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The virtual race came to an end, and in a rare twist of events, Lillie’s kart had crossed the finish line before Mallow’s. In fact, Mallow came in well behind Lillie, at second-to-last place. Very much not like how it usually goes when they play the copyrighted mascot racing video game!
“Oh, that’s new,” Mallow commented, giving the blonde a glance. She was beaming. And she wiggled a little.
“Yes! I’m glad to see my practice paying off! E-even if it’s a video game.”
Mallow cocked her head to the side. “Or maybe you finally got lucky?”
Lillie’s pout began forming on her face, but then she felt a boost of confidence from within. The pout retreated.
“Perhaps it was simply your turn to have a multitude of graceful landings,” she said, putting a hand to her chest, “I’m honoured that you’re learning from me even in this aspect.”
Mouth agape, Mallow couldn’t believe the sheer audacity. She placed the controller down, freeing her hands to put them her hips.
“Well, I’ll gladly remind you that one of the many things I’ve learned from your nerdy face is where and how ticklish you are!” She pointed at the blonde, who withdrew a little. Lillie didn’t want her confidence to run out, but Mallow had a point and an advantage. An advantage she wouldn’t hold back with.
“I-is it only you who’s allowed to compliment on my virtual grace?” Lillie asked, trying to keep her confidence.
“Give me the controller,” Mallow requested with a slight grin instead of answering.
Lillie was so close to flinching. “W-why?”
Playfulness became more and more visible on Mallow’s face. “So you don’t drop it when I tackle you?” She said mischievously.
The flinch Lillie had held back could no longer be suppressed. “I think that just demonstrates how unnecessary it is for you to ta-”
“Lillie. The controller,” Mallow repeated in a playfully stern tone as she extended a hand.
Lillie looked to both of her sides, then quite mareepishly handed it over. The moment it was out of her hand, she turned around to make a beeline out of Mallow’s room, but the green-haired girl grabbed her leg before she had a chance to even stand up.
“No, you’re not!” Mallow exclaimed. Lillie could hear the gusto in her voice; she knew that if she doesn’t come up with anything, she’d get every ounce of air squeezed out of her very fast.
“L-look! Listen! You started it! Y-eep!!” The blonde’s protest was interrupted by Mallow pulling her closer. She slid rather easily on the wooden floor, especially with how little she weighed.
“So what if I started it?” Mallow asked smugly, then decided to let Lillie speak; she wanted to hear what dorky nonsense she’d come up with.
“Well! From an entirely logical standpoint…! I-it means that I should have the right to tickle you instead!” She pleaded, but her plea only resulted in Mallow bursting into giggles.
“Uhuh. Then why don’t you?”
Lillie blinked a couple of times.
“Go ahead. Tickle me,” Mallow tried coaxing, much to Lillie’s confusion. The blonde sat up after a moment, since Mallow wasn’t moving; Lillie, however, was scared to actually make a move. Knowing her, Mallow would definitely anticipate several of Lillie’s attempts.
Furthering the bewilderment, Mallow let go of her leg, then leaned closer to the blonde.
“Come on! I’m waiting!” She still sounded playful, but without the mischief.
“Waiting to make a pounce?” Lillie asked, crawling away.
And Mallow pounced indeed, getting a squeal out of Lillie. In a defensive reflex, she attempted to keep Mallow at bay with her leg, but the sudden change in balance – not to mention Mallow’s weight – caused a brief meeting of Lillie’s head with the floor. Mallow found it amusing, as she usually would with Lillie’s clumsiness.
“Are you okay?” She asked through her chuckles.
“I’m fine,” the blonde replied with a little grunt.
Mallow’s hands were at her sides, her body firmly pressed against Lillie’s leg. There was no way to go without noticing that Lillie’s blush grew and grew – she might as well become a lamp at this rate.
“Are you okay?” Mallow asked once more, but with her tone indicating suspicion.
Lillie looked away in embarrassment, struggling to find the words. She glanced at the raised leg Mallow was leaning against, and with that signal, the green-haired girl put two and two together, but not without chuckling again.
“My bad, my bad,” she apologised earnestly. “Let me fix it for you?”
She received a distrustful look from the blonde.
“No tickles until I fix your dress. Promise,” Mallow added, then distanced away just a little.
After brief hesitation, Lillie lowered her leg, and her dress was indeed quickly returned to a more decent position, without exploiting the moment for cheap tickles. Like Mallow promised.
Lillie did notice, though, that her dress was being pulled on some more; not only that, but to her flinch-inducing surprise, Mallow knelt on it. Then she even crawled over Lillie, so she could tower over…
“...my trapped little flower. So precious.”
“U-unbelievable! You wanted to do that all along!”
Mallow giggled. “Actually, it only occurred to me maybe a second before I did it. But maybe I shouldn’t have said that, to keep the illusion of a master plan. I’m silly.”
“How silly of you indeed…! Now if you could just-EEP!!”
The blonde was interrupted by a poke on her side; Mallow’s tickle-per-poke ratio was more than favourable with how well she knew Lillie’s sensitive spots. She might’ve had a lot of those, which made it somewhat easy for Mallow, but there was still a sense of expertise to her touch.
Trying to prevent more tickles from happening, Lillie held her hands at her chest again, palms open, ready to grab either of Mallow’s hands the moment she sees vicious intent. But when Mallow leaned in instead of reaching toward her, there was a moment of uncertainty on Lillie’s part; she wasn’t sure to make of it. Mallow’s intentions were pure, however, almost melting the blonde when she pecked her cheek. Then again, and again.
Their breathing became faster, their cheeks warmer. Mallow nuzzled her nose against Lillie’s cheek, eventually finding her way to the blonde’s neck. She could feel how Lillie crossed her legs – an adorable gesture Mallow couldn’t get tired of. She grinned.
Laying a soft kiss on Lillie’s neck, she earned an equally soft whimper from the blonde. For more than a moment, Mallow basked in how red and cute her face was; they were both blushing from the intimacy of the moment, and Lillie had a look that begged for more – though Mallow could still sense a little fear of getting tickled.
It was the perfect time another single poke on Lillie’s side, Mallow decided; the squeak that came out of the blonde as a result was a delight she cherished.
“T-that wasn’t fair, you had me so distra…!”
Another kiss and nuzzle on her neck left Lillie with difficulties in finishing her sentence. A shaky breath left her mouth. Nothing happened for a little while, aside from the girls lovingly staring at each other.
“Gosh. And to think I pounced so I could tickle you a whole bunch.”
Lillie’s stiffening was palpable, despite not having voiced that thought as a threat. The blonde hastily glanced to one side, then the other; Mallow knew she was looking for a potential exit, but a single wriggle reminded her pretty little flower that she was, in fact, still trapped thanks to Mallow’s knee on her dress. Knowing that very well, Mallow had a smile on her face that bordered on a grin.
“I’m quite glad to hear that you’ve… changed your mind,” Lillie spoke, trying her best to come up with anything that could deter further tickling.
“I have?” Mallow asked innocently.
“Y-you have, haven’t you? This is much more, um...” Lillie continued, her voice timid, and the anticipation forcing her face into a nervous smile. Mallow could no longer hold her grin back.
“I don’t like that face!” The blonde exclaimed immediately. But there was no plan and no escape. She squealed and screamed as Mallow’s hands did their thing – and Mallow had her work cut out, with Lillie wriggling around like a silly Caterpie.
“Geez, don’t scream so much!” Mallow called through her laughter.
Lillie, in tears by that point, needed a few deep but hurried breaths before she could muster an answer: “What an entirely illogical thing for you to request when it’s you who-”
The tickles resumed, and so did Lillie’s hardcore squirming – she wasn’t like any silly Caterpie, she was like a Z-powered silly Caterpie. For how much of a disadvantage Lillie was at, there seemed to be no end to her attempts at freeing herself from the merciless grasp of tickles that Mallow had on her; of course, being in said grasp also meant that the squeaks and squeals and screams and cries seemed just as endless.
Seemed was a keyword in this case and Mallow knew that; Lillie’s lungs were very much finite in their capacity, and if that hadn’t been common knowledge, the increased desperation of her breaths would’ve made it clear anyway. The tickles relented, finally allowing Lillie some air. Further movements from Mallow had the blonde’s guard back up immediately, though the guard could go back down upon realising she’d just taken her leg off the dress, which became a lot less tight in a single short moment.
Panting on the floor, Lillie couldn’t find the strength – but also didn’t feel pressured – to sit up. There was some hair in her face that Mallow leaned in to gently move and tuck behind her ear. Despite still having been short on breath, the blonde forgot to breathe for that couple of seconds. There was no space for a blush, though, with her being entirely red.
“I think your Splash was super effective, Lillie! Have you been practising?”
Mallow’s remark also happened to be super effective – Lillie’s pout was instant, though visibly tired.
“Clearly, it wasn’t…! Even my critical ones couldn’t budge you…!”
The mere idea of a critical splash had the girls giggling.
“I do believe… you forgot to have any mercy on me,” Lillie added. Her panting finally calmed down a little.
Mallow’s smile reflected her satisfaction and pride. She had her work cut out during the tickle session – more than once she felt like she could’ve lost her grip. But not only she didn’t, Lillie didn’t seem to have noticed! It was a job well done.
“I miiiight have a little more mercy with the tickles if you have a little more mercy in game. Or at least if you keep your smugness to yourself,” she finished with a playful boop on Lillie’s nose.
The blonde wasn’t going to just let that slide; she took a deep breath and spoke up with confidence: “As I said before, is it only you who… I… n-never mind, I said nothing at all…”
Her confidence petered out just as quickly as she had gathered it, and she covered her face. But what she didn’t – and couldn’t – cover was her hair.
“Hee hee, I seem to have done a number on your hair. Oh, no, now I’m left with no other option than to brush it for you!”
A chuckle left her mouth after seeing Lillie wiggle in response to that. She titled her head to the side as she thought.
“Yes, yes, I think I should tickle you more often so I’d get to do that.”
Instead of more wiggles, there was a flinch. Lillie’s face was uncovered in the blink of an eye, and she seemed horrified by the proposal.
“Y-you can just…!! Do that without tickling me first, you know?!”
The response provoked more wiggles after all, but from Mallow. And she smiled without as much as a trace of mischief.
“I can brush your hair any time?” She asked. To Lillie, the look on Mallow’s face reminded her of an eager little Rockruff, and she smiled back.
“You may, yes,” the blonde replied. She accepted a helping hand from Mallow, dusted herself off, and then didn’t quite know what to say in response to Mallow staring at her. There was still visible eagerness, though of a different flavour.
“I don’t suppose… that you’d mind me kissing your cheek a few more times…?” Mallow ended up asking surprisingly softly.
The fluttering sensation in Lillie’s stomach verged on being overwhelming; in fact, it was no longer confined to just her stomach. She could feel it with her whole body and every breath she took. By no means was it a bad feeling in the slightest. Her answer was a nod – a timid one, but full of hope.
With the permission granted, Mallow pecked her cheek. And again, and again, until she finally heard those sweet, sweet giggles from the sweet, sweet girl she had the pleasure of calling her companion. Before she knew it, their fingers were laced as if they had a will of their own; then, Mallow couldn’t resist rubbing her nose against Lillie’s cheek.
As she hoped, the blonde didn’t protest, though at that point she really shouldn’t expect Lillie to do so. She laid a little kiss on her chin in an impulse, and immediately felt another. Raising her hands along with Lillie’s, Mallow found her breathing to be faster, and that she pushed the blonde half a step backwards. There was a mildly confused look on Lillie’s face.
“Are you okay?” She asked in a tone Mallow took a minute to decipher. Was it worry?
“I am… I feel… oh, where’s my vocabulary?” Mallow giggled, but her face was very soon focused entirely on Lillie again. Letting go of her fingers, she reached for the collar on Lillie’s dress, and there it was – Lillie’s soft, shaky breath Mallow would live and die for. They locked eyes and stayed that way for a blissful eternity of a moment.
Lillie ended up being gently pushed to the wall, and gave Mallow another confused look.
“For safety,” Mallow said softly and quietly as she leaned in, “while I… you know…”
Her hands went back to Lillie’s collar to pull it aside, just enough for her collarbone to be a little more visible. It was easier that way for Mallow to kiss it gently. Lillie didn’t know what to do with her hands while her breathing did whatever it wanted; she gripped on her dress, a remedy that worked for most cases of I don’t know what to do!.
Both girls felt the most pleasant burning sensation on their cheeks , and with her legs feeling weaker by the minute, Lillie appreciated the support behind her back. She was also eagerly expecting Mallow to say whatever it looked like she wanted to say. It took only a moment for her to speak indeed , still very softly:
“...permission to kiss your… lips?”
Lillie’s face went through several shades of red, and it was Mallow’s turn for eager anticipation. Despite multiple attempts, however, the blonde couldn’t get any words out; no sound accompanied the movement of her lips. Desperation began showing on her face, while anxiety manifested in her fingers fidgeting. Mallow decided to help stop that, holding and lacing Lillie’s hands again.
“There, there, Lillie. Let me… try…”
The fluttering in their chests couldn’t get any stronger as their lips touched, with everything else ceasing to exist for that moment – a moment most personal, intimate, and loving, filled to the brim with nothing but thorough appreciation of one another.
A looong sigh came from Lillie, followed by the girl swiftly covering her face. Instead of the squeak that Mallow expected to hear, there were words:
“Ah. Oh my gosh. Oh… oh, my gosh.”
Mallow’s face beamed with a smile.
“See? I fixed it for you!”
There was more she wanted to say; she wanted to ask if Lillie was feeling better, or that if she wants to sit or lie down, but Mallow hadn’t a chance with Lillie almost tackling her with a hug. In Mallow’s eyes, that was also a good answer. She cupped a hand around the blonde’s head and held it against her own.
“That was wonderful. Magical. Thank you,” said Lillie with heart-warming gratitude.
“Would you say it was, perhaps, unbelievable?” Mallow asked with the innocence of an angelic puppy.
Lillie tightened her lips a little, and her shoulders raised as if on their own. She indeed couldn’t believe how she was read like a book.
“...u-unbelievable,” she uttered quietly, her heart beating faster again. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.