She leans against the wooden back of her chair, arms crossed across her chest, and studies the soldier’s body language as he replies. Tense, as he usually is when she brings Gabe up, but defensive enough in posture that she suspects his reasoning is only to get her to drop the Reyes topic; in which case, really, he should know better.
“Fine. Whatever you say, viejito.”
Maybe he actually believes he’s learning the language for himself- who knows? He’d be a hell of a lot easier to read if he took that damned visor off, but Sombra is smart enough to know that Morrison knows that; the mask might be as much a security thing to Jack as Gabe’s is to him, but the vigilant care he takes to wear the thing whenever she’s around leads her to believe that it’s probably also a line of defense against her prying eyes.
She could easily hack the display, of course, but where’s the fun in that?
“…why’d you wait so long to learn if it’s something you wanted to do? I’m sure Spanish would have come in handy during your glory days.” Sombra arches an eyebrow as the question is served to Jack; she’s genuinely curious how someone with as high a status as him could manage to go so long without learning another language. “You can’t tell me you enjoyed having a translator follow you around everywhere you went.”
Jack sighs- while he’s grateful to move on from the topic of Reyes, Sombra’s questions always leave him with lingering discomfort. It’s not her fault, he supposes. She’s curious about him and his past, and in spending time with her, he really only minds her prying because it reminds him of all the things he’s come to regret. This is just a small one among many others, but it’s enough to make his shoulder’s slump.
“I ran out of time,” he says simply, looking away from her. “I was... preoccupied. Always assumed I’d have more time to pick it up later. Wasn’t so lucky on that front.”
Still, he knows it’s all just an excuse. As strike commander he was busy, but Sombra has a point- taking the time out would have saved him energy and trouble elsewhere. But he always used his job as a crutch to avoid doing things out of his comfort zone or to try and forgive his misgivings. It was the same reason he never took the opportunity to be honest about his relationship with Gabe. A poor excuse to get out of something that scared him.
“Picked up on some Spanish. German and Swiss, too. But I barely had time to sleep, let alone study another language,” he explains, fidgeting with his jacket sleeves. “Wouldn’t exactly say I have the time now either, but ain’t much point in putting it off anymore.”
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