#lee!deimos

Something was off. 

Sanford only recognized something was wrong when he realized the room was insanely quiet. The only noises that came through the lounge were the soft hums of Hank as they sharpened their knives beside him, and the various scribbling noises of 2BDamned’s pencil on work papers. The only person missing from the group was the childish technician, or more bluntly put, the hook-wielder’s boyfriend. That realization alone concerned him a little. Usually, he was always around - being annoying to Hank, chatting up Doc, or just roaming the area with a cigarette in his mouth. 

…why was he not here? 

Sanford took a few minutes to think about it a little more, but the more he thought about the fact that he wasn’t around, the more nervous it made him. Hank seemed to notice this from the corner of their eye, their gaze turning slightly toward the left. “What are you worried about?” He asked, setting down his knife and turning his attention to the dark-skinned man beside him. “I don’t know,” he exhaled sharply. “Have you seen Deimos around? Is he out? I just… think it’s kind of weird he’s not … doing his usual, y’know, bullshit.” 

Hank chuckled softly at that comment, narrowing his eyes toward the hallway that led to his room. “I went to check on him earlier. He told me he’d be out in a few minutes, but… now that I think about it, it’s been a little bit since he told me that. You want to go check on him?” They tilted their head, looking back at the worried expression on the hook-wielder’s face. Sanford nodded, lifting himself off the couch. He headed straight toward the technician’s room, and when he got there, he was concerned with the silence. 

“Deimos?” he knocked softly at the door, hoping that he didn’t scare the other. For a minute, there was no reply; maybe he fell back asleep. He didn’t really want to barge into the other’s room uninvited - especially if he was doing something personal. But just as he started to back away from the door, he heard the rough voice of the other ever so quietly. “What is it?” Deimos responded back.

"I'm coming in, alright?" Sanford opened the door slowly but what he saw in front of him shocked him even more.

Deimos was curled up on his bed, completely covered by the giant blanket he had. The only things that Sanford could see were his head and his hands which were grasping the pillow he had tightly. The pillowcase was completely soaked with tears, and they still continued to flow as he looked up at the hook-wielder's troubled face. "What do you want?" Deimos asked, his voice cracking a little as he hiccupped softly, his body trembling from how much he had been crying.

Sanford's eyes widened. "Hey, hey," his voice grew softer as he sat on the edge of the bed, "what's the matter? What happened?" It took a minute for the other to even get a full sentence out without stuttering.

"I just... I d-don't know," he started. The act of opening up just made him want to cry harder, but he resisted the urge to. He refused eye contact with his boyfriend, the obvious frown on his face only growing bigger. "I-I'm just so overwhelmed with everything, and sometimes, my thoughts like to run free and think of all sorts of things that would probably never happen in a million years... and I keep thinking, 'what if they do happen?' What then?"

Sanford gently placed a hand on his cheek, stroking his face softly. "Listen, whatever you're thinking of, forget about it. The reality of the situation is that we're both alive and well. That's all that really matters, isn't it?" He wiped away his tears, giving him a soft smile in return. It was only a shame that he couldn't return it.

"It's not that simple, y'know," Deimos whispered. "I can't just stop thinking about it."

Deimos was right about that, he thought bitterly. There had to be some way to distract him from the sadness he was going through.

And then the idea hit him like a train.

"What if there was a way you could just 'stop thinking about it', huh?" Sanford shot back, suddenly gaining a teasy tone in his voice. The technician shook his head, rubbing his eyes. There were no more tears left for him to give, so he just sat there with a frown instead. "I appreciate the offer, but nothing is really going to stop me from thinking about this," he muttered, looking down at his bedsheets.

"That's what you think," Sanford replied, his eyes glistening with 'evil' intent. "But I know a surefire way to get you out of this mood!" Deimos just turned his head to the side, the frown growing in size as the two's eyes interlocked. That frown quickly changed to something different. An anxious smile, perhaps?

"What are you planning to do, huh, Ford? Since it's... surefire..." Deimos hesitated slightly when he saw the other towering over him. Sanford wrapped his arms around the technician, listening to the other yelp as he was trapped in a hug. He was caught off guard and a little surprised by the sudden affection, but he had no idea what was about to happen. "F-Ford, what- WAIHIHIT, NOHOHO!" Deimos cackled embarrassingly as the other's large fingers found their way right to his torso, digging into the sensitive flesh he found there.

"I'm gonna tickle the sadness out of you!" Sanford assured him, watching the other flail helplessly in his grasp at the ticklish sensation. Deimos was trying his hardest to get out of the situation he was in, kicking his legs out underneath the blanket he was in which, admittedly, only hurt him more as it got tangled between his legs and between itself. Curse that damn blanket!

"NOHOHO- SAHAHAN! BAHAHAD SAN!" Deimos chided as if he was talking to a dog, throwing his head back on his pillow. Sanford's fingers dug in a little deeper, an amused smirk growing on his face. "Nu-uh," he shook his head, leaning in closer to get a good look at his boyfriend's beautiful smile, "I'm not stopping until the sadness is gone. It's a good thing you're so ticklish, huh?" The other teased softly, giving him a small kiss right on the nose.

Deimos' laugh rose in pitch, making him sound almost like a little girl. The technician pushed at his boyfriend's shoulders, but the other didn't budge a bit. "What do you think you're doing, huh, Deimos? Trying to push me off? Who do you think you are~? You think you can get away from... the tickle monster?!" Sanford chuckled softly hearing the shriek that came out of Deimos' mouth as he lifted up his shirt, leaning down to his sensitive belly. He looked up, letting the realization of the situation sink in.

"SAHAHAHAN-! D-DOHOHOHON'T YOHOHOU DAHAHARE!!" Deimos squealed out. Sanford didn't listen, however, as his lips met the other's sensitive skin. Just that alone was enough to send shivers down the other's spine, his hands pushing against the hook-wielder's shoulders with a bit more intensity. It didn't affect Sanford in the slightest, considering that his boyfriend was already so weak due to the tickling.

"Oh, but," he muttered with a sly grin. "What if I do dare?"

And with that, Sanford blew a raspberry right on his stomach, knowing that the vibrations only made it ten times worse for Deimos. And that it did, considering the reaction he got out of him. The shriek that left his mouth was louder than anything he'd ever heard before and he just knew that the others outside could hear it clearly. His legs kicked weakly against the bedsheets as his squeaky, sort of rough laughter continued to ring out. His face was a bright red and his smile reached from ear to ear - something that was more positive than sight Sanford had seen earlier. He could almost get memorized it.

"SAHAHAHAN-! STAHAHAPH I-IHIHIM DYIHIHING!!" Deimos clenched his fist as he slammed his hands on the other's back, signaling that he was quite close to his limit. Sanford only chuckled as he gave him one last nibble, sending tickly vibrations all throughout his body before he leaned back. Deimos fell against the pillow, panting as he looked up at his boyfriend.

"...so, did that get your mind off stuff?" he asked quietly, his smile growing bigger as he put a hand on the side of his cheek, pushing the technician's messy hair behind his ears. He was sweating and blushing, but at least he didn't look sad anymore. Deimos let out another shaky breath before replying.

"Yeah, ... yeah, it did. T-Thanks." He chuckled as he turned away. Sanford pulled him close into a tight embrace, leaning his head into the crook of his neck. The technician gasped as he let out a softer sigh, leaning against his boyfriend as his hands gently rested on his bare back.

"Listen, if you ever need to talk about stuff, I'm here," Sanford started, his words a bit muffled as his face buried deeper into the other's neck. "I will always be there for you. There's no mistaking that. If it's something you can't talk about, well, I'll be there for that too. I can always bring out the tickle monster again..~." He chuckled, giving him a slight poke to the side.

"Aha-! Y-Yeah, yeah, whatever. C'mere, you big goof."

To say that Deimos’ job was “easy” was a mistake a lot of people made when he introduced himself as the technician of the group. He was amazing with technology, coding and hacking into the AAHW with no problem, and fighting wasn’t all that terrible either. The only thing he wasn’t too good at was dealing with his stress in a healthy way. 

“Deimos, c’mon man,” Sanford called out to him as he hopped out of the car, wielding his hook in his right hand. The other put his finger up to signal that he needed a minute, and not even a few seconds later, he heard the click of the man’s thumb lighting yet another cigarette. He put it up to his lips, inhaling it as if he needed it to survive. Sanford only gave a concerned look, frowning. “That is the third one you’ve lit today, Dei. You sure you’re good?” 

Deimos finally hopped out of the car, exhaling a puff of smoke in the opposite direction. “...’m alright.”  He replied in a low tone, different from the usual one he gave. Sanford shook his head - did he honestly think he couldn’t see through that blank facade of his? He decided to hold off on responding about it, however, considering they were right outside of the AAHW with all the stuff they needed to complete their mission. He also had assumed that this would be one of the last ones he smoked. 

Boy was he wrong. 

A few rooms in. Click. In one of the main hallways. Click. Their destination, a room with a large computer that he needed to hack. Click. The way Deimos continued to inhale those cigarettes the entire mission was starting to piss him off. How exactly could one man even go through that many? Especially when it had only been an hour and a half since they set out for this mission. It was like the younger man was becoming addicted. Well, more than he already was. 

“San, ‘m done,” Deimos said through a slight wheeze, having a small coughing fit as he put his stuff away. He lifted all his technology on his back, returning to the taller one’s side. He hadn’t even realized it had been roughly ten minutes with everything that he was thinking. Sanford shook his head, regaining his focus and rushing out of the building back to the car. They were both quiet considering everything that went down, and while they should’ve been celebrating that they got crucial information needed for Hank’s mission, the demolitionist could only think about just how many cigarettes he smoked.

Sanford got into the driver’s seat, noticing Deimos’ focus out the window. He had wondered why he hadn’t lit another cigarette in a couple of minutes only to look down and find the entire pack empty. Wait, empty? Didn’t he just buy those? Those were the only things that Sanford thought, putting the key into the ignition and driving down the road. Something twinged inside of his stomach, and the awful feeling slowly started to creep up on him. It soon turned to annoyance, but it wasn’t out of anger or anything. He wanted to get to the bottom of why he smoked that entire pack in … give or take, two hours. 

The car ride home was quiet. This was an issue they needed to fix, and quickly. 

Deimos quickly hopped out of the car when they got home. Sanford took a minute to collect all his thoughts, grabbing the empty cigarette carton and holding it in his hand. Before he’d even realized it, the shorter one went inside the base. He probably already knew he was in for a mouthful. “Where is Deimos?” Sanford asked, looking around the living room. There was no sign of anyone except for Hank, who was lounging on the couch. “Room,” Hank replied, pointing in the general direction of the member’s rooms. “Thanks.” Sanford nodded, heading straight for the technician’s room, finding him sprawled out on his bed with almost a dazed look on his face. 

“Deimos.” Sanford’s tone was low. Everyone knew what that tone meant. Something was about to go down. “Would you like to explain what this is?” The cigarette carton’s silver wrapping jingled a little inside the box as he shook it. Dei gave an awkward smile, knowing that he was definitely in for it now. “Uhh, no. I would not like to explain what it is. It should seem very obvious, considering you’re holding it. Read it.” It was a wonder how the other man could still be so sassy, especially when he was damaging himself like this. 

“Dei, you smoked all of these in less than two hours!” Sanford cried out, sounding exasperated. The other shrugged, laying back down on his bed with a prolonged sigh. There was a moment of silence between them. He suddenly let out a huff, realizing that the demolitionist wasn’t leaving his room if he just ignored him. “Fine, you win.” Deimos sat up, narrowing his eyes down to the floor. “I smoke when I’m stressed, yeah? Typically, missions aren’t stressful… but this was a big one, y’know? I had to do it perfectly” His gaze softened upon hearing his explanation, sighing. 

“We’re human, Deimos. We all get stressed. You should’ve told me this, man,” he shook his head, throwing the empty carton in the trash can by his door. Deimos only shrugged. “Wouldn’t have changed anything. I’ll still smoke when I’m stressed.” 

“Oh, hell no you won’t.” Sanford raised an eyebrow. Deimos’ face changed quickly to one of confusion. “What, you’re gonna stop me?” Suddenly, the tint in Sanford’s eyes changed. It wasn’t one of anger but instead one of… playfulness? The other launched himself at the one laid out on the bed, wrestling around a bit as he tried to pin Deimos down to his bed. He was still a little dazed so their normal roughhousing - which would’ve taken a lot longer if he had the strength to fight back - didn’t last very long. The end result was Sanford sitting on top of Deimos’ waist, holding both hands above his head. “Yes, you’re indeed right. I’m gonna stop you. You’re not gonna stress smoke on another mission, you hear?” 

“Sanford, it’s not tha- w–wait, what are you dOING?! SANFORD, NO!” Deimos yelled out, writhing underneath him in an attempt to get out of this situation. The most surprising thing is that he wasn’t even doing anything, he just happened to lay his hand right by underneath his arm, knowing that may or may not be one of his most ticklish spots. “What? What am I doing Dei?” Sanford shot back teasingly, watching the poor technician get so anxious. There was already a wide grin on his face, and somehow, he was already giggling up a storm even though he really wasn’t even doing anything. “D-Dohohohn’t, San, p-plehease,” he choked out, squirming underneath him as the demolitionist continued to tease him. 

“What am I doing, Deimos? What’s wrong with my hands being there? Does it hurt? Is that why you’re so fidgety?” Deimos’ grin couldn’t get any wider as he shook his head, knowing how embarrassed he got when it came to this stuff. The red tint splotched all over his face, neck, and ears happened to be solid proof of it. “Nohohoho! Yohohohou ass! Stohohohop teheheasing!” 

“Oh, so you’d rather me just tickle you, huh?” Sanford’s eyes narrowed to his armpit, using a single finger to circle around the sensitive spot. There was an attempt to hold back his own giggles by biting the inside of his cheek, his eyes shutting tightly. The technician’s legs kicked out weakly behind him, hitting the soft mattress. He was truly refusing to give out any sort of reaction. That couldn’t happen - it wouldn’t happen, more like. The poor guy was so ticklish, it was hard to believe that simple taps didn’t tickle him. Sanford was going to get a reaction out of him, whether he wanted it or not. 

“Aww, c’mon, Dei. You know you want to laugh. And I want you to stop smoking. How about I kill two birds with one stone?” Sanford suddenly came dangerously close to the smaller one’s ear, his breath hitting the outer shell. “And you know you like this.” It was the last few words that cracked him. Maybe it was the fact that he was so flustered by the fact that he knew he liked being tickled without ever saying it to anyone (he’d rather curl up in a hole and die) or maybe it was the way his breath was tickling his ear. Maybe it was a combination of both. But the minute Deimos broke, Sanford found himself grinning alongside his childish, rough laughter. 

Sanford noticed the way his cheeks turned a darker red, his own quiet laughter turning louder. His nimble and fast fingers continued scratching at his underarm with only one finger, watching his reactions carefully. The wobbly smile, his beautiful laughter, the way his body was squirming away from his grasp but unable to due to Sanford’s brute strength from holding him down. It was all… endearing to say the least. “Snrk- S-SahahHAHAHn! S-stohohohop! I swHEHEAR! Nonononono!” Deimos snorted, his embarrassment rising by tenfolds. 

“Dei, did you just snort? My god, that was the cutest thing,” Sanford commented, chuckling as he added more fingers to the mix, his entire hand poking and prodding away at the hyperactive nerves. The technician’s body bucked upwards, but not enough to throw the stronger man off of him as his laughter grew louder, the roughness of his voice now turning squeaky. “D-DOHOHOHN’T SAHAHAHY ANYTHING! aHAHAHA- P-PLEHEHEASE S-STOP!” Deimos was trying so hard to keep himself together, but they both knew that he was way too goddamn ticklish for that. “You know the way to get this to stop, Deimos,” he said, leaning down closer once more. “You’re going to promise me - and then go through with the promise - that you will not stress smoke again on a mission. You smoke one or two? Fine. You are not smoking a twelve-pack!” The other suddenly dug into his underarm, his fingers forming a claw shape. 

“NAHAHAH- SAHAHAHANFORD! F-FUHUHUCK, I-IHIHIHTS SO BAD!” Deimos yelled, throwing his head back against his pillow as tears started to form in his eyes from how much he was laughing. It still seemed that the demolitionist wasn’t going to stop until he said he was going to stop stress-smoking. But how could he even do that?! It was part of his routine to smoke when he was stressed, he couldn’t just quit it overnight. But at the same time, he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. His nerves felt like they were on fire, and even though he liked it (he would still rather die than admit that), there was always a limit to how much one person could take. “S-SAHAHAHAN! P-PLEHEHEEASE!” 

“Please what? Please tickle you more?” Sanford grinned, leaning down to his sensitive neck as he gently nibbled on the skin there, leaving the poor boy in hysterics. “Man, you sure do like this, huh? Is that why you haven’t been actively fighting back? You like being tickled that much?” 

The teasing was about to be too much, his face was seemingly radiating warmth. 

“SH-SHUHUHUT UHUHUHP!! P-PLEHEHEASE, MEHEHEHERCY!” Sanford took a moment, giving his neck a few more nibbles as he leaned backward, coming within about an inch of his face. “I wanna hear it.” That was the only thing he said as he looked at the poor boy’s face. He almost felt kind of bad, watching him wipe the tears from his eyes. His nose was slightly scrunched up, and soft giggles continued to pour out of his mouth. “I w-wohohon’t smohohoke.. I p-promise.” 

Sanford flashed a smile, patting the other on his head as he let go of his wrists, letting him finally get up. "About time you gave up." The other stretched upward, his back cracking as he got off the bed. Deimos continued to lay there, one hand on his chest as he watched the other man go on with his day like he didn't just tickle him to death! His breath was jagged, but it quickly returned to normal. He spoke up again. "How did you know... I, uh, ... y'know." Deimos' face flushed slightly, looking away from the demolitionist.

Sanford shook his head, chuckling slightly. "You think I don't notice the way you react when you're having tickle fights with Hank? Or even with 2BDamned, for that matter? You're always looking for trouble or for a reason to get someone to tickle you. I assumed that you liked it. B-But don't worry, it's not weird or anything. At least, I don't think so. It's kind of cute."

"Oh." That was the only thing able to come out of his mouth as he stared upwards, the embarrassment of him saying all this stuff out loud finally getting to him. "Aw, c'mon man, you're turning so red. Lighten up a lil'." He pulled the other to the edge of the bed, pulling him off to get him up and ready. "Let's go get somethin' to eat, yeah?"

Deimos flashed his usual grin after a split second of silence, nodding. "My treat, since you tortured me."

"Call it a forceful promise."

It worked, though, as Deimos had to this day never broken that promise.