Lake Superior
TMF Regular
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
- Messages
- 175
- Points
- 18
---
A single chandelier illuminated the large dining room. At the center of this room was a fanciful table with two figures seated on either side. The table was fully set for teatime, its eggshell-white cloth expertly laid out with not a single crease or wrinkle on its surface. Spread out before the pair was an array of lightly frosted little cakes, as well as bowls upon bowls of exotic teas with numerous pots to steep them in and dainty spoons for stirring. The lacey doilies completed the sight of what looked to be an excellent little brunch for all involved. The platinum-blonde woman at the table beamed over the spread that she'd laid out so carefully. She clasped her hands together in joy and looked over at the grimacing man on the opposite side of the table from her.
His hair had the same coloration as hers, only natural considering he was her little brother. Despite him being younger, even sitting down he was still a full head taller than her, and the scowl on his face was the complete inverse of her sweet smile. Below the table, his long toes flexed as he used one naked foot to scratch curiously at the anklets that had been forced on him before he was seated here. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as much as he could with the metal band over his thighs that held him in it at least.
"Oh, Emile,” his older sister Mercedes chirped. “It's so nice to be reunited after so long. Imagine my surprise to see the darling little boy I raised looking down at me from across a battlefield! Ahh, I'm so glad Lady Nótt granted my request and chose you as the next one to join me for tea! It's just so nice to see you again after all this time!"
The taller blond was slouched forward in his chair, not wanting to meet her eyes. He picked at one of the little cakes in a bored fashion while she pouted at his rudeness. Mercedes saw that trying to chat would be fruitless until she started teaching him some discipline.
"Emile? If you-"
"That is no longer my name,” he interrupted with his unnervingly deep voice. “I've told you before that I choose to go by Jeritza no-"
"Please put your foot in my lap, Emile."
"!?...As you wish."
Jeritza's assertion about his name went ignored as these unfamiliar words tumbled out of his mouth, and the anklet that had been forced on him now flashed beneath the table. Before he even processed his sister’s words, he found himself extending his leg and placing his long, size 14 foot atop Mercedes’ lap as requested. He sneered and pulled it away quickly while wondering what had suddenly come over him, until her sugary sweet voice chimed up again.
"Put it back, Emile, and keep it there until I say you can move it."
The anklet flashed again, and the tall man put his foot right back where it was in his older sister's lap.
"...As you wish. What? Have you-"
"Interesting that you don't answer to ‘Emile’, but when I give you orders by that name you oblige. Yes, I'm certain Mr. Ótr's bracelet there must be contributing due to how you must do as I say while you wear it. Still, I find it quite charming that that's the name you prefer."
"I do not! That name belonged to a person who is long gon-eeeeechk!"
---
Mercedes stroked a knuckle up the narrow and creamy sole in her lap, enjoying how the man's dreary monologue had been interrupted. Trailing upwards towards her younger brother's long toes, she so enjoyed the way they scrunched defensively at her approach; the way he tried to pull his foot away when she traced the tops of his toes; the way his pale skin flushed as she pressed her thumb to her brother's heel and swirled it gently on the skin there. She almost feared that she might break him if she poked too hard, though she knew that Emil – or rather Jeritza – was even stronger than he appeared.
…Even if he was now trying to hide his mouth behind his hand to mask his giggles.
"Oh, this bring back memories. Do you remember when we were little, Emile? We used to have tea parties like this all the time!"
Jeritza still refused to meet Mercedes' eyes. His memory of those days wasn’t as clear as hers, but he did remember one thing…
"You used to love going barefoot back then! Though I must say, seeing these big feet of yours now, it's hard to think of them as being the same little ones I would see running about. You used to love coming to the tea parties with them out."
Mercedes pressed a fingernail to Jeritza's sole and started lightly scraping it up and down as she spoke, savoring the way it made her little brother's lip quiver. He saw her smiling at the sight and averted his gaze, trying to ignore the sensations traveling up his leg thanks to her teasing.
"These things you speak of happened to someone different, he's gone now and—keeheeehee..."
---
Jeritza's words had chased away Mercedes's smile and as a result, she'd started taking that fingernail on a trip all along her brother's sole. The tall man's melancholy speech had quickly turned into hissing laughter as his silly foot clenched its toes and bent forward to try and protect itself.
"Oooh look at that! Why Emile, are you still ticklish? Answer me truthfully now."
"Ahahas you wihihihish...yeehehees dahahahammit!"
Jeritza's cheeks flushed as Mercie ran a reassuring hand down the back of his curled foot. She had to stifle a laugh herself at how funny it was to hear a voice as deep and menacing as his choking on boyish giggles. He gasped as she took her thumb and pushed back his big toe to admire the pad. She stroked the back of her thumb down the lily-white skin and admired the way the foot wiggled in her grip. His skin was so white that it conjured images of porcelain and for a second she imagined it with a spatter of dark blood.
She used her free hand to select a tea cake from the assortment on the table, one that she knew had a certain kind of filling. Squeezing the pastry between her thumb and forefinger she felt the cherry jam filling ooze out onto her fingers. She sampled a little of it on her thumb and traced a slight line of red with it down her brother's sole. The jelly’s deep crimson color stood out quite starkly against his ivory skin and she was struck by the lovely aesthetic. Flicking her nail along the skin to scoop off the jelly drew another snort out of Jeritza, which she very much enjoyed. Before she knew it that fingernail was traveling up to tease beneath her brother's long toes, his stubborn pride keeping him from clenching them until she was in beneath them.
"Oh Emile, you used to run around barefoot everywhere no matter what I said...until...ahh well."
Mercedes's hands went from teasingly flicking to gently massaging the knotted muscles of the foot she was holding. Emile had never spoken of it with her after it happened, but she knew exactly why he'd eschewed his barefoot ways. When he was younger, she'd gifted him a fairytale book about a dragon prince that'd saved his kingdom while barefoot. He ended up loving it so much that she’d find him reading it over and over. Little Emile started going around sans footwear from that point on, until one day when their "father" Baron Martritz had spotted a bit of mud that had been tracked in. He'd assumed that they young lad was to blame and decided to put an end to this right then and there. Mercedes hadn't thought much about the missing Emile at first but when she'd finally happened on him in the evening, she'd been horrified to discover what had happened.
Her younger brother had been forced into a set of ankle stocks by the servants at their father's command and had spent the day having his soles made pristine with scrubbing brushes. By the time Mercedes had found him Emile was a gasping wreck, having lost the air to even laugh anymore. She'd had to plead with the horrible man to have him let out, and afterward the boy never went without shoes and socks again. That had just been one in a long line of awful things the man had done but still...what Emile had done later.
---
The sound of the table creaking brought her back to the moment, and she saw the towering knight who'd once been her brother trying to use it as leverage to wrest his foot from her grasp. She stifled a light chuckle behind one hand and slowly wiggled the fingers of the other as they drew closer to his foot.
"Emile? Why are you scared of your sister tickling your foot? Answer me, Emile."
"As you wish. No, I'm not scared. Release me now!"
The table creaked under the man's strength and Mercedes lifted an eyebrow. She placed one finger on her younger brother's arch and started scraping it up and down the skin just lightly enough to start getting giggles.
"Emile? Stop that. Don't try to break the table."
Mercedes smiled at the way the anklet flashed at her command and how Emile curled his foot defensively again. This time though she kept on flicking up and down his curved sole to keep him tittering.
"Ahhhaaha ahahas you wihish. St-stahap that at ohonce!"
---
Jeritza's hands recoiled from the table so fast that you'd think he'd been burned. He hissed in frustration at it, but that soon trailed off into a snicker due to Mercedes running a pair of fingers along the ball of his foot. He shook his head as his evil sister continued to tease him about the past while now running her thumb along the pad of his smallest toe.
"Ahaha, Emile do you remember how you used to hide in my room and tease me to find you? You would hide in the curtains, under the bed, and even under piles of clothes in the closet and giggle about how smart you were. I'd always find youuuu though, and do you remember what would happen then?"
Mercedes ran her soft hand up the man's foot almost caressing it now, when they reached the toes though the fingers curled as Mercedes smiled.
"What was it I used to say, Emile? Tell me."
"Ehehe ahas you wiihish. You would s-say, ‘Here Comes the Tickle MonsteEEEHEHEHEHE HAHAHA!’"
"Oh look, Emile! The tickle monster’s back!"
Mercedes's nails dug into the heel of her brother's foot and started scraping away ruthlessly, loving how his leg bounced wildly in response. She fluttered her nails up towards his arch all while still teasing.
"Oh nooo, poor Emile! The Tickle Monster is back for him, and he just looooves to tickle Emile's handsome feet! Do you remember the tickle monster, Emile? Answer truthfully!"
"Ahahahahs you wihihihsh!! Yeehehes! Dahahammit I rehehehmber the tihihickle monster eheehehehe!"
"You used to love the tickle monster! That's why you would always want to play Hide and Go Seek. ‘Cause you knew that when I caught you these feetsies would be all his! Kitchie, kitchie Emile!~"
---
Jeritza's foot tried to wriggle away but Mercedes' nails chased it and were soon digging right back into his high arch. The flush on the man's face matched the one on his porcelain sole and Mercedes couldn't help but revel in the sight. The foot tried to curl again but she stopped it by grabbing the big toe like a handle and bending it back. The way his helpless foot jumped as she raked her nails up and down the long sole was fun to watch, but the way he'd slumped down on the table to try and hold it in was even funnier. Despite her orders, Jeritza was shaking the table involuntarily as he was tickled so wildly on his foot. Mercedes watched plate after plate of cakes and pastries tumble to the ground and sighed at the waste.
"So wasteful Emile! The tickle monster loves to tickle and touch your pretty foot, but he hates seeing you make such a mess! Why, he's just going to have to tickle you even harder now as punishment! You'll love that though, won't you Emile?"
"Nooohooo! Meeheerceehedes stahahp!"
Mercedes's fingers started going up and down her brother's helpless foot, scraping their way along the skin as he tried to pull away. She started to teasingly use one finger along the ball of her brother's foot and when he started to chuckle added in her thumb. Seeing he’d keep scrunching up his long toes she opted to switch targets, first wrapping one of her hands around the big toe and using her thumb to wrestle it, then scraping her fingernail along its soft pad. Emile had always been mindful of caring for his feet when he was young, mainly due to Mercie's teasing, and she was glad that this habit had persisted even as a fully grown man.
---
Emile's long feet almost evoked images of a doll made of porcelain…though as Mercie mused on it, that idea ended up altering further in her mind to the appearance of a bloodstained curse doll. The thought of it cackling evilly as she teased its feet made her chuckle herself as Jeritza pounded his fist on a plate of cake while she egged him on more and more.
"Emiiiiile, the monster’s got you~! Ooh the monster's gonna tickle, tickle, tickle this foot of yours all-day Emile~. Kootchie, kootchie-koo the monster's got youuuuu…"
"Stahahap!"
"Noooo~"
"Pleeheeeease!"
"Hmmm...no."
"I-Ihih-"
Mercie's fingers skittered faster, now flicking along the man's instep, looking as if they were trying to strum the smooth foot like an instrument. Jeritza stammered as she played with it and didn't notice his sister sneaking a fork from the table.
"What's that you're trying to say, Emile? I can't understand you, you know."
"Ihihiht tickles!!"
"Emile! He's called the tickle monster! Did you think he was going to gobble you up? Although..."
"EEEEEAHAHAhahaha nooohoo! Sihihister! Geeehhhee nohoooo!"
Jeritza shrieked like a child at the feeling of cold, metal prongs gliding up the skin on his sole. Mercedes brought the fork up and down, side to side, and even pinned his toes back and glided it along them. Her brother was squealing just like when he was little, and it was taking her back to countless fun times they had shared. She started giving the pads of the toes jabs with the fork and enjoying the embarrassing snorts she could get out of Emile with just that. She couldn't get over how adorable he looked like this, his normally prim appearance destroyed with tears in his eyes. Every time he begged for a reprieve, she just wanted to do it more and more...
"Mehehehercie stahahahp! It tihihihckles! Ihihihit tihihickles sooohoo muhuhuch!"
"Oh, Emile...it's a Tickle MONSTER. It wouldn't be much of a monster if it stopped whenever the sweet little boy it had snapped up asked it to, would it? Otherwise, why would you even hide from it?"
"Stahahap! Meehheercedes pleeeeheeease!"
"Hmmmm, no."
"Mercedes, I am going to need you to stop."
---
Both smiling siblings looked up to see none other than Byleth in the doorway. The professor's cold eyes scanned over the panting Jeritza and the flustered Mercedes…before nodding with stoic approval.
"You're doing very well, but I was wondering if I could borrow you both for some private lessons. Mercedes, if you would come with me? Jeritza as we-"
"Emile," Mercedes corrected, flashing a look at her former teacher. The man clucked his tongue but did nod at his mistake.
"Of course, my apologies. Mercedes, if you and Emile would follow me?"
"Very well. Emile? Stand up and follow me and the Professor."
"A-as you wish," the tall man stuttered as he stood up suddenly due to the flashing of the anklet. He hissed at the bit of the tingling of his still-sensitive sole touching the ground, and he couldn’t hide his blush of embarassment when the two of them looked at him.
"Mercedes? Could you have your brother remove his shirt please?"
"Oh of course! Emile? Take off your shirt like the Professor asked, and after you do it then place your hands to the small of your back and keep them there."
"Hnnn...as you wish," Jeritza grunted out as the charm cut his snarl off and made him comply. Soon enough his shirt lay discarded at Byleth and Mercedes's feet (both sans shoes of course), and his hands were to his back as the magic compelled him to mimic being bound.
Byleth looked at the glowering blond and was fascinated by the magic at play. Soon he was testing its strength by running his fingers along Jeritza's chest and teasing the skin. The Death Knight could only fidget as the man dipped a finger into his navel and swirled it about.
"Gnnhh st-stahahp it..."
"Astounding, and he can do nothing about it?"
Byleth's fingers started to pluck at Jeritza's abdominal muscles and trace the canyons between them. In response, the Hyrm heir tried to turn away only for the professor to hook a finger into his navel and pull him back. Byleth ran a hand up and down Jeritza's stomach to punish him while Mercedes explained.
---
"He’s free to do whatever he likes unless I tell him to do something or not. Watch. Emile? Tell the Professor how much you love him playing with that cute belly of yours, and how you want more."
"Nohoho! Merc—Ahahas you wihihish," again the blinking anklet cut off Jeritza and his lip quivered before the humiliation began.
"Yehehes, I lohove you tihihckling my sihihihilly tuhuhuhmmy Profehehehessor. Gehehehet deeheepeer into my nahahahavel!"
Byleth smiled and obliged, putting his finger in deep enough to tickle the deepest part of Jeritza's navel. The tall man that Byleth had dancing in his arms was normally quite the intimidating figure. With this blush on his cheeks and the silly dance however, his futile attempts to squirm away from the Professor's questing fingers was quite adorable. Mercedes had to cover her mouth at the sight of her little brother clamping his lips closed to try and hold in his chuckles, causing a deep flush to wash over his face. It wasn't until she gave a rather pointed cough that Byleth blushed as well and remembered himself.
"Oh Professor, if you wanted to join in on our fun all you had to do was ask. Would you like to retire to private quarters for some more fun?"
The Professor went even redder at the suggestion, prompting Mercedes to slip behind him and start skittering her fingers up and down his sides.
"Well Professor," she asked with a predatory sweetness. "Is that something you'd like to do? You seem so interested in Emile's bracelet. Maybe you'd like one of your own? Hmm, Professor? Tickle, tickle~"
Byleth squirmed in Mercedes' arms but didn't pull away, instead letting a scarlet blaze color his cheeks. He'd never been the best at expressing his emotions and so couldn't quite find the words to concede that he would indeed like that quite a bit. Jeritza watched the man once called the Ashen Demon titter in his big sister's clutches and, for a second pictured, The Death Knight and the Ashen Demon both with collars around their necks and Mercedes close behind. He shook his head at the thought and tried to inch his way towards the door in a bid at freedom.
"Emile? You silly boy, where do you think you're going? Haha so inquisitive. Emile, pick up the Professor for me please."
"A-As You Wish."
In a fluid movement, Jeritza scooped the man up with a hand beneath his legs and shoulders, putting him into a humiliating princess carry.
Byleth's blush was now a pair of crimson flowers under each cheek and Mercedes couldn't stop beaming at it. The way the mercenary's feet dangled out, she just couldn't help herself. Soon Byleth was burying his face in Jeritza's chest as the woman teased her nails along his wide soles.
"Oh, I'm so glad that's something you’re interested in, Professor. I’m going to love having these silly feet of yours all to myself, and it's nice that Emile won't get lonely! Come along Emile, let's retire to my quarters."
Jeritza followed Mercedes's orders, carrying Byleth along with him down the hallway. Both men were quite embarrassed by the whole thing and the cheerful healer teasing them the whole time didn't help.
---
"I never thought I'd get to see you carry your ‘bride’ across the threshold, Emile! I couldn't be happier for my little brother! Put him on the bed Emile, please."
The sound of a loud thump followed by a groan made Mercedes giggle into her hand.
"I suppose I should have said gently, haha. So literal Emile, but I suppose it's cute. Come and take this from me, Emile."
"As you wish."
Jeritza took the offered anklet from Mercedes and notices right away that it was the same kind cuffed on his own leg.
"Now, when the Professor says he wants the bracelet, I want you to put it on him, okay Emile?"
"As you wis—"
"Oh, and from now on you are to call me ‘Mercie’."
"A-as you wish...Mercie."
"Ahhh, so cute!"
This scene of Mercedes pinching the cheek of the Death Knight would have seemed odd to anyone, especially Byleth. However, the Mercenary was sprawled face-down on the bed and unable to watchi. Before he could sit up, Jeritza knelt atop Byleth's knees on the bed and pinned him down. Just as Mercedes had commanded him, Byleth's ankles were tucked right between the tall villain's knees, and with one order from her:
"Emile? Start with the toes, please. But do be gentle."
Jeritza had nothing to slow him down. Byleth let out a gasp as his toes were pried open and soon long fingers had invaded between each of his digits. Jeritza twisted his fingers back and forth as the green-haired man beneath him wailed.
"By Seeeheeheeiros nahahaht theeehere!"
"Oh Emile, I think those silly toes of his are ticklish! Which ones are the most ticklish do you think?"
"Perhaps it is this one, Mercie?"
"AAAHAHAACK! NAHAHAT THE BIG OHOHOHNE! GAHAHAHA!"
"Ooooh, that one seems suuuuper ticklish! I don't think it's the worst one though. Hmmm, try the little one, Emile!"
"As you wish, Mercie."
Jeritza's fingers were soon striking st Byleth's small toes and stroking their rough pads. Making the man pound his fists and squeal about it.
"Eeeeehee stahahap! Meeehehrcy it tihihihckles!"
"Well of course it does! He's tickling you, silly man. My Emile learned well from his time on the Tickle Monster’s knee! Oooh, wait!"
---
Mercedes dove onto the bed quickly and had her fingers digging into the backs of Jeritza knee before he could protest.
"Mehehehercie! Eeeheeeahahaha," the statuesque blonde squealed out. Soon he'd pitched forward to try and curl himself up into a ball and reel his leg in from Mercedes' grasp. It was a strategy she'd seen in tickle fights before but not in a long time, mainly because she hadn't gotten her hands on the little blond boy who'd loved it so much. Even though he was big enough to look down at her now, Emile still had the same sweet giggle wracking him right now that he'd had back then whenever the tickle monster got ahold of him. Him being a bit taller just meant that there was more for Mercy to tickle away at.
"Emile? Lie down on top of Byleth and put your hands on his feet. However, wait for me to tell you before you have any fun."
"As you wish, Mercie."
"Good, good. Now? Emile, place your feet right on top of Byleth's hands. "
"A-As you wish, Mercie."
"Now Mr. Former Professor, you and—"
"Nahahahah! Eeehee Mehehehrcie!"
"Oh! Look at you! Haha, couldn't even wait for things to be even hmm? I suppose I can't blame you! Emile does have such handsome footsies, haha."
Jeritza's feet were indeed quite the sight: long and lean soles, snow-white skin, high arches, and graceful toes. None of that could be fully appreciated at the moment as Byleth's fingers worked their way up and down them at a fervent pace. Byleth had pressed his thumbs into the tops of the man's feet to brace his hands so that all of his other fingers could dig into the soles. The ex-merc pumped his hands up and down at alternating speeds to keep Jeritza unable to prepare himself at all. The “baby brother” thrashed atop Byleth and craned his neck in Mercedes’ direction with tears pricking in the corners of his eyes.
"Mehehehercie! Pleeeheease!"
"Emile, you’re too cute. I want to let you go off to battle as you’d like…but oh my, your face when you’re being tickled is just the cutest! Maybe we'll let him get a little bit more of a lead on you? Try his toes, Byly!"
Ignoring the nickname, the blushing man obliged all the same, prying open Jeritza's long toes and digging his fingers in between to scratch away. Jeritza's hands started pulling at his hair in desperation as his breathing got more haggard. Mercedes had at least given him breaks before, but he was getting lightheaded under Byleth's pitiless fingers. He ached to dig his own into the wide soles of the Ashen Demon underneath him but his anklet continued to blink with magical energy, forcing him to follow Mercedes's command and wait.
---
Jeritza had wanted nothing more than to die in combat for so long but now, as the corners of his vision started to darken, he was tempted to accept dying in a TICKLE battle into his worldview. He and Byleth both let out a grunt from a new weight was driven into their backs as Mercedes sat herself down on the small of Jeritza's back. She flicked a finger down both men's sides and enjoyed the way they let out matching breathy chuckles.
"Okay Emile, you can tickle him ba-"
"EeeehAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHH NAHAHAHT THERE!"
Her brother had not even let her finish speaking before his fingers were digging into the sturdy soles of the man he laid atop. They'd traced their way up to his short toes and forced their way between them, prompting that goofy reaction from the man. Soon Jeritza's nails were sinking into the skin and raking their way down Byleth's soles over and over. Jeritza’s attack wouldn’t go unopposed however, it was just that he was chewing on his lip thanks to Byleth's new tactic: a tactic wherein those long toes of the Death Knight’s were getting acquainted with Byleth's teeth and lips, all while he swirled his fingers in those high arches. Both men bounced even more though thanks to Mercedes skittering her fingers along their sides. Flicking a nail down Jeritza's ribs and using another to go up into Byleth's pits, she giggled with glee before resting on top of the two men and propping her feet atop her brother's head.
"Oh, Emile? No mercy now. Use all your best tricks until Bylly-Wylly is begging me to put the charm on him."
"Ehehehe Ahahahs you wihihihsh Mehehehercie!"
Jeritza's teeth now came into play, and soon Byleth was screaming as the villain was taking nibbles and leaving hickies as payment all up and down his soles. The greenette shook with laughter and his hands slowed down their trips on Jeritza's own captive soles. Soon he was barely able to hold them as Jeritza started to bite and chew on each of the merc's toes.
"Gahahaha! Stahahahp! Nohoho biihihihting! BAHAHAHA!"
"Mmmffnn, be quiet *nibble*. In battle *nip* you use any advantage you have *bite* going for the sensitive parts, throwing dirt, or even yes... *CHOMP*"
"PFAHAHAHAHA! GAHAHA STAHAHAP! I YIHIELD! MEHEHEHRCEDES MAHAHAKE HIM STAHAP-PHMMMN?!"
Byleth's surrender had been coaxed out by Jeritza roughly worshipping and nibbling at the man's smallest toe. However, it had then been cut off by Jeritza's flipper feet slipping out of his grip and then clapping over his face.
"Aww, look at Emile getting so friendly with you! Hold his ankle still now, let's get him the nice anklet from Lady Reginn."
Byleth didn't resist as the jewelry was clamped on him, instead getting dizzy from the pleasant smell of Jeritza's soles thanks to the oils his sister had massaged into them. When they were eventually pulled away from his grasp, he let out an unhappy whimper that earned a chuckle from Mercedes.
"So cute and needy. Emile had better take care or I'll have to take you in as my little brother next. Then nobody will be there to save him from the tickle monster."
---
Mercedes sat down on the bed and smoothed out her dress as the men climbed off each other. She looked at them expectantly before finally making her first order.
"Emile, Byleth? I want each of you to put one foot in my lap and then lay back on the bed."
"As you wish," the two said in monotone unison, following her orders. Emile simply sighed once he was in position, thinking he remembered this game, but Byleth's hands clawed at the sheets nervously. Mercedes saw it and started playfully tapping away at each of the merc's toes, enjoying how he flinched.
"Scaredy boy, Emile will tell you it's not like I'm going to gobble up these pretty feet of yours. No, your big sister is here to protect you. Granted she can't help but tease them, nothing like that evil tickle monster though!"
"EheheHEHEHE AHAHA!"
"Oh no! Byleth! While your big sister was saying she was gonna take care of you, the tickle monster got Emile! Oh, look at him go on Emile's poor foot!"
Mercedes had placed a pair of fingers on Jeritza's heel and started flicking them back and forth along the skin while he went mad. Each time the sharp nails came back they moved up the foot slightly and soon she was leaving a trail of sensitized flesh behind as she traveled up the long road of her brother's foot. To the shock of all involved, Byleth let out a yelp as the tall man wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close to him like a security blanket.
Mercie giggled at the scene and thought back to her little brother doing the same with a teddy bear when she'd caught him as a small boy. Now he had his Bylly-Bear and she had his paws. Byleth was soon returning the hug as Mercie pulled his foot next to Jeritza's and started swiping back and forth to tease both. She ran out of foot for Byleth before Emile of course due to the difference in size, but she was happy to just add another finger to tease his arch lovingly while she finished her journey. At reaching the end of the foot she claimed her prize and started lovingly rubbing away the toes of the two panting men, savoring the flushes on their faces as they looked up at the woman who had them in her power. Byleth let out a giggle as Mercedes' own foot came out beneath the slip of her dress and started teasing a toe up his neck.
"Tickle, tickle Mr. Ashen Demon. Turns out the tickle monster beats you AND the Death Knight huh? Why who could have guessed you were both just ticklish little boys pretending to be monsters?"
Mercedes dug her nails into the stout ball of Byleth's foot and relished the way he buried his face into her brother's chest to try and hide from the sensations. If he was going to hide away from his feelings, she did have another one to tease. One finger pinned back the proud big toe of her toy Death Knight and soon her sharp nails were gliding up and down the stem of the pale toe. She'd always thought Emile's laughing face was adorable, but the sight of it buried into the crown of Byleth's seafoam-green hair was something she wished she could preserve forever.
---
"Emile? Byleth? That's enough hugging, help me bring a smile to your faces. Tickle each other please."
Byleth jumped as soon Jeritza's long fingers were fluttering along the back of his neck and made him squirm. The mercenary was still giving as good as he got, his finger crawling their way up into his tall "friend’s" armpits and digging into the muscled hollows. Through it, Mercedes trailed a finger in random patterns on the pair’s soles that she kept side by side on her chest. That naughty foot of hers started to tease Emile's ear and she enjoyed the way it helped Byleth get the upper hand. Emile was soon chuckling away as the greenette pulled up his shirt and dug his fingers into the tight abdominal muscles on his chest.
Jeritza offered up a token resistance but, between the teasy figure eights his sister started to draw onto his sole and Byleth's calloused fingers on his hips, the blond was soon helpless to stop them. The Mercenary soon had his mouth pressing into those abs and was trailing a tongue through the canyons between them, while his fingers dug beneath one of Jeritza’s pectoral muscles, making the knight shriek himself hoarse.
"Emile? My goodness! Does somebody have ticklish titties? Why, who could have guessed that ran in the family? Bylly if you please, go for those and let's show the silly boy that the Tickle Monster knows now too. Emile? Hands behind your back please."
"Ahahahas you wihihish Mehehercie! Eheeehhee..."
Jeritza was flat on his back and helpless as once more he was forced to pantomime handcuffs.
"Come and put your head up on your sister's lap, Emile. Just like when you were small enough for me to pick you up by the ankle."
"Ahahs you wihish."
Jeritza repositioned himself according to his sister's orders and lay his tousled hair down upon her lap. The sweet smile on her face was so disarming that he felt at peace until her wicked nails descended to start scratching and raking at the tops of his pectoral muscles. He tried to turn away from her but that just exposed the undersides of the giggly globes on his chest and allowed Byleth to slip his fingers in to tickle down there as well.
---
"EEEEEEAAAHHHHH NAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP! NEEEAAAHHA NOHOHOO!"
The two-pronged assault had Jeritza arching his back in an attempt to try and escape but it wasn't getting him anywhere. If anything, Byleth happily crawled up the helpless man to get at those delightfully finger-sensitive breasts of his.
"STAAHAAP! EEEAHAHAH STAHAHAP! YOHOHOU’RE KIHIHILLING MEEEHEE! I CAHAHAN'T TAHAHAKE IT!"
"Oh? Emile! I thought you wanted to die? Now just a little bit of time with the Tickle Monster and you’re back to the begging little boy who was always hiding in my closet?"
Jeritza felt himself blush at that jibe, not that one could notice given his face was redder than a tomato at this point. The man jerked one long leg up to try and kick Byleth away while Mercie now started to skitter her nails over his nipples.
"Poor Emile, the Tickle Monster’s so happy to have him back that he might never get away! He might have one chance to get away though! Maybe if Emile can win a nice game of Hide and Seek?"
"No! Nononononooo-Ahahahaha! Nohohoho!"
That big, pesky foot of Jeritza's had been confiscated by Byleth, who'd sat down and taken it under his arm. The lenghty toes had been wrenched back and an evil tongue had pressed to the heel and traveled up to teach the foot a lesson that only a Professor could. Once the foot was trying to pull away from the tongue lashing, it was released so Byleth could join Mercie in skating his fingers along Jeritza's quivering chesticles.
"Hmmm, I don't like the sound of that ‘no’, Emile. Let's see if we can change that to a ‘yes’?"
Mercedes dug her nails in deeper and enjoyed how her brother went from arching his back to suddenly trying to burrow away from her. She let him get the littlest bit away so that her wiggling fingers were hanging above his flesh ever so threateningly. The sheen of sweat on the skin made her smile as she asked her question again, but with a more pointed tone this time.
---
"So Emile? How about now? Up for a game, or do we wanna play like this a bit more?"
Jeritza shook his head furiously earning him a rather emasculating pat on the head from her.
"Well, hooray! Alright Bylly, let the poor boy up, and let's all play hide and seek!"
Byleth sighed and let go of the handfuls of Jeritza's chest that he'd been kneading though the sight of the tall man rolling away and fleeing like a child as Mercedes started counting down from 10.
"Ten, Emile you'd better hide!"
Jeritza got up from the bed in a panic looking around the room for a hiding spot. His eyes darted from Byleth watching smugly beside Mercedes to the door.
"Nine, The Tickle Monster's gonna get you, Emile ~"
Jeritza tried the door but couldn't work the knob with his hands still behind his back. A giggle behind him from Byleth was ignored as he searched for a hiding place still.
"Eight, oooh he's gonna get you both. You'd better hide as well Bylly~"
Jeritza looked to the closet for a moment as a hiding place but then just imagined himself backed up against the wall of it with nowhere to go as Mercedes advanced with her fingers wiggling.
"Seven, try to give me a challenge Emile! Makes the victory sweeter!"
He looked to an armoire and wondered if he could fit into that…but then began imagining himself as a canned treat for Mercy that way.
"Six!"
Mercedes cracked open one eye to see Byleth still sitting calmly on the bed.
"Bylly, you’re playing too! Go and hide unless you want me to tickle you exclusively. Ooh is that something you like—h-hey!"
---
Mercie's teasing threat was interrupted as Byleth took her dress under his arm and fished around to pull out one of her sweet size 12 feet. Before she could protest, Byleth's fingers were skating up and down the frosting white sole and teasing away at her graceful toes, making the holt woman crumble back into a laughing fit.
"Whahaht?! Bylly stahahap! Eeheehee stahahp! Why wohohon't you stahahahp tihihickling meeeheeehee?!"
"Because I think it's your turn now, Mercie. Why have you stopped counting? Emile's waiting for you to continue. Here, let me help now. Fiiiive, you'd better be ready, Jeritza."
Byleth pinched Mercedes's big toe and waggled it about as the woman giggled into her hands and squealed out a rebuttal.
"Stahahap Byllyeeehee! Stahahap! Why ihihisn't the brahahcelet working?!"
Byleth moved onto the next of Mercie's toes and gave its pad a little pinch before teasing a finger along its stem and continuing the count.
"That's what I'd come to tell you, Mercedes. Princess Reginn has gone missing and as a result, her charms aren't working anymore. I just got wrapped up in the good time you were showing your handsome brother and was so touched you'd invited me in. Foooour, tickle-tickle, better hide Emile!"
Jeritza's ears burned in flaming embarrassment at Byleth's words. He'd been doing everything for Mercedes out of his own free will? That couldn't be! He had no use for silly things like the tickly fingers of his older sister making him squeal like a child! The boy who'd enjoyed that was gone and he was now a hollow—
"EEEEEHEEEE!! Hahahaha ohoho nohoho! Nahahat thehehere Bylly! Eeeheeehee it tihihickles! Ihiht tihihckles! Ihihit tihihckles!"
"My goodness, ticklish on your ankles, Mercedes? How fascinating. I was just teasing my fingers up to your calves and enjoying how soft the extra skin is to the touch. Bit too many sweets hmm? One second!"
Mercedes’ giggles hiked up an octave suddenly as Byleth went back down to get the middle toe.
"Threee Emile, hope you're ready. Hmm, I wonder if..."
Mercedes's unbridled laughter had Emile’s head spinning, his sister was being teased by the Ashen Demon himself! One of the few people he knew could actually have a chance of ending him and here he was, cowering in the dark as part of a childish game of hide and seek! The worst part was that half of him wanted to stay here and keep playing, but the other half-
"HEEEEE! BYYLHLLY STAHAHP! OHOHO SO ROOHOUGH! AHAHAhehehe no!"
"Now, Mercedes why on earth would you hide this? My goodness, just look at this tum, it's adorable! If I didn’t know better, I’d think all that cake has given you some nice dough here? Now I'm not very culinary but I do know when you've got that you KNEAD it nicely. Let's see what I can make!"
"EEEEEHEE! Bylly nohohoo! Ahaha nahaht the behehelly! Pleeease ahahahaha!"
"Ah! So, what I make is YOU laugh. Wonderful! Now back down here real quick, coochie-coochie little toe. That's two, Emile~"
"Eeeeeheee saahaave meeheee!"
Mercedes's laughter was hypnotic, putting the man in a trance and making everything fall away. He wasn't a warrior, a murderer, or even a man. He was the little boy who would love nothing more than to play tickle games with his big sister and lose. However now she—
---
"I'm going to skip the one because this is too adorable. Give me that sexy foot and let's play."
Byleth leaned over the edge of the bed and seized the ankle of one of the pale legs sticking out from under the bed and pulled it up to keep it right next to Mercedes's foot. Jeritza was much too big to hide under the bed like a child, and as such his legs had been sticking out the whole time for Byleth to admire. Now that he had both the brother's and the sister's feet in his grip, he traced a finger along the side-by-side soles and loved the way they quivered and flexed their toes.
"You two truly are brother and sister! Identical reactions! Fascinating! Hmm, now let's try these little toes since we skipped the one."
First, it was Mercedes's little toe that got the attention. Byleth pinned it back and then roughly kneaded its pad as the woman squealed. Even that had a sugary-sweet tone to it, much like everything else about the woman. When he did the same to Jeritza, he could feel the bed shake as the man shook with raucous laughter. He heard a loud thump and assumed he'd banged his fist onto the floor. Byleth teased a finger along the man's ankle and started to slowly pull him from under the bed all while chiding him and the giggly Mercie.
"Hmmph, looks like all those warnings fell on deaf ears. Poor boy, the Tickle Monster has you AND your pretty sister. Now, these feet belong to him! Hmmm, now where to start? Maybe these pretty arches? Tickle, tickle, tickle~"
Jeritza cackled in frustration as the feeling of the man's rough finger sliding about in his arch drove him mad. It left him weak as the professor yanked him from under the bed and helped him up on top next to Mercedes.
"That's better, side by side where I can admire you both as I...twiddle these silly toes! Gitchy, gitchy Mercie~"
Mercedes let out a scream as each of her toes was subjected to a quick game of piggies with Byleth. Each time he would reach down and give her chub a squeeze through her dress, making her blush furiously as Byleth smiled.
"Ahh, I love the contrast! Your soft tummy and Jeritza's hard stomach. When we're finished, I think I'll retire to my personal quarters with the two of you. I'd love nothing more than to rest my head on your pillowy belly while I rough my fingers along those hard muscles of your brother. I think you'd like that too, my friend Emile. Maybe you'll like it even more than when I tickle this heel of yours hehe, laugh for me~ sksksksksk~ The Tickle Monster's got you!"
Byleth's words sounded like he was teasing a cat but somehow it had tears pricking at the corners of Jeritza's eyes. Mercedes hugged him close and buried her face in his side as Byleth's fingers wandered over to her foot, until finally something snapped inside the man.
---
A stiff kick from Jeritza launched Byleth backward, and when he looked up the tall man's expression was very stern. Before the merc could do a thing Jeritza seized his ankle and lifted it to stretch his leg skywards. Soon quick fingers were pecking their way up Byleth's calves and thighs as he laughed and fell back to the bed.
"You're the Tickle Monster? Hmm? You know nothing of how vicious the Tickle Monster is! Playing with teasy tickles and soft touches? A real monster would use this body of yours however he liked! Let me show you!"
Byleth immediately recognized that voice and so did Mercedes. That was no longer Emile, Jeritza, or anyone they were friends with. The Death Knight was already a swift warrior but now that he was angry, his fingers were even quicker. Byleth fell back with hands around his sides as the villain's fingers glided up his leg and began strumming away at his inner thigh as if he was playing a lute.
"Squeal now, I command you."
One finger poked its way between Byleth's crotch and inner thigh, causing the man's lips to quiver. The Death Knight noticed that and added another finger, dragging them back and forth in the sweaty canyon. Still, Byleth denied him the laughter he wanted to hear and as a result the Death Knight – no, The Tickle Monster – growled in frustration.
"You WILL squeal for me, it's just a matter of time."
The Tickle Monster seized Byleth's trousers by the waist and ripped them down to the man's knees, boxers included. With his genitals out and free Byleth was helpless as the man dug his hands in on either side of his privates. The fingers wiggled in their as the greenette skipped past squealing and instead was plunged into open-mouth laughter so hard that he couldn't keep his eyes open.
"Moan for me, beast. I had thought you a worthy opponent, but now I see that you are just another piece of meat to tease; incapable of granting my wish to—"
"No more of that."
“What?!"
The Tickle Monster looked down at the hands that had appeared on his sides. He felt the weight of his sister on his back as she leaned on him. Before he could respond though, Mercedes' fingers dug into his abs and started trailing their wicked nails between the muscles. The Tickle Monster tried to slap her away, but her hands just dug deeper and robbed the villain of any strength he had by making him laugh even harder.
---
"Whahahaht?! Reheheelease me ahahahat ohohonce! I will dehehehstroy yohohou!"
"You’re not Emile, and it's quite rude to interrupt my reunion with my darling little brother when you weren't invited. If he won't tell you to leave, then his big sister will. Go away, and bring back Emile, right now."
Her fingers travelled up through the abs and started to get between the knight’s ribs. When she set them between the protruding bones and started vibrating them, the self-proclaimed Tickle Monster howled in frustration.
"STOHOHP! Bohohoho! Guhuhuhuh you wihihihll suhuhuffer—"
"Just bring back Emile and I'll stop, well, with you at least."
The Monster tried to pull away from Mercie but that just made her hands shoot up into his juicy pecs. She squeezed and kneaded away there until he ended up falling headfirst into the pillows of the bed. Still Mercedes' hands pursued him, tickling away at his sensitive chest even as her brother's murderous persona howled in ticklish rage.
"No! Thihihis is nahahat the bahahattle I wahahanted! Lehehet gohohoo! Uhuhuhuhu you ahahahre kihihihlling me!"
"Blah, blah, blah, just leave then and put Emile back. I wanted to tickle his feet, but if you’re the one who's laughing it isn't the same."
"Mehehehercehehedes! Stahahap! It wihihill huhuhurt you!"
Mercedes smiled at the change in the voice and seized one of the long legs. Her nails started at the hips again and skated downwards until they reached the big, silly foot where they started happily tracing their family crest into the sole.
"There's my baby brother! So glad we're done with all the interruptions, pretenders, and silliness. Now we can get back to some reminiscing together!"
"Mehehehrcy! Pleeeheease Merchehedes!"
"Hmmmn, no. I think me winning against the ‘Tickle Monster’ there entitles me to a prize, and I'll be taking this foot right here to do with as I please."
As Mercedes pulled the prized foot in question into her lap, neither of them noticed Byleth reaching beneath the bed for a shiny roll of tape. He'd had a good time with the Martritz's but it was about time to bring it to an end. Well, at least the give-and-take portion of it.
After a brief struggle, the scene shifted into its final act after Bylly had subdued both siblings once again. Both Mercedes and Jeritza wriggled helplessly on the bed with their hands bound behind them and the tape wrapped from their ankles to their ribs, mummifying them effectively. Both brother and sister sported a matching strip over their lips to keep them quiet so the man could enjoy the pillows he'd pulled beneath his head. You see, the binding of their hands behind their backs forced the two chests into a more pronounced position.
It let Byleth rest quite comfortably on one breast of each from the siblings while leaving the other tasty tits free for him to squeeze and knead with his crossed hands as he listened to the pair's happy grunts into their gags. He'd been curious at first about what had ever happened to Princess Reginn, but now? He didn't care, he wanted to stay here forever right in this spot. With a devil and an angel, laughing away happily.
---
"Remember! Keep them still! That's an order! And hold those toes back too! I can see you like it this way by the look on your face. Haha~"
The pair of size 12's were comical, looking much too big for such a small body as the missing Princess Reginn of Niðavellir. The long toes on the silly foot were held back by the fingers of their owner who sat on the ground with her short legs extended together just as ordered while the handsome god ran his fingers along the helpless soles. She laughed at the feeling but still chuckled out an "As You Wish" for him while he rotated a finger between two of the toes, admiring the flashing anklet on one of the legs.
"Such a good girl! I can tell your loving this! Why else make such wonderful little devices? Now answer me truthfully here and this is also an order: another game of "This Little Piggy" with these silly toes, or would you prefer a foot rub? I think I'm getting better at them! Probably won't tickle as much."
Askr flashed a shining smile at the captive Reginn before tickling away at her knuckles while she decided.
Her cry for more Piggies was expected and he stood up from the floor to close the door before he began. After all, she could get quite loud when they played this…
A single chandelier illuminated the large dining room. At the center of this room was a fanciful table with two figures seated on either side. The table was fully set for teatime, its eggshell-white cloth expertly laid out with not a single crease or wrinkle on its surface. Spread out before the pair was an array of lightly frosted little cakes, as well as bowls upon bowls of exotic teas with numerous pots to steep them in and dainty spoons for stirring. The lacey doilies completed the sight of what looked to be an excellent little brunch for all involved. The platinum-blonde woman at the table beamed over the spread that she'd laid out so carefully. She clasped her hands together in joy and looked over at the grimacing man on the opposite side of the table from her.
His hair had the same coloration as hers, only natural considering he was her little brother. Despite him being younger, even sitting down he was still a full head taller than her, and the scowl on his face was the complete inverse of her sweet smile. Below the table, his long toes flexed as he used one naked foot to scratch curiously at the anklets that had been forced on him before he was seated here. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as much as he could with the metal band over his thighs that held him in it at least.
"Oh, Emile,” his older sister Mercedes chirped. “It's so nice to be reunited after so long. Imagine my surprise to see the darling little boy I raised looking down at me from across a battlefield! Ahh, I'm so glad Lady Nótt granted my request and chose you as the next one to join me for tea! It's just so nice to see you again after all this time!"
The taller blond was slouched forward in his chair, not wanting to meet her eyes. He picked at one of the little cakes in a bored fashion while she pouted at his rudeness. Mercedes saw that trying to chat would be fruitless until she started teaching him some discipline.
"Emile? If you-"
"That is no longer my name,” he interrupted with his unnervingly deep voice. “I've told you before that I choose to go by Jeritza no-"
"Please put your foot in my lap, Emile."
"!?...As you wish."
Jeritza's assertion about his name went ignored as these unfamiliar words tumbled out of his mouth, and the anklet that had been forced on him now flashed beneath the table. Before he even processed his sister’s words, he found himself extending his leg and placing his long, size 14 foot atop Mercedes’ lap as requested. He sneered and pulled it away quickly while wondering what had suddenly come over him, until her sugary sweet voice chimed up again.
"Put it back, Emile, and keep it there until I say you can move it."
The anklet flashed again, and the tall man put his foot right back where it was in his older sister's lap.
"...As you wish. What? Have you-"
"Interesting that you don't answer to ‘Emile’, but when I give you orders by that name you oblige. Yes, I'm certain Mr. Ótr's bracelet there must be contributing due to how you must do as I say while you wear it. Still, I find it quite charming that that's the name you prefer."
"I do not! That name belonged to a person who is long gon-eeeeechk!"
---
Mercedes stroked a knuckle up the narrow and creamy sole in her lap, enjoying how the man's dreary monologue had been interrupted. Trailing upwards towards her younger brother's long toes, she so enjoyed the way they scrunched defensively at her approach; the way he tried to pull his foot away when she traced the tops of his toes; the way his pale skin flushed as she pressed her thumb to her brother's heel and swirled it gently on the skin there. She almost feared that she might break him if she poked too hard, though she knew that Emil – or rather Jeritza – was even stronger than he appeared.
…Even if he was now trying to hide his mouth behind his hand to mask his giggles.
"Oh, this bring back memories. Do you remember when we were little, Emile? We used to have tea parties like this all the time!"
Jeritza still refused to meet Mercedes' eyes. His memory of those days wasn’t as clear as hers, but he did remember one thing…
"You used to love going barefoot back then! Though I must say, seeing these big feet of yours now, it's hard to think of them as being the same little ones I would see running about. You used to love coming to the tea parties with them out."
Mercedes pressed a fingernail to Jeritza's sole and started lightly scraping it up and down as she spoke, savoring the way it made her little brother's lip quiver. He saw her smiling at the sight and averted his gaze, trying to ignore the sensations traveling up his leg thanks to her teasing.
"These things you speak of happened to someone different, he's gone now and—keeheeehee..."
---
Jeritza's words had chased away Mercedes's smile and as a result, she'd started taking that fingernail on a trip all along her brother's sole. The tall man's melancholy speech had quickly turned into hissing laughter as his silly foot clenched its toes and bent forward to try and protect itself.
"Oooh look at that! Why Emile, are you still ticklish? Answer me truthfully now."
"Ahahas you wihihihish...yeehehees dahahahammit!"
Jeritza's cheeks flushed as Mercie ran a reassuring hand down the back of his curled foot. She had to stifle a laugh herself at how funny it was to hear a voice as deep and menacing as his choking on boyish giggles. He gasped as she took her thumb and pushed back his big toe to admire the pad. She stroked the back of her thumb down the lily-white skin and admired the way the foot wiggled in her grip. His skin was so white that it conjured images of porcelain and for a second she imagined it with a spatter of dark blood.
She used her free hand to select a tea cake from the assortment on the table, one that she knew had a certain kind of filling. Squeezing the pastry between her thumb and forefinger she felt the cherry jam filling ooze out onto her fingers. She sampled a little of it on her thumb and traced a slight line of red with it down her brother's sole. The jelly’s deep crimson color stood out quite starkly against his ivory skin and she was struck by the lovely aesthetic. Flicking her nail along the skin to scoop off the jelly drew another snort out of Jeritza, which she very much enjoyed. Before she knew it that fingernail was traveling up to tease beneath her brother's long toes, his stubborn pride keeping him from clenching them until she was in beneath them.
"Oh Emile, you used to run around barefoot everywhere no matter what I said...until...ahh well."
Mercedes's hands went from teasingly flicking to gently massaging the knotted muscles of the foot she was holding. Emile had never spoken of it with her after it happened, but she knew exactly why he'd eschewed his barefoot ways. When he was younger, she'd gifted him a fairytale book about a dragon prince that'd saved his kingdom while barefoot. He ended up loving it so much that she’d find him reading it over and over. Little Emile started going around sans footwear from that point on, until one day when their "father" Baron Martritz had spotted a bit of mud that had been tracked in. He'd assumed that they young lad was to blame and decided to put an end to this right then and there. Mercedes hadn't thought much about the missing Emile at first but when she'd finally happened on him in the evening, she'd been horrified to discover what had happened.
Her younger brother had been forced into a set of ankle stocks by the servants at their father's command and had spent the day having his soles made pristine with scrubbing brushes. By the time Mercedes had found him Emile was a gasping wreck, having lost the air to even laugh anymore. She'd had to plead with the horrible man to have him let out, and afterward the boy never went without shoes and socks again. That had just been one in a long line of awful things the man had done but still...what Emile had done later.
---
The sound of the table creaking brought her back to the moment, and she saw the towering knight who'd once been her brother trying to use it as leverage to wrest his foot from her grasp. She stifled a light chuckle behind one hand and slowly wiggled the fingers of the other as they drew closer to his foot.
"Emile? Why are you scared of your sister tickling your foot? Answer me, Emile."
"As you wish. No, I'm not scared. Release me now!"
The table creaked under the man's strength and Mercedes lifted an eyebrow. She placed one finger on her younger brother's arch and started scraping it up and down the skin just lightly enough to start getting giggles.
"Emile? Stop that. Don't try to break the table."
Mercedes smiled at the way the anklet flashed at her command and how Emile curled his foot defensively again. This time though she kept on flicking up and down his curved sole to keep him tittering.
"Ahhhaaha ahahas you wihish. St-stahap that at ohonce!"
---
Jeritza's hands recoiled from the table so fast that you'd think he'd been burned. He hissed in frustration at it, but that soon trailed off into a snicker due to Mercedes running a pair of fingers along the ball of his foot. He shook his head as his evil sister continued to tease him about the past while now running her thumb along the pad of his smallest toe.
"Ahaha, Emile do you remember how you used to hide in my room and tease me to find you? You would hide in the curtains, under the bed, and even under piles of clothes in the closet and giggle about how smart you were. I'd always find youuuu though, and do you remember what would happen then?"
Mercedes ran her soft hand up the man's foot almost caressing it now, when they reached the toes though the fingers curled as Mercedes smiled.
"What was it I used to say, Emile? Tell me."
"Ehehe ahas you wiihish. You would s-say, ‘Here Comes the Tickle MonsteEEEHEHEHEHE HAHAHA!’"
"Oh look, Emile! The tickle monster’s back!"
Mercedes's nails dug into the heel of her brother's foot and started scraping away ruthlessly, loving how his leg bounced wildly in response. She fluttered her nails up towards his arch all while still teasing.
"Oh nooo, poor Emile! The Tickle Monster is back for him, and he just looooves to tickle Emile's handsome feet! Do you remember the tickle monster, Emile? Answer truthfully!"
"Ahahahahs you wihihihsh!! Yeehehes! Dahahammit I rehehehmber the tihihickle monster eheehehehe!"
"You used to love the tickle monster! That's why you would always want to play Hide and Go Seek. ‘Cause you knew that when I caught you these feetsies would be all his! Kitchie, kitchie Emile!~"
---
Jeritza's foot tried to wriggle away but Mercedes' nails chased it and were soon digging right back into his high arch. The flush on the man's face matched the one on his porcelain sole and Mercedes couldn't help but revel in the sight. The foot tried to curl again but she stopped it by grabbing the big toe like a handle and bending it back. The way his helpless foot jumped as she raked her nails up and down the long sole was fun to watch, but the way he'd slumped down on the table to try and hold it in was even funnier. Despite her orders, Jeritza was shaking the table involuntarily as he was tickled so wildly on his foot. Mercedes watched plate after plate of cakes and pastries tumble to the ground and sighed at the waste.
"So wasteful Emile! The tickle monster loves to tickle and touch your pretty foot, but he hates seeing you make such a mess! Why, he's just going to have to tickle you even harder now as punishment! You'll love that though, won't you Emile?"
"Nooohooo! Meeheerceehedes stahahp!"
Mercedes's fingers started going up and down her brother's helpless foot, scraping their way along the skin as he tried to pull away. She started to teasingly use one finger along the ball of her brother's foot and when he started to chuckle added in her thumb. Seeing he’d keep scrunching up his long toes she opted to switch targets, first wrapping one of her hands around the big toe and using her thumb to wrestle it, then scraping her fingernail along its soft pad. Emile had always been mindful of caring for his feet when he was young, mainly due to Mercie's teasing, and she was glad that this habit had persisted even as a fully grown man.
---
Emile's long feet almost evoked images of a doll made of porcelain…though as Mercie mused on it, that idea ended up altering further in her mind to the appearance of a bloodstained curse doll. The thought of it cackling evilly as she teased its feet made her chuckle herself as Jeritza pounded his fist on a plate of cake while she egged him on more and more.
"Emiiiiile, the monster’s got you~! Ooh the monster's gonna tickle, tickle, tickle this foot of yours all-day Emile~. Kootchie, kootchie-koo the monster's got youuuuu…"
"Stahahap!"
"Noooo~"
"Pleeheeeease!"
"Hmmm...no."
"I-Ihih-"
Mercie's fingers skittered faster, now flicking along the man's instep, looking as if they were trying to strum the smooth foot like an instrument. Jeritza stammered as she played with it and didn't notice his sister sneaking a fork from the table.
"What's that you're trying to say, Emile? I can't understand you, you know."
"Ihihiht tickles!!"
"Emile! He's called the tickle monster! Did you think he was going to gobble you up? Although..."
"EEEEEAHAHAhahaha nooohoo! Sihihister! Geeehhhee nohoooo!"
Jeritza shrieked like a child at the feeling of cold, metal prongs gliding up the skin on his sole. Mercedes brought the fork up and down, side to side, and even pinned his toes back and glided it along them. Her brother was squealing just like when he was little, and it was taking her back to countless fun times they had shared. She started giving the pads of the toes jabs with the fork and enjoying the embarrassing snorts she could get out of Emile with just that. She couldn't get over how adorable he looked like this, his normally prim appearance destroyed with tears in his eyes. Every time he begged for a reprieve, she just wanted to do it more and more...
"Mehehehercie stahahahp! It tihihihckles! Ihihihit tihihickles sooohoo muhuhuch!"
"Oh, Emile...it's a Tickle MONSTER. It wouldn't be much of a monster if it stopped whenever the sweet little boy it had snapped up asked it to, would it? Otherwise, why would you even hide from it?"
"Stahahap! Meehheercedes pleeeeheeease!"
"Hmmmm, no."
"Mercedes, I am going to need you to stop."
---
Both smiling siblings looked up to see none other than Byleth in the doorway. The professor's cold eyes scanned over the panting Jeritza and the flustered Mercedes…before nodding with stoic approval.
"You're doing very well, but I was wondering if I could borrow you both for some private lessons. Mercedes, if you would come with me? Jeritza as we-"
"Emile," Mercedes corrected, flashing a look at her former teacher. The man clucked his tongue but did nod at his mistake.
"Of course, my apologies. Mercedes, if you and Emile would follow me?"
"Very well. Emile? Stand up and follow me and the Professor."
"A-as you wish," the tall man stuttered as he stood up suddenly due to the flashing of the anklet. He hissed at the bit of the tingling of his still-sensitive sole touching the ground, and he couldn’t hide his blush of embarassment when the two of them looked at him.
"Mercedes? Could you have your brother remove his shirt please?"
"Oh of course! Emile? Take off your shirt like the Professor asked, and after you do it then place your hands to the small of your back and keep them there."
"Hnnn...as you wish," Jeritza grunted out as the charm cut his snarl off and made him comply. Soon enough his shirt lay discarded at Byleth and Mercedes's feet (both sans shoes of course), and his hands were to his back as the magic compelled him to mimic being bound.
Byleth looked at the glowering blond and was fascinated by the magic at play. Soon he was testing its strength by running his fingers along Jeritza's chest and teasing the skin. The Death Knight could only fidget as the man dipped a finger into his navel and swirled it about.
"Gnnhh st-stahahp it..."
"Astounding, and he can do nothing about it?"
Byleth's fingers started to pluck at Jeritza's abdominal muscles and trace the canyons between them. In response, the Hyrm heir tried to turn away only for the professor to hook a finger into his navel and pull him back. Byleth ran a hand up and down Jeritza's stomach to punish him while Mercedes explained.
---
"He’s free to do whatever he likes unless I tell him to do something or not. Watch. Emile? Tell the Professor how much you love him playing with that cute belly of yours, and how you want more."
"Nohoho! Merc—Ahahas you wihihish," again the blinking anklet cut off Jeritza and his lip quivered before the humiliation began.
"Yehehes, I lohove you tihihckling my sihihihilly tuhuhuhmmy Profehehehessor. Gehehehet deeheepeer into my nahahahavel!"
Byleth smiled and obliged, putting his finger in deep enough to tickle the deepest part of Jeritza's navel. The tall man that Byleth had dancing in his arms was normally quite the intimidating figure. With this blush on his cheeks and the silly dance however, his futile attempts to squirm away from the Professor's questing fingers was quite adorable. Mercedes had to cover her mouth at the sight of her little brother clamping his lips closed to try and hold in his chuckles, causing a deep flush to wash over his face. It wasn't until she gave a rather pointed cough that Byleth blushed as well and remembered himself.
"Oh Professor, if you wanted to join in on our fun all you had to do was ask. Would you like to retire to private quarters for some more fun?"
The Professor went even redder at the suggestion, prompting Mercedes to slip behind him and start skittering her fingers up and down his sides.
"Well Professor," she asked with a predatory sweetness. "Is that something you'd like to do? You seem so interested in Emile's bracelet. Maybe you'd like one of your own? Hmm, Professor? Tickle, tickle~"
Byleth squirmed in Mercedes' arms but didn't pull away, instead letting a scarlet blaze color his cheeks. He'd never been the best at expressing his emotions and so couldn't quite find the words to concede that he would indeed like that quite a bit. Jeritza watched the man once called the Ashen Demon titter in his big sister's clutches and, for a second pictured, The Death Knight and the Ashen Demon both with collars around their necks and Mercedes close behind. He shook his head at the thought and tried to inch his way towards the door in a bid at freedom.
"Emile? You silly boy, where do you think you're going? Haha so inquisitive. Emile, pick up the Professor for me please."
"A-As You Wish."
In a fluid movement, Jeritza scooped the man up with a hand beneath his legs and shoulders, putting him into a humiliating princess carry.
Byleth's blush was now a pair of crimson flowers under each cheek and Mercedes couldn't stop beaming at it. The way the mercenary's feet dangled out, she just couldn't help herself. Soon Byleth was burying his face in Jeritza's chest as the woman teased her nails along his wide soles.
"Oh, I'm so glad that's something you’re interested in, Professor. I’m going to love having these silly feet of yours all to myself, and it's nice that Emile won't get lonely! Come along Emile, let's retire to my quarters."
Jeritza followed Mercedes's orders, carrying Byleth along with him down the hallway. Both men were quite embarrassed by the whole thing and the cheerful healer teasing them the whole time didn't help.
---
"I never thought I'd get to see you carry your ‘bride’ across the threshold, Emile! I couldn't be happier for my little brother! Put him on the bed Emile, please."
The sound of a loud thump followed by a groan made Mercedes giggle into her hand.
"I suppose I should have said gently, haha. So literal Emile, but I suppose it's cute. Come and take this from me, Emile."
"As you wish."
Jeritza took the offered anklet from Mercedes and notices right away that it was the same kind cuffed on his own leg.
"Now, when the Professor says he wants the bracelet, I want you to put it on him, okay Emile?"
"As you wis—"
"Oh, and from now on you are to call me ‘Mercie’."
"A-as you wish...Mercie."
"Ahhh, so cute!"
This scene of Mercedes pinching the cheek of the Death Knight would have seemed odd to anyone, especially Byleth. However, the Mercenary was sprawled face-down on the bed and unable to watchi. Before he could sit up, Jeritza knelt atop Byleth's knees on the bed and pinned him down. Just as Mercedes had commanded him, Byleth's ankles were tucked right between the tall villain's knees, and with one order from her:
"Emile? Start with the toes, please. But do be gentle."
Jeritza had nothing to slow him down. Byleth let out a gasp as his toes were pried open and soon long fingers had invaded between each of his digits. Jeritza twisted his fingers back and forth as the green-haired man beneath him wailed.
"By Seeeheeheeiros nahahaht theeehere!"
"Oh Emile, I think those silly toes of his are ticklish! Which ones are the most ticklish do you think?"
"Perhaps it is this one, Mercie?"
"AAAHAHAACK! NAHAHAT THE BIG OHOHOHNE! GAHAHAHA!"
"Ooooh, that one seems suuuuper ticklish! I don't think it's the worst one though. Hmmm, try the little one, Emile!"
"As you wish, Mercie."
Jeritza's fingers were soon striking st Byleth's small toes and stroking their rough pads. Making the man pound his fists and squeal about it.
"Eeeeehee stahahap! Meeehehrcy it tihihihckles!"
"Well of course it does! He's tickling you, silly man. My Emile learned well from his time on the Tickle Monster’s knee! Oooh, wait!"
---
Mercedes dove onto the bed quickly and had her fingers digging into the backs of Jeritza knee before he could protest.
"Mehehehercie! Eeeheeeahahaha," the statuesque blonde squealed out. Soon he'd pitched forward to try and curl himself up into a ball and reel his leg in from Mercedes' grasp. It was a strategy she'd seen in tickle fights before but not in a long time, mainly because she hadn't gotten her hands on the little blond boy who'd loved it so much. Even though he was big enough to look down at her now, Emile still had the same sweet giggle wracking him right now that he'd had back then whenever the tickle monster got ahold of him. Him being a bit taller just meant that there was more for Mercy to tickle away at.
"Emile? Lie down on top of Byleth and put your hands on his feet. However, wait for me to tell you before you have any fun."
"As you wish, Mercie."
"Good, good. Now? Emile, place your feet right on top of Byleth's hands. "
"A-As you wish, Mercie."
"Now Mr. Former Professor, you and—"
"Nahahahah! Eeehee Mehehehrcie!"
"Oh! Look at you! Haha, couldn't even wait for things to be even hmm? I suppose I can't blame you! Emile does have such handsome footsies, haha."
Jeritza's feet were indeed quite the sight: long and lean soles, snow-white skin, high arches, and graceful toes. None of that could be fully appreciated at the moment as Byleth's fingers worked their way up and down them at a fervent pace. Byleth had pressed his thumbs into the tops of the man's feet to brace his hands so that all of his other fingers could dig into the soles. The ex-merc pumped his hands up and down at alternating speeds to keep Jeritza unable to prepare himself at all. The “baby brother” thrashed atop Byleth and craned his neck in Mercedes’ direction with tears pricking in the corners of his eyes.
"Mehehehercie! Pleeeheease!"
"Emile, you’re too cute. I want to let you go off to battle as you’d like…but oh my, your face when you’re being tickled is just the cutest! Maybe we'll let him get a little bit more of a lead on you? Try his toes, Byly!"
Ignoring the nickname, the blushing man obliged all the same, prying open Jeritza's long toes and digging his fingers in between to scratch away. Jeritza's hands started pulling at his hair in desperation as his breathing got more haggard. Mercedes had at least given him breaks before, but he was getting lightheaded under Byleth's pitiless fingers. He ached to dig his own into the wide soles of the Ashen Demon underneath him but his anklet continued to blink with magical energy, forcing him to follow Mercedes's command and wait.
---
Jeritza had wanted nothing more than to die in combat for so long but now, as the corners of his vision started to darken, he was tempted to accept dying in a TICKLE battle into his worldview. He and Byleth both let out a grunt from a new weight was driven into their backs as Mercedes sat herself down on the small of Jeritza's back. She flicked a finger down both men's sides and enjoyed the way they let out matching breathy chuckles.
"Okay Emile, you can tickle him ba-"
"EeeehAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHH NAHAHAHT THERE!"
Her brother had not even let her finish speaking before his fingers were digging into the sturdy soles of the man he laid atop. They'd traced their way up to his short toes and forced their way between them, prompting that goofy reaction from the man. Soon Jeritza's nails were sinking into the skin and raking their way down Byleth's soles over and over. Jeritza’s attack wouldn’t go unopposed however, it was just that he was chewing on his lip thanks to Byleth's new tactic: a tactic wherein those long toes of the Death Knight’s were getting acquainted with Byleth's teeth and lips, all while he swirled his fingers in those high arches. Both men bounced even more though thanks to Mercedes skittering her fingers along their sides. Flicking a nail down Jeritza's ribs and using another to go up into Byleth's pits, she giggled with glee before resting on top of the two men and propping her feet atop her brother's head.
"Oh, Emile? No mercy now. Use all your best tricks until Bylly-Wylly is begging me to put the charm on him."
"Ehehehe Ahahahs you wihihihsh Mehehehercie!"
Jeritza's teeth now came into play, and soon Byleth was screaming as the villain was taking nibbles and leaving hickies as payment all up and down his soles. The greenette shook with laughter and his hands slowed down their trips on Jeritza's own captive soles. Soon he was barely able to hold them as Jeritza started to bite and chew on each of the merc's toes.
"Gahahaha! Stahahahp! Nohoho biihihihting! BAHAHAHA!"
"Mmmffnn, be quiet *nibble*. In battle *nip* you use any advantage you have *bite* going for the sensitive parts, throwing dirt, or even yes... *CHOMP*"
"PFAHAHAHAHA! GAHAHA STAHAHAP! I YIHIELD! MEHEHEHRCEDES MAHAHAKE HIM STAHAP-PHMMMN?!"
Byleth's surrender had been coaxed out by Jeritza roughly worshipping and nibbling at the man's smallest toe. However, it had then been cut off by Jeritza's flipper feet slipping out of his grip and then clapping over his face.
"Aww, look at Emile getting so friendly with you! Hold his ankle still now, let's get him the nice anklet from Lady Reginn."
Byleth didn't resist as the jewelry was clamped on him, instead getting dizzy from the pleasant smell of Jeritza's soles thanks to the oils his sister had massaged into them. When they were eventually pulled away from his grasp, he let out an unhappy whimper that earned a chuckle from Mercedes.
"So cute and needy. Emile had better take care or I'll have to take you in as my little brother next. Then nobody will be there to save him from the tickle monster."
---
Mercedes sat down on the bed and smoothed out her dress as the men climbed off each other. She looked at them expectantly before finally making her first order.
"Emile, Byleth? I want each of you to put one foot in my lap and then lay back on the bed."
"As you wish," the two said in monotone unison, following her orders. Emile simply sighed once he was in position, thinking he remembered this game, but Byleth's hands clawed at the sheets nervously. Mercedes saw it and started playfully tapping away at each of the merc's toes, enjoying how he flinched.
"Scaredy boy, Emile will tell you it's not like I'm going to gobble up these pretty feet of yours. No, your big sister is here to protect you. Granted she can't help but tease them, nothing like that evil tickle monster though!"
"EheheHEHEHE AHAHA!"
"Oh no! Byleth! While your big sister was saying she was gonna take care of you, the tickle monster got Emile! Oh, look at him go on Emile's poor foot!"
Mercedes had placed a pair of fingers on Jeritza's heel and started flicking them back and forth along the skin while he went mad. Each time the sharp nails came back they moved up the foot slightly and soon she was leaving a trail of sensitized flesh behind as she traveled up the long road of her brother's foot. To the shock of all involved, Byleth let out a yelp as the tall man wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close to him like a security blanket.
Mercie giggled at the scene and thought back to her little brother doing the same with a teddy bear when she'd caught him as a small boy. Now he had his Bylly-Bear and she had his paws. Byleth was soon returning the hug as Mercie pulled his foot next to Jeritza's and started swiping back and forth to tease both. She ran out of foot for Byleth before Emile of course due to the difference in size, but she was happy to just add another finger to tease his arch lovingly while she finished her journey. At reaching the end of the foot she claimed her prize and started lovingly rubbing away the toes of the two panting men, savoring the flushes on their faces as they looked up at the woman who had them in her power. Byleth let out a giggle as Mercedes' own foot came out beneath the slip of her dress and started teasing a toe up his neck.
"Tickle, tickle Mr. Ashen Demon. Turns out the tickle monster beats you AND the Death Knight huh? Why who could have guessed you were both just ticklish little boys pretending to be monsters?"
Mercedes dug her nails into the stout ball of Byleth's foot and relished the way he buried his face into her brother's chest to try and hide from the sensations. If he was going to hide away from his feelings, she did have another one to tease. One finger pinned back the proud big toe of her toy Death Knight and soon her sharp nails were gliding up and down the stem of the pale toe. She'd always thought Emile's laughing face was adorable, but the sight of it buried into the crown of Byleth's seafoam-green hair was something she wished she could preserve forever.
---
"Emile? Byleth? That's enough hugging, help me bring a smile to your faces. Tickle each other please."
Byleth jumped as soon Jeritza's long fingers were fluttering along the back of his neck and made him squirm. The mercenary was still giving as good as he got, his finger crawling their way up into his tall "friend’s" armpits and digging into the muscled hollows. Through it, Mercedes trailed a finger in random patterns on the pair’s soles that she kept side by side on her chest. That naughty foot of hers started to tease Emile's ear and she enjoyed the way it helped Byleth get the upper hand. Emile was soon chuckling away as the greenette pulled up his shirt and dug his fingers into the tight abdominal muscles on his chest.
Jeritza offered up a token resistance but, between the teasy figure eights his sister started to draw onto his sole and Byleth's calloused fingers on his hips, the blond was soon helpless to stop them. The Mercenary soon had his mouth pressing into those abs and was trailing a tongue through the canyons between them, while his fingers dug beneath one of Jeritza’s pectoral muscles, making the knight shriek himself hoarse.
"Emile? My goodness! Does somebody have ticklish titties? Why, who could have guessed that ran in the family? Bylly if you please, go for those and let's show the silly boy that the Tickle Monster knows now too. Emile? Hands behind your back please."
"Ahahahas you wihihish Mehehercie! Eheeehhee..."
Jeritza was flat on his back and helpless as once more he was forced to pantomime handcuffs.
"Come and put your head up on your sister's lap, Emile. Just like when you were small enough for me to pick you up by the ankle."
"Ahahs you wihish."
Jeritza repositioned himself according to his sister's orders and lay his tousled hair down upon her lap. The sweet smile on her face was so disarming that he felt at peace until her wicked nails descended to start scratching and raking at the tops of his pectoral muscles. He tried to turn away from her but that just exposed the undersides of the giggly globes on his chest and allowed Byleth to slip his fingers in to tickle down there as well.
---
"EEEEEEAAAHHHHH NAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP! NEEEAAAHHA NOHOHOO!"
The two-pronged assault had Jeritza arching his back in an attempt to try and escape but it wasn't getting him anywhere. If anything, Byleth happily crawled up the helpless man to get at those delightfully finger-sensitive breasts of his.
"STAAHAAP! EEEAHAHAH STAHAHAP! YOHOHOU’RE KIHIHILLING MEEEHEE! I CAHAHAN'T TAHAHAKE IT!"
"Oh? Emile! I thought you wanted to die? Now just a little bit of time with the Tickle Monster and you’re back to the begging little boy who was always hiding in my closet?"
Jeritza felt himself blush at that jibe, not that one could notice given his face was redder than a tomato at this point. The man jerked one long leg up to try and kick Byleth away while Mercie now started to skitter her nails over his nipples.
"Poor Emile, the Tickle Monster’s so happy to have him back that he might never get away! He might have one chance to get away though! Maybe if Emile can win a nice game of Hide and Seek?"
"No! Nononononooo-Ahahahaha! Nohohoho!"
That big, pesky foot of Jeritza's had been confiscated by Byleth, who'd sat down and taken it under his arm. The lenghty toes had been wrenched back and an evil tongue had pressed to the heel and traveled up to teach the foot a lesson that only a Professor could. Once the foot was trying to pull away from the tongue lashing, it was released so Byleth could join Mercie in skating his fingers along Jeritza's quivering chesticles.
"Hmmm, I don't like the sound of that ‘no’, Emile. Let's see if we can change that to a ‘yes’?"
Mercedes dug her nails in deeper and enjoyed how her brother went from arching his back to suddenly trying to burrow away from her. She let him get the littlest bit away so that her wiggling fingers were hanging above his flesh ever so threateningly. The sheen of sweat on the skin made her smile as she asked her question again, but with a more pointed tone this time.
---
"So Emile? How about now? Up for a game, or do we wanna play like this a bit more?"
Jeritza shook his head furiously earning him a rather emasculating pat on the head from her.
"Well, hooray! Alright Bylly, let the poor boy up, and let's all play hide and seek!"
Byleth sighed and let go of the handfuls of Jeritza's chest that he'd been kneading though the sight of the tall man rolling away and fleeing like a child as Mercedes started counting down from 10.
"Ten, Emile you'd better hide!"
Jeritza got up from the bed in a panic looking around the room for a hiding spot. His eyes darted from Byleth watching smugly beside Mercedes to the door.
"Nine, The Tickle Monster's gonna get you, Emile ~"
Jeritza tried the door but couldn't work the knob with his hands still behind his back. A giggle behind him from Byleth was ignored as he searched for a hiding place still.
"Eight, oooh he's gonna get you both. You'd better hide as well Bylly~"
Jeritza looked to the closet for a moment as a hiding place but then just imagined himself backed up against the wall of it with nowhere to go as Mercedes advanced with her fingers wiggling.
"Seven, try to give me a challenge Emile! Makes the victory sweeter!"
He looked to an armoire and wondered if he could fit into that…but then began imagining himself as a canned treat for Mercy that way.
"Six!"
Mercedes cracked open one eye to see Byleth still sitting calmly on the bed.
"Bylly, you’re playing too! Go and hide unless you want me to tickle you exclusively. Ooh is that something you like—h-hey!"
---
Mercie's teasing threat was interrupted as Byleth took her dress under his arm and fished around to pull out one of her sweet size 12 feet. Before she could protest, Byleth's fingers were skating up and down the frosting white sole and teasing away at her graceful toes, making the holt woman crumble back into a laughing fit.
"Whahaht?! Bylly stahahap! Eeheehee stahahp! Why wohohon't you stahahahp tihihickling meeeheeehee?!"
"Because I think it's your turn now, Mercie. Why have you stopped counting? Emile's waiting for you to continue. Here, let me help now. Fiiiive, you'd better be ready, Jeritza."
Byleth pinched Mercedes's big toe and waggled it about as the woman giggled into her hands and squealed out a rebuttal.
"Stahahap Byllyeeehee! Stahahap! Why ihihisn't the brahahcelet working?!"
Byleth moved onto the next of Mercie's toes and gave its pad a little pinch before teasing a finger along its stem and continuing the count.
"That's what I'd come to tell you, Mercedes. Princess Reginn has gone missing and as a result, her charms aren't working anymore. I just got wrapped up in the good time you were showing your handsome brother and was so touched you'd invited me in. Foooour, tickle-tickle, better hide Emile!"
Jeritza's ears burned in flaming embarrassment at Byleth's words. He'd been doing everything for Mercedes out of his own free will? That couldn't be! He had no use for silly things like the tickly fingers of his older sister making him squeal like a child! The boy who'd enjoyed that was gone and he was now a hollow—
"EEEEEHEEEE!! Hahahaha ohoho nohoho! Nahahat thehehere Bylly! Eeeheeehee it tihihickles! Ihiht tihihckles! Ihihit tihihckles!"
"My goodness, ticklish on your ankles, Mercedes? How fascinating. I was just teasing my fingers up to your calves and enjoying how soft the extra skin is to the touch. Bit too many sweets hmm? One second!"
Mercedes’ giggles hiked up an octave suddenly as Byleth went back down to get the middle toe.
"Threee Emile, hope you're ready. Hmm, I wonder if..."
Mercedes's unbridled laughter had Emile’s head spinning, his sister was being teased by the Ashen Demon himself! One of the few people he knew could actually have a chance of ending him and here he was, cowering in the dark as part of a childish game of hide and seek! The worst part was that half of him wanted to stay here and keep playing, but the other half-
"HEEEEE! BYYLHLLY STAHAHP! OHOHO SO ROOHOUGH! AHAHAhehehe no!"
"Now, Mercedes why on earth would you hide this? My goodness, just look at this tum, it's adorable! If I didn’t know better, I’d think all that cake has given you some nice dough here? Now I'm not very culinary but I do know when you've got that you KNEAD it nicely. Let's see what I can make!"
"EEEEEHEE! Bylly nohohoo! Ahaha nahaht the behehelly! Pleeease ahahahaha!"
"Ah! So, what I make is YOU laugh. Wonderful! Now back down here real quick, coochie-coochie little toe. That's two, Emile~"
"Eeeeeheee saahaave meeheee!"
Mercedes's laughter was hypnotic, putting the man in a trance and making everything fall away. He wasn't a warrior, a murderer, or even a man. He was the little boy who would love nothing more than to play tickle games with his big sister and lose. However now she—
---
"I'm going to skip the one because this is too adorable. Give me that sexy foot and let's play."
Byleth leaned over the edge of the bed and seized the ankle of one of the pale legs sticking out from under the bed and pulled it up to keep it right next to Mercedes's foot. Jeritza was much too big to hide under the bed like a child, and as such his legs had been sticking out the whole time for Byleth to admire. Now that he had both the brother's and the sister's feet in his grip, he traced a finger along the side-by-side soles and loved the way they quivered and flexed their toes.
"You two truly are brother and sister! Identical reactions! Fascinating! Hmm, now let's try these little toes since we skipped the one."
First, it was Mercedes's little toe that got the attention. Byleth pinned it back and then roughly kneaded its pad as the woman squealed. Even that had a sugary-sweet tone to it, much like everything else about the woman. When he did the same to Jeritza, he could feel the bed shake as the man shook with raucous laughter. He heard a loud thump and assumed he'd banged his fist onto the floor. Byleth teased a finger along the man's ankle and started to slowly pull him from under the bed all while chiding him and the giggly Mercie.
"Hmmph, looks like all those warnings fell on deaf ears. Poor boy, the Tickle Monster has you AND your pretty sister. Now, these feet belong to him! Hmmm, now where to start? Maybe these pretty arches? Tickle, tickle, tickle~"
Jeritza cackled in frustration as the feeling of the man's rough finger sliding about in his arch drove him mad. It left him weak as the professor yanked him from under the bed and helped him up on top next to Mercedes.
"That's better, side by side where I can admire you both as I...twiddle these silly toes! Gitchy, gitchy Mercie~"
Mercedes let out a scream as each of her toes was subjected to a quick game of piggies with Byleth. Each time he would reach down and give her chub a squeeze through her dress, making her blush furiously as Byleth smiled.
"Ahh, I love the contrast! Your soft tummy and Jeritza's hard stomach. When we're finished, I think I'll retire to my personal quarters with the two of you. I'd love nothing more than to rest my head on your pillowy belly while I rough my fingers along those hard muscles of your brother. I think you'd like that too, my friend Emile. Maybe you'll like it even more than when I tickle this heel of yours hehe, laugh for me~ sksksksksk~ The Tickle Monster's got you!"
Byleth's words sounded like he was teasing a cat but somehow it had tears pricking at the corners of Jeritza's eyes. Mercedes hugged him close and buried her face in his side as Byleth's fingers wandered over to her foot, until finally something snapped inside the man.
---
A stiff kick from Jeritza launched Byleth backward, and when he looked up the tall man's expression was very stern. Before the merc could do a thing Jeritza seized his ankle and lifted it to stretch his leg skywards. Soon quick fingers were pecking their way up Byleth's calves and thighs as he laughed and fell back to the bed.
"You're the Tickle Monster? Hmm? You know nothing of how vicious the Tickle Monster is! Playing with teasy tickles and soft touches? A real monster would use this body of yours however he liked! Let me show you!"
Byleth immediately recognized that voice and so did Mercedes. That was no longer Emile, Jeritza, or anyone they were friends with. The Death Knight was already a swift warrior but now that he was angry, his fingers were even quicker. Byleth fell back with hands around his sides as the villain's fingers glided up his leg and began strumming away at his inner thigh as if he was playing a lute.
"Squeal now, I command you."
One finger poked its way between Byleth's crotch and inner thigh, causing the man's lips to quiver. The Death Knight noticed that and added another finger, dragging them back and forth in the sweaty canyon. Still, Byleth denied him the laughter he wanted to hear and as a result the Death Knight – no, The Tickle Monster – growled in frustration.
"You WILL squeal for me, it's just a matter of time."
The Tickle Monster seized Byleth's trousers by the waist and ripped them down to the man's knees, boxers included. With his genitals out and free Byleth was helpless as the man dug his hands in on either side of his privates. The fingers wiggled in their as the greenette skipped past squealing and instead was plunged into open-mouth laughter so hard that he couldn't keep his eyes open.
"Moan for me, beast. I had thought you a worthy opponent, but now I see that you are just another piece of meat to tease; incapable of granting my wish to—"
"No more of that."
“What?!"
The Tickle Monster looked down at the hands that had appeared on his sides. He felt the weight of his sister on his back as she leaned on him. Before he could respond though, Mercedes' fingers dug into his abs and started trailing their wicked nails between the muscles. The Tickle Monster tried to slap her away, but her hands just dug deeper and robbed the villain of any strength he had by making him laugh even harder.
---
"Whahahaht?! Reheheelease me ahahahat ohohonce! I will dehehehstroy yohohou!"
"You’re not Emile, and it's quite rude to interrupt my reunion with my darling little brother when you weren't invited. If he won't tell you to leave, then his big sister will. Go away, and bring back Emile, right now."
Her fingers travelled up through the abs and started to get between the knight’s ribs. When she set them between the protruding bones and started vibrating them, the self-proclaimed Tickle Monster howled in frustration.
"STOHOHP! Bohohoho! Guhuhuhuh you wihihihll suhuhuffer—"
"Just bring back Emile and I'll stop, well, with you at least."
The Monster tried to pull away from Mercie but that just made her hands shoot up into his juicy pecs. She squeezed and kneaded away there until he ended up falling headfirst into the pillows of the bed. Still Mercedes' hands pursued him, tickling away at his sensitive chest even as her brother's murderous persona howled in ticklish rage.
"No! Thihihis is nahahat the bahahattle I wahahanted! Lehehet gohohoo! Uhuhuhuhu you ahahahre kihihihlling me!"
"Blah, blah, blah, just leave then and put Emile back. I wanted to tickle his feet, but if you’re the one who's laughing it isn't the same."
"Mehehehercehehedes! Stahahap! It wihihill huhuhurt you!"
Mercedes smiled at the change in the voice and seized one of the long legs. Her nails started at the hips again and skated downwards until they reached the big, silly foot where they started happily tracing their family crest into the sole.
"There's my baby brother! So glad we're done with all the interruptions, pretenders, and silliness. Now we can get back to some reminiscing together!"
"Mehehehrcy! Pleeeheease Merchehedes!"
"Hmmmn, no. I think me winning against the ‘Tickle Monster’ there entitles me to a prize, and I'll be taking this foot right here to do with as I please."
As Mercedes pulled the prized foot in question into her lap, neither of them noticed Byleth reaching beneath the bed for a shiny roll of tape. He'd had a good time with the Martritz's but it was about time to bring it to an end. Well, at least the give-and-take portion of it.
After a brief struggle, the scene shifted into its final act after Bylly had subdued both siblings once again. Both Mercedes and Jeritza wriggled helplessly on the bed with their hands bound behind them and the tape wrapped from their ankles to their ribs, mummifying them effectively. Both brother and sister sported a matching strip over their lips to keep them quiet so the man could enjoy the pillows he'd pulled beneath his head. You see, the binding of their hands behind their backs forced the two chests into a more pronounced position.
It let Byleth rest quite comfortably on one breast of each from the siblings while leaving the other tasty tits free for him to squeeze and knead with his crossed hands as he listened to the pair's happy grunts into their gags. He'd been curious at first about what had ever happened to Princess Reginn, but now? He didn't care, he wanted to stay here forever right in this spot. With a devil and an angel, laughing away happily.
---
"Remember! Keep them still! That's an order! And hold those toes back too! I can see you like it this way by the look on your face. Haha~"
The pair of size 12's were comical, looking much too big for such a small body as the missing Princess Reginn of Niðavellir. The long toes on the silly foot were held back by the fingers of their owner who sat on the ground with her short legs extended together just as ordered while the handsome god ran his fingers along the helpless soles. She laughed at the feeling but still chuckled out an "As You Wish" for him while he rotated a finger between two of the toes, admiring the flashing anklet on one of the legs.
"Such a good girl! I can tell your loving this! Why else make such wonderful little devices? Now answer me truthfully here and this is also an order: another game of "This Little Piggy" with these silly toes, or would you prefer a foot rub? I think I'm getting better at them! Probably won't tickle as much."
Askr flashed a shining smile at the captive Reginn before tickling away at her knuckles while she decided.
Her cry for more Piggies was expected and he stood up from the floor to close the door before he began. After all, she could get quite loud when they played this…
