baby you're a firework

[hedonistic]

CHARACTERS: Shuusei Kagari and Giorno Giovanna
DATE: May 8th, after this disaster
WARNINGS: Language, virtual reality violence, alcohol usage by a minor
SUMMARY: Kagari plans to have shenanigans with someone from the network who turns out to be a character from his favorite manga


[Truth be told, he wasn't expecting a lot out of this particular meetup. It was just to be yet another distraction, one among the many he's employed for himself over the last couple years to keep himself from drowning in misery like he would if he let himself dwell on his circumstances too long. It was kind of like those healing items in video games, one use to restore 20 HP, but unless you cured the status condition, the HP would keep on leeching out.

Even so, it'd be fun. He likes having fun, and especially likes having fun with others, for as much as he acts the misanthrope. This guy seems like he might be like Stiles, too, the kind of guy that's cool with him being himself and doesn't mind getting scratched by some rough edges.

What he's not prepared for, though, is the specific guy that walks into the training room. Kagari straight up gawks for three seconds, before mentally slapping himself. That's obviously absurd, right? There's no way this guy is literally Giorno Giovanna. He's clearly just a really dedicated cosplayer of some kind. Even in ... an alternate ... dimension....ah.

Kagari doesn't necessarily care about being rude, of course, but it does occur to him that looking at this guy like he's sporting a second head isn't conducive to the originally planned shenanigans, and he makes a concerted effort to pull himself the fuck together, though he keeps stealing glances at the kid like he's looking for some kind of flaw in the "costume." It can't be, right? Sure, they have literal gods and zombie elves and walking skeletons and he's pretty sure there was a guy calling themselves "Iron Man" on the network at some point, but that doesn't mean that his favorite manga is literally real in other universes. Kagari might be an escapist like nobody's business, but that'd be an excessive amount of wishful thinking. He doesn't do wishful thinking.]

I don't think I ever got your name, [he says, as he steps onto a VR platform to start up their shenanigans] I'm Kagari, as you probably already know.

[Beat]

Nice hair, by the way.

Comments

[digiorno]

[Giorno's used to people staring at him. It's both arrogant, depressing, and just plain realistic to assume that someone unconventionally attractive and not as European-looking as most people back in Napoli would prefer would get a fair number of stares. But he hasn't gotten this kind of stare in a while.]

[Hopefully this isn't some sort of omen. He's not in the mood to beat anyone down unless he really has to. His brows drawing together, he follows Kagari closely, keeping a wary, curious eye on him.]

Everyone's been yelling at you. Of course I know your name.

It's Giorno. And thank you. I think. [r u ok bro]

[hedonistic]

[He doesn't start getting less suspicious tbh. Kagari's eyes definitely widen when the other confirms his name is, in fact, Giorno. He half regrets not offering his full name just to see if Giorno would offer the rest of his and half is relieved he chose not to. It could still be a coincidence. Maybe the same name is why he chose the hairstyle. It doesn't have to mean anything.]

Hahah, true that. But I also answer to "that asshole", for the record.

[everything is Fine]

Sssssoooo. Which of the missions do you wanna do? Or are we shooting for choosing our own explosive adventure?

[kagari blowing things up was not among the original choices of shenanigan]

[digiorno]

[Giorno just. Purses his lips. Narrows his eyes. Takes a step forward towards Kagari, then walks a quick circle around him. His tells are shit, aren't they. He might as well just say "That surprised me . . ." He seemed much more together on the network. Giorno's torn between getting on with things and investigating this more thoroughly, and he'd be more careless, but--]

[He's not the only one here he has to worry about. Le sigh.]

[So he slides off his tek bracelet--a charm bracelet with a three-leaf clover on it--holds it in his loose fist for a moment, and cocks his head at Kagari. Just one test. Then they can blow shit up.]

Servite la Sicilia o il Diavolo?

[hedonistic]

[Look, he's more "hunting dog" than detective or criminal profiler like Kogami is on a normal day, and this is a really weird situation???? He's better at this when he gets to use text, like any respectable internet troll.

Without the benefit of magitek translation, of course, Giorno's words are practically gibberish--though he's able to pick up Diavolo in that line, and that's either a disturbing extra layer of coincidence or this guy is some kind of LARPer -- or...he's really fucking Giorno Giovanna, which is frighteningly becoming more possible, especially if that clover means what he thinks it might mean...

But instead, he just offers an exaggerated shrug, and answers, in what should parse as Japanese--]

No clue what you're saying.

[digiorno]

[Ugh. How annoying. Not for the first time, he regrets how much Japanese he's lost. He could glean more information if he hadn't, but all he's got from this is some kind of negative--"I don't know" or "no" or something like that. It's not like he can go back in time and change his own stupid four-year-old mistakes. It's not his fault Haruno was so useless.]

[Best not to show any regret, anyway. His expression is, at most, mildly rueful when he shrugs in response and slides the bracelet back on.]

Sorry. I just had to make sure of something.

Anyway: fuck the missions, let's blow things up.

[hedonistic]

[Despite the Unsolved Mystery going on here, Kagari's expression all but comes alight at let's blow things up. There's only two options here, really. One, some guy named Giorno knows about the Jojo's series and styles his hair after him and/or engages in some lowkey rping, or two, this is literally Giorno Giovanna and all fiction is hypothetically real in other universes.

If he thinks about it, neither option is particularly bad. On one hand, he's made a friend with a nerd who likes explosions and doesn't take issue with his personality, which is basically the Ideal Friend he could make in Audentes. On the other, he's going to fake blow shit up with a character from his favorite goddamn manga, which further opens up the possibility of running into characters from other things he likes.

For the first time in his entire life, Kagari Shuusei has found himself in a win-win situation.]

Fuck yeah.

[The pads light up as he activates them, putting in the parameters. The parameters being, they're going to blow shit up. Behold, their first "opponents": a bunch of hand statues with their middle fingers raised, because Kagari is #mature.]

[digiorno]

[Well. Giorno snorts a little, when he sees that. It reminds him of Narancia, of the sort of thing he'd do if he had the ability to set something like this up.]

That's one way to do it.

[It's not disapproving--far from it. Secretly, underneath it all, he's still a seventeen-year-old boy.]

Do you want first go?

[hedonistic]

I couuuuld.

[A vaguely sly smirk crosses his face at that, as if he has just come up with a better idea.]

Or we could fire away at the same time, for a double explosion.

[digiorno]

Oh, that's very comradely.

[He likes it. It's got style, as far as ideas go.]

All right. On your mark.

[hedonistic]

Oh yeah, I'm alllll about that comradeship. It's among the lesser known facts about me.

[Ironically, for how he says that like he's joking, it's also the truth. Kagari would do anything for people he considers his friends.]

On three?

[digiorno]

[Honestly, Giorno wouldn't be shocked. Callousness doesn't always negate loyalty; Abbacchio is the perfect example of this, a man wrapped in a black cloak of self-loathing and cynicism who'd die in an instant to protect the people he loves.]

[Loved. Giorno gives Kagari a tight smile.]

On three. Let me see . . .

[It's interesting, the way when he thinks about there being a weapon, there suddenly is one. In his hand, or rather over his shoulder. He's intrigued, then delighted by the weight of it. He's never used a bazooka before.]

[There's a vicious, childish glee in his eyes when he looks at Kagari again, all mischief.]

[hedonistic]

[He's pleased by that look. The mischief in it, the excitement to wreck some shit. It's something he's been craving for since he fell through the rift--not simply entertainment, but someone to share it with.

The twin bazookas manifest, and on three, he squeezes the trigger. Watches the mini rockets hit their marks, and the middle finger statues explode into so many pieces of granite shrapnel.

Kagari all but cackles with delight--]

Holy fuck, that was amazing.

[digiorno]

[Honestly, it really was. His lips curl in delight as he lowers his weapon and looks over the wreckage they've made.]

. . . Lovely.

[He bumps Kagari with his elbow.]

You're good at this.

[hedonistic]

[He smirks at that, and there's the slightest predatory hint to it--the cat that's caught the canary]

Plenty of practice.

[...on live targets, that is. Actually blowing things up for fun would never be allowed in their society, after all.]

[digiorno]

Mm.

[This is comforting. He feels understood, in this moment, and while he'll probably be more unsettled by it later, he's too pissed at the world in this moment to care.]

I'm not a sharpshooter, myself. But I've got a good friend who is, and he's taught me a few things.

[Mista, of course--the same person who inspired his magitek choice. Hopefully this won't give Kagari an aneurysm.]

[hedonistic]

[The coincidences keep on piling up, don't they. Giorno has no idea how much self-control it's taking for Kagari not to ask this person's name right now, ngl. It wouldn't even necessarily be suspicious, but he also doesn't entirely trust himself not to freak out if it's the answer he's hoping for.

...Besides, if this is really not Giorno Giovanna, that'll be it, and he thinks he'd like to keep this potential fantasy come to life as an unknown for awhile longer.]

To be fair, the kind of gun I'm used to is more energy blasts and less rocket launchers.

[He snorts, imagining the horrified look Gino would probably have on his face at the thought of an Enforcer operating a rocket launcher.]

Or bullets, for that matter. I'm still not used to how different the recoil feels.

[Or having limited ammunition. Needing to reload.




The freedom to pull the trigger on anyone, if he wanted.]

[digiorno]

Oh. A future thing.

[He sighs a little. He's comfortable enough, in fact, to very nearly pout. The future is a mixed bag, it seems.]

I'll sound old-fashioned to you, probably, but I don't like the idea of energy blasters very much. Having a bullet to handle is much more my speed. There's a solid, reassuring weight to it.

[hedonistic]

[Very mixed. Great strides in technology get you plenty of great things like medical improvements, traditional organ transplants along with concerns about rejection becoming obsolete with the advent of artificial organs and cyberization. It also gets you shit like the Sybil System.]

Pretty indiscriminate, too, though. [A wink.]

Not exactly something you're gonna put in the hands of Society's Least Wanted, you know? [ha ha ha ... see what he did there]

But if nothing else, a lethal eliminator explosion is some of the sickest shit you'll ever see.

[digiorno]

[His lip curls.]

Oh, well, as long as only the good people get weapons, obviously everything is fine. No one will be injured, unless they deserve it, and if they deserve it, who cares?

[Boy, somebody's sour.]

I'll admit it's pretty sick shit, though.

[hedonistic]

[He's only really just met Giorno, honestly, but something about that statement makes him deeply appreciate his new acquaintance. He grins perhaps a bit more than he should, showing teeth.]

Oh no, our babysitters don't use real weapons either. [Most people don't. Even just having one would probably cloud your hue.]

We use the Dominators. That way Sybil decides what happens when you pull the trigger.

[digiorno]

[At that he sort of laughs incredulously, because. Really?]

You know what, I shouldn't be surprised. It's a stupid idea, but people are stupid.

I'm sure it'd be a shock to everyone back home that, with weapons at your disposal, you haven't gone on a murderous rampage.

[hedonistic]

Everyone back home would say it's only a matter of time.

[And ... well. Sybil declared him unable to assimilate, all those years ago, and here he is. Getting in fights with half the team, unable to fit in or find a common ground. That much has proven true, over time. Also true -- the crime rate had fallen dramatically after Sybil was instituted. Sure, that peace and stability was maintained on the backs of people like him, but...that didn't mean it didn't work.]

...Well, maybe Akane-chan wouldn't.

[But Akane was...unique. And Kagari doesn't really want to talk about all that so much, anymore. He came out here to have fun. To distract himself from all this crap.]

[...]

So anyway, are we just gonna stand around talking, or are we gonna blow some more shit up?