(no subject)

[azzerare]

"Jojo and Giogio."

Comments

[steamrolled]

As a rather well seasoned traveller, Jotaro never set foot in Italy before. He had no reason to, despite it being the birthplace of his own grandmother. And where his old bastard grandfather met her. But he had to search for someone, and nobody was available from his contacts to take on the mission.

Besides he wanted to meet personally with the son of Dio. He had no misgivings towards him despite their entwined family's bloody history together, and the guy had the right to know more about his origins.

He traveled the streets in his white outfit, asking passersby for information. But he had a feeling it wouldn't be long. If the guy had a stand, they would come across each other soon enough.

[azzerare]

Of course, anyone could mistake their encounter for pure chance, not knowing how stand users were innately drawn towards one another - and for Giorno, it's exactly what he believes it to be. As he's walking the streets of Italy he overhears a stranger asking for him; not his current handle, but the name he'd been given by his mother, Haruno Shiobana. The familiarity hits him even after all these years and he can't help but wonder how anyone would know that name...but it's not like he had any intention of helping him out. No, this guy was just another tourist, and Giorno had no intention of just offering his company like that. He figures it's just another ignorant tourist to swindle.

So as he's passing by he slows down near Jotaro, calling out to him once he's finished with the person he's currently asking for information.

"Excuse me. You're looking for Shiobana-san?"

[steamrolled]

Jotaro would turn his head slightly to face Giorno. His expression stern as always. Unfortunately he had rather... outdated information to go on. The picture he procured was that of a boy younger than Giorno with darker hair. But he did get a small feeling that this person was connected.. someone.

"Yeah, you've seen someone like this?" He thrusted a picture up in Giorno's face, one of himself from his younger days before his stand had fully awaken.

[azzerare]

He stares at the picture, acting like he's trying to recall, and hums thoughtfully.

"Well, that all depends..."

He quirks his eyebrow and holds out his hand, gesturing.

"...how much would that information be worth to you, sir?"

[steamrolled]

His face tightens into a slight frown. Great, one of those information dealers.

"Geez, part of the reason I'm looking for this person is to give them peace of mind. So if this person is a friend of yours boy.."

[azzerare]

"Not quite."

He retracts his hand for now, placing it by his side. Mention of peace of mind does catch his attention, but he's not going to believe a stranger on their word so easily. Winning someone over with just good intentions was the oldest trick in the book after all.

He'd have to try and figure this guy out.

"But Shiobana-san is a very careful kind of guy. Without my approval, he isn't about to reveal himself to you.

"So it would be best for you to adapt to how things work around here, rather than resist it. Otherwise you won't get very far."

[steamrolled]

"Tch." Figures. Well if things came down to it, Jotaro could walk the talk if things came down to it.

"What do you want from me as proof?" He was going to be careful himself, standing firm with adjusting his cap.

[azzerare]

"Well, we've already talked about that, haven't we?"

He looks Jotaro over briefly, thoughtfully. He's mostly trying to figure out how much the guy might have based on his appearance.

Not exactly poor considering the make of his outfit, that's much for certain.

"How about some identification? If you check out, the money might not even be necessary. A wallet maybe? Passport?"

He puts a hand to the ladybug ornament on his clothing, fiddling with it.

[steamrolled]

"Some identification huh? What about you? What's your name, and then I'll tell you mine."

Given the stuff he's been through, he's a bit wary of identifying himself to a stranger. Nor was he stupid enough to be swindled.

[azzerare]

Damn, he is playing it smart, isn't he? But it's still an opportunity Giorno's not willing to pass by. He starts to reach into his pocket, his expression doubting.

"Words are cheap." When he removes his hand from his pocket, he pulls out a wallet of his own, flicking it open to reveal a student card. "Giorno Giovanna. This is proof of my identity-" He extends his hand to Jotaro, offering the wallet. "-I want you to take it, as both a sign of trust, and proof. I only ask you do the same.

"There's money in there too, so if you hold onto that while I check out yours, there won't be any problems, will there? Even if I were a thief, I'd lose my own property if I ran away with yours."

Of course, if Jotaro actually flicks through his wallet, he will probably find that picture of Dio that he carries around. Not that Giorno is expecting that to matter - this is still all part of Gio's attempt at swindling him.

[steamrolled]

Silently, Jotaro complied with the deal. Of course, he still had a backup plan- his money was of only of a petty amount for one. His wallet reveals his driver's license, with a picture of Jolyne tucked in there somewhere.

"Kujo. Jotaro Kujo." He held out his wallet, taking Giorno's at the same time with his other hand.

[azzerare]

"Mr.Kujo. It's nice of you to oblige, but-"

The wallet in Jotaro's hand starts to...melt? At the very least it starts to lose its density and texture, becoming softer and more viscous. It eventually melds into a little sphere and loses all of it's features from before, turning into what appears to be a frog egg. The egg rapidly undergoes maturity, becoming a fully grown frog in a matter of seconds, which hops out of Jotaro's hand and lands on the ground, hopping away.

"...well, I never said anything about the wallet not leaving by itself."

Don't mind him, he's just going to try and slip away now, hurrying off in the opposite direction with Jotaro's own wallet.

[steamrolled]

Jotaro acts with a bit of surprise. But ah, he should have expected someone of his lineage to have stand powers. Silently he activates his timestop with Star Platinum, using what precious seconds he has freely to deliver a sucker punch from Giorno's back, as well as move over to put a foot on the frog.

His stand appeared to affect inanimate objects, but could it affect intangible spirits?

When time flows again, Jotaro scoffs. "You've pissed me off kid."

[azzerare]

It's strange, is all he can think.

One minute he's making his way out of there, then the next he feels an immediate force against his back, flooring him pretty easily. Giorno doesn't have the ridiculous build his family members are all in possession of, he's pretty slim, so he's thrown to the floor by the strike and drops the wallet in the process, actually surprised by it.

This guy...whatever he'd done was instantaneous. But if he'd been attacked, surely he might have seen something, right? Even as he rolls onto his back to look at Jotaro, he's trying to figure out that ability in his head.

"You're...faster than you look." No way that was just speed, but he'll pass it off as believing that for now. He keeps talking in an attempt to distract him from the fact the frog under his foot is changing, like it had when it was a wallet. "I'll give the wallet back, alright? This doesn't have to get too ugly."

If he hasn't noticed it by now, then Jotaro might feel what is a snake starting to coil up and around his leg, while the frog has apparently vanished. It's just a milk snake, so if it bites it would be harmless, but if he doesn't recognize that it could be easily mistaken for a coral snake, which is far more dangerous - and poisonous. That's what Giorno is banking on.

"You let me go, and I'll call that off." A gesture towards his leg, specifically the snake. "A coral snake like that has a very powerful toxin. One bite will kill you after hours of agony."

[steamrolled]

As if Jotaro would back down now. He's not angry yet, but there's a cold glare that can be seen under the shade of his hat. What a pain, but at least if this brat had a stand there would be a decent possibility that he knew of other stand users in the area.

Wordlessly he calls forth Star Platinum again, the spirit's arm reaching out to snap the snake's body in half just below the head. It's all fast and precise, but noticeable enough that it wasn't something a normal human was capable of doing.

"Your cheap tricks won't work on me. Give it up."

1/2

[azzerare]

Remember how, moments ago, he seemed nervous? A little desperate?

That entire front drops almost immediately once he sees Jotaro's stand handling the snake, almost like he was faking it. Granted, he wasn't expecting this guy to have a power similar to his own, so that's a little surprising(although he was pretty damn sure considering what happened during the time stop)...but right now it doesn't matter. The moment Star Platinum starts squeezing the snake, the damage is reflected right back at Jotaro himself, generating the sensation that the more he attempts to strangle the snake, the tighter the grip around Jotaro's own neck is, almost as if he's the one who Star Platinum has a hold of.

The snake, meanwhile, doesn't look like it feels any pain at all. No matter how hard he tries, he won't be able to even injure it remotely.

[azzerare]

During all of this, Giorno takes the time to stand back up.

"So you have that power as well? Power like mine." His expression becomes more relaxed, as he reaches down to pick up Jotaro's wallet. However, he doesn't run away this time. "Maybe we should talk after all...Jotaro, wasn't it?"

sorry for the slow tag

[steamrolled]

Jotaro calmly calls back Star Platinum, and the spirit draws back into it's owner like nothing. Even with his life (supposedly) in danger, he's as cool as he was minutes ago.

"You and me have a Stand. If you want to listen, I'll talk." He dusts off his white coat, walking closer over to where Giorno is standing at.

"So, have you met other Stand Users?" He asks as he flips through Giorno's wallet, and tenses up when he spots a picture of Dio. His eyes even raise up a bit.

no problem!

[azzerare]

"You're the first one, actually. Should I have?"

It's hard not to notice his surprise though, mostly because it's the first time his expression has changed all that much - in fact, considering he didn't react at all to the effect of his stand damaging him like that, he wonders just what it was that could illicit that response. He only had some cash and a picture of his father in there after all.

The latter was the obvious choice. He opens Jotaro's wallet and looks through it too, shrugging.

"Money and a photo, just like mine. The contents shouldn't be that surprising to you."

[steamrolled]

"Consider yourself lucky. Stand users tend to attract each other and it sometimes cause problems."

That was unusual, but looks like the kid hadn't gotten into much trouble, yet. He folds the wallet back to show the photo of Dio to Giorno, showing some interest in it.

"You know this person?" If he did, it was likely that...

[azzerare]

On the one hand, this guy is really suspicious, but -- he's wanted to find out about his father for a long time, even if he doesn't have any attachment to the guy. He never met him after all.

Finally, curiosity outweighs caution.

"It's a memento from my mother - a photograph of my father. Do you know him?"

[steamrolled]

"Yeah, I did. If Dio Brando is your father, that means your Haruno Shiobana correct?" He closes up the wallet and tosses it at Giorno now that he has his answer.

[azzerare]

"Not for a while now." He catches the wallet, tossing Jotaro's own to him in return once he has. "I'm the guy you're looking for, but it's Giorno. Not Haruno.

"Is that why you're here? About that man?"

[steamrolled]

"I'm here to find you. It's about you and your old man." He looks past them at the crowded street they were on while pocketing his wallet.

"Is there a more private place we can talk?"

im sorry this is so late! something came up, but im back to speed now

[azzerare]

About his dad, huh? That was interesting. Barely anybody knew about the man in the photo he carried around with him, so this guy must know something for sure - and his own curiosity is winning here. He'd always wanted to know more about the father who'd abandoned him.

"I have my own place...we can go there. Come on."

And he starts to lead him off.

it's alright i've been busy with holiday things

[steamrolled]

"Mmm." Jotaro followed, hands in his coat pockets. He was prepared to explain what he knew, from the beginning. Though the guy probably wasn't going to be happy at the fact that he killed his father with his own hands, even if there was a good reason to kill him for good.

[azzerare]

Eventually the pair reach his apartment building. Once they're inside, he closes the door behind him, gesturing at a pair of seats by his desk.

"If you want either--" But Giorno doesn't sit down, instead leaning against the closest wall and folding his arms. "--now what's this about?"

Specifically. He already said it was to do with his father, but...

[steamrolled]

"Mmm." Jotaro leaned up against near him, thinking of how to approach this.

"For starters, do you know that you're apart of the Joestar family?"

[azzerare]

"...the Joestar family?"

That's probably more than enough to tell he didn't, but...

"No, I didn't. My mother never told me about my extended family."

[steamrolled]

"Right. It may not be what you want to believe kid, but both of us are related. Your father stole my great-great grandfather's body so that he could continue to live, and that's how we ended up being related."

And if he didn't believe it, he could show some pretty damning proof.

[azzerare]

...wow, okay. Even Giorno can't help but give him a look of disbelief over something like that.

"You can't be serious. Wouldn't that make me your great-something or other? Not to mention why he'd steal someone's body from so long ago- it would have been decomposed, surely."

[steamrolled]

"I'm serious. You've got a star shaped birthmark on the back of your shoulder, right? That's the Joestar birthmark, same as mine."

He turns around and pulls his jacket and shirt low to show it.

[azzerare]

Even Giorno can't help but be surprised by that. He did have that very same birthmark on his shoulder, so for this guy to have it as well, he'd have to be related to his father - not directly, apparently, especially considering the two of them don't look that far apart in age. There's no way Jotaro could be a descendent of Dio considering that, so he'd have to be related to him some other way for that to make sense.

So...maybe his father really was some kind of weird body stealing...whatever he was? This was really confusing.

"No, I do...just like the one he had."

A pause, as he considers this...but he has to know.

"What exactly was my father then? Stealing someone's body...that isn't something a human can do. Unless it had something to do with stands?"

[steamrolled]

"Not exactly, in fact this was a while before we knew about the existence of stands. I can understand you're probably confused so I'll try to explain." He inhales deeply. This was going to be a long one.

"Your father and my great-great grandfather apparently grew up together, sorta like siblings I guess. He was adopted into the family for whatever reason. But in adulthood, Dio discovered a stone mask my ancestor had been researching and found out that it turns humans into vampires upon wearing it. And then he transformed himself into a vampire willingly."

A pause before he continues.

"I only know what I've been told from Gramps, sorry if some of the details aren't very explicit."