Liv 💕💕

“Hey, lover,” Betty hummed, stretching out on the sheets. Her hand patted the space beside her, beckoning you. She was technically lying on herself, but damn, she was comfortable.

You blinked, looking at her like you’d forgotten the dateviators were on. You seemed…distracted. “Oh…uh, hey, Betty.”

Her brows immediately furrowed at that. You were normally a bit distracted when you came in—you were tired, after all—but this was different. “Everything alright?”

“Kinda? I just had a bad day,” you shrugged, laying back on the bed beside her. You stared up at the ceiling, then at her. You’d missed that face all day.

Betty frowned at that, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Aw…is it okay if I try and make it better?”

That made you smile a bit. Betty was usually pretty good at boosting your mood, no matter what methods she chose. “Sure.”

With a small chuckle, Betty turned, hovering over you on the bed. She loved the way your eyes lit up with excitement, even when you had no clue what was coming for you.

Betty’s hands slid up your sides, and your own mirrored the motion on her. Only, instead of slipping under your shirt, her fingers began wiggling.

“SHHHHIhihihit! Behehetty?!” you yelped, squirming around beneath her. You’d expected some fun, maybe cuddling, but that?

That, you were wholly unprepared for.

“Just relax, baby. I wanna make you feel better,” she cooed, pulling out her teasing voice. Usually, you’d hear it late at night when she wanted to be mean. Then, however, it carried an entirely different meaning.

“Thehehere are ohother wahahays!”

Betty chuckled at that, clamping her legs around your own. “Maybe, but this seems much more fun.” She was ready for a fight.

You could hear the challenge in her voice, a giddy excitement filling your chest. If she wanted a challenge…well, you could certainly try and give her one.

You lurched upward, trying to push Betty off of you. She laughed, nearly falling off from your efforts. Instead of letting you go, however, she pounced back on you, tugging you into her lap. Before you could even think of countering, Betty had your arms behind your back in a startlingly effective hold.

“Wahait! Wait, wait, Behehetty wahahahait!” you giggled, all worked up before she even began tickling you. Betty was an impressively good play-wrestler.

She shook her head, getting your arms secured behind your back while freeing her hands. Perfect. “Sorry baby, but I’ve waited long enough.”

With that, Betty’s fingers dug into your sides, poking and wiggling against the sensitive areas.

“Why ahahahare youhu sohoho gohood at thahahat?!”

A compliment? Betty couldn’t help but smile at that, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “Aw, how sweet. It’s a skill, and I’ve had lots of practice.”

That both answered your question and made you incredibly nervous. That “practice” almost definitely spelled giggly doom for you.

Sure enough, her skilled fingers traveled to your stomach, vibrating her clawed hand against the soft skin.

“NYAHAHAHAHA!”

You kicked and squirmed, tugging at your restrained arms. Betty didn’t falter, however; you weren’t getting away that easily.

“Oh, love, does that tickle? Hmm?” Betty teased, leaning forward to whisper in your ear. She was purposefully letting her lips brush the shell, tickling you more. The way your cheeks brightened was gorgeous to her. “You’re so cute when you blush~”

“SH-SHUHUHUSH!”

Your fluster at her compliments was rather adorable. She would happily try to break you another day, but right then, her mission was to brighten your day.

“Poor thing…want me to be gentle, baby?” she cooed, purposefully using a baby-voice to tease you.

You nodded frantically, trying not to sound too pathetic. Of course, you failed. “Y-YEHEHES!”

Betty stopped tormenting your stomach, switching to gentle spidering across the soft skin. She began nuzzling her face against your neck, occasionally planting little kisses.

“There we go. Is that better?” she whispered, pulling you closer. Betty released your arms, letting you flail a bit and hold her arms.

“Y-youhuhu’re sohoho mehean!” you whined, leaning back against Betty’s chest. She’d worn you out, and there was a lovely set of pillows for you to rest on behind you.

“Oh, I know, I’m so mean,” she tutted, shaking her head. She nipped your neck softly, making you squeak. “Don’t tempt me to bully you again, lover. I will get you if you push me.”

That did sound fun…but maybe another time. You were rather worn out from your bad day, and the tickling had exhausted you. You were ready to throw in the towel. You giggled out your safeword, tapping Betty's arm to show that she hadn’t done too far.

Betty’s arms tightened around you, turning you to face her. You got a lovely kiss before she started petting your hair again. “Aw, is someone tired?”

“Yehehes…” you grumbled, burrying your face in Betty’s chest. It was definitely time for a nap.

“Alright, alright. Let's rest together, then.”

Giving you another quick kiss, Betty laid the two of you down, pulling you closer ahansf her. Your head rested on her chest, arms tucked around her waist as you held on. It was adorable.

“Baby…sleep well. I’ll be here when you wake up, always by your side. Especially with those giggles.”

“Mph, fuck off…”

Ragatha jumped, her head swiveling over to the bed. “Gangle?” She squawked before clearing her throat. “You’re awake?”

Gangle’s face popped up from underneath the swell of blankets. “Yep.” She crawled across the mattress and nimbly slipped down to the floor. She sat on Ragatha’s other side.

“I’m so sorry for waking you up—”

“Don’t be.” Gangle held up a ribbon, effectively cutting Ragatha off. “I’m a light sleeper.” Her gaze dragged across the room before settling on the bin of spare parts in the corner. “Besides, I had a nightmare, too.” She must have heard Ragatha’s earlier conversation with Zooble.

“Oh…” Ragatha said. A part of her was glad she wasn’t alone. 

“What was it about?” Zooble asked.

Gangle shook her head. “It wasn’t anything crazy.” She brought her knees up to her chest before turning her head toward Ragatha. “I dreamt I was being chased. What about you?” 

Ragatha blinked. Her first instinct was to lie and say that she didn’t dream about anything at all, but she pushed past it. “Ah, um…”

Zooble placed their hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Ragatha shook her head. She had already told Zooble, so it wouldn’t have been fair to keep Gangle in the dark. “It was about my mother…” Ragatha wanted to share more, but it was like her mouth had gone numb. Pressure suddenly welled behind her eyes. “B-but I’m fine, now, don’t worry! Thank you for being here for me.” She tried smiling again, but the corners of her lips trembled. 

For a while, nobody said anything. 

Then, Gangle piped up. “Do you want a hug?”

Ragatha wanted to say something, anything, but her tongue had turned to lead. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and nod. 

She heard shuffling before Gangle’s ribbons wrapped around her torso. They felt exactly how they looked: silky and smooth without being too delicate. Ragatha let her head fall into Gangle’s shoulder as she held her tight. She smelled vaguely like nylon.

Gangle rubbed small circles into her back, and Ragatha had to hold herself back from completely collapsing into her. 

One of Gangle’s ribbons slipped slightly too close to her side, and Ragatha twitched slightly, pulling away by instinct.

“I’m sorry,” Gangle said, unfurling herself from the embrace. 

“No, no, it’s fine.” Ragatha genuinely meant it as she rubbed her side. A part of her kind of wanted an excuse to laugh: a moment or two to forget about her troubles. “I wouldn’t mind if you…” Ragatha trailed off. The words ‘kept going’ lingered in the air, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them out loud. Her cheeks grew warm against her will.

“Are you sure?” Zooble asked, now directly behind Ragatha.

Since when did they get so close?? Ragatha’s chest stuttered, a familiar feeling of butterflies fluttering inside her. Gangle inched forward, as well, and she let out a sharp squeak. Ragatha covered her face with her hands before slowly nodding. 

She kept her face hidden, even as she felt one of Gangle’s ribbons curl up her arm. Silk grazed delicately up and down the underside of Ragatha’s forearm. The sensation was feather-like, as Gangle barely touched her, but she felt goosebumps nonetheless. 

Ragatha let out a small chirp when she felt something rake against her side. It must have been Zooble. She wasn’t expecting them to join in, as well. 

Ragatha began stuttering uselessly as their fingers drummed lightly at the spot just below her ribs. “Z-zoohoohble! I-I-I—! I’m–I’m…!” She wasn’t even sure what she was trying to say, but it didn’t take long for the two of them to coax the string of giggles that had been bubbling in the back of their throat. “Eek! O-oh my goodnehehehess! Guys! Ehehehe!” 

“You don’t have to keep things to yourself, you know,” Gangle said while targeting that weirdly sensitive spot at the crook of her elbow. She didn’t even know people could be ticklish there.

Ragatha’s hands shot out to stop Gangle, but she slipped through her clumsy attempts easily. She practically flailed about as she half-heartedly tried to grab at Gangle’s ribbons. At one point, she did manage to get a good grip, but Ragatha loosened her hold immediately, which Gangle thankfully didn’t comment on.

“I knohohow! I knohow!” Ragatha giggled, snorting a little when she felt Gangle poke along her side. “Eeeheeheep!”

Zooble chuckled under their breath. She wouldn’t have heard it if it weren’t for their sudden proximity. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so ticklish. It’s cute.” Their fingers trailed somewhat hesitantly under her arms, forcing Ragatha to clasp her arms against her sides.

Ragatha suspected that their last comment wasn’t something she was supposed to hear, but she couldn’t quite tell.

Now that she was no longer hiding her face, Ragatha felt strangely exposed, and she couldn’t quite tell if she disliked the feeling or not. She didn’t get to dwell on her thoughts for long because Zooble started kneading right in the center of her stomach.

“Mmmeehehehehee!” Ragatha let out a strange, startled giggle. She twisted herself away from Zooble’s torturous touch, only to have another one of Gangle’s ribbons flit against the crook of her neck. Ragatha scrunched up her chin to protect the sensitive area, but Gangle just moved onto the other side of her neck. “Eeheheehe! Ganglehehe!” Ragatha tried to complain, but her voice came out much higher in pitch than she had intended to. 

“Are you feeling better, Ragatha?” Gangle asked. Her ribbons fluttered against Ragatha’s neck, feeling more like dozens of feathers brushing against her skin.

Ragatha opened her mouth to speak, but Zooble began spidering their fingers right where her side met her hip, causing her to swallow a sharp gasp of air. She ended up snorting, again, instead. “Eeheheyaha!” Ragatha curled up into herself before trying again. “Heheheeyehehes!”

“Do you want us to stop, now?” Zooble asked.

For a moment, Ragatha thought about shaking her head no. She knew it was selfish, but she was kind of…enjoying the undivided attention. Ragatha had spent most of her life making sure that everyone else around her felt like they could rely on her. She wanted to make everyone feel cared for, but being on the receiving end of that care was addicting, in a way. Ragatha had never felt this way before, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stop.

But Ragatha knew that Caine had another adventure lined up the next morning, and she didn’t want to keep Zooble and Gangle up for any longer than she already had. Besides, the tickling was starting to get a tad overwhelming. “Hehehe! Yehehes!” Ragatha squeaked out. “Heheheehee!”

With that, they stopped.

Exhausted and slightly breathless, Ragatha slumped against Zooble, who, surprisingly, placed their hand firmly on her side to hold her in place. “You doing good?” they asked.

Ragatha nodded. “Yeah,” she said, giggling softly. “I feel better now. Thank you.” She meant it.

Gangle gave her a tired half-smile before yawning. “That’s good,” she said. “I’m glad.” She let out a second yawn before lying down on the floor. Using her hands as a pillow, she curled into a ball and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, light snores fluttered out of her.

Ragatha giggled. “Aw, Zooble, Gangle fell asleep.” When Zooble didn’t respond, she peered curiously over her shoulder. 

Zooble’s eyes were closed as they leaned against the edge of their bed. They weren’t snoring, but Ragatha could tell by the slow rhythmic rise and fall of their chest that they had fallen under the same fate as Gangle. That was fast.