P H A N T O M  B L O O D

"As long as you love me."

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A week after Dio's death, 1888
Domestic bliss boogaloo.

"Must you sleep in the hammock?" Jojo grumbles, looking up at you from his temporary mattress on the floor of your shed, "If you came down here we could cuddle."

"Jojo, it is literally the middle of winter, if we cuddled right now you would get sick. And then die. Perish. Expire. Kick the bucket," You declare, leaning over the side of said hammock to watch the sleepy bluenette pout at you, "Stop looking at me like that, I'm not gonna give you hyperthermia if I can help it. Invite Erina over or something."

"Please (N/N), just a quick hug? I might get nightmares otherwise and Erina can't sleep over without rumours starting up in town," Jojo looks at you intently with his big blue puppy eyes, "Would you really prefer that I tarnish my family's reputation over giving me some affection? What a silly servant you are."

"I'm not even a servant anymore."

You scoff halfheartedly and flop lazily out of the hammock and into the Joestar's awaiting arms. Jojo quickly cocoons you in his warm and massively muscled body and presses a kiss against your cold forehead, "Thank you, dearest."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't cut me out of the will when you die a cold and wintry death," You whisper into his shoulder and wrap your own arms around him as he chuckles. Despite your body's need to sleep during the day, you still find yourself slipping into a dream as the Joestar's comforting heartbeat drums in your ears.

When you awake it's too early for you to even look out the window safely and Jojo's not in the shed. Instead, a certain blue-eyed blonde is gently running her hand against your face and whispering softly about getting up.

You groan and Erina laughs, reaching to tickle you instead, "Good morning lover."

"Hey pretty lady," You croak out sleepily, pushing away the blonde's fingers and sitting up on the makeshift bed next to her, "What brings you here?"

"I just finished grocery shopping for my father and Jojo asked me to check if you were awake yet. Said something about not wanting you to be a night owl," The blonde smile weakens slightly, "Even though you can't see the sun now, we still want to see you (Y/N). Me and Jojo and everyone."

You grin and nudge the blonde, "Well I'd prefer if you didn't see me in my pyjamas! There's something terribly undressing about your eyes, Miss Pendleton."

"I don't know what you're implying, I am an innocent and pure-minded maiden," Erina wiggles her eyebrows and purposefully looks you up and down, "No undressing here I'm afraid."

"What a shame. Guess I'll just go back to sleep then- since nothing exciting seems to be happening," You go to lay back down but Erina pulls you back up.

"Don't you dare!" Is uttered playfully, quickly followed by a stunned, "Goodness, you're actually quite hot."

"Like physically or aesthetically?" You ask in confusion, brows furrowing at the blonde.

"Physically. How odd," Erina purses her lips and puts a hand on your forehead before taking a moment to think, "I suppose you must have leeched warmth off of Jojo in the night."

Ouch, the word leech sure does hit close to home.

"You're like a snake after being sat out in the sun! A living hot water bottle!" Erina says excitedly, "All we need to do to hug you now is to just set you in front of a fire a couple of minutes beforehand!"

And now snake comparisons, great. Feels great. Just keep smiling (Y/N). Grin and lie to the lovely blonde lady because some weird bald guy with sunshine magic said to, "Haha, very funny."

Even more funny was later that evening when your two partners did actually try and preheat you for optimal hugging temperature by sitting you in front of the shed's squat little oven. Even funnier was when you were actually nice and warm to the touch for a short while afterwards.

You're a blood-sucking heat pack. Oh, what joy.

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The next time you see Tonpetty and Straitzo is after Jojo invites them over to the shed for tea one evening after sunset. Annoyingly enough you were the one to cook for the two people who sort of want you dead.

You'd spent the day moving bits and bobs around the shed until there's a table to eat at and enough chairs for everyone to sit on. There'd never been any need to have somewhere to eat in the shed before, one of the many problems after the mansion burnt down.

You move a few other bits and bobs, mainly gardening tools stashed around and flowers scattered on any available service to dry and all of a sudden you're ready to host!

Jojo and Erina are the first to arrive since they'd only been out of the shed to let you cook and clean in peace. Speedwagon quickly shows up after them with Zeppeli's hat and the sound of his automobile rumbling outside- holy shit that thing is so much louder now. Then finally the two Hamon users arrive and you dish up the scones and various treats you'd baked with everyone setting up their own cups of tea from the teapot.

After all the business of getting everything ready, it's awkward watching everyone eat and drink happily.

It's not awkward because of silence- everyone's chatting and it probably isn't awkward because there's an elephant in the room either. It's weird, and it's obviously just you feeling uneasy.

What's wrong with you?

Maybe it's just the change of lifestyle from being a servant with lots to do all the time to just sort of wallowing about while Jojo gets his bearings. Or maybe it's because you're actually sitting with everyone rather than holding a tray in a corner of the room so you won't disturb any aristocrats.

Or maybe it's because you're watching your food eat.

You can't touch the little pastries without throwing up and so far all of the teas you've tried to drink just leave you thirstier, emptier, craving something else. You don't have a plate in front of you as everyone else does and with nothing to occupy you, your senses are drifting.

Your ears focus in on different pulses, jumping from person to person to listen in on the steady pumping of their hearts or the sound of something thumping in their throats.

You try and stare at a plate of cupcakes to lose your appetite but it doesn't work, your mouth's dry and your gums itch. Something is screaming inside of you to just reach out with your nails and touch and eat and finally, finally subdue the monster eating you from the inside out.

They'd be so good to eat, to drink, to consume. They'd be nourishing and rich in flavour and warm and you'd finally be able to heal the wound in your stomach and fill it with something you know will be delicious.

You want to chew and swallow and sip at their necks, to dine on blood enthused with Hamon or youth or both and it'll taste so, so good. You're starving, dying and sitting around you on mismatched chairs is your meal, your opportunity to dine.

If you just reach out and take-

"(Y/N) you're practically drooling staring at those cakes. Silly goose, I thought you said that old maid Cicero had fed you lots earlier and you weren't going to eat with us. Have a sudden change in heart?" Erina asks with a giggle in her voice, reaching out and rubbing at the corner of your parted lips.

You snap out of it, horrified at the idea of doing that to her, of eating Erina like she was just a sack of blood and not a kind and thoughtful person, who worried over you whenever she realised something was wrong.

"Her name's Cecily," you cough out, leaning into the warmth of her touch before glancing away out of embarrassment when you look into her iris eyes. How could you even think about hurting Erina? How could you hurt someone who looked at you with so much love?

Straitzo meets your gaze from across the table and wow, he is an irritable little man. He's totally onto you with the whole very hungry thing. Hopefully, he doesn't get too enlightened... With Hamon. Get it? Because Hamon lights up? And he could kill you with it? It's funny. It's funny.

"Eh!" Speedwagon suddenly exclaims and everyone turns to him as he looks at a sandwich in shock, "I thought this was full'a posh greens like cress or something but it's flowers! You been feeding us the local shrubbery!"

"Haha, don't be silly Speedwagon! Cress isn't that posh, it's very accessible to the middle class," Jojo laughs, holding up a sandwich proudly, "These are edible flowers, (N/N) here puts them in everything. Once I even had flower pasta, and lots of flower jellies and cookies and these little appetizer things-"

You gently shove the sandwich in his mouth, effectively hushing the Joestar, "Can you all stop talking about food now and actually eat? Covering a table in delicacies for your enjoyment is harder work than it seems! Maybe."

Tonpetty straight-up laughs at y'all, no shame, "Ah how youthful you all are. Such enthusiasm for life, it's such a stark contrast to all of my Hamon students back in Tibet."

"You're from Tibet, Mr Tonpetty? That's so fascinating! It must have been so difficult to traverse mountains and oceans just to get here! Especially with just the two of you," Erina gushes, talking about travelling and East Asia and all the things she experienced in India and how different it is from Tibet.

All stuff less travelled folks like you and Speedwagon don't really get, but are happy to indulge in with curiosity and wonder. Erina's actually seen elephants before! Elephants!

Maybe one day you can all go travelling together!

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A day later and Jojo is sobbing with you in his arms like a teddy bear with you doing all you can to comfort him. It's not working.

"They were so upset, (N/N)! Their son is dead and it's all my fault! We shouldn't have taken the carriage to Windknight's Lot, we knew Dio was waiting for us," Jojo cries, informing you of Simon's parent's reaction to his death after he'd gone out to tell them, "We could've saved him. We could've."

Jojo goes quiet for a few minutes before continuing, "I couldn't even look them in the eye knowing I'm the reason their dead son's corpse had the head of a horse stuck onto it by a zombie! I couldn't explain to them why their son needed such a weird shaped coffin."

"No Jojo they didn't need to know that- it's a horrible thing to know-" You whisper, trying so desperately to soothe the Joestar's bleeding heart. It only seems to upset him further.

"But it's the truth! They deserve the truth of why their son never came home from work that day! They never get to hold him again or talk to him and- and-"

"Dearest, don't dwell on it like that- what's done is done. The dead won't come back just because we miss them, I'm sure his family understand that." You say, reaching up to run your fingers through blueberry-coloured hair, "They'll miss him but I'm sure they'll manage. We Victorians are tough right? I bet it'll make them proud that young Lord Joestar told them personally!"

"But I'm the reason he's dead. I had to tell them by duty," Jojo wraps his arms tighter around you and the wetness of his tears creates a damp warm spot on your neck, "It's all my fault."

"I'm pretty sure that zombie was at least partially responsible. I reckon he was entirely at fault even, guilty as charged," You declare, "Simon was already dead when we left the carriage so there was no way you could've warned him or known of the danger until he was already gone. You can't save someone if you don't even know they're dying."

"I made his mum cry," Jojo whispers after a moment, "I didn't know what to say to her. I've never really interacted with a grieving mother before. No one wants to outlive their kids."

"No one wants to outlive anybody, Jojo."

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A week passes and you fuss over a flower bed, preparing it for the oncoming snow since you no longer have Hamon to keep them blooming all year round.

"It's so spooky out here at night," Erina announces, she's sitting on a chair nearby with a candle and a swaddle of blankets, "How are you not freezing?"

"Not my first winter. Besides that, what's wrong with my garden?  All the roses look great in the moonlight!" You huff looking at the softly illuminated blonde with an irritation that fades at the sight of her.

"Well, with the trees all lacking leaves and being all spikey it creates a more... unpleasant atmosphere than what you're going for. The ruins of the mansion don't help either dearest," Erina laughs dryly, looking at you with big pouty eyes, inching her chair closer to you, "Can't you stop working for now and go inside for the night? Please?"

"Night time is the only time I actually get to work. Everything out here requires some attention because of winter and-"

"Aw, but why not give me some attention? We can go inside and spend some time together before I have to return home," Erina coos sweetly, "We can do anything you want to do."

"Look I-" You turn to face the blonde and a startled noise dies in your throat, in all her shuffling Erina had actually managed to get right behind you and now you were face to face, "T-The garden needs- needs- oh golly-"

Erina surges forward and kisses you, wrapping her warm hands around your face and the back of your head. Anything you were going to say fades to the back of your mind as you lean up into her and kiss her back.

When you break apart the blonde is panting and gleeful, "Let's go inside now, okay?"

"Whatever you want, beautiful," You say, struggling to keep your composure as you drop all your gardening gear to scoop up the laughing blonde and all her blankets.

Erina's a great kisser on her own terms.

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"So er, how's the whole vampire thing treating you?" Speedwagon asks, sitting next to you at the softly lit bar with too much going on around you.

"There are pros and cons, same with everything. I'm always hungry and not being able to go out during the day means I can't really see people or garden. It's like living in another time zone," You say running a claw along the bar, "It's not isolating though, I can hear every heartbeat for at least ten miles and everyone seems much keener to talk to me."

"Ah, that must be that vampiric charisma, you lucky bastard. The only people who want to talk to me are the gang and coppers but that's hardly a two-way conversation," Speedwagon huffs and sips at the drink in front of him. You don't have a drink in front of you. His eyes twinkle with mischief like polished boots in candlelight.

"Robbie there's more to life than having someone to flirt with," You lean your face against your hand and stare intently at the blonde, "Bit surprising that people aren't leaping into your sheets though, you're certainly charming enough. Captivating really."

"Gah! Don't look at me like that- your eyes are so intimidating with all the red going on! I can't take it!" Speedwagon covers his face in his hands and you start laughing, "You can't tease me like that now that you're in a relationship, it's not right! I won't stand for it."

You pout, "Don't say it like that! You make me seem like some trollop sneaking off behind Erina and Jojo's backs. I was only joking Robbie. You're attractive, deal with it and get confident enough to ask someone jammy on a date."

Speedwagon groans and pushes his face further into his hands, "I'm too drunk for all of your weird platonic compliments."

"My compliments aren't weird, you tit!"

"Yes, they are! Oh, Jojo, you remind me of this funny named flower and my soul is your soul and ooh Erina let me hold your hand and I shall have all the treasure in the world~" Speedwagon sits up and poses like a blushing and bashful maiden

"When have I ever said that? You're just trying to show off how smooth you are! Go use your pick-up lines on someone who'll snog you for them!" You declare, pointing at Speedwagon and then at the bar around you.

"I'm not looking for someone to snog! People are looking to snog me! I'm Robert E.O Speedwagon!" The blonde announces and puffs his chest out.

"Hah like anyone's heard of you! You've not got a penny to your name Robbie!" Low blow from someone who's probably going to be unemployed for a while with Jojo still getting his life together. But hey, you have that life insurance cash flow.

"Oh yeah? Well, then I'll just have to become super-rich to show you how- show you whatever point it is I'm making!" Speedwagon lifts his drink before dropping it back onto the bar just to make a noise.

Your vampiric hearing is not at all pleased, "Well, then I hope you invest wisely because there's no way anyone's becoming rich from running a street gang!"

"Then I'll just get me and the lads new rich folk jobs like proper gentlemen." Speedwagon stands up like he'd just said something groundbreaking and important.

"Oh yeah?" You stand up as well.

"Yeah!" Speedwagon yells before running out of the bar into the dark winter night. He'll probably get lost.

Oh well.

You take a moment to turn and pay the bartender who's staring at you rather flabbergasted. But also as entranced as most people tend to be with the whole otherworldly vampire charm you got going on.

"W-Would you like something to drink? Beer? Whiskey? Wine?" The bartender asks, unable to look away from your face. It's kind of strange and you're not used to this sort of treatment yet even though it happens regularly.

"I don't drink... Wine..." You respond, glancing around the room at all the slowed-down pulses just begging for a taste test before leaving into the night to make sure the blonde himbo isn't passed out in an alley.

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It's quiet, except for the fire. Jojo's squashed himself into a small chair so that he's reading next to it with the flames painting him golden and you're standing nearby with your fingers rummaging through a jewellery box.

The quiets over when Jojo shuts the book he was reading and turns to you and without pausing says, "In a few days we'll be having a Christmas ball. We'll stick up a tent on what remains of the manor."

Bit random but okay.

"Hm, okay dearest. Was wondering about what's happening this year, I'm just gonna keep looking for my lilac earrings now," You say, looking at him in confusion as he fixes you with an intense stare before turning back to the jewellery box.

"I'm going to invite everyone who was there that night as well as the Pendletons and- and then I'm going to ask Erina to marry me," Jojo says and you drop the jewellery box with a gasp.

You rush over to the Joestar squishing his cheeks in your hands as much as you can with his face being so chiselled, "Oh my goodness! Really? Jojo that's amazing- how wonderful! Spectacular- I have just the bouquet for the night and-"

"I want to ask you as well, but well that'd cause a huge scandal and we'd all get in a terrible situation with the law and bigamy and the like," Jojo continues, holding your hands so they stop the squishing, "But I've figured it all out. We'll all be able to get married to each other if Erina and I have ours here, then we all go to America. No one will suspect anything if we travel separately, us being on a honeymoon and you following after a week because we need a servant- and then, then we'll all be married."

"Oh, Jojo. You've really thought about this huh?" You say softly, kneading his soft rich person hands, "I'm sorry dearest but I'm not sure if it'll work. If we get caught it'd be so awful for you both and it'd be my fault. Even then I'm a vampire, hm? How am I going to be married to Erina without telling her? I can't grow old with you both."

"You don't need to. You're still you even if you're a vampire. I don't want to have to end it with you to marry Erina and I don't want to spend my life pretending I never loved you. I want you, (N/N), I always have. I want to live out my days with you and Erina even if you'll have to take care of us when we're old like you're Carehome staff. It wouldn't matter, really. Because we'd have each other through the years. Please, if you wish it, marry me."

Jojo's eyes shine the bluest you've seen them since you were little and it's like someone's stolen away all the stars just for you. You love him, you love him.

"This is such an unromantic way to propose, silly little lord. You better swoop Erina off her feet at the party to make up for this. You haven't even given me a ring, what would your father think?" You laugh quietly and Jojo looks relieved and overjoyed and so so happy when he starts to laugh with you.

"Golly, I was so busy thinking about all the other details that I completely forgot. You're not mad, are you? This is incredibly embarrassing. Now that you've pointed it out I-"

You lean down and kiss him and he kisses you back. You love him.

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Haha,, hahahahaha,,, haha.

That feeling when you want to suck the blood out of all your friends and family.

It's okay, you'll probably get over it.

I haven't examined this chapter to make sure it's readable but oh well, have nearly four thousand words!!
Hope you enjoyed!!