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“Hah. That was a much closer match than last time. You have improved a lot. Well done, Genji.”
“Thank you, Master. I couldn’t quite get you this time, but I see that the training is getting tougher. I am grateful for that.”
Zenyatta bowed his head at the other and let out a soft chuckle. “You do not need to go easy on me, my student. I can handle myself quite well, as you know. Next time, don’t hold yourself back.”
As Genji tucked his blade back into its sheath, he couldn’t help but glance away. He was well aware that Zenyatta could help himself in a battle—and he knew it was probably disrespectful to go easy on his own teacher—but he couldn’t help it sometimes. It had been six weeks since he last saw his master. Genji had been gone on a meditative retreat by himself and hoped to have returned with renewed vigor and motivation. While he was gone, though, he simply found himself missing Zenyatta’s company and presence. It was a helpful journey for what it was, but now that he was back and stood before his master, all he wanted to do was be with him and talk to him—not go through routine training and fight him .
“Sorry, Master.”
“It’s quite alright,” Zenyatta waved his hand as if he was waving away the apology. He didn’t see a reason for Genji to apologize in the first place, after all. “So, do tell me about your trip. What did you discover? What did you see?”
Genji had heard the flood of questions asked by Zenyatta, but he didn’t quite answer them yet. He simply let himself take in the very sight of his master standing in the mellow, golden light of the sun as it began to set. The water in the oasis gently rippled behind him, and the sand dusted across their feet in the delicate wind.
Wow , Genji thought to himself. It didn’t occur to him until now just how much he truly missed his master. Those kind eyes, that soothing voice, that unwavering stance…
Snapping out of his small daze, Genji took a step forward. “It was… quite beautiful ,” he spoke softly.
Zenyatta tipped his head curiously at the answer. “Oh?”
“Yes. It was very peaceful, too.” Genji approached closer, his tone of voice gentle.
“Good,” Zenyatta nodded. At this point, he began to notice the distance between him and the other closing. Was this purposeful, he wondered? Not that he was going to question it. They were just having a casual conversation, after all. Of course they need to be closer to speak to each other…
“And… it was…”
“It was…?” Zenyatta repeated, now looking down at his slightly shorter friend. Only now did he truly notice their subtle height difference. It was quite an endearing thought to know that Genji is the shorter one between them.
“Lonely.”
A calm silence filled the area.
Zenyatta’s eyes wandered downwards towards his student’s hands. They almost seemed to be reaching for his…
“Loneliness… is a difficult feeling to overcome. Especially when you are committed to such isolation for quite a long period of time,” he spoke gently, sympathizing with Genji’s feelings as he slowly folded his hands together. It was almost as if he was resisting the temptation of taking Genji’s hands into his own. His student wasn’t the only one who felt lonely, after all. “But I am glad you were able to find solace.”
Genji quietly nodded at that. He always admired the way Zenyatta spoke to him and validated his feelings. He wanted to cling to each earnest and kind word that came from that sweet sounding voice.
Noticing how close the two of them had gotten, Zenyatta felt that he should probably snap out of his impure thoughts and move this conversation back to the nearby temple. He could prepare a cup of tea for Genji and he could listen to more stories about his travels.
“Ah. It is getting late, Genji. We must—”
“Master! Look out!”
In one swift motion, Genji scooped Zenyatta up into his arms and let out a small sigh of relief, glad that he was quick enough to catch the other.
Little to Zenyatta’s knowledge, Genji’s quick thinking had just saved him from falling right into the water of the oasis. Not that it was a life-threatening situation or anything, but water is quite the hassle to get out of an omnic’s system. Not mention the possibility of rust.
Apparently, the actions by Genji were so sudden, Zenyatta hardly had time to process what had happened. One moment, he’s ready to head back to the temple, and the next moment, he is in Genji’s arms and even closer to his face.
Something in Zenyatta’s system changed.
Something felt… different.
“Master, are you alright? I hope I didn’t scare you.”
…Huh?
“Master?” Genji tilted his head and leaned in, wondering if his teacher was completely shut down by the situation. Literally. However, after noticing a small head movement from the other, he relaxed a bit.
“A-Ah—Sorry,” Zenyatta stuttered and subtly moved his face away from Genji’s. It was quite an embarrassing position for him to suddenly be in. He was caught so off-guard that he didn’t realize how flustered he was by Genji. It was quite a strange feeling, being embarrassed for no reason… or… maybe there was a reason…?
“Master, your body is heating up quite rapidly. Perhaps we should go inside and into a shadier place.”
Heating up?
Zenyatta suddenly placed a hand on his face. “O-Oh! I do seem to be heating up quite a bit. Don’t worry, Genji. My system should have an automatic cooling—”
“Master, Is there a reason your lights are pink? I’ve never seen that before.”
“M-My what? ”
Genji gestured to his forehead, and Zenyatta’s hands hurriedly moved to cover up his forehead lights.
“P-Put me down for a moment, Genji.“
Obeying his master’s words, the swordsman gently set Zenyatta down onto the sand. The omnic shifted to lean over the nearby water as he calmly studied his reflection. Genji continued to hover around him, assuring that the monk wouldn’t fall into the body of water on accident (which is what he was trying to prevent in the first place).
Genji was right.
Why were his lights pink?
“Huh… Strange…”
“Master. Let’s get you inside before you overheat,” Genji advised, taking ahold of Zenyatta’s arm. He wondered if the lights were reflective the omnic’s body temperature. If that were the case, he wanted to get his master into the cool shade of the temple as soon as possible.
That sudden action made the monk jolt his arm away.
“Oh. Forgive me, Master. I thought—”
“Don’t be sorry, Genji. I didn’t mean to do that. Y-You just… startled me.”
Zenyatta lowered his head, unsure why he was acting so unsure of himself all of a sudden and feeling so flustered. He had never been like this before.
Iris, help me.
Without another word, Zenyatta began walking in the direction of the temple with Genji following behind him.
—
Genji patiently sat across from Zenyatta, who had been meditating for over an hour straight. He didn’t mind the peace and quiet, really, but he was surprised when his master suggested a sudden meditation session. He was sure the monk wanted to hear more about his journey from the past few weeks.
“You’re staring, Genji.”
The swordsman immediately sat up straight after hearing that comment. “Haha. Sorry, Master. I didn’t realize you were done meditating already.”
“Well… Truthfully, I am sort of struggling. I’ve been going in and out of focus for the past hour.”
“Oh. Are you feeling alright, Master?”
“Never better.”
“Lying certainly doesn’t suit you.”
A soft chuckle escaped the monk. “No, no, really. I suppose I just hadn’t realized how much I missed having you around, Genji.”
If Zenyatta could smile, Genji was sure he was doing just that right now. “Why are you struggling with meditating, then?” He had to ask.
“Well… I-I…” Zenyatta paused. There was that feeling again. The annoying stuttering had made its return as well, much to his dismay. His hands shifted in his lap, almost as if he had no idea what to do with them. Such a shame, too. He was trying so hard to focus on relaxing during his meditation.
“Master,” Genji began, chuckling a bit. “You have pink lights again.” He carefully observed the other’s behavior and demeanor, starting to have suspicions as to why the lights have suddenly changed color once again.
“Oh dear. I’m not quite sure what has come over me. This is quite embarrassing,” Zenyatta shook his head and placed a hand on his forehead. He took note of his body temperature rising once again, just to his luck.
Genji scooted over to the other and sat closely to observe his master’s face. “I may have a few theories, Master.”
Zenyatta could just hear the smirk in the other’s voice. “Are you making fun of me, now?” His own tone of voice was just as playful. He knew Genji meant well, but he was also very sure that whatever was happening to him was because of his student and his… close proximity.
Zenyatta scooted backwards a bit.
That prompted Genji to move closer.
“G-Genji…” Zenyatta’s voice was wavering.
“You seem rather unsteady and unsure, Master,” Genji observed. “I don’t think I have ever heard you stutter before. Forgive me for saying this, but it is quite cute.”
Zenyatta was sure he was going to melt under the intense heat and pressure of the situation if Genji continued to get any closer… or if he listened to any more.
“O-Oh. I don’t know about all that.”
“It’s true. I believe you’re experiencing somewhat of a human equivalent to blushing. Did I happen to fluster you, Master?”
Yes.
“Of course not.”
“I hate to say it, but I don’t believe you.”
“It is impossible for me to show such an emotion, Genji.”
“Is it?”
Zenyatta said nothing in response.
“I think,” Genji began, gently lifting Zenyatta’s face to look at his. “You’re not used to this feeling. I most likely startled you when I picked you up from the water of the oasis. I apologize for doing such a sudden thing, Master, but you also don’t need to be embarrassed of this feeling. If anything, this emotion connects humans and omnics even closer together, don’t you think?”
“Y-You may be right,” Zenyatta responded, his eyes never leaving Genji’s. He then sat up a bit. “Ah. There it goes again. My voice is—“
“Don’t worry about it, Master. We are not perfect. We may not always have a clear mind on things, and we may often get distracted.”
“Hm. Are you suggesting that I am distracted by something?” Zenyatta chuckled as he tilted his head at the other. He quite enjoyed being this close to the swordsman, despite how hot his body was getting.
“Perhaps… by someone .”
Now it was getting really hot in here. Since when did Genji become quite the charmer?
Before either of them knew it, their faces grew closer together, closing the distance between them. Genji carefully unlatched his mask, exposing his scarred face to the other, and closed his eyes as he sealed the gap between them.
Zenyatta felt as light as air. He should’ve known better. It wasn’t just the fact that Genji suddenly startled him at the oasis that brought out these “new” feelings. It was that he knew he liked Genji too much and felt flustered when he got even slightly close to his face. These weren’t new feelings to him, he concluded in the end. He’s known this all along, yet chose to ignore it.
After another moment, Genji slowly backed away and clipped his mask back into place on his face. Neither of them said another word. It was like they both needed to process these same feelings for each other. It wasn’t until Genji realized what he had truly done that caused him to jump backwards a bit.
“M-Master! Forgive me. I-I—“
“Oh! You’re very cute when you stutter, too. Such a shame you don’t change colors like I do. That would have been interesting to see,” Zenyatta chuckled at the very sight of the other.
“Where did all this sudden confidence come from?” Genji muttered as he stood up from his spot beside his master. After stretching out his limbs, he then let out a hearty laugh as he thought about the whole situation. He held out a hand to Zenyatta, hoping to help him up and move forward with all of these renewed feelings. The monk gladly took his student’s hand and stood by his side. They exchanged sweet glances to each other and decided to go and make some tea together.
Genji wouldn’t mention that Zenyatta’s lights never stopped glowing pink.