#ticklish!jamil

“Gross, stop smiling like that,” Jamil rolls his eyes, but his smile on his face gives him away. Azul smiles more in response.

“Oh, but I’m just so happy, you know?” Azul says, not even bothering to hide it. It was the first time that they had ever held hands. Their relationship was still fresh, less than a month long, but both were so awkward that it seemed even getting to this point was hard for each of them. It’s weird getting to a point of being comfortable with touch when you spent months pining over each other where Azul was pretending it was for ulterior motives and Jamil was pretending he hated him. Clearly, neither were true, but because of that physical touch was still something a bit foreign between them. And yet, Azul had daydreamed about it more times than he could count, so excuse him for being a little giddy about it.

“You almost sound like you’ve been wanting to hold my hand for a while,” Jamil adds, chuckling. Azul looks away. Did Jamil also have a secret mind reading ability that he hadn’t known about?

“That’s nonsense. It’s just handholding.”

“And yet, you’re here all smiley and happy about it.”

Azul said nothing and he hears a breathy laugh from the other, and he finds his smile return to his face.

That is, until Jamil’s fingers start tracing along the lines of Azul’s palm. Azul gasps, but hides it with a cough, and it seems as though Jamil is none the wiser. This sensation though…

He doesn’t want to let go of Jamil’s hand quite yet, but to admit to Azul that the feeling of him grazing his finger across his palm was ticklish just may be worse.

Azul swallowed, grateful that he had already been smiling. Especially now because he doesn’t think he could have kept it down if he tried. It was ticklish, yes, but fortunately, he didn’t feel the urge to laugh, so he decided to just endure and hope Jamil didn’t notice a thing.

two.

Azul and Jamil were kissing. Now, they had kissed before but none of it had ever been more than a peck on the lips, never lasting longer than a second.

Despite it being so short, Azul never cherished them any less. But this? This was different. They had never gotten much free time to be themselves and when they were, there was often a nosy Jade or Floyd, or even sometimes Kalim around the corner. But now, in the darkest of the night in Azul’s room, it was just the two of them alone, basking in the presence of one another. They had talked, joked, the like, but then they moved closer when there were no more words to be said. They leaned in when the silence stretched on. Azul had expected to pull away as soon as it happened, but Jamil had held his face, smashing their lips together, almost desperate in his movements.

This was so much better than Azul could have ever imagined, he thinks, as he gasps when Jamil bites his lip.

It stings, but just barely, and feels much better than any of the dreams he had about it. Jamil licks over where he had just bit Azul and Azul uses that as an opportunity to deepen the kiss.

He can feel Jamil smirk against his lips and he feels his own lips quirk up against his will. Jamil starts roaming his body, hands exploring every nook and crevice of his neck, his back, his waist.

Azul’s lips quirk up more, much more against his will, at the ticklish sensation, but the feeling is bearable, so he doesn’t stop Jamil. Instead, his hands start traveling across Jamil’s body as well, just feeling. He doesn’t know if he could ever get enough of this, as Jamil continues to kiss him and Azul returns the kiss just as passionately.

He thinks he feels Jamil twitch at certain spots when Azul touches them, but he doesn’t do anything because he knows he is too. He definitely notes it down for later, though.

When Azul, embarrassingly enough, has half of his tongue in Jamil’s mouth, he lets out a loud shriek. Jamil’s hands had found their way to his hips and he had not been ready for it at all. Azul’s hands reflexively find their way to Jamil's, moving them away. Jamil pulls back.

“What happened?”

“...Nothing.” Azul had been thinking about nothing during the last few minutes of them kissing and he could not gather a response, no matter how much he had wished for it.

Jamil thinks, then seems to come to some sort of realization. Azul resists the urge to squirm underneath Jamil’s gaze. With a glint in his eyes, he asks, ‘Are you ticklish?”

“What? No– of course not,” Azul exclaims, offended that Jamil was absolutely correct. Jamil looks at him disbelievingly.

“Right, I never pegged you as the type, but I guess it makes sense,” Jamil says, and Azul is frantically looking for excuses in his head. This absolutely cannot happen. Jamil would never let him live it down.

“It doesn’t make sense, because it’s not true.” Azul was good at making a poker face. He was sure that anyone else would have been convinced by now, but apparently, Jamil had known him well enough to catch him on his lies, because his expression has not changed since he first made the realization.

“Right… so you just reacted over nothing for no reason? It’s okay to be ticklish, you know.” Jamil chuckles, but Azul knows it’s a trap. He was not going to fall for it.

“There was a reason, I told you!”

“Because it tickled?”

“No–”

three.

The third time Jamil accidentally tickled Azul was when they were dancing. Azul had known that Jamil loved dancing, so he made the twins help him plan a date at the Mostro Lounge where the two could share a nice meal then dance to music afterwards.

The dinner was nice. It was curry, a food he knew to be Jamil’s favorite. He had spent hours the night before making sure the recipe was perfect before he and the twins made it. There was nothing wrong with it and he couldn’t help the swell of pride when Jamil ate the food with a poorly concealed look of delight.

They talked about everything and anything that came to mind. Azul always loved a chance to learn more about his partner and vice versa. Though Jamil was less open to admitting it than Azul was, although it was obvious by the way Jamil always seemed to remember the things Azul had told him, even if it was just in passing.

Later, Jamil had teased him over dinner about going through such lengths for someone like him, and Azul had adamantly refused and declared that Jamil deserved that and much more.

Jamil had responded by standing and holding his hand out for Azul to take. Azul patted his mouth with a napkin before taking Jamil’s hand. The two of them walked towards the middle of the room, which was spacious enough to be a dancefloor, even if it weren’t the intended purpose.

The Mostro Lounge had a piano, but it also had a record player that could play all sorts of music. Azul enjoyed classical jazz so that was most often played in the Lounge. The music, this time, was a more magical, upbeat sound, with violins and pianos and such. It was a beautiful song, really, one that Azul had liked ever since he first heard of it.

Jamil liked all sorts of dance, and even now, he seems ecstatic to be on the dance floor, guiding Azul. Naturally, Jamil took the lead, which Azul found himself not minding it all that much. Normally, in other cases, he would have fought Jamil to be the one in charge, but well.. Dancing was a separate matter. He had the basics of dance down, not keen on humiliating himself if he ever found himself in a situation where he had to dance in public, but he was still getting used to being on land. It was normal for him to be a bit flimsy on his feet at times.

Jamil and Azul’s hands are intertwined, as Azul puts his left hand over Jamil’s shoulder. In turn, Jamil’s hand was on his waist. Although Azul knew he definitely wasn’t going to win any awards for his dancing skills anytime soon, Jamil was good enough for the two of them, swinging the two of them around with practiced grace.

When Azul steps on Jamil’s foot, Jamil lets out a laugh and Azul scoffs indignantly.

“It seems I’m always finding more things that crack your perfect persona,” Jamil says, and Azul rolls his eyes.

“I never claimed to be perfect,” Azul mutters, trying not to look down at the ground too much.

“You once tried to manipulate dice throws so that you could guarantee games of luck.”

“And that’s just dedication, Jamil. Nothing about being perfect.” Jamil chuckles at that again and Azul finds his heart momentarily stopped.

“I think it’s admirable,” Jamil admits, and Azul looks him in the eyes, a bit surprised at the sudden sincerity.

“Is that so?” He swallows, trying to feign nonchalance, but Jamil doesn’t pay any heed to that anyway.

“You’re very hardworking. It’s admirable.” Jamil looks down, looking bashful, and Azul smiles.

“I could say the same to you,” Azul replies. The conversation ends there, but the dance becomes more passionate as they dance around to the beat of the song. Seven, Azul wonders what they looked like right now, if they looked as beautiful as the music they danced to.

That is, until Jamil tries to dip Azul down. Azul feels a bit embarrassed, but decides to go with it just for Jamil, only for Jamil and that stupid, irresistible smirk on his face. However, it isn’t his embarrassment that stops him, but a hand that grips firmly at his sides and–

“Ack!” It tickled.

He’s on the floor, after he had basically jumped out of Jamil’s grasp, losing his footing. Jamil looks startled and Azul hurries to stand.

“I.. slipped,” Azul answers Jamil’s unspoken question.

“Slipped? It looked like something scared you,” Jamil is really too perceptive.

“I just wasn’t prepared so I was afraid you were going to drop me..”

Jamil stares at him for a second longer and Azul forces himself to maintain eye contact.

Then, Jamil’s expression turns to a smile, teasing. Before he can open his mouth, Azul cuts him off.

“Oh, don’t you start–”

“Did it tickle–”

Azul doesn’t listen, as he grabs the other’s arms and spins him into a circle to force him to start dancing. After a few seconds, it works as they fall into a familiar groove. Azul feels himself begin to relax.

Even if now he has to deal with a mischievous Jamil poking him every so often, then laughing in his face when he would flinch or squeak.

and one time it was on purpose.

At first, Jamil and Azul didn’t spend the night in each other’s rooms often, because they both had things to do early in the morning and it was just more convenient to stay in their own respective rooms. Sometimes, it was a bit bittersweet, though. There were times where Azul craved nothing but Jamil’s presence, missing him badly, even if they had seen each other less than a day ago. It did make the times they did sleep over in the other’s rooms much sweeter, though.

Overtime, however, they had been making much more time for one another, deciding that whatever they had to do in the mornings could wait a few extra minutes. The reason for that was nightmares. Having both experienced overblots, it wasn’t uncommon to experience nightmares of that horrid experience.

It was nice having someone who related though. He loved the twins to death, not that he would ever tell them that, as they had helped him through his nightmares whenever he woke up screaming or crying at night and the twins would force themselves into his room. They’d have a sleepover and they’d tease Azul over being a crybaby, but they never meant any of it. Part of Azul wonders if he would be as okay as he is without them.

Still, they didn’t understand what going through the overblot was like. Being overwhelmed by pain, fear, so many negative emotions all at once, getting enveloped in pitch black darkness, Azul watched himself relive that moment where he lost everything, the moment he couldn’t handle it anymore and just.. Broke down, unable to control his emotions, watching as he hurt those he loved and unable to do anything about it. It was a terrifying experience and he never wanted to go through it again. Even when the twins helped him, the nightmares still occurred and he still felt alone.

But Jamil understood. Of course he did. What Jamil had gone through was awful and Azul had been there to witness it. A part of him wonders sometimes how Jamil doesn’t hate him, for ruining his plans, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever tell Jamil that.

The fact is, Jamil understood him and Azul understood him. The overblots brought terrible nightmares to the both of them and they both just.. Get it.

It was only a meaning of time before they learned to rely on one another during these nightmares and staying with each other when it happened helped. Whenever one of them had a nightmare and didn’t want to be alone, they always knew that the other would be there for them.

Neither were ever surprised when they opened the door at ungodly hours of the night to the other in their pajamas and looking for comfort.

Today was one of those nights. It had been months since Azul had overblotted and his nightmares weren’t as frequent or intense, but he had already been in a bad mood that day, stressed about matters around the Mostro Lounge, his calorie intake, his work as a housewarden, the list goes on. He had noticed early on that when he was in a bad mood, his dreams were likely to be much worse.

So he wasn’t all that shocked when he woke up at 2am, tears streaming down his face and sweating bullets. He sat for a couple moments, allowing his breathing to return to normal but whenever he shut his eyes, he saw thick, black goo, and he knew he couldn’t sleep like this.

His legs walked him to Jamil’s dorm before he could even take a moment to hesitate. He knocked the door, softly. He wasn’t even completely sure it would wake Jamil up. Still, he waited, unmoving.

The door opened to him barely a minute later. Jamil took one look at him and moved out of the way, opening the door further to let him in. Azul did, flopping down on Jamil’s bed like he had many times before. The room is dark, dimly lit by a lamp on Jamil’s nightstand.

“I can guess what this is about,” Jamil mutters, but he’s half asleep and Azul starts to feel guilty for waking him up. Jamil flops down on the bed next to him, wrapping his arms around the other like it’s second nature. Which, ever since they began this whole routine, it was. Azul leans into his touch, his guilt slowly vanishing, seeing the Jamil wasn’t particularly bothered by his presence.

“Ah, Jamil, you know me so well,” Azul jokes, because he’s unsure how he could respond.

“Unfortunately..” Jamil says, but before Azul could say anything, Jamil speaks again. “Tell me what your dream was about.”

“How did you know it was a dream?” Azul knows why, but he asks anyway. Jamil gives him this sort of disbelieving look.

“What else would you come here for…” Jamil looks at the digital clock he has on his nightstand. “At 3:32 in the morning?” Azul bites his lip.

“That’s true.”

“So?”

“So.”

Jamil doesn’t look amused, as he tries to blink the sleepiness from his eyes. Azul curls inward on himself.

No one speaks. Jamil waits. Azul does, too. For what exactly? He’s not quite sure.

Jamil gives him another look and Azul was too in love with the other boy that he knew that anything Jamil wanted from him, he would give it to him. This was no exception, clearly, since all it took was a single look for him to fold.

He wants to say that he doesn’t want to tell Jamil anything, but that isn’t exactly true. He trusts Jamil more than anything, but sometimes he feels as though being vulnerable will make Jamil not love him anymore. He fears that Jamil no longer looking his way will break him. That he’ll spiral again. That he’ll overblot.

He never wants to go through that again. He doesn’t want to hurt those dear to him. He doesn’t want to hurt Jamil.

And so, Azul tells exactly that. That his dream had been about his overblot, and this time, Jamil had been in the very center of it. He averts his eyes, shame deep in his guts, as Jamil thinks. It’s about a minute or two before Jamil speaks.

“Overblots suck.”

Azul blinks.

“..Yeah,” He agrees, because it’s so simple. Overblots suck, they really do. It’s true.

“But I’d never blame you for having one. For breaking down like that. For… being vulnerable. I’d never stop loving you because you have feelings.”

Azul’s heart beats louder in his chest than he thinks it ever has before. He’s sure his face is completely flushed but he doesn’t bother to hide it in the darkness of the room. He struggles to find the words to say, but to describe how he’s feeling, he would say it’s relief. Overwhelming relief. Has Jamil ever been so genuine? Was he still half-asleep?

“That’s…” Azul trails off, meeting Jamil’s eyes. Jamil smiles at him, warmly. It’s unlike the amused smirks he often sends his way, but something more special. Something reserved for him. He wants to cry. He almost does.

Jamil plants a kiss on Azul’s head and Azul can’t help the smile from forming on his face. Jamil plants a few more kisses on his face and he can’t resist the urge to giggle.

“Jahahamil, stohop! It–”

“Tickles?” Jamil finishes, and now his smile looks a bit more devilish. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed. You try to hide it, but it’s pretty obvious.”

“Urgh.. Whatever do you mean…” Azul feigns ignorance, but it doesn’t last long because Jamil’s hands find their way to Azul’s sides and he squeezes. “Agh…!”

“Don’t act like you don’t know. You’re ticklish.”

“Shut it…” He says, because Azul knows there's no denying it. Jamil’s smirk widens and Azul starts wondering if it was a good idea to come here tonight. (Remembering Jamil’s words earlier tells him that it very much was.)

“You don’t have to say anything,” Jamil chuckles, his voice low. “I’ll just tickle you instead.”

Azul wants to fight against it, but he doesn’t know if he has the strength. Or if he really minds all that much right now.

Jamil’s hands squeeze at his sides again, and he flinches, and Jamil laughs at him. Actually laughs.

“Wahahait!” Azul cries, shaking his head.

“I’ve been waiting to do this for a while, you know. I’m tired of waiting,” Jamil says, as he graces Azul with another squeeze to his sides. “But waiting has let me find out a lot. Like…” Jamil squeezes a spot on Azul’s waist, where it meets his hips, and he bucks forward, shrieking all the while. “That you’re sensitive here, and,” He finds a spot on Azul’s stomach and he is given nearly the same reaction. “Here too.”

Ugh, so Jamil really was observing him all this time! He should’ve known that Jamil wouldn’t just… let it go! He knew. He had planned this.

Azul wants to be angry, but he isn’t. Instead, he laughs and laughs as Jamil finds different spots on him.

“Wow, this is impressive,” Jamil says. “Is there anywhere you’re not ticklish?”

“T-there ahahare!” Azul exclaims, because it’s true. It’s just… not anywhere Jamil is targeting. When Jamil lingers on that evil spot on his stomach, Azul feels like he could die. It’s ticklish, much more ticklish than he remembered, and Jamil, of all people, knew it now.

“Really? Because I’m not finding any,” Jamil points out. Azul wants to insist that there are, but he’s laughing too much as his worst spots are attacked.

“Jahamil! Plehehease!” He feels tears pricking at his eyes and his stomach is starting to ache from the laughter. He doesn’t even want to know how loud he’s being. He’s honestly shocked no one has knocked on the door asking them to keep the noise down. But they haven’t, so Jamil keeps going.

“Begging? Is the Azul Ashengrotto begging? Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” It’s a mean tease, but effective on him nonetheless. He feels his face turn a deep shade of blue and he shakes his head.

“Sh-shush! Stohop!” Azul cries once more, and this time, the hands that had been torturing his stomach and well, entire torso area, stop. That doesn’t mean the ticklish sensations leave just yet, though. Jamil’s approach is just much more gentle this time.

His lips meet Azul’s neck and he freezes for a moment, but then he relaxes, his laughter dies down. It tickles when Jamil kisses him, but his laughter dies down to only giggles. His laughter spikes when Jamil nibbles him on his neck and he scrunches it, but the sensations are still there. Jamil cups his face with one hand as his other hand finds Azul’s. He interlocks their fingers and he continues peppering kisses along Azul’s neck.

“Jahahamil..”

“Hm?” His voice vibrates against Azul’s neck and Azul shivers. Azul doesn’t respond. He didn’t really have anything to say. He just wanted to hear Jamil’s name on his lips.

Jamil doesn’t seem to mind the lack of response, as he lifts his head, pressing his lips to Azul’s, kissing him so affectionately, Azul could feel his brain melting with every second that passed. but he does start grazing at Azul’s palm with his thumb.

“Hmph..!” Azul gasps again.

“I know you’re ticklish here too.” Jamil says, and Azul half-heartedly glares at him. Instead of denying it, he says nothing.

He pushes his lips against Jamil’s, who had broken their kiss to make his comment, to distract him. It works. The grazing of his palm continues, but it’s much slower paced than before. Seconds later, it’s gone, as Jamil brings his other hand to Azul’s face.

They don’t know how long they spend kissing, but the next moment, they’re waking up to the sounds of birds chirping happily and the sun peeking through their eyelids, so they must have fallen asleep at some point. Jamil wakes up first, sitting up, which stirs Azul, as he groggily stares at Jamil. Jamil rubs his eyes, then turns to him.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Jamil.” They stare for a second before they both crack a smile. Azul looks at the clock, reading the time. “We should get up. You have to make Kalim breakfast and I have work to do at the Lounge before classes start.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me…”

“Oh, what’s this? Jamil being a slacker?”

“Oh, hush, or I’ll utilize that interesting discovery I learned about you last night.” Azul narrows his eyes, but he doesn’t mean it truly.

“Rude.”

Jamil smirks at him, and Azul sticks his tongue out childishly. The vice housewarden stands, stretching widely as he changes into his school uniform. Azul stays in bed for a few minutes longer. He feels much more refreshed than usual, despite having such a hard time falling asleep. It seemed the kissing and the.. tickling had taken more out of him than he thought it did. He thinks about last night’s events, his nightmare, Jamil's response, how he had felt about it, and the events following.

The Azul from months ago could have never pictured something like this happening, but he’s glad it did. Jamil really was something, like he always knew he was, even if it wasn’t quite the way he intended. Azul fondly lets out a laugh to himself. He stands as well, also changing into the pair of clothes he had brought with him the night before. He always made sure he had it. He would never dare walk through Scarabia and Octavinelle in his pajamas.

Jamil looks at the mirror, applying eyeliner, and Azul takes notice of a piece of lint on the back of his uniform. He goes to reach for it, when Jamil jumps hard and squeals. Azul pauses, and Jamil slowly turns, looking mortified at the look on Azul’s face.

You and Ruggie had gotten quite close too, sometime after you two had worked together to stop Leona when he overblotted.

The point was, you guys were friends now, and you were going to visit Jamil’s dorm for the first time to study with him and his not-quite-yet boyfriend.

You were a bit worried if you’d be lost, and part of you wondered if you should have asked Jamil to meet you at the front, but it turned out the layout was quite simple. You looked at the doors, each with names written on them, indicating whose dorm it was. As you walked down the hall, you could hear… laughter? Quite a bit, at that. It wasn’t any of your business, you thought to yourself, until you found yourself at the source of the laughter. In front of Jamil’s door.

You peeked your head in, the laughter too loud for the sound of the door opening to be heard. What you saw was definitely not something you had put on your bingo card that year.

Ruggie and Jamil were having a tickle fight. Or rather, maybe a tickle attack by the way that Jamil was clearly losing.

“...Oh?” You sputtered, weakly. You were unsure if you should interrupt, but by the look on Jamil’s face, you made the right choice. Ruggie’s movements faltered, leaving Jamil an opportunity to scurry away. A pout ever present on his face, you turned to Ruggie, with the biggest shit-eating grin you had ever seen on his face. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, hey. Did you know that Jamil is ticklish?”

“Oh shut it– Don’t act like you aren’t too.”

Well, this was a strange situation you found yourself in.

“That’s a lot of talk for someone who was laughing under me! Shyeheehee!”

“You say that, but if I remember correctly, last time I was the winner.”

… Should you go? Were you interrupting?

“Okay, that’s it. I’ll prove it to you!” And just like that, Ruggie was on top of Jamil, tickling him like there was no tomorrow. Jamil burst out into immediate laughter, despite his obvious attempts to hide it, and you.. Well, you just stood there, a bit unsure of what you should be doing.

You moved more into the room, shutting the door behind you, trying to gain some sort of normalcy. Perhaps, if you were with others like Ace and Deuce, you would have found it normal. Is this just something not-couples do?

“You’re way more ticklish. Don’t even deny it,” Somehow, in the midst of you sitting at the table in the center of the room, unpacking your stuff, Jamil had gotten the upperhand. Ruggie was laughing hard, his tail swishing fervently beside him. Wasn’t the whole argument about which one was ticklish? Not which one was more so?

You waited for them to stop, which the two were stubborn, so it took a bit. However, at last, Jamil was laughing, begging for mercy where Ruggie teased him relentlessly.

“You’re clearly the more ticklish one here. It’s okay to admit it. Hehehe…”

“I don’t know, it seemed like a tie to me,” You piped in, laughing to yourself. The two whipped their heads toward you, as if the fact they just had a tickle fight in front of you caught up to them. They even looked a bit embarrassed, before Jamil realized what you said.

“That’s definitely not true!” He crossed his arms. Ruggie seemed overjoyed at your comment, sitting up.

“They’re just being nice, of course. It was definitely you. You lost, remember?” Ruggie chuckled, even though that definitely wasn’t what you were saying. At all. You decided not to comment.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We are meant to work on our assignments, anyway.” Jamil sat next to you, reaching his textbooks out of his bag. After Ruggie caught his breath, he moved to join you too.

A few minutes later, the three of you actually managed to get a lot of studying done, tickling all but forgotten.

That is, until you heard a snicker beside you. Ruggie’s tail swished behind him, as it looked like Jamil had poked him to get his attention. Ruggie rolled his eyes, moving to retaliate. . Again? Is this just what went on whenever the two of them were together?

“Wait,” Jamil said, gesturing towards you, who smiled awkwardly.

Ruggie spoke, his voice laced with curiosity. “Hey,” You tilted your head. “You ticklish?”

Jamil raised a brow, but then turned to you, as well. Your eyes widened. What kind of..?!

You cleared your throat with a cough. Now, there are three ways you could go about this.

Say yes: Get tickled.

Say no: Get tickled.

Say a little: …Maybe get tickled..?

Or maybe, maybe you wouldn’t get tickled at all! It wasn’t that you hated being tickled, but… it was embarrassing. You don’t get tickled often, and your reactions are wild and all over the place. Knowing Ruggie and Jamil, they’d eat it up, with their teasing remarks.

Now that you think about that, walking into a tickle fight with them was not as out of character as you had initially believed.

The truth is, there was no right answer. You may truly be in danger.

“...Ah, a little?” You stuttered out, uncertainty in your tone.

This time, Ruggie and Jamil made eye contact, an evil glint in their eyes and like they had coordinated it, they had jumped on you. Ruggie pinned you down to the ground, holding your arms up with his knees with ease. You hadn’t been prepared for it at all, and almost immediately after realizing you were stuck, Jamil had started tickling you, a bit shyly at first but it seemed like when Ruggie and Jamil were paired together, they were a tad more sadistic than they had let on.

You burst into immediate laughter, completely bewildered that something like this was happening in the first place. Ruggie, still sitting on his knees on your arms, joined in, scribbling your neck and ears, while all you could do was squirm and giggle.

“Nohoho, wahahait!” You cried, already feeling overwhelmed, as you thrashed around.

“Seems like we have our answer. Shyeheehee..”

“Aren’t you a bit embarrassed?” Jamil teased, clearly trying to be nonchalant, but the slight curl of his lips gave him away.

“H-hush..!” You laughed, trying to move out from underneath Ruggie’s knees. Jamil tickled you anywhere he could, each finding spots more sensitive than the next.

“Definitely more ticklish than us, right?” Ruggie asked out loud, and you couldn’t even answer if you wanted to, too caught up in your laughter.

“That’s debatable. You’re pretty high up there, Ruggie,” Jamil chuckled, a smirk clear in his features.

Ruggie gasped at that. “You–” He leaped onto Jamil, who had flinched when Ruggie began to tickle him instead, leaving you an opportunity to get away. Or… join in?

Before you could second guess yourself, you helped Ruggie in tickling Jamil. Instead of you laughter, it was his. You noted down the spots that made him laugh, in case you needed it later, but it wasn’t especially difficult.

Ruggie was gripping his arms, kneading at his biceps. You hadn’t even known someone could be ticklish there, but it was proving to be very effective indeed. You tickled his sides, squeezing at the sensitive skin, a bit in awe.

“Nohoho! Whahahat?!” Jamil gasped, looking utterly betrayed.

“That’s what you get, hehe!” Ruggie giggled, looking delighted and so ecstatic, you almost felt bad for Jamil. Almost.

“I think you deserve this.. You started it,” You said, which was true. You don’t think you could have imagined being the one to tickle him first.

“Gahaha! So did Ruggie! Get him!” Jamil added, which was technically right. And taking another look at him, he looked halfway to dying, so you decided to show a bit of mercy to him by latching your hands onto Ruggie’s waist instead.

“N-nahaha! Y-ya weren’t s’posed tohoho listehehehen!” Ruggie immediately curled into himself. You doubled down, leaning towards him to straddle him. He was on his back as you started scratching at his tummy, to very satisfying results. After Jamil had caught his breath, which didn’t take too long, he had started playing with Ruggie’s ears. You laughed upon seeing how his ears twitched at the, you assumed, ticklish sensation.

“Even with such small touches, you’re reduced to laughter,” Jamil added.

“Sohoho ahahare you guys!” Ruggie shot back, which admittedly, didn’t really do much when it was paired up with his cackles. You noted the differences in their laughter. Jamil’s was deeper, more breathy and gentle. On the other hand, Ruggie’s was higher pitched, more cackly, much like a hyena. And you… you didn’t even wanna think about what your laughter sounded like. You flushed at the thought of it.

Ruggie tried fighting back, with all his might, but apparently tickling someone and then getting tickled could really wear you down. You were beginning to understand that too. It didn’t take long before he had given up on fighting back, despite how obvious he wanted to, his boisterous laughter filling the air.

“Ohohokay! You guhuuys win!” Ruggie shouted at last, a shrill tone in his voice. You both stopped, giving each other a satisfied grin.

“That was fun,” You admitted. Unexpected? Absolutely. But it definitely was not unwelcome. In fact, you felt even closer to the two.

“Glad you had fun,” Ruggie rolled his eyes, jokingly.

“I, for one, had a great time reducing you both to pieces,” Jamil replied, and you shoved at him halfheartedly.

“I recall you being completely wrecked too?”

“Whatever…”

“A tickle fight, though? I would have never expected to see that from you guys.” You said, honestly.

“Blame Ruggie. He was the one who started it,” Jamil said, turning towards the table.

“Cuz you said you weren’t ticklish. Obviously, I had to prove you wrong.”

Jamil didn’t have a response to that, so you laughed. “Well, either way, it was fun. But, should we get back to studying now?”

There’s a bug. There’s a BUG on me. Right now!! Jamil thought to himself, panic seeping deep into his bones.

“Get it off..!” Jamil shrieked embarrassingly, shaking his body with no sense of precision or direction whatsoever, while Kalim tried to swat the bug off of him.

“Stay still! I’ll get it for you!” Kalim shouted, determined to help, but Jamil couldn’t do anything but stay still when he felt it begin to move.

He barely suppressed a gasp and a giggle, feeling a ticklish sensation on his spine, as Kalim scurried his hands over the vice housewarden’s body, trying to catch the nimble critter.

“I got it!” Kalim exclaimed, at last, holding a small beetle in his hands. He brought it over to the window, so that it could be free… somewhere else… away from them and off of Jamil.

A sigh of relief escapes Jamil, his racing heart slowing down. Then, just as he let his guard down, Kalim jumped up.

“Wait, I think there’s another one!” Kalim gasped, faux shock on his face. Normally, Jamil would have pointed out that Kalim was a terrible liar, but with his nerves on edge, he was not willing to take his chances in the scenario that Kalim was being truthful. A bug was a bug, afterall, and he does not mess around about bugs.

Instead of flailing, however, he stiffened. He took a deep breath, trying to remain as calm as he could as he tried to remind himself that Kalim was probably just joking… right?

“Is there really a bug?” He said, slowly and carefully, making sure his breath doesn’t waver.

“It’s right there!” And before Jamil can say anything, Kalim squeezes his sides, which tells the servant that his reaction to Kalim touching him seconds before did not go unnoticed.

“W-wahahahahat?!” Jamil giggled, too incredulous to think straight.

“Stop moving! I’m trying to get it off!” Kalim said, but the smile on his face shows otherwise.

“Y-youhuhu liahahahar!” Jamil clamped his arms down to his sides and if anything, that seems to amplify the sensations. Curse him for being so damn ticklish.

“Fineee, you got me! Can’t I just make my best friend laugh?” Kalim shrugged as he used his fingers to poke and prod any part of his body that he could touch. It made Jamil feel as though he was losing his mind as the seconds dragged on.

Without thinking, Jamil reached over to pinch Kalim’s sides. Although they had many tickle fights (with Kalim nine out of ten times being the one to start it), Kalim still seemed unprepared when Jamil decided to fight back.

“Hehehey! I’m tihihickling y-you!” Kalim laughed, his movements faltering.

“This is what you deserve…!” Jamil cried, a half-hearted glare painting his features. Switching the roles found him straddling Kalim as he tickled the housewarden’s sides. Kalim moved his hands from Jamil, instead trying to push at his arms.

“Ahahahaha!” Kalim giggled, a blush taking over his face.

“Not so funny now, huh?” Jamil teased, a smirk on his lips as he began squeezing Kalim’s hips.

“Y-ouhuhu hahahaven’t won yehehet!” Kalim declared, newfound determination in his tone as he lifted his hands towards Jamil’s armpits, squeezing the particularly sensitive flesh. Jamil’s arms clamped down, his tickling weakening. Still, with Kalim underneath him, Kalim continued to scribble around Jamil’s armpits, both of them laughing all the while.

“Stahahap!” Jamil squealed, trying to get the advantage over Kalim again by also going over a spot he knew would give a good reaction from Kalim. His thighs. It was at a bit of an awkward angle, with the positions the two were in, but the vice housewarden was nothing if not good at adapting to.. less than favorable circumstances.

“Wahahahait, nohoho!” Kalim shrieked, kicking his legs. His face was flushed and there was a shocked grin on his face.

“Where’s that cockiness from before?” Jamil let a smirk slip onto his face, feeling confident that he had now gotten the upperhand.

“Nohoho, stahahap! I’m sohahahahorry!” Kalim giggled, bubbly and happy, despite his protests. He wasn’t even fighting much. Not that Jamil was surprised, Kalim had said himself before that he didn’t mind being tickled.

“Sorry? Do you think that’s enough when you said there was a bug on me to tickle me?”

“Nohoho, Jahahamil!” Kalim exclaims, bright. Jamil starts kneading into his stomach, tracing and scribbling along the other’s sensitive skin. The shirt he was wearing offered some protection, he was sure, but not enough.

“So ticklish.. I can’t believe I hadn’t gotten the upperhand sooner. Luck, I guess,” Jamil teased as Kalim curled up, scrunching his neck and shaking his head back and forth. It looked.. a little silly.

“Nuh-uhuhhh! You’re suhuhuper tihihicklish, toohoho!” Kalim tried to say more, but as laughter consumed him, his words died out pitifully.

“Are you sure about that? I’m winning, afterall,” Jamil asked, as he dipped a finger into the other’s belly button, relishing in the howl Kalim let out.

“NAHAHAAH. JAHAHAMIL!” It seemed he was starting to near his limit. Kalim let out a deep breath, but that only resorted in a snort and Jamil didn’t even have to think about how cute and funny it was before Kalim was shouting again. “Y-youhuhu WIHIHIN! YOU WIHIHIN!”

At those words, Jamil stopped and allowed the housewarden to catch his breath, residual giggles leaving his lips every so often.

“Man… and I really thought I was gonna get you that time,” Kalim whined after a few moments, kicking his legs in a pout.

Jamil snickered. “With your sensitivity? As if.”

“I mean,” Kalim sat up, staring at the other. “You gotta admit, you’re pretty ticklish too. I was close this time.”

Jamil coughed into his hand.

“..You wish.” He tried not to blush. Ugh, he hated when people mentioned how ticklish he was. When they did that, he couldn’t pretend it wasn’t true.

“Next time!” Kalim declared, pumping a fist into the air, a resolved and serious look on his face.

Jamil only let out a long and audible sigh. “Hopefully, there won’t be a next time.” He pressed a palm to his forehead, pinching in between his eyebrows, slightly feeling phantom tingles on his body.

“Haha!” Kalim only laughed at that before Jamil stood up and handed him his worksheets.

“Come on, you still have to finish your homework,” Jamil said, intending to change the subject quickly. Kalim groaned, falling back to the ground.

“Ughhh, I forgot about that…”

“So I’m not your first boyfriend?” Azul added, lightly shoving Jamil’s hand off. He could tell that Jamil was confused why he was so upset, but there were too many factors that changed now!

Since the start of the relationship, he had been trying to lead, so that both of them felt more comfortable. He was sure that Jamil had just as little experience as him; that is to say, none. Not that Jamil wasn’t attractive or interesting enough for a relationship– after all, Azul had had his eyes on him from the moment he saw Jamil that one fateful afternoon in his freshman year, but it was Jamil. Jamil didn’t necessarily act as though he hated the notion of love, but simply like he didn’t have the time for it. It wasn’t that he had all the time in the world now, but he had learned to make time for Azul. Even so, that wasn’t the point!

Jamil had dated someone. Before he dated Azul.

Hearing that, thoughts scrambled through Azul’s mind.

“I must have looked like a fool! Trying to make moves because I thought you were too nervous to! I thought we shared our first kiss, but it must’ve been just me. Oh sevens, I must have seemed so inexperienced–”

“Azul, stop,” Jamil cut him off, lacing their fingers together, as he and Azul locked eyes. Azul closed his mouth. He hadn’t realized how much he had been rambling. “It’s true you weren’t my first boyfriend. Or my first kiss.” Azul bit his lip at that. Jamil continued. “But, that doesn’t mean I love you any less. Do you truly think of me so low that I would care how experienced or inexperienced you are?”

Azul averted his gaze, sheepishly. “...No, I suppose you wouldn’t.”

Jamil smiled. It was a sight that Azul had rarely ever seen prior to their relationship, so when he did get the chance to see it, he would commit it to memory. Even now, Jamil’s smile made him breathless. “See?”

Azul pouted, not really wanting to admit that he really had been overthinking it. Jamil kept his gaze straight on him, his expression slowly morphing into one more his usual style: amusement. While Azul kept his gaze on anything but the boy in front of him, he hadn’t noticed Jamil leaning in until his lips were meeting his neck, causing Azul’s breath to hitch.

Still, he didn’t avoid it. Jamil was unrelenting as he continued to pepper Azul’s neck with small, yet sensual kisses, as he slowly made his way up towards his jaw. Azul looked up as Jamil moved closer, their hands still interlocked.

When Jamil started kissing his cheeks and his face, the urge to giggle arose, and Azul bit his lip. The other didn’t show any indication of noticing, but as he kept going, Azul found it harder and harder to resist. Jamil let go of Azul’s left hand to wrap his arm around his neck, twirling Azul’s hair in his index finger. He would intentionally graze Azul’s ear, and paired with the cheek kisses, Azul couldn’t hide the huff of laughter slipping through his lips. There was no way Jamil didn’t know what he was doing, Azul thought, grimacing. Azul peeked down, narrowing his eyes at the smirk that was adorned on Jamil’s face each time he pulled away for another kiss.

“Jamil…” Azul muttered, somewhat of a warning, and when they met eyes once again, Jamil’s smirk deepened.

“Azul,” Jamil replied, but said nothing more as his hands latched onto Azul’s sides, pinching him softly before catching him in a kiss.

“Mph..!” Azul’s giggles were muffled as he tried to step away from his lover, but Jamil’s grip on him was tight.

“Something the matter?” Jamil asked, a sly and positively delighted look in his eyes.

“You— ahaha!” Azul sputtered in Jamil’s face when Jamil leaned in again.

Jamil was having a field day with this. Azul half-heartedly glared at him, but he knew the blush he definitely had would give him away. Jamil seemed to take notice as well because he brought a finger to Azul’s cheek, grazing over it slowly.

Azul never thought he would be one to have ticklish cheeks, but you learn something new everyday.

“N-nahaha! Jahamil!” Azul cried, embarrassed at his immediate laughter. With Jamil, he found it difficult to hide parts of himself that no one else saw.

The entire time, Jamil didn’t relent with his kissing as his hand traced over Azul’s cheek, the other trailing around his sides and tummy. It was so strange, yet Azul had never felt so loved.

“With my last boyfriend,” Jamil started and Azul would have frowned had he not been too busy laughing. Bringing up his ex now? “I liked him, but I didn’t love him. Not like I love you.”

Azul froze at his words. Jamil’s tickle attack slowed down, so it was much easier for Azul to resist his laughter. He sputtered, not quite sure how to respond.

“And,” Jamil added, in a tone that meant nothing good. “I’ve never tickled him before, so you can consider that one of our firsts.”

Jamil tickled him for real this time, scratching his tummy almost as if he were a child. It was almost humiliating to experience, though extremely effective.

Azul snorted around his next giggle, and when he heard Jamil chuckle at that, he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“I never knew you could be taken down as something as adorable as tickling,” Jamil teased, a playful tone in his words that Azul absolutely loathed (he didn’t). Azul couldn’t respond, caught up in his laughter and fluster.

But still… tickling as one of their.. firsts?? Does that even mean anything? And, Azul had never really had a chance to tickle Jamil so—

Wait. Azul’s eyes widened as he came to a realization through his laughter. Why hadn’t he ever tried to tickle Jamil?

Determination suddenly coursed through his veins, even as Jamil’s fingers lingered on a certain spot on his right side that Jamil had learned was particularly sensitive to him.

Even through his hysterical laughter, he forced his hand to move towards Jamil’s side, squeezing the skin tentatively. Jamil flinched at that, letting out a gasp.

That didn’t get as much as Azul had hoped, but it did mean he still had a chance. His other hand met Jamil’s other side, repeating the same action. When the other realized what he was doing, he tried to pay Azul back by tickling him more intensely.

By now, Jamil had led him back into Azul’s bed, straddling him, but Azul could feel that he was close to getting the upper hand.

Azul drew in as much strength as he could before bucking his hips. Jamil, having not expected that, faltered, which gave Azul the opportunity he needed. He flipped Jamil over, switching their positions.

Jamil went rigid before he schooled his expression into a more neutral expression, but Azul has caught it. Jamil averted his eyes at the smug look on Azul’s face.

“Don’t look so proud. You look gross,” Jamil murmured, and it reminded Azul of back when they were still pining for one another. He smiled at the thought.

“Oh? Since you seem so keen on tickling me, I thought I should return the favor,” Azul grinned, feeling ecstatic.

“What a stupid thought..” Jamil replied, rolling his eyes but Azul knew him well now. Jamil’s eyes were still averted, looking at the wall next to them. It was something that Azul learned he did when he was either nervous or lying.

“Is that so?” Azul muttered, a bit offhandedly, as he found the temptation was too hard to keep teasing Jamil and get to the main event. His hands met his boyfriend’s ribs, pinching and prodding between the crevices.

Jamil bit his lip, seemingly set on not allowing Azul to break him.

That is, until Azul tried to tickle Jamil’s underarms. Jamil’s underarms were ticklish, but that wasn’t what broke him. No, it was when Azul unintentionally poked at Jamil’s biceps, which were extremely ticklish.

Jamil blinked. Azul smiled.

“Ahahahazul! Stahahap!” Jamil cried, trying to push Azul’s unyielding fingers away from his sensitive skin.

“Ah, there it is.”

Azul squeezed at the biceps, only taking exactly three seconds to admire them before he blushed. Luckily, Jamil didn’t notice. Azul exhaled, allowing another smirk to adorn his lips.

“Ticklish, aren’t you?” Azul asked, his words a bit slurred.

“D-dohohon’t ahahact lihihike you aharen’t too!” Jamil argued. Azul scoffed.

“Is this really the time now to be saying that?” Azul forced a frown, before he found it was too hard to look angry at the other at that moment.

He poked and scribbled and tickled any spots that Jamil “let” him have access to, noting particularly sensitive spots in his head. If Jamil knew his weakness, he should know Jamil’s too!

Jamil’s lips were parted wide and Azul dipped down, meeting his lips with his own before he could help it. Jamil went along with it, as Azul stopped tickling him, becoming distracted.

The night was followed with lots of kissing and tickling. The words ‘I love you’ were muttered dozens of times by each of them until the words felt like second nature. It was a special night and Azul wouldn’t trade it for the world.

P: Partner in Crime | If they were to go after a lee and accept the aid of a tickle partner, who do they prefer to join hands with and why?

jamil would pick kalim, just because kalim is ALWAYS up for it. plus, since they have always been together, they can kinda synchronize when it comes to tickling so it always works out well when theyre tickling someone.

ruggie, in my opinion, would probably either go solo tickle-monster (lmao) or whoever is with him at the moment. not a specific person! he kinda just flocks around sometimes so situations just.. happen. and whoever else is there joins in and helps like,, half the time.

also i think they would enjoy having the other as a tickle partner as well<3

V: Victim | As a ler, who is their favorite lee and what makes this person their ultimate victim?

dhbjhajaah ahhh im,, in an azujami world, azul definitely would be (just because jamil would like azul all flustered and stuff) but thats just my hc. IN A NORMAL WORLD, i dont think he would have a favorite lee because he gets nervous about tickling anyone but kalim.

as for ruggie, i think it would be jack! i imagine he would just like seeing the normally tough guy get super embarrassed over tickling and would love teasing him abt it!

X: X-over | In a crossover AU, what other opponent would be a fitting tickle fight opponent for them and why?

ehmm, a REALLY tough one… ruggie and gorou from genshin bc they can “bond” over having ticklish ears and tails. HELPP no but theyre both pretty ticklish and have similar weaknesses when it comes to tickling so i think it could be interesting!