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Being a Shimada had its perks.
Generous discounts at the ramen shop, priority at the arcade machines… and, apparently, gym memberships.
Gym memberships that Hanzo was more than happy to take advantage of. Genji, not so much. He would much rather have fun getting his exercise, not be surrounded by the stench of sweat and B.O., thank you very much.
But Hanzo had insisted that Genji join him; so while the older Shimada brother was at some machine lifting weights, Genji decided that he would use his membership to use the gym’s nice massage chairs he had seen earlier.
Heading down the hall away from the main body of the gym, Genji adjusted the drawstrings of his bag. He passed the group fitness rooms, humming along to the muffled music from the cardio dance class going on. He knew the chairs were somewhere around here, remembering the quick tour a trainer had given him and his brother when they arrived.
An open door at the end of the hall caught his eye, so Genji made his way over, waltzing through the doorway with the confidence his brother always chided him for.
This was definitely not where the chairs were. Instead, the only thing in the room was an omnic sitting on a yoga mat. A rather cute omnic, if anyone were to ask. The nine lights on his forehead were dimmed, as if resting, and he wore only a pair of baggy pants and what looked like a set of large prayer beads. If Genji looked close enough, he’d swear the omnic was floating an inch over his mat.
So curious about the solo robot, Genji failed to notice the lights flickering back on with a soft blue light, and how the omnic’s attention had shifted to him.
“Oh, hello. Are you here for class?”
The serene voice startled the ninja out of his observations, and he stood up straight with a cough, feeling as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Class?”
The omnic laughed, a light noise that Genji found somehow soothing, and stood, motioning towards the sign on the door that Genji had ignored.
“This is the group yoga class. I’m the instructor, Zenyatta.” The omnic tilted his head, and Genji wondered if he would be smiling if he had a mouth.
“Oh. Well, I mean...” He thought about it, before mentally shrugging. He was flexible, yoga was about flexibility, might as well. That way he could tell Hanzo he did something and actually mean it. “I don’t have a mat.”
Zenyatta nodded, moving with a grace that Genji wouldn’t typically associate with robots to what appeared to be a storage room. “We keep spare mats for those who forget. Or beginners.” Zenyatta returned from the storage room with a rolled up mat under his arm. “I assume that you are the latter?”
“I.. Yeah, I guess. I mean I’m flexible so it shouldn’t be that hard.”
Another head-tilt-maybe-smile from the teacher. “Yoga is about more than flexibility. It is about self control, finding inner balance and peace of mind.” He offered the mat to Genji. “I could teach you the basics, while we wait for the other students. Class isn’t scheduled to start for another half hour.”
“Then why are you in here so early?” Genji took the mat, sliding his bag off of his shoulder and following Zenyatta’s lead to roll his mat out in front of the teacher’s.
“I teach a morning class that ended an hour ago, and I prefer to meditate during the break between classes. Green-haired surprises aren’t a regular occurrence.” Zenyatta’s shoulders shook with a quiet laugh.
“Sorry about that.”
“No apologies necessary, I quite enjoy this surprise. It is not often a new student arrives as you did..” Zenyatta paused, gracefully sitting back down on his knees and motioning Genji to copy him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
“Genji.”
A hum of acknowledgement, and Genji passively wondered if Zenyatta recognized the name. If he did, he showed no sign, and instead turning to the side so Genji could follow his actions. “Well, Genji, let’s begin shall we?”
They got through the sitting positions without difficulty, but the ninja’s impatience got the better of him when Zenyatta had him hold the positions and focus on his breathing for so long. “We will work on that,” he encouraged, and something in Genji liked the idea of coming back. The omnic radiated calmness, and Genji found it easy to be in his presence, drawn to his kindness like a plant towards sunlight the more time he spent.
Downward dog proved more difficult. The omnic demonstrated the pose flawlessly, even going so far as to show different variations of the move to make it more or less challenging. At more than one time Genji found himself sneaking glances to the side as he replicated the move, the distraction threatening his balance and making him scramble to find his center again.
On the third wobble, Zenyatta stood with a “Here, let me help.” Genji nearly dropped when he felt hands--warmer than he would expect omnic hands to be--on his waist, holding him steady while Zenyatta made minor adjustments to his position.
“You have the foundations of a good student.” The teacher commented when the first participant for the actual class arrived. “Though we might need to work on your patience.” The inflection in his tone was different, and Genji felt his ears flush when he realized that he was being teased.
“Of course...”
A pat on the shoulder, and Zenyatta did his tilt-smile. “You’ll stay for the whole class, I hope?”
Genji had been planning on it, but something in Zenyatta’s voice made him nod with a little extra vigor. “Wouldn’t miss it. Practice makes perfect.”
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Class took place twice a week, and Genji found himself at every class for the following few weeks. It was something to do, it kept his body in good shape, and had nothing to do with how his heart swelled at any and all praise from his new teacher.
Or how kind he was. Or how cute his laugh was. Or how cute he was in general.
“You’re distracted, Genji.” Zenyatta’s voice pulled him out of his train of thought.
“Sensei!” Genji startled, his tree pose threatening to falter. “I… sorry. My mind was wondering.”
“I can tell.” There was an almost sing-song quality to Zenyatta’s tone that Genji had come to associate with the goodnatured omnic teasing him. “Because you’re the only one that hasn’t moved on to the next pose.”
Genji flushed, eyes darting around the room to find that he was the only one left standing, the other students having moved on to a lotus position. He began to stammer over an excuse, but Zenyatta cut him off with a raise hand and an almost inaudible giggle.
“All is well, my student.” A brush of a hand on the shoulder and Zenyatta motioned for him to join his classmates on the floor, gracefully returning to his own mat with a backwards glance.
The class passed without any further incident, aside from the covert side glances that Genji would send his teacher. For the purpose of making sure he was getting the pose right, of course. Before he knew it, Zenyatta was already praising his students for their excellent work and promising to see them all next week. He rolled up his mat--one that he bought himself, mind you--and put it into his bag, sliding it over his shoulder.
“Is everything alright, Genji? You seemed very distracted throughout class today.” Genji startled at the unexpected question. Sometimes he wondered if Zenyatta would ever quit teaching yoga to become a ninja, with how quietly he moved.
“Everything is fine, sensei. I’ve just been… I’ve been thinking…” Of all the times to forget how to talk to people he was interested in, now was the worst time. Might as well spit it out while he was making a fool of himself. “Are you free today? They opened that new unity cafe down the block, I heard that their tea and oil is some of the best in the city.”
The omnic was quiet, and Genji felt his stomach sink as the silence grew. Bracing himself for a polite but firm rejection, he was surprised when he felt metal fingers brush against his arm to get his attention.
“Genji, are you asking me out on a date?”
“I, well, I mean… If you want it to be? If that’s okay with you. Yes.” Genji ducked his head to avoid eye-contact, knowing that his bright red ears were creating a stark contrast to his green hair. “I’m sorry, Sensei, I don’t mean to disrespect, I-”
Zenyatta pressed a finger to his lips, effectively halting his rambling, and tilted his head in the way that he did when Genji thought he would be smiling. “I was wondering when you would finally ask.”
“Wha?”
“You aren’t as subtle in your attraction as you think. But it is endearing, and I find myself attracted as well.”
Genji stood dumbfounded, staring at the omnic who seemed to be radiating happiness at that moment. His stomach felt full of butterflies, and when Zenyatta leaned up and pressed what had to have been his teacher’s version of a kiss on his cheek, the butterflies felt more like songbirds.
“Now, about that cafe…”
----------ya time warp------------
It had been two years since the first time Genji had stepped into the yoga room as an unexpected student.
Now he entered as an instructor, fingers laced with those of his omnic boyfriend.
The gym was running a promotion for couples, a mix of couples fitness classes and (strangely) blind dating. Genji swore he had saw Hanzo talking with a man who could be described as nothing less than a cowboy on the way in. He’d look into that later.
Zenyatta had been asked to do a one-day couples yoga class, and he had of course asked Genji to be his assistant instructor.
The two had arrived early, wanting to practice the poses and warm up before the students arrived. A few minutes of stretching and basic poses led them into one of the intermediate positions, Genji in downward dog with Zenyatta in the same pose but with his feet braced at the small of Genji’s back and hands on the floor in front of them..
Adjusting and getting comfortable, Genji smiled brightly, looking at Zenyatta’s currently upside down face and trying not to laugh at how adorably silly the omnic looked.
“Try not to get distracted during class now,” Zenyatta teased. “People other than myself will be focused on you.”
A chuckle, and Genji leaned forward to kiss Zenyatta’s faceplate. “I’ll try, but no promises.”
Zenyatta made a quiet noise of delight at the kiss, something Genji had learned early that the omnic adored, and pressed forward for another. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”