Work Text:
...
It was a dry, sunny afternoon. Heat radiated off the sand and rubble that made up the miles and miles of plain, tasteless earth. Across the land, two junkers relaxed upon a porch, watching the dust get flung into the air by the wind.
Roadhog leaned back against the wall of their shared shed they called home, letting out a sigh. The sun was high in the sky, and there was a nice breeze passing by. It was rare to have a moment of pure silence, but nonetheless Mako was enjoying it.
...that being said, it wasn't long before the scraggly man beside him broke the silence.
"So, what's the story with 'em?"
Roadhog looked down to see his boss laying down on his stomach beside him on the wooden porch. A tool and wires were held in his hands as he worked on melting several wires together. Probably working towards building yet another bomb, Roadhog figured.
He gave a simple grunt to the question in acknowledgment. Junkrat paused, looking away from his project, before setting it to the side. He looked up to the larger man after noticing he had a chance to engage conversation. He rolled over onto his back with a laugh, as he grinned up at his bodyguard with his toothy, wicked smile.
"What? 'm just curious, mate! I nev'a got around to askin' before." He poked Mako's belly as he looked at the design on his skin. He once found the design silly, but over time noticed how much it really suited the man. It was simple, yet also complicated. Cute, yet badass at the same time. A nice balance, Junkrat decided. These things all true to Mako, as the smaller junker had learnt in time.
"Must o' hurt when ya got 'em! I can't imagine gettin' stabbed with 'n ink pen is very pleasent, ay?" Junkrat added with a humorous laugh, trying to find the other's eyes behind the lens' to his mask. Nothing, just his grinning reflection in the glass.
"...not really." Roadhog grumbled, looking down at his large stomach tattoo. He took his belly in his hands as he played with the design on his body. "It was a lil' painful afterwards, but I've felt worse. Plus, I think it was worth it."
Jamison looked up at him with wide eyes filled with wonder. Didn't hurt that much? He imagined it was horrible, having a needle stabbed into your skin continuously to set a design. Or, that's how he was told it was done.
Some men and women back in Junkertown would walk around, bodies covered head to toe in tattoos. Junkrat would hear their complaints of lingering pain, and decided that it wasn't for him.
He didn't wanna feel pain that could possibly be on the same level as when his limbs were healing. He remembers the wide open gashes were quite literally a pain to deal with, but now they were large scars that always eventually got sore. He doubted a pen in his skin would hurt as much as his limbs being blown off, or the healing afterwards, but he still had that fear. But, only one way to figure out, right?
He looked at his two different hands for a moment and then tightened them into fists. He looked up to his bodyguard. "Hey Roadie?"
"You want a tattoo, I figure?" Roadhog mumbled out of his mask to the junker looking up at him with big eyes. Jamison wasn't exactly the best at hiding when he had ideas on his mind, so Roadhog could read him rather easily. Said twiggy man gave him a fast nod and he pushed his hair back with his flesh hand.
"Yeah, that way we could match!! Both havin' ink under our skin, ya know?"
Mako gave it a moment of thought, before bringing himself to his feet with a huff. He wandered inside their home, Junkrat's eyes following him as he walked away, before Jamison scurried after him. After he caught up and gave Roadhog his best puppy dog eyes, the older man let out a sigh.
"Fine, but you need some info and warnin' on 'em first, ain't all that simple."
...
He giggled nervously, his hands gripping each other to stop them from violently shaking, but to no avail. He kept his eyes on the metal tool in his partner's hand. "You do know what ya are doin', right mate?"
The other man let out a snort of approval. "Past buds' worked with ink." Was his short mumbled reply, as he set the right needle size in the tool. "You didn't think I did my tats myself, did ya?"
Mako's large hand took Jamie's arm and held it up as he popped a marker open with his teeth, his signature mask resting atop his head. He held the marker in his steady hand as he drew out the design Junkrat wanted, going off a doodle the other did. The other's thin arm was tense and flinching in Roadhog's hold.
"You have to stop moving, 'rat, or it'll come out messy."
"Roight, yeah." Junkrat nodded and fiddled with his torn up pant leg, hands playing with the large patches sewn on it. He heard a faint buzz which made him snap his head around to the new sound.
"Breathe." Roadhog commanded, while Junkrat sat seemingly frozen in fear, watched the tool get closer and closer to his skin. The anxiety is his chest bubbled until it was too much and overflowed.
"No, no! Not yet!" Junkrat cried and flinched away, struggling in Roadhog's hand. The older's grip became softer, yet not enough to let go of the other's arm. Junkrat's face flushed in embarrassment, as he started to quickly mumble apologies under his breath and giggle uncertainly.
He heard a grunt from Mako, before his vision became darker. Junkrat's free hand came up to touch his face, yet he only felt rough leather. "Mate, what 're you-" Junkrat started before he heard a click and felt cool gas flood over his face.
"Breathe." Mako repeated, before taking the other Junker's limp arm closer to his face so he could concentrate. Jamison breathed in, feeling the cool air go into his lungs. He focused on the strange feeling, and it slowly calmed him down.
Then, he felt the tool start to go over his skin. It surprisingly... wasn't that bad. The buzzing feeling fluttered across his skin as he felt as if little blades were poking at him. Mako only stopped every few moments to wipe over his skin with a cloth.
"Th.. that's it?" Junkrat mumbled out, looking to what he could see of Roadhog through one of the mask's foggy lens. This earned a hearty chuckle from Roadhog, who continued to work on Jamison's shoulder.
"Course. It doesn't hurt too bad, does it?"
Roadhog spoke with a wheezed breath, his lungs not being used to such an open airflow. Junkrat shook his head slowly before relaxing back against the worn chair he sat in.
He wasn't sure how long it had been, feeling his arm being held and jabbed at. In his cool haze he lay, time flowing by him. The next thing he knew, Roadhog's mask was taken off of his face and he could look to the side at his arm.
His skin around the tattoo was red and blotchy, which Mako mentioned would happen after it was done. But the design was on his skin, no, in his skin! The simple, yet shaded, black skull tattoo looked just like the picture he drew, if not better. He stared at his arm in awe before Roadhog started wrapping it up to heal.
The wrap was tied up with a little bow, and the larger man went to cleaning up the ink and equipment. Though, over his shoulder he heard a quiet; "Hey, Mako?"
He turned back to face Junkrat and was immediately attacked, thin arms trying their best to wrap around him affectionately. He almost fell back, but managed to catch the messy man and his own balance.
"Thanks a bunch, mate." Junkrat smiled up to him with a happy grin, some of his sharper teeth poking out from his lips. He held Roadhog in a hug for a few moments, before letting go and trying to walk away. He didn't get very far before the larger man put his hand on Jamison's free shoulder and he stopped in his tracks.
" 'm proud of you, Jamie."
Jamison's face lit up at Roadhog's words before he felt the large hand squeeze, then leave his shoulder. He rarely received praise from his partner in crime, and so he left the room with a bounce in his step and a wide smile on his face.
...
It had been a few weeks since Roadhog had given Junkrat his tattoo, and the area around his tattoo was starting to swell less. The ink colour was darker then when Jamison first saw it in his skin, but that was far from a bad thing, in his opinion.
He was currently rubbing his thumb over his friend's work on his shoulder, while leaning on said friend's side. Junkrat felt like he was being watched, so he looked up to Roadhog, who was staring down at him with those big, wide lens of his mask. They looked at each other for a good second before Mako spoke.
"Looks good on you."
Junkrat smiled at him before going back to tinkering on another project he held in his hands, to add to his neverending pile of bombs. Both of them went back to enjoying their time together, resting in near complete silence, with a bit of small conversation inbetween.
It wasn't too long before Junkrat had piped up once more; "So, when can I get another one?"
...