Tattoos - Hermit X Empires

The design of Tango is based off of @lunarcrown​‘s design, so make sure to check them out!

It wasn’t a shock that Tango had tattoos. It just fit his aesthetic and the type of person he was. He was a blue blaze hybrid, he wore a lot of leather, usually crop tops paired with thigh highs to both embarrass Solidarity and to show off, it just wasn’t really a surprise.

The first time people had seen it was when Tango took off his long cape like overcoat. It did get very hot and stuffy when wearing all black and leather, so he took off the cape and Fwhip (the first one to see it) gasped.

“WOAH!” The goblin ran over, “That’s awesome!”

Tango smiled, showing off the warden tattoo, “Thanks! It’s still healing though, which is why I have the plastic wrap!”

“It’s so pretty! And so cool! The colors are awesome!”

“I know, I have the best tattoo artist!”

“I’ll say! You’ll have to take me sometime, been thinking of getting one myself!”

That was that. Other people would see it and compliment the design, the colors, the way it fit Tango’s arm perfectly, everyone was amazed and impressed. Especially Scott and Joel.

“I have a few tattoos!” Scott removed his shirt and, sure enough, on his lower back was a flower field, full of beautiful colors and all sorts of flowers. He also had a few small ones scattered around his wrist, his ankles, just tiny ones like a rainbow, the word ‘Chromia’ written in beautiful cursive, a silhouette of a llama, etc.

“Those are nice too!” Joel complimented.

“The artist was the worst though!” Scott complained, “He was way to rough, my skin was swollen for weeks! He was awful! Not to mention the colors all washed out! They used to be super duper bright, but after they fully healed, which took about three months because he was way too rough, they were all gone!”

“That sucks! I hate those type of artists! They feel like they’re just stabbing you rather than actually making art!” Tango huffed.

“Exactly!”

“I have one on the back of my thigh of some blue orchids?” Tango turned and lowered his thigh high boot, “This is a cover up!’

"No way!” Joel exclaimed, kneeling down. The tattoo was beautiful, it looked like a flowing pile of blue orchids, “What did you cover up?”

“Originally, it was a black heart and mine and Soli’s name-” Tango explained, Joel stepping back as Tango fixed his shoe, “-but the artist was awful and the black faded!”

“How does black fade?!” Joel exclaimed.

“When you’re rushing and not pressing hard enough! Honestly, it felt like she was just stabbing my skin with a dull pencil!”

“Well, that one is awesome. They’re both awesome!” Joel smiled, “It looks so clean! Colors are blended beautifully, the outline, everything!”

“Thank you!” Tango giggled.

Scott playfully glared, “You have to take me to your artist! I need these ones redone!”

Tango laughed, “Sure!” The blaze then looked at his arm and smiled, tracing it with his finger, blushing slightly, “Soli was so worried it would turn out bad, but I told him it would be fine!”

“Makes sense he would be a buzzkill.” Joel teased.

“Well, he does have to be strict if he’s the one tattooing me!”

A beat of silence.

“WAIT WHAT?!” Both screamed, making Tango jump.

“SOLIDARITY, THE SHERIFF, DID THOSE?! NO WAY!” Joel yelled.

“He did! Why would I lie?” Tango questioned, “Has he never done one for any of the other emperors?”

Scott and Joel stared.

“….So that’s a no…” Tango giggled, “I can prove it! Do either of you want a tattoo?”

“I’ll pass for now, I need to do more work at Chromia.”

“Joel?”

The god hummed before he nodded.

“Soliiiiiiii~!”

The dirty blonde turned and smiled before it was gone in an instant, seeing a familiar brunette god beside his husband, “…Tango, why is he here?" 

The blaze ran over and kissed his cheek, Solidarity instantly blushing and loosening up a bit, "Joel doesn’t believe that you made my tattoos! Can you believe that!”

“I can, he’s jealous he can’t do what I can do!”

Joel glared, smirking, “Yeah right! I know Tango is lying to just hide your secret! Who’s the real tattoo artist?! Is he a criminal, is that why the sheriff is hiding him?”

Solidarity raised an eyebrow before he sighed, “Follow me.”

“Ha! I’m going to know the sheriff’s dirty little secret!”

They walked into Solidarity’s home, the dirty blonde taking out a bunch of materials for tattoos before handing Tango a book. The blaze gave it to Joel, who began to flip through it. Most were just pictures of finished, beautiful tattoos while some showed Solidarity working on those tattoos, him beside the tattoos, even some of him with the client who wad clearly amazed and happy with the result.

“…No way…”

“I told you!” Tango exclaimed, “My husband is the best tattoo artist ever! I would never let anyone else ink my skin when I found him!”

“C-Come on, t-they’re not that gr-great!” Solidarity blushed, completely embarrassed by his husband’s assertion.

“Dude, these are awesome!” Joel yelled, “Can you do me?!”

“I-I can-”

“Sweet!" 

"H-Hey, I didn’t say I wo-”

“I want a large lightening tattoo!” Joel pointed at his shoulder, smiling brightly, “Right here! Maybe it could have a cloud and lightening?! And maybe some good praising and-”

“H-HOLD ON!” Solidarity yelled, startling both him and Tango.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Tango gently took his hand in his.

Solidarity took a deep breath, “I-I’m not comfortable with writing sentences on people unless they’re super meaningful. I’m not going to write 'I’m super hot and sexy and tall’ on you.” Joel nodded so Solidarity continued. He stepped forward, tracing Joel’s arm, “…Do you just want a simple lightening bolt? Black and white or color?”

“Oh, um…” Joel blushed, now a bit embarrassed. He didn’t think he would get this far, “…Um…”

Solidarity continued stroking his arm, “…Your skin is really nice, but I’m guessing you want yellow? Yellow or gold?”

“Yeah, um, yes.”

“…I don’t think that’s a good idea.” The sheriff hummed, “Yellow, gold, those type of bright colors? They fade really quickly on light skin and they don’t turn up well on darker skin. You may be tan, but it’s really not worth it.”

“You can’t, like, go over it?”

“I could, but it would one, hurt you a lot and two, it will look very washed out when fading.” Solidarity stared before he widened his eyes, “….Unless….”

“Unless?” Joel questioned.

He could almost see Solidarity’s brain processing. He ran to a chest in the corner, Tango running after him. The dirty blonde took out his tattooing materials, Tango taking them as the dirty blonde finally got to his sketchbook, effectively sitting down in his spot and beginning to sketch.

“He’s in work mode.” Tango explained, setting the equipment down, “Here.”

The blaze took,out a long comfortable chair and had the brunette lay down on it as Tango set the equipment up. It took about thirty minutes before Solidarity came back over with a couple of designs. One was a half sleeve with a large cloud on the top of the shoulder with bolts of lightening shooting out of the clouds. He explained he would color them in a way that so it looked like the cloud was lighting up and wasn’t just a simple white. The next was a full arm tattoo but it was a lot more simplistic. It was just a string of lightening bolts that went from Joel’s shoulder to his hand, Solidarity explaining he would either do it in black because it was just a bunch of straight lines, or UV ink that would glow under UV light to give it that pop. Finally, the last one was a half sleeve again.

It had a silhouette of Joel lifting his hand up towards the sky with a large flash of lightening and storm clouds, mini lightening bolts behind the one giant one.

“Woah…” Joel was amazed, “I… never knew you were such a good artist…”

“He keeps it hidden.” Tango hugged Solidarity from behind, the dirty blonde blushing, “He’s really passionate about this stuff so if you ever want to embarrass and make him a stuttering mess? Just compliment his art~!”

“T-T-TANGO!” Solidarity yelled.

“Seeeeee~?”

Joel chuckled, “Um… I really like all of them. I want all of them. But, if I have to choose one? I’d go with this one.” He pointed to the one with the silhouette.

Solidarity smiled, “I figured. I try to make two or three designs that are 'basic’, in terms of what the person wants, and then one or two catered to that specific person!”

Tango sat in a chair opposite of Solidarity’s equipment as the dirty blonde transferred the sketch to a stencil. Once that was finished, he got his inks and tattoo gun ready.

Solidarity hummed, “Ready?”

“Ready!” Joel smiled.

“If you need a break, just tell me.”

“Okay.”

The dirty blonde began to work, Tango watching him intently. Joel did too. The other’s face was calm and he gave off an aura of confidence, knowing exactly what he was doing. Solidarity didn’t even blink when Joel let out a small groan as he hit one spot, just wiped away some ink, looked at him to gage if he was okay, and straight back to work mode.

“He’s hot like this, right?” Tango giggled, not bothering to whisper.

Joel stared, “…Honestly, yeah…”

Solidarity looked… different like this. Just super confident, super calm, completely in his element. It was… amazing to see. He was completely comfortable, unlike when he left his empire and always seemed on edge because of something.

Joel hummed, “So, how long will this take?”

Solidarity didn’t answer.

“Mine took three hours, so probably that, maybe a little less or more.” Tango explained, “Trust me, you’re not getting anything from him. Even complimenting his work won’t deter him from work mode.”

Joel nodded, “Amazing…”

“He is~!” Tango exclaimed, giggling, 

Solidarity wiped another bit of ink, humming to himself.

“S-Something wrong?!” Joel exclaimed.

“No.” The dirty blonde reassured, “Just admiring it. I don’t make mistakes in my tattoos.”

Tango and Joel chuckled before the two continued to talk among themselves. Joel did let out small groans at some point, but Solidarity would look at him, gage if the pain was too much, before getting back to work. It took about 3 hours before Solidarity hummed taking a step back. He smirked, putting his tools down before wiping Joel’s arm a couple of times.

“Alright, you are all set.” Solidarity smiled, “I know you hate following orders, but trust me on this. Do not take hot water, try to take cold or slightly warm showers, hot water will hurt your arm and it can wash the ink out. I would also suggest wearing plastic wrap, just in case. Wash the tattoo twice a day, all you need is a little soap and water and then gently pat dry. I’m going to give you some antibacterial/Vaseline ointment that you apply after washing it. Do not put on another bandage after the ointment, just wrap it in plastic wrap. Also, I suggest using some moisturizer to keep the tattoo moist.”

Solidarity helped Joel sit up and handed him a mirror. Joel took it and gasped, amazed, “HOLY SHIT!”

“LANGUAGE!” Solidarity yelled.

“SHUT UP, NO WAY YOU DID THIS!!!” Joel stared, “IT LOOKS AWESOME!!! WAIT, OMG, IT LOOKS LIKE I’M REALLY CONTROLLING THE SKY!!! AND THE SHADING, THE COLORS, IT’S ALL BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL!!!!”

“Yellow and orange tends to fade the quickest just because they’re so bright, so I built up the colors a lot and the shading with the whites and darker oranges should keep it looking bright!” Solidarity smirked, clearly proud of himself.

“Dude, oh my god…”

“I TOLD YOU HE WAS GOOD!” Tango giggled, grabbing Solidarity’s cheeks and kissing him. The dirty blonde blushed and smiled, giggling.

The sheriff then grabbed some petroleum jelly and gently rubbed it on Joel’s arm, wrapping it in plastic wrap and then a bandage, “Keep this on for 24 hours. You take it off early, I will find you and kill you for ruining my masterpiece.”

“Got it.” Joel smiled, “Well, then, I’m off-”

“Excuse me?” Solidarity glared, “My work ain’t free.”

“Oh, uh… what do you want? Diamonds, iron? How much?”

“A stack of diamonds.” Solidarity smirked.

“WHAT?! I DON’T HAVE THAT!”

“Then, I guess you owe me-”

“Oh, I know!” Tango smiled, “You can give him a kiss!”

“WHAT?!” “T-TANGO!”

“Whaaaat~? My tattoo cost a kiss!”

“T-That’s because you’re my husband, th-there’s a difference!”

Joel hummed before he smirked, “I can give you that~”

“H-Huh-”

The brunette grabbed Solidarity’s chin and pulled him in for a kiss. The dirty blonde blushed darkly as Joel hummed, kissing him so gently. The sheriff put his hands on Joel’s chest and pushed him back, face bright red.

“Y-YOU-! TH-THIS IS DISRESPECT TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE! THIS IS THE LAST TIME I EVER GIVE YOU A TATTOO!” Solidarity screamed, grabbing his things and angrily washing everything off.

Tango chuckled and helped Joel sit up, “Don’t be upset. He’s fine.”

Joel snickered, “At least I don’t have to pay!”

The blaze chuckled, “Your welcome~! I know he’s my husband and we’re suppose to be on the same page, but seeing him get so flustered is so adorable! How can I pass that up?!”

The brunette stood up and looked around. He went to the Ender Chest and then took out 20 diamonds, giving them to Tango, smiling, “Give them to the toy man.”

The blaze smiled and nodded, “I will.”

Joel then left, smiling.

“Wow, Joel! That tattoo is awesome! Did you go to the same artist as Tango?”

Joel smiled at Grian, “Yep!”

“Who’s the artist?!” Grian hummed, “I might get one!”

The brunette looked up and pointed at the sheriff who was talking with Scar.

“….No way.”

“Yes way.”