Chapter Text
The first time it happened, it was nothing special. Or, rather, it would have been nothing special had it been any other member of Overwatch. Even Morrison had grown up with a few pets on the farm.
But no, the first time Cole saw Hanzo Shimada interact with a dog, Cassidy had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.
They had been fighting a particularly aggressive troop of omnics that had been hell bent on destroying everything in their path. While Cole’s team was doing their best to reduce damage, there was only so much they could do, with machine gun fire coming at them from all directions.
Which was why the event was even more remarkable than it should have been, perhaps. Of course, Hanzo never did anything in Cole’s opinion that was not remarkable. Then again, it’s not every day that the archer launches himself from his sniper’s perch into a tactical roll initiated from 10 feet in the air, to wrap himself around a trembling ball of fluff.
“What? Oh fuck—for fucks sake, brother!” Genji had moaned over the comm before sweeping in to deflect enemy fire just a foot away from Hanzo. The archer had glared at Genji defensively before they both leapt out of the way with matching grace.
Hanzo had climbed a wall to a new vantage point. In retrospect, Cole recalled the front of his garment being puffed up more than usual.
Several hours later, when the battle was finally done, the cyborg ninja had fallen into step with Cassidy, grumbling in two languages.
“What was that about?” Cole asked.
“My brother, as usual, having no regard for his own life,” Genji muttered.
They arrived at the dropship to find their teammates crouched in front. When they got closer, they realized that Hanzo was in the centre of his group, still cuddling the tiny, fluffy white dog in the arm that was not in the new sling that Mercy must have just fashioned for him.
“Was it worth it, brother?” Genji asked flatly.
Lena, Angela, Reinhardt and Hanzo turned up to shoot him a withering glare.
Cassidy snorted. The puppy whined.
Genji threw his hands up, and crouched down as well to scratch the dog behind the ears.
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At least when it happened again, Hanzo had the decency to wait until after the battle was finished. They were in Wisconsin taking down a dairy farm that had been a front for Talon operations (it was, admittedly, the last place they would have checked, were it not for the anonymous intel). The team was sweeping the premises to confiscate the last of the equipment, when Cole noticed that Hanzo had disappeared.
“Eyes on the archer?” He asked over the comm, with some concern. What if they hadn’t cleaned out the base after all?
His team took a moment to look around, but the answer was unanimously negative.
“Wait. Are there actually animals on site?” Genji asked.
“Yes. In the barn in the back,” Winston answered.
There was some static, as Genji’s long, drawn-out sigh was caught by the mic. “Try there, Cassidy.”
“Roger.”
Cole hurried to comply. He opened the barn door slowly to find Hanzo sitting on a pile of hay, a fluffy brown calf lying in his lap. Lena and Hana were already on scene, likely having figured out that Hanzo had a knack for finding the cutest animals.
Hanzo was scratching the calf behind one soft floppy ear, as he looked down at the creature with a look of pure adoration. Cole couldn’t have stopped the fond grin that spread over his own features if he tried.
Later that evening, they decided to watch a movie to unwind. Cole was lying happily in Hanzo’s lap, as his partner pet at his hair.
“Soft,” Hanzo mumbled, barely audible.
Cole started as he made a connection he’d not seen before. Hanzo’s hand stilled, and he pressed at Cole’s chin until their eyes met so that Hanzo could gauge whether something had upset Cassidy.
Cole grinned up at him playfully.
“Moo.”
That earned him a punch to the chest.
Cole attacked Hanzo with a flurry of kisses to beg for forgiveness.