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. . . Yare yare. What is it? Hurry up and say something already.
⇦ ● ⇨
[OOC: Contact through any format is fine, including action as you see fit!]
IC Inbox |
. . . Yare yare. What is it? Hurry up and say something already.
⇦ ● ⇨
[OOC: Contact through any format is fine, including action as you see fit!]
[Jonathan hopes this letter will find you well. It's just outside Jotaro's room, wrapped around something small and rectangular. What's this?]
[Unraveling the paper fully will reveal a fresh bar of soap carefully placed inside. Sometimes tough love is necessary.]
[Unraveling the paper fully will reveal a fresh bar of soap carefully placed inside. Sometimes tough love is necessary.]
[Okay, well, the good news is that Holly sounds happy and upbeat on the call — which is to say, she sounds normal, which probably means she's not in imminent danger of being eaten by a wendigo or something.
Presumably if she were being actively eaten by a wendigo she'd have at least called more than once. So it's probably fine.
As such, when Jotaro gets this particular message on his figurative answering machine, he...proceeds to wait for about ten extra minutes longer than he really has to, for absolutely no other reason than that he doesn't want to give the impression that he's so excited to hear from his mom that he leaps to return her calls.
...Give the impression to who, it's difficult to say.
HE'S A BUSY MAN WITH BUSY BUSINESS HE CAN'T JUST BE PUTTING EVERYTHING ON HOLD FOR HIS MOM right okay it's been tennnnnnn okay it's been nine and a half minutes but that's close enough to ten minutes let's call her back.]
Yeah, what?
[WHAT A WINNER OF A SON YOU ARE, JOTARO.]
Presumably if she were being actively eaten by a wendigo she'd have at least called more than once. So it's probably fine.
As such, when Jotaro gets this particular message on his figurative answering machine, he...proceeds to wait for about ten extra minutes longer than he really has to, for absolutely no other reason than that he doesn't want to give the impression that he's so excited to hear from his mom that he leaps to return her calls.
...Give the impression to who, it's difficult to say.
HE'S A BUSY MAN WITH BUSY BUSINESS HE CAN'T JUST BE PUTTING EVERYTHING ON HOLD FOR HIS MOM right okay it's been tennnnnnn okay it's been nine and a half minutes but that's close enough to ten minutes let's call her back.]
Yeah, what?
[WHAT A WINNER OF A SON YOU ARE, JOTARO.]
So how come a friend of yours doesn't know you've seen ghosts before?
Master Jotaro? Forgive me for the rudeness. I met you playing at the beach, the other day. My brother has seen fit to gift me with a guitar, although the look of it is a little different to yours. But he has a bet with me, you see, that I cannot better the teaching pieces he brought along with the instrument, and I could not but remember ...
I know you said you were not sure if you could actually teach, but could I beg your indulgence for me to watch you some time?
I know you said you were not sure if you could actually teach, but could I beg your indulgence for me to watch you some time?
Beep beep, annoying ghost here. Out with it.
Mr. Jotaro?
It's Josuke, I want to talk to you about what happened. [He actually sounds pretty serious compared to the awkward mess he was on his first day here. Someone has thought about this long and hard before calling in.]
You can just call me back or we can meet up in person, I'm fine with either.
It's Josuke, I want to talk to you about what happened. [He actually sounds pretty serious compared to the awkward mess he was on his first day here. Someone has thought about this long and hard before calling in.]
You can just call me back or we can meet up in person, I'm fine with either.
[...Oh, huh. There he is, the kid Kakyoin was talking to the other way. Josuke...Higashikata, Morioh, Jiji, the future, 1999. Right. Right, okay.
So.
This is a little...surprising. "What happened" could mean a lot of things: the events of the other day, the thing that Josuke remembers but he doesn't, anything that could've come to pass in the decade between the two of them, something else that'd happened in the past handful of days since they last spoke.
But he'd said, you'll tell me if it's important.
So whatever it is, it's probably important.
That's worth a phone call — pocketwatch call, whatever — at least to begin with.]
...I thought I told you that you didn't have to call me that.
[HE SOUNDS ONLY VAGUELY EXASPERATED, IN A WAY THAT IS VERY NEARLY "AMUSED". THIS IS PROBABLY A GOOD SIGN.
...
ALSO A "HELLO".]
So.
This is a little...surprising. "What happened" could mean a lot of things: the events of the other day, the thing that Josuke remembers but he doesn't, anything that could've come to pass in the decade between the two of them, something else that'd happened in the past handful of days since they last spoke.
But he'd said, you'll tell me if it's important.
So whatever it is, it's probably important.
That's worth a phone call — pocketwatch call, whatever — at least to begin with.]
...I thought I told you that you didn't have to call me that.
[HE SOUNDS ONLY VAGUELY EXASPERATED, IN A WAY THAT IS VERY NEARLY "AMUSED". THIS IS PROBABLY A GOOD SIGN.
...
ALSO A "HELLO".]
[The video recording opens up with Izabel carefully setting the watch down before floating a short distance away and holding up a piece of paper she asked Reimi to pass along to her with a hasty drawing of some sort of walrus/elephant hybrid. The sky is a little lighter out than it is when Jotaro receives it, like it took the girl a while to actually decide that, yes, this was something she was going to do.]
This is our family pet. We got her on a planet called Quietus from that harp seal guy and then the girl I watch loved her so we got to keep her. She's really sweet and really good with Hazel even though she takes up so much space and makes a mess. I don't really know a lot about her.
...I also don't know a lot about Stands. I... I thought that -- you did something. Something really bad. But Giorno told me you didn't, so... So you didn't. I believe him. But I should have just believed you, and I'm sorry. For that shit I said.
[...]
Anyway. That's -- That's all.
[She hesitates another moment, looking down at her drawing before shaking her head and coming back over to click the watch off.]
This is our family pet. We got her on a planet called Quietus from that harp seal guy and then the girl I watch loved her so we got to keep her. She's really sweet and really good with Hazel even though she takes up so much space and makes a mess. I don't really know a lot about her.
...I also don't know a lot about Stands. I... I thought that -- you did something. Something really bad. But Giorno told me you didn't, so... So you didn't. I believe him. But I should have just believed you, and I'm sorry. For that shit I said.
[...]
Anyway. That's -- That's all.
[She hesitates another moment, looking down at her drawing before shaking her head and coming back over to click the watch off.]
[He's lying on his back on his bed when the video message comes in. The watch chimes, but he doesn't reach to answer it immediately; there's a small mass of otter curled up on his chest and snoozing away, and frankly he'd be perfectly fine with just sitting there and watching her for hours and hours. The impulse is there, right in the beginning, to drop everything and reach for it — something might be wrong, someone might be in trouble, it might be urgent and maybe he'll need to roll out from under her and run...
But he makes himself stop, and tries to tell himself that five minutes isn't going to make any difference, he's not shirking anything and anyone who might be calling him right now is either competent, has other people to depend on besides just him, or some amalgamation of the two.
So he breathes, slowly, and counts them as he does, watching the way she rises and falls along with his lungs filling and contracting. One hundred breaths, and then he summons Star just long enough to grab his watch for him and deposit it in his hand, and he flips it open and watches the message left for him and —
...
Very nearly snaps it shut again, honestly, but what stays his hand (of all things) proves to be something he's actually called her on before, but that turns out to be the right thing to say to make him stop and reconsider, this time.
If I don't know, how am I supposed to protect you?
Should she have said what she did? No. Being pissed off...he has every right to do that. But she also didn't do it from a place of awareness of anything; she didn't know why having it screamed in his face might've set off deep-buried things he keeps to himself, why it dug in deeper and stayed when it should've struck but glanced off.
He's had his reasons for the things he's done, too. Some of them have been justifiable reasons, even if they haven't necessarily been good ones. But that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt people. That doesn't mean you don't still own up to that, and say you're sorry.
...So.
She's trying to do the right thing...right?
Closing his eyes with a sigh, he fiddles with his watch and returns the call (she's awake now, right? maybe she'll pick up), focusing on the weight of the sleeping mass of otter on his chest while he waits for his cue in the form of the sound of her voice.]
But he makes himself stop, and tries to tell himself that five minutes isn't going to make any difference, he's not shirking anything and anyone who might be calling him right now is either competent, has other people to depend on besides just him, or some amalgamation of the two.
So he breathes, slowly, and counts them as he does, watching the way she rises and falls along with his lungs filling and contracting. One hundred breaths, and then he summons Star just long enough to grab his watch for him and deposit it in his hand, and he flips it open and watches the message left for him and —
...
Very nearly snaps it shut again, honestly, but what stays his hand (of all things) proves to be something he's actually called her on before, but that turns out to be the right thing to say to make him stop and reconsider, this time.
If I don't know, how am I supposed to protect you?
Should she have said what she did? No. Being pissed off...he has every right to do that. But she also didn't do it from a place of awareness of anything; she didn't know why having it screamed in his face might've set off deep-buried things he keeps to himself, why it dug in deeper and stayed when it should've struck but glanced off.
He's had his reasons for the things he's done, too. Some of them have been justifiable reasons, even if they haven't necessarily been good ones. But that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt people. That doesn't mean you don't still own up to that, and say you're sorry.
...So.
She's trying to do the right thing...right?
Closing his eyes with a sigh, he fiddles with his watch and returns the call (she's awake now, right? maybe she'll pick up), focusing on the weight of the sleeping mass of otter on his chest while he waits for his cue in the form of the sound of her voice.]
jotaro i just thought of something extremely important
what are we going to tell your mother
[he has no idea she is 100% on to them and is freaking out]
what are we going to tell your mother
[he has no idea she is 100% on to them and is freaking out]
[It has been two days since the party. Monday was spent regretting his decision to actually escalate his practice from soda to beer. A very dumb idea, by the way. But now it was Tuesday and his head was clear. It had been a very fun party...]
mr jotaro are you at the house? can i stop by?
mr jotaro are you at the house? can i stop by?
[It sure is a Tuesday, all right, and this text is...moderately unexpected, but hey, it's Josuke, let's see what his apparent partner in secret agent business is up to today.]
Close enough to it. I'm on the edge of the park watching the wildlife. I can come back or I can meet you at the house.
Close enough to it. I'm on the edge of the park watching the wildlife. I can come back or I can meet you at the house.
My dearest Jotaro,
You can rest easy. I'm not delivering you any hygienic products this time.
If it is within your means, could you meet me in the library some time today? I have a favor to ask of you and Star Platinum; not without recompense, of course, but it would be a fair deal of help to me, and your presence would be greatly appreciated.
Yours truly,
Jonathan Joestar
[Sometimes it just feels right to be formal, even if it isn't necessary.]
You can rest easy. I'm not delivering you any hygienic products this time.
If it is within your means, could you meet me in the library some time today? I have a favor to ask of you and Star Platinum; not without recompense, of course, but it would be a fair deal of help to me, and your presence would be greatly appreciated.
Yours truly,
Jonathan Joestar
[Sometimes it just feels right to be formal, even if it isn't necessary.]
Edited 2015-12-13 00:49 (UTC)
Sure.
[THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD...AND ONE KIND IS "JOTARO KUJO".
Regardless, assuming this is the mansion library and not the city one, he's on his way without further ado (and if it's the city one, he's on his way with slightly more ado.) ]
[THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THE WORLD...AND ONE KIND IS "JOTARO KUJO".
Regardless, assuming this is the mansion library and not the city one, he's on his way without further ado (and if it's the city one, he's on his way with slightly more ado.) ]
are you busy tonight?
i want to get out of here for a while if you're not. it doesn't matter where. anywhere you want.
please.
i want to get out of here for a while if you're not. it doesn't matter where. anywhere you want.
please.
Hey I need your help with something like not a BIG something but still a kind of important something so if you could get back to me whenever that'd be cool.
[Giorno watches everything.]
[People joke about it sometimes - how if anyone says anything on the network, Giorno knows about it. But the reason people joke about it is because it's easier to joke about it than fully acknowledge the fact that it's true. It's one of those things that hedges past nosy, past paranoid, and into invasive.]
[He sees nothing wrong with it. It's a necessity.]
[If he didn't do it, he'd miss things like this - the moment someone slips up and mentions oh yes, Jotaro Kujo, he's my great-grandson. He's a Joestar. He's a target.]
[It's funny how those things must look from the outside, from the perspective of a boy who's lived through war. That last part, He's a target, no one is thinking that. But from someone who's had to run, and fight for his life, and end it once, just to keep on going . . .]
[Suffice it to say he notices when Jotaro leaves the house, and he follows him. He notices when he makes a beeline towards the forest and follows him in there, too. He notices the tension in his shoulders most of all, even in the dark, and frowns to himself, careful to keep the gesture gentle, as gentle as something negative could ever be. Energy travels, even in the dark.]
[He lets Jotaro wear himself out, ready to step in as needed. He isn't needed. But when Jotaro is ready to leave, to turn and go to wherever his next stop is - whoever it is - there is Giorno, sitting silent and cross-legged on the path leading out of the forest, his fingers sunk deep into the bed of moss underneath him. Just waiting.]
[People joke about it sometimes - how if anyone says anything on the network, Giorno knows about it. But the reason people joke about it is because it's easier to joke about it than fully acknowledge the fact that it's true. It's one of those things that hedges past nosy, past paranoid, and into invasive.]
[He sees nothing wrong with it. It's a necessity.]
[If he didn't do it, he'd miss things like this - the moment someone slips up and mentions oh yes, Jotaro Kujo, he's my great-grandson. He's a Joestar. He's a target.]
[It's funny how those things must look from the outside, from the perspective of a boy who's lived through war. That last part, He's a target, no one is thinking that. But from someone who's had to run, and fight for his life, and end it once, just to keep on going . . .]
[Suffice it to say he notices when Jotaro leaves the house, and he follows him. He notices when he makes a beeline towards the forest and follows him in there, too. He notices the tension in his shoulders most of all, even in the dark, and frowns to himself, careful to keep the gesture gentle, as gentle as something negative could ever be. Energy travels, even in the dark.]
[He lets Jotaro wear himself out, ready to step in as needed. He isn't needed. But when Jotaro is ready to leave, to turn and go to wherever his next stop is - whoever it is - there is Giorno, sitting silent and cross-legged on the path leading out of the forest, his fingers sunk deep into the bed of moss underneath him. Just waiting.]
[On the sixteenth, on the actual anniversary of the worst day of his life, he'd been — something. Overheated, certainly. Wrung-out, upset, quietly distraught. "Fucked up" always makes for a good catch-all, but it's not particularly specific, not when it comes to the nuances. He never likes to admit that he's sad, somehow; sad is a word that never seems to fit well on his sleeve, like it's meant for other people. But sad, yes, he was probably sad that day, too.
By now, sadness has matured into anger. Anger is easier; he was angry that night, too. Anger is useful, at least, because anger has a direction, anger has fuel. Sadness sits still, but anger moves. Anger has momentum.
Star Platinum is Jotaro's Stand.
Star Platinum is getting a workout tonight; for once Jotaro isn't fighting with him separately, but keeping him close and inside, letting ghostly fists flow down to overlap over his own because he needs the stress relief of doing his own swinging, even if his aren't the fists that are making contact. And even without Star separate from him, much of the wildlife recognizes him by now; in the areas closest to Lot 25, he is the most frightening monster in these woods, and they've learned to give the sight of him a wide berth. A few, the less intelligent ones, still wander freely; the smarter ones don't show up anymore.
He stops when the line between defense and offense starts to blur — when he's starting to feel as though he's seeking out creatures for the sake of fighting them rather than defending the territory he's marked out as his own. It's unsatisfying, but there's something about it that eats away at him, and the thought of pushing it further makes him sick so he stops.
All he's done is defended something he cares about, right? Preventative measures are justified. If he teaches the monsters to never come near him, his family, his home, then in the end everyone is safer.
Right?
He's tired when he wanders back toward the entrance, hunched down in his coat like he's hoping it'll swallow him up. And — there's Giorno, waiting for him, sitting on the ground like he owns the forest where he can't possibly be missed by anyone trying to leave.]
...Giorno.
[His eyes are red-rimmed. He tips his chin a little lower, and hopes that the brim of his hat hides them.]
By now, sadness has matured into anger. Anger is easier; he was angry that night, too. Anger is useful, at least, because anger has a direction, anger has fuel. Sadness sits still, but anger moves. Anger has momentum.
Star Platinum is Jotaro's Stand.
Star Platinum is getting a workout tonight; for once Jotaro isn't fighting with him separately, but keeping him close and inside, letting ghostly fists flow down to overlap over his own because he needs the stress relief of doing his own swinging, even if his aren't the fists that are making contact. And even without Star separate from him, much of the wildlife recognizes him by now; in the areas closest to Lot 25, he is the most frightening monster in these woods, and they've learned to give the sight of him a wide berth. A few, the less intelligent ones, still wander freely; the smarter ones don't show up anymore.
He stops when the line between defense and offense starts to blur — when he's starting to feel as though he's seeking out creatures for the sake of fighting them rather than defending the territory he's marked out as his own. It's unsatisfying, but there's something about it that eats away at him, and the thought of pushing it further makes him sick so he stops.
All he's done is defended something he cares about, right? Preventative measures are justified. If he teaches the monsters to never come near him, his family, his home, then in the end everyone is safer.
Right?
He's tired when he wanders back toward the entrance, hunched down in his coat like he's hoping it'll swallow him up. And — there's Giorno, waiting for him, sitting on the ground like he owns the forest where he can't possibly be missed by anyone trying to leave.]
...Giorno.
[His eyes are red-rimmed. He tips his chin a little lower, and hopes that the brim of his hat hides them.]
Do you remember the time I sent you a message saying 'I'm looking at Jonathan Joestar right now' or whatever it was I said?
It's kind of happening again.
Except this is much, much stranger.
It's kind of happening again.
Except this is much, much stranger.
I have a question for you. It's probably a stupid one given what kind of place we're in, but I'm going to ask anyway.
Have you given much consideration to the idea of parallel universes?
Have you given much consideration to the idea of parallel universes?
[So that had all been kind of a disaster. Kakyoin had learned several things, most of which he didn't want to know and one of them being the importance of thinking before he acted. He'd definitely have to be cautious to avoid setting off a disaster of this magnitude again, be careful not to step out of line and-]
[...No. Damn it, he needed to stop that. A little time had gotten Kakyoin to calm down and try to collect himself, and now he sure as hell wasn't going to drop back into that miserable self-loathing attitude. There were more important things to do than just feeling sorry for himself. He had already asked Caesar to help him learn to channel Hamon through his Stand--that would go a long way in securing a safe course of action to fall back on.]
[Right now, he needed to finish picking himself up and concern himself with the rest of the aftermath; taking his preferred and accepted role as someone else's support.]
[And that was how Kakyoin made his way from the kitchen back to their shared room, Hierophant following behind him coiled around a pair of coffee cups.]
[Enough was enough. They could fight unspeakable evil, they could damn well talk out their problems like functioning humans or some rough approximation of it.]
[...No. Damn it, he needed to stop that. A little time had gotten Kakyoin to calm down and try to collect himself, and now he sure as hell wasn't going to drop back into that miserable self-loathing attitude. There were more important things to do than just feeling sorry for himself. He had already asked Caesar to help him learn to channel Hamon through his Stand--that would go a long way in securing a safe course of action to fall back on.]
[Right now, he needed to finish picking himself up and concern himself with the rest of the aftermath; taking his preferred and accepted role as someone else's support.]
[And that was how Kakyoin made his way from the kitchen back to their shared room, Hierophant following behind him coiled around a pair of coffee cups.]
[Enough was enough. They could fight unspeakable evil, they could damn well talk out their problems like functioning humans or some rough approximation of it.]
Edited 2016-03-01 03:06 (UTC)
[He's spent a lot of time in the room lately.
Everything he does lately is little things, idle things. He plays music on one of his two guitars — and tends to be much more respectful of the nonexistent other inhabitants of the household when he does, despite the fact that it's his mother downstairs and Kakyoin in the same room and that's...all. He plays with Jolie; it's definitely time to teach her to swim, and as soon as the weather is holding steady at warm, he's going to have to take her out and get her there. He tinkers on the washing machine he's been building for his mom, figuring out the mechanics through trial and error. And sometimes he goes for walks, wandering aimlessly for the sake of wandering, and a little bit out of a need to be alone.
He's up in the room today, reading with Star curled up at his side, when Kakyoin comes in. He hasn't been avoiding him, per se, but they haven't yet talked about the incident in the cafe with Joseph, either. From the looks of things, and the coffee cups that Hierophant is towing, that might just be about to change.
Healing, he reminds himself. The word Giorno had used was "healing". That's what he's doing. When you whack a healing bruise against something, it hurts. That doesn't mean the healing stops. Sometimes it just gets set back a little, before it starts up again.
Okay.]
Hi.
Everything he does lately is little things, idle things. He plays music on one of his two guitars — and tends to be much more respectful of the nonexistent other inhabitants of the household when he does, despite the fact that it's his mother downstairs and Kakyoin in the same room and that's...all. He plays with Jolie; it's definitely time to teach her to swim, and as soon as the weather is holding steady at warm, he's going to have to take her out and get her there. He tinkers on the washing machine he's been building for his mom, figuring out the mechanics through trial and error. And sometimes he goes for walks, wandering aimlessly for the sake of wandering, and a little bit out of a need to be alone.
He's up in the room today, reading with Star curled up at his side, when Kakyoin comes in. He hasn't been avoiding him, per se, but they haven't yet talked about the incident in the cafe with Joseph, either. From the looks of things, and the coffee cups that Hierophant is towing, that might just be about to change.
Healing, he reminds himself. The word Giorno had used was "healing". That's what he's doing. When you whack a healing bruise against something, it hurts. That doesn't mean the healing stops. Sometimes it just gets set back a little, before it starts up again.
Okay.]
Hi.
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