#lynaether

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"And this is my room.."

Lyney held a hand to his mouth, stifling the giddy and excited giggles that threatened to bubble over, watching from ground level as the door swung open and two people entered, as expected. Although he only had a view of the lower portion of their shoes, the sound of familiar voices was all Lyney needed to rely on.

"My bed is on the right," came the sound of Freminet's voice, softly going through the motions, "and Lyney's is on the left. Oh, and Pers' bed is that smaller one in the corner."

"Hello, Pers," the second voice spoke, undoubtedly Aether's.

"Pers says hello back... and that it's good to see you again."

"Well, it's good to see you too, Pers," Lyney could make out the sound of a chuckle passing Aether's lips. "Oh! And what are these? Are they yours?"

"Oh, those? They're just random things I found while diving."

"Wow, look how pretty. They're so cool!"

"Really..? You think so?"

Lyney listened to the ongoing conversation from under his cover, his fingers curling and uncurling in anticipation, growing antsier by the second. Their legs were just barely out of reach, mere feet away from enacting his perfect welcome to Aether from the House of the Hearth. He wouldn't be able to witness the initial reaction on the traveler's face when his hand inevitably reaches for Aether's ankle, but the thought of his shocked and flustered face awoke the butterflies dormant in Lyney's stomach. Just the simple thought of the blond was enough to get Lyney's head fuzzy, a blushing mess. He'd kick his feet if it didn't put him at risk of blowing his cover.

Not that it mattered in the end when the sudden feeling of a hand enclosed around one of his ankles.

"AcK!" A yelp escaped his lips when he was inevitably dragged out by the leg from under the bed, torn from his daydream state.

"Lyney.. I knew you were there," came Freminet's voice, the magician's ankle still in his hand.

"Oh, aha, hello," he chuckled, a tinge of embarrassment showing through. If his upper body still weren't concealed under the bed, then he'd turn his body to properly greet the two, but alas, a view of his legs was all he could afford at the moment.

"Hi Lyney," the magician nearly jumped at the touch of Aether's hand patting his leg in greeting gesture, "I was starting to wonder where you were."

"Lynette told me beforehand that you'd try something like this," Freminet spoke, followed by a sigh.

Damn Lynette, he wanted to think, but deep down, he could only hold himself at fault. Perhaps he should refrain from blabbing about his favorite traveler in the future. "I-It was just supposed to be a harmless prank, nothing more!" Lyney stuttered through his words, slightly awkward from just being stuck like this.

"If you want to get back at him," Freminet's voice seemingly hesitated, before speaking again, "uhhhh, Lyney has ticklish knees."

Lyney's eyes widened at the sudden drop of confidential information. "Hey, hey, Freminet! You can't just-"

"Oh, really?"

Lyney's voice froze at the sound of Aether's own. Archons, why did he sound so intrigued?

"So if I do this," there was a sudden poke to the underside of Lyney's knee and the magician had to quickly clamp his mouth shut with his legs to prevent the impending squeal, "then he should laugh?"

"Mhm."

"Guys, c-cut it out!" Lyney stammered, his free leg kicking in the air as more fingers descended on his trapped one, dancing along the sensitive underside of his knee. "I-I didn't do a-anything!" He attempted to pull his leg free, but Freminet was surprisingly strong, holding on to his ankle without trouble.

"Lyney, does it tickle?" Aether sounded rather smug just now, his fingers lightly spidering all over the the sensitive spot and the bare surrounding area.

And Lyney lacked the capacity to respond at all, not only due to holding back laughter, but why did it have to be Aether of all people tickling him? And the scenario was.. embarrassing, to say the least.

"It does," Freminet answered for Lyney.

"Well, I'd like to hear from Lyney himself," Aether chuckled, his fingers gliding along the smooth skin almost effortlessly. "Lyney, does it tickle?"

"A-AH!" A gentle pinch just above the underside of his knee triggered the long-awaited squeal, allowing the dam to finally break. "Okahahay! It tickles! It tihihickles!"

"Wow, really? I couldn't tell," Aether half-mocked with his own giggles, before removing his hand. "Alright, I think he's had enough."

"I suppose," Freminet said, dropping Lyney's leg to the floor.

Once released, Lyney hastily scrambled out from the under the bed, face flushed from the tiny ordeal. The smirk on Aether's face just made everything worse, contrasting Lyney's flustered expression, a contrast to how everything was supposed to play out, at least in his head.

"It's good to actually see you now, Lyney," Aether said, shaking his head.

"Right, right, ehe," Lyney greeted with a quick bow of his head, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "Welcome to the House of the Hearth," he went along quickly. "I presume you're enjoying the tour?"

"We haven't really done much yet," Freminet shrugged. "You're welcome to join us, if you'd like."

"No, no, he doesn't get a choice," Aether spoke and Lyney's heart nearly skipped a beat when the traveler reached for his wrist. "He might try to hide from me again if we leave him."

"I-I wouldn't.." He couldn't even finish his sentence, instead shifting his gaze back to the floor. He didn't dare make eye contact, or glance at the way Aether's hand enclosed around his wrist.

"Err, okay," Freminet looked between the two, his face expressionless, before turning back to the door. "Let's continue with the tour then."

And as Aether pulled Lyney alongside him through the halls, he turned to look at the magician. "Happy to see me?"