✧ kaisou

[amberblaze]

kaisou

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[bolledivita]

[Not much longer and it's going to be a year since Caesar and Mercedes came to Kaisou. A lot's happened, with Giorno following them eventually, and then the business with their stepfather wrapping up...

That's not even getting into all of the Spirit Realm stuff, but Caesar tries to not think about that too much if he doesn't have to.

Although, today, as he walks home from the grocery store, it's looking like he might have to, what with that far-too-familiar face he just saw (even if it's someone Caesar's reasonably sure he's only just meeting... this time). So, uh.

Yeah.

Backtracking.]

[andnextyoullsay]

[Joseph only just crawled out that hellhole of a labyrinth and is now wandering the city utterly confused and unsure about it all. It looks and sounds American, but what the hell is the rest of this crap?!]

[bolledivita]

[... God. Caesar's heart hurts and it's someone he barely knows outside of those strange memories.

He shifts his grocery bag to one arm as he lifts a hand and raises his voice a bit to get Joseph's attention.]

Hey! Need some help?

[andnextyoullsay]

[Joseph freezes.

No. There's no way. He turns around to look and--]

Caesar?

[It can't be.]

[infezione]

[Fugo can't say he's a fan of suddenly having a roommate--well, he hasn't been a fan of this entire situation with the Black Order, so this is just the poorly-made icing on this terrible, terrible cake, but he doesn't get to complain.

Or at least he knows complaining won't do any good.

But apparently they wanted someone closer to the new guy's age to room with him so here they are. So now, he's just going to have to wait.]

[switchaxe]

[The new guy is shown to their room by one of the older members and...well, he looks like a feral dog ready to snap and bite at the first sign of aggression. He's clean, but he's in the basic ass plain t-shirt-jeans-cheap-sneakers get up they give to any of the recruits that need clothes under his extremely old and worn hoodie. He's carrying a giant axe looking thing on one shoulder with a backpack that's just as old as his hoodie on his back.]

Patrizio, this is Ashley Cabbot. He'll be staying here with you in-between missions, alright? Both of you, please try to get along.

[And they're gone. Ashley just sort of looks around, sullen and surly.]

[infezione]

[Aaaaaand they're gone and he's left with... hoo boy.]

... They would ditch the minute they got introductions out of the way, huh?

[switchaxe]

[Okay, that gets Ash to snort.]

No shit, didn't even do 'em properly. You call me Ashley, I'll knock your teeth out.

[esperienzadoro]

[Giorno is only attending school to make Caesar and Mercedes happy, and subsequently he hasn't made very many friends. He knows in his past life he was just...good at making people trust him, but in this one it's a lot harder.

So he just sits off by himself in the library during lunch, having eaten quickly so he could escape the crowd.]

[infezione]

[School is still... definitely an adjustment, after having a tutor while he was still training with the Black Order.

Ash skipped school today, so lunch is a quick, solitary affair that sees him heading off to the library to kill time after he's done eating. But when he heads in, he sees... someone he definitely did not expect to.

He freezes in place, taking a few moments to just... stare. Fuck. Not only is he real, he's beautiful.

... Once the moment's passed, he takes a breath and approaches Giorno, a small smile on his face.]

Scusi. Mind if I join you?

[esperienzadoro]

Hm?

[Giorno looks up from his book, ready to tell them they're free to sit wherever, but he gets one look at the boy and--

Oh. Oh God. He's real.]

Si, go right ahead.

[infezione]

Thanks.

[He smiles and sits down next to Giorno, pulling out some assignment for an earlier class to work on.]

[infezione]

[Sometime in late April or early May, who's keeping track, not us, time is fake anyway and Pat is...

Laying on the couch in Ash's RV, his Maschiff laying on him, and staring up at the ceiling.

He's actually been way more at ease, lately; a little more at peace with himself. And it's tied to a realization he'd been dwelling on, that he's wanted to bring up.

Which is now why he's speaking up out of the blue, after he's ordered food for the two of them.]

You know, Ash, I realized something recently.

[switchaxe]

What, that you spoil our dogs?

[infezione]

[A snort.]

No, because we both already knew that.

[He'd shift to actually look at Ash, but Lati's laying on him and thus moving is illegal.]

It's... about the other guy, and his powers.

[switchaxe]

[Orthie is also right there so moving is double illegal.]

Yeah? What about 'em?

[areyuuserious]

[Another day at school, another group project.

With the teacher picking the groups, Yuu's just kind of glad they didn't get stuck with anyone they know won't pull their weight. Yuu doesn't know Giorno well--or at all, honestly. Yeah, they see him in class every day but they don't really talk to him.

They pick up their books and make their way over, sliding into the seat next to Giorno.]

Uh. Hey.

[esperienzadoro]

[Giorno is still very shy when it comes to meeting people for anything more than something superficial, so a school project with someone he does not know is...awkward. He usually avoids group projects but it's really hard to do something with three different equally weighted aspects solo.

He looks up when Yuu sits down and nods, smiling a little. It's not a true smile, just a polite one.]

Hello. Yuu Serizawa, correct?

[areyuuserious]

That's right.

[Yuu may not know Giorno, but they are faintly aware he kind of just tends to do what's supposed to be group work himself. So, really, they have a good feeling about this project, even as big as it is.

Anyway, right to the point.]

Let's figure out how we're dividing up the work, yeah? I figure with three things that're weighted, we could each take one to do solo and then divide up the last.

[bolledivita]

[Most people would not imagine formal events to really be Caesar's style.

And, well, they'd be right.

But between the free admission and free food (drinks he'll apparently have to pay for, but that's fine), there really wasn't any way Caesar was going to stay away from the masquerade at Palais Garnier (it helps that his employer and several coworkers happen to be here, too).

So, he showed up, in a dress and mask, both bought on Zodiac's dime...

And, well, right now, he's lingering by the bar, carefully sipping a Roy Rogers since he is going to have to drive home later. He's not really been a wallflower all night by any means, but it's fun to hang around and watch the crowds.]

[andnextyoullsay]

[Joseph is not especially eager to be here, but someone had to come represent the Lodestar Foundation, Johnny sure as hell wasn't going to, and anyway Joseph's the charmer in the family. Uncle Robbie's getting to old for this sort of thing.

So he's swanning around most of the evening, charming and entertaining and getting roped into dances with ladies he's never met and will never meet again. Eventually he gets a chance to break away from the crowds to go find the bar.

To the barkeep:]

Please tell me you still have the rum for that retro rum punch.

[He doesn't even bother hiding his accent right now.]

[bolledivita]

Shockingly, somehow, yes. I'll have that for you right away.

[Oh, but that exchange does catch Caesar's attention--mostly for Joseph's accent.

... Well, he could use a refill of his drink, anyway; that gives him an excuse to get closer. Once the barkeep's gotten Joseph's drink to him, they turn to Caesar.]

Another Roy Rogers for you?

Please.

[ripetuto]

[Leone Agnelli does not like working for the Black Order. Unfortunately, after the incident that got his best friend killed and Leone himself disowned, he didn't have very many options. He's been in the Order since he was still in high school. This is his life, now.

Except Nieri went off to the States for some goddamn reason and told the rest of the team to lay low and ignore any orders until further notice and Leone is like 80% certain this has to do with the Kaisou team. Fun.]

[ferroso]

[And it's a battered, tired-looking, but clearly satisfied Renato Nieri that drags himself through the door.

The third person in the room, a tall, bald man with piercing ice-blue eyes quirks his eyebrow at Renato, who waves the look off.]

Keep the others busy for now, Rieper. I'll let them know I'm back in a while. [And he'd like a little privacy for this conversation with Agnelli.]

... Understood.

[And with that, the man who had been known as Agent 47 in another life strides out the door. Renato places a bottle of wine--Greco di Tufo, in fact--on the table Agnelli's sitting at. And an envelope.]

The Unyielding are all either dead or sealed away.

[Oh, that sure is a fucking conversation opener.]

[ripetuto]

[Leone was reaching for the bottle of wine when Nieri leads with that.]

What.