~ Tea ~

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Beidou x Kazuha (interpret as you wish)

Lee: Beidou

Ler: Kazuha

Warnings: Tickles!

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It was another long day out at sea for the Crux. As strong and powerful as Beidou was, fatigue still catched up to her muscles, she was only human after all. But she wouldn't let the tense sensation ruin her image. She appeared like her usual self to everyone else, but it was hard to fool the wandering samurai.

Later in the day, when Kazuha found her by her lonesome, he decided to approach her. "Y'know, I can tell you haven't been in your best today".

Beidou felt a bit taken aback by the straightforward comment, but she was also well aware on how observant the samurai was. "I have been feeling a bit tense, but I can manage".

Kazuha furrowed his brows at her, almost looking like an angry cat. "You should learn to better care for yourself. How about I give you a massage?".

Funnily enough, this wasn't the first time the samurai had offered her such a treat. Whenever they were on their long voyages or encountered trouble, he was always kind enough to offer her assistance, and yet she always refused. Claiming that she didn't need to be pampered.

Although this time around, his offer was quite tempting. Her muscles could really use some loosening up for their next adventure. With a hesitant sigh, she replied "Oh fine... but just for a bit".

The samurai was satisfied that his insistence had finally won. They both took a seat, with Kazuha behind her. He started by rubbing at her shoulders. His hands were firm and placed just the perfect ammount of pressure, eliciting a groan of satisfaction from the captain. This caused him to give off a smirk "See? I told you this would help".

Beidou rolled her eyes playfully "It does feel pretty nice, I'll give you that". She could feel the stress in her body slowly melt away, almost lulling her into sleep as her eyes started to flutter close.

The samurai softly hummed along as his hands kept performing their magic, his finger starting to inch closer to her neck.

"Ah—" having felt so relaxed previously, Beidou didn't expect the sudden shift to her neck, a particularly sensitive spot.

It didn't take someone with heightened senses to hear the loud gasp she let out. "Sorry, did I squeeze too hard?" Kazuha asked, sounding a bit concerned, as his fingertips lightly caressed the captain's neck.

"N-noho, you're fihine..." Beidou coughed, trying to hide the way her voice wavered with each gentle caress.

Of course, Kazuha was no idiot, but for the time being he simply nodded and went back to massaging a less sensitive spot. His eyes would flicker to read the captain's relaxed body language. Once he felt her lower her guard just enough, Kazuha moved his index finger to slowly trail down from her neck down her spine.

"Gyah!" Beidou's body jolted quite violently to such a soft touch. The way it caused goosebumps to rise all over her skin should be considered illegal. But nothing could top off the embarrassings sounds that threatened to spill out of her.

Kazuha remained quiet as his fingertip kept exploring the whole of Beidou's back. Circling around her shoulder blades, gently scratching right between them, teasing where her neck and back meet, and trailing all the way down her spine in the slowest most agonizing way possible.

"Mph! Hmhm!" Beidou would try arching her back and softly squirm from side to side, but Kazuha's fingers were consistent. She was well aware he was doing it on purpose at this point, and yet she couldn't bring herself to tell him to stop.

Kazuha's silence was flustering enough for the dear captain, for some reason, but nothing could've prepared her for what came next...

"Who knew that all it takes to bring down the captain is the soft touch of a feather, or in this case, my fingers" Kazuha's short nails started to gently yet swiftly skitter along the sides of Beidou's back.

"You little- PFFT! GYAHAHAHA!" Beidou bursted into loud cackles. She hugged her torso and stomped her feet on the ground, trying anything that would hopefully lessen the ticklishness, but it felt hopeless. Kazuha's fingers mananaged to short circuit her brain, making her body react against her will.

Kazuha couldn't help but giggle along with her as he kept playfully tickling her. In his time with the Crux, he had never heard the captain sound so joyful. And the fact that he was the one causing it made him feel a bit proud.

"STOP! STOAHAHAHAP!".

Once he heard her pleas, Kazuha's wiggly fingers slowed to a stop. Opting to firmly rub out the tingly sensations. As he heard Beidou take in deep breaths, he said "Sorry". He was, in fact, not sorry at all. You could practically hear the smile in his voice. "I didn't think you'd be so sensitive. Is this why you always avoided getting massaged?".

"Oh shut up!..." Beidou huffed, crossing her arms like a pouty toddler. She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. As embarrassing as this felt, she couldn't fight off the smile on her face.

"Anyways, how are you feeling? Better, I hope".

Being taken out of her flustered thoughts, Beidou noticed that her body did loosen up quite a bit thanks to the tickling, not like she'd admit it though. "I do feel less stiff, so I guess I should thank you, in spite of your little stunt there".

"Heheh, I'm just happy to be of service" maybe this was wishful thinking, but Kazuha felt like this brought them even if just a little bit closer.

Suddenly, the captain turned to face Kazuha "But don't think you're getting out of this scott free—".

"Looks like my job here is done, see ya!" at hearing her threat, Kazuha got up swiftly and excited out of the room.

"Hmph" Beidou let him get away this time, but it was only a matter of time until she got her revenge.

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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!”

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!”