With dirt dusted fingers, he held the abomination of a letter in his right hand. The non-existent curved edge of his lip was a tempting expression at the moment. Irony was splattered throughout the formal words of self assumed authority. That the very institution who single handedly used means condoned by their own laws to eradicate the legacy of his family now called upon him for service was laughable. He did not feel honored.

A flush of disbelief overcame Alice's disposition despite her utmost efforts to contain negative emotion. After shoving the note back into his possession, she turned away to walk across the porch. Steadily pacing back, her fingers nervously twitched over the fabric of her skirt. Every thought that crossed her mind was made known by a raised finger followed by forced silence. It would not be possible,
"Well don't that beat all." Jack scoffed, re-reading what he would continue to dissect for the next few minutes,
"Oh Jack." She pouted, throwing fists to her side. It peeved him that the tone she chose was more of an accusation. Internally rolling his eyes for the near millionth time, he shoved his hands into the suede pockets of his coat, stepping away slowly. The letter, now crumpled, was pushed into the depths of the fabric, "Please look at me!"

Her raised tone numbed his earlobe. She was starting to break, to lose her patience with his melancholy demeanor. After spending so much time raising her spirits, she was trying to reciprocate the favor that never really felt like one. He cocked his body to the side, turning his head to the left to face her. It was the least he could do,
"What are you going to do now?" Her voice resembled a whining dog yearning for a bone to be passed it's way. Jack's chin dipped into the bowl of his red bandana, his dark eyes still piercing the tension layered thinly across the porch,
"Water the horse, why do you ca-"
"No, about that thing!" Her thin lips twisted into an uneasy frown of distress. Pouring her heart out to the man hadn't become an easy task. His growing discontent for menial things and dreading of the very past that shaped him was beginning to take a toll on her well-being.

In his own mind, he knew his fault. The reality was that without Alice, he would be alone, a literal 'lone ranger'. Here he was, after she admitted the truth about her return, being the unappreciative brute. He softened his voice to a less hostile tone, putting aside the grudges that had begun to strain the moment,
"I'm going to answer it. Cause I know full well what these men are capable of when things don't go their way. And even if things do go their way, they find some convoluted way to screw up everybody's lives."

Alice felt guilt upon recalling his experience. This topic was one Jack was well educated on, having had first hand experience with an unstable lifestyle thanks to a government institution and the doings of his parents. The irony was enough to send her mind spinning for a way out.

"There is a way out of it, though." She breathed. Jack's fists flexed in the cotton pockets of his coat. Tensing, then releasing in a rhythmic pattern.

She approached him, coaxing him to a calmer state by whispering his name. How she loved to repeat the same single syllable that was his title. He hadn't seen any purpose in being confused her her fickle tendencies, she was young, and her ability to get him flustered back to adoring ceased to surprise him. Yet, with the way she pressed the palms of her hands to his upper jaw-line, he felt somewhat curious as to what she was getting at,
"Men are pushed to the back of the list if they are married, are they not?" As if he knew it was coming, his face remained placid. He grabbed her by both wrists, sternly forcing her to lay them at her sides,
"No." He scolded, eyes glued to the porch.
"Why not?" His silence was enough of a response to push a button or two, "Why must you always patronize me, act as if I know nothing."
"You're too... stubborn." He forced from his lips with a raspy voice, sounding defeated.
"What? You won't marry me because I'm too stubborn?" She ducked under him, looking up and stealing his eye-lock with the porch,
"No." When she opened her mouth again to speak, his words filled the air before her own, "Because I want to marry you knowing it was done for us, not for them."
"But it will be for us." She quickly added, surprisingly with a painless disposition. She displayed a soft disgruntlement that he could only assert a repetition at. His lips pursed as he released her wrists,
"If I return."

Jack could match her stubbornness to the tee, if prompted to. But unlike Alice, he used it rarely enough that when he became relentless, she would be required to give. She had "won" enough battles, and had come to the conclusion that fighting him on this fact would only end in a stalemate. This acceptance left her in a state of self pity when the reality of her submission set in. As if the visage of the Marston boy in the goofy military issued uniform, which couldn't be more unfitting, were the epitome of her dissatisfaction,
"When you return, it will be."