"And then what happened?!" Lena asked around a mouthful of a peanut butter cup.
"Well, I stood up, handed them their banana, walked back into the cage and took a nap on the hammock," said Winston.
With that, the three of them burst into laughter. Lena and Jesse had decided to stop by Winston's lab before heading to the Halloween Festival proper.
"I have to say, Partner, that that is one hell of a tale," said Jesse. "One of these days you'll have to tell me the end of it."
"Not just anybody gets to hear the end of that story, Jesse," said Winston in a playful tone, obviously pleased that his story had hit the notes he was aiming for with his audience.
"Don't worry, there's a banana nut bread recipe I have that I know will get him talking," said Lena, winking at the cowboy.
"Oh no, Lena, Angela and Torb have already tried that," exclaimed the Gorilla. "It just wasn't the same. It has to be your banana nut bread."
"We'll just have to see what we can work out," said the Pilot, giving Jesse a nudge.
At that moment, one of the miniature biplanes buzzed past Jesse's head, making its latest pass on the big Gorilla, swiveling on his chair to type on his computer. Jesse found the biplanes, there were three of them, to be incredibly entertaining but Winston appeared to barely notice them.
"I've been meaning to ask, Winston," said the Cowboy, dodging another one. "What's with the planes?"
"What, you don't get it?" asked an exasperated Lena. "He's King Kong! Gentle, misunderstood giant! King of Skull Island! After the look you gave me not knowing Van Helsing I thought for sure you'd get this!"
"I wasn't planning on having a costume for tonight, Jesse," said Winston. "You can imagine Lena's reaction to that."
"You can't not dress up for Halloween, Winston!" exclaimed Tracer, throwing her arms out in exasperation.
"No, I guess you can't," said Winston, chuckling. "As for the planes, they were easy enough to put together, just an hour or so of tinkering this afternoon after the exercise."
"Hold on there, partner, did you just say this afternoon," asked Jesse, nearly choking on his caramel bar.
"Alright, alright," said Lena, grabbing a hold of Jesse's arm and picking him up off his chair. "We'd hate to be too much of a bother, Winston. I know you've got plenty of work to do tonight."
"Heheh, I suppose you're right," said Winston, getting off his chair to walk the couple out. "It's always nice to see you, Lena, and Jesse, I look forward to getting to know you better."
"It was a mighty fine pleasure Winston," said Jesse, holding out his hand to shake Winston's, who accepted it heartily.
The three stepped outside the lab. The doors didn't lead directly outside, but they were close enough to the doors that did that a bit of the fall chill made it to the group. Tracer began to shiver a bit, shifting back and forth to try and keep her blood flowing.
"It's pretty cold out here, take my coat, darling," said Jesse, swinging his duster off his shoulders and around Tracer in one fluid movement.
And who said chivalry was dead? Nice one, Jesse.
The big coat practically enveloped the woman, making her look like a child wearing an adult's coat. The small Brit and the Gorilla both erupted into laughter.
On second thought, maybe not, thought Jesse, the slightest blush coming through his tanned cheeks.
It's a good thing we're not in a well-lit hallway, looking ridiculous in front of the girl of your dreams and her best friend. Is it too late to make a break for Mexico?
How many times do I have to tell you to shut up? It is kind of funny.
"Thanks for the thought, love, but I think I have a better idea," said Lena, shrugging out of the duster and handing it back to the Cowboy. "I'm gonna take a couple laps around the base, shouldn't take more'n a minute.
"In the meantime, Jesse, I think you had a hat," Lena said, standing on her tiptoes and lightly tapping the crown of his head.
"R-right," stammered Jesse, his hand touching his hair, his breath hitching a bit with Tracer's proximity.
Lena walked to doors, stretching a little, "Alright you two, I'll be right back!" In a blink, Tracer was gone on her run.
"Come on Cowboy, let's go find your hat," said Winston, leading Jesse back into the lab.
The two managed to find the hat quickly enough, as it was perched on a lab cart near Winston's desk. The Gorilla daintily picked it up and handed it back to Jesse.
"Might I ask, Mr. McCree -"
Uh-oh.
Uh-oh? He just wants to ask a question.
Have you ever liked a question that began with, 'Might I ask,"?
Fair point.
"- have you ever seen a fully grown gorilla angry?"
Told you.
"Uh, I can't say that I have, Winston."
"It's not a pretty sight," said Winston, unnervingly calm and inspecting his glasses. "I've heard accounts of various limbs being ripped off and used as clubs."
Jesse stared blankly at Winston. This wasn't exactly the stereotypical "angry dad posturing against his daughter's new beau." This Gorilla might be a scientist, but the Cowboy had no doubt that these weren't empty threats.
"Tracer means a lot to me, Jesse. She's a grown woman, and I fully believe her capable of making her own decisions but I still don't take kindly to my friends being hurt."
Jesse couldn't help but smile.
Why are you smiling? A GORILLA just threatened to rip off one of your arms.
Nothing you wouldn't do if someone hurt one of your friends, especially if that friend were Lena.
"Don't worry, big guy," replied Jesse. "Lena means a lot to me, too. I couldn't dream of hurting her."
"Good!" roared Winston, with a hearty laugh and smile. "Glad to hear it!"
The two started walking back towards the hallway as the outside door slid open and Lena strode in, her cheeks slightly flushed.
I'll be damned. Does she ever not look beautiful?
"It really was nice to meet you, Jesse," said Winston as the pair reached the Runner. "Feel free to drop by my lab whenever you'd like."
"I'll be taking you up on that, Partner," exclaimed McCree, holding his arm out for Lena, who took it with a grin spreading across her face.
"Thanks for looking after him, Winston!" said Lena. "I'm sure he would've gotten lost if I had just left him."
"Anytime, Miss Oxton," grinned Winston.
"Now come on, Jesse! We're missing out!" said Lena, tugging on the Cowboys arm.
The two stepped outside of the building and into the festival. There were plenty of lights and sounds, Jesse wasn't exactly sure where to head first. There were agents bobbing for apples, several were competing in a costume contest at the end of the courtyard, he wasn't positive, but he could almost swear that he smelled kettle corn somewhere.
"Tell me, Lena, is Winston always so… intense?"
"What? Did he threaten to pull off one of your limbs?" asked Lena, eyeing Jesse from the corners of her eyes, a mischievous smile on her lips.
"Maybe," said Jesse, returning the look.
Lena burst into laughter, "Oh my! He must really like you! He doesn't even bother with most."
"Well that's good, I suppose," said Jesse, breathing just a little easier. "Wait, what do you mean by 'most'?"
Lena laughed, "I've been on this base for a few years now, love, I've had a few boyfriends by now."
Well, I suppose you did take your sweet time, Cowboy. She's as kind as she is beautiful, of course she had boyfriends.
Still, you can't help but be a little jealous of the time you could've had with her.
She looked Jesse over as they walked, her smile softening, "Don't worry, none of them quite had as sexy an accent as you, Cowboy." She gave him a playful hip check and Jesse returned her smile as the two approached a dazzling display with two figures shouting in front of a growing crowd.
"What is that?" asked Lena, unable to contain another fit of laughter.
"I'm not sure," said Jesse.
The two started nudging their way through the crowd. As they made their way to the front, the two front men were near the end of their bombastic presentation.
"What is a festival without feats of strength?!" shouted Reinhardt, his thick German accent making the words sounds more intimidating than they were.
"Right! Which of ye feels up to the challenge?!" roared Torbjörn, strutting near Jesse and Lena's side of the crowd.
"Oh, this'll be fun," mused Lena.
Jesse wasn't sure about that. It did look like it would be interesting, at least.