Work Text:
The door to his office is slammed open, the noise echoing loudly in the small room. Jotaro jumps up, breaking his attention from his computer as he glares at the source of his jumpscare; his daughter.
He scoffs, his annoyance present in it.
“You could have knocked, Jolyne,” Jotaro tells her with his lingering glare, before he looks back at the computer. His ears catch the way she drags the chair across the wooden floor (something that makes him cringe inside from knowing that it might scratch it), placing it right next to him. She plops herself down, leaning her head against her arms as she gives him an amused expression.
“I know,” Jolyne states to him matter of factly, smiling like a Cheshire Cat, “but this way would have caught your attention.”
Jotaro rolls his eyes, perplexed by his daughter’s way of getting his attention. It can both be heartwarming or annoying at times, her never seeming to find an in between.
“You saying ‘can I come in?’, would have gotten my attention quickly.”
“Still,” his daughter continues to defend herself, raising herself up to the height of his shoulder as she leans her head against his shoulder. The mischievous smile never leaves her face, instead it seems to get bigger. “It was funny to see you get scared.”
“Yeah, giving me a heart attack is fun.”
“I did not give you a heart attack, Dad!”
“Your actions tell otherwise.”
“Dad!”
Jolyne’s fight to defend her actions dissolved away when a laugh erupts from her mouth. Jotaro couldn’t help but to lose that fight too, a small smile appearing on his face from her infectious laugh. (It’s one of the many great things Jolyne provides in his life, being a constant source of happiness for him. He smiles and laughs more because of Jolyne and she taught him how good those things are, glad how many laugh lines are on his face now.) It was silly what they were arguing about and it was not that big of a deal anyway.
(Jotaro still files away in the back of his mind to scare Jolyne tonight, because it’s just as funny to see her scared.)
Jolyne’s head stays on his shoulder as he starts to type on his computer again. She’s not bothered with the amount of times it moves, staying perfect still in her spot. Both of their eyes glaze over the words he writes out, Jolyne squinting at the sophistication of them. She gives up by the third sentence, finding the brown desk to be more interesting. Her fingers drum rhythmically against it, each one falling in perfect order. Green eyes stare directly at her nails as a comfortable silence falls between the two of them, Jotaro happy to have her company when doing work.
For as quickly as it came, it was broken by a black computer screen.
His head turns quickly towards the culprit of his daughter with her finger pressed directly on the power button. Jotaro’s eyes are as wide as baseballs.
“Jolyne—“
“I’m going to paint my nails,” Jolyne tells him pointly, her eyes never leaving her blue ones. She grabs his hand, the one that was successful was able to turn the power button, face lighting up when doing so. “And I’m going to paint yours as well.”
Without even getting a word in, Jotaro is hoisted up from his chair and dragged to Jolyne’s room, her crackling the entire time from his confusion.
_________________________
Jotaro sits on the floor of her room, watching Jolyne’s fast work of getting each of her nail polishes out. He was practically pushed down to the floor, having to balance himself so as to not fall completely flat on his ass. She hides a snort behind her hand, to which got her a heated glare. Jolyne didn’t say anything as scavenged around her room for her nail polish box as he looked around to see the state of the room, brow raised high when his eyes landed on how much of a disaster her bed was.
Dozens of white papers were scattered along the green bed covers, some fighting for their life to not fall off the bed. Some of them were handwritten, Jolyne’s neat handwriting apparent on it and some were typed out, the tail ends of large paragraphs peaking out a little from the textbooks underneath it. A large, blue textbook lays open, the pages being revealed to the world. Jotaro could make a guess that it’s her pre-calculus book from the fact that it’s the one that she has out with the longest, much to her dismay. Precalculus and Jolyne were like oil and water, the subject being her main source of frustration and nights of staying up later just to pass the test. Jotaro did as much as he could to help her, doing the problems step by step and looking at her notes, but with each new method he learned, the more he realized how different learning math was for him than her. It made sense why she was confused most of the time.
The bed was his indicator he needed to ask the question on the tip of his tongue.
“Jolyne, are you still doing homework?”
“Yes,” she replied without skipping a beat, Jotaro obviously knowing she was lying.
He could tell her to finish and just get it over with it, but it’s a little sad that his daughter still gets homework days before Christmas, squeezing her to get enough grades before the holiday. He will let her off the hook for now, realizing quickly she probably wants a break.
His daughter’s hands move like lightning when getting her nail polishes, hands always return to the never ending pit of the box. It was fascinating watching the number of them increase every time, amazed by how large her collection actually was. Over the years, he let her buy them when he saw her increased interest in using them, but never realized how many she bought. Greens (the most common), blues, reds, purples, pinks flash in front of him, every shade and tint under the sun was apparent in her collection. It was like watching an artist putting their paints down on a palette, picking the best colors for the piece they want to make. They make a tiny thunk sound against the floor, the sound stopping being his main sign that she has all the colors laid out. Jolyne repositions herself, crossing her legs as she gives him an excited smile.
“Well, what color do you want, Dad?”
Jotaro blinks rapidly as he stares down at the sea of nail polish. A blank expression crosses his face the longer he looks at them. The man was so used to Jolyne’s signature lime green nails, that he didn’t think there would be other options for him to pick. He was ready for his nails to be painted that same lime green too. So, being presented with all these options right in front of him overwhelms him.
“I’m not sure,” Jotaro answers her honestly, eyes never leaving the nail polishes. She groans from that, putting her head in her hand.
“How do you not know! I gave you so many options!”
Jotaro throws her a deadpanned look.
“The only option I’ve ever known was the lime green on your nails, not all this,” he emphasizes with his finger pointing down at them.
Realization dawns on his daughter as she looks at both her nails and the nail polish, a sheepish expression crossing her face when presented with this fact.
“Oh,” she quietly says. “Right.”
Jotaro didn’t mean to scoff, but he couldn’t help to let it out.
“See what I mean?”
“Shush!” Jolyne exclaims as she puts her finger to his mouth, trying to silence him from telling his truth. Even with his silence, a smug expression forms on his face, knowing that he proved her wrong. With a roll of her eyes, she continued on. “I know I laid out a lot of options, so I can help you with choosing the color, if you want!”
“Yeah,” he tells her with a soft expression. “That would be great, butterfly.”
“Sweet!”
His daughter climbs over the polishes, now being seated by his side. Once comfortable in the new position she is in, she turns her head towards him. Her eyes squint slightly, watching him move up and down as they are studying him. This analysis lasts for a few seconds before she breaks away, eyes now back onto the nail polishes. She picks herself up, reaching towards the blue section before she picks one up, bringing it towards him.
“What about this?” Jolyne asks, placing the bottle in his hand.
It’s a blue that is dark, shining brightly from the light pouring in from the window. The color was strikingly similar to the ocean, making him feel like he is staring at it the longer he looks at it. It’s the perfect color for him.
“I like it,” he answers, rubbing his thumb over the bottle. “It looks like the ocean.”
“And that’s why I knew it would be perfect for you,” Jolyne confidently says as she takes the bottle from him. Her answer makes him huff slightly.
“I changed my mind. I want to choose a different color.”
“Oh, come on! You know it’s the perfect color.”
“I want to pick a different blue now.”
“This blue literally looks like the ocean,” Jolyne logically explains against his teasing. She grabs the polish from him, shaking it harshly. “How is that not perfect for you?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he backs off, a small chuckle leaving his lips. “You’re right, it is the perfect color for me.”
Jolyne giggles, pleased to know her work was done correctly.
Jotaro knows that Jolyne likes to do her nails by herself, it’s a task she has grown to love the older she gets. It practically became a routine she did every month, fixing and reapplying that lime green on her nails to make sure it was perfect. It was a job she only did by herself and never did it with anyone with another person, so seeing she wanted to do it with him confused him a little, as much as it warmed his heart to be the first to do so. It makes him happy to know she still wants to do these things together, always cherishing these father-daughter moments with each other.
As his daughter carefully opens the bottle, making sure there are paper towels, acetone (something he has learned that removes the nail polish), and cue tips underneath them to keep her room clean, she stares at him curiously. Jolyne’s green eyes light up with a new idea.
“Dad, do you think Star wants to paint his nails?” Jolyne asks him excitedly, almost staring at the space behind him, expecting his stand to come out.
As on que, Star comes out, with a big grin on his face, overjoyed that his daughter wants him involved too, something that makes him huff fondly. The stand carefully analyzes the blue nail polish in front of him, looking at his purple finger nails to the color. With a serious look, he shakes his head no, deciding that the blue does not match with his skin tone. Jolyne defleats for a fraction of a second before Star wraps his big arms around her, planting a small kiss on her forehead to tell her thank you for inviting him. His daughter lets out a small squeal of joy, giving into the stand’s hug.
“We will paint your nails next time, Star!” Jolyne decides for him, leaning into his chest. She peeks her head up a little, giving him a mischievous grin. Jotaro raises his brow slightly, wondering possibly what could come up in her mind now. “Today, Dad will be the victim.”
Jotaro rolls his eyes, amusement growing inside his chest. He has to fight to keep his mouth in a straight line.
“You willingly dragged me here, Jolyne. You even shut off my computer to stop doing my work.”
“Exactly. Your work is unnecessary.”
He loses his fight with his lips, then slowly turns into a smirk.
“Just as your homework is, JoJo?”
It seems the mention of that word triggers her, bringing a lip up to his lips, effectively silencing him about the topic at hand. Her little pout does nothing to stop the small chuckle that comes out of his chest. Jolyne’s brows furrow with frustration.
“We do not talk about that now, Dad! We are having fun together, so there is no need to bring up my homework!”
Jotaro relents with an airy laugh, forgetting how easy it is to tease his daughter, only feeling this much joy with her. He brings his hands up to her, giving her the opportunity to start her work of painting his nails as blue as the ocean.
“Alright,” Jotaro compromises for her, scooting herself closer to the paper towels to let her start decorating his “boring” nails as she so kindly likes to tell him. A soft smile forms on his face. “I won’t mention our work during this time.”
“Good!” The teen exclaims happily, cleaning the brush off for any excess paint. She grabs onto his left hand, the brush hovering his pinky before she stares at him with a stern look. “Now, do not move your hands, Dad!”
“I won’t.”
“Perfect! Your nails will be done in no time and you can even brag to your co-workers of how good of a job your daughter did with your nails!” Jolyne tells him with a wink.
Jotaro feels his heart soften, giving her a gentle look. Jolyne knows he is always going to do that, he is always looking for a chance when his co-workers and friends (the ones he trusts, of course. These are people that he knows will never want to harm and love her as much as he does. They are the ones he allows himself to open up to, being able to find it safe to talk about himself and his daughter) to quietly brag about her, showing how much he loves her. His daughter just handed him another opportunity
“Always was, butterfly.”
Jolyne’s smile could beat the sun, face beaming as she begins her hard work to make his nails as best as possible, pushing her green bags out the way to keep her focus keen on his nails. Jotaro loses track of the time, watching as the teen meticulously puts each coat of blue nail polish on, erasing the excess with a cue tip whenever she goes outside the lines and always straightening his hand whenever she thinks he is moving his hands too much, his protests falling on deaf ears. With every coat, the blue shimmers and dries as the deep and endless ocean he gets to work with everyday, impressed with how close it can be. The “nail appointment” seems to be going so well that Jolyne busts out her paint brushes, wishing to replicate the light reflecting off of the waves with white paint. Jotaro nods his head yes to her request, because how can he ever say no to her?
After an hour and a half, her masterpiece is done, releasing his hands with a loud, “There! I’m finished now!”
Jotaro raises his ocean themed nails up to his face, admiring the beauty of them. Jolyne scoots herself closer to him, putting her head onto his shoulder as she glances at him with a hopeful expression.
“Do you like them?”
Like them? Jotaro loves them. How could he not love anything his daughter makes?
“I love them, butterfly. Thank you.”
Excitement practically radiates off her body from his answer, throwing herself at him to give him a hug. Her smile could challenge the sun from how bright it was. It makes him feel like a million dollars.
Jolyne breaks the hug when she shoots up like a rocket, grabbing his hands as she brings them towards hers.
“Next time, we are going to have matching nails!” Jolyne tells him happily, both of them knowing he will soon get the fate of having the lime green on his nails.
“Yeah,” Jotaro softly says, so touched by being able to share this activity with his daughter. It makes him love her more than he ever thought he could. “I can’t wait.”