Here we go again!

I head canon Grace being ticklish at least to some extent pretty much everywhere and Rocky loves to find all the little weird spots to drive him up a wall palm/arm tickling needs some more love imo

It took the entire trip back to Erid before they finally found a base model prototype that functioned well enough, but it still needed tweaking. Plus, once Grace’s dome was built so he could live on Erid, Rocky’s new xenonite suit had to be tested under brand new, human conditions instead of a spaceship. 

They broke their tests down into three categories: dexterity (how efficient could Rocky move his limbs), speed (how fast Rocky could maneuver), and durability (how well Rocky’s suit could handle the test without sustaining damage like cracks or scratches). They also added a fourth category for comfort. It started off as how comfortable Rocky was in his suit, but it quickly transformed into how comfortable the suit is for Grace when Rocky gives him hugs or snuggles up to him. So far, it’s excelled in that category.

Grace sits on the floor of his Eridian-made house with his legs crossed. In his hands, he has a notepad and a pen.

“Okay, so we’ve already checked the suit against atmospheric pressures; activities like swimming and running; elements like water, sand, grass… doors,” Grace lets out a little chuckle at that last one.

The rock alien across from Grace pipes up, wearing the newest version of his tight, but comfortable xenonite suit. 

“Yes, Rocky learned that suit can handle door if Grace hits Rocky with it,” the alien’s computer voice from Grace’s laptop translates. Grace is starting to get a little bit of a grasp on the Eridian language, and Rocky his, but it's always nice to have the translator in the room.

“I didn’t hit you with the door! You ran into it while I was opening it!” Grace points the pen at his friend and smiles.

“How Rocky tested suit against door is irrelevant, statement,” Rocky waves his claw.

Grace huffs out another laugh. “So, what do you want to test next?”

Thinking it over, Rocky taps his rock face like where a chin would be located. “Rocky is not sure. What does Grace want to test next, question?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second,” Rocky responds like it’s a game.

“Hey, are you copying me?” Grace jokes, “What are you, a parrot?”

Grace thought Rocky would continue throwing quips at him, but instead, Rocky tilts his body to the side. If Rocky could blink in confusion, he would. “Do not understand Grace,” Rocky replies, “Grace say new word.”

“Oh. Did I never explain what a parrot is?” Grace is a little surprised himself. Out of all of their conversations, he’s surprised something humans usually learn in kindergarten never came up. He puts his pen and paper down and pushes to the side. “It’s an animal back on Earth. I mentioned to you what a bird is, right?”

“Yes, yes!” the alien perks up, “Rocky recognizes bird.”

“Well, a parrot is a type of bird. Some humans have them as pets. They’re able to mimic speech or sounds that a human teaches them, or that they pick up from their environment. They usually perch on a human’s shoulder as a companion,” Grace taps at his own shoulder.

Rocky seems intrigued at this, wiggling his body. “Rocky understand! Rocky repeated Grace, so Rocky sounded like parrot.”

“Exactly.”

The alien still has an exciting thought on his mind. “Can Rocky be Grace’s companion?”

“What do you mean? You already are, buddy,” Grace smiles.

“No, no. Like bird!”

“What?” Grace chuckles.

“With new suit, Rocky can be Grace’s bird companion on shoulder!” Rocky skitters over to Grace, sliding behind his back before the human can respond. He drapes his stony arms over Grace’s shoulders like a backpack and tries to hop on top of the human.

Grace playfully tries to elbow him off, “What?! No way! You’ll crush me, you big boulder!”

“Grace will be fine. Rocky want to try! Grace, lower shoulder!” Rocky takes another attempt at climbing on Grace, his scrambling back claws grabbing and swiping across the sides of his torso to gain a foothold like a ladder.

The human continues to ‘fight’ off the curious alien. “Rocky–! AH! Wahahait wait! You’re tickling me!” the squishy human compacts his arms to himself and giggles.

Rocky stops his skittering, but keeps his arms over Grace’s shoulders. The alien learned about what tickling was back on the ship when Rocky had poked Grace’s fleshy side one day. Rocky tickled Grace all the time to pass the boring moments in space, and to mess with the human (Rocky thinks it’s a nice bonding experience too), but Rocky was slightly limited to the pokes and prods he could do through the mesh of his big, clunky ball. But now…

Rocky gets a smug idea. A low purr takes the place of a smirk. 

Grace recovers, still on the parrot thing, “I don’t think this is going to work, bud.” 

“Rocky knows what he wants to test next with the suit,” the alien pipes up from behind.

Grace glances over his shoulder. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?” Grace asks right before a yelp rockets out of his throat; without a moment to waste, Rocky skitters his claws into Grace’s sides.

“AH! Hehehehey!” bouts of laughter already spill out of the human.

“Rocky want to tickle Grace!” The alien chirps. “For science!”

Grace clamps his arms to his sides and squirms in place. “Yeheheah, I figured thahahat part out! Whoa-!” 

Rocky tackles Grace from the back like a big dog, sending the human belly-flopping to the floor as if he is a drawbridge. Grace stretches himself out like a cat flattening itself to the floor as Rocky stands above him experimenting with his claws on Grace’s torso.

“So! First test: dexterity!” Rocky announces. “With new suit, Rocky can flex claws much easier to scratch and squeeze at squishy flesh of Grace. Rocky will demonstrate.”

And the alien does, kneading at Grace’s side like dough and skittering his claws over the back of his ribs. Grace barks out a laugh on top of his other booming laughter and pulls his arms closer to his sides. Grace wiggles around, but Rocky holds one leg on Grace's back to weigh down the scientist so he stays lying on his belly.

The alien lets out a pleased chirp. “Surprised! New suit is working much more effectively for tickling already, statement. That, or Grace has become much more ticklish.”

Oh, now Rocky is just teasing him, huh? 

“Reheheheally? I think it’s the sahahame!” Grace uses sarcasm to try and keep a sliver of his pride, but Rocky squashes that immediately with a well-placed squeeze to his side that causes him to snort. Grace face-plants into the floor, his chest bouncing with uncontrollable giggles.

“Grace serious, question? Can Grace hear self? Grace is laughing so much more,” Rocky counters the scientist’s claim. Grace can feel the blush creeping under his glasses.

“New suit can also tickle harder to reach spots, like here,” Rocky slips his claws into Grace’s armpits, to which Grace folds his arms down even tighter to himself and shoots his head up with giggles. He kicks his legs behind him. Rocky sees this and knows he has to take advantage of it, naturally. The alien turns and catches one of the human’s kicking legs. “And back of knees,” Rocky punctuates with a scribble to the pocket of skin.

Grace completely dissolves into a giggly puddle. “I see-hehehehe-ee that–AHA! Rohohohocky!!!” Grace swipes at the air when Rocky sneaks in an extra third claw to test a few tickles at the foot beneath his sock. The human presses his face back into the floor, slamming his fist to the ground next to the side of his head.

Even past his own overflow of giggles, Grace can hear Rocky letting out a squeaky chuckle as he scratches at Grace’s toes. “Still shocked how human's walking appendages can be so ticklish.”

Grace lifts his face off the floor. “Rohohocky! Stahahay focused ohohon the experiment!” he shouts at his friend, knowing that Rocky deviated from the task at hand to mess around a little.

Rocky hums out chuckles and lets go of Grace’s leg, giving the scientist a short breather. “Okay, okay. Dexterity has been checked for efficiency. Rocky will test speed now.”

Before Grace can even get out a word, Rocky leaps back to Grace’s top-half, now changing tactics to quickly scribble and scratch at his friend’s torso like he was flipping a bunch of buttons on a control panel. 

Grace laughter returns in full force. “Rohohohocky!” Grace shifts so he can turn over on his side, and Rocky steps off of Grace’s back to allow the human to roll off his stomach. The scientist curls up and wiggles around on his side, trying to defend against Rocky’s swift claws attacking him from the front. 

“Speed in new suit appears effective for tickling as well, statement. Can keep up with the movement of squirmy human. Squirmy like Earth worm,” Rocky throws in. “Does Grace agree, question?”

“Whahahat do you thihihihink?” Grace sasses, only getting two claws digging into his belly in response. He yelps and flops onto his back with a wheezy cackle. Rocky hops over the human like a hurdle to his other side, positioning himself there to continue the tickles.

“Grace did not answer question,” Rocky hums, knowing fully well that he’s teasing his friend.

“Ohohohokay yes!” Grace covers his face, leans his head back, and kicks out his legs. “I agree! I agree!” he quickly amends his statement before throwing his arms back down to his torso and swatting at Rocky’s claws. 

Rocky’s suit certainly makes him faster, but Grace’s reflexes swinging around his middle like a shield is making it difficult.

Rocky almost lets out a little squawk of frustration. “Grace. Hands are in the way of experiment.” As soon as the alien says this, it clicks for Rocky that his new suit has the solution. He beams, “Rocky will move them!”

When Grace takes another swat at Rocky, the alien pauses his tickling to gently grab one of Grace’s wrists and hold his hand up by Grace’s head. The scientist appreciates the breather, but he also hasn’t fully processed his position. It isn’t until he sees Rocky’s claws preparing to come at him that he shoots back into a giggly frenzy.

“Wahahait! Wait, Rocky! Time out!” Grace waves his free hand, already turning his head into his shoulder with a smile and trying to lean away from Rocky’s hovering claw. 

The alien seems surprised at this. Rocky tilts his body again. “Why is Grace laughing already if Rocky is not touching yet, question?”

Grace sinks his head into his shoulders, realizing his slip up. He flushes under his glasses. “Because! Because it’s funny!” Grace replies.

“It is funny, but not the reason why Grace is laughing,” Rocky doesn’t buy Grace’s explanation in the slightest.

With one of Grace’s arms held up beside his head and Rocky’s claw dangerously close, the scientist wagers he’s better off explaining the truth. Though, that doesn’t prevent the butterflies fluttering in his belly at the concept of trying to teach Rocky the cause of his outburst while in a precarious position.

He takes a breather to get his frazzled thoughts in order. He adjusts his glasses. “Um… okay… So you know how you’re going to tickle me, r-right? Well, even if you’re not actually tickling me, my brain is expecting it, so the anticipation is already activating my ‘flight or fight’ response, which in this case is causing me to laugh already. It’s kind of like our brain is tricking us that we’re being tickled before it even happens.” After he finished his explanation, Grace thinks he’s about to short circuit from embarrassment, right then and there. 

There’s a moment of silence as the alien processes the new human quirk. Then, he responds, “That’s dumb.”

Grace lets out a flustered scoff, “Well excuse you!” 

“How can the human brain be so easily tricked, question?”

Grace counters, “Well, I seem to remember YOU being tricked when I pretended to throw you a ball and you went after it when I didn’t actually throw it.” Grace snickers at the memory of fooling around with Rocky while they were on the ship, like his alien friend was a dog playing fetch with his little stress ball of Earth.

Rocky does not seem as amused. “Oh, yes. Rocky remember. Made Rocky feel foolish.” Rocky pauses. He hums and shakes his body; if he could smirk, this would be his way of showing he’s doing just that.

“But now, with new suit, Rocky can now trick Grace,” the alien brings up two of his claws and wiggles them closer to the scientist, whose arm is still snugly in the Eridian’s grip.

Grace squeaks, already letting out giggles against his control. “Rohocky! That’s so mean!” 

“Take this! And that!” Rocky pretends to aim for spots across his torso where his claws can hover. The first few times get Grace to flinch and giggle, but Grace stops reacting as Rocky repeats his movements, like a cycle.

Grace blinks at the alien, “Well, it’s not going to work now since I know you’re just tricking me—HEHEY!” Grace is interrupted by one of Rocky’s teasing claws officially plunging itself into Grace’s outstretched armpit. Rocky’s second free claw joins in, scratching at his ribs, earning the happy sound of Grace’s loud laughter he was waiting for. 

Rocky squeaks out a snicker. “Rocky likes tricking Grace, statement. Rocky got an even bigger reaction. Did not think that was possible.”

Grace cackles, “NOHOHOT fair!!! Yohohohou hahahave five arms!” 

“Seems like a human problem,” Rocky shrugs.

“Ohohohokay! That’s it!” Grace declares. In a burst of instinctive playfulness, not even considering the possibility if this will work or not, Grace launches his free hand towards Rocky and squeezes his leg, wrapping his fingers into the back of his joint. Rocky squeals.

He instantly topples off of the human, hitting the floor backwards with a clunk like he was just shoved by an invisible force. Rocky scrambles to get back on his legs.

Grace quickly sits up, a slight pant leftover to his words. “Rocky! Are you okay! I’m sorry I was just playing! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Grace says frantically.

Rocky waves his claws to reassure him. “Rocky okay. Rocky was not hurt. It was, however, a strange… funny feeling.”

At first, Grace is still worried, but the second he thinks about Rocky’s word choice, it hits him.

Grace starts to smile. “Wait a minute… a funny feeling you said? Rocky, you wouldn’t happen to be ticklish, now would you?” Grace’s grin grows wider.

Rocky stomps his foot. “N-No! It was just a funny feeling that made Rocky want to laugh!”

“Yeah, that’s called being ticklish, buddy. Ha! I can’t believe this!”

Rocky’s computer voice sputters. “No! No! Human tickling does not work on Rocky! Only Eridian tickling!” 

“Wait, hold on-” Oh, this just got even better. “There’s an Eridian version of tickling, and you never told me?” Grace points an accusing finger at his friend.

Rocky freezes, realizing the gravity of the information he just spilt. He turns around to face away from Grace and crosses his arms.

“Rocky thought it was unnecessary to tell. Rocky was also in xenonite ball, so Grace could not touch. Grace’s attempts to try would have been futile.”

As much as Grace wants to ask about Eridian tickling, that’ll have to wait. Right now, he’s interested in testing a theory about Rocky’s new suit.

“But you’re not in that ball anymore, are you?” Grace smirks at him. Rocky whips around to face Grace; his rock face doesn’t show it, but the way he’s standing stiff shows he’s mortified.

Grace revels in Rocky’s reaction. “I think I know how we can perform the durability test of your suit,” Grace wiggles his fingers in the air. 

With a squeak, Rocky tries to scatter, but Grace practically pounces towards him like a panther. The human lands on top of him and a well placed scratch to the side of the alien’s rock face makes Rocky squeal and his legs collapse from under him like a ton of bricks. The mesh of the xenonite suit under his fingers feels like the gel of an unfrozen ice pack, but he can also feel the hard surface of Rocky’s shell beneath. Grace quickly theorizes that his scribbling fingers are causing seismic-like waves to course through Rocky’s shell. In other words, it’s like Grace is creating a mini earthquake vibrating through the Eridian, resulting in the tickly feeling for Rocky, but he’ll have to confirm that theory later. First, revenge!

While his fingers skitter across Rocky, already earning sputters of high-pitched trills and gurgles from his friend, Grace swiftly sits back and drags Rocky into his lap like an extra heavy bowling ball, using his criss-crossed legs like a nest to hold the alien.

“Gr-Grahahahahace!” Rocky’s chirps become melodic, as if his laughter is performing a tune. He flails his limbs like he’s trying to regain his footing, but catching nothing but air. Grace knows Rocky is so much stronger than him, but the tickling seems to have the alien malfunctioning like a robot that just got a bucket of water thrown on them. Even his computer voice has trouble translating the increase of giggly garbles and squeaks that spew from the Eridian.

“Wow,” Grace has to giggle at the sight. “It looks like your suit is holding up so far. How about you, Rocky? You look really ticklish,” Grace emphasizes.

“Rohohocky is ticklish a nohohohormal amount!” Rocky tries to squeak with pride. “Human is mohohore ticklish! Abnormally so!”

“Oh no, I don’t think you’re in any position to be talking back to me, mister. I’m not going to take any sass from someone who looks like a jellyfish flopping out of water,” Grace smirks.

“Rohohocky does not know what that is! Buhuhut knows Grace is trying to fluster Rocky!” Rocky shoves at Grace’s legs to put up some kind of a fight, but the human knows that’s not the alien’s full strength. Rocky starts to heats up as if he is an electric blanket splayed out across Grace’s lap. Grace guesses this is the Eridian version of a blush when their surface becomes warmer.

“And it’s working, huh?” Grace observes, “Hey, does this work on you too?” Grace stills his fingers to give Rocky a quick breather. When the alien turns to face the human, he lets out a squeal and presses himself to the pocket of Grace’s criss-crossed leg as he notices Grace wiggling his fingers in his face. 

The alien already releases chirpy giggles while watching the wiggling appendages he’s trying to get far away from move closer.

“Grahahace!” Rocky squeaks, his computer voice frantic with anticipation.

“Ha! It does work!” The scientist rejoices and plunges his fingers back towards Rocky for real this time, not wasting a second. Rocky shrieks again, and bats gently at Grace’s hands that are exploring around the small pockets of holes at the front of his rock face. “Who’s brain is getting tricked now!” Grace throws in for good measure. 

“Shuhuhuhut your human face hole!” Rocky then shrieks when Grace grabs one of his legs and tickles around the center of his joint, very similar to when Rocky tickled the back of his knees.

“Excuse you! And it’s called a ‘mouth,’ Rocky. Did our anatomy lessons teach you nothing?”

“Rohohohocky knows human hahahave five fingers, ahahahand it is SO unfair fohohohor tickling!” Rocky states through his abundance of joyful chirps.

Grace scoffs, “Oh, well now you know how I feel!” 

The alien shouts, “Nohohohot the same!”

“Oh yeah?” Grace lets go of Rocky’s leg and utilizes all ten of his fingers to the fullest, one hand at Rocky’s side, scratching like he was giving a big dog belly rubs, while his other hand skitters up and down his carapace like a spider. Rocky practically squeals, nearly falling out of Grace’s legs and onto the floor again.

“What were you saying again, Rocky?” Grace grins.

“EEP! 𝅘𝅥𝅮♬♪♬ !” Rocky chirps out a harmony with how much he’s giggling, “Ohohokay! Okay! Grahahahace has made point! Nohoho more tickle! Plehehease!”

As soon as he hears this, Grace promptly lets go of Rocky. The alien takes a few deep breaths then flops over Grace’s legs to relax.

Grace softly chuckles. He starts to feel Rocky’s heat return to its normal, warm temperature.

“You good, Rocky?” the human gives the alien a gentle pat. Rocky jumps from the touch at first, but he leans into Grace’s hand, knowing his friend has had his fun with him for today.

“Rocky is okay.” After a few breaths, Rocky crawls off of Grace’s legs so he can face his friend.

The alien stomps his foot to the floor. “Grace was evil, statement,” Rocky says, jokingly.

“Me? You started it! And I didn’t see you trying to fight me," Grace points out with a smile.

The Eridian ignores that second half. “Rocky started it for science! Grace for fun.”

“Hey, if you were doing it for ‘science,’ then I was doing it for science too! I was testing my theory to see if human tickling works on Eridians. The answer is yes,” Grace answers smugly, but scientifically speaking, he is curious to explore more about his discovery, another day though. “Plus, your suit stayed in tack, didn’t it?”

Rocky grumbles. “Rocky suppose suit did stay strong while being tickled by Grace…”

“Yep! That means it passed the dexterity, speed, and durability test. So this is one more thing we can add to the list,” Grace grabs his pen and paper that was pushed to the side and writes down ‘tickling’ as another activity they tested.

“Maybe Rocky should make the suit tickle proof…” the alien mumbles.

“If you do, I’ll just find a way to get you through your suit,” Grace banters back at him with a grin. Rocky rattles his body, which Grace knows is like the human equivalent of rolling his eyes. 

A moment passes. Rocky speaks, “You know what Rocky just thought of?”

“What?”

Rocky steps forward. “When new suit is finalized, Rocky and Grace can use what was learned to make a suit for Grace.”

Grace’s focus shifts fully to the alien. “Really?” he asks, his heart touched simply by the offer. “A suit… for me?”

“Yes! So Grace can come visit Eridian home sometime!”

The scientist glows. “You would do that for me?”

“Yes, yes! Rocky is able to visit human home, so it’s only fair if Grace can visit Eridian home,” Rocky wiggles his body.

Grace’s big smile lights up all of his features. “Well, then we better start getting ahead on these tests then. We’ve got to make your suit the best it can be first,” Grace declares.

“Agree! Agree!” Rocky cheers. “So…what should be the next test, question?”

“Right…” Grace leans his head in his hand. “That’s what we were trying to discuss,” Grace realizes they’re back to square one. “Hmm…”

Rocky taps one of his claws to the floor as he thinks. Suddenly, he straightens himself on his legs like an idea has been shocked into his system. “Oh! Oh! Maybe Adrian has idea! Rocky and Grace can ask them!”

“Hey, good idea Rocky!” Grace shares in the alien’s enthusiasm.

“Then what are Grace and Rocky waiting for! Go let’s!” Rocky chirps.

"I'm just saying, some of those Candy Brands aren't what they used to be."

Pleasant Chatter sounded from the variously coloured Addisons whom were currently surrounding a certain tall and winged Variant of their kind.

As of lately, the colourful Bunch have made a Habit out of hanging out by the uninhabited Cliffsides near Castle Town, usually to share Gossip or to just spend Time together just like old Times.

Blue, who sat criss-cross behind Spamton NEO, peacefully combed his Fingers through the latter's Wings to preen them, sometimes coaxing a relaxed Purr and Chirp out of him. On top of his Shoulder sat Orange, Hairbrush in Hand which they used to gently brush through black Strands of Hair, while Yellow rested by SNEO's Hand, smaller Hands examining larger Fingers via gingerly bending them around. And last but not least was Pink, who seized the Opportunity to make themself comfortable by laying in Spamton's Lap and leading the Majority of the Conversation as they brought up all kinds of juicy Gossip and interesting Bits of News they managed to pick up all around.

Right now, the current Topic being tackled was about Food Products and Brands, including various Candy ones. Not too surprising, considering the Addisons' whole Shtick is about advertising Products.

"You know what I mean, right?", the pink Addison casually fidgeted with their Ponytail and glanced up to gauge the Reaction of the mechanical one.

"IN MY [humble] OPINION, NOTHING BEATS THE [[Classics you've all come to know and love!]]!!", Spamton NEO's Voice rumbled in his Chest, "WHY [[Good as new.]] WHEN [[I'm old!]] WORKS JUST AS W-EEA?!"

A sudden loud and startled Squeak from the winged Robot tore right through the tranquil Air surrounding the Addisons to which immediately, colourful Heads whipped right towards him with wide and surprised Eyes.

"O-oh, I'm sorry!", the blue Addison, who had retracted their Hands from the giant Wings as if burned, hastily sputtered out, "Did I hurt you?".

"N-NO!", a tiny and awkward Cough left Spamton's Throat, his Answer immediate, "EVERYTHING'S [[Peach-flavoured Tea!]] ! NO NE3D TO [[Don't worry, be happy!]]!"

Everything's peachy indeed - if it wasn't for the Fact that Pink took Note of the light pink Hue spreading across Spamton's Face.

With scrutinizing Eyes, they stared up at the tall avian Robot to which the latter swiftly glanced away as if attempting to avoid direct Eye Contact with them. Then, a Lightbulb metaphorically appeared over the Head of the pink Addison as they connected the Dots within their Mind with a click, their Eyes wide open in Amazement.

"No way!"

All of the sudden, another Screech ripped from Spamton NEO upon pink Fingers playfully scribbling against his metallic Sides, rapidly going up and down.

"You're still ticklish in that Body, you giant Twerp! That's hilarious!", Pink chuckled along and rotated their Body to their Side in Spamton's Lap in order to reach towards the latter's Rib Area and poke him there over and over again.

"EAHEAHEAHEAH;; H-HE Y HEHEY!! [[Buy 2 Scissors for the Price of 1!]] THAHAT OUHUT!!"

It took only a matter of Seconds for the Rest of the Addisons to process that very Piece of Information in their Heads, which the cackling Robot could tell by the Expression on Orange's and Yellow's Faces. He didn't even need to see Blue's Face to know that they did too, given that he immediately felt Pair of Fingers digging into the right Part of his sensitive upper Wing from behind which tickled like Hell and caused his left Wing to flap wildly around in turn.

"AA4HAEHAEHEAHEA HA HEAHA!! [[Watch for free!]] IHIH1HIT!!"

"H-hey! Careful!", Orange exclaimed with a mischievous Grin when the tall Robot thrashed around, firmly clinging onto him with one Arm so that he could use his free Hand holding the Hairbrush to brush against the exposed Neck.

"Pftt! Yep! Spamton's still ticklish as ever, if not even more so!", Yellow giggled and held onto the Wrist of the robotic Bird to rotate it around to which surprisingly there was little Resistance against, afterwards nimble Fingers lightly dancing over the big white Palm.

Despite the slightly deeper Voice Change his NEO Form gave him, Spamton's glitchy cackling and guffawing still came out in a higher and squeakier Pitch, especially with all the four Addisons ambushing his ticklish Spots all over his Body like that.

"AHAHEAHAH3HA- HA HA HA HEAHA!! Y0HOU F[[Fifty Percent Off]]EHERS!! I''LL [[Gotcha!]] UHU AH4HALL [[Backscratchers for $3.99]] FOR THAHAT!!"

The pink Addison didn't seem to be intimidated by the winged Robot's Threat at all, instead letting their Hands wander over to firmly scritch along the yellow and pink front Panel, earning them a goofy Snort for it.

"Yeah yeah, tell that to us when you're not giggling up a Storm, ya flappy Bird!"

"DOHON'T [[Call me, maybe~!]] THAH4HAT!! IHIM NOHO [[Flappy Bird High Score]]; YA- EAHEAHEAHEA!!"

Upon soft Bristles hitting a certain Spot on his mechanical Neck, SNEO's Sentence promptly got cut short as he exploded into more unrestrained Laughter, his Eyes behind his Glasses squeezing shut for a Moment. And unrestrained it was, seeing how the orange Addison made sure to apply different Patterns like circular and vertical Motions onto the sensitive Surface.

"Hmm, I gotta agree with Spams here.", Orange mused with an amused Smirk which grew once the Hairbrush flicked against another especially tickly Spot, "The Title of Flappy Bird should go to Yellow instead. He has the right Colour for it."

Now it was Yellow's Turn to butt into the Conversation with an irritated Tone, his Eyebrows furrowed. "Hey! Don't make me come up there and tickle you instead, Orange!", they threatened their fellow Addison, though that Threat was more of a playful one rather than an actively malicious one.

In Response, the orange Addison resorted to rather childish means as he answered by blowing a defiant Raspberry with his Tongue at them. "Try me!"

"You both are Dummies, you know that?", Blue, who is the most reasonable out of the Bunch, couldn't help but to drop that Comment, yet most of their Focus stayed put in kneading Fingers into the giant Wing in front of him to coax out more squeaky chortling.

Pink helped with Blue's Mission by letting their Fingers firmly trace along the pink-yellow Panel in random Intervals and different Speeds. "Hey, at least Spamton over here finds Orange's and Yellow's Banter funny! Ain't that right, big Guy~?" To be extra evil, the pink Addison rapidly kneaded their Hands into SNEO's Stomach on purpose just to make the avian Robot scream with renewed Laughter and thus make it seem like he was proving their very Point.

"YOH0HHOHOU [[vacuum.sfx]]- EEHAHAEH HE- HE- HE- 3HEAH44HEHA!!! AHALL OHOF UHUHU [[Well, that sucks.]]AHAHAEHAHA ! !"

"Aaw, certainly you don't actually mean that!" Orange was definitely not changing Spamton NEO's Mind on that matter as they leaned over and stuck their Hand into his Armpit, Fingers grazing against the padded-out Material there.

"Yeah! I mean, look at us! How can we suck with charming Personalities and Smiles like these?" Grinning, the yellow Addison lifted SNEO's Hand up only to blow a Raspberry onto the open Palm which had the Effect of turning the Robot's chuckling into wheezy giggles for a brief Moment.

"If it's anyone who sucks, it's Pink 'cuse they snatched my Cookie just earlier while I wasn't looking.", despite not visible due to sitting behind SNEO and combing their Fingers through large Feathers, Blue still tried to aim an annoyed Glare towards the Addison in Question.

"Hey! I was hungry, okay?!", they defended themself, "I can pay ya back for it late-EE?!"

Out of nowhere, with one swift Motion, all four Addisons were hoisted up and pinned against a metallic Surface by a Pair of giant Arms and Wings, a startled and high-pitched Noise of Surprise leaving each and every single one of them upon their Capture.

Their long and slender Arms poked out from above the robotic Limbs which currently held them captive in a Hug, hasty and glitchy Huffs of Air sounding right behind them as a certain Spambot was catching his Breath from their little Ambush just now.

"...A-Ah.", the first one to speak up was the yellow Darkner, a nervous Grin stretching across their Face, "Heeey, Spamton! Ya ain't mad at us for, like, tickling you half to Death, right?"

A big Shadow was cast over the four, likely due to the tallest of their kind leaning his Head forward to observe them. No Response from him yet.

Next was Orange's Turn to open their Mouth. "Yeah! You know we we're just having Fun together, Spams!"

"FUN?" His Voice resonated in a low Pitch, sending a cold Shiver through the Spines of all four Darkners.

"Y-Yes?", Beads of Sweat were building on Blue's Forehead.

Another few Seconds ticked away before SNEO voiced his Response, his Tone still low as if calculating something. "iF IT WAS SOO MUCH [[WHAT FUN!!!]]; THEN Y DON''T 1 [[Show, don't tell.]] Y'ALL [[How much does it cost?]] FUN IT IS 2B ON THE [[You've got Mail!]] END??"

Hands and Wings adjusted, Fingers resting against the Torsos of the two Addisons in the middle while Feathers hovered dangerously close to the Faces of the two outer Addisons, causing the colourful Bunch to yelp with widened Eyes.

"W-wait!", the pink Addison panicked, kicking their Legs which dangled below the large Arm around in an Attempt to flee, "How about a Bargain?! I'm sure we could negotiate somethi-aAAHAHA?!"

A Cacophony of wild Laughter broke loose from the four Addisons as pointy Fingers and long Feathers descended upon them with fueled Vengeance with none of them receiving even one Ounce of Mercy from their robotic Counterpart.

Pink and Orange, who were trapped right in the middle, attempted to wriggle away from the slender Fingertips erratically prodding and poking into their exposed Sides, however without any Success. Blue and Yellow, being the two Addisons positioned in the outer Space of the Group, didn't fare any much better as Feathers lightly brushing against their Necks tore Squeals right out of them, especially when some of the soft Texture managed slip into the Collars of their Shirts and brush against their Collarbones a few Times.

"S-Spahaham- AHAhaehaha!! Pleheheasehehe!!", the blue Addison howled with Laughter, Hands feebly pushing against the colourful Feathers which just resulted in them sawing between the Gaps of his Fingers and tickling him further in the process.

"We're sohohorrehehe- ahaHAhaHAhe!!", Arms were held up against the back of their Neck to protect it, yet the yellow Addison couldn't stop the many Feathers from reaching the Side of their Face and under their Chin, Spots which still happen to be rather ticklish.

"Spahams! C'mohOHon, Mahan-AHEhehihe!! We wehere juhust pl-AHaha-playhiHIhing arohound!!", a Foot pressed against the mechanical Hand poking them, but that feeble Attempt was met with Humor as said Hand simply took Orange's Foot and pushed it aside to follow it up with even more playful Pokes, now aimed against their lower Ribs.

"AAH! NAhahat thehere, ya ohoversized ChickeHEhen- aHAHAheheha!!", a suprised Snort sounded from the pink Addison who tried to evade the rapid Pokes and Pinches against their Sides, yet to no Avail as the slender Digits decided to switch to their Hips instead.

With the Tables now turned, a wide Grin stretched across SNEO's Face as he snickered in an arrogant manner while he gleefully took in the mirthful Reactions of the colourful Bunch in his Arms.

Heavens, it felt good to have the high Ground over the four of them for once!

"[bagawk.sfx]-", he wanted to repeat after Pink, but instead the Sound of a Chicken played out of his Mouth on Accident, causing amused Laughter to erupt from the Addisons on top of their already chaotic chortling from the tickling which made Spamton feel his Cheeks heat up from Embarrassment.

Alright, let's try that again.

"HA HAA. VEE3RY [That's hilarious!].", the giant Robot spoke with Sarcasm as a previous Voice Excerpt of Pink sounded from him, "YOU WANNA [[NOW'S YOUR CHANCE]] SOMETHING FUNNY? LEMM E TELL YOU A [[Pun-tastic Puns!]] THEN!"

Hands and Wings slowed down, barely grazing the four Darkners now and reducing their Laughter into lighthearted giggling.

"WHY DID THE [Chicken Dance] CR0SS THE [Road work ahead? Uh, yeah! I sure hope it does!]??"

"Ohoho boy- whyhy?", Orange decided to entertain SNEO's Joke as they tilted their Head up to look at him.

"TO GET 2 THE [We are Addisons! All we do is advertise!!]'S HOUSE! "

If the Addisons could play Soundbits out of their Mouth just like Spamton was able to, Crickets would surely sound by now.

"Ihi don't gehet it.", a confused Smile tugged on Yellow's Lips, their Body twitching a few Times due to Feathers weakly nestling against his Neck.

Strangely enough, the large Bird-like Darkner did not appear bothered by the perplexed Reactions the four smaller Darkners displayed, as if he was still scheming something.

"AL[Take a right here.] , LEMME TRY THAT [[Again?]]. KNOCK KNOCK."

As expected, the pink Addison was the one to groan at that, following it up with a Facepalm to their Face. "Reahally? A Knock Knohock Johoke? Alright, fuhuck it- Whoho's thehere?"

"THE CHICKEN."

In a matter of Seconds, the black Shirts of the four Addisons were suddenly hoisted up over their Midriffs by robotic Hands to which their exposed Stomachs were immediately attacked by tons of big Feathers fluttering and brushing against them.

To say that the four of them just broke the Soundbarrier with their loud screeching would be an Understatement.

"AAAH- AHAHEAhahaHA!!! IHI-AHA-IHI GEhet the joHOKE NOHOW!!", Yellow squealed while erratic Laughter poured out of him, both due to the Joke and due to the Feathers tickling the living Daylights out of them.

"S-AHEHAHAA-SPAHAMTOHON!! YOu FuhuHUCKER!!", Pink didn't fare much better against the Feathers, seeing how their Legs frantically kicked around, "WaHAhas ihIHIT 'CUSE I CAHALLEHED YOUhu a CHICKEHEN?!"

"AN [Family-sized] CHICKEN ; NON ETHELES." Yeah, SNEO was being petty for that earlier Remark. And also to mess with the four. But mostly just to be petty.

"H-HEhey! I-AHaheahHAHA-IHI DIDN'T CAHALL yohou thAHAT! SOho why doHO I GEHET PUHULLED INTO THIHIS?!", Blue furrowed their Brows and tilted his Head and Spamton, but when some Feathers swept across an especially bad Spot over their upper Stomach, they reflexively curled into himself with their Hand repeatedly tapping against the metallic Arm holding him captive.

"SHARING IS CARING. EAHEAHAEHA!!" To be extra mean, Spamton NEO leaned his Weight back a bit and arched his Spine just to make sure that his four Friends had a harder Time shielding their Midriffs from the Feathers with their Legs.

"EEH- THAhahAT'S NAhaHAT FAIHIR!!", some Snorts escaped the orange Addison who tried to reach their Arms down to fend off the tickly Feathers, however unsuccessfully so, "IHI CAN'T EHeven usehe mY AHARMS TO FIHIGHT BAHAHACK, EHEHIHIHAHA!!"

"TOO BAD SO [[Boo-hoo!]]!! SOUNDS LIEK A SKILL ISSUE 2 ME! EAHEAHE AHAE !!", SNEO laughed along as he carried on fluttering his Wings in random Patterns just to catch his Friends off-guard.

As a Minute or two passed, Yellow and Blue mostly resorted to covering their Faces with their Hands which didn't help much in muffling their high-pitched Squeaks and funny-sounding Snorts nor in hiding the ever growing Blush on their Cheeks, while Orange's and Pink's competitive Side still attempted to put up a Battle by squirming and kicking around, yet they ended up moreso on the losing half of it given that their robotic Companion happened to be rather competitive too and managed to always swiftly push the thrashing Limbs aside just to sneak in some more tickles.

"AHAL-AHA-AHALRIHIGHT!! HOhoHOW ABOuhut a DEHEAL?!", the orange Darkner now hoped to bargain with Spamton, seeing that they were not winning this Fight against him.

"A DEAL? WELL, [[Shapes and Colours!]] ME INTRIGED!!", SNEO's Wings slowed down ever-so-slightly, showing that he was listening.

"IHIhif you let uhuHUS GOHO, WE'LL GIHIVE YOU A COOKIHIE!!"

"ONLY [[The one and only!]]? PASS!"

With the first Bargain not working, it was Blue's Turn to interject. "AHAHEhehe- TWOHOHO?!"

Okay, their large avian Friend seemed to ponder at that, meaning they were getting somewhere.

"TWO? WELL, NOW I 'M [[tickled pink]] ! BUT NOT AS MUCH AS LITTLE [[Twerp!]] IS! EAHE4HEAHEA!!"

"OH FUHUCK YOUHU!", SNEO was not spared the harsh Glare which the pink Addison threw his way upon his bad Pun, "TH-ahehaHA- THAT ONE WAHAS BAHAHAD!!"

"YOU' RE [[laughtrack.sfx]]. YOUR POINT?", he grinned, as if he wasn't the sole Reason that tickly Feathers were swiping across the Darkner's Midriff Section over and over again.

Yellow spoke up next, not wanting for the current Deal they had going on to fall flat. "THreheHEE?! THREe sound gOHOOD! RIHIGHT?!"

Maybe with three Cookies, he would accept the Offer!

"[[It's free?]]? YOU GOTTA TRI [8-bit] HARDER THAN THAT!"

Aaaand he's still torturing them with bad Puns. Great.

"SHADDUHUHUP!", yep, that one especially got to the pink Darkner with how they groaned in Annoyance once more, which however got broken up with a new Fit of cackling afterwards.

Seems like they've gotta pull out the big Guns now.

"F-fohOUHUR! O-ONE CookiEHE EACH FROHOM US!!", Pink now hid their Head in their Arms, their Shoulders bouncing up and down with Mirth, "FINAL OHOFFER, YA JEHEHERK-"

"DEAL!"

All four Addisons squeaked in Surprise when metallic Arms finally let them go, however their Fall was cushioned by the Lap underneath them. Greedily, they took in huge Gulps of Air while their Hands rested on their Core Areas, some trying to rub away the faint tickling Sensations still haunting their Nerves there.

"GLAD MAKING [I'm busy!] WITH Y0U [[ For Dummies]]!", an amused Expression stretched across the Face of the robotic Darkner, his Eyes behind his Glasses observing the other four in his Lap while his Hand carefully patted some of their Heads.

"Yeah, yeheaha, whatehever." Orange lightly swatted at Spamton's Hand and aimed a playful Glare at him- "Once you're smahall again, you're gonna get it back tenfold, Spams-" - only to squeak when a Finger poked them into their Side.

"IS THAT A THREAT?"

"Uh,no,haha! Whosaidwhat?", they whistled innocently, making Yellow facepalm.

Yeah, better shut up about it before SNEO considers starting up Round 2.

"Anyway-", Pink leaned back in the Robot's Lap to make themself comfortable once more, "What did you say your Opinion about Candy Brands was again? I forgot."

Blue followed suit and leaned back too, their Hand gingerly fidgeting with the Fingers of Spamton's bigger one. "Yeah. Before you accidentally got cut off by me."

"OH, THAT.", SNEO leaned back and pondered for a Moment before he managed to recall what he was talking about much earlier, "RIGHT!"

i’ve always been a fidgety person—tapping on any surface despite not needing a clearer image, shuffling around when i ought to be standing still, tinkering on something unnecessary while having an unrelated conversation. i know this- everyone who has ever been in close proximity to me knows this; it's obvious if you pay attention to me for more than ∀ seconds. what i did not know was that aliens apparently also have this trait.

ryland's nervous energy manifests differently to mine, which i guess makes sense when you consider he has three less arms for activities, but it's obvious nonetheless—talking to himself when he’s in the middle of something that doesn’t require communication, constantly readjusting his clothing even after telling me he’s comfortable, vibrating his leg up and down if he’s sat down. it's nice to think that, despite the light years of distance between our two worlds and the complete incompatibility of our atmospheres and bodies, we really aren't all that different.

since i developed and began wearing the suit on a daily basis, our fidgeting has become more intermingled. mostly this means we're just tapping each other, but the thinness of the xenonite allows us both to feel textures that were previously unknown to us: my carapace and ryland's flesh. the squishiness of all that protects my friend from pathogens and wounds both unnerves me and intrigues me, but i suppose that he wouldn't be here if it were that inefficient. still, it's pretty gross.

apparently i have a morbid curiosity though, because the objectively disgusting feeling of ryland's skin moving under my claws is not enough to deter me from using him as a distraction item from time to time. like right now.

we're not talking much right now, both of us involved in our own entertainment, but the proximity made available by the suit is still novel and we are not about to waste an opportunity to cuddle, as ryland calls it. i idly rub my hand across the side of his abdomen while i listen to the drama i’m still not caught up on. seriously, how can i have been in space for years and still not have finished my podcast? ridiculous. 

i reach the part of ryland's body where his ribcage ends and his skin is especially squishy. out of interest, i squeeze gently to feel just how much give it has, and ryland makes an alarmingly high pitched noise as he startles in his seat. we both freeze, staring at each other, until i ask, "what the fuck was that?"

"language." ryland says weakly, marking the page in his book and setting it to the side. the speed of his heart tells me he’s embarrassed, and my interest piques. "and, uh- human thing."

i do my best to mimic the human expression of being unimpressed. "you watch me eat. you can tell me what that was."

ryland nods weakly. "okay, i just- i’m ꕷ𐒅𝚋ݬ𐒅𝛤ဌ. um- it's when you touch someone lightly, and they laugh."

"humans can be ticklish?" i screech, standing bolt upright and not caring for how taken aback ryland looks. "how? you’re so soft!" without waiting for an answer, i squeeze ryland's abdomen again and he squirms in his seat, a nervous smile beginning to form. i try tapping at his skin, and the squirming continues. "interesting. humans need even lighter touch to be tickled."

"so how does it work for yOU- hehehey!" ryland starts to ask, when i try to test out scratching gently and he yelps before giggling. it's kind of adorable how he curls up in a poor excuse of a defence. "c'mon, i gotta- it's for science."

i sigh dramatically, because i was totally prepared to tickle ryland like i would an infant eridian, but i guess he has a point. "much harder motions, since we have harder skin. like this." i rub against his arm in what i would expect to be a sensitive manner, but of course, he just nods. "where are humans most sensitive? eridians have places that are more vulnerable; i assume you do too."

ryland narrows his eyes, and i can’t help but laugh. "you’re just trying to get me."

"not just." i wiggle my carapace teasingly, both amused and disgruntled that i’ve been found out so soon. "i'll tell you my places if you tell me yours." i concede.

ryland sighs, and i can already tell he’s gonna go through with it. "alright. for humans, it's here," he gestures at his lower torso—all the squishy bits "here," he holds up his arms and points at the pocket of skin beneath the joint. "and for some reason, here." he lifts his foot and pats the base of it.

that last one makes no sense to me. "you- don’t you walk on that? surely it should be less sensitive, so it would be less painful."

"hey, i didn't design it." ryland grins, and i guess that's true. "your turn."

"eridians are mostly ticklish here," i stretch out one of my legs to demonstrate. "here," i tap the top of my carapace, where the vents sit. "and here." i point at my mouth. "where the body is weakest, at joints and openings." i explain, because ryland looked confused. "can i tickle you now?"

blood rushes to ryland's face, and i suppose the phenomenon of being embarrassed about your sensitivity is not unique to erid. "i don't- hang on, i’ve not had a turn yet!" he folds his arms petulantly. i am again reminded of a baby, though i don’t say this aloud. "where are you most ticklish?"

i wasn't expecting this question, and i shift from leg to leg for a moment in flustered surprise before answering. ".. my vents. where are you?"

"my ල𐒅Էලဌ." ryland gestures to the lower middle of the squishy part of his torso, and i mentally catalogue the word. "for humans, you gotta be pretty light- like this." he taps his fingers against my carapace so gently, i can hardly feel it—though i suppose it wouldn’t be as barely-there if your skin is so soft. 

"i think i was doing a good job." i say smugly, if only to hear the way ryland's heartbeat quickens. "it's kind of difficult not to tickle when i have to be so gentle on your weak sk♬♩♫-!" my words are quickly interrupted by a shriek as ryland darts forward and scrubs at my vents in an alarmingly ticklish manner for a human with such weak hands. i’m so surprised by the sensation that for a moment, i just flail around before i remember that i am considerably stronger than ryland and push him off. "rude!"

ryland, being the awful person that he is, just laughs at me. "that was so cute!" he grins, and i crumple down onto the floor dramatically. "you sounded like a cat."

"well you look like a baby." i retort, giving him a poke in the stomach for good measure. as expected, he squeaks and pulls away. "you’re a pebble. dumb, lanky, and dangerously squishy."

"and you are a ticklish rock." ryland teases, which is probably funnier if you’re a human; to me, this just seems obvious. annoyingly, it still makes me feel a little embarrassed. no- not embarrassed—flustered. "hey, do you guys ever get- like, cosmetic smoothing? like you’re getting polished?"

i tilt my carapace to the side. "yes. it's similar to human hair, since the skin grows back after time." a second later, i realise why he’s asking this question now. "oh- it can tickle, if that's what you mean."

ryland looks pleased. "i knew it."

for whatever reason, his smugness makes me all the more agitated and i scuttle a few metres back to finish my podcast. "i’m sitting here now." i declare. ryland laughs, but he doesn’t protest, and we resume our comfortable silence.

-

let this be very clear: i do not forget things. my memory is unusually good even among eridians, especially so when it's things i care about, so when i start idly tapping at ryland's ribs, it is not because i forgot about his sensitivity—it's because i think it's funny to watch him squirm. he assumes unconsciously that my memory must be similar to his (or maybe he’s just gotten used to me ignoring him completely sometimes and repeats everything he says for my benefit) and so his first instinct is not to complain about me being annoying, but to remind me. i can understand why he enjoyed teaching so much, to be honest. 

"hey- rocky!" ryland wiggles particularly strongly as i move my poking closer to the flat of his stomach. it's a good distraction as any from the fact that his stomach didn’t used to be flat, and wouldn’t be if he had enough calorific intake, but there's not a lot either of us can do about that right now. "that tickles."

i make a show of gasping and putting a claw against my carapace like i’ve seen humans do in movies when they’re shocked. "really? you are ticklish? i can’t believe i forgot!" ryland gives me an unimpressed look, and i just continue my joke. "it's funny because i didn’t forget, and i never forget anything."

"alright, alright- sue me for giving you some grace." ryland scoffs, playful. i’m about to say something very funny about the 'grace' part of his comment, when he scratches hard at the leg i still have resting against his torso and i squeal unflatteringly as i scramble backwards. "i remembered that, didn't i?" he adds, clearly pleased with himself.

"you forget everything, and you still remembered that?" i mutter, shaking my leg out indignantly. "rude and disrespectful."

ryland grins, poking at my carapace teasingly. i know there's no way such light touch might tickle, but i find myself shying from his hands all the same with that familiar nervous excitement. "i mean, with that kind of attitude, you’re basically just asking for it now."

bizarrely, the idea kind of sounds nice. i straighten up in a mix of embarrassment and confusion at this thought, and ryland laughs. "that is not- i am doing- you are wrong and dumb." i settle on eventually, higher pitched than i usually am. "when did you last sleep?"

"uh uh, you can't pull that one on me again." ryland wiggles his fingers in my direction, and i suppress a squeak. why is this getting to me so much? "if you want me to stop, just say the word."

obviously my first instinct should be to tell him to stop, so i can go back to watching mamma mia with him and criticising the logistics of getting married at twenty human years. so- why is it that instead, i don't say anything of the sort? "i am not afraid of tickles." i say in a voice that completely undermines my statement.

this seems to be exactly what ryland wanted to hear, because he perks up even more. "i don’t know, you seem pretty nervous to me." he teases, fingers hovering just above my carapace. i squeak a little at the proximity, and he laughs, which does nothing to quell my embarrassment. "or are you just excited, hm?"

"you're seeing things." i say, focused entirely on how close his hands are to me—it feels like my insides are buzzing with the anticipation. "you need sleep. i watch."

"or, i could just do this." ryland begins scratching at my vents and i shriek in panic and excitement—which is a very strange combination of feelings, but i’m not really paying attention to that right now. instead i’m realising with horror just how much more ticklish the improved version of my suit makes everything now ryland's fingers can just glide across my carapace. "woah, that bad?"

"ye♬♪s!" i squeal, barely within ryland's hearing range. "it- ♩t fuck♫♬g t♩♫♪kles!" there's no way half of my words are making any sense whatsoever, but there's not a whole lot i can do about that when i feel like i’m about to explode. "♪♫♬♩!" 

"that one wasn't even a word." ryland teases, not letting up on my fucking vents holy shit why are his stupid fleshy hands so ticklish? it's all i can do not to smack him in the face and sprint away. "c'mon, you can do better than that."

i do honestly try to say something (mostly insults), but all that comes out is a garbled stream of notes and laughter. listen, okay- it fucking tickles, and i have barely had any contact with another living being for decades, and my brain can't seem to decide whether i love this or need to escape right the fuck now. it's a lot! 

ryland is entirely unsympathetic to my plight—just cooing at me like i’m a child. "uh oh, i think someone's ticklish! coochie-coo, rocky!" i don't think i've ever been more flustered in my life. 

the worst part might just be that i know i can escape if i want- we both know i’m perfectly capable of pushing him off and getting out of there if i want to. so the fact that i’m still here, being tortured relentlessly by a big squishy alien is.. not a great look on me. although i have no idea why i’m so embarrassed about this; we are literally in space. there is no one else for lightyears that might be able to see us!

"this is adorable." ryland says fondly, beginning to slow down a little. i think i prefer this—still pleasantly unbearable, but not so much that it's all i can think about. "i can’t believe this never came up before."

"y♩ou are- you♬♪ abusing this." i complain, still laughing helplessly. weirdly, the lighter touches make it harder to keep still, and i find myself squirming despite my best efforts otherwise. "i w♩ill have rev♬♫nge."

ryland pokes me again, and i squeak even though i barely feel it. "yeah, i’m sure you will, buddy." it sounds sarcastic, but his nervous grin suggests he knows otherwise. 

-

apparently there's a human saying that revenge is a dish best served cold. maybe this is true, in the sense of building up the anticipation would make ryland all the more tense and thus squeakier when i do eventually squeeze him to death, but i’m not nearly patient enough for that. another human phrase is cuteness aggression, which is when they find something so endearing that the brain doesn’t know what to do with the information and decides they need to kill it. when ryland first told me about this phenomenon, i thought it sounded ridiculous, but now i’m listening to his squishy body stumbling around and the way he laughs when he’s excited, and i definitely get it. 

so technically, this doesn’t have to be counted as revenge and i can still serve it cold later on. right now, i need to squeeze this human until he metaphorically pops.

i pounce on him when he’s sat on his bed so i don't actually injure him, and he yelps in surprise. "rocky! jeez, dude, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"i have a problem." i say, poking his cheek as i do. it's interesting to feel the softness of it compared to the ungiving bones of his teeth behind it, but mostly i’m doing it because i think it's sweet. he kinda looks like a ♫♩♬♫—an animal that doesn't have much of a tough exterior, since it lives mostly underground on erid and thus doesn't need protection against the atmosphere. "cuteness aggression is the problem."

ryland blinks at me for a second, and laughs, the blood rushing to his face in the way i know means he's embarrassed. "you think i’m cute?"

"yes, cute cute cute." i punctuate each word with a poke to each one of his cheeks, both amused and endeared by his reaction to all this. "i’ve done some research about how humans can help this feeling."

"i- alright." ryland grins shyly, and i shift a little so all my legs are free. "what is it?" i give his stomach a quick squeeze and he makes an adorably high pitched noise, eyes widening as he realises. "oh, come on. i’m not- that's not fair!"

i trill happily. "it's so fair. you make cute noises, and i want to hear them." 

before ryland has the opportunity to complain all too eloquently, i begin to scribble at his stomach and he squeals, covering his face in his hands. "rock- rohohocky!" 

"you’re like a little baby." i coo teasingly, tracing nonsensical patterns where his shirt has started riding up and ryland squirms uselessly. "cute cute cute."

"not fahahahair." ryland giggles helplessly, and i very politely don’t point out the fact that he could totally get away if he just asked me to get off. "ihihit tickles!"

i laugh because that seems pretty obvious to me, but maybe it's not as clear to humans. "yes, i’m doing it on purpose. tickle, tickle!" i tease, and ryland whines in embarrassment, beginning to push at my arm halfheartedly—i know his full strength, and this isn’t even close to half of it. "now, i’ve been doing research."

"how- hohohow much rehehesearch could yohou have dohohohone?" ryland complains, pulling his knees up seemingly unconsciously as i start to poke at his hips. i squeeze experimentally at where they meet his thighs, and he shrieks. "NOHOHO- not thehehehere!"

"you didn't tell me all the places humans can be ticklish." i wag a finger at him in mock-disapproval, mostly because he keeps doing it to me when i crash into something in my ball. "i told you the truth, and this is how you repay me? i don't even know if your worst spot is your stomach now, so i need to test."

i pull all my hands back, giving ryland room to breathe as he stares at me in playful horror. his heartrate has increased, but if the way he’s fighting a smile is anything to go by, it's excitement rather than fear. "you’re setting yourself up for a whole lot of revenge, buddy." 

"it's for science! you love science." i wiggle my claws teasingly in the air, and ryland makes a very cute squeaky noise in response. "where should i start?"

when i don't do anything other than wait for a reply, ryland seems to realise i’m actually asking him. "where- you want me to tell you?" he gapes, as if i’ve just asked him to saw off his own leg. 

"well, i could just figure it out myself." i say smugly, positioning my hands over his thighs and chirping in amusement when he twitches. "i’ve heard vibration can often be ticklish for humans, do you want me to test that too?"

"you- it- wait, is it?" some of the tension drains from ryland's body as his curiosity overrides his nerves, and i laugh. "shut up- i didn’t even know that." he grins, folding his arms. 

i tilt my carapace to the side. "wanna see how it feels?"

ryland gestures to himself as if to say go ahead, and i begin to hum at a frequency too low for him to hear, but strong enough for it to rattle my body slightly; manipulating soundwaves is the most common way eridians tickle one another, but since ryland is incapable of doing anything similar, i didn’t think it was that important to mention. apparently i should have brought it up sooner, because the moment my carapace starts to vibrate on his stomach he gasps and claps a hand over his mouth to stifle his giggling—as if i can’t hear it regardless. 

"so? does it tickle?" i ask. it's obvious this is sensitive for him, but i will never pass up an opportunity to tease my squishy friend. 

he nods for a second, eyes squeezed shut, before he takes a breath and his laughter comes tumbling out. "yehehes! oh my gohohosh- sohohoho muhuhuhuch."

"good!" i begin to poke at his his chest and he squirms a little more underneath me. "where do i tickle next?"

"i cahahahahan't." ryland begs, which i guess is just an invitation for me to experiment on my own. after all, i don’t hear him saying no.

i laugh, squeezing gently at his ribs. he squeals, so i just have to keep going. "you can. i believe in you." 

the testing lasts a while before ryland starts to flag, which allows me to learn that pretty much every part of him is ticklish. the worst places seem to be his stomach (at least that wasn't a lie), thighs, knees and ears (ears? that seems ridiculous to me- why should they even have nerves?), but i was able to get at least a giggle from anywhere i tried. as expected, he is utterly adorable in every second of my 'experiment'—curling up in a futile attempt at defence, wiggling around to release some of the nervous energy, occasionally smacking the ground when i find a particularly sensitive area—and it's all i can do not to squeeze him so hard it begins to hurt.

eventually though, his stamina is depleted, and he lays spreadeagled on the ship's floor while i pat his head; i don't know if this is helping him or not, but i like it, so- whatever. "you are disproportionately good at that." 

"yes, i’m good at everything." i say smugly, happy to have brought my friend joy and proved my superiority at the same time—yet another point to rocky on the humans vs eridians scoreboard. "and you are very ticklish." i add, just to tease him a little more.

ryland scoffs, before reaching out and squeezing at my leg. i yelp in surprise and crumble to the ground as he doesn’t stop, a mischievous smile taking over his face. "oh yeah? it's just me?"

i squeal a series of words that are mostly just curses, and kick him off. he laughs at me and i huff dramatically. "you are.. also good at it. somewhat."

Grace doesn’t mind teaching Rocky about human phrases or culture though. Honestly, it makes him feel like he’s back home and in a classroom teaching his students.

Like a usual day on the ship, Grace was supposed to be on ‘watch’ duty while Rocky slept, but Grace, in the quietness of the ship and his thoughts keeping him company, must have dozed off next to Rocky. 

When Rocky wakes up, he rolls out in his xenonite ball to see Grace sitting on the floor, his head lying to the side on the wall of the alien’s see-through enclosure, snoring softly. 

“Grace. Time to awake,” the computer voice translates Rocky’s foreign chirps. Rocky bumps into the scientist’s shoulder, but it has no effect on him. He tries again, then again, only managing to get an exhausted groan from Grace as the human nuzzles his head closer to the enclosure that he’s using as a pillow.

“Grace. Awake. Awake, statement,” Rocky persists. He taps on his ball to try and get Grace's attention with the glass-like cling of the taps. Nothing.

If the sound of tapping doesn’t work, then perhaps the physical touch of a tap will work. Rocky rolls right up next to Grace. Reaching through the mesh material built-in to his ball, Rocky taps on Grace’s side like he is tapping on a fish tank. 

“Grace. Awake,” Rocky repeats, tapping Grace’s side even faster like he’s pushing a button.

Finally, Grace huffs out a breath of air through his nose, like a chuckle. It’s followed by a few more huffs, which is then accompanied by a soft giggle as he begins to shift from his sleeping position. “Rocky,” he says with another chuckle, “That tickles. Okay, okay, I’m up,” Grace slides an elbow to his side.

Rocky pulls back his arm into his ball, observing the human curiously. As Grace stretches himself awake, Rocky tilts his stone body to the side like a cat tilting its head. “Glad Grace is awake. But what does new word mean, question?”

“Hm? What word?” Grace fixes his glasses and blinks at the creature.

“New word when Rocky tapped Grace’s side, statement.”

“Huh? What did I-” Grace ponders for a moment, recalling what he may have said that is unfamiliar to the alien. “Oh, you mean when I said ‘That tickles?’” Grace asks.

Rocky stands up straight on his legs, thrilled. “Yes! That is word! Grace laughed when word was spoken. What does new word mean, question?”

“Oh, um…” Out of all things today when Grace woke up, this is not what he expected. It’s understandable that Rocky would be curious though. To the creature, it must have looked like a strange reaction to laugh out of nowhere.

He struggles to find an explanation. Ironic, he thinks, considering he’s a scientist who can solve complex mathematical problems, but he’s having trouble coming up with a definition for something as simple as tickling. 

After thinking about it, he provides an answer, “Well, it’s like a tingling sensation in our nervous system that makes humans laugh when we’re touched in certain places. Kind of like a reflex, but we laugh from it. It’s called being ‘ticklish,’ but not all humans are ticklish.”

“It doesn’t hurt, question?” Rocky asks.

“No, no. It doesn’t,” Grace clarifies. “This might be a weird description—but it’s like the opposite of pain. Instead of feeling hurt, it feels…tingly and funny? And that funny feeling makes us laugh.”

“Why does it make humans laugh, question?”

“Not sure, really. It’s a scientific mystery.”

Rocky tilts his body to the side again, trying to process the new information. “Rocky still confused. Could Grace show demonstration?”

Grace huffs out a laugh at that. “Sorry, buddy. I can’t tickle myself. It’s another one of those scientific mysteries. The only way to see it is if you tickle me. That is unless you see any other humans around.”

“Only human Rocky see is you.”

“That’s the joke, Rocky,” Grace smiles at him.

“Oh, yes. Joke. Humor. Can be confusing,” Rocky replies before getting back to the topic of interest. “But can Rocky try on Grace?” Rocky shakes with excitement like he’s wagging a tail.

Grace pauses at the question; his muscles already stiffen out of reflex. “Well, uh…” he babbles out. Although, now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t know why he’s babbling. After being away from others for so long, he’s forgotten how ticklish he actually is. Clearly, he’s somewhat ticklish due to feeling Rocky’s pokes from before, but the extent of it remains unknown to him. 

Oh, heck. What’s the harm in it? Rocky seems curious to learn about it and this opportunity, Grace guesses, will be a good reminder of his own nervous system to answer his own personal curiosity.

“Alright,” Grace smiles and nods. “Go ahead.”

“Amaze! Amaze!” Rocky cheers, and in an instant, the creature rams into Grace with his giant hamster ball, pinning the scientist with an oof against the wall of the clear enclosure behind him. Grace adjusts his glasses that nearly jumped off his face from the impact.

Rocky’s form rattles with joy. “Where should Rocky start? How to make Grace laugh? Question.”

“You’re asking me???” Grace keeps his wobbly smile and the giggles already bubbling up inside of him at bay. He is not in a position to try and explain to Rocky why he’s already giggling before Rocky even starts touching him. 

“Is Rocky not supposed to ask, question?”

“No, you can. Just um…” He can’t believe he’s about to tell a rock alien where and how to tickle him. What is his life…

“You just wiggle your fingers—er claws at the spot. Like this.” Grace shows the creature the dexterity in his fingers by wiggling them above his side, almost looking like he’s acting out a monkey. “Start at my sides. We already know they’re ticklish.”

“Rocky understand! Commence at sides!” Rocky chirps. He reaches through his mesh ball with both arms and presses them into Grace’s sides.

To both of their surprise, Grace coughs out a giggly yelp, suppressing it just enough so Rocky doesn’t worry that he hurt him. His instincts activate, telling him to hold in his laughter, but that quickly fails—a crackle of snickers is followed by giggles tumbling out of the scientist like an avalanche.

What Grace realizes is that, yes, he is still ticklish.

Really ticklish.

Rocky hops on his back legs with delight. “Grace is laughing! Means Rocky is doing correctly, question?” the creature asks, still gently scratching at the ticklish spot at Grace’s sides with, shockingly, accurate precision.

Grace could just combust red right now from embarrassment. He tucks his head near his shoulder and folds his arms closer to himself, hovering his elbows over his sides. At the same time, he pulls his knees in towards him, only to be blocked by Rocky’s ball like a toddler sitting on his hips.

“Yehehehep! Yohohohou gohohohot it,” Grace says sarcastically, but he realizes Rocky will just take it as a compliment.

“Amaze! Rocky like seeing Grace happy! Grace said other places make humans laugh. Does Grace laugh anywhere else, question?”

“Nohope! I’m nohohohot telling you that!” Grace replies and wiggles in place—not that he actually remembers where else he’s ticklish, but he can make an educated guess based on the potency of current ticklishness at his torso.

For a moment, Rocky leans his body to the side, wondering why his human friend is refusing to answer his question. Then, it hits him. “Oh! Starting to understand. New word is like game. Grace is stubborn, so Rocky has to discover! Like seek and hide.” 

“Ihihihit’s hide and seek!” Grace corrects through his laughter, “Ahahahand I am nohohohohot stubborn!”

Rocky chirps out a chuckle. “Rocky disagrees, statement. Grace just prove why stubborn. Try here now.” Rocky moves his claws closer together to test the reflexes of Grace’s stomach. 

“GAH-ha!” Grace jolts forward, bouncing right off of Rocky’s ball and leaning back on the enclosure’s wall. He instinctively goes to wrap his arms around himself but he’s interrupted by the placement of Rocky’s ball. Right… Rocky is still on top of him. 

If Grace thought his sides were bad, he had another thing coming when Rocky’s tiny appendages started scratching at his belly. 

“Rohohohohocky!” Grace paddles his legs behind Rocky as the alien paws at his stomach like a puppy digging in the dirt. He folds his arms to his sides again and leans his head back, letting out wheezy, gravely cackles.

“Squishy middle makes more laughter!”

“Yehehehes it dohohoes!” Grace, embarrassingly, admits.

“Then Rocky will focus here, statement!” Rocky chirps and quickens the pace of his claws. Grace and his big mouth…

“AH! Nohohoho, wahahahait!” Grace calls out of reflex, but he amends his statement so he doesn’t confuse his friend, “I mean- yohohohou’re not wrong, buhuhuhut my belly ne-hehehehe-needs a break! Mohohohove somewhere else!” Grace waves his hands in front of Rocky’s ball.

The alien listens, “Understand. Rocky will try new place.”

Moving from Grace’s stomach, Rocky reaches up to examine Grace’s ribs. 

Grace barks out a loud giggle followed by more overflowing laughter. He leans forward and squishes his arms to his sides, though it does little to stop the curious alien. He bumps the front of his forehead on Rocky’s ball to hold up the weight of his giggling head, as if Rocky’s ball is a pillow Grace is face-planting in.

“Better for Grace, question?” Rocky’s computer voice beams at the closeness of Grace’s smile.

“Nohohohot much better!” Grace compacts his head closer to his chest with his giddy smile, suddenly letting out a snort.

Startled, Rocky immediately pulls his arms back into his ball.

“Grace make snarl! Grace not angry, question? Did Rocky hurt, question?” The creature frantically asks.

Grace snorts again, catching his breath. “Nohoho, no. I’m okay,” he puts up a reassuring hand and takes the opportunity to adjust his glasses. “It’s called a snort, not a snarl. It happens when I-” Grace stops himself. He did not want to make himself out to be the most ticklish human on Earth to Rocky. “-When humans are laughing a lot.”

“Oh! Then Rocky like when Grace makes sound! Means Rocky is doing good!” With confirmation that his friend is okay, Rocky happily pounces back onto Grace, alternating between the human’s sides, belly, and ribs, now knowing where the scientist bursts out laughing.

Grace nearly jumps out of his skin, “AHA! Yehehehes! Too good!” Grace playfully shoves at the giant hamster ball on top of him. “How are yohohohou so good at this?!”

“Had good teacher!” Rocky praises.

“Great, sohoho I only have myself to blahahahame.” The scientist takes another two-handed shove at Rocky's round container, “Gehehehet off me ya tickle monster!”

“Rocky is not monster. Rocky is Eridian”, Rocky says like he’s stating a fact.

“It’s juhuhust a phrase, Rohohocky!” Grace laughs, letting out another snort. “Seheheheriously though! Cuhuhuut it ohohohout! I need to breheheheathe!”

In an instant, Rocky stops his tickling and scrambles off of Grace. He looks up at him, alert. “Did not mean to near suffocate Grace! Grace, okay, question?”

Grace wraps an arm around his torso, still giggling out the remaining tingles. “I’m okay. I was being dramatic, heh. I did need a break though hehe…”

Rocky relaxes knowing Grace isn’t hurt. Now with the worry out of the way, Rocky’s curiosity comes back. “If Rocky not using new word on Grace, why is Grace still laughing?”

Rocky’s question even makes Grace giggle. “It’s just the after effects. I’ll be okay, just give me a sec, hehe.” Grace rubs a hand on the side of his face and through his hair, a giddy smile still lingering on his face. He fixes his glasses to their proper position. “Heh, I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. They probably heard me all the way on Earth with how much I was laughing.”

“But Earth is long way away. And sound does not travel through space,” Rocky replies.

“Joke, Rocky,” Grace clarifies for his friend.

“Oh, yes. Another joke. Still confusing.” Rocky looks up at Grace. “But Rocky like using new word on Grace, statement. Can make Grace laugh without confusion. Makes Rocky happy.”

Grace huffs out a soft chuckle at that.

The alien rolls forward, closer to the human. “Did new word also make Grace happy?”

Grace pauses. He leans his head back, facing away from Rocky, and he blinks at the air ahead of him. 

Like he said to his friend, he hasn’t laughed that way in a long time. He was too busy re-learning his own nervous system to think about it at the time, but now that it’s over, it was…nice. He wouldn’t expect himself to admit it, but he liked the feeling of letting himself go. To lose himself completely in his own uncontrollable, goofy smile. To forget about the vast unknowns of the world around him. 

For those few minutes, it was just him, Rocky, and the play they were sharing.

It made him feel, well, alive again.

“Yeah,” Grace reveals his answer in a relaxed breath. He turns to his friend and shows him a soft smile, “It did.”

Rocky bounces on his legs, filling the room with energy. “Amaze! Amaze! Rocky overjoyed! Can Grace input new word in translator, question?”

“Sure, pal.” 

Grace stands off the floor and makes his way to his laptop on the table. After hearing Rocky’s versions of the word ‘tickling’ and all its variations in his Eridian chirps, Grace makes a showing of pressing the enter key, placing the new words into the system.

“Alright, you’re good to go,” Grace says and leans his back on the table.

“Amaze!” Rocky cheers. “Rocky is pleased. Now Rocky can say Grace is ticklish!”

Grace jokingly cringes at actually hearing Rocky say it for the first time. He lets out an airy chuckle, “Let’s not do that.”

The alien happily shakes. “Grace is flustered. Does saying Grace is ticklish make Grace flustered, question?” The computer voice makes Rocky sound as if he’s putting on the widest smile. 

“W-What? Noho, of course not.”

Rocky’s excellent hearing picks up on Grace’s tone. The alien puts his claws near the front of his face like he’s about to cover up a laugh. “Rocky is going to have fun with this.”

“Okay, you’ve been given too much power,” Grace states. Rocky chirps out squeaky giggles into his claws as a response. The scientist rolls his eyes, having trouble holding back a smile of his own.