“Yes, but-” A sudden tingling feeling shakes him out of his thoughts, as Kaeya begins to kiss right under his ear. Against his own will, Albedo’s shoulder scrunches up a little./ The sensation spreads the more Kaeya kisses down his neck, and it becomes harder for Albedo to hold in his sounds. “K-kae wait- wahahait-” 

“Ticklish, dear alchemist?” Kaeya asks into his neck with a smirk. “How adorable.”

“It’s not-” Just then, Kaeya begins to nibble at his neck a bit, causing Albedo to put his hands on Kaeya’s shoulders and push away a little. He already feels a bit weak, having been taken off-guard by the tickles in the first place, so this doesn't do much. “Kaeyahaha you- you’re ruining the m-mood. Ah!” Albedo squeaks, jumping and really trying his best to hide his neck from Kaeya’s wondering mouth. In the process, he exposes the other side, and Kaeya takes full advantage. “Noohoho!”

“Yes.” Kaeya mocks, chuckling and continuing his ministrations. “You know, you’re so cute when you laugh.”

“Stohohop,” Albedo squeals, trying to push a bit harder on the others shoulders, “Kaeyahaha!”

“Hm,” Kaeya hums, “I wonder about here.” Suddenly, a hot, wet mouth is latching onto the Khaenrian star in the middle of his neck, and Albedo gasps.

“Kae wait-” Another hard suck, and Albedo feels his knees wobble a bit. It feels good. It feels so good. Every second Kaeya’s mouth stays there, Albedo feels like he goes more and more insane. “Kaeya that’s- fuck.” He moans, throwing his head back. It thumps hard against the back of the apartment door, but he can’t find the piece of mind to care.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” Kaeya says against the star. The vibration causes Albedo to let out yet another increasingly loud moan. “My dear, you never told me just how sensitive you are here.”

“It’s- ah! It’s too-”

“Hm, no. It’s not.” Kaeya leans up for a moment to whisper in his ear. “You can take it.”

The star on his neck had always been sensitive. Any injury to it would hurt far more and for far longer than any normal one, and Albedo even once considered wearing some kind of collar to keep it safe, but all the materials he tried to use ended up being quite irritating to his skin. 

Despite all that, he never considered the possibility that it would feel like this. That it would feel good for it to be touched in such an intimate way, to be kissed and licked and sucked. While one half of his brain tries to file away this information for later, the other half of his brain is focused on not going insane at the sensation.

That is proving pretty impossible with Kaeya refusing to let up. His tongue peeks out to lick a stripe across the mark and Albedo lets out a shaky sigh, and when those lips attach hard to it and suck, he feels like a goner.

Albedo is starting to feel like he's going to die. Moans are flowing out of him as the sensation becomes almost unbearably good. He’s about to start begging when he feels a hand gently cup his crotch. He hadn’t realized just how hard he was. “Oh my archons-”

Kaeya laughs, pushing the heel of his hand down slightly. “Feel good, Prince?”

“Fuck,” Albedo whines, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. His hips buck involuntarily, providing him with little friction. “Fuck, Kaeya, please-” He begs, but all he gets in return is a particularly hard suck against that dreaded spot. “Shit!” He moans, hips bucking a little faster. At this rate he’s going to come-

“Then come.” Kaeya purrs. Albedo must have said that out loud. “Go ahead.”

“No-” Albedo whines. “N-not like th-this Kaeya please just touch me-”

Kaeya chuckles again, making Albedo’s whole face flush from embarrassment. “I’d much rather watch you fall apart like this.” He says, sliding his knee between the alchemist’s legs, causing them to part. Albedo stumbles slightly, but Kaeya coaxes him to lean his weight against his thigh. “That’s it, good boy.”

The extra friction and the hard press against his crotch makes Albedo almost yell. “Kaeya fuck!” He moans, reaching out to grip Kaeya’s jacket hard, his knuckles going white. “Feels so good, Kae, don’t stop.”

“That’s what I thought.” Kaeya says, reaching to grab Albedo by the hips and pull him forward, guiding him into grinding against his knee. Albedo goes willingly, setting his own pace. He feels a few tears fall down his cheeks, but he's beyond caring at this point. Albedo feels so close to losing his mind, and Kaeya choses that exact moment to bite down on the mark.

Albedo chokes, folding forward and just barely avoiding hitting his head on Kaeya’s. Kaeya lets out a soft “woah there” followed by a chuckle, but Albedo is too focused on the orgasm hitting him in waves as he grinds against the knee between his legs in a steady rhythm. It seems to last a lifetime, and Albedo is shivering and panting by the end of it.

“Feel good?” Kaeya asks, cockiness clear in his voice. Albedo groans, punching lightly at his chest, and Kaeya laughs. “My prince.”

Kaeya, in an attempt to comfort him no doubt, begins pressing his thumbs against Albedo’s hips in small circles. This does anything but comfort him.

“Oh archons no Kaeya, nohot that- '' He reaches down, gripping Kaeya’s wrists with as much strength as he can manage. “Kae plehehease dohon’t-”

Kaeya looks confused for a moment, but upon seeing the grin on his lover's face, he smirks. “You know,” he starts, applying a bit more pressure, “people say that ticklishness increases tenfold after an orgasm.”

“Kahaheheheya!”

“Do you feel more ticklish, dear alchemist?”

“Yehes!” Albedo squeals, pushing weakly at the other’s wrists. “Yes Kaeya, I- nohoho! St-stohohop ihihit!”

“You're adorable” Is the only response he gets as Kaeya leans in to start peppering his neck with kisses all over again. The kisses are extremely ticklish, but to his credit Kaeya does avoid the star mark completely. Albedo is thankful for that at least.

Despite the tickling being even worse now than before, it makes his stomach flip happily. He squirms, trying his best to lessen the feeling, but Albedo finds he doesn't want it to completely stop. His hands hold Kaeya’s wrists lightly now, and his forehead falls onto the other’s shoulder.

Kaeya laughs fondly. “Lost all of your fight?” He asks, moving to scratch lightly at his stomach under his shirt. Albedo flinches, his giggles kicking up a small notch, but makes no move to get away. The lower the torturous hands move though, the more that feeling starts to build in his core once more.

Kaeya’s fingers eventually reach his pants, undoing the button and he leans back. Albedo is forced to look up at his face, and finds a devilish grin staring back at him.

“Albedo, dear,” Kaeya says, reaching to pull down the alchemist's pants, “think you can come again for me?”

“I’m not stuck.” Albedo says, lifting a glass and swirling its contents. “I’m choosing to be here.”

“Stuck!” Kaeya cries, dramatically throwing himself onto the other. “Trapped by your own worst enemy, your work ethic!”

Albedo smiles at that, letting his boyfriend lean his entire weight against him. “You know, in some circumstances having a decent work ethic is a good thing.”

“Well in this circumstance, it’s getting in the way of me spending quality time with my lover.”

Albedo suddenly feels his face grow hot. He’d always known Kaeya was quite the sweet-talker, but it wasn't until they actually started dating that his words began to really affect him. He shakes his head a bit, busying himself with taking a few notes. He knows he's practically done here, only really needing to pack up some supplies before heading out. 

“Come on, I bet you’re almost done anyway!” Kaeya whines, and suddenly Albedo has quite a bit left to do.

Kaeya narrows his eyes. “Albedo, I saw that.” He stands, entering Albedo’s field of view and demanding his attention. He keeps his eyes focused on his notebook. “I saw that look. I know you, sweetheart, don’t think you can hide from me.” He smirks, and Albedo bites his lip to hide the smirk threatening to come out. 

“Fine.” Kaeya says, coming back around behind Albedo and wrapping his hands back around his waist. Albedo resists the urge to melt into the embrace, focusing as hard as he can on finishing his notes. “I’ll give you an ultimatum. You put that pencil down now, or we stay here until you finish all your notes.”

Albedo tries to look over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “Obviously I want to finish my notes…?”

He can hear the smirk in the other’s voice. “Sure, honey. Finish up.” So he does. He shakes his head slightly, picking up his pencil to begin where he left off. Now…where was he…

He realizes he made a mistake when long fingers start running along his front, threatening to slip under his shirt. “Kaeya-”

“Go on, finish your notes.” Kaeya says, a smile clear in his voice. Albedo ignores it, paying attention to what he’s writing and trying to genuinely finish up. 

“What are you doing?” He says when he feels fingers wrap around his hips and grip him lightly.

“You know, you’re so uptight sometimes.” Kaeya purrs in his ear, hooking his chin over Albedo’s shoulder. “Relax a bit. Smile, maybe.”

Suddenly, Kaeya’s intentions are clear. “Kaeya–” He tries to move back, putting his hands flat down on the desk. The fingers on his hips tighten, causing him to yelp. “Nuh-uh. I gave you a choice.” Kaeya kisses his cheek, caging him against the desk. “Finish your notes, I’ll let you go once you do.”

He takes a deep breath, nodding and picking his pencil back up. To his boyfriend’s credit, Kaeya holds back for several minutes before those cursed fingers start moving. They rhythmically squeeze at Albedo’s hips, causing him to tip forward slightly with a huff. It’s not like he can really go anywhere, Kaeya has him practically locked in place. He can feel Kaeya’s stare from over his shoulder, and can practically hear the smirk on his face. “Kae– ”

“Shhh.” Kaeya soothes, squeezing his fingers tighter and moving them in little circles on his hips. “Go on, finish your notes.”

Albedo is determined to actually finish his notes, sucking in a breath and pressing his pencil a little too hard into the paper while he writes. He gets a few more sentences down before the constant sensation becomes just a little too much. “K-kae please– ”

“Oh, am I distracting you?” Kaeya asks. “Surely a true alchemist can get his work done under a little bit of duress?” On the word, Kaeya stops squeezing and switches to scratching lightly at Albedo’s middle, closing in over his stomach.

It’s maddening. He can’t continue like this. Despite what one might think, Albedo’s steely resolve does not translate over when it comes to this. “This– this isn’t–” He jumps hands flying to Kaeya’s wrists. “Ah– duress! This ihihisn’t duhuress!”

“There it is.” Kaeya whispers, before chuckling. “I think this counts as ‘duress’, no?” He kisses Albedo’s neck, causing him to lift his shoulders up as protection. “You don't want to be giggling like a little school girl, and yet here we are.”

“I am not–!” Kaeya choses that exact moment to pull Albedo back against him hard and start squeezing at his stomach with more purpose. “Kaeya! Nohohoho!” Ticklish sensations shoot through him and he reaches up to put a hand against his own mouth.

“Oh, we can’t have that.” Kaeya says, gripping Albedo’s wrist and placing it down on the desk, right on top of his forgotten pencil. “You need that hand to take your precious notes.”

Once Albedo grips the pencil, almost hard enough to break it, Kaeya’s hand returns to his side. Albedo clears his throat, ignoring the sensations as well as he can. He thinks he’s doing a pretty good job, only letting out a few small noises every once in a while. His writing is considerably slowed and very messy, but he’s getting it done. This seems to annoy Kaeya, since his hands have started to work their way up his torso, closer to his more sensitive areas. Albedo thinks that as long as he keeps deep breathing, he can finish this. As long as Kaeya doesn’t pull anything.

A particularly well-aimed tweak to his side makes him jump. Behind him, Kaeya chuckles. “Aw honey, you’re doing so well.” Kaeya whispers against his neck and a shiver runs down his spine. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d last this long. You know…”

Oh no. “Kaeya–”

“...what with how-”

“Don’t say–”

“- ticklish you are.” That does it. Albedo squeals when ten fingers dig into his upper ribs mercilessly. He pulls both his arms down, trying to shield himself from the sensation, but he can't. “K-kaeyahaha nohoho please- ahaha!” He squeezes his eyes shut, turning his body left and right to try and dislodge his boyfriend, but to no avail. “Stohohop nahaha!”

“No can do!” Kaeya laughs, kissing down his neck in a way that is far more ticklish than it should be. “Not until you finish your notes, that was the deal.”

“I cahahahant!”

“Oh dear, why ever not?” One of Kaeya’s arms wraps completely around Albedo’s middle, catching him before he can fall to the floor. He wasn’t even aware he was falling in the first place if he's being honest. 

He squeals when fingers start wiggling their way under one of his arms. “No! Kaeyahaha! Dononon’t!”

“Why can’t you finish your notes, huh?” Kaeya teases, bowing them over. “Tell me, baby? Why can’t you?”

Albedo’s front presses against the top of the desk in his efforts to get away. “Yohohou! I– ahahaha!”

“Me?” Kaeya gasps, “What am I doing?”

Albedo just laughs, pulling back as hard as he can to try and dislodge himself. He narrowly misses headbutting his own boyfriend, but he would have deserved the hit anyway so he’s not that concerned. “Dohohont! I’m- ah! I’m nohoht gonna sahahahay ihihit!”

This was a little game they played often. Kaeya knew that teasing riled him up, so he used it to his full advantage every time. The only way out was to either turn the tables or admit defeat, and Albedo wasn’t really in the position to be retaliating right now. “Oh, but you are.” Kaeya purrs, squeezing at his hips again. This time it causes Albedo’s knees to buckle and Kaeya helps him gently to the floor. “Tell me, am I tickling you Albedo?”

“Nohoho! Stahahaha-”

“Oh? I'm not tickling you?”

“Stohohop ahaha!”

“This doesn't tickle?” He reaches forward, leaning over his to squeeze rhythmically at the tops of Albedo's knees and that just about does it. Every nerve in Albedo’s body is alight right now, and he just curls up as best he can in his boyfriend’s arms. As torturous as this is, it also makes him feel a little giddy. He’s been in the lab for days at a time, only leaving when Kaeya drags him home to sleep. He’s been waking up every morning and leaving before Kaeya wakes up himself, meaning they really haven't spent much time in each other's arms. 

In other words: this is nice.

Albedo barely notices as the sensations begin to die down, too busy trying to get a handle on his own giggling. Kaeya’s arms slowly weave around his back, pulling him close and into his lap. “I think you’ve had enough, hm?” he says, pressing a kiss to Albedo’s hair. “Unless of course you want to continue this at home.”

Kaeya stands, holding out his arm for Albedo to use to balance himself as he follows. Once they are both standing, Albedo doesn't wait another moment before throwing his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and kissing him. Kaeya is stunned for only a moment before he smiles into the kiss, humming contentedly.

Albedo pulls away to see his boyfriend’s red face and arguably the most beautiful smile in all of teyvat. “Let’s go home. I’d like to rest.”

“Whatever my prince wants.” Kaeya says, breaking away to grab Albedo’s coat while the alchemist puts away some of his things. He blushes when he sees the notes, entirely incomprehensible, and hides them before Kaeya can come over and tease him further.

At the door, Albedo pauses. “Kaeya?”

“Hm?” Kaeya looks down at him, eyes practically sparkling, gazing at Albedo like he’s the only man in the world, and Albedo smiles.

“I think I’ll take a few days off. With you.”

Venti and Xiao had seen earlier in the day that Aether had been running from one side of Liyue to the other just to finish some commissions. He looked incredibly tired, and Venti offered them both to do his last one so he wouldn't have to return back to Dihua Marsh and could rest instead.

“Really?” Aether had said, practically beaming. “That would be a great help! Thanks guys!”

Truthfully, Venti hadn’t asked Xiao if he was down to help, and at first it didn’t seem like he was. After seeing Aether’s face though, Xiao let a small fond smile slip onto his face and nodded his agreement. “Please, allow us.”

The commission was to defeat a ruin guard. Simple enough, except killing the one ended up angering a few more in the area without either of the vision holders noticing. Just as they were about to finish the commission, Venti was nearly hit by a homing missile.

“Barbados!” Xiao had yelled, appearing by his side just in time to pull him out of the way.

Venti had smiled up at Xiao. “My hero.”

“Shut up.” So quick to blush…

The ensuing fight led them both to this point. The worst of the injuries were a few soon-to-be bruises on Xiao’s arm and Venti’s wrist scratch, but Xiao was determined to make sure Venti wasn’t hurt beyond that.

“Is this necessary?” Venti asks, raising an eyebrow at the yaksha, who has removed Venti’s cap in favor of checking his head for any lumps or bumps. “Yes.” He says, seriously. It makes Venti giggle.

Xiao continues checking everywhere, eventually making his way to Venti’s waist. “Alright, if you really are fi-”

“Ah!”

They both freeze. Venti steps away, rubbing his side and huffing out a nervous laugh. “Sorry, that-”

“You’re injured.”

“Huh?” Venti tilts his head. “Oh! No! I’m really not Xiao, I-”

“Let me see.” Xiao says sternly, walking towards Venti as the other backs away slowly. “Venti, if you are injured I have to see.”

“But I’m not!” Venti whines, covering his sides. He’s clearly not convincing enough, because Xiao reaches out to hold him by the hips and inspect his sides. To Venti's credit, he does try to stay relatively quiet, the key word being ‘try’. He positively shrieks trying to jump back but not getting very far with Xiao’s vice-like grip on him. “X-xiao! I’m fi- AH!”

“Clearly you are not- can you stay still?” Xiao sounds a bit annoyed, reaching to pull the tie on his corset off. “I need to see the injury.”

“It’s not an injury!” 

Xiao glares a bit and Venti has to slap his hand over his own mouth to keep from helping again when Xiao gives his side, no longer adorned with his corset, a particularly firm squeeze. 

Venti, once again, shrieks. “OKAY! Okay, lehehets be done now ohokay?” He tries to squirm, but Xiao stops him.

“Why?”

“...huh?”

Xiao blinks. “Why should I stop?”

Venti feels his face start to heat up. “Well, because…just because.”

“It tickles?” Xiao asks, blatantly. Venti chokes, eyes widening, and Xiao just stares. “Right? That’s why you are yelling?”

“I wasn't yelling.”

“Yes you were.” To prove his point, Xiao wiggles his fingers against Venti’s sides, and the bard yelps, grabbing the other’s wrists. “See? Yelling. People are supposed to laugh when they’re tickled.”

Venti scoffs. “Yeah, well. Maybe if you were actually tickling me properly, I’d laugh.” A pause. “No. Xiao-”

“Hm?”

“That is not an invitation.”

“Hm.”

“Xiao, please. Listen to me. What’re you- ah! Nohoho!” Xiao’s fingers start scribbling over Venti’s sides. Not only does it send him into hysterics, but Venti slowly falls to the ground trying to cover his sides. Xiao simply sits next to him, wrapping an arm around his back and pulling him close. 

“XIAHAHO PLEHEHEASE!” Venti shrieks, pushing as hard as he can against Xiao’s hands on his sides to no avail. Xiao had always been stronger than him, even more so when Venti is…incapacited such as this. “STOHOHOP IHIHIT!”

“Hm.” Xiao hummed, slowing down his fingers and tilting his head to make eye contact with the bard. “You’ll attract enemies if you continue to scream.”

Venti’s loud screeching had died down to more normal levels of laughter, allowing him to take a few breaths. “Nohohot my fahahault!” He whines, still pushing at Xiao’s hands. “Stohohop it- it tihihickles!”

“Clearly.” Xiao sounds deadpan, but Venti can see the small fond smile forming on his lips. It makes everything all the more flustering, and makes Venti’s heart skip a little beat. In a sudden burst of energy, he surges forward to place a chaste kiss on the yaksha’s lips.

Xiao stills, his hands go from scratching lightly at Venti’s sides to holding his hips firmly to kiss him again before he can pull away. Venti smiles against the kiss, throwing his own arms around Xiao’s shoulders and climbing into his lap fully. He loves moments like this, soft moments full of laughter and smiles and warm feelings, and he knows Xiao does too. 

Xiao is, of course, still a menace, and he kneads a little into Venti’s hips causing him to squeak and pull back. Xiao places light kisses on Venti’s face as the bard puts very little energy into pushing at his chest to get away. “Ohohkay thats enohohough…” Venti says, finally wrapping his hands around the other’s wrists and gently pulling them away. “We should get back and turn this commission in for Aether.”

Kaeya chuckles, unwrapping his arms and leaning on the desk in front of them to look Albedo in the eyes. “Come on, you’ve been stuck in here all day.”

“I’m not stuck.” Albedo says, lifting a glass and swirling its contents. “I’m choosing to be here.”

“Stuck!” Kaeya cries, dramatically throwing himself onto the other. “Trapped by your own worst enemy, your work ethic!”

Albedo smiles at that, letting his boyfriend lean his entire weight against him. “You know, in some circumstances having a decent work ethic is a good thing.”

“Well in this circumstance, it’s getting in the way of me spending quality time with my lover.”

Albedo suddenly feels his face grow hot. He’d always known Kaeya was quite the sweet-talker, but it wasn't until they actually started dating that his words began to really affect him. He shakes his head a bit, busying himself with taking a few notes. He knows he's practically done here, only really needing to pack up some supplies before heading out.

“Come on, I bet you’re almost done anyway!” Kaeya whines, and suddenly Albedo has quite a bit left to do.

Kaeya narrows his eyes. “Albedo, I saw that.” He stands, entering Albedo’s field of view and demanding his attention. He keeps his eyes focused on his notebook. “I saw that look. I know you, sweetheart, don’t think you can hide from me.” He smirks, and Albedo bites his lip to hide the smirk threatening to come out.

“Fine.” Kaeya says, coming back around behind Albedo and wrapping his hands back around his waist. Albedo resists the urge to melt into the embrace, focusing as hard as he can on finishing his notes. “I’ll give you an ultimatum. You put that pencil down now, or we stay here until you finish all your notes.”

Albedo tries to look over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “Obviously I want to finish my notes…?”

He can hear the smirk in the other’s voice. “Sure, honey. Finish up.” So he does. He shakes his head slightly, picking up his pencil to begin where he left off. Now…where was he…

He realizes he made a mistake when long fingers start running along his front, threatening to slip under his shirt. “Kaeya-”

“Go on, finish your notes.” Kaeya says, a smile clear in his voice. Albedo ignores it, paying attention to what he’s writing and trying to genuinely finish up.

“What are you doing?” He says when he feels fingers wrap around his hips and grip him lightly.

“You know, you’re so uptight sometimes.” Kaeya purrs in his ear, hooking his chin over Albedo’s shoulder. “Relax a bit. Smile, maybe.”

Suddenly, Kaeya’s intentions are clear. “Kaeya–” He tries to move back, putting his hands flat down on the desk. The fingers on his hips tighten, causing him to yelp. “Nuh-uh. I gave you a choice.” Kaeya kisses his cheek, caging him against the desk. “Finish your notes, I’ll let you go once you do.”

He takes a deep breath, nodding and picking his pencil back up. To his boyfriend’s credit, Kaeya holds back for several minutes before those cursed fingers start moving. They rhythmically squeeze at Albedo’s hips, causing him to tip forward slightly with a huff. It’s not like he can really go anywhere, Kaeya has him practically locked in place. He can feel Kaeya’s stare from over his shoulder, and can practically hear the smirk on his face. “Kae– ”

“Shhh.” Kaeya soothes, squeezing his fingers tighter and moving them in little circles on his hips. “Go on, finish your notes.”

Albedo is determined to actually finish his notes, sucking in a breath and pressing his pencil a little too hard into the paper while he writes. He gets a few more sentences down before the constant sensation becomes just a little too much. “K-kae please– ”

“Oh, am I distracting you?” Kaeya asks. “Surely a true alchemist can get his work done under a little bit of duress?” On the word, Kaeya stops squeezing and switches to scratching lightly at Albedo’s middle, closing in over his stomach.

It’s maddening. He can’t continue like this. Despite what one might think, Albedo’s steely resolve does not translate over when it comes to this. “This– this isn’t–” He jumps hands flying to Kaeya’s wrists. “Ah– duress! This ihihisn’t duhuress!”

“There it is.” Kaeya whispers, before chuckling. “I think this counts as ‘duress’, no?” He kisses Albedo’s neck, causing him to lift his shoulders up as protection. “You don't want to be giggling like a little school girl, and yet here we are.”

“I am not–!” Kaeya choses that exact moment to pull Albedo back against him hard and start squeezing at his stomach with more purpose. “Kaeya! Nohohoho!” Ticklish sensations shoot through him and he reaches up to put a hand against his own mouth.

“Oh, we can’t have that.” Kaeya says, gripping Albedo’s wrist and placing it down on the desk, right on top of his forgotten pencil. “You need that hand to take your precious notes.”

Once Albedo grips the pencil, almost hard enough to break it, Kaeya’s hand returns to his side. Albedo clears his throat, ignoring the sensations as well as he can. He thinks he’s doing a pretty good job, only letting out a few small noises every once in a while. His writing is considerably slowed and very messy, but he’s getting it done. This seems to annoy Kaeya, since his hands have started to work their way up his torso, closer to his more sensitive areas. Albedo thinks that as long as he keeps deep breathing, he can finish this. As long as Kaeya doesn’t pull anything.

A particularly well-aimed tweak to his side makes him jump. Behind him, Kaeya chuckles. “Aw honey, you’re doing so well.” Kaeya whispers against his neck and a shiver runs down his spine. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d last this long. You know…”

Oh no. “Kaeya–”

“...what with how-”

“Don’t say–”

“- ticklish you are.” That does it. Albedo squeals when ten fingers dig into his upper ribs mercilessly. He pulls both his arms down, trying to shield himself from the sensation, but he can't. “K-kaeyahaha nohoho please- ahaha!” He squeezes his eyes shut, turning his body left and right to try and dislodge his boyfriend, but to no avail. “Stohohop nahaha!”

“No can do!” Kaeya laughs, kissing down his neck in a way that is far more ticklish than it should be. “Not until you finish your notes, that was the deal.”

“I cahahahant!”

“Oh dear, why ever not?” One of Kaeya’s arms wraps completely around Albedo’s middle, catching him before he can fall to the floor. He wasn’t even aware he was falling in the first place if he's being honest.

He squeals when fingers start wiggling their way under one of his arms. “No! Kaeyahaha! Dononon’t!”

“Why can’t you finish your notes, huh?” Kaeya teases, bowing them over. “Tell me, baby? Why can’t you?”

Albedo’s front presses against the top of the desk in his efforts to get away. “Yohohou! I– ahahaha!”

“Me?” Kaeya gasps, “What am I doing?”

Albedo just laughs, pulling back as hard as he can to try and dislodge himself. He narrowly misses headbutting his own boyfriend, but he would have deserved the hit anyway so he’s not that concerned. “Dohohont! I’m- ah! I’m nohoht gonna sahahahay ihihit!”

This was a little game they played often. Kaeya knew that teasing riled him up, so he used it to his full advantage every time. The only way out was to either turn the tables or admit defeat, and Albedo wasn’t really in the position to be retaliating right now. “Oh, but you are.” Kaeya purrs, squeezing at his hips again. This time it causes Albedo’s knees to buckle and Kaeya helps him gently to the floor. “Tell me, am I tickling you Albedo?”

“Nohoho! Stahahaha-”

“Oh? I'm not tickling you?”

“Stohohop ahaha!”

“This doesn't tickle?” He reaches forward, leaning over his to squeeze rhythmically at the tops of Albedo's knees and that just about does it. Every nerve in Albedo’s body is alight right now, and he just curls up as best he can in his boyfriend’s arms. As torturous as this is, it also makes him feel a little giddy. He’s been in the lab for days at a time, only leaving when Kaeya drags him home to sleep. He’s been waking up every morning and leaving before Kaeya wakes up himself, meaning they really haven't spent much time in each other's arms.

In other words: this is nice.

Albedo barely notices as the sensations begin to die down, too busy trying to get a handle on his own giggling. Kaeya’s arms slowly weave around his back, pulling him close and into his lap. “I think you’ve had enough, hm?” he says, pressing a kiss to Albedo’s hair. “Unless of course you want to continue this at home.”

Kaeya stands, holding out his arm for Albedo to use to balance himself as he follows. Once they are both standing, Albedo doesn't wait another moment before throwing his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and kissing him. Kaeya is stunned for only a moment before he smiles into the kiss, humming contentedly.

Albedo pulls away to see his boyfriend’s red face and arguably the most beautiful smile in all of teyvat. “Let’s go home. I’d like to rest.”

“Whatever my prince wants.” Kaeya says, breaking away to grab Albedo’s coat while the alchemist puts away some of his things. He blushes when he sees the notes, entirely incomprehensible, and hides them before Kaeya can come over and tease him further.

At the door, Albedo pauses. “Kaeya?”

“Hm?” Kaeya looks down at him, eyes practically sparkling, gazing at Albedo like he’s the only man in the world, and Albedo smiles.

“I think I’ll take a few days off. With you.”

“H-how much longer?” Kaeya asked after a minute, his voice coming out a lot weaker than he intended. Albedo was painting on the inside of his arm, pretty flowers in different shades of red, and Kaeya was doing his best not to go insane at the feeling.

“You know,” Albedo starts, not looking up from his work, “you didn’t have to agree to this.”

“Yes, I-!” a particularly firm stroke, “I know. I just wanted to-”

Albedo tugs his arm back in place, as Kaeya had unknowingly pulled it away. “Please stay still, Kaeya.” He pulls out a much finer brush, complete contrast to his original broad-bristled one. “If you move, I’ll mess up.”

“I thought this was only to test out the p- ah!” Kaeya yelped, immediately bringing a hand up to his mouth to stifle and sounds threatening to come out. That tickled. A lot. The smaller brush was way worse than the previous one, which was only enough stimulation to give him a few shivers.

“Are you alright, Captain?” Albedo asks, not looking up from his work. 

Kaeya nods, but realizes Albedo isn't looking so he moves his hand away from his face to talk. “I’m perfectly fi- ah! Fihihine.” Albedo's brush begins to make long swirling strokes and Kaeya can’t hold in his laughter anymore. He tries to keep as quiet as possible, but there's no way the alchemist hasn't noticed.

“Are you- ahahare you almost dohone?” Kaeya manages to stutter out, feeling the effects of the tickles start to really take hold. If this doesn't stop soon, Kaeya knows he isn’t going to last.

“Why? Something wrong?”

At this, Kaeya looks up. Albedo is looking directly at him, a smirk on his face and a glint in his eye. He knows. “You little-” Just as Kaeya is about to get up, Albedo pulls his arm in and reaches out to tweak Kaeya’s side. “Shit! Stohohop ihihit!” He squeals, struggling to get his arm back.

“You know, Kaeya, we can be done with this at any time.” Albedo says. “Just say the word.”

“Stohohop!” Kaeya twists his body, trying to protect himself, but he doesn't have much room to move unless he stands up, and he doesn’t want to knock over all the paint on the table.

“Actually, the word I was looking for was ‘please’.” Albedo teases, giving one last squeeze to the other’s side. “But I’ll allow it.”

Albedo lets go of Kaeya’s wrist, and the ladder immediately retracts it. “You, chief alchemist, are cruel.” He says this, but the smile on his face betrays him. Still, he can’t stand that smug look on the other’s face. He needs to do something about it. Standing, Kaeya slowly makes his way over to Albedo’s side of the table.

“You think you’re so clever.” He teases. “You aren’t getting away with that you know.”

Albedo’s eyes widened. “Kaeya, no. The paints-”

Kaeya grabs Albedo’s wrists to make him stand up, and then promptly throws him over his shoulder. “The paints are fine, we have a perfectly good couch.”

“Kaeya! Puhut me down!”

“Laughing already? You might want to save your energy.”

“This isn’t fair!” Albedo cries, giggling through his words. He squirms in the other’s hold, but not enough to actually break free.

“All’s fair in love and tickling.” Kaeya says, laughing when Albedo makes a small disgusted noise at his joke. He drops Albedo onto the couch, climbing over him and grinning. “Ready?”

Diluc looks up to see him lifting a dry towel up in his hands. Before he can take it from him, Kaeya raises it to Diluc’s head and begins to gently dry his hair. Diluc hums, dipping his head for better access and closing his eyes. “You usually don’t get caught out in the rain like this. Don’t you know better to be more prepared, Master Diluc?” There's a teasing edge to his tone, but Diluc can still hear the tiny bit of concern bleeding through his words.

“Desperate times.” Diluc says, reaching to take the towel from him and pull it around his shoulders. “The fatui were mobilizing towards the city.”

Kaeya’s eyes darken. “And you reported it?”

“And I stopped it. Once and for all.”

It seems as if Kaeya would like to be mad, but he simply can’t. That particular band of Fatui had been terrorizing the Knights, and the Dark Knight Hero, for weeks. They’d even severely hurt a Knight, and Diluc knew that Kaeya took that quite to heart.

“You know,” Kaeya starts, walking around the other to begin taking his coat off for him, “I’d rather scold you.”

“I’m sure you would.” Diluc says with a small smile.

“But those bastards had it coming.”

Diluc laughs, turning around to take Kaeya’s hand gently and pull him in. “That they did.” He places a kiss on the other’s forehead, before heading into the dining area. “I assume dinner has gone cold?”

“Almost.” Kaeya says from behind him. “Nothing a little Pyro won’t fix, I’m sure.”

Diluc chuckles. “You only love me for my Vision.”

Across the table from him, Kaeya smirks. “You assume I love you at all. Quite conceited, Master Diluc.”

“Well,” Diluc starts, picking up his own food and walking around the table to take the other’s as well, “you aren’t hard to win over, Master Kaeya.”

Diluc hears a glass clink against another, probably a byproduct of Kaeya placing it down a little too forcefully, and smiles. Ever since that first night during Weinlesefest, Diluc has been inviting Kaeya over every night for dinner. Dinner turned into conversation, which turned into it getting much too late to send Kaeya home. Not sending Kaeya home turned into…a whole nother type of conversation.

Adelinde was initially happy to see the two childhood friends finally interacting again, but now everytime they come home late in the evening, giggling and falling over each other like little kids sneaking in after a night out, they get quite the stern glare from the head maid. She can’t hide her smile once she thinks they aren’t looking though.

“Don’t think flattery will get you anywhere.” Kaeya calls, following Diluc to the kitchen.

“That wasn’t flattery.” Diluc rolls his eyes. “It was, in fact, mockery.”

“Well,” Kaeya says, falling in step next to the redhead, “I suppose I should be able to recognise mockery after all these years, huh?” Diluc feels a small pang of guilt, which Kaeya must pick up on because he reaches up to ruffle Diluc’s still wet hair. “I jest, we both know I was the worst out of the two of us. I rarely let you get a word in edgewise.”

“That’s true.” Diluc says, placing the food down on the counter next to the stove and turning around. “Even in your letters you were exceedingly chatty.”

“Oh, you loved those letters.” Kaeya scoffs, walks over and wraps his arms around the other’s shoulders. “Otherwise, you wouldn't have kept them so long.” He smiles leaning in to press a chaste kiss against his lips. “Would Master Diluc like it if a certain Cavalry Captain wrote him more letters? How about love letters? I’ll even seal them with a kiss.” 

Diluc, having had enough of the teasing, grabs the man by the back of his neck to force them into a much more heated kiss. Kaeya laughs into it, burning his own hands into Diluc’s hair to scratch lightly at his scalp. This pulls a groan out of the older when he pulls away. “Too much.” Diluc breaths, tilting his head to touch their foreheads together. “We should eat.”

“Whatever Master Diluc wants.” Kaeya whispers, leaving one more kiss on his lips before pulling away.

Hours later finds both men well fed, draped over the couch in front of a recently lit warm fire. They are sat on opposite ends of the couch, which proves not to be to Kaeya’s liking, as is apparent with the way he slides himself onto Diluc’s lap when the redhead isn't looking. 

“Well, hello there.” Diluc chuckles, placing his hands on either side of Kaeya’s waist. Kaeya smiles, running his hands up Diluc’s arms before stopping at his shoulders to knead into the muscle. “Oh.” Diluc sighs. “That’s good.”

Kaeya tsks. “You’re so tense. When was the last time you relaxed?”

“We had sex last night?”

Kaeya gasps, slapping lightly at Diluc's shoulder. “Indecent!” Diluc laughs, but Kaeya shakes his head. “That’s hardly relaxing, that’s just as much a physical excursion as training is.”

Diluc smirks. “Well maybe if you but in some of the work-”

“Absolutely not.”

That rips a laugh from the redhead, throwing his head back slightly with it. When he opens his eyes, something has changed in Kaeya’s expression. “What?” He asks him, tilting his head. “Something wrong?”

“Nothings wrong.” Kaeya says, a bit of a sly lilt to his voice. “Just had a thought.”

“That’s dangerous.”

“Hush now.” Kaeya rolls his eyes, moving his hands from Dilucs shoulders down to his sides. “You know, I’ve always loved your laugh.”

Diluc can feel his cheeks heat up, shifting his eyes to look at the flame of the fire instead of back at his lover. “Kaeya, that’s-”

“Did I tell you just how proud I am of you for taking care of those Fatui?” Kaeya asks, moving his face so it's directly in front of the other’s. “I think you deserve some sort of reward, hm?”

“Kaeya, what are you getting at?” Diluc asks, his hands loosening at Kaeya’s sides.

Kaeya smirks. “Master Diluc, always so on edge. I just want to see you smile.”

Kaeya’s demeanor suddenly makes sense the moment his hands come in contact with Diluc’s sides, squeezing rhythmically. “Kae- '' Diluc chokes, folding forward and gripping Kaeya’s hips hard. 

“Come on, Master Diluc.” Kaeya smiles, tilting his face down to speak directly in the other’s ear. “I’m just giving you a reward. For your hard work today, of course.”

“That’s-” Diluc cuts himself off, releasing Kaeya’s hips in favor of gripping at his wrists instead. “This ihisn’t-” 

“Was that a laugh, Master Diluc?” When Diluc shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut and refusing to look at him, he feels Kaeya let out a puff of air against his ear. “Making this difficult, huh?” Suddenly, Diluc feels Kaeya swing himself off of his lap, and when he opens his eyes, the captain is standing in front of him with his hands on his hips.

“Stand.”

Diluc scoffs. “What? No.”

Kaeya laughs, presumptively at his defensiveness. “What are you, scared?”

Diluc rolls his hands, pushing himself up from the couch with a groan. “Alright, I’m up. Now what-” Strong hands suddenly grip the front of his shirt hard and jerk him around until his back is falling down against the seat of the couch. He lifts his legs up to the couch to give himself some leverage to sit up, but Kaeya is already beginning to straddle him. “Much better.” He says, holding himself upright with hands on Diluc’s chest.

Diluc takes a deep breath, watching Kaeya rise and fall slightly with it. “Kaeya, should we go upstairs-?”

“No, I’m quite sure we can do this here.” Kaeya smirks, before quickly moving his hands down to his stomach. “Surely you can take a little-”

“Shut-” Diluc chokes, cutting the other off. He reaches down and pries the hands away from his stomach. “Is this necessary?” He asks, already feeling a touch out of breath.

“What, the ti-”

“Yes.” Diluc says, sternly. He realizes his mistake when the sly grin grows on Kaeya’s face. “Kaeya, dont.”

“Fine.” Kaeya says. “I won’t do it, if you can say it.”

“What?”

“Say the word. Ask nicely, and I won’t.”

Diluc sighs. “Kaeya, please.”

“Please what?” That damn grin.

“Please. Don’t.”

Kaeya laughs. “Diluc, if I didn't know any better, I’d think you wanted me to.”

Diluc’s face must be bright red now, his nerves feel like they are on fire. Everything in him is telling him to throw kaeya off, he is stronger after all. But he doesn't. He doesn't throw him off. “You know that’s not true.” He says, focusing hard to make sure his voice does not tremble.

“As red as your hair…” Kaeya comments idly. “And I think you’re lying.”

Diluc wants to claim Kaeya doesn’t know him, he can’t possibly know what his feelings are. But he does, he does know him, and Diluc is reluctant to admit that he most likely does know what his feelings are. “You can’t- you don’t… Listen, you- “

“I’m listening.”

Diluc’s eyes widen as Kaeya’s hands run up his sides and to his shoulders, only to make their way down his arms and to his wrists. “Kaeya, you-”

“Say no.” Kaeya says lowly, as he grips Dilucs wrists and slowly raises his arms above his head. “Say no, Master Diluc.”

Diluc stays deathly quiet, and Kaeya laughs fondly. “Cute.” Suddenly, Diluc feels a strong grip around both his wrists above him, while another hand moves down to lift his flimsy white shirt up above his stomach. He squeezes his eyes shut, tilting his head up and away to brace for the feeling that never comes. When he peeks one eye open, Kaeya has his free hand covering his own mouth. “I’m sorry.” He chuckles. “You’re just so…” He trails off, shaking his head before bringing his hand down to start wiggling his fingers over Diluc’s exposed skin.

Diluc jolts, sucking in a quick breath to stop any noise from coming out. The sensation is like lightning, sending tingling sensations all through his middle as he squirms, trying to get away from the feeling. “Kaey- ah!” His hips jump when Kaeya wiggles his fingers a little closer to them.

“That’s my name.” Kaeya teases. His fingers move to one of Diluc’s sides, and then to the other, switching back and forth every time Diluc manages to squirm away. He still hasn't quite laughed, but his throat is starting to hurt from the effort not to. Kaeya’s hand comes to a stop over his stomach and Diluc looks up at him. “Diluc. Truely, are you alright?”

Dilucs heart swells and he feels another rush of heat to his face. Of course Kaeya would want to be absolutely sure of his comfort level. “Y-yes, Kaeya I’m-”

“Good.” Both hands shoot up to his ribs, wiggling fingers shocking Diluc into pulling his arms down and arching his back. “Kaeya!” Diluc yelps, before dissolving into bright giggles, unable to stop himself.

“There you go.” Kaeya smiles, leaning closer. “Isn’t it nicer to just let go.”

Diluc can't answer, too busy trying to calm his own laughter down even a touch. Whenever he’s put in this position, Diluc tends to lose most of his strength quite quickly, and he's finding it difficult to even locate Kaeya’s wrists, let alone to grab them. “Kae, please-” He manages to whine out, before Kaeya switches his attack back onto his stomach and he's thrown into another fit of laughter.

Diluc attempts to grab at Kaeya’s wrists again, but Kaeya grabs one of Dilucs own and pins it above his head. His free hand makes its way to Dilucs exposed armpit and Diluc can’t find enough strength to do anything but laugh. He can hear Kaeya laugh along with him, which makes it so much worse. He throws his free arm over his eyes to try and hide his flushed face, resigning to the fact that he can’t really fight back with his limited strength.

Kaeya coos above him, letting go of his wrist and using both hands to wiggle under his arms. Diluc pulls both his arms down, but it does nothing to stop the feeling. “How does it feel, Master Diluc?”

“Shut up-'' Diluc yelps when Kaeya’s hands move down to knead near his ribs, and attempts to curl his body forward with limited success.

“My, does it perhaps ti-”

“Dohon’t!” Diluc whines, falling back and throwing his head back against the couch. He cannot stand that word, cannot stand hearing Kaeya say it, not right now.

“Diluc.” Kaeya says, a little bit more seriously. He slows his hands to allow the other to breathe. “Tell me how it feels, and I’ll stop.”

“N-no…” Diluc manages, knowing full well he’s signed his death wish. Kaeya smiles, shrugs, and leans down to begin nibbling at Diluc’s ear. “Hey!” Diluc squeaks before falling into giggles once more. The sensation is silly but maddening. He tries to turn his head away from the feeling, only to feel Kaeya chuckle into his ear and bring a hand up to hold his head in place.

“How does it feel?” Kaeya whispers, causing Diluc to whine into his laughter. “I think I know.”

“You-” more giggles, “you don’t-!”

“I do.” Kaeya purrs. “But I want to hear you say it.” 

Diluc brings both hands up to place on Kaeya’s shoulders, weakly pushing against them. Kaeya’s free hand leaves his ribs and takes hold of one of Diluc’s, lifting it to wrap around his own neck. Diluc gives in, wrapping both arms around Kaeya and attempting to bury his face in the other’s neck.

“Adorable.” Kaeya whispers, his breath against Diluc’s ear making him shiver. “Since you’re so cute, I’ll give up a cop-out.” He pulls away slightly, turning Diluc’s face so their foreheads are touching. “Diluc.”

“Kaeya.”

Kaeya laughs, shaking his head a bit. “It tickles, doesn’t it?”

Diluc feels his whole body shiver a bit, squirming. “No-” Before he can even fully voice his denial, fingers and wiggling maddeningly over his sides once more. “Okahay! Okay!” 

The fingers stop. “Okay, what?”

“...it does.”

“It does what?” Kaeya smirks, and Diluc scoffs. He’s had enough being flustered and red for the night. He wraps his arm around Kaeya and uses his strength to flip them both completely over, causing the other to yelp. “Oh.” Kaeya says, eyes wide.

Diluc clears his throat. “Yeah, ‘oh’.” He can’t keep the residual smile off his face, especially after seeing Kaeya look up at him with such adoration. 

“I like it when you show off like that.” Kaeya flirts, and Diluc chuckles. “What? You’re hot, Diluc.”

“And you’re a menace.” Diluc smiles, leaning down to kiss that smirk off his face. “And I’ll get you back for all that teasing.”

“Tired?” Venti asks, petting his hands through Xiao’s hair. He gets a soft hum in response, followed by Xiao wiggling a little closer into his embrace. He’s so cute like this, Venti thinks, sleepy and affectionate. He suddenly has the urge to ruin that.

Venti reaches out, wiggling his fingers ever so gently behind Xiao’s ear, causing him to lift his shoulders slightly.

Venti smiles. “Does this tickle?”

Xiao shook his head. “O-only a little.” he practically whispered, hiding a smile in the crook of Venti's shoulder. It hit Venti immediately that maybe Xiao was in one of those moods, just content and soft enough to enjoy a little bit of fun.

He chuckled, pulling back slightly to watch the other’s face. “Well then, I guess I'll have to change tactics, hm?” he asked, running his fingers along the yaksha’s jawline before resuming their movement right underneath his chin.

Xiao tried his best to stay silent, but couldn’t help a few giggles escaping. “V-ventihi-”

“Yes, Love?”

Xiao shook his head, reaching up to intertwine their fingers, effectively stopping Venti from continuing. “Dohon’t call me that.” He said, quiet but surprisingly calm. Venti was determined to change that.

“What, ‘Love’?” A nod. “Hm, what about Darling? Sweetheart? My lovely yaksha?” With every pet name, Venti placed a kiss on Xiao’s face, the last being on his cheek. “Hm, your face is rather warm, sweetness. If I pulled back and opened my eyes, would I perhaps see a lovely shade of red?”

Xiao growled, but it wasn’t at all threatening. “Adepti dont bl-”

“Oh but they do blush, I should know.” Venti smirked. “Especially when they are trying so so hard, usually failing, to keep that wonderful laughter in.”

Before Xiao could protest, Venti began to run his fingers down his sides. They slowly made their way to the hem of his shirt, lifting it gently to touch the skin underneath. Xiao, to his credit, didn’t pull away. Although he did squirm, huffing into Venti’s neck.

“Venti-” A gasp and a shudder, as the archon scratched his nails against the soft skin of the other’s sides. “D-dohon’t-” Unfortunately for Xiao, Venti was still holding their clasped hands tight. With his other hand being trapped between Venti's neck and the pillow, Xiao was essentially stuck. He could always wiggle out, archons know he's strong enough. But…

Venti smiled, giggling a bit himself. “Don’t? Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.” His hands come to a stop, still resting over the skin. He feels Xiao’s breathing slow slightly, but his heart is beating so hard that Venti can practically hear it.

A minute goes by, and then two, then three. Venti begins humming a tune, rubbing his hands over the other’s sides. Xiao flinches at first, but finds it doesn’t cause the same sensation as before. He doesn't relax though. Instead, he pulls himself closer, bringing their clasped hands up to hide the side of his face that isn't already turned towards the pillow.

“Venti…”

“Xiao.”

A long whine, followed by wiggling hips. Venti knows what he wants, and he takes a moment to decide what route he wants to go with this.

He decides to be merciful. Xiao is sleepy, complacent enough to be cuddling up this close, he doesn’t need to be teased any further. At least, not too much.

“Hm…” Venti pretends to think, drumming his fingers gently against Xiao’s sides, which instantly makes him flinch. “You know, usually when one wants something,” he starts, turning his face to the side to whisper in the other’s ear, “one asks for it.” He feels Xiao shiver, breathing a little faster into his neck. “Ah but, I know my love so well, I can guess what he wants.”

“I don’t wa- ah!” Xiao squeaks, bringing his knees up as much as he can with the way his boy is facing Venit’s. “Don’t- don’t wahahnt-”

“Oh, but you do.” Venti interrupts his attempt at coherency, scratching lightly at Xiao’s sides and eliciting the sweetest sounds. “You enjoy it actually. Love it, even.” With each word, he kicks up the intensity. Scratches turn into scribbles, pinches turn into squeezes, until Venti is no longer teasing and is now full on tickling the yaksha.

“Hey- ah! I- hehe-” Xiao giggles, finally wiggling his right hand out from under Venti’s neck so he can bring it down to shield from the tickles. He doesn’t do a very good job though, really just holding on to his middle and occasionally grazing Venti’s fingers through the fabric of his shirt. It’s adorable.

“It’s okay to want it, Darling.” Venti teases, though there is a hint of sincerity behind it. “Especially when you laugh so sweetly.” He chooses then to drift his fingers over to his stomach, causing Xiao’s giggling to kick up just a notch. His stomach is one of his more sensitive spots, so Venti is careful with it. He prefers the light laughter right now rather than the more torturous feelings he usually causes, and Xiao seems to be okay with that.

“Ventihihi! Ahahaha!” Xiao squeals, pushing a bit against the offending fingers. It does practically nothing to stop the sensation, and he eventually gives up. He opts for gripping the fabric of Venti’s shirt tightly instead.

“You called?” Venti mocks, “What are you feeling, hm?”

Admitting it is one of the things Xiao finds the hardest, but Venti has a sneaking suspicion that he’s feeling a little more loose lipped tonight…

“It- hehehe-  it tihihickles!” Suspicions: confirmed.

“Oh my, does it?” Venti giggles, causing Xiao to do much of the same. “Thank goodness! And here I thought I wasn’t doing my job!”

“Stohohop!” Xiao whines, curling his head back and away from Venti’s neck, giving the archon a perfect view of his bright red face. His smile is dazzling in the low light of the distant lanterns filtering in from the window.

“Hm, stop tickling?” Xiao immediately shook his head, causing Venti’s smile to widen a fraction.

“St-stohop teheasing!” Xiao’s giggles were becoming more frantic with every shy admission, and Venti loved it.

“No can do. That’s my favorite part.” Venti finally releases Xiao’s hand, reaching between them to lift Xiao’s shirt up completely and claw ten fingers into his stomach.

“Nohohoho!” Xiao squeals, proper laughing now. “Nahaht theherehehe!”

“Here?” He asks, scribbling a little more and reveling in the squeak he gets in return.

“Yehehes there- ah! Nohohoho!”

Venti had moved lower to rub his thumbs into Xiao’s hips, smiling as he tucked his own face into the other’s neck, leaving kisses as he spoke. “What’s wrong, love? I changed spots, just as you asked.”

Xiao’s face is beautifully lit up now, but his eyes are screwed shut. “Yohohou’re being mehehean ahahah-”

“Mean? Well then, why don’t I continue somewhere nicer.” Venti’s hands come to a stop, soothing the hot skin with his palms. He continues to kiss up Xiao’s neck, adding nibbles and licks every once in a while. Xiao giggles sweetly, sighing and pushing into the touch.

“You like when I tickle you here.” It’s a statement, no room for argument. Xiao nods.

“Hm?”

“Yehehehes!”

Venti melts. They continue like this for a while longer, until Xiao’s laughter gets a little too breathy, and he reaches to push at Venti’s forehead, signaling him to stop. Their eyes meet, and Venti swears he falls in love for probably the millionth time. He kisses him, on the lips this time, and feels the way Xiao sighs into the kiss, smile never having faded.

They don't say anything, just readjust into a comfortable cuddling position. That is, until Xiao leans into Venit’s ear, a smirk clear in his voice.

“You must know I will get you back for this.” He says playfully.

Venti giggles. “Of course Love, in the morning.” Xiao hums in agreement. “And, you’ll have to catch me first!”

Xiao chuckles. “I always do.”

“Tired?” Venti asks, petting his hands through Xiao’s hair. He gets a soft hum in response, followed by Xiao wiggling a little closer into his embrace. He’s so cute like this, Venti thinks, sleepy and affectionate. He suddenly has the urge to ruin that.

Venti reaches out, wiggling his fingers ever so gently behind Xiao’s ear, causing him to lift his shoulders slightly.

Venti smiles. “Does this tickle?”

Xiao shook his head. “O-only a little.” he practically whispered, hiding a smile in the crook of Venti's shoulder. It hit Venti immediately that maybe Xiao was in one of those moods, just content and soft enough to enjoy a little bit of fun.

He chuckled, pulling back slightly to watch the other’s face. “Well then, I guess I'll have to change tactics, hm?” he asked, running his fingers along the yaksha’s jawline before resuming their movement right underneath his chin.

Xiao tried his best to stay silent, but couldn’t help a few giggles escaping. “V-ventihi-”

“Yes, Love?”

Xiao shook his head, reaching up to intertwine their fingers, effectively stopping Venti from continuing. “Dohon’t call me that.” He said, quiet but surprisingly calm. Venti was determined to change that.

“What, ‘Love’?” A nod. “Hm, what about Darling? Sweetheart? My lovely yaksha?” With every pet name, Venti placed a kiss on Xiao’s face, the last being on his cheek. “Hm, your face is rather warm, sweetness. If I pulled back and opened my eyes, would I perhaps see a lovely shade of red?”

Xiao growled, but it wasn’t at all threatening. “Adepti dont bl-”

“Oh but they do blush, I should know.” Venti smirked. “Especially when they are trying so so hard, usually failing, to keep that wonderful laughter in.”

Before Xiao could protest, Venti began to run his fingers down his sides. They slowly made their way to the hem of his shirt, lifting it gently to touch the skin underneath. Xiao, to his credit, didn’t pull away. Although he did squirm, huffing into Venti’s neck. 

“Venti-” A gasp and a shudder, as the archon scratched his nails against the soft skin of the other’s sides. “D-dohon’t-” Unfortunately for Xiao, Venti was still holding their clasped hands tight. With his other hand being trapped between Venti's neck and the pillow, Xiao was essentially stuck. He could always wiggle out, archons know he's strong enough. But…

Venti smiled, giggling a bit himself. “Don’t? Ah well, it was nice while it lasted.” His hands come to a stop, still resting over the skin. He feels Xiao’s breathing slow slightly, but his heart is beating so hard that Venti can practically hear it.

A minute goes by, and then two, then three. Venti begins humming a tune, rubbing his hands over the other’s sides. Xiao flinches at first, but finds it doesn’t cause the same sensation as before. He doesn't relax though. Instead, he pulls himself closer, bringing their clasped hands up to hide the side of his face that isn't already turned towards the pillow.

“Venti…”

“Xiao.”

A long whine, followed by wiggling hips. Venti knows what he wants, and he takes a moment to decide what route he wants to go with this.

He decides to be merciful. Xiao is sleepy, complacent enough to be cuddling up this close, he doesn’t need to be teased any further. At least, not too much.

“Hm…” Venti pretends to think, drumming his fingers gently against Xiao’s sides, which instantly makes him flinch. “You know, usually when one wants something,” he starts, turning his face to the side to whisper in the other’s ear, “one asks for it.” He feels Xiao shiver, breathing a little faster into his neck. “Ah but, I know my love so well, I can guess what he wants.”

“I don’t wa- ah!” Xiao squeaks, bringing his knees up as much as he can with the way his boy is facing Venit’s. “Don’t- don’t wahahnt-”

“Oh, but you do.” Venti interrupts his attempt at coherency, scratching lightly at Xiao’s sides and eliciting the sweetest sounds. “You enjoy it actually. Love it, even.” With each word, he kicks up the intensity. Scratches turn into scribbles, pinches turn into squeezes, until Venti is no longer teasing and is now full on tickling the yaksha.

“Hey- ah! I- hehe-” Xiao giggles, finally wiggling his right hand out from under Venti’s neck so he can bring it down to shield from the tickles. He doesn’t do a very good job though, really just holding on to his middle and occasionally grazing Venti’s fingers through the fabric of his shirt. It’s adorable.

“It’s okay to want it, Darling.” Venti teases, though there is a hint of sincerity behind it. “Especially when you laugh so sweetly.” He chooses then to drift his fingers over to his stomach, causing Xiao’s giggling to kick up just a notch. His stomach is one of his more sensitive spots, so Venti is careful with it. He prefers the light laughter right now rather than the more torturous feelings he usually causes, and Xiao seems to be okay with that.

“Ventihihi! Ahahaha!” Xiao squeals, pushing a bit against the offending fingers. It does practically nothing to stop the sensation, and he eventually gives up. He opts for gripping the fabric of Venti’s shirt tightly instead.

“You called?” Venti mocks, “What are you feeling, hm?”

Admitting it is one of the things Xiao finds the hardest, but Venti has a sneaking suspicion that he’s feeling a little more loose lipped tonight…

“It- hehehe-  it tihihickles!” Suspicions: confirmed.

“Oh my, does it?” Venti giggles, causing Xiao to do much of the same. “Thank goodness! And here I thought I wasn’t doing my job!”

“Stohohop!” Xiao whines, curling his head back and away from Venti’s neck, giving the archon a perfect view of his bright red face. His smile is dazzling in the low light of the distant lanterns filtering in from the window.

“Hm, stop tickling?” Xiao immediately shook his head, causing Venti’s smile to widen a fraction. 

“St-stohop teheasing!” Xiao’s giggles were becoming more frantic with every shy admission, and Venti loved it.

“No can do. That’s my favorite part.” Venti finally releases Xiao’s hand, reaching between them to lift Xiao’s shirt up completely and claw ten fingers into his stomach.

“Nohohoho!” Xiao squeals, proper laughing now. “Nahaht theherehehe!” 

“Here?” He asks, scribbling a little more and reveling in the squeak he gets in return. 

“Yehehes there- ah! Nohohoho!” 

Venti had moved lower to rub his thumbs into Xiao’s hips, smiling as he tucked his own face into the other’s neck, leaving kisses as he spoke. “What’s wrong, love? I changed spots, just as you asked.”

Xiao’s face is beautifully lit up now, but his eyes are screwed shut. “Yohohou’re being mehehean ahahah-”

“Mean? Well then, why don’t I continue somewhere nicer.” Venti’s hands come to a stop, soothing the hot skin with his palms. He continues to kiss up Xiao’s neck, adding nibbles and licks every once in a while. Xiao giggles sweetly, sighing and pushing into the touch.

“You like when I tickle you here.” It’s a statement, no room for argument. Xiao nods.

“Hm?”

“Yehehehes!”

Venti melts. They continue like this for a while longer, until Xiao’s laughter gets a little too breathy, and he reaches to push at Venti’s forehead, signaling him to stop. Their eyes meet, and Venti swears he falls in love for probably the millionth time. He kisses him, on the lips this time, and feels the way Xiao sighs into the kiss, smile never having faded.

They don't say anything, just readjust into a comfortable cuddling position. That is, until Xiao leans into Venit’s ear, a smirk clear in his voice.

“You must know I will get you back for this.” He says playfully.

Venti giggles. “Of course Love, in the morning.” Xiao hums in agreement. “And, you’ll have to catch me first!”

Xiao chuckles. “I always do.”