#non binary hanzo

“Good morning, nephew,” Kenzo greets him friendly enough. “Hard at work this early in the morning?” he asks, gesturing lightly toward the target that has a lazy little line of smoke curling from its center point.

Hanzo puts the gun into the holster in one fluid motion, putting his hands behind his back lest he be tempted to get rid of his problem right now once and for all.

“Good morning, uncle. I did not have much time to train in the past few days. It was necessary.”

“Hmmm indeed. You do not usually concern yourself with guns. What happened to your bow?”

“I like to keep my skills sharp in all areas of life,” he answers noncommittally. He does not want Kenzo to become suspicious, after all; and if push came to shove as he felt that it might do soon enough… a bow would not be practical exactly.

“I am sure you did not come out here all the way to be updated on my training regimen,” Hanzo finally says mildly. “You would be able to do so at tonight’s meeting.

“Quite so, quite so. I simply thought it would be a good opportunity to talk to you without any prying eyes and ears.” His gaze flicks toward Cole who has been trudging his way over to the target to put another paper up over it. “I see you have not sent your pet away today… pardon me. Your partner of course.”

Hanzo does not react to the willful aggression. He is annoyed that his father would have told Kenzo as much but he should not be surprised, really.

“So you have visited my father already? It is quite early in the morning, Uncle. You should let him get his rest where he can.”

“I merely enjoy taking my morning tea with him, and I am sure he can benefit from a bit of company.”

“I am visiting him often enough,” Hanzo replies with a bit of sharpness in his voice now as he turns back to his uncle and has to make sure to put his temper back in check. “In fact, I will be taking him on a little walk later. Before I have to go.”

“Ah, yes. I heard of that… you have pulled the katana shipment quite ahead. That must not have been cheap. Might I ask as to your reasonings?”

Just to annoy the fuck out of you, you old goat.

The corner of Hanzo’s mouth twitches. “No particular reasons, uncle. It is simply a matter of appointments clashing, nothing more.”

“A rather expensive ‘matter of appointments clashing’,” Kenzo replies a bit sharp, though he quickly adds in: “But it does not matter. I have been talking to your father… or rather, your father has been talking to me, asking me for advice-”

I very much doubt that.

“-about your… individualism. I told him that it is just the way of young people these days and that they need to express their… inner workings, but he has been very agitated, Hanzo.”

Hanzo frowns now in worry, seeing how his uncle’s shoulders immediately relax in reaction to it. “He has been agitated? About what?”

He can already hazard a guess as to what uncle Kenzo wants to get at but he shouldn’t immediately show his annoyance… even though it is great enough to almost choke him.

“About your unconventional get-ups, Hanzo. The make-up. The robes. Your choice of tattoo.” Kenzo twists his face slightly. “He is an old man, you can’t spring these things on him.”

He did not use to care much about any of it until you started whispering in his ear you poisonous old goat.

Hanzo inhales deeply and shifts his hand minimally to touch the butt of his gun. He can tell that Kenzo is just throwing out the first thing he can think of in order to cover up his interest in the katana shipment and honestly… he just wants to run along with it. His uncle has always excelled in playing himself.

“I understand that it can be outlandish for the older generation, but my results speak for themselves. To feel comfortable in my own body means to project that confidence during negotiations. They eat it up like starving dogs.”

Kenzo’s eyes narrow as he briefly glances toward Cole who is coming closer again. He takes a minimal step backward.

“Comfortable in your own body…” he repeats slowly but he does not ask and Hanzo does not further elaborate as he slightly tilts his head to the side and Cole takes up position there, towering over the both of them. His energy is calm but Hanzo can feel the unwavering gaze that he’s got on uncle Kenzo.

While his uncle seems to be stewing on what to say without garnering the wrath of a creature five times his weight, Hanzo lifts his hand once more, briefly focusing on the target before firing three times in quick succession.

Eventually, Cole’s presence gets to be too uncomfortable and he huffs before gathering himself and declaring: “I see that you have everything… under control. As usual. Though I must implore you to overthink your approach. It is too harsh, Hanzo.”

He quickly retreats then, presumably just to have the last word.

Hanzo sucks his teeth, slowly lowering his arm again and putting the gun away. When he turns to Cole, the minotaur is still staring after Kenzo, his expression… tense.

“What is it?” he asks with a frown.

“I just… have a bad feelin’, I guess.”

Hanzo clicks his tongue impatiently. “You don’t need to. I am pretty sure that things will sort itself out in quick succession. He has taken the bait just as I predicted. He wasn’t prepared for the shipment to arrive that much more early, so if he still wants to get his hands on some of it he will have to improvise.

And Kenzo has always been bad at it. Stubborn bastard.”

His words do not seem to ease Cole’s worry. He snorts softly and shakes his head, one of his ears flicking restlessly.

“...Jus’ be careful, will ya? I will do everything to not let you come to harm. But I don’t trust ‘im as far as I can throw ‘im.”

Hanzo reaches out, touching Cole’s wrist to make him look down at him.

“We have the high ground, Cole. If we keep our wits about ourselves, nothing can happen. We just need to be alert to anticipate his moves. There is not much he can do.”