Back from ‘Vacation’
Feb. 9th, 2026 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerI didn't intend to go here but it makes sense. 'Ticking time bomb of fury' I can nearly guarantee is a Mystery Men reference, but I haven't watched it recently and should fix that.
Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Stardust Legacy)
Summary: Buffy understands what Jotaro did, but that doesn't make it any easier.
Word Count: 915
Rating: Teen
Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Stardust Legacy)
Summary: Buffy understands what Jotaro did, but that doesn't make it any easier.
Word Count: 915
Rating: Teen
Everyone’s wondering why Buffy hasn’t gone to talk to her dad. It’s all they’ve been working for this summer, so you’d think she’d be happier about it. She finds she has to contemplate for the first time that maybe, after all, Xander had a point. Oh, he’d been really complimentary about it, making her out to be this great hero rather than this monster maybe more obsessed with blood than the vampires, but still. It feels better out there crunching skulls than just sitting in her room crying and staring at walls, even though she has no idea what a psychologist would say (well, aside from the whole ‘vampires aren’t real and we need to confine you until you agree’ deal). Besides, this way she can keep an eye on Kakyoin, because from one directionless ball of rage to another, they need someone to watch their backs and it’s not really pretty. There’s only so much patrolling even Faith, noted ticking time bomb of fury, can take.
But the thing is, even though they’re in the same house, even thinking about sharing the same space has her fists balling up and her teeth gritting for a fight. And it’d be really, really counterproductive to go through all the trouble to bring the man back to life only to smash his head in the second she sees him, so no duh she’s avoiding.
Uncle Josuke’s the one that talks her into it. He gets it, he says; something about his own dad (Joseph; her family tree is really, really weird), but she’ll regret it the longer it goes without them speaking. He’s right, which just makes her madder, so she goes on patrol and thankfully finds an entire gang of vamps harassing some women at the Bronze to work out at least a little of the aggression before they have to come face-to-face.
It’s not too surprising when Jotaro Kujo actually flinches when she sits down next to him. It hurts a little even as it feels validating, though. It’s not the idea of a fight that gets to him, probably. It’s not that he doesn’t know fear, but he’s not one to back down from a little pain. But even a guy as clueless as he is with the social stuff has to realize that the timing was really, really bad and that he’d hurt her, even if he probably doesn’t regret doing it and would sacrifice his life to save hers in a heartbeat, again, and just...argh.
She’s surprised when Jotaro is the first to speak, though. “You died too. As did the old man.” It’s not meant to be an excuse, exactly, just a statement of fact, but Buffy finds her resolve to maintain a grudge cracking. They’re both hurting, and the wrong word could shatter.
She doesn’t miss him perking up just slightly when she actually finally looks at him out of the corner of her eye. Of course he wouldn’t miss that either, Mr. Observation Skills. “Okay, I know you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel of excuses when you pull great-grandpa out as an excuse.”
Jotaro actually contemplates the statement for a moment before nodding. He can’t argue with that.
Maybe they’ll be okay after all. “Next time, you let me handle it, okay?”
“But I don’t want to take turns dying.”
That’s...a joke. And he wouldn’t dare do that unless he thought they could be fine, too, after this.
“You really should have thought about that before you started this, dad.” Like either of them could actually think about it instead of just acting on instinct to protect the ones they love. As much as she hates it, wants to hate him for it, like a lot of things she can’t without looking into a mirror and realizing that’s her staring right back. She pauses, pulling her arms around her. “Are you...mad that we didn’t grab Mom instead?”
For some reason, he seems to think that’s an easy question, not another tricky tripwire they have to tiptoe around. “Well, she seemed to be happy enough, so no. I was expecting it from the moment I jumped.”
...Happy...they’d been so sure he’d been in the demon dimension Glory came from, but if he saw Joyce… “...Wait, you were...in heaven?”
“I couldn’t say for sure.” Jotaro’s frowning, thoughtful. Shrugging like it’s no big deal, but then, he does this with practically everything, doesn’t he? “But it was...nice, at least. I said I wasn’t mad. Buffy, you weren’t there. Dawn wasn’t there, Kakyoin wasn’t there, Josuke wasn’t there...I’d have to make a list. I got to see a few people and that was nice, but I didn’t want to stay.”
The smile as she turns around to hug him is every bit the fond dad she’d always wanted. He doesn’t even flinch away from her when she starts bawling into his jacket, just puts one steadying (but still slightly awkward) hand on her arm. His own hand. Not Star Platinum’s.
“Sorry to leave you alone for a bit, but I’m back now and I don’t plan on leaving again,” he tells her, and it’s as much a lie as Giles’ ‘everything will be fine’ speech, but the fact that he’ll fight for this means a whole lot. They’re Joestars. They do the impossible every day. They can do this, too. Even if it’ll take her a bit to wipe the tears off her face and get back into the swing of things.
But the thing is, even though they’re in the same house, even thinking about sharing the same space has her fists balling up and her teeth gritting for a fight. And it’d be really, really counterproductive to go through all the trouble to bring the man back to life only to smash his head in the second she sees him, so no duh she’s avoiding.
Uncle Josuke’s the one that talks her into it. He gets it, he says; something about his own dad (Joseph; her family tree is really, really weird), but she’ll regret it the longer it goes without them speaking. He’s right, which just makes her madder, so she goes on patrol and thankfully finds an entire gang of vamps harassing some women at the Bronze to work out at least a little of the aggression before they have to come face-to-face.
It’s not too surprising when Jotaro Kujo actually flinches when she sits down next to him. It hurts a little even as it feels validating, though. It’s not the idea of a fight that gets to him, probably. It’s not that he doesn’t know fear, but he’s not one to back down from a little pain. But even a guy as clueless as he is with the social stuff has to realize that the timing was really, really bad and that he’d hurt her, even if he probably doesn’t regret doing it and would sacrifice his life to save hers in a heartbeat, again, and just...argh.
She’s surprised when Jotaro is the first to speak, though. “You died too. As did the old man.” It’s not meant to be an excuse, exactly, just a statement of fact, but Buffy finds her resolve to maintain a grudge cracking. They’re both hurting, and the wrong word could shatter.
She doesn’t miss him perking up just slightly when she actually finally looks at him out of the corner of her eye. Of course he wouldn’t miss that either, Mr. Observation Skills. “Okay, I know you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel of excuses when you pull great-grandpa out as an excuse.”
Jotaro actually contemplates the statement for a moment before nodding. He can’t argue with that.
Maybe they’ll be okay after all. “Next time, you let me handle it, okay?”
“But I don’t want to take turns dying.”
That’s...a joke. And he wouldn’t dare do that unless he thought they could be fine, too, after this.
“You really should have thought about that before you started this, dad.” Like either of them could actually think about it instead of just acting on instinct to protect the ones they love. As much as she hates it, wants to hate him for it, like a lot of things she can’t without looking into a mirror and realizing that’s her staring right back. She pauses, pulling her arms around her. “Are you...mad that we didn’t grab Mom instead?”
For some reason, he seems to think that’s an easy question, not another tricky tripwire they have to tiptoe around. “Well, she seemed to be happy enough, so no. I was expecting it from the moment I jumped.”
...Happy...they’d been so sure he’d been in the demon dimension Glory came from, but if he saw Joyce… “...Wait, you were...in heaven?”
“I couldn’t say for sure.” Jotaro’s frowning, thoughtful. Shrugging like it’s no big deal, but then, he does this with practically everything, doesn’t he? “But it was...nice, at least. I said I wasn’t mad. Buffy, you weren’t there. Dawn wasn’t there, Kakyoin wasn’t there, Josuke wasn’t there...I’d have to make a list. I got to see a few people and that was nice, but I didn’t want to stay.”
The smile as she turns around to hug him is every bit the fond dad she’d always wanted. He doesn’t even flinch away from her when she starts bawling into his jacket, just puts one steadying (but still slightly awkward) hand on her arm. His own hand. Not Star Platinum’s.
“Sorry to leave you alone for a bit, but I’m back now and I don’t plan on leaving again,” he tells her, and it’s as much a lie as Giles’ ‘everything will be fine’ speech, but the fact that he’ll fight for this means a whole lot. They’re Joestars. They do the impossible every day. They can do this, too. Even if it’ll take her a bit to wipe the tears off her face and get back into the swing of things.
