Tags since y'all might be interested: skiddynoddlez Pleasenobodynoticeme JotarosDolphinDealer The_Blue_Hearted LittleSeventhSage

Warning: implied/referenced character death(s)

— — —

The wildflowers are wilting.

Jolyne tugs on the lace of her dress's high collar. It is opulent and itchy, scratching against the underside of her chin uncomfortably. Swiping a palm across it, she dries her sweat onto the pitch-black fabric of her dress, before standing up. This mound of dirt is boring. Maybe she'll find better flowers on the next.

"Woah!" All of a sudden, a pair of black-cladded legs slams into her vision. Jolyne stumbles back, narrowly avoiding knocking her head against the stranger's knees — but of course, her awkward heeled shoes have to choose that exact moment to slip on the parched grass. Before she can fall, though, a warm pair of hands catches her by the shoulders, and lifts her up into a standing position again.

"Are you okay?" The stranger crouches down in front of her, and Jolyne looks onto their face warily. It is a man, about her dad's age, with soft blond hair tied back in a low ponytail and emerald eyes which crinkle at the ends when he smiles. "What were you up to, running around so hurriedly?"

"My dad told me not to talk to strangers." She replies rigidly, pushing the man's hands away. He settles for folding them across the top of his knees instead, sitting down fully on the back of his heels to get on eye level with her:

"Really? That's a shame. Where's your dad, then? Maybe I could ask for his permission to talk to you?"

That's new. Jolyne doesn't think she's ever heard that before. The blond man squats in front of her, patient, as she purses her lips and thinks of an answer.

"Maybe. I don't know where he is, though."

"I see." The man exclaims. He is also wearing all-black, white button-down tucked into dress pants with a long jacket on top. But he doesn't look as gloomy as everyone else in that big house over there, she thinks. His bowtie is a light, pleasant lilac, and on his left hand when he shifts his position twinkles a beautiful silver band underneath the harsh sunlight. Her dad has a similar one, though she hasn't seen him wear it in a while.

"You're sweating buckets." The man's remark pulls her back to the present. He leans back and digs around in his jacket pockets, before producing a handkerchief and offering it to Jolyne. It smells nice when she holds it up close to her face, like lilies or something. "How about we get ourselves out of this terrible heat, and go find your dad?"

Jolyne shakes her head, earning a curious look from the stranger. "He's busy. I'd rather be out here looking at the flowers."

"... Maybe he is, but surely not busy enough for his daughter." The man's argument makes her pause. "Tell you what. Let's give him some time and find you a flower, and then we'll go from there, alright?"

"Sure." She nods, and the man stands up, extending a hand toward her. His ring is enjoyably cool to the touch, when she puts her hand into his. "You know where the flowers are?"

"For sure. The soil here is very fertile, did you know?" They start to walk along the mounds of dirt, their reflections thinning and bloating into funny shapes on the slabs of stone marking each one. "I bet we'll find some— aha!"

He points toward a nearby hill, and Jolyne's eyes light up when she spots the fluffy patch of dandelions. Forgetting her dad's rules for a moment, she yanks on the man's hand excitedly:

"Can we go take a look?"

"Of course!" He nods, and together they flit to the flowers, Jolyne dropping down on her knees to admire them. The man bends down as well, his tall frame providing her with some much-appreciated shade:

"Are you going to pick them?"

"Nope!" She says cheerily, and the dandelions' feathery ends wave back and forth under her breath like joyful miniature arms. "My dad says the most beautiful flowers always get picked first, and that's really unfortunate. So I'm not going to do it!"

The dandelions seem to fall quiet. Jolyne feels the man's hand tighten around hers, before his shadow retracts and he kneels down beside the patch of flowers as well, his knees landing on the grass soundlessly:

"I see. That's very wise of him."

"What's 'wise'?" She asks, but she notices the man seems a little... stunned. He spots her concerned expression though, and smiles, clearing his throat as he speaks:

"Well... it's when a person has a lot of life experiences, which translates into good understanding and judgement."

"Sounds complicated." Jolyne wrinkles her nose, drawing a chuckle out of the man. "I think he just wants to protect the flowers."

"... I think so too." The man says, before gesturing toward the dandelions again. "Let's not bring this to your dad, then. But you know what we can do to take them far and wide?"

We're taking them somewhere? But how? Jolyne frowns quizzically at the man, who replies to her with a wink:

"We can give them a little lift! These tiny globes here actually hold thousands of even tinier seeds. Go on, blow on them and see what happens."

His smile is encouraging, genuine as he looks at her. He seems to be telling the truth. Nodding, Jolyne puts her palms down onto the grass and leans toward the dandelions, sucking in a large breath....

"Jolyne."

A familiar voice pulls her back to the present. Snapping up from the ground, she dusts off her hands hastily, feeling the dents from where her palms were pressed against the grass. The blond man helps her up, still on his knees as he whispers:

"Who's that?"

"My dad." Jolyne sighs, before pulling away from his warm grasp and running to Jotaro. Her dad picks her up effortlessly and lets her sit on one of his arms, while the other moves to brush off any bits of dirt or grime still stuck to her outfit. His coat is cold, the metal chain by the collar frosty, as if he's just come out of a heavily air-conditioned room. "Dad, this—"

"Josaki." Jotaro cuts her off, voice neutral as ever. Jolyne hangs onto his lapels as she turns to look at the blond man, who replies to the greeting with a slight smile:

"Jotaro. Long time no see."

"You're late." Her dad says. It's supposed to sound like a chide, but it comes out more like a remark, or something. It's rather unfair, considering how harshly her dad usually tells her off when she fails to be punctual.

"Yeah, I...." The blond man begins, then falters, shoving a hand into his pants pocket. The silver sparkle on his finger disappears for a second. "Sorry."

Her dad shakes his head. He's looking at the man with a rather indifferent expression. "Everyone is still inside, if you want to go pay your respects."

"Yeah." The blond man's reply is a mumble, as if he's having a hard time accepting her dad's suggestion. Feeling the silence get heavy, Jolyne speaks up:

"Well, you know, when people pay their respects, they go into that big building over there."

"Jolyne." Her dad says again, in that low grumble of his — but the man interrupts him with a soft laugh:

"Thank you, Jolyne. I take it you've already paid yours?"

"Me and Dad, yeah." She answers truthfully. "Mom's not coming though."

"Jolyne." Jotaro warns, but she chooses to ignore him in favor of the blond man's question:

"Oh, I see. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just not here at the moment."

"Jolyne, I don't want another word out of you." Her dad snaps, prompting Jolyne to retort in frustration:

"Why? I'm just answering his question! It's not like his wife is here either."

"Please." The blond man walks up to them, when he spots her dad's irate frown. "It's okay. She's right, I came alone as well."

"You have a wife?" Her dad mumbles.

"Husband."

"Where is he?" Jolyne chimes in, and somehow her dad's scowl burns less than the man's stunned expression:

"Well, he... he couldn't come today."

"But why?"

"Stop bothering him, Jolyne." Jotaro orders, but Jolyne's attention is pulled back to the man again, when he puts a reassuring hand onto her shoulder. She can feel the silver band through her dress, while he speaks:

"No, it's okay. You're not bothering me at all. My husband.... He couldn't come today because he's with the flowers."

"The flowers?" Her dad's arm tightens around her legs, but Jolyne presses on. "Which one?"

"Which do you think?" The man smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. Jolyne replies right away:

"A beautiful one."

"The most." He squeezes her shoulder in affirmation, wide grin pulling his eyes shut. When he opens them again, Jolyne thinks their emerald looks shinier than usual.

"I can give your regards to everyone," her dad abruptly speaks up, voice once again returning to its default quietness, "if you want."

"Thank you." The man steps back, hand slipping away from Jolyne. His ring catches the bright sunlight yet again, a soothing silver in a sea of heat. "But, I should probably do it myself."

He smiles up at her dad, and this time when Jotaro looks back at him, Jolyne thinks his expression has lightened a little. He hoists her up on his arm again, before clearing his throat:

"Well — the service doesn't end til noon. Take care, Josaki."

"You too, Jotaro." The man raises a hand, and pats her dad on the shoulder when they pass. Usually, Jotaro doesn't take kindly to those kinds of actions, but today he surprises Jolyne by letting it go. Looking over the upturned neck of his coat, she catches the man's farewell smile, before he turns away again, facing the path onward to the big house.

His gaze lowered to the sides, as if looking for flowers.

— — —

Josaki Kujo belongs to skiddynoddlez. His husband, to Pleasenobodynoticeme.

Context if you must know:
- post-jbm (obviously)
- Oldseph just passed away
- Josaki & Jotaro don't really have a relationship (?)
- that's all???

From this:

Hope y'all enjoyed 👌