#lee!pebbles

[cacoonedmoonworm]

Heartbeat

𖥔 Hello everyone!!! This is another pebbles fic (shocker I know) and I hope you all enjoy! I really like writing with the pebbles SO much there so adorable! 𖥔

𖥔 Slight spoilers for movie and book! 𖥔

Summary: Grace is pebble-sitting by himself this time! The pebbles get worried they hurt Grace so he shows them what they actually did!

Switch!Grace / Switch!Pebbles

Word count: 2,495

“Ow! Don’t pull.” I yelp a bit as a claw tugs at my beard. I’m currently pebble-sitting, alone this time. I’ve finally proven I can be trusted alone with them, but I’m still nervous about being on my own.

I’m lying on the floor on top of blankets and pillows with three little babies surrounding my head. They're feeling around my facial hair, curiously following it around my face. Tiny claws comb through my beard with surprising care, occasionally snagging on a knot before immediately backing off again. I close my eyes and let myself relax into the attention. At this point, I completely accept that being treated like a very strange pet is just a part of my life now. I feel them graze my lips, moving upwards into my mustache. Excited hums emit from them.

I carefully open my jaw to speak again, “It’s hair, like on my head. It does have a bit of a different texture though.” I feel two climb up onto my chest while one stays against my cheek on the pillow, following up towards my ear. The two follow it back down to my chin, scratching lightly. When Rocky told them I like to be petted, I swear that’s all they do now, not that I’m going to complain.

I feel a few claws travel down under my chin, close to my neck, and I freeze. My heart beat quickens, and I know the pebbles notice too. They quickly stop their movements, trilling out concerningly. 

“Ah-it’s okay! Juhust tickled a bit.” A smile creeps onto my face, and I peek my eyes open. “It’s okay.” They don’t make any more movements, actually pulling back a bit, settling on my sternum. I’m sure they can feel my heart better through my chest in that spot.

“Aw, guys, it's okay, really! You didn’t do anything wrong.” The pebble by my cheek pulls back too. I open my eyes completely, moving my head up a bit. I shift to sit up, cupping my hands around the two babies on my chest so they don’t fall. I lower them into my lap and help the other pebble, who’s on the floor frantically trying to join them.

They sit unusually still in my lap. Normally they're constantly moving. Twitching. Clicking. Climbing over each other. Now all three are quiet. Oh no. They probably think they hurt me. I’m sure hearing another alien's heartbeat skyrocket out of nowhere is a little scary for them.

“Here. Look, I’ll show you what you did.” I scoop up a tiny pebble. They’re a deep blue color with specks of gold and have lines and swirls across their body. It settles in my palm as I reach a finger towards it. It grabs on lightly and squeezes.

I push my finger underneath their arms and scratch ever so lightly. Rocky is quite ticklish here, so I’m hoping it’s the same for them. The pebble makes a high-pitched squeak and frantically starts squirming. Adorable chirps and trills erupt from them as the other two in my lap start pulling on my shirt. I lower my hands to their level, letting them get a better look.

“I know you guys have a version of tickling too, though it’s different from what I’m doing right now. You guys use sound waves and vibrations, right?” I flip the pebble in my palm, its little legs scrambling in the air. I press into its underside, making its legs shoot out straight; I can’t help but laugh at the little action.

"Well, humans use touch. It works for you guys because I can still make vibrations with touch that travel to your fleshy insides. Human skin is ticklish, so that’s why when you guys touched me, it tickled. Humans are just ticklish on their necks, where you guys ended up touching. See? No harm done!” I clarify to them.

I tap on its tiny body, showing what I just explained as the little baby erupts into high-pitched trills, pushing at my finger. From what I can tell, tapping and drumming seem to work best with Rocky; they are more intense than the ticklish vibrations produced by normal scratching and touching.

The other two look on curiously while the third one flails and cackles. Its arms slowly seem to stop fighting, and I take that as my cue to slow to a stop. God, they're adorable!

I glance down and ask, “How are you holding up? You okay?” On closer inspection, I see little wisps of steam coming from their vents, making me chuckle a bit. I carefully plop it back into my lap, and the other two scuttle up around it.

I see one brown pebble with red markings poke at the blue one, making it jump with a squeak. I hear a tiny hiss as more steam comes from it.

“Hey, hey, let them be for a moment!” I reprimand the one who is poking the other as I scoop them up. It goes still in my grasp as I begin poking at its brown carapace. It, too, squeaks and squirms, pushing at my finger.

“Yeah, let’s see how you like it when someone pokes at you.” I giggle, pretending to use a stern voice. I poke gently along as it squeals, curling into itself. Well, that won't do.

I use the thumb of the hand I’m holding it with to push an arm out of the way and hold it trapped against its body. I’m going to try something that gets to Rocky all the time. I flex two fingers together and, every so lightly, flick at the open space between its arms. It all but screams, sounding between a flute and an oboe, its arms scrambling to the spot. Seems to work on all Eridians, not just Rocky. That’s good to know.

I stop and let it fold in on itself again. Tiny giggles continue spilling from it as it curls up in my palm. 

“There you go,” I murmur. I run a finger along the top of its carapace, nice and gentle. The same way Rocky likes. The frantic squeaks slowly shift into a soft hum. Its little claws unclench one by one until it practically melts against my hand. Cute. I place it with the other two, and I see the third go rigid. 

“I won’t tickle you.” I say with a snort as I push my glasses up my nose, and it visibly relaxes. Unfortunately for the little milky white quartz pebble, the other two didn’t seem to find it all that fair that they were the only ones tickled, and I watch the start of a tickle fight in my lap. Squeaky trills erupt from the third as the other two surround them, using what I just showed to tickle the other. I can’t tell if they are also using sound to tickle them on top of the physical touch, so I ask.

“Are you guys also using sound? It’s kinda mean to do both.” I hunch over them a bit to get a better look. They stop their tapping, and the other baby stops moving. Oh, so they're not using both. But I’m assuming, as a demonstration to me, I hear a chord start. I look around and see the quartz pebble and the blue one start to squirm and laugh as the brown baby stands triumphantly between the two. The chord gets louder, pulling squeals from the other pebbles.

I laugh, “Okay, I see. Now give them a break! They look like they're about to combust!” I point out the steam emitting from the other two. I hear the sound slow to a stop, and they cuddle together in my lap. I lean back on my hands, stretching my spine.

A noise catches my attention, and I look back down. The little Eridians are making grabbing motions, so I give them my hand.

“What?” Confusion laces my voice. They all grab at my hand, pulling my fingers out. They start tapping like I did to them, and I snicker.

“No, it won’t really work there. And tapping isn’t all that effective against humans.” They sound disappointed and start letting go of my hand. 

“Wait…” I bite my lip. I’m not sure it’s the smartest idea to teach them how to tickle me, but…their sad little chirps get to me. I’m too much of a softy to disappoint them.

“Um. Okay.” I push my legs out straight and scoot back against the nearby couch. I pull them up closer to my hips, and I feel my cheek get warm as I pull my shirt up to my neck. 

“Try here.” The words leave my mouth before I can reconsider them, or rather the consequences that will come from them. They shift their carapaces towards my stomach. “Uh.” I gesture towards my stomach anyway. “For humans, scratching, squeezing, and tracing, I would say, works best….” Listing off everything they would need to know.

I squeeze my eyes shut in anticipation, but I don’t feel anything. Peaking out, I see they seem to be hesitating, arms reaching out but not touching. Oh right. My heart beat.

Anticipatory giggles worm their way into my words, “L-look. Humans' hearts beat fahast at all kinds of stimuli. It dohoesn’t always mean bahad. It could be that I’m really hahappy, or really embarrassed. Or, like right now, I’m excited and nervous—b-but nervous in a good way!” I correct, biting back a smile. “It’s just, tickling gets to me particularly hard.” I glance away, a little flustered.

I feel them shift a bit, and I look back down. I watch as the three carefully press little claws into my stomach, making me flinch a bit and giggle. “Hehaha gohohood! Lihihke thahat.” This seems to encourage them, and they push in more, experimentally squeezing at the muscle and skin. I shoot up, trying my best to keep my squirming under control. I tightly grip the collar of my shirt as I hold it up while shifting my other hand, trying to keep it busy and not grab at the pebbles. 

I hear excited trills and squeaks come from them as they tickle me to pieces. “Seehehe nohoHOT *SNRK* SCAHahary!” I feel myself start to slide down the couch slowly and try to plant my feet into the floor. The pebbles add more arms and explore other spots. They pinch and tweak at my sides, making me jump and fidget. I force my free hand down to my side but up enough that the pebbles still have access to the sensitive skin. One latches onto my hip, making me squeal.

“EEEAHAHaha—thahahat tihiHICKLES! NohoHO!” I start to twist about, not being able to sit still anymore. Another pair of claws grabs at my other hip, and both my hands shoot to my face, covering my blushing face and smile. My shirt ends up rolling down, but it does little to deter them. They just push it up and keep pressing in. They vibrate with excitement, hearing my loud laugh as a sign of encouragement.

One pebble presses into my belly button, and I all but scream while my hands shoot down to cover myself. 

“WAHAHAIT—NOHOT THEHERE!” They shift back out of the way of my hand. I cover the sensitive spot while curling into myself. They all freeze immediately. The excited clicking stops, and their tiny bodies huddle together. I swear they somehow manage to look guilty. Great, I scared them again.

“Uhuhm—I-it’s okahahy! Juhust sehensitihive.” I force my arms up again, deciding to grip at the couch behind me. “I-I wahasnt reheheady for it. You guys can keep gohoing.” I sheepishly say. “...If you guys want and are still curious.”

I didn’t need to tell them twice. They immediately return to my tummy, scratching at the sensitive spot again. I guess because it gave the best reaction, they want to experiment more. I squeeze my eyes shut hard, kicking my feet behind them.

“EEHAHAHA—G-GAHA—GOHOHO TOHO A-ANOTHER SPOHohot PLEHEHEASE! GUHUYS!” I shriek, holding on to the couch for dear life. They suddenly stop tickling again, and I'm thankful, of course, but I thought they would keep going. I open my eyes to see them shift around and angle towards the door. 

Still giggling, I ask, “Whahats wrohong?” I glance at the door. I don’t see or hear anything for a brief moment until a sudden knock rings through the house. Before I can even say anything, the door is being opened, and Rocky and Adrian are walking in. Excited trills erupt around me as all three immediately turn their attention towards the Eridians.

“What Grace doing, question?” They both stop in their tracks and "stare." I feel a blush climb up my neck.

“Uh… j-just teaching the pebbles about human anatomy.” Rocky taps one of his limbs in annoyance.

“…Grace lying. What Grace doing question?” He asks again. Before I can argue that, actually, I kinda was technically teaching, the babies take the opportunity to show what they learned.

“GAH—wahahait! Lihihittle o-ones!” They dig in while I start squirming again. My arms fly to my face to shield me from Rocky and Adrian.

“Oh. Grace teach tickling, question?” Adrian trills out with a giggle. They both scuttle up next to us and settle on either side of me. The babies excitedly click and squeak out to the older Eridians.

“What else pebbles learn, question?” Rocky asks with a playful tone. 

“D-dohont—“ I plea before they once again scratch at my belly button, making me screech. I feel Rocky grab onto an arm threatening to grab at the pebbles, holding it down and out of the way.

“NAHAHOHO AHAHEHE—STOHohoHOP I-IT! DOHONT ENCOHOURAGE THEHEM!” My free hand lightly pushes and swats at their little claws. Adrian and Rocky let out squeaky laughs, making me blush more.

“Don’t encourage, question? Grace the one who teach pebbles tickle. Not Rocky’s fault.” Well. He does kinda have a point, I guess. 

“OKAHAY *SNRK* OKAHAY, NOhohoHO MOHOHOREHE—!” I curl up the best I can as their arms come to a stop. Rocky lets my arm go and grabs the pebbles from my lap. I take the opportunity to slide all the way down to the floor and roll onto my side. Adrian wraps an arm around me and pulls me close so my back is leaning against them, and I close my eyes in content. 

“Pebbles have fun, question?” Rocky asks as I peek through half-lidded eyes, smiling when they erupt in joyful trills. I feel Adrian start to rub at my back, and I sigh.

"Grace have fun, question?” Adrian asks quietly as Rocky plays and talks with the pebbles. 

“Yes.” I smile and look up at Adrian. “They were good. They're very cute, full of energy.” Adrian takes another claw and pushes my hair up out of my eyes. Their claws carefully comb through the messy strands as I feel myself sink further into them.

“Adrian glad.” they say softly. I hear a squeak, and both Adrian and I shift toward the others.

I see the pebbles tapping at Rocky’s carapace as Rocky folds in on himself with squeaky cackles. Oh yeah… I guess I kinda showed them how to tickle Adrian and Rocky too. Oops...