#lee!merold

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“Come on, say you’re sorry…” Romarriche scolded lightheartedly, squeezing at Rimicha’s sides while the smaller boy squirmed in his chair.

Rimicha laughed loudly, trapped in between Sanah and Romarriche who were currently trying to tickle an apology out of the knight.

“Ahahahaha! Okahahahay! I’m sorehehehee!” He apologized through squeaky giggles, swatting desperately at their hands.

Sanah continued to poke at Rimicha’s tummy, “forrrr?”

Rimicha’s legs kicked out when Romarriche began scribbling at his lower ribs. “AHAHA! Fohohohor stehehehealing yohohour snahahahacks! Spahahahare meeehehehe!” Rimicha pleaded, which is when the two of them finally let him go.

The knight instantly slumped over on the round table that the six of them were sitting at, catching his breath. Romarriche let out a small giggle as he placed a comforting hand on his back.

Puruth who was sitting next to Hallritt and Merold sighed fondly. “You couldn’t have waited five minutes for us to get here, Rimicha?

Rimicha giggled sheepishly, “I wahahas hungry, and it all looked sooo good…” He explained, Hallritt shaking his head with endearment. “Wehh… I’ll go get us some mohohore…”

The smaller boy started to sit up, immediately, Hallritt and Sanah also rose from their seats. “I’ll come with you!” Sanah smiled.

“Same, I wouldn’t want to make you go alone,” Halritt said kindly.

Puruth stood up too, “Well, I might as well go too then.”

With four of them standing, all of their glances inevitably fell to the pair that were still sitting down, waiting for them to join in as well. Though, that expectation was shut down when Merold spoke up, “You guys go ahead, I’ll stay here.” He stated with an almost forced cheeriness, before turning to his boyfriend, his tone suddenly becoming stern. “Romarriche will stay behind too.”

Romarriche raised an eyebrow at this, and the rest of them shared a confused look. Nothing had happened but for some reason… Merold looked almost, angry at Romarriche? The six of them had been together all day, hanging out, if something had happened, they would have noticed.

The taller one was at a loss, but quickly, a soft smile returned to his face. “You guys go on ahead, have fun.”

The four nodded and left, deciding it was none of their business.

As soon as they were all gone, Merold immediately looked over to his boyfriend, his arms crossing over his chest. “You’re so mean… Romarriche.” Merold pouted, looking up at him with glossy eyes.

The taller's head tilted slightly, setting down his teacup softly on the table. He was quite used to Merold's antics, so he wasn’t inclined to believe he actually did something mean— still. He would never not indulge Merold, I mean… who could deny such a cute face?

“And why is that, Merold?” He asked gently, propping his chin on the palm of his hand while he stared into his eyes.

Merold turned away from that caring look, staring off into the distance. “I wore the cutest outfit, did my hair perfectly, and yet? All day, you’ve been neglecting me!” He dramatized, playing with the hem of his pink knitted sweater.

“Just now with Rimicha, earlier with Hallritt too, you were even doing Puruth's hair at some point…” He continued, and as he did, Romaricche's smile softened further, holding back fond giggles at Merold's seething jealousy that he had somehow failed to notice all day.

It’s true, he had been paying lots of extra attention to the others today. As well, messing with them a lot too, like what had just happened with Rimicha. As Merold had mentioned, earlier he even directed a tickle attack at Hallritt completely unprovoked.

Romarriche scooted his chair closer, grabbing one of Merold’s hands in his own, wanting his cute boyfriend to face him. “So you wanted attention, that's it?” He questioned.

Merold kicked the ground, “I mean… You are my boyfriend. I deserve your attention.”

Romarriche giggled at that, which made Merold glare a bit. “You’re right.” He agreed, before reaching for his bag. Merold watched him closely with a confused look, before he saw Romarriche take out a present wrapped in pink ribbon, handing it over to him.

Merold's eyes widened as he examined the tiny box, looking up at him, his pout coincidentally, completely gone. “This is…?”

“Proof that even if I was distracted, I was still thinking of you the entire day,” Romarriche explained, staring down at him with loving eyes. “Open it.” He nudged, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.

Merold did as told and pulled the ribbon, gently unwrapping the present as to not tarnish the gift Romarriche had apparently gotten for him. Inside the box was a beautiful ring, made with a dazzling pink jewel.

Merold knew exactly where Romarriche got this from. Earlier they had entered a jewelry store, and Merold just couldn’t take his eyes off this beautiful ring. He didn’t think anyone was looking— let alone noticed his staring, but clearly… Romarriche had been watching him the entire time.

If he was watching him back then, then that raises the question of, when else was Romarriche watching him? Realization hit Merold quickly.

The knight let out a small sigh. “Well, I guess with this I have to forgive you for neglecting me.” He joked, a comment Romarriche avoided, too busy taking the ring from Merold and putting it on his middle finger, lifting the knight's delicate fingers and placing a tiny kiss on his knuckles.

“The others will be gone for a while, how about I give you the attention you deserve?” Romarriche offered.

Merold quickly took his hand within his, “Alright then. What were you thinking?”

Romarriche paused. Haha… actually? He hadn’t thought that far. The knight wracked his brain on something they could do, before a lightbulb appeared in his head. “Oh, did you want me to tickle you too?” Romarriche somehow decided, his gentle smile turning a bit mischievous.

Merold felt a blush rise to his cheeks, pupils dilating. “N-No?! Why would you even…”

The knight paused, unable to finish his sentence. Because when he actually took a second and thought about it…? Being tickled by Romarriche right now didn’t sound… terrible. He wasn’t just going to say yes to that, though. “All I want is your full, undivided attention.”

The clarification didn’t stop Romarriche's free hand from raising in the air, “That wasn’t a no.”

Merold's eyes widened, a wave of giddiness rushing over him. “I-It wasn’t a yes either!” He stuttered, breaking out into a smile, an expression Romarriche much preferred to the pout.

Romarriche's hand slipped under Merold's hoodie and reached for his bare skin, skittering his fingers against his tiny waist. Merold's hand instantly shot down for his boyfriend’s wrist, legs kicking out softly. “Pfft! H-Hehehey!” He giggled, squeezing his hand tightly.

“Cute,” Romarriche said instantly, a subconscious, immediate reaction to his boyfriend’s adorable laughter.

His touch travelled towards Merold's tummy, scratching at the bare skin. The knight instantly folded over with a long string of bubbly giggles, his hand reaching up to cover his blushing face. Thankfully… not muffling the laughter Romarriche wanted to hear.

Suddenly, Romarriche lifted the hand he was holding high in the air, exposing Merold’s midriff as the fingers that were teasing his tummy quickly dove under his arm. “KYAAhahahaha! Wahahaait! Thahahat’s unfahahahair!” He squeaked, uncurling and slamming his back against the chair, trying to pull his arm down to his side while Romarriche broke out into fond giggles.

“You’re so cute, Merold!” He spoke genuinely, before letting go of his hand and going for the kill; both hands latching onto Merold’s hips.

The famous knight lost it, almost falling off his chair as his hips bucked in the air. His laughter grew to levels that didn’t seem possible for such a ‘perfect’ knight, but he was just that ticklish here.

“AHAAhahahaha! NohohOHoho!” He squeaked, slipping down his chair as Romarriche followed him to the ground, continuing his tickle attack there. Continuing to squeeze at his sensitive hips no matter how much Merold squirmed away and writhed underneath him.

He tickled him for a bit longer, until it seemed like he was reaching his limit. Then, Romarriche stopped, looming over him with a happy smile while his boyfriend caught his breath. “Is that the attention you were looking for?” He teased a bit, causing Merold to roll his eyes.

“Yehehes… dont starve me of it ever again, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” He promised, leaning down to place a kiss on Merold’s forehead, then his nose, and then finally his lips, which Merold melted into instantly.

Romarriche helped him up and back into his chair. Merold was completely recovered by the time everyone else had returned with more snacks, the pink-haired boy not holding back on them… what had just happened worked up quite an appetite in him.