spellbinders | TIMELINES ARE FOR LOSERS

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TIMELINES ARE FOR LOSERS

Who: The JoJos.
Where: Aimintas; street-side then find a place more secluded.
When: Day 14.
Open/Closed: Closed; the kids and Caesar need to talk about some revelations. Like they're all from the same world!

[ After he rolled (tripped then rolled) down the hill, Okuyasu had to take just a small bit of time to recover from his tumble. Also, it felt like everyone's emotions were about ready to explode -- if they all met in that state, there's no telling what would happen. Or if they'd even be able to listen to one another. He isn't too smart but he understood the group reason that they needed to cool themselves down before they finally talked to each other. But who knew that in waiting to settle their emotions that they'd be spirited off to another world! A world where Stands once more were able to be called upon! Also lizard-people!

It didn't help matters that they all got a little separated. He feels like he's calmer now which means that if he's calm then everyone should be all right, too. It is about this time -- walking the city with his hands in his pockets -- that he happens to see the very people that he's looking for. There they are! He takes a confident step forward before he calls out: ]

The Hand! [ The Stand immediately manifests and he can't help but smile at seeing it once more at his side. But he doesn't notice that all the lizard-people seem to notice the sudden manifestation of the Stand. No, what he's focused on is -- scraping away the space between the people in front of him so that they can talk. What a real useful Stand! Who needs to use telepathy when a person can just pull others close? ]

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[...the 'sort of actually respectfully' part throws him off like nothing else has so far, which, given what happened up until this point, says a lot. Mister? Was he called Mister Zeppeli?

In fact, he's mouthing it. Mister Zeppeli. That's just weird. It makes him feel old. He's not that old. Is he?]

Finished with Giorno...? [Interesting turn of phrase.] If this is going where I suspect this is going then perhaps you should wait to begin until we find somewhere else quieter. We seem to have an audience.

[After all, the group of them have been pulling out magic.] Or, worse, before one of our well meaning comrades notices the commotion and decides to interrupt.

I'm not an enemy!

[ He is sitting on the ground with his arms held out as a means to show his innocence. His chin held out before he pauses to look to Jotaro and gives a small nod of thanks that he's on his side. ] I am not too good at [ Lifting his hands up, he mimes his words. ] focusing my thoughts too good. I worried if I called a meeting telepathically that it'd alert everyone else.

[ Rubbing his face where F.F. punched him. ] I didn't think that it'd cause so much trouble. [ And he looks up to the Hand that is still hovering around looking unhappy. ] I'm all right. Don't worry! Everyone here is friends! We're all Stand Users, after all. [ So he assumes.

And he's helped up by his Stand that uses its left hand to pull him up rather than its right that is help firmly against the Stand's side. ] Anyway... Caesar is right. We probably should move this to somewhere else. It got really noisy for some reason...

[She scoffs at the explanation, not at all satisfied with it.]

That was irresponsible of you, though I suppose your intentions were good. I'll forgive your actions.

[He had his heart in the right place, even if his head isn't there at all. Definitely an idiot, but she already acknowledged as much. F.F. takes a quick look around the people who are here.

Obviously there is Jotaro, who is still holding onto her like she's a rabid animal.
The blonde boy is the one who told her a scary story that got her feeling off-balance. She doesn't like him just for that.
Then Caesar. She'll need to harass him later to take her to a cafe.
An of course the lizards who seem more upset at being here than anyone else. She waves to them.]

Sorry you got dragged into this! We didn't mean to bother you.

[ giorno totally meant to bother them. but he watches his targets leave in a disgruntled manner after telling off jotaro about manners and how to better manage relationships in a triad. the group has to suffer a well-meaning spiel regarding give-and-take in relationships and other such pearls of wisdom to anyone considering being a part of a triad. this is all very well and dandy and giorno is doing his best not to roll his eyes at it as he dusts off his uniform, having been dumped unceremoniously by jotaro to the cold hard ground. it is with great restraint that he did not allow himself to be more extra than usual and be lifted back onto his feet by a giant weeping willow.

so, now. giorno is no longer in the middle of a scuffle, so he can clearly look at everyone in their motley crew. there's f.f., who had a bad impression of him back when he was doing his magic mission. there's jotaro, who also had a bad impression of him back when he was doing his magic mission, so obviously he's doing well here. there's okuyasu, whom he wrote an obituary for, amongst other things. caesar, who is also italian, and that explains everything - well, almost everything. and then there's him. if there was any other reason for him to feel absolutely out of place right now, well, he just found it. because the thing that united all of them, above everything else, is the fact that one way or another they're part of the joestar legacy ... whatever that is. and here he was, fifteen going on seventy, a mafia boss with no connections. he might as well be luca brasi; he might as well be luca with the shovel back in the airport when things were simpler.

he makes the requisite apologies to the palai, as is expected, though as far as he's concerned he doesn't really need to. and then giorno purses his lips at them, but especially at jotaro, whose star platinum is looming over his giant shoulders. he meets his glare with his own. ]

I suppose proper introductions are in order.

My name is Giorno Giovanna. I come from Naples, 2001. None of your names are familiar to me, with the exception of Dio Brando's, which apparently is a difficult topic overall, to put it lightly ... and certain others, which I will withhold until I understand us better. [ he glances at jotaro again. he remembers, very clearly, that koichi was hell bent on informing "his friends back in japan." was this what he meant? there hadn't been enough time to ask of polnareff. ]

If we're finished here .... let's move. I have a lot of questions to begin with. [ a pause, and then he adds, ] And I'm sure some of you have your own, if you haven't answered them already amongst each other.

I apologize for the scuffle. Wasn't aware that I'd be dragged to a meeting in the first place. [ he shakes his head at okuyasu's direction. ] But that's how things are. Stand users are fated to meet each other, right? I should be more surprised about this, but I'm not anymore.

[ he glances at caesar. is he a stand user? he history of the arrows that polnareff told him is vague and unclear, but who knows how far they've traveled since the days before doppio and enya. ]

[If circumstances were different this would be the point in which Caesar would cave and ask, "What the fuck is a Stand? No, of course I don't have one. Why should I have one?" Given this would entail admitting his ignorance in front of Joseph's grandson (which part of him had been a little doubtful of, but so far there was enough of Joseph he could see in Jotaro to sandblast the last of his doubts away) like hell was he going to say that.

Instead-...]

Dio Brando... [Huh. Odd. That name did sound pretty familiar, actually. Like the sort of name you didn't hear too often but had a great deal of personal relevance if but in a distant way - like an ancestral home, or a childhood toy you haven't thought about in years, or someone involved with his grandfather, the one who had tragically died, or so he was told-...]

...damn. [More to himself than anyone else. Why did he have to try to spot the thread. He's really wants to just leave and go someplace nice with a couple of people and maybe complain a little. But no.]

This really isn't the sort of thing you should be used to and I weep for the future of Naples. [Just saying.

Anyway.] Did anyone see anything like a...park? Given the likelihood of property damage settling this somewhere enclosed seems stupid at best. [...heh. He's not going to say it because, among other people, he's dealing with Jojo's grandson and no, but the locals totally probably think they're involved in some kind of love triangle or something along those lines given the parting relationship advice.]

[Jotaro nods back at Okuyasu--he's got your back, man--and lets F.F. go, and then the lecturing starts. It's so far from the usual things people try to lecture Jotaro about that he endures it in mortified silence rather than trying to shut the well-meaning Palai up, and he's almost grateful when Giorno apologizes to them and they finally move on.

Not that he's admitting that anytime soon.]

I saw a place. [And he starts walking back in the direction Okuyasu had pulled him from, because like hell he's standing around here a second longer and inviting more chaos.

A couple blocks away, there's a little park with an even littler amphitheater sitting empty in the middle. A good place for resolving interpersonal drama, no?]

Man, they really laid into us.

[ His head drops a little as he had to listen to lizard people tell him how to better manage his relationships. He gives a small nod as he agrees that he should attempt to communicate and work better at the friendships that he has here. It isn't like back in Morioh where he had finally acquired those dear friends of his. Crossing his arms, he nods as he agrees with everything that they're saying.

But they're giving introductions now. He was watching the lizards walk away and thinking more about how to better ensure that his relationship with everyone can get better. ]

Ah! I'm Okuyasu Nijimura from Morioh, Japan! Uh, it's 2000! So, I guess just a year before Gio, huh? And I'm in Class... [ Huh. ] We're moving on, then? [ He gives a small nod. Right, they should do that, too. A short walk forward as he turns to F.F., rubbing his face. ]

Uh... I'm sorry for... uh, scaring you like that... ya pack quite a punch for such a tiny girl! [ These are compliments! But right, time to start to head toward where Jotaro saw, right? ]

Size doesn't matter when it comes to women. Only men care about that!

[At least that's what Jolyne told her. Though she wonders if she should tell them that this is just a body, and she's a Stand within it. She's told some people about the fact that she isn't really a human, but telling it to people from the same world as her... it carries a different risk. Something more dangerous. The only person she'd trust with that information at this point is Jotaro, knowing that he is a good man of honor like his daughter.

Well in any case she'll follow along to the park. She can give any kind of introductions there, and more importantly stall for time to decide what to say. "Hello I'm Foo Fighters, and I'm a Stand inside a human" sounds a little too awkward. A Stand with intelligence is not common enough that she can trust them to get it. As Jolyne would say, this is a real fucking pain.]

[...granted, they did have to talk, and Caesar agreed that they had to talk at some point, but this was nowhere near how he had envisioned it. He had considered some secluded part of the island, somewhere people couldn't stumble across them accidentally unless everyone involved was very unlucky. Then things happened, Okuyasu...did the thing Caesar wasn't going to think too hard about, and he suddenly had to put things off on his end for a few days.

Then they ended up here. And that made things both more and less complicated at the same time. And he went okay, well, once they got the lay of the land they could-

And then Okuyasu did a thing, again, and Caesar had no idea what he was supposed to say. "Hi, I'm Caesar Zeppeli, I died, apparently, even if I didn't die I'd be old by the time you guys were born, what the hell is a Stand?"

...thinking about it, a lot of this was because Okuyasu did something. Wasn't it? At this point Okuyasu got a look. It was shorthand for, "Later on, you and I are going to have to have a talk."

Whatever.]

I'd ask how your days were, but it doesn't really matter at this point.

[And then they reached the park and-...]

An amphitheater? [He hadn't meant to spit that out telepathically as well as out loud, but- well, there was worse people, and, well, why not. He was going to go with it.] It's appropriate, I'll give you that.

[ an ampitheatre. good lord. the only thing worse is if the palai had a replica of the Colosseum just so giorno can get full on #triggered. in any case, it's as good of a place as any, and though he'd told caesar he and jotaro would be trouble, he doubts that it'd get to the point where actual property damage will happen, if only because giorno is not too keen on attracting any more unwanted attention onto him than he already has. going into an ampitheatre to settle things, however, is exactly the opposite of what he wanted, but he can't control the outcomes any more than he control the people he's with. he's listening to okuyasu's introduction - and then he gets a message, which he just sighs about in a physical reply.

giorno makes his way to the closest row of seats near the stage, crossing his legs as he waits for everyone to settle down.

at some point they're gonna have to introduce the topic and he's talked enough, so he waits on jotaro to begin. he said he'd explain. ]

[Jotaro tugs the bill of his hat down at F.F.'s little outburst, "gimme a break" in this instance translating to "please kill me now". Is this the sort of insult they teach girls in Florida? Fortunately, the walk is brief, and then there's just the five of them in an empty, relatively quiet amphitheater. He finds a level place to stand and turns to face everybody.

Iiiit's showtime?]

My name is Jotaro Kujo. [As everyone already knows.] I'm the grandson of Joseph Joestar and the great-great-grandson of Jonathan Joestar, who was by adoption the brother of Dio Brando. [Here, he looks directly at Giorno. Good luck having two conversations at once, buddy.] Jonathan Joestar died in 1889. Dio died in 1988.

[ he has no idea who jonathan joestar is. he has no idea why the fact that he was adopted should matter. on the other hand, there's a big gap that needs to be explained. 1988 .... he was three years old when his father died, and he was in japan still. his name was something else entirely. ]

I've no interest in the Joestar legacy.

Dio is my concern here. Tell me what you know of him, please. And .... [ he wills his heart to be still. to be calm. ] tell me how you killed him.

[Right, it makes sense that nobody would've told Giorno even the basics of this, but his ignorance is still ruining Jotaro's dramatic tension. Fine! Also at some point he's put Star Platinum away, because that hasn't been mentioned yet.]

You don't get a choice in the matter, because Dio is the Joestar legacy. He used an artifact Jonathan was studying to become a vampire, and took Jonathan's body to survive for a century at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean when Jonathan had otherwise defeated him. When Dio gained a Stand, it was Jonathan's body that passed that on down the bloodline to the surviving members of my family.

[That's already a bit more talking than Jotaro's used to doing in one go, but there's still more to tell so he keeps going, fists jammed in his pockets to keep them from doing anything stupid.]

We went after him for my mother's sake. She wasn't strong enough to control her Stand, so it was killing her. Dio put a lot of Stand users in our way, who killed or hurt a lot of innocent people. Three of my friends died near the end, and he killed my grandfather in front of me-- [Sorry, Caesar.] --and I couldn't do anything, because his Stand, The World, could stop time.

[Last stretch now, and even though he was just put away a few paragraphs ago Star Platinum is back out, looking as big and fiercely determined as ever. In contrast, Jotaro's voice is weakened; reliving the memories of only a couple weeks ago is hard work.] But I have the Stand which suggests the Star card, Star Platinum, and it turned out our powers were the same. When we fought on even footing, even Dio couldn't withstand one of Star Platinum's strongest punches, and he died in one hit.

That's all the important stuff.

[ but why would they have the same stand. perhaps the greater question is: why him? giorno looks at him in - suspicion, annoyance, and maybe a bit of envy, if only because he was there and had met him in the flesh. disregarding the terrible things that his father has done - which is putting him under a mountain of guilt anyway, so heavy a burden that he felt numb - the facts are, apparently, that his father had died a well-deserved death and that jotaro had won it not just for the joestars but also for his mother.

giorno can overlook a lot of things. in fact that's exactly one of the privileges he has being a mafia boss, overlooking a lot of otherwise problematic relations and only granting himself and his people the kind of mercy or power that a boss wields. but a true act of justice is something that he can't ignore, so yes, as much as he's mourning the loss of his father and the fact that he had, of course, only ever loved the version of his father that he'd built all these years for himself, he listens to jotaro all the same.

( and listens, unfortunately, to caesar brag about his nephew, which puts a sort of embarrassed grimace on his face, though it's not exactly directed to jotaro. still, he can hardly embarrass him in front of the only supposed adult in their little motley crew. )

anyway. once jotaro is finished, giorno taps his fingers on the edge of the seat, watching, thinking, calculating just how much of his hand can he show to jotaro. until he decides, tit for tat, he can give a condensed version of his side of the events and hit jotaro with what he's got. ]

I'm sorry for your loss. And given what you and your family has been through, I see that my admiration is misguided. I apologize. I know nothing of Dio. When we first met, I told you they've taken something from me - it's his photograph. I've had it since I was a child and I keep it with me always, because -

[ he has to slow down, he's anticipating a lot of emotions right now, and he's actually having two conversations which is killing him - ]

- you must understand, I mean this with no intention to start a fight. That when I say this, I mean it for myself:

The reason why I asked for your experiences is because he is my father. [ alright, you lil shit, what else can you throw into the ring. how about - ] And I owe it to a good friend of mine, who also happens to be a good friend of yours, to know the truth, since we had so little time back home to discuss it at all.

[Jotaro's too caught up in his own ~~dramatics~~ pain to notice any signs of Giorno's distraction, so there's not really anything to soften the impact of Giorno's counter-revelation. "Surprise! I'm Dio's son!" Great. He'd noticed a resemblance, of course, but with no reason to suspect Dio even could have kids, much less that Giorno was from the same world as him, Jotaro had brushed it aside as him having one of those faces.

So yeah, that was a bad idea, but Giorno's also making apologetic noises, so... maybe it's not completely horrible? Deep breath.]

Yeah, well, I'm sorry you got stuck with a shitty dad. [Terrible phrasing, but he sounds sincere and even puts Star Platinum away again--hopefully for real this time. As for the "good friend" thing, he doesn't even know right now. Polnareff, maybe? Anyone else he hasn't met yet...]

He was the better alternative. [ um. ] Or, well. He seemed like the better alternative, because my present circumstances were already dire.

But when you're operating on survival, anything that shows an ounce of possibility and hope is better than whatever's currently on.

[ he won't elaborate on that. it's a touchy subject, his real family. giorno sighs. he stands, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches him keenly. ]

What do you want to do now? [ a pause. ] I guess, if I'm being honest, I'd like to know if you're going to finish your mission. Is this the part where we fight? I'm not sure how this goes.

[...Oh. There are at least a couple ways Giorno's brief explanation could work, so Jotaro doesn't offer another poorly-worded platitude, but since it sounds like Dio didn't have anything to do with the guy besides fathering him, the jittery nerves of the past few days are starting to ease as well. Slowly, but it's happening.]

I don't know either. [Sigh.] We can fight if you really want to, but if you're not out to take over the world or kill everyone I care about, I'd rather skip it.

.... I don't need the world. And I don't want to kill anyone. Fighting is just a waste of time. What would that achieve? We're both here, despite circumstances. I think it's safe to say we're both strong one way or another.

[ what delightful options there are for them. ] Kujo - Jotaro. Can I call you that? Or should I just stay on 'Kujo'? Either way -

We both have to return home. Or, well - most of us, I'm not really sure how it works if someone is already dead back home. We can work together to make the former a reality, at least. [ he tilts his head to the side, and then offers - ] Both of us are heirs to .... the legacy, one way or another. I can keep an eye on our crew here, same as you, and we can protect them, in any way we can.

The only thing I'd request is, should my father show his face here, that you let me talk to him before you pass judgement on him. [ he purses his lips. ] That it will be an affair both of us will decide on, and not just you and your Stand, or with you and whomever else you happen to be with at the time. A shared responsibility, in other words.

[It's a big thing for Giorno to ask of him--a big thing for anyone to ask of him--and Jotaro has to take a moment to seriously consider it.

If Giorno is lying about his goals but a man of his word as far as actual agreements go, that would be one more person looking out for all these people Jotaro finds himself connected to. If Giorno is a man of his word and also being honest about his goals, he could eventually be another friend as well as an ally.

And then there's the third possibility, that Giorno's neither honest about his goals nor a man of his word. The idea sours Jotaro's mood considerably: would it be fair to distrust Giorno, who's apparently never even known Dio, when he was so quick to accept Kakyoin who'd been actively controlled by the man?

He doesn't like the idea of leaving Dio free to do as he pleases if he joins them here, but that's still a mere possibility while Giorno's presence and potential aid are fact. And there's nothing saying he has to jump right into trusting Giorno 100%, right? Right.]

I can't promise I won't defend myself, but I'll try not to kill him again. [He's not dying so someone can ease their daddy issues. That only leaves the question of names; neither is "Jojo", which is the only one he's picky about, so:] Jotaro's fine if you want to use it. I don't care about that either way.

[ the answer is A). the consequences he's looking at are from A) and B), but of course he's not going to elaborate any further. besides, he's already revealed too much (or at least, what giorno considers as too much) and he'd already asked him too much to begin with. giorno wants to ask why defending would be an issue at all - but then he's forced to reckon with the idea that jotaro knows the man better than he does and is that much of a threat, probably, if the first thing he addresses is to defend himself. alright, that's a thing. ]

Defending is fine. I appreciate it, Jotaro. Especially since .... [ since he almost murdered every joestar he can get his hands on. but hey, let's not dwell in the past right now, especially when caesar is probably processing everything on his own, and maybe badly at that. at some point in their stay they should probably figure out how to get him back. ] Thank you.

[ there's a small pause where he doesn't really know how to end this conversation, because usually at home this'd be followed by arrivederci! and then the slow, gruelling push towards venice, but here there is nothing but silence and confusion. after a while, giorno laughs awkwardly, sounding younger than he pretends himself to be, and murmurs, ] You make me so nervous, you know.

Edited 2017-07-27 04:29 (UTC)

[It's a bigger relief than Jotaro expected to have that tension mostly sort of cleared--whatever Giorno may actually be after, he's playing along for now, which is one less thing to worry about in a whole pile of problems. He doesn't know what to do with himself now, though, so he begins the process of fishing out a cigarette. He's been trying to save them the last couple of weeks, but this seems like a good time to light up.]

Lately? [Or in general? He has his guesses, but between first, second, and third impressions there's room for uncertainty.

And, come to think of it, where did the others run off to? Thanks for leaving him to his fate, guys.]

Lately. In general.

[ he's surprised to see jotaro smoke, but he lets it slide anyway. it suits him. ]

.... will Caesar be okay? Should we go and find him?

[ he's ... family, to an extent, wasn't he? not his own, although they bonded on the basis of being italians. but caesar was close to jotaro's grandfather or something like that, last he remembered.

they're going to make their way towards where okuyasu and ff have their drinks now. ]

[Giorno won't have to look very far. Just as they're wrapping up, F.F. and Okuyasu are both re-entering the amphitheater area. And yes they do in fact have drinks of various colors and flavors, and the Palai merchant gave them a fancy little tray to hold them all. Though F.F. jumped the gun and is already sipping on her drink, which through the cup is some kind of orange slush.]

Hey, are you two done with your dramatic talk?

Hi, hi.

[ He shuffles along after F.F. and initially gives a nervous sort of look between Gio and Jotaro. His expression shifts to a more friendly one after what F.F. says -- that is sure to lighten the mood some, yeah. He takes one of the slush drinks to hold it out to Gio. ]

Here. It's peach. We thought that'd ya like peach. [ A beat. ] I got kiwi strawberry. Yer not allowed to have it. [ Even if this situation is this situation, that one is his. ]

Edited 2017-07-29 07:54 (UTC)

We're - sort of, I guess. I can't really think of anything else.

[ glances at jotaro. and then he takes the peach drink that okuyasu offers him. ] It's fine, you can keep your drink.

Thanks, really. And F.F. too. [ a pause. ] This is the weirdest introduction to people I've ever had, and I've been in some really weird ones.

TIMELINES ARE FOR LOSERS

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