A/N: Soooo, I just wrote this after waiting way to long and wanted to share it. Hope you guys like it!
If you asked Lyney what his favorite part of performing magic was, he would say it was seeing the reactions of the audience. This was partially true. There was no beating the satisfaction of seeing people's faces light up in wonder at the spectacles before them, but what was even greater was the smiles on their faces. Growing up, he and his sister had little to smile about. Life on the streets leads to a lot of mistrust, both on their own parts and of others. It was at his first magic show that, through his amazement of the showmanship and miracles before him, he turned to his sister and saw an even greater miracle, a smile on Lynette's face.
From that day forward, both he and Lynette dedicated themselves to the craft of magic. Lyney might have made the excuse that it was for money, but he knew the real reason was to get the chance to give others a sliver of joy through their day.
That love of seeing his sibling happy extended as he and his sister were adopted into the house of hearth. Upon meeting his new little brother, Freminet, he recognized the same seemingly expressionless look on his face as the very one Lynette seemed to have. He never thought he would want to see anyone smile as much as his sister, but he felt the bond of family towards this quiet, shy boy almost immediately, as if the three of them had always been siblings. And for the first time, Lynette felt the same need to make him smile as well.
Maybe it was an older sibling's instinct, to protect and provide while also making sure the youngest was the happiest they could be. Or maybe it was the fact that Lynette saw a bit of herself in him. Someone who was quiet and preferred to work in the shadows while the real star of the show shined in the spotlight. Though he didn't participate in their shows, he had other ways of bringing joy to the masses while staying out of the limelight. For instance, he designed Pers himself, and he allowed a local toy company to sell miniature versions of his adorable machine. That way, he could share this small joy he had with other kids around Fontaine.
Needless to say, both siblings were always determined to see Freminet happy. They would commonly rehearse their shows and workshop new magic tricks in front of him, looking to see what made him smile the most. They would always ask for his feedback, both for their own improvement and to give him a chance to feel that he contributed to the show. Almost every rehearsal left him in amazement, no matter how many times he had seen it. The only suggestion he had ever made was adding Peres to the show. Both twins thought it was only fitting that they added what was essentially their brothers mascot to some of their performances.
After workshopping some new tricks, they settled on one where he would pop out of Lyneys hat, waddle over to Lynette, then walk into her hat and disappear, only for it to reappear and waddle offstage.
"So," Lynette asked after his bow at the grand finale, "What do you think?"
Fremite was already smiling ear to ear as he watched his creation cutely walk away.
"That was amazing! How did you even get him to wind back up again?"
Lynette smirked as she went to retrieve the mechanical penguin. "You know we can't tell you the answer to that."
Freminet sighed as Pers was handed back to him. "I suppose, but that won't stop me from wondering."
"Wonder is all part of the show," Lyney chuckled as he went to ruffle his brother's hair. "I can tell this trick will be a hit. I think Pers makes a wonderful addition to our performance."
Freminet swatted his hand away and attempted to fix his hair. "Why are you so sure people will like it? I thought you guys go through tricks all the time, and you hardly ever settle on one so quickly."
"Well, if it could make you smile then it could make anyone smile." Lyney gently grabbed back Pers and held him out, making it look like he was walking towards Freminet. "I think it's a great trick." Lyney spoke in a high pitched voice, his impression of what he believed Pers sounded like.
Freminet struggled to suppress another grin. "You're so childish." He turned to Lynette for some support.
"He's right you know," She gestured to Lyney, "If something can make you happy then it's surely worth adding to the full show."
Fremite gave a groan as he snatched back his beloved penguin. "What is it with you two and mentioning me smiling whenever you get the chance. Do I really smile that rarely?"
Lynette huffed in amusement. "I'd say it's pretty rare. Even when you were a child you wouldn't smile all that often."
"True," Lyney chimed in, "it seemed like the only thing that ever made you really laugh was the games we used to play."
A pink blush appeared on Freminets freckled face, remembering him and his siblings acting out various myths and fairytales he had read about. The previous director had berated Freminet for reading these fairy tales, claiming he was too naive and needed to grow up. After that, he had hidden away his stories, that is until his siblings were adopted into the house of hearth. It was their companionship that made him want to share his stories with them. Though they didn't believe in fairy tales themselves, they saw how happy it made him, and of course they found ways to incorporate the stories into games. With their help, he slowly conditioned himself out of the habits imposed on him by the previous director and started nurturing that part of himself again. As he grew, he had less time for games, and sometimes felt he was too old for them. Even so, he still found joy in these stories.
"T-that was a long time ago." He responded.
"Not to us," Lynette said, "and last I checked you still love reading your books. Why should enjoying games be any different?"
"Because, they're..." He really had no defense. If he was being honest he did find a part of himself missed playing those games. But another part of him found it all too embarrassing. No, embarrassed wasn't the right word for it. Flustered. That's how he felt remembering those games. Still, he couldn't say he hated it.
"If I remember right, there's one fairy tale you were always particularly interested in." Lyney said.
Freminet racked his brain trying to remember which story he could be referring to. That's when he noticed the creeping grin on his brother's face and his wiggling fingers.
"The story goes that there lives fae's in the woods that love making people laugh."
His eyes widened suddenly as memories flooded back to him. The tale of the tickling fae's had been one of his favorite stories. So much so that his siblings started making up games where they would act as the mischievous creatures and do everything they could to get him laughing.
"I'm sure you're starting to remember the tickle fae's. You must, you're already turning pink. You must remember how fae's love finding people who are grumpy and tickle all the grumpiness right out of them."
Freminet felt a grin starting to form as he covered his face. He had always been extremely susceptible to teasing, which Lyney was exceptionally good at.
"Lyney, plehehehease!" He giggled, already feeling ticklish from the teasing alone.
"Please what, brother of mine? Please tickle you until you can't stop smiling?" His grin could have been mistaken for one of pure evil, but Freminet knew it was all a part of his "Fae persona", where he and Lynette would become ruthless tickle monsters.
"True, but we've hardly gotten to see it lately. I say we should make up for lost time." He had been getting more and more occupied diving and going on missions, hardly getting the chance to spend time with them. The more he thought about it, the more he felt himself missing getting to laugh with them. Still, tickling was just so childish and silly, he wasn't sure he could handle it all without dying from being so flustered.
Suddenly, Lynette seemed to be right behind him, swiftly grabbing both his wrists and pulling his arms above his head. Freminet tried to hide his face, now with a full smile, by turning his head into his shoulder, but Lynette's grip held strong and he could only cover half his face.
"Well well well, it looks like this grumpy gus has fallen into the tickle fae's trap."
"Whahahait, lets talk abohohouht this!"
"Laughing already?" Lyney chuckled. "Seems like nothings changed, you're as ticklish as ever. And you aren't even trying to get away, just trying to hide your smile from us."
Freminet couldn't even bear to open his eyes, fearing that just looking at his siblings would cause them to attack. Still, the anticipation was killing him, and every second that passed felt like an hour.
"Stop teasing! I cahahan't help it!"
"I'll stop teasing you when you stop hiding your smile from us. The tickling fae's will get to see it one way or another, you might as well show it now."
He knew that his siblings wouldn't let up any time soon, and the build up was killing him. Against his better judgment, he turned his face to look at Lyney. "Fhihihine, are you happy no- NOHOHOHOHOHO!"
Just as he had suspected, the moment he made eye contact Lyney started scribbling under his arms. He tried to pull them down but Lynette kept his arms up and high. She wasn't usually one to tease, but she had a soft smile on her face as she looked at the hysterical boy.
"There's that smile! See? That wasn't so hard."
"Well, you've done it at least. Now, which of the fae's games should we play?"
There were a few games the twins had come up with over the years to entertain their brother. Counting ribs, tracing shapes, having to choose which spot to be targeted, you name it and they had played it.
"Hm," Lynette finally chimed in, "How about we let him choose for himself."
"Nohohoho! Dohohon't make me chohohohose!" He giggled Lyney hovered his hands over him in suspense.
"If you don't pick then we'll just have to play all the games! Better choose fast, grumpy gus, or the fae's will choose for you!"
Freminet could hardly think straight through his laughter. He had extensive experience diving, and with that came good control of his breath, but these attacks always tested that ability, and he found it hard to concentrate on anything when he was this breathless from laughter.
"We'll give you till the count of 3 to choose, then the fae's will go through all their games on you!" Lyney teased. "One..." He wiggled his fingers ever so closer to his ribs. "Two..."
"THE SHAPE THING!" Freminet shouted.
"Hm? Not sure what game you're referring to, you'll have to say the name."
"T-the one where you trace shapes, and I have to guess what shape it is..."
"Oh! You mean constellations."
The name came from an old version of the game where they would trace Freminet's freckles. One day after reading a book about mythology, Freminet became sad that they couldn't see the stars from the city. To cheer him up, the twins pretended his face was the night sky and traced their own constellations as they made up their own stories, and when they ran out of room on his face they started tracing the freckles that lined his back and stomach. Freminet proved to be too ticklish to pay attention to anything, so they began a new game where he would have to guess what shape they were trying to make.
"It's been so long since we played that one. Here, I'll start with something easy."
Lyney lifted his shirt up to trace across his stomach. He used a single finger to trace out a circle right around his belly button.
"Hehehehee, I thihihihink its a circle?"
"Ding! That's right." Lynette smiled. "Hey, you shouldn't peak, that's cheating."
"Ihihihi wasn't lohohohoking!"
"Hmm, alright. I'll let you off the hook this time," She teased as she switched to holding his arms with just one hand. "It's my turn now." Right where the bicep met the under arm, she began tracing what was supposed to be the shape of a cat's head.
"Nope." She suddenly scribbled his under arm, making him squeak.
That was one part of the game Freminet had forgotten: if he guessed wrong, they would unleash a sudden tickle attack wherever it was they were tracing.
"Still wrong." She continued scribbling her fingers over his bicep.
"Giving up already?" Lyney laughed.
"YEHEHEHES, JUST TELL ME!"
"How unfortunate, it was supposed to be the face of a cat." She decided to show some mercy and went back to holding his arms with both hands.
"That's way too complex," Freminet wheezed through his remaining giggles.
He still hadn't thrown in the towel yet, and the twins knew that meant he was having fun, even if he wouldn't admit it. Lyney glanced to the side and saw Pers lying on the ground and an idea came to him. He snickered to himself as he picked up the mechanical penguin.
"Look at that, it seems that Pers wants to help make you laugh as well." He held out Pers, this time slowly walking him towards the younger brother to participate.
"Come on, friend," He once again said in his high-pitched impression of Pers, "I love seeing your smile, too." He slowly moved the penguin closer to Freminets torso and suddenly had him 'pecking' at his tummy.
"Nohohoho! Thihihihis is tohohoho much!"
"You used to love Pers' tickle attacks, remember?" He continued gently brushing Pers beak across his torso. Freminet would never admit it, but he did in fact used to love when they would pretend Pers wanted to join in the tickle attacks.
"Can't what? Can't stop giggling? That's the whole idea, little brother."
Lynette, deciding to up the game and join in the fun, suddenly releases his arms to squeeze at his ribs. Freminet threw back his head in laughter, trying his best to swat away the hands now scribbling all over his torso.
Before Lyney decided to set Pers aside, he had one more trick up his sleeve.
"I think someone could use some raspberries," he said in his Pers voice while moving him back and forth, "but I can't because of my beak." Lyney pretended to have a conversation with the little bird. "Well that just won't do. I'll just have to give him some raspberries on your behalf."
Freminet started giggling hysterically as Lynette once again took his arms to hold above his head.
"Whahahahait! Nohohohohohot thahahat!" Raspberries we're something he was especially weak against. Something about the silly noise accompanied by the ticklish sensation sent him up the wall every time, to the point he would get tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Even just the threat of raspberries against him made him turn to a mess of hiccupy laughter.
"I'm just doing this on behalf of your friend," Lyney sang, "he's the one that wants to give you lots of raspberries. Who am I to turn down his request?" He lifted up his shirt just high enough to see his belly.
"Lyney wahahaHAHAHAHAHAH!" He was cut off as Lyney finally blew the biggest raspberry he could right above his bellybutton. He instantly started squirming like his life depended on it, kicking his legs and shaking his head back and forth. He heard his siblings laughing along with him.
"I haven't seen you this happy in a long time," Lynette chucked. "We should do this more often."
"NAHAHAHAHAHA WE SHOULD- BAHAHAHA!" He was immediately cut of by another barrage of raspberries, all in quick succession and all over his tummy.
"ALRIGHT! TIME OUT!" He squealed as he kicked his feet in the air.
Lyney couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face, eyes squinted and cheeks bright as tomatoes. Nonetheless, he stopped immediately, as they always did when he officially asked for a time out. Lynette followed, releasing his arms and allowing him to curl up into a ball, residual tickles still making him giggle like mad.
"Are you alright?" She asked. She was usually the one to check first to make sure their brother hadn't been pushed too far.
Between his remaining laughter he replied, "Y-yeah, I'm alright. Its just... been a while since I've laughed like that."
"I'll say," Lyney chimed in as he handed him back Pers. "We have to start bringing more games back." He laughed as Freminet covered the blush returning to his face. "Only if you want to, of course. The whole point of this is to make you happy."
Freminet groaned. "I-I like the games, I just... Don't know if I'm getting too old for them."
"I don't think there should be an age limit on something that brings you joy," Lynette said as she wrapped her brother in an embrace.
"Agreed, dear sister. And what did the fae's say about covering that smile?" Lyney poked him in the ribs, causing him to put down his arms with a squeak.
"Ohohokay! I'll try not to cover my face anymore."
By the time he had finally recovered, Lynette had made tea for the three of them.
"Isn't it a bit late for tea?" Lyney asked.
"It's the non-caffeinated kind. I believe it's an herbal blend from Liyue, it's actually supposed to help you sleep." She took a sip herself, taking a deep breath in to get a full scent of the aroma. Her brothers followed, feeling relaxed already.
It wasn't long after they had finished that Freminet let out a yawn. The tea really did wonders.
"I don't think I can stay awake long enough to change out of my clothes," He said, eyes already drooping with sleepiness. The twins appeared just as tired as he did.
"Well, we can always shower in the morning," Lyney said as he laid back on the couch.
"Are you at least going to sleep in your bed?" Lynette said as she walked over to him.
Lynette and Freminet were about to leave to their own rooms when they both felt a hand pull them back to the couch. They both yelped in surprise, falling back and being pulled into their brother's embrace.
"Lyney, we have to go to our rooms!" Lynette stated, though amusement was evident in her tone.
"Lets sleep out here tonight," he responded. "Or I could just tickle the both of you until you agree."
They both felt a sudden squeeze at their sides, sending both of them into laughing fits.
"Ohohohokay! We'll stay!" She answered. "Just give us a break!"
Fortunately Lynet was too tired to dish out the same treatment on her as he did their brother. They both relaxed into his embrace as they closed their eyes for the night. Not even a few minutes later Lyney could hear the soft snores of both of them, and Friment could be seen holding Pers close to his chest. He smiled softly at the two of them, letting himself slowly drift off to sleep.
Yep, seeing his family happy and safe in his arms was all the magic he needed.
