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[cantilevers]

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[zauneyete]

[ Silco doesn't see it in the same way. He never had. Was it digging in while she was traumatized? What an accusation. They had both been broken. Broken by abandonment, their mistakes, broken by tempers that flared, and while Silco had never needed a new name — his had too much weight, too much link to the past to ever give it up — Jinx's had been a shackle. Holding her back, keeping her from moving on as she needed to.

No, this was not manipulation, like Vander thinks. Of course he would think that. She'd been giving up him, too.

She thinks there's hope for Vander. Silco disagrees. A fancy, a flight. She'd lost one father, so she clings to the hope of another. That must be what it is. Irrational. ]

If the doctor is involved, he is not so lax. He's a very thorough man.

So enjoy this being your last breath, your last chance at life. No wonder you cling to what little you have so tightly.

[ As if he doesn't do the same? No. No. Not that. His is different. ]

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[cantilevers]

[There is was again, like a sore thumb sticking out of the conversation. With Silco, it was often not what tantrum the other man was throwing but the things unsaid that were the real targets. Lesser people would just assume that there was nothing left to say, but Vander had been in the sphere of Silco's influence for decades so each time Silco didn't address an obvious barb from him, it meant that the older man didn't wish to discuss it.

Vander was picking out each and every one of those topics, filing them away to utilize at another time. They knew each other too well, knowing their tells and willing to weaponize them. He knew it was unhealthy, but if there was one person that could stand toe-to-toe with him, it was Silco. It was not an admittance or respect that he gave lightly anymore.

Case in point.]

Well, you know him best, I suppose. From what I observed, thorough is a word to describe him.

I'm glad we had this talk and discovered our similarities again. Just two old guys who have outlived their potential and have passed on to the background of the lives of those closest to us.

[And that's it. Vander closed out the conversation. Unlike most people, he saw no point for the last word. He knew Silco wouldn't stand for it, but he had no reason to come back even when Silco inevitably came back.]

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[zauneyete]

Maybe for you. I don't find things to be as hopeless as you do, clearly. Not that I expected anything different. You enjoy being the one who can say they gave up hope, since it absolves you of guilt, don't you?

[ He doesn't voice it much, but he's alive here. That's something. Maybe there's a way back, or maybe he'll have to work from the shadows, but if Vander thinks that Silco will have given up his shot at influence from here, he's wrong.

Then again, when has Silco ever let go of anything?

But there you go Vander, always, he's seeking the last word. :) ]