futurology | video; un: white

[After a long morning of repairs, Jin's feeling chatty: he's taken shelter under the spontaneously sprouting tree in the Oska gardens and sitting with his legs folded. With an eyebrow raised quizzically, he peers into the magitek's "camera".]

So. How many ALASTAIR agents does it take to steal a diamond?

[you're not funny jin.]

Seriously. Seeing as we've all rested up and done our homework-- assuming that you've all gone through the dossier already [with all the intonation of the high school teacher who is definitely expecting you to stay on top of the readings, or so help him]-- we've got some work to do. We've only got a couple weeks to meet up with our analyst on Leramzen, get in, and get out with the diamond. I don't doubt we can manage, but I also know we're a pretty eclectic bunch.

That's a nice way of saying 'crazy mismatched', by the way.

I'm curious, though. How many people have experience with-- let's call 'em requisitions? A mission like this is familiar enough that I'm almost getting nostalgic here, and I feel like some of us might be in the same boat. [He huffs, in what might be the beginnings of a sardonic-sounding laugh.]

It might help us get our plans in order, but if you're sworn to secrecy or don't feel like fessing up for whatever reason... [he shrugs a bare shoulder, head tilting a little,] I get it. It's not the lightest of topics for everyone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Don't be rude. It was a nice car. Anyone would have stolen it.

I'm not even a car guy, but yeah. It was pretty nice.

Am I still not allowed to ask questions? Because I definitely have ideas.

You can ask questions. I'm feeling magnanimous.

Also I trust you.

Giorno Giovanna.

Who are you, exactly?

You just said it, didn't you?

[Smartass.]

Be specific.

I think you should guess. You have your suspicions already, don't you?

[Polnareff's unwavering loyalty-- the first Polnareff he had met, at least-- Fugo's deeply-held trust, enough to follow him blindly through Woodhurst in all senses of the word. (No mere accountant would take such risks.) The invisible magnetic force that seems to draw even him to the boy. This is more than simple charisma. This is--]

Did you inherit Naples? Or did you take it for yourself?

[Ah. He smiles, sharp-toothed and pleased. There's something somber behind it, because--it's not such a simple answer as that. But he's still pleased.]

You could say I stole it.

[The smile is different. This is no peck on his cheek; this is the slap across the face, the cool tongue and steely gaze demanding respect. The towering presence, so dissonant from the rest of Giorno, makes much more sense this way.

It figures. Birds of a feather, and all that, though he has long abandoned this road himself.]

I'd expect nothing less from you, Giogio.

[Ugh. He clicks his tongue, shoulders stiffening.]

I really hope you're not falling back towards patronizing me. It won't go any better for you this time. And I didn't give you permission to be that familiar with me. You don't know nearly as much about me as you think you do.

You can ask. Just don't presume. [Keep that character development rolling, Jim.]

[that's jim's default state: vaguely rude, mildly patronizing.]

Giorno, then. Unless you want me to call you something else, now that it's all out in the open.

[Lord only knows if he's actually serious about that offer......]

It isn't "all out in the open". As I just said, you don't know much about me at all. You seem content to be smug about the guesses you've made, but don't assume they're correct. You have permission to ask, not assume.

Even if you did know anything about that, though, you wouldn't be one to call me by my proper title--not that you've asked what it is. I want respect from you, not deference.

[So he has pushed some buttons.

Jin takes a moment's hesitation as he mulls Giorno's frustration-- and the previous reasons for it-- over in his mind. Time and time again it rears up, which means... there's been a fatal misstep here that he's kept making over and over again.]

...This is an honest question, Giorno. I'm not trying to joke around anymore, I swear.

What am I missing here? I know we're different-- very different-- and I can be an ass sometimes, but I'm also your friend. I don't want to keep pissing you off when I don't mean to.

[On the other end, there's dead silence. For. Quite a while, actually. And Giorno, staring. Not like he's seen a ghost, but like he's seen an impossibility, something that's been scientifically proven not to exist. Like he's gone to the seaside and tripped over the legs of a sunbathing yeti.]

[He doesn't understand. He should, shouldn't he? All the words make sense separately. It's just when they're put together that he doesn't understand what they mean or why they're happening. Jin keeps doing this, too--being confusing like this. He wants to know what he's missing, but--]

[Why?]

[Giorno's lips purse, a tight shape of confusion; he opens his mouth like he's going to respond, and then draws his response back in, because no, that isn't right. Whatever it was going to be, it wasn't good enough.]

[I'm also your friend. It feels like Jin is trying to say the same thing Giorno said: I want respect from you, not deference. Only maybe it's the other way around? Giorno is trying to say what Jin's just said. But even he knows he doesn't really know what he wants.]

. . . I don't know how to say it.

[Because he's never had the opportunity to, really. When would he have? Once upon a time, nobody wanted to hear it. Now, nobody should.]

[That's really the issue, isn't it? He shouldn't be telling Jin any of his secrets. It's dangerous. It undercuts his authority. And here he is, doing it anyway. His expression, already tight, goes a little more vacant--disappointed. Not in anyone but himself.]

I don't . . . tell my secrets. Usually, I lie well enough that people don't guess them. I shouldn't tell you. I shouldn't trust you. But I do, and I am, so when you make fun--

[When he lets the mask fall, even just for a moment, and what he gets in return is a joke--]

[He shrugs one shoulder helplessly; doesn't know how to finish except by saying,] I don't like it, [and glancing to the side, with no idea how to make his words sound more like Giorno's and less like some useless child's.]

video; un: white_lotus

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