oathshackledbird | Ruby City Mailbox/Inbox

You can sit down over there...

[Diarmuid motions to a chair at the table near where he is going to be working.]

...and tell me if there is anything specific you would like on the frame. Something that symbolizes you guys' friendship perhaps?

[In other words, he is doing this and nothing is going to stop him.]

E-er... [Kakyoin sat down without an argument, having gone back to holding the photograph close to his chest.]

Something that--? I'm not too sure, really. It wasn't like we were some kind of superhero team with a name or anything like...

[He trailed off, glancing to the picture and then back at Diarmuid.]

...no, on second thought there might be something. It's a little strange, but maybe something like...stars.

Edited 2015-08-07 03:11 (UTC)

What does being a superhero team have to do with it? If you want stars, stars it will be.

[Diarmuid seems unfazed by Kakyoin's choice. In fact, he just nods and then pushes his notebook over toward the teen along with a pencil before starting to look a little closer at the wood he has to use.]

Draw me a design. Where would you like the stars? Do you want one for each of you on the frame?

...That might be a nice idea, actually.

[He carefully set down the picture itself on the table and picked up the pencil, thinking carefully before starting to sketch something out in quick, practiced motions.]

It's a little weird, but...there was a lot of fate and destiny tangled up in this whole thing. Their family...Dio had kind of a strange influence on them because the body he stole belonged to Jotaro"s great-grandfather. Jonathan, I think his name was. All three of them had this star-shaped birthmark on their shoulders--apparently the whole family does. So the whole trip was...resolving some century-old grudge, for the two of them The rest of us--myself, Polnareff, Avdol and Iggy--we had our reasons for coming, but this was bigger than us from the start.

[He set the pencil down, showing Diarmuid a simple and practical design: small five-pointed stars on each corner, and two on the sides for a total of six.]

How does that look? Six stars for six people. Er...five and a dog, at least.

Ah Fate. I am well antiquated with it.

[As Kakyoin explains, Diarmuid takes the time to look a little closer at the picture. So this is the dog who had a Stand? How odd. He looks just like any other dog would.]

You realize if you had not already dropped that whole 'took his body' thing on me, I would be so confused right now.

[As it is, the explanation actually clears up a few things from their earlier conversation.]

That looks great to me.

[He looks it over for a few moments and then sets to work, hands moving impossibly fast as he talks.]

Was it ever explained why the mark was a star of all things? Or is that just one of those ancient mysteries there is no answer to?

I don't know--it never actually occurred to me to ask Jotaro or his grandfather why their ancestral birthmark was a perfect star. [Which was said with no small amount of awareness that it was a really weird thing in general.]

That's him next to me, the one in black. [He watched Diarmuid's hands as he spoke, oddly fascinated by the kind of inhuman speed he had. It really was like watching Star Platinum, actually.] On my left here, that's Avdol--he's a friend of Jotaro's grandfather. [Kakyoin sounded genuinely excited as he talked, restraining it just enough to not completely lose composure.]

And with Mr Joestar and Iggy in front here, that's Polnareff. He...was in a situation like me when we first met him, but Avdol beat him in a fight and we brought him along too.

[Pausing, Kakyoin suddenly looked embarrassed.]

Ah--s-sorry. I'm talking way too much, aren't I? They'd be really annoyed, if they knew I was telling all this to someone that wasn't one of us...

Well, sometimes it is more fun to guess. Why do you think it is a star?

[Go on, Kakyoin. Throw some kind of really crazy reason out there. Meanwhile, Diarmuid will look up as the teen mentions who each person is in the picture. He makes mental notes and, as he puts each star onto the frame, it in some way, reflects the person--or animal--it is closest to. Of course, this is probably only noticeable when he pauses to shake his head at Kakyoin's embarrassed comment.]

No, not at all. They are very important to you and so I want to know about them. I am always curious. Haven't you figured that out already?

I really have no idea, honestly. With all the strange things I could have questioned about all that we did, that kind of seems normal by comparison.

[He started fidgeting again, taking his sunglasses out of his pocket just to have something to do with his hands.]

D-....do you really want to know? I mean, I could probably keep going, if you wanted to ask or anything.

[This awkward child thinks he's cool.]

[Diarmuid laughs.]

Normally, I would say you were exaggerating, but from what you have told me so far, I can tell that is nothing but the truth. Oh well, one mystery that will just have to stay unsolved unless someone who can answer it happens to arrive.

[He pauses to shift tools and brush away some wood shavings, then nods at Kakyoin, eyes bright and curious.]

Why don't you keep going for a little while? If I think of something, I will be sure to ask.

[Considering how crazy things seems to be for Kakyoin and his friends, Diarmuid has no doubt he will have something to question soon enough.]

[Silent for a moment, Kakyoin glanced from the sunglasses in his hand to the photograph itself. A distant look crossed his face as he thought things over; he'd been in this city longer than they had been traveling together, hadn't he?]

[What would any of them think of that, if they came here? Would they think Kakyoin was turning his back on his best and most important friends, in favor of people who weren't even Stand users? Was he?]

...I almost...didn't get to Cairo at all. [He said that quietly, like Kakyoin was debating mentioning it at all. He had to learn to trust other people, but it felt...wrong, somehow. As though if he were to say too much about the experiences they had shared, new and different people would take the place of the first people that could ever understand Noriaki Kakyoin.]

You noticed, right...? There's something missing in this picture. [He tapped the sunglasses lightly against his head, near his eyes to indicate what he meant.] We were attacked by an enemy Stand user--ten, maybe twenty minutes after this was taken? I don't remember clearly. I know his Stand took the form of water, and I know it reached as far as my Hierophant, maybe even farther.

...Polnareff and I were arguing about how to fight it, and the next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital in Aswan.

[He gave a humorless laugh, frowning in annoyance.]

I had the worst luck on this journey, when it came to fights. [Under his breath:] Between that and Death Thirteen, it's a goddamned wonder I made it that far.

[If Diarmuid could read Kakyoin's thoughts, he would say the fact that the teen was worried about doing such a thing meant that he wasn't. And if his friends are as close to him as it seems like they are? In the end, they will know he's not either. Diarmuid wouldn't say they won't be jealous for a bit, but they will understand.

As it is, the closest Diarmuid can come to reading minds is realizing from Kakyoin's fiddling with his sunglasses that he is finally going to find out where those scars came from. He keeps working as Kakyoin starts the story, but when he starts talking about the attack and the Stand users abilities, he stops to just listen and watch his friend's face.]

I did wonder, but I knew when you were ready you would tell me.

[While he is curious, Diarmuid has never been kind to force people to tell him what they aren't ready to.]

So your opponent took advantage of your distraction. How dishonorable.

[In Diarmuid's time, that would not have happened, but he also knows that his time is long passed no matter how sad that might seem to him.]

Luck is really what you make of it. You came away with your vision. Perhaps it isn't the same as not having been injured at all, but you were able to be there with your friends later.

[His forehead wrinkles at the whispers.]

Death Thirteen? Should I ask or would you rather not talk about it?

...Another time, maybe. That's one I really don't care to talk about.

[And the reason he didn't sleep well, on top of that.]

I was just thinking that this...feels a little too similar to being stuck in a hospital on my own, not having any idea what's going on with any of the others. I know this is absurd and I'm doing all I can to deal with it, but I just...feel so damn useless.

I'm not strong like the others, and Mr. Joestar's own Stand can scout even better than Hierophant. On top of that, I had to do something stupid enough to get myself killed--now I'm in this city doing nothing to help them, even if things aren't happening in my world while I'm here.

[...]

I don't...really know if I was ever worth taking along on this trip in the first place.

I understand, though if you ever change your mind, I am here to listen.

[He is also up at all hours of the night, just saying...]

Listen.

[Diarmuid sets aside the almost finished frame and picks up the picture, holding it out to Kakyoin.]

Do any of them look like they are upset to have you there? You are their friend and they wanted you there. Things happen beyond our control a lot, but that doesn't mean it was wrong for us to have been there or to have tried.

I think a lot of people feel useless when they first arrive here. I know I did. That is how this school came into being. I had to find something to focus myself on so that I would be able to keep going until we figured this place out. You will eventually find that too. I am positive of that.

I really hope that you're right. I hate doubting them and myself like this, I just--

[Kakyoin shook his head, frowning slightly.]

...Sorry. It really does seem like I'm saying one stupid thing after another every time we talk.

[Diarmuid shakes his head as well as he sets back to work on the frame.]

It is normal to doubt and we all say things that sound fine in our heads, but then end up sounding really foolish when they come out of our mouths. Don't worry so much. You are learning. That is all.

[One or two more touches and he is done.]

Here, what do you think?

[It was kind of fitting, in a strange and possibly overdramatic way. The only tangible remnant of his old friends, closely tied with the first person he'd met after...everything. There was definitely something to be said for that, and it was a beautifully made object.]

... [Kakyoin answered with a genuine but shaky laugh, quickly putting his sunglasses on--or hiding behind them--before delicately taking the frame.]

I think...I think it's perfect.

Good! I am glad you like it. Nothing less than perfect would be acceptable for this. When I am out next, I'll see if I can't find some glass we can slip in to protect it from the front. In the meantime...

[He points to the back so that Kakyoin will turn it over to see how it opens and closes.]

...it is ready for use. Care to put the picture in its new home?

Yeah, of course. [He turned it over, opening the frame and placing the photograph in it as carefully as possible.]

This really does mean a lot. If there's anything I can ever do to repay you, just let me know.

[Diarmuid gives him a friendly and gentle punch to the shoulder.]

Don't worry about repaying me. Just enjoy the frame and the picture, okay? I know how much your friends mean to you.

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