𝓣𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓸𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓭𝓪𝔂 18: 𝓜𝓪𝓰𝓲𝓬
ITS MY FAVORITE BOY AGAIN 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
NOBODY EVEN SPEAAAAAK OMG MY BABYYYY 😍😍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I had to throw Lee Finral in there… Oopsies.
Oh no! Angst queen struck again and made it h/c! Whatever will you do?!
Anyways. Welcome back to tkcember. We’re about halfway through these fics. I’ve got 9 left after this.
—this do have some tickles below the cut ngl—
Tags: @chrimsss @giggly-squiggily @rachi-roo
It was no surprise that sometimes Asta got into a funk. He’s never once cried in front of his team, and he tries to stay as chipper as he can, but sometimes he just has his days.
This particular day had been absolutely horrid, with the young boy accidentally waking an hour later than he usually did. This threw his entire schedule off kilter.
He had to train twice as fast, which made his muscles sore and tender. He hobbled inside of the base, holding his sore shoulder. (2,000 swings really did a number on his dominant arms.
He missed breakfast and had to ask Charmy to cook something for him with his tail between his legs—Of course, the woman didn’t much mind, always happy to provide a meal.
He wordlessly ate his late breakfast and sighed. Maybe the rest of the day would be better?
To his dismay, it was very much not.
Asta ran his face through his hands as he took a bathroom breaks few hours later. It wasn’t fair. Why was the universe so against him? He had to hold in his anguish so he wouldn’t take out his frustrations on his teammates. He smacked his cheeks a few times and plastered on a smile.
“It’ll be okay! It’s just like a game of pretend. As long as I keep smiling, nobody will notice anything’s going wrong!” he chimed to himself in the mirror.
He finished washing his hands and exited the bathroom. His smile was painfully fake, but nobody who wasn’t focused on him would notice.
What he didn’t know is that his senior had heard his “affirmation” through the door as he passed by…
The whole squad sat down for lunch: rice, meat, and peas—courtesy of Charmy— with some almond sugar cookies for dessert—courtesy of Gordon.
Asta’s eyes lit up as he noticed the cookies; things were definitely making a turn for the better.
Anyone attentive would have easily noticed Asta’s off behavior. He was unusually quiet, and eating very carefully. (He did not want to risk dropping ANYTHING. Gods know that would likely be his last straw and he’d start crying right here and now.)
The anti-magic user finished his bowl of food and engaged in light conversation, only replying in short sentences. Finral watched his junior with a slight frown; Asta looked so uncomfortable, and had that stupid fake smile plastered on his face.
When it was time for the cookies to go around, the ash-blonde reached excitedly for one. As he brought it up to his mouth, it cracked in half and fell on the ground.
All eyes turned to look at him in confusion. Normally, he would’ve whined and reached for another one, but the boy’s chest was heaving a bit as his lip wobbled.
‘Not good’ Finral thought as he opened a tiny portal near his waist. The other end of the portal appeared at the same height on Asta’s side.
As tears pricked the corners of the anti-magic user’s eyes, they were quickly blinked away as a squeak left his lips. A pinch to his side had brought him back to reality. “Aaaaaa! I dropped it! Gimme another one! Please please pleeeeeease!!” He had tried acting like he normally did and made grabby hands at Noelle, who promptly scoffed and put one directly between his teeth. “fenk yew!”
The spatial mage smiled. Mission accomplished.
Asta ate the cookie happily, and Finral could tell that it instantly improved his mood a bit. Though, as his senior, he couldn’t help but be a bit mischievous… The brunette waited until the boy had finished chewing then opened another portal. He skittered his fingers across Asta’s stomach.
The ash-blonde giggled and slapped a hand over his mouth, glaring daggers at his senior. Finral smiled innocently at him, waving with the hand that was not currently tickling the boy.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, “this is so nohohot fahahair!”
Finral held a finger to his lips and grinned sweetly. He let two fingers pinch around the anti-magic user’s torso. Asta rested his head on the table as he giggled quietly.
Vanessa cocked an eyebrow at the resident feral child being uncharacteristically quiet. Her gaze shifted to Finral, whom she noticed had his hand through a hidden portal. She smiled in realization as she saw Asta’s shoulders heaving with laughter; Finral really was a really sweet guy.
The brunette snaked his hand under Asta’s grey tee shirt and traced his fingers up and down the swordsman’s sides and middle.
“Fihihihinrahahal.” The ash-blonde whined sotto voce, “Ihihihit tihihihickles!”
“What did you say, idiot?” Noelle quipped, turning her attention to him. It was at that point that she noticed the portal, and Asta’s giggling figure. Her face flushed as she went quiet. Asta looked… adorable like this!
“Fihihihinrahahal- plehehehease.”
Noelle looked at Finral until he caught her eye. She looked around the table to make sure all other parties were distracted before pointing to her own underarms.
The spatial mage smiled and shot her a wink of understanding. He mirrored the girl’s actions, taking notice of how many were watching. It seemed that Vanessa, Noelle, and Gordon had caught on and were spectating his little game.
Now, Finral was not an evil person; there wasn’t a lick of malice in his body. But he had to get Asta back for not respecting his authority all of those times… He had to find a way to get everyone to notice how giggly the ash-blonde had become.
It was time to go for the kill. He opened another portal and snaked his other hand under the boy’s shirt, bringing both up to tickle under his arms.
Asta squealed loudly and sank in his chair as he giggled helplessly. “Fihihihinrahahahal! Stahahahappihihihit!”
“Ey, Wheels, what’re you doin’ to the kid?” Yami asked, standing up and walking to the spatial mage.
“Nothing sir! I’m not sure what’s going on!” The brunette feigned innocence, trying to hide the portals he had made with the rest of his body.
“Ohhhh so that’s what’s happening?” Yami Cheshire grinned, “Let’s see if you can take what you can dish out.”
“Yami, no! Wait, hold on! Let’s have a civil, adult conversAHAHAHAHATIOHOHOHOHON! WAHAHAHAHAIT!”
The entire squad had definitely discovered the game, unfortunately at the expense of poor Finral’s dignity. The two mages laughed helplessly as the rest watched them with smiles.
After a few minutes, both parties were completely exhausted, with Asta lasting longer than Finral… as usual… In the spatial mage’s defense, Yami was absolutely ruthless, and went for his death spot immediately.
Everyone started to clear from the table, helping Charmy to clean up—or running away from duties in Luck and Magna’s case— and rinsing the dishes off.
Finral quickly grabbed four cookies from the platter, portaling them to his nightstand for later. He scribbled a note onto a napkin and portaled it into Asta’s lap, disappearing to his room shortly after.
When the ash-blonde had gone to stand up and take a break in his room, he noticed the small napkin and opened it as he walked the halls toward his bedroom.
‘My door is always open if you wanted to tell me what’s troubling you. Sorry about earlier… I couldn’t stand to see you fake smiling and not do something about it’
The boy’s threatening tears returned to prick the corners of his eyes as he turned on his heel toward his senior’s room.
When the ash-blonde arrived, the door opened to reveal a sympathetic-looking Finral, holding a cookie in his hand. The boy fell forward into the brunette’s chest, causing him to portal the cookie to safety. He knelt down and wrapped his arms around the boy, kicking the door shut with his foot.
“Don’t hold back,” he murmured, rubbing Asta’s back reassuringly, “Tell me what’s going on, Asta. It’s okay, just cry it out…”
So, he did.
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