#ler!reginald

-

Henry squealed as tickling hands made contact with his belly, pinned underneath the weight of his tickler, none other than Reginald. It’d be a lie to say he regretted the decisions that caused him to be in this position; he may have given one too many playful insults to the former, who’d clearly had enough. Despite this, the brunette had told his husband and Right Hand Man to stand down, opting to ‘take care of him’ himself.

And of course by ‘take care of him’, he meant tickle Henry until he apologized (or until he got bored).

“My, no wonder you’re so ticklish here, Henry!” the brunette commented sweetly, “You were quite skinny when you first joined, it’s nice to see how you’ve improved!”

He wanted to tell Reginald to shut up, but he also knew better. He knew that’d only get him even more tickles, and more teases.

At the same time, that just made it even more tempting, somehow.

Of course, before he could get a word of his own in, the brunette continued with the teases thinly veiled as compliments.

“Oh, and your laughter! It’s so loud, but maybe that’s just because of how ticklish you are here,” the former leader noted, “Did you know that this is actually one of the first things I realized I liked about you? It’s just one of those things that stays in your mind. But, I’m sure I’m not the first to tell you that. And if I am, well, then let me say, I’m honored~”

Henry was so torn between covering his rapidly reddening face and grabbing Reg’s evil hands, even if just to hold them where they were kneading into his belly. As a result, they were all over the place, unable to keep still, needing to spend that ticklish energy without a real way to do so.

“Henry, I have a feeling you’ve got something you want to say something to me~”

Shit.

“Go on, I’m listening~”

He’d caught on. Henry knew it. He knew he had a habit of going on and on when he was being tickled normally, and holding it all in was almost as torturous as the tickles were. But at the same time, he couldn’t figure out what to say, which was a whole new feeling he didn’t know what to do with… until he remembered RHM. Or more specifically, remembered the redhead was still there.

“RIHIHIHIGHT! HEHEHEHELP!” he begged, reaching out for the taller, who was still standing beside the bed Reginald had Henry pinned on. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE!”

He heard the cyborg huff out a quiet chuckle and felt the bed sinking where he sat above the leader’s head.

“Alright…” Henry heard the telltale, low voice.

Yes!

He suddenly felt his wrists being grabbed.

“But I’m helping Reg, not you~”

Fuck.

Before he knew how to react, Henry’s hands were pinned against the pillow. He quickly realized that, as bad as it was not knowing what to do with them, having no control was way worse. His mind raced, trying to figure out what the fuck he was supposed to do now.

“See, Henry? Even Righty understands how adorable you are~” Reginald piped up again, earning what was supposed to be a groan from Henry, though it was all but lost in his laughter.

“IHI AHAM NOHOHOHOT!” he protested, though it seemed that was another thing Reginald wasn’t having.

“Now now, this isn’t an argument, Henry. It’s just fact that you are utterly adorable, every squeal and laugh confirms it, and you’re doing quite a lot of both! Not to mention, your smile, and that lovely blush! There’s no point in denying it when it’s on display for me and Righty to see.”

“SHUHUHUHUHUT!” the leader tried to demand, but once again, any ferocity in his tone was undermined by his own uncontrollable laughter. Still, he could try.

“Oh, so now you’re telling Reg to ‘shut’?~”

Ah, shit.

Right butting in was the one thing he was afraid of. He knew the redhead wouldn’t actually tickle him, of course, but his voice was just as lethal.

It was no secret RHM used his voice as a weapon, as well. As long as Henry had known him, the cyborg had used his voice, whether to shut down a budding rebellion, defend him or Reginald personally, and make his own opinions the most prominent in the room. But as threatening as his voice was, he also knew how to use it with Reginald and Henry themselves.

Unfortunately for Henry, that included teasing.

“You’re in no position to be giving orders right now, Henry,” the redhead practically cooed, his low, gruff voice terrifyingly sweet. “Not while we’ve got you. And I think I’ve got an idea of how to get that through your head~”

An embarrassing snort escaped Henry’s throat as he suddenly felt light traces on his arms, way too close to his underarms, and for a few moments, the tickles suddenly ceased. Henry tried his best to catch his breath, hearing Reginald let out an amused giggle and just barely able to catch a muffled chuckle from RHM before suddenly it all started back up again.

“What was that, Henry?” the brunette questioned, amusement still clear in his voice. The leader shook his head, refusing to answer, but snorted again as the mysterious, light sensations were back.

“WHAHAT IHIHIS THAHAHAHAT?!” 

“That would be me,” RHM informed him.

Oh god now he’s in on this.

He realized it wasn’t the redhead’s hands holding his arms down anymore; it was his legs. It was worse because with Right’s full body weight keeping him down, there was absolutely no chance of escape. All he could do was laugh as the tickles continued relentlessly.

“Now…” he heard RHM beginning to ponder, immediately panicking despite not actually knowing what he was planning, just needing to know that combined with Reginald’s tickles, it would be so bad. “What happens if I tickle here?~”

Henry wished he could deny the squeal that practically ripped from his throat as he suddenly felt Right’s fingers pressing into his underarms, causing him to thrash underneath the weight of his two absolutely evil lovers.

“NAHAHAHAPLEHEHEHEASE!! NAHAHAT THAHAHAHAT! AHAHANYTHIHIHING BUHUT THAHAHAT!!” he begged, feeling tears of mirth forming in his eyes as it felt like his whole torso was filled with electricity. Fruitlessness be damned, he was thrashing like his life depended on it!

“Anything?~ Righty, stop for a moment, I have an idea,” Reg urged, and Henry gasped for air as, all at once, the tickles ceased completely. For a few moments, he didn’t care about what Reginald was planning, he just wanted to get his breathing back to normal.

Until he heard the brunette taking a deep breath.

He didn’t even have time to protest before a sudden raspberry at his belly cut him off with his own wheeze, before he was lost in silent laughter, his thoughts filled with nothing but fireworks and electricity. The tears in his eyes rolled down his cheeks, and, to his own relief, the raspberry was cut short by Reginald’s own laughter.

“Oho my goohohohodnehess! Hehe- Henry ahare you okay?” the brunette asked, clearly trying to sound concerned, though now he was the one suffering from laughter undermining his tone. Now that the leader was able to calm down, he realized Right was laughing at him, too, clearly just as amused by Henry’s wheezing as his husband.

He felt as suddenly all the weight left him, before he was scooped gently into Reginald’s arms, snuggling into him as the brunette’s gloved hand wiped away his mirthful tears as he tried to get his giggling under control.

“I’m gonna go get him some water,” RHM decided, shortly before patting Henry’s back and leaving the room, and with him gone, Reginald spoke up.

“I think he’s finally started to like you the way I do, Henry,” the brunette told him, “that’s the first time he’s ever tickled you!”

Just like that, the leader remembered what Reginald had said when they’d first gotten together, how it would take RHM a long time to warm up to the idea of any playful or romantic gestures towards Henry, and that it was just how he was, it was nothing personal.

Henry felt the lingering smile on his face widen as he snuggled even more into Reginald.

“You really think so?” he asked, almost nervous to know the answer.

“Of course! My goodness, he gave you a look so soft, you’d think he thought you were me! You’re lucky, Henry, it took him nearly a year and a half to see me that way, and it’s only been what, a few weeks since you’ve joined us?”

“Heh… maybe loving you made loving easier for him… You’ve got that effect on people, y’know?”

-

“R-Reg, plehease, you- you don’t want toho do this!” Right Hand Man insisted, forcing down giggles as he tried his best to back away. Reginald had managed to corner him on their bed, and RHM could tell from his expression alone that he was hungry. He knew he could fight back, but the thought of even hurting Reginald’s feelings was enough to make that idea completely forbidden to him. He also knew Reg needed to feed, but fuck if how he wanted to wasn’t the most flustering thing.

How Reginald wanted to feed, of course, involved tickling the absolute shit out of Right Hand Man.

“Righty, I don’t just want to, I need to,” the brunette insisted, “Everyone in this damn place is miserable and I can’t feed anywhere. Besides, you know I like your laughter the best, and this is the best way to get it~”

“But- but this is my neck you’re talking about! You know how bad it is!” the redhead argued, covering the side of his neck with one hand. “Everyone’s going to hear!”

“Oh, darling, you know I would never do anything to put your reputation in jeopardy…”

Oh thank god…

“Which is why I had this installed!” Reginald finished before pushing a button on the wall a few inches above RHM’s head. Faint whirring could be heard before a muffled thud from the walls around them.

“What was that..?”

“I had our room fitted with optional soundproofing!” he explained, “That way others can still hear if we need help, but we can make sure they don’t hear what we don’t want them too, including your wonderful laughter~”

“There’s no talking you out of this, is there…?”

“Unless you really don’t want me to do this. Is that the case, dear?” Reginald asked, backing off for a moment. “If you need me to, I’ll stop.”

RHM huffed a sigh as his face reddened even more. He knew he didn’t want Reginald to stop. He tried to tell himself it was because he wanted him to be well-fed, or because he didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but it was impossible to ignore the real reason.

It was because he cherished these moments with him. He loved playing like this. As much as it went against the carefully-built, tough, ruthless image of himself he’d built, he loved letting go of control and just laughing sometimes. Sure, he’d protest before, during and after, but it always left him feeling better, and closer with his beloved husband.

“I… I don’t…” he finally admitted, refusing to make eye contact with Reginald, although he could see that smile return.

“And you promise this is because you want it, not because I do?” the brunette asked, his tone genuine.

“I promise… you lucky bastard…” the redhead mumbled just loud enough for his husband to hear.

“The luckiest…” Reginald drew his attention back with a short kiss. “Ready?”

Despite his nerves, RHM nodded, feeling his anticipatory smile return as Reginald’s face lowered to his neck, forcing down nervous giggles, already knowing what was coming.

“I’m going to warn you now, this is really going to tickle~” he heard Reginald say, the words against his neck already pulling nervous snickers from his throat.

“Ihi- I kn- NAAAAHAHAHAHA! REHEHEHEG!” He was cut off by his own laughter as his husband blew the first raspberry into his neck, clinging to his shirt and trying his hardest not to scrunch his shoulder, despite the electrifying sensations that had his brain screaming for some kind of cover.

“WAHAHAIT! WAITWAITWAITPLEHEHEASE!” he begged, knowing damn well if he had to wait again he would practically explode from anticipation. He just had to focus on something, anything other than the tickles, whether it be his legs kicking out behind Reg, the texture of Reginald’s coat or his own words, which came out as the first thing that entered his mind. “HEHEHEHELP!”

“Now, who’s going to help when I’m the only one who can even hear you?~” the brunette taunted between his ‘attacks’, RHM barely able to hear him over his own laughter.

“IHIT TIHIHIHIHICKLES! PLEHEHEHEASE!” the redhead cackled, unsure of what he was even asking for.

“Oh, I can tell it tickles, dear, your laugh is delicious!” he cooed, once again, between raspberries that kept his poor husband in hysterics. “It must be so awful for you… Oh, but your laugh is still so sweet~”

“SHUHUHUHUT!! IHI CAHAHAHAN’T!!” 

“Can’t what, dear? Can’t bear the teasing? Can’t think with all the tickles? Do tell, I love listening to you try to talk your way out of this~”

“BREHEHEHEAK!! PLEHEHEHEASE?!” he begged, and suddenly the raspberries stopped, though it took his nerves a few seconds to realize. He managed to look up at Reg, who was sitting up, his good eye filled with tears of mirth. 

It took him a while to get his laughter under control, and when he’d finally gotten it down to giggles at least, he spoke again.

“Chrihihist… whahat the fuhuhuck wahas thahahat…?” he asked the brunette, who shrugged.

“I was hungry,” he said simply, though the smile on his face gave away that it was just as fun for him.

“F-feheels like youhuhu wehere stahaharvihing…”

“Actually, I’m still a bit hungry, if you don’t mind?” Reginald requested, earning a rare giggly whine from his husband.

“Stihihill…?”

“I can’t help what it takes to fill me up, but I’ll be alright if you want to stop here.”

The redhead sighed a bit as his giggling finally stopped, trying to find a way to word what he was going to say.

“I… I mean, I only said ‘break’ for a reason…” he finally said, shrugging slightly. He couldn’t help the way his smile grew at the look Reginald gave him, a cross between relief and pure adoration.

“Oh, my darling Righty…” the brunette sighed as he leaned forward, giving RHM a quick kiss on the forehead. “You have no idea how grateful I am to be yours, sometimes…”

-

“Reg, you know you don’t have to do this…” Right Hand Man grumbled, seated on him and Reginald’s shared bed as the brunette tinkered with the wiring beneath one of his side panels.

“Of course I do! What kind of husband would I be if I didn’t help you with your maintenance? After all, if I was taught how to help you, I might as well do it, you know,” the Toppat leader assured him, rewiring a few sensors near RHM’s back. He tapped a few times on the sensors.

“Can you feel this?” he asked.

“Mhm…” the redhead grunted quietly, a bit lost in thought.

“Hm, and can you feel this?” Reginald asked before lightly kissing him on the cheek, his lips making contact with another cold metal sensor. Even though he couldn’t see his good eye light up, nor his blush, he could easily see the smile that he tried to hide. That was enough for him.

“Yeah, I can feel that, too…” RHM admitted quietly, earning a smile from Reginald as well.

“Good…” he murmured simply before returning to the wires.

“Goodness, these wires up here, they’re so loose. What have you been doing to them?” the brunette questioned as he tightened each one carefully.

“I can’t help it, heists are demanding work. You know that as well as I do,” RHM reminded him as Reginald made sure each wire was still properly connected.

“I guess I’m glad I don’t need rewiring everytime I get home from one!”

“Oh trust me, it’s worse than it seems. I’m frankly lucky even my breathing is aided by these stupid cybernetics, otherwise I’d’ve collapsed a long time ago.”

“Well, at least you have someone to help you. Now, hold still, I’m almost done with this one stubborn wire…”

Finally, Reginald fixed the last wire into place, sighing as he finished.

“Perfect, now everything’s back in its place.”

He strummed a finger over each wire, but pulled his hand back as RHM’s arm crashed down as he barked out a laugh for just a moment, before covering the wires with his other hand.

“Right, uhm… Thanks, Reg, very-”

“What was that?” Reginald cut off RHM’s sentence, a curious look in his eyes.

“I-it’s was nothing, I just… I suppose I haven’t totally lost feeling in that side. It’s no big deal,” the redhead admitted, trying to remain nonchalant about the situation. Reginald, however, saw right through him, like he always did.

“Righty, are you… are you still ticklish on this side? I-I’d always thought after the incident, you’d just have completely lost all feeling there! I-it’s why I had the sensors installed, but- I didn’t…” the brunette was completely flabbergasted at the idea. 

“It’s just when you pluck those wires… they’re kinda connected to my actual nerves, I guess? It’s what allows the sensors to work properly. I mean, the sensors themselves can only do so much… that’s why they’re not… y’know…” he tried to explain, turning his head subtly just to make sure Reg couldn’t see how flustered it was really making him. 

“I see, so if I just do this…” Reginald managed to pluck the lowest wire gently, earning a snort from RHM, like he was trying to hold back. He noted how his hand moved lower to cover that wire, leaving the top one exposed.

“Right Hand Man…”

Oh fuck.

“Would you mind moving your hand for me?”

Such a simple question. But RHM knew what was happening, that smug smile gave Reg away far too easily. While he knew he couldn’t blame Reg for wanting to, he also didn’t want to easily give in like this. But who was he to deny his boss anything? Besides, he did kind of deserve it, given that Reginald had thought he stood no chance for so long.

“I-” he huffed, mulling his own answer over again and again, “Do I have a choice in the matter?”

“Of course you do. After all, consent is a very important thing in a marriage, and, well, if you really don't want it, then-”

“No wait-!” RHM blurted it out before he could stop himself, earning yet another smug smile from Reginald. He'd fallen right into his trap.

“What was that, dear?” the brunette asked innocently, watching with that damn expression as RHM covered his mouth, half regretting his words.

“I mean… I can't say I mind it… just… make it quick, alright? The thought of the others hearing it isn't exactly a pleasant one.”

“Oh please, Righty, you already know that if someone tries to doubt you, I'll shoot them personally. And you'll have a front row seat to the execution!” Reginald assured him. It helped a little, knowing the brunette knew how important RHM's reputation was to him.

Slowly, RHM raised his arm away from the exposed circuitry, letting Reginald hold it up just to make it easier on himself. He fought the urge to laugh as the brunette resumed gently strumming on the wires, mixing up the order at which he did so to keep the redhead guessing. Of course, the fact that he was holding back so well only earned him teasing from his husband.

“You know, you'd think they'd at least make a nice gradient with these wires, maybe put the red here, orange here, yellow here,” he continued on with his list, strumming the wires from top to bottom, watching RHM struggle to keep himself composed.

“But noooo! Instead you've got blue here and black here and orange here!” Reginald continued with his dramatic complaints, now plucking at random wires along his husband's side. It was clear how much worse this got to him.

But Reginald knew something that got to the poor man much worse.

“You know, Right Hand Man, I was thinking, I've been wanting to learn to play guitar for some time now. And this would be such a wonderful way to learn how without all the annoying noise of an improperly tuned guitar or some bad chords or… something.”

Oh, RHM knew that was bullshit. Playing an instrument was never something Reginald had ever considered interesting. He'd often talk about how fortunate he was to just listen to music instead of going through the process of trying to make any. He knew exactly what Reginald was actually trying to do.

And dammit, he wasn't sure he wanted to stop him.

“Let me try something here…” the brunette murmured as he began strumming in a pattern. “Perhaps you remember this one, Righty? It was on the radio during our first truck theft!” 

RHM definitely remembered, though now it had him covering his face, fighting back laughter as Reg strummed it out on his own wiring instead of tapping his boot against the floor of a truck.

Reginald hummed the lyrics as he strummed along the wiring, each 'note’ deliberately held out, until he reached the very part RHM had been dreading.

Quickly, Reginald strummed up and down the wires, finally earning a real laugh from the redhead. And with the dam finally broken, he knew he was doomed.

He stamped against the floor, his free hand slapping the bed, all in an effort to get rid of some of the ticklish energy that felt like it was trying to take over his cybernetics. His other arm was still somehow locked in Reginald's hold, despite how his own body struggled to keep it up.

“REHEHEG! REHEGINAHAHALD!” he pleaded, not even sure of what he was asking for anymore.

“You know, it's been a while since I've heard you laugh like this. I forgot how cute it is, seeing you actually letting loose a bit. Having fun instead of being so angry and serious all the time. I still remember the first time I saw you smile, I think that was when I ‘officially’ fell in love with you,” the brunette rambled as he continued to strum each wire carefully. “Even so, I don’t think it was ever this loud! I think you might be even more ticklish than you were before, which is definitely interesting. You’d think having to undergo this would tickle less. It makes me wonder, does this mean your other wires are this ticklish? Even the ones in your arm and face? Perhaps I could find out another night. What do you think, dear?”

RHM shook his head, trying to hide his face with his only free hand once again. He knew he wasn’t protesting the idea, but he was too full of ticklish energy to even try to respond, even if he could get a word out around his laughter. And with how loud he was, it was a miracle someone wasn’t telling the two to quiet down.

“REHEG, PLEHEHEHEASE!” he begged, still for nothing in particular, just out of instinct. His laugh began to grow glitchy as his augmented vocal cords began to overload and Reginald decided enough was enough, closing up the side panel and screwing it shut.

He gently patted the poor redhead on the back as he got out the last of his giggling, taking a few deep breaths to try to reset his vocal augmentations.

“You know, I meant it when I said it’s been a long time since I’ve heard you laugh like that… I’ve missed it,” the brunette noted as RHM finally regained his composure.

“Yeah, I guess it has been a while… It’s nice to let go when it’s just us, though,” he admitted. “But just us. No one else gets to know about this.”