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madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Johan, Jotaro, and Kakyoin discuss what they know about Rush as they head to check out another lead.
Word Count: 1540
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
He’d thought getting his sight back would be great, but he’s feeling a little hollow. Honestly, maybe it’s just the realization that he’d rather have Fitz back. His clothes from the shopping trip are finally clean, and it’s not like wearing them is going to summon him, but it’s nice. Comforting. Now he knows how Jotaro feels—well, he already knew that, thanks to Pretender, but he understands more than just mimicking the emotion. Jotaro can face the world without his coat or beloved hat. He just doesn’t like to.
And it’s not like he has too much distraction from his thoughts, either. Jotaro’s been reading the science notebooks almost nonstop since he’d gotten his hands on them. Xander gets the feeling that the multiple discovery bit with the diatoms is a little too close to home, and Jotaro’s really, really wanting to make sure there’s no more new surprises. Kakyoin is pretending he’s a well-adjusted, entirely not nosy friend reading a book he’d borrowed from Giles. So it’s just...quiet, and Xander’s just stuck in his own head.
He spots Jotaro’s hand on one of the notebooks freeze. That’s not normal. “What did you find?” He hadn’t thought there would be any more surprises, that they’d just been thorough.
Jotaro glances up, eyes slightly narrowed thoughtfully. He’s silently evaluating something about Johan, weighing him carefully. He’s not fully comfortable with Pretender—Josuke’s the only one, though Giorno, while discomfited, is as always looking at the situation with how he can turn it to his advantage. But unlike his mom, Jotaro is comfortable and okay with Johan. It’s just that the Stand’s the thing. “You can tell me,” he decides abruptly. “Notorious BIG. That was a Stand Giorno dealt with?”
Johan carefully pushes away the trauma of cutting off hands and the worry that stress is finally getting to him to answer the question. Which, yeah, Giorno’s in a different car, but Jotaro might very well be using that fact as an excuse not to talk to DIO’s kid. He’ll always be a little uneasy about that, just like he’s uneasy with Pretender. “It’s still out there, attacking the occasional boat who doesn’t think warnings apply to them.”
“Part of it was in Rush’s lab.” At Xander’s start, Jotaro adds, “...Not while they were there. He fired it into space after experiments failed.”
“So aliens have a very good reason to hate us in the future?” Xander jokes. At least Jotaro isn’t the type of person to point out he’s not feeling his best. It’s a foregone conclusion that he’s noticed, but isn’t completely sure what to do with it. Kakyoin does not have quite the same idea about how to deal with things, so Johan’s pretty sure he’s going to mention it sooner rather than later.
“Actually, I think he was attempting to provide company to Kars.” It takes Xander a moment to parse what he means, and another to realize Jotaro is actually joking, in a way of speaking anyway. He’s probably being honest about what he’s found in the notebook, but he’s also very careful with his word choice.
“Who knew the old man wasn’t completely telling tall tales,” Xander responds. That’s a little unfair; he’s actually mirrored Joseph’s mind and knows that Joseph had been certain he was going to die and making light of the situation is the only way he can deal with it (that sounds oddly familiar, for some reason), but at the moment he’s leaning on Jotaro’s point of view to follow along in the conversation.
Jotaro grunts some sort of agreement, and Kakyoin forgets entirely about pretending he’s not paying attention, closing his book. “Be nicer to your grandfather, Jotaro. You’re being a bad influence.”
“It’d be easier if he wasn’t at best a little xenophobic—and sure, he’s from World War II era, but that doesn’t mean he’s trapped in time. Even old dogs can learn new tricks,” Johan insists. Jotaro just hides further beneath his hat, a little flustered. “More to the point, though—that means Rush has been paying attention to what’s going on with Kars, and his eye-surveillance turns to stone in the presence of hamon. He’s a Pillar Man, isn’t he?”
Jotaro’s stare says that he’d never doubted it and wonders why Johan ever doubted it.
“Fair enough. I’d just been hoping.” Kakyoin looks vaguely fascinated at the largely nonverbal conversation. The Sunlight Hamon Field technique is probably going to end up being useful. And on that note… “...What are you planning to do?”
“Stop time. Stands and hamon have commonalities, but I doubt Star will be too useful.” Star decides to manifest, looking a little pouty, and Jotaro adds, probably mentally rolling his eyes, “...In this case.”
“A quick course isn’t going to help,” Johan agrees with a sigh. Hamon is difficult enough to teach—it helps that the Slayers all know it now, of course, but even that’s no guarantee.
In response, Jotaro just puts a hand wordlessly on his cigarettes. That’s...a good point, actually.
“I picked up a little, enough to keep me alive—but no, Jotaro, I’m not going to get as close this time.” Kakyoin is tired of acting like this conversation is invitation-only, it seems. “Jotaro being a sourpuss I understand, but I’m surprised you’re not more overjoyed about the return of your eyesight.”
Given that Xander had been spending so long basically just pouting in the HQ, he can see why that would be confusing, but...he’s not sure how to put it. Kakyoin looks vaguely impatient in a way he doesn’t for Jotaro, but Xander’s not going to rush his thought process any more than it already is.
Buffy seems to feel like there’s been some sort of cosmic balance regained, and he’s happy for her, that there’s no more guilt on her behalf. It’s not like he’d actually ever blamed her, not seriously. He’d chosen to follow her, and honestly it’s a little surprising that none of them had experienced a serious injury like that before. But she’d ‘lost’ him an eye, and now she’d restored an eye.
“We’re having to relocate. Again. Because we’re lucky that something has been keeping Rush busy so he hasn’t struck at us yet—and he could have easily done that. I’ve been used to spy on my friends, for him to get possibly crucial intel about our powers and how we work, and you think that’s supposed to make me happy?” It’s an improvement on his previous condition, sure, but when he’d learned why, how could he just take that good fortune with a smile?
Jotaro might have caught the reference even as Xander’s voice rises louder than he’d meant it to, because he grabs his hat’s brim and mutters yare yare daze.
“And, in the face of that, why is this order of Sarde’s so important? Rush might have had nothing to do with it.” Kakyoin challenges.
Jotaro seems to have decided he’d let Johan take the brunt of the questioning for long enough. “Rush took the Arrow. He’s testing Stands and researching hamon. Wyndam-Price’s ritual called for a perfect Stone of Aja, but the one they found had a flaw.”
Damn, no wonder Jotaro’s twitchy. That means Wesley wasn’t a true Pillar Man, and the fight against him had already been a pain. “I’d bet anything it got switched. Maybe that’s why he was lurking around with an excuse to be there. I don’t think he expected you to show up that quickly or for me to live through it, though, but he improvises like a champ.” Back to the original topic, though… “For a man that uses knowledge as a weapon, knowing what books he was trying to get his hands on is pretty important,” Xander agrees. “The timeframe is right for when Sarde was working with Rush.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Joestars…” their Speedwagon Foundation driver mentions tentatively, “...but where do you want me to park, exactly?”
“Around the corner is fine,” Jotaro responds easily. Close enough that they can take off, if necessary, far away enough not to be too obvious.
“Stay in touch,” she requests, probably a little nervous knowing the Foundation agent track record, but swallows her concern and does her job like a true professional.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Johan, Jotaro, and Kakyoin discuss what they know about Rush as they head to check out another lead.
Word Count: 1540
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Johan’s not quite at ease, here in the car. It’s not the fact that it’s on loan from Wolfram & Hart. That is an uneasy partnership that can only end in blood, and someone really, really should have given Angel that memo ages ago. Maybe it wouldn’t have changed anything, but Xander can’t quite believe that. Maybe Cordy would have lived. Maybe Angel wouldn’t have burnt every bridge to the extent that even Spike takes a look at him and thinks that his souled version managed to be worse than his souled version. Not that they’ll ever see any of those maybes, but they bother him, every single one of them. If anything, it’s a little more secure, because the terms are spelled out. He’s not so arrogant as to think that there’s going to be no surprises, but they’ve got an expiry tag on the alliance, a penciled in date for the betrayal, signed and notarized by both parties.
He’d thought getting his sight back would be great, but he’s feeling a little hollow. Honestly, maybe it’s just the realization that he’d rather have Fitz back. His clothes from the shopping trip are finally clean, and it’s not like wearing them is going to summon him, but it’s nice. Comforting. Now he knows how Jotaro feels—well, he already knew that, thanks to Pretender, but he understands more than just mimicking the emotion. Jotaro can face the world without his coat or beloved hat. He just doesn’t like to.
And it’s not like he has too much distraction from his thoughts, either. Jotaro’s been reading the science notebooks almost nonstop since he’d gotten his hands on them. Xander gets the feeling that the multiple discovery bit with the diatoms is a little too close to home, and Jotaro’s really, really wanting to make sure there’s no more new surprises. Kakyoin is pretending he’s a well-adjusted, entirely not nosy friend reading a book he’d borrowed from Giles. So it’s just...quiet, and Xander’s just stuck in his own head.
He spots Jotaro’s hand on one of the notebooks freeze. That’s not normal. “What did you find?” He hadn’t thought there would be any more surprises, that they’d just been thorough.
Jotaro glances up, eyes slightly narrowed thoughtfully. He’s silently evaluating something about Johan, weighing him carefully. He’s not fully comfortable with Pretender—Josuke’s the only one, though Giorno, while discomfited, is as always looking at the situation with how he can turn it to his advantage. But unlike his mom, Jotaro is comfortable and okay with Johan. It’s just that the Stand’s the thing. “You can tell me,” he decides abruptly. “Notorious BIG. That was a Stand Giorno dealt with?”
Johan carefully pushes away the trauma of cutting off hands and the worry that stress is finally getting to him to answer the question. Which, yeah, Giorno’s in a different car, but Jotaro might very well be using that fact as an excuse not to talk to DIO’s kid. He’ll always be a little uneasy about that, just like he’s uneasy with Pretender. “It’s still out there, attacking the occasional boat who doesn’t think warnings apply to them.”
“Part of it was in Rush’s lab.” At Xander’s start, Jotaro adds, “...Not while they were there. He fired it into space after experiments failed.”
“So aliens have a very good reason to hate us in the future?” Xander jokes. At least Jotaro isn’t the type of person to point out he’s not feeling his best. It’s a foregone conclusion that he’s noticed, but isn’t completely sure what to do with it. Kakyoin does not have quite the same idea about how to deal with things, so Johan’s pretty sure he’s going to mention it sooner rather than later.
“Actually, I think he was attempting to provide company to Kars.” It takes Xander a moment to parse what he means, and another to realize Jotaro is actually joking, in a way of speaking anyway. He’s probably being honest about what he’s found in the notebook, but he’s also very careful with his word choice.
“Who knew the old man wasn’t completely telling tall tales,” Xander responds. That’s a little unfair; he’s actually mirrored Joseph’s mind and knows that Joseph had been certain he was going to die and making light of the situation is the only way he can deal with it (that sounds oddly familiar, for some reason), but at the moment he’s leaning on Jotaro’s point of view to follow along in the conversation.
Jotaro grunts some sort of agreement, and Kakyoin forgets entirely about pretending he’s not paying attention, closing his book. “Be nicer to your grandfather, Jotaro. You’re being a bad influence.”
“It’d be easier if he wasn’t at best a little xenophobic—and sure, he’s from World War II era, but that doesn’t mean he’s trapped in time. Even old dogs can learn new tricks,” Johan insists. Jotaro just hides further beneath his hat, a little flustered. “More to the point, though—that means Rush has been paying attention to what’s going on with Kars, and his eye-surveillance turns to stone in the presence of hamon. He’s a Pillar Man, isn’t he?”
Jotaro’s stare says that he’d never doubted it and wonders why Johan ever doubted it.
“Fair enough. I’d just been hoping.” Kakyoin looks vaguely fascinated at the largely nonverbal conversation. The Sunlight Hamon Field technique is probably going to end up being useful. And on that note… “...What are you planning to do?”
“Stop time. Stands and hamon have commonalities, but I doubt Star will be too useful.” Star decides to manifest, looking a little pouty, and Jotaro adds, probably mentally rolling his eyes, “...In this case.”
“A quick course isn’t going to help,” Johan agrees with a sigh. Hamon is difficult enough to teach—it helps that the Slayers all know it now, of course, but even that’s no guarantee.
In response, Jotaro just puts a hand wordlessly on his cigarettes. That’s...a good point, actually.
“I picked up a little, enough to keep me alive—but no, Jotaro, I’m not going to get as close this time.” Kakyoin is tired of acting like this conversation is invitation-only, it seems. “Jotaro being a sourpuss I understand, but I’m surprised you’re not more overjoyed about the return of your eyesight.”
Given that Xander had been spending so long basically just pouting in the HQ, he can see why that would be confusing, but...he’s not sure how to put it. Kakyoin looks vaguely impatient in a way he doesn’t for Jotaro, but Xander’s not going to rush his thought process any more than it already is.
Buffy seems to feel like there’s been some sort of cosmic balance regained, and he’s happy for her, that there’s no more guilt on her behalf. It’s not like he’d actually ever blamed her, not seriously. He’d chosen to follow her, and honestly it’s a little surprising that none of them had experienced a serious injury like that before. But she’d ‘lost’ him an eye, and now she’d restored an eye.
“We’re having to relocate. Again. Because we’re lucky that something has been keeping Rush busy so he hasn’t struck at us yet—and he could have easily done that. I’ve been used to spy on my friends, for him to get possibly crucial intel about our powers and how we work, and you think that’s supposed to make me happy?” It’s an improvement on his previous condition, sure, but when he’d learned why, how could he just take that good fortune with a smile?
Jotaro might have caught the reference even as Xander’s voice rises louder than he’d meant it to, because he grabs his hat’s brim and mutters yare yare daze.
“And, in the face of that, why is this order of Sarde’s so important? Rush might have had nothing to do with it.” Kakyoin challenges.
Jotaro seems to have decided he’d let Johan take the brunt of the questioning for long enough. “Rush took the Arrow. He’s testing Stands and researching hamon. Wyndam-Price’s ritual called for a perfect Stone of Aja, but the one they found had a flaw.”
Damn, no wonder Jotaro’s twitchy. That means Wesley wasn’t a true Pillar Man, and the fight against him had already been a pain. “I’d bet anything it got switched. Maybe that’s why he was lurking around with an excuse to be there. I don’t think he expected you to show up that quickly or for me to live through it, though, but he improvises like a champ.” Back to the original topic, though… “For a man that uses knowledge as a weapon, knowing what books he was trying to get his hands on is pretty important,” Xander agrees. “The timeframe is right for when Sarde was working with Rush.”
“Sorry to interrupt, Joestars…” their Speedwagon Foundation driver mentions tentatively, “...but where do you want me to park, exactly?”
“Around the corner is fine,” Jotaro responds easily. Close enough that they can take off, if necessary, far away enough not to be too obvious.
“Stay in touch,” she requests, probably a little nervous knowing the Foundation agent track record, but swallows her concern and does her job like a true professional.
