Mei didn't know what to expect when Hanzo joined her and Winston on their scientific expedition, but he insisted that they needed someone to watch out for them security-wise. They were going to upstate New York to research storm patterns, and they would be by the shoreline, the better to observe said patterns. Since they got to their camp site, Hanzo turned out to surprise her. First, he looked through the nearby forest and was able to identify some of the local foilage, which impressed Mei. Then there was the time he was able to help calculate the trajectory of an oncoming storm-not by much, but enough to reveal a potential for maths.
"Simple geometry." Hanzo said, then shrugged as if it was nothing.
"Not as simple as you think." Mei answered. Still, he dismissed this potency as though it didn't matter. It wouldn't be their first disgreement. The next one came when a boar came stampeding out of the forest. It almost hit their equipment and Hanzo was able to hit it with an arrow, straight to the heart. Then he lifted the boar and moved it a few feet from their camp site and began to butcher it.
"What are you doing?" Winston asked, staring. Mei could only look aghast-how could Hanzo butcher that animal? But he was, he had stripped down to lower garments and was cutting at the boar's body.
"Dressing the kill, what does it look like?" Hanzo said. "We could use a suppliment to our rations."
"And how, exactly, would we preserve all of this meat?" Mei asked.
"The tin can next to what I have carved so far, it has a curing blend. Just rub a generous amound of what meat slabs are cut, then let it sit, I will smoke it when I am done here."
"But-but that-"
"It is a common species of boar, all we have done here is deprive the local predators of a meal and even then they will be able to look elsewhere." Mei had to sigh, there was no arguing with him, and besides, maybe they could add to their rations somehow. So Mei volunteered to rub the curing blend into the meat, even offered to put the cured meat over the fire so it could cook. "So, are we going to eat the entire body?"
"If you mean the meat this generates, then maybe. Jerky keeps well, it should last us long past this trip."
"What about the rest? The bones, sinew, the...organs?"
"Buried a distance from here, it can serve as fertilizer. That way, nothing is wasted." Mei had to admit he had a point.
"Do you do a lot of hunting? I mean, game hunting, not assassination."
"Sometimes I did, when I needed to hide out among the wilderness. Old survival skills from...before. They served well." He fell silent after that, unwilling to speak more of his old life.
Weeks passed and they settled into a comfortable routine of research, exploration and looking over calcuations. Then they saw readings of an incoming blizzard heading their way, and were in the middle of evacuating when it hit. The storm hit their camp site and they managed to find shelter in a nearby cave. Mei shook, anxious, the storm-a nor'easter-reminding her of the super storm in Antarctica that drove her and her colleagues at the Ecopoint to cryosleep. But this wasn't Antarctica, they had plenty of rations which were supplimented thanks to Hanzo-where was he anyway?
"Winston, did you see Hanzo?" Mei asked. They looked around, Hanzo wasn't here.
"No, I thought he was right behind us." Winston said. "I'm going back out there to see if I can find him."
"Winston, it's too dangerous! What if-what if he's on his way here now."
"Then I'll run into him. It's too dangerous for both of us, but I'm more likely to survive. Advantages of fur and all."
"All right...keep your comm open at all times." Winston nodded and went out the cave. Mei paced, got things set up like a fire, laid out rations, and fretted about the two of them. It felt like eternity, but she soon heard large footsteps. She stood up and saw Winston, carrying a half frozen Hanzo and their emergency beacon.
"He's alive." Winston said as he laid Hanzo down on an open sleeping bag. "He had the beacon in his possession, he was on his way here when he tripped. Mei...this doesn't look good, even with a thermal sleeping bag."
"I have an idea. I have water boiling-please bring it here." Winston did, and handed her the pot filled with boiling water. Mei took the pot and put it right in Hanzo's face, letting him breathe in the steam. He gasped and coughed and Mei gave the pot back to Winston.
"Hanzo, are you all right?" Mei asked. Hanzo nodded. "You've been exposed to the cold, and we need to save heat." She started undressing him.
"What..what are you doing?" Hanzo asked. Winston just coughed, and decided to keep an eye out for rescue.
"We need to save heat." Mei then undressed herself and got in close to Hanzo before closing the sleeping bag. "This will help. Talk to me, you need to stay awake."
"What is there to talk about?"
"Simple geometry is a good start." That got Hanzo to smile, and they talked of angles and circles, shapes and areas. It was amazing what he knew despite a lack of formal learning, of conventional learning.
"The numbers, they proved to be relaxing." Hanzo said. "Whenever things with the clan started to be overwhelming, I would play with numbers. A lot of them were economical, finaincial equations, and they needed to be seen as possible theories for our...business."
"Didn't you want to advance your learning of math?" Mei asked.
"Why? I had the knowledge I required to lead, or so I thought. Anything else would have been frivilous and the master of the Shimada can not afford frivolities."
"What about university? That would not be a frivolitiy."
"It was beneath us. Genji and I were home-schooled, to keep as much of the outside world out as possible. We traveled with our father, then we traveled on our own, whether we were trusted to or not."
"It still does not answer my question."
"About whether or not I wanted to learn more math? The truth? I would have wanted to know more about numbers than what was in a ledger, about the proper angles to shoot in order to achieve a kill. But it was not to be."
"It's not too late." Hanzo hummed and snuggled closer.
"So soft...should do this under better circumstances."
"Pa-pardon?"
"This. You and me, together, like this. Must do in a nice, soft bed...candlelight...no, moonlight...that would be best..."
"Hanzo, I-why? I mean, why me? I think you may like other girls, like Dr. Ziegler, for example."
"Mmm, no, she wants my brother, but is too shy to approach him. He is uncertain, and wants to be sure he has honorable intentions before moving forward. No, want you."
"Even if I'm not..."
"Not one of those chemical-infused, gold-digging tramps?" Mei had to laugh at that.
"Hanzo, that's mean!"
"That is truth. They make their noses from plastic, they inject enough collagen in their lips to inhibit breathing and their breasts, they are so full of silicone a blind man could see them for the fakes they are. No, you-you are real, you are genuine, you do not pretend to be coy and shy for personal gain, you do not care that I am a baka in situations that require socialization, I...I do not deserve you, Mei-Ling. But I still want you, so very much." That was when he kissed her, and it warmed the both of them more than their bodies sharing heat. Mei broke the kiss after a few minutes, it was that intense, and she needed to breathe.
"Please, not here. What if-what if Winston hears us, or sees us?"
"We could tell him to take notes. It would be good research for him." Mei giggled.
"I think we should wait until we are rescued, get back to base, before we continue anything further. Plus, we could start with tea, or even dinner."
"Would like that. Very much. Sweet, beautiful Mei...a worthy treasure for an unworthy nightingale." Mei just cuddled, and prayed rescue would come soon.
Well, that and Winston didn't barge in on them.