CYOA – Life and Death Situations – Chapter 14 (Patreon)

warnings: mild nudity

Rather than seeing what the others are up to, we decide to keep our focus on Jesse and Hanzo...

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It’s getting colder by the day. Jesse’s shifts on the beach are far and wide, now that they only have a skeleton crew. There’s a lull in his schedule until he starts his barista job again, and he uses this lull to go to the beach every goddamn day.

He doesn’t know what he thinks might happen, but he knows that it just… feels better to be close. He’s not seen Hanzo again, nor Genji or his friend. Lúcio has assured him that they have let this Zenyatta back into the water. He supposes that was that.

There’s no need for them to contact him any longer. But he can’t help but think about them and their glittering scales.

He can’t help but feel like he is being watched every time he is on that rocky part of the beach, staring at the grey water… Catching himself more and more often how he starts to walk towards it until the water seeps into his shoes.

He feels beside himself. A weird out-of-body experience that isn’t as frightening as it had seemed just a week or two before. He’d been out of his mind with panic then, just frightened by Gabriel crooning nightmares into his ear, but now he feels like he is coasting on something.

He’s not really there fully, except he is.

When Hanzo suddenly pokes his head out of the waves after a week or-so of not showing up, Jesse can’t even muster the decency to look surprised. Part of him had just known the guy was there, and he realizes it now that he watches his cool, black eyes studying him in return.

“Hey there!” Jesse calls over, lifting a hand in greeting. For a second he thinks that Hanzo will just vanish again, but after another moment of quiet staring, he starts to move his tail and pushes himself forward to Jesse.

The closer he comes, the more something in Jesse’s chest relaxes and he can breathe a little easier.

“Hey there,” he drawls again when Hanzo is closer, eying the long line of his strong tail in the water behind him. The sea has to be freezing cold but Hanzo doesn’t look bothered by it; even his nipples, when he pushes his upper body out of the water, are still soft and pudgy looking.

Jesse stares at his chest, a jumbled mess of half-thought concepts tumbling through his mind before Hanzo’s voice distracts him.

“You keep coming here.”

Jesse blinks and his eyes flick up to Hanzo’s eyes.

“You’ve been watchin’?”

Hanzo looks chagrined for a moment, but before he can answer, Jesse continues: “What’re ye critters doin’ here anyway? Thought your brother’s sweetheart was out ‘n about.”

Hanzo’s brow furrows.

“We are no… critters.”

Jesse winces.

“Pardon’ me. I mean… hybrids?”

“We are water dragons.”

Hanzo lifts his impressive tail out of the water. The day is dreary and grey but somehow the sky blue scales still manage to find any and all light and make it reflect beautifully. Jesse is quiet, staring at the display with fascination.

Water dragons, then. He can definitely see that.

“What are ya doin’ here, though? Where’s your brother?”

Hanzo looks reluctant, like he does not want to answer, but eventually allows a strangely pouty: “He is with Zenyatta.”

“So everythin’ is fine?”

Jesse slowly squats down to make it easier for Hanzo to look at him. Hanzo nods slowly, eyes following Jesse attentively.

“It seems that way.”

“I’m glad.”

There’s an awkward pause where they just stare at each other and don’t say anything. When they speak again, they overlap.

“I was jus’ thinking-”

“I suppose I should than-”

They pause again, and Hanzo squints at him.

“Pardon. What did you want to say?”

“Has your wound healed?”

It is definitely not what he was about to say earlier, but Jesse is not going to argue with him. Jesse hums, and reaches for the sleeve of his jacket.

“Yes, actually.”

He pushes the sleeve up and turns his forearm so Hanzo can see it. The gashes had indeed suddenly closed up, but the skin – now smooth to the touch without a hint of scarring – is still discolored. The scratches are ink black; they look like a tattoo more than anything.

Hanzo’s brow creases thoughtfully. He reaches out for Jesse’s arm, and his first instinct is to pull it away from the sharp looking talons, but the palm has curled around his wrist before he can move.

The thin webbing between Hanzo’s fingers feels cold to the touch; just short of slimy. Jesse swallows hard, eyes flicking from the hand twisting and turning his arm, and to Hanzo’s face, dark eyes scrutinizing the mark.

Eventually, Hanzo lets go of him with a thoughtful hum.

“So… any idea what this is about?” Jesse asks softly. Hanzo shakes his head, but he looks thoughtful still, so he is quiet for a moment to let him think. Eventually he pipes up again, just having to fill the awkward silence.

“Why do we understand each other? I have met another… uh… water… person? And that guy has had to learn our language first… I just don’t-”

“We have learned it from a human,” Hanzo says with some annoyance. He pulls himself closer until he is sitting sideways on the shore. Jesse is almost distracted from his statement by the sight of his tail; the sheer length and beauty of it.

He can also see Hanzo’s… feet… curled up relaxed against his abdomen; stumpy, reptilian, and not at all mermaid-like. For some reason, it is the sight of them that really drives it home to Jesse: this is real. This is happening.

“So you know other humans?”

Hanzo sighs deeply and rubs his fingers along the back of his nose.

“I do not wish to talk about this anymore. Leave it.”

Jesse grits his teeth, and fixes Hanzo with a stare. It’s the first time he is this close and lets himself directly stare at the creature. The… water dragon.

“Listen, pal. I understand that humans have done you an’ your brother dirty for some time now, but I wasn’t one of ‘em, right? You put me into a pretty shitty situation.” Here, he lifts his arm again for emphasize. Hanzo’s face is darkening by the second, his mouth pulling into a little downwards arc. “An’ I don’t want ya to go an’... marry me or anythin’, but I do want some answers. I want to know what I can expect going forward.”

Hanzo looks chagrined. He turns his head and stares out at the sea, expression tight and unhappy. While Jesse waits for him to come to a conclusion of some sort, he just stares at his profile.

While Hanzo’s torso and everything to his hips looks human at first glance, Jesse can see that his skin is a bit more pebbled than a human’s. There’s a dark line around his eyes that looks like some sharply drawn make-up, but he is suitably sure that that can’t be the case.

There are gills against the sides of his neck, tucked just beneath the sharp hinge of his jaw. They move just a little bit, but obviously he has no difficulty breathing the air around here (which… kind of calms Jesse).

“I already told you that I don’t know what is going to happen to you,” Hanzo suddenly speaks up, voice calm. He stares out at the see with an absolute poker face. “But-”, he continues before Jesse can say a word, “I am curious as well. About your condition. And about the world outside of the water. I want to know more. So I know what to expect. So I can protect my brother and his intended better.”

Jesse blinks slowly. He has trouble for some reason to wrap his head around what Hanzo just said.

“So some Quid Pro Quo? Didn’t know you were into that Lecter shit…”

“I do not know what-”

“I mean… you want information in exchange for information, right? We can do that.”

Jesse smiles what he thinks is his most winning smile, but Hanzo does not look impressed.

“No. I want to go with you.”

Jesse stares at him quietly, then down at the long tail and reptilian feet.

“I’m… sorry, darlin’. I fear ya need a bit more than those to keep up on land.”

Hanzo’s face darkens instantly. He reaches out with a speed that has goosebumps break out along Jesse’s body, and grabs him by the front of his shirt, pulling him close and showing him the rows of his disturbingly sharp teeth.

“Do not belittle me, human!”

He lets go of Jesse and pushes him away a bit for good measure.

Before Jesse can say more, the water dragon’s tail begins to… shift. It reminds him of the creepy animorph depictions on the front of those books. He blinks rapidly, trying to wrap his mind around the sight of the contours of Hanzo’s tail moving and shifting, but there seems to be something in his human brain revolting against comprehending it all.

There’s a throbbing pain starting up behind his eyes again, and he has to look away for a moment.

When he glances back, Hanzo is… human. There’s no more tail; no reptilian feet; instead he has two sturdy, muscular legs. His feet are almost dainty, their nails going into points that Jesse just knows are as razor sharp as the claws on his hands.

He is also fascinatingly naked.

“What the Hell,” he groans, dragging both hands across his face. “I didn’t know you could do that!”

“You don’t know much about us, human,” Hanzo says haughtily. He looks smug. “And you won’t find out more than you already know if it goes my way.”

“What exactly are you planning?” Jesse asks. He thinks his own voice is a bit shrill. He can feel panic creeping up at the back of his throat again and begins to fight it down. He needs to take deep, calming breaths. Just… just calm down.

“I want you to teach me about this outside world,” Hanzo says again, staring at him like he is an idiot. “Know thy enemy.”

It is so weird hearing such a common day human phrase out of Hanzo’s mouth. Where did he know all these things from? From his expression it didn’t seem to occur to him that what he just said was weird.

“Okay… fuck. Okay. Uh… you sure that your brother won’t… miss you?”

“He is… occupied. And we can feel each other’s whereabouts.”

Jesse decides not to ask. He’s not in the mood to get denied by Hanzo once again. He rubs his face once more, then peeks down at Hanzo’s legs. They look so ordinary, really. It occurs to him that Hanzo’s upper body has changed as well.

His skin seems smoother; the tender looking gills beneath his jaw have vanished.

His eyes are still as hard and piercing as they have been previously, though.

“I need to find ya some clothes first. Humans aren’t really used to all that jazz…” he awkwardly waves his hand towards Hanzo’s crotch. He tries not to stare at the silky looking fleece of pitch black pubes, and the delicious looking cock nestled there, but he must be doing it even so because suddenly Hanzo’s hands cover himself up. When Jesse looks up, the water dragon looks a bit awkward.

“I’ll come back with clothes next time. You uh… will you…”

Hanzo looks at him with an indecipherable expression.

“I will feel you.”

The little hairs along Jesse’s forearms stand at attention at the weird phrasing. He does not ask. He just retreats.