Blackwatch Lab Rat

“Well, they sort of learn to hunt through play.”, he gestured to the hatchlings trying to catch his tail. “But, once they become old enough to eat bigger game Hanzo and I start taking them down to the forest to teach them how to hunt on their own, starting with smaller animals. Rabbits, and such.”

He flicked his tail a little, causing the hatchlings to, again, tumble over each other as they all attempted to pounce on his tail at once. “They learn flying within the first year, usually, since that’s the time they need to learn to control their elemental magic.”, he continued to explain, only looking away from Zenyatta when he felt a pinch on his tail, looking back to find all of the hatchlings hanging onto his tail, gnawing on it with all their tiny little baby teeth that did exactly nothing to the hardened scales on his tail. 

Zenyatta nods enthusiastically. Iris is currently caught in a fruitless wrestling match with Genji’s tail, trying to wrap her tiny body around it like some sort of constrictor as she gnaws on the scales, occasionally scrambling to keep her hold on it. 

“Should I expect…accidents, when she develops her magic, then?” He eyes Iris’s adorably ferocious attempts to tear chunks out of Genji’s tail. “I suspect that she will grow out of attempting to dismember everything in sight as well?” 

“Hm… They don’t need to eat the first week or two, since they still carry nutrients from the eggs. So, sleeping for a week straight doesn’t really affect them, they’re just a little behind on the leg coordination.”, he explained, smiling as Mao began trying to wrestle Iris with all his newly hatched might.

“Hanzo and I start introducing them to solid food within the second week of being born. Light meats at first - rabbit, duck, and such. After about the first… ten years or so they’re old enough to start eating the meat of bigger game. You know, deer, elk and such.”, he hummed, snickering as the rest of the hatchlings discovered his tail, which they proceeded to try and catch, tumbling over each other in the process.

“They usually start getting their normal day-night sleep cycle within the first few months though. Until then, have fun being woken up by needy hatchlings in the middle of the night.”

Zenyatta absorbs the information with wide eyes, earnest and attentive, reminiscent of a young acolyte from the Shambali Temple. Iris attempts to overpower Mao with sheer, brute strength, getting on top of them and pinning them down; she’s ultimately unsuccessful, but that doesn’t stop her from warbling and continuing to try. 

“When will they be able to hunt on their own? When will they learn to fly?” Now that they have a chance to properly talk about dragon care, Zenyatta is buzzing with questions. “What do you feed them before you put them on solid food?”

Genji chuckled softly, helping one of the hatchlings back onto their feet. They then proceeded to try and dog (dragon?) pile Iris, all four babies blepping with determination.

“Hey, no rough-housing.”, Genji hummed, carefully lifting the four hatchlings off of Iris when they piled up on her. “Be nice.”, he chided them before placing them back down onto the floor, where they continued to play - this time without trying to pile on Iris.

“They’re a lively bunch, I like it. One time we had a batch where the hatchlings legit just slept for a solid week. Hanzo and I thought something was wrong with them, but turns out they did the dragon version of ‘let me sleep five more minutes’.”, he couldn’t help but smile at the memory, watching Iris play with her many siblings.

Iris squeals as the other hatchlings pile on her, struggling under their combined weight fruitlessly, growing more determined to escape by the second. Zenyatta giggles, hiding his mouth with his long sleeve as the other babies pile on Iris and Genji chastises them. 

Iris goes back to play-fighting, squaring off with Mao as she nips at their mane, pretending to lunge for their neck. Zenyatta beams as he watches them. 

"Hanzo and I start introducing them to solid food within the second week of being born. Light meats at first - rabbit, duck, and such. After about the first... ten years or so they're old enough to start eating the meat of bigger game. You know, deer, elk and such.", he hummed, snickering as the rest of the hatchlings discovered his tail, which they proceeded to try and catch, tumbling over each other in the process.

He quickly caught Iris, chuckling softly as he tucked her close, sitting down again to allow the hatchlings to snuffle at each other like that - and before long they were playing, chirping and trilling at each other as they tumbled about on Genji’s lap and the floor.

“Well, they certainly get along well.”, he chuckled, patting the floor next to him for Zenyatta to join him. The babies tumbling about on the floor was an adorable sight indeed, since often they would flop themselves on the ground and fruitlessly flail their little limbs at each other in an attempt to reach the other without getting up.

Zenyatta relaxes when Genji catches Iris, inwardly scolding himself for not being more vigilant. What if Iris decides she wants to fly one day and jumps off the mountain? It’s a paranoid thought, but he doesn’t want his little hatchling hurting herself. 

“Hey, no rough-housing.”, Genji hummed, carefully lifting the four hatchlings off of Iris when they piled up on her. “Be nice.”, he chided them before placing them back down onto the floor, where they continued to play - this time without trying to pile on Iris.

He grinned happily, giving the little dragons plenty of scratches behind their horns and underneath their chins until they went bounding off to play. He then got up, gently rearranging the hatchlings snuggled against him so that they were all curled against his arm, going over to Zenyatta.

“Say hello to Iris.”, he said, chuckling when the four babies immediately perked up when they spotted Iris, craning their necks as far as they could in an attempt to say hi to Iris, their tiny pink tongues sticking out in all the effort they used to attempt to reach Iris. At this point, he was grinning so brightly that his cheeks were hurting, but not that he really minded. “Looks like they like Iris already.”, he said to Zenyatta, clearly overjoyed at how energetic the hatchlings were.

Zenyatta tries to hold back a wide smile at the sight of the curious hatchlings, but Iris makes no attempt at curbing her enthusiasm. As soon as she spots the other dragons, she perks up, all signs of drowsiness melting away as she cranes her neck out to get closer. 

Unlike the other hatchlings, she’s not content to stay in her father’s arms. 

He hummed in thought, tapping his lower lip as he tried to think of names for the hatchlings clinging to him. “Hm.. Oh, I know.”

He gestured to the two white hatchlings- “Hanako and Hideki” - the lavender one - “Mao” - and then the brown one. “and Katsu.”, as he named them, the four hatchlings softly chirped, puzzling over the names softly before they let out happy little trills. “Speaking of, here comes the cavalry.”, he mused, watching a good number of juvenile dragons come bounding towards him, trying to climb up his legs to snuffle at the newly hatched dragons, all of them blepping curiously.

“Hey there, little ones. Careful, they just hatched…”, he crouched down, chuckling when the juveniles began trying to groom the hatchlings. “They’re still getting the hang of the whole grooming thing.”, he said to Zenyatta, smiling fondly at the dragons he was currently being swamped by.

Zenyatta commits the names to memory, beaming at each little dragon as they trill happily. “All fine names,” he says warmly. He gasps with delight as a horde of juveniles appears, sidestepping their advance with a bright laugh as they surround Genji. 

“Oh, how adorable,” he coos, filled with warmth as he watches the slightly older dragons groom the babies. “What beautiful creatures.” 

He chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to the orange hatchling’s head, causing it to begin purring. This, as it does, caused a domino effect of all four hatchlings purring - which only meant that Genji looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“I mean, the biggest batch I’ve ever taken care of was… eight. Hanzo had another six, so it was a large clutch that particular year.”, his grin did not fade as he spoke, cooing softly when one of the hatchlings began trying to bat at the glowing green gem of his ear-rings.

“Sweetheart, I still need that earring. Please don’t break it.”, his voice was only teasing of course, ear twitching a little to make the gem bounce in the air, which (of course) delighted the white hatchling currently still perched on his shoulder.

Zenyatta melts and coos as the hatchlings begin purring, holding little Iris closer to him. She snuffles but remains sleeping at the moment, nuzzling into his collar. “They’re absolutely beautiful, my friend.”

He gestured to the two white hatchlings- “Hanako and Hideki” - the lavender one - “Mao” - and then the brown one. “and Katsu.”, as he named them, the four hatchlings softly chirped, puzzling over the names softly before they let out happy little trills. “Speaking of, here comes the cavalry.”, he mused, watching a good number of juvenile dragons come bounding towards him, trying to climb up his legs to snuffle at the newly hatched dragons, all of them blepping curiously.

When Iris finally ran out of energy, Genji chuckled softly, reaching out to pluck her up, carefully handing the sleepy Hatchling back to Zenyatta so that she could curl up in his robe again. He then gave Chouko a soft scratch on her snout, snickering when she licked his cheek.

The moment was only interrupted when the door was opened by a, seemingly annoyed, Hanzo. “Hey, *Ani*-” “Genji. Nesting Room. Now.”, Hanzo was obviously annoyed with his brother not being in there, since the eggs were just about ready to hatch. He also seemed a little antsy, wanting to get back to the nesting room as soon as possible. “Oh, shit, are they hatching?”, he didn’t even wait for an answer, a small rush of air that came seemingly out of nowhere pushed him back to his feet. “C’mon, you get to watch more babies hatch.”, he was grinning now as he followed Hanzo out of the door and towards the nesting room.

And, sure enough, more eggs were hatching - both brothers zoomed back and forth between nests, picking up Hatchlings as they went. Again, most eggs ended up duds, but each Shimada ended up with a good four babies curled against them, chirping feebly as they clung to their robes.

“Zenny, I love them.”, Genji was grinning from ear to ear, keeping the four babies that had imprinted on him close against him. There were two snow white ones, a lavender one, and a brown one.

Zenyatta hums as he accepts Iris back into his arms, carefully tucking her into the folds of his robe once again, running a single finger over her head. 

The younger god looks up quickly when Hanzo strides into the room, gasping when he realizes that more dragons are hatching. He hurries along after the brothers but hangs back as they attend to the newly hatched little ones, eyes wide with wonder, unable to hold back soft coos of adoration as each one emerges. 

"I mean, the biggest batch I've ever taken care of was... eight. Hanzo had another six, so it was a large clutch that particular year.", his grin did not fade as he spoke, cooing softly when one of the hatchlings began trying to bat at the glowing green gem of his ear-rings.

Genji was still snickering, grinning with delight as Iris continued to gnaw on Chouko’s claw - again it did no real damage due to her small size - leaning against Zenyatta.

“You’d be surprised at how often these little ones scream at me. They get very argumentative when they’re excited.”, he said, watching as Iris once again screamed - this time at Chouko though, causing the larger dragon to nip at Iris, rolling her over with the boop that created.

The edges of Zenyatta’s lips are twitching, as though he’s trying to hold back a smile. “So all hatchlings this energetic? Or is Iris just unusually aggressive?” 

He can’t help bursting into peals of laughter as Iris is knocked over. “Oh, little one,” he murmurs fondly. 

The moment was only interrupted when the door was opened by a, seemingly annoyed, Hanzo. “Hey, *Ani*-” “Genji. Nesting Room. Now.”, Hanzo was obviously annoyed with his brother not being in there, since the eggs were just about ready to hatch. He also seemed a little antsy, wanting to get back to the nesting room as soon as possible. “Oh, shit, are they hatching?”, he didn’t even wait for an answer, a small rush of air that came seemingly out of nowhere pushed him back to his feet. “C’mon, you get to watch more babies hatch.”, he was grinning now as he followed Hanzo out of the door and towards the nesting room.

And, sure enough, more eggs were hatching - both brothers zoomed back and forth between nests, picking up Hatchlings as they went. Again, most eggs ended up duds, but each Shimada ended up with a good four babies curled against them, chirping feebly as they clung to their robes.

“Hm… Time gets a little weird after a while of living for very long. Shibata is several thousand years old, so Chouko is…”, he did some counting in his head, eyebrows furrowing a little in thought. “Around four yo five hundred years. They age slowly, so it’s a long time coming for Iris to leave the nest.”

He smiled, reaching over to boop Iris, causing her to make a sound that almost sounded like a screaming mongoose, jumping in the air and flailing about. When she landed again, Genji was on the floor laughing, and she promptly began trying to wrestle Chouko, with even more determination now.

“Oh dear,” Zenyatta blinks, eyes wide, before laughing. “They truly are remarkable creatures!” He watches as Genji boops Iris’s snout and jolts in shock at the shriek that it elicits from her because how can such a large sound come from such a tiny body-

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Chouko was incredibly amused by Iris’ fiesty nature, booping and nipping at Iris, though careful not to accidentally hurt her. They continued to play like that, Chouko booping and nipping, and Iris attempting to take on a dragon well over 10 times her size.

Genji just continued grinning, plopping back onto the floor, sitting cross-legged as he watched them play, delighted at how well they got along. “You know, at the age Chouko’s at, they don’t usually play like this. They travel a lot, see the world out there and only really come back here if they’re wounded or want to settle down. It’s nice seeing her so happy.”, he said to Zenyatta as they watched the two dragons continue to play, Chouko having rolled onto her back, tongue lolling out of her mouth contently.

Zenyatta chuckles at the display, hovering over the floor again as he supervises the two juvenile dragons. It warms his heart to see Iris interacting with another young dragon; these are the kinds of moments that she would have been deprived of, had he chosen to stay at the monastery. 

The young god turns to Genji, head tilted curiously. “Really?” He hums thoughtfully. “How old is Chouko?” 

Genji continued to grin, watching the two dragons continue to play, letting Chouko carefully nip at Iris’ small tufts of mane, mussing them up a little. “Careful with the canines.”, he said to Chouko, fingers brushing through the mane along her spine, keeping an eye on her fangs.

She was still technically a juvenile, so she was often unaware of her own size, which often made them a little hazardous to keep around the newly hatched dragons, due to their inability to judge where the sharper parts of their bodies were.

Zenyatta giggles, slowly reaching out to give Chouko’s snout a little pat. “Careful there, big sister; little Iris was only just born.” The hatchling seems to have no such reservations; she bats at Chouko’s snout with quick swipes of her tiny, blunt claws, wiggling around so much that Zenyatta relents and pulls her out of his robe. 

Chouko let out another chirp, booping Iris’ snout in greeting, gently trying to get Iris to play with her. Genji was quietly cooing over the image he was presented with, hands cupping his cheeks, looking like he might burst at the seams from the cuteness of what was currently happening.

“That’s so cute.”, he whispered as Iris tried batting at a strand of Chouko’s mane, Genji’s eyes virtually glowing with adoration.

Zenyatta freezes when Chouko greet Iris, hardly daring to breathe as the dragons coo and play with each other. He can only meet Genji’s eyes, his own sparkling with wonder, a broad grin stretched across his face. 

He hummed in thought at Zenyatta’s question. “Hm… No, not that I remember. Hanzo is protective over them, and few people ever come into the nesting room, let alone around the time the babies start hatching.”, his ear flicked a little. “Honestly, up until now I didn’t even know if they could imprint on someone that wasn’t my brother or myself.”

He continued to just sit there with Chokou’s head in his lap until she woke up, rumbling as she uncurled from around them, bumping Genji’s cheek with her snout. “Yeah, I know you didn’t mean to try and snap at me, it’s fine.”, he hugged her snout, giggling when she lifted him off his feet. “Hey, Chokou, say hi to Zenyatta, he’ll be staying here for a while.”, he said, letting Chokou set him back down onto the ground.

The dragon, of course, recognized Zenyatta, rumbling softly as she booped his cheek with her snout as well. She then caught a whiff of Iris, chirping and tilting her head before snuffling at the bump where Iris was sleeping, curious why she was smelling a hatchling inside Zenyatta’s Robe.

Zenyatta nods thoughtfully. “Well; it is an honor to be the first,” the young god says with a warm smile. “It is certainly unorthodox, but I’m overjoyed to have Iris.” 

He watches Chouko wake and greet Genji with a pleased smile, getting to his feet as the dragon sets her caregiver back on the ground. “It is lovely to meet you, Chouko,” he says with a little chuckle, delighted when she presses her snout against his cheek. 

“Oh, no, they all have names. Her name is Chouko.”, he said, leaning back against the solid mass of dragon still curled around them, syncing his breathing with hers without even realizing it.

“I could name every dragon that’s ever lived here, but we’d be here for hours.”, it was true, he could name ever dragon, even the ones he didn’t rear himself.

“Chouko,” Zenyatta repeats, smiling fondly at the sleeping dragon. “That’s a very cute name.” He looks at Genji curiously, head tilted. 

“Is this a part of being their guardian? A god created to watch over them?” He muses. “I suppose Hanzo also can name all of them.” A thought occurs to him, prompted by Iris’s fitful squirming as she sleeps against him. 

He continued to just sit there with Chokou's head in his lap until she woke up, rumbling as she uncurled from around them, bumping Genji's cheek with her snout. "Yeah, I know you didn't mean to try and snap at me, it's fine.", he hugged her snout, giggling when she lifted him off his feet. "Hey, Chokou, say hi to Zenyatta, he'll be staying here for a while.", he said, letting Chokou set him back down onto the ground.

“Don’t worry, even if they bite they let go as soon as they realize they bit me. Besides, we’re immortal, remember? Not like I can die from a few nips.”, he bumped Zenyatta’s shoulder right back, smiling at the younger God. “Besides, I thrive in attention, so I’d definitely not complain if you started fussing over me.”, his smile was now a cheeky grin.

“Besides, she’ll be fine now.”, he patted the sleeping dragon’s snout. “She’ll be a little clingy for a while, but she’ll be fine.”, it was obvious he was fond of the dragon - all his dragons - and despite how much time it takes every day to take care of them, he would not have had it any other way.

“A nip is not a bite,” Zenyatta says dryly, “and with a dragon’s mouth, there’s a mountain of a difference. I’m not sure you’d be so happy to have my attention if you really did lose a limb.” Despite his words, the younger god flushes pink. There’s the shameless flirt he remembers from their first meeting.