When he first came here, he could easily say that it was to recenter himself, to take himself away from those that he felt a large amount of hate and rage /emthat seemed to just boil beneath his skin at the thing that he had become at the people that had made him this way.
When he first came here, he had felt eyes upon his person. Some part of him had expected that it. It only made sense, after all, to have some way of being notified of a stranger coming up to one's front door and then wanting to make sure that said stranger did not mean ill intent.
When he first came here, he had few expectations of those that lived there. He had been introduced to Tekhartha Mondatta and his brother Tekhartha Zenyatta. He had expected to see Omnics. He had not expected to see the small child that had peered out at him from behind Tekhartha Mondatta's leg, clinging to the Omnic's thick white robes. Large dark eyes had stared at him in a way that raised both his pity…and the hairs behind his neck.
When he had first asked about the child, it had been while he had been meditating with Tekhartha Zenyatta in one of the open rooms and he had seen Tekhartha Mondatta and the child had walked past their area and had seemed to be in deep conversation.
"I have no doubts that you were curious of her. However, I cannot tell you much, Student. The only thing I can say is that one day my brother left this place as if in a hurry, and when he came back he had the child in his arms and she could barely move under her head under her own power. A few days later with some Omnic technology, and she was able to move about. There are a few stutters to her movements, but in all appearances, she seems to have adjusted to it."
"When he first truly got curious about the child, Genji did not know, only that it seemed that whenever neither of their Masters were around, he could always feel her eyes upon him. It had long since lost the sensation that made him reach for his sword, but it still had just enough of something to it that always made him turn to meet her gaze. After a few moments, she would always break the connection and slip away.
When she had first spoken to him, Genji had been startled to the point that he actually dropped his cup of tea. He and his Master had been enjoying a relaxing cup of tea with Tekhartha Mondatta and his student. The tea, of course, had only been for the two humans. The only thing Genji could say about it all was that he was simply glad that he hadn't been in the middle of swallowing said tea when she had spoken.
"Can you pass the sugar?" It had been said so suddenly with such maturity and certainty, along with a rather obvious rasp that Genji had thought someone else had entered the room without him being aware of it and he had dropped his cup of tea. When he had focused back on the situation, he had to blink a few times at the bland look he was given by the child and had flushed in embarrassment when he realized that it had been her who had spoken while pointing to the small bowl of sugar practically at his knee.
"Ah, I see you have spoken at last to our youngest member." Genji could still hear the amusement in Tekhartha Mondatta's voice, even as he turned his head and attention to the child. "And it has only been five months since he joined us. I am gladdened by your progress." Those words had fully sparked something in Genji, even more so when the child had turned her head to look at her Master and he had seen the tell-tale glint of cybernetics on the back of her neck.
And that had been the first of many quick moments between them that had, eventually, settled into thoughtful conversations.
Genji had never asked about her past. The closest he had even gotten had been her name, for he had never actually heard anyone say her name. She had give him a slight quirk of her lips, her version of a smile, something that Genji always felt pride in being able to draw out of her - for no child should be this solemn and grim and mature - her eyes lighting up and warming before she had answered. "I had a name before I came here, but I couldn't remember it. So Master 'datta gave me a new one. Gwawratta."
And that had been as far as his digging had gone. Why ask her to remember a past that he could, quite clearly see, had left more than it's fair share of scars? Silvery with time, but large and vivid enough that he could still see them or see hints of them if he watched closely enough./p
However, had he known what making a simple promise would have resulted in, he probably would have made himself a bit clearer.
When Genji saw her on that particular evening, she had been lounging in one of the trees and waiting for him. It took only a few moments before he was there beside her as they lounged in the tree as if they were both little more than young teenagers with nothing better to do with their time before they waited for dinner.
"That cloud looks like a dragon." The suddenness of her voice still had the ability to surprise him, but unlike that first time, the rasp was barely there…or at least, not as distinctive. With his eyes following her arm to the sky, Genji stared at the cloud in question and gave a soft hum.
"If the dragon were perhaps either very old or trying to twist himself into a knot." Genji couldn't help but touch his stomach, where flesh no longer existed, and couldn't help but mourn the loss of the physical representation of his companion./p
"A dragon is a dragon, they can't be old or young because then they wouldn't be a dragon." Lifting his head, Genji couldn't help but smile down at Gwawratta, or Gwawr as he often called her. She was staring at him now, but unlike all the other times, this time was with a boredly thoughtful look, as if she were trying to figure something out but didn't want to put any true effort into it./p
"I have seen dragons be both old and young, Gwawr. They are still very much a dragon." And then the light entered her eyes and Genji knew that he would be having a rather long night ahead of him.
Gwawratta sat up, straddling the branch they were both on and curled her legs under it, her hands gripped it almost casually, but Genji knew that her grip was always firm. It was her expression, though, that made him only slightly wary. "Dragons aren't real though," she began, curiosity was the open expression, but in her eyes there was such focus that Genji couldn't help but feel like a mouse beneath the gaze of a hawk.
"I am a Shimada. Dragons are real to those of Shimada blood." It was amusing to watch her try and figure out her next words, because they both knew that her throat could only say so much at any given moment, regardless of the force or amount of air she used.
"Can you show me?" Were the careful words she had picked, her eyes fixing on him with a multitude of things that Genji doubted he'd be able to list them all or even name them accurately.
"Yes, but not tonight. My companion can be rather loud, and I do not wish to disturb the others." He hadn't expected her expression to close as much as it had or for her shoulders to just slightly slump.
"Then when?" Ah, now he understood. Genji had, over the months, learned that Gwawratta did not come from a happy or decent place, and his wording had probably implied that he did not intend to show her his companion.
Smiling, Genji reached over - carefully, slowly, always making sure that she could see the motion - and ruffled her dark hair, laughing at the scowl she directed at him. "In the morning."
He really should have known better when he saw the excited grin.