starmark | IC Inbox

We're going to see. [ Snakebutt may or may not like this venture. It isn't getting a choice. Rohan sloughs away from where he is clinging with a thud on the ground. The sad feels weird and he absolutely DOES NOT like it. ]

Eeeugh... [ He is incapable of stifling the reaction he has to it. It isn't going to get under his scales... He thinks. ]

... Well go on. Go play in the water. [ This is how we Date. ] I didn't bring my book so I wouldn't get all distracted. Just... Do your thing. [ Whatever it is that's supposed to be. He folds his arms and tilts his head a little, shaking it to get a flyaway bit of hair out of his face. ]

I'm going to fall over if I try to move.

I knew this would happen... [ HE'LL ADMIT IT. ] I can already tell that I won't have traction. This was a bad idea. [ Send help. ]

Edited (proofreading confirmed for bullshit) 2016-09-11 10:46 (UTC)

...You're going to just sit still and not move in the middle of the sand for a couple of hours while I go do my thing?

[His eyes narrow slightly in uncertain bewilderment, leaving him squinting not just from the daylight but from Rohan's intentions as well.]

This is supposed to be fun for both of us. Do you want to hold on to me while you try to move?

[ Rohan does a little experiment that comes in the form of reaching out to take Jotaro by the arm. He too looks pretty damn bewildered and unsure of what he is doing. Snakebutt wiggles at his own instruction and makes a little wave in the sand like a sidewinding snake. A sidewinding snake that can't actually go at an angle. Baaaack... And fooooorth... He pulls awaaaay... And then right up close again. ]

I think I can only move forward or backward. Slowly. [ Ugh. He looks right up at Jotaro-- brow furrowed and lips pasted into a firm frown. ] Is that fun for you?

Not really, but neither is the thought of just sticking you down somewhere and leaving you to sit there like a statue while I go enjoy myself somewhere else.

[He shifts a little to give Rohan better leverage where he's holding on to his arm, aiming to help support some of his weight along with just keeping him steady.]

What about the wet sand near the waterline? It'd be more solid, less grainy. Do you want to try that instead?

[ That might work. ]

Whatever works. [ No idea is going to keep him from getting huffy. It is just best to ease him along into having to do something. He nudges Jotaro along closer to the water and the stretch of sand that his scales can grab on to. ]

The strangest part about being here again is how quiet it is. [ Rohan hasn't touched the idea of going back to Vandare since they left. ] Remember? [ All of the other people they washed up with hashing or not hashing out what they had to do. What they have now is the waves and nothing else. Rohan has something playing in back of his head that is just his usual white noise. Otherwise... ]

People default to dinner or walks in the park for these things. I thought this would be more appropriate-- what, with the memories attached to this place too. It doesn't need to have footprints or washed-up artifacts to be an effective callback.

We're both a lot less bloody now than we were that night, too.

[Carefully, being mindful of the fact that he's being used as a support railing of sorts, he gets them moving down toward the waterline where the waves washing up on shore have soaked the beach and turned it damp and solid.]

The lack of guys with torches and pitchforks does make for a better view, that's for sure. No yelling, no angry grumbling. Just the water...

[He pauses, idling just long enough to turn and look out over the ocean; as he does, some of the tension unconsciously drops from his shoulders, almost like he's relieved and soothed by the sight.]

...A lot has changed in five months, huh. For all this and for us.

I would say so.

[ A hint of dryness draws attention to his hand holding fast to Jotaro's arm when he trains his eyes on it. The rest of Snakebutt catches up in a squiggly trail painted behind him. His gaze swings up to Jotaro and then back out to the water. ]

Physical appearances aside, that is. You know I don't care all that much for people, Jotaro. I would have lived on my own if I had been given the choice. I've said that a million times... [ He pauses. ] I wouldn't want to live alone anymore. If you disappeared, I--...

[ Hrm. ]

It would suck.

I've heard that happens. People leaving and not coming back. [ He isn't looking away from the water. ] Not even heard it. It's what happened to Miss Vietnam. If that happened to you, I don't really know what I would be left to do other than pick up and pretend that everything is fine.

...Yeah. There've been a few people...

[He trails off, slowly coming to the realization that he doesn't really want to approach that subject any further. Strange, to think that he's got a new set of losses from here as well, in their own ways just as permanent as the ones he's suffered back home.

He's never going to see some of these people again, is he? Because they'll go wherever they go, and he'll go somewhere else. Could he find them? Maybe. Maybe not.

Dead or gone forever — is there really such a difference between the two? Outside of the slim comfort of knowing that they're probably still out there somewhere, alive, but even that is just fantasy and wishful thinking, deep down.

Of course, then there's Rohan. He'll see Rohan again someday, won't he? Someday, when he's the Jotaro that Rohan remembers...

It almost makes him wonder if someday Rohan will end up disappointed that the guy he's going to meet in Morioh isn't the one he'd kissed in a tiny cramped apartment bedroom in a place called Ryslig.]

Are you worried? That I might leave and not come back.

[ Rohan would rather not sweat it and keep saying that he will pretend to make everything better. He's only had one person leave who likely won't come back-- and he firmly believes in the permanence of it.

He's also aware of how this Jotaro is technically the one he will go back home to. Inevitably, the circumstance of that will nullify everything that has occurred here. That bugs him more than it should. ]

Yes. [ It's as curt as it can be. ] Are you worried that I might leave and never come back? I will still know who you are if I go back.

... It just wouldn't... Have anything count anymore. Any of this.

Edited 2016-09-12 06:44 (UTC)

...You said my thoughts pretty much exactly. This place would suck without you.

[He shifts his arm a bit once they're on more secure ground, less holding Rohan up and more just kind of getting an arm around him in general.]

I like...feeling...

[He fumbles a little, looking for the word he wants.]

...like I'm good at things that aren't fighting. That I'm — no, wait. I meant that...that there's more to it, more to life, than just. Fighting.

There's you. You make it easier to remember that I don't always have to fight anymore. That there's more for me than just that.

[ Okay there, Master Wordsmith Jotaro Kujo. ]

There always has been more than that, Jotaro. I have told you before that you're the only enemy you ever seem to lose to. It's because all you have known is fighting. All I've ever known is working. I can stop that whenever I want here. I do when you're around. Likewise from your end and...

Sentimentality has never been my strong suit.

[ The air is still. The Fog hangs over the water, mixing with the waves it kicks up like miniature clouds. That is all they are doing-- Standing and watching the water. Rohan's weight leans to the side, settling against the gargoyle and allowing his eyes to fall closed. An unsure hand comes up and lands gently on Jotaro's chest.

It sure is ready to abandon ship the second things get Awkward. ] I don't even like writing it.

[ A breeze picks up gradually, not from the water but from the side nearest to Rohan. It's warm. It is too warm for September. It is too warm for being near a waterfront. It's dry, not wet or smelling of saltwater. Strong enough to tousle his hair and rustle his clothes, he picks up his shoulders in a recoil similar to a chill. The dry heat from the breeze is more than any that he has pulled from Jotaro before. This burns, manifesting itself not even from the side he is leaning on.

His chest hurts. The prompt that it does has his other hand rubbing at it right where his key lies under his shirt. ]

Jotaro-- Something hurts.

[It's easy to idle on dreamy contemplations of Rohan's sentimentality; doubly so with the ocean so close by, and the steady rhythm of waves lapping at the shore to help carry him away on it. It's easy to think about nothing at all, except that this feels right and good. It's almost even possible to admit to himself that he really feels happy, just for a few precious moments.

What shatters that, though, is a single word: hurts.

He frowns, suddenly alert, yanked out of his calm and into abrupt intent concern as he turns and fixes his eyes on the way Rohan is fussing with his chest, the way the warm dry air rolls over his scaled skin.]

What hurts? Where? What is it, what — in your chest...?

[ It's going to become apparent that everything hurts in a moment. His mouth is dry, his eyes feel like he has pulled that header into the sand. Grainy, hard, burning. Thinking for a second that it might be Jotaro running especially hot, he pushes off from him ad first rips his key out from under his collar. It's dull and dingy appearance has disappeared, making it brilliant and new. He drops it abruptly back to hanging because the feeling of being thrown clear on a pit of burning coals hasn't gone away.

It's spreading, spreading, making Rohan claw away at his shirt until it is nothing but tatters around his neck. This isn't the kind of bodice ripping anyone wants to be doing in this situation and more mistakes have been made, apparently. The one thing he does not do is scream. He has his teeth crammed harshly into his bottom lip. They catch at the left side and tear it right open. He pays it no mind with all of his focus being on the tightening of his scales until--

Starting from the end of his tail, the black bands and patterns glow around the white. He can feel how they jitter when the light and the heat spread all the way up to his now bare shoulders. His wriggling and writhing ceases when the light itself begins to fade. In its wake, every bit of black that has covered his body from tail to fingernail has changed to an eggplant violet. Not a scale has been left untouched except for the white sticking out against it. Rohan releases his lip and barely uncurls his claws from his arms. ]

... --gifts... [ He exhales hard and breathless. Only 'gifts' leaves his lips.

The heat is gone. The breeze has gone away. The pain has disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving Rohan speechless and with eyes as wide as dinner plates. His key is back to looking old... And he's more colorful than he ever has been.

UM. ]

[This is the worst thing that could possibly be happening on a first attempt at a first real date, holy shit.

For the duration of the...whatever it is, he doesn't know, but for the duration of it, he's nothing short of frenetic. It's obvious from all of his body language that he wants to touch Rohan, but he doesn't pursue that once he's pushed away. Another few seconds past, he remembers Star and reaches instinctively for him, overwhelmed with relief when his Stand actually answers his call and manifests at his side, thrumming with anxious anticipation of his own. Star, at least, shouldn't present the same problems that he does.

Acting through his Stand, his first impulse is to reach for the key and try to rip it off Rohan entirely, but that plan quickly goes by the wayside when Rohan starts biting into his lip. When that happens, Star moves instantly to try to keep his jaw from locking, to try to reduce the damage he might do to his own mouth. It presents the very real risk that Star might get his hand bitten for his efforts, and damage to a Stand translates back to its user — not that Jotaro particularly cares, not at this point. Right now the only priority is trying to find what's causing Rohan's distress and eliminate it.

It's that one word, "gifts", that clues him in. The Fog God, right?

His jaw clenches. Star's hand moves to cover over Rohan's heart, like he's trying to make absolutely certain it's still beating.

When it all dies down, Star's the one holding Rohan carefully in his arms; Jotaro is hanging back, watching from beneath his hat with alarmed yet hooded eyes.]

...Talk to me. Talk to me. Tell me where it hurts, dammit, don't just — don't —

[ A snap at the Stand's hand could have been in the cards if Rohan hadn't been with it enough to keep his teeth to himself. Ripping up his own mouth is a better price than risking doing something he would very much regret.

Slumping, he catches on something holding him up. His eyes blink open hard and... That's not Jotaro. Close but not really. His heart is chipping at the inside of his chest, his over-sized lungs needing to force and gasp his breaths as needed. ]

Everywhere. [ That's where it hurts, dummy. He sucks his lower lip in past his teeth again, not to bite on it but to pull away some of the blood seeping from it. ]

She-- [ He's pretty sure it was... ] I feel like I just got cockblocked by the Fog God. [ His hand no longer burns and he presses it to his cheek to sooth the flush in it with his cooler scales. ]

She told me... I did something and I earned a gift... [ Of which he has yet to take notice of but he sure is purple tonight. ] If making me never want to go on a date again is Her idea of a gift.

I'm fine. It... [ Rohan looks up at Jotaro standing across the way; he isn't surprised that he hasn't come over. ] Look. It's fine.

You're turning purple. What the hell did you do?

[It's a demand with absolutely no edge to it, born more of worry than of anything in the realm of irritation. He motions to the scales, wings inadvertently beating once in his mild agitation.]

Is it because of me? Because I was touching you?

[In his defense for this incorrect conclusion: he is also purple and scaled. An attempt was made.]

[ excellent observation, doctor. ]

I'm-- [ He's not going to say fine again because when he looks at his hands he sure can make out that color. NO... NOT HIS BEAUTIFUL GRAYSCALE AESTHETIC... ] What the Hell did I do?

If She did it, it wasn't you. [ Though if they were set up together as swatches, it's a pretty close match. ] You've got to be kidding me. Don't tell me I'm a slithering color-picker now too.

[ It isn't as humiliating as he is making it out to be but he does end up drooping again and putting his face into his hands. Dramatics. A second of whining later, Rohan is holding out his arm. ] Let me see how it looks next to yours. If I--... Absorbed your color, it can't look that bad. [ The color itself isn't too fixed, fluctuating in little waves like it is mixing and separating from ink in water. ]

Would you look at that... I don't remember asking for this.

Why would she make you turn colors?

[He shifts obligingly, a little more willing to approach now that things seem to be calming down, though Star Platinum is still holding Rohan tight even before Jotaro resumes his proximity.]

Is this supposed to be a perk or something? Maybe you are a color-picker. To help you with the store or your art...or whatever. What else could it possibly do?

[ Being held by Star Platinum is like leaning on a huge wall when he is distracted by this. ]

Don't ask me if I can tell you that. She just does Her thing. [ He picks the key up in his hand. ] I guess that girl I told to go speak with Her did it. [ Maybe the OTHER thing he can do has changed. He's not going to figure that out right now. ]

... This didn't put a damper on things, did it? [ It should sound unsure, coming out as flat for better or worse. His fingers absently scratch at the small, sore swell his teeth left behind in his lip. That hurts. He shifts around on his coils and pushes off of Star to meet Jotaro in the middle. Pulling at the last shreds of his shirt and getting them away from his neck and his wrists cross his mind but he isn't going to right away.

We're making this work, goddammit. ]

What were we doing before my mom got in the way...? [ HE SOUNDS LIKE HE'S JOKING BUT HE ISN'T. Rude, mom. ]

You were figuring out whether or not you're going to be able to move around on this beach in the first place.

[...Which, come to think of it — if he just moves Star into position to act as Rohan's support, that frees him up to do other things, like eventually awkwardly try to hold his hand maybe at some point.

Yes. Good. Okay, Star can stay on Rohan duty for the moment, yes. Meanwhile, the way that Jotaro catches Rohan in his arms has very little to do with support and much more to do with, well, just wanting to have him in his arms, frankly.]

It doesn't have to put a damper on anything. Just so long as you're okay, so at least tell me that much first.

[A beat.]

...Without giving me shit about it, Rohan. Tell me the truth, or that is going to be the damper from here on out.

[ Rohan sure doesn't give him shit about being caught, that's for damn sure. He stays rigid, giving by the slightest margin to not shoo Jotaro off. He can't decipher what he just said though... ]

That I'm fine? [ He asks. ] I'm not in pain anymore. I'll be okay. It was just a temporary thing. I'm okay. I promise. [ Because the Fog God has a thing for making Her followers suffer a little.

He hasn't had to be THIS insistent before. ]

Or do you mean something else?

I mean...

[He hesitates a second, sliding a hand up to hold Rohan's face, thumb against his cheek.]

I meant that I was worried. That worried me, and I would've kept worrying if you'd tried to brush it off. If you'd told me not to worry, or...acted like it was nothing. Then I would've spent the rest of this worrying about you anyway.

But I believe you. That you'll be okay. So worrying isn't going to get in the way.

[ SEND HELP. ]

Then stop worrying about it because I'd tell you when to start worrying. [ The Mom Voice isn't something he wants to use but it's the only thing that gets through. Add Rohan manipulating Snakebutt around to wrap about one of Jotaro's legs just in case he decides he wants to fall over and they are presented with one of the most awkward embraces that could belong on a Ryslig Dime Store novel.

It's fine. It's getting the job done. Jotaro is holding Rohan's face while he clings to the gargoyle by the arm and... The... Leg... It would look LESS crazy if there were another set of legs involved but Rohan doesn't have the luxury of one to put around Jotaro's waist.

LIBERTIES... ]

Are we done with the 'worry' word now? Can we be? Please?

Yare yare. I just said if you'd told me not to, I'd probably do it more, and your answer is to tell me not to anyway?

[He shakes his head a little, but doesn't let go or try to shift their positions, letting Rohan do as he will while he focuses on just holding steady.

And inadvertently prolonging the bodice ripper cover configuration. So it goes.]

I'll leave it alone if you say you'll keep that in mind. I'll try to be done with worrying, if you'll agree not to tell me to stop, and just let me do it on my own terms.

[ Jotaro, PLEASE.

He's so ass-backward. ]

Okay. [ He can't make it any clearer and this date has officially gone to Hell in a hand-basket so hard. Two giant purple lizards on the beach fussing over each other is the most dynamic thing this beach has seen in weeks.

Frustration welling up in all of Rohan's muscles has his tail tightening its grip on Jotaro's leg. This didn't go the way he planned it. It should have stayed at wistfully looking at the sea going over how things have changed.

Shit. ]

Should we just go? [ He pauses and rolls his eyes up to the sky. ] I don't know what to do now... [ He winged his eyeliner for this. Wanna hear something REALLY WILD? ]

I'm sorry.

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, THIS IS JOTARO. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.20.118.16 * THIS IS JOTARO has joined 019.20.118.16 <THIS IS JOTARO> okay i'm typing now what <THIS IS JOTARO> delete what i just said <THIS IS JOTARO> delete what i just said <THIS IS JOTARO> delete everything i just said <THIS IS JOTARO> make this an automated messa <AUTOMATED REPLY, DO NOT RETURN>** This is Jotaro. Whatever you want, hurry up and tell me already.

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