#who is also in love with ler for the same reasons but has no such claims to power

[oozeandgoo-art]

everyone is sooo in love with vakori on account of le is so cool and smart and deeply pragmatic and is also completely batshit insane

[the-once-ler-in-superjail]

CHAPTER 36: The Asylum - Part 2

Finally here, sorry this one took so long, we both got really busy this time but it's here!

Lineart/cleanup, flats & writing- @wiggybe

Layout/roughs, shading/lighting & writing- @self-made-madman

(TW: Mental illness/health/asylums.)

PART2

Once-ler: *He holds the Warden in his arms, relieved to have another moment alone with him, knowing that they're going to get out of here and that people are following his orders. At least he can have his glasses, they're just glasses, prisoners get to wear their glasses because they're visually impaired, this should be no different. He sniffs and wipes his tears with his hand, whispering.* I love you too. *Kisses the Warden's head and sighs out, hooking his chin over his head and bundling him up in his arms.* You're going to be okay, we- we're going to get you out. *He can't let him down.*

Warden: *His eyes shut, and as he floats in the vague numbness of what's been done to him, he absorbs all of Oncie's love, the feeling of his arms, the scent of his clothes and the way his voice vibrates through his chest. It helps to calm him, more than anything else ever could, but there's an instinctive part of him ready to have it all ripped away.*

Dr. Zazzerzump: *She strides straight into the room and states in a simple, curt voice.* Mr. Once-ler. *She has the air of a headteacher who won't be suffering nonsense, but because she isn't a blustering, loud older man, and hasn't brought the chaos of a crowd with her, she doesn't cause the same flinching reaction in the Warden as everything else. To him, this is just one more thing to trust Oncie to handle for him.*

Once-ler: *Pulls his head back from his boyfriend and looks over to the new doctor walking into the room. He knows this lady to be the woman in charge here. Good, that means he can sort this out properly rather than having to slap drones around. He doesn't get up though; he won't leave Edmund unless it's necessary, and he doesn't care how he looks holding him. If anything it only shows that he means the man no harm and that they do share a relationship.* Hm. *His eyes meet hers and he lets out an acknowledging grunt.* Doctor... *He looks her up and down as for a moment her name escapes him, but he does know all the names in charge of his cities' institutions.* Doctor Zazzerzump. *That's the one. He frowns, glancing around at the other nurses as they follow in behind her as if he's pretending to wonder where the Warden's glasses are, like he's making a point. Two male doctors join also, including Snickberry-Shoo, who all keep their distance.* Thank you. I requested the nurses bring this man’s glasses to me, where are they?

Dr. Zazzerzump: *Her eyes flit to the way the Once-ler is holding the patient only once, to take in the information and judge it. It's inappropriate, maybe, but it is proof that they know each other. Or proof that the patient has been so well-drugged that he doesn't know what's happening. Well, the Once-ler is a sane man, so it's presumably the first one. And yet, policy is policy for a reason.* The patient is in here because he proved to be a danger to himself and others. We can arrange for his glasses to be reconsidered, but he cannot have them back just because you asked... *She searches for a word that isn't rude.* 'nicely'. I will have the administrators put in a request, and he will be re-evaluated for his tendencies.

Warden: *He curls tighter, pushing his bare face against the Once-ler's chest so he doesn't have to see the world without his filter.*

Once-ler: *Feels a spike of adrenaline in his chest when he's refused, the thought of having to wait making his frustration build all over again.* That's not soon enough. Can't you make an exception?! Look at him, he needs them. Even prisoners don't have their own glasses confiscated. What could be so bad about him having his when I can supervise?

Dr. Zazzerzump: They could break - he could break them - and then we have glass shards, sharp wire, and an unpredictable man in the same room. The hospital would be liable if any harm came to either of you, even - *she anticipates the potential solution he might offer* if you were to sign a waiver. I'm afraid your friend must follow the rules like everyone else in the secure wing - no special treatment. But we can have him seen by our resident optician if necessary.

Once-ler: You’re already causing harm to him by treating him like this. *Breathes in a sharp, frustrated breath as he clutches onto Edmund harder. He knew these were the reasons. He doesn't care. Edmund is more dangerous to himself without the glasses. Besides, it’s not like he isn’t already drugged up to his eyeballs, bound in a straight-jacket, and not being watched over by a sensible and powerful man.* Don't you have security cameras here for the same reason? Just keep a closer eye on him for god sake! *He knows that what he's asking is exactly special treatment, but why shouldn't he? Parole exists so that those facing trial can pay to be in a comfortable environment while they wait. He raises an eyebrow.* I'll sign whatever the hell you like, if any harm came to either of us I'd take that responsibility on myself and see to it that no repercussions fall on the hospitals reputation. I can do that. *He tilts his head to the other side, frowning harder.* On the other hand, however, I can't promise the same should my requests be refused. *Hisses as one hand releases Edmund to slip into an inner pocket inside his jacket to fine his cheque book.* Fuck sake, how much do you want for them? *Looks at her like she just personally hurt him* He’s not dangerous, not with me and not right now, look at him. I’ll pay you extra if we could just arrange to have him monitored so that he can have what he really nee-

Dr. Zazzerzump: I cannot be bought, Mr. Once-ler. *As corruptible as the bribe of money can make people, sometimes those with the a more selfish agenda than just greed can be more malicious.* *She doesn’t care for money, she cares for maintaining an old archaic institute that she holds power over. Taking small wins, keeping control over anyone in her immediate vicinity, and insisting on her old fashioned ideals. And it just so happens the vulnerable patients in this place make those objectives a lot easier. She remains totally unmoved, as cold as steel, although she does for a moment feel a skip in her chest at the thought of more money towards their operations here. Still, she will have no preferential treatment for the wealthy or connected, even if the town's founder himself starts writing a check. She doesn’t quite realise that anyone, poor or wealthy, known or noone, would be willing to give up everything in their possession for the people they love. She holds a fundamental belief, a false ‘moral’ virtue about herself, that those of the mentally impaired are a danger to be hidden rather than human beings to be treated, despite having little to no modern research supporting her biases. There is no grey area that could suggest that the pain of others might warrant an empathetic reconsideration of the ‘rules’, she just holds onto these old ideas being ‘correct’. It’s as if Thneedville, and the people in it, are a product of a time where mindsets like this were the modern standards.* As I said, we cannot sign our duty of care away.

Warden: *He shifts, yielding as easily as a doe when Oncie's hand releases him to pull out his cheque book, but never stops gripping onto him. It's all going over his head, whoever that voice belongs to. Oncie is fighting a battle above the surface of the water while he sinks down below, and all he can do to avoid going (further) mad with fright is to hold on and make sure he never leaves him by himself. Right now the world is very simple - everything outside of their arms wants to hurt him or worse, abandon him to his own mind. Everything inside their arms is safe and loves him.*

Once-ler: *Sneers at her through his teeth in a low voice.* Ev-ery-thing can be bought. *He lets her speak, and as she does, he removes his thneed from his neck as if he's already made up his mind about something, not needing to hear the rest of it- because one can’t reason with a person who’s already accepted their own world view as fact. One can’t engage debate, even the most civil, with a person who has already made up their mind. The only thing that matters now is protecting his own pack. Something about the way this woman speaks is making it both harder for him to breathe the fire he usually does and at the same time makes him want to burn it all down with even more fury than when he spoke to the previous doctor. It isn't just a bigger dog biting at a smaller yappy dog, it's a fox VS a snake, both fighting for the fallen rabbit, and he's met a snake like this before. Thankfully the two women are nothing alike, but that doesn't stop the vitriolic, rebellious feeling in his gut needing to prove her wrong. He hisses again, almost scoffing at the irony of her words.* Your ‘duty of care’… *He glances to the Warden in sympathy, then back to her with far less.* Why is he so out of his mind?

Dr Zazzerzump: *Adjusts her glasses.* Is that a trick question, Mr Once-ler? All of the patients here are ‘out of their mind’, that’s what this place is for. We haven’t begun analysis or treatment on this particular patient yet, but he’s here for a reason-

Once-ler: That’s not what I meant! *He steams. Treatment of this sort has nothing to do with the rationality of the person involved, they shouldn’t be strapped up, sedated, and left in a cold corner for someone to find them- if someone ever comes to find them- without sympathetic care.* I meant why is he so sedated? Why is he all drugged up out of his mind?

Dr Zazzerzump: He was acting out, Mr Once-ler. a danger to everybody. We sedate all of our patients. It makes them feel better and it makes it easy for us to handle them and treat them. *Of course, she has no understanding of how these patients might truly feel, she’s just trying to come across as caring to hide that all she really cares about is the efficiency of her control here.*

Once-ler: *He almost screams out lout to her; ‘Even when he’s already in a straightjacket?!’ But he doesn’t, it wouldn’t help. He looks down at Edmund who can barely hear this conversation through water, he just knows Oncie is there somewhere and is trying to protect him, but if the man wasn’t here then the confusion would only be making him panic more as he looses an extra layer of stability and understanding.* He’s not comfortable at all, he doesn’t feel better at all, he’s scared. *Maybe he was being a menace, maybe he did deserve to be brought somewhere, but then shouldn’t he have been brought to a jail cell for disorderly conduct? Somewhere he can be held for safety reasons, call someone he knows, speak to a lawyer and at least be reviewed before taken to an asylum? Who authorised that he be brought here? Were they called before the police and just snapped him up to fill one of their patient cells?… He had no idea this sort of conduct was going on here, in his own city. This is old, archaic stuff. For as abstract as Thneedville is, sometimes he does feel that it’s oddly stuck in the 1970’s, as if it’s a product of a mind that’s frame of reference is a world straight out of the late 60’s. Maybe after all of this is over he really should review this place top to bottom officially and write up a report, not just because he’s been personally hurt by it and it’s employees, but because there might be things here he’s not looked at, that could seriously do with reforming.*

Dr Zazzerzump: *Says nothing. She hasn't spared a second glance at Edmund, she's been too busy watching the angry man making his demands and she clearly has no intention of treating these patients like human beings.* If you have no further requirements, I shall leave you two in peace. Visiting hours close at 6.

Once-ler: *Almost hisses at the way she ignores his genuine concerns.* That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?! *He huffs, and in a sweep of his tailcoats, he turns back to the Warden and strides strictly over to him. He glares over his shoulder to the doctor.* I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying here with him.

Dr Zazzerump: *Suddenly spikes. He can’t stay here! That’s an obstacle between herself and the power she holds over everyone in the place.* Visiting hours close at 6 Mr-

Once-ler: I heard you! And I don’t care. If you won’t let me take him out then I have no other option than to stay with him overnight while I make preparations to have him removed.

Dr Zazzerzump: *Sneers* Mr Once-ler if you do not leave, I will have to have you removed by security.

Once-ler: *Turns around and folds his arms.* Who do you think your security is funded by? Who do you think your very institute is funded by? *He squints and tilts his head.* The Thneedville government? *He scoffs at her*. You think your governments have more power than corporations? Where did you hire your security, from the government or from a company?

Dr Zazzerzump: *Remains quiet and clenches her jaw.*

Once-ler: That’s what I thought. *He tilts his head to the door.* Go on, call them, tell them to remove me… If you really think they’ll listen to your orders over mine. *Fine. He’ll play her games of ‘procedure’ and ‘protocol’, she can make this harder for him as much as she wants, that doesn’t mean she’s going to enjoy it.*

Dr Zazzerzump: *Her icy demeanour starting to crack, she tries to hold herself together, keep her composure, refrain from forming shaking fists with her hands at her sides. By the second, the Once-ler is revealing to her what little power she has, despite her doing her best to hold onto it.* Fine. *He hisses under her breath.*

Once-ler: *Turns his back to return to the Warden.* You understand then. Good. I’ll stay here with him for as long as I need. *He won’t leave until Edmund is in his custody, until he can take him out of this dreadful place. Every part of him just wants to drag him our right now, hire his own security, pay theirs off, rip him out of the straight jacket and take him home, but the amount of chaos that that would cause in both the short and long term just isn’t worth the trauma that it’d have on Edmund. For one thing he’d need to leave him to get it all done that fast, and he couldn’t bear to leave him with them- who knows what they would do while he’s unsupervised? The manic of all the action and panic could have a terrible effect on him, while doctors are grabbing at them, large security men are shouting and the Thneedville public are watching him like a spectacle. It’d be cruel to drag him through that. It’d also cause more problems in the long term for them both if if he acted so unofficially. The best thing he can do is be sensible and assertive, plan his escape right by his side, make sure it’s as easy as it can be, and never leave him alone so long as he’s still in here. He’ll need important files and equipment to do it, and that’ll take time to arrange that if he wants to stay with him the whole time, but it can be achieved. Anything can be achieved by the Once-ler. He leans down by his boyfriend and tucks the thneed into Edmund's bound arms across his front so that he can hide his face in it. He leans into his ear.* I'm not going anywhere. *He straightens up and turns to the doctors, standing between them and Edmund and acting as a barrier while looking incredibly tall at his full height and the extra tower of his hat.*

Warden: *He curls up when Oncie gives him the thneed, and the scent of butterfly milk and truffula tufts proves to the animal in the back of his mind that he's still safe. Still, he shivers when he feels Oncie pull away, and buries himself in the fluff, focusing on the gentle way Oncie spoke to him as his sluggish mind tries to hold on to whatever it can through the grey and depressing mire. He doesn't even remember what he did to deserve being locked up in here.*

Once-ler: I didn't get to where I am today, to owning all of your jobs today, under the false idea that 'not everything can be bought'. *His hand forms a fist by his side, the other one pointing a sharp finger.* I've been nice, I’ve played your game, now you're gonna listen to me. This man is leaving this building no later than tomorrow.

Dr Zazzerzump: *Opens her mouth to speak*-

Once-ler *His index finger and thumb pinch together before anyone can interject, as if making a ‘zip it’ gesture.* I don't wanna hear anymore goddamn bullshit recited from ancient documents! You can either make this easier for me or you can make it harder on yourselves, either way I'm getting what I want. I don't care what strings I have to pull, he's leaving tomorrow. You wanna know why? Because if you won't comply, then I can have all of you replaced with people who will by just making three phone calls. So it makes no difference to me other than the fact you're wasting my time!

[The nurses behind the head Dr Zazzersump and take a step back, they straighten up with a spike of adrenaline in their chests, listening to the orders like soldiers. Dr Zazzerzump blinks at him, momentarily surprised and panic setting in at that threat, which quickly turns into cold anger to hide it. She looks around her staff and can feel her own sense of control slowly crumble as the medical teams have their attention stolen away from her by the Once-ler. The man has always been very good at claiming almost anything as his own.]

Once-ler: *Starts to count on his fingers. Without shouting, now sounding more like a very strict, growling army general. Suddenly they all feel like they work for him.* I want his discharge signed. I want his duty of care handed to me. I want his clothes ready. I want him off whatever shit you've been shoving down his throat. I want his goddamn glasses! And I want it all done by 3pm tomorrow because that's how fast it will take me to fuck up your whole system here and make it mine. *If he were an animal, the hackles of his fur would be rising and his teeth would be bearing, the gruffness of his voice growling through with that last word.* Every single one of you is going to be bought because all of these procedures you're following can be bought, so you better not waste any of my goddamn time once I slam that gavel down onto your precious procedures and shove them in my back pocket! *Points a finger towards each of them.* Get it all done by 3pm tomorrow and not a second later, because The Once-ler will not be late.

[The frightened shocked doctors and nurses behind Dr Zazzersump all stare at her with gormless speechlessness. They’re ready to skitter away and do everything he’s asked without question, because, SHIT, they need to get on this fast to have it all ready by tomorrow. Dr Zazzerzump herself is sweating, and every bitter bone in her body wishes she wasn’t. How dare he turn the tables on them and make such unrealistic demands with such a short deadline, they’d have to drop everything to get this done by then.]

Dr. Zazzerzump: *She attempts to straighten up at the same rate that the Once-ler rises, meeting his eyes and paying cold attention but not interrupting him now he’s on a roll. She holds rigid against his threats and swallows, but as she notices her staff becoming more restless at the mention of procedures and paper work, she can’t find a reason to oppose it. What he's asking for is technically reasonable, if unorthodox, so he’s trapped her in a dead end, all her talk of procedures turned back on her, and thrown the threat of a deadline at them all. Thank god that it is reasonable though, in the tightest possible way of tip-toeing around all the orthodox rules, because by this point not even she wants to deal with what wrath he might bring if she refuses him again. At the end of the day, he owns this town more than anyone else, more than she owns this asylum- regrettably.*

Warden: *He hears a man yelling, and like a dreamstate he simultaneously recognises the voice as his Oncie, and expects it to belong to a very different, much more violent man - because that's the man who would normally be in a locked cell like this with him unable to fight back. It’s confusing as his hearts instinct battles his learned neurological instinct. He curls further, clenching his eyes shut even tighter and reminding himself beneath all the numb and rubbery haze that Oncie is protecting him, Oncie will come for him, and that despite the sound of that powerful voice reminding him of things more dangerous, maybe it’s only so powerful because for once it’s actually protecting him. It does sound a lot like his strong Oncie after all. He’s safe.*

Once-ler: *Pulls in a deep breath and grabs the lapels of his jacket, pulling on them to straighten them. Clears his throat.* I will stay with him here overnight, I will keep the button alarm on me should I need to make anymore requests, no-one is to come near him unless it's for very specific medical reasons I'm unqualified to perform. Food, drink, medication, cleaning, anything else will all be handled by myself, and I want him weaned off the medication ASAP. *He raises an eyebrow.* You better hurry up then.

[The nurses scatter like a flock of pigeons, forgetting for a moment that Dr Zazzerzump needed to give an official before they can, but the Once-ler is right, they do need to hurry up if they want it all done on time. They need to turn the place upside down to avoid his wrath if he’s ready to leave tomorrow at 3pm and they’re late for it. How can the man work so fast when there’s only one of him and he can’t leave a cell? They have an entire team of people but they’re the ones frantically panicking for a deadline.)

Dr Zazzerzump: *Behind her, the doctors and nurses have backed off skittishly and darted off to work, trapped between the demands of two different dangerous animals who could both ruin their lives if they make a wrong move, but the bigger one clearly won. After a pause to collect her thoughts, Dr. Zazzerzump clears her throat and raises her hand to them. They’ve already made up their minds who they’re taking orders from now, but she throws out an official instruction, just to maintain a semblance of composure.* *Clears her throat.* Yes!- Mh.. Do as he says. For 3pm tomorrow.

*They scatter out of the door like spilled marbles, leaving the two alone. Then Dr. Zazzerzump continues.*

Dr. Zazzerzump: *Bitterly* The medication is a temporary sedative; it will wear off by morning and I shall make a note that no further doses will be required. There will be a nurse on call to arrange for overnight accommodations. *Grimaces, but tries to maintain professional. The decision has already been made now, all she can do is go along with it and appear as reasonable as she can to avoid receiving that harsh report.* Should you require anything further, the staff will assist you. Is that everything, Mr. Once-ler?

Once-ler: *Finally seems like he might consider withdrawing his claws the moment people start following his orders, especially when the woman confirms it to her staff. The fact that she doesn’t even question his power, influence or ability to have everything done by tomorrow in order to take Edmund out, goes a long way to placating him. He’d have really started ruining lives, he doesn’t care who the head doctor in this place is, if she’d said something like ‘we can’t guarantee, sir, that the changes you claim to make will be completed by then, if at all, and so signing documents and making preparations for rules that aren’t already in place would be a misdirection of time as well as possibly setting us up for illegal- blah blah blah.’ Good thing they all know when they’re in the jaw of the lion.* Yes. You can leave us alone.

*Dr Zazzerzump leaves with a slight twist in her expression, letting out a silent frustrated, but almost relieved that it’s over, sigh of relief. As she and the rest of the staff move away down the corridor and the door swings shut with a heavy thunk, she can be heard issuing clipped commands to everyone else. She tries not to rush too much, because rushing tends to make mistakes, but these things will move quick.*

Once-ler: *When everyone leaves and they’re finally left in private again, he turns back to Edmund, curled up on the floor, and all the anger sighs out of him (at least for now). Drops back down to his knees and leans over him, places his hand on his shoulder.* Edmund…? *His eyebrows knot up.* Edmund it’s me, they’re all gone.

Warden: *He pulls slightly tighter around himself when he feels the pressure of someone's footsteps on the floor beside him. The pressure on his shoulder doesn't make him jump - it can't – but he feels a spike of fear, in automatic self defence he tries to strike like a cornered rat and bite the hand. In reality though, he just manages to turn slowly and gasp. And then Oncie speaks, and he forgets everything except that his knight in shining armour is here.*

Warden: *He cracks open his eyes and looks up at Oncie, his brow creased with worry, desperate to get himself moving enough to talk but unable to force it.* O-okay. *He needs those bright blue eyes so much, but they're so bright he can barely look at them. His pupils visibly shrink against them. He shuts his eyes tight again with distress, hating the grey and how close he is to everything terrible around him.*

*This is so much. The cogs in his brain try to turn, and he thinks that he wants to break the bad feelings with a joke, or a flippant comment - it's not a conscious thought, but it's what the instincts in him tell him to do. He forces himself to speak again, his voice a hushed whisper.* ...I’m s- I'm really... Really scared.

Once-ler: *Sees the way Edmund almost tries to flinch and his eyebrows knot up harder. He can't even protect himself, it's so sad. Then that recognition comes and he swallows, his stomach fluttering with sad little butterflies but fluttering nonetheless.* I- I know, I know you are. *Sighs out and immediately drops down to wrap his arms around him and bundle him up again. He knew he'd get nowhere asking for them to release him from the straight jacket, not if they won’t even let him have his glasses because he's too unpredictable apparently. He was hoping he might be able to fumble with it himself once alone, but as he hugs him and feels around the back of it, he feels the padlocks and realises that not just anyone outside of the wrapped patient himself is free to mess with it. He mentally sighs, but just becomes more kind and gentle in response.* It's okay if you're scared. *His voice becomes thick but he holds himself together.* It's okay, but you don't have to be scared now, because- because I'm here s- so you're safe, and nothing is going to hurt you or scare you anymore. *Cups his hand around the back of his head and pulls him into his shoulder, and plants a long pressed kiss into his head.*

Warden: *His arms shuffle what little they can in an unconscious attempt to reach out and hold onto Oncie, but the best he can do is curl up as close as he can into the hug. Eyes shut, surrounded by his scent, he listens to the words and slowly translates them - he has to wait for each word to pop into meaning like bubbles from the ocean floor. His body relaxes a little bit, unable to protect himself anymore - no powers, no strength, not even his special filter that means nothing is real and nothing really matters. Suddenly everything matters, and it all wants to hurt him. Except Oncie. He's still here, he didn't leave forever. He sniffs, still tearful, and nuzzles into his shoulder and the thneed still tangled up between them. That kiss sends a wave of relief and love through him, and he realises without surprise that he's crying again. He shuffles again against the jacket, not enough to be considered 'a struggle', but miserably testing what it is. In a slightly thicker voice of his own, he asks,* What did I do? *He's obviously in trouble, he obviously did something, because he's in prison. If he wasn't so addled he'd be mad on his own behalf and flailing about it again, but all he can figure right now is that everyone's upset with him except Oncie, and that doesn't feel great.*

Once-ler: *Opens his eyes wide when he's asked what he did wrong, and he doesn't know how to answer. Even if the Warden wasn't sedated and put up a good fight, he'd crack eventually. He might go feral for a bit, but these people are… ‘trained’ to handle a dangerous, damaged psych patient like him. He's the Warden to himself, he's The Once-ler's soulmate to the man holding him, but the reality is that to them he's just another severe case like so many other names on a list and fading faces in the facility rooms. Their treatment of him is completely wrong, but he’s not a stable man, that’s the reality, and right now there's a lot of reality, there isn't a lot of Edmund. A runt might try to put up a good fight with it's teeth and it's ratty snarls, but in the end it'll still drop down under the teeth of a dog bigger and scarier than it, when it’s adrenaline has worn off and it knows it can’t put up a fight, when it's instincts tell it how small it really is and that it should just conserve it's energy and lie down. Edmund, at his heart, is a meek man. The thought of him being lost here, hiding fearfully in the corner of a room away from the dogs that beat the defences out of him, just like his father did, is the worst nightmare he ever could have conjured up.*

Once-ler: *His arms grip around him tighter, tighter than the jacket, and the way he feels him weakly squirm makes his heart break. He pulls back just enough to see his face, hand still cupping the back of his head, so it isn't heavy for Edmund to hold up.* Ohh... *His eyebrows knot.* It was just... *He doesn't even know what to say. He glances down his body and starts to shuffle them so they can rest against the wall in the corner of the room where it's most secluded.* You must be cold, let me help. *He shuffles up into the corner, carrying his boyfriend slowly with him, and takes the thneed back. He lets him rest between his legs against his front while he stretches out the thneed and turns it into a blanket. His heart is pounding and he's trying to swallow down an emotional lump, then he lays the thneed blanket over Edmund and then shuffles out of his own green tailcoat and lays that over him too to create a second, heavier layer to keep the warmth in. Pressed between Oncie's front, then the thneed and Oncie's weighted jacket, he wraps his arms around him and hugs him to his chest.* There. There, that's better.

Warden: *When Oncie cups his face, he looks up into his eyes as best he can and tries to understand what he did. Deep down, beneath all of his delusions, the current sedatives, the self-denial and the fantasies, he knows he's doing bad things. But if he didn't do those bad things, he'd be doing something even worse by letting down the terrible spirit of his father. To be good he has to be a good prison warden, and a good prison warden is vicious, cruel and controlling. But, because he's always been an empathetic baby, he knows that to be vicious, cruel and controlling makes people hate you and makes you a bad person. He can't win. There is no condition where everyone likes him and is pleased with him, so the only conclusion he has ever been able to come to is that he's just an inherently bad human being. But that's okay if he's louder than everyone else, insists to everyone else that he isn’t until he’s *delusional*, and tries to make them happy occasionally by making things fun. That's why he includes the prisoners in his science fairs and vacations and car races – bad, boring wardens wouldn’t do that, right?*

 *His expression breaks, tears filling his eyes as his mouth quivers and devastation spreads across his features. When he was a little boy, the scariest thing in the world was the thought of being abandoned for being bad. Now, here, it feels like reality itself is doing just that - he's been shoved out the way and left behind. He clamps up and tries not to make a sound, in case that's bad too.*

*He's completely pliable as Oncie moves them, trying to help but he can only move his legs and he can't move them much. When they settle, though, and he's covered in layers of warm weight and held all tightly in his protector's arms, reality feels that bit further away and he remembers that he's not been abandoned. Not fully, not by everyone.* *With a little bleat, he nods. It is better. His bare feet push against the cold floor beneath the blankets so that he's pushed against Oncie's front.* *After a moment, he finds the words to say.* Whatever I did... I- I didn't mean to... *That's a lie. But he'd do anything to be kept.*

Once-ler: *Feels his heart break when he sees the tears and tries to catch them with his thumb as he cups his cheek. He hugs him to his front, treasuring him like he's the only teddy-bear his parents have ever been able to afford, and clinging to him like a child hiding from the shadows in a wardrobe. Gasps at his words and whispers.* You didn't- It was an accide- it was a mistake- *He feels distinctly, innocently, devastated and sick to his stomach with guilt and worry, in an almost confused way that a juvenile would. As if he's at fault of doing something so bad to the younger kid living next door, who he often goes out to play with, but it's also his responsibility to take care of. But this time he convinced him to jump into the lake, climb too far up a tree, go too close to a wild animal, and it's his fault now that something terrible happened to him, and he's terrified of being told off by both their mom’s. So he just hides in the woods with him, trying to fix it and not knowing how, and just telling him that he's okay and everything will be fine, but he also feels sick with horror. His voice breaks.* But- but I'm going to fix it- I will! I'll fix it!

*He gasps as tears form in his own eyes and he curls around him. He's letting him down, he can't do anything right, he can't even get him out of this place in a city that be basically owns.* I- I'm so sorry- It's my fault. *His expression breaks down and he pulls him to his front, hooking his head over his shoulder and shaking it with guilt. He's useless. He can't even protect him from his own damn city.* I'm sorry, I'm s- so, so sorry, Edmund. I'm so sorry.

Warden: *He nuzzles against him, drying his tears on Oncie's front and pressing against him for safety until his muscles start to soften - he can't keep the effort up for very long, but he always stays hugged up in his arms. He lets out a soft hiccup when he hears that it was an accident, or a mistake, whatever it was. He can't remember how he ended up here - every memory is fuzzy and indistinct like a dream that fades faster the more he tries to grasp for it - but at least Oncie doesn't blame him. Right now that's the very final thing that matters, like the last star still burning in the sky. Everything else has failed, but Oncie is always there, and he never leaves him.*

*He doesn't quite understand when Oncie says he'll 'fix it'. He doesn't know what there is to fix, because prison is an inevitable force that can't be changed. It's like saying you'll fix a sunset. His eyes crack open again, wet eyelashes fluttering against his boyfriend's neck while his own dears don’t cease.* Hm? *The cogs try to turn again.* W-Why? *His voice is hushed, but it's still his usual loopy, lyrical lisp, with a quiver of sadness.* You're here. *That is the only thing that matters. The only thing.*

Once-ler: *Looks down at him with wet eyelashes too.* Because, well because you're still here too and I think it's my fault you are. *He sniffs and begins wiping the Warden's tears away with his hand, since he can't do it himself.* But- but like I said, I'll fix it. *He makes sure not to talk too quickly, to let the words sink in.* I'm going to take you back home, I'm going to make you feel better. It just- *he hiccups as another tear appears and he wipes it away on his shoulder,* It just won't be right now. But I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying here with you until I can make everything okay again- and then forever after that.

Warden: *He looks up at Oncie with half-lidded eyes, still tight enough in the corners that the middle-aged creases around them are visible, but more relaxed than they have been thus far. He blinks slowly when Oncie wipes his tears away, foggy from the sedatives, believing everything he says because he has no choice but to do so, and trusting him because how could he not? He knows in his heart that nobody should like him enough to be here, but Oncie is because they're in love.*

*His subconscious can't quite believe it when he's told they're going to get out of here, not because he doesn't trust Oncie but because he's never known a reality where a prison wasn't an ultimate and inescapable thing. If he was sober he'd believe him, but he can't right now. However, when he says he'll be with him forever 'after that'... something shifts. To hear that Oncie wants to be with him forever shakes up the foundations he otherwise fully believed in, and the idea that there might be a forever after this suddenly becomes plausible. His eyes widen just a little bit more - even as glassy as they are - and a smile slowly spreads across his face, welling up with hopeful, emotional, grief-stricken tears as raw feeling is able to bleed up through the sedation.* Ye... yeah? *He sounds so hopeful, and with the tone of a soldier wanting someone to keep talking to him as he bleeds out on the battlefield, his chest shuddering with emotional hiccups. Nuzzled up against him, able to feel his heartbeat and bury in his scent, looking up at him and hearing his voice - if he can't have his glasses, he can put a new barrier between himself and the rest of reality.*

Once-ler: *His heart breaks and clutches at the hope in the Warden's voice, seeing him smile makes some ray of hope bloom in him too. Nothing can stop the happiness that the Warden brings to the Once-ler when he smiles, no amount of sedatives or guilt, when the man shows that grin, shows the cute gap in his teeth and has that hope in his eyes, it can’t stop Oncie from smiling back to greet him. As his eyes well up again with painful love at the way the Warden’s overflow, he smiles a little too.* Ye-hes...* He almost sobs out silently, between his quivering, smiling lips. He sniffs, then leans in slowly, gently cups Edmunds cheek to tilt towards him, and presses his lips to his. The kiss lingers in softness, barely any pressure applied but the sentiment still clear. His arms squeeze him tenderly a little bit, and after he pulls away he gazes into his eyes and replies in a low voice.* Yes. I promise.

Warden: *He drinks in Oncie's smile like it's sunlight, fortifying him a little better and feeding that faith that everything is going to be alright. He can't envision what it might look like (which spooks him, because he has a very vivid imagination) but he believes that he'll feel better soon. Like a feedback loop, Oncie's returned smile only makes his bigger too. Then they kiss, and under the sedatives it feels like his stomach has erupted like an underwater volcano, something hot and wild and frantically desperate, dampened by a thick layer of vacuum, but unmistakeably there. It feels like he’s been kissed for the very first time, by the only person he’ll love for the rest of his life. It takes him a second to react before his lips twitch and then he's kissing back too - with a similar light pressure, but still very much a presence. Oncie is here, and Oncie loves him, he’s been saved. They draw back, and he looks up at him with utter trust, wide and glassy-eyed, but believing in him as the most powerful force of nature to exist. His eyes might be foggy, but his smile shines through for him.*

Once-ler: *Pulls away from the kiss and adores the smile on Edmunds face. He desperately needs that belief- because no-one else has ever believed in him. Strokes his thumb over his cheek as he cups his face and he gazes into his eyes, wiping away some more tears for his boyfriend. His eyebrows knot up as he blinks his own away and he sighs out sadly.* My little bunny... *Kisses his forehead again and tilts his head in concern, squinting his own eyes as if trying to stop them from being so bright, because he knows they're bright for the Warden without his glasses.* Do your eyes hurt?

Warden: *The combination of Oncie's gentle handling, the safe weight of the covers and the kind tone of his voice softens the Warden's body until he's a warm, heavy weight against his front. He still squints as he looks up into Oncie's eyes, but he doesn't want to lose him by shutting his own.* *It takes him a moment to translate the question, especially since he's still glowing over the kind and loving pet-name, but then he replies quietly,* Mmhmm... a little. *He doesn't care anymore, though. As long as his world is so small that it's only the two of them, he can survive even if they do ache.* I-it's okay.

Once-ler: *Eyebrows knot up in sympathy.* I can't get your glasses but- *Reaches up above his top hat where his sunglasses rest on his head and takes them, while also removing his hat and placing it down.* You can wear mine if it makes you more comfortable. *He helps him try them on, knowing that they're not yellow lenses so can't make anything warmer, but they are dark and so might helps soothe some of the brightness or overwhelming peripheral vision. The weight of glasses on his face might also just provide something of a placebo effect, who knows?* Does that feel better, or no?

Warden: *He watches with glassy docility as Oncie places the glasses on his face, and as darkness falls over his vision he blinks in curiosity. Then the unseen tension in his shoulders relax and the lines around his eyes soften. That feels much better - even if they still aren't right and don't make him feel like he's in his own little fantasy world, he does at least have the separation and some rest for his weak eyes.*

*He smiles up at him from behind his sunglasses, looking quite the picture in his colourless hospital clothes, restraints, and Oncie's sunglasses.* Much better. *He shuffles against him, unable to inch any closer but just wanting to feel the action of drawing nearer to him anyway.* Thank you... *He thanks him as innocently as a child knowing to be polite, but with all the love they share together.*

Once-ler: *Gently smiles when he sees that it's made him feel somewhat better.* Good~ *Leans down and kisses his forehead.* You're welcome. *His stomach squirms as he feels Edmund shift and for a moment wonders if he's uncomfortable, but then he settles against him.* They suit you. *He says with a quiet chuckle, wanting to ease some tension with a playful compliment.

Warden: *Blinks at Oncie with his own, slightly delirious, giggle. He looks up at him with endless gratitude, even just for the slight attempt at play with the compliment, because any amount of play is a good distraction away from bad feelings for the Warden.*

Once-ler: *He smiles back with depth behind his gaze. His heart then skips a beat as he thinks about saying it again, and maybe hearing it back, although he wouldn't worry if he doesn't because knows now that he's capable of it at least. His arms squeeze around him gently, lovingly and he mumbles by his ear.* I love you.

Warden: *He's so glad he's squeezed back, too. He wants that tangible sense of being as close as possible, so his senses are full with the fact that he's protected - because it's really spooky being unable to do anything to defend himself. When he hears those three words again, his body rises with a deep breath of relief and a rush of giddy - if woozy - happiness. Hearing those words still doesn't feel real, those words never applied to him before this man came along, and on some foggy level he understands that even now in all this bad feeling Oncie still wants him enough to be here and say that. Emotion rises in the back of his throat and for a moment his heart flutters. He loves him too.*

*He wants to say those words back. In the addled and muzzy confusion of the past few hours, he's not sure if he's ever been able to or not, but those are also dangerous words that might mean something very bad happens if he says them out loud. He doesn't want to bring down an axe on Oncie right when they're at their weakest, but at the same time he wants to say it so bad.* I-I... *He swallows, then quickly nods as a lump rises in his throat. Silently, he begs Oncie to understand.*

Once-ler: *His hand rises into the Warden's hair and he strokes his fingers through it. He smiles as he watches him try to reply, and doesn't force him, the fact that he's trying to is proof enough, it always has been. His stomach flutters and he leans down to press his lips against his head. He adds quietly when the Warden stops himself.* I know.

Warden: *He's so relieved to hear that Oncie doesn't need him to say it. If he did, the pressure would be too much, especially right now, and he wouldn't know what to do to make it go away. As it is, rather than struggle with the darkness, he's able to float in his arms, and even though he's far from home and can't move his body and doesn't know what to do, he's still kind of cosy. Even a little bit happy.*

*A few moments ago, he said those words because he wasn't sure if he'd ever see Oncie again, and if Oncie was getting away from him then... he was escaping, so maybe he'd hear them and wouldn't be hurt. That was the thought process, the desperation, that managed to coax those words out of him. As he clings to his soulmate's front as best he can, calmer and more aware that they're both here and both 'in danger', he isn't sure they have that freedom. A big man with an axe might enter at any moment. But somehow he still feels like Oncie might be a bigger man. He tilts his head closer to Oncie's chest and says very quietly, forcing the words forward,* A-are we safe?

Once-ler: *His hand comes round and clutches his head protectively when he feels him tilt towards his chest, and when he asks that question he opens his mouth to reply, but then a quick knock taps against the door and the sound of locks clicking with keys echoes through. His attention flicks to it and his grip tightens around Edmund, not to worry him but to make him aware he's protected. He stares towards the incoming sound like a wolf ready to pounce with sharp eyes, ready to snarl at the threat. But he suddenly remembers to collect himself.*

*The knock isn't so much of a request to enter as it is a warning someone is entering, the kind of half assed knock an aged mother gives on her teenage sons bedroom door before sweeping in to dump a pile of laundry on the bed. It's not so much of a knock and entry as it is two hard taps and the immediate creak of the metal hospital door as it sweeps open and white light floods through. An older, plumper woman enters with a younger nurse by her side. The former has been a carer for forty years, the latter didn't want to come back here alone.*

Older nurse: Evenin' Mr. Once-ler, sorry to disturb, but we've brought the overnight stuff by instruction of Dr. Zazzerzump. *She has bags under her eyes, her voice is nasally and she speaks her words with a slow drawl. She's a chunky, round figure and is the type of old nurse who has changed so many bedpans over the years that nothing disgusts or surprises her anymore. Although some patients occasionally do, including this one, but she's good at brushing it off and getting on with her job.* C'mon Lissie! *She enters further into the room holding a large roll of bedding like a lady Viking shifting a boulder. Lessie, a younger, fairly new nurse shuffles in hesitantly after her with pillows.* Do you want it assem-ba-lin' for you, Sir?

Warden: *Suddenly there's noise and voices and loud rattling, and it hits him all wrong because his brain can't process things properly right now. If he was by himself he'd panic and fear would strike and thrash him at them like a prey animal caught in a net. Flinching at and away from them somewhere between impulsive attempts to snap defensively and simply shriek from fright- or, that's what he'd think he'd be doing. In reality the sedative is too much to let him do anything shake out of fear and try to hiss. But his instincts are different now that there's someone else to take care of him, a bigger predator able to fight for him, and so that panicked, protective aggression doesn't trigger. Instead, he's just terrified and begging for rescue. He yelps at the sudden noise, and instinctively dives further against Oncie as if he were trying to dig himself into the ground. His body can be felt to begin to shake, and his hands tighten under his restraints as he grips onto himself in an automatic attempt to protect his organs. He lets out a small sound of fear and manages to dig his heel into the ground and shove himself as hard as he can into Oncie's arms, trying to hide in him like a deer hiding between the legs of a stag.*

Once-ler: *Is frowning towards the noise, but he blinks at the Warden's sudden rustling and hiding and feels his heart clutch in his chest as the same rate his hands clutch around him. His gaze snaps towards the door, now not so furious because things are more in his control and he has his soulmate back in his arms, but still protective. He assumes it's nurses returning to drop off the overnight accommodations he was promised, but Edmund doesn't have enough comprehension of what's happening to understand that's all this is. He pulls him into his front, hiding his face in his chest as he holds his hand against the back of his head and pulls their makeshift covers up a little more over him. He feels the shaking and hears the sound, and as his stomach clenches he can't help but whisper down to him that he's okay. Then he orders at the women.* No, just drop them down there and go. I'll do them myself.

Warden: *He's tense - really, really tense - as he grits his teeth and tries to block out the fact that reality is once again intruding on his world just when it was starting to arrange itself in a tiny little bubble he could kind of begin to handle. He was okay, for a second when it was just them. But the noise leaves him exposed to the real world again, to people who threaten everything about him. Even them just looking at him means he's not The Warden, which is the only thing his mind can deal with.*

*He's not sure if he'll end up bending his sunglasses with the force he's putting on them as he buries himself in Oncie's front. His arms shove, just once, in a panicked attempt to grab around his boyfriend's waist or flail at oncoming danger, but it's not strong and the jacket prevents anything from really happening. He can hear his breathing squeak, but he does at least calm a little bit when he hears Oncie talk to him. He stops his minute attempts at struggling, though his heart still flutters and he still freezes against him like a rabbit caught in an open field.*

Older Nurse: *Shrugs and drops the things on the floor. Lissie does the same, dropping down the pillows and a bag containing some overnight supplies. She grumbles on her way out barely heard.* A 'thank you' would be nice… Young men these days-

Nurse Lessie: *Nudges the older nurse and points over to the Warden. Whispers to her.* Nurse Julie, is that allowed?

Warden: *He doesn't really follow what they're saying, but he recognises the tones enough to hear when they drop the things on the floor - which makes him jump anyway - and start to leave. He begins to soften, just a little, but then they start talking again and he kicks at the ground beneath the covers and whispers Oncie's name in the smallest voice, begging him to make them go away.*

Once-ler: *He feels the pressure against him and doesn't care if his sunglasses are bent so long as they don't end up hurting the Warden himself. The kicking and the little whisper of his name only makes that anger surge up harder because now he's responding to his soulmates fear and feels anxious to defend his space. He just made a warm nest for him and they're invading it.*

Nurse Julie: *Huffs and looks over with her hand on her hips, adjusting her own glasses when she notices the new ones on the Warden.* Sir, I can't say that won't count as contraband like his own if he's-

Once-ler: *Is currently hooking his chin over the Warden's head and stroking his back with his hand under the coat and thneed. He rolls his eyes and snaps at her, the demand barked and final.* Just get out.

Warden: *Flinches at the sudden loud voice, his common sense even more inhibited with the sedatives and therefore his learned behaviour responds instinctively with a flinch to the shout of the angry man. But a split second later, he recognises the voice as his Oncie, which makes sense because the shout was very close and Oncie is hugging him right now, and that flinch immediately settles because he knows he’s being protected. Oncie is so powerful and has such a presence, he’d recognise that voice of his anywhere, it’s the voice that shows strength and makes demands around Superjail despite everything. Even in the jaws of Superjail, Oncie is still a force to be reckoned with. For some reason, that foggy thought almost makes his throat close up.*

Nurse Julie: *Rolls her eyes and shrugs as she turns and then leads Lessie out of the room.* There, that's your answer. *They close it all back up and leave them in peace.*

The Once-ler: *Once the women are gone, his attention immediately turns back to the man in his arms, even if a part of him is still watching their surroundings so that Edmund knows someone is.* Hey, hey, it's okay, they're gone. *He curls around him and rubs his lips against his head, speaking in a softer voice.* You're safe now.

Warden: *He's shaking like a leaf when the door shuts, eyes clenched shut, and realising beneath everything that he's in a really, really bad place, and that for him to be in this really bad place, something really has gone wrong. A certain existential understanding falls over him, but he doesn't have the processing power to handle it. He's actually in trouble. This is a situation that might not just go away like a sickness or a nightmare, but this might mean his life has really changed permanently. His eyes fly open and he looks up at Oncie like he's desperate to see something other than the terrible world he's landed himself in, and he whispers the word that signals that he wants everything to stop. His white flag, his safe-word, the sign that he wants to be in his bed now, and for the ride to stop so he can get off.* I'm sorry. *His voice is barely audible, but his expression is a mask of anguish. He pants with the appearance of falling into a pain-induced panic.* I'm so sorry.

Once-ler: *The shaking only makes him grip harder, as if it might keep him stable, especially at the way Edmund tries to hug for him but just can't. All he can do is hold him back with more strength, and at the least it keeps him warm so the chill doesn't make the shaking worse. Then he feels him lift his head and so he looks back down to him, and that expression of complete, traumatised surrender breaks his heart so hard that it makes him gasp out loud. Then those words come, and he loses his own. He doesn't know what to say, he feels his tongue go cold with a kind of horrified nausea. He shakes his head, eyes wide with knotted eyebrows as he gazes into his eyes and tries to just understand what he means.*

*Something in his expression, in his eyes, is telling him and he thinks he might just see the existential anguish in them. He just wants it to stop, he knows he's been bad - because he's in a bad place, and that's how he knows it works - but he doesn't quite know or remember what he's done. But he feels it, and he'll just apologise for anything, to anyone, to hope it might make the pain go away, that it might stop the punishment. When has he ever offered that grace to anyone himself? Maybe he doesn't even know it's an option, which makes this even more devastating if it's just a broken last cry for help that he knows is hopeless. Nevertheless, what he begs for is a thing that, in his childhood and world view, has always been nothing but an inconceivable idea that’s as real as the Easter bunny. That thing is mercy.*

*He sighs out a shuddering pained breath and cups his face gently with his hand.* Ohh... Bunny... *He swallows, feeling a small lump in his throat. He can only think of one thing to say, whether or not it's appropriate to come from him. None of this seems personal, none of it seems specific, it's all just highly emotional and much like Edmund will say anything to make the punishment end, Oncie will say whatever he needs to hear to ease him in this moment.* I forgive you. *He pulls him into his shoulder and curls around him, his knees coming up even more to cradle him.* You're forgiven. I can't make the bad things stop right now but I can promise you that you're not in trouble, not with me. You were never in trouble with me. *He kisses the side of his head a few times* And I'm staying here, and as long as I'm here with you, you're in a place where you're not in danger, you're not in trouble and you're not being punished, even if you're upset and hurting.

Warden: *His wide eyes stare up through the sunglasses and lock onto Oncie's, desperate for them. When his hand cups his face, he tilts into it so that his cheek is slightly smushed by his palm, a sliver of his teeth visible between parted lips, and big, terrified eyes filling with tears. When Oncie says those words, for a moment his world stops. His eyes can't pull any wider, but his breath pauses and something settles deep down in him - the little motor that had been driving him to higher and higher panic, telling him that he was in trouble and to run. When he hears that he's forgiven, it starts to very carefully melt down.*

*He's pulled in, and again he tries to hard to hug back but the best he can do is press against him and nuzzle into his warm embrace. His eyes don't shut but they do tighten as tears fall again, and he watches Oncie from the hug like he doesn't dare turn away and find out that he's a figment of a dream. He hears Oncie tell him that he's not in trouble, that he's never been in trouble with Oncie, and that he's going to stay here. That he's not in danger and he's not going to be hurt even though he doesn't feel good. A little bleat splutters out of him as he absorbs those kisses, needing them so badly.*

*'Forgiveness' has never been a word in the Warden's vocabulary. In day-to-day life, sure, he'll forgive a slight. He'll forgive his friends for mistakes and accidents, or deliberately pretend they don't hate him if they do something that hurts, but that's not mercy. Mercy is different. He's never once granted mercy to a prisoner without an ulterior motive. The only other time he ever showed mercy was when he dared to feed that puppy, and they both know what happened after that. Justice and mercy are two sides of the same coin, but he's never flipped his over. His father never flipped it over either - all he's ever known is black-and-white punishment for crimes. Mercy is ‘cheating’, as his Father would think. But he's so scared, and he'd do anything to make the fear go away. He'll cheat if he has to, not realising that he's not 'cheating', but genuinely crying out for help because his mind and sanity are still fighting for a shred of survival and he’s too small and weak to do it himself. His whisper of those words might as well be a scream from a burning building.*

Once-ler: *He doesn't realise that what the Warden’s psychology really reads is him granting him mercy, although that is the truth to what Oncie is offering him. Because as Edmund begs the universe for mercy in his moment of pain, the universe has granted it to him in the form of The Once-ler. Out of everything around him, this is the kind offering, the acceptance of the white flag, the hearing of the safe word and the offer to help cease the pain. That doesn't mean he can change the rest of his situation, but one corner of this situation is merciful. He does consciously know forgiveness however. He knows guilt and he knows how much freedom forgiveness can bring a person, because he knows that he himself would still be in a terrible place had the Lorax not forgiven him for all he'd done.*

Warden: *After a moment, he gives a pitiful nod. With a wet, little laugh he nuzzles his nose into his neck. He's still scared, but as Oncie insists on those promises, the dread begins to lift. He plants a gentle kiss against him.*

The Once-ler: *That lump in his throat grows as he sees the Warden's reaction, but he stays strong, his stomach flutters at the gentle kiss against him and he bundles him up in a little squirm. They couldn't be closer but he still wants him to feel cuddled.* You're safe, Edmund, it's just you and me, and nothing can hurt you when I'm with you. *His voice is low and soft and he kisses his head again.* I love you. *He pulls back just enough to look at him and cup his face, he smiles softly, wiping a tear from his cheek with his thumb.* And in a moment I'm going to wrap us up in that soft blanket, lie us down in the pillows, and we're going to cuddle up together all night. Now that doesn't sound much like punishment, huh?

Warden: *The fear leaves him in layers, each one peeling away or falling to dust, one-by-one as Oncie handles him so tenderly. The existential dread leaves him first, as Oncie promises him that he's not in trouble and reminds him that even if he's uncomfortable, he's not going to be harmed by anyone so long as he's here. Beneath that is an animal tension, ready to spring and try to run or try to defend himself, or cry for help as his instincts prepare for a wolf attack. He's so vulnerable, and he knows it, that he's been flooding himself with adrenaline that's been battling the sedatives in his bloodstream for what must be hours. As he's cuddled up and as Oncie gives him a warm place to curl, as he kisses him and cups his face and says he'll always protect him, that slowly falls away as well.*

*Soon he's left only with the fear at the very bottom of it all, that will probably not go away until they get out of this place. That fear is manageable - it's just an undercurrent of knowledge that he hasn't got his shield and that life is scary and that he's not in Superjail anymore, and that can be carried so long as he's not left by himself. As long as Oncie is handling everything else, he can handle that.*

*It takes him a second for Oncie's words to sink through the fog, but then he nods with a weary, relieved smile, even a little chuckle in his voice.* Mmhmm~ *The smile pushes a final tear down his cheek and over Oncie's thumb, and he blushes ever-so-slightly pink when he's told that he loves him. Soft blankets and a warm bed sound very good right about now.*

Once-ler: *Lets out a soft, loving hum of laughter that's only just audible. His own chest doesn't feel quite as panicked anymore even though he still wants to get Edmund out of here as fast as possible. He's accepted what he can't change and is focusing in what he can control, and now that he can tell his boyfriend's heart rate is calming down, his own is relaxing too and becomes a calm thud against Edmund's front. A hand slides into his hair and he pulls him gently down under his chin and rests his lips against his head as he softly draws his fingertips through his hair in rhythmic circles. He loves him, more than anything in the world, he loves him, so even if Edmund couldn't be released in some ridiculous universe where the Once-ler doesn't get what he wants, he'd stay here in this room with him for an eternity. He whispers.* We'll stay here a moment and then I'll sort the bed out, okay? *He kisses his head, and just so soothe him a little more, he starts to slowly hum a little jingle he once made up about Thneeds and how everybody needs one.*

Warden: *His eyes close as Oncie's hand slides into his hair, his senses still trying to be alert for danger but failing as a sense of comfort, of utter relief, overwhelms him. He curls up under his partner's chin as he's guided, and a few more tears fall down his face - healing tears after a long day fraught with terror, rather than the cry for help they were before. He makes a soft sound that he understands, when Oncie tells him he'll move in a moment to get things sorted, and the softest, most musical little laugh escapes him when he hears that jingle. If he's playing, they really must be okay.*

*The fear fades as his world becomes encapsulated in the Once-ler's arms, and the emotions rush in slowly but surely, like an avalanche of honey. He adores this man. He needs him more than he has ever needed anything else, because he's saving him - not just protecting him like his glasses or his prison. His lips quiver with just how intensely and just how truly those emotions hit, and after a moment he pushes his face into Oncie's neck to whisper words that would normally be so terrifying but right now feel like the only things that matter.* I-I... *His voice is so quiet, not wanting the universe to hear his confession of guilt and weakness, because these words were always treated like that's what they were. But if Oncie has the power to make even mercy exist, then maybe he’s right, maybe his Father was also wrong about those three words. He said them already, in a fit of desperation that he only half-understands, but he says them now like it's a secret he's privileged to keep.* …*He takes a soft, deep breath and pushes himself harder into his arms.* I-I love you...

Once-ler: *He's happily curled around his boyfriend, loving the way he nestles into his neck and starts to calm down. When he starts to speak, he thinks he's about to try and ask or say something else; it's only when he actually says the words that it surprises him.*

*He wasn't expecting to hear the response, but he realises that Edmund finally feels safe enough to say it, because he's here with him. His chest clutches, time slows down again and he feels a lump in his throat that makes emotional, incredulous tears appear in his eyes again. He sniffs and lets out a quiet breath of laughter, grinning from ear to ear. His heart can be felt racing, hammering in his chest with a rush of joy and excitement despite the terrible circumstances they're in. This could be the most happiest he's felt in a long time, despite them both being in the most awful nightmare, all because he adores this man more than life itself and the man has the courage to tell him the same, finally. He sniffs and leans in, nuzzling his nose just under his cheek to gently tilt his face like a kind, larger animal shifting a smaller one.* I love you too, Bunny.

*He meets his lips and they press together, his own parting slightly and softly to linger against his with a few nuzzling smooches, as his arms squeeze around him with the same strength of push that Edmund presses into him. He doesn't overwhelm him, but he does consume his meekness with affection and adoration, surrounding him with his arms and capturing his lips like a flurry of flowers blooming against his skin. He tilts his head into it and lets out a soft sigh as a tear rolls down his cheek. As he pulls away he gazes into the Warden's eyes, the pair of them both tear-filled over their love for each other and he smiles. He grins and whispers* I love you too.

Warden: *It takes a moment, but when Oncie kisses him his lips respond in kind, his heart beating like a fluttering bird in the cage of his ribs, and his cheeks blooming with more colour. They part just a little bit and brush against him, as slow and earnest as a leaf bending for the sun. He bends with the gentle, primal nudge of his face, and dares to crack open his eyes to gaze up at him. The corners of his mouth weakly pull into a broad smile, all the more quavering but all the happier when they're said to him again.*

*He's so happy to hear those words returned, because even though he's certain of their love, he isn't certain about those words, and there's always a chance that they could magically make everything terrible if he's heard to say them out loud. Oncie's voice, however, is bigger than his is, and it's like he drowns out all the threats and dangers that start to clamour for his mind the moment he says the same thing.*

The Once-ler: *The Once-ler closes his eyes and pulls Edmund under his chin again, he begins pressing repeated kisses into his head and around his face, slowly and softly so he's not overwhelmed, but showering him in love still, and holding him like he's the most valuable thing the Once-ler has ever worked so hard to earn. And then, he rests his cheek on his head, safely tucked under his chin, within the warm comfort of his makeshift covers. They rest in the moment, they can face the world again together tomorrow, right now, all that matters is that they’re back together and nothing will pull the Once-ler’s greatest treasure from his greedy, loving hands.*

Warden: *He closes his eyes as he's tucked under Oncie's chin, his whole body melting against him, relying on him entirely to bear his weight. That is, until Oncie starts to push those gentle kisses into his head and face, his drugged senses reading that movement as he would a flurry of kisses if he were at his best. His feet give a very weak and heavy kick of delight as a breathy, lyrical laugh falls from him, delighted at so much fuss and adoration. The Once-ler came back for him, and that’s the only thing that matters. He's loved, and he loves, and even though everything seems to have gone wrong, and even though the whole world seems to hate him right now, and even though the loud, angry, scary voice in his head would disagree, that love is the only thing that matters.*

[milevenstancyendgame]

i NEED to hear your thoughts on this:

Yeah, it seems like sending links isn't allowed in asks, which sucks.:/

I'm flattered you're asking for my opinion.🙃 I chose not to check out the post you described (turns out I already have that blog blocked, for good reasons I think.😂), because I really don't want to waste my energy on B/ler bs. I see red every now and then, but it's best for my mental health to ignore them as much as possible. Thankfully blocking tags/content/blogs works quite well here (though sadly there are loop holes of course). Not allowing anonymous questions helps too.

BUT I can offer a *little psychological analysis of the dominant B/ler culture on here. *Sits down by the fire place and plucks lyre*

*This got waaaay longer than planned, so get comfy, lol.😆 Turned into my manifesto or something. So might as well give it a fancy title.✨

B/ler Shippers And Narcissism

As we know, every Tumblr fandom has its fanon ships, and sometimes those ships become a mass phenomenon (usually it's m/m ships, though sometimes it's also other ships that become huge, like Zutara from ATLA for example). Sociologists, where are you? It's such an interesting phenomenon, especially the demographics of it.

ANY way, I never was as directly involved in and impacted by a ship war as much as in the ST fandom, so I can't compare. But one very disturbing thing I noticed within the B/ler fandom, is the amount of narcissism I see.

Now this is the moment for my disclaimer, because I don't want to generalise. I'm sure there are normal, nice B/ler shippers, but those stay out of the Mileven tag. I don't know how the algorithm of the "For you" suggestions works, but in my experience (and from what I heard also of others), engaging with ANY ST-content will fill it with B/ler posts. Which is why I stay out of there, and the same counts for any ST tag, tbh. And the vast majority of all those B/ler posts were full of Mileven hate, Mike hate, and even Eleven hate.

That's why I want to be clear that I'm talking about the B/ler fandom as I've experienced it. Take that with a grain of salt and don't come "Not ALL B/lers!"-ing at me.😂

Okay, with that out of the way, let's start. The way I see it, there are two ways of shipping B/ler:

1) You start watching the show. You like Will and Mike. You see that they are close friends. You romanticise their relationship (encouraged by Will's hinted at homosexuality in early seasons, or not). You create your fanon version of Mike, who loves Will back. You enjoy your fanon and prefer it over canon. The end.

There's obviously nothing wrong with that and that's the blueprint for most of fanon. I have my fanon ships too, or characters that I like, while I dislike canon or the whole franchise. But the thing with B/ler is that the majority of fans seem to have caught rabies. For them, it's more like this:

2) You start watching the show. You like Will. You see that Will is close friends with Mike. You romanticise their relationship (encouraged by Will's hinted at homosexuality in early seasons, or not). You create your fanon version of Mike, who loves Will back. You think your fanon is canon. You preach it and call yourself a "truther". You try to convert other people. You bully Mileven shippers. You hate Mike, but want him to be together with Will. You drag the actors into your fanon.

This type of B/ler shipper is remarkably like a narcissist (in an abusive relationship, or a cult leader, or megalomaniac politician. The world is full of them.)

We got:

Delusion

"Mike is gay and in love with Will 100%." Fact remains that there is not even a hint for this in the show, nor writer/actor/director hints. To claim that the exact opposite is true, is a complete rejection of canon and replacing it with fanon.

Inability to doubt and self-reflect

When someone refuses to admit an external reality, it's because they can't deal with their internal reality. Like for many of us, their ship has a deep personal meaning to them and they are attached to it. But they are incapable of even entertaining the thought that Will and Mike might not end up together in s5. Let alone that Mike is actually not in love with Will, nor ever was. Letting in that doubt would be too painful. It would mean that they were wrong. They would feel ashamed. They would feel betrayed.

Now I would say that I'm 99% sure that Mileven will be endgame, but I leave room for that 1% of doubt, because I simply don't know. I haven't read the script of s5. I haven't written it. I don't control the writers and runners of the show. I am human and I can err in my expectations and assumptions about others and their actions. We all do, but some people just can't deal with this truth, so they completely disconnect from it, and just act like they can't be wrong.

Hostility/Polarisation

Since upholding the delusion of a B/ler reality is EVERYTHING, people who doubt or negate it, are a menace. They need to be controlled. How do we do this? By shaming them, of course. B/lers mostly draw from the scapegoating palette of the universal abuser's tool box:

-Name calling (M/lkvan, and I've seen others) -Accusations/Gaslighting -Provocation -Criticism -Slander/gossip -Mockery/humiliation -Personal attacks -Invasion/hijacking of personal space (coughthemileventagcough)

By doing that, they have achieved to drive a great amount of Mileven shippers from Tumblr (I don't blame those who left at all). That way, the voices who are opposing their delusion become less and less, which is how they think things should be.

Contradictions/Making No Sense

Another thing that is true for all narcissists, is that they create an Upside Down version of reality (pun not intended, but it's fitting).

Since they believe in a delusion, they obviously don't have logic on their side. They have to change the goal posts all the time (classic narcissist behaviour) and will argue that blue is red. We got a ton of examples for this:

-Some say they love Eleven. They say they are feminist. Contradiction: They use Eleven to "prove" their point. They say she's ugly and looks like a boy. They say she needs to be independent, which means to break up with Mike (???). They say she's stupid/other ableist insults. They patronise/infantilise her.

-The above-mentioned user said Mileven shippers don't appreciate Mike. Contradiction: B/lers make up the vast majority of Mike haters. They say he abuses Eleven. They say he abuses Will. They say he abuses Lucas and Dustin. They say he abuses Max. They make everything he ever said and did about how he secretly loves Will or how he secretly doesn't love Eleven. They aren't even able to see the character Mike as he exists in the show.

-Some say Mike babies Eleven. Contradiction: They also say Mike puts her on a pedestal.

-Some say to ship Mileven is homophobic. Contradiction: They fetishise Will and Mike. They objectify Mike and turn him into a trophy for Will.

-And of course: They say Mike loves Will. Contradiction: There's no evidence for this.

And then there is just plain insanity, like:

-The "When blue and yellow meet in the west"-part of the Russian code is actually about B/ler

-The colours of Mike's s5 sweater represent the bisexuality flag

-The light!!!!

-Once I saw a B/ler claim that a riddle from ST promo contained a hint about B/ler. I asked them for more info and checked it out. But when I told them that I thought there were other possible solutions to that riddle, they shut down and simply insisted that their interpretation was the only truth and they were being queerbaited.🫡

💩

What I also find noteworthy is how above-mentioned user said that it's not just Mileven shippers who don't appreciate Mike, but also the GA - which I think stands for general audience? Because that's another classic narcissistic move to puff up their ego - claiming that they are the only one who has some sort of deeper insight into something or someone. It's not just arrogant, it's another wonderful upside down example, because the truth is that they don't even have a basic, superficial understanding of reality (like I said, that can't see Mike).

Projection/Gaslighting

Everyone does a bit of this, especially insecure people. But since this type of B/ler shipper we're talking about, is extremely insecure AND isn't capable of self-awareness, it runs rampant.

To project onto someone means to place feelings, behaviours, or attitudes onto them which you hold yourself (good, bad, neutral). Gaslighting is a form of projecting, which means to accuse someone of your own flaws and wrongdoings, in order to undermine their status/credibility and make them question their own perception/reality.

I already listed this among the shaming tactics, but wanted to point it out in particular, because it's so fitting to what you described. Saying that Mileven shippers and the GA don't appreciate Mike (probably because they don't understand him?) is such a perfect example of projecting AND gaslighting. Because, like I said, no one hates Mike Wheeler like the majority of B/ler shippers, lol.

So saying this serves so many purposes:

-Distracting from B/ler hate of Mike -Discrediting Mileven shippers to other B/ler shippers and possibly non-shippers -Shaming Mileven shippers who read the post -Possibly converting non-shippers and Mileven shippers (haven't read the post, but this definitely happens too) -Setting up B/ler shippers as some sort of "chosen group" that has exclusive insight into Mike's character (the irony!).🤣😂🤣

I mean, again, I didn't read the post, but to me it sounds quite like a little dictator right there.😆 Yes, it's "only" shipping, but it's definitely toxic and purposefully hateful as hell. And after all a fandom is like a mini-society. A group of people who inhabit the same social space.

So, in conclusion - the more I see and hear of B/ler shippers, the more I become convinced that this ship attracts mainly narcissistic and otherwise toxic people, who need a delusion to cling to and an excuse to abuse others. I didn't want to say it before, because it seems incredible for something as harmless as a fictional ship, and like I said, I don't want to generalise or demonise people. But the glass is full and this was the last drop.😬 My experience of 95% of B/ler shippers is as described above, and it is what it is. Someone needed to say it.

[justaticklishdeer]

Tickle hcs for hazbin!

CW/TW: This has lots of sadomasochism and implied CNC (all SFW though!)

(characters included: Charlie, Alastor, The Vees (all 3), Husker, and Lucifer)

tickle rants/fic ideas and inspo stuff (Feel free to add on stuff and/or use these!) 

Rosie and Alastor. Come on lets get some potential in here, she’d totally do intense tk sessions with him. She isn’t stopping until he safewords. He may be scared, yes, but he gave her full permission + consent to do it. (We could honestly go for a CNC vibe!) Rosie is ruthless with tickles, and isn’t really too shy when it comes to lees. She knows their boundaries + limits, and is careful when pushing a lee past the limit. Rosie also owns a voodoo doll of Alastor. But other sessions can be all fluffy and sickening sweet! Soft tickles, teasing little petnames and nicknames (are those the same thing?), gentle pokes and prods. Rosie def knows how to melt a lee, (again, looking at you Alastor,) and loves seeing them be all fluffy and sweet with her.

Vox and Alastor. Alastor is probably more a 50/50 switch with this one, Vox the same. In my opinion, Alastor totally fear chases Vox down all too often for tickle sessions. Knife play isn’t uncommon. CNC is also probably in this one too! I def think Vox would be super teasy with words and tickles when he’s wrecking Alastor. He probably loves doing anticipation stuff–casual pokes and prods when in front of people, little innocent teases, and this could go on for hours on end until Alastor finally just begs Vox to wreck him. When Alastor is tickling Vox, I feel like he’d be on the more sadistic side of things. Ticklish nibbles/bites, claws (he has claws!!!), he’d probably use his tendrils when tickling him. Both can be fluffy one second and wildly sadomasochistic the next. To me its a 50/50.

Vox, Velvette, and Val. They are def on the more sadomasochistic side of things. I feel like Vox and Val are the main lees in the trio, Vel being the ler in most situations. She isn’t afraid to make her lees cry. Val and/or Vox could be crying and begging her to stop, but she isn’t going to. There’s a reason a safeword is set in place. She knows how much they can take + when they’re actually done. I think Velvette would be the one who would do tickle sessions for hours on end. Occasionally she’ll have/let Vox help with wrecking Val and pushing him past limits. They’re sadomasochists, and Vel would totally record sessions.

Val and Alastor (not my most common lee/ler thingy for me). I feel like its a 50/50 here. Alastor enjoys seeing Valentino sob from being tickled. he doesnt like Val that much anyway, so seeing him in pain brings out that sadistic side. Alastor isn’t too kind when it comes to tickles for Val. Val is kind of the same way. He would defninetly trick/force Alastor into drinking a potion that increases ticklish sensations. The poor deer will be thrashing and begging before Val even touches him. And when it actually does start, Alastor probably will be crying within the first five to ten minutes. But then again, safeword is in place. Both demons are sadomasochists. 

Velvette and Alastor. (Personal preferences for female lees have me saying Alastor is the lee in all situations). Velvette enjoys recording tickle sessions. She knows how sadomasochistic Alastor is so purposely does things to rile him up (anticipation, tapping her fingers up his back/sides/etc, talking about tickles in front of him.) When it’s time for the actual session, he’s essentially shaking from wanting the tickles so badly. He does but up a front of saying he doesnt want them until Vel forces him into saying he wants the tickles. He doesnt like the fact that she records it, but he cant really stop her.

Alastor and Husker. 50/50 switch again. Alastor loves doing fear chases with the soul he owns. Seeing the cat sprint away and try to hide while he’s calmly and slowly chasing him down is everything to him. He can sense the fear in Husker which makes it better. Husk enjoys the fear chases but would never say it. Alastor does own a voodoo doll of Husk. When Husk is tickling Alastor, he often has to chain him down so he isn’t thrashing all pver the place. Alastor likes to feel like he’s still in control. so he tells Husk what/where he can tickle and how much. Both demons enjoy the tickles, Alastor moreso than Husk. Husk can/will make cat noises when tickled. 

Charlie and Alastor. (again with my female lee stuff, Charlie isn’t a lee here.) Charlie I think is more soft tickles with Alastor. She enjoys just melting the deer with soft tickles. Charlie also enjoys seeing him start to whine and giggle for more. She loves teasing him, but I think she wouldn’t be too cruel with him. Alastor does tease her through the tickles too, because of the whole wanting to feel in control thing. 

Lucifer and Alastor. Lucifer is more the lee with these two. Alastor enjoys doing soft and rough tickles with Lucifer. He loves to see his rival/partner reduced to an absolute laughing mess from tickles. One way he loved to rile Lucifer up is to drag a hand/tendril down Lucifer’s back to make all six wings flare out, then being all innocent snd pretending it wasn’t him. Lucifer does get Alastor back, although more ruthless. Lucifer’s weak spot may be his wings, but god do angelic feathers work hellish wonders as tickle tools. He slips a wing or two underneath Alastor’s clothes to get right up against the fluffy deer. It tickles like hell. Overall, Alastor loves it.

wowowowow i went overboard lol enjoy!!

[mah-t-wordblog]

hi mah 😊 If requests are open, I have an idea I'd love to share with you! 🫶 may I please request ler!Tetsuido and lee!Muichiro? I dont think I've seen any tickle fics with Tetsuido, if I'm not mistaken, so this should be the first 🤩🎉

Tetsuido's relationship with Muichiro is so deeply meaningful and sad at the same time... I feel like Tetsuido is such an underrated character yet he was one of the very few characters who truly cared about Muichiro. He saw through Mui's facade. Tetsuido was worried about not only Muichiro's amnesia problem but his mental state as well, and how he was actually struggling with all his problems. Its sad that he was such a tough (but gentle!) looking old man yet the sight of the sword he made for child soldier Muichiro brought tears to his eyes 💔 its even sadder that he passed on still worrying about Muichiro while Mui didnt even acknowledge or bother about Tetsuido's care for him, until he got his memories back but it was too late by then 💔

The idea: Mui arrived at the swordsmith village to pick up a new sword from Tetsuido, and he's looking even more lost and anxious from when Tetsuido last saw him. He barely even remembers who Tetsuido is, until Tetsuido had to remind him! Muichiro visibly gets a bit frustrated at his memory problems, frustrated about forgetting something as important as his own swordsmith, and his aloof and tough facade cracks just a bit... but this crack is more than enough for Tetsuido's knowing eyes to notice, and it breaks Tetsuido's heart to see him suffocating alone under all his burdens. So Tetsuido tries to lighten the mood with some tickle therapy 🥹 he goes for alllll his tickle spots and weak points. He tries his best to make Muichiro smile and laugh, so that he can at least have some breathing space and live as a carefree child... even if its just for a short moment, its more than enough to relieve Mui from some of his stress and worries.

Muichiro would probably forget about this time spent with Tetsuido when he leaves the village, but at least he'll be leaving feeling a little bit lighter... and that's an outcome that will further lighten Tetsuido's aching heart.

Thank you for your time 💝 I'm sorry for writing such a long request haha 😭 its also a bit more on the angst side but we have some fluff at the end to save the day too ��✨️ please do not hesitate to decline my request for whatever the reason may be, its alright 😊 hope you have a wonderful day or evening!

Affective memory

Ler: Tetsuido

Lee: Muichiro Tokito

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Ships: NONE

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

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

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Muichiro saw a man and decided to get information from him

“Excuse me, do you know where I can find the blacksmith Tetsuido?”

The man, who looked older, sighed.

“Why do you want to talk to him?”

“I need a new sword”

The old man looked deeply at Muichiro

“Has he been your blacksmith for a long time?”

“I… I'm sorry I don't remember…”

The boy continued with a blank expression

“Muichiro, it’s me” the man raised a hand and held the boy’s hand “I’m Tetsuido”

Muichiro's eyes widened.

"Sir! Ah, I'm sorry sir... I don't... I can't remember..." the boy covered his face with his hands "I didn't want to forget you, sir"

“Come here, my kid” Tetsuido called him for a hug “has your amnesia gotten worse?”

“Yes, I hate this fucking disease.”

“I haven’t seen you in a while, Muichiro, tell me how you’ve been”

Muichiro told, he said that his memory was getting shorter and shorter and his emotions were getting smaller, he didn't feel like eating or sleeping, he just fought as if he was a robot

“You shouldn't hate yourself for that, of course not” Tetsuido passed a hand over the boy's face

“I hate myself” Muichiro looked away

“Kid, it’s not your fault”

“I can’t even remember you, what the fuck do I have in my head?”

"Calm down…"

“I can’t even remember why I’m like this…”

“Muichiro, listen to me”

Tetsuido interrupted Muichiro's rude words about himself, the old man had already known the boy long enough to know that he had bouts of anxiety and stress sometimes, and there were measures that needed to be taken to calm the boy down.

“Muichiro, you know I want to help you, don’t you?”

He gestured yes with his head

“So let me help in a way that I know will make you better, okay?”

The old man stretched out his hands and grabbed the waist of the boy standing in front of him.

"Hey! Why like this?” Muichiro laughed a little

“Because affective memories like touch and objects are good for unlocking more important ones, and you need to smile a little, don’t you?”

The boy's eyes widened when he felt the initial chill of the tickle rise through his body, he can't remember whether Mr. Tetsuido had tickled him several times before, but he knows he's afraid of what he might do.

It all started with calm squeezes on his waist, but Muichiro was too sensitive and that already made him laugh.

“You can laugh”

The boy was holding back laughter

“Pff- nohohohoho!”

"Let's go! Laugh! How can you forget me? It makes me want to punish you, boy~”

“Sihihihir pleheAHSHEHEHE” the hands started to move around the boy’s belly

Muichiro forced himself to remain standing because he knew that if he fell to the ground the old man wouldn't be able to continue tickling, and he didn't want him to stop...

“Does this give you good feelings? Does it remind you of me?”

“AHAHAHA YEHEHEHEHEHES”

"Do you like it?"

Muichiro hid his face with his hands

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, kid, you’re just a child, you need to play, have you never seen anyone like you playing like that?” Tetsuido moved one of the hands that hid the boy's face.

Muichiro had already seen tickle fights between hashiras a few times, if even people with such important roles can laugh a little, why can't he too? After all, he is a hashira too…

“PLEHEHEHEASHEHE ANOHOHOTHEHER SPOHOHOHOT”

"Why? You like that spot” Tetsuido said this with certainty, it wasn't to provoke the boy (although it worked for that too)

Muichiro started to have a little tears in his eyes, so Tetsuido stopped

"Até you ok?"

The tears didn't stop in Muichiro's eyes

“Y-yeah, I just… I think I have memories of something like that.”

“You just don’t know what it is, do you?”

He agreed

“See, I told you that affective touch memory works very well”

Muichiro smiled “thank you sir”

Tetsuido raised his blacksmith mask a little and showed a smile to the boy “you don’t need to thank me”

The old man got up

“Now come, let’s get your sword”

Muichiro got up and accompanied Tetsuido, he just had to be grateful that this man always cared so much about his well-being, he was special

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜❤️🧡

Thanks 🫶🥰

[guppygiggles]

I know I gush a lot about lee!Avery, but, the thing is... I think about ler!Avery a lot, too.

Gosh, the way he thinks tickling is so fascinating, and also so much fun...

The way he gets excited and a bit mischievous at the prospect of tickling someone, and then that eagerness turns quickly into sly teasing, because he is so playful... And there's nothing he loves more than making his friends happy and giggly, in any way he can...

He's practically made for tickling, too... with his scientific attitude and skillful, soft fingers. Since tickling doesn't exist in Cirropa (Cirropians have a unique way of touching each other, which I'll expand on later), it's a relatively new concept for him, which makes it all the more intriguing. Plus, he's especially fascinated by humans who enjoy it... it's so endearing for him that the delicate, warm, soft humans he delights to observe would take pleasure in being made to laugh that way... That they enjoy laughing just like he does, despite being so physiologically different, and they have such a special and unique way to experience it...

It's not just a flash in the pan for him, either. Tickling -- human play -- is a game, and one that he wants to not just learn, but be good at. It intrigues him that humans are not all ticklish in the same places, and though he's interested in finding your most ticklish spots, he's also interested in finding the spots you enjoy the most. Your enjoyment and comfort with being tickled by him is his utmost priority, so he's very invested in making the session as fun for you as possible. He holds a certain reverence for humans... he feels honored to be allowed to tickle you, that a human would trust him enough to be so vulnerable... to allow him to exploit that vulnerability through tickling. Though he does want to learn and understand all he can about tickling, teasing, and how it affects different people, that scientific curiosity never comes at your expense. He also knows that you are weaker and much more fragile than he is, and he will handle you with tender, expert care.

Playing right into his curiosity, is his fascination with humans in general, particularly how they are unique and different from each other... which means he genuinely gets excited to tickle people with all different body types and dispositions, and delights in learning how different personalities and bodies react to his tickling. Particularly interesting to him is shyness; he finds it adorable that it's often the shyest, most bashful humans who enjoy tickling the most... generally, they are also outrageously ticklish, and particularly enjoy his gentle brand of teasing.

If Avery cares about you, he will be particularly tender. If he loves you or considers you a friend -- which, frankly, is an incredibly low bar, since he already loves humans as a whole, he has a huge heart, and loves to make friends -- he will all but dote on you as he tickles you. He will respect anyone he is tickling no matter what, but if you're his friend, he will be particularly invested in gently pushing your buttons, making you blush, and trying to heighten your enjoyment as much as he can. He considers every chance at tickling you an opportunity for him to learn something new, whether it's a new spot, a particularly effective technique, or a certain combination of words that makes you uncontrollably flustered. The better he can make the session for you, the better it is for him.

The sweetest, most charming part of all this, is... though Avery would naturally be curious about tickling, anyway... It holds so much significance to him because of how important it is to Casper. He wants to understand tickling and teasing on the deepest level possible, not just for scientific reasons, but because he wants to share it with his partner and their friends.

God, I could go on and on...

[inneedofsupervision]

who do you think Peters favourite ler is and why

Oh, that's a very interesting question! I hope you don't mind me going deep for this one. 

If we include people outside the Avengers, my first choice would be Ned.

Now, one could argue that with the potential of Peter accidentally hurting Ned if the latter tried tickling him, the whole thing could be stressful and not fun.

That's the part where it gets interesting.

The thing about Ned tickling Peter is that he knows exactly what drives his friend up the wall. He can predict his reaction pretty well, knowing that it's safer to dig into Peter's underarms when the latter has his back turned to him or lies under him, pinned on the couch or a bed. He is aware of the flailing of arms that follows if you go from Peter's stomach to his ribs without a pause, as Peter cannot hold in his flight reaction when two of his worst spots get attacked one after another, so he goes for his knees instead.

It's a technique he had mastered before the spider bite. It's a well-practiced method to keep his friend's occasional sass at bay but Ned never takes it too far, mindful of Peter's asthma. Imagine his surprise that the same technique would be the safest way to mess with Peter after he became strong enough to catch a school bus with bare hands. Ned had mastered the way of wrecking the heck out of his friend by keeping a balance with the intensity, knowing to read his friend's reactions. 

Peter, on the other hand, loves and hates Ned for the way he tickles him. He sometimes feels like an idiot at how quickly his friend sent him to the floor into a giggly heap, squirming from side to side. At the same time, he can't deny he's having fun, and he would never admit it out loud, but it kinda relaxes him.

He doesn't have to hold back his reaction, doesn't have to muffle his crazy giggling in a pillow, or hide his reddened face behind his hands because this is Ned. The other teen has seen him during some of his dumbest and most embarrassing moments, laughing his head off in front of him barely counts as embarrassing anymore. That, paired with the knowledge that Ned wouldn't turn the tickling too far, adds to it being fun and relaxing as Peter can trust his best friend to avoid overwhelming him and drive him into accidentally hurting him.

Now, with the Avengers it's a little different. They know him well but not as well as Ned, so sometimes Peter's afraid to hurt one of them, especially the non-enhanced people on the team. Clint can be pretty ruthless at times, same as Sam and sometimes Natasha when provoked. At those times, Peter simply flees the scene.

Mr. Stark is better at reading him, but his mentor keeps it to some light tickles, which Peter is grateful for because the last thing he wants is to hurt Mr. Stark. That leaves Peter with the other enhanced individuals, and while they are having movie nights and team bonding and all that stuff, Peter sometimes cannot help but feel silly showing this side in front of Steve. With Bucky, it's easier and pretty fun but Peter's favorite whom he will never tell anybody about cause the teasing would be endless and Mr. Stark would for some weird reason feel jealous, is Thor. 

Yes, Thor. God of Thunder, brother of Loki, former King of Asgard. That Thor.

After his hero worship and general worship (cause, hello, his teammate is a literal god, how flipping awesome is that??) died down, Peter caught on quickly that Thor is rather playful. The god often acts confused, but there is that mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he hears his teammate groan, telling him the god isn't as oblivious as he pretends to be. Thor also very much likes to use this act of his to tease Peter when tickling him, and it's the silliness and playfulness of the god, as well as the fact that Peter can try fighting him off without hurting him, that makes it so enjoyable to fool around with the man. 

"This strange reaction is very amusing to watch. Does this also happen when I do this?" Thor glances down at him, one of Peter's arms pinned over his head as the god tilts his head in curiosity, free hand hovering over Peter's ribs. 

Peter playfully glares up at the blond, pushing against his chest to shove him off, but a smile tugging on his lips. "Loki told me you know what tickling is. You don't fool me, Thor."

He receives a grin, full teeth, and twinkling eyes.

"Alright. I don't have to hold back while playing pretend then."

The fact that Thor can overpower him and keep up when he chases him around, plus the playful teasing, leaves Peter in such a weird stage of excitement as his spidey-sense keeps completely quiet while his adrenaline spikes and his flight instinct kicks into full gear.

Peter sometimes wonders if this is what it feels like to have an older brother who messes with you for fun because that's what playing around with Thor feels like. It's genuine silliness and fun without holding back, and if Thor had caught on that Peter secretly enjoys getting thrown on couches like a ragdoll or picked up and carried over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, if his giggling is any indication of it, he doesn't comment on it but only grins at the teen's reaction.

[saturnzskyzz]

"I love you"

Lee: Yoongi

Lers: Hoseok and Seokjin

·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪• ☼ ⋒ ⚡︎ 𐚱 ⊹˚˖⁺ ⤾·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪•

-*Drabble*-

Is this even a drabble anymore? Eh, who knows. I make my drabbles long anyways.⚰️

I got the idea from watching a bts moment, and decided "fuck it" so here we are.

!!I'm still working on everyone's requests, don't worry!!

Summary:

Yoongi wanted to be affectionate one day and sent out long text messages to two of the maknae's. What sucks for him though, is that it would later be brought up in a group conversation.

Warnings:

| tickling | swearing | THIS IS NOT A SHIP FANFIC |

Enjoy :)))

·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪• ☼ ⋒ ⚡︎ 𐚱 ⊹˚˖⁺ ⤾·˚ ༘ 𖦆 ꒷₊˚ ꒦꒷꒷꒦ ⑅ ʚ ⤜ ⨳ ࣪•

All of bts were sitting at a table with food placed in front of them. They were having a great filming day with the members just talking about whatever came to mind. They were on the topic of receiving heartfelt messages, and it brought Taehyung to spill his very heart warming text.

"There was one member who sent me a text message one day." Taehyung said, looking at everyone who was eating away at their food.

Yoongi, who heard loud and clear, all of a sudden put his hand up to his face as to face palm at the realization that Taehyung would be informing the members of a specific message that he 100% knew about.

Seokjin, who was sat next to Yoongi's right, saw this and was utterly confused about why Yoongi was suddenly acting unusual.

"Who was it?" Hoseok asked, looking at Taehyung with curiosity.

"Was it Jin?" Jimin also asked, looking at Tae with the same curiosity.

Seokjin placed his hand on Yoongi's neck and said, "Ya!Why are you laughing?" with amusement in his eyes. He knew exactly who sent Taehyung that random text message.

"It was Suga Hyung." Taehyung said, looking around once again with a smirk on his face.

All but Jungkook blurted out with "awh's" when the realization hit them. To be fair, no one would have thought that Yoongi would send a two paragraph message to one of the maknae's.

"Wow, I never imagined that happening!" Hoseok said, covering his mouth with his hand due to having food in his mouth. He looked at Taehyung and Yoongi with an amused face.

Yoongi looked up at Hoseok. "Why-why couldn't you imagine that happening?" Yoongi stutterly asked. He fidgetly fixed his turtle neck and smiled out of nervousness now that the attention turned to him.

"Do you want to know the reason why?! It's because I haven't received more than five messages from you!" Seokjin blurted out, turning to face Yoongi with an annoyed, but playful face. "And they were all one liners!"

Namjoon had his face down, and clapped now that the conversation has gotten more interesting.

But nonetheless, Taehyung kept going with his onslaught. He turned his head to where Seokjin and Yoongi were sitting. "The words at the end were really.." Taehyung tried to find the right words, until someone abruptly finished the sentence for him.

"They were memorable." Namjoon said, looking at Tae.

"Yeah." Taehyung said in agreement. "It's the first time I heard it."

Yoongi had his head down again, with the back of his hand covering his mouth with more embarrassement. Then, he lifted his head up again to repeat the words, "DON'T SAY IT!" while shaking his head at Taehyung.

"You need to tell us!" Namjoon said, looking at Taehyung.

"What did he write to make him this way?" Jimin then said, referring to Yoongi.

Taehyung turned to Jimin, and said, "He said, 'I love you.'"

The rest of the members, again, blurted out with "awh's."

Jungkook looks around the table with a crept up smirk, knowing that he's about to embarrass Yoongi even more.

"There were two messages that were sent out; the same exact paragraph with the words ending in, 'I love you.'" Jungkook said, looking straight at Yoongi.

The sheer horror that was casted on Yoongi's face, and utter embarrassment that has foreshown made the elder face palm, once again.

The rest looked at Jungkook, and then back to Yoongi. They were in disbelief at the affection that the older willingly sent out.

"I want a message like that from Suga hyung!" Jimin said with a pout and big eyes.

He looked at Yoongi, seeing how the older looked up slightly to look at Jimin.

"Jimin." Yoongi said, suddenly.

"Yes, hyung?" Jimin couldn't help but the slight smile that was creeping up on his face.

"I love you." Was all Yoongi said before looking away out of embarrassment, once again.

Jimin sat back, lunging his hands onto his chest like he had gotten shot. With the sound "ah!" he layed there in his chair with satisfaction.

"C'mon, me next, me next!" Hoseok said, looking at Yoongi with hope to his name. (Haha 😄)

"Not happening. Not again." Yoongi said, turning away from everyone to now stare at the camera men.

When did they get here?

"Awweee, but Yoongi-aah~ you gave the maknae's your affection, why can't you give it to me and Hoseok?" Seokjin said, putting both his hands on Yoongi's shoulders and instinctively squeezed fairly close to his collarbones.

"Nohohot happening- ehaha." Yoongi rushed a giggle before grabbing at Seokjin's hands to try and pry them off him. He twisted his head, while leaning forward in his chair to try and Dislodge his hands, but it was to no avail.

"Maybe I'll just have to tickle those words out of ya!" Seokjin said, before quickly moving his hands from Yoongi's shoulders down to his sides to scribble with ease.

"AH! Hahahaha! Lehehet gohoho!" Yoongi yelped, shooting his hands down to now grab at his hyungs hands, once again. He tried pushing Jin's hands away, but soon found out that it was no use, so he pulled at his wrists instead since he'd figured that he'd have more strength to do so. Which worked.. However, he made Seokjin leap out of his seat to crash into Yoongi, and down they went to the floor.

This had caused the rest of the members to look in worry for the two, knowing that they both get kind of pissy when falling unexpectedly.

"..Ohoho, my gohosh, are you ohokay, Hyung?!" Yoongi said, with a hint of regret now that he thinks that he hurt Seokjin. He turned around as much as he could, now resting on his elbows to look at Seokjin better, and gave him a look of worry before seeing how the oldest had a mischievous look on his face without even glaring at Yoongi. Seokjin caught himself with his own hands, thankfully, but he was still in the playful mood than to be annoyed that he got pulled to the ground with no warning.

"Yeah, I'm okay, but you're not going to be now that you just gave me more access to your sweet spots, eheh." Seokjin giggled with evil, but playful, intent. He pushed himself up by a tiny bit to get leverage from his knees, and used that opportunity to use both hands to go for Yoongi's ribs now.

"AAH! NAHAahaha! IHIHI'm SohOHOrry!! HYUHUHng dohOHOn't!!" Yoongi flintched at the sudden touch while grabbing at Seokjin's wrists once again to try and pry them off his sensitive ribs.

"Just say you love me, and this will all be over!" Seokjin said, digging a bit more into his ribs to emphasize his words.

"AAHAHAHA!- N-NEHEHAHAVER!" Yoongi is no surprise when it comes to his stubborness. So when Seokjin knowingly heard Yoongi, he moved his hands up more to the top of the spot where it meets the top rib, and the armpit.

Yoongi went ferral at that. He dragged his feet on the floor, as well as squirming from side to side to get away from the unbearable feeling that Seokjin was causing.

"NAHAHA! AHAHAHEHEHAHAH-KKCHEHEEHAHAHA! IHIHI'M SOHOHORRY! STAHAHAHP! S-STAHAHAHA!" Yoongi couldn't take it, the feeling was so unbearable, he didn't know what to say at that point. He resulted in curling in on himself, but due to Seokjin being in front of him, the back of the olderst stopped him from fully curling in, so he just swung to his side to face away from Jin.

"Don't be sorry about the fall, you dork. You know why he's tickling you, just say it!" Hoseok said, walking up to the two to join in. He waited until Seokjin moved from yoongi's upper body so he could go for his non-killable spots.

Seeing That Hoseok wanted to join fairly quickly, Seokjin changed in technique. He went for his hips this time, squeezing lightly as to not hurt the younger.

"AHAahahaha!- GihihiIHIive mehehe a breheheak!" Yoongi begged. He swung one of his legs here and there from the tickling that's being done on his hips, but it didn't help his predicament in the slightest.

"Just tell us you love us, Yoongi-aah!" Hoseok said, going for his sides that meet the bottom ribs with delicacy.

Gosh. Having two spots being tickled at the same time truly IS unbearable, Yoongi had thought. He closed his eyes shut, finally, to soak in the feeling as composed as possible, and just resulted in twisting his head from side to side.

"You know how to stop this, Shookie~" Seokjin sang out. He barely went for his hips to get Yoongi to say the words.

"I-Ihihihi'mhm nahahat sahahay shIHihit!" Yoongi blurted out, opening one of his eyes to look at Seokjin with the last of his determination.

He soon regretted it though, because Seokjin deadpanned his face at Yoongi, and went straight for the kill. His. Thighs.

"AAH- NAHAHA-!" Yoongi jolted at the feeling. He hasn't had his thighs be tickled in a LONG TIME. So when Seokjin dared to go that far for Yoongi to verbally show affection to his hyung, I can sure tell you that it worked.

"IHIHI L-LOVE YOHOHOU! SEHEOKJIHIN! - I LOVE YOU! THEHEHERE-!" Yoongi yelled at the top of his lungs for Seokjin to hear. Like music to the older's ears, he stopped his attack on Yoongi's thighs with a satisfied smile.

"See? Now was that hard, Shookie?" Seokjin asked, seeing how Hoseok was still going for Yoongi's sides.

"YEHEehes! EHEaha, J-HOPE! stahahap!" Yoongi demanded, hitting the younger's wrists lightly due to the fact that every last of his energy was nearly wiped from Seokjin's early attack.

"You haven't said 'I love you' to me, Hyung!" Hoseok said, giving Yoongi a sly look.

"Dohohon't puhuhush ihihit!" Yoongi said, trying to look and sound intimating, but his high pitched, and breathy giggles were not helping him.

"I'll go for the spot that Seokjin went for if you don't-" Hoseok was cut off by a quick and high pitched voice from the older. Did he also hear even more sporadic giggles from Yoongi when threatening him?

"IHIihihi lohohove YOHOHOU, hohoseok! Plehehease Dohohon't!" Yoongi said quickly, looking away from Hoseok with embarrassment.

"Awweee, I love you too, Yoongi-aah, haha!" Hoseok said, finally retrieving his attack on the older.

When Yoongi was finally let up from the attack, with Seokjin finally getting up off of him too, he quickly curled in on himself, and layed comfortably on his side, facing away from Seokjin and Hoseok.

"Isn't Yoongi just the cutest? He loves us!" Hoseok said, looking at the rest of the members.

"So all I had to do was tickle his thighs and he would say 'I love you' to me?!" Namjoon asked, knowing that he's the only one who hasn't gotten an 'I love you' from his hyung now.

"Dohohon't even thihink about it, Joon!" Yoongi said without looking at the leader.

"Oh I won't.. Not yet at least, ehaha." Namjoon giggled, looking at Yoongi as if the older could see his face right now.

Today will be a very long day for Yoongi. But hey? He would be lying if he said he didn't love them.

[vampiremeerkat]

Assuming that the Lorax is not a figment of the Once-ler’s imagination but a real creature, how would he feel about his enemy’s eventual death? Would he feel relief? Would he grieve the potential of the relationship they could’ve had if the Once-ler hadn’t been a selfish greedy asshole?

For everyone with the 21st century "Too long, don't care" lifestyle: Once-ler was his enemy, but also the only human he came to know on a personal level. He'd feel many conflicting things, but not relief. For everyone who likes LENGTH and GIRTH: "Feel about his enemy's eventual death", as in, generally speaking, at any given day?

Lorax never thought about the reality that is Once-ler's mortality. His death is unlikely to fix matters, since empires tend to come with successors and it's mostly Once-ler's "Regular Joe"-customers and fans who are the problem. If they stopped buying, Once-ler would've fallen. Besides that, Lorax is a creature that represents life. He accepts that death and sickness are facts of life, but they don't bring him joy. If he needs someone or something to die in order for his problems to disappear, he'd feel like a tremendous failure.

If you're talking about the scene where Lorax visits him at his deathbed, you could say most of every emotion washes over him during their talk.

The Lorax has to show care to all animals and plants, but has never established a deep emotional connection with a living creature like one does with a friend, family member, or lover. He'll call any animal his friend by default, but they're not his "friend". He has an instinctual drive to only do what he was made to do -guard Truffula- and doesn't want to engage or think about Earthly behaviours like making friends, starting a family, building a home, eating food, all that stuff. The idea behind it is that doing so will take food or a social connection away from a creature that actually needs it to survive, but also, there's nothing inside of him that wants or needs it. He doesn't even get hungry.

But, meeting The Once-ler challenged that drive. Lorax spent alot of time with him and taught him about the land's flora and fauna, which only helped Once-ler kill and exploit everything easier, but in the context of what we're talking about, it resulted in Lorax feeling unprofessionally close and responsible for him. It made him a worse guardian than he could've been.

Once-ler is alot of firsts: Truffula's first human resident and Lorax' first real social connection. Since Once-ler was a child when they met, Lorax chose not to return to the skies upon learning he was alone and more or less silenced his instincts by telling himself he wanted to confirm if it was safe to let a human stay in Truffula. Having that said, though, I guess it's also fair to argue Lorax doesn't have "instincts", just a very strong sense of duty and love for Truffula. Either way, Truffula's destruction was a tremendous betrayal, but one Lorax blames himself for at the end of the day.

Once-ler's death grieves him, but at the same time, he feels guilty to be grieving him, but at the same time, he knows his past set him up to fail, but at the same time, he believes his cunningness and awareness are signs of intelligence and should've allowed him to beat his own madness, but at the same time, he knows a bad upbringing can't be ignored by merely wanting it, but at the same time, his animal friends died a horrifying death because of him, but at the same time, Once-ler was also someone a spectator would call his friend, but at the same time, his biggest enemy, but at the same time, he thinks it's inappropriate to spend time condemning a dying man, but at the same time, believes Once-ler should take responsibility.

Relief comes when Once-ler plants that seed at the end of the story. Once-ler did this for no other reason but his love for the orange Shih Tzu, since he doesn't care about Truffula, doesn't think there'll be an afterlife reward for him, nor did Lorax say anything to motivate him to drag his practically deceased body down a flight of stairs to do this.

The dead won't be brought back by Once-ler's late gesture, but him beating the odds pleases The Lorax as much as it saddens him. It's not the lost potential of what their relationship could've been he cares about, but the potential of what Once-ler could've been. He never wanted/planned to have a relationship of any kind with him, let alone involve himself with a human, he detests those, and in a perfect world, Once-ler would've grown up a functional, kind man who never infiltrated Truffula at all, and thus, never met The Lorax.

Lorax knows it'll only hurt him if he befriends mortal creatures, since they will die on him eventually. Seeing Once-ler at his end was an uncomfortable experience for him.

[creative-kny-fics]

I don't know if you're currently taking requests or not, but I will ask anyway. Also, I am not sure if you write for the Uppermoons or not? Also this request may be a little weird so I am sorry- 😭

Lee: Shinobu

Ler: Douma/Doma (people spell his name both ways so idk)

And ofc, feel free to decline this! <3

Oooooh, well, it's not something strange in my opinion. So, as I like to write in droves, I'll put one to more AU's, hopefully and you don't mind

Lee: Shinobu Kocho

Ler: Douma (UpperMoon 2)

Explanation of the I AU: It's a world where they are not demons, what do I mean?

There are two sides, one is the group known as "hashiras" (pillars), responsible for doing good and frustrating the plans of the other group, called "lunas" (moons).

'Shinobu, are you sure you wouldn't want me to come with you?'

'Mitsuri, I can handle this, believe me, nothing will happen to me and if anything happens to me, I entrust you to take care of my sisters and the little ones I take care of, okay?'

'Okay... Good luck...', Mitsuri said goodbye to her partner, she trusted her, but the one she didn't trust so much was her enemy.

Shinobu's mission was to get information from a man, according to Kagaya, was a member of the rival group.

'You must be Miss Ayami, am I correct?'

'Yes, nice to meet you. Ayami Izumi, at your service.'

'Beautiful name, my name is Gi Hashibira, the pleasure is mine', he took her hand and kissed it as a sign of respect.

They both talked, Shinobu had to accept it, it was obnoxious, he only talked about himself, she didn't say a single word besides her name the entire evening, how pathetic.

'You're a good listener, I really like you Ayami...'

'I would say the same about you... And what do you do?'

'Well, it's a bit of a curious question. I have multiple jobs, how about you? I imagine you must be a model, your beauty is enough for you to dedicate your life to modeling.'

'You flatter me, but no, currently, I work with a colleague in a cafeteria. The idea of ​​modeling never crossed my mind...'

'Aaaaw, a shame, I would pay to see you on a billboard~'

Shinobu has endured compliments from so many people, but this one undoubtedly had something that made her blood boil, she didn't know how to explain it, but she didn't like the way he said them at all, even the fake name she had created for herself, she felt disgusted, but she had to endure it, for the good of the mission.

'Why do you look like that, Kocho?'

'Tomioka, how do you think you would be in front of a person who won't stop talking to you and makes you so angry that you wish a meteorite would fall on that person and the street at once?'

'Yes, that has happened to me, many times. So, how are you doing?'

'He doesn't say anything, it seems like he doesn't trust me enough...'

'Be careful, please, I don't want anything to happen to you...'

'Aaaaw, are you jealous~?'

'No, I'm not one of the jealous men, I just worry' , and yes, these two were more than a partners in crime

Shinobu loved to smile, there was no reason not to, but she HATED doing it just to pretend that "Gi's" talk was something interesting, it was total rubbish that she wanted to jump out of the window.

'So, Ayami, what do you think of me?', damn it...

Shinobu took a breath, she didn't want to ruin the plan, she had already made a lot of progress, so with her best face, she told a lie.

'I think you're someone charming, a person with a good topic of conversation and who knows how to keep you entertained...'

'Aaaaw, you're so kind! I really like your company, you are a good listener!'

'Yes, however, during all the... Dates... that we have had, you have never told me what you work for, don't you have a job?'

'Oooh, of course I have it! Only, if I told you...I'd have to kill you!'

Although he laughed, Shinobu knew he wasn't joking, he really would do that if the opportunity presented itself, at least now she had an excuse to stop smiling and pretend to like his company.

The next few moments were stressful, there was no way to talk about a topic after that confession, but Shinobu was prepared.

'Ayami, what's wrong?'

'What's wrong with me? You said you should kill me if I knew what you were up to!'

'Aaaaw come on, it was a joke, don't be mad at me little one'

'I'm not "little one", shut your mouth and treat me with respect'

'Aaaaaw, are you mad? How cute! I like it when people like you get angry!', and no, I wasn't kidding.

Should I emphasize the height difference between these two? No, right? Douma had no problem carrying Shinobu by her waist.

She was angry, no, she was pissed off, how dare he grab her by the waist? She tried to kick him, but it seems he only found the younger one "nicer."

'GET ME OFF AT ONCE!'

'Ahahaha, how could I? You are so cute! So small that you look like a child! Do you laugh like one?'

He had to be screwing her, really? Well, even though she didn't mean to, Shinobu is human and when she felt a squeeze on her hips, she had to fight the smile that threatened to form on her face.

'Woww, how cute! You are so cute! Why don't you let me hear your laugh? It sure is adorable!'

'Fu-fuhuck... Yo-yoho-yohohou...!'

'You even insult! Hahahaha, come on, let me hear more of your laugh, it's so cute and-! Hey!', and no, Shinobu did what she wanted to do for so long.

A kick in the chest and then one in the face, finally, she was able to get all her anger out, although it was only two kicks, she was calm.

'I think we should no longer see each other, thank you for your time and your attention, I'm sorry for the kicks'

'I hope fate finds us again, Miss Ayami... Or rather... Shinobu?'

At what time? How the hell did he know? She was very careful, how the hell could he know?!

The only thing she saw of "Gi" was how he walked away and gave her a "kind" look, she didn't trust that look, something bad would happen...

Explanation of the II AU: It is an AU where everything is an act, therefore, the relationships are not the same. The Douma actor and the Shinobu actress actually get along quite well

We go back to the Red Light District arc, just as Gyutaro and Ume's past was coming to light, when a "cut" interrupted the recording.

'Good shot, see you here tomorrow!', what time would it be? Well, it was clear that it was already night, too night.

'My my, looks like your big scene will have to wait until tomorrow, huh?'

'Oh, look who we have here, the insect hashira. Hahahaha, how was my scene?'

'Well, we'll see how good the special effects will be this time, I'm surprised by that mannequin, it looks so realistic!'

'Yes, I was really delighted with the result, and it's so light, even a person like you could carry it without any problem hahaha'

'Oh, shut up, you idiot hahaha!'

They both signed, now they could leave quietly, and if you ask them, yes, despite the fact that the story was written that they would be "enemies", behind the screens, they were good friends.

'Well, meet my girlfriend, hehehehe, Kanroji, this is Douma, he's a friend of mine and Kanae'

'It's nice to meet you, Douma! Shinobu has told me a lot about you!'

'Aaaaw, how cute, and you said you hated me to death hahaha'

'Of course I do, we're enemies!', they both approached, somewhat intimidating, but just looking into each other's eyes made them laugh and move away, high-fiving.

However, there was another surprise, Shinobu did not expect Douma to have a partner, and not just anyone, it was the actor from the upper moon 1, Kokushibo, or as Douma called him, 'Mikat'.

'Oh my! I didn't know you two had something!'

'Well, you know, those behind the scenes always help hahaha'

'I'm happy for you, friend, one and two together, ha, how ironic'

'Yes, of course, well, Douma had a double date planned, do you want to go or prefer? Let's go to his house and order something to eat?'

'I think it would be better at home, we can prepare something else, we don't need to go out to expensive places, do you agree, little butterfly?'

'Yes yes, of course, come on my chestnut~', yep, those were the nicknames between both girlfriends

Once at home, they ordered something to eat, the food would take a while to arrive, so they would talk in the meantime, although a certain redhead didn't look so happy.

'Why do you look angry?'

'Isn't the closeness of those two strange?'

'Naaaah, I don't think so, hey, I'll give you some advice, let your partner have friends, it's normal for him to have and get along with them. Don't be so jealous, because in a certain part, you distrust your partner, so, stay calm, he loves you, so there's no reason to feel jealous, okay?'

'I think so, it's my first relationship so...'

'Aaaaw, how cute! I'm sure he's not doing it to make you jealous!'

But, on the other hand...

'What if we pretend to be actors and make a drama?'

'Hahahaha, how you like to put your partners to the test'

'Hehehe, well, what do you say, is that a yes or a no?'

'I would accept, if my girlfriend wasn't here, I respect her, so no'

Well, there was no problem with Douma, he understood it, besides, it was an inside joke between them, so there was nothing wrong.

'Uuuuuh, someone cares what her girlfriend thinks~'

'Stohohop... I hahahatehe it whehen yo-yohohou do thihihihis!'

'You love me, I know it! Come on, admit, you're worried about what Mitsuri thinks~'

'Yohohohour fu-fuhuhuckihihing nails bohohother me! Gehehet ohohohof!!', don't worry, it was a friendly game.

Maybe, when you liked someone, one of your friends started poking your sides while singing that you liked that person, well, they did it to me...

'See? They're just good friends, there's no reason to distrust'

'Although they both behave like children, don't you think?'

'Naaaah, calm down, relax your mind! No problem, if it bothers you so much, why don't we join them while we wait for the food?'

'It seems good to me'

Oh well, it seems that this game between both friends will now be between couples

Explanation of the III AU: It's almost like the previous one, however, this happens almost on the same set, kind of like a blooper

'And then I devoured your sister Kanao...'

'CUT! IT'S KANAE, NOT KANAO!'

'It's not my fault you guys gave them similar names! Hey!'

'My sister's name is Kanae! Ka-Na-E! Idiot!', time for a break.

Douma couldn't help laughing while Shinobu was hitting his head with her katana, it honestly didn't hurt, but it was already the 15th mistake they had made that day, it was inevitable, that's why they shouldn't have put them together, they were just laughing.

'And now, I'm supposed to devour you?'

'Idiot, say it right! They can think wrong!'

'Hey, you were the one who thought wrong! Hahahaha, well what then? The part where I eat you?'

'Nooooo hahahahaha, that's worse!'

'CUT, GET SERIOUS!'

These two together did not know the word "serious."

We moved on to the action scene, where Kanao encountered the fate that had befallen her sister.

She was furious until the chapter ended, with Shinobu being absorbed by Douma, although of course, they would leave that to the animations.

'Nice shot! Where is Inosuke?! He has to enter the scene soon!', well, there's another hour of rest (joke)

Wherever Inosuke was hiding, he was making their job difficult and they had a rule that they couldn't move unless the director allowed it.

'This is uncomfortable, seriously..'

'Uncomfortable for you? And me?! Uncomfortable for me that I have to support your weight!', Shinobu gasped.

She wasn't fat, was she? She looked at her belly and touched it, damn Douma, she wasn't fat and if she was, she was full of love.

'Hey, don't move! Then the directors will scold us!'

'It's your fault, you called me fat!'

'But what do you want me to do? Look at those rolls!'

And no, even if he had preferred to give it a squeeze, it would ruin his nails, so his fan also helped.

'Yohohou fuhuhuckihing bastahahard!'

'Shinobu-San! You can't move!'

'I know! Fuhuhuckihing stohohohop!'

'Hahahaha, admit you're chubby'

'Fuhuhuhuhuck yohohohohou!!!'

Fortunately, they left Shinobu there, Inosuke arrived so the scene could continue filming

[ticklystuff]

Hi dear!!

Since I'm heads over hills him, can I ask for F, P and V for Caelus?

Love u

tickly alphabet!

hiiii nim! thank you for requesting bby boy i love him so much

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

I love when my MCs are slightly unhinged, like little gremlins that bite your ankles in the middle of the night and I like projecting this kind of energy onto Caelus. Anyway, I can't imagine him being the type that would take losing well because he's the ✨protagonist✨ after all and sometimes violence is the answer to winning (can't tickle back when your arms are snapped in three after all) so when he's being tickled, he will throw punches and kick his legs just to free himself because he can just apologize for any injuries later

When he has the upper hand, he'll like laugh along with the lee, which might sound kind of maniacal, but it's actually kinda cute because it means he's having a fun time demolishing the competition

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

The rest of this ask is just gonna be all about dancae hoohooheee~

But ahem, the obvious answer here is March because the two of them are besties. The day that Caelus stepped onto the train, March pulled him into her room to start gossiping about Dan Heng and she spilled everything she knows about Dan Heng, even the fact that he's ticklish, which Caelus took great interest in. Obviously, they have to do something with this info, so the first thing they do is seek out Dan Heng mwehehehe

And then when they find out Dan Heng has a dragon form, naturally the first thing Caelus thinks of is to test whether Dan Heng is still sensitive in the same areas, to which he enlists help from March~

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

idk why you'd send this one because y'know the answer jk any reason to talk about them

I am legally obligated to say Dan Heng because:

Caelus is madly in love

Dan Heng is the typical stoic lee with a pretty smile, but hardly uses it, so Caelus has taken it upon himself to fix that issue

Caelus loves teasing Dan Heng because Dan Heng always has a perfect response/answer to everything, but all Caelus needs to do is wiggle his fingers in Dan Heng's direction to turn him into a stuttering mess

Caelus also loves praising Dan Heng while tickling him by telling him stuff like that he has the prettiest laugh and smile because not only does it fluster Dan Heng to the highest degree, Dan Heng will try to cover his face to hide the blush creeping on his face, which means his arms aren't able to stop Caelus from tickling him even more and Caelus won't stop till Dan Heng admits those things himself (a simple "yes" or "I agree" wont suffice; Dan Heng needs to say "I have the prettiest laugh" word-for-word if he wants Caelus to stop)

[magicaltickles]

5, 6, 15, 16, 20. Feeling a bit greedy today :p

Holy jesus sprite. You're mean, you know that? /aff

5. A spot that gets you squealing?

Already answered HA

6. How long do you estimate you could last before calling mercy?

Mmm idk let's test out where I'm actually ticklish first and then I'll worry about that after lol. That being said, I hope it's over 15 min lol

15. What do you love about the lees you know?

Am I gonna use the same three people for this one and 16? Yes. Deal with it.

@sprite-periodt yes I'm tagging you in your own ask. I love your reaction images and how easy it is to get you giggly <3 all I need to do is one simple insinuation that my fingers might wiggle on your tummy and you're already flustered! It's adorable, if you ask me

@redderthanatomato my love with the actual cutest laughs and giggles and person number 1 I crave to get my hands on. I love how you'll mimick my hand teases onto your own belly and follow my instructions when I tell you how to tickle yourself. You're so adorable and god I wanna squeeze you.

@dbear2 I only recently saw you in a lee mood, but I have to say, it is so cute. You'll deny deny deny but then send a message about how you wouldn't fight back and it makes me smile every time. Derek and Em tickle fight when

16. What do you love about the lers you know?

Again same people lol I just love these three too much 💜

Sprite, you and red teaming up is mean and rude and should never always happen. I always think about how you said that I was a big reason you found out you're a switch and it's always so hfhdbs

Red, my beloved, you know all the techniques I think lmao. If there's someone who can make me face down in a pillow, it's you. I also love how you picked up the cues that I'm not having as much fun/not really in the mood and you'll always praise me if I safe word out of a rp. I love you, mwah

Derek, another person who I regret putting myself in a gc w red lies. Your teases??? Immaculate. Never fail to make me tingly and ahdvh. I love our friendship and that you let me be a brat with you lol. Oh, and you're short 😝

20. Are you/Do you like Polite Lees or Bratty Lees? (Asking for tickles vs Pissing someone off for tickles)

Literally every single person I tagged can tell anyone exactly what I am lol. I don't think I'm capable of being normal and asking for tickles, it's brat all the way bb

[partywithponies]

Characters from movies that I think would've become tumblr sexymen if that movie had come out in the 2010s, and why:

Withnail (Withnail & I) - tall, pale, dark haired, a bit of a bastard but also a bit sad, absolutely unhinged, owner of a posh English accent

Mr. Mistoffelees (the 1998 version of Cats) - if there ever was a feline version of a twink, he's it. he's sweet and quiet but also confident and charismatic. Plus he can do magic! And being a tuxedo cat is also the feline equivalent of being skinny, pale, and dark haired I'm pretty sure

J.D. (Heathers) - this one is self-explanatory. you've all seen the Heathers the Musical fandom, now imagine that but for a more mainstream and giffable piece of media that just recently released

Willy Wonka (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971) - he's weird. he's eccentric. he wears funny clothes and a top hat. he's played by an attractive man. he can be both sweet and cuddly and absolutely terrifying, sometimes both within the same scene. he even sings. tumblr wouldn't stand a CHANCE

Scorpan (My Little Pony: Rescue at Midnight Castle) - doll and toy collecting fandoms are and always have been insane, I have no doubt that if the internet had existed when the first ever animated MLP contented released, people would've gone nuts. And come on, he's a scary looking monster man who works for the main villain but secretly has a tragic backstory and is secretly really protective and fatherly to the cute kid character. Like come on

Cat R. Waul (An American Tail: Fievel Goes West) - he's an evil villainous capitalist businessman. he's skinny. he has a posh English accent. he has brief occasional moments of showing weakness or emotion but ultimately can't be saved or reasoned with. his downfall comes when he's betrayed by the one good guy he sort of had a soft spot for. he wears a top hat. Need I say more?

Rattigan (The Great Mouse Detective) - this guy already had his day in the sun as a sexyman on certain other websites. given the chance he would've taken tumblr too

Ebenezer Scrooge (Muppet Christmas Carol) - okay this one might be a stretch but listen. What is Ebenezer Scrooge if not the original poor little meow meow? Throw in a charismatic performance and some catchy songs and there you go

And of course:

The Once-ler (The Lorax, 1972) - same backstory as the 2012 Lorax, plus a very nice voice, but this time he doesn't even have a face. You get to design your own sexyman. Tumblr loves doing that.

[wheelercore]

What's your opinion on Henry and Vecna now?

Well my opinion really has always been the same, since before tfs (i was 1 of 5 henry apologists in the fandom before henry theories really blew up on the by/ler-sphere sksbsisussi helloooo besties if u see this u know who u are :33333).

Henrys pov in the show never added up to me and there was always talk about how a 12 year old could even concieve of such horrible things, esp when a huge part of the show is about how children are not born evil. Now that its confirmed that henry was actually 15 and much more sympathetic, it puts into question the validity of henry's retelling (and how he villainizes himself, interestingly enough) plus what exactly is the reason behind the inconsistencies. Which i have already thought about in a rosegate lense but i will not talk about that rn :3 but i am Looking.

Tbh ive always been someone who never understood the "well this character CHOSE to be this way" takes when talking about children/teenagers who were abused or treated badly from a young age. Because really to me, its a portrayal of a tragedy rather than choice. Im not trying to excuse their behavior of course, but the portraying it simply as a choice to be a bad person puts the blame solely on the abused person in question and imo takes away from the real meaningful theme that (joker voice) society, and the people who were meant to support them, to some level has failed them. Operative word being solely, as I'm not saying that people cant be held responsible for their own actions. I'm talking more so in an analysis lense of the themes of the show.

We see this repeatedly shown in the show: concerning behaviors popping up when caretakers (namely parents) fail to unconditionally love their children, so their children develop negative coping behaviors and attitudes to deal with their situations and how those behaviors perpetuate over generations. But really thats not even the case with Henry, as even with Virginia's behavior (tfs) Henry still seemed like a decent kid. Maybe attached to Patty because of his mommy issues but its not a Billy type situation.

Henry is the very definition of never having a chance. From what ive heard of tfs i think he really tried to be good and was good. He was just a normal kid, really. But your own mother betrays you and your stuck in some psychopaths lab basement for 30 years, never actually ever getting to escape and rejoin society before getting blasted into the UD, so there was never really much hope there in his situation. Its also super vague how much control henry really has over his own actions regardless, considering now we know that Henry is not nearly as autonomous as we were lead to believe in the show.

I never really believed honestly that Henry was the big bad of st. You could either be a Mindflayer theory believer or a henward enthusiast (i do like me a mix of both), either way both imply that vecna and henry are not necessarily 1:1.

I'm quite interested in how they take henry in s5, because eventually the party will have to learn that Henry is not what he seemed, then we can get down to the actual truth of the matter.

[milqueskin]

Candle Cove Sexyman Tournament Predictions

I am SO SURE of myself. I wish I had something to bet with. (jk i just wrote this for fun and procrasination)

SKIN-TAKER

Very much a typical Tumblr sexyman. He’s nonhuman, evil, and very powerful. He’s also funny and charming. And he has dapper clothes! Also, lots of Tumblr sexymen have top hats specifically for some reason, so that probably gives him an edge. And also he’s a skeleton–

(Also, he sort of reminds me of the Once-ler? I mean with there being one good and one evil version of him who the fandom treats as two separate characters. I don’t think this impacts his chances, I’m just putting it out there.)

HORACE

He reminds me so much of Sans. Like, he’s just a weird villainous little guy who's kind of ugly by conventional standards but still charming and loved by everyone. I’m sort of surprised that there aren’t more yassified designs of him.

EARL OF WAX

He has no canon physical appearance, so he can be as handsome as the fandom is able to make him, like people did with Cecil Nightvale. Also, he’s an earl, so he’s probably classy and European. OH, and he’s evil. Can’t forget that.

HANS

Same no-appearance deal as Earl. Also, he’s cynical, which I think is a pretty sexymanish trait.

DR. MORT

Ticks all the boxes. He’s evil. He’s not human. He’s smart. He’s classy (that’s the vibe I get from him at least). He has a labcoat. I mean, come on. His picture is in the sexypedia next to the list of criteria.

RED MARY

Superpowered murderer lady (aka every Tumblr sexywoman). I’d call her a girlboss, but that would be an understatement.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Percy, Thade, and Dr. Heartfelt. More “uwu innocent baby bean” blorbos than traditional sexymen. I’m not saying that they ARE uwu bean people, just that that’s how fandom people would treat them.

[aninklingof]

Meeting Someone New

This is a CovenTK fic! Thanks to @covenofwives for letting me write about their character!

Lee! GeorgeHD, Lers! DreamXD and CovenTK

Warnings: XD has four arms, TK has lots of eyes ✨SFW tickle fic✨

For the sake of the fic and not boring everyone to death we’ll say this takes place after Coven’s first Lee! HD - Ler! XD fic. CovenTK and GeorgeHD are friends but XD and 4K are not aware of TK’s existence (presumably because they kinda rule the overworld together and TK doesn’t talk much)

Enjoy!!

~~~~~

It was an everyday Tuesday when DreamXD decided he’d pay the god of the overworld, GeorgeHD, another visit. Since his last one he’d thought nonstop about how HD laughed and squirmed while XD tickled him silly. It was a wonderful discovery that brought the two closer together, and XD couldn’t wait to do it again.

As he drew closer and the scenery around him began to change to the dreamy, cloudy landscape that the smaller god resided in, XD noticed something peculiar. Usually when he visited, he’d have to wake up HD from sleeping. The world around him would reflect that of a cloudy starry night sky, dark blue sprinkled with flecks of stars and wisps of clouds all around him.

Today however, the sky was a bright blue. This meant that HD was wide awake, which was odd for the deity who normally slept uninterrupted between XD’s visits. The only reason he would ever be this awake was if XD himself was visiting. But he’d just got here.

As XD finally approached the center of the cloudy landscape his gaze landed on the starry-haired god, sat up on his nest-like bed of blankets and pillows rambling to another figure in front of him.

The person had purple hair and a cloak made of feathers of the same color draped around their frame, hiding their body. The cloak was covered in unblinking red eyes that stared in every direction— XD swore he saw a few stare in his direction. On the entity’s face was a metal mask and five red eyes identical to those on their wings (there were two eyes on each of their feathered ears as well). Upon their head sat a gold beaded crown with two spiked horns.

All together the figure was a peculiar sight, and made XD stop in his tracks. He was spotted instantly by the entity however, their neck turning sharply to face toward XD and stare him down. Being locked under their gaze sent shivers down XD’s spine.

“Oh, XD. Hey,” HD greeted nonchalantly.

“Who is this,” XD asked, blatantly ignoring the older God’s welcome.

“This is CovenTK, they’re the god of the moon and mobs of the overworld. We worked together a lot when I was more involved with it.”

CovenTK’s cloak opened up and they raised a dark clawed hand to wave at the blonde god. XD immediately took note of the two very large red eyes on the inside of what he realized wasn’t a cloak, but wings. He waved back hesitantly.

“Can they talk…?” XD inquired, approaching the two to sit criss-cross on the cloud-cushioned ground next to HD’s bed. Up close XD saw that Coven TK was a good bit smaller than he was, but also considerably bigger than HD.

“They can, they choose not to because they can’t with their mask on.” TK nodded to seemingly agree with HD’s explanation.

“I see,” the end god said before they fell into awkward silence. He cleared his throat a moment later and spoke up. “So what does TK stand for?”

HD’s face lit up in a sunrise blush as he looked away. TK’s lower set of eyes squinted upwards as if they were smiling under their mask, and their wings opened again. They raised their hands and wiggled their thick clawed fingers once. XD immediately lit up.

“Really??” He nearly exclaimed. TK nodded happily.

“W-We don’t have to talk about this right now—“ HD piped in, the stutter in his voice was impossible to miss and it lit a mischievous fire within XD.

“Oh but I’d love to learn more about CovenTK! And I’m sure they’d be happy to demonstrate, right~?” XD teased. TK donned an equally mischievous glint in their many eyes and they repositioned onto their knees.

“N-No!! No wait, this is really unnecessar—eheheHEHE—! XD NOHO!!” The starry haired deity shrieked when XD scooped him up into his lap, crossing his legs over the smaller god’s and using his four arms to hold HD’s above his head (the upper arms holding the wrists and lower holding his biceps).

“T-T KAHAHAY—! Nohohoho— hehehe, gehehet awahahahay frohom mehehehe—!” HD screamed and wiggled the little he could as the purple winged god crawled closer and straddled HD’s knees.

“Go for his sides TK, they’re the worst~” XD growled into the smaller god’s ear, causing the ladder to scrunch up with a small snort.

TK obliged and their clawed fingers immediately started to scratch at HD’s sides, right in the middle first thing. This had HD wailing within seconds.

“NOHOHOHO PLEHEHEHEASE!!! TEHEHEE KAHAHAY NOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHERE!!” He cackled helplessly, tears already pooling at the corners of his eyes.

“Move to his tummy now, we don’t want to kill him,” XD instructed, feeling bad for the smaller god as he watched TK’s blunt claws torment his sides. XD felt butterflies fill his belly at the thought of those claws scribbling his own sides.

TK obeyed and moved his hands to tickle HD’s belly, the older melting into squeaky giggles. “Nohohohoho plehehehehease….”

“Does it tickle HD~? Does it tickle so bad?” XD teased meanly. Before the starry haired god could answer properly a squeal tore from his throat and he once again fell into hysterical laughter.

Startled by the intense reaction, XD looked down to see what TK was doing that caused such a noise to be pulled from his friend’s mouth. The purple haired deity was softly running the tips of their wings all over HD’s sides, which was causing the small god to absolutely lose his mind. XD shivered again.

“Ooh, feather sensitive are we~?” XD taunted.

“PLEHEHEHEHEASE!! NOHOHO MOHOHORE!!! IHIHIHI CAHAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAHAKE IHIHIT—!!” HD begged as the first tears rolled down his colorful face.

In an instant the tickling stopped and XD dropped HD’s arms. He used his lower set of hands to soothe over HD’s torso as the small deity calmed down. TK simply sat back and cocooned themself in their wings again, patiently waiting for HD to recover.

“You okay?” XD finally asked, raking one of his upper hands through HD’s wild hair.

“Yeheheah, thahat wahas the wohohorst thohough…” he giggled residually.

CovenTK suddenly stood and signaled with the point of their finger that they were leaving.

“It was nice meeting you TK. I hope we meet again soon,” XD said with a fanged smile fist visible under his mask.

TK nodded simply and in a single hop they took to the sky, their giant eyes on the underside of their wings staring at the ground below as they flew away.

“Now what?” XD asked after a minute of watching the peculiar god fly off.

“Now we nap,” HD responded simply, pulling the larger to lay on the nest of blankets. XD chuckled fondly and hugged HD tightly, allowing himself to drift into a light slumber.

~~~~~