starmark | IC Inbox | rubycity_rp

Yes, that's right!

[Jonathan picks up on a subtle shift in Jotaro's expression when the command goes through and promptly realizes he's made a mistake. He puzzles his over his next move as if he's playing a game of chess, thinking several steps ahead in this conversation to determine how to develop it expediently.]

Here is some paper. [He sets a pile of it next to Star Platinum.] I'm going to flip to a new page in this book in a few moments, and when I do, I want you to draw the card shown on the page. Is that alright?

[Again, a wave of uncertainty comes down their connection, but this time the flavor is different — an easier question this time, unconcerned with clarifications and wholly anchored in a request for permission. Do I do this?, Star asks in search of confirmation, and again, Jotaro holds back, trying to structure an answer that still leaves Star the freedom he wants him to have.

Do what you want, he tries to answer back, and unlike most of the times he utilizes that particular combination of words, for once it's gently encouraging instead of dismissive. I want what you want.

What follows, then, is unusual. For a long moment, Star seems to gaze intently at Jonathan, ignoring the paper and pencil in favor of regarding his face. He looks carefully, for what seems like a long time, until at last —

The surprise almost knocks Jotaro off his feet, but he manages to remain steady; his only outward sign of disbelief is the way one hand comes up to cover over his mouth, hiding his expression.

Kakyoin. Mom. Pudding. Giorno. Fish. ...Grandpa.

He ducks his head so that the brim of his hat will hide the wide whites of his eyes as Star leans over the table, taking a piece of paper from the stack and poising himself with his pencil ready to draw.]

[Jonathan looks back at Star Platinum with that same sense of curiosity, wondering just what could be going through his mind - if his conscience could even be called separate from Jotaro's - but whatever reaction his great-great-grandson is having is not the one he expected. He almost seems flustered, like his Stand passed a secret between them that he couldn't dare to repeat, but Jonathan manages to keep most of his composure, a quiet smile aside.]

Let's get started!

[He flips back to the first page of the book, showing a card that depicts ...something, and gazes down at it nostalgically.]

It really does look a little like Danny...

Edited (the correct pic is no less terrible) 2015-12-21 08:41 (UTC)

[As Star leaps to action, faithfully reproducing what appears to be an orangutan (???? WHY IS IT ALWAYS ORANGUTANS??????) painting a portrait of a posing dog on the paper for Jonathan as indicated, Jotaro comes wandering back over to peer at the proceedings.

As predicted, it's not going to take long; by the time he's there, Star's already more than halfway done, his pencil flying across the page with unsettling precision as the reproduction begins to appear on the page.]

...Which one, the dog or the monkey?

[...trying to hold in laughter. Trying to hold in laughter.

Nnnoope, he's lost it.]

T-The dog, the dog! Goodness, I would hope so!

[He's so amused by this that he doesn't know what to do with himself, but he manages to pull some parts of him together, speaking in a higher-pitched voice than usual and wiping at his eyes.]

Sorry, I should explain. Danny was a Great Dane I had as a child, and he was one of the best chaps a boy could ever ask for.

We had a dog that traveled with us for a while. Iggy. He was an asshole, though.

[Can he say "asshole" in front of his double grandfather? Well, if he gets more soap for Christmas, then so be it.

Meanwhile, Star finishes his drawing and holds it up with a hopeful expression, poised and waiting for feedback.]

What was Danny like?

[Jonathan does seem to look up at him with something resembling disapproval - but only for a moment. He and Jotaro have been through enough together that he's started to care about his language less and less. In all honesty, so long as he chooses who he uses it towards carefully, he isn't going to go into a fit over it.

Is he happy that he's using it towards a dog? Not really, but. Well. Let that look be a warning.]

Danny was a splendid animal. Before he died, we did everything together! He was quite the playful one. I taught him to catch my shoe in mid-air if I kicked it off my stockings.

[His smile is a sad one more than anything, and it takes him a moment of hesitation before he turns the page to the next drawing.]

I would have drowned well before my time if it weren't for him.

...You taught him to catch your shoe.

[That is quite possibly the world's nerdiest trick, and this is coming from a guy who flips cigarettes into his mouth. Does dorkiness just run the bloodline, or...]

He was that kind of dog, huh. Sometimes...

[...]

I don't know. They're two different things. But I think I know the feeling you mean; it's like that for me, for Star Platinum.

I think I can understand what you mean. Star Platinum has been there for you through difficult times, right? It may not be exactly the same, but I think it's similar enough.

It's a little funny, actually. Danny and I were wary of each other at first, but it was only after he saved me that we began to value each other at our best.

[Hardship builds the greatest friendships. He thinks that Jotaro knows that just as well as he does, if not more.]

...Oh. You meant —

[JESUS, HE DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS LITERAL, HE THOUGHT IT WAS A FIGURE OF SPEECH

HOLY SHIT JONATHAN DON'T JUST CASUALLY SAY THIS ENTIRE BLOODLINE MIGHT NOT EXIST RIGHT NOW WERE IT NOT FOR THE INTERVENTION OF A DOG JESUS CHRIST]

...Well. Good. That's really good.

O-Oh! You thought I was using a metaphor?!

[Well, now he's thoroughly embarrassed. That is, uh. Yeah, now that he thinks about it, that's not a thing you tell to your kids.

Now that it's out of the bag.]

When I was five years old, I fell into a river without knowing how to swim. Danny leapt into action and pulled me out in the nick of time. Hence, er-- hence the "drowning before my time" bit of that speech.

[...welp.]

Sorry. That was an inappropriate thing to tell you without any preparation.

...It's fine. I've told you worse with no warning.

[Or with inadequate warning, at the very least. Still, this is...something. It's something he finds himself weirdly glad to know about? It's not exactly good, but at the same time, it's one of those boring normal things that helps to render Jonathan human and not simply a legend from the past.

That's important. Seeing people as they are and not the way it's easy to assume they are...that's important, and it's a skill he's having to cultivate a little bit at a time.]

He sounds like a really good dog. No wonder you were such good companions.

Even so...I suppose there is no harm in it.

[Jonathan's tried his hardest to see the good in everyone, even when it's caused him physical harm. He made one of his best friends with a bone-deep cut in his arm. His hands shook over the trigger when his brother's bloodlust finally rose to the surface. Even if others have seen him as a god among men, a person who has risen above tragedy with unnatural strength, a hero, Jonathan's never seen himself as anything but human. It's what kept him going when it was more than likely that he would die on his quest to save the world from evil itself. Humans evolve. Humans had their flaws, but Jonathan wanted to leave the world better than he found it.

He turns the page for Star Platinum.]

I have to cherish the time we had together.

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