed, gesturing for Fjord to join him.

Fjord reluctantly sits down across from him. Yasha has joined Caleb, the four of them forming a little circle in the middle of the bedroom.

Caduceus hands out tea. “So.”

Caleb takes his with both hands. “Danke.” He takes a deep breath. “Ah, I came here because Fjord was asking me about, ah…ti-“ He cuts off abruptly and looks down into his cup.

Caduceus takes a sip of his tea, waiting patiently. Caleb stutters and then trails off again, face growing darker.

Yasha is wearing a confused frown. “About what?”

Caleb takes a deep breath and tries again. “About ti…about kitzlen.”

This time both Yasha and Caduceus look confused. “What?”

Caleb takes a long drink of tea. Fjord sighs, rubs a hand over his face, and speaks up. “I was asking him about tickling. It’s really not a big deal, I shouldn’t have brought it up, let’s all just go to bed and not worry about it-“

He’s cut off by Caduceus’ sudden clarity. “Ahhh.” His expression has cleared into another soft smile.

Yasha’s face clears too and she leans back against the bed again. “Oh.”

Caleb looks surprisingly relieved, despite his face being about five shades redder than usual. He nods. “Ja. That. He asked me about ti…ah, that, and I would like to talk about it, but I…ah…I needed a mediator.”

“I don’t know what that is,” Caduceus says. “I can listen to the two of you talk if that’s what you want, though.” He takes another sip of tea.

Caleb nods. "That is exactly what I would like, thank you Caduceus.”

Caduceus gives him a smile. It's too full of knowing for Caleb’s liking and he looks away quickly. Caduceus’ smile widens.

Caleb takes a deep breath before heaving it back out in a sigh. He’s still staring down into his cup. “I - I do like kitzlen - ah, tick..tickling…Fjord.” He glances up at Fjord - who is staring at him in something like disbelief - before immediately going back to looking at his cup. “It’s a nice, ah, break. Like being inside Frumpkin. Or when I Polymorph. It’s nice to not have every single thought racing through my head. You know?”

Fjord nods slowly. He does know about racing thoughts. Beside him, Yasha is nodding too.

Caleb seems emboldened by this and presses on. He takes another deep breath. “I…like being stupid, sometimes. I am not, most times. Most times I cannot be. So it's nice to be able to sometimes, with people I can be stupid around. I can be stupid around you all and I am very grateful for it. And t…ah, tickling…it lets me do that. And also laugh. I have not laughed very much in my life, but I have never laughed more than I have with you all. And it feels…good.” His eyes dart up for a half-second, just long enough to see the group’s reactions.

Yasha and Caduceus are smiling softly at him. Fjord is staring right through him and looks distinctly uncomfortable, as if he just swallowed another orb.

Caleb takes a long drink of his tea. It helps. When he lowers his cup his face feels less flushed. He glances over at Fjord. “Does that answer your question, Fjord?”

Fjord blinks at him blankly for a moment, before giving his head a shake and sitting up quickly, clearing his throat. “Yes - yes, it does, Caleb. Thank you for sharing that.”

Caduceus gives Caleb a proud smile. “I’m proud of you for talking about that. You did great.” Caleb gives an awkward shrug and looks away, taking another sip of tea.

Caduceus turns to Fjord. “What about you Fjord? Why did you want to talk about tickling?

Fjord sucks in a deep breath and opens his mouth to respond. “Well, I…I…ah…”

Caduceus interrupts his stuttering. “Should Jester be here for this?”

This snaps Fjord out of it. He blinks and looks up at Caduceus. “Jester? Why should Jester be here?”

Caduceus gives a slight shrug. “It might be good for both of you. She was pretty upset after the last tickling incident.”

Fjord heaves a huge sigh and slumps against the bed frame he’s leaning on. He stares down into his cup. “Alright. Yes, she should be here too.”

“I’ll get her.” Everyone turns to see Yasha unfolding herself from the floor and making her way over to the wall dividing their room from Beauregard and Jester’s. She knocks softly. There’s a muffled sound from the other side - words that Fjord can’t quite make out - and then Yasha says, in her soft voice, “Can you two come over here? We’re having a discussion.”

There’s another muffled response and then a few seconds later, a knock at the door. Caduceus, who stood up to refill the tea, opens the door to let in Jester and Beauregard.

Beau rushes into the room, eyes darting around and looking ready for a fight. “Is everyone okay?! What’s going on?!” Jester follows her, looking concerned and just as ready for whatever they might face.

Caduceus holds out cups of tea towards both of them. Beau looks down at the cup, confused. Caduceus pushes it closer and she takes it on instinct, looking back up at him and then around at the others with a frown. “What’s going on?”

Caduceus hands Jester her cup and goes back to his spot next to the bed, lowering himself back down into a cross-legged seat on the floor. Yasha looks over to Beau. “I said we were having a discussion.”

“I thought that might be a code word for ‘we’re being held hostage, come help us!’” Beau carries her tea over and drops down in between Yasha and Caleb.

“Nah, we’re just talking,” Caduceus says, holding out a hand to beckon Jester over. She smiles and plops down next to him, taking a sip of her tea.

“What kind of conversation is this?” Beau asks before taking a sip of her tea.

“Yeah, are you talking about who you want to kiss or what?” Jester pipes up, waggling her eyebrows.

Caduceus sets his tea cup on the floor next to him and looks over at them. “Fjord was talking about tickling.”

Jester’s face lights up immediately and she spins towards Fjord. “Tickling?! Fjord, you were talking about tickling?! Oh, I’m so glad you called us over here, Yasha! Tickling is my fav-or-ite.” She smiles at Yasha, who returns it with a soft smile of her own.

Fjord’s face feels hot again and he busies himself with looking down into his tea once again so as to not have to look at Jester. Out of the corner of his eye he still manages to catch her face fall when she sees his discomfort. He feels something in his chest start to ache.

“So, where were we?” Caleb asks, setting his own cup down too. “I shared the depths of my soul, I believe it was your turn now.” He looks over at Fjord expectantly.

Fjord sighs into his tea cup before taking a breath and steeling himself. He swallows his feelings and looks up, expression - he hopes - settled back into one of confidence. “Right. Well. I was just asking what everyone thought about…well, tickling.” He raises his eyebrows as he looks around at the little group, doing his absolute best to look resolute and interested.

Jester gives him that bright smile again, although there's something sad deep in her eyes that Fjord wishes he hadn’t seen. “I loooooove tickling! It’s so much fun! Like, tickle fights - they're the best thing ever.” Her tail is wagging ever so slightly, tapping against the ground. Fjord can't help the smile that twitches onto his face.

“I don’t have strong feelings about it either way,” Beau says, across from him. Fjord turns to look at her and gives a nod. Caduceus turns as well and studies her for a moment, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Beau catches his eye and flushes bright red. She turns back to her tea quickly. The faintest of smiles spreads across Caduceus’ face.

Caduceus turns back to Fjord. “I like tickling. It’s fun. I’ve always had fun with it with my siblings and sometimes my parents too - we got my dad one time, that was great.” He grins at the memory, an infectious look that the others find the corners of their lips twitching to match.

Fjord turns to Yasha. “What about you, Yasha? What do you think?”

Yasha has been looking lost in thought, gazing down at the ground. She looks up and says, softly, "It reminds me of Molly.”

Fjord blinks in surprise before looking down at the ground himself. He nods, and his voice drops to a whisper as he says, “It reminds me of Molly too.”

Yasha gives him a soft smile, which Fjord looks up just in time to catch. “It’s just, it’s everything that he was, you know? He was…Molly was…he was so carefree and he loved to have fun, and he loved to make people laugh - oh, he loved to make people laugh.” She smiles brighter, fond, eyes drifting up to the ceiling as the memory comes back.

Fjord nods. “And he was so touchy. He was always looking for a hug or trying to get closer.”

Yasha looks back at him. “Oh yes, oh yes, he loved to be hugged and held and cuddle. He loved touch. And he - he felt like a warm hug. You know?”

Fjord nods rapidly. His eyes have become wet with tears. “He did. He really did.”

Yasha sniffs and reaches up to wipe away a tear of her own. “That's why tickling reminds me of him. It’s all those things wrapped up in one - all that touchy-feely, carefree, fun that feels like a warm hug. And that's what he was too. He was all of those things in one.”

Fjord can feel the tears startling to trail out of his eyes. He looks down, furiously trying to blink them back. “He liked it, too.”

“Tickling? Oh yes, he loved it.” A wet smile spreads across Yasha’s face again as she wipes away more tears that are steadily streaking down her face. “He loved both sides of it. He would tickle me to pieces so, so often - and he loved it when I’d get him back.” She looks back up at Fjord with that shaky, soft smile. “Some of my absolutely favorite memories are of those times."

Fjord nods and wipes a hand roughly across his face. “He got me a few times. I wish I’d let him do it more often."

“He got all of us, I think,” comes Caleb's voice from across the circle. Fjord and Yasha turn to face him and see him wiping away his own tears. A shaky smile perseveres on his face anyway. “He really loved it.”

Beau, next to him, takes a shaky breath and nods. “He got me too, the jerk.” She rubs away the tears that are trailing down her already wet face, past the fond smile she can’t manage to hold back.

Jester sniffles and says, softly, “We had so many tickle fights. It was so much fun.” She pauses, staring off into the space, remembering. Her eyes well up with tears. “I miss him.” Her voice cracks as she says it. Caduceus puts an arm around her and she snuggles closer to him.

Beau is wiping her fists over her face. She sniffs. “We should have a tickle fight in honor of him. He would’ve liked that.”

Caduceus looks over at Fjord. “How are you holding up, Fjord?”

Fjord takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh, wiping away more tears. “I miss him too, Jester.” Jester gives him a watery smile. Fjord coughs and takes another deep breath. “I…I’ve been tickled before. When I was a kid. I was picked on, and I was quite often the victim of tickle, well…torture from the other kids. They were stronger than me so they could pin me down and I couldn't get away. I couldn’t get them to stop so I just had to take it. I hated it. It made me feel powerless and weak. But I could never quite manage to stop being ticklish. I hated that, I hated being so ticklish.” He looks around at the others with a tinge of hesitation. They're watching him - eyes soft and still glistening with tears.

Fjord sucks in another breath and goes on. “But with Molly….I don’t know. It always felt different when Molly would try to tickle me. It felt…warm, like Yasha said.” He trails off, looking up at the ceiling for a moment, and then sighs. “I regret fighting him off so much. He meant well by it.”

“It was his way of showing love,” Yasha says softly. She wipes away more tears and a shaky smile spreads across her face as she looks at Fjord and then around at the group. “He loved you. He loved all of us. So much.”

Caleb, Beau, Jester and Fjord all reach up to wipe away more tears that threaten to spill over. Caduceus finds his own eyes damp too.

Fjord nods and heaves a sigh. He turns towards Jester. “And I…I’m sorry for fighting you off, too, Jester. It’s always felt warm from you too.”

Jester gives him a smile. “Aww, I’m glad it does! I don’t ever, ever, ever want it to be mean, Fjord, I like tickling and I think it’s fun and I want it to be fun for whoever I’m tickling too. I just want to make them laugh.” She glances over at Caleb, who gives her a smile.

Fjord gives her a faint smile of his own. With another sigh, he turns to look around the group. They’re all still sniffling and wiping away tears that slowly slip out. But they’re also all smiling.

“I can see how much of a loving thing it is for all of you. It’s not mean. And I…I’d love to be part of that. But I’m not sure I can handle it. I’m not sure I can let go of that control.”

Caleb is nodding. Yasha and Beau look like they know the feeling he's talking about too. For a moment, as Fjord looks around at all of their faces, he senses for the first time that…he might not be alone in this. He'd never considered that this might not come naturally to the rest of his friends either.

Jester sits up, pushing away from Caduceus. She leans towards Fjord. “What if we tickled you for just, like, a few seconds? Just to see if you like it? Just to try it out?”

Caduceus looks up brightly. “A trial tickle!”

Fjord studies them for a moment. He looks down at his cup. Then he nods and looks up at Jester. “Yes. Let’s do it.” He throws his arms open. “You can have five seconds.”

Jester blinks in surprise. She had not expected that to work. She looks around the little circle. Her friends all wave her forward, grins spreading across their faces. So, a grin working its way onto her own face, she turns back to Fjord and shuffles over until she’s kneeling right in front of him.

Fjord blinks up at her with his best puppy-eyed face. A nervous grin is already threatening to break through.

Jester giggles, still tinged with emotion and a little sadness, and wipes away the last of her tears with the back of her hand. “Fj-ord! This is going to be so much fun.”

Fjord scoots backwards, closer to the bed. “Five seconds, remember? Just five seconds.”

“Of course.” Jester shuffles forward, closing the gap between them. She flashes him another grin - and it reminds him of Molly, she’s really perfected that terrifying look tieflings can have - and slowly lowers her wiggling fingers towards his stomach. Fjord bites down on his lip.

The second Jester's fingers make contact, Fjord feels every muscle in his body contract and tense. He tries to pull away but there's nowhere to go - he's already pressed himself against the bed frame as far as he can go. So instead he squirms to the side and tries to brace himself.

Jester’s fingers scribble over Fjord’s stomach and Fjord clamps his mouth shut to block out the noises threatening to spill out. He flinches away again as her claws pinch at his sides. Yep. This is every bit the torture he expected. The loss of control over his own reactions brings with it a dark cloud of memories, none of them good. He’s vulnerable, weak…small. It’s almost unbearable, and he’s about to open his mouth and yell for Jester to stop…when her fingers shift every so slightly. Up. To begin scratching at his lower ribs.

And all the emotions burst out of Fjord in a sudden bark of laughter he could never hope to hold back. “HA!”

Jester giggles. Fjord tries to bite down on his tongue again but doesn't quite manage it. Now that the dam is broken, laughter bubbles up out of his throat. “Ah-hehehehehehehahahahahaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHO!” And just like that, he’s rolling side to side with laughter, trying to bat away Jester's fingers that are scribbling and scratching over his ribs.

And to his surprise, he finds himself not hating it.

Actually…

It is kind of fun.

It’s just laughter after all, Fjord realizes. It’s an excuse to be silly and laugh. And it feels every bit as warm as he just described. It feels loving. It feels playful. It feels like every other time Jester tries to drag him into her silliness and make him laugh.

And just like all the other times Jester pulls them into her silly antics, he’s having fun.

Just as quickly as it began, it's over. Jester rocks back onto her heels, grinning down at him - Fjord realizes belatedly that he's somehow wound up on his back on the floor.

His second realization is that he's disappointed that she stopped.

“Sooooo, what did you think?!” Jester asks eagerly, leaning in towards him and still wearing that grin. But Fjord can see something else in her eyes - a glimmer of nervousness. Hesitation. Concern. Worry that maybe, despite her best efforts, he might still have hated it.

Fjord is panting for breath. He returns her grin almost shyly before looking away and muttering, “You don’t have to stop.”

Jester squeals and jumps on top of him, throwing her arms around him in a hug. “AHH Fjord! I’m sooooo glad you liked it!” Fjord jumps before realizing what she’s doing and puts his arms around her in return. Then he feels Jester’s fingers wiggling up his back and he snorts - before they work their way into his armpits and he's laughing again. He buries his face in her shoulder as the giggles take him again. “AHAHAHAHAH no that wasn’t fa-hehehehehahaha-air!” Jester giggles right along with him.

The rest of the group is chuckling too, watching this. Caleb turns to Beauregard. “A tickle fight in Molly’s memory, ja?”

Beau gives him a nervous grin and scoots back slightly. A rare playful grin leaps onto Caleb’s face and he grabs her arm before she can get away. The look of shock that flashes onto both their faces when that actually works makes them both burst out laughing. And then Caleb’s other hand is spidering up Beau’s arm and she’s giggling and flailing around for an entirely different reason. Caleb turns and calls over his shoulder, “Yasha! Come help me!” Yasha, grinning, grabs onto to Beau and holds her in place - allowing Caleb to bring the other hand into action on her sides and leaving Beau cackling with laughter.

Caduceus is grinning from ear to ear as he watches this tickly battle take place. There’s Jester attacking Fjord and making him laugh harder than Caduceus has ever seen. It’s a good look on him. Fjord is starting to try and return the favor, Caduceus can see. Unsuccessfully so far - Jester is one step ahead of him and making him slam his arms back down against his sides by going for his armpits every time - but Caduceus is confident he’ll power through and have a counter attack coordinated soon enough.

A few feet away from that, Caleb and Yasha are wrecking Beau - who has already managed to slip one arm out and latch it onto to Caleb’s ribs, leaving him bent over with laughter even as he continues scribbling his own fingers across her stomach. It’s hard to say which of the three are laughing the hardest - Yasha isn’t even being tickled, but she's laughing as if she is. Caduceus smiles.

A sudden warm breeze blows through the room, and Caduceus looks up, smiling, as he closes his eyes and leans into the Wild Mother’s embrace. He feels another swirling breeze and opens his eyes gently, sensing another presence - and jumps as he finds a mostly-translucent, lavender-colored, ghostly figure standing next to him.

Another warm breeze blows immediately. And Caduceus suddenly realizes he recognizes this figure - from stories, drawings, illusions. He’s seen those horns before, heard about those tattoos, seen that spade-tipped tail. A whisper comes through on the wind, a warm smile from the Wild Mother accompanying it - Mollymauk.

The figure gives Caduceus a smile. Then, before he can react, it’s diving forward into the tickly fray. Caduceus watches as the spectral purple tiefling darts over to Fjord and Jester and squeezes Fjord’s side a few times, before immediately spidering ghostly fingers up Jester's back. To Caduceus’ surprise, they both jump and squeal at the sudden touch. He blinks. They shouldn’t be able to feel that. But…somehow they can?

The specter dashes across the room and grabs Beau’s foot, scribbling claws across the bottom and leaving Beau shrieking with laughter in a whole new way - while its tail wiggles underneath Caleb’s arms, making him choke on a squeal and dissolve quickly into giggles. Wearing a bright grin, the ghostly Molly lets the two of them go and throws itself into Yasha’s lap, claws wiggling against her stomach. Yasha yelps and bends double, giggles spilling out.

The specter turns to look at Caduceus - grinning brightly from its place in Yasha’s lap, fingers now working their way up across her ribs. It sees him watching and pulls one hand away to gesture towards him - a beckoning motion.

Caduceus doesn’t hesitate. With a soft smile, he stands up and goes to help Fjord coordinate his still-unsuccessful counter attack on Jester. Taking a note from the specter, he spiders his fingers up her back. It works for a moment - she squeals and bursts out laughing - “Caduhahahahahaceus! Hahahahaha nohohoho!”

But Fjord is no help in this attack, and Caduceus quickly finds himself pinned underneath Jester as she spins around and lost to laughter before her fingers even find his sides. He doesn’t protest.

Jester has mercy on him after a moment, letting up and turning back to Fjord, who has been laying on his back panting for breath. But instead of attacking him again, she says, “Fjord! C’mere! Look, Caduceus is, like, really ticklish on his ears.” And suddenly her fingers are scratching the back of his ear and Caduceus is giggling again and trying his best to squirm away. Moments later he feels a second set of hands on his other ear - Fjord, the traitor. He yelps and gives up trying to get away in favor of bursting into laughter. Fjord and Jester both start laughing along with him, which somehow only makes him laugh harder. It feels good.

CRASH!

All tickling ceases as everyone jumps and looks, startled, in the direction of the door. Bursting through the doorway is Nott, crossbow loaded and ready to fire. She swivels side to side, aiming the crossbow wildly while she looks for a threat. Yeza peeks out nervously from behind her. Nott looks around and slowly lowers the crossbow at the sight of all her friends staring at her. “What’s going on?! We heard screaming and thought you were under attack!”

Beau, currently on the floor being held in place by Yasha while Caleb looms over her, fingers stilled in place on her stomach, shouts, “We are!”

This snaps the others out of it. Chuckles start spreading around the room again. Nott looks confused.

Jester beams over at Nott and Yeza, fingers still on Caduceus’ ears, who is taking the blessed opportunity to catch his breath. “We’re having a tickle fight! Come on, come join!”

Nott stares at them all for a moment. She looks unimpressed and gives a shake of her head. “I'm not ticklish.”

A set of fingers from behind her suddenly squeeze just below her arms and Nott yelps. The others, watching, giggle. Nott spins around and comes face to face with a grinning Yeza.

“What was that about not being ticklish?” Yeza asks. Nott’s face flushes and she looks away. Yeza reaches out to grab her - and misses, as she's gone in a flash. She peeks out from behind Fjord, doing her best to stifle the grin that's working it's way onto her face. Yeza laughs and leaps forward, fingers wiggling. Nott yelps again and ducks behind Fjord.

Fjord is laughing. So is Caleb, as he ditches Beau to jump forward and try to catch Nott. Nott dodges him easily but looks like she's trying not to laugh - and seconds later gives in, joining Caleb and everyone else in laughter.

Just like that, the battle is back on. It’s Beau who manages to grab Nott first and holds her still as Yeza demonstrates her most ticklish spots for the rest of the group to exploit. Nott is howling with laughter, but eventually manages to coordinate herself enough to get out, “He's ticklish too! Get the back of his knees!” It's unclear whether she's talking about Yeza or Caleb so the others split their attention between both - and find that knees are a bad spot for both, leaving them both rolling with laughter.

This back-and-forth, all-out, giggly battle goes on for another minute. Caduceus, every time he opens his eyes, seeing the lavender specter laughing right along with them as it dodges in and out of the fray. It makes him smile.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

The group freezes again. This time they all look alarmed as they look up towards the door.

A voice comes through. “Can you quiet down please?! It's almost midnight - we’re getting complaints!”

There's a pause. Then Fjord - suddenly composed and voice smooth, if slightly out of breath - calls out, “Yes, yes of course! Our apologies! We’ll quiet down.”

The group waits with bated breath. There’s a huff on the other side of the door and then footsteps walking away.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. The group glances around at one other, make eye contact…

And collapse with laughter.

Fjord falls over onto Jester's shoulder, who’s rapidly making her way towards the floor and landing on top of Caduceus. Caleb is losing it, leaning fully onto Beauregard, who’s collapsed onto Jester. Nott and Yeza are leaning against each other and Yasha. All laughing too hard to speak.

“Oh my gods, we’re the worst!” Beau practically yells. This is followed by a chorus of shushing, which only makes them all laugh even harder.

Eventually the laughter trails off. Caleb wipes tears away from his face and readjusts himself to rest his head against Beau’s stomach. He holds out a hand, beckoning the others over. Jester, seeing what he’s doing, leaps over to cuddle up next to him and Beau. Nott pulls Yeza over and takes his other side, snuggling close. Caleb pulls them both in even closer. Yasha slides over and throws an arm over Jester and Caleb. Fjord lays down next to Beauregard, who looks over at him before grabbing his shoulder and pulling him in closer. Fjord reaches out to grab Caduceus and pulls him along.

Caduceus, as he snuggles in close to Fjord, Beau, and the others, watches as the purple specter worms its way into the cuddle pile too. It - he, Molly - drapes across the top of all of them. Arms threading their way in between to wrap around Yasha and Jester, legs worming their way underneath Fjord and Beau, tail wrapping around Caleb and Nott. He seems to almost melt into the group, in the way only a truly boneless ghost-like specter can. And the others unconsciously respond to him - wrapping their arms around limbs and a tail that aren't really there…and yet, perhaps, are there after all.

No one else seems to see this figure. But that's okay, Caduceus decides. They can all feel him. And isn’t that what really matters, in the end?

Caduceus catches Fjord’s eye and gives him a smile. Fjord returns it. He looks happier than Caduceus thinks he’s ever seen him.

Another, softer breeze blows through the room. Caduceus and Fjord both close their eyes as they feel its embrace. And there, surrounded by the warmth, still lingering smiles, and slowly steadying breathing of their friends, they drift gently to sleep.

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