Merry Christmas @ticklish-v-93 im your secret santa this year. In all honesty this is my first time writing for this ship I hope I did it justice
This is a tickle fic if you don't like that just scroll, also thers a tinyyyyy bit of restraints in here but nothing nsfw as always.
Laughter looks better on you
The rain hadn’t let up since the mission ended.
It tapped softly against the windows of the safehouse, the kind of endless drizzle that blurred the outside world into muted grays. Atsushi sat on the far side of the room, perched on the edge of the mattress like a ghost of himself—arms limp, shoulders slouched, hair still damp from the downpour.
He hadn’t spoken since they returned.
The mission did not go as planned; they were to infiltrate an enemy base and secure the weapons that were stolen but they weren't expecting a child hostage to be a part of the equation. Atsushi did everything in his power to try and save them but in the end the child's life was taken by the enemy and he blamed himself.
Akutagawa noticed.
Not that he was about to say anything. At first.
He sat in the corner chair, arms crossed, his coat still buttoned, even though steam had started to rise faintly from his shoulders as the chill of rain gave way to warmth. His eyes hadn’t left Atsushi in ten minutes.
There was something wrong. The weretiger usually wore his emotions like a badly-fitted coat—always tripping over guilt, shame, self-loathing, and still managing to offer some sorry excuse of a smile through it all.
But not tonight.
Tonight he was quiet. Too quiet. There was no half smile, he was just, Still. And Akutagawa didn't like it.
Akutagawa closed his book. Loudly. No response.
“…You’re acting strange,” he said flatly.
Atsushi blinked, slowly turning his head. His eyes looked a little glassy.
“I’m just tired,” he muttered. Even he didn't believe his own lie.
“Tch. You said that already.”
“Well… maybe I still am.”
That wasn’t it. Akutagawa knew it wasn’t.
There was a scrape of chair legs across wood as he stood up, deliberate in every step as he crossed the room.
Atsushi didn’t even react when Akutagawa crouched in front of him.
He just looked… small.
And Akutagawa hated it.
“You’re sulking.”
“I’m not sulking.”
Akutagawa narrowed his eyes. “You’re brooding. You have that pathetic furrow between your brows again.”
Atsushi’s lips twitched, but the ghost of a smile never fully formed. “Maybe I just messed up today. Again. Maybe it’s my fault those civilians got hurt. Maybe—”
poke.
Atsushi was startled. His whole body jumped.
Akutagawa’s finger lingered just at his side. He looked positively smug.
“…What was that?” Atsushi squeaked.
“You flinched,” Akutagawa replied simply. “And you made one of those squeaky noises again.”
“That’s not—Akutagawa, don’t—”
Another poke. This time higher. More deliberate.
“D-don’t! I’m being serious—!”
“So am I,” Akutagawa said, voice soft but unrelenting as he reached again. Atsushi moved to avoid his fingers but Akutagawa knew his moves all too well. Whichever way Atsushi moved to avoid his fingers Akutagawa would go to the opposite side, faking him out only to attack anyway.
Akutagawa’s fingers struck again—this time not a single jab, but a series of quick, feather-light prods beneath Atsushi’s ribs.
“GYAH—A-Akuta—! H-hehey! STAHAHAHAP!”
Atsushi curled forward instinctively, arms folding tightly around his torso as he twisted on the bed, trying to scoot away. But Akutagawa followed, calm as ever, movements precise as a scalpel.
“I don’t understand.” His tone was maddeningly flat. “If you’re tired, why are you squirmingso much?”
“BECAUSE YOU’RE TIHIHIHICKLING ME!”
“Hm.” Another thoughtful prod, this time targeting the edge of Atsushi’s waist. “Are you going to admit it?”
“Th-That’s not—” poke poke poke “WAHAHAIT—OKAY! Ohohokay! I AHAHA-ADMIT IT!”
Akutagawa actually smiled, just barely—so faint it could be missed if you weren’t looking directly at him. “Good. Then this is effective.”
He sat beside Atsushi now, his fingers slipping beneath the loose hem of the other’s shirt with no hesitation, pressing into the dips between ribs with exacting care. Atsushi howled.
“NOHOHO FAHAHAIR—Th-That’s—AHAHAHA—I c-can’t—!”
“You said you didn’t want to talk. So I found a better method.”
“THIS IS NOT A METHOD!”
“You’re smiling.”
Atsushi gasped through his giggles, his hands flailing and useless, trying to push Akutagawa off—but the black-clad Port Mafia member had that terrifyingly calm energy about him. Focused. Composed. Like this was all part of some clinical experiment.
“Your reflexes are slow. You're easy to provoke,” Akutagawa observed as if he were reading a case file. “Your underarms are especially reactive.”
“D-Don’t you DARE—!!”
Too late.
Akutagawa struck again, fingers skimming deliberately up Atsushi’s sides, thumbs pressing into the vulnerable hollows just beneath his arms. The shriek that ripped out of Atsushi’s throat could’ve shaken the roof.
“AKUTAGAWAAAAA—!!”
The name burst from Atsushi’s lips in a squealing, desperate cackle as he twisted hard to the side, nearly rolling off the bed.
Akutagawa caught him by the shoulder without a word, steadying him easily. His grip wasn’t rough—but it was firm. Intentional. Like he’d never let him fall.
Not even from something as stupid as laughter.
“Stop moving,” he muttered.
“S-s-stop tickling me!” Atsushi cried, breathless, red-faced, and trembling. His chest rose and fell rapidly as giggles still clung to the edges of his voice. “Y-you’re such a—a jerk—!”
His comments didn't seem to phase Akutagawa but while he continued to wreck the weretiger a thought came to him. “I do happen to remember Dazai mentioning something to me in passing.” His hands slowed while he hovered them over the younger boy. Atsushi's giggles weren't as loud or forced just reminance of what just occurred, he looked up at Akutagawa unaware of what he was about to do. The black robed portmafia member lowered his hands shifting the weretigers shirt up just the tiniest bit revealing his belly button and Atsushi’s eyes went wide.
“NO NONONO DONT! HE WAS LYING!” Akutagawa’s face was still as stoic as it always was as he let out a huff.
“Heh, for someone calling Dazai-san a liar you sure seem awfully defensive.” Atsushi grabbed his shirt immediately pulling it down causing the other to scoff. “Are you really going to make me have to use Rashouman?” And the weretiger who had just thought things couldn't get any worse. He tried to bolt.
“Rashouman!” Before Atsushi even made it off the bed he was pulled back and his arms moved above his head, although held by Rashouman the hold was uncharacteristically gentle. Akutagwa moved Atsushi’s shirt back up just a bit higher than his belly button this time. “Now Dazai said this spot was only to be used if extremely necessary, and I think wiping that annoying mopey look off your face entitles this to be completely necessary.”
With that Akutagawa held out a single finger and lowered it towards his button and Atsushi freaked out.
“NONONO OKOKOK I'M DONE MOPING I WONT BROOD ANYMORE!!!”
“You surely won't after this” his finger delves into Atsushi’s belly button and a scream bursts out of the weretigers mouth of that of someone being murdered.
“AKUTAGAWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO” Akutagawa remained stoic as ever while he wrecked Atsushi into a new dimension. His finger swirled in his bellybutton not so much digging but just enough to tickle like hell. The things Dazai had let Akutagawa in on seemed to have a major effect on Atsushi so why not try something else he thought to himself. Inadmitably Akutagawa lowered his head towards Atsushi’s tummy and this only caused his squirming to worsen ten fold.
“NONONONO DONT YOU DAHAHAHRE”
“Oh I dare Weretiger, and I shall.” He says this with an uncharacteristic smirk on his face, and once lowered he blows. Blows a long hard raspberry on Atsushi’s belly button and he shrieks, the noise so high pitched it almost startles Akuatagawa. He almost stops but wiping that dumb sad look off his partner's face is what his main goal was right now.
“AIEEEEEEEEEHHEHEHEHEHEHE CRAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP AKUTAGAWA NOHOHOHOHOHOHO” his body thrashes and Rashouman holds firm, to keep his waist in place in holds Atsushi’s hips down with his hands and just to be a little more sadistic he rolls his thumbs into his hip dips. Atsushi’s body fights for a moment longer before collapsing allowing himself to laugh. Allowing himself to forget about what happened tonight. Besides being tickled to the brink by the rabid dog of the mafia, it feels good to be able to let go despite laughing til he can't breathe.
Only when Akutagawa sees tears and how red his face truly is and how his breathing has changed does he stop, he finally lets his hands fall away and sits up bringing his mouth away from the weretiger’s tummy as well as releasing Rashouman’s hold. His expression didn’t change much—but there was something calmer about it. Less tense.
“…You were upset,” he said simply.
Atsushi blinked, thrown off by the shift in tone. “Huh?”
“You were brooding. Again. That look on your face…” Akutagawa paused, then frowned. “It’s worse than your whining.”
“I wasn’t—” Atsushi hesitated. His arms dropped from their defensive curl, and he exhaled. “…Okay. Maybe I was a little off.”
Akutagawa didn't reply. His gaze flicked down—toward Atsushi’s hands, still faintly trembling from the aftershock of laughter—and then away again, jaw tightening.
"I like you more when you're laughing," he muttered.
The silence stretched between them.
Atsushi slowly blinked, shocked by the words coming out of Akutagawa’s mouth, his cheeks flushing.
"Don't make me say it again."
A laugh—this one real, worn around the edges but warm—escaped Atsushi before he could stop it. It was softer now. No hysteria, no forced grin. Just… genuine.
He rubbed the back of his neck, still pink. “I- um. Thanks for uh… for cheering me up.”
“You’re welcome Weretiger” Atsushi moved hesitantly but made his way beside him laying just close enough.
“If I see that look on your face again while we're on this mission I won't hesitate to do it again Weretiger” Akutagawa says flatly.
Atsushi doesn't say anything but cuddles up to him regardless, causing Akutagawa to stiffen for a moment before relaxing. “Pathetic” he says dryly but wraps his arms around Atsushi anyway.
There's a silence for a beat, and Atsushi leans up pecking a kiss on Akutagwa’s cheek, and immediately the paler of the two goes red.
“…Thanks Ryu.” Atsushi says again, cuddling into his partner, and before long Atsushi was actually able to sleep in the comforting embrace of his partner's arms.
Akutagawa looked down at the sleeping weretiger in his arms. His face remained stoic at first but the corner of his mouth twitched. Just once.
“You smiled,” he said quietly.
He held him for the rest of the night til he fell asleep alongside him.
OH MY GOD I'M SO SO SO SORRY THIS WAS SO LATE!!!! I was having majorrrr writers block but rewatching snippets of Bungo helped so here’s your present, Merry Christmassssss