Teasing

I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Square Enix and the Walt Disney Studios. This is a creative work that I do not profit off of in any way.

Here's the newest vignette, my dear readers!

Axel stretched lazily. It wasn't often he got a day off. He was going to relish it. No work, no training, no mission. No Heartless, no Nobodies. No bad guys to fight, no monsters hurting people. This was a day off and he was gonna…sleep, sleep, roll over and sleep some more. Or maybe he'd just zone out with the television.

As Axel walked into the living room, Xion was lying on the couch, wrapped in one of her blankets. Sea salt blue, as per usual. Tucked under an arm was her stuffed tiger. Her bare feet stuck out on one end. She grinned widely when she saw him.

"Not moving," Xion said. "I just got to my absolute comfiest spot."

"Didn't say you had to move kiddo," Axel said, moving to sit next to her. "It's your day off and my day off too. You want to be a slug and watch tv all day, that's fine with me."

"I'm not a slug," Xion said. "I'm…an otter. They wrap themselves in kelp, so they don't float away."

Oh right, Xion had been on a nature documentary kick lately. Any sort of documentary, it didn't matter. And, what do ya know? There was a documentary on right now…some guy with a funny accent was talking about the kelp forests. There were little sea otters swimming around. Huh, how did the guys making the documentary get the camera to work underwater?

"Hmm," Axel said. "Now where's that remote control?"

Usually, the remote would fall between the cushions of the couch, and it would be a big hassle trying to get it out. Naturally, as soon as he checked between the cushions, Axel saw the remote was right where it was supposed to be on the coffee table. Along with the tv listings and the remote for the video player. As he moved to reach for the remote, his hand brushed against Xion's bare soles.

"Axel!" Xion squealed, kicking him hard in the leg. Wrapped in her blanket, her movement was restricted and she wound up kicking him with both feet. Right in the knee. Yeee-oowwww! Axlel bit back a curse and his leg throbbed.

"Xion!"

"I'm sorry if that hurt, but I'm not apologizing for kicking you," Xion said, in her most stubborn voice. "That tickled."

Tickled? Oh….it's on.

Resisting the urge to cackle like a mad scientist, Axel began to think. Xion adjusted herself back into a comfy spot. Her feet brushed lightly against his leg.…her bare feet. One thing Axel had learned in his time as an assassin was the art of patience. It took patience to sit in a tree for sixteen hours. It took patience to arrange things to allow for a coup. It took years of patience to master handling chakrams, which were an incredibly difficult weapon to wield even if Xion made it look easy.

Waiting for the golden opportunity to tickle the daylights out of his little sister was nothing compared to any of that. But it would be far more satisfying. Axel didn't often get the chance to tease Roxas or Xion, since missions and training required some level of seriousness…but today was a day off. Teasing Xion just replaced sleeping on his to-do list. Xion snuggled under her blanket and wiggled her toes. She didn't suspect a thing.

Axel smirked as he began flicking through the channels: Nature documentary, cartoon ponies, boring political pundits, fluffy news that wasn't really news, the church program Olette watched religiously. Movie, sports commentary, commentary on the sports commentary, movie, cartoon wizards…

"Axel," Xion whined, shuffling in her blanket. "Just pick something."

Pick something? Oh, I'll be picking something, kiddo.

"Yeah, yeah…" Axel said. "Here's something!"

It was one of those movie channels. Axel wasn't sure what the plot was. But the big brother with a stupid haircut was helping the little sister with a problem. They were sorting the pros and cons of a decision the sister had to make with a jar of jelly beans.

"Oh, this is a good one," Xion said, snuggling deeper into her blanket. She tightened her grip on her stuffed tiger.

As the movie went to a commercial break, Axel turned to Xion and grinned. "So, kiddo, you want feathers, or fingers?"

Before she could say anything, Axel shot out a hand and grabbed Xion's ankles, gripping them as tightly as he would his chakrams. With his free hand, he began tickling the bottoms of her feet.

"Axel!" Xion shrieked. "Hahahahaha…"

Xion's protests died as she fell into a heap of giggles. She tried to wiggle free, but Axel's grip on her ankles was tight. What was more, she was still wrapped up in her blanket, which pretty much kept her from kicking free. Xion's giggles grew louder as Axel tickled her toes. He grinned. Xion's ticklishness wasn't something Axel exploited often, but he loved it when she laughed.

"What's going on?" Roxas said, walking into the room. "I heard…screaming?"

"Try laughing," Axel said. "No emergency here, Roxas."

"Roxas…help…please!" Xion squealed. "Hahahaha….Axel's…cheating."

"There's no cheating in a tickle fight, Xi," Axel teased, running his fingers against her soles again. This only made her laugh harder.

Roxas grinned and walked over to the couch. Axel reached a hand to tickle Xion under her knee. Xion jerked and tried to squirm away, only to find herself eye-to-eye with Roxas.

"Roxas, come on!" Xion begged. "Hahahaha…help me!"

"Hmmm…" Roxas said. "Help you?"

Roxas reached down and tugged away Xion's stuffed tiger. He held it in his hands, gently.

"What do you think, Daniel Tiger? Should I help Xion?"

"Give him back! Aaaaaaahhh!" Xion howled with laughter. "You're mean!"

"I should help Axel tickle her?" Roxas said, still holding the stuffed tiger. "Alright, that's a great idea!"

Xion was squealing and laughing and squirming as Axel tickled her feet and toes and under her knee. When Roxas joined in tickling her ribs and neck, Xion laughed so hard, she started becoming breathless. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her blanket had been dislodged and that gave Axel the chance to reach over and squeeze her side. Feet, toes, knees, stomach, side, ribs, chin…Axel and Roxas tickled them every inch of Xion they could reach.

"Please, mercy!" Xion shrieked. "Axel!" Roxas!"

She laughed and rolled to her side, which allowed Roxas to tickle her underarm, and Xion squealed with laughter.

After a few minutes, but for Xion it was probably an eternity, or at least an eon, Axel signaled to Roxas. She'd had enough. Roxas nodded and raised his hands away from Xion's ribs. Axel loosened his grip on Xion's feet, allowing her to scoot away.

"You two…" Xion groaned weakly. "Are the biggest…jerkfaces…ever."

All things considered, she didn't seem that upset. Xion glared at them, but her lip was quivering. She broke into another fit of giggles. But neither Axel nor Roxas was tickling her.

"Jerkfaces…" Xion said. "But…you're my jerkfaces."

Xion looked from Roxas to Axel and back again. She frowned in concentration and then leaned her head into Axel's lap, wrapping her blanket back around her. She reached out an arm to grab her stuffed tiger and tuck it in with her.

"Xion?"

"I was wrong before," Xion said. "You're my comfiest spot, Axel. You always have been. I'm not moving."

"But kiddo," Axel said, "I can't move."

"I missed the part where that's my problem," Xion said, snuggling deeper into Axel's thigh. Her bare feet stuck out from the end of the blanket and she wiggled her toes into its folds. Roxas picked Xion's feet up and set them in his lap and then wrapped them more snuggly in her blanket.

Axel began to chuckle. He ruffled Xion's hair—even this made her giggle—and leaned his head back against the couch. The movie was coming back on. This was his day off. His little brother was sitting next to him, his little sister was snuggled in their laps. And he couldn't think of a comfier spot to be.

All I can say about this vignette is poor, poor, poor Xion. Doomed to suffer at the hands of her big brother Axel forever! And poor Axel, who will never be able to stand up, due to the half-pints deciding he's their pillow. Hahaha!

Thank you for reading my dear, dear readers. Leave a comment if you're so inclined! I appreciate each and every one of you!