blue :D

She made sure every frightened, angry, confused, or relieved soul was carefully shifted from one plane of existence to the next, all provided with the same gentleness she could give them. Though, every once in a while, she felt the need to slip away from it all for a moment. Just to breathe and let herself relax from the stresses of being a Goddess. Which is why she was so grateful to have such a wonderful mortal waiting for her. 

Every visit made her giddy, her laughter like sweet, tinkling bells as she shifted into the Overworld plane. She would watch her husband drop whatever he was holding and practically teleport to the front of his house, eyes wide and grin splitting his face as he watched the sky excitedly. 

It was adorable, seeing the man become the equivalent of a puppy when their owner gets home. 

Kristin’s physical form took a lot of energy, which is why she spaced out her visits to her beloved, winged husband. Though the wait in between was tortuous, it was always worth it. As soon as she became visible - standing in the snow with a smile so bright it could rival the sun - Phil was flying off the balcony to practically tackle Kristin into a hug, large wings shifting to wrap around her tight, laughter ringing out from both of them.

Kristin gently took off the blonde’s bucket hat to place a firm, loving kiss into the golden strands, nuzzling into the softness as Phil hugged her close. 

“Hello dear,” Kristin chuckled airly, pressing a hand to the back of Phil’s neck and the other to his cheek, slowly drawing herself away enough to see him properly. “Missed me, have you?”

Phil’s eyes were practically shining, wings puffed up in a way that made Kristin laugh again. “Of course I did,” he sighed, pressing his head into her hand. “It’s been five months.”

“Four and a half, love,” Kristin corrected, stroking the pad of her thumb against the stubble on Phil’s face adoringly. “But too long all the same.”

Phil let her caress his face a moment more before moving back into her embrace, hugging close and nestling into the soft, velvety material of her black dress. His words were softly spoken, slightly muffled by the fabric, “I've missed you.”

Kristin exhaled quietly, pressing her lips to his head and held him close. “I've missed you too.” She murmured. The tenderness of the admittance was not lost on either of them, the hug saying what else was needed. Kristin had one hand resting in the space between Phil's wings, the other resting on the man's nape. Her thumb gently brushed at the skin, her nail lightly drifting across his neck softly.

Phil's shoulders jumped up quickly, a weirdly strangled noise worming its way out of him much to both of their surprise. He leaned away, his hand coming behind his head to hold Kristin's, a sheepish grin on his face. 

"Ah," Phil said, his cheeks a tad pinker than they were seconds earlier. "Sorry… reflex." 

Kristin smiled in confusion. She had heard a plethora of noises from Phil before, with him being an avian it was expected. The warbling bird calls were her favourites, yet she hadn't heard something akin to that before. A high pitched squeak like a field mouse, that wasn't one of his usual sounds she could recall. Maybe it was a sweet spot that avians had? 

She was half tempted to try brushing her fingers along the skin again to see if it would inspire the same reaction, but she didn't get the chance. Phil had interlaced their hands together and brought them to hold in front of him. 

"My garden has been growing well since you last visited, would you like to see?" 

His eyes were alight with something excited again, the slight warmth in his face having faded. 

Kristin tucked the odd 'reflex' into the back of her mind and squeezed Phil's hand tightly, lovingly. 

"Lead the way, dear."  

—

Returning to the mortal plane brought along many delights Kristin lovingly indulged every time she visited. One of her favourites, were the meals or drinks Phil would prepare for the pair of them, leaving some aside for his roommate Technoblade, who Kristin had seen pop off from time to time on the Other Side, his Totems of Undying giving him a brief blip into the void-like afterlife. Every time he arrived, he'd give a fast wave and a smile before disappearing seconds later. 

While the visits were a bit worrying - it showed how many times Techno had been sent over to her domain - Kristin still found humour in the piglin's little greetings, returning the wave with a laugh. 

She hadn't met him in person yet, but Phil promised she would get introduced to his friend one day. The piglin himself was often out hunting, training the wolves, tending to his crops or animals, or hibernating. He was a busy man, Kristin could sympathise with that. 

She was seated at the table in the cosy home, watching Phil fondly as the winged man shifted around his kitchen, masterfully mixing together ingredients for their meal. Technically speaking, Kristin didn't need to eat really, but she appreciated Phil's efforts dearly. Everything he made, he made with love and care, it was so clearly seen in his builds. It only made sense his food would be the same. 

Kristin rested her weight back on the chair, brushing stray hairs from her face as she spoke. "Sweetheart, are you sure you didn't need a hand?" 

"Nope." Phil glanced back with a playfully stern look. "No. You spend every day being the Goddess of Death, you barely get a break. These visits are your holidays, you're not meant to do anything other than relax."

Kristin laughed, pressing a hand to her chest. "Oh I see, apologies Phil. It seems I haven't visited in so long that I've forgotten I have a servant in the mortal world." 

At Phil's loud, offended squawk, Kristin cackled, rising from her seat to walk to her husband, hugging the man from behind. His wings dropped down to allow her the ability to do so, primaries dragging along the floorboards. He'd have to preen them later to get any dirt from the floor out of the thick, black feathers, but he didn’t really mind. Right now, he was grumbling lightheartedly as his wife nestled close to him, rolling his eyes fondly as she nudged the side of his head,

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Kristin chuckled, leaning over to kiss Phil's cheek, gently squeezing his sides to balance herself as she went on her tiptoes briefly. 

Phil's wings spread out across the space as he squeaked loudly, his own hands landing on her own fast as lightning, his smile a bit wider than it was seconds earlier. 

There it was again. That 'reflex', Phil had said earlier, accompanied by an odd sound, though this one was definitely louder than the one he'd made earlier. 

"Phil? Are you alright?" Kristin asked, worry at the edge of her voice. It was like the man had completely lost control of his wings for a moment. 

"Uh- yes. I'm… yes, sorry about that," Phil smiled over his shoulder at her, his wings sweeping together and nestling close to his back once more. 

Kristin raised a skeptical brow, concern still lining her face. Phil turned his head enough to kiss her nose cheekily, his whole frame losing tension as he carefully removed her hands from his sides, giving them an affectionate squeeze. 

"I'm alright, love," he reassured, "promise. Now go sit down, this will be done in a moment." 

Kristin hesitated then gave a small nod, nudging Phil's head with her own and returning back to the table. These ‘reflexes’ were rather odd. She wondered what on earth they were. 

—

The food Phil had prepared was absolutely delicious, and once the dishes had been cleared away, cleaned and dried, the pair settled down into the lounge, Phil’s wings curled around them as they sat close together. 

Phil was recounting a story of when he and Techno had created the ‘Antarctic Empire’ and laughed heartily throughout the tale. Kristin, who was sipping on her hot chocolate, struggled not to choke on the drink as she laughed as well. Phil’s giggly cackling was incredibly contagious, her own giggles blending with them.

The atmosphere was warm, full, and felt so right. A part of Kristin ached for this to be their normal. To just live as a mortal beside her beloved, winged partner in a snowy tundra, every day happy and peaceful. But it could never happen. She knew that. She had a duty, and a body that couldn’t survive in this plane of existence for long periods of time. Though she wished with all of her being that she could just stay for once, she knew it would only end badly.

Phil’s face was suddenly in her line of vision, a hand holding her own bringing her back from her internal battle. Phil’s hand was comfortably tight, squeezing gently at her fingers. “Are you alright?” he asked softly, the lines in his face creased in a worried way.

The Goddess of Death found herself melting for this man all over again. She managed a weak smile, bringing her free hand over to hold the top of Phil’s. “Yes, I’m sorry for zoning out. Just thinking is all.”

Phil’s brow only dipped more in concern. “Is it something bad? Are you feeling fatigued? Are your powers running out? Do you need to go back to the other side-?”

Phil’s ramblings were silenced with Kristin bringing a hand up to press against his mouth, a fond look adorning her face. “I’m alright, Phil,” she reassured firmly. “We still have a few hours before I have to go back. Calm down.”

Phil gently took her hand away, his thumb drifting over the back of the skin as he released a short puff of air. “Sorry. You just looked really zoned out, I was worried you were having ‘plane shift’ disorientation again or something.”

“Hey, that only happened once,” Kristin reminded him with a small laugh, her hand dropping to squeeze Phil’s knee playfully.

To her surprise, once again, Phil’s whole body jolted and he squeaked, flinching away from Kristin’s touch. The Goddess found herself unable to hold back the question this time. 

“Why do you keep doing that?”

Phil’s eyes widened fractionaly at the inquiry. After a second of putting his brain together, he gave a small smile, his hands coming together to hold Kristin’s, specifically away from his knees. 

“Ah,” he said with a small chuckle. “You don’t know what ‘tickling’ is, do you?”

Kristin cocked her head to the side curiously, dark strands of hair falling over her face in a fluid motion, framing her intrigued expression. “Ticklish?” She repeated, mulling the word over. “I do know of it, though I haven’t had personal experience.”

“Right.” Phil squeezed her hands, his expression open though his cheeks were a bit flushed. “Being ticklish means that you’re sensitive, it’s usually in specific places of vulnerability, and it’s meant to be an instilled instinct in humans. These spots are places we usually protect from possible threats, so they don’t get much contact from outside forces, air-go, they become more sensitive to touch. When they do get tickled though, the natural response for us is to laugh.”

Kristin listened attentively, nodding along as she understood the explanation. “So, is it a bad thing? To be ticklish? Being sensitive to things might make life a bit inconvenient.”

“Some people think it is.” Phil’s smile got a bit bigger as he spoke. “Techno finds it inconvenient when he’s trying to train the wolves and their fur keeps tickling his hands. Wilbur as well, he got really embarrassed about his sensitivity because he kept laughing whenever I hugged him with my wings.” Phil ruffled the appendages to prove a point, the thick feathers making a sweeping noise with the movement. 

Kristin's smile became fonder, confusion melting away to endearment. “That’s very sweet,” she chuckled, then her eyes had a spark in them. “And so is you being so ticklish that even me squeezing you makes you squeak.”

Phil’s wings suddenly poofed out, his eyes widening and cheeks flushing at the casual words. He gave a weak cough, adjusting his bucket hat which had slipped over his eyes. “Well- I’m… I don’t know, I wouldn’t say I’m that bad, I just…”

Kristin giggled louder, watching her husband become a stuttering mess on the couch was far too entertaining. She took her free hand that Phil had let go of to cup his jaw, stroking her thumb across his warmly flushed cheek. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, dear. I find it very cute. You mortals just keep surprising me.”

If anything, Phil blushed worse, torn between denying the words and trying to come up with an argument to them. He settled with leaning his weight into her hand, shaking his head a bit in exasperation. 

“Honestly, I’m surprised this conversation didn’t happen sooner.”

“Oh, is that so?” The Goddess of Death mused, “Did you want me to notice your sensitive nature sooner then?”

Phil’s wings were his biggest tell, poofing up again like a cat’s tail. “I-I didn’t say that- I wasn’t-”

Kristin cackled, full and hearty, kissing Phil’s nose gently to silence his frantic, flustered rambles. “I’m just teasing, love, calm yourself.”

Phil scoffed, closing his eyes for a moment. “You’re gonna be the death of me Kristin, I swear you will be.”

“Well, if I was, then that just means you could spend eternity with me on the Other Side.” Kristin brushed loose strands of hair from Phil’s face, kissing his forehead gently and nudging her nose against his. “But let’s wait a bit longer for that, shall we? I’m sure your friends here would miss you dearly if you joined me.”

Phil gave a low hum. “Yeah, unfortunate being a father to fuckton of crows and emotionally constipated people.”

The Goddess of Death laughed again, bringing her head away and smiling fondly. “You love them though, you can’t deny that.”

The avian shrugged. “Eh, it’s a flip of a coin most days.”

Kristin gasped, a playful grin on her face. “How could you say that, Philza Minecraft?” She accused, “all those poor crows who dote on you and call you Dadza, only for you to say ‘eh, it’s a flip of a coin’ about how much you love them! Shame on you, sir!”

“And this is why they like you more,” Phil cackled, “you’re the fun parent and I’m the grumpy one.”

“I am the fun parent!” Kristin grinned, immediately latching onto the title. “Can’t believe I got stuck with such a grumpy old fart for a partner.”

“Wha- hey!”

“What do you mean 'hey'?! You were the one who called yourself grumpy!” laughed Kristin, fingers suddenly poking at Phil’s stomach to establish her point. The man immediately jolted away with a laugh, batting at the hands that were snaking towards him. 

“Oi!” he gasped, wings flexing uselessly at his sides as he tried to maintain his balance. 

Kristin’s eyes lit up. “Actually, I think I have the perfect way to make you less grumpy and pull you into the ways of the ‘Fun Parent’!”

“Nononono- Kristin! Wait, wai- wahahahait!” Phil’s voice fell away into fits of laughter as dutiful, slender fingers wormed into his dark green haori, scoping out his soft spots in seconds.

“Oh my gosh- you weren’t kidding! You really do laugh at this!” 

Phil’s wings flapped a bit erratically when Kristin shifted a hand up to wiggle into his ribs, the sensitive nature of the bones making the man squirm as they were attacked mercilessly. “Krist- Krihihistin! Thahahat tihihickles sohoho bahahad!”

“Oh wow, really?” Kristin widened her eyes with a faux show of amazement. “Shocking. Whoever would’ve seen that coming, hmm?”

Phil finally gave up on trying to stay upright on the couch, collapsing back onto the armrest with his wings draped over the end. Kristin didn’t hesitate to follow, keeping him down with one leg pressed over his knees, hands still working around his sensitive midriff. 

“Why haven't I tried this sooner? You're just a giggly wee thing aren't you, Phil? Oh, the arguments I could've won so much faster if I'd known this sooner." 

“Shhuhut uhup- thihihis ihis- this- nohohohohot thehehere!” 

Phil’s howl of laughter made Kristin startle, looking down to see her hands had landed on Phil’s top ribs, massaging the bones in an unbearably consistent, tickly way. She grinned, shifting her fingers so they were pressed into the backs of the ribs with her thumbs on the front ones, squeezing and pinching quickly.

“KRIHIHIHistihihin! OhoHOHo gohoHOHOD!”

Phil’s laughter had a trill echoing in the back of it, his avian side relishing in the attention while his more human side was trying to get the fuck away. His hands were uselessly flailing, unable to push at his wife’s hands or settle long enough to grip anything close. He was lost in his own swirling giggles, wings falling to the ground when Kristin moved to wiggle her nails up and around his neck.

“You made an odd noise when I did this earlier,” Kristin commented, brushing her fingers across the back of Phil’s neck, delighted when the man made the exact same strangled squeal weaselling out of him. “Aww, there it is!”

“NohOHoho! Nohohot neheheck tihihickles! IHIHehehehehe!” Phil’s words quickly tapered off into high pitched giggles, the fluttering fingers turning him to mush. He’d always been unbearably sensitive there, sometimes even his own wings would make him flinch and jolt when they brushed against the skin. Kristin’s gentle fingers coaxed out his mirthful titters, his head shaking from left to right but doing nothing to stop the ‘attack’. 

“Okay, can definitely check off your neck being a sweet spot,” Kristin chuckled, her hands dropping to Phil’s sides. “And this got a reaction out of you too, right?”

The assumption was correct as Phil immediately jolted, trying to sink and disappear into the cushions as the Goddess’s fingers wriggled into his thick clothing to attack the sensitive muscles and nerves. A sharp peep left Phil’s mouth and he clamped his hands over his lips, but Kristin had already heard it, and by god was she ecstatic. 

“You chirped!” She cooed gleefully, prodding lightly at Phil’s skin to try and make the noise again. 

“I-Ihihihi dihihid nohohot- AH!” Once again, that same joyful chirp leapt from Phil’s throat, even with his hands muffling his tumbling laughter, it was clear as a bell. “Stohohohopihihit!”

“Stop what? Making you chirp? That’s all you, love,” Kristin chuckled, though she did take her hands from his sides, not without a couple leaving prods that urged another peep to get out. 

She gave a low hum, making a show of thinking long and hard about something. “Now then, that other place was your knees, wasn’t it?” 

There was a soft noise of protest, Phil’s hands leaving his face to hold them up to Kristin in surrender. “No- nononono it wasn’t- you don’t need to- Krihihistin!”

Phil’s ramblings splintered into nervous giggles, high and elated, with another echo of bird-like warbling at the edges. It made Kristin coo adoringly, wishing she was part avian herself so she could dote on the man with similar noises to his own. Though she couldn’t quite match it, she was doing a damn good job, seeing as it made Phil flush and grin widen. 

“I think it was~” she hummed teasingly, her hand drawing back to his legs to settle on one of his knees. Judging by how the man froze up, she’d made a good call. “Let’s see if I can get any more little chirps out of you, shall we?”

The tickling was fast, yet gentle. Phil couldn’t prepare himself for it no matter what he tried. Despite the tickle fights he’d had in the past, it was useless against a literal Goddess who seemed determined to tickle him silly. She squeezed and prodded his knees, skittered along his socked feet and calves, vibrated her fingers into his hips and stomach, then settled with gentle pinching along his upper ribs. 

It was almost maddening, but Phil’s bird brain was thoroughly enjoying itself under such love and affection, warbling and chirping like a fledgeling. These noises had slipped past his lips more than once, making his embarrassment grow, but Kristin only made soft noises and faces of adoration back. 

It was only when Kristin targeted that one sweet spot on his back where his wings met his shoulders did he finally crack, his hands planted on his warmly tinted face as he threw his head back with a wheeze.

“Krisihihihitin! PlehEHEase! Ihihi cAHAhan’t tahahake thiiHIHIhis!”

Kristin, who loved her husband and her job of passing dead souls on very much, didn’t want to combine them so closely so soon. She laughed gently and took her hands from Phil’s ribs, sitting back on the couch and patting Phil’s leg soothingly as he took in great gulps of air. When he didn’t feel the ghost tingles worming across his skin, he slumped back with a giggly sigh, brushing the tears budding at the edges of his eyes. 

“Gods, you’re ruthless,” he grinned tiredly, the last of his laughter leaving his voice and leaving him feeling light and relaxed.

“Thank you,” Kirstin smiled, the grin flashing her sharp canines playfully. “been working on it.”

Phil wheezed another laugh, sitting up and brushing a hand through his mussed hair, correcting the strands that had fallen haphazardly over his face. “I can tell.”

Kristin watched as he tried to put himself back together, smiling fondly. “Are you alright?” She asked, just to make sure.

Judging by the hand that took her own and gently squeezed, it seemed she hadn’t needed to worry. Phil’s blue eyes were alight with warmth and love, an affectionate look on his face that would’ve made anyone run an absolute mile due to not wanting to get cavities from the sweetness. 

“I’m good,” he reassured, “just tired now.”

“I can imagine so,” Kristin lifted their interlocked hands to place a kiss on the back of his palm. “You were laughing an awful lot.”

Her eyes fell to his wings. The feathered appendages were in complete disarray, the feathers out of line and dust littering the soft plumage. The sight made her frown, her hands itching to correct the disaster that was Philza Minecraft’s crow wings. 

"Here, turn around and let me preen you, you've gotten your wings all messed up from flapping them so much. I'm pretty sure you've picked up half of the floor's dirt in here. Good lord, Phil."

"Hey, it's not my fault, you were the one hellbent on torturing me."

"Shush, I heard you making those bird sounds while you were laughing. You were enjoying every second of it." 

With that, Kristin settled Phil to face his back to her, his warm face having a seemingly permanent smile on it, embarrassed or not, it was there. 

Kristin’s fingers carefully dug into the feathers, carding through for loose feathers and grit. Phil’s shoulders rose to his ears in a fast motion, his hands taking fistfuls of the couch. The little huffs of laughter he released was even more evidence to Kristin that she had the cutest avian in existence as her husband. 

“Really? Even here too?” Kristin laughed fondly, never maliciously.  

Phil crossed his arms with a groan. “I’m sensitive, alright? Leave me alone.”

The smug voice made the teen’s gaze jolt down. Sneeg, the local goblin of an inchling, stood at his feet grinning up at him. 

"Sneeg." He said tersely, his tail whipping lightly at the grass in agitation now that his fight or flight instincts had settled. "What do you want?" 

The little blue creature chuckled, stuffing his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels innocently. "Aw c'mon Princey, don't be like that," he quipped flippantly. "I didn't mean to scare you, honestly."

Ranboo glared at him for a moment, weighing up the sincerity in the man's voice. Though Sneeg was a constant joker and a bit of an annoyance, he never did mean to do anything hurtful on purpose. 

"It's…fine," Ranboo tried, awkwardness sending a warm flush down his back from how stilted it sounded. 

Sneeg however, didn't seem to care about the strained phrase, beaming at the enderman happily. "Okay good!" He chirped, "no one likes seeing a sad sack of shit." 

Ranboo jolted at the inchling's words, ears bent back at the foul phrase. "I- …P-Pardon?" He blinked. 

Sneeg, instead of repeating himself, was delighted by the response. "Hey, good job! You remembered 'pardon' this time!" He clapped his tiny hands in earnest pride.

The reply rattled Ranboo. The unexpected praise made warmth curl in his chest, but he quickly schooled his expression to not show emotion, just like he was taught. 

The lesson that was drilled into him as a child made Ranboo internally grimace. He was out from underneath his father’s thumb, he had to remember that. He didn’t have to hold himself back like he did in the End. He wasn’t there anymore. He wasn’t. 

Ranboo cleared his throat and slowly tucked his arms behind his back, lowering his shoulders down from where they were tightly strung. “I’ve been reading a book Tommy gave me,” he explained coolly, trying to sound indifferent. “It’s helpful for learning these weird Overworld customs.”

“What customs? You mean manners?” Sneeg chuckled, “those are weird to you?”

“We don’t apologise for bumping into people in the End,” Ranboo drawled, shrugging stiffly and hoping it looked casual. “We usually just hiss at each other.” 

Sneeg burst into cackles, the Ender Prince watching him in bafflement. “Oh please, you gotta do that in front of Wilbur sometime, he hisses at people when he gets mad. It’s fucken hilarious.”

Ranboo’s ear twitched subconsciously in thought. “What’s funny about maintaining dominance in a situation against an inferior?” He asked, completely serious. 

Once again, Sneeg laughed, loud and full. “God, you’re a riot man,” he wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. “No wonder Tommy and Tubbo love hanging out with you so much.”

The easy admittance of his friends wanting his companionship made Ranboo’s tail wag softly, and even though he forced his face to remain impassive, his lips twitched without his permission. The inchling however, managed to catch it.

“Oh, I almost got you to smile!” He bounced on his heels, eyes alight with joy. “I saw that tail wagging Ranboo, why don’t you smile as well?”

Ranboo immediately glared, ears flattening to his head. “I did not wag my tail. I am not a hound, Sneeg.”

“Yes you did!” In a single bound, the man leapt up to Ranboo, causing a yelp to wrench from the Enderman’s throat, stumbling back in alarm as Sneeg settled on his shoulder. He rested his weight on his hands, grinning up at the perturbed teenager. “Go on Ranboo, I want to see you smile!”

Ranboo huffed out a short breath, lips twisting in a scowl. “No. I don’t want to.”

“C’monnnnnn,” Sneeg whined, smacking lightly at the boy’s cheek like an insistent child. “Show me them teef!”

Ranboo’s tail swiped at the grass again, his ears still bent as he lifted his lip the barest margin to give Sneeg the beginnings of a snarl. He then dropped his lip once more to hide his fangs and glared at him. “There, you got your ‘teef content’ that you wanted, now get off me.” 

Sneeg pouted, clearly annoyed by Ranboo’s lack of cooperation. “You know that’s not what I wanted,” he grumbled.

Ranboo sniffed, bending down to get his pickaxe - definitely not to give Sneeg an easier way down, shut up he didn’t care about that stupid inchling at all - and drawled, “it’s the only thing you’re gonna get. You can’t force me to smile.”

Sneeg paused from standing up from Ranboo’s shoulder, staring forwards as the cogs in his head started to work overtime.

Ranboo, a bit creeped out by the sudden silence and frozen movement, wondered if Sneeg had suddenly blue screened or something. “...Sneeg?” He inquired, lifting a hand slowly to the inchling. “Sneeg are you oka-”

“You said I can’t force you to smile.”

Ranboo blinked, startling a little at the low voice. He retracted his hand, fearing it would get bitten. “Um, yes? I don’t think you could.”

Sneeg slowly turned his head to look at the enderman, and Ranboo suddenly found himself experiencing a freezing cold dread at the manic, excited look in the inchling’s eyes. 

His grin was full of too many teeth as he slowly dipped his head to the side. “Is that a challenge Ranboo?” 

Oh gods. Oh Prime. 

Sneeg’s voice had gone from menacing to downright terrifying. 

Ranboo’s hand slowly lifted once more, throwing the idea of possibly getting bitten to the side. He didn’t want this little devil anywhere near his face, or his throat for that matter.

“N-No, it was not a challenge,” Ranboo spoke as calmly as he could, trying to not let anything slip through his neutral façade. “I was merely stating-”

Sneeg’s grin widened. “Oh no, you were definitely challenging me.”

Ranboo’s hand missed grabbing Sneeg by yards, the inchling jumping away and onto the collar of Ranboo’s cloak. His fingers then scuttled along the back of the boy’s neck, nails spidering all over the dark skin. Ranboo’s shoulders leapt to his ears, a squeal bursting from his mouth and he slapped a hand over his mouth, the other trying to reach around to smack Sneeg away.

“Sneeg!” He gasped, squirming in place as goose bumps raced across his skin. “W-Whahat- whahat ahahare yohou dohohohoing?!”

Giggles were tumbling out of Ranboo and he had absolutely no clue why. This had never happened in the End! What kind of witchcraft was Sneeg performing?! 

“Awww, listen to you man! You’re giggling away like a lil kid, that’s adorable!” Sneeg chuckled, once again so close to his ears that Ranboo flinched away, the breath brushing along the tall things making him squeak. 

“Whahahat ihihis thiHIHis?!” Ranboo gasped, jolting with another squeal when delicate nails skimmed underneath the hairline on the nape of his neck. “Ihihit feheheheels weheheird!” 

There was an amused scoff behind him. “What? Tickling? Have you never been tickled before Ranboo?”

There was a confused noise amongst the wild giggling Ranboo was making. “Nohohoho? W-Whihihihiy wohohould ihihihi- SNEHeheheheheeg!”

Ranboo suddenly threw his head back, scrunching his neck down as an unbearably light sensation crawled underneath his jaw and his ear. He fell back onto the grass, breathy cackles bursting free as Sneeg scribbled across the newfound area. 

“Ohohoho gohods! Snheeeg, hohow ahare yohou dohohoing thihihis?!” Ranboo squealed, squirming on the grass as the fluttering sensations drifted over the shell of his ear.

There was a light snort from the inchling, deciding to take pity on the cackling boy who was quite lost in the current situation. “Well, to put it simply, tickling is essentially me using my lil fingees to make you laugh,” Sneeg explained, still scribbling against Ranboo’s skin. “It only happens when someone else does it to you though, you can’t do it to yourself.”

“Thahahat’s soho cohonfusing,” Ranboo pressed out, yelping when a soft rush of skittering fingers brushed over his neck again. “IHIHIhihive nehever fehehelt thihis behefore.” 

Sneeg cocked his head to the side. “Seriously? Never? How old did you say you were again?”

Through a rush of adorable titters Ranboo managed to get out a giggle filled, “E-Eihihighteheheen.”

There was a whistle from Sneeg. “Wow, eighteen years old and my man has never been tickled? And you’re so sensitive too! Why hasn’t anyone done this sooner?” Sneeg clicked his tongue in disappointment. “Well this won’t do at all, I’d better make up for all the time you’ve missed, huh?”

The promise of continuing this weirdly fun sensation made something flutter in Ranboo’s belly and he squirmed back into the grass. “NohoHOHOho Sneheheheheeg!” Ranboo gasped, shaking his head and trying to hide his sensitive spots from the insistent inchling, but Sneeg would not be deterred. 

“I gotta do this man, you’ve missed out on so much laughter, and so much smiling too!” Sneeg grinned, seeing how the boy’s eyes were crinkled. Despite the hand covering Ranboo’s mouth, Sneeg could tell he was smiling wide. “You’ve got the sweetest laugh Ranboo, and I’m sure your smile is just as cute.” 

Warmth bloomed in Ranboo’s cheeks and he slapped his other hand on his face so it was fully covered, shoulders bouncing as he giggled madly. 

“Awww, did that get you?” Sneeg cooed excitedly, “did that make you feel all fuzzy and tingly inside Ranboo? Aren’t you just adorable~”

“Sneheheheheheeg!” Ranboo whined into his hands, feeling himself going to mush with how flustered he was getting. “S-Shuhuhut uhuhuhup!”

Sneeg cooed again, scratching underneath Ranboo’s chin. “You’re going all purple man, wait- is that your way of blushing?! Aw, that’s so fucking sweet, you’re just a sweet lil guy.” 

Ranboo’s tail wagged at his side, brushing along the grass in long sweeps that Sneeg took the instant opportunity to tease him about. 

“You’re enjoying this, aren't you big guy?” He chuckled. 

Ranboo’s ears flopped down in embarrassment, hearing every bit of fond adoration in the inchling’s voice. He tried to roll over and hide himself in his cloak but Sneeg scribbled against the other side of his ears to make him roll back.

“N-Nohohoho ihihihi dohohon’t,” Ranboo managed to get out, lying through his teeth. “Thihis ihihis soho undihignified!”

There was a cackle from the little blue man. “Oh, you think this is undignified? Just you wait till I find your most sensitive spot! I might even get you snorting~” Sneeg skittered along Ranboo’s collarbone, laughing at the hand that half heartedly swung down to try and get him away. 

“S-Sneheheheeg- p-plehehease!” Ranboo wheezed, taking his other hand away from his face and Sneeg softened at what he saw. The boy’s ears and cheeks flushed a light shade of violet, his eyes were scrunched up, and a wide smile was spread across his face., fangs and all. It was the best thing Sneeg had seen all day. 

“See?” He said with a fond grin, “told you I could get out that cute smile.”

Ranboo immediately cringed away from the praise, his cheeks darkening in hue as he flopped back, hands planting themselves back over his face. “Ihihit’s nohohot cuhuhute,” he grumbled though Sneeg could hear the smile in his voice. 

“It really is man,” Sneeg chuckled, “you should smile more often, it looks good on you.”

Ranboo hid his shy grin in his hands, trying to stop his tail from wagging more but he knew Sneeg was well aware of it by now. 

“Now, seeing as you like being tickled so much,” Sneeg spoke up, his nails retracting from Ranboo’s sensitive skin for a moment, “there are a lot of places we ought to try, I imagine you probably didn’t even know you were this ticklish. What do you think?”

A flustered whine managed to weasel out of Ranboo’s lips and he clamped his fingers tighter over his face in embarrassment. He used to be a Prince of the End goddamnit, his father would’ve ridiculed him for such noises. Sneeg however, only gave an adoring coo.

“You’re too damn cute Ranboo,” he chuckled, taking in the teenager’s current state and feeling something protective and pleased curl in his heart. Seeing this boy so giggly and happy made him soften, he should’ve done this ages ago.

Ranboo was struggling to come up with an answer to Sneeg’s previous statement, instead settling with stuffing his face in his shoulder and giving a small grumble. It only made the inchling laugh.

“So I’ll take that as a ‘Go ahead’, shall I?” Sneeg asked.

Ranboo’s ears flattened further in embarrassment, but Sneeg saw the way his eyes were sparkling in excitement as he gave a weak nod.

Sneeg cracked his knuckles and grinned. “One giggly enderman comin’ right up!” 

“Techno!”

“Come here, Tech!”

“Answer the question!”

Techno's hooves clicked loudly against the deep emerald floor as he ran. Not far behind were the diabolical trio of Phil, Niki and Ranboo, chasing after him with devious grins. And no, he was not going to answer whether he was ticklish or not, thank you very much.

"If you don't tell us, we'll just have to find out for ourselves!" Phil sang.

Techno knew that. He also knew that answering would have the same result. A 'yes', and they'd surely test that information. A 'no', and they'd do the same. Techno's ticklishness was something he was glad to have kept well-hidden. It wasn't that he hated being tickled. He didn't mind it. He liked it, even, as long as it was with people he trusted. Rather, it was to protect his image. Maintaining his reputation as one of the most intimidating people on the server would be rather difficult if word got out that he could be reduced to laughter with a few mere touches. He let out a few pig-like grunts as he pulled himself up the ladder to the trap door leading to the outside. He shook his head. Why had he chosen to run? Lying would have been much easier, and much less obvious. He unlocked the trap door and pushed it open, hoisting himself out and closing it behind him. As soon as he did, a gust of cold wind hit him, ruffling his white silk shirt and blowing his long pink hair into his face. He brushed it away so he could see, then took off into the dense woods. Snowflakes pelted him as he ran, and his hooves pressed prints into the covered ground below. He ducked and dodged trees clumsily, gritting his teeth as he collided with their needled branches. Techno's lungs began to tire, filled with sharp, pine-scented arctic air. He sat down where he was, watching his rapid breaths turn into clouds of mist that danced in the moonlight. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. 

What the hell was he doing? Why did he have to come tonight? He knew it would be a mistake. This was the last time he'd allow himself to be this vulnerable. He gritted his teeth as the voices spoke up.

They're your friends.

Aw, did you run away? Hah! Coward.

Not safe, not safe.

"Techno!" He heard someone call. He lifted his head and made out three figures standing near the trap door. "Techno, are you out here?" Ranboo yelled again.

Techno bit his lip and rested his forehead against his knees, remaining silent. The crunching of snow grew louder along with the group's shouting as they followed Techno's footprints, squinin to make them out in the dark. 

"Techno?" Niki sounded rather close to him now. Too close. He brushed his fingers over the blade of the small netherite hatchet he had on his belt. He gripped its handle.

Stop.

Danger.

They're your friends.

Blood.

"He's here!"

Techno immediately relaxed his hand, looking up wide-eyed at Phil who was rushing towards him. The other two followed behind him, but kept their distance.

"Tech," Phil began, his eyes filled with concern, "You alright, mate?"

The other man exhaled with a rueful smile. He paused for a moment. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want to come back? We-" Phil saw Techno start to shift uncomfortably. "We don't have to keep playing. We'll drop it, okay?"

"Okay," Techno sighed. He slowly stood, shivering as he was released from his warm cocoon of body heat. He tried to shake off the snow that had landed on his head, but some of it slid under his shirt and down his back. He grumbled.

"I've got him! We're coming back. You two go on," Phil called out to Niki and Ranboo, who nodded at him and started walking back towards the bunker. 

Techno shuffled towards Phil, who smiled and wrapped an arm around him. The piglin rolled his eyes, but leaned into him nonetheless. They followed the path of snowy footsteps towards the door without speaking a single word, though Phil shot Techno many worried glances. When they finally reached their destination, Phil opened the trap door and directed the other to enter. He complied and made his way down the ladder before landing on the tile. The avian followed suit.

Techno scanned the room. Niki and Ranboo were back at the other end of the room, with their blankets draped over their laps. The enderman hybrid was staring at the wall, expressionless. The baker made eye contact, her gaze sympathetic. Techno felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and he allowed Phil to guide him to the group. The former sat first. Phil took his place next to him, not before dragging over his quilt that was laying on the floor and draping it over his own lap.

There was a pause. Everyone stared at the floor uncomfortably for a moment, before the crow hybrid spoke up.

"Hey, I know! It's kind of spooky outside, with the howling wind and all," he began, emphasizing the 'howling wind' with a gesture of his hand. "Why don't we tell scary stories?"

Ranboo shrugged, and Techno did the same. However, Niki's eyes lit up.

"You have something you want to share, Niki?" Techno inquired, raising an eyebrow with a bemused smile.

She hesitated then nodded. "Well, I do have a really good one."

"Go on, then." Phil gestured with his hand for her to proceed.

She gave a sheepish grin and cleared her throat. "There was once an abandoned mineshaft in a clearing, surrounded by dense woods…"

Techno felt a shiver run through him. Prime, he hated snow. His cape provided him with protection from the elements, so he usually didn't mind the arctic climate. However, the snow that had fallen on him had begun to melt through his shirt, dampening his shoulders. The fur of his hooved legs especially retained the cold water, leaving him chilly and soaked. He slowly reached over and tugged at Phil's multicolour quilt, making eye contact with the avian. The piglin looked down at his own hand and back at him, silently asking for permission. Phil nodded, pushing bundles of fabric towards him. Techno gathered the material and covered his lower half. He leaned into the warmth of the wing the other wrapped around his shoulders, finally feeling some relief from the cold. He turned his attention back to Niki. He smiled, amused by her expressiveness. He felt movement underneath the quilt, leading to Phil placing his hand over his a few moments later. Techno shook his head to himself and opened his palm, allowing Phil to lace his fingers between his.

"...and there it was waiting. But the young villager didn't know that, so he continued up the dark path…"

Techno suddenly took a sharp inhale, feeling an unexpected tingling on his hand. Phil had begun lightly scratching his palm. He pulled his hand away gently, figuring that the other had meant for it to be a soothing gesture. Though, he was proven wrong when Phil reached over with his other hand and grabbed his, holding it still. He lightly traced over Techno's hooved fingers, and they twitched in his grip. The piglin darted his eyes to Phil, who was watching Niki to maintain his innocence, though he had a poorly hidden smirk on his face. Techno kneed him. He immediately regretted the action when Phil began quickly scribbling on his palm in retaliation. The piglin bit his lip, feeling giggles build up in his chest. He tried to pull his hand away subtly, but Phil kept a firm grip. He narrowed his eyes at the avian. Phil gave him a smug smile. He started to trace around the last joints of the other's fingers, where soft skin turned into rough, hoove-like keratin. Techno let out a titter and felt his face burn. 

"There was a loud howl- what is so funny, Techno?" Niki asked, looking over at the disruption. 

"It's nothin', soho- sorry. Keheep going," he replied. He immediately pulled his free hand out from underneath the blanket and clamped it over his mouth. 

"It's clearly not nothing if you're trying that hard not to laugh. What is so hilarious that you have to interrupt me?" 

"Yeah, sorry about that," Phil chimed in. He pulled the quilt down so that his fingers brushing along Techno's were clearly visible to the others.

"Oh, he is ticklish!" Ranboo exclaimed gleefully, with mischief in his eyes.

Niki gasped, a grin appearing on her face. "That's so cute!"

The piglin shook his head. "Ihit's no- not! Phihil, I wihill kill you."

The man in question rolled his eyes. "Sure, mate." He let go of Techno's wrist and continued to run his fingertips along the hand. He brought his own now free hand up to scratch gently behind the piglin's ear. His fluffy ear flapped in response and he let out a small snort. The observing pair shared a look of pure adoration. 

"That has got to be the most adorable thing I've seen," Niki remarked.

Phil nodded. "Do you want to try? Only if you're okay with it, Tech."

His eyes widened and he sputtered. "Why would I?-"

"You don't seem to be complaining much, and you're not trying to get away. You're leaning into me, actually."

Techno huffed and moved his head forward, becoming aware that he'd been resting it against Phil's hand.

"Oh, no need to be embarrassed! But I'll stop if you want," Phil added. He removed his hands from the other, but Techno grabbed onto the one that had been tracing his palm.

"Ihit's fine. You can… keep going, I guess," he muttered, staring at the tile directly below him.

The avian grinned and continued to run his nails along the back of the piglin's ear. "Does that mean Niki can help too?"

Techno glanced at her, seeing her eager yet cautious smile. He nodded. "Ihi dohon't mind."

She stood and approached the pair, crouching down next to the giggling man. 

Phil moved back and kneeled behind him, in turn. "Go on, lay down," he instructed, patting his lap.

"Heh?"

"You'll be more comfortable, and your hair is still damp. Man, you must be freezing right now, and this will help keep you warm."

Techno complied hesitantly, leaning back and resting his head in Phil's lap. 

The older man ran his hands through the other's long, pink hair soothingly, making him relax a bit. "Niki, take his hands," he directed. Techno lifted his hands from beside him, offering them to her. When she reached to take them, he pulled them away towards his chest and ducked his head to the side to avoid looking at her. 

Phil chuckled and leaned down to murmur into his ear. "She can't get your hands if you don't give them to her, Techlee." 

The man in question scrunched up with a stifled giggle. Techno held up his hands again, and Niki took them in hers'. She ran her nails down his palms and wrists, cooing as his fingers twitched and his flustered smile grew. 

The bird hybrid began rubbing gently with his thumbs on the inside of Techno's ears, tracing along the outside with his remaining fingertips. "Was that so hard?" he whispered, making Techno lift his head with an embarrassingly high-pitched squeal. He made brief eye contact with Ranboo, who was just watching intently from his place on the floor, before allowing his head to fall back into Phil's lap.

"Rahanboo, yohou can joho- join thehem if you dohon't wanna just sihit thehere," Techno offered, wishing his hands were free so that he could cover his face. Instead, he left them limp, allowing Niki to gently trace shapes along his fingers.

Ranboo raised his eyebrows. "Oh, okay." He stood and walked over, sitting down opposite of Niki. "Uh… what should I do?"

Phil reached down and pinched the fabric of Techno's shirt. "Can I lift this up?"

The piglin nodded. The avian lifted his shirt up to his ribs, exposing his midriff. His stomach was covered in soft, pink fur.

"He loves when you run your fingers through the fluff." Techno whined at Phil's comment. Ranboo smirked and placed his hand on the fur, causing the muscles in Techno's abdomen to tense.

"I'm guessing this isn't the first time you've done this, Phil?" the enderman hybrid inquired. He dragged his dull claws down Techno's stomach then up again, marvelling at Techno's reactions.

"Definitely not," Phil laughed. "He'll never admit it, but he loves this."

"Hehey! Ihihi doho nohOT!" Techno retorted, snorting as Phil trailed a single wiggling finger down his forehead to the top of his snout.

Niki's mouth fell open incredulously. "That makes him snort?"

"Fucking adorable, innit? And he just completely shuts down if you get him here," the winged man added. He brought the same hand to the top of Techno's head and scratched gentle circles into his scalp. Techno closed his eyes, giggling mirthfully in a sweet stream.

"Ihihi'm rihight here, yehe knohohow…" he mumbled, hiding his warm face against Phil's knee.

"That you are, Tech," the avian replied with an adoring smile.

Techno exhaled through his laughter and felt the tension in his shoulders disappear. He no longer felt fearful. He no longer felt cold. Among the various cooings of the trio, he could hear the voices chant quietly once more.

Warm.

Friends.

“Getting there,” he croaked. His voice was worn out from screaming, the nightmare torturing him that night sending him into hysterics. Tubbo still looked scared. 

The small goat hybrid cuddled closer to Ranboo, wrapping his arms around the teen’s arm. “You want to talk about it?”

Ranboo’s ears dipped again, and he shook his head. “No, I’d rather not.”

Tubbo nodded, gently butting his head into Ranboo’s shoulder. “That’s okay,” he reassured, “whatever you’re comfortable with, big man.” 

Ranboo hummed quietly, taking another sip of his drink and sighing at the comforting taste. 

The crackling hearth in front of the pair was warming the room easily, the snowstorm outside blustering and howling. Inside however, it was cosy. 

Though the night hadn’t been easy.

Tubbo had woken to Ranboo crying out in his sleep, enderman-like shrieks tearing from his throat and making the air itself seem cold. He’d hurriedly roused the anguished teen, almost getting his eye clawed out by Ranboo when he’d woke in a panic. The breakdown had only gotten worse, the nightmare fresh and painful.

Now, they were sitting on the soft couch of their living room, Ranboo curled up in a weighted blanket with Tubbo’s hot chocolate in his hands. The goat hybrid himself was nestled close, worry evident in his scarred face. 

“Are you sure you're okay with me touching you right now?” He asked softly.

Ranboo nudged his chin into Tubbo’s thick hair, a soft purr rumbling from his throat. His tail slipped around Tubbo’s waist to tuck him closer, the fluff on the end twitching. “Does that answer your question?” he joked lightly. 

Tubbo smiled softly, running his fingers through the fluff and chuckling at the slight swat the tail gave in response. He looked back up at his platonic husband. 

“Give me your hand,” Tubbo murmured, opening his own palm to his friend.

Ranboo gazed at it with tired eyes before trustingly lowering his hand into Tubbo’s fingers, his spare one still cradling the mug in his lap. The goat hybrid leaned his head into Ranboo’s shoulder, easing the gangly arm to rest on his leg. 

“I understand what you’re feeling right now,” he spoke softly, the pads of his fingers coming to rest on white skin. “The numbness? The unsettled anxiety? Even if nothing was in the room, you’d still feel watched. I get it.”

Ranboo’s tail shifted again. 

“You don’t need to tell me a word,” Tubbo reassured quietly, brushing along the soft palm on his leg. “You always respected my privacy, I’m going to respect yours.” His fingers trailed along the lines of Ranboo’s hand gently, making a slow and gentle pattern. “Be kinda hypocritical of me to ask you to talk, wouldn't it?” 

Ranboo hummed, leaning his weight into Tubbo, letting his glazed eyes close halfway. “I hate it,” he admitted. “I hate feeling afraid.”

Tubbo’s soft touch brushed along the pads on Ranboo’s fingertips, feeling the nerves underneath twitch. “I know.” He did. How could he not? “But you have me. And I have you. We can stop being afraid together, right?”

Ranboo smiled weakly. “That’s a bit corny.”

“You’re corny,” Tubbo muttered, running his fingers in a circular motion over Ranboo’s palm, hearing Ranboo’s soft inhale he added, “and ticklish.” 

Ranboo rolled his eyes lazily. He was too tired to be sassy. “You don’t usually touch my hands like this, I’m not used to it.”

Tubbo’s right ear flicked, like it always did when he was thinking. “Guess I’ll have to do it more, it seems to be relaxing you.”

“Mmm.” Ranboo’s tail wrapped around Tubbo’s leg, comfortably loose. 

“Hey, you better not be about to fall asleep here boss man,” Tubbo muttered, “You’ll get a bad neck ache in the morning.”

“’m not falling asleep,” Ranboo muttered, eyelids slipping closed more. 

Tubbo huffed in amusement. “Sure you’re not.”

He skimmed his nails along the sides of Ranboo’s hand and felt the subtle tightening of the tail on his leg. He smiled, speaking up a bit. “Oh, cute, your tail is your tell.”

“No it ihisn’t.” Ranboo’s voice was muffled and Tubbo had to hold back a laugh when he realised his platonic husband had buried his face into his brown hair.

“Right, so you’re not getting all smiley and blushy up there? You’re not trying to hide in my hair.”

There was a quiet grumble. “...No. Your hahair just…smehells…good.”

Tubbo did laugh at that, grinning to himself when Ranboo’s hand curled then opened again. “You’re cute,” he teased gently. “You like your hands getting tickled.”

The fluff on Ranboo’s tail gently swatted Tubbo’s leg. “Shuhut up,” the man himself muttered through soft giggles, “it feheels nihice.”

Tubbo cooed, brushing a few fingers along Ranboo’s wrist and smiling at the teen’s slight squirm and soft giggles. “Is this helping?” He asked.

Ranboo shrugged, not wanting to lift his head from the safety of Tubbo’s mop.

“Ranboo.”

Fingers softly brushed over Ranboo’s palm, finding the sensitive spots and wiggling nails over them. The tail wrapped around Tubbo’s leg tightened again, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Ranboo’s giggles picked up, his smile hidden in the thick curls atop Tubbo’s head. 

“Yeahah, ihihi guehehess,” he admitted, ears dipping in embarrassment at Tubbo’s small “awww”.

“That’s good, we need to find you some healthy coping mechanisms right? And this is one.”

Despite how much of a little shit Tubbo was, he was making a good point, much to Ranboo’s annoyance. 

“So let’s agree that this is relaxing you, would you want me to do this when you’re having a panic attack or something?”

Ranboo scoffed, but it was fond. “Are wehe seriohously sehetting boundaharies abohout yohou tihihickling mehe?”

“Would you rather I just do it whenever? You are fun to tickle no qualms there bud, you’re an adorable giggle box of reactions.”

Ranboo’s whole face was purple at this point. His tail smacked Tubbo’s leg lightly, a small grumble emitting from him. Tubbo stopped the skittering and tracing, brushing his thumb over the skin to calm the tingling nerves. He repeated it until Ranboo’s giggles were slowed to light titters. 

“So?” he prompted.

Ranboo rolled his eyes. “ihit helps,” he muttered. “It would help if you did it to anchor me…or you know, to help through panic.”

Tubbo laced their fingers together, warming the naturally cold hand of the enderman hybrid. He turned his head up to smile gently at Ranboo. “Okay,” he agreed easily. “There we go.”

Ranboo couldn’t help but smile back, content. “There we go,” he repeated.

Tubbo turned to look at Ranboo’s hand again and slipped his fingers out of the gentle hold, his nails brushing over the beans on Ranboo’s finger tips. The motion became repetitive, coaxing soft giggles out of Ranboo again, his tail loosening on the goat hybrid’s leg in his relaxation.

A soft purr rumbled up from Ranboo’s throat before he could stop it.

Tubbo positively glowed in delight. “Awww, the cat likes to have his beans tickled- wha- Hey, no, give your hand back.” Tubbo glared at his friend who had retracted his hand and squeezed it into a fist.

“Stohop calling mehe a cat,” Ranboo whined, his face burying back into Tubbo’s hair. 

“Why? You have beans, you purr, and you like head rubs. Find a flaw in my argument.”

Ranboo sighed heavily, his horns clinking with Tubbo’s own. “You are the worst, you know that?”

“Love you too. Give me your hand or I’ll tickle you somewhere else.”

Tubbo could feel the heat in Ranboo’s face from how close he was pressed to him. His hand was held out again to Tubbo who gently took it and resettled it against his leg. 

He smiled. “Thank you.”

“I hate you.”

“Mhm, sure you do.”

Tubbo resumed tracing Ranboo’s hand and brushing softly against the pads, not missing the soft gasps and squeaks when he found a sweet spot. The tickling wasn’t enough to make Ranboo outright laugh, but it was enough to calm him down and make him smile, a few giggles slipping free. That was enough for the pair of them.

Ranboo nudged Tubbo’s head. “Thank you for doing this. You’re a good friend.”

Tubbo felt like he would cry at how small Ranboo sounded. Stupid enderman. How dare he pull at Tubbo’s heartstrings. What a jerk.

He nudged back. “We’re in this together. Right?”

"You're the one that started it! Why are you complaining now?" Dream questioned as he used both hands to wiggle all ten of his fingers all over his tummy. George had his nose scrunched up in his laughter, and his brows were furrowed close together which Dream knew at this point meant he was embarrassed.

"YOHohou weheheren't suhuhupposed tohaHAHA- tohoho retahahaliate!" With all his might George turned over onto his stomach on top of Dream's hands to cease the feeling. Instead, Dream let go and latched his hands against one of his hips while the other drilled into his bottom ribs. The older man exploded into hard cackles, the type Dream liked the most whenever something funny would happen.

In one last weak attempt to turn the tables, George tried to turn his torso and reach under Dream's arms. Not expecting the sudden explosion of feeling there, Dream screamed and let go of George in order to clamp his arms to his sides.

"No nonono No hahaha! Wahahahait!!" Dream began laughing before he could stop it. Even while still catching his breath, the brit used this time to push Dream down onto his back and continue to wiggle his fingers as best he could in the hollows of his armpits.

The only sounds that could be heard in the living room were the breathless giggles of George trying to catch his breath and the loud wheezing coming from Dream. George then moved to squeeze his hips, targeting the bone which made Dream's laughter the hardest.

"NAHAHAHA- CUHUHUT IHIHIT OHOHOHOUT THAHAT'S NOHOHOT FAHAHAHAIR!" Dream grabbed onto George's hands desperately to try and yank them off, all while bucking his hips uselessly to get the feeling to go away. The tingling in his hips made his legs kick out in an attempt to distract himself.

"Wanna forfeit? Really can't finish the fight you started?" George smiled down at the dirty blonde man, whose hair was severely messed up at this point.

"WHAHAHA- WHAHAHAT AHAHARE YOHOHOHAHA- YOHOHOU STAHAHARTED IHIHIT" Dream tried to glare angrily at George for trying to put the blame on him, but the stare really wasn't coming across very well.

"I literally don't know what you're talking about," George giggled a little as he let his stern facade fall. He let his hands shift underneath Dream's hoodie, intending to end this right here and now, but the second his nails made contact with his bare skin, the younger man's reaction was not the one George was expecting.

George had accidentally gone a bit too far underneath the hoodie and had scritched along the backs of Dream's sides instead, but instead of an increase of struggle that George had prepared for, instead the movement almost stopped completely, and the loud laughter raised up several octaves to land in high pitched giggling, the same type George knew of whenever Dream was half asleep on late night discord calls.

"Dream?" George raised an eyebrow as Dream arched his back, making it easier for George to rake his nails all along this new spot. He reached a bit farther and lightly tickles his lower back experimentally. The giggles turned back into laughter, but we're still high pitched and breathy. George finally noticed a slight shiver run through Dream's body and goosebumps rose on his arms that rested limp on either side of him.

"Awwww Dream is this all it takes to get you to give up?" George teased, very slowly and methodically ran his fingers up and down the backs of his sides again. Another jolt wracked Dream's body and his giggles went up I'm down in waves. He tried to shake his head to prove he was willing to keep fighting, but his eyes were closed and he just looked so content and happy.

"No way... Dream do you like this spot? Wait that's so cute you have favorite spot, you really are like a golden retriever!" At this George laughed at his own conclusion and Dream groaned, "shuhuhut uhuhup, ihihidiot."

After another couple of minutes, George let up and helped Dream to stand, since all his muscles felt like jelly at that point. It was a similar feeling to the times he had gotten a massage, but this time he was a bit more winded.

"Movie time?" George suggested, and Dream agreed. He was originally going to record a video today, but he decided that could definitely wait.

------------------------

It is proven that he has a ticklish neck, we got a clip of Mumza tickling his neck and Phil absolutely lost it! Nails, raspberries, and feathers are all things that will make him scream and laugh wildly on this spot

Mans has sensitive ears too!! I love the headcanon of him melting and giggling wildly from his ears being gently teased/blown on

If you're doing dsmp or origins smp, his wings are hell ticklish, I don't make the rules ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Lightly scratching where his wings meet his back will send him into cackles, and scribbling at that spot will make him ✨ascend✨

Speaking of his back, that is somehow both a spot that will make him fold like a lawn chair and also melt. It depends on the method you use! Softly trailing your nails along the area will make him blush and giggle softly, but clawing, spidering or scratching are hell for him. He can't handle it for long due to how sensitive his back is

His thighs/knees will cause frantic kicks and high pitched laughter, he cannot handle scribbles there to save his life- If you're gonna tickle him there, you gotta make sure to hold down his legs so he can't accidently kick you

This guy snorts when he laughs too hard!! We've seen it!! Ticking any spot for long enough will trigger a series of snorts and it embarrasses him so much but it's really endearing

Squeaks!! Squeaks during laughter!! He does it!! It's fucking adorable!!

For one thing… Sam needed to constantly keep his fur in check, being a hybrid and all. And because of his schedule and task list not making that possible, fur had started to creep between Sam’s feet, specifically around the base of his feet, around the paw pads.

Originally, Sam thought he would be fine. But the constant growth of more fur, plus the fact Sam kept rubbing each of his feet against the ground to try and stop the itching had only made Sam’s paws red and inflamed.

But he couldn’t worry about his paws. He had to help Ponk and Foolish first. The two of them were planning to build some type of hospital, or a doctor’s office, presumably for Ponk, who did fit that profession.

Sighing, Sam grabbed the blocks he would need out of one of his many chests and went off to go meet them, his paws rubbing against the green grass as he moved to find them.

Sam searched the area for a while, before he heard the tell-tale call of the golden god himself, the call of Mr Foolish Gamers.

“Sam! SAM! Over here, buddy!”

He and Ponk were waving madly at Sam. Sam rolled his eyes fondly, clip-clopping his way over to meet them, trying to ignore the itchiness in each of his paws.

“Hey guys!” Sam said with as much of a genuine smile as he could muster, looking behind them both to see their progress. They had built the main frame of the place, and it looked pretty good. Sure, needed a bit of a refining touch sooner or later, but nothing too major.

The three of them set to work. The work was mostly silent, except for being occasionally broken by noises of Foolish lifting some blocks up to Ponk, while the masked doctor settled them into place, and Sam content with overseeing the operation, every so often rubbing his paws against the ground to try and get rid of that stupid itchiness.

“Sam… you okay? You’ve been rubbing your paws against that grass for like twenty minutes.” Foolish suddenly piped up. Ponk looked up from his work. Sam sighed.

“I’m fine guys! Really, I…”

“Save it.” Ponk said suddenly, making both god and centaur look around at him.

“W-What?” Sam asked. Ponk rolled his eyes, going nearer to Sam.

“Dude, clearly you’re in pain or something’s hurting you. What’s going on?”

Sam sighed, pressing his clawed hands to his head, rubbing circles into his temple. Ponk realised instantly Sam was stressed, as Sam had only exhibited behaviour like that when something was stressing him out.

“I haven’t been taking care of my paws… they hurt.” Sam said, gingerly lifting one of his paws up. Ponk gently took hold of it, studying the paw pad, and how red and painful it looked. Poor Sam. How long had he been walking about like that?

“Why didn’t you let us know sooner, Sam?” Ponk asked softly, gently touching the tip of his finger to the cloud of fur around Sam’s foot that was the main annoyance to the centaur.

“I didn’t wanna be a burden.” Sam said, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor. Ponk pouted, tilting Sam’s face up.

“You will never be a burden, Sam. Not to me or Foosh. We wanna help you.”

“Actually, that works! He can be our first patient.” Foolish said, smiling at Ponk. Ponk looked up at Sam, and then Sam smiled too.

“I’d be honoured.” Sam teased, grinning at Ponk, but then wincing as his paw shot another wave of itchiness through each of his paws.

“So what exactly are you gonna do?” Sam wondered, head turned to Foolish.

“Well, we can help with the paw problem! We can maybe cut some of the fur out so it’s less annoying for you to deal with. Does that sound ok, Sam?” Foolish asked.

Sam seemed unsure, snatching his paw back out from Ponk’s gentle hold.

“I-I mean… what if it hurts?”

“Sam, you’re with us. We’ll be as gentle as we can, okay? Let me and Ponk help you.” Foolish said, a soft smile on his face. Sam sighed, gently placing his paw back on the ground.

“Fine… but please be careful. It’s really annoying me.”

Ponk and Foolish grinned, each taking one of Sam’s hands and guiding him forward, past the frame of the doctor’s office to a small area at the back, the only décor being a couple of tables that had a few medical tools on them, nothing else.

“Can we make this easier for you Sam? Just so you’re comfortable while we’re doing this.” Ponk assured. Sam smiled, his heart warming at Ponk and Foolish’s kindness.

“Well… there is a couple things at my house. There should be some stuff in one of the chests near the front of the window opposite my bed. That should make things a bit easier.”

Ponk nodded. “I’ll go get it. Be right back. Foolish, help Sam.”

Ponk dashed away to Sam’s house, as Foolish led Sam to a comfortable blanket beside the back of the newly-built frame. Sam laid down on the blanket on his side, his paws stretched out. Foolish gave a sad smile as he examined Sam’s paws. Still red and inflamed. Poor guy.

Ponk returned a few minutes later, holding a small black bag with silver trimming around it.

Ponk opened the bag up and took out some items: a small comb, some scissors, a brush, and some other thing that appeared to be a spray bottle of water. Foolish handed a small bottle of pink elixir (Sam recognised it as a healing potion instantly) to Ponk, who took it and then turned to Sam.

“Stay there, Sam. First, your paws are really red from you trying to stop everything itching. So we’re gonna use this stuff. It should clear up your paws looking so red. You okay for me to do that?”

“Y-Yeah, Ponkie. But please be gentle.”

“Of course.” Ponk said, before popping open the potion and mixing some of the potion with cold water from the spray bottle, so the mixture then created a pinkish water of sorts.

“Hold his paws up, Foosh.” Ponk instructed.

“You got it, Doc.” Foolish said, holding up Sam’s paws in a gentle hold. Ponk reached into his doctor’s bag and took out a small little cloth. Ponk dipped the cloth into the pinkish water and started moving the cloth over each of Sam’s paws, coating his paws with the pink water.

“Feel okay, Sam?” Ponk asked, looking to the centaur.

Sam shivered at the sensation on his paws, but a wide smile was on his face as he giggled out his next sentence. “Feels nihice… but i-it’s reheally cold, Pohonkie!”

Ponk smiled. “You’re so adorable, Sam.”

This went on for a little bit, Foolish occasionally helping where he could as Ponk continued to treat Sam’s paws being so red and painful-looking. Just as Ponk was cleaning the last of Sam’s paws of any reddened area, Sam immediately shot his paw down, his giggling gradually increasing in volume.

“Sam… I need you to give me your paw. I need to finish putting this stuff on.” Ponk said, but an amused glint shone in his eyes.

“I cahahan’t, Pohonk! Ihihit’s soho cohohold!” Sam said, giggling like a madman. Ponk seemed pretty confused, but then Foolish piped up.

“Oh yeah. Ponk, don’t you remember how ticklish his paws are?”

Ponk smiled as the memory came back, looking down at the giggly centaur. All three of them were fully aware of an emerald blush appearing on Sam’s face.

“Oh yeah. Totally forgot. But that’ll make this even more enjoyable for all of us, because I know just how much you love your paws being tickled, huh Sammy?” Ponk cooed, grinning at Sam covering his face with his hands as his paws twitched.

Ponk checked each of Sam’s paws, watching as the redness faded, to become a lot less painful-looking than they looked a few minutes ago.

“Nice. Your paws look a lot better now. But we still got to cut that extra fur off, Sammy. We’ll be gentle, promise.”

Sam’s giggles grew even louder, his face coated in a sweet emerald blush. Foolish and Ponk both had to resist cooing over such a cute reaction to Sam about to have his paws trimmed. Ponk and Foolish took their places beside the giggly centaur.

“Hold his paws out one at a time, Foolish. Then I can cut off some of this fur that’s bothering him. Make sure you hold on tight to the paws though, because we know how squirmy Sam gets with his sensitive little paws~” Ponk teased, laughing at Sam attempting to gently kick him using the other front paw.

“Right away, Doctor.” Foolish joked, seizing Sam’s front paw and lifting it up to meet Ponk. The masked doctor reached for the scissors that lay beside the bag Sam had told Ponk to get from his home, and slowly moved them to Sam’s overgrown paw.

“Ready Sammy?” asked Ponk. Sam’s paw wriggled in Foolish’s hold, but the giggly centaur nodded in response to Ponk’s question. Ponk smiled.

“Perfect.” he said, taking Sam’s front left paw in his hands, gently pressing his fingers into the paw pad, grinning at Sam’s paw stretching itself out at the action, exposing all the fur that hadn’t grown right and the fur in question that was now causing Sam’s paws to be so itchy.

Ponk gently took hold of a clump of fur around Sam’s paw. It looked extremely knotted and split. No wonder it was causing Sam so much pain.

“Ready Sam?” Ponk asked.

Sam shivered. His paw twitched in Ponk’s hold.

“Juhuhust doho ihihit!” Sam whined, his entire body shaking from how hard he was trying to stay still.

Ponk then cut the fur around Sam’s fur, getting the worst of it out, but there was still a small little clump that refused to leave.

“Foolish, pass me that comb.”

Sam froze, his paws instinctively curling around him. Oh boy. The comb.

On the rare days when Sam actually took care of himself, the poor guy always attempted to get some of the fur away from his paws so he could walk without being in pain, but his ticklish paws made that hard.

If Sam couldn’t handle a comb going across his fur normally, how could he handle Ponk and Foolish doing this?

Sam whimpered, seeing Foolish pass the comb to Ponk. Ponk heard the whimper and went to reassure his friend.

“It won’t hurt. But it probably will tickle.”

Ponk combed through the green fur to loosen the knots and cut it off a lot easier. Sam slapped his hands over his mouth to muffle the laughter that threatened to escape him.

Ponk snickered at Sam’s new reaction, pushing his hands off of his face gently.

“Dude. You can laugh, you know. It’s okay. I know you’re ticklish, it’s not a huge secret to keep, is it Foosh?”

“Nope.” Foolish responded, taking advantage of Sam’s eyes on Ponk to quickly tickle the back of Sam’s neck.

“Ahaha! Foosh! Nohohot fahahair!” Sam pouted. He didn’t even feel the sensation of his excess paw fur part with his foot.

“Got it! Nice work, Foosh.” Ponk cheered as he lifted away the rest of the excess fur and immediately throwing it over his shoulder.

“Are we dohone yet? Ihis it over?” asked Sam. He was really enjoying this, so he didn’t want to stop just yet.

Ponk and Foolish shared a look, before their faces cracked into evil identical grins.

“Not quite, Sammy. We have to do the others before you can go.”

Sam’s smile widened as he hesitantly stretched out the next paw. Ponk caught Sam’s paw and smiled at the fact Sam’s paw pad was stubbornly closed.

Ponk gently poked the paw pad, snickering at Sam’s small shocked laugh as his paw stretched out to reveal more overgrown fur. The masked doctor worked a bit faster than he did with Sam’s other front paw, which just made the ticklish feeling even more obvious.

“Ah! Ahahahaha Pohohonk! Nohoho, noho plehehease!” Sam squealed, his back legs kicking out.

“I agree with Ponk, Sam. You are adorable.” Foolish grinned, gently holding Sam’s back paws down so he couldn’t kick and hurt him or Ponk by accident.

“I am nohohoHOHOHOT! AHAHAHA POHOHOHONKIE NOHO!” Sam cried out as Ponk carefully cut away the excess fur of the next paw, poking at Sam’s toe beans every so often just to tease the giggly boy.

“You might wanna stay still, Sammy. The last thing I want to do is hurt our giggly little centaur.” Ponk teased, grinning at the way Sam’s ears flicked in his mirth.

This went on for a further ten minutes, Ponk snipping away and brushing through all the clumps of overgrown fur, the mostly quiet work punctuated by Sam’s soft laughter. Finally, Ponk cleared away the final clump of fur, and tapped Sam’s side.

“We’re done, cutie. You can get up now.”

Sam opened his eyes, and after some assistance from Ponk and Foolish, stood up from the blanket, tapping his paws against the ground.

“Thahanks, you two.” Sam smiled, before placing himself back on the blanket, lying back down with a soft smile, his eyes closed.

“Sleepy, Sam?” Foolish teased, sitting beside him, gently tracing around one of the newly cleaned up paws. Sam smiled, snickering as he idly kicked his paw out.

“Stohohop, Foolihish. Ihit tihickles…” he mumbled, before pulling both Ponk and Foolish down with him to land on the fluffy blanket. Ponk and Foolish grinned.

“You did such a good job, Ponk.”

“You too, Foolish. But he’s still just as ticklish as I thought.” Ponk teased, joining in on the tracing to Sam’s paws. Sam giggled once more, his eyelids flickering.

“Stohop tahalking. Sleep now…” Sam said, before his eyes slipped closed and Sam was soon lulled into deep sleep. Ponk and Foolish drifted off not long after, and the three of them were peacefully sleeping, punctuated by the soft thumping of Sam’s tail against the ground.

Tubbo likes to think he knows a great deal about Ranboo’s physical traits, the closer they get the less shy the enderman is in revealing them. He’d map out every scar with his fingertips in the mornings, or blow on his pointy ears whenever he wants attention, or plant a kiss on each pad on the palms of his hands just to watch his face get all purple with embarrassment.

“What are these lines from?”

But he supposes he’s always discovering something knew.

He can’t see his expression, but he can see Ranboo’s ears perk up in interest. “What, my stretch marks?” He asks, voice coming out a little rumbly from his purrs at Tubbo’s touch, distracting him from the slight stinging on his back. “Um. I think they’re from, like, my enderwalk? Like, from how i get taller and stuff.”

Tubbo sets down the rag and half empty healing potion in his hands on the nightstand, having helped apply it to the various tiny irritated spots on his back that Ranboo had gotten from the rain, that even with his long ass arms he can’t seem to reach himself. “Can i touch them?”

“Uh, yeah, go ahead.”

Sometimes it surprises Ranboo how Tubbo, with hands scarred and rough from war, always manages to be so gentle with him. Like he could break if he’s not careful. The way his fingers delicately trace up and down the lines on his back makes him shiver at first before the tension starts to completely drain from his body, it makes him feel loved and safe.

Tubbo definitely notices, smiling from how he can feel the vibrations of Ranboo’s content purring against his fingers. It feels kinda funny really. His smile gets even wider when he hears tiny little trills amidst his turning, briefly turning into proper giggles whenever he gets closer to his lower back. They’re soft and quiet, and they make Tubbo’s heart soar.

Ranboo’s eyes drooped shut not long after it started, growing heavier and heavier by the second. He barely processes himself falling forward until he feels two arms wrap around his waist and hears a surprised laugh from behind him, jolting him back to reality. “Whoa there. Feel that good, huh?”

“Sorry.” Ranboo mumbles. He can feel his face burning, but Tubbo only laughs again.

“If you’re gonna fall asleep on me then at least lay down first.” He teases, playfully pushing Ranboo down on the bed they’re sitting on, getting a disgruntled mrrp! in response. “Well, if you want me to keep going, that is.”

Ranboo’s face burns brighter, and he burrows into the pillow to hide it, muffling his words. “…I wouldn’t mind it.”