Wrote this one in first person again from Bigby's POV.
Warning for swear words and f-bombs. Post Episode 5 so a bit of spoilers ahead.
Summary: Bigby's friendship with Nerissa continues to grow.
F/M Tickle Fic
It had taken some convincing, but I was able to get Nerissa to stick around. I didn't blame her one bit for doing what she did. Even with no actual proof it was obvious that the Crooked Man had been behind all the shit that had gone down and he needed to pay.
I had no regrets with the way I had handled that piece of shit, and with that I had gained and lost the respect of different individuals. It is what it is, and I was used to it being that way.
So now with the Crooked Man gone, Crane gone and Georgie gone there was really no threat to Nerissa and therefore no reason I saw for her to need to leave Fabletown. She could start over with them being out of the picture, and I promised to help her out with whatever I could.
With Faith and Lily gone she really could use a friend in this vulnerable time for her. Hell, I wouldn't mind having some more of those myself. Good friends seemed hard to come by around here. I wasn't surprised when she came by my office a few days later.
I'd been sitting at my desk and working on filling out my report on the case with the Crooked Man for Snow to look over later. I stopped writing for the moment when she walked in and pulled the cigarette from my mouth to greet her with an attempt at a friendly smile.
"Hi, Nerissa."
"Hello, Bigby. I hope this isn't a bad time," she shut the door behind her as I shook my head and reinserted my cigarette.
"Not at all. Just getting some of this bullshit paperwork out of the way," I gestured to the piles of papers on my desk as she walked around to stand beside me.
I looked up at her and noticed a very sad look in her eyes as she glanced at my desk and that's when I remembered something; I had various photos of the crime scenes scattered all over the surface of my desk. Most of them were pretty graphic, and instant regret came over me for letting her get so close.
"Shit...Nerissa, I'm sorry," I mumbled, feeling like an inconsiderate asshole as I started to gather the pictures up, but she was quick to stop me.
"No, it's ok, Sheriff. As painful as it may be I have to face it in order to move on. It's all part of the healing process," she sighed as I nodded, feeling some admiration for her courage as she continued to look over the pictures. I noticed she was still wearing that purple ribbon around her neck and realized that after having worn it so long she still had that fear of being without it.
"How are you coping otherwise?" Nerissa sighed again as her eyes redirected back over to mine.
"It's been really hard; knowing that they're gone forever. I'm just going to have to take it day by day," she looked down as I placed a comforting hand on her arm.
"Sorry to say, but it doesn't get much easier and the pain of losing them will always be there. Trust me on that. But as long as you remember them and keep their spirits alive then they are never really gone for good," I squeezed her arm lightly as she put her other hand on top of mine.
"You're right, Bigby. I swear on my life that I will never let them be forgotten." I released my gentle hold on her arm, placing my hands back on my desk top.
"You know, they were lucky to have you as a friend. I might've never even known about their deaths if you hadn't delivered them to me. Because of you we were able to avenge them and get some of the most dangerous fables off the streets. What I'm trying to say is, we couldn't have done it without you," I gave a small smile up at her and was pleased to see a smile on her face as well.
"Thank you for telling me that. I'm glad that what I did was able to help their cases, and hopefully nothing like this will be happening again anytime soon," she clasped her hands together and nodded firmly. She seemed tense so I tried to lighten the mood.
"Well as long as I'm sheriff I'll do my best to make sure of that. I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll kill any motherfucker that tries upsetting this community again," I grinned, holding my cigarette between my teeth to keep it in place as I gave her a wink. Nerissa laughed and put a hand on my shoulder to steady herself.
"Oh, Bigby. I feel like you're the only real friend I have left around here. Everyone else could've cared less if I never came back, but not you. You do care about us all, just like you said," Nerissa smiled at me and I could sense how genuinely appreciative she was as I nodded.
"I'm glad at least someone is able to see that. I was starting to feel like everyone had gone back to hating me again," I took the last drag from my cigarette and stuffed it into one of the ashtrays strewn on my desk.
"People don't hate you, Bigby. Most of them just fear..."
"Yeah yeah, fear me, whatever. Same shit," I interrupted her as I scribbled some more into my report while she just smiled down at me.
"Well despite that I still stick by what I said...you're not as bad as..."
"Hey hey, easy with that shit now. You're gonna ruin my reputation," I smirked at her being half serious and making her laugh again.
"Believe me, after everyone saw what you did to the Crooked Man there's no way they'll have any doubts. No need to be so overly sensitive," she teased and I was totally unprepared for the quick poke she gave my ribs.
I winced as my body reflexively jerked away from her touch. It wasn't enough to make me jump out of my chair, but it was enough to be noticeable and even made me drop the pen out of my hand that I had been writing with.
I hesitantly glanced up to see if she had picked up on how much I'd reacted to the poke. The woman was looking at me with a mixture of surprise and amusement and I realized that she was onto me. Dammit.
"Bigby...," she started, the smile on her face growing.
"Yeah?" I replied, trying to remain calm even though I knew exactly what she was about to ask me. I hoped she wouldn't put me on the spot like that, but it seemed to be the direction this was headed.
"You're not ticklish, are you?" There it was. I had to think of something quick.
"Nah, just get a bit twitchy sometimes. It's from the wolf side of me." Good save. Hopefully she'd go for that. Truthfully I'm extremely ticklish, and so far Snow is the only one who knows about it. I really didn't need that information spreading around.
"Really? That's an odd trait to have," Nerissa looked at me skeptically and I could tell that she didn't believe me for a damn. I was going to keep running with it though since I had nothing to lose.
"Heh, yeah, well I wouldn't expect you to understand. It's just one of those things. Like I still prefer to eat raw meat, and if someone were to rub my belly then my leg twitches," I noticed she perked up more at that last part. Fuck. Probably should've left that out.
"Is that so? Mind if I test you out?" She didn't even wait for my answer as I found her hand now gently rubbing small circles on my stomach.
I tensed up with her hand being in contact with one of my most ticklish spots. What she was doing wasn't tickling me, but I was still pretty nervous that there was potential for it to happen at any time now.
My leg was tingling, but it hadn't started twitching yet. She wasn't using enough pressure and I think she figured it out. Problem was that is when it would start tickling. She began rubbing a little faster and harder in a side to side motion, even curling her fingers a bit so that she was scratching.
That really fuckin' tickled, and though I managed to keep from squirming around I was having trouble keeping a straight face as my lips tried to twitch up into a smile. My leg was doing its thing now and Nerissa seemed satisfied until she looked up and saw the strained expression on my face.
"Hmm, that looks painful, Sheriff," she was smirking big time, knowing exactly what the problem really was. There were more excuses I could've blurted out at that moment, but I knew that if I opened my mouth I would just fuckin' lose it.
"Or maybe, you really are ticklish. Is that it? Hmm? Does that tickle?" I just shook my head as a grin started to creep onto my face, which was pretty much confirmation in itself. I knew there was no way out of this now. The woman had me right where she wanted me.
"You know, Bigby, you may be good at being able to detect a liar, but it's too bad that you're no good at lying yourself," her other hand had crept over while I was distracted with the first and now both of them were just flat out tickling the sides of my stomach, kneading and pinching the sensitive spots above my hips.
I lasted maybe a good two seconds before I burst like a fuckin' dam.
"Bwahahahaha! No!" I squirmed back into my chair as my elbows came down to press protectively against my sides. She was quick though and was running her fingers all over my belly as I cackled and giggled like a lunatic; my leg back to kicking uncontrollably again.
Aw geez, this was beyond embarrassing. I'm sure my image as an authority figure had gone right down the drain at that moment.
"Hm, is being this ticklish another one of your wolf traits, Bigby? Or is it just a perk of being human?" She teased me, tickling underneath my arms now as I threw my head back and roared with laughter.
I'm pretty sure I was ticklish no matter what form I was in, though so far no one had been brave enough to try when I was anything but human. Maybe I should transform now and it'll startle her enough to make her stop? No, I didn't want to scare her.
It was obvious that she trusted me and I knew that there were very few people that she felt that way about. I wasn't about to ruin that.
Plus it had seemed to take her mind off of everything else for the time being. So I'd put up with this shit for a little while longer, though that didn't mean that I was going to hold still for it.
"Ahaha! Ohohohohahah! Staahap! For fucks saaahaahaaake!" I pleaded, trying to avoid struggling too much and unintentionally hurting her. I know it would've been an accident, and I'll bet the poor girl would tell me that she was used to guys slapping her around, but Bigby Wolf would not be one of those guys.
I can't say it was easy though. My body had a mind of its own when it was tickled; just wanting to flail and do whatever it takes to get that person to stop, but I'd manage to keep it under control. I had to or I'd never forgive myself.
So instead I only kept squirming as I slowly slid down out of my chair in an attempt to get away from those demonic fingers of hers. As I expected she continued to tickle me down to the floor; hands scratching and scribbling along my ribs as I squealed embarrassingly and tried to roll under my desk to escape.
Fuck me, I was too damn big to fit. Now I was just trapped; stuck between my tormentor and the desk with no where to go.
I pathetically grabbed for her hands to at least give me a second to catch my breath, but it was like trying to hold onto a fuckin' bar of soap and before I could even gulp in some air her fingers were attacking my sensitive torso again.
"Seeing you like this it's almost hard to believe that anyone could ever be afraid of you." Shit, this just kept getting better and better. My laughter went up an octave as she burrowed her hands back into my armpits, causing me to arch my back and desperately try to clamp my arms even closer to my body.
I only succeeded in trapping her hands right where I didn't want them, and no matter how hard I squeezed down on them with my arms her fingers were still able to wiggle around and tickle me to tears. I just couldn't take it anymore and attempted to sputter out some pleas.
"Ne...Neriss...sss...sss...ssahahahaha! P...Pleeheeheeease...!" I don't know what it was, but this was only the second person who'd discovered how ticklish I am, and just like Snow she didn't seem to want to stop.
Snow had said it was because she liked to see me smile, and also how seeing me so vulnerable made me seem more human. Not to mention that woman found my begging for mercy to be absolutely hilarious.
I didn't notice at first in my life or death struggle, but speak of the Devil, Snow had opened the door to my office and came inside when she had heard all the racket. She found us on the floor behind my desk with me still laughing hysterically as Nerissa ruthlessly tickled my armpits.
She stood there smiling for a moment until Nerissa finally noticed her and drew her hands back like a kid being caught with their hands in the cookie jar. I was panting and silently thanking Snow for barging in and getting me a reprieve, but that was short lived with what she said next.
"You know, his bellybutton is super ticklish," Snow ratted me out as Nerissa turned back to me with mischievous glee all over her face.
"Oh fuck no!" I yelped and quickly scrambled to my feet before she could try anything. Both of them were laughing while Snow came and helped Nerissa up off the floor. I could only give them a less-than effective glare as I hunkered several feet away with my arms crossed protectively over my body.
"Not funny," I growled, which just made them laugh even more. Jeezus, my intimidation factor didn't even work on them anymore.
"It's alright, Bigby. At least I didn't tell her about your feet...oops. It slipped," Snow giggled as I looked at her in disbelief.
"Snow, fuck!" I groaned and nearly face-palmed, feeling my cheeks burn a little with embarrassment. She just smiled as she walked over and re-adjusted my tie for me before giving me a quick peck on the cheek, which always made me relax considerably.
"Guess I'm not the first to have made this discovery?" Nerissa chuckled as Snow shook her head.
"No, but close. So what exactly did I interrupt? Besides what I walked in on," Snow grinned as I got my bearings back.
"Nerissa and I were just having a chat. Though now I think I'm going to have to book her for assaulting an officer of the law," I joked as I lifted a brow in the offending woman's direction. Of course females always tend to stick together and Snow jumped in.
"Well as deputy mayor I exonerate her of any wrongdoing and there will be no further discussion about it," Snow stated firmly with a wink towards Nerissa, who was just observing our interactions with unconcealed amusement. I shook my head and crossed my arms, puffing up my chest a little.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to override that. I'm sure once King Cole gets back he would be on my side," I said with a smirk as Snow then took a step closer towards me. A sense of foreboding washed over me immediately.
"And I'm afraid that Nerissa and I are going to hold you down and tickle you to death if you don't drop it," she teased with her hands slowly reaching for my sides, making me quickly back away.
"That won't be necessary!" My voice went higher than intended as I regained my composure and glared at the two giggling females.
"Joking aside, you guys really need to cut that shit out. It's embarrassing," I grumbled as Snow patted my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"No promises on that. Least from me. But I need to get back to my office now. Nerissa, it's been a pleasure." They shook hands as I rolled my eyes at the situation and Snow then left my office.
"Well, she was quite informative," Nerissa looked back at me with a cheeky grin.
"Yeah, well don't get used to it. Tickling is torture for me," I growled, making her laugh.
"Maybe so, but I didn't know you could laugh, Sheriff. It was nice to hear," she smiled as I turned my head, not wanting her to see me blush a little.
"I hope you're not mad at me," she continued, looking a little ashamed as I turned back to her and shook my head.
"Nah. I'm not mad at you. We're still friends," I smiled and gently squeezed her arm before sitting back in my chair and pulling out another cigarette. Even though she had denied me in the past I still offered her one from the box as she sat across from me.
"Still smoking those crappy Huff and Puffs, huh?" I thought she was going to decline, but then she reached over and slipped one out. I lit my cigarette and she leaned towards me as I stretched my arm across the desk to light hers as well. She inhaled and then sat back in her chair as she blew out the smoke.
"Thanks. Smoking is the only thing that relaxes me these days."
"I admit I do kinda enjoy it, but I mainly do it outta necessity. Otherwise I'd go insane from my heightened sense of smell," I explained, sniffing at the air for effect as she smiled a little and nodded.
After that she was quiet for the next few minutes as she just stared off into a corner of my office, occasionally taking a drag from her cigarette. She was deep in thought about something and I realized there might be another reason that she had come to visit me.
"Something bothering you?" I asked the obvious, watching her pupils dilate as her eyes focused back on me. She remained quiet for another moment, probably searching for her choice of words as I patiently waited. Finally it came to her.
"Bigby...can I ask you something?"
"Sure you can. Wait...You're not gonna ask to tickle me again, are ya? 'Cause I can't take any more of that shit," I chuckled, but I really did mean it. The way she was looking at me though I could tell that she was being serious now and I sobered instantly.
"It's why I came here in the first place. I need you to...do something for me," she bit her lip as her gaze drifted down to the floor, putting out her cigarette in the ash tray on my desk.
"What is it?" I was really curious now as I did the same, even though I hadn't even finished the cancer stick.
"Would you...," she slowly moved her hand up to her neck, fingers lightly toying with the ends of the ribbon, "Please. I want you to take this off me."
I was completely shocked. I'd witnessed firsthand what had happened to the other girls whose ribbons had been removed, and even though the spell was supposed to be broken now there was still that uncertainty.
"Nerissa...fuck...are you sure?" She nodded.
"I'm not afraid anymore. And it's time that I got past this." I got up out of my chair and she did the same as I stood before her and hesitantly lifted my hand towards her neck.
As gently as I possibly could I pinched one end of the ribbon between my fingers, but I didn't pull it. I looked into her eyes to make sure that this was what she wanted and she smiled as she urged me on.
"Just remember, whatever happens happens. It was my decision. If this does go bad I just want to say thanks, Bigby. For everything." I nodded and she shut her eyes, getting a look of peace over her face. Taking a breath I also closed my eyes as I slowly began pulling on the ribbon with just as slow of an exhale.
I can't say this moment wasn't nerve-wracking for me. Knowing that I was holding a good friend's life right in my hand was a pretty intense feeling. If this ended up killing her I would live with that guilt for the rest of my life, regardless of her arguing that it was her choice.
I wasn't much of a religious man, but I found myself silently praying for this to go well. By then I realized I was holding the loose ribbon in my hand.
I was too nervous to open my eyes to see the result of my actions, but then I felt a hand being placed on top of mine that held the ribbon and I finally blinked them open.
I immediately glanced down at Nerissa's neck expecting to see a jagged, bloody cut there right before her head would slide off, but the only mark the ribbon had left on her skin was a slight tan line. Her skin was perfectly smooth and intact.
I then looked into her face and found the woman smiling thankfully at me. This was one of the few moments that I was truly happy and my expression betrayed that to her. I placed my other hand on top of the hand that she had set on mine, and smiled.
"You did it, Nerissa. You're free." Her eyes glistened a little from her held back tears of joy.
"I couldn't have done it without you, Bigby. I'll be forever grateful to you for this," Nerissa squeezed my hand before slipping it out of my grasp and putting it to her neck to touch the now bared area. She seemed to smile more and more as she felt around and didn't feel that cursed fabric there that had held her prisoner all this time.
I looked down at the ribbon I held in my hand and watched as a moment later it shriveled up into nothing and disappeared. That made me smirk.
"Hmph, guess it was just waiting for you to gain the courage to face your fear. You were the last one to be wearing one of these, and I think it's safe to say that the curse is now completely nixed," I opened my arms as she moved forward to hug me around my middle.
"Thank you again, Bigby. I'll find a way to repay you for everything one day. I promise." Her fingers had drifted a little too close to my sides and I couldn't stop myself from squirming against them.
"Heh, well you can start by not tickling me anymore," I chuckled a bit, lightening the mood as she stepped back to look up at me with a grin.
"Sorry, Wolfie, but I wouldn't be doing you any favors by not tickling you. Laughing could do wonders for a guy like you," she couldn't resist giving me a poke right in my navel as I snorted a laugh and backpedaled right into my desk.
She could see the nervousness in my eyes as I looked up at her from where I had fallen on top of the desk. I was certain that after putting myself in this vulnerable position I was in trouble, but Nerissa just grinned even bigger and didn't pursue me.
"Don't worry, Bigby, you're safe for now. Besides, I'll have plenty of opportunities to get you later. Maybe even take up Snow on that double teaming idea that she'd suggested," she winked at me as she started making her way to the door while I sheepishly sat up on the edge of my desk and dusted myself off.
"I can't wait for that," I muttered sarcastically with a small smile before calling after her, "Hey."
She stopped and turned her head to look at the smirk now plastered on my face, waiting for me to finish.
"Thanks for your good intentions. As torturous as they may be." That got another smile out of her as she nodded and reached for the knob and pulled open the door.
"Well it looks like we both helped each other out today. Just remember, I'll be more than happy to help you anytime," and with that she slipped out before shutting the door behind her as I listened to her footsteps move away.
I reached into my shirt pocket for another cigarette as I stuck it in my mouth and lit up the end. Inhaling, I looked down at the lipstick marks on her cigarette butt as I smirked and replayed our whole encounter back through my head.
I had no doubt in my mind that she had meant what she said. Just when those good intentions of hers should arise would remain a mystery to me, and I likely would be powerless to stop her. Though I couldn't help but grin as strangely I wasn't too bothered by that thought.
Another TWAU fic! :D I've had this story half written in pieces since last year and finally figured out how to finish it. Been saving it for a figuratively rainy day.
I think Bigby and Nerissa have a great relationship together as either friends or lovers, but in this story I just made them friends. :)
Enjoy, and leave a comment if you can. It motivates me to write more. :)