Chapter Text
Joaquim
Something was wrong with Tiago. Not in a totally bad way of course. Sure, from what Joaquim had seen from him, the guy had a multitude of quirks that he hadn't quite figured out, but this was... different. Tiago was jumpy—eyes darting around, fingers twitching, and most importantly: suddenly stopping as they walked through the streets of Zaragoza.
Eventually, after two hours of watching the guy freak out after some unknown thing, Joaquim had had enough. He waited for his aunts to go into a nearby shop before confronting Tiago.
Joaquim asked right out the gate. “Okay, what the fuck is going on with you?” Tiago's head snapped forward to look at him, fingers that had previously been fiddling with the frayed edge of his scarf stilled and his eyes widened.
“I'm walking in Spain, JoJo. You are too.” Tiago's head tilted to the side slightly and his eyes slowly slid to look at a building to the right of him again.
“No- not that! You're being all... weird. And not your usual weird either. You're like, looking for something... or someone? Is there an enemy nearby? You know Stand users are drawn together,” Joaquim stated.
Slowly, Tiago just shook his head as he tilted his head to the side further. He opened his mouth as if he were about to respond to Joaquim, but his eyes flicked above to the sky instead and Joaquim could only watch as Tiago resumed his twitching.
With a groan, Joaquim dragged Tiago out of the middle of the walkway to a nearby alcove in a building wall. “Seriously, what the hell is your deal?”
Tiago's gaze flickered to him for a moment, but the eye contact was only maintained for a split second before it returned to the sky. He mumbled a few words under his breath before he fully faced Joaquim.
One hand compulsively wrung the length of his scarf as the other tapped rapidly on the brick wall beside the two. “JoJo,” Tiago said seriously, amber eyes boring into Joaquim's grey.
When Tiago didn't immediately continue speaking, Joaquim asked “...What?”
“JoJo.” Tiago said his name again, a little more urgency in the word.
“Tiago you have to spit this shit out, I don't know what you want!” Joaquim was beginning to worry about him. Did they really pick up a nutcase accidentally? Or was the poor guy about to have a breakdown because he realized he missed home.
Tiago made a muffled sound, something akin to a whimper. “JoJo, I need to find a church. I need a chapel, JoJo please.” He was starting to shake slightly, nerves wound up tight—threatening to snap, and Joaquim wasn't sure what to do.
“Uh... Tiago I...” his voice faltered, was there a church nearby? Why did he need one? Did he need to get Odette to help?
“JoJo. I need to find a church.” Tiago repeated the words, more force behind them, but more panic in them too.
Joaquim took a step back, looking behind him towards the shop that his aunts had disappeared into a few minutes prior. “Tiago. Just... just calm down a minute. I can uh, get Auntie O and maybe she can help you out. Is that... okay?” He wasn't very good at playing the compassionate good Samaritan, so his attempt at calming Tiago felt stiff. Regardless of how he felt though, the other teen nodded hastily and started to pull on his scarf again.
Quickly, Joaquim walked into the shop and immediately spotted his aunt's blue hair and approached her. She was standing at the counter, conversing heatedly with the shopkeeper in Spanish, a slight furrow in between her brows. Isa was standing a few meters away looking positively furious with her arms crossed, but wasn't making an attempt to do anything else.
After a moment of listening to what Odette was saying, he realized he should leave her to her argument and instead ask Isa. His aunt glanced towards him, face losing some of its hardness at the sight of her somewhat frazzled looking nephew. “JoJo. What's up?”
“I don't know. Did we pass any churches or cathedrals or something today?”
“...Huh?” Isa looked confused. Admittedly he wasn't giving her much context, but he was also trying to stop Tiago from having a panic attack in the middle of the street. “I think there's one a few streets from here. What do you need a church for?”
“Not for me. Tiago's freaking the fuck out out there and I don't know what to do.” Joaquim cracked his knuckles for lack of a better thing to do to distract him from the nervous feelings building up in him. “How many streets away?”
“Like two... just take a left at the end of the street and you'll see it.” Isa's confusion hadn't lightened up at the slightest, but she understood enough to know that asking too many questions probably wasn't the best idea at the moment.
Joaquim nodded quickly. “Great. I'll be back sometime. Meet me back here and tell Auntie O where we went.” He turned and exited the shop, not even waiting for Isa to reply, and found Tiago exactly where he left him, the teen still messing with his scarf and shifting the weight back and forth on his feet. “Come on. I know where a church is.”
He walked briskly down the street, narrowly avoiding bumping into several people. Behind him he could hear Tiago faintly murmuring “It's been too long...” on a loop. It was as if he was a scratched CD, unable to move on past a certain point in the song because the damage was too deep.
Eventually he could see the church growing closer. Joaquim grabbed Tiago's arm and dragged him into church, hoping that the other teen could get whatever business he needed done so he'd stop scaring the locals.
Tiago quickly straightened up upon stepping foot inside the church. His head swiveled, searching for something, a priest most likely, and he walked over to a wooden box pressed against a wall to the right of the entrance. Joaquim stood there for a moment, not sure what Tiago was getting at and intending to follow him when an older man (50s, greying hair, and a neatly trimmed moustache) stepped inside a different opening to the same box.
Joaquim moved to stand beside the box, listening for anything that'd tell him what the hell was going on.
Inside, he could hear Tiago starting to speak. His voice was low and quiet, but had an undeniable sense of respect to it.
“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been nine days since my last confession.” The shakiness in Tiago's voice had diminished greatly. He couldn't see in the box from where he stood, but he had a feeling that his constant movement had probably eased up as well.
Still, what the fuck was Tiago on about? He'd been beside the guy near constantly since they'd met in Setúbal, what kind of sins could he have gotten up to.
He leaned towards the box—or confession booth? He hadn't realized that the booth beside him was the kind of thing he'd seen on TV. He caught the tail end of Tiago speaking, he was listing off menial everyday mistakes... if that stuff was sinning, what the hell was Joaquim doing?
Leaning in closer, he caught sight of a nun watching him from the other end of the church. Quickly, Joaquim crossed his arms and turned the other way, hoping he didn't look like a nosy creep.
A few more minutes passed and the sister had moved on. He returned to the side of the booth and he could hear the priest now speaking to Tiago.
“...and try not to engage in fights such as that again. For your penance, I recommend you pray the Rosary to reconcile with Christ.”
“Yes, Father.” Tiago went silent for a moment, but when Joaquim strained his ears he could hear the slight mumble of his voice, saying another kind of prayer. When he finished, the priest responded with his own. The doors to the booth suddenly swung open and Joaquim took a few steps back, leaning against the wall in a way that maybe didn't look like he'd been eavesdropping.
He saw Tiago make the sign of the cross before saying “Amen” and turning to the priest. “Father,” the priest inclined his head towards Tiago in acknowledgement. “I left my Rosary at home. I don't know when I'll be back. May I have one, please?”
The priest nodded, a small smile on his face and gestured for Tiago to wait a moment. He turned around and disappeared into a room for a moment before returning with the string of beads. He handed it to Tiago before patting him on the shoulder and saying a farewell.
Tiago held the Rosary close to his chest as he moved to stand beside Joaquim. “JoJo, we can go now.” A sense of deja vu at the words made him shudder, recalling the first time the two had left a church with one another. At least he knew the teen a little better this time.
“Um... yeah okay, what exactly were you doing?” So there wasn't much tact in the question, sue him, he was curious.
“Father Ruiz absolved my sins. It's been too long, they were building up. Thank you for taking me, I need to come again tomorrow.” Tiago said it so monotone that he thought he was joking for a moment. When Tiago didn't crack a smile or laugh he realized the burgeoning chuckle he had probably wasn't appropriate.
“...I don't know about tomorrow, we might be on the road again. How do you know you'll need to absolve your... sins tomorrow anyways?” Joaquim wasn't too sure how to approach the topic, he was a terrible Catholic and, when she was alive, his mamá never took him to church except on holidays or when the Catholic guilt took over.
“I know I have to. JoJo we need to go, I have to pray the Rosary while we walk.” Tiago began to walk to the exit and Joaquim could only follow him.
The question was dumb, he knew that he wouldn't get a straight answer if he asked, but the “why?” slipped off his tongue before he could stop it.
Tiago cocked his head to the side as he pushed the doors open, turning his head slightly to look at Joaquim. “I remember better when I walk. And the hail mary's melt together if I stay still. JoJo, we need to go.”
“O...kay, we can leave. Aunt Isa and Auntie O should be waiting for us outside of that shop still.” Tiago bobbed his head in agreement before he titled his chin down slightly and began to whisper under his breath.
Joaquim decided to stop listening at that moment because he knew the only thing he'd hear from Tiago would be a bunch of prayers he really didn't understand. Though, he supposed having someone unafraid of commitment in the group wasn't all too bad.
———
Odette
After living so long by herself, Odette had a warped sense of when people were laughing at her and when they were laughing with her. She supposed that maybe she hadn't been all that good before Myrtlough either though. She'd never been too sure around King Gizzard and the Pirates nor around her peers. Plants never did that, though she figured that nature and her own Stand didn’t quite count in this scenario.
So seeing Tiago look on, lost, after her wife and nephew shared a laugh over a joke made at the teen's expense made her own slight smile drop. Isa always said she'd had a bleeding heart, but something about Tiago ignited a different kind of feeling within her.
She knew that her family meant nothing by the teasing, it was their love language to mess with one another and Tiago wasn't quite accustomed to that yet.
Odette pulled him to the side under the guise of getting rooms booked for the night so she could assure him that it was only a small jest towards him.
“Are you alright? I noticed you weren't laughing and I hope that you know neither of them actually meant what they said.”
Tiago cocked his head to the side, “It was funny.”
The florist paused, brain freezing as the entire conversation she'd had planned out suddenly derailed at the confession. “Oh, well um... I hadn't realized, you just looked sad and I didn't want you to think that we were being mean for the sake of it.”
“You guys aren't. JoJo is very funny, Dona Odette.” Tiago looked down and ran his hand along the length of his scarf.
Odette laughed slightly at the formality. “It's just Odette, you don't have to be so polite with me.”
The teen didn't respond for a moment, glancing up at the sky before resolutely nodding his head. “Okay.”
She smiled again and lightly touched his shoulder. “So you think JoJo is funny?” Tiago agreed. “Then why don't you laugh? My garoto loves attention, but don't let him know I said that, I think he blooms like a fiery anthurium when he receives praise.”
“No thank you.”
And that made Odette pause again. The warm atmosphere building between the two suddenly dropped out within seconds at his abrupt response. Had she said something wrong?
“I hope I don't come across as nosy, but why not? I just want you to be comfortable among us—especially if we'll be traveling together. Tiaguinho, I hope you aren't uncomfortable.” Her face pulled into a deep frown, her mind jumping to every reason as to why Tiago may not want to joke around with them and completely bypassing the sudden nickname that'd slipped from her mouth.
Tiago's lips quirked up for a flicker of a moment before quickly being schooled back into the neutral expression she'd seen the entire time they'd known one another.
“I don't like to smile,” Tiago said pensively after a minute. He narrowed his eyes, glancing just to the right of Odette as he began speaking again. “I think it is the one gift He gave to me that I can't appreciate. I prayed for His forgiveness for refusing, but I realized my selfishness,” he said, words fumbling from his mouth, only somewhat comprehensible. “I don't... I don't like to smile.”
If Odette were being honest, she didn't really know what he meant. “Tiaguinho, did someone make you feel bad for how you laugh?” He shook his head. Now she was stumped. What could possibly make him despise smiling? He clearly found joy in many things... perhaps it could be a lack of energy and wanting to physically express it.
Tiago's fingers tapped across the wall he was standing in front of. He was looking around the lobby of the hotel the two were standing in with a shimmering expression.
Odette thought back to all of her previous encounters with the teen and if he'd ever smiled in those scenarios either. She came up blank. Every time something happened, Tiago would either turn away or go silent. Odette now realized his silence was simply him focusing all his attention on stopping a joyful expression from crossing his face and the turning for when he couldn't do it in time.
Insecurity maybe. She knew what that was like.
“For a long time,” Odette began with a soft voice, “I was scared to talk.” Tiago's attention snapped to her, his head tilting to the side as he listened to her words. “I didn't like how my voice sounded, that people would think differently of me if how I looked didn't match how I spoke. So I stopped. I was in a bad situation and knew some not so great people. Despite that, I did learn something. Giving into that fear, that worry that people will judge you for something that's a part of you no matter what is just kind of dumb. Everyone is unique, and if others can't accept that well... excuse my language, but fuck whatever they think, alright? I understand if you aren't okay smiling or laughing around us, but just know that you'll always have a safe space.”
Odette breathed out, running a hand down her face as she finished speaking. Tiago didn't say anything for a while. The seconds stretched out and Odette started to worry that she'd ruined the situation further.
She opened her mouth to apologize when Tiago cut her off. “Okay. Thank you Odette.” He bobbed his head and Odette beamed at him before turning towards the hotel counter.
Just as she made a move, she saw Tiago's mouth turn up at the corners before breaking into a grin. It was crooked; one side going upwards while the other one remained relatively still. She could understand why Tiago might not want to smile, but all she could see was a teenage boy happy to finally express his joy.
Odette reached a hand out a grasped Tiago's face, her thumb loosely tracing his cheek as he looked up at him.
“Come on Tiaguinho, Isa and JoJo are going to be wondering why we haven't gotten rooms yet.”
———
Niamh
People were clueless. Totally utterly clueless and honestly? That was one of the most annoying things to have to deal with when traveling. Not everyone needs to understand everything all of the time, that'd be unreasonable. Not knowing the simple things though? Come on.
Now Niamh wasn't an extroverted kind of person; she much preferred to sit and observe others. Most people handled social niceties with a practiced kind of grace, understanding what needed to be said when it needed to be said, and she respected that. It came to others much easier than her.
To Steele, it seemed to have come from a completely different plane of existence. Never before had she seen someone approach a conversation in the manner he did.
She didn't know the kids well before this little trip—though she did know the general idea of Joaquim from Isa and Odette from past conversations. Steele, however, was an oddity in every sense of the word.
Her friends were unique people (Niamh guessed Stand users were bound to be interesting in some matters though), but she was still trying to figure out the logic in taking a total stranger on a rescue mission for someone he didn't know.
Besides the strangeness of it all, he wasn't a bad kid per se. Niamh could appreciate how he was careful with Galaxie, always gentle with her girl even when buckling the seatbelt, and he was polite no matter what.
So Niamh could look past his eccentricity. For the most part. She didn't understand his... thought processes. Not at all.
She and him were going out for supplies one day when she understood. Or understood to an extent at least, it'd take more than just a few interactions to really get it.
Normally Niamh would mind her business and let people be people however they wished, she'd keep her judgements to herself and go about her day. Something about this particular moment struck a chord with her.
They'd been leaving a corner store and heading towards Galaxie when Steele suddenly stopped and dropped the paper bag he was holding. Niamh cringed, remembering that it held some of the more fragile items.
As she shifted her own bag to her left arm and leaned over to pick up Steele's, she could see the aforementioned teen staring straight up into the sky. Several people were trying to pass by him on the footpath, unfortunate considering the fact that he was practically frozen to his spot on the ground.
“Steele,” Niamh called, setting the bags down on the roof of her Stand. No response. An older man threw Steele a dirty look as he shoved by the teenager. Niamh sighed and went to his side, lightly grabbing his arm to guide him back to Galaxie.
Except, Steele jerked away from her as if her very touch scalded him. He looked in her direction and mumbled something too quiet for her to discern as Niamh took a step back, putting her hands up to show she didn't mean any harm.
“Niamh we can't leave yet,” Steele said.
“Okay,” she nodded, “but we can't stay in the middle of the footpath either, Steele.” She loosely gestured to Galaxie, inviting him wordlessly to sit in the passenger seat.
But he shook his head. “Niamh, we can't leave yet,” Steele repeated, face still blank. “He doesn't think it's safe anywhere else.”
She frowned slightly, not sure as to who he was referring to, but resigned herself to crossing her arms and leaning up against Galaxie.
“We can stay here if you'd like, long as no one's a tool about it,” Niamh suggested. Steele went silent for a second, looking back up to the sky, down to her, and back up. Eventually, he bobbed his head up slightly in agreement.
They stood quiet for a few minutes, well as quiet as they could be considering the hustle and bustle of the street and the occasional snide jabs passersby would spit at Steele.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—can't they see we're standing here?” She asked, flipping her sunglasses down to look at the most recent person to have had something to say about their footpath occupation.
Steele's gaze snapped to her the moment the words left her mouth. “Don't say that.”
“What?”
“Don't say that when He's listening,” Steele said again, fussing with the end of his scarf.
Niamh nodded slowly, getting a better picture of what was going on. “Alright, I'll make note of it. Let Him know I meant nothing by it, alright?” The teen agreed and Niamh smiled at him. “Is it safe yet? I'm thinking Joaquim and the rest might want the groceries, haven't had lunch yet today.”
Steele hesitated for a moment, appearing to wait for something... or someone... to answer, before he then inched his foot out towards Galaxie. After a beat, he took a full step and exhaled a sigh. “We can go, Niamh. Thank you for waiting.” He opened the passenger door and did the sign of the cross outside before slipping inside, Niamh following.
As she started up the car, she turned to Steele and lifted her sunglasses. “You know, you remind me a bit of my nana, Steele. Crazy woman, always hated my saying of the lord's name in vain. You two'd like each other, I think.”
“Huh,” Steele cocked his head to the side. “She sounds very respectable, Niamh. Very.” He bobbed his head a bit.
Niamh grinned. “I'll try and give her a ring sometime, you like phone calls?”
———
Isa
What originally seemed like a... quirky, somewhat endearing trait of Tiago's started to become more of a hindrance.
Isa supposed that maybe picking up some stray teenager with some clear issues while also in the middle of saving your trauma bonded friend with your nephew and wife probably wasn't the brightest idea. But the kid did have a Stand and it was pretty damn useful.
Regardless, Tiago would occasionally space out. Whether it be while walking down the middle of some busy European street or inside Niamh's car, it was bound to happen at least once every other day or so.
Like she said, endearing at first when he was clearly daydreaming while looking out the window of Galaxie or taking in the view of some historical building. The second he started doing it in the middle of life or death fights with associates of the bastard that kidnapped Joella? Yeah, not so quirky.
She didn't have anything against Tiago, but the kid obviously had some deep, deep rooted mental illness going on that she didn't think they'd have time to unpack.
It might make Isa seem cruel, but she was starting to think that just handing Tiago a few hundred to catch a plane back to Portugal was a better idea than letting him into deadly Stand battles.
Though every time she started to bring it up around Odette, her wife would get this pinched look on her face and then Joaquim would suddenly show up—somehow having sensed that she didn't necessarily want the new kid around.
For a guy that seemed like he didn't want Tiago around at all near the beginning, Joaquim sure defended him pretty hard. He tanked blows that Tiago couldn't protect himself against, tried to help him out in social settings, indulged in his weird God stuff...
Even Niamh seemed to have let the kid grow on her a bit, and Isa doesn't recall a single moment in the time that she's known the woman where she's laughed so much at someone else.
So by the time she finally ended up alone with Tiago, Isa's practically dying to see both what's wrong with the kid, and also what makes him so addictive to the rest of their group. Seriously, where does some eighteen year old find that much charisma?
That moment came somewhere in Poland, after Wojciecha and all that poison shit that Tiago was still recovering from. He'd been a little stranger since the effects of In Bloom wore off, and that was saying something considering his usual... everything.
Someone needed to stay behind and look after him while the rest of the group went out for dinner. Isa volunteered herself only because Joaquim had run himself ragged making sure Tiago didn't die during the fight, Niamh also needed to get Galaxie fixed, and she wanted Odette to be able to have a nice night out. So Isa it was.
The spaciness had increased tenfold since Wojciecha even though Isa specifically remembered the woman declaring that the only way the poison would wear off would be if she died. And she did. So watching the uncanny stillness of Tiago on the hotel bed was not too comforting to Isa as she lounged on the couch in front of the TV.
She'd managed to get her phone hooked up to the television, so she was watching Amores Possíveis—a little reminder of Marc while they were so far from home. The sudden sound of footsteps behind her had Isa craning her neck to see what was going on.
To her surprise, Tiago was standing right by her side of the couch, staring intently at the screen as Carlos and Pedro spoke to each other in their kitchen, eyebrows furrowed together.
“Is there something you need?” Isa asked, unsure of what exactly he was doing. She might've signed up for babysitting duty, but that didn't mean she actually wanted to do anything.
“Mm...” was Tiago's only response before jerking his head to the side and grabbing at the end of his scarf. Isa just shook her head with a short laugh and focused back onto the movie. Why was it so hard for Carlos to stay committed to his partner?
She was faintly aware of Tiago's looming presence over her shoulder. His uncharacteristic silence, she took, was him being invested in the film. A good thing too, she had a running theory that the only thing he'd watched before was shitty church indoctrination films.
The minutes passed and Isa was reabsorbed into her movie, leaving her to pay less and less attention to the teenager behind her when he abruptly began to say “Is...” before a loud thump on the carpeted floor alerted her.
Isa jumped up as if a fire were lit under her seat and hopped over the back of the couch. She found herself staring at the collapsed body of Tiago convulsing on the ground.
“Shit,” she exclaimed, dropping to her knees. “Meu caralho—fuck! Oh my god.” Isa thought back to all the first aid training she took at the beginning of her UFC career and tried to remember the parts on seizures because this shit was not something Elastic Firecracker was equipped to handle.
Quickly, she yanked the cushion from the coach and stuck it under Tiago's head, hoping that he hadn't hit it too hard on the way down. “Okay... fuck, time it, right?” She mumbled to herself, glancing at the digital clock sitting on the table across the room.
It'd only been about twenty seconds, far from dangerous territory if she recalled correctly. Was this his first seizure? God she wished Odette was here; she could really use someone else's input.
Looking back down to Tiago, his limbs were still thrashing and his lips were beginning to turn blue, slowly becoming closer to the shade the marking on his face was.
She frowned and looked up to the clock again, hoping it wouldn't go on much longer. Tiago was a good kid, despite everything she thought of him, he didn't deserve to die on a hotel room floor far from his room beside a stranger who couldn't even look after him correctly.
A sudden thought hit her, another factoid of training, and Isa carefully reached over and pulled Tiago onto his side. His shaking was dying down and the recovery position would be necessary once it did. Even with her strength, maneuvering someone over 20 centimeters taller than her had some difficulty when he was a complete dead weight and his arms and legs kept trying to hit her.
She dropped down, exhaling deeply as Tiago finally stilled. His body untensed and he remained unconscious, leaving Isa alone to try and decipher what just happened.
Was this because of Wojciecha?
Isa considered getting her phone and calling medical services, but she didn't know how she'd explain what happened. If this was influenced by a Stand, nothing would show up as being wrong. Her mouth pulled downward and she considered her next move. Maybe she could just wait for Tiago to wake up and go from there.
So wait Isa did. She sat, legs crossed, for the teenager to stir. It took another five minutes for him to show signs of being conscious again, but it had to be one of the most relieving things Isa had seen.
“Hey...” She tried to keep her voice low, “Tiago, are you, um, alright?” Isa winced at how awkward she sounded, but figured it wasn't the time to be thinking about how she was acting. His eyes opened, barely, and she lightly touched him on the shoulder. “Hey, kid. It’s me... Isa. You had a seizure.”
Then his eyes shut again. “Woah hey, hey talk to me. Have you had one of these before? Should I call an ambulance or something?” Isa was starting to panic a little, all of her training slipping from her mind like sand through her fingers as she tried to get Tiago to say something. “Or... don’t? You’re tired... yes, tired. You’re going to be confused. Okay just... rest. I’ll get you on the couch—bed, you can have the bed.” She was more talking to herself now, a weak attempt to get her thoughts straight and not accidentally kill the kid through gross negligence.
A whisper.
She broke out of her mind and looked back at Tiago. His eyes were open again, mere slits, but they seemed to be tracking her somewhat. His lips moved faintly and Isa realized he was trying to say something. To her? Possibly. To... well whoever he talked to when he spaced out, more likely.
Still, she listened and caught the last bit. “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Isa wasn’t too sure of what he meant, mostly because it was so quietly spoken and partially slurred, but took it as a sign that he was okay.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, Isa watched as Tiago drifted back into sleep, and hefted him up into her arms. Despite being tall, the kid was more gangly than anything, so it wasn’t too hard of a lift.
Carefully, she deposited him into the bed and tucked him under a blanket.
“You’re a strange kid,” Isa mumbled to herself. “But you’re alright.”
———
Joella
Joaquim had always had interesting tastes. Joella had quickly learned that about her nephew upon adopting him. He liked loud music and thrashed around to it where she liked slow melodies she could listen to while working. He bleached his hair to make a point where she dyed it to rebel. He liked consistency and normalcy. She did too.
Sometimes Joella wished she'd gotten to meet Tamyris and see just how much of her son came from her.
But she couldn't, and she'd make do with the Joaquim she knew.
In the days after Orestes and finally reuniting with her family, Joella had noticed two new faces—well a familiar but mostly new one and a completely new one.
Joella knew that Isa and Odette had an Irish friend and she could vaguely recall video messages every once in a while between them and Niamh.
But the boy standing on the outskirts, tall and lanky with pale skin and a blank face, she wondered where he fit into it all.
Her nephew gave her a short introduction to the teenager. Tiago Steele from Portugal. And that was that. She wasn't too surprised that he ended up on the plane back to Brazil with them, seated beside Joaquim, because it was the same thing she'd done all those years ago when leaving Myrtlough.
With the way the two acted with one another, Joella knew that whatever friendship they'd formed wasn't going away anytime soon.
One look at Odette and Isa told her they'd come to a similar conclusion along the way.
The first night back in the apartment was nice. The first morning was confusing.
Joella woke up early to make herself tea when Joaquim's bedroom door creeped open, the old hinges making a distinct squeaking sound.
She turned her head in the direction of the hallway, taking a sip from her cup as she watched Tiago exit the bedroom, head tilted downwards as he shuffled across the floor.
He grew closer to the kitchen, clad in a scarf and what looked like some of Joaquim's old gym clothes. A slight smile tugged at her lips as she lightly cleared her throat, raising her eyebrow at the boy when he looked up, startled.
His amber eyes were wide, seemingly unsure of what to do. Joella set her cup down onto the dining room table and pulled out a chair for Tiago and herself.
“Sit, do you drink tea?” She asked as Tiago ambled over to the table and sat down in the offered seat.
He cocked his head to the side, simply staring at her for a moment before he answered with a short nod. Joella responded with a nod of her own and returned with the kettle and a cup.
As she placed the cup in front of Tiago and poured the tea in, he looked up at her. “Who are you?”
Joella's hand stilled, almost overfilling the cup as she processed what Tiago said. She quickly recovered though and set the kettle down onto the table.
“I'm Joaquim's tia. We met last week in Greece.” The teen's eyebrows pinched together, a small frown forming on his face. “You're in my and Joaquim's apartment, Odette and Isa live next door to us.”
Tiago shook his head, “I know that... we didn't meet... I know that.”
“It's been a long few months, hasn't it? Your brain must still be catching up.” Joella said evenly, wondering what exactly was causing the lack of memory encoding.
His frown deepened, “JoJo told me about you, but I haven't met you before. You're his tia? He told me about you.”
“I am, what has he told you? Could I help jog your memory perhaps?”
“You like to write...” Tiago mumbled, lifting his cup of tea with one hand and playing with the end of his scarf with the other.
“Mhm,” Joella verified, “I'm a journalist.”
Tiago's head cocked to the side again as he stared at Joella, eyes darting between her face and hair, narrowing occasionally as he scrutinized her. “Your sister is his mamá.”
“She was, yes, but I'm his legal guardian now. Until his birthday at least.”
“You're friends with the senhoras?” Joella hummed and Tiago's frown straightened out, looking less upset. “JoJo...”
“Joaquim's still sleeping.”
“No,” Tiago said, running a hand through his messy hair, “you're JoJo, before JoJo. Joella.”
“A lot of Jo's, hard to remember.” Joella finished off her tea and poured a second cup as Tiago grinned lopsidedly.
“JoJo and JoJo... tia JoJo, we've met?”
Joella leaned against the table. “In Thessaloniki, where you, Joaquim and the others found me. Joaquim's father brought me there.”
The teen tapped the edge of his cup with a finger. “I think I remember seeing you tia JoJo,” Tiago said with consideration. “But we never spoke.”
They had, but Joella figured it was better to let him recall it on his own, if he ever would.
“That's fine,” she replied simply, “we're talking now. I can see why Joca became your friend, you're very conversational.” Tiago looked confused and she clarified. “That's what I call Joaquim sometimes. He and I share a nickname, but it was mine first.”
“Joca...” Tiago breathed out after a few moments of silence, his face quickly soured. “I like JoJo better, tia JoJo. Is that okay?”
Joella laughed, “that's fine, he hates that nickname anyways. Half of my responsibility is to irritate him though, so I call him that.”
Tiago nodded slowly, taking a sip from his tea as a smile grew across his face. “You're very funny. JoJo has a good tia.”
“I try.”