TickleTober Day 2: Tense
~Ya’ll know I needed to squeeze my boy in here somewhere. This seemed like the perfect prompt for him, and I adored him and alternate Powder’s dynamic. For anyone else who likes these two, I hope you Enjoy!~
Fandom: Arcane: League of Legends
Lee: Ekko
Ler: Powder (Alternate Timeline)
Summary: Ekko is stressed and tired from working on the tedious mechanisms of the Z-Drive. Powder walks in on a particularly tense moment and decides to help him relax.
Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don’t like that, scroll away!!
“Damn it!”
The loud clattering of the wrench echoed off the lab walls, mimicking the man’s frustration. He hadn’t meant to throw it that hard, but…well, he was pissed.
Once again, their prototype had failed. Ekko was almost positive he’d triple-checked their work on the calibrator, but even after hours of work, it had failed. He was left with a useless configuration of metal, a caffeine headache, and a scrap of his will to live.
He was considering throwing the thing off the roof to watch it bounce, but a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Ekko? Everything okay in here?”
The man sighed, flopping down into their nearby armchair.
He still hadn’t quite grown used to seeing her. Not Jinx, the woman who routinely tries to kill him and his scouts with a smile, but her. Powder, how happy she would’ve been able to be if things hadn’t gone so south that day. What could have been…
Her hand on his shoulder snapped Ekko out of his thoughts.
Right. Normal, functioning people responded to questions they were asked.
“The damn thing’s refusing to work. Can’t even get the calibration to function properly, and I’ve been at it for hours.”
Powder sighed, looking him over. The bags under his eyes were concerningly deep, and his shoulders were tense enough to leave him sore in the morning. “Have you tried taking a break?”
A break? Really? He said he’d been having problems making progress, and she wants him to stop? “And how would that help?”
“You’re killing your brain, Ekko. It’s begging for help by refusing to work.” Powder accentuated her point by tapping the man’s forehead. “I bet it’ll be fine if you just put the pencil down for a bit and do something else.”
Ekko opened his mouth to argue, but she had a point. At the very least, her suggestion was worth a try. “Fine. What should I do?”
“Jeez, you need instructions on how to relax?” she groaned, shaking her head. “You really are far-gone.”
“Just shut up and help me.”
With a playful giggle, Powder grabbed Ekko’s hand. He tried to ignore the slight warmth that bloomed in his chest as she placed his hands on his knees. “Okay, sit like this. I’m gonna try working that disgusting tension outta your shoulders.”
“Shut up.”
“Said that already. Still not happening.”
Ekko’s second snarky retort was cut off by the feeling of her thumbs pressing into his shoulder blades. It hurt a bit, but that was quickly overshadowed by the relief that followed. Oooooh fuck…
“Shit, you’re tense. Like, disturbingly tense. Do you ever relax, genius?” Powder chuckled softly as she spoke, half in disbelief. No wonder he always looked so pissed when he was working—he was probably in a bunch of pain.
“Yeah, I sleep,” he huffed, though his voice was breathier than normal. The massage practically had him melting into his chair.
Powder scoffed at that, shaking her head. “No you don’t. You pass out from exhaustion at your workbench and consume enough coffee to power a small army.”
“Wow. Don’t hold back or anything,” Ekko chuckled, letting his eyes drift close. The occasional grunt and groan of relief slipped past his lips as her nimble fingers worked the tension from his muscles. He could feel himself drifting, head tilted against the back of the chair. It felt amazing.
Eventually, Powder reached his neck. Her fingers gently prodded the muscles there, searching for tension with quick brushes and pokes. She’d expected some small responses, maybe a hum or a grunt.
What she wasn’t expecting, however, was Ekko to jolt and grab her wrist.
The reaction was obviously instinctual. Ekko’s hand had shot up, and his brows began to furrow as he realized what had happened. He quickly released her wrist, looking away. “Uh...sorry.”
“Everything okay? Did I hurt you?”
The concern in her voice made Ekko groan and run a hand down his face. Of course she had to find that little spot on his neck. “No, I…it’s nothing. Just caught me off guard.”
Powder’s brow quirked, and he knew he was screwed. “No, it’s not nothing. You flinched and went all action-mode on me, Ekko. What did I do?”
She rested her hand on his shoulder, somehow managing to make him feel even worse. How was he supposed to stay collected with those grey-blue eyes staring so expectantly at him?
“It just...kinda tickled, okay? Drop it.”
Powder’s eyes widened, the corner of her mouth quirking up for the briefest of seconds. “Ooooh, okay. Could’a just said that from the beginning,” she teased, lightly punching his shoulder.
Her hands moved back to his shoulders, continuing the massage. Ekko was on alert at that point, flinching a bit as her hands touched down. However, once she continued her gentle ministrations, he quickly drifted back into that hazy, warm, contented headspace.
He had no time to prepare for what came next.
“GAH! N-no, shihihihit!” Ekko jerked in the chair, trying to grab her hands again. Instead, Powder dodged, catching Ekko’s wrists above his head, She used gravity to her advantage, getting the boy savior into a position that he couldn’t really escape from. At least, not when he was so tired.
“No assaulting the masseuse, mister. Let me work my magic.” Powder playfully scolded him, gently futtering the fingers of her free hand along the base of his neck.
“Thihihis ahain’t mahahagic!”
“Heretic,” she scoffed, letting her hand slip down to poke Ekko’s side. Sure enough, she got a nice yelp out of him. “Ooo, here seems pretty tense.”
“G-gehehet ohoff!” Ekko tried to growl through his laughter, though it sounded more like a whine than anything. His already lighter voice was ptiching and cracking as he tried to hold back his reactions.
Powder chuckled, though she did let go of his arms. Once Ekko had brought his arms back down to hug himself, she leaned down on the armrest beside him.
“Shihit…” he huffed, straightening his vest. He and Powder were close, so he wasn’t horribly embarassed. Just...shocked. “Why’d you do that?”
“Well, you’re tense. I’m just trying to help.” Powder rested her head on Ekko’s shoudler. “That would always work when we were kids. You could never stay in a bad mood after some tickles.”
“Don’t— don’t say it like that, Powder.” He looked away, feeling his face heat. Of course she’d remember that. In her timeline, childhood memories like that weren’t tainted, weren’t inacessible. He envied her for that. At least, that version of her.
“Don’t say it like what?” Powder tilted her head, noticing Ekko’s fluster. “Does that still get you? Just the word tickle?”
Instead of responding, the man shoved at her head. Powder laughed as she clutched onto his shoulder, palancing on the armrest.
“Ohokay! I’ll take that as a yes.” Ekko could hear the grin in her voice, even as he stabilized her on the armrest. She caught his gaze, and her expression softened. “Would you...want me to help you relax? I’ll be gentle, promise.”
Ekko sighed, biting the inside of his cheek. Of course she’d ask that; it seemed to be her mission to fluster him as thorughly as possible. But…the offer was tempting. It’d beed a long time since he’d allowed himself to truly relax and have fun with someone he trusted. Hell, it’d been a long time since he’d found someone he truly trusted.
“...fine, whatever.”
“Wait, really?” Powder’s eyes widened, a smile of excited disbelief lighting up her features. “You’re actually gonna let me help you?”
“Just do it before I change my mind,” he huffed, shoving her head off his shoulder. He chose to ignore how happy seeing that excitement made him.
“Aye-aye, captain.” Powder gave him a playful little salute before swinging over the armrest, straddling his lap. The way his cheeks immediately darkened made her giggle. “Arms away from your chest, please.”
“I hate you…” Ekko huffed, though he did what she asked. He forced his arms out to the sides, holding each armrest tightly. She’d already established a silent challegne with him: don’t move your arms.
“No you don’t.”
Powder wasted no time, immeadiatley spidering her fingers up and down Ekko’s sides. She got a shocked grunt out of the man, a few giggles slipping through the cracks. He wasn’t expecting her to go all out at first.
“C’mon, stop hiding your laugh. The whole point of this is to relax, not murder your diaphram.”
He wanted to play hard ball? Well, two could play that game. Remembering childhood tickle fights, Powder shot her hands up to Ekko’s ribs, scratching between the bones in a way she knew would have him in stitches.
“SHHHIHIHIT! POWDEHEHEHER!” Ekko jolted in the chair, his composure immediately shattering. He did manage to keep his arms on the chair, though he was white-knuckling the poor upholstry.
“There we go,” she sung, clearly proud of herself for breaking him. The point of her silliness was to help him realx, though, so she backed off his ribs. Instead, her wiggling fingers wandered down to his sides, gently scribbling and kneading the soft skin shrouding his muscles.
“Y-youhuhuhu chehehater!” Ekko wriggled beneath her in the chair, feeling like a kid again. When was the last time he’d let himself truly laugh like that? Have fun like that? As embarassing as it was, he was enjoying himself.
His accusation got a playful scoff out of Powder. “Not cheating, just good strategy. You’re the one who tried to macho trhough it.”
“Ihihi wahas nohohot— GYAHA!” Once again, Ekko’s poor underarms were randomly largeted. He lurched forward, though he did manage to keep one of his hands on the armrest. His head rested on Powder’s shoulder; what little energy he’d had after working on the calibration had been spent.
“Don’t lie to me, Ekko. You were literally grunting.”
While Powder would’ve loved to bully Ekko further, she truly did want to help him relax. She moved up to his neck, gently dragging her nails over the surprisingly soft skin there.
“Th-thahahat wahahas unnehehecessahary…” The man burried his face in Powder’s neck, giggling away. He’d given up on saving face, instead wrapping his arms around Powder. She was warm, and it was instictual to hold on to someone when he felt vulnerable.
Powder was slightly surprised by his clinginess, but that shock quickly melted into adoration. He was acting so cute, and she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t making her feel anything for him.
The gentle tickling continued until Ekko was practically limp against Powder, giggling his head off as he held her. She finally stopped, patting the man’s back a few times to let him know she was done. “Alright, no more. You still with me?”
“Shihihit…” He was a bit out of breath, feeling giddy and light after the silly moment. It was realy nice to simply have Powder close to him, in his arms. Apparently, tickling made him soft.
“Okay, you’re being really cute right now,” she hummed, starting to scratch his back. Of course, he had no choice but to lean into the touch. “And look at that. Almost no tension left in you. Never doubt me, wonder boy.”
“Whatever,” Ekko mumbled into her shoulder, letting his eyes close for a moment. He was so comfortable…damn it. “Back to work in twenty?”
“Sounds good to me.”
