Author's Note: Hello! So! Second attempt at a LAMP/CALM tickle fic! This fic is purely me self-projecting how I personally feel about tickling onto Roman. So if this fic isn't your thing, I understand, but this should give you some insight into how I view tickling or a tickle fixation. I had fun writing this fic! Although I'm not super proud of it, it's a fic. LAMP/CALM fics are haaarrrddddd. Also I should point out that this is a College AU. And Roman and Patton are roommates and so are Logan and Virgil. It has more tickle talk than actual tickling, so I hope you can forgive that. Otherwise, please enjoy this fic! :) <3

Cautious Confession

Ships: LAMP/CALM

Words ~ 2472 ~

Warnings: Embarrassment.

~~~~~

     It was common knowledge that everyone had their own set of guilty pleasures. Whether it be a sweet tooth or frequent rewatching of a certain television show, everyone had odd quirks that allowed them to escape from the hardships of life. Roman Prince was no exception, as he too had his own guilty pleasure. But, his was a bit more uncommon and perhaps looked down upon. In fact, it was so uncommon he was actually ashamed of what he did to make himself happy. No there was nothing inappropriate involved. All Roman would do after a tough day at school, is sit at his computer, open up YouTube and watch tickle scene after tickle scene. It made him happy as he watched the characters giggle and squeal in glee at the feathers or fingers tickling their various spots, and he'd often fantasize about being in their place.

       But, the reality of tickling in the world that Roman lived in was that not very many people liked it. And those who did kept quiet in fear of extensive torturing and teasing that their peers might exhibit, if the truth were found out. Roman did like those ideas to a degree, however he was more afraid of the judgement he would get from those he loved. Most specifically his three boyfriends: Logan, Patton, and Virgil. Patton was most comfortable with physical touch out of the other two and would give hugs when necessary. Roman had thought about telling him two separate times in their relationship, but when it came to the confession coming out of his lips, the words consistently kept getting stuck in his throat.

       So here he was again, smiling at his computer screen, and clutching his teddy bear wishing that someday he could open up about his fixation and the end result would be his boyfriends accepting him for how he is. He thought about it constantly. How each of his boyfriends might tickle him. Virgil with his cheesy grin, Logan and his decisive finger tips, then Patton with his hugs that could trap and tickle him. He had only ever heard of tickle hugs online and it would be a dream come true to receive one from Patton.

       Roman honestly thought that all his dreams would stay dreams, until one day he came upon a tumblr post with a lot of different ways to come out to people that weren't verbal proclamations. Now everyone knew he was gay, but these situations could directly apply to him wanting to tell others he liked tickling. He couldn't talk about tickling because it was just too much blushing and nervousness for him, but if he could set up one of these situations, his boyfriends might understand without the pain of a verbal explanation!

       It was brilliant, Roman decided, and he surfed through the several different options available on that post. His eyes finally settled on one he thought would work best. Virgil and Logan often use Roman's laptop for projects and recreation because his has the fastest internet connection. The situation Roman chose required him to leave something open on his laptop so when someone else came to use it, they would see whatever the person chose to leave up.

       Roman got to work on what he wanted them to see and about three days later he finished it. There were angry butterflies flying in his tummy when Virgil asked to borrow his laptop again. Roman forced himself to stay calm as he opened the document, then closed the laptop, and handed it to Virgil who was currently standing in the doorway of his college dorm.

       "Here." Roman climbed off his top bunk and set it safely in Virgil's hands.

       "Thanks Princey. Me and Lo will be done with it in about an hour." He smiled and took off down the hall to his own dorm that he shared with Logan.

       "Take your time!" Roman called after him and promptly rushed back up to his bunk and buried his face in his pillow, screaming for a solid five minutes before his nerves finally settled down. He would hear the outcome soon enough and it was best not to tire himself out. Especially, if his little project worked like he wanted it to.

       Virgil carefully carried the laptop in his arms into his room and shut the door. "Hey Lo. I got it."

       "Wonderful!" The nerd was at his desk, tinkering with a model airplane Patton had given him for Christmas the year before. "So, you needed help with finding sources for your twelve page report on Ancient Greece?"

       "Yeah." Virgil set the laptop on Logan's desk and pulled up a chair next to him. "History degrees aren't going to write themselves."

       "Haha. You are starting to sound like your professor." Logan began opening the desktop and Virgil watched as he began typing in Roman's password when the screen came on. As it logged them in, they were a little shocked to see a document open in front of them instead of Roman's Disney wallpaper.

WAIT! DONT CLOSE THIS DOCUMENT! LOGAN AND VIRGIL PLEASE READ BELOW

       Virgil read the sentence out loud after a moment passes. "Huh? What?"

       "Hmm..." Logan hummed. "This is strange. Roman never asks us to read anything, unless it's a make believe script he's written." Logan used the mouse to scrolled down to the next page and they were both met with a humongous wall of text.

       "How many pages is it?" Logan hovered the cursor next to the scroll bar.

       "Only three."

       "That's definitely not a script."

       "No..."

       "Should I-Can I read it?"

       "Go ahead Virgil." Virgil began to read out loud.

Hello my wonderful boyfriends! I know you are both probably confused as to why I'm talking to you in a random, jumbled letter, but I want to start out by saying nothing is wrong. Nothing at all! I've just been trying to tell you two and Patton about something I've kept under lock and key the whole time we've been together, but everytime I try, I can't speak. I get too embarrassed to share this part of me out loud with words, so I thought that this would be a better way for me to get this...this odd thing across."

       Virgil stopped for a second. "So like...he's confessing something?"

       "It seems to be that way." Logan replied.

       "He knows he can tell us anything right?"

       "I'm sure he does, yet some people have trouble formulating what they want to say into words."

       "Makes sense. I'm going to keep reading." Virgil picked up where he left off.

Every time I tried to talk or tell you about it, my words get caught in my throat and I can't speak about it. I usually divert the conversation to a different topic, or say something else so it doesn't look like the noble Roman is lost for words, but I have been. I'm just afraid that when I tell you, you are going to judge or worse tease me with malintent. There's this part of me that I want to share with all three of you, but the reality is...I'm scared. Scared that you will all look at me differently, or treat me differently. So before you continue onto the next page, please swear to yourselves, that what I am going to tell you won't affect our friendship, relationship, or how we interact.

       "Ugh! Just tell us already Roman!" Virgil impatiently scrolled to the next page without Logan's prompting.

       "So! I'm going to come out and type it! I like tickling! No like...really REALLY like tickling. Ever since I was three, tickle scenes had always been my favorite parts in movies, and I would consistently hide behind the couch whenever my mother or brother would tease me about it."

       Virgil stared at the screen. "Wait...that's it? That's what he was building up to?" Logan smiled as Virgil swiped the scroll bar up and down, seemingly looking for a bigger anouncement.

        "As hard as it is not to tease, that is adorable." Virgil felt his own grin began to take shape on his face.

       "I'll say." He continued reading.

It's been something I think about everyday, even while I'm with you guys. I have to admit, I've always loved being tickled by the ones I loved and you three are no exception. I know you two aren't big on physical touch, but I promise not to tickle you two back if you don't want me to. And if you don't accept me-

       "Oh for crying out loud Roman!" Virgil stopped reading and stood up from his chair, practically running out of the dorm room.

       "Virgil wait!" Logan stopped him. "Roman has never felt the need to tell us something this way before. He's going to be a little embarrassed, if not scared about how we might react. He might not want to be tickled or teased right away." Logan then calmly walked with Virgil towards Roman and Patton's shared dorm room. "We need to let him know that we are okay with it first, before we do anything."

       "Alright alright alright. You're right specs, like usual." Logan gave a smile.

       Roman was still in his bed, wondering what was going on in the other room. He could only speculate, until he heard a calculated double knock with Logan's voice on the other end.

       "Roman?" Roman squeaked and buried his head in his pillow.

       "Y-you can come in!" He yelled through the cushion and slowly the door creaked open. Roman didn't dare look at his two boyfriends in the eyes when he entered, but when it was quiet, he stole a glance. It was just like he had pictured in his dreams. Logan had that soft, reassuring smile, and Virgil wore a mischievous threatening grin that could wreck him just by looking his direction. Roman squeaked a little louder this time and buried his face back in the pillow.

       "Awwww..." Virgil cooed gently and creeped up to the side of his bunk bed. Roman quickly scooted towards the wall and hid underneath the mass amount of pillows he had accumulated over the years. They both could tell he was blushing.

       "Roman. It's quite alright that you enjoy being tickled. I am sorry that you felt as if he wouldn't accept you after you told us that information."

       "Yeah, Ro." Virgil dropped his grin for a loving smile, and Roman knew he was loved, regardless of what happened next. "You can tell us anything. I honestly can't believe you kept it secret this long. Wait so...every time you are smiling at your computer...you were watching tickling videos?" Roman peeked his head out and nodded gently. "God you are too cute Ro."

        His head instantly withdrew from view back under his blankets again. "Do I need to tickle you out?"

        "ACK! No no no! I'm up I'm up!" Roman sat upright on his bed and looked at them with the brightest blush ever. Logan chuckled and walked up next to Virgil.

       "So...like..." Virgil began. "What are your favorite tickle spots?" Roman could not stop the blush from burning his face.

       "Wh-why would I tell you that?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

       "A challenge, hm? I quite enjoy challenges." Roman just kept squeaking because how they were teasing him was exactly how he had imagined it.

       "Why don't you come down and we'll give you all the ticklings you missed out on over the years we have been boyfriends?" Virgil teased and Roman swallowed the lump in his throat and began to climb down his bunk bed ladder. Just as he reached the ground though, the door opened. In walked Patton, who had just gotten back from class.

       "Awww! This is a nice surprise! Glad to see my three favorite people hanging out together."

       "Hey Pat!" Virgil was suddenly distracted and ran to give his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips.

       "Hello Virgeypoo! And Logy bear! Where's my kiss?" Logan embraced the smaller bespectacled college student.

      "Right here." He kissed him in the same spot Virgil had.

       "Awww! And Roman too! Say, you look a little rosy in the cheeks. Were you teasing him?" Virgil cleared his throat.

       "Actually, Roman has something he wants to tell you." Roman whined and hid his face in his hands. All this talk of his fixation was really getting to him. Don't get him wrong, he was happy, but he was a little overwhelmed.

       "Oh! Did you two actually find out he likes to be tickled?" Roman was floored.

       "Wha-a? You knew!?" Patton giggled and walked up to him, wrapping him in a hug.

       "You really aren't that secretive. I can sometimes hear the tickling videos from your headphones, or your little squeaks when something really adorable happens. I've known for almost two months now. I figured you would tell me when you're ready." He kissed him on the cheek, not missing how he flinched a little bit as if waiting for an oncoming attack.

       "W-well...I'm ready." Roman gave a shaky smile and nestled into Patton's hug. "I told them via a word document, because I was too scared to tell them in person." Patton pouted gently.

       "Aww...Ro, what made you think we were going to judge you for having such a cute fixation?" Virgil stepped forward.

       "That's what I was just saying. We'll love you no matter what." Virgil advanced slightly.

       "Exactly!" Patton agreed and gently fluttered his fingers along Roman's sides, making him giggle gently.

       "See? Cute and adorable!"

       "Actually Patton." Logan interjected. "I and Virgil were in the process of giving Roman all the tickles he had missed out over the years of us not knowing. Would you like to help?" Patton's eyes gleamed with happiness.

       "Absolutely!" Roman squeaked and tried to run away, but Patton didn't let him get far.

       "Ohohoho! Where do you think you're going, Princey?" Virgil rushed to help gently pin their boyfriend on the ground.

       Logan sat on his legs and poised his hands over his kneecaps. "You said you didn't want to tell us where your tickle spots were, correct? Well, we will be taking a trip to tickle town today, since we need to experience this for ourselves." Roman couldn't hide his blush anymore and it was the best he had ever felt in a long time.

       Patton rested his hands on his sides while Virgil held his arms down. "How about a safe word so you don't feel overwhelmed?" Roman was very thankful Patton had brought this up. The last thing he wanted was to be overwhelmed by tickles.

       "Y-yes please? Is 'red' good?"

       "Red is perfect." Virgil agreed and he shared the agreement with the other two boyfriends on top of the very ticklish Roman.

       "Are we ready?" Once everyone including Roman nodded, Logan cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Let's begin."

~~~~~

Author's Note Part 2: So yeah! That's how I personally react to people finding out about my tickle fixation, and how I wish people would take a tickle fixation. There is so much kinky stipulations surrounding it, but there really shouldn't be at all. I get that it could be sexual, but it doesn't have to be. And that's why I write these stories, to emphasize the playfulness of the tickling rather the sexual aspect of what it could be. Alright, that's it. I'm tired and I'm gonna go to bed. Take it easy everyone. Ttyl! Ceffy out! <3