oathshackledbird | Ruby City Mailbox/Inbox

Why doesn't that surprise me?

[Probably because he has seen the kind of chaos that follows the Joestars everywhere.]

That sounds good to me. I am actually there right now. It's pretty quiet with just me and Afonso here. We shouldn't be bothered by anyone.

[And true to his words, when Kakyoin arrives, he will find Diarmuid in the kitchen. Don't worry. There won't be any explosions or burned food. He's just making coffee.]

[Quick as he was when traveling with Hierophant, it didn't take long at all for Kakyoin to get from one end of the city to the other. It was much faster to just cut a straight line through the air and over rooftops rather than bothering with city streets.]

Diarmuid? Sorry if I kept you waiting. [...he said, knowing damn well that he didn't.] How have you been?

[The look Diarmuid gives Kakyoin as he carries his coffee to the table says very clearly that he knows Kakyoin knows he didn't keep him waiting. Really, what a question.]

I'm doing okay. Dealing with a few nightmares, but all things considered, it could be worse.

[Plus, having someone he can help out like he's been able to help Lisa Lisa actually has been good for him.]

What about you? With all that has been going on, it can be pretty stressful being the sane one in the group.

[Oh no, there aren't about a hundred unasked questions in there. You are imagining that, Kakyoin.]

...I'm okay, right now. The last couple of weeks have been a little difficult to navigate, but I've had worse as well.

[He definitely caught the interrogation that hadn't yet started, choosing his words a little carefully to answer as much as possible as easily as he could.]

I have things under control for now.

Jotaro told me the other week was a...rough one for all of you. I'm glad you are holding up.

[As much he wants to ask more questions, Diarmuid also doesn't want to push too hard. Kakyoin requested this meeting for a reason and he knows eventually his friend will make his way there. It is better to let him get there at his own pace than to rush him and possibly upset him.]

Would you like some coffee while we talk?

Ah--he mentioned that, huh? [To his credit Kakyoin only faltered a little; what was done was done, there wasn't much point in lingering over it unnecessarily.] ...It was the sixteenth.

[...]

I'd appreciate that, if you wouldn't mind.

[Diarmuid nods, walking back into the kitchen to pour another cup. A moment later, he returns and hands a cup to Kakyoin, gesturing for him to take a seat at the table.]

He mentioned he was preoccupied and you know me. I had to ask why.

[The 16th. It's a date he won't forget now. Gently, he gives Kakyoin's arm a supportive squeeze.]

Did you want to talk about that or something else?

I'm okay with it, for the most part. [He shook his head with a small smile, accepting the cup of coffee and taking a chair.] It's...just a date. That's all.

[So it was fine. It was the twenty-seventh now, and every day that went by made him less concerned about the date itself.]

...Do you know about Joseph already?

[A date and one whose terrible events cannot reach Kakyoin here. Diarmuid is glad to hear him speaking of it that way. Trapping himself in the past would just waste the time he has here.]

I know some. I haven't gotten the chance to meet him yet. I've just heard things from others, mostly Lisa Lisa.

[Diarmuid settles at the table, sipping at his coffee.]

Why do you ask?

We're kind of...having trouble dealing with that. Mostly Jojo and miss Holly--there's a huge time discrepancy that I don't think they know how to handle.

[Kakyoin sighed and paused to take a drink, thinking over the right way to say what he was thinking.]

He's barely older than Jojo or myself. I can't say that 'he's not the Joseph Joestar we know', he is--people like him don't change very much. But he's not...the same. He has no idea about anything that happened between Tokyo to Cairo, and he won't live through it for a very long time. He won't recognize his own daughter, much less his grandson.

[Kakyoin only mentions Jotaro and Holly, but Diarmuid has a feeling his friend is having trouble as well. Of course, Kakyoin is not going to mention his own troubles when those he cares about are also having trouble.]

Holly contacted me not long ago and she mentioned she was having trouble while we were talking, but what seemed to bother her just as much, if not more, was how others were worrying about her. She sounds a lot like me. She hates troubling people. I tried to talk to her about it a bit, but I don't know how much it helped.

[He's only known her a short time, after all.

It's hard because they are facing a two-fold problem. Not only are Joseph's daughter and grandson having to deal with a man they know, but don't know, there is the added issue of just how much happened during their trip. Life, death and defeating an immortal madman are not exactly things that can be forgotten. Diarmuid sighs and runs his hands through his hair.]

When Jonathan met everyone, how did you handle it?

[It's not the same because no one besides Erina really knew Jonathan before he died, but maybe it is something they can can use as a springboard for ideas.]

...That might have ended up something of a disaster, actually. [HA HA HOO BOY.] But that was different. We had a lot of much worse things to tell Jonathan, and Joseph isn't quite the same kind of person.

[A sigh.]

Miss Holly's a kind, selfless person. She won't let things trouble her if she can help others, but that doesn't mean it'll hurt any less. And Jotaro's...well, I can take care of him. I'm just worried about how to proceed with all this and make sure they get hurt as little as possible. Jotaro thinks we should step back and let things unfold for a bit, and I'm inclined to agree with him. But...I suppose I'm just not sure what comes next.

...it's weird. We all had so much to tell him, and now we just...can't.

Oh... Yes, lets try and avoid repeating that, then.

[There are enough Joestar related disasters going on as it is.]

To be honest, I think you and Jotaro are in the right about letting nature take its course for a little while. He's going to find things out on his own no matter how you try to hide them and when it comes to the kind of things you guys need to tell him, a natural course may be a better one. Plus, he is going to need time to get settled in and get used to the city as well.

[Diarmuid can't help but shake his head at Kakyoin's last statement, though.]

I don't think it's weird at all. In a way, he is very innocent and it is in our natures to want to keep the people we care about like that. Besides, it's not like you are telling him something simple like his favorite pet is going to be hit by a car. Things are just a bit more complicated than that.

['Bit' being the most massive understatement ever.]

Edited 2016-01-29 03:26 (UTC)

I thought he was right, too. We can only get a handle on so much of a given situation, so waiting and picking things up in the aftermath might be better. Caesar can deal with him better than us right now, anyway.

[Kakyoin looked to the cup of coffee his hands were wrapped loosely around, quietly thoughtful.]

...Do you remember...when I told you about how I broke the clock tower?

Right. If we pile too much on him right now, he might get angry or just downright decide not to believe us. Neither thing is the response we want. Besides, none of you should carry the full burden of telling him everything. It's something that should be shared. Information coming from the right person always makes understanding easier.

[That quiet, thoughtful tone shouldn't make Diarmuid's stomach sink like it does, but it does anyway.]

Yes, it was all you could do to try and pass on what you had figured out about how Dio's stand worked.

Of course, you're right. Even if we knew where to start right now, it's way too much for anyone to handle.

[Kakyoin took a slow, controlled breath, and let it out quietly.]

It was Joseph--Mr. Joestar who saw that. He was the only other person there when I fought Dio. And I didn't realize it until a short while ago, but...I don't think I was the first person to die for his sake like that. [He didn't know the details, but Kakyoin's suspicions rarely failed him. And he knew enough about Caesar to have several suspicions.]

I've wanted to thank him for understanding and making sure Jotaro knew what The World really did. And I wanted to apologize for things having gone how they did. Ever since I got here, the last memory I have of him is hearing him calling my name, shouting 'how dare you do that to Kakyoin' while he faced off against Dio himself. But now I just-...

[He trailed off, adjusting his glasses.]

Caesar asked me if I was going to tell him I was dead, and I said I wouldn't lie if it came up. But right now it's Jotaro and the rest of their family I'm worried about. They're dealing with a mess a hell of a lot worse than 'you were the last person to see me alive'.

Edited 2016-01-29 03:57 (UTC)

[By all Above and Below... It takes a lot of restraint for Diarmuid not to swear out loud. Instead, he focuses on taking a long drink of his coffee, at the same time wishing it was something a lot stronger. He is just getting himself back under control when the next shock hits him.

...I don't think I was the first person to die for his sake like that.

The words send his mind spinning. Thanks to talking both to Caesar himself and to Lisa Lisa, Diarmuid knows she trained both Joseph and Caesar. Considering how close Caesar and Joseph are, how high are the chances they fought together?

How high are the chances that Caesar...

Diarmuid shakes his head to push away the pieces his instincts are putting together because he doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to think about how terrible it had to be for Joseph to watch a second person die like that for him...]

Just because their worries are different from yours doesn't mean yours are any less important. I have a feeling Joseph would feel the same way.

My last memories as I died the first time were of my friend Oscar threatening and cursing his grandfather because he wasn't healing me. I always wanted to find out if he went through with it.

[Diarmuid laughs sadly.]

I always wanted to tell him how much of an idiot he was being too. It's a little different than what you want to tell Joseph, but I understand needing to do it. It needs to be done. I have a feeling you will know when the time is right too. You are better at knowing that kind of thing than you think you are.

[Caesar was too much like him. Not identical, but too similar. It didn't take a strategic genius to piece together that history had managed to repeat itself.]

I'm not as conflicted over all of this as they are. Even 'conflicted' may be putting it lightly. Right now I know what my priority is, and it isn't straightening out my own problems just yet.

[The word consigliere briefly came to mind again; someone had to be the leader's direct support. Take on what they couldn't, so they didn't collapse. And right now until further notice, that person absolutely had to be Kakyoin.]

After things settle down, once Jojo and miss Holly figure things out and he's a little more accustomed to the city...I don't know. I'll try to talk to him again, or maybe he'll end up approaching me first.

You and Jotaro are a good pair. I am sure everyone's issues will get sorted out in time.

[Mainly, because Diarmuid is sure that once Jotaro get his own feelings straightened out, he's going to make sure that his partner does the same thing. It's part of the reason that they work so well together. Neither is willing to let the other fall apart completely.]

Considering Joseph does not strike me as the kind that has a whole lot of patience or tact most of the time, I suspect it is very likely he will come to you first.

[Especially considering how much alike Kakyoin and Caeser are. Joseph may end up finding Kakyoin easier to talk to than the others.]

...Yeah, we are. [The admission came with a smile that was quickly hidden behind his cup of coffee.]

You are absolutely correct about him, at any rate. He's...I wouldn't speak poorly about my friends in any seriousness, but he could be incredibly immature at times. Did Jojo ever mention the time he insisted he could ride a camel?

[Diarmuid rolls his eyes slightly at how Kakyoin hides his smile behind the cup. Really, stop being so cute about the whole thing.]

It is not speaking poorly of someone to recognize they have faults. We all have them. But, no I have not heard anything about riding a camel. You have to tell me now because the chaos I am imagining from what I know about camels probably is not coming anywhere near what actually happened.

It wasn't chaos, just...very stupid.

[But he was openly smiling now, trying not to start laughing.]

We were about to cross the Arabian Desert, I think it must have been just before the sun tried to kill us. [The fact that that was a real sentence which made perfect sense to Kakyoin should probably have registered as weird, but oh well.] So we managed to get a group of camels and Mr. Joestar starts trying to explain how to ride them...except it wasn't cooperating and he couldn't even get on at first. He spends a few minutes trying to get onto it, until Polnareff asked if he'd ridden one before at all.

...At which point he said he'd seen a movie about it three times. And slept through half of it twice. But once he finally got onto it, he started explaining about how camels and horses move differently...then it started moving and he immediately fell off.

[~JOSEPH JOESTAR~]

It was absolutely mortifying at the time, but in hindsight I have to admit it's kind of funny.

Edited 2016-01-29 21:42 (UTC)

[Considering not long ago Kakyoin was planning on punching the sun? Diarmuid isn't going to say a word about the sun trying to kill them. He's heard about the lasers.]

He was trying so hard, wasn't he?

[Diarmuid can help but laugh himself. Why is it so easy to see his friend Oscar trying the same kind of thing?]

It's oddly endearing, especially in hindsight, isn't it? People like him mean so well and try too hard to help. At least it gives us good memories afterward.

He was certainly making an effort, I'll give him that.

[youtried.jpg]

But he did always come through when it counted. Much as Jojo complains about every plane he's in crashing, he manged to crash them all without killing us. And he helped Jotaro cheat to win against a Stand user that stole my soul. [Um. What.] Admittedly I still don't know all the details of that last one.

[Diarmuid blinks in surprise when he hears those last words.]

A Stand user who stole your soul? Is there no end to the things that Stands can do?

[Even as he asks the question, Diarmuid gets the feeling he really doesn't want to know the answer to that question.]

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