#ler!raf

As mentioned before, a lot of the tickles generally tend to stay amongst the kids. That’s mainly just bc a lot of the times the bots are busy, and also they’re very afraid of hurting their tiny friends. That being said, as they get more comfortable around the kids, Bulkhead and Bee especially will sometimes just scoop them up and tickle them.

Miko has tried to sneak attack multiple bots. Like, swan diving off the platforms to get at their neck (if they’re short like Arcee) or stomach (if they’re tall like Optimus). Scares them every time, but they always catch her! And it gives her time to attack while their guard is down.

Ratchet has nearly dropped Miko and Raf before. He has ticklish palms (very good at hiding it), and his first instinct is to drop and or throw off anything ticklish. He had to unlearn that with squirmy and sometimes intentionally mischievous humans.

Miko has discussed wanting to try tickling a Decepticon. Jack and Raf both think she’s crazy for it, but she and Bulkhead joke about it sometimes. Theorize about who would be the ideal victim, etc. She eyeballs the Apex Armor with evil intent

Speaking of, she has actually managed to win a tickle fight against Bulkhead and Wheeljack in the Apex Armor. She had to figure out how to be gentle with it, but neither of them could tickle her back. It was mostly chasing them around once they figured out she was immune to them.

Ratchet is the one who sees most of their shenanigans since he’s at base the most. He used to find it obstructive to his work and therefore annoying, but now he watches them fondly.

The Autobots as a whole are not really used to tickling. It’s just not common in warfare. But being around the kids makes them feel less like soldiers and more like people, so it becomes a little more frequent around base.

Raf pranked Miko and Jack by convincing several Autobots that humans needed physical touch like tickling to live. He then did it AGAIN when Smokescreen, Wheeljack, and Magnus joined the crew.

Jack got soft tickles from his mom ONCE in front of Optimus, and now Optimus tickles him in a very similar way. Jack can’t tell if it’s super embarrassing or comforting.

While the kids are closest with their guardians, that doesn’t mean they only go after those bots or only have those bots go after them. Sometimes they’ll team up with other bots against their guardians, and sometimes their guardians will team up with other bots against them.

Or something like if one of them is in the medbay, they may ask another bot to watch over and cheer up their charge.

Ler:

-Not many people expect it, but Raf is a downright evil ler. He has a big family, after all. He had to learn how to defend himself

-Thinks tickling is super fun and associates it strongly with family. He gets wrecked frequently by his sisters and other members of his family, so when he and the other kids and the bots started having small tickle fights, it made him feel even closer to them

-About 50% ler and 50% lee. The only reason the ler isn’t higher is because the others are generally bigger and stronger than him, and can unfortunately turn the tables easily

-He’ll go after the other kids for a variety of reasons. If they’re sad and seem like they need it is a good one, but he also starts going after them when they annoy him once he gets comfortable enough around them

-His general style is menace. Of course he’ll be gentle if he’s cheering someone up, but he learned how to tickle fight in his family. When he’s wrecking someone, the shy kid tends to disappear and the annoying little brother (/affectionate) comes in

-Unfairly good at tickle fights. Not above cheating since he’s smaller than everyone else. The only human who can win against Miko in a tickle fight. He also can and will start them amongst the humans and isn’t above starting them with the bots

-Chases the other kids and the bots if they’ll let him (mostly Bee). Jack always knows to run when Raf is sprinting directly at him, but Miko will generally stand her ground and try and take him down unless she wants to be chased. Bee just thinks it’s funny to get chased by a human (he and Raf will have Scooby-Doo chases around the base)

-A menace with teasing as well. While it can be sweet, like checking on whoever he’s tickling to make sure they’re okay, generally it’s more mean. Anything from being like “oh, does it tickle here?” to making them say something/give something back to him, to setting his computer on their back/stomach and making an honest to god spreadsheet on their worst spots. No, he will not be deleting it or giving anyone the password. Yes, he can be convinced to share the link

-Super good with anticipation. If he’s planning revenge on someone, it could start out with him dropping the word into sentences (this new computer chip tickles my fancy, etc.) and then staring straight at who he’s going to get. And once he gets someone, or just wants to use anticipation, he may do things like hover his hand over a spot, hum in indecision, and move it. Or look at one spot and strike another. Or check that darn spreadsheet

-Definitely had a tendency to laugh along with whoever he’s wrecking. Even if it’s for revenge, the point is to have fun

-Won’t really attack someone by wrestling them unless he wants to be tickled or if it’s Jack. If it’s anyone other than Jack he gets overpowered and destroyed too easily. He does find it fun though

-Uses affectionate gestures like raspberries and nuzzles all the time. They’re super effective on people who are stronger than him, and to him, tickling is just another form of affection. Why not use even more affectionate gestures while doing so?

-Has a shockingly strong grip. He can cling to people like there’s no tomorrow. He may not be able to pin anyone except maybe Jack down, but he can certainly hold onto them and keep tickling

-Gets into it with Miko the most out of the humans, but Jack is a super close second. The only reason it’s not even is because Jack doesn’t initiate too often, and Raf doesn’t want to overwhelm him. It’s been super cool to show Jack that tickling isn’t embarrassing, and super fun to mess around with Miko

-As for the bots, he has occasionally gotten Bee. Bee is the most frequent, although Raf has gotten into it with all of the bots at least once, even if it was getting caught in the cross-fire of a tickle fight. The only bot who hasn’t reacted to anything he does is Optimus. He’s gotten Ratchet to flinch once

-If he and Bee team up to get someone else, their combined annoying little brother energy is too powerful to withstand

-Impossible to fluster while he’s wrecking someone. If it’s gentle cheer up tickles, then he’ll simply be happy that he’s cheering them up. If it’s regular tickles, he will simply tease them back

-Super good with boundaries. Comes from experience with a lot of tickle fights

Lee:

-Sometimes a squeaky, shy lee, sometimes a mischievous one. Really depends on how the mood strikes him

-Thinks being tickled is super fun. Doesn’t really have a favorite between being a lee or ler

-As he’s used to it, he also knows how to express when he’s had enough, even to a ler who might have a little more trouble spotting when that is (like Miko)

-Tickled surprisingly often for being a little shit, at least by the other kids and at home. He also often gets wrecked for overworking himself, or being stressed

-Most ticklish of the humans, rip. Miko is only a little bit less ticklish than him though, and he knows how to hide it better, so most of the time it looks like Miko is actually the most ticklish

-Worst spot is probably his stomach and ribs. He will crack pretty quickly if poked there. His shoulder blades are also surprisingly bad

-Sides, underarms, and back are moderately ticklish. He’ll flinch and giggle if gently tickled there, and it’s easy to make him laugh if tickled harder

-Ears and neck are spots that make him giggle and curl up, but not much else

-Tickling does not weaken him unless he’s getting tired, unfortunately

-Will fight back, and is very good at it. He’s both slippery and good at getting revenge. Also flails more than he’d like. If he accidentally hits someone he feels super bad

-Has a really cute, squeaky laugh, and his voice has a tendency to crack

-Squeaks and squeals a lot. Miko has found the spots that make him snort as well

-Will threaten if he sees it coming, but it’s a little hard to take him seriously when he’s getting squeaky and flustered

-Generally too focused on laughing to talk, although he could talk if he really focused. Miko “helped” him memorize a presentation for school by tickling him while he was practicing. It actually did help him memorize it, funnily enough

-Will either stubbornly stand his ground or run for the hills depending on how he’s feeling and who’s coming after him. If he wants to try and intimidate the other person or thinks he could win against them, he’ll stick right where he is

-If he wants to be chased, which is often, he’ll run. Also if one of the bots is coming after him, most of the time he’ll run. If he can make it to Bee or Optimus, he’ll usually be safe

-Really good at hiding his reactions. He gets wrecked a lot at home, so he can go about 30 seconds of somewhat rough tickling without even cracking a smile. The telltale sign that it’s working is that he goes completely rigid. He’s theorized that Ratchet and Optimus are also ticklish, but just really, really good at hiding it

-Being caught off guard is a good way to get him to react immediately. He’ll generally squeak loudly, and may even shriek if it’s bad enough

-Loves provoking other people into getting him by wrestling. It’s super fun, and he has some control over how it starts

-Knows how to struggle when picked up by other humans. He’s also one of the smallest in his family, so he knows how to wiggle out of a tickle hug. With the bots, it’s a whole new game. He’s better at escaping than the other humans, though

-Weird mixture of easy and difficult to overpower. Physically, he’s the weakest at base, but between his ability to not crack, to escape, and to turn the tables, he can be harder to overpower than one would expect from someone of his size

-Likes soft tickles the most. They’re not too overwhelming, and most often associated with comfort

-Not opposed to rough tickles though. They can be fun, especially when he has too much energy. Be wary though, he will be getting revenge

-Likes cheer-up tickles even more than soft tickles. They always work, and he’ll even seek them out if he’s having a really bad day

-Flusters surprisingly easy for someone who’s used to being tickled. He gets squeaky, and being reminded that he’s sort of the baby of the base is kind of embarrassing

-Some teasing works on him super well, some he is completely immune to. Reminding him that this is to help him feel better will make him hide his face, but if someone is like “oh, are you ticklish here?” he is like “OBVIOUSLY”. This comes from hearing those types of teases all the time

-Miko gets him a little more often than Jack, simply by virtue of being more inclined to wrecking. Jack notices when he needs a pick me up a bit more often though

-Bee gets him the most out of all the bots, although he’s been wrecked by all of them at least once. Ratchet has gotten him second most often

-If someone asks him if he’s ticklish, he will say “no” very casually without looking up from what he’s doing to try and fool them into not even trying