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It's Genji and Zenyatta's first morning in Hanamura and instead of diving right into seeing the sites, they instead take a taxi out to the edge of town to a building composed out of garages for the wealthy. It has tall walls with barbed wire on top and a metal gate that creaks open when Genji puts in his code. They wander the lot until they find Genji's unit, the last in a long line of identical-looking garage doors and Genji sighs at the lock, his hand jiggling the key absently. When Hanzo had told him about this place, it had seemed like the only logical choice was to wait until he and Zenyatta both had enough vacation time saved up and then head out here to deal with it but now that he's standing in front of it, Genji is starting to regret that decision. He takes in a deep breath and then feels Zenyatta's hand come to rest on his shoulder.
"Do you want to come back later?" he says, tone entirely absent of any judgement. "We will be here for several more days so there is no rush-"
"No," Genji shakes his head, his hand tightening around the key before he turns to look at Zenyatta. "I don't want to put this off. We are already here and this way we can just put this unpleasantness behind us first."
Zenyatta looks like he's going to argue for a moment but then he nods and squeezes Genji's shoulder before pulling his hand away. "Alright, let us begin then."
Genji nods and then goes to unlock the door.
"I know that this will probably be of no comfort to you," Zenyatta says as Genji fiddles with the lock, "but I must admit that I am excited to see these tiny glimpses into your past."
Genji pauses his efforts and glances over his shoulder. "Why am I not surprised?"
Zenyatta laughs. "As if you would not be equally as intrigued if this were my storage locker we were standing in front of."
"I don't know," Genji smiles and turns back to the lock. "An empty storage locker is not quite what I would call exciting."
Zenyatta swats at his back gently. "You know what I meant."
The lock opens with a click and Genji sticks both it and the key into the pocket of his hoodie before turning around and leaning down to bump the visor of his helmet against Zenyatta's forehead. "That I would love to pick over the physical minutia of your past if you had such things?" Genji says, reaching up to touch Zenyatta's cheek. "Of course I would. I never said I faulted your impulse, just that I was not surprised."
Zenyatta chuckles, putting his hand on top of Genji's and shaking his head. "While I do love the attention, is it perhaps possible that you might be stalling right now?"
"If you consider it stalling to prefer looking at my beautiful partner rather than a storage unit full of things I was certain were thrown away ten years prior," Genji's bravado peters off and he pauses, "then yes, I may be stalling."
Zenyatta laughs and squeezes Genji's hand. "I understand why this is difficult for you but I have complete faith that you are capable of dealing with this situation. And remember, you are not alone."
"Right," Genji nods, Zenyatta's laugh and kind words filling his chest with a growing warmth that almost chases his nerves away. Almost. "Well then," he says, running his thumb along Zenyatta's cheek before pulling away and turning around, "let's start sorting this shit." He takes a deep breath and then pulls on the door until it opens with the audible hiss of the hermetic seal breaking. Genji hadn't been quite sure what to expect but as he scans the piles and piles of boxes stacked up behind his once beloved motorbike, he realizes that it is very possible that this storage unit contains literally everything he'd owned up until he'd joined Blackwatch. He stares for a moment, overwhelmed until Zenyatta speaks up, snapping him out of it.
"I do not think we will be able to take this all back in one trip in the taxi."
"Well, we aren't keeping all of this," Genji says, his eyes still taking the boxes in, "but yes, even to properly get rid of all this stuff would take more than one trip for sure."
"Let's not worry about that for now," Zenyatta says as he floats over to Genji's side. "Let us instead start with the most obvious first choice." He gestures at the the black and green motorbike and says, "Keep or donate?"
Genji frowns. When he was younger, this motorbike had been one of his prized possessions. It was a classic model with beautiful lines and real wheels instead of the hovertech ones. Genji remembers the freedom it had given him and all the nights spent riding it with friends or hook-ups on the back, arms wrapped tight around him as they laughed. "Keep?" he says hesitantly and then reconsiders. "No donate. Definitely donate."
"Are you certain? Why did you want to keep it at first?" Zenyatta says, head tilted.
"It was just very important to me at one point in my life. It helped me get out of the house and away from things," he pauses and then corrects himself, "my father mostly when my future felt like it was closing in." He walks up and runs a careful finger along the well-maintained leather seat before turning to look at Zenyatta. "But I do not need it anymore so there is no reason to keep it."
Zenyatta shakes his head. "The fond memories you associate with it are a fine reason to keep it if you so wish. Plus, it seems to be in excellent condition so perhaps it can still be ridden after all this time."
"I assume it is but to what ends? We live on an island that I can run the entire circumference of in ten minutes so I doubt it would get much use."
Zenyatta shrugs. "I hear Reinhardt rents a small garage on the mainland for his prized car so perhaps we could do something similar."
"We could..." Genji thinks it over, imagining how it would feel to ride his bike again, the rush of the wind and maybe even Zenyatta's arms wrapped around him this time. "Would you want to come riding with me though?"
"Of course," Zenyatta says. "I think it would be an exciting new experience that I would love to share with you."
Genji smiles and then nods. "Okay then, in that case, let's keep it!"
"Excellent," Zenyatta says, voice warm. "See, we are making progress already."
Genji laughs as he kicks up the stand with his foot and then rolls the bike out of the garage and to the side. "One down, only about a hundred more boxes to go."
Zenyatta scoffs. "You exaggerate."
"Only a little," he says, leaning the bike in front of a nearby garage door and then walking back into the storage unit.
"Here," Zenyatta says, pulling a trash bag out of the box on his lap and holding it out to Genji, "you take this and start on the left side of the room while I will focus on the right. While I will not be able to make any choices about these items on my own, I believe we will be able to look through the items faster this way."
Genji nods and takes the bag but pauses before going to his side of the room, his nerves suddenly flaring up again. "You know," he says, fidgeting with the bag in his hands, "there might be some… things in some of these boxes that might be… less than flattering-"
"Genji," Zenyatta cuts him off, his hands coming up to cup both sides of Genji's face, "do you think after all this time and all that we have talked about that I am under any illusions as to what sort of person you once were?"
Genji sighs. "No but-"
"Genji," he runs a thumb along the side of Genji's faceplate, "I love you exactly as you are and your past is as much a part of that as your future will be."
Genji knows that after all this time he shouldn't be so taken aback by how earnest and open Zenyatta is about his feelings but he can't help but be bowled over by it every time all the same. He feels himself begin to blush and then leans in until his visor bumps against Zenyatta's forehead. "I love you too. I just… please call me over if you find a box that contains any uh... risque items, okay?"
"Oh, so we may sort through those particular items as a couple?" he says wryly.
"Haha very funny," Genji rolls his eyes, squeezing one of Zenyatta's hands on his face before heading over to his side of the storage unit. "We are not keeping any of that stuff and you know it. It will be old and frankly, mostly quite vulgar."
"Alright," Zenyatta nods, "I will keep you informed."
"Thank you," Genji nods back, pulling a box down off the top of the stack and then sighing. "Here is hoping they didn't just box up every piece of trash in my room."
***
"I wonder when we will find the helmets that go with your motorbike," Zenyatta says as he opens his fifth box for the day.
"Probably never," Genji says, placing an old gaming console he wants to share with the base into the keep pile, "seeing as neither I nor my passengers ever wore them. They'd have messed up my perfect hair."
Zenyatta chuckles, "Ah, the folly of youth."
"Like you know nothing about being young and stupid," Genji scoffs.
"I have been a responsible adult for my entire existence so I have no idea what you may be referring to," Zenyatta says, tone vaguely offended as he holds up a box filled with Genji's old practice kunai from before he'd masted the art of wall climbing.
"Garbage," Genji says before returning to the subject at hand. "Right, because it was in no way foolish for you to break out of an omnic internment camp after the war and climb a mountain all by yourself in hopes of meeting up with the newly forming Shambali."
"You are right," Zenyatta says as he puts the box in a nearby trash bag. "It was not foolish in the slightest. In fact, it was one of the best choices I ever made."
Genji laughs. "Oh I see, just one wise choice amongst a lifetime full of them?"
"I would not say I never make mistakes of course," he says, smile audible in his tone as he turns to look at Genji. "Just that I have also made many excellent choices, such as you."
Genji bites his bottom lip as he feels himself begin to blush. "Only you could turn a conversation about your ill-advised past into praise for me."
"It has been said that I have a way with words," Zenyatta chuckles.
"That you do," Genji says with a grin as he picks a shirt out of the top of the box in front of him and tosses it at Zenyatta. "Now stop being a shameless flirt and come over here and help me sort through this."
Zenyatta picks the shirt off his head and then floats over to Genji. "I make no promises to stop flirting with you but otherwise I am more than willing to offer my assistance however I can."
"Alright," Genji shakes his head. "I've been thinking that it might be a good idea for me to keep at least some of my old clothes due to the current meager state of my wardrobe."
"An excellent plan," Zenyatta says, handing the shirt back to Genji. "How specifically can I help?"
"Well," Genji says, glancing down at the shirt and then back up at Zenyatta, "I just want you to let me know what you think of these; which ones you... like on me." He trails off. "And you never know, perhaps some of these might even be things you'd want to wear yourself." He holds the shirt, which is a black sleeveless tank top with open sides, in front of his still sweatshirt clad torso and cocks his head at Zenyatta. "For example, do you think this suits me?"
Zenyatta grabs his chin and looks Genji over. "I think you are going to have to try it on for me to give you an accurate opinion."
"Are you asking me to strip right here in this storage locker?" Genji sets the shirt back on top of the box and then pulls off his sweatshirt and sets it carefully on top of another nearby box. "How scandalous!"
"We've already established I am a shameless flirt so I do not know why you are surprised."
"A fair point," Genji snickers, leaving his pants on for the moment as he pulls the shirt on. "So what do you think?" he says, holding his arms wide.
Zenyatta appraises Genji for a second and then nods. "While I can not say it is a very functional shirt, it does suit you very well."
"Keep then," Genji chuckles as he pulls the shirt off and then throws it at the keep pile with impressive accuracy. He turns back to the box and digs around until he finds a light blue long sleeved crop top. "This one, on the other hand," he says holding the shirt out to Zenyatta, "you should try on. I think it would look very good on you."
"I'm not sure what is more visually appealing about me wearing half a shirt than me wearing no shirt like I usually do," he says, pulling it on over his head and then glancing down, "but I do think it is quite cute."
Genji looks Zenyatta up and down, taking in the way the sleeves are loose on his thinner arms and how the cut of the shirt emphasizes his neck and waist. "It just looks good on you, like how you liked that tank top on me even though I don't need to wear clothes. It is all about framing."
"I see," Zenyatta says, looking down at the shirt again before he looks back up at Genji, "then does it mean I judged your shirt on the wrong merits if I said you should keep it because, while of course you looked very handsome in it, you also looked rather happy to be wearing it?"
Genji shakes his head, a laugh just starting to bubble up as he says, "I love you, you know that right?"
"Is that a yes?" Zenyatta says, peeling the shirt off and floating it gently over to the keep pile.
"No," Genji says, reaching out to run his hand along Zenyatta's face, "I think you are doing it just right."
They continue to dig through the clothes, taking turns trying on the items and voting on what the other should keep until several boxes later, Genji has finally expanded his wardrobe a bit. He's just reaching the bottom of their sixth box and probably the end of his younger self's rather sizable clothing collection when a bright orange item catches his eye from underneath another pair of skinny jeans that definitely won't fit him and he rushes to pull it free.
"What a lovely scarf!" Zenyatta says, turning his attention from the box he was just opening.
Genji smiles as he rubs his fingers along the familiar surface. "It was a gift from my mother. I used to wear it all the time."
"I assume we are keeping it then, yes?"
"Yes," Genji nods. He's about to just throw it on the pile like any other thing when suddenly an idea strikes him. He wraps the scarf around Zenyatta's neck and then wraps his arms around as well. "Actually, I want you to have it. It's a very good color on you."
"I can't take this, Genji," Zenyatta says, his fingers fussing with the edge of the scarf. "It is not the same as your other clothes."
"It isn't, you are right but we also basically live together so it is not like you would be taking it far away from me."
"Still-"
"How about this?" Genji says, leaning in until their foreheads touch. "I want to loan you this incredibly sentimental scarf because while in the past I would have never wanted to share something like this with anyone, now that I've met you, I can't wait to share all sorts of important things with you for the rest of our lives."
"Genji," Zenyatta ducks his head behind the scarf, "I can not help but be deeply touched by your gesture. I only wish I had something of equal value that you could also borrow."
"No need," Genji smiles, "you have given me so much already."
They end up spending the whole day sorting, picking over the relics of Genji's past life until it is all neatly divided into three piles: keep, donate and trash. They decide near the end that they are just going to need to use Tracer's services when she comes to pick them up as there is no way they can adequately transport all these items using a taxi. For now though, they just grab as many of the clothes as they can fit into one garbage bag and climb on Genji's motorbike together, an old skateboarding helmet on Zenyatta's head and Genji's scarf tied tight around his neck. And as Genji drives them back to the city, the wind whipping past them and Zenyatta's arms wrapped tight around his chest, Genji feels more whole than he has in a long time.