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Description
A short, deafening silence befell the two souls as the time for any normalized social interaction was long past due.

The skeleton before her stood brazenly tall over her, nearly shrouding over in a sense of the word, as Laurii's tail swayed low towards the ground with idle twitches of anticipation.

"Y-Yes.." She stammered in response after a moment, her tone soaked in what could only be described as subtle apprehension.

She didn't quite know why she felt so strangely uncomfortable, but she had a feeling it had something to do with her lack of knowledge about the individual before her.

"I-I'm oki." Her words sounded lackluster and hardly believable in the slightest, and the skeleton's expression shifted pretentiously in response to the deception in her tone. However, Laurii took this staccato line of silence as an affably given moment to scrutinize this new being. He appeared strangely friendly, strangely concerned about her despite being no more than mere strangers.

Nonetheless, the skeleton pushed aside his notable concern and masked it with another cheerily affable, spontaneous grin.

That was a very strangely familiar habit she recalled her father having at times..

"*well, good! sorry for givin' ya a fright an' all, heh . . . but hey, i'm tick!" The skeleton spoke up, his stance shifting slightly as he did so.

Laurii couldn't help but recognize how similar his tone was to her father's. The only real differ between the two was the optic. Tick's tone was a bit more fruitful yet indulgent. It was a bit more welcoming, and a bit more relaxing.

It strongly contrasted with how her father's was deeper, a bit more frightening, and yet indulgent just the same.

Like a lenient nightmare.

But a nightmare that is rewarded with a tranquil, peaceful ending.

She didn't understand. It was a strange point of interest, however, she didn't wish to mention her confusion. Not so soon at least.

"Oh.. Greetings..I'm Laurii.. .." She muttered in a soft, fragile attempt at a reply..

Tick smiled, gracing the girl with magenta glazed pupils encompassing black and hollow voids. His attire was made up of a pristine jacket that was a somewhat ostentatious shade of pink. It's collar and hood lining composed of a darker shade of magenta, gifted with soft-looking faux fur that gave it an almost cotton-like appearance. Further through, the sweater he wore beneath was a vivid shade of yellow with a large aqua blue 'T' printed on it.

Interesting ..

The color choices would undoubtedly think to be a clashing, ungodly sight to the mind's eye. But in actuality, his appearance was quite well put together.

However, what caught her attention the most was the necklace-like amendment around his neck, sinking down over the 'T'. It hung loosely by a thin line of string and she noted what looked to be two beige feathers and a key-like item attached to it.

Curiosity shifted her thoughts towards questioning Tick on what those items were used for, that is, if anything. However, she suppressed those dwindling thoughts as not to come off as too nosy.

In truth, she wanted to speak up once more, however,

before she could speak a word, Tick had already started with his own inquiry. "*say, .. i've never seen somethin' like ya 'round here before, kiddo.." He looked over her, sizing her up quickly as to note her pointed, swaying tail and horns.

Tick seemed to of noticed the strange appendages quite quickly and filed it down as being irregular in shape and colorization in comparison to other monster's own who inhabited The Underground.

"*where'd ya come from?" His tone suggested a hint of unease but his grin didn't falter in the slightest. However, his expression, at least his eye lights, dwindled slightly into what she could only describe as a look of mundane aberration.

". .I had come from . . Another universe. . However, I have to get back home before my father starts to worry about me. ."

She explained, taking note in the way she explained her situation was otherwise very restrained and lacked viable information.

The skeleton gave her a steady nod of understanding. Nonetheless, it was easy to read his stoic expression and she could tell he was only partially understanding.

"*that's so..?"

He took a moment to recall those circling rumors racing around The Multiverse..

It was a strange set of rumors, and for a while, he didn't really think too much of it.

After all, who really would?

The thought of the main premise of the rumors was quite unbelievable. Someone who fancied themselves a wit would think it was downright idiotic.

After all, who would think that-

In a million years-

'Horror adopted a child'..?

Tick's ostentatious grin slightly widened, though not to scare her, but out of a meager sense of curiosity and intrigue.

Of course he could be wrong, and it wasn't much of a surprise if he was- but well, it was worth a prying eye to ask just for confirmation purposes.

"*heh, so you're horror's kid, aren'tcha? you're the one everyone's so curious about.."

He inclined, gesturing towards her with a lazy wave of the hand.

It would be a lie if he didn't view her as a surprise and a half. For Horror's daughter, he didn't expect someone who appeared to be so... Normal.

Well, normal wasn't the best word..

Sane, more like.

Laurii swiftly turned head, averting her gaze, and retiring it off towards the side of the tree lining, where she gazed otherworldly at the glistening snowflakes falling overhead.

She felt a strange twinge of apprehension dwelling within the pit of her stomach. It churned with an ache of suspicion.

"Well...Yes.." She began, her tone softened in reply,

"Horror is my father . ."

She narrowed her eyes slightly and in a split second, the prosperously glistening blue orbs set their attention back on Tick.

Except this time, that ostentatiously glimmering lake was melted away into a spontaneous sea of suspicion.

Her gaze was almost sharp enough to stab through any living being's soul and fill them with unexpected guilt.

Guilt they didn't know they had.

Guilt that dwelled in the deepest depths of their soul.

Tick could feel it, and it was a strange, otherworldly sensation.

"But I do not have the time to stand around today..! I must return to father." Laurii finished, her tone and given expression suggested urgency and utter seriousness. It was the kind of seriousness that most kids shouldn't be able to possess.

But she did.

It was the kind of seriousness Tick wasn't given the time of day to see in his usual day to day life..

But he did.

But it was that lack of hackneyed stoicism that made him wonder what her real hurry was.

Of course he knew she wanted to get back home to her father and all of that, but he didn't see entirely why she was in such a rush to do so.

Surely Horror could wait.

He tilted his head inquisitively to the side and observed as she turned tail and began to walk away from him.

For a couple moments, that foreboding, awkward silence settled in once more.

The only sounds that penetrated it were the sound of soft, brisk footsteps and the gentle howl of wind rustling the pine tree's leaves.

"*already?" The skeleton pressed, suddenly breaking the moderate silence between them. He began to slowly follow along with her, trailing behind indolently as his hands remained rested comfortably in his pockets.

He glanced down at her with a strangely surprised expression.

Not only surprised, however, it looked even slightly disappointed.. Or at least one could assume so with the way his eye sockets seemed to be narrowed into a near solemn visage.

"*c'mooon kid! ya just got here didn'tcha? are ya really considerin' leavin' now?"

His tone sounded almost childish, almost like if she were to look at him now, Tick would be pouting or stomping his feet incredulously like a bratty child would if they didn't get the lap of luxury they whined for.

His tone sounded as if it were attempting to guilt her into considering staying around. Guilt her into realizing her leaving would put a damper on things.

But she wasn't interested in such querulous behavior, and guilt tripping didn't work on her usually.

Coincidentally, Tick's behavior had stemmed from him eagerly wanting to meet Horror's rumored child for a while.

However, he knew how Horror's reputation was and knew how dangerous going there to his universe himself could be. However, now that he could see Horror's child for himself, he wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

Surely it would of been a bit nicer to of been meeting on better, less strenuous terms, but since she was already here, he had no reason to voice any complaints.

"Me coming here, I'm afraid, was accidental. It's curiosity that befell me when I saw a portal appear in the world I came from. . . I wished to know where it lead but now . . I am here, I did not know the portal would disappear." Laurii's tone was quite mundane as she explained her situation a bit more tactfully to the prying skeleton. She didn't quite like the fact that he was attempting to merge her into giving into his guilting.

It wouldn't work.

Listening to her explanation, Tick gave a slight nod, noting her moderate amount of curiosity.

He let out a low chuckle, wondering just how she ever survived when she has such lackluster common sense. Anyone in their right mind wouldn't absentmindedly walk into a portal..

Of course, however, he didn't speak a word of his thought.

"*welp, looks like you're stuck here then, huh?"

Tick mused, his tone almost playfully indolent, as if he were trying to make it seem like it wasn't that big a deal.

Laurii, on the other hand, saw this as nothing more than a tragedy, and her expression and posture fell in an instant.

Her now solemn gaze drifted up towards him in a slow, enervating manner.

It was evident then to Tick that those few spontaneously spoken words of his were all that it took to send this surprisingly fragile girl down a road to complete and utter hopelessness.

He practically watched as the enlightened hope and determination in her gaze was washed away and glazed over in a deep dark ocean of solicitousness and broken hope.

"Y-you mean t-there is really no way back?"

Her words came out in a soft, trembling sputter, as her dwindling subconscious was attempting to take in the tragedy that she had just heard.

Tick stared sympathetically at the young girl, as the look in her eyes seemed to just keep drifting further and further into sadness.

In truth, it wasn't his intention to make her feel so despondent. He could see all too clearly that he shouldn't of spoken so thoughtlessly. She undoubtedly wants to leave and find her way back home.

Hearing him say she was stuck there was basically the last thing that she ever wished to hear.

Tick gave her a cheerful, relieving smile as an attempt to regain that spark of hope in her tiny SOUL. He lifted a hand from his pocket and gently pressed it against her shoulder; His cold phalanges lightly gripped, although the hold felt slightly firm in a strange but comforting manner. His once mischievously playful expression softened to a look of reassurance.

"*i'm not sayin' that, kiddo." He replied, slowly coming to a halt in the middle of the forest. "*you'll find your way back eventually. least ya better, ya know? can't have your dad gettin' too worried bout'cha, he might get pissed and go off like a lit fuse." He chuckled a bit at his own assumption.

From what he heard, Horror was the epitome of a bright, brazenly lit fuse, and he never wanted to take the dreadful risk of overstepping boundaries with someone like that.

But then he wondered how Horror would react to him meeting his daughter.

How did Horror react to things, anyway?

In truth, Tick had never actually met the eldritch skeleton before and had only heard things about him from others in The Multiverse.

However, Tick would of gladly got Laurii back to her universe... If he could.

But since he had never went to that specific AU before, he couldn't teleport her back.

Tick silently watched as Laurii nodded her head very slightly. It was a nearly undetectable nod towards the naked eye..but he could see it.

"Perhaps .."

Though that is what she was trying to avoid it coming down to. She knew how her father could get. He wouldn't ever lay a hand on her, yes. But she knew how he could get towards others. She knew how far he would go to protect those he cared most for, though very few. However, his measures were stretched far.

Murder

Violence

Torment

And unnecessary conclusions

She was sure if he knew she was talking to somebody he didn't know or didn't give trust into, he would kill them as soon as she turned her back.

After all,

He had threatened her friends before, and had even went on to beating on her brother in the early days of getting to know him.

Horror was a hard individual to viably grasp in terms of concept.

He acted as if he had multiple split personalities throughout the time Laurii had been his daughter.. And even before.

One day he would be a cheerful fatherly figure who would do anything in this God given world to be with his children and his brother and his friends. He would lavish the time he spent with them all and dread when the bonding came to an end.

The next day, he would be hellbent on murder and it was even moreso disturbing when his spontaneous change of behavior was taken out towards threatening and terrorizing those who lived within the confinements of their house. Usually Simula or Iirual were the ones who faced it the most. Ji'xen usually wasn't even in the house, considering he was always in his laboratory detrimentally working on potions and exponential experiments.

Laurii on the other hand, very rarely left her bedroom on those days.

However, there would also be days where her father was in a deeply depressed mood. Laurii would spend her entire day by his side, doing everything in her power to make him feel better, no matter how long it took.

It usually worked...

"*but hey, since you're here, let's kill some time, shall we? i had somethin' I wanted to test on ya." Tick spoke up, not caring in the least to hide the slight mischievous grin forming on his face. It was a strange sense of mischief, like a playful kind. A kind that didn't seem to want to cause any real harm. Nonetheless, Laurii felt a slight twinge of suspicion slowly resonating within. Her gaze softened into a stoic expression, portraying her clear unsureness to what he meant, and the suspicion that came with it. "H-Huh?" She stammered in slight concern.

Without a word of explanation, Tick lifted his hand swiftly, releasing his grip from her shoulder. He briskly pulled his other hand from his pocket, bringing both down to her sides. In the very least, Laurii was only able to voice a very meek sounding squeak before Tick started attacking her with tickles at either side without a single warning to the sudden action.

Immediately, the small demon erupted into a spontaneous fit of laughter, feeding into this agitating sensation she couldn't help but react instinctively to.

Her laughter sounded almost as if it weren't her own. It sounded boisterous, energetic, delightfully warm. In the least, he had expected some light, soft giggles or something hardly audible.. Maybe even a little anger?

A little annoyance?

A little agitation?

But no. Strangely not. Instead, he was faced with squirms and high pitched laughter. It had to be one of the most squeakiest, high pitched laughter he had ever heard, and he had tickled many people day in and out.

This one however, was perhaps the loudest.

"N-Nahahahahahaha!! S-Stahahahahaap!!" She laughed through her solicitous words, broken up into small fragmented pieces. Through the tickling, she couldn't get out any really intelligible words, if anything, it could closely be related to just small fidgety sounds. Unfortunately, her struggling only caused her to fall over and plummet into the cold snow. The mix came with twitches and fidgets as she squealed and squirmed like a writhing beetle trying to get back to their feet.

Nonetheless, Tick continued to tickle Laurii, hardly caring that to do that he had to bare down on his knees. He grinned a mischief grin as the evident realization came to pass. He was able to pin just how unusually ticklish this girl was.

Hilarious.

He hadn't met someone this ticklish since his encounter with Ink.

He had no idea someone could be so ticklish in the least, but Ink was. Horrendously so.

In the midst of a squirming struggle, Laurii pressed her hands against Tick's forearms, pushing against him, in her attempt to stop him. It wasn't necessarily like tickling hurt or anything. She knew people did it as a sort of playful gesture,-

Heck,-

Even her father tickled her sides sometimes, although in doing so, he would usually quit when he thought it was starting to annoy her.

However, Tick wasn't so easily deterred. He was quite clearly determined to keep her laughing up a storm for as long as notably possible.

However, the truth was quite simply that tickling was, unfortunately, for Laurii, one of her greatest weaknesses. It left her a squealing, squirming, laughing heap for the entire duration.

Tick pulled one hand away and clicked his boney fingers together, making a sonorous 'snap' echo dully through the forest.

Before Laurii could react inquisitively, she was taken back by a sudden brusque flurry of pink magic surrounding and illuminating her body at an instant; with an inhumane power, it swiftly rendered her significantly more vulnerable towards the tickling as she couldn't move or even budge an inch anymore.

Oh great . .

Tick's grin widened slightly as his tickle attack persisted. For the longest time, the forest was reveling in nothing but Laurii's squeaky, fully forced laughter. Except this time, there was nothing Laurii could do aside from crunch her eyes closed tightly and laugh. "Plahahahahahaease ehahahahahastaahahap!!" She attempted to plead through her laughter, though it was pointless as it was hardly intelligible and didn't deter the grinning skeleton at all. If anything, it made the tickling more rigid.

Laurii's eyes pricked with visible tears as it was becoming impossible to ignore this immense tickling. In truth, she hated tickling. Even the word itself vexed her. However, At this point, she wanted nothing more than to somehow have another fangled portal appear and suck her inside, taking her back home. But that isn't going to happen as she kept howling with laughter, occasionally through the little unintelligible pleads she brought out in lackluster sputters.

"*nah," Tick mumbled, carelessly pushing off her mountainous pleads. "*not listenin' kiddo." He chuckled in a haughty manner, continuing to subject her to the endless torture, taking this entire attack as an opportunity to learn how easy she is to tickle.

And took this as an opportunity... To tickle someone who wasn't another rendition of himself, but was instead something even more unique to the multiverse...

He wasn't letting this opportunity go to waste...

Nope.

Not for one moment..

Description
A short, deafening silence befell the two souls as the time for any normalized social interaction was long past due.

The skeleton before her stood brazenly tall over her, nearly shrouding over in a sense of the word, as Laurii's tail swayed low towards the ground with idle twitches of anticipation.

"Y-Yes.." She stammered in response after a moment, her tone soaked in what could only be described as subtle apprehension.

She didn't quite know why she felt so strangely uncomfortable, but she had a feeling it had something to do with her lack of knowledge about the individual before her.

"I-I'm oki." Her words sounded lackluster and hardly believable in the slightest, and the skeleton's expression shifted pretentiously in response to the deception in her tone. However, Laurii took this staccato line of silence as an affably given moment to scrutinize this new being. He appeared strangely friendly, strangely concerned about her despite being no more than mere strangers.

Nonetheless, the skeleton pushed aside his notable concern and masked it with another cheerily affable, spontaneous grin.

That was a very strangely familiar habit she recalled her father having at times..

"*well, good! sorry for givin' ya a fright an' all, heh . . . but hey, i'm tick!" The skeleton spoke up, his stance shifting slightly as he did so.

Laurii couldn't help but recognize how similar his tone was to her father's. The only real differ between the two was the optic. Tick's tone was a bit more fruitful yet indulgent. It was a bit more welcoming, and a bit more relaxing.

It strongly contrasted with how her father's was deeper, a bit more frightening, and yet indulgent just the same.

Like a lenient nightmare.

But a nightmare that is rewarded with a tranquil, peaceful ending.

She didn't understand. It was a strange point of interest, however, she didn't wish to mention her confusion. Not so soon at least.

"Oh.. Greetings..I'm Laurii.. .." She muttered in a soft, fragile attempt at a reply..

Tick smiled, gracing the girl with magenta glazed pupils encompassing black and hollow voids. His attire was made up of a pristine jacket that was a somewhat ostentatious shade of pink. It's collar and hood lining composed of a darker shade of magenta, gifted with soft-looking faux fur that gave it an almost cotton-like appearance. Further through, the sweater he wore beneath was a vivid shade of yellow with a large aqua blue 'T' printed on it.

Interesting ..

The color choices would undoubtedly think to be a clashing, ungodly sight to the mind's eye. But in actuality, his appearance was quite well put together.

However, what caught her attention the most was the necklace-like amendment around his neck, sinking down over the 'T'. It hung loosely by a thin line of string and she noted what looked to be two beige feathers and a key-like item attached to it.

Curiosity shifted her thoughts towards questioning Tick on what those items were used for, that is, if anything. However, she suppressed those dwindling thoughts as not to come off as too nosy.

In truth, she wanted to speak up once more, however,

before she could speak a word, Tick had already started with his own inquiry. "*say, .. i've never seen somethin' like ya 'round here before, kiddo.." He looked over her, sizing her up quickly as to note her pointed, swaying tail and horns.

Tick seemed to of noticed the strange appendages quite quickly and filed it down as being irregular in shape and colorization in comparison to other monster's own who inhabited The Underground.

"*where'd ya come from?" His tone suggested a hint of unease but his grin didn't falter in the slightest. However, his expression, at least his eye lights, dwindled slightly into what she could only describe as a look of mundane aberration.

". .I had come from . . Another universe. . However, I have to get back home before my father starts to worry about me. ."

She explained, taking note in the way she explained her situation was otherwise very restrained and lacked viable information.

The skeleton gave her a steady nod of understanding. Nonetheless, it was easy to read his stoic expression and she could tell he was only partially understanding.

"*that's so..?"

He took a moment to recall those circling rumors racing around The Multiverse..

It was a strange set of rumors, and for a while, he didn't really think too much of it.

After all, who really would?

The thought of the main premise of the rumors was quite unbelievable. Someone who fancied themselves a wit would think it was downright idiotic.

After all, who would think that-

In a million years-

'Horror adopted a child'..?

Tick's ostentatious grin slightly widened, though not to scare her, but out of a meager sense of curiosity and intrigue.

Of course he could be wrong, and it wasn't much of a surprise if he was- but well, it was worth a prying eye to ask just for confirmation purposes.

"*heh, so you're horror's kid, aren'tcha? you're the one everyone's so curious about.."

He inclined, gesturing towards her with a lazy wave of the hand.

It would be a lie if he didn't view her as a surprise and a half. For Horror's daughter, he didn't expect someone who appeared to be so... Normal.

Well, normal wasn't the best word..

Sane, more like.

Laurii swiftly turned head, averting her gaze, and retiring it off towards the side of the tree lining, where she gazed otherworldly at the glistening snowflakes falling overhead.

She felt a strange twinge of apprehension dwelling within the pit of her stomach. It churned with an ache of suspicion.

"Well...Yes.." She began, her tone softened in reply,

"Horror is my father . ."

She narrowed her eyes slightly and in a split second, the prosperously glistening blue orbs set their attention back on Tick.

Except this time, that ostentatiously glimmering lake was melted away into a spontaneous sea of suspicion.

Her gaze was almost sharp enough to stab through any living being's soul and fill them with unexpected guilt.

Guilt they didn't know they had.

Guilt that dwelled in the deepest depths of their soul.

Tick could feel it, and it was a strange, otherworldly sensation.

"But I do not have the time to stand around today..! I must return to father." Laurii finished, her tone and given expression suggested urgency and utter seriousness. It was the kind of seriousness that most kids shouldn't be able to possess.

But she did.

It was the kind of seriousness Tick wasn't given the time of day to see in his usual day to day life..

But he did.

But it was that lack of hackneyed stoicism that made him wonder what her real hurry was.

Of course he knew she wanted to get back home to her father and all of that, but he didn't see entirely why she was in such a rush to do so.

Surely Horror could wait.

He tilted his head inquisitively to the side and observed as she turned tail and began to walk away from him.

For a couple moments, that foreboding, awkward silence settled in once more.

The only sounds that penetrated it were the sound of soft, brisk footsteps and the gentle howl of wind rustling the pine tree's leaves.

"*already?" The skeleton pressed, suddenly breaking the moderate silence between them. He began to slowly follow along with her, trailing behind indolently as his hands remained rested comfortably in his pockets.

He glanced down at her with a strangely surprised expression.

Not only surprised, however, it looked even slightly disappointed.. Or at least one could assume so with the way his eye sockets seemed to be narrowed into a near solemn visage.

"*c'mooon kid! ya just got here didn'tcha? are ya really considerin' leavin' now?"

His tone sounded almost childish, almost like if she were to look at him now, Tick would be pouting or stomping his feet incredulously like a bratty child would if they didn't get the lap of luxury they whined for.

His tone sounded as if it were attempting to guilt her into considering staying around. Guilt her into realizing her leaving would put a damper on things.

But she wasn't interested in such querulous behavior, and guilt tripping didn't work on her usually.

Coincidentally, Tick's behavior had stemmed from him eagerly wanting to meet Horror's rumored child for a while.

However, he knew how Horror's reputation was and knew how dangerous going there to his universe himself could be. However, now that he could see Horror's child for himself, he wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

Surely it would of been a bit nicer to of been meeting on better, less strenuous terms, but since she was already here, he had no reason to voice any complaints.

"Me coming here, I'm afraid, was accidental. It's curiosity that befell me when I saw a portal appear in the world I came from. . . I wished to know where it lead but now . . I am here, I did not know the portal would disappear." Laurii's tone was quite mundane as she explained her situation a bit more tactfully to the prying skeleton. She didn't quite like the fact that he was attempting to merge her into giving into his guilting.

It wouldn't work.

Listening to her explanation, Tick gave a slight nod, noting her moderate amount of curiosity.

He let out a low chuckle, wondering just how she ever survived when she has such lackluster common sense. Anyone in their right mind wouldn't absentmindedly walk into a portal..

Of course, however, he didn't speak a word of his thought.

"*welp, looks like you're stuck here then, huh?"

Tick mused, his tone almost playfully indolent, as if he were trying to make it seem like it wasn't that big a deal.

Laurii, on the other hand, saw this as nothing more than a tragedy, and her expression and posture fell in an instant.

Her now solemn gaze drifted up towards him in a slow, enervating manner.

It was evident then to Tick that those few spontaneously spoken words of his were all that it took to send this surprisingly fragile girl down a road to complete and utter hopelessness.

He practically watched as the enlightened hope and determination in her gaze was washed away and glazed over in a deep dark ocean of solicitousness and broken hope.

"Y-you mean t-there is really no way back?"

Her words came out in a soft, trembling sputter, as her dwindling subconscious was attempting to take in the tragedy that she had just heard.

Tick stared sympathetically at the young girl, as the look in her eyes seemed to just keep drifting further and further into sadness.

In truth, it wasn't his intention to make her feel so despondent. He could see all too clearly that he shouldn't of spoken so thoughtlessly. She undoubtedly wants to leave and find her way back home.

Hearing him say she was stuck there was basically the last thing that she ever wished to hear.

Tick gave her a cheerful, relieving smile as an attempt to regain that spark of hope in her tiny SOUL. He lifted a hand from his pocket and gently pressed it against her shoulder; His cold phalanges lightly gripped, although the hold felt slightly firm in a strange but comforting manner. His once mischievously playful expression softened to a look of reassurance.

"*i'm not sayin' that, kiddo." He replied, slowly coming to a halt in the middle of the forest. "*you'll find your way back eventually. least ya better, ya know? can't have your dad gettin' too worried bout'cha, he might get pissed and go off like a lit fuse." He chuckled a bit at his own assumption.

From what he heard, Horror was the epitome of a bright, brazenly lit fuse, and he never wanted to take the dreadful risk of overstepping boundaries with someone like that.

But then he wondered how Horror would react to him meeting his daughter.

How did Horror react to things, anyway?

In truth, Tick had never actually met the eldritch skeleton before and had only heard things about him from others in The Multiverse.

However, Tick would of gladly got Laurii back to her universe... If he could.

But since he had never went to that specific AU before, he couldn't teleport her back.

Tick silently watched as Laurii nodded her head very slightly. It was a nearly undetectable nod towards the naked eye..but he could see it.

"Perhaps .."

Though that is what she was trying to avoid it coming down to. She knew how her father could get. He wouldn't ever lay a hand on her, yes. But she knew how he could get towards others. She knew how far he would go to protect those he cared most for, though very few. However, his measures were stretched far.

Murder

Violence

Torment

And unnecessary conclusions

She was sure if he knew she was talking to somebody he didn't know or didn't give trust into, he would kill them as soon as she turned her back.

After all,

He had threatened her friends before, and had even went on to beating on her brother in the early days of getting to know him.

Horror was a hard individual to viably grasp in terms of concept.

He acted as if he had multiple split personalities throughout the time Laurii had been his daughter.. And even before.

One day he would be a cheerful fatherly figure who would do anything in this God given world to be with his children and his brother and his friends. He would lavish the time he spent with them all and dread when the bonding came to an end.

The next day, he would be hellbent on murder and it was even moreso disturbing when his spontaneous change of behavior was taken out towards threatening and terrorizing those who lived within the confinements of their house. Usually Simula or Iirual were the ones who faced it the most. Ji'xen usually wasn't even in the house, considering he was always in his laboratory detrimentally working on potions and exponential experiments.

Laurii on the other hand, very rarely left her bedroom on those days.

However, there would also be days where her father was in a deeply depressed mood. Laurii would spend her entire day by his side, doing everything in her power to make him feel better, no matter how long it took.

It usually worked...

"*but hey, since you're here, let's kill some time, shall we? i had somethin' I wanted to test on ya." Tick spoke up, not caring in the least to hide the slight mischievous grin forming on his face. It was a strange sense of mischief, like a playful kind. A kind that didn't seem to want to cause any real harm. Nonetheless, Laurii felt a slight twinge of suspicion slowly resonating within. Her gaze softened into a stoic expression, portraying her clear unsureness to what he meant, and the suspicion that came with it. "H-Huh?" She stammered in slight concern.

Without a word of explanation, Tick lifted his hand swiftly, releasing his grip from her shoulder. He briskly pulled his other hand from his pocket, bringing both down to her sides. In the very least, Laurii was only able to voice a very meek sounding squeak before Tick started attacking her with tickles at either side without a single warning to the sudden action.

Immediately, the small demon erupted into a spontaneous fit of laughter, feeding into this agitating sensation she couldn't help but react instinctively to.

Her laughter sounded almost as if it weren't her own. It sounded boisterous, energetic, delightfully warm. In the least, he had expected some light, soft giggles or something hardly audible.. Maybe even a little anger?

A little annoyance?

A little agitation?

But no. Strangely not. Instead, he was faced with squirms and high pitched laughter. It had to be one of the most squeakiest, high pitched laughter he had ever heard, and he had tickled many people day in and out.

This one however, was perhaps the loudest.

"N-Nahahahahahaha!! S-Stahahahahaap!!" She laughed through her solicitous words, broken up into small fragmented pieces. Through the tickling, she couldn't get out any really intelligible words, if anything, it could closely be related to just small fidgety sounds. Unfortunately, her struggling only caused her to fall over and plummet into the cold snow. The mix came with twitches and fidgets as she squealed and squirmed like a writhing beetle trying to get back to their feet.

Nonetheless, Tick continued to tickle Laurii, hardly caring that to do that he had to bare down on his knees. He grinned a mischief grin as the evident realization came to pass. He was able to pin just how unusually ticklish this girl was.

Hilarious.

He hadn't met someone this ticklish since his encounter with Ink.

He had no idea someone could be so ticklish in the least, but Ink was. Horrendously so.

In the midst of a squirming struggle, Laurii pressed her hands against Tick's forearms, pushing against him, in her attempt to stop him. It wasn't necessarily like tickling hurt or anything. She knew people did it as a sort of playful gesture,-

Heck,-

Even her father tickled her sides sometimes, although in doing so, he would usually quit when he thought it was starting to annoy her.

However, Tick wasn't so easily deterred. He was quite clearly determined to keep her laughing up a storm for as long as notably possible.

However, the truth was quite simply that tickling was, unfortunately, for Laurii, one of her greatest weaknesses. It left her a squealing, squirming, laughing heap for the entire duration.

Tick pulled one hand away and clicked his boney fingers together, making a sonorous 'snap' echo dully through the forest.

Before Laurii could react inquisitively, she was taken back by a sudden brusque flurry of pink magic surrounding and illuminating her body at an instant; with an inhumane power, it swiftly rendered her significantly more vulnerable towards the tickling as she couldn't move or even budge an inch anymore.

Oh great . .

Tick's grin widened slightly as his tickle attack persisted. For the longest time, the forest was reveling in nothing but Laurii's squeaky, fully forced laughter. Except this time, there was nothing Laurii could do aside from crunch her eyes closed tightly and laugh. "Plahahahahahaease ehahahahahastaahahap!!" She attempted to plead through her laughter, though it was pointless as it was hardly intelligible and didn't deter the grinning skeleton at all. If anything, it made the tickling more rigid.

Laurii's eyes pricked with visible tears as it was becoming impossible to ignore this immense tickling. In truth, she hated tickling. Even the word itself vexed her. However, At this point, she wanted nothing more than to somehow have another fangled portal appear and suck her inside, taking her back home. But that isn't going to happen as she kept howling with laughter, occasionally through the little unintelligible pleads she brought out in lackluster sputters.

"*nah," Tick mumbled, carelessly pushing off her mountainous pleads. "*not listenin' kiddo." He chuckled in a haughty manner, continuing to subject her to the endless torture, taking this entire attack as an opportunity to learn how easy she is to tickle.

And took this as an opportunity... To tickle someone who wasn't another rendition of himself, but was instead something even more unique to the multiverse...

He wasn't letting this opportunity go to waste...

Nope.

Not for one moment..