Lake Superior
TMF Regular
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2019
- Messages
- 188
- Points
- 18
---
"Hmmph, you again? Out of the way."
The redheaded younger man brushed right by her and Manuela sighed. She supposed she deserved it, having stopped right in the doorway of the dining hall to daydream. It just wasn't fair though! All these handsome men in every flavor and nobody for her! Her eyes wandered around the hall at all the groups. For a second she thought of dining with the husbands whose wives had been captured by Muspél.
The thought of sitting between the elegant Rafiel and the handsome Clive certainly held appeal. She wasn't sure if she could keep her hands to herself though as the urge to kiss Clive's handsome beauty mark or run her fingers through Rafiel's hair was so strong. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to eat without trying to cheer them up and while she was certainly at a low point, throwing herself at married men in grief wasn't a depth she was willing to explore.
She considered sitting with those she knew, Claude and his fellow Deer had been relatively untouched by the madness of this place but then she just knew she'd have to field questions on where Hanneman was and deflect barbs from the boy about how she was still single. She'd love nothing more than to teach Claude a lesson herself about the kind of things you should say to a beautiful woman but this wasn't the time.
Perhaps she could sit with some of the less reputable members of the Order? Lloyd and Linus were a dream sandwich of hers and they did seem to be good with children after all. She'd also entertained a fantasy of taking that man, Iago, and scrubbing him clean of all that grease upon him with a brush. The mage in question caught her staring at him and made a dismissive motion with his hand indicating that she should shoo away lest she catches his ire. She imagined him begging and pleading as she took a thin paintbrush to the palm of that very hand and smiled at the idea of his pale cheeks flushed for her.
---
Her indecisiveness caught a sympathetic eye and the same young man who'd waved her over gestured to an empty seat. She walked over and offered him a kind smile despite her lack of surprise. Despite his brusque and standoffish outer shell, Rutger was a kind boy. He tried to hide it but the way that Miss Louise was fawning over the boy gave it away. With one more wistful glimpse at the rogue's table. She thought about sitting right next to that Kempf fellow, to watch his handsome adam's apple bob when she fluttered a hand along his side but decided against it.
She sat down at the table with Rutger and the others to several greetings. Curt nods from Sir Perceval, a stiff salute from Thea, and a hearty hello from Dieck. Miss Louise and the Serra girl both barely spared a wave. The pink-haired girl was fawning over Rutger and fondling the material of his jacket while he blushed while the mother of the table was looking on happily. Rutger was trying to defend himself from the cleric's grubby hands by slapping them away but when one of his elbows gave Dieck a jab that came to a stop.
The green-haired mercenary seized Rutger by the wrists from behind and lifted his arms above his head. This left the swordsman with nothing to do but shake as Serra advanced on him with wiggling fingers. She said something about inspiration for her stories later but Rutger managed to worm his way out of Dieck's grip. He fell in a pile to the floor but was up and running before anyone knew it. Serra shook her fist at the fleeing boy while Louise covered her mouth to hide the giggles. Manuella pouted at Rutger having slipped away without so much as a smile.
"The boy's laugh must have sounded wonderful with that growly voice of his..." she muttered to herself under her breath. Manuela thought nobody had heard her as the table returned to their meals. She would be right except for one sympathetic soul who knew all too well the pain of listing after a Reglay boy. So it was that as the group finished their meals and excused themselves to train, polish their armor, speak with the summoner, or in Serra's case to write in her "journal" for the evening.
---
Manuela lingered there afterward, slowly slipping back into her melancholy before finally getting up with the intent of retiring to her room to drink and feel sorry for herself. Her eyes glued to her feet were the reason she saw it, a discarded book upon the ground. She wondered if it might be Serra's until she spied a name on it that made her heart flutter. "Rutger's Story" was emblazoned on the cover and she smiled that the shy boy had left behind his diary.
"If I take this then he'll have no choice but to come to my room and fetch it..."
She scooped it up furtively and returned to her dwelling to come up with a plan. Before she left however she told a few of the other lollygaggers about how she'd found something of Rutger's and to tell him to come get it from her. On her way to her room, she opened it up, planning to flip through the boy's diary for some cute details as a belayed Christmas gift to herself. Oddly though the majority of the pages were blank. She had to flip through almost to the beginning of the book just to find any text. What she did find though was delicious. She'd assumed that this was named "Rutger's Story" due to the boy keeping a journal but instead she found that he seemed to be writing one about himself.
"Rutger was tired, so tired. His friends and family had done their best to keep to his spirits up but the sadness he felt at Clarine having been captured was too great. He went to bed every night upset that he'd been summoned much too late to even see her. He just wanted to be alone, to be somewhere with nobody else and to try and find a way to smile there...or someone..."
Manuela raised an eyebrow at where he'd stopped writing. A bit trite but as far she knew the boy had never had much in the way of education. Still, the line about wanting someone to help him smile was very cute. There was a quill pressed between the pages and before she knew it, she was continuing his tale. Scribbling away into the night with an entirely self-serving tale of Rutger in his new home.
---
Rutger sat on his bed, unaware of what was changing around him. He rarely was aware of the movings of others, even less so nowadays. His mind always bouncing between thoughts of battle and that damn girl Clarine. He tried to occupy his mind with the cleaning of his blade for the eighth time today. He put the cloth to it and began waxing up and down as he normally did but again his mind wandered. He could almost hear the girl whinging behind him about how much time he wasted with that sword.
A thump at the door made him jump and inadvertently knick the side of his finger on his blade. The smallest bit of blood dribbled out as Rutger stood from the bed to check on who was disturbing him. He clenched it between a thumb and forefinger to dull the pain as he opened the door and stepped forwards to see who it was. A blast of cold air stung his cheeks and the swordsman shielded his face at the unexpected sensation.
When he looked up he had to blink his eyes in absolute disbelief at what was before him. Rather than the corridors of the castle which connected all the rooms, instead, now he looked around at what seemed to be a cozy cabin he'd never seen before. He could see snow out the window and lots of it, more than he'd ever seen. He turned back to reenter his room only to see that now the door opened out to what seemed to be an endless snowy forest. He saw figures darting between the trees and swallowed nervously before closing the door behind him.
The cabin radiated warmth from its burning fireplace, complete with a large fur rug before it and a large sofa. Rutger felt warmer the closer he got to it and colder the closer he got to the walls of the cabin, suddenly very aware that his clothes were meant for the plains rather than the mountains. He shivered as he took a step forward and suddenly yelped as cold sensations shot up his legs. The swordsman looked down and wondered where his shoes and socks had gone.
---
Manuela put her pen to her lip and wondered if that was a bit too self-indulgent. She wanted to use it to set up the next scene where the silly boy has to dance from one cold tootsie to the other over to the sofa. Just imagining him doing it made her bite her lip but she had to pace herself. Besides the poor boy still had a nicked finger! She had a plan to help him with that!
Rutger danced from foot to foot as the cold wood sent chills up his leg. His size 7 soles were used to not just being inside a pair of leather boots and wrapped in his thin socks, but also the much more temperate climates of Sacae. He hadn't been able to in ages what with the war, his summoning here and now Múspell but one of his favorite things to do back in his village was to simply sit beneath a tree on the plains and take his socks and shoes off. The feeling of the warm winds licking along his soles would make him smile as he lulled himself into a dream with the sound of the grass rustling. Occasionally a long stalk of it might brush along the boy's warm sole and his smile would grow but until all of this that had been his only real experience with tickling.
He'd ended up learning fast about that here though. In his first week after being summoned that resentment at the lack of Clarine here had led to him charging right at a Múspel force without backup. He'd spent a humiliating 20 minutes because of that at the mercy of Helbindi. Just a trip had sent Rutger face-first into the ground and the burly ax-man had then just taken his ankles and crossed them before kneeling on them and pinning Rutger right there with his face in the dirt. The man had then driven a rough finger right into the deepest part behind Rutger's knee and swirled it about as the young man howled.
"I'LL KIHIHILL YOHOHU! GEHEHET AHAHAFF! FIHIHIGHT MEHEHE FAAHAIR!"
"Hmmph, why would I let you go just to fight you again? You came running over here like this, KNOWING you were ticklish. I think your right where you wanna be. Let's just keep you right there till my boys can get me a bag we can stuff you in. Until then let's have fun! Tickle, tickle!~"
---
When Rutger's allies found him the soles of the man's boots had been cut away with a knife. They'd followed the humiliating sounds he made as Helbindi simply ran his thumb along the trapped teen's arch.
"GAHAHAH! I'm gohohnna-PAHAHA! I'll kihihil-OOHAHAH NAHAHT THE TOHOHES! MUHURDER Y-EEEEHEEK NOHOHOOO!"
"Gotta say, I'm loving this. Think I'll keep you. Sure they'll probably want you for something else but just imagine you all wrapped up tight just for me. These sexy feet of yours, all mine. Sound nice? Gimme a squeal if your into it hehe~"
Rutger's face flushed as he remembered even now what it had felt like when Helbindi had pinched his littlest toe between his thumb and forefinger to give it a wiggle like that. He'd been pounding his fists in the dirt when Lugh and Dieck had saved him. His face was hot enough that he had to cover it with his hands as he just thought about it. He still had nightmares about it, where he was wrapped up tight in chains being carried around by the Múspel general. A shiny piece of tape over his lips and the only free part of him being his ankles. They'd wiggle in fear when Helbindi brought his fingers close which would just make him hungrier.
"I love your soles...so warm to the touch...I. Could. Sleep. On. Them."
Rutger searched around the cabin, he swore that hadn't been in his mind. He lay on the sofa with his long legs dangling over the arm rest and for a minute entertained a fantasy of that rough-fingered man being down there looking up at his orange soles and licking his lips.
"Get a grip...nobody else here...wherever here even is."
There was a small table before the sofa and Rutger spied a roll of bandages on it, as well as a pile of wrapping paper. He was confused for a minute but a sting of pain from his finger reminded him that the bandages were something he was in need of.
---
Manuela licked her lip and smiled, that was probably enough set-up. The poor boy was due for a good few giggles and she knew the perfect way to get them started. Back in the cabin, Rutger reached for the bandages but found them just out of reach from where he was on the couch. He could simply stand up and get it, but that would put his soles right back on that cold floor. Instead with the brilliance that can come only from a mercenary life, he reached further and further for the bandages. His fingertips brushing against them, a glance down revealed a pile of what seemed to be left-over Christmas decorations and wrapping paper on the ground beneath the table but that wasn't important, he was sooo close to the bandages that he could almost-
"Well look who I found, hehe~"
That rough voice and that s****** that Rutger remembered all too well. Just the sound of it made him jump and he crashed into the pile of holiday refuse as a result. That fiend from Múspel was on him in seconds and soon his vision was obscured by colorful paper adorned with cartoon snowmen and he was rolled onto his stomach. His arms were forced behind his back and he heard tape crack as they were wrapped up in paper and drawn tight. Rutger struggled and kicked but without any room to move he was totally in Helbindi's grasp and the man was much stronger than him. When Helbindi hauled him up onto the couch with him to inspect his work, Rutger was mortified.
He pulled at his bindings in frustration while grunting but that just made Helbindi guffaw at him. The warrior noticed Rut's hurt finger and pulled him over into his lap. The swordsman was bright red as he bandaged it up for him before ruffling his pretty hair. He squirmed in the wrapping paper again with renewed zeal as Helbindi sized him up.
---
"Can't say I know where I am, just walked out of my quarters and ended up here. Door disappeared behind me as well, I'm used to magicking at this point though. I'll be home eventually and now I'll have a good belated Christmas present with me in the form of..."
Helbindi ended his pause by ripping open Rutty's shirt and exposing the lads flat stomach. Bindi put a hand against and smiled at the way his prey tried to writhe away from him despite the hand he had supporting the other lower back. He slowly approached the helpless tum with wiggling fingers and enjoyed how it was getting more and panicked as he neared.
"Gonna get that tum~ Gonna tickle you to bits! See you squeal when I say tickle, tickle~"
"St-Stop it! G-Get away! Le-Let me go d-da-dammit!"
Rutger's cheeks were bright crimson as Helbindi's fingers got closer. They wiggled faster the closer they got to the swordsmen's defenseless midsection. The redhead wiggled in fear and tried to pull away but found him getting closer and closer to his ticklish belly.
"Awee what a cute little button that is! Mind if I stick a finger in and see what it does? I feel like the way your blushing means you'd love me too! Is that right? Is wittle Rutty a big old slut for having his button tickled and played with?"
Rutger pulled at the wrapping paper that had entombed his arms. He wanted to hiss out a threat, tell Helbindi that he'd tear his throat out or kill him or-or JUST anything to get that evil hand away from his belly button.
"St-Stop it! Damn y-you geheht aw-away! STOHOP IT DAMMIT!"
Helbindi's smirk got bigger as Rutger was starting to crack. This boy was far too much fun to ever let go, he'd just have to keep him. The mystery of where they were was slipping farther and farther from his mind.
"Oooh your so giggly huh? My, my I'm not even touching you yet! Is this tight tummy that tickly? Your giggling just thinking about me touching it~ Oooh my hands is getting closer! Oooh I'm knead the skin on it like dough!"
Rutger was biting his lip as he tried to suck in his breath to get his stomach away from Bindi's questing fingers. The problem was that a life as a sellsword had made him lean and muscled if not scrawny. He'd eaten well since being summoned to Askr even if sometimes he had to be forced by the overly caring like Lady Louise, Queen Mikoto, or that dreadful Camilla woman. That meant there wasn't much belly to suck in as Helbindi's wiggling fingers got closer.
"Gooooonna get ya~ Come to Papa Bindi, my poor ticklish belly boy. Soooo close!"
"Nonononononono!"
"Yeeees~"
---
Helbindi's finger just grazed Rutger's quivering stomach when the big man pulled his arm out from behind the boy. The redhead fell back in an undigified manner across the couch as his captor laughed at him. Rutger tried to snarl but ended up laughing right along with him as Big Bindi dug his fingers into his sides and started fluttering them downwards. He kicked his legs and tries to roll away but the Múspellian kept him up on the sofa and beneath him as his fingers kept going.
"Look at how red you are! You look like a tomato haha! Wow I almost feel bad about this! Haha...almost..."
"Bahahastard! Lehehet me uhuhp! Peheerverhert! I'm gohohonna kihiihill you!"
Helbindi's hands had wandered down to where the swordsman's hipbones poked out from above his waistline. He drove the points of both index fingers into the tips of them and wiggled the bones abit under the warm skin. The act made Rutger's laugh grow harsher and for a minute he choked on it until a reassuring slap to the stomach from the older warrior cleared the air from his chest.
"Haha you love this so much your forgetting to breathe! Silly boy! Am I gonna have to keep you close all the time?"
The hands of Helbindi hadn't slowed, now they were at Rutger's thighs, rather than flutter though they squeezed the meat there and made the man yelp with surprise at the sudden pinch. He tried to wiggle free but at this point, his legs were too wrapped up in the man's thick arms to separate. He pulled at the wrappings on his arms and grunted with effort until Helbindi put a stop to that with a simple flick of his kneecap that made him snort.
"*Phnnnkk* Stahap it! Gehehet off!"
"Haha, can you stop getting cuter?! That little piggly snort of yours is adorable! C'mere and do it again!"
"Nohoh! *hnnnrkk* staahahp *ghnnk* bahahast-*snnnrrk* I cahahn't- *snnggkk* nohoho mohohore!"
---
Helbindi hid his face behind his hand for a minute, he didn't want the boy to see just how big his own smile was. While writing that line, Manuella did the same unconsciously. The man's thick fingers finally moved on from teasing his knees to wander further down. They dug hard into Rutger's calves and while the man's giggly snorts ceased, he did begin shaking. That just made Helbindi dig in even more as he tried to coax out those snarly giggles from the youth. Eventually he had both index fingers extended and was driving them in right at the point on the back of the man's calves where his ankles met them. Rutger was shaking his head back and forth as a means to block out the sensations but the way Helbindi was raising his legs up slowly while playing with the backs of his calves had him weakening. He cracked one eye open to see the general looking at him hungrily.
His mouth went dry at Helbindi's tongue protruding from between his lips. He tried to beg him not to do what he had in mind but couldn't get the words out. Instead, all he could do was shake his head with big pleading eyes which just made Helbindi's smile grow larger. He turned back to Rutger's poor ticklish legs and planted his tongue right into the calf to start lapping at them. Rutger wailed like a child at the feeling, Helbindi's tongue was just so frustratingly ticklish that he was losing his mind. Each time he pressed it on the muscle, Rutger jumped and as it went down the skin he shuddered all while giggling like a small child. When he finally stopped licking away at the boy it took a good few minutes for him to finally get his breath back and shake the red from his face. The way Helbindi kept patting him on the stomach and saying "There, there" was really not helping him calm down. The way his trousers were so tight in the-
---
Manuela put the quill down for a second and let out a sigh, she was having fun just tickling the nasty right out of the boy but was she ready to move this story to the dirty part. She supposed realistically that he'd probably want to let something out now but she'd yet to get Rutger's handsome feet which she'd been eagerly anticipating since she started writing this story. After all, a young man as light on his feet as Rutger was practically begging to have his handsome soles savaged.
She'd gotten a glimpse of them on the training grounds once when he'd been hard at work at a spar with that Dieck. She had to pause for a moment and let out a moan into her hand.
"Mmm, those Reglay men are certain treats. What I wouldn't give to have the whole bed full of them at my mercy. Even that little girl of theirs is a darling. Toss her in for good measure."
She looked at the ceiling as she said this wistfully. So absorbed was she in her writing when she'd entered her room that she'd neglected to close it fully. Because of that her voice carried out into the hall and caught the ear of a passing Sniper who had a vested interest in the family. She stopped at the mention of the word and nudged open the door as Manuela slipped further into her memories.
That glimpse of Rutger's sole had stuck with her ever since she'd seen it. The prickly swordsman had called a time-out in his spar with Dieck saying there was something in his shoe that was throwing off his footing, that being the only reason that the other was winning currently. He had been adjusting his moccasin when Dieck had scooped him right off his feet to plop him down on the bench and pull that leg into an armlock. Manuela's jaw had dropped when he plucked the shoe and sock off and exposed hauntingly charming-looking footsie.
The sole had looked warm to the touch with that inviting-looking orange hue that she'd seen on the heroes of Sacaen descent. The difference was that for them it was full body while Rutger being only half Sacaen seemed to have it only along his lower body. When she'd seen the boy run his fingers along his sole and how smoothly they'd glided, her breath hitched. Now that Dieck had it up though, she was getting quite the show. The mercenary began tapping along the sole and asking Rutger where the spot was that hurt. The way the toes flexed in panic at each tap was so enticing that she barely paid any attention to all the snarls and threats that the boy was letting out as he beat on Dieck's back.
---
Her mind went from thinking about Rutger's feet to his reactions. They'd been increasingly interesting as Dieck had worked over his sole. A tap at the heel had him trying to curl up while a poke at the ball of his foot made him let out a startled yelp. A poke to the stems of his toes had him arch his back like a cat while doing so the arch had tears poking out in the corners of his eyes. The continued pokes to his sensitive foot soon had him going from clawing at Dieck's back like a wildcat to mewling like a kitten. It had been so adorable to see the uncharacteristic actions of the swordsman she'd seen around. With a new idea, she put her quill to the page and plunged Rutger into a whole new level of tickle hell.
Helbindi had taken Rutger by his ankles once the redhead could breathe again. He enjoyed the panicked way the legs were trying to pull away when an idea popped into his head. He kept his tickly boy still as he reached over and began rummaging around in the old Christmas decorations. Rutger didn't see what he pulled out but squealed when he felt something fuzzy being wound around both his big toes. He tried to kick it off but that earned his calf a squeeze from Helbindi.
"Hehehehy whahaht are yoohohu dohoing?"
"Helping you slip into something a bit more festive. Don't worry handsome it won't hurt!"
Rutger suddenly felt something soft and leafy on his sole making him sniff a bit with giggles. He tried to kick it away as best he could with his toes tied together but it just returned and fluffed his soles again much to his giggly dismay. Still, he repeated the process over and over, his frustrated growls turning to snickers and giggles as Helbindi watched. The ax-wielder smiled, he didn't know how he'd gotten such an inspired idea as to hang that sprig of cheap plastic mistletoe from his hubbies toes but it was working phenomenally. Rutger was driving himself mad trying to kick it away even though the more effort he put in it just meant the decoration would come back to fluff up his buttery soles even worse. Helbindi had to smile at the dumb teens' efforts making him look almost like a house cat chasing a light. He repositioned Rutty so that the man was sitting in his lap and he could get a look at that flushed face as he kept kicking and wiggling the mistletoe along his soles.
"You know what you supposed to do when somebodies under the Mistletoe right, Giggles?"
---
Rutger's face went from pink to bright red as Helbindi planted his lips right on the side of his face. The big man gave him a wet and rough kiss that honestly tickled as well due to the little bit of stubble on his chin. Rutger blushed furiously at it still and when Helbindi came up for air, he appreciated it. The swordsman's reactions were addictive o him, he just wanted to take him home and see how far he could push the embarrassment. He slid a finger up Rutger's neck as he giggled before hooking him by the chin and forcing his head skyward, Rutger let out a moan as Helbindi began pelting his helpless neck with kisses both hard and soft. Rutger was shaking like a leaf in Helbindi's arms as he tried to shake the man off, all that was accomplished though was giving his soles more and more attention from that evil mistletoe.
Helbindi planted a peck on Rutger's adam's apple and the swordsman's ears heated up. A deep kiss on Rutger's cheek made him swallow hard. A string of light kisses to one of Rutger's ears had him squirming in Helbindi's lap. So giggly and tired was he that when Bindi took him by the face, he didn't have the strength to resist. Helbindi pressed his lips on Rutgers and forced his way in. The swordsman's whole body tensed at first, never having had another man in his mouth but Helbindi's thick tongue was soon playing along Rut's and teasing it. Eventually, though, his was locked in with Helbindi's both dancing inside Rutger's mouth. It wasn't unlpleasant he supposed, that is until the mistletoe started fluttering at his foot again. His giggles just meant that big Bindi's tongue could have the advantage.
---
That was fine with him though, Rutger was tactically minded thanks to his chats with Lord Pent. He was fine ceding his mouth to Helbindi and letting his feet be ravaged if it meant he could work on his arms. The wrapping paper binding them had been steadily loosening due to getting soggy. A good amount of sweat had been sliding down Rutger's naked back thanks to Helbindi's games. It meant that it was weaker, much weaker. He'd been digging his nails in and all the squirming had paid off finally. He'd managed to get his hands free as before they'd been entombed entirely. Now he was using them to try and rip his way through to freedom. One piece of wrapping paper though had stayed a bit too dry and when Rutger tried to rip it, made a loud crinkle catching Helbindi's attention. The big man pulled his tongue from down Rutger's throat and peered over his shoulder.
"Ah, ah, ah! Naughty boy! Trying to get those hands free? Well we'll teach you what happens when you give me more skin to play with."
Helbindi put a hand under Rutger's knees and flipped him over to lay his meal on his stomach now. This meant that those tricky hands of the swordsman were now facing up. Helbindi pulled a ribbon out of the old Christmas decorations and used it to tie Rutger's thumb and forefingers together. He then pulled them back before trapping them in a pretty bow with the ribbon, leaving Rutger's palms stretched and helpless. It meant the plainsman could do nothing when the man dragged a finger along the helpless skin of his hand. Rutger bit his lip to stifle the noise but the way the boy jerked when he did it was all Helbindi needed to know that he'd found one more good time on this handsome rogue. He started up beneath Rutger's middle finger, the lines there showing that this was quite the rude lad he'd captured here. Helibindi's fingers nail tracing every line there though had Rutger being nothing but smiles and giggles though, all the swears he wanted to say were lost in a haze of tickly fog. Cutting through that fog swiftly though was two words out of Helbindi's mouth that he leaned forward to say.
"Tickle, tickle~"
"%@&$-ing Hahaha, @&#&$$$ kill you! Eeeeheheeh! #&$&#&!!!! Eeeehahahehe!! Gehehet off!"
The words Rutger said meant nothing to Helbindi partly because he didn't speak any Sacaen and so the direct tranlation of "One who picks up after the horse" would be lost on him, but mainly because Rutger's laugh was all the big man had ears for. The way his breathy voice sounded when he cackled like a lunatic for him was heavenly. He drove his fingers up and down his palm to hear more. A puzzled look crossed Helbindi's face. Why had his toy stopped singing? Bindi started stroking a finger down one of Rutger's thumbs and even though the young man kicked his legs and squirmed, there was no laughter. He pouted and suddenly noticed a bit of wetness on the couch. He looked down and saw that Rutger had bitten down on the cushions of the sofa to muffle himself. His eyes were crossed with the effort and his cheeks were beet-red but Rutger was choking down the giggles.
"Oh boys!~"
---
Back in Castle Askr, Louise looked around Manuela's quarters in confusion. Dame Reglay herself had heard the woman not a moment ago in here mentioning her beloved family. Now however there was no sign of her, Louise was puzzled. A hand probing the seat in front of the desk found it still warm as if someone had been sitting in it just moments ago. Manuela's heels were beneath the desk as well so she truly had no idea where the songstress had gone. The motherly sniper fretted for a moment on whether the Order had just lost another member to Múpell's tricks. She stopped to look around the room once more as she had the oddest feeling she was being watched. There was nobody else in the room though...
Louise was right about being watched though. She just had no way of knowing the way. All the way in Castle Múspell, a lone Nidavellin watched her. Her tired size 11 feet up on the bed before her, Reginn was enjoying the show. She was so glad she'd thought of the spell for the Tickle Notes. After testing it out with Erk she'd started making more and more with the strange technology and runes of her homeland. Not only did what was written in them come to pass for the victim but as the author wrote more and more into the book, they themselves became charmed. Soon enough Reginn would have enough control over Manuela to have her deliver not just Rutger to her but herself as well, all tied up nicely in a bow as a way to celebrate February. Playing a prank on Mr. Helbindi like this was also a bonus, it was quite the treat to watch the big man like this.
She reached over and pulled her favorite pair of bed toys closer so that they could snuggle with their princess. The disembodied heads of Seliph and Julius whined as she did so but a stern look from her silenced them. The pair of Grannvalen princes had their various body parts strewn about the room on the walls, shelves, and such. Their soft feet both protruded from Reginn's pillow right where she liked them. They both knew that Reginn kept a number of mechanisms in her room and that with just thought she could activate them to start teasing and tickling their various spots all over the room.
There were mechanical claws to twiddle their nipples on the wall. Featherrollers set right beneath their kneepits with pens to tend to their kneecaps. Forks to scrape along their thighs, synthetic tongues for their armpits and robotic hands to pinken and tease the boy's stomachs and navels. Reginn quite the little bit of matching baby fat the half brothers had there, even if they enjoyed her teasing it a bit less. They knew to be good and let her tickle their sensitive noses of it could get so much worse...
She did just that idly with a feather as she activated a few of her devices to make sure that Louise noticed a book she'd placed on the desk. Yes, Lady Loki had told her that the Reglay's were all for her but Rutger boy was just an in-law after all...surely the strategist wouldn't miss just one, handing her Louise would more than make up for it. She turned back to her other screen to watch Manuela's hand-crafted fantasy change now that she'd been pulled in.
---
Manuela came down the stairs with glazed eyes. Her mind had tried to process what was happening at first but the sight of the tableau she'd written up before here had quickly overwhelmed her. With the book still in hand, she was still writing as she came down the stairs and her actors were happy to oblige her. Helbindi helped Rutger up and removed the wrapping paper from his arms. The two then both reached down into the pile of out-of-date Christmas decor and rummaged about until they found a pair of horrendously ugly Christmas-themed sweaters. They moved robotically but with their faces contorted in absolute confusion. Manuela sighed at the blatant contrivance she was forced to use but she really wanted to move the plot along here to next scene.
Rutger's sweater announced that he in fact held Santa's rein, very dear to him. It showed the big man happily squeezing a pair of them under each arm. They confusingly both had the bright rednose of Santa's most famous steed and both were represented with a little red light right on each of Rutger's nipples, well one did at least. The other reindeer had lost his bright red nose from the sweater's age and now one of the Sacaen's pink nipples poked out into the cold air there due to a conspicuous tear. All this on a fabric of matte green that was supposed to conjure images of pine needles but instead seemed a bit sickly. Helbindi's sweater had the little drummer boy emblazoned upon it currently engaged in the process of unwrapping presents. However due to an unfortunate tear in the fabric, the poor lad's gifts were gone, and instead he looked on in amazement at a portion of Helbindi's abdominal muscles. The whole scene was captioned with the festive pun of "Drumming Up Interest" across Helbindi's pectorals and set on what was supposed to be a holiday red but after repeated washings now seemed to be an almost medicinal pink.
---
Just as was written in Manuela's story the two then set to help each other take the too long arms of each sweater and tie them into crossing knots, effectively trapping them in festive straitjackets. Manuela had a lend a hand of course to help both boys be totally trapped, but once it was done she took a seat on the couch between both of them happily. With a smile, she noted how they both squirmed uncomfortably in their new clothes.
"Poor boys, could those old sweaters be itchy?"
She smiled at the question knowing full well that she'd written in that the sweaters were to be the itchiest and most maddening thing either of them had ever felt on their skin.
"Ahhhh fu-fuck, ahhhhnnn it i-itches, oh gahad it it-itches..."
"D-Dammit! It's l-like th-there's ants on m-my ski-skin!"
"Poor boys! Do you want a bit of help from mommy? It looks like your really uncomfortable! Oh, but what are those hmm?"
Manuela reached down and pulled down both men's trousers. Immediately their erect cocks sprung out with a good and shiny head on Rutger's from the pre that he'd been leaking when Bindi played with his hands earlier. The veins on Helbindi's though drew Manuela's eyes although the little fluffy nest of red hair on Rutger's was quite cute. She was salivating unsure what to do first. Give those warm and inviting soles of Rutger's a good barrage of kisses for still having that Mistletoe hanging off them, putting her tongue down into that rip on Helbindi's sweater, and making his abs her own personal advent calendar, actually giving the boys a hand and running her nails all along those itchy chests of theirs. There were sooooo many possibilties and she had all the time in the world!
She wiggled her fingers and both men watched with conflict evident on their faces. They wanted to scream with how badly they wanted those devilish nails of hers to scrape all along their chests and give them even an ounce of relief from the itching that was melting their minds. The fingers were veeeery close to their weeping cock heads though and they were petrified of what Manuela might do to those. With a hand, she fluttered her fingers over the writhing men's chests enjoying the way their red faces would twist. Rutger's flushed expression was adorable but when he pathetically nodded for her fingers to get closer only to gasp when they began fluttering along that one spot on his sweater where his nipple was poking out.
---
Manuela enjoyed the way his body was spasming as she tickled that cute little nipple of his but then felt a thick shoulder blade shove her in the back. She turned back to see Helbindi sweating in desperation as he tried to scratch his itchy body.
"D-Dammit he-help me! Unhhh fuhck it itcheees"
"Awwwe, the big man with all his muscles can't do it alone? He needs Mommy's nails to help scratch all his itches? Poor baby. Maybe if he kisses me right on the cheek, then I'll do it."
She patted the panting Rutger on the thigh and gave him a wink.
"Same to you! In the meantime, I think I'll write myself up a few more options."
Manuela sat back on the sofa between the two distressed warriors and put pen to paper and began writing a whole new section. The Christmas spirit had seized her and what were the holidays for if not family! She was letting the ideas flow through her as Bindi and Rut eyed each other. Neither wanted to relent and make the first move in kissing the evil woman who'd trapped them in these horrid sweaters. They itched so terribly though that it was driving them insane. Finally, Rutger made the first move, coming forward to give Manuela possibly the most begrudging kiss in history, but still earning a delight from the woman.
Had Manuela been thinking she would have wondered about that. She'd written the boy to be stubborn and resentful till the end, making him finally come to her like a mewling kitten all the sweeter. It was to have been Helbindi who kissed her first, that way she could drive Rutger mad by making him watch her give the big man the relief he deserved. The effect of the enchanted tickle note though was that her mind was becoming less and less sharp as she sank into her lust and put more and more thought into her writing.
---
She was all too happy to move Rutger over and recline against the arm of the couch with her mean boy in her lap. Her nails glid along the stuffy wool that had entombed him and their points gave him much-needed relief on his irritated skin. So much so that he barely minded as her legs guided his so that now his smaller feet sat in between hers. Manuela had always had a bit of a complex about her big feet, the size 12's had always seemed quite unladylike to her, to the point where she'd begun hiding them under flowing dresses and close-toed shoes. When she'd trod the boards as a songstress she'd never thought twice about her plus-sized tootsies and had never picked up on the cadre of fans she'd had who would sit close to get a glimpse of them in her high heels.
She'd blamed her big feet more than a few times for her romantic misfortunes and now seeing that Rutger's were significantly smaller than hers, that somewhat bubbled up again. The fact that she could now run her big, soft soles along the tops of the swordsman's feet with impunity though stifled those thoughts. He was practically mewling in her arms as she felt along the knuckles of his toes with her arches. Yes, that was because of the way her nails were digging into his itchy sides, gliding along his belly and scratching away at his ribs but she was going to pretend that she'd just made herself a fan. The two of them both let out a yelp at the feeling of rough toes on their soles and looked up to see that Big Bindi was tired of being ignored.
The two pairs of drastically different tootsies were easy prey for his own dusky soles. The size 16's were large enough to easily dwarf both sets of theirs and the feeling of the warm skin beneath them made both Rutger's ears heat up and Manuela's mouth feel dry. When he wiggled his thick toes and started tracing them along their soles, Manuela was in heaven. She didn't remember writing this part but the ad-libbing was welcome. Helbindi's toes felt about as rough as she would have expected for a brute like him. She started to hear Rutger laugh and used a hand to guide his face into her neck. The feeling of his breath they're as he did it was sending her into the heavens. She started to hear a good number of other laughs and smiled as she realized the other parts of what she'd written were coming to pass.
---
Happy tapping and giggling came from one corner of the room. The giggles came out melodically as the tapping continued to a steady beat that was getting faster in tempo. A purple-haired young man lay on his belly, providing the giggling. A wreath had been laid on Erk's neck to keep him comfortable as his hands had been bound behind his back with another. Every time the mage squirmed the prickly pine needles would dig into the sensitive areas behind his ears. The studious lad's face was twisted into a big grin as the doll behind him tapped away.
His petite size 5's had their soles upturned and the ankles locked into what seemed to be a snare drum-themed set of stockades. The wooden doll that sat behind him was still aside from its hands. They moved up and down in rhythm and tapped the pair of drumsticks they wielded upon Erk's helpless soles. With the way his toes had been tied back to the rims of the "drums", Erk could do nothing as the feathery tipped instruments drummed out a steady rhythm on his soft soles. To his dismay occasionally the doll would reach down and adjust the ties on his toes to get a better tune from its instrument.
Turned from an aspiring young sage to the wrong half of the Little Drummer Boy, Erk could only fume. You couldn't tell because of the big grin of holiday cheer on his face though from the tapping away on his tootsies. He still felt somewhere deep in his heart though that this was somehow Serra's fault. A solo broke out on his toes though and soon all Erk could think about was how close he was to spilling his egg nog.
---
Over the fireplace hung a conspicuously large stocking it writhed about and a girlish giggle could be heard from inside it. The name embroidered upon it was "Clarine Reglay" but the legs sticking out the top of the stocking belonged to none other than Loki's favorite Giggle-Girl. A pair of canes of the candy variety jutted from the wall and had been hooked around the ankles to keep the feet still. Upon the shelf sat an elf who seemed quite pleased with...his job. His fingers danced along the small soles of the girl in the stocking. She giggled and thrashed down in there quite a bit but more so when he started giving attention to the small toes.
Her thrashing continued as the little holiday gnome removed a paintbrush and began playing it along her soles, teasing the sensitive skin there and enjoying the way she squealed helplessly. Rutger's heart ached at not being able to help his love but every attempt he made at trying to roll off just had Manuela's nails chase him back. Clarine could squeak and beg as the elf started using tinsel to tie her toes back to give him more room to continue decorating the 20-year-old nobles soles. He was writing a letter to Santa and using her as stationary.
Reginn watched the whole situation in glee from her safe room in Castle Múspel. The story was reaching its climax as it pulled in the whole family. Not just using the pets that had already been taken in, it was now pulling others right out of their beds in Askr. She could see one starting to get free of her situation and laugh at how things were playing out. Her pets Seliph and Julius did as well but that was due to the fingers she was teasing along the boy's chins. Soon enough Manuela would fall victim to an assailant from behind and end up joining them all here in Múspel, a bit of a cliche ending but it was still nice enough. The pets were doing a good job of holding her attention but she still shook her head at the silly way that she was missing somebody sneaking up on her as she tickled their family.
"That's just so stupid. As if it could happen in real li-"
---
On the table was a gingerbread house, done with care and concern. It stood happily despite how it had been impractically built around a man's lap. Dieck Reglay lay upon the table, stripped of his clothes and with only this sugary structure to shield his privates. His hands had been at his waist at this point in the story and as such they were similarly entombed in the dessert, rendering him helpless.
The man's big feet sat before a troop of gingerbread men who'd forfeited their home and were quite unhappy about it. They ran their cinnamon-scented appendages along the big coarse soles to tease the mercenary. Judging by the way he was biting his lip it was working quite well. He shifted from side to side trying to hold it in, and hold back what was stirring, that was most certainly not a mouse.
Another troop of the cookie men sat at Dieck's head, armed with candy floss, they'd taken position on either side of him. They worked it back and forth in tandem for a game of tug of war, running it right beneath the hunks nose. It didn't quite tickle, but more irritated Dieck. Still, even an irritation was alot right now. Ten or so gingerbread men sat atop the baked home, at the ready as they watched the roof crack ever so slightly. Dieck was trying to hold it back, trying to stop it from happening but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Klein's fun, and as a result that gingerbread house was crumbling. That was fine for the evil cookies atop it though, they twirled the feathers in their hands and waited for the serpent to burst forth.
---
Klein might have gotten off the easiest but his laugh was still invading Dieck's mind. The pretty boy had always had a laugh to match and each time he laughed it hit the big man in the brain just like his arrows into enemies. Mummified in wrapping paper, Klein had been seated in a chair right before the toy tracks that ran across the room. A toy locomotive continued on a loop that ran beneath the chair and right under Klein's helpless feet. He struggled in vain every time it came around but couldn't move an inch, wrapped up pretty as a present like he was.
The train went by and a dining car loaded with stiff white pegasus feathers pointed upwards dragged their plumes along the blondie's helpless soles, tangling in his toes and scraping up into his noble arches. His snickers of anticipation turned into full-blown guffaws at the contact and when the train passed out from under him he was panting. Still, he bit his lip in fear as it went through the little toy tunnel, knowing what was to come. When the train emerged from the tunnel, its cargo was completely different. This time there was a caboose with a load of plastic forks coming by, also all jutting upwards of course. The dull prongs on his soles made Klein whine at first but when they got to his soft heels he couldn't help it.
The little keen to his laugh this time made Dieck flush and groan, Klein saw it and resolved to try and hold it in on the next pass but he'd made that promise before. Each time the train came by it was loaded with a new fiendish trick for the young general to fall too. Hairbrushes were deployed and he squeaked, magical hands walked their fingers along his soles as they went by and he wept, one time there were just tentacles spilling out of the windows of the passenger's car and they teased and twiddled Klein's toes as they traveled beneath the ticklish Giggle-Boy. He tried to hold it in for Dieck but it just tickled so bad. His cheeks were a matching shade of red as the head of the big man's cock as it came right through the roof of that candied house.
---
Manuela pulled her Rutger closer and teased a finger down his nose. She saw the poor boy looking sadly at his adopted family going mad and wanted to tickle a smile back onto his pouty lips. She reached up for the sprig of mistletoe that hung above them with the intent of using it to fluff him up nicely. However when she extended her arm someone grabbed her by the wrist and kept it up there. A set of nails then started scribbling up by Manuela's forearm and came down into her helpless pit. She tried to pull away but whoever it was, they were much stronger than her. Rutger took the chance to squirm off the couch finally but found his ankles get entangled in tinsel, he yelped as he was dragged away by it.
Louise hopped over the couch and settled herself right into Manuela's lap, using a small wreath to bind her hands in her lap. Manuela's eyes flicked over to the large present box where she was supposed to have been trapped, her silken size sixes poking out. There was a team of nutcrackers who were supposed to march up and gently chew her toes and drive her wild but now they stood, idle. A struggling Rutger was dragged over by the tinsel though and tossed into the box. Before he could react, the box rewrapped itself in a manner that left his tired feet poking out and his face trapped as well. He howled and begged as the nutcrackers advanced taking each of his toes in their mouths and beginning to chew.
"Well, now look at you. You know you should never come between a woman and her family even on the holidays Ms. Manuela."
Louise flicked a finger back and forth in Manuela's pit as she chided her, enjoying the way that the songstress quivered and shook beneath her.
"Iihit's Feehehbruary!"
---
Upon the mantle was a snowglobe, an unassuming one that wouldn't seem to warrant a second glance if not for the epithet written on it of "HA-HA HAPPY HOLIDAYS". Should one look at it closely though, they'd seen a strange scene inside it. A blue-haired young Illian Pegasus knight struggled inside the souvenir, buried up to her neck in the soft snow. Her coarse size 8's protruded before her, the tiny toes wiggling helplessly. Each of the digits had streamers and banners strung between them that flossed and fluffed their ticklish stems as a phantom wind blew through.
Her soles, normally a snowy white with milky arches were now barely visible as dozens of tiny ant-sized figures skated along them. As they moved, red blushes formed on her soles behind them, whenever the toes tried to clench the figures raced to ascend the wrinkles that would form in the skin and further drive the owner of the feet mad with laughter.
It would have been a nice-ish tableau inside the snowglobe if not for the hysterical laughing face of Thea, the deputy commander of the Pegasus Knights of Ilia. She giggled for mercy, cackled out threats, and generally laughed out a stream of nonsense tickle talk but not a word could be heard outside the snowglobe.
---
The Christmas tree shook and the man on it laughed and pleaded. Normally Lord Pent loved to participate in such things as decorating the tree with his family, now however as his naked body was strung to it with Christmas lights that were blinking away, he was feeling much less holiday cheer. The pine needles dragged along his naked body as he shook and turned from the feeling behind the tree. His ankles were pinned together by another wreath, and a red ribbon had been tied into a bow to secure his big toes together.
Pent laughed away as a pair of strong hands, manhandled his helpless feet. Helbindi smirked as the fancy man laughed. Coarse fingers played in his high arches, plucking at the wrinkles there and bullying his pampered toes. Helbindi started circling a finger around the ball of Pent's foot and enjoying how breathless it was leaving the man.
The more Helbindi played with Pent's feet, the more the man thrashed about, the more the needles of the tree dug into his bare back and ass, and the more that tickled as well. His cheeks were flushed his breath short. Still, as he looked on at his family all around him, he was happy to finally be reunited at least. Helbindi bided his time. tickling Pent, waiting for the right moment to get the drop on the women and put a bow on the whole thing.
---
"Well now look at this scene you've put together! My, my, my princess Reginn who knew you had such a talent for this. Why I'd be impressed if you hadn't used my toys for your fun."
"Nahahaht the nohohohse! I'm sahahahrry Lahahdy Lohohoki!"
"Oh, I know your sorry, dear girl. I'm sorry that I have to teach you this lesson but it's like she said. Don't mess with a woman's family."
Reginn's head sat in Loki's lap and the strategist teased her helpless nose with her fingers. The poor cavalrywoman had been paying such attention to the show that Loki had easily been able to strut in and catch her with a spell. Now she lay helpless in the woman's lap she was realizing how easy that trick had been.
"Still...you did deliver me quite the tableau! Look at all those freshly captured heroes and the show you've had them put on for you! Why I think that deserves quite the reward! Maybe you'd like to join all of them down in the baths? Getting scrubbed up nicely to serve as tickle-toys? Just laugh if you'd love to!"
---
Back inside the book, the ending was coming up, the tree was set up and the angel placed atop it. Pent had been taken down and now he and all the others including Manuela and Louise who Helbindi had snuck up on with the aid of Loki's magicks. They all sat mummified in gift wrap around the tree. They'd all been set with their helpless feet in the air presented in a bouquet, soles up the ceiling. Now the tree was decorated with Rutger who'd been turned upside down to be secured to it like Pent had before.
His poor used and abused size 7's stuck up at the top of the tree, presented before the angel. The little plastic decoration happily dug its small fingers into his warm soles and Rutger laughed as they played with the ball of his foot. His whole body was flushed but still, his laugh was unheard. This was because his face had been stuffed into the bouquet of soles. He laughed away into them, his mind slipping away as his story came to a giggly end.
"Hmmph, you again? Out of the way."
The redheaded younger man brushed right by her and Manuela sighed. She supposed she deserved it, having stopped right in the doorway of the dining hall to daydream. It just wasn't fair though! All these handsome men in every flavor and nobody for her! Her eyes wandered around the hall at all the groups. For a second she thought of dining with the husbands whose wives had been captured by Muspél.
The thought of sitting between the elegant Rafiel and the handsome Clive certainly held appeal. She wasn't sure if she could keep her hands to herself though as the urge to kiss Clive's handsome beauty mark or run her fingers through Rafiel's hair was so strong. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to eat without trying to cheer them up and while she was certainly at a low point, throwing herself at married men in grief wasn't a depth she was willing to explore.
She considered sitting with those she knew, Claude and his fellow Deer had been relatively untouched by the madness of this place but then she just knew she'd have to field questions on where Hanneman was and deflect barbs from the boy about how she was still single. She'd love nothing more than to teach Claude a lesson herself about the kind of things you should say to a beautiful woman but this wasn't the time.
Perhaps she could sit with some of the less reputable members of the Order? Lloyd and Linus were a dream sandwich of hers and they did seem to be good with children after all. She'd also entertained a fantasy of taking that man, Iago, and scrubbing him clean of all that grease upon him with a brush. The mage in question caught her staring at him and made a dismissive motion with his hand indicating that she should shoo away lest she catches his ire. She imagined him begging and pleading as she took a thin paintbrush to the palm of that very hand and smiled at the idea of his pale cheeks flushed for her.
---
Her indecisiveness caught a sympathetic eye and the same young man who'd waved her over gestured to an empty seat. She walked over and offered him a kind smile despite her lack of surprise. Despite his brusque and standoffish outer shell, Rutger was a kind boy. He tried to hide it but the way that Miss Louise was fawning over the boy gave it away. With one more wistful glimpse at the rogue's table. She thought about sitting right next to that Kempf fellow, to watch his handsome adam's apple bob when she fluttered a hand along his side but decided against it.
She sat down at the table with Rutger and the others to several greetings. Curt nods from Sir Perceval, a stiff salute from Thea, and a hearty hello from Dieck. Miss Louise and the Serra girl both barely spared a wave. The pink-haired girl was fawning over Rutger and fondling the material of his jacket while he blushed while the mother of the table was looking on happily. Rutger was trying to defend himself from the cleric's grubby hands by slapping them away but when one of his elbows gave Dieck a jab that came to a stop.
The green-haired mercenary seized Rutger by the wrists from behind and lifted his arms above his head. This left the swordsman with nothing to do but shake as Serra advanced on him with wiggling fingers. She said something about inspiration for her stories later but Rutger managed to worm his way out of Dieck's grip. He fell in a pile to the floor but was up and running before anyone knew it. Serra shook her fist at the fleeing boy while Louise covered her mouth to hide the giggles. Manuella pouted at Rutger having slipped away without so much as a smile.
"The boy's laugh must have sounded wonderful with that growly voice of his..." she muttered to herself under her breath. Manuela thought nobody had heard her as the table returned to their meals. She would be right except for one sympathetic soul who knew all too well the pain of listing after a Reglay boy. So it was that as the group finished their meals and excused themselves to train, polish their armor, speak with the summoner, or in Serra's case to write in her "journal" for the evening.
---
Manuela lingered there afterward, slowly slipping back into her melancholy before finally getting up with the intent of retiring to her room to drink and feel sorry for herself. Her eyes glued to her feet were the reason she saw it, a discarded book upon the ground. She wondered if it might be Serra's until she spied a name on it that made her heart flutter. "Rutger's Story" was emblazoned on the cover and she smiled that the shy boy had left behind his diary.
"If I take this then he'll have no choice but to come to my room and fetch it..."
She scooped it up furtively and returned to her dwelling to come up with a plan. Before she left however she told a few of the other lollygaggers about how she'd found something of Rutger's and to tell him to come get it from her. On her way to her room, she opened it up, planning to flip through the boy's diary for some cute details as a belayed Christmas gift to herself. Oddly though the majority of the pages were blank. She had to flip through almost to the beginning of the book just to find any text. What she did find though was delicious. She'd assumed that this was named "Rutger's Story" due to the boy keeping a journal but instead she found that he seemed to be writing one about himself.
"Rutger was tired, so tired. His friends and family had done their best to keep to his spirits up but the sadness he felt at Clarine having been captured was too great. He went to bed every night upset that he'd been summoned much too late to even see her. He just wanted to be alone, to be somewhere with nobody else and to try and find a way to smile there...or someone..."
Manuela raised an eyebrow at where he'd stopped writing. A bit trite but as far she knew the boy had never had much in the way of education. Still, the line about wanting someone to help him smile was very cute. There was a quill pressed between the pages and before she knew it, she was continuing his tale. Scribbling away into the night with an entirely self-serving tale of Rutger in his new home.
---
Rutger sat on his bed, unaware of what was changing around him. He rarely was aware of the movings of others, even less so nowadays. His mind always bouncing between thoughts of battle and that damn girl Clarine. He tried to occupy his mind with the cleaning of his blade for the eighth time today. He put the cloth to it and began waxing up and down as he normally did but again his mind wandered. He could almost hear the girl whinging behind him about how much time he wasted with that sword.
A thump at the door made him jump and inadvertently knick the side of his finger on his blade. The smallest bit of blood dribbled out as Rutger stood from the bed to check on who was disturbing him. He clenched it between a thumb and forefinger to dull the pain as he opened the door and stepped forwards to see who it was. A blast of cold air stung his cheeks and the swordsman shielded his face at the unexpected sensation.
When he looked up he had to blink his eyes in absolute disbelief at what was before him. Rather than the corridors of the castle which connected all the rooms, instead, now he looked around at what seemed to be a cozy cabin he'd never seen before. He could see snow out the window and lots of it, more than he'd ever seen. He turned back to reenter his room only to see that now the door opened out to what seemed to be an endless snowy forest. He saw figures darting between the trees and swallowed nervously before closing the door behind him.
The cabin radiated warmth from its burning fireplace, complete with a large fur rug before it and a large sofa. Rutger felt warmer the closer he got to it and colder the closer he got to the walls of the cabin, suddenly very aware that his clothes were meant for the plains rather than the mountains. He shivered as he took a step forward and suddenly yelped as cold sensations shot up his legs. The swordsman looked down and wondered where his shoes and socks had gone.
---
Manuela put her pen to her lip and wondered if that was a bit too self-indulgent. She wanted to use it to set up the next scene where the silly boy has to dance from one cold tootsie to the other over to the sofa. Just imagining him doing it made her bite her lip but she had to pace herself. Besides the poor boy still had a nicked finger! She had a plan to help him with that!
Rutger danced from foot to foot as the cold wood sent chills up his leg. His size 7 soles were used to not just being inside a pair of leather boots and wrapped in his thin socks, but also the much more temperate climates of Sacae. He hadn't been able to in ages what with the war, his summoning here and now Múspell but one of his favorite things to do back in his village was to simply sit beneath a tree on the plains and take his socks and shoes off. The feeling of the warm winds licking along his soles would make him smile as he lulled himself into a dream with the sound of the grass rustling. Occasionally a long stalk of it might brush along the boy's warm sole and his smile would grow but until all of this that had been his only real experience with tickling.
He'd ended up learning fast about that here though. In his first week after being summoned that resentment at the lack of Clarine here had led to him charging right at a Múspel force without backup. He'd spent a humiliating 20 minutes because of that at the mercy of Helbindi. Just a trip had sent Rutger face-first into the ground and the burly ax-man had then just taken his ankles and crossed them before kneeling on them and pinning Rutger right there with his face in the dirt. The man had then driven a rough finger right into the deepest part behind Rutger's knee and swirled it about as the young man howled.
"I'LL KIHIHILL YOHOHU! GEHEHET AHAHAFF! FIHIHIGHT MEHEHE FAAHAIR!"
"Hmmph, why would I let you go just to fight you again? You came running over here like this, KNOWING you were ticklish. I think your right where you wanna be. Let's just keep you right there till my boys can get me a bag we can stuff you in. Until then let's have fun! Tickle, tickle!~"
---
When Rutger's allies found him the soles of the man's boots had been cut away with a knife. They'd followed the humiliating sounds he made as Helbindi simply ran his thumb along the trapped teen's arch.
"GAHAHAH! I'm gohohnna-PAHAHA! I'll kihihil-OOHAHAH NAHAHT THE TOHOHES! MUHURDER Y-EEEEHEEK NOHOHOOO!"
"Gotta say, I'm loving this. Think I'll keep you. Sure they'll probably want you for something else but just imagine you all wrapped up tight just for me. These sexy feet of yours, all mine. Sound nice? Gimme a squeal if your into it hehe~"
Rutger's face flushed as he remembered even now what it had felt like when Helbindi had pinched his littlest toe between his thumb and forefinger to give it a wiggle like that. He'd been pounding his fists in the dirt when Lugh and Dieck had saved him. His face was hot enough that he had to cover it with his hands as he just thought about it. He still had nightmares about it, where he was wrapped up tight in chains being carried around by the Múspel general. A shiny piece of tape over his lips and the only free part of him being his ankles. They'd wiggle in fear when Helbindi brought his fingers close which would just make him hungrier.
"I love your soles...so warm to the touch...I. Could. Sleep. On. Them."
Rutger searched around the cabin, he swore that hadn't been in his mind. He lay on the sofa with his long legs dangling over the arm rest and for a minute entertained a fantasy of that rough-fingered man being down there looking up at his orange soles and licking his lips.
"Get a grip...nobody else here...wherever here even is."
There was a small table before the sofa and Rutger spied a roll of bandages on it, as well as a pile of wrapping paper. He was confused for a minute but a sting of pain from his finger reminded him that the bandages were something he was in need of.
---
Manuela licked her lip and smiled, that was probably enough set-up. The poor boy was due for a good few giggles and she knew the perfect way to get them started. Back in the cabin, Rutger reached for the bandages but found them just out of reach from where he was on the couch. He could simply stand up and get it, but that would put his soles right back on that cold floor. Instead with the brilliance that can come only from a mercenary life, he reached further and further for the bandages. His fingertips brushing against them, a glance down revealed a pile of what seemed to be left-over Christmas decorations and wrapping paper on the ground beneath the table but that wasn't important, he was sooo close to the bandages that he could almost-
"Well look who I found, hehe~"
That rough voice and that s****** that Rutger remembered all too well. Just the sound of it made him jump and he crashed into the pile of holiday refuse as a result. That fiend from Múspel was on him in seconds and soon his vision was obscured by colorful paper adorned with cartoon snowmen and he was rolled onto his stomach. His arms were forced behind his back and he heard tape crack as they were wrapped up in paper and drawn tight. Rutger struggled and kicked but without any room to move he was totally in Helbindi's grasp and the man was much stronger than him. When Helbindi hauled him up onto the couch with him to inspect his work, Rutger was mortified.
He pulled at his bindings in frustration while grunting but that just made Helbindi guffaw at him. The warrior noticed Rut's hurt finger and pulled him over into his lap. The swordsman was bright red as he bandaged it up for him before ruffling his pretty hair. He squirmed in the wrapping paper again with renewed zeal as Helbindi sized him up.
---
"Can't say I know where I am, just walked out of my quarters and ended up here. Door disappeared behind me as well, I'm used to magicking at this point though. I'll be home eventually and now I'll have a good belated Christmas present with me in the form of..."
Helbindi ended his pause by ripping open Rutty's shirt and exposing the lads flat stomach. Bindi put a hand against and smiled at the way his prey tried to writhe away from him despite the hand he had supporting the other lower back. He slowly approached the helpless tum with wiggling fingers and enjoyed how it was getting more and panicked as he neared.
"Gonna get that tum~ Gonna tickle you to bits! See you squeal when I say tickle, tickle~"
"St-Stop it! G-Get away! Le-Let me go d-da-dammit!"
Rutger's cheeks were bright crimson as Helbindi's fingers got closer. They wiggled faster the closer they got to the swordsmen's defenseless midsection. The redhead wiggled in fear and tried to pull away but found him getting closer and closer to his ticklish belly.
"Awee what a cute little button that is! Mind if I stick a finger in and see what it does? I feel like the way your blushing means you'd love me too! Is that right? Is wittle Rutty a big old slut for having his button tickled and played with?"
Rutger pulled at the wrapping paper that had entombed his arms. He wanted to hiss out a threat, tell Helbindi that he'd tear his throat out or kill him or-or JUST anything to get that evil hand away from his belly button.
"St-Stop it! Damn y-you geheht aw-away! STOHOP IT DAMMIT!"
Helbindi's smirk got bigger as Rutger was starting to crack. This boy was far too much fun to ever let go, he'd just have to keep him. The mystery of where they were was slipping farther and farther from his mind.
"Oooh your so giggly huh? My, my I'm not even touching you yet! Is this tight tummy that tickly? Your giggling just thinking about me touching it~ Oooh my hands is getting closer! Oooh I'm knead the skin on it like dough!"
Rutger was biting his lip as he tried to suck in his breath to get his stomach away from Bindi's questing fingers. The problem was that a life as a sellsword had made him lean and muscled if not scrawny. He'd eaten well since being summoned to Askr even if sometimes he had to be forced by the overly caring like Lady Louise, Queen Mikoto, or that dreadful Camilla woman. That meant there wasn't much belly to suck in as Helbindi's wiggling fingers got closer.
"Gooooonna get ya~ Come to Papa Bindi, my poor ticklish belly boy. Soooo close!"
"Nonononononono!"
"Yeeees~"
---
Helbindi's finger just grazed Rutger's quivering stomach when the big man pulled his arm out from behind the boy. The redhead fell back in an undigified manner across the couch as his captor laughed at him. Rutger tried to snarl but ended up laughing right along with him as Big Bindi dug his fingers into his sides and started fluttering them downwards. He kicked his legs and tries to roll away but the Múspellian kept him up on the sofa and beneath him as his fingers kept going.
"Look at how red you are! You look like a tomato haha! Wow I almost feel bad about this! Haha...almost..."
"Bahahastard! Lehehet me uhuhp! Peheerverhert! I'm gohohonna kihiihill you!"
Helbindi's hands had wandered down to where the swordsman's hipbones poked out from above his waistline. He drove the points of both index fingers into the tips of them and wiggled the bones abit under the warm skin. The act made Rutger's laugh grow harsher and for a minute he choked on it until a reassuring slap to the stomach from the older warrior cleared the air from his chest.
"Haha you love this so much your forgetting to breathe! Silly boy! Am I gonna have to keep you close all the time?"
The hands of Helbindi hadn't slowed, now they were at Rutger's thighs, rather than flutter though they squeezed the meat there and made the man yelp with surprise at the sudden pinch. He tried to wiggle free but at this point, his legs were too wrapped up in the man's thick arms to separate. He pulled at the wrappings on his arms and grunted with effort until Helbindi put a stop to that with a simple flick of his kneecap that made him snort.
"*Phnnnkk* Stahap it! Gehehet off!"
"Haha, can you stop getting cuter?! That little piggly snort of yours is adorable! C'mere and do it again!"
"Nohoh! *hnnnrkk* staahahp *ghnnk* bahahast-*snnnrrk* I cahahn't- *snnggkk* nohoho mohohore!"
---
Helbindi hid his face behind his hand for a minute, he didn't want the boy to see just how big his own smile was. While writing that line, Manuella did the same unconsciously. The man's thick fingers finally moved on from teasing his knees to wander further down. They dug hard into Rutger's calves and while the man's giggly snorts ceased, he did begin shaking. That just made Helbindi dig in even more as he tried to coax out those snarly giggles from the youth. Eventually he had both index fingers extended and was driving them in right at the point on the back of the man's calves where his ankles met them. Rutger was shaking his head back and forth as a means to block out the sensations but the way Helbindi was raising his legs up slowly while playing with the backs of his calves had him weakening. He cracked one eye open to see the general looking at him hungrily.
His mouth went dry at Helbindi's tongue protruding from between his lips. He tried to beg him not to do what he had in mind but couldn't get the words out. Instead, all he could do was shake his head with big pleading eyes which just made Helbindi's smile grow larger. He turned back to Rutger's poor ticklish legs and planted his tongue right into the calf to start lapping at them. Rutger wailed like a child at the feeling, Helbindi's tongue was just so frustratingly ticklish that he was losing his mind. Each time he pressed it on the muscle, Rutger jumped and as it went down the skin he shuddered all while giggling like a small child. When he finally stopped licking away at the boy it took a good few minutes for him to finally get his breath back and shake the red from his face. The way Helbindi kept patting him on the stomach and saying "There, there" was really not helping him calm down. The way his trousers were so tight in the-
---
Manuela put the quill down for a second and let out a sigh, she was having fun just tickling the nasty right out of the boy but was she ready to move this story to the dirty part. She supposed realistically that he'd probably want to let something out now but she'd yet to get Rutger's handsome feet which she'd been eagerly anticipating since she started writing this story. After all, a young man as light on his feet as Rutger was practically begging to have his handsome soles savaged.
She'd gotten a glimpse of them on the training grounds once when he'd been hard at work at a spar with that Dieck. She had to pause for a moment and let out a moan into her hand.
"Mmm, those Reglay men are certain treats. What I wouldn't give to have the whole bed full of them at my mercy. Even that little girl of theirs is a darling. Toss her in for good measure."
She looked at the ceiling as she said this wistfully. So absorbed was she in her writing when she'd entered her room that she'd neglected to close it fully. Because of that her voice carried out into the hall and caught the ear of a passing Sniper who had a vested interest in the family. She stopped at the mention of the word and nudged open the door as Manuela slipped further into her memories.
That glimpse of Rutger's sole had stuck with her ever since she'd seen it. The prickly swordsman had called a time-out in his spar with Dieck saying there was something in his shoe that was throwing off his footing, that being the only reason that the other was winning currently. He had been adjusting his moccasin when Dieck had scooped him right off his feet to plop him down on the bench and pull that leg into an armlock. Manuela's jaw had dropped when he plucked the shoe and sock off and exposed hauntingly charming-looking footsie.
The sole had looked warm to the touch with that inviting-looking orange hue that she'd seen on the heroes of Sacaen descent. The difference was that for them it was full body while Rutger being only half Sacaen seemed to have it only along his lower body. When she'd seen the boy run his fingers along his sole and how smoothly they'd glided, her breath hitched. Now that Dieck had it up though, she was getting quite the show. The mercenary began tapping along the sole and asking Rutger where the spot was that hurt. The way the toes flexed in panic at each tap was so enticing that she barely paid any attention to all the snarls and threats that the boy was letting out as he beat on Dieck's back.
---
Her mind went from thinking about Rutger's feet to his reactions. They'd been increasingly interesting as Dieck had worked over his sole. A tap at the heel had him trying to curl up while a poke at the ball of his foot made him let out a startled yelp. A poke to the stems of his toes had him arch his back like a cat while doing so the arch had tears poking out in the corners of his eyes. The continued pokes to his sensitive foot soon had him going from clawing at Dieck's back like a wildcat to mewling like a kitten. It had been so adorable to see the uncharacteristic actions of the swordsman she'd seen around. With a new idea, she put her quill to the page and plunged Rutger into a whole new level of tickle hell.
Helbindi had taken Rutger by his ankles once the redhead could breathe again. He enjoyed the panicked way the legs were trying to pull away when an idea popped into his head. He kept his tickly boy still as he reached over and began rummaging around in the old Christmas decorations. Rutger didn't see what he pulled out but squealed when he felt something fuzzy being wound around both his big toes. He tried to kick it off but that earned his calf a squeeze from Helbindi.
"Hehehehy whahaht are yoohohu dohoing?"
"Helping you slip into something a bit more festive. Don't worry handsome it won't hurt!"
Rutger suddenly felt something soft and leafy on his sole making him sniff a bit with giggles. He tried to kick it away as best he could with his toes tied together but it just returned and fluffed his soles again much to his giggly dismay. Still, he repeated the process over and over, his frustrated growls turning to snickers and giggles as Helbindi watched. The ax-wielder smiled, he didn't know how he'd gotten such an inspired idea as to hang that sprig of cheap plastic mistletoe from his hubbies toes but it was working phenomenally. Rutger was driving himself mad trying to kick it away even though the more effort he put in it just meant the decoration would come back to fluff up his buttery soles even worse. Helbindi had to smile at the dumb teens' efforts making him look almost like a house cat chasing a light. He repositioned Rutty so that the man was sitting in his lap and he could get a look at that flushed face as he kept kicking and wiggling the mistletoe along his soles.
"You know what you supposed to do when somebodies under the Mistletoe right, Giggles?"
---
Rutger's face went from pink to bright red as Helbindi planted his lips right on the side of his face. The big man gave him a wet and rough kiss that honestly tickled as well due to the little bit of stubble on his chin. Rutger blushed furiously at it still and when Helbindi came up for air, he appreciated it. The swordsman's reactions were addictive o him, he just wanted to take him home and see how far he could push the embarrassment. He slid a finger up Rutger's neck as he giggled before hooking him by the chin and forcing his head skyward, Rutger let out a moan as Helbindi began pelting his helpless neck with kisses both hard and soft. Rutger was shaking like a leaf in Helbindi's arms as he tried to shake the man off, all that was accomplished though was giving his soles more and more attention from that evil mistletoe.
Helbindi planted a peck on Rutger's adam's apple and the swordsman's ears heated up. A deep kiss on Rutger's cheek made him swallow hard. A string of light kisses to one of Rutger's ears had him squirming in Helbindi's lap. So giggly and tired was he that when Bindi took him by the face, he didn't have the strength to resist. Helbindi pressed his lips on Rutgers and forced his way in. The swordsman's whole body tensed at first, never having had another man in his mouth but Helbindi's thick tongue was soon playing along Rut's and teasing it. Eventually, though, his was locked in with Helbindi's both dancing inside Rutger's mouth. It wasn't unlpleasant he supposed, that is until the mistletoe started fluttering at his foot again. His giggles just meant that big Bindi's tongue could have the advantage.
---
That was fine with him though, Rutger was tactically minded thanks to his chats with Lord Pent. He was fine ceding his mouth to Helbindi and letting his feet be ravaged if it meant he could work on his arms. The wrapping paper binding them had been steadily loosening due to getting soggy. A good amount of sweat had been sliding down Rutger's naked back thanks to Helbindi's games. It meant that it was weaker, much weaker. He'd been digging his nails in and all the squirming had paid off finally. He'd managed to get his hands free as before they'd been entombed entirely. Now he was using them to try and rip his way through to freedom. One piece of wrapping paper though had stayed a bit too dry and when Rutger tried to rip it, made a loud crinkle catching Helbindi's attention. The big man pulled his tongue from down Rutger's throat and peered over his shoulder.
"Ah, ah, ah! Naughty boy! Trying to get those hands free? Well we'll teach you what happens when you give me more skin to play with."
Helbindi put a hand under Rutger's knees and flipped him over to lay his meal on his stomach now. This meant that those tricky hands of the swordsman were now facing up. Helbindi pulled a ribbon out of the old Christmas decorations and used it to tie Rutger's thumb and forefingers together. He then pulled them back before trapping them in a pretty bow with the ribbon, leaving Rutger's palms stretched and helpless. It meant the plainsman could do nothing when the man dragged a finger along the helpless skin of his hand. Rutger bit his lip to stifle the noise but the way the boy jerked when he did it was all Helbindi needed to know that he'd found one more good time on this handsome rogue. He started up beneath Rutger's middle finger, the lines there showing that this was quite the rude lad he'd captured here. Helibindi's fingers nail tracing every line there though had Rutger being nothing but smiles and giggles though, all the swears he wanted to say were lost in a haze of tickly fog. Cutting through that fog swiftly though was two words out of Helbindi's mouth that he leaned forward to say.
"Tickle, tickle~"
"%@&$-ing Hahaha, @&#&$$$ kill you! Eeeeheheeh! #&$&#&!!!! Eeeehahahehe!! Gehehet off!"
The words Rutger said meant nothing to Helbindi partly because he didn't speak any Sacaen and so the direct tranlation of "One who picks up after the horse" would be lost on him, but mainly because Rutger's laugh was all the big man had ears for. The way his breathy voice sounded when he cackled like a lunatic for him was heavenly. He drove his fingers up and down his palm to hear more. A puzzled look crossed Helbindi's face. Why had his toy stopped singing? Bindi started stroking a finger down one of Rutger's thumbs and even though the young man kicked his legs and squirmed, there was no laughter. He pouted and suddenly noticed a bit of wetness on the couch. He looked down and saw that Rutger had bitten down on the cushions of the sofa to muffle himself. His eyes were crossed with the effort and his cheeks were beet-red but Rutger was choking down the giggles.
"Oh boys!~"
---
Back in Castle Askr, Louise looked around Manuela's quarters in confusion. Dame Reglay herself had heard the woman not a moment ago in here mentioning her beloved family. Now however there was no sign of her, Louise was puzzled. A hand probing the seat in front of the desk found it still warm as if someone had been sitting in it just moments ago. Manuela's heels were beneath the desk as well so she truly had no idea where the songstress had gone. The motherly sniper fretted for a moment on whether the Order had just lost another member to Múpell's tricks. She stopped to look around the room once more as she had the oddest feeling she was being watched. There was nobody else in the room though...
Louise was right about being watched though. She just had no way of knowing the way. All the way in Castle Múspell, a lone Nidavellin watched her. Her tired size 11 feet up on the bed before her, Reginn was enjoying the show. She was so glad she'd thought of the spell for the Tickle Notes. After testing it out with Erk she'd started making more and more with the strange technology and runes of her homeland. Not only did what was written in them come to pass for the victim but as the author wrote more and more into the book, they themselves became charmed. Soon enough Reginn would have enough control over Manuela to have her deliver not just Rutger to her but herself as well, all tied up nicely in a bow as a way to celebrate February. Playing a prank on Mr. Helbindi like this was also a bonus, it was quite the treat to watch the big man like this.
She reached over and pulled her favorite pair of bed toys closer so that they could snuggle with their princess. The disembodied heads of Seliph and Julius whined as she did so but a stern look from her silenced them. The pair of Grannvalen princes had their various body parts strewn about the room on the walls, shelves, and such. Their soft feet both protruded from Reginn's pillow right where she liked them. They both knew that Reginn kept a number of mechanisms in her room and that with just thought she could activate them to start teasing and tickling their various spots all over the room.
There were mechanical claws to twiddle their nipples on the wall. Featherrollers set right beneath their kneepits with pens to tend to their kneecaps. Forks to scrape along their thighs, synthetic tongues for their armpits and robotic hands to pinken and tease the boy's stomachs and navels. Reginn quite the little bit of matching baby fat the half brothers had there, even if they enjoyed her teasing it a bit less. They knew to be good and let her tickle their sensitive noses of it could get so much worse...
She did just that idly with a feather as she activated a few of her devices to make sure that Louise noticed a book she'd placed on the desk. Yes, Lady Loki had told her that the Reglay's were all for her but Rutger boy was just an in-law after all...surely the strategist wouldn't miss just one, handing her Louise would more than make up for it. She turned back to her other screen to watch Manuela's hand-crafted fantasy change now that she'd been pulled in.
---
Manuela came down the stairs with glazed eyes. Her mind had tried to process what was happening at first but the sight of the tableau she'd written up before here had quickly overwhelmed her. With the book still in hand, she was still writing as she came down the stairs and her actors were happy to oblige her. Helbindi helped Rutger up and removed the wrapping paper from his arms. The two then both reached down into the pile of out-of-date Christmas decor and rummaged about until they found a pair of horrendously ugly Christmas-themed sweaters. They moved robotically but with their faces contorted in absolute confusion. Manuela sighed at the blatant contrivance she was forced to use but she really wanted to move the plot along here to next scene.
Rutger's sweater announced that he in fact held Santa's rein, very dear to him. It showed the big man happily squeezing a pair of them under each arm. They confusingly both had the bright rednose of Santa's most famous steed and both were represented with a little red light right on each of Rutger's nipples, well one did at least. The other reindeer had lost his bright red nose from the sweater's age and now one of the Sacaen's pink nipples poked out into the cold air there due to a conspicuous tear. All this on a fabric of matte green that was supposed to conjure images of pine needles but instead seemed a bit sickly. Helbindi's sweater had the little drummer boy emblazoned upon it currently engaged in the process of unwrapping presents. However due to an unfortunate tear in the fabric, the poor lad's gifts were gone, and instead he looked on in amazement at a portion of Helbindi's abdominal muscles. The whole scene was captioned with the festive pun of "Drumming Up Interest" across Helbindi's pectorals and set on what was supposed to be a holiday red but after repeated washings now seemed to be an almost medicinal pink.
---
Just as was written in Manuela's story the two then set to help each other take the too long arms of each sweater and tie them into crossing knots, effectively trapping them in festive straitjackets. Manuela had a lend a hand of course to help both boys be totally trapped, but once it was done she took a seat on the couch between both of them happily. With a smile, she noted how they both squirmed uncomfortably in their new clothes.
"Poor boys, could those old sweaters be itchy?"
She smiled at the question knowing full well that she'd written in that the sweaters were to be the itchiest and most maddening thing either of them had ever felt on their skin.
"Ahhhh fu-fuck, ahhhhnnn it i-itches, oh gahad it it-itches..."
"D-Dammit! It's l-like th-there's ants on m-my ski-skin!"
"Poor boys! Do you want a bit of help from mommy? It looks like your really uncomfortable! Oh, but what are those hmm?"
Manuela reached down and pulled down both men's trousers. Immediately their erect cocks sprung out with a good and shiny head on Rutger's from the pre that he'd been leaking when Bindi played with his hands earlier. The veins on Helbindi's though drew Manuela's eyes although the little fluffy nest of red hair on Rutger's was quite cute. She was salivating unsure what to do first. Give those warm and inviting soles of Rutger's a good barrage of kisses for still having that Mistletoe hanging off them, putting her tongue down into that rip on Helbindi's sweater, and making his abs her own personal advent calendar, actually giving the boys a hand and running her nails all along those itchy chests of theirs. There were sooooo many possibilties and she had all the time in the world!
She wiggled her fingers and both men watched with conflict evident on their faces. They wanted to scream with how badly they wanted those devilish nails of hers to scrape all along their chests and give them even an ounce of relief from the itching that was melting their minds. The fingers were veeeery close to their weeping cock heads though and they were petrified of what Manuela might do to those. With a hand, she fluttered her fingers over the writhing men's chests enjoying the way their red faces would twist. Rutger's flushed expression was adorable but when he pathetically nodded for her fingers to get closer only to gasp when they began fluttering along that one spot on his sweater where his nipple was poking out.
---
Manuela enjoyed the way his body was spasming as she tickled that cute little nipple of his but then felt a thick shoulder blade shove her in the back. She turned back to see Helbindi sweating in desperation as he tried to scratch his itchy body.
"D-Dammit he-help me! Unhhh fuhck it itcheees"
"Awwwe, the big man with all his muscles can't do it alone? He needs Mommy's nails to help scratch all his itches? Poor baby. Maybe if he kisses me right on the cheek, then I'll do it."
She patted the panting Rutger on the thigh and gave him a wink.
"Same to you! In the meantime, I think I'll write myself up a few more options."
Manuela sat back on the sofa between the two distressed warriors and put pen to paper and began writing a whole new section. The Christmas spirit had seized her and what were the holidays for if not family! She was letting the ideas flow through her as Bindi and Rut eyed each other. Neither wanted to relent and make the first move in kissing the evil woman who'd trapped them in these horrid sweaters. They itched so terribly though that it was driving them insane. Finally, Rutger made the first move, coming forward to give Manuela possibly the most begrudging kiss in history, but still earning a delight from the woman.
Had Manuela been thinking she would have wondered about that. She'd written the boy to be stubborn and resentful till the end, making him finally come to her like a mewling kitten all the sweeter. It was to have been Helbindi who kissed her first, that way she could drive Rutger mad by making him watch her give the big man the relief he deserved. The effect of the enchanted tickle note though was that her mind was becoming less and less sharp as she sank into her lust and put more and more thought into her writing.
---
She was all too happy to move Rutger over and recline against the arm of the couch with her mean boy in her lap. Her nails glid along the stuffy wool that had entombed him and their points gave him much-needed relief on his irritated skin. So much so that he barely minded as her legs guided his so that now his smaller feet sat in between hers. Manuela had always had a bit of a complex about her big feet, the size 12's had always seemed quite unladylike to her, to the point where she'd begun hiding them under flowing dresses and close-toed shoes. When she'd trod the boards as a songstress she'd never thought twice about her plus-sized tootsies and had never picked up on the cadre of fans she'd had who would sit close to get a glimpse of them in her high heels.
She'd blamed her big feet more than a few times for her romantic misfortunes and now seeing that Rutger's were significantly smaller than hers, that somewhat bubbled up again. The fact that she could now run her big, soft soles along the tops of the swordsman's feet with impunity though stifled those thoughts. He was practically mewling in her arms as she felt along the knuckles of his toes with her arches. Yes, that was because of the way her nails were digging into his itchy sides, gliding along his belly and scratching away at his ribs but she was going to pretend that she'd just made herself a fan. The two of them both let out a yelp at the feeling of rough toes on their soles and looked up to see that Big Bindi was tired of being ignored.
The two pairs of drastically different tootsies were easy prey for his own dusky soles. The size 16's were large enough to easily dwarf both sets of theirs and the feeling of the warm skin beneath them made both Rutger's ears heat up and Manuela's mouth feel dry. When he wiggled his thick toes and started tracing them along their soles, Manuela was in heaven. She didn't remember writing this part but the ad-libbing was welcome. Helbindi's toes felt about as rough as she would have expected for a brute like him. She started to hear Rutger laugh and used a hand to guide his face into her neck. The feeling of his breath they're as he did it was sending her into the heavens. She started to hear a good number of other laughs and smiled as she realized the other parts of what she'd written were coming to pass.
---
Happy tapping and giggling came from one corner of the room. The giggles came out melodically as the tapping continued to a steady beat that was getting faster in tempo. A purple-haired young man lay on his belly, providing the giggling. A wreath had been laid on Erk's neck to keep him comfortable as his hands had been bound behind his back with another. Every time the mage squirmed the prickly pine needles would dig into the sensitive areas behind his ears. The studious lad's face was twisted into a big grin as the doll behind him tapped away.
His petite size 5's had their soles upturned and the ankles locked into what seemed to be a snare drum-themed set of stockades. The wooden doll that sat behind him was still aside from its hands. They moved up and down in rhythm and tapped the pair of drumsticks they wielded upon Erk's helpless soles. With the way his toes had been tied back to the rims of the "drums", Erk could do nothing as the feathery tipped instruments drummed out a steady rhythm on his soft soles. To his dismay occasionally the doll would reach down and adjust the ties on his toes to get a better tune from its instrument.
Turned from an aspiring young sage to the wrong half of the Little Drummer Boy, Erk could only fume. You couldn't tell because of the big grin of holiday cheer on his face though from the tapping away on his tootsies. He still felt somewhere deep in his heart though that this was somehow Serra's fault. A solo broke out on his toes though and soon all Erk could think about was how close he was to spilling his egg nog.
---
Over the fireplace hung a conspicuously large stocking it writhed about and a girlish giggle could be heard from inside it. The name embroidered upon it was "Clarine Reglay" but the legs sticking out the top of the stocking belonged to none other than Loki's favorite Giggle-Girl. A pair of canes of the candy variety jutted from the wall and had been hooked around the ankles to keep the feet still. Upon the shelf sat an elf who seemed quite pleased with...his job. His fingers danced along the small soles of the girl in the stocking. She giggled and thrashed down in there quite a bit but more so when he started giving attention to the small toes.
Her thrashing continued as the little holiday gnome removed a paintbrush and began playing it along her soles, teasing the sensitive skin there and enjoying the way she squealed helplessly. Rutger's heart ached at not being able to help his love but every attempt he made at trying to roll off just had Manuela's nails chase him back. Clarine could squeak and beg as the elf started using tinsel to tie her toes back to give him more room to continue decorating the 20-year-old nobles soles. He was writing a letter to Santa and using her as stationary.
Reginn watched the whole situation in glee from her safe room in Castle Múspel. The story was reaching its climax as it pulled in the whole family. Not just using the pets that had already been taken in, it was now pulling others right out of their beds in Askr. She could see one starting to get free of her situation and laugh at how things were playing out. Her pets Seliph and Julius did as well but that was due to the fingers she was teasing along the boy's chins. Soon enough Manuela would fall victim to an assailant from behind and end up joining them all here in Múspel, a bit of a cliche ending but it was still nice enough. The pets were doing a good job of holding her attention but she still shook her head at the silly way that she was missing somebody sneaking up on her as she tickled their family.
"That's just so stupid. As if it could happen in real li-"
---
On the table was a gingerbread house, done with care and concern. It stood happily despite how it had been impractically built around a man's lap. Dieck Reglay lay upon the table, stripped of his clothes and with only this sugary structure to shield his privates. His hands had been at his waist at this point in the story and as such they were similarly entombed in the dessert, rendering him helpless.
The man's big feet sat before a troop of gingerbread men who'd forfeited their home and were quite unhappy about it. They ran their cinnamon-scented appendages along the big coarse soles to tease the mercenary. Judging by the way he was biting his lip it was working quite well. He shifted from side to side trying to hold it in, and hold back what was stirring, that was most certainly not a mouse.
Another troop of the cookie men sat at Dieck's head, armed with candy floss, they'd taken position on either side of him. They worked it back and forth in tandem for a game of tug of war, running it right beneath the hunks nose. It didn't quite tickle, but more irritated Dieck. Still, even an irritation was alot right now. Ten or so gingerbread men sat atop the baked home, at the ready as they watched the roof crack ever so slightly. Dieck was trying to hold it back, trying to stop it from happening but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Klein's fun, and as a result that gingerbread house was crumbling. That was fine for the evil cookies atop it though, they twirled the feathers in their hands and waited for the serpent to burst forth.
---
Klein might have gotten off the easiest but his laugh was still invading Dieck's mind. The pretty boy had always had a laugh to match and each time he laughed it hit the big man in the brain just like his arrows into enemies. Mummified in wrapping paper, Klein had been seated in a chair right before the toy tracks that ran across the room. A toy locomotive continued on a loop that ran beneath the chair and right under Klein's helpless feet. He struggled in vain every time it came around but couldn't move an inch, wrapped up pretty as a present like he was.
The train went by and a dining car loaded with stiff white pegasus feathers pointed upwards dragged their plumes along the blondie's helpless soles, tangling in his toes and scraping up into his noble arches. His snickers of anticipation turned into full-blown guffaws at the contact and when the train passed out from under him he was panting. Still, he bit his lip in fear as it went through the little toy tunnel, knowing what was to come. When the train emerged from the tunnel, its cargo was completely different. This time there was a caboose with a load of plastic forks coming by, also all jutting upwards of course. The dull prongs on his soles made Klein whine at first but when they got to his soft heels he couldn't help it.
The little keen to his laugh this time made Dieck flush and groan, Klein saw it and resolved to try and hold it in on the next pass but he'd made that promise before. Each time the train came by it was loaded with a new fiendish trick for the young general to fall too. Hairbrushes were deployed and he squeaked, magical hands walked their fingers along his soles as they went by and he wept, one time there were just tentacles spilling out of the windows of the passenger's car and they teased and twiddled Klein's toes as they traveled beneath the ticklish Giggle-Boy. He tried to hold it in for Dieck but it just tickled so bad. His cheeks were a matching shade of red as the head of the big man's cock as it came right through the roof of that candied house.
---
Manuela pulled her Rutger closer and teased a finger down his nose. She saw the poor boy looking sadly at his adopted family going mad and wanted to tickle a smile back onto his pouty lips. She reached up for the sprig of mistletoe that hung above them with the intent of using it to fluff him up nicely. However when she extended her arm someone grabbed her by the wrist and kept it up there. A set of nails then started scribbling up by Manuela's forearm and came down into her helpless pit. She tried to pull away but whoever it was, they were much stronger than her. Rutger took the chance to squirm off the couch finally but found his ankles get entangled in tinsel, he yelped as he was dragged away by it.
Louise hopped over the couch and settled herself right into Manuela's lap, using a small wreath to bind her hands in her lap. Manuela's eyes flicked over to the large present box where she was supposed to have been trapped, her silken size sixes poking out. There was a team of nutcrackers who were supposed to march up and gently chew her toes and drive her wild but now they stood, idle. A struggling Rutger was dragged over by the tinsel though and tossed into the box. Before he could react, the box rewrapped itself in a manner that left his tired feet poking out and his face trapped as well. He howled and begged as the nutcrackers advanced taking each of his toes in their mouths and beginning to chew.
"Well, now look at you. You know you should never come between a woman and her family even on the holidays Ms. Manuela."
Louise flicked a finger back and forth in Manuela's pit as she chided her, enjoying the way that the songstress quivered and shook beneath her.
"Iihit's Feehehbruary!"
---
Upon the mantle was a snowglobe, an unassuming one that wouldn't seem to warrant a second glance if not for the epithet written on it of "HA-HA HAPPY HOLIDAYS". Should one look at it closely though, they'd seen a strange scene inside it. A blue-haired young Illian Pegasus knight struggled inside the souvenir, buried up to her neck in the soft snow. Her coarse size 8's protruded before her, the tiny toes wiggling helplessly. Each of the digits had streamers and banners strung between them that flossed and fluffed their ticklish stems as a phantom wind blew through.
Her soles, normally a snowy white with milky arches were now barely visible as dozens of tiny ant-sized figures skated along them. As they moved, red blushes formed on her soles behind them, whenever the toes tried to clench the figures raced to ascend the wrinkles that would form in the skin and further drive the owner of the feet mad with laughter.
It would have been a nice-ish tableau inside the snowglobe if not for the hysterical laughing face of Thea, the deputy commander of the Pegasus Knights of Ilia. She giggled for mercy, cackled out threats, and generally laughed out a stream of nonsense tickle talk but not a word could be heard outside the snowglobe.
---
The Christmas tree shook and the man on it laughed and pleaded. Normally Lord Pent loved to participate in such things as decorating the tree with his family, now however as his naked body was strung to it with Christmas lights that were blinking away, he was feeling much less holiday cheer. The pine needles dragged along his naked body as he shook and turned from the feeling behind the tree. His ankles were pinned together by another wreath, and a red ribbon had been tied into a bow to secure his big toes together.
Pent laughed away as a pair of strong hands, manhandled his helpless feet. Helbindi smirked as the fancy man laughed. Coarse fingers played in his high arches, plucking at the wrinkles there and bullying his pampered toes. Helbindi started circling a finger around the ball of Pent's foot and enjoying how breathless it was leaving the man.
The more Helbindi played with Pent's feet, the more the man thrashed about, the more the needles of the tree dug into his bare back and ass, and the more that tickled as well. His cheeks were flushed his breath short. Still, as he looked on at his family all around him, he was happy to finally be reunited at least. Helbindi bided his time. tickling Pent, waiting for the right moment to get the drop on the women and put a bow on the whole thing.
---
"Well now look at this scene you've put together! My, my, my princess Reginn who knew you had such a talent for this. Why I'd be impressed if you hadn't used my toys for your fun."
"Nahahaht the nohohohse! I'm sahahahrry Lahahdy Lohohoki!"
"Oh, I know your sorry, dear girl. I'm sorry that I have to teach you this lesson but it's like she said. Don't mess with a woman's family."
Reginn's head sat in Loki's lap and the strategist teased her helpless nose with her fingers. The poor cavalrywoman had been paying such attention to the show that Loki had easily been able to strut in and catch her with a spell. Now she lay helpless in the woman's lap she was realizing how easy that trick had been.
"Still...you did deliver me quite the tableau! Look at all those freshly captured heroes and the show you've had them put on for you! Why I think that deserves quite the reward! Maybe you'd like to join all of them down in the baths? Getting scrubbed up nicely to serve as tickle-toys? Just laugh if you'd love to!"
---
Back inside the book, the ending was coming up, the tree was set up and the angel placed atop it. Pent had been taken down and now he and all the others including Manuela and Louise who Helbindi had snuck up on with the aid of Loki's magicks. They all sat mummified in gift wrap around the tree. They'd all been set with their helpless feet in the air presented in a bouquet, soles up the ceiling. Now the tree was decorated with Rutger who'd been turned upside down to be secured to it like Pent had before.
His poor used and abused size 7's stuck up at the top of the tree, presented before the angel. The little plastic decoration happily dug its small fingers into his warm soles and Rutger laughed as they played with the ball of his foot. His whole body was flushed but still, his laugh was unheard. This was because his face had been stuffed into the bouquet of soles. He laughed away into them, his mind slipping away as his story came to a giggly end.
