☆ Hyperfixates A Lot ☆

Gilbert sighed heavily as he all but dropped into the kitchen chair. Today was one of those days that almost made him miss working on the ship. Sure it was back breaking work, and he could swear he still smelled the latrine on him sometime, but at least there was a way to distract yourself from it all. The constant work and hustle and bustle, the seemingly endless ocean, the excitement of foreign ports and exploration. That was something to look forward to, or a way to turn off your mind for awhile.

Not as much of that to be found here in Avonlea. Sure there was still a lot of work to do on the farm, but it wasn't quite the same. On the boat they'd work him so hard, it left him unable to do anything but sleep at the end of the day. Now he would often lay in bed for hours, unable to really get to sleep with all the thoughts racing through his head.

Of course this didn't lend well to endless days of school with that awful teacher. Mr.Philips was more interested in punishing and humiliating, than he was in actually teaching. He was a sad pathetic bastard of a man, that's to be sure.

Today it was his head on the proverbial chopping block. He'd been suffering from terrible insomnia for so long. That night had been no different, he'd not gotten a wink of sleep. So in class he'd nodded off a bit, just so unbelievably tired from no sleep.

Of course Mr.Philips had caught him the moment his eyes had shut. So of course he'd been forced to stand up at the front of class, and write 'I will not fall asleep in class' on the board 50 times. His wrist certainly ached from the exercise, and he'd been forced to stay late because of it.

So now here he was, tired, upset, with an aching wrist and the knowledge that he'd likely be in for another sleepless night. Maybe he could take to the bottle. Seemed to work for plenty of others he'd seen.

"What's goin on wid you Blight? You look like somethin someone pulled outta the gutter." Bash said as he walked in, hanging his coat on the hook on the wall.

Gilbert sighed heavily, barely turning his head to his friend. "I feel as I look Bash. Like something pulled me from the gutter."

Bash tutted and ruffled the younger man's hair in teasing affection. "Aww, is the poor little babe tired? Someone need a nap?"

Gilbert would chalk it up to his tired mind, but he leaned into the warm hand on his head, tears pressing at the corners of his eyes. "Honestly Bash? You have no idea how nice that would be right now."

Bash's bred furrowed in worry, usually Gilbert would have some playful reply, and they'd had a banter. This was unexpected and bit concerning. "Are ya feelin alright there Blight? Ya not sick are ya?"

He shook his head, "I don't think so. I'm just really tired. I can't sleep, and nothing I've tried has helped. I don't know why, it's so frustrating! I can't think straight, I can barely focus! I'm so tired Bash! I just wanna sleep! But I just… I just can't."

The older man sat next to his friend, hand still on his head, now more checking for fever. "You? Not sleepin? That's hard to believe. You used to sleep like the dead back on the ship."

"With how they worked us? I felt like the dead." He chuckled a bit.

"Ah, there's a smile!" He grinned, playfully but lightly shaking Gilbert's head. "I bet we can find a way ta getcha sleepin. Maybe yer just not bein worked hard enough!"

Gilbert scoffed and pushed his hand away in mock offense. "I work plenty hard, thank you very much! It's just not the kind that slowly kills you from the inside out!"

"Then it ain't the right kinda work to get ya ta sleep!" Bash grinned back, standing up. "I can try cooking up somethin to help ya out. I remember a few good recipes that used to put me out like a light!"

Gilbert chuckled, leaning forward and resting his head in his arms on the table. "You know what? That doesn't sound to bad."

"Don't you go falling asleep on me right now though!" He teased, poking at him.

Gilbert jolted a bit, rubbing his side where the poke hit. "Ok! Ok! No need to be so pushy, I'm just resting my head."

Bash regarded him curiously, "What was all that?"

"All what?" He asked, a tad defensively, arms now crossed against his chest.

"All that! Ya jumped like I'd electrocuted ya! And now yer actin like I'm gonna jump atcha!" He chuckled, but he leaned in a bit, hand reaching for his side. "Yer not hurtin there are ya? Let me see."

Gilbert jolted again, shooting up from the chair. "N-No! I'm fine! I'm not hurt! I'm gonna go check on the animals!"

"…No." Bash grinned at him, seemingly putting the pieces together. "Ain't no way you been keepin this kinda thing from me for this long!"

Gilbert would deny the rising heat in his face till his dying day. He knew what Bash was getting at, and he knew if this conversation went any further, he'd never have a peaceful day again.

The truth of it was, Gilbert had always been… sensitive. Not absurdly so, thankfully, only his dad had known really. It was something usually used when they'd be playfully rough housing when he was little. Once or twice his dad had used it to make Gilbert smile on rough days. Or when he'd been bedridden and Gilbert had refused to leave his side, it was a good distraction from the doom and gloom of it all.

Of course it had been a long time since he'd played like that with anyone. He wasn't really close enough to anyone for them to find out. Then there wasn't much time for childish games like that on the ship. And with how crazy his life had become, he'd all but forgotten how sensitive he really was.

Now though, it was all coming back crystal clear. And Bash was slowly advancing on him, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"I might know just the way to get ya ya sleep I think. It'll probably work better than my first idea for certain." He grinned, slowly walking towards Gilbert.

"I-I think I'm good actually! The food will work wonders I'm sure! I should really check on the animals though!" He laughed nervously, backing up towards the door. But Bash wasn't backing down,and seeing as Gilbert wasn't looking where he was going as he back away, he didn't realize till it was to late that he'd actually backed himself into the wall. "B-Bash, Bash now let's be reasonable. We're both fully grown men, this is beneath us."

"I'll have to disagree Blight." He grinned, stopping in front of him. "I think a good laugh if just what the doctor ordered."

Gilbert stood for a moment, holding eye contact with Bash, before tired to bolt to the door. But Bash was faster, grabbing him and pulling him into an inescapable bear hug. Before he knew it, his friends hands were squeezing at his sides. "Come on now, let's tired you out properly!"

"BASH!" He yelped, hands flying to his mouth, trying in vain to hold back the grin forcing its way onto his face. He could already feel the laughter bubbling in his chest. Had he really always been this ticklish? Had he forgotten how bad it was, or did all the years without somehow make him more sensitive? Either way, he was twisting about to try and escape it.

"Aye! Quit yer wigglin! I'm trying ta help ya!" He laughed, hands never ceasing their insensent ticklish squeezes. "But maybe this ain't the spot? Let's try here!"

Gilbert honest to goodness kicked when Bash's fingers dug into his stomach. He'd definitely forgotten how ticklish that spot was. A hand pulled away from covering his mouth to try and pull at his friends hand. It did next to nothing really. He was never as strong as Bash, and given how sleep deprived he was, it certainly didn't help.

Bash just laughed, "Guess I was right! Seems I hit a good spot, eh?"

Gilbert shook his head, twisting and wiggling in Bash's hold. But his fight with his own laughter was a losing game. He was sure he'd break any second now. Maybe if he wasn't so tired he'd have better endurance. But alas, he was sure he'd never hear the end of this now.

The hand that wasn't tormenting his stomach was moving, going up his side till it landed squarely on his ribs. That was when any composure that Gilbert had left was tossed out the window.

"AHA! NOHO!" He cried, giving into the laughter that poured from his lips. It was a bright, goofy sound. Quite different from his usual soft chuckles or teasing snickers. He hadn't laughed like this in years, and despite how embarrassing it all was, it did feel kinda nice.

Bash's own laughter joined his, triumphant. "Haha! There it is! Gotcha now Blight! Listen to ya! Laughin like a hyena! I gotta say, it suits ya!"

Gilbert was fighting valiantly against the onslaught. Which is to say he was weakly slapping and pulling at the hands that tormented him. A very valiant and brave fight indeed.

"BAHAHASH!" He cried, a snort being torn from his lips as the bastard's hand got under his arm.

"Oh now that was a funny noise!" Bash grinned, "Can ya make it again?"

And make it again he did, snorting even louder as both of Bash's hands were now digging into his underarms. His arms were pressed to his sides in an instinctual attempt at defense, but all it led to was trapping his friends hands in that terrible spot. He was really doing himself no favors, was he?

"C-CUT IT OHOHOUT!" He cackled, slowly sliding to the floor as his legs lost their strength.

"Why dontcha try and make me, eh? See if ya can!" Bash laughed, all but straddling Gilbert as he tickled the poor guy to pieces.

Gilbert tried to kick, or buck, or twist to freedom, but Bash was to strong. He truly doubted he'd be able to free himself even if he was at full strength. He attempted to lift his hands to grab at Bash's arms, but it only led to Bash digging harder into his underarms. So he was essentially stuck like this, helpless to the playful whims of his attacker.

Thankfully Bash seemed to be in a merciful mood. Or maybe he noticed that Gilbert's useless attempts to fight back or escape were getting weaker and more sluggish. "Alright alright, I think I've tired ya out well enough."

"N-Nehehearly killed me more lihike." He giggled, catching his breath as the sensations slowly faded.

Bash scoffed and rolled his eyes, climbing off Gilbert and offering a hand. "Don't be a baby, yer fine. A little tickling never killed nobody!"

"You don't know that." He huffed, taking his hand and standing up, a bit unsteady on his feet.

Bash only laughed, throwing an arm around him and lightly jostling him. "Whateva ya say Blight! Now go get to bed, ya look dead on ya feet."

"Bed? Without supper?" He asked, though he did have to admit he was leaning pretty heavy against Bash.

He rolled his eyes, guiding his friend to the table and turning to the cold box. "Fine fine, I think we have some left ova's I can heat up on the stove. Just don't go-"

He cut himself off as he turned back to Gilbert, who was already asleep, still sitting up in the chair. Bash chuckled, "Fallin asleep… well, let's hope ya have good dreams tonight. Sleep well my friend."

As much progress they had made on their recent adventure, she still didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, especially with something like this.

“Is it so hard to believe that I just want to see what it’s like? It’s not every day Caine lets something like this slide.”

“Why don’t you just take it yourself, then?”

The pupils again, starting huge then slowly shrinking while he thought of a response.

“That’s no fun.”

He didn’t want to do it alone. At first she really expected that he was just trying to trick her into taking it for his own, twisted amusement, but something about him seemed to genuinely want to do this.

“Gosh, I thought you would know that it’s no fun getting blasted by yourself. What, are you too much of a goodie too shoes to get high?” He taunted.

She’d smoked a couple of times in college when she was offered, but smoking a little weed was WAY different than just eating some weird sauce that Caine came up with.

“I’ve been high before,” she rolled her eyes. “Have you?”

Again, a slight shift in his expression. During one of their conversations earlier, he’d mentioned that he was 22 when he arrived in the circus, making him the youngest one out of the group, barely past the legal drinking age where they were from. Thinking back on it, that was about the age she tried an edible for the first time. Depending on how he grew up and where he was from, he probably never got the chance to do something like this before.

She thought back to the bar they had been at on the previous adventure. Could that have been his first real experience with alcohol? He had seemed to get much more loose after that drink, maybe because it was his first real drink. If that was his first time feeling drunk, was he just wanting to try out a bunch of things he’s never gotten to experience before?

She almost felt bad for him for a second. His entire young adult life and experiences had been taken away before he even got to try living them. But chasing these experiences he’d been robbed of was going to end badly.

“Look, I get it, I miss having the choices we had out there. We’re adults, if we want to drink or smoke we should be able to. But we have no idea what that will actually do to us here, and we can’t just trust Caine to be honest about it either. No way am I eating something like that.”

Something changed in his expression as he looked at the sauce in his hands. It was as if he put two and two together, like he was starting to process what the sauce really was. Some strange way Caine got around not being able to affect their minds directly. A loophole in his own rules.

And as usual, as quickly as it happened, it disappeared as he sported his usual smirk.

“Jeez, if I’d known you would be lame about it I wouldn’t have asked. You think Zooble would be into this stuff?”

Out of everyone there, Zooble was the most likely to have been a stoner at one point. Pomni wasn’t going to say that now though.

“There’s no way they’d try anything like that in this place, especially not if you offered.”

“Good point. Oh, I bet I could convince Gangle to try some.”

There it was, back to his usual prick attitude. She wasn’t sure if he was serious about finding and harassing Gangle over the stupid sauce or if this was just his way of messing with her, but she sure as hell wasn’t risking it. She had to get rid of that stuff before things got out of hand.

“You are not going out there to peer pressure Gangle into eating this weird *bOnK*-ing sauce. Now give me that.” She tried making a lunge to grab the bottle out of his hands.

“Hey- come on!” He pulled the bottle away, “I just want to see what’ll happen.”

“You know what’s going to happen already. That stuff completely messed up Ragatha for, like, the whole day.”

“Yeah, all the more reason to get someone else to test it first. Maybe it affects everyone differently.”

She thought back to when she’d learned about how their different avatars reacted differently to some things, like with the breath holding. She also remembered him taunting her into showing him what her ‘cartoon body’ would do.

“Of course you never planned on eating it yourself! You just want to get someone to trip out of their mind.”

“I never said that.” The grin on his face grew back to its usual, cartoonish proportions. “But now that you mention it, that would be pretty entertaining!”

“Just give me that thing, we shouldn’t have it in the first place.” She managed to grab a hold of it as he tried to keep it from her reach. She squeezed trying to get a grip on it, accidently putting more pressure than she intended.

In a second, the pink substance shot from the bottle and hit Jax directly in his eye.

“Oh *sQeAk*!” She yelled.

He flinched suddenly, wincing back as he tried to wipe it away. For a moment he looked fine, but just as it had with Ragatha, it all hit at once. His body relaxed and his eyes went wide. From Pomni’s perspective, all she could see was his pupils dilating as he stood frozen in place, still holding the bottle. They’d gotten so large that almost his entire eye looked black

“Crap, are you okay?”

“I- I feel…” he doubled over for a moment, bringing his hands to his stomach as he slouched.

Dang it, was he going to be sick? That was a lot of sauce. What if he took too much for his mind to handle? Was overdosing a thing in the digital world? Would Caine be able to fix him? All of these worries ran through Pomni’s head as she started hearing him make a strained, breathy noise.

His shoulders shook as the noise started getting louder, and she placed what it was. He wasn’t getting sick or panicking, he was-

“Are you laughing?”

He giggled as he steadied himself upright and she was able to see his face. His smile was different than usual, it was a wide, dopey grin, like he was half asleep and struggling to stay awake.

“I just- ahahahahaha! I feel weird!”

Without realizing it, or maybe he was too out of it to care, he dropped the pink bottle and let it roll on the floor, straight to Pomni’s feet.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she picked it up. Looks like the stupid sauce did affect everyone a little differently. When Ragatha accidentally got some on her she’d been fully relaxed, no cares in the world as she spoke her mind for once with no filter. Jax on the other hand turned out to be a giggler. Most stoners will tell you that everything is way funnier when you're high as a kite, and that was how Jax probably felt at the moment.

“Okay, you're fine. You're just going to… be like this for a while.” She sighed, already planning on getting rid of that damn bottle when she got the chance. “It’ll take a long time to wear off. You should lie down somewhere.”

Jax tried taking a wobbling step before nearly tripping over his own feet. “Whoa, my legs are like jelly right now. That’s crazy!”

She could just leave, let Jax ride this out on his own, but one look at how he was struggling to walk had her second guessing. He couldn’t truly get hurt, but there were worse things to worry about. What if being stuck like this for too long could cause someone to abstract? Stuck in a room, alone, out of your mind and helpless to do anything about it while you slipped away? That was a fate too cruel for anyone. Pomni couldn’t just leave him there, even if it was his fault he was in this situation. Well, maybe it was just a little bit her fault too.

“Alright, let me just help you to the couch.” She reached out to grab him, hoping she could support his weight.

“No,” he swatted her away defensively, slurring his words. “I can do it, I swear.”

Clumsily, he put one foot in front of the other, grabbing whatever he could to stabilize himself as he made his way across the room, then flopping face first down on the couch.

“See, did it.” He mumbled into the cushion. “I win.”

“Sure Jax, you win.” She followed him over. The couch was long enough for him to lay down comfortably, but no room for her to sit without him moving. “Can I sit here?”

He gave a grunt as rolled himself over, bending his knees to make space for her. She was almost surprised that he didn’t just make her take the other couch. She was more surprised when after she sat down, he laid his legs in her lap.

“Jax,” she groaned.

“Whaaaat? You're sitting on the couch now.”

She supposed she didn’t mind, as long as he didn’t plan on kicking her.

“I guess I’m trip sitting for the rest of the day.”

“Yoooooou could still try some,” Jax grinned, “we could be stupid sauce buds.”

“Absolutely not, that’s the last thing we need.”

“Boooooooo! Lame!”

Great. She had a whole day of this to look forward to. Not that time really mattered there, but she would have at least appreciated a nap at some point. She considered dozing off on the couch, but she had a feeling leaving Jax unattended for even a few minutes was a bad idea. She couldn't take her eyes off him for a minute.

Then again, looking at Jax now made her doubt he could do much of anything in this state. He was lounged back, but instead of his usual, cocky posture he was fully limp, looking around constantly at seemingly nothing with wide eyes. It was enough to almost make her think he was harmless.

He started giggling quietly to himself. She couldn’t tell if he was laughing at her or at whatever he was seeing around him, but he wouldn’t stop.

“What’s so funny?” She finally broke, asking with an amused grin of her own.

“So, Pompom. You know how cats hate water?” He rambled.

“What? I mean, yeah, I guess.”

“But they like fish. And fish love water. They’re in water.” He giggled deliriously. “What’s up with that?”

She tried to comprehend where the hell that thought could have come from. Trying to understand it just made it make even less sense.

“Pfft! What the heck are you talking about right now?”

“I’m saying it’s weird. Like, what’s up with that?”

“That makes no sense,” she replied, trying her best to contain her laughter.

“You're right, it doesn’t make sense. They should love water, it’s where the fish live!”

“This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?”

Even as she sighed to herself she couldn’t help but smile. She had thought that Jax would get on her nerves after a while, but she had to admit that his crazed ramblings were pretty funny.

“Hey Pom, what’s a didgeridoo player called?” Jax continued.

“A didgeri-what?”

“You know, didgeridoo. The big tube things the Australian guys play, that's all Wooooomp.” He made a tube with his hands and tried to imitate the deep, bass notes that usually come from the instrument, but he made it sound more like a drunk whale.

“I have no idea,” she replied.

“Maybe a didgeridooer. That makes sense, right?”

“None of what you’re saying makes sense at all.” She snickered. “Are you thinking about that because of the president adventure? The one where you were supposed to be Australian?”

“Hehe, yeah. See, now you're getting it.”

“Guess you're just processing the adventures in your own way.”

Now she was starting to see a thought pattern. A mix of passive thoughts and his brains attempt to make sense of the day they had. Even then it was hard to keep up with the rapid fire statements.

“Oh, the vegan thing.” He groaned suddenly as he face palmed.

“The vegan thing?” She asked. “You mean from earlier? What about it?”

“It was so dumb, right? I’m just vegan now.”

His vegan status had been removed for a while, but for the time being he probably had the memory of a goldfish.

“You know it stopped once the adventure was over, right?”

“Oh. Yeah.” He mused, before getting the biggest grin on his face. “Hey Poooooom. If two vegans got into a fight, would it be considered a beef?”

As stupid as that joke was, Pomni laughed out loud at it. “I don’t know, Jax. Did you bring up the vegan thing just to say that?”

“Nah, that’s just improv, baby.”

She hated how funny she thought this was.

“Stohohop talking!”

“I’m just asking the big questions here. Like if I were vegan still, could I eat animal crackers?”

“Ohoho my gosh, shuhuhut up.” She said, playfully shoving him.

Jax rolled onto his side, curling up his legs and clutching his stomach in laughter.

This was the most she’d ever heard him laugh before. Thinking back, it might have been the first time she heard him laugh ever. For all his talk about wanting to “see funny things happen to people”, he never actually seemed to laugh at anything. Maybe a smirk or a quick breath through the nose, but nothing like this. It was different than she expected it would sound, high pitched and almost wheezy at times. It suited him.

“Pom. Hey, Pompom.” He asked when he could finally stop himself from laughing. He started prodding her leg with his foot to get her attention.

“What? Ow- hey! Knock it off. What is it?”

“Can you take off your hat? Or is it, like, part of your body?”

She thought about it for a moment. She’d tried taking her hat off before, but it only stretched out, along with her face.

“I guess it’s part of me, I can’t really take it off.”

“Is it still a hat, then?”

“I… gah, stop asking questions I can’t answer!”

“Poor Pom, can’t braid your hair or anything.” He slowly sat up and scooted closer to her, a hand going for the hat.

“Jax- I just told you it doesn’t come off!” She tried to scoot away.

“I knowwww. I want to see the puff ball things.”

Her jester hat had two, little puffs on the ends. She never paid much attention to them, but for some reason Jax seemed especially fixated on them. He grabbed hold of one, actually gentle for once, before he gave a little tug. To her surprise, the pompom actually came off.

“Yessss!” He cheered, “Can I borrow this?”

“What? Why do you want it?”

“I want to see if it can be my tail. I miss my old one.”

That was something else from the adventure he’d mentioned, at some point in time he had a tail that he lost. She still had no idea why or how he lost it.

He tried to maneuver his body so that he could somehow see where his tail would have been. As expected, he only managed to roll over on the couch.

“Pfft, Jahahax!” Pomni snickered. “That’s not going to work.”

“Says yoooou,” he scoffed as he continued his impossible task, endlessly rolling in place.

“You should be resting,” she tried putting her hands on his legs to stop him when he came around again.

For whatever reason, he actually stopped once he was facing her.

“Fiiiine. But I’m keeping this.” He said, showing off the pompom in his hand.

“Hey! I didn’t say you could keep it.”

“Finders keepers. Pompom from Pompom, it’s mine now.”

“Would you give that back?” She reached over to grab it, only for him to lift it over his head. “Why do you want it if you can’t use it?”

“Souvenir.” He simply said.

It was stupid, she knew. He was obviously trying to get on her nerves, and was somewhat succeeding, but there was something different about the way he was taunting her. It felt more playful, like someone goading a friend into a wrestling match.

“I said give it back,” she laughed as she finally gave in, leaping from her spot on the couch, trying to climb on his legs to properly reach far enough. She managed to straddle them as she tried to snatch the pompom from his hands, only for him to somehow stretch it even further from her reach.

“Why don’t you maaaake me?” He taunted.

Now he was clearly asking for it. If it was a play fight he wanted, it was a play fight he would get.

“That’s it,” she reached forward to scribble her fingers underneath his arms.

She was expecting him to flinch and bring his arms down long enough for her to snag the stolen pompom. What she wasn’t expecting was for Jax to flail so hard that he nearly knocked her to the side, squeaking so loud it made her jump in surprise. He crossed his arms around his chest, protecting his underarms.

“Nohoho tickling! Not allowed!”

“Wow,” she laughed, “Are you seriously that ticklish?”

His face started flushing red as his laughter picked up again.

“Noooo I’m not!” He brought his hands over his face, trying to hide his sheepish grin while still holding on to the pompom.

“You’re not what?”

“Mm not ticklish.” He mumbled into his hands.

“Um, yes, you definitely are.”

She wasn't sure if this was his usual deflecting or if he didn’t remember that she literally just saw him burst into laughter after she brought her hands down.

“Noooo,” he continued to argue. “Tickling just isn’t allowed.”

“Wha- That means that you're ticklish!”

“No it doesn’t.”

“Oh really?” She smirked, shifting her weight until she was seated on his legs. She poked at his side, making him jump as immediately broke, swatting away at the offending hand.

“Y-yeah. Not ticklish. Nooooooope.” Despite his argument, the nervous grin didn’t leave his face.

“Oh, so I can keep doing this-“ Pomni brought her hands down to his sides, squeezing just underneath his ribs. “And you won’t mind?”

“Pohohohohom! Nohohohoho!” He protested through another bout of laughter. “I sahahahaid not ahahahallowed!”

He would have probably kept this argument up all day if she didn’t do something. She could just drop the topic, but he was still holding that pompom in his hand, and she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

“I’ll only stop if you give me back my pompom.” With that she suddenly jumped back to tickling under his arms. He brought his arms back down, trying to block the sensation as he threw his head back in laughter. He managed to keep the pompom tucked away in his hand.

“Ah! Nohohoho fair! You’re cheheheheating!”

“Cheating?” She scoffed, “This wasn’t even a game! Just give it back and I’ll stop.”

“Nhehehehever!”

He turned his body away as quickly as he could, breaking her grip as he rolled on his side. He tried to stealthily put the pompom in his front overall pocket, hoping that Pomni wouldn’t notice.

Pomni had seen it plain as day. He wasn't nearly as slick as he thought he was being. Without wasting any time, she reached swiftly into his pocket and grabbed it back.

“There!” She shouted triumphantly.

Jax weakly reached for it as she sat back up, scooting back over to her side of the couch. She was able to attach the little ball onto her hat again.

“Nice try, Jax.” She gloated.

Jax was unusually quiet, eyes looking down. It almost looked like he was pouting. What, was he really hoping to keep that pompom forever? Even if he’d managed to successfully hide it, she probably would have just kept tickling him until he gave it up. It seemed like a weird thing to be a sore loser about, but maybe his ego was just that fragile. She wouldn’t have been surprised.

“You’re no fun,” He finally said.

“You can find your own tail later,” She lightly scolded. “Maybe Caine can give you a new one.”

He didn’t seem to lighten up at the suggestion. Whatever this was, it wasn’t about the tail thing. She was about to ask what was wrong when she saw his loopy smirk.

“Pom, I’m boaaaaard.” He complained, all while his smile morphed into something more mischievous.

Oh yeah, she was going to have to find something to occupy him until this whole thing blew over. Or until he wiped himself out enough to sleep the rest of this off.

“Oh, do you want to try to do something?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to get uuuuuuuup.”

Pomni rolled her eyes at him. Even when he was high off his ass he was so demanding. “I could grab a board game or something, maybe we could play monopoly.”

“Hmmmm, I don’t know, I think this would be more entertaining.”

“What do you- hey!” She was interrupted as she felt a jab to her side. Jax had managed to poke her side with his foot, actually managing to tickle her back.

“Jahahax! Stohohohp that!” She tried to push his legs away, but he was strong and held out.

She’d almost forgotten just how ticklish she was, at least in the real world. Jax seemed real keen on reminding her about it.

“Do something fun, then I miiiiight stop.” He kept poking and prodding her side, gentle enough that it didn’t hurt, but firm enough that it tickled like hell.

“Knohohohock it off!” She yelled, half annoyed and half amused by him. “Ugh, you're so annoying!”

“Cmon, Pompom, do something funny. You’re a clown, right?”

“Whahahat does that have to do with anything?” She swatted at his legs, hoping he would relent with a hard enough smack.

“Just do something funny, make me laugh!”

“I was making you laugh a lot earlier. Did you forget about all of that?”

Just like earlier, his face flushed as he averted his eyes.

Pomni started piecing it together. The constant pestering and comments, even when he knew he was helpless and couldn’t fight back. The bashful look on his face when she commented on it. He was trying to goad her into tickling him. He’d put the pompom in his pocket, not in the hopes of keeping it, but so she would tickle him into giving it up eventually.

“Are you trying to get me to tickle you again?”

Jax froze completely, staring up at her. It was hard to read his expression. Somewhere between surprise and embarrassment. In the blink of an eye it disappeared as he went back to lightly kicking her sides. “I’m just looking for something entertaining.”

Of course he would never admit that he wanted something. Even in this state of delirium, without cares or worries, he’d still rather taunt someone into retaliation than actually ask for something.

Well, she understood what he was trying to accomplish. If he wanted to be entertained so badly, why not give him what he wanted?

“Alright. Just remember, you asked for this.” With that final warning she grabbed a hold of his legs, hopping over them so she could hold them down with her body weight before she squeezed his waist.

“Pohohohompom! Wahahahahahait!” He broke, bucking his hips in a halfhearted attempt to get her to fall off. Pomni held tight, refusing to move.

“Pfft, you literally asked me to make you laugh! What were you expecting?”

“Ihihihihihihi- nohohohohohohoooo!” He was in no position to argue with that. His arms failed helplessly as he tried to grab at her hands to get them to stop moving. His grip was so weak that he couldn’t even hold on. “Youhohohoho suhuhuhuck!”

She gasped playfully. “I suck? You asked me to make you laugh, and that's what I’m doing.” She started to spider her fingers up and down his sides, feeling his body shake as his laughter rose with each touch.

“Where else are you ticklish?” She asked.

“I- hehehehehe- I dohohohohohohn’t know!” He insisted as he made another attempt to grab her hands, able to gently grasp the wrist but putting up no real resistance.

“You’re such a liar, of course you know!”

“Yoooou’re the liar,” Jax snickered.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” She laughed, quickly reaching her hands to scribble along his neck. He scrunched up his shoulders at the contact, trying desperately to keep her fingers at bay. His laughter started to settle, but it was clear he was trying to hold it back.

“Not the best spot,” Pomni mused, shifting her reach to gently trace his ears instead.

“Pom!” He whined, bringing his hands up to try and cover his ears. Unfortunately for him they were too big to block completely, leaving the ends exposed for Pomni to continue. Light as a feather, she scratched the ends of his ears. Jax kept laughing, but he almost seemed to relax at the touch, as if he was melting into it. Pomni wouldn’t have believed the sight if it wasn’t happening right in front of her.

“Better,” she stated, “but I bet you have a spot that’s way worse than this.”

He almost seemed disappointed as she stopped, but the expression was quickly replaced by anticipation as he watched her hands hover above his torso, scanning for where to strike next. They settled right over his belly, dipping down to test the waters. He let out a wheezing, nearly screeching laugh before her hands could make contact.

“I didn’t even touch you!” She laughed. “Is this a bad spot?”

“Nohohohoho it’s nohohohot!” Now that was definitely a lie.

“Really? It sure sounded bad. Is your tummy your worst spot?”

“Dohohohohn’t call it that!” His frantic giggling grew louder as he curled in, arms wrapping around his torso to protect himself.

“What? Don’t call it your tummy?”

“Yehehehehes! It’s stupid!” Somehow the pink hue to his face grew even darker.

“What, you don’t want me saying you have a ticklish tummy? I hate to break it to you, but you do!”

“Nohohohoho!” He practically begged. “Nohohohot allowed!”

“Well yeah, if you keep covering yourself like that.” Pomni wasn’t very strong, but Jax was nearly wiped out at this point. Any resistance to her pulling his arm to the side was futile as she used her knee to pin his hand down to the couch, followed by doing the same to the other side.

“There, now those can’t get in the way.”

Jax wasn’t responding anymore, the only noise he was able to make were soft giggles as he squinted his eyes shut, anticipating whatever would happen next.

“So, you’re still not ticklish, right? You won’t laugh if I bring down my hands and tickle your tummy? Because it's not ticklish?”

“Juhuhuhuhst gehehehet it over with!” He finally shouted.

Pomni had no idea teasing like this could be so effective against him, but he looked flustered out of his mind. She felt mean for just a moment, holding him in suspense like this, but after thinking about all the shit he’d put her through before, she figured she was entitled to at least this as revenge.

“Alright, if you really want me to.” Putting him out of his misery, she gently kneaded at his belly. It almost felt plush, soft the way a stuffed animal would feel, but with a bit of added resistance. As she curiously pressed into him, Jax nearly deafened her as he screamed.

“NOHOHOHOHO! *hOnK* YOHOHOHOU!” He flailed his body, seemingly involuntarily, trying to pull his arms free to no avail.

With his eyes squinted shut, he kicked his feet behind her body. Whether it was an attempt to get her off of him or an involuntary response to the intense tickling, she couldn’t tell.

“Wow, you even kick your feet like a rabbit!’ She laughed as she felt him thrash. She had to admit, this teasing thing was pretty fun. Especially when her victim was Jax, and especially when he was acting like this.

“Youhohohohur crahahahazy!”

She wondered if he was sober would he have ever let her do this? Would he have actually wanted her to do something like this all along, or was this just from the stupid sauce? She supposed it could just be a strange side effect, craving something along the lines of physical stimulation. But maybe there was some part of him that actually wanted this. To be able to laugh freely. The mask he wore had been coming down lately, she’d seen just bits and pieces of who he really was and wanted to be. Was this something that he craved deep down?

Without even realizing it, she’d slowed her relentless scribbling down to a gentle trace along his sides, letting him catch his breath while he still squeaked out the occasional laugh.

He giggled up at her, looking with dreamy, teary eyes. She wondered what he saw from his perspective at that moment, questioning whether he was really looking at her or something else.

“Hehehehe! Hehe- he….” He took a deep, long breath that almost sounded like a sigh. “I missed this.”

Pomni raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“This. You always were the best at making me laugh, Rib-“ he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought, before his eyes widened. For just a moment he seemed to have some sort of clarity, like he realized he said something he didn’t mean to.

“Nothing.”

The pupils went back to how they were before, and his lazy, blissful smile returned to his face.

“What we’re we talking about?”

A strange feeling washed over Pomni, making her finally get up to release him from his constraints. Jax rubbed his hands, which were probably sore. She couldn’t tell if he remembered what had happened.

“Hey Pooooom.” He said lazily. “You’re kind of cool I guess. Even if you're weeeeeird.”

She smiled gently. “Yeah, I guess you aren’t that bad either.”

The rest of their time together was spent trying to play board games, only to give up 5 minutes in to play around with the colorful pieces and cards. More crazed ramblings that Pomni couldn’t help but find hilarious as she laughed more than she ever had before entering the circus. And eventually, when the weariness of the day wore on him, Jax started snoring loudly on the couch. Pomni thought about finding a blanket, maybe something both she and him could share, but decided against it, not knowing how he’d react once the sauce wore off. She remained awake to keep an eye on him, busying herself with the books that were up on the shelves in the small nook in the corner of the room.

Eventually, all good things must come to an end. She noticed that Jax’s snoring stopped and she heard a groan from the couch.

“Uhhhh. What happened?” Jax asked, a hand to his forehead.

Pomni was seated on the other couch, a book still in hand before she set it aside.

“You, ah, accidentally got some sauce in your eye.” She said, trying to break it gently to him. “Oh! Don’t worry, I made sure nothing bad happened. You might just feel a little bit… Off for a while.”

He groaned as he sat up, probably groggy from the ordeal. He glanced sideways at her before giving an incredulous squint.

“I didn’t do anything… Weird, did I?”

She thought about how to respond to that. How much did he actually remember? She had a feeling that if he knew what he had said, everything he had done, would have made him furious. Maybe it was for the best that he didn't remember what occurred.

“No, you were just mostly tired the whole time.” She lied.

She tried to read his face, hoping that he would believe her. For a moment, a look of recognition crossed his face, and he looked upset. That was before he went back to sporting his usual grin as he yawned.

“Well, guess that was a waste of time,” he said, stretching as he stood up. Without even acknowledging her, he made his way to the door.

She stared as he left, wondering if he truly didn’t remember anything. He was about to open the door when he turned back to her, eyes narrowed.

“If you tell anyone about what happened, I’ll find another truck to throw you out of.” His face was nearly deadpan as he threatened her.

Pomni nervously looked around, hoping to find the right thing to say. “Nothing happened. Nothing to tell them about.”

Eyes still narrowed, he opened the door. “Thats what I thought,” He murmured as he finally left.

being a maid for a wealthy millionaire couple who are both so sweet and physically affectionate. whenever i do an especially great job at cleaning and doing my chores, i get rewarded with tickles <3

i’ll be sandwiched between the two of them while having both sides of my ribcage poked and scribbled. maybe even having some sweet praises thrown my way for some positive reinforcement.

and of course, that includes wearing a frilly little maid costume on top of it all 🧹🪶🧺