Chapter Text
/// 🌃🌟🌃 ///
1988, Singapore, a Hotel at Night
After Thomas got his ass beat and thrown into jail for the apparent murder of a man in a bathroom (he was told that he was a Stand user but murder is still murder) the night fell still and quiet aside from the occasional street noise.
Midoro slept peacefully on the other bed provided while his grandpa and Mr. Mahir were in another room to themselves which makes sense since they’re both the smartest people in this little revenge tour group.
But alas sleep could not come easy to Josei as he continuously shifted and turned in bed and the blanket came on and off him but nothing seemed to put him at sleeping comfort. His eyes even started to sting a little whenever he kept them open for like what? More than 10 seconds?
The normally sky lit sky didn’t show much as light pollution and the dreaded sky halo blocked any good view much to his chagrin so star seeing wasn’t a go to sleep option at the moment.
So there Josei laid in bed with a tight but strained grip on his pillow with his thoughts, at first they were mainly annoyances at the lack of a good sky and the stupid light pollution then to that Joestar legacy and his mom getting sick because of some blonde asshole which made his blood boil and his spine tingle with rage.
Because what’d his mom do to get something that could potentially kill her? How’d Grandpa be able to stay fit and yet his mother had to be bedridden because of hers?
Sighing to himself he sluggishly turned in bed once again, now wasn’t exactly the best time to wish ills upon his grandpa as there would be little direction if his gramps wasn’t around (besides, it’s Grandpa why would he wish the worst of serious ills on him?).
However his mind drifted to another, he had his own Stand.
One that made him put himself in jail because of it.
One that broke through steel like paper.
He brings his hands up to face to see the bruises and scars he’d endured from the trip to Singapore and honestly it felt really weird to have a moment of calm like this, Josei remembered why his knuckles were so battered.
The force 「 Wayward Son 」 brings upon his enemies was nothing short of terrifying if it had been able to tear through bars and keep a shark up in the air with it’s fists alone and by god the barrages it was able to pull off with speed and strength that broke bones, that scared him if he were being honest.
Four men from what he assumed to be some street gang lay on the ground, genitals ripped off and teeth scattered across the ground and streaks and of crimson all over the pavement.
Yet his fists weren’t the ones bloody, he looked on in horror as the screamed and soon after he put himself in a jail cell in fear of it’s abilities.
There were times that the Stand had acted on it’s own, the fist that flew to his grandfather’s gut the few moments where the two had locked eyes and he could identify that there was something else behind those gold ringed eyes and even the periods where it wouldn’t even respond to him.
If Stands are the manifestation of one’s soul, then what was 「 Wayward Son 」 ?
The soft sounds of the crashing waves enter earshot for brief seconds and his heart sinks, it was as if the Stand had heard his thoughts. Of course it (or was it a he?) heard him, it’s technically him so it would make sense if he heard them too.
He could feel the hardened stare of the Stand from behind. At first he simply wanted to ignore 「 Wayward Son 」 , he really wanted to drift into the comforting darkness of sleep but the gaze presses on and he wasn’t sure if he found that frightening or not. The boy takes a deep breath in as he runs twirls a lock of hair with a finger.
“So maybe i was struggling to sleep and maybe i ended up thinking a bit too much.” Josei groaned as quietly as he possibly do.
Though the thick gold brows stayed in that resting angry face the eyes themselves seem to soften a bit, fists weren’t as clenched as they were on the usual.
“This whole thing y’know is just new to me y’know.” Josei settles himself in a cross seated position, a finger then points towards the Stand. “You especially since i put myself in the slammer cause of you.”
Eyes momentarily go towards the finger that went at its chest, it’s eyes now narrow and gave him a look back which meant he somehow offended it. He wondered if Mr. Mahir would’ve at least told him about this but he assumed that the constant battles prevented him from exactly getting an answer.
“How are you me?” Josei questions almost accusingly.
He wondered if it was weird to ask his soul given form a question like that, because obviously it was according to Mahir and yet it felt so oddly different from him, from the cold gaze to it’s dark silhouette if it weren’t highlighted with the blue and gold (it actually kind of looked like batman).
「 Wayward Son 」 plopped a hand to his shoulder, grip tight and while it’s dark eyes still narrow they radiated a different sort of anger.
Okay yeah maybe he shouldn’t exactly overthink it but how was 「 Wayward Son 」 him in a sense? But how could he not? When you’re told that you have a ghost and that ghost was basically you how else should one take that information?
How much of himself did he really know now that 「 Wayward Son 」 exists and almost looks like the exact antithesis of him?
Another ghostly (but weighted) hand goes to his other shoulder, prompting Josei to look eye to eye with his Stand.
First it points a thumb it’s own chest, then jabs a finger into Josei’s.
Josei took it as a way of it saying ‘You are Me, I am You we are the same being’ which might possibly be exactly what it meant, some things still felt like they added up despite Mahir, Midoro’s, or his stupid grandfather’s words.
「 Wayward Son 」 then proceeded to violently pushed him back into a lay, shoved the pillow in between his arm and threw the covers back over his body before its form dispersed into a beautiful purple coloured sea of stars that he wanted in the sky when he first attempted to sleep.
The young Joestar let out a yawn, 「 Wayward Son 」 probably had the right idea. His nerves seemed to calm down when the Stand showed those stars, his lids began to get heavy and his head fell back onto the pillow as he finally drifted off to sleep.
/// 🌟🌟🌟 ///
The Morning routine was mostly quiet between him and Midoro, as the two got dressed the teen with yellow spectacles then piped up.
“So what were you talking to Wayward about?” Midoro asked.
Josei froze at the question, “Your concern is?” he raises a brow.
“I heard you summon him last night.” Midoro stated. “You seemed to be conversing with him on something yes?”
He guessed that it counted as a conversation, not exactly a long one but one nonetheless. Josei hummed in confirmation as he slipped the purple sleeveless varsity over his shoulders.
“Couldn’t get to bed as quickly as i’d thought.” he affirmed.
“Hard time sleeping? Yeah i get where you’re coming from, but i guess two boat journeys gone wrong and a plane crash tired me out caused me to get to sleep faster.” Midoro joked, putting on his silver cap.
How a plane crash and two boat sinkings didn’t tire him out was a mystery, perhaps the adrenaline kept his nerves at a constant tenseness?
“Anyways are you up for ice cream, really need a calmer if i wanna get through this intact.” Midoro offers. “Mr. Joestar gave us a couple dollars so we can at least buy something cheap.”
Ice cream did sound nice and after these hectic few days and what he assumed is going to be the days after now, he also most certainly needed it. Though there was almost the beckoning force of another that practically and silently screamed that yes, ice cream sounds like the best thing today could offer.
“Chocolate ice cream will do.” Josei sighed with a smile.
He found it strange that this was the one way that told him that he and it weren’t too different as he had originally thought.