fatealteration | (no subject)

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"I'm sure there's got to be a city nearby," Joseph said. "Don't look so down about it! We can ask where we are then."

Caesar was nervous; Joseph could tell. Caesar was always more uptight than he was (though there were few people who weren't), but he could practically feeling the stress radiating off his body.

Who could blame him, though? One second they were in Switzerland about to confront Wamuu and now they were in --

Joseph looked at the environment around them. Tuffs of dried-out plants grew out from underneath craggy rocks; the occasional tumbleweed tumbled over a vast sea of sand. It was the complete opposite of where they were before.

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That was enough for Juli to intervene. "What's going on?" she asked, approaching the door. Things seemed to have gotten really intense, really quickly.

But just one glance at Joseph and Juli had a good idea of who he was. She smiled.

"Oh, you must be one of the newcomers that showed up today." She said it half to diffuse the situation and half to discreetly let Giorno know there was nothing to worry about. "Which are you? Joseph or Caesar?"

‘He can see it?’ There were some in the villa with a particular psychic sensitivity that could see Gold Experience—if only vaguely. However, the aching sense of familiarity made him certain this was another stand user.

The glass returned to its original state. Just a few seconds more and there would have been a nest of pit vipers at their feet.

“You’re a new arrival?”

"...Yeah." Joseph's eyes were averted from Giorno's piercing gaze, but not because it made him uncomfortable; they were settled on the space where Gold Experience once stood.

“Jojo!” Caesar called from down the hall, moving quickly to close the distance. Even in a different reality, Caesar was adept at tracking his training partner down with haste.

“You’ve been gone for awhile.”

"Hey! Caesarino!" Joseph's hand jolted up in greeting as he turned in step towards the blonde. "I couldn't find the bathroom anywhere!"

“…Well, I hope we’ve established it’s not in my room.”

Caesar looked between the small group before looking at Joseph.

"W-what?"

‘Do I want to know?’

“My name is Caesar Zeppeli.” He decided to waste no time introducing himself to the other two with a polite bow of his head. What else was proper to do? He couldn’t salvage a situation with no context.

‘Zeppeli?’ “Giorno Giovanna.” He smiled calmly as if the past few minutes had never happened.

"Joseph Joestar." He said it even though his name had been established by virtue of not being Caesar Zeppeli.

"Juli Bahana," Juli said warmly. "If we've all had our introductions, maybe we could chat over some tea? I believe we have some snacks, too."

‘Phew.’

“Sei una persona davvero generosa. It would be uncouth of myself and my good friend to decline.”

So he was Italian, that much was clear. This was the only other Italian he’d met here so far, but…

‘…Laying it on a bit thick.’

Juli didn't know what that meant, but she would be lying if she didn't find his use of Italian charming. Giorno rarely spoke in Italian; there really wasn't anyone to talk to in it. But sometimes she heard him swear in it and somehow that was more appealing than even Caesar's suave words.

Juli shot Giorno an apologetic smile as she signaled for the others to enjoy them inside. "Giorno had it put together. I'm supposed to be meeting a friend for dinner afterwards, so I'm just going to be drinking tea. Feel free to help yourself to as much as you want."

Joseph immediately began loading up a tiny plate.

Caesar moved to step over the broken glass but found none when he looked down. ‘Huh?’

He moved on. The most important thing was making nice. The people here were generous with food—as fortunate as they were his appetite was still squashed. Still, he followed suit in pouring himself some tea and grabbing a biscuit.

“Biscotti?”

Giorno smiled back. Juli was diligent in her role. That’s what he appreciated about her.

“That’s right. I don’t mean to boast, but our baker could put a few cafes in Napoli to shame.” Since there were others eating now, Giorno took the opportunity to grab a few before taking a seat in the lounge area of his room.

“You both only just arrived so out of courtesy I’ll keep myself brief—we invite newcomers to take a few days to get their bearings before making decisions about staying or leaving. With staying comes expectations, of course, but you’ll be informed of those when the time comes.” He took a sip of tea. “As luck would have it, we recently finished construction of new dormitories. Juli can assist you with room assignments.”

"There's someone we need to find," Joseph said, taking a bite of the aforementioned biscotti. "The two of us are on a strict time limit."

It was the first time Joseph acknowledged it in front of Caesar since they arrived wherever-they-were.

The look of surprise on Caesar’s face wasn’t lost on Giorno. Nearly everyone at the villa had people to find, but…

“Time limit?”

"There's a wedding ring around my heart," Joseph said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He took another bite of biscotti.

"What?" Did she hear that correctly?

"...Despite his manner of speaking, it's quite literal."

If Joseph was willing to lay it all out then there was nothing for it.

"Jojo was poisoned by our enemies. It will take effect in mere days. Only they hold the antidote."

'Poison, huh...' Giorno set his teacup to the side and nodded towards Joseph. "...May I check? It won't hurt."

Check it out? What exactly was he going to do?

Despite wanting to ask more about it, he gave a little noise of affirmation instead.