IC Inbox | rubycity_rp | I

[starmark]

. . . Yare yare. What is it? Hurry up and say something already.



⇦ ● ⇨


[OOC: Contact through any format is fine, including action as you see fit!]

Comments

[lapidarius]

...Kind of. I'm still pretty much an amateur, but I was able to do it that time.

[starmark]

...That's amazing.

How long has it been since you started? I should've known you'd be a natural.

[lapidarius]

[He shrugged and pushed his glasses up a little, trying to play it off like he was actually cool and not internally about to explode into an eager mess.]

A while, I'm not exactly certain. Maybe a few months?

[starmark]

...Show me. Show me something you can do, I want to see it.

[lapidarius]

...Really? [He closed his notebook and looked up, finally.] I'm not sure I can show you what I did against Polnareff--that's still kind of difficult to do except under certain circumstances.

[starmark]

It doesn't have to be what you did against Polnareff. Just show me something.

...I'm betting watching you use Hamon is like watching you use your Stand, and if I'm right, that's definitely something I want to see and remember.

[lapidarius]

S...sure, okay. Let me just think of what to try--I don't want to just keep using water, I need to practice more with Hierophant.

[starmark]

Like a conductor, right.

...Send it down one of his tendrils and shock me, if you want.

[lapidarius]

I'm not doing that. Polnareff had it coming, you don't.

[starmark]

Well, do something else, then. Make a ball of sunlight in your hands or something.

[lapidarius]

Jojo, I have no idea how to do that or if it's even possible. Just let me think for a second and I'll come up with something.

[starmark]

[...Oh. Well.

SHOULD HE CONFESS TO IT? SHOULD HE KEEP IT UNDER WRAPS...?

DECISIONS, DECISIONS.]

[lapidarius]

...What's wrong? Sorry, I wasn't trying to snap at you.

[starmark]

...No, it's fine.

[BACK TO PUSH-UPS AGAIN.]

It's possible. That's what I got told to do, to see if I could use Hamon at all.

[lapidarius]

...Oh. [And, perhaps unexpectedly, Kakyoin's answer came down to a shrug and:] Even I'm wrong once in a while. Will you show me, if I show you something?

[That was it. No self-deprecation or kicking himself, just casualand ordinary curiosity.]

[starmark]

[...Oh. Huh. c: ]

...I can try. I'm not very good at it because I don't ever practice for shit. But I think I can probably still do it.

[lapidarius]

You'd probably be fantastic if you actually practiced. [said the honor student to the delinquent] But I'm sure that you can, so I'd really like to see it.

[starmark]

Caesar's got better things to be doing than teaching me. Like teaching you.

...Besides, it doesn't...I don't know. I don't like taking orders like that, anyway.

[lapidarius]

...Yeah, I know that you don't. Which is fine--it's just the kind of person you are, that's all. I think it's likely that you're better suited to learning on your own terms and by being left to your own devices rather than given clear and rigid directions--I prefer being taught directly instead of tripping over mistakes until I find the desired result. Trial and error worked with Hierophant, obviously, but that's the exception.

[starmark]

Mistakes don't bother me as much. Right?

[lapidarius]

Right. [No point in being evasive when that was exactly correct.] And I think I work more efficiently with a clear direction to take.

[starmark]

Most likely. You're not just goal-oriented, you're...direction-oriented too.

So are you gonna show me something?

[lapidarius]

Don't rush me, I'm thinking. [He said that in a tone of mock annoyance, notebook and pen set aside. What to do...maybe if he scaled it down as much as possible, it wouldn't take as much energy. Or the apparent prerequisite of being incredibly angry.]

[Which he wasn't, obviously.]

[Hierophant laced through the fingers of Kakyoin's right hand, a single small coil as thin as the pen he'd just been drawing with. That would almost certainly necessitate less effort, but it would require more control in exchange. That was perfectly fine; in fact, that approach suited him much more. Finesse over power was second nature.]

[About as much 'second nature' as the carefully measured and even breaths Kakyoin was taking, eyes focused on his Stand and concentrating. There was still a short delay he needed to work on, about fifteen seconds' time to actually channel Hamon properly before it started to manifest. That was a persistent annoyance, but he would figure it out sooner or later. Eventually the crackling sunlight worked its way down his arm into his hand before concentrating itself entirely around Hierophant still tangled around its user's hand.]

It's...a little difficult to maintain for very long. I'll need to start trying to fix that, too.

[starmark]

[Pausing in his push-ups, he half-turned to watch this unfold, then offered one hand toward Hierophant, outstretched in implication.]

Here. Come on. Don't make it stop at my arm, like you would if you were trying to hit someone. Just send it through, down my arm too.

[lapidarius]

...Sure, I can try that. Just say something if I end up hurting you by mistake. [Still sparking and glowing, Hierophant uncoiled from Kakyoin's hand to reach out and wrap one end around Jotaro's.]

[This seem possible, at least--it required precision and control, and part of him was uncertain about whether or not he could do it, but...what was the worst case scenario here, right? Maybe he tried and maybe he failed--would the whole house explode? Would anything happen worse than a minor burn and a sense of wanting to kick himself for screwing up? And ultimately, hadn't the latter always come down to no one blaming him except for Kakyoin himself?]

[Your worst is about a hundred times better than most people's best.]

[It was fine--or it would be fine. Even if he screwed up, Kakyoin tried to remind himself, it wouldn't be anything irreparable. For now, he focused on keeping his breathing steady, focusing and letting that spark of sunlight move from Hierophant to Jotaro's hand and down his arm.]