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Jolyne felt herself being dragged slowly from deep sleep, her senses ringing that something was wrong. She shifted slowly before fluttering her eyes open, her ears finally hearing the sniffles of a child. A child who obviously woke up from a nightmare. She bolted up from the bed to look at Emporio who looked her with wide eyes, tears falling from them.
Her heart clenched as she looked at him before softly speaking. "Emporio?" She asked, shifting her body to look at him better in the dim lighting. She silently thanked her dad for placing the urge to sleep with curtains into her at a young age. She softly smiled when she saw Emporio's lips tremble, gently checking if Hermes was still asleep before beckoning him forward.
The eleven year old all but threw himself into her arms, his sniffles getting heavier. She hummed softly as she ran her hand through his curly hair, waiting for him to calm down. The house was silent all for the gentle snores of her father that can be heard from the living room. She rolled her eyes once she realized that he fell asleep watching documentaries again.
"Jolyne...?"
"Yes Emporio?" She softly asked, her heart tightening at how sad he sounded. What did you dream of this time? What did you remember vividly enough to scare you to my room? Her mind asked as her fingers stilled from played with a curl, Emporio pressing his head against her hand. She was briefly reminded of a cat asking for attention before she continued. "Is it bad that I feel this is a nightmare? That you aren't real? That I'm just dreaming?"
Emporio buried his face into her shoulder, causing her to shift him until he sat more comfortably against her. She stayed silent as she thought of what say, how could one know when she experiences as well? How could I know when I feel the same? When my feelings choke me because I don't know if this is real or not?
"It's not bad Emporio, it's our nature to feel like that. Dad," She paused briefly, still unused to call him dad despite risking her life to save his. Despite dying for all of them to live. "he had gone through his before. He says he would often feel out of touch because or minds can't distinguish the difference now. All because of the trauma we went through." There was more but that conversation was so long ago that she wasn't sure anymore.
"It feels like a dream because our brains like to disconnect us from things. Like we're behind a glass wall." She scrunched up her nose before placing her chin on his head, gently rocking both of them back and forth. "I-" Emporio paused and licked his lips, sniffing softly. "I-It's because of our brains that I feel like this?"
She hummed out an agreement, ignoring the weird feeling of a tear stained shirt clinging to her skin. She'd deal with it if it meant Emporio was talking about it. "Why?" That she didn't know, she finished high school but didn't bother even going to college due to her record. Due to her record and she was framed for a murder by a psycho priest who was hellbent on killing her family.
"Because our brains are fucked." A rough voice said aloud, tinged with sleep as Jolyne turned to see her girlfriend wake up from her sleep.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?"
"Nah, been awake since Emporio came in. Just didn't want to move." Hermes mumbles before yawning heavily, and shifting to sit up before throwing her arms around Jolyne's waist. "Our brains are fucked?" Emporio repeated, more curious than sad now.
"Yeah, our brains are complex shits. They aren't always the same and everything can change." Hermes mumbled into Jolyne's neck before ruffling Emporio's hair. Softly snorting at the pajamas Emporio wore. It was obvious he stole clothes from Jotaro, she briefly remembered Jotaro asking where that exact same shirt was. She can already see the dolphin on the back curled around a star.
Joestars and their connections to stars. "Oh, fuck brains." Emporio said, causing Jolyne to softly snort into his hair. A grin forming on Hermes' face as she saw Emporio's shoulders shake from trying not to laugh. Hermes hummed as she tickled his cheek with her finger, softening when he heard the soft laughter he released. "Yeah... Fuck brains. Gonna go far with that idea kid."
Jolyne rolled her eyes as she leaned against Hermes, the boy clinging to her like a koala. "Thanks for telling me this, I know now." He mumbled softly, a yawn escaping his mouth. "Thank Jolyne, I just threw in one thing." Hermes mumbled as she shifted the three of them so they laid down on the bed and had Emporio between the two of them.
"Ight kiddo, you're gonna sleep with us tonight. No arguments."
Emporio opened his mouth to argue but Hermes shut his mouth by slapping her hand over it. "No arguments."
Emporio frown before huffing, hiding his face underneath the blanket. "Fine." Hermes rolled her eyes and cupped her hands around Emporio's cheeks and squished them together, laughing at his weak attempts to get rid of her hands from his face.
"Gonna be cheeky with me huh? Gonna be a brat? I'll show you." She hissed out before aiming a well aimed finger to his sides, watching his eyes widen. She released a cackle as she began to move her fingers against his sides, ignoring the sputtering laughter. She felt herself soften when Jolyne wrapped her arms around Emporio's waist and dragged him closer to her chest.
Jolyne protected Emporio from Hermes' attacks, shooting a glare at the woman who rose her hands up in surrender. "Really?" A gruff voice spoke, thick with sleep as the trio turned to see owner of the house and Jolyne's dad at the doorway. Jolyne scowled and stuck her tongue out at the older man. She could still see that faint lines of scars left on him from when Pucci stole his disks.
She felt a pang of anger, sadness and regret hit her before it disappeared. "Yeah, what about it old man?" She watched him shake his head, the moonlight casting colors around as it hit her rainbow stained glass butterfly that hung up by the window. Jotaro rubbed his eyes, getting rid of the sleepiness before yawning behind his mouth.
"Just don't sleep too late." He mumbled before walking away towards his room, silence heard before the gentle snoring of Emporio sleeping. Jolyne looked at Hermes, taking in the beauty of her girlfriend's hair free from barrettes and braids. To the clean face with no make up. She gently touched her own hair, the duo colored different from Hermes' natural hair.
She pushed it out of her head and turned to kiss Emporio's head, gently brushing his curls out of his face. She closed her eyes and could hear Hermes shuffle around in bed before she smirked. "You kissed his head too you sap."
"Shut the fuck up." Hermes hissed before she laid down, the silence returning as they both fell asleep.
Emporio opened his eyes and smiled. "Night mama.... mom."