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You held back a small laughter as you paced in the room, Sticks sitting on her couch watching your every move, as if daring you to say something. It was almost like she was interrogating you as much as you were her.
You finally stopped in front of her, then crossed your arms while narrowing your eyes at her, thinking of something cool to say.
“You’re testing my patience, badger…” you finally said.
Sticks rose an eyebrow, and for a half-second, you saw a bit of her smile, before straightening her face.
“Maybe I’m not feelin’ too chatty.” she replied, a defiant smile on her face.
Damn, that was a good response. She was getting good at that.
Still, you were just getting started.
You grabbed your wrist and gently cracked it, before replying.
“That’s fine…” you replied coolly.
If there was one thing Sticks liked, it was confidence.
“We have ways to change that…”
You still weren’t sure where Sticks had gotten this idea from. When the two of you started dating, she started making you do all sorts of things, like come up with codewords so she could tell if you were an imposter, or a secret question she could always ask you. Her logic was “they could try anything”, and so that’s what you needed to be ready for.
And so, recently, she had started asking you to do this: practice for interrogations in case “The Man” ever came for her… Whatever that meant.
“What are you planning to do? Torture me?” Sticks asked, her voice sharp.
It really took some effort to avoid chuckling at her dramatic expression.
Something about their way she puffed her cheeks, pouted her lip with her hands on her hips: as if genuinely smug that you would never be able to get anything out of her.
It was… adorable.
So adorable, in fact, you couldn’t help yourself but raise her chin and gently kiss her. Right on her adorable, pouted lips.
Maybe it wasn’t exactly “in character”, but damn it… It was nice.
As you pulled away to let her speak, you caught a small smile on her face, before she masked it with a confused look.
“What the-?” she mumbled. “What was that for?”
“Hey, they could try anything, can’t they?” You smiled, deciding to tease her.
Sticks turned away slightly, her chin still in your hand, her cheeks noticeably rosy.
“...Fine, but… Don’t gettahead of yourself…” she mumbled, trying to hide her smile. “And don’t forget… You gotta make, like, a demand or somethin’...”
You nodded before doing your best evil smile, before leaning in closer, this time for a slower, more gentle kiss: like the kind you’d share while cuddled up or after a long date. While your hand stayed on her chin, Sticks’ hands went to your shoulders, trying to ground herself: (again, a little off for the character, but you didn’t really mind).
As you pulled away from the second kiss, Stick huffed, turning away as she overdramatically panted, as if needing to catch her breath.
“What do you even want, you… monster?” she asked through her pants.
That was a good question. Depending on what you said, it totally changed the tone.
You could’ve gone with something serious, and really get back into the environment… but on the other hand, there WAS something you were genuinely curious about…
“That pink friend of your’s… that famous cookie recipe of her’s… You know it, don't you?”
You could see the small smile Sticks tried hiding, almost as if asking “Seriously? That’s what you’re going with?”. Her small struggle almost made you laugh for real and break character, so you instead spoke aloud to force you to focus.
“I can tell by the look on your face! You DO know it!” you pressed, half to add to the story, and half to further tease her. “And you’re gonna tell me!”
Sticks actually ended up smiling from your tease, before meeting your energy, putting her hands back on her hips and glaring at you.
“Never! I’d rather DIE than tell you!” she shouted. “Amy trusted me, I’ll never tell..! You’ll never make me..!”
You held back another laugh.
She was leaving little gaps between her sentences. She was asking for more. More interrogation kisses, the silly goose.
“Not as long as I live-”
You immediately cupped her cheeks and leaned back in for another kiss, one this time Sticks would melt into, sliding her hands to the back of her neck as she kissed you back sweetly.
Even if it didn’t make sense for the scenario, you hardly minded, as you brought your hands to the couch cushions to lean on for better stability.
Sticks’ kisses were like little static electricity shocks. Like when you ran your hand across a fluffy blanket, but so, so much warmer. And doing it while playing this silly little game just made them all the more sweeter.
Sticks let out a disappointed mumble when you pulled away, before mumbling back into character.
“You think that’s all it’ll take to get me to talk?”
You smiled, leaning in and gently starting to peck her cheek.
“Oh, don’tcha worry… I’m just getting warmed up, babe…” you whispered, briefly breaking character.
Pulling away, you brought your hands to her exposed sides before gently wiggling your fingers against them, going in small circles as if to imitate the crawling of an insect.
“Wait, what are you do-” was all Sticks could say before exploding into uncontrolled laughter, squirming where she sat on her couch, as if trying to escape, but her efforts weakened from her laughter.
“Hey-! This is-! That’s not fair..!” she protested, barely managing to get it out through her laughter.
Such adorable laughter.
You supposed “cackles” was the right word for them, but damn, you loved them all the same. Genuine, goofy, and unrestrained… The perfect way to describe Sticks.
Well, maybe “unrestrained” because you were currently forcing them out, but the point still stood.
As you gave her cheek another kiss, you teased her, pretending to demand answers.
“What’s the recipe? Answer me!” you pretended to growl.
Hearing your own growl took you out of it for a second… making you realize how ridiculous a concept this was: tickling the hell out of your girlfriend, while demanding to know a COOKIE recipe…
And yet, it was great at the same time.
It was something that could only happen with Sticks. Your goofy, paranoid, ticklish girlfriend. And for that reason? You downright felt lucky.
“She- She melts the butter first! And then uses bread flour instead of regular flour!”
Your ears perked a bit.
Oh, wow…
You tried to hold back the now, actual evil smile, on your face, as you leaned in for more kisses on her cheek:
“Tell me… why… Why bread flour? What’s the secret?” you mumbled between kisses, trying to growl your voice more, at this point mostly to fluster her.
Sticks closed her eyes, her breathing getting harder as she tried to reply.
“I… I don’t know… I really don’t! It’s got more… somethin’ in it! More flouriness?”
Sticks closed her eyes, giggles and cackles clearly occupying more of her mind than trying to remember the logistics of a cookie recipe.
You chuckled slightly, before leaning back for another, slower smooch on her cheek, before noticing her breathing and slowly stopping your tickles to let her breathe for a minute.
“Doin’ okay?” you asked to check on her.
“You’re- You’re evil, you…” she said through pants, a smile still on her face.
You smiled right back. She was doin’ okay.
You snickered as you settled next to her, almost a little too proud of yourself, as you sat down on the couch next to her: having needed it too, after being on your feet for the whole time. You brought your arm around her, pulling her closer, as you pressed your forehead to hers.
“Welp, Sticks… Looks like you failed this time.” you teased. “Now “The Man” knows Amy uses bread flour for her cookies.”
“Noooo…” Sticks whined slightly, a bit of a laugh in her voice. “That’s not fair…”
“Last I checked, “The Man” doesn’t play fair either…”
“Stop it…” Sticks cackled out, her legs kicking as she laughed. “Amy’ll kill me if she finds out I told ya… So you better not say anything!”
You chuckled with her, before reaching for her hand to hold.
“Alright, fine. I promise…” you agreed.
Her worries seemingly put to rest, Sticks leaned in close, giving you another gentle kiss: this one a bit softer and smoother, a perfect “reset” after all the teasing and goofiness from before.
“Alright…” she mumbled as she pulled away, before putting her hands on the couch to lean closer to you: her lips curled into a smile. “Let’s do it again…”