Battle Damage | A CaeJose Story

Caesar

Joseph let his head fall back against the upholstery of the chair and breathed out a short, irritated sigh. "How much longer?"

It wasn't the first time he'd asked. For your sake, Caesar thought, I hope not much longer. He barely scraped together the willpower to keep from saying it aloud. Instead, he distracted himself with the observation that Joseph, who still hadn't completely dried off by the time they'd made it to Caesar's apartment some blocks from the plaza where they'd met, was getting fountain water on the upholstery of one of his nice high-backed chairs. He held back a sigh of his own. What a complete imbecile.

He was half convinced Joseph was on the verge of asking yet again how much longer it would be when the sound of a car screeching to stop drifted through the open window. Caesar sprang out of his seat, not bothering to hide his relief.

He could practically feel the suspicion radiating from Joseph as he appeared at the window behind him, eyes directed down to the run-down car idling at the ground floor entrance to the building. A man in black hung one arm out of the driver's side window. He gave a nod of greeting to Caesar up above.

"Um, who is that?"

"That is who's going to help us get in, Joestar." Caesar turned for the door. "Mind your manners."

Joseph was still standing at the window. "Is that a bullet hole in the windshield? Don't tell me we've been waiting three hours for some guy from the Italian mafia, because I'm not about to -"

"JoJo, this is an associate of Caesar's..."

Caesar was all too happy to leave Joseph's petulant voice behind him as he dashed down the steps to the waiting car. The man tipped his hat to Caesar as he slid into the passenger seat. "Good to see you, Mark. I appreciate this."

"Of course, mio amico. I still owe you a favor."

The doors to the backseat opened as Speedwagon and Joseph caught up to him. The latter eyed Mark suspiciously as he took a seat, still looking less than thrilled about this arrangement, but he kept his mouth shut as the car pulled away from the curb. Predictably enough, it didn't last for long.

"How do you know this guy anyway?" Joseph demanded from the backseat, as if Mark weren't sitting right in front of him.

"Old friend," Caesar replied dismissively, turning to Mark. "Hey, you still with that girl from Florence?"

Mark's eyes stayed on the road, but a small smile appeared on his face, the kind Caesar rarely saw on him. "We're getting married in a few weeks."

"Mamma mia! Are you serious? Congratulations!" The car swerved a bit as he threw his arm around Mark. I guess he's finally settling down, then. Caesar could hardly imagine marriage with the kind of lives they both used to lead... "I was his wingman when he first met her, you know!"

"Would you quit strangling the driver?" Joseph snapped from the backseat, sliding into Speedwagon as they swerved.

Caesar pulled back to his own seat with a shrug, but he certainly wasn't about to let Joseph get off completely free. He turned in his seat to face him, a smug smile on his face. "Say, Joseph, I haven't heard you mention anything about a girlfriend back home. Could it possibly be that you don't have one?"

Joseph's scowl was answer enough.

"I'll take that as a no. How could that be? A catch like you?"

Joseph turned to the window with a huff, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. Speedwagon hardly looked like he approved, but the embarrassment was apparently sufficient to shut up Joseph for most of the rest of the ride, which made it fully worth the disapproval.