Chapter Text
The next few days were hell for Hanzo. He was jetlagged, kind of homesick and still struggling to adapt to his new life. On top of all that, his kittens were merciless about ruining his sleep. They routinely pounced on him in his slumber, batted at his hair, kneaded his pillows and meowed happily all through the night.
Juicy Juice had even discovered the most fascinating part of the human body - toes. She found that if she nibbled at his toes while Hanzo was asleep, he’d do entertaining things like squawk and wriggle. How fun!
Hanzo tried his best to discipline his feisty new friends, but nothing seemed to work. He scoured the Internet and tried whatever seemed reasonable - he used a stern voice to reprimand his kittens. He squirted water at them using a spray bottle. He picked them up from his bed and put them on the floor every time they disturbed his sleep. He locked them out of his bedroom at night.
None of it worked. The kittens continued harassing Hanzo, and when locked out, would scratch at his door and wail loudly until let back in.
By the third day, Hanzo had had enough. Exhausted, frustrated and in a terrible mood, he picked up the phone and dialled the Deadeye Pet Store.
“Hey, what’s up?” a cheerful male voice said on the other end of the line. This voice was younger and missing a Southern accent, and Hanzo’s mood soured as he realised it wasn’t already Jesse on the line. “This is the Deadeye Pet-”
“Where’s Jesse?” Hanzo impatiently interrupted, and immediately regretted his actions. His voice sounded harsh, even to his own ears. Hanzo knew he had a justifiable reason to be grumpy right now, but even he felt a little ashamed at his behaviour. There was a short awkward silence over the line, and then the male voice said, “Uh… Gimme a sec.”
Hanzo took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose as the poor employee went off to find Jesse. He willed himself to be better company. Why should he expect Jesse to help him if he was going to be rude to him and his colleagues?
A rustling could be heard over the phone, then somebody picked up the receiver. “Howdy,” a familiar low baritone said. “This here’s Jesse. I heard somebody was lookin’ fer lil’ ol’ me?”
Hanzo breathed out a sigh of relief as Jesse came on the line. The end of his suffering was near. The knowledgeable and patient pet store employee that Hanzo had met the week before would surely know what to do. “Good evening, Jesse,” Hanzo said, managing to sound much more civil than before. “This is Hanzo. I don’t expect you to remember me, but I visited the store last week to retrieve supplies for my new cats.”
“Hanzo!” Jesse sounded genuinely delighted to hear from him for some reason. “O’ course I remember ya. Hard t’ forget a face like yours.” Before Hanzo could parse whether that was an insult or compliment, Jesse barrelled on. “What can I do fer ya?”
Disregarding Jesse’s comment - Hanzo had bigger issues to deal with at the moment - Hanzo explained his situation. “I called to seek your advice. The cats will not let me sleep through the night. They are constantly… being nuisances. Scratching my mattress. Biting my hair. Pouncing on me. Meowing incessantly. How can I get them to leave me alone?”
Jesse let out a considering hum. “Sounds like they’ve too much energy and they ain’t workin’ it all off,” he admitted.
“How can that be? I play with them,” Hanzo defensively protested. “They enjoy their feather wands and catnip balls.”
“I hear ya, pardner,” Jesse said. “But they’re two lil’ Energizer bunnies, y’know?”
Hanzo paused and squinted at his ceiling (he was taking the call while still laying in bed). He wasn’t sure if Jesse was making a reference or…? “I do not understand,” he said after a brief pause, his voice faltering slightly in hesitation. “They are not rabbits.”
Jesse was stunned into silence for a moment, and then let out a burst of raucous laughter. “Aww, Hanzo, I’m mighty sorry. The Energizer bunny’s an old mascot fer- y’know what, it don’t matter. Sorry about that.” Still chuckling in what Hanzo thought sounded like a fond manner, Jesse continued, “I meant that yer kittens’ve got too much energy, is all. Tell ya what, I’ll pick out some other toys that’ll help. That way, they’ll be all tuckered out by the time you go to bed, and learn to sleep when you do.”
Hanzo was too tired to think about bunnies and American culture. He still remembered the baffling video he’d seen on YouTube of a red jug of some sort of drink busting through a wall. “That sounds excellent, Jesse. I shall drop by the store to pick up-” Hanzo cut himself off abruptly as he turned to his bedside alarm clock to read the time. It was only about half an hour before the pet store closed, and he was definitely too tired to get behind the wheel to drive himself there. Genji could swing by on his way back from the vet (he’d brought Peanut Head in to do his bloodwork), but Hanzo highly doubted his brother would reach the pet store in time. Which meant that Hanzo would have to collect the cat toys the next day. Which meant…
Hanzo didn’t even bother stifling his groan of dread. He’d have to put up with another sleepless night of happy meowing, toe biting and personal property destruction. He sighed dramatically. “I will pick them up tomorrow,” he said tiredly. “I will not be able to make it to the store today.”
“Oh, well, hmm… Yer mentioned that you and yer brother rent a place on Evergreen Lane, right?”
Hanzo blinked blankly at the non-sequitur. “Yes,” he confirmed. He’d asked Jesse for restaurant recommendations near his new home the week before when he was in the pet store, and had revealed his address as a result.
“Well sugar, I live on Green Street, which is just a couple streets away,” Jesse said. “I can swing by on my way home after work, if yer want.”
Hanzo hadn’t expected that at all. “I cannot trouble you like that,” he protested weakly. “I will survive.”
Jesse chuckled lightly over the phone. “If yer sure. But, cross my heart, sugar. I pass by ya on the way home anyway. It won’t be any trouble.”
Hanzo felt the last of his resolve crumble and break.
Hanzo had insisted he offer Jesse dinner when he came by. That was the least that Hanzo could do in return for the trouble. After giving Jesse his exact address, they ended the call and Hanzo dragged himself out of bed. He was very serious about being a good host, and being a good host included not answering the door in crumpled sleepwear.
He showered, dressed in clean clothes and gave his kittens stern instructions to behave in Jesse’s presence before heading into the kitchen like a man on a mission. He didn’t have enough time to prepare something extravagant, but he could still whip up something that wouldn’t look lazy.
Fifty minutes later, Hanzo was patting excess oil off the freshly fried tempura when his doorbell rang. When he answered the door, the first thing he noticed was that Jesse seemed taller and broader than Hanzo remembered. Maybe it had something to do with the red flannel? “Howdy!” Jesse greeted with a wide grin. “Got yer cat toys right here.” He raised the plastic bag in his hand for emphasis.
Hanzo blinked up at Jesse - was that a Stetson on his head? - and politely stepped to the side to let Jesse in. “Thank you for coming, Jesse,” Hanzo said. “I am just about at my wits’ end.”
Glancing at the dark rings under Hanzo’s eyes, Jesse believed him. “Don’t worry about a thing, darlin’. Yer’ll get yer sleep tonight. I - what’s that yer got cookin’?”
Jesse must have picked up on the scent of fried tempura batter lingering in the air. “Kitsune udon,” Hanzo answered as they moved into the living room, Jesse setting the plastic bag he brought on the couch, his Stetson on the armrest. “And fried tempura. It is not as authentic as I wish it to be, but… I thought that maybe I could share something from my homeland with you.” Hanzo didn’t know what the fuck he was even saying. He’d made udon because it was relatively quick and easy, and yet was something novel, something you couldn’t get easily in this part of America - something surely more thoughtful and genuine than buying Jesse takeout from a random restaurant - something special Hanzo could give Jesse to express his thanks. He chalked up his babbling to the sleep deprivation.
Thankfully, Jesse didn’t seem to think his words were strange. He shot Hanzo a smile, an emotion playing behind Jesse’s features that Hanzo couldn’t interpret. “That’s real sweet,” Jesse said. “Whatever you cooked smells real good. But lemme help ya out with yer kitty problem first, whaddya say?”
Jesse started pulling items out of his bag. “Cats love laser pointers,” Jesse explained as they sat down on the couch. He pulled out the little laser pointer first, breaking it out of its plastic packaging. Out of the corner of his eye, Hanzo could see Chicken Noodle and Juicy Juice making their way over, eager to see what this stranger was doing in their house. “They can’t resist the red dot. A lotta them- aww!”
Chicken Noodle and Juicy Juice ran right up to Jesse, staring up at him and the laser pointer with large eyes. Jesse’s heart melted as he saw them properly, taking in Chicken Noodle’s three legs and Juicy Juice’s one eye. “Aww, I didn’t know you adopted handicapped kitties… That’s so kind o’ ya, Han. Yer a real good man.”
Hanzo was flustered in equal measures by Jesse calling him Han, and by the easy way Jesse doled out praise. Hanzo was not used to either of that. “Oh, I…” he stammered, out of his element and unsure how to respond. “It was really my brother who wanted them,” he protested.
“Sure, but yer still puttin’ up with them.” Jesse was quick to defend Hanzo in turn. “Yer the one losin’ sleep over ‘em. That’s gotta count fer somethin’.” Oblivious to how flustered he was making Hanzo feel, Jesse bent down and pet both kittens, crooning sweetly to them as he did so. “Look at ya, yer such cute lil’ kitties. I bet yer both love yer daddy lots, huh? He brought you to this nice home…”
Just when Hanzo thought his chest might explode at the warm display - and Hanzo really thought he might just stop functioning altogether when he heard how the word daddy sounded in Jesse’s low baritone - Jesse straightened back up, only to ask Hanzo, “What’re their names?”
Hanzo faltered. He had not yet thought of suitable names for them, and was embarrassed to reveal that he and Genji had been calling them Chicken Noodle and Juicy Juice so far. “I… have not decided on names for them,” he said lamely. “But if they continue acting the way they have, I might give in to the temptation to name them after famous tricksters in Japanese folklore.”
Jesse laughed heartily in response. “Let’s hope you won’t have to resort to that. So. Don’t mean to point out the obvious or anything, but you just turn this thing on and swing it around,” Jesse explained. “They’ll chase right after it.” He turned the laser pointer on to demonstrate, and-
As if on cue, off Chicken Noodle and Juicy Juice went, bounding after the red laser dot like twin bullets. Jesse always kept the red dot a few steps ahead of them, egging them on to run lap after lap around the living room. He even led the red dot up the walls where there was no furniture nearby, making the kitties leap up to get at it without risking property damage.
The two kittens went at it for a solid five minutes, running themselves ragged until Hanzo noticed they were starting to get tired. Chicken Noodle in particular started to noticeably fall behind, Hanzo guessing that his one front leg was tired from bearing the full brunt of his body weight. In what felt like no time at all, both kittens had retreated to their cat bed in the corner of the living room, collapsed on their sides as they finally stopped to catch their breath.
Jesse was grinning that wide, slightly crooked grin that Hanzo had now learnt to associate with the man. “They won’t be botherin’ ya tonight,” he said confidently. “Look at ‘em. They’re all tuckered out now.”
Hanzo was nothing short of amazed. It seemed like such a simple trick, using a simple tool to encourage the kittens to exhaust all their energy before his bedtime so that they wouldn’t harass him while he slept. And yet, the idea had never crossed Hanzo’s mind.
That was incredible,
Hanzo meant to say. Somehow, the words that came out of his mouth instead were, “You are incredible.”
Jesse turned to look at him, obvious surprise written all over his face. Hanzo was just about to backpedal and apologise for the strangely personal remark when Jesse’s face split into that brilliant smile again, and Hanzo forgot what he was about to say.
The other two cat toys Jesse had brought with him were backup plans of sorts, and Hanzo was grateful for Jesse’s thoroughness and foresight. The first one would rotate a plastic arm with a feather attached on the end at random intervals. Jesse explained that the kittens would be obsessed with trying to catch the feather as the plastic arm swung it around. The second toy was a mouse toy that would run around on the ground on its own, doing about-turns and barreling off in another direction whenever it collided with anything. Jesse knew from experience that cats loved chasing the mouse all around the house - they were fascinated because it would change directions and move on its own, like real prey.
As he explained each cat toy, Jesse made quick work of assembling their parts and putting in batteries so that Hanzo wouldn’t have to do any of it. Hanzo was thankful - he was certain that he would be able to sort these things out himself if he needed to, but it was still a small burden lifted off his shoulders.
All the toys assembled and his two grey demons passed out peacefully on their cat bed, Hanzo invited Jesse over to his small kitchen area. “Have a seat,” Hanzo politely insisted, pulling out a chair at their modest dining table for Jesse. “I will bring out the food.”
Jesse seemed perfectly at ease despite being in a stranger’s house, and despite him and Hanzo not being very familiar with each other. The big man sat in the chair Hanzo offered him, resting his beefy forearms on the table top as he patiently watched Hanzo work. “Thanks for dinner,” Jesse said, watching the muscle under Hanzo’s skin ripple as he moved. “This is mighty kind of ya.”
“Nonsense,” Hanzo insisted, bringing over large bowls full of broth and chewy noodles, plates heaped high with fried prawn, chicken and mushroom tempura. The smell of the food made both their mouths water. “You have gone out of your way to help me. The least I can do to repay the favour is feed you dinner.”
That smile was back on Jesse’s face - the one that did strange things to Hanzo’s gut. “It ain’t no trouble, sugar. Just doin’ what I can to help a fellow human out.”
Jesse politely waited for Hanzo to sit down, and then they both dug in together. Hanzo felt the tension leave his shoulders as the hot soup made its way down his throat. The prawn and batter were cooked thoroughly, the noodles were chewy and familiar, and the broth was very flavourful. Hanzo mused on the amazing transformative power a good meal could have on his mood. Adjacent to him, it seemed that Jesse was enjoying his dinner as well, as proven by his grunts of approval.
“This is real good,” Jesse said. Hanzo noticed that he only spoke between mouthfuls, and silently approved of the big American’s table manners.
“Thank you.”
“Best tempura I’ve ever had.”
“You are too kind.”
“How’d you make it? Did you make it from scratch?”
“Not entirely,” Hanzo answered truthfully. “The noodles and inari age are store bought. The market also did not have Japanese tiger prawns, so I have substituted those with the largest shrimp I could find.”
“Oh, I see. But the rest of it was from scratch? The broth and the dippin’ sauce and the tempura batter?”
If it were anybody else asking these questions, Hanzo heavily suspected he’d be inclined to respond coldly. Hanzo was providing them with dinner! How rude, to question if the food was store bought or prepared from scratch. But Jesse didn’t incite in him that defensiveness. The man just sounded genuinely curious and interested - so Hanzo entertained his inquiries.
“Yes. I prepared those myself.”
“That’s amazin’, Hanzo. I could see this bein’ served in a restaurant.”
“Thank you,” Hanzo said again, and he really hoped his cheeks weren’t flushing pink. He just didn’t know how to react to all this praise.
They fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to eat, although the silence didn’t last very long. “So,” Jesse said after barely a minute, and Hanzo suspected that the cowboy was not too used to extended silences. “Why did you and yer brother decide to move to the US? Ain’t it an awful long way from home?”
Hanzo was honestly not very interested in pursuing this line of questioning. “We… come from a very traditional family,” Hanzo hesitantly admitted. “My brother and I do not see eye to eye with the rest of our family and have decided that distance between us is best for everyone.”
Surprisingly, Jesse nodded and dropped the subject. “Family is hard,” was all he said.
“That it is,” Hanzo agreed quietly. The subject of family always brought upon feelings of bitterness and resentment in him, so Hanzo decided to turn the conversation towards Jesse instead. “How long have you been working at the pet store?” he asked.
“Oh, about close to a year now, I think,” Jesse said in between mouthfuls of food. “Opened it last November. Been saving up for it for a while now, so it was a real treat finally being able to get it off the ground.”
Hanzo looked up from his bowl, surprise evident in the slight raising of his brows. “You own the store.”
“Sure do!” Jesse puffed his chest out a little, a dazzling smile on his face. Hanzo could tell that the man was proud of his business - that knowledge brought back the strange fluttery sensation in Hanzo’s gut. “Well, my dads helped me out with the renovation costs and stuff, so it still isn’t completely paid off yet, but I’ve been workin’ on that.”
Despite his exhaustion, Hanzo was intrigued. “That is impressive,” he said. “What inspired you to open a pet store?”
Hanzo didn’t notice the time passing by, but by the time Jesse had finished recounting his tale of how a scrappy stray tabby cat ended up helping him battle his depression, and how expensive it had been for Jesse to adopt and care for the tabby, an hour had flown by. Between the two of them, Hanzo and Jesse had eaten their udon, drunk a pot of green tea, and made their way through half a box of chocolate. Hanzo was pleasantly surprised to discover that Jesse had a sweet tooth that rivalled his own - Hanzo had grown up around others who were significantly less interested in sweets. The two of them picked out the sweeter chocolates to munch on, leaving the dark chocolates in the box for Genji.
Finally, Jesse leaned back in his seat and asked, “What’reya an’ Genji planning to do here for work?”
That was another problem on Hanzo’s mind. Genji was more sociable - more adaptable, and people generally liked him. Hanzo, on the other hand… “We are still figuring it out,” Hanzo admitted honestly. “Genji has started looking around and applying for suitable positions, but I… I have yet to start the job hunt.” Hanzo felt a familiar stab of guilt in his chest at the thought of not handling his responsibilities.
Jesse offered Hanzo a sympathetic grin. “Can’t be easy, getting all set up in another country while jetlagged, with two kitties who won’t let ya sleep.” Unbeknownst to Jesse, his kind words calmed the anxiety in Hanzo’s heart. Then, the cowboy’s eyes widened and he straightened up in his seat.
“Han,” he said, a renewed energy in his voice that hadn’t been there a minute ago. “How would ya feel about being a chef?”
Hanzo found himself shaking his head the moment Jesse finished asking the question. Him, a chef? What an outlandish concept. “I can cook a variety of dishes, but I mean… I am not formally trained. Whatever I have learnt, I learnt only from the chefs under my family’s employ back home.”
“My dads run a restaurant,” Jesse persisted anyway, steamrolling right over Hanzo’s protests. “Overwatch Cafe - it’s the one in town. They serve hearty American fare - hamburgers, fries, steak - but they’ve been looking t’ introduce a “fusion” sorta element to the menu for a while now.” Jesse lifted both hands and mimed quotation marks around the word fusion. “I dunno anything about cookin’, but I know yer tempura’s better than anythin’ I’ve tried on this side of the state. Real amazin’ stuff. If ya want, ya could start yer job hunt there, see if there’s anythin’ ya’d be interested in? Gabe and Jack don’t care about what degree yer got, or anything. If they like your food, they’ll like you.”
Immediately, a dozen excuses sprang to Hanzo’s mind on why this would almost definitely not work out. He wasn’t formally taught. He’d probably need some sort of certification with the FDA, and who knew how long that would take? This was new, out of his comfort zone and he was a coward.
But the idea of cooking for a living did have its appeal, to the small part of Hanzo that was still an idealist. In that very moment - maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or the crazy prospect of pursuing something he’d never be allowed to in Hanamura, or the effect of the sheer sincerity on Jesse’s face - Hanzo felt bold. “I… sure,” he said. “I suppose there is no harm in exploring this possibility. Do you think your dads would be willing to meet with me to discuss this matter?”
Jesse beamed brilliantly at him from across the table, which was all the answer Hanzo needed.
Glancing at the clock shortly after showed that it was now close to 11 at night. “Shoot, didn’t realise it was gettin’ this late,” Jesse said sheepishly. “I’ll get outta yer hair.”
“It is no trouble at all,” Hanzo said, ever the gracious host - and he found that he meant it. Jesse turned out to be very good company, and Hanzo had genuinely enjoyed listening to his tale of how his cat had changed his life for the better.
“Naw, I insist. Yer must be dead on yer feet,” Jesse said, rising from the table and bringing his empty bowl to the sink. Once the dishes were in the sink and the trash in the bin, Hanzo walked Jesse to the door.
“How much do I owe you for the cat toys?” Hanzo asked, fetching his wallet and beginning to rifle through it for dollar bills.
“Oh, those’re on me,” Jesse said, and when Hanzo raised his questioning gaze to Jesse’s, he saw the steely glint of determination in the cowboy’s warm eyes. “Take it as a welcome-to-town gift.”
“I cannot-” Hanzo began, but Jesse just waved his protests off.
“It ain’t a problem, Hanzo. Really. It’s a small thing in return for what yer doin’ for those two.” Jesse jabbed a thumb in the direction of Chicken Noodle and Juicy Juice, both of whom were still knocked out on their cat bed. “Not many people have hearts for the disabled animals. Most go for the pretty pure breeds. The Siamese and Ragdolls and Savannah cats. What yer doin’s real sweet.”
For not the first time that night, Hanzo found that he didn’t know how to respond. He was not used to such open displays of praise and commendation. He grew up in a culture and family that wasn’t big on positive affirmation, and Jesse’s kind words made his heart ache.
Hanzo also wasn’t entirely certain that he deserved this kindness. Genji had been the one who insisted they save the cats, after all.
“If you will not accept monetary payment, then you must allow me to repay you in some other way,” Hanzo insisted stubbornly.
It was Jesse’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “Wasn’t that what dinner was for?”
“That was for making the trip over here,” Hanzo persisted, and Jesse just about fell in love with the little crease that appeared in between Hanzo’s eyebrows when he was determined about something. “I have yet to repay you for the cat toys themselves.”
A fond, warm grin slipped onto Jesse’s face. “Sure, pardner,” Jesse agreed amicably with a wink. “Maybe we can go see a movie or somethin’ one of these days. Here, lemme give you my number.”
They quickly exchanged numbers, bid each other goodnight, and then Jesse was on his way. He waited until he reached home before texting Mei.
Jesse: he’s got 2 disabled kittens. 1 missing a leg, 1 missing an eye.
Mei’s response was swift. She knew that Jesse had gone over to Hanzo’s, and was interested in hearing all about the handsome Asian man.
Mei: OMG!!! That’s really sweet!!! Did they like the toys?
Jesse: yeah. chased the laser pointer around for a few and then went out like a light.
Mei: That’s good! You saved the poor man’s sleep, Jesse!
Jesse: he’s a real sweet guy. said tonight’s dinner was for coming over personally, and he’ll repay me in the future for the toys. i gave him my number and said maybe we could go see a movie or something.
Mei: OMG!!!!! Maybe he likes you and wants to see more of you :^) It sounds like you 2 have a date!!!
Jesse wasn’t naive enough to get his hopes up about that, but oh man, he could dream. He was well aware of his growing crush on the handsome man who had uprooted himself, moved halfway across the world and still had made space in his heart for two disabled kittens. Jesse didn’t think he could be more smitten.
Jesse thought of Hanzo for the rest of his night, Hanzo’s gorgeous face and sweet personality giving Jesse butterflies in his belly. Jesse kept thinking back to the words Hanzo had uttered earlier: If you will not accept monetary payment, then you must allow me to repay you in some other way.
He fell asleep wistfully fantasizing about an alternate reality in which he’d asked Hanzo to repay him with a kiss.