Vulnerable

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Summary: Mista asks a question that gets existential, though that wasn't intentional.
Word Count: 810
Spoilers for the end of Vento Aureo/Golden Wind.  Like canon, ambiguously shippy (mostly because Mista still has no idea he's actually in love with Giorno. he's a bit oblivious that way.  Giorno on the other hand is not oblivious because he's Giorno.)
Occurs after A Pair of Awkward
Spoilers are minor this time, there is some mild angst though

         Mista should have guessed the second they start reading about endangered species, Giorno’s utterly engrossed. Mista is, uh, not. Not that he’s against reading; he likes it, but only a few things grab his attention, and dry facts about animals, no matter how urgent, aren’t one of them. And, as usual when he’s bored, his mind starts wandering. “Uh, Giorno?”
         “Yes?” He sounds distracted, which is adorable, and maybe he shouldn’t be bugging him now, not if he’s having fun, but it’s going to keep bothering the capo if he doesn’t ask and it’ll definitely bother the Don, who’ll think something is wrong if he doesn’t follow that up.
         At least they’ve had weird conversations before, so he won’t be judged too much, probably. “Can your animals make babies?”
         Apparently that’s weird enough it makes Giorno glance up completely, face utterly expressionless, which—yeah, he should’ve kept his mouth shut. “Excuse me?”
         “Well, this stuff.” Guido tries to sound perfectly casual as he gestures at the signs. “Could you bring back endangered or extinct species by yourself?”
         That tiny grin is utterly adorable and Mista needs a picture of it immediately to hang in his room, no shut up Trish that’s not weird. “Hmm.” As usual, Giovanna takes a moment to consider that carefully. “I don’t see why not. Once made, unless I intervene, they’re living beings with their own lives. I’ve never actually studied it, but you’re right, perhaps that would be something worthwhile to look into eventually, if things ever quiet down. Requiem assures me that they shouldn’t die even after my death—nor should anything I’ve healed revert to its usual form.”
         Mista takes a step back, the joy in having actually made a useful, thoughtful point warring with the absolute horror of the thought of—no, that’s his job, the Don doesn’t get to die first, it’s in the contracts. In response, a few emotions the gunman can’t name flit across the Boss’s face, though he’s pretty sure one of them might be frustration.
         “My apologies. I shouldn’t have brought up business. This was meant to be a respite from such things.” Yeah, that’s definitely frustration. As usual, Giovanna’s trying to hide it behind a professional, calm demeanor, but Mista’s no stranger to that feeling you’ve messed up, though he prefers simple things to clean the slate, like when he’d buy Narancia a new manga volume or go out of his way to deal with someone causing Bucciarati trouble, back when, well. He could actually do that.
         Giorno, he gets the feeling, isn’t the same way, just because he’s anything but simple. He’s probably the most complicated man Mista’s ever met.
         “Nah, you’re right, that’s the kind of thing that would matter if you were trying to bring back, I dunno.” He tries to find a name of one of those animals quickly, but all he’s noticing is the Latin names and he’s got no clue what any of that means.
         “The Marsican Brown Bear? The Aeolian Wall Lizard? The Salmo Carpio?” ...he’s not even glancing at the signage.
         “Yeah. Exactly. You’d want to make sure they’re still alive and having kids, two hundred years down the line.” It’s not the best save, and from the way Giorno’s still frowning, that’s pretty clear.
         He raises a hand briefly, then has it fall helplessly to his side. Like he wants to reassure Mista, but has no idea how. Which...seriously, it’s Guido’s bad for bringing it up in the first place.
         “I have no plans to die anytime soon, Guido, despite the danger of our profession,” he states gently, instead, and any worry on that front just...he’s having a hard time concentrating on worries that he’ll lose Giorno like he’s lost everyone else when he’s absolutely certain the Don has never called him by his first name before. He doesn’t know what to do with that information. “I have you, and I have Gold Experience Requiem, and Polnareff, and Fugo…” He continues for a bit, but it doesn’t quite register. Mista can feel himself relaxing a bit, because, yeah, that’s right, he is really good at this bodyguarding thing and it’s not even all on him, but also, his brain isn’t quite processing things correctly.
         He finally starts hearing Giorno fully again after a bit, though he’s not sure exactly when. “...not alone, you know.” He sighs, eyes lighting up just a little bit when he notices Mista’s actually paying attention again. “Actually, that has something to do with why I proposed this outing. I confess I may have had something of an ulterior motive, but I’m not sure this is the best location for explaining further.”
         “You know I’d follow you anywhere, Giorno,” Mista states, and the Don stops frowning, finally. And also he seems a little...lighter, like a bunch of weight suddenly disappeared for some reason?