Work Text:
Another day, another six-hour retail shift. Jesse McCree took a long sip of his hot tea and crossed the street in front of AudioMedic, the record store he worked in.
The owner, Lúcio, was there as always, taking down old signs in the windows and replacing them with new ones. “Whattup, Jess?”
“Heya, Lúcio. ‘M I on register today?”
“Nah, Hana is on register. You get to arrange a display for the new Payloäd album we got in.”
He pretended to gag, but Lúcio was already back to his task and didn’t notice, so he went inside to clock in.
Hana popped her gum before acknowledging him. “Jesseeeeeeeeeee.”
“Hanaaaaaaaaaaaa. ‘Sup?”
“Same as ever.” She stepped aside from the register so he could clock in. He looked over her shoulder to see what game she was playing on the small TV behind the register. It was something on the Nintondo 76 he didn’t recognize.
“Lena coming in today?”
“Nah, she’s got a daaaaaaaaaaate.”
“Oh? First I heard.”
“Yeah. She met a girl named Emily, they are gonna go out tonight. Think it might get seeerious.”
“Getting seeeerious, eh? What evidence we got for that?”
“Well, it’s the third date.” Hana popped her gum again, sat back down in front of the 76, and put her feet up. “You know her, if she doesn’t like somebody, she moves the fuck on. Gotta go fast, you feel?”
“That was...I’m not sure you used that in the right context, but whatever.” McCree straightened the ballcap he was using to mask the sorry state of his hair. “Listen, whatcha got in that Bag of Holding? Along the line of hair products?”
“Uh, bobby pins, styling mousse. A very tiny hair straightener. Dry shampoo…” Her eyes focused on the game as she listed her possessions from memory.
“I’ll take the dry shampoo, if ya don’t mind. I look gross.”
“You find it, I’m working on something.” She jerked her head back toward the peg her purse was hanging on on the employee wall. He hung his keys on the lanyard next to it, and dug inside for dry shampoo.
“Can I use this comb too?”
“Yes. Please let me work on this game, do whatever you want.”
He heard one more pop of her gum as he darted to the employee bathroom to make his hair more presentable. It sort of worked, so he took the baseball cap off and hung it on the peg with his keys. After cleaning off the comb to make sure none of his hair was left on it, he placed it back in Hana’s bag.
“Thanks, sis,” he called over his shoulder as he went to the back room to get the new stock.
“You got it,” she answered, still not turning to look.
Carefully, Jesse carried the first box of records to the open table, going back for a record stand and a spare player. He went back to the front, where Lúcio was out on the sidewalk, analyzing his poster placement with an artful eye, and stuck his head out the door to speak.
“Hey, boss. Can I crack one of these open to put on a turntable?”
“You got it, Jesse,” the slightly older man nodded, dreads bouncing.
He opened the first box with a careful hand, took the first vinyl off the top, and peeled the protective layer of plastic off. He put the record into the turntable, Side A up, and placed its cover in the stand so people could read it. He placed the rest of the albums in a tidy stack next to the turntable, and as he was doing so, he heard Hana pause the game and bring out another box.
“These are T-shirts for the album, too,” she explained, putting it on the counter for him to get. “The delivery got messed up, we only got size 3X, but boss wants us to make sure they get put on the table anyway.”
He took the box and opened it a little too hastily, realizing that when he opened the box, he’d made a huge cut through the shirt on top. “Uhh…”
“What did you do?” Hana leaned over the counter and saw him holding up the sliced-open shirt with a distressed look on his face. “Damn, bro, great job.”
“Shut up,” he grumbled, bringing it closer to his face to take a look at it. “Think you could DIY this into something wearable?”
“If you hadn’t sliced completely through the logo I could," she grumbled. "Hand it here, I’ll see what I can do.”
He tossed the shirt back over the counter to her. She saved and turned the game off, pulled a pair of scissors from the desk drawer, and got to work.
Lúcio came back in as Jesse was stacking the remaining shirts on the table. He tried very hard not to make eye contact with his boss, and prayed Hana didn’t say anything.
“Hey, Lúcio, we need to damage out one of the album shirts, Jesse sliced it with a boxcutter.”
There’s a reason I call her my little sister, he thought to himself.
“Eh, we’ll do it later. I was gonna give you each one anyway to wear to work, but I should wait until we get your sizes in. The rest of the shirts should show up in the next few days.” He sat on the counter with a satisfied sigh. “Your display looks great, by the way,” he told Jesse, turning to face him. “Wanna do the CD put-backs next?”
“I c’n do that,” he responded with a nod, picking up the empty boxes.
“I’ll take these off your hands,” Lúcio jumped off the counter and took the boxes and boxcutter from Jesse. “Thank ya much. Hana, wanna help me make a clearance corner?”
“Sure, lemme finish this cut real fast, though...Actually, can I see that thing?” She held out one manicured hand for the boxcutter.
Lúcio handed it over, and looked over the counter at her handiwork so far. “Hey hey, that’s cute! You really did that.”
“I only finish what Jesse starts.” She stuck her tongue out at him, and he responded in kind, taking the CD basket and making his rounds. Hana and Lúcio finished the clearance box quickly, and Lúcio excused himself to go on a snack run, taking orders from his two employees before jetting out.
So far, only thirty minutes had passed. He walked slow, measuring his steps to pass the time. No customers in sight yet. Good thing Lúcio was still making significant coin as a DJ, because the store had been dead for the past week. Jesse mulled the situation over some more. Was it the late hours? AudioMedic being open from 2 to midnight on weekdays had made sense to him when he first started working here, but maybe the morning people felt they were being excluded? Then again, Lena and Hana said it was always busy on shifts he didn’t work. Was it just him, then? Okay, sure, they had only been open for two hours, but come on…
Just as he was thinking all these things, the door opened with a “zwee-zwee” from the sensor.
“Howdy,” he rattled off without looking up, trying to sound upbeat despite being distracted, “welcome tuh--”
When he looked up, he was floored by what he saw. A tall, angular, taupe-complected man with a tight T-shirt, the sharpest fucking jaw he’d ever seen in his life lined by a sable beard, long hair to match…was that a bridge piercing?...
“Audio...Medic…” he attempted to finish his thought.
“Jess! Hey! I didn’t know you worked here.” He heard a familiar voice, and turned to see his classmate and acquaintance bordering on friend, Genji. His green hair was spiked even higher than usual, and it this moment it annoyed him, because it was getting in the way of his view of the beautiful man behind him…
“Oh, uh, hey Genji. Sorry, I’m kind of spaced out today.”
“I gotcha. Hey! So this is my brother Hanzo, he’s in town for the week, and I was showing him around, thought he’d dig it here.”
Jesse looked up at the other man and tried to muster up the ability to respond. “Uh. Hi. I’m Jesse.”
Hanzo smiled, faint pink pooling on his cheeks. Was he shy? Embarrassed? Oh, fuck, whatever he was, he was cute. How could he be so sexy and then become so goddamn cute in an instant? “Nice to meet you. I, er, see you have the new Payloäd on vinyl.”
“Yeah. You like them?”
“They’re pretty good. I don’t seek out a lot of metal, but I do enjoy their stuff.”
“Yeah. I’m more a folk music guy myself but their debut was pretty good. We have T-shirts too, but only in 3X. The rest of the sizes should be in next week.”
Jesse was suddenly apprehensive about eye contact, so he let his eyes drift. He saw part of a detailed tattoo emerging from the short sleeves of the man’s shirt. he saw such skillfully carved biceps...he turned his head in the opposite direction, looking to Hana for support. That did help, but not in the way he intended it to-- he found himself chuckling upon noticing that her eyes were firmly fixed on Genji.
“Anyway, uh, I’ll let you guys look around. Let one of us know if you need something.” He waved goodbye and walked back to the counter, standing strategically in front of Hana’s line of sight.
“Fuck off, let me look,” she whined, trying to lean around him.
He played point-guard and pretended to block her from an imaginary basketball hoop.
“Let me look,” she whined again. “He’s cuuuuute.”
“Yeah, so is his girlfriend,” Jesse whispered at her, sounding more like a hiss than he’d intended.
“God damn it.” Her face crumpled into the Payloäd tee she’d been performing surgery on. Upon hearing the door chime, Jesse turned to see a svelte blonde in a snug-fitting band tee entering the store. Her eyes scanned the room before settling on Genji and lighting up.
“Speaking of,” Jesse muttered, as she darted over to her boyfriend and slung her arms around him from behind.
Hana looked up, and her jaw dropped again. “Oh, my God, she’s even cuter. Is she bi?”'
“Shut up,” he snarled through one side of his mouth as Genji and Angela turned to the counter, looking at Hana with puzzled expressions. Hanzo merely smiled, eyes fixed on...Jesse?
“Hehe, sorry, y’all. A little friendly banter between colleagues. I’m trying to help her with a project right now…” He started to regret his decision to cover Hana’s tracks when Angela walked to the counter and peered over. She didn't, thank God, seem to notice Hana's flushed face.
She gasped. “That is so cute! I love Payloäd. Are you making a crop top?”
“Trying to. We sliced it with a boxcutter this morning trying to make the display and so I’ve been trying to salvage it.” Jesse saw the relief in Hana’s face, and had to smile.
“Here, let me see,” Angela took the scissors and leaned further over the counter, trying to help fix the neckline.
“Did you know Angela actually sings in an all-girl metal band?” Genji had come up behind Jesse, beaming. “She’s going to med school and doing local gigs at the same time. She wants to get something going with the music, but wants to have a stable career when it’s time to retire, ya feel?” He sighed. “Creative and forward-thinking. What a girl I got.”
“Yeah. What a sight,” Jesse muttered, eyes following Hanzo as he pawed through the folk music CDs.
The direction of Jesse’s gaze wasn’t lost on the younger of the brothers. “Hey, man, not to be That Person, but uh, my brother is also, gay. I know that’s a bit annoying when people are like, ‘Oh, you’re gay? X person that you don’t know is also gay!,’ but uh, wanted you to know. Do with that information what you will.”
Jesse smiled softly, but less in response to his friend’s words, and more to the realization that Hanzo was smiling at him, too, and beckoning him over.
“Hey, be right back,” Jesse told the green-haired guy. Genji, noting the situation, nodded with a not-so-discreet grin, and joined Angela and Hana at the counter.
“Need help finding anything particular?” Jesse tossed a hand through his hair. This is a good flirty thing to do, right?
“Yeah, a little. I listen to EDM more than anything else, I came here because I’m a big fan of Lúcio. But I’ve been wanting to get into more folk music. I heard you say that’s your genre so...where would you start?”
Nothing could be more affirming than the hottest man Jesse had ever seen listening to something he’d said about himself. “Well, uh, what folk music have you heard that you liked?"
“Eh, you know, some Simon and Garfunkel, some Dylan. Very acclaimed, mainstream stuff. I wanna branch out a little more.”
“Well,” Jesse edged closer to the shelf, and in so doing, brought his back very close to Hanzo’s chest. “If I had to give you five albums to listen to from there…” He started to pick things from the stacks, and he watched as Hanzo’s hand rested on the shelf beside him. Jesus, he was so close to him. He lost track of what he was recommending, but he hoped it at least made sense. He turned, and, oh, God, they were so close. Inches away from being chest to chest. He smelled so good…
Jesse managed to bring himself to look up into Hanzo’s face, though the urge to stare at the contours of his neck and chest was strong. “Actually, uh, if you stick around a while, the man himself should be back. I could introduce you if you wanted…”
His brown eyes grew wide with childlike surprise. “You would do that for me?”
“I mean, sure. He’s here a lot, loves meeting people and getting to talk to music lovers. It’s nothing.”
“You are the best,” Hanzo said with a huge grin. “I owe you one.”
“Nah, it’s really nothing major. He went out for snacks, should be back soon.” Jesse held out the CDs he’d picked. “We can play one of these in the meantime, see what you think.”
Hanzo looked to his party to see what they were doing. Hana had given Angela the finished crop top, and she was thanking her excitedly, making her way to the Payloäd stand to get the new vinyl and one of the non-cropped tees. Genji seemed to be chatting with Hana about the Nintondo game she had been playing earlier, and both of them seemed to be fine with staying a while longer.
He turned back to Jesse. “I’d like that very much.”
Jesse went back to the counter and found one of the portable CD players Lúcio used to make sure the discs weren’t scratched. He took his headphones from his jeans pocket, inspected them to make sure they were clean, and offered one headphone to Hanzo.
"This one's alright, but if you like this one, you're gonna love the other ones." He popped the first of his picks into the CD player and put the other headphone into his own ear.
The man listened, brow furrowed, taking the music so seriously. His eyes fixed on a floor tile in the distance somewhere. Jesse had every note memorized, and he let his eyes rest on Hanzo, liking the way he was savoring his recommendations.
He was about to voice an opinion on the track when the “zwee-zwee” sounded again and Lúcio had arrived with snacks in tow. Hanzo’s head whipped around so fast Jesse almost dropped the CD player.
He looked back at Jesse, eyes pleading. God, he was so cute. Jesse couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, uh, boss. Got someone here who wants to meet you.” Jesse beckoned the man over, and he dropped the snack bag off at the counter and glided over to Hanzo with his signature “meeting-the-fans” smile.
Jesse left them alone for a few minutes to finish the go-backs and chat with Genji and Angela. She was carrying a huge stack of metal records now, repeatedly shifting it to try and find the easiest way to carry it. As she checked out, Hana stacked the vinyls into a leftover box to make it easier to carry. Finally, Hanzo got done talking with Lúcio, and to Jesse’s great satisfaction, he looked up to see him purchasing all five of the records Jesse had shown him.
“I’ll listen to these in more detail when I get back to Genji’s place,” he promised, watching as Angela put her huge box of purchases in her car.
“I hope you like them.”
“Can I see you again? Tell you what I thought of them?”
“Well, uh, I think that’d be nice,” Jesse admitted, feeling a blush form under his dark skin.
Hanzo slipped him the receipt from the CDs, and Jesse turned it over to find...his own name and phone number? In pink gel pen?
“I wanted to make sure your wingman over there gave me the right number,” he asked with a gentle laugh. Over his shoulder, Hana gave him a thumbs up.
“Yeah, this’ll be it. You say you’re in town for a week?”
“Yes, but I only live a couple hours away. If you’re busy this week, we can always figure something out…”
They locked eyes for a long moment, savoring it.
“I don’t have any classes Thursday.” Jesse murmured without fully realizing he was speaking aloud.
“I can do Thursday. I’ll call you.” Hanzo took the receipt back from Jesse’s outstretched hand, letting his fingertips stay a moment longer than necessary. “See you soon.”
All Jesse could do, watching the beautiful man leave the store, was repeat, “See ya soon.”