By Terosk
Copyright 2024 by Terosk, all rights reserved
[1,690 words]
* * * * *ARS PUNIENDI
PART IV
Chapter 39 - Unforgettable Evening
[Tyler]
I couldn’t help but smile as I heard my father’s footsteps descent the
stairs and the door click shut. I turned to observe my brother’s and
Theo’s reaction to what had just transpired. It was an amusing scene;
my naked brothers were sitting hip to hip on the front lip of the couch
looking at me with eyes wide, and Theo, still in the formal button
down, had sunk himself back into the corner and was looking at me in
horrified disbelief. I simply grinned at them and said, “You gotta
admit - this evening is proving quite entertaining, isn’t it?” I
laughed as I playfully swiveled a full 360 degrees in my desk chair.
“Hold on, Tyler,” Theo interjected, “I believe your father made it
clear earlier that you are not to put any pressure on me to join you in
your naked antics.”
“But I’m not putting any pressure on you, am I?”
“What about the ‘au naturel’ soccer you’ve proposed for tomorrow morning?”
“Oh that. Well, by the time tomorrow morning rolls around, I predict
that you’ll have successfully gotten over your unhealthy and prudish
‘aversion’ to showing too much skin. After all, since you’re my best
friend, I feel obliged to help you in that regard. Besides, I’ll need
your help in helping cure my mother of that affliction as well.
“You’re cazy! Not a chance - I’m not running around with my clothes off
in front of your mother! Are you out of your mind?” He crossed his arms
defiantly and pushed himself further into the corner of the couch.
“Come now Theo, stop being such a spoil sport. I think what you need
right now is a healthy dose of uncontrollable laughter, and I know a
perfect way to administer that medicine.” I turned to the twins, “Luke
and Leo, I have a very special mission for you. Will you accept it?”
“Depends what is it?” Luke responded instinctively. I had played this
game with them before and I’d always been able to coax them into
accepting. Leo chimed in, “How can we possibly know if we want to
accept the mission until you tell us what it is?” It was the response I
anticipated, so I then explained to them that I couldn’t give them the
specifics until they accepted, but I assured them that they’d love the
task I was going to assign them. They looked at each other for a moment
before nodding their heads affirmatively. Theo meanwhile had a look on
his face that was somewhere between a curious concern and mild panic.
He rightly knew that I was up to mischief but wasn’t sure what to do
about it.
With a straight face I made my request to my
brothers, “Would you two be kind enough to attack Theo and tickle him
until he laughs for at least two minutes straight.”
Theo
immediately began to protest, and started to extract himself from the
couch, but the twins squealed with delight and jumped on top of Theo
before he could make good his escape. There was an instantaneous flurry
of arms, legs and two bare bottoms that descended on top of poor Theo.
Luke managed to pin Theo’s right arm beneath him for a bit which
allowed Leo to make a successful foray at Theo’s exposed mid section.
Leo didn’t take more than a few seconds to rip the front of Theo’s
shirt away from the slacks and reach up underneath to go for the
armpits.
I jumped from my chair and played the role of
play-by-play commentator. “Looks like the twins have taken an early
lead in this battle. They have poor Theo pinned in the corner of the
couch and have successfully pulled his shirt out from the pants and are
working feverishly on their victim’s vulnerable armpits and exposed
belly. Theo can already be heard laughing even as he complains about
the unfair attack. The stopwatch has now been officially started.
Hold on folks, there’s been a dramatic turn of events as Theo has
performed a perfect twist escape move from Luke’s amateur grasp and has
now wrapped Luke up beneath him in half-nelson with his left arm and is
now gleefully tickling Luke’s right flank which is resulting in double
the laughter. Leo meanwhile is taking full advantage of Theo’s singular
focus on Luke, and is peeling Theo’s shirt back over his head and now
has him in a bear hug around his waist and seems to be working on
unbuckling the belt.”
I had to give great credit to Theo for
his willingness to play along with this admittedly unfair attack with
an admirable dose of good humor. I had no doubt that he was strong
enough to escape if he really were to fight back for real, but he
seemed aware that doing so might result in one or both of the twins
getting hurt. He therefore kept his playful resistance within reason,
which allowed the twins to get the better of him.
I continued
my play-by-play. “Another dramatic shift in the battle as Theo, in his
effort to defend against Leo’s attack and keep his pants on, has been
forced to loosen his hold on Luke, who now has escaped Theo’s death
grip and is turning his attention to attacking Theo’s feet. It is a
strategy that seems to be working as Theo has now let go of Leo in
order to protect against Luke’s toe attack. Leo, fully capitalizing on
the opportunity has once again jumped on top and is ruthlessly
attacking Theo’s exposed armpits again. Theo’s laughter has past the
one-minute mark. Keep it up boys! You’ve nearly done it!”
The laughter happily continued nonstop from all parties in this
adventure, including my own. I let the battle continue for another few
minutes as Theo escaped from Leo once more only to get tied up once
again by Luke. At one point the twins managed to combine their efforts
to pull the shirt up and over Theo’s head. I was thankful that Theo was
willing to let it go without real resistance which would have likely
left it badly torn. A button had already popped off which would require
mending - mother wouldn’t be happy.
I should note that Theo
was actually quite a good wrestler - not surprising since he’d been on
the middle school team for the last two years - but he was clearly
being careful not to hurt the twins; I think he was genuinely enjoying
the playful rough housing with my brothers and was managing to tickle
them at least as much as they were able to tickle him. After what was
probably another five minutes of this ongoing back and forth battle, it
appeared that Theo had the upper hand, for he’d pinned Leo in a head
lock with his left arm and Luke in his right. Their three heads were
buried into the corner of the couch and their three rear ends were
sticking up in the air facing me.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, it
appears that this tickle contest is coming to a close - While Theo has
finally neutralized the twin’s attack, the twins will be declared the
winners since they fulfilled their assigned mission. Gotta love all the
laughter. Well done my noble brothers. Good work - mission
accomplished.”
The three on the couch didn’t move or respond
to my words, so I moved closer to investigate. I began to notice some
whispering. I heard Theo counting, “One, two, three.” And on three, the
trio jumped up all at once and attacked me. Leo managed to grab one of
my arms as Luke dove for my legs, giggling uncontrollably as they did
so. Meanwhile Theo managed to get behind me and before I could register
what was happening, he had locked his arms around my middle and forced
me towards the couch. My efforts to resist were of no avail and I found
myself shoved face first into the pillows with one pair of laughing
hands digging into my rib cage and another clawing at my feet. Theo had
his full weight on top of me and had managed to pin my right arm to my
side, preventing me from getting any leverage for making an escape.
I was a bit angry at myself for losing control over the situation - I
don’t like not being in charge. While I could hardly blame Theo for
turning the tables on me given what I’d done to him, I was nevertheless
determined to win this battle anyway. I might have been able to muscle
my way out of this using my full strength, but that risked hurting one
of the twins for sure, so I resisted that impulse. Instead, I decided
on a different strategy altogether. Since I wasn’t really all that
ticklish myself, and since that clearly was their primary goal, I took
a deep calming breath and said without laughter, “If you think you can
tickle me, you are sorely mistaken - I am not ticklish. Go ahead and
see for yourself; I’ll not resist.” I took another deep breath and
braced myself for the onslaught, forcing myself to stay still. I knew
it was a matter of mind over matter, and I wasn’t totally positive I
could pull it off, but I was determined to do my best. Leo went to work
on my bare feet, and I didn’t pull away. Luke went for my left armpit
and I even lifted my left arm a bit so he’d have more direct access. I
bit my tongue a little bit to offset the impulse to laugh and managed
to keep myself from doing so. Theo still held me with both hands tight
around my waist but slowly loosened his grip to give himself an
opportunity to add his tickling efforts to the twins. I simply repeated
my claim that I wasn’t ticklish no matter what he did. He simply
responded, “For real? …Not anywhere? Are you willing to bet on it?”
****