#switch!gangle

Gangle cradled the halves of her comedy mask, eyeing them wistfully. The tears on her mask quivered, small whimpers escaping the ribbon entity. Not again…

She had just convinced Caine to fix her comedy mask for her; a task that took many, many hours of begging. Less than a day later, though, the ringmaster had planned a wild adventure, leading to her mask getting broken once again. He had refused to fix it again so soon, leaving her without a “working” smile.

When she got really sad, Gangle only knew of one character who she could go to for both emotional and mask-related help. She tried not to cry as she lumbered towards the pillow fort, small sniffs and whines slipping past her defenses.

Kinger heard the girl coming before he saw her. As Gangle approached the fort, the “door” opened without a sound, a kindly chess piece greeting her. She showed him the broken mask with a whine, the line of her mouth quivering. He led her inside, replacing the front pillow and sitting her down. Kinger was mostly stable that day, his hands only shaking a little if he let his mind wander.

“What happened this time?” He reached under a purple pillow, pulling out some white tape. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do. Kinger started to tape up the mask, listening to whatever his fellow circus member had to say.

“C-Caine’s NPC’s knocked my m-mask off…” Gangle brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them as best as she could. Her poor comedy mask was always getting cracked, chipped or outright smashed during Caine’s adventures. Why did she have to be so fragile?

Kinger finished taping her mask up, holding it up and checking his work. It was nowhere near as good as Caine’s reset-powers, but it would have to do. He handed it to her, rubbing the back of his head. “Uh, it’s not good, but it should work…”

She put the mask on, blinking a few times to test it out. Gangle was smiling, but it was so small… Definitely not what he wanted to see. “Hey, Gangle…do you want a hug?”

The ribbon girl nodded, her smile growing a little. Kinger wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and hugging her. It was nice at first, the hug helping cheer her up.

Kinger moved a bit in the hug, rubbing her back. She liked the touch, but the fuzzy white material of his robe was rubbing against her front ribbons, right where her stomach would be. Gangle tried to keep quiet, squirming and pressing her mouth shut.

It took the supposedly older man all but a few seconds to realize what was going on. He chuckled, getting a tighter grip on her and sitting back. Kinger moved one hand downwards, gently scratching the ribbons of her side.

“EEP! K-Kihinger!” She squealed, giggles filling the fort as Kinger scritched on her sides. While it was a bit silly, he’d learned that that method of cheering-up worked on most of the circus residents. Gangle seemed especially receptive to it.

While Gangle did love affections from Kinger, it still tickled. She squirmed and twisted in the hug, giggling and squeaking her mask off. If she wanted to, she could have just untwisted her ribbons and slipped out of the hug. There was no fun in that, though; besides, she kinda liked being held close, and laughing around her trusted friend felt nice.

“What? I’m just helping my friend cheer up! You need to smile more, Gangle; it looks good on you.” He hummed fondly, moving his wiggling fingers to the middle of her stomach ribbons. 

She squealed, kicking her legs and flailing as much as the tickly hug would allow. “KIHIHIhingeher! N-NYAAAHAhahaho!” Gangle might not have had a definite body like the other characters, but she was definitely still ticklish. It didn’t make much sense, but then again, what in the circus did? 

Kinger loved hearing his friends laugh. Life in the circus was crazy; there were some days where he could barely keep a grip on his sanity. Others, he was solid. Hearing his fellow circus members laugh meant that they weren’t on the brink of total insanity. It wasn’t much, but it was a comfort.

“Ihihit tihihickles! P-pleheHEHEASE!” Gangle’s pitchy laughter jumped all over the place, a red hue dusting the cheeks of her mask. Another thing that doesn’t seem possible; ceramic gaining a color that’s the result of raised blood pressure. But eh, who needs logic?

“You have a nice laugh, Gangle. Should let us hear it more often as well.” He sounded so calm and playful, ultimately making everything twice as bad. Another squeal rang through the fort, one of Gangle’s bright red arms patting Kinger’s hand. It was a sort of tap-out; she was at her limit.

Kinger backed off, switching to gentle rubs on her back ribbons as he tried to help her settle back down. Gangle giggled off the leftover tickles, still a bit giddy from the “help” her friend provided. “Ohoho gohosh… That was mehean!”

He chuckled, sitting her down on a pillow and shaking his head. “Is it really mean if you enjoyed it?” She grumbled, smirking as she poked his side in retaliation. Surprisingly enough, he yelped, jolting away from the touch with a small giggle. Oooh, revenge!

Gangle chuckled mischievously, a spark of confidence taking over. She wrapped her leg ribbons around his middle, digging into his sides. The chess piece snorted, his large eyes squeezing shut as he squirmed. While he probably could’ve tossed her off, he was kind of enjoying her “payback.” It was apparently just as fun to laugh as it was to hear it from his friends. 

“Gahahangle! *snrk* Whyhyhy are you tihickling mehe?” He wriggled around, but he didn’t actually put any effort into escaping. He was having as much fun as she was.

The ribbon girl laughed with him, enjoying herself. “Because you started it!” She squeezed where his hips would be, making the chess man squeal. “IHI WAHAHAS *snrk* CHEHEERING YOU UHUHUP!”

“So am I!” She moved one arm, using the end of her ribbon to brush along the neck-base of his piece. Small squeaks and squeals broke through his snorty laughter, making her smile. Gangle loved his laugh-y noises.

Kinger tried to scrunch up his shoulders, twisting more as she upped the ante. “B-BUHUT I AHAM *snrk* H-HAHAPPY! GAHANGLE!” It was getting harder and harder to stay still…

“That’s because I’m making you happy!” She knew it was a bit mean, but she was having fun! Kinger rarely had good days like that; she had to take advantage of it! 

Kinger wanted to protest the sensibility of all that, but he was too busy laughing his proverbial ass off. Gangle was surprisingly good at tickling him. Being a little less resilient than Gangle, he quickly ran out of energy. 

One of his hands pat at her leg ribbon, showing that he was down for the count. Gangle unraveled her legs from around him, smiling and sitting back to watch her friend. While her comedy mask was far from perfect, she felt a lot better than she had when entering the fort.

Kinger rubbed his hip and neck area, calming the residual tickles and taking a few deep breaths; he was tired. With a small yawn, he grabbed the softer pillows in his fort, setting up two for him and Gangle. He didn’t even need to ask her if she wanted in. It had been a sort of pattern for them: someone got sad, they both cheered eachother up, and cuddled afterwards to recharge.

With a small giggle, she crawled over to him, careful not to hit any support pillows. When Kinger laid down, she cuddled up right beside him, wrapping her arms around his middle and getting cozy against the soft pillows of the fort.