Avoidance (McHanzo)

8

raku rolls in openly sobbing

"I'm sorry I'll make the next chapter gayer"

she whispers before rolling out

The next few days were spent in solitude, though the group training was still continuing the tension was so thick it could be sliced by a knife. He knew the cowboy well enough to know that he wouldn't dare come near him, at least until one of them snapped. His heart yearned for his presence, no words needed to be spoken - he just needed the reassurance that he was covered.

Watching from a distance did nothing but make it worse, and internally he repeated the words 'I'm sorry' until they lost all meaning to him, the scene never ceasing to haunt him. The upcoming mission would be hell, all assumed that they would be fine together but he hardly had the heart to correct their assumptions. He could easily slip away into the darkness, he'd memorised enough maps of the base they were due to be raiding to know that he wouldn't be missed.

However, even after his blatant ignorance of the apologetic looks being shot his way the cowboy never conceded and stopped in his tracks, if anything he got more persistent. Genji was the first to catch on, having taken note of their separation and expressed concern during one of his meditation sessions atop one of the watchpoints towers.

He'd been intending to have a night of silence, gazing out into the distance as the sun set leaving the sky a hue of eloquent oranges and reds though from the get go something had seemed off. It felt too quiet, and though the dragons keened under his skin begging for release he denied them such a thing reminding them that it wasn't safe. They weren't safe.

"Ameryuu, Ryutsuki, not now."

He mumbled, reaching for his bow slowly. The only thing he could do was hope that it wasn't an intruder, for nobody on the team was prepared to fight. Springing to his feet, arrow ready to be fired at his unsuspecting target, he was greeted by the all too familiar sight of Genji at the opposite end of his weapon reminding him of quite why he was here.

His reflection was short lived when Genji cocked his head, and he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What?"

"You know what."

"...I do not..?"

He responded, though the uncertainty in his voice gave him away immediately. Hearing the almost robotic chuckle come from Genji, he stifled a groan and allowed him to continue.

"Fine, why are you ignoring your boyfriend? Did he not take well to-"

"It was nothing of the kind!"

He yelled, eyes widening as his voice echoed throughout the watchpoint and he lowered his bow in defeat. Exhaling in audible frustration, he humoured himself and fell silent in a bid to prevent Genji from prying any more into his love life. It was hardly something he was taught how to discuss back in the clan, the closest he'd gotten was being educated in seducing younger women to create the next generation of the clan.

"Then what was it?"

"I am under no obligation to elaborate upon my love life to you."

"And yet here we are."

Though he couldn't see his face, he was well aware that Genji would've had a cheeky smile on his face, amused by how flustered he'd become.

"I made a mistake, and now I regret it. There is nothing more to it, the pair of us are adults and we can sort this accordingly. I don't need you meddling, though I appreciate the thought."

A curt nod put an end to the conversation, and left Hanzo alone for the evening though the sun had long since disappeared leaving him with a blank canvas in the sky. The constellations he was so used to mapping in the dark of night were above him, a dark reminder of what had once been.

Drunkenly stumbling back to the base, tucked into Jesse's side with a smile playing on his lips he pointed to the sky. It was a conversation without words, and the faint sound of music from a club down the street found him swaying in time with him as they struggled to put one foot in front of the other.

He'd made a remark about remembering the song, one of the older members of the gang used to hum it as they scouted out their next victims. Scrunching his nose in distaste, he let out a snort when he felt toes on his own. Sending Jesse into fits of laughter, he fought back a smile and quickly intertwined their hands.

The next few days were much the same, train until exhausted, take brief breaks for meals and try to escape reality atop the tower in the evenings. It was repetitive but it did the job, distracting him from the hole in his heart which could only be filled by a dorky cowboy with a rugged serape and battered cowboy hat.

It was laughable, all of his life he had been told to find a woman both beautiful and smart to wed and over twenty years on he sat with a cowboy occupying his every thought with nothing to show for it. His father would've laughed, called him a fool and disowned him were he still there with them, and though he would hate to agree with him he would be right. He was a fool.

Ironically enough, avoidance seemed his only option. Even in the hangar preparing for the mission he actively avoided most besides shooting a brief smile at Hana who in her own special way had managed to grow on him.

The flight out of Gibraltar passed in the blink of an eye, and he silently thanked his lucky stars for that. The nervous glances most shot at each other all seemed to be aimed at him, they were depending on both McCree and himself to destroy the base safely. Innocents were at risk, and having seen what the war could do to them Hanzo aimed to save as many as he could whilst actively avoiding McCree.

That couldn't be too hard, right?  

gay? gay.

The next chapter's gonna be fun so hold tight and prepare yourselves!