Can you write a part two to Leo getting the sock out of Donnie’s cast? It’s my fav fic of urs I love their dynamic
Maybe like Donnie’s getting overwhelmed after a little of trying to get the sock out and how much it tickles so Leo comforts him and they get it out
Thanks so much, I'm glad you liked the fic. I really appreciate you sending a prompt and I do like how silly the premise of that fic is, but I have no idea how I'd write a sequel to that. I'm really sorry but I truly don't know what to write for that.
October's on it's way, and it's time to get ready!! Over at @tickletober, folks voted and said that July would be the best month to drop this year's list, so here's mine!
It's time to start prepping for TickleTober 2024!!
As always -- this challenge is just for fun! There is no pressure to complete every prompt, just do what you want/what you can. Jump around the list, pick and choose, combine, and interpret the prompts however you like. Just enjoy yourself! Don't burn out trying to do it all!!
Also, I believe it was last year, it was suggested by an anon that list-makers might provide a daily prompt list and a weekly prompt list. I was already done with last year's material by the time that came in, but this year I planned ahead for it! The groupings of prompt in the daily prompt list correlate directly with the extended prompts in the weekly prompt list. Use both, use one or the other, or forgo these lists and use none at all -- it's all up to you!
As always, I'll be eager to see all the works created with these prompts under the tag #augtickletober2024! And I'll be reblogging (sfw) content from both my list and others over at @tickletober throughout the month of October!
Summary: Mikey through a portal mishap is stuck in the 2012 series. Not a big deal, but he’s noticed that they’re all so serious. Not nearly as huggy and close as him and his brothers. Welp, time to fix that!
_._._
Things were so different here. Which makes sense. Like duh, it was his brothers from another universe. But it was weird. It was weird to see a Leo who spent all his time hidden away in the dojo meditating. Raph who spent all his free time reading comics and judging his brothers. Donnie... well actually Donnie was largely the same as his Donnie, spending a lot of time being the mad scientist he is. This version of himself was always doing his own thing.
The only times they were together were when they were patrolling or when they were watching tv in the night. But otherwise, everyone was busy doing their own thing. Being serious and nothing like his own touchy feely family.
And of course, he was going to fix this!
Somehow...
Admittedly, he had no idea how he was going to. But he was taking it one step at a time. First he had been trying to get involved in all their hobbies. Right now he was sitting with Leo watching some show he liked called Space Heroes. It was... alright? Probably didn’t help that he was in the middle of a later season and Leo had gotten too lost in the sauce to remember to speak at a normal pace when recapping the show.
He was still rambling furiously, his hands vibrating violently in front of him. His Leo didn’t do any of this but he recognised all of this from Donnie so he found himself smiling so wide at how obviously happy Leo was. The happiness radiating from him. Sitting crossed legged together enjoying a show.
He so badly wished he could see them all this aggressively cheerful and happy. Leo burst into a huge smile as the Space Captain slapped his... co-captain? Okay a little weird but whatever makes him happy. Mikey wanted so badly to see this Leo finally let go and be fully silly and happy.
His own Leo was so much more laidback and always willing to dive head first into the chaos.
At that thought, a lightbulb went off in his head.
His bent knee was pointed straight at him and that was his Leo’s like ultimate weakness. Leo’s legs were his worst spot, although he was definitely a walking tickle spot to be fair. Every part of his leg were very ticklish, his calves, the back of his knees, knees in general and don’t even think about his thighs or he’ll explode.
While he was distracted, he placed his scrunched up fingers right on his knee and then slowly drew his hands out in a slow crawling tickle across his bent knee.
“This is like their thing. So typi-AAAH!” Leo leapt like three feet in the air. He looked at him with sheer bewilderment and betrayal. “What was that!”
“Uhh... me tickling you?”
“No, I know that. Like... what kind of technique was that?” Leo laughed.
“Oh that!” Mikey spread out his fingers again on his kneecap to demonstrate, sending a violent jolt and slapping a hand over his giggles, “This drives my Leonardo insane! We have to pin his leg down so we can do it over and over again.”
He didn’t realise he was demonstrating over and over again until Leo was slapping the sofa arm. “Pfftahaha HAH! Hehe, o-okay. Okay okay okay! Hah! I get it!” He wiggled his knee but never withdrew his leg.
“Haha, no! C’mon! We can consider it a science experiment!” Mikey clapped his hands as he inched forward into his space, his plan all coming together. “Let’s see if you have the same tickle spots as my Leo!”
He pushed him down to lay on the sofa, had to make him comfortable before wrecking him to tears! Jumping up to his stomach to pin him down, he faced his legs. Obviously any Leonardo must have the most ticklish legs in existence, right?
“Wait! What! No, we don’t have to do this!”
“Oh yes we do!” Mikey cracked his fingers before he immediately grabbed his knees and started squeezing.
Leo jolted up but his own weight kept him pinned. “HAH! Wahait! WAHAIT! HA! Ahahahaha!” He drummed his feet violently.
“Aww, that’s not as much laughter as I was expecting,” Mikey whined. His Leo would already be driven to tears by this. Yet this Leo was just laughing. Not even that hard! Huh, that’s... weird. Ugh, he was just being stupid. Of course this Leo was different, he was different in a million ways from his Leo. They weren’t even the same species! He needed to get over himself. Try to enjoy the silly moment. He spidered his fingers over his knees again.
“Ihi Ah! Ah! Wait! Hahaha! Ah! I didn’t even know my knees were ticklish!” Leo gasped.
That made him stop. “What!” Mikey gasped himself.
“Who goes for the knees when tickling someone!” Leo gasped amongst his giggles.
“Uh me!” Mikey gasped as he squeezed his knee again, sending Leo tumbling back down from his sass, “I can go for the knees. Since I have a brother who dies if you go for the knees!”
“Hahahaha! Wehell that’s hahaha dumb!” Leo snarked, bucking up to try and kick him off. Which almost worked. Mikey had to put an end to that.
But now he felt like he was in uncharted territory. It makes sense, he thought. This Leo did act entirely differently so of course he’d have different spots. He looked him over passively at where to go next.
Suddenly he snapped forward and started scribbling over his plastron. His scutes lay in a different layout than Leo’s, and also unlike his Leo, he immediately burst into frantic bright laughter. “WAHAHAHAIT! WAIT WAIT HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Mikey smiled manically. “Now there’s some good laughter! Is that a good spot, huh? Is that an extra ticklish spot? Does it tickle tickle tickle you!”
Mikey felt all his weirdness completely disappear though as Leo slapped a hand over his face as he slowly turned bright red.
“You can blush! That’s amazing! Look at how red you are!” Mikey cooed.
“HAHA SHUUHUUHU SHUSH! HAHAHHAHAHAAHAA! STAHAP TALKING!” Leo kicked out frantically as he slowly turned more and more red.
“Aww you’re so adorable!” Mikey exclaimed as he traced around his scutes which sent Leo tumbling down even more frantic laughter. His head tipped back as he was lost to the sensation. “But is this where you’re most ticklish? Oooor is there another spot?”
The way he reacted clearly meant he was close though. Mikey used the tracing to explore his whole torso.
“NO! NO! HAHAHAHAA! HA! HA! HA! NO!” Leo suddenly gasped as he fingers trailed from his stomach to his sides.
Mikey grinned evilly. “Oh you shouldn’t have said that!”
Not one to waste time, he immediately started pinching and scribbling over his sides. It was really fun to tickle actually! The smooth shell of his sides was fun to slide his fingers against and the polished smooth texture made him want to keep tickling and tickling.
“Oh this is too much fun! I’ve gotta keep tickling you! I can’t stop tickling you!”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!” Leo was totally lost to the sensation and Mikey knew it was time to let up. He really didn’t want to kill him or something.
Well okay, maybe one last tickle.
As he harshly scrubbed against his sides and Leo jolted up, he met him halfway with a raspberry pressed in the middle of his plastron.
Leo’s laughter went silent until Mikey sat back up and gentle climbed off of him.
“Huh, you and my Leo have completely different tickle spots,” He grinned but that smile kept growing when Leo kept laughing.
“Hahahaa... ha... heh... whaht was thahaha hahaha... about!” Leo exclaimed. Setting off more of his laughter as he remembered and brought up the tickling.
“Dunno!” He chirped back, giggling himself too, “For the funsies.”
“Nahat fun! Ha! Hahahahaa!”
“You can stop laughing,” Mikey giggled. The laughter catching on. Leo had yet to even sit up yet and seemed totally lost in his own unending giggles.
A snort ripped through the room and properly set off Mikey’s laughter.
“Dude, stop laughing! I’m not tickling you!”
“Dohon’t SAY THE WORD! Hahahaha! HAH! Heheheee...”
Wholeheartedly, Mikey thought that would be stuck in the cycle of making each other laugh if it wasn’t for this world’s Raph walking in.
“Okay, who got Leo tickle drunk?”
“Tickle drunk?” Mikey asked incredulously.
“STAHAP SAHAYING THE WORD HEHEHEEEE!” Leo kicked out his feet again from the tiny ball he was curling into.
Raph sauntered over with such a fond smile and casually leaned an arm on the back of the sofa. “Yeah, if anyone... uh t-words Leo then he can’t stop thinking about it which means he can picture the sensation. Meaning! He can’t stop giggling or feeling like he still being attacked.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Mikey lit up like christmas had come early, “Can you not say the word tickle?”
The instant he said it, Leo snorted as he frantically tried rubbing away at his sides. Raph looked on with a mischevious smirk. “Oh I can definitely say the word tickle,” He deliberately spoke clearly and sounded out each syllable in the word, much to Leo’s giggly dismay, “it’s just that it takes a while for Leo to stop being tickle drunk, especially if everyone keeps mentioning it.”
Mikey finally made eye contact with Leo as he peered up at him through the tiny ball he curled into. And as subtle as a ninja, he flicked his eyes back to Raph quickly. Thankfully, Leo seemed to grasp his message. “Well, you know what would probably help?” Mikey cued up.
“What?” Raph asked genuinely.
“To tickle someone else!” He roared before grabbing Raph and somersaulting him on to the sofa, where Leo immediately grabbed hold oh him and dug away at his pits.
Well it wouldn’t be fair to just test the tickle spots of one of their alternative universe selves.
Putting this under the read more because I kinda feel bad that this will be in the main tag.
Leonardo
Obligatory older brother tickle monster
He doesn't snap often. He doesn't tickle his siblings often. And that makes it worse. He strikes unexpectedly. You never see it coming.
He just absolutely adores tickling his brothers though. Just loves hearing their laughter and how silly it is. He's tickling them with a huge grin.
The one that Splinter tickles the most
Ultimate weak spot is under his chin. Which, thankfully, is a harder spot to reach.
The only one who's feather ticklish. A fact that the others happily poke fun of.
Raphael
The instigator of the most tickle fights. It claims it helps control his anger if he takes someone down by tickling them during a spar rather than getting worked up and upset.
His ultimate tactic is to pin the person down as quickly and harshly as he can so he can wreck them quicker.
He's conditioned his brothers into learning the difference between pinning during a spar and being pinned to be tickled within an inch of their lives.
He's the most paranoid of going too far so he can be sudden and aggressive but he stops the second he think they're uncomfortable.
Snorts. A lot.
Can't take what he dishes out.
Ultimate weak spot is probably his feet but a special mention should be his knees.
Donatello
If Raph starts the most tickle fights, then Donny is not far behind him.
Those two tickle each other the most. Out of them all. Not a week goes by without either of them tickling each other and launching an all out war. Tickling in the Splinterson household, is associated with those two.
Donny is great at scribbling and tickling. He typically goes with light tickling and it's enough to bring everyone down.
He tickles with the aim to shut people down.
Unfortunately, he is my favourite turtle from this iteration so that must mean he is the most ticklish. Sorry. I don't make the rules.
His sides are an ultimate killer.
Tears up really easily when being tickled.
Genuinely enjoys it.
Michelangelo
Who would've guessed, the prankster loudmouth has the most inventive creative ways to tickle.
Lots of raspberries.
Lots of gloating. So much teasing. Someone please shut him up.
He adores tickling Donny the most since he lights up bright red to his teasing.
If he could build a tickle machine then he would.
Ultimate spot is his sides as well. But it's a lot more evenly spread. He's evenly ticklish everywhere.
Big belly laughs when tickled.
Thrashes like he's dying any time someone gets close to him.
I've really struggled to write full fics. So have these little scenes based on the headcannons I have.
Leo's Headcanons:
_._._
"Obligatory older brother tickle monster"
The first warning sign should've been the wild frantic laughter.
Mikey had only left his room to grab some second breakfast and the first thing that greeted him was wild crazed laughter. It was audible from his room, clearly coming from downstairs and several rooms over. Whoever was laughing must've found something really funny.
Mikey should've thought about it. Desperate loud laughter like that wouldn't come from a joke. His ninja senses should've been on high alert.
Maybe he was too hungry for his common sense to kick in.
But Mikey grinned and happily wandered through the Lair as he tracked down the laughter. It was coming from the dojo and he peered in with innocent joyous curiosity.
Only for that cursiosity to be destroyed in an instant.
Leo had Raph pinned down in an eleborate twist. Raph was stuck in a harsh pretzel shape. They must've been sparring or maybe Raph had interrupted Leo's precious meditating time.
But that wasn't the important part.
The important part was Leo tickling the absolute crap out of Raph.
Like Raph was bright red in the face with tears beading from his eyes tickled silly. And Raph never laughed hysterically like that unless he had been truly defeated.
Leo's face was set in determination as he focused on scribbling over Raph's sides. All of his concentration poured into driving his brother into silent laughter.
And Mikey had happily walked into the lion's den.
Despite the fact that Mikey froze the second he entered the dojo, Leo snapped up at him anyway.
His kind geeky eldest brother was nowhere to be seen.
Leo stared up at him with a deadly look.
This was the older brother tickle monster. The only person who could obliterate the family like it was nothing. The only turtle that could drive them all to laughter with a look alone. That look was a warning.
Mikey wasted no time and started running.
"I'M AN INNOCENT! LEO! NO! DON'T COME NEAR ME!" Mikey screamed as he skidded through the Lair.
It wasn't long until the Lair echoed with someone else's laughter.
_._._
"He doesn't snap often. He doesn't tickle his siblings often. And that makes it worse. He strikes unexpectedly."
Mikey annoyed his brothers a lot. It was a duty of any youngest sibling and it was a duty that Mikey took with honour. He swore to fulfil his duty no matter the time, place or consequences.
And he was very used to the consequences.
Whether that was just having his brother's ire or something more drastic. Sometimes it was being chased, sometimes it was being bodyslammed into the floor, sometimes it was being tickled within an inch of his life.
Just the fate of any youngest sibling.
It was pretty normal for Raph to hunt him down and pin him to the ground to tickle him to bits. Even Don would get in on the action and chase him away with tickles if he poked too far into his science projects.
It was certainly not common for Leo to use this same technique.
Note: not common, not unheard of.
"Michelangelo." Leo peeked one eye open from nap on the sofa.
Mikey paused from lowering his hand in a bowl of warm water.
He really thought Leo was dead asleep and therefore the prime time to test the old theory of placing a hand in water leading to wetting the bed.
He froze completely but didn't let go of Leo's hand and the bowl of water.
Unfortunately freezing guiltily was the wrong move.
Quicker than the human eye could see, Leo leapt up. Now wide awake from his nap. And body slammed Mikey to the floor.
"I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything! I didn't AAAAH!"
Leo was silent as he efficiently pinned Mikey down and blew a vicious raspberry into side. The noise ripped through the living room which made the whole thing so much more humiliating.
In all fifteen years of knowing each other, Mikey had never known Leo to blow a raspberry. Shell, everyone listening probably thought it was someone else. No one would believe him if he lived to the tell the tale.
It made the sensation so much worse. The raspberry tickled right through him with ruthless efficiency.
"HAHAHAAHAHAAAAAA! LEO! HAHA!" Mikey tumbled into laughter as Leo ran out of breath to blow the raspberry. "Okay, okahay. Okay! Lesson learned. I won't bug you!"
Leo stared back at him with determined anger.
"Leo?"
His brother sucked in another deep breath.
"LEO! WAIT PLEASE! I'M JUST AN INNOCENT SWEET TURTLE BOY! AAAAAAH!"
_._._
"He just adores tickling his brothers"
"LEOHOHO!" There was no greater sound. His name whined out childishly inbetween loud gasping laughter. It filled his soul with warmth.
He was too lost in the sauce of his brother's happiness that he kept utterly silent as he continued tickling up and down Donnie's ribs.
Donnie slapped his hand on his desk. "LEO! HAHAHA! STAHAP!"
His laughter was loud and joyous. It got higher pitched the higher up his tickling climbed.
The mutagen had gifted them without a shell to shield their sides and Leo was going to treasure that gift with every pinch and scribble.
He was waiting for it. The magical moment.
Leo kept his posture rigid as he trapped Donnie in his chair. He had cornered him in the lab while he was sitting at his desk. His little brother all tensed up and worried about his projects. A situation that obviously required him to tickle his little brother.
So he had silently wandered into the lab, pushed the chair into his desk so Don couldn't get up and happily danced across his sides and under his chin.
Leo could keep tickling him forever. But of course Donnie wouldn't be able to keep being tickled forever. So Leo was waiting for that one moment.
Donnie's laughter got higher and higher. More strained. His breath quickly running out.
Leo tilted his head as he carefully tweaked across his very top ribs. He had to play this right. An instrument that he had years of practise with.
With a sudden snap, Leo clamped both of his hands on his sides.
Donnie shot up as if he had been electrocuted. His laughter barking out quicker than he could breath in…
Resulting in a satisfyingly loud snort.
"HAHAHAHA!" Donnie snorted a few more times as he gave in to the tickling.
That was his sign to stop. Leo pulled away and Donnie slumped on to his desk. As he was furiously catching his breath, Leo playfully patted his head and silently left his lab.
He loved tickling his brothers. It was so playful and fun to hear them laugh. Tickling Donnie had awakened a mood within him. He left the lab casually thinking of which brother he sould tickle next.
_._._
"The one that Splinter tickles the most"
Leo almost thought he had dreamed it at first. Meditation was about sinking away from reality and becoming one with the universe around him. Material reality and his own thoughts slipping effortlessly away as he entered a trance.
He had been meditating with Master Splinter peacefully when he felt a flicker over his foot.
It was a sign that he should be concentrating on his meditation if he was still paying attention to meaningless itches.
Leo shook out his head and breathed out evenly. The objective of meditation was to sink away from reality. This action would then help clear his mind and help align his body and spirit-
His foot flinched instinctually to escape the slight itch.
He cleared his voice like that could help the tingling across his sole.
Meditation was a practise that they all needed to do more often and he intended to be thta role model for the rest of his family. Splinter was soothing presence next to him as he also sat in his own trance.
Not that he should be paying attention to that either. Just like how he should ignore the tingle on his foot.
He scratched his foot to help settle his nerves and was met with Splinter's tail.
"Huh?" He asked out loud as he opened his eyes.
Splinter was looking at him too. "Perhaps we should work on your observations skills?" He suggested before he grabbed hold of his ankle and frantically tickled across his foot.
Leo immediately barked into loud frantic laughter. His first thought was kick out but he was helpless to his father's grip. With no other option and his limbs going weak, he fell backwards.
"You have come a long way with your meditation if you were unable to notice the danger you were in," Splinter chuckled.
"SEHEHE AHAHA! SENSEHEHAHAA! FATHER!" Leo yelled out.
_._._
"Ultimate weak spot in under his chin"
Tickling someone often lulled you into a false sense of security. Leo had pinned him against the floor in such a way that gave him a good vantage point of Raph's stomach and it was easy to stand over him victoriously.
He had forgotten a fundamental fact about his brother. He never went down without a fight.
Raph's random panicked flailing suddenly snapped into a beautiful takedown and Leo was thrown to the side. His brother had clearly been preparing for that moment. He moved with the momentum too and pinned Leo down.
Raph tickled across his sides and soon Leo was tumbling with laughter too. "Yohou wohon't win this!" He declared as he started bucking from underneath him. With his spare hand, he could only reach Raph's knee from where he was sitting on top of him. But that was all he needed.
It was hard to keep his movement light but he managed to trace and whisper over his knee. Raph, as to be expected, tried to flinch backwards away from the tickling.
It gave him the lee way he needed to break free.
But Raph was expecting him to grab him again. So they both collided, hands interlocking with each other's as they tried to push the other away. It gave them the pause they needed to actually catch their breaths.
They were at a stalemate. Leo recognised that. Something had to change if either one of them was to best the other.
Unfortunately, Raph gained a similar glint in his eyes.
Raph broke free of their wrangling and immediately went for the neck. If Leo didn't know better then he would think that he was randomly choosing to strangle him instead of continuing their fairly light hearted tickle fight.
But he absolutely knew better.
"Raph! Don't you dare," He gasped, now focusing all his attention on knocking his brother's hands away.
"Oh I dare!" Raph announced. He lurched forward.
This silly game was getting too dangerous. Leo decided his best bet would be to run away.
He tried get some distance between them, the phrase of 'Raph, stop being so childish' was right on his lips. But a hand grabbing the back of his neck shattered the sentence before it had time to form.
Leo snapped his head back with an embarassing squeal. Raph slammed into his back and quickly wrapped an arm around his chest while his other started spidering under his chin.
There was no use holding in his laughter. The sensation punched the laughter out of him. He could only thank pizza that the neck was such a hard spot to go for. He tried to smoosh his chin down to protect himself but Raph was relentless.
His voice cracked from how high his voice suddenly went. "RAHAHAHAAHA HAHAHAHAHA!"
_._._
"The only one who's feather ticklish. A fact that the others happily poke fun of."
"Wait, this seriously doesn't tickle for you guys?" Leo asked genuinely. So genuinely. His eyes wide in utter disbelief.
And it made the entire thing so much funnier.
"I mean, kinda?" Mikey giggled at Leo's misfortune, "But not enough to laugh over it?"
It all started when they were helping April do some spring cleaning. It was a boring chore but the turtles all agreed to help. Which meant they were tasked with moving the heavy stuff until April had seen them actually move all of her valuable and fragile antiques and then they were tasked with dusting.
April had been only teasing Leo as he swiped the dust rag over some china plates. She came up behind him and fluttered her feather duster across his sides, only meaning to play around and lightly suprise him.
Only for Leo to scream like he had been stabbed and flung himself across the room.
Leading to this very discussion.
"What do you mean!" Leo gasped incredulously. "It… tickles a lot!"
"Dude, I think it's just you," Mikey smirked.
Leo looked to the feather duster he had taken from April in betrayal.
Despite the fact that he had already tried it, Leo once again yanked Raph closer to swipe the feather duster across his sides.
Raph flinched but ultimately didn't laugh. It was close to a ticklish feeling. A slight itch as the feathers danced across his side. It was enough for him to instinctually flinch but not actually laugh.
Leo looked all the more shocked and betrayed at the lack of reaction.
"Looks like it's just you, Leo," Raph smirked, tolerating the weak tickling for a second more before yoinking the feather duster.
Leo barely had enough time to react before Donny and Mikey sprinted to his side and grabbed his arms. "Wait!"
"No waiting," Raph cheered as he wiggled the feather duster across Leo's chin. His ultimate weakspot.
Raph didn't see how such a light feeling could tickle but Leo certainly did.
Leo immediately spluttered into giggles and strained against his brother's grip. The feathers fluttered obnoxiously in his face. They danced under his chin and flicked across his neck. It was all so childish which made it so much worse. The feathers tingled and tickled so badly.
"Guys!" He squealed, throwing his head around and squishing his face into his neck. It made his voice go high pitched and choked up.
"Aww, what's the matter Leo? Can't handle a little dusting?" Raph smirked.
Mikey and Donny's grip remained unbreakable as they kept him restrained and unable to fight back against the childish tickling.
"GUHUHUYS!" Leo laughed way louder than the weak feathery tickles deserved.
That day marked the day that the brothers all discovered another weakness to their oldest. And one none of them forgot soon.
I get so many tickle scene ideas from my non-tickling writing. But I wouldn't be able to post them since it would be weird to write an extra scene of a fic posted to an entirely separate blog. And I also can't just write them as a totally normal tickle scene because I would want to go into too much detail and make it a whole thing.
Uggghhhh
Anyway, I was in the middle of writing a scene where Tang Shen got to meet the turtles and acts motherly towards them and now I wanna write a tickle scene for that. Ugh!
I've tried writing this and it comes across waaaaay too t-fic to dare post. So I've given up and just made it a tickle fic.
Context: The 2012 boys unlock a ninpo like power that means they can talk to their ancestors. Including Tang Shen.
"Perhaps you should try cooking them something."
"Huh?" Leo startled.
Tang Shen was smirking as she continued sitting there. She must've been sat there awhile and he had no idea she was even there. Leo was beginning to think she was a lot more conniving than Splinter let on.
"Everyone has been in such a poor mood recently. Good homecooking can fix a lot more than you would think," she said just as sagely as Sensei would when teaching them philosophy.
"Uh... I actually can't-"
"Come on. Get up." She stood up and waved her hands to encourage him up.
"But I'm banned from the kitchen," Leo argued but he did stand up anyway. It was the only time in his life he had acknowledged his kitchen ban.
She rolled her eyes as they both stared each other down. Her smirk suddenly widened, and quicker than Leo could react, she lurched forward and latched on to his sides. Tickling him. "No excuses. Get going," she giggled.
Her touch felt real. She leaned over him so she could follow his movements as he tried to shake her off. The brush of her hair over his shoulder felt real. It felt like any other time one of his brothers decided to bring him down a peg.
He clamped his elbows down to block her hands but she was quick to keep attacking. She was relentless.
He laughed as he tripped over his feet and Shen happily ducked down with him to continue tickling him. It felt unfamiliar against his throat. The scraping hoarse bark of laughter filled the dojo.
"Aww, I didn't realise you were so ticklish!" She gasped happily.
"NAHAHA! NO I'M HAHA NOT!" Leo couldn't quite push back against her. His hands swiped staright through her spirit. He had no way to fight back. A fact that had him slapping against the floor and flopping around the ground like a fish out of water.
"Oh I think you are. Tickle tickle tickle," Shen teased. This was the happiest he had ever seen her.
"MOM!" Leo yelled out in embarrassment.
"Leo?"
"Donnie!" Leo gasped. The exact moment Donnie spoke, the silly ridiculousness of being tickled faded instantly. He didn't need to look to know she was gone. Instead it was just Donnie standing in the dojo doorway, looking absolutely bewildered.
If Leo could blush then his face would've burst into flames. "Donnie. Uh, hi. Yeah. C-can I help?"
._._.
"You have a lovely laugh."
Leo didn't flinch this time at Shen's voice. But he did wince. His laugh sounded terrible. He knew it. His brothers knew it. Everyone did. She was just saying that to be polite. "It's okay," He replied firmly.
"You haven't laughed recently," she hummed sadly.
Leo didn't rise to the bait. He loudly breathed out and kept his eyes firmly shut. Not that he was going to meditate any time soon but it would be a good excuse to ignore her.
What was the point of being able to talk with the Hamato Clan if he couldn't contact his father again?
A pair of hands delicately touched his shoulders. Dainty and small compared to his and his brother's. Nothing like Master Splinter's. "Don't you like your laugh?"
Leo's chest twisted funnily and he found a babyish rebuttal pushing up before he regained control over himself. Of all the things for her to push.
The throat damage he had sustained from his solo fight with the Shredder had been all encompassing. His voice changed. How he sang changed. His laughter sounded completely different. It didn't really matter when it came to daily life. His voice was just a little deeper and sometimes his voices cracked so much it sounded like he was going through puberty again.
Shell, Leo could admit that he kinda liked his voice being deeper. His was now the deepest of all his brothers.
But it mangled up his laugh into something ugly and gross. It sounded like he was hacking up a cough rather than laughing. Laughing made it sound like his throat was being ripped raw all over again.
It was funny. Leo didn't exactly love his laugh before he faced off against the Shredder but he knew he despised it now. If only he had realised how good he had it.
He shrugged off her hands. "It's a laugh."
Something that wasn't even true. It barely counted as a laugh.
"I think it suits you."
Leo couldn't hide his reaction this time. He wrinkled up his face and whipped around to stare her down. Really? He snorted. "It's a laugh only a mother could l-"
Shit. Shit! Abandon ship!
Leo whipped away like her presence burned him and his mouth kept flapping. "Yeah well so. Y-yep. It's- it doesn't matter. So. Sorry. I-uh, whatever."
Shen grabbed his shoulders again and leaned in close. "Then it's a good thing I am your mother. It's a lovely laugh."
She then jabbed into his side to hear his squawked laughter again.
Leo could tell she had faded as soon as she had said that. Her presence was gone. All that was left was the tingles running across his sides. No one else was there with him.
Which was a good thing since he couldn't hide how embarrassed and happy he was.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Totally self-indulgent tickle fic for our boy Donatello (2003). Anyone who thinks they'll enjoy that, fire away on the link! cue adorable donnie situations
Lee raph spot feet maybe Mikey uses his chains against him
Alright, I'm using this prompt for the poll, so let's do this! I don't think this has any spoilers, so we're all good!
(A/N: I FINISHED IT. I sincerely apologize for the wait, but I hope you enjoy! 😌)
lee! Raph
ler! Mikey
TW!: Some swearing!
The sound of scuffling brothers bounced off the walls of the lair, yelps and war-cries reaching every corner of the sewers as training began. The turtles had been a bit agitated all day, leaving a very annoyed Splinter to send them all to the dojo to blow off some steam.
Per usual, a duo was sent to fight while the others watched until it was another pair's turn, Donnie and Leo going first, the leader of the team winning within a couple minutes, but now it was Raph and Mikey's turn. A cocky smile overtook each turtle's features as the smack-talk began.
"You sure you don't wanna surrender before I knock you out? You'd be saved a couple bruises if you do, you know." the two circled one another, tension creeping into the room. "Hm. I think you underestimate me, Raph. Because, if I remember correctly, I beat you the last time we trained. Yohou didn't see me coming!" cheeky giggles flooded from the freckled turtle's mouth.
Raphael was getting fed up. Suddenly, he lunged at the younger and managed to land a hit to his shoulder with the handle of his sai. Mikey grunted, swinging his nunchucks out, whining as his brother dodged. The red-themed turtle swung his leg at the other's head, following through with another one aimed at the side of his shell.
Donnie and Leo cheered for their siblings, giving each one equal praise when a hit handed. Master Splinter took note of each move, giving guidance when it was needed. "Michelangelo, keep your leg straight. Raphael, do not focus entirely on offense."
"Mikey's lasting longer than usual, maybe he's been training more?" "Not likely. He complains when we go on an easy patrol around the city. He is holding out longer than I expected though, even Sensei seems surprised." Leo whispered back, head whipping from side to side as his little siblings ran across the dojo.
Raphael lowered himself to the ground and spun around, twisting his leg so that he bent his little brother's knee, almost making him lose balance. Mikey landed a few hits with his nunchucks to the sai-user's calf, making him wince before jumping back up.
The two seemed evenly matched for once, but as time passed Mikey started to lose focus. He took a few more kicks before deciding he needed a plan to win. 'Okay, this isn't getting me anywhere. Maybe if I think like Donnie I'll get the upper-hand? Wait, I want to win. Although..' A thought popped into the youngest's head. He wasn't sure if Master Splinter would approve, but it was worth bragging rights, right?
He waited for Raph to aim a kick high up again, gaining distance with a few swings of his nunchucks in the meantime. Soon enough, the older thrusted his leg up, and that's when Mikey struck.
He ducked and backed up slightly, swinging the chain of his nunchuck around the fiery-tempered turtle's ankle, smirking as a shocked noise pushed its way out of his throat. He pulled up, forcing Raph to awkwardly hop forward as to not fall. "Mikey! You can't do that, it's cheating!"
"Well, it's not my fault I found a vantage point!" still, the younger glanced at Master Splinter to make sure what he was doing wasn't actually against one of the super boring, excessively drawn out rules that he didn't have the attention span to listen to. His father didn't say anything, merely nodding in confirmation that he could continue. Mikey smiled, pulling back even more and snickering a bit when his brother struggled to not tumble to the floor.
After a few more moments, the orange-themed turtle raised his free hand, making sure Raphael could see it before wiggling his three fingers at him. He slowly inched towards his foot, and the other turtle's face flushed as he realized what was about to happen. Desperately trying to pull back, the sai-user soon came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to be able to escape. With this, he made a mental note to absolutely kick this guy's shell into oblivion later. (Mikey! I swear. I am so gonna- KGH!"
The inevitable eventually came, Mikey's wiggling fingers touching down on his brother's foot as a strangled shriek filled the room. The two seated mutants leaned to the side to see what was going on, smirking when they saw the tactic the youngest had come up with.
Raphael swiftly covered his mouth to prevent any more embarrassing noises from escaping. His entire leg jolted and kicked as Mikey kept scribbling away at his foot, making it increasingly more difficult to keep standing upright. His sais dropped to the floor, clattering on the mat. "MIHIkey! Stoho- Ihi'm goHONNA KIHILL YOHou!"
Eventually, the dam burst, a wide smile forcing its way upon the older's face, his shell meeting the ground not too long after. Mikey, who at this point was having the time of his life tickling his brother, followed him to the ground and sat on his calf, using his knees to hold the sides of his nunchucks down, effectively pinning Raph's foot down in the process as he scritched along the flat surface.
The elder sibling screeched and flailed in an attempt to launch his brother off of him, but the tickling was sapping his strength away. His free leg was quick to hit into Mikey, trying desperately to stop the fluttering sensation building up.
"Ohhh Raph~! Looks like I'm winning again!" the orange-themed turtle smugly taunted, unfazed by the flailing limbs coming at him. "Maybe you need to practice some mo-"
The youngest was interrupted by a loud cackle, along with the quiet giggles of his other brothers who were more than entertained at this point, watching their edgy brother being taken down. "ShuHUt yohohour MOHOHOUTH! DAHAMNIHIHIT! STAHAHAHAP!"
Raph threw his head back and desperately tried to squirm away, arching back into the matted floor as fingers scratched at the base of his toes. Mikey, on the other hand, was smiling like a dork, 100% enjoying the usually grouchy turtle laughing his head off.
"What's the magic word?~" Mikey was full of himself, sticking his tongue out in response to a rather rude hand gesture, retaliating with a sharp squeeze to the knee. Raph couldn't handle much more at this point, and though it was beyond embarrassing to admit defeat to the youngest of the family, let alone be found in this situation in the first place, he couldn't breathe very well, and he was too weak to really fight Mikey off anymore.
"MIHIKehehey! I cahaha- I gihive uhup!" the turtle's eye-ridges arched up in surprise. "Hmm? What was that Raphie? I can't quite hear you over your girlie screams!" the elder glared at his obnoxious brother through his laughter, but despite how much he wanted to punch him in the face, he still needed to tap out. Jeez, he was never gonna live this down.
"Ihihi sahaid stoHOHOP! PLEHEHEASE! AHAHA!" the nunchuck-user had began quickly scribbling over the ball of his foot for a few more seconds, before stopping his hands and jumping off his brother to avoid any attacks. As soon as his leg was free, Raph kicked the nunchuck off of him, sending it flying against the wall, and promptly curled up, wrapping his arms around his knees and caught his breath.
"Michelangelo, despite using unorthodox methods, is the winner." Master Splinter gave a look to Mikey, who only smiled mischievously. "A turtle's gotta do what a turtle's gotta do!" he shrugged, doing a little victory dance, failing to notice that Raphael had recovered, and was now creeping up behind him, a vengeful glint in his eye.
if you are doing requests, maybe any headcanons for the 2012 turtles?? i love your writing, you do the boys so well :3
Thanks! This was a good excuse to look through my old headcannons, haha!
Mikey starts tickle fights all the time. He can taze their sides, poke and prod them all bad enough that he'll have all three brothers chasing him.
Leo takes forever to stop laughing once the tickling has ended. Definitely one of those people that starts laughing at the threat alone.
Mona Lisa found out that Raph was ticklish and literally could not stop for like nine days. But she never tickled him in front of anyone else because she liked his laugh and wanted to keep it between just them.
Along that kind of line, Renet has secret future knowledge of Mikey's tickle spots that even he doesn't know about.
I've said it before but I will die on the hill that Donnie snorts.
Similar to that knee fic I wrote, I really really badly want to write a fic where Leo realises his laugh sounds different after being attacked by the Shredder. Gotta love combining my interests- angst and t-fics.
Whenever Donnie is working underneath a vehicle, everyone can't help but tickle his feet sticking out. To the point where he hides into his shell whenever he hears someone come in.
Raph adores teasing but he especially loves the tickling until they admit something or the whole "STAHAP!" / "Stop what?" / "Tickling!" /"Oh, tickle you? I can do that!"
None of them dare to tickle Karai. She uses this to her advantage.
April and Casey will happily dive into the fray. Casey in particular is waaaay too competitive for tickle fights.
I'm really stuck. I wanna write tmnt tickle fics but I have no idea how to tag it. I want people to be able to find it but I feel really weird about my tickle fics being in the main tag.
Does anyone else have this?
I really don't know what the solution would be. I feel bad clogging up the tags.
Splinter with the most evil grin cracking his knuckles as he watches his children run away screaming. Slowly wandering the lair, He listens out for shushes and restrained giggles. With a smirk, he finds one turtle at a time tickling them with little mercy and drinking in their laughter. The final turtle he has waited the longest, and by the time Splinter finds them, they're already giggling and Splinter absolutely wrecks them.
Once all his boys are successfully tickled to pieces, The wise rat looks smug before walking back to the dojo. He hears "W..We'll get you back Sensei...!" Master Splinter just chuckles
I get so many tickle scene ideas from my non-tickling writing. But I wouldn't be able to post them since it would be weird to write an extra scene of a fic posted to an entirely separate blog. And I also can't just write them as a totally normal tickle scene because I would want to go into too much detail and make it a whole thing.
Uggghhhh
Anyway, I was in the middle of writing a scene where Tang Shen got to meet the turtles and acts motherly towards them and now I wanna write a tickle scene for that. Ugh!
A/N : im having sooo much fun with this show rn, esp having fun attacking zuko as much as possible LOL im going bonkers. there’s no clear story or plot in this one, just the gaang being silly and zuko getting to be silly with them :P
Summary : separate short stories of each member of the gaang tickling zuko (and one where Zuko actually gets one back, read to find out who hehe)
Word Count : 5139
hope u enjoy!! <3
-
It was strange how relaxed Zuko was starting to feel. The air seemed easier to breathe these days, despite everything he knew they were all about to go through. But that’s just it. Zuko knows he’s not alone. He has people, good people, behind him. Though he misses his Uncle greatly, it keeps Zuko motivated to know Iroh would be proud to see how far he’s come since they’d been separated.
Things are looking up, despite it all, and Zuko’s especially happy he gets to feel that in good company.
“So, like this, right?” Aang asked, getting into position for the new firebending move Zuko’s trying to teach him.
“Um…not quite,” Zuko walked behind him, grabbing his shoulders to gently adjust his stance. “You want your shoulders back a little more, it’ll help your balance. And you should have your waist turned a bit to the side, like this…” Zuko gently gripped onto Aang’s sides, but was startled at how quickly Aang jumped away with a surprised laugh.
“Aaah–tickles, tickles!” Aang giggled, rubbing the sensation away with his arms.
Zuko frowned with his hands on his hips, “Seriously? I barely touched you.”
Katara snickered as she watched them train, bending water in the air lazily like a fidget. “Aang’s more sensitive than most. Remember that wound your sister gave him on his foot? Yeah, that took way, way longer than it should have. He wouldn’t stop squirming.”
“It’s not my fault your water’s so tickly!” Aang cringed at the memory. He took a deep breath before turning back to Zuko, getting into position. “Okay, I’m ready this time. You just surprised me.”
Zuko lifted an eyebrow before trying again, this time with less giggly results. Zuko wasn’t used to such silliness when it came to training, but it was endearing to see Aang was comfortable enough with him to act like that (even if it was slightly annoying).
They trained for another 15 or so minutes before Zuko called for a break, ready for his pre-lunch meditation. He leaned down to gather some of his scattered things into a bag, not noticing the figure creeping up behind him. Before he knew it, Zuko felt two hands give quick pinches to his hip. “AH-! Ggghaha-!” a strangled giggle fell out of him before he could stop it, squirming out of the grip and whipping his body around.
Aang stood behind him with a grin and hands raised in surrender, “Sorry, I had to get you back for earlier.”
Zuko scowled with a pink face, trying very hard to ignore Katara giggling behind Aang. “But I wasn’t even trying to tickle you earlier,” he groaned, turning back around but keeping his guard up. “It’s unfair catching me off guard like that.”
“Yeah, but you gotta admit, that sound you just made was pretty funny,” Aang snickered, sitting down next to Katara and stealing some of her water to fidget with as well.
Zuko sighed, turning around to hide his warm face. “Whatever, I’m gonna meditate. Don’t bother me unless it’s for lunch,” he said before walking out of their view to his normal meditation spot.
-
Zuko was sat on his bed reading a book Uncle had given him forever ago. Being on the run meant he never really had time to just sit and read (and maybe it was partly his pride that wouldn’t allow him to do something he deemed so lazy), but honestly it wasn’t half bad. Sure, he could be training right now, but everyone else seemed content doing their own thing so maybe that was okay for him too. Uncle always said proper relaxation was an important tool for a warrior to learn.
His reading time, however, was cut short when he heard a knock at his doorway. Zuko looked up to see Sokka peeking his head around the corner.
“You need something?” Zuko asked, sitting his book down on the bed.
“Well, I–uh…” Sokka cleared his throat shuffling awkwardly in the doorway. “I was just wondering if you would, uh–help me out with something? It’s nothing major! You really don’t have to if you don’t wanna, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate with, y’know, training the Avatar and everything, but like, I mean, if you maybe had the time–”
“Sokka,” Zuko interrupted his ramblings, holding the book up for him to see. “I’m not exactly doing anything important right now. I can do you a favor if you need it.”
Sokka sighed, “Okay, that’s good to hear because I really need your help right now,” he shuffled into Zuko’s room defeatedly, plopping himself next to the prince and throwing his head in his hands. “I think I sorta suck at hand-to-hand combat.”
Zuko nearly laughed at that. “Are you serious? You guys managed to take out every team I threw at you, and you think you’re bad at combat?”
“Yeah, but that was when I had everybody with me! You know, benders?!” Sokka sighed, “I’m not a bender, so having them with me to fight is like, insanely helpful. But…what if I end up alone at the next battle? What if I lose my sword? I’ll be useless! I need to know how to fight with my fists at least a little before we go out there.”
All this did was confuse Zuko even more. “Your girlfriend is a Kyoshi Warrior. Why aren’t you asking her for help? She’s the only other non-bender on the team, it seems pretty obvious.”
Sokka blushed and turned his head away, “Well that’s…actually part of it,” he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “She’s so good at combat. And she’s a great teacher, don’t get me wrong! Everything I know about fighting, it came from her. But…I feel so stupid. We spar all the time, but she’s the one teaching me the moves, she knows what strategy I’m gonna take! I kinda…I wanna impress her during our next spar. Maybe show her something she hasn’t seen me do before,” Sokka looked up at Zuko with an unsure face. “I thought maybe you could teach me a thing or two?”
Zuko just stared for a moment, thinking it over. Sokka had that puppy-dog look on his face he always gets when he’s trying to win someone over…unfortunately for Zuko, he’s really good at that face.
Zuko sighed, rubbing a hand over his face before standing and making his way towards the door. “I can’t promise it’ll help you any. I’m better at fighting with my bending than just plain combat. You’re already in good hands with Suki.”
Sokka jumped up, following behind Zuko like a puppy. “I know, but I just wanna see if it helps,” he wrapped an arm around the back of Zuko’s neck as they walked, the boy in question not acknowledging the touch whatsoever. “Can’t hurt to try, right?”
Zuko peeked an eye towards Sokka. “Whatever.”
They found an open area to spar, somewhere away from everyone else so no one could spill the “secret” to Suki. Not like anyone actually cared, but Sokka insisted this was the best move to make.
They fought for a while, Sokka showing off the moves he learned from Suki, and Zuko trying to teach him anything that popped into his head that Sokka might not already know. But…the spar wasn’t really turning out the way Zuko had envisioned before they started.
Sokka was actually really good at this. Like, stupid good. Way better than he had given himself credit for just about an hour ago. He’d already pinned Zuko probably 5 times, and Zuko only got him down once. It was sorta embarrassing. Zuko kept reminding himself that the guy had been trained by a literal Kyoshi warrior, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.
Still, though. It did take a tiny blow to his ego that the guy asking him for training was practically kicking his butt right now.
“Woohoo! Down for the count again!” Sokka whooped from behind Zuko. The boy was pinned on his front, arms behind his back.
“I thought you wanted help,” Zuko wheezed, twisting his wrists in Sokka’s hold to no avail. “Now it feels like you just wanted bragging rights,” he mumbled.
Sokka didn’t say anything. Actually, he just kept looking down at Zuko with this look. His eyes a little wide, his lips sucked behind his teeth.
You’re kidding. You’re kidding.
“Are you serious?!” Zuko yelled, starting to actually fight under Sokka’s hold now that he felt thoroughly pissed off. “Why would you lie about that?! You could’ve just asked for a spar!”
Sokka stammered, “Well, I was serious at first! I wasn’t lying! I really did want your help!” He paused, baring his teeth a little in guilt. “Buuuut…after we started sparring, I realized I was way better than I thought I was. I don’t know why, but I just kinda figured you’d be able to take me down with no trouble! You’re like, royally trained or something, right?”
Zuko frowned, “Yeah. I am,” he said. “In firebending.”
Sokka’s brows shot up. “Oh yeaaaah. Didn’t really think about that,” he chuckled nervously.
A beat passed in silence before both of them realized Sokka was still on top of him. Zuko twisted his wrists in Sokka’s hands, “Well? Are you gonna get off me?”
“I don’t really trust you not to turn me into bacon right now.”
“Sokka.”
Sokka laughed, “Y’know, it’s kinda funny if you think about it. Last year I used to run from you, and now I’ve got you literally pinned under me. I mean, really, it just writes itself!”
Zuko groaned, pressing his forehead to the floor. “You are…beyond annoying.”
“I’m just saying, if I had all this Kyoshi training last year, we might not even be here right now. Or maybe you’d have joined our group back then, after seeing how much of an asset to the team I am!” Sokka teased, pressing his body weight against Zuko’s arms so he could flex a muscle in Zuko’s eyeshot.
Then, Sokka went quiet for a moment. Suspiciously quiet. Zuko was not a fan of his disadvantage right now.
“Hey, who’s that fire nation girl that’s always hanging around your sister? You know, the one that can paralyze people?”
Zuko sighed, “That would be Ty Lee. Get off.”
“Yeah, Ty Lee! Man, it’d be so cool if she wasn’t the worst,” Sokka adjusted his grip a bit, like he was trying to get a better hold for something. What in the world is he planning?! “I bet I could learn a thing or two from that girl, strengthen up my fighting style a bit,” Sokka shrugged, “Eh, I bet I could be self taught. I just gotta find the right nerve…”
Before Zuko could even process what he was talking about, Sokka started poking up and down Zuko’s open sides, using one finger to poke one side, then the other, then back again. Over and over and over.
“G-GaAH!” Zuko’s body jumped under the assault, squirming under his hold. “N-No, Sokka, let me–gohoho!” He giggled involuntarily, trying his best to hide his face in the floor while also trying to jerk away from Sokka’s ticklish hold.
“No, hold on, I think I’m getting the hang of this!” Sokka teased, poking up into Zuko’s ribs. Zuko couldn’t help the squeaky giggles falling from his lips, it was mortifying. He kicked his legs out behind Sokka like it would do anything, but with how good the boy had gotten at these warrior pins, Zuko didn’t stand a chance.
“S-stohohop! This is sohoho–ahaha so stuhupid!” Zuko cackled, writhing when he felt Sokka start pinching at his bony ribs. He could feel his face growing warmer by the second, horribly embarrassed by how easily Sokka can drag him into his playful little games.
“Okay, okay, just oneeee more thing,” Sokka said before bringing his hand up to flutter soft fingers against Zuko’s neck and ears. Crapcrapcrapcrap that really tickles. Zuko immediately fell into the most disgusting, high-pitched, girly-ish giggles he’s ever produced. It. Was. Terrible.
“Nohoho! Come ohohon! This is–ahaha this is so unfahahair!” Zuko whined, pulling against the hands holding him hostage. “This is assahahault!”
Sokka cackled at that, finally letting go of his very ticklish victim. He stood and backed away enough to let Zuko catch his breath, wiping a mirthful tear from his eye.
“You–pfff!! You’re so ticklish! Who woulda guessed that?!” Sokka laughed, practically doubled over in it. Zuko grumbled on the ground, sitting up and stretching his arms.
“And you are so childish,” he groveled, before launching at Sokka while he wasn’t paying attention. He grabbed around the boy’s waist and brought him to the ground with an ‘oof!’, the pair roughing it out for a moment before Zuko got the upper hand (Sokka was still laughing too much to put up a real fight). On the ground, Zuko had him trapped in a reverse bear hug, finding an opening near Sokka’s stomach to dig his own fingers in and make Sokka howl.
“Say you’re sorry!” Zuko grunted, trying to avoid a head butt from Sokka’s frantic squirming. “Say it!”
“AAAHH! AAAHAhahaha! I’m–! I’m ssssahahahah!” Sokka cackled, struggling to find the words with fingers digging incessantly into his stomach. Even in his wild state, Sokka could tell Zuko wasn’t very used to this, his tickling-style a little more rough than what he’s used to with the others. But luckily for Zuko, Sokka was a little too ticklish for it to actually affect anything.
“What? You can dish it but you can’t take it?!” Zuko fired back with his usual angry tone, though it was really hard to take seriously when he started pinching at Sokka’s side so viciously.
“I cahaha–! It’s tooohohohoo–! AAAHH-!" Sokka's screaming laugh echoed through the temple, his head jerking back and forth. Zuko's fingers were getting tired, and this whole thing felt so stupid, but it was the principle of the thing! This is...how it works, right?
Zuko kept tickling despite not really knowing what he was doing, avoiding flailing limbs and a jerking head all the while. And right, right before he was about to just call it quits, he heard a cough from just outside his peripheral.
The pair froze, Zuko feeling his entire face grow warm in the matter of seconds. They both turned their heads slowly to see Suki standing there with her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised in question.
"You two having fun in here?" Suki asked through a smile, clearly on the verge of laughing. Zuko dropped Sokka like a sack of potatoes, standing up quickly with a finger pointed right at Sokka.
“He started this! He attacked me first, but–but I got out! And then he started laughing, and, I mean–it was so stupid! This is so stupid!” Zuko yelled in embarrassment, throwing his hands up to cover his whole face.
Suki giggled and walked over towards her boyfriend on the ground. “Aw, did the big mean firebender get you?” She teased a frowning (and blushing) Sokka. Suki held out her hand to him, “Come on, get up.”
Sokka took it with a scowl, refusing to make eye contact with Zuko. At least, until Sokka remembered how this whole thing started, his whole demeanor lighting up in an instant. “Oh you’ll never believe this. I beat Zuko. In a spar,” he whooped, looking over towards the firebending to find him scowling with his arms crossed. “Actually, it was like ten!”
“Six. It was just six,” Zuko squinted at Sokka in contempt.
“Okay, but six is still a lot compared to your one win,” Sokka boasted, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend.
Suki pulled herself out of his hold, “Uh, sure, but I think after what I saw, Zuko’s still the winner here,” she said, shooting an affirming smile Zuko’s way.
Sokka dropped his jaw, “What?! But–But I beat him! Like, TONS of times?!” He exclaimed, “And I’m the one that started that! I tickled Zuko first, he totally went down!”
“When I was already pinned!” Zuko argued, angry he couldn’t make his blush fade any faster.
Suki sucked her teeth, “Sokka, if you started this, that’s even worse,” she shrugged. “You cheated. Zuko’s clearly the winner here, he just finished what you started” Suki pat Sokka’s back, shooting Zuko an empathetic look. “Sorry my boyfriend’s so childish. If you ever want a real spar, you know where to find me.”
Zuko looked surprised, really expecting her to tease him like everybody else did. “Oh, uh…yeah, whatever. Sure.”
Suki smiled, taking Sokka by the shoulders and walking him off. Zuko could hear her scolding as they walked away, “Next time we spar, I’ll show you how a real warrior cheats.”
Zuko wasn’t really sure how to take that. In fact, he decided it was probably best to ignore whatever that meant. Instead, he just grabbed his bag and tried forgetting this whole embarrassing mess ever happened.
–
“Zuko, I’m so sorry! I’m so so so sorry, I never meant for this to happen!” Aang practically cried behind Zuko, his words muffled under the hands he used to cover his mouth in guilt. “If you never wanna train me again, I’d understand. I just…I’m so sorry. I’m so—”
“Aang, it’s fine. I already told you it’s fine,” Zuko sighed, propping his bare foot up on the stool of earth Toph made for him. “Believe me, I’ve been burned way worse than this.”
“But that’s different!” Aang cried, falling on his butt to hide his face in his knees. “I can’t believe I burned someone. Again.”
“You’re still learning. It happens,” Zuko winced when Katara took hold of his ankle to get a better look at the burn. “Trust me, I burned a few of my trainers when I was growing up too. It’s just part of firebending. Once you’ve mastered it, you won’t have to worry about it anymore.”
Aang lifted his head with a sniffle. “Yeah…I guess you’re right,” he sighed. “Still feel bad, though.”
“As long as it doesn’t affect your training going further, I really don’t care,” Zuko shrugged, leaning back against his hands.
“That’s a little rude, don’t you think?” said Katara, popping the cork from her water bottle.
“Not really. I don’t care. I’m fine, and Aang will be too,” Zuko said, before gasping as Katara let the healing water wash over his feet. He jerked his foot back off the stool, making Katara raise an eyebrow.
“Zuko?” She looked down at the empty stool. “Kinda need your foot for this.”
Aang lit up, the smile finally returned to his face when he realized with a giggle, “I forgot! Zuko’s ticklish!”
“I am not! It just surprised me!” Zuko argued, throwing his foot back on the stool with confidence (though the pout he sported said otherwise).
Katara snickered, holding her water up so Zuko could see. “Well it’s a good thing you aren’t ticklish then, cause Aang could barely sit still last time I did this to him.”
“Yeah, Toph nearly had to earthbend my hands to the ground to keep me from moving,” Aang nodded, clearly feeling more chipper than a moment ago. Zuko cringed at the thought, shaking his head to clear it from overthinking.
“That will not be necessary,” Zuko huffed. “Just get to it, I’ll be fine. We need to get back to training.”
Katara shrugged, bringing the water to his foot and starting the healing process. Zuko immediately gasped again, his foot nearly jerking off the stool. He caught himself this time, but no one in the room missed the flinch.
Well, except for Toph, but only out of technicality’s sake.
“Your hearts racing, Sparky,” Toph sang, never missing an opportunity to tease their resident grump.
“Shut up, Toph,” Zuko said through bared teeth, straining himself to keep from letting a giggle slip. He squirmed in his seat, toes clenching and unclenching involuntarily. If he can just get through this without cracking, there’ll be nothing for these weirdos to tease him about. He can do this.
“Y’know, you should probably breathe soon. Don’t want you dying on us while I’m healing you,” Katara said, looking up from her water at Zuko’s puffed cheeks and pink face. He’d been too focused to even realize he was holding his breath in the first place. Slowly, Zuko exhaled through his nose before flinching hard again at a more solid sensation in the center of his foot.
“Grrk–!” Zuko jumped, scowling at Katara who started snickering.
“Sorry, my finger slipped,” she grinned, making the other two start giggling at his expense.
“It’s really okay if you need to laugh, Zuko,” said Aang. “There’s no way I could’ve held it in like you are.”
“I said I’m fine. It doesn’t even…” Zuko huffed, the water finding a particularly sensitive spot right at the worst time possible, making him growl through a giggle. He shut his eyes tight, “Juhust shut up.”
–
At first, his days in the air on Appa were something Zuko wasn’t sure he would ever get used to. He had to admit, it was definitely cool getting to ride a sky-bison thousands of feet in the air after he’d been told his whole life the species had gone extinct with the rest of the air-benders. There was some excitement to it the first couple rides he got to experience.
But after about the fifth time, it was really starting to get old.
“I thought I knew what boredom felt like when I was out camping with Uncle, but this is really something else,” Zuko groaned, throwing his head over the side of the saddle.
“Zukoooo, remember what I keep telling you about the positive attitude?” Aang reminded him from Appa’s head, steering the bison in what felt like the same direction for hours.
“No, he’s right. This is super boring,” Sokka whined, picking at Appa’s fur with a pout.
“Don’t you guys ever, I don’t know…play any games while you’re up here?” Zuko asked, feeling a little silly about it. Playing games was so childish, but it seemed to fit this group’s whole vibe pretty well. Couldn’t hurt to ask, right?
“Yeah we used to, until Toph took it too seriously one time and Katara banned fun,” Sokka shot a look at his sister, who scoffed at the mention.
“Um, I did not ban fun. I banned Pushies,” Katara corrected him with a squint.
“Ah, Pushies. The good ole days when having a laugh wasn’t forbidden by Her Highness,” said Toph, nearly making Katara blow a fuse.
Zuko hated to ask, but this was the most entertained he’d felt in the past two hours. With an incredulous look, he asked, “What’s Pushies?”
“It was the best,” Sokka sighed like he was daydreaming. “Toph and I would push each other back and forth until one of us got too scared and called quits.”
“Which I never did, by the way–”
“Uh, not true! You know you called quits that one time-”
“Because you nearly pushed me off Appa!”
“Not true AGAIN! You couldn’t see it, but you were totally fine-”
“Oh so because I’m blind it’s my fault they won’t let us play Pushies anymore?!”
“That’s not what I meant-!”
“GUYS!” Aang shouted, throwing a stern look over his shoulder towards the group. The pair went silent before both slouching back against the saddle. “No. Pushies.”
They both grumbled to themselves, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Zuko looked to the sky at their bickering, thankful his temper wasn’t like it used to be.
“Games other than Pushies exist, you know. We just have to make one up,” he suggested, sitting criss-crossed to face the group.
“Did you play any games on that murder-ship you used to ride?” Katara asked with a tone, her mood clearly a bit dampened.
Zuko grimaced, “I was kinda too focused on capturing Aang for games back then.” Zuko sighed, throwing his head and arms back over the saddle to stare into the sky. “Forget it. Let’s just go back to sitting in silence.”
It seemed like the rest of the group agreed, because for the next few minutes that’s exactly what they did. The wind whistling in their ears was the only sound to focus on.
That is, until Zuko felt something tweak his side, making him squeak an awful sound. He whipped his head around to find everyone suspiciously not looking at him. Sokka picked at his fingers, Katara seemed a little too interested in the cloth of her dress, and Toph…well, she looked straight ahead, but that was to be expected.
Zuko fumed, “Who did that?”
Sokka looked up from his fingers, “Hm? Who did what?”
Oh, Zuko was so onto them. Pointing a finger at Sokka with a squint, “Don’t. Do it. Again.” He said sternly, before turning back around towards the sky. Zuko swore he could hear them snickering behind him, but hoped that would be the end of it.
Another minute went by with nothing, and for some reason Zuko really thought he evaded trouble with that intimidation move he pulled. Clearly he didn’t know this group well enough yet.
Another tweak to his side, this one closer to his ribs this time. Anything near his ribs always made him flinch hard, his elbow shooting down to cover the area with a giggly shout. Zuko growled when he faced them, “Seriously, who’s doing this?!” They all looked up at him like they were clueless. He’s gonna kill them. “Answer me!”
Finally, he heard Toph giggle, clearly unaffected by his little hissy fit. “It was me. Both times, actually,” she grinned, throwing a leg over her knee. “What, you gonna do something about it?”
Zuko’s jaw locked forward, feeling like he was breathing smoke out of his nose. His hands clenched beside him, telling himself it would probably not be the “right thing” throwing this twelve year old over the side of Appa.
With a grumble, he fixed his face and looked up to the sun above him. “You people are crazy.” Zuko crossed his arms and slumped against the saddle, decidedly not turning away from Toph this time. Everyone got a chuckle out of that, even Aang.
“No, I think Toph’s the crazy one,” he chuckled, smiling over his shoulder. “The rest of us are pretty normal, right?”
Zuko deadpanned Aang’s way. “No.”
Toph crawled over beside Zuko, who nearly flinched at her presence. “Lighten up, Sparky! Remember what Aang said? Positive attitude?” She accentuated Aang’s words with more tweaks to Zuko’s side, these far more ticklish now that she doesn’t have to hide it. Zuko jumped with a giggly shout, trying hard to hide his side with his elbow, but that just made Toph reach around his back to get his other side.
“Gah-! N-Nohoho!” He complained, pushing at her hands and face. “Quihit!”
“Cmooon I’m bored! This is the most entertained I’ve been in hours!” Toph tickled into Zuko’s ribs as she talked, making him fall over on his side in giggles. He kept pushing at her with his hands, but his stupid body kept betraying him, his elbows shooting down to cover the area too much to really fight back.
“Toph-! Tohohoph!” Zuko squealed, everyone around laughing at his funny noises. These people are the worst. “Gahaha! Get her ohoff mehehe!” He cackled, feeling her fingers vibrate into his ribs and stomach at the same time. Zuko’s eyes were scrunched tight in mirth, feeling silly and stupid and ticklish.
“This is too good. You sound like a girl!” Toph laughed, poking into his side like a typewriter. Zuko couldn’t stop giggling, flipping over on his stomach to crawl away (though he didn’t have much room, cramped on this stupid saddle with the rest of these freaks). He opted for crawling as close to Katara as he could get, praying she’d take pity on him and make Toph stop embarrassing him already.
Katara chuckled, “Okay, I think he’s had enough,” grabbing for Toph’s wrist (her hand still trying to worm it’s way under Zuko’s armpit) Katara pulled Toph away from Zuko as he slumped close to her side panting.
“Aweee, what?! I was just getting started!” Toph whined, making another grabbing motion in Zuko’s general direction that had him flinching with a squeak.
“You heard her, quit it!” Zuko griped, trying to silently maneuver himself as far from Toph as possible without her hearing. It was like a game of cat and mouse, Toph listening for any subtle sound Zuko made for her to launch her free arm in his direction, making him zip out of her reach before she could grab him.
“Cut it out, this is ridiculous!” Zuko complained, getting behind Sokka and gripping his shoulders like a human shield. “Ha! How ‘bout that, shortstack?!”
“Hey! Don’t rope me into this–AHH! NO! NONONOHohohoho!!” Sokka fell over on his side in giggles the moment Katara let go of Toph’s arm, the shorter girl launching for his sides.
“This’ll do for now!” Toph cheered, digging into Sokka’s waist with her rough fingers and making him howl. “I’ll catch you eventually, Sparky! Just wait til I’m finished with him!” she grinned wickedly, Sokka losing his mind just below her.
“But you already—! Gah, forget it,” Zuko sighed, crawling silently over beside Katara to hopefully avoid getting involved in that mess again. “She’s ruthless.”
Katara giggled, shooting Zuko a smile, “You get used to it.”
-
Zuko caught himself smiling at dinner. It was weird, usually when he smiled, it felt like an intentional move. Smiling to convince someone he’s happy, or smiling to fake innocence. But tonight…he started smiling before he even realized he was doing it.
Aang was telling some silly story from over 100 years ago, something from his childhood before all this. It was a stupid story, something Zuko would’ve found himself scoffing at if he had heard it even just a few months ago.
But things are good now. He felt good. Happiness came easy to him, like breathing or pulling fire from his hands. Zuko never thought he’d get to feel this again after everything he’d gone through, but these weirdos just had a way with him.
Something about these people, his friends, was always able to make him smile. They were annoying. They’re loud. They’re way too touchy, and always in his personal space. Like now, with Toph curled against his side as she laughed along to Aang’s story.
And yet? Zuko’s come to be okay with that. He’s come to like it about them, as crazy as it sounds.
The fire he sat in front of now didn’t have to be a threat. It was home.
—
A/N : i was all over the place writing this LMAO hope yall like it anyways cause it was fun to write!! pls consider reblogging if u enjoyed!! <3
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