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“Comfy?”
The avatar snorted, rolling her shoulders. “Exceedingly. I don’t know if you applied these correctly, I feel like I could get out of this easily if I wanted to.”
“I suppose it’s a good thing you don’t want to then.”
Korra flushed, averting her gaze. “You don’t have to point it out like that.”
Despite her grumbling, Korra only had herself to blame for the current situation she found herself in. Not that she really minded her circumstances, as Bolin had been so quick to point out to her. The conversation had come a week beforehand, somewhere late into the night when reason had left her side and her inhibitions were lost under the relaxing gaze of the stars. Bolin and she had been wrestling up on the roof. They had a tournament the next day and so the two of them stayed up practicing long after Mako had bid them goodnight.
“You’ll need your sleep too, you know,” he’d said, casting them both disapproving looks. They’d only rolled their eyes in response.
Mako was correct, as always, and their practice quickly lost all form as sleep tugged at them, turning into playful jabs and giggle fits as they lazily fumbled around, any actual bending done for the night in favor of the friendly tussling. At one point, Bolin had her pinned under him with one hand, her legs struggling futilely to curl around his waist and throw him off. She managed to dig her heel hard into his hip and he grunted, squeezing her side in retaliation. Which was, really, just entirely unfair. Korra had squealed, tugging harder at her arms now, but it was too late. A flurry of pokes rained down on her sides for several minutes while she giggled and pleaded for a break to no avail.
Bolin was no stranger to her love for tickling. He’d gotten that confession out of her a while ago. Ever since then, he’d made sure to sneak tickling in whenever he could: tasing her from behind while she was getting ready, poking her side to get her attention, scribbling fingers over her neck when she and Mako were being gross with each other.
But all those times, as with this time, were over in a flash. Bolin let her go, flopping down by her side and closing his eyes as he laid back on the roof, unaware of the roiling in her gut.
“Bolin,” she said slowly after she’d sat back up. She picked at her nails, grateful that the moonlight was faint tonight and her features were hidden in the darkness. “W-Would you ever want to tickle me more?”
There was a snort. “Korra, I tickle you every day. I mean, I’m willing, but I’m afraid you’re gonna have to be more specific than that.”
“Like…” Korra waved her hand ambiguously. “Like for longer, I guess.”
She could feel Bolin staring at her, but she didn’t dare glance his way. “I mean, I would, but I can barely hold you still for the bit that I do.”
Korra inhaled sharply. It was now or never.
“I bet you could if I was tied up.”
That moment seemed so long ago now, with Bolin straddling her waist and her arms and legs restrained around the edges of their futon. It had seemed so exciting then, her mind racing with the possibilities when he’d agreed to a full hour of this. Now, exposed, restrained, and helpless, she began to worry that maybe she might have bitten off more than she could chew.
She tugged on her restraints, staring unflinchingly at Bolin even though everything in her screamed to look away and hide. They didn’t budge. She tried again, this time truly exerting effort. They didn’t move so much as an inch. Her breathing quickened.
“Someone feeling a bit stuck?” he teased, cocking a brow as reached over to grab the bottle of lotion Korra had let him borrow for this. He set it on the table beside them. Its very presence was ominous. “What’s wrong? Worried you’re a bit too ticklish for something like this?”
Korra blushed, just the mention of the word ticklish making her stomach squirm. “No. I’ll be fine. You’ve tickled me tons of times before.”
“I have,” he agreed, and the look he gave her then sent a shiver down her spine. “But I think you’ve forgotten that all those times mean that I know exactly where you’re ticklish. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me this time.”
Before Korra could get any retort out, Bolin started. She flinched sharply as both hands landed on her stomach, his fingers curled forward into giant spiders. Then they began to move. Her eyes widened. She bit her lip, concentrating, but it took mere seconds before she was bursting into giggles, struggling to shift her hips away from his hands. Instinctively, she pulled on her arms before being reminded once more that she couldn’t move them. She inhaled sharply. Fuck. Fuck.
“Wow,” Bolin said lightly, appraising her. “You don’t normally get so reactive so quickly.”
Korra was absolutely not about to admit how the restraints were making it worse, that being so vulnerable was making it impossibly more ticklish, so instead she stuck her tongue out in an admittedly childish gesture.
Bolin’s brows shot up. “Woah-hoh, someone’s asking for it now. Get ready to squeal, Korra.”
Ten fingers buzzed into her stomach all at once and Korra twitched violently before throwing her head back in a cackling fit. “B-Bohoholin! Thahahat tihihickles!”
“Good. That must mean I’m doing something right.”
“Stahahap s-stop plehehease!”
“Mmm, I’ll think about it and get back to you, if that’s okay.”
That cheeky…! Korra attempted to glare at him, but her wide, helpless grin ruined the effect somewhat. Going for her stomach right away was cheating! The thin fabric of her top barely helped at all, and if anything, it made his fingers glide easier over the ticklish spot. She shook her head, trying to block out the sensations as best as she could, but Bolin was too good at this.
After several minutes of giggling her head off like a maniac, Korra tried to negotiate. “Okahay, okay, okay, j-just gohoho somewhere else for a biHIHIT!”
Bolin slipped his hands under her shirt and nope, she was wrong, the shirt had been doing so much for her. She squeaked, her stomach trembling under the assault. “What’s in it for me? Or better yet, what’s in it for you? You wanted to be tickled, right?”
“Ihihi—”
“Right?”
She nodded, blushing to her ears. He was never this teasy when she was free, why was he being like this now, when she just had to take it?
“So, if that’s the case,” he reasoned, as casually as though they were discussing strategies for their next tournament. “Then if this really tickles as bad as you say it does, maybe I should just stay here.”
Korra gaped at him before bursting into laughter anew as his fingers scribbled mercilessly under her naval. She kicked as much as she could, the ticklish sensations bursting chaotically through her system. How was she supposed to take an hour of this??
Sensing her distress, Bolin slowed down just a bit—not enough that Korra could quite get ahold of her laughter, though. “Here, I’ll cut you a deal. We want to make this tickle, right? So, if you can offer me a more ticklish spot, I’ll go there and leave your poor stomach alone. Sound fair?”
“Nohohoho!” Korra squawked indignantly, but Bolin only laughed, continuing to torment her ruthlessly.
“Fine then. But I’m not stopping until you do.”
It was a stupidly unfair deal. More than that, it barely made any sense at all. Strategically, it made sense to just let him keep tickling her stomach and spare herself from anything worse. But there was something about the unending nature of the tickling that was driving her up the wall. There was no change of pace or technique, just the same, relentless spidering that made her stomach tremble and her resolve crumble.
“M-my thihihighs!” she blurted, inspiration coming to her, but Bolin just shook his head.
“Nope, I said more ticklish. I know all your spots, remember? It has to be a real answer or I’m not going for it.”
Curse him. Korra scrunched her face up in a tough resolve that lasted all of five seconds as the ticklish feeling wheedled into her brain once more. Fuck it. Besides, a part of her was somewhat excited at the idea that it was going to get more ticklish than this, even as it filled her stomach with dread.
“My rihihihibs!”
“Heard.”
So. Much. Worse. Korra yelped as he dug into her ribs, his fingers vibrating in between the slots of each bone so that the tickling reverberated through her core and down her spine. She arched her back, letting out a slew of curses. Bolin chuckled, shaking his head fondly as he continued. “I’m impressed. I would have thought you’d gone for a smaller jump up, like your sides or something. But now that we’re here, you know the rules: we stay here until you suggest somewhere else.”
“S-Shuhuhut up with your ahaa p-patronizing vohohoice!” she wailed, grinning ear-to-ear as she squirmed all around the futon. He was right. She should have picked somewhere else. She always forgot how ticklish this spot was. It was as though he’d gotten his fingers inside of her and was playing with her nerves themselves. It was an intensely vulnerable and hyper ticklish feeling that forced her into wild cackles and begging, all of which was ignored, of course.
The rest of their time was spent with Korra constantly shifting between feeling happier than she’d felt in weeks and like she wanted to kill Bolin. She managed her ribs for longer than she had thought she’d be able to but could only feel proud of it for a moment before she stupidly suggested her feet and spent her time squeaking and attempting to cover them up with one another to save herself. Eventually, Bolin sat on top of her left foot, isolating it from the other’s protection. He grabbed the lotion, squirting some onto his hands and rubbing it in. For a moment, Korra thought he was possibly switching to a welcome massage. Instead, she felt something so intensely ticklish that a burst of air smashed into a table behind them, knocking it over entirely.
Bolin’s eyes widened, though to his credit he didn’t slow down at all. “Woah, calm down. Mako’s gonna get suspicious if this place is a wreck when he gets back.”
“Gehehehehet ohohoff! Get off get off get ohohoff!” Korra was too forgone to engage in teasing, only able to laugh and tug frantically at her trapped foot. “Plehehehease!”
The feeling was hundreds of blunt pinpricks running over her soles, frazzling the nerves in her feet so that she couldn’t ever adjust to the feeling. Later, she would discover it was one of the grooming gloves she used for Naga.
When he went for the ball of her foot, she let out a sound that could only be described as a shriek before losing it all over again.
“Stahahap ihihit!” she begged, true sincerity in her voice, though the lack of a safeword said everything about how much she actually meant it. “Ihihit tihihihickles! Ihihi cahahan’t p-please!”
“You know the rules~”
She did. She hated that she did, but she did. There was only one spot left—under her arms. Her feet had been such a dramatic leap that it was the only spot more ticklish. She considered whether it was truly worth it to stop this, but when Bolin started wiggling his fingers under her toes at the same time, she couldn’t stop it.
“Fuhuhucking ahaharmpits, juhuhust stahahap!”
She would learn quickly what a mistake that was.
Seconds later, Bolin was straddling her once more, the lotion in his hands. He squeezed some onto his hands once more, rubbing it under her arms. It tickled a little but was mostly soothing after everything she’d been through. Korra hummed softly, knowing it was a bad idea to relax now and not being able to help it.
Bolin shot her a grin. “Ready?”
Korra tensed, giggling nervously already. “No.”
“Too bad.”
She squealed as he began scribbling under her arms, tugging frantically at her restraints. Why had they made these things so sturdy?? The lotion was making it so much worse. Unlike with her stomach, she had no cloth to protect her, and his nails skittered like evil little spiders over the spot. She threw her head back, whining at the helplessness of the situation, that she had put herself there, that this tickled so much.
“Are you ready for me to pull out my ultimate move?” Bolin asked, arching a brow.
Korra’s eyes shot open. “No. No nohohoho no, whahahatever it ihis no—ahahaha BOHOHOLIN!”
Bolin held one finger under each arm and wiggled them into the spot right above her ribs, in the divot under her arms that really drove her crazy. She couldn’t speak for laughing, could only thrash about it and hope for a mercy that wasn’t about to come. He’d never done this before. She had no idea something could tickle so much. She certainly wouldn’t have agreed to be tied down for this if she had known.
Air burst chaotically around the room once more, knocking over chairs and tugging down curtains. Bolin burst into laughter alongside her, shaking his head. “Get it together, holy shit! If only your enemies knew this was your weakness. You’d never catch a break.”
Korra didn’t want to think about that, even if it made her stomach squirm and flutter not unpleasantly. The safeword danced on the tip of her tongue. Even just holding his fingers there tickled but actually moving them made her want to squirm out of her own skin. The indecision must have shown on her face, because Bolin slowed down briefly.
“Got something you want to say? A certain word, perhaps?”
With the tickling gone and that condescending smirk glittering on his features, Korra’s pride flared up unwisely. Turning her head to the side, she shrugged, ignoring how breathless she sounded. “Please. I could have easily bucked you off. That barely even tickled.”
Bolin blinked in surprise. Then he narrowed his eyes. “Oh, you’re asking for it, miss avatar. I’m about to make you scream. Better hope you remember the safeword then.”
Korra had only a moment to regret her words before she was bursting into laughter anew, flopping like a fish out of water to escape. Bolin was even more ruthless now, and she had to fight not to safeword immediately as the sensations overtook her.
It was going to be one long night.