The Industrialist

He's a rebel with a cause, a revolutionary not afraid to go toe-to-toe with authorities, whether they be bosses or lawmen. He's been arrested more times than he has toes and fingers, but he's intelligent enough to know just what strings to pull, what laws to quote, to get off without significant time in the slammer. Silco's made a name for himself in the world of political activism and the world of workers' rights. He's also fairly well-known in the world of organized crime, straddling lines between being a law-abiding citizen with a bone to pick on behalf of his fellow man and a dirty little gangster.

“Be gentle…”

“That was a joke.”

“You were happy?”

“It wasn’t about sex.”

“No, don’t think. Shut up.”

“I don’t mind a challenge.”

“Pain can be quite liberating.”

“Hey, what are you doing up?”

“No, I’m fine. Please, continue.”

“I never meant to do this to you.”

“At my age? I should be so lucky.”

“You said you wanted to die fast?”

“Noooo, you don’t have to do that.”

“I’m a hard case. Too much history.”

“Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s fine.”

“You’re not coming with me, are you?”

“Next time’s what you said last time…”

“Sorry, this is a lot to process at once.”

“I have ways of loosening your tongue.”

“Perhaps he trusted the wrong person.”

“Well that depends on why you’re here.”

“I want to enjoy every last minute of this.”

“But, somebody did hurt you, didn’t they?”

“I suppose I’m afraid to relinquish control.”

“What was she giving him that I couldn’t?”

“It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain.”

“My job is to help people unlock their pain.”

“Well, you live long enough… anything’s possible.”

“He wasn’t even my type. I prefer the lone wolves.”

“Perhaps this might be a good time to release me?”

“But, what if feeling nothing is the worst pain of all?”

“Make it quick. Best to get it over with, don’t you think?”

“Killing me won’t ease the pain. It’ll only make it worse.”

“Now you know what it feels like to be us. To be mortal.”

“A little dancing, a little drinking… a little what-have.you.”

“Come on, you see  e v e r y t h i n g  and you don’t see that?”

“I’m going to make you hurt like you have never hurt in your life.”

“First, you will beg me to stop… and then you will beg me not to.”

“Any evidence that was left got washed away with last night’s rain.”

“Come away with me. Let’s do all the crazy things we talked about.”

“Everybody, even the greatest of all time, pooched it once in a while.”

“I’ve always been on the receiving end. But, it’s fun inflicting pain, too.”

“A face that broke a thousand hearts. And a bosom that defies gravity.”

“Well, don’t change too much, okay? I kind of like you just how you are.”

“We’re not a couple of dumb kids anymore. We’ve learned from our mistakes.”

“I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to talk to you about erotic electrocution.”

“The people we love the most are the ones capable of hurting us the most deeply.”

“She makes me feel alive… which is ironic, given the number of times she’s tried to kill me.”

“I know what it is to be alone, to have be betrayed by the one person you thought you could trust.”

“Its ironic, isn’t it? That the only way to feel alive… is to give another person the power to destroy you.”

Still, he listened, the weight of every word tamping down most reflexive responses. His clearest answer was a careful squeeze of his own to the other man's hand.

One mistake, ending in terrible tragedy. A miscalculation. It reminded Jayce of academy lessons about probability and chance, of butterfly wings and gales and what could be done about the aftermath. Just the sight of Silco smiling at him in sincerity made that aftermath feel a little less daunting. Though embarrassed heat crept up Jayce's neck at the older man's well-meaning insistences - about what he knew were simple things, but what eight interminable years had transformed into indulgences - he managed the small beginnings of a smile in return.

That smile wavered with a fresh sting of tears, which only shored up his embarrassment. Just as his expression crumbled and another drop escaped, Jayce bent closer to rest his forehead against Silco's shoulder, eyes squeezed shut while he bit his own lower lip again to muffle shuddering breaths. He still clung to the other's hand. "It's terrifying," Jayce admitted at length. "But... I-I want... I think I want to try."

"Sometimes, the kindness is too much, isn't it," he observed quietly, and he still struggled with it day to day. Silco was a man, after all, who had always thought the lowest of himself, and certainly someone who had done what he'd done would be undeserving of all that he had? But that was what he had those around him for, who loved him, who always stood to give differing words when his mind was so cruel.

And if they weren't enough, alcohol was enough to drown out his inner voice enough to allow him to breathe for a time.

Without releasing Jayce's hand, Silco slipped an arm around his waist, offering an embrace, and his head tilted just enough so that his cheek could rest against the younger man's head as it laid on his shoulder.

Cloud's mind flashed to Nibelheim at the other's words, knowing firsthand how well ShinRa could cover things up when they wanted to. The tight hold the company had on their world was scary in more ways than one – and yet it had also shown itself to be so very fragile when one of their own turned against it. Then again, Sephiroth had always been a force to be reckoned with, ShinRa had simply never imagined that the General would bite the hand that feeds him.

Something Cloud hoped to stop, of course, but not in a way that ShinRa would like. To spite the company was something he quite enjoyed.

"Yeah, I know how ShinRa operates. As for Hojo... was he not in control of the SOLDIER project, back when you were one?" He questioned, head tilting slightly in curiosity. He hadn't expected this man to be so straightforward, but then again, Cloud had also been more honest than he tended to be. Maybe it was because he had finally met someone who really understood how corrupt ShinRa was. Sure, most people had an inkling, but it was something else to witness it firsthand.

"Ah... name's Cloud Strife. I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I'm still deciding," and they hadn't met under the best circumstances. Still, Cloud wouldn't say that Silco seemed all that bad, just... cynical, or something along those lines.

"Say – if you run this... Shimmer business, you probably have eyes and ears around the slums, right? How much for information?" Assuming that they sold that kind of thing as well.

"I was a part of the passive class. Still elite, yet I'm not sure we could have held a candle to the SOLDIER that came with Sephiroth," he answered, and why not be straightforward? There was something about this man named Cloud Strife that spoke to being trustworthy, and Silco had always been a good judge of character. "We weren't quite as enhanced as they are now."

His hands shoved deep within the pockets of his coat, always watching the young man closely as if he could see through him, into his mind. He couldn't, but it was nice to have people think he could sometimes.