(no subject)

[nohardwork]

"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.

Comments

[nohardwork]

It took a moment for Joseph to identify the source of the sound, mostly because the target was small.

"Hey, kid!" Joseph waved his arm. "Where're your parents?"

[unchill_chuck]

'Ugh.'

"Same place as yours." Yeah, not too gracious, but he wasn't part of the welcoming committee for a reason. "Do me a favor and stay still 'til I get down from here, got it?"

[nohardwork]

"Dead?!" Joseph shouted back, bewildered, as Chilchuck scrambled down.

[youre_the_sunflower]

Caesar pinched Joseph’s back—hard.

“What he means to say…we’re lost.”

[nohardwork]

Joseph let out a yelp of pain. "Y-yeah!"

[unchill_chuck]

“I can tell.” Chilchuck didn’t even have to think twice about it. He brushed himself off as he took them in from a healthy distance.

More tall-men—really tall. The one with the dark hair easily cleared even Laios. “Alright, first things first. My name’s Chilchuck and I help oversee a village a few miles from here. I can escort you there. Last thing, I’m not a kid so process that on the trip up.”

[nohardwork]

"Oh? How old are you?" Joseph figured he was being a bratty kid who didn't want to be treated like one. He knew about that specific type of bratty kid because he was one.

[unchill_chuck]

"Older than you, meathead."

[nohardwork]

"Meathead?!"

[scholarandaprincess]

"Chilchuck, is everything alright?" Zelda called as she descended from the landing ramp halfway.

[unchill_chuck]

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine." Chilchuck called back with a wave. He had been gone for awhile, hadn't he? He supposed he felt happy that both women spared him a thought, even as excited as they were to delve into ship repairs. "Got some wanderers. They're, uh..." He gestured at them for their names.

[nohardwork]

"Joseph Joestar."

[youre_the_sunflower]

Caesar's entire exhausted countenance changed as soon as he saw two women--stunning women--appear.

"Caesar Zeppeli." He bowed his head. "We're very grateful for your offer of assistance."

[shepard]

"Jane Shepard." Shepard offered Joseph her hand to shake first, then Caesar afterwards. "Where are you two headed?"

[youre_the_sunflower]

"We're trying to find our way back to Switzerland," Caesar replied immediately.

[shepard]

Shepard shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

"Sorry to say you're going to have a hard time finding it. What do you know about this place?"

[scholarandaprincess]

Zelda cleared her throat upon seeing the bewildered look in their eyes. “If I may…please, let us escort you into the village first. You’ll have a chance to rest a little. Ah, and my name is Zelda. I’m part of a council that oversees things up there.”

[youre_the_sunflower]

Caesar bit back the urge to demand answers as quickly as possible. They were both exhausted and Joseph—

Caesar looked from his companion to everyone else.

“…Thank you. Very much.”

[shepard]

"So you're both from Italy?"

Shepard gestured at Caesar and Joseph with her fork before stabbing it into a chunk of meat in her bowl of beef soup. The villa's cooks were quite talented and they took advantage of the opportunity whenever a new arrival showed up to show off with their best cuts of meat and their best haul from the harvest. Today was no exception. If meals like these came with every new arrival, Shepard was sure she would start looking forward to people showing up in their little town.

[youre_the_sunflower]

“I am. He’s from England.” Caesar motioned at Joseph with his own fork.

[scholarandaprincess]

Zelda turned quickly to Shepard. “Commander, does this mean these two are perhaps from the same world as you?”

[shepard]

"Possibly. But I've met others who were from alternate timelines." At least that's what Shepard thought. "Sometimes the only thing the same in our timelines is the planet."

[youre_the_sunflower]

Caesar felt his appetite dwindle from almost nothing to nothing as he listened to the two go on. He nudged Joseph with his foot under the table--if nothing else he wanted to know he wasn't alone in sheer overwhelm.

[nohardwork]

Was Caesar playing footsie with him?

Joseph nudged Caesar's foot back and flashed him a mischievous grin.

[youre_the_sunflower]

Caesar just squinted back, unable to process a response of any kind. They were clearly on very, very different wavelengths.

He needed a cigarette like he had never needed one before.

“Please excuse me for a moment,” Caesar said with the most polite tone he could muster before striding out to get some air.