Tom stepped out of his jeans and kicked them over to his discarded pile of clothes.

“Here we go again,” he chuckled.

He peered up at the bedrooms ceiling and took in the sight of a metal hook nailed into its centre.

Tied to the hook and dangling above the middle of the bed was a length of rope and velcro cuffs.

Attached to the foot of the bed - a set of black leather stocks … The setting for a session in which the details were a mystery, only to him.

The length and duration? Unknown.

The body parts to focus on? Uncertain.

The tools his team mates would use? It could be anything …

Tobey and Jake stood opposite Tom as they waited for him to climb onto the mattress.

“Why so hesitant, kid?” Jake picked up the suitcase of tools Eyes had provided, “You don’t have much choice …”

Tom stood in just a pair of cotton boxer shorts and white Nike socks; as he eyed the bondage around him, the suitcase Jake laid out over the bedsheets, the gentle snow floating down peacefully on the other side of the window, he thought back to the last time he stood in a room with two men who had planned to tickle him …

That day, so long ago, was a day neither he, Andrew or Miller had expected to be the last time The House of White Feathers would get their hands on him.

He remembered making the decision, he remembered knowing that when he climbed into the taxi he would never see Andrew or Miller again. He remembered deciding that he would do whatever it takes to no longer be tickled to that level of intensity.

He remembered how nervous he used to be.

As he stood with both socked feet firmly planted over the loaned bedroom floor, he realised how confident he felt right now, how changed he was as a person - and that led him to make his next decision.

“Warm me up,” he reached his hands over the back of his head, unintentionally revealing the deep caverns of his underarms, where his fingers stretched towards the middle of his spine, his torso muscles flexing as he moved, “Mnn, I haven’t been tickled in, what, a year?” He turned towards Tobey, “Go at my feet, freestyle for a bit, I need to break a sweat ...”

Tobey and Jake cocked an eyebrow in unison as Tom leapt onto the bed and laid down on his front, where he shuffled across the mattress so that his feet hung off the beds corner.

“Wait, isn’t this like, your worst nightmare?” Tobey grabbed a nearby pillow and stuffed it under the tops of Tom’s feet, so that his socked soles rested over the pillows surface, “You seem pretty willing to endure hell …”

Jake attached his iPhone to the provided camera stand and angled it so that the screen faced the bottoms of Tom’s feet.

“Just do it for a bit,” Tom folded his arms under his chin, “We’ll include this as an extra, it’ll work as a surprise … You know, get Eyes to trust us even more …”

Tobey climbed onto the bed and straddled Tom’s calves, shuffling closer towards Tom’s heels, where he tightened his thighs around Tom’s legs, ensuring Tom’s feet lay over the pillow, tops down, soles facing up, snug neatly side by side.

“Sounds like a win/win,” Tobey shrugged.

Tom shook his head, “Nah, mate. You’ll have to tie my feet together,” he peered over his shoulder, his mouth widening into a grin, “Or I’m bootin’ you in the face.”

Tobey raised his hands, “Hey! It’s my first time as a tickler,” he nodded at Jake, who had already started to pull excess rope from the suitcase, “So uh, am I just using my fingers?”

Tom rested his chin back over his arm fold as he closed his eyes, “Yeah, just your fingers. I want the cobwebs blown off a bit, that’s all.”

Jake handed Tobey the rope from the open bag of tools and then tapped his index finger over the record button.

As his iPhone started to record Tom’s socked soles, straddled by Tobey’s thighs, Jake then knelt by the corner of the bed and helped Tobey restrain Tom’s ankles to the bed’s lower footing.

“God, this is exhausting already …” Jake huffed, his hands doing their best at tugging the rope into a secure knot, “… It better be worth it.”

Tobey found himself feeling rather excited as Jake finished binding Tom’s ankles to the corner of the bed, “Oh, it’ll be worth it alright,” his smile had become playful, a twinkle in his eye had arrived and, before he knew it, he was reaching down to Tom’s feet and, for the first time in a year, started to action a toying tickle to Tom’s soles, starting with the side of Tom’s right foot.

Tom quickly used his left foot to block his right sole, as soon as the very tip of Tobey’s fingers arrived over the soft cotton of his sock.

“Wait!” Tom yelped.

Jake cracked open a beer and took a seat on a nearby armchair as Tobey froze, his fingers shaped into claws over the bottoms of Tom’s feet.

…

“If I say ‘stop’, ignore me …” Tom advised, “… Only stop when I click my fingers.”

Tobey nodded in understanding as he watched Tom return both of his feet to the side by side position, “… Okay, Peter Parker … Cobwebs are coming off …”

Tom clenched his teeth, scrunched up all ten of his toes and rested his chin back over his arm fold once again, “Oh blimey …”, as he felt Tobey’s fingertips just about press against both of his heels.

Tobey was almost thrown off of the bed, thanks to the strength of Tom’s jolt; his feet tried to kick upward, but the rope kept them against the pillow.

“Woohoooo! Hahaha!—” Tom cheered.

“Yikes!” Tobey used his left hand to hold Tom’s feet still, whilst his right hand extended his index finger into a strong point, its tip dragging ever so gently, up and down the sole of Tom’s right foot, “It’s just one finger, Tom!”

Tom kicked his legs and snatched a nearby pillow from the top of the bed, “One finger’s enough!” He grunted, burying his face into the pillow as he tried to plant both of his soles together, “Ahh, ooh no! I forgot how bloody awful this is!” He giggled.

Jake laughed into the back of his hand as he hooked his leg over his knee and observed the situation taking place before him as if it were genuine entertainment.

“I’m finding it difficult simply watching, Tom …” Jake took a swig of his beer.

Tobey now used all ten of his fingers to faintly scribble across Tom’s socked soles, causing the twenty seven year old’s giggles to become hearty laughter, his size elevens always moving, shifting and curling beneath Tobey’s toying touch.

“Grah! Ahah! Ahah! No! You bloody well stay there!” Tom hurtled his torso from side to side, the bed creaking beneath his weight, “You bl, bloody stay there, Jake!—” He panted, his mouth stretching open as he felt Tobey begin to remove his left sock, his tone dropping from playful and high pitched to stern and disturbed, “—No— er, Tobe, keep my socks on…”

Jake sat back and narrowed his eyes in focus; he took in how quickly Tom’s toes scrunched up, how the shapes of his soles tried their best to stop the socks removal, how grainy his frustration sounded, “—Oi, no! Keep my socks on!—”, eventually, the socks left the tips of Tom’s toes and were discarded onto the floor, revealing soles astonishingly smooth and creamy white, leaving Tom’s now bare feet only able to twist and flap in apprehensive concern, the more they were purposefully left untouched by a grinning Tobey.

“I didn’t wanna get my feet out!” Tom glanced over his shoulder, his watering eyes landing on Tobey’s back, “I’m sorry if they smell,” he blinked, “Wait, no! I’m not sorry at all! I never said you could take off my bloody socks in the first place!—”

—Tobey aimed both of his index fingers towards the middle of Tom’s moist, silky soft soles, “—They actually smell pretty good? Nowhere near as bad as Jakes …” he quipped.

Jake glared at Tobey, “You know, I can see why people get off on this shit,” he declared, as he watched Tom’s perfectly shaped toes flex and scrunch whilst Tobey drew light but agonising circles around each of his high, well defined arches, “Especially when it’s someone as ticklish as you, Tom …”

Jake had always made the effort to put himself in The House’s mindset - as he saw Tom’s toes stretch like fingers, as he heard the high pitched volume of his yelp as soon as Tobey simply fluttered his fingernails back up towards his heels, he realised how important it was to understand the value of what was so sought after, so wanted, so utterly needed by the cult that had chased those very feet squashed over that very pillow for twelve tormenting months …

Tom pressed his lips together as he forced himself to not say the word ‘stop’; instead, he face planted the pillow and hugged it tightly, chortling out his laughter into the very depths of the cushioned chunk, his throaty whines and breathless giggles now muffled as he leapt his body up from the mattress in a fierce bounce from the knees up, all because Tobey had decided to start pinching at tips of both of his big toes …

“They were right! You really are the most ticklish person on earth!” Tobey chuckled as he reminisced, “Are all of your toes super ticklish? Or is there like, one specific toe that stands out above the r—”

“—Grah! Aha! Ahahaha! Let’s not bloody find out, alright!—” Tom threw his head away from the pillow, just to shout out that concern.

Jake stood and made his way to the top corner of the bed, where he yanked the pillow out from under Tom’s face.

“Don’t hide the hysteria, Tom, it’s the money maker …”

Tom, now pillow-less, could only growl at Jake and give into the laughter as he allowed Tobey to ‘break his sweat’, his ticklers fingers now simply smoothing the sides of Tom’s soles, his fingertips barely touching them, transforming Tom from a once willing ticklee into a flustered and puffing shambles within less than a minute and a half.

“Alright, alright!” Tom waved his hands, calling it quits, “—Stop, that’s enough! Stop it, Tobe, stop!—”

Tobey did as he had been told and ignored Tom’s pleas, until he heard the sound of Tom clicking his fingers from behind him.

Click! Click! Click! Click!

Tobey had to force his hands away from Tom’s feet, as Tom sank his weight into the bed and heaved out a sigh of relief.

Jake’s index finger tapped the record button, ending the filming of the ‘extra video’ that would be sent off with the main one later this evening.

“Bloody hell, lads!”

“You lasted one minute, Tommy,” Jake pulled off his t-shirt as the cabin’s bedroom began to heat up, “How the hell are you gonna cope with the duration Eyes requested?”

As Tobey shuffled up and away from Tom’s feet, Tom rolled around so that he lay on his back.

He caught his breath and ran his hands through his hair.

“There’s only one way to find out,” he said.

Jake closed the stocks over Tom’s ankles, locking the latch at the side.

Tom gulped.

Tobey lifted Tom’s hands high above him and looped his wrists through the velcro cuffs attached to the rope tied to the ceilings hook.

“Tug for me,” Tobey requested.

Tom pulled his arms down as hard as he could, his elbows barely bending.

“You’re screwed,” Jake grinned.

Tom’s smooth torso had been stretched upward; his wide armpits were entirely on show, their depths fully exposed, his slim waist, fleshy sides and broad chest completely on display as he sat on the middle of the bed, his always curling and pointing feet locked into stocks at the bottom of the mattress.

His innocently cautious eyes shifted from Tobey to Jake as he bit his upper lip, containing a smile created by an extreme level of overwhelming concern mixed with dire excitement.

“Any final words?” Tobey hit the record button as the iPhone remained secured to the camera stand.

Tom chuckled into his chest, his nose catching a whiff of body odour from his armpits, thanks to how closely wedged they were to either side of his face, “I’d say go easy, boys, but that er, isn’t part of the brief, apparently …” he muttered, “ … So, break me, go on! You lucky sods! What people would give to be in your shoes, aye … ”

Jake and Tobey chuckled to each other as Tom’s exceptionally British words landed as a stone cold reality check; there were unique individuals out there physically hunting Tom down for his ticklishness, for a chance to have him just like this, to see him just like this, and here Jake and Tobey were, right now, stood mere inches away from the one thing those unique individuals had spent so much time and energy trying to locate.

“Keep an eye on the camera,” Jake nodded at Tobey, “This is too important to lose …”

Tobey knelt by the camera stand and made sure the angle and view were perfect, as Jake crouched at the foot of the bed, shirtless and wearing only jeans.

Jake eyed the bottoms of Tom’s feet and displayed all of his straight white teeth in the form of a grin fuelled by two cans of beer.

“ … Make him sweat … “ Jake hovered his index finger over Tom’s left arch, “… Make him beg …” he reminded himself of the requirements delivered in the tape recording as Tom twisted his feet inwards so that both of his big toes touched, “ … Make him …” Jake frowned and looked over at Tobey for support.

“ … Make him laugh so hard he can’t breathe …” Tobey helped Jake out from behind the camera, “… Those were Eyes’ three main objectives.”

“That’s it …” Jake looked at Tom, who smiled so hard at Jake that the skin at each side of his eyes had started to crease, “ … Where should I start, to make sure Eyes gets what he wants?”

Tom shot his worried gaze down to his pulled up torso, his hands so tightly tied to the rope high above that his butt almost didn’t rest over the surface of the bed, “Seriously, mate, anywhere does the trick,” Tom admitted, “I hate being touched, stroked, the lot! You could try anywhere and I’d—oi, wait—”

Tom’s eyes widened as Jake got to his feet, hopped on the bed and made his way behind him, “… Er, hang on—” Tom’s face had already started to strain as he felt Jake’s chest press against his shoulders, his hands arriving around his pecs, his fingers nearing the tips of his armpit hair, “—Cuddles!—” Tom shrieked at the mere possibility of having his armpits tickled, his eyes unblinking, his grin wide and large, “Give me a nice cuddle instead? Yeah?” He giggled as Jake took him in a bear hug, “Yeah! That’s it, a, a nice, nice cuddle!—”

As Tom giggled, Jake giggled too - over the past year, Tom’s team had of course used his extreme level of ticklishness to their advantage, to the point where it had become a joke; get something off Tom, pinch his hip, get Tom to do something, jab at his waist … But now, much to Jake and Tobey’s excitement, they both got to act out the intense kind of tickle torment Tom’s previous captors could now only dream about; the kind where Tom could only let the tickling happen, due to how tightly he had been bound …

Tobey picked out his iPhone and opened up a video that had been sent to their WhatsApp team chat almost ten months ago; a video that showcased the simple importance of why Tom’s ticklish body was so lusted after - he hit play and aimed the screen at Jake, “Remember the day of the demonstration? Remember this video? She hardly touches him and he almost flies off his seat! Don’t over think it, man. Just do it …”

Jake lightly combed through just the ends of Tom’s armpit hair, causing him to thrash to the right and suck in a huge chunk of air, the sound of his own defensive panic coming from Tobey’s phone as the YouTube video that started this obsessive craze against him played out within the confines of the cabin bedroom, “… ‘OI, NO!’ …” Tom cringed at two things at once; his alarmed shout as his girlfriend tried to press at his sides, as well as the feeling of Jake’s fingertips barely making impact with his underarms, “… ‘I don’t like being tickled’ …” the video continued to play, “… '‘let’s hold hands, shall we?’ …” Tom huffed as the audio ended and Tobey pocketed his iPhone.

“That bloody video!” Tom thrashed to the left in a speedy twist as Jake playfully took his right hand unexpectedly towards Tom’s ribcage, simply brushing his fingertips across the surface of his skin, “OI, NO!” He expelled his cry in the form of a demand, his yell just as deep and sudden as it had been in the interview Tom wished had never been recorded, “Stop, stop!” Tom giggled, his body once again thrashing to the right, as Jake toyingly nudged at his hip, “—Mnn! Mnn! Is, is there a safe word?—” Tom had repressed how quickly he could feel violated, by being tickled; he always underestimated the force of laughter that could be pulled from within him, all thanks to random touch. His year long escape from tickle torment returned at fast speed, not in the form of Clowns or Masked Men, but in the form of Jake’s pinching fingers, fingers that were now unapologetically tickling at each of his hips.

“Stop!” The snowy light from outside lit Tom’s muscular torso in a white glow as it wriggled under Jake’s touch, “Grah! Ahaha! Ahaha! Mnn! Stop!—”, he jolted around in a playful bounce, his bare feet twisting in the stocks as his knees bent up, his hips enduring claw-like grabs from Jake’s toying grasp; the more he grabbed and manhandled around his waist, “Jake! JAKE—”, Tom’s head flinched to the right in a violent snap as he yelped in a higher pitch than he would have preferred, when Jake’s left hand jumped away from his right hip and instead decided to brush across the outside of his ear, “—Ah! My ears!—” Tom giggled, spinning so hard that he almost knocked Jake off the bed …

Jake paused, his hands returning to Tom’s underarms in a teasing hover, as Tom sat his butt back down over the mattress and glared into his lap, chortling and shaking his head as he breathed in and out through flared nostrils.

“Hips are a hot spot, sides are a hot spot … Even his ears are a hot spot …” Jake noted, his eyes darting to the camera, as if addressing an audience, “ … And he’s already breathless! … I think I’m good at this …”

Jake felt Tom push his back into his chest as Jake took his fingers down to Tom’s abs and actioned an ever so gentle flutter across his navel.

“OI, NO!—” Tom yelled with such force it practically startled Tobey, who continued to sit behind the camera as he watched Tom splutter out an abundance of giggles, “OI, NO!—” He yelped again, throwing his head over his chest as he watched Jake’s hands tickle lightly up and around his sides, causing his torso to spin and writhe against Jake’s chest, “—Nnn, no, aha, Jake!—” Tom took a quick breath as an avalanche of laughter tumbled out of his mouth, his eyes squeezing tightly shut as Jake’s wiggling fingers danced their way over his now erect nipples and towards his bulging pecs, where he clearly intended to tease Tom towards the gruelling fact that soon, and very soon, he would arrive at his open and exposed underarms, “Grah! Ahaha! Ahaha! No! Mate, not my armpits, ahaha, please!—” Tom tried to press his elbows together, tugging down on his restraints, but no matter how hard he persisted he could not conceal his armpits, and within a few seconds, Jake’s touch arrived through the curls of his armpit hair where he then started to tickle Tom in a way Tom had never been tickled before …

For just half a second, Tom tried to hold everything in; his face boiled pink as he climbed his way up his restraints and contained all expel of laughter at the back of a throat now dry, but only half a second was all he could handle, before he erupted into a manic display of energetic, vibrant thrashing and breathless bellows, where his body from the waist up did all it could to protect itself from Jake’s ten fingers as they tickled the warm depths of his armpits with dedicated strength, exploring him in a way that not only caused Tom to explode into a babbled heap of hysterics, but it forced it out from the very core of his stomach, where only the hardest of laughter could be retrieved.

“—NO! AHAHAHAHAHA—HAHAHAHAHA OI STOP! NOAHAHAHAHAHA—AHAHAHAHAHA, OI DON’T!—” Tom’s no’s and oi’s were part of his vocabulary when being tickled, “—NOAHAHAHAHAHAHA—GRRAAHAHAHAHAHA OI STOP! NOAHAHAHAHAH, AHAHAHAHA, STOP!—”, they were always present within his cries for help and they were always followed by a squeezed in request to stop, “—AGHAHAHAHAHA STOAGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!—NOAHAHAHAHAHA, GRAHAHAHAHAHA, OI AHAHAHAHAH STOP!—”, as if shouting such a bellow of fury would make Jake consider his friends circumstance and take pity - but unfortunately for Tom, Jake was not that kinda guy …

… And much to Tom’s surprise, neither was Tobey.

Tobey felt immediately astonished by the volume and force of Tom’s non stop laughter, how even though his torment had only just started, the words no, don’t and stop had already been propelled from his throat amongst the relentless, growl-like cackling … All of the passionate noises, sounds of distress and jaw dropping sights so far were enough for Tobey to ready himself to stand.

“This is incredible,” Tom acknowledged how much of a dancer-like point Tom had created with his feet, “I can’t just sit here,” Tobey declared.

Leaving the camera to record, Tobey leapt from his seat and made his way towards Tom’s flapping feet as Tom canon blasted himself forwards in eye-widening alarm.

“NOAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHN’T AHAHAHAHAHA, STOAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP, STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP!—” Tom shrieked, his ticklishness now exploited by not one grown man, but two, “—NOAHAHAHAHAH! NOAHAHAHAHA! NOAHAHAHAHA! NOOOOAHAHAHAHA!-—”

Tobey reached into the suitcase of tools and yanked out a hairbrush, whilst Tom glared at him in utter disbelief, his armpits still relentlessly tickled by Jake, who was now groaning and grunting into Tom’s neck, causing Tom to continue to shout, hiss and twist away from the tickler wedged up behind and around him.

“NOAHAHAHAHAHAH! NOAHAHAHAHAHA! GRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!—” Tom screamed, his cheeks now burning red, his glazed over eyes watching Tobey curl his hand around the handle of the hairbrush, his mind wanting him to verbalise his concern with words such as ‘not the brush!’, ‘anything but the brush!’, but Jake’s wiggling fingers so deep into his armpits rendered Tom utterly speechless, leaving him only able to shriek out uncontrollable laughter, “—AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GRAHAHAHAHAH! GRAHAHAHAHAH! NOAHAHAHAAHA! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOAAHAHAHAAHAHP!—”, gone were the strokes, the jabs and the pokes; Jake now tickled Tom’s armpits hard, transforming Tom’s physical appearance - within seconds he had gone from presenting wide smiles and playful banter to this current showcase; a wild, thrashing torso propelling his always squirming structure forwards and backwards, whilst hurtling uncontrollable laughter out form the depths of his lungs with such volume that Jake had given up trying to hear himself think.

Tobey ran the hairbrushes plastic bristles across his palm, raising both eyebrows and shaping his mouth into an ‘O’ as he did so, learning from the sensation caused by simply scrubbing the surface of the brush against the soft pad of his hand, that placing the tool against the bottom of feet as ticklish as Tom’s would surely be hell for him.

“NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP! NOAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOAHAHAHAHAP, PLEASE—”, After a year of hiding, after a year of avoiding being tickled or touched in any way by another person, Tom found himself restrained into a position where his underarms and the bottoms of his feet were now exploited by the very thing he had tried so hard to run away from, “—ALRIGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, ALRIGHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA, STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!—”, it had all worked so well, up until now, and even if it were two of his friends who were acting out the tickle torment, Tom still found the entire ordeal incomprehensible to endure, especially as the circumstance had presented itself so suddenly, “—NOT TWO AT ONEHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAP!—”

As if mesmerised by how insanely ticklish Tom’s left sole was, Tobey hypnotically slid the hairbrush around Tom’s heel, up the bottom of his foot and towards the base of his big toe, his blue eyes dreamily watching Tom’s foot squirm, stretch and scrunch beneath the plastic bristles as it tried to escape the ultra intense ticklishness caused by each individual plastic nibs protruding from the brushes surface, Tom’s non stop and uncontrollable shout-like-laughter echoing throughout the room as he violently spun his body around in a maddened twirl, “—STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! STOAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!—”, his elbows accidentally smacking into Jake, who was knocked over to the side of the bed.

Whack!

“—Ahahahahaa oh crahahahap, Jake! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!—” Tom gasped, the room falling suddenly quiet as Jake pressed his palm against his busted lip.

“—Damn, you’re full of beans, kid …” Jake chuckled as he checked for blood, but his lip had seemingly only been bruised, “… I’ve never heard laughter like it, I need another beer,” he announced, sliding off the mattress where he then made his way to the bed side table and pulled another can from the pack of eight.

As Jake refuelled his hunger for booze, Tobey returned his attention to Tom’s feet.

“NO!” Tom leapt his butt away from the bed sheets as Tobey snatched hold of his left foot by grabbing all five of his toes with one hand, “Grah! Hahah! Aha! N, n, no! Please, Tobe! I need to cahahahahahatch my breath!—”, where he then used his other hand to action a relentless scrub across Tom’s left heel, causing Tom to leap and hurtle on the spot as if Tobey’s touch created an electric shock between the plastic bristles and the flesh of Tom’s sole, “Nooahahaha! Nooaaaahahah! NoooOOOOOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP!—” Tom’s feet curled and flexed away from the hairbrush in a constant flap as Jake returned to the surface of the bed and began to poke and jab into Tom’s waist and sides, his spare hand holding his beer.

“I NEED A BREAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, AHAHAHAHAHAHA, STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP!—” Tom spun and twirled, spun and twirled, spun and twirled, his hands now holding onto each other high above him, as if he were experiencing a rollercoaster ride that he had only tested a year ago, and now this was the full shebang, the real highs and lows of tickle torment actioned by two people without a thing for tickling, only a need to succeed and fulfil a stranger’s specific request, “—GIVE ME A MINUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!—” He cried, his torso wriggling and leaping from side to side as Jake simply sent his index finger into various spots on Tom’s upper body; his waist, his hip, his stomach, his pec, all gentle jabs that would cause the average person to flinch or waft them away, but in Tom’s case, such an attack made him hurtle in a constant twist in the middle of the bed, “—NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!—”, his torso spinning through the air, his body from the waist down kept still thanks to the stocks containing his legs, ankles and feet.

Jake dodged another elbow, ducking this time to the left, Tom’s unavoidable swooshes and leaps causing Jake to crawl off of the mattress where he shuffled beside Tobey and joined him at Tom’s feet, his spare hand still holding his beer, his other hand reaching into the suitcase where he picked out a feather.

As Tom continued to howl into the bedroom ceiling, Tobey scrubbed his sole with the hairbrush and then winked at Jake, “Use the pointy end…” he cheekily advised.

Jake spun the feather the other way and put down his beer, using both hands to handle Tom’s right foot; he grabbed the top half to keep it in place, whilst sending the sharpness of the feathers nib against Tom’s arch.

Jake made sure to watch Tom’s face as the nib made impact; glee filled Jake as soon as he saw Tom’s eyes bulge out of his head, his body now thrown so far forwards he almost pulled the hook and rope out from the ceiling, his expression saturated in bewilderment and shock.

“—NO, DON’T DO THAT!—” Were the only words Tom could shout from a throat thick with hysteria.

Jake cackled and grunted as he held Tom’s foot in place, scribbling and drawing all sorts of shapes, lines and letters over the all too soft landscape that made up the bottom of Tom’s foot.

“NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! PLEASE! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAP! STOAHAHAHAHAHAP! STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP!—” Tom shrieked again, his entire body erupting into a maddened fling as the soles of his feet were tickled by a hairbrush and the nib of a feather, something that had never happened to the twenty seven year old before, even when contained by the likes of Miller and Andrew back in the days when he was contracted.

Tom’s reactions became dramatic and vigorous, his laughter the loudest, the most constant and the most high pitched it had been since Jake had stroked his fingertips across his armpit hair, his giggles and shouts leaving his mouth in the form of uncontrollable, out of control yelps, “—NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH, STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP, NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA, STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP, PLEASE, NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, STOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP, PLEASE!—” Hearing Tom beg only charged up Jake and Tobey more, where they increased pressure on their attacks - Tobey scrubbed harder over Tom’s left sole whilst Jake fingered the feathers nib between the toes of Tom’s right foot, sending Tom into an explosive state where all he could do was expel his joyous distress and overwhelmed mindset …

“… OI, NO! AAAAAH AHAHAHAHAAH! AHAHAAHAHA! AHAHAHAHA! OH STOP! AHAHAHAHA! OI! OI! OI, LADS! STOHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP, STOP, OI, LADS! NO, NOAHAHAHAHAHAAH! NOAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAAHAHAH! AHAHAAHAH! I NEED TO BREATHE! AHAHAHAHAAH! AHAAHAHAHA! LET ME BREATHE! AGAHAHAHA! AGHAHAHAHA! OI, NO! NO! OI, HAHAHAHA!—” heave, “—I NEED TO BREATHE!—” heave, “—I CAN’T BREATHE!—” heave …

Hearing Tom’s heave for air sound like sandpaper rubbing against his throat was enough of a signal for both Tobey and Jake to stop tickling Tom’s feet, where they removed their highly effective tools for a few seconds, allowing Tom the chance to physically and mentally compose himself.

Tom, still giggling and chortling in disbelief, dangled from the ceiling in a slow spin as he pointed his toes towards the floor and stretched out his feet, a constant and unbearable tingle still present over his soles as Tobey and Jake wiped sweat away from their foreheads.

“I watched a MybuddiesFeet video earlier,” Tobey huffed, “They sometimes tie their toes back …” he spoke to Jake as if Tom’s soles were not inches away from his face, “I’m pretty sure I saw some string in the suitcase …”

Tom took a deep breath in through flared nostrils, “—Bl, bloody hell—,” he blew out the air, his moment of dazed astonishment coming to an end as soon as he felt the string arrive around each of his big toes, his teeth having to hook over his upper lip to contain additional giggles caused by something so thin dragging around such a smooth and sensitive part of his body, “—Mnn, mnn—” he panted, “—Christ, that’s ticklish!—” He wished he had kept those three words to himself, but he had no control over them slipping out of a mouth he now had to force shut.

Tobey and Jake smirked as they finished tying Tom’s big toes back to the stocks, Jake shuffling back a little to admire the soft and flawless landscape so expertly pinned into place.

Tom squeezed his eyes shut and grinned into his lap, all eight of his remaining, un-pinned back toes stretching into such a fierce flex that his pinkie toes twitched.

He tried his best to move his feet, to nudge them to the left, then to the right, but all that happened was the production of noise; a squeak from the string, a gentle rattle from the stocks, and then a groan from his own throat.

Tom could barely keep his feet in place when his socked soles were stroked over the corner of the bed by Tobey - having them now so restricted and bare only created a sting of anxiety within Tom, in which he could only verbalise in the form of one word and one word only, “… Bollocks!”

Tobey nudged Jake, his playful elbow to his partner in crime’s side suggesting that he did not let something just said go unheard, the nudge overall simply saying ‘hey, check this out …’

He took the remaining length of string and draped it playfully between Tom’s index toe, creating another loud, “—OI!—” from Tom as Tobey then looped the string around his second to last toe, ever so carefully tugging it between the silky soft, fleshy lengths of Tom’s toes, creating more high pitched shrieks and bellowed shouts from Tom as he tried to wiggle his foot, leaping forward with unblinking eyes where he then yelped out gut wrenching laughter, his torso yanked back once again by the rope keeping his hands high above him, “No! Please, STOP! That’s too ticklish!—”

“You been doin’ alotta research, huh …?” Jake enquired, picking up his own length of string, where he too began to action a similar method of toe tickle torment as Tobey, reflecting exactly the same style of string loops and drapes between Tom’s toes, tugging and pulling the thin length past the curling digits whilst transforming Tom into a thrashing, yelping, giggling heap that could only spin and twirl on the spot, his pinned back soles and toes victim to something as simple and harmless as two lengths of string.

“No! Not my toes—” Tom’s voice sounded serious and stern, as he became stiff as a statue, “—Please, stop doing that - that is …” he shook his head and raised his eyebrows, widening his jaw, his eyes searching Tobey and Jake’s face for the right word, “—Unbearable—” he admitted.

“It is? You see, the idea just came to me,” Tobey allowed a smug tone to saturate his delivery as he and Jake worked the string around all of Tom’s ten toes, sliding, infiltrating, pulling and tugging the string around Tom’s index toes, his middle toes, his pinkies, the fine yet sharp, soft yet delicate drag of the string tickling across the plump tips of Tom’s toes as well as the firm bases, leaving Tom in a bewildered, flustered and squirming state as he leapt, spun, bounced and giggled over the middle of the bed.

“No, stop, no, stop no, stop! No! Noahaha! Stoahahahahap! Stoahahahahahap! Noaahahahaha! nOAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOAHAHAHAHA! STOAHAHAHAHAHAP! STOAHAHAHAHAP! NOAHAHAHAHA! NOAHAHAHAH! NOAHAHAHAH! NOAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE!—” Tom felt overwhelmed by how horrendous the string felt between his toes, to such an extent that he became surprised by some of the things he started to shout out, as a way to inform his ticklers of the severity of his current circumstance, “GO BACK TO THE BRUHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHSH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, AHAHAHAHAHAH, NOAHAHAHAHAH, STOP, NOAHAHAHAHA, STOP, NOAHAHAHAHAHA, PLEASE!—”

Tobey paused only for a second, to remove his sweater, as the warmth within the bedroom continued to increase, mostly due to the body heat resonating between all three men; seeing Tobey whip off his clothing and reveal a mat pale torso made Jake acknowledge the strong contrast compared to how shiny Tom’s body seemed - the physical excursion caused by someone so highly ticklish, bound and tickled to this unmanageable level, had easily achieved one of the main objectives: to make Tom sweat, and sweat he most certainly did, his entire upper body now shimmering with a faint glow as he continued to climb up his restraints, dropping down to a bounce the more Tobey and Jake infiltrated the betweens of his toes with their string.

“Alright, I’m gonna countdown from ten,” Tobey announced, “And then we’ll give you a break,” he was a friend above a tickler, his personality caring and thoughtful, unlike Jake’s, who knelt at Tom’s other squirming foot looking a little disappointed by Tobey’s consideration towards Tom’s inability to catch breath he could no longer find within his chest, “We’ll move onto another spot,” Tobey smirked, lifting Jakes interest, “Maybe see how long you can take it on those armpits of yours …” Jake allowed Tobey’s words to lift his smirk into a beaming smile.

“—No, please, not my armpits!—” Tom’s face creased into a pained scowl mixed with feverish joy; the grin was there, manic and wide, but the fury in his eyes was equally as present, his feet and ankles now enduring an achy throb the more he twisted, curled and flexed his feet away from string that only persisted relentlessly in its drag between his toes, “—You’re loving this!—” Tom threw his head back and laughed into the ceiling, “I thought you’d both suck!” He declared, his giggles confident and loud in their delivery, “—Why are you both so good at tickling!—” He shrieked.

“Ten …” Tobey started his countdown, both of his hands now holding an end of the string each as he see-saw’d it between Tom’s left little toe and his left second to last toe, “… Nine …” he spoke out the numbers in a deep and gradual tone, never taking his eyes off Tom’s curling, scrunching toes as he did so, “ … Eight …”

Jake glanced at the camera and decided to sprinkle some additional audio within the footage; surely, he thought, when this weirdo watches this, they’re gonna wanna hear Tom explain how ticklish he is? I know I would, if I had a kink for this shit …

“… Seven … Six …” Tobey continued.

“Do you hate it, Tom?” Jake asked.

Tom nodded frantically, his face expressing the meaning of animalistic horror, blended naturally with the meaning of overwhelmed happiness.

"Why do you hate it?” Jake enquired, his own length of string looping and pulling around Tom’s right index toe, “Come on, tell us …”

“ … Five … Foooouuuuur …”

Tom, mid expel of uncontrollable and archaic laughter that seemed to go on forever, had to take in a large breath of air in an attempt to answer Jake, his butt still bouncing over the mattress as he watched with unblinking eyes all ten of his toes fall victim to the string, “—I’MTOOTICKLISHMATE—” Is all he could splutter, “—IDON’TKNOWWHATWEWERETHINKING—” He heaved, “—YOU’RECOUNTINGTOOSLOW!—” He giggled so hard, with such strength, that the abs of his stomach had started to bulge harder than they would during even the most gruelling of workouts, “—THREETWOONEOVERCOMEON!—” Tom spat, his laughter drenching his own speedy countdown.

“Do you need a break?” Jake continued to press, as Tobey’s countdown arrived at three, his pauses between purposefully lengthier with each number, “How much do you need a break, Tom?”

“Toooowwwwoooo …” Tobey draped the string around Tom’s little toe, causing Tom to scream, “… One …” Tom’s screams became louder, the more Tobey toyed with him, “… One and a half …” he purred, “… One and three quarters …” he chuckled.

Tom’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he searched the ceiling for a less aggressive way to answer Jake, “SO BAD!—” his laughter had now transformed into a mad cackle, his mind boiling and his cheeks burning as he took in both the intensity of the feeling as well as the torment of the countdowns slow, never ending stretch, “AHAHAHAHA! AHAHAAH! AHAHAHA! AHAHAHA! AHAHA! STOP! AHAHAH! AHAHA! AHAHA! STOP! AHAHAH! AHAHA! AHAHAH, I CAN’T BREATHE!—” he had now started to question his ticklers, his friends, his team mates, “—IMEANIT—” he whined, “—YOUGOTTASTOP—” Tom felt shock saturate his face as the string continued to tickle his toes, “—ITHINKI’MHYPERVENTILATING—” he declared, his announcement serious, yet his face, voice and tone suggested that it was funny or humorous to endure, “—ITHINKI’MHYPERVENTILATING!—”

Tobey slid the string away from Tom’s toes at the same time Jake did, where they both sat back and allowed Tom to catch his breath, his torso hanging from the ceiling in a deflated spin as perspiration continued to glow across his shoulders, chest and panting stomach.

“—I, I really couldn’t breathe… ” Tom muttered, sniffing up some sweat from his upper lip as Jake cracked open another beer, this time moving towards the middle of the bed where he did not take a swing himself, he instead offered Tom a slurp, “That might be the worst yet … Worse then the, the pro’s themselves …”, Tom closed his eyes and chugged at the beer, allowing it to spill over his neck, the booze calming him down and reassuring him at the same time.

Tobey stood and folded his arms, the string still held between his thumb and index finger.

“… Make him beg, well, he sure as hell did that …” Tobey made a conscious effort to make sure they were doing a good job by noting down the fact they had already achieved the planned out objectives, “… Make him sweat, well, he looks like he’s run ten miles in a heatwave …” he looked at Jake with a content look across his face, “… Make him laugh so hard he can’t breathe …”

Tom chuckled out in a exhausted huff, “I’ve never laughed that hard before,” he licked beer away from his lips.

Jake checked his watch, “And the most awesome thing?” He allowed a beat of silence to arrive before he presented the remaining time.

…

Both Tom and Tobey looked at Jake in silence as only Tom’s breathless panting filled the room.

“… We’ve still got an hour and a half to go,” Jake smiled.