ic inbox || ruby city

[whatitis]

Hey, you've reached the voicemail of Carlos [heavily distorted feedback punctuated by sharp clicking noises], leave a message after the collective screech of eight different kinds of buzzards.

Comments

[digiorno]

Yes, that's Hierophant. Hierophant is wonderful. He likes to hold my hand sometimes.

[He is so fucking chuffed about being buddies with Hierophant, you would not even believe. Hierophant is so great.]

Purple Haze is not there. I am not going to draw Purple Haze.

[whatitis]

Why not? Purple Haze sounds fun, and everyone knows it's the best Hendrix song. Is there something wrong with it?

[While Carlos does have some semblance of a sense of personal danger, he's also really good at ignoring when his Danger Meter is in the red, when he wants to.]

...I mean, if you don't want to draw it, that's alright. I'm just curious.

[digiorno]

[Giorno frowns sharply.]

If I tell you what's wrong with it, you might just want to go near it more.

[whatitis]

All the more reason to tell me, Giorno. Who does it belong to?

[He looks excited, even though they're talking about Purple Haze, of all things. What a weirdo.]

[digiorno]

[He looks at Carlos - his friend Carlos, who stays up for days on end in order to further his projects, who doesn't think that he's worth being high on Giorno's priority list. And then he thinks of Fugo, whose position in the house is tenuous as it is, Fugo who he isn't sure whether to trust or not.]

[Then he shakes his head.]

I will not tell you that. But I can tell you about Sticky Fingers, if you want me to.

[whatitis]

[Briefly, he looks disappointed, before managing to shake it off.]

That one sounds fun, too! Tell me stuff. All the stuff.

[His coffee is long cold, like so many other half-discarded cups lying around the lab.]

[digiorno]

. . . All right.

[He scoots a little closer to Carlos on the bench, tilting the notebook so he can see as Giorno draws. If he was careful before, now he's painstaking, devoted to accuracy.]

Sticky Fingers . . . could be a very boring Stand, if its user were not very clever. But in the right hands, it is so versatile. Magnifico. Sticky Fingers . . .

[As he says this, he's drawing the Stand's left hand in loving detail. He finishes the tab of the zipper and smirks.]

Can unzip the world. What do you think of that?

[whatitis]

[Giorno why do you have a crush on like EVERY Stand. Furthermore, why EVERY Stand except Purple Haze. Purple Haze is the cutest, scientifically speaking.]

How neat! That's such an interesting concept--when you say unzip the world, does it just...does it just--zip? And there's something on the other side? That's very cool. And fashionable!

["Fashionable" isn't the best praise coming from someone who wears suspenders with jeans, but he's trying.]

[digiorno]

[Because Stands are beautiful, just like their users, who are also beautiful. Everyone is beautiful. Except Purple Haze.]

There's nothing on the other side. An empty space, for him to use for whatever he wants. It's just somewhere else.

[Yes, his mom is very fashionable, thank you for noticing.]

[whatitis]

[Purple Haze is lovely. It's huge and gross and LOVELY.]

Somewhere else...that sounds very nice. Are only some of the Stands sentient?

[Somewhere in that mess of a notebook, there's probably a couple more doodles of Gold Experience.]

[digiorno]

That is such a good question, Carlos.

[He is so delighted you have asked this question.]

I don't know! The Pistols are sentient, but they break all of the rules anyway. Star is a little bit, but Jotaro isn't sure how much. And Gold Experience . . . feels things that aren't mine sometimes, but I don't really know how far that extends, either.

[whatitis]

That's super interesting. How connected are you to Mr. Experience?

[He's cramming more notes in, somehow--crossing out things now proved obsolete, scribbling and scribbling and scribbling.]

[digiorno]

Oh. Hm.

[He peers over Carlos's shoulder, watching him write.]

I don't know if I have a very scientific answer for that. Very - I'm very connected. If he hurts, I hurt; if I'm weakened, he's weakened. Sometimes - like I said. He feels things and then I feel them too, and I think it goes the opposite way as well. But I haven't really had a chance to experiment with that much.

[whatitis]

[There's Lots! Of! Exclamation! Points! in the way he writes, peppered here and there with tangents and dead-ends. It's pretty impressive that he can even understand the way he writes.

When Giorno's name is written, the "i" is dotted with a heart, which signifies that you're lucky enough to be a pal to Carlos and also have an "i" in your name.]

Can he talk? Besides "muda", I mean.

[digiorno]

[Oh no. He is so blessed. It could only conceivably be better if it had glitter on it.]

Um. He does say one other thing. Only when I'm very . . . frustrated.

[Giorno glances sideways, a little embarrassed, and then Gold Experience manifests besides the table and lets out the tiniest "wry".]

thats the cutest fucking icon first of all

[whatitis]

[Carlos claps!!!]

That was very good! I mean...not if you're frustrated, but it's still interesting to observe.

Does that phrase mean anything, or is it just a noise?

[He's...not addressing Giorno, just Gold Experience. He's gonna wait for a response until one comes.]

winks

[digiorno]

[As much as expression can be determined from Gold Experience, who is really as much insectoid as humanoid, he looks. Well. Uncertain. Turns his head to Giorno, who appears utterly impassive.]

[Then he shrugs. So. No idea, buddy.]

[whatitis]

[To be honest, he looks a little...crushed, but he'll take it in stride! Probably!]

Do you know how much he can comprehend?

[This question is directed straight at Giorno, this time. Might as well get results from the source, and all that.]

[digiorno]

He understands everything I do. Because of that connection, see? The real trouble is differentiating his reaction and my reaction.

Jotaro and I were playing around with it a while ago, though.

[whatitis]

He's a lot like you, but shinier and bigger and quieter. What a guy!

[He stops writing, fixing the boy and his Stand with a curious eye. There's something a bit more...calculating, perhaps, than usual. No, that's not the word. He's appraising.]

Jotaro, huh? Jotaro Kujo, I'm assuming. And the purple one is his, right?

[digiorno]

[It makes him giggle a little bit. What a guy. Carlos is adorable. Even that appraising, that's adorable too.]

That's right. Star Platinum is his. Star is the sweetest.

[Star Platinum literally punched his father to death, and yet.]

[whatitis]

He seems like an interesting man. Pretty interesting, indeed.

[The appraising look intensifies, briefly, before he forces a bright smile.]

I think I've met...his mother, maybe? His mother. They don't hardly look alike, do they?

[Also, his dad deserved that and you know it.]

[digiorno]

Oh? Just his mother?

[Giorno pages through the notebook idly, as if he's mostly thinking about something else.]

She's lovely. His whole family is lovely.

[whatitis]

[There's nothing more Stand-related, though there are a few more crayon drawings of various city creatures, and what looks to be some creative writing about the Mothman.]

His whole family?

[Time to wring additional information Jonathan didn't give about the family out of Giorno.]

[digiorno]

His whole family.

[He hums and starts reading the short story. Ooh, Mothman. Delightful.]

[Never let it be said that Giorno does not love to be bribed, okay.]