NETWORK

[puddlesoverdios]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, ERINA JOESTAR. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 070.21.890.20 *** EnglishRose has joined 070.21.890.20 EnglishRose: You have reached Mr. & Mrs. J. Joestar EnglishRose: Do leave a calling card, thank you.

Comments

<AngelA> - christens this inbox with a misfire

[hevenly]

Please do not take this the wrong way, but you should probably bathe. You do not need to smell this way. You're not living under a park bench anymore.

<EnglishRose>

[puddlesoverdios]

[...Well, this was certainly a message to get before her tea was even finished.]

I beg your pardon? I certainly do bathe, never mind not living beneath a *park bench.* How very rude for you.

<AngelA>

[hevenly]

[ What? Angela double checks her laptop screen. Since when does Bethan use the name "EnglishRose?" ]

My apologies. On top of a park bench, then.

EnglishRose

[puddlesoverdios]

Allow me to clarify: at no point have I ever lived beneath, around, under, or over a park bench. Are you quite sure you've meant to send it to me: Erina Joestar?

AngelA

[hevenly]

[ ..........

Welp. ]

No. You are not the intended recipient of this missive. You may forget all that has been said; it was not meant for you.

Re: AngelA

[puddlesoverdios]

If that is the case, than please excuse my crossness with you. All's forgiven.

[hevenly]

[ Good. Erina Joestar will forgive Angela her mis-sent message, and Angela will in turn forgive Erina her rude reply.

They are even. ]

Thank you. May the rest of your evening be calm and uneventful.

[puddlesoverdios]

And you, safe messaging.

december 24.

[digiorno]

[Early in the evening, Erina will receive a delivery: a bakery box containing carefully curated assortment of Mediterranean-style pastries: bombolone, cannoli, zeppole, pasticciotto, and baklava. Attached is a watercolor card with a bluebird on it; it says, "Thank you for your generosity and understanding. Merry Christmas, — Giorno"]

DEC 25

[standless]

[A lovely Christmas for Erina is on the horizon, or at least, Jonathan certainly hopes he can make it lovely. Aside from treating her to a nice Christmas Dinner (admittedly with family rather than alone), Jonathan gifts her with a rather nice shawl and hair-pin, which he took great care to find in a style that could be worn even in her evening state.]

<harmonia>

[digiorno]

[Giorno is . . . discombobulated. He's not well, but he can't explain what exactly is wrong. Not to himself and certainly not to anyone else. What's strangest about it is the half-memory, half-instinct that keeps pushing at the back of his mind. Haruno, this Haruno, had someone he would always go to when he was upset or needed help. So part of him things he's being ridiculous. Part of him balks so hard at the idea of talking to Erina about help that it makes him physically nauseous.]

[Ultimately, the only reason he finds a compromise is because he knows that logically, it's what she deserves. She's long since proven herself to him. Keeping her at arm's length because of his own pain would be so many levels of unfair.]

[It's a few days after things shift back to normal, then, that he finally sends the message.]

Hello . . . I'm sorry if this is inconvenient for you, but would it be all right if we spoke?

Like this, I mean.

I don't want to meet anyone in person right now.

Thank you for your consideration either way.

<EnglishRose>

[puddlesoverdios]

[Erina doesn't typically use her device - though she does use it quite a bit more often than her adoring husband. That said, she has been staying in a bit more, just to tend to Lizzie and Jonathan should they need her. It would be odd, she thinks, to barrel down Giorno's door and demand she allow him to help.

So she is ever so glad that he has contacted her.]

Good day to you, Giorno, dear.

It's perfectly fine if we speak, you've found me with my hands free and my to-do list clear.

[I don't want to meet anyone in person right now. The line tears at her belly, but she soldiers on. If nothing else, that is a great strength of hers.]

Especially if you feel it must be this way. (Though, my son, it is a bit worrying.)

[digiorno]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm physically perfectly safe. I'll try to explain my reasons a little better.

[Some delay here. Then:]

I feel that I owe you an explanation for my behavior. I already owed you one, and I'm sorry for not providing it sooner, but recent events have forced my hand. It's not that I didn't want to tell you before, exactly, so much as that I don't talk to anyone about these things. But beyond being a bad idea, being dishonest about this has now become actively cruel, and I don't want to be cruel to you.

The reason I can't talk about this in person right now is that I just don't think I would. If I were sitting in front of you, I wouldn't even broach the topic. I know it's cowardly, but I think putting it off any longer would be worse.

Is that all right?

[puddlesoverdios]

I know you did not mean to, Giorno, but I worry regardless. Still, I am glad that you are well.

And yes, of course it's fine. I would rather you comfortably explain than sit on a proverbial chair of nails in front of me. There's no worries about that, dear.

I am ready to hear what you wish to say.

cw child abuse/neglect

[digiorno]

[It’s a relief that she understands, so much so that it rocks him, his stomach roiling with relief. He has to pause to recover, to hold back apologies that he doesn’t understand or want to voice, some to her and some in general. He forces himself to breathe, slowly and steadily, until he feels the pulse of sap slowing to something manageable, and the ceiling stops feeling like it’s closing in.]

My mother is Japanese. Her last name was Shiobana. My name was Haruno Shiobana until I changed it. Giorno Giovanna isn’t connected to anything, really; it’s just the name I decided I wanted to have, later.

[No. That’s too far ahead, isn’t it? As much as he wants to, he can’t skip over these things.]

She didn’t want me, but didn’t feel capable of getting rid of me, I suppose, so she left me alone most of the time. I don’t remember her being home at night for the most part, or home during the day for more than a few days at a time. She married an Italian man when I was still young, and we moved to Napoli, where she still stayed out most of the time and he beat me most of the time.

After certain events, I chose to leave and make my own way, as well as take my own name.

But in that other place, neither of them were there. So I suppose I didn’t mind being Haruno, and I didn’t know to be cautious in the way I am in reality.

[Cautious, he says, and honestly means it. Doesn’t understand how sharp an understatement that word is. Paranoid, maybe. Jumpy. Terrified. Cautious doesn’t cut it. But he just doesn’t know.]

[puddlesoverdios]

[Unfortunately for Erina, she knows that some children just aren't wanted, and brought to fruition anyway. It makes her angry - this woman who neglected her-- Jonathan's son in such a way that she broke him. Who allowed a man to put hands on him in a way that did not serve to teach, but only sow fear.

She is glad they're not sitting before one another, because the weeping she begins doesn't feel like it would ever stop. Jonathan would never allowed his son to be treated so cruelly, and though both she and Jonathan are long dead by his birth...

If it had been any other way, he would have immediately been a Joestar. But he will have to do with being her-- their son for now.]

Oh, my dear, sweet Giorno. You are a bit more than cautious, I would say, but I can understand your reasoning for it. Jonathan and I would never have allowed such things. And Eleanor and Jonar made it very clear that Haruno was as much their son as any child they may have been trying to conceive.

That is how I would like to be to you, Giorno. As good a mother as Eleanor was, and as stalwart. I don't know what more to say.

If you will keep us as family, I would be happier than you would know.

[digiorno]

[In truth, that's part of what troubles him. In a world where they were still around when he was born, he would never have been left alone, never would have wanted for anything. He knows this about them without question, now. But the other piece of the puzzle can't be removed from the equation: if Jonathan had been able to survive to see his children grow up, Giorno wouldn't exist at all. Under ordinary circumstances, their coexistence shouldn't be possible. It feels like cheating to be allowed it, in a way.]

[But Erina won't accept that line of thinking. He knows that much. Having spent so much time with Eleanor, he's even more content than he was before of her earnestness, her honesty, and her unflinching will.]

am i? i'm sorry. i never meant to be difficult. i appreciate everything that the both of you have done for me, even when i don't understand it. in that other world is the happiest i've ever been. it's . . . frustrating, honestly. not because of the fact that i was happy, but because i've tried so hard to find happiness of my own, and it seems unlikely that i'll ever achieve anything like that.

[It's the most honest he's been with anyone about how injured he is over the whole thing. How much of a mockery it feels. As positive as the experience was, there's no way he can take it as anything but devastating.]

i meant what i said before, that i won't be as easy to deal with here. but i won't go into all of that again, because i know your answers already, and i don't doubt them. i don't doubt either of you. it will take time for me to feel like i belong, but i know it's possible now. i felt welcome with you there, which means i can here, too.

her love boy

[puddlesoverdios]

Yes, absolutely. If nothing else, Jonathan and I have endless patience for you. And we needn't rush you into anything. It is alright if I call you my son more publicly, then?


Now, I do have a gift for you, would you like me to send it along? That energetic harpy lad seems happy enough to do it.

he love mom

[digiorno]

of course. that never worried me, as long as it's all right with both of you.

[. . . Hm.]

is there something you'd prefer that i call you? i'm not sure what would be most appropriate.

oh. yes, if you'd like. that would be fine. [Most awkward child imaginable.]

[puddlesoverdios]

"Mother" or "Mum" is fine, whatever you feel is right. "Erina" if you're cross with me.

[She smiles at her screen gently, hoping somehow the gentleness of her words makes it through the text.]

I would. Hopefully you like it as much as the cloak. Please expect it tomorrow.

[digiorno]

[Okay, he does have to laugh a little at that.]

i can't imagine you'll do anything to make me upset enough that i'd want to be that rude. [. . .] i'll try them both out, if that's all right, and see which feels best.

i'm sure i will. i'll let you know when it gets here safely.

[puddlesoverdios]

One never knows, Giorno. Certainly, when I am cross with your father, I make sure to say his full name. :)

[Stop the presses, Erina Joestar has used an emoji]

Whichever one you choose, I am sure I'll be happy either way. Besides, we already look like we're related, don't we?