Intoxicating Infatuation

Chapter Five

A sudden loud clang broke Emilia from her spiraling thoughts. Looking up with a jerk, she spotted Jonathan hovering a large glistening knife in the air as the mask clattered along the desk. Long spiky prongs poked from the back of it as a thin stream of blood flowed down the stone surface.

"Jojo! I thought I told you to stop poking yourself! You already know it reacts from blood, so why must you keep testing it?" Emilia scolded with a frown as she gathered a cloth from the desk.

"Sorry, sorry! I was just reading through some of my notes and wanted to try something," Jonathan chucked light-heartedly, watching amused as she covered his hand with the cloth. Seeing the grin spread across his features, Emilia sneered, pushing the cloth at him.

"Careful, you're gonna start looking like Dio," Jonathan couldn't help but joke with a laugh.

"Don't say that!" Emilia pushed his hand harder as she glared up at him. It didn't last long, though, before she was laughing with him.

"You know, do you think Mr. Joestar will get better soon?" The question fell from her lips before she could stop it. A sudden tense, somberness fell upon the room. It was the question they all had been avoiding, but Emilia couldn't hold it back any longer. Even just now, laughing with Jojo, she couldn't help but feel the heavy weight of concern on her shoulders. It wrapped around her in a suffocating hold that pushed her further into researching.

"Of course, he will. Especially with how much you and the doctors have been caring for him. I don't doubt that he will get better soon. He just needs more time." Jonathan was always the optimistic one of the two. No matter the situation, he would find the best of it. However, with this situation, Emilia wondered how much he believed his words.

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Emilia let herself wander the barren halls of the Joestar mansion. The silence in the study quickly became too much for her after she ruined the atmosphere with Jojo. The woman knew she wasn't getting much more studying done anyway. Her eyes were too unfocused for that, and her dull headache was beginning to grow.

Brushing her fingers against the smooth wallpaper that lined the walls, she let her feet take her to a familiar door. Emilia wasn't sure when this nightly routine had begun, but as she raised her pale fist to knock against the door, a sense of comfort washed over her.

"Come in," a smooth voice welcomed her. The cold brass knob grounded her as she pushed the heavy door open with a creak. Before her, Dio sat in his usual armchair, a book held poised before him. His piercing orange gaze tracked as the blonde made her way to the large window seat across from him.

Letting out a sigh, Emilia rested her head against the cool window. A thin layer of perspiration had formed from the frigid night air, and although she would normally flinch from the sensation, it eased her pounding headache.

"No drawing tonight?" Dio commented after a moment as he watched her slouched form. Jolting from his sudden voice, it took Emilia a moment to respond as her mind worked to process his question.

"No," she responded with a hum as she shook her head. "I think I'm too tired today," Emilia continued after Dio raised a questioning brow. It was unlike her, every other night she would sketch silently as he read, the comfortable silence only occasionally broken. Snapping his book closed, Dio rested it on the table beside him as he turned his full attention to her. The woman was practically oozing nerves and stress as she sat frigid against the window. Her eyes were glazed over again, and he could tell she was overthinking again.

"What's on your mind?" Dio's calming voice broke the blonde from her thoughts. Glancing over to meet his gaze, Emilia debated letting him in on her thoughts. After studying in the library with Jojo earlier, she couldn't get her mind off the theories about Mr. Joestar. Especially after she made the mistake of asking about him to Jojo. The woman hadn't meant to; she knew it was a hard topic for him. But it bothered her that he still wasn't getting any better. It just didn't make any sense!