Summary: Kazuki discovers that Rei is ticklish. (Here is my fic for Squealing Santa 2k23, and I’m writing for *drumroll*...@tiklart!! I really hope you enjoy your fic. And a special thanks to @hypahticklish for running this event and being so lovely. Happy holidays to everyone!! xo)

Working and living together forced a sort of intimacy that both Rei and Kazuki weren’t exactly familiar with. Kazuki had been, once, but ever since that loss, he had closed himself off to forming such bonds, whereas Rei had never been so known to another person, and it sort of freaked him out.

The benefit was, of course, that it was beneficial to know one’s partner in their line of work. They had a basis of trust, of security. They worked well together, and had no reason to jeopardize that.

But there was also the domesticity of it all that was…Well, strange. Kazuki was like a proper housewife, cooking and cleaning and taking care of everything. Rei had grown up with money and maids, never had to care for himself, so that was welcomed. It was a little rude of him to leave it all up to Kazuki, but social skills were also not his strong suit, so he had no idea how to thank him, let alone help him with the chores. 

Hi!!! Thanks for the ask! Love your beautiful self and hope you are well!!!! 😘

10. Participate in a tickle-themed game show or a tickle-themed research experiment?

I am a science baby at heart and by trade so I would definitely lean toward some research! I’ve always been curious about the why’s and the how’s so I would love to help find out more through a study. Also being tickled for scientific research purposes and sensitivity testing and such sounds hottttttt af.

14. Be tied up, blindfolded and tickled by one person, or be able to move freely but be tickled by three people?

Okay… so like. I do love being tied and blindfolded. But like. Three lers? I’m not that strong.. they can hold me down in fun and creative ways that make me feel extra helpless bc I almost feel like I could escape but I can’t. I think I’m going with my multiple ler craving brain and choosing the no bondage but 3 (strong, evil, sadistic) lers

17. Be put in stocks where anyone who walks by can tickle your feet or be tied to a tree where anyone who walks by can tickle your belly?

Bless you, I love these precious dorks & had a blast filling out these questions for them. Feel free to send more!

1. Who’s more ticklish?

As much as I wanna say it’s Ashton cause I love big tough characters being reduced to giggles, I have to say it’s Fearne. She’s so soft spoken & sweet & bubbly, that girl is SO ticklish

2. What kind of tickles are they sensitive to?

Fearne is susceptible to both, but I think rough tickles work better on her. Both hard & soft tickles also work well on Ashton. Believe it or not, but they actually prefer a firmer touch & more thorough wrecking, but if you want to slowly drive them to the brink of insanity, gentle tickles are the way to go. They’ll be begging for you to wreck them “for real” within minutes

3. Which role (lee/ler) does each of them hold?

Fearne is a true switch at heart & Ashton’s more of a ler. But they are not immune to lee moods

4. How did they discover each others’ ticklishness?

Fearne was trying to shamelessly steal something from their pocket & they jerked away with a snort. Her eyes lit up & Ashton started backing away saying a few weak threats. She was going for their thighs & that’s one of their hot spots so there was no way they could convince her they weren’t ticklish, no matter how many times they said it through hysterical laughter. Ashton found out Fearne was ticklish as soon as they regained their breath & pounced on her for revenge. Fearne was honestly thrilled for the retaliation & would goad them by saying they “weren’t doing it right” or outright saying which spots were more ticklish

5. Who’s more likely to instigate a tickle fight?

Ashton looooves to start tickle fights. They love fights & roughhousing with friends in general, but they never really had a lot of tickle fights, so they like to pounce on & bully their friends. They also just like to be able to laugh & feel something that’s not pain when in a competitive context, it just feels good & different. Fearne will start a tickle fight whenever she’s feeling super mischievous & playful, but her motives lay more along the lines of “I’m gonna wreck ‘em so they wreck me”

6. How often do they tickle each other?

They tickle each other like every other day. She claims they’re being “too grumpy” or she just admits there’s no reason & she just jumped them out of the blue. Ashton’s more upfront about it cause she’d either provoke them by taking something or he announces “I’m bored. You’re so in for it,” & starts chasing her down

7. Who’s the least likely to ask for tickles?

"What do you mean wait? We've only just begun."

Dean squirms where he’s currently pinned to the floor, Castiel sitting on his thighs. He desperately tries pulling his arms out from under the angel’s steel knees to protect the sensitive skin under his arms.

“Plehehehehease, I cahahahan’t” Dean cries again, shaking his head.

Cas pities him, if only slightly, and moves his hands down to Deans exposed sides, crab pinching the soft skin. Scrunching his nose and snorting, the profanities Dean wants to scream at his boyfriend are lost in the mess of giggles flowing out of his lungs.

“I don’t believe that for a moment, Dean. I heard from a reliable source that you like being tickled. So you can, and you will. It would make me a bad boyfriend if I stopped,” Cas teases.

Dean knows, if he wasn’t already red from laughing, he’d be blushing at that statement.

Screw tequila. Nothing ever good comes from tequila. How could he have allowed this secret, of all secrets to slip out. Screw three am conversations, and screw Cas’ teasing. That is definitely not fair.

His thoughts are cut off when Cas moves his hands once more to rest on his hips. Thumbs in the hollows, and fingers splayed and relaxed around the joints. They make eye contact for a beat. Then another. A silent conversation between the two of them.

Dean knows this is his out. He knows Cas is giving him an out. All he has to do is say enough.

Another beat.

Tags/questions about today's TickleTober art! (Always happy to puddle you, @hypahticklish.)

"Are you using reference photos?" Yes, absolutely! I source a number of different images to make sure that things look like the things they're meant to be. Some of it I can just freehand, like yesterday's legs, but often if something's a bit wonky, it's because I didn't reference it.

"Where on earth are you finding such perfect references for tickle art?" For most body poses, I'm usually doing a basic image search. In the past, I’ve used an online tool that lets me pose dummy figures, though it usually takes me as long to get the dummies right as it does to just do the art by itself, so I’ve been avoiding that lately. But for details, the best reference is what's right in front of me. Snapping a quick photo of my own hand is faster than hunting for a reference shot, plus I get exactly what I want.

One thing Procreate has that I never thought I’d use is the time lapse video function. Here’s the video for this piece! It did take some comical effort to get the right angle for some photos, since I was using my unwieldy iPad instead of my more-easily-handled phone. But this is how it came together. You can see in here the first version of a hand I tried, which I referenced live (picture me holding up my hand and staring at it while trying to balance a tablet and stylus and draw while not cramping up repeatedly or dropping the tablet on the floor) but it wasn’t coming out how I wanted, so I ditched it and took a still to reference instead that worked much better.

(i can’t quite remember if you’re into CR, but here’s hoping - feel free to ask for another fandom if you want!)

“Oh, c’mon, don’t do the countdown thing-”

Jester looks up from where she’s currently draped over his legs, fingertips and fangs poised mere inches from his defenseless belly. “What countdown thing?” she asks innocently.

The tips of her hair drag across tender skin, and Fjord has to bite back a very embarrassing noise before he feels safe answering. “The - the thing where you say you’re counting down, but the numbers are all wrong, and it - it just - the waiting, it-”

“Tickles?” Jester completes. She cocks her head, waiting for agreement.

He sputters for a moment, all the smooth talking he’s spent years faking his way into turning to piecemeal on his tongue. Focus, Fjord. Focus. “I - yeah, tickles.”

She pouts exaggeratedly at him. “Oh, no, Fjord, did someone do that to you? That’s so meannn!”

He frowns. “Oh, is that not a tiefling thing? I could’ve sworn Molly said-”

“Molly?” Jester exclaims, slapping her palms onto him and levering herself up to a more indimidating height. “What do you mean, Molly gets to tickle you? I thought you were nervous and scared and off-limits-”

Fjord sucks in a shallow breath, extremely aware of the position of Jester’s pinky finger just to the left of his navel. “I - Jes, it’s not like I wanted him to tickle me, he’s my roommate, it’s not like I could fucking stop him-”

“Okay,” Jester interrupts. She smiles pastry-sweet down at him and wriggles back down,  huffing a playful breath over his belly that makes his entire body twitch. “Well, Molly and I are going to have a little talk later-”

Somehow, it sounds like she’s threatening him and Molly both. Fjord swallows.

Find the questions here

1. Describe your laugh/teasy voice as a color or mixture of colors

Ooh I had to think hard about this one! I like to think my laugh is like...idk pink lemonade? Like this sunset swirl of blushy, rosy pink (even though I don't blush, not really), orange, and summery yellow? Idk I think my laugh is warm and steady and the usual (and stupidly effective) tease is that I'm cute, so I think of sunsets and summer and warmth c:

As for my teasy voice, bear with me, but raspberry. A deep color that got lost somewhere between red and pink, something smooth and playful you can get lost in. I think of smirks and prolonged stares with a gaze that flits momentarily to exposed spots. I think of barely-contained giddiness that swirls with an enchanting, can't-be-ignored red. I am very confident in my teasy voice even though I never get to use it.

13. If you had to make up a tickle challenge based on a certain tv show/movie, which one would it be?

Another toughie! I do adore a good tickly chase, so something horror movie themed? A playful-yet-relentless hide and seek where you're trying to 'survive', but you're trapped in the house with a monster? A....certain kind of monster, perhaps? No bloodcurdling screams during this chase, just giggly shrieks and the desperate rounding of corners.