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You awoke from your sleep in a cold sweat, your heart racing and uncontrollable tears streaming down your face. Sleep was never really a friend of yours, it was more of an enemy. Despite your brain needing such wonders to properly function, you were always reluctant to actually fall back into what others would call a 'peaceful bliss'. That peaceful bliss for you ended up being unexplainable terrors that would make a normal human sound insane if spoken aloud to anyone else. Even in this fucked up world, speaking about feelings or the terrors you see at night makes others think that you should seek serious help.
Your first instinct was to look over at your clock. Three in the morning, too early to actually do anything for any upcoming missions. You threw your covers across the bed, heading into your bathroom to quickly rinse your face from all the sweat and tears. You knew four hours of sleep wasn't enough, but you'd prefer to be awoken by adrenaline than return to the darkness in your 'peaceful bliss'. It took you a moment to realise that you're standing in front of your door. Your brain kept trying to convince the rest of your body to return back to bed, but you kept denying access to what it wanted. You placed the palm of your hand on a device beside the door before pressing in a keycode. You dragged yourself across the hall, making your way towards the living quarters. In there stood a small kitchen. You poured water into a kettle, closing the lid and allowed it to boil while you looked for a mug and a tea bag.
Finding a mug was the least of your worries, but you couldn't quite remember where Ana kept her tea. After about twenty cabinets, you finally discovered where her stash of tea was. Peppermint, Lemon and Ginger, Chamomile, Green, Oolong, Black, White, and Earl Grey.
Your instincts were working in overdrive. Someone else was around, but you weren't sure who. You twisted your body around, your hand curling into a fist. You expected to make contact with a fleshy jaw. The force of your punch was held back, the person's hand wrapped around your fist preventing you from making contact with their body. Your arm went immediately went limp, noticing who stood in front of you.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Genji didn't seem to show much emotion behind his eyes. You drew your hand away, standing idly in front of him.
"What are you doing up so early?" Genji asked you, looking past your shoulder to see the boiling kettle.
"Just getting something to drink." You turn back around, resting your hands on the counter.
You could hear Genji walk behind you, opening and closing cabinets. He soon returned next to you, placing his cup down with the tea bag inside. You never really had a proper conversation with Genji. Most of the time you'd see him meditating or just give you a glare while walking past you. He seemed much like you were, dark bags were evident underneath his eyes. His entire body held a story behind it. Asking was out of the question. Most people aren't comfortable sharing stories with strangers.
"What are you doing up? If you don't mind me asking." You look over at Genji, trying to make a friendly conversation with him. He seemed lost. For once he was readable, not in his body, but his eyes.
"Can't sleep." He simply replied. You mitigated the awkward silence by returning to your thoughts.
You must've been completely zoned out of reality. The kettle had been whistling for a good minute before you noticed. By the time you did, Genji had already poured your mugs, starting to leave the area. You felt obligated to stop him, but you couldn't find a reason why. The man's intriguing and you wouldn't mind knowing his life story. Perhaps he could keep you awake so time could pass by quick enough that you wouldn't notice how exhausted you both were.
"Genji wait!" He turned back around, holding his mug in both hands. You felt a lump in your throat, almost as if you were trying to convince a hungry tiger not to eat you alive. You took a deep breath to quickly calm your nerves "I... I was wondering if maybe we could talk in my room?" Genji narrowed his eyes. There was distrust in them, he was trying to read you like a book, trying to figure out if you were lying to him or simply doing a kind gesture to make him feel as if he were family. He couldn't find what he was looking for, you seemed too genuine in your words. His eyes glanced away from you for a moment, then back at you once again.
"Sure." You let go of the breath you never noticed you were holding. You grabbed ahold of his empty hand, guiding him towards your room. You didn't notice his expression when you grabbed his hand. He blushed heavily like it was the first time a girl had many any sort of physical contact with him.
You re-entered the code to your room, entering inside. You let go of Genji's hand, watching him explore your slightly decorated room. You're not sure why he seemed so interested in something with little to no taste. You placed yourself on your bed, holding your hot mug of tea in hand, gently sipping on the mix. You were slightly off guard, it's sweet. "What did you put in my tea?" You ask him, slightly concerned.
Genji let out a chuckle when he noticed the distress in your eyes. "It's just honey." He made his way towards you, placing himself next to you on the bed, still pre-occupying himself with your room. You were hesitant to take another sip out of your cup. Why wouldn't you trust him? You knew the consequences if someone pulled a plan like that in Overwatch, hell, the consequences would be worse in Blackwatch with Commander Reyes in charge.
"So, tell me something about yourself." You felt a little bit awkward asking him the question. You weren't sure if he'd take that as an insult or reply to it like any other person would.
"I love saké." You lifted an eyebrow, letting out a silent chuckle.
"So, you drink excessively like that damned cowboy?" For once you saw joy in his eyes, laughter overwhelmed Genji, reminding him of the time's he saw McCree in a drunken state.
"In my youth, but not now." You furrowed your eyebrows, silently questioning what he meant. "I was considered a playboy. Got ladies, drank a lot." There it was again, that lost look in his eyes. Perhaps bringing up the conversation was a bad idea.
"I-I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." Genji gave a slight nod, accepting your apology.
"I would like to know the real reason why you're up." You felt hesitant at first, unsure if you should share your nighttime experiences.
"Well, it's honestly just a nightmare, or uh.... night terror. I get them pretty much all the time." Genji raised an eyebrow. You weren't sure if he thought your reason was ridiculous or if he was actually captivated by the subject. "It's pretty stupid if you ask me." You chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of your neck.
"Not at all. I get them often too." You nod your head, silence lingered in the room for a moment.
"Why are you up?" You asked, hopefully forwarding the conversation.
"I'm having issues coping."
"W-with what?" You watched him shift uncomfortably.
"My new body." You felt your stomach twist into a knot. You hadn't really taken into account that the current form he was in was 'new'. You figured at some point in his life he was human, but you didn't know how recent it was. You felt guilty for asking, for bringing up the subject in general.
"I think you look cool, unique. You know, something a kid would be inspired by." Genji's eyes flicked towards you and back to his mug.
"Thank you. For the compliment." You weren't really sure how to handle the situation. You've never had a robotic limb or asked anyone about what it felt like. It's not that you're uninterested, it's a scenario that most people don't want to talk about unless they're bragging. Braggers don't really give you the full experience. It's the people who are broken who do.
"What's it like?" He looks up at you, lifting an eyebrow. "Your new body, what's it like." You see Genji trace the rim of his mug.
"It's... difficult. Being reminded every day of what you were and what you are. Being reminded of the tragedy and how I could've prevented this from happening." He pauses, his eyes filled with agony and sorrow. "If I had listened, none of this would've happened."
You two were choking on the silence in the air, every swallow you experienced was a struggle. You could almost smell it. The silence isn't the same. It's not the silence that you experience when you're meditating or just thinking in general. It's not the silence you experience when you're filling out paperwork or playing a game. It's the silence you experience when everything's turned off. When the bird's stop chirping, people stop walking, talking, breathing, when the machines stop working. Almost as if your life was put on pause so the person watching your life could hear what their friend was ranting about.
The silence finally broke. You outstretched your arm, causing your bed to quietly creak and the comforter on your bed to scrunch with your movement. Your hand reached to his jaw, caressing the piece that presumably covered his mouth. Genji looked over at you, the same sorrow and agony still present in his eyes. "Can I see?"
"See what?" Genji knew what you were asking, but he hoped it wasn't what his mind instantly went to.
"You. I want to see the rest of you." Genji sighed, pulling his head away from your hand, looking away.
"I'm not the most desirable person to look at." You chuckled at his statement, causing him to lift an eyebrow.
"So what? I'm not either." Genji pressed his index and middle fingers against the sides of his jaw. A hissing sound emitted followed by a short duration of steam. He pulled off the plating, revealing the rest of his scarred face. He looked, normal. You kind of expected his jaw to be missing or half his face to be disfigured, but no, he's normal. Your eyes fluttered in shock. He's pretty attractive. "I think you're very desirable to look at, Genji." He seemed taken aback by your compliment, a shy smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
You let out a yawn, your brain slowly trying to put you back to sleep. Your eyes could barely stay focused and your eyelids felt like anchors were holding them down.
"I should let you rest," Genji stated, starting to get up and off of your bed. You tugged at his empty hand, gaining his attention.
"Stay. Not a huge fan of sleeping alone." He placed his empty mug alongside the jaw piece on your bedside table. He outstretched his body on your bed. You did the same, placing your nearly empty mug next to his possessions. You lie next to him, placing your head against his chest, trying to avoid the protruding wires from his abdomen and arm.
"Am I uncomfortable?" He asks you, wrapping his arm around your form.
"You're surprisingly comfortable." You reply sleepily, snuggling up to the cyborg. It didn't take long for you to fall into your peaceful bliss.
The last thing you remember from that night was the starting of a story. One you've never heard before. The story of two ancient dragon brothers. One from the North Wind and one from the South Wind.