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The courtyard was warm in the late afternoon, sunlight spilling over pale stone and settling into the quiet spaces between columns, where the air carried the faint scent of olive trees and dust. It was the kind of stillness Johnny Joestar preferred, measured and uninterrupted, a place where thoughts could stretch without resistance.
Which was exactly why Gyro Zeppeli disrupted it so completely.
“You’re avoiding me.”
Johnny did not look up from the tablet resting in his lap, his expression composed, though there was the faintest shift at the corner of his mouth. “If I were avoiding you,” he said calmly, “you would not have found me this quickly.”
Gyro stepped fully into the shade, the light catching briefly on the edges of his armor before softening as he moved closer. “I always find you,” he replied, a hint of a grin slipping into his voice. “That’s not proof of anything.”
“On the contrary,” Johnny said, finally lifting his gaze, blue eyes sharp but unmistakably warm, “it proves you are persistent.”
Gyro huffed a quiet laugh, dropping down beside him with far less care than the setting deserved, the faint clink of metal breaking the stillness. “You’ve been here all day,” he said, glancing at the tablet. “Thinking again.”
“I am always thinking.”
“Yeah, well,” Gyro leaned back on his hands, tilting his head toward the sky, “some of us have actual work to do.”
Johnny’s gaze lingered on him for a moment, taking in the slight tension still held in his shoulders, the dust along the edges of his armor, the signs of a long day that Gyro carried without complaint.
“And yet,” Johnny said quietly, “you are here.”
Gyro turned his head, meeting his eyes. “I told you,” he said, softer now, “I always find you.”
The space between them settled into something familiar, something easy.
Johnny set the tablet aside without another word.
Gyro noticed immediately, one eyebrow lifting. “Done already,” he asked.
“For now.”
“That’s new.”
Johnny did not answer right away. Instead, he shifted slightly, closing the small distance between them with quiet intention, his presence steady, deliberate in a way that Gyro had long since learned to recognize.
“Come here,” Johnny said, his voice low, certain, leaving no room for argument.
Gyro’s grin returned, softer this time, more fond than teasing. “You could at least pretend to ask.”
“I could,” Johnny replied, reaching out, his hand settling lightly but firmly against Gyro’s arm, guiding him closer, “but that would be inefficient.”
“Philosopher logic,” Gyro murmured, though he didn’t resist, letting himself be pulled in, the movement natural, practiced, as though it had happened a hundred times before.
“Exactly.”
For a moment, they simply stayed like that, close enough that the outside world felt distant, irrelevant, reduced to nothing more than light and quiet air.
Gyro exhaled, some of the lingering tension leaving him as he leaned slightly into Johnny’s touch. “Long day,” he admitted.
“I know.”
“You don’t even know what happened.”
“I do not need details,” Johnny said, his thumb brushing once, absentminded but grounding, against Gyro’s arm. “You are tired.”
Gyro watched him for a second, something softer settling in his expression. “You’re annoyingly good at that.”
“I am correct,” Johnny said simply.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Johnny’s gaze lingered on him, thoughtful now, but not distant, not detached, just focused in that quiet, intense way that always made Gyro feel like the center of something important.
“Stay,” Johnny said, softer this time.
Gyro smiled, easy and unguarded. “I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”
Johnny nodded once, as if that had been the expected answer all along.
Then, without hesitation, he closed the remaining distance.
The kiss was not rushed, not uncertain, just steady and warm, Johnny’s hand shifting slightly to hold Gyro in place with quiet confidence, grounding him, anchoring him in a way that felt both gentle and unmistakably firm.
Gyro responded immediately, relaxed beneath it, his earlier energy softened into something calmer, something that matched the quiet rhythm of the courtyard.
When they pulled back, it was only slightly, just enough to breathe, their foreheads nearly touching.
“You missed me,” Gyro said, his voice light, but there was no real question in it.
Johnny’s expression softened, just enough to give him his answer. “Yes.”
Gyro’s smile widened, small and satisfied. “Good.”
Johnny exhaled softly, his hand still resting against him, unwilling to let the moment go just yet. “Do not take another month to come find me,” he said.
Gyro laughed quietly. “You sound like you’re the one waiting around.”
Johnny’s gaze sharpened just slightly, though the warmth never left it. “I do not wait,” he said.
“No,” Gyro replied, leaning in just a bit closer again, “you just make sure I come back.”
Johnny did not deny it.
Instead, he kissed him again, slower this time, as the sunlight shifted around them and the world, for a while, remained exactly as it should be.