Jack stuck his good hand in his pocket, subconsciously mirroring the other.  He felt utterly stuck now.  It wasn't like he could just leave, not after that reaction when he'd brought up Mr. Potts, but under any other circumstances he would have carried on his way long ago.  He looked up the road again, still silently optimistic that a Mr. Darrow would come strolling along to save Jack from having to draw this out any further.  And then he couldn't help it - he glanced at the Potts house over his shoulder.  Not that that did anything.  It looked exactly as normal and unassuming as it always did.

Eventually he said, "I ran into your... brother not long ago." His pause gave away that he wasn't totally sure that they were in fact brothers but Jack thought he deserved congratulations for not only coming up with a shred of small talk but also recalling both their surnames and putting it together. 

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