False Confidence ; Jotakak

With a Thousand Lies and a Good Disguise

CW - Trans Character is assaulted after coming out, outdated use of language used to refer to trans people.

It was 9:00 pm, and we were at the bottom of the Red Sea. Everyone's emotions were elevated in such a confined space. Polnareff was much more aloof, staring out the window at the fish and coral as we passed by, like a child in an aquarium. Avdol was genuinely serious, often pleading with Polnareff and Mister Joestar not to touch anything on the sub's control panel. Mister Joestar was sentimental, looking over at the telephone, possibly with homesickness, and Jotaro was grumpy. Maybe it was because he couldn't smoke in here; perhaps he hated the confinement. In my opinion, the sub was much more spacious than I had anticipated. I spent the first thirty minutes of our journey exploring the vessel. Jotaro sat in the control room with his arms crossed, his legs kicked up on the table and a deep frown on his face.

"Hey, Jotaro. I've heard that the Red Sea is meant to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Why don't you have a look out the window? Try and cheer up a bit?" Mister Joestar offered.

"Shut the fuck up,"

Mister Joestar groaned. "Why are you in such a foul mood? As soon as we climbed in, the first thing you did was shout at me to stay away from the control panel."

"Why do you care? It's not like you could drive this thing."

"I certainly can!"

The two continued to argue. Behind the scenes, I saw Avdol point out items on the control panel to a curious Polnareff. I returned to the main cabin. "Can I get anyone something to drink?" I asked to break the tension.

"Oh! Oui, oui! Si vous plait, Kakyoin! Polnareff seemed a little too excited; the submarine was really tickling his fancy.

"Is cola okay?" I asked. Polnareff accepted; I took two out and passed him a bottle. I noticed in the time it took me to re-enter the conversation, Mister Joestar had moved to the telephone. He stood in front of it, looking at the dial buttons. "Mister Joestar, can I get you something?"

He waved to me. "Not right now, Kakyoin. In fact, I need some quiet for a moment; I need to make a phone call--an important one."

Upon the man's request, the submarine grew quiet as the man dialled the number. The conversation was a bit cryptic, and I tried my best not to eavesdrop, but it sounded like Mister Joestar spoke to his wife. Avdol filled us in. Apparently, Misses Joestar knew nothing about the expedition or about their daughter's condition. I noticed Mister Joestar was lying through his teeth. "I'm in a hotel," "I've had to make a stopover," "I'm sure Holly will be fine." It was painful to hear, and it reminded me of just how important our mission was. After a quick conversation with another person, Mister Joestar hesitantly hung up the phone.

He took a deep breath. "We're here for you, Mister Joestar; everything is going to be alright." I heard Polnareff exclaim between sips of cola.

"That's exactly right," Avdol added. "We are going to release Holly from DIO's curse. I'll do everything in my power to assure her safety."

Mister Joestar wiped the sweat from his brow. "Thanks, you guys; I appreciate it."

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. We sat around, Avdol let Polnareff drive the sub for a bit, but as soon as he ran into a rock, his driving privileges were revoked. By 11:00 pm I was struggling to stay awake. I retired to the barracks but couldn't sleep. About twenty minutes later, I heard the door to the room slide open, and Jotaro's silhouette appeared in the doorway.

"Jotaro?" I groaned.

"Yeah?" He took off his jacket and hat and threw them on one of the beds. "Can't sleep?" He kicked off his shoes.