🍧- I'm part of the SFW tickle community and write primarily for Squid Game, but may do some unrelated posts here and there too! Read on for my DNI's and links to my posts! -🍩
⛔️DNI list:
❌NSFW- Tickling is purely an innocent comfort for me. It's been that way since I was little, for as long as I can remember, and I don't wish to engage in NSFW content or chats on this topic.
❌Racists/homophobes/transphobes/pedophiles- Does anyone want to interact with you? lmao?
❌Proshippers- I do not care if shipping a child and adult is your 'coping mechanism'. Keep that shit off my blog! Get outta here!
🟢Fine to interact:
✅Anyone who doesn't fall into any of those categories lol
✅Minors- Y'all are welcome! Interact with my posts however you want, as long as it is appropriate and respectful. However, if we're chatting I need you to disclose you're a minor, for my safety and your own :) I usually ask new people their age to begin with, but in case I forget, make sure you disclose this to me!
- MASTERLIST!! -
The fun part! I'll be updating this as I go, so stay tuned hehe.
Fics-
Eat something- Ler! In-ho, Lee! Gi-hun
An alternative torment- Lers! Thanos and Nam-gyu, Lee! Myung-gi. Sequel- Lers! Thanos and Nam-gyu, Lee! Myung-gi
Hiii I just came across your blog and I saw that it says NSFW don't interact and that you don't like it in that way, I wanted to know if I could follow you or not? I do like tickling in both ways but I do lean more towards sfw when I post on my blog and sometimes it would be NSFW but I wanted to know if I could interact with your stuff or not, I wanted to ask before following you because I don't want you to be uncomfortable... (And my blog only consists of writing stuff so you won't see anything like yk, that)
Hi! Thank you so much for your ask! And being respectful! More under the cut because this got,,,embarrassingly long. (I must make myself understood or I will wither into a sad cactus)
Given the context you’ve provided me, I’d say it’s fine for you to follow :) however if there’s a chance you’d post nsfw on your blog, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to follow back!
But if I’m honest (and, I should probably clear this up on my DNI section too..) I’m fine with nsfw accounts liking or reblogging my posts. I can’t really control that, because I doubt most people are coming directly to my account and reading my DNI list- they’re probably seeing my work on another persons blog or through search etc.
it also doesn’t dictate/change my blog, either. if an nsfw account wants to like my work, it doesn’t then mean I am affiliated with nsfw, or automatically changes my intentions from sfw to nsfw. My work is free for anyone to enjoy- I find it sfw completely, and that’s enough for me.
The main reason I’ve put ‘nsfw dni’ in the first place is because I do not wish to engage in conversation about sexual tickling. I do not wish to talk with someone who finds it sexual. I do not wish to ‘fuel the fire’ so to speak. If someone wants to jack off to my work? Fine. Great. I can’t stop them. I just don’t want to ever ever ever know about it. As long as nsfw topics themselves are far away from me I do not give a piss!!
I’m happy discussing regular things with nsfw accounts, but I’d never be able to discuss tickling with them, unfortunately. I’d know they were into it to some degree and I wouldn’t be comfy with that :(
Sort of how you’d be chill discussing your weekend with a coworker, but you wouldn’t talk about the person you brought home on Saturday night. (Or maybe you would depending on how close you guys are lmao, but you get what I mean).
Rarely, I’ll see something that’s posted by an nsfw account but it won’t present nsfw (no heavy bondage, no genitalia or heavy nudity), and I’ll add it to my likes; because it doesn’t matter that the poster themselves is NSFW, I don’t find any sexual gratification looking at it, and I can view it as sfw. Obviously if it’s one of those posts where the Lee is spread eagled, naked, oiled up and heavy sole focus etc- that can’t be ignored. That IS blatantly nsfw, and that does not interest me one iota, and in fact makes me very uncomfortable. (Some feet stuff is okay but I usually avoid it lmao bc it’s so over sexualised)
As long as I don’t have to actively see or consume or talk about any sexual tickling then it’s all good. Of course these boundaries are different for everyone but for me personally, my blog etc, that’s that :)
Ps I also don’t care if someone has a tickle kink, I have a bizarre kink myself and I’d be a major hypocrite to talk down to anyone about their sexual preferences. Live and let live! These are just letupabit’s boundaries!
PPS MORE IN THE TAGS BUT IM HELLA WAFFLING OMG SHUTUP LETTIE SHUSHHHH
Anyone got any ideas on how to clean up a blog? This one is a fucking MESS and it’s my first ever blog I’ve kept up with for a long period of time so I have no idea how to ‘organise’ it.
I’m thinking about moving and making a new blog just for Silta and pet shenanigans buuuut I kinda want ALL my work (fics, arts, headcanons etc) to be in one place.
I’ve also only recently (aka two days ago) learnt that the order of your tags actually matters. The first 5 are the most crucial, the next 20 are more filler than anything, and the last 5 are just kinda…there. I guess. Lmao
I know a LOT if not all of you have been on this site way longer than me so…
First: here | Second: here | Third: here | Fourth: here |
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A/N: THE TITLE MAKES SENSE ONCE YOU READ IT I PROMISE LMAO. I genuinely never thought I'd finish this!! How excited I am to finally get it posted oh LORD. Honestly I was giggling to myself whilst writing some of these scenes. Shit gets very absurd and Thanos and Nam-gyu are Thanos-ing and Nam-gyuing all over the place. YIPPEEE
Word count: 11,575
Summary: The games are officially over and Myung-gi is excited to start his new life, and to never have to see those two pesky druggies again. He has his share of the accumulated winnings but it's far too risky to take himself to an ATM and withdraw anything, so he has to make do with a motel- it's only temporary. Just a place to gather his thoughts. Safe enough, right?
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The first thing Myung-gi thought when he hit the rough gravel was ‘fuck, that hurt’. The second thing he thought was ‘Have I broken anything?’. And then, upon assessing all his limbs were intact, the third thing he thought was…
‘Holy shit. I’m out’.
A white bag landed beside his head with a solid -thunk-, and if he weren’t so freezing and sore he’d have questioned if the contents were still in one piece.
Not that there was a lot to be in one piece, really. Just the things he’d had on him when he’d joined the games; a neutral tee, jacket, jeans, comfortable (if not slightly falling apart) shoes, a burner phone and his wallet. The barest of bare necessities.
The next thing to land beside him was another bag and the heavy body of…someone. Fear cut through his confusion, still disoriented, thinking the body was perhaps dead- he wouldn’t have been surprised if the sadists running that joint had kept the corpses of eliminated players and ‘assigned’ one for each fortunate living as some kind of threat, maybe to dissuade any pests from tracking them down.
The vehicle he’d been chucked out of roared into ignition and sped away into the night. Myung-gi and the body were left alone; and on the other side of the road, where the drop-off vehicle had been obstructing, was a large sign reading:
ENTERING: SEOUL
Thank god. His home city. Or, wait- maybe that would be more dangerous…
He was snapped out of it when, suddenly, it became apparent that the aforementioned body was very much not dead as it groaned and twisted onto its back.
Myung-gi didn’t recognise them in the dim light, but he did pick up the fact that they were practically naked save from plain boxers; and, now that he’d started to sober up fully from whatever concoction he’d been gassed with, so was he. His bare shoulders scraped along the road as he instinctually brought a hand up to rub at his head and found himself unable to.
Giving a jerk of his wrists, he realised he was bound. He found the same with his ankles when he attempted to stand. The most he could manage was a slow, miserable haul onto his knees, putting strain on his already fatigued joints. But he was alive, he was free, and that was enough to ignore the sharpness cutting into his weight-bearing legs.
‘Hey’ he tried to get the attention of the groaning mystery player, whose head lolled from side to side on the road. ‘…HEY’
The body shifted and, with what looked like great effort, sat itself upright.
‘Urgh…what…?’
‘Wake up. You need to wake up’ Myung-gi didn’t bother asking if they were alright.
‘Mnnngh…whu-?’
‘We’re free. Get yourself together’ he walked on his knees to close the distance between them, stopping when he was practically shoulder-to-shoulder. The other man was hunched over in a way that made him appear blind drunk. It was a miracle the gas hadn’t killed him outright, by the looks of him.
‘Ngh…gimme- gimme a minute-’
Myung-gi lost his patience.
‘We don’t have a minute. We’re sitting on a dusty road in our underwear in pitch black. Anybody could come by’ he nodded his head toward the other’s belongings. ‘You want to lose what little you have left because someone walks past and decides to take advantage? It’s not like you could fight back’
The player lifted his head at that. They blinked hard and flopped their head toward their plastic bag and stared at it for a while.
‘Yeah, okay…okay, you-you’re right, dude’ they attempted to reach for their items and promptly fell sideways. Myung-gi watched as their skinny form writhed and mewled in distress. ‘What the f-fuck! I can’t…I can’t fucking move!’
The scammer tried his best not to groan in annoyance. God. This was not how he wanted to start his new life.
‘You’re tied up’ he snapped, desperate to just get the hell on his way. No doubt he’d deal with all sorts of morons from here on out; he didn’t need to hit the ground running with one.
The player craned their neck to stare at him. Their eyes were huge and watery as they yelped ‘then help me!’.
‘Untie me first. And then I can help you. Okay?’
Myung-gi forced himself to speak with calm confidence. This foggy disaster in front of him was clearly still treading the fine line between dreamland and reality- he could use that to get his way with ease.
And get his way he did, as the player nodded and kicked themselves upright once more. Myung-gi twisted at an awkward angle so that they could use their teeth to tug and pull at the bindings around his wrists. It was clumsy and undignified. Myung-gi tried to ignore the discomfort when teeth accidentally slipped and caught his skin. The uncomfortable feeling of lips brushing on his flesh made him want to jerk away instinctively, but he held still (as he could, what with wobbling on his knees) and with one final pull, the bindings came loose.
He hastily ripped off the ties around his ankles with his now-free hands, relief flooding through him. He was free to get dressed, leave the road behind and rebuild what he could of himself.
He was halfway through rummaging in his bag, messily ripped open, when a small voice came from behind him.
‘W-wait…what about me?’
Oh. Right.
For a second, Myung-gi considered just leaving the player right there where they sat. He had to look out for number one, which in this scenario meant getting to civilisation before he froze to death, but…
‘The death toll is high enough’ he thought to himself as he fumbled with the other’s binds. ‘I won’t contribute to that’
He loosened the ties just enough so that the player could free themselves. They muttered a near incoherent ‘thank you’, and within minutes, were up on their feet stumbling off into the darkness and getting dressed as they went. Their empty white bag lay fluttering in the wind before flying away.
For the first time in days, Myung-gi was truly alone. He watched them wobble away for another few seconds…the last reminder of the games, gone.
Relief hadn’t been the word when he’d checked inside his wallet and found Won. Five, maybe six, crumpled notes that he’d been saving long before the games. They’d started as a large wad, but his six months on the run had sapped most of his funds. He had his card, sure, but it might as well have been a laminated piece of paper with the amount of value it held.
There was, of course, a shiny golden item within his inside wallet zipper that he hadn’t had before the games. A glinting rectangle adorned with geometric etchings; Square, triangle, circle. His winnings. All 600,000,000 of them.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that after days of not enough sleep, not enough food and too much stress, Myung-gi’s body was barely functioning. The adrenaline of it all had thoroughly worn off, and the overall strain of everything was finally hitting.
Despite being clothed, he held himself tightly around the middle and shivered as he meandered across a wide expanse of dirt. The road was a far distance behind him now. Dead grass crunched under his feet and he very almost twisted his ankle, hardly able to see his hand in front of his face, never mind where he was stepping. He had a one-track mind, legs moving almost on their own to one location- the neon lights of Seoul, illuminating the night sky. The skyrises, from so far away, seemed to cut directly into the atmosphere- their radiance fading into fog, glow flickering as normal people went about their normal evening routines.
Myung-gi couldn’t wait to be one of them. A normal person. No doubt he’d have to move; there were just far too many risks of staying in a huge Korean city. He’d had millions upon millions of subscribers, who as far as he knew, all blamed him for their financial demise. It made sense to think that he’d have more subscribers in a densely populated area.
He was certain that the majority of his viewers had just been ordinary folk trying to get rich quick, but no doubt that there’d be some bigger sharks in the subscriber sea. Real investors with experience under their wing. Professionals who relied on him. People with influence who could easily make his life unliveable.
Hell, even just one or two of that calibre could be a major problem.
Or, say, vengeful thugs? Gang members? Or, maybe just straight-up crazy people like…
Thanos. Nam-gyu.
It was the first he’d thought about them since the drop-off. Disgust and shame came over him as he remembered their ‘special treatment’ of him in the games. What started as violence, and then…
He shuddered in the dark, not from cold this time but from the phantom feel of their fingers on him. The memory of their voices raised in mock-playful lilts as they forced laughter from him. Sure, they’d helped during that pesky panic attack, and in a reluctant way he was grateful- but if he hadn’t been freaking out when they found him in that bathroom, there was no doubt in his mind it would’ve lead to one of their meaner sessions.
A new wave of thankful relief bloomed in his chest at the thought of never having to see them again. All that nonsense, left behind in some obscure facility he’d never have to return to. He supposed, really, it wasn’t the worst thing he had to experience in that place. He felt stupid for being worked up about it at all, honestly. He’d seen people die. And he was hung up on…tickling? Two clowns tickling him?
Whatever. He didn’t need to let them take up more space than necessary. He was his own man now. The city was nearing, shop signs and office titles becoming slowly more readable with every step.
Once more, he counted his won with shaky hands. He had enough for some convenience food and a few days in a motel. Somewhere where the staff weren’t paid enough to care who came and went.
After another ten minutes, possibly the most gruelling yet, Myung-gi had successfully made it to the outskirts of Seoul. He kept his head down, painfully aware of how the vibrant neon lights lit up his features and made him very, very visible. The last thing he needed was something thrown at his head, or someone calling out his name and drawing attention.
He raised his eyes to scan his surroundings. Motel, motel, motel…
There! Tucked away between a small 24 hour off-license and a building of what he guessed was once a collection of offices. It hadn’t looked like it’d been touched in any positive way in years. He hated that he could somewhat relate to a building.
The neon ‘open all hours’ sign of the convenience store flickered sadly at him like a beacon. The block of dilapidated offices did not flicker at him. They were a block of dilapidated offices.
The interior of the motel was as lousy and dishevelled as the exterior. Carpet that was stained with something he hoped wasn’t blood, peeling wallpaper that looked a breath away from giving up entirely, cobwebs that looked as though they housed Korea’s biggest spiders. At least the bored-looking teenage receptionist didn’t ask questions, or realise he’d given a fake name, as she handed him his key. Room 6.
Room 6 was marginally more well-kept, probably because some poor cleaner had no choice but to keep it looking relatively liveable.
That’s not to say it was luxurious by any means. It was hardly what he’d call comfort, but it would have to do. The gold winnings card taunted him from where it sat snug in his wallet. It would be so easy to withdraw his money. Hell, he could do it tonight.
But no. Who knows what those red-guard fuckers had rigged on it. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was some kind of cruel joke- he could picture it now. Withdrawing his well-earned Won, a silent tracker within the card chip sending an alert to local authorities, and boom. His freedom crumbling all at once.
Myung-gi wasn’t stupid, though. He knew at some point he’d just have to take the risk, or he’d find himself homeless and starving. He’d booked in for three days- as far as his crumpled Won notes had allowed. He hadn’t dared used the card. He left no evidence, no digital trail. The three days of a roof over his head would be more than enough time to figure something out.
For now, though, he sat at the edge of his bed and nibbled at a cold kimbap he’d bought from the convenience store. The nightlife outside his room was mercifully quiet. It must be, what? Nearing midnight by now? He didn’t care enough to check.
Truthfully- he was terrified. Jun-hee was still out there. Still very pregnant. How had she held up with the gas? Maybe the facility had transported her by different means as to not drug a pregnant woman.
Realistically, he knew they probably didn’t. If they’d cared about the baby’s wellbeing, they wouldn’t have let her join the games in the first place.
Was she okay? Had she already pulled her winnings, was she staying with one of her teammates, was she staying in a shitty motel too? He remembered how she’d looked at him in the dorm. Her eyes, that used to look at him with adoration, instead had been full of betrayal and something similar to disappointment.
Say she’d already had the baby? Maybe the drug and the stress had induced labour? He didn’t know much about pregnancy, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that substances and pregnant women didn’t mix. She was tough, tougher than half of those other players with a hardened resilience to match- but that didn’t make her invincible.
The first thing he’d do when he was settled was find her. Maybe she’d want nothing to do with him, and she was well within her rights to do so, but she was the mother of his child and he had to at least try. Even if-
Buzz
…what was that.
…
…
Buzz
Myung-gi near jumped out of his skin. Had someone planted a tracker on him without knowing? Maybe the guy he’d been dumped out with wasn’t as loopy as he’d seemed?
He stood from the bed in a panic and looked for the source. He stayed as quiet as his laboured breathing would allow, and that’s when he realised- his phone.
But that was impossible. He had no numbers. He only carried it around to check the time, or stocks, or for extreme emergencies that could result in death. Occasionally he’d looked at the news to make sure he wasn’t left behind by the rest of the world.
Nobody should be able to text him. He’d blocked everyone when the scam hit, not wanting to be traceable and not wanting to put his loved ones in danger. He knew sure as fuck that he hadn’t given out his number since then, so who could be texting him?
Myung-gi stared at his phone with wild eyes, chest heaving. The shitty, frayed charger he’d borrowed from that teenage receptionist stared back at him. The black screen of his phone taunted him. He held his breath.
Ten seconds passed. Then twenty, then thirty.
Two notifications…maybe it wasn’t anything to be worried about. Maybe- maybe a random nation-wide alert or something? Maybe a demand for a software upgrade?
The screen suddenly flashed white with another daunting buzz.
Myung-gi’s blood ran cold. From where he was standing, the small cracked interface of his phone clearly displayed a text. He couldn’t read it, didn’t want to read it, but it was undoubtedly a text. From a human being.
It was a miracle his legs were keeping him upright as he placed one trembling foot in front of the other until he reached the battered bedside cabinet. The screen had turned dormant again, and his vision was blurred at the edges when he unhooked the charger and brought it to his face.
23:34- Hav u missed me?
23:34- I’ve missed u
Myung-gi was going to be sick. He was actually, physically going to be sick.
23.37- Don’t ignore me rat. No way 2 treat ur best friend
The words ‘best friend’ immediately confirmed Myung-gi’s worst fear. There was only one person it could be- it was far too perfect to be a coincidence. A deep pit formed in his stomach.
23.40- Ur shit at hiding coinboy
23.40- Found u :)
The kimbap violently forced its way up his throat only for him to swallow it back down. That pit in his stomach grew to an impossible size, a black hole that forced him into a cold sweat of primal panic.
This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t real. He’d wake up any minute now, back on that gravel, back on that road, watching the drop-off van speed away into the night.
But the panic didn’t break. The illusion he hung onto tightly refused to expose itself into the dim.
‘Fuck fuck fuck’
How the hell had Thanos found him? He’d been so careful. Not just to avoid Thanos, but anyone. From the second he became a wanted man he’d made himself untraceable. He’d become very good at it too if he were to admit it. He was so certain he’d done everything right.
Myung-gi became acutely aware of the fact he was simply standing, phone in hand, a sitting duck for that crazy fucker to find him.
He had to move. Had to do something. To hell with the rest of his deposit, he’d bite the bullet after all and withdraw from his winnings once he got somewhere safe. He’d gone days without eating before, he could do it again if necessary.
Anything that meant putting distance between him and that purple-haired lunatic.
He snatched his jacket from where it lay on the bed, pocketed his phone into his jeans (as well as the charger; he figured he needed it more) and patted his thigh to assure himself his wallet was still safe.
Check, check, check.
Everything he came with, he’d leave with. There’d be no overly distinct sign that he’d have even been in this motel, he just had to escape before things could go any more south than they already were.
He yanked the door open, praying the horrible icy clench around his heart would soothe itself the farther away he got from the motel, prepared to-
He slammed headfirst into a solid warmth.
Myung-gi didn’t even realise he’d been found at first.
‘Heyyy, coinboy. What’s the rush, huh?’
Complete and utter shock held his body paralysed. He couldn’t even find the profanities to shout. For one adrenaline-fuelled moment, his eyes stayed locked onto the blue contacts of the man who hated him the most in the world. Thanos.
He opened his mouth to say something, anything, before he was roughly pushed down toward the bed. The springs creaked under him, completely unaware of the danger above.
‘Did you think you could’a just run away?’ The voice above him rang out. ‘You’re stupider than you look, you motherfucker’. Thanos loomed over him, bracketing both sides of Myung-gi’s face with two long arms. ‘And you look pretty damn stupid’.
Myung-gi could hardly even acknowledge the words. His limbs moved on instinct- push, slap, scratch. They did nothing. He was blinded by terror.
Despite his incoordination, he managed to connect his fist with Thanos’ jaw. It was weak and sloppy, but a spark of brief satisfaction shot through him.
This was short lived as Thanos simply raised his eyebrows in disbelief and laughed in his face, as if thrilled by Myung-gi’s audacity to protect himself, grabbing the offending hand and twisting it hard. Myung-gi yelped and was forced to still. A broken wrist would eradicate any chance of getting the upper hand in…whatever hell was about to come.
So, he yelled. As loud as he could. His last weapon being his voice, he yelled like he’d never yelled before.
‘GET OFF ME!’ Myung-gi screamed. ‘HELP! FUCKING HELP ME!’
It was hard to get such volume, what with however-many-kilograms of maniac rapper bearing down on his chest. The guy wasn’t exactly heavy, probably 150lbs if that, but he was still a grown man. And Myung-gi was considerably smaller, lighter, and most certainly unprepared for a fight.
‘SOMEONE HE-’
His cries were abruptly forced into muffled barely-there protests as Thanos slapped a hand over his mouth. Slender fingers dug into his cheek.
‘Don’t know what you think shouting for help is gonna do, man. Nobody here cares enough about their damn selves, let alone some random fuck’ He leant closer. ‘And if anyone does come in? I’ll tell ‘em you’re my brother. Havin’ an episode or somethin’.
If the situation had been any different, Myung-gi would’ve snorted. Maybe even cracked a smile. The idea anyone would believe that he and this- this madman, could be even remotely related, was downright preposterous.
Thanos took the opportunity whilst he could.
It wasn’t hard to manhandle him up. The younger man didn’t have much leverage what with the awkward angle, but that didn’t stop him from trying. Thanos quickly quashed him with a firm twist of the wrist again. ‘Shut it, MG coin’.
Myung-gi winced and hissed through his teeth and Thanos shoved him forward- he’d have fallen flat on his face if two limbs hadn’t wrapped around his middle, pinning his arms to his side and lifting.
‘Wh-what the fuck are you doing?! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!’
He was ‘allowed’ to vocalise his fear now, but it was probably just because his attacker no longer had a hand free to muffle him. Thanos’ jaw was brushing by his temple and he swore he heard a ‘tsk’. Like actively kidnapping him was some kind of massive inconvenience.
The rapper grunted and huffed as he half-carried, half-dragged a kicking Myung-gi through the open door. ‘Shit, man’ he muttered, mostly to himself. ‘the fuck you got in your pockets? Lead?’ and then a small chuckle, half smothered by another grunt of exertion, ‘could sell that at least’
His blasé attitude of the whole situation was astounding. It was as if it didn’t even occur to him what he was actually doing. His lack of morals so low that he didn’t even have the capacity to care.
Within minutes, Myung-gi found himself manoeuvred from his cold, dismal room to the colder, more dismal hallway. He hadn’t stopped fighting the entire time, digging his heels into the carpet and trying to headbutt backwards and just being an overall nuisance.
In a way, being dragged into a more public part of the motel was almost akin to relief. Surely, being dragged right past all these other doors, someone would hear him? Someone would come to his rescue, or at least poke a head out?
‘HELP! HELP! I’M BEING KIDNAPPED!’ And, when that didn’t get any reaction except from a sharper squeeze from Thanos, he yelled out the one thing surely nobody could ignore-
‘FIRE! FIRE! THERE’S A FIRE OUT HERE!’
He actually felt Thanos stiffen a bit at that. It was satisfying in a small way. If he could inflict even an ounce of discomfort onto that bastard, then great.
Unfortunately, despite every indication pointing otherwise, Thanos was not a completely stupid man. All this new little trick seemed to do was make him realise he had to work faster.
‘Okay, man, have it your way’
And suddenly the hallway blurred and Myung-gi felt himself trip, the arms around him loosening and leaving him to freefall for less than a second before scooping him up bridal style.
He hardly had time to process, instead panic going into overdrive as this did, in fact, let Thanos work faster. Room doors and tacky paintings of flower bouquets passed him in one amalgamative blur. Thanos wasn’t by any means a towering boulder of a man, but he was a lot stronger than he seemed, and this new hold gave him an air of efficiency.
Myung-gi despaired.
Why wasn’t anyone coming for him? Were the patrons of this motel completely morally grey? Even the threat of a nearby fire hadn’t so much as induced a peep. If it had been a real fire, would they just let themselves burn? What kind of hopeless crowd did this place lure in?!
His legs tried to kick, but Thanos had his arm squeezed around his thighs, so any movement was strenuous and sapped energy. The same situation pertained to his arms- one was crushed against Thanos’ chest, the other held tight against his side. He could hardly even turn his head unless he wanted to risk a sprain.
He’d never felt such suffocating helplessness in his life. He had held out hope that maybe he’d be carried down past the front desk- the teenage receptionist, who had looked chronically and perpetually dissociated, surely wouldn’t have been able to ignore the sight of one grown man carrying another- but it was not to be. It seemed Thanos was trying to find an alternative exit, taking him deeper into the belly of the motel, the hallway twisting and turning. He couldn’t get a good enough view, what with his only scenery being the ceiling and Thanos’ chin, but he could feel from their movements whenever Thanos would turn a corner.
He was still screaming, fighting, even trying to spit at Thanos once which resulted in a disgusted noise and a squeeze so tight he swore his ribs might break. ‘You’re a pig, y’know that? Should just drop you right now, leave you to rot’
‘Yes fucking please’, thought Myung-gi amidst his struggling. ‘Rotting in here sounds great, thank you’
He felt Thanos come to a stop, and a knee briefly came up under his back followed by a loud ‘bang’.
Cold night air enveloped him and the mould-ridden ceiling of the motel gave away to a brilliant black sky. The stars were almost invisible given the smog that Seoul produced.
They’d come out a fire escape. The only indication Myung-gi had for this was the sickly stomach-dropping feeling in his stomach that usually accompanied going over a speed bump; as well as a descent down a flight of spiralling stairs, the metallic ‘thud’ of feet on rusty steps, and a very brief flash of a ‘fire exit only’ sign that disappeared behind Thanos’ shoulder the further downwards they went.
The alarm didn’t sound, patrons stayed sleeping, and Myung-gi’s shouting finally died down to ragged panting. His lungs burnt and his body was sore. He was so, so tired, and nobody was coming for him.
It seemed Thanos was running out of steam himself. Even the thrill of kidnapping the man who ruined your life had to fizzle out at some point, and his arms were starting to shake.
But he’d gotten this far, and he wasn’t about to give up the chance to have this bastard exactly where he wanted him.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the wind blew and bit into Myung-gi’s skin. His jacket was thin and had come off one shoulder in the struggle- he couldn’t exactly pull it back around himself either. The freeze was unbearable, and without struggling and exhausting himself further, it became disgustingly apparent that the only warmth he could get was from the very man kidnapping him.
Myung-gi shivered violently and felt Thanos tighten his hold. ‘Quit doin’ that’ he muttered, as if it was some kind of conscious choice the scammer was making to spite him. Myung-gi shivered again. He couldn’t help it.
Thanos stopped still and sneered down at him in that trademark Thanos way for a moment, studying him like he was something revolting. ‘Fuck you doin’ that for?’ and then breaking into a nasty smirk, ‘what, scared?’.
Myung-gi was scared. Terrified. But he wasn’t going to let Thanos know that. It wasn’t so much fear that was making him shiver, anyway. It really was the cold.
‘…go to hell’
It came out with venom and bite, but in a way that was almost casual. Like they were a pair of disgruntled roommates. What was the point in screaming and shouting now? Thanos had walked them into the confines of an alley, anyway, the walls tall and protective around them. Even if there were citizens around who’d be more concerned than the motel guests, no amount of crying out would do any good. He was silenced, not by a hand over his mouth this time, but sheer exhaustion and the city itself.
Thanos looked like he was going to say something equally as venomous just as a strong wind blew and Myung-gi started vibrating in his arms. His sneer came back twice as hard.
‘…fuckin’ hell, man. S’like babysittin’’ And he readjusted his hold with a ‘whup!’ and jostled Myung-gi upwards, similar to how a person would hike up their friend whilst giving them a piggyback. His arms covered more of Myung-gi’s person now, and he squeezed a bit tighter so Myung-gi was almost fused to him.
‘Better?’ He spat, giving his victim two condescending taps with what little finger movement he could and continuing into the alley’s depths.
Annoyingly, it was better. Marginally. Being held so tight meant more of the older man’s body warmth seeped into him, and with Thanos’ arms curled higher than before, there was less exposed ‘him’ for the cold air to nip at.
He could see even less now, the inside of Thanos’ elbow ‘cradling’ the back of his skull and the nape of his neck in such a way that he could hardly even aim his eyes at his own shoulder, but he could tell they were reaching the end of the alley.
The adrenaline that had been lying dormant surged and made his chest ache.
A second location. Thanos wasn’t just taking him for a walk. He hadn’t gone through the trouble of tracking him down and abducting him for shits and giggles. He had a motive and a plan and the past fifteen minutes had proved how serious he was about carrying it to fruition.
He wriggled and jerked harder, brow furrowed in exertion and huffing through clenched teeth. Thanos made a sound that could’ve been surprise or could’ve been indignation, but didn’t stop moving.
The mouth of the alley opened into a small clearing, boxed in by towering, ambiguous blocks. Thanos let out a loud ‘whoop’ followed by ‘LOOK WHO I FOUND!’ and then hunched slightly. Myung-gi felt himself swoop downwards and gasped, thinking he was about to be knocked clean out on the hard ground.
He braced for impact, but impact didn’t come. He was still held tight in the arms of a maniac, but now…he could see his surroundings.
It hadn’t been a fake-out to jostle his nerves, it had been a presentation.
To Nam-gyu.
He stood leaning on a car with tinted windows, hands in his pockets. As soon as he saw Thanos his eyes lit up and he broke into a giddy grin, skipping over to them.
‘HA! No way! No fucking way! You actually got him?!’ He spoke with such astounded disbelief it was as if he hadn’t expected the plan to work at all. He bent his knees and cocked his head sideways to mirror Myung-gi’s. ‘Hiiii MG coin!’ he lilted like he was greeting a puppy.
Myung-gi stared at him in horror. He felt like a fucking idiot to not have considered Nam-gyu would be a part of this. He’d obviously not stood a chance with Thanos, but with the other junkie in the mix?
That second location was as good as promised.
‘Awhh, look. So happy to see me he can’t even speak’ Nam-gyu straightened up and bounced on his toes from foot to foot. ‘How was it? Did he struggle? Did you have to-’
Don’t say tickle, don’t say tickle…
‘-fuck him up?’
Sigh of relief.
‘He doesn’t really look bruised, though. Unless you just tickled him, HA!’
Myung-gi could’ve ripped off the finger that kept flapping around his face.
He was eye-level with Nam-gyu’s abdomen and if his arms had been free, the junkie would’ve been doubled over thirty seconds ago.
‘Man, I’ll tell you all about it later. My arms are killin’’.
Nam-gyu hopped out the way, giggling wildly, and the car came back into view. It was in good shape, fairly modern looking, and…purple. Because of course it was.
It was also obvious to anyone with an amount of contextual awareness that he was going to take a ride in it.
‘W-wait- wait, just- STOP!’
Thanos did stop.
But not because Myung-gi had asked him to.
‘Nam-su’
‘Nam-gyu’
‘Nam-gyu. You got the thing?’
Nam-gyu looked vaguely confused for a moment before nodding his head with a slow, knowing ‘ahhh!’, eyebrows raised. A hand slid into the pocket of his tattered bomber jacket. It rifled around, the fabric stretching and bulging where his hand dug, and when it emerged it was holding a small, white pill.
The profanities bubbling in Myung-gi’s chest died halfway to his throat. He might as well have died from the way his entire body went rigid, the way his heart stopped beating. The way his entire world narrowed down to that chalky disc between Nam-gyu’s thumb and forefinger.
Thanos adjusted his grip, forearms aching.
‘C’mon, dose him up. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up, man’
Nam-gyu waved the pill tauntingly in the air, inches away from Myung-gi’s face.
‘Open wiiide, MG coin! Time for your medicine!’
‘F-fuck off’
It’s the best he could do.
‘Oooo, ‘fuck off!’ You talk to your dead channel with that mouth?’
‘I’m- I’m serious’ Myung-gi’s voice came out thin and humiliatingly warbled. ‘I’m not taking anything you give me’
‘I think you are!’
‘Stop playin’ and get it down him before I drop his ass’
And suddenly slender fingers grabbed his cheeks and pressed into the hinge of his jaw. The hold was rough, determined, a far-cry from the playful sing-songy tone. ‘Lemme see those pearly whites!’
And see those pearly whites he did as Myung-gi snarled and gnashed and fought with everything he could. The fingers on his jaw simply pressed tighter and the shock of it all left him wide open.
The pill was placed, almost gently, right at the back of his throat. He didn’t have to taste it, which was the smallest mercy in the sea of all mercies, because no doubt it would taste as far from pleasant as possible.
He expected to choke or gag, but Nam-gyu didn’t make it anymore drawn-out than it needed to be. Didn’t linger his fingers in his mouth any longer than necessary, didn’t make any perverse comments. Simply withdrew and covered Myung-gi’s mouth and nose with both hands.
‘C’mon. Swallow’
Myung-gi fought against the demand as hard as possible, but inevitably reflex won and he hardly even felt as the pill went down. The hands over his face let him breathe and he felt his chest tighten.
He’d just been force-fed some…some substance. He’d never taken a drug in his life, and his first exposure to such a thing was in the presence of these two. Whilst being kidnapped.
He coughed and spluttered and tried to make himself throw up. They’d reached the car and Nam-gyu opened the back door, Thanos throwing him in like luggage. He landed clumsily along the backseat and immediately sat up to escape out the opposite side.
He didn’t even get a chance to curl his fingers round the handle before the door swung open and Nam-gyu pushed him back down. Myung-gi gasped and went to grab the handle of the now-closed door he was originally thrown in from. Nam-gyu was faster and eerily organised and hooked an arm around Myung-gi’s chest, pulling him backwards.
Thanos had already sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled out the alley by the time the struggle had come to an end.
Not an end by Myung-gi’s choice- if he could, he’d strangle the both of them right then and there.
No, the struggle had come to an end because he found himself lying face-up across the backseats, head in Nam-gyu’s lap and both wrists pinned to his own chest. He couldn’t get enough leverage to break free.
It sure as hell didn’t stop him from trying, though. He had to act fast, faster than he ever had. If whatever chemical shit they’d given him kicked in before he got free…
He didn’t want to think about it.
He kicked at the window. Loud, hard thuds that infuriatingly did nothing.
He tried to roll himself into the footwell, but rolling anywhere is hard when your hands are pinned and your head is trapped.
He shouted, he thrashed, he swore. He tried to bite. Reduced to his animalistic instincts to save himself.
His shoe met Thanos’ headrest aggressively. The car swerved.
‘FUCK!’ Thanos shouted with surprise, handling the wheel rapidly to get them back central. ‘You tryna get us all killed, you fuckin’ idiot?’ He shouted back.
‘Yes’ Thought Myung-gi bitterly. ‘Yes I am’.
He kicked again and again, hope blossoming in his chest that if he could just create the illusion that the driver of this car was drunk- swerving, zipping, being an overall danger on the road- they’d get pulled over.
‘STOP’ thump ‘THE’ thump ‘CAR’ thump.
The vehicle dipped from one lane to another perilously. They’d reached the outskirts of Seoul now, a highway, and it was only a matter of time before another car passed by and alerted authorities of ‘the purple Veloster zipping about in all directions’.
‘Jesus-! Nam-su, would you shut him the fuck up?’ Thanos snapped, at his wits end as if he didn’t kidnap a grown man and the whole situation was very much his fault.
Nam-gyu was more than happy to oblige. He gave Myung-gi’s wrists a firm shake and pulled him across his lap a little more to get his attention.
‘Listen, asshole’ he spat, grin wide. ‘You have about- what? Twenty minutes before that pill does its thing?’ he leant down so that his hair itched Myung-gi’s cheeks. ‘You can either lie here all nice and polite, fall asleep peacefully, or’ he released a wrist, using Myung-gi’s horrified paralysis against him to quickly bundle it up in his other hand, ‘I can tickle you until it kicks in’.
He registered the look that came across Myung-gi’s face and his grin widened. He gave his sternum a light poke.
‘That’s right. Your last conscious moments will be spent giggling like a little freak. Is that what you want? Huh? Is it?’ He enunciated the last few words with another poke, harder this time, aiming for the edge of his ribcage.
Myung-gi thought about it. Really thought about it. He could keep kicking, but all that would serve to do was make Thanos angrier and give Nam-gyu more of a reason to torment him.
If he had an absolute guarantee that his efforts would equal his freedom, then there was zero doubt that he’d give it all he had.
But…
He didn’t class it as giving up. He was just being smart. Investing in his own safety- so he settled.
Nam-gyu narrowed his eyes and his toothy grin mellowed into a tight-lipped smile. ‘Good boy’ he cooed condescendingly. He could feel the pulse of both wrists in his one-handed grip. Fast, like a rabbit’s. ‘Isn’t that better?’
The view from the window changed faster than ice melting in the sun. It was dark, approaching 2AM, and the trees dotted along the highway were just barely visible. Seoul must’ve been a few miles back by now, the road’s expanse welcoming them into the gloom.
Without the kicking and screaming, the journey felt almost peaceful. Thanos was a good driver, and the car ran smooth. Soft, purple lighting ran on either side of the car’s interior, glowing strips that were obviously commissioned by someone with more money than sense.
Myung-gi didn’t even realise music had been playing until Thanos started quietly half-humming, half-singing. Some early 2000’s sounding track, the tune ebbing and flowing through Myung-gi’s ears as he suddenly became very, very self aware.
Twenty minutes? Is that what Nam-gyu had said? It had been two minutes- no, wait, four- five?
His breathing started coming shallow, chest hitching. He’d never done drugs before. He had no idea what kind of dosage he’d been given. He had no idea what he’d been given. Suppose it gave him a heart attack, or a seizure, or-
‘WAIT!’ It came out with such suddenness and urgency that Nam-gyu jumped. Thanos flicked his eyes to the mirror for just a moment.
‘Fucking hell! Don’t you know when to fucking quit?’ Nam-gyu snarled down at him, playfulness gone, and placed a clawed hand on his stomach. ‘I told you what would happen, MG coin. It’s like you’re trying to piss me off’
‘Ha, make him laugh, man. Prick’s askin’ for it’
‘N-no, NO! Wait, just- wait a minute!’
Nam-gyu hesitated. With the head in his lap, he could see every facial expression as close as could be. Myung-gi’s eyes were blown wide, and he could feel his chest moving in sharp staccato rhythm from where he was holding the scammer’s wrists to his sternum. The pulse was hammering now. On his skin, a sheen of sweat glistened in the soft purple. The guy was shaking- which ultimately made sense. He’d been kidnapped by the two people who hated him most in the world.
But this was a different kind of fear. One that looked far too similar to the bathroom. Nam-gyu didn’t feel sorry for him, never that, but having him genuinely on the verge of some kind of breakdown wasn’t the kind of fun he’d been anticipating.
‘Oh, come on, MG coin. Relax, yeah? This is supposed to be the chill bit’ He said with annoyance, like Myung-gi was ruining a casual hangout.
‘I don’t hear any lauuughiiiing!’ Sang Thanos from the front seat.
‘He’s going all weird on me, dude’ replied Nam-gyu. ‘Looks like he’s gonna like… I don’t know. Pass out or something’
‘…that’s kinda the idea, Nam-su’
‘Nah, not like that. He’s getting himself all worked up’
Nam-gyu waited for Thanos to do something. To stop the car, talk Myung-gi down, take the lead just like he did back in the games.
But he didn’t.
Myung-gi made some kind of keening noise like he was about to cry. Fuck this, Nam-gyu thought to himself. I’m not having this con-artist cry all over my lap.
‘Hey, coin’ he said. ‘What’s up, huh? You made less of a fuss when I dosed you up’
There was a stretch of silence. Thanos had turned the music down. If something were to get out of hand in the back, he wanted to be prepared.
‘…Will it hurt…?’
The words were so small and frightened that neither druggie thought they’d heard right.
Nam-gyu furrowed his brow. ‘Will what hurt?’
‘The drug…’
Nam-gyu stared down at his hostage. His hostage stared back. He looked ridiculous. Shaking so hard it was a wonder he hadn’t burnt through the upholstery.
He could mess with him. It would be so easy. The guy had literally zero mental defences at this moment, and it would take a mere couple of words to ruin his last few conscious minutes.
Wouldn’t that be funny?
Myung-gi squirmed and looked glassy-eyed toward the ceiling, breathing hard like he was trying to self-soothe.
The guilt-not-guilt came back harder. As much as Nam-gyu hated the guy, seeing him like this was just…uncomfortable.
More importantly, Thanos would probably kill him.
‘No, MG coin’ he forced his voice to soften. He couldn’t really ‘do’ genuine sympathy, but he could certainly arm himself with pouty condescension. ‘It won’t hurt. It’s like…everything goes real funny, and then real heavy, and then there’s nothing’.
‘…mmngghhh…’
Nam-gyu used his free arm to slide under the held wrists, so he was putting direct pressure over the scammer’s heart. Pressure was supposed to ground people, right?
It’s not like Myung-gi would really remember this, anyway.
‘It’s like getting into a hot bath. All warm and comforting. And then the deepest sleep you’ve ever had’
‘I’ve never done drugs before’
Thanos laughed from up front.
‘Hardly what I’d call a drug, coinboy. A mild sedative at best. Take it myself sometimes’
Myung-gi felt the tiniest relief pass through him. It wasn’t the most inspiring pep talk, given that Thanos probably had the tolerance of an Ox, but…surely if they wanted to really harm him, he’d know about it by now?
He looked back to Nam-gyu, who was already staring at him with a mildly entertained expression.
‘…What if I throw up’
‘Then I’ll turn you over’
‘What if I have a seizure’
‘Then I’ll turn you over’
‘What if I die’
‘Fuck dude, I don’t know. I’ll turn you over, I guess’
It wasn’t very funny, but Myung-gi laughed. Actually laughed.
The drug was starting to take effect.
Nam-gyu visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Thanos snorted.
‘You’re a comedian, Nam-gyu’
Nam-gyu felt the hostage soften. Like his body was turning to butter. The frantic breathing, the panic, washing away like dirt after a heavy rain.
‘Ohoho. Dude. He’s like- it’s happening’
‘Took long enough’
Nam-gyu tried to study Myung-gi’s face, but the guy was swivelling his head as if he’d just woken up from a 1000-year sleep and was trying to make sense of his surroundings. The purple glow fascinated him. The window view fascinated him. It was like he was seeing colour for the first time. Like he was seeing anything for the first time.
‘MG coiiin!’ Nam-gyu chimed to get his attention.
Myung-gi’s eyes, that usually bore him perfect vision, tried to track the noise. He made eye contact with Nam-gyu (he thought, anyway) and the other man grinned broadly down at him.
‘Hellooooo!’ He sang, voice high and playful.
Myung-gi returned the smile.
‘ahh..aha…what d’you want…’ His head lolled to the side, any fear from before converted to a rapidly-increasing calm.
Nam-gyu was thrilled. Utterly, delightedly thrilled. Myung-gi was usually so spiteful and short-tempered. It was hilarious to see him like this. Having the Amazing Myung-gi of MG Coin choosing (well, loosely put) to smile and giggle without the use of fingers in his ribs was just too good.
‘Where…where we goin’ anyway?’ The sedative was acting fast. Neither junkie had lied when they said it wasn’t harmful- it wasn’t even especially potent. Myung-gi was just empty-bellied and inexperienced.
‘Disneyland’ Thanos replied. An opportunity to mess with Myung-gi was an opportunity well taken, in his opinion. And with the younger man getting loopier and loopier, no resistance, artificially smiley and euphoric?
Well. They could be as stupid as they liked.
Myung-gi burst into laughter.
‘Disneyland! Th-thaha…! That’s so stupihihid!’
Nam-gyu snorted. This was fucking great. A built-in ‘play with the scammer’ session to entertain on the journey.
‘Nah, man! I mean it. Gonna take ya to see Mickey mouse, Donald duck…that other freak who walks around on a leash’
‘You mean- hihihi- Nam-gyuhuhu?’
‘WOAAHH!’ Thanos cackled in disbelief and smacked the wheel. ‘Nam-su! Man! You takin’ that?!’
Nam-gyu bristled in a way that was completely unnecessary given that Myung-gi was on a different planet. He knows what he’s doing, he thought, previous delight rotting into a deep, embarrassed disdain. This is supposed to be fun for me and Thanos. We’re supposed to be messing with him together. Even in this state he still thinks he’s better than me.
Complete nonsense, of course. Myung-gi had already forgotten the past thirty seconds, which made what came next a confusing shock.
‘AH! HEHEHEY! WH-WHAhahAHA!’
Something awful and unknown and horrendously ticklish was happening to him. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was, or where it was, he just knew it felt awful, and for some reason was making him laugh.
‘Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, dickhead’
The tickling radiated through his core, a tormenting ache made ten times worse from the effects of the pill. He thrashed once, twice, cackling into Nam-gyu’s thighs from the angle he’d twisted.
Nam-gyu felt moisture leak into his jeans.
‘Eurgh, are you drooling on me?’ He sneered, tickling harder, squeezing up and down a lean oblique.
Good. He’d teach him to try and be smart.
Myung-gi couldn’t quite tell why, but his energy sapped faster than usual. He lolled his head and howled with laughter, everything going boneless at once. It was horrendously ticklish. He couldn’t flail or kick or even squirm. A leg jolted weakly, purely reflex, and then stilled.
He didn’t even realise that his wrists were free now. They stayed limp on his chest, fingers curled into his shirt to try and alleviate the sensation.
‘That tickle, huh? You gonna apologise?’
Apologise? Apologise for what?
His hipbone was suddenly submerged with firm pinches and his upper ribs squeezed and suddenly he found himself willing to confess to things he hadn’t done.
‘AHAhahaHA! SAHAHaha! SAHAHA- AGH! HEHhe!’
His laughter came out hard and strained, as it had no choice. It was exhausting to laugh like this. He couldn’t move, his sides were aching, he didn’t even know why this was happening in the first place.
‘Say you’re sorry’
‘SAHAHAHAHA! AHHAHAHA!’
‘Say it, MG coin. Or I’m going til you’re conked out’
‘S-SAHaha- SOHOHOR- AHahahAH!’
He was trying, dammit!
It was as if Nam-gyu didn’t even want an apology. He wasn’t even giving him a chance. Frustration built and built without a pressure valve to turn.
‘It’s like you don’t even want me to stop!’ The playful edge was back, Nam-gyu riding on a power high of a man who couldn’t even fight back. He didn’t care that Myung-gi couldn’t even remember why he was being punished, that he was squealing and giggling too hard to form a simple ‘sorry’ for something that, really, was a non-issue. He’d been revelling in taking advantage of how smiley and pliable Myung-gi had been; he wanted that back. Not that usual smarmy persona. They’d have plenty of time with that side of MG coin later.
if it meant administering a punishment that didn’t fit the crime, then fine. Amazing, even. Any reason to put that fucker back in his place, even if it was with something as stupid (but ridiculously entertaining) as tickling.
‘SA-haHA! SahahAHEHEIHIHI!’ Myung-gi’s laughter became high-pitched and shrill. His brain was soup, but the one thing he was desperately holding onto was the fact Nam-gyu wanted an apology. It didn’t matter to him that he couldn’t remember why. If he forgot, if he just completely abandoned trying to spit out a simple ‘sorry’, then he was certain he’d just be tickled until he died.
His head, with great effort, fell to the side, and his unfocused vision desperately tried to pinpoint a new way out. The ‘sorry’ he was trying to say physically would not come. The car’s interior was swimming, purple and black and the low glare of the radio swirling into one. For the umpteenth time in the past hour and a half, he realised nobody was coming for him. This was it. This is how he was going to die. He wasn’t certain of many things right now, but he was certain about that.
Salvation came in the form of a disgraced, purple-haired rapper.
‘Aight, aight. Cut it out, man. Tryna drive’
Neither of the backseat occupiers heard him at first. Or, one of them did, and just pretended not to in favour of their own enjoyment.
‘HEhEHEHELP!’
‘Nam-gyu! Dude! He’s gonna fuckin’ piss himself on my seats’
Nam-gyu considered ‘not hearing’ him just one more time, but Myung-gi had started squeaking and sobbing with laughter and that was apology enough. He never really cared about getting one anyway- he was just bitter from the ‘insult’ and cruel enough to demand something whilst incapacitating Myung-gi from doing it.
‘You’ve changed your tune’ he directed at Thanos, making the most of the last few seconds and vibrating a finger into an unfortunate rib. It was a miracle nobody in the vehicle developed instant tinnitus from the shriek it elicited. ‘Didn’t seem to mind me tickling him to sleep a few minutes ago’
‘That was outta convenience. Don’t be riskin’ my car for the fun of it. Shit ain’t cheap, yo’
‘Saved by the bell, huh, MG coin?’ He stilled his fingers.
As quick as Myung-gi had started laughing, he stopped. On instinct, he heaved in deep breaths and giggled his way through tickly aftershocks, but if anyone asked how he felt he’d reply with ‘absolutely fucking great’.
The drug was making him feel warm, warmer than he’d ever been. He vaguely recalled something about ‘hot baths’ and ‘deep sleeps’, but he was far too busy wondering if his teeth had always been that size.
There was quiet for a while. Nam-gyu was fixing his hair in the window’s reflection, his other arm draped over myung-gi’s shoulders, more to stop him from falling into the footwell than anything. Thanos was tapping a rhythm on the steering wheel, pleased as punch that everything was going to plan.
Myung-gi found it getting harder and harder to stay awake. He knew, for some reason, that he should. There was something incredibly, undoubtedly wrong with where he was and who he was with, but for the life of him he couldn’t put a finger on it.
Wasn’t there also something important he needed to know? Thanos swerved the car gently to avoid a pothole and the memory almost faded. He used the last of his mental strength to try and remember, but quite honestly, he felt so amazing that the idea of something being wrong right now was absurd. Surely, he could worry about it another time, when he’d…
Oh. Right.
‘…Wh-where did…mnngh…’
Nam-gyu tilted his head down. He almost laughed out loud at the mess in his lap. Another few minutes and he’d be out.
‘Wassat?’ He enquired exaggeratedly, rising inflection, like talking to a child.
‘Where did y’say…we were goin’…?’
Thanos answered him honestly this time.
‘…we’re goin’ to my place, MG coin. Got a penthouse. Real big place. You’ll be stayin’ there a while’ the highway was smooth and straight and he turned his head briefly to look at the scammer. The scammer did not look back. The scammer was transfixed on Nam-gyu, who was making stupid faces at him. Myung-gi looked delighted at such play, like he’d been kept in a dark room and had never experienced a scrap of stimulation in all his life. ‘Sounds fun, don’t it?’.
Like Nam-gyu, the urge to fuck with Myung-gi was near impossible to ignore. But the disaster in the backseat wasn’t the Myung-gi he knew and despised. There’d be no point, nor fun, in stressing him out in his state. It would be equivalent to explaining taxes to an infant.
‘Hmmngh…hehe…’ Myung-gi just barely registered the words. Nam-gyu was playfully tapping his face in quick succession and it was the most fun he’d ever had. If only his arms could move so he could tap him back.
‘Oi. Coin’ Thanos, eyes now back on the road, demanded his attention. ‘Did y’hear me? I said we’re goin’ back to my place’.
Myung-gi furrowed his brow. That guy? They were going back to that guy’s place?
‘…’
‘Myung-gi!’ Thanos sighed in faux-exasperation. ‘How shit is your tolerance, man? You can’t be this fucked up already’
A ridiculous statement seeing as nine of Nam-gyu’s recommended twenty minutes had passed and Myung-gi very much was this fucked up already.
‘…Y’ur place…?’
Thanos grinned in the dark. Keeping up the ‘be as relatively nice as possible to the man who ruined your life’ act wasn’t anywhere as tedious as he thought it would be. Having Myung-gi, usually so sharp and defensive, acting like a clueless idiot was a nice change. For once, he was the one with the lowest IQ in the room.
‘That’s right. You, me, Nam-su. Pizza parties on Fridays, movie nights on Sundays. Braidin’ each other’s hair, makin’ friendship bracelets. Sounds good, huh?’ Thanos ran his tongue over his teeth, ignoring a road sign he thought he was too good for. ‘Peace and love and all that pansy shit’
The car went over a slight bump and Myung-gi’s head bounced an inch off Nam-gyu’s lap. He giggled in surprise at the sudden movement and Nam-gyu scoffed amusedly, rocking Myung-gi by the shoulder. ‘Wooo! Lookit you go!’.
‘Hmmmhehee… your place…your plaaace’ He drew out the word like he was testing his mouth still worked, narrowing his eyes with a pleased little smile when he realised it very much did.
There was another beat of silence. And then-
‘How’re all three of us gonna fit inside a cardboard box?’
He broke out into a bark of laughter so loud that it shocked even himself. A ‘HA!’ that very quickly turned into pandemonium as he laughed at his own joke so hard he could barely breathe.
Thanos caught Nam-gyu’s eyes in the rearview.
His mouth was twitching as he tried not to smile. He was doing a terrible job.
Nam-gyu covered his own by pretending to scratch his cheek, looking out the window because the sight of Myung-gi wheezing hysterically at something so painfully unfunny would’ve set him off.
The sheer effort it took for them to not laugh was astounding. They couldn’t encourage him- he didn’t deserve that one bit. He wasn’t funny on his own. He’d never in his life been described as ‘funny’. By anyone. The only reason this was funny was because it was so unfunny it circled right back around to being funny again. The only laughter ever present when the three of them were together was for two reasons only:
Him laughing because of them via tickling
Them laughing at him
That was it. That was the only time laughter around the pesky scammer should occur. Never because he was the one to make them laugh.
‘HAHA! HAHAHA! HA -COUGH- Oh my GOD! CARDBOARD BOX!’
Tears streaked down his temples with how hard he was cackling, eyes squeezed shut, mouth in a wide open grin. He was thrilled to bits with himself.
Thanos let out an involuntary snicker and masked it by clearing his throat. ‘Y-yeah, alright, man. I live in a cardboard box. You got me’. On any other day, he’d pummel someone who even dared to imply that any aspect of The Great Thanos was cardboard-box-like. That was akin to blasphemy, in his opinion.
But this wasn’t any other day.
Nam-gyu was laughing silently into the window, shoulders shaking. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
‘A-AHahand- and your hair is…’ Myung-gi stared wide-eyed at the car roof as he tried to find the words, tittering.
Thanos knew he’d regret asking.
‘My hair is what, asshole?’ He was still trying hard not to grin, lips crooked. Myung-gi couldn’t even see him, probably couldn’t see much of anything, but it was the principle that mattered.
‘Y-your- hahaha- your- haHA!’
‘Y’better be about to say somethin’ nice to me, coin’
‘Yohohour h-hair is-’
Nam-gyu exhaled with a very badly stifled laugh and closed his eyes because whatever was about to come out of Myung-gi’s mouth was going to be a fucking spectacle.
‘YOUR HAIR IS FAT!!’ He hollered, loud enough that the police could probably track them from volume alone.
The car filled with Myung-gi’s uproarious guffawing, and if he could control his arms they’d be clutched tight around his middle. It almost hurt to laugh like this. The more he tried to stop, the more hilarious everything became. It was annoyingly infectious.
Nam-gyu burst into sniggering. He hid his face with a hand, the reflex smothered painfully.
Thanos grit his teeth and pushed his tongue to the roof of his mouth in an effort not to break. He could see from the corner of his eye, in the rearview, Nam-gyu’s upper body shaking. He forced himself not to look, because everything is always funnier when your friend is laughing and you know neither of you should be. That damn Nam-su.
‘Great. Real -ahem- real great, MG coin. That all? You done?’ Thanos’ voice strained to keep level.
Myung-gi was nowhere near done. He had a second wind now, the lethargy and bone-deep exhaustion from the pill reversing into giddy, fast paced delirium.
‘FAT HEAD!!’ He bellowed like a child trying to offend their sibling. It was the bottom of the barrel level of humour but he was too far gone to care. He was laughing so hard he was practically hyperventilating. All sorts of nonsense kept trying to break free, only to turn to absolute sludge in the midst of his stitches.
‘Jesus christ…’ Thanos muttered to the steering wheel. The steering wheel was his only friend.
Nam-gyu exhaled a shaky, giggly breath and wiped his eyes. ‘Whew…’ he risked a glance at Myung-gi, who was tossing his head side to side and chanting something about Thanos and his extremely spherical head. Well, that was what he could pick up, anyway. The majority of it was just noise.
‘FATTEST HEAD IN ALL OF KOREA!’
That came through just fine.
‘HAHAHAahaha-aha-AHEHEhehEHE!’
‘He’s gonna pop a lung!’ Nam-gyu exclaimed delightedly. ‘Breathe, MG coin! Stop thinking about Thanos’ fat head!’ He couldn’t help adding fuel to the fire. When would he next get the chance to do this again?
Myung-gi’s laughter went silent. And then a horrible choking noise, because he was on his back and howling too hard to swallow. Where a normal person would try and pull themselves together as to not asphyxiate, Myung-gi had been chemically stripped of all self-preservation instinct. The visual imagery of the three of them huddled in a cardboard box, with Thanos’ stupid fat head, was hilarity incarnate.
‘Hhk-hehe-hhekhk’
‘Breathe!!’ Nam-gyu repeated with all seriousness this time, eyes wide with alarm as he watched the guy convulse below him.
‘The fuck’s he doin’??’ Thanos didn’t like the sudden tone change in his friend’s voice.
‘He’s choking or something!’
‘What?!’
Myung-gi was turning a very concerning colour. He was still laughing. He couldn’t remember how it felt to not be laughing.
‘Pull over!!’
‘I’m not fuckin’ pulling over, boy! Smack his back or somethin’!’’
Nam-gyu grabbed Myung-gi’s shoulders and pushed him upright, pounding an open palm on his back.
‘Use your lungs, asshole!’
Myung-gi remained in spasming, silent laughter for another second before collapsing into coughing, clearing his airways and heaving. Nam-gyu gave him a final, harsh slap between the shoulder blades, panic turning to irritation with the chance of a dead cryptobro significantly decreased.
‘You, The amazing Myung-gi of MG coin’, he exhaled, letting Myung-gi fall back onto his lap, ‘are far more trouble than you’re worth’
‘Hehehehe…heee…hihihi…fahahaaat…’ The shrieking laughter had settled into dizzy snickers and the occasional snort. He was smiling dazedly, his near death experience not having phased him in the slightest.
That’s not to say it hadn’t taken a lot out of him. The second wind had faded and that deep, warm sleepiness hit him like a truck.
‘Ha…aha…woohoho…’
Neither druggie risked making any sudden movement. They stayed as quiet and as boring as they possibly could. Thanos didn’t think he was capable of such a feat but by god he was trying. He was trying harder than he had in red light, green light.
Nam-gyu forced his breathing to come normally. Another few minutes and Myung-gi would be out. They just had to keep things calm and peaceful until then.
Watching him lose his shit was top tier entertainment, but after his little choking stunt he couldn’t be trusted.
‘Hey’
Nobody moved.
‘HEY’
It took all of Nam-gyu’s will to ignore him. All it would take was a single word, something stupid to make the scammer giggle and the free entertainment would come right back. He forced himself to stare ahead. To not rile him up again.
‘Hhheeeeyyy…’
No response.
Myung-gi couldn’t understand why he was being ignored. They were all having fun a minute ago, weren’t they? He remembered laughter and noise and talking. He remembered being engaged with. What had changed?
‘Mmnghhh…talk to meee…’ It came out in a juvenile whine.
The car started swaying.
Thanos had wordlessly begun to swerve the car. Not in the same uncontrollable way as before, when Myung-gi was very much still aware and struggling, but gentle little swoops back and forth in his lane. It was almost elegant.
It didn’t suit him. The whole ‘doing something gently’.
Everything he did was usually packed to the brim with chaos and noise and erraticism, but he could clearly exhibit control when the situation called for it. He was an entirely different person without those mystery drugs he so often took back in the games.
Well. ‘Completely different person’ was a bit of a stretch. He did kidnap a man and watch as his accomplice force-fed him a sedative. He wasn’t even 100% sober- the first thing he’d done when waking up from his own drop-off was to fish a pill out his cross, mercifully still around his neck.
But that was hours ago, the high intense but short-lived, and the chemical buzz had settled into a mere soft glow behind his eyes. It was fine, though. He could deal with it. Even if Myung-gi being off his face in the backseat made him slightly jealous that it wasn’t himself who didn’t have to think, wasn’t himself who could giggle away like an oblivious idiot.
He felt better knowing that Myung-gi had only a few more minutes, if that, of that kind of brainless respite.
The swaying of the car was an intentional ploy to speed the process up. It rocked Myung-gi ever so slightly in Nam-gyu’s lap. He was being careful not to sway too hard lest the scammer get giddy again and fight the pill harder. Just small, barely there motions to soothe his exhausted body into sleep.
It was working, too. Even Nam-gyu was looking tired now, like Myung-gi had been the one setting the tone, and now that he was quiet and docile the atmosphere had changed to match.
Hell, Thanos himself was exhausted. He wasn’t invincible. Neither of the three men had had a good night’s sleep in months. Neither had had a peaceful day or more than an hour not worrying about money in the bank since the scam hit.
They’d all experienced high stress, Myung-gi was just the only one to show it. The other two had masked any tension or negative feelings with those pills- but now there was no fear of death games, or masked guards with guns, or fighting for their lives. No shouting or hysterics or nonsense about Disneyland and fat heads.
The rapper nodded to get Nam-gyu’s attention. He spoke quietly. ‘Hey’.
‘Hey’ Nam-gyu returned the soft tone.
Thanos jutted his chin. ‘He out?’
Nam-gyu looked down lazily. Myung-gi was very still and his eyes were closed. The junkie jostled him, then used a thumb to rub his cheek. ‘Hey. Hey, scammer’.
No response.
‘Yeah, dude. He’s dead to the world’
‘Whew. Man…I am exhausted, Nam-su’ Thanos scrubbed a hand over his face and sniffed, blinking hard.
‘Yeah. This little bitch is hard work’
‘Mm. Thinkin’ he’s funny’
‘Should’ve used chloroform or something’
‘Ha, yeah. Maybe. Didn’t wanna risk killin’ the guy. Ain’t no fun if he’s dead’ Thanos tapped his temple. ‘besides. I got big plans for him’.
‘You mean keeping him as a human stress ball?’ Nam-gyu fiddled with a ring. ‘Or the pizza parties?’
‘Dunno if there’ll be room for parties in my cardboard box’
They both laughed before realising it was a joke that originated from the scammer and suddenly it wasn’t funny anymore.
Well, maybe a bit.
Far in the distance, perched on the side of the road, was the neon lights of a Lotteria.
‘Aw, man. I’d kill for a Lotteria right now’ Nam-gyu watched as they got closer and closer, the thought of crappy burgers and fries taunting him.
‘Reckon we get him some coleslaw?’
‘He’d probably try to scam it’
‘Lotteria?’ A third, unwelcome voice chimed in.
‘Agh!’ Nam-gyu pushed himself against the seat and looked down at the delirious Myung-gi. ‘The hell!’
‘Dude! Thought you said he was out?’
‘He was’ hissed the reply. A finger pointed inches from Myung-gi’s face. ‘Oi. You’re supposed to be in dreamland, MG coin’
‘Lotteria’ Was the only reply. It was a miracle Myung-gi was still conscious.
‘Lying little cheats don’t get Lotteria’
‘…I can have Lotteria…as a- a treat’
‘You get tickled until you cry, that’s what you get’ Nam-gyu flicked Myung-gi on the forehead. ‘There. That’s your treat. Enjoy’
‘…fry’ His voice came tiny and he giggled drunkenly. ‘One fry meal… fry for meeeee’
I really, really like the concept of a tickle monster- but i sort of wanted to put my own spin on it, as i find a lot of tickle monster tropes have already been used- so I created Silta and Pet!
Silta feeds on laughter, which is gauged by his glowing tail rings, but to the point where he’d actually die if he were to run out of glow. So, naturally, expecting every ‘hunt’ (ambushing unsuspecting individuals who stray too far off the path) to end in a 100% success rate is far too risky. Therefore- he gets himself a pet!
Pet lives with Silta as his food source, free to roam the den and live life as best he can. I guess you could call him a domestic prisoner? Silta cares about him in his own warped way, making sure he’s fed and clean (I’m thinking a tickly grooming scene would be fun), even setting up a room for him with his limited human knowledge.
Pet essentially just exists to be tickled, but his quality of life isn’t abysmal. Silta thinks everything about him is hilarious, he’s uninterested in humans for the most part but heavily endeared with Pet, and although the feedings themselves can be pretty intense Pet is never subjected to real harm or misery. Yippee!
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Hey guys! Letting you know that I've taken the plunge and made an Ao3 account :3 I've so far just posted the first 4 chapters of my Thanos/Nam-gyu/Myung-gi series. I'll be posting here first when I write a new fic, but it will also pop up on Ao3 later!
I don't really know how it works yet aha but I tried my best in terms of formatting etc all that boring stuff.
Here it is! I'd really appreciate if you could give it a Quick Look, because I think more views equals more exposure...although I am not 100% sure!!
THAT IS ALL I am very sleepy and need rest so goodnight u luverly lot
I had a dream and I remember being so at peace and then I woke up and I was like ‘oh’. And felt an immense sense of disappointment that I’d ,,,,survived? Woken up?? From surgery?
THAT’S SOMETHING TO UNPACK IN A THERAPIST’S OFFICE!!
But I’m out and about now! I’m out of hospital and me and mum have picked up some little snacks from the shops. I’m still feeling quite floaty and sleepy and kinda anxious so I’ll do some writing for my lil series bc that’s comforting :) nothing like writing about kidnapping to ease the mind LMAO
do you plan on ever watching leviticus or girls like girls? they both came out on the 19th (atleast in America) and so far ive only seen leviticus and it was really good and since its so new theres only like 60 fics on it from a03😭
I’ve had a check and unfortunately neither of those are being released in uk cinemas :( and the only streaming platform I have access to is Netflix and some uk-exclusive stuff, so I’m not sure I could watch it easily even when it comes out more worldwide.
It also seems like both have teenagers as their main characters and unfortunately I suffer from morality OCD and find it very hard to incorporate teens into my work despite tickling being ONE HUNDRED percent sfw for me. so most likely I wouldn’t be able to create anything for them anyway which is a shame because the premise for Leviticus sounds like it would have some good tkl potential!!
I’ve watched The last act twice now, and despite not being too into the show as a whole, I have to say I LOVED it. I thought it was so wonderfully well done.
But it got me thinking!!
The circus members slowly coming down from the relief and excitement of now being in control of their digital lives- whether this comes after a few weeks or a few months or even a few years- and realising that, realistically, they all WILL abstract.
They can’t die. They won’t age. Even if a thousand years pass- eventually, there will come a point where they can’t mentally continue to exist any longer. Even with the infinite resources and world-building powers they now have, the inevitable abstraction will come.
Time moves relatively the same in the circus. Night, day, night, day. Everything seems wonderful for the first however many years. They can do whatever they want. Caine has given them full power over their environment and adventures. They can indulge in as many hobbies as they like, they can achieve things they’d never ever be able to achieve in the real world. It’s a living dream.
But time goes on. And on. And on. They realise they will live forever- eternity. Even if the sun devours the real world, they’ll continue to exist, because the real world doesn’t affect the digital world one bit.
There will even come a point where their real world counterparts die, like all people do, and they’re just…existing. Outliving their real selves.
Immortality to a mortal seems ideal, but immortality to someone who’s actually immortal becomes very scary very fast.
Eventually, they will do everything there is to do. With the whole digital world at their fingertips, and fully-fledged conjuring abilities, they’ll achieve everything possible to achieve, see everything possible to be seen, speak everything possible to be spoken.
Do you know how exhausting it would be to exist for so long? Sure, they’ve been relieved of any human burdens- money, family, careers, pressure, ill health etc- but after hundreds of years? Thousands, maybe? The knowledge that you’ll be conscious for eternity?
They’re all just human and…idk man. I just think eventually they’d all abstract to finally get some peace. To get some respite from an eternity of consciousness.
It wouldn’t even be a particularly distressing experience for them. They’d just be so tired.
Hi! I absolutely love your outlook on creating media just for yourself and nobody else, and not caring if it gets 10 notes or 100. That's so refreshing and if I'm honest, inspiring, as I'm one of those people who feels they can only create content for an audience. I'm trying my best to unlearn that behaviour though! Especially because my style of content is rather niche,,,,
My hyperfixation is also Squid Game- moreso the Thanos squad, but Gi-hun is one of my all-time shaylas! He deserved so much more!!! And don't even get me started on the 457 ship,,,they were simply MADE for each other I fear??? I haven't made any content for them as a ship, but it's on my list for sure because the dynamic is just AMAZING! Ugh there's so much that can be done for them,,,
Anyway my main point is, you are an absolute inspiration and I love how authentically 'yourself' you are :) Sorry if this is weird but I feel it's always somewhat a positive to tell someone that they're cool y'know?
this is so kind of you, anon. thank you!!! 🥹 it means a lot to me. truly. I appreciate this <3
I wrote this!! I meant to send it off anon but my thumbs were fat and I misclicked,,,oops
But this creator is so inspiring to me and I just had to share! Her ability and love for writing exactly what she wants for HERSELF is very comforting.
Admittedly I am one of those people who struggles creating just for myself. I think it stemmed from getting a lot of attention in Jan-August 2025 when squid game was trending. I put a high expectation on myself to keep getting that level of attention, even when the fandom became a lot smaller (compared to certain others- it’s not exactly dead lmao but it’s certainly not as huge as it was).
Before this I really would just write for myself and enjoy it even if it had zero audience, but my dopamine receptors went haywire during squid game’s peak and I have to keep reminding myself that it most likely won’t be like that ever again. Which is sad! But in confronting this, it helps me to unlearn the idea of writing for everyone but myself.
And also maybe it’ll help me get into a new fandom bc guys,,,I really really miss being in that golden hyperfixation stage. It was so fucking fun and I know I’ll get there again, I’m just not sure when.
Anyway! I know OP doesn’t check notifications, but if you’re reading this, thank you!!
I am so unbelievably upset. Oliver tree was one of my most favourite artists. His music made me feel seen and strong enough to carry on when I was 17 because he was so fucking weird and I was so fucking weird. I loved this man so much. RIP Oliver tree, I bet you’re doing some mad wild shit wherever you are
A/n: this is my half of a (long awaited, omg I’m so sorry) art trade with a friend! this was a lot of fun to write; I enjoyed being able to just go ham without much ‘plot’, if compared to my previous few fics.
This is also my first Thangyu fic! I was never a real fan of the ship, but writing this made me somewhat change my mind. Thanos and Nam-gyu’s ship dynamic is a lot of fun to write. Toxic doomed yaoi oughhhh hell YEAH
Summary: Nam-gyu has taken a lot of shit from Thanos lying down, but after a prank gone wrong, he decides he needs to humble him. He doesn’t want to really hurt the guy, so he has to get…unorthodox.
——————————————————
Thanos was invincible.
Well, that’s what he’d say if you were to ask him, anyway.
There was nothing in these games that could stop him. Nothing in Korea that could stop him. Hell, on a good day, he’d argue that there would be nothing on Earth that could stop him.
This confidence came from the little coloured discs he kept in his trusty cross necklace. He didn’t like to think about himself sober- as far as he was concerned, that wasn’t him. That was a different man. A separation of ID and Ego, chalk and cheese, water and oil. Someone he tried his hardest to prevent showing up.
The last time he’d been that man was at the bridge.
But now, that lesser, weaker version of himself was in danger of reappearing. He didn’t know how, or when, but the necklace he always adorned had…vanished.
He felt naked and exposed without it, despite it always being tucked safely away between his chest and his jacket, the absence going completely unnoticed by anyone but himself.
There was also the panic. That goosebump-inducing fear one gets, when their heart drops to their feet and their skin prickles. Without his drugs, he’d be unstable. He’d be scared. That pathetic man lying underneath the substance would step into his shoes and be out in the open for everyone to see.
He pictured it as he upturned his mattress and shook out his blanket. That man having to play the next game, being watched and judged by the other players as his hands shook and his breath caught and he broke down from the pressure. Getting shot as he inevitably failed whatever childish task they were set, his last moments snuffed out in a spiral of weakness and humiliation.
He was still very much riding the high of the last pill he’d taken- his last saving grace from losing his mind with panic right then and there. The arrogant part of him was telling him he’d find the cross, that he was god-like enough to carry these games on his back with or without it, but the realistic part of him dreaded the high wearing off and being unable to bring it back.
How long did he have left? Two hours? Maybe three?
‘Fuck’s sake…for fuck’s fucking sake’
His pillow hit the ground and his mattress went through something it would probably have to talk about in therapy as Thanos degloved his bunk, sheets going flying.
‘Could’a sworn I had the fuckin’ thing in the bathroom…’
‘Looking for something?’
Thanos jumped so hard he banged his head on the slats above.
‘Ow-! Fuck!’ He turned around, face scrunched in pain. ‘The fuck you- oh. Nam-su’
Nam-gyu stood with one hand in a sweater-paw and the other brushing a hair behind his ear. ‘It’s Nam-gyu’.
‘Yeah, yeah’ Thanos waved him off irritably and turned back to his search, ignorant to the flash of disdain on his cronies’ face. He was in no mood for games and the difference between ‘Su’ and ‘Gyu’ was the least significant thing in his life right now. There were drugs at stake! His drugs at stake!
Nam-gyu watched awkwardly as Thanos half-vanished under the bunk, muttering profanities about how this was all somehow MG Coin’s fault. ‘Uh- I said, ‘looking for something?’’
Thanos tutted loudly and popped his head from under the bunk to shoot Nam-gyu a scowl. It looked genuine and Nam-gyu tried to ignore the bristle of resentment blooming in his chest. He’d been nothing but loyal to Thanos and he was repaying him by treating him like shit? Like an annoying dog he couldn’t get rid of?
Thanos remained oblivious.
‘Yeah, man, I’ve fuckin’ lost something’ He vanished under the bunk again. ‘The hell gave it away?’
Player 124 stood there perplexed and, if he was honest, a little hurt. Sure, Thanos usually treated him lesser- forgetting his name, leaning on him like furniture, talking at him just to hear his own voice- but that was all more out of ignorance and arrogance than malice.
But right now he actually seemed…genuinely irritated. Like Nam-gyu was a nuisance, someone inferior to talk down to.
They were supposed to be a team, right? A dynamic duo, better than all the other leeches in this shithole. Thanos spoke to them like that. Not him. Not his right-hand man.
Well. Whatever. Fine.
Little did he know that Nam-gyu was a man who had finally hit his limit and finally, for once in his life, gotten the upper hand.
‘What’ve you lost?’ He tried to keep his voice level, putting on a convincing enough tone that he sounded innocently inquisitive.
‘…My cross’ came the muffled reply.
‘I could help you find it?’
‘Well start helpin’ then, man, shit. You waitin’ for an invite?’
Another rude jab, another angry clench in Nam-gyu’s chest.
It was him who’d taken the cross.
Thanos had taken it off to adjust his shirt, because it was on backwards, and somehow not noticed that it hadn’t made his way back around his neck.
It was supposed to be a prank; Nam-gyu couldn’t say it was totally harmless, because he knew how much Thanos relied on those pills, but he’d have given it straight back after the penny dropped. Really, he would’ve.
Maybe the older man would’ve been a bit annoyed, but Nam-gyu knew he’d never stay annoyed at his number one pal. It was supposed to be a fun bonding thing! Something friends did with each other, just some teasing to lighten the mood! The moment had been right there- what was he supposed to have done? Not taken it?
But the penny hadn’t dropped when it was supposed to. He hadn’t noticed at all that the cross had vanished.
So Nam-gyu didn’t tell him.
In his head, he thought it would be funnier, actually. Thanos would realise hours later, freak out, and Nam-gyu would’ve given it back in a hilarious gotcha moment. Thanos would’ve given him a shove to the shoulder, insulted him playfully, and that would’ve been that.
It was supposed to be funny, goddammit! He didn’t mean to direct Thanos’ anger toward him.
He watched as Thanos shuffled himself further under the bed, his torso almost disappearing completely. He was still muttering profanities about how the world was wronging him and something about being too good for this shit.
‘You gettin’ down here or what?!’
That was said with enough venom to kill a horse.
Any sense of guilt Nam-gyu was feeling evaporated immediately.
He stared at what little of Thanos was visible sticking out from under the bunk. His shirt had ridden up, showing a sliver of lean muscle as he stretched flat on his stomach.
An idea hatched. A wonderful idea.
A ticklish idea.
He couldn’t hurt Thanos- even if the idea of giving him a cuff round the back of the head was deeply satisfying. He needed the older man on his side and, preferably, he didn’t want to instigate a fight with someone as volatile and unpredictable as him.
He wasn’t really sure if he actually did want to hurt Thanos, anyway. The satisfaction wouldn’t be so much having him writhe around in pain, more just…from him being taken down a peg. He didn’t have to be violent to achieve that, right?
So…tickling it was. It was stupid and immature but in Nam-gyu’s opinion, that suited Thanos’ character perfectly. In fact, he’d probably be right at home squealing and giggling like a child.
He crouched down next to Thanos, who at this point wouldn’t have even noticed if the overhead piggybank exploded the prize money all over the floor.
Nam-gyu used a thumb and forefinger to gingerly push the shirt up just a smidge more, exposing more skin. He held back a laugh, which is more than could be said for Thanos in 3…2…
1.
‘WHA-!!’
The bunk almost tipped over from how explosively Thanos jerked.
Nam-gyu had buried his fingers in the exposed flesh and squeezed. Just once to test the waters. If Thanos wasn’t ticklish, his whole plan would fall through…and he’d probably get a punch in the face.
But, evidently, the druggie was extremely ticklish. Nam-gyu’s face could remain unpunched and his resentment could find an outlet via the most ridiculous method in the world.
‘Nam-su! The fuck are you doin’?’ Came the outraged cry from under the bunk.
‘Nothing, man. What are you freaking out about? You see a spider or something?’
‘Wh- Nam-su! You just- you-!’
‘What?’
‘You just did somethin’!’
Nam-gyu looked down lazily. He’d positioned himself cross-legged next to Thanos, head in his hand and a growing smirk. His other hand still had a palmful of rapper.
‘Told you, dude. Nothing’s happening on my end’
‘I can feel your fuckin’ hand on meeEEE!’
Thanos’ voice cracked embarrassingly and his legs kicked as his side was suddenly subjected to electrifying, horrible, awful ticklish sensation.
Again, and again, and again.
‘HA! HahaHAahaha! STOP! Whahahat the hehe-ahaha- HELL!’
Nam-gyu was chuckling to himself, eyebrows raised in amusement. The hand holding his chin was now directing harsh pokes around the skin not being squeezed.
Thanos tried to aim his frantic kicking toward his attacker, and when that didn’t work he did the only thing left he could- crawl backwards. It was a movement driven by pure instinct, a desperate, brainless attempt to get the hell away from the tickles.
But that just pushed him closer to the tickles. The further out from the bunk he was, the more him there was to squeeze and prod and terrorise.
Nam-gyu grinned, leant over and squeezed at the other side, up and down up and down, both obliques getting the same treatment. He only squeezed harder when Thanos screeched and immediately scuttled forward reflexively.
He’d never be caught dead scurrying like a rat, trying to hide under a bed like a child, but Nam-gyu was tickling him so effectively that his body quite literally gave him no choice. He wasn’t thinking about how pathetic he looked. He couldn’t think about anything, really, except how he had to distance himself from the fingers needling into his skin.
‘Ah ah ah! Where the hell do you think you’re going?’ Nam-gyu momentarily stopped squeezing and instead gripped low on Thanos’ hips and pulled. The older man came sliding out and immediately rolled onto his back, slapping at the air. Nam-gyu evaded them swiftly and laughed with delight. ‘Careful hyung! Almost got me!’
‘HEY! Stop! What the fuck are you doin’, man?!’
He tried to draw up his legs protectively but 124 clamped onto his knees and pulsed, causing Thanos to lose what little composure he had left and fall back laughing helplessly. Nam-gyu took this opportunity to give one more squeeze and shoved those lean legs down, giving more than enough space to straddle the struggling player.
Thanos stared up at him with furious, watery eyes. His hands grabbed Nam-gyu’s forearms, the only part of him he could reach. He held them at arms length.
‘SERIOUSLY!’ His voice came out uncharacteristically panicked. Nam-gyu snorted- the great Thanos, losing his mind, looking like he was about to combust, all from 30 seconds of tickling?
‘Yknow, Thanos- if I’d known it’d be this easy to fuck with you, I’d have done it back at Pentagon. You think you’d still look cool?’ His hands settled on Thanos’ waist. ‘You think you’d still have all those bitches over you if they knew it only took this’ he jabbed the soft spot under his ribs and felt him jerk ‘to completely unravel you?’.
Thanos was shaking.
Not out of fear- at least, that’s what he’d tell himself when he revisited this later. He was shaking from anger. Betrayal! How could his Nam-su be doing this to him!
‘Nam-su…’ he breathed heavily and tried to stabilise himself. He couldn’t show even a modicum of distress. He was the great Thanos for crying out loud. ‘I don’t know what you think you’re fuckin’ doing, my boy. But you gotta get the fuck offa me right the fuck now’.
Nam-gyu narrowed his eyes playfully and studied him. Thanos was trying his hardest to look threatening- breathing hard through his nose, chin jutting arrogantly, eyes stern and focused. It was a ridiculous display from a man who’d been scampering under a bed 10 seconds ago.
He could feel tremors from where Thanos was still clinging to his arms.
‘Woooow’ Nam-gyu drawled. 'That's pretty terrifying, dude. That's scary. You're a scary guy', and without warning, flexed his fingers into claws and lunged. ‘BOO!’
Thanos drew a sharp intake of breath and shoved as hard as he could with a loud ‘NO!’.
It took only a few moments for him to catch himself but the damage was done. He looked up at Nam-gyu with wide, disbelieving eyes- the younger man was laughing at him. Full, shoulder-shaking belly laughing.
‘That wasn’t fuckin’ funny’ he snapped, desperately trying to maintain his tough guy persona. Surely nam-su would get bored if he just…didn’t react? If he showed that he was better than this childish shit?
'Yeah? Then why are you laughing?'
'Wh- I'm not fuckin' laughihIHIHING! AHAHAHA!' Thanos' head thumped back and he tried to twist away from the fingers scrunching into his stomach. His hips bucked involuntarily to launch off his attacker, and for one wonderful, fleeting moment he actually managed to bounce Nam-gyu a little.
A little was all it took for Thanos to use all his core strength and sit upright, shoving at Nam-gyu's shoulders and sending the younger man toppling sideways. The rapper was still giggling from aftershocks as he pushed backwards on his hands at a rapid speed, one inch then two then-
Thunk
His back hit the hard railing of the bunk he was searching under moments before, so he was now sitting upright. His mind raced for an escape route when it circled back to that sweet safety of being hidden under mattress and metal that, really, wasn't much safety at all otherwise he wouldn't be trapped in this situation in the first place.
God, why couldn't he have searched a little harder? Why couldn't he have been fully under the damn bunk, away from Nam-gyu's stupid tickling hands?
He kicked himself for not having the magical ability of telling the future.
Meanwhile Nam-gyu, on any other day, would've been furious at being pushed so violently and sent to the floor like a ragdoll...but it wasn't like it was out of real aggression, nor was he actually hurt. He hadn't even really 'fallen over' at all, honestly. He was merely sent an inch to the right and had caught himself in a spiderman-like crouch.
'Woah-ho-ho!' He chuckled, his prey drive blooming. The chase was on.
Not that there was much of a ‘chase’. The gaps either side of the bunks were too small for Thanos to zip through without launching himself directly into Nam-gyu's grasp…so he was just kind of…stuck. In fact, he was in a worse position than he was before. Idiot.
'N-Nam-su, man- I'm serious- Don't come any fuckin' closer!'
Nam-gyu was crawling toward him playfully on his hands and knees, hunched like an apex predator hunting its next meal. With every inch he got closer Thanos became visibly more frantic, even going so far as to kick a leg out. It went nowhere near his target but coordination was never his best attribute.
'Come oooon, Hyung' sang Nam-gyu, voice laced with cruel tittering. His eyes were wide and he had that same exaggerated expression one would use if they were playing with a small child. His head tilted to the side and he narrowly dodged another kick with a delighted giggle. 'You're way too ticklish to not let me tickle you. So be good and-'
Another kick, this time accompanied by a squeak that Thanos would rather shave his head than confess to, and Nam-gyu cackled and leapt with a '-Lemme just do it!'
Thanos was taken by surprise at how much weight such a slender man could have, but the forefront of his mind was overtaken with 'oh fuck not again'.
They were chest to chest, Nam-gyu sitting heavy on his thighs. Both his hands held tight to Thanos' arms, pushing with inward pressure to ensure they couldn't flail or punch or... whatever else Thanos' hands did. Air guitar for all he cared.
Thanos was breathing heavily and something horrid curled in his chest. The way Nam-gyu was looking at him made something primal stand his hair on end, some billions-of-years-of-evolutionary defence mechanism telling him to run, to get far away.
But there was no running. No getting away. Just the inevitable.
His arms strained against Nam-gyu’s. He wriggled unflatteringly and his underbite twisted into a grimace of disgruntled fury.
‘The hell you playin’ at?! Why’re you- why’re you all up in my shit like this?’
‘Give me a reason’
‘Huh?’ Thanos stopped struggling and looked up. In such a position, Nam-gyu had height on him. Thanos was taller than average and it was foreign to him to have to tilt his head back to address someone. He much preferred talking down to people. It made him feel big.
He wasn’t feeling so big right now.
‘Give me a reason not to make you lose your shit laughing’ Thanos felt the pressure on his arms tighten and move downwards, until his wrists bore the brunt of it. In a flash, Nam-gyu shifted even further still, practically grinding Thanos’ lower belly with his own- and then his wrists were free for just an instant, Nam-gyu moving his hands away and immediately replacing them with his knees.
‘Wh-’ it had happened so fast that Thanos couldn’t have even taken advantage of the brief freedom. Not to mention, player 124 was now even further on his lap, if that was possible. The room between them was nonexistent. He could almost feel their heartbeats synching together, both equally as fast, both for different reasons.
It was a small mercy that they were hidden somewhere relatively private. Thanos’ image could remain intact (to anyone except Nam-gyu, obviously). To an outside viewer, being caught in such a compromising position would look…
Thanos chose not to think about that.
He gave one last wriggle, one last attempt at escaping what would undoubtedly be one of the worst fates imaginable for a guy like him, before giving up. He was almost immobile, Nam-gyu had made sure of that.
His brow furrowed, bravado clinging by a thread, and when he spoke he sounded…
Pathetic. Like a man on death row pretending not to be scared.
‘I ain’t givin’ you shit, Nam-su’
Nam-gyu smirked. He’d hoped he’d say that.
He weasled his arms into the barely-there space between them, forming his slender fingers into claws and nestling them on either side of Thanos’ ribcage.
‘What did you say, Hyung?’
His clawed fingers pressed down, palms roaming as he adjusted his fingerpads so that they pushed into the grooves between Thanos’ ribs. Snug. Secure. Primed for absolutely wrecking a certain manchild nearing 40. ‘Wanna try again? Last chaaance!’
At the feeling of Nam-gyu’s digits pushing between those ever-so ticklish bones, Thanos’ squirming renewed with vigour. His face crumpled, an expression that Nam-gyu had never seen a human being make.
‘Wai- wait! Waitwaitwait!’ Player 230 was caught in a loop of wriggling because of the anticipation, inadvertently tickling himself, and then wriggling more because he was tickling himself. ‘St-stahp! Just gimme a mihihinute!’
‘I’m not even doing anything, dude! That’s all you!’ The threatening, vengeful persona Nam-gyu had been putting on dissolved involuntarily at the sight of Thanos giggling frantically at quite literally nothing. He laughed despite himself, trying to hold himself together.
‘C’mon, Thanos!’ Nam-gyu hunched over to try and catch Thanos’ eye, not unlike how he’d get all close and personal to that Min-su wimp whilst intimidating him. Although, that was a lot easier of a feat than intimating Thanos, and also wasn’t usually while Min-su was being tickled.
…
That was an idea, actually…tickling Min-su would be fucking hilarious.
But he had to stay focused with the task at hand.
‘Gimme an answeeer!’ He was so close, almost nose to nose, that he could see the slight crows feet scrunch by the older man’s eyes, his eyebrows knotted together with frustration as he laughed and laughed and laughed.
Nam-gyu snorted, his own eyebrows raising in disbelief, because this was the stupidest thing he’d ever witnessed.
‘Hihihi! Hehehehe!’ Thanos’ laughter was high and strained like he was trying to choke it back down.
He was wheezing now. Actually wheezing. From tickling himself on Nam-gyu’s fingers. His torso twisted fruitlessly from side to side, squirming reflexively from the self-inflicted tickles and dooming himself to even more.
Nam-gyu would’ve been more than happy to let this go on until Thanos eliminated himself via giggles, but it did seem like the dude had been about to give him an answer to his question (if he could even remember what it was after laughing himself stupid). No doubt it would’ve been something pitiful that served no other function than giving Nam-gyu more of an excuse to tickle the daylights out of him, but hey! He was a fair man. He’d hear him out.
It’s not like he was going to stop anyway.
He lifted his fingers so that they weren’t burrowed so hard into those unfortunate ribs, now just brushing against the tracksuit fabric without causing ticklish sensation. The pressure relieved, the threat still active.
‘Ahaha! Haha-hihihe…ha…whew…’ Thanos shuddered a little from the lingering tingles, dopey smile on his face that he covered up by pretending to clear his throat. His head hung slightly and he lifted his eyes, immediately flinching because Nam-gyu’s were right there.
‘Fuckin’-!!’ He gasped. Nam-gyu tittered, eyes squinting.
‘Awhh, you don’t hafta be scared of lil ol’ me! Now- reason. Out with it’
Thanos thunked his head back slowly with the air of a man defeated and looked toward the sky.
‘Well…’
‘Weeell?’
‘I’ve lost my cross, yeah?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Well I gotta get lookin’ for the damn thing!’ Thanos snapped his head forward with exasperation. If his hands were free he’d have thrown them up.
‘Why?’
‘Because I need it!’
‘Why?’
‘Because the longer you’re sittin’ on me an’ touchin’ me up, the more chance of some other leech in here gettin’ to it first!’
‘Why?’
‘Is this it? Is this your little game? You keep needlin’ me ‘til my brain explodes?’
Nam-gyu studied him with a tight lipped grin before sitting back upright. Thanos’ gaze followed, once again forced to look up. He hated this.
Without a word, or a break in character, Nam-gyu withdrew a hand from Thanos’ body and delved into his pocket. With a smooth motion he pulled out the cross.
Thanos’ eyes widened and his mouth moved, trying to articulate his shock.
On top of that, though, was immense relief. His cross was right there. It was safe. Nobody had popped one of his drugs, except maybe Nam-gyu, but that was fine because it had always been fine and even after all this it would still be fine.
The idea of some other random bastard stealing a pill from him, though, made his blood boil.
‘Wh- wh- how-?’
Nam-gyu gambled with settling heavier on Thanos’ lap, not-so-subtly squeezing around it with his own thighs. He got bolder when Thanos didn’t protest- either because he was too oblivious to notice, didn’t care, or too relieved that his cross was safe- and his other hand, the hand still grasped on Thanos’ ribs, rubbed up and down. Not to tickle or torment- just…because. Maybe to soothe him, or just…to touch.
He dangled the cross by the chain, swinging it teasingly to and fro. His other hand stilled from where it was rubbing up and down Thanos’ side and took to cupping his waist, thumb rubbing in circles.
‘You want it back?’
‘Yes, dickhead, I want it back’
Nam-gyu pouted and cocked his head to the side.
‘Awhh. That’s not very nice. Ask me nicely’
‘Nam-su, give me the fuckin’ thing back’
Nam-gyu’s fake pout curdled into something more genuine. An anger flickered behind his eyes.
‘What’d you call me?’
‘I called you a dickhead, because you’re bein’ one’
‘No, no- my name. Say it again’
Thanos exhaled sharply out his nose like this was all a great inconvenience.
‘Nam-su. Give me my-’
‘I’m gonna have to train that outta you, huh’
Nam-gyu pointedly put the chain around his own neck, revelling in how Thanos made a furious noise powered solely by needing his fix, squirming like a worm on a hook. For once, he was completely helpless. Nam-gyu’s knees held tight around his forearms and he was powerless to do a single fucking thing.
‘You ready?’ Nam-gyu said without looking at him, adjusting the cross so it lay perfectly in Thanos’ eyeline. With how close they were, Thanos would’ve probably been able to grab it with his teeth. Not that that would’ve done any good.
‘Ready for…for what?’ Thanos’ voice wavered. Nam-su wasn’t about to carry on that stupid tickling shit, right?
‘For your training, dumbass’
Before Thanos could even question what the hell Nam-gyu meant, he felt those damn fingers slide back into place between his ribs and squeeze.
Over and over and over. The fingertips applying light pressure as they sunk in, only to retract with a harder touch as they rubbed along the length of the bone, getting faster and faster.
‘WHAHAHAHAHAHA!’ Thanos exploded and his legs thrashed, the only part of him that could move, eyes screwing shut. Fuck, that tickled. That tickled bad. Whatever technique Nam-gyu was using was so much worse than before; because now he meant it. He was tickling him not to play, but to make a point.
‘FUCK!’ Was the only unbroken word Thanos could bark out before melting into uncontrollable laughter again, trying to find purchase with his feet to buck his attacker off.
The angle was all wrong, and Nam-gyu stayed firmly on top of him. Panic rose in Thanos’ chest as he realised that this time there was no escape. There was just…this.
Nam-gyu sped his fingers up, this time instead of squeezing, scrunching up and down.
‘FUHUHAHAHA! ST-STOHOHO-AhahahAHAHA!’
Thanos had no idea why this was happening. It wasn’t fair! He’d said the thing. The- the thing Nam-gyu wanted him to say. What was it again?
He couldn’t remember. His mind was white with sensation. There were no thoughts that could hold themselves together long enough through the horrid ticklish shocks. He just knew there was a question, and he had answered, and that should’ve put a stop to this torture.
So why the fuck wasn’t it?!
‘Whassamatter? That tickle? Huh? The great Thanos got tickly ribbies?’
Nam-gyu put on that awful pout again, a horrible syrupy tone, leaning in so close their foreheads almost touched. He knew he was playing with fire, because along with Thanos’ legs, his head was the only other thing that was mobile. He could very easily get a nasty headbutt, and it wouldn’t even be on purpose. Thanos couldn’t control a single thing about himself right now.
But whatever. Fire was great. He loved fire. He could play with it a little longer.
‘STAHAHAHAAA! ST-STOHohOhoho- HihihIHIHI!’
The guy kept trying to repeat that word- ‘stop’. Each attempt became more and more desperate.
‘This must suck for you, dude’ Nam-gyu moved his hands down to that sensitive soft divot above the hips that every human has. His fingers curled around Thanos’ waist so all his strength could be used for his thumbs to dig in and out, vibrating into the muscle. They ventured outwards to the hem of his waistband, pushing into the soft flesh for a few seconds, before making their way back to the divots. ‘Poor pathetic thing’
Thanos’ back arched (well, as much as it could with a lapful of Nam-gyu) and he shook his head whilst cackling like a madman. Nam-gyu was eerily skilled at this. It was unlike anything he’d ever felt, anything he’d ever feel, and for a brief moment he thought he’d rather be in a death game than feel it for one more second.
‘HAHaha-hhh-HEHEHAHAAH-!’ His laughter went silent for a second before coming back worse. His stomach was cramping with how hard he was laughing and he found himself losing the strength in his torso, head coming to drop against Nam-gyu’s shoulder.
Nam-gyu smirked down at the purple tuft of hair against him.
‘Awhhh…poor ticklish hyung…’
The older man buried further into Nam-gyu’s shoulder, body instinctively seeking comfort, seeking warmth, even if it were from the very thing tormenting him. It was like holding tight to the wrist of the man running a blade through your chest; involuntary, primal, that desperate human need not to suffer alone.
There was a brief pause, hardly noticeable for Thanos’ abused nervous system, as Nam-gyu unzipped Thanos’ player tracksuit in one smooth motion; one hand braced on his shoulder, the other working the zipper until it exposed the thin player shirt. The sudden rush of air and absence of tickling (which now felt alien) made Thanos sit bolt upright. It was so sudden that Nam-gyu jumped in his lap.
His head narrowly avoided cracking against the bunk railing if it weren’t for Nam-gyu’s fast reflexes, rapidly cupping the back of Thanos’ skull without thinking. He wanted the ex-rapper to suffer but not like that.
Besides, if Thanos passed out from blood loss, how could the fun continue?
‘Woah, woah! Steady, dude. I’m not gonna hurt you’ said in a tone that most certainly implied otherwise, if given the chance. ‘What, you tryna knock yourself out or something?’
‘Whu- what are y’doin’, man?’ Thanos’ eyes flickered rapidly from Nam-gyu’s smirking face to his open jacket. Well- he couldn’t actually see his open jacket, due to there being not enough space between them for Thanos to so much as angle his chin downwards- even less when Nam-gyu’s hand gently moved from behind his skull and slinked over Thanos’ shoulder, the other following suit, slow as anything, until both sides of his head were boxed in. If he looked to the left- there was Nam-gyu’s arm. If he looked to the right- there was the other one.
His head was forced forwards, staring at Nam-gyu, nose to nose. He felt the hands over his shoulders clasp together, tightening the proximity.
Thanos swallowed thickly and flushed impossibly redder. For once he didn’t have any threat to make, any smart remark or cocky quip. The great Thanos was left speechless, perpetuating that there was, in fact, a first time for everything.
Nam-gyu stayed like that for a little longer- taking in how Thanos’ mouth was parted, his eyebrows furrowed with startled confusion, his drug-addled brain trying to make sense of what was happening right now- and let the tension hang.
‘I can tell you how to make this stop, if you want?’
His lips tugged in a downwards smile as he tried not to laugh when he saw Thanos get visibly irate at this. Having the upper hand was so much fun.
‘…what the fuck do you want from me, boy’
He could tell it was killing the older man to be so powerless. His nostrils were flaring with every tight breath, jaw set tight, and every few seconds he’d jolt violently to try and break free- but this wasn’t something he could violence his way out of- it was just tickling. It’s not like he was being beaten or shot at.
‘I want you…’ Nam-gyu leant back, giving Thanos some breathing room- not out of kindness, hell no. Flustering this immature manchild with a few sultry words and touches was the funniest thing he’d ever done- no, he’d only moved back so he could have the room to slowly drag his palms down Thanos’ shoulders, past his chest, and settling on his stomach.
‘…to say my name’
The slow descent of Nam-gyu’s hands had made Thanos’ squirming return with renewed vigour, eyes squeezing shut and gritting his teeth, expecting another round of torment- but this strange request made him go stock still, eyes slowly reopening. It was now he realised that Nam-gyu’s fingers were continuing to just…hold him, fingers splayed almost mockingly tender on his abs, framing his navel under his shirt.
‘…’ was this a trick?
Thanos huffed a small, unsure laugh, raising an eyebrow. His mouth curled in the world’s most awkward smile. ‘What?’
It was bizarre seeing Thanos awkward. He was usually outrageously loud, the loudest and most confident in the room, or even perhaps anxious (when he thought Nam-gyu wasn’t looking)- but ‘awkward’ was never a word anyone would ever use to describe Choi Su-bong.
‘Your ears working?’ Nam-gyu gave him a quick tap on the cheek before placing it back on the twitching stomach. ‘Say it. Say my name’
Thanos turned his head and looked across the room at nothing in particular, before turning his head back and cocking it with an arrogant smile and a scoff.
‘That it? Fine’ it was his turn to lean closer now, awkwardness forgotten, lips curled in a sarcastic grin. ‘Nam-su’.
The two men looked at each other for a while. Thanos leant back with a sigh. The whole thing suddenly felt very casual to him, like he’d regained control by playing into Nam-su’s little game.
‘Aawhh…’ the hands on his stomach started to scratch. Slowly. Purposefully. Not ticklish yet, more just irritating than anything, but it was enough to make Thanos realise he hadn’t won after all.
‘No, sorry, man’ Nam-gyu looked him up and down and sighed heavily, pursing his lips into a disapproving inward line, like he was truly disappointed. Like he’d just seen his child feed the dog from under the table. ‘That wasn’t it’
Thanos frowned and went to say something but was interrupted.
‘So now you get tickled. You get tickled until you cry’
‘The fuhuHUHUHUHUCK?! NONONOHOHOhoHohOHO!’ Thanos didn’t even have the luxury of voicing his confusion as those fingers on his stomach pressed in until they found resistance of the taut muscle and shook. Cruel vibrations in place, stimulating the nerves until Thanos was shrieking and thrashing and shuffling his feet uselessly on the floor, trying to find purchase. It was no good.
‘STAHAHAHAHA- FUCK! FUHUhuhuhHUCK!!’
‘That’s not what I wanna hear, hyung’
Thanos had taken to squeezing his knees together, knocking them against each other again and again to put the overwhelming tickling feeling into something.
He could feel every nerve scream at him to make it stop, and for every second that he couldn’t, it all only seemed to get more ticklish. It was like his sensitivity was punishing him.
Why are we just sitting here and taking this? It shouted. We have arms, don’t we? Use them. Shove him off. Fight.
It didn’t seem to understand that there was no using his arms. He could hardly even use his legs, save for the pitiful knee-knocking. The only part of him he could use was his mouth, and fuck, was he using it. His cheeks were starting to ache from how long he’d been smiling.
‘STAHhahahaAHAHAP! PLEEAHAHAHASE!’
The beg came involuntarily, the same way blinking was involuntary, just a body carrying out a necessary function. The vibrations had moved, Nam-gyu sliding his palms outward and back again, hitting new un-tickled real estate.
‘That’s an improvement I suppose’ Thanos could hardly process what his teammate was saying through the white hot sensation. He felt two fingers suddenly dig into the lean strip of flesh where his obliques connected his stomach and buzz mercilessly, tasering over and over. ‘But nope, not my name! Try agaiiiin!’
‘SHIHIHIHIT!!’ Tears were running freely down his cheeks. He didn’t know when they’d started. All he knew is that this had to end before he lost his mind.
‘NAHAHAHM-SU! NAHhahHAM-SUHUhuhuHU!’ His cheeks burnt both from humiliation and the fact he’d been smiling so wide for so long. His stomach and sides continued to cramp, just another layer of overstimulation. ‘NAHAM-SU!’
He was repeating it over and over, as if he thought it would save him. Nam-gyu felt a genuine surge of anger at this- Thanos was saying (or rather, cackling) it with such conviction, and surely couldn’t be holding out this long purely out of spite (the man was practically hyperventilating with laughter for gods sake), so…
…it became clear that Thanos thought ‘Nam-su’ really was his name. He wasn’t trying to be antagonising, or messing up on purpose, which was the false hope Nam-gyu had been clinging to. He just-
Didn’t know.
This whole time. 3, 4 days even- he didn’t know his fucking name.
‘You fucker’ Nam-gyu, who was very much not Nam-su, hissed and forced his hands into the tight space under Thanos’ arms, ignoring the panicked screech it elicited as he drilled and dug into the sensitive hollows. ‘You don’t know, do you? You really, actually, genuinely don’t know my name’
Thanos’ mouth had been forced into a painfully aching grin for so long now that a thin line of drool was running from his lips. He didn’t have the capacity to care.
He tried to clamp his arms down, but there wasn’t really any space to clamp down on. They were already so fused to his sides, it was a miracle Nam-gyu had even managed to get his hands in there in the first place. Maybe he was just that determined.
Fuck, his armpits were a bad spot. A terrible spot. The club promoter was digging ruthlessly, taking out his annoyance on those miserable nerve endings. His fingers had taken to rubbing viciously into the pit, working into the muscle.
Thanos’ face was a concerning shade of red and he felt as though he couldn’t keep up with his own laughter. It cut out in random intervals, changing from uproarious howling to soundless wheezing.
What was his name? It was definitely Nam something…Nam…Naaaam….
‘NAM-GYU!’
The tickling cut out immediately. Thanos panted and shook, residual giggles causing him to twitch. His head fell forward onto Nam-gyu’s shoulder, tears soaking into the fabric of his jacket. ‘Hooo…whew…holy- holy shit’
With great effort he lolled his head upwards, seeing how stupid he must’ve looked in his minds-eye, blinking tears from his vision.
Nam-gyu seemed to be studying him with an unreadable expression.
‘There y’go, man… -huff- that’s what you- you wanted, right?’
No response.
‘Nam-gyu?’
They held each others gaze for a beat longer before Nam-gyu withdrew his fingers and squeezed Thanos’ shoulders.
‘That’s a start’
‘A start?! Th- the fuck?! I said what you wanted you asshole!’
Nam-gyu would be lying if he said that Thanos’ outrage wasn’t satisfying. For once, he had the upper hand, he held the power and it was up to him when he decided this was over.
He wanted to see how low he could force Thanos to stoop.
‘Say ‘I’m a loser’’
Thanos may have been tickled within an inch of his life, humiliated and betrayed (in his eyes anyway) but his spirit was far from broken. His ego was way too big to crumble from something like this.
‘You’re goin’ way too fuckin’ far, Nam-s- uh, Nam-gyu’
Hm. Crumbled enough to correct himself on instinct it seemed. The ‘training’ had worked and Nam-gyu couldn’t stop the giddiness it elicited.
‘You don’t have to say it. Not if you would rather be tickled again. Would you like that?’ The hands squeezing Thanos’ shoulders used their thumbs to tease at the accentuated collarbone, playing with the ridge, massaging a little too hard to be pleasant. Thanos grit his teeth and let out an involuntary frustrated giggle.
‘That feel nice?’ The thumbs started tapping sporadically. It wasn’t enough to induce proper laughter, not like the cruel treatment from seconds ago, but Thanos’ nervous system was firing all jets and even this ‘nicer’ touch was still ticklish for him. ‘Want me to keep going?’ The thumbs pressed in harder and Thanos whined.
‘Fi-fihihine! I’ll say the damn thing!’
‘Go oooon…’
‘I…I’m a…’
Despite himself, the great Thanos just…couldn’t bring himself to say such a thing. Admit he’s a loser? He may as well have admitted he wasn’t the single greatest rapper on Earth.
‘So close, hyung…just one more little word…’ Nam-gyu’s palms travelled downwards to Thanos’ ribs and gave a quick squeeze.
‘Agh-! I’m…’
‘You’re?’
Thanos set his jaw and glared- as best he could with his mouth twitching at the edges, yet again just from the potential of those damn fingers dismantling him all over again- and tsk’d.
‘I’m better than you’
Nam-gyu, who was prepared to hear what would’ve been the sweetest words he could ever hear, just stared in disbelief. ‘You serious?’
‘Sorry, I mean-’ thanos sat up straighter like he was about to give a grand speech. Cleared his throat dramatically ‘I’m better than you, Nam-gyu’
Nam-gyu continued to stare. He was determined not to show how deep that actually cut. It shouldn’t have- Thanos thought he was better than everyone. He would expect the King of England to bow to him.
But it was something about hearing it out loud. Directed at him. The way Thanos puffed out his chest, and the way he actually used his real name at the end. It was on purpose. It made Nam-gyu feel so fucking small.
He couldn’t keep himself collected as he squeezed over and over at Thanos’ ribs, possibly harder than necessary.
Thanos predictably fell into frantic laughter. And it was now he realised he made a mistake.
‘WAIHIHIHIT! WAIT! WAHAHAHA!’
In the heat of the moment he had no issue being so rude. He lacked any emotional permanence- the previous tickling had been awful and he’d have given anything for it to stop, but as soon as it finished, it was as if he couldn’t remember how intense the past however many minutes had been.
He remembered now. Very much.
He’d rather die than admit it, but he found himself wishing he’d just said the damn line. Nam-gyu was being a lot more ruthless now. It tickled so bad it almost hurt.
Thanos’ laughter was so loud wild it brought about the attention of other players. In an effort to muffle it, to hide himself, he buried his face back into Nam-gyu.
But not his shoulder this time. His neck.
Nam-gyu was so shocked he almost stopped the torture. He could feel Thanos laughing into his bare skin, tears and what he thought might have been…something else, wetting his neck. He could feel Thanos’ lips stretched into a smile nestled against the crook. Even the enamel of his teeth against his pulse point.
He hoped Thanos wouldn’t get any ideas about biting.
Not that he could bite, what with laughing so hard. He couldn’t close his mouth enough for that.
‘Yeah, that’s right…laugh it up’ his voice came out in a soft, pleased murmur. ‘This is what arrogant little pricks like you deserve’
Player 230 should’ve been burning with rage at being spoken to in such a way, but it was hard to hold onto any anger when you had fingers in your ribs tickling you stupid.
Besides, his only thought in this moment was ‘say whatever it takes to make him stop’.
‘IHih- I’M A lOhohoHO- a lAHAHAaha-‘
He was trying dammit! If Nam-gyu would just stop paying extra attention to his middle ribs, he could spit it out-
‘Ihihihi’m a lo-LOHOHOHOSER!’
‘Yeah?’
‘YEHEHEHEHES!’
‘Say it again’
Thanos wailed through his laughter and weakly thumped his head once, then twice, against the crook of Nam-gyu’s shoulder. His forehead was pressed flush against the younger man’s neck and he went even more boneless when Nam-gyu started knuckling up and down his entire ribcage, both sides, lengthwise as if he was scrubbing on a washboard.
The club promoter had to use all his willpower to not push Thanos off him just because of the sheer volume of his screech. He’d never heard a grown man make such a sound.
Thanos would repeat anything asked of him at this moment, and Nam-gyu knew this, but who fucking cared if it wasn’t genuine? It was coming from Thanos, in Thanos’ voice, pressed against Nam-gyu’s skin. That was more than enough.
‘I LIHIHIHIKE IHIHIT!’
Thanos had taken to trying to push Nam-gyu off with just his head, trying to force proximity. It achieved nothing other than giving the older man a slight headache.
‘Hihehehihi-ahahaHaha! Dahahahamihihit! St-stahahAHAHAahap! I lihihiHihiHike ihihit! I’m a- ahaha- a lOhohohoser!’
His protests were becoming weaker, not from lack of desire to make it stop, but because he’d been laughing so hard for so long that his lungs were screaming in protest and he couldn’t get enough air to keep up with the stimulation.
Nam-gyu could tell he was going to have to ease things up, or he’d be dealing with something…messier. In multiple ways.
He stilled his knuckles and instead rubbed with the flat of his palm, mockingly grounding Thanos, like applying pressure to someone’s wound to relieve the pain.
Thanos panted into the crook of his neck, and without thinking- rubbed his face right into the flushed (when did that happen?) skin, drying his tears. It did very little to stop them, the liquid still coming even after the laughter had halted, but at least it somewhat saved face.
If saving face was nuzzling your teammates pulse point like a cat.
Nam-gyu expected him to rip his head away as fast as possible now that he didn’t need a warm surface to cackle into, but…he didn’t. He just rested there.
He could’ve laughed at him, could’ve called him something unsavoury, but who was he to do so when he’d been practically feeling him up for the past twenty minutes. He wasn’t exactly in a position to call out another man’s touch when he was so deep in said man’s lap.
Nam-gyu couldn’t help himself.
He brought up his arms and very gently, very carefully, wrapped one around Thanos’ upper back and the other came to rest on the back of his head. He gave the damp hair a scratch, nails carding through his hair and sliding over his scalp, thumb rubbing at the nape of his neck.
Thanos melted into it and made a soft groan.
‘Mmmngh…’
After such intense torment, the soft touch came as the ultimate relief. His shoulders heaved under Nam-gyu’s arm and his eyes remained closed as he tried to regulate his breathing.
They sat like that in silence for a while. Nam-gyu felt as if he’d tamed a wild animal and now had it in the palm of his hand. The act of cradling fucking Thanos whilst sitting in his lap was making his mind wander.
‘…you okay, hyung?’
For a second there wasn’t an answer.
‘Mmnhh…sure…’
Nam-gyu took the purple-haired man’s head in both hands and looked at him. He was a mess. A pure wreck. His eyes were rimmed red with laughter-induced tears, his cheeks were flushed almost purple.
‘Haha-! Holy shit! Look at you!’
Player 124 had tried his best to hold himself together but Thanos’ destroyed face was too hilarious.
Thanos didn’t have the energy nor the will to push back. Nam-gyu’s hands were cold on his flushed cheeks and it had been so long since he was treated with gentleness that even if the touch were mocking, it was still a comfort.
‘Ugh, whatever, man’ he couldn’t meet Nam-gyu’s eyes. The words came out half hearted. ‘The fuck you expect?’
Nam-gyu pouted theatrically and squished Thanos’ cheeks together slightly, thrilled to bits at the defeated sigh it induced. There was none of that pesky arrogance to be seen.
‘I expect an apology’ Nam-gyu decided to show a modicum of mercy and loosened his knees, freeing Thanos’ arms. Those arms slowly started to raise- for one terrifying moment he thought Thanos would push him off and cuss him out- but instead they simply just rested.
Thanos’ hands sat on his thighs casually. Either his hands were particularly big, or Nam-gyu’s thighs were particularly slender, but his ringed fingers took up almost the entire surface. Nam-gyu tried not to combust.
‘Apology for what…?’
‘For being so rude to me earlier’
Thanos finally looked directly at him. His face was plastered with confusion.
‘What’d I do…?’ He asked in a small voice.
‘You need to lay off those pills’ Nam-gyu chastised. ‘First you can’t remember my name, now you can’t remember hurting my feelings so bad?’ He tapped an index finger on the cheek he was still cupping. The closure of actually…having a conversation with this man, opposed to just drug-induced nonsense, was giving him more and more confidence.
Although, ‘conversation’ was a bit generous.
‘…y’mean when I was all…worked up? About my cross?’
The hands holding his head disappeared abruptly and a finger poked his temple.
‘Aish! Yes, idiot! You were horrible!’
Thanos swatted the finger away and then rubbed down his face.
‘Aight, aight…’ he held up his hands. ‘I was a bit of a dick’
‘A bit?’
‘…a lot of a dick’
‘That it?’
‘It wasn’t anything personal, boy. I just- you know. I…I-’
‘I know, I know. You need it’
‘…yeah. Uh, sorry’
Nam-gyu narrowed his eyes and looked close at him. It was a pretty shit attempt at an apology. But it was something.
By Thanos’ standards, this was him grovelling on his knees.
Not to mention that the rapper didn’t seem to be pulling this out his ass for the sake of saving his skin from more tickles. He seemed genuinely uncomfortable, the way everyone gets when they have to administer a true ‘sorry’, as he rubbed his jaw and tried to distract himself with a particularly interesting dust mote floating past.
‘…fine’ Nam-gyu (reluctantly) grabbed the bunk behind Thanos and used it as leverage to push himself up.
Thanos noted the empty absence in his lap. He chose not to say anything, because really…what would he say? ‘Nam-gyu, please sit back in my lap, it feels weird without you’? He’d rather be eliminated.
He was jostled out of his thoughts by the feeling of something cold round his neck.
‘Here. You can have this back’ Nam-gyu was draping the cross necklace around Thanos, even going as far as to arrange it neatly across his collarbone and zipping his player jacket back up. ‘You earned it’
Before Thanos could say anything, Nam-gyu was already stalking back to his bunk.
Minutes passed and Thanos continued to sit there, propped against the bed behind him. His hand was inside his jacket, absentmindedly fiddling with his cross. He squeezed one of the peninsulas, cold angular material turning his thumb and forefinger white, trying to process what had just happened- and more importantly, why it had just happened.
Thanos wasn’t a total idiot- in fact, even if he was, he’d still have picked up on just how obvious Nam-gyu was being. He’d never seen such blatant moves in all his life. Not even with the girls at the club who’d desperately try to win his affections, unknowing that he’d never return them for reasons that would ruin his reputation.
He hadn’t hated it, not one bit.
He’d make more of an effort to be nicer to his Nam-gyu from now on.
