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It started with small things.
A brush of hands when passing a mug or a bag of groceries. A hand on his shoulder in the middle of a fight. Adjusting his cap, as if Kakyoin had any right to.
He usually sat close. Stood nearby. Made those small gestures that quietly marked his presence.
But something changed.
Jotaro didn't notice it at first. Not until his hands kept gripping a cold mug, and his cap stayed crooked until he fixed it himself. He'd stop mid-step, as if still making room for someone who, not long ago, had been right beside him.
The absence of something so small shouldn't feel this noticeable.
Darkness settled over the desert. The picturesque sunset had faded, leaving only warm sand behind. It cooled with every passing second. The heat slipped away like a smoke from cigarette between Jotaro's fingers, held just a little too tight.
Another exhausting day, another cold desert night, and the fact that Kakyoin had sat down by a rock a few meters away made his jaw clench harder than it should have.
Too far.
"Jotaro?" Noriaki glanced at him over his notebook.
Hierophant's vines stretched slowly over the camp, reflecting the fire's warm glow. Polnareff and others were already asleep in their sleeping bags.
"You should get some rest. I'll take your watch."
"Why would you?" he muttered.
"Have you seen yourself today?" Kakyoin scoffed. "You look exhausted."
Jotaro shook his head, putting out the cigarette in the sand.
"If only I had a mirror in the desert."
"Let me describe it, then. Shadows under your eyes are starting to look like a black hole." He lifted his head again, studying him more closely. "And you're frowning more than usual."
"Yare yare... On point," Jotaro muttered, adjusting his cap.
Kakyoin raised an eyebrow, not looking away. His voice softened.
"Something bothering you?"
Jotaro crossed his arms, watching the faint shimmer of Hierophant's vines.
"I've been thinking," he started, then trailed off.
Kakyoin tilted his head.
"Dangerous."
Jotaro reached for his pack and, unhurried, lit another cigarette. He took a drag.
"Why did you stop?"
The wind picked up with his words, carrying the smoke away. Kakyoin lowered his gaze back to his notebook, sketching with quiet intensity.
"Stop?" he echoed.
"Sitting next to me," Jotaro muttered, leaning back against the rock.
Noriaki's hand stilled mid-stroke. He lowered the sketchbook, resting it carefully on his lap. For a moment, he said nothing, as if searching for an answer in the drawing.
"I didn't think you'd notice."
Only a few steps separated them. The sand beneath their hands cooled at the same pace. They would've heard even if they've whispered.
Too far.
"I notice more than you think."
Kakyoin's fingers tightened on the edge of the notebook. When he looked up, his eyes were slightly darker than usual.
"You seemed lonely," he said
Jotaro exhaled another stream of smoke. Above them, Hierophant's vines shifted restlessly, curling tighter before loosening again. The fire flared, sending a brief scatter of sparks into the air.
"And I don't anymore?"
Kakyoin shrugged, his grip tightening slightly.
"You do." he hesitated, "that's why, I wanted to protect you from it."
Jotaro shifted, crossing his legs and resting an arm against the stone.
"How could you know that?"
Noriaki picked up his pencil again, drawing slow lines across the page.
"I know what it's like," he said quietly. "To feel alone, even when you're surrounded by people."
Jotaro fell silent, trying to catch his gaze.
"You never mentioned that," he said after a moment.
"There wasn't anything to..."
"Bullshit," Jotaro cut in, sharper than he meant to.
Hierophant's vines trembled faintly. The silence stretched, seconds turning into minutes. Kakyoin's shoulders tensed slightly as he exhaled.
"Even so," he said, "getting used to loneliness is easy. Accepting it is something else entirely."
He let out a quiet breath of laughter, lifting his gaze. Hierophant still glowed steadily, wrapping them in a soft warmth. The words came easier now.
"You're the first person I've ever let get close. But I didn't want to make things worse without realizing it."
Jotaro leaned slightly toward him, closer with every word. He stayed silent for a moment before flicking away the cigarette, already burned out by the wind.
"Worse?"
Kakyoin shook his head and opened his notebook. He lifted it, showing the sketch he'd been working on that evening.
It was Jotaro. The lines were sharp, precise.
As if he'd been studying him for a long time.
"You've been on my mind a little too often."
He turned the page. Another sketch—blurred, rushed. Jotaro studied them in silence, noticing every detail, every erased line.
The fire crackled as Jotaro suddenly stood.
"Yare yare. I have to do everything for you."
The first step was uncertain. But when he finally caught Kakyoin's gaze, his thoughts settled into something simple. Two more steps, and he sat down right beside him without hesitation.
"Come closer."
Noriaki frowned, glancing at him from the side.
"There's no space."
"Closer."
Very slowly, Kakyoin shifted until their shoulders pressed together. Hierophant trembled as Jotaro leaned in.
Stopping just short of his lips.
Too close.
Too far.
"Close enough?"
Their breaths mixed as Kakyoin closed his eyes for a brief moment. Then he finally closed the distance, pressing their lips together. Unexpected. A little clumsy.
But so damn warm.
Jotaro placed a hand against his cheek. He didn't pull him. Didn't deepen the kiss.
Just holding him.
They pulled apart slightly, only to catch their breath. Hierophant swayed gently in the wind, and with it, the tension finally slipped away.
Jotaro looked aside as Kakyoin lifted a hand and adjusted his crooked cap.
"I guess it comes naturally."
Jotaro glanced at the notebook and, frowning slightly, flipped through a few pages before stopping on a blank one.
"Hm."
Before Kakyoin could say anything, the weight shifted onto his lap.
He froze as Jotaro laid his head at his thighs.
"Jotaro?"
Star Platinum appeared for a split second, retrieving a pencil from the sand and pressing it into his hand.
"New idea," Jotaro muttered, settling more comfortably. "Draw."
His cap slipped lower over his eyes.
Kakyoin huffed quietly, but didn't protest. Above them, Hierophant drifted lazily, calm now.
Jotaro closed his eyes, feeling the tension leave his body.
Like the emptiness that had been pressing beneath his ribs was finally dissolving.
"Stay like this," he murmured.
Kakyoin didn't move.
"Don't fall asleep," he said, lightly tapping the brim of his cap.
A second later, Jotaro's breathing evened out.
Kakyoin looked down. The pencil stilled above the page.
He didn't draw a single line.
He only looked at him.
Sleeping, so comfortably,
So close.