Praying This Is Temporary

Walking over to Kakyoin, Joseph set a towel down on the nearby chair, taking a seat and glancing around.

“Any sign of Jotaro, Kakyoin??”

Sitting up and adjusting his sunglasses, Kakyoin shook his head.

“I’m beginning to worry, Mr. Joestar. But with Star Platinum by his side, he’s not likely to lose.”

Grunting an assent, Joseph sat back to lay in the sun, still worrying silently about his grandson. What would Holly do if Jotaro was seriously injured or worse, killed, on this trip? He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out… 

Settling on the other side of Kakyoin, Polnareff and Avdol mirrored Joseph’s actions, settling in to rest in the summer sun. Relaxing wasn’t something they’d had a chance to do since Dio began sending his rounds of stand users. Each time they found safety, some new hireling would appear. Two in one day was far more than enough. 

Stretching out dramatically, Polnareff announced he was going to take a dip in the pool and strode over to sit on the edge. Avdol, meanwhile, was quietly applying sunscreen and sitting cross-legged on his pool chair. The heat had always been comforting—he supposed it was being used to Magicians’ Red’s flames for so long. Summoning his stand, Avdol opened a bag of peanuts, flicking a few towards Red and stroking the soft plumage on his head. With a cheerful chirp, Red burst into flames, squeaking happily and opening his mouth for more treats.

Watching with a smile, Kakyoin sat up, summoning Hierophant Green to sit next to him. Grabbing his water bottle, Kakyoin poured the liquid over Green’s shoulders to cool both of them off. Shivering, Hierophant wrapped his tendrils around Kakyoin’s waist and shoulders in a hug, warming up in the sunlight. From nearby, loud snoring cut through the ambient sounds— Kakyoin covered his mouth, stifling a laugh. Mr. Joestar had already fallen asleep and small trails of Hermit Purple’s vines twined around the chair, ensuring he wouldn’t fall out. 

Next to Polnareff, Silver Chariot sat, using his blade to slash at the water and create ripples in the pool’s surface. Staring down at his distorted reflection, Polnareff grazed his fingers gently over the new wounds on his face and bite mark on his shoulder. Ebony Devil had been merciless in his pursuit. Polnareff was glad to finally be rid of the demon… He would have to keep an eye on the wounds to make sure they didn’t get infected.

Heavy footsteps soon clunked on the pavement by the pool’s gate, as slow, tired steps made their way closer to the group. With a deep sigh, Jotaro opened the lock with his room key, cradling his right hand and arm. The battle with Yellow Temperance had been hard fought. Even though he had won, the wounds and burns from his early attempts at fighting the stand were still painful and raw. Upon seeing Jotaro, Kakyoin jumped to his feet, rushing over.

“Jojo!”

Nodding in Kakyoin’s direction, Jotaro grunted and kept walking, looking for an empty chair. Helping him over to his own seat, Kakyoin looked Jotaro over, eyeing the wounds.

“You should remove your coat so we can tend to the wounds, Jotaro…”

Glancing up, Jotaro assented, slowly removing his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt. 

“Yare yare…” 

In a moment, Jotaro fell backwards, half passing out. Star Platinum jumped out quickly to catch his user, pulling him up properly into the chair with a concerned “Ora!” Rushing forward, Kakyoin checked Jotaro’s pulse and assessed the angry red wounds trailing over his chest and right arm. He would need bandages and rest, at the very least.

With all the commotion, Polnareff finally looked over from the pool, standing quickly. 

“HUH?! What’s going on? What happened??” 

Polnareff stood over the two, eyeing Jotaro’s wounds as well. Kakyoin looked up, still holding Jotaro’s arm and monitoring his pulse.

“I’m not sure yet. Anne said he was fighting a stand earlier when she called Mr. Joestar… He passed out before I could ask more…”

Avdol sat up and placed his feet on the pavement, watching carefully. If necessary, he would step in to assist, but Kakyoin seemed to have things under control… 

What kind of stand could cause those wounds? They seem to trail all over his chest in organic shapes… No sharp edges. No slices or punctures or cuts. Just burns…

Dropping Jotaro’s hand for a moment, Kakyoin stood.

“Polnareff. Wake up Mr. Joestar. Perhaps he can get more information from Jojo… I need to get supplies from our room.”

The frenchman give a quick nod, stepping towards the two Joestars. 

“And if you can, Polnareff…” Kakyoin continued. “Find something for Jotaro to drink. He needs more fluids to aid in healing… We don’t want him to get dehydrated in this heat.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve got it handled Kakyoin. Don’t worry! You’re like a mother hen, all worrying and pecking over him. He’ll be right here when you get back. Rush off and I’ll take care of things.”

“Right.” 

With a slight bow, Kakyoin walked to the entrance doors, turning back to send Hierophant Green to watch over Jotaro in his absence. Star Platinum still crouched nearby, watching quietly. Grabbing onto Star’s shoulder, Hierophant wrapped his arms around gently to hang on and nestled under Star’s wavy locks. The two watched, concerned, as Polnareff located a vending machine nearby to get drinks. With Pol away, Avdol walked over to get a better look at the injuries, bringing his stand out to reassure Star and Hierophant as they waited for Jojo to wake.

“Oh…” Polnareff gave a little grunt as he returned, pouting. 

“Did you want anything Avdol? They have sodas… juice… water.” 

Pol thumbed over his shoulder at the machine, and Avdol shook his head no.

“This is of more importance at the moment. Here.” 

Avdol reached out his hand for a bottle of water. 

“I’ll give Jotaro a drink. You wake Mr. Joestar.”

“Fineeee, here.” Polnareff slapped the bottle into Avdol’s hand and crouched next to Joseph, squinting in the sunlight.

“Mr. Joestar???”

No response. Polnareff yelled louder this time.

“MR. JOESTAR!!!!”

A little snort and groan, but Joseph was still fast asleep. 

“Rrrragh! Whaaaat?! JOSEPH WAKE UP!!!” 

Polnareff gave Joseph a small smack in the face, resulting in Hermit Purple lashing out, wrapping its tendrils around Pol’s wrists and pinning him to the ground. Avdol, who had been cooling down Jotaro’s forehead, looked over, sighing.

“Again, Jean??~”

Grumbling sheepishly, Polnareff gave a small grimace and wriggled to free himself from the bonds. Joseph was finally beginning to wake, yawning and stretching out as he opened his eyes.

“MMmmmhrrrm.” 

Once he came to, Joseph took in the scene of Polnareff on the ground and Jotaro passed out nearby. 

“What.”

Polnareff yelled from the ground.

“If you could release me Mr. Joestar, I would be grateful!”

“Oh…. Hrmmm.” 

With a flick of his hand, he retracted Hermit Purple and rubbed his wrists.

“What did I miss?? Where’s Kakyoin?”

Sitting up, Polnareff updated him with the situation, motioning to Jotaro and the watching stands.

Joseph looked eyes with Avdol, raising an eyebrow.

“Has Jotaro come around yet??”

“He’s close, I believe Mr. Joestar. I was keeping him cooled off, but we need to know what happened. What the stand was that attacked him.”

“Right… Polnareff, can you help us?? We should sit Jotaro at the edge of the pool. Don’t submerge the wounds.”

With a cheerful “Ora?” Star moved towards Joseph, flexing his arm—he wanted to help his user. Hierophant uncurled and popped out from Star’s shoulder, indicating his desire to help too. With a nod, Joseph stood and approached the stands, offering a gentle pat to both of them. 

“Hierophant? Can you wrap around Jotaro’s shoulders and brace him? Star, you support under his legs while Pol and I take his arms. Avdol, if you get in the pool you can help lower him down and make sure we don’t get his burns wet.”

Everyone agreed to the plan and Jotaro soon rested in the pool, submerged from his waist down on the steps, finally coming around with the frigid water. With quiet grunts, Jotaro opened his eyes, glancing around at everyone and embarrassed to be the focus of attention.

“Why is everyone staring at me like this??”

Jotaro pulled the brim of his hat down to cover his blush, looking down at his wounds.

“Oh…”

“What happened, Jotaro??” Joseph stood at his side, looking over the burns like everyone else. 

“Stand battle. Said his name was Temperance Yellow. Practically unbeatable. You’d be proud of me jiji, I even used the Joestar family technique…”

Muffling a small chuckle, Joseph crossed his arms with a proud smirk.

“How did you beat him?”

“With my fists~” 

This time Avdol held back a laugh. The Joestars were all so alike, much as Jotaro tried to hide it under layers of quiet, steeled strength. Finally bursting through the doors with arms full of supplies, Kakyoin paused when he saw everyone crowed at the pool, confused.

“Hello??”

Mr. Joestar motioned him forward. 

“We woke Jotaro up, Kakyoin… Come over.”

Everyone moved away to let Nori work, retreating to their pool chairs. 

“Sit up on the ledge if you can, Jojo.”

“It’s my chest injured, not my legs, Kakyoin.”

Blushing, Kakyoin nodded, flipping his sunglasses down and grabbing the antibacterial ointment.

“This might hurt, but try to stay still…”

As Kakyoin traced his fingers over the wounds, smearing on the salve, Jotaro flinched slightly. Try as he might to dull the sensation, the burns were still quite painful. With the cold pool water, Nori’s fingers, and a slight wind, Jotaro shivered in the mid-day heat. 

“When I’m done you can get your jacket back, Jojo…”

Kakyoin spoke quietly and gently, keeping the conversation between just them.

“Thank you, Nori.”

Looking up with his light lavender eyes, he nodded at Jojo, face filled with concern. He didn’t like seeing anyone in their party hurt, least of all Jotaro.

“How did the stand do all this?”

“Yellow Temperance was gelatinous. Some sort of acidic slime. Any time you tried to defeat it—burning, freezing, anything—it would only grow stronger and multiply.”

Holding up his hand, he winced as Kakyoin hit a deeper burn.

“This one’s probably the worst. I tried to use a lighter and burn it off.”

“Let me see that.”

Kakyoin took his hand quickly, rubbing ointment over the injury and reaching for gauze. 

Avdol, Polnareff, and Joseph had all begun to walk around the pool with their stands, testing each other’s reaction times and battling. On the rare off-moments, they liked making bets and trying stupid maneuvers on one another. Polnareff ducked as Magician’s Red spit out a stream of flame just above his head, shrieking and guarding his hair.

“You almost singed me, Avdol!!! Don’t mess with the hair!!! What do you think you’re doing pulling a stunt like that???”

Joseph and Avdol held back laughter as Polnareff pouted, crossing his arms. Avdol walked forward, trying to pull Polnareff out of his mood.

“My apologies, Jean. Do we need to kiss and make up??”

Blushing, Polnareff swatted Avdol’s hand away, staying in his funk.

“I’m getting a soda…”

Knotting the gauze at Jotaro’s palm, Kakyoin leaned down to seal it with a kiss, avoiding Jotaro’s gaze. Both of them blushed madly, but Jotaro wasn’t upset. Secretly, he liked sweet, soft gestures, even though he tried to be cold. Quickly moving to wrap the bandages around Jojo’s chest, Kakyoin soon finished, standing up to leave the pool. Jotaro followed, sitting on the pool chairs and watching Joseph and Avdol battle. Handing Jotaro his coat, Kakyoin stood close by, watching as well. Flames against vines didn’t seem a fair fight, but it was more like a complicated boxing match, each avoiding the lashing out stand attacks. The two were well-matched, and after a few rounds, they grasped hands at a draw.

“Good going, Avdol. You’ve really been training!”

“Thank you Mr. Joestar! I learned from the best.”

Kakyoin smiled, leaning his arms down on Jotaro’s shoulders. Polnareff soon rejoined everyone and stretching out as he approached.

“I don’t know about all of you, but I’m starving!!! Let’s go eat!!”

“Yes. A fine plan. Let’s go!” Joseph grabbed up his towel, wiping off his face, dripping with sweat from the battle.