by Robin Roseau
"Don't you wish you'd accepted my offer, Mom?" Violet said. "I'd have extended my protection."
"You saw that?"
Violet grinned and nodded.
Bluebell looked at the board and then strengthened her most advanced position. She had already decided her partner's position was untenable.
Azalea tried to withdraw. Violet strengthened her position. And Jasmine went after Azalea hard. Two moves later, we captured a major portion of her wall, and she became my vassal.
Bluebell strengthened. Violet strengthened. And Jasmine said, "Vassal, give me one of your vassals."
"Azalea."
So Azalea moved to Jasmine's other side, which forfeited a move. Jasmine didn't tell me how to play, so I looked at the board and strengthened my position towards Bluebell. I ordered Posey to do the same. I was forming a base for Jasmine.
Jasmine strengthened her hold on Azalea, using both her move and Azalea's to do so. Then she told me to use my judgment. I put a tendril towards Bluebell then told Posey to strengthen it.
On the next move, Jasmine had Azalea play off me, then she extended it. She told me to use my judgment. I attacked towards the middle of Bluebells's extended wall. She'd already given it up, but taking the pieces would weaken her. Two moves later, Bluebell didn't become anyone's vassal. She was defeated.
On Violet's turn, she looked at her four opponents. "I cannot possibly win," she said.
"No, but you have a strong position," Jasmine said.
"I could hold one of you off a long time, but you have four moves to my one. I don't have any idea what I should do."
"It is inappropriate for me to advise you, but I would allow my human vassal to do so."
"Skye is going to advise me?" Violet said. "All right. Skye, do you have advice?"
"Offer yourself as vassal," I suggested."
"Why would I do that? More importantly, why would Jasmine accept?"
"You would offer, because being a vassal is better than being defeated, at least by the rules of this game. A human might not agree, but I choose to play by Catseye thinking, if I can."
"Wait, what? Of course it's better to be a vassal."
"Some humans agree. But many Americans believe in something one of our founding fathers said. Give me liberty or give me death. Americans aren't the only humans who believe that."
"But you asked to be her vassal from the beginning."
"In life, I am already hers, and Bluebell's," I said. "They are older and far wiser, and accepting my role with them is working very well for me."
Both women snorted.
"Accepting that position within the game is not a poor position for me," I added.
"All right. Why would she agree?"
"Because Jasmine would rather have you as her friend and vassal than to defeat you. You are not her enemy. She would rather maintain her strength to fight the real enemy."
"Jasmine, I offer myself as your vassal. Do you accept?"
"Yes, Violet."
The game was over with Jasmine the clear winner, but it was the best showing I'd ever done, and I had learned from it.
We collected all the pieces. The game had been quite quick, even with taking time to teach me. "Could the ignorant human ask a question?"
"Of course," said Bluebell.
"Did my offer to Jasmine ruin the game?"
"Why would it have done that?"
"I just wonder if there was some sort of desire for some of you to test yourselves against her. I know there was a desire to capture me. And I wonder if Jasmine wanted a greater challenge. My offer changed the game dramatically."
"Who wants to answer her?" Bluebell offered.
"Could I?" Violet asked. The others waved tentacles in consent. "Skye, this game is only half about how the pieces are played. The other half is how the players engage in diplomacy. When a group of people plays together frequently, diplomacy tends to follow patterns. You became a new, exciting change, and it affected the game dramatically. Jasmine's involvement would also be a dramatic change, largely because her style is unknown to us. Your offer was, to our eyes, brilliant. You could have offered yourself to Posey or me, but we would have lost you. You didn't ruin the game. You gave it spice."
"So no one wishes I had played differently?"
"Well, those who wanted to capture you may have wished you had been less brilliant," Violet said with a snicker. "No. We do not wish you had played differently."
"Does anyone else want to add to that?" Bluebell asked.
Jasmine paused then waved a tentacle. "I would like to know why you offered yourself to me instead of someone else?"
"You have first claim on me, Jasmine. This game is an extension of life, isn't it?"
"Then I declare as having a coequal claim with Bluebell, and if your relationship with Violet advances, we may cede our claims to her, but not yet." She turned to Violet. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Administrator Brighteyes."
"Good. Skye, you first move was brilliant."
"It seems kind of obvious to me. Not that brilliant at all."
"All right, perhaps, but it was the right move for you. Now, I have heard this family is fond of ice cream."
* * * *
By the time we returned to the game room with six bowls of ice cream, the physical dynamics had changed. Specifically, the three adults were seated in a half circle, and there was a space for three opposite them. We served everyone and sat.
"What does everyone have?" Jasmine asked.
"The first night, Skye ate boring vanilla," said Violet.
"I like vanilla."
"Now we keep her favorites, along with everyone else's," Azalea said. "What did you pick tonight?"
"I went with vanilla," I said. "But I added raspberries."
"Oh, that sounds good."
"Then you can come over here and get some," I said with a grin. And darned if she didn't do just that, slipping a tentacle in to snag a raspberry and a little slurp of ice cream. That was fine. I'd learn to make a little more than I wanted.
Jasmine had mint. Everyone else had something complicated with fruit, except Posey also had a little chocolate on hers. I thought the chocolate was just too much.
Violet and Posey both stole from me, and I stole from both of them, but the amount I took from Posey was a token. I thought it was too sweet a combination.
"Have you fed her Catseye food yet?" Jasmine asked.
"We've discussed it, but we're afraid it will make her sick, and that would ruin the precious time we have with her."
"I thought you said it was safe, Bluebell."
"It won't be poison, but that doesn't mean it will sit on your stomach."
"Oh. Eww." I thought about it. "I want to find out, but we have to do it in a way that I'm not going to make a mess. In case."
"It will not be before the end of the term," Bluebell said. "Your desire is noted. Violet, you will not bypass me on this."
"Yes, Mother."
"Start easy," Jasmine said. "Let her build a tolerance. Skye, do you understand?"
"It's going to be an acquired taste, and let them help me acquire it."
"Yes."
"And some day you'll explain why."
She laughed. "Yes."
We finished our ice cream. Posey told Violet and me to relax, and she took care of cleanup, returning with warm towels for all of us. Then she took her place at my side again, and I was heavily covered in tentacles. I sighed happily.
We talked for a while, nothing of consequence, but it was pleasant. Then Bluebell said, "The girls are dying to pull Skye away. I believe they intend to tickle her into submission."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Posey said.
"Oh, please," Bluebell said.
"Did you tell her?" Violet asked me.
"I haven't said a word."
"Your mothers know everything," Azalea said.
"I think I would like to know what Skye thinks about this."
"
Who do you think taught them how to tickle me?" I asked. "They had such strange ideas about humans. I've been educating them."
"It's harder than it looks in the videos," Violet complained. "Those videos make it look easy."
"What videos?"
"Um," said Posey.
"Show them," I said. "Use a tablet though. Not whatever you people do to make phone calls."
So Posey got back up and retrieved a tablet. She sat back down next to me, spent a minute or two on it, then turned it around to face the adults.
When the video ended, Posey said, "There are hundreds and hundreds of videos of someone getting tickled. It looked like fun. We tried to tickle each other, but nothing we did worked. But then we had a human here."
Jasmine smiled. "Tell me they don't have some sort of device like that one." She gestured at the tablet.
"Ah. There are two of them, and individually they're stronger than I am. They do just fine."
"I have never understood tickling," Jasmine said. "Humans act as if they hate it, but at the same time, they act as if they love it, and they laugh besides, all while trying to get away."
"I haven't been able to tell if Skye loves it or hates it," Bluebell said.
"Oh, for crying out loud," I said. "You all want to tickle me."
"I would never ask," Jasmine said immediately.
"And if I offered?"
"Well, that would be different entirely, wouldn't it?"
"Are you people teasing me, or are you serious?"
"Humans can be very curious creatures," Bluebell said. "But so are Catseye. This is something we do not understand. We're insanely curious."
"Not me," said Azalea.
"Don't lie," Bluebell said.
"Fine," said Azalea. "Yes, we're all insanely curious."
I glanced over at Violet, and she was offering a Catseye grin, which involved a human style smile, brighter eyes, and quivering tentacles, the ones that weren't touching me. Posey's expression was similar. And when I looked carefully at Jasmine, I could see the tips of her tentacles were vibrating.
"Oh my god," I said. "You people really are serious."
"How can you tell?" Jasmine asked. "You just looked at all of us and came to that conclusion."
"The tentacles are a giveaway," I said.
"Oh, bravo," said Bluebell. "It's obvious to us, of course, but for you to see that is quite telling."
I sighed. "Fine. What do you want? Answers, watch these two tickle me, or do it yourselves?"
The three adults exchanged glances. Then they turned back to me. "Do you hate it?"
"I hate the mean tickles. If I hated the nice tickles, I might still let these two tickle me, but not as often as I do."
"There's a difference."
"Yes. Mean tickles involve pinches or jabs." I sighed and lifted my arms. Posey and Violet each wrapped them in a tentacle to hold them above my head, rotated towards me, and took turns pinching or jabbing my ribs. I began squirming immediately, and begged them to stop almost immediately. They stopped.
"I do not like being tickled that way," I said. "It does tickle, but it also hurts, and it isn't pleasant."
"It didn't look pleasant," Jasmine said. "What are nice tickles?"
"They're harder to do," Violet said. "It's not as obvious when we're doing it right, and you have to watch to see her reactions. Skye, it would be easier if they could watch your back."
"Why?'
"They can see your ribs that way."
"Fine, fine," I said. I turned around, and once I was situated, they captured my arms again and then began teasing my sides, entering from the back. It took a few seconds to get me to quiver, first Posey, and then Violet. They pursued the quivers into tickles, but once they had me laughing, they stopped. It was oddly disappointing. I breathed heavily for a moment, then they let me turn around.
"Did you see the quivers in her muscles?" Posey asked. "She does that when we're doing it right, and that happens long before she starts laughing. Sometimes she squirms instead. Or if we go after her feet, she'll try to hide the one we're tickling." She released my arm, but Violet grabbed it, and then Posey went after my feet. Sure enough, I tried to hide them, and after a few seconds, she stopped.
"Do they have to hold you?" Bluebell asked.
"If they didn't I'd be jumping away or fighting them off. Holding me is better. No one gets hurt."
"Ah. What's most ticklish?"
"My feet."
"May I?"
I sighed and nodded.
Posey and Violet both strengthened the hold on me. Bluebell was like a kid in a candy store. She actually crawled over to my feet. And then she just wasn't doing it right.
"It's not working."
I sighed. "I taught them. Do I have to teach you, too?"
"Hold her, Violet," Posey said. Violet added more tentacles, and then Posey moved down to my feet. She showed Bluebell what to do, coaching her, and soon Bluebell alone had me squirming like crazy.
"Stop, stop, stop!" I said. And she stopped.
"You don't have to stop," Posey said. "She can still breathe."
"Excuse me?" Jasmine said.
"She laughs hard enough we have to give her breaks to breathe," Violet explained.
"This sounds dangerous," Jasmine said.
"No one has ever died from being tickled," I said. "Unless it caused a car accident or something. I suppose a few might have passed out, though."
Jasmine was the next to crawl over, but she stopped a foot or two away. I looked at her.
"Fine, fine. Sit on my legs and work on my ribs. Think about teasing them. There is a fine line between light touches that just feel really good and light touches that tickle."
It took her a few minutes, but once she got a few quivers out of me, she chased them, and soon I was begging her to stop, then laughing too hard to beg, and then gasping, and Violet told her I needed to breathe. Jasmine pulled away, sitting back on my knees, watching me.
"Normally we only give her a few seconds," said Violet. "You could keep going."
"Maybe in a minute," Jasmine said. "Skye, you really enjoy this?"
I panted another few seconds then said, "I'll never admit that."
"Oh?"
"If I admit that, I might not get the thank you backrubs afterwards."
She laughed, and the others snorted their own enjoyment.
"The truth, Skye."
"It's... I don't know. It makes me feel very vulnerable. But I trust everyone here. So feeling vulnerable isn't so bad."
"I still don't understand this reaction," Azalea said.
"I have a theory, but I don't know if it's accurate. We have creepy crawling things on earth, and some of them bite. Those bites can be dangerous. And when they crawl on you, it is very similar to how it feels when I am being tickled. But the bad tickles are like it might feel if I were being bit. In either case, I want to shake the creepy crawly off, so I quiver my muscles. When that doesn't work, I try harder. And it progresses from there."
"But you laugh," said Violet.
"Yeah, well, I don't understand that part. But it might be a way to make me hyperventilate. I don't know if that would change how I react to the spider bite that must be happening if I don't shake it off. I don't know how good a theory this is, and it's not complete."
I paused. "It's considered an important part of human social bonding, but only amongst those who are very close. Parents tickle children, and it is considered important in childhood development. Siblings tickle, but it's usually mean tickling. But close friends, especially lovers, tickle, and it's considered a part of bonding." I paused. "I wouldn't want to be tickled by someone I didn't like. When I'm tickled by friends, it makes me feel closer."
Then I looked around. "I'm not sure how I feel about gang tickling though."
"So I don't get a turn?" Azalea asked.
"Oh, god," I said. "There is one more thing you need to know."
"Oh?"
"If tickled too long, wi
thout mercy, people tend to lose control over bodily functions. Do I need to be more blunt than that?"
"No," Jasmine said. "We understand." She smiled. "Are you giving us permission?"
"Yes, but not all at once." Then I closed my eyes.
They were five kids in a candy store, and I was the candy.
* * * *
"That was funny," Posey said a half hour later. We were curled up in bed together, the three of us now.
"I'm not sure what was more surprising," Violet said. "Watching Azalea or watching Administrator Brighteyes."
"You didn't have to tell them about my underarms," I said.
"Hey. We warned them off your breasts," Posey pointed out.
"Thank you for that," I said. "I'm not sure I wanted to get felt up."
"I didn't get to tickle very much," Violet said in a pouting voice.
"You laughed almost as hard as I did," I said. "And I'm tickled out."
"Maybe tomorrow."
"We'll see," I said.
* * * *
Jasmine stayed until Sunday morning, joining us for breakfast. Once we were cleaned up, she collected her things and brought them to the door, but then she found me and said, "I would like to speak with you in the living room."
Soon we all gathered there. I was alone on the sofa, which surprised me, but I thought everyone knew what this was about but me.
"Administrator Beamer and I have a present for you," Jasmine said. "I authorized this present, but she obtained it."
And so it was Bluebell who set a wooden box on the table.
"There are conditions on this gift," Bluebell said. "It must remain in this apartment. That may change in the future. It is yours, but please do not remove it. We have programmed it so you cannot do so accidentally."
"This is an entry level version of this gift," Jasmine said. She gestured to the box. "Go ahead."
I leaned forward, undid the latch, and opened the box. Inside I saw one of the visors that I had worn during Testing.
"All right," I said slowly. "I think there's something I don't know."
"It's a visor," Violet said, practically bouncing in her seat. "It's like a pair of glasses. Very, very smart glasses."
"Actually, I know that. But I don't know why you're giving it to me. I think there's something important I don't know."