Work Text:
Egypt in December is almost refreshing compared to Kolkata and Arabia. It's a dry heat and the fact that the end of the year is close, means shorter days and longer nights, and the nights are blissfully cool.
Jotaro leans over the small veranda and looks over the city. The hotel they are staying at for the night is barely three stories, but it's one of the highest buildings in the town, boasting a view of the desert during the day, and of an almost all consuming nothingness during the night. He thinks idly that tomorrow they will break out into that desert, to face more danger, more enemies.
More nothingness.
He thinks about Dio, about the enemies they still have to encounter. He flexes a fist, almost unconsciously, feels Star Platinum somehow mimicking the movement even though he doesn't manifest. It's odd how his life changed in a matter of months. Two month ago he was a punk who got carried away in fights, who felt annoyed by his mother and the girls and the school, who felt always almost ready to just rip out of his skin.
He flexes his fist again. Perhaps that nervous energy was Star Platinum as well, he hasn't felt it ever since that day in prison when the old man showed up and he fought with Avdol. He thinks about the fights then, with Avdol, with Kakyoin, with Polnareff, about the comrades they have become over the long journey.
Comrades, or perhaps...
He thinks about Kakyoin.
Perhaps....
He hears the door open and Jotaro thinks he has unwittingly summoned his roommate, however it's not Kakyoin but his grandfather who steps in.
"Did something happen?" He asks turning around but the old man shakes his head.
"No, just wanted to let you know we'll be leaving tomorrow in the afternoon after all. Polnareff and Avdol couldn't secure transport tonight, so we'll do that in the morning," Joseph answers as he joins Jotaro on the balcony. He lets out a whistle. "Look at that view, stars as far as the eye can see."
Jotaro looks up, its a clear night, the moon bright enough to illuminate the city in eerie cold light, and his grandfather is right, there are countless stars in the sky, the darkness making them more pronounced.
"I hadn't noticed," Jotaro says mostly to himself and makes Joseph laugh.
"How can you not notice, busy thinking about a girl back at home, eh?" Joseph teases and Jotaro can't even muster the energy to glare at him, he is so unimpressed. Joseph seems to find that somehow hilarious and pats him heavy on the back.
"Ea, ea, what with that look? Can't see why else you could be so lost in thought unless it's a girl," Joseph says and then with a sly look adds, "or a boy maybe."
"Oi," Jotaro warns and Joseph laughs again, lifting his hands in mock defeat.
"Don't get angry, nothing wrong with either. Ah but I think, Japan is more closed off on these subjects, isn't it?"
Jotaro turns towards the balcony again and stares at the nothingness, it's better than the conversation that is happening completely against his will.
Joseph rubs his neck. "Ah well, you are a young man, it's normal for you to be curious about these things. It's not like us Joestars have never been adventurous in that aspect as well.
Jotaro side-eyes him for a moment. His hands are in his pocket, picking nervously at a loose thread.
"Are you trying to say you kissed a man once?" He asks more bold than he really feels and Joseph lets out a snort.
"And then some!"
"Didn't you marry Grandma Suzy when you were like twenty?"
"Eighteen! But I was never good at sitting still. Besides, there was a lot going on at the time, I wasn't even sure I would live to see another day, had to made the best of it, you know."
"So what, you hooked up with a man just out of desperation."
Joseph sneers at him. "Wasn't like that at all, he was a great man," he says and leans forward, resting his forearms on the veranda. "A really great man."
Jotaro waits hoping for more but Joseph just leans over the veranda looking into the night, his mind clearly lost in a past. He is not sure himself why it suddenly matters to him, but he wants to know more.
"You were friends?" he asks and Joseph barks out a laugh.
"I couldn't stand him when we first met. He was romancing a girl in a restaurant and it was so cheesy, I wanted to hit him just because of that. But then it turned out we had to work together, and you know, he wasn't all show and no talk. He really was a great fighter, his control over hamon was so much more than I had ever seen. He managed to hypnotize a girl with it to kick my ass, and I'll be damned if she din't give me a run for my money."
"What did you do?"
"Stuffed a pigeon down her throat," Joseph replies and at laughs again at Jotaro's befuddlement. "Ah, it's a story for another day. Point is we both had to go train our hamon and somewhere along the way, I really got to respect him. He was a superb fighter, a great friend and a great comrade."
Jotaro looks at him for a moment, he knows who his grandfather is talking about, he knows that he died during the epic fight that Joseph had won back when he was still a teenager. He tries to picture his grandfather then, probably just as tall and broad as he is now, but younger and full of bravado, ready to take on the world. He wonders what kind of man this friend must have been then, to manage to enchant a man like Joseph even fifty years down the road.
"He died, didn't he? Fighting one of the pillar men."
"Yeah. He could have won, he could have used the last of his energy to defeat the enemy, but he chose to instead save me." Joseph trails off and seems to be lost in the memory once more, of a battle fought half a century ago. "He died so I could live. I will never forget that."
"He seemed like a noble fighter," Jotaro states after a moment, and Joseph smiles and the expression adds an unexpected softness to his face.
"Yeah. Who knows. If he had lived, maybe you wouldn't be here now," he answers with a grin.
"You really think you could have lived with another man back then?" Jotaro asks coming off sardonic even to his own ears. Joseph as always, simply laughs and straightens his back, his hands coming to rest on his hips.
"I had the power to walk on water back then, believe me boy, I could have done whatever I wanted as long as I set my mind to it. Screw what anybody else says. That, is another Joestar trait right there, son," Joseph says and pokes Jotaro in the chest to emphasize the point. And suddenly Jotaro feels as if Joseph is looking right through him, like he knows exactly what he is thinking about, who he is thinking about.
Joseph grabs his shoulder and squeezes it once before releasing. "Life is too damn short to second-guess yourself and worry about nonsense," he states, turns and leaves the balcony, heading towards the door. "Don't have a late night tonight, we have a long journey ahead and this is the last time we'll sleep in beds. We shouldn't waste it," he says with a wink and then leaves.
Jotaro feels heat creeping into his face and turns towards the balcony again. There is a car stopping in front of the hotel, it loiters for a moment before a man emerges, the fire red hair is unmistakable.
Kakyoin looks up, as if knowing, or maybe hoping, that Jotaro is there, and smiles pleased when he seems him. Jotaro once again he feels his face turn red. He leaves the balcony and heads for the shower instead.
He knows what the old man was implying but he doesn't think it's the right time, not now.
But later, maybe, after they all are back home, maybe he could think about it then.