Human Anatomy 102
by
Mo
Caller abandoned his clothes and ran for the exit.
Rhiezek whispered a few words and easily threw a spell at him - a giant ball of light shot out of his fingers after the human and enclosed him completely, trapping him and lifting him into the air. More whispered words and the light surged and re-formed - most of its mass disappeared, save for bands of the light that wrapped around Caller's wrists, elbows, forehead, neck, chest, waist, thighs, knees, and ankles. Rhiezek frowned and mumbled once more, and two tiny bands appeared on the human's big toes as well. A small square of light had formed over Caller's mouth and was muffling whatever the human was trying to say.
The students stared, shocked. Rhiezek smiled at them and waved them over. "It's all right, students. He's all right. You'll learn to do this too, eventually. He looks upset but he knows perfectly well that he's going to be fine."
Caller did look upset. At the moment the bands held him in a slightly relaxed position, several feet off the ground, and he was writhing as much as he was able. His eyes were large and frightened but mostly he looked pissed off. His gagged mouth made unceasing muffled cries of protest.
Rhiezek went to him and Caller immediately froze, tense. Rhiezek ran his fingers through the human's black hair, earning another suspicious look. "It's all right, little Caller. They won't hurt you. I'm looking out for you, kid. And you need to be at the Circle by the eighteenth chime, so this won't take more than... say... four hours?" At this the young man's eyes went wide again and he thrashed wilder than ever. "Heh. You thought that was the worst, did you? Me poking you and teasing? Allow me to demonstrate to the contrary."
"Tigna..."
"Yes, Davtafkil?"
"What is your lesson? I don't wish to harm your human." The other students murmured agreement.
"I don't want you to harm him, either. Trust me on this. In fact, I'll be watching closely to make sure you don't. We're going to learn something valuable about human vulnerability today, though. Please step closer. Don't look so concerned! Here's a secret: he actually likes this. All this tantrum-throwing over here is just for show."
A muted bellow suggested otherwise.
"Now. Watch closely. I've been telling you that his skin is very soft and thin, correct? That's part of the reason you need to be careful with your human. It's very easy to hurt them. But pain can be a welcome distraction for what I have in mind."
The young dragons looked puzzled. Rhiezek said, "You recall all the amusing twitches and squirms Caller demonstrated earlier, as I was showing you his body. I'm going to show you how to drive a human out of his mind without causing him a moment's pain. He would do anything not to feel this, which is why I have to immobilize him - like this." He waved his hand at the Caller, and the bands flared and stretched his body out. Now his arms were held straight over his head, his belly was pushed slightly forward, and his legs were spread apart. Caller was motionless, unable even to wiggle. The muffled yelling continued.
"I suppose we'll start at the top again, eh Caller?" Rhiezek placed one finger on the human's elbow and drew it slowly downwards. Caller broke out in gooseflesh. "All right. You can see he's already starting to twitch. There is something, apparently unique to humans, something that they almost never talk about. It is a sensation that comes from the lightest touch to the skin, and the feeling is amplified when they are immobilized and can't get away. Caller would desperately like to get away right now, wouldn't you, kid?" Caller's eyes were glued to Rhiezek's fingers. The dragon chuckled.
"This... is called... tickling," Rhiezek said.
He brought all his fingers down all the way and began wiggling them gently in the taut hollow under his arm. Caller jerked and began laughing immediately, helplessly. His master's lips twitched into a smirk. "Caller's ultimate weakness. I can't confirm this reaction of every human, although I'm told it is universal. Only Caller is mine to torture. Someday when you have your own human you can experiment and report back to me. Anyway, about tickling...
"The sensation is pleasurable and maddening at the same time. He's laughing because of the pleasure, but the overwhelming intensity of tickling alarms his brain and causes him to fight it. He can't ignore it, he can't resist it.
"Please return to your mist forms." The young dragons obeyed, moving uncertainly. Rhiezek watched them, still lightly tickling his apprentice, who giggled and shivered pitifully. "Good. Now. I will briefly show you how it is done, and then you will take over. Watch closely."
He turned to his victim. "Light stroking is the key. If you apply touch too roughly, it will begin to register as pain, which we don't want. After a while he'll get worked up to the point where you can apply more pressure without damaging him, but gentle at first. It's almost impossible to miss - Caller here is just a bundle of nerves, especially now that I've got him a bit excited already."
Rhiezek started in on the other armpit. Caller fought mightily against the glowing bands but was powerless to move. The dragon alternated between dragging his fingers over twitching flesh and wiggling them gently in circles. "Try not to stay in any patterns while you're tickling him. It drives him crazy if he can't predict it...he can't brace himself for impact."
"He, uh... he looks like he's crazy from it already, Tigna..." ventured one of the mist dragons. The alarm they displayed before was being replaced by fascination.
"Wait till you see him an hour from now! But you're right. Caller can't think about anything at all right now except how much this is tickling him. He can't block it, he can't make his mind 'go away,' all he can do is feel the tickling and laugh about it. He's certainly trying to fight the sensation, but his defenses are feeble."
He kept one hand in an armpit and allowed the other to drift down the young man's chest, tweaking one of the nipples along the way and earning a squeaky yelp before settling on the belly.
"This is my personal favorite place to tickle. I get a kick out of seeing his belly shake." Although Caller's stomach was flat and lean, the soft flesh there was quaking from his ceaseless laughter. Caller was able to buck a little against his bonds and did so now, attempting to throw off Rhiezek's relentless tickling fingers. "Remember his belly button? When it's your turn, I want you to try it yourself."
Rhiezek removed both hands from Caller's body.
The human stopped laughing and just panted. He was just starting to sweat, and he hadn't been tickled enough yet to keep him from shooting a murderous look at his mentor, who continued talking obliviously.
"There are four major places where all humans seem to be ticklish - armpits, sides, belly, and feet. Most are responsive in other areas as well - Caller, at least, is sensitive pretty much everywhere if you have enough time. I'd like you to find them all. So here is your lab assignment for today: I want you, all of you, to reduce Caller to a quivering ball of ticklish laughter. Materials provided are feathers, paintbrushes (which function similar to feathers - you'll learn the different responses quickly enough), and oiled gloves. The gloves are to help you keep the form of your hands - plus I've noticed they lend a psychological edge to the game.
"Safety rules are as follows: if I tell you to stop, you must stop immediately. We are taking advantage of Caller's weakness here. He is completely helpless and we are responsible for every sensation he feels. I will be closely watching his health as you tickle him, and when I sense real fatigue or pain I will tell you about it and expect you to stop, no matter how much fun you're having. Anyone who fails to stop after the second warning will receive a failing grade for today's class. Also, you may not touch his genitals. You have not earned the trust required to stimulate that area. The penalty is the same for this transgression. Please retrieve your tools now."
Caller had recovered and was yelling something. Probably swearing at Rhiezek.
The mist dragons had collected the tools as asked, and the sight of the transparent, hazy arms ending in seemingly empty gloves appeared to fill Caller with horror. The gloves and other tools assembled themselves around Caller's outstretched body and waited.
Rhiezek wore a wicked smirk on his face as he looked into Caller's terrified eyes. "I'm going to remove the gag so Caller will have enough air - he'll need it all. He'll probably start swearing; if this offends you, ignore him. Soon he won't have breath enough to talk. I'll repeat the objective: tickle Caller until he is delirious with laughter. Twenty extra credit points if you can find his worst spot. You have four hours. Begin."
There was a brief pause as the young dragons wavered uncertainly. Then one reached out and scraped the taut soles of Caller's feet.
The gag vanished as Caller gasped and began cursing, as predicted. They began to tickle him in earnest, a bit unimaginatively at first. Two hands were attacking each arm - one stroked the biceps, while another scraped at the armpits. Fingers were pinching gently at his nipples while others seemed to be fascinated with poking his ribs. As suggested, someone was flicking his navel with a feather, and many fingers had begun sliding up and down his thighs. A few experimental ones were stroking his soles with the brushes and feathers.
Rhiezek put his hand to his forehead and cringed at the unsophisticated tickling. Well, it's their first time, he told himself. You have to let them learn! But the agony of watching without acting was already agitating him. He could really put that kid through hell, he knew. He had resigned himself to watching out for Caller's safety and not participating, but a perfect opportunity was being wasted! Caller was only laughing reflexively; he wasn't really being worked over.
"Geh-heeheehee, you fuh-HAHAfucker, R-r-rhieze-heh-heh-heeek! I f-fucking HEEHEE I fucking h-hate you! I hate you so f-fucking much AH HAAHAA STOPPITSTOPPIT STOP! HAHAHEE STOPPIT I'LL K-KILL YOU," as someone accidentally found a good spot - the crevice where thigh met lower abdomen, as it happened.
Oh, hell... he thought, forget it. I can't resist.
"Students - no, don't stop, but listen anyway. Here's a few tips: try wiggling your fingers individually, and move everything quicker. He needs a stimulation overload. If he can register what's happening to him, then he's not being properly tickled. The more surface area covered, the more - ah, yes, that's - that's much better."
The string of curses broken by laughter was reversed to continuous laughter punctuated by the hollered swearing. "Perfect," Rhiezek said to himself, smiling. He leaned back and half-closed his eyes, allowing the sound to wash over him.
Nendeest had figured out how much it drove Caller crazy to have his hips very lightly brushed with the soft edge of a feather - five extra credit points to that one, he thought, it had taken Rhiezek an hour to find that the first time. The feathers danced over the young man's skin, eliciting screams as Caller strained to move his body away from his tormentors and failed. It'll be a pretty long time before you can break out of one of my spells, kiddo.
Lanyik seemed to have claimed the feet, and was shimmering with delight as he watched the desperately squirming toes wiggle and spasm as the gloved fingers danced over Caller's bare soles. One called Plektizy was staring in fascination at the violent bucking that resulted when the edge of his ribcage was kneaded with the thumbs of the gloves. Others had mastered the dragging motion of the brushes down the arms and into the armpits - this sent Caller into convulsions every time, something about the soft hairs on the brush just made him nuts.
Now that Caller wasn't able to pay attention to his surroundings, Rhiezek allowed an affectionate smile to replace the evil grin he used to terrorize the human. Yes, he loved to drive his apprentice into complete submission, to destroy his will by using this simultaneously gentle and brutal method. And yes, he also liked to do this just because it was vastly entertaining to watch Caller squirm and shriek in ticklishness. But really his biggest kick came from seeing the helpless grin on his human's face. He never stopped laughing, no matter how long he was tickled, not unless he actually passed out. He couldn't help it, he couldn't stop it. All the bravado, the machismo, the bluff and attitude was gone, wiped away and replaced by that charming, completely unrestrained laughter. Such an easy mirth, such clear enjoyment... Caller had explained, vehemently, that no matter how it looked, tickling was actually agony, but Rhiezek didn't buy it.
The "agony" was certainly just embarrassment over the vulnerability, and perhaps fear of that level of powerlessness. But Rhiezek could think of no evolutionary reason that anyone would laugh when in serious agony. And he thought it was quite endearing that the human's greatest weakness was this helpless joy, when all defenses were shut off and Caller could be excited to this extreme.
After that first, bewildering time - Rhiezek had been completely unprepared for the violence of Caller's reaction, and had been utterly convinced that he was killing his apprentice. He was confused by the frantic laughter combined with powerful attempts to get away. The hate-filled, sincere-sounding curses, filled with rage and despair, when all signs showed that his body was filled with pleasure. The first time had not been enjoyable for the dragon - it was horrifying, but doggedly he continued. Not sure when he should stop, he continued after the curses turned to pleading, after Caller had lost his voice, after he was too weak to even squirm, until the young man's eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness. Rhiezek had stopped then, shocked, and quickly began coaxing Caller back: bathing his fevered skin, massaging his sore and stretched limbs - anything he could think of.
Finally, Caller had come around, had accepted the proffered water silently, and had sat, utterly broken, staring at the floor in shame. Rhiezek, almost light-headed with relief that he hadn't killed his apprentice, had the presence of mind not to reveal his delight and instead marveled aloud at the change in Caller's character. Caller flinched and said nothing. Rhiezek had demanded an explanation - what had the ordeal felt like? What, exactly, did tickling do to Caller?
Caller at first refused to answer, but when threatened with another ordeal twice as long, he reluctantly described it.
"It's... I... hate it. I can't make it stop. I want you to fucking stop it so much but you don't, and I can't...I can't get away from it. You just...you just keep tickling and I can't move. The... the feathers, they didn't stop. You know? I...Master, I'm ticklish and I can't...aw, fuck. I don't know." It was the first time, ever, that Caller had called Rhiezek his master, and the significance did not escape the dragon.
He repeated himself a lot and couldn't seem to put his finger on what bothered him so much about the actual tickling - he only emphasized how awful it was not to be able to escape. Rhiezek had drawn his own conclusions from this and his own observations - it was the intensity of the pleasure that alarmed his human, and his inability to control the sensation. So, nothing that would actually harm his apprentice. Rhiezek was pleased to have discovered a way to have complete power over Caller, and the next time he had the human tied down, the dragon enjoyed himself much more - and continued to enjoy himself with each session after that.
Back in the present, Rhiezek's smile deepened as he heard what he was waiting for - that special, squeaky gasping punctuated by the occasional wild shout of laughter, the sound that Caller made when his worst spot was being attacked just right. Someone had found it -
"Backs of the legs, Tigna, from just beneath the 'ass' to midthigh. Worst with dragging fingers."
"Excellent, Shenfaum. Twenty points, as promised."
The other students groaned, and let up on tickling. Caller, wild-eyed, looked desperately relieved.
"Students, the objective is not complete just because Shenfaum has found the worst spot. Please direct your annoyance to Caller and continue your lab."
Caller had just enough time to shoot Rhiezek a furious look - he appeared to be ready to swear, but his words were quickly turned to howls of laughter as the students attacked him with renewed enthusiasm, now clamoring to torture this new discovery, this worst spot - dragging the gloved fingers down his thighs and wiggling them back up to ass again.
Rhiezek leaned back again and listened to the myriad sounds issuing from his apprentice. Howls, squeals, a very entertaining squeaking yip, the occasional curses, and the old standby - plain helpless laughter. When Rhiezek was in control, the ordeal was silent save for his own spoken taunts - Caller usually didn't even have the breath or energy to laugh aloud, reduced to merely gasping for enough air. The range of noise the human could make was truly impressive.
Ah - wait. There was the noise he was listening for. A slight catch in the human's laughter, and a faint wheezing as he sucked air into his lungs.
"All right, class - please stop now. Caller needs a break."
The students stopped obediently but with obvious reluctance - Rhiezek understood. It was difficult to make oneself stop tickling. He walked over, carrying a water bottle with him. He waited for a moment, surveying his human.
Caller's eyes were closed and his chest was heaving. His mouth lay partly open as he tried to catch his breath. His face - actually, his entire body - was soaked with sweat, and tears and a small amount of drool covered his face. Rhiezek politely offered the water bottle, and Caller swallowed the cool liquid down greedily.
"No, don't gulp, Caller - you'll make yourself sick, and even if you do it won't put off the students' lab. I'll just clean it off and tack an extra half hour to the total time for the trouble."
Caller rolled his eyes over to glower at his master. Rhiezek beamed benevolently and dampened a cloth with water from the bottle, and briefly wiped the human's face with it. "Caller - all humans - need a break now and again, students. You can actually tickle someone to death otherwise. He was having difficulty breathing and needed a moment to catch his breath. Also, he had a pain in his side from laughing so hard, and -"
"...and pain is a distraction from the tickling, right, Tigna?"
Nendeest again. That one had the makings of a truly sadistic tickler. Rhiezek pitied his future human.
"Right. Luckily, as Mage of an Unspecified Tier of Magic... I can easily..." as he spoke he pressed a finger into the sore place on Caller's side, murmuring the words of the spell and dissipating the pain. "...Heal him. There. He's ready for action again! Good thing I can speed your recovery, eh, Caller?"
"Y-you... f-fuck, fucking... bastard, R-rhiezek, I'll..."
"Resume, students," and Caller shrieked as the fingers began wiggling up and down his body again.
The hours dragged on for Caller and Rhiezek both - Rhiezek found that he disliked merely watching the show. He longed to participate! To shake his annoyance and boredom, he called out ideas as they came to him.
Rhiezek said that there was a certain place on Caller's body where, if tickled correctly, could compel the human's hair to change color. A gross untruth, but this was the first day of Human Anatomy so the students didn't know any better. And they of course didn't believe Caller's enraged bellowing that Rhiezek was a goddamn fucking liar. After twenty minutes he admitted the lie, to everyone's amusement but Caller's.
He told Caller that he could walk away completely free, immediately, if and only if he could sing "The Maids in Spring are Sprightly Things" from beginning to end - and ten points to the entire class if they could keep him from finishing it. Only tickling lightly, in the interest of fair play. It didn't matter because Caller only sang about one and a half wavering lines before dissolving into giggles and cursing them all - feathers were all it took to break him completely. Regular tickling resumed forthwith.
Then he challenged the students to tickle Caller hard enough that he didn't have breath enough to curse for ten solid minutes - after several failed attempts, they managed it. It took around forty minutes altogether, since Caller couldn't seem to stop himself from swearing whenever he had the chance. "You've got to watch your fucking language, Caller," Rhiezek told him, earning a look of - was he imagining things? - amused annoyance before the students started in on him again.
He offered ten bonus points to the entire class if they could "coax" Caller into confessing the name of the girl he had a crush on - their only failure, as no amount of ruthless tickling managed to extract the answer from him. Rhiezek was secretly pleased with Caller's triumph and privately vowed to wheedle the girl in question into participating in the reproductive education part of the class as a reward.
Finally Rhiezek announced that the four hours were up, and ordered his class to step away from the exhausted human. They did so, peering curiously at his shiny, red face and heaving chest. Rhiezek spoke to the bands holding Caller in place, ordering them to dissipate, while still keeping the young man floating in the air. Although he was free, Caller made no effort to escape - he was simply too tired, though he did manage to curl up slightly. Rhiezek again held the water to his lips and bathed his face. Caller could barely keep his eyes open.
The dragon mage brushed the soaking hair from his face and chucked him under the chin. "Thank you, Caller, you're a good sport."
With a supreme effort of will, and with his eyes still closed, Caller murmured, softly: "Go to hell, Rhiezek."
Ah, the dragon was proud of his apprentice. Four hours of twelve pairs of hands relentlessly tickling him and Caller still had the spirit to curse his tormentor to the very end. As his master, of course, Rhiezek felt it his duty to constantly test and strengthen his apprentice - it pleased him to see this thin excuse for tickling the man senseless be justified.
He spoke again in the arcane tongue and touched Caller's forehead briefly. The human went limp immediately, unconscious at last. Rhiezek left him alone and turned to his students.
"Well done, class - full credit for today, and extra credit where due. I hope that, as fun as it was, you did actually learn something about human vulnerability today."
"Yes, Tigna," they chorused, transforming to their solid dragon forms. They couldn't keep their eyes off the sleeping Caller. Lanyik spoke up.
"Tigna Rhiezek, you did not enhance him in any way? That truly is all it takes to break a human?"
"That's it. Unless something's actually wrong with their nervous system, they all fall prey to the feather."
"Tigna Rhiezek," spoke up another dragon, "Did he...was Caller aware that we... that you would be...?"
"He knew. I think he was hoping it would end at the lecture portion of the class, though of course it didn't. But you noticed, I hope, that he came anyway, of his own free will. And in spite of his griping, he made no serious attempt to leave. He does as I tell him - he fears me like he fears no one else. And I intend to keep it that way.
"Now," he said sternly, "Caller will not be present next time - don't give me those looks, he has his own work to do. I will be erasing your presence during lab from Caller's memory. He will only recall you being present when I was teasing him before. He will remember the last four hours as me tickling him, and I suggest that you do not say or do anything to remind him otherwise. He can be a vengeful little bastard," he said this with a fond glance, "and I need him to focus on his studies for a while at least. You will have another opportunity to tickle him before this class is over. Now, please, I need you to clear out. I have to clean up the little scamp and let him recover before he leaves for the Circle."
The dragons filed out after bowing their heads respectfully. They all cast backward glances at Caller - Rhiezek had retrieved his human and was carrying him towards an exit in the back of the cave.
"Tigna Rhiezek's a genius," Nendeest declared. "I can believe that Caller's scared of him. We really put him through hell today!"
"I dunno. They seemed pretty close, don't you think?" Lanyik was considering the affectionate way Rhiezek had teased his apprentice.
The dragons argued back and forth on their way to their next class - a boring, required Advanced Theory of Magic class, which couldn't possibly be as exciting as tickling Caller had been. Each of them looked forward to the next time Rhiezek decided they could help discipline his human, but even more than that they looked forward to the day when they would each have a human of their own to keep - and train.
by
Mo
01feb07