hierophany | Inbox

Yeah. ...I do too.

[Of course he does; he's the one trying to describe the phenomenon. But that's not the point, really, is it? The point is...the point is...]

I said I wasn't going to do anything you weren't okay with. But I think if you let me kind of...be possessive, a little, that Iris will calm down. Because that's what it wants, really. Not even the sex, just the...attention.

oh hey, this is jolyne
idk if you've heard anything about me or whatever
but anyway

do you want to go out for boba and the arcade??

Even this is- just about the clearest my head has been in a few days, if I'm being honest.

[ Just leaning against Jotaro. Talking with him, Placing a hand on top of his, until it looks like they're connected in the same way that he and Hierophant are. A paler limb, in the same way Hierophant is just a greener limb. ]

I think- I think I want to just lie here. And be a yours-thing.

Oh. Jotaro's daughter, yes?

Yes. That would be.
A normal sort of thing to do, I think, given the circumstances.

oh good, he's at least mentioned me
so it's not like super weird or anything

awesome, i'm coming by on my bike to pick you up in that case
i figure you're probably staying with him because that's the kind of guy he is

...Okay. We can do that, yeah.

[He closes his eyes, focusing on the feeling of hand over hand, the soft bloom of chroma beginning to warm from the contact.]

I know the wings are annoying. But I can lie down, and you can...you know. Get on top of me. If you want.

I've been learning to sleep on my side. But I think I want to try your version.

[ That's the part of this he finds kind of funny, honestly. The amount of little changes he has to make. Wearing shirts backward, or backless shirts. Sitting in chairs sideways. Sleeping on his side, and not keeping anything beside his bed that he might knock over in his sleep. He's learning to appreciate the humour in it all. A little. It's still inconvenient.

He separates from Jotaro, just enough to let him lie down. ]

I'm going to be kind of light. Don't freak out.

Oh. I'd thought. I didn't realise you meant right now.
Okay then. I'll be ready.

[ He has officially been out-weirded. Or maybe this level of enthusiasm is normal and he just did not realise. Either way, he's a little caught off guard. ]

And yes, I'm staying with him.

it’s better this way, trust me
If we leave a large enough gap in time my dad’s gonna freak out in that special way he does

Besides it’s not like it’s anything we need to get fancied up for
btw I’m outside, I’m the girl on the motorcycle with green hair

I've carried you before. It's not a big deal.

[The only real maneuvering he has to do, as he drops back to lie down on the mattress, is to make sure he's not crushing his tail in an uncomfortable way. But he's been a wolf for a while now, during Sanguis, and he's sort of figured out how to get around that one particular hazard.

So he finds a pillow and stuffs it under his head, and then gets himself arranged and closes his eyes.

Probably it'll be easier for Kakyoin, if nobody's watching him while he figures this out. That's what he's betting on, anyway.]

Whenever you're ready.

Ah, yes. I see you. You're very. Visible.

[ Well shit. He'd have liked to be able to- how the fuck do you prepare for seeing your closest friend's daughter from the future who never knew you because you don't exist anymore? He doesn't even know which tense to word that question in. It would have been nice to be able to- fuck. Rehearse? Stand in front of the mirror trying to figure out the appropriate way to say 'Hi, I don't know if it's too presumptuous to think that I should probably have been a part of your life.'?

It is too presumptuous. Jotaro - the future one - has a life that he has no place in. She probably didn't even know he existed before she came here and that's for the best. ]

It's good to meet you. [ He extends a hand, when he comes out to meet Jolyne. Pleasant. Formal. Defensive. ] Noriaki Kakyoin. I'm a friend of your father's.

[ Which she already knew but. What the fuck else is he meant to say? ]

[ as far as jolyne was concerned it wasn’t too presumptuous to be thinking this way at all, she would hope that if things worked out differently he would be there, everyone would be there.

Jolyne isn’t completely sure how to handle the situation either, she’s just winging it figuring that it’s best to handle things sooner than later. so when he makes his way over and holds out his hand in greeting she forgoes that’s route and just hugs onto him, it’s the regular way she’s been greeting jotaro anymore and it felt it should be the same for kakyoin ]

It’s nice to finally get to meet you...

[ pulling away at arms length she looks up at him ]

I’m sorry if that was a little forward... I just... I probably know more about you than my dad realizes, so I felt like this was the better way to greet you.

[ It is easier, not being watched. A little. The mattress sinks as he moves, maybe a little less than it should. He knows Jotaro can still feel where he's moving. But it helps.

It sinks next to Jotaro. Slightly at first - a hand - and then more. A weight moves across the bed to that spot. Shuffles into a condensed, almost-perfect shape. He's sitting on his calves, awkward and formal and careful. He ghosts a hand over Jotaro's cheek - not actually touching, but close enough to be felt as a presence. By the time it reaches his jaw, there are fingertips against his skin. By the shoulder, where the hand falls still, it's a weight against Jotaro.

That's step one. Steps 2 - n are just as slow and considered but sooner or later his torso is against Jotaro's. He's not quite figured out what to do with his legs yet, they don't stack quite so easily as torsos, but for the moment one is resting awkwardly on top of Jotaro's and one has fallen to the side. He's maybe three quarters of his usual weight. ]

Can't believe you gave up smelling like and ashtray only to start smelling like dog.

[ He says it quietly against Jotaro's collarbone, tucking himself neatly under his chin. ]

[ Ah. Hmm. This was unexpected. He raises his arms in a confused alien counter-hug but doesn't quite think to bring them inward until she's already moved back again. Okay. Jotaro's daughter, significantly more huggy than her father. ]

It's- perfectly fine.

[ It feels like he's trying to think his way out of a pool of molasses. ]

I'm afraid he hasn't told me much about you. I think he's trying to-

[ ...he interrupts himself, falling quiet for a minute, and then allowing the one thought that shoved its way out of the sticky, uncomfortable, unsanitary sugary mess to burst out of him because what the fuck else is he going to say. ]

-did he show you how to do the cigarette trick?

Mmn...quit 'cause it was bad for me.

[It's such a lie, yet a lie with certain grains of truth studded throughout it. He did quit because it was bad for him, but "it's bad for him" wasn't enough of a compelling incentive on its own, not back then. But having to take care of Alucard had given him purpose when he'd otherwise been adrift without focus or design, and created structure through something simplistic to define. Take care of himself, or his blood wouldn't be good. Take care of himself because someone cared. Take care of himself because for once it mattered that he do more than just survive, more than just stay breathing, he had to be healthy instead of just alive and that meant more work.

Probably, he thinks as he adjusts to the unusually shallow weight of Kakyoin's body settling over him, Kakyoin will have to go through that same process, too. Figure out how to do more than just be alive. Learn to be healthy instead of just breathing.

Maybe something like this is a start. It's comfortable, at least.]

Scratch behind my ears.

[He says, without opening his eyes.]

You're gonna use me like a mattress, you can pay rent for it.

... you really are close, that’s one of the first things he asked me too.

[ she couldn’t help but breathe out a laugh at this familiar line of questioning, moving back closer to the bike now she picks up the helmet and holds it out to kakyoin ]

It’s okay though, I know this is a lot all of a sudden... and I know he’s not very good at talking about anything that might be too difficult for others to handle. It’s why I didn’t want him interfering since it could harsh the vibe.

The arcade is a nice neutral ground for us to enjoy and get chill enough to get to know each other— by the way, how are you doing with prismal crossing?

I'm going to pluck that fucking owl and throw him into his own piranha tank before putting his bow tie and his feathers onto the velociraptor skeleton, is how I'm doing with it. He has disrespected grasshoppers for the last time.

[ Wait, he was trying to be respectable. ]

-and I bought a hat that looks like a frog.

[ Nailed it. He takes the helmet and stares at it for a moment. ]

...shouldn't you be wearing this?

I miss it, a little. It smelled like shit. But it was- you know. It always smelled like shit.

[ He reaches up without looking, feeling for ears first in the traditional ear place before remembering and reaching higher. That's going to be weird to get used to. All of this is fucking weird to get used to. He combs his fingers through Jotaro's hair a few times before his fingers settle behind his stupid sexy animal game ears. ]

It was consistent. The air would stop smelling like salt and start smelling like dust, then everything would smell like camel or petrol or city full of people. But you'd still make everything smell like a fucking chimney.

Mmmmn.

[It feels good, obviously, because of course it does. Really he just feels good overall right now, between the comfortable pressure of having Kakyoin atop him like a weighted blanket, and the scratch of nails behind his wolf ears, and the chroma running between them in a reciprocal loop making everything warm and hazy.

It's always so strange to feel good like this; even after all this time, there's still a part of him that's still getting used to it.]

I miss it too sometimes. Liked having something to do with my hands. And my mouth.

[A lesser man would think that was an innuendo, but it's far too genuine — almost drowsy in its simple honesty.]

After I got here, I would do it to watch the smoke. 'Cause if it stopped blowing away, if it stopped moving...

[Then time would have stopped, and all of a sudden the anxiety he'd been trying to smoke away would be validated]

Then you'd know.

[ He says it softly. Because really, is that any different from his own refusal to sleep without Hierophant active? From how uneasy it made him to suddenly be so much less aware of the world around himself? Jotaro's weird and jumpy in his own stupid ways and he can't help but wonder, knowing what he does now, if it distresses Star in the same way he did.

It's very strange to be scratching Jotaro's ears, but it's good-strange. Even without the moonlacing, probably even without whatever effect the moons are having on him, it's good strange. ]

Do you still need that? To know.

Not as much. A couple months back, there was this thing...some kind of creature. Before it appeared, it kept fucking with time. I was out on my motorcycle and all of a sudden it —

[The rest of the sentence dies in his mouth, replaced by a sigh instead.]

Tore my leg open, I had to go to the clinic to get patched up. I thought I was over it but then that happened and it's like it all came back. Like it'd never been gone to begin with.

I think that's just how it is. Most of the time it feels like it's over. Then all of a sudden something happens, and it's like it never stopped to begin with.

So what I'm hearing is that I don't have a good excuse to get you the world's ugliest lava lamp.

[ He doesn't want to be dismissive. It just happens. Falls out of his mouth because it's the easiest thing to say. Because all of this happens in a world where he doesn't exist. Not because he's dead. But because in stopped time, he's just a thing.

He can't make this right. He can just- exist, on the other side of it. Be there for Jotaro to find once the worst is over. ]

Combustion engines don't work in stopped time, from what I've observed. [ If you don't have anything to say, just spout random trivia. ] If you were on your bike, you'd always know.

Since when do you need an excuse?

[Laughing feels different with Kakyoin on top of him. It's strange, the way it's only hard to do because of a physical weight, when the emotional burden is lighter than ever.]

I can feel you breathing. You're still moving. That makes it easy to know, too.

Because I'd be seen buying the ugly lava lamp. Can you imagine?

[ It catches him off guard, the way that he can feel Jotaro's laughter shaking his own chest. The movement happens before the sound of it, like lightning before thunder, and it moves through him and he has to stop for a moment to examine why that means anything to him and

it's because he's happy. He's happy, and Kakyoin can feel it in a way that even he might not think to fake. He's happy and the movement of it forces his own body to do the motions of happy and he's laughing before he quite realises it, shuffling as if he can edge closer to Jotaro than he already is by doing so. By the time he stops laughing, his hair noodle is draped over Jotaro's shoulder. Like he's tucked underneath it the way Hierophant hides under it sometimes. ]

If you say that kind of thing, I'm going to take it as an invitation to use you as a mattress all the time.

Huh. Guess you're not nearly the sneaky bastard I thought you were, if you can't even figure out how to do it without being seen.

[Hesitantly, like he's almost not sure if he's going to be allowed or not, he lifts one hand from where it's been on the mattress and brings it to rest against the nape of Kakyoin's neck instead. Just holding him. Just touching, in that small and understated and yet undeniably possessive way.]

I told you it'd help, didn't I?

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