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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Oh no!!

Beads of sweat gathered on Joseph's face as he was greeted by the blonde. Without even thinking about it, he jerked his hand up in greeting and smiled as if he had not been peeping at all.

"Yo!"

The cat meowed.

Giorno’s face froze into a mask. Not even his blue eyes moved as he took this stranger in—but whoever he was, he felt him before he even visually processed him.

Giorno had felt strange every day of his life since being ripped away from home, but today was different. He, like always, had done his best to ignore it but there was unshakable sense that the source of it was standing in front of him.

It wasn’t until the glass was slipping from his hand and crashing to the floor that he was shaken from his stupor. Croccante jerked in the strange man’s arm and fled into his room.

"H-hey. Are you okay?" Was it really so shocking that he was peeping at the door?!

Having come back to his senses, Giorno’s expression hardened. Whatever was going on, he couldn’t lose his composure when there was a potential threat.

Even if he didn’t sense hostility, Juli was right there. He wasn’t going to take any risks.

The water pooled around their feet and the broken glass was strewn about. Giorno made no moves to clean it up.

“I’m only going to ask once—who are you?”

Urk. "Joseph Joestar."

"Giorno Giovanna. Well met, Mister Joestar. Answer me--why were you looking in my room?"

Gold Experience slowly emerged from Giorno to lay it's hands on the broken glass at their feet.

"Things will resolve peacefully if you continue to answer honestly. No sudden movements, please."

"What -- what the hell is that thing?!"

Whatever that yellow person was, it emerged seemingly out of nowhere. And person was the best word Joseph could think of to describe it -- there was no way it was human!

Croccante hissed at the glass that trembled and darkened, her long white fur bristling up so much she looked like she’d been zapped. When the shards began to coil and elongate she skittered to hide behind Juli’s legs.

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?”