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“Avdol! Mr. Joestar!”
You jogged through the streets continuously calling out for the two. After getting tired of waiting, you offered to take Iggy and go look for them in one area, while Jotaro and Polnareff went to another. Some locals had told you about some weird commotion over by the railroad tracks and now around the shops; commotion that involved an old, loud man in a beige outfit and hat and a fancily dressed man in a red robe. No doubt that was them.
Of course, Iggy had run off, leaving you to search by yourself, but that didn’t bother you. You still had your own Stand, and you were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself (especially when it came to being paired with Iggy for anything).
You were obviously going in the right direction as the streets were a mess. Civilians and shop owners were rattled and shouting as from the sounds of it anything metal was suddenly missing, flying down the street like it was being pulled away. You followed the chaos and growing mess on the streets, items from a tiny ring to whole cars littered around. One layed overturned in your path, but standing on your tip-toes you could see the top of two familiar heads. Getting closer, it was no doubt who you were searching for as Joseph’s booming, gut laugh rang out. Heaving yourself on top of the car, the two clearly came into view, dusting themselves off and conversing.
“Avdol! Mr. Joestar!” The two turned at your call as you climbed down from the car.
“(Y/N),” Joseph finished dusting off his hat, placing it back on his head with a teeth-baring smile at the sight of you, “surprised to see you found us.”
“Well, it was way over 5 minutes,” you placed your hands on your hips raising an eyebrow at the two of them, “so we had to start looking for both of you. I just followed the mess you left behind.”
“We were attacked by another Stand user.” Avdol spoke up. “They targeted Mr. Joestar first, and when I went to go to find him back at the hotel I was unfortunately targeted and affected by their Stand as well; a Stand with an ability tied to magnetism.”
“And as you can imagine-” Joseph grimaced, flexing the fingers of his left hand- “that was not fun for me.”
“From the looks of it,” you looked around over your shoulders, “it seems like you two had quite a time.”
You didn’t miss Joseph and Avdol’s eyes flicking over to one another, lips pursed and the sudden burst of red engulfing their faces. Avdol took to looking away quickly back at the ground, trying to desperately control the blush and picking at the fabric of his robe. Joseph rocked back and forth on his feet, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Yeah-” he coughed- “it was certainly an ordeal-but we handled it!” he quickly regained his composure, chest out and standing straight.
“We should probably get back to the others,” Avdol, now recomposed himself, said, “I’m sure they’re worried, especially if you came here by yourself, (Y/N).”
“I did have Iggy with me,” you said, tilting your head, “but of course, he ran off on his own again.”
“We don’t have to worry about Iggy.” Joseph affirmed, stepping forward. “But I am worried about Jotaro and Polnareff.”
“Why is that, Mr. Joestar?” Avdol turned his head to him. You looked to him as well for an explanation.
His face had taken a serious turn. You’d come to learn it as the battle-experienced and knowledgeable side of Joseph that showed itself every now and again. When he got that look and tone, it was time to pay attention and listen.
“The entire time we were fighting Mariah, it was like she was playing with us. I took as she was just being cocky, but our chase through town had me rethinking it.”
“I took it as she led us on a wild goose chase just to amplify the magnetic field she had on us as well as being able to use all the metal around.” Avdol touched his chin, voicing his thoughts.
“So did I,” Joseph agreed, “but remembering the map I made again I realized. I don’t believe she was leading us away from Jotaro and the others just so they couldn’t help us. In fact, she probably could have affected them too if she wanted and made the fight harder.”
“So what you’re saying is….?” You began.
“What i’m saying is that Mariah may have been leading us away not just so you all couldn’t help us, but so that we couldn’t help you.” Joseph’s eyes were locked off into the distance, concentrated.
Avdol let out a small gasp, “You mean, another Stand user attacking at the same time? It’s almost like with Hol Horse and J. Geil….” he added quietly.
Joseph nodded. “We haven’t really come across any of the Stand users sent by Dio to be working together other than that time, so I didn’t think much about it. But my gut is telling me this is another of those times. (Y/N)-” he looked down towards you, “-do you know where Jotaro and Polnareff went in their search for us?”
“Yeah,” you nodded, “they were just going to the other side, around the main square.” You pointed over your shoulder.
“Then we don’t have any time to lose,” Joseph began to walk forward, only to stop short, leaning forward sharply and gripping at his left wrist, “Agh-!”
“Mr. Joestar!” You and Avdol said at the same time, stepping forward to his aid as he tried to wave the two of you off.
“I’m fine-i’m fine,” he choked out, trying to bring himself upright again, “calm down you two.”
“Mr. Joestar, you’re obviously injured from the fight with Mariah,” Avdol had begun checking him over while you took gentle hold of his arm, “we have to take care of this before trying to find Jotaro and Polnareff.”
“We can take care of it after we find them,” he persisted in trying to stand upright, each time Avdol keeping him still with a brush of his hand on his back, “it’s not the first time I would have to power through a little blood and bruises.”
“Jotaro and Polnareff are capable fighters,” Avdol persisted himself, “especially together. I have confidence if something has happened, they’ll be fine while we take care of this and then find them.”
“Avdol-” Joseph tried to turn his head at him, but you cut him off, a hand on his shoulder.
“-Avdol why don’t you go on ahead, and i’ll take of Mr. Joestar.”Joseph’s head whipped back to look at you.
“Are you sure (Y/N)?” Avdol asked.
“Yeah,” you nodded, “I can take him to a local doctor and get him patched up while you go find Jotaro and Polnareff.”
“What?! A Doctor?! No way!” Joseph protested, but unacknowledged by either you or Avdol.
A somber smile tugged at the corner of your lips. “He can’t help but worry about Jotaro, being his grandfather.”
Avdol paused for a moment before nodding, “Alright, I’ll leave him to you. We can meet back at the hotel if I don’t return to you before you finish.”
You watched Avdol take off down the street, vaulting over the car you climbed over before swiftly and disappearing out of sight. Finally, you turned your attention back to Joseph who had remained silent.
“Think you can stand up all the way? Or do you need to lean on me?”
He sighed, straightening back up with a grimace to answer your question. You took a small step back giving him a little room, and not knowing what to say now as a bit of the look on his face before had returned. The shadows from his hat, making it even more intimidating. Slowly though it morphed, beads of sweat visible and the classic Joseph returning as he finally spoke again, body stiff as a board.
“(Y/N), do we really have to go to the doctor?”
You felt your shoulders relax, looking up at him. “We probably should. You and Avdol did teach me some about treating injuries, but this might be out of my skill range. And your hand seems to be bothering you.” You pointed at it.
He bit his lip, flexing it again with a twitch of a grimace each time. “Yeah, I think something in all that magnetism pulled some parts out of place. I can take care of that, I’ve had to do maintenance on it myself before.”
Braving, you stepped forward, grabbing his right hand and starting to pull him along. “Well, come on. The sooner we get there, the sooner it’s over with and you can fix your hand at the hotel.”
It wasn’t that hard to locate a small clinic to take Joseph too. To your luck, there was one nearby. You kept ahold of Joseph’s hand at the start of the walk, feeling just the slightest of resistance, but soon he fell into step just behind you.
“You still holding up back there?” you called back, having let go of his a little while ago.
“Yeah, i’m still here.” He answered.
The two of you continued in silence for several more steps until he spoke up again.
“So….” he started, prompting you to look over your shoulder at him, “I have a question.”
“What is it?” You pivoted to face him, walking backwards.
The look on his face was filled with innocence and a bit of embarrassment. He pulled at the brim of his hat nervously, a dusting of pink trying to peak onto his cheeks. “Am I really being that obvious?”
You raised an eyebrow. “About...what?”
“He’s probably the strongest out of all of us. It was apparent the moment I interacted with him and his Stand in the jail cell.” He started. “Jotaro is clever and strong, even with his temper. But he’s my grandson. I can’t help but worry.”
He came to a stop, running a hand down his face, making you stop as well, several feet in front of him. “I know he doesn’t really like the outright attention and affection. But he’s still my grandson, the child of my precious daughter, and I try to not make it so upfront but….”
You let out a huff of laughter. “Yeah, you’re pretty obvious most of the time. But there really isn’t anything bad about that.” You shrugged your shoulders. “You’re thing is being upfront about caring and Jotaro’s is just more silent. And if we’re being honest-”
You folded your hands behind your back, turning your face down from him, “-it’s pretty heart-warming seeing you care about Jotaro the way you do. So I don’t think you need to be embarrassed about it at all. I’m sure underneath all that brooding and hat, Jotaro feels the same way.”
You raised your head back up, expecting to see Joseph’s reaction only to instead see him starting to run at you,
“(Y/N)!” he called, his hand thrust out and Stand manifesting. “Hermit Purple!”
The purple thorns shot out, wrapping around your chest and arms, lifting you slightly off the ground and pushing you back hard. You landed a few feet away in the dirt, Hermit Purple fading away.
You pushed yourself as fast you could, coughing, looking around for Joseph.
“Mr. Joestar?” You called out, waving at the dust around you. “Mr. Joestar!”
Standing up, you looked all around. Joseph was nowhere in sight. What happened? Was it a Stand user? Why else would he do that? But then what had the Stand been and what had it done? Looking all around, you felt your Stand hover just outside of your body, ready to fully come out if needed. Sweat trickled down the back of your neck as your eyes continued to sweep the area, the dust still settling in places. You shifted around on your feet in small increments to keep watch from all around. You couldn’t afford to get caught in a blind spot right now.
The few civilians around watched you with strange looks for a moment before resuming whatever they were doing. You were just another strange tourist. The chatter faded into the background as you focused on listening for any instance of a Stand or user. Several people walked by you, you kept a close eye on each one, taking the most natural as you could of baby steps to avoid them getting too close as they passed. That’s when you spotted it.
There. A man to your left. A plain and seemingly local looking man. You had almost missed it, but he seemed to have two shadows, one just hovering out of the edge of the other that at a normal glance you wouldn’t pay attention to.
Just as you noticed it, it jumped at you, or more so it flew across the ground towards you. With a yell, you jumped back out of the way stumbling back on your feet tripping over themselves at the unpreparedness. You tried to regain your balance only for your wrists to be grabbed, a force wrenching you flat on your back on the sidewalk, the air leaving your chest as your back made impact with where the curb stuck up meeting the dirt roadway.
A cynical and chilling laugh forced open your eyes as you gasped for breath. You came face-to-face with a strange man; hair jutting out in weird pigtails in both directions with bells hanging off them and triangle glasses. He held your hands above your head by the wrists, positioning his body to be overtop or yours as he knelt on one knee, his face uncomfortably close with a twisted smile.
“Oooo hoo hoo, you’re a quick one!” he laughed,his face coming closer to almost touch yours. “I was originally trying to use my Stand, “Set”, to target you. You were in the perfect spot, but that old man ruined it.”
“What is your Stand?” You grit out, trying to get free. “And what did you do to Mr. Joestar?”
“You don’t need to worry about that.” He purred, pushing your head down to the sidewalk by your hair. “And I wouldn’t try using your Stand, whatever it may be. Cause I can guarantee you wouldn’t even be able to think about using it before my own strikes first at this range.”
Growling under your breath, you wrenched your head out of his grip. He only laughed, leaning back and reaching into his pocket.
“Oo atta boy! Or “atta girl” I should say!” he grinned, the light glinting off his glasses. “I’d love to see you squirm more, but I need to make this quick, I still have to track down Polnareff and finish him off.”
From his pocket he brandished a small knife. “Now, should I put this into your heart or your skull? Your eyes and hair are wondrous, but I honestly think you’d look good in red! Hehehehehe!!!” He let out a high pitched laugh, raising the knife.
You prepared to bring out your Stand. It was a gamble. You still had no idea what his Stand did and you are definitely in his range, but you couldn’t just lay back and let him kill you. The moment before he tries to stab you could be the only opportunity.
You readied yourself, but his swing never came down. You blinked as another figure, shrouded in shadow by the sun behind them, caught his wrist, yanking it back.
“Now now,” a british accent flowed out, “do you think that’s any way to treat a lady?”
Before he could respond, the figure wrenched him back again, this time making his grip on your wrists fall away and body away from yours, landing a square punch sending him to far down the street. You blinked again, sitting up, the silhouette taking a familiar shape of clothes and a particular hat.
“Mr. Joe-” You started, relieved, but stopped as the sun shone on them, and the hat falling away as they straightened back up from the punch. Instead of the old man, it was a young one, wild brown hair sticking up all over the place, but he wore the exact same clothes and gloves.
He turned to you, a smile that reminded you of Joseph, holding out his hand. “Are you alright there? Honestly, I can’t stand dirtbags like that. Someone needs to put them in their place.”
Tentatively, you took it, keeping your eyes on him. Who was this guy? You were appreciative for the help, but you still weren’t sure how to feel. He stopped smiling, leaning in to look at you with a quizzical look.
“Have we met before? This may sound weird, but you seem really familiar.”
“Huh?” You leaned back, tilting your head at him. “I-i don’t know…”
He was about to speak again, but a yell made you both snap your heads towards the street. The man from before was standing up, and obviously agitated.
“I really don’t like being interrupted when I finally get going.” He growled. “You certainly have a lot of nerve, atta boy!” His shadow expanded, rushing towards the two of you.
“Look out!” You shouted, moving to push the young man out of the way. Whoever he was, you couldn’t let him get caught up in this.
He only smirked again, lightly pushing you off. “Not to worry, I’ve got this!”
He danced to the side, as the shadow approached, pulling something from behind his back. Swiftly, he swung it around, you watching as gold light enveloped around it and he launched it at the man.
“Hamon, clacker volley!”
Your breath caught in your throat. Hamon?
The object he threw, you could now see it looked like a pair of bells tied together at the top to some kind of metal ring, flew past the man, throwing him off balance, his shadow receding just before it reached the two of you.
“Why you-Augh!” The man tried to say, but the “clacker” bounced back off a building, hitting him as it flew back into the young man’s hand.
He smirked, pointing at him. “Now your next line will be: “how did you get my bells on my head?”
“How did you get the bells on my-AH!” The man gasped, stumbling back.
The young man’s smirk only grew to show teeth. “It’s simple. Your back was turned to me, when I punched you all I had to do was use my other hand to take these-” he held up the two bells, now a clacker, “right off your hair. Then I just used a washer I found in the street to make it into a clacker. For the life of me I couldn’t find my own!”
He shrugged, continuing. “But as coach Lisa Lisa has taught me, you have to make do with what little you have!”
“Just stand right there, and i’ll make it even littler!” The man yelled.
The young man only took another fighting stance, “Oh please, you’re fighting me, Joseph Joestar! You’re already outclassed in being a gentlemen, do you really want to extend that to your dignity? Actually-you know what-I encourage you to try!”
You froze for a second, head snapping to his face. Joseph Joestar? How could he be Joseph Joestar?
“Guess I didn’t use my Stand enough on you. You’re not weak enough for me to have any fun with. Let’s change that-!”
Before either of them could move you brought out your Stand sending it into the window of the shop by the man, smashing the glass and sending anything in the window out at him. Using the distraction, you grabbed the supposed Joseph’s hand, running down the street and through any turn and twist you could find. Finally, you stopped to catch your breath, hoping the distance was enough.
“The one time I wasn’t planning to use my secret technique, figures.” The supposed Joseph shrugged, rolling his shoulder.
“You.” You whipped around, pointing a finger at him. “Who are you? Did you really say your name was Joseph Joestar?”
“Well, yeah, that is my name.” He deadpanned. “Who are you ?” He poked at your forehead.
You slapped his finger away. “Turn around, show me the back of your neck.”
“What?! Why in the hell would I do that?”
“Just do it! Now! If you really are who you say you are.” You crossed your arms.
“Alright, fine.” He complied, turning and leaning down so you could pull back the collar of his shirt.
There it was. The star mark.
Stepping back, you let him straighten up and face you again. His face softened at seeing your own now filled with uncertainty, like a nervous child.
“You’re Mr. Joestar….?” you started, studying his face. It certainly did look familiar, especially the eyes. They carried the same feeling.
“Mr. Joestar?” He grimaced. “That makes me sound like an old man.”
“Well, I kind of only know you as an old man.” You said, rubbing the back of your hair.
“What are you talking about?” He placed his hands on his hips leaning down closer to you. “Did you hit your head on that sidewalk? Also….” He stood back up, looking around. “Could you tell me where I am?”
“You don’t know?” You’re head snapped up to him.
“I’m supposed to be in Switzerland with Lisa Lisa and Caesar. I’m pretty sure this is not Switzerland. And what the hell is this thing on my arm?! Where’s my arm?!” He gripped the prosthetic hand.
“Mr. Joestar,” you started, your heart pounding nervously, “do you recognize me?”
“Hm?” He looked back down at you. “Sorry, can’t say that I do. Are you an associate of Speedwagon?”
“Oh man…” you pressed a hand to your forehead, “what the heck did that guy’s Stand do to you?”
“Stand? What does that mean? You’re not making a lot of sense yourself.”
“Look, Mr. Joestar-” you began.
“Stop calling me that, I told you, it makes me sound like an old man.” He cut you off with a smile. “Just call me, Joseph.”
“Alright,” you complied, “look….Joseph…..we need to go back to the hotel. One of our friends should meet us there eventually and we can sort this out.”
“Hmm, back to a hotel room with you? Sounds like my kind of plan.” He crossed his arms, still smiling at you.
“Not like that.” You raised an eyebrow at him, the next second something behind him caught your eye.
“Oh shit-” You grabbed his hand again, pulling him into the small space between two shops.
“What are you doing now-?” Joseph protested, but you shushed him, pressing two fingers to his lips.
The two of you peered out into the street as the man from before sauntered into view, looking around, trying to look nonchalant. You pressed the two of you further back into the space and its shadows. You held your breath as he stayed within view. If he spotted you, you didn’t know what to do. Joseph didn’t have his Stand, no memory of who you were or even why he’s here; it’s like he was replaced with a younger version of himself. Maybe that’s what something with the guy’s Stand is, something with age. Joseph was still in the same clothes and had his hand, which he had lost the real one 50 years ago, yet he doesn’t recognize it.
Finally, he left sight, looking like he was giving up on finding the two of you. That was a relief to you, but still a slight worry remembering what he said about hunting down Polnareff, meaning he already got to him too. But right now you had to concern yourself with Mr. Joestar.
You let out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. Joseph chuckled lowly across from you, your bodies almost touching in the tight space.
“You know if you really wanted to get this close to me, you could have just asked.”
He tugged at your hand, making you realize you were still holding it. You could feel your cheeks starting to burn and growing red, hoping the shadows would hide it. In this space you could really tell how small you were compared to him. Mr. Joestar-Joseph- even young, still towered over you; your face level with his chest, your hand completely swallowed by his.
“That’s not why we’re in here.” You pushed him back against the other wall lightly, regaining your composure. God this was weird. “Come on.” You let go of his hand, leaving the space.
Dusting off your skirt, you took one more look around to check for the man. Joseph came out, stretching his arms.
“Well, whatever is going on, I guess I should thank you for helping me.”
“Just think of it as we’re even.” You replied.
“Oh but we’re not.” You turned your head to find his close to yours as he was leaning down again, a glint in his eye. “You saved me twice now.” He held up two fingers. “So I must thank you.”
You tilted your head at him deadpan, “Oh really, and how were you planning to thank me?”
He stood back up coughing into his hand. “Well it seems a bit unorthodox, but usually the knight in shining armour receives a kiss as a token of gratitude.” He looked back down at you, coming closer again.
“So, my lady knight, if you would permit me~”
“Not so fast.” You stopped his lips going for your cheek with your finger. “You’re married.”
“Married?! I think I would remember something like that. You’re just pulling my leg. Unless it’s you~” He winked.
“No, you have a wife.” You pushed his lips away. “Suzie Q."
“Suzie Q?” His eyes widened. “How could that be? Suzie Q is all the way back in Italy.”
“Either way,” you pressed, trying to control your face, “we are not locking lips in any way.”
That didn’t stop him as he just adjusted to taking hold of your hand in both of his. “Very well, then perhaps just for your hand then.” You didn’t get to protest as he pecked your hand with a small kiss. Now you definitely couldn’t hide the red on your face as he looked back up at your face with a smirk, knowing he’d caught you. You quickly slipped your hand from his, turning away.
“Come on already, we need to get to the hotel. We should be safe there.”
You had tried not holding too much conversation with Joseph the rest of the way back to avoid anything awkward. From what you could tell logically, it seemed that the man’s Stand made him younger again, and in turn left him with only what he knew from when he was that age; only knows how to use Hamon, talking about Switzerland and someone named Lisa Lisa, and the fact he was trying to flirt with you a little. You had to stop the train of thought there each time lest your face became red again. It was too weird. You couldn’t fault him right now as he didn’t remember you or what was going on, but it was still so weird since you only knew him as Jotaro’s grandfather and looking like an old man.
Finally the two of you made it to the hotel, and thank goodness your checkout time wasn’t until later in the day, so you could still stay there for the time being. You practically dragged Joseph through the lobby and up to the room as he seemed to get distracted by every little thing from the lights to the escalator. As a little irritated you were, you still couldn’t fault him. His mind right now was back in the 30’s while his body is in the 80’s.
His and Avdol’s room was a mess, sheets and pillows everywhere, from where you would guess his bed.
“Good gosh, your room’s a mess.”
“This is yours actually.” You pointed out flicking his hair from where he hunkered down on the opposite, neatly made bed. “Now we have some stuff to cover.” You pulled up the chair to sit in front of him, only grimacing slightly at what was now probably a bruise on your back.
“Are you alright?” Of course he would notice.
“Yeah, i’m fine,” you settled into the chair, pulling your hand from your back, “guess I just hit that curb harder than I thought, it’s probably just a bruise, Avdol can look at it later.”
“Oh please,” Joseph stood up, striding towards the bathroom, “you said we would be stuck here waiting for whoever this “Avdol” is, so we have time to look at it now.”
“Mr. Joe-Joseph, it’s not necessary-” your protested, trying to follow after him, only for your foot to catch on something, making you stumble and catch yourself on the bed. Turning and looking down you saw the homemade clacker from before was now wrapped around your ankle and the base of the chair.
“Wha-when did you?!” You looked back to be met with a smirking Joseph, coming back out of the bathroom with the first-aid kit.
“Now stop fussing and let’s take a look.” He helped you up, removing the restraint, and sitting back on the bed. “At the very least, we should put some ice on it, I found some weird “ice pack” in here we could use. No idea how you could keep ice in here, but today really isn’t making sense in general.”
Reluctantly, you sat on the bed next to him. Just as he went to pull your shirt up, you slapped his hand away scooting away. “Wait-hold on a sec!” You panicked. What were you thinking? You couldn’t take your shirt off in front of Mr. Joestar, much less have him do it.
“Now what’s the problem?” He raised an eyebrow at you. “I can’t exactly look at it if your shirt is over it.”
You wrapped your arms around your torso and chest, twisting away from him, the red was growing on your cheeks again. “I-I can’t really.”
“Look, I promise I’ll only look at your back,” his face twisted with that glint again, “unless you do want me to look at more.”
You responded by swinging a pillow into his face. “No-No! Look i’ll just….” You turned so your back was to him, “I’ll just hold the back of my shirt up. Just be quick.”
“Righto!” He cheered, opening up the first-aid box.
It only took a minute or two, but it felt like the longest of your life. If you had been hurt before, Avdol or Mr. Joestar would take care of patching you up. The times where it was in a more sensitive area, Kakyoin or Jotaro would do it as you both deemed it was more comfortable with you three being the same age. Technically, Mr. Joestar was now closer to your age, but you still couldn’t see him as anyone other than the old man. He was practically your own grandfather, and you dare say a father figure. You could only hope this was fixed eventually.
“Good thing we did take a look.” Joseph’s voice broke you from your space out. “You had more than a bruise, but nothing serious. All done!” His hand left your back, signalling you could lower your shirt finally.
“Gah, this thing is so weird!” You turned back around to see him grabbing at his left hand again. “Seriously, what the hell?!” Before you could stop him, he pulled off the glove, revealing the metal hand.
You both froze. Him processing the sight, you waiting for his reaction.
“Hey…” he spoke again, his voice level in complete contrast to earlier, “I don’t think I ever got your name...but can you please start explaining what’s going on to me now?”
“Right…” You shifted on the bed, “you don’t remember me right now, but i’m (Y/N), and I’ve been traveling with you, along with a few others.”
“Traveling?”
“Joseph, how old are you? And what year is it?” You finally popped the question.
“What kind of questions are those?” He looked confused. “I’m 19, and it’s 1939.”
“Oh boy…” you scratched at your hair. “Where the heck do I even start?”
“You could start with why you would have to be asking me those questions if supposedly you know me.” He crossed his arms.
“Okay,” you took a breath, “I’ll put this in the shortest and simplest way I can. This isn’t really you, you’re actually way older. That guy from earlier, he has a strange power and it looks like it made you young again. So all you remember right now is from that time. Does that make sense?”
“Not in the slightest.” He deadpanned.
You groaned, flopping back on the bed. “I have no idea how to explain all this. We’re just gonna have to wait for Jotaro and the others to take care of him or find us back here.”
“And if they don’t take care of him?”
“What?”
“What if they don’t take care of that guy that supposedly did this to me?” He repeated.
“I don’t want to think about that.” You sat back up. “The only thing I could say is that you’d be stuck like this. And Avdol went off by himself, and he’s gotten to Polnareff already….” you rambled under your breath, trying not to panic.
“Well,” Joseph slid closer to you, “if i’m going to be stuck like this, then we might as well get to know each other. Maybe again supposedly.”
You turned your head again to face him, finding it close again. What was with young Mr. Joestar and being so close to people? Taking a breath, you reached over to take the metal hand.
“Well I guess I could start with this.” You held it up between the two of you. “You lost your hand in a big battle. It was a long time ago, 50 years.”
“50 years?! Damn!” He exclaimed looking at it. “Boy, I can’t imagine what Caesar will say, unless of course he was there when it happened? I'm still not sure how this works.”
“Caesar?” You raised an eyebrow. Mr. Joestar never mentioned anyone by that name. The longer this went on the more you realized that he didn’t seem to talk about his past and the big battle that happened.
“Oh, he’s my friend!” Joseph answered. “A bit of a pompous ass, but here nor there.”
“I don’t know,” you crossed your arms, “you two seem like you fit together.”
“Hey, what does that mean?!” His head snapped to you as you grinned.
He placed his hands on his hips. “Well, I could say the same with you and I. I gotta say, when you were holding my hand just a moment, it seemed like they fit perfectly, like they were meant to be.”
He’d taken to scooting closer, lifting his hand up to hold it out to yours again. “The way you grabbed it and held it. Seems like a bit of unnecessary dramatics, but i’ve noticed all you’ve been doing today is holding my hand.” He was leaning in close again.
Quickly you found the pillow again to block his lips again from making contact with your face, and hiding the blush.
“Married!” You asserted, as he fussed against the pillow. “Jeez, and I thought Polnareff was bad with constant flirting.”
“Augh, that’s not fair, I don’t even have any memory of being married!” Joseph batted the pillow down.
“Well you are.” You crossed your arms, biting the inside of your lip. “You also have a daughter and a grandson, who is on this trip. And if he found out you kissed me, your hand then won’t be the only thing that’s prosthetic.”
“Alright, alright,” he held up his hands in surrender, “I get it. No more.” He stood up beginning to walk away from the bed when he stopped, doubling over slightly.
“Joseph?” You looked to him. “You alright?”
“I-I feel strange..” he winced out.
“Here,” you rushed up, “maybe you should lay down-”
The two of you turned around each other, Joseph stumbling, only for your feet to get caught up in the messy sheets from his unkempt bed, sending you both tumbling, Joseph falling forward into you.
Your back hit the floor, wincing a little as the wound on your back made contact. Joseph caught himself from falling completely on you, bracing his hands on both sides of your head. Both of you groaned, you took notice at the sudden difference in the sound. Blinking you looked straight up, coming face to face with a more familiar one; grey beard, shorter hair, and wrinkles.
“Uh….Mr. Joestar…?” You said, now really feeling the rush of red to your face and no way of stopping it.
He opened his eyes, finding yours, blinking for a few seconds taking the time to process just like you. It didn’t take long for the same red to rush across his own face as the two of you realized the position you were in.
“(Y/N)? Mr. Joestar? Are you here?”
The two of you didn’t have time to move as the door swung open with the sound of Avdol’s voice, who froze just like both of you.
You took it back about the time before, this was the longest moment of your life. It didn’t take more than a second for his face to twist into you couldn’t tell if it was purely shock, confusion, upset, or scolding.
“Mr. Joestar-!”
“AVDOL, IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE I SWEAR!” Joseph sat up, waving his hands frantically. “Oh god why does this keep happening today?!”
You were still frozen to your spot on the floor, just as embarrassed. It wasn’t until Avdol was picking you up off the floor did you start to move on your own.
“I am unsure if I even want to ask what was going on in here.” Avdol muttered, setting you upright on your feet.
“Let’s just say, Mr. Joestar has had quite a day.” You answered, glancing at him. “And leave it at that.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” He replied, the two of you watching him pace back and forth in spot, hands running all over his face. “Anyways, I found Polnareff and Jotaro, we should go meet up with them downstairs.”
“Alright, we’ll join you in second in the hall, I think Mr. Joestar needs a moment.”
Avdol nodded, leaving the room.
You folded your hands behind your back as Joseph placed his hat back on his head, turning to see you still there. An awkward silence passed between you two as you locked eyes, the blush returning to each of your faces. He coughed into his hand, rubbing the back of his neck and then to grabbing the brim of his hat again, trying to hide his face.
“I-uh….look (Y/N), what happened today with uh….” He stammered. “Can we just forget that it ever happened?” He really burrowed into his hat, not wanting to look you in the eye at all.
“Nope.” You sauntered forward, reaching up to flick his hat back up. You could see the panic and unease in his face. “No way am I forgetting a day like this.”
His face softened as he saw the grin on your face. “But we can keep it our little secret, and laugh about it later. Now come on!” You grabbed his hand, yanking him to the door to catch up with Avdol.