Less Shy — Honkai Star Rail
Summary: Himeko catches notice of Sunday’s wings twitching whenever a certain something is mentioned. Maybe, a silly situation like this is exactly what Sunday needs to bond more playfully with the crew?
Warnings: Tickling
Other: Lee!Sunday & Lers!Caelus, March & Dan Heng from Honkai Star Rail (with a little bit of lee caelus) 2.6k words!
A/N: HOW HAVE I NOT WRITTEN A LEE SUNDAY FIC YET!! sunday is my fav hoyoverse character ever, he’s too cute. i absolutely love the found family dynamic between the Astral Express family as well, so i had to write something!
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Lately, Himeko finds herself paying extra attention to Sunday specifically out of the whole crew.
The halovian has been an official member of the Astral Express for quite some time now, and he’s truly become an irreplaceable part of the family. Yet… he can still act rather shy when it comes to spending time with them.
Although it’s definitely not caused by him being uncomfortable around them— she still can’t help herself from worrying a bit. She wants Sunday to know how loved he is amongst the crew, and for him to be comfortable talking about and doing anything around them.
“Are you sure you don’t want to play? They were practically begging for you to join.” Himeko asked Sunday softly, motioning to Caelus, March and Dan Heng who were currently engaged in this new Penaconian card game.
A game that the trio tried desperately to have Sunday join in on.
Sunday glanced up from his book for a moment to look at the trio causing a ruckus from the other side of the express cart, before turning to Himeko with a gentle look. “Yes, I’m sure. Don’t get me wrong, it looks like a lot of fun… but I'm loving this book you recommended to me, Ms.Himeko.”
Sunday smiled, the book resting on his lap while he spoke. “I’d really like to discuss it with you once I’m done reading it, actually. And well, the quicker I finish it, the quicker I can.”
Himeko's eyes softened at that, returning the gentle smile Sunday always seemed to wear. “I’ll be looking forward to that, Sunday.” She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, before turning forward to sip her tea, staring out at the stars.
Sunday returned to his book immediately, looking rather content with himself as he read. After a few seconds, Himeko found she still couldn’t stop watching the boy from the corner of her eye, feeling a bit puzzled by her own unwavering concern.
She loved discussing literature, and other classical subjects with Sunday, of course. But deep inside she hopes to see Sunday bond with the express more playfully, kinda like how the trio act around each other. Not only like friends, but family too.
Though, she supposed that if Sunday is alright, then she shouldn’t stress.
She just really can’t help it…
Himeko was pulled away from her thoughts when she heard an overdramatic “no!” being yelled from across the room. Eyes travelling over to see Caelus immediately cover his mouth with his hand, eyes wide as he shoved a card tightly against his chest.
“What? What is it?!” March laughed at his reaction, “What does it say?”
Dan Heng snickered too, narrowing his eyes at the boy who sat next to him. “Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.”
The game they were playing had a punishment game system, where whenever one of them lost, they’d have to draw a card from the pile with various different punishments. So far it has been only innocent, such as; rhyme everything you say for the next 10 minutes or, play using only your left hand for the next round, silly scenarios.
So of course Himeko was lost on what type of punishment would get Caelus reacting like that.
Well, whatever it was, it left Caelus both giddy and nervous. “I don’t think I wanna play anymore…” he laughed, shaking his head at the two while still shielding the card.
March laughed while Dan Heng rolled his eyes fondly, reaching out for the card. “Oh, give me that!” He joked, ripping it out from Caelus’s hold; only to break out into a shit eating grin as he read the contents.
Of course, that only made March more intrigued, looking back and forth between Caelus’ wobbly smile and Dan Heng’s grin. “What is it?” She questioned again, and Dan Heng playfully turned the card around for her to read, giving Caelus a smug look.
March instantly snickered.
Get tickled for one minute, in big bold lettering. It read clear as day, which explained why Caelus— who was extremely ticklish, was panicking so much. “Only you would pull a card like this.” Dan Heng laughed, amused by Caelus’ predicament.
“Guhuhuys— let’s talk about this…?” He pleaded half heartedly, putting his hands out in front of him to hopefully defend himself. Unfortunately, his words didn’t mean much to the two.
March dove for his stomach, poking and skittering her nails under his hoodie, while Dan Heng went for his armpits, worming his fingers under his arms to scribble in his hollows.
“AHAHahahaha! Noooohohohoho!” Caelus broke out into contagious laughter immediately, followed by Dan Heng and March’s own happy giggles as they messed with him. “Thihihis is sohoho unfahahair!” He yelled, curling over.
Himeko giggled from the sidelines, and so did Welt.
Observing their banter Himeko leaned back happily, glad to see the youngsters having so much fun. This thought had her glance back at Sunday, wishing he’d join in on stuff like this too.
Confusion then rushed through her as soon as she looked at the angel. Faced with a slight surprise, she noticed that Sunday’s wings had started twitching rapidly. A sight she had never seen before, she was of course, very intrigued by it.
Her mouth opened to comment, but closed soon after, deciding to study him rather than inquire. Which is when she saw another thing, Sunday had stopped reading his book.
His eyes weren’t moving along with the scripted lines, they were just staring dead center at absolutely nothing, a little widened as well, as if he himself was panicked. His stature was so tense, and was that some blush rising to his cheeks…?
Himeko thought the behaviour was odd. Still, after years of being around the Astral Express trio, she was able to make a decent estimate on what was happening. She’d of course have to test her theory first, just to see if she’s right.
When they stopped tormenting Caelus, the three returned to their seats and continued playing, immersing themselves in the card game again. Sunday’s wings stopped twitching too, and those book pages went back to being flipped every twenty seconds.
Welt, who was on his phone suddenly coughed, and Himeko instantly perked up. “Oh no, Welt, do you have a tickle in your throat? I have cough drops.” Himeko offered to Welt kindly, and sure enough… she saw it again, Sunday’s wings twitched.
Welt waved his hand, shaking off what he believed was a genuine offer. “No no, just a bit dry… but I’m alright.” He reassured, and Himeko nodded.
She couldn’t stop there of course. She spoke to Welt again, taking out her phone, “Y’know, March sent me this video the other day, and I was just tickled, she always finds the silliest videos.” Himeko started, and Welt, who was unaware of what she was doing, simply smiled and asked her to send it to him.
“Ahh, I really need to cut my hair.. It’s way too long, it keeps getting caught in my dress and tickling my back.” She commented out loud to herself, pulling her hair in front of her shoulders.
Twitch, twitch, twitch. Every time she said the word, his wings began to twitch. Her theory was basically confirmed now, her evidence also backed by the blush on his cheeks that was getting redder by the second.
There was absolutely no denying it.
Despite being so obvious, Sunday had no idea she was saying the word over and over again on purpose, so he must’ve thought he was hiding his reactions perfectly. “Tickle, such a fun word.” She said one last time, unable to help herself.
March then whipped her head around, a confused smile tugging at her lips as she looked over at Himeko. “Why do you keep saying that?” She giggled slightly, Dan Heng & Caelus were too engrossed in the card game to have noticed anything.
Himeko hadn’t realized March was listening either, but wasn’t thrown off by it at all.
“Saying what?” Caelus pried, getting distracted by March’s wonder and not wanting to be left out of the conversation.
“Tickle.“ March repeated, Himeko watching Sunday’s wings twitch even more after hearing her say it.
Caelus’ face took on a fake pout, “Whaaa?? Himeko, are you trying to make fun of the torture I just endured?!” He complained, his hand dramatically holding his heart like he had been shot.
“Torture my ass.” Dan Heng rolled his eyes, giving Caelus a couple squeezes to his sides and watching the boy squirm away with a peal of laughter.
During this entire exchange, Sunday felt like he was gonna die of embarrassment. Hearing the word made butterflies swarm, seeing it happen made breathing seem difficult. His cheeks were surely as red as a tomato by now, yet all he could do was hide his face in the book he was way too distracted to even read.
March looking their way saw his wings, tilting her head to the side. “Sunday? What’s going on with your wings?” She questioned, gaining the joint attention of the crew as they all looked over to him.
This only made Sunday’s wings twitch more, his mind racing. “I-I…” He stuttered, removing the book from his face and trying to answer the best that he could. Yet… as soon as the three saw his pink cheeks and skittish look, their interest turned almost devilish. “Sorry, they just— do this sometimes.” He explained poorly, looking off to the side.
“Is that so?” Dan Heng questioned, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. The situation even managed to gain Welt’s attention, with all eyes now on the halovian.
Himeko was positively beaming at how well this was playing out— all she needed was to enact the final push, looking at Sunday with a playful smile. “Really? Sometimes? Or is it just when someone says tickle?”
Sunday had a full body reaction to her call out, one that all of the express crew were happy to witness. His wings tensed visibly before twitching nonstop, his eyes widened, his blush grew, and finally… a smile adorned on his cute face.
“Ms.Himeko…?!” He gasped, all the pieces coming together as he realized she had him all figured out since the beginning. As well, that her repeatedly saying that word was totally on purpose.
His head whipped back to face the three, butterflies growing in his stomach as a panic he couldn’t quite describe started to set in. “Tickle.” Caelus tested, eyes brightening when Sunday’s wings did one big flustered flap before returning to the twitching.
“No way.” Caelus smirked, leaning in. “Don’t tell me, Sunny, are you ticklish~?” He questioned without hesitation, his tone so very evil.
“He has to be, there’s no way he’d react like that to just hearing the word tickle if he wasn’t.” Dan Heng added fondly, also giving Sunday quite the playful glare.
March rose to her feet, analyzing the angel. “Well, Sunday? Are youuuu?”
All of their comments were frying his brain, “N-No I’m…!” He looked to Himeko and Welt for help, but they were grinning too, waiting for him to answer.
Sunday looked at the exit, and realized; he could totally run away right now, and escape this unraveling situation.
I mean, it’s not like they would chase after him. Sunday rushing to leave would be a clear indication that he isn’t okay with that kind of touch. So why wasn’t he getting up and leaving? Why instead of ending a moment where he is fated to get tickled, is he wrapping his arms around his middle, already giddy with anticipation?
His book was set to the side, arms defending what were clearly his tickle spots, frozen in place. Surely, he wasn’t looking forward to this, was he..?
He took a sharp breath before he finally responded. “No, I’m not… not at all…” He lied through his teeth, a nervous giggle slipping past his lips.
They were all on the same wavelength— it only took one shared glance between Dan Heng, March and Caelus before they all lunged out of their seats, charging for Sunday who made no effort to jump away, his wings still shaking.
Caelus suddenly lifted him up in his arms, Sunday’s heart dropping to his stomach at the gravity shift, before he focused back on what was happening. Caelus dropped him gently on the floor before the three of them all hovered playfully over him, “You ready?” He teased, his knees inches away from Sunday’s head as he raised wiggling fingers.
Sunday was flustered out of his mind, “W-Wait! Just like this?! Surely you—”
March’s nails began skittering up his sides, ending his sentence short as Sunday bursted out into the cutest fit of giggles. “AAhahahahaha! M-Mahaharch!” He squeaked, his wings now flapping, almost akin to a dog wagging its tail.
“I can’t believe they’ve never bullied you like this before.” Dan Heng snickered, calling them bullies as if he wasn’t currently clawing at Sunday’s tummy and making him squeal.
“You’re so ticklish!” Caelus commented fondly, endeared by just how happy Sunday’s face looked right now. It was so cute, an expression he didn’t think tickling could cause on the mature halovian.
Caelus dug his fingers under his jaw, gently fluttering his fingers. Sunday laughed more frantically as a result, his shoulders scrunching up. Soon after, the frantic laughter slowly melted into these sweet, airy giggles when both March and Dan Heng softened their tickling.
“Eeehehehee! Plehehehease!” He giggled, his head tipping back with laughter, squirming side to side despite it doing nothing to stop the tickles.
“How ticklish are you… here?!” March called out playfully, her touch switching to soft fluttering along his other set of wings, the ones on his back that he always used to hide.
Sunday absolutely lost it.
He squeaked loudly before collapsing into a fit of desperate laughter, the sound flowing past his lips endlessly like a waterfall. He wrapped his back wings tightly around his waist, all his energy zapped from just a few wing tickles, no longer squirming.
Sunday was now curled into a squeaky ball, his legs kicking out against the carpet. Dan Heng was still easily able to scratch at his tummy, while Caelus helped March tickle his wings.
“NAHAHahahat thehehere! Wahahahait!” Sunday pleaded without meaning a single word of it, pounding a fist on the floor hysterically.
“I was wondering if your wings were ticklish, clearly they are.” Dan Heng joked, noting it down in his mind.
“Sunny, you are sooo cute!” Caelus giggled, saying what all of them were thinking.
Amongst all the laughter, Welt and Himeko were happily watching them play around, talking in a hushed tone. “If we told the “us” from Penacony that this is how our relationship with Sunday would turn out, would they believe it?” Welt whispered to Himeko, of course… not wanting Sunday to hear them talk about a past he’s grown from.
Himeko giggled, “Oh, they’d think we were crazy.” She added, before looking back down at the four lovingly. “Though… I think we’d also believe such a possibility to be super cute.”
While they chatted, Sunday was laughing without a care in the world, and it felt comforting. Is that an odd way to feel? Sunday wasn’t quite sure.
Truth be told, Sunday hasn’t been tickled like this since he was a kid, this feeling definitely felt foreign. His reactions were nothing new however, in the past, even back when he was head of the oak family, he’d get all embarrassed as well whenever he’d see tickling happen, or the word being spoken aloud.
His wings— always twitching uncontrollably.
Perhaps, deep down he’s been craving this playful affection for far too long, and seeing it happen between the Astral Express members only made him more touch-starved for it.
This was yet another example of Himeko looking out for her kids, by somehow knowing exactly what Sunday needed before he even did. She was just beyond happy to see him laughing so freely, her worries being lifted with every laugh they drew out of him, though of course… She was quick to save the halovian when he was clearly getting all tickled-out.
Not that she had to though— when Sunday was looking tired, their tickles quickly became so unbelievably gentle, which warmed her heart further. How the hell did she manage to get so many genuine sweethearts on her crew?
Hopefully, after this, Sunday will be a little less shy moving forward. She was very, very hopeful for that outcome.