McHanzo - Jus' You, Me, and The Sea

Ch. 18

Jesse chuckled and kissed his lover's raven-haired head, smiling down at the frightened man under his arm.
Hanzo clung himself to Jesse's torso and refused to let go, also refusing to look back at the TV screen.

"Its aight, darlin', it ain't real." Jesse cooed in Hanzo's ear, giving him another light kiss on the head.
The other was silent for a while and slowly relaxed again, but still hadn't moved just yet.
The warmth of Jesse's body and secure feeling his strong arms provided was enough for him to melt into the cowboy's embrace.
He sighed in content and snuggled closer to the other male, forgetting completely about the peculiar and terrifying events he'd witnessed.
Rather, he focused on Jesse's heartbeat and breathing which he could sense no fear or uneasiness in.

Realizing his partner had no intention of finishing the movie, Jesse turned the TV off before setting the remote down on the coffee table.
The room was now growing dark as the evening sun sank slowly past the distant horizon.
"Sweetheart?" The cowboy asked in a quiet tone while glancing down at his lover.
"Yes?" Hanzo replied in a muffled tone since his face was smooshed against Jesse's chest.
He intertwined their fingers, "Wanna go watch the sunset on the beach?"

The smaller male paused for a moment before speaking, "I would love that, Jesse."
Hanzo lifted his head and stared into Jesse's eyes, brown orbs meeting one another.
Swiftly, he peeled the blankets off of them, stood, and swooped Hanzo up into his arms with ease.
"Jesse!" Hanzo yelped, clinging to the other's shoulders as he walked them out of the beach house.
"What?" Jesse asked with a smirk, "this is what'll happen at our weddin', darlin'."
The merman's face turned red and the sly smile on the cowboy's tanned face made him glance away, too embarrassed to reply.

Slowly, Jesse laid him down on the cool sand at the shoreline then took a seat beside him.
The water sloshed a few feet in front of them and reflected the setting-sun's dying golden color.
Hanzo breathed in deeply and closed his eyes, feeling the sea breeze brush past him.
Upon reopening his eyes, he saw the sky now held a pleasant array of colors.
Cool collided with warm and the clouds seemed to swirl them together.
It somehow reminded him of the cowboy next to him and how they met.

"Hanzo?" Jesse broke the silence but did not look away from the horizon.
The merman glanced at him, "Yes?"
"What's it like where yer from?" He questioned lightly, seemingly just curious.
Silence then followed and Hanzo let out a breath before replying, "It is actually very dark compared to the surface. But the lack of light really does not bother my people, we concern ourselves more with surviving."
The cowboy hummed at that statement and wrapped his arm around his lover's waist, then squeezed his hip.
"So...your brother is taking care Takeo right now?" Jesse asked.
Hanzo hummed, "Mhm" and took the other's hand in his.

Jesse paused for a moment and noticed the sun had now fully disappeared, leaving a dimmer splash of colors behind in the sky.
"What kind of..merperson is your brother?" Jesse queried.
Hanzo looked towards him and raised an eyebrow while flashing a grin, "What? Do you not trust in my judgement to have trust in my brother?"
"No, no, I just wanted to know about what kind of person he is." Jesse stated with worry that he'd upset his ravenette lover.
"Hm...well, even if you had meant that, you would have every right to assume so." Hanzo chuckled and sighed before continuing, "My brother is quite the fool at times but when it comes to serious matters, he tends to leave all jokes aside. After our mother died, our father became stricter upon us. He set very high expectations...most of which Genji failed to meet. I, on the other hand, managed to impress my father- at the expense of having a 'fun' childhood. Genji.." Hanzo paused to sigh, "at some point or another, realized there was no point in trying to do what our father asked of him if he was never going to be pleased with it. So, he usually runs off and finds something to do that would entertain him..."

Hanzo watched the waves roll in the distance and recalled the memories of his younger years.
"Despite all him and I have been through, and how our father acts towards us both...Genji is truly a better being than many think."
Jesse sat there for a long moment before turning to look at his lover.
"Sounds like y'all been through quite a bit." Jesse stated and soon locked eyes with him.
Hanzo gave him a soft smile and leaned his head on the cowboy's shoulder.
"Tell me, how exactly did you 'waste your life'?" Hanzo asked, remembering when he'd heard the aurburn-haired male speak of it.

A sigh was heard from Jesse as he recalled his past as well.
"I was a troubled kid back then...so much happened that I don't even know why I did it.." Jesse began, taking a deep breath.
He was about to dig up personal secrets that he hadn't spoken of in years, but slowly he started his story.
"After I lost my parents..I wandered from state to state, doing odd jobs, sleeping on the street and trying my best to make enough money to feed myself. A few years went by like that but soon I stumbled upon this group of kids around my age. They took me in...as long as I helped them with their 'business'." Jesse paused and breathed out, the image of Ashe and him flashing in his head momentarily.

"One day, that group went a lil' too far and I ended up have to kill someone...some of them were caught and arrested, me included. I spent about ten years of my life in prison after that. When I finally got out, I struggled to find a job that would take me and so I often drank and wasted a lot of my nights with women I'd never see again.."
Jesse swallowed and remembered the drunken hazes, followed by sloppy sex.
"That's what I meant by me wasting a lot of my life. But when you came along...things seemed to somehow drift together. I mean, how my life is now with you is so drastically different, I can hardly tell who I was back then." Jesse finished talking, then realized Hanzo was reaching his hand towards him.

The merman caressed his lover's cheek and gave him a reassuring gaze.
"Jesse..." Hanzo eyed his fiance momentarily before leaning closer to slowly connect their lips.
The cowboy moved to pull the other male on top of him as he laid back against the sand.
They broke apart for a moment and Hanzo smiled softly at him, then pressed his lips against Jesse's once more.

After minutes of romantic bliss, Hanzo pulled back and laid next to his lover.
He sighed with happiness and content, feeling the breeze become cooler now as the sky darkened into deep nightly blue hues.
"I love you, Jesse." Hanzo whispered while he stared up at the stars glimmering above them.
Jesse kissed his cheek, then whispered back, "I love you too, Hanzo."

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