I know that you didn't, Jojo. Even if that was your plan, I don't think something like that would really bother me.
[He ran a hand through Jotaro's hair, tension in his back and shoulders gradually fading as he thought over what to say next. After a short silence, Kakyoin continued in a quiet, careful tone.]
...Giorno would have fixed it if I asked. Probably if I so much as hinted at the idea that was what I wanted. But it's...not, as weird as that probably sounds. If it ever becomes a liability in a fight again, maybe. But I don't want this to just disappear.
[Curling thin fingers loosely in Jotaro's hair, Kakyoin sighed and tried to figure out the right way to say what he was thinking. It sounded a little crazy in concept--who wouldn't want something that uncomfortable and inconvenient gone, given the choice?]
Saying they don't bother me would be a lie. I don't want anyone else to see them if I can help it, but it's still not something I'm ashamed of. It's exactly as you say--part of who I am now. And as much as we should be learning to leave behind, there are still some smaller things about Egypt that I think I want to hold on to.
[As horrific and traumatizing as that night had been for both of them, Kakyoin knew exactly why he didn't want the tangible reminder gone--because it was a reminder. He'd stood against what he had once been terrified of, and despite everything he had technically lived to talk about it. As much as the scattered marks on his body were a remnant of anguish and defeat, they were just like the ones on his face: proof that he could come back stronger as long as he refused to give in.]
[He wanted to stay the person he'd become between November and January; the stubborn Kakyoin that refused to be afraid, the one that could keep going no matter what stood in front of him, that would keep living past January and beyond Cairo.]
...But since the way I look doesn't bother you, I'd really like to do that sometime.
[Even if they were talking openly about the subject, he didn't want to voice the real reason he had been so concerned--the lingering certainty that Jotaro had seen a water-soaked and bloodstained corpse with a hole through it, and the worry that was what he was going to see looking at the still-living and breathing Kakyoin now.]
But only if you do the same for me. It's hardly fair that only one of us is going to look spectacular for the other, isn't it?
no subject
[He ran a hand through Jotaro's hair, tension in his back and shoulders gradually fading as he thought over what to say next. After a short silence, Kakyoin continued in a quiet, careful tone.]
...Giorno would have fixed it if I asked. Probably if I so much as hinted at the idea that was what I wanted. But it's...not, as weird as that probably sounds. If it ever becomes a liability in a fight again, maybe. But I don't want this to just disappear.
[Curling thin fingers loosely in Jotaro's hair, Kakyoin sighed and tried to figure out the right way to say what he was thinking. It sounded a little crazy in concept--who wouldn't want something that uncomfortable and inconvenient gone, given the choice?]
Saying they don't bother me would be a lie. I don't want anyone else to see them if I can help it, but it's still not something I'm ashamed of. It's exactly as you say--part of who I am now. And as much as we should be learning to leave behind, there are still some smaller things about Egypt that I think I want to hold on to.
[As horrific and traumatizing as that night had been for both of them, Kakyoin knew exactly why he didn't want the tangible reminder gone--because it was a reminder. He'd stood against what he had once been terrified of, and despite everything he had technically lived to talk about it. As much as the scattered marks on his body were a remnant of anguish and defeat, they were just like the ones on his face: proof that he could come back stronger as long as he refused to give in.]
[He wanted to stay the person he'd become between November and January; the stubborn Kakyoin that refused to be afraid, the one that could keep going no matter what stood in front of him, that would keep living past January and beyond Cairo.]
...But since the way I look doesn't bother you, I'd really like to do that sometime.
[Even if they were talking openly about the subject, he didn't want to voice the real reason he had been so concerned--the lingering certainty that Jotaro had seen a water-soaked and bloodstained corpse with a hole through it, and the worry that was what he was going to see looking at the still-living and breathing Kakyoin now.]
But only if you do the same for me. It's hardly fair that only one of us is going to look spectacular for the other, isn't it?