One more cup of coffee for the road

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"Here sweetheart, have a little coffee."

Stevie opened her eyes to see Joseph squatting next to her, holding out a cup of coffee and gently shaking her awake.

"Thanks," she croaked and sat up. The light soreness in her groan immediately reminded her what happened last night, and she felt a little awkward as she took the cup from Jotaro's hot grandpa. She was worried everyone would know what happened with her and Jotaro, but even Jotaro was acting the same as always.

"Can you get up already? I'd like to pack up my sleeping bag," Jotaro said, stalking over with his arms crossed. He looked down at her, an unamused expression on his face.

"Mm yea," she said, giving him a playful grin. His expression didn't change. She got up and looked at the other guys. Everyone was going about their own business. Polnareff had put his jeans back on, inspiring Stevie to do the same. Avdol was meditating. Kakyoin was sipping coffee. Joseph had opened a map. Stevie figured Jotaro wasn't the type to gossip about his love life, and she reassured herself that nobody had any idea what happened while they were sleeping. She wondered if Jotaro was still acting like a hard-ass so no one would catch on, or if he really just didn't feel any differently towards her after last night.

"If we start walking now, we can get to Ranong by the end of the day. Then, we can get a boat from there to Calcutta," Joseph informed everyone, inspiring them to pack up and start moving.

Four hours into their trek up the river bank, they stopped for lunch. Polnareff surprised everyone with apples and coffee cake he had stolen from the train's dining area before they left. Kakyoin had taken cherries for everyone. But the most impressive by far was when Joseph Joestar pulled an entire roasted chicken out of his bag.

Everyone laughed, completely in awe of the craftiness of the old man. Stevie thought she saw Joseph looking at her with a sparkle in his eyes.

"I want to do a quick hamon training session with Stevie before we hit the trail again," Joseph said after they had finished eating, much to everyone's relief. Nobody was ready to start walking again. Another pot of campfire coffee had been brewed, and Joseph handed Stevie a cup.

"We're going to play hide and seek!" Joseph announced as he helped Stevie to her feet. "I'm going to hide in the woods, and you'll come find me using that cup of coffee. If you spill any, you lose."

Avdol covered Stevie's eyes while Joseph went deep into the forest to hide. When Stevie was finally allowed to search for Joseph, she looked at the coffee mug and sighed. "How am I supposed to find him using this?"

"Good luck, Stevie!" Kakyoin said, giving her a thumbs-up and grinning an adorable smile.

She walked between the trees, carefully stepping over rocks and roots. She used hamon to still the coffee and prevent it from spilling. This can't be what he meant, she thought. I don't remember anything about hide-and-seek from our training the other day.

Around 15 minutes in, Stevie looked at the coffee and noticed small ripples starting from the center and moving towards the rim of the cup. That's new, she thought. She kept walking, paying attention to the ripples when they reappeared. She moved in a circle and began walking in the direction the ripples responded to most. The bigger they got, the farther she went. She heard leaves shuffling.

"Joseph?" she asked, with no response. She took her time looking around trees, sensing he must be nearby because the coffee ripples were the strongest they'd been yet. "Joseph, I know you're here."

"AH!" he jumped from behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Stevie screamed and the cup of coffee went flying up into the air. She turned around to face him just as he reached up and caught the cup. Nothing had been spilled.

"Careful, you almost lost!" he teased. "So, how did you find me?"

Stevie sighed a heavy sigh of relief. "The coffee began rippling by itself after a while. I figured it might be a way of detecting you."

"Very nice!" Joseph gleamed and pulled her into a congratulatory hug. She hugged him back and felt the hard curves of his ultra-defined muscles embracing her. Oh my god, stop thinking about him like that, she thought to herself.

He held her at arms length and looked into her eyes. "I didn't say this before, but I'm really proud of the way you handled yourself in that vampire situation back on the train. I'm sure that wasn't easy for you, but you did a great job," he told her.

Stevie smiled shyly. She loved having him praise her like this. She wanted to make him proud. "Thank you," she said, blushing.

They made their way back to camp, where everyone was ready to go. "Training was a success!" Joseph bragged. "She's a natural."

Stevie beamed, but of course she tried to hide it.

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