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In all his twenty-eight years of life, getting a tattoo had never been something on his to-do list. Maybe it was to do with the way he was raised, being told that tattoos were a sign of unprofessionalism and did he really want something on his skin forever? Professionalism had long stopped being an issue for Sykkuno, he was sure his Twitch audience would go nuts at even the idea of a tattoo. So really, the only thing that had been holding him back so far was the second point: what in his life did he care so much about that he would get it inked into his skin forever?
Ramen noodles had been a strong contender in his college days.
But no, he’d never truly considered getting one. At least, not until now.
“You ever wanted a tattoo Sy?” Corpse had asked, the two of them sprawled out on their bed. He had been running his hand up and down the length of Sykkuno’s arm, softly stroking the smooth span of skin there. As he asked, his fingers lingered on the curve of his forearm, gently rubbing the area.
“Not really,” Sykkuno replied. He laid on his side, one arm curled into Corpse’s chest and the other raised up slightly as Corpse fiddled with it.
Corpse hummed in response, fingers still delicately grazing the skin there. “Do you want to get one?”
“I dunno Corpse, I wouldn’t mind it. I just don’t know what I’d get it of,” he shrugged slightly in response.
Corpse took in his response, mulling it over in his mind. A few seconds passed, and suddenly his hand stilled.
“We could get matching tattoos,” he let out, trying to seem as casual as possible. Sykkuno could easily see past his façade of nonchalance, into the way his hand was shaking ever so slightly, and how he was nervously avoiding eye contact, instead opting to look down at the bedsheets.
Sykkuno had never been against tattoos per se, but he sure as hell hadn’t expected to ever get one either. Yet Corpse’s suggestion didn’t surprise nor scare him as much as it should have – instead, he found that the prospect excited him. He finally had something, someone, who he cared about enough to forever make a part of him. It didn’t hurt that the inverse applied as well; Corpse cared about him just as much, that he was certain of. Forever was a long time, but Sykkuno was sure of it.
Somehow, that notion of certainty scared him more than the actual tattoo, but that was something he’d learnt to deal with.
“Yeah?” he humoured the idea, careful not to let judgement creep into his tone alas he scared Corpse away.
“Yeah,” Corpse said in response, slowly nodding his head.
And so it was set: they’d get matching tattoos.
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Turns out, deciding on getting the tattoos was the easiest part of the whole ordeal. Deciding on what they were actually going to get them of – well, that was an entire new problem. They’d be sitting on the couch binging a show, or standing by the counter waiting for their breakfast, when one of them would pipe up with a suggestion. Yet each time, the suggestion would quickly be shot down.
“Hey Sykkuno, how about our Among Us icons?”
“Uhh, should we really get generic video game characters from 2 years ago tattooed on us forever?”
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“Corpse, would our names be too lame?”
“Sy, I’m pretty sure there’s a hundred teenage girls out there with my name tattooed. You deserve better y’know, something more unique.”
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That was easier said than done. Both of them wanted something unique, something special that they could tie back to each other without it being obnoxiously loud. The next few days morphed into the next few weeks, but they were still none the wiser on what they should get.
Corpse was sat at his desk, mindlessly scrolling through Twitter while waiting for his friends so he could start streaming. They were playing a brand-new game, with everyone in the group and the audience alike excited for it. He liked some fanart, replied to some of his friends, when suddenly a new tweet came to the top of his feed.
From the other room over, Sykkuno had just tweeted a simple “Can’t wait to play with my friends !!” Corpse smiled at the small gesture, and quickly replied with their regular black heart emoji. The tweet signalled to him that at least Sykkuno was set up and ready, so he put his phone aside and logged into the game.
He sat waiting, tapping on the tabletop as a soft smile grew on his face. That had a tendency to happen whenever he thought of the older man in the room across from him.
Then suddenly it hit: a black heart.
Over the past few years, it had become customary between the two of them to reply with a black heart emoji to each other’s tweets, whether it be in addition to another reply, or simply just the emoji. He’s sure their audiences have some ideas of its meaning, but more often than not it could slide as a platonic gesture. Only he and Sykkuno knew of its true meaning.
And to Corpse, that perfectly encapsulated what they had wanted in a tattoo: something public enough to show others that it was there, but private in a sense that only the two of them would really get it.
As excited as Corpse was to play the game, he couldn’t help but will time to speed up, if only so he could tell Sykkuno about his idea as soon as possible.
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Sykkuno had been just as ecstatic about the idea as Corpse, if not more.
“Corpse, it’s perfect! I can have it right on my wrist, and people will think it’s just a tattoo, but they won’t really know.”
At that, Corpse’s words caught in his throat. Sykkuno wanted his on his wrist? Corpse had decided long ago that he’d have his there as well, but for Sykkuno to do it would warrant a whole new set of expectations. It would be out there in the open for literally tens of thousands of people to see practically daily. At the thought, Corpse could feel a familiar warmth bubbling up within him, filling him up to the brim and making him feel weightless. He leaned forward and grabbed Sykkuno in a hug, quickly burying his head into the crook of his neck.
“I love you Sy,” he said, the words garbled by the soft material of Sykkuno’s hoodie. It was enough for Sykkuno to hear though, and he gripped onto Corpse equally as hard.
“I love you too,” he whispered. He was a little confused at Corpse’s sudden outburst, but he wouldn’t ever skip the opportunity to be as close to him as possible.
Because in Sykkuno’s mind, it had always been a no-brainer that the tattoo would be somewhere out in the open, a subtle proclamation of their love for everyone to see.
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“Yeah guys, I think I’m gonna end it there,” Sykkuno said, eyes quickly skimming over the chat as he shut down Minecraft.
“Yep, yep, I really enjoyed today,” he answered to some of the messages. It had started warming up, so he had foregone his usual hoodies to wear a lighter T-shirt. It was actually one of Corpse’s, a plain black one with a gold embroidered design on the sleeves, and of course, it was a bit big on him.
“’I like your shirt.’ Uh, thanks guys,” he blushed at the comment. It had been one he’d received throughout the stream, so he finally raised of his arms up to show the design. In the moment, the sleeve slipped down ever so slightly.
All of a sudden, the chat started to whiz past him faster than he’d ever seen it.
Is that a tattoo?
WHAT’S THAT ON HIS WRIST?
TATTOO?
Tattookkuno supremacy
Aww was that a heart?
They’d only gotten the tattoos a little over a week ago, and the area was still sore. That may have partly been why he had been wearing so many hoodies. The ever-present red tinge to his cheeks only intensified as his eyes strayed back to the chat, but this time it was accompanied by a small smile. He looked over to his right for a split second, before returning his gaze back to the camera.
“Yeah guys, it’s a tattoo!” he said, raising his arm slightly to show it.
His sleeve fell down to properly reveal the small black heart, standing out stark against his pale skin. He gave himself a moment to look over at the chat and the support rolling in, before diverting his gaze back over to his right. He subtly nodded over in the direction.
Suddenly, a new voice filled up the stream.
“Waddup,” Corpse spoke out, hand quickly coming into frame. His wrist faced the camera, perfectly showing the identical heart on his wrist. If Sykkuno thought that chat was going fast before, it was going absolutely insane now. He heard Corpse let out a laugh at the incredulous messages coming in.
CORPSE?
HASJDHSD MATCHING TATTOOS YOUR HONOUR
CORPSEKKUNO CONFIRMED
IS THAT CORSPE?
Sykkuno couldn’t help but let out a giggle as well, his hand automatically coming up to cover his mouth. Corpse just smiled off-screen, grabbing Sykkuno’s other hand, the tattooed one, and intertwining their fingers.
The hearts aligned perfectly.