[ There's a pause as Genji considers what Jack might do or say if Zenyatta was aware of his exact whereabouts, even though that's not the case. While Genji left Blackwatch years ago, there are habits that have stuck with him. Giving exact locations to anyone is generally not a good idea. ]
No, he's still in Nepal for now. He's aware that I had a journey to take, and loose ends to tie up, but none of the exact details.
[ Genji will ultimately return to Zenyatta and tell him all about COST and what he experienced with them, but it had important to him to track Jack down first. ]
[Jack doubts that Zenyatta knows exactly where Genji is (i.e. the exact location of this safe house), but he finds it hard to believe that he wasn’t given an approximate location. Of course, it’s silly to think that the omnic monk might someday show up on his doorstep, but Jack doesn’t exactly want word of his not-death getting out.
But these are silly, paranoid thoughts. He tries to shake them off.]
As long as he doesn’t come looking.
[Jack offers Genji something of a lopsided grin, an attempt to play it off as a joke, even if there are real anxieties underneath it.]
[ Genji had already made a guess at why Jack was asking all of these questions to begin with, and it turns out he'd been completely accurate. The more people who knew that he was still alive and running around, the greater the risk that the information would spread. It's a valid concern, but Zenyatta would never go running his mouth off to anyone. ]
While I can hardly control what he does, I doubt he would come after me without making some kind of contact first. You can rest easy.
[ As wise as Zenyatta is, he hasn't had much experience in the larger world. He doesn't have the kind of street smarts that would allow him to track the two of them to this location, even if that was his wish.
At the question, Genji shakes his head. ]
Not yet, though I'd like to. Telling someone else about it would allow it to feel less like a dream, I think.
[He really has no choice but to believe Genji, but he supposes it’s all beside the point anyway. The point is that now they’re talking about COST, which is simultaneously relieving and not. It’s good to have someone who shares the experience, but having been pulled away from his own world once, a part of Jack will always be wondering if it will happen again.
He sighs a little, scrubbing a hand through his hair, betraying that slight apprehension.]
I thought it was a dream, when I got back.
[Sometimes he wishes it was. He thinks sometimes he’s better off not knowing about COST, the Regency…any of it.]
[ Genji also feels some measure of relief that he's not somehow the only one who remembers, that he can compare notes about this shared experience that most of the people of this world could never truly comprehend or believe.
Zenyatta would. He knows that deep into his bones (what's left of them). But Zenyatta isn't like most people.
A pause, and Genji studies Jack's face with a hint more interest. ]
[Jack nods, and what goes unsaid is that it’s nice to have someone who implicitly understands. It’s not that he thinks Ana wouldn’t, it’s just that he imagines there’s going to be a lot of convincing her involved, given that the whole thing sounds completely crazy. She’d probably be deeply concerned, to say the least.]
Ana already thinks I’m crazy.
[For his crusade against Talon, which often feels less like making progress and more like a dog chasing a car. Even Jack doesn’t know what he’ll do when he finds what he needs. Sometimes it feels like Ana is coming along out of pity, more than anything. A last-ditch effort to keep him from killing himself, even as he drags them further and further past the point of no return. To say he feels guilty about it is an understatement—he can’t, in good conscience, burden her with anything else.]
[ It sounds like there's some manner of story behind that comment. Ana thinks that Jack is crazy, and maybe that's because he is, to some extent. Genji will see more of their dynamic when she returns, he's sure, but he imagines it's shifted from how it had been back during Overwatch's heyday.
Granted, most people would hear something like "I got kidnapped to fight in a galactic time-traveling war" and assume the story-teller had lost some of their grip on their sanity. There was an implicit trust between Jack and Ana that Genji had assumed would overwrite that, but again, it's possible things have changed. ]
I can help. [ There's a smile in his voice, hidden under the ever-present metallic hum. ] If both of us are telling her the same thing, I think it would be more difficult for her to write it off, don't you?
[He knows that Genji is trying to be encouraging, though he's not convinced that telling her is the best idea when they have so much else to worry about.]
She'll just think we're both crazy.
[Though that part is said as a joke. It would certainly give her a moment of pause, if the two of them sat her down and told the same story, though he's not sure if she'd ever fully believe it. If it hadn't happened to him, he's not sure he would believe it either.]
[ It is meant to be a joke, or at least Genji is fairly certain that's the case (with Jack it can be difficult to tell), but he wonders. Surely if both of them told the same story it would make Ana at least consider the possibility, but it's ultimately a moot point for now. He'll keep the secret if that's what Jack wants. ]
If that's what you wish, then I will abide by that.
[ Genji lets out a long sigh and then stretches his arms up into the air, working the kinks out of both his organic and synthetic parts. The work on his sword is done, so he sheathes it. ]
Do you wonder sometimes? What those people we met through COST are doing now.
[ It's a strange thing, knowing that there's very little chance they'll see any of them again. ]
[Perhaps in earlier years, he might not be so confident in Genji’s ability to keep something secret, especially from Ana, but he hopes their shared experience means they have a particularly unique bond. Jack feels silly for thinking of it as a bond, but that’s what it is, isn’t it? He takes a long moment to look Genji up and down, as if assessing their newfound friendship (???) for the first time.
He catches himself staring and turns away again, finding a particularly interesting spot on the floor.]
Sometimes.
[He does his best not to focus on it, because he’s back to his own mission.]
[ With the way that Jack's looking at him, Genji has to fight the urge to look himself over to see if there might be something out of place. He's used to being stared at, honestly, but he wouldn't expect it from someone like Jack who's used to his cyborg form.
He frowns to himself, not sure what that just was, but the conversation moves on before he can decide whether or not it would be wise to comment on it.
At the question he lets out a long sigh. While he would like to be hopeful, he realizes there's no point in giving Jack anything other than the honest truth. He leans back on his hands and crosses his legs before answering. ]
Only if COST were to recruit all of us again. It seems unlikely that anyone would be able to find their way to this world at the correct time. Or that we could do the same.
[ The entire experience will fade away into some odd chapter of their respective histories, an excursion that would be almost impossible to describe to anyone who hadn't experienced it themselves. ]
[Jack's thoughts are very similar--that with no way of even communicating with COST, they're never going to see or hear from any of them again. That's for the best, he thinks, though it's going to be difficult to get it out of his head. Perhaps Genji feels the same.]
Not much point in dwelling on it.
[Though of course that's easier said than done, given the fact that COST itself expanded his worldview to include entire universes and infinite timelines. Not something he can shake off very easily.]
[ Not much point in dwelling on it, perhaps, but they are only human and Genji doesn't think that he can set the experience aside so easily. Nor does he want to, necessarily. ]
I don't believe that forgetting it ever happened is the correct path. It happened to us and affected us, and there's nothing wrong with thinking of those people we met and befriended during that time.
[ Genji glances up from his lap to watch Jack once he finishes speaking. He suspects that Jack will claim he didn't befriend anyone, that it had all been professional, but that seems doubtful. Even just using the two of them as an example, that time with COST forged a closer bond between them, didn't it? Genji feels that it did, and the sheer fact that Jack has let him stay here says a lot. ]
[He's not going to admit that anyone there was a friend, and of course he isn't going to just forget everything that happened, but he knows that he easily gets bogged down in the past. Perhaps this is just his way of resolving to move forward.]
It's just tough getting back to business here, while all that's on my mind.
[ Genji nods, as he feels much the same way, and it's part of why he sought Jack out in the first place. Having someone else that he can talk about COST with who also went through it and can relate to it helps a great deal, but they also can't get too caught up in what happened there. ]
Worry not, my friend. I will keep you on track.
[ There's a warm, cheerful hint to his tone as he stands from his cross-legged stance on the floor and then stretches his arms up above his head. ]
And if you feel that you're getting soft, I will never say no to a spar.
[And Jack doesn't thank easily, so that's saying something. He tries to offer a smile, and for once it seems to be genuine. Jack knows this is a bit of an admission that he's not going to ask Genji to leave anytime soon, and he's surprised at how comfortable the thought feels.
Jack is pretty much always in the mood for a spar (except for this exactly moment), so he laughs a little at the suggestion.]
[ The thanks is mildly surprising, but it's the smile that truly throws Genji off for a moment. It's nothing like the bright, white-teethed grins that Jack had once thrown out during interviews and press releases, a smile tailored to his role as strike commander. This is something else entirely. It's smaller, but also softer; truer. And it hits Genji right in the chest.
Then Jack follows it with that question, and Genji has to admit that it's true. They're both getting to know each other better without Overwatch getting in the way (to say nothing of Genji's horrible mental state back then). More than that, Genji gets to know this man as Jack, not as his Overwatch's commander.
After a perhaps too-long pause, he breaks out into an easy laugh. ]
Don't act like that's something so terrible.
[ It's nearly impossible to survive alone in this world. Humans (even cyborgs) are not wired that way. That's what Genji believes. ]
[Jack has spent a very long time closing himself off to a world and the people in it that gave up on him. Even during Overwatch, he'd always been the consummate professional, to the point where he imagines few ever really got to know him as something other than the Commander. That thought should be freeing, now that he's not beholden to the military structure of an organization that no longer exists, but Jack can't exactly take advantage of it.
Now, he has a whole new problem. Letting someone in--letting them get to know him just puts everyone in danger, given the nature of his mission.
Still, Genji knows all that. He's just going around in circles, at this point.]
Could all be a big mistake.
how many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man
[ While Genji might sound exasperated, there's something fond in his tone too. This is simply how Jack is now, and he has to accept that. He doesn't mind being stubborn as he makes attempt after attempt to break down those walls. If he can maintain even an ounce of Master Zenyatta's patience, then Jack won't stand a chance.
Apparently now isn't the time for a spar, yet Genji closes the distance between them anyway. Once he and Jack are face-to-face, he boldly reaches out to grab for Jack's hand, which he holds gently. As if handling something fragile. ]
Whatever you might say, you are my friend, Jack. And I'd enjoy any chance to get to know you better.
[ Perhaps if he's extremely blunt and straight-forward, the message will finally sink in. ]
[He tries to offer an apologetic smile. Genji doesn't sound angry--in fact, he sound the opposite, even a little fond. He's not quite sure how to feel about that. Though he should be angry about being treated delicately, he finds it a nice change of pace.
And maybe it's nice having someone want to be his friend who isn't Ana. It's not going to fill the void Gabriel left, but it helps.]
[ Nor would Genji ever attempt to take a place that Gabriel had once occupied. That would be impossible.
It's a good sign that Jack does finally concede, that he doesn't pull away and that he agrees to Genji's insistence that they're friends. It draws an unburdened smile out of him, something relieved and grateful. He gives Jack's hand a tight squeeze (though not too tight; he knows how metal can pinch) and then draws back. ]
That's more like it. [ He nods firmly. ] Now, what do you say we put some kind of dinner together? All this work convincing you has made me hungry.
[ In truth, Genji doesn't eat that much these days, but he is starting to feel some stirring in his stomach that hints he needs to get his energy stores back up. ]
[Jack thinks he can keep his reservations to himself, though he’s never been a particularly good liar. He supposes, on some level, that he wouldn’t have said this to Genji if he didn’t mean it. He’ll try and process that himself, later. For now, it does sound good to eat something. Cooking something is not a thing he does very often, not when it’s more expedient just to scarf down whatever’s available, but he thinks he can muster the will, if Genji is looking at this like some kind of bonding experience.]
He gets up from the couch, grunting a little at the effort.]
I’ll see what we’ve got.
[But truth be told, there isn’t much, and he’s even more uncertain about what Genji is still able to eat.]
Are you certain of that? I seem to recall hearing stories...
[ Stories of a younger Jack Morrison who had some tried and true family recipes. Overwatch may not have been the place for such things, but that hadn't stopped Gabriel from mentioning it to McCree a time or two. While Genji often hadn't been included in those conversations, he'd always been listening.
Either way, he follows Jack into the kitchen, making himself at home as he goes looking through the cabinets for anything promising. ]
I could make a quick trip down to the market if we're missing any ingredients.
[ Domestic as it might all seem, they do need to eat, so Genji sees no issue with it. ]
[To Jack, being able to feed oneself (via old family recipes or not) is not necessarily indicative of any real culinary talent--just part of being an adult. He starts poking through the cupboards, to see if he missed anything Ana left for him, perhaps anticipating this.]
Can you eat pancakes?
[He's pretty sure he could whip up some with what Ana has here. They might not be the greatest pancakes he's ever made, but they'll suffice.]
That's possible. Though I suspect you're also being humble.
[ If anything, Genji would imagine that Commander Reyes might have underrepresented Jack's skills, seeing how he'd often jumped on the chance to poke fun at him back then. Usually in good fun, though some of his comments had become sharper and meaner as the years trudged on.
Genji ends up behind Jack near his shoulder (though with a safe amount of distance between them, as he doesn't want to crowd him). He's peering into the cupboard as well to see what options they have. Jack lands on pancakes, and Genji gives a quick shrug. ]
I should be able to. But don't make too many for me, as I can't eat large quantities at once. I wouldn't want your food to go to waste.
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No, he's still in Nepal for now. He's aware that I had a journey to take, and loose ends to tie up, but none of the exact details.
[ Genji will ultimately return to Zenyatta and tell him all about COST and what he experienced with them, but it had important to him to track Jack down first. ]
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But these are silly, paranoid thoughts. He tries to shake them off.]
As long as he doesn’t come looking.
[Jack offers Genji something of a lopsided grin, an attempt to play it off as a joke, even if there are real anxieties underneath it.]
Did you tell him about COST?
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While I can hardly control what he does, I doubt he would come after me without making some kind of contact first. You can rest easy.
[ As wise as Zenyatta is, he hasn't had much experience in the larger world. He doesn't have the kind of street smarts that would allow him to track the two of them to this location, even if that was his wish.
At the question, Genji shakes his head. ]
Not yet, though I'd like to. Telling someone else about it would allow it to feel less like a dream, I think.
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[He really has no choice but to believe Genji, but he supposes it’s all beside the point anyway. The point is that now they’re talking about COST, which is simultaneously relieving and not. It’s good to have someone who shares the experience, but having been pulled away from his own world once, a part of Jack will always be wondering if it will happen again.
He sighs a little, scrubbing a hand through his hair, betraying that slight apprehension.]
I thought it was a dream, when I got back.
[Sometimes he wishes it was. He thinks sometimes he’s better off not knowing about COST, the Regency…any of it.]
Until you got in touch with me, I guess.
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[ Genji also feels some measure of relief that he's not somehow the only one who remembers, that he can compare notes about this shared experience that most of the people of this world could never truly comprehend or believe.
Zenyatta would. He knows that deep into his bones (what's left of them). But Zenyatta isn't like most people.
A pause, and Genji studies Jack's face with a hint more interest. ]
And you? Have you told Ana of it?
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Ana already thinks I’m crazy.
[For his crusade against Talon, which often feels less like making progress and more like a dog chasing a car. Even Jack doesn’t know what he’ll do when he finds what he needs. Sometimes it feels like Ana is coming along out of pity, more than anything. A last-ditch effort to keep him from killing himself, even as he drags them further and further past the point of no return. To say he feels guilty about it is an understatement—he can’t, in good conscience, burden her with anything else.]
I’ll tell her. [Maybe.] Just not sure how, yet.
[How to do it without worrying her, that is.]
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Granted, most people would hear something like "I got kidnapped to fight in a galactic time-traveling war" and assume the story-teller had lost some of their grip on their sanity. There was an implicit trust between Jack and Ana that Genji had assumed would overwrite that, but again, it's possible things have changed. ]
I can help. [ There's a smile in his voice, hidden under the ever-present metallic hum. ] If both of us are telling her the same thing, I think it would be more difficult for her to write it off, don't you?
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She'll just think we're both crazy.
[Though that part is said as a joke. It would certainly give her a moment of pause, if the two of them sat her down and told the same story, though he's not sure if she'd ever fully believe it. If it hadn't happened to him, he's not sure he would believe it either.]
Better to focus on the mission here.
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If that's what you wish, then I will abide by that.
[ Genji lets out a long sigh and then stretches his arms up into the air, working the kinks out of both his organic and synthetic parts. The work on his sword is done, so he sheathes it. ]
Do you wonder sometimes? What those people we met through COST are doing now.
[ It's a strange thing, knowing that there's very little chance they'll see any of them again. ]
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[Perhaps in earlier years, he might not be so confident in Genji’s ability to keep something secret, especially from Ana, but he hopes their shared experience means they have a particularly unique bond. Jack feels silly for thinking of it as a bond, but that’s what it is, isn’t it? He takes a long moment to look Genji up and down, as if assessing their newfound friendship (???) for the first time.
He catches himself staring and turns away again, finding a particularly interesting spot on the floor.]
Sometimes.
[He does his best not to focus on it, because he’s back to his own mission.]
You wonder if we’ll ever see any of them again?
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He frowns to himself, not sure what that just was, but the conversation moves on before he can decide whether or not it would be wise to comment on it.
At the question he lets out a long sigh. While he would like to be hopeful, he realizes there's no point in giving Jack anything other than the honest truth. He leans back on his hands and crosses his legs before answering. ]
Only if COST were to recruit all of us again. It seems unlikely that anyone would be able to find their way to this world at the correct time. Or that we could do the same.
[ The entire experience will fade away into some odd chapter of their respective histories, an excursion that would be almost impossible to describe to anyone who hadn't experienced it themselves. ]
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[Jack's thoughts are very similar--that with no way of even communicating with COST, they're never going to see or hear from any of them again. That's for the best, he thinks, though it's going to be difficult to get it out of his head. Perhaps Genji feels the same.]
Not much point in dwelling on it.
[Though of course that's easier said than done, given the fact that COST itself expanded his worldview to include entire universes and infinite timelines. Not something he can shake off very easily.]
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I don't believe that forgetting it ever happened is the correct path. It happened to us and affected us, and there's nothing wrong with thinking of those people we met and befriended during that time.
[ Genji glances up from his lap to watch Jack once he finishes speaking. He suspects that Jack will claim he didn't befriend anyone, that it had all been professional, but that seems doubtful. Even just using the two of them as an example, that time with COST forged a closer bond between them, didn't it? Genji feels that it did, and the sheer fact that Jack has let him stay here says a lot. ]
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[He's not going to admit that anyone there was a friend, and of course he isn't going to just forget everything that happened, but he knows that he easily gets bogged down in the past. Perhaps this is just his way of resolving to move forward.]
It's just tough getting back to business here, while all that's on my mind.
[He's sure Ana has noticed.
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Worry not, my friend. I will keep you on track.
[ There's a warm, cheerful hint to his tone as he stands from his cross-legged stance on the floor and then stretches his arms up above his head. ]
And if you feel that you're getting soft, I will never say no to a spar.
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[And Jack doesn't thank easily, so that's saying something. He tries to offer a smile, and for once it seems to be genuine. Jack knows this is a bit of an admission that he's not going to ask Genji to leave anytime soon, and he's surprised at how comfortable the thought feels.
Jack is pretty much always in the mood for a spar (except for this exactly moment), so he laughs a little at the suggestion.]
You're getting to know me pretty well, huh?
[Despite, perhaps, his best efforts.]
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Then Jack follows it with that question, and Genji has to admit that it's true. They're both getting to know each other better without Overwatch getting in the way (to say nothing of Genji's horrible mental state back then). More than that, Genji gets to know this man as Jack, not as his Overwatch's commander.
After a perhaps too-long pause, he breaks out into an easy laugh. ]
Don't act like that's something so terrible.
[ It's nearly impossible to survive alone in this world. Humans (even cyborgs) are not wired that way. That's what Genji believes. ]
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[Jack has spent a very long time closing himself off to a world and the people in it that gave up on him. Even during Overwatch, he'd always been the consummate professional, to the point where he imagines few ever really got to know him as something other than the Commander. That thought should be freeing, now that he's not beholden to the military structure of an organization that no longer exists, but Jack can't exactly take advantage of it.
Now, he has a whole new problem. Letting someone in--letting them get to know him just puts everyone in danger, given the nature of his mission.
Still, Genji knows all that. He's just going around in circles, at this point.]
Could all be a big mistake.
how many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man
[ While Genji might sound exasperated, there's something fond in his tone too. This is simply how Jack is now, and he has to accept that. He doesn't mind being stubborn as he makes attempt after attempt to break down those walls. If he can maintain even an ounce of Master Zenyatta's patience, then Jack won't stand a chance.
Apparently now isn't the time for a spar, yet Genji closes the distance between them anyway. Once he and Jack are face-to-face, he boldly reaches out to grab for Jack's hand, which he holds gently. As if handling something fragile. ]
Whatever you might say, you are my friend, Jack. And I'd enjoy any chance to get to know you better.
[ Perhaps if he's extremely blunt and straight-forward, the message will finally sink in. ]
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[He tries to offer an apologetic smile. Genji doesn't sound angry--in fact, he sound the opposite, even a little fond. He's not quite sure how to feel about that. Though he should be angry about being treated delicately, he finds it a nice change of pace.
And maybe it's nice having someone want to be his friend who isn't Ana. It's not going to fill the void Gabriel left, but it helps.]
All right. Friends.
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It's a good sign that Jack does finally concede, that he doesn't pull away and that he agrees to Genji's insistence that they're friends. It draws an unburdened smile out of him, something relieved and grateful. He gives Jack's hand a tight squeeze (though not too tight; he knows how metal can pinch) and then draws back. ]
That's more like it. [ He nods firmly. ] Now, what do you say we put some kind of dinner together? All this work convincing you has made me hungry.
[ In truth, Genji doesn't eat that much these days, but he is starting to feel some stirring in his stomach that hints he needs to get his energy stores back up. ]
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He gets up from the couch, grunting a little at the effort.]
I’ll see what we’ve got.
[But truth be told, there isn’t much, and he’s even more uncertain about what Genji is still able to eat.]
I’m not much of a chef.
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[ Stories of a younger Jack Morrison who had some tried and true family recipes. Overwatch may not have been the place for such things, but that hadn't stopped Gabriel from mentioning it to McCree a time or two. While Genji often hadn't been included in those conversations, he'd always been listening.
Either way, he follows Jack into the kitchen, making himself at home as he goes looking through the cabinets for anything promising. ]
I could make a quick trip down to the market if we're missing any ingredients.
[ Domestic as it might all seem, they do need to eat, so Genji sees no issue with it. ]
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[To Jack, being able to feed oneself (via old family recipes or not) is not necessarily indicative of any real culinary talent--just part of being an adult. He starts poking through the cupboards, to see if he missed anything Ana left for him, perhaps anticipating this.]
Can you eat pancakes?
[He's pretty sure he could whip up some with what Ana has here. They might not be the greatest pancakes he's ever made, but they'll suffice.]
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[ If anything, Genji would imagine that Commander Reyes might have underrepresented Jack's skills, seeing how he'd often jumped on the chance to poke fun at him back then. Usually in good fun, though some of his comments had become sharper and meaner as the years trudged on.
Genji ends up behind Jack near his shoulder (though with a safe amount of distance between them, as he doesn't want to crowd him). He's peering into the cupboard as well to see what options they have. Jack lands on pancakes, and Genji gives a quick shrug. ]
I should be able to. But don't make too many for me, as I can't eat large quantities at once. I wouldn't want your food to go to waste.
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