Chapter Text
After their silly morning, Luigi managed to get his phone back and read through the story. The truth was, the fanfic Mario was reading, happened to include a specific theme that Luigi was quite embarrassed about enjoying. Mario was already making fun of Luigi for reading fluffy, unrealistic stories…so if he found out about this specific theme, then…who knows how Mario would react!
Luckily, Mario had stopped reading only a couple lines before the secret theme of the fanfic had been revealed to him. What was that theme exactly?
Well…Tickling. Tickling was the theme. The story Luigi was reading was a tickle fanfiction. Or, tickle fanfic, as the internet usually shortened the basic concept so it was easy to say. While the story Mario read for the moment was about some Roman guy conjuring up cute puppies, the fanfic would change into a tickle fanfic later on, that involved too many puppies dog-piling Patton and tickling him to death. So the fact that Mario stopped reading before that, was a huge stroke of luck for Luigi.
And before you ask, yes…tickle fanfics exist. Not only that, but there is a whole community of people (mostly teens and adults) who drew, wrote, and chatted about different characters being ticklish while coming up with realistic scenarios where tickling each other would be incorporated.
This community was called the Tickle Community…because duh.
And telling by what you saw this morning…Luigi was secretly a part of that community…and he would rather take this secret to his grave, then let his brother find out about this…as would almost everyone in this entire community. Everybody in this community had roughly the same mindset: READ MY MIND, and GIVE ME TICKLES. Because as much as everyone in this community wanted to have tickle fights, NO ONE WANTED TO BRING IT UP, OR ASK. Because judgment is the ultimate enemy.
Like in every other community, there is slang they liked to use. Short forms of words that showed their preferences within the community. But there are 3 main slang words: Ticklee, Tickler, and switch. People in the community will often shorten two of these words. Ticklee to lee, and tickler to ler. Switch usually remains the same.
A lee is a person who likes being tickled by others. They often enjoy different types of teases, and get highly embarrassed whenever people refer to tickling in any way. Even the word ‘tickle’ will make them burn up and cower in embarrassment…but this is just code for “Please tickle me I’ve been waiting my whole life for this”. Lees often imagine themselves being tickled by certain people they trust and love…and when tickling casually shows up in the media, lees are secretly wishing they could experience that same playfulness too…to the point where it affects them psychologically. Lees have 1 hyphenated word in common: Touch-starved. They are all touch-starved in one way or another. So if you see a lee in their natural habitat, consider getting to know them and helping them out…they may love you forever.
A ler is a person that enjoys tickling others. They often enjoy coming up with fun teases and games to play with their lees. Lers often enjoy seeing their lees in giggly moods of embarrassment. They often find it endearing, cute, and funny all at the same time! Lers also seem to enjoy feeling like the one on top. For some reason, lers often represent themselves as a step up from lees...As if they had a leg up in the situation. Which…they kinda do? Let me explain: If you put the 3 words in a pyramid hierarchy, you will see that lers are always at the top of the pyramid. Switches are in the middle, and lees are at the bottom. However, the lees must always be treated with more respect than the lers, because of their position in the community…Because if it weren’t for lees, then the lers and the switches would be forever alone. So…thank your lees next time you see them.
A switch is a person who switches between being the ler and being the lee. Most of the time, switches express their switching through percentages based on how often they are in lee moods, or ler moods. Example: 70% ler, 30% lee. They are in ler moods 70% of the time, and they are in lee moods the rest of the time. You often have to ask them what mood they are in, to determine what side they want to take. But lers must fear switches…because they can go from a cute little lee mood, to the ultimate ler mood in the flip of a switch. And using their experience in both leeing and lering, they can often put the most evil ler into a lee mood in a few minutes and change things up. The reality is, switches should be on the top of the pyramid, but they are not because they are too powerful to be given such responsibilities. Either way, never mess with a switch.
Now Luigi…He would say that he is a switch. More specifically, 50% ler, 50% lee. Being the younger brother often meant he was usually the lee between the two brothers…but thanks to their height differences, Luigi has often changed roles.
But thanks to his brother’s evil shenanigans this morning, Luigi was stuck in a never-ending lee mood…and he was NOT okay…
And to make things worse? Mario had decided to tell Princess Peach about their embarrassing morning.
“And then- then the dude has the AUDACITY to tell me he’s ‘taller, and cooler, and therefore smarter’ than me! Like- He was just asking for it!” Mario reacted.
“Mario…” Luigi groaned, covering his face in embarrassment.
“What?! It’s true!” Mario added.
Princess Peach giggled. “I mean…the ‘taller’ thing isn’t wrong…” Peach teased.
Luigi raised his head up and gasped. “YES! See?! Peach gets it!” Luigi reacted, pointing to Peach.
Mario narrowed his eyes. “Don’t even think about it, Princess.” Mario warned.
“Why not, shorty? Think you’re strong enough to fight me?” Peach asked.
Mario growled and rolled up his sleeves as he got closer to her. “You messed with the wrong plumber.” Mario warned again.
Peach smirked and picked up Mario under the armpits. “Oh, I know not to mess with Luigi. That’s why I’m taking his side instead!” Peach declared as she wrapped her left arm around Mario’s middle.
“HEY! PUT ME DO-OOOOOHOHOOO! WAHAHAHA! WAHAhahahait nohohoho!” Mario yelled, throwing his head back and cackling in her arms.
“Awww, look at this! The other brother’s just as ticklish! Maybe even more!” Peach teased.
Luigi chuckled and just watched the two of them for a moment. “Y-Yeah…He kinda is.” Luigi muttered.
“But which side is more ticklish?” Peach asked as she wrapped both her arms around Mario. “This side?” She squeezed his right side.
This earned her a squeak, followed by a fit of laughter from the boy. “STAHAhahahap! Leheheave mehehe alohohohone!” Mario reacted.
“Or this side?” Peach squeezed his left side next.
Mario kicked his feet and squeezed his eyes shut, trying and failing to cover up his face as giggles and laughter left his lungs.
“Not so tough and mighty now, are you, Mario?” Peach teased.
Luigi could quickly feel the blush just filling his own cheeks. And he himself wasn’t even the one being teased! And yet, his stupid mind was making him all blushy and embarrassed. Maybe this was his way of showing empathy for his brother?
Or maybe this was…something else…
“LUIHIHIGI HEHEHELP MEHEHE!” Mario yelled. “DOHOHON’T JUHUST STAHAHAHAND THEHEHERE!” Mario ordered.
Luigi widened his eyes and shook himself out of his momentary trance. Mario was right! He should not just be standing here! “Hold on, Mario! Imma coming!” Luigi declared, running over.
Peach looked behind her out of the corner of her eye. “You, so much as touch me, and I will tickle you even more than I’m tickling Mario at this moment.” Peach warned with a smirk.
Luigi paused and thought for a moment. Now, any other person would choose not to help at that point…Cause who wants to face the punishment?!
But Luigi…Luigi was not that type of guy. So Luigi resumed his run back up to Peach, and started tickling her sides. “I’ve gotcha now!” Luigi declared.
Peach yelped and jolted up, dropping Mario in the process. Then, Peach turned to look at Luigi with shock. “Did you just-”
Luigi quickly caught his brother and placed him down. “There you go, Mario.” Luigi told him.
Mario was breathing somewhat heavily, but managed to get out a ‘thank you’ before patting his back. Luigi then turned around to face Peach, and crossed his arms with a smirk. “And yes. I just did, Princess.” Luigi declared.
Peach smiled in both shock, and excitement. “Ohoho, I can now understand what Mario meant.” Peach reacted, wiggling her fingers at him. “You really ARE asking for it~” Peach teased.
Luigi’s confidence flew away from him in a single heartbeat. He gulped a slight bit at the wiggling fingers, before backing up slowly. “Ohokay, maybe I made a small-” Luigi shrieked as he tripped over something, falling onto his back.
Mario chuckled and brought his leg back to his chest. “Payback.” Mario teased.
Luigi widened his eyes and looked at Mario with confusion. “Wha- Mario, I saved you!” Luigi yelled, showing utter betrayal as he got up onto his feet again.
“You took too long!” Mario argued.
Suddenly, something grabbed at Luigi’s sides from behind him. Luigi squeaked and clamped his arms to his sides, suddenly bursting out into helpless giggles. “eEEHEHEhehehee!” Luigi giggled, covering his mouth.
“Now I’ve got YOU~!” Peach tripped Luigi down, and literally started dragging him across the grass with both her arms under his arms.
“EEEEP! WAIT-WAITNO-” Luigi yelled, struggling in her grip and attempting to get out. But quickly taking his position under consideration, Luigi moved his hands back behind him and squeezed her sides without even looking.
“eEEK!” Peach squealed, almost dropping him in the process. “YOU-”
“What? You should’ve looked where you’re goi- OHNO!” Luigi reacted as he was thrown to the ground.
“Now let’s see which brother has the most ticklish sides.” She declared as she started squeezing both of Luigi’s sides at the same time.
Luigi threw his head back and bursted out cackling almost right away. “HAHAHAHAhahahaha! EEEEHEHEHEEK NAHAHAhahahahaha!!” Luigi laughed, kicking his legs wildly.
“Oooooh! I think we know who the clear winner is~!” Peach teased.
“It’ll always be Luigi. He’s more ticklish than me.” Mario added.
Peach giggled. “I thought we established that you’re more ticklish?” Peach reminded Mario.
“You didn’t tickle him yet. So you’ll have to be the judge of that.” Mario told her with a smirk.
“MAHAHARIO SHUHUHUSSHHH!” Luigi yelled.
“Only one way to find out:” Peach moved her fingers over to Luigi’s hips, and started digging in with her thumbs.
Luigi let out a HUGE squeal, before spazzing out and absolutely ROARING with newfound laughter.
“Well…I can already tell who’s more ticklish.” Peach teased, slightly shocked at Luigi’s voice flexibility.
Luigi whined and covered up his face in pure embarrassment. He was already such a blushy mess at this point, it wasn’t even funny anymore…At least, to Luigi. To Mario and Peach? It was HILARIOUS!
“Ahahawww! He’s all embarrassed! How much cuter can you possibly get?!” Peach teased.
Mario dropped his jaw and frowned. “HEY!”
Luigi tried to mumble something against his hands. “Mhmhmmm mmmm MMMMm!” Luigi mumbled.
Peach giggled at this. “I’m sorry, what was that?” Peach teased.
Luigi uncovered his face and started hugging himself. “IHIHI’M NOHOHOHOT CUHUHUHUTE!” Luigi yelled.
Peach laughed. “He says with his face all red.” Peach teased.
“Shhhhuhuhush.” Luigi mumbled, shaking his head with pure embarrassment. As much as he liked the tickles, the teases were beginning to drive him up the wall.
Peach smirked before looking at Mario. “Any suggestions for tickle spots?” She asked.
Mario chuckled. “Oh yes. Belly button, ribs, armpits, Luigi’s basically a walking ticklish spot.” Mario told him.
Luigi whined and shook his head again. Mario had just told the princess every single ticklish spot on his body…and if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, then I don’t know what is.
“Oh! And if you try this…” Mario walked up and sat down beside her. He wiggled his fingers at Luigi before bringing them mere millimeters from his ribs. Luigi squealed and covered his face again, already giggling up a storm. The man wasn’t even being touched, and was already a giggly little mess.
Peach tilted her head. He…wasn’t touching his ribs…and yet, the man was giggling and laughing as if he WAS!
Peach stared at Luigi, before looking at Mario. “How are you doing that?” Peach asked.
Mario chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Sometimes you don’t even have to tickle him in order to get him laughing.” Mario replied. “But when you touch down like this,”
Mario finally placed his skittering fingers all over Luigi’s ribs, And poor Luigi uncovered his face and guffawed with surprise cackles.
“Yohou get…the most happy little reaction out of him.” Mario replied, sounding like he genuinely loved hearing his brother’s laugh.
“But what if he tries to get you back?” Peach asked with a smirk.
“Oh! Then I just do this:” Mario took in a big breath and blew a large raspberry onto his brother's ribs.
“eEEEEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!” Luigi screamed, squeezing his eyes shut.
“That usually stops him from trying anything else.” Mario finished with a laugh.
Peach giggled and watched as Luigi slowly fell into a breathless state. He curled up into a ball, and took in breaths to try and recover from the heavy tickle attack.
“So…having any regrets?” Peach asked, poking his side.
Luigi giggled and attempted to push her hand away. “Quihihit ihit.” Luigi mumbled.
“You didn’t answer my question.” Peach told him.
As much as he loved the tickling, he knew he was gonna need a break soon. So Luigi nodded his head, and said what she wanted to hear. “Yehehehes. Ihihi regrehet ihihit.” Luigi replied.
Peach smirked and gently squeezed his hip. “Good.”
Luigi kicked his feet like a little ballerina, letting out a couple more giggles before going breathless again.
Mario chuckled. “So you’ll keep fighting against me, but you’ll give up for Peach?” Mario teased.
Luigi groaned. No matter what Luigi did, Mario always seemed to find a way to make fun of the man…and it was just not fair.
“It’s because you’re not nearly as scary.” Peach teased.
Mario looked at Peach with shock. “Is that so?!” Mario reacted.
Peach bursted out laughing at Mario’s reaction alone. Luigi couldn’t help the little laugh that left his own mouth too.
Mario only smiled and shook his head. “We’re all gonna have a long talk about this later.” Mario decided before offering his brother a hand. “Need help up?” Mario asked.
Luigi nodded and took his hand.
But when Mario started to pull, Luigi gave a quick little surprise tug.
“WaAH!” Mario yelped as he fell right into Luigi’s arms. “Luigi!” Mario yelled.
Luigi started tickling his brother’s belly and ribs, while cheering excitedly. “Reveeeenge!” Luigi declared. “Reveeeenge is miiiine!”
Mario squeaked and wiggled around in his brother’s arms, laughing helplessly while he threw his arms around and kicked his feet. “LUHUHUIGIHIHI GAHAHAhahahahaha!” Mario laughed.
“You shoulda seen this-a coming, Mario~” Luigi teased.
“You just don’t know when to stop…do you?” Peach asked.
“Nope! We could do this all day.” Luigi replied.
“MAHAHAYBE YOHOHOU COHOULD, BUHUT NOHOHOHOT MEHEHE!” Mario yelled back.
Peach smirked and gently separated the brothers. “How about I end this once and for all?” She offered.
Luigi looked up at Peach with confusion, before widening his eyes as he was grabbed by the collar. Peach then held Mario in one hand, and Luigi in the other. With both boys in her arms, Peach started tickling both their bellies at the same time.
“AAAAHAHAHAHAHahahahaha! PEHEHEACH WHYHYHY?!” Luigi cackled, wiggling around slightly.
“WAHAHAIT NOHOHOHAHahahaha! WAAAHAHAhahaha stahahahap!” Mario laughed, kicking his feet helplessly.
“Now I’ve got TWO ticklish boys in my hands! No one can stop me now!!” Peach declared proudly.
And so ultimately, Peach ended up winning this round against the two brothers. But it wasn’t just Peach that won…Luigi also managed to get the reward he really wanted. 2 tickle fights in one day?! That’s absolutely unheard of! What are the chances of that casually happening?!
…Very low, as it would turn out.
