Thus had begun their prank war, each devising their own plans to catch the other off-guard.
Mei congratulated herself; today's prank was a particularly good one. She sat at her desk, cross-legged in a pair of fleece-lined sweatpants and enjoying a hot cup of oolong tea. Cradling the ceramic mug with care in her hands, she lifted the hot beverage close to her face and breathed in the warm, delicate scent of the fragrant tea.
Dipping her small upper lip daintily into the cup, she drank in silence, and paused. The warmth that slipped down her throat seemed to flow forth and radiate into her very bones. Exhaling happily, she let the soothing tea bring a sense of calm about her senses. Today was a beautiful day, and today's cup of tea was particularly…
A strangled scream pierced the air from down the hallway.
Delicious.
She grinned to herself, giggling into her cup, letting her eyes slip closed before she leaned for another sip of tea.
The angry, rapid clunk of Junkrat's metal leg resounded down the hallway, but still she did not budge, preferring instead to enjoy her tea.
When he threw open her door, she did not turn to face him. He stamped to her side, pulling her office chair to spin and face him. Fluttering her eyes open dreamily, she took in his chattering teeth and trembling, frostbitten, blue lips.
It had worked perfectly.
"Wh-what on earth made y-ya think that fre-freezin' me M-M-MOUTH shut was a GOOD IDEA, Frosty!?"
She chuckled quietly, satisfaction curling richly in her chest.
"Well, someone had to get you to hush, you criminal scum."
His eye twitched, and his fingers began to curl into black claws. The sight of his balled fists made Mei slightly uneasy- had she gone too far? Did her prank actually hurt him? She had only meant to startle him.
"H-hey….Are you alright?" I-I didn't really hurt you, did I?", she mumbles to him, voice tinged with concern, "I think I have some healing cream for frostbite if you ne-!?"
Junkrat stood before her, looming over her like a gargoyle, with her hairpin in his hand.
She didn't process the sight until she reached up to pat her head, and upon feeling the soft strands free of her signature bun, her heart plummeted into her stomach.
"J-Junkrat...p-please….put that back."
Panic crept into her veins as he refused her request, instead turning over the pretty trinket in his mechanical clutches.
"Nah, love. Don't think I will. In fact, I think I'll hold onto this for a while, hm? Not like you could reach it, anyway. What are ya, a centimeter tall?"
His cackling began to take on a muffled effect as it echoed in her ears, blood rushing to her head and heart thrumming like a bird in her throat.
"P-please…", she croaked.
He bent close to her face, eyes burning.
"Wazzat, love? Don't trust me wit ya little bauble 'ere? Oooh, that's cold!"
He erupted into maniacal laughter once more, and her vision swam.
He wasn't supposed to have this. She wasn't supposed to have let anyone this close. In his hands was her heart, her life, her everything. Feebly, she extends a hand to paw at him. Ignoring her, he jeers on.
"Its certainly pretty, yeah? Especially this little red bit here. Genuine ruby, from the looks of it. Must've been pretty expensive, those're pretty hard to come by these days. Probably worth quite a sum! Mind if Roadie and I go halfsies?"
Junkrat was enjoying this, watching the fiery little woman squirm. Who had known she was the materialistic type? Probably went to a good university, all-expenses paid, graduated at the top of her class. Probably had a loving family waiting for her at home, all smiles and home-cooked meals and proud "I love you"s waiting for her upon her return. To shatter that sort of blind, careless, privileged vision of the world in his hands was the sole reason he existed.
He would enjoy watching the spoiled girl fall.
A tiny hand, trembling and fisted against his chest, momentarily stopped his hateful train of thought in its tracks. Glancing down, he realized that he could no longer see Mei's eyes. Instead, she was hunched halfway against his abdomen, fat tears dripping from behind her shroud of chocolate bangs and onto the floor below.
"Jamison…...p-please…", she squeaks, voice a near-inaudible whisper.
He chuckles nervously, confused by the sudden change of mood.
"O-oi, what's got you all fucked up?"
Her fist hardens against his sternum, and she shoves it into him hard, pressing his breath out from beneath her knuckles.
"Give it back."
His brows knit spitefully at her, his vitriol securely back in place. What a brat.
"And what if I don't, ah? Ya little pest."
Her eyes shoot to his, frigid and boiling and irate. Her voice, normally birdlike and sweet, charges forth in a wild, angry scream. Her hands are poised against his skin as though they could plunge into his chest and tear out his still-beating heart.
"GIVE IT BACK!"
The familiar look of utter despair in her glittering brown eyes is what breaks his resolve, and he carefully uncurls his fingers from around the fragile ornament, lowering it to her so she can take it from him.
She snatches it from his hand, clasping the needle-like charm to her heart like a lifeline.
"Go."
Her lips are cold and numb as they sculpt the word, her voice a blizzard in his ears.
"S-shit mate, its just a little hairpin, yeah? No need to go apeshit about it. Y'can always buy another one. Don't cry, 'kay?"
At his words, her heart squeezes like a hand at her windpipe and a sob wracks her entire body. She could never replace what the pin had meant to her.
It was like the cherry-red orb held within it all the happiness of her previous life, all the warmth she had lost. It had been a gift from her friends and family from her home town, each having saved up a share in order to pay for it. It was intended to be a memento, a reminder of what she could always return home to while she was away. Now it was a scarlet ghost, suspended just above her like a heaven she could no longer reach.
The very idea of losing it nearly choked her.
"Go!", she repeats,
And so, bristling with an emotion he couldn't describe, he went.
And again, she was alone.