#cassmei

Cassidy and the New Blood gang join Overwatch after the Rio mission, so I imagine there’s a short period of time between that and the Toronto mission where they all get settled into Watchpoint Gibraltar. Cassidy probably does a few rounds around base where he reunites with old faces and introduces himself to the newer ones. Mei is in the latter category. They start on friendly terms, Cassidy being his charming self and Mei being her sweet self, it’s good chemistry from the start.

Toronto is where things start to ramp up. It’s a very dangerous mission and quite intense. One positive is that Mei and Cass begin to figure out that they make a good team in combat. Mei makes ice walls to provide Cassidy cover, Cassidy catches the enemies that try to flank Mei, and Cassidy finds out that, for a rookie, Mei is actually a decent shot.

Toronto weighs heavily on the team’s mind when they get back to base. No one is feeling good after seeing all of the subjugated omnics lining the streets and subways. I imagine Cassidy gathers some of the gang around for a drinking session, and Mei joins. She’s not a big drinker usually, but god she needs one after that. They bond a bit more that night.

Once some of the heaviness eases, the team tries to make a semblance of normality. Cassidy offers to help Mei hone her aim, and the two shoot bottles together in the training room. (Mei always makes sure they recycle them afterwards, of course.)

I’m absolutely keeping my “they both love western movies and watch them together” headcanon from my older posts. You will pry that headcanon from my cold dead hands.

Mei likes to sit on the rooftop of one of the old comm buildings just to watch the sunset and think. Cassidy uses that spot to smoke and think. They find each other there one day, and they decide to share it. Sometimes they’ll talk to each other, other times they only sit quietly together. It’s just nice to have company, you know?

I like to think that sometimes Mei reminds Cassidy a bit of Liao. Especially when she’s working in the lab. Sometimes he’ll just let her explain some climatology phenomena to him, even if he doesn’t always follow, because he just likes listening to her talk.

Cassidy is one of the few people Mei feels comfortable opening up to about her trauma. They were both children during the Omnic Crisis, both lost their families thanks to said crisis, and both carry a lot of survivors guilt. Cassidy from Blackwatch and the explosion at Zurich, and Mei from Ecopoint Antarctica. They both suffer from insomnia quite often, and as such, they have a lot of late night talks together.

Now, enter Juno. Upon her arrival to Gibraltar, Mei steps into the role of her protector and caretaker right away. And once she learns about Jiayi and the Red Promise team’s situation, her work goes into overtime. Cassidy will be one of the people who encourages her to still take care of herself in between all that work.

Juno is delighted to meet Cassidy, as she too is a big western fan. Juno will be joining Mei and Cass during their movie nights and she will discover the joys of movie theater butter popcorn.

Cassidy likes Juno. She’s a bit naive and very anxious, but she’s earnest and determined. Cassidy respects that. Sometimes Juno will beat herself for not knowing something or not understanding a social cue. Cassidy will give her a friendly pat to the shoulder and say, “Don’t worry, Junebug. You’re a young adult. No one knows what the hell they’re doing at that age.” Juno appreciates that, it makes her feel a bit more normal in a world that feels so strange.

When out of earshot, Cassidy has asked Mei if Juno’s hair is scientifically possible. Mei has no idea.

At some point, Cassidy takes them both to a ranch owned by an old friend of his. There, Juno gets to meet a horse for the first time. She’s both ecstatic and terrified, but Cassidy helps her get used to it. Juno even gets to ride the horse!

At another point, Mei takes Cass and Juno ice skating. Juno catches on a bit quicker because the movement for ice skating isn’t so different from when she uses her hover boots. Cassidy on the other hand is not a good skater, and he’s stuck holding onto the chair the whole time. But he has fun anyway.

I like to imagine that sometimes the three will have dinner together, each of them taking turns cooking the meal. ❤️

Eventually, when feelings go from platonic to romantic, both Mei and Cass are a bit hesitant to act on it. Especially during times as dangerous as these. Of course, even Juno can pick up on the fact that there’s something more going on between them. (She has parents for goodness’ sake, she knows when two people are clearly in love.)

Despite this, she’s not really sure how to help them get to that point. So Juno goes to D.Va, Lúcio, and Brigitte for advice. They each have an idea of how to help these two bisexual disasters hook up.