[ Jack stares back at her for a few moments in a silence that feels uncharacteristic for him. Considering how it's hard to get Jack to ever stop talking, his silences end up being unintentionally more poignant. His expression isn't quite hardened, but it's clear that it's an uncomfortable subject for him.
The pause comes because he's weighing his options here. It's not the first time someone's asked, but it's something that Jack can usually dance his way around. He has a silver tongue, and while he doesn't always use that skill intentionally, when it comes to difficult subjects that he doesn't want to talk about, he'll use it shamelessly. But usually, the people asking aren't from intelligence. He could even manage to dance around the subject with superiors, but this was a different ballgame entirely.
He realizes that if he's not forthcoming here, a misunderstanding could send him through his own facility. So he sighs, and shrugs dismissively. ]
Long story short, mom and dad skimped out on their loyalty, dumped me with grandma. Grandma wanted me to become a Scarback, and she was really big on discipline. Forget to wash the dishes, get a buzzsaw to the back, forget to make the bed, she drowns my cat. That kind of thing. So I started working for the Company as soon as I could. Just wanted to move out.
[ As he explains, Jack's voice isn't quite detached, but it's not emotional. His issues with his family are ones that he feels are fairly old, so he can relay that with a coolness that makes it almost sound like it happened to someone else. But he knows that's not the same for the rest of the story, and so that part he tries to weasel out of. He hates grandma. That's simple. But getting into why he wanted a transfer isn't. ]
no subject
The pause comes because he's weighing his options here. It's not the first time someone's asked, but it's something that Jack can usually dance his way around. He has a silver tongue, and while he doesn't always use that skill intentionally, when it comes to difficult subjects that he doesn't want to talk about, he'll use it shamelessly. But usually, the people asking aren't from intelligence. He could even manage to dance around the subject with superiors, but this was a different ballgame entirely.
He realizes that if he's not forthcoming here, a misunderstanding could send him through his own facility. So he sighs, and shrugs dismissively. ]
Long story short, mom and dad skimped out on their loyalty, dumped me with grandma. Grandma wanted me to become a Scarback, and she was really big on discipline. Forget to wash the dishes, get a buzzsaw to the back, forget to make the bed, she drowns my cat. That kind of thing. So I started working for the Company as soon as I could. Just wanted to move out.
[ As he explains, Jack's voice isn't quite detached, but it's not emotional. His issues with his family are ones that he feels are fairly old, so he can relay that with a coolness that makes it almost sound like it happened to someone else. But he knows that's not the same for the rest of the story, and so that part he tries to weasel out of. He hates grandma. That's simple. But getting into why he wanted a transfer isn't. ]
That good enough?