mylegacy | ic inbox ( ruby city )

That's fine, too.

[He wants to say something more comforting than that. He does, but . . . he's not very good at this. He's out of practice, and anyway, Joseph isn't one of his little siblings crying after a bad dream. He can't just say it's not real, because it is. He can't say he'll fix it, either, that he'll protect Joseph against whatever comes, because that isn't really fair to him, is it? And he wouldn't want that anyway, himself.]

[He just . . . wants Joseph to be able to relax a little. Not all the time, because no one has everything in life just handed to them, not even people like Joseph, but . . .]

[That's the thing. Just because Joseph's lived a charmed life so far doesn't mean that it's fair for everything to dump on him at once now, with no breaks.]

[He just wants Joseph to smile.]

Sometimes when I get angry I get sort of. A little sick to my stomach. I'll find you something for that, just in case. And then tomorrow we can do whatever you want. Even if it's nothing, I can probably manage it.

[Caesar is trying so hard right now. It doesn't take a genius to see that he's trying so very hard to keep Joseph distracted, pulling his attention to anywhere but right where he is, what he's waiting for, and who he's waiting to see and listen to. In some ways, that's enough to make Joseph want to smile, but he doesn't follow through with it. He already feels a little too strung out and tired right now to manage it though. Joseph settles for the warm instead that starts somewhere in the middle of his chest spreads instead. That's nice even if it makes him feel a little more tired. It's a good sort of tired by comparison, anyway.]

you think youre that good at doing nothing already??

[There. That's . . . something. He doesn't expect everything to be perfect right away, but it's something, and that makes him feel a little less like a failure. It . . . makes him feel pretty good, actually. Like even if he's not there, he can still make things a little better.]

[He wasn't lying when he said to Jotaro that Joseph was his only priority. This is what he's here for, or at least that's what he's trying to tell himself.]

I'm getting better. You know I'm not going to let you be better than me at anything.

there you go again being arrogant

youre never going to beat me at doing nothing caesar i practically INVENTED it

[And there's something a little more for Caesar's efforts.]

[It's his turn to feel warm and pleased - very pleased, in fact. If Joseph is telling him that he's being arrogant, things will be okay, he's pretty sure.]

You can't invent the absence of something.

thats why i said practically

No, but you didn't at all, though.

still not gonna beat me

I don't know. I think you'll be really surprised.

[There's another brief delay before Joseph responds again with Jotaro arriving. He makes the quick decision to give Kakyoin and Jotaro a moment, unsure of how much Kakyoin has told him about what's happened or been said. At the very least, he's sensed the shift in Kakyoin's demeanor and he may need the time or conversation with Jotaro to get his focus back. While he waits inside for them, he continues texting with Caesar.]

its funny you think that because im pretty sure you wont last ten minutes