~~~

A flustering bet with Logan of all people? This was going to be fun. Remus was there for “moral support”. Of course he was.

“Now, we will begin with the digitals.”

Virgil took a flosser and applied it to Janus’ toes, making the latter aspect cackle.

“The method seems to have drastic effects on our subject. I must say, your laugh is quite deep. Is this how you naturally sound when laughing or are you covering it up like Remus does under certain circumstances?” “IHIHIHIHIT’S MY REAL LAHAHAUGH!!” “Very well.”

Logan nodded to Virgil to move over to Remus.

“It has come to my attention that you have a complete fascination with feet. Some might refer to it as a 'fetish', do they not?” “Yehehehes!” “Hmm… tell us Remus, do you or do you not prefer methods of gargalesis and/or methods of knismesis?” “I dohohohon’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!” “Then we shall demonstrate. First, the knismesis method.”

A soft bristle makeup brush was trailed across Remus’ feet, making him wiggle around.

“Awh! These restraints won’t do. The Duke is clearly too sensitive. Stocks will be better suited for him.”

One snap and Remus’ soles were in stocks with the toes pulled back by string.

“Let’s start again but this time, start from the heel and create motions upward.”

Virgil nodded again before going back to the soft tickling method. Remus was laughing but not screaming, just tittering and chortling. A hiccup or two would escape his lips but not much else.

“Now, we will continue with the gargalesis method.” “Wait. WAIT! I like the other method!” “I see. So, what you are saying to me, Remus… is that you enjoy the pleasure of softer, feathery sensations on your feet than rougher ones? Does this have to do with your heavy fixation of feet? Or is it just your feet that give you that sensation? Does this happen every time others get their feet tickled or just when yours are the subject of torment, hm?”

Remus covered his face as it was going crimson red. Janus watched as all of this happened. Though his arms were in bonds, he was at least able to sit up on the lab table.

“I require an adequate answer, Remus. One that is preferable would be: 'Yes or No'. You may continue further explanation if warranted or needed.” “Ihihihihi cahahan’t?” “Hmm… I think I can work with that answer. So tell me, Remus, does tickling your soles give you a boost in oxytocin also known as the 'cuddle hormone'? It might even give off the feelings that take place when dopamine is involved. Is that correct, Remus?” “Nohohohohohoho!” “‘No’? Well, that can’t be possible. Considering both of those hormones are required to have emotional and even physical connections with others. Are you saying that hormones are not the reason for any of these feelings that come from the experiencing tickling?” “Yehehehehehehes!” “This is a very confusing subject matter. At one point, you answered 'No', indicating that you do not have an increase in oxytocin or dopamine when you experience tickling and now you are confirming that you do. Which one is it, Remus? I would like a real response from you this time. Yes or no answers will be considered as an informal statement.”

Remus couldn’t respond. With all of this going on, Janus took in what Remus was trying to say.

“He…” “Oh! The other subject would like a chance to add to the conversation. You may speak for Remus if he is unable to do so himself.” “He has confided in me that he likes getting his feet tickled and can barely stand when others are getting them treatment in front of him unless it is something like a spa visit. It’s not so much a 'fetish', as in if you push your foot in his face, he will not go… uhh… hard… he will just be extremely flustered to say the least.” “Is that true, Remus?”

Remus nodded his head. Logan rolled his eyes and got up to walk over to Janus’ bed.

“I will take that as an answer. You are free to leave, Remus.”

Logan snaps and the instructive aspect disappeared. Now, all eyes were on Janus.

“Now, on to you, Janus.”

Logan summoned the forbidden black folder. All of the secrets even Janus didn’t know about were stored there.

“Your feet are the most sensitive area on your being, correct?” “I… suppose that’s true, yes.” “Does tickling your feet the same way as Remus have the same effects on?” “I don’t think so.”

Logan nodded before going over to the stocks and placing both of Janus’ soles in them before he summoned a similar makeup brush like Virgil had used earlier.

“We will begin with methods of knismesis. We will start on your human half and compare it to your other, scaled half.”

Well, the theory was proven most false. Janus clearly was more sensitive to softer tickles on his right opposed to his left. Using hands were a bit different depending on pressure points, methods, and teases used.

“For you to be one that usually teases us, you sure are sensitive to it being given to you.”

Janus flushed even more at the statement, bringing him closer to cackling louder than before.

“Now it’s time for methods of gargalesis.”

“What is it you wanted to show me Remus? And why do we have to go all the way down to the pier for it?” Janus asked as he followed his brother down towards the docks “i told you it’s a suprise! It won’t be fun if I spoil it!” Remus grinned as they walked up onto the wooden planks leading out on the water

“Ugh.. fine. Are we at least there yet?” Janus asked with a sigh, trying to hide his amusement do his brothers excitement as well as his own curiosity as the two looked out on the water.

“Yep, we’re here! Ta da!” Remus smiled triumphantly gesturing to the ocean “ta da for what? The water?” Janus teased raising a eyebrow at Remuses antics.

“Noo silly! Just wait they’ll come” Remus smiled laying down on his stomach to look into the water, reaching down to splash his hands into it like a toddler.

Janus meanwhile just shook his head fondly before sitting down beside Remus, even if this trip didn’t have a point it was nice to be down by the water anyway, calm and fresh air.

The calm however only lasted a minute more before Remus started giggling looking into the water as if he had spotted something he liked.. Janus leant forwards and looked into the water beside his brother only to be caught off guard by something GiGANTIC swimming up towards them.. wait there was another one ! And a third!

“See? I told ya they would come heheh~” Remus said grinning with glee as the large creatures got closer to the surface.

Remus would have almost jumped into the water if Janus hadn’t taken hold of the back of his clothes and dragged him back from his now hanging off the docks position looking down into the water.

“What the hell are those?!” Janus said slightly panicked by the size of the creatures who, when surfaced a few moments later revealed themselves to be gigantic squid. Not only colossal but so much larger!

“Their my bloopies! Inky pinky’s, calamari comrades-“ Remus rambled clapping his hands smiling slightly balancing on his heels. (Happy stimming?)

“Okay okay okahay.. so you are friends with the big squids?” Janus asked pointing up at them, glancing at the creatures as they oddly enough looked like they were waiting patiently for the right time to interact. Almost as if they could sense januses confusion.

“Yep! And don’t worry they are pescatarian so they don’t eat snake” Remus reassured playfully bumping his shoulder into januses side. Adding “and you spend your time with gigantic snakes! This isn’t much different” Remus shrugged

“Okayy Thats fair, well.. they seem calm at least, for now..” Janus said, still a little unsure but he wanted to trust his brother.

“Oh don’t worrryyy, their gentle!” Remus grinned mischievously as Janus gave him a glance of : what are you scheming now?

And before he knew it he felt a tentacle wrap around his waist and pick him up like a doll.

“What the fuck?! Remus what are they doing?! Did you plan this? Of course you did! Dumb question of me” Janus rambled in a slightly panicked tone mostly out of shock and surprise from being suddenly picked up like this.

“Maaayybbee I did, maybbbe I didn’t.. well. Either way, have fun!” Remus said waving enthusiastically up at his bother who was practically trapped in a tentacle hug before spinning on his heel and starting to walk off, whistling a small tune to himself “and then he waddled a way.. and then he waddled away.. da da da da, da da !” Remus sang to himself ignoring the shouts form Janus behind him

“hey! Come back here and get me down! I didn’t consent to this!-“ Janus said before taking a big breath and sighing in defeat as Remus sunk into the sand as if it was quicksand.

Leaving Janus alone with the gigantic squids “so I am guessing there’s no persuading you three either? Hm?” Janus said looking behind him and the one who hand caught him and glancing at the two others.

“I’ll take the silance as a nooo.. great, just what I needed as if earlier today wasn’t enough” Janus mumbled to himself, he had been in another argument with Roman, though he didn’t want to think of it now. And he was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when his top hat was stolen by the winds, luckily the second squid caught it and placed it on the dock securely hanging on one of the log poles

“Ah, thank you for saving it..” Janus said a little more softly this time, feeling his stomach drop a little when he was pulled backwards and up against the squid he was captured by’s body,

“Eeey! What?- oh.. this is a little nice actually.. hm” Janus mumbled to himself as he was hugged by lots of tentacles. That were more comfy than he liked to admit, but no one was here to see it so he let himself lean into the hug. It even felt a little familiar to his own animal companions hugging him.

“You are really gentle giants huh? Not the monsters people think you are..” Janus said “I kinda know how you feel.. well expect the size thing” he chuckled briefly before relaxing into the hug more. It was comforting for the frankly touchstarved snake.

The squids however when hearing Janus start cheering up a little they all wanted to cheer him up even more and hear the laugh again.

Having learned from Remus how to cheer people up and more specifically land dwellers in the imagination, Thats when Janus felt something squishy poke the lower back of his side “Ey! Ohoh don’t you start!” Janus started saying, pointing a accusing finger towards the squid trying to twist around to face them.

however when his back was turned he suddenly felt another squid poke from the other side this time targeted on his ribcage. In turn making it very difficult to concentrate on both looking intimidating and not laughing or smiling.

He tried, he really did but he couldn’t hold the facade long and soon broke into chuckles “okahay~okahay you got me!- hEhEY!” Janus squealed, (much to his own embarrassment) when he felt two tentacles slip under his arms and start wiggling prompting him to start trying to coil himself up, closing his arms as tightly he could against his body to try and block out the tickly sensation.

“Shshshihihihit- gehehet ohout!” Janus giggled throwing his head back and slightly kicking his legs. the squids, having been taught by Remus didn’t exactly listen and instead added another tentacle to snatch Janus's leg and give his knee a few gentle squeezes that were made so much worse by the squishy feeling from the sucker on it, circling the kneecap and adding a little extra to ticklish feeling.

“Nohot whahat I mHEhent! Eheh-“ Janus started cackling from laughter, a giddy smile permanently glued to his face.

“Ohoh don’t you dare- Ehehehehahaha~” Janus burst out as the squids found his belly wiggling and lightly scratching at the spot, even using their suckers to give tiny kisses. But being careful not to pull on the skin.

“okahahay, okahay- Yohou win! Yohou win!” Janus giggled as the tickles started to slow down and he felt himself get wrapped up in the tentacles like some sort of blanket.

“You learned that form Remus right?” Janus teased, chuckling and shaking his head as the squids somehow looked sheepish at the question.

“I think I needed that laugh more than I thought” Janus smiled softly, feeling himself get into a little cuddly mood as he got comfy in the squid's hug.

Maybe he could take a ting nap.. just 5 minutes.. maybe 10 actually..

Roman rose up without any warning. "I'm in trouble!"

The other sides all looked at him. He seemed deceptively happy about what he just said.

Logan, after a beat, slowly closed his book. "Alright. Let's hear it."

"Are you okay, kiddo?" Patton asked, moving towards him.

"It's a prank," Virgil chimed in. He hadn't moved from his position on the stairs, eyeing Roman with a distinct suspicion. "It's April Fools' day, remember?"

"Correct on both accounts, my fine fearful friend!" Roman said. "It is April Fools' Day, and I am in the middle of a prank-- but not on anyone in this room!"

The other sides looked at each other before Patton asked a wary, "Who... is the prank for, Roman?"

The prince opened his mouth, but no words came out as another side appeared in the room.

"Ah," Roman said instead, eyes sparkling, "good morrow, Janus! To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Janus, for all intents and purposes, seemed almost surprised to see the other sides as they were to see him. His eyes flicked around the room somewhat frantically.

"Oh, goody," he hissed, "more people. Exactly what I wanted, Roman, thank you."

"Janus?" Patton asked. "What's up, kiddo?"

Clearing his throat, Janus tried to straighten up, but there was something off about the way he was holding his hands clutched against his chest. He breathed deeply, then winced, like even that was too much movement.

"Our... lovely Roman," he gritted out, "decided it would be oh so funny to... alter... my gloves, for this ridiculous 'holiday'."

"You don't like April Fool's Day, Janus?" Logan asked.

"Not when the joke's on him," Virgil replied. His lips were beginning to quirk up. "I don't know what Princey did, but if you hate it, I love it."

Patton made a wounded noise. "Wh- no, guys! If Janus doesn't like being pranked, he shouldn't have to be!"

"Kinda think you don't really understand pranks, Pat," Virgil said. "You're not meant to ask for permission before you do it."

Janus shot him an icy look. "Well in that case, I'm sure you won't mind it the next time Roman decide to enchant your clothes to--"

He froze, the human side of his face going darker.

"Roman." Logan said. "Do I even need to ask if that's true, or should we just skip to you telling us what you did to Janus' gloves."

"Nothing permanent, nothing scarring, and nothing you wouldn't approve of, Teach." Roman smirked at Janus, who looked like he was trying to murder Roman with his eyes. "Why don't you tell them, Janus?"

"You--"

And then Roman snapped, and Janus screamed.

"No!" He gasped, clawing at his gloves. "Enough! E-nough-- nahahahahaha!"

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Ah. I see. I do approve."

"Fuck off," Janus spat, but the impact was greatly lessened by the desperate giggles falling from his mouth. He moved like he couldn't control his body, his torso desperately wiggling back and forth and his knees buckling. Through peals of laughter he tugged desperately at the edges, but whatever magic Roman had done clearly meant those gloves would only come off when he was ready.

"Oh, my gosh," Patton whispered, enraptured. "You gave him tickle gloves!"

"Lined with a thousand invisible feathers, all programmed to move according to body heat and hand movement," Roman said proudly. He shot Janus a sidelong look, grin widening. "Or when I tell them to, of course."

"A breheheheak!" Janus squealed, stamping his feet on the ground. "Plehehehease!"

"No, hang on, Roman, I don't think I get it," Virgil said gleefully. "Why don't you explain it to me again? Much slower this time, please."

"Why certainly, Virgil! You see--"

Janus kicked Roman in the shin.

"Fuck!"

"A break you bitch!" he shrieked.

"Come on, Ro, let him breathe," Patton said, although he was clearly enjoying the show as much as any of them. Roman hemmed and hawed, but acquiesced, snapping his fingers again.

Immediately Janus clutched his hands to his chest again. "You bitch."

"You said that already." Roman clearly wasn't offended, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "Now, they've heard my side, Janus-- how do you feel about the gift I got for you?"

Indignation flicked across Janus' face. "Oh, yes, what a marvelous gift, transforming one of my favorite accessories into a-- a death trap."

"Inaccurate," Logan supplied helpfully. "We can't die."

"Y--" Janus sighed. "Thank you, Logan."

"You know, I'm a little bit surprised," Patton said. "I never really thought about hands being very ticklish before."

"Oh, Patton, you've been missing out," Virgil said. "Janus' hands are super ticklish. Especially the backs, it makes him fucking nuts."

Roman nodded. "I believe he once described the sensation to me as 'electric tingles from his nails to his elbows'. It sounded absolutely delightful, frankly, so I thought I'd give him a little gift!"

Janus clicked his tongue but made no further comment; he couldn't-- even when he kept as still as possible, the gloves still radiated a buzzy ticklish energy that ran across the thin skin of his hands and set his nerves alight. It took all of his energy to not laugh again, settling for taking shaky breaths and shifting back and forth on his feet.

"You've made your point," he hissed to Roman. "Change them back now, please."

He didn't have to argue anymore: Roman snapped again, but as Janus flinched again in anticipation of the oncoming tickles, he was instead faced with the tingles ceasing entirely. He blinked, and Roman shrugged.

"You said please," he said pleasantly.

"... I said please earlier," Janus grumbled, face flushed. Belatedly he yanked off his gloves, shaking out his hands and rubbing them together to dispel the leftover tickles.

"Oh, here, let me--" Patton reached out a hand, but Janus shrank away, hissing furiously.

"Woah!" He put his hands up placatingly. "I was just gonna hold your gloves for you, kiddo. I didn't mean to scare you!"

"No, you--" Janus started, then stopped. He looked around the group. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Oh, shit, you're jumpy," Virgil laughed. "We're not gonna do it again, dude. You can chill."

"Indeed," Logan said. "The prank was amusing, but you wanted it to stop, so it did."

Janus felt wrong footed. "Of course. I knew that. Obviously."

"Wow, that was really clever, Roman," Patton said. "Oh! Can you do a prank on me next? But don't tell me what it is! Just tell me when it's about to happen and what I should do to make it work."

"You got it, Padre." Roman winked, and one by one all the Sides sank down until it was just him and Janus. The latter was staring at the wall, pretending he couldn't feel Roman's pointed stare.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Roman smirked. Wordlessly he held out his hand, and after a few long beats, Janus shot a hand out and place it in his palm.

"That's what I thought," Roman replied smugly. God, he was a bastard. Janus should tell him that. Except it was kind of hard to talk now that Roman's fingers were scratching gently along the back of his hand, what with the giggles freely falling from his lips again.

Patton giggled. He had a mustache of sweet fluff on his lip as he set down his mug and drew his quill. “Oh, I can’t say about that. But I do know Santa will have lots of ideas as to what to get you kids if you DO stay on the nice list.” He dipped the quill tip in his inkwell, humming with an audible grin. “Of course, I can’t imagine why you WOULDN’T be on the nice list…”

Janus crossed one leg over his knee and tapped his foot in a subtle but delighted rhythm. “Patton, lying at this time of year?” he tutted. “That nice list is slippery, you know. And lying around me, no less.” Janus leaned forward enough that the hissing chuckle that spread his lips into a smile could tickle Patton’s ear. “Is that my Christmas present?”

Ducking out of reach with a snort, Patton replied, “It’s not lying if I believe you all deserve the best gifts.” He turned to give Janus a boop on the nose with the fluffy end of his quill. “And it’s NOT the gift I have written down, I’ll have you know.”

For a moment, Janus’ eyes caught on the feather–a beautiful thing of blue and iridescent greens and purples that felt as soft as it looked–but curiosity shook him free, and he looked past the writing tool, blurring the beautiful colors as he focused his gaze on the page of just-dry ink. “It’s not?”

“Hey now!” Patton threw out his arm and leaned to one side so as to block Janus’ view. “No peeking!”

Undeterred, Janus didn’t fall back, just snickered and looked at Patton levelly. “What? I hardly need to know what you think I need for gifts.” He rested his chin in his hand, batting his eyelashes and tapping his cheek with his index finger. “But, say, what if I need ideas for our gift swap with the others? You know how hard Logan is to buy for.” (Untrue; Logan wasn’t hard to buy for, just irritatingly specific, which took out all the fun of surprising someone with their gift. Janus did love a good surprise.)

Eyes narrowed, Patton considered this before shaking his head and turning back to his makeshift desk. “No peeking,” he reiterated firmly. “Sensitive information here, for no one’s eyes but Mr Claus himself.” He paused, musing, then smiled. “Or his secretary. He is a busy guy.”

Janus nodded with a humoring hum. He sipped his coffee, nonchalantly scooting on the couch to be closer to Patton. If the scribe noted the movement, he didn’t mind, even leaning back against Janus’ calf and continuing to write. Janus waited a moment, then another, letting Patton’s guard slowly fall. The snake was hardly invested in letters to Santa Claus, but he did enjoy teasing and getting a rise out of Patton. And, who knows, maybe Janus would end up with someone with a scant wish-list and need a gift idea or two to fall back on. When the air felt calm enough to chance it, Janus leaned forward to peek over Patton’s shoulder.

Quick as a cobra, Patton had whirled around, brandishing his feather quill at Janus. “AH!” he admonished, tipping his head to one side and flashing a warning smile. “You better watch out.”

“You better not cry,” Janus replied with a smirk, leaning back a bit with his hands and mug raised placatingly. “Or what, Patton dear?”

Patton’s lower lip puffed out thoughtfully, and he hummed, clicking his tongue a few times. Janus waited, eyebrows raised and lips crookedly elevated. Then, Patton’s scrunched up thinking face relaxed before brightening into a big smile. He didn’t answer Janus’ question, just turned back to his list. Moreover, he didn’t move away but stayed close enough to be leaned up against Janus’ leg and, potentially, surely, observed by Janus’ looming eyes. The risk was worth the reward, and it would have been punishment to both of them to move apart. (It was nature for a Side, however deeply buried; even the prickliest of them liked company and a cuddle. And pushing their luck.)

Janus took a long sip from his drink and sighed, opening his mouth exaggeratedly wide both because it felt nice and because it tended to freak out any Sides who saw. He leaned forward, reaching purposely past Patton to set down his mug on the far side of the coffee table, securing for himself the perfect view of Patton’s cursive scrawl as well as the ideal perch to view it from, his chin resting upon the soft sweater fabric of Patton’s shoulder. Actually, it was cozy enough there, warm and soothing to the tune of Patton’s breathing and humming, and hard enough to read Patton’s handwriting from that distance, that Janus was content to close his eyes and not even try to peek. So he jumped a little, blinking in confusion, when Patton spoke again, but not quite to his current companion.

“‘And what do I ask of you dear Janus? Well, Santa, that’s quite simple. For my dear Janus, I want him to get the biggest and best–’” Patton paused, striking through the last word of his dictation with a flourish. “‘–the WORSE lee mood for Christmas.’”

Patton glanced sideways at him and smiled when Janus snickered. His head bobbed a bit atop the pleased wiggle that shook Patton’s shoulders. It wasn’t exactly a difficult thing to ask for for Christmas. The Sides, different as they could be, could all find fun in being tickled or making someone else laugh, so moods longing for one or the other were not uncommon. Sure, Virgil was more likely to be yearning for an onslaught of gentle belly tickles, whereas Remus would be more often found with fingers twitching in hopes of digging up screams from between someone’s ribs, and Logan could slide back and forth along that scale in a second. But still, it was a safe bet that someone in the Mind Palace was hoping to be or happy to be tickled. Because even if, somehow, no one was actively in a lee mood, one could pretty easily be teased out. Janus fell in the middle of the chaos, fluid like Logan in the part he was ready to play–tickle monster or squealing victim–and not one to be easily teased into a mood–not to be knocked over with a feather, so to say. Sure, seeing Patton twirl his feather quill thoughtfully and being actively threatened with a lee mood–not even being tickled, just infected with the desire to be–may have flustered Janus well enough, but he was cozy enough where he sat to weather the attack. So he only smiled, smug, closing his eyes and staying cuddled up, however awkwardly leaning, up against Patton’s shoulder.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so trusting.

“‘The kind of lee mood that makes you feel so warm and giddy and fuzzy,’” Patton went on, and Janus could hear the big smile around his words, “‘like just thinking about being tickled makes you feel tinsel between your toes and snowflake soft feathers on your belly. I want him to be so happy and flustered that he can only giggle and hiss and do that cute thing where he shakes his legs and taps his feet.’”

They didn’t live in a place with snowy winters, but Janus felt a phrase often used in that region come to mind: deceptively sunny. It was the scenario when one looked out the window to marvel at a beautiful winter landscape, blanketed in crystalline snow and brilliant beneath a crisp blue sky and bright sun, only to step outside and take in a breath that felt like a crackling snap in the lungs. Sunny, but cold. That was Patton. Warm, friendly, happy, but, just beneath, positively wicked. Freezing cold and sharp under a pretty sun, a hot spiced drink under sweet white fluff. Janus felt his stomach turn, swoop like at the drop in a roller-coaster, and burst with a blizzard of butterflies. He couldn’t look away from Patton’s quill as it bobbed, scrawling teases into paper that Janus was suddenly jealous of. Okay, maybe he was easier to tease a mood from than he cared to admit.

And perhaps Patton could read his mind, because he conveniently exclaimed, “‘Oh, and teases! Yes! He needs to get all the teases that make his cheeks go red and his scales change color!’”

Janus’ scales were certainly not doing anything of the sort when Patton paused in writing. He pursed his lips, smiled, and jumped back into his letter.

“‘And, you know, I think this mood’s gotta last until Christmas day, so maybe you can send him some tickly dreams in the meantime, too! Maybe twelve days of them would be fitting?’” Patton’s tongue poked between his top and bottom teeth as he giggled. He cleared his throat, donning a more serious face for continuing his letter to Santa. “‘If that’s too much, don’t worry about it; I’d be happy to take some of the work off your hands. I’m actually writing this letter to you with a beautiful feather quill I got for my birthday–Roman said he just knew I’d get a kick out of being fancy while writing letters. But it’s a beautiful plume, my favorite kind of teal blue and so soft to the touch.’”

‘Writing’ was a stretch; Patton wasn’t even touching the pen to the paper anymore, just twirling the pretty thing between his fingers. It was as long as a hand, with the non-writing end fanning out into a subtle fluffy curl. Its fibers seemed to float lazily as Patton waved the quill around, and Janus imagined they were so delicate as to not even be felt–until they found a place so sensitive on the body that they wouldn’t be ignored. Janus’ usually dark eyes and slitted pupils were bright and dilated, focused so on the gossamer feather that he took little note of Patton looking sideways at him, watching his reactions, with a grin.

Patton sighed dreamily. “‘I bet it would feel so nice tracing down Janus’ neck or around his belly or along his hips. Or circling every scale he has.’” When he smirked at Janus, he would have seen the scales on his face flushed a dark brown-gold. “‘Maybe what I should actually ask you to bring is a good tickle session for Janus on Christmas, and I can do the teasing the twelve days before. Whatever you decide, please know that I am a very good judge of character, and I know that Janus has been SO good this year–’”

Janus’ stomach did another giddy loop-de-loop when Patton chuckled and adjusted his glasses.

“I suppose you’re right, Jan; I should be honest, shouldn’t I?” Patton winked, and Janus’ face may have been warm enough to toast marshmallows on. “‘I know that Janus has been VERY naughty this year, and, so, deserves only the sweetest, meanest, most thorough lee mood, teasing, and wrecking that he’s had all year. And, if your present to me is that I get to deliver this for Janus, I certainly wouldn’t complain. Sincerely yours, Patton.’”

Patton’s smile didn’t falter when Janus stood abruptly from his seat, but his eyebrows did rise expectantly. “I’ve finished my coffee,” Janus answered before Patton could ask. “If you’ll excuse me.” Clutching his half-full mug tightly in his hand, Janus skirted widely around the coffee table and death sentence of a Christmas list. He stopped short at the bottom of the stairs, turning to give Patton a forcibly cool nod. “Thank you for your company.”

After a few startled blinks, Patton snorted and held a hand to his rosy freckled cheek. “Signed, sealed, delivered,” he said to Janus with a grin and a shake of his head. “It’s a little too late to try and get on the nice list now~”

Janus fled calmly up the stairs, ears flushed at the last sight of Patton waving the feather quill to him in farewell.

~*~

The teal fluffy feather was all Janus could see, later–minutes? hours? days? he really couldn’t say–when he lay buried beneath his duvet, trying to pat the heat and smile from his cheeks. The trick really was not to think about it, all the lovely teases Patton had wished for him, but how could he do that when that damn feather was running rampant in his brain, dusting all his thoughts to make them tickly. He had just finished his coffee, too, so he couldn’t even hope to drift off for a cozy little nap. It’d be just his luck though; he’d probably get a dream that would fluster him awake or the second he awoke.

With a huff of a sigh, Janus threw off the covers. If the call was coming from inside the house, there was no point in hiding; if his mind was the monster, a blanket wasn’t going to save him. Besides that, the heat of his sweater and flushing cheeks was beginning to make the bubble of space between his blanket and his bed feel like an oven. He sat up enough to free himself from his sweater and dropped it off the side of the bed and onto the discarded blankets before falling onto his back. If his mind was going to torture him, at least, his body could be comfortable.

But, Janus’ mind sang unhelpfully, now he bore even less protection if some lovely monster slithered down the chimney to leave tickly stardust in his socks and pin him to his bed and–

The pillow previously behind Janus’ head was wailed frustratedly into before it, too, was thrown off the bed. Janus forced himself to take a long, slow breath, burying his fingers in the fabric of his sheets. Okay. Clearly, the lee mood was too grand already to try and wall completely off. Trying to ignore it (and ultimately failing to do so) was just making him irritated. But then, he was too worked up and embarrassed to act on his wants, to ask for it. The very thought was mortifying. Maybe there was a safe middle ground. Maybe he could let the dam leak a little, let the thoughts trickle in. He could handle that, he wouldn’t drown. (He would be dramatic, but he wouldn’t drown.) Surely, he could let himself think about it, a little. Patton had already infected him with the feather fever, after all. Janus figured he might as well try to enjoy it.

Breathing came slower and easier when Janus brought himself to that compromise. He could close his eyes, rein in his agitated leg twitching, wade gently into the pool of his mind.

The image of the quill came back to his mind, and he welcomed it, accompanied it with soft touch from his own hand. As the cerulean feather twirled about, dancing amid the sugarplum visions it had made of his thoughts, Janus traced his fingertips over his belly. With his eyes shut, he could almost pretend the feather to be the perpetrator of the feeling, the gentle swishing back and forth along the border between skin and scales. It was a lovely feeling that made his stomach--just beneath the light show of beautiful sensation--ache with longing.

What else could he imagine? Patton had given him a few cheesy seasonal teasing suggestions, which was kind since Janus wasn't the most creative of the Sides--not the least, but not the most. Janus pictured tinsel, silver and shimmery and soft, threaded between his toes and sawed delicately. His breath caught for a moment, and his toes scrunched against the imaginary sensation. How tauntingly on the edge of feeling.

What else could he imagine? Through his closed eyes, he could see the feather swirling gentle but relentless loops around his belly and scales. He could see the tinsel under his toes. He could see Patton’s smile, his fingers curling and uncurling above Janus’ quivering abdomen. Just a little closer…

Janus sat up, burying his flushed face in his hands. Twelve days of anticipation like this would be its own torture.

A knock to the rhythm of ‘Jingle Bells’ sounded from his door. Janus gave his red cheeks one last chastising pat, floundered for a moment on where to lay his limbs to act natural, and settled on resting his hands on his knees. “Come in.”

When the door opened, the first thing to enter was the bright red and white of a Santa hat, followed by Patton’s merry smile. “Hey, kiddo! You busy?”

“Depends,” said Janus with a hollow scoff. “Did you need more help planning holiday torment, or did you want to bake cookies or something?”

Patton snorted, wiggling his shoulders proudly as he fully entered the room and shut the door. He clasped his hands behind his back, swaying his hips forward and back. “Mm, a bit in between,” Patton decided. “Mean, but still sweet.”

Janus swallowed, trying very hard to bar the dam of his thoughts to keep his hopes from running away from him. “Oh?”

“Well, Santa got back to me,” said Patton, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms with a big sigh. “I know, no time wasted; he is a professional, after all.” He shook his head and smiled sadly, but his eyes were sparkling. “But he said that even he couldn’t make a lee mood and wrecking as wonderful as I asked for in such a short turnaround. So!” Patton adjusted his hat and stood tall, beaming. “He said I should most certainly fill in!”

For someone whose thoughts had just been flooded with elated relief, Janus’ mouth was quite dry. He wouldn’t have to wither away the winter waiting. Patton’s hands and feathers and tinsel and smile were near and real. Janus felt a funny mix of gratefulness and annoyance, seeing as how Patton had been the one to drop him into such a state in the first place. But then, he was too excited already to be annoyed. “Oh,” he said again.

“If you’re not busy.” Patton took a step further into the room.

“Well–” Janus started to say.

“You don’t look busy,” said Patton. Two more steps took him to the edge of Janus’ bed, where he stood, head cocked and smile crooked. “You look like you were expecting me.”

Such rare smugness from Patton was enough to snap Janus from flustered to–well, he was certainly still flustered, but also–indignant. His mouth hung open, and, when no words miraculously filled the empty space, Janus stuck out his forked tongue.

“Don’t be naughty,” Patton chastised with a giggle. “I wrote you a song. May I sit with you and sing it for you?”

Janus nodded, pushing himself up with his hands so as to scoot back and make room for Patton on the bed, but Patton stopped with a gentle hand on his knee.

“Lie back and get comfy,” Patton instructed with a grin. “It’s not a short song.”

His sweater and blankets had already been tossed to the floor; Janus had neither protection nor a saving excuse when the heat in his face spread to his ears and down his neck. He lay back, resting his hands on either side of his head, and, mercifully, Patton commented on neither Janus’ flush nor his eagerness. Instead, Patton whistled a little yuletide carol, climbing onto the bed and kneeling over Janus’ legs. He didn’t settle yet, but turned his torso toward the foot of the bed and tugged off his Santa hat, holding it behind his back and out of Janus’ sight. But Janus could still hear as the hat was held open and its previously unseen contents came tumbling out, rattling like cartoon pots and pans fell onto the sheets. Janus had a guess as to what the hidden pile may have included, but he couldn’t fathom how Patton had managed to hide such a trove so impossibly under his hat. Said hat was placed on Janus’ head as soon as Patton had turned to face forward again, the puff of it being booped on Janus’ nose. Janus' face scrunched up in feigned distaste and fruitless effort to keep from smiling anticipatorily.

Patton adjusted himself to kneel fully and comfortably on Janus’ legs, reaching behind him for a moment to neaten up the mystery gifts from Santa’s hat, then faced Janus once more with a smile. “Alright.” Leaning forward a bit to hunch his shoulders and flex his fingers, Patton began to softly sing. “On the first day of Christmas, I count on my merry lee~”

Janus let out a groaning chuckle. Of course, Patton would come up with the silliest teasing twist on a seasonal song. A song which–Janus realized, derision turning to giddy panic–often had twelve verses that only got longer. He yelped, startled from his thoughts by a sudden whispering soft sensation swirling over his lower belly, and came face to face with the evil feather that had started the whole ordeal. Patton circled the teal feather around Janus’ navel, grinning at the smile straining to be free from Janus’ bitten lower lip.

“A giggle button on his belly~” Patton set the feather by his knee and reached behind him with both hands. “On the second day of Christmas, I count on my darling lee…” And, instead of grabbing a new tool, Patton scribbled his fingers up and down Janus’ soles, prompting a squeal and buck from the man. “Two wiggling feet,” Patton sang, before swinging his hands back in front of himself to dance upon Janus’ stomach once more, “and a giggle button on his belly~”

Second verse cleared, ten more to go. It was too late for Janus to curb his smile–the thing had taken off and spread its wingspan across his cheeks–but he could keep from laughing, he could. He had to. Because, of course, it wasn’t just ten more verses in single phrases; it was ten verses consecutive to all the verses that came before. Janus’ mind was too scrambled to do the math on how many teases in total he was about to endure–he was excited to endure.

“On the third day of Christmas, I count on my dashing lee…” Patton fell forward, hovering above Janus nose-to-nose and grinning. The heels of his hands came to rest on Janus’, his fingers sliding up Janus’ palms until their digits were parallel and easily intertwinable. Janus didn’t know whether this move was a moment of mercy early on or of false security, and he tried to hold Patton’s hands and take as deep of breaths as his cantering heart would allow. Patton squeezed his hands once before curling his own fingers inward. Janus’ eyebrows furrowed in confusion before shooting up in realization, just in time for Patton’s nails to scratch delicately along the palms of Janus’ hands. “Three pairs of twitchy palms~”

Janus snorted, and he would have blamed the tickling, if anyone had asked. No way, no way, was Patton going to get him to unfurl his other two sets of arms into a visible and tangible state. Even if doing so would gain Janus four more terribly ticklish spots to be doted upon… No. He would not so willfully participate in his own demise.

Most all his resistance dissipated into delighted terror when Patton drew back, aiming his wiggling fingers behind him until they touched down to rake Janus’ heels. “Two wiggling feet~”

Janus held his breath and clenched his jaw. He’d already let a little laughter sound loose; even if it was a relief to do so, it was too early in the marathon to let himself go. Wasn’t it?

“And a giggle button on his belly~”

Poor Janus arched his back and threw his head into the mattress as Patton’s fingers danced around his stomach, trailing long slow paths from the bottom of his ribcage to the top of his hips and back up again. On the second trip, Patton changed techniques, using one hand for featherlight skating down Janus’ sensitive skin and using the other for just a bit rougher scratching down his scales. At last, the giggly dam crumbled, and, albeit through his grinning teeth and scrunched nose, Janus began to laugh, a hissing breathy happy sound.

Patton hummed, pleased, and sung on. “On the fourth day of Christmas, I count on my cutie lee…”  From where his hands splayed on Janus’ waist, it was easy as fruit cake for Patton to slide them around until he was holding Janus in a hug, warm but made menacing by his nails sudden scurrying into Janus’ lower back. “Four spine-y squeezes~”

Grabbing at his hat to hold himself still, Janus cackled, shoving his back down into the mattress in attempt to make the spot inaccessible for Patton, but to no avail. Still, he didn’t even have time to get used to the sensation before the song went marching on. Patton gently pried Janus’ hands free to scribble into his palms, fell back onto his legs to skitter down his soles, and bowed forward to dig into the soft flesh of his stomach.

“On the fifth day of Christmas, I count on my love-a-lee…” The flurry of movement from the last verse had paused, and Patton lay, for a moment, his cheek still on Janus’ panting midsection. Janus kept his guard up, though. Haggard as he was, he felt vindicated when he saw the mischievous twinkle in Patton’s eyes immediately before he took a big breath and blew a vibrating raspberry in Janus’ belly. The hilarious and heinous weapon was matched in volume by Janus’ wail of laughter. “Five raspberries!” Patton lifted his head, beaming. Janus shook his head, too breathless to form words and soon swept up once more in a tidal wave of howling humor as Patton planted one, two, three, four more raspberries on Janus’ tummy. It certainly didn’t help that all the Sides had slight stubble growing recently; the scratch of Patton’s peach fuzz, especially on Janus’ scales, made for the most awful raspberries he’d probably ever felt.

No rest for the wicked; Patton’s song carried on. Janus, through quite brutal a memorization process, was starting to get used to the pattern mentally, but not physically. The jumping from spot to spot was too sudden and speedy for him to get used to anything, so all he could do was brace for what he knew was coming next. Four scribbles down his spine (and shoulders, which Patton did not need to be so mean as to target), three pairs of palms subject to little but effective scratches, two feet menaced this time by that damn blue feather, and one belly button turning pink from aching laughter and attention.

“On the sixth day of Christmas, I count on my dearie lee… six ticklish armpits~” 

Another pause, during which Janus gulped giggly breaths before cracking an eye open. Like spiders cut loose from their webs, Patton’s hands descended, diving into Janus’ uppermost armpits with clawing fingers.

It was good that Janus had already let his laughter loose, because, when the newest bout of cachinnation rocked his frame, he needed all his resolve to hold his arms still. His grasp was white-knuckle tight on his arms and hair, and his laughing grin was wide enough to make his cheeks burn from the ache of exertion as well as the heat of elation. And then Patton took the elevator down to the next floor of terribly ticklish underarms. Janus’ elbows strained to flap, and his head whipped back and forth, shoving one chortling cheek and then the other into the bedspread. How long could this verse possibly be?

Another brutal raspberry to his belly amidst the armpit assault prompted a shriek from Janus. He couldn’t verbalize how unfair it was to double up on spots, and Patton’s explanation was hardly sympathetic. “Five!” Patton crowed, burying his face in Janus’ stomach to deliver vibrating lips and nuzzling stubble with each syllable. “Rasp! Ber! Ries!” For as much effort as Janus was using to keep still (aside from his thrashing laughing head and heaving stomach), he was startled at how easy a time Patton had muscling him halfway onto his side. That was definitely why he squealed, and not because Patton had finally moved down to scribbling into his lowest armpits with one jumping hand and feathering his lower back with the other.

“Four spiney squeezes~”

It was small but a mercy still that Patton didn’t make Janus release his ironclad grip on his own arms for the next stanza, settling instead on brushing that evil plume along his forearms and into the crooks of his elbows. (The song’s alignment to Patton’s actions had been askew from the start anyway, but Janus was having too much fun to nitpick.)

“Three pairs of twitchy palms~”

Perhaps unintentional, but there was another brief respite for Janus in the few seconds between Patton pulling back from his upper body to reach back for his feet. Very brief, maybe long enough for one guffaw to have a longer inhale than the rest before tumbling once more into wailing laughter as Patton’s fingers scribbled into his arches.

“Two wiggling feet~”

Patton pounced forward and giggled when Janus snorted amid his laughter, only to place a teasing kiss on his stomach.

“And a giggle button on his belly~”

If Janus wasn’t half-past loopy already, he would have marveled at Patton’s masterminding. This session was pure psychological evil. Janus was all heightened nerves and anticipation; after the reveal of what spot would start the new verse, he technically knew what was coming next, but he was still awash in thrill and terror, like he was experiencing each spot anew.

He also would have applauded six ticklish hands for Patton’s composition skills. Once they’d gotten to the tenth verse, it was a very smooth and terrible line up from Janus’ toes to his knees to his thighs to his hips. The next, eleven, was not so limited in its geography but its choreography, but Patton performed it wickedly. That beautiful quill was the star of it, and Patton made use of his ‘eleven feather swishes’ to waltz up Janus’ tummy, across his chest, dipping into his armpits, to his neck and ears–eleven was so many swishes. If he’d had the wherewithal and malice for it, Janus would have thrown Patton six calling birds for his villainy.

The echoes of the last verse and laughter lingering in the corners of the room, Janus lay, limp and gulping air through lingering giggles, eyes shut and an utterly relaxed smile upon his lips. Patton lay as well, still and content, his cheek resting on Janus’ stomach and his index fingers tracing the scales on his sides.

“How ya doin’, kiddo?” Patton asked with a sigh, chuckling when he received only a happy hissing exhale in reply. “I’m glad.” He sat up, tapping a little tune on Janus’ tummy and biting his lip. “You think you got it in you for one more verse?”

Janus’ eyes scrunched further shut, and he giggled at the mere thought of Patton’s proposal. He peeked through one eye and nodded.

“Okay.” Patton’s soft, fond smile sharpened into something sinister. “But, you know, darn it, I think I’ve forgotten the words. Do you remember them? Think you can sing it for me?”

Janus snorted at that. Yes, an excellent idea, let the snake whose brain had been reduced to happy goopy goofy mush come up with the words to the teasing song that had been his detriment. Don’t let him sink fully into elated sleepiness, make him force himself to stay awake enough to bear a bit more, draw out the session a little longer to make it truly the best Christmas gift… Upon deliberation, Janus could see the appeal. Mean but sweet, indeed. Janus pulled himself up, physically and mentally, assuming the familiar position of bracing his own arms and coaxing his mind from the edge of sleep. He’d certainly heard the verses enough times to know the words. He cleared his throat, voice hoarse and happy from laughing so long. “On the twelfth day of Christmas, the tickle monster gave to me: twelve heaving ribs– PATTON!”

The newest rendition of the song had been softer, wavering a bit, compared to Patton’s more confident and lilting tone. Well. It had been quieter, until Patton had unleashed hell upon Janus’ ribs. Vibrating, scratching fingers followed the furrows of the bones, left to right, and then raked down them like a washboard. Rinse, repeat.

Oh, Patton had been going easy on him all this time. That whole marathon thing had just been a prelude to the real event: the sprint.

“Yes, Janus dear?” Patton grinned. “Go on, just waiting for you to sing the next bit and tell me where to tickle!”

OH, not even a sprint–a sprint implied pushing it to the limit for a short time. This pseudo-sprint’s pace was to be determined by the man whose legs had been jelly for the past ten minutes. So it could have been a short time, if Janus let his shrieking, snorting laughter overtake him, or it could take as long as it took him to think coherently while being tickle tortured. A very, very long time. He really must have been on the naughty list.

Like with the previous, Janus had barely crowed out the next verse before Patton had that damn feather darting everywhere it could reach, his neck and ears and stomach mostly, until it could fly back to saw between his toes for the tenth day of Christmas. The feather flipped to scribble the quill end under Janus’ toes as Patton’s other hand squeezed up until it reached his knee. Nine. Both hands dove in to spider and scratch his thighs. Eight. Then to massage their thumbs into his hips bones. Seven.

Janus was a gay mess of exhausted but elated guffawing and kicking feet and flapping elbows. He could barely get out the words to direct Patton where to tickle next. If he’d been asked to lead a verse earlier in the session, he might have mucked up the order a bit on purpose to make it easier on himself. That option was out the window now, as he could hardly keep up with calling out spots as Patton was actively tickling them. He was swept up in the speed and brutality of the menacing of different spots, all scribbling nails and stubbly kisses. Patton was laughing with him, cheeks red from the upped pace of the activity and smile wide and beaming from getting to make Janus feel so happy and safe. He was jumping and falling between spots on the final countdown, half leading and half following Janus’ howling hymnal. With one final raspberry to Janus’ navel, the both of them collapsed in a cuddly heap, Patton rolling off Janus' body to hug him properly.

Eyes heavy and chest heaving as he took slow, deep, relaxing breaths, Janus gave Patton a boop on the nose with the Santa hat that sat crooked on his head. “Merry Christmas, meanie.”

Janus happened to be rambling up a storm towards Roman. And Roman, though he was trying to hide it, was growing visibly bored of Janus’s tangents. Virgil could notice this right away. And honestly, he was getting bored of Janus’s conversation topic too. So, Virgil gently pulled out his pet tarantula and very quietly snuck up to Janus. 

“So the whole myth of snakes asphyxiating their prey through squeezing them, is very much a lie that should be re-educated. Why they don’t have a separate unit on snakes in school is beyond me…because people could learn so much from these interesting creatures of the ground!” Janus explained. 

Roman’s eyes were about to shut for the 57th time that afternoon, when her eyes suddenly fell upon a black blob on top of Janus’s hat. Roman’s eyes adjusted to see the blog clearly, before realizing what it was: 

It was a spider! A big, hairy tarantula! Roman was about to bring it up, but quickly stopped himself when he saw Virgil’s head with a finger over his own mouth, gently ordering him to shush. 

Roman watched as Virgil shook his head menacingly at him, almost to say ‘You mention I’m here, and I will shove your sword down your throat’. Roman quickly focused back on Janus as best he could. Virgil’s scary when he’s making that face…But despite ‘listening’ to Janus’s conversation, Roman would keep sneaking glances at the tarantula…

…Especially when it would start crawling around. 

“The most well-known habitats for snakes are the woodland areas, the forests, and the deserts. Of course, each and every type of snake has scientifically evolved to survive their respective habitats-” 

The tarantula crawled across the hat to the right side, leaning towards the bill of the hat.

“The fact about snakes surviving their head being cut off, is scientifically true. However: the idea that decapitated snakes can keep living up until sundown? That is quite false. You see, the snake’s brain doesn’t require as much oxygen to survive-” 

The snake crawled itself down the right side of the hat, towards the head. 

“They could even actually last a couple hours before experiencing brain death! It’s incredible, really. Though I don’t know how they would eat without a jaw, or know where to go without eyes. That is something I need to look up myself.” 

The spider fell onto Janus’s shoulder. And with pure luck, Janus didn’t even feel it! 

“Spiders don’t have ears to hear music. But they do have the ability to feel vibrations like we can. Scientists have actually discovered that classical music and Indian music, when turned on in front of a snake, can have a calming effect on them.” 

The spider crawled up to his collarbone, and up to the yellow t-shirt Janus was currently wearing. 

“It has also been discovered that snakes- Agh!” Janus brought his hand up to his right shoulder, and slapped it. Roman widened his eyes, covering his mouth. Did Janus just smack at the tarantula?!

But amazingly, Janus actually managed to miss the spider by a single inch! And that spider, terrified by the sudden threat on its life, crawled itself right into Janus’s shirt from its U-neck opening. 

“aaAH! What the-” Janus started patting himself down and lifted up his shirt to get the tarantula out of his shirt. “Get out of thehere!” Janus reacted, showing a slight smile as he started wiggling around. 

Roman widened his eyes and watched curiously as Janus struggled to get the tarantula out. “Oh wow…” Roman mumbled. 

“Stuhupid tarantulahaha-’ Janus let out, hugging his stomach and doubling over without squishing the tarantula. “Vihihirgil! Yohohour tarahantula got ohohohout agahahahain!” Janus yelled, a wobbly, toothy smile filling his face. 

Roman smirked and leaned his chin on his own palm. “What’s wrong, Jay? A little ticklish?” Roman asked. 

Janus squeaked and arched his back, laughing in a way that sounded almost hissy…ya know…like a snake would. “Waitwaitwait PLEHEHEhease!” Janue ordered. “Hohohold ohon-” Janus untucked his shirt and lifted it up. “Gehehet ohohoff mehehehe!” Janus begged, reaching back for the tarantula. 

Virgil appeared from behind Janus. “You realize you’re talking to a tarantula, right?” Virgil reminded him, pointing to his tarantula. “He doesn’t understand you.” Virgil told him. 

“Yohohou!” Janus tippy-tapped his toes as he struggled to handle the ticklish crawling on his back. “Gehehet ihihit ohohohoff!” He reacted, reaching behind his back to try and get the tarantula. 

Virgil smiled and crossed his arms. “Nah. I rather enjoy seeing you laugh like this.” Virgil reacted. “You remember Janus, don’cha?” Virgil teased in a small sing-song voice. 

Janus fell to his stomach and kicked his feet like a little school girl. And located on his back, was a little black, hairy, crawling creature. Virgil scooped up the little tarantula into his hands and put the tarantula onto his shoulder. “There you go, little guy.” Virgil said. Roman walked up and very hesitantly moved his finger closer to the tarantula. “W-Wow…” He mumbled. “He’s your p-p-” 

“Pet?” Virgil clarified. “Yup. My one and only.” he replied. “You wanna hold him?” Virgil asked next. 

Roman widened his eyes and bit his lip. “Uhhh…” He let out some quick breaths. “Uhhhhhhhh- Sure.” He replied awkwardly. 

Virgil looked up at Roman, and tilted his head. “Are you scared? You don’t need to if you’re-” 

Roman placed his hands down in a bowl motion. “Do it anyway. Thomas needs to get over his fear of spiders somehow.” Roman told him. 

Virgil shrugged his shoulders and moved the tarantula towards his fingers. “Slowly?” Virgil asked. 

Roman nodded. “Yeah.” 

Virgil let the tarantula scope out Roman’s hand. It touched the fingers gently with its front left leg, before touching it with its front right leg next. Then…when it felt the coast was clear, the tarantula walked gently onto Roman’s fingers to his palms. “Ohoho bohohoy…” Roman mumbled. 

“You feel okay?” Virgil asked. 

“Y-Yeah…Ihi think…” Roman replied. 

“Okay. Will you be okay if he just stays on your hand for a bit? I have some…business to attend to.” Virgil asked. 

Roman nodded his head. “Sure. Go ahead.” Roman replied, putting on a brave face. “If I can beat the dragon, then I can handle a tarantula.” Roman declared. 

Virgil turned around and walked up to Janus. “Alright, now onto you.” Virgil started skittering his fingers all over the snake boy’s sides and ribs. “You sir, need to admit something to me.” Virgil told him. 

“WAHAIT- NAHAHAhahaha!” Janus laughed, attempting to push him away. 

“Admit you’re a cute dangernoodle.” Virgil told him. “Wahahait WHAHAHAT?! NOHOHOHO!” Janus yelled. “That’s no #1! Meaning, I get to tickle you in one of your top 5 ticklish spots.” Virgil told him. 

“OHGODNOHOHO-! Nohoho fahahair!” Janus yelled. 

“Oho, this is completely fair! My little arthropod has been badly missing his deceitful uncle. And it’s been ages since his last tickle fight.” Virgil told him. “Like- Listen: He said ‘a tarantula can only tickle Virgil so many times before it gets boring!’. His words, not mine.” Virgil explained, smirking. 

“BUHUHUHULLROHOHOAR.” Janus yelled back. 

“Say what you want. But it won’t change how ticklish the scaly side of your back is.” Virgil mentioned before lifting up his shirt and going for the left side of his back. 

“WAHAIT- NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAHAHAhahahahAHAHAHA!” Janus cackled, trying and failing to push Virgil away. 

But this didn’t stop the emo. This only increased that mischievous fire in his eye. “Like, my god. It’s such a shame there’s no cure for sensitive scales.” Virgil reacted. 

“SHUHUHUHUT UHUHUHUHUHUP!” Janus shouted at him.

“Now admit it: you’re a cute dangernoodle.” Virgil ordered. 

“HAHAHA- NOHOHO WAHAHAY!” Janus yelled back. 

Virgil sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself.” He walked himself to Janus’s belly, and stuck his fingers into Janus’s belly button. “Spot number 2.” He muttered out loud. 

Janus screeched almost like a girl, and doubled over in an attempt to get Virgil’s fingers away. “NAHAHAHAHAAA! EEEHEHEHEHEHE- STAHAHAP!” Janus yelled. 

“Admit it then.” Virgil told him. “AHAHADMIT WHAHAT?!” Janus asked. 

“That you’re a cute dangernoodle!” Virgil replied. “God, don’t you ever listen?!” Virgil asked in a joking manner. 

Janus pushed Virgil’s hands away and backed up as best he could. “Stahap-” Janus narrowed his eyes at him. “I am NOT a cute dangernoodle.” Janus admitted. 

Virgil smirked and turned to Roman. “You doing okay, Prince?” Virgil asked. 

Roman was struggling to keep himself calm while the tarantula was very slowly walking itself up his arm. Though, his tarantula had only hiked up half of the lower arm. 

“Oh yeah, my little buddy likes to walk around a bit. Here.” Virgil scooped up the tarantula from Roman’s arm and used his conjuring abilities to send his tarantula back to his cage. “There.” He smiled. “Now since Janus doesn’t seem to understand the word ‘truth’, wanna help me?” Virgil asked. 

Roman looked at Janus for a moment, who desperately shook his head ‘no’. But Roman only took this as a chance to agree. “Sure!” He replied eagerly. 

Virgil smiled. “Alright. Janus? You have one more chance to admit it. If you don’t comply, then we will resort to tickling 2 of your worst spots.” Virgil explained to him. 

Janus widened his eyes and looked at both the boys with intense nervousness. “But-” He shook his head and growled. “Why?! Why would you want me to admit something like that?!” He asked. 

Virgil looked at Roman, while Roman looked at Janus with a smile. “Because it’s the truth.” he admitted. 

Janus widened his eyes and looked at both sides. “W-Wait…” He narrowed his eyes.  “Is this a confession?” Janus asked. 

Roman giggled and scratched the back of his head as his face heated up. “Y-Yeah…It is.” he replied. “I…I like you, Janus.” 

“O-OH!” Janus reacted, looking at Roman. “I-” He wasn’t sure what to say. “Wow…” was all he could really say in response. 

Roman looked to his right, to where Virgil was. “Virgil-” Roman widened his eyes when his eyes fell on nothing. “V-Virgil?” 

Roman looked around, before his eyes fell on the stairs railing. Virgil was hiding behind it, signaling for Roman to ‘keep going’. Roman smiled and blushed a small bit. He whispered the words ‘thank you’ to Virgil before turning around to turn to Janus. 

Janus entered the living room of the mindscape with a deep sigh, an event that was unfortunately beginning to become more and more common. He received a hum of acknowledgement from none other than the logical side on the couch, gingerly typing away at his laptop. That was about the full extent of their interactions and neither had a problem with it. If anything, they valued the connection without the pressure or effort of legitimate conversation. The silent bond the two shared as of late became more and more appreciated with the addition of new deadlines, opportunities, and projects in Thomas’s life but as much as they tried, neither could deny with the constant work they’ve both been doing that they’d become a bit lonely. Not that either would admit it. 

“What are you working on?” Janus asked, causing Logan to look up at him in slight surprise at the unusual conversation.

“Oh! Just a schedule detailing the ideal times and dates for all of the ongoing projects right now. It’s far from done as I have been having a bit of trouble in the way of getting personal projects to coincide with the professional ones and on top of that ensure that proper measures are taken to keep Thomas’s mental health in its best condition.” Logan sighed and braced his head on his hand, returning his attention to the laptop, continuing to frustratedly tap away at the keys.

“You do realize that keeping your own mental health in check is important too, right? If you get too stressed out then Thomas won’t be able to function and all of your work will be for nothing anyways.” Janus pointed out with a stern look Logan pretended not to notice.

“I am well aware. However, this is my job and I know you and I both understand the importance of all of us functioning properly.” 

“That doesn’t mean you can’t share the burden. You’ve seemed more stressed than usual lately. I’m not busy right now. Allow me to help you.” Janus walked to the back of the couch to peer over Logan’s shoulder at the laptop. 

“Janus, while I appreciate the offer, I am not in any need of assistance right now. This is something I can handle on my ow-EEP” Logan finished with sentence with a squeak as Janus leaned over the couch to get a better look and braced his gloved hand on Logan’s shoulder. 

Janus withdrew his hand immediately and stood up straight, not wanting to cause the logical side any discomfort. “My apologies. Did I hurt you?”. He noticed the red tint slowly creeping up the other’s face. 

“I-I. No. No you didn’t Janus. I am fine.” Logan mumbled, uncharacteristically shy and deliberately avoiding eye contact. “That was merely just uh- unexpected.” 

While it wasn’t entirely a lie, Janus knew there was more that Logan wasn’t telling him. He figured it was time for a bit of an experiment. After all, Logan was a self-proclaimed man of science. He was sure to understand. One the the most basic rules of the scientific method is repetition to ensure the results are consistent. Sure enough, when Janus leaned over and squeezed that same spot again, the results remained the same: A yelp and a now more intense blush. 

“Janus! That time it was on purpose!”

Janus smirked. So that was it. Maybe there was a way to both get Logan to calm down and also… persuade him to accept his offer to lighten the load. “Hmm,” He teased, “Those shoulders of yours seem a bit tense. A massage would help that, would it not?”

Logan wasn’t used to this type of teasing behavior directed towards him from the deceitful side and as a result, was frozen in shocked silence. 

“I’m not hearing a no~” Janus said, resting his hands on either one of Logan’s shoulders, giving him time to protest or push him off. To his slight surprise, Logan didn’t. He began to gently wiggle his fingers, sending the latter into a fit of giggles. 

“Hehey! Ihahm supossed to behe worhoking” Logan stuttered.

“I don’t suppose this was on the schedule, was it? Oh well. We can do something about that.” Janus suddenly started squeezing and lightly scratching at the sensitive shoulders beneath his hands. Logan was immediately weakened and broke down into peals of loud laughter, giving Janus time to remove his hands to gracefully hop himself over the back of the couch, close the laptop, and set it on the coffee table for safekeeping. “There. Now we have nothing to worry about.” 

He regained his position, though this time sitting next to him and reaching over to grab at Logan’s sides. He playfully dug into them, relishing in the joyful laughter from the man next to him.

Logan clamped his hands over his mouth in a, quite frankly, pathetic attempt to hide his reactions. His words were heavily muffled as he spoke. “ThehEHE lahahptohop beheHEHING CLOHOSED dohoesn’t neghahate the existence OHF THE SCHEDULEHE! WEHE sthihill need to fohoholow IHIT!”

Janus clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Tsk tsk, Logan. So argumentative.” He began climbing his hands up his companion’s ribs, causing a dramatic spike in the volume of the laughter filling the room. “For being the logical one, you of all people should understand that it may not be the wisest idea to start losing battles with those who have you in a bit of a..” He paused to briefly scribble deeply where his hands were in their cruel ascent, “..vulnerable position.”

“IHIT’S NAHAHT MY FAUHLT YOU’RE INTERRUHUHPTING MY WORHORK.”

“What a shame. If I’m interrupting something please tell me so I may allow you to get back to it. I would hate for you to get behind because you’re too ticklish to work.” Logan let out a series of, in Janus’s opinion, very entertaining squawks and sputters of indignation at the tease. He never could take the sarcastic reminders of his, as he put it, ‘heightened biological defensive response’

Logan knew he had to stop him now, if his hands got any higher, he was sure to be too weak to do anything and ultimately too tired after this whole plight to get anything more productive done afterwards. He had no choice but to remove his hands, revealing his bright red face. 

Janus was about to unleash another tease, no doubt about Logan’s now visible shining smile with rosy cheeks to match it but was foiled when he felt wiggling fingers underneath either arm. He let out a high pitched squeak that he would deny making until he was blue in the face and instinctively clamped down his arms. After the initial surprise, the squeak made way for loud, booming laughter as Logan tormented him and got sweet revenge.

“ThIHIHS IS HARAHARDLY FAHAHIR. I DIHIDN’T GoHOH FOHOR SPOTS HAHALF AS BAD AHAS THIHIS.” Janus was defenseless. Logan’s hands were completely trapped in one of his worst spots and there was nothing he could do but squirm and laugh.

“You’re one to talk about what is and is not fair. Your skewed definition of ‘fair’ seems to me to be whatever you deem benefits you the best.” Logan said with a smirk, now having the upper hand. They both knew he meant no real malice in the words. 

“PFT- HAHAHA LOHOGAN-” Janus attempted to speak as he flailed his hands around in what Logan assumed was a weak attempt to grab at the other’s arms. 

“That is my name, yes.” Logan decided he may be enjoying having this kind of power. Just a little bit. A tiny infinitesimal amount. Okay. Maybe a lot. “I wouldn’t try fighting it now, Janus. You’re so drained, you can’t even get hold of my, may I remind you, very much stationary arms.”

The sudden drop of intensity in the other’s (still loud) laughter coupled with the two hands wrapped around his biceps, and the same smirk that had been on Logan’s face moments earlier now adorning Janus’s, let Logan know that he may have made a vital misjudgement in the strength of his opponent. Before he had time to think, he was suddenly pushed down onto the couch by his arms and was looking a very teasy Janus in the eyes as he was pinned down via Janus’s prime spot seated on his waist.

“Tricked you, Logan~” Janus dragged his teasing fingers all along Logan’s tummy, already pushing him into hysterical giggles. “How cruel of you to go for such a bad spot of mine when I haven’t had the chance to repay the favor yet.”

“Ihih- hehehe Jahahhanuss-,” 

“You’re giggling so much you can’t even speak. How precious.” Janus looked directly into Logan’s eyes as he spoke, only making the nervous, flustered feeling multiply tenfold. He had no choice but to close them. It was that or death by spontaneous combustion. Unfortunately, the loss of his sight made his other senses supplement for the lack. Every nerve in his body felt like it was alight in the darkness that filled Logan’s vision. Every little movement was felt on his skin and every sound reverberated in his ears. Waiting. Preparing.  

 “How awful would it be if I just…”Janus trailed off.

Logan paused. He waited for the impact. For the sudden jump from tracing to intense tickling. For the screams of laughter he would surely be in. The tension built and built, Logan still giggling all the way through.

Janus’s voice broke the quiet anticipation. “I bet you would despise… this.” He removed his hands from Logan and when the latter opened his eyes, he found them folded neatly in his lap. He chuckled slightly at Logan’s innocent, confused and slightly disappointed expression. “Am I correct in the assumption that you are now in a tad bit of a mood~?” 

Logan couldn’t give anything but a flustered nod.

“Well you’ll be delighted to know that I am more than willing to give you what you want.” Logan’s face lightened. Janus only smirked. “IF. And only if you agree to a couple of... conditions.” 

Logan gave what can only be described as a pout. He had a pretty good idea what Janus was going to ask of him. “..and what exactly did you have in mind?”

“I think you,” Janus leaned over to ruffle Logan’s hair, usually clean and well kept, now messy and frizzy from the squirming. “Already know. Though I suppose I could make more formal demands for clarity’s sake. One: You will allow the two of us, or on your own if you so desire, to relax and take a break for the rest of today. I know we both need it.” Logan shot a despairing glance at the laptop. Janus grabbed his chin and forced him to look into his bicolored eyes. “The schedule can wait one day. Two: Once our day of relaxation is over, you will accept my assistance on whatever work needs to be done immediately and will consider my help for future and long term projects. Do we have a deal?~”

Logan laid still for a moment, considering his options. He took into the fact that it was probably better Janus forcing his help onto him than any of the others. In this specific instance, as much as it pained him to say, it could even be beneficial. And he figured Janus’s end of the deal could be… pleasant. 

“Fine, Janus. I guess we do have a deal.” He reached his hand out to shake Janus’s. 

Janus reached his hand out, presumably to return the handshake, but instead, it shot directly to Logan’s tummy, squeezing and scribbling away with expert precision and speed. 

Logan all but screamed at the contact. One might think a man as smart as Logan would learn after the third surprise tickle attack of the day but alas, here he was again at Janus’s mercy.

Oh well. It’s not like either of them minded it. After all, they had the whole rest of the day to do as they pleased.

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