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Jon was… in something of a mood.
They’d had a rough start in this new world, though helped along by the mysterious flat that they happened to own and the mysterious bank accounts in their names. It had taken him and Martin time to adjust and talk and feel comfortable here, but they had gotten there.
And now Jon felt… Well, clingy wasn’t exactly the right word, but it was a large part of it. He wanted to be with his boyfriend, he wanted Martin to wrap him up in his arms and hold him and kiss him and-
He stopped before the thoughts made him blush. Instead, he nuzzled further into Martin’s side, cursing the book that held his attention. Jon deserved that attention, not some dull book.
Martin glanced down at the ball that was his boyfriend with some amusement. “You alright there, love?”
Jon grunted, shoving himself more insistently against him.
He really was like a cat sometimes, Martin reflected. Clingy and affectionate and pathologically incapable of saying what he wanted. He turned a page. Jon was being clingier than usual, he had to admit. He’d always been happy for a snuggle, but now, despite them being so close that Jon was practically in his lap, it somehow wasn’t enough.
Martin tightened his arm around him.
Maybe…
Jon let out a yelp when fingers gently squeezed his side, jumping a little but otherwise not moving.
Martin’s hand stilled. “You okay?” He asked, looking away from his book for a moment.
Jon felt his cheeks flush. Oh dear. This both was and was not exactly what he’d wanted. “Ah- fine, yes, I’m just somewhat… ticklish there.” There, he’d admitted it.
See, he wanted this, quite desperately. That was the mood which he’d been trying so hard to ignore. He wanted his boyfriend to grab him and tickle and tickle until his stomach hurt from laughing and he had tears in his eyes. But he certainly couldn’t say that.
A lazy smirk curled Martin’s lips. “You don’t say.” He squeezed the spot again, getting another yelp. “Here?” He wiggled his fingers and earned a giggle. “Right here?”
Jon fought to keep still, his smile stretched wide and giggles bubbling through his teeth. “M-Martin!”
“Okay, okay.” Martin stopped, watching Jon’s expression out of the corner of his eye. “I’ll go back to my book, don’t worry.”
There it was. Not that it was difficult to spot how Jon’s face fell. He looked like Martin had kicked their non-existent puppy.
Jon tried not to feel too disappointed. It was alright really, no one had tickled him in years, and though he craved more, he could at least savour the memory of that tingly feeling shooting up his spine, of Martin’s soft fingers wriggling mischievously against him and drawing him to laughter. And besides, maybe now that Martin knew, he’d do it again in future?
“Mmm, changed my mind.” Martin said after a few seconds, throwing his book aside. Jon’s answering look of shock and delight had Martin holding back his own laughter, and he dragged Jon fully onto his lap, gently digging his fingers into that same spot on his side. “So. Ticklish, you say?”
Jon squeaked loudly and doubled over, a wild grin claiming his face. Oh dear. “I-um, wehell, ack- Martin!”
Martin’s mischievous fingers shifted to his stomach, spidering across and sending Jon back into giggles, clenching his hands into fists to avoid pushing him away, tossing his head back when Martin found a spot that made him squeal and lingered there.
“Ticklish here too?” Martin teased, scratching at the spot just above his hip and drawing out squeaky laughter. “Does it tickle there Jon?”
Jon threw his arms up to cover his flustered face, still laughing and squirming in place. “Y-yes!” He hiccupped. “Yes, it tickles, it tickles!”
The arm holding Jon against him tightened a little as he squirmed and squealed. The only downside to this was that Martin couldn’t take in the entirety of Jon’s adorable smile, but he could be happy with hearing his laugh and feeling him twitch and wriggle.
Martin pressed a somewhat sloppy kiss to Jon’s neck, earning another squeal and a jump, which only encouraged him to do it again. And again. It was just too tempting.
Jon felt like he was melting. There were fingers wriggling all over his stomach and sides, kisses teasing his neck, and he was being held against his amazing boyfriend all the while, able to do nothing but laugh. It was wonderful.
Teeth nipped at his neck and ears, making Jon hiccup with laughter, his breath quickly becoming short. Martin slowed his hand, but still kept Jon tight against him. “Okay?” He checked in as Jon gulped in air, still giggling like mad.
Jon said nothing at first, focused instead on breathing, giggling, and committing that feeling to memory. He definitely didn’t remember being quite that ticklish, but it was a discovery he could take in stride.
A finger poked him gently, and he jumped. “Jon?”
“Aha- yes!” He squeaked, squirming in place. “I’m fine.”
Martin grinned and kissed his cheek. “You’re adorable.” He corrected, chuckling when Jon didn’t argue. He probably didn’t have the energy; it all got tickled out of him. “Adorably ticklish.”
Jon huffed in false annoyance. “I-I’m not that ticklish.” He muttered, sensing the opportunity to extend their one-sided fight a little longer.
“Oh?” Martin danced his fingers around Jon’s neck, getting more of those squeaky giggles. “Really?”
Jon tipped his head back against Martin’s shoulder and laughed, all of his self-control going towards keeping still against the light, loving sensations sparking across his neck and making his skin burn and prickle. He would happily do this every day.
After a moment, Martin leaned close to his ear, easing off. “I bet you ten quid I can guess your worst spot.”
Jon wheezed, shaking from the tingles still sparking his nerves. “Wha- guess? How?”
Martin shrugged. “Just a hunch.” He said breezily.
This felt like a trick. Jon’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not allowed to t-touch me until you’ve guessed.”
“Done.”
Martin looked entirely too confident.
His hand closed around Jon’s wrist, tugging his arm up over his head. Maybe it was the confidence to him that had Jon squirming and smiling, despite nothing having been done yet. Maybe it was the promise that this was going to tickle. He was going to tickle a lot. He remembered his armpits being quite ticklish, more than his stomach, and Martin seemed to know exactly how to drive him mad.
Martin grinned. “I haven’t even done anything yet.” He teased. “That’s the rule, right? I can’t tickle until I’ve guessed.”
Jon tugged weakly at his trapped arm. He didn’t reply for risk of bursting out into giggles again, but a moment later he couldn’t help it, as Martin’s other arm reached across him to hover over his vulnerable side, pinning his other arm against him. “AH- noho Martin, nononononono!”
“No, I… can tickle before I’ve guessed?” He teased, his hand floating up and down Jon’s side and ribcage, still without touching.
Jon squeezed his eyes shut and squealed, kicking his feet. “Don’t tease!”
Oh god, he was so cute like this. All squirmy and giggling and flushed. Irresistible. “Right, I should get on with it.”
Jon whined around his massive grin. He peeked his eyes open and squeaked, twisting and failing to defend himself in any way.
Martin’s fingers were floating just over his ribcage, slowly wiggling and moving up and down as if searching with some kind of metal detector. “Hmmm, I think it’s juuuust about… here!”
To Jon surprise, Martin didn’t use the frankly diabolical way he was holding him to attack his underarm. No, instead those soft, evil fingers dug into the top of his ribcage, the middle finger finding a gap between his ribs and oh. Shit. “SHIT!” Jon screeched, bucking and cackling and pulling desperately at his trapped arm.
Martin didn’t change spots, just continued to wiggle his fingers over the top of Jon’s ribcage, chuckling at his frantic reaction. “What do you think, was I right?”
Jon jolted helplessly, but his arm was held to tightly and his body was weak from laughing and he couldn’t even slide down out of Martin’s hold, could only melt against him with shrieking laughter. He wasn’t even digging in very much and it was unbearable, no one had ever tickled him there before and it was too much, too much, he couldn’t stand it! “N-NO, plehehease Martin!”
“No, I wasn’t right?” The devilish fingers changed to tapping a staccato rhythm that made Jon’s laughter jump. “Seems like a pretty ticklish spot to me.”
Jon’s feet stamped on the ground desperately. He couldn’t think, he couldn’t do anything. “I-I can’t, I cahahan’t, please!”
The tickles slowed and Jon sagged, giggling steadily. His glasses had slid down his nose, he noted, and there were tears of laughter in his eyes. To be expected after all of that.
Martin let go of his trapped arm, but didn’t move to release Jon from his lap. “You okay?” He checked, clearly amused.
Jon wiped the tears from his eyes and pushed his glasses back up. He doubted he’d be able to stop smiling for a long time. “Fine.” He said, his head fitting into the crook of Martin’s neck. More than fine. He thought, and then that yes, he should probably tell him. “I should tell you…”
Martin interrupted by tightening the hug, squeezing him in a way that made Jon feel incredibly safe and loved. “It’s alright,” He murmured. “I already know you like this.”
Jon froze. Flushed. “W-what?”
A kiss was pressed to his cheek. “You told me.” Martin confessed somewhat sheepishly. “At Upton house.”
Oh. Oh. “Oh, um… really?”
“Mm-hm.” Martin kissed his neck, baiting Jon’s smile back out. “And I think it’s very sweet, and I love it.” Because Jon didn’t remember, did he?
So… Martin had known this whole time? Wait. “Wait, so you- guessed?”
Martin poked the spot again, just for fun. “Call it an educated guess.”
Jon gaped. “That’s cheating.”
Martin snickered. “Jealous that I know more for once?”
“I never used it against you!”
“Annoyed that you didn’t Know where I’m ticklish while you had the chance?”
“I promised not to Know about you!”
“You did.” Martin agreed warmly. “Though I’ll admit, probably not the worst thing you could have used Beholding for.”
Jon’s eyes narrowed, and he pushed himself up as if to stand. “Well then, I suppose I’d better go find a universe where the Eye manifested so I can pledge myself to it again.”
Martin’s arms wrapped around his middle, pulling him back with both of them laughing. “Of course, that’s the only way.” Martin chuckled.
Jon turned sideways in his lap, burying his face in the crook of his neck with a grin. He wanted to be indignant, but he just felt giddy. “I’ll get my revenge eventually.”
Oh? “Not now?”
Martin’s heart ached when Jon looked up at him with wide, vulnerable eyes and slightly flushed cheeks. “Could you… tell me about it?”
A soft kiss was pressed to Jon’s lips, going on for long enough that he felt light-headed. “Of course, love.” Martin breathed when they parted.
Fingers found Jon’s hair, gently scratching against his scalp in a way that made him melt. “You remember the beginning, of course.” Martin said. “We both passed out, cos we were suddenly human again. Turns out that wasn’t just general tiredness and hunger, there was also just- an awful lot of aches.”
“Unlike now, of course.” Jon quipped.
Martin chuckled. “Anyway, we were both completely filthy, you know, from all of the… apocalypse. You were being sort of paranoid those first couple of days, I can’t really blame you, so when I said I was going to shower, you insisted on standing guard outside.”
Jon grunted. “A good idea, given what Anabelle got up to later.”
“I never said she was trustworthy! Just… she didn’t care about us that much at Upton. So when you finally caved and decided to shower, I figured you’d want me to do the same, and even if you weren’t worried, I was- honestly I was a little worried about you. Even then you were fading, and I thought… well, I didn’t want you to slip in the shower. Hell of a way to go, in the middle of the apocalypse.”
They both chuckled at the thought. “So, I was waiting outside and everything seemed fine, but after a little bit you called me. I was sort of confused, but you didn’t sound hurt or anything, so I double checked then then went in. You’d washed your hair and had a towel around your waist, but the muscle pain meant you couldn’t reach your back properly.”
Jon bowed his head, his face turning red. “I’m fairly certain that-that can be taken a number of ways.”
“It can.” Martin agreed, amused. “You were pretty flustered about it then too. Very clear that you were just asking for help getting the muck off, not that I needed you to tell me that.” He kissed the edge of Jon’s jaw. “I figured I could make it at least sort of romantic, ran a little water in the tub and got the soap, but as soon as I ran my hands up your back you gave just- just the cutest squeal I’ve ever heard.”
Jon’s face was on fire. “Martin…”
“I’m serious, just adorable.” He reminisced. “For a second I was worried that I’d hurt you and tried to stop, but you promised you were fine and that I could keep going, so I did.” Because he could, and because he was feeling playful, Martin scribbled his fingers up Jon’s spine, through his shirt. “And oh, yeah, that’s exactly how you started giggling, thank you for the demonstration.”
Jon arched his back and laughed. “Ass!”
“Me? Never.” Martin joked, easing off. “Anyway, I kind of figured you didn’t hate it, since you didn’t tell me to stop or anything. Just kind of squirmed in place and kept giggling, so I finished up and left you to change. Sort of figured that’d be the end of it, but when you came out of the bathroom you were all… smiley.” Jon flushed, noting that he was equally ‘smiley’ at that moment. “I didn’t say anything cos, honestly, I didn’t want you to stop. Hadn’t seen you smile in a long time.”
A thought occurred to Jon, and he buried his face in his hands with a groan. “Please tell me Annabelle fucking Cane was nowhere near us for any of this.”
Martin snickered. “I don’t think so? What, worried that she ran off to the mother of puppets, all, ‘I’ve found the Archivists secret weakness!’” He mimicked, wiggling his fingers at Jon teasingly.
Jon snorted in acknowledgement of the point, but shoved his hand. “It’s embarrassing.”
“I guess.” Martin admitted. He couldn’t say he wouldn’t feel the same. “And I told you, I barely saw her the whole time we were there. I think trying to start conversation spooked her off.”
“Didn’t want to risk my power working.” Jon speculated.
“Hmm, or just antisocial.”
Jon barked a laugh. “That too.”
Martin smiled. “Anyway, you were being all smiley and- honestly kind of giddy. I figured you were feeling better after having a wash, and the laugh had probably done you good. Didn’t think it bared mentioning, it’s not like I wanted you to stop being happy. We didn’t do a lot for the rest of the day. Had some tea of course, relaxed on the sofa. You were being extra snuggly, but again, I wasn’t complaining.” He sighed contentedly. “Then later when we went to bed, the lamp was still on and you asked about ‘earlier’.” Jon had squeezed his eyes shut and was blushing furiously. Martin tweaked his ear playfully. “I wasn’t sure what you meant, so I asked, and you got quite flustered. Started stammering about the bathroom and so on, but what tipped me off was how you’d curled up.” Jon had done the same now. “Yes, like that.” Martin teased with a poke to his side that got a yelp and a wild grin.
“I didn’t know what you were getting at exactly, but I thought if you were gonna bring it up, I wasn’t going to turn down a chance to see you giggling like that again, so I was poking at you for a bit, just teasing mostly.” Martin’s smile widened at the memory. “Did you know you get this little crinkle at the corners of your eyes when you laugh? It’s honestly the best thing-”
“Martiiiin.” Jon whined, doing his best now to completely bury his face in his boyfriend’s chest. “Please stop saying things like that.”
Sure, it was tempting to double down, just to see exactly how red Jon could get, but he’d probably had enough teasing for now. “Okay, okay, sorry.” Martin chuckled. “After a bit you grabbed my hands to stop me.” He looked down with a sappy smile. “I know I just said I wouldn’t tease, but… honestly, you were glowing. You looked away and said that you really liked when I did ‘that’. That it made you feel happy and tingly and helpless but in a good way, and that if I wanted to do it more, you’d like that too.”
Jon felt… numb. Like he was in the eye of a storm of embarrassment and happiness. Hearing his own deep thoughts repeated back to him by the man he loved made him feel vulnerable in a way he hadn’t felt before. Even knowing Martin wouldn’t reject him, hadn’t rejected him. It was a lot.
Martin kissed his cheek, seeing the deer-in-headlights look on his boyfriend’s face. “I’m not gonna lie, it sort of felt like Christmas.” He whispered. “I thought at best you were okay with me tickling you from time to time, maybe. But it is fun, right? I like getting to touch you and make you laugh like that.”
Jon grinned sheepishly. “It is fun.” He admitted, face still warm.
A smile had claimed Martin’s face too. “After that, you let me experiment a bit.” He chuckled. “Figured out a few more places you’re ticklish, though truthfully I think it’s harder to find a spot you aren’t. Oh, like here.” He took Jon’s hand and gently traced his fingers in circles on his palm and wiggling them. It only took seconds to Jon to start chuckling and pull his hand free, curling it into a fist. “I mean honestly Jon, ticklish hands?”
“Well, I can hardly control it.” Jon protested playfully.
“Better than that spot on your ribs, at least.” Martin teased. “When I found that one you almost punched me in the face. And screamed like mad.”
Jon buried his burning face in his hands. “Rude.”
“Hey, I stopped. Pretty quickly actually, didn’t need to know what might happen if we were overheard.”
The thought made Jon groan. “For the best.” He agreed. “So that’s… that?”
“Mm-hm.” Martin hummed.
Jon’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing… else?”
“Hm?” Martin looked at him questioningly, chuckling when he saw the sparkle in his eye. “Think you were a little tired for revenge.” He grinned. “But I’ll give you one for free, my ears are really quite bad. Like, ‘I’m surprised you haven’t noticed already’ bad.”
Jon cocked his head curiously, then slowly and deliberately brought one hand up to ghost his fingers over Martin’s ear. He didn’t pull away, but did squeeze his eyes shut and squeak at the touch, grinning massively.
“I’ll remember that.” Jon promised, mischief colouring his words.
Martin rubbed his ear against his shoulder, still smiling. “Please do.” He said. “I mean it, it’s… fun. Playing like that.”
Jon swallowed. “I-I’ve never told anyone.” He confessed. Good god, how did he find the courage to tell Martin?
Martin leaned down to kiss him, tenderly and deliberately. “Well, I’m glad you trusted me enough to.” He murmured. “Twice.”
Jon smiled up at him. “Me too.”