He hadn't expected any earth-shattering revelations from the question -- particularly since it'd just been a way for him to make a point to her, to in some way express all the horrible aggravation that had squeezed itself tight inside his chest the moment she'd entered the room -- and so Jolie's plainly straightforward answer comes as nowhere near a surprise to him. There's a litany of things that Jack could say in response to it, to her saying this vile situation is an actual honor to take part in, all scathing or angry or disdainful and all probably expected or well-tread territory for a Capitolite like her.

But instead Jack merely studies her face, burying deep any hint that her words still somehow stung him, resoundingly idiotic as that was, beneath a stone-faced and guarded expression.

And it's true. It could be worse.

He could've been placed in Jason's district.

Eventually the pirate lifts both hands in a useless gesture, fingers splayed then curled, as if he's about to say something important about the matter at hand. But whatever it is, it doesn't actually surface to his lips. Instead his hands lower, a touch, then his mouth closes.

Another beat, then the pirate slowly reaches forward to brush a few fingers softly against the side of her cheek. "Aye. Then fortunate for me it was, as I'm glad it's you that's here." Those fingers trace a line down beneath her jaw, and like nothing else the urge to forget about the pain and bloodshed and his own battered sense of vulnerability hits him. Somehow he's shifted closer into her space, and if she hasn't pulled away, Jack leans forward to press a kiss on her lips.