001 ♡ video (CALL)

[malignans]

[Frankly, Dio's not in the mood. Not that he's exactly a paragon of patience most days, but right here and now he doesn't have much patience to offer anyone or anything. Someone else might try to look at this on the bright side, of course. He's clearly not dead here, and there's nothing that absolutely rules out the possibility of him returning to right where he left off. Maybe some other time, when he's had time to put a little more distance between himself and where he left off, he'll think of that. But for right now? Right now, the bitter taste of defeat still lingers on the back of his tongue. Compounding his sour mood even further on that little fact is that he can't do anything about it right now.]

[But Dio is a skilled liar, if nothing else, and he does still possess a modicum of control over his temper that he doesn't throw a tantrum. To do so now would be far, far too costly now that he's found himself thrust into an unfamiliar situation. And he refuses to be caught off-guard right here and now, which means figuring out this...device. There really isn't anything exactly comparable in his world, but Dio's not an idiot. He can figure it out with little trial and error.]

Interesting. [He looks and sounds more pleased than he actually feels when the video feed begins, but it's unlikely anyone would be able to really question how genuine it is.] The technology here is impressive. In my day, there weren't many who would believe something like this is possible. I can only guess as to how clever the minds who dreamed this device in reality truly were and I'm sure this will prove useful moving forward.

[His smile increases only by a fraction, but it carries with it an enormous amount of warmth. Dio is here to play nice.]

For all of us.

[For now.]

Comments

[digiorno]

[It would be a mistake to think of Dio as anything but a danger. No matter what his interest, it's nothing good. No matter whether he perceives it as positive or negative, well-meant or not, it'll serve to damage in the end. Maybe he's not intending harm, maybe he is, but does it matter? Even here he intends no harm, and his tongue lashes with impatience.]

[It's disappointing. It hedges up against frightening, especially because he knows what the World does, but it doesn't quite make him flinch. Just go a little dull around the eyes for a fraction of a second.]

[Then he shrugs one shoulder.]

The idea that a father "should" do anything for his child is a very nice lie, but it's still a lie.

cw: child abuse/neglect

[malignans]

[There's no amount of willpower Dio could exert that could possibly stop the bitter and acidic noise that escapes Dio at that. It's not directed at Giorno, however, nor is it a direct refutation. Well over 100 years after the bastard died and Dio still can't contain his hatred of his own father. But Giorno and Dio do somewhat differ. Giorno may consider it a lie that a father should do anything, but that's nearly the exact opposite of how Dio feels on the matter. That doesn't mean that every father follows suit, but...]

[Well.]

[Dario Brando served more as template of what not to be, even to someone like Dio who never had any intention of siring any children. It may have been one thing if Dario was merely selfish, but he took it to an extreme. He always took everything to an extreme from his drinking to his temper, and he took everything out on his son. Were it not for that, Dio doesn't think Dario would have had any use for Dio after his mother's death, and he'd have just as soon sold him in some form or fashion as a means to another bottle.]

[Which is why even though it lasts only for a fraction of a second, Dio notices the way something in Giorno seems to recede. No, not something. It's almost the very whole of him, making himself temporarily small and absent to be more accepting of whatever is to transpire in the moment. Dio bore no such look for very long. He'd been small and prone to crying, but that never did any good. So, he had to learn other ways to tolerate it. To let it pass over him and until the gentle hand of his mother was there to replace his father's, but it wasn't long until the only way Dio could possibly comfort himself was with dreams of wrenching the power from his father's shaking, ultimately feeble hands and one day bringing it to fruition. That's why Dio didn't look like that, the way Giorno did just now in that fraction of a second, for very long.]

[But he recognizes it. He recognizes it and he doesn't know how to be gentle the way his mother had been. He knows only his anger and his hatred, things he doesn't think Giorno allows to manifest very far if that response is any indication. For that brief fraction of a second, Giorno was little more than a wounded child that scar tissue quickly masked and that is either all he can do or all he will allow. But Dio is something a little less forgiving, something darker just beneath his calm albeit tense veneer.]

Simply because someone fails to live up to your expectations is not reason enough to stop holding that individual accountable. That just gets you into the habit of compromising your standards and leaves you vulnerable when you opt to settle or simply give up on what's within your rights. But assuming it is somehow a lie that a father should act for his son, tell me who in your world taught you to stop believing in it.

[He leans forward a little.]

Me? Or the man your mother allowed to raise you?

[The man she allowed to lay hands on you.]

continuing cw for same

[digiorno]

[That's different. He recognizes it, that shift. This whole conversation has been shifts: from disinterested to curious, from curious to personally invested, from invested to . . . well, it's hard to know how angry Dio is, but he's certainly starting to boil. Not expected in any way, but interesting to make a note of.]

[Giorno doesn't react. There's an expectation here, a belief not just of paternity but kinship, and he isn't sure how he feels about it. Nothing has been earned here, and he's predisposed not to trust those who present themselves as authority figures to him. It would be exceptionally foolish to put himself in Dio's power.]

[He can't rise to this.]

I've never known a man who did right by his son. I've known plenty who didn't. I don't believe there's any point to living with false hope of protection from someone with power just because one happens to share genetic material.

[malignans]

[Giorno's reaction isn't unexpected. Circumstances and what Dio assumed was his mother's decision to put as much physical distance between herself and Dio while she was pregnant never afforded Dio the opportunity to prove much of anything to Giorno as far as his competency as a father. And now here he, Dio, is, trying to not only fill the void, but also smooth over the cracks left behind by other men. It's somewhat of an impossible task, if one were to define it. Giorno is anticipating Dio to fail, to walk in the same steps as the other man, as the human refuse that begat Dio.]

[In some ways, that pricks at Dio's irritation even more. He's never been one to tolerate doubt well, but he's always had a method to removing all doubt in another. That's not the case with Giorno. The boy is too clever and too much like his father to be easily won over by charm alone. It seems to leave Dio only with the other extreme and to put it simply: Dio does not ask. Does not and will not because there would be little point in it. And yet... Although it is something Giorno may give, that is all it is; this is not something he can simply take either.]

No, I would anticipate that you gave up on that fantasy years ago, [he replies, with a small degree of tension resulting from the impossibilities of Giorno giving, or Dio asking or even taking. He may not find it within himself to ask and he cannot take, but he will lay out his argument. There is no impediment to that.] But that's all you've known of me, isn't it? Your fantasies, and whatever your mother claimed to know and bothered to tell you, and maybe whatever little has survived since my birth.

[Birth. Not death. Giorno isn't ignorant to the fact that Dio is dead, of course, but that doesn't mean that Dio is willing to acknowledge it even as a sound argument.]

You can make your arguments about never knowing the whole of any other person all you like, but that doesn't change the fact what you have is scraps at best and outright misinformation at worst. So what is it that you're really using to reach your conclusions in your judgments about me? Hm?

What other men have done to you and to other sons? The opinions of others? The ways in which I failed to live up to your once naive expectations that perhaps I had found a way to defy the odds one last time to save my son?

It's not that I'm unsympathetic to your apprehension or your mistrust. As much time as you may have spent wondering and hoping what it would have been like had I ever come for you or stopped you mother from hiding your existence from me, you can't ever know for certain how well that matches to reality, can you? There's no guarantees that I would have treated you any better than they did.

But I would like to think you're more reasonable than that, Giorno, and whatever judgments you pass over me are grounded in what you know of me for yourself directly. Not what you've dreamed of in the past or had to rely on others to discover, and certainly not on the sins of others.

But if you wish to squander this opportunity to know anything for certain then there's little I can do to stop you, isn't there?

[Unlike most people, when Dio says there's little he can do, that isn't a euphemism for there being nothing he can do. That much is likely clear in his tone and demeanor as nothing shifts to soften him or make him seem helpless in the wake of whatever Giorno may decide. What is additionally and most importantly clear is that it would not be Dio's preference to force it. Whether it is his insatiable ego that wants nothing more than to be desired by someone, or a genuine desire for a fresh start is likely anyone's guess. But it would still be within his preference that Giorno not submit, nor do so much as meet Dio halfway.]

[Instead, Dio would prefer it Giorno right the wrong of his mother and other circumstances, and to provide him with a chance. However small it may be. Because Giorno stands to gain from this just as much as Dio does, or so Dio is willing to convince Giorno to believe by appealing to the part of him that has and likely always will wonder about his true father.]

[digiorno]

[The logic of this argument is troubling, but not surprising. He knows he takes after his father. Polnareff has told him as much more than once. He, too, has the ability to charm those he wants something from.]

[What's actually startling is that it appears Dio does want something from him after all. That doesn't make sense to him. Someone in Dio's position, with Dio's ambition, taking time out of his life to persuade his previously-unknown offspring not to judge him too quickly or too harshly. That's a moot point, of course. Giorno has already long judged him. But that judgment doesn't negate the wanting he's felt all his life, the need to connect with the family of his blood, just in case, just on the off chance that that would change anything.]

[It won't. He knows it won't. But Dio seems to think that it might. Whether that impression is genuine or not, it's hard to say. He wishes they were in the same space, in a way, so he could get a better idea of his father's tells, test him more subtly. This device is in some ways more of a handicap than anything.]

[He looks at Dio levelly for a moment, his gaze even, a little troubled. Then, after that pause, he tugs his braid over his shoulder and fiddles with the end of it, glancing off to the side.]

We don't squander opportunities that present themselves, do we.

[Not the two of them. Not people like them. They are both monsters in their own ways, he knows. If only for that reason, he should make use of this opportunity, to learn more about his own worst-case scenario.]

[A slender golden hand slips over Giorno's shoulder and gently pulls his braid back into place. There's a quick glance from unblinking eyes, and Gold Experience is gone. But he was there.]

I think continuing this conversation in public is unwise. Where are you?

[malignans]

[Dio interprets that as a victory. Perhaps he shouldn't. Perhaps he should be more conservative in his perceptions and see it as one step on that road toward victory. But when someone like Giorno, someone who could very easily defy and oppose him concedes to the degree to which he has—and it is a form of concession allowing his Stand to be seen even momentarily—it's nigh impossible for Dio to see it any other way. Dio manages, at least, to keep his delight somewhat contained and regulated insomuch that he does not appear to gloat, but there is no mistaking that he is pleased.]

I'm not far from the McAran Tower, but I won't be here for long given my particular..."allergy." I'm better suited for other places within this city.

[And neither his weakness to sunlight nor where he intends to sleep for the day is something he intends to share explicitly and publicly. What he withholds more specifically from Giorno is that he would also not particularly mind having a chance to feed before he sleeps. It became immediately apparent to him that either the effect of Joseph's blood wore off after death or it had been somehow removed from his body before it was destroyed, but whichever the case may be, he hasn't fed all night with the exception of a saleswoman. That's enough perhaps to tide him over, but he spent more than enough of his fair share of time not eating to his fill throughout his lifetime.]