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Ever since he and his brother had gained their stands, Okuyasu had come to understand that they were manifestations of the user’s will- a reflection of who they were as a person. Whenever he saw someone’s stand, it served as a good way to learn about who they were as a person.
His brother’s stand was good with orders and more than a little sadistic, but it worked well with how intelligent he was.
Koichi’s stand was clever and creative, but it needed time to build up its potential and confidence to really shine- just like its user.
Yukako’s stand was controlling and temperamental, but it fit her creepy and obsessive personality to a T.
And then there was Josuke’s stand…
“Your stand’s gotta be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen..” Okuyasu commented absentmindedly while watching the stand in question heal a cut on his arm from a small fight with a few schoolyard-thugs.
Josuke gave Okuyasu a smile while his stand finished healing the last of his boyfriend’s injuries. “Thanks, man, I’m sure he appreciates that. Right, big guy?” He gave his stand a pat on the back, the stand in question just giving a quick “dora” before disappearing.
“I’m serious, Josuke!” Okuyasu said while accepting his boyfriend’s hand to help pull himself up off of the ground he’d been sitting on. “Your stand’s the coolest!” As they continued their walk towards the convenience store (that had been rudely interrupted by the previously mentioned thugs), he proceeded to list off traits of the armor-plated pink stand. “He’s strong, but he’s also good at helping people. He looks awesome- hell, he looks badass! He’s reliable-”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Josuke gave a brief laugh and lightly elbowed the other teen in the side. “Crazy Diamond’s pretty cool, I guess.”
“Not ‘pretty cool’- the coolest!” Okuyasu argued. “He’s the most awesome stand I’ve ever seen!”
“Not that I don’t appreciate the compliment,” Josuke side-eyed his boyfriend with a teasing grin. “But don’t you think you’re a little biased on that one?”
The question caught Okuyasu by surprise and it clearly showed on his face. “Huh? Whattaya mean?”
“I mean,” Josuke paused at a traffic light, grabbing Okuyasu’s arm for a second to make sure the other boy didn’t accidentally step out into the street when he stopped. “You’re my boyfriend- of course you’re gonna like my stand, it’s a part of me.”
“Huh…” Okuyasu blinked in surprise as he stared at the pompadoured teen while waiting for the light to change.
He’d honestly never thought of it like that before. However, as he thought about it now, it DID make sense: Strong, helpful, good looking, reliable- those were all traits that he also associated with Josuke. Just like with every other stand he’d seen, Crazy Diamond was a reflection of his user and, since he thought the user was the greatest guy in the world (they were dating, after all), then it made sense that he’d think his stand was the greatest in the world, too.
“If it helps- I think The Hand’s way cooler than Crazy Diamond.” Josuke said when the light changed and he led Okuyasu across the street.
“Wha-?!” Okuyasu nearly tripped going over the curb when Josuke said that, having to speed-walk a few steps to catch up to his smugly grinning partner. “You don’t have to say that..”
“It’s true.” Josuke shrugged as they reached the other side and rounded the street corner. “I just think The Hand’s cooler.”
“But…why?” Okuyasu didn’t think Josuke would lie to him just to give him a compliment, but he was genuinely confused and perplexed by the idea that ANYONE would find his stand cooler than the awesomeness that was Crazy Diamond! “I mean, sure, his power’s cool, but he’s dangerous..his armor’s kinda cool, but he just looks gloomy most of the time…he’s nothing like you…” His tone had gotten steadily more depressed as he talked. It wasn’t even until he looked up from the ground (when had he stopped looking at Josuke?) to see the other boy giving him a worried frown that he realized what he’d said and hurried to amend the last part. “I mean, your stand- he’s nothing like your stand!”
There was an uncomfortably long moment where they both stood there, not saying anything. Josuke stared at Okuyasu with a confused and mildly sympathetic frown. Okuyasu stared at the ground because he couldn’t meet the other’s gaze. The silence felt suffocating…
“Is that really how you see The Hand?” Josuke asked seriously after what felt like hours to Okuyasu. Before he could respond, the other boy’s tone changed from serious to light-hearted in an instant, bordering on the edge of laughing. “No wonder you think Crazy Diamond’s cooler- you’re looking at The Hand all wrong!”
Okuyasu blinked in surprise again and finally looked back up at Josuke’s grinning face. “Whattaya mean?”
“That’s not what The Hand’s like at all!” Josuke’s grin softened slightly into a kind smile, one of the many looks that would make Okuyasu’s heart skip a beat every time, and started counting off each point he made using his fingers just like Okuyasu had earlier. “His power’s not just cool- it’s amazing and super useful, especially when you think of really creative ways to use it. And, yeah, he DOES look cool, no doubt, but you’re wrong about him being gloomy: I mean, most of the time when you call him out, it’s to fight, right? So he’s not being gloomy, he’s being serious. Besides, even if he was frowning, he’s just expressive like that. Oh, and he’s not dangerous- at least not to people on his side.” He gave Okuyasu a bright smile and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “The Hand’s the coolest stand I’ve ever seen and the first one that both me and Crazy Diamond want watching our backs in a fight, no matter what.”
Okuyasu was stunned for a while after hearing everything the longer haired teen had to say about his stand.
He’d never heard someone say such nice things about his stand before. The closest comparison was his older brother, who’d often said that his stand was terrifyingly strong. His brother, however, always followed up the compliment with a comment about how his stand’s potential was wasted since Okuyasu was such an idiot. And, while he still didn’t fully disagree with his brother’s assessment of him, it made him feel a lot better to know that it was possible for someone to compliment The Hand like that and NOT demean him in the same sentence.
“Well…” Okuyasu’s face finally sprouted a smile for the first time since they’d started the conversation, one of his arms wrapping around Josuke’s back to return the half-embrace. “I still think Crazy Diamond’s cooler.” He gave the spot his hand was resting on a light squeeze to stop Josuke from interrupting. “But,” He turned his head so he could look at his boyfriend head-on with a cheerful grin. “They’re both one billion times cooler when they team up: The Crazy-Hand combo is just as powerful as the Josu-yasu duo!”
Josuke laughed, smiling more at how the other boy was beaming at him. “Dude, ‘The Crazy-Hand’? The name should be ‘The Diamond-Hand’- it sounds like the name of a band or a sweet fashion label!”
With the mood restored as they debated which combination of their stands’ names sounded better, the pair of stand-users walked down the street, each with one arm around the other, and, oddly enough, the way the sunlight cast their shadows on the sidewalk behind them looked almost exactly like silhouettes of The Hand and Crazy Diamond with their arms around each other as well- a small smile on both of their faces.