A/N: Got the urge to write a short fluffy R76 thing again because the dance emotes make it look like Soldier has no rhythm at all and Reaper's just embarrassed by this lol.
Kiiiinda takes place after my first fic but just like timeline-wise. Also forgive me if I described dancing horribly in this I've never slow danced in my life hahahhh
Jack Morrison was the dorkiest dancer out of the whole Overwatch strike team, but that never stopped him from dancing anyways.
Whenever the squad was training and someone decided to turn on some tunes the blonde would dance to his heart's content, his excuse being that it was a good workout. The others would laugh and proceed to join in on his antics, but every time this happened one thing was made very clear: Gabriel Reyes did not like to dance.
As the others would have fun enjoying themselves, Gabriel would either continue working out while rolling his eyes at them or leave from sheer embarrassment. Jack invited his lover to take part in their activity only once, but was denied an answer. Jack never asked again after that because he didn't want to be too pushy; he knew Gabriel wasn't much of a people person in the first place so he assumed doing silly things like that was beneath him.
But one day Jack convinced himself to ask Gabriel to dance with him.
It started once the Omnic Crisis finally reached its end. The Overwatch strike team rejoiced as all of their hard work wasn't for naught. The United Nations decided to hold a party of sorts in celebration of the team's valiant efforts. The occasion was very formal; everyone was dressed up in their finest attire they could find in such short notice. The party was being held at the UN's headquarters in a huge room located at the heart of the building mostly used for ceremonies that demanded a large amount of people to attend. There were balloons surrounding most of the room decorated in the Overwatch colors and symbol. It had a reasonable amount of lights shining above them that really brightened up the place.
Jack and Gabriel arrived to the party, arm in arm, wearing matching suits that only differed in color—the former's being a pearly white while the latter stuck with a dark grey suiting his usual style of dark clothes. Once they met up with the other members they went on with their casual banter, laughing about the troubles they faced that seemed so long ago but happened so recently. When a hype song came on that Jack knew from back at training he scurried to the dance floor and started dancing like the big goof he was. The others joined in as well since it had become a tradition to do so.
All except for Gabriel.
The dark skinned man leaned against the wall in a nearby corner where all the snacks and refreshments were, like a wallflower at some high school dance. He'd have his arms crossed and tap his foot in rhythm to the music as he watched the others having fun as they usually did. When his eyes would land on Jack he'd have to muffle his laughter from seeing the soldier dance his flat butt off like there's no tomorrow. Gabriel always wondered how his subordinate was capable of emitting so much energy when it came to dancing; however, he couldn't help but also smile from how happy Jack was every time he danced.
But then the slow song came on.
Gabriel immediately felt a rush of panic when his friends went away to find their own dance partners. He saw Jack immediately look in his direction, beaming at him to join him for the slow dance. Gabriel returned the gesture with a turning of his head away from him, trying to ignore him. That didn't stop the soldier from marching to him and grabbing a hold of his hand.
"Quit it Jack," Gabriel hissed, "you know dancing isn't really my thing."
Jack gazed at him while tightening his hold on the older man's hand. "Well it's going to be your thing today. I want you to dance with me Gabe...please." The blonde's voice cracked at the plead, like he was ready to shatter if he were to refuse his offer.
Gabriel couldn't bear to hear Jack's begging any longer. "Fine, I'll dance with you cabrón. So please don't start crying out— "
Before the dark-suited man could finish his sentence he was pulled forward and practically dragged to the dance floor. Jack intertwined one hand with Gabriel's while placing the other on his hip. He'd always been so embarrassed—yet flattered—-when Jack would praise his figure, and the fact that his hand was caressing his waist only made the man's cheeks uncharacteristically rosy.
"Ahem" Gabriel tried to get the attention of his partner in a 'my eyes are up here' tone.
"Sorry your curves distracted me," Jack teased back to his superior with a hint of a chuckle, "anyways slow dancing is easy, just hold my hand with one arm then the other you put across my shoulder like so." Jack proceeded to rest Gabriel's arm on his broad shoulder. "That's the easy part, now you have to move your feet around like this." He shuffled his feet from side to side, demonstrating how to do it.
This was indeed the harder part for Gabriel to do; he danced as if he had two left feet. Every step his loafers took resulted in him stomping and ruining Jack's once perfectly shiny dress shoes. Whenever it occurred Gabriel would curse himself for messing up and apologize to his partner for all of his mishaps. Jack, however, was not bothered at all by this despite the pain he had to endure from it.
By the time the song reached its climax Gabriel was able to match his dance movements in time with Jack's, the both of them moving in harmony of each other. The once hopelessly inept dancer was now having the time of his life, just as his partner would every time he danced. Initially Gabriel's eyes were glued to the floor so that he would see where his feet were going, but after he got the hang of it his dark roast eyes met with Jack's own oceanic ones, gleaming from all the lights in the room. No, his eyes always had a certain twinkle to them. That's what Gabriel loved about them, and he could stare at them for ages like they were stars shining in a clear night sky.
During the two's dance session their friends ceased their own dances to marvel at them. They were stunned to witness that stubborn man who would refuse to dance with them now doing just that. It was a side of Gabriel they'd never seen before, and they knew there was always a pleasant outcome from Jack attempting to bring out the best of him like this.
After the song was over Jack and Gabriel may have stopped dancing, but that didn't mean they'd stop looking into each other's eyes. The latter raised his brows in amazement, unable to believe he just danced in front of all those people.
"That wasn't so bad." Gabriel managed to say, sighing in relief.
"You looked like you enjoyed yourself!" Jack replied smiling ear to ear.
"Yeah after I got used to it, thanks for putting up with my terrible dancing." Gabriel bit his lip, a constant habit of his whenever he was nervous or felt that he was a burden in some shape or form to Jack.
But Jack never saw Gabriel the way he saw himself; he wouldn't mind even if his lover somehow managed to break a bone in his foot while teaching him how to dance if it meant that he could see the look on his face as he danced with him.
"Anytime for you, Gabe." Jack simply answered, to avoid making the moment between them too sappy. Then the blonde planted sweet kisses on the right side of Gabriel's face where his scars were, because he knew darn well how much the man loved it when he kissed his scars.
