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“I don’t even know him!” Jesse exclaimed, not losing speed in his pacing.
“That’s why he’s coming here, mijo ,” his Papi replied patiently but it was visibly wearing thin by now.
Jesse scowled at him. He was in no mood to be patronized. “I abdicated because we all know Lena will be a better ruler than I could ever be. Not so you could ship me off to get yourself a new ally.” He tried not to show how betrayed he felt at the news of their plans but he was failing.
Gabriel scowled, turning to his husband. “I told you this wasn't a good plan,” he murmured in a low voice. “We shouldn’t have warned him beforehand, now we will have to put a guard on him so he won’t run away before they get here.”
“I can hear you!”
Jack sighed. “This is not a punishment, Jesse. It’s not even a done deal. Neither side promised anything just yet. They will come to discuss trade deals and on that occasion, the two of you can meet and decide if it could work out. Really, this is not dark ages anymore. We are not ‘shipping you off’ so would you please calm down?”
Jesse turned to them, one eyebrow skeptically raised. “So yer telling me I can say no.”
Gabriel gave him a look. “We let you abdicate, didn’t we? So clearly, we won’t take the choice away from you. All we are asking is for you to give it a fair chance.”
That sounded slightly more amiable, Jesse supposed. As long as he could say no.
“...fine. I guess I can do that. But ya know I don't even speak their language, right? So why Japan of all places?”
“Emperor Shimada turns out to be a much better ruler than his late father and his goals align with ours. He is willing to join our forces against the Talon association and it would be good to have the alliance run deeper than just a simple partnership of convenience.”
Jesse huffed. He understood alright; didn’t mean he had to like it. Marriage out of convenience just never was an idea he was fond of. His father’s married for love and he hoped to do the same one day if it came to that. And he sure didn’t consider marrying outside of their kingdom.
“I don’t even speak Japanese.” It was more of a sigh than a real complaint and from the expressions on his fathers’ faces, they knew it too.
A knock interrupted any possible answers and Jack called out permission to enter. Vincent, his personal assistant, poked his head in before entering fully.
“What is it, Vincent?” Gabe asked, intertwining his fingers with Jack, making his husband very nearly roll his eyes. Jesse snickered. His Papi had this ridiculous idea that there possibly could have been something between Jack and Vincent in the past, despite Jack denying anything of the sorts. Yet, Gabe made a point of staking his claim, so to speak, every time Vincent came near. Which was nearly constantly. The only thing that prevented it from being an incredibly awkward situation was that Vincent hadn’t had a clue.
“Your Majesties, we have received news of the Emperor’s delegation. They sent a messenger announcing their arrival in six days time.”
“Thank you, Vincent. Please inform captain Amari that we would like to meet up with her and lieutenant Wilhelm in half an hour to discuss the security detail.”
“Yes, sir.” Vincent bowed his head and exited as swiftly as he appeared.
When he was gone Gabriel smirked at Jesse. “Well, mijo , you better hurry then.”
Six days never flew by so quickly. Jesse spent it mostly with his nose is his tablet, going between textbooks of Japanese for beginners and files with information about the delegation. He could barely wait for it to be over, it was a complete pain in the arse.
“You are not wearing that,” Fareeha said from behind him, making him turn and scowl at her.
“Why not? It’s ma style.” She gave him a look, then took the remaining steps to him and snatched the hat from his head.
“Jack will disown you if walk up there in hat and spurs, Jesse. And you know it.”
“Well, I just think he should know what he’s in for.”
She smirked. “As if you could hide that even in proper clothes.”
“Hey! I’m a fucking delight!”
“Sure you are, Jess. Now go put on something decent for once.”
“Aren’tcha bossy today,” he grumbled but it was fake and they both knew it. Fareeha was his best friend and Jesse couldn’t really be mad at her nagging him, he would have to be pissed non-stop for years; she was the head of his security after all and they spent quite a lot of time together even before that.
He picked up his formal uniform they had prepared for him and sighed. It’s going to be a long evening.
“Come on, we can go riding tomorrow or something. You can even wear your silly hat and I won’t mock you for it. Much.”
“Aww, aren’t you a sweetheart,” he cooed and then promptly hid in the walk-in closet to change before she could throw something at him. He was surprisingly anxious about this evening. Normally he wasn’t too bothered by state visits or delegations, he grew up with them as a constant in his life after all. But he knew about the double purpose of this one and it nibbled at his nerves for almost a week now. He may very well end up being engaged this time next week and that was a somewhat terrifying idea.
“Are you trying to hang yourself on your belt in there or something? What’s taking so long?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming, jeez. A guy can’t take more than five minutes to prepare or what?”
“We are on a schedule, dumbass, and you lost enough time staring broodingly into the mirror, so move it.”
“Wasn’t brooding,” Jesse murmured, tugging at his sleeves as he walked out of the closet and smoothing down the uniform.
“Sure you weren’t,” Fareeha allowed, only a little mockingly. “You do clean up good, I almost forgot. When was the last time? Your coming of age celebration?”
“My promotion,” he corrected. It was some years ago but he remembered it clearly; his fathers looked both so proud that day. It was a nice memory. It was proof his abdication did not sour things between them.
“Alright, stop dilly-dallying, we have to go!” Fareeha shooed him out of the door where part of his security detail was waiting. “We will meet with the delegation in the blue reception room, your sister and fathers are probably already there.”
Jesse just nodded, his throat suddenly tight.
He’s being ridiculous, he chastised himself, there was no need for nerves. It was just a meeting to see if it could work. The choice was his, Gabe and Jack both told him as much on multiple occasions.
But what if it could work? What then?
He nearly tripped, only Fareeha’s quick hand saving him from it. She looked at him with clear worry now. Jesse just shook his head and took a deep breath. He’s being stupid. He’s long past thirty and he has enough experience to deal with whatever the evening brings. He led stealth missions against Talon for crying out loud, how bad could one banquet be?
Jesse was wrong. So utterly, utterly wrong. This evening was worse than all the missions he even been to, including the one that cost him big part of his left arm.
It started ordinarily enough.
He joined his fathers and Lena in the reception room where the initial introduction would take place before moving to the great hall for the banquet, and everything seemed to be fine. His Papi didn’t even fuss with his hair too much, which was always a good sign.
Then the Shimada’s entered and Jesse could barely remember what happened after. All he could recall were the piercing eyes, stern expression, and shoulders that looked like they could bear the weight of the world. Which was just enough to make him freeze and then stutter like a fool during the introduction, earning himself an arched eyebrow from the Emperor, and a minuscule smirk from his brother. He could almost feel the facepalms his fathers desired to give in to. He wouldn’t be able to stop the blush warming his cheeks even if he had gun pointed between his eyes.
And it got worse.
He instinctually tried to offer his arm to the Emperor to escort him to the banquet after the introductions were done with, just to be sternly reminded the Emperor was not to be touched, by a member of the entourage by the name of Vasvani.
After that he tried to apply his hurriedly acquired knowledge of Japanese, just to say something that made the emperor flinch and his brother nearly choke on the champagne. At which point he should have taken a hint but he obliviously plowed on, until the Emperor suggested Jesse would maybe be more comfortable conversing in English - his own accent smooth and English perfect.
He could feel the shame swallowing him but sadly he was still in the room, looking at the Japanese supreme ruler with mouth hanging slightly open.
Overall, he should have tried to hang himself on his belt when Fareeha mentioned it, it would have been a much better course of action.
It was much much later when he finally got back to his rooms when Fareeha closed the door with a soft click and asked: “What the actual fuck, Jesse?”
He groaned and fell face first into his bed.
“Fareeha.” He whined.
She padded over to him, sitting on the bed next to him. “I have never seen you flail this much. What happened?”
Hanzo fucking Shimada happened. That man was so perfect he seemed more like a fantasy than a real person. And there was no bloody way he would be willing to give Jesse a time of day, allegiance or not. Especially not after he mucked it up so bad.
“I knew he was good looking. I saw the pictures. But Christ, Fareeha, he’s so much… more in person.”
“Oh. Wow.”
He peered up at her, her face was actually surprised. “What?”
“Well,” she said, “you gave the impression you were not at all interested in that marriage business, so I’m bit surprised you change your mind already.”
“I haven’t!” Or had he?
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation and Jesse dragged himself up, before calling: “come in.”
His Papi poked his head in. Fareeha automatically rose and bowed, making her way to the door to give them some privacy. Gabriel thanked her with a small, fond smile and waited until she closed the door behind her.
“Hey,” Jesse said hollowly, then dropping back on the bed, this time only sitting on it. He already knew it wouldn’t swallow him whole like hoped.
“ Mijo, ” Gabriel started, making his way to sit in the spot Fareeha previously occupied. “You doing okay?”
“No.” Jesse murmured honestly.
Gabriel patted his shoulder. “That was some dinner, huh?”
“How bad is it?” Jesse asked without preamble.
“What is?”
Jesse shot him a look, not in the mood for platitudes. “How badly did I fucked things up?”
Gabriel shrugged. “As far as we know, you didn’t. At least, we hadn’t heard a word of complaint from them so far.”
That was somewhat of a relief.
He expected Gabriel to ask what happened but instead, the man smiled on the ground, his features softening.
“You know, I’m not sure I ever told you about that time when your father and I basically just met. I know you heard we were introduced in the middle of the war with omnics but this was still before the conflict turned out into a complete bloodbath, so there were free moments here and there. He tended to try and flirt with me in Spanish. It was hilarious. He butchered most of the words and his accent was simply the worst.”
Jesse closed his eyes, recalling the flinch as he tried to ask the Emperor if he enjoyed the food. He dropped his face into his palms, groaning.
“Why are ya telling me this?”
Gabriel chuckled. “Becuase even though he was terrible at it and fucked up more than he didn’t, I found the fact he tried rather charming at the time. Also didn’t hurt he was hot as hell.” He laughed at Jesse's overexaggerated groan. “Just some food for thought. Get some rest, mijo .”
Before he could leave the room, Jesse looked up at him and smiled. “Thanks, Papi .”
Gabriel returned it. “Any time.”
Despite his father’s words, Jesse did not sleep well and was out of bed before the sun started to peak over the horizon. Tired and cranky, he made his way to the gym. He hoped exercise would get him out of this funk but it was only a small hope. The memories of his yesterday blunders too fresh.
Two hours later and a one set of sweat-damp clothes he knew it wouldn’t be enough. So he took a shower and headed for the practice range instead.
He picked up Peacekeeper with enough ammo to keep him busy for at least another hour and let his thought be drowned by the cracking gunshots as he took down targets popping up in front of him.
After a while world composed only of aiming, pulling the trigger, and reloading; the cycle soothing in a bizarre way.
“Ah, I apologize, your royal highness, I did not wish to disturb you,” a deep voice pulled him out of his relaxed state some time later. Jesse didn’t flinch only because his reactions with gun in hand were honed over more than two decades. He secured it before putting it down and turning around, just to face the dark gaze that haunted his dreams the whole night.
“Your imperial majesty,” he bowed slightly in greeting. “What an unexpected surprise.”
Jesse cursed his brain for not coming up with something less basic. But he honestly hadn’t expected to see the Emperor here of all places and automatically retracted to the realm of safe niceties. And at least this time he didn’t trip over his own tongue.
“I have been told this is the place where one can practice in peace. I have not considered I could be intruding, I will let you practice in peace. Please, excuse me.” He turned and only then Jesse noticed the quiver of arrows on the man’s broad back and the fairly massive bow in his hand. It spoke volumes about his focus that he missed it in the first place.
“Please stay!” He blurted out a bit too loudly, then internally cursed at himself, adjusting the volume to a more appropriate level. “If you wish, your imperial majesty, I do not mind sharing.”
The Emperor turned to look at him for a few seconds, then inclined his head in thanks and made his way to the lane that was two away from Jesse’s own.
It took everything in him to tear his eyes away from the man and get back to his shooting. Luckily his long years of practice did not let his nerves alter his aim and the targets disappeared just as swiftly as before, accompanied by the pings of connecting bullets.
At the fourth reload the Emperor’s voice reached him. “Your skill is impressive.”
Jesse smiled, inclining his head in thanks. Before flicking his gaze to the scoreboard announcing his companion’s perfect score. “That is high praise coming from you, as your skill is equally if not more impressive.”
There was a moment of silence, and Jesse was afraid he overstepped in some way again, but then the absolutely stunning man smiled at Jesse and he very nearly choked. Hanzo Shimada did not give more than polite half smile through the whole of yesterday’s banquet but still, even those were enough for Jesse to consider them beautiful. But this small but genuine smile was something else entirely and it was disarming - figuratively speaking.
“Well then, what would you say to a little friendly competition?” The Emperor asked and Jesse couldn’t but take the challenge with a grin plastered on his face like the smitten fool he was.
Halfway through the state visit, Jesse was getting used to the other man’s presence. At this point, they had officially met on several occasions varying from a walk around the compound to a trip outside the Capitol. In the beginning, his fathers or Lena were present but on the second day, the Emperor proclaimed he did not wish to usurp all their time, he understood the country demands constant attention and would not mind having only one member of the royal family as their guide.
Jesse noticed mostly on accident that during those words the Emperor’s brother covered his mouth in an attempt to hide a grin. He noticed Jesse noticing and followed up with a rather obvious wink that made Jesse’s hope sprung from the dirt he previously stomped it into.
It was during those meeting he learned much about Hanzo’s country, his attachment to his people, and even some things about the Emperor himself. Like the fact that neither he nor his brother needed any guard, they were mostly for show. Or that his younger brother was his second, his closest confidant, and an absolute terror. Jesse believed that without hesitation. That man had vibrantly green hair .
Jesse shared tidbits from his own life. About his younger sister Lena, who was much beloved by anyone who ever encountered her, and even those who only ever heard of her. About his time fighting to stop the second omnic crisis before it could start far up north. Though, he hadn’t spoken about how he lost his arm since that was hardly an appropriate conversation topic. Just as he left out his abdication. The emperor knew about it, of course, and that was good enough for now. He instead shared stories about Fareeha, who is nearly as much his sister as Lena is. About his training under Ana Amari, which intrigued the man as he heard about the sniper and admired her skills.
They spoke of books and music. Allies and enemies. Everything and nothing.
Jesse marveled at how easy it was to talk with the man who was viewed by his people as a near god.
But in all that, they avoided mentioning the secondary reason for the visit. Until nearly the very end of the visit.
“Good morning, Jesse,” a soft greeting sounded from the balcony, where the last breakfast was served. He turned to look up.
“Your imperial majesty,” he greeted with a grin, earning himself a scowl. He bit down a laugh. “Morning, Hanzo.”
It was so far from proper protocol even Jesse could feel his toes curl from the anxiety of possibly being caught being this informal with the man but Hanzo insisted after Jesse asked him to drop his own title outside of formal events. That is, he couldn’t tell he did not enjoy saying it. Every single time the name rolled of his tongue it sent tingles down his spine.
Hanzo rolled his eyes at him for the teasing and took a seat across from Jesse at the still mostly empty table. They were up way too early for anyone else to show up just yet. Maybe the man couldn’t sleep just as Jesse couldn’t? The goodbyes looming over them. He watched Hanzo prepare his breakfast with meticulous, calculated movements. It was poetry in motion.
“I believe we should talk,” Hanzo said suddenly, peering up at Jesse from under his eyelashes. Jesse’s eyebrows raised.
“I take it ya have somethin’ concrete on mind?”
Hanzo huffed, putting his chopsticks down and looking at Jesse properly.
“Yes. The reason why I traveled here myself instead of simply sending my brother in my stead as I would usually do.”
Ah. That reason.
Jesse scratched his beard in an attempt to gain some time to think about his reply. He decided to go with honesty.
“I believed you weren’t interested in that discussion.”
Hanzo looked surprised at that. “What made you think that would be the case?”
Jesse shrugged, not really wanting to get into the nitty gritty of it. “Didn’t think we fit together.”
“Do you,” Hanzo turned his eyes to his plate, “still think that?”
Jesse felt his expression soften at the unHanzo-like reaction. The Emperor was normally very sure of himself, to see him lacking that unshakeable confidence made him seem very human. “Nah. I enjoy spending time with you, Hanzo. Much more than I thought I would. We work well together.”
The man’s shoulders relaxed and he looked up with a smile. “I think so as well. I did not know what to expect of you, Jesse. I have considered you weak for giving up on your duty as a crown prince. But I believe I understand your reasons little better know and they speak of the opposite. You chose what you feel is best for your people and that is admirable.”
Jesse sighed. “Lena will be a much better ruler. I planned to stay by her side, to be her right hand but she has more than enough support to not need me here.”
Hanzo looked hopeful. “So, you would consider-?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I think I would. If you are sure you won’t be regretting it. You saw how things can go with me.”
Hanzo laughed. “It was rather flattering.”
Jesse blushed. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. God knows everyone else won’t let it go for ages.”
“I have to admit, I find the flustered you rather charming.” Hanzo teased but his eyes were warm and soft. Jesse had a sudden flash to his father sitting on his bed after the disastrous evening, saying nearly the same thing.
“Well then, Shimada Hanzo, I think we’ve struck a deal.” He extended a hand towards Hanzo, who took it with an amused smile. It quickly turned into startled delight when Jesse pulled the hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss to the back of it. For the first time, he could see the man’s cheek turn pink and he had to say he rather liked the look of it.
“Finally! Took you two long enough. Can we eat now?” The younger Shimada’s voice came from the farther door, where he, Lena, and Fareeha were all poking their heads out, all grinning. Hanzo startled and his irritated “Genji!” was probably heard even down in the gardens.
Jesse couldn’t help it, his laughter joined theirs in a chorus of joy. Guess this wasn’t such a pain after all.