#ler!iris

Ash had finally done it. He had finally become the very best like no one ever was: A pokémon master. He had started his trip back to Pallet town, and spent his time saying bye to all the friends he had made over the years. On his way back, many of his friends through the years had offered to accompany him as he reversed his tracks. First was Goh. 

They had traveled across Galar, visiting different towns and cities for a while, catching up on all they’ve seen and done together. 

“Remember when you caught a pokéball for the first time, and didn’t even realize it?” Ash asked. 

“Yup, I remember it vividly. It was my Scorbunny.” Goh replied. 

“Oh my gosh, your face when it was added to your pokédex!” Ash reacted, laughing. 

“And the time your chair leg broke and fell to the ground?” Goh added with a laugh. “Even YOU were laughing!” He added, poking his side. 

Ash laughed. “And the time you grabbed my pants when you fell? I was scared they were gonna fall down!” Ash added, poking his side back. 

“Hehey! Watch it, clumsy!” Goh reacted, poking him back. 

Ash laughed and poked him back. “Poke fight!” Ash declared before poking him double time. 

Goh laughed and poked him back, now going for the sides and ribs as well as the arms. “Tahahake thahat!” He said, poking Ash’s belly. 

Ash doubled over and hugged his sides, letting out a long burst of laughter. 

Goh laughed alongside him and patted his shoulder. “You’re so ticklish! It’s so funny!” Goh reacted. 

“Ihihi know.” Ash admitted. 

“Honestly, you two…” Chloe teased with a smile. 

Goh turned to Chloe and scratched the back of his head. “Sorry, Chloe.” 

Chloe smirked and picked up Goh. “Sorry doesn’t change how ticklish YOU are.” She exclaimed as she danced her fingers all over his ribs. “NaAAHAHAHA! CHLOE WAHAHAIT! NOHOHO FAHAIR!” Goh laughed. Ash just smiled as he watched the goofballs play with each other. 

When they got to Kalos, Ash, Goh and Chloe split up. There, Ash would come across Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie again. “Need a lift?” Clemont asked. 

Ash and the group walked through Kalos, visiting places they had been before, and reminiscing about their journey together. 

“Remember Clemont’s pokébot?!” Ash asked excitedly. 

Serena and Bonnie groaned in slight annoyance while Clemont smiled eagerly. 

“Don’t you mean my ‘Automatic Pikachu Retrieval Device’?” Clemont clarified. 

“Pokébot sounds better.” Bonnie admitted. 

Clemont yelped and shot a glare at her. “And why is that?!” Clemont asked. 

Bonnie smirked. “Because it’s shorter and makes more sense.” She replied proudly. 

Clemont narrowed his eyes at her. “Take that back.” He ordered. 

“Or what?” She teased back. 

“Or else…” He smirked and wiggled his fingers at her. “A certain childhood monster is gonna reappear.” He warned. 

Bonnie’s sly look quickly turned into nervousness. “H-Huh?!” She reacted, before taking off running. “W-Wait! Not that! Anything but that!” She begged. 

“You asked for it. Therefore, you’re getting it.” Clemont declared proudly, chasing after her. 

Bonnie sprinted just about everywhere she could think of. She even whizzed around Ash and Serena a few times! Ash and Serena looked at each other, clearly confused. “Monster?” Ash asked. 

“What monster?” Serena asked next, not knowing either. 

“Only the most well-known monster to ever exist.” Clemont replied, still not helping them figure it out. 

Bonnie accidentally tripped on her feet mid-run, and flopped herself onto the grass. Her eyes were spinning spirals as she froze on the ground. “Bonnie! Are you okay?!” Clemont asked, worried. 

“I think so…” Bonnie replied. 

“Okay, good.” Clemont ran up and picked up his little sister, before squeezing and digging into her belly. “Cause THIS monster just captured the best prey in Kalos!” He declared, lifting her up and pretending to nibble on her belly. 

“eeeEEHEHEHEHE! HAHAHA NOHOHOHO!” She wiggled around and kicked her feet, unable to stop her brother from tickling her. 

“Oh…” Ash looked down, a gray shadow covering his eyes as he felt a tear drop down his forehead. “The tickle monster.” 

Serena was giggling at the silliness for a few minutes. 

When they reached Unova, Ash turned to look at his friends. “I loved hanging out again. We should do it again sometime!” Ash declared. He gave Clemont and Bonnie a hug. “Bye Bonnie. Bye Clemont. Good luck with your inventions!” He said, patting his back before stopping in front of Serena. “And Serena…” Ash chuckled and looked down. “Do you…really like me that way?” He asked her awkwardly. Serena smirked and leaned in, giving Ash a kiss on the lips. Ash hummed with slight surprise at first, before leaning into it and wrapping his arms around her. Clemont had to cover up Bonnie’s innocent eyeballs to save her the pain of seeing such things. Serena opened her eyes and broke the kiss, before staring lovingly into Ash’s brown eyes with a giddy little smirk. “Does that answer your question?” She asked. Ash smiled as a blush formed on his face. 

“Is it over?” Clemont asked, clearly scarred for life. 

With that determined, Ash took his leave. And waiting for him nearby, was Iris and Cilan. 

“Ash smiled excitedly as he saw Cilan. “Hey! I didn’t know you’d be here!” Ash reacted, high-fiving him. 

“Iris invited me to stop by when I found out about the news.” He reacted. “Besides…I got to take the Subway again!” He declared excitedly. 

Ash sighed and looked at Iris. “You lured him here on purpose…didn’t you?” Ash asked. 

“Come on, Ash. It’ll be like old times! At least for a few hours.” Iris told him. 

Ash chuckled. “Fine.” He replied, amused. 

They took off walking through the city and outside of the area, visiting Decalore on their way to Alola. They had a map this time, which meant they knew some shortcuts to where they wanted to go this time around. The group felt more confident with this map. Why he didn’t have the map out the first time he traveled, was beyond him. “I’ve never been to Alola before. It sounds beautiful.” Cilan admitted. 

“I think you’ll love it!” Ash declared, throwing his fist into the air. “It’s warm and it’s split into 4 different islands.One of them has a volcano on it!” Ash told him. 

“Oh! Which one has the volcano on it?” Cilan asked. 

Ash pointed to it. “The middle one on the left. It’s giant.” Ash admitted. 

“Okay. Noted. Let’s NOT go to the middle island on the left.” Cilan declared. 

Ash turned to Cilan. “...Seriously?” Ash asked. 

Iris raised an eyebrow. “The volcano is likely dormant.” Iris told them. 

“But that’s the thing: They make you THINK they’re dormant…And then…” Cilan grabbed Iris’s shoulders. “They become active and destroy everything in its path!” Cilan reacted, throwing his arms around. “All that work…for nothing!” Cilan reacted, cupping his own cheeks in distress. 

Iris chuckled and poked his side. “You’re so dramatic.” She teased. 

Cilan jumped and moved away from Iris. 

Ash saw that, and smirked. “Yeah, come on Cilan.” Ash walked up and poked his side as well. “Relax.” He teased. 

Cilan pushed their hands away. “Don’t tickle me.” He ordered softly, quickening his pace. 

“Cilan you’re-” Ash scrunched up his face as he heard Cilan yelp and flop onto the dirt. 

Iris doubled over and pointed at him, laughing her head off. 

“Gonna fall over…” Ash muttered to himself with a sigh. 

Cilan groaned and attempted to get himself up. “Thanks Ash…” He muttered, dusting himself off. “Stupid rock.” Cilan muttered, looking at the big, wide rock that took up the road. 

When they made it to Alola, they ended up heading to the very island that Cilan didn’t want to go on. And though Cilan wasn’t pleased, he did have to admit: The island is gorgeous! And the flowers! The pokémon! It’s a wonderful place to explore! 

Ash wished Cilan and Iris farewell, before going to meet up with his friends from this region. 

Lana, Kiawe, Lillie, Sophocles and Mallow were all waiting for him to arrive in Hau’oli City. When he showed up, all his friends cheered and sprinted up to him. 

“Hi guys!” Ash reacted excitedly at first. Though all of his excitement quickly diminished when he realized how close they were getting to him. Ash went from chuckling eagerly, to shouting in horror in a matter of seconds. 

He felt as the group practically doggy-piled him to the ground, making a big puff of dust in the air. The group all got off of Ash, and surrounded him from above. 

“On 3!” Mallow declared. 

“1!” They all said at the same time. 

Ash tilted his head, confused. 

“2!” They all counted, kneeling down. 

Ash registered their hand signals, and grew tense. “W-WAIT!” 

“3!” They all started tickling Ash everywhere they could reach. The armpits, the sides, the belly, the feet, the neck, 10 hands on multiple different ticklish spots. 

“BAHAHAhahaha! Guhuhuhuys!” He yelled. 

“Welcome back tickle attack!” They all declared. 

“Nihihice to sehehehee yohohou toohohohoo!” Ash replied. 

They stopped tickling and Lillie offered him a hand. “Help up?” She asked. 

Ash smiled and took her hand. He got up onto his feet and got patted on the shoulders and hat while being nudged and poked. Meanwhile, someone else had walked up and offered him a fistbump. “You alright, Ash?” The person asked. 

Ash smiled and fistbumped him. “Yeah! I feel great!” He replied. 

“Glad to have you back home, Ash.” He bent down to pick up something. “And congratulations on your win!” Professor Kokui reacted, offering him his hat back. 

Ash lit up upon looking at it, and felt his own head. “W-Wha?!” He reacted for a moment, before chuckling awkwardly. “I-I guess it came off.” Ash admitted as he took the hat and put it on his head. “And thanks! It’s still hard to think after all that. So much has happened today.” Ash admitted. 

“I imagine it is.” Kukui replied. 

Lillie gasped and started clapping her hands. “Do you want to stay for a while?” She asked. Ash was taken aback. “R-Really?” Ash reacted. 

Mallow squealed. “Yeah, stay! At least until you get back on your feet?” She asked next. 

Professor Kukui smiled brightly. “I would be more than happy to provide you with food and a bed!” He replied. “I could even make you some taco rice!” Kukui offered. 

Ash gasped and grew starry-eyed. “That would be awesome!” He reacted. 

The group went to the training school and spent some time together. While Professor Kukui was making Ash some food, the kids were all chatting up a storm in the living room! Burnet got to chat with the kids for a bit before helping her husband cook, while Lillie got a chance to snuggle with Pikachu for a while! Kiawe got to listen to all of Ash’s fighting strategies while out in the arena, while Mallow talked Ash’s ear off while he was doing his laundry. It was nice to be back in Alola for the day. It gave Ash a chance to decompress and really come to terms with what it really meant to be the world champion. The team reassured him that despite the sudden status change, Ash will always be one of the students in the Alola Training School. 

When Ash finished eating, he packed up his clothes from the dryer and said a final farewell to his friends. Though, this farewell felt a bit harder than the rest. He didn’t really want to go yet. But…he knew that if he stayed for a bit longer, he would likely stay forever. So, he took his chance and struck out on his own again. 

He walked through Alola on his own, and walked himself back to the bridge connecting Alola to Hoenn. He took his time walking the bridge, wishing all 4 of the Alola islands good luck before walking the bridge to Hoenn. He followed the bridge into the little city, and gasped when he saw Max and May. 

“Ash!” May reacted, hugging him tightly. 

“Hi May!” Ash reacted, hugging her back. 

“Hi Ash!” Max yelled, hugging him too. 

Ash let go of May and hugged him back, before giving him a fistbump. “Hey Max!” Ash reacted. 

“Well look who it is…” Someone nearby said. 

Ash looked up, and smiled brightly when he saw him…Brock…one his most loyal travel buddies. “Hi Brock!” Ash reacted, fistbumping his fist. 

“Hey Ash. Not bad out there. Not bad at all!” Brock said, slapping the bill of Ash’s hat. Ash laughed and adjusted his hat, before poking Brock a few times in the sides and ribs. This made Brock laugh and back up. “Ihi was visiting Hoenn for a bit, and wanted to walk with you to Sinnoh when you’re ready.” Brock admitted. 

“Alright. But I wanna visit first! I’ve been traveling around to all the regions I’ve visited!” Ash declared, fistbumping the air in front of him. “I’ve seen so many friends all at once…It’s getting a little tiring.” Ash admitted. 

Brock laughed. “I can only imagine.”

“Find any cute girls while I was gone?” Ash asked. 

Brock laughed. “Yeah! Lots of cute girls!” Brock admitted. 

Ash laughed and grew teasy. “You gonna marry any of them yet?” Ash teased with a poke. 

Brock jumped and chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head as a tear of sweat fell down his forehead. “W-Well…” He muttered, unsure what to reply. “Come on, Brock. What about Nurse Joy?” Ash asked. 

Brock widened his eyes and looked at Ash as he dropped his jaw. “Wha- Seriously?!” Brock reacted. 

“Which one?” May asked with a giggle. 

“Y-Yeah! That too! There’s so many Nurse Joys’, I-I don’t know which one to pick!” Brock admitted. 

Ash laughed and nudged him a bit. 

Brock narrowed his already-narrow eyes at Ash, sending Ash a little warning look. 

“Uh oh…” Max reacted, whispering something to his sister as they walked. 

Ash looked over at Brock, and quickly noticed his look. “Oh…Uh…” Ash took off running down the road. “YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE!” Ash shouted as he sprinted away. 

Brock took off running after him, starting up a chase scene around the town. Max giggled and looked up at May. “Can I run around too?” Max asked. 

May sighed in slight annoyance, but let him do what he wanted. “Sure. Go ahead.” She replied. 

Max took off running the moment he was given permission, and began moving between chasing Brock and chasing Ash. “WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON?!” Ash asked. 

“IT’S EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!” Brock yelled before starting to chase Max. 

Max screeched and tried to run as fast as he could, screaming and yelling helplessly. 

Eventually though, Ash came to save the little boy by picking up Max and carrying him away while sprinting farther away from Brock. Ash made a few turns through the buildings while he figured out a safe area to land. When he felt they were far enough away, Ash put Max down behind a tree in the park, and fluffed his black hair a bit before taking off again. “There ya go.” Ash said. “Thanks Ash!” Max yelled, giggling and watching as Ash kept going forward through the buildings. But…Max’s confidence quickly dwindled the moment he heard a coin drop from the other side of the tree. He turned around and looked around. “Who’s there?!” Max yelled. 

But a dark shadow was moving closer from right behind him…

“Boo!” Brock picked up Max and playfully tickled his sides. “Kitchy kitchy kitchy koo!” 

Max squealed and wiggled around in his grasp, occasionally squeaking in between his newfound laughter. “eEEEK! NAHAhahaha! EEK! B-Brahahahack! EEHEE! HEHEHEEEK!” Max laughed. 

Brock laughed almost evilly as he walked Max back to May again. “Here. Free brother.” Brock said, handing Max over to May like he was a toddler. 

“Hey!” Max complained, crossing his arms, visibly annoyed. 

May laughed and took Max back, putting him down and letting him walk beside her. 

Brock eventually caught Ash and tickled him the entire time he walked back to the main path where May and Max were. May and Max giggled as Ash’s laughter told them roughly how much closer they were getting back to them. 

Eventually, Ash would hug Max and May and wish them well, before taking off with Brock to travel over to Sinnoh. Brock had been his traveling buddy back in Sinnoh as well. So it made sense that Brock wanted to visit Sinnoh again. 

It took a few days of catching up and overcoming the wilderness together, for them to finally make it to Sinnoh. Brock and Ash eventually found Dawn hanging out in Twinleaf Town at her house. 

“Brock! ASH!” Dawn reacted, pulling Ash into a hug. “I missed you so much!” She told him. 

Ash hugged her back. “I missed you too.” He admitted. “How’s Aipom doing?” Ash asked. 

“Well…O told me he’s doing really well.” Dawn admitted. “I miss him sometimes though…” She admitted. 

Ash nodded. “I do too.” Ash admitted. “But…Look who’s still here!” Ash brought out his pokéball and let out one of his pokémon. The Pokémon leaped around and let out an excited “Buizel!” as he jumped into Dawn’s arms. 

“BUIZEL!” She reacted, hugging Buizel as tightly as she could without hurting him. Buizel started shoving his nose into her neck. “Hehehehe! Ihihi mihissed you too, Buizel.” She admitted. “Noho need to worry! I’m okay.” Dawn replied. 

Ash and Brock looked at each other with slight nervousness. Whenever Dawn says ‘No need to worry’...That usually makes everyone around her worry even more for her. But…they know Dawn never means to make them worry. They know what she’s capable of doing on her own. She spent at least a year with them just proving this. So, they let her have this moment of happiness. 

Ash walked up and took Buizel back for a moment. “Hold on…” Ash put Buizel onto his shoulder before grabbing out treats for Buizel. “There. Here:” Ash gave her a few treats. “Hide these in your pockets.” Ash told her. 

“Uh…Okay. Why?” She asked, putting them into her pockets.

“Because there’s a trick I taught him that I want to show you.” Ash admitted. For a second, Ash had noticed she had put a treat into her vest pocket. “Are…you sure you want that there?” Ash asked. 

Dawn smiled. “I’m sure! No need to worry.” She replied. Ash just smiled, knowing what was going to happen. 

When Dawn was ready, Ash tied a blindfold onto Buizel’s eyes. “Okay. Go!” Ash told him. Buizel hopped off of Ash’s shoulder and started navigating the world blindly with just his nose. He followed the smell of the treats, and crawled up to Dawn right away. It was evident he had done this before…because Buizel didn’t even need to touch Dawn in order to know where to climb. He just climbed up like it was no issue! 

Dawn was ecstatic to see how Buizel was doing this. But things took a funny turn when Buizel stuffed his nose into her vest pocket. Dawn squealed and doubled over, almost dropping Buizel in the process. “eeeEEHEHEEE! Hahahaha!” She laughed. 

Ash scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “I tried to warn you.” Ash admitted.

“Buihihizehel! Ihihit’s ticklyhyhyhyhy!” Dawn reacted, covering her mouth. Buizel eventually managed to get the treat out of her left pocket, before moving to her right pocket. “Buizel!” Dawn yelled, before fully succumbing to laughter as Buizel dug into the right pocket above her right side. “Buihihizehehel plehehehease!” She laughed. 

Ash chuckled as he watched. “Cool trick, huh?” Ash teased. 

Brock looked at Ash with a suspicious face. “You’d better not be pulling that trick on me anytime soon.” Brock warned. 

“Why? Because you tickled me earlier and I might want revenge?” Ash joked. 

“Well…Yeah.” Brock replied. “Unlike you, I grew up with many siblings who did that stuff for fun.” He mentioned. 

Ash looked at Brock with slight surprise at first, before lowering his head with a smirk. Lowering his head caused his hat bill to top down, which made a shadow form around his eyes. “Maybe I will…maybe I won’t.” Ash said as he snuck a couple treats into his right pocket as he walked by. 

Brock looked over at Ash from the other side of his shoulder, not noticing this sneak attack. “Wha- What’s that supposed to mean!?” Brock asked, growing visibly angry. “Am I gonna have to check my pockets every 5 minutes?!” He asked. 

Ash shook his head. “Nope. My treats are right here.” Ash reminded him. 

Buizel would quickly smell treats on Brock, but didn’t really strike until he was allowed. Though the poor thing was quite tempted to. But, Buizel was a good boy and waited. 

“So…which path gets us to Johto?” Ash asked. 

“I…think this one.” Brock pointed to the left path. 

“Okay. Let’s go!” Ash declared, saying the word on accident as he sprinted away. But Ash paused mid-run when he heard Brock’s sudden laughter. “Wahait up! You didn’t happen to add treats to Brock’s pocket, did you?” Dawn asked as she pointed to Buizel, who was digging his nose into Brock’s right pocket. 

Ash shrugged his shoulders with a little smirk. “Maaaaybe…”  Ash teased. 

Brock was kicking his feet, laughing as he tried to push Buizel off. “Hahaha- Buihihizel gehehet ohoff! Hahahaha!” 

Ash and Dawn laughed for a bit before he called Buizel off him. When Buizel got off, Ash fished out the lost treat from Brock’s pocket and gave it to Buizel. When Buizel was done, Ash and the gang walked themselves to a few shops to collect food for the upcoming trip the boys were going to take. They loaded up their backpacks, washed up their clothes, and fed their pokémon before continuing on. 

When they made it to the end of town, they opened their map and identified the road that led towards Johto. And as the day began to set, Ash and Brock gave Dawn a big goodbye hug and wished each other well as they went their separate ways. 

Ash and Brock hung out for the duration of their trip to Johto. They had campfires together, shared food, looked after their pokémon together, and further caught up with each other. Brock told Ash about his time in Pewter City, and what he had been doing up until that point. It was interesting hearing about Brock’s journey to becoming a pokémon doctor and all the experience he’s had developed while working. Though he had heard a lot of it before, Ash still enjoyed listening to him talk about his experiences. 

Ash told him about the friends he had made, about Goh and his mentorship towards him, and about his trip to become the pokémon master. He told him about how much Brock inspired him, and how much he had learned from Brock over the years. Even after all this time, Ash made sure that Brock knew he would always be one of his closest buddies. 

When they arrived in Johto, Ash and Brock traveled around the familiar place, remembering some of the landmarks that Ash hadn’t seen in ages. And though the boys took time to further appreciate the Johto region, Brock had begun wondering where Tracey could be. 

Ash tilted his head. “You don’t remember?” Ash asked. “He’s in Pallet town, helping Professor Oak.” Ash told him. 

“Right, right…I guess that’s true.” he replied. “Wanna go over to Kanto?” Brock asked him. 

Ash smiled and nodded his head. “Sure! Can’t wait!” He replied happily. Brock and Ash walked themselves over to Kanto, and made their way through Mount Silver, down the trails and over to Pallet town: Ash’s hometown. Ash stopped in front of Pallet town, overwhelmed with contentment. It had felt like a long time since he felt familiar with his surroundings. And though this journey was filled with nostalgic memories and friendship reunions…nothing really beats the feeling of home. 

Ash took a pitstop to Professor Oak’s lab, and chatted with Professor Oak for a while. “Congratulations on becoming world champion!” Professor Oak greeted. 

“Thanks Professor Oak!” Ash replied. 

“Ash! Is that you?!” Someone called behind him. Ash turned around, and was immediately bombarded by a hug. “ASH!” the person reacted, hugging him tightly. 

“Misty! Hi!” Ash reacted, hugging her back. 

“How have you been?!” She asked. 

“I’m great! I won the pokémon championship!” Ash declared excitedly. 

“Really? I had no idea. It’s not like it was playing on every TV, or anything…” Misty muttered in a sassy tone. 

Ash rolled his eyes. “Still as sassy as ever…” Ash muttered. 

“And you’re still the same moron I remember.” She added. 

Someone else was also staring at Ash from nearby. “Ash? Ash Ketchum?” He clarifies. 

“Yes! That’s right.” Professor Oak replied. 

Tracey put a tray of stuff onto the table and walked up, offering him a fistbump. “Glad to see you back.” He told him. 

“Tracey!” He bumped his fist. “Glad to finally be back.” Ash replied. 

He adjusted his lab coat and picked up Oak’s tray of things. 

“Have you seen your mother yet?” Oak asked Ash. 

Ash shook his head. “Not yet.” He replied. 

“She’s been awaiting your arrival for some time now.” He told him. “Don’t keep her waiting.” He warned. 

Ash nodded his head and looked at the group. “I guess I should see my mom now.” Ash told them. “Want us to walk you over?” Brock asked. 

“We can catch up on the way!” Misty added. 

“Sure! Tracey, you coming?” Ash asked. 

Tracey shook his head. “Sorry, Ash. I still have work to do. Wanna catch up later?” Tracey offered. 

“Yeah! That’d be great!” Ash replied. 

“Great! I’ll see you then.” He said, before disappearing behind the bookshelf. 

Ash walked with Misty and Brock out of Professor Oak’s laboratory, and walked towards the place Ash had always called home. He stared at the door for a moment, and took in a deep breath. 

“Feenie… please? I really need it.”

Iris laid on top of him as they both sprawled across the futon, legs intertwined with one another as they embraced somewhat uncomfortably. As she looked down, she gave him the saddest puppy dog eyes she could muster. And yet, her boyfriend didn’t break. He simply grinned wider and shook his head in an over the top manner.

“Nope! Noooo way dollface! You’ll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands!”

She flinched upon hearing his last words, seemingly in pain. Hmmm, maybe she wasn’t one for dark humor. Phoenix made a mental note to lay off death jokes in the future.

“Pleeeeease? Isn’t there anything I can do to convince you…?”

Her expression softened, changing from cute and innocent to sultry and seductive in the span of a few seconds. Phoenix knew that face. He’d seen it many times in the past when they… well, you know…

Little did he know what was to come next.

She slid her hands under his pink sweater, the one she’d knitted for him and the one he wore pretty much everywhere. He could feel her long nails seeking the hem of his undershirt, pushing it up to expose part of his belly. He felt goosebumps rise at the sudden sensation of cool air on his skin. Her hands skittered across, barely grazing his belly button.

And then… a small giggle escaped.

He froze, staring up at Iris from his position below.

“… Um…!!”

Her eyes grew wide with both curiosity and amusement.

“Feenie… what was that?”

“N-nothing!! Nothing at all!”

She giggled, her sweet laughter floating lightly in the air like butterflies.

“Is my sweet Feenie… ticklish?”

He started squirming before she could even finish her question, giving himself away before he even had the chance to deny it. He was already grinning like a gremlin and chuckling nervously, and she’d barely touched him.

This was her chance. She’d get that necklace back, and this was the perfect way to do it without hurting her sweetheart.

“No!! No, no way! Not me! I- ohohoho, nooooo! Dolleeheehee!!”

Phoenix burst into a cacophony of laughter when he felt two hands scrambling up and down his midsection. Iris was an expert, hitting him in all the right places and making him produce sounds she had never expected to hear. She clawed his sides, giggling when he tried twisting away in vain. She spidered over his belly, laughing when she heard him squeal in a high-pitched voice. She even managed to burrow under his arms, which made him cry out almost to the point of screaming. She figured it was one of his worst spots and lingered there for a while.

“AAAAHAHAHA! Eeeeeek, DAHAHHALLS! Not thEHEHEHERE!!”

“Ehehe… Feenie, you’re so cute like this…”

After a while, she felt herself getting lost in the act. The sight of his half-bare chest made her weak, slightly toned from all those hours spent at the gym, heaving up and down as he struggled to take in enough air to supplement his involuntary laughter. Seeing his handsome face light up with joy, even though it was forced, reminded her of why she fell so deeply in love with him in the first place.

But… it was a bit strange. He certainly was sensitive to the tickling, with the way he was flailing his arms all over the place and curling up every time she hit another spot. However, he hadn’t tried to push her off or grab her hands. Not even once.  He hadn’t told her to stop, either.

Was he…?

She stopped when she came to this realization. By this point, Phoenix’s face was a bright shade of red and was wheezing as he attempted to steady his breathing once more.

“Feenie, are you okay?”

“Haaaa… ha ha… yeah…”

She gave him a moment to collect himself, noticing the tiny beads of sweat dripping down his reddened face. Poor thing, she’d really done a number on him!

“I’m so sorry! You’re so worn out now…”

“No! It’s okay, I’m fine! I actually… I kinda liked it!!”

Iris could only stare blankly upon hearing those last words.

“I mean! Only ‘cause it’s you…”

Nice save. He blushed in an entirely different way now, a sheepish smile spread across his face that was so adorable it made Iris laugh out loud. She wrapped her arms around him, planting a wet kiss on one of his cheeks.

“Oh, Feenie… you’re so silly!”