Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 25

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Fitz reveals a little more about what he knows and how he knows it.
Word Count: 1,415
Rating: K
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS.  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

            Given that Fitz's food-related calls hadn't incited ire, Xander wasn't really surprised when the restauranteer opened the doors slightly early and gave them a nice table toward the back.  He'd also expected the slightly disdainful glance-over, but then, he hadn't gotten new clothes yet.  He'd bring it up, but not just yet.  A new look could wait until after he'd eaten, and he had the feeling Fitz had a story of his own to share.  The Englishman was slightly stiffer than normal and kept glancing at him.  The worrying of his lips was a bit of a clue, too.

            Maybe he was being a bit cruel, but Xander wasn't about to ask about it.  His new ally would say something or not on his own without prompting.  And even with an odd variety of snacks in relatively small portions in the fridge, his hunger was beginning to make him distracted enough that a conversation too soon wouldn't be too useful, anyway.  They'd just end up having to go over the topic again when he could actually concentrate.

            Half in a daze, he finally realized that he'd eaten mushrooms and tomatoes halfway through his eggs.  Oddly enough, though, he didn't have the same gag reflex as usual.

            Then again, he's starving, so he'll eat just about anything.  It's nice that his subconscious managed to save the bacon for a time when he'd actually appreciate it.  He picks it up and bites into it, savoring the difference between British and American cooking.

            "I...do you feel like hearing a story?"  Fitz eventually asks, fidgeting.

            "Well, you listened to me telling stories all night," Xander shrugs, still talking with his mouth full.  He senses five presences again.  One's the restaurant owner in perfectly pressed suit, still occasionally looking at him with a disapproving look, and one in the back is probably the cook that made these nummy eggs and bacon.  Two are him and Fitz, probably.  Assuming he actually what he's doing with this thing.  And the last...his gaze slides past Fitz, and there's a girl out there.  She's in ratty jeans and shoes that are falling apart and a really old t-shirt that he can't even make out the design on the front.  It takes her a second to realize he's staring.  She's not a vampire, since she's standing in sunlight, so he grins cautiously at her.  She frowns and sticks out her tongue, hurrying on.  He's getting better at this, which is a relief.  Life-radar or whatever could definitely prove useful against sudden ambush.

            "....Do I have your attention?"  Oh, and good, he's earned the slightly arrogant tone again.

            "Yeah, yeah."  He waves for his ally to go on with the fork.

            "I told you that our families have been associated for quite some time now."  Okay, yeah, he's really worried about something.  Fitz opens his mouth and closes it again, uncertain about what to say next.  Finally, he continues in a softer voice.  "I've been calling you Mr. Joestar, but I'm not certain that's what you want to be called."

            "Call me whatever's easiest for you," Xander shrugs, and that makes the man look even more distressed.

            "Yes, but I...if you don't want to be a Joestar..."  He's unable to quite say what's bothering him, but the American thinks he's following anyway.

            "It's better than being a Harris.  Trust me."  There's absolutely no hesitation about that.

            "I remember.  Alcoholics, was it?"  The tone is soft, understanding.  The question receives a nod in return, and this, of all things, seems to give his ally courage.  "Yes, right.  In that case...may I call you Jojo?"  A blink is his answer this time, and he hastens to explain, "It's the family nickname."

            It's familiar, comforting, like coming home at long last.  Even if he only knows it from dreams.  There's a sense of belonging that he never felt back at the house in Sunnydale, the house that he still has to escape sometimes in nightmares.  "I seem to remember some really awesome people who shared that name."  Of course, he doesn't know more than a fight here and there that his dreams decided should be shared, but...his thoughts are derailed as green eyes stare at him.  "Didn't I mention that I've had dreams about them?"  Isn't that a Joestar thing?  Or is he just taking what he knows from Buffy as a Chosen One and overapplying it?

            "Somehow, it didn't come up," Fitz manages dryly, and Xander can't help but chuckle.

            "You know more about my family than I do.  This is new?"  He's been neglecting his eggs.  They probably feel all neglected now.  He should fix that.  At least he's not eating and talking, at the moment anyway.

            His ally has begun to calm down, with the sort of suppressed British excitement that Xander had always associated with Watchers, particularly Giles.  "As far as I'm aware, no previous Joestar has had this ability, but it's probably related to whatever your Stand can do."

            Given that he probably unlocked his powers with the weird door thing in the one dream, that's probably not a bad assumption.  Xander thinks about that for a little while before swallowing his food.  "Well, in any case, the answer is yes.  Call me whatever you want to, though if it's too hurtful, I might sit and watch B5 and pout."  Given that he didn't have access to his collection, that probably wasn't even a possibility, but hey.

            "It's a mark of respect," Fitz quickly moves to correct, before realizing he was probably being teased again.  "Anyway...you've probably noticed that this is more than just a family alliance, for me."

            Xander did wonder why anyone would go to such lengths for someone whose ancestors had worked together, but for once didn't actually voice that.  He'll have to treat himself to ice cream or something for actually getting his mouth to not say anything without consulting with his brain first.

            "It will probably help if I give you my full name.  I'm not sure how much you know of through dreams, though since you said that I know more than you, I would assume that they weren't the most thorough."  Maybe he also got formal when he was nervous.  Like Willow tended to babble even more than normal, and Xander had picked that up from her.  "You're not free to call me anything other than Fitz.  I suppose you could call me by my last name, but...it reminds me of my full name and I suspect that it was a pun in bad taste."

            It'd probably take a lot of self-control if it's as bad as Fitz is making it out to be, but the American had been getting better at that recently.

           "My full name," he states as he leans forward, "...is Carter Fitz Speedwagon."  So...Fitz is a middle name?  And wait, back up a second...vague memories of the British Lord, the very first guy, and a man with a scar and...the same blond hair and love of hats.  He can see it.  Fitz's hair isn't as long, though.

            "I probably don't know enough about word origins to get the pun."  He's surprised he says it that easily.  It's probably something with the word 'cart', but he doesn't know for sure, so it technically might not be a white lie...Fitz looks relieved, though, which was the point.

            "American education..."  Apparently Speedwagon can't resist the grumble again, though, which has them both hiding a smile.  "It's more personal because our mothers were fast friends."

            Xander tries to imagine his mother doing anything but sitting at the front table with a bottle in her hand.  It's hard, but then, if she'd come from such an amazing family, then there's probably a story to how she'd ended up in such a situation.

            "Mother would always tell me stories about the Joestars, especially her best friend.  Josephine was apparently a terror."  The fond look on Fitz's face seemed a bit...distant, like this was a window to the past only meant for his gaze.  Despite the formal words, the Speedwagons seemed close.  "I thus had the expectation from when I was quite young that one day Ms. Joestar would skip into our lives as if she'd never left—I had the feeling that she and my mother were practically inseparable—and I would form just as close a friendship with another Joestar.  Unfortunately," the Brit sighed deeply, "...things didn't quite work out the way I'd imagined them in my head."