Soft Pupa Hours

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

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

“I’m so sorry for waking you up—”

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

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

“What was it about?” Zooble asked.

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

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

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

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

For a while, nobody said anything. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With that, they stopped.

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

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

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

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

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