Chapter Text
Jotaro had been acting off, lately. Emerald would say that it wasn't too noticeable -- but it would be a lie. With everything relating to ocean, it's both unfortunately straightforward and painfully subtle, though cherry is good enough at the art of Jotaro kujo to make something of the odd hints that seastar unintentionally drops. Hints that xe probably doesn't even know have dropped.
And... Maybe it's only half a coincidence but.
Kakyoin has been having dreams. Peculiar, bizarre, nauseating. Suffocating, slightly maddening at times.
Waking up perfectly calm yet with cherry's breath held. Eyes fluttering open to meet the flicker of dawn, much later than emerald would ever get up, feeling far too rested. Cold and still and yet, uneasy. Fingers too tight around the sheets, voice breathless in the soft curse that falls from their lips. For a moment, everything is still. For a moment, the world holds its breath.
It's. Kakyoin's heart is in their throat. Their fingertips buzzing with the same feeling of the dream, their skin tingling. Their nails scape across the inner bit of their wrist and only a bit of blood follows, the sting almost unpalatable. Xe stands almost too rapidly, movements jerky and frozen until they're forced back into their usual positions, their usual persona.
There's no one at home, as per usual. Emerald half stumbles through contemplating breakfast and then leaving with an empty stomach, pries open the door and feels the sun against cherry's skin. It feels almost accusatory. (It knows what xe's done.)
Maybe pixel should ignore it. Pretend nothing happened. It was just a dream. That's all.
It was just a dream.
It was just --
Emerald nearly runs into Jotaro. Looks up and those eyes won't meet easel's own and.
And it was just a dream and this is reality.
(Jotaro won't meet cherry's eyes.)
-
The pond is relatively quiet when the two of them finally get there. A mile walk with some detours, namely to get lunch and a bagful of cherries and to get seastar to stop glaring out of the corner of xeir eye about emerald having not eaten or brought any food.
"We can't all be perfectly nourished all the time, mister nourishment." Kakyoin half complains and knows damn well the reason for jellyfish even eating in the first place is one, so xe can 'kick everyone's ass' and one must eat for that. And two, because Holly-san would never get over it if seastar even skipped one meal.
Growing children need their food, Jojo! Please, eat something! Even one thing!
And then Jotaro would have to deal with the concerned glances and worry and would be on edge all week. At least until Holly-san stopped worrying.
Ocean was a good kid like that, under all the flashing signs of please think I'm cool and intimidating, please. Not like sea would ever admit it, though.
"Just fucking get something." And thus, began their adventure. Jotaro had brought something homemade, obviously, something from Holly-san. It looked like omurice, a couple of them packed away in a cute looking pink container with a note on the very top.
Sea sits on the edge of the concrete bench beside the pond and emerald gives the area a short look before following suit. Near reaches for the bag of cherries before Star Platinum swipes them. Holds them above pixel's head.
"Eat your shit first." And wow, does jellyfish look proud. In Jotaro terms, xe looked downright ecstatic -- the corner of xeir lips twitch up and the lines around her eyes soften, curve up about one millimeter.
"Bullying me makes you happy." Emerald should have known. Xe is absolutely heartbroken of course, devastated and mourning the loss of perfectly good cherries. Their tone of voice: accusatory.
"Making you miserable is the best thing that's ever happened to me." Jotaro deadpans again, pulls the cherries out of reach when Hierophant swipes at it.
"What a sweet talker," Cherry makes sure to use that voice, the one seastar hates. is rewarded by that look on its face, the slightly scrunched up, grossed out but not actually pissed off. "Keep that up and I'll swoon over."
"I won't catch you." Star Platinum seems to feel bad for Hierophant Green and gives it one (1) cherry. A compromise, it seems. Equally happy with itself, Star Platinum sparkles like one of those vampires from a certain movie cherry can't remember the name of and gives a very enthusiastic thumbs up.
"You weren't supposed to give those," Octopus starts at the no longer listening Star Platinum, and then promptly gives up. "Whatever."
The cherry makes a satisfying noise when it rolls across emerald's tongue. Jotaro plugs their ears with two fingers and uses Star Platinum to eat.
-
Their hands were tight around Jotaro's throat. Nails digging into the skin -- it comes apart easily. The dull panic isn't another new, spreading up their arms, dissolving by the time it reaches emerald's lungs and their limbs won't respond to the frantic what is xe doing get back what the hell is chrysoprase doing, just scratch like it was some sort of loving caress, welts running down the sides of ocean's neck. Crimson lines that almost form a blurred painting if Kakyoin tries not to think about it enough.
Their mouth forms words foreign to xem -- like they were being dragged out. Words emerald didn't think, words emerald didn't want to say, spit out like acid. There's something smoldering in jellyfish's eyes and it feels almost like sand, rough against pixel's fingertips.
(It's almost like being controlled by -- )
The hands that belong to easel in theory but not in practice shift down, cracks and bumps in both wave's expressions and the staggering warmth right underneath their palms and it feels all too real. It wouldn't be as haunting if it wasn't so fucking real, and emerald could almost be replaced with a certain blonde vampire whispering into the ears of a puppet and the outcome would be the same.
...Though, ocean's reaction. Almost relaxed save for the minute amount of tension outlining their frame, ensnared and suffocated by Hierophant Green curling around them and not even bothering to fight back.
What the hell is wrong with you, Cherry wants to ask. Are you not taking me seriously?
A crook of a finger and skin splits neatly, carves itself into a sharp line. The only reaction xe even gets from that is a slight hitch of breath and look who's holding back. Xe presses hard, catching the wound and wave's expression flickers into something much more grounded, slight twitches in the muscles near their eyes.
Why isn't xe fighting back?
A question for every single damned dream, because emerald knows damn well that ocean never does.
-
Blood reeks faintly of metal, until it touches emerald's tongue. Then it blossoms, tangy and overwhelming, dripping down the side of xeir mouth as emerald takes another bite. Sinks past the fibrous pericardium, feels it fold easily as paper, the parietal layer of serous that's even more fragile than the last and isn't it funny, how miniscule of a fight even wave's heart gives?
It's nauseating, clumps of tissue and pungent blood, air thick with decay that will never come, and Kakyoin just wants it to stop.
Can feel the unsteady pulse of the struggling organ, fluttering at the edges of its cage, as if it could so easily escape emerald's mouth and find solace back in Jotaro's chest cavity and cherry's hands keep shaking, their tongue tracing the fractures of where tissue used to be and doesn't care to look at wave's expression, doesn't want to see the horror-betrayal which must be painted there, etched into the very depths of seastar's eyes and fuck.
The pericardial cavity spills droplets of liquid that mixes with the blood splattering onto sea's jacket. The epicardium, the myocardium, striated muscle which spasms at every almost caress. What a mockery of a kiss -- a mockery of anything so gentle.
The tremors have become much more noticeable, fists forming around loosely Hierophant's tentacles and breaths half heaved; cherry makes the mistake of looking up and there's something unguarded in those eyes, watching almost intently, glazed over and utterly focused. The faintest glimmer of the light reflects in those eyes and it's the closest thing to outright tears emerald has ever seen on xem.
Oh.
Unconsciously -- out of their control, still a goddamn mind puppet of whatever realm this dream is in -- the stuttering heart is squeezed, slow increments of building intensity and the pained furrow in Jotaro's eyebrows persists, deepens, crumples into their eyes pinching shut entirely.
Face blank aside from that, and emerald sees blonde in the corner of their eye and their fingers abruptly change course, ripping open more of the pericardial cavity, can't tell if the numbness in their fingers is because of the muted horror or the still present unable to control a single part of xeir body. It's almost painful as ocean's grip goes iron against Hierophant, almost sickening as emerald's head dips down to taste seastar's blood again and it comes back as stained cherries on pixel's tongue.
-
Kakyoin blinks awake. Pulls itself up. Collapses to their knees and throws up until everything burns acrid, heaving until cherry's chest decides to near cave in. Slowly stumbles to the bathroom and scrubs their mouth clean. Avoids cherries for the rest of the day until xe tentatively pops one in emerald's mouth, near swallowing it with the seed.
Even sweeter than usual. Emerald spits it out, grabs another one, closes the door to their room.
Presses the heel of easel's palms against their eyes.
It's just a dream.
-
"Someone got here early." Jotaro doesn't make any effort to mask xeir footsteps and cherry is all to prepared to send out Hierophant Green -- a tendril coils around ocean's ankle and tugs. Emerald doesn't even bother to look anything but pleased at their success, one hand propping up their head and sprawled across the bench.
"I have a name you know." Xe flutters their eyelashes, tries not to seem too delighted by the same vaguely grossed out expression that appears all over seastar's face when pixel lays it on thick. It's not their fault that Jotaro is all too easy to make fun of.
"If I say it, you'd get too charmed." Star Platinum surfaces, grabs at easel's arm and pulls them straight off the bench -- for a single moment, the cherries come alongside Kakyoin and are flung into the air, at least until both hierophant and Star Platinum dart about to catch them. Pixel watches them, goes back to glancing at wave, face slack for a moment before giving up on holding the snicker in.
"What's so funny?" Jellyfish has the gall to ask, as if xeir lips aren't curving ever so slightly into a smile. "If I had to deal with you being too charmed, you'd never leave me alone."
Oh, this poor soul. Emerald lays a pitying hand on Jotaro's leg, the closest part of xem that it could reach. "Jojo. You said that like I'd ever leave you alone now."
Crab merely huffs. "Too charmed already, then?"
"Oh, you didn't tell me you knew what jokes were!" That comment (and the added on gleaming smile with the hand pressed to cherry's chest, all too happy to play the absolutely wooed groupie) gets xem a kick in the arm and easel near mock gasps.
"You better not get my clothes dirty." Kakyoin declares, as if xe isn't already pressing both of ocean's shoes down and practically crawling up Jotaro's legs like some kind of fucking spider -- ocean raises both hands slightly to defend from whatever it would be this time.
"Like we're not rolling in the dirt."
"The dirt isn't your shoeprint on my clothes!"
And thus, emerald lunges forward and begins their revenge match. Well, it's only really revenge for one person there.
-
There's no Hierophant Green this time. It doesn't start off with Kakyoin's nails digging into Jotaro's skin.
Just their hands, two fingers against ocean's pulse, the other splayed against xeir chest. Just their teeth, just the crimson against their mouth and the blood coating cherry's chin. Almost flush against each other, the two of them are, every breathless lungful shuddering against Kakyoin's staggered heartbeats. Mingled panic in the cramped, shared air -- xe can't pull back, their body won't let it, all they can do is try to speak.
"Jojo."
Xe can feel the way wave's breathing stills. The shift of ocean's throat; was Jotaro opening their mouth to respond? Could xe respond? Jellyfish tries to move and so does cherry's hand, of its own accord, presses down hard in some junction of bone and feels the tension drain from octopus like they no longer had control over its body. That would make two of them, no?
"You--" Why don't you fight back? is what emerald means to say, has been meaning to ask because even if it's just another dream, it's the only thing running through cherry's mind. "--put up a pretty pathetic fight this time around."
It just earns a huff and nothing else, just earns the faintest twitch of muscle when emerald bites deeper. Doesn't dare pull back, doesn't want to accidentally rip ocean's throat out, unless --
"You didn't do that last time." The voice nearly startles xem. Doesn't need to look up to know it was starfish's, feels the slow vibrations through their teeth, feels them fade through the rest of ocean's body.
"Do what?"
For whatever reason, it's a brief flash of lucidity that sparks from the conversation. Is this why the thing making this dream didn't allow pixel to speak, the last time?
"Talk."
Oh. So there has to be a connection between the two somehow, if xe could figure it out, then easel could get a proper fucking night of rest for once and --
"You did it once and then stopped."
And look who's cooperating. Two sentences out of ocean without having to say something in between?
"Oh, fuck off."
And make that three! This should earn cherry some kind of reward.
-
The (probably) stand user controlling them seems to be getting impatient. Kakyoin's jaw aches but xe holds it open, doesn't give in to the persistent urge that keeps flickering at their periphery. Cracks at what feels like the seams of their jaw, every string of the tissue pulling apart and it might be cherry's own blood on their tongue, it might not. Kind of hard to tell when everything is painted in gore.
"...Just bite already."
Does ocean mean it? Xe isn't pulling back, only able to move when they're pushing Kakyoin's teeth further into wave's. Every exhale has shark unable to tense, unable to move at all, far too close to close itself off. Forcibly bared, like a corpse with its skin peeled off, ready to be buried. Maybe it's worse because sea doesn't regret the words leaving their mouth, doesn't hesitate -- they hang in the moment, the pause that ripples through cherry's entire body, the time that drips through the hourglass of the moments that pass.
Maybe seastar could elaborate. Doesn't, words stuck in their throat that wouldn't have properly come out regardless if xe could speak freely or not. Can practically sense the surprise in emerald's posture, the slightly inward shoulders and sudden, alert rigidity.
"It's the only way to end this."
The whole room seems to narrow in on the words, echoing. The rawness of the torn skin only exacerbated with pixel's almost hoarse reply. Though in the maybe minutes, maybe hours that have drawn past, anyone's voice would sound torn like that, ocean supposes.
"You're okay with that?"
The reply comes faster than dolphin would have liked it to. yes.
"It's fine."
The pressure against xeir throat feels almost like a warning, now.
"Jojo."
"It's fine."
Some undercurrent under water's skin, anticipation, electricity, harsh weight against their neck, slow, primal fear. But it doesn't hurt just yet and it's the only way to get out of here and cherry should just get on with it, really, the worse they stall then the longer they have to experience this dream and --
And Kakyoin's fingers tug at the edge of the wound and pull, and emerald is practically crushing, muscles and fiber pulled apart at the seams; it's almost a dare.
Could ocean really handle it? Is xe just making up shit as per usual?
Easel knows how Jotaro works, can pry them apart like a puzzle, can wrap their head around some parts and can't comprehend the others and it's vicious. The cut deepens easily, flesh molding to the shape of xeir teeth and wave's skin isn't going to be the only thing that cherry is reshaping, is it? How many times will seastar have this memory burned into the back of their mind?
All emerald can smell is the rot of blood, staining the air like perfume, cloying. Tilting easel's mouth and the sternocleidomastoid muscle meets their tongue, slightly tough and layered, the bilateral muscle of the neck, functions to flex the neck both laterally and anteriorly--
Pixel's fingers dig into the incisions of xeir teeth and sink in easy. A jerk and what must be ocean's pulse, thrumming through them both, as the muscle comes loose, slippery and uselessly flopping to the side, some sickeningly wet thud that pixel almost desperately wants to forget. Eyes that dart up, to make sure that wave was... What, okay? To make sure that ripping out their fucking throat muscles didn't hurt? To -- to catch the glimmer of a creature that wants nothing more to fight for its survival unconditionally holding xemself still, keeping put. Baring their throat.
A shaky inhale. The rust catches on the inner lining of cherry's lungs.
This motherfucker.
"Is it really fine, Jojo?" A thumb behind the limp sternocleidomastoid, the light squish of ruptured blood vessels. They string together like lights, color emerald's nails dark, taste like iron on xeir tongue.
Or is ocean just--
Jotaro's teeth catch wave's lower lip. Harsh, sinking in hard enough that the tears are more reflex than anything, really. Tearing through the skin and it's enough, just a heartbeat of agony and xe can grasp the tenuous sense of control back, just enough to stop Kakyoin from seeing it like that. Fragile and weak and made of glass, emerald would never look at xem the same way.
Something else is pulled and something else is torn and something else has xem nauseous and has it dizzy, has the world spinning and spinning, flashing dull and then too bright again.
It would be fatal soon -- how hasn't it been fatal already -- bone peeking from the mass of bloodred, and all ocean can do is stare and stare and stare.
"Say how you really feel."
...What?
"It's the only way to get out of this."
One of those fingers is in xeir right internal carotid artery. Seal can physically feel the clot, the indescribable sensation as it near popped, unable to stand even the size of emerald's nail, so hard to think properly through what had to be the blood loss, through the constant pain. It flows like syrup, diluted through the static, all too intense through the frantic sensation of cherry so, so close.
"Come on, Jojo."
Kakyoin, Xe thinks it with all their will. Wants to reach out, moves far too fast, near breaks easel's arm and emerald doesn't even fucking flinch. Pinches one of xeir arteries shut like it was a direct punishment, tastes the vague rubber of it. Kakyoin.
(But that's why Jotaro always...)
A barely there breathless noise torn from ocean's lips. It's the most xe's willing to let slip, grip tight on any indication of pain.
(How xe really feels.)
Isn't it obvious?
From the second they met -- going toe to toe, not having to hold back. Accidentally having someone who saw it all, who saw the cruel violence and eggshells. Saw through layers and layers, years of becoming unreadable, years of being used to being unreadable. Killing that stupid fucking vampire together. Going home bloodied and bruised and holding emerald's hand in a near death grip until pixel's eyes opened.
"Kakyoin." voice cracked, unused.
"I want you to kill me."
Teeth in wave's neck, they deliver the final blow.
-
Everything is muddy when the two of them open their eyes. The blurred sun drifting in easily through the drawn blinds, through the gaps of the one broken part. Ocean really needs to get it fixed -- it shines directly into their eye and damn nearly blinds seastar. What the hell would xe have done then? Defeated by a window blind.
"...Did you fall asleep doing thesis work?" is the first thing emerald asks, blinking, squinting ever so slightly. Oh, jellyfish hadn't registered cherry's presence somehow. Though, taking a look at the absolute hypocrite...
"Did you fall asleep playing video games?" octopi's gaze flicks down to the controller still in easel's hands. One of their thumbs still pressed against a button, attempting to beat some invisible level without even being awake for it? What a joke.
"I--" a start that breaks off, pixel's lips pursing, eyes narrowing just ever so slightly -- that was a good question, actually, did xe?
"Thought so." it was all the response that seastar needed.
"What -- hey, I never confirmed it!"
"Didn't have to." what else would the position be? Dead giveaway, with the television still running and everything still plugged in.
"Better a gamer than a loser with no hobbies," Emerald sighs magnanimously, a pitying look gracing xeir features. Xe reaches out to comfortingly pat ocean on the knee. "No, marine biology and all related to it does not count as a hobby."
Wave closes their mouth. What the hell else would it count as then?
"Your profession? Your special interest. Your personality."
Personality, xeir ass. Jotaro would never live it down if the kids xe used to run into ever figured out even a sliver of the pure obsession xe held when it came to marine life and the such.
There's something that has been nagging it, though. Something, off. as intangible as the atoms around them.
"Hey, Kakyoin."
The tonal shift gets emerald's attention, a raised eyebrow and a slightly more alert demeanor.
"My real personality is being cooler than you. Don't forget that."
Star Platinum catches the remote control tossed at sea's face.