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Gyro poked his cheek with the blunt end of a stick he'd sharpened down to skewer the dead rabbit Johnny hunted down earlier.
"Alright, enough of that," he declared. Johnny angled his head away from the offending object.
"...what?"
"Don't 'what' me, Joestar," Gyro removed the stick, letting it drop in his lap over his crossed legs. "You've been making this," he used his pointer fingers to pull the corners of his mouth down into a deep frown, "face since yesterday evening. What gives?"
Johnny shifted uncomfortably, keeping his eyes on the campfire. He hovered his cold fingers above it, letting the warmth seep through his bones. He noticed?
"It's the same face I always make."
"Nu-uh, your usual face's more like…" Gyro raised his fingers. He was still frowning, but not as severely. "This."
Gyro's antics might be amusing in normal circumstances, but Johnny was growing irritated by his prodding. He scoffed, deflecting the accusations back at his friend, "Maybe I'm making this face because you stink."
Gyro gasped, placing his hand on his chest in grave offense. "I do not stink!"
Despite his words, he stuck his nose into his armpit and gave it a sniff. His face twisted into a faint grimace. "...not that bad," he amended.
They fell into an uneasy silence. Johnny focused intently on the fire, rubbing his hands over his legs to work circulation through them. He listened to Gyro completing the last preparations of the rabbit in the background. When he finished, he speared it on the stick, before holding it over the flames. His eyes bore holes into Johnny's side the whole time.
"Johnny."
From his tone alone, it was clear Gyro wasn't going to drop the subject until he received a satisfactory answer. The man could be as stubborn as Johnny when he put his mind to it.
Johnny sighed. "It's stupid."
Gyro rotated the rabbit slightly over the fire, silently imploring Johnny to elaborate.
"...I'm turning twenty today."
"What?!" Gyro almost dropped their food in his shock. "It's your birthday and you didn't tell me?!"
Johnny shrugged, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible when he said, "It's not a big deal."
"Nonsense," Gyro waved the rabbit in his face, and Johnny put a hand on his wrist to stop him before his careless swinging broke the stick in two. "You've brooded over this since yesterday. I would've gotten you something if you told me sooner!"
That information… it made Johnny's heart clench in a way where he didn't know if he was sad or appreciative of Gyro's thoughtfulness. But…
"I haven't really celebrated my birthday since I was nine," Johnny admitted. "Not since Nick…"
He let the sentence hang unfinished. Gyro understood. Since his brother's passing, his father hardly acknowledged him. It wasn't a surprise when his birthday turned out no different. His mom would greet him with a simple happy birthday and a handful of sweets, but nothing more. Even that stopped once he was officially disowned.
Gyro's earlier surprise shifted into a more somber look, eyes half lidded in thought as they stayed glued to the slowly grilling rabbit.
"My father never bothers with sentimental things like birthdays either, though my mother cooks us our favorite meal to compensate. I usually get my siblings something too, and give it to them when my father isn't looking, nyo-ho."
He snickered softly at the memories. His expression was a mix of serene and wistful, and Johnny's fists clenched in his lap unconsciously. He was jealous that Gyro could look like that when he thought of his family, though he knew it was unfair to get upset about it.
The smell of freshly cooked meat filled their noses, and Gyro removed the rabbit from the fire once it had an even brown color on all sides. He waited until it was cool enough, before tearing it in two. He handed the larger piece to Johnny, grills glowing as the ambient light reflected off of his smile.
"Happy birthday, Johnny."
Gyro's back was to him and he sat hunched forward over his lap. He'd been acting particularly strange the last few days, clearly hiding something and doing a terrible job at acting casual when Johnny asked. Johnny decided he wouldn't push his friend on it, since he figured he'd get an answer sooner or later. But sooner was long gone, and later never seemed to arrive, so with three days passed, Johnny's patience reached a breaking point.
"Show me already!" he demanded, pulling at the hem of Gyro's shirt as he tried to glimpse whatever his partner was hiding for him. Gyro hugged the 'something' close to his chest, using his arms as a shield and angling his torso away from prying eyes.
"No way!" he responded in an almost falsetto note, flustered. "I'm not ready!"
"I don't care! Show me!"
"You're so demanding, monello! I'll show you when I show you!"
"Ugh!"
Johnny sat back, resisting the urge to cross his arms petulantly. From the way Gyro was acting, he didn't think the man was hiding anything incriminating. Most likely just a work-in-progress Gyro original gag or song, but it bothered him nonetheless. More than he wanted to admit.
Sure, most of him wanted Gyro to fess up just so he could satisfy his own selfish curiosity, but then there was also that annoying part inside him. The one that was less worried about what Gyro was hiding, and more worried that Gyro was hiding something in the first place. He trusted Gyro, of course, but the illogical side of him which housed his demons of anxiety couldn't help but wonder, what if it was something bigger? Something serious?
Calm down, you're overthinking this. If it was serious, he wouldn't be so obvious about his secrecy, would he?
He knew he was right, but it didn't do much to assuage his worry. It was really annoying, and he knew it was affecting his mood, which wasn't fair to Gyro. Which just pissed him off even more, and down and down he goes.
Stop that, Joestar. Bickering amongst ourselves is the last thing we need.
His mood wasn't helped by the fact that he was extremely bored.
"...let's just play a round of cards first, then you can go back to do whatever you're doing," he said, averting his eyes to the ground. It was usually how they wound down for the day, which was a must when you spent all day sweating your ass off on horseback while simultaneously trying not to die from a surprise stand attack.
Except they hadn't done that lately, because Gyro was too busy. Which, fine, he understood that Gyro might want some time alone from time to time. He was the same, after all.
But.
Still.
"Awww, you miss me? That's so sweet it almost makes up for the previous physical assault—"
Johnny bonked him over his head with his fist. Not hard enough to hurt, just enough to get his point across: Shut up.
Gyro rubbed the back of his skull, pouting. He looked down at the thing in his arms, and Johnny could see him hesitate. Then, with halting movements, he turned around.
"Alright, alright… you've convinced me. I guess… I'll show you."
He shuffled his knees over the ground until he faced Johnny head on. His hands formed an orb as he shielded something within. Johnny could practically see bullets of sweat forming as they beaded down Gyro's neck. He nervously removed one hand, presenting what was hidden beneath.
Johnny blinked down at it. Balanced on Gyro's palm was a small figure carved out of wood. It had what Johnny assumed to be four legs, a head, and a tail, which could be… a number of creatures, really.
"It's…" he eyed the pointed ears. Or were those horns? "...a cat?"
"Argh! Merda!" Gyro threw his head back and flung his arms into the sky, almost sending the poor wooden creature flying into the ether if he wasn't holding onto it. He brought his free hand to his face, covering his eyes. The figurine was pinched between his fingers, looking down from above as he held it high. "It's a horse, Johnny! A horse! Dammit, I knew this was a bad idea!"
He put the 'horse' down between them. It rested unevenly on the ground, one leg shorter than the rest.
"Hm…" Johnny leaned forward to get a better look at it, cupping his chin with his thumb and pointer. "Now that you mention it… I can see it."
"You can?" Gyro beamed. "Great!"
He picked it up, forcing Johnny to take it. It was about as long as his palm, but only a third as wide. He raised a questioning brow.
"I know it's late, but you didn't give me any warning, so you only have yourself to blame, okay?" Gyro said. When Johnny didn't look any more clear, he elaborated. "Your birthday! It's a birthday gift!" he pointed at the horse, "Since you like horses, I made you one! Although…" he paused, taking in his sad looking creation. "...it does look pretty terrible, doesn't it?"
Johnny eyed the horse blankly. Truthfully, he still thought it looked more like a cat than a horse. The snout was too short, the tail too thin, the mane missing completely. That being said…
He looked at Gyro. The man was frowning, glaring at the toy. He clicked his tongue in displeasure. "Nevermind, it was a stupid idea. I'll just buy you something instead. Here—"
He went to swipe it back, but Johnny moved it out of the way before his fingers could reach it.
"It's fine," he said, painfully aware how hot his ears burned. He was glad his hat hid his shame. He just hoped the redness wouldn't spread to the rest of his face. "I… like it."
It wasn't a lie. Even if it didn't look a lick like a horse and more like a mistake God forgot about, he didn't mind. It was clear Gyro put a lot of thought and effort into the gift, and that meant more than a handful of sweets ever cold.
I didn't even like that candy…
He felt his eyes growing wet and quickly wiped them.
Gyro still looked skeptical, but his expression softened. "Johnny…"
"A-anyways… thanks. Let's, uh… play a round of poker before we sleep."
He searched for his bag, digging through it for their deck of cards. He clutched the horse close to his chest, a faint smile pulling at his lips. Three days late, but it was still the best birthday he'd had in eleven years.
Gyro woke up to something tickling his nose. He swatted at it, and Valkyrie neighed as his hand poked her snout.
"Ugh… morning to you too, horsie."
He sat up, stretching. Johnny was still asleep, snoring away in his sleeping bag. Looked like it was up to Gyro to wake him.
"Nyo-ho," he chuckled mischievously, thinking of various entertaining methods he could use to introduce the American to the new day. With silent steps, he snuck up on him, pulling his covers down slightly. He readied his fingers, about to greet him with a Zeppeli trademarked tickle attack.
Gyro paused as he was greeted by an odd sight. Clutched between his fingers was the wooden horse figurine, pressed up against Johnny's cheek. Drool covered half its head, and he mumbled something unintelligible as he shifted slightly in his sleep.
Gyro snickered, a large grin growing on his face without his input. The sight was almost endearing enough to convince Gyro that perhaps he shouldn't wake Johnny up with a Zeppeli trademarked tickle attack.
Almost.
He pressed his fingers against Johnny's stomach, wiggling them quickly. The boy's eyes slammed open and he let out a shrill scream, slapping his open hand against Gyro's face.
"Dammit Gyro, I'm gonna fucking kill you!"