IC Inbox | ryslig

[starmark]

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.

Comments

[starmark]

i'm not

i've just been thinking lately

seems like one of the things i get wrong most often is not saying things i think, when it's not enough just to think them

[manuscripture]

What have you been thinking about lately?

[starmark]

the last thing i said to people

between people living here and people i left behind back home and people who died back then

sometimes i think, "if i never saw this person again, could i be happy with whatever it was i'd said to them, would that be enough"?

[manuscripture]

It's a valid thing to mull over.

It's thought-provoking. The array of answers is vast. Have you come to any conclusions?

[starmark]

i think the last thing i remember we said to one of our group was jiji telling him to burn the whole fucking place to the ground if we were gone longer than ten minutes

i sort of wish he had

i'm glad i met you, rohan

i hope you don't regret meeting me someday

[manuscripture]

[ oh jesus here we are ]

I didn't regret meeting you before. I don't regret it now. I don't know why you would be worried.

Don't worry about that.

I don't like being here but if I didn't have someone like you around I'd be dead in the water.

Or living with Josuke. A fate worse than death.

We have made a lot of things work. Not just me.

[ you and me but mostly me tbh ]

[starmark]

is it weird for you that you're older than me when you're used to it the other way around?

maybe i should start calling you senpai

[manuscripture]

Weird?? No. It's like nothing ever changed. Except your jawline is sharper and a couple of other things.

Start calling me senpai and we're through.

[starmark]

what couple of other things?

[manuscripture]

Superficial ones. Your clothes and how you speak. Normal things.

I'm going to pack up and come home. I want to draw.

[starmark]

do you need me to come pick you up?

want me to i mean

i know you don't need it

if u wanna action, im down to action

[manuscripture]

I don't need it but you can. It's been a while.

I will be outside the tailor shop.

⇒ action

[starmark]

[The unspoken words there are if you want. Rohan doesn't need a pick-up, but he can if he wants.

As it turns out, he wants.

So, with surprisingly artful swooping grace, he launches himself out of the window and soars through the air over the city, navigating via a bird's-eye view until he comes across the tailor shop — and, indeed, the place where Rohan is waiting.

His landing is smooth without being graceful. He simply drops easily, going from soaring to standing in a matter of seconds — and then there he is.]

...Hi.

[manuscripture]

[ It's nice to not have to drag all of his things out of the shop with him. Just his bag with his computer and a few other whatzits he keeps with him at all times. All of the finished paintings are locked behind the door as he closes up and slinks out under the awning.

There he is indeed. ]

Your landings still need a little work. [ Rohan says, casting a backward glance to the CLOSED sign on the door. He has to make sure. ]

Sorry for taking longer than half an hour to cut the conversation off. We got caught up. Shall we?

[starmark]

I'll get better with practice. Want a ride?

[Regardless of what the answer ends up being, he extends one clawed hand for Rohan's bag and waits in open offer. Whether it be flying or walking (or slithering), the impulse to lighten his companion's load is automatic and natural.]

Either way. It's up to you.

[manuscripture]

[ It is just as automatic for him to hand over his bag as it is for him to get the offer.

The second offer is tempting. ]

If you don't drop me, I don't see why not. [ He's visibly skeptical, cocking one eyebrow and half-wrinkling his nose.

He isn't as light as he used to be............ ]

[starmark]

You don't seriously think I'd drop you, do you?

[He swings the bag onto his shoulder, adjusting it with practiced ease to keep it clear of his wings, then turns his attention to Rohan himself.]

Take your pick. Back, arms, or talons. Whatever's going to be easiest for you.

[manuscripture]

[ Oh, this decision is challenging. He looks Jotaro up and down, head to toe. ]

Not intentionally.

[ He points at the gargoyle's wing over his shoulder. ]

I don't want to get in the way of those, but I also don't want you carrying me with your feet like you just killed me.

[starmark]

I wouldn't drop you, period. Intentionally or not.

[By process of elimination, that leaves arms. So, all right. That's easy enough; he's hoisted Rohan plenty of times that way, anyway.

The difference this time, though, is that there's more care in the lift, more attention paid to getting him arranged; he's familiar enough with the way that Snakebutt behaves to make an educated guess about what it'll do if he prompts it to cling, and so in short order he's got Rohan balanced against his chest, leaving him the dignity of staying mostly upright while guiding his snake tail to coil securely around the purple and gold scaling of his own torso and abdomen.]

Comfortable?

[manuscripture]

[ Boy, does Snakebutt know how to cling. It's all automatic-- as much as Rohan would like to believe that he is the one making the decision to wrap himself around Jotaro's middle. They both know that is a lie no matter which way they slice it. Enough of it trails off near his feet and almost on the ground.

He can't fit it all unfortunately. Oh well.

Rohan keeps his arms crossed at his chest for the time being. Grumping in Jotaro's general direction and basically right in his face. ]

I'm not going to weigh you down and make you pull a header into the ground, right?

[ HAVE SOME FAITH. ]

[starmark]

You're not usually this crabby. Is something bothering you?

[He keeps it light, more of a tease than anything resembling a criticism, and carefully adjusts his balance a bit before bending his knees and stretching out his wings in preparation for a launch.]

Just hang on. Let me do the rest.

[manuscripture]

[ Rohan huffs a cold breath in Jotaro's face. ]

I'm not crabby.

[ Actual Offense to that needs to be taken. Please understand.

He is jostled just enough by the change in weight to definitely throw his arms around the gargoyle's neck Merely Out Of Reflex. HE'S NOT WORRIED. NO. ]

Just GO.

[starmark]

[And they certainly do Go.

If there's one thing he's made very sure to practice in his time spent learning to fly, it's how to get himself into the air in a hurry. What's strange is that there was no one with him that night, when he'd made most use of the sort of move he's utilizing naturally here — it used to be his Star Platinum manifested in his legs, not a gargoyle's power, that launched him into the air and sent him hurtling through space. There's no one to know that that's where he learned it, save him.

But it's what makes the most sense, so that's what he does; he dips down deep and then leaps, and they hurtle up into the sky like a falling elevator in reverse, and his wings spread and the air catches and then they're off, skimming over the rooftops through the night.]

Sometimes I don't think I'll ever get used to this. What a city looks like from above, instead of from the ground looking up.

[manuscripture]

[ He screams. He straight-up screams. Not in the comedic way in a falsetto one would see on TV, just a hitch in his voice that is a little higher than usual. A gasp and a yelp he snaps his teeth around to stifle.

He hasn't been able to walk in MONTHS, much less fly without-- ya know --an airplane EVER.

The kite-like part of his tail flapping in the wind is just plain silly. Wiggling, it finds one of Jotaro's legs and tightly wraps around it. Rohan's eyes go wide as he forces himself to look down... ]

In the good way or--? It's-- [ Ahem. ] Different...

[ It's actually pretty nice. He's having a hard time looking back up from it. ] This is just how it looks at nighttime.

[starmark]

I wouldn't say it's a good way, exactly.

[jotaro there is no need to be a Debbie Downer right now]

I fought a guy in midair, once. That's what it reminds me of.

[okay, so aladdin he is not. thanks jotes. thanks.]

Listen...even if it doesn't feel like it, I can tell the gargoyle is good at — what I mean is. Its instincts...they're designed for managing...things...in midair. Controlling movements. I can tell that it's managing you right now. I'm not going to drop you. You're exactly where you need to be.