Prank War
Characters: John Murphy, gnc reader ft. Raven Reyes & Jasper Jordan
Prompt(s): “They’re having a prank war and Murphy finds out that the reader is ticklish.”
Warnings: swearing
Words: 1240
An elaborate prank on Murphy yields a much less intricate, but far more effective response.
A/N: for an anon who requested this ages ago 😭 I hope this finds you! Set during s3/s4 times.
“It wasn’t me!”
Knowing what you knew, and having done what you’d done, hearing Jasper’s protests was all the prompting you needed to duck behind a wall, out of sight from the two in the adjacent room.
“I took it to Reyes, this has your nerdy ass written all over it, Jordan, and Monty’s,” Murphy scoffed, and from the volume of his voice you judged he was by the door, much closer to you. “You thought you’d do it during mine and Y/N’s little prank war, huh? Thought you’d get away with it?”
Jasper let out a series of indignant sounds, which gradually morphed together to form a coherent sentence. “Wha– I– I didn’t even– This wasn’t us! Why wouldn’t you think it was Y/N?”
“Y/N wouldn’t go to these lengths, let alone know how to do it in the first place,” Murphy shot back. You couldn’t help but snort. Clearly, your observations of Raven and Monty’s work hadn’t been for nothing.
“You hear that?”
“Don’t try distract me, Jordan, I haven’t gotten to the part where I tell you to– ”
“I’m serious! I heard someone laugh!”
Eavesdropping was fun, especially under the current circumstances, but this was a pretty obvious signal to get the hell out of there. You cringed at yourself, carefully manoeuvring your way out from your hiding place to head back outside. You figured by the time Murphy worked out it actually wasn’t Jasper or Monty, you’d have sought out some sort of protection, or there’d be another crisis requiring your attention. Despite the slip-up, it had always been a solid plan.
Oh, if you’d just paid a little more attention to the sound of Murphy’s voice.
He was close to the door, as you’d predicted. Had you been listening as you made your exeunt, however, you would have likely realised that he was backing up, off to seek out who he believed to be his other attacker. Now, this oversight landed you directly in Murphy’s eyeline, and the realisation dawned across his face much too quickly.
“You,” he snarled, pointing an accusatory finger.
You shrugged, biting back a grin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
And so the race was on. Murphy wasn’t buying your bullshit for a minute, and having known he wouldn’t, you were quick, turning on your heel and heading outside the Ark without a second to spare. Murphy was faster, and stronger than you, but you were more agile, and for once, you were grateful for the rubble and clutter scattered around the ship as you ran, knowing your pursuer would have a much harder time getting through it than you did.
You stumbled out into the open, taking a moment to assess your next move. This prank war of yours had been going on for a while, and you’d been involved in a number of chases with Murphy, and you knew your best shot was finding a willing protector to keep him away until he decided a more elaborate prank response was needed — it at least gave you a chance to get yourself together.
A string of curses and the sound of clanging metal alerted you to Murphy’s presence just a few feet away, so you took off again, heading towards a silhouette who vaguely resembled Raven. Now fully outdoors, you could hear Murphy gaining on you, and in a last-ditch attempt, you hollered, “RAVEN!”.
She turned towards you, and you were close enough now to see the bewilderment and slight concern on her face — but not a second later, you had a faceful of dirt.
Murphy rolled you over, straddling your waist. You spluttered, wrinkling your nose at the amount of dirt and mud that was now clinging to you.
“What’re you gonna do, asshole, beat me up?” you teased, grinning up at Murphy. He was smirking, mischief behind his eyes, which only made you smile wider — it was rare for any of you to get these moments free of fear and stress.
“Maybe,” he replied, feigning a punch to your stomach. He backed out at the last minute, so the impact was light, and the unexpected sensation made you jump, panic flashing across your face.
“Damn, Y/N, you’re that scared of me?” He made the movement again, and again, you flinched, pressing your lips together.
The realisation dawning on his face this time was far more terrifying.
“Holy shit,” he chuckled, and to your dismay, his hands were forming claws, resting against you.
“Murphy, don’t you dare,” you warned, grabbing his wrists. He cocked an eyebrow in response, slowly wiggling his fingers against your t-shirt. You let out a strangled yell, unable to hold back your smile. “No no no! Murphy!” Your grip was tightening, but he was determined, fingers spidering in place until you gave, letting go to bat at his hands. The moment your guard dropped, he went in for the kill.
His hands locked around your ribcage, thumbs pressing in between alternating ribs while his fingers curled into a spot beneath your shoulder blades that made you shriek.
“MURPHY!” Hysterical laughter was bubbling from your lips as he repeatedly squeezed, sending a jolt of ticklish energy through your body every time he did so. No matter which way you twisted, you couldn’t shake Murphy, whose hands were now travelling up and down your sides to test out new spots.
“A motion sensor, huh?” he finally spoke, and his voice was laced with an unbearingly teasing tone. “That’s pretty advanced.”
“I’ve been watching Rahahaven,” you wheezed, a fresh wave of giggles pouring anew as Murphy’s hands slipped under your shirt, scribbling against your stomach.
“All for me to find out you’re ticklish,” he sighed. “Awfully, terribly ticklish.”
“Shut up!” He was ruthless, unforgiving, and everytime you thought he’d give up he’d start tickling in a new spot, and you’d give him the exact reaction he’d wanted, and the cycle would begin again. By this point, your laughter and mad squirming had weakened you to a giggling puddle, with any attempts to gather your strength thwarted by fingers worming under your arm or fluttering under your chin.
“I think you’re killing them, John,” Raven called, making her way over to the two of you.
“They can take it,” he replied, beckoning her over.
“I can’t,” you giggled breathlessly, “I really can’t.”
“Disappointing.” Raven shook her head, grinning. “You’d think they’d be able to hold up under a bit of tickling, huh, John?”
You rolled your eyes, Murphy’s darting hands rendering you unable to do much else in your defence.
“To be honest, Raven, I’m just wondering why someone this ticklish would even engage in a prank war with me,” Murphy responded. He’d zoned in on a spot just below your ribs, and you were laughing too hard to formulate a response, your chest jerking with every touch.
“Time to let them go, they can think about their actions later,” Raven said, and finally Murphy rolled off of you, leaving you to jump, doubled over, to your feet.
“You absolute ass, John Murphy,” you breathed, shooting him a glare. He raised his eyebrows, wiggling his fingers, and you visibly cringed, making both him and Raven laugh.
“I’d think twice before crossing me again, Y/N,” he said, shoving you playfully as you headed past him to clean up. Still, both of you knew this war was far from over.
