starmark | IC Inbox | rubycity_rp

[Speaking of stalling, he figures that's as good a cue as any to start unhooking his tool belt, because if he's going to be hanging out (WITH HIS MOM) there's really no reason to have it on and getting in the way.]

Do you like him? Giorno. I know he's nice and polite and everything, but what do you actually...think? Of him.

[She blinks.]

What do I think?

[What an odd question. But she takes it seriously, hand going to her chin in contemplation.]

I think... he doesn't act his age. He can't be older than you and Kakyoin, right? But he speaks so much like an adult, aside from... [That one moment, where Jonathan was a hurricane and Jotaro was a coastline, and a tiny voice broke the tension before the two could collide. She doesn't say this - Jotaro likely knows what she's implying.] And there are things he doesn't want to tell me; sometimes we'll talk, and he'll become quiet for a moment before picking up like nothing happened. I guess those sorts of things are to expected with a history like his, but still, it's worrying sometimes.

[Worrying, obviously, in the way that means she cares about what's troubling him, in the same way she worries about Jotaro, not that she's disturbed. With pursed lips, she thinks quietly for a moment longer before nodding with confidence.]

But yes, I do like him! He's been so good to me while I've been staying here - I hope I can make it up to him someday, even if I'm pretty sure he'd say there's no need.

[...Good. It wasn't like he'd doubted her or anything, at least not as far as her capacity to read the situation and form an opinion about Giorno is concerned. But it's reassuring to hear that she's on the same track as he is, which adds weight to his own ideas and perceptions. Giorno is...forever going to be one of those interesting topics, the ones he spends an unusually long time lost in thought considering, shelved in the same noble category as similar thoughts like what he wants to do with his life and how to care for a leviathan and whether or not Kakyoin could actually kill him dead in his tracks if he smiled just right.]

...Don't push too hard when he does that. Gets quiet on you. That's all, he'll be okay if you just give him a minute.

[One good turn deserves another, Giorno.]

...So. You're sure about meeting Star?

I won't. If he has something to tell me, he'll do it when he's ready, and not a moment before.

[But is she really talking about Giorno? That'll be her own little secret.

The shift in topic comes with a shift in disposition. Holly stands up a little straighter, brushes invisible dust off the front of her clothes. Her thoughts touch briefly on the emerald in her hair - Consider it proof that my Hierophant's as much your ally as I am, Kakyoin had said, and that's not a bad thing to think of in this moment, but unbeknownst to him, she has silently given it another meaning.

Fear can be overcome.

She nods.]

Yes, I am.

...Listen.

[To...what, exactly, he's not sure; of course he'd thought about this on the way over, and worked through five or six possible scenarios of how this could go, and weighed them on all their merits and weeded out the ones he didn't like in favor of replacing them with ones that did —

But like the first time he'd talked to Jonathan, all the forethought in the world somehow hasn't prepared him for the moment, and he feels blank and unprepared, like none of his best-laid plans will come out of the penumbras into his mind's eye properly.

In that empty space that isn't filled with a legitimate decided-upon course of action, memories begin to crop up — the jail cell, his fight with Avdol, the way she'd screamed and been clinging to Jiji while Avdol dragged him against the bars and he'd fought to stay in, snapping that he was going to hurt someone if he didn't, that he was locking himself up for everyone else's safety, and that was why he wouldn't leave.

That, ultimately, is what gives him the push toward figuring out where to begin.]

He can't...disobey me. That's how it works, for him. He can act, sometimes, without my telling him to — like when he protects me, even if I'm not the one making him do it. But he can't...

[He pauses; his next words are adamant, and steady, and strong.]

He can't do something I won't allow. So there's no way he could ever hurt you, understand?

[Jotaro's tone surprises her.

A lot about Jotaro surprises her these days, she finds. He's more quiet in some respects and less so in others, matured here and still very much seventeen there. Fundamentally, he's still her sweet boy, but the two months of something she's missing only highlights the contrast between Don't move! Just stay in bed! and Aren't you supposed to be resting still?

She's proud, but something in the back of her mind won't let her be satisfied with leaving it at that.

One thing at a time, though.]

Kakyoin did say you've learned a lot of control. He sounded impressed.

[But that's stalling again, isn't it. No more of that - she breathes in, nods again, and lets it out.]

I understand. I trust you, Jotaro.

Just...don't fall over or anything.

[The unfortunate thing is, Jotaro's not nearly as adept as controlling his Stand's entrances as Kakyoin is, and unlike Hierophant, Star Platinum isn't one to slink around favoring enclosed spaces. When he appears, it's an appearance, either from sliding easily out of Jotaro's side or bursting into view with flexed muscles and a battle cry.

But to his credit, when Star does appear, it's about as subdued as he can will an entrance to be; he simply steps out from the general vicinity of Jotaro's back, coming to rest like a silent guardian a step to the side and a step back from Jotaro himself.

He looks a little tense, Jotaro muses as he regards his Stand, and realizes a moment later that it's probably something that shouldn't surprise him in the least; Star is edgy because he's a little anxious himself, and still kind of weirdly tense around his mom, and it has all the attributes of being on the verge of battle but it's constrained by the conflicting, unshakable overlay that there will be no fighting here, and no one is in danger, and on the contrary to what instincts might indicate, he's needed to be as unthreatening as possible, instead of a force of intimidation to an impending foe.

Poor Star. He's really getting an education into these non-battle interactions, isn't he.

Okay. Calm down. Star's not going to calm down if he doesn't, so he has to calm down and settle, and just...it's going to be fine. This is going to be fine, it's fine.]

Do you want him to sit down, or...just, whatever you want, he won't move unless you want him to, so just go ahead and...and here he is.

[Holly does, in fact, manage to stay upright when Star appears, though the way her shoulders lift and her mouth clamps shut betrays her own anxiety. She said she trusts her son, and she meant it with every fiber of her being, but as it turns out, instincts are tricky things to repress on both sides of the equation.

She remains silent, still in the wake of Jotaro's awkward rambling, with how much of it she actually hears being debatable as her eyes remain locked on the Stand. One second passes, two seconds, three-- she takes in Star's appearance slowly, and everything from his wild black hair to his piercing eyes to his warrior's build is exactly as she remembers it.

Except... the body language is all wrong. This isn't the hulking berserker that broke apart iron bars as though it was nothing. This is... fear? Of her? That doesn't make any sense at all.

Her head cants to the side, shoulders lowering as confusion washes in where tension ebbs away. The agonizing silence is broken by the sound of her heel clicking on the tile floor of the cafe as she takes one hesitant step forward. Then another, and another. And she's so perplexed by this turn of events that she doesn't even make note of when she comes in range of one of those arms nearly as big as her torso, simply staring up (and up, and up) at the Stand with something that could almost be construed as concern in her eyes.]

... You're not... scaring my son anymore, right?

[At this point, it feels as though everything about the atmosphere in the room is balanced on a razor's edge; the clicking of Holly's heels seems to ring through the air like thunder, and Jotaro doesn't even notice that he's holding his breath until his chest starts to burn a little from it, like staying motionless now is just as important as it was that night, but for a completely different reason in a completely different direction.

What he doesn't realize is the same as the first time Holly had seen Star Platinum, however, is the fact that he's so hyperfixated on what he's trying to make sure Star doesn't do that he's largely left it to his Stand on its own, to choose what it does do. The influences are there, the feelings, the guidance upon which to draw. But the actions are Star's alone, not by order but by decision, in that vague and semi-autonomous way that makes him better described as mine instead of me.

His chin comes down, his hair waving gently in an unseen wind as his blue-green eyes search out Holly's face before finally meeting her gaze properly. Then, with deliberate care and painstaking motions, he begins to lower himself down to the floor at a steady, careful pace, going from standing at his full height to a crouched posture like a loyal knight's, one knee bent and his torso folded over it in submission.

And then, unexpectedly, Star does something even Jotaro couldn't have anticipated — and pushes his lowered head a little insistently toward Holly's hand, almost catlike in its silent implication.

Sometimes, when Star is gentle, Jotaro looks at him and thinks, good boy. He understands, somehow, that that's what's needed of him right now, and accedes to it.]

[It's slow, and quiet, and careful, but she still glances to Jotaro when Star begins to move, looking for... perhaps not assurance, as the fear of being hurt diminishes into nothingness, but a sign, something to inform her of what's happening, what she should do. That demarcation of me and mine is even less clear from the outside looking in, and it's not as though her own experience with being a Stand user lends her much in the way of assistance in figuring it out.

The nudge at her hand helps a little bit, in that regard. Her first instinct is to pull back and out of the way, but she manages to stop herself before her hand can do more than flick up, away from Star's forehead but still hovering in his hair. It's a strange sensation, just as the cool smoothness of Hierophant's hand had been strange, though in a different way. She watches it for a moment, the way the Stand's hair dances around her fingers as her mind tries to reconcile how incorporeal it looks with how very tangible it feels, before finally lowering her hand.

The rest of her body follows suit, falling into a kneel as she gently pets Star's hair. Her other hand cups his chin, a request for him to lift his head, because she knows she'd never have the strength to force him. If he does, she meets his eyes with an intent gaze, but not a severe one.]

... You're going to keep him safe for me, right?

[It's strange. It's really, really strange, watching his mom interact with his Stand like this, because Star is a part of him but he's not and it's like he's on the other side of aquarium glass, peering in and observing this interaction like a third party with no role in it. But that's not quite true, either, because the phantom sensations still make it through to him, too; the whisper of fingers running through his hair, the pressure of a hand beneath his chin — it's there but it's not and it's strange because he thinks he'd probably hate it if he were Star right now, if that were him, but when it's filtered through his Stand it's...

...It's.

It's like...a soda bottle shaken up, and he's the thin plastic walls keeping it in, he's not sure if he likes it because it's weird and intense and a little bit wrong except that wrong isn't synonymous with bad and his throat feels weirdly thick, for someone who hasn't done anything but stand there at all.]

He...doesn't talk...

[Which is irrelevant, because that's not what Holly is asking, but it's something to say and he's hoping if he does, some of that odd champagne pressure will release. It doesn't, not in the slightest, but Star lifts his head where Holly guides it and smiles at her with an expression that's soft rather than manic, and without a hint of malice.

Their features aren't much alike, but it's an expression that might resonate with her, anyway. It's one her son sometimes wore for her, years ago, when he still beamed in photographs and held his chin up with boyish pride instead of defiance.]

[Kakyoin had said the same thing when she introduced herself to Hierophant, but she asks her questions anyway, because these things are far too important to leave in any kind of doubt, because she knows very well spoken words are not the only way to communicate. Papa had taught her about reading faces, how a small twitch here or a glance there could betray a person's thoughts, and it's a skill she's gotten quite a bit of mileage out of since Jotaro hit adolescence.

And she's watching so carefully, needing to know the answer to this question so desperately, that when the Stand that had scared her so much answers with that familiar smile, she's blindsided. She gasps, openly, and her heart aches in the same way it aches for Sadao, for Papa and Mama, for family that always seems to be thousands of miles out of her reach. Her eyes glisten, and she closes them before they can do more than that.]

Okay.

[She nods - to herself or to Star, who knows - forcing her breathing to even out again. And then, with a smile, she pushes herself up again, brushing back the wild mane of hair to place a kiss on the crown of Star's head.]

Okay. You're forgiven, then.

What're you —

[He jumps, of course, when she gasps; he can't not, because he doesn't understand why it happens and the natural conclusion to arrive at is to assume that it's because Star did something to scare her. But...no, she's not acting scared, just sort of strangely overcome, and watching it makes him uncomfortable to a depressingly high degree, so rather than crossing over to her he just kind of hovers ineffectually and watches with simmering concern.

(He feels the kiss, too, ghosting against his forehead beneath the brim of his hat; he feels it just barely touch where he'd once stuffed a magazine, where there used to be a hole in his hat before Kakyoin sewed it back up for him.)

But what this translates into, for Star's purposes, proves to be a sort of general contentment, and once his own alarm (mirroring Jotaro's precisely, rendering them twins for that handful of moments) has faded, he seems to sense that it's acceptable now for him to move, that his period of strict docility can begin to relax, and he'll have some leeway to act without risking slamming into the stern boundaries of good behavior that confine him.

So he gets up off his knees into a low crouch, one that would be agonizing to maintain for a human's muscles but that proves effortless and inconsequential for a Stand, and very carefully scoops Holly up for a hug that carries her off her feet once he returns to his full height.

Star is an expert, by now, in knowing how to cause injuries. Discovering how to cause laughter is a newer pursuit, and one he's still learning slowly. But Giorno had petted him and given him pudding when he was lifted up in a similar way, and Star has absolutely no reason to think that this won't elicit a similar reaction out of Holly now.]

[The motion for an embrace is a surprising, but not unwelcome one, and she's about halfway towards returning it before she's suddenly about five feet taller than she's used to being.

Well! That's a thing!]

Ah...!

[She squeaks in alarm, her arms on Star's shoulders holding on tightly even if she knows intellectually that the chances of him dropping her are essentially zero. But once that gut reaction is done, Star gets what he's aiming for. She's reminded of being a little girl swung around effortlessly by her father and she's a 45 year old woman now, and this moment toes that line between loving and absolutely ridiculous and if that doesn't describe her life, nothing will.

Giggles bubble out of her like an overflowing soda bottle, and she looks down (down!) at Jotaro with a grin.]

He likes me!

Don't be stupid. Did you really th—

[...Oh. Wait, no, she...really did have reason to think Star wouldn't, didn't she.

Abruptly flustered, he quickly averts his eyes, reaching up to tug down the brim of his hat to help disguise the vaguely ashamed look that flits across his features.]

...He's. ...always kept me safe, Mom.

It's like I said. He'll never hurt you.

I believe it!

[Goodness, her son worries too much. So she snuggles up to Star a little bit more, her opinion 180 complete, because though she had no idea where me stops and mine begins, that brief boyish little smile has her convinced there's something unquestionably Jotaro in Star Platinum, and if her son thinks she won't take any affection she might receive from the Stand and run with it like she stole it, he's got another thing coming.]

Less 'evil spirit' and more 'guardian angel,' hm?

[Yes, the Stand that stops time and punches semis is now dubbed a guardian angel.

Such is the way of Holly Kujo.]

[Well, Star's certainly having no problems with this, perfectly content to just...hold her up forever, if she likes, because it's not like she presents any sort of burden on him and it seems to make her happy, so.

He does, however, chime in with a confirming ora! and turns her in a careful circle — not quite a spin, for fear of making her too dizzy, but definitely rapid enough to be pleasant and entertaining.]

...Yeah. Something like that.

[And one of those massive, incorporeal hands had reached inside him, through his chest, found his heart and gripped tight until it couldn't move, couldn't beat, because if it beat he was dead he'd be dead in an instant he'd be dead and with his heart stopped he was dead already but at least he had a chance, at least he had Star, don't let him die don't let him die don't let him die before that bastard's close enough for Star to get him —

...

Yeah.

Something like that.]

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