Chapter Text
“Stop prowling, Genji.”
Genji growled. “I’ll prowl if I want to.”
Hanzo sighed. “You’re scaring the staff.”
Admittedly, that made him feel bad, but Genji was nothing if not stubborn. He crossed his arms and met his brother’s disapproving glare with one of his own. “Why are Udon, Shio, and Shoyu allowed in there but not me?”
“Because they are our dragons and they don’t count.”
“But technically it’s me! Or a part of me!”
“But it isn’t.”
Genji groaned and threw his hands up in the air. “It’s been hours! Ours never took this long.”
“That’s because Zenyatta is a special case.”
“Something could have gone wrong and we’d never know!”
“I’m sure that our dragons would warn us if that were the case, which it definitely isn’t.”
“Stop blowing my arguments away, Hanzo!”
“I would be out of a job if I did that.”
Genji took a swing at his brother, who easily dodged it with a flex of his powers. Immediately Genji retaliated and started a tussle, their forms invisible to the mortal eye from how fast they were going. However, the brawl was over just as quick as it started; leaving behind a calm Hanzo sitting on his brother’s back, who was face-first on the ground.
“I hate you,” Genji muttered into the tatami floor.
“I know,” said Hanzo.
“I’m so bored.”
“Ah. There it is. The truth”
“Shut up!” Genji whined. “I just wanna see my husband! Why are you so cruel?!”
“I’m cruel because I love you, Genji,” Hanzo said. “Also it’s in my job description.”
“I’m pretty sure that being the Lord of the Shimada Clan doesn’t require you to harass your brother.”
“No, but it is a requirement of my job as your older brother.”
“What’s that supposed to mean--?!”
“Excuse me, young masters,” a voice interrupted.
Both Shimadas whipped their heads around to look at where it came from. Poking its head out from behind the paper door was a medium-sized monkey demon. Instead of being a warm brown like a monkey from the human world, this one was a deep turquoise colour with leopard-like blue patterns. It blinked its red eyes and twitched its nose.
“The ritual is complete,” it said.
“Finally…” Genji groaned.
“But-- er, I must warn you,” it hesitated. “It may not be like what you expect.”
“How so--” Hanzo tried to get more details but was cut off by Genji standing up and throwing him off his back.
“What?! What happened?! Is he hurt?!”
Hanzo tried to calm his brother but already it was too late and he watched Genji shove past the monkey demon and barrel inside. Hanzo pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Zenyatta!” Genji called, only to almost trip over his husband.
“I am right here, Genji,” he said. “There is no need to shout, but perhaps you should watch where you step.”
“Are you okay?” Genji asked and fell to his knees, grabbing Zenyatta by the arms and inspecting him. Zenyatta chuckled and let his husband manhandle him so that he could find comfort with the physical proof of his wellbeing.
“I’m fine.”
“But the Fūri said that something happened!”
“I don’t think so,” Zenyatta hummed. “It told me that the ritual went perfectly.”
“What…? Then why--”
“Though, perhaps not as perfectly as a dragon-binding ceremony should go.”
Zenyatta let the top of his soft kimono fall from his shoulders and unwrapped the bandages around his torso. On the front of his chest, almost taking up the entire canvas, was a bright yellow tattoo. Bright yellow enough to almost be gold. The art style matched every other Shimada dragon that was given to them and would look perfectly at home among them--
If it had been a dragon at all.
Two large koi chased each other in a circle. Water flowed past them and splashed at the edges of the tattoo while japanese maple leaves floated on the surface. One koi was completely filled in with gold while the other was almost invisible with how thin the lines were, each using the opposite colours to paint in the details.
Genji must have gaped at it for too long, because he could feel Zenyatta begin to fidget under his gaze. “Is it-- is it alright? I do not know if I performed a step wrong or why it isn’t a dragon like yours--”
“It’s beautiful,” Genji said. “I love it.”
“Are you sure? Was it not supposed to be a--”
“Screw dragons,” Genji waved off (while offended growls came from the corner in which Udon, Shio, and Shoyu sat). “This is so much better. It’s so-- so you. I think the only other tattoo that’s as detailed as yours is my mom’s.”
Hanzo and the Fūri walked in at that moment, the monkey demon nervously fiddling its fingers. Hanzo looked down at the tattoo and his eyes widened. “So it’s true. How... strange.”
“Isn’t it pretty, oniisan?!” Genji gushed. “I have the most beautiful husband in the realm.”
Genji eagerly nuzzled into Zenyatta’s neck, who giggled and tried to push him away when it tickled him. Soft murmurs of ‘I’m so lucky’ and ‘You’re exaggerating, Genji’ were exchanged between them.
Hanzo cleared his throat.
Zenyatta, getting the ‘subtle’ hint, pried Genji away as he muttered about his cockblocking brother. “Am I going to be getting into trouble for this?”
“I doubt it,” Hanzo said. “We cannot control what image the ritual will give us, only that it has given dragons to every Shimada since the very beginning. We followed the process that any demon who marries into the family must perform word for word. It should have given you a dragon.”
Hanzo placed a finger on his chin and sighed. “Though, you are not quite a normal demon.”
A quiet laugh came from Zenyatta and he was about to discuss it further when Genji dove in again and wrapped his arms around him, pouting like some child forced to share its toy.
“Let’s get out of here. The ritual is done, blah blah blah, we don’t need to be here any longer.”
“But we need to figure out why--”
“Think later, go now,” Genji interrupted and scooped up his husband, making him yelp in surprise. Before his older brother or the monkey shaman could protest he sprinted from the room and down the hall.
“Genji!” Zenyatta squawked. “What is the meaning of this? Why are you so energetic all of a sudden?”
When they were a decent distance away from anyone that could get in the way, Genji ducked himself and his passenger into the shadowed area behind a pillar. He let go on Zenyatta’s legs and pinned him against the wall, pressing his nose into the collar of Zenyatta’s neck.
“Genji--!” Zenyatta gasped and grabbed the back of Genji’s outfit. “We’re in the middle of-- I’m still only in my sleepwear!”
“Doesn’t matter,” Genji muttered. “Want you.”
“I’d rather we do this somewhere comfortable.”
“You’re so beautiful-- so hot. Void, Zenyatta, you drive me crazy. The moment I saw your tattoo I had to hold myself back from devouring you then and there. Do you know how dangerous you look?”
“W-Well, I suppose I do now…”
“I still owe you from yesterday when you almost fried those demons to a crisp in front of the entire council. Hana made fun of me for the rest of the meeting because of how red my face was. Fuck-- I can still smell the smoke on you. Your powers have been getting stronger everyday ever since you fully transformed and your raw strength does things to me. We didn’t have any time yesterday-- but now I’m gonna payback what I owe you.”
Zenyatta shuddered as Genji licked a stripe up his neck, Zenyatta involuntarily gripping his black hair and making him growl. “While I don’t exactly oppose your ideas… if we keep going on this path, we will be late.”
“Blame the ritual, not my fault that it took so long.”
“No matter whose fault it is, we still need to get to Fareeha’s retirement party on time.”
“Let’s skip it.”
“You don’t mean that.”
Genji stopped what he was doing and sighed in defeat, plopping his head on Zenyatta’s shoulder. “You’re right, I don’t.”
“It will only be a few hours.”
“Yeah, but then we need to visit everyone else, and that’ll take forever.”
“We don’t need to this time.”
“They’re my friends, too. I want to.”
Zenyatta chuckled and ran his fingers through his husband’s dark hair. “You know, they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“It’s not just my heart that’s getting fonder,” Genji mumbled, smiling as Zenyatta laughed out loud.
“It will only take a day at most. We can come back and do what we like to each other later. After all, we do have a long time to waste.”
Genji looked up through his eyelashes at his husband. After so long, still the marks on Zenyatta’s forehead and under his eyes and lips still sent a thrill through him. Each time he thought about that night he had brought Zenyatta to dinner and the disguise they made. It was not too far off from what the real thing turned out to be, but it could still never compare. Even his horns had come in with the same spiral shape that the fake ones had, but the real ones were longer and sturdier.
“A long time, huh?” Genji said with a smile.
“A rough estimate,” Zenyatta returned it with a grin just as blinding.
“How does forever sound to you?”
“It sounds perfect.”
“Forever,” Genji breathed and let his lips gravitate towards Zenyatta’s. “And ever.”