Many Galaxies Far, Far Away...

Thunderbolts

Avengers

Guardians of the Galaxy

Tracker

Squid Games

Materialists

Gladiator 2

Ahsoka

Fantastic Four

The Last of Us

Loki series

X-Men

Stranger Things

Star Wars

GOT

Master List

Day 1: Anticipation - Thunderbolts

Day 2: Tense - Fantastic Four: First Steps

Day 5: Sneak - The Last of Us Season 2

Day 6: Wrestle - The Avengers Winter Soldier x Reader

Day 9: Screech - The Last of Us Season 2

Day 20: Retaliation – Fantastic Four: First Steps

Day 21: New Discovery - Guardians of the Galaxy

Day 24: Flinch - Gladiator 2

Day 25: Trap - Tracker

Day 26: Pedro Pascal's Characters' Ticklish Rankings

Not much time later, a black car pulled up and out walked his old ally.  His heart was racing, and hands were sweaty.  There was a small part that was happy to see him as who he was in the games.  A much bigger part wanted to hurt him badly, which he planned on doing.

He took a deep breath and walked up calmly to the door, not sure how any of this was going to play out.  He could have been shot right then and there, but he didn’t care really.  He rang the doorbell and waited.  Hearing footsteps, his heart racing, the door opened to a much softer face In-ho than the last time he saw him.

Standing there face to face, neither saying a word, Gi-hu stepped forward, and he thought he was going to choke him out, but he walked past, and In-ho let him, still with no sound coming out of either’s mouths. 

Walking in he turned and found a lounge area and sat down, like he had done this a million times before, but he hadn’t.  This was just pure instinct.  Surprisingly, In-ho followed suit, just sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

Gi-hun, dropped his head, feeling so much weight on his face.  He couldn’t even look at him.  It was like a silence that was deafening and he couldn’t think properly.  He finally got the courage to look at In-ho, deep into his eyes, but as he looked up, In-ho also had his head lowered with the same expression the Gi-hun had a moment ago.

In-ho raised his head now and looked back into his eyes, although they were softer than when he was the Frontman.  Before he could say anything to his old friend, In-ho said softly, “Gi-hun, I’m surprised to see you.”

Gi-hun started shaking.  It felt so good to hear his voice, the voice he trusted for so many days, it felt like months.  Inside, he wanted to scream and yell and attack him.  But he couldn’t.  It was a weird feeling that he couldn’t understand.

“How have you been?” In-ho asked sincerely.

Again, lost for words, Gi-hun’s mouth opened and he said, “I’m here to talk.”  Talk?  Why did he say talk?  His head was yelling at him, almost like there were two people fighting inside his brain. 

In-ho’s face softened some more.  “Do you wan some tea?” 

“No.”  Gi-hun replied.

There was more silence.  Both sat there, not really knowing or wanting to say what would be next.  Finally, Gi-hun scrunched up his face and said, “I so badly want to hurt you right now, or worse.”  He said with a monotone.  “But I can’t seem to do that.  I want you to feel the pain and betrayal I feel.” Gi-hun started to scoot closer on the couch, but In-ho didn’t move, almost as if he was in a trance or maybe he really didn’t think he would hurt him.

When Gi-hun noticed he didn’t move, it was almost infuriating.  “Do you really not believe me?”  His voice started to raise, and it was shaking.  He was now close enough to reach out and touch In-ho.  “I can end you right now, by just shoving my knife into you right here.” 

As he jabbed his hand with his fingers straight out, he hit him on the right side of he stomach, making him jump and a small grin quickly formed and disappeared, but not quick enough for Gi-hun not to notice.

“Do you think this is a game, like the others you played with us?”

“No, no.  Sorry, you just caught me off guard.”

“Because I could really hurt you right now.  All I have to do is stab you right here and you’d be finished.”  Gi-hun said making the same jab motion to his stomach.  But this time, a true smile appeared, and In-ho grabbed his hand. 

In-ho glared at his old friend now, holding his hand tightly.  Gi-hun being completely oblivious because he was so overcome with emotion, didn’t put any of this together, until he reached for In-ho’s knee to pull his hand back, and another smile appeared, and In-ho grabbed his other hand.

“Stop it.”  In-ho said quietly, not looking into Gi-hun’s eyes.  He finally let his hands go.  “I don’t like being touched.”  He said with more confidence but realized that Gi-hun understood his problem right now.  “If you want to stab me, then just go ahead and do it.”

With his mouth slightly opened, Gi-hun realized what he was saying without saying and he almost grabbed his knife, but again, he didn’t.  He deep down didn’t want to kill him.  But he did want him to suffer.  “No, I don’t think I need my knife after all.”  He said as he lunged at In-ho, who was caught off guard by how quickly he moved and how strong he was.

Adrenaline was pumping through Gi-hun’s veins.  Both hands reached out and grabbed each side of In-ho’s sides, squeezing them, forcing out a genuine laugh this time from In-ho, who doubled down, wrapping his hands around his arms, trying to peel him off. 

But Gi-hun had some amazing strength, like a vice grip.  He wouldn’t let go.  In-ho at this time was laughing out loud, his face turning red from laughing and embarrassment.  He never told his friend how ticklish he actually was, like it would ever come up in the scenario they were in.  And he also hadn’t been tickled since he was a kid.  He was definitely touch starved and could feel the tickles move through his body, creating giggles to pour out of his mouth.

This created a sense of dominance and even a smile started to form over Gi-hun’s face.  He actually was enjoying himself.  So, he then shot his hands up under his arms and squeezed the hollows of his arm pits, making him scrunch up into a ball even more.

“Whaaaaaatttt???  Nohahahaaa!”  Words couldn’t form as In-ho laughed hysterically.

“What’s the matter, Frontman?  Did I find you little weakness?  Do all your men know this is how to take you out?”

In-ho was laughing and shaking his head no, almost answering him.  And in an instant, he stopped tickling him, giving him a false sense of security.  Starting to pull back his hands slowly, he then reached with speed to his hips and began the relentless tickling again.

“Naahaaaaaa, ssssttttoototppppppp!!!”

“No, I don’t think I will.  You deserve this!  Say you deserve this!”  Gi-hun yelled over the laughing, which was now turning into gasping.  He loved the control he had over him, making him suffer and making him hear what he had to say.

He slowed up again, allowing the false sense of security to creep over.  “Please, no more.”  In-ho breathed heavy, shaking his head no.

“Oh, but I need to make sure you really can feel this and really know how much pain and suffering you inflicted on everyone.  He shot his hands on his knees and thighs quickly.

This made the Frontman jump into the air, falling onto the ground.  He grabbed firmly at his wrists but couldn’t get him to budge an inch.  There were tears sliding down his read face, gasping.  And then Gi-hun stopped.  He kneeled down to In-ho, who was laying flat on the ground.

Gi-hun reached to pat his leg and In-ho violently kicked away, waiting for the attack to begin again.  “You know friend, if I knew this about you, I think I would have done this way sooner.  Even in the darkest part of our journey.”  He had a smile on his face.  He knew he couldn’t hurt him, and he shouldn’t.  He would be no better than anyone else.

“I suppose I could tickle you until you agree never to go back to that island, but I don’t think you would mean it.”  He paused, starting to stand up, looking down at the defeated man, who was starting to sit up now on his elbows, still breathing heavy.  In-ho looked straight up and shook his head no.  “That’s what I thought.  So, you see, I have a guy on the inside now.  You will retire as Frontman form these games, or I will make my phone call.”

“The games won’t end with me.”

“I know, but then I will deal with the next frontman differently.”  He reached his hand down to lift up his defeated friend.  “Deal?”

In-ho grabbed his hand and was pulled off the floor, standing now.  “No deal.”  He breathed.

Gi-hun smiled and started to walk away.  “Good, this will be more fun for me anyway.”  He walked to the door and opened it.  Before stepping out, he looked back at his weathered friend.  “I will be back to do this again, you know.  And if you aren’t here, I’ll find you.  You know this, right?”

He sat, kissed and she turned him around to rub his big, strong, tired shoulders.  It felt so amazing, he began to melt into her lap, closing his eyes. This is just what he needed, and she knew it. 

With his head on her lap, eyes closed, small smile on his face, she began massaging his scalp and back of head to his temples.  This almost put him in an immediate coma.  A soft, hmmm, escaped his lips.

“Are you comfortable, my love?”  She whispered to him.

He nodded his head, still smiling, “Mmm, hmmm.”

“Good.  Come over on the bed and I’ll give you a proper massage.”

She got up, and he followed her over to their oversized bed, almost in a trance, from the massage and how genuinely tired he was. 

He laid, face down, on he bed, arms under his pillow where his head laid.  She put a small amount of oil in her hands and gently continued to rub his shoulders and the back of his neck.  He felt all the tension released. 

She continued down is strong back, pushing gently, then harder in some places, watching his reactions for her queues.  She was very attuned to his body movements.  Small little noises would escape his throat, and at times she would have figured he just fell asleep.

She continued down to his legs, mostly just rubbing lightly with her oil slicked hands.  Every now and then, he would tremble or twitch, and it was gone, so she assumed it was a tender spot, and never went back to that.

His calves seemed really tight and sensitive as well, so again, she didn’t take that long on them.  She slowly lifted both of his feet into her hands.  Before she even had a chance to touch them no, he flipped over, and said, “No, my feet are fine.”

“Darling, it’s ok.  I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

Sitting up and leaning into her, he kissed her slowly and long and pulled his legs in to reach her.  After he held her head in his hands, he smiled and said, “You don’t have to rub my feet.  Thank you.”

“But I want to,” she said sweetly, with true intent, not quite understanding why he wouldn’t let her continue.

He could see the sincerity in her eyes, so he smiled back.  “I just, my feet are sensitive.”

She leaned in to kiss him, smiled and said she would be kind.   She truly had no idea that his feet were extremely ticklish, and they had never in the past discovered this on one another.  It just wasn’t a thing royalties would do to pass time.

He sighed, laid back, and put an arm over his forehead.  “Ok, my love.  Thank you.”

She smiled again, picked up one foot and started to squeeze it firmly, which actually felt good, so he seemed to relax.  She again, could read his body language well.  She continued doing this for a while longer.

She then took her thumbs and started rubbing firmly the arch of his foot.  He flinched, curled his toes for a second, and let her continue on.  This started to feel nice as well, he was thinking.  Maybe this would be fine.  He hadn’t actually been tickled on his feet in a long time, so he thought maybe he grew out of it.

She felt his whole body relax again and continued to push on different areas.  Feeling better that she was bothering him the slightest, she started to rub him under his toes.  Not only did he flinch, but he nearly kicked her in the face!

“Sorry, so sorry my love!  That startled me.  Shit, are you ok?”

She had her head lower and when she raised it, she had been laughing!  He didn’t kick her, and she probably never seen her big, strong husband react like that to anything.

“Are you laughing at me?”  he asked, sincerely.

“Yes, I’m so sorry!  I didn’t realize you were that ticklish!”  He immediately turned red, with a smile on his face.

“I said I was sensitive, didn’t I?”  She nodded in agreement, finally releasing the last laugh from her lips.

“I know, I just didn’t expect quite that reaction.  Here, I won’t do that again.  Just sit back and relax!”

He did that, truly trusting her, which under normal circumstances, he could.  But she also had a feisty streak to her and when it came out, she was a force.

She continued like before, making sure he was comfortable.  She just couldn’t resist herself really.  Right when he settled back again, and “accidently” scratched the bottom of his foot, lightly, but purposeful.  She received a great reaction and noise from him and when he started to sit up again, she grabbed his ankle and started really digging into his soles, around his toes again!

“Naah-nahh, st-stopp it pleeease!”  He barely made it out, trying to pull his leg away but sitting up at the same time on an overly soft bed.  She had the upper hand and pulled his leg hard towards her.

He fell backwards and sunk into the bedding again, while she continued to tickle his foot in different spots now.  She couldn’t help it.  She had never seen something so adorable in her entire life.  It was like when she would tickle Lucius when he was younger and could see a smile that the gods would adore!

He was laughing but not gasping.  It probably felt good for him to lose track of reality for a minute.  As he laid back, hands over his face, not really pulling away anymore, she grabbed his other, neglected foot and started tickling that one.

With a whole new level of sensation, he whipped his legs back to his chest and dug his feet into the bedding.  He still had a beet red face, tears on the edges of his eyes, and seemed really relaxed.

“Did you enjoy that, darling?”

Finally, being able to talk again, he cleared his throat and said, “Yes, yes.  That felt really nice.  No more please.”  He looked up at her, as she started to sink down to kiss her.

When the kiss ended, she started to get up to allow him to properly rest.  He closed his eyes and fell fast asleep, forgetting all the problems in his world.  He needed that.

10. Javi P – I think that ticking him would immediately get him horny, so it probably doesn’t last very long.  His thighs are the biggest spot for him though.

9. Acacius – since this is an older character, I just don’t think they did a lot of this stuff so never experienced it.  I think his wife can tickle him a bit and he will probably enjoy it, but it’s just not a thing for him.

8. Oberyn – He is along the lines of Javi P, however, he probably loves the sensory overdrive of being tickled, which will turn into sex.  I think his sides and hips are his most ticklish spots.

7. Harry – to me, he’s so put together in life, that he probably doesn’t let himself get out of control, like ever.  With that being said, when someone has the guts to tickle him, he probably enjoys it, but doesn’t cause a big scene.  He has ticklish thighs and hips.  He can’t feel his knees much because of his surgery to make him taller.

6. Whiskey – so, this man loves to be tickled, much like Oberyn, with it leading to sex, but is way more ticklish.  I don’t know what, but he seems like a good back run can get him giggling if done right.  And since he’s also so playful, he can get caught up in that as well.  He also has a ticklish ass!

5. Max L – So, this man has a kid, so obviously can dish it out.  But the women he dates, since he’s so serious and stressed, love to get him to loosen up, and he definitely is ticklish, which they love.  It’s really his whole mid-section and his feet.  He loves/hates it but really appreciates being able to not stress about life.  After he and Diana patched things up, she could get him wailing when he became all pouty around her.

4. Frankie – as a husband and father, he will get a lot of tickles from his wife and kids.  His wife loves to give him massages and after he’s really relaxed, she will strike him if the mood is right.  He will fight her back and they will both be laughing.  He definitely has a ticklish neck, arm pits and feet.

3. Reed aka Mr Fantastic – I think with his OCD and overall demeanor, it’s hard to tickle him, but when his family gets him, he can’t help but laugh and struggles to comprehend anything.  His thoughts turn to mush, and he can’t even use his powers because all his strength is going to keep his head from exploding.  He doesn’t actively seek it out, but between his wife, brother-in-law and best friend, they make sure he gets lots of tickles.

2. Joel – While Sarah was still alive, I think they got into plenty of tickle fights, because she’s super playful and snarky.  He would “let” her win but instantly regret it because he can’t handle it for too long without wheezing and feeling like he was dying.  He is ticklish everywhere and it makes Sara and Tommy laugh.  Later Ellie would find out and use it to destroy him with the help from his baby brother.

Russ was in the kitchen getting more beer and snacking on another piece of pizza.  She had her feet kicked up on the table, sitting in the middle of her couch, like normal.  Colter came and sat on her right, following suit, kicking up his feet next to hers.

“Damn, Colter.”  Reenie said.  “You have some big feet.”  She pointed out, as his made her 8s look like little kids’ feet.  He laughed and took a sip of beer.

Again, they had been drinking for some time now, so they were all fresh towards one another.

After his sip, he looked at her with his serious face, and said, “You know what they say about men with big feet, don’t you?” 

She slowly turned her gaze towards him, still serious, but with a small hint of a smile forming.  Thinking she knew what he would say, she exuberantly said, “No, Colter, what do they say?” 

He smiled back, taking another sip.  He leaned in and said, “We have big feet.”

She looked at him, no, more like glared at him, for how stupid this sounded.  She had nothing in her hands, so she quickly shot both of her hands at his mid-section and started squeezing as she yelled, “Shut up, you’re such a dork!”

He yelped, not expecting that, and curled up against her attack, not spilling his beer, but taking his free hand and swatting it at hers.  “Wh-what?  Can’t you ta-take a joke?”  He said through his struggling of not to laugh.

So, she dug in further, shaking her head in amusement, now tickling his ribs on his sides.

This made him yell out, “Naa-ahaaa, stttopp it!  Dammit Reeeeeenie!”

Then Russ came walking out of the kitchen and she stopped, as Colter was red-faced.  “Why are you torturing my baby bro?”  He asked, not really caring, but more curious. 

As Colter was catching his breath, she leaned back against the couch.  “Oh, he thought he was being funny when I said he had big feet, and he said men that have big feet have big shoes.  I taught him a lesson is all.”

Russ nodded in agreement, taking a sip from his beer.  “Well, ya know, he’s not wrong, but you know what we really have….?”  He had a full shit eating grim on his face, and she thought, here comes the really stupid comment.

“What Russ, what do they have?”  She said in the same sarcastic tone she used on Colter.

“We have big socks…..”  Both Colter and Russ laughed at this, as she sat in the middle surrounded by middle school boys. 

She shook her head, and grabbed onto Russ’s sides just like Colters’s, and just like Colter, he gasped and tried to swat them away, though he was quicker and set his beer down and grabbed both of her wrists.

“Nah-ah.”  He said shaking his head looking at her.  “We don’t do that.”

She pulled her wrists back and said, “You two are children.” 

“And you are officially trapped!”  Colter leaned in, both brothers staring at her.

Uh-oh, she though.

On one night, Acacius was deep in thought, writing some notes about the terrain in one of his many notebooks, when he started to hear a commotion coming from the next tented area.  He was unfamiliar with the sound, so he stood up and walked to the opening, where he found two of his soldiers wrestling with each other, but not normal wrestling.  They were tickling each other into submission it seemed! 

There was cheering, laughing and yelling amongst them, where finally one of them yelled “Give!”   As the winner stood up with his fists in the air as others cheered.  This brought a smile to Acacius’ mouth. 

“No one can defeat me!”  Yelled the younger winner.  “I’m bigger and stronger than all you combined!”  He yelled, with a very cocky attitude.

Acacius had seen enough, so he stepped in and immediately the whole crew stood up and faced him.  “At ease.”  They were all relaxed.  Acacius walked slowly to the winner. “So, you say you are the biggest and strongest, correct?”

“Um, yes sir!”  The younger said, with still being very nervous. 

“And you know this by…tickling someone else?”

“Yes sir!”  A small smile started forming on the younger’s face, and it was hard to admit that to your general, so he turned the other way. 

Acacius turned to the rest of them.  “And you agree with this?  This is how to take down an enemy?”

“Sir, if I may, we were just bored and started to wrestle.  One thing led to another and…? Well, you know.  It’s just for fun.”  He said as the others nodded in agreement.

As he was talking, Acacius was trying to remember what this even felt like.  He sure hasn’t been tickled since a child, maybe once by Lucilla from a foot rub or something, but nothing like what they were doing to each other.  While he was lost in his own mind, the winner sat down, and the rest seemed to relax.

“Sir, we were just goofing around.  It won’t happen again.”  Acacius could see some sadness when he said that, so he sat down with the rest of them.

“No, no.  It’s fine.  I know how hard it is to be stuck somewhere for months and years.  You make do.”  He paused a second still in thought.  Others noticed this.

“Sir, did you do this when you were younger too?”  They asked hopefully.

Acacius smiled and let out a half laugh, “Heh, not really.  I can’t say that I have.  I can’t say you could really take someone down by tickling them.  It’s hard for me to imagine.”

The others looked at each other, now whispering and smiling to each other, as if a plan was forming.

“So, you think you could withstand the torture, and not give up?”  One asked as the rest were now fixed on their general, waiting.

He started to rub the back of his neck.  Not only was this conversation mildly inappropriate to have in civil conversation, but he also really couldn’t remember how ticklish he was.  It couldn’t have been an easy answer if he knew.  “Um, honestly, I think I would be able to handle any type of attack from my opponent.”  He said with confidence.

The younger men all started whispering again, and the proud general started to get butterflies in his stomach from being nervous.  So, he stood and was about to turn and say goodnight to his troop.

The “Winner” of the match before stood up next to him.  “Let’s make a wager.”

“I don’t make wagers with anyone, let alone my own troops, unless it’s something that’s needed.”  Acacius said firmly.

The younger soldier now gaining a little more confidence leaned into his general and said, “That’s because I think you can’t take it.”  He stepped back with a big grin on his face, and quickly squeezed his general’s side, causing him to flinch.  This was a bold move to be sure, but now they all knew the truth about their general.

The younger took an immediate step back, and Acacius was still caught in disbelief.  He couldn’t decide whether to submit himself to this or walk away, with less dignity.  He cleared his throat.  “What did you have in mind?”

“We want to see if you can last two minutes and if you can without tapping out, then you can make us do whatever errands and drills you want us to.”

“You realize I can do that anyway, soldier?”

“Yes, but this you can hold over us.”

“But, if you yell give before the two minutes are up, we get to step out of any grunt work for a week!”

“No.”  Acacius replied.

“Three days?”

“No.”

“One day?”  Acacius thought and held his hand out for a firm handshake, like he had done with many leaders before.

“That will work.”  He was thinking to himself that he had survived tons of different types of torture in the past for hours.  Two minutes would be nothing.  At the same time, he knew what pain felt like.  He still couldn’t believe he would subject himself to this at his own expense. 

“Sir, you will have to take off your armor.  To make it fair.  We only are wearing our under clothes.”

Acacius obliged and removed his armor, leaving him in his shorts, sandles and his under shirt.  Neatly setting everything off to the side, and when his men were satisfied, the younger men jumped at him.  It took three of them to get him down to the ground and hold his arms and shoulders still as two more sat, one on each leg.

“Wait, it’s all of you against me!”

“We never said how many of us.” 

As Acacius started to reply, the two sitting on each leg started to violently tickle their general in the ribs and his stomach muscles.  Acacius jolted and flexed almost every muscle in his body against the attack.  His body didn’t know how to react to this type of touch, which was hard, but not brutal.

“Hhey-eh, waaaiiittt.”  Is all that escaped at first.

“Are you giving up already?  It’s only been 10 seconds or so!”  They egged him on.  The teasing made it worse.  He tried to sit up and move his arms, which now seemed to be nearly impossible.

Just as he finally seemed to get a grasp, one of the youngers stuck their hands into his armpits, which he threw back his head and a huge laugh came out of his lips.

He was full-blown belly laughing at this point and one of the other boys that was holding his arm down popped up to his legs and told one of the guys who was sitting on them to move.  He figured he didn’t need so many holding him down anymore.

Having no clue at this point what was going on, Acacius didn’t even realize this was happening. 

The young soldier started to squeeze his thighs above his knee caps and Acacius started kicking hard, so he sat back down on his legs to stop his kicking.

His mind was ready to explode.  On one hand, he couldn’t think of any real thought, which was nice.  On the other hand, he couldn’t breath and every time he seemed to regain composure, the boys would move positions slightly, recreating the agony again.  There was no way to block any of this or gain his composure. 

He didn’t even know how long he was being tickled.  He could have been down there for minutes and wouldn’t have known.  It felt like hours, truthfully.  Every part of his body had normal nerves of steel, except now, where they all turned to mush it seemed.

In a last-ditch effort, he tried to adjust his core to gain some leverage, when he felt a sandal slipped off his right foot.  He tried to pull his leg back with all his might, even though he had none left. 

Fingers started moving all over the sole of his defenseless foot, he curled his toes in defense and heard someone say, “Awww, the general has ticklish feet!”

Not knowing why, he yelled, “St-tttoooppppp, stop!!!”  He yelled as he gasped and laughed, coughing at the same time.

All the attacks stopped at once, and he was laying on his back, still gasping and shaking.

“I give, I give.  Just stop.”  He barely managed to speak.

“He gives!”  They all yelled jumped up and high fiving each other as they just won a war. 

One reached a hand down to him, which pulled him to his feet.  Acacius looked at his body like maybe a part of it was physically destroyed, but nothing.  He started to slip on his one removed sandal, and said, “You guys won.  It was fair.”

They cheered and he started to exit the tent in defeat.  “So, no work tomorrow, right!”

He stopped in the doorway.  “No, no work tomorrow.  You have my word.”

He took one further step out of the tent.  “Good,” one of them yelled.  “Because you lasted about 8 minutes!”  They were all laughing.  Yes, they got the best of him, but he was still smiling.

“Thank you!”  he said, laying back on the grass, closing his eyes for a second.

“Are humans always so, tired?”  she asked, sincerely.

“I’m not tired!”  He shot back, still laying down.  “I just wanted to spend my energy on something else, more physical.”  He smiled, with a suggestive tone.

“Oh.”  She knew of his reputation, but they haven’t done anything other than kiss and hold hands.  She was ok with that, but he wasn’t.  “I’ll lay back with you, but nothing else, do you hear me?”  She said sternly.

He nodded his head, excitedly.  He leaned in to kiss her softly and his hands started to move to her waist, so she followed suit.  She didn’t exactly know what to do, so when he would squeeze a little of her side, she did the same.  However, when she did it, he gasped and flinched a bit.

“I’m sorry Peter!  Are you hurt?”  she asked, with a sad tone in her voice.  She really didn’t want to hurt him, and humans were a lot frailer than her species.

He shook his head quickly.  “No, no!  I’m fine.”  He leaned in again to kiss her, and she did the same thing, but this time he actually let out a small laugh.

“Why do you laugh at me?”  she asked, almost angrily.

“I’m not, I swear, it’s just…”  He trailed off with a smile still on his face.

“What?”

“You’re tickling me.”  He said softly, with his cheeks turning red.

“Is that bad?  What does that mean?  Does it hurt?”  She was really confused, and he couldn’t believe it.  He reached in fast to tickle her to show, however, she didn’t flinch. 

“What are you doing?”  she asked, completely confused.

“Well, I’m trying to tickle you!”  He sat up, now getting frustrated that she didn’t react.  He grabbed onto her ribs and tried there next, but nothing.  “Whoa.  You really aren’t ticklish!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but I’m guessing you are?  How does that work?”

“I dunno. If someone squeezes my sides, hips, legs or touches my feet in any way, it tickles me.”

“And you laugh?  Why?”

“I don’t know, Gamora!  Why aren’t you?”

“Let me see.”  She asked excitedly.

“Wait, wait, hold on.”  He tried to gain some composure in his voice, but she immediately reached out and squeezed his hips, sending him flying up off the ground, but this time she didn’t stop.

“I said waaaait!  Nahahhaaaaa!”  He laughed, trying to shove her hands away, but he couldn’t. 

She yelled over his laughing.  “And your ribs too?”  Then her hands went for them and screamed!  She didn’t know how to do it gently and she was so strong, she just kept digging.  But with each reaction and squirm he made, she read him almost instantly. 

A huge smile was now on his face as he threw his head back.  She was smiling now too.  “Stt-toooppp itttt!”

So, she did.  “Why did you tell me to stop if it makes you happy like that?”  He had fallen backwards, and was breathing heavy, shaking his head no.

“I don’t know but just stop.’  He whispered.

She shrugged and laid back again.  “I don’t get it.  Do you like it because you are smiling, or not?”  She asked him sincerely.

He looked over to her and laughed, “I have no idea!  But it scares me that you don’t know how it feels so you would just keep going!”  He said laughing as he explained himself.

“No, no.  I would stop if you said to.”  She replied back to him, looking into his eyes.  “Where else did you say it tickled?”

He shut his eyes hard.  He didn’t want to remind her, but if he didn’t say something, she might not give it up.  “Ah, that was about it.”

“No, no, you’re lying.  I can tell.  I thought you said your legs and feet.  Can I try?”

“You can squeeze my thighs really quickly, but you will not touch my feet, ever!”  Smiling as he said that, so she really couldn’t tell if he was serious or not.

“Ok.”  She sat up and put a hand on his thigh, looking at him for permission.  He covered his face with his hands and nodded yes, preparing himself.  So, she squeezed like she did before.

He let out a yelp and immediately grabbed her arm to take it off his leg.  “Stop, just stop, I can’t.”  He stammered.

“You seem so happy though.  Why are you laughing but telling me to stop.  Does it hurt too?”

He shook his head.  “I don’t know how to explain it, but let’s just leave it at this for now.  This made me even more tired.”

As he said that, Rocket’s ship was landing near them.  They both got up and walked over.

“How was your alone time Quill?”  Rocket asked mockingly.

“Fine.  Let’s get going!”  Peter replied

“Rocket, do you know that Peter is ticklish?”  Gamora asked as they entered the ship.

Peter shot her with a look of anger.  “No, no I did not, but thank you for the intel.”  Rocket replied.

“Why are you upset if it makes you smile?”  She asked, as they were all getting buckled in.

“Oh, ignore Quill, he just doesn’t want to be tortured is all.”  Rocket said back to her.

“Torture?”

“Enough, just enough, let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.  I’ll explain everything to you along the way, Gamora!”  Rocket laughed as they took off.

Peter mumbled under his breath, “I hate you.”

“Seriously, where is it?  I know you hid it!”  Ben started to walk towards Johnny, who was now grinning like a little shit.

“Oh, I don’t know.  I can’t remember!”  Johnny paused as Ben stopped right in front of him.  “Just like you couldn’t remember the other day where you ‘accidently’ left my favorite card of yours truly.”

“Oh, come on.  That was funny!  This is serious!”

“She’ll like you with stubble.”

“Yeah, but I don’t.  Where is it?  You better tell more or I’ll……”

“You’ll what!”  Johnny cut him off and challenged him back.

Ben sighed and started to put his head down and walked away.  He couldn’t beat him up.  He didn’t really want to hurt him.  He just admitted defeat.

Then out of nowhere, Sue, Johnny’s older sister, appeared scaring them both.

“Johnny, quit being mean and tell him or I’ll tell him a secret of yours.”

Ben was waiting at this point. Johnny didn’t have many secrets, and he wasn’t embarrassed easily, so what could Sue have, he though.

“What secrets?  I don’t have any!”  Johnny said, confidently.

“Oh really.”  Sue walked slowly to her baby brother, stopped right in front of him, reached out to his side and grabbed it.  He immediately jumped back, and flames shot up around him.

“Don’t do that Sue!  Damn!”

“If only someone could get to him without being affected by the heat.”  She turned and walked away, winking at Ben, who knew rock did that exactly.

Ben started walking fast and Johnny realized what had happened. “No Ben.  Seriously!  Stop!”  He backed himself into a corner.

“Oh, seriously?  Really?”

“I’ll give it back to you!  Here!”  Johnny grabbed it from almost no where and tossed it to Ben, who caught it, set it down on the bed without breaking stride towards his friend.

“No, you’re such a pain in the ass sometimes.  You deserve this!”  Ben grabbed Johnny by the hips and pulled him up in the air effortlessly, as he started squeezing them, sending Johnny throwing his head back, making fire come from his skin.

“Na-ahhaaa, stt-oooppp!”

“No, I don’t think I will.”  Ben said, as he kept Johnny in the air, remembering that he could set fire to anything he touched except himself.  He shifted his hands up to his sides and pits, digging into the young man’s fiery skin. 

“Nahahaanaaaa, waaaaiiitit!  Shhiiititttt!!!”

“I can’t understand you buddy.  You should speak up!”  Ben yelled over Johnny’s laughing, gasping and yelling back.

“Puuuleeaaaaasssssseeee!!!!  I caananaa’tttt ahhhhh!”

At this point Johnny was gasping, and the fire was getting larger.  Ben stopped, still holding him up to wait for his flames to go away, finally setting him on the bed.  Johnny threw his body back, still breathing heavy with a huge smile on his face.  He really loved this.

“Thanks for giving me back what’s mine.”  Ben said as he picked up his rock buffer and walked out the door.  “Until next time.”

“I’ll get you back for that!”  Johnny yelled at Ben.

“Sure, except rocks aren’t ticklish.  Good luck with that.”

That sounded like a challenge to Johnny.

“You didn’t think you’d get off so easily, huh Dina?  Practically killing me earlier!”

“Nahahahaaaa, yesssss!”  He hit a certain spot on her lower rib cage causing her to screech again, louder than the first time!

Ellie came running in full force, and stopping as Joel looked up at her, with crazy in his eyes.  “Stop right there if you know what’s good for you girl!”  He yelled back at Ellie, who immediately stopped and watched her friend being destroyed by Joel. 

“Aahahaha nahahahahhaaaaaa, ssss-tttoppppp itttt!  IIII’mmm ssssoorrrry!!!!”

“What was that Dina, sound like an apology.  I can’t hear well, so you’re going to have to speak up girl.”  True, he didn’t hear well, but he heard her just fine.

“Sssssssoooooorrrrryyyyyyyy!!!!  Puuuuuhhhllleeass aahhahahaahaa!”

Joel stopped for a second, to give her a breath, then gave her muscular legs a good squeeze each, sending her up off the couch with a scream!

Ellie was just standing and enjoying the show.  She wanted to jump in but found this just as amusing if not more. 

“Ok, ok, I’m done. Here.”  He helped Dina to sit up.  She was still breathing hard, like she just sprinted a mile.  “No more.  We good now?” 

Dina, with a smile on her face, shook her head yes.  Joel stood up, rustled her hair and walked towards Ellie who out of instinct took two steps back to the wall.

“Don’t worry, Ellie.  You’re safe right now.  I’m too tired anyway.” He patted her should as he started to walk upstairs.

Ellie looked down at Dina who was now sitting up.

“We are totally going to get him back.”

Ellie nodded in agreement.

He was busy reading, and you were mindlessly on your phone.  He really seemed like he wasn’t paying attention, so you went to get a glass of water that was next to the dish washer.  Slowly you opened it and hid in a corner shelf that was hardly ever used int eh kitchen.  Then you strolled back to the living room and sat down next to him with your water.  You couldn’t help but smile.

“What ya reading?”  You asked, innocently, leaning on his shoulder without the arm, nuzzling into his neck.  You actually knew the answer since he liked to read a lot of history books since he missed a lot of it and you got him this one in particular.

He chuckled.  “What, you don’t remember getting me this?”  He asked with a smirk.

“Oh, I do.”  You lazily traced the side of his neck with your index finger, causing him to shiver under your touch for a second.

“What are you doing?”  He asked with a side eye, and a small grin.  You started to trace your finger on his ear lobe.

“Nothing, just looking at every little part of you.”

“You look with your eyes, not your hands, darling.” He started to put his book down and got up.

He went to the dishwasher, figuring it should have been done now.

  After opening it and noticing his missing appendage, he took a step back.  Clearly it didn’t get up and walk off on its own.  “Babe, you don’t happen to know where my arm went, do you?”  He stood there with one arm on his hip.

You stood up confidently and walked over, like you gained strength.  “No!  Where is it?”  As horrible as a liar you are, he chuckled and reached to kiss you.  As he sunk into that kiss, your hands wandered on his back muscles and traced down his side and ribs, ever so gently, making him hold in a giggle.

“Babe, what’s wrong?  You’re so, squirmy with me today.  Are you ok?”  You asked innocently.

“I’m just fine, but I’ll need my arm back.”  He started to take a step at you, causing you to step back with a large smile on your face.

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about?  Why would I take your arm?”

He grabbed you by the waist with his one arm, effectively lifting you up to his eye level.  “Because you’re a child.”  He leaned in for a long, sweet kiss, that made you forget about his arm for a hot second.  Then he tossed you onto the couch.  “Where’s my arm?”

You were starting to curl up, giggling to yourself, cheeks getting red.  “I don’t know!”

He lunged in and pinched your side with his only arm, causing you to squeak and grab it.

“Where’s my arm?  If you give it to me now, I promise no harm will come to you.”  He said confidently, staring right into my eyes.

You shrugged your shoulders as if you had nothing to say and he straddled you and with his good arm, started tickling you all over your mid-section fast and expertly.  You laughed hard and every time you swatted his hand away or grabbed it, he just as easily moved it back into position.

You tried to grab his thighs and hips, but he was just too damn fast.  “Sto-op!  I giiiive!”  You yelled.

He stopped and you pointed to the corner drawer.  “In there.”  Your voice shook, pointing.  He kissed you on the cheek. And said thanks.  He pulled it out and locked it onto his shoulder.  You loved it when he did that, so you sat there smiling.

He started to come back at you quickly and lunged his hands up in your armpits, causing you to scream!  “Waaaaaiiiittt!  Yoooou ssaaiid noooooooo moooore!”

“No, I said no harm would come to you!  You were being a brat though, so you deserve this!”  His hands were moving so perfectly all over your neck, armpits, rips, belly and sides, that you felt yourself not able to think coherently.

“Naahaaaa, stoooopppp!”

“Say your sorry for stealing my arm!”

“Sooorrrrryyyyy!”  You barely got out and just like that he stopped.  You were red-faced, breathing heavy, hair a mess.

“You are so beautiful doll.”  He leaned in and gave you a long deep kiss, then grabbed his book to go back to read.

You closed your eyes.  You loved that man.

But then there was silence, and it lasted a little too long in his mind.  He shifted and sat up, looking around the old house.  Nothing.  His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and still, nothing. 

Just as he started to rest his back against the couch, Ellie and Dina jumped from the sides and screamed!  It genuinely scared him!

“Shit, ya going to give me a heart attack!”  Joel yelled as he crunched up in a ball, his heart pounding.

“Did we get ya, for real?”  Ellie sat in one side of Joel practically jumping to her spot, with a huge smile on her face.  Dina wasn’t so quick to sit down.  She stared down at him, with a smirk.  He had become like a dad to her, but she wasn’t as kiddish as Ellie was.

“Yeah ya did, damn Ellie!”  He huffed out of his breath, putting his head in his hands. 

“We didn’t make you drop your beer at least old man!”  Dina said above him, now sitting on his other side.  As she said this, she poked his side, causing him to jump again towards Ellie.  “Whoa man, you that jumpy?”

“No!” he shot back.

“Why’d ya jump then?”  Ellie asked confused, where as Dina was full on smiling now, knowing what she had just learned about Ellie’s protector.

“No reason, just flinched is all.”

“Sure.”  Dina said, now reaching over to squeeze his side again, causing him to shift over suddenly to Ellie, who still couldn’t figure out what Dina was doing.  “What was that, old man?  Something you wanna tell us?”  Dina asked mockingly.

“No, go away Dina, damn!”

“What, what is it?”  Ellie asked, now just looking past Joel to her friend, wide eyed.

“It’s nothing Ellie.  Dina, drop it!”  Joel barked back.

“Oh, it’s not nothing Joel.  Nothing to be embarrassed about.  I just didn’t know you were so sensitive is all.”  He was tensed up, arms down to his sides, one still holding a beer.  Staring right at Dina with daggers.

“Girl, don’t you start now.”

“Start what?”  Dina asked softly in his ear, causing him to shiver.

Joel, huffed out a laugh, shook his head and drank a sip of beer, getting more comfortable.  If they wanted to play, he would let him. 

Dina said over to Ellie, still confused.  “Ellie, you know how you hate it when I grab your knee….” Dina trailed off and slowly looked back at Joel who had now but down the bottle and was staring right back at her not blinking.

“Yeah, oh!”  It just clicked in Ellie’s little brain.  A huge smile formed on her face, and she now realized what just happened.  “No shit, Joel!  Are you for real ticklish?”  Ellie’s voice was so excited she was shaking.

“Shut up both of ya and leave me alone.”  Joel said, waving them off. 

“Uh, no!”  And Ellie reached for his hips, grabbing onto him with her small hands.  Joel rolled forward and easily grabbed her arms to get her to stop, but then Dina, who was much stronger, reached over and grabbed his arm pits and began pinching.

“Ahhh, nooonooo!”  He gasped out, sputtering words and gasps of laughter.  Ellie had never seen anything like it!  She couldn’t believe this strong man was being taken down by tickling.  Joel released her arms to reach for Dina, but she was behind him now.

This gave Ellie the chance to reach in and grab his thighs, causing him to bust out a laugh so strongly, she thought the whole world heard him.

“Damn Joel!  You got some lungs on you!”  Ellie yelled and Dina was now laughing as well.  It was too contagious.

“Naahaaahahahaaa, sttttopppppp itttt!  Haahaahahahahaaa!”  Joel laughed.

The girls kept at it for a few more seconds when less sound was coming out of Joel, his eyes shut hard and face beat red.  “Ok, ok, let’s let him breath.”  Dina said, stopping her tickling.

Ellie let up too and the two of them now sat next to Joel admiring their work.  Ellie rubbed Joel’s back with one hand.  “Breathe, man, breathe. 

“I am.”  Joel replied softly.  He then sat back on the couch, Dina handing him his beer and he took a swallow.  “Don’t you two little shits do that ever again.”  He said in his stern dad voice.

Ellie got up and started to walk away, sarcastically saying ok.

Dina started to stand up, but Joel grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.  “Where do you think you’re going?”  Joel asked gruffly.

“Ellie!!!  Help!”  Dina yelled as Joel reached for her.

Then end. 

“By a minute…” Reed trailed off, sitting down next to his wife, Sue, who took his hand in hers.  She squeezed it, looking at him with a genuine smile.

“Babe, are you alright?”  She asked him sympathetically.

“Let’s eat and we can all discuss why you’re so mopey lately.”  Johnny said as he started to grab a dinner roll.   

Reed let go of Sue’s hand and start to eat with the rest of them.  “I’m fine.  I’m having a bit of trouble calculating the sub-terannual”

“Blah, blah, blah!  Didn’t you calculate that already, professor?”

“Johnny, quit being an ass!”  Sue snapped back at her younger brother, who had a shit-eating grin on his face.

“What, it’s the same thing every day!  You need to take a break, loosen up!”  Johnny spat back, while Ben ate silently, shaking his head.

Ben, finally commented, “Hey, I’ve been your best friend forever.  I know you.  If it can be figured out, you will figure it out.  But for now, just relax an eat.”

Reed shook his head in agreement but still seemed very tense and withdrawn.  The rest of the time was spent silently eating, very differently than previous dinners. 

Finally, when everyone was done and the dishes were put away, Reed went back into his office and shut the door.  Sue sat on the circular couch with her brother and Ben and watched Franklin play on the floor in front of her.

“I’m really worried about Reed.”  Sue said, looking at Ben, who nodded in agreement.  “If we could only get him out of the mind of his, even for a few minutes, it might help him re-theorize.”

“Yeah, but how do we do that, Sue?”  Ben asked with sincerity.

Johnny was on the floor playing with baby Franklin, making noises and making him laugh.  Sue looked down and smiled.  “To be a baby, without a care in the world.”  Sue commented.

“I know, to laugh, sleep eat, poop, repeat.  Must be nice.”  Johnny said joining the conversation with a smile on his face.

“What do you mean, that’s what you do now, Johnny!”  Ben laughed as he pinched Johnny’s side, making his gasp and swat away his big friend.  Then Johnny stopped, almost froze like he saw a predator ahead.

“Wait, Ben, that’s it!  We make him laugh!  Like really laugh!”

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Sue said, smiling.  “He doesn’t laugh too hard for that long.”

Johnny stood up fast.  “And that’s because you never asked me!  I can make him laugh!  You just made me think about that when Ben here tickled my side, which PS, I didn’t laugh, it just made me think.”  Johnny said looking at his friend, who had a big smug smile on his face.

“Sure, sure, Flame Boy.  So, what!  You want to tickle him or something?  Is that even possible, Sue?”

“Well, um, to be honest, we never really tickle each other, at least nothing like what you’re talking about Johnny.  He’s much more mature than when you and I were younger.”

“But that’s it!  He won’t expect it!”  Johnny was giddy with excitement.  Ben was nodding his head now in agreement.

“I like it!  And now that I think about it, we did mess around as kids, although, not for too long, like Sue said.  But the man’s got to be ticklish!  Nice plan, Johnny.”  There was a pause for a second as Ben seemed to think.  “But how, he can practically pull himself out of any grip?”

“Yeah, but he has a hard time saying stretched for long.”  At this point Sue got up as Johnny had said that. 

“I’ll leave you two to figure out the details.  I’m going to put Franklin down for a nap.”

“We got this, Ben!”  He gave Ben a high five. 

They sat together for the next half hour or saw and came up with their plan.

About an hour later, Reed came out from his lab, sat down on his bed and sighed.  He hadn’t gotten much further, but his brain actually hurt, so he took off his button-down shirt and shoes and laid back, closing his eyes. 

“Hey Stretch!”  Ben yelled to him from the living room.  “Come on out here.  We need to ask you a question.”

Reed put his fists on his closed eyes, pressing hard and sitting up slowly.  “Hold on.”  He said as he walked out in the living room.  There he saw his brother-in-law and best friend, with a bunch of papers scattered on the table.

“Come look at this.”  Ben gestured over.

Reed walked over and picked up on the papers, which had nothing but drawings from Franklin on them.  He looked up at his friend.  “What is this?”

“We want to help you rewire your brain.”  Johnny said from the side as he reached out quickly and poked his side, making Reed move suddenly.  Ben now was standing next to his friend, on the other side.

“Yeah, buddy.  You seem, stressed, tense, and not in a normal Reed Richards way.”  Ben said, poking his other side, making Reed shift again.

As he did this, Johnny poked him again and Ben did the same.

“So-so what, you thought poking me would help me relax?”

“No, no, nothing like that.  We want you to laugh hard.”  Ben said calmly, poking him again.

“Yeah, Bolder over here thinks it will rewire your brain or something like that!  I just want to see you squirm.”  Johnny said staring straight at Reed, grabbing his hip and squeezing hard, but not too hard to hurt, making Reed audibly gasp, and a small upward curve of his lip seemed to form.

“I-I don’t think that’s possible Johnny.  Not scientifically anyway.”  Reed siad, looking down and trying to step back, but Ben was right there to stop him.

“You just seem so tense,”  Ben said, putting his big, rock hands on Reed’s shoulders.

“Yeah, yeah, enough foreplay!”  Johnny all but yelled as he lunged toward Reed’s midsection, where out of instinct, he stretched his arms towards him to stop.  As he did this though, Ben picked up his friend in his armpits and started to tickle him there, immediately causing Reed to snap his arms back into place and try to remove Ben’s big hands, which wouldn’t move, and his legs were no longer touching the ground.

A puff of air escaped his mouth, and his sad resting face immediately began to form a smile.  “St-stop it!”  Reed gasped.  Johnny was now back at his tummy, vibrating his fingers as Reed was trying to move his whole body away.

“Oh, come on, Mr. Fantastic!  You can handle this!”  He continued to tickle his belly and Reed’s arms reached around Ben, trying to find a way for him to let go.  Then his legs started to stretch out and wrap around Johnny and pulled him away from his body.

Now, Johnny could have easily turned into a giant flame and hurt Reed, but Ben told him no fire!  With Reed’s legs wrapped tightly around Johnny’s waist, he could reach his socked feet.

“Thanks buddy!”  Johnny called out from about ten feet away from the rest of his body stretched. 

Reed immediately looked up and Ben stopped tickling his armpits, just long enough for Johnny to grab his friend’s socked foot and tickled it hard.

“No-no!  St-stoppp!”  Reed yelled and laughed, reached an arm over there to Johnny.

Before his arm stretched that far, Ben flopped his friend on the ground, kneeled on his legs and started to tickle his ribs.  His stretched arm snapped back and he curled into a small ball trying to make the places Ben could reach small, with his big hands. 

Johnny grabbed his other foot and started to tickle that one now, and the other leg snapped back to his original self. 

Poor Reed was barking out a laugh hard, turning into a wheezing sound as his poor socked foot was mercifully tickled and Ben was tracing now light circles around his scrunched neck and ears, turning Reed all red.  His head felt like it was going to explode.  He couldn’t think, or at least think clearly of how to counter attack, and just laid there taking the tickling.

Johnny finally stood up and let his leg go, and Ben stopped tickling his neck, torso and ribs.  Reed was laying on the ground now, with his head, on one of Ben’s large legs, eyes closed hard, with a huge smile on his face.

Johnny all but leapt over to his brother-in-law and squatted next to him, smiling ear to ear.  “Did we do it?  Did we rewire your brain?”  He asked as excited as a child asking if he liked a drawing.

The two men were looking face down at him, admiring their work.  They rarely got the upper hand on their friend and were genuinely proud of this.  Right then, Sue appeared next to the boys, kneeling over here husband as well.

With a sweet smile on her face, “Babe, did they help you?”  Still no answer but he did open his eyes and look up at his beautiful wife. 

She slowly patted his thigh and squeezed, which made him jump in the air, and a large laugh escaped his mouth, as he said, “Yes, -yyyeesss!  Puuleease stttoopp!”

“Wow Sue, holding out on us.”  Johnny said with a look of interest.

“I never said he wasn’t ticklish.”  She stood up and walked away.

Ben helped up his old friend to his feet and patted his back softly.  “Hopefully this helped you out!”

Reed was nodding his head yes, gaining his composure again.  “Yes, yes it did.”  He started to walk away, stopped, quickly turned around and looked at both of the men.  “Don’t do that again, please.”

Everyone just smiled, laughed to themselves and walked away.  This family was truly fantastic!

She loved hearing him laugh too.  It felt like he was making up for lost time in his childhood, so she would purposely do things to make him smile and laugh.  When she didn’t get he reaction she wanted, she resorted to more drastic measures.

“Come on now, Bob.  That was funny!”  Yelena pointed out, laughing at her own joke.

“I just don’t get it.”

“What’s not to get?  A cow drinking milk!”  She sat up on the couch waving her hands in the air.  He just shrugged. 

She sighed.  “Bob, you know you have to laugh at my jokes.  It’s the rule.”

“What rule?”  he asked, sincerely.

“When you don’t laugh, it makes me feel bad.  And when I feel bad, I get a little crazy.”

He leaned forward, listening with anticipation of what might come next.  “Like what?”

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t set this up before, but poor Bob was clueless sometimes.  So, she sighed again and scooted closer to him on the couch.  “Ok Bob.  You asked for this.”

She reached onto his sides with cat like speed she had and squeezed, not too hard, but just enough pressure to make him jump and let out a gasp. 

“Almost a laugh, Bob!  Let’s see if I can find that laugh.”  At that moment he knew what was going on and started to smile and shake a bit.  He still wasn’t used to these sensations.

“Wa-ait!  I’ll lau-ugh!”  He barely stuttered out. 

“No, no Bob.  I’m not waiting.  Laugh now for me. You don’t want me to feel worse, do you?”  She asked with a pouting face, and she lunged her hands now on his hips.  He bucked and fell backwards, as she pressed firmly.  He was laughing now with his eyes closed, not a thought in the world, which is what he loved.

“Haahaahahaaaa! Noooooo!”  He laughed and yelled.

“There is it, Bob!  Thank you for your cooperation!”  She stood up, reached out to his hand, grabbed it and shook it.  As she walked away, he was still panting on the couch, she looked back at him.  “Next time you better laugh Bob, or I might not be so nice!”

That was nice?  Huh.