He always strove for this kind contentment.

Elias once admitted solely to Chise that he enjoyed affection. Whether it'd be kissing, sleeping next to each other, nuzzling, or simply just being with her. It was a bizarre feeling that soon flourished into a warm one that he now enjoyed. He learned that, to human emotion, it was love. And if he recalled correctly, he told the redhead: "I just enjoy the tingling feeling I get when we cuddle."

It seemed like she would take that to her grave.

Because today, right after her lessons were finished and the chores were complete, Chise insisted in spending some time with Elias. She shooed away her familiar, Ruth, so that they could be alone. Elias presumed the Grim was out either chasing cottonflies again or exploring the depths of the forest. At first, him and Chise were reflecting on the lesson for the day, and in the next moment she's in his lap holding his hands and telling him all sorts of stories and memories from her childhood.

Chise is practically rambling now and the sound of her voice is like music to Elias'...well, horns. He knows now that it could put him to sleep. The tranquil noise of her singing a soft melody is all that would do it. But she's refused to sing anymore after that incident. So Elias decides to relish in the sound of her murmuring and talking, all the while listening to everything she has to say.

In the midst of her rambling on about how his gloves remind her of cartoons, Elias leans forward and nuzzles the size of her head. Instead of feeling her relaxing at his touch as usual, she tenses. The two of them pause what they're doing. For a moment, Elias could've sworn he saw her tilt her head away from him. Briefly, he tries again, nuzzling the side of her head with the end of his jaw. Chise tenses and leans away again, now looking at him with surprise.

"Is something the matter?" He asks.

"N-No..." She looks away, squeezing his hands again.

Elias takes this chance to try again and the same result happens. He lets go of her hands but Chise quickly grabs back at them. When his skull brushes her hair, she lets out a very faint yet involuntary squeak. Elias pauses at this and looks at her. She does her best to avoid eye contact with him and clears her throat out of nervousness.

"Um, as I was saying-"

"You've never made that noise before."

His orbs are locked on her in concern. Normally, creatures would squeak under pressure or fear. Elias knew humans were different, but he still didn't want to make Chise uncomfortable or scared. That'd defeat his whole purpose on welcoming her here. The redhead finally notices that he's staring at her and sighs. She hunches her shoulder up on the side that Elias nuzzled her.

"I'm just ticklish there." She admitted.

The monster perked up. Ticklish? That was a rather odd spot to be ticklish, he thought. A part of him thought Chise wasn't even capable of being tickled. She looks away from him slowly and goes back to rubbing the ends of his fingers. Chise opened her mouth to resume her bantering but stops when she feels him nuzzle her head again. This time, a giggle escapes from her mouth. It seems like she's been holding it back this whole time.

Elias, amused that he got the better of her, does it again. She lightly swats at his skull with a big smile on her face. She's giggling now, and the noise only fuels him more. He holds her shoulders down temporarily as he gently stroked his skull against her head. She fights against his grip and finally lets out a laugh.

"El-ias! Stop!"

He removes his skull but keeps his grip on her shoulders. Chise looks back at him worriedly while he eyes the rest of her body. Their eyes meet for a moment and he can tell that she's nervous. His gaze finally rests on her stomach and he hears her take a sharp intake of breath. So that must be another ticklish spot.

"I just think it's cute..." His hand inches closer to her tummy. "-When you laugh."

Without warning, he lifts up her t-shirt and exposes the sight of her flat stomach. She gasps and tries to go to cover it, but he easily holds her down. His gloved hand traces over her stomach, eagerly trying to find the spot. When his fingers rest just above her bellybutton, he feels Chise flinch. And that's all it takes for him to start tickling her mercilessly.

The redhead fights against his grip while laughing. All this does is encourage Elias further as he starts to explore around. He nuzzles her neck and feels her crane it away from him. He rubs against it some more while he continues tickling her stomach, and this starts to become unfair play. Chise kicks at the air while she tries to nudge him off. Her laughs are now gasps and there are tears trickling down her cheeks.

"ELIAS! IT T-TICKLES! STOP! PLEASE!"

He finally lets go of her, letting Chise collapse in his lap and catch her breath. She flattens her shirt down and momentarily blushes. She seemed to realize that she was still in Elias' lap, so she crawled out and went to the other side of the couch. She looks back at him with a face of betrayal. This only makes Elias laugh. He leaned forward and motioned her to come back. She shakes her head and crosses her arms stubbornly.

"No!" Chise bites her lip, trying to hide a smile. "You play unfair!"

"What are you talking about?" Elias asked, his tone innocent. "I just love the sound of your laugh. Is that so bad?"

She pointed an accusing finger at him. "-That doesn't mean you should tickle me! It's really unbearable for humans, you know. They used to tickle people for torture-"

"Come back, Chise."

"No!"

A guilty feeling starts gnawing at his chest. The redhead is now at the end of the couch and looking away from him with her arms crossed. He probably shouldn't have tickled her as much as he did, but he couldn't help it. It was so adorable! At least now he knows how sensitive tickling is for humans. This suddenly sparks an idea in his mind. He leans on the armrest of the couch and rests his skull in his gloved hand.

"My kind are ticklish, too."

She looks back at him, a spark of curiosity in her eyes. "Oh?"

He taps his jaw and nods. "-Yes, but we're affected by it differently. I won't tell you how, but you can come over here and try to tickle me if you'd like."

Chise sits there in silence for a moment or two. Slowly, she succumbs to her interest and crawls back into his lap. She turned herself so that she's now facing Elias. Chise hesitated before resting a hand on his chest and slowly drag it around. He doesn't seem to be reacting to it at all. She looked up and found no expression through his eyes, either. She covers his whole abdomen area before giving up and huffing.

"You were close," He hints.

He takes her hand and rests it back on his stomach. Chise shivers at the contact - she's seen what was below. Slowly, she travels to his side and feels him jump a bit. A grin spreads on her face. She pokes it again and feels him flinch once more. Aha! She's found it!

She tickles him on his left side and hears him chatter his back teeth. This would've encouraged her, but Chise noticed something right off the bat. He wasn't as jumpy or reactive as she'd been hoping. No, he was acting...differently. Chise continued tickling him and found that he actually relaxed. She itched lower and widened her eyes when she saw his pupils curve. She withdrew her hand stubbornly and gave him a glare.

"What?" He asked.

"I was hoping to get revenge! What's the point of tickling you if you enjoy it?"

"It feels nice," He places her hand back on his side. "-Do it again."

Chise sighed and decided to tickle his other side. He laughed a bit harder this time and leaned forward into her touch. Admittedly, this isn't what she wanted, but...his reaction was just as adorable. At least she wasn't hurting him by doing this. When she tried tickling Ruth, she accidentally got a bit too rough. Safe to say, he didn't like being tickled anymore.

While she was tickling his side, Elias decided to take advantage of this time. He leaned forward and tickled the end of Chise's foot. This completely threw her off, so Elias grabbed her and started tickling her from the neck again. She fought against his grip, scolding his name over and over, but ended up succumbing to it. She reached for his side and tickled him while he tickled her.

It's clear that there's no winner to their tickle fight, but one thing was made certain. Chise was starting to learn more about Elias and the same could be said about him with her. It was an unfair advantage for him to know that she was ticklish, but Chise had faith he wouldn't abuse it. Ruth probably would, but not Elias. At least now she'd know where to scratch if he ever had problems sleeping beside her.