unprompted asks 【always accepting】 @jojoingjoseph​​

“Of course I don’t mind,” The old man said, in that gentle tone he would normally use when speaking to Joseph whenever his dear nephew wasn’t causing some mischief around. The questions didn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, it was only natural that Joseph would be curious and have a lot of questions now that he knew about Caesar, and about Caesar’s grandfather, and the connection the late Zeppeli had with the Joestars and the stone masks, and all those things that had been kept a secret for so long for Jojo’s sake. Since a bunch of those cats were out of their bags already, there were no reasons not to give his nephew the answers he was looking for. He owed it to him.

“Caesar’s grandfather…” He said, leaning back into his seat, allowing himself to get more comfortable. That old man, he thought, finding it amusing in some way to refer to him in the same way he used to all those years ago, now that Speedwagon himself was an elder man. “He was… quite an eccentric old man. And I honestly don’t think ‘eccentric’ can quite describe someone like him.” He admitted, recalling not only what he had seen for himself during the couple weeks that Jonathan’s training had lasted and their subsequent trip to Windknight’s Lot but, also, what Jonathan had told him about his mentor, about their first meeting, and some of those training sessions Robert missed while he was out, back in London, searching for information on Dio’s whereabouts at the time.

“Do you remember that day we met with Caesar in Rome?” It was more of a rhetorical question really, as he was almost completely sure that most of the events from those days would be hard to forget for everyone involved, and especially for Joseph. “That… ‘seated jump’ he did before us,–” he said, doing a soft motion with his hand for added effect as he mentioned the jump. “–At the time, I was informed by your grandfather that Caesar’s grandfather did more or less the same thing when they met, followed by that old man Zeppeli punching your injured grandfather square in the gut right before your granny’s eyes.” As far as he had been told, Erina reprimanded Will for his actions that time. It was amusing in a way though, to think how the much more hardened woman Erina had become over the years would have probably reacted to that. She must likely would have tried to beat the living hell out of Will.

“He would always be carrying wine bottles with him Lord-knows-where, no matter where we were at the time, and doing weird things with them. Always speaking in analogies to explain whatever lesson he was trying to teach your grandfather, and talking about some of the things he saw while travelling, when he was younger.” Robert said, both of his hands resting on his stomach, fingers loosely intertwined together like he normally would do when he was relaxing. This was, after all, some of first free time he’d had in a while. An index finger softly tapping the back of the opposite hand as Speedwagon let himself wander through all those memories, from 50 years ago.

“He was an interesting man overall, save for the fact that he seemed to have a bit too much fun trying to take the mickey bliss out of me all the bloody time.” Of course, that was something the young Speedwagon found endlessly annoying, never taking the old man’s shit and doing the same thing in return every single time he could, usually by calling him rude names. At the time, it had been just because of Jonathan and their current quest that he hadn’t gotten (or tried to get, at least) truly aggressive or violent on the man, keeping all the hostility down to verbal stuff only –well, minus Will’s ruse of him ‘accepting’ to activate Robert’s hamon breathing, which only resulted in the Italian man punching him, and knocking all the air out of his windpipe–. Then again, Speedwagon was largely a ruthless, violent, and dangerous street thug around that time, just exactly what Zeppeli would usually mock him for, calling him names and treating him like he was nothing, and exactly what made Speedwagon want to kick his ass the most at the time. Now, however, many decades after finding out that Will’s actions had been fueled by his lack of trust in the blond, Robert was able to just laugh about that part of those memories and how silly all that shit giving had been from both ends, all things at the time considered. Although… if he was to be honest, he still felt somewhat bitter towards Will, about the whole hamon thing, and his evident refusal to teach him those techniques, regardless of whatever reason he’d had at the time. Had Robert been able to use hamon, too, and fight alongside them against Dio rather than staying on the sidelines and killing zombies, maybe, just maybe, Dio would have perished that day, in Windknight’s Lot, and maybe Jonathan…

Maybe Jonathan...

...Ah, that had always been a recurrent thought for Robert, even now, 50 years after that light, the one guiding his path, the one he would often see in his dreams, had been so violently taken away.

But this was not the time or the occasion to dwell on that specific topic. Besides, Robert knew very well that venturing further into that specific memory lane would only end up with him turning into a sobbing mess in no time. No need for any of that. At least not now, and not here, right before Joseph.

“As for your grandfather. Well, I’m pleased to say that all the stories I’ve told you so far about him, details more, details less, are true.” He then went on to talk about Jonathan, as requested, visibly ashamed of the fact that Erina and him had to keep certain things a secret from Joseph. Granted, it had all been for Joseph’s sake and his well-being, in an attempt to keep him from getting involved with the stone masks that had already taken the lives of at least three Joestars, but that didn’t mean Robert didn’t feel bad about having had to keep certain things a secret from Jojo, even lying about some others.

“He was a gentleman. A true gentleman, through and through. In all honesty, I’ve never met anyone like him. Not even now, after all these years. He was truly one of a kind.” He added; a small and fond smile softly curling upwards the corners of his lips as the memories of his many days with Jonathan began to flood his mind once more.

“He was pretty clever and intelligent. A bit naive, too, and far too kind for his own good, but he had a fire in his heart that is so rare and unique. A courageous man like no other! He could be quite a savage and ferocious man when angered despite that ‘softy’ exterior. He always put his loved ones first no matter what, always willing to do whatever it took to put them out of danger, even if it costed him his life.” Which, ultimately, it did, when he sacrificed himself, preventing Dio’s escape from that boat, and saved Erina and a baby Elizabeth (and, unknowingly, George too) that fateful day.

“He could be a bit silly at times, too. The fun and lovable kind of silly. Impressive in pretty much every possible way you could think of!” Speedwagon said, recalling that time Jonathan had been asked to join his soon-to-be-former school rugby team for a last match, some time after they had come back from Windknight’s Lot. Jonathan had invited both Erina and Robert to come to see him play, which they did. Needless to say Jojo’s ‘regular’ strength –that is, nothing that was ‘hamon aided’, just his pure physical strength– rendered them both (and everyone else watching the game, for that matter) speechless.

“He never let the many dreadful things he went through at the hands of that scum he called ‘brother’ change the compassionate, brave, and kind-hearted soul he was.” Even after all the shit he had been put through for seven whole years, Jonathan had still found it in himself to forgive his father for siding with Dio all the time no matter what, for all the countless and harsh –and sometimes unjustifiably harsher than usual– scoldings and punishments and just… for everything, going as far as to grant Lord Joestar his dying wish of forgiving Dio as well, despite all the horrible things his brother had done to both of them.