Displacement Theory

[madimpossibledreamer]

Working writing summary: Dawn and kakyoin end up taken captive at some point and she’s all like “this is my dad’s ex!! how do I not make this weird?”

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Stardust Legacy)
Summary: Dawn shows Kakyoin to a safe location, which comes with a surprise.
Word Count: 1659
Rating: Teen 

        Kakyoin doesn’t recognize the city when they escape, and is still having trouble recalling exactly how he had come to be here, but his teenage fellow escapee appears to know where she’s going, and it seems a natural next step to accompany her to make sure she doesn’t get kidnapped again and potentially find even more allies, or at least possibly answers. They are likely in America, judging by the language and accent. She alternates between nervous chatter and complete watchful silence. Kakyoin gets to learn about her big sis (who happens to be called a Slayer, which appears to be some sort of term indicating powers, and hear the proud tone in her voice and the disappointment at not having abilities of her own) and her sister’s girlfriend (‘cool’, owns a motorcycle, and apparently the one who had taught the girl, Dawn, how to pick locks; Kakyoin suppresses a time-dulled pang of regret that he had not had the chance to experience such teenage antics alongside Jotaro). She knows about Stands and can even see them, but doesn’t appear to have a Stand that has manifested yet herself (much to her dismay, however she tries to hide it), and suggests that locally, at least, powers are more varied than simply Stands. She mentions ‘demons’ and ‘vampires’, the latter of which prompts Kakyoin to send tendrils out even further so as to not be caught unawares, as well as extending his senses using hamon. All of this is less unusual than he would have thought in his youth; the ghost’s powers are certainly not Stand-based, they had yet to determine Mikitaka’s exact nature, and Kakyoin had been told several stories from Rohan that he’s unsure whether as to believe, so it’s fully not out of the realm of possibility.
        She doesn’t badger him about his own circumstances or even ask his name. It would be strange, if not for the fact that it’s a common nervous habit from witnesses or allies less familiar with life on the front lines. There will be time enough for such things later, he suspects, and in any case both understand the value of quick movement and secrecy.
        It’s all fairly usual as unusual Speedwagon Foundation duties go, right up until the point they’re heading upstairs in a darkened house. She pauses right before a doorway. “Don’t freak out. Um, you’re Kakyoin, right?”
        Kakyoin manages a ‘yes’, caught by slight surprise, before she opens the door, but the answer as to why makes itself fairly quickly apparent. That is not, in fact, a doppelganger Jotaro, because before he’s even opened his eyes Star Platinum has decided to make his presence known. Kakyoin briefly braces himself for an attack that never comes, because the dead man’s Stand is grabbing the teenager in a bear hug.
        “Okay, okay, I get it, you were worried,” she mutters, trying to wriggle free. It’s ineffective, though the Stand is also being very gentle with her. 
        Star eventually decides to back off, ruffling her hair. “Ora,” he says quietly, like he’s actually concerned about other people actually being able to sleep.
        Which is when Jotaro stirs, stretching, and Kakyoin experiences a moment of panic. This will never, under any circumstances, be relayed to Rohan. He might as well die on the spot. It’s just, well, Jotaro all grown up, in pajamas, no less, is extremely attractive. “Knock it off,” he mutters—in English. He had apparently gotten over his mild grudge against the language, and possibly against his grandfather, although if Kakyoin had to guess, if he’d been alive to learn about the whole infidelity thing any peace he’d made with Mr. Joestar would go flying out the window like an enemy on the receiving end of Star Platinum’s punches. His increased proficiency should probably not be so surprising, given the language spoken by—his daughter?
        Kakyoin is too surprised to spring to Dawn’s defense, but it seems that he had misjudged the complaint. “Aww, come on, Star actually is the cheat code to knowing how you feel! Don’t get mad,” she teases.
        “Yare yare daze,” Jotaro mutters, yawning and forcing himself to actually sit up. “Given that you’re the one that had the audacity to go and get kidnapped again, I’m revoking your sass privileges.”
        Dawn pouts, even as Kakyoin’s brain reels at the idea that Jotaro is a father. “You’re picking up too much language from us. Stop it.”
        This is apparently one of those statements that Jotaro doesn’t even think needs a verbal reply, just one of his usual unimpressed stares, that much more intimidating from the lack of sleep. And then Kakyoin must fidget, or something, because Jotaro’s gaze is drawn to him, and then the man just sort of freezes. Like time-stop, Kakyoin would imagine, only Kakyoin would never be on this end of it. “I—it’s me,” Kakyoin confirms as Star Platinum hovers closer, ready to punch, and brings out Hierophant as proof.
        Star then with a delighted “ora” decides to bear hug Hierophant, putting enthusiastic pressure on Kakyoin’s ribs, even as Jotaro ducks his head and glances at his hat on the nightstand beside him (white, Kakyoin notices) like he wants to pull it lower but realizes actually reaching out to put it on his head will draw too much more attention to his own embarrassment. So while he had gotten better at some things, it’s still Jotaro. That in of itself is a somewhat comforting thought. Awake, he’s slightly better at getting his Stand to back away before too long. At least, that’s what Kakyoin tells himself. 
        And then, after a moment glancing at the both of them again, he decides to lay back down. It doesn’t appear to be an act to try to get out of the conversation.
        “Are you going back to sleep?” Kakyoin asks. There’s much, it seems, he had forgotten about dealing with Jotaro after he’d had the audacity to go and die.
        “It’s too early for a crisis. If you’re real, you’ll still be here in the morning,” Jotaro mutters into the pillow. “When I’ll have had caffeine.”
        “You didn’t need caffeine before,” Kakyoin observes, slightly comforted by the idea that Jotaro might have been having a slight crisis of his own, and finds Jotaro has only put in the effort to turn and have a single green eye visible glaring at him.
        “I got a PhD, and then two kids. I had to do something. Couch downstairs. Don’t be weird.” Apparently he remains just as blunt, however. “Call your sister, Dawn,” he adds, and then he’s out.
        Kakyoin and his co-conspirator leave quietly, and it’s only after the door is closed that Kakyoin bothers to whisper. “You could have warned me?”
        “Sure. How?” Dawn asks, confirming that she is also a rebel when it comes to continuing sarcasm. She’d known who he was for a while, it appeared, and now the earlier nervousness is recontextualized. Rather than being nervous about being caught by the earlier kidnappers (which would not be an unrealistic fear, given the circumstances, never mind the implication that this is a regular occurrence), she might have, instead, been nervous about trying to determine the correct approach to warning him. It’s the sort of order of priorities that Jotaro might have, though that in of itself would be more ‘nurture’ rather than ‘nature’. “I got as far as ‘one of us ended up in the wrong world, somehow, be cool’ and then ran out of ideas.”
        “This is a different universe, then?” Kakyoin clarifies. It had seemed the most likely explanation, but it doesn’t hurt to confirm data.
        “I think so. Unless you have a better idea why you’re suddenly alive. I’ll get you blankets,” she suggests, very helpful, and he suddenly gets the feeling she’s attempting to avoid calling Buffy (what was Jotaro thinking when his children were named).
        “That’s all right; I wouldn’t want to impose as a guest, particularly when you have obligations,” he tells her, fully willing to sleep on just a couch (it’s hardly the worst place he’s ever slept; he’s been a number of places when it comes to his work for the Speedwagon Foundation).
        She glances knowingly at him and sighs. “She’s probably still on patrol looking for me so...yeah, I probably should.” She goes to get them anyway, picking up the phone and dialing with only a slight hesitation as she does. Kakyoin catches snatches of her attempting to, of all things, defend herself about having been kidnapped in as low a tone as she can manage, but he does smile and nod in thanks once she’s gotten the couch ready to her satisfaction.
        It’s not until he’s actually physically settling down to sleep that he realizes she has indirectly answered one of his questions, another trait possibly learned from her father: he now knows why she recognized him. It’s not simply from a description of him or his Stand. She’d placed a picture of Kakyoin in a frame on the table. The glass is new and doesn’t quite fit properly, and there’s a little dried blood on the wood, but then, Jotaro never had a very artistic eye and probably didn’t understand the difference it made. It still has a little dust clinging to it, but at the same time, the young Jotaro Kakyoin had known was not exactly prone to sentiment. The fact that he had bothered to keep a ridiculous picture of Kakyoin taken by Polnareff—never mind frame it, or fix it when it got broken—says quite a lot, really. As is the fact that Dawn had seen this picture. Seen it, remembered it well enough to recognize Kakyoin, and had enough context to know his name and at least a few basics about him. Not still lost in grief, but still more than happy to see him again, still remembering their past fondly. Kakyoin’s smiling when he drifts off.