beerbaron2
TMF Novice
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2013
- Messages
- 67
- Points
- 18
THE STORY SO FAR
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
My little fan fiction universe continues to grow and evolve. Billie takes center stage, as the duo of Toni and Liv become a trio. This is another long one, but there's plenty of tickle shenanigans along the way.
Chapter 8: “No Balls”
Stepping through her front door, Billie immediately shed her Birkenstock sandals and dropped her gym bag, leaving it all heaped in the front hall.
She could clean it up later. Instead, she padded straight for the bathroom. A shower was badly needed after what had been an unexpected double workout.
Standing underneath the warm water, Billie soaked her sore muscles, closed her eyes, and remembered, smiling. Realizing her GoPro had been running the entire time was a pleasant surprise; she made a mental note to be sure to upload that to her private cloud account before going to bed. For now, in the immediate aftermath, she had near total recall of Liv and Toni and the gym.
The probing finger pokes.
The curious scrapes.
The more intentional flutters and scribbles.
The toes jabbing at her sides.
The exploration of the hollows of her knees.
All still fresh and visceral in Billie's mind. Had she ever been tickled so thoroughly? So completely? Not that she could recollect in that moment.
The late Christmas present I never would have expected, Billie thought as the hot water rained down on her.
After the shower and making herself some food that she downed quickly (tickling was hungry work!), Billie curled up on the couch in fresh clothes. Her cat meowed for attention and she absentmindedly scratched him under the chin as her mind continued to wander.
She had always loved being tickled.
For her, it transcended just being a fun thing. Her want for it ran deep, as if encoded as part of her DNA.
It wasn’t just about the laughter for Billie, although surrendering to the feeling was a big part of it. The rush of endorphins was like nothing else. It wasn’t about making other people laugh; in reality, any tickling skill Billie had developed was either to induce payback or start a tickle fight that she would lose on purpose.
For Billie, it was about letting go. Release. Trust.
And, for the bulk of her 21-plus years of existence, she had believed her deep-seated interest in tickling was, well, weird.
Not that weird was necessarily bad. After all, she worked in the wrestling business which was full of eccentric people who had embraced their quirks and made good to great careers in the process.
But how many times had she playfully tickled someone or tried to initiate a tickle, only to be rebuffed? She could recall most of these rejections with near-perfect clarity in a way that only embarrassing moments from the past stick with you and can make your stomach churn with anxiety, even decades later.
A friend at school.
A training partner while being playful in the ring.
A teammate once.
Sometimes it started out fun and Billie would get excited, thinking it might lead to something extended, only to get shut down. Other times, her attempt to initiate got stopped cold. A cloud of awkwardness forming quickly over the situation. A sudden stiffening, then pulling away. “I don't like that…”
She found tickling to be a joyful experience … A way to connect with someone else in a way that few other activities afford. But in seeking it, she only seemed to freak out those around her.
Her family tolerated her predilection. But over time, Billie started to pick up on the exasperation. She stopped sprawling on the couch and extending her bare feet in her mom's direction seeking tickles. She ceased trying to start tickle fights with her younger but much larger brother.
The worst, though? The one and only time she asked a boyfriend to tickle her. The subsequent look of shock on his face was seared into her core memory. "Why would you want that?" He asked in a hushed almost fearful tone of voice.
He dumped her within the week but, thankfully, had not shared her request with others. Billie had begged him not to say anything and, in hindsight, that cruelest of lenses when viewing something embarrassing from your past, her making it such a big deal that he not reveal her request just made her want and her weirdness seem that much more obvious.
So Billie, as she got older, simply stopped seeking out tickles. She kept her desires hidden: just her, her mind, and some online scrolling from an incognito browser window. Sure, at times there might be a quick second or two of opportunity -- a poke to the ribs to a friendly face as she walked through a backstage hallway, or the airport incident Toni had recalled earlier this evening -- but for the most part her love for tickling had gone unrequited.
Billie had been an excellent student in school: a valedictorian. In English classes she wrote poems about longing and outsiders and the need to belong. Straight A’s for all of them. She wondered for a second what her teacher would have thought if she knew that tickling was one of the main motivating themes behind those poems.
And now, today. Billie had not needed to seek out anything. Toni and Liv approached her by chance. She didn’t even know them well. Toni was, at best, a work friend -- a mentor of sorts, one of the locker room leaders in AEW: a friendly face and one Billie often sought out for advice on how to improve. Liv, however, she barely knew. Billie couldn't recall ever meeting her outside from that one training day at Nattie Neidhart's gym.
And yet, in the moment, when they made their offer, she recognized a genuine intent behind their request and yielded completely. Lying on the mat, legs extended, teasing them -- "Let me have it!" -- was not just an invitation to Liv and Toni to initiate. It was her inviting herself to embrace the chaos and take the ride.
Billie glanced to her right. On the end table, sitting side by side, sat the Go Pro and her phone. In the silence, with only the occasional meow from her cat, she recognized the urge to dive into a replay of the entire sequence of tickly events.
Or, to be bold. To reach out.
Billie picked up her phone and, fingers flying with the practiced skill of a Generation Z kid, started typing out a message.
Meanwhile …
Liv was walking out of the spacious custom-built gym on her ranch property. After parting with Toni and Billie, she was percolating with extra energy and knew a rigorous workout would be the best remedy. Dabbing sweat from her face and neck with a towel, Liv strolled across the padded floor in her socks (no shoes allowed in her gym) and cut off the lights as her phone dinged.
Glancing at the screen as she tugged on her Ugg boots, slipped into her jacket, and started back to the main house, a new message notification appeared:
Hey Liv! It's Billie …
The two had just exchanged numbers hours ago and Liv had not had time to enter Billie’s information in her contacts.
Hey girl. Just finished a workout. U ok? We didn't go too hard on you?
Billie: yea I’m good just sitting on my comfy couch lol. U?
Liv: Finished a workout I'm beat!
Billie: Was it the butt one?
Liv giggled. She had a grueling glutes workout that gained notoriety after Sheamus joined in and tried it for a video for his YouTube channel. The Irish strongman hadn’t been able to finish the entire series of exercises.
Liv: Lol yeah
Billie: lol did u stay in town?
Liv: Nah I drove out to my ranch I've got a property out away from the city
Billie: OMG is that the one with the cows? I love cows!
Liv: And chickens and goats, two pigs and some dogs and cats.
Billie: 😍
Liv: Come out and see it some time.
Billie: I would love that!
Billie: 🐄🐐🦙
Liv: No llamas. Not yet anyway
Billie: 😭
Back in her apartment, Billie paused. She didn't know what to say next. Should she mention what happened at the gym? Being tickled by the two of them? How it felt? How it made her heart race in all the best ways?
No.
Not without making it weird.
Three blinking dots in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Liv: Still there?
Billie: yea got distracted
Another beat as Billie continued to contemplate.
Billie: So today was fun…
Liv: It really was! Were you serious when you asked about doing it again? Because we can make that happen…
Billie’s fingers flew furiously as she typed a response. Then, her forehead crinkled as she deleted it all. More typing. Followed by more deleting. After attempting and tossing a few more drafts rapid fire…
Billie: 👍
Liv: 😁
Another pause.
Three dots appeared.
Liv: 🦶🪶
Safe in her otherwise empty apartment, minus the cat, Billie could not repress a squeal.
Billie: 😂
Three dots.
Liv: OK bud it's getting late and your girl still needs to eat and shower talk again soon?
Another thumbs up from Billie. She set the phone aside with a sigh and a slight satisfied smile. Giving the cat a scratch or two, she stretched out on the couch, reaching for the Go Pro.
It was Wednesday and you know what that means …
The live broadcast of Dynamite each week was always a hectic endeavor for the AEW roster. Billie wasn’t booked for a match – just to come out as a second for Athena. Billie arrived thinking about Toni and what had happened just a few days ago in the training ring. Their on-screen storylines did not presently intersect, so interaction before the show went live was limited to a greeting handshake and hug, during which Toni appeared to squeeze for a beat or two longer than usual. Or did she? Billie mulled that over as, at the end of the night, she leisurely packed up her bag in the women’s locker room in preparation to leave.
“My dear, I believe your belongings have been gathered… quite thoroughly, in fact!”
Billie looked up to see Toni sitting on a bench across the room, still in her ring gear, unlacing her boots.
“I was waiting for the room to clear out. Hopin’ we could get a chance to talk,” Billie said.
“Clearly,” Toni replied.
Billie did not fill the ensuing silence – not yet. She became quite focused on her gear bag again. Meanwhile, Toni methodically started to remove pieces of her outfit – boots and socks, leaving her in flesh-colored tights and the modified one-piece outfit that blended the style of a 1950s swimsuit with the function of a wrestling singlet. Toni withdrew a long towel from her bag and wrapped it around herself. Once in place, the lower hem of the towel extended near her knees.
“It appears we are the last two standing, or, in your case, sitting,” Toni said, slowly shimmying out of the tights.
“I just had some questions,” Billie said.
“About a match? An entrance, perhaps? Footage to seek out and expand your grappling horizons?” Now working her way out of her ring gear through the shield of modesty that the towel provided. At one point, the tip of Toni’s tongue extended from one side of her mouth in concentration.
“About a few days ago. The training ring?” Billie offered.
“Aha!” Toni said. “The plot thickens.”
As she spoke, she tossed her now-removed ring gear up in the air, letting it fall to the ground next to her.
“When you and Liv… get together,” Billie said.
“You mean tickle one another?” Toni, reaching into her bag for fresh clothes.
Billie quickly flushed crimson. “Y-yes. That.”
Toni was sitting on the bench again, now, bringing a garment under the lower hem of the towel and wriggling as she slipped it on. “You know, part of what we do entails being honest with one another. Clear communication is a must to ensure lines do not get crossed.”
“When you tickle each other. I mean… how does it work?”
“Sadly our schedules have made our shenanigans sporadic at best, given that she works for one wrestling company and I for another.” Toni went on to recount the initial interplay: crashing Liv’s post-match locker room at Raw; Liv retaliating during Toni’s autograph signing at NerdCon; their subsequent stint in tandem stocks for charity; the private discussion and exploration that followed that night. “Other than one incredible evening in a hotel a few weeks later, our subsequent interactions sadly have been restricted to virtual communication.”
A pause from Billie. “I see. So, the hotel. You want to keep things private then. Like at the training gym. Where no one else is around, or might interrupt.”
“That has been the historical trend to this point.”
“So, to do something … say, at work, or adjacent to work… inappropriate?”
“I think that would depend,” Toni said. “As a good friend recently told me, context matters. For example…”
Toni unfurled the towel, revealing a short-sleeved blouse and dark jeans. She started folding the towel to return it to her bag.
“If someone initiated shenanigans as the other–”
“The ticklee.”
“I’m sorry?”
Billie’s blush deepened. “The ticklee. That’s what you call the person being tickled.”
“According to… ?”
“I’ve done research,” Billie said, looking away.
“I see. Well, if the ‘ticklee’ was preparing for a match? Any initiation of tactile play would be highly ill-advised. Or when waiting to shoot an interview? Why, they might besmirch their hair or makeup before the camera can capture them. But, before preparation for the event begins … or, once proceedings have been completed, I believe the barrier between work and play could be removed.”
“And the show’s over,” Billie said.
“The show is, in fact, over.”
Billie rose from her chair as she walked across the locker room, slipped off her shoes, and sat cross-legged at Toni’s feet, then extending her own legs until they were adjacent to Toni’s lap.
“So, can we?”
Billie’s socked toes wiggled in anticipation as she looked up at Toni.
Toni sat there, bemused, as she pulled a pair of well-worn flats from her bag. “Young Billiam, you set the bar quite high from the standpoint of enthusiasm… still quite a bit to learn, though. For example, the lesson of disruption. A change of pace. An adjustment of tempo. Or, a total misdirection.”
Toni sprang forward off the bench, dropping to her knees behind Billie, and started clawing and squeezing at her midriff.
Billie burst out in surprised laughter.
“Wahahahait! I wasn’t ready! I wasn’t readyyyyy!” The giggles overcame Billie like a wave crashing down upon a distracted surfer.
“That’s the point, dear…” Toni swung a leg over Billie as if mounting a horse, shifting her attack from stomach to ribs. Billie started smacking her hands and feet against the floor.
“Nohohohohoho!” Billie said under Toni’s ministrations upon her midsection.
A brief reprieve from Toni: “Pause?”
“Hell no!”
Toni smirked as she doubled down on the ribs, working her way up to the sides, fingers snaking into the armpits. Billie reflexively brought her arms in, de facto trapping Toni’s fingers in the crevices, where they continued to wiggle at the same maddening tempo.
“Hahaha OK! OK that’s new! Armpits are dirty hehehehe… that’s – hahahah! Black belt ninja stuhuhuff!”
Billie thrashed and writhed underneath Toni, who rode her target like a mechanical bull, remaining poised and composed as she doubled down on the armpits.
“Ohnohohohohoho!” Billie threw her head back, completely yielding to the tandem underarm offensive. Her breath started to hitch and her face started to turn a red.
Toni stopped, swinging her leg free of Billie’s other side.
Billie, breathing hard on the floor, a huge smile on her face. “I didn’t… say Pause…”
“Your body said otherwise, dear,” Toni said, giving Billie a light pat on the cheek. It felt warm under her touch. Toni started to stand, when–
“Wait!” Billie said.
Toni turned. Billie, a more natural shade already returning to her cheeks, shot the Timeless One a look loaded with playful mischief.
“You forgot my feet…”
Toni shook her head, amused.
“Positively insatiable,” she muttered while rolling Billie’s socks off.
Later that night…
Billie rolled over in her hotel bed, staring at her phone.
1:47 a.m.
She turned and put the phone face down on the nightstand, only to quickly pick it up again.
Not now, she thought. It’s too late at night. She’ll think you’re weird.
An audible groan as Billie set the phone back on the nightstand, screen down, and rolled over.
Seven hours later in the back of an Uber, coffee in hand, she typed out for the 27th time the message that had been percolating in her head. This time she hit send before she could start deleting it again.
OMG Toni got me bad last night after dynamite 😭
To Billie’s delight, almost immediately, three dots appeared in the lower left corner of the screen.
Wait. WHAT? Already? OMG. Details girl! Now!
Then a gif … John Travolta in “Pulp Fiction”, jacket in one arm, waiting in the living room for Uma Thurman’s character to appear.
Billie smiled, a twisty nervousness present in her stomach.
Billie: So I set myself up so she could get my feet and she went straight for my stomach
Liv: Yeeeeeeeah she does that lolol she likes to keep u guessing! It makes it worse!
Billie: SO MUCH WORSE I WASN’T READY
Liv: No one ever is Tonis a mad scientist that’s the whole point lmao
Billie grinned. She’d never wanted a drive to the airport to last so long in her life.
Billie: And then …
Billie waited on purpose. Three dots appeared quickly, just the same.
Liv: ????
Billie: ARM. PITS.
Liv: 😮 o no
Billie: I was DYING
Liv: bro she is SERIOUS on the armpits!
Billie: Ikr?!? I clenched down and trapped her fingers on accident n it made it sooooo bad
Liv: Been there genuine criminal behavior
Billie: 💯
Three dots appeared nearly immediately.
Liv: was that it?
Billie smiled, biting her bottom lip. Her toes curled in her Vans.
Billie: she got my feet bad
A pause, then a nod as if assuring herself.
Billie: like not as bad as the 2 of you together but bad. Yall make me laugh like no one ever
Billie cringed the nanosecond after she hit send.
Too far, Billie! Too far!
Three dots, quickly, again…
Liv: the toes?
Billie’s fingers flew in response.
Billie: OMG YES so wicked! She’s all over your soles and then
Liv: YES AND THEN u never expect it
Billie: might be her superpower
Liv: 🤷
Billie: 😅
Liv: did u sleep good after? I always sleep hard after Toni gets me
Three dots, flickering for several seconds.
Liv: i hate i missed it 😥
Don’t respond too soon! It’ll look weird!
Billie: me 2
Liv: soon maybe
Billie: hope so … so hows the ranch? will u hug a cow for me?
Liv: Always 😀
Billie: 🤩
One week later …
Another Wednesday, and you know what that means: this time, a live episode of Dynamite and then taping a full episode of Collision for that Saturday. It was a long day, a longer night, and by the time the fans spilled back out into the parking lots, a locker room full of wrestlers that had ravaged the craft services catering was ready to get out on the town as well.
“Let’s go out tonight! Can we? Pleeeeeease?” Billie offered with the enthusiasm that seemed unique to those who only recently gained the legal clearance to drink alcohol.
“Very well,” Toni said. “But nothing too crazy. No club with the THOOM THOOM THOOM and all of that.”
“Whatever you want,” Billie said.
Toni bypassed the bar in the AEW hotel – even though it was staying open late on behalf of the wrestlers and staff, she declared it “far too crowded” – and chose a quieter spot about a block away. Even at that late hour, Toni was dressed to the nines in full Timeless regalia and persona. Billie had opted for a T-shirt, track pants, a jacket, and her trusty Vans.
“A bit under dressed, darling,” Toni observed.
“Oh! Sorry! I can change, but, um, I didn’t really bring anything fancy…”
“Quite all right. They know me here.”
“Ah, Lady Storm,” the host said as they came through the side door. “How nice to see you again. Please …”
Two menus under one arm, the host led Toni and Billie to a corner booth that, up until then, had been guarded by a velvet rope.
“Lovely,” Toni said when seated.
“I thought you don’t drink,” Billie observed
“They have a fine selection of mocktails,” Toni said. “You, however, are welcome to indulge if you like. It won’t bother me.”
Toni opted for a mocktail mojito. Billie chose a strawberry margarita. Her eyes lit up as, moments later, the server set the wide-rimmed glass in front of her with a flourish.
Billie took a long sip through a straw, nodding in approval. “Ya know, I was getting thrown through tables way before I was old enough to drink.”
“Yes, something we have in common: starting young in this wild and wacky business…” Toni mused. “How old were you when you debuted?”
“Thirteen,” Billie said.
“An amazing coincidence! I was 13 as well…” Toni said.
“I know.”
Toni tipped her faux mojito in her friend’s direction. “You do your homework, don’t you?”
“Hey, that’s how you end up valedictorian.”
“But I believe it’s time for your … ahem, other education to continue.”
“What? Here? Now?”
“Only if you are willing. Remember, we never proceed without consent.”
Billie scooted closer to Toni, then shifted. Toni, glancing down, saw Billie’s right foot – still encased in her shoe and sock – slide into her lap.
“Tread with caution, dear. Tickles under a table can create quite a bit of chaos. Trust me, I know from experience …”
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Billie, her cheeks getting red, the alcohol already having an apparent effect. (She didn’t drink often …)
“Never, darling. Creating fear is never the goal. Moreso … a playful caution,”
“Ohhh, it’s playful you want, huh? I’ll show ya playful!”
Billie made a face, and shifted her seating position again. She slid her left foot, now shoeless, into Toni’s lap next to its mate.
Taking another long sip from the straw, Billie stretched back in the booth, placing the back of one hand against her forehead in mock distress.
“Whatever is a girl to do?”
Toni did not respond – not at first. She took a couple of drinks from her faux mojito, and made several meaningful glances at Billie’s feet, which were now wiggling back and forth in Toni’s lap.
“And don’t thinkabout fakin’ me out and goin’ for my ribs,” Billie said. “I’m wise t’your tricks…”
“I see,” Toni said. “Might want to start nursing the rest of that drink, darling. As for this pair of gifts that quite literally has fallen into my lap… I’ll make you a deal. If you can last for … oh, let’s say 60 seconds … without making a noise, I’ll let you keep your shoe.”
“Bo-ring!” Billie bit her bottom lip slightly and, using her unshod foot, popped her heel out of her right shoe. A quick wriggle had it dangling from her toes within seconds, and Billie flicked it off, as the Van tumbled to the floor between them.
“Let’s make it 60 seconds for the socks! C’mon, no balls!”
“Are you so willing to bare your feet in public, darling?”
“Pfft. Nobody can see us over here… and besides, I know all your techniques. I’m perpared now. It’ll just feel like a nice foot rub…”
“I see,” Toni said, reaching forward to start a timer on her phone before her hands descended underneath the table.
“I’ve got this…” Billie said, assuming a stony expression.
Two hands, now concealed from Billie’s view, went into motion as fingers with short nails simultaneously trailed up and down the outer edge of both feet.
Billie’s face contorted. Her nose wiggled. Her lip curled. She twisted her neck back and forth.
“Something the matter, dear?” Toni said, one corner of her own mouth curled in a smirk.
More pressure on the outer edges, then fingers dancing suddenly in the center of Billie’s socked arches.
“Urk–”
“Say something, darling?”
Billie could only shake her head back and forth.
“My mistake, then. Only forty seconds remain!”
Holy shit … Billie thought. Even through her buzz she felt every poke, prod, scratch and scribble.
Until it all stopped.
Hmm, Billie thought. Gotta be on the looko–
“Eeeek!” Billie squealed, the utterance coming immediately as Toni grabbed Billie by the toes on her left foot, stretching it taut, and dragged a single short finger nail down the entire sole.
“Sayonara to this sock, then…” Toni said. “Less than 30 seconds to go, it’s all downhill from there! Let’s see if you can retain its mate…”
Billie, breathing hard through her nose with the mouth clenched, girded herself as Toni gripped the toes on her right foot, flexing that sole as well to create a wider canvas. She risked a sharp inhale, steadying herself…
As Toni suddenly scratched with all five fingers across the now bared left sole.
“Ahhehehehehee no fair!”
“No conditions were made that, once one foot was exposed, it could not be targeted to bare the other… say adieu to your one remaining sock…”
Billie, now barefoot, wriggled her toes but did not withdraw from Toni’s lap.
“Aw, damn,” she said.
“My dear Billiam,” Toni said, “I believe you doth protest too much. Or not enough, in this case. I’m no mind reader, but if I didn’t know better, I would say you initiated and lost this little contest entirely by design.”
A big, close-mouthed grin spread slowly on Billie’s face.
“Maaaaaybe,” Billie said. “Whatcha gonna do about it, hmmmm? Eep!”
A single nail running briskly up her left sole.
“Mmmph!”
Then the right sole.
“Is this what you wanted then?”
“I can’t say noooooh hehehehehe!”
Toni started scribbling all her fingers across Billie’s inviting soles. Her toes splayed in reaction, and her feet pressed forward into the tickle rather than retract. Billie, meanwhile, melted into a proverbial puddle of giggles.
She didn’t kick.
She didn’t fight it.
She just laughed.
After a while – not long enough for Billie to want her to stop, but long enough for her bladder to be glad it did – Toni ceased her explorations, shifting immediately to a light massage of Billie’s bare arches.
“Mmmm,” Billie said. She leaned back and took another sip of the margarita. “Now this I could get used to… why can’t find a spa that offers this type of service?”
“A tickle massage?”
Billie only nodded with enthusiasm.
“Only in our dreams, my dear.” Toni gave Billie a light tap on the side of her left foot. “Now finish your drink and collect your shoes. You wanted a night on the town, correct? It’s time we ventured into another watering hole…”
Billie, grunting, ducked under the table to grab her shoes.
“Um… where are my socks?”
Toni took a long pull from the straw of her mocktail mojito.
“Oh, those are mine now, dear. Spoils of war. You understand.”
Later …
Stumbling into her hotel room, Billie kicked off her shoes. One flew high, bouncing off the wall in the entry hallway and nearly rebounding back to hit her.
“Ack!”
Billie claimed the complimentary bottle of water off the dresser and teetered barefoot on rubber legs to fall into the bed. She propped up on her elbows and started chugging from the bottle. Then, still laying face down, she swung her legs up from the knees, her bare soles kicking back and forth gently in the air as she reached for her phone.
U still up?
Billie stared at the screen, only pausing to blink or drink.
“Come oooooon,” she said softly.
Not even a minute passed before the three dots appeared.
Billie flashed a beaming smile.
Hey it’s late there, right? Are you OK?
Billie’s grin widened.
Im druuuuunk!
Three dots.
OMG really
Billie pressed a few buttons on her phone. A quick musical tune played as she waited for response to her FaceTime call.
Only a few seconds later, Liv’s face appeared in Billie’s screen. She had her hair pulled back and was wearing her glasses.
“OK, so how drunk are you?”
“I’m fiiiiine,” Billie said, suddenly shifting to sit cross legged on the bed. She yanked off her jacket, which briefly got stuck on one arm “Bro! Bro! She got me again! Toni’s a damn supervillain or somethin’ …”
Liv, highly amused: “No argument here.”
“And she STOLE MY SOCKS! And they were nice socks!” Another shift from Billie, now wiggling her bare toes close to the screen. “Seeeeee?”
“Yup,” Liv said, still chuckling. “No socks in sight. You sure you didn’t trade them for beer?”
“I don’t drink beer, gahd!” Billie said. “I was havin’ marg’ritas!”
“Margaritas plural?”
Billie nodded as if some wise piece of advice had been imparted, then held up two fingers in front of the phone.
“Kinda lightweight, huh?”
“Hey, they were BIG!”
More giggles from Liv. Billie broke as well and they just laughed together for a few minutes.
“Hey, Billie.”
“Yeah?”
“You got any water there?”
“Uh huh, uh huh, they’s a bottle in my room. It was compermentree. I mean complimemp… it was free!”
Liv, trying not to bust out laughing: “OK. You should drink the rest.”
“I’m not tirsty right now…”
“Billie,” Liv said, more firmly now. “If you won’t keep drinking, I’m going to hang up.”
An open-mouthed gasp from Billie. She started drinking desperately from the bottle as if she had been poisoned and the water contained the only antidote, finishing it.
“You got any more water, bud?”
“Nuh uh,” Billie said with an emphatic shake of her head.
“What hotel are you in? And what room? I’m going to DoorDash you more water. And probably a sandwich.”
“Gee, thanks, MOM…”
Liv just flipped off the camera in response as Billie started reciting the contact information for her hotel and room.
Silence on Liv’s end for a bit, then… “OK. Order placed. I tipped extra so they bring it straight to the room.”
“Awwwww. Yer nice.”
“Ha, thank you. I've also been there. I partied pretty hard when I was your age… that was a wild time to be in developmental.”
“Yeah I remember watchin you when I was little.”
“OhmyGAWD, can we not? Sorry it's kinda hard for me to look at you as an equal when you say stuff like that… it reminds me how young you are.”
“Hey I am twen. Tee. One.”
“Yes, yes. That's still young!”
“Izzat why yer bein so nice and orderin’me water and sammiches and stuff?”
“Well yes. But also… like, we're friends now, aren't we?”
A pregnant pause.
Then fervent nodding by Billie. “Totally…”
A big smile from Liv on the other end.
“Hey, are you at th’ranch? CAN YOU LEMME SEE THE COWS?!?!”
“Sorry bud, I'm in LA.”
“Awww well damn. How come?”
“Photo shoots, interviews and… an audition.”
Billie gasped.
“Bro, are you quitting wrestling?”
“What? No! It’s just a small part in a movie. And, I mean, it never hurts to prepare for the future. I can’t wrestle forever.”
“Awwww. That makes me sad.”
“What? The idea of not wrestling?”
Billie nodded.
“As young as you started, I was wondering if you were feeling burnt out yet. Guess not.”
“Nope,” Billie said, shaking her head in an exaggerated motion. “Wrestling’s all I ever wanted t’do, ya know? I’m livin’ the dream…”
“It’s a grind, though.”
“Yeahhhh…”
“Hey, Billie?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t go to sleep yet.” A frown from Billie… “Your order is coming, You need to stay awake and eat and drink something first. And we can keep chatting the whole time.”
“Thas good. Otherwise I might get loooonely.”’
“Yeah, definitely some food and more water.”
A giggle, then suddenly Billie’s face brightened. “So, bro! D’ya wanna hear what happent this time?”
“You mean with Toni?”
Enthusiastic nodding.
“You know I do,” Liv said.
Billie went into her tale of the test of ticklish wills with Toni in the corner booth. Embellished by her drunkenness, which also led to a few narrative detours, it took her a good 10 or 15 minutes. Liv just listened patiently.
“Oh man, both bare feet, right in the restaurant? I would have DIED…” Liv said.
“It was purty bad. An’ she stole my socks!”
A giggle from Liv: “You mentioned that. I bet they were nice socks, too.”
“They WERE! Aaaanyway, I lost bad…”
A knock at the door.
“Ope! Thas my water an’ sammich!”
Billie dropped her phone and went teetering to the door.
Liv found herself staring at the ceiling of Billie’s hotel room for at least a minute. Then, heavy footsteps and a bang.
“OW!”
“You OK, bud?”
Billie’s face, a little more flushed, bounced back into view. “Yeah…” she held up a pack of water bottles and a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil. “I stubbed my toe, though.” Billie stuck her foot up against her phone and wiggled her digits. “It might be brooooken.”
Liv sighed. “OK … we need a conversation pause until you eat some of that sandwich and drink another half bottle of water.”
“Ooh! Anotha challenge…”
Billie ate and drank for the next few minutes.
“Hey, Billie.”
“Mmm?”
“Your foot is still up in the camera.”
“Oops!” A happy cackle from Billie, then: “does it boooother you?”
“Well, no. It’s just–”
“Does it make ya wanna TICKLE it?” Billie wiggled her toes for emphasis.
“Honestly? Little bit.”
“Right heeeere,” Billie said, pointing to the center of her arch. “Thumbs? In circles? One clockwise an one count’rclockwise. My Kryptonite.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that for the next time we’re together…” Liv said.
Billie clapped her hands in delight. “Yay! Because I love it, ya know. I mean, always have! Tickling’s just, like, the best.”
Liv replied, “For me it depends on the situation. And who’s doing the tickling. The context.”
Billie contemplated while chewing another bite of her sandwich.
“I’ve never, like, said that out loud. I mean, EVER.”
“What’s that?”
“Bout me lovin’ it when I get tickled. I… it’s my secret.”
“Bill, honey, trust me, it was pretty obvious that you enjoy it that night in the training ring. All we did was mention the subject and you were flat on the mat with your shoes off before we could finish another sentence. And for what it’s worth, you’re very fun to tickle… that was–what’s wrong?”
Billie lowered a now-empty water bottle from her lips and sniffed loudly.
“Billie, why are you crying?!?”
“It just means a lot t’me…” Billie blubbered.
Silence for a few seconds, with a heavy sigh from Liv: “OK, so now we’re in the sad drunk stage.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just really emotional right now an’ I dunno whyyyy…”
The tears continued to flow. Liv just stayed quiet, letting Billie cry for the next couple of minutes. Then, a gentle “Hey, Billie?”
“Mmmhm? sniff”
“I think it’s time to rest. Drink some more water first… are you still hungry?”
“A little, maybe.”
“Another bite or two. Go on.”
Billie followed Liv’s directions, not only taking an extra bite off the sandwich but finishing it completely, then guzzling another half bottle of water.
“OK,” Liv said. “Time for bed.”
“Awwww.”
“No argument. Time to sleep it off…”
“Mmkay..” Billie yanked her T-shirt up over her head.
“Whoa!” Liv said. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
“Relaaax, I still gotta bra on…” Then the picture tumbled and turned, ending up with Billie’s face back on screen and the rest of her body buried under the covers.
“OK, time for sleep.”
A slow nod from Billie. “Thanks fer takin care o’me. I… I know we just started talkin’ an’ stuff but I already feel close to you. Yer a good friend.”
“I feel the same way, Billie. Go sleep, Good night.”
“Nighty night.”
The video cut off.
The next thing Billie knew, her phone alarm was going off. She rolled over into a ray of sunlight peeking between her hotel room curtains and groaned. Sitting up to shut off her phone, she howled and brought a hand up to her temple.
My head … she thought. Last night was… was fun.
She began to replay her mini-bar crawl with Toni, mentally lingering upon the brief contest in the corner booth that ended up with Billie barefoot and giggling under Toni’s fingers. Then, back to the hotel and …
“Oh god!” Billie said out loud to an empty room.
She opened her phone and frantically flipped to her call history.
Liv Morgan
FaceTime
57:42.
Now she remembered. Bad enough to drunk text Liv in the middle of the night, but then to drunk dial her?!?
A notification was blinking. Billie tapped on it and her stomach dropped.
It was a text from Liv:
Hope U feel OK today … Gimme a call when ur awake & sober.
“Oh GAHD!”
She had made it weird. Again. Her mind tried to piece together as complete a transcript as she could of their FaceTime conversation.
Had she… no… had she stuck her bare foot in front of the screen?
Did they really talk about tickling for a while?
The blush returned to Billie's cheeks.
"I blew it..." she said in a low tone of voice, tears leaking from closed eyes.
Billie sobbed into her pillow until her alarm started clanging again. It was time to catch her flight home.
Billie wrapped up in her coziest hoodie and pair of sweats, stuffed her bare feet into her sandals (she lacked the energy for socks at this point), and dug an oversized pair of sunglasses out of her shoulder bag as she stepped into the hotel hallway, dragging her wheeled suitcase with her other hand. She just wanted to get home as soon as possible.
Five hours later as she disembarked from the plane, her phone pulsed in the kangaroo pouch of her hoodie. Then again as she reached the ride share pickup line. Then once more in the back seat as she nibbled on an overpriced bagel with very light cream cheese that she had bought on the way out of the airport.
Can’t hide forever… Billie thought.
Three more texts, all from Liv.
U OK?
Hey not heard back from u…
U good?!?
Billie sighed and fired off a quick reply.
👍
Her phone lit up.
Incoming FaceTime call from: Liv
“Here it comes,” she mumbled.
Her finger hovered for a second over the decline button, then she swiped to accept.
It was Wednesday again, and you know what that means …
"DyaaHA! Hehehe! OHOHOHOONOOOO HAHAHA!"
Billie clenched her eyes shut, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks, She grabbed the seat belt next to her with a tightly clenched fist while smacking her free hand against the seat.
“I see this technique has proven most effective…” Toni mused.
The day before, Billie had received a phone call from Toni.
“Let’s ride to the next event together from the airport,” Toni said. “I have a vehicle rented…”
One-on-one bonding time with Toni? She immediately agreed. Still, Billie had made a face when, in the rental car lot, Toni led them to a mini van. Now, she knew exactly why Toni had rented it. It provided plenty of room for shenanigans.
Presently, Toni sat in one of the captain’s chairs, her flats kicked off and resting in the floorboard next to the gas and brake pedals. She had one bare leg draped over the arm of her chair, which also happened to be pinning Billie’s ankles to the arm rest. With one hand, she had grasp of Billie’s two big toes, pulling them back. With the other, a travel comb raked slowly up and down her bare soles. Billie’s own shoes and socks were tossed haphazardly in the passenger cabin of the van. Toni continued to manipulate the comb as Billie screeched and cackled.
Toni slowed the motion of the comb to a very light scrape of Billie’s right arch as the foot engaged in a feverish display of wiggling and twisting.
“Still with me, dear?”
“Hehehehe. Hehehehehe,” BIllie, panting, red-faced, giggling in spite of herself. She breathed in through the nose and out through the mouth, recovering her wind. “Is that… Is that all you’ve got?”
Toni’s eyes flashed and Billie regretted her taunt, but only for a second. Then the laughter took back over. Coherent thoughts stopped for a bit, aside from one…
Wonder what other people using this parking garage are thinking right now?
It took another three minutes before Toni finally provoked a Pause.
“Your stamina is becoming spectacular, my dear,” Toni observed.
Billie, pausing between gulps from her reusable water bottle: “Thanks. It’s fun having you push my buttons and test my limits.”
“Quite enjoyable from this end as well!”
Billie just grinned and resumed drinking water.
“Shall we venture forth into the building?”
Billie lowered the water bottle. “Actually… I was going to ask. About, um, rotation.”
A slight smirk from Toni. “I see. I suppose I’ve earned some measure of role reversal these last few weeks. And you certainly have made the drudgery of the road more pleasant. Let’s have at it!”
“Wait… you sure? You want me to tickle you?”
A nod from Toni, who was placing a bobby pin in her hair.
“And you won’t get mad?”
Toni slowly turned in the captain’s chair. Billie, behind her, now sitting cross-legged, looking slightly down at the floor.
“Billie,” she said, the Timeless character wholly absent from her voice. “Look at me.”
Billie’s head rose.
“This is what we do here,” Toni said. “You don’t hafta worry about crossing lines. That’s what Pause is for. Understand?”
Billie looked away for a second. A loud sniff. Then she nodded, biting her bottom lip.
“Now,” Toni said, “how do you want me?”
“Just look that way,” Billie said, pointing at the front windshield.
“All right,” Toni said, running her hands down the pleats of her slacks. “You may fire when reeeeeeee!”
Lightning quick, Billie’s hands reached around Toni’s seat and began simultaneously squeezing her sides. Toni drew her knees up to her chest and screeched. Billie worked her fingers into the Timeless One’s flanks, using a kneading motion like she was making a loaf of bread. As she did, thoughts of last Thursday ran through her head.
“Hey,” Liv had said when Billie answered the FaceTime call. “I wanted to wait til you were sober for this, so you’d remember…”
“OK…” Billie trailed off.
“It’s time for you to get some payback on Toni. A/k/a the serial sock thief. Here’s how to get her…”
Billie doubled down on the ribs. Toni thrashed and twisted in the chair.
“Oh… Oh my GOD!” Toni uttered, throwing her head back, laughing deeply and loudly.
“Her upper body is weak, especially if you can get her by surprise,” Liv said. “The sides. Good, firm squeezes. But then if you really want to get her going…”
Billie’s hands worked up to the armpits, her fingers fluttering.
“Yeeeeeeeeeaghhhahahahahaha!”
“And then,” Liv said. “You just double down on the pits.”
Billie hadn’t gotten acrylics like Liv had suggested, but she knew how to tickle – especially after being on the receiving end of plenty of practice these last few glorious weeks. Plus, she always had been a quick learner. Billie’s fingers scrabbled frantically in the pits as Toni twisted, trying to escape or at least slow down the onslaught. Billie kept up the attack, until finally Toni tumbled into the floorboards, laughing and whooping at the top of her lungs. Her legs thrashed in defense, and Billie, showing the quick reflexes from countless hours of mat wrestling drills, hooked her right ankle.
“And if that doesn’t work,” Liv said, “Just go for the feet. Specifically, the toes.”
Billie leaned forward slightly, grinning as she started scratching her fingers urgently against the base of Toni’s toes.
Another loud squeal, then the floodgates opened.
“I NEVER HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Toni’s face started to turn as red as the flats she had discarded earlier while driving.
Billie, still holding Toni’s ankle, gradually slowed her pace before ceasing altogether. The van’s silence seemed sudden and loomed, broken up only by panting breaths from Toni.
“They… missed a few spots cleaning this van,” she observed. “Also… I… didn’t say… Pause.”
“Your body was saying different,” Billie said.
Toni glanced up at Billie, meeting her gaze with a lengthy look that read… respect? Approval? Maybe a bit of both.
“Well-managed,” Toni said. “And well scouted! I suspect Liv has been sharing some reconnaissance with you, which to my ticklish chagrin, you have incorporated into this assault.”
“Valedictorian for a reason,” Billie reminded, then a pause. “Ready to go in?”
“Nonsense!” Toni said. “We are right where we need to be…”
Toni raised her free leg to allow open access to both soles, side by side. Billie grinned, her fingers descending, already wiggling.
Had someone walked past the van about 20 seconds later, they would have seen it shaking slightly as frantic laughter bellowed from within.
About 10 minutes later …
Liv’s stomach squirmed with nerves on the way to the audition. Staring at the script in her hands, she mouthed the opening line to herself for the hundredth time that morning.
A sudden interruption: a FaceTime call from Billie.
Liv smiled and swiped to accept.
“Hey, girl..”
“Hey, indeed!” Toni’s face appeared on the screen next to Billie. The rear windshield of a vehicle in the immediate background. Both of them sweating, Toni red-faced and breathing hard, eyes glassy. Billie sported a broad grin: proud and glowing with triumph.
“Ohhh… Hey, Toni…” Liv said. She started reaching to turn on her Airpods.
“How. Dare. You,” Toni’s voice, steeped in mock outrage, echoed through her ears.
“I’m not sure what you refer to,” Liv said.
“Bloody hell you say!” Toni said. “The unabashed treachery of it all!”
Liv, laughing now, clapping her hands slowly in delight. “I’m so glad that worked out…”
“Me too!” Billie chimed in.
“Quiet, you…” Toni said, reaching with her right hand.
“Ack!” Billie recoiled from a sudden side squeeze, then broke into excited giggles. “OK! OK! Truce, right? We’re still in truce…”
A huff from Toni: “I suppose.”
Liv watched in silence, just enjoying the scene streaming to her. “I hate I missed it… seems like that happens a lot now…”
“The perils of working for competing companies, I suppose,” Toni said.
“Still,” Liv said. “I’ve got a free weekend coming up… probably my last one for at least a few weeks. Maybe we should get together? I’m still in L.A. We could use my place. Or, maybe a hotel on the coast in Malibu? My treat…”
“Ooooh!” Billie crowed. “Beach trip, beach trip!”
“That does sound tempting,” Toni said. “I believe next weekend is free as well, or, at the least, nothing exists that I cannot postpone. Better to leave them waiting, right?”
“I’m there!” Billie said.
“I shall supply the room service budget,” Toni said.
“And I’ll buy snacks!” Billie offered.
“I’ll set it up,” Liv said.
“Fantastic!” Toni said. “I’m already simmering with anticipation … just know, dear Liv, there shall be reciprocity for your betrayal today.”
“Yup. Lookin’ forward to it,” Liv said. “Bye, guys.”
As Liv disconnected the call, Toni extracted herself from the back seat of the van. “Very well, responsibility awaits. I must gather my effects…” Toni exited through the van sliding door and, through the open driver’s side door, started gathering keys, phone, and shoes.
Billie, for the moment, stayed in the back seat, bare legs stretched out, toes wiggling slightly, fully content, just grinning at her phone as she scrolled through old texts with Liv.
Business awaited. But, in that moment, she was right where she needed to be.
To Be Continued
Hope everyone enjoyed this installment. The earlier chapters remain available for your perusal.
The next chapter is already almost written. It's the longest yet, but also jam-packed with fun tickly action. Adding a third person creates a wealth of new scenarios and possibilities for you to enjoy.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
My little fan fiction universe continues to grow and evolve. Billie takes center stage, as the duo of Toni and Liv become a trio. This is another long one, but there's plenty of tickle shenanigans along the way.
Chapter 8: “No Balls”
Stepping through her front door, Billie immediately shed her Birkenstock sandals and dropped her gym bag, leaving it all heaped in the front hall.
She could clean it up later. Instead, she padded straight for the bathroom. A shower was badly needed after what had been an unexpected double workout.
Standing underneath the warm water, Billie soaked her sore muscles, closed her eyes, and remembered, smiling. Realizing her GoPro had been running the entire time was a pleasant surprise; she made a mental note to be sure to upload that to her private cloud account before going to bed. For now, in the immediate aftermath, she had near total recall of Liv and Toni and the gym.
The probing finger pokes.
The curious scrapes.
The more intentional flutters and scribbles.
The toes jabbing at her sides.
The exploration of the hollows of her knees.
All still fresh and visceral in Billie's mind. Had she ever been tickled so thoroughly? So completely? Not that she could recollect in that moment.
The late Christmas present I never would have expected, Billie thought as the hot water rained down on her.
After the shower and making herself some food that she downed quickly (tickling was hungry work!), Billie curled up on the couch in fresh clothes. Her cat meowed for attention and she absentmindedly scratched him under the chin as her mind continued to wander.
She had always loved being tickled.
For her, it transcended just being a fun thing. Her want for it ran deep, as if encoded as part of her DNA.
It wasn’t just about the laughter for Billie, although surrendering to the feeling was a big part of it. The rush of endorphins was like nothing else. It wasn’t about making other people laugh; in reality, any tickling skill Billie had developed was either to induce payback or start a tickle fight that she would lose on purpose.
For Billie, it was about letting go. Release. Trust.
And, for the bulk of her 21-plus years of existence, she had believed her deep-seated interest in tickling was, well, weird.
Not that weird was necessarily bad. After all, she worked in the wrestling business which was full of eccentric people who had embraced their quirks and made good to great careers in the process.
But how many times had she playfully tickled someone or tried to initiate a tickle, only to be rebuffed? She could recall most of these rejections with near-perfect clarity in a way that only embarrassing moments from the past stick with you and can make your stomach churn with anxiety, even decades later.
A friend at school.
A training partner while being playful in the ring.
A teammate once.
Sometimes it started out fun and Billie would get excited, thinking it might lead to something extended, only to get shut down. Other times, her attempt to initiate got stopped cold. A cloud of awkwardness forming quickly over the situation. A sudden stiffening, then pulling away. “I don't like that…”
She found tickling to be a joyful experience … A way to connect with someone else in a way that few other activities afford. But in seeking it, she only seemed to freak out those around her.
Her family tolerated her predilection. But over time, Billie started to pick up on the exasperation. She stopped sprawling on the couch and extending her bare feet in her mom's direction seeking tickles. She ceased trying to start tickle fights with her younger but much larger brother.
The worst, though? The one and only time she asked a boyfriend to tickle her. The subsequent look of shock on his face was seared into her core memory. "Why would you want that?" He asked in a hushed almost fearful tone of voice.
He dumped her within the week but, thankfully, had not shared her request with others. Billie had begged him not to say anything and, in hindsight, that cruelest of lenses when viewing something embarrassing from your past, her making it such a big deal that he not reveal her request just made her want and her weirdness seem that much more obvious.
So Billie, as she got older, simply stopped seeking out tickles. She kept her desires hidden: just her, her mind, and some online scrolling from an incognito browser window. Sure, at times there might be a quick second or two of opportunity -- a poke to the ribs to a friendly face as she walked through a backstage hallway, or the airport incident Toni had recalled earlier this evening -- but for the most part her love for tickling had gone unrequited.
Billie had been an excellent student in school: a valedictorian. In English classes she wrote poems about longing and outsiders and the need to belong. Straight A’s for all of them. She wondered for a second what her teacher would have thought if she knew that tickling was one of the main motivating themes behind those poems.
And now, today. Billie had not needed to seek out anything. Toni and Liv approached her by chance. She didn’t even know them well. Toni was, at best, a work friend -- a mentor of sorts, one of the locker room leaders in AEW: a friendly face and one Billie often sought out for advice on how to improve. Liv, however, she barely knew. Billie couldn't recall ever meeting her outside from that one training day at Nattie Neidhart's gym.
And yet, in the moment, when they made their offer, she recognized a genuine intent behind their request and yielded completely. Lying on the mat, legs extended, teasing them -- "Let me have it!" -- was not just an invitation to Liv and Toni to initiate. It was her inviting herself to embrace the chaos and take the ride.
Billie glanced to her right. On the end table, sitting side by side, sat the Go Pro and her phone. In the silence, with only the occasional meow from her cat, she recognized the urge to dive into a replay of the entire sequence of tickly events.
Or, to be bold. To reach out.
Billie picked up her phone and, fingers flying with the practiced skill of a Generation Z kid, started typing out a message.
Meanwhile …
Liv was walking out of the spacious custom-built gym on her ranch property. After parting with Toni and Billie, she was percolating with extra energy and knew a rigorous workout would be the best remedy. Dabbing sweat from her face and neck with a towel, Liv strolled across the padded floor in her socks (no shoes allowed in her gym) and cut off the lights as her phone dinged.
Glancing at the screen as she tugged on her Ugg boots, slipped into her jacket, and started back to the main house, a new message notification appeared:
Hey Liv! It's Billie …
The two had just exchanged numbers hours ago and Liv had not had time to enter Billie’s information in her contacts.
Hey girl. Just finished a workout. U ok? We didn't go too hard on you?
Billie: yea I’m good just sitting on my comfy couch lol. U?
Liv: Finished a workout I'm beat!
Billie: Was it the butt one?
Liv giggled. She had a grueling glutes workout that gained notoriety after Sheamus joined in and tried it for a video for his YouTube channel. The Irish strongman hadn’t been able to finish the entire series of exercises.
Liv: Lol yeah
Billie: lol did u stay in town?
Liv: Nah I drove out to my ranch I've got a property out away from the city
Billie: OMG is that the one with the cows? I love cows!
Liv: And chickens and goats, two pigs and some dogs and cats.
Billie: 😍
Liv: Come out and see it some time.
Billie: I would love that!
Billie: 🐄🐐🦙
Liv: No llamas. Not yet anyway
Billie: 😭
Back in her apartment, Billie paused. She didn't know what to say next. Should she mention what happened at the gym? Being tickled by the two of them? How it felt? How it made her heart race in all the best ways?
No.
Not without making it weird.
Three blinking dots in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Liv: Still there?
Billie: yea got distracted
Another beat as Billie continued to contemplate.
Billie: So today was fun…
Liv: It really was! Were you serious when you asked about doing it again? Because we can make that happen…
Billie’s fingers flew furiously as she typed a response. Then, her forehead crinkled as she deleted it all. More typing. Followed by more deleting. After attempting and tossing a few more drafts rapid fire…
Billie: 👍
Liv: 😁
Another pause.
Three dots appeared.
Liv: 🦶🪶
Safe in her otherwise empty apartment, minus the cat, Billie could not repress a squeal.
Billie: 😂
Three dots.
Liv: OK bud it's getting late and your girl still needs to eat and shower talk again soon?
Another thumbs up from Billie. She set the phone aside with a sigh and a slight satisfied smile. Giving the cat a scratch or two, she stretched out on the couch, reaching for the Go Pro.
It was Wednesday and you know what that means …
The live broadcast of Dynamite each week was always a hectic endeavor for the AEW roster. Billie wasn’t booked for a match – just to come out as a second for Athena. Billie arrived thinking about Toni and what had happened just a few days ago in the training ring. Their on-screen storylines did not presently intersect, so interaction before the show went live was limited to a greeting handshake and hug, during which Toni appeared to squeeze for a beat or two longer than usual. Or did she? Billie mulled that over as, at the end of the night, she leisurely packed up her bag in the women’s locker room in preparation to leave.
“My dear, I believe your belongings have been gathered… quite thoroughly, in fact!”
Billie looked up to see Toni sitting on a bench across the room, still in her ring gear, unlacing her boots.
“I was waiting for the room to clear out. Hopin’ we could get a chance to talk,” Billie said.
“Clearly,” Toni replied.
Billie did not fill the ensuing silence – not yet. She became quite focused on her gear bag again. Meanwhile, Toni methodically started to remove pieces of her outfit – boots and socks, leaving her in flesh-colored tights and the modified one-piece outfit that blended the style of a 1950s swimsuit with the function of a wrestling singlet. Toni withdrew a long towel from her bag and wrapped it around herself. Once in place, the lower hem of the towel extended near her knees.
“It appears we are the last two standing, or, in your case, sitting,” Toni said, slowly shimmying out of the tights.
“I just had some questions,” Billie said.
“About a match? An entrance, perhaps? Footage to seek out and expand your grappling horizons?” Now working her way out of her ring gear through the shield of modesty that the towel provided. At one point, the tip of Toni’s tongue extended from one side of her mouth in concentration.
“About a few days ago. The training ring?” Billie offered.
“Aha!” Toni said. “The plot thickens.”
As she spoke, she tossed her now-removed ring gear up in the air, letting it fall to the ground next to her.
“When you and Liv… get together,” Billie said.
“You mean tickle one another?” Toni, reaching into her bag for fresh clothes.
Billie quickly flushed crimson. “Y-yes. That.”
Toni was sitting on the bench again, now, bringing a garment under the lower hem of the towel and wriggling as she slipped it on. “You know, part of what we do entails being honest with one another. Clear communication is a must to ensure lines do not get crossed.”
“When you tickle each other. I mean… how does it work?”
“Sadly our schedules have made our shenanigans sporadic at best, given that she works for one wrestling company and I for another.” Toni went on to recount the initial interplay: crashing Liv’s post-match locker room at Raw; Liv retaliating during Toni’s autograph signing at NerdCon; their subsequent stint in tandem stocks for charity; the private discussion and exploration that followed that night. “Other than one incredible evening in a hotel a few weeks later, our subsequent interactions sadly have been restricted to virtual communication.”
A pause from Billie. “I see. So, the hotel. You want to keep things private then. Like at the training gym. Where no one else is around, or might interrupt.”
“That has been the historical trend to this point.”
“So, to do something … say, at work, or adjacent to work… inappropriate?”
“I think that would depend,” Toni said. “As a good friend recently told me, context matters. For example…”
Toni unfurled the towel, revealing a short-sleeved blouse and dark jeans. She started folding the towel to return it to her bag.
“If someone initiated shenanigans as the other–”
“The ticklee.”
“I’m sorry?”
Billie’s blush deepened. “The ticklee. That’s what you call the person being tickled.”
“According to… ?”
“I’ve done research,” Billie said, looking away.
“I see. Well, if the ‘ticklee’ was preparing for a match? Any initiation of tactile play would be highly ill-advised. Or when waiting to shoot an interview? Why, they might besmirch their hair or makeup before the camera can capture them. But, before preparation for the event begins … or, once proceedings have been completed, I believe the barrier between work and play could be removed.”
“And the show’s over,” Billie said.
“The show is, in fact, over.”
Billie rose from her chair as she walked across the locker room, slipped off her shoes, and sat cross-legged at Toni’s feet, then extending her own legs until they were adjacent to Toni’s lap.
“So, can we?”
Billie’s socked toes wiggled in anticipation as she looked up at Toni.
Toni sat there, bemused, as she pulled a pair of well-worn flats from her bag. “Young Billiam, you set the bar quite high from the standpoint of enthusiasm… still quite a bit to learn, though. For example, the lesson of disruption. A change of pace. An adjustment of tempo. Or, a total misdirection.”
Toni sprang forward off the bench, dropping to her knees behind Billie, and started clawing and squeezing at her midriff.
Billie burst out in surprised laughter.
“Wahahahait! I wasn’t ready! I wasn’t readyyyyy!” The giggles overcame Billie like a wave crashing down upon a distracted surfer.
“That’s the point, dear…” Toni swung a leg over Billie as if mounting a horse, shifting her attack from stomach to ribs. Billie started smacking her hands and feet against the floor.
“Nohohohohoho!” Billie said under Toni’s ministrations upon her midsection.
A brief reprieve from Toni: “Pause?”
“Hell no!”
Toni smirked as she doubled down on the ribs, working her way up to the sides, fingers snaking into the armpits. Billie reflexively brought her arms in, de facto trapping Toni’s fingers in the crevices, where they continued to wiggle at the same maddening tempo.
“Hahaha OK! OK that’s new! Armpits are dirty hehehehe… that’s – hahahah! Black belt ninja stuhuhuff!”
Billie thrashed and writhed underneath Toni, who rode her target like a mechanical bull, remaining poised and composed as she doubled down on the armpits.
“Ohnohohohohoho!” Billie threw her head back, completely yielding to the tandem underarm offensive. Her breath started to hitch and her face started to turn a red.
Toni stopped, swinging her leg free of Billie’s other side.
Billie, breathing hard on the floor, a huge smile on her face. “I didn’t… say Pause…”
“Your body said otherwise, dear,” Toni said, giving Billie a light pat on the cheek. It felt warm under her touch. Toni started to stand, when–
“Wait!” Billie said.
Toni turned. Billie, a more natural shade already returning to her cheeks, shot the Timeless One a look loaded with playful mischief.
“You forgot my feet…”
Toni shook her head, amused.
“Positively insatiable,” she muttered while rolling Billie’s socks off.
Later that night…
Billie rolled over in her hotel bed, staring at her phone.
1:47 a.m.
She turned and put the phone face down on the nightstand, only to quickly pick it up again.
Not now, she thought. It’s too late at night. She’ll think you’re weird.
An audible groan as Billie set the phone back on the nightstand, screen down, and rolled over.
Seven hours later in the back of an Uber, coffee in hand, she typed out for the 27th time the message that had been percolating in her head. This time she hit send before she could start deleting it again.
OMG Toni got me bad last night after dynamite 😭
To Billie’s delight, almost immediately, three dots appeared in the lower left corner of the screen.
Wait. WHAT? Already? OMG. Details girl! Now!
Then a gif … John Travolta in “Pulp Fiction”, jacket in one arm, waiting in the living room for Uma Thurman’s character to appear.
Billie smiled, a twisty nervousness present in her stomach.
Billie: So I set myself up so she could get my feet and she went straight for my stomach
Liv: Yeeeeeeeah she does that lolol she likes to keep u guessing! It makes it worse!
Billie: SO MUCH WORSE I WASN’T READY
Liv: No one ever is Tonis a mad scientist that’s the whole point lmao
Billie grinned. She’d never wanted a drive to the airport to last so long in her life.
Billie: And then …
Billie waited on purpose. Three dots appeared quickly, just the same.
Liv: ????
Billie: ARM. PITS.
Liv: 😮 o no
Billie: I was DYING
Liv: bro she is SERIOUS on the armpits!
Billie: Ikr?!? I clenched down and trapped her fingers on accident n it made it sooooo bad
Liv: Been there genuine criminal behavior
Billie: 💯
Three dots appeared nearly immediately.
Liv: was that it?
Billie smiled, biting her bottom lip. Her toes curled in her Vans.
Billie: she got my feet bad
A pause, then a nod as if assuring herself.
Billie: like not as bad as the 2 of you together but bad. Yall make me laugh like no one ever
Billie cringed the nanosecond after she hit send.
Too far, Billie! Too far!
Three dots, quickly, again…
Liv: the toes?
Billie’s fingers flew in response.
Billie: OMG YES so wicked! She’s all over your soles and then
Liv: YES AND THEN u never expect it
Billie: might be her superpower
Liv: 🤷
Billie: 😅
Liv: did u sleep good after? I always sleep hard after Toni gets me
Three dots, flickering for several seconds.
Liv: i hate i missed it 😥
Don’t respond too soon! It’ll look weird!
Billie: me 2
Liv: soon maybe
Billie: hope so … so hows the ranch? will u hug a cow for me?
Liv: Always 😀
Billie: 🤩
One week later …
Another Wednesday, and you know what that means: this time, a live episode of Dynamite and then taping a full episode of Collision for that Saturday. It was a long day, a longer night, and by the time the fans spilled back out into the parking lots, a locker room full of wrestlers that had ravaged the craft services catering was ready to get out on the town as well.
“Let’s go out tonight! Can we? Pleeeeeease?” Billie offered with the enthusiasm that seemed unique to those who only recently gained the legal clearance to drink alcohol.
“Very well,” Toni said. “But nothing too crazy. No club with the THOOM THOOM THOOM and all of that.”
“Whatever you want,” Billie said.
Toni bypassed the bar in the AEW hotel – even though it was staying open late on behalf of the wrestlers and staff, she declared it “far too crowded” – and chose a quieter spot about a block away. Even at that late hour, Toni was dressed to the nines in full Timeless regalia and persona. Billie had opted for a T-shirt, track pants, a jacket, and her trusty Vans.
“A bit under dressed, darling,” Toni observed.
“Oh! Sorry! I can change, but, um, I didn’t really bring anything fancy…”
“Quite all right. They know me here.”
“Ah, Lady Storm,” the host said as they came through the side door. “How nice to see you again. Please …”
Two menus under one arm, the host led Toni and Billie to a corner booth that, up until then, had been guarded by a velvet rope.
“Lovely,” Toni said when seated.
“I thought you don’t drink,” Billie observed
“They have a fine selection of mocktails,” Toni said. “You, however, are welcome to indulge if you like. It won’t bother me.”
Toni opted for a mocktail mojito. Billie chose a strawberry margarita. Her eyes lit up as, moments later, the server set the wide-rimmed glass in front of her with a flourish.
Billie took a long sip through a straw, nodding in approval. “Ya know, I was getting thrown through tables way before I was old enough to drink.”
“Yes, something we have in common: starting young in this wild and wacky business…” Toni mused. “How old were you when you debuted?”
“Thirteen,” Billie said.
“An amazing coincidence! I was 13 as well…” Toni said.
“I know.”
Toni tipped her faux mojito in her friend’s direction. “You do your homework, don’t you?”
“Hey, that’s how you end up valedictorian.”
“But I believe it’s time for your … ahem, other education to continue.”
“What? Here? Now?”
“Only if you are willing. Remember, we never proceed without consent.”
Billie scooted closer to Toni, then shifted. Toni, glancing down, saw Billie’s right foot – still encased in her shoe and sock – slide into her lap.
“Tread with caution, dear. Tickles under a table can create quite a bit of chaos. Trust me, I know from experience …”
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Billie, her cheeks getting red, the alcohol already having an apparent effect. (She didn’t drink often …)
“Never, darling. Creating fear is never the goal. Moreso … a playful caution,”
“Ohhh, it’s playful you want, huh? I’ll show ya playful!”
Billie made a face, and shifted her seating position again. She slid her left foot, now shoeless, into Toni’s lap next to its mate.
Taking another long sip from the straw, Billie stretched back in the booth, placing the back of one hand against her forehead in mock distress.
“Whatever is a girl to do?”
Toni did not respond – not at first. She took a couple of drinks from her faux mojito, and made several meaningful glances at Billie’s feet, which were now wiggling back and forth in Toni’s lap.
“And don’t thinkabout fakin’ me out and goin’ for my ribs,” Billie said. “I’m wise t’your tricks…”
“I see,” Toni said. “Might want to start nursing the rest of that drink, darling. As for this pair of gifts that quite literally has fallen into my lap… I’ll make you a deal. If you can last for … oh, let’s say 60 seconds … without making a noise, I’ll let you keep your shoe.”
“Bo-ring!” Billie bit her bottom lip slightly and, using her unshod foot, popped her heel out of her right shoe. A quick wriggle had it dangling from her toes within seconds, and Billie flicked it off, as the Van tumbled to the floor between them.
“Let’s make it 60 seconds for the socks! C’mon, no balls!”
“Are you so willing to bare your feet in public, darling?”
“Pfft. Nobody can see us over here… and besides, I know all your techniques. I’m perpared now. It’ll just feel like a nice foot rub…”
“I see,” Toni said, reaching forward to start a timer on her phone before her hands descended underneath the table.
“I’ve got this…” Billie said, assuming a stony expression.
Two hands, now concealed from Billie’s view, went into motion as fingers with short nails simultaneously trailed up and down the outer edge of both feet.
Billie’s face contorted. Her nose wiggled. Her lip curled. She twisted her neck back and forth.
“Something the matter, dear?” Toni said, one corner of her own mouth curled in a smirk.
More pressure on the outer edges, then fingers dancing suddenly in the center of Billie’s socked arches.
“Urk–”
“Say something, darling?”
Billie could only shake her head back and forth.
“My mistake, then. Only forty seconds remain!”
Holy shit … Billie thought. Even through her buzz she felt every poke, prod, scratch and scribble.
Until it all stopped.
Hmm, Billie thought. Gotta be on the looko–
“Eeeek!” Billie squealed, the utterance coming immediately as Toni grabbed Billie by the toes on her left foot, stretching it taut, and dragged a single short finger nail down the entire sole.
“Sayonara to this sock, then…” Toni said. “Less than 30 seconds to go, it’s all downhill from there! Let’s see if you can retain its mate…”
Billie, breathing hard through her nose with the mouth clenched, girded herself as Toni gripped the toes on her right foot, flexing that sole as well to create a wider canvas. She risked a sharp inhale, steadying herself…
As Toni suddenly scratched with all five fingers across the now bared left sole.
“Ahhehehehehee no fair!”
“No conditions were made that, once one foot was exposed, it could not be targeted to bare the other… say adieu to your one remaining sock…”
Billie, now barefoot, wriggled her toes but did not withdraw from Toni’s lap.
“Aw, damn,” she said.
“My dear Billiam,” Toni said, “I believe you doth protest too much. Or not enough, in this case. I’m no mind reader, but if I didn’t know better, I would say you initiated and lost this little contest entirely by design.”
A big, close-mouthed grin spread slowly on Billie’s face.
“Maaaaaybe,” Billie said. “Whatcha gonna do about it, hmmmm? Eep!”
A single nail running briskly up her left sole.
“Mmmph!”
Then the right sole.
“Is this what you wanted then?”
“I can’t say noooooh hehehehehe!”
Toni started scribbling all her fingers across Billie’s inviting soles. Her toes splayed in reaction, and her feet pressed forward into the tickle rather than retract. Billie, meanwhile, melted into a proverbial puddle of giggles.
She didn’t kick.
She didn’t fight it.
She just laughed.
After a while – not long enough for Billie to want her to stop, but long enough for her bladder to be glad it did – Toni ceased her explorations, shifting immediately to a light massage of Billie’s bare arches.
“Mmmm,” Billie said. She leaned back and took another sip of the margarita. “Now this I could get used to… why can’t find a spa that offers this type of service?”
“A tickle massage?”
Billie only nodded with enthusiasm.
“Only in our dreams, my dear.” Toni gave Billie a light tap on the side of her left foot. “Now finish your drink and collect your shoes. You wanted a night on the town, correct? It’s time we ventured into another watering hole…”
Billie, grunting, ducked under the table to grab her shoes.
“Um… where are my socks?”
Toni took a long pull from the straw of her mocktail mojito.
“Oh, those are mine now, dear. Spoils of war. You understand.”
Later …
Stumbling into her hotel room, Billie kicked off her shoes. One flew high, bouncing off the wall in the entry hallway and nearly rebounding back to hit her.
“Ack!”
Billie claimed the complimentary bottle of water off the dresser and teetered barefoot on rubber legs to fall into the bed. She propped up on her elbows and started chugging from the bottle. Then, still laying face down, she swung her legs up from the knees, her bare soles kicking back and forth gently in the air as she reached for her phone.
U still up?
Billie stared at the screen, only pausing to blink or drink.
“Come oooooon,” she said softly.
Not even a minute passed before the three dots appeared.
Billie flashed a beaming smile.
Hey it’s late there, right? Are you OK?
Billie’s grin widened.
Im druuuuunk!
Three dots.
OMG really
Billie pressed a few buttons on her phone. A quick musical tune played as she waited for response to her FaceTime call.
Only a few seconds later, Liv’s face appeared in Billie’s screen. She had her hair pulled back and was wearing her glasses.
“OK, so how drunk are you?”
“I’m fiiiiine,” Billie said, suddenly shifting to sit cross legged on the bed. She yanked off her jacket, which briefly got stuck on one arm “Bro! Bro! She got me again! Toni’s a damn supervillain or somethin’ …”
Liv, highly amused: “No argument here.”
“And she STOLE MY SOCKS! And they were nice socks!” Another shift from Billie, now wiggling her bare toes close to the screen. “Seeeeee?”
“Yup,” Liv said, still chuckling. “No socks in sight. You sure you didn’t trade them for beer?”
“I don’t drink beer, gahd!” Billie said. “I was havin’ marg’ritas!”
“Margaritas plural?”
Billie nodded as if some wise piece of advice had been imparted, then held up two fingers in front of the phone.
“Kinda lightweight, huh?”
“Hey, they were BIG!”
More giggles from Liv. Billie broke as well and they just laughed together for a few minutes.
“Hey, Billie.”
“Yeah?”
“You got any water there?”
“Uh huh, uh huh, they’s a bottle in my room. It was compermentree. I mean complimemp… it was free!”
Liv, trying not to bust out laughing: “OK. You should drink the rest.”
“I’m not tirsty right now…”
“Billie,” Liv said, more firmly now. “If you won’t keep drinking, I’m going to hang up.”
An open-mouthed gasp from Billie. She started drinking desperately from the bottle as if she had been poisoned and the water contained the only antidote, finishing it.
“You got any more water, bud?”
“Nuh uh,” Billie said with an emphatic shake of her head.
“What hotel are you in? And what room? I’m going to DoorDash you more water. And probably a sandwich.”
“Gee, thanks, MOM…”
Liv just flipped off the camera in response as Billie started reciting the contact information for her hotel and room.
Silence on Liv’s end for a bit, then… “OK. Order placed. I tipped extra so they bring it straight to the room.”
“Awwwww. Yer nice.”
“Ha, thank you. I've also been there. I partied pretty hard when I was your age… that was a wild time to be in developmental.”
“Yeah I remember watchin you when I was little.”
“OhmyGAWD, can we not? Sorry it's kinda hard for me to look at you as an equal when you say stuff like that… it reminds me how young you are.”
“Hey I am twen. Tee. One.”
“Yes, yes. That's still young!”
“Izzat why yer bein so nice and orderin’me water and sammiches and stuff?”
“Well yes. But also… like, we're friends now, aren't we?”
A pregnant pause.
Then fervent nodding by Billie. “Totally…”
A big smile from Liv on the other end.
“Hey, are you at th’ranch? CAN YOU LEMME SEE THE COWS?!?!”
“Sorry bud, I'm in LA.”
“Awww well damn. How come?”
“Photo shoots, interviews and… an audition.”
Billie gasped.
“Bro, are you quitting wrestling?”
“What? No! It’s just a small part in a movie. And, I mean, it never hurts to prepare for the future. I can’t wrestle forever.”
“Awwww. That makes me sad.”
“What? The idea of not wrestling?”
Billie nodded.
“As young as you started, I was wondering if you were feeling burnt out yet. Guess not.”
“Nope,” Billie said, shaking her head in an exaggerated motion. “Wrestling’s all I ever wanted t’do, ya know? I’m livin’ the dream…”
“It’s a grind, though.”
“Yeahhhh…”
“Hey, Billie?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t go to sleep yet.” A frown from Billie… “Your order is coming, You need to stay awake and eat and drink something first. And we can keep chatting the whole time.”
“Thas good. Otherwise I might get loooonely.”’
“Yeah, definitely some food and more water.”
A giggle, then suddenly Billie’s face brightened. “So, bro! D’ya wanna hear what happent this time?”
“You mean with Toni?”
Enthusiastic nodding.
“You know I do,” Liv said.
Billie went into her tale of the test of ticklish wills with Toni in the corner booth. Embellished by her drunkenness, which also led to a few narrative detours, it took her a good 10 or 15 minutes. Liv just listened patiently.
“Oh man, both bare feet, right in the restaurant? I would have DIED…” Liv said.
“It was purty bad. An’ she stole my socks!”
A giggle from Liv: “You mentioned that. I bet they were nice socks, too.”
“They WERE! Aaaanyway, I lost bad…”
A knock at the door.
“Ope! Thas my water an’ sammich!”
Billie dropped her phone and went teetering to the door.
Liv found herself staring at the ceiling of Billie’s hotel room for at least a minute. Then, heavy footsteps and a bang.
“OW!”
“You OK, bud?”
Billie’s face, a little more flushed, bounced back into view. “Yeah…” she held up a pack of water bottles and a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil. “I stubbed my toe, though.” Billie stuck her foot up against her phone and wiggled her digits. “It might be brooooken.”
Liv sighed. “OK … we need a conversation pause until you eat some of that sandwich and drink another half bottle of water.”
“Ooh! Anotha challenge…”
Billie ate and drank for the next few minutes.
“Hey, Billie.”
“Mmm?”
“Your foot is still up in the camera.”
“Oops!” A happy cackle from Billie, then: “does it boooother you?”
“Well, no. It’s just–”
“Does it make ya wanna TICKLE it?” Billie wiggled her toes for emphasis.
“Honestly? Little bit.”
“Right heeeere,” Billie said, pointing to the center of her arch. “Thumbs? In circles? One clockwise an one count’rclockwise. My Kryptonite.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that for the next time we’re together…” Liv said.
Billie clapped her hands in delight. “Yay! Because I love it, ya know. I mean, always have! Tickling’s just, like, the best.”
Liv replied, “For me it depends on the situation. And who’s doing the tickling. The context.”
Billie contemplated while chewing another bite of her sandwich.
“I’ve never, like, said that out loud. I mean, EVER.”
“What’s that?”
“Bout me lovin’ it when I get tickled. I… it’s my secret.”
“Bill, honey, trust me, it was pretty obvious that you enjoy it that night in the training ring. All we did was mention the subject and you were flat on the mat with your shoes off before we could finish another sentence. And for what it’s worth, you’re very fun to tickle… that was–what’s wrong?”
Billie lowered a now-empty water bottle from her lips and sniffed loudly.
“Billie, why are you crying?!?”
“It just means a lot t’me…” Billie blubbered.
Silence for a few seconds, with a heavy sigh from Liv: “OK, so now we’re in the sad drunk stage.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just really emotional right now an’ I dunno whyyyy…”
The tears continued to flow. Liv just stayed quiet, letting Billie cry for the next couple of minutes. Then, a gentle “Hey, Billie?”
“Mmmhm? sniff”
“I think it’s time to rest. Drink some more water first… are you still hungry?”
“A little, maybe.”
“Another bite or two. Go on.”
Billie followed Liv’s directions, not only taking an extra bite off the sandwich but finishing it completely, then guzzling another half bottle of water.
“OK,” Liv said. “Time for bed.”
“Awwww.”
“No argument. Time to sleep it off…”
“Mmkay..” Billie yanked her T-shirt up over her head.
“Whoa!” Liv said. “Wasn’t expecting that.”
“Relaaax, I still gotta bra on…” Then the picture tumbled and turned, ending up with Billie’s face back on screen and the rest of her body buried under the covers.
“OK, time for sleep.”
A slow nod from Billie. “Thanks fer takin care o’me. I… I know we just started talkin’ an’ stuff but I already feel close to you. Yer a good friend.”
“I feel the same way, Billie. Go sleep, Good night.”
“Nighty night.”
The video cut off.
The next thing Billie knew, her phone alarm was going off. She rolled over into a ray of sunlight peeking between her hotel room curtains and groaned. Sitting up to shut off her phone, she howled and brought a hand up to her temple.
My head … she thought. Last night was… was fun.
She began to replay her mini-bar crawl with Toni, mentally lingering upon the brief contest in the corner booth that ended up with Billie barefoot and giggling under Toni’s fingers. Then, back to the hotel and …
“Oh god!” Billie said out loud to an empty room.
She opened her phone and frantically flipped to her call history.
Liv Morgan
FaceTime
57:42.
Now she remembered. Bad enough to drunk text Liv in the middle of the night, but then to drunk dial her?!?
A notification was blinking. Billie tapped on it and her stomach dropped.
It was a text from Liv:
Hope U feel OK today … Gimme a call when ur awake & sober.
“Oh GAHD!”
She had made it weird. Again. Her mind tried to piece together as complete a transcript as she could of their FaceTime conversation.
Had she… no… had she stuck her bare foot in front of the screen?
Did they really talk about tickling for a while?
The blush returned to Billie's cheeks.
"I blew it..." she said in a low tone of voice, tears leaking from closed eyes.
Billie sobbed into her pillow until her alarm started clanging again. It was time to catch her flight home.
Billie wrapped up in her coziest hoodie and pair of sweats, stuffed her bare feet into her sandals (she lacked the energy for socks at this point), and dug an oversized pair of sunglasses out of her shoulder bag as she stepped into the hotel hallway, dragging her wheeled suitcase with her other hand. She just wanted to get home as soon as possible.
Five hours later as she disembarked from the plane, her phone pulsed in the kangaroo pouch of her hoodie. Then again as she reached the ride share pickup line. Then once more in the back seat as she nibbled on an overpriced bagel with very light cream cheese that she had bought on the way out of the airport.
Can’t hide forever… Billie thought.
Three more texts, all from Liv.
U OK?
Hey not heard back from u…
U good?!?
Billie sighed and fired off a quick reply.
👍
Her phone lit up.
Incoming FaceTime call from: Liv
“Here it comes,” she mumbled.
Her finger hovered for a second over the decline button, then she swiped to accept.
It was Wednesday again, and you know what that means …
"DyaaHA! Hehehe! OHOHOHOONOOOO HAHAHA!"
Billie clenched her eyes shut, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks, She grabbed the seat belt next to her with a tightly clenched fist while smacking her free hand against the seat.
“I see this technique has proven most effective…” Toni mused.
The day before, Billie had received a phone call from Toni.
“Let’s ride to the next event together from the airport,” Toni said. “I have a vehicle rented…”
One-on-one bonding time with Toni? She immediately agreed. Still, Billie had made a face when, in the rental car lot, Toni led them to a mini van. Now, she knew exactly why Toni had rented it. It provided plenty of room for shenanigans.
Presently, Toni sat in one of the captain’s chairs, her flats kicked off and resting in the floorboard next to the gas and brake pedals. She had one bare leg draped over the arm of her chair, which also happened to be pinning Billie’s ankles to the arm rest. With one hand, she had grasp of Billie’s two big toes, pulling them back. With the other, a travel comb raked slowly up and down her bare soles. Billie’s own shoes and socks were tossed haphazardly in the passenger cabin of the van. Toni continued to manipulate the comb as Billie screeched and cackled.
Toni slowed the motion of the comb to a very light scrape of Billie’s right arch as the foot engaged in a feverish display of wiggling and twisting.
“Still with me, dear?”
“Hehehehe. Hehehehehe,” BIllie, panting, red-faced, giggling in spite of herself. She breathed in through the nose and out through the mouth, recovering her wind. “Is that… Is that all you’ve got?”
Toni’s eyes flashed and Billie regretted her taunt, but only for a second. Then the laughter took back over. Coherent thoughts stopped for a bit, aside from one…
Wonder what other people using this parking garage are thinking right now?
It took another three minutes before Toni finally provoked a Pause.
“Your stamina is becoming spectacular, my dear,” Toni observed.
Billie, pausing between gulps from her reusable water bottle: “Thanks. It’s fun having you push my buttons and test my limits.”
“Quite enjoyable from this end as well!”
Billie just grinned and resumed drinking water.
“Shall we venture forth into the building?”
Billie lowered the water bottle. “Actually… I was going to ask. About, um, rotation.”
A slight smirk from Toni. “I see. I suppose I’ve earned some measure of role reversal these last few weeks. And you certainly have made the drudgery of the road more pleasant. Let’s have at it!”
“Wait… you sure? You want me to tickle you?”
A nod from Toni, who was placing a bobby pin in her hair.
“And you won’t get mad?”
Toni slowly turned in the captain’s chair. Billie, behind her, now sitting cross-legged, looking slightly down at the floor.
“Billie,” she said, the Timeless character wholly absent from her voice. “Look at me.”
Billie’s head rose.
“This is what we do here,” Toni said. “You don’t hafta worry about crossing lines. That’s what Pause is for. Understand?”
Billie looked away for a second. A loud sniff. Then she nodded, biting her bottom lip.
“Now,” Toni said, “how do you want me?”
“Just look that way,” Billie said, pointing at the front windshield.
“All right,” Toni said, running her hands down the pleats of her slacks. “You may fire when reeeeeeee!”
Lightning quick, Billie’s hands reached around Toni’s seat and began simultaneously squeezing her sides. Toni drew her knees up to her chest and screeched. Billie worked her fingers into the Timeless One’s flanks, using a kneading motion like she was making a loaf of bread. As she did, thoughts of last Thursday ran through her head.
“Hey,” Liv had said when Billie answered the FaceTime call. “I wanted to wait til you were sober for this, so you’d remember…”
“OK…” Billie trailed off.
“It’s time for you to get some payback on Toni. A/k/a the serial sock thief. Here’s how to get her…”
Billie doubled down on the ribs. Toni thrashed and twisted in the chair.
“Oh… Oh my GOD!” Toni uttered, throwing her head back, laughing deeply and loudly.
“Her upper body is weak, especially if you can get her by surprise,” Liv said. “The sides. Good, firm squeezes. But then if you really want to get her going…”
Billie’s hands worked up to the armpits, her fingers fluttering.
“Yeeeeeeeeeaghhhahahahahaha!”
“And then,” Liv said. “You just double down on the pits.”
Billie hadn’t gotten acrylics like Liv had suggested, but she knew how to tickle – especially after being on the receiving end of plenty of practice these last few glorious weeks. Plus, she always had been a quick learner. Billie’s fingers scrabbled frantically in the pits as Toni twisted, trying to escape or at least slow down the onslaught. Billie kept up the attack, until finally Toni tumbled into the floorboards, laughing and whooping at the top of her lungs. Her legs thrashed in defense, and Billie, showing the quick reflexes from countless hours of mat wrestling drills, hooked her right ankle.
“And if that doesn’t work,” Liv said, “Just go for the feet. Specifically, the toes.”
Billie leaned forward slightly, grinning as she started scratching her fingers urgently against the base of Toni’s toes.
Another loud squeal, then the floodgates opened.
“I NEVER HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Toni’s face started to turn as red as the flats she had discarded earlier while driving.
Billie, still holding Toni’s ankle, gradually slowed her pace before ceasing altogether. The van’s silence seemed sudden and loomed, broken up only by panting breaths from Toni.
“They… missed a few spots cleaning this van,” she observed. “Also… I… didn’t say… Pause.”
“Your body was saying different,” Billie said.
Toni glanced up at Billie, meeting her gaze with a lengthy look that read… respect? Approval? Maybe a bit of both.
“Well-managed,” Toni said. “And well scouted! I suspect Liv has been sharing some reconnaissance with you, which to my ticklish chagrin, you have incorporated into this assault.”
“Valedictorian for a reason,” Billie reminded, then a pause. “Ready to go in?”
“Nonsense!” Toni said. “We are right where we need to be…”
Toni raised her free leg to allow open access to both soles, side by side. Billie grinned, her fingers descending, already wiggling.
Had someone walked past the van about 20 seconds later, they would have seen it shaking slightly as frantic laughter bellowed from within.
About 10 minutes later …
Liv’s stomach squirmed with nerves on the way to the audition. Staring at the script in her hands, she mouthed the opening line to herself for the hundredth time that morning.
A sudden interruption: a FaceTime call from Billie.
Liv smiled and swiped to accept.
“Hey, girl..”
“Hey, indeed!” Toni’s face appeared on the screen next to Billie. The rear windshield of a vehicle in the immediate background. Both of them sweating, Toni red-faced and breathing hard, eyes glassy. Billie sported a broad grin: proud and glowing with triumph.
“Ohhh… Hey, Toni…” Liv said. She started reaching to turn on her Airpods.
“How. Dare. You,” Toni’s voice, steeped in mock outrage, echoed through her ears.
“I’m not sure what you refer to,” Liv said.
“Bloody hell you say!” Toni said. “The unabashed treachery of it all!”
Liv, laughing now, clapping her hands slowly in delight. “I’m so glad that worked out…”
“Me too!” Billie chimed in.
“Quiet, you…” Toni said, reaching with her right hand.
“Ack!” Billie recoiled from a sudden side squeeze, then broke into excited giggles. “OK! OK! Truce, right? We’re still in truce…”
A huff from Toni: “I suppose.”
Liv watched in silence, just enjoying the scene streaming to her. “I hate I missed it… seems like that happens a lot now…”
“The perils of working for competing companies, I suppose,” Toni said.
“Still,” Liv said. “I’ve got a free weekend coming up… probably my last one for at least a few weeks. Maybe we should get together? I’m still in L.A. We could use my place. Or, maybe a hotel on the coast in Malibu? My treat…”
“Ooooh!” Billie crowed. “Beach trip, beach trip!”
“That does sound tempting,” Toni said. “I believe next weekend is free as well, or, at the least, nothing exists that I cannot postpone. Better to leave them waiting, right?”
“I’m there!” Billie said.
“I shall supply the room service budget,” Toni said.
“And I’ll buy snacks!” Billie offered.
“I’ll set it up,” Liv said.
“Fantastic!” Toni said. “I’m already simmering with anticipation … just know, dear Liv, there shall be reciprocity for your betrayal today.”
“Yup. Lookin’ forward to it,” Liv said. “Bye, guys.”
As Liv disconnected the call, Toni extracted herself from the back seat of the van. “Very well, responsibility awaits. I must gather my effects…” Toni exited through the van sliding door and, through the open driver’s side door, started gathering keys, phone, and shoes.
Billie, for the moment, stayed in the back seat, bare legs stretched out, toes wiggling slightly, fully content, just grinning at her phone as she scrolled through old texts with Liv.
Business awaited. But, in that moment, she was right where she needed to be.
To Be Continued
Hope everyone enjoyed this installment. The earlier chapters remain available for your perusal.
The next chapter is already almost written. It's the longest yet, but also jam-packed with fun tickly action. Adding a third person creates a wealth of new scenarios and possibilities for you to enjoy.
