driftfleet | one ○ video / action

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caesar anthonio zeppeli

one ○ video / action

Who: Caesar Zeppeli and your face
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Friday and Saturday before the shuffle!

[All things told, Caesar does not spend a lot of time on introspection when he arrives on the Marsiva. He takes a few moments to look at the stars - astonishingly bright and close, almost frighteningly so, when you're used to cities, or being too busy to look up and see the space that God made - and then looks away. For fear of being overwhelmed, maybe, or because he has other things to do.]

[Though he can't begin to imagine what they are. What do you do after you've died?]

[When he figures out how to access the network, he doesn't hesitate at all. Hesitating means thinking, and if he thinks too much about this his voice will come out weak, lost, confused. He is a Zeppeli; that would be unforgivable.]

[So it comes out strong, full, his syllables well-rounded and imbued with good humor.]

Buongiorno, all, I - seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere around Mars. I don't suppose anyone has a map?

[He chuckles briefly, then sombers. There's information in his head that he doesn't know the source of, but he can guess.]

There are many people trapped here. I know that much already. I know what is happening. What I don't understand is why.

[Or what is to be done about it. (Although where would he go, if he wasn't here?)]

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[As could probably be predicted, Joseph is wandering rather aimlessly. He hasn't bothered with the network because he doesn't know it's there. Which honestly, the longer he remains ignorant of it the better as far as the rest of the Fleet is concerned. But in his aimless wanderings, he does hear a voice that carries and he thinks he's hearing things. He hasn't heard that voice since... No, he doesn't want to think of how he heard that voice last. And he has to be hearing wrong. The voice is similar, but it's just being distorted from distance and metal corridors.]

[But as he considers turning and heading the other way, not wanting to face the inevitable disappointment, he knows that he has to go see for himself. He can't just walk away and pretend like he didn't hear it at all.]

[Joseph's quiet slipping into the room, but doesn't get far before he freezes. Caesar's back is to him... But that can't be Caesar. A thousand or more thoughts jump into Joseph's mind while he remains perfectly still, trying to figure out if this really is a dream, a trick, or maybe even real. Which really that last option seems more far-fetched compared to the somewhat indisputable fact he's in space now. People just don't come back from the dead. They don't do that. He squeezes his eyes shut, unsure if he's hoping that Caesar will disappear or not and is momentarily very afraid to open them again. It takes a few blinks before he just gives up trying to keep the tears out of his eyes, but even as they blur his vision he can still see him.]

[It's impossible. He tells himself this over and over again despite what he's seeing as flashes of memories come to him. A ruddy scent of wet metal mingling with the faint scent of soap. From its source on the floor, the bright reflection of what little sunlight managed to break through. And nothing but silence to answer for any of it.]

[Joseph just needs him to turn around. To put all doubts out of his mind. But Joseph's certainly as afraid now as he was then to say his name, the fear tightly coiling itself within his chest.]

[He swallows thickly.]

C-Caesar?

[Caesar wonders if it's shock, personally. If that's the reason he's so calm about this. He should be frightened, or angry, or at least confused. But in a dizzy way, all of this makes perfect sense. He didn't do what he needed to do, but he left his duties in the hands of people he trusted. It will have been done. The only heaviness of regret is that he won't get to see it, or them, ever again.]

[He'll think more about that later, maybe. For now, he's learning - discovering. This place is as different from home as it could be, and he'll bury his thoughts in that until he can't anymore.]

[The voice is quite certainly a memory. He has no doubt about that. It makes him smile anyway, bittersweet and small. Maybe he's hallucinating. Is that even possible?]

[He shouldn't turn around. It'll just be disappointing. He's alone and he knows it; that's part of why he's reaching out over the network. The depth of space is intimidating, and he needs some kind of human contact. But if he looks and no one's there, he'll just feel more alone than ever.]

[He turns anyway, and - opens his mouth. He has absolutely no idea what to do now.]

What are you doing here? [His surprise turns it snappish, his stomach flipping with uncertainty.]

[Joseph feels all the air leave him all at once the moment Caesar turns around. Joseph thinks to answer Caesar's question with something--which would really be by giving no real concrete answer since he'd like to know the answer to that himself--and his mouth even works to form words, but he just stands there, not making a sound and staring in his disbelief. But there's no mistaking it. If this is a trick, it's a really damned good one because every doubt has been erased.]

[He means to smile. Does he smile? Joseph's honestly not sure. He's vaguely aware he's crying at least. But what his face is doing right now is incredibly low-priority for him and he's not thinking too hard on it right now anyway. In fact, he's not thinking that hard at all because he immediately takes the hurried steps to close the distance between them before he's thrown his arms around Caesar in a bear hug that lifts Caesar a few inches up off the ground so there's absolutely no escaping it.]

[What is Joseph doing here? What is Caesar doing here is the better question, but Joseph isn't going to ask it. He isn't even going to allow himself to think it because he's got his friend back. His friend that he had hardly begun to know and yet could not have gotten so far without. His friend that he's barely had time to mourn and only just avenged. Why would he ever want to question that?]

[He doesn't know what he was expecting. Joseph to evaporate, maybe, false hope disappearing as quickly as it had shown up, blink and it's gone. Himself to disappear, maybe, although ghosts are only supposed to stick around if they have unfinished business. None of this can be real, though, that much he is certain about. There's a barrier between him and Joseph now, and he's sure it can't be crossed.]

[Sure, at least, until, in typical Joseph fashion, the space between them is erased and his feet leave the floor. He kicks once or twice, briefly panicked by the close quarters, a too-real memory of encroaching stone at the forefront of his mind - and then balls his hands into fists, breathing short and sharp. This is real.]

Jojo. [First quiet, then a little louder.] Jojo. Put me down.

[Because he can't hug back until his arms are free, you absolute jackoff.]

[For a few more seconds, he stubbornly refuses. He doesn't say anything, he just doesn't put Caesar down. Because what if he does and he just disappears? True, he could probably still do that stuck in a hug like this, but that somehow is less likely by Joseph's logic.]

[But he doesn't hold Caesar there forever. He does end up setting him back down and letting him have his arms back. That does not mean, however, that Joseph is completely letting go. He leaves his hands on Caesar's shoulders, fingers curling tight into his jacket. As long as he keeps some kind of hold on him, Caesar just can't up and vanish. He lets go with one hand for just a brief moment to rub at an eye with the heel of his hand before it's right back where it was before.]

You have no idea how good it is to see you, Caesar.

[Not only is he not going to question it, he is absolutely not acknowledging what happened out loud. Not right now. Can't there just be at least five minutes without all the shit from back home? That's all he wants. Just five minutes. It doesn't seem greedy or unreasonable. So, universe, please? Just do him a solid for once?]

[When his feet touch the floor again, Caesar lets out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His fists unclench, and he relaxes, his arms loose at his sides. For the first time he gets a good look at Joseph, and frowns slightly.]

Are you crying?

[He doesn't cry. He's always laughing. For a moment there's a flash of guilt. My fault, I did this. It doesn't matter that he didn't mean to.]

[His instinct is to push away a little further, make more space between them. But that's not what he wants. He wants to feel anchored and real and alive, and there's no one in the world realer than Joseph Joestar.]

[So he wraps his arms around Joseph's neck and hugs him back. It's not as tight as Joseph's bear hug, but it means about the same thing. It's good to see you too.]

[Joseph doesn't notice the flash of guilt. Or at the very least, it doesn't register to him on a conscious level before it's quickly replaced with Caesar's hug.]

So what? [he mutters, with a little sniffle.]

[These aren't like the tears that came before. There's a dull ache, sure. In some ways, the wound has been reopened and he can feel fragments of the loss all over again, but these aren't sad tears. Grief isn't running so deep that he doesn't think he'll ever be able to breathe or move again. There's a different reason, a completely different emotion behind why everything feels so surreal right now.]

[But it is real and Joseph wraps his arms tight around Caesar again.]

How long have you been here?

[He hopes it hasn't been long. Joseph's been wandering for a few minutes now and this place seems entirely void of any actual life. With the exception of the hum of what he assumes are likely engines and some really bland overhead music in some parts of the ship, everything is silent. It's cold and sterile. From what he can tell, they're the only two people here right now. Joseph doesn't like the idea of Caesar being alone and completely on his own after...]

action;

action forever!!

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