torsion | 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐈𝐍𝐁𝐎𝐗.

i don't know what he prefers actually
i guess i don't call him leone because that's what his boyfriend calls him
it'd be weird if i called him the same thing as his boyfriend
also i don't call his boyfriend by his given name either
i don't know
anyway

i'm not worried about whether i do it
if everyone does it then it might just be helpful
that's all

...

actually yeah
if you're ok with it
that would probably work

It's just his name. I don't see how that's so weird.
But I guess if that's what you're used to I'm not going to judge you for it.

I see.
So you're trying to figure out if someone cares deeply about someone else?
You got a crush or something? How cute. ;)

[ She tries not to keep too close up to the screen, but it's sort of the nature of using a phone like this. She makes sure he can catch a little wave of hello on screen, though. ]

Hey. I guess I should just start talking? About Chris or Barry or Parker? Claire? Hm.

[So here's Jotaro, sitting in his room, with just enough of the background visible that it's possible to detect something big and purple wandering around behind him. Star Platinum has apparently been let out to play, and is biding out his time by, apparently, sorting and folding laundry into a couple of different piles on Jotaro's bed while his master idles in his chair.]

Hi. Don't act so smug. It's more like, I'm trying to figure out a tell. That's all.

[He is the world's biggest liar but that's not the point.]

What does Chris look like? Don't just cheat and use a picture. You describe him.

[ Jill has... absolutely no idea what is happening behind him and yet she feels it's stranger to acknowledge it and ask than not. That probably says something about her. ]

Heh, fine, fine. Whatever you say. [ Defeated rather than upbeat or sing-song, Jill folds her arms over her chest. ] Though I'm curious what the tell's use would be. Especially since it's only incidental, but...

[ She is already leaning to get a photo before he finishes but comes back on screen with straight visibility and a sigh. ]

Ah... About six feet tall, two-fifty pounds. [ But she pauses here. There is definitely a tell here; the faintest personal smile. Head tilting minutely to the side. ] That's not what you want, huh. Um, he looks like a meathead. It's not what he is even if he's strong, broad shoulders. His hair's gotten lighter since we first met, back in our early twenties. His eyes seem blue, but they're hazel. [ Her hands move slightly now, like it's something that really needs to be explained. ] His skin's a little darker than yours and, heh, he can't grow a beard or anything. Just five o'clock and that's that.

Oh. He's shorter than me.

[Everyone is shorter than him but that's not the point. The point is, he's watching Jill's face with the intensity of a field biologist studying a species and its behavior in the wild, and no, he's definitely not missing the signs as they flicker past.]

Okay. How did you meet him? What were you doing.

Most people are, Jotaro.

[ She doesn't need to be able to read his mind to know that. He's a solid foot taller than her so it can be a little odd for her, but she doesn't mind it. Still, Jill carries on. ]

Well, we had a mutual friend named Forest. [ Something darker crosses her eyes; a brief hint, dissipating as quickly as it came. ] It was quick, don't really remember much about it. But we all ended up working together in STARS. Forest and I were with the Army; he was Air Force before STARS. Forest sort of became the third wheel really fast.

[ She laughs, almost shyly at that admission with her head ducking. ]

You know when you just know someone's right? He became my best friend before I even knew it.

...Yeah. I know a couple people like that. My best friend was like that, too.

["Was" like that. Not "is" like that. It's a subtle yet significant difference, but it's also not one he dwells on. He's still too busy gauging, wanting to keep Jill talking.]

Air Force, huh. He flew planes? Like in a war?

[ Jill assumes it's just past tense, not that it could mean something else. It doesn't occur to her to ask, especially since he's being so adamant about this conversation. ]

He can, yeah, but it wasn't in a war. He's still certified and can fly a chopper pretty damn well. We're more boots on the ground as special operations agents with the BSAA. He's a heavy-hitter compared to me. Arms are nearly three times the size of mine. Doesn't skip leg day though -- probably because he knows I'd kick his ass if he did.

Oh. My great-grandpa flew planes in the war, that's just why I asked. He was, uh...RAF, I think. Not American.

[He tips his head a little to the side, watching her. After a moment, absently, he extends a hand and, in a flash, the purple blur behind him comes into view for the briefest of instants. In the next blink, he's holding a soda where his hand had been empty before.]

So is he the kind of best friend who knows everything about you?

I see. So you're English, too? I wouldn't have guessed.

[ Jill just goes silent watching him like she's having a fever dream. After a moment she shifts forward in her spot and finally asks: ]

So uh, what was that?

[ But he seems to have his eyes on the prize, which she can appreciate. She doesn't like to be deterred, either. ]

Well, I only have a few friends and he's the one I see most regularly. For three years we were with each other almost every day and night when we were mercenaries. We sort of share our friendship circle, but I'd like to think he'd say I'm also his best friend and that we know everything about each other, yeah.

What was what?

[He's not even thinking about it as he pops the tab on the soda and takes a drink, except that then it hits him and he has to catch himself before he chokes on the swig he'd just taken.]

Hang on. You can see him?

[A second face presses gently into the camera frame, this one considerably more purple than Jotaro's.]

You see something...uh, purple, I guess?

[ Why does Jotaro not think anything of clothing being invisibly folded or sodas floating in the air if not seeing purpleboy? Honestly, it kind of makes her like him a little more.

The weirdo.

Jill raises her hand and flexes her fingers. ]

Jotaro do you... think I'm blind? I mean you think you can casually have someone hanging around in the background doin' stuff and I'm just going to keep ignoring it? C'mon.

No, I think most people can't see him, so you shouldn't be able to either.

[Almost absentmindedly, he reaches up with the hand that isn't holding his soda and buries it in the purple gremlin's hair, ruffling it the way that one might do for a particularly playful dog.]

You keep talking about your unit, STARS. I'm kinda surprised he isn't more confused...because that's his name. Star.

Well, guess I'm not most people.

[ She watches with curiosity, trying to understand what this is since the guy apparently isn't human. Or, maybe it's just a big kid? After all, Jill would do the same thing to Jotaro if he wasn't wearing that dang hat. ]

Oh. It's an acronym -- Special Tactics and Rescue Service -- but ah, hey.

Everything you do is acronyms, huh...

[Another hair-ruffle or two, and he withdraws his hand, leaving the purple figure to slowly settle back into awareness of its surroundings, peering at Jill through big blue eyes with dilated pupils.]

It's after the tarot card, The Star. He's...it's kind of complicated. But he's mine.

I mean if you want me to say Special Tactics and Rescue Service or Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance every time I will, you smart ass.

[ But it's a fond smart ass. It lights up her eyes, not unlike when she talks about Chris. Hm. ]

I see. Mohammed reads tarot, doesn't he? Don't gotta talk about it, either way. Be like me talking about the Mansion Incident. No quick way around it?

So you're saying Americans come up with all these long names and then it just happens that every time they're the right letters to have a catchy acronym? Every time?

[He's getting pretty used to names like that. Smartass, bastard man. They fit him well.]

He's the one who named Star, yeah. Had me pick one of his cards and that's the one that came up. It fits, though, so I guess he was right.

What makes you think we only do it in America? Other than you're messing with me... which is fair, since I keep doing it with you.

[ Horrible bastard man. Still, Jill cracks a smile on screen, lips twitching in a corner, threatening to spill over into a chuckle. ]

I see. Did you just sort of... pull a card to see what represented you, then? I don't know much about it so I can't tell if it's like you or not... I guess I'm just sort of not comfortable with magic and all that, which I've mentioned to Mohammed. He's got a soothing nature about him, though. Might change my mind with how he talks about it.

Who, me? I'm not fucking with you in the slightest.

[HE IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING WITH HER, 100%.]

...But yeah. He said take one, and that'll be its name. His name. I looked it up later, and the Star means things like...hope. I guess the cards are kind of like a story? If you lay them all out, the meanings tell a story, or...something.

[Avdol is so much better at this, but he's trying, at least.]

Anyway. The big thing about the Star is that it comes right after the Tower, which I guess is like...a big upset. A cataclysm. Everything getting shaken up. And the idea is, after that happens you look up at the sky and see a star, and that's hope. I think that's what he meant. What kind of Star he is. When everything goes to shit, Star's still there for me.

Yet you upped the ante with fuckin' with. Hmm.

[ SHE CAN TELL, but she's going to let him have this victory. He deserves it. ]

Hm. That's... well, that's nice. You sure it's just meant to be the Star is there for you and not that you can be that for someone? Kind of an honor, I'd think.

...I don't want to be that for anyone.

[Except that, as he goes quiet and descends deep into thought as he looks away in typical tsundere fashion, something happens to his expression — after a moment, a slight touch of warmth similar to Jill's own from before colors his features. A faint, personal smile, one that he doesn't even really realize is at the corners of his mouth.

Simply put: he's got a tell.]

There are better people to look at for something like that.

[For Christmas/Firialia/whatnot, Gumshoe will sent Jill a present! It contains DVDs compiling the best local wrestling matches. It just comes with a warning that they sometimes get a little porny! He also includes several gingerbread cookies, that are shaped to look muscular!]

[

]

You got me something.
You didn't have to, you know.

[ She's really touched by the gesture, especially since she basically is last minute still-planning gifts and they amount to: IOUs of dinners or other experiential things. She's never been the best at gift-giving; she just buys things someone says they want.

Which isn't always that easy. ]

Not the point I was making. I'm not talking about someone's holy grail. Sometimes you... get close to someone, you know? They're like an extension of you. The world on your shoulders is something I understand well -- literally, sometimes -- so I wouldn't want that for you, of course.

[ But there's a but. She can tell there's more to him and his experiences than what she's been made aware of. Jill considers drawing attention to this, maybe even laughing a little, but she'll cut him some slack.

He's cute, after all. ]

"Better" is always subjective. Sometimes there's only one person that can make it right for you. It's never as simple as you want it to be, Jotaro.

𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐈𝐍𝐁𝐎𝐗.

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