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Around the holiday season the watchpoint became increasingly quiet as the weeks went on. One by one people left to go spend time with family and friends the last few weeks of the year. The world didn’t stop for holidays, but it was the time of year people were homesick and only wanted some time off. What all of them did was never easy and taking some personal time helped people recharge. There were a few people that still stayed on the watchpoint, not everyone had family to go celebrate the holidays with, and not everyone had safety to travel anywhere. There were less than a handful of people left on the watchpoint, Hanzo included in one of those staying for the holidays.
The holidays were never a big thing for the Shimada family. When they were younger it was worth more sentiment than it was now. In japan it always appears that the Shimadas had holiday spirit: acts of kindness, the castle decorated to celebrate the holiday, and the seasons greets that came from all of their lips. On the inside though, everything went by as usual. There were rarely gifts exchanged after the passing of their mother, her death seemed to take all of the holiday spirit out of their father.Hanzo never blamed their father for the lack of Christmas, but it just ingrained in him that December was just another month to live through.
Genji seemed to like Christmas a lot. Most of the years as he got older he would celebrate Christmas with his friends. Hanzo would humor his brother by listening on late nights to the stories he would tell. It was their tradition to trade stories, telling jokes, and trading a single present to each other. They’d usually be small items, wrapped horribly even though they would try their best, and they were always gifts that were chrished.
That was Christmas for Hanzo for the longest time, until it wasn’t.
He was the one who put an end to his own Christmas celebrations with the actions he regretted.
That is why he was on the watchpoint instead of going somewhere else for Christmas. He had purchased as cake from a local shop nearby, but he had put it away to help him refrain from taking the first slice. Getting to town and back took most of the day, so the sun was setting. It was dinner time, usually it would be bustling in the dining hall, roaring with chatter, the clattering of plates, and the warmth of food. Seeing the place so empty just emphasized the lonely feeling Hanzo was trying to ignore.
“Athena, where are the other agents on the watchpoint?” He inquired walking out of the dining hall and towards his room, ignoring that loneliness.
“Winston is on the watchpoint but is currently asleep, Agent McCree is on the beach, and Agent Vaswani left early this afternoon. The closest arrival back on base is Agent Oxton who due to fly in with Emily to celebrate Christmas with the Watchpoint in two days.” Athena informed him crisply and his heart seemed to beat faster. He couldn’t help but be a little surprised that McCree was still on the watchpoint. He hadn’t seen the man in close to a week, so he was convinced that he had gone to spend Christmas somewhere else.
Hearing that McCree was still on the watchpoint his heart gave a small leap. For a while now he had wanting more to do with McCree, and he hasn’t had a feeling like these since he was young and naive. He would never admit how scary it was how fast he was falling for the local sharp shooter, and no matter how much he flirted with the cowboy he didn’t respond. There was the usual grin and laughter with some of the flirting, but otherwise there was no sort of response back.
Hanzo was at war with himself whether or not he should go down to the beach to find McCree. He could spend the rest of Christmas in his room doing his own things alone while grabbing a slice of cake and catching up on some movies, or he other option was he could grab two pieces of cake and coffee to bring down to McCree to spend the rest of the evening with company
The two of them didn’t start out the best, for the most part the both of them avoided each other for the longest time except for when they were on mission together. The two of them would work together with the rest of the team, but otherwise they wouldn’t socialize. It was obvious why they didn’t socialize and Hanzo didn’t blame him. McCree seemed to get along just fine with the rest of the agents, but was obviously more relaxed around some than others. It probably came with knowing them longer he figured.
Hanzo was immediately impressed by how smart McCree was with every move on the field. Even if one move seemed small or even like a mistake it would come back around to his advantage later on. His aim was impeccable and by the looks of it he spent a lot of time through a lot of years to get where he was, almost as good as his aim.
Slowly as a few months went by they finally started to socialize, first in group with other agents during mission down time, or on slow days on the watchpoint. Hanzo found conversing with McCree was very refreshing. The cowboy was well versed on many topics, a few debates naturally sparking from different perspectives, but ones that never ended in yelling. Their debates were ones of fact, how it affects different things, and how the opposite idea lacks. Jesse McCree kept him on his toes and Hanzo didn’t mind that, after a while he found himself craving those conversations with McCree.
The two of them started to talk to each other and warmed up really quick after they did start talking. Jokes and stories would flow, tales of certain jobs and shenanigans as children, and other topics that made Hanzo forget his woes in life.
Hanzo was at war with himself whether or not he should go down to the beach to find McCree. He could spend the rest of Christmas evening in his room doing his own things alone and grabbing a slice of cake and catching up on some movies. The other option was he could grab two pieces of cake and coffee to bring down to McCree to spend the rest of the evening with company.
It really was a hard decision that he had to make, but it seems that there was only one obvious one. After grabbing a comfy sweater from his room, Hanzo back tracked to the kitchen and cut two slices of cake as some fresh coffee brewed.
It was mild for the watchpoint but nothing compared to Hanamura. Still Hanzo bundled up and exited out a quiet side door on the bottom level with almost immediate beach access after going down a worn set of stone stairs. Hanzo was taking it slow to make sure he wouldn’t spill either cup of coffee or upturn the cake onto the sand.
When down on the beach, it wasn’t hard to find Jesse McCree, you just had to follow the sound of the radio playing. The tide was low and the sun was touching the water on the horizon casting the sky into bright hues of pink, orange, yellow, and a darking dark blue. Hanzo saw the familiar silhouette of McCree with a dark colored serape instead of his normal bright red one.
McCree didn’t say much, the sounds of the radio not quite enough to mask his approach, but the other didn’t comment on it either. He was only a few steps from McCree and the song was starting to end when finally one of them spoke up.
“I’ve always liked sunsets this time of year,” Jesse commented and leaned back on his hands. Those beautiful brown eyes looked up to meet Hanzo’s and then looked down to see what was in Hanzo’s hands.
“The colors are vibrant,” Hanzo agreed and carefully sat himself in the sand beside McCree. He offered a mug of coffee and a piece of cake. Jesse seemed to look at it a bit blankly but accepted it and took a drink of the coffee almost immediately.
“Any special occasion for the cake delivery?” Jesse inquired after savoring the fresh brewed coffee. Evidence of an old cup of coffee and a half bottle of liquor an arm’s length away.
“Just thought I would offer my company,” Hanzo stated simply and he nestled his cup of coffee into the sand so he could reach in his pocket to grab the other a fork. “I was in town and got cake and figured I’d share.” He stated simply and grabbed his own fork.
“Did you go to Nora’s to get the cake?” McCree inquired as he cut into the slice with the side of his fork. This question was asked just after Hanzo had put a chunk of cake into his mouth, and he gave a nod to the question before he finished his mouthful. The next song had started and was gaining volume.
“Yes,” he finally responded and set the plate in his lap so he could have a sip of coffee. “There have been many reviews that she has the best cakes by many people.”
“Well you heard correct, Nora is very talented.” Jesse agreed and took a big bite of the cake, making Hanzo chuckle.
“Glad I chose correctly then,” Hanzo mused and took another sip of coffee. The conversation seemed to stall as the two of them ate the cake, Jesse savoring the slice of cake while Hanzo devoured the well baked cake.
“Why are you alone on the beach with booze and music?” On any other day it would sound almost like a celebration, but on Christmas and alone it was almost sad. Jesse seemed to slow his chewing and he looked over at Hanzo. He finished chewing before he spoke up.
“The watchpoint has always been quiet on Christmas. My bounty has restricted me to the watchpoint, in Blackwatch I had no plans, so I’d come down to the beach and play some music my family would dance to when I was younger.” Jesse set the plate aside and he leaned back on his hands, smiling softly. “My whole family would be crammed into our small living room. We’d have music playing after dinner, and we’d move all the furniture to dance. Not a usual celebration but one we always did, and I like remembering moments like that.”
The soft smile on Jesse’s face and the distant look he had as he described his old holiday tradition. The holidays use to mean a lot to Jesse, that much as obvious, but now he was stuck here unable to celebrate them like me may have wanted to. A bottle of alcohol and memories was how he celebrated Christmas, it hurts to see such a good man alone on the holidays.
Hanzo nods and looks out as the tide rolls in stopping a few short feet from them.“Sounds like it was a lot of fun,” Hanzo agreed and glanced back to see a holochip was in the music player, a playlist, not a radio station. The song started to end and Hanzo didn’t know what to say.
Then a familiar piano tune started to play and Hanzo perked up a small smile coming to his face. An English song, one he use to remember his mother singing while she went about her day, Desperado by The Eagles. “My mother loved this song,” Hanzo commented and set the cup of coffee aside.
The two of them looked at each other and Jesse grinned, “My ma liked this song too.” He stated and tipped his head to look at the clear sky above them, stars just starting to appear overhead. An idea came to Hanzo’s mind, a few butterflies stirred in his gut at the thought of it, but it was something the both of them might need on this Christmas Eve.
“Desperado why don’t you come to your senses? You’ve been out riding fences for so long now.” Jesse was quietly singing along to the tune, his eyes glued to the sky. As he sang Hanzo slowly stood up from where he was sitting, setting the coffee cup behind where he was sitting and closed the gap between the two of them. He offered a hand silently to the cowboy who glanced from the stars to him. The two of them stared silently at each other for a few moments, the next few lines playing in the song.
I know you got your reasons these things that are pleasing you can hurt you somehow.
“Would dance with me Jesse?” Hanzo inquired, an unreadable expression seemed to pass McCree’s face before a big smile.
“You make it hard to say no darling,” Jesse replied and accepted the hand up. Their hands never left each others. The start was a bit clumsy but eventually Jesse took the lead and they started to dance. It was a slower dance, but one with the two of them grinning at each other and occasionally spinning each other.
It was about halfway through the song before McCree spoke up. “I’ve been wondering for a while,” He started and paused to think. “Have you been hitting on me?” Hanzo’s heart leapt into his throat but before he could get the words out Jesse continued. “You call me attractive when others rag on my appearance, complement my skills, and talk with me on sleepless nights.” All those things are true and more. They share jokes, bad puns, and lately its been healing. Healing those deep scars, venting to other people, having people around you that are healthy for you mentally.
For Hanzo McCree was a sanctuary, a drop dead gorgeous, understanding, smart, sly friend he wanted to be with more.
“I have,” he answered before he could overthink it. If he was going to far Jesse would tell him. As if Jesse would be attracted to someone as corrupt as he was. “If the advances are unwelcome I will stop them.” He stated and couldn’t meet Jesse’s eyes, those eyes of scrutiny.
“Woah there, don’t get ahead of yourself Hanzo. I don’t mind the advances.” Jesse assure and Hanzo looked up at the cowboy. The soft look he was given seemed natural on that rugged face but he wasn’t one to deserve such a look.
“I was wondering if it was just you being kind or actually flirting. Genji always said you were bad at it.” Jesse said and Hanzo scoffs.
“As if he is any better,” he fires back and Jesse laughs.
“I thought the flirting was sweet. I actually have been thinking of asking you out to dinner for a while now. All those missions to Europe got in the way.” Jesse confessed his cheeks going a light shade of pink that just darkened those cheekbones. Hanzo also felt his cheeks heat up at the confession and a smile come to his face.
Hanzo smiled and looked over at the cake and coffee. “Maybe we should consider this the first one then?” He offered. Jesse chuckled at the question and nodded.
“Only if it means we’re dating,” the reply came back as the piano played into the end. Hanzo smiled and leaned up to kiss Jesse. The soft kiss he has wanted for so long. Jesse’s lips were slightly chapped against his but soft, and it was all too short for Hanzo.
“I would love to date you Jesse McCree.”