#ticklish!gepard

The rest of his men nodded, paying attention to their captain’s commands as he designated each pair to a different region while taking a different part of the city for himself. With the unit dispatched, Gepard started his patrolling.

Sampo Koski could play the fool as much as he wanted, but Gepard knew what the mercenary was capable of. After all, he wouldn’t have made this far if he didn’t. Truth to be told, the captain couldn’t help but to recognize how… good he was at this.

Crossing both the upper and the underworld, going through all kinds of security measures for his services… Sampo was a real headache. And that was exactly why Gepard felt like he should take the matter into his own hands.

Inspecting one alley after the other, the silvermane guard kept walking towards the edges of the city, already starting to wonder if his men had any more luck than him in finding the criminal.

 Empty… empty… empty… where was he? This whole search was starting to feel more and more like a total waste of time. Were the reports wrong all this time?

But just when Gepard was about to turn around and walk back to the center of the district, a feeling of being watched made the captain stop. As he checked the end of the alley, he could spot someone - with blue-ish hair - peeking their head to look at him.

And just as they were caught, the figure hid itself. Gepard gritted his teeth, clenching his hand into a tight fist as he started running. “Hey, you! Stop right there!” He shouted, getting to that alley as fast as he could.

As he turned around the corner, however, the captain was met with a dead end. An empty dead end, to be more precise.

“What..?” He muttered, walking inside it as he looked around, searching for any clue of where that figure might have gone. They couldn’t have simply vanished out of thin air, could they? He placed his hand on the nearby wall, dragging it along as he walked, trying to find any secret device.

“Looking for someone, captain?” Sampo muttered close to the bottom of Gepard’s ear, his warm breath sending shivers down his neck. The captain widened his eyes, completely caught off guard.

With a swift move, Gepard turned around, trying to slam his clenched hand against the mercenary’s head. Yet, thanks to his previous unawareness of Sampo’s presence, the other man could avoid the strike with ease, quickly pinning Gepard’s hand against the wall where it landed.

“You!” Gepard groaned, about to move his other hand, but freezing in the middle of his action as Sampo thrusted his blade just inches away from his head, probably as a threat, the captain supposed.

“Oh, were you looking for me?” The mercenary grinned gently, standing in front of Gepard while keeping his hand pinned. “I’m flattered, captain, you know how much I love the attention.”

A faint blush spread across the blonde’s face at the comment. It would probably have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for how close Sampo’s face was to his. “Unhand me this instant, Sampo Koski,” the blonde roared, gritting his teeth as he tried to intimidate the other and free his hand from his grip.

“Easy there,” Sampo insisted, chuckling nervously as he looked over his shoulder, “I just need you to wait… a few minutes before my client is done, you can do that for me, right, captain?”

“You are bold to ask me to cooperate with your schemes.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Sampo continued, checking his back every now and then, waiting for his client’s sign and looking out for any other silvermane guard.

Gepard sighed, taking his eyes up to his restrained wrist, trying to find an opening to turn the tables and arrest the mercenary once for all. Clenching his other hand, the captain waited for the right second to strike, just looking for an opening in the mercenary’s guard…

“This guy is sure taking his tim-”

As Sampo turned his head back to the silvermane guard he captured, he could catch a glimpse of an incoming punch towards his face. In the brief seconds he had to plan his reaction, all the mercenary could do was grab the first thing inside his reach and prepare for the incoming impact. 

With his eyes closed shut and shoulders slightly scrunched up, he tightened his grip around Gepard’s pinned wrist and tried to block, or at least hold down, his other arm. However, he missed and ended up landing his hand against the captain’s side instead of the incoming punch, but at the very moment he touched Gepard’s body, an unexpected sound caught Sampo’s attention.

“GYAH-”

“H-huh?” Sampo opened his eyes, blinked in confusion as he looked back to Gepard, finding the captain with cheeks tainted by a pink tone from embarrassment and a crooked smile on his lips. His hand, that once was inches away from delivering a strong blow, was now tugging at his arm, trying to pry it off his body.

Looking down to his hand at the other man’s side, the mercenary squeezed the spot again, curious about that reaction.

“W-whahat are you- hnng!” Gepard choked on a giggle, trying his best to hold his reactions and push Sampo’s hand away from his body.

“Ohh…” Sampo hummed at his discovery, continuing to massage the captain’s side with enough pressure for him to feel through his thick clothing. Connecting the dots, the mercenary could only smile amused. “Who could think that tickling would protect me from captain Gepard himself?”

“S-shuhut up, you- ahAHa, s-stop this ahahalready!’ The blonde said, throwing his head back as a strangled fit of giggles left his lips, which were already cracking up into a bright, adorable smile. 

“Oh, captain, I’d love to,” Sampo hummed pleased, tickling Gepard’s torso with ease, even through his attempts to block him, “but you didn’t want to collaborate when I asked you before, so it seems I need to make my request more… appealing to you, general, sir ~” 

Gepard’s cheeks were getting redder and redder and laughter was managing to slip out of his mouth like a fountain. It was so… ridiculous! He tried to push the mercenary already, break free from his hold, but each stroke against his sides seemed to make him go weaker and weaker.

“AhaHAhah, enohohough!! S-Sahahampo!” Gepard giggled, unable to hold back the fit of laughter any further when the other man lowered his hand and started pinching his waist, holding it firmly while his thumb rubbed deep ticklish circles in a horrible slow motion.

Amused with the guard’s reaction, Sampo started to lower his guard as well, stopping the constant checking on how his client was doing and focusing all his attention on the giggly captain he had at his hands. “Oh, captain, sir, what a lovely way to use my name,” he teased, moving his hand around as he poked Gepard’s stomach, “it’s so different from the tone you use when you are chasing me ~”

The captain stomped his foot, trying to turn his body away from the devious hand that kept the ticklish onslaught going. Sampo definitely was crossing all the boundaries of their relationship - that shameless bastard… if only Gepard could get his hands on him.

“Y-yohohou will pahAHhay fohohor this!” He roared, but his angry facade crumbled in a matter of seconds, turning into an adorable, harmless smile. 

“Oh, please, I’m not even going that hard on you, captain,” the mercenary said, leaning his face a little closer, nuzzling against Gepard’s cheeks despite the captain’s attempts to avoid him. “You are not even trying to escape anymore… Do you enjoy this kind of attention, sir? ~”

Those words made Gepard’s heart race, beating so fast that it could be heard even through the metal plates on his clothes. He gritted his teeth, turning his face away as it burned bright with embarrassment, not answering the mercenary. Of course, that also didn’t go unnoticed.

“My my, is this one of the secrets you hide behind your armors, captain?” Sampo whispered, hearing the blonde whine as he still refused to answer his questions, revealing an adorable stubbornness.

As Gepard’s laughter continued to flow freely, Sampo insisted on the topic, one question after the other, trying to get that confession from the captain. Still, he was answered with nothing but silence - well, not exactly silence since Gepard couldn’t stop giggling all the time, but - ah, you get it, right?

“Cat got your tongue, captain, sir?” Sampo mused, nuzzling the tip of his nose against Gepard’s trembling jaw line, making the guard try to scrunch up his shoulders to protect himself. “Guess I’ll have to tick-”

“Sampo!” A distant voice called for them - or, perhaps, was finally heard through the captain’s laughter. “I got it, let’s go!”

“What a shame… since timing is not on our side today, captain…” The mercenary said, kissing Gepard’s cheek before pushing himself away, letting the captain fall on his butt. “Until next time, sir.” Sampo said with a clear hint of affection in his voice, bowing as if it was some kind of curtain call.

“A-ah, stop… right there!” Gepard said, getting on his knees as he tried to get back up, “I-I’m not done with y-you!”

As much as she wanted to snap back at her brother, Serval let out a small sigh and told herself to keep her cool. She knew Gepard was actually nervous, she could tell it better than anyone else.

The silvermane forces had just received a new automaton to help in their patrol and, for some reason that she had yet to find out, the robot happened to “break” right into her brother’s hands. 

And after panicking for some good and long minutes, the captain resorted to the only person that could help him in a moment like that: his older sister. When Serval arrived, the broken automaton was hidden inside a storage cabin and, much to her brother’s demise, still refused to turn back on.

Fixing this kind of thing wouldn’t normally be such a hassle. Yes, it wasn’t her speciality, but it was not like it was out of her scope. But having Gepard panicking like that and rushing her wasn’t helping at all. 

“What did you even do to break this thing? I’m looking everywhere for a damaged piece, but I can’t find it,” Serval groaned, deciding to check the screws around the motor again.

“I-I didn’t do anything! It just… stopped working…” Gepard sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he listened to the metallic sounds. “Are you sure you are checking it properly? Maybe you lef-”

“What did you just say?” Serval interrupted, looking over her shoulder. Feeling the last bits of her patience disappear like footprints on the snow. The mechanic stood up, dropping her tools and giving her brother a stern look. An awfully familiar look.

Gepard was the silvermane guards’ captain, the hero of Belobog, the one who faced countless monsters of the fragmentum… but Serval was something out of his reach. The man realized, in that exact moment, the mistake he made. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“I know, Geppie, I know,” Serval interrupted, starting to walk in his direction at a slow - but terrifying - pace. “The pressure on you is so much that you can’t help, but to feel nervous sometimes, right? But you know…”

Gepard walked back, retreating until his back hit the cabin’s wall, allowing his sister to corner him with ease.

“S-Serval, listen-”

“No, you listen, Geppie,” she insisted, looking up into his eyes. “You need to get yourself together!” She said firmly, placing a finger on his chest as she spoke, “you are the captain, got it? What are you so scared of?!”

The blonde clenched his hands, looking away as a faint blush spread across his face. Getting scolded by his sister like a little boy at this age… and, even worse, he knew she was right.

“I… I know, it’s just-”

“Hush, I’m not done talking!” She said, now sounding less anger and more playfully. Holding out her index finger in front of his face, Serval managed to keep her brother quiet as she continued her “speech”.

“You need to loosen up otherwise you’ll go crazy - no, you’ll make me go crazy. You need to relax, Geppie,” she continued, making him arch his eyebrow.

Gently reaching out of his sister's wrist to move her hand out of his face, Gepard sighed, trying to follow her advice, but not able to stop worrying about the broken robot next to them. “Can’t we leave that for later?”

“No,” Serval mused, placing her hand on Gepard’s shoulder while she smiled proudly, “but you are lucky, Geppie.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I know just the thing to help you,” she grinned, sending a shiver down his spine.

“Serval… don’t,” he warned, pressing his back against the cabin’s wall as hard as he could. There was no need for words at that moment, he knew very well what his sister was about - and he already regretted letting her get this close.

“Don’t what, Geppie?” She grinned, setting the trap for her younger brother as they spoke.

“Tickle me- wait! No no nohOHo!!” Took him no more than a second to realize his mistake. The captain desperately tugged at his sister’s hands, trying to pry them off his sides, where she focused her restless assault.

Serval giggled along, digging her fingers a little harder over her brother’s waist to make sure he would be able to feel it through the thick uniform. “So many years… I’m glad you still fall for things like this, Geppie,” she teased, pushing his hands away before moving the tickling to his stomach.

“S-Seheherval! Nohohot hehere!” The captain cried out, trying to defend himself from his sister as she didn’t seem like giving up any time soon. “Thehere a-are peheheople around us!”

“Oh, come on, you dragged a whole automaton inside and you’re worried they will hear you laughing?” She mocked his excuse, skittering all the way up to his ribs, making him shoot his arms down to block her hands from climbing any further. Serval would never admit it, but having her fingers trapped under Gepard’s arms hurt more than she remembered - her little brother wasn’t so little anymore, after all. 

“D-damn, don’t get so tense, Geppie,” she gasped, trying to keep poking at his ribs despite his attempts, “you’ll crush my hands like this. ~”

“T-thehen stop tihihickling mehehe!” The captain cried, stomping his foot on the ground as he threw his head back into the wall behind him, trying to support his body as his legs threatened giving in. “I-I’m seheherious! StoHOHop it, Servahahal!”

Seeing her brother’s cheeks getting tainted by pink and his lips turning into a wide smile, the mechanic couldn’t help herself but to giggle along. After all those years, the captain was still her little brother, after all. “So soon, Geppie? You used to be able to take mor-”

“SEHEHERVAL! PLEHEHEASE!!” Gepard interrupted her with a loud cackle as her fingers climbed an inch closer to his underarms, sending him into a fit of hysterical laughter. The woman shook her head, deciding to fulfill his request. “Fiiine…”

She chuckled again, putting up some effort to manage to free her hands - as Gepard simply refused to raise his arms to let her go - and stepped back, deciding to check the automaton again.

“T-that was… totally unnecessary, Serval…” The captain gasped, placing his hands over his knees as he tried to find some balance while catching up his breath. “C-can you please fix the automaton now?” He asked, almost begged, in a sheepishly tone.

“Oh, I did it a while ago,” Serval bluntly admitted, patting the robot as it sparked back into life.

“W-what?”

“It ran out of energy,” she explained, grinning, “I figured it out a while ago. Just leave it charging for a couple of hours and the little guy will be ready to work again.”

“T-then what was-”

“I said, Geppie,” she smiled, packing up her things as she got ready to leave, “you needed to calm down and relax a little.”

The captain’s jaw dropped, still baffled by the fact that his sister toyed with him like that. Gepard wanted to scold her for messing with him like that at work, but was still shocked with the whole thing.