genji sighed, stretching his arms as he sat up off his pillow. the golden sun poured in through the tiny window high on the opposite wall and illuminated their tiny room. birds chirped outside and nostalgia washed over genji as he sat watching the golden clouds slowly move across the horizon.
the bed next to him stirred as jesse slowly woke up and groaned as he exhaled a yawn. he sat up, noticing genji and following his gaze to the window.
"the birds remind me of home." genji spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence.
mcree turned his head to him, surprised. "in what way?"
genji sighed. "i'm not sure," he said, leaning against the wall behind him. "not in a good way, though." he confessed.
jesse nodded. "birds remind me of home, too. but not these cheerful, happy ones outside the window." the cowboy said, curling his knees up to his chest. "crows and vultures remind me of home. 'guess that says a little bit about how i came up."
genji hummed, nodding. mornings like this where genji could talk to mcree about things like home made genji feel comfortable. it helped him to start associating home with his bunk room number 3009, with the little cowboy hat painted on the door.
"do you ever wonder if... one thing has gone differently in the past, if things would be like they are now?" mcree asked, nervous that he was pushing a boundary. he looked down at where the blanket on genji's bed met the ground.
"constantly." genji answered. a bird squawked just outside their window.
jesse hummed. "me too."
genji reached over his shoulder, rubbing the back of his neck where the red and black tuned met with his nape. "uh," he stammered, seeing stars. mcree looked over from the window, focusing on him. "jesse, i..." he said louder, frantic. pain shot up his spine as his vision blurred. he fell off his bed and onto the cool ground.
the last thing he could remember was hearing mcree yelling something into his walkie talkie, before hearing mcree's choked up voice whisper something to him.
if genji was crazy, he would have thought he heard "i love you".
