#ler!ace

Amidst the whistle-blowing and wind-rushing, Ace Trappola remained remarkably unmoved. He was sprawled out in the grass with his limbs tangled in the blades, looking like a man who had no intention of engaging in anything more strenuous than breathing. "—and then I thought, okay, that's gotta be Yuu," he continued, lazily recounting a story to Deuce, who was hovering a few feet above him. Unlike his friend, Deuce looked notably stiff, his knuckles white as he gripped his broom handle.

"You just assumed?" Deuce asked, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion.

Ace cracked one eye open, squinting against the glare of the midday sun. "Look, everyone's in the same uniform and half the guys here have black hair. Don't act like it's hard to mix people up when you're in a rush."

"It is if you actually look at them," Deuce countered, his voice flat with logic.

"Yeah, well, I was busy," Ace shot back, irritably pushing his damp hair off his forehead. "So, I'm following them down the hall, right? I'm just about to call out—"

"TRAPPOLA!"

Ace froze mid-sentence, the color draining from his face before being replaced by a deep groan of annoyance. "You've gotta be kidding me..." he muttered, though he didn't dare stay seated. Under the threat of Vargas's legendary discipline, he rolled onto his stomach and braced his palms against the turf. "One...two..."

The roar snapped across the field like a whip, instantly silencing the nearby chatter. Coach Vargas stood a few yards away, his shadow looming long over the grass and his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "If you have time to talk, then you have time to drop and gimme twenty!"

"And whose fault is that?" Deuce remarked from his vantage point, a small, smug smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he watched Ace struggle.

Ace shot him a murderous glare mid-rep, his face beginning to flush from the effort. "Yours! You’re the one who kept pestering me for the rest of the story."

"I asked once," Deuce argued, leaning forward over his broom. "So, what happened next?"

Ace's gaze immediately dropped to the dirt, his jaw setting into a stubborn line. "I'm not talking," he wheezed.

"What? Why not?"

"I'm already doing push-ups, Deuce! I'm not making it worse for myself," Ace hissed, his arms trembling slightly as he hit the halfway mark.

Deuce hovered there, his face a mask of feigned concern that didn’t quite hide the amused glint in his eyes. He shifted his weight on his broom, enjoying the rare view of Ace struggling while he remained comfortably airborne. "Just finish the story," he urged in a low, innocent murmur. "He's not even looking anymore."

Ace's arms nearly gave out, his elbows locking as he stared up in disbelief. "Are you serious?!"

Ace shook his head firmly, lowering his chest until it nearly brushed the grass. "Nope. Not happening. My lips are sealed."

"Thirty!" Vargas barked from across the field, not even needing to look back to sense the conversation.

"Forty if I hear another syllable!"

Just you wait, juice-head, Ace hissed internally, his arms trembling as he hit thirty-five. He could practically feel Deuce's smug satisfaction radiating from above, but a sharp, wicked grin started to form in his mind. He wasn't gonna wait for some distant future to get even. He already had a perfect, petty plan brewing to turn the tables before the period was even over. Ace was gonna make sure Deuce will hit the dirt before the final whistle blew.

Ace clamped his mouth shut so hard his teeth clicked. He glared at the grass with burning intensity as he resumed his count, leaving Deuce and the story hanging in the afternoon heat.

–––

Deuce straightened, his competitive streak kicking in as he adjusted his grip on the broom. He shot one last, mocking look down at Ace before soaring higher in the air, joining the other students as they began to circle the field. From below, Coach Vargas paced the grass like a drill sergeant, his eyes tracked on the formation as he barked out corrections for their next maneuver.

"All right, cupcakes! Back in the air!" Vargas’s voice rang, cutting through the heavy heat of sports field. "Spade! Don’t get comfortable up there! I wanna see a formation loop. Now!"

Ace, finally finishing with his forty push-ups, remained seated on the turf. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, watching Deuce fly with an effortless grace which was honestly irritating. "Oh, you think you’re so smooth, huh?" Ace muttered to himself, a sharp, feline grin spread across his face. Let’s see how that ‘honor student’ composure holds up. While Vargas was distracted by a student nearly crashing into a tree, Ace’s hand slipped into his pocket, discreetly sliding his magical pen out.

Ace leaned back on his elbows, his eyes locking onto Deuce's soaring figure with a devious, predatory smirk.

"Eyes up, Spade! Keep that posture!" Vargas roared from below. "Stop wobbling like a fledgling!"

High above, Deuce was just leaning into a sharp bank when the first current hit him. Needle-thin stream of air darted directly into his side. Deuce flinched violently, his broom jerking to the left. "Wha—?! Ah!" he gasped, trying to regain his balance. But before he could, Ace swirled his pen, sending a soft, spiraling gust of wind to coil around Deuce’s neck like a phantom feather.

"No, no, no! S-stop that!" Deuce hissed through his gritted teeth, his shoulders hiking up to his ears in a desperate shrug. "Aha- Ace! Stohohop!"

"I'm- I'm trying, sir!" Deuce called back, his voice cracking. He looked down, spotting Ace's smug face on the clean, bright green ground. "You absolute jerk!" he mouthed, though his insult was cut short as a thin, vibrating stream of wind began to patter against the both sides of his ribs. It felt exactly like drumming fingers, while another soft current blew directly into the shell of his ear. "Ace! P-plehease!" Deuce let out a sharp, strangled giggle, his legs kicking out instinctively as the ghost fingers of wind dug deeper into his sides. "NO! Nohot there! Stop it—Ah! AhaHAh!!"

The wind was relentless. Every time he tried to steady the broom for a loop, a fresh, swirling gust would find the sensitive dip of his waist. He was squirming uncontrollably, his hands shaking on the wood of the broom as he tried to swat at the invisible hands. His stomach muscles cramping from the dual effort of the tickling and the flight. "I'm going to fall! I'm actually going to—heHAheha!"

He looked down again, his watering eyes finding Ace immediately. Ace wasn't hiding it anymore. He was staring right back at him, his chin tilted up and a wicked, triumphant smirk plastered on his face. He even gave a tiny, mocking wiggle of his fingers, leaning back as if he was enjoying a front-row seat at a comedy show.

"I’ll kill you!" Deuce tried to shout down at him, but a sudden, sharp puff of air caught him right in the hollow of his throat, turning the threat into a fresh explosion of helpless laughter. "I—Ahaha!—I swear, Ace! Stoppit!"

"Spade! If I see one more uncoordinated twitch, you're joining Trappola for laps!" Vargas barked, oblivious about the magical sabotage.

Deuce could only cling to the broom for his dear life, his body bucking against the invisible tickling, desperately trying to follow instructions while tears of mirth and frustration pricked his eyes. From the grass, Ace watched every frantic squirm, his magical pen dancing as he savored every second of his airborne revenge. "Keep dancing for me, Deuce," he whispered with a chuckle. "We’ve still got twenty minutes left of class."

Inspired by this:

Yuu knew something was wrong the moment Grim ran towards them with a panicked look on his face.

"Myah! Hide me henchman!" The small monster shouted as he slid under Yuu and into Ramshackle dorm.

Yuu didn't even have time to process what was going on before both Ace and Deuce came running as well. Both were in their science uniforms and looked pretty ticked off. Soot covered their uniforms and faces and from that Yuu could kind of piece together what probably transpired.

"Where's the fur-ball?!" Ace demanded as he caught his breath with Deuce stopping right behind him.

"What do you mean?" Yuu asked, having a sinking feeling that they may regret defending the other Ramshackle member. "Did something happen in potionology class?"

"We were working on a potionology assignment before Grim came running straight through and shook the table. The potions reacted and basically blew up in our faces." Deuce explained, though even though he had a cool head he seemed annoyed as well.

"I see, well, unfortunately I haven't seen him around." Yuu replied, but at that moment a very Grim shaped figure could be seen peeking out of the curtains before going back to hiding.

"There he is!" Ace shouted as he attempted to make his way towards Ramshackle.

Yuu stepped in front of the duo trying to redirect them away.

"Hold on, that's not Grim that was one of the ghosts. You know how haunted the old building is." Yuu attempted to lie.

Ace and Deuce exchanged looks that clearly said they didn't didn't believe them. However the two Heartslabuyl students didn't point it out right away. Instead they shared a smirk and walked towards Yuu instead.

"So you're sure that the figure we just saw in the window wasn't Grim?" Ace asked, his voice deceptively sweet now.

"Uh-huh." Yuu affirmed, deciding that this was the hill they'd die on and that Grim would be owing them big time.

Deuce had also circled them and appeared by their side, sharing the same mischievous smile along withe Ace.

"Right... because the very Grim-shaped figure that we just saw in Ramshackle dorm at the window is totally a ghost." He teased.

"Y-yep." Yuu replied, their voice shaky. "Totally not him. You two should probably go now to remake your potion and- Ghk!"

Yuu then tensed as they felt Deuce dig his fingers into their sides. The dark bluenette then started wriggling his fingers against Yuu's sides, squeezing lightly.

"Deheheheuce!" Yuu yelped as they doubled over and tried swatting at their friend's hands.

"Not until you tell us where Grim is!" Ace demanded and joined it, grabbing Yuu's arms and holding them out allowing Deuce more access to their torso.

"Wahahait! Wahahahait! I dohohohon't knohohohow!" Yuu protested, squeaking when Ace joined in with his right hand and scratched at their underarm.

"Lies!" Deuce teased as he then started kneading his hands into their ribs.

"GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I SWEHEHEHEAR! I DOHOHOHON'T KNOHOHOW!" Yuu shrieked, curling in and squirming as they felt both Ace and Deuce wriggling their hands in tandem now hitting all their most sensitive spots. "STAHAHAHAHAP! PLEHEHEHEHEASE!"

"Just tell us and we'll stop~" Ace taunted as he let go of Yuu's hands and used both of his hands to tickle Yuu's sides and underarms.

Yuu all but collapsed against Deuce as their laughter got louder and their squirming became more pronounced. They highly considered selling Grim's location out and just letting the two into Ramshackle to deal with it themselves, but they were too stubborn to give up.

"EAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHACE! DEHEHEHEUCE! PLEHEHEHEHEASE!" At this point it was getting overwhelming and right before Yuu was about to tap out their saving grace arrived.

"Ace! Deuce!" A stern voice called out.

Both Heartslabuyl students immediately stopped at the sight of their Housewarden standing there with his arms crossed and a disappointed look on his face. Yuu greedily inhaled air as they stumbled back onto their feet and rubbed at their sides to get rid of the phantom tickles lingering on their torso.

"What are you two doing? Shouldn't you be finishing up you potionology project?" Riddle scolded, glaring at the underclassmen. "Professor Crewel strictly said all First Years must turn in their assignments before six o'clock this evening."

"We were Housewarden but Grim messed it up and-"

Riddle cut off Deuce before he could continue.

"And instead of going back to working on the project and using your time wisely you decide to torture the poor prefect?" He chastised. "I suggest you and Ace go back to the potionology lab and stop wasting time and redo your work before it's off with your heads. Understood?"

"Yes Housewarden." Both First Years grumbled as they trudged back to the potionology lab with Riddle following behind them.

Grim finally emerged from Ramshackle after making sure Ace and Deuce were gone.

"Thanks for the help henchman! I'll make sure you're remembered as my helper when I'm a great mage!" He announced and as annoyed as Yuu was they couldn't help put pat Grim on the head.

"Yeah, yeah. No problem. Also I'm cutting your tuna supply."

——

since riddle was never exposed to tickling when he was a child, he was always curious about what it felt like. like, he’s read about it, heard about it, etc, but just couldn’t imagine HOW it could make someone laugh. afterall, it sounds so absurd. which makes total sense.

it wasn’t until he started hanging out with chenya and trey that he finally learned what it was like. chenya had been the one to poke him in the side first. riddle had jumped, sputtered, giggled, and jsut reaxted like how any ticklish person would and riddle was like,, what was that?? chenya had simply told him he was curious and trey was like “oh, youre ticklish, huh?” and suddenly it made SO MUCH sense. THATS what tickling was like, and now that he had a taste of it, he was curious about more. being actually tickled and tickling someone. thankfully, being friends witb the two, he did in fact experience those

when he arrived at nrc, it didnt happen as much but trey seemed to notice that riddle didnt exactly hate tickling. as he got older he tried to hide it, but he didnt hate iy. maybe wasnt as interested as when he was younger, but it was more neutral. trey would like to poke him to get his attention and such.

trey is ticklish but maybe would prefer to be tbe ler, or at least let it be equal. he’s like, teh nonchalant tickler HELPP so like, usually won’t go very far, not more than a poke to tbe side or something small like that, but well, he still does it to like most of heartslabyul and his friends outside of heartslabyul, but is like totally casual abt it so sometimes ppl wonder if they should even bring it up

when they do, “i only wanted to get your attention.” hey trey! calling their name works just as well btw!! no but sometimes he does it just because he feels like it. always the same excuse too😭

cater is pretty ticklish. he has a love-hate relationship of it. i thjnk he enjoys tickling people, but doesnt do it much because HE doesnt particularly ENJOY getting tickled and he doesnt want them to like, retaliate. he doesnt hate it but his sisters loved tickling hjm when he was younger so it kinda left a bad taste in his mouth. basically, he usually will only have a good time if its someone he knows well and is comfortable with and he knows theh wont push him to the brink. he doesnt like to laugh uncontrollably i feel like. eitherway, he def tickles others the same exact way bc he doesnt want them to feel the same way he does about it.

he doesnt mind gentle tickles at all, but again, ws long as he’s with the right people. i feel like with a partner, he would actyally really love tickles while they r cuddling. super cute, yes.

deuce didnt get tickled a lot, at least not until he entered nrc. never really had any feelinfs towards it. he hated it when he was younger, became more neutral about it when he grew up. he would definitely defend someone if they thought it was embarrassing. “everyones ticklish! nothing to be ashamed of!”

this actually leads to him getting tickled about half the time😭😭 because everyone loves to tickle the first year students (i would too). super embarrassed? yes. super awkward? yes. hates it? nope!! prob would be blushing and all but never have any complaints

ace, on tbe other hand, did get tickled a lot when he was younger and that did not change upon his arrival to nrc. i dont know how to describe it, he just radiates those vibes. also i frel like he was more of the “popular” guys in middle school (he peaked in middle school just kidding) but he was prob the one his frienfs liked to gang up on and tickle

doesnt PARTICULARLY seek out being tickled but will ALWAYS join in if one of his friends is being tickled in front of him with the most sadistic smile on his face. he js evil, do not let urself be tickled by him (or do maybe).

yk that guy who will convince others to tickle the super scary boss?? no?? well whatever, that’s cater. tell me he doesnt whisper to the freshman to tickle riddle… everyone knows its him too except riddle because, well, the freshman never get too far in their endeavors. afterall, leaders are to set an example!

trey knows ofc, but does he stop it? ofc not!! riddle needs a laugh time to time after all.

tickle fights. between all five of them. most r started by the chaotic duo (ace and deuce) or cater. and well, the winner is USUALLY cater or riddle, trey too. ace and deuce never win. plus, cater has his clones to back him up, but if riddle uses his spell, he’s the first one gone