A/N: Always meant to write this for a close friend of mine, but never got around to it until recently. Almost as cliche as cliche comes, and sure to cause her to wistfully shake her head if she ever reads it, here it is, my spin on the infamous Pocky genre of fics.
Timmy Turner laid on the canopy bed with his arms folded under his head, the thirteen year old's legs hanging off the edge as he absently kicked them back and forth. Above him, the dark purple fabric that formed the actual canopy for the bed obscured his view of the ceiling, while the soft, warm light of the afternoon sun poured in through the window, warming his upper body and part of his face.
The loud shuffling and clattering of what he assumed to be various toys drew the teen's attention to his right, his blue eyes landing squarely on the rear-end of his stalker-turned-close friend, Tootie. She was currently digging through a large treasure chest-looking box, scribbled on the front of which in purple marker were the words 'Princess Tootie', further indicating to anyone who entered the room just who's bedroom it was.
"Darn it! I know I had a box in here... So where is it?!" The raven-haired girl exclaimed in frustration, her voice slightly muffled by the various objects she was currently tossing about and digging through in the chest.
"You want some help?" Timmy finally asked, beginning to sit up. "Might be easier with a second set of-"
"N-No need! I got this!" The girl replied, waving her hand in what she assumed was Timmy's general direction as she began to dig a bit more frantically.
The brunet watched as his friend somehow managed to lean even further into the large, off-purple treasure chest, her gray, plaid skirt folding over itself as she did, and giving the teen an unimpeded view of the girl's lavender-colored panties. He felt his face immediately heat up at the sight, and quickly looked away in embarrassment, once again casting his gaze up at fabric of the canopy. "I-If you say so..."
Before long, Timmy felt his gaze beginning to slip to his right, and hesitantly turned his head in curiosity, only to find that his friend must've noticed a slight draft, as her skirt was once again covering her bottom, leaving the teen with a feeling of relief, and yet disappointment too.
At thirteen, his body was undergoing many of the changes puberty tended to bring, both physical and mental; and trying to make sense of the new thoughts he had about a certain raven-haired girl frustrated him to no end. She wasn't quite as overbearing as she was when they were ten, but he had a feeling part of that was simply because they were friends, meaning he didn't avoid or push her away as often as he used to, and as such, she likely didn't feel the need to be quite as clingy or(as mentioned previously) overbearing.
Not to mention, as evidenced by the fact that he was in Tootie's room, completely of his own choice and volition; the two of them were far closer now than they'd been when they were younger. It came to the brunet's attention that he and Tootie actually had quite a few interests in common, such as a love for comic books and video games; and for the most part, he enjoyed her company, save for how physically friendly she could be, yet even that didn't really bother him overmuch.
Again though, he attributed their closeness(or rather, Wanda did, and he simply followed the lead of her opinion on the matter) to the fact that they were both in the thick of puberty, with him growing a few inches in height, putting on some muscle, and getting an ever so slightly deeper voice; and Tootie undergoing similar changes... Though she appeared to have 'filled out', so to speak, rather than gain muscle like he did. By and large she was still shy of chubby, and obviously nowhere near close to fat, but her hips had visibly filled out a little, and already her 'boobs', as she inelegantly referred to them, were nearly the size of her older sister's.
"Not that Vicky's built like a supermodel, anyway..." The thirteen year old thought to himself as he sucked in a deep breath of air through his nose, only to feel a slight tickle, followed by- "Atchoo!" He sneezed, gently rubbing his index finger under his nose. "That apple stuff is really strong... Is it your perfume or something?"
"Bless you!" Tootie called out in an absent-sounding tone, her attention evidently more focused on her search. "And I already told you, it's my body wash... And shampoo, and... Y'know... Conditioner." She paused in her digging, mumbling out the last part self-consciously, only to quickly return to her loud, frantic search, again filling the medium-sized bedroom with the clattering and shuffling of the chest's contents being moved about.
"Augh..." The teen yawned, finding that the combination of the girl's soft bed beneath him, and the warm, soothing sunlight pouring down on him from the nearby window was making him sleepy. "What are you looking for, anyway?"
The bespectacled girl leaned back into a kneeling position in front of the chest and looked over her shoulder at her best friend. "You said you wanted to do something fun to pass the time, and as it turns out, I've got just the thing! ...I think." With that, she dove back in up to her waist, once more giving the male teen a view of her somewhat ample rear-end, though her skirt soon fell back down to cover it.
"I sure hope so, we could've been playing games all this time, and I'm starting to get kinda sleepy..." The teen stifled another yawn.
"So go to sleep, I'll wake you up when I find the- The-Uh... Thing I'm looking for..." The girl replied nervously, having almost let her little surprise for Timmy slip.
"Fall asleep in here? With you?" Timmy thought to himself, still not entirely convinced he wouldn't wake up tied to the girl's bed... Again. "Well, not that sleepy... Just try to hurry up or something, your butt is getting really distracting..." He trailed off, not really paying any mind to the words that had just left his mouth.
Yet that didn't mean Tootie hadn't, as her search came to a sudden halt, filling the room with a nearly deafening silence, though her upper half remained hidden from view in the treasure chest. "My...? You've been staring at my butt this whole time?"
Timmy's eyes shot wide open at the question, his face turning a bright, cherry-red color. "Uh... No?" He quietly gulped, feeling an uncomfortable wave of heat wash over him; the only sound being the strangely loud beating of his heart in his ears. "Not... This whole time..."
"Teehee! Right, 'cause that sounded convincing!" The girl giggled to herself and shook her head, then dug ever deeper into her toy chest, knowing she was by now close to the bottom of it.
"Ugh!" The teen groaned loudly as he hopped up off the bed and to his feet. "Th-The more we hang out, the more I realize you like to tease me just as much as Vicky does!" He crossed his arms as he stood in the middle of the room, mouth forming a slight frown.
"Teasing is still better than forcing you to scrub the bathroom with your toothbrush, Timmy." Tootie called out from the toy chest, beginning to wonder if the thing even had a bottom.
"Crud, guess she's got me there..." The teen mentally admitted to himself.
Tootie hadn't been the only one to change in the past few years. The evil red-head she called a sister had become... Well, significantly less evil, surprisingly enough. She could still give him a loud earful when she was annoyed, but instead of yelling at him over chores needing to be done, she now tended to simply vent at him, either her frustrations, or just how her day had went, with his reward for listening being an offer of take-out from the nineteen year old, as a sort of apology without having to actually apologize.
It was generally on her good days that she tended to tease him, and at his age, it wasn't even about things that particularly bothered him; sometimes he even wondered if she avoided mean-spirited topics on purpose, out of character as that would be for Vicky to do. Most of the things she teased him for were actually pretty light-hearted: When he and Tootie were going to tie the knot, whether or not he'd ever grow into his buck teeth, if Francis would ever just admit that he was hopelessly in love with him... Stuff like that made him chuckle, and made Vicky seem less like his evil babysitter, and more like the bratty older sister he never had.
"Hah..." Timmy sighed, hanging his head and allowing his arms to drop to his sides. "Still don't understand why you did what you did, Tootie."
"Well that makes two of us, I don't understand why I do a lot of the stuff I do, either." The girl shrugged, knowing Timmy wouldn't be able to see it thanks to her position in the trunk. "Also, what are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean... Saying something to Vicky? Telling her to be nicer to me?" Timmy responded in an almost weary-sounding tone.
"Oh that." The bespectacled girl remarked disinterestedly. "Because I could." She spoke matter-of-factly, shrugging once again. "I rarely ask for much from Vicky, but... Y'know... We're friends and... And I mean, it's not like it's a secret that I still like you, so... I called in a favor, so to speak."
"Mm." Timmy nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned away from the girl and faced her dresser, which sat a few feet behind him. "And I owe you big time for it. I didn't even know Vicky had a 'nice' side..." The teen grabbed a framed photo off the dresser, which depicted him, Tootie, Chester, and AJ in front of Splash Mountain, with a slightly annoyed-looking Vicky standing behind them and off to the side.
"Ha! Nice? Vicky?" Tootie scoffed, momentarily leaning back out of her toy chest to look over her shoulder at Timmy. "Vicky's only 'nice' to her boyfriends and guys she likes. From what you've told me about how she acts around you after I asked her to be nicer, she's just treating you like she treats me... That being said, yes, you do indeed owe me big time...!" She flashed her friend a smile, briefly showing off her pearly-white, braces-free teeth, only to quickly dive back into her toy box.
"Well I'll still take being treated like Tootie over being treated like dirt... So thanks-"
"Ah-ha!" Tootie exclaimed in triumph, cutting off her friend's words of gratitude. "There you are!"
"Huh?" The teen set the framed photo back down on the dresser and pulled an about-face, quirking an eyebrow up at the raven-haired girl. "Did you actually find what you were looking for?" He questioned, staring at the girl now standing up straight and facing him as she simply nodded, a big grin on her face and hands hidden behind her back.
"Yep! It was just buried under all my toys and stuff." Tootie, unable to contain her excitement, bounced a little, the object in her hands producing a faint rattling sound. "Now, close your eyes, it's supposed to be a surprise!" She leaned forward, keeping her hands hidden behind her back.
"...What kind of surprise?" The thirteen year old male questioned hesitantly, feeling a little nervous about dropping his guard around an excited Tootie.
"Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, now would it? C'mon, humor me." Tootie smiled sweetly as she finished, hoping it would be enough to convince Timmy that she had no ill intentions.
"Hm..." The brunet hummed in contemplation, his arms crossed as he briefly studied his friends face. "...Alright, fine." He at last relented, his arms once more dropping to his sides as he slowly closed his eyes. "But if you end up handcuffing me, or try to do anything... Weird..."
"Oh hush." Tootie shook her head exasperatedly as she strode across her room, before stopping just in front of Timmy, leaving just a little over a foot of space between them. "I've already got you in here, why would I bother with handcuffs?" She reached for his shoulders, only to pause as the object in her right hand made another dull rattling sound. "Ugh... Should've told you to sit down on the bed first." The girl rolled her eyes, then brought the small, thin cardboard box in her hand up to her mouth and gently bit down on it, freeing up her right hand. "Mere, let me mead m'you over to my med." She gripped Timmy's shoulders as she spoke, orienting him in the direction of her bed.
"Was that English?" The brunet asked in an amused tone of voice as he began to turn his head to look over his shoulder, the corners of his mouth tugging up into a smirk as he cracked open his right eye, intending to sneak a peek at whatever was in his friend's mouth.
"Mm! No peeking!" The raven-haired girl managed to speak over the box held between her gritted teeth, then gave Timmy a light shove to make him face forward again.
"Agh... Why do all the girls in my life like to be so rough with me...?" He muttered out dejectedly, earning him an eye-roll from the girl behind him.
"J'st sit down." Tootie commanded as she spun him around to face her, sounding a bit more annoyed than she actually was.
The thirteen year old did as he was told, allowing himself to fall back and plop down on the bed, which bounced a little from his weight dropping down onto it. "Can I open my eyes yet?"
Tootie took the small box out of her mouth, giving it a quick once-over before speaking. "One sec..." She took a step to her right, then spun around and dropped down onto the bed next to Timmy, landing just to his left with a muffled thump and a low creak from the bed itself. "Alright, you can look now!" She beamed at her friend excitedly, holding her prize up in front of his face.
A sudden feeling of nervousness washed over Timmy as he heard the dull rattle-now significantly louder-again, his eyes remaining closed as he tried to discern what the girl was holding up in front of his face from sound alone. He knew now it had to be a container of some kind, and from the noise it made when Tootie shook it, he could only assume it was filled with crackers or cookies of some sort.
Almost immediately after making this observation, his nose was assailed by a new scent, one strong enough-thanks to how close it was-to overpower the already cloyingly sweet scent of apples that pervaded his friend's room. This scent too was sweet, but rather than apples, it was unmistakably the smell of strawberries, but more like candy than the actual fruit.
After another moment of quiet sensory investigation, the teen at last opened his eyes, only to find a pink, rectangular box obstructing most of his view of Tootie's room, the word 'Pocky' printed across the front in big blue letters that stood out sharply from the pink background of the box itself. "Huh?" He took the box out of the girl's hand, giving it a quizzical look as he turned it over a few times. It was clear that it was some kind of food simply from the packaging, and this was only further confirmed as he glanced at the back of the box, which had real-life pictures of what looked to be cookie sticks, roughly covered three-fourths of their length in strawberry frosting; printed on it. "Pocky? Is it... Some kind of cookie, or something?"
"Yeah-Er... Kind... Of? I mean, they smell pretty sweet, but I... Haven't ever... Actually tried them." Tootie glanced away evasively, a dusting of pink just barely visible on her cheeks. "I saw them in the store a while back and grabbed them... Y'know, kinda figured we could share them..."
"...Tootie, how long have these been at the bottom of that chest?" Timmy shook the box, causing its contents to rattle a bit more loudly.
"Ah... About three... Or four years." The bespectacled girl felt her face heat up a little more. "B-But they should still be good! ...Maybe a little stale..." She admitted quietly, her gaze cast down at the tiny inch or so of space between them, the pinky finger of her right hand just barely touching Timmy's left.
"Hm..." The teen hummed in thought, again looking the small box in his right hand over a few times. "Well, I doubt stale cookies can taste all that bad." He shrugged, then brought his left hand up to fiddle with the top of the box, eventually managing to slip his index finger in and flip the top of it open. With that done, he pinched one of the long, strawberry frosted sticks between his thumb and index finger and pulled it out, then handed the entire box back to Tootie.
The girl watched as her friend briefly rolled the pocky stick between his thumb and finger, then brought it up to his mouth and bit off around an inch or so of one end of the sugary treat. "So...?" She queried, a hint of nervousness evident in her tone. "Is it bad? Like really stale bad?"
"Mm... No." The brunet replied, finding the sweet, biscuit-like cookie stick to be just the slightest bit soft, but it still had a somewhat satisfying crunch. "Try one, it's nothing special, but the frosting is pretty sweet."
Tootie glanced down at the box in her hand, and mimicked Timmy's earlier action in pulling out one of the frosted sticks, pinching the unfrosted end of it between her thumb and index finger. Her eyes slowly drifted to her right at Timmy again, who this time took another, larger bite of his own pocky stick. "Suppose I can have one, just to see how they are... My idea won't be much fun if it turns out these things taste like old cardboard..." She mused to herself as she bit off a small chunk of the frosted stick in her hand.
"See? They're alright... Might be better with milk though..." Timmy popped the last of the pocky stick into his mouth, then dusted off his hands. "So... Were those really what you were looking for?"
"Mm-hm." Tootie nodded, taking the time to swallow the piece she'd bitten off before speaking. "I'd always meant to share them with you, but... You didn't make it particularly easy to hang out..." She spoke in a somewhat hurt tone, but quickly shot him a sly grin to show that she was just teasing.
"No... But in my defense, you did act pretty crazy around me." The brunet shot back matter-of-factly, pinching another pocky stick out of the box in Tootie's hand. "I mean, I was only eight when we first met, and it was after I'd already met Vicky. I figured you were going to be as mean as she was, so when you showed that you were almost the complete opposite... I might have... Been a little freaked out, that's all." He shrugged again, taking a quick bite off the tip of his sugary treat. "I just... Wasn't used to girls... Coming after me, I guess."
"And how about now? Do I still freak you out, Timmy?" The raven-haired girl leaned to her right, playfully bumping her shoulder against Timmy's.
"Well~..." The teen rolled his eyes somewhat dramatically, his lips curled up into a teasing grin. "Only most of the time! Heehee!" A wide smile broke out across his face as he giggled, which soon turned into light laughter as Tootie blushed a bright shade of red.
"Rrgh... You...!" Tootie growled out, her cheeks feeling like they were on fire. "I was being serious!" She exclaimed angrily, roughly shoving the brunet and causing him to tip over onto his side, all while he continued to giggle in amusement. "V-Vicky's right, you are a Twerp!" The girl crossed her arms, her gaze cast to her left in annoyance, and thus, the complete opposite from where Timmy was.
"Hehehe!" The thirteen year old continued to giggle as he bounced back up into a sitting position. "Takes one to know one, Toots!" He reached over to her, snaking his arm around her right side to try and sneak another pocky stick, only for the girl to suddenly scoot away from him and whip her head around to face him.
"Ah! No way are you getting any more of these now!" Tootie held the box protectively with both arms, her right leg poised to shove Timmy away if he came any closer.
"Aw, c'mon!" Timmy whined, sliding a bit closer to his bespectacled friend. "I thought you said you wanted to share them with me?" He dropped onto his hands and knees to crawl closer to her, only for the girl to plant her right foot in the middle of his chest, bringing his advance to a sudden halt.
"Mngh..." Tootie growled again with her mouth closed, making it sound more like an annoyed hum. "True, but..." She glanced away evasively, looking down at the box of pocky in her hands as she realized the opportunity that had presented itself. "O-Only if... We can play the P-Pocky Game, deal?" She questioned nervously, her voice tinged with a hint of excitement.
"Okay...?" The thirteen year old male agreed, then looked down at his chest, realizing his friend's foot was still pressed against it. "I don't know what that is though." He gently shoved her foot away, then dropped down onto his rear-end and sat cross-legged.
"W-Well..." Tootie visibly relaxed, despite the nervous stuttering quality to her voice; as she pulled her legs up onto the bed and scooted over to kneel in front of Timmy, each leg bent at the knee on either side of her as she sat on her bottom. "You remember h-how I said I had a f-fun way to pass the time...? Um... This is it." She finished by holding up the box of sugary, frosted sticks between them.
"The... Pocky Game?" Timmy quirked an eyebrow up at the girl, his lips forming a confused frown.
"Mm-hm!" She nodded her head rapidly, barely able to hide the bout of nervous jitters that had come over her. "You take a stick-" The girl reached into the box, pinching one of the strawberry frosted sticks out and handing it to Timmy. "-And... Um..." She trailed off, realizing she'd have to change the rules a little, if her plan was to work as intended. "I take a stick..." She took one out for herself, and stuck the unfrosted end of the biscuit stick in her mouth, then rolled it to the right side of her mouth with her tongue so she could talk. "And then... We-Uh... S-See who can eat theirs the fastest! Yeah... F-First one to finish their pocky stick wins!" Tootie smiled as she finished, relatively impressed with her own quick thinking.
"...Are you making this up?" Timmy shot the raven-haired girl a skeptical look as he mimicked her, sticking his own pocky stick between his lips.
"Wh-Wha? No! This... This is how you play the game! Oh! And... You can't use your hands, either. You gotta use your lips and tongue to pull the stick into your mouth, or else the other person wins by default." Tootie fingered the hem of her skirt nervously. She knew she wasn't the best liar, and the situation she'd just put herself in didn't exactly fill her with confidence.
"Well... Alright, if you say so." The brunet adjusted the cookie stick in his mouth with his right hand, then settled both in his lap, clasping them together and interlacing his fingers. "Anything else I should know?" He muttered over the treat, nearly causing it to fall out of his mouth.
"Ah... N-No, I think... Oh, you have to- You gotta close your eyes too, it- It's part of the game!" Tootie stammered out, a familiar heat blooming across her cheeks that actually managed to fog up her glasses a little.
"Okay..." Timmy replied bemusedly, but nonetheless did as he was instructed. "Can... We start now, or...?"
"Er... Right, um... Yeah, go ahead and start... Now!" The girl exclaimed, causing her own pocky stick to tumble out of her mouth and into her lap, though this only distracted her for a moment, before she turned her attention back to Timmy, who was already munching his way through his own stick. "Not like mine really matters, just have to-"
Crack!
Just as Tootie had begun to creep toward her crush, the pocky in his mouth snapped almost perfectly in half, the frosted, uneaten end dropping into his lap and bouncing off his hands. He let out an 'Aw!' of protest, quickly making her shoot back to her original position on the bed, her heart momentarily feeling like it had jumped into her throat.
"Darn it, mine broke!" Timmy remarked in annoyance, his eyelids sliding open as he snatched the pocky out of his lap and held it up.
"Ehehe... Y-Yeah, so did mine..." Tootie chuckled timidly as she rubbed the back of her head and picked her own stick out of her lap, at the same time trying in vain to calm her heart, now racing from almost having been caught. "You-Um... You wanna try again?" Her voice cracked, coming out as little more than a high-pitched squeak.
"Sure, long as you know I'm gonna win!" The thirteen year old declared confidently with a matching grin.
Tootie, however; remained silent. She was too focused on mentally kicking herself for failing to follow through with her plan to offer much in the way of a response, opting to instead simply hand her crush another of the strawberry frosted sticks as he quickly ate the remaining half of the first one. "What am I doing?! I had the perfect chance right there, and I hesitated! Stupid... Stale pocky!" The girl thought to herself angrily, blinking her eyes closed in a poor attempt to hide her frustration as she brought another of the sticks up to her mouth and pinched it between her lips.
"Mhenever mou're 'eady!" The brunet closed his eyes as attempted to speak over the pocky in his mouth, blind to the fact that the girl he shared the bed with had already reopened her own eyes and taken her pocky stick out of her mouth.
"Alright... Threetwoone-Go!" The bespectacled girl spoke quickly as she absently discarded her unwanted pocky stick, then quickly crept forward on her hands and knees until she was right in front of Timmy. Hesitating for a moment, Tootie leaned in, watching as the pink-colored stick slowly retreated between her crush's lips. Biting on it too soon would undoubtedly give her away, yet if she waited too long, Timmy would open his eyes, and most certainly find her in quite the compromising position, so she waited until there was just barely over an inch left, then struck, right as the last of the pocky disappeared into Timmy's mouth; her lips colliding with his in what was meant to be a quick, fleeting kiss.
Unfortunately, the younger of the two Valentine sisters was about to learn that the best-laid plans rarely turn out the way we intend for them to, as Timmy's eyes gently fluttered open upon feeling something soft and warm press against his lips.
For the first second or so, he was simply confused as his vision focused on another pair of eyes, which were closed and behind a thin pair of lenses. Next, he noticed a distinct pressure forcing itself against him, first at his lips and forehead, then the rest of his body; as Tootie began to lean into the kiss more, her body weight pressing against him as his hands blindly fumbled for support and found their way to the girl's hips. After that, he soon realized that he was tipping backward, and with nothing behind him to halt this descent, he quickly tipped over completely and landed on his back, the grasp his hands were exerting on Tootie's hips causing her to tip over right along with him, and land on top of him.
"Mmph...!" Tootie let out a muffled whine as her forehead roughly bumped into Timmy's, then immediately pulled away from the kiss with a low smacking sound and held herself up over him. "Ah-! S-Sorry, sorry!" She apologized profusely, wincing at her now sore forehead as she felt her eyes beginning to water. "I-Ah... I didn't mean for... That to happen, really! I just-"
"You... You kissed me." The brunet remarked dumbly, not even noticing the dull pain in his forehead, as it was barely a blip on the radar compared to the odd, but strangely wonderful tingling sensation on his lips.
"I know and I shouldn't have but I really like you and I've wanted to do it for so long but you kept pushing me away and I thought with you here I'd finally get my chance if we played the Pocky-Mm?" The girl's rapid-fire justification for her actions was suddenly cut off as she felt a finger settle on her lips and silence her.
"Stop. I can't- I've been meaning to tell you that... I actually do like hanging out with you for a while now, but when you talk all fast like that..." The teen trailed off, wondering how best to word his next sentence. "I just want to pull you into a hug and kiss you because you're so cute when you do that and I-" He stopped himself short, realizing he was doing almost the exact same thing Tootie had been just seconds before. "...I think I like you." He blurted out, surprising himself with the words as his cheeks rapidly turned a bright shade of pink. After a few moments of silence, he pulled his hand away, shooting the girl a small, shy smile.
"Oh." Tootie mouthed out in shock, Timmy's admission effectively causing her brain to crash into a brick wall.
"Hehehe..." He chuckled at his friend's nearly dumbfounded expression. "Yeah... Still not totally sure, but... That, just now was... Nice. Unexpected, but nice."
"It... It was?" Tootie asked quietly as she pushed herself back up into a kneeling position. "I-I mean, I liked it, but... You... You did too?"
"Except for the sore forehead, yeah, I liked it." Timmy nodded as he braced his arms against the bed and sat back up. "In fact, I liked it so much, that I have to ask..." The thirteen year old reached to the girl's right, snatching up the small, pink box with a grin and giving it a light shake that rattled its contents. "Since playing the game was your idea... In your expert opinion, what should we do with the rest of these?"