a/n: so hello this is my longest fic ever and i’m honestly surprised because it wasn’t intended to be?? not that i’m complaining. anyways, i’ve been wanting to write a fic with these three for a while so i’m glad i finally did. there’s also this thing where sometimes azul cries ink (but not all the time), but idk it’s when things r more intense? and in the beginning, i don’t really know the first thing about business,,, so i jusy used my experiences as a food service employee 😭 ANYWAYS, hope y’all enjoy <3
i did also attempt to make sure the entire thing is present tense, because i’ve noticed i have a habit of switching between present and past tense. though, i’m not really sure i’m liking it, but i’m not about to read through two thousand words again to change it all. i might just try past tense and stick to it.
summary: When they were young, the Leech twins learn that Azul is ticklish. Years later, they’re delighted to see that it hasn’t changed.
“I’m impressed!” Floyd, the young moray, beams as Azul explains his newly mastered signature spell.
“It only makes sense that you would be the one to do it.” Jade agrees, a proud smile on his face.
Azul seems excited, which makes the twins both happy, yet they don’t say anything. They don’t mind as Azul rambles about the merpeople who are lined up, waiting to get a contract with Azul.
Well, at least Jade doesn’t mind, but after around a minute, Floyd is bored. He pokes the octopus in the tummy, causing Azul to squeak and close his mouth, tight lipped.
The morays raise a brow. That was odd. Floyd’s face easily slips into one of amusement and curiosity.
“Ah~? What was that? Did you just squeal?” Floyd asked, a teasing tone finding its way into his voice. By now, Azul’s face is already bright red.
“You just surprised me!” Azul covers his stomach, though, rubbing it as if he was hurt.
“Surprised you? Aren’t you just ticklish?” Jade cuts in once he connects the dots. Floyd’s eyes widen like a lightbulb had just lit up in his head and the smile he gives is one of pure joy. Azul’s face is pale as a ghost.
“That’s not it at a-aLAHAHAH! Wait!” Azul starts, but he’s barely able to finish as Floyd pounced and eagerly begins wrecking him to absolute pieces.
“Looks like you were right, Jade! He’s like, suuuper ticklish!” Floyd exclaims, pinching at the chubby skin. Jade chuckles into his hand.
“Yes, he’s very ticklish. I’m surprised.” Jade notes, but doesn’t miss how the tips of Azul’s ears go red. Floyd, in the midst of all the laughter, asks Jade to help him. He accepts, of course, curious to see what spots really made Azul go crazy.
They only stop when Azul begins to tear up and a few drops of ink leave his eyes. Floyd has to practically be pried off by Jade, but all in all, they had fun. Azul couldn’t be too upset, Jade thinks, because he hadn’t really tried to stop them.
Since then, Azul had been the center of majority of their tickle attacks. Even as they got older, Azul would find himself in these situations quite often, only slowing down once the three entered NRC.
Which brings us to the present.
“Is that the last customer?” Azul asks, as two Scarabian students walk out. Jade scans the area and nods his head.
“I believe so. I think it’s an appropriate time to start cleaning up now.”
“I see. You and Floyd can handle that. I will start counting the money in the register.” Azul decides, already making his way to the counter.
“Ughhhh.. Cleaning up is so boring!” Floyd groans, slouching over the couch. Azul merely sighs. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence to not want to clean; in fact, it happened almost every night. Still, it was always done by the end of each night.
“Now, now, Floyd. The sooner we do it, the sooner it will be done.” Jade assures him, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Floyd responds with another groan. Jade takes that as agreement and goes to the storage closet to retrieve the cleaning supplies, handing them to Floyd.
Floyd begrudgingly gets up. Jade wipes down the tables, while Floyd sweeps up the trash. All that can be heard was the quiet lounge music and Azul muttering numbers as he counted the cash.
Cleaning had always been a relatively easy task at the Mostro Lounge, especially with the two of them doing it, so it was obvious they would be finished before Azul.
They walk to the kitchen, seeing Azul seated on a chair in front of the register. He’s almost done and Floyd slings his shoulder over Azul, snickering when the other startles and pauses for a moment. Jade sits at a nearby chair and waits. When Azul is done, he sets the money down and turns his head.
“We have the right amount.” He says, ducking his head to put the money in the register. When he’s done, he makes a move to get up but Floyd’s fingers accidentally grazes his neck and he freezes, eyes widening.
Floyd stares at him for a moment, obviously confused. Jade knows what it is, immediately, and it only takes Floyd half a second longer to realize.
“I forgot you were ticklish on your neck!” Floyd laughs and Azul brushes his arm off of him.
“Nonsense. It’s time to go.” Azul shakes his head, trying to be casual and trying to shift the topic. The thing about Floyd, though, is that once he’s got his mind on something, it’s really hard to get his mind off of it.
“Did you? He’s sensitive everywhere.” Jade muses, laughing to himself.
“Real sensitive, too! I can’t believe I forgot, Azul. Why didja let me forget?” Floyd drawls, putting his arm back up to curl his fingers against the housewarden’s ear, delighted when he scrunches up.
“B-because it’s childish!” Azul defends, covering his ears, which were pink at the tips.
“Childish? But it’s soooo fun tickling you! I wanna tickle you!” Floyd chirped, sending a glance towards Jade. Jade sits up at the unspoken invitation.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Jade recalls, feeling nostalgic. So much had been going on, Azul’s ticklishness wasn’t really the first thing on their minds. Now that he’s been reminded of it though, Jade would really enjoy tickling him. He can tell that Floyd would too.
Azul directs a glare at both of them. It’s hard to take it seriously when his face is flushed and Jade tries to conceal a laugh. “Don’t you dare.”
“Do what?” Jade asks, feigning confusion.
“Oh, if that’s what you want, I guess I can do that!” Floyd understands the second Azul takes the bait, his hands quickly finding their way to Azul’s sides. He kneads his fingers, and Azul bursts out in laughter. There had been times where he tried to conceal it, but they all knew he was too sensitive for that.
“T-thahahahat’a NOHOHOT w-WAHAHAT I MEHEHEANAT!” Azul sputters out, clearly struggling with his words. Floyd had always been the type to go straight for the kill. Jade almost felt bad. Jade gently traced his neck, satisfied when he would see Azul twisting his neck every which way to avoid the light touches.
“It must be difficult being so ticklish.” Jade teases. Floyd and him make eye contact and Floyd changes spots. They don’t want to tire him out too quickly. Floyd begins to prod and squeeze at his hips. The laughter goes down a significant level, but it’s still there.
“Y-you shuhuhut uhuhup! I k-knohohonow your bohohoth tihihihicklish tohohohoo!” Azul cried out, and Floyd laughs.
“Even so, you’ll always be soooo much more ticklish! You’re just one ticklish octopus, huh?” Azul only rolls his eyes, but it looks a bit funny when he’s cackling as loud as he is.
“Nohohoho I’m nohohot! T-This ihihis uhuhunprofehehesional!” Azul squeals, a new shade of red glittering his face when a snort makes it through his laughter. He covers his hands with his gloves. That won’t do.
Jade moves from his neck to his armpits, scribbling. Azul’s clothing proves some protection, but it’s clearly not enough, because instantly, Azul is struggling to keep his hand to his face. Small huffs make it through his fingers and the twins can vaguely hear snorts.
“Surely you can make an exception for your most loyal employees?” Jade tuts and Azul shakes his head rapidly. “I’m sure we can convince you otherwise.”
The twins have Azul sort-of trapped, Jade realizes. Jade is behind Azul, his fingers wedged in his underarms and tickling the sensitive skin. Floyd is in front, still going at his hips. Somehow, the three had found their way to the floor, which had luckily been cleaned about an hour earlier. Still, there was plenty of enough space for Azul to fight back if he really didn’t want the tickling to stop. And yet, he stayed there, letting the twins unleash their tickly wrath on him.
Jade couldn’t help the smile make its way onto is face. Azul really hadn’t changed.
“Jade’s right! After all our hard work, we should have some more perks, you know?” Floyd agrees, moving up to Azul’s ribs. Azul had become much thinner since their younger years, so Floyd could feel the bones. He poked and prodded at each bone, counting to himself out loud. He seemed to linger on the spots that would make Azul’s laughter raise an octave.
When he hit a certain spot on the lower part of Azul’s rib, the housewarden’s arms shot down to push at Floyd’s relentless hands. Jade removed his hands, hooking his arms around Azul’s to let Floyd have a bit more access. Floyd had always enjoyed tickling more than Jade had, even when Jade was highly amused.
“N-nohohoho?!” Azul’s laughter became a bit more frantic. His salty tears built up in the corner of his eyes.
“Yes!” Floyd insists, in reply. Azul does not respond, too beside himself with laughter. Another twin telepathy moment passes and Floyd goes to scratch at Azul’s stomach. The two relish in the sound that erupts from Azul’s lips, a shocked squeal that’s absolutely delightful to hear. Snort after snort leaves Azul’s lips and Jade takes a moment to just… listen.
“NOHOHOHO, FLOHOHOYD. JAHAHADE.” Azul howls and Jade examines his face. Within seconds, he can see black smudge at the corners of the octopus’ eyes. He sighs. Enough is enough, he supposes.
“Floyd.” He says, loudly. Floyd doesn’t seem to hear him. He wonders how all their intended eye contact works out, when Floyd can’t even hear him when he’s two feet in front of him. Then again, Azul is really.. loud right now.
“Floyd.” He says again, more stern this time and Floyd seems to finally get the memo, taking his hands of Azul and leaning against the bottom of the counter. He has a smug smile on his face, the same one he has when he wins against someone in a one-on-one in basketball.
Azul, on the other hand, just lays down on the floor, struggling to catch his breath. Jade gets a paper towel from the counter and hands it to Azul. The other rubs his eyes, black ink on it when he throws it in the trash can. And misses. Jade can pick that up later.
“Did we go too far?” Jade asks, though he doubts it. He had always been good at picking up the signs when Azul is nearing his limit. Azul groans and shakes his head.
“Did you two have fun?” He mutters, angrily, though it sounds half-hearted. The redness is slowly leaving his face.
“Lots of fun!” Floyd beams.
“I enjoyed it.” Jade says, a knowing look on his face. “And I know you did too.” Another groan slips from Azul’s lips.
“What time is it?” Azul asks, his eyes closed. Floyd is standing up, stretching his body.
Jade looks at the clock. “It’s a little before 10pm.” It was a bit late for them, since they usually retired to their dorms by 9:30, but clearly the trip to memory lane had taken a bit of time.
“Man, I’m sleepy. I could pass out right now.” Floyd yawns and Jade moves to stand. He holds out his hand for Azul to take, which he does, hoisting him up.
“Let me put the money in the register and do one last check and we can go.” Azul says, and the twins nod. They sit at the chairs that always stay by the counter and wait for Azul to finish his business. It doesn’t take long. The three of them walk to the dorms together and Azul clears his throat when they reach his room. Then he pauses. He looks like he wants to say something.
“You two… have a good night.” Jade chuckles. It was clear he wanted to say something about them tickling him.
“Don’t worry. We will tickle you more from now on.” Jade reassures him. Azul blushes, gritting his teeth.
“That’s not what I was trying to say!”
“Really? It looked like you liked it!”
“I.. I— yeah— I mean no!” Azul disagrees, crossing his arms.
“Have a good night, Azul.” Jade says, grabbing Floyd by the arm. Floyd seems disappointed at losing the chance to tease Azul some more, but they’re already walking away. Azul grumbles and unlocks the door and steps inside his dorm.
Floyd prattles on about Azul’s sensitivity and while Jade doesn’t say much in response, he’s already thinking of ways to tickle Azul again. He supposes him and Floyd were the same as well. They both had always enjoyed making Azul smile and laugh.
