As Clear As Night [Dio×Reader]

War Across the Dinner Table

Revised: August 28, 2023

Chapter 3: War Across the Dinner Table 🍽️

~

The dining room alone was twice the size of the one at your house. The table? Thrice as big as any you'd ever had the pleasure of sitting at. With the white cloth draped over it, gorgeous flower arrangements adorning it and green chairs accompanying it, you felt like royalty. But no, you would never confess that to Dio and feed his ego- how you almost staggered in your steps from just trying to look around the room.

With so many chairs available, much more needed for a 3-person family, you just sat by your father, who himself sat to the left of Mr. Joestar at the head of the table.

Sitting in the chair, you attempted to calm your nerves from how small you felt compared to the room, yet sinking into the lofty chair only made it worse. Now you didn't just look childish on the outside, but felt ridiculously childish on the inside.

So while you were grappling with your insignificance, Dio was right at home, not hesitating to swoop into his seat... right across from you?

What? That didn't make sense! With a seat directly next to Mister Joestar- even if he had a bone to pick with you- wouldn't it seem incredibly rude if Dio chose to sit a seat away from his adoptive father?

The cunning boy seemed to have read you mind when announcing, "I shall be saving this seat for Jonathan, for when he is ready to have dinner with us."

That sly fox! What could he be planning?

"So uh, Dio..." Your youngest brother squeaked. The boy was just nine years old, but already he was adored by your mother. The last time you spent time with him alone was when you were eight and he was five. Ever since then he's been too busy being taught business things or being at school to spend time with you, with at most a passing glance at home. What could he possibly have to ask Dio?

"The older boys at school showed us these spectacular Chinese firecrackers. They exploded in the most colorful of ways! They said they learned how to make them from you but wouldn't show us how. I-if you don't mind could you show us how to make them...?"

If you didn't know Dio's true face, you might've even fallen for that fake, sickly sweet smile of his.

"Of course I wouldn't mind. It's quite simple..." he began.

And with that the small talk commenced. The adults talked with the adults and the children amongst the children. You kept your mouth shut and only agreed with an occasional nod or two. Dio didn't show any other signs of hostility except the occasional joke and stare.

"So you say you're interested in animals?" He spoke to your oldest brother, 15, that sat next to him. "Do you perhaps have any interest in monkeys? I learned quite an interesting thing about them recently, and excuse me if it's in poor taste. So as you probably know they're expert tree climbers, but did you also know that they are known to throw their feces on other animals?"

Mental sigh. Yes, that was supposed to be an insult to you, but couldn't he have picked a better subject when you all were about to eat dinner?

Creeeeeakkkk

The slow opening of the door must've brought in a breeze, because an air of hush fell over the table. How awkward it must have been for the person opening it.

"Good timing Jonathan, we were about to eat." Mr. Joestar said. "Please introduce yourself to our guests."

Looking at the average boy, you reached some simple conclusions. To be frank, you couldn't care less about him. Sure you felt bad about how Dio torments him, but your only objective was to hand Jonathan the letter Erina wrote. There was nothing you could do to help, nor be willing to do anyways. You were already knee-deep in your own problems. And hey, Dio was out to get you too, so that makes it even right?