1D: Tickle Master*

A/N: This is a sequel. To read the prequel, please scroll to the bottom and click the link.

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"Hm, well, I prefer starting off slow, so I the ticklee doesn't tire out so quickly."

Zayn and Louis were sitting together in Zayn's room, discussing the most effective ways of tickling their victims. The Bradford boy was lazily tossing a hairbrush into the air, as he lectured to the older lad.

"I don't know about you, but I like to get to the good stuff," Louis replied, twirling a feather around in his hand. "I don't know why you bother using these too, since they're not that effective.

"Like I said," Zayn started, picking the feather out of Louis' fingers to prevent the older boy from damaging it, "I like to start things off slow and feathers are good for that. It helps to build up anticipation for later."

Louis scoffed. "Well, how about I show you I'm right?"

Zayn quirked an eyebrow, glaring at Louis. "And how do you supposed you'll do that?"

"I'll tickle you, duh."

"Why would I let you do that?" the younger lad asked bluntly. "Unless I get to tickle you back."

Louis bit his lip, thinking about the deal for a second. On one hand, the brunette wanted to prove Zayn wrong, since Zayn was regarded as the master tickler among the boys, so beating the younger lad at his own game would be pretty satisfying. Plus, Louis was still thirsty for revenge, ever since Zayn tickled him and Liam back at the hotel. At the same time, though, the feather-haired boy was afraid, very well aware that he was still an amateur compared to Zayn and that Zayn would use his ungodly tickle skills to ruin Louis.

"Well?" Zayn asked, breaking Louis out of his trance.

"Yeah, sure," Louis replied hastily. "I get to tickle you first, though."

Zayn shrugged in response. "Fine by me. Let me just get my bed set up."

Walking over to his closet, Zayn pushed open the sliding panel to reveal several tools, grabbing the cuffs that would be used to restrain himself. Louis marveled at the variety found in the closet, ranging from brushes to feathers, even objects Louis didn't recognize. There were even a small pair of stocks in the corner.

"Alright, you ready?" Zayn called out to Louis, who was still looking over everything.

"Um, yeah," Louis stammered, pulling out his phone. "I'll set a timer for five minutes, so I know when to stop."

Zayn nodded, laying down on the bed and stretching his limbs to the corners where his restraints were located. He felt his right wrist being lifted and cuffed to the corner, locking his arm in place. His right ankle was done next, followed by his left. Zayn gasped and involuntarily jerked his leg when he felt fingers skitter across his sole, shooting Louis a glare. The brunette just grinned, cuffing Zayn's left wrist.

"Alright, where to start first?" Louis asked himself, eyeing potential spots on Zayn's body. Before straddling the younger lad's waist, Louis started the timer for five minutes, setting his phone in his pocket, and digging his fingers into Zayn's sides.

"Wahahahaha!" Zayn yelped in surprise, having spaced out when Louis was preparing himself.

"How does it feel like being on the opposite end for once?" Louis asked the giggling boy, using one hand to knead Zayn's side and the other to dig forcefully into the lad's ribs.

"Ahahahaha!" Zayn could already feel himself running out of breath as Louis tickled him relentlessly.

Deciding he needed to move on, Louis awkwardly shifted his way down and sat in between Zayn's legs, sneaking his fingers under the basketball shorts to attack the lad's thigh and kneecap with one hand and using the other to attack the underside of Zayn's knee on the other leg.

Zayn shrieked with laughter, pulling at his two legs to try and avoid the tickling, but the ankle cuffs only allowed so much movement. He could feel himself tiring out already and it hasn't even been a minute.

Deciding to come back later, Louis turned around and faced Zayn's feet, watching as the toes curled in anticipation. He began raking his hands up and down the vulnerable soles, five fingers for each foot. Louis made sure to pay special attention to the arch because that's where Zayn's feet seemed to be most sensitive.

"Gahahahaha!" Zayn's mind was being filled with ticklish sensations that he didn't even notice Louis pull back a set of toes on one foot, until he felt the fingernails against his outstretched skin.

Louis would constantly switch between the two tan feet, pulling back the toes to get the most laughter as possible. After a while, though, he went back to Zayn's knees, knowing he'd hit the jackpot there. The brunette began squeezing at the ticklish skin that surrounded Zayn's knees vigorously, since he felt like his five minutes were coming to a close.

"GAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP!" Zayn's legs were spazzing as they were tickle tortured, giving the lad no time for a breather. He shut his eyes, trying to shut out the unbearable tickling, but nothing was working.

Unfortunately for Louis, the sound of a duck started to emit from the pocket of his jeans, signaling the end of his role of the tickler. He sighed, pulling out his phone to shut off the alarm, before beginning to release Zayn.

"Y-You still need work," Zayn panted, sitting up and rubbing at his wrists.

"What?" Louis asked, almost in shock. "You were almost out of breath!"

Zayn shook his head. "You don't want them to completely pass out, though, since you want to keep tickling them as long as possible. Plus, there was no build up whatsoever."

Louis was about to argue some more, but Zayn shot him a look, motioning for the brunette to lay on the bed. The older lad did as he was told, waiting in anticipation as Zayn began cuffing his limbs to the bonds on the bed. He pulled at his bonds, never having been restrained before, so the experience was definitely something new.

Suddenly, Louis felt something light slide up across his foot, causing his breath to hitch. He looked down to see Zayn at his feet, sliding a white feather up and down one of his feet, his other hand by the unattended foot. Eventually, Zayn started using the other hand, drawing small circles into the sole, while using the other feather to lightly flick at the toes.

"Hehehe!" Louis giggled like a madman, shifting his feet back and forth to avoid the soft touches, but Zayn expertly followed every movement.

Zayn then stood up got on the bed, beginning to make his way up the bed, dragging the feather up one of Louis' legs, until he was firmly placed on the lanky boy's waist. "Another mistake you made was the decision to not use tools, especially since they're useful for the more intense tickling," Zayn commented, twirling the feather in his hand. "Still have a lot to learn."

Louis frowned, having totally forgotten that tools were literally ten feet away. He was soon smiling again, though, when he felt his shirt being lifted up and the feather being dragged across his abdomen.

Zayn used the soft tip of the feather to circle the rim of Louis' navel. The younger lad would examine the brunette's reactions, taking note of when Louis shuddered when the feather dipped into his bellybutton and when he gasped as the feather slid down his happy trail. He then flipped the feather around and started tracing the outline of Louis' abs with the quill, "coloring" them in as well.

"Hehehehahahahaha!" Louis giggled, the quill throwing him off guard. He didn't know something like a feather could be so deadly.

Zayn began moving upwards, focusing on the ribs with the feather, sliding the quill over the area, and using one hand to attack Louis' helpless armpits. Eventually, Zayn ditched the feather altogether and began dancing his fingers in the hollows.

"Oh gohohohohod!" Louis howled, trying his best to pull down his arms. The tickling was starting to become more unbearable as time went on.

Figuring his time was starting to come to a close, Zayn began moving downwards again, tickling Louis as he went down. The Bradford boy poked at his ribs, squeezed his sides, and tickled Louis' tummy, eventually making his way back to his feet, placing himself in front of them, like he did at the beginning. "Ready for this?" Zayn asked the older lad, rubbing his hands together in preparation.

"NoHOHOHOHHOHOHO!" Louis burst out laughing as he felt Zayn's fingers skitter across the length of his soles.

Picking up the brush he was playing with earlier, Zayn began rubbing the bristles against one foot, using the other hand to tickle the other. He'd toss the hairbrush between each hand every few seconds to make sure each foot suffered equally.

"STAHAHAHAP! AHAHAHA! ZAHAHAHAYN!" Louis howled, almost choking on his own laughter. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears at the corners of his eyes from leaking out.

For the finale, Zayn pulled back the toes on one foot and used the brush to travel across each piece of skin that was left hidden before. The Bradford boy grinned as Louis' laughter increased in pitch, watching as he tried to scrunch his foot, but was unable to do so. Like before, Zayn would switch between each foot, making sure to balance the attention between them.

"ZAHAHAYN! PLEHEHEASE!" Louis pleaded, his voice becoming hoarse. The poor boy didn't even have enough strength to struggle.

Before he could purely focus on the toes, the alarm Zayn set on his phone went off, ending Louis' ordeal. Sighing, he began undoing the bonds around the brunette's limbs, releasing the boy. "Could've done more if there was no time constraint."

"Well, I could've too!" Louis panted, trying to fix his messy hair. "We're probably never going to figure out who's better if we keep tickling each other."

"Yeah," Zayn said, biting his lip in thought, "since we'll keep thinking our respective methods are better."

Suddenly, a mischievous grin sprouted on Louis' face. "Maybe we can get someone else to decide for us."

Zayn blinked in confusion, but soon, the two boys were grinning, side by side.

---

A certain curly-haired lad stepped out of his car, grabbing the carton of ice cream as he did so. He hurried up the steps to the house the boys shared, excited to try out Niall's new idea. Admittedly, Niall never had good ideas, but this one sounded so good. They'd be spreading bagels with cream cheese and eating it, but replace bagels with doughnuts and cream cheese with ice cream. Harry could already feel the sugar rushing through his veins.

Unlocking the door, Harry made sure to slip off his shoes, before stepping inside. He noticed Niall's shoes weren't by the door, meaning he was probably still out getting the doughnuts, so Harry just headed to the kitchen to place the ice cream in the freezer. After doing so, the curly-haired lad headed up the stairs to his room, but before he could reach it, the door to Zayn's room burst open. Harry yelped in surprise as several hands grabbed at him. He tried to struggle away from them, but he was eventually pulled in and thrown on the floor. The lad decided then to take a good look at his attackers, only to realize that it was just Louis and Zayn.

"Hey, Haz!" Louis exclaimed with a grin.

Harry took a look at his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that Zayn's closet was wide open, revealing all the tickle tools, some of which were on the ground. He also noticed the cuffs that were attached to the posts of the bed. Another thing he noticed was Zayn locking the door. "Um, do you guys need me for something."

"We just need a little help with something," Zayn said with a sky grin.

The two older boys began to approach Harry, causing the younger lad to cautiously back up, his bum sliding across the floor. Eventually, he backed up into the foot of Zayn's bed, causing him to fearfully peer up at the two boys towering over him.

"Get him," Zayn commanded.

Just as the two older boys dove for him, Harry managed to escape through a gap in between Zayn and Louis. He made a beeline for the door, but before Harry could make it, he felt someone grab onto his legs, causing him to fall over, almost hitting his head on the door. He tried to struggle away, but soon, a second body joined the first, wrestling and pinning Harry to the floor.

"Guhhuys! Please, don't!" Harry giggled in anticipation, already fully aware of what was to come. He looked up at Louis, who was straddling his waist, but the younger boy couldn't detect any ounce of mercy in the brunette's face.

"Just tell us who's the better tickler," Zayn told the frantic boy, sitting on his ankles, to prevent any kicking.

"It's for science!" Louis joked, beginning to roll up Harry's shirt.

Flashbacks of all the times Zayn tickled him, before it was known Zayn was a total freak and when he was the only target, surged through Harry's mind. Although Louis had only playfully tickled him before, nothing could compare to all the times he endured with Zayn. "Zayn's the better tickler!" the curly-haired lad blurted out, hoping to be set free.

"Of course I am," Zayn replied with a smirk, "but we can't just let you go, now that we have you!" With that, Zayn began to slowly drag his finger up one of the socked feet.

Harry begin shifting, which wasn't enough, but the light tickling at his feet was enough to get him going. Soon enough, he could feel Louis' fingers digging deeply into his sides, causing Harry to squeal with laughter.

"This is what you get for saying he's better than me!" Louis exclaimed with mock anger, beginning to move over to Harry's stomach.

"Nohohoho!" I'm sohohorry!" Harry tried pushing away Louis' hands with his own, but the older boy was simply too fast.

"Why're you sorry?" Zayn asked Harry, beginning to tickle his other foot as well. "Were you lying to me?"

"Nohoho!" Harry repeated, desperately squirming underneath the boys. "I swear! Ahahahaha!"

Despite the fact he was being tickled relentlessly, in the very depths of his mind, Harry did think about who was the better tickler. Zayn had already proven to everyone in the group that he was a monster tickler, but what about Louis? The oldest was already doing a good job at tickling, since Harry could barely feel anything down at his feet, compared to what Louis was doing, but Harry was fully aware that Zayn could easily turn things around, if the past four years of being tickled by the raven meant anything.

"One, two, three," Louis counted as he tickled Harry's ribs, even though they're no longer visible anymore.

Meanwhile, Zayn had moved on to removing one of Harry's socks, tossing it to one side of the room. He began speeding up a bit, fingers sliding over the smooth sole, as well as the socked one.

"Guhuhuys! Plehehehease!" Harry pleaded, his struggling beginning to increase, along with his gasps for air.

Throughout the laughter, Harry began to notice something. Although Louis was still the main cause for his laughter, the curly-haired lad noticed that he was starting to become desensitized to Louis' tickling. On the other hand, as Zayn began to amp the tickling, sensations from his feet became more noticeable. Plus, the amount of pressure Zayn applied to the skin was just right, compared to Louis, who dug in way too deep. It still tickled like hell, though.

By now, Zayn had stripped both feet bare. The Bradford boy began to focus mainly on the heel because from past years experience, Harry was most ticklish there on his feet. "Just tell us who's the better tickler and we'll let you go!"

"Gahahaha! Stahahahap! " Harry wanted to just shout out a random name, but he knew he'd end up aggravating the other, which would just get the other to tickle him later.

Louis stopped for a second and tuned to Zayn. "Hey, mind handing me that feather you were using earlier?"

"Heh, you learned." Zayn suspended the tickling, giving Harry a much needed breather, and made a reach for the feather. After giving Louis the feather, he turned around and instead of focusing Harry's feet, he began to squeeze at the younger lad's kneecaps.

Louis smiled devishly, twirling the feather between his fingers. He began to slide the tool gracefully along Harry's collarbone.

At the touch of the soft feather, Harry let out a shriek, followed by an outpour of intensified laughter. Unlike most people's ticklish spots, Harry laughed the most at his neck, especially with lighter touches.

Down at Harry's legs, Zayn began to squeeze at Harry's hypersensitive thighs. "Ready to talk yet, Hazza?"

"AHAHAHAHAHA! PLEHEHEHEASE!" Harry begged, no longer having the strength to try and fight the tickling.

"I'm taking that as a 'no'," Louis said with a smirk, pretending to paint secret messages with the feather.

Harry blinked his green eyes, his vision beginning to become blurry and his forehead sweaty. A churning feeling started up in his stomach, feeling his lungs begin to constrict. "CAHAHAHANT! BREHEHEHEATHE!"

Louis felt a smack to his back, causing him to turn around. "What?!"

"Drop it," Zayn said, pointing at the feather.

Louis sighed with discontent. "He's probably faking it."

Zayn quirked an eyebrow, surprised that Louis would dare challenge him. "I've tickled him enough in the past. We're done here."

Reluctantly, Louis got off of the exhausted boy, followed by Zayn. "He looks fine to me."

"You okay, Haz?" Zayn asked the younger lad, shooting a glare at Louis and lending a hand to Harry.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," Harry panted, taking Zayn's hand, lifting himself and sitting on the floor.

"Sorry for almost taking it too far again," Zayn chuckled, sitting on the floor next to Harry.

"It's cool," Harry replied, rubbing at his neck to rid himself of the ghost tickles.

Louis plopped down next to the two of them. "Wait, you never told us who's the better tickler!"

Harry bit his lip, not wanting to be in this kind of situation again. "Well, admittedly, Zayn."

A cheer came from the raven-haired lad, followed by a whine by the other.

"Anyway," Harry continued, "I'm no tickling expert, but there was something with the way he did it, if that even makes sense."

"You can't beat the tickle master," Zayn said proudly, shooting Louis a cocky smirk. "You obviously still need work."

"Well, if I still need work, then it's better that I practice my technique," Louis replied with a smug grin, beginning to approach the younger lad.

"And I think I can help," Harry added, matching Louis' grin.

---

Niall opened the door, a box of doughnuts in his hand. He was about to cry out for Harry, until he heard the uncontrollable laughter coming from upstairs. The blonde stood in place for a second, thinking about what to do. Deciding not to interfere, he stepped out, enjoying the doughnuts for himself.