Wolverine heaved a sigh. How had he allowed himself to get into this situation?
Professor Xavier had recommended that he and Hank take the children to this deserted beach, thinking it would be a good place where the young mutants could just be themselves and not have to worry about their powers being exposed in front of humans.
At the moment, he found himself buried under a mountain of sand. The only parts of his body that he was able to move were his head and feet, which protruded out of each end of the sand pile.
He gave a blank, unamused stare towards the three giggling adolescent girls who had convinced him via puppy dog eyes to let them bury him. What a pushover he was for little Kitty, Rogue and Boom Boom, always seeming to find it so hard to say no to them.
He wondered how long he was expected to play this silly game, but at least he was not alone in it. Hank had told him it was no big deal and was buried in a similar fashion just a few feet away from him. He had a feeling Hank was enjoying it a lot more than he let on though.
The children were donned in their matching blue and yellow X-men swim suits, and their discarded toys of plastic shovels, buckets and a blown up beach ball lay nearby. They had built a small, but impressive looking sand castle in the proximate area complete with windows and a seagull feather stuck in the top of one of the towers, but had abandoned it when the idea to bury their two guardians in the sand had come up.
At the moment young Kurt and Evan were just finishing pouring the remainder of their once sand filled buckets on top of Hank as he looked himself over.
"Hmm, I think you have missed a spot," Hank encouraged with his charming smile as Kurt and Evan clamored to re-fill their buckets and dumped a few more loads of sand onto him.
"How's that, Uncle Hank?" Evan asked as Hank made a slight attempt to break free from the sand.
"Your Aunt Ororo would be proud, Evan. I do believe I am good and stuck," he grinned at the two boys, who now wore smiles of sensed accomplishment. Kurt and Evan stood back to admire their work and then decided to be a little more creative.
Pushing a couple smaller piles of sand up along both sides of Hank they each began shaping the piles into flippers. It didn't take long for them to finish as Hank glanced down at his sides, getting an idea.
"Caaw caaaw! I'm a penguin! Caaw! " Hank crowed, always one to have fun with every situation as he began moving his head and feet back and forth to make it appear like he was waddling.
All the children began laughing at Hank's silly antics, unsure if he was even making the right sound that a penguin would make, but nonetheless imitated the waddling of penguins themselves.
Logan sighed again as he glanced around the beach, letting his mind wander and pondering how long it was going to take the children to get bored and unbury him.
His eyes were then directed over to Boom Boom. She had taken the boys cue and began moving around and shaping the sand right above Logan's chest.
"Now what are you doin'?" Logan lifted a brow as he watched to see what she was making. Kitty and Rogue were observing as well, and when it was evident what it was all three of the girls burst into giggles once more.
"Wolvie has boobies!" Rogue laughed as Tabitha revealed her creation of two small lumps of sand on Logan's chest, which resembled a certain female body part.
Logan narrowed his eyes, not amused in the slightest. He heard Hank snickering next to him and turned his head to glare at him with a growl.
"Can it, Hank!" Logan had had enough. He tried rising out of the sand, but it was surprisingly a lot more dense than he had realized.
After his first attempt, he tried a few more times to get up, but only succeeded in flailing his feet around. He finally came to the realization that he wasn't going anywhere until the kids unburied him themselves.
"Alright, you've had yer fun. Now lemme up," he managed to restrain a snarl, but not the scowl on his face.
"Aww, you're not having fun, Uncle Logan?" Kitty pouted out her lower lip as Logan attempted to resist the look she was giving him.
"Can't say that I am."
Tabitha then scooted over to his head and began gently pulling on the corners of his mouth, forcing it up into a goofy looking smile.
"Smile, Wolvie. Have fun with us," Logan turned his head to relieve the assault on his face and then looked back at her, the frown returning.
"Can't really have fun bein' stuck in here."
"Sure you can! You just need to smile," Rogue insisted as Logan groaned and made a lame try at a smile, resulting in just one corner of his mouth curling up slightly.
"You know, it takes forty-three muscles to frown and only seventeen to smile," Hank quipped as he displayed his own effortless smile that showed off his beautiful white teeth.
"Yer not helping," the feral man growled and abandoned his smiling attempts. Really he didn't feel as if anything at this point could get him to smile.
He then felt something lightly brush against the sole of his left foot as it immediately twitched from the sensation. Lifting his head, he glanced down towards his feet and saw Kitty sitting there in the sand with a big grin on her face.
"What're ya...?" He started to ask, but then lost his words as Kitty raised her hand up to reveal the long seagull feather she was twirling between her fingers. His eyes widened slightly as a feeling of nervousness crept over his body, immediately realizing what she was up to.
"Don't do it, darlin'," Logan shook his head as Kitty again put on a pouting face.
"But Wolvie, tickles will make you smile."
"But I don't want...I mean, that won't make me...," Logan protested before turning pleading eyes towards the science teacher.
"Hank, help me out here." Hank gave him a thoughtful look before smirking slightly.
"You know, they say laughing is very therapeutic. You might want to try it, my friend," the spectacled man grinned with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as Logan continued his objections.
"But...I ain't ticklish!" He spat out in a last ditch effort, knowing that trying to get out of it now was pretty useless.
"Are too!" Kitty giggled as she began stroking the feather back and forth along his arch to prove him wrong. Not wanting to admit it, Logan grit his teeth to hold in any sound and tried to get his mind focused on something other than the tickling caress of the feather.
He grunted and strained, though no matter how hard he tried his lips began twisting up into a silly grin. As the tip of the feather swirled softly around his heel a few giggles managed to slip past his clenched teeth.
With that confirmation, the sensation stopped and Logan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was all over.
"Come help me, Rogue!" Kitty called to her friend as Logan jerked his head up to see Kitty handing Rogue an equally devastating looking feather. The distraught look on Wolverine's face when he realized what was about to happen was priceless.
"W...wait a minute, darlin'! Ya can't...Hank! Help!" Logan shouted as he frantically tried to get free.
Hank just laughed, never remembering seeing the Canadian mutant look so scared. Wolverine showed no fear when facing off against enemies like Sabretooth and Sinister, but a couple kids with intent to tickle him silly had him wanting to run for the hills.
"Help, you say? If you insist," Hank grinned, turning his attention to Rogue, "Try the toes, my dear."
Logan grimaced at Hank's betrayal and only struggled more.
"Hank, I'm gonna kill ya! Yer gonna wish ya never...Grraaggghh!" Logan's threats of Hank's imminent death were cut off as he felt one of those darned feathers slide between his big and second toe.
He was immediately on the defense as he managed to jerk his foot away for the moment before Rogue's feather struck again. Stroking across the tops of his toes forced them to curl over protectively as Logan tried to hide his giggles behind growls.
"Stop that!" Wolverine protested while his foot desperately tried to move out of the way of the ticklish strokes of the feather. It only got worse once Kitty joined in, using her feather to brush tortuously up and down the length of his other foot.
That combined with Rogue now twirling her plume between his ring and pinky toe was just too much for him. All Logan's attempts to control his laughter were lost as he surrendered and burst into resonant belly laughs.
"Bwahahahahahaha! No no, c'mon! Quit it! Gaahahahaahaa!" Logan threw his head back, baring his oversized canines as he laughed loud and deep.
Everyone was soon laughing along with him. It was rare to see Wolverine smile and even more rare to get him to actually laugh so having him in this position just encouraged the two girls to keep tickling him.
In his sand prison there wasn't much he could do to stop them and just squirmed around as best as he could.
"Coochie coochie coo," Kitty teased playfully, now using the quill end of the feather to scribble along his arch while Rogue continued to draw her feather between his wiggling toes.
Logan was howling with laughter as his feet thrashed around wildly, but the feathers always managed to seek him out. He couldn't remember the last time he had been tickled, though he was pretty sure he hadn't been in such a helpless position then.
The delicate caresses of the feathers against the sensitive skin of his feet was driving him crazy. At this point he was sorely tempted to break down and beg for mercy, but his ego was just barely holding him back.
Tabitha then joined in the fun by gathering up some more sand and adding to the two small piles that she had made on Logan's chest. After a minute the mounds of sand were now a more respectable size as Tabitha teasingly stuck her tongue out at Logan, though he didn't notice with how hard he was laughing.
Watching Logan's torment and feeling left out, Kurt and Evan then turned their attention towards their other guardian.
"Are you ticklish too, Uncle Hank?" Kurt asked as he looked down at the larger man's sizable feet. Hank just broke into a grin, thinking that they'd never ask.
"Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not," he said with a wink, wiggling his toes as a playful enticement. Kurt and Evan smiled and ran off to collect their own feathers to use while Hank waited patiently, but full of excitement.
He hadn't had a good tickling in a while and was anxious to see just how effective the children would be. Though judging by the reactions from his normally ill-natured friend he was sure it was going to be good.
It wasn't long before the two returned and sat down in front of Hank's feet with their new found tools. They wasted no time and both began running the feathers briskly up and down the wide soles of his feet, eager to get a reaction out of him.
Hank was not one to disappoint and did not hold back at all, bursting into hearty laughter almost immediately.
"Oh no! Hahahaha! No, please! Anything, but thaahaahaahaaat!" Hank mock pleaded as he played his part to the fullest, feet flailing around and toes wriggling.
Kurt and Evan were delighted with Hank's response and attacked every inch of his feet with the soft, tickly feathers. Not too long into it they decided to make a game out of it.
"Tell us where you hid the Twinkies!" Kurt demanded with a wicked grin, thinking this might be a good opportunity to gain some valuable information from their chaperone.
Hank just shook his head between laughs. Even if he really disliked being tickled, there is no way he'd reveal the secret location of his beloved golden snacks.
Plus the last thing he needed was Ororo getting on his case for allowing Kurt and Evan to obtain such a sugar rush and going on a hyper rampage. So instead he pretended that he was desperately trying to resist the tingling of the feathers swirling around his arches by gritting his teeth and making his defiance known.
"Never! I'll never t...tell you! Hahahahahaha! You can tickle me...all you...heeheehee...want!" He really did mean that unbeknownst to his "torturers".
"Oh yeah?" Evan then began alternating between the soft end of the feather and the scratchy quill on the other end, giving Hank's toes, arches and heels a thorough tickling. This method kept Hank off guard to the sensations and had him giving little yelps of surprise through his laughter.
"You gonna talk now?" Evan prodded, but Hank remained resistant.
"Not...going to...Hahahahaahaah...happen!" Hank bellowed out with his feet twitching spasmodically. He hadn't had this much fun in ages. The two boys did not plan on giving up though as Kurt began to brainstorm, using his tail to scratch his head in thought.
After a few seconds he then realized something as he glanced his eyes up towards his tail. Bringing it down in front of him he studied it for a moment and began flicking the tail tip back and forth. A big grin spread across his entire face as he visualized his next plan of attack.
Abandoning the feather, he then turned his body around and backed up towards Hank's feet. Once he was a couple feet away he then swung his tail around and brushed the fuzzy tip of it along the bottom of Hank's left foot.
Hank let loose a little squeal, amazed at how much more the young mutant's tail tickled. He knew he was going to enjoy this.
Kurt felt a high level of satisfaction at seeing how effective his tail was and just went to town; flicking the tip all over the large area of Hank's sole and wiggling it into the space underneath his toes. Hank's laughter went to a whole new level of hysterics as his feet writhed around as much as they could in the sand trap.
"The Twinkies! Tell us now!" Kurt demanded as he continued to use his newly discovered tickle tool to inflict ticklish sensations all over Hank's foot. Evan continued his efforts as well, sure that this time Hank was going to break.
In reality, no amount of tickle torture would ever get Hank to surrender and he would most likely pass out before he ever did talk. However he couldn't help feeling a bit of admiration for the two boys' determination and decided that he would concede a bit.
Once more he began pretending that the tickling was really getting to him.
"Oh, please! Not that! Gaahaahaahaahaa! I'm too ticklish! Ok! Ok! I'll talk!" Hank felt his acting performance there deserved an award. Kurt and Evan slowed their tickling to allow Hank to breath a little better, but still forcing some giggles out of him.
"In my room...behind the...heehee...big painting...there is...a safe. That is where...heeheehee...they are," Hank managed to get out, acting defeated.
"And the combination?" Evan pressed him as he and Kurt stopped the tickling for a moment to allow him to answer. The science teacher just caught his breath and then grinned back at them slyly. Time for round two.
"It seems to have slipped my mind." That was all he got out before Kurt and Evan resumed their barrage of tickling and forced him into fits of guffaws once more. He would really have to let the children get him in positions like this more often.
Just a few feet away, Wolverine was just about going crazy from all the tickling.
Kitty had discarded her feather some time ago and was using both her hands to tickle all over his large foot. Boom Boom had come to assist and was holding Logan's toes back, giving Kitty's fingers free range to scratch all over his taut arch and tickle underneath his sensitive toes.
Rogue continued using her feather only because skin to skin contact was not usually a good idea for her. By now Logan decided to throw his dignity out the window and had resorted to begging for mercy.
"Please! Stooohahahahooop! I can't...take anymore! Ahahahahahaha!" He shouted as he continued to struggle violently, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. He silently cursed his healing factor for being no help to him in this situation.
"Say 'Uncle', Wolvie!" Tabitha demanded and grinned back at him while keeping her hold on his struggling foot. None of them seemed to notice the sand beginning to loosen from Logan's constant squirming.
"Uncle! Fer cryin' out loud...UNCLE!" Logan wailed, at this point feeling agreeable to pretty much anything.
Once those words were uttered, Kitty and Rogue were ready to stop, but Tabitha urged them on as she began to scheme in her head. She figured they could probably get Logan to say a few more things that he would not normally say.
"Now say 'girls rule'!"
"Alright! Girls...hahaha...rule!"
"Say 'I'm a big doo-doo head'." This kid was really pushing it, but he complied nonetheless, desperate for a reprieve.
"I'm a b...big doo-doo...head!"
"And 'I like being tickled'," she added with a giggle, seeing the look that Logan gave her like she was crazy.
"What?! No! I don't...," Wolverine started to protest, really not wanting to say that though he knew the tickling would not end unless he did. He was going to hate himself later for saying this.
"Ok ok! I like...hahahaha...bein'..." As he persisted in struggling he felt the earth loosening around him and suddenly found himself rising out of the sand up into a sitting position.
The three girls giggled and shrieked as they noticed he was now free and released his feet, taking off and running a little ways down the beach out of his reach. Logan watched them retreat and gave an attempt at a pathetic sounding growl.
"Yeah...you'd better run," he sat there panting, too worn out to go after the girls at the moment as he reached up and slowly dusted the sand off of his upper body.
Catching his breath, he then pulled his legs free of the sand that formerly held him prisoner, glad that he finally was able to move the rest of his body around. Though thoroughly exhausted, he was a little surprised to find that Hank had been right.
The laughing had considerably lightened his mood as all the released endorphins flowed throughout his body from head to toe. He actually felt more relaxed than he had in a long time, though that still was not going to make him encourage any more tickling upon him.
Wolverine glanced over when he heard Hank still laughing and saw that Kurt and Evan were still pursuing in their efforts to obtain the safe combination from him.
He shuddered a bit inside as he watched Kurt's fuzzy little tail stroke and tease the bottom of Hank's foot, thinking just how much that probably tickled. He really did not feel sorry for Hank though since it appeared that the big guy seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
Logan smirked as he shook his head at his friend, getting up to make his way over to him.
Kurt and Evan were having such a good time that they didn't even notice that Logan was now loose. As Logan's form cast a shadow over the two boys they froze instantly, thinking that he was going to be mad and put a stop to their fun.
Instead Logan just smiled genuinely as he crouched down next to them and picked up the feather that Kurt had set down awhile ago. Holding it up in his hand, he twirled it between his fingers and made sure Hank got a good look at what he was doing.
"So Hank...ya did say the toes, right?" Wolverine gave a cheeky grin as a slight chill ran down Hank's spine, knowing that he was in for it now.
He knew just how sadistic Wolverine was when it came to dealing with the enemy, and he was pretty certain that that ruthlessness would carry over to the torture he was about to inflict.
As Logan lowered the feather towards his foot, Hank could only mutter out a phrase that showed both his fear and excitement at the same time.
"Oh my stars and garters.