Tickle Craft
Read on AO3
--
It’s the noise that attracts your attention first. Shouting, yelping, and laughing. Not unusual sounds for your little family at all, but always fun to follow. Bonbon is spending quality time with their sister, and the rest of you have found a cabin in Bambouche to stay at to get some rest before you start travelling again. You thought you’d be bored, but… the craft exhaustion had caused more trouble than you’d like to admit. Slowing down has done you good.
Your musings are brought to a halt when you reach the living room doorway, a smile tugging at your lips at the sight before you.
Isa giggles frantically, shrinking away from Mira’s questing hands. “Nonono! No! Defenders aren’t ticklish!”
She laughs too, managing to land a poke to his stomach and earn a giddy wheeze. “Are you sure? That sounds questionable to me.”
You almost speak up to say that Isa quit his defender job, but it’s more fun to watch them. Mira’s wiggly fingers are quick, darting across Isa’s stomach, sides, ribs, and underarms too fast for him to catch, driving him into flustered giggles that have you feeling a little lightheaded. His face is dark, and his smile is wide.
Stars he’s adorable.
Your fingers twitch. You wonder if he’d let you do that too.
You shake off the thought just in time for Isa to give a laughter-laced battle cry and shoot his hands under Mira’s arms.
She shrieks, collapsing backwards and kicking her feet. “No, wait, Isabeau!”
He laughs victoriously. “Well, I see that housemaidens are definitely ticklish, huh?”
You bite back a snicker.
Mira flails, her hands latching onto Isa’s wrists as he pokes under her arms and at her ribs. She’s doing an admirable job of not laughing, until one of his hands moves to spider fingers over her stomach, and then- “SNRK- nohohoho- eek! Isabeau!”
Oh stars.
Isa seems to share your enchantment. “Oh my change. Mira, that is the cutest little snort I’ve ever heard.”
She tries and fails to bite back another, flailing and laughing under his assault. “Noooooo!”
“Oh yeah. I’m so sorry but for the sake of my heart, I’m gonna need you to do it again.”
You chuckle, the sound masked by Mira’s laughter and protests. “Nooo! You- you cahahan’t make me!”
Oh, that’s bait if you ever heard it.
Isa seems to agree. “Oh, do you think?” He teases, and then to your surprise, he retracts his hands, grinning widely at her. “I’ll have you know I’ve been perfecting my tickle craft!” he wiggles his fingers in the air, and, to your surprise, Mira bats at his hands, laughing still.
“Noooo!” She cries giddily.
“Oh yeah, lots of research, I’m a specialist at tickling all the cute noises out of helpless housemaidens.” His hands don’t stop wiggling at her, and despite the fact that he’s not touching her, Mira can’t seem to stop laughing.
“Isabeau!”
You’re grinning like a fool. You can’t help it. You love them.
Mira’s arms stutter in front of her, clearly wanting to launch a counterattack against Isa, but far too giddy to leave herself open like that. He fakes a grab at her side and she jolts, letting out another adorable snort. “Isabeau!”
He laughs. “Whaaaat? I’m not even touching you!” His hands float over her face, neck, stomach, sides, sending her curling up into a ball, trying to muffle her laughter and snorts into one hand.
Oh stars, oh stars, she’s just so crabbing cute! You giggle and shift forwards ever so slightly, just so you can see better.
Isa looks up, his expression morphing from mischief to surprise to joy. “Oh, Sif!” He slows his hands, but worms one into Mirabelle’s protective ball to scratch at her stomach and keep her laughing. “Hey!”
You’ve been spotted. There’s no point in staying in the doorway now. “Hey Isa.” You grin at Mira’s squirming, snorting form. “Heyyy Mira. What’s up?”
“S-Siffrin!” She manages to hiccup. “He- snrk- Help mehehe!”
Isa gasps in mock offense, his other hand fluttering against her neck now and making her squeal. “Mirabelle! Surely you know that Sif is always on my side! Through thick and thin!”
You gnaw on your lip around a wide smile. Oh, this choice is hard. And also not hard at all. Mira’s eyes meet yours and you shoot her a wink, and then dig your fingers into Isa’s sides.
He squeaks loudly and flinches, though not as dramatically as you’d expected. Perhaps your betrayal wasn’t as dramatic as you’d thought. Ah well. Given that Isa is hugging himself tightly, blushing dark and giggling heavily, you can’t be too disappointed.
You chuckle. “Hey, Isa, if you get your old defender job back will you stop being so ticklish?”
He doubles over, squeaking and giggling and making all sorts of bitten off noises. “Ohmychange, Sif, Sihihif! Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait!”
Oh. You stop immediately, pulling back. Right, you didn’t actually check if it was okay. Stupid. Disgusti-
Isa’s giddy chuckle interrupts your spiral. “Hehey, why’d you stop?”
Huh? You squint at him. Is this some kind of test? “You, um, you told me to?”
“Ohhh.” Isa says, looking somewhat embarrassed as Mira pushes herself up, finally catching her breath. “Okay, um, you uh- don’t have to stop, I mean…”
Mira giggles. She looks… happy. “It’s fun! Tickle fights, I mean. Look, Isabeau’s strong enough to push me off him if he wanted to, right?”
You nod slowly. Isa blushes and whines. “Miraaa.”
She squeezes your hand. Oh! It’s nice. Having your feelings buddy here. “And I’m fast enough to get away from him if I want to. And…” She purses her lips, blushing. “Neither of us actually said to stop, right?”
Well, not when it was the two of them, no. They were shouting and laughing but… obviously having fun. It wasn’t until you joined in that Isa said… wait. Wait. He’d said wait, he didn’t tell you to stop. Maybe because… he was having fun?
You glance at him. His cheeks are still dark, his smile firmly in place. Huh. Huh. “So… it’s okay? If I um- join in?”
Mira giggles delightedly. “I’d love that!!” She musses your hair playfully.
Isa flushes darker still, cringing back and grinning shyly. “Yeah.” He mumbles. “Yeahthatsoundsfun.”
Oh. You… don’t know what to say.
Thankfully, it seems like Mira does. She aims a poke at you, which you dodge, and laughs. “I guess we’ll have to find your tickle spots, Siffrin!”
Isa brightens and you startle to your feet, already grinning. “You’ll have to catch me first!” You chirp, taking off with a laugh.
You hear them laughing as they trail after you. It’s nice. You feel so warm.
You… don’t tell them that you can’t even remember if you’re ticklish.
--
It is so much fun playing with Mira and Isa. They’re both so crabbing cute, and you love running around, chasing them and being chased, leaping onto Isa’s back to vibrate your fingers into his stomach and make him shriek. Seeing him all breathless and giggling is so much different to his usual loud, boisterous laughter, you can’t get enough of it.
And Mira! She’s so embarrassed by her laugh and you can’t understand it! It’s adorable. Heh, you remember her outrage when you called her ‘adora-belle’, and she couldn’t keep from laughing because you were floating your fingers over her neck and ears. Whatever Isa’s so-called ‘tickle craft’ is, it sure works! Works on him, too, you’ve found.
It’s… not that you don’t want them to tickle you back. You don’t think about it too hard. You’re so much faster than them, now, it’s hard not to outpace them, and so easy to duck behind a shelf to launch a sneaky counterattack, or on one memorable occasion, vault up into the rafters.
Part of you is worried that… it might not work on you.
Not everyone’s ticklish, you know that, and you can’t for the life of you remember if you are. It’d be… disappointing if you weren’t. Would you still be allowed to play like this with them? It’d hardly be fair.
You know you can’t draw it out forever, you know that, but… you could get lost in their laughter and touch.
Once, when you had some time to yourself, you tried to test it. Closing your eye had to help, but… nothing. You tried to summon that giddy feeling that seemed to take over Isa and Mira, but it just felt like your hand against your side. Even trying Isa’s dreaded tickle craft gleaned nothing but a strong feeling of foolishness.
It’s dumb. You feel dumb. They’d call you dumb, if you told them.
You should tell them.
Well. After this. Because you and Isa had caught Mira saying something slightly mean about herself, which meant that you got to tag tickle team until you felt she was sufficiently sorry.
Isa tuts. “Really Mira, speaking bad about Vaugarde’s saviour! Such poor form.”
She’s wriggling like a fish on land on the living room rug, laughing and snorting like crazy. “Hic- Ihihisabeau- nono- Siffrin!!”
You beam. You love her. “Sorry, I can’t let anyone be mean to Mira; she’s one of my favourite people, so…”
Isa chuckles. “Awww.”
Mira squeals, kicking at you playfully. “Snrk- Siffrin!! You- yohou can’t say that right now! EEEK- s’not fair! Ohchangeohchange that tickles!!”
You and Isa laugh too. “Aw, which bit?” Isa teases. “This?” She shrieks. “Or this?” Another snort. “Or is it the dreaded tickle craft?”
Mira shoves him hard enough that he falls back for a moment. “No! Nahat the tickle craft!”
Heh. You’re getting better at catching their obvious bait. “Come on, it can’t tickle that much.” You draw your hands back and she sucks in air between giggling.
“Ehehehehhe- yes it does!”
You chuckle and wriggle your fingers in front of her face, getting a giggly shriek. “I’m not even touching you!”
Isa laughs and claps you on the shoulder. “It’s magic, Sif, I don’t know what to tell you.”
Hmm. You float your hand over to Mira’s ear. Even though her eyes are closed, her giggles increase as you wiggle your fingers in the air there. “You’re faking; there’s no way this actually tickles.”
Mira hiccups, losing her breath. “It does toohoo! Y- snrk- yohou know it does!!!”
Huh. A very confidently incorrect statement. Whatever. A quick glance at Isa confirms that yeah, she’s had enough. You smile and withdraw your hands, letting Mirabelle catch her breath, and flop onto the rug beside her.
She gives you a smile that’s equal parts grateful and playfully mad. You grin right back. You love her.
Isa flops down behind the both of you and heaves a happy sigh. You lay in silence for a little while, just breathing and existing together. It’s nice. Really nice.
Isa is the one to break the silence, in the end. “Hey, uh, Sif? Can I ask you something?”
Huh? “Uh- sure, Isa.”
He gives a flustered little groan. “Um, okay, do you uh- not? Want us? To tickle you?”
Oh. Oh no.
He keeps going. “It’s totally fine if you don’t!! Just, uh, I wanted to check! Cos I mean you’re really fast, and you always get away from us and I- dunno whether that’s on purpose, or…”
Oh stars. Why did this have to happen to you. This is the worst day of your life.
Mira smiles gently and takes your hand. “Calm down.” She commands, and you take a deep breath. “Isabeau’s right, you do always get away from us. And… after how wrong we were about your feelings on touch, it’d be nice to know.” She pokes your cheek with her other hand. “Even if it’s a liiiittle embarrassing.”
You bat her away with your free hand, but the touch helped. You’re smiling. You feel… safe. “I-I don’t know.”
… Hey, useless words are better than no words!!
Isa tilts his head to look at you upside down. “You don’t know? If you’re okay with it?”
Well, yes, but not really what you meant. You squeeze your eye shut, your shoulders pulling up around your neck. “I um- don’t know if I’m… you know.”
Mira giggles and squeezes your hand. “Ticklish?” She supplies.
Stars. You nod. “I- there’s a lot I don’t remember, so… I don’t know.”
They both make quiet noises of realisation. “Oh crab, that makes so much sense!”
Okay. Out with it, Stardust. “A-and I’m… worried.” You can’t look at either of them. “I love playing like this, getting to run around and make you guys laugh… it’s fun.” Your lips twitch upwards.
“Hehe, yeah.”
“It really is.”
You cringe. “Part of me is scared that if I’m not ticklish then… you guys won’t want me to join in anymore.”
You feel dumb even saying it. Their answering silence only has you feeling more dumb.
Isa speaks first. “Okay, so, a couple of things.” He starts, sounding like he’s trying very hard not to be amused. “First off, we love you very much, and basically always wanna spend time with you, especially if it’s fun friend times.”
Right. Yeah. You knew that, but hearing him say it does help.
“Second, I don’t think I’m exaggerating to say that everyone’s at least a little ticklish. Heheh, if you’re not as bad as us then that just makes it more of a fun challenge to find your tickle spots!”
… why do you want to curl up into a tiny ball. Your face must give something away, because Mira giggles at you.
Isa chuckles too. “And call it a hunch, but I don’t think there’s any way you’re not ticklish.” He sits up enough to boop you on the nose. You jump and grin shyly at him. “There’s no way the universe gave you a smile that cute and didn’t also make you ticklish.”
Um??? Your face feels very warm.
Mira’s thumb rubs circles on your hand. “Hehe, I mean there’s one way to find out, right?”
Meep. You suddenly have the urge to run. You feel… giddy. Part of you knew that they’d be this understanding and kind, but the reassurance is nice. And now… well. “Um…”
“If you’re okay with it, of course.”
“Of course!” Mira echoes.
They’re waiting for you to answer, but you don’t know, you don’t know, that was the whole point! “But I-I don’t…”
Isa huffs a laugh. “Heh, right, hard to know if you’re okay with it when you can’t remember ever being tickled.” He shoots you a soft, upside down smile. “We could, uh, describe it for you? Or take it slow?”
Oh. You feel very warm. “U-uh…” Stars, how do you do this. “Um- s-slow could be… okay. If you’re okay with that.”
They both smile at you, as bright and shining as the sun. Mira giggles. “I am more than okay with that.” She says warmly, a spark of mischief in her eye. “Oh, can I try first?”
Isa hums. “Mmm, smart, both at once is probably too much. I guess I’m okay with that.”
You cringe, and nod. It’s fine. You don’t know where this giddiness has come from, the urge to scamper away from them both, the nervous smile that won’t seem to leave your face. You tried this already, and it didn’t work, so it’s obviously not going to work now. It’s not gonnAAAH!
A light, fluttery feeling over your neck has you flinching and squashing your head down to protect the spot. You don’t quite make a sound, but your breath catches, and you… your smile has gotten bigger, twitchier. What. What.
You risk cracking your eye open to peek at them and immediately regret it. Isa and Mira are both looking at you, utterly enchanted. Oh stars, oh stars, your stomach is suddenly full of butterflies.
Mira giggles. “Hehe, okay Siffrin?”
You feel your face flush. You can’t look at her, so you look down, and nod.
“Can I keep going?”
Oh crab. You nod again.
“Yay!” She cheers. You squeeze your eye shut, still grinning. Isa chuckles softly.
You’re expecting it this time, so it won’t be as bad. You’re just thinking that it was probably a fluke when Mira’s fingers flutter around your ear and you give a full body jolt, arms clinging tight to your torso and your legs briefly kicking out.
And she doesn’t stop. You fight desperately to keep still, not squash your head down even though it- it-
Her touch is so soft. It’s nothing really, barely there, but you can’t stand it. And… you really don’t want her to stop. You make a little grumbly noise from behind grinning lips, fighting the urge to shake your head to throw her off as she giggles quietly and squiggles her fingers around your ears, neck, even under your chin.
Isa laughs softly somewhere above you. “Mmm, yeah, I get the feeling you might be a little ticklish, buddy.”
Mira laughs too, and you make an argumentative noise, your nose scrunching up to make room for your smile. You don’t know what kind of noises you’d make if you opened your mouth right now, but you know they’d be really embarrassing.
“No? You don’t think so?”
Mira’s other hand comes into play, both now scratching gently just under your ears and earning a strangled squeal. Just for the sake of it, you shake your head.
“Oh!” She lets out a surprised peep, her hands drawing away. Ah, right, she probably thought you were telling her to stop. Hmm. You nibble on the inside of your lip, then open your eye and look at them both.
“Time travellers aren’t ticklish.”
Their faces light up so brightly that you wish you could take a picture. Then their smiles turn evil and you can’t get your wobbly legs under you fast enough to run.
Isa seizes your ankle when you try, making you flop facedown on the ground, and the next thing you know those big soft hands are pinching at your sides and ohcrabthattickles.
“NYAHA!” Someone makes an embarrassing sound.
It’s you.
You clap your hands over your mouth to muffle any further ones, but Isa’s pinchy hands are really tickly, and he’s doing a great job at honing on weak spots you didn’t know you had, so it’s only a few seconds before you’re laughing with abandon, your legs kicking just to vent some of the energy.
He chuckles, releasing your leg to scratch horribly at your back. “Okay Sif?”
Your stomach is full of butterflies and your bones feel all fizzy and you can’t stop laughing and yes, yes, yes, you’re completely and totally fine right now. “Pffahaa- Isahaha! Isa!”
He doesn’t stop. Thank crab. “Yeah, buddy?”
Your arms flail happily and a snort escapes your control. “EEE- snrk- nahahaha!” You don’t know what to say. Anything not to stop him.
Isa gasps. “Oh no. Don’t make me pick who has the cutest lil tickle snort. You two are gonna break my heart.”
You shake your head, trying to roll over if only to do something. It’s getting harder to breathe pressed into the rug. “It’s Mihihira! She- AAA- Shehehe does!”
“Hmmm, I don’t know about that, Siffrin.” She grins, leaning over to grin at you. “You should see yourself right now. So. Cute.”
“Nooo!” You shove a hand in her face, your feet scrabbling against the floor. So maybe you’re leaving yourself open a little bit on purpose. Maybe there is a loud voice in your brain begging them to take advantage of it, to find every weak spot you have until you’re nothing but a puddle of giggles on the living room floor. Maybe- “EEEEE! MIRA!”
Maybe your armpits are a really bad spot oh STARS! You burst out cackling, arms snapping down too late to stop her wiggling, scratchy fingers. They’re both laughing along with you now. “Yes, Siffrin?” She asks politely, as if she isn’t driving out completely crazy.
You shriek. “MAHAHA- Mira it- pfahaha- it tickles!”
“Oh, it does?” She isn’t stopping! “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”
“Yeah Sif, how were we supposed to know that this-” Isa scratches gently at your stomach, drawing out another snort, “tickles?”
You flap your hands. Your stomach aches. You don’t know if you’ve ever laughed this much. You feel lightheaded. “Miraha, nails, NAILS!!”
She pauses for a second to process your words. Then she makes it worse, deliberately scratching her nails in your armpits. “Hmm? What do you mean?”
You hiccup. “Tihickles, tickles, it tickles!!!”
“Mhm, yeah, thanks, we established that.” Isa chuckles. “Hey, Sif, if you get back into time travel, will you stop being so ticklish?”
“Noooooo!”
Isa eases off, chuckling at you, and before you can say anything Mira’s right in front of your face, smiling innocently. “Hehehe, so you said there’s no way the dreaded tickle craft is real, didn’t you Siffrin?”
Oh no. “Nahaha- hic- Mira!”
“Whaaat?” She sings, wriggling her fingers in front of your face, and dtrfygtuyhiuj! How? Does it feel like that?! Neither of them are even touching you!
You splutter with giggles, batting playfully at Mira’s hands as she floats them over your face, neck, ears, sides, stomach, it doesn’t matter, it all tickles like crazy, even when you squeeze your eye closed trying to block her out!
You’re short of breath and very floaty in the head when she stops, squealing when she ruffles your hair. “Hehe, I think we should stop, don’t you?”
You’re not thinking straight, which is the only reason you let you whiny little, “Noooooo…” escape.
Isa and Mira laugh. You curl up in a flustered little ball. Your smile feels permanent, now.
You twitch when Isa claps you gently on the shoulder. “Well, I think we confirmed that Sif’s ticklish.”
Mira laughs. “Just a tiny bit.” She pokes your cheek. “And they learned to fear the fabled tickle craft!!”
Fear… isn’t exactly the word you’d use, but you’re too giggly and embarrassed to say so. You’re too giggly and embarrassed to say anything. You’re… a little mad at yourself for evading their attacks so often.
Oh.
Oh stars, they can do this anytime now! That thought has your giggles starting all over again. You… breathe. In… out. In… out.
Good. You’re starting to calm down. You’re certain that you’d fall over if you tried to stand, so you don’t, but you do crawl closer to Mira and Isa, and after an appropriately pleading look, rest your head in Isa’s lap. It’s nice. Even moreso when Mira shifts over beside him. You can crawl even further into snuggle time, and she starts softly playing with your hair.
You let out a long sigh. “I live here now.” You pat Isa’s knee. “Sorry.”
He snorts. “Oh yeah?”
“Mhm.”
Mira snickers, scratching her nails against your scalp and making you shiver. Feels nice. “That’s okay with me, for now.” She says. “But we’ll have to get up to eat eventually.”
Curses! The one flaw in your flawless plan!! “Noooooooooo…” You flip onto your back and give them both your poutiest pout. “But whyyy?”
A playful poke to your stomach has you twitching. “Cos you’ve gotta put food in this tummy, sorry.”
“Boo.”
The cabin door opens, and you all look up as Odile returns, grocery bags in hand. She raises an eyebrow when she sees the three of you sprawled out on the floor, her eyes lingering on you a moment longer. “Oh gems. What did you two do to Siffrin?”
Huh? Oh, right. You probably look like a total mess. Mira and Isa laugh, and you feel yourself flush. “Tickle fight.” Isa supplies. “Very one-sided.”
“Heh, I see. And I thought the only child in the group was out with their sister.” She puts the bags down in the kitchen.
Mira tuts. “Madame! Siffrin didn’t even know they were ticklish! It was all in the pursuit of knowledge!”
Odile snickers. She’s trying to look unimpressed, but it’s impossible for her to hide her fondness. “Right, of course. Scientific inquiry.”
Hmm…
“Exactly!” Isa says brightly. “Besides, laughing’s good for the soul!!”
You hold your breath.
“I suppose you have a point.”
Mira nods wisely. “We put a lot of thought and research into our decision, don’t you worry.”
Odile sighs. “Yes, yes, you’re all very GHK-” Your fingers dig into her sides from behind, and she jumps, startling forwards with an adorable strangled squeak.
Everyone freezes for a long moment. Oh crab, oh crab, you didn’t think it’d actually work. Amazing. Outstanding. This is the best day of your life.
Then Odile turns around and you realise you’re in a lot of trouble. Isa and Mira are doing a great job of hiding their snickers, but she’s not looking at them. And you have no chance of getting rid of your smile now, not when she’s standing there, face dark, looking like a startled cat.
You do not giggle at the comparison. Not out loud, at least.
Odile’s eyes narrow, her glasses flash, and after a moment of feeling like an insect pinned to a board, she… smirks at you. And raises her eyebrows in a way that seems to say, ‘Oh, really?’
Before you can say anything, she grins at you and turns to leave, only hesitating in the doorway. “Isabeau, Mirabelle?”
“Hm?”
“Um, yes?”
And she gives you all a dangerous smile. “Try his knees.”
Wait. What?!
You gape. “D-did- did you use Examine on me?!” But she’s already gone.
And you can already hear Isa and Mira getting to their feet. Oh. Oh no. You turn, hands held out placatingly. “Um- can’t we talk about this?”
They’re grinning at you. Your fate is sealed.
You run out the front door, already laughing.
They give chase.
You make sure not to run too quickly.