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Another harsh day of Hamon training had come to an end, and though he hadn’t been the one bearing the brunt of it, Speedwagon found himself irked. Despite Jonathan’s impressive natural talent, that damn Zeppeli had found small nitpicks to scold him for, harping on and on about how he seemed distracted, how his attitude wasn’t up to snuff. How exactly was that meant to help him improve? Even now, as Speedwagon accompanied him through the countryside towards the inn they were staying at, Jonathan seemed downcast, more distracted than he’d been at the start
“I thought it would be simple, but I just can’t seem to get anything right,” he sighed, channeling some of his frustration by snapping a stick off a dried-up tree as they passed. “It’s up to me to deal with Dio, but what if my heart’s just not strong enough…”
Speedwagon couldn’t stand to see such sorrow in the gentleman’s eyes, and immediately he sought to chase it away. “Don’t you worry, Mr. Joestar. Despite what that old codger had to say, you’re a natural at this! If anyone can defeat Dio, it’ll be you, I know it. It may be winter now, but you’re still in the springtime of your youth! Soon enough all this dreadful business will be put behind us and you can go back to thinkin’ about regular things. School, sports, chasin’ around after whoever you fancy… the Ripple will be the last thing on your mind.”
They’d come to a little bridge over a calmly flowing stream, and Speedwagon’s words must have done the trick because the shadow had fled from Jonathan’s eyes. Now they turned to him, clear and curious, just a tad shy. He couldn’t look away. “Have you ever fancied anyone, Speedwagon? What were they like?”
He paused in his steps. The question was not an accusation. Of course it wasn’t—it only felt that way due to the fact that the person he fancied was standing right next to him. But how exactly should he respond? If he were to give an honest description, start listing off every detail of the encyclopedic knowledge he had of Jonathan Joestar, there was no way the gentleman wouldn’t see through to his heart in an instant. Still, he couldn’t dream of lying to him either, so he went with more of a metaphorical approach.
“Ah, well you know me, I ain’t a sentimental type of fella. If I were to fall for someone, they’d have to be really special. The brightest star in the whole sky.”
Jonathan had stopped with him on the crest of the bridge, and they stood really quite close together now. The taller man was leaning toward him, his posture rapt. Pinned in place by the intensity of his gaze, Speedwagon began to panic that his words hadn’t been enough to obscure the truth. “W-What about you?” he quickly deflected, “How’s the person you like?”
That got Jonathan to back off a little, a faint blush colouring his cheeks. “Er… the person I like?” he said, fiddling with the stick in his hands and turning to look out over the water.
Speedwagon felt like a clod, asking something like that. In his panic, he hadn’t been thinking. Noble folk never talked about things like this outright, and it was clear he’d made Jojo uncomfortable. Plus, now that he did think, he realized he’d put himself into quite a predicament too—as if he’d want to hear about whatever lady Jonathan fancied! All the delicate little details of someone that was not him. It was tantamount to torture.
Just before he could start to take the question back, Jonathan began to speak once again.
“The person I like is always by my side in my worst moments, cheering me on when I feel like giving up.”
That was the first pang in Speedwagon’s heart. He thought of that night when he’d snuck into the hospital, intending to bring Jonathan some hope—to be that person by his side—only to find Erina had beaten him there.
“They’re steadfast, and devoted. They go out of their way to ensure that I’m safe, even if it puts their own health in danger.”
Oh yes, how could he forget Erina’s hands? Red and chapped as she tended to Jonathan’s burns all day and all through the night as well. It was no wonder Jojo would fall for a person like that, especially during this dark chapter of his life.
Somewhere along the way, Jonathan had turned to look at him once more, a dreamy look coming over his features as he elucidated. “This person has hair golden as the sun, and seeing it invigorates me just as surely as any Hamon.”
“O-Oh,” Speedwagon said, trying not to make the lump in his throat apparent in his speech. “She sounds lovely.”
Jonathan blinked, the smitten look in his eyes being replaced by confusion. “She?”
“Erina, right? I know she’s been a great help to you.”
“Robert, I wasn’t— Goodness, I was talking about you.”
“I— me? But—” The revelation had him at an abnormal loss for words, and his floundering put a smile back on Jonathan’s face.
“I was fairly certain you felt the same way, though now that I’ve heard your criteria, I wonder how I could possibly live up to it.” As he’d been listing off all the wonderful qualities Speedwagon possessed, the stick he held had bloomed to life once more. Now, studded with small pink flowers, he held it out to his friend. A proposal, of sorts. “What do you say? Do I pass?”
Speedwagon felt tears of joy prick the corners of his eyes. Just a second ago his heart had been sunk to the bottom of the ocean; now it soared so high he was nearly overwhelmed. He took the flowered branch from Jonathan’s hand with a small laugh, then in the next moment surged forward to throw his arms around the gentleman’s neck. Now that he knew, how could he be expected to hold back?
“Forget the brightest, you’re the only star in my sky. How could I have eyes for any other with you here glowin’ like the sun? The man I fancy is brave and noble and kind above all. Oh Jojo, it’s always been you. I’ll do all those things you mentioned and more until the end of my days if you’ll let me!”
Jonathan chuckled and wrapped Speedwagon into a crushing hug. There was a smile upon the lips which pressed a kiss to his cheek. Jojo truly was like the sun, warm and bright in Speedwagon’s embrace.
The smile was echoed in his voice when he spoke, “I believe it’s feeling more like spring already!”