#ler!george

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"Dream?" George said as he knocked on the door of Dream's office that was left slightly cracked open. He pushed the door open a little more, continuing as he did so. "Are you in here?"

"Yeah," a soft voice called from inside the room. "You can come in."

George pushed the door the rest of the way open, closing it behind him as he stepped into the room and caught sight of Dream, laying on his back on the twin bed against the wall. The thin black throw blanket was draped haphazardly over his thighs, one arm behind his head while the other held his phone in front of him, and his feet– more importantly, his shoes– rested at the far end of the bed.

“I thought I told you not to put your shoes on the bed,” George reprimanded lightly, walking over to the bed and smacking the sole of Dream’s white sneaker, making him chuckle and roll his eyes playfully.

“Okay, mom,” Dream sassed, turning back to his phone as George leaned his hip against the edge of the bed and crossed his arms over his chest, in true ‘mom’ fashion. “I’ll make sure to do my homework and brush my teeth before I go to bed too.”

“You’re such an idiot,” George replied with a smile, shaking his head fondly. He whacked the side of Dream’s shoe again, slipping his pointer finger through the loop of his shoelaces and lifting his foot up with it, before dropping it back down on the bed and making them both laugh. “I’m being serious. You’re gonna get the sheets all gross and dirty and germ-y.”

“Oh, germ-y, huh?” Dream teased, kicking at George’s hand, before unceremoniously turning over to lay on his stomach, crossing his ankles and returning to scrolling on his phone. “You say that like I go outside.”

“You went outside today.”

“To our driveway.”

“Which is outside,” George said, hiking one leg up to sit halfway on the edge of the bed. “And you’re gonna start going outside more now…” He continued, trailing off, the echo of ‘now that I’m here, now that we’re together’ that rattled his brain going unsaid.

“Hm…” Dream hummed in understanding, a smile forming on his lips at the thought. George was right, he actually would be going outside a lot more now, getting to explore the world with George and Sapnap, and every adventure he could possibly come up with flooded his mind at once, warming his chest from the inside out.

In his distraction, however, he failed to notice George climb the rest of the way onto the bed and swing his leg over Dream’s lower body, only snapping back to reality when he felt a weight settle on his calves, pinning his legs down with ease.

“What are you doing?” Dream asked, twisting his upper body around and propping himself up on his elbow to try to get a better view, but all he saw was the back of George’s pale blue t-shirt, still wrinkled from the journey to Florida less than a week prior, packed in a suitcase and only recently put away.

“Taking your shoes off,” George answered, tone flat as he tugged on the laces of Dream’s sneakers. Dream scoffed, rolling his eyes once more, but he let George continue.

He turned back around, resting his head on his arm and rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his knuckles as George removed one shoe and let it drop to the floor beside the bed to be picked up later. He let his eyes close, already more sleepy than he was when he first laid down in his office, comforted and relaxed by George’s presence alone.

His relaxation was interrupted by a sudden yelp as George slipped the second shoe off, when he accidentally grazed the sole of Dream’s foot with the tips of his fingers, causing him to whip his head back around and try to yank his leg away, kicking his shoe unceremoniously onto the ground.

Dream froze, realization washing over him and causing his face to heat up, waiting to see if George had caught on as well. George, also silent and frozen, very clearly had noticed, and Dream didn’t need to see his face to know the smirk on it was growing wider with each passing second.

“…What was that?” George asked, his amused tone confirming Dream’s suspicions, only making his face flush even more.

“…Nothing,” Dream replied, and the pitch of his voice indicated it was precisely anything other than nothing.

“Are you ticklish?”

“No!” He defended, curling his toes and covering the foot that George had tickled with the other one, hoping it would grant him any sort of protection. George stayed silent, and simply trailed his fingers down the sole of that foot instead, earning a sharp gasp and flinch from Dream, telling him everything he needed to know.

“Dream,” He spoke with a low voice, making Dream squirm slightly under him, antsy before anything had even happened. “You’re ticklish.”

“…Maybe,” Dream replied after a moment of silence, pushing himself up onto his hands. He twisted and turned, trying to see past George’s shoulders, but it was no use, so he dropped back down to his elbows and sighed nervously. A few more moments went by with no words or movement from either of them, longer than what seemed necessary, and Dream furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “George?”

“Hm?”

“…What are you doing?”

“Thinking.”

“…Thinking?” Dream asked, looking behind him again, and this time he saw George look over his shoulder and smile at him before turning back. “About what?” He tried, and he received no verbal response, but he felt fingers trail down the soles of both his feet instead. “Oh, fuck, George–“

“You know what,” George replied, giggling as Dream’s feet kicked and squirmed as much as they could underneath him, and he used one hand to press Dream’s ankle into the bed and the other to skitter his nails up and down the sole of his socked foot, making him groan and let out a few stray giggles, which then turned into a full blown giggle fit.

“Nohohoho, c’mohohon!” Dream whined, dropping back down onto the bed, unable to hold himself up any longer. He hid in his elbow, free hand gripping the pillow above his head, pulling it closer and shoving his face into it when he let out another undignified squeal and fell into boyish cackles as George switched to scratching over the arch of his foot. “AH– nahahahaha!”

“This is incredible,” George said, mostly to himself, and he tightened his knees around Dream’s ankles to hold them closer together, now scribbling his fingers over both feet at the same time. Dream’s laughter kicked up a notch at that, curling his toes and squirming as much as he could.

“Nahahaha, thihihis ihisn’t fahahahair!” He threw one hand behind him to blindly grab for George, fingers grazing his shirt just enough to grab onto the fabric and hold on tightly, making George chuckle at him. His fingers grazed over the sides of his feet while they danced over his soles, making him squeal and squirm even harder. “OKAHAHAY, stohop, stahahahap!”

“Are you gonna wear your shoes on the bed again?” George asked, his condescending and teasy tone only making Dream more flustered.

“Nohohoho, nohoho! I wohohon’t, I swehehear!” He caved, smacking his hand against the pillow below him and shaking his head wildly, making a mess of his curls even though George wasn’t looking.

“Good. Say you’re sorry,” George demanded, his smirk once again audible in his voice.

“Fuhuhuck OHOHOFF!”

“No, you’re gonna say ‘George, you were right, I was wrong, I’m sorry’ or I’m never gonna stop tickling you.”

“Nohoho!?” He protested, shoving his face in the pillow, butterflies swirling in his tummy at George’s assertiveness. George’s fingers wormed their way under his toes, scratching and scribbling there instead, and Dream let out another loud squeal, curling his toes uselessly but unable to throw George off. “AHAHAHA, Geohohohorge! Stahahahahap!”

“You know what you have to do.”

“OKAHAHAHAY, okahahay! Lehehet me breheheathe!” Dream pleaded, and George granted him a little bit of mercy, cupping his hands around the middle of Dream’s feet and pressing them down into the bed, making sure he couldn’t squirm to fight off the ghost tickles. Then, he curled his thumbs, tracing his nails slowly up and down Dream’s soles, still tickling but making sure Dream could speak through his laughter. “Fuhuck…” Dream took a breath, picking his head up from the pillow and resting it on his arm again. “Yohohou were rihihight, fihine, you were rihihight.”

“And?”

“And you’re stuhuhupihid,” He groaned, and George immediately dug in under his toes again, making him squeal and arch his back. “NAHAHAHA– I wahahahas wrohohong! I’m sohohohorry– I’M SOHORRYHYHY, Geohohorge, plehehehease!”

“That’s better,” George said softly, and he stopped the unbearable tickling, giving Dream a few seconds to breathe before he moved. He sat up on his knees, turning himself around to face Dream’s upper body instead, kneeling above his thighs and tapping his hip lightly, a silent instruction for him to flip over. Dream did, with an unenthusiastic groan, throwing his arms over his face as he continued to catch his breath, and George settled himself on Dream’s thighs instead. “You alright?”

“Mhm,” Dream hummed, and George could see the smile on his face. “You tired me out, though.”

“Good,” George replied smugly. Dream dropped his arms, looking up at George like he had just hung the moon, the lopsided smile left on his face making George’s heart burst. George giggled, making Dream giggle as well, giddy energy swirling through both of them in the soft atmosphere of the dimly lit room. “Your face is so dumb.”

“Yeah, you love it,” Dream teased, scrunching his nose up at George, who shook his head and rolled his eyes fondly. “I need a nap.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah… and so will you,” Dream said, and suddenly his arms were around George’s waist and he was yanked down onto the bed. Before he could even process the words, he was trapped between Dream’s body and the wall behind him, one leg pinned under Dream and the other curled around him, and there were fingers digging into his sides and ribs like it was all they knew how to do. George squealed, fighting back as much as he could, but any plan he could come up with to escape was unsuccessful.

No bc we all know that sapnap is cocky af always, regardless of if he’s unevenly matched or not, so it’s no surprise when he drags dream and george into the home gym with 100% confidence that he’ll beat both of them easily. But when he’s suddenly cornered by the two of them, he’s scrambling to rip his gloves off so he has an opportunity to at least try and fight back

this only draws attention to them, and dream’s wrapping his hands over the velcro around sapnap’s left wrist before he even realizes what’s happening. dream tugs him roughly, spinning sapnap around and crowding him from behind, and most importantly, grabbing sapnap’s free wrist. now, dream is towering over him from behind, stretching sapnap’s arms into the air and leaning in so his stubble brushes against sapnap’s ears as he teases him about how small he is; about how powerless he is “What are those, kids sized gloves?” “i didnt know they made boxing equipment for toddlers!” “why is your face so red, sap?”. and while dream focuses on making his face warm up to a dangerous degree, the only thing in sapnap’s view is a very giggly george, standing just inches in front of him. he’s suddenly very aware of how tiny he is between them, and sap’s mind blanks at the thought. he swallows thickly and does the only think he can think to do

Sapnap starts begging, pleading, both cursing and proclaiming his love for them at the same time - anything he can think of to get them to back down. But instead george reaches an arm out and pokes into sapnap’s lower ribs on the right, making him jolt into george’s waiting hand on the other side that sapnap hadn’t noticed before. The two laugh along with sapnap’s squeals as he wiggles back and forth between george’s hands, making the pokes a little more harsh each time his hands connect with sap’s body. his hands are balled into fists inside the boxing gloves, tightening at every quick jab into his ribs. But when sapnap tries to flex his fingers to dispel even the tiniest bit of ticklish energy he’s experiencing, he finds that he can’t, and he panics even more through his frantic giggles. George starts to scratch and squeeze at the warm skin under sapnap’s shirt, right along his sides, but only every few times, driving him insane at the idea of not knowing when the tickling is suddenly gonna get so much worse. sap tries to keep his eyes open long enough to watch george’s hands, trying to anticipate the next move, but his lil puffy cheeks get in the way from laughing too hard, and he fails miserably.

At this point, dream and george are teasing him, but sapnap has no idea what they’re saying. Dream has sapnap’s arms lifted so high into the air that he’s basically balancing on the toes of his sneakers, and george is rubbing his knuckles into sapnap’s ribs with a force so hard he thinks he sees god. Eventually, sapnap is kind of just dangling there, laughing deliriously as george so lovingly tears him apart, so dream loops his forearms under sapnap’s biceps, shifting positions and holding him up that way, making it almost easier for george to continue his reign of terror on sapnap’s poor lil ribs ):

(…also the whole “in a pin he freaks the f out 'oh my god i cant move this is it for me why is all my strength gone' and then you add TICKLING??? i think it just might kill him... idk there’s really only one way for dream and george to find out” thing wtf i’ve been thinking about this wording nonstop for days…….anon…….pls anon……..anyway...)

By the time they let him go, sapnap’s face is drenched in tears and sweat, his hair is stuck to his forehead, he’s bright red, and he’s mad (well, he pretends he is. In reality, he actually loved every minute of his torture <3). He starts swinging at whoever is closest to him, who happens to be george, and george is cackling, running away from him and hiding behind dream, still egging sapnap on even as dream is holding him back from literally ripping george to shreds.

When sapnap calms down, dream teases him playfully, poking at him and making fun of how “small and pathetic” he looked getting wrecked to pieces in the boxing gloves. So sapnap challenges him to take his place. dream grabs his boxing gloves from one of his long lost hobbies many moons ago and lets sap get into position behind him. Sapnap wraps his arms around dream’s elbows, pulling them closer together so that dream’s arms are pinned behind his back, and successfully pushing out dream’s torso because of their awkward height difference. George doesn’t give him the chance to balance himself.

his hands are immediately under dream’s shirt, skittering over the center of his tummy and making dream stumble back against sapnap, almost bringing the two of them down to the ground. Sapnap repositions them, and in retaliation george starts to lightly pull at the bottom edge of dream’s bellybutton with his pointer finger, keeping his free hand skittering along the lower part of his tummy as he did so. And when george still wasn’t satisfied with the level of desperation in dream’s laughter, he leaned down and started nibbling into the dip of dream’s waist, sending him into hysterics. Apparently the combo proves to be too much for dream, because his knees completely give out, and in less than five minutes, the big scary ler is a crumpled lil mess of giggles and tears on the gym mat floor. He apologizes profusely to sapnap in exchange for mercy <3

now…George is the weakest of them all, and he knows it, so he darts out of the gym immediately after dream falls to the ground. He hides from them for the rest of the night, knowing they’re both undoubtably planning his demise - he’s the one who tickled the life out of both of them, afterall. So, of course, the next day he’s on edge around them. wincing whenever one of them brushes their hand along his back when they walk by him, or when they creep up on him from behind, just having fun with the anticipation of it all. And the worst part? having to listen to the two talk about him like he’s not even there. “Can you imagine george in that position? He’d never survive!” “No, he definitely wouldn’t. You’ve seen how useless he is when he’s tickled normally, what’s he gonna do when he’s completely helpless?”. and it builds for daaaays, until george is about to be super brave and ask them outright to wreck him, to just get it over with, but decides against it. He knows better.

they bombard him a week later, though, after george is practically vibrating with nerves and going crazy with anticipation. they hold him down against the mats, kneeling on either side of george. they each take a hand, shoving a boxing glove onto each one as george fights them the entire time. after they finally secure them, dream and sapnap dig into the muscles of george’s ribs and inner thighs until he’s screaming, crying, pleading, begging, banging his useless little fists into the ground (and into dream and sapnap) as hard as he can <3

Excited shouts and laughter from the guys could be heard from outside. The sound of metal clinking against metal and cheering gave away the fact that they were playing horseshoes like they do every evening, and as George assumed, Crooks was winning again. He’d be willing to bet his entire paycheck on it. The guy was really good at that game.

George was laying on his bunk, leafing through the pages of the magazine that had been on the apple box beside his bed since the day he came to the ranch. It really was silly, full of misinformation and shit, but it was interesting. And it was better than sitting and doing nothing.

He was on his own in the bunkhouse because he just didn’t want to hang out in a large group tonight and because Lennie was off in one of the barns playing with Slim’s puppies. And it wasn’t too bad, being all alone. George hardly ever got moments to himself since he had to take care of Lennie, so he appreciated the peace and quiet.

Which didn’t last long.

The door to the bunkhouse opened, and in stepped Lennie, who had a strange wide-eyed look. George sighed. Here we go again, he thought.

“Lennie.” George said, putting the magazine down beside him and sitting up. The larger man just stared in his direction, but George noticed that he wasn’t making eye contact. “Damnit Lennie, what did ya do now? Did’ja sneak in that pup again? You know what I said about bringing it in here.”

Lennie closed the door behind him and looked down at his hands. “I didn’t sneak no pup, George. Honest.”

George believed him, since it didn’t look like he was holding anything. But that meant that something worse could have happened, and he felt his stomach lurch at the idea. “You didn’t kill one of those damn puppies, did you?”

Lennie gasped and finally looked up, actually making eye contact with George this time. “No George! I promise I didn’t! I didn’t do nothin’ wrong.”

“Then why do you look so timid all of a sudden?” George really really hoped that Lennie hadn’t fucked up again and made another mistake that would cost them their job. He felt his heart pounding in his chest. But instead of over explaining a misunderstanding, Lennie walked over to his bunk across from George and sat down.

“I promise I didn’t do nothin’. I really really do. I just… I was holdin’ my pup in my lap and pettin’ ‘um…” He seemed to be struggling with saying what he wanted to say, but George could see that Lennie’s cheeks were turning pink. Was this what he thought it was..?

“Go on.” He urged. Lennie stifled a smile.

“He was nuzzlin’ my hand and his whiskers were ticklin’ me and… oh man-“ He put his face in his hands, positively flustered, but George heard all he needed to hear (which was also a HUGE relief, since it meant that the two of them were not in danger). He grinned.

“That pup put you into one of them moods, didn’t he?”

Lennie peeked through his fingers at George. George laughed.

“You want me to tickle you?” He asked with a warm smile, to which Lennie responded with a small nod. George shook his head in amusement and stood up. “Awright, make room. And try not to make too much of a ruckus, don’t want the guys findin’ out…”

It took them a moment, but eventually they ended up with Lennie laying on his back and George beside him, closer to the wall. They were practically cuddling, not that George would ever not deny it, though. But they had done this plenty of times so neither of them felt awkward or anything.

“Y’know, you’re kinda like a puppy yourself. Silly little thing.” He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers playfully. Lennie squirmed in anticipation. Instead of being merciful and giving Lennie a moment to process what was about to happen, or at least starting slowly, George went to town with poking and squeezing and scritching at Lennie’s belly, causing the bigger guy to erupt into loud giggles, kicking his legs and curling up a bit. George laughed with him, delighted to see his close friend so happy.

“Geohohohorge!”

“What’s wrong, Lennie? Ya want me to stop?”

Lennie shook his head, happy stimming by flapping his hands.

“Then what’re you sayin’ my name for?”

“Ihit tihihihickles!” Lennie managed to say through his laughter, making George chuckle.

“Wehell no shit! It’s supposed to.” His heart warmed at Lennie’s goofy smile. “It’s funny how much you enjoy this”

His hands dropped to Lennie’s sides, and as expected, the lee’s belly laughs became giddy giggles. The main reason George did that was because he was petrified of someone outside hearing the commotion and coming in. He did also love when Lennie laughed like that, though.

He almost envied how oblivious Lennie was. Sure, the crazy bastard was stupid, but the way he was so childish- cooing over small animals, shamelessly expressing his emotions, loving being tickled- it was charming, in a way. And George almost wished he could enjoy life that way.

If only things were simple enough for him to just be unserious like this. At least he can wreck his best friend from time to time.

“At your grown age…” he muttered, though he subtly went back to tickling Lennie’s belly, not caring how loud his laugh got. George no longer cared whether anyone heard him.

Just then, the bunkhouse door opened.

And in stepped Slim, of all people.

Shit- maybe George actually did care. He very much cared, in fact.

George instantly stopped and scrambled to sit up. Lennie did the same, except he wasn’t nearly as humiliated as George. In fact, he didn’t seem upset at all.

Slim chuckled with a baffled grin. “What on earth are the two of ya doin’? Havin’ some kinda tickle fight?”

George’s face flushed. “W-well- ya see- h-he asked me to!” He pointed an accusing finger at Lennie, who was still smiling from the tickles.

Slim shook his head. “I really don’t care, if that’s what you’re worried about. We do hard work out here. It’s nice to have a good laugh from time to time.” He reached into the apple box that was beside his own bunk and retrieved a pack of cigarettes. “You ticklish, Milton?”

George was nearly speechless at the sudden question. “Uh- no. Not at all. I ain’t no child-“

“Neither is Small over there. What’s your point?”

Well damn. There was no backing out of this, was there? George felt his face get hotter, and Slim just chuckled again.

“You don’t have to answer that. I’m just jokin’ around.” And with that, he turned and left, nodding in farewell.

Lennie’s flustered smile was now an amused one. George turned to him, still speechless, and blinked.

“At your grown age,” Lennie said, and George seemed to find his voice, playfully smacking Lennie’s arm.

My new AU to do with the Dream Team and their God siblings is here!

A few details are still unknown for this AU for now, but a quick backstory is after "something" happened, HD and 4K were blessed to be Realm Gods and they stayed in contact. They both confessed their feelings early and became husbands. HD and 4K were given their brothers on the same day and have been raising them together ever since. So the AU will focus on just daily life stuff but there will be "lore".

The Dream Team are all the same age because I just can't math so they are about 4 years old in this fic. This fic does have a lot of lore, but there are tickle moments between it so hopefully people can still enjoy it.

This fic will also be tagged as "GodSiblingAU" just for ease rn. I understand that's confusing but if I think of another name for it I'll change it in the future.

Enjoy~

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It was a perfect day on the Overworld. The sun was high and warm and the air was gentle and cool. It was predicted to be warm until the evening, then rain would start. GeorgeHD couldn’t think of a more perfect ending. A warm day in the sun to then be lulled to sleep by the soft patters of rain. A very perfect day.

But what made the day so perfect for HD was the fact he could spend it lounging in the arms of his true love.

Sapnap4K was a God blessed with a tall, built body and his arms were always open for HD to fall into. Which is how HD found himself this morning.

While the brothers, George and Sapnap, played out in the meadow, HD and 4K lounged at the top of the hills, watching over them. HD had started on 4K’s lap, and now he was laid over the Nether God’s chest and using his bicep as a pillow. He had absolutely dozed off a few times to the sound of their brothers laughter and 4K playing with his hair. But just when he really settled in for a nap, he felt a poke at his cheek which roused him.

It was a small tap of a claw on his cheek, but it was enough to get him to peek open his eye and look up to 4K. Smiling down on him.

“I think you’ve napped long enough.” 4K said. His voice was warm in HD’s ears and his chest rumbled with his words. All these things did not help wake HD up any more.

HD stretched himself out, taking up more space of 4K’s lap, before settling back down over his bicep once again. “I can decided when I’ve napped enough, thank you.”

“Oh can you?”

HD had shut his eyes again, but he could hear 4K’s smirk and the poking claw returned, except it targetted on HD’s side. It wasn’t enough of to draw out a big reaction, but it was enough to make HD squeak, and try to cosy himself in further to 4K’s arm.

“Dohoooon’t…”

“Come on. You said you wanted to take a walk to the cherry biome.” 4K’s voice turned soft instead of teasing. The hand returned to HD’s side, but it was laid out flat instead of trying to poke. His fingers stretched and rubbed soothingly over HD’s stomach and sides. “The boys want to go too.”

While HD was always alert to 4K’s voice had more of a lulling effect than coaxing. “The boys are happily looking for the largest stick they can find right now.” HD was confident they were right, but they peeked their eye open ever so slightly just to check. Sure enough George was trying to pull a stick out from under a bush while Sapnap was trying to pull the entire bush from the ground.

“Well I want to go.” 4K almost huffed. HD gave a look up, making sure 4K was still giving his overdramatic pout, and wasn’t actually upset. When he’d confirmed it was a pout, he settled again.

“I just want to nap for five more minutes.” HD sighed as he nuzzled against 4K’s bicep. “Then we’ll head out to the biome when the boys are ready. Promise.”

4K scoffed. “I think you just want to have an excuse to use my bicep as a pillow.”

“Prime gifted you with perfect biceps. It would be a sin to waste them.”

4K scoffed again and HD waited for the smart reply but it never came. After nothing for another minute, they relaxed again. The focused onto the sound of the rustling leaves and grass as their mind stilled and settled. Then, just on the brink of sleep, another prod into their side.

HD wiggled slightly, giving a look up to 4K. The Nether God was happily watching George and Sapnap play. After a moment HD settled again. Perhaps 4K’s hand just twitched without thinking. HD settled back in, letting the moment pass but then another poke came to his side. And this time the offending finger wiggled.

He was past the point of believe it was a mistake. HD wiggled while trying to keep his voice in a warning tone, but the giggles didn’t help him sound serious. “F-Fohour Kahahahay…!”

“Yes, my love?” 4K was keeping his voice calm, but his wide grin betrayed him.

“Yohoho’re tihickling!”

The fingers had stopped kneading into his sides, now they were skittering and poking up and down his sides and hips. Even his other hand joined in on the other side so HD’s giggles quickly turned into laughs. “4K!”

“I’m not tickling you.” 4K said so innocently while he loomed above the tickled God. “But you happen to be laying on a tickle bed.”

“Nohoho Ihi’m nohohot!” HD tried to pull himself up, but as well as tickling, 4K held him down and any slight freedom he got HD was immediately pulled back down. “Stohohohop!”

“You must have fallen asleep on the tickle monsters bed!” 4K gasped. “And the tickle monster always punishes those who fall asleep in his bed!”

“Nohohoho hehe d-dohoesn’t!” HD’s reasoning ended with a yelp, as 4K’s fingers went back to focusing in on his hips. His hips weren’t his most ticklish spot, but being so close to his sides put him overly on edge. And 4K was skilled at faking out going for his spots. “Plehehease!”

“What are you doing?”

HD opened his eyes, his cheeks blushing furiously as he saw George and Sapnap making their way towards their brothers. He opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was a surprising squeak when 4K tweaked his ribs.

“HD fell asleep on the tickle monsters bed.” 4K answered. His fingers still continued their tickling, now getting to skitter over HD’s stomach as the God tried to turn on his side more and curl up. “And he’s been caught!”

The boys eyes widened with an overdramatic gasp from Sapnap. “He tried to nap!” He called out.

The realisation made George gasp as well, though HD could barely focus on where the conversation was going as his hips were mercilessly tickled.

“Stohohohp!”

“You said we’re going to the cherry trees!” George pointed accusingly.

“Wehehe ahahahre-EEK! FOHOUR KAHAY!”

4K went right for his sides then, buzzing right into them as he was distracted and then when he brought his arms down to protect them, 4K went right back to his hips.

“He needs to be tickled awake.” 4K playfully growled at the two kids. “And the tickle monster needs the little monsters help!”

The boys expressions went from accusing to mischievous and they leapt at the opportunity. Literally jumping into 4K’s lap with HD to get at him.

“NO! Dohon’t yohou dahahare! I am awake! I ahahaham!” HD tried a mix of threats and pleading until 4K moved his hands up.

The Nether God lifted HD’s arms up off his sides, taking advantage to tickle his armpits as well, and stretching him out nicely for Sapnap and George to get at his sides, which they did immediately.

George was on his left and Sapnap on his right, their little hands squeezing, skittering and fluttering all up and down his most sensitive spot. Merciless. George and Sapnap had no want for anticipation or build up, they wanted to get at the worst spots right away and Prime sake they really went for it.

HD shrieked as he wiggled. His body was screaming to struggle and fight with everything he had but he was cautious of his brother and Sapnap being so close and didn’t want to hurt them. Being tortured in his worst spot and not being able to move from consequence just made the torture worse. His skin prickled with his over sensitive nerves and he begged.

“OHOHOHOKAHAHAY! WE-WEHEHE CAHAN GOHOHOHO! WE CAN GO! JUHUHUST STOHOHOHOHOHOP!”

4K stopped right away. He lowered his hands, grabbing at George and Sapnap’s to get them to stop while HD curled up as tightly as he could and sucked in air like he’d been on the verge of suffocating.

“He’s trying to sleep again!” Sapnap accused again before looking up as 4K chuckled.

“No, he’s just catching his breath.” 4K said, one hand patting over HD’s back. “But hopefully he’s learned a valuable lesson about taking the tickle monster's bed.”

HD cursed so softly under his breath only 4K could hear it with a twitch of his ear. His smirk widened as George partially climbed over HD’s back.

“What did you say?” He demanded.

“I said, let’s go.” HD lied, catching majority of his breath. He called forth one of his helper hands, an almost opalescent looking white hand that materialised from nothing, that grabbed the back of George’s overalls and lifted him off. The little brunette squeaked and giggled to the lift, as HD turned on his front and pushed himself up.

“The cherry biome isn’t far. We can walk.” 4K suggested casually, and grinned when HD glared.

“Absolutely not.” HD huffed. When he’s sorted himself out mostly, the ephemeral hand dropped George into his arms and disappeared into white mist. “Teleport. Now.”

It was tempting to tease HD more, but Sapnap and George were growing restless, both of them vocally voting for the teleport option. With a sigh, 4K relented and stood up with Sapnap in his arms after HD. In a split second, all four of them were gone from the meadow and appeared in the midsts of a cherry grove.

The biome was located on a small mountain structure, though it was thankfully free from any sudden cliff drops. Since it was higher than their meadow it was colder, and windier but that just made the pink trees sway more and more of their petals danced through the air. The lime green grass was littered with fallen petals and small pink flowers.

George and Sapnap were enchanted and then suddenly energised, squirming out of HD and 4K’s arms to run off.

“Let’s see who can catch the most petals out of the air!” Sapnap challenged, already grabbing a few mid run.

“Don’t wander off too far! Stay where we can see you!” 4K called after them and while the two shouted back a ‘yes’ they were already lost in their own game.

“Are you happy now?” HD grumbled. “We are here.”

“I am very happy.” 4K beamed. He curled his arm around HD’s waist, pulling him in close to his side and purred in his ear. Even though HD tried to keep his grumpy pout, he couldn’t resist the smile pulling at his lips. “I get to take a walk with my perfect husband through the cherry grove.”

“You’re such a sap.” HD tried to play it off, act like the purring and words weren’t getting to him. It was impossible to act since near everything 4K did made HD’s heart leap.

“Aaaand…” 4K carried on. “After the walk we can all take a nice nap under the cherry blossom trees.”

That did sound nice, despite how much HD wanted to scoff. Cuddled with their love while the pink petals rained upon them both was a picturesque sight. “I suppose that sounds nice…” HD replied coolly, but the grin over 4K’s face told him he wasn’t buying it. HD wanted to kiss that stupid grin off his face, but just as he grabbed 4K’s chin to pull him in a chilling sound pulled them apart.

George and Sapnap had screamed. Not like the scream of them playing they were so used to hearing, but as though something terrible had jumped out at them and they screamed in terror.

Immediately the Gods pulled apart and rushed to their brother’s sides. They were far, but kept in sight as they promised and the Gods crossed the distance in less than a second.

“What happened?!” HD grabbed George as soon as he could and lifted him into HD’s arms. He looked fine, at least not hurt, but his eyes were teary and HD’s helper hands appeared to worry over him.

“There-there’s someone here!” George sniffled, his voice high pitched and wobbly.

It was common that others would come across the Gods and their brothers during the day. It was never a problem as they were well known so it was either a friendly greeting or people giving them space to carry on. But this was clearly not that.

“Who?!” 4K asked, already picking up Sapnap. He was teary eyed as well and buried his face into 4K’s neck. “Where are they now?”

The boys didn’t need to answer that one. They were stood in front of a small cherry blossom tree, with a thin trunk and branches it looked more like a bush. And from that bush something leapt out.

It leapt back from the bush, putting as much distance as it could between them and the Gods. It was a somewhat humanoid shape, and covered in green, but those were the only details HD could make out as it tried to sprint off.

“Hey!”

George was quickly handed off to 4K as HD pursued the stranger. They had already crossed a large distance of the biome, but now they quickly went for the edge of the mountain to jump down to the forest below.

HD was faster, able to close the distance between them quickly just as the stranger got to the edge of the grass. However, before they had a chance to jump, HD formed a cobblestone wall in front of the stranger and partly curved it around them.

They stopped just before they smacked into the wall. Their arms braced on the walls, feeling around it desperately before they turned around and saw HD.

It was not a mortal, as HD had suspected. No human could have been that fast. HD could feel it was someone powerful and he concluded it must be another God. Gods were common to meet for them as well, but HD had never seen this one before. They were tall, taller than HD but probably not reaching 4K’s height. They had pale blonde hair, a little frayed and messy, and their eyes were covered in bandages crossed over one another. They had a large green cloak on, though it was ripped on one side, showing the God had four sets of arms. The top two were braced onto the wall behind them, and the other two huddled under the cloak.

If the God had meant to hurt them he was certainly in no condition for a fight. Still, HD kept his guard up as he approached. He left a wide enough space between them so the God wasn’t crowded in or cornered and before he could speak, the God opened his mouth first.

“I-I don’t want trouble. I did not mean to...just let me leave, please!”

His voice sounded desperate and doubled, like there was a second voice repeating the words but in an almost growl. Similar to an effect HD and 4K had with their own voices.

HD wanted to remain calm, but his eyes kept looking to XD’s lower arms huddled in the half of his cloak not ripped. They were curled, like they were holding something and HD couldn’t risk it. “What’s in your cloak?” He asked, keeping his voice calm but firm.

A weapon would have no effect on him, but if this stranger was dangerous and had anything that could threaten the boys, HD had to be ready.

The God contemplated his choices. HD could see he was looking between his arms and HD with a twitch of his head. Then he seemed to look around, as though trying to find a way out. HD was about to ask again when the God relented and they slowly opened their cloak.

It was a boy in the God’s arms. He could have been no older than George or Sapnap and he was the near spitting image of the stranger, with blonde hair and a matching black jumpsuit. But the boy only had two arms and one of them was horribly burnt.

HD’s suspicion fell to sympathy 0and he looked back up to the God. “Is he your brother?” He asked calmed. The stranger tensed to the question and HD slowly raised his hands to show he meant no harm. “What is your names?” HD asked.

The God hesitated before answering. “D-DreamXD...this is Dream.”

Of course! HD felt so stupid he hadn’t realised it before. While he knew the stranger was clearly another God there were only few who felt that strong. HD should have known it was the God of the End. The illusive DreamXD who never left or invited anyone to his realm.

“P-Please. We are sorry. Just let us go and you will never see us again!” XD pleaded.

It was becoming clear there was some misunderstand somewhere. George and Sapnap had clearly been spooked by XD, but it was nothing malicious.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding here.” HD spoke calmly and slowly put his hands down. As he did he lowered himself down to kneel on the ground, trying to keep himself as less threatening as he could. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

He watched for any sign of XD relaxing, but it never came. Tried as he might his eyes also kept wandering back to Dream and his burnt arm.

The boy stared with wide green eyes at HD under the shadow of the cloak. He was clung to XD’s side and held up by the God’s lower arms. Well...one of his arms clung to XD. His left arm was limp by his side, and twitched every once in a while. From the back of his hand to just below his shoulder, the skin was purple and burnt and while he never took his eyes off HD, he’d wince every once in a while to the twitching of his arm. The burn seemed new, and still painful.

HD’s attention turned back to XD who pressed himself further back into the wall as HD heard the shuffling approach behind him. He quickly turned his head to see 4K walking closer with George and Sapnap in his arms.

“Is everything okay?” 4K asked, looking from HD to XD. “What’s going...oh!” His eyes saw Dream, and widened with realisation. “He’s…”

“We’re fine here, everything is fine.” HD soothed. He turned back to XD, thankful he hadn’t bolted and then looked back to 4K. “We’re just talking.”

“Just let us leave and we won’t trouble you!” XD pleaded.

“There’s no trouble.” HD quickly soothed and turned back. “We just want to know what happened.”

“We saw him!” George said excitedly. HD looked back to see he was pointing at Dream. “We saw him in the bush. Then the man took him away.”

The events were starting to make a little bit more sense in HD’s head, clicking together slowly but at least they were clicking together. George and Sapnap must have come upon the small tree and seen Dream. Either he had wandered off or he wasn’t mean to be so close to them, DreamXD had quickly grabbed Dream and tried to flee.

“I-I did not mean to scare them.” XD quickly defended. “Please.”

“No, no it’s fine. You did nothing wrong.” HD quickly soothed. “Listen. I can help you. Dream, was it? He’s hurt. I can heal him.”

It was the first time XD had relaxed, even just slightly. His expression faltered a little and he looked down at Dream in his arms. He looked less guarded and worried to just show a speck of concern and maybe hope.

“I’m GeorgeHD.” HD carried on. “I’m the God of the Overworld. The God behind me is Sapnap4K. He’s the God of the Nether. And those are our brothers, George and Sapnap.”

XD looked between them as they were introduced. His eyebrows drawing together slightly when he looked and George and Sapnap and HD could see slow realisation.

“I…” XD looked down at Dream again and then back up. “Can you...help him?”

Without wanting to seem too eager, HD nodded slowly. “Yes. I can heal that burn. Why don’t we heal Dream first, and then we can have a talk. Okay?”

XD did nothing for a long while. It was only a few seconds but the crawl of time felt so slow. The blonde God bit his lip before taking his attention off HD and down to the little Dream. He whispered something too soft for HD to really hear, but Dream shook his head to it and tired to bury himself further into the cloak. XD whispered something else and it took Dream a while before he pulled his head out of XD’s side. His green eyes were filled with tears but he didn’t try to hide again when XD looked back up to HD and spoke. “Please heal him. If-If you can.”

HD smiled. “Of course.”

HD found it easier to be calm and softer when he had to heal. He knew he could come off as brunt and distant even when he didn’t mean to, but when it came to a matter of well being, HD found it easy to slip into that soft role again.

He approached the two slowly, not getting off his knees, and he was thankful when XD knelt down and came just a bit forward to meet him. HD took in every details he could of XD. His face was young but his eyes completely covered in wraps. HD used to wear similar wraps over his eyes before he could control the shine they would give off. He wondered if it was something similar with XD but all his attention focused on Dream when XD unwrapped his cloak.

Instead of clinging to XD’s side, Dream now wrapped his one good arm around XD’s lower arm. His injured arm lay as limp as he could make it by his side, but even the slightest movement made Dream wince.

“This won’t hurt, okay?” HD spoke to both brothers but he smiled at Dream. Dream just watched him with a blank expression that was broken up every once in a while by a flash of pain or to look up pleading to XD.

HD had prepared himself for a panic and struggle but he was surprised and thankful when Dream remained calm. He watched HD’s hand approach him like a hawk, his eyes getting bigger and bigger as it approached, but he never cried or tried to run even as the hand was just an inch over his burnt skin.

As HD suspected the burn was infused with some sort of magic, but it was nothing he couldn’t heal. He started at the top, just under Dream’s shoulder and watched his own palms glow ever so slightly. The burnt skin under his hand slowly started to mend, and more and more disappeared as HD slowly worked his hands down. He was careful not to move too fast and make sure his magic kept Dream from feeling any pain. He could see it working, as the fear in Dream’s eyes slowly melted away with the pain and then turned to wonder as he watched HD heal him.

When the last burn on the back of Dream’s hand was healed, HD pulled back his hand. “See? All better.”

Dream quickly pulled his arm up, inspecting the skin with awe as XD was as well. The blonde God looked back up to HD, the guarded expression dropped to gratitude...and exhaustion.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

There was a thousand questions HD had, but XD didn’t look up for answering anything. Dream didn’t either. They were both tired. Their hair and clothes a mess, matted or torn. The End realm was closed off from everyone for years. Even Gods could not go in. Something had to have happened to cause XD and Dream to flee to the Overworld, but HD felt it was cruel to ask.

Instead, he slowly lifted himself up off the ground. XD slowly followed his lead, still holding Dream close to his chest.

“Listen. I don’t know what’s happened but...are you...trying to live in the Overworld now?”

HD wasn’t sure how to phrase the question delicately, but it was clearly wrong since XD’s expression went to worry again.

“We-We would not be a bother. We will go as far away from you as we can, you won’t even know we are here!” XD quickly babbled and HD felt guilty.

“No, no. That’s now what I meant.” HD quickly soothed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant… I’m trying to…”

“What HD is trying to say,” 4K voice suddenly spoke up, and HD looked back to see the Nether God had came right behind him. He was no longer holding George and Sapnap, they instead hid behind his legs and looked up to the new God and brother. “Is that it’s no trouble if you want to stay in the Overworld. You are welcome.”

HD gave a small sigh of relief, thankful 4K could convey his words better. XD made a similar sigh. His shoulders relaxed, no longer tense and he gave his first smile. “That...th-thank you.”

“But,” HD continued, determined to find the words. “If you don’t mind me asking. How long have you been here?”

XD looked worried, but not as scared as he had before. It probably helped that HD lowered the cobblestone wall behind him. “A… A few days I think…”

“Four days.” Dream’s small voice whispered. The way he clung so close to XD’s chest and turned away from the others meant the whisper was only for XD, but HD’s ears twitched and picked it up.

“Do you have a home? Or shelter set up?”

HD could see the answer immediately. Neither looked like they’d been sleeping easy. XD looked away, almost ashamed. “I… I can’t… We can’t craft...here…”

HD’s heart lurched, thinking of Dream with his arm burnt and in pain, living rough in the wild. Clearly it effected XD as well. Sleep was not needed for Gods as it was for mortals, but they still needed rest and still showed the signs of fatigue. XD looked like he hadn’t slept for a week.

“Listen, I’m sorry your first few days on the Overworld haven’t been good for you two. But, just so you two can rest easy for tonight, I’d like to invite you to stay with us.”

The offer settled uneasily with XD. He kept looking away, but he also would look to Dream and something in his voice told HD that he was considering it for his brother’s sake. “I… We would not want to intrude…”

“You wouldn’t be intruding at all.” HD quickly soothed. “We have more than enough space and if you don’t want to I can give you the ability to craft here and you can go and make a home for yourself and Dream. But if you just wanted to rest for the day and start fresh tomorrow, we’d more than welcome you.”

XD paused for a long while, and HD was just the little bit hopeful that they’d agree. After a moment of silence, XD spoke. “I would like to discuss it with Dream.”

HD nodded. “Of course. Please do.”

HD and 4K gathered their brothers and let the End God and kin have a moment alone. HD kept them in his vision still, making sure they didn’t run off though he promised himself he would not chase after them. If XD and Dream wanted to remain alone, he couldn’t force otherwise.

“If he bolts off again, we can catch him.” 4K lightly bumped his shoulder into HD’s, snapping him out of his somewhat daze. The Nether God’s voice was in half joking, though when HD looked up 4K almost looked serious.

HD felt a little guilty. “I’m sorry I offered them to stay without talking to you first.”

“Hey, don’t apologise.” 4K shrugged. “If you weren’t going to offer, I certainly was.”

“Are they coming home with us?” Sapnap asked, pulling himself up from 4K’s arms till he was practically climbing up over his brother’s shoulder.

“Hopefully.” HD wished, and as he glanced over to XD just to make sure he was still there, the End God was approaching the group again.

Dream had retreated back into the cloak, but he was now held up by XD’s upper arms and clung into XD’s chest. “If the offer still stands, we would be happy to take you up on it.” XD spoke slowly.

HD controlled his reaction, trying not to be too excited. Instead he just nodded. “Of course! Please, join us.”

A thin mist crawled through the cherry tree biome, eventually forming into a cloud that took the shape of a large door. It open up to a wide, grand room. The walls a soft looking blue, looking like they were made of clouds themselves. Stars twinkled down and disappeared from the floor above and a large spiral staircase lay at the back of the room.

4K took George and Sapnap with him to another room down one of the hallways, despite George and Sapnap’s protests. It was easier for HD to show them around without an audience and XD clearly relaxed more when it was just himself, Dream and HD.

HD watched carefully as XD followed him up the spiral staircase. He took careful, unsure steps. Wispy clouds softly fell over the steps and once XD saw they were harmless he followed more easily.

The upper levels of the palace were a dark blue, like clouds on a night sky. Golden sparkles shimmered through the walls like stars in the distance, and Dream seem intrigued, peeking his head out to watch them before realise HD was watching him and shuffling back in.

There were many empty rooms just waiting to be used in the palace. There was one just a couple doors down from HD’s room and with a quick thought it was morphed into a bedroom, filled with standard furniture. A wide bed on one side of the room, with soft fluffy pillows and sheets. In the middle of the room was a set of comfy chairs and a table beside a dresser, and off to the side there was a separate wash room with a bath almost as big as the bed.

“You should have everything you need.” HD explained while giving a quick tour of the room. “But if you need anything more, my room is down the hall and I will find you if you call on me.”

HD knew he was babbling and he could only hope he wasn’t coming on too strong but XD looked far more relaxed than he ever had, and he smiled warmly. “This is fine. More than fine.” He quickly assured HD. “Thank you.”

HD was eased seeing the God smile for once. He wanted to offer anything to the two of them at that moment, but instead he nodded and quickly left to return to the others.

4K had taken the boys to the playroom, which was a perfect distraction for them. George and Sapnap were attempting a floor jigsaw, but that was quickly abandoned when they saw HD walk in and they rushed over demanding answers.

“Are they staying?!” “Where are they now?!” “Do we have a new friend?!” “Can we see them?!”

“Calm down.” HD tried to settle them. It was easier when 4K came over and took Sapnap in his arms, and George was calmed when HD gave him a bit of his robe to rub between his fingers.

“They are settling into their room just now, and they are not to be disturbed.” HE warned, getting a chorus of ‘aww” from the two.

“Yous almost scared them off before, you want that again?” 4K half joked.

The two gave grumbled responses defending themselves but it raised and interesting point.

“What actually happened?” HD asked as he sat down on one of the many beanbags around the room. 4K follow to sit in the one beside him, letting Sapnap crawl all over his arm. “In the cherry biome. Did you see Dream first?”

“Yes!” Sapnap nodded, almost jumping out of 4K’s arms. Luckily the Nether God was an expert in catching his brother. “We were looking in the tree for the biggest stick! The boy was behind the leaves!”

“He jumped when he saw us. Then the man quickly grabbed him and ran off.” George finished.

HD put the timeline of events in his head together. “So you two screamed then? He scared you?” HD asked.

“We didn’t scream!” George defended his tiny pride, his face burning red. “He didn’t scare us!”

HD and 4K gave each other a look, remembering the tears and scream they both heard that kicked them both into brother mode.

“Was Dream okay?” Sapnap asked softly.

HD decided it was best to keep details of the injury vauge. He didn’t know how much the two saw but he wasn’t going to say anything more than needed. “He was a little hurt but he’s alright now.” He assured Sapnap.

“Will we see them today?” George asked, his eyes almost wide with hope.

“Only if they want to.” HD calmly explained. “Until then, we’ll give them their space.”

The boys were upset, and even more upset when they couldn’t go back to the cherry biome for the day. 4K quickly distracted them with a treasure hunting game, which they started begrudgingly but then started getting into it. Especially when 4K promised a prize for whoever wins.

As the boys played HD quietly offered to 4K that HD could stay in the palace, being available for XD and Dream, and 4K could have taken the boys back to the biome but 4K refused, citing he wanted to be there for support to HD. While HD called him sappy, he had to remind himself to thank 4K properly later.

Despite HD remaining hyper alert, XD and Dream did not leave their rooms for the rest of the night. The sky outside dipped to a lilac as the clouds started to burn a sunset orange. The walls of the palace reflected the change and when it became night, the whole place was a dark blue with stars shimmering through.

George and Sapnap claimed they weren’t tired while almost falling asleep in HD’s arms. They had asked to both sleep in George’s room, where they had already made a pillow fort and the Gods let them settle in for their sleepover while they retreated to HD’s room.

It was exactly the type of room HD was suited to have. The bed took up majority of the space, with sheets that looked like rolling night clouds that hung over the bed’s edge. There were golden stars and phases of the moon hanging from the ceiling, between the hanging blue fabrics and netting. The moons bathed the room in a soft silver glow, and made everything calm.

HD could have melted into the bed as soon as they lay down, but they refused to allow themselves that calmness. Though it was much harder to fight off when 4K was kissing their cheek and cuddling in close to their side.

“You did a good thing giving them a place to stay.” 4K’s voice was soft and purred the right way to make HD weak. They wanted nothing more than to curl up into 4K’s arms, but the nagging worry of their visitors needing them kept them up.

“It was the right thing to do.” HD shrugged. Partly to play off his good deed and another part to stop 4K’s kisses. “But I also think maybe… I’m making up for something, in a way?”

4K pulled back ever so slightly, propping himself up with his arm. “What do you mean?”

“I just…” HD searched for the right words. It was a growing thought he’d had ever since he’d realised who XD was. “I feel like… When we were given George and Sapnap I thought it was because we were...connected? I just thought we were somehow blessed. But then XD also has Dream, and it’s no coincidence since they’re a realm God too. So we were all given brothers, but because we never knew XD we didn’t know.”

“You think it means something?”

“It has to, right? We checked when we got the boys, no other Gods got any siblings. It’s only us Realm Gods. So we were given these brothers for some reason. And while we had each other to help with it, XD was alone.”

“We’re not to blame for that.” 4K quickly defended, though his tone was more in assurance than defensive. “He closed off the End to others, even we couldn’t get in. And before that Prime didn’t want us meeting XD.”

“I know...but it still doesn’t sit right.”

But there was nothing HD could do about it now. He could try and offer support to XD if he decided to stay, but that would be up to the End God.

“You need sleep.”

4K poked HD’s nose, pulling him out of his thoughts. He blinked, looking over to 4K who was settling over the bed again and he remembered his resolve to stay awake.

“You sleep. I want to stay up in case XD needs me.”

“If he calls, or even moves an in inch out of his room, you would know.” 4K quickly replied, as though he was waiting for this. Of course 4K would know HD’s plan. He knew HD’s thoughts before the Overworld God even knew them sometimes. “And you are stressed, starlight. You need sleep.”

HD was never one to turn down sleep, but he kept to his guns, and shook his head. “I will be fine. You sleep.”

4K sighed through his nose as he shuffled himself just a little closer. His arms wrapped around HD’s waist and he settled in like he was going to sleep.

But of course he wasn’t. HD absolutely knew he wasn’t. He kept on edge when he felt 4K’s hands slide around his sides, and while it took a little longer than he thought, he felt the first skitter of claws against his side and making him squeal and jump but he was held down in 4K’s arms.

“Fohour Kahay…” HD warned. His voice wasn’t as stern as he would have liked but he was proud he only had some giggles in his voice.

4K’s eyes were closed with a stupid small smile on his face, but he gave a low him, showing he was listening.

“Stohop tihickling…”

“Hmm…” 4K hummed again. His eyes still closed as he spoke. “I don’t know who this ‘4K’ is. I’m the tickle monster. And you are in the tickle monster’s bed.” 4K’s fingers trailed up, over to HD’s ribs where they stayed. HD tried to grab at 4K’s wrists but it was a futile attempt. “And if you’re in the tickle monster’s bed, you must want tickled to sleep.”

His thumbs just pushed in ever so slightly, kneading over his lower ribs. It didn’t tickle as much as his sides and 4K knew it. He knew every spot over HD’s body. He knew the spots to make him scream, the spots that worked him up into a frenzy and the spots that made him melt.

On cue, HD melted. He gave a low whine, breathy little giggles pouring from his lips and he tried fruitlessly to struggle. It was more like a kitten wiggling with his strength. His bones felt like mush and refused to listen to him. 4K may have been right. He was stressed and tired, but he wasn’t letting 4K win so easily.

“Y-Yohou tickled mehehe awahake earlier whehen I was ohon yohour bed. N-Nohow you tihihickle mehe to slehehehep…” HD sputtered. “Yohou tihickle monsters are vehery f-f-fihickle!”

“F-F-Fickle?!” 4K gasped dramatically. “You insult the tickle monster now?! Oh now you’re in for it!”

4K rolled over on his front, squishing HD into the bed. Struggling was near impossible now, but HD foolishly believed that to mean it was harder to tickle him. Very wrong. 4K wrapped his arms under HD, setting his hands over HD’s ribs again. It was a perfect position to get at HD’s ribs again, and even tickle the back of them.

“No no no no nooohohohohoho…” HD giggled again. He shook his head, trying to bury it in 4K’s mane of hair. “Thahahat’s tihihicklihihiy…”

“Well yes, that’s entirely the point.” 4K spoke in a purr. His tail looped around HD’s leg, it’s fluffy tip brushing over HD’s ankle so gently. “I’m going to tickle you into a deep sleep.”

“Nohoho yohohour n-nohohot…” HD giggled back, but even he could hear the fight leave his voice. He couldn’t even muster up enough strength to pull his foot away from the fluffy tail curling around his ankle again and again.

“Yes I am~” 4K cooed. “You’re soooo sleepy already. No-one can resist the tickle monsters sleepy tickles.”

“Nnmmm…” It was less giggling now. The tingles still ran through their body, and tickled over their ribs, but HD had no energy to fight it. 4K was warm and his weight was comforting on them. It was useless.

“Ohohokahay. Ohohokahahay…” HD giggled and sighed when 4K’s fingers stopped. His tail still kept softly swishing though. “Ihihi’ll slehehep for a bihit…”

“Perfect.” 4K purred, pressing a kiss under HD’s chin. He pressed another to HD’s ear as he whispered. “You will be more help to them after a good nights sleep.”

HD hummed softly as 4K settled down. He placed his head over HD’s chest, listening to his heart while HD lazily draped his arms around his back. “You’ll feel better once you sleep.” 4K’s words were more slurred purrs than words.

HD could only hum again while his fingers played through 4K’s hair. The purrs on his chest eventually turned into soft snores and the silver light in the room dimmed. The stars twinkled above and HD slipped his eyes closed.