Chapter Text
Hanzo hummed a happy tune while he went about his chores. There were three weeks and two days left until the Egg Moon, and he was on track to a better social life-- and, hopefully, better business prospects.
Jesse had come over for dinner the night after Hanzo came to shop; it had been a small affair, only sandwiches and tea in Hanzo's living room, but it was nice all the same. They'd talked more in-depth about Jesse's plans and Hanzo's preferences, staying up late into the night.
The next day Hanzo had met up for drinks with Fareeha, talking more about the breeding process for phoenixes and trading tricks for dealing with moody brooders. They, too, had spent more than a couple hours together, staying at the restaurant they'd gone to for lunch for so long that they ended up getting dinner there, as well.
He should have been exhausted. It was more socialization than he'd had in many, many months. But instead he felt rejuvenated-- full of hope and energy and ready for whatever else was about to come his way. He'd even called and made an appointment to see Angela-- or should he call her Dr. Ziegler?-- in her office later in the day, after his chores were done.
There was only one thing weighing on his mind: Genji's notebook. Its contents, and how it had come to be in Jesse's possession, were still a mystery. Hanzo was loathe to bring it up with his brother, fearing the worst-- that perhaps Genji still secretly resented Hanzo, or perhaps had sold the story to some reporter. There were a lot of people that still desperately wanted to know why the Shimada family business had collapsed in Japan. it was very possible that Genji had been approached by people that wanted his story.
Like Angela.
— — —
Hanzo rushed through his chores that morning, scrubbing down the barn and feeding his charges with gusto. Persephone nuzzled at him hard enough that he nearly lost his footing again, and Abelard was so affectionate that Hanzo almost couldn’t leave his chamber because the old wyrm kept wrapping himself around Hanzo’s boddy, snorting and sniffing him. Every dragon — even Itzi — seemed to be in a better mood, and it made Hanzo’s work light.
After a perfunctory scrub, Hanzo headed out to his visit with Angela. The office wasn’t far. Public transport would do in a pinch, Hanzo supposed. He hadn’t yet invested in any kind of travel device. As he was crushed into the local bus, rattling away from the country road he lived on, Hanzo at once missed the convenience of McCree’s serape. He tried to shove back the fact that he also missed the warmth of the man himself; the bus was full and yet also somehow chilly, leaving Hanzo irritated and frazzled by the time he stepped off in front of Angela’s office.
Mercy First Magical Medical Care was a small building with a quaint waiting room full of mismatched squashy chairs that, Hanzo thought with a quirk of his lips, looked like they may well have come from McCree’s stockroom.
- Soba is a girl, Udon is a boy
- Soba and Egg are sisters
- Hanzo is a trans man, and was experimenting with brewing potions and other magic because his family did not understand his need to transition. His brother agreed to help, and it all backfired, effectively cursing both of them.
- Hanzo was looking for a spell for “transformation” and “growth” and royally fucked it up by combining the wrong characters/pronouncing them wrong.
Ch 4:
- Opens with: Hanzo wakes. The notebook is still there.
- Hanzo sees Angela in the beginning of the chapter. She asks if Hanzo has heard from Fareeha yet. Hanzo says he will talk to her. She also said that she contacted Genji to get some more info on the wood from him, to reference with Hanzo’s case.
- Mention: true magic requires a lot of study. Runes are easy. Directing real magic takes time and effort. Hanzo learned potion brewing from unconventional means.
- This makes Hanzo nervous. He got his official Brewer’s License long after he started studying, and is worried that Angela will report him. She doesn’t mention it (does she even know?) but does mention that young witches often make mistake.
- After his exam, Angela makes it clear that Jesse is making eyes at him, making an off-hand comment that she’s tempted to prescribe some R&R. Flustered, Hanzo denies it, but it gets him thinking.
- Apparently Jesse has been going to the meetings like he took Hanzo to on the regular for years. It’s always different people, though. Not everyone comes back.
- Angela addresses his body, and potions. Hanzo cautiously asks about continuing effects of the magic. He still doses himself with regular strength potions to maintain his form and brews them himself.
- After the appointment: Hanzo looks at the notebook again. Calls Genji. Egg has laid, and Genji shows the speckled green eggs off. Hanzo carefully brings up the notebook, asking things like “did you ever write...when we first changed, how did you deal with it…” etc etc because Genji was in medical care for a long time (how he met Angela).
- Genji evades, says that this is perhaps not the time to discuss it. Hanzo balls up his emotions. Chitchats about the dragons.
- Next they try a sporting event: magic lacrosse of sorts. Different balls, some decoys, some explosives. Maybe junkrat supplies tickets since he does some work for the teams?
- “You like sports?” “I...have practiced archery since I was young.” “Weapons, huh? I’ve got a six-shooter I like to play with sometimes. Not as fancy as a wand, but we can’t all be mages, can we?”
- Before leaving for the game: feed the dragons. Wyvern becomes fond of mccree, preening in front of him. Hanzo finds this hilarious.
- Itzi is still a raging bitch in this chapter when they do sports but his feathers look better. Persephone has started to nest again, putting hanzo in a great mood when they leave for the game. Things are looking good
- Worn out from sports and good company, Hanzo sleeps better than he has in a long time.
Ch 5
- Hanzo invites McCree over for lunch, and they eat in his yard overlooking the paddock with charmed blankets beneath them like a picnic. persephone lumbers around the paddock with Hades. Hades is gathering brush, but Persephone is stretching her wings out in a soft patch of heather. Hanzo is very fond of her.
- Mccree brings sandwiches and beer and they wind down from the previous day. All in all, Hanzo seems to be doing better. The sky is clear and spring is clearly on the way, pink buds on the trees around them.
- Mccree makes a note that Hanzo looks particularly handsome when he’s relaxed. Hanzo musters up the courage to say he likes McCree’s beard. It’s very...thick.
- Jesse mentions that he’s taken his decision to redecorate the shop seriously. Hanzo offers to help with some of the organizational work. “And some fireproofing, since your filing system seems to be hazardous” McCree makes a note that he’s really getting into all this werewolf stuff; Reinhardt wants to use the shop as a safe place to meet other packs.
- While cleaning up, Jesse asks after Soba and Udon. Hanzo says that they’ve been quiet for a couple days but are probably just making a mess somewhere on the grounds. They don’t like to stray far.
Ch 6:
- Talks to fareeha one afternoon on a weekend. Jesse had said that he would be over that evening to pick him up for another outing, but hanzo hangs with fareeha at her phoenix breeding center.
- Cue phoenix lore: roost in cinnamon trees! Fareeha has a large inherited manor and she has charmed it to be basically a greenhouse. Hanzo notes that jesse is friends with some eccentrics. The house smells amazing
- Fareeha has a lot of burns and has been seeing Angela a lot the last two weeks; almost as much as Hanzo has seen McCree.
- She is shy, but Angela seems receptive. Fareeha is tall and muscular and brave, but soft around Angela. Her and hanzo become Bros
- Fareeha has known McCree for a long time; the professional meetings have been going on for some time, after all, and her mother was friends with Jesse’s mentor. She mentions that Reinhardt is like an uncle to her and he was actually chaperoning her that first evening.
- Hanzo shows her the charm to fireproof and strengthen fabric and they set about making her a better set of work clothes
- While they work, Hanzo mentions Itzi; Fareeha says she knows a young man in Brazil that is researching dragon noises and their interpretations since they seem to be exceedingly intelligent and have a large variety of sounds. Apparently cats only make X amount of noises, and dogs make Y amount of noises, but dragons have 1224 documented variations of sound in their language.
- Mccree picks him up from Fareeha’s in the afternoon. For once, McCree is dressed up. Hanzo is starting to acknowledge that he has some romantic feelings and is excited to go somewhere with him.
- It turns out to be a speed dating group, horrifying Hanzo.
- The two men and the one woman he talked to find hanzo’s interest in dragons unusual and unsettlingly intense; like he doesn’t have time or attention for anyone else. (admittedly, this is probably true) Hanzo is ashamed that he has attached himself to McCree so quickly, just like the wyvern, preening for anybody.
- The actual scene at the dating meeting is brief-- Hanzo gets bored/angry/embarrassed and leaves, and ends up at a the bookstore/cafe from chapter 2.
- The bookstore is owned by Winston and barista is Tracer.
- Tracer reassures him as she makes him tea, and hanzo takes a seat in one of the ugly orange armchairs.
- McCree finds him, assures him that it’s fine. He’s sorry that he pushed Hanzo into this. Hanzo pushes him away (actually mad at himself) and rushes home.
- He cries when he gets home because udon and soba have reappeared and are noodled up on his bed, and when he pets along their sides he feels that soba has tiny marbles-- eggs-- in her tummy. She’ll be laying this year. And it’s probably all because of McCree, a man he cannot allow himself to have.
- After speed dating the snappers seem confused, but have begun digging furiously the mud. Hanzo takes this as a good sign. He furiously mucks the barns, overworking his newly-repaired leg.
Ch 7:
- Hanzo wallows this time, though he tries not to. For some reason the dragons don’t actively destroy their nests this time. Hanzo watches over the ones that are eggy, particularly Soba. He’s exasperated by her shredding one of his favorite work shirts, but surmises that this is all the more reason to replace his wardrobe after how much difficulty he’d had finding anything for the events Jesse took him to.
- Takes a break to go shopping. Runs into Fareeha and Angela on their second date-- they invite him along and relay their disastrous first date. (an attempt by Fareeha to show off a baby phoenix, ending with singed hair) and say that Hanzo and McCree have basically been on more dates than they have.
- Hanzo looks over the talisman when he gets home. Looks at his dragons, who are doing well. Considers how different his life is compared to a month ago. Talks to Genji, who he hasn’t heard from since the time he tried to bring up the journal. He tries again. Genji tells his story.
- A rare serious moment. Genji has known McCree since his initial body curse years ago. He lets Hanzo know about the debilitating branching curse he had that was affecting his limbs-- roots taking hold over his bones-- and how mccree and angela worked together to help him. Hanzo had no idea because he’d been absent for that time in his brother’s life — which he feels horribly guilty about.
- Genji says he gave the books to McCree because he no longer wanted to hold onto the sentiment the represented. He was in a better place, and had no need to wallow in those pitiful memories. YAY HEALTHY SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS
- Hanzo getes his nerve up and invites McCree over as an apology for the other night.
- The whole time he’s cooking Soba and Udon are making mischief around the house
- Hanzo tries to get soba to sit still because eggs but it’s hard to make her stay calm.
- When McCree shows up, he’s dressed a little better than usual and uncharacteristically awkward.
- Hanzo serves food (hot pot?) and has to keep Soba and Udon from picking at the meat. Scolds McCree for throwing them scraps. They get more than enough of their share of offal from the whole animals Hanzo buys to feed them.
- Mccree says that he’s started renovations. Thanks Hanzo for his help recommending techniques and contractors. Hanzo says he’d be glad to help again.
- Mccree mentions that Fareeha had bullied him into being a better man, and Sombra was being unusually quiet lately, which means she knew what was happening too.
- Topic change: Gabe was cursed, but was going through treatment. Sombra was working on it, since Gabe couldn’t seem to stay in one piece. Sombra and Angela actually are working together with briefly mentioned Moira to make him solid again.
- Hanzo tries to make his grand stand, but is reluctant to break the good atmosphere. He starts by thanking McCree for his help with the talisman, then awkwardly tries to get around to his point. Manages to get out that he’s had a more intense experience than he’d initially expected. Mccree says that he understands. They reach to hold hands, but stop.
- There’s something there.
- But McCree breaks it, with “gee Hanzo, what a good friendship we’ve built.”
- Hanzo glows with contentedness, but they don’t bridge the gap.
Ch 8:
- Content with the fact that the dragons are eggy and getting ready to lay, McCree lays off the outings and instead spends time helping hanzo prepare the barn for new arrivals. Itzi is even healthy, and hanzo notes that he will soon be released back into the wild, which is why they are prepping his room to hold hatchlings.
- Mccree admits Hanzo was a Sight when he caught him bathing the dragons.
- Hanzo laughs. Persephone has massive eggs in her belly, and is overly affectionate with hanzo-- even McCree. The wyvern coos over McCree. All the dragons are happy.
- In a fit of inspiration, McCree ducks out the barn. Comes back with the talisman, followed by Soba and Udon, who are not usually allowed in the barn. In his glove, it does nothing. (or out, and hanzo can feel his happiness?)
- Hanzo is reluctant, but he takes it. There’s immediately a cacophony as the dragons all express their happiness, snorting and pressing up on their cage doors.
- Soba and Udon trip hanzo, putting him in mccree’s arms.
- Hanzo laughs near to the point of tears, and that’s when McCree kisses him.
- It’s chaste, it’s sweet, Hanzo smiles so widely he can’t keep it up and drops his head onto McCree’s shoulder, laughing at his ridiculous animals.
- They know better than he does, apparently.
Epilogue:
- End of summer, months later: At the reopening of McCree’s store. It’s new, and organized. Hanzo helped restain some of the old wood and build displays.
- Reorganzied to make meeting space
- Rein is tangentially involved in this.
- In a quiet moment, Hanzo reveals a baby dragon in his hands. It’s a pygmy breed-- offspring of Hanzo’s own dragons. Very small, like a baby snake. It won’t grow much, as it was a runt and not fit for sale. Hanzo hands it to McCree with a promise that even if they part, the dragon is his. He settles it in McCree’s breast pocket, where it settles down to sleep while McCree goes around greeting customers.
- A Happy Ending