IC Inbox - Ruby City

[beatofmyblood]

Is this how it works? I'm not supposed to send this out to anyone? E-Er, this is Jonathan Joestar. If you cannot reach me at the moment, leave a message, and I will get back to you as soon as I am able!

Comments

audio; let's say 11/3

[berrynice]

Jonathan, could I trouble you to come to the coffee shop for a cup of tea? I'd enjoy your company, if you don't mind.

[So polite and pleasant and not frazzled at all.]

audio;

[beatofmyblood]

Hello, Holly! The pleasure is all mine. Give me a moment to finish up some note-taking, and I will meet you as soon as I possibly can.

[He's really quite excited to see her as well. It's another occasion to become closer with his family, and he wouldn't miss it for the world.]

It shouldn't take more than ten minutes at most.

audio;

[berrynice]

[Note-taking...? For what? Holly is not an unintelligent woman, but she still has some trouble connecting the dots. But she decides she'll ask if it comes up in later conversation, and drops that question for now.]

Don't feel like you have to rush! I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'll get everything ready!

audio;

[beatofmyblood]

[Jonathan Joestar is generally not a secretive man, especially around his family. Really, the notes are being taken for fairly innocuous reasons.]

Even so, you asked! A gentleman cannot leave a lady waiting by her lonesome if she requests his company.

[Which is probably not actually written in the Official Gentleman's Handbook, but he just really wants to see Holly right now okay.]

As I said, I will be over shortly. I insist that I prepare the tea this time.

text; 11/7

[lapidarius]

Mr. Joestar-

I'm sorry it's taken me this long to find the nerve to talk about this. After everything that happened this previous month, with that false Cairo, I've been trying to figure out how to approach this.

I think it goes without saying that I wasn't fully forward when we told you about our experience with Dio. I'll apologize for that, and if you want to know what I left out when I spoke to you with Jotaro, his mother, and Giovanna, then...

Just ask. It's not a pleasant story, but you have a right to know and I'm ready to tell you. If you'd rather do this in person, simply name a place and time.

-Noriaki Kakyoin

text;

[beatofmyblood]

Kakyoin,

Please meet me by the easternmost beach in an hour. Talk about whatever you would like.

I appreciate it.

- Jonathan Joestar.

[His brevity is rather telling. When Kakyoin arrives, he'll find Jonathan sitting on a low outcropping of rock, hands folded in his lap.]

[lapidarius]

I hope I didn't keep you waiting at all.

[Kakyoin was, in fact, there in almost exactly an hour. His sunglasses were left back at Spiral, and Hierophant coiled loosely around his arms as he'd taken to doing.]

...I'll apologize again, before I say anything else. It wasn't my intention to keep anything else secret, or to involve you in all of that.

[beatofmyblood]

Not for a moment.

[Jonathan enjoys talking with Kakyoin, after all - he just wishes it could happen under more favorable circumstances.]

I let my temper get the best of me, and it only made you and Jotaro more apprehensive to tell me what happened to you. I cannot apologize enough. Still, I--

[He pauses, wondering how to best word this.]

It's no secret that I've lost a lot of people important to me. Even if we never met, I didn't want you to be one of them.

11/17 | DIOPOCALYPSE

[starmark]

This is Jotaro. I understand if texting isn't ideal for you but I don't know where you are right now and figured this would be quieter than putting my voice over the pocketwatches.

Have you been sticking close to Giorno?

DIOPOCALYPSE IT IS

[beatofmyblood]

Recently, yes. It's been of his own request, but I cannot say it was unwarranted or unwelcome by any means.

Is there something I should address?

[starmark]

I want to know if you're okay.

Wait.

I'm. Asking. How you're doing. If you're doing okay. Or how you're doing.

You don't have to be okay if you're not.

[beatofmyblood]

To tell you the truth, it has been challenging. I hoped I would only see him again when I returned to where I was some day, and only briefly. Nothing like this ever came into my imagination.

Yourself? Are you feeling okay? It's okay if you feel as though you aren't.

text; after wendigate

[lapidarius]

Jonathan-

I talked to Giorno about what happened with the wendigo. Are you okay?

text;

[beatofmyblood]

Kakyoin -

Yes, I'm fine. You spoke with Giorno?

text;

[lapidarius]

Yeah. I was

[a complete mess]

Worried, I guess.

I'm in the kitchen at home, if you want to talk in person.

text;

[beatofmyblood]

If you think it might be easier, then by all means. I'll be there in just a few moments.

[He's true to his word - he's walking into the kitchen a few minutes later, managing to keep his head a fair distance away from the doorframe - but he looks like he hasn't slept all night.

That's because he hasn't.]

action; after wendigate

[berrynice]

[On the surface, there has been nothing to indicate that anything's wrong or changed. While half of the house descends into inner turmoil, Holly continues as she always has, singing little carols to herself as she adds ever more decorations to the mansion, steadfastly determined to act as a bastion of normalcy as worldviews fall and shatter around her.

But she's not oblivious. She saw what transpired over the pocketwatches, knows it's the source of the tension in the air lately. She feels it too, that ambivalence, albeit far more mildly, as well as the subsequent reflective fear. But she feels something else more emphatically, something no one else in this house can really understand.

That could have been me.]

Jonathan? Do you have a moment or two to spare?

[After a few days to let the dust settle, Holly seeks him out wherever he might be in their house, but only when he's alone does she ask her question.]

action;

[beatofmyblood]

[Jonathan's fussing around in the kitchen, flipping through a recipe book when Holly approaches him. The incident is still on his mind, but perhaps that's exactly why he's trying to distract himself. He's spotted a lovely recipe for some gingerbread men, actually, but family comes before cookies.]

Of course, Holly! Is something the matter?

[He has to at least seem like he's alright.]

action;

[berrynice]

[That's adorable. Holly can't quite resist the temptation to tilt her chin up and peer curiously at which recipe has got him so interested as she closes the distance, but she's been thinking about this for a while and it'll take more than that to make her lose focus.]

Oh, no, nothing like that, don't worry. I've just... been curious lately.

[Well, that's one way to put it.]

If you wouldn't mind, could you tell me a little bit about Hamon?

text; 12/31

[digiorno]

Excuse me, Jonathan? I was wondering if I could ask you something. It's a little strange, though, so if you don't want to answer I understand. Thank you in advance.

text; OH MAN I'M EXCITED

[beatofmyblood]

[Jonathan responds within the minute. He's gotten alright at this whole "texting" thing!]

Ask me whatever you'd like, Giorno! I assure you, I haev heard many a strange question in my life.

text; GET HYPE 4 PAIN

[digiorno]

All right. Thank you.

Before, when Erina wasn't here. What did that feel like?

audio; january fourth

[whatitis]

Hey, it's Carlos. You know the one. I hope?

Anyways, I met your wife! I didn't know you were married. Though, uh, now that I'm actually taking more than a few seconds to think about the implications of this, you couldn't really have a whole lineage and stuff without someone else to make a life with, right? Or maybe you can. I won't judge. Congratulations, or something? I don't know how long ago this was for you, or if you follow linear time. Whatever the case, congratulations anyways. You deserve something nice like that.

Anyways, drop me a buzz whenever you can.

...Just...contact me, I mean. I feel like I'm constantly misjudging your language experiences. Maybe I'll make more of an effort to remember my college Britlit class? I know you Englishmen talk about blood a lot, which I can respect!

Have a bloody day. Have a gore-filled night!

OkayI'llbeoutofyourvoicemailforrealnowbye.

audio;

[beatofmyblood]

[...oh my God.

He has to take a moment to just read this over again. A moment turns into several. Several moments turn into read upon read upon read, finding nuance in every sentence he scans. Jonathan is half-mortified. For one, he didn't tell the man he was married - he cannot understand how the topic never came up in conversation, but curses himself nonetheless - and what in the name of heaven did they teach Carlos in that literature class?

Still, there's another half to this equation. In spite of everything, Jonathan is still half-amused by what an effort Carlos has made in composing this message just to talk to him about his wife. Yes, he does know the one - he doesn't think he could ever mistake anyone for him. Have a bloody day. Have a gore-filled night! Carlos might just be the one person who can say something that audacious and keep Jonathan out of a conniption fit. He's calm. He could talk for hours about his wife. He could talk for hours about his home.]

It's great to hear from you again, Carlos! I cannot believe I've failed to tell you about my darling Erina! You have met her, yes? She's the light of my life. For me, our wedding was about a week ago back home, but as you can imagine...well, it has been significantly longer from my perspective. I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless.

If you don't mind, however, could you tell me just what was taught in class that gave you that particular impression? My experiences aside, I only remember my countrymen talking about gore when the incidents in Whitechapel were of concern.

[whatitis]

[He sounds the slightest touch bitter when he answers.]

I'm very happy for the both of you...you know, you're lucky to have her here, regardless. Not all people can say that about their loved ones. It's really just a toss-up of fate, I guess.

[Another breath is taken before he resumes, sounding a little more chipper, however forced it might be.]

Nah, I just remembered that English people say "bloody" a lot. Or maybe not. At least, that was my perception of your culture, though now that I've heard you talk about it, I've come to think that I'm about 100% incorrect. Am I correct about being incorrect?

[He's trying very vainly to get them off the subject that he started them on, and it's just not working very well. If you haven't figured it out yet, literature and speaking isn't his strong suit, whether it comes to the specific dialects of Victorian England or just trying to hide his feelings. He's a scientist. Scientists don't bother with things like that.]