What is happening?! This- they’ve never reacted like this to your weird touch therapy before, never acknowledged that you did anything at all beyond a look or brief comment, this is-

Your back hits something solid. You didn’t even notice you were backing away. “Heh, okay Sif?” Oh. Isa. You backed into Isa. Who is grinning at you.

In fact, they’re all grinning at you, and you weakly realise that you’re sporting a nervous smile of your own. “Shouldn’t we get going?”

Odile raises an amused eyebrow. “Ha, you should know saying that won’t save you.”

What? You’re about to question her when big soft fingers dig into your side through your cloak, wiggling playfully and immediately sending all thoughts of speaking out the nearest window in favour of spluttering embarrassing laughter. You collapse against Isa, your eye squeezed closed. Oh stars!

You’re dimly aware of the others laughing along, and you tug frantically at your hat, trying to hide.

“Hehe, aww.” Mira coos.

You can hear Odile’s smirk. “Hmm, maybe you’re not touch averse at all, just ticklish.”

Eek! Too much attention, too much touch, “Nohoho!” You slap weakly at Isa’s hand.

You feel him chuckle as he catches your wrist gently. “Yeah, sorry Sif, you’re not fooling anyone.” And as if to prove a point, his hand migrates under your cloak and up your ribs and vibrates.

You screech again, squirming and cackling and smiling so wide it feels like your face will split in two. Then small hands are squeezing your kneecaps and you almost fall clean over. Bonnie snickers at you. “This is for your dumb puns!!!”

“No!” You squeal again, kicking weakly.

“Hmm, I think one minute for each pun sounds fair, don’t you Boniface?”

No! “YES!” They cheer. You try to curse at Odile, but you can’t. You’re laughing too hard. Mira giggles and starts prodding sporadically at your stomach and your bones turn to noodles and you slide to the ground, only slowed by Isabeau’s hand on your arm supporting your fall. You can’t, they’re all looking at you and touching you and you- you love it. This hasn’t happened before, nothing like it has! You feel… warm. Loved.

A hand tips back the brim of your hat. Around tears of laughter, you see Odile smiling at you. Her eyes are unusually warm. “Heh. Cute.”

You shove at her hands, trying to pull your hat back down, but every new poke and squeeze has you twitching and squirming, and moving your free arm up only opens up your sides and ribs to further torment and you’re getting dizzy and your face is so warm and you love them and you love this and-

“Okay, that’s enough.” Odile says amusedly. “We won’t have any luck against the King if our little rogue dies laughing before we even get there.”

You continue to giggle even as the others stop, hugging yourself. You can’t remember how long it’s been since you genuinely laughed. Your family has touched you more in the last five minutes than in the rest of the loops combined, and the only words echoing through your giggly mind are our little rogue.

A hand ruffles your hair, earning a louder giggle. You’re too giddy not to obviously lean into it, getting a series of ‘awws’ from the others. Your face burns.

“You okay, Sif?” Isa chuckles, and you nod, finally catching your breath. This was nice. This was fun. You wonder what changed things this loop; what you did to make them want to touch you.

He extends a hand, clearly trying not to smile too much at the state you’re in. “Here, lemmie help you up.”

You take his hand gratefully, avoiding eye contact with all of them and choosing to ignore Odile’s teasing mutter of, “Such chivalry.” And how dark it makes Isa’s cheeks. You feel like you’re walking on clouds. You’re not sure you’ve ever wanted a group hug more than in this moment.

You clear your throat and collect the pepper and ginger juices on the nearest shelf, duck your head, and turn to the door. You can hear the others grinning.

“Yes, we’re coming.” Odile says, clearly endeared by your embarrassment.

“Mmph.” Is all you can manage to say, but it makes your insides squirm pleasantly when they all laugh at you for it. This was nice. Really nice.

…

Back to the stage, Siffrin.

--

You’re not thinking clearly. At least, that’s what you tell yourself when the boulder falls behind you with the key still in the head housemaiden’s office. You’re stuck in that silly, giggly headspace, jumping every time one of your family members gets close, biting your lip when they snicker at you for it. Too focused on that, not focused enough on the key.

It's okay. The loops had to be good for something!

Before any of them can notice or stop you, you plunge your arm into a tear and feel...

A tug...

On your stomach…

…

You dreamed of arms holding you tightly.

Everyone is munching quietly on Bonnie’s snacks. You nibble on your cookie. It doesn’t taste of much, but you’re glad for it anyway.

Well! No point in waiting around. You defeat the waiting sadnesses and grab the key from Marc’s Super Awesome Great Amazing Super Duper Cool Notebook, then backtrack through the main hall, and…

There’s the gardening room, again. You bite down an involuntary smile, a shiver climbing your spine. If you go back in and poke the three of them like before… will it happen again?

There’s only one way to find out! Besides, you’re trying to figure out more about the loops, about how random things happen or don’t, where the variance is, so-

You’re tense as you pass the table and collect the tonics. Then you hold your breath, turn back, and…

Poke. Poke. Poke.

“Poke!” EEK! Your feet actually leave the ground at Isa’s poke. Oh stars, oh stars, it did work.

Odile rolls her eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards. “Children. Can we do this another time?”

Poke! You squeal again, even knowing the next poke is coming, your face flushing dark at Mira’s giggle. “I don’t know, Madame, that might be the cutest sound I’ve ever heard. I think we should investigate.”

You back away, giddy tension already tingling up your legs. Uh oh.

Odile chuckles. “You do have a point. What kind of researcher would I be if I stood in the way of investigation?”

You bite your tongue to keep from exclaiming that she’s a researcher of nothing. Then you bark a frantic laugh when a sticky hand squeezes at your kneecap, and rocket backwards.

Bonnie cackles. “AHAHA! Gotcha!”

Gulp. “U-uhum shouldn’t we keep moving?” They’re smirking at you. Another step back.

Thump. Ah. There’s Isa. You look up at him with a small, meek noise. He’s smiling back, eyes sparkling. “Oh buddy, you’re gonna have to do better than that.”

You burst into nervous laughter before he even touches you, moving to shove at his arm and forgetting that the action will lead to him catching your wrist and pulling one arm out of the way to squeeze at your sides, sending that addictive lightning pulsing up your spine and making you shriek.

You can feel Isa laugh. “Oh boy, heh, maybe this is why you flinch when people touch you, huh Sif?”

You thrash in his frustratingly gentle grip, snorting even before Bonnie swoops in. They laugh triumphantly, squeezing your knees again. “This is for being mean to potatoes!!!”

You can’t hurt Bonnie, but you kick anyway, doing nothing whatsoever to shake them off.

Odile smirks. “How many potatoes have they turned down from you, Boniface? Perhaps one minute per potato is fair punishment.”

You give a garbled cry as Bonnie shouts their agreement. Your thoughts are already going buzzy, that maddening tingling creeping up your legs as you cackle. You thought it would tickle less the second time. You were so very wrong. And Mira hasn’t even-

“Hehe.” Oh. She’s right in front of you. Smiling. “Hi Siffrin!”

Dsredtfhyubinujotrfytgub! Why is she right there?! You tug frantically at your hat, not caring that it leaves you more open if you can feel a little less seen right now!

“Aw, don’t hide Siffrin!” She leans down to see around your hat, and you squeeze your eye closed, face burning. “You have a lovely smile; I want to see it.”

Isa’s hand scratches under your cloak at your ribs and you make an embarrassing noise, your muscles jumping. “Noooooo!”

Mira coos and scratches under your chin! This should be illegal! “Pleeeaaase?” She wheedles, and it’s once again all so much that you sink to the ground. Your head is spinning. You might stay here forever, trapped between them and their touch and your own helpless laughter.

You hiccup when Mira’s hand spiders at your stomach, and another hand gently tugs your hat away from your face. You blink at Odile, who is giving you that same affectionate smile. “Cute.” She says matter-of-factly, and this time she takes over from Mirabelle and wiggles her fingers under your chin, making you squish your head forwards to try to block her evil hands. This backfires, because then she decides to target your ears, and you feel like you’re melting. They’re all touching you, close and warm and silly, and your hazy brain can’t ignore that fact that you’re loving every wheezing, hiccupping moment of it.

It feels like hours later when Odile finally speaks up. “Okay, that’s enough.” She says, her voice tinged with laughter. “We’ll have no hope against the King if we tickle Siffrin to death before we get to him.”

You gasp for breath, curling up in a giggly little ball on the ground as the others chuckle and stop.

Bonnie snickers. “Ohhh, so we gotta tickle him to death after we beat the King.”

“Sounds fair to me!” Isa. Traitor.

“Noooooo…” You wail quietly, your insides squirming pleasantly at their answering laughter.

Odile musses your hair again, and again you can’t stop yourself from leaning into it. “Oh please, I didn’t hear any real protestation, you know.”

“Pro-station?”

And she chuckles again. “Protestation, Boniface, it means arguing.”

“Oh.”

A cruel evil horrible poke to your side that has you flinching. “I’m saying that Siffrin never told us to stop.”

Meep. And you’d thought you couldn’t blush any harder. “Mmmmph.”

“Ohhhh.” Bonnie says, ignoring the fact that you’re all but melted into a complete puddle on the floor. “Heheh, yeah, tickle fights are fun!”

The others make various noises of agreement which does absolutely nothing to ease your humiliation. “Just leave me here.” You mumble into the stone floor. “Leave me to die.”

Mira and Isa laugh. “Aw, we could never leave you behind, Siffrin!”

“Yeah!” He agrees, standing and holding out a hand. “Who’d find all the tonics?”

Hmph. You guess. You take his hand, stand up, and scoop up the pepper and ginger juices from the shelf, pulling your hat as hard over your face as you can to avoid their gazes. Their amusement is palpable and your smile feels permanently stuck to your face as you exit the room.

You remember the key in the head housemaiden’s office, this time.

Tripping into the tear was totally accidental.

You have no excuse for entering the gardening room a third time.

--

It takes a few more loops before you end up back in Dormont.

“Hey Isa, I need to do the favour tree thing!”

“Oh, right, I’m in your way then! I’ll see you at the clocktower later!” He waves goodbye, cheerily, and you wave back.

Then you turn to the favour tree and jump into the bow you always sit in to talk to Loop.

They wave to you, eyes sparkling with even more mischief than usual. “Oh hiiii, Stardust! I thought you’d forgotten about me! Soooo many loops without so much as a call!” You don’t know how you can tell, but they’re grinning. “I’m just tickled to see you again!”

Ah. Ah. Your brain goes completely blank as their words sink in. Right, yes. Loop can see everything you do in your loops. Right.

They snicker. “Awww, cat got your tongue? Goodness knows you didn’t have many, what was it, protestations to make to your party.”

Rxdtcfyvgubhnijmk. Your face is on fire. You hide under your hat.

Loop laughs into their hand. “Your researcher was right, you know. You’re sooooooo cute, Stardust!”

“Stop!” You whine, not even sure what else to say.

“Teehee, sure, Stardust, I’ll stop! Just one thing, you probably didn’t notice, but ah…”

(You got Memory of Tickles. You’ll always remember this.)

[When Memory of Tickles is equipped, your party will know, teehee!]

Your eye is the size of a saucer. Loop is still grinning at you. “I’ve done you the favour of equipping that one for you, Stardust. You’re welcome!”

You… can’t move. Or think. You feel like a deer who just heard a branch snap. Frozen.

Loop titters some more. “Still nothing to say? My, you are taciturn!”

You startle back to reality. “They’ll know? Know what?!”

“Hmmm?” They’re sparkling even more than usual. “I’m not sure, Stardust! Maybe you should go and find out.”

Liar, you want to say, but your mind is largely soup. “Mmph.”

Loop laughs aloud, twirling a finger in the air. “Anyway, Stardust, how may I help you on this wonderful new loop?”

--

You… try to ignore the memory. You think about unequipping it and using something more, well, useful, but you’re curious. When you barely eat at the sleepover, Bonnie viciously squeezes your sides in revenge, and you almost crash straight through the opposite wall from how quickly you shoot back. The others laugh like this is totally normal and not the first time any of them have touched you at the sleepover.

And then it keeps happening. Little pokes and prods when you’re not paying attention. You can’t zone out at all because one of them will poke you in the ribs and you’re zapped right out of the boredom. You can’t look any of them in the eye when they smirk at you like that. You feel seen. You feel… uneasy.

They wouldn’t be doing this if you weren’t making them. They’ve never done any of it before. None of them really touched you at all until a handful of loops ago and that and everything that followed only happened because you manipulated them, because you’re greedy, greedy, gre-

“Sif!”

You jump. “Whuh?”

Isa is there. Looking at you. His eyes are wide and concerned. “I- was asking if you’re okay? You’ve been spacing out kind of a lot today, and uh- I wanted to check on you.” He chews on his lip. “Are we um- are we touching you too much? I can talk to the others if you want us to stop.”

… What? You blink.

He laughs nervously. “I-I mean- you know, me and Mira are kind of touchy people, but it’s okay! If you don’t like that! Um, it’s fun to poke you when you’re not paying attention cos you make such cute noises but we can definitely not do that if you don’t want us to!”

You blink again. Cute? Isa called you cute. You feel lightheaded.

You swallow and shake your head.

He stares. “Oh. Oh! You uh- you don’t mind? Us touching you?”

You shake your head again. Your mind has gone completely blank. Is this… all you needed to do?

Isa sighs deeply. “Oh good. I was kinda worried we were bugging you!” He laughs quietly. “I think it’s been a good distraction for Bonbon; they’re so busy looking for an opening they haven’t had time to worry.”

You spare a glance and Bonnie, their nose buried in a small cookbook. It’s true, they look far less morose than they usually do at this point in the house. You breathe in… and out. “I’m okay.” You say quietly, managing to give Isa a small smile. “Thanks, Isa.”

“Oh! Heh,” He’s suddenly blushing. “Any time, y’know, just wanted to check in.” He turns away, examining the empty table, but his hand brushes yours as he turns, and that’s…

Nice.

The touch seems to be helping them, too. There’s a sparkle of something in Odile’s eye when she squeezes your side in revenge for walking too fast. Something you can’t quite name tinges Mirabelle’s giggle when she nudges you out of your stupor. Something beyond pride in Bonnie’s laughter from making you yelp. Something about the way Isabeau smiles at you.

You… don’t think about it.

You defeat the sadness protecting the second floor. Eat your cookie. Go through to the second floor, take the key from Marc’s Super Awesome Great Amazing Super Duper Cool Notebook, go back through the main hall towards the head handmaiden’s office and you know, you know, you know it’s there.

You don’t pause for long enough to think. You go straight into the gardening room, ignoring how warm your face feels, and go right to the back to get the definitely important and useful tonics.

As you bend over to retrieve them, a playful voice chimes in.

[Woooow Stardust, back again, huh? You really are soooo cute.]

Meep! You jump. Oh no.

[Teehee!]

You straighten, handing the tonics to Bonnie and not meeting any of their eyes. It’s fine. It’s fine. You can just leave without poking them, and that’ll be fine!

It’s fine!

You fight to keep your breathing steady, closing your eye to slip through the narrow gap without touching anyone, and-

Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

“AAAA-”

You jump so hard you almost land on the ceiling. You stare at the others, your eye wide. They all look back in various stages of amusement. Mira and Bonnie are openly snickering. Odile has her lips pressed together to keep from smiling. Isa has one hand over his mouth.

“Oh! Uh- Are you, heheh, okay Sif?”

You nod, a quick, panicked little thing. “Mhm! Yes! I’m! Fine!”

[Oh, very convincing, Stardust! Personally, I think you’re in a bit of a pickle, but what do I know?]

Isa lets out a quiet snort. “You sure about that?”

You feel warm. “Y-yes, I’m fine.”

“Uh huh.” He crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow, smirking. You feel yourself smiling too, nervous and twitchy. His eyes are so warm. Have they always been like that?

You squeal and rocket forwards when small hands grip your sides and wriggle. Bonnie laughs triumphantly.

[Distracted, Stardust?]

AAAAAAAAAAH! You can’t handle this!

Strong arms catch you before you can trip. Isa again. And he doesn’t let go. You’re already giggling from anticipation. “Isa- IsaIsaIsa, don’t!”

He chuckles. “Don’t what?”

You squirm. “Tickle me!” And just like that fingers are scratching maddeningly at your side and you’re laughing and kicking in his grasp.

Just beyond your laughter you can hear him say with amusement, “Oh, well, if you insist.”

AH! Betrayer! Criminal! You… can’t call him any names because you’re laughing too hard, flapping your arms and blushing darkly.

Odile chuckles. “You walked into that one.” She says teasingly, scratching behind your ears like you’re a cat and making you splutter with squeaks. “Oldest trick in the book.”

“NO!” You shriek.

Loop snickers in the back of your mind [I dunno Stardust! You did quite literally walk into this. Almost like you wanted it to happen, hmm?]

You shake your head frantically. You can feel it in their eyes as surely as you can feel it in Loop’s tone, they know! They know you wanted this!

Mira giggles and kisses your cheek on your other side, nuzzling her face into the crook of your neck. “Hehehe, aww.” She coos, blowing a raspberry against your neck and earning a loud snort. “Siffrin, you’re so cute!”

“Noho I’m nohot!” You shriek, your head squishing down like a turtle.

[Hehe! They’re gonna getcha!]

You throw a ball of incoherent feelings in Loop’s direction. You don’t know if it works, but they giggle at you, so they must be aware of something.

Your knees start to buckle from the joint assault, just as Bonnie makes their reappearance, latching onto your sides and poking and prodding at your stomach and making you hiccup and kick. “You’re not eating enough, stupid Frin! Your tummy feels all empty!” Their little fingers press hard into your stomach.

You jolt like they’ve shocked you, kicking your feet weakly. You can’t think straight, you can’t stop smiling, you can’t-

[Can’t bring yourself to make them stop, huh? Cuuuute!]

You cackle, grabbing at your hat as your face burns hotter still.

[Awww, what’s the matter Stardust? Does it tickle?]

No, no, no, they can’t use the word, that makes it all so much worse!

[Teehee, noted ;) I’m surprised it can get any worse than your fighter being so gentle and scratchy at your ribs like that! Or the housemaiden giggling against your neck, she’s really figured that spot out, huh? Oh, and the researcher does have such long fingers, I bet that’s horrible around your ears. Or your poor little tummy. The kid’s right, you know, you’ve barely eaten this loop!]

Loop! You screech internally, begging them to shut up, they’re making it worse, they’re making it worse!!

[That is the idea, Stardust. You can’t lie to me; you’re having fun and we both know it. Letting your little party reduce you to a cute pile of giggles just from some tickles. Adorable.]

Tdrcfytvguynjoiyvgubh!

[Teehee, and you still haven’t said a word to stop them! If you’re not careful you’ll end up looping just from being all tickled out. How embarrassing if you wound up getting tickled to death!]

No! You hiccup, but, well… you are feeling pretty weak right now. Your limbs have gone totally floppy; you’d be on the floor if Isa wasn’t holding you up. You feel dizzy, barely able to jump when Bonnie blows a loud tickly raspberry against your clothed stomach, barking out a louder squeal around hiccups and giddy laughter.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Odile’s amused voice cuts through the fuzzy static. “Don’t kill him.”

They all stop, grinning and snickering at your embarrassment. You giggle giddily, sliding to the ground.

[Hehe, saved by the bell!]

Shutupshutupshutupshutup-

[Make me!]

A hand nudges your shoulder and you give a full body flinch and a breathy laugh. Mira is grinning at you. “Are you okay, Siffrin?”

You’re still grinning widely enough to split your face in two, and you give a shy nod, hiding behind your hat.

Odile chuckles and musses your hair through the hat, leaving it askew. “I hope we didn’t go overboard. You seemed jumpy, it seemed like a good idea to get that out of you.”

You mumble nonsense. Talking is a bit much for you right now. You don’t even know what you’d say if you could speak.

[Mmmm, probably, ‘thank you soooooo much’]

Your blush is back with a vengeance. Why isn’t there a way to block Loop out entirely?!

[Oh, there is, I’m just not telling :P]

You… ignore them.

A burnt samosa is shoved in your face. “Here.” Bonnie says. “I was mostly teasing you but you’ve really gotta eat! So! Eat!”

You blink at it for a few seconds before pushing yourself up into a sitting position and taking the samosa. Nibbling on it means you don’t have to say anything, at least. The others sit around you and you feel… loved. Peaceful.

Your eye shifts up to glance at Isa, and he’s giving you the softest smile you’ve ever seen. You… smile back. You love them all so much.

You want to stay with them.

--

Everything got worse. You died and died and died and died and hurt them more than you’d ever thought you could and they… came after you. They didn’t leave you even after you’d left them. You ended the loops, you left Dormont, and… you got to stay with them.

Now you’re staying in a cabin, everyone taking a day to rest on the long road to Bambouche, and you and Isabeau and snuggled up on the lounge. You don’t know where the others are, and that’s… okay.

Isa hums, his head resting atop yours. “Tell me something from the loops.” He says gently. “There was nice stuff, right? There must have been.”

A lump rises in your throat. You swallow. “Lots.” You admit. “But… it wasn’t as nice over and over.”

“Yeah, I get that.” His hand finds your hair and you melt just a little. “So, nothing was nice enough that you’d want to do it over again?”

The memory of the gardening room hits you suddenly and at full force, and you freeze, flushing down to the roots of your hair. “U-uh…”

Isa laughs. “Aha, so there was something! Come on, tell me!”

“Mmmph.” You can’t, you can’t, it’s too embarrassing!

“Siiiiiiiiiif.”

You’re going to die, you’re going to combust right here because that’s better than having to open your crabbing mouth and explain. “rydftugyhu.”

“Heheh, that embarrassing, huh?”

Augh! You nod, hiding your face behind your hands.

Isa laughs silently; you can feel his chest shake from it. “Sorry, you’re just- so cute right now.” His fingers scratch at your scalp, so you forgive him. “Can you tell me about it? I wanna know.”

No. But you can maybe say part of it. “Mmph. Um, the- uh- the gardening room. On the second floor?”

“Hm? Oh yeah! I think we wandered in there, only for a second though, it was a dead end.”

It was. The tonics in there weren’t that useful. There was really no reason to go in. “I- uh, there were some tonics up the back, but the gap to get through was… kind of tight. I was…” Here we go. “Trying to get more used to touch. I’d um- poke. You guys. As we went through.” There. Was that enough?

“Aw.” Isa squeezed you tighter. “Yeah, I can see you wanting to do that again. We all thought you didn’t like being touched.” He presses a big kiss to your cheek that has you squeaking. “Turns out you’re a lil cuddlebug, huh?”

You groan. “Isaaaaaaaa.”

“Siiiiiiiiiiif.” He sings back, sounding completely enamoured. “Was there… more to that?”

Oh stars. You nod into his chest, dreading the follow-up question.

“Can you tell me?”

Xdtfcyhgvujnlkcfgvjhk. You groan. He laughs, and holds you, and waits.

You groan again. Why do you have to say it? Hmph. “Um. Sometimes when I-I poked you guys, you’d um. Poke me back. A-and it- i-it tickled.” You got the stupid crabbing word out, great job!

Isa hums. “Uh huh?”

You’d thought that getting the stupid word out would make you feel less like a flustered puddle. You were incorrect. “Mmm. A-and I don’t know why, but sometimes you’d all um…”

Isa seems to be trying very hard not to sound amused. “Tickle you?”

Stars. You hide your face as much as you can. “Mm-hm.”

“Right.” You can hear the smile in his voice. “And just to be clear, that was the part you’d want to do again?”

You whine.

He chuckles. “Sorry, sorry, I’m not trying to tease you, just. I wanna make sure.”

Mmmmmmph. You scrunch your face up. “I-I did do it again.” You mumble, eyes closed. “L-looped back and…”

Isa lets out a gasp. “Really?” He… doesn’t sound as disgusted as you’d expected. He doesn’t sound disgusted at all. He sounds… wonderous.

You nod against him. You’ve said too many words already. No more words for Siffrin today.

“Oh change, Sif, that’s adorable!”

You grumble, squeeze him tightly, and don’t say anything.

“Sooooo…” Oh. Oh dear. There’s a particular note of mischief in Isa’s voice now. “I guess you’re pretty ticklish, then?”

Eep. You freeze. Your mind goes completely blank.

“I mean, enough that a poke or two gave it away, at least.” His hand rests oh so gently against your side. “Right?”

Iutmnjyhbtgdvrfceds. You can’t. You can’t!

“Hmmmm…” He’s being far too smug, and you’re practically vibrating from anticipation and embarrassment and feeling- “Poke!”

AAH! You almost jump out of your skin when his soft finger pokes into your ribs, a nervous smile claiming your lips.

“Whoa- pffaha, wow, you really are, huh?”

Your eyes narrow, and just to prove a point, you claw your fingers into his sides, getting a jump and a surprised bark of laughter. Hmph. Serves him right.

Isa chuckles. “Oh, so that’s how it is?”

The predatory lilt to his voice has you scrambling away. “U-um…”

“Using your secret timeloop knowledge on poor, helpless Isabeau.”

“Wait, I-Isa-”

“Hmmm?” And he’s grinning at you. Waiting for you to tell him not to do what you both know he’s about to do, because he knows! He knows you won’t tell him not to, he knows you love it. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

He laughs. “Ha, okay, I’ve tortured you long enough, c’mere.” And he grabs you by the wrist, the other arm to the one he always grabbed in the gardening room, and drags you into his lap, both hands vibrating into your sides and making you break into snorting laughter, flopping around in his hold like a fish.

“Ohhh, good spot? Heheh, sure seems like it.”

You don’t speak. You can’t. You can only flail and laugh and shake your head. Your face is burning and your skin is tingling and you never ever want him to stop.

One hand climbs your ribs and your arm snaps to your side. “Ohhh change, I’m gonna do this all the time now.” You hiccup, your brain going fuzzy at the mere thought. “Does that sound good?”

Yes, yes, YES! You nod frantically, voice cracking with laughter as one hand now explores your stomach. You flop against him, hands flapping around, torn between stopping him and never ever stopping him.

“Heheheh, so cute, Sif.” His fingers spider this way and that with no rhyme or reason and it’s as maddening as it is amazing.

You choke on laughter. “I-Isahahaha!”

“Siiiiif!” His hands shoot up, fingers digging under your arms, and you let out a loud shriek.

“ISA!”

His hands still suddenly, drawing away. “Sorry, sorry, too much?”

Wsrxdetcrfygtuybhinuj. Why did he have to crabbing ask?! You groan around your giggles and use your remaining willpower to grasp his wrists and twitchingly pull them right back to your torso. He doesn’t move.

When you look up at him, he’s looking right back, his eyes wide with… something. And then he smiles. “Heh, well, if you insist…” and the next thing you know you’re right back to bubbling laughter, slumping against Isabeau’s chest and kicking your feet.

He chuckles along. “Aww, what’s the matter? Has someone got a case of the giggles?”

Stars! “NOHO! Nonononono!”

It’s all so much worse when he talks like that! And his hand migrating to tease under your chin and around your ears does nothing to help your denial. “I think you do! I think you’ve got a bad case of giggles!”

You snort, batting at his hands and shaking your head. No, no, no, no!

“Hmmm, you don’t think so, huh?” He doesn’t stop! “I guess we need a tiebreaker. What do you think, we’ve got some good options around here. Morally upstanding Housemaiden? Scholarly Researcher?” Pause. “Chef?”

You hiccup, and Isa’s hands slow, moving just enough to keep you giggling. Dimly, you realise he’s giving you the chance to say no. Because he’s going to call the others. Oh.

You gasp for breath between giggles. “Isaha- Isahahaa!”

“Hmm?” He hums smugly, the hand on your stomach migrating to scratch at your lower back and oh crab that tickles! “You agree, right? We need a tiebreaker. I mean I can’t have my best bud getting all giggled to death.”

You bark a louder laugh and arch your back, tears pricking at your eye.

He’s grinning at you like you’re the most precious thing he’s ever seen. “Hey guys!” He sings. “We need a tiebreaker in here! Or three!”

You squeeze your eye shut, twitching and laughing and flushing dark. Even around your giggles, you’d recognise your family members steps anywhere. You know that hesitant, light gait.

Mira.

“Isabeau? You- oh!” She giggles, her voice getting closer. “Hehehe, awww. Everything okay, Siffrin?”

Your smile grows impossibly wider, and you bury your face in your hands, squeaking. In his infinite cruelty, Isa doesn’t stop.

“We’re at an impasse.” He says, voice shaking with laughter. “See, I think that Sif has a terrible case of the giggles, but they say they don’t.” His hands crawl up under your arms, making you shriek and fold up. “What do you think?”

“Interesting.” A smug, new voice says from the doorway. Odile is smirking. If you could burrow completely into Isa’s chest at this point, you would. “Looks pretty cut and dry to me, don’t you think?”

Bonnie trails behind her, snickering. “Hehehe, Frin’s ticklish!” They sing, as if there’s any denying it at this point.

“Nohoho!” You squeal, flushing dark. “N-hic-no!”

Mira snickers. “Are you sure?” She says, worming her fingers past your hands to wriggle at your neck and making you smush your head down like a turtle.

“Hmmm.” Odile hums in mock thought. “Seems like a very severe case to me. Good thing you caught it when you did, Isabeau.”

His fingers haven’t stopped poking and wiggling at your tickle spots the entire time. You doubt you’d stop giggling if he and Mira stopped, at this point.

“Heh, you know me, M’dame, always vigilant.” His touch lightens just enough that you can gasp in air. “So, what’s the cure? I’ve never seen a case of giggles this serious.”

Your cheeks burn hotter still, and you bury your face in Isa’s chest, your arms wrapped around yourself and your entire form shivering with laughter. You feel like you’re melting.

You hope they don’t stop just yet.

A finger flicks up your spine. You jolt. Odile chuckles. “Well, same as infection, we need to get it all out of their system.” And then because she’s evil, she flutters her fingers against the back of your neck, making you snap your head back.

At which point Mira scratches playfully under your chin. AGH! “Guhuhuys! AH- no!”

You kick weakly, but it doesn’t do much to slow Bonnie in wrestling your boot off and scratching their small fingers against your socked foot.

And that’s it. You’re done for. You turn to complete jelly against Isabeau’s chest, twitching this way and that, shaking with laughter, tears pricking your eye, and your family’s own snickering echoing in your ears. It’s so much. It’s perfect.

You start to feel dizzy and realise with some disappointment that this is usually when Odile calls the others off. You try to grasp onto those last few zaps of sensation before she inevitably speaks up…

But she doesn’t. Her hand moves to massage at your ribs one at a time. You squeal at each one, smiling so hard you feel like your face may split in two. Ever the researcher!

Bonnie has your ankle in one hand and is mercilessly tickling your foot with the other. Isa is scratching gently at your stomach. Mira is tracing over your neck and ears, and Odile is still carefully testing each individual rib trying to find any particular sweet spots as if your brain isn’t up amongst the stars by now.

You’re not sure how long it’s been when your laughter goes completely silent, or when they stop. Mira and Bonnie flop on top of you, giggling along with you. You feel like you’re floating on clouds. You can’t stop smiling, even and especially when a hand finds the top of your head, fondly ruffling your hair and squeezing one last giggle from your system.

“There.” Odile says, affection bleeding into her tone. “All cured.”

You don’t say a word, hugging Isa tightly and pressing your face into his chest. You’re nowhere near present enough to be embarrassed about your position. You have far more pressing things to be embarrassed about.

Mira giggles and presses a kiss to your cheek. “We love you!” She sings, nuzzling against you. “Siffrin! We love you!”

You give a little whine and try to hide, but you know she can see your smile peeking out. Your limbs feel heavy, and your mind is so giddy and dizzy that you know you’d fall over if you tried to stand. So, you don’t. You stay right there, with the four of them around you, grinning and melted and so so happy.

--

It isn’t until later, once you and Isa are alone again, that you pluck up the courage. “U-um, I-Isa? Thanks, for… for earlier.”

He looks over at you, surprise melting into a warm smile. “Heh. Any time, Sif. I mean it. S’fun.”

You agree. Your face burns dark anyway. “You didn’t- didn’t tell the others that I…” Ha, no, you can’t say it.

You sit on the bed next to Isa. He grins easily. “That you like it, you mean?”

Mmph. “Mmhm.”

Isa chuckles. “Heh, yeah, don’t worry about that.” And then he just has to go and shatter your fragile composure. “If you’d seen the look on your face, you’d know I didn’t have to.”

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh! You give a little whine and curl up in a tiny ball. Isa curls up right beside you, wrapping an arm around you and grinning into your hair. “Love you.” He breathes.

Some of the embarrassed tension eases from your form. You nuzzle closer to him. “Love you too, Isa.”

It was fun, playing with your family members, being honest, laughing until you couldn’t laugh anymore, until you were dizzy.