#soft!ler

“Quit stalling!”

“But it’s true. I am frozen!”

His gaze held you, it was absolutely enchanting and made you talk eventually:

“Okay, okay… it’s your voice.”

“The sexiest thing about me is my voice?”

“…yes?”

“Just my voice?!”

“No! No. Not just… I mean you’re smart, a good sport, humorous, toned, athletic-lean…”

“Keep on talking!”, his eyebrows were dancing up and down, his half smirk, half smile deepened.

“You’re hot as blue blazes…”

“Oh darling!”, within the blink of an eye he had turned himself 180 degrees around, his face only inches away from your own now:

“…but your voice gives me shivers, even when you’re apart or…”

“Or?”, he asked, while he’d put his glasses on your nightstand.

“Or reading math rules during a radio show, while I am getting ready for work next door.” It was no secret, surely not to him because you’ve told him, that he hadn’t been one of your celebrity crushes before you’ve met him at your workspace - Radio 1, BBC:

The first time your heart skipped a beat, because of him, was in 2016. You’ve been working at the IT department of Radio 1, for a couple of days only, when his voice made math suddenly sexier for thousands of people, including yourself and, a little later for millions, when it went viral on the internet. His radio appearance that day wasn’t on your personal hype list, even if nearly all your colleagues flipped beforehand, until “Einsteins’ theory of relativity…” came out of the speakers in the office kitchen. The moment his magnificent voice hit your ears, combined with his presence a couple doors down the hall, changed your mind immediately. He suddenly appeared on your crush list, he went straight up that ladder, kicking celebrities and non out of his way. You couldn’t help it, but you’ve been way to shy to stay so close to the studio. You hurried back to your desk, hiding with rosy cheeks behind your monitor. Coffee forgotten. That goofy smile on your face? It didn’t vanish until sleep overtook late that night.

His next appearance on the BBC Radio 1 show, months later, wasn’t on your schedule neither, but Lisa, a co-worker and good friend of yours, knew you wouldn’t dare to talk to him for no reason. So, heaven knows how she managed that, you finally met him: You’ve hit each other, literally, while he entered the studio you were supposed to leave in the very same moment. After ensuring nothing serious happened to the two of you, he couldn’t stop laughing, neither could you. Finally, you left the studio with a tummy ache and a wide smile on your face, because he invited you for a hot beverage, following his interview. He insisted on this appointment, to make sure, everything was fine after your crash in the doorway. Over the years, the two of you became close friends and - hallelujah - lovers, eventually. The rest is history.

“Oh, you mean…”, his voice was deep, lower and rather sexy, his lips less than an inch away from your ear: “Einsteins’ theory of relativity is”

“Stop it!“, your body was already on his side, tingling, goosebumps spread on your skin, even under the warm blanket.

“E equals mc squared”, this was way hotter than years ago, but much more flustering: “Don’t mess with me!”

His unique giggle went straight down your spine, while the tip of his nose was following the movement of his lips, downwards, gently stroking over your cheek, your jaw. The duvet was falling down a bit, freeing your skin downwards, your shirt-covered shoulders peeked out. Just now, his lips and breath brushed tenderly over the sensitive skin of your neck. This sweet attack made you shiver and squeak. Your head moved to that side, to block him, but his face was still there, teasing your skin. Another shiver crawled through your body, while you were tilting your face with more fierce. So he simply turned his attention to the other side. Chuckling and with no intention to move away from you, he mumbled: “Nowhere to go”, into the crook of your neck. He had positioned himself kneeing on top of your legs. Loose enough for you to wiggle a bit under the comforter, but too tight to move away from this cozy prison. His devious grin was audible, you admired and feared it at the same time, your own voice was amused, but a little raspier already: “I-hi answered your question. It’s your turn now!”

“Than ask, love”, every word hit your nerves, wandering deep down your spine, tickling, in the softest way. Oh, damn it, he knew exactly, what he was doing: “Tru-huth or dare? To-hom?”, you asked him, laughing. His kisses moistened your skin, while his breath was tormenting it promptly. Another attempt to push him away or shake off the cheeky breeze, resulted, a bit intentionally, with little success.

“Ehehe… alright: I choose ‘Dare’.”

“I dare you to…”, a loud shriek interrupted every possible taunt: “Sto-hop i-hit!”, you shrieked. The delicate teasing of your skin had changed, perfectly timed, into a massive raspberry, instantly followed by a second and third one, teasing your neck.

“Well, that can be arranged.”, Tom said, a cruel smirk on his beautiful lips, when he pushed himself a little away from you:

“Alright. Truth or dare, darling?”, his blue eyes held you captive with their gaze.

Your own smile suddenly slipped: “No way! You tricked me.”

“Yes, darling!”

“That’s not fair, you cheater!”

“I have too much experience of playing Loki, being him, so I kind of became a professional trickster, I’m afraid! The best learned from the best.” Oh god! You couldn’t help it, but an impish smile popped onto your face, accompanied by an amused snort.

“Truth or dare, love? Your choice now.”

“No, no. That’s… I…”

He shifted his body a bit, so the blanket fell lower, to your midriff. His left hand was leaned against the headboard now, next to your ear, the other one grabbed your own, his lips touching the back of your hand, desiring: “I am sorry…”

“You are?”

“Yes. I am sorry, but it’s still your turn!”, your eyes went bigger, eyebrows raised:

“Silly old man!”, you mouthed, tonelessly.

“I beg you pardon?”

“I… I choose dare”, it couldn’t get worse at this point, could it?! The corners of his mouth twisted in amusement: “I dare you to kiss me.”, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. You blinked rapidly, a couple of times. Could you trust your ears? Was it that simple?

“Excuse me?”

His giggle was endearing: “Oh honey, I dare you to KISS me!”, his amused smile grew, one corner of his mouth lifted a little higher than the other. You leaned forward, eyes closed, when your lips met. You instantly melted into that kiss, while his hands clasped your head, fingertips gently stroking your hair. Holy moly, you’ve fallen head over heels for this mischievous man.

“That was nice…”, you whispered, eyes still closed, foreheads leaning against each other’s.

“I am nice!”

“You can be!”

His eyes popped open in the same second as yours: “Excuse me?”

“True. Especially, if there’s something in it for you.”, his smile froze, yours brightened: “Truth or dare, Mr. Hiddleston?”

“Lehehet’s see.”, his fingers were stroking his chin: “I choose dare.”

Your smile turned into a smirk.

“Oh-ho! I don’t like that look in your eyes!”, he was leaning backwards, bringing a little more space between the two of you. You rubbed your hands together, revealing a long-planned task: “I dare you to… impersonate a velociraptor.”, this was old but gold.

“Pardon?”

“Oh, you know, what I said, like at the Nerd HQ”. Lisa had discovered this specific piece of web-treasure a couple of weeks ago. She had to share it with you, the two of you laughing your heads off, watching it again and again. So, the moment to have your favourite actor crawling and playing - just for you - arrived. Heaven knew, why you adored this long forgotten piece of performance so much.

“Oh my…”, he was covering his eyes with his hand, the other arm outstretched on the bed to stabilise himself. His beautiful shy smile emerged, a soft giggle leaving his lips.

“Awww, come on! You did it for your lovely fanbase, don’t be shy. It’s just me this time.”

One eye peeked through his fingers.

“No one will know, that you did ihit…”, you giggled, because he was hiding again.

“Pleeeeeease?”, you crawled closer to him, the tip of your nose slightly touching his cheek. Using the moment to dish out a single poke into his slender waist. His eyes opened suddenly, peeping through the fingers of his hand one more time. Another poke hit him.

“Ohhh-okay…”, he sighed, as if it was one of the toughest decisions he had to make since years. You kissed him, soft and swift, while he began to leave the bed. Standing next to you, you looked up, admiring his beautiful face, his lean figure. His height always gave you the feeling of safety and comfort. He leaned over, kissed your head once and poked your nose with his index finger:

“Your desire shall happen, my love!” The corners of his mouth twitched, hiding an amused smirk.

Your mind went instantly blank, a goofy smile showed up on your lips. You were touching your chest, right where your heart was pounding heavily underneath your skin, and let yourself fall backwards on the bed again. The duvet was now more under then wrapped around you. A chuckling laugh commented your doing, then Tom left the bedroom, leaving you all on your own. A desperate, short laugh accompanied by a shake of his head and a final sigh, all hidden on the other side of the door, were his preparation for this:

A growling appeared behind the bedroom door, some scratches of nails, or perhaps claws, on the wooden material, followed by another primal grumbling. Goosebumps rose on your arms, even if you knew, it was your boyfriend, the idea of a velociraptor, his impersonation of it, made you shiver with joy and excitement. Another growl ensuing by a sudden jump against the door opened the latter. An excited, also a little scared screech left your lips, your eyes wide open and the goosebumps spread all over your body. A giggle fit accompanied the shivers running down your spine: He was absolutely nailing it. He crawled, jumped and crept across the hard-wooden floor, coming closer to you. His grumbling became deeper, slightly more dangerous than you’ve had expected. His body was shaking intensely.

“Tom?”

A grumbling whisper appeared: “This is a special, a very rare kind of a velociraptor”, another shake hit his body.

“Wha-what kind of species is it?”

His gaze hold you steady, an unique, bright smile reached his marvellous lips, a smile that could not be described other than ‘Loki-ish’. His answer though hit you completely unprepared: “A tickle monster-ish velociraptor”

A nervous shriek escaped your lips. You gulped, your mouth ensued dry afterwards. Now there was no time to hide or run or sooth him before he would attack. You knew, if he was in this specific mood, nearly anything would stop him. He then reached the bedside, still growling his primal noises. You tried to grab the blanket to pull it over your midriff again, but he jumped on the bed when you tried to hide more than just your feet and calves. But because of his swift move, you were trapped under the silky duvet. AGAIN! Both of you were realising this circumstance at the very same moment. His smirk widened, while he covered you loosely with his own body, one knee on every side of your body, as well as one hand, each resting next to your head. You were laying flat on your back, rapid breaths moving your chest. His pretty face was right in-front of yours. He was growling deep, then whispering dangerously low: “Any last words, dares or wishes, my dear?”, the Loki-ish smirk returned. You shook your head, giggling and flustered, already. He was sitting on your legs now, pushing your shirt a bit up to reveal his next meal: He went straight for the kill, targeting your belly. No teasing, soft kissing or anything else beforehand! Just the simple and agonising act of a bunch of raspberries, which were blown rapidly on your sensitive skin. Belly, waist and hips, vice versa… it felt like thousands of them, for ages. Your hands were flailing around Toms shoulders and wrists, your own head tilted backwards. You kept laughing the most precious deep-belly laughter that could erupt from you. The shirt had ridden up during the helpless struggling, a good amount actually, so a lot more of beautiful skin was now left open, sensual and inviting. The involuntary bid led him to gnaw right there, a little under your ribs. This was ten times worse, as your wiggling, screeching body could tell, stuck under him, trapped by the help of the winterly duvet.

After half an eternity, the beautiful traitor gave you a break from the playful tormenting. It had been an exhausting attack of his hungry mouth. When you calmed a bit, he started kissing your lips, then belly, waist and hips very softly. These touches were still alarming your tingling skin, the sensitivity for his flirtatious-teasing touches grew every minute. Suddenly, he was gnawing directly on your ribs: “To-hom, do-hon’t!”, you shrieked. These tickle bites were accompanied by the ‘claws’, which were beginning to stroke the soft skin on your sides. His thumbnails were scratching lightly on top of your lower ribs, while the other eight fingers were creeping over the delicate pure skin of yours, within their reach, searching for yet unknown tickle spots closer to your back. You quickly became a laughing, giggling and shaking mess under his exploring fingertips and knowing lips.

“Don’t what?”, he mumbled, play-biting another piece of your right rib.

“Tick…”, you stopped yourself immediately. Your laugh-weakened brain was still alert enough to identify this trap, the mischievous attacker of yours had set up: “Ju-hust don’t!”

"Just don’t what, sweetheart?", he murmured, shifting, just to place feather light kisses on your neck now. He earned another fit of shrieking giggles. Satisfied about how the evening had turned out, he was raising his head to look at your face, fingers stilled, keeping their dangerous positions. A gorgeous smile had crept onto your face, the lips slightly parted, your gaze met his own. Your eyes were sparkling with flustered joy. His eyebrows were twitching up in amusement, his lower lip pushed slightly forward: "So? I am all ears!", he asked curious. You shook your head with a silent laugh. Both of you adored this playful side of your relationship, the comfort of teasing touches and shared laughter. Honestly, you needed this attention a little longer tonight. You adored this special treatment. The way he explored your body lovingly, mapping reactions to specific touches and learning, how to distract and relax you, all because of his gliding fingertips, that made you shriek and shiver. You knew, if it would get too much, if you asked him to stop, he would stop immediately. Those set boundaries were clear, vice versa. He was a driven by your beauty, your glow when you laughed: "Well, if you won’t let me know what's going on, I guess, I just move on.", with a wink, he buried his face against your neck again. Hello, goosebumps! These glorious shivers were intense and terribly beautiful. You threw your head back, laughing, wiggling more under him. He tried to grab your wrists, half-heartedly, his own soft laughter was breezing over the side of your neck. He succeeded, but this was only a short victory. You were able to free your left hand. Pushing Tom off of you? Not a chance. With a little more bravery, accompanied by a tiny growl, you started to scribble under his arm, the little gap was open enough for a quick and knowing attack.

“Ehehexcuse me, this dish is no-hot on the menu!“, he leaned forward, laughing, pulling your arms between the two of you, immobilising them with his weight. Your hands were outstretched, under his chest - sandwiched. So, pushing him away became an impossible target now as well as getting him back. This meant, excepting your fate was the only thing you could do now. Tom shifted himself a bit, leaning on his left underarm, kneeing rather one-sided, while his right hand started to wander. Your shirt had ridden up, a bit more then before, during your attempt to kick and wiggle yourself free. Nothing on your silky skin - what a glorious sight you were, you sensuous human. His fingertips carefully touched a promising spot at your waist. You held your breath, noticeably. His gaze rested on your face, curious. Your eyes met, the corners of them pulled together in amusement, and anticipation rushed through your veins. He pinched your waist affectionately, which led you to exhale in a desperate manner, closing your eyes tightly. A restrained smile had stolen itself on your lips. He kissed you, enjoying the soft feeling, and started to guide his fingertips in circles on your skin, very slowly. You were pulling in your belly, trying to escape from these cheeky caresses, but of course, it didn’t work out as you thought it might. His fingertips were following the contours and curves of your body, exploitively and exploring. They kept creeping over your hips, the waist and back again, alternating, a sweeping curve over your belly and smaller circles around the belly button was another move. Your giggles grew louder sometimes, sometimes more quiet, depending on the specific parts his fingers were tormenting softly at the moment. You made quiet, rather contented sounds, while he was stroking your belly with his fingertips. The giggles and frantic twitching became stronger, when his fingers ran along the waist, from the lower ribs down to the hips and back up again. Moving down, his fingertips stroked gently over your skin, it felt like waves; moving up, he chose the back of his hand instead, sneaking his fingernails over your skin. Painting those waves over your torso awakened more of your wonderful deep laughter. As soon as he focused more on the side, closer to your back, the silent laughter returned. Your back, to your dismay, was extremely sensitive and receptive to his caresses. It was your second worst spot on your upper body, as you could tell, and the third worse in general. He was stroking with his fingertips simultaneously now, but each with its own rhythm on every side, from the ribs, to the waist and back up again.

Only your, “HEY!”, a desperate shriek brought the inner conflict of ranking your sensitivity to a halt. His fingertips had sneaked under your shirt, targeting the susceptible skin. This attack was very close to your armpit. Right on his way to the most threatening spots for you, were his personal favourites on your beautiful body. To cherish it perfectly, Tom shifted again. He was kneeing now, still resting on his underarms - like a hovering angelic demon: your smirking god of mischief, up to no good. The sides of your chest, not directly on your upper ribs, but close, were even more sensitive then the waist. This discovery had been delightful and enjoyable, ever since. Tom wanted to savour this part of yours a bit more, to indulge and tease you, his love. So, his wrists were resting against your ribs on each side. That way he could paint circular patterns and wild figures with his fingertips over the soft and silky skin at the side of your chest, which raised rapidly now, while your breath shortened but sped up. Tom, fully aware of what he was doing, grazed over the sensitive skin of your armpits with his little finger. A loving smile hushed over his face, when he recognised, that you were opening your arms a bit, so he was getting more access to the delicate parts under your arms. Even if these were your death spots, you couldn’t help it. They were your favourite place to welcome his teasing touches, while you would burst from laughter, once the soft strokes hit you there tenaciously. Both hands crept under your arms, drawing circles on your skin simultaneously now. He was hitting your nerve endings so unerringly, all remaining strength was gone. Your body jolted, your cute laughter became huskier and much louder, surprised by the sudden equal pampering cure on both sides: "Oh-ho", you chortled. Tom, the fine trickster and love of your life, wasn’t going for the kill - yet. So, to keep this play up a bit longer, he switched tactics. One hand remained under your arm, while the other was heading back, targeting the side of your chest. His fingertips and nails alternated, swift and soft, to the slower movements of his other hand, which was still tormenting the tender skin of your armpit. These various sensations made you cackle, because it included an insolent attack on your most sensitive as well as this breath-taking and his favourite spot. ‘Why? Why? Why?’, these questions were rumbling through your mind. It was everything you could think, overwhelmed by the delightful movements. They were teasing, a bit naughty and very sensual: “Oh-ho, oka-hay, okay…”, you mumbled giggling.

“Ohokay?”, Tom laughed, knowing you were nearly at the point, where he had to stop. So, he set course, back, with his second hand for that fabulous treasure trove under your other arm again. The dancing fingertips on either side made you shriek aloud: “Ohohokay, please..." you squeaked.

"Please what, my love?"

The slow movements sped up, crawling with all fingertips at your armpits, you slammed your arms tight to your sides, shaking your head wildly. This move had blocked the speed, but not the knowing pressure of his fingertips underneath your arms. Tom was stuck: “Plea-hease, I can’t”, you cackled, falling into a certain hiccup-y laughter.

“What can’t you, honey?”

“It’s too-hoo mu-huch”, you shrieked, alarmed.

“You want me to stop?”, all you could do was nod very fast.

“Ahallright, darling. You got to help me with it.”, he was pulling softly at his fingers, so you knew, you had to open your arms just a bit, to release him. Said and done, Tom stood up quickly, pulling down your shirt and bringing the duvet back in order, on top of you. He went around the wooden-frame, crawling next to you on his side of the bed. As soon as he laid down, facing the ceiling, you crawled into his side, head resting on his shoulder, his arm under your head, leaning at your back. He was holding you tight, with his other arm, close to his own body now, caressing your shoulder and back with the perfect amount of pressure to calm instead of tickling you. He pecked your head and murmured shyly: “I hope, I didn’t overstep anything?”

You rubbed his chest softly, while an unexpected yawn fought it’s way up your throat: “Nah, it’s just… exhausting as it’s joyful”, you replied sleepily. He leaned down a bit to kiss your forehead: “Good to know”

“But”

“But?”

“But don’t believe, that I won’t seek revenge!”, you growled a little too sleepy, to sound scary.

“Ohokay?”, he chuckled.

“Oh ho, yes, Tom.”, you murmured into his side, he flinched because of the vibrating tease, your thread triggered: “I am well aware of your weak spots too”, you giggled softly while your fingers sneaked under his open arm, prodding the soft skin of his own armpit through the thin fabric. An alerted flinch and poor try to pull his arm back to his body, accompanied by an alarmed giggle was the result of the sudden attack: “Don’t worry”, your fingers stilled: “Your tickle monster-ish self did a great job. I am exhausted and way too tired, to make you shriek right now”, another yawn of yours underlined it.

Gentlemen-like, he replied giggling: “Fine with mehehe.”

You lifted your head a little, to kiss him once again. He covered your head with his hand, stroking over your hair, while you snuggled back into his embrace.

The snow outside was falling slower now, the streetlights began to glimpse warmly through the frosty air. All giggles were rubbed away, while the two of you snuggled deeper into the shared bedsheet. Sleep overtook you rather quick, after this joyful but exhausting evening. A soft smile set on both of your faces, while Tom was admiring the view of his darling, head still rested on top of his chest, for a bit longer, until sleep caught him too.