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Tickling Toy for Txeptirea and Tai Fighter by Draconicon

"I swear, if you push me towards a fashion store again -"

"You said that I could get you looking better."

"I said I'd get a new pair of sneakers. That's it."

The Altinian shook his head, crossing his arms as he looked at the grumbling gryphon. The webbing between his fingers tensed slightly, and his ears twitched in annoyance, mostly because Txep looked like he was trying to marshal an argument against him. Abis, however, was more than ready to stick his heels in and wait. Staying on earth had taught him that much stubbornness, at least.

His eyes shifted from the visible spectrum as he looked the gryphon in the face. Blood flow was easily tracked by the heat in the body, and for a moment, it looked like the gryphon was getting all sorts of...what was the earth phrase? Pissed off, that was it. Abis braced himself.

Then the flood of heat shifted, and the gryphon's face looked surprisingly cool. He blinked.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Txep shook his feathered head. "You're right."

"...Pardon?"

"You're right. I should stop pushing you. Anyway, if we're gonna get you a new pair of shoes, we better find the shop, shouldn't we?"

"Yes...Yes, I guess we should."

He didn't win arguments enough to know whether this was how it was supposed to feel at the end. Txep's attitude suggested it should feel better to win in one of these, but his boyfriend was rather...different. At least, compared to most Altinians. He didn't know enough of the people on earth to know for sure if the gryphon was atypical or not.

Regardless, he was glad to have that done. Looking over the flickering holomap of the shopping mall - and remembering much better ones back home - it only took Abis a few seconds to find the proper shoe store. He waited, letting Txep find it as well, before the gryphon took off at a small jog. Shaking his head, the feline-like alien followed.

As they passed through the mall, it was rather interesting to note the differences between this place and his home planet. The earthlings had done quite a bit with the technology that they'd learned from their contact with his people, and they'd updated quite a few things. Escalators had been replaced with floater tubes, and carts and bags had been updated with floating disks.

Nothing like at home, of course. Everything was still in the buggy stage, with the tubes occasionally stopping halfway up and the disks buzzing to a stop every so often. But it was better than it had been with the first inventions, with the AI of the disks causing them to chase down people and batter them into the ground. That had been...interesting, according to the first people in the transfer program. They hadn't seen anything like it; all the technology had been a mainstay and staple for the Altinians for the last few hundred years, at least.

And it was so strange to see people just walking. Admittedly, people at home did the same, but Abis was used to seeing people floating, flying, or playing with gravity to get around. To see everyone limited to walking and - once outside - to floating vehicles (they still had vehicles, of all things) was just off-putting.

But he dealt with it. Partially out of terms with his contract, but also - and perhaps mostly - because of Txep. He spared the gryphon a small glance of affection, and as a result, narrowly avoided running into him as he suddenly stopped.

"What's the matter?"

"We're here."

He looked up at the neon sign above the store, and nodded as he saw the various logos.

"What now?"

"Go in, and get your size of a high top canvas shoe. Preferably the 5X model."

"Why -"

"It's the best thing right now. I shopped around for you before."

"I swear I've heard of that -"

"Just trust me. Go in there and get it."

"Fine, fine."

"And save me the receipt!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Shaking his head, the Altinian walked into the shoe shop and moved right past all of the different sales associates and other species. They talked at him, but he pushed past them with a bit of a grunt and - with one particularly pushy salesman - a bit of a shove as well. He made his way to the front desk, and slapped his hands down on it.

"I'm here to get a high top canvas shoe, 5X model."

"Okay...and what color -"

"I don't care. Just give me one so I can get this over with."

"Alright. Blue okay?"

"It'll work."

The associate walked towards the back room, and Abis looked over his shoulder. From there, he could just make out his gryphon boyfriend outside the store, who was looking at him with a big grin on his face. Abis rolled his eyes, but Txep just grinned.

What's in that little head of his? the Altinian wondered, his cybernetic eyes flicking over to another setting. They zoomed in on the gryphon's face, taking in every detail. There had to be some clue on him, about why he was so happy...

"Sir?"

Abis jumped off of the ground, nearly up to the ceiling at the sudden voice behind him. Blushing, he slowly turned around to see the sales associate again, the tabby cat stifling a chuckle.

"Here you are, sir, your High Top 5Xs. It'll be $80."

"Right, right. Here."

He paid, and took the receipt from the cat before walking right out of the store. The last thing, the utter last thing that he wanted was to talk about why he'd been so shocked. He hustled past the other customers, and only stopped when he reached the laughing gryphon.

"Oh, shut up. It wasn't that funny."

"Pretty close. You got them?"

"Yeah."

"Put 'em on."

"...Fine."

He sat down and pulled off his boots, tucking them under the nearby bench before tugging the shoes out. They were a nice shade of blue, he reluctantly admitted, and it worked nicely with his pants and his particular color of fur. He dragged them on, wiggling his webbed toes on their way in, and was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable they were.

It wasn't until he'd tied them on that he registered that Txep was doing something on his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just activating a certain feature."

Shoe Lock Activated.

Abis' eyes went wide as his ankles were suddenly restrained by rings of steel inside of the shoes. He pulled at them, but even with the hardest and firmest grip he could get, the shoes refused to come off. He whipped his head back up, seeing a set of controls on the gryphon's phone.

"What -"

"The 5X series is a smart-shoe, and it has a lot of different options. Including...tickle torture."

The Altinian's eyes went wide, even as his toes curled defensively in the shoes.

"You wouldn't..."

"I would. Unless you do what I say. Now, come along. You need a mega-makeover."

"...Fuck. Fine."

It took them no less than four hours to finish the entire shopping trip. By the time they got home, Abis was utterly exhausted, and he looked completely different. Gone were the rough jeans he'd been wearing for weeks, replaced with shimmery, tight fitting pants. His military style vest was taken away, and he wore a shirt that fit to his skin that was covered with a popular earth band. His hair was styled, and his tail was groomed, and the damn shoes still clung to his feet.

He flopped down on the couch, looking back at the gryphon with a glare in his eyes.

"You're a jerk, you know that?"

"You look better, and you know it."

"I...fine, I do, but that doesn't mean you had to hold my feet hostage."

"Yeah, I kinda did. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I think it's time that we put a smile on your face."

"Oh, you piece of -"

Txep hit the button on his phone, and the sudden wriggling under his soles sent the Altinian rolling back in his seat with a guffaw of laughter. He squirmed, kicking his legs and flailing about as he squirmed for some sort of purchase on the seat, but the tickling was driving him insane right from the start as the interior of the shoes rolled along the bottom of his feet, like a roller of feathers rubbing against his soles.

He grabbed at his stomach as he laughed harder and harder, his toes curling inside of the shoes. The feline-like alien almost fell off of the couch as he giggled and gasped for breath, and did fall on his back, his head on the arm of the couch.

"P-please - hahahahahahaha! Please! Make it sto-hahahahahahaha-oooop!"

"No way! You look much happier this way."

Abis opened his mouth, but only laughter escaped as the tickles got under his toes, rubbing and flicking the soft stuff inside against him. He giggled and snorted, gasping for breath as his sides started to ache from the constant laughing, the ever-lasting giggling. Kicking at his ankles - and failing to get the shoes off - only pushed him off of the couch, and he flopped on the ground, kicking his feet in a desperate and futile attempt to get his shoes off.

Txep pressed another button, and the Altinian shuddered as new ticklers were added, in the form of rolling spinners that slipped under the webbing between his toes. He howled with laughter as they spun, teasing him in a whole new way.

"Hahahaha! This is tor-hohohohohorture!"

"No, it's silly. And you love it."

"I do no-hahahahaha-hot!"

"Then why are you grinning? Stop grinning, and I'll stop the tickling."

Damn iiiiiiiiit! There was no way he could stop giggling...not for a long, long time.

The End