Liquid Eternity

Chapter Twenty Three

You woke up late the next morning.

Everyone made a quick visit to Kakyoin in the hospital before setting out for the day. Kakyoin told the group to continue on without him. He would catch up as soon as he was healed.

You were feeling a lot better now, especially since you talked with Jotaro. I guess talking about how you feel really does make you feel better.

Mr. Joestar found passage on a boat down the nile river, and while the ride took a little while, you occupied yourself by watching Jotaro.

No, not in a creepy way. Strictly for science.

Maybe also because he was one of the most attractive people you've ever met.

But mostly for science.

You were still hung up about that poker game. You had spent years studying the science of human body language, but you just couldn't figure out what Jotaro's tell was. Everyone has some sort of tell when something goes wrong or when something goes well.  For you, whenever you messed something up, the left corner of your mouth twitched. Kakyoin tugged on his hair when he was lying. When Mr. Joestar got angry, his artificial hand would twitch.

Of course, Jotaro had similar tells. You could tell when he was lying (the tips of his ears turned pink) or when he was mad (he would clench his fist), but when he began playing poker his face became perfectly still. He was able to completely relax his body and you just couldn't get a read on him.

"Hey, come on you two." Mr. Joestar's voice interrupted your thoughts. "The ferry's stopping here for a bit."

"Do we really have time to stop here?" Polnareff whined. "I'm hungry."

"Man, he does not shut up." You mumbled to Jotaro in Japanese. Jotaro snorted out a laugh.

"I bet he sleeps with a hairnet." Jotaro whispered back to you.

"Maybe the hair is compensating for something."

The two of you doubled over snickering until noticing Joseph and Avdol walking off.

"Shit." You grabbed Jotaro by the sleeve and tugged him along with you.

Your feet began to hurt after a while of wandering.

"Mr. Joestar?" You asked.

"Mm."

"I don't wanna be a bitch but... where are we going?"

"We gotta find Polnareff."

"Oh yeah. I was thinking it was a bit too quiet around here."

"Come on (Y/N). Don't be mean." Avdol laughed.

"Oi. He's over there." Jotaro nodded toward some ruins. 

Polnareff was crouched on the ground in front of a weird sword. Mr. Joestar got his attention, and Polnareff looked around as if he was dazed. He seemed alright though, besides a nasty cut across his chest. From where you were standing, the cut seemed shallow and would likely heal in a week or so.

Your thoughts were interrupted by Iggy's incessant barking. You turned your attention to him and tried to comfort him.

"Iggy, sweetheart, what's wrong?" You knew he wouldn't bark like that if something wasn't wrong. In addition, you knew Iggy was smarter than the average dog, and he would understand if you asked him what was wrong.

"Yare yare... what's up with the dog?"  Jotaro asked you.

"I don't know, he just keeps barking at Polnareff."