A Nonbinary Warbot

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“PIKE,” Raine’s voice rang throughout their shared apartment. Currently, Raine was chasing their roommate and partner, Pike, around their apartment. Why you may ask? Because Pike thought it would be funny to steal Raine’s e-liter and hide it from them. Raine, of course, was not happy with this and decided to take measures into their own hands, causing Pike to panic and run away from them. The tri-stringer user was fast and slippery though, having experience running from his siblings back in the domes whenever they wanted to have fun.

The two chased each other around the small apartment for what seemed like hours while accidentally knocking pieces of furniture and decorations over until Raine finally caught up with the mischievous octoling, tackling him onto the ground and pinning him down. Pike tried to struggle out of the inkling’s hold, but Raine was far stronger than him so he just opted to giggle and squirm in anticipation instead. Raine didn’t have their respirator mask on, so they looked down at Pike with the most evil and predatory grin, causing the octoling to giggle even harder.

“I will give you until the count of three to tell me where my e-liter is or else,” they gave a small poke to Pike’s stomach, causing him to let out an adorable squeak. “I will not go easy on you.”

Pike’s response was only more giggling, his tentacle bouncing in anticipation as he had the cutest, wobbliest smile on his face.

“One…”

“Two…”

The inkling paused for a moment, giving their partner time to respond, their smile growing ever bigger. After a few more seconds, they striked.

“Three!”

Raine shot their hands underneath their roommate’s life jacket and started to skitter their fingers across his stomach, causing Pike to let out the most adorable laughter. The inkling always forgets how cute their partner’s laughter is, which is funny considering how many times they tickle him. Soon enough, the usually serious inkling found themselves laughing alongside the octoling; they couldn’t help it, his laugh was too contagious!

“R-Raihaihaine, stahap laughihihing at mehe!”

The silver inkling took a few moments to stop their laughter, causing them to slow down on their tickling.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Your laugh is just too contagious,” they smiled before going back to their serious persona. “Are you going to tell me where my e-liter is, or am I going to have to take more drastic measures?”

Pike did not like their tone of voice at the end. On one hand, he wanted to tell Raine where their weapon was, but on the other hand, the octoling loves being tickled and wanted to keep this going on as long as possible.

“Do your worst,” he responded with a confident grin.

“Do my worst you say? Well, if you insist…”

The inkling’s hands darted towards the octoling’s exposed underarms and started their attack, causing Pike to go absolutely ballistic. He thrashed underneath the inkling and started pounding his feet on the floor; the two of them were totally going to get a noise complaint after this.

“BAHAHAHAHA! RAIHAIHAINE, NOHOHOT *snort* THEHEHERE!”

“Y’know, I find it quite funny that you wear a life vest that completely exposes your death spot,” the inkling chuckled. “What if my teammate, Atticus, came up to you mid-match and tickled your underarms with his oh-so-tickly inkbrush, hmm? Would you try and splat him with your stringer or lay there and take the tickly attack? Oh, who am I kidding, I already know the answer to that you ticklish little ball of nerves~.”

Oh that smug bastard. They knew how much teasing like this gets to him and he loves it. His face flushed a vibrant orange as tears of absolute mirth poured down his face. His kicking only got worse as Raine drilled their fingers into his death spot, causing him to send a flip-flop flying off of his foot, which Raine chuckled at. Seeing his partner reach for his foot, Pike immediately turned into octopus form, causing Raine to stop their tickling momentarily.

“N-no foot tickles, please,” the octo shyly said as he looked away, causing Raine to let out a noise of acknowledgment.

“Got it,” they responded while looking at the octo. “Are you alright with, uh, tentacle tickles instead?”

Pike let out an ‘mhm’ as he reached one of his tentacles out towards Raine. The inkling grabbed the offered tentacle and looked at the octo with a sinister grin.

“You ready to tell me where my e-liter is?”

When the only reply they got was giggles, they started lightly scratching at one of the octo’s suction cups, causing him to shriek and let out squealy laughter. It’s common knowledge that a cephalopod’s suction cups are extremely sensitive, hell, even the stubborn and cocky Raine’s suction cups are, though they try to hide it because they’re “too tough” to be ticklish. The inkling then decided to go all out and used all of their fingers on their attacking hand and went to town on the octo’s tentacle, causing him to absolutely scream.

“OHOHOKAHAHY, OHOKAHAHAHAY! IHIHI’LL TELL YOUHOU WHEHEHEHEHERE YOUHOUR E-LIHIHIHITER IS! PLEHEHEHEASE STOHOHOP!”

Satisfied now that the octoling gave in, Raine stopped their tickling, giving Pike some much needed time to recover from the attack. The octo turned back into humanoid form and embraced the silver inkling in a big hug, letting residue giggle pour out of his system. Raine would never admit it out loud to the public, but they love it when Pike hugs them; they’re just so touch-starved that it feels really nice to be in the warm embrace of their lover. Once the octoling was calmed down, he looked up at the inkling with the biggest and cutest smile.

“Your e-liter’s in the coat closet, Rainestorm,” he said while nuzzling his face into his partner’s neck. “Thank you for the tickles by the way, it was really fun!”

Raine sputtered as they processed his last sentence.

“I-I-I, uh, w-what? Did you really steal my e-liter just so I would tickle you?!” Pike responded with a big nod and goofy smile, causing Raine to playfully roll their eyes and shake their head. “Y’know you could’ve just asked me to tickle you, you know that, right?”

“Yeah! But this was way more fun!”

Raine playfully rolled their eyes again and scratched behind one of Pike’s ears, causing him to let out adorable snickers and scrunch up his shoulders.

PIKE: heya raine! i’m on my way home with groceries, be home in 5!

RAINE: k

Seeing as how their roommate would be home soon, the inkling decided to freshen themselves up and change their shirt, seeing as there was a tear where the gash on their side is. They got up, once again wincing in pain, and made their way to their bedroom. Once they picked out a new shirt, they made their way to the restroom. They discarded their shirt and inspected the wound. The wound ran from the middle of their ribs to just above their hip. Raine breathed through their teeth as they gently ran their fingers over the wound. The inkling also looked over other wounds they had, such as one on their bicep and one on their front tentacle. They let out a sigh as they put on the new shirt, not bothering to tend to the wounds.

Walking back out into the living area, Raine was met with their roommate, Pike, putting away groceries. The octoling looked up from taking a box of waffles out of a bag and waved energetically at the silver-haired inkling. Raine waved back and sat down at the counter. After a few moments of silence, Pike decided to break it.

“How was your training today?” the octoling questioned, causing Raine to look up at him.

“Mmm, it was good,” was all the inkling said, their voice muffled by the mask they’re wearing.

“That’s good,” Pike chirped. “Say, do you wanna watch a movie after I’m done putting these groceries away?”

“Mmm, I’d like that,” Raine replied, before being sent into a coughing fit, catching their roommate’s attention. Pike put their hand on top of Raine’s as he gave them a look of concern.

“Raine, you okay?”

“I’m fine,” they groaned as they held their side. “It’s nothing, just got something stuck in my throat is all.” Pike didn’t believe them in the slightest.

“But you’ve been wearing your mask ever since you came out here. I haven’t seen you take it off to consume anything that could get stuck in your throat,” the octoling commented. “Plus, you’re holding your side. That’s not something you usually associate with getting something stuck in your throat.” Raine turned their head away from their roommate.

“Ugh, fine, ya got me,” they groaned, crossing their arms. “When I was out training, I got into a fight with an octarian soldier. I’m not even sure how it got that far into the desert, but I managed to send it packing. It did leave me with a few wounds, though.”

“Oh, Raine,” Pike said softly. “Let me see.”

Raine scoffed as they beckoned him over. The octoling gently ran his hand over the inkling’s front tentacle, frowning when he heard them sucking air through their teeth. Pike then kneeled down in front of them.

“Lift up your shirt,” he ordered, causing Raine to sigh and lift up the article of clothing. Pike frowned even more once he saw the huge gash on the inkling’s side and the gash on their bicep.

“It’s bad, isn’t it,” Raine dryly chuckled.

“You need these wounds patched up, ASAP, Raine. You and I don’t want these to get infected, do we?”

Raine shook their head as they stood up, motioning for Pike to follow them. The octoling followed them to the restroom, where he pulled out a first aid kit from the under sink cabinet as the inkling sat down on the edge of the tub.

“I’m going to start with your tentacle, is that okay?”

“Just get it over with,” Raine grumbled.

Pike did as he was told and reached up to grab their tentacle, but as they did so, they felt the inkling stiffen a bit. He first thought that they stiffened in pain, but their reaction was soon confirmed to be something else. As he was applying some antiseptic to the wound on their tentacle, he felt them shaking a bit. Looking down at their face, he could tell that their eyes were shut and, even beneath their mask, that they were trying not to smile. Piecing two-and-two together, Pike figured out something about their roommate that they never knew about.

Raine, their stubborn and cocky roommate, was ticklish.

“Raine, are you ticklish?!” the octoling exclaimed with a huge grin on his face, causing the inkling to scoff.

“What? Of course not! That would be ridiculous,” they huffed, blush evident on their face.

“Uh huh, sure. As if you totally weren’t trying your hardest not to laugh just then,” Pike giggled as they applied more antiseptic to the wound, but this time they purposefully wiggled their fingers as they did so.

“Pihihke,” Raine gritted their teeth. “Stop that thihihis instahant!” Pike tsked.

“But if I stop, then your wounds could get infected!”

“Dohon’t play dumb, you know whahahat I mehehean!”

“Do I?” the octoling feigned confusion while applying a bandage to their tentacle, giving a little tickle to the underside of it, causing Raine to squeak. “Okay, Giggles, do you want me to do your bicep or side next?”

“Don’t call me ‘Giggles’,” Raine glared at Pike, earning them an innocent smile in return. “But, uh, you can do my bicep next. I’m less sensitive there.” They said the last part under their breath, and was glad that Pike didn’t hear it.

“Okey-dokey then!”

Pike began to clean the wound on their bicep, giggling when they saw Raine shake and bring a fist up to their mouth. The octoling then brought his fingers to the underside of their bicep and began drawing little shapes on it, grinning as their giggling turned into light laughter.

“Aww, what’s the matter Rainey? Does this tickle tickle tickle?” the octoling teased, causing the inkling to cover their face with their hand.

“Shuhuhut uhuhup!”

Pike playfully gasped at Raine’s remark and moved their tickly attack to their wounded side, being careful not to hurt them further. He had to do a double take when Raine let out a snort.

“Oh my cod, Raine! Did you just snort?”

“NOHOHO I DID NOHOHOT! YOU’RE HEARING THIHIHINGS! *snort*”

“You just did it again! Oh my cod, that’s adorable!”

Now it was Raine’s turn to do a double take.

“DIHIHID YOU JUHUST CALL MEHE ADORABLE?!”

Pike’s face flushed orange as he slowed down on his tickling.

“Uhhh, maybe?”

The octoling gingerly applied antiseptic to the wound on their side, delighted to hear them squeal. Pike then grabbed some gauze and medical tape and began to bandage up the wounds on their bicep and side, making sure to run their fingers along their ribs as they did so, earning them more snorts and squeals.

“Okay, that should be all of them, unless there’s more you haven’t told me about, Giggles,” the octoling said, earning a growl from Raine.

“No, that’s the last of ‘em,” the inkling replied while crossing their arms. “Thank you, by the way, for patching me up.”

“No problemo, Raine,” Pike flashed a smile while giving them a thumbs up. “Though I am upset that you didn’t tell me about these wounds earlier; I think you deserve a punishment for that.”

Before the inkling could react, Pike picked them up bridal style and brought them to their bed. The octoling straddled their hips and gave them a sinister grin, causing Raine to glare at them.

“Don’t,” was the only thing they said before Pike began trailing his fingers along their sides, giggling as they let out a loud squeal followed by loud, boisterous laughter. They tried pushing the octoling off of them, but he was strong and held his position with ease.

“Aww, what’s the matter tough one? Is someone a little ticklish? A coochie-coochie-coo!”

Raine’s face flushed silver at the teasing, as they brought their hands up to cover their eyes.

“SHUHUHUT UHUHUHUP,” they screeched as they tried to buck the offending octoling off. “STAHAHAP IHIHIHIT THIS INSTAHAHANT!”

“Listen, Rainey,” the octoling giggled. “I wouldn’t be doing this if you told me about your wounds as soon as I got home!”

“I’M SOHOHORREHEHEY! PIHIHIHIKE STAHAHAP IHIHIT! I CAHAN’T TAHAKE IHIHIT!”

The octoling kept tickling them for a bit longer before finally stopping. Pike looked at their roommate’s face, and felt a flutter in his chest; their face was almost entirely silver and tears streaked down to their mask. He couldn’t believe how cute Raine looked right now. Pike took their face in his hands.

“Cod, Raine,” he started. “You are so unbelievably cute right now.”

Raine looked up at their roommate and saw that his face was flushed orange, causing them to blush even harder.

     Bolty slowly floated down to the ground and curled up, letting out muffled sobs as their face was still obscured by their hands.  How could they be the great roboticist everyone thought they could be when they weren't even confident in their own abilities?  Would Cammy be upset with them that they were taking too long with her arms?  What if she and Mouse wanted to move out because of it?  Bolty couldn't even stand that thought; they cannot bear thinking about them leaving them all alone.  They banged their fist against the ground in frustration as more thoughts like these played in their head.

     Their thoughts were quickly interrupted by a knock at their basement's door.  Upon hearing the noise, they quickly tried to compose themselves as they got up and floated to the door.  Once they got to the door and opened it, they were greeted by none other than Mouse and Cammy.  Oh no.  Were they here to check on the status of Cammy's arms?  No!  They can't be!  They cannot be allowed to see that they made little to no progress!  After that final thought, they quickly shut the door and put their back to it to keep it from opening.  Oh gosh, why did they do that to them?!

     "Uh, Bolty?" came Mouse's voice from the other side of the door, but there wasn't a hint of anger in it.  "Are you alright?  Cammy and I heard screaming and wanted to check in on you."

     The ball of plasma took a second to compose themselves and flew off to get their tablet.  Once they made it back to the door, they began to type out on their tablet to communicate with the two.

     'Yeah!  I'm totally alright!  No need to worry about me!'  Gosh, they suck at lying.  They face-palmed as they heard a pair of sighs from behind the door.

     “No, Bolty,” Cammy began.  “You’re not fine.  Please let us in.”  Her voice sounded genuinely concerned and not upset, so Bolty felt comfortable to open the door for the two.  Bolty gave a small wave as the gaming mouse and security camera let themselves in.  The trio then walked over to a table and sat down at it.

     Cleansey, the robotic vacuum cleaner that Bolty made, was making its way around the table, cleaning up any food scraps and crumbs that may have been down there.  Cleansey then bumped into Mouse’s chair, letting out a robotic ‘whoops’ that Cammy giggled at.

     “So,” Mouse’s slightly auto-tuned voice broke Bolty out of their thoughts.  “Spill it; what’s on your mind?”  Bolty let out a sigh as they grabbed their tablet to respond.  The two looked at them with concern as they took an unusually long time to respond.

     ‘I just, I’ve been so stressed out lately that I’m having a hard time focusing on things, things like your arms, Cammy.  I’m trying my hardest to get them done, truly I am!  Things have just been so hard for me lately.  I’m so sorry if I let you down…’

     Mouse’s RGB patterns and eyes turned blue and Cammy’s singular eye dimmed a bit upon hearing Bolty’s words.  The two went up to the living bolt and gave them a hug, or leaning against them in Cammy’s case, not minding the slight electric shocks they were giving off.  Bolty, caught off guard, took a moment to process what was going on before hugging the two back.  They weren’t going to lie and say that this didn’t feel nice; they’ve been so touch-starved lately that they forgot what it was like to be hugged.

     Mouse was so caught up in the hug that they didn’t notice their tail lightly brush up against Bolty’s hand, causing the bolt to let out a squeak as they pulled both of their hands back.

     “Bolty, ya good?” came Cammy’s response to the bolt’s strange reaction.  She looked at their face, only to find them slightly blushing as they averted their gaze from the two.  Mouse let out a slightly-auto tuned giggle as they turned to face the security camera.

     “Yeah, Cammy, they’re fine, just a bit ticklish is all,” Mouse simply said, giving a smug look at Bolty, who let out a squeak as they looked away.  If Cammy had a mouth, it would be agape right now; she’d never guess that someone like Bolty would be ticklish.

     “How can a ball of plasma be ticklish?!”

     “Not sure, but I sure am going to take advantage of this to get them out of this rut they’re in!”  Mouse exclaimed before pouncing at Bolty, bringing them down to the floor.  Before Bolty could react, Mouse began to scribble their paws on their stomach, causing the bolt to let out adorable little giggles.

     Cammy just stood there astounded; she’s never really heard Bolty laugh before, only slight chuckles at things they found funny on the internet or television.  She looked at Mouse who then looked at her, waving her over with their tail.

     “Come join in on the fun, Cams!” they exclaimed as they wrapped their tail around one of Bolty’s wrists to hold it still for Cammy.  The security camera came up to the two and began to wiggle the tip of her tail on Bolty’s palm.

     Bolty SCREAMED.

     “Hee hee!  Tickle tickle little Bolty!~”  Mouse sing-songed as the bolt thrashed around under their hold.

     “NAHAHAHAHA!  PL-PLEAHAHAHAHA!  EHEHEHEHAHAHA!”  the bolt struggled to attempt to speak through their hysterics, much to the amusement of Mouse and Cammy, as Cammy began sending out little shocks from the tip of her tail.

     After what felt like an eternity to Bolty, the two finally stopped their tickly attack.  The bolt greedily sucked in air as they adjusted their glasses, which became askew in the attack.  Slightly wheezing due to their breathing difficulties, Bolty got up and got their tablet, which they were lucky to leave on the table.

     “Feeling better, Bolty?”  Mouse asked as Bolty looked at the two, an unreadable expression on their face as they began typing out a response.

     ‘I am feeling better, thank you for asking :D.  However, don’t think you two are getting out of here without a little revenge.~’  Bolty gave an evil grin to the two as the last sentence was read out, causing the two electronic objects to gulp in fear.

     “H-huh?!”  Cammy stuttered.

     “He-hey now, Bolty.  We can talk about this!”  Mouse said while fearfully backing up.