starmark | IC Inbox | rubycity_rp

[This is sort of weird - less because he can phantom-feel Jotaro's arm around his own neck than because Gold Experience is big comparatively, but Jotaro is bulkier, and it doesn't really make physical sense that his Stand might be able to jump like this. Still, dubious as he is, trusting Jotaro is becoming almost frighteningly easy, so he just shrugs and focuses, maybe a little harder than usual.]

[So it's just a second or two before Gold Experience bends its knees slightly and leaps, and Giorno lets out a sound that's half-surprised and half-thrilled, because Jotaro was right. His Stand only moves maybe half as far, but it's still a lot more than he expected, and Gold Experience still lands light as a cat.]

[It is, admittedly, a little bit unsettling to be putting himself into the hands of Gold Experience like this, not because he distrusts Giorno at all but just because there are maybe two Stands in the multiverse that he would be completely at ease with when it comes to something like this, and Gold Experience simply isn't one of them.

But it's fun, in its own way, to go hurtling through the air in one of Gold Experience's grasshopper arcs, and he lands reasonably neatly as they come down, letting go a little bit early to drop back to his feet on his own.]

I thought so. It's a faster way of getting around, doing that kind of thing. Or if you have to get away from something in a hurry, that's a pretty good trick for a last resort.

That's so interesting . . .

[And he does legitimately sound fascinated, his voice and expression going a little distant as he considers the ways this could be useful to him. Somehow it never really came up - they were on the ground, mostly, and Aerosmith was their eyes in the sky. This, though - he could have used this.]

Can Star do that too?

...Star can go one better. No offense to Gold Experience.

[And the aforementioned giant purple punchghost takes that as his cue to tip his head way back to peer up at Giorno, a brilliant grin on his face.]

I can show you, but he'll have to put you down for a minute.

[Giorno actually pouts for a moment - not at the assertion that Star Platinum can do something that Gold Experience can't, because it would be a really boring world if everyone's Stands were exactly the same, but at the prospect of being put down. He's comfortable, and anyway - someone who's alone for so long, they stop reaching for people because they don't think they'll ever touch them. He didn't say it out of any kind of abstract wisdom.]

[It's only for a moment, though, and then he straightens up a little and stands on Star's shoulders like it's nothing, pausing to get his balance before hopping off. Gold Experience catches him around the waist and lowers him to the ground, where he dusts himself off and looks up at Jotaro expectantly.]

All right. Impress me.

I did say it's only for a minute.

[But it's easy now, simple and reflexive, to return Star inside him (and he can never seem to find the right verb for that, either — de-summoning him? putting him away? making him disappear? letting him sleep? None of them ever seem right) while he glances around at their surroundings to mark out a trajectory. There are enough vertical landings around to make a demonstration worthwhile, and once he's picked his few, he nods.]

Watch. This way's more efficient, in my opinion.

[And a moment later, the meaning behind that remark becomes clear, as the area around his legs, from his knees to the ground, shimmers translucent purple; when he kicks off, it's clearly with Star's assistance, and the fact that he's got his hands in his pockets the whole time he's rocketing skyward in an arc and coming down to land atop one of the orange-glowing lamp posts is evidence enough that he's clearly done this before.]

[It's also evidence that Jotaro is showing off. But, well, if you've got something to show off, why not? It's not as though Giorno isn't watching his every move with acquisitive curiosity, as though tracking his movements - their movements - will make him understand.]

[The same thing as with Izabel, he thinks; there are degrees to which Stands are real, and degrees to which they are part of their users. This is just another degree, one that Jotaro happens to have mastered.]

[He tips his head up at Jotaro on his perch and wonders could I . . .? Could we . . . ? and doesn't bother to hide his delight.]

Efficient and dramatic. [His two very favorite things, besides perfection on the first try.]

I got a lot of mileage out of it.

[But he's looking reasonably smug as he drops back down to the ground, that same purple glow softening his landing the way it had enhanced his takeoff, and once he's back on solid ground, Star in his more corporeal form is back at his side.]

I still do, when I need to cross the city in a hurry.

[Giorno gnaws on his lip in a delicate sort of way. Got a lot of mileage out of it; is that just a Jotaro thing to say, or does he speak in such practical, mechanical terms because he isn't used to Star Platinum as anything but a tool? It's sort of hard to say, just like it's hard to remember sometimes that they haven't known each other that long. It feels like he's known him forever.]

[Does he know anyone else like that? He has to think about it, and maybe while he's thinking about it he's quiet for too long. The answer he comes up with in the end is Trish, which, all things considered, makes a lot of sense; there are commonalities of family and legacy there between all three of them, and confusion and fear and strength of character, and he misses her so much but he doesn't fear for her safety or her ability to continue on without him. He trusts her, the same way he trusts Jotaro.]

[Eventually he manages to refocus, to smile at Star as Gold Experience shifts restlessly at his side.]

It's interesting. I learned a lot about Gold Experience in moments of crisis, but I think I'm learning just as much here.

[It's tempting to elaborate on what else Star can do in a similar vein, to agree that moments of crisis are sometimes the moments when Stands surprise you most because there's no time to wonder, you simply need them to act and sometimes they do, and there's no time to thank them because you're too busy using it to ensure that you survive.

There've been a lot of times, since Cairo, that he's looked back and thought, I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for, and finished it with one person or another. Kakyoin. Jiji. Polnareff.

It strikes him, as he watches Giorno smile at his Stand — at Star, his evil spirit, his fighting spirit, his perpetual companion — that he could add another name to that list if he wanted, because there isn't a shadow of a doubt left that he wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for Star Platinum.

He thinks, good boy, and whether it's that or just the rising tide of his silent pride that makes Star light up with apparent delight, it's hard to say.

But it makes Star grin, which is all right, because sometimes Jotaro is a minimalist that way, and only one of them needs to be.]

It's weird to use them for something that isn't fighting. Or to figure out where they fit into a life that doesn't revolve around fighting, I guess.

It's very weird.

[But it's nice, too. He can't be too unsettled by anything that makes Star Platinum smile like that. It's not exactly the same as Jotaro smiling himself, but it feels the same on some level, the same way that the cacophonous yelling of Sex Pistols is inherently Mista, or the soft presence of Sticky Fingers is as comforting as Bruno is.]

[He doesn't decide to cross over and link arms with Star again; it's just the natural thing to do, so he does it, looking thoughtful all the way.]

You might think . . . my life is still about fighting. At home, I mean. But it isn't, really. It's mostly politics. I'm in danger often, but not in the same way, and anyway, it's not supposed to be my responsibility to keep myself safe. But I'm so used to having him out, it felt strange to not, so - he comes to meetings with me. Things like that. It's a little silly.

[And thank goodness for Star's unsettling precision, because among his many talents that utilize that particular skill, patting Giorno on the head without mussing his donuts is apparently one of them.]

...That's Mista's specialty, right? Keeping you safe.

[He shifts his weight slightly, his hands finding their way a little deeper into his pockets.]

Hey. About your life at home. ...Can I ask you something?

[Oh. That's. He is beaming. It would feel patronizing ordinarily, but from Jotaro it just doesn't. It's just - nice.]

That's right. One of his specialties, anyway.

[He cocks his head curiously, not sure whether to read Jotaro's body language as nervous or just shy.]

You can ask me anything.

...So if I came to Italy sometime. That'd throw your operation off?

[There's too much of a question built into that latter bit for it to be anything but; though he words it like an assumption, the tone keeps it from being such, pulls it back into a tentative if badly-phrased question rather than an assertion to be proved right or wrong.]

[Oh. Oh again.]

[Would it? It's a decent question, despite his kneejerk instinct to say no. It would be a distraction, that much is absolutely true. But he thinks maybe he's functioning better with distractions here. Would that carry over back home, with Bruno and Abbacchio and Narancia gone, would it still feel safe to do things like this, to lean into Star Platinum's touch and give in to not being don for five minutes? Would he be able to take that luxury?]

[After a moment, he . . . shakes his head.]

I don't think so. Not at all. I can multitask.

[Which maybe is true or maybe is wishful thinking, but - he can have more than one dream.]

You're not going to stick me with some capo you like and have him show me around like a tourist while you run the country?

[And now, at last, Star isn't the only one with a facial expression that resembles a smile, though with Star there's no doubt in the least, and on Jotaro it's as subtle as always, and partially concealed in the dim visibility.]

Of course not. That would be delegating, not multitasking. Besides, family doesn't get shunted off to the side.

[. . . he says like he has any fucking clue what he's talking about, but whatever.]

No, you'd be with me. If you could handle it, anyway.

[...Family. c:]

Which part would have you concerned, about my being able to handle it? I have a guess already, I want to see if I'm right.

It's a lot of waiting around, honestly. There's a lot of down time and a lot of strategy meetings and a lot of . . . me thinking in very quiet circles. There are also some things that need to be handled with extreme delicacy, or else . . . things will get very difficult very quickly.

[There's no point in dancing around it. Patience and delicacy aren't Jotaro's strong suits, except when it comes to starfish.]

...Oh.

[Well, it gets a shrug out of him, at least; evidently, the explanation suits him, or at least he isn't too bothered by it.]

I thought you were going to say I'm too decent to watch a guy get his fingers broken, or something.

[That's enough to startle him into laughter.]

You?

[Look, he has a very specific definition of safety, okay.]

You don't think I'm delicate and soft-hearted?

[The tone is too deadpan to properly invoke sarcasm, but the combination with the words does ironic humor more than adequately.]

I think it's impressive that even you could say that with a straight face.

. . . Do you know how to break someone's fingers?

[The implication here is, of course, that little Giorno Giovanna does know this thing. It's harder than you might think!]

You grab the pinky and go out to the side. In the movies they show people going straight back, but it's harder that way, fingers naturally bend further that way before breaking.

[He holds up one hand, fingers lightly spread, for emphasis — and mimes with the other.]

Grab, bend, twist. Or use Star Platinum to just crush them, but that's less...something, I guess.

[He nods, pleased but not terrifically surprised.]

The easier you make it look, the more it gets the point across, generally. Although I'm not really supposed to get my hands dirty like that.

[It's kind of a bummer.]

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