Chapter Text
THEIR NEOPRONOUNS ARE IN THE BEGINNING NOTE!!
Jotaro has been having... Strange dreams to say the least.
Wakes up every night in a cold sweat -- feels contradictory heat crawl under xeir skin, twist and wither like some kind of parasite, curls nausea in their stomach and their nails dig ever so slightly into ocean's palms. Breath caught in sea's throat, can't even take a single gasp of air. Lips parted. Frozen in time, perhaps, in the moment.
Fuck, seastar can still taste the fragmented fractures of the damn dream in their mouth, against their tongue. Drops their head into their now unfurled hands and does not scream. Brushes it off in the morning and does not get a concerned look from dolphin's mother.
Are you sure you're sleeping alright? With that too knowing voice and Jotaro just tells xem to piss off. No use in worrying them over a handful of extremely bizarre dreams, because they're just dreams and that is that. No need to look further into it, no need to peel the layers of why the fuck shark would be dreaming about that sort of thing, no need to --
It's going to be a long day, isn't it?
-
Kakyoin is a bit early at their usual meeting spot. Quirks an eyebrow at the state of Jotaro's everything, which also makes no damn sense because ocean specifically made sure to get rid of every single sign that showed something was amiss. What the fuck was with the people in ocean's life? The two people xe saw daily just happened to be the ones who could read all of shark like a book, huh?
"Someone sure looks bright and chipper today," Cherry looks far too amused to drop such a comment and dolphin almost turns heel and walks back to their house. Xe would get back in through the window in its room and avoid everyone else for the rest of the day.
"Fuck off." Dolphin bites out instead, flat with no real substance behind the words and the two of them set off, shoes clicking against the pavement.
"Careful, you could really charm a lady with those words." Christ.
Emerald takes another look at xeir face and muffles what has to be the most inelegant aborted snicker ocean has ever heard -- Jotaro shouldn't find it endearing.
"Sorry, sorry. Forgot you weren't into ladies." Really, shark should bring earplugs next time the two of them go on a walk like this.
"You could really charm a man with those words, is that better?" Cherry's voice has taken on this saccharine sweet quality to it and the far too pleased with itself smile only grows as sea makes the abhorrent mistake of responding.
"That a confession? Who knew you were in love with me." Xe deadpans and that might have been the longest sentence shark has spoken all day. Of course, Kakyoin was the one to draw it out of xem. No surprise there. Jotaro pointedly ignores that it's also the first proper human interaction xe has had all day.
"Oh, Jojo. Your observational skills are so lacking if you just now figured that out." Chrysoprase laments, gets far too close, sets a hand on ocean's arm and droops exaggeratedly against sea. Mimics the lovesick tone of those girls in the cheesy romance movies that dolphin would always get forced to watch. "How could you take so long to realize my feelings for you?"
Ocean makes another face and doesn't need to look at emerald's expression to know a shit eating grin is plastered all over it.
-
Kakyoin's hands are wrapped neatly around wave's throat. Not constricting just yet, merely resting there. Fingers pressed against the pulse point in ocean's throat, willfully digging blunt nails into the spot until the sting split in two and it might have began to bleed.
Jotaro couldn't tell, couldn't tear their eyes away from cherry's own to check, didn't want to try, ...Couldn't try? The thought wasn't in their mind, blank.
Not a single thought was in their mind, actually. Ocean shifts -- attempts to, opens their mouth, attempts to. Nothing moves, save the slight shudder that runs down xeir spine and iridescent green ropes squeeze in response.
Oh. Hierophant Green.
Sea nearly forgot it was there, in the lackluster haze of what the fuck is going on? in the delicate tightrope of instincts, which seem to be torn between outright attacking and going completely limp.
"C'mon, Jojo, stay still." Emerald tilts xeir head down, hair falling partially in cherry's face, half covers one of their eyes and seastar feels the possession of a madman, gets the quiet urge to reach up and tuck the strands back behind chrysoprase's ear. What dolphin really should be doing is worrying about pixel trying to kill xem, but. Emerald wouldn't, not really.
Ocean gives the ropes of Hierophant Green a sharp tug in response to the request and it draws a faint sigh from Kakyoin's lips and slightly narrow eyes; patient, willing to walk seastar down whatever fucking lane this is, though there's something half pleased in the stare. (Just like in real life, dolphin couldn't make heads nor tails of it. Was xe doing something good, struggling after being told not to? Why does emerald look like that around someone like shark?)
"Or not. You were always bad at following instructions." Words that Jotaro wants to articulate stuck in xeir throat with the rapid circulation being cut off -- Hierophant curls around it like a cage, coils and coils and ocean feels the near crushing pressure deep in their skin and bones, metal bars in the form of shimmering green. So hard to breathe all of a sudden, chokes on air. Forgets how exactly to breathe when emerald leans in.
So close that their noses almost touch. Jotaro's head is spinning. Must be the lack of oxygen.
"But that's perfectly fine. We have time, after all." emerald speaks, talking more to xemself than anything. Have their eyes always been this green? It's almost unnatural, brighter flecks lighting up under the beams of moonlight that bled through the shutters.
-
Kakyoin was right about having time. There's almost too much of it, suspended in the moment, the rush of the clicking clock stilled down to the second. It runs crimson, tears through the fabric of seastar's reality and it's so hard to think. Split open like a gaping wound, one of emerald's bloodstained hands are tracing one of the lighter scars on xeir face.
"Comfortable?" Chrysoprase doesn't sound the slightest bit affected, all put together. Like their fingers weren't firmly curled around ocean's heart, crushing every staggered pulse of it -- another stutter of a heartbeat and for a split second, Jotaro could feel it in their ears. Emerald doesn't bother with getting an answer, doesn't seem to need one, just squeezes excruciatingly slow. Digs fingers into the tissue and every fiber of ocean's being flares with panic, static ringing through their ears and half numb.
"I never would have guessed that you like thinking of me like this."
As if this was just some fantasy. As if Jotaro was willing this to happen? ...Was xe.
...
Cherry's nails sink into the grooves of seastar's aorta -- xe breaks eye contact, dips their head down and the pain sparks electric, small flares with every calculated pull of a blood vessel. Was Kakyoin set on taking it apart? Flesh peeling from itself, so easily, ocean could feel the lack of resistance in their damn bones. Emerald makes some curious noise in the back of xeir throat and their hand slips deeper into shark's chest cavity, feels pressure against one of their ribs until it snaps clean in half and shark refuses to react, holds still, holds still.
Maybe indication of the pain would mean chrysoprase would stop. Maybe showing weakness meant that xe would continue, would take Jotaro apart one organ at a time, one fractured bone at a time and revel in the aftertaste of it, maybe it meant that cherry would be merciless, would use their teeth and rip through everything in one clean bite, would -- would.
Dolphin takes what feels like the first lungful of air xe has inhaled all night. Can't get it to work properly with easel's hand in the interior of xeir ribcage, back of their hand against the angle of the bone, would that be shattered as well? Kakyoin lets out some contemplative hum, views ocean like a bug to dissect and surely, xe can feel the near invisible jerk of sea's body as the grip on jellyfish's heart becomes painfully tight, fuck.
Seeing stars wouldn't be the right way to put it, not as all the blood rushes to pool in the center of xeir chest and shark near chokes on it, overwhelming pressure and their head spins, hand moving before dolphin could stop it, clinging to emerald's wrist almost pleadingly, doesn't know if xe's going to pull it back or make the almost agony worse, ends up not moving further. (There it is, a sign of weakness. Blood in the water, probably exactly what pixel wants and if it doesn't make Jotaro's head spin and spin.)
"Oh?" is the only acknowledgement emerald even gives, lets seastar use them as their only grounding point and ocean feels the rupture rather than sees it -- the coolness of the blood as it stains, the dimness to their vision, Kakyoin's entire arm coated in sanguine. "Oh." emerald repeats, though it's colored with pleasant surprise.
"You've become rather easy, Jojo."
Jotaro doesn't even get to process that before there's the brush of something against the seam of their lips and they open their eyes and the glaring sun greets them, blinds drawn up and not a single bit of Kakyoin in sight. No blood, no torn open skin, no...
Another dream.
A surge of some emotion swells in xeir chest and ocean shoves it right back down.
-
"Are you even listening?" Emerald gives Jotaro one of those looks -- xe had been doing that a lot recently -- half flat and half exasperated.
"...Yes." Jotaro definitely was not zoning out.
A sigh. "Do I need to possess you to pay attention again?"
Cherry talks as if that had happened before. The sun isn't as bad where they are now, located in the shade, some ant on emerald's finger that xe was fiddling around with as the creature crawled about. Though every now and then the light would still get in ocean's eyes. And they were zoning out again, great.
"You were saying something about that game of yours." Sea nimbly ignores the possession threat and looks, looks properly at emerald. Immediately looks back away.
But pixel catches it. Jotaro knows damn well they do, those pursed lips and that calculating look that xe doesn't need to actually see to know.
"My game," Kakyoin repeats, slow. "And what was my game called, Jojo?"
"Fuck is this, 20 questions?"
"The words of someone who wasn't paying attention in the slightest." A shake of the head and ocean only slightly dodges the kick to their leg.
"Watch the pants." Though it was really seastar's fault for not dodging fast enough.
"Do forgive me. You wouldn't want your 700,000 yen pants damaged, would you?" Even blind and deaf, ocean would be able to recognize the mocking. Xe frowns on instinct.
"Then you'd be 700,000 yen in debt to me, dumbass."
"Aw, are you looking out for me?" Kakyoin coos in such a syrup sweet voice that it genuinely hurts to hear. The type of voice that could give someone an aneurism -- maybe it's even more powerful than the emerald splash. A secret weapon. Seastar should suggest testing it out at a later time on an `enemy stand` user.
"Give me a break."
This is the ideal place to tug xeir cap over their eyes and look away, except Jotaro has already been looking away, careful to avoid easel's gaze and at some point, emerald has stepped forward. Stopped right in front of sea and the ant that used to be on its finger has mysteriously fallen off and shark makes the worst decision in xeir life -- instinctively, they meet cherry's eyes.
The freezing is part reflex. The breath stopping in their throat and being unable to think for a brief second very much isn't. As always. Emerald's gaze is half calculating, peeling through layers of whatever the fuck they find in Jotaro's eyes, examining. All too perceptive. It's not that which makes seastar act so fucking weird, it's.
(...Have their eyes always been so green?)
What the fuck is wrong with seal. Say something. Do literally anything.
(Kakyoin looked at xem like that in the dream too, albeit a bit more cold. A bit more familiar. Pushing coral down like a bug to dissect.)
"There." Cherry speaks after a beat. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
The fuck.
"Aren't I your closest friend, Jojo? The least you could do is look at my face."
There's that shit eating grin again, follows immediately after the too coy tone ends.
Jotaro finds the brim of their hat by sheer muscle memory and pulls it down. Cherry nudges xem in the side and looks too happy about the grumbled out fuck off that xe gets in return.