digiorno | ic inbox ( ruby city ) Ⅰ

A man came in on a horse today. Have you met him?

A horse? No, I'm sorry, I didn't.

[He only met Johnny over the network, notably horse-free.]

When he introduced himself, he said his name was

[If the tension in his written words isn't enough, he isn't even finishing some of his messages before he sends them.]

He said his name was "Johnny Joestar."

[He doesn't say that's your name, or another one?, or any of the other thoughts running through his head right now. Instead, he takes a few moments to think and decides he doesn't have enough information here.]

Did he offer any explanation as to why he might have your name?

Edited 2015-09-24 01:43 (UTC)

...yes.

[He knows it can't be true. Logically, he should know that such a thing would have to be impossible, but he has to defend his family's honor against such horrid accusations.

It makes him nauseous.]

Yes, he did.

Edited 2015-09-24 01:47 (UTC)

Would you rather not tell me what it is?

Getting you involved in this sort of thing would not be right. You may be acquainted with my family, but that doesn't mean I can just drag you into our affa

Into business like this out of no where, especially when you haven't remotely asked for it. I am sorry, but please don't think it is your own fault. I will say this: there's more than one reason why we could share the same name, but I cannot tell which one is more serious.

[It's hard for him to understand Jonathan's discomfort at the thought of his family not being wholly functional; Giorno's family was never remotely functional, and therefore the thought doesn't disturb him. But he's trying. He wants to understand, wants to help, badly - even though he, in turn, can't say why it's so important to him.]

I'm asking for it, Mr. Joestar. Sometimes an outside perspective can be helpful in these things, especially in the middle of the night, when you've already run it around in circles in your head until everything seems hopeless. There will be a good reason for this, and I'd like to help you find it.

You're concerned about infidelity first and foremost, I'd imagine. But that doesn't seem very likely to me.

[He's a bit taken aback by the flood of generosity - in the end, irony has a funny way of manifesting - but when he does respond, he seems to have settled back now.]

You're a selfless young man, you know. I'm sure you're going to grow up into someone great.

Thank you for being so confident in a stranger's honor. That was the possibility that was initially brought up, but I couldn't accept it for a second. Our fathers also share the same name, but his is alive and kicking almost a year after my own would have already passed.

Instead, he offered up the idea of alternate universes. Apparently, he has ample experience.

[Don't freak out because Jonathan Joestar called you selfless. Don't freak out. Deep breath. Be cool.]

Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.

[#nailedit]

So that would mean he was another version of you, from another universe? I've never heard of that, but there are so many different kinds of worlds represented here, it isn't that surprising.

It isn't any trouble to say something I truly believe.

I suppose in hindsight it would make sense, but at the time...well, I haven't been here long. Something that seems ordinary to you might be an astronomical revelation to me, especially due to our differences in time. I'm only just starting to fully comprehend Stands, and now there is something like this to consider!

The man doesn't look anything like me, and he doesn't seem to strive to achieve the traits of a gentleman one bit, so it is rather bizarre. For a while I almost hoped we weren't somehow tied together, but it looks inevitable, doesn't it? He's far from a totally rotten sort of fellow, even if he opened with...well, what you mentioned earlier.

[There's also the fact that their mothers share different names, and that Johnny is on the hunt for a wheelchair, but the larger Jonathan doesn't know that last part yet.]

Edited 2015-09-29 19:02 (UTC)

[How is Jonathan Joestar real. How is any of this real. It's so overwhelming and weird. Giorno needs a paper bag to breathe into.]

Sometimes people are more complicated than they seem at first.

[He . . . doesn't know why he said that, exactly, but he means it. It's something that's become more and more apparent to him over the last year or so, something he's trying to keep in mind.]

I hope that he's able to answer your questions instead of just creating more. But you . . . might need to prepare yourself for the possibility that you won't find out everything you want to know, no matter how much he may want to help.

I'm an archaelogical researcher. I'm bound to end up a little curious about these things every now and again, right?

All kidding aside, I do understand what you mean. Believe me, I've ogled the complexity of mankind on more than one occasion. Someone may seem violent at first, but end up as one of the most generous people you'll ever meet, and on the other hand, a person you desperately want to befriend may end up causing your downfall.

[It's not a subtle comparison to anyone who knows even a little about Jonathan's history: but he hasn't mentioned anything about either of these individuals to Giorno, so it's clearly not a problem. Yep. A-OK.]

I believe I've calmed down enough to try to hunker down again for the night. Thank you for entertaining my worries, Mr. Giovanna.

Is

Is Giorno alright?

Edited 2015-09-29 19:47 (UTC)

[Oh. That's. Completely fine and in no way a problem.]

[Yeah.]

[His stomach hurts and he wants to go to bed. But he's also apparently a masochist. Because, after a brief pause, he does something really stupid.]

I'd like it if you called me Giorno. Please do that.

Can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but . . . Have you ever known someone like that? Someone you try hard for, and they hurt you badly?

[He doesn't believe in God like Mista does, but he finds himself praying anyway. Please tell me. Something, anything, the tiniest thing, please.]

[It takes him a while to respond - partly because he's working through the fog of exhaustion, and partly because that is a very specific question and it's made him wary - but he won't keep you waiting long.]

Yes.

[That's all he sends for a few minutes, because God knows he doesn't want Dio lording over any more innocent lives. They're children. Giorno reacted somewhat strangely to that name before, but if he's not specific about it...]

Most of my life, actually. In the end, some small part of me was still aching to believe he could change, but I had no choice.

[That was, in fact, a very stupid thing to do, he reflects. His stomach still hurts, but now his chest also hurts and his hands are shaking a little bit. Why did he do that? Why the hell did he do that? Why doesn't he regret doing it?]

[Most of my life, actually. What would that be like, to have him standing over you literally, pulling you down every single day?]

I'm sorry.

[I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. What if he could just - absorb all of this pain into his body, take it away from Jotaro and Kakyoin and Jonathan and hold it in the birdcage of his ribs and let it scratch impotently trying to get out, forever?]

You didn't deserve that.

[It felt like what he knew.

Some days he still can't get himself out of the mindset that anything and everything that goes wrong is his fault, that he's perpetually inferior, that if there isn't a purpose and a cause for it, suffering isn't something he intrinsically deserves. Moving past what Dio taught him in childhood is always a struggle, but it's one he won't let define him. Even if their fates were two red strings knotted together, tangled, fraying at the ends and struggling to separate, he'd only suffer when it meant he could protect the people he loves.]

It isn't your fault.

[He has no way to know how Giorno is reacting past that screen, but something runs through him that he can't quite place - call it instinct, call it paternity, call it knowing what it's like to have family by his side again, even if Giorno is what's fraying at the ends of it.]

I had plenty of things in my life that I was grateful for, so you shouldn't worry. Focus on your own happiness, and I'll be behind you one hundred percent.

[People keep telling him that . . .]

[People keep telling him that, and sometimes it makes him sad and sometimes it infuriates him, but this - he doesn't know. It still doesn't feel good, and he still doesn't really believe it, especially since Jonathan doesn't know. But he doesn't think Jonathan knows how to lie, and that makes a pretty big difference.]

I worry about everyone. It's my job.

[It would be nice to tell the lie that he didn't mean to say that. That he isn't dropping hints and sabotaging things on purpose. But, at least to himself, he'll be honest. This time.]

[It's a very, very good thing that Giorno doesn't know about his younger years. If this was a face-to-face conversation, he'd be the one opening his mouth to object, only to realize that shit, in a way, he does that too.

Here, he'll tackle that in a different way.

God, he's so young.]

If you are able, try to put off worrying long enough to get some rest. I've kept you up long enough, and after today, we both deserve that if nothing else. Can you promise me that?

[People don't ask him to make promises. Not promises like this one, to take care of himself. It seems like something family would say, but Jonathan is too good to be his family, so - a friend, maybe.]

[Maybe he can turn off his mind long enough to sleep, and that can be good enough.]

I promise.

Good.

[And it is good, even if he can't possibly know what kind of emotional storm has been brewing inside of the don. For now, it just means that a young man will be able to close his eyes tonight, and that's all he can ask.

...]

Sleep well, Giorno.

Good night, Jonathan. Sleep well.

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