It was a nice, cool and collected October afternoon.
The air smelled like October…the tree’s looked like October…
…And everything just felt…October-ish in a way; if that makes any sense…
It was the end of the school day; and just like any intelligent and studious student…you would assume doing your homework as soon as you got home would be the best bet, right?
Well…not for Linus Van Pelt and Charlie Brown.
The two best friends have been playing video games for the past…two hours; give or take?
And their homework would most likely not be finished until…probably…midnight…
…But the two had priorities. Very good ones in fact!
And one of the main priorities they had as of right now was finishing their video game.
(A wonderful priority if you ask me).
And to make it even better, Charlie was surprisingly…winning!
Which…was something in his life that didn’t happen…much, if, not at all.
Linus looked at the small TV screen in slight disbelief as his best friend managed to score yet another point in Mario Kart.
The brunette chuckled at the action, a mix of surprise and amusement in his voice, “Wow…I didn't know you were such a video game expert, Char. You’re destroying me, here.”
Charlie giggled, “I guess I am, aren’t I?”
The younger boy shook his head, feigning an offended tone, “You 'guess', huh?” The red cladded preteen snickered as he put the controller to the side, “Don’t let it get to your head. You're supposed to be letting me win, after all."
“You wouldn’t win even if I let you.” The other chuckled.
“Wha— exCUSE me?!” Linus gasped dramatically.
“You’re excused...” Charlie said cheekily as the TV roared with champion music, displaying the results of the leader board as the yellow cladded preteen was shown as the winner.
“…Looks like I win.” The older grinned.
“That’s not faaaaair!!!” The younger one whined, pointing his finger accusingly at his best friend, “You cheated!”
Charlie Brown let out a small huff of laughter, raising an amused brow as he crossed his arms, “Hohow dihid I cheat? Yohou watched me plahay!”
The red cladded preteen rolled his eyes, looking away from his friend as he sulked, “Whatever...”
Charlie rested his head on his friend’s shoulder whilst teasingly poking his cheek, “It’s okay to lose, Li. We all have to at some point.”
“You lose all the time in…like…w-well, everything!” The shorter teen retorted.
“But I’m not losing right now, am I?” The honey brown eyed preteen grinned smugly, going out to poke the other’s cheek one more time but was stopped as Linus grabbed his wrists, pinning his arms above his head with one hand as he sat on his friend’s thighs.
Charlie’s eyes widened, kicking his legs underneath Linus as he tried to get out of the hold.
…Good…grief.
The one in red used his free hand to tickle the other’s side, dancing his fingers diligently and effortlessly which caused Charlie to absolutely shriek, shaking his head as he stomped his feet on the carpeted floor.
Linus chuckled, enjoying the lightheartedness of the moment and the adorable sound of his friend’s shriek as he tickled his sides.
The brown eyed preteen was barely even tickling him!
…In fact, Linus was barely getting started.
The younger smiled slyly, “Huh...who would’ve known? The great video game champion is ticklish…”
“N-Nohohohoh!!” The other kid giggled helplessly.
“'No?' You seem pretty ticklish to me, Char.“ The brunette haired preteen mused.
“I-Ihihi’m nahahat!” The older cried.
Linus rolled his eyes fondly as he doubled down on the tickling, his grin stretching wider. He released his friend’s wrists and he pinched his hips, chuckling at the giggly denial the other was sputtering through his laughs.
I mean, come on now. Linus knew Charlie Brown since…kindergarten.
…The two were only in fifth grade…but still! His point still boldly stands!!!
“Oho, you're not, huh? Then how come you're giggling and squirming around so much?“
“I-Ihihi’m nahahat!” The honey brown eyed kid desperately denied which Linus to only laughed out loud in result, his fingers still dancing over his best friend’s sides.
He looked at the taller boy with mock seriousness, still smiling widely as the other wriggled and writhed.
“Oho really? Because your giggling is telling me a veeeeery different story~!” The red cladded preteen smiled smugly as he started to knead the other’s hips, “Just say you’re ticklish…'cuz I know you know you are…no matter how much you deny it.
Charlie Brown just snorted, hugging his middles and kicking his legs slightly as Linus continued with his tickling onslaught, making sure to leave the other boy in utter stitches.
“Cohome on, Char! Admit it! Just say, your ticklish and this can aaaaaall be over~! You know you want to~!” The hazel eyed teen said as he tickled his best friend’s stomach swiftly.
And in result, the yellow cladded preteen genuinely screamed in a result to the new sensation on his tummy, grabbing the other’s wrists but not quite pushing them away.
Linus just grinned, enjoying the silliness of the situation, “Pff— how about now, Char~? Are you still 'not ticklish~?'” He teased as he continued to tickle the taller oh-so casually, “Y'know…the more you deny it, the more I'm tempted to keep going~!”
The honey brown eyed preteen’s whole face turned to a bright red as he tugged on his best friend’s hands, “NAHAHAHAH— snrk LIHINUHUS!!”
The younger boy found his best friend’s giggling both adorable yet hilarious at the same time; continuing to tickle the other on his stomach and not showing the slightest sign of stopping anytime soon.
“D'aww~! Your little snorts nehever get old…” The younger smiled fondly, “Come on, Char, just say it! I won't stop until you do~!”
“LIHI— snrk!! PLEHEASE NAHAHOH!!” Charlie Brown cackled.
“But all you have to do is admit it, Char-Char~! Just say you’re soooo ticklish and the tickling will stop!” The hazel eyed preteen casually said.
The slightly taller kid snorted, flapping his hands on his friend’s arms. Linus glanced at his best friend's happy stims and smiled, pausing his tickling torment for juuuuust a moment.
“Your happy stimming is so. freaking. cute!” The younger gushed, “But~! We're not done here; not until you say those two magic words..." He said as he resumed the tummy tickling with a smirk.
Charlie snorted, “LIHI LIHIHI!! PLEHEHEASE!!!”
“Awe…is that a 'please' I hear? Sounds like someone's starting to give in…”
“I’M TICKLISH!! IHIHIHI’M TIHICKLIHISH!!!” The yellow cladded preteen cackled despretley
“Those aren’t the magic words, Charlie Brooown~!” Linus grinned evilly, leaning down and blowing a raspberry on his best friend’s stomach.
The older let out an embarrisngly loud squeal at the sensation on his said stomach, covering his face with his arms as he laughed hysterically.
“Oho gosh…I forgot how sensitive your tummy is...” Linus giggled in between breaths.
“IHIHITS SNRK NAHAHAT!!” The other denied.
“It’s not? Are you sure? 'Cuz this seems like a goldmine for your giggles, Charlie..” The younger said matter-of-factly as he lightly scribbled his nails around the elder’s bellybutton as he raspberried his sides.
The elder in question howled, arching his back and cackling madly, “GAHAHASH NOHOH! HIC! WHYHYHY THAHAHAT?!”
“Because you loooove it~!”
“PLEHEASE!! LIHIHI NOHOHAH— SNRK! STAHAHAP!!!”
“But this cute little giggle spot is so yummy, Char! I just need to...” And with that, Linus blew the most freaking ticklish raspberry Charlie Brown’s ever felt directly on his bellybutton.
Happy tears ran down the older’s face, lying limp on the carpet as he laughed like The Joker, “LINUS IHI’M SOSOHO TICKLISH!!! IHI’M TICKLISH JUHUHUST PLEEHEHEASE!!!”
The red cladded preteen stopped immediatley, getting off and lying down next his best friend as his best friend in question tried to catch his breath.
“Ihihi’m gohohonna gehehet yohou back…”
“I’m sure you will, Char.” Linus snickered, sitting back against the couch as he grabbed his and Charlie’s playstations and waving them around teasingly, “Best out of three?”
“Oho you’re ohon.” The older grinned, snatching back the gaming device as they placed video games throughout the night.
To be frank, it was in fact a very large understatement.
Charlie Brown despised Math; he absolutely loathed it.
The darn subject’s homework took him about an hour to do every night.
Not fifteen minutes.
Not thirty.
A whole. freaking. hour.
It was already 12:30 and the honey brown eyed preteen was still up doing homework at his desk…
…Next year he should protest for Math to be cut off from every single school system.
No one would miss it, really!
Well…no one would miss it besides Linus.
Charlie harshly erased the entire first half of the page, crumbling up the paper in frustration and throwing it to the pile of discombobulated loose leaf papers he used waaaaaaaay earlier in the night.
The yellow cladded preteen groaned loudly, massaging his head as he glared down at the new piece of paper in front of him.
If only he could throw away his problems as simply as he could crumble up paper…
“Big brother…what are you doing up so late?” A small familar blonde girl said in Charlie Brown’s bedroom doorway.
“AUGH!! Sally…God, don’t scare me like that…” Charlie said as he clutched his chest where his heart was, hopping down from his bed as he put his notebooks on his dresser. “What are you doing up…? Your bedtime is 8:30, remember?”
“I asked you first!” Sally said loudly.
“And I asked you second; two is more than one.” The honey brown eyed preteen snickered as he crossed his arms smugly.
“That’s not how that works!” The younger screeched.
“Is to.” The elder huffed.
“Is not!”
“Is to.”
“Is not!”
“Is to.”
“Is not!”
Charlie rolled his eyes at the back and forth nonsense, biting back a smile as he decided to mess with his little sister a bit, “…Is not.”
“Is to…!” The blue eyed preteen screeched before realizing what she just said, “…Wait…what?! H-How did you—”
“Glad you agree.” The older hummed in triumph, getting flashcards from inside of his backpack and starting to study them, “Go to sleep, Sally. You have school in the morning.”
“So do you!!!” The other screeched.
“I’m aware of that…” Charlie Brown said, “But unlike you, Sal, I don’t just stay up to stay up— I’m studying! So in retrospect, I need to stay awake to know I’m 101% ready for this Math quiz tomorrow!”
“…I thought it was a test?”
“So in retrospect, I need to stay awake to know I’m 101% ready for this Math test!” The boy corrected, putting his flashcards down and putting his hand on his little sister’s shoulder comfortingly, “I’ll be fine,Sally…but I won’t be fine supporting the action of you forcing yourself to stay awake because I’mstaying awake…”
The girl in pink pajamas crossed her arms in frustration, “But you pulled an all-nighter the night before! And the night before that! And the night before that! And the night before that! And the night before—“
“Okay, okay! I get it!” The older preteen said as he cut his sister off, “I’ll go to bed aaaaat…11.”
“Big brother…” The younger blonde grumbled warningly.
“10:50?” Charlie asked, trying to negotiate.
Sally just glared.
“10:30?”
Sally raised a single brow, her frown still evident.
“…10:15 but that’s my final offer.” The elder sighed as the baby blue eyed girl sat on his bed. She pat the spot right next to her, lying down as she stared at the ceiling, “But what if you just went to sleep now?“
“I dunno…” The elder said as he scratched the back of his head nervously, “I really need to study, Sal…”
And he has! Charlie Brown had been studying all week!
All day...
…And all morning…
…And all evening…
…And all night….
What if there was some material he missed?
Or what if he forgot to study a page or two?!
…Isn’t it crazy how one assignment causes a kid so much stress and at the end of all of it he just gets a piece of paper like it’ll make up for it…
'Diploma' this and 'diploma' that. At this point just give him the 1756 looking ass scroll already!!!
“Pleeeeeeeaase???” Sally said, sticking out her lip as she wobbled it slightly. Charlie Brown face-palmed, looking away as he grumbled to himself.
He didn’t want to go to bed…he really really didn’t…
The hazel brown eyed preteen has only been studying all week!
…Which, now that he thought about it…that is a lot of time looking over notes, making flashcards and reviewing homework’s…
“I’m gonna worry all night thinking about you, big brother!” The younger whined as she sneakingly switched her tactics into making the other go to sleep, “Do you really want me staying up all nightworrying??? I’ll get grey/gray hairs before I turn ten—”
“Okay, okay!!” Charlie Brown said as he cut her off, “I’ll go to bed...yeesh.”
The girl’s eyes narrowed, “You mean you’ll go to sleep?”
The elder sighed loudly, “Yes, Ally…I’ll go to sleep.”
Sally’s eyes softened at the nickname, a small smile spreading to her face but her expression still remaining firm, “Promise?”
He nodded, “I promise.”
“…Pinky promise?”
“Pinky promise.”
“Pinky promise with whipped cream and sprinkles with a cherry on top?”
The older preteen blinked in confusion but just shook his head fondly, chuckling lightly, “I pinky promise with whipped cream and sprinkles with a cherry on top.”
The younger blonde raised a brow, “I don’t trust you…I should keep an eye on you to make sure you fall asleep.” She said as she went underneath the other’s covers, getting comfortable.
Charlie Brown laughed, going in his bed and going underneath the covers as he snuggled into the pillow, “Whatever you say, Al-Al.”
A comfortable silence loomed over the two as Sally went and turned off the lights, the only light luminating around the room being a night light.
The baby blue eyed girl swiftly got closer to her elder brother, lying down next to him as he wrapped her in a hug as she buried her face in his chest.
“You’re warm…” The girl in pink pajamas mumbled.
“Thank you..?” The honey brown eyed kid said, letting out a quiet squeak as his sibling nuzzled her face in the side of his neck. “S-Sahahally!”
“Hm?” The other hummed absentmindedly.
“Gehehet o-ohout!!”
“But your waaaaarm…!” She whined as she nuzzled harder.
“AHAH— snrt! W-Wait! Sally n-noho wahahait!!” Charlie giggled as he turned around, curling in on himself as his little sister tickled his sides. “Sahall Sahahall!! PlahaHEASE! I-I thohought hic yohou wanted hic meehee tahahoo hic gohoh to SLEEHEEP!”
“I do! Go to sleep.”
“Ihihi’m TRYIHING!” The boy giggled, flapping his hands against the other’s arms. “S-Stahap ihiHAT! Gohoh awahay!”
“Stop~? Stop whaaaat~?” The girl giggled, her soft smile becoming mostly snarky now.
“Yohour’e— hic! Yohohou’re— squeal! Nahaha stAHAP!!” Charlie squeaked.
“But why~?” The younger blonde teased as she kneaded her older brother’s hips, “Is it 'cuz you’re tickle tickle ticklish~?”
“NOHOH!!” The taller preteen denied loudly as a small blush slowly spread across his cheekbones, “SahaHALLY cohome OHAN whyhyhy?!?”
The shorter one just shrugged, “'Cuz I wanna!”
“Thehen dohohon’t!” The boy in yellow and black said as he sat up, grabbing his sister’s wrists as they made eye contact, “Ihihit ihis tehen o’clohock, Sahal…”
“So?”
“Wehee hic hahave schooHOOL ihin the snrt mohohorning!!”
“Well, then you should’ve listened to me in the first plaaaaace~!” The younger sing-songed as she dug her fingers into Charlie’s underarms. “ShiHIT! SHIHIHAT!! Noho— hic nahahat THEHERE!” He cried, kicking his legs on the mattress. “GEHET ahaHOUT!! I-I cahahan’t!”
The younger blonde just giggled in amusement, trying her absolute best to keep herself composed and not lightly poke fun at the other’s helpless hysterics, “You caaaaan’t~? Can’t whaaaaaat~?”
“M-Myhy GAHASH SAHAHALLY gehet ohoFF!” The elder cried.
“And why should I?” The light blue eyed preteen questioned, getting her hands out from her big brother’s underarm’s and pinning his arms up with one hand, letting the other teasingly wiggle over his stomach.
Charlie’s eyes widened, nervous yet giddy cackles pouring out of his mouth, “WAHAHAIT!! SAHAL hic NAHA— snrt!! SIHIHIS PLAHAHEASE NAHAT THEHEHERE!!”
“But why~?” The girl asked again.
“YOHOU snrt KNOHOW WHYHYHY!!”
“I don’t think I do~!” Sally hummed, tickling the other’s stomach mercilessly with one hand, “Care to explain, big bro~?”
The yellow cladded boy’s eyes shot out of his sockets, his laugh duplicating in volume as his sister almost (almost) retracted from the sudden shriek, “D'aww…that tickle, Char-Bar?”
“WIHIHILL YOHOHOU SNRT SHUHUHUSH?!” The elder said as he flailed his arms around. “Nah, I’m good.” The shorter preteen smiled as she blew raspberries on the taller’s tummy.
The honey brown eyed kid threw his head back, happy tears starting to run down his face as he kicked his legs in the air desperately, “PLAHAHAHEASE!!!”
The older preteen layed limp on the bed as his hands flailed in the air, not being able to do anything else but just laugh his head off, “SAHAHALLY IHI— SNRT!! I-IHIHAH!!! IHI’M SNRT SNRT GEHEHETTING YOHOU SNRT BAHACK FOHOHOR HIC THIHIS!!”
“Oh will you now~?” The younger said as she unpredictably switched from raspberries to nibbles in a matter of seconds.
“GOOHOOD HIC GREHEHEIF!! SNRT AHAHAHALLY!!!”
The shorter preteen nibbled the other’s sides, using her free hand to tickle at the other’s ribs, “That’s my name~! Don’t wear it out~!”
“IHIHAT’S SAHAHA SNRT SOHO— SQUEAL!!”
“So whaaaaaat~?”
“SAHAHALLY!!!” The elder hiccuped, lightly hitting her arms.
The younger blonde’s grin turned to a small genuine smile as her usually sad and closed off sibling turned to a giggly loud giggler(e) in a matter on seconds.
Good ol Charlie Brown…
“AHAH— HIC!! IHI GAHAHIVE!! IHI HIC GIHIVE!!!” Charlie shouted, “NOHAH!!! NOHOHO SNRT SNRT MOHOHORE!!!”
Sally just shrugged, going back to nibbling her older brother’s tummy as she lightly traced around his navel…
…Talk about ruthless.
“OKAY OKAY OKAHAHAY!!! ALRIGHT SNRT MHYHY GOHOD! J-JUHUHUST STHAHAP!!!” The elder sibling cried, “IHIHI’LL DO AHAHANYTHIHIHING!!”
“THAHAHAT’S WHAHAT I WAHAHAAS TRYING TO DO IHIN THEHEE FIRST PLACE!!!” The honey brown eyed preteen howled.
“Well, why didn’t you just say so?” The baby blue eyed girl sweetly mused, stopping her vicious and un-called for attack as she layed back down next to her sibling, “Communication is key when it comes to a relationship, Char-Char.”
“Dihihid Luhucy snrt give snrt yohohou thahat snrt advice?” Charlie Brown asked curiously.
“Nah— you did. You can be pretty wise when you want to.” The girl exclaimed as she yawned, stretching slightly, “Well…sometimes…kinda…like 20% of the time.”
“Yeesh…what a way to build a guy up and then bring him down.” The older huffed, crossing his arms as he hugged his sister once again. Sally melted into the touch, resting her head on her big brother’s chest as she listened to his heartbeat, “Oh puh-lease. Y’know I love you.” She giggled.
“Love you too, Sal…goodnight.” The taller mumbled sleepily.
“Goodnight!”
. . .
“Charlie are there infinite words?” The pink pajama girl randomly questioned, disturbing her brother’s peace and quiet (also called 'a good night’s sleep).
“No, Ally…but there are infinite numbers!” The boy explained.
“Well, if there is a word for every number, then there must be infinite words.”
