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Golden sunlight sparkled from every curve and crevice of Zenyatta’s metal face—out in the open, in such a brilliantly sunny area, he was blinding. From where Genji floated, watching his mentor levitate half a foot above the water, Zenyatta appeared haloed by the sun, which wasn’t remotely startling to Genji. He could be an angel, or more, a dazzling sun god with nine blinking eyes and a voice smoother than satin. Genji’s eyes fluttered closed, but he could still feel Zenyatta’s warmth nearby as it radiated equally from the floating orbs and the shimmering omnic himself.
Then a beach ball smacked directly into Genji’s unarmored face, and he squawked.
“Gotcha, Shimada!” Lúcio’s triumphant voice carried across the beach to where Genji was standing and shaking the water from his eyes. “You’re it!”
“I’m—I don’t even know what we’re playing,” Genji pleaded.
But Hana and Lúcio were already dashing away through the shallow waves, which left Genji to clutch the beachball and whirl around in search of some clue as to what they wanted from him in the first place. Further up the beach, Satya and Mei were sprawled across a pair of beach chairs, pointing out seabirds and laughing amongst themselves. It was a smaller group than usual for a beach outing—once again, Hanzo had resisted his brother’s insistence that he needed some sun—but all the same, it was made up of people Genji adored, so he was happy to play along.
“C’mon, Genji,” laughed Hana from somewhere deeper in the water, “you’re not even trying!”
“I think you all forget that being a cyborg does help me swim,” he shouted. And he was right, as when he sank under the water, his eyes focused instantly and he was able to move with the same lightning-fast precision that he could in the air. It only took moments of searching before he was zeroing in on Hana, preparing to lunge above the water and slam the beach ball onto her head, and then—
Something touched his ankle. Genji leaped, full-body, out of the water with a scream to which he would never admit making. Behind him, Lúcio was gripping his chest and doubled over in laughter, and Genji felt both betrayed and completely embarrassed by the fact that he reacted so strongly to being grabbed around the ankle like a child afraid of seaweed.
The air split around them, and all his thoughts stopped.
Three sets of eyes were drawn to the golden arms—rather than being outshone by the sunlight, they were only amplified. Zenyatta’s transcendent form floated closer, slow but ominous in its sincerity, and Genji couldn’t breathe, he was so beautiful, he was so terrifying, and he, Genji, was so damn in love. He had to admit that he had a thing for beings that could kill him at any second, but Zen was something else entirely. Genji could barely remember where he was or who he was, only that this omnic was the literal light of his life.
Then one of the lights on Zenyatta’s forehead blinked, and Genji knew him well enough to identify it as a wink. He picked up the beach ball abandoned by his back and whipped it around so hard that it sent Lúcio’s dreads flying in a miniature imitation of Zenyatta’s golden arms when it smacked the younger man upside the head. For a moment, Genji worried that he’d hurt his friend, but then Lúcio laughed, he and Hana both shaking their heads in confusion.
“That is totally cheating,” chastised Hana as Zenyatta’s extra arms dissipated. “You can’t just—just—it’s not fair, Genji, some of us are single and you don’t have to rub it in when we’re just trying to attack you with a beach ball!”
Lúcio laughed, but Genji went still, heart suddenly racing. “You—I—What?” Why would Hana accuse him of teasing her singleness? He was in the same boat, and besides, nearly twice her age; plus, last he’d checked, Hana ‘didn’t give a shit,’ in her own words. So why was she gaping at him with smug realization in her eyes, while Lúcio’s laughter died out and he started to gawk in turns at Genji and Zenyatta.
“Wait,” placated Lúcio, “you mean to tell me you two aren’t together?”
Genji’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. “What are you talking about?”
“Duuude,” Hana hissed. The beach ball, long forgotten, floated into her hip again and again as if begging for her attention. “Something needs to be done about this. C’mon, Lu.”
With that, Hana and Lúcio disappeared up to the beach, with their usual youthful super-speed. That left Zenyatta and Genji staring at each other in their wake, both speechless and befuddled, until Zenyatta broke the silence and made Genji’s heart practically shudder in his chest.
“We certainly do act in love, do we not?”
Why did his voice have to be so soothing, that’s all Genji wanted to know. “I mean. Y-yeah. Of course.”
“Good. I try to be transparent in these matters.”
Until his dying day, Genji would continue to insist that his reaction was normal, rational, and not remotely close to swooning directly into Zenyatta’s arms. And until their dying days, Lúcio and Hana would respectfully disagree.