oneortheother
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Star Wars TK: Cloud City Caper!
This story takes place before the events of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
O-O-O
Cloud City was not the place for you if you were afraid of heights. The magnificent city, a pioneer of technological advancement, hovered 60,000 standard kilometres above the core of the gas giant, Bespin. The city was named for the fact that it was so high up in the planet’s atmosphere, one’s background was a perpetual swarm of those gigantic, mesmerizing clouds.
Level zero, which was a lavish, top-side surface-level plaza, was where Princess Leia departed from her spaceship. She took in the sights. She had seen more than her fair share of strange sights, but nothing was quite as breathtakingly captivating as the sights that Cloud City could give you.
Bespin did not have a reputation for beauty. This was understandable, as the surface of the planet was a scolding heat beyond what any humanoid could survive, and combined with its several layers of toxic gas, it had a reputation as a dangerous, volatile planet. It was a planet for prospectors, who wished to harvest the valuable gases housed within, but Leia felt that the coppery-clay planet held a certain raw beauty at the same time – at least from the vertiginous views of Cloud City, anyway. Perhaps she would feel differently if she was actually at the surface of the planet, or one of the lower levels of Cloudy City where the miners and factory workers resided, but in any case, from her vantage point, the view was stunning.
Yet Leia had work to do, much as she would enjoy admiring the view from Level 0, or exploring the Tourist district from Level 1-50 which held all manner of entertainment from casinos to theatres, in addition to several luxury hotels which had gotten very good reviews on the holonets.
To better blend in with the tourists and gamblers that loitered around Cloud City, today, Leia had eschewed her Rebel combat fatigues in favour of a white overcoat, a red blouse with matching red slacks. On her feet, she wore her usual dark nylon stockings under white high-heeled boots.
Han Solo, insolent but somewhat-reliable rogue that he was, had told her that his old buddy, Baron Lando Calrissian, was in charge of Cloud City in some kind of administrative position, and Leia had come to Cloud City to do a little bit of reconnaissance. Her plan was to get a better measure of the city, maybe spend a few nights in a few luxurious lodgings, and find out the city’s disposition to the Empire and Rebels.
Thus, Leia’s first destination in the city was the high-rollers lounge of the galaxy-renowned grand hotel, Indulgence, which was known for its impeccably-dressed staff, its astonishing variety of cuisine, and the outlandishness of its entertainment. Raised as royalty, Leia had rarely felt inferior to anyone in any situation, but this foreign feeling washed over her as she took in the sight of the casino. The humanoid women were breathtaking beauties, all clad in designer garb that must have cost more than a royal ransom, with ostentatious amounts of jewellery that made them glimmer like a droid in sunlight. The men were as well-dressed, and perhaps only a shade less showy.
Han’s connections had done a good job, as Leia promptly made her way through the Indulgence’s security in no time. The high-rollers lounge was teeming with games so exotically obscure that Leia had no idea how to play them, with the exception of Pazaak. Of course, the house had the advantage, as the challenger was forced to go first in this game where you had to flip up cards to try to reach as close as you could to 20 without going over and ‘busting’.
Leia played a few hands, as she sipped from a fizzy, alcoholic beverage given to her by a ravishing twilek in a scantily-clad outfit. During her survey of the crowd of people here, she picked up smatters of conversations as wealthy men and women discussed recent affairs, just like all people did. There was some belly-aching about The Empire and its taxation, but most of the anguish was directed towards the Rebels and their damage to infrastructure and economy due to their guerrilla tactics. Leia couldn’t say she was certain if they had just swallowed the Empire’s propaganda hook line and sinker, or they really were that self-interested. Pushing up from the table after tipping the dealer, Leia wondered what kind of reception the Rebels had down at the lower levels with the miners and the less fortunate members of society.
Searching for an exit was a struggle. Leia remembered an interior designer friend once telling her how Casinos were designed intentionally to be difficult to navigate, in order to ensnare people into spending more time and money there. The casino seemed positively labyrinthine, especially as Leia realized the tall glass of green, bubbly liquid must have been a lot more potent than she expected, as she realized her head was spinning and she was begin to teeter and totter with every step. Perhaps wearing those fashionable high heeled boots had not been the best option.
Her strength suddenly abandoning her, Leia collapsed to the ground, the soft, plush carpet breaking her fall. Her consciousness ebbing away from her, she was relieved as two immaculately-tailored servants rushed to help her up, with a third reassuring other guests that she had simply slipped, and had drunk too much.
“Hello, Princess Leia…” the guard holding up Leia’s arms said, in a cruel facsimile of a friendly, subservient smile. “Fancy running into you here…” Leia tried to clench her fists and pull free, or open her mouth to scream for help, but she felt so sleepy, so sleepy….
O-O-O
Leia awoke to find herself in a familiar, yet, horrendous situation. She had been strapped to an ivory-white chair, with her arms tied behind it, pinning her to its non-optional comfort. Her legs were in a peculiar contraption, as they seemed to be tied to metal cords which bound them to the ceiling fan. She seemed to still be in the Indulgence hotel and casino, based on the tasteful wallpaper, but it looked like she had been taken to one of the private guest rooms. She could see a light on in what was probably the room’s washroom.
“Hello! Can anybody hear me?” Leia shouted, hoping desperately that an inquisitive neighbour or housemaid might stumble in and save her from his situation.
“Oh, I can hear you all right…” A cool, calm female voice said, from the other end of the room. Leia’s head turned as the mysterious woman made her appearance. First Leia saw a set of high-heeled, open-toed boots, showing off humanoid feet clad in black stockings. Toned legs and tight black slacks emerged as the woman took a step closer. A tight grey coat with matching cap which contrasted nicely with the woman’s brown ponytail completed the look.
“Feeling comfy, Princess?” the woman asked, with faux sweetness. All it took was one full look at the entire outfit for Leia to get a measure of what she was dealing with. The imperial influence in her outfit was undeniable. The woman looked like a model for Imperial officer leisurewear with her shapely figure and high cheekbones.
Leia sighed. She had gone through enough of these to see where this was going. It was a bit jaded of her to think like this, but she had grown to accept that her ticklishness had become a galaxy-wide fact. She had resolved to nip this in the bud this time round, and just see if things would be a bit different. “Oh, I’m very comfortable. Thank you for the hospitality,” Leia said with mock politeness, being careful her response was delicately intermingled with sarcasm. Talking in such a manner was a must for any politician of note. Leia recalled she actually had instructors training her on Alderaan in how to achieve the perfect enunciation and lilt needed for maximum provocation.
This imperial woman blinked, and then recovered enough composure to sense Leia’s insolence. “Oh, we heard you would be defiant… I look forward to breaking you of that pride and arrogance…”
Leia rolled her eyes. “Oh no! Whatever will you do to me? Surely you don’t plan on torturing me to give you information on the rebels!” Leia wailed, her voice drenched in sarcasm.
The imperial narrowed her eyes, which would have looked menacing if not for her appearing like some kind of dancer who decided she wanted to try to be intimidating. “Oh, we have just the thing planned for you, Princess Leia…”
“Let me guess. You plan on tickling me on my feet? Gee, that’s never happened to me before! What a novel and innovative form of torture!” Leia said, her words heavily dosed with snark. Of course, Leia was still devastatingly ticklish on her nylon-clad feet, and she had a grudging feeling she would always be, but Leia hoped that by appearing so nonchalant about it, Leia might be able to dissuade her would-be torturer. If Leia was able to pull this off, it would be a heck of a story to tell Luke and Han and all the others!
The imperial woman definitely looked a little deflated by Leia’s defiance. She had probably expected a bit of shouting, struggling, and maybe even a bit of begging. It must have been disheartening to be so seen through. She probably imagined it would be such a twist, but hey, Leia was practically a veteran about this sort of thing by now. Leia almost wanted to apologize for hurting this imperial woman’s feelings. “How… how did you know?” the woman said in a small voice that made Leia feel inordinately guilty.
“Taking my shoes off already is a dead giveaway,” Leia said, and to her shock, the woman actually pulled out a datapad and began taking notes, as if Leia was some esteemed guest lecturer and the imperial was some wide-eyed student. “Oh, I’ve been around the block enough to recognize a set-up like this,” Leia said, gesturing with her head to the shackles around her wrists and ankles. “I’m just surprised you didn’t go for a standard stocks set-up. I guess you get points for creativity there.”
“Yeah, we commissioned a new set of restraints just for this! They’re really artistic with their work, aren't they?” the imperial grinned, clapping her hands together. She walked over and began to stroke the straps that held Leia’s wrists. “We even bio-engineered some feathers just for the occasion because we heard you were especially susceptible to them,” the woman gushed excitedly, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pair of feathers, one red and one blue. They definitely looked fluffier and decidedly more dangerous than standard feathers.
“Impressive,” Leia nodded.
“Awww, you really think so?” the imperial said, putting a hand to her chest in gratitude. “You’re very kind. I’m Dorn Lokelai, by the way.”
“Well, Miss Lokelai, now that we’ve got the introductions out of the way, what do you say to letting me out?” Leia asked, holding her breath as she wondered if she might somehow be able to bluff her way out of an interrogation session.
Dorn tilted her head and ran long, slender fingernails through her lush brown hair.
“I don’t know, Princess. You look pretty cute all tied up like this,” she said, with a playful smile as she used an index finger to ever so slightly tease down Leia’s right foot. “Why should I do that?”
“What makes you think you can break me? I’ve been doing this for a while now,” Leia stated, with her senatorial air of confidence. She hoped Dorn didn’t notice the shivers that were going up her body from just that one fingernail sliding across the arch of her silky-soft foot.
“Hmmm, that is true…” Dorn said, pulling the finger away, and cupping her face in her hands in a dejected manner.
An uncomfortable silence then followed, as this strange imperial agent, Dorn, pouted while Leia struggled against her bonds as she pondered if there was anything she could say.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea!” Dorn said, her face brightening. “How about you give me some tips! I’m sure you know what’s effective and what’s not!”
It took a moment for Leia to process what had just been said, as it was so outlandishly odd. Was Dorn expecting Leia to just offer up the secrets of her own ticklishness to her? Leia took a moment to study this odd Imperial officer that sat in front of her. Wide-eyed, jiggling her legs, and grinning, she reminded Leia of an over-excited student going to her first lesson at a new school. She was eager to please, eager to learn, and eager to impress the teacher. That seemed to be Leia in this case. Leia didn’t sense much malice in the girl, but you never knew with these imperial types, as it could all be a ruse. The earnest look on her face almost made Leia feel sorry for her. Leia had to approach this carefully if she wanted to escape…
“How about we make a deal? You let me out, and I’ll tell you all the secrets of the trade,” Leia said, noting the way Dorn’s eyes sparkled in delight at the sound of the offer. “That sound fair?”
“It does!” Dorn said, clapping her hands in joy. “But I do have a slight problem with your offer…” she said, her voice suddenly dropping.
Leia sighed mentally. She had been so close. It had almost worked…
“I don’t want you to have all the fun! I think a hands-on experience is a much better way to learn from a master such as yourself,” Dorn said, as she pulled out a remote. Suddenly, the straps around Leia’s right foot and right wrist slackened, yet the other half of Leia’s limbs remained entangled.
“What’s going on?” Leia said, using the newfound freedom of her right hand to scratch her head in puzzlement.
Leia got her answer as Dorn, continuing to subvert every tickle torture tradition and tenet in the book, unzipped the high-heeled boot from her right foot and slid it into the straps, right within Leia’s grasp. Leia stared at the nylon-covered foot practically right in her lap.
“Let’s start the lesson, teacher!” Dorn said, with a wide grin, her dark eyes twinkling with enthusiasm. “I’m ready when you are!”
“W-well, I’m not really sure I’m the best teacher…” Leia said, hoping her reluctance was not too obvious. This hadn’t quite been what she had in mind. Dorn was rubbing her nimble fingers across Leia’s left foot, which was still firmly strapped into the contraption. Leia could tell that Dorn was doing her best to give Leia a soothing foot massage as a sort of warm-up, but Leia had always had the kind of feet which did not respond well to stimulation of any kind. Naturally, the nylon stockings weren’t doing her any favours either.
“Now’s not the time to be modest, come on! I want to learn now!” Dorn said, a hint of a hard, sharp urgency in her voice. Dorn’s feet were not really strapped tightly in, and Leia was aware that it was definitely in the imperial’s power to simply retract the offer, pull her own feet back, and then tickle Leia’s senseless. Even with one hand free, it wasn’t like Leia really had the power to deter the imperial officer, especially when Dorn had a blaster at her hip while all Leia really had in her possession at present was a pair of very ticklish nyloned feet.
“Okay, well, errr,” Leia said, her mind reeling back to the innumerable times she had found herself on the wrong end of the feather, as well as the few and far between moments when she had actually been doling out the tickling for once.
“I would say the most important thing is remembering everyone is different,” Leia said, her mind going through all the platitudes she had heard growing up. She stopped just short of saying everyone was a super special unique snowflake because surely Dorn would catch her out on that.
“Ahhh, so the same technique does not work on everyone,” Dorn said, nodding. She took out her datapad again and began inputting notes. “So I guess the first logical step would be a bit of reconnaissance, right? To see what works and what does not?” Dorn said, her voice hopeful, like a student daring to answer a question she was not that confident about.
“E-exactly! Well done!” Leia said, as she took this as her cue to begin tickling Dorn’s foot. This making it up as you go along stuff was hard! Thankfully Dorn’s ticklishness was off-the-charts, just like Leia, so they spent a few minutes just tickling each other into hysterics.
During this tickling warm-up, Leia’s fingers mapped across every inch of Dorn’s nylon-clad feet, scanning for ticklish spots, which was something Leia had always done purely on instinct, like there was some deep force within her pushing her onto the right path. Leia had always had and trusted this helpful inner reflex, but it seemed Dorn didn’t have the same intuition Leia had – her finger strokes clustered around the centre of Leia’s foot, around those high, wrinkly arches, which were undoubtedly a tremendously ticklish spot, but it was a bit of a wasted opportunities when there was so much other ticklish real estate to plumb for treasures of mirth.
Leia knew she would regret this, but she had to approach this honestly, or her ‘pupil’ might decide she would rather take her education into her own hands, and tickle torture the heck out of her former teacher.
“Dohohohon’t stick to one spohohohot!” Leia said, her left eye twitching as she spoke. Nodding eagerly, Dorn’s hands began to meander from spot to spot, tracing upwards to quest along those toes, and lower to give those rosy heels experimental strokes, making Leia immediately regret her words. Damnit, this educating stuff was tougher than it looked!
“It really seems like there’s no wrong way to go about tickling your feet,” Dorn said, with a chuckle as her fingers skittered up the sides of Leia’s feet. Having her own advice used against her and then being mocked for her ticklishness stoked Leia’s princess pride. She wouldn’t take it! Leia retaliated, tickling with a new ferocity as she went right at the ball of the foot, where Dorn seemed to be hiding a trove of soft spots.
“You’re oneheheheone to tahahalk!” Leia said, concentrating on the ticklish nylon-clad foot in front of her. “Yohohohohou are juhuhuhust as tihihicklish as mehee!”
Dorn made a face like she wanted to refute this fact, but the tickling on her feet was too intense to make any kind of meaningful retort. She scrunched up her face and bit her lip, but laughter kept bursting through nonetheless.
“Dohohohon’t hold it in!” Leia said, as she let the ticklish laughter burst from her lips freely. “You’ll tihihihire yoursehehelf out!” Leia was surprised that she was giving such honest counsel. Perhaps she did feel sympathetic towards this Imperial Agent. Dorn had a lot of the youthful vivacity that Leia recognized in herself, when she was younger, more idealistic, and less wary of the dark ways of the world. And she definitely had the same persistence, as she refused to give up to laughter due to Leia’s ticklish onslaught on her nyloned foot, even redoubling her efforts to strike back at this rebel scum.
For ten more minutes, this continued, both women too stubborn to give ground or surrender. For a while the two ladies’ laughter merged together to create a silly symphony of mirth, as high-pitched and melodious as the finest opera singers on Coruscant.
Leia noticed a defiance streak in Dorn, which Leia found herself respecting. The first proper times Leia had found herself tickled, often, she would simply lay back and take the tickling, the teasing almost having a submissive effect on her, but Dorn showed none of that sense of self-defeat. Her first instinct to the tickling was to strike back, and harder.
“Guhhhh!” Dorn grunted, as she ceased her tickling assault on Leia’s feet to put her hands on her head. “It’s sohohohoho hard to concentrahahate like this!”
“Well, it wouldn’t do for me to make it easy for you,” Leia said, stroking her nails under Dorn’s pedicured toes insistently. “Real life is rarely that simple.”
Dorn’s head suddenly snapped up, as if she had come to some great revelation. There was something predatory in Dorn’s grin as she murmured, “Oh, that’s true…”
She reached for her belt, and after the push of a button, Leia suddenly found her arms and ankles trapped again, pulled back by the straps that had just whizzed to life. Leia should have guessed it wouldn’t have been that easy
“Wha-“
Leia barely had a moment before Dorn was going full force into both feet at once.
“Nohohohoho fahahahair!” was the best Leia could muster as Dorn traced circles on her heels.
“How so?” Dorn asked, her voice innocent. “You said it yourself. It’s unrealistic. I would never get tickled while tickling, after all,” she said, as she moved her fingers to the other side of Leia’s nyloned feet, dragging her nails down the top of the feet, making Leia’s feet flex forward.
“I think an authentic situation makes the best lesson, you would agree with that, wouldn’t you?” Dorn said, using Leia’s own oratory against her, as she went for Leia’s toes, putting her fingers between them and scratching all around them with her nails.
Dorn was a quick student, clearly having picked up more of Leia’s lessons than the princess had realized. As Leia’s giggling turned into full-blown laughter, it was clear Dorn was going to be spending a lot of time in there, having decided the toes were Leia’s weak spot. It would almost be an inspirational tale of rapid improvement if Leia wasn’t laughing herself silly at the time, as Dorn was using those fiendish nails of hers to scrape the soft spaces between Leia’s toes in a sharp, downward motion.
“I dihihihisagre with thihihihis!” Leia said, howling with laughter at her toes were tormented. She just couldn’t work out this Dorn Lokelai. She had turned from treacherous to gullible to treacherous again, though keeping track of this sort of thing was again becoming difficult as Dorn’s talons began digging up and down Leia’s high arches.
“Awww, don’t be mad at me…” Dorn said, her face a demoralized pout, which was in total odds with her fingers, which continued to skate up and down the bottoms of Leia’s nylon-clad feet. “Just let me have this last bit of hands-on practice!
After a few moments were Leia said nothing, well, she did laugh and roar at Dorn to stop, but that didn’t count, Dorn frowned. “Pleaseeeee,” she said, her voice a low whine. “We’re almost done, I promise!”
Not knowing what else could be done, Leia managed to wrestle back control of her mouth long enough to burble out a quick “Fine!”
Giggling to herself, Dorn gave Leia’s feet one last ravenous, ticklish assessment.
She would carefully, gently trace one fingernail down the very centre of Leia’s arch, one foot at a time. “I always was a bit of a kinaesthetic learner myself,” Dorn said with an apologetic shrug, though this symbolic gesture of regret did nothing to ease the sensations of rampaging fingers across her soles.
Leia had been so hopeful… that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to get out of this quandary tickle-free, though clearly it simply was not meant to be. That wasn’t to mean the whole trip to Cloud City had been a wasted endeavour, however. Leia had enjoyed the sights, and she recovered valuable intelligence for the Rebel Alliance. The fact the Empire was watching this outpost with keen eyes was definitely something worth remembering. In terms of reconnaissance, Leia had also discovered something in this odd, eccentric Imperial Agent.
Gnawing on her lower lip, Dorn’s face was that of supreme concentration as she stroked all four fingernails up and down the bottoms of Leia’s feet in a light, skittering attack, as if she was admiring a velvety fabric at a high-end boutique. Leia had it on good authority her nylon-clad soles were much softer than silk, in any case. The Imperial Agent continued to apologize as her fingers traced up and down the very centre of Leia’s high arches. Even under ticklish duress, Leia knew that Dorn was someone who adored tickling, but the guiltless, honourable, conscientious kind. In other words, the kind she would never find in the service of the Empire. When the time was right, Leia would extend a partisanship to this tickle-crazed Imperial. Perhaps a ticklish apprenticeship of sorts, under Leia’s expert tutelage, of course, would be a good idea. There would be a lot of demonstrations, needless to say.
Leia would do that as soon as Dorn’s fingers stopped scratching under her toes. Though based on the fervour with which she was teasing and stroking the sensitive undersides, it could be a while, as the room echoed with Leia’s wild laughter.
This story takes place before the events of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
O-O-O
Cloud City was not the place for you if you were afraid of heights. The magnificent city, a pioneer of technological advancement, hovered 60,000 standard kilometres above the core of the gas giant, Bespin. The city was named for the fact that it was so high up in the planet’s atmosphere, one’s background was a perpetual swarm of those gigantic, mesmerizing clouds.
Level zero, which was a lavish, top-side surface-level plaza, was where Princess Leia departed from her spaceship. She took in the sights. She had seen more than her fair share of strange sights, but nothing was quite as breathtakingly captivating as the sights that Cloud City could give you.
Bespin did not have a reputation for beauty. This was understandable, as the surface of the planet was a scolding heat beyond what any humanoid could survive, and combined with its several layers of toxic gas, it had a reputation as a dangerous, volatile planet. It was a planet for prospectors, who wished to harvest the valuable gases housed within, but Leia felt that the coppery-clay planet held a certain raw beauty at the same time – at least from the vertiginous views of Cloud City, anyway. Perhaps she would feel differently if she was actually at the surface of the planet, or one of the lower levels of Cloudy City where the miners and factory workers resided, but in any case, from her vantage point, the view was stunning.
Yet Leia had work to do, much as she would enjoy admiring the view from Level 0, or exploring the Tourist district from Level 1-50 which held all manner of entertainment from casinos to theatres, in addition to several luxury hotels which had gotten very good reviews on the holonets.
To better blend in with the tourists and gamblers that loitered around Cloud City, today, Leia had eschewed her Rebel combat fatigues in favour of a white overcoat, a red blouse with matching red slacks. On her feet, she wore her usual dark nylon stockings under white high-heeled boots.
Han Solo, insolent but somewhat-reliable rogue that he was, had told her that his old buddy, Baron Lando Calrissian, was in charge of Cloud City in some kind of administrative position, and Leia had come to Cloud City to do a little bit of reconnaissance. Her plan was to get a better measure of the city, maybe spend a few nights in a few luxurious lodgings, and find out the city’s disposition to the Empire and Rebels.
Thus, Leia’s first destination in the city was the high-rollers lounge of the galaxy-renowned grand hotel, Indulgence, which was known for its impeccably-dressed staff, its astonishing variety of cuisine, and the outlandishness of its entertainment. Raised as royalty, Leia had rarely felt inferior to anyone in any situation, but this foreign feeling washed over her as she took in the sight of the casino. The humanoid women were breathtaking beauties, all clad in designer garb that must have cost more than a royal ransom, with ostentatious amounts of jewellery that made them glimmer like a droid in sunlight. The men were as well-dressed, and perhaps only a shade less showy.
Han’s connections had done a good job, as Leia promptly made her way through the Indulgence’s security in no time. The high-rollers lounge was teeming with games so exotically obscure that Leia had no idea how to play them, with the exception of Pazaak. Of course, the house had the advantage, as the challenger was forced to go first in this game where you had to flip up cards to try to reach as close as you could to 20 without going over and ‘busting’.
Leia played a few hands, as she sipped from a fizzy, alcoholic beverage given to her by a ravishing twilek in a scantily-clad outfit. During her survey of the crowd of people here, she picked up smatters of conversations as wealthy men and women discussed recent affairs, just like all people did. There was some belly-aching about The Empire and its taxation, but most of the anguish was directed towards the Rebels and their damage to infrastructure and economy due to their guerrilla tactics. Leia couldn’t say she was certain if they had just swallowed the Empire’s propaganda hook line and sinker, or they really were that self-interested. Pushing up from the table after tipping the dealer, Leia wondered what kind of reception the Rebels had down at the lower levels with the miners and the less fortunate members of society.
Searching for an exit was a struggle. Leia remembered an interior designer friend once telling her how Casinos were designed intentionally to be difficult to navigate, in order to ensnare people into spending more time and money there. The casino seemed positively labyrinthine, especially as Leia realized the tall glass of green, bubbly liquid must have been a lot more potent than she expected, as she realized her head was spinning and she was begin to teeter and totter with every step. Perhaps wearing those fashionable high heeled boots had not been the best option.
Her strength suddenly abandoning her, Leia collapsed to the ground, the soft, plush carpet breaking her fall. Her consciousness ebbing away from her, she was relieved as two immaculately-tailored servants rushed to help her up, with a third reassuring other guests that she had simply slipped, and had drunk too much.
“Hello, Princess Leia…” the guard holding up Leia’s arms said, in a cruel facsimile of a friendly, subservient smile. “Fancy running into you here…” Leia tried to clench her fists and pull free, or open her mouth to scream for help, but she felt so sleepy, so sleepy….
O-O-O
Leia awoke to find herself in a familiar, yet, horrendous situation. She had been strapped to an ivory-white chair, with her arms tied behind it, pinning her to its non-optional comfort. Her legs were in a peculiar contraption, as they seemed to be tied to metal cords which bound them to the ceiling fan. She seemed to still be in the Indulgence hotel and casino, based on the tasteful wallpaper, but it looked like she had been taken to one of the private guest rooms. She could see a light on in what was probably the room’s washroom.
“Hello! Can anybody hear me?” Leia shouted, hoping desperately that an inquisitive neighbour or housemaid might stumble in and save her from his situation.
“Oh, I can hear you all right…” A cool, calm female voice said, from the other end of the room. Leia’s head turned as the mysterious woman made her appearance. First Leia saw a set of high-heeled, open-toed boots, showing off humanoid feet clad in black stockings. Toned legs and tight black slacks emerged as the woman took a step closer. A tight grey coat with matching cap which contrasted nicely with the woman’s brown ponytail completed the look.
“Feeling comfy, Princess?” the woman asked, with faux sweetness. All it took was one full look at the entire outfit for Leia to get a measure of what she was dealing with. The imperial influence in her outfit was undeniable. The woman looked like a model for Imperial officer leisurewear with her shapely figure and high cheekbones.
Leia sighed. She had gone through enough of these to see where this was going. It was a bit jaded of her to think like this, but she had grown to accept that her ticklishness had become a galaxy-wide fact. She had resolved to nip this in the bud this time round, and just see if things would be a bit different. “Oh, I’m very comfortable. Thank you for the hospitality,” Leia said with mock politeness, being careful her response was delicately intermingled with sarcasm. Talking in such a manner was a must for any politician of note. Leia recalled she actually had instructors training her on Alderaan in how to achieve the perfect enunciation and lilt needed for maximum provocation.
This imperial woman blinked, and then recovered enough composure to sense Leia’s insolence. “Oh, we heard you would be defiant… I look forward to breaking you of that pride and arrogance…”
Leia rolled her eyes. “Oh no! Whatever will you do to me? Surely you don’t plan on torturing me to give you information on the rebels!” Leia wailed, her voice drenched in sarcasm.
The imperial narrowed her eyes, which would have looked menacing if not for her appearing like some kind of dancer who decided she wanted to try to be intimidating. “Oh, we have just the thing planned for you, Princess Leia…”
“Let me guess. You plan on tickling me on my feet? Gee, that’s never happened to me before! What a novel and innovative form of torture!” Leia said, her words heavily dosed with snark. Of course, Leia was still devastatingly ticklish on her nylon-clad feet, and she had a grudging feeling she would always be, but Leia hoped that by appearing so nonchalant about it, Leia might be able to dissuade her would-be torturer. If Leia was able to pull this off, it would be a heck of a story to tell Luke and Han and all the others!
The imperial woman definitely looked a little deflated by Leia’s defiance. She had probably expected a bit of shouting, struggling, and maybe even a bit of begging. It must have been disheartening to be so seen through. She probably imagined it would be such a twist, but hey, Leia was practically a veteran about this sort of thing by now. Leia almost wanted to apologize for hurting this imperial woman’s feelings. “How… how did you know?” the woman said in a small voice that made Leia feel inordinately guilty.
“Taking my shoes off already is a dead giveaway,” Leia said, and to her shock, the woman actually pulled out a datapad and began taking notes, as if Leia was some esteemed guest lecturer and the imperial was some wide-eyed student. “Oh, I’ve been around the block enough to recognize a set-up like this,” Leia said, gesturing with her head to the shackles around her wrists and ankles. “I’m just surprised you didn’t go for a standard stocks set-up. I guess you get points for creativity there.”
“Yeah, we commissioned a new set of restraints just for this! They’re really artistic with their work, aren't they?” the imperial grinned, clapping her hands together. She walked over and began to stroke the straps that held Leia’s wrists. “We even bio-engineered some feathers just for the occasion because we heard you were especially susceptible to them,” the woman gushed excitedly, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pair of feathers, one red and one blue. They definitely looked fluffier and decidedly more dangerous than standard feathers.
“Impressive,” Leia nodded.
“Awww, you really think so?” the imperial said, putting a hand to her chest in gratitude. “You’re very kind. I’m Dorn Lokelai, by the way.”
“Well, Miss Lokelai, now that we’ve got the introductions out of the way, what do you say to letting me out?” Leia asked, holding her breath as she wondered if she might somehow be able to bluff her way out of an interrogation session.
Dorn tilted her head and ran long, slender fingernails through her lush brown hair.
“I don’t know, Princess. You look pretty cute all tied up like this,” she said, with a playful smile as she used an index finger to ever so slightly tease down Leia’s right foot. “Why should I do that?”
“What makes you think you can break me? I’ve been doing this for a while now,” Leia stated, with her senatorial air of confidence. She hoped Dorn didn’t notice the shivers that were going up her body from just that one fingernail sliding across the arch of her silky-soft foot.
“Hmmm, that is true…” Dorn said, pulling the finger away, and cupping her face in her hands in a dejected manner.
An uncomfortable silence then followed, as this strange imperial agent, Dorn, pouted while Leia struggled against her bonds as she pondered if there was anything she could say.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea!” Dorn said, her face brightening. “How about you give me some tips! I’m sure you know what’s effective and what’s not!”
It took a moment for Leia to process what had just been said, as it was so outlandishly odd. Was Dorn expecting Leia to just offer up the secrets of her own ticklishness to her? Leia took a moment to study this odd Imperial officer that sat in front of her. Wide-eyed, jiggling her legs, and grinning, she reminded Leia of an over-excited student going to her first lesson at a new school. She was eager to please, eager to learn, and eager to impress the teacher. That seemed to be Leia in this case. Leia didn’t sense much malice in the girl, but you never knew with these imperial types, as it could all be a ruse. The earnest look on her face almost made Leia feel sorry for her. Leia had to approach this carefully if she wanted to escape…
“How about we make a deal? You let me out, and I’ll tell you all the secrets of the trade,” Leia said, noting the way Dorn’s eyes sparkled in delight at the sound of the offer. “That sound fair?”
“It does!” Dorn said, clapping her hands in joy. “But I do have a slight problem with your offer…” she said, her voice suddenly dropping.
Leia sighed mentally. She had been so close. It had almost worked…
“I don’t want you to have all the fun! I think a hands-on experience is a much better way to learn from a master such as yourself,” Dorn said, as she pulled out a remote. Suddenly, the straps around Leia’s right foot and right wrist slackened, yet the other half of Leia’s limbs remained entangled.
“What’s going on?” Leia said, using the newfound freedom of her right hand to scratch her head in puzzlement.
Leia got her answer as Dorn, continuing to subvert every tickle torture tradition and tenet in the book, unzipped the high-heeled boot from her right foot and slid it into the straps, right within Leia’s grasp. Leia stared at the nylon-covered foot practically right in her lap.
“Let’s start the lesson, teacher!” Dorn said, with a wide grin, her dark eyes twinkling with enthusiasm. “I’m ready when you are!”
“W-well, I’m not really sure I’m the best teacher…” Leia said, hoping her reluctance was not too obvious. This hadn’t quite been what she had in mind. Dorn was rubbing her nimble fingers across Leia’s left foot, which was still firmly strapped into the contraption. Leia could tell that Dorn was doing her best to give Leia a soothing foot massage as a sort of warm-up, but Leia had always had the kind of feet which did not respond well to stimulation of any kind. Naturally, the nylon stockings weren’t doing her any favours either.
“Now’s not the time to be modest, come on! I want to learn now!” Dorn said, a hint of a hard, sharp urgency in her voice. Dorn’s feet were not really strapped tightly in, and Leia was aware that it was definitely in the imperial’s power to simply retract the offer, pull her own feet back, and then tickle Leia’s senseless. Even with one hand free, it wasn’t like Leia really had the power to deter the imperial officer, especially when Dorn had a blaster at her hip while all Leia really had in her possession at present was a pair of very ticklish nyloned feet.
“Okay, well, errr,” Leia said, her mind reeling back to the innumerable times she had found herself on the wrong end of the feather, as well as the few and far between moments when she had actually been doling out the tickling for once.
“I would say the most important thing is remembering everyone is different,” Leia said, her mind going through all the platitudes she had heard growing up. She stopped just short of saying everyone was a super special unique snowflake because surely Dorn would catch her out on that.
“Ahhh, so the same technique does not work on everyone,” Dorn said, nodding. She took out her datapad again and began inputting notes. “So I guess the first logical step would be a bit of reconnaissance, right? To see what works and what does not?” Dorn said, her voice hopeful, like a student daring to answer a question she was not that confident about.
“E-exactly! Well done!” Leia said, as she took this as her cue to begin tickling Dorn’s foot. This making it up as you go along stuff was hard! Thankfully Dorn’s ticklishness was off-the-charts, just like Leia, so they spent a few minutes just tickling each other into hysterics.
During this tickling warm-up, Leia’s fingers mapped across every inch of Dorn’s nylon-clad feet, scanning for ticklish spots, which was something Leia had always done purely on instinct, like there was some deep force within her pushing her onto the right path. Leia had always had and trusted this helpful inner reflex, but it seemed Dorn didn’t have the same intuition Leia had – her finger strokes clustered around the centre of Leia’s foot, around those high, wrinkly arches, which were undoubtedly a tremendously ticklish spot, but it was a bit of a wasted opportunities when there was so much other ticklish real estate to plumb for treasures of mirth.
Leia knew she would regret this, but she had to approach this honestly, or her ‘pupil’ might decide she would rather take her education into her own hands, and tickle torture the heck out of her former teacher.
“Dohohohon’t stick to one spohohohot!” Leia said, her left eye twitching as she spoke. Nodding eagerly, Dorn’s hands began to meander from spot to spot, tracing upwards to quest along those toes, and lower to give those rosy heels experimental strokes, making Leia immediately regret her words. Damnit, this educating stuff was tougher than it looked!
“It really seems like there’s no wrong way to go about tickling your feet,” Dorn said, with a chuckle as her fingers skittered up the sides of Leia’s feet. Having her own advice used against her and then being mocked for her ticklishness stoked Leia’s princess pride. She wouldn’t take it! Leia retaliated, tickling with a new ferocity as she went right at the ball of the foot, where Dorn seemed to be hiding a trove of soft spots.
“You’re oneheheheone to tahahalk!” Leia said, concentrating on the ticklish nylon-clad foot in front of her. “Yohohohohou are juhuhuhust as tihihicklish as mehee!”
Dorn made a face like she wanted to refute this fact, but the tickling on her feet was too intense to make any kind of meaningful retort. She scrunched up her face and bit her lip, but laughter kept bursting through nonetheless.
“Dohohohon’t hold it in!” Leia said, as she let the ticklish laughter burst from her lips freely. “You’ll tihihihire yoursehehelf out!” Leia was surprised that she was giving such honest counsel. Perhaps she did feel sympathetic towards this Imperial Agent. Dorn had a lot of the youthful vivacity that Leia recognized in herself, when she was younger, more idealistic, and less wary of the dark ways of the world. And she definitely had the same persistence, as she refused to give up to laughter due to Leia’s ticklish onslaught on her nyloned foot, even redoubling her efforts to strike back at this rebel scum.
For ten more minutes, this continued, both women too stubborn to give ground or surrender. For a while the two ladies’ laughter merged together to create a silly symphony of mirth, as high-pitched and melodious as the finest opera singers on Coruscant.
Leia noticed a defiance streak in Dorn, which Leia found herself respecting. The first proper times Leia had found herself tickled, often, she would simply lay back and take the tickling, the teasing almost having a submissive effect on her, but Dorn showed none of that sense of self-defeat. Her first instinct to the tickling was to strike back, and harder.
“Guhhhh!” Dorn grunted, as she ceased her tickling assault on Leia’s feet to put her hands on her head. “It’s sohohohoho hard to concentrahahate like this!”
“Well, it wouldn’t do for me to make it easy for you,” Leia said, stroking her nails under Dorn’s pedicured toes insistently. “Real life is rarely that simple.”
Dorn’s head suddenly snapped up, as if she had come to some great revelation. There was something predatory in Dorn’s grin as she murmured, “Oh, that’s true…”
She reached for her belt, and after the push of a button, Leia suddenly found her arms and ankles trapped again, pulled back by the straps that had just whizzed to life. Leia should have guessed it wouldn’t have been that easy
“Wha-“
Leia barely had a moment before Dorn was going full force into both feet at once.
“Nohohohoho fahahahair!” was the best Leia could muster as Dorn traced circles on her heels.
“How so?” Dorn asked, her voice innocent. “You said it yourself. It’s unrealistic. I would never get tickled while tickling, after all,” she said, as she moved her fingers to the other side of Leia’s nyloned feet, dragging her nails down the top of the feet, making Leia’s feet flex forward.
“I think an authentic situation makes the best lesson, you would agree with that, wouldn’t you?” Dorn said, using Leia’s own oratory against her, as she went for Leia’s toes, putting her fingers between them and scratching all around them with her nails.
Dorn was a quick student, clearly having picked up more of Leia’s lessons than the princess had realized. As Leia’s giggling turned into full-blown laughter, it was clear Dorn was going to be spending a lot of time in there, having decided the toes were Leia’s weak spot. It would almost be an inspirational tale of rapid improvement if Leia wasn’t laughing herself silly at the time, as Dorn was using those fiendish nails of hers to scrape the soft spaces between Leia’s toes in a sharp, downward motion.
“I dihihihisagre with thihihihis!” Leia said, howling with laughter at her toes were tormented. She just couldn’t work out this Dorn Lokelai. She had turned from treacherous to gullible to treacherous again, though keeping track of this sort of thing was again becoming difficult as Dorn’s talons began digging up and down Leia’s high arches.
“Awww, don’t be mad at me…” Dorn said, her face a demoralized pout, which was in total odds with her fingers, which continued to skate up and down the bottoms of Leia’s nylon-clad feet. “Just let me have this last bit of hands-on practice!
After a few moments were Leia said nothing, well, she did laugh and roar at Dorn to stop, but that didn’t count, Dorn frowned. “Pleaseeeee,” she said, her voice a low whine. “We’re almost done, I promise!”
Not knowing what else could be done, Leia managed to wrestle back control of her mouth long enough to burble out a quick “Fine!”
Giggling to herself, Dorn gave Leia’s feet one last ravenous, ticklish assessment.
She would carefully, gently trace one fingernail down the very centre of Leia’s arch, one foot at a time. “I always was a bit of a kinaesthetic learner myself,” Dorn said with an apologetic shrug, though this symbolic gesture of regret did nothing to ease the sensations of rampaging fingers across her soles.
Leia had been so hopeful… that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to get out of this quandary tickle-free, though clearly it simply was not meant to be. That wasn’t to mean the whole trip to Cloud City had been a wasted endeavour, however. Leia had enjoyed the sights, and she recovered valuable intelligence for the Rebel Alliance. The fact the Empire was watching this outpost with keen eyes was definitely something worth remembering. In terms of reconnaissance, Leia had also discovered something in this odd, eccentric Imperial Agent.
Gnawing on her lower lip, Dorn’s face was that of supreme concentration as she stroked all four fingernails up and down the bottoms of Leia’s feet in a light, skittering attack, as if she was admiring a velvety fabric at a high-end boutique. Leia had it on good authority her nylon-clad soles were much softer than silk, in any case. The Imperial Agent continued to apologize as her fingers traced up and down the very centre of Leia’s high arches. Even under ticklish duress, Leia knew that Dorn was someone who adored tickling, but the guiltless, honourable, conscientious kind. In other words, the kind she would never find in the service of the Empire. When the time was right, Leia would extend a partisanship to this tickle-crazed Imperial. Perhaps a ticklish apprenticeship of sorts, under Leia’s expert tutelage, of course, would be a good idea. There would be a lot of demonstrations, needless to say.
Leia would do that as soon as Dorn’s fingers stopped scratching under her toes. Though based on the fervour with which she was teasing and stroking the sensitive undersides, it could be a while, as the room echoed with Leia’s wild laughter.
