#lee!luz

It was slowly getting late, Luz was sitting on the couch with Eda, a totally normal evening. Except something was different for Luz. Everything just seemed so... fuzzy for her.

She knew what was happening, and she wasn't really happy with that. She had the mood.

"So.. whatcha up to, kid?" Eda said, trying to strike up a conversation

"Me? Uh, nothing much. Just thinking about... stuff, obviously. What about you?" Luz blurted out nervously, trying to switch the attention to Eda.

Eda noticed it right away, and became suspicious of the younger witch's behavior. She was nervous. Eda has NEVER seen Luz nervous before. Sure, she caught her being stressed about an exam coming up before, but this was different. Luz was just acting so... tense.

"Just the usual, daydreaming about people giving me money" she answered her question, then chuckled at her own response "What's the matter with you, by the way? Why are you so panicked?" Eda snorted.

Luz's eyes widened a bit, realizing she wasn't really good at hiding what she feels. "It's nothing, I'm fiiiine" She tried to play it off cool, but Eda knew better.

"Don't even try me kid, I'm not falling for that. What's up?" She said straightforwardly.

"Nothing important, really!" Luz refused to give up. She could be really stubborn when she wanted to be, and she wasn't going down without a fight

"Just so you know, I got a few tricks up my sleeve and I won't hesitate to use them" Eda said cracking her knuckles with a smirk.

"Like what for an example?" Luz said oblivious to her mentor's intentions.

Eda only looked at her, giving her the look that says "you've got 5 seconds to run" and Luz took off immediately after she realized what was going on. She didn't make it far tho. It only took a few seconds for Eda to catch up with her. They both were sent flying to the floor after the older witch basically jumped on the younger one. Before Luz could react, Eda picked her up and threw her onto the couch.

"Are you sure you don't wanna just say it?~'' Eda teased, then she sat next to the Luz and kept her hands on her belly.

She just stuck her tongue out. "Make me" Luz said with (fake)confidence. She was secretly hoping to get this kind of reaction from Eda, but she would rather die than admit it.

Luz's eyes widened as the other witch started spidering up and down her tummy. "Ack! Nohoho! Edahaha!" She squealed and kicked her legs

Eda smirked at the reaction. "What? Can't stand a bit of tickles?" She kept on teasing.

"Nohohoho" Luz giggled lazily, grabbing the tickler's hands "Noho teahasihihing"

"That's a no can do, sorry" Eda snorted "Should have just told me what's bothering you in the first place, huh?" She said with a smirk, moving her fingers up to where her ribs met her sides.

Luz was having the time of her life at this point, and Eda noticed it. She smirked again and then asked her "Woah, are you having fun down here?"

Luz basically choked on air right now. Her eyes widened as a blush spread across her face. "Huh?! No... Why would I even like that? It's childish and stupid and annoying, seriously I don't know what even made you think that- EEK!" Eda stopped her before she got lost in her own thoughts by poking her ribs.

"Hehehey kid" she chuckled "it's alright, I get it. No need to panic right away" then she just continued tickling the spot. She was a bit surprised with Luz's reaction. She didn't expect her to be so easily embarrassed with just tickles, but oh well. Eda wasn't going to complaining, the sight was waaay too adorable for that.

The younger witch was still giggling her head off beneath the older one. She was kind of a mess at this point, especially after being so flustered because of Eda, but holy cow did she enjoy it. The thought of someone wiggling their fingers on her sides, spidering them on her tummy, anything that has something to do with tickles, has been following her all day, if not even longer. She was just happy to be in the place she is right now.

In fact, Luz was enjoying it so much that she even stopped fighting back! She just laid here and took the tickles while giggling cutely.

"Oh my titan, you're too adorable for your own good" Eda cooed very much amused "Just look at you!" She moved one of her hands to Luz's neck, causing the younger one to scrunch up her shoulders in an attempt to protect it.

"Eek! Ehehehehe" Luz continued giggling, surprised with the sudden change of spots. "Sohoho you don't thihihink ihits weihird?" She tried to speak through her laughter

"Wha- why would I think that?! Don't even say that, I find it adorable!" Eda's answer reassured Luz. It felt nice to not worry about being weird, even though she wasn't the one to typically worry about others' opinions.

"Oh, ohohokahay" She said with a bit of relief, giggling freely under Eda's wiggling fingers.

Then the older witch decided to switch spots, and the decision landed on the armpits. Oh boy, only did she know that she was going straight for the kill.

"NAHAAHA!!" Luz laughed as Eda had stuck her hands straight into her armpits, locking them under the younger one's arms

"Hah, that's a good one" she snorted

After some time Luz's laughter slowly began to be more and more silent, so Eda decided to stop. She didn't want to overwhelm her mentee.

"U alright, kiddo?" She asked kind of scared that she had broken the kid

"I'm fine, thahanks.." Luz replied breathlessly, some of the leftover giggles spilling out.

After that, they both fell into a deep, peaceful silence. Luz was laying on the couch, enjoying access to the air, while Eda flopped down next to her, laying on her back and enjoying the rest of the evening. Both the characters just laid there, relaxing and watching the sun set behind the window.

Dressed in Belos’s clothing, she stood before her friends. Their eyes were empty, devoid of any sympathy or care for her. Willow, Gus, Hunter, and her beloved Amity. They all hated her. Luz was certain of it, and she was certain she deserved it.

“I’m sorry.” She said simply, lacking any real sorrow. “But for the sake of everyone you hurt,”

“Please, no!” Hot tears welled in Luz’s eyes like lava. She couldn’t even bring herself to say that it wasn’t her fault. She took a step back and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting to be hit by a glob of abomination goo, or a spiked vine.

“I challenge you to a witch’s battle!” Witch’s battle?

Luz peeked one eye open. “W-wait… say that again?”

“I said, I challenge you to a witch’s battle!”

Amity’s tone didn’t change at all when she repeated the phrase. It was robotic, as if the response had been programmed into her to say it exactly the same every time. She didn’t move from her defensive, fighting stance. 

“Witch’s… battle?”

She hesitantly approached her girlfriend, then gingerly squished her pretty face in her hands. “Bep.” She playfully flicked her ears. “Boop.”

She observed how Amity didn’t respond, and her fears began to melt away and were quickly replaced by a fuzzy feeling. She lifted up Amity’s arm and poked her, like she was a doll she could position and pose.

“You look like Amity, you feel like Amity, but you’re not Amity, are you?”

Luz’s face broke into a smile as she stepped back. Of course something was weird! 

“Ha! You’re not her! None of you are you!”

“How dare you? Of course we’re us!” Willow spoke, but she barely moved.

“It’s, ‘I challenge you to a witch’s duel,’ not battle!” She waved her finger at them, her confidence quickly returning. “And the Amity I know would never misquote The Good Witch Azura!”

She took a step back and smiled, Stringbean formed a staff in her hands.

“So come on, attack me. I know what’s going on now.” She watched as her friends readied themselves, charging right at her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the first hit, and- “No, no NO!” A childish voice echoed around the bridge. Luz opened her eyes, and her friends were frozen in place. Glowing wires were wrapped around their wrists and ankles, like they were little puppets. Floating above them all, was a very grumpy looking Collector. He had his arms crossed and was glaring down at the group with a pout. “You weren’t supposed to figure it out! This isn’t fair!”

“Collector?!”

“What am I supposed to do now?! Oh, you’re probably so angry with me!” They floated in circles and flipped himself upside down while clutching his hat. 

Luz’s eyes wandered from the Collector to her friends. They were starting to come out of their trance, and their eyes were shining again.

Suddenly, he was right next to Luz. He dramatically flopped onto her shoulder, nearly knocking her over. “You aren’t angry with me, right? For trying to scare you?”

“Uhm…” She quickly glanced at her friends, who were all giving her very hesitant looks. “No?”

“Really?” The Collector’s eyes lit up. Then they scowled. “Cause I’m still pretty mad at you for screwing up my fun!” “W-well, there’s other ways to have fun!” Luz stammered. She backed away from him, in between all her friends. “Like, um, maybe instead of scaring people, you should try making them laugh!”

The Collector tapped his finger to his chin a couple times. Then slowly, his lips curled into a mischievous grin. “Hm… y’know what, human? I think you’re right!” He snapped his fingers, and Luz’s friends went limp. The light in their eyes faded along with the glowing wires. The Collector giggled rather deviously and clapped his hands a few times. Luz’s friends sprang to attention, and grabbed her all at once.

“H-Huh?! What are you-”

“And I’ve got the perfect way to do it! Get her!”

Luz wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting to happen, but feeling the skittering, tickling fingers of all four of her friends definitely wasn’t it! She made a noise that was akin to a startled seagull, which quickly dissolved into confused giggling.

“What in the wohohorld?! Collector! Cuhuhuhit out!”

“Man, you mortals can never make up your minds, huh?” The Collector floated over to her, hovering inches away from her face. Personal space wasn’t much of a concern for a child of the stars. “First you want me to make you laugh, then you want me to stop? Come on, we’re having so much fun! You’re laughing aren’t you?”

Those dang fingers were everywhere! Poking at her sides and belly, scribbling up and down her neck and around her ears, Luz could barely focus on just one spot! Every time she’d flail in an attempt to protect herself, they’d just get her somewhere else. 

“This- this isn’t whahahat I meant whehehen I said- EEK! NOHOHO!”

Nails that unmistakably belonged to Amity made Luz’s sentence crumble when they spidered up her sides and into the hollows of her underarms. If it weren’t for her friends all holding her steady, she was certain her legs would’ve just given up.

The Collector just laughed right along with her. “Man, you were right! Making people laugh is way more fun than scaring them! Just listen to all the silly noises you make!” “COLLEHEHECTOR!” “That’s meeee! Hey! I should try this on your other friends, too! I’ll be back!” They clapped their hands, and they vanished in a puff of sparkly purple smoke. Luz was much too busy laughing her head off to even realize where he had gone, or what he had meant by that. It wasn’t like the feeling was bad, she’d always enjoyed tickle fights as a way of bonding or cheering someone up, but this was ridiculous! And not to mention the fact that it was turning her mind to mush! It couldn’t get much worse than this-

“Your laugh is just so sweet, I could listen to it forever!”

Nevermind. It could.

Amity had leaned over to coo teasing compliments in her ear. It had caught Luz so off guard her knees buckled and her friends all shifted to keep her up. 

“WAIHAIT! Nohoho, Amity, please! You know I cahahan’t take it-” “But it’s true!” Man, the Collector had really gotten her friends' personalities down. And it only became more abundant when the rest of them started teasing too. “Come on, Luz! I know you’re tougher than that!” Willow giggled as she kneaded Luz’s side at a steady rythm, making her squeal “You can take it!” Gus had a different tactic, constantly switching spots and jumping around so Luz could never tell where he was going to strike next. “Where’s the spot that makes her laugh the most again? Is it here- or here- or maybe heeeere?” “Man, if only I had known about this little weakness of yours when we were still enemies.” Hunter had a smug mischief in his voice that just dripped with the cockiness of an older brother messing with his younger sister. It reminded Luz of how he acted when they first met. “You would have been done for! Would’ve made our fights go by a lot faster, huh?”

That was really about all Luz could take. Her loud laughter was starting to turn into wheezes, and her friends finally let up. She sunk to the ground and curled up in a ball, still tingling with phantom tickles. “Collector… thahat… phew…” She looked up when she felt Amity’s comforting hand on her shoulder, and realized something she hadn’t before.

They had that light in their eyes. They had it since the Collector had disappeared!

“H-hey wait a minute! You’re you! Really you! You were tickling me on PURPOSE!” “Sorry…” Amity said with a giggle “I couldn’t help it, you’ve just been so down recently, we haven’t heard you laugh like that in so long.”

“You really needed it.” Willow said, crouching down next to her. “Seriously. And you better believe the nice things we said about you, or else.” Hunter tazed her side, earning him a loud squeak.“You guys are-”

But there wasn’t much time for Luz to finish. Her friends gasped when the puppet strings seized them again, jerking their limbs away from her.

“There’s no time to waste!” Shouted Gus. “You need to stop the Collector, you need to wake up!”

“Wait, but how?!”

Amity used the last of her strength to press a familiar glyph into Luz’s hand and offer her a warm smile.

All of her friends surrounded her. They looked angry, disappointed, upset. And it was all her fault. Why does this always happen? Why does she cause these things?

Amity came for her with a yell, holding her staff out. Luz dodged, trying to reason with her. It fell on deaf ears. Gus came up behind her, grabbing onto her sides. She couldn't help the surprised squeak that escaped her.

Her friends froze for a minute, and Gus kept his hands on her sides. She tried to pry them off, but his grip was solid and immovable. He squeezed her sides experimentally, and she cursed the yelp that came from her.

The Collector felt the shift in his illusion. He looked into it, and found out what happened. He had Gus squeeze her sides a few more times, and Luz giggled. When people giggle, they're happy. So they went with it, and instructed their puppets to continue with the strange movements. Maybe if she's happy, she'll stay...

Gus wiggled his fingers into her sides, a smug smile on his face. Luz tried not to giggle, pushing at his hands. Stringbean floated near his head, nudging his face. He didnt react, continuing to tickle Luz. The others unfroze and approached the pair, grinning.

Willow summoned some vines to hold Luz's arms above her head. Gus sped his fingers up, scribbling across her sides. She tugged at her magical restraints, but they held strong. "Guhuys, wait! Wh-what's gohohohoing on?!"

She did not get a response. Hunter poked at her armpits, eliciting squeaky laughter from the young witch. "HUHUhuhunter! Whyhy are yoUHUHUhu guhuys DOHOHING THIHIS?!"

Luz had emotional whiplash. They were upset and angry at her a few moments ago, and now they're tickling her? What on the Isles was happening?!

Willow sent a few vines to her legs, wiggling them behind her knees. Her legs gave out, the vines now the only thing holding her up. She was so confused, trying to make sense of everything.

Amity fluttered her fingers on Luz's neck, a blush forming on the latter's cheeks. Stringbean was floating nearby, curious as to what was going on. Luz seemed okay, but why were her friends acting like this? Best to observe and find out.

Gus moved his hands onto her stomach, clawing at the sensitive flesh. She yelped and dissolved into loud, squeaky belly laughter. "NOHOHO! COHOHOME ON, WHYHYHY?!"

The vines on behind her knees dug in, pressing harder and bringing her laughter up an octave. Gus was going at her poor belly, roughly tickling her. Her laughter was loud and bouncy, in no short supply.

She was so, so confused. What was happening? Why were they doing this? Why were they all acting so weird? "GUHUHUYS! WHYHY ARE YOUHUHU T-TIHIHICKLING MEHEHE?!"

They gave her no response, just smiled smugly and kept tickling her. It was like talking to brick walls. They wouldn't respond, almost like they were... OH TITAN!

"COHOHOLLECTOHOR! STOP IHIHIT! LEHEHET THEM GOHOHO!"

All the fingers tormenting her froze, going stiff. She panted, trying to regain her breath. Looking around, all of her friends' faces were frozen, unblinking, wearing that smug grin.

Suddenly, glowing pink wires revealed themselves, connecting to each of her friends' limbs. Their faces unfroze, and the vines holding her up withered. They all wore a similar, concerned expression.

Amity was the first to speak, struggling to move her hands up to Luz's cheeks. "Luz, you have to wake up! We aren't really here, we were all collected! This is a nightmare the Collector trapped you in. You need to break out, come and save us!"

The human's eyes widened. She had gotten through to them, but by the strained looks on their faces, it wouldn't be for long. She hung on Amity's every word, trying to form a plan. "How do I help you guys? I don't- what do I do?"

Amity smiled, and forced her hand down to hold Luz's. "What's the first thing you do when you wake up from a nightmare?"

Her friends started to be lifted away by the strings. Luz tried to hold on to Amity, to say something, to help, but there was nothing she could do.

"You turn on the light."

With that, they were yanked into the sky, up and away from her. She looked at her palm, seeing the light glyph. The illusion around her started to melt away, trying to right itself.

Cuddling in her nest, Eda and Raine were spending some alone time together. Raine was reading their book while Eda scrolled through Penstagram. It was a comfortable silence, sweet and peaceful. That is, until two teens decided to crash the cuddle-fest.

Amity and Luz flung the door open, disrupting the quiet aura. Well, Luz was dragging Amity along, but the witch had no protests. Luz didn't read the room, launching into an explanation of something she found in the woods. Amity was just kinda there, nodding along with the rant and adding a comment or two.

The rest of the day was no exception. Sitting outside together, the girls accidentally launch a Frisbee at Raine's head. Relaxing on the couch, Amity bursts in, covered in abomination goo, an embarrassed Luz trailing behind. Finally, on a hill a few miles away from the house, they were alone. Or so they thought.

"Hey you two! We were wondering where you went!" Eda groaned and flopped back on the grass, and Raine shut their book. Man, those kids were persistent! Swearing under her breath, Eda sat back up, giving Luz the stankiest stink eye ever. The girl remained blissfully oblivious.

Raine took a deep breath, speaking before Eda gave herself a hurnea. "Well, seeing as this is the fourth time you've interrupted us today, you're either bored or desperate for attention." Luz blushed, looking away. Amity spoke next. "Luz was bored, I couldn't think of anything to do. Stalking you two was the only idea we had." The young witch cringed. Saying it out loud, she could feel the stupidity in those actions.

Eda slowly sat up, holding three fingers upwards. "Run. You have three seconds." Luz took off, kicking up dirt behind her. Amity opened her mouth to speak, but Eda kept counting. "Two, one, you're dead." With striking speed, Eda grabbed Amity, pulling her to the ground and pinning her arms above her head. Realization dawned on her face as she squirmed, trying to escape her iron grip. It was useless.

"Have fun with the kid, Rainestorm. Me and Amity are gonna spend some quality time together." Smirking, Raine took off after Luz. Eda turned her full attention back to Amity. She was, in short, utterly screwed. "Now, let's have our fun."

....

Luz is fast when she wants to be. In that moment, running for her life from Raine, she was a purple bolt of lightning. The bard had a hard time catching up to her, puasing to take a breath every minute or two. When they did catch her, Raine immediately used some magic to hold her in place. They weren't taking any chances.

"W-wait! Lehet's talk about this!" It was almost cute at how quick the anticipation got to her. "No, I think not." They went for her belly button, going for the kill. With a squeal, Luz was plunged into hiccupy laughter. "NOHOHOHO! RAHA*hic*HAINE!"

Honestly, she had it coming. Though Amity had a hand in it, Luz was the main reason they had no peace. So no, they wouldn't be stopping until revenge had been wrought. Besides, they knew Luz enjoyed it, no matter how much she denied it.

Raine couldn't wear her out so quickly, so they moved over to their sides, peppering them with little squeezes. Squeaky giggles filled the room. Luz tugged her arms, put the spell held strong, keeping her trapped. Maybe bugging her mentors hadn't been the best idea.

....

Eda was enjoying herself, scribbling on the witchling's belly. The shittiest shit-eating grin was on her face. Amity was trying to hold in her giggles, chest shaking with pent up laughter.

"Why ya holding back, Boots? You know that only makes it worse." Her face lit up in one of her signature stop-light blushes. She opened her mouth to retort, a slew of giggles accompanying it. "Hehehehehehey! Shuhuhuhut uhup!"

Eda's nails toyed with her belly button, getting a few snorts out of her. Titan, why are Eda's nails so pointy?! "Ehehehe*snort*hedaha! Quhihihit ihit!" The older witch gasped, making a somehow even more mischievous face. "Oh my Titan, you snort? That's adorkable!" Like she had any room to talk, Eda was a snort machine. Still, fun to mess with Amity over, her face getting even redder.

The girl's giggles were contagious, and Eda caught herself laughing along when she snorted. She wanted more than giggles, though. If Luz's info was credible, because she just loved to talk, Amity's armpits should do the trick. True to the human's word, she roared with laughter when Eda dug into her pits. "NOHOHAHAHAHAHAHO! GAHAHAHA!"

....

After about ten minutes, Raine and Eda met back up on their hill, leaving two very giggly, very tired teens in the grass. The sun was beging to set, painting the sky a warm, glowing orange. The two held hands, basking in the beautiful sky.

....

It was night, the moon's light shining on the Titan's Skull. Luz was wide awake, going over every possible plan in her head. The group was going into the castle tomorrow. Every one seemed like failures.

If they were gonna defeat the Collector, they needed a fool-proof, solid plan. Whenever she thought one would work, a flaw would worm its way into her brain. She would cast the plan aside, thinking up a new one. The cycle repeated for over two hours.

"Gah! Why is this so hard!" Luz wasn't very loud, but it was enough to wake Stringbean. She was sleeping nearby, curled up in Luz's hat. She flew over, rubbing Luz's arm with her head. She pushed her away, going back to her thoughts. "Not now Beanie, I'm busy."

The snakeshifter wasn't taking that for an answer. Luz was obvious stressed, it was late, and she needed some cheering up. She shifted into her dragon-ish form, nuzzling and scratching Luz's belly. The girl pushed at her, immediately bursting out into giggles.

"Hehehehey! Beheanie, get ohohoff!" Her palisman kept skittering around, going up to her ribs and armpits. "StrhihiHINGBEhehean! QuhihiHI IHIHIT!" Luz put a hand over her mouth, trying to dampen the sound as much as possible. She didn't want anyone waking up, especially to her getting tickled!

Hearing that her companion was getting tired, Stringbean made her way up to Luz's neck, nuzzling the sensitive skin for a final act. Snorts adorned Luz's giggle fit, making the whole scene ten times cuter.

"Gahaha! *snort* Beheheanie! *snort* Tihihickles!" After a minute or two of adorkable tickling, Stringbean climbed off the girl, flying into her lap. Luz giggled, rubbing the ghost tickles from her neck. When the feeling subsided, she picked up her palisman, holding her at eye level.

"You, little missy, are a trouble maker!" Stringbean stuck out her forked tounge, earning a boop. Luz sighed, nuzzling noses. "I can't stay mad at that face! So unfair!" She shifted back to her snake-like form, flying over to their make-shift sleeping area. Luz followed, sleepy from the tickley silliness.