Challenge
A/N: Even though I immediately knew that I wanted these two for today, writing this story turned out to be harder than I imagined it to be. Number 02 - Contest - of @vqler's Tickletober prompt list of 2025 ft. Mydei and Phainon from Honkai Star Rail.
Words: 1,831 words under the cut
The Hall of Respite was silent, since night had set in hours ago - and yet there was still one room lit in candle light. Mydei was lounging across his expansive bed in his quarters, reading over a scroll with half-lidded eyes, his golden bangs falling into his face. He let out a yawn, the boredom ruining his nerves, though, he still couldn't - and wanted - to find sleep yet.
Lost in thought, he didn't even hear the door open, nor did he hear the steps creeping closer, or felt the presence lurking behind him, until he heard a familiar voice purring right next to his ear. “Gotcha!~” Before he could fully turn his head, the weight of another body crashed into him with sudden, enthusiastic force.
He grunted as he was shoved onto his back, the scroll tumbling out of his hands and rolling to the floor. “P-Phainon?” he asked as he stared into a pair of blue eyes. The other smiled down at him, white hair cascading forward like a silk curtain. “Still awake at this hour my dearest prince?” he whispered and Mydei could see a faint blush on the other’s lips.
“You’re always so composed, thought I’d test that resolve of yours once again hehehe.” His voice was laced with wicked amusement. “In the middle of the night?” the Kremnoian prince asked, narrowing his eyes calmly.
It was strange for the other to act like that, he was still straddling him, making no attempts to get off of him, but Mydei decided to play along for once, since whatever the other had in mind, was definitely more interesting than that scroll that lied somewhere forgotten on the ground. Supported on his elbows he smirked up at him with a challenging smile.
“Fine, I’ll play along for now… So, what should it be this time? A card game? A drinking contest? Some wrestling? Recite all laws while-” “Nope,” Phainon interrupted smugly, fingers twitching in the air like mischievous claws, “a tickle fight. First one to break loses. Simple.” “...Tickle?” Mydei echoed, a single eyebrow rising. Did he hear him right?
“Yes, you do know what that means, don’t you?” the white-haired asked playfully and before Mydei could form a retort, his hands dove downward. His fingers danced straight over his stomach, where the red lines of his tattoos curved like flowing ink.
Phainon’s nails slid along them, tracing their shape, barely brushing against the skin, but enough to elicit the reaction he was looking for. Mydei’s torso jerked.
“Tch- Pfftt- P-Phainon,” he exhaled sharply through his nose, “t-t-hiHihis is childish… eheHeven foHor you…” the blonde said in-between suppressed laughter, trying very hard to hold back the giggles that wanted to get out of him.
Memories of his childhood crossed his mind, scenes he had locked in a chest deep inside - a time where he had laughed freely by the hands of blurred. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a voice sweet as honey, licking at his ear.
“Childish? Says the one who stubbornly tries not to laugh… here let me help you with it~” Phainon crooned, shifting to straddle Mydei’s hips, knees pinning him in place. His grin widened as he lightly skittered his fingers higher, grazing over Mydei’s chest, deliberately avoiding pressure, keeping it feathery.
The muscles beneath his touch tensed and he sucked in a breath, his mouth twitching. “Mhmh!!” “Still holding it in?” Phainon teased, voice syrupy sweet. “You’ve got nerves of steel. Let’s see, how about here?~” His fingers slipped beneath the edge of the other’s robe, deftly nudging fabric aside to trace under his arms.
The reaction was instant. “Agh!” Mydei arched involuntarily, his composure shattering like glass. His arms shot downward, trying to block him, but Phainon dodged, his fingers swirling in the hollow of Mydei’s bare armpits. A strangled giggle forced itself past the prince’s lips. “D-DoHohon’t! That’s- aHahAhahAhah!”
“Oh there it is,” Phainon chuckled, voice triumphant as if he’d just won a high-stakes wager. “I was wondering if you were ticklish here. Most people are, you know.” Mydei's shoulders twisted, hands gripping Phainon’s wrists now in a desperate attempt to halt the torment.
His long legs kicked slightly against the bed, golden hair flopping wildly with each sharp breath he drew. “Y-You’re iHihnsufferaHable!” he sputtered and Phainon just grinned wider, his fingers still scribbling along the edges of Mydei’s ribs before slipping back to the vulnerable curve beneath his arms.
“Insufferable?” the whitehead repeated, delighted. “You’re laughing and don’t even try to say you’re not!” he teased, the rules he himself had set long forgotten. It was too much fun to mess with the Kremnoian prince, his rival, his friend. “I’m- aHAhah I’m restraining myself!” Mydei barked, his voice strangled and breathless, trying - and failing - to twist away.
“Do you now?~” Phainon hummed, wiggling his fingers devilishly. “Then let’s speed things up a bit, shall we~” But just as Phainon leaned in to get one last victorious scribble down Mydei’s exposed side, everything shifted. In a flash of motion, Mydei’s hands clamped around his wrists hardly, making Phainon blink in surprise. “Uh-oh.”
The other’s red eyes gleamed with fire, his expression flickering from flustered to fiercely resolved. “Well,” Mydei murmured through breathless pants, “since we’re apparently waging war through absurd means… it’s time for you to taste defeat.” In a powerful twist, he bucked his hips, shoving Phainon off balance and rolling them.
Oof! The other let out a startled sound as he landed flat on his back, with Mydei now sitting astride his waist. Golden bangs framed the prince’s face like a halo, but there was nothing angelic in his smile now. “Your turn, Deliverer.” Phainon paled and flushed all at once.
“W-Wait a moment, let’s not be hasty-” he stammered, already giggling nervously before a single finger had touched him. And Mydei? He merely cracked his knuckles. The lion wasn’t beaten yet, instead he bared his teeth, ready to strike.
Sensing the danger he was in, Phainon squirmed beneath him, a nervous grin twitching at his lips, the usually smug glint in his eye now traded for something much more vulnerable - anticipation and the faintest bit of panic.
“Y-You surely understand that what I did was merely messing around, r-right?” he said, his voice still melodic, but his words spilled a bit faster than usual. Mydei arched a brow, unamused. “Messing around? I thought you wanted a challenge and I believe in balance.” He placed his palms firmly on Phainon’s sides, just beneath his lowest the ribs. Phainon flinched.
“M-Mydei.” “Yes?” “You’re acting unusually playfully tonight. Never thought you’d-" “Shh~ Here I come…” And with that, he dug in. “AAH!! NohoHoho!” Phainon’s voice cracked as laughter erupted out of him instantly, loud and unfiltered. He thrashed beneath the other, legs kicking and back arching like a wild horse.
“You were saying something about being ticklish?” Mydei asked smoothly, his tone like liquid gold as his fingers moved skillfully up and down the white-haired’s sides. “I see now, that you’re just as ticklish as me haha or even more! This is a very… enlightening~” he mumbled. “Y-You’re sohohohoho dead! HAHAAHA WAHAIT!!”
“I don’t recall giving you the floor,” the blonde replied, delighting in Phainon’s completely unguarded laughter. He sneaked his hands under his shirt, his cool fingertips brushing along the whitehead’s bare stomach. “N-NO! Nonononohohoho g-get out of thehere!”
“Oh, is this spot a bit too sensitive?” Mydei teased, swirling a finger right around his navel and earning a shrill squeal. “How undignified of you, Phainon. And here I thought you’d last longer.” Phainon was laughing too hard to form words now. He thrashed wildly, trying to twist away, but Mydei had perfect leverage sitting astride him.
He squealed as his fingers fluttered along the curves of his ribs. “You started this,” Mydei added casually, trailing upward and lightly dragging his nails along the warm skin of Phainon’s chest before he moved higher, dangerously close to- “No, not there, not th- HAHAHAAA!!”
Too late. The prince’s fingers grazed along his neck, right at the spot where it met the collarbone. Phainon squirmed like mad, giggling uncontrollably and helpless. Mydei tilted his head. “Interesting. I didn’t even know someone’s neck could be this ticklish.”
“Y-You sadist!” Phainon gasped between hysterical peals. “Mydei! Y-You’re- Pffft noHOhooH! I’m gonna dihihie! HAHahAAH!” But Mydei wasn’t done yet. He leaned down ever so slightly, one hand still scribbling over his neck while the other - almost playfully - traced just behind Phainon’s ear. That broke him.
His laughter hit a new pitch, shrill and melodic, spilling out of him like a symphony of chaos. He couldn’t stop. His body jerked, his hands beat weakly at the mattress, his voice hiccupping in-between breathless gasps. “I- ehHehe I giHive!!” he cried finally, face flushed, white hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. “I give! Mydei, you moHOhonster!”
The prince finally relented, pulling back with a look of immense satisfaction. He exhaled softly, catching his own breath as he looked down at the mess of giggles beneath him. Phainon lay there, chest heaving, cheeks glowing crimson, a dazed grin still twitching on his lips. “…You’re ticklish everywhere, aren’t you?” he said flatly.
“I- shut up,” Phainon gasped, trying and failing to cover his face with one arm, “that was… totally unfair.” “Oh please,” Mydei brushed a few strands of his own golden hair out of his face, “you challenged me. Don’t cry when the game turns.” They stayed like that for a beat - Mydei still straddling Phainon’s waist, both panting, chests rising and falling in unison.
Then Mydei reached down and took Phainon’s flushed face gently in one hand, his thumb brushing over his cheekbone. The motion was unusually tender, lingering. Phainon’s eyes opened again, blinking slowly. “You’re glowing,” Mydei murmured. “It’s very hot in here,” Phainon managed with twitching lips.
Mydei’s voice softened to something nearly reverent. “Hmph. Irritating.” He bent down suddenly, his golden bangs falling like a curtain again as he pressed his lips to Phainon’s - firm, unyielding at first. Phainon tensed in surprise but only for a second, then, he melted.
A low, pleased hum escaped him as he responded, tilting his head just slightly, eyes fluttering closed. The kiss deepened, Mydei’s lips moving with a slow, savoring rhythm as his hand slipped into Phainon’s hair, gripping it lightly. Phainon reached up and clutched at the front of Mydei’s robe, pulling him closer, as if afraid he’d disappear the moment they pulled apart.
They didn’t rush. When they finally separated, the breath they both released was slow and tremulous. The white-haired opened his eyes again, dazed and utterly charmed. “...I really hope tickle fights become our new go-to duel.”
Mydei raised an eyebrow, cheeks faintly flushed. “Don’t push your luck.” Phainon grinned, smug once more. “Too late for that.” They collapsed into the bed together, laughter and warmth lingering in the air once more.
