Merfolk Mating Rituals Are Confusing

Part 15

Beep. . . Beep. . . Beep

Jotaro's fingers flexed against his forearms, dark leather coat creaking from the force behind them. The wide brim of his hat covers his eyes, unhelpfully blocking your view of his eyes, and making you squirm.

He was pissed.

While Jotaro was usually a dark mass of unparalleled rage on a good day, to know when he was truly pissed meant you had to be on the look out for certain body languages.

The curling of his fingers, twitching of small facial muscles, the very slight dilation of his pupils, and the almost rhythmic tapping of his feet. All signs of his genuine rage and anger, and you heard the words almost a full minute before they had truly left his mouth.

"What the fuck happened?"

His accent is heavier than you remember, probably a direct result of his time spent back in Japan for the past few years and his thinly veiled stress. His English was usually impeccable, his "L"s generally being his only problem areas when he got mad.

Sighing back at him, you carefully trace your fingers across the bandages on your face and avoid his gaze.

Jotaro growls softly, sitting up and forward to try and intimidate you with his broader stature. It pulls an amused snort fron you, your teeth baring in a wry smirk. "T-that doesn't work on me Joots. I've seen you s-scarf down an entire pizza in th-thirty seconds before, it's kinda hard to be scared of you after that."

While you're smiling fondly at the memory - remembering how he choked on a particularly tough piece of bell pepper - your Mom finally bursts into the room, bundling Jotaro against her chest and inadvertently saving you from telling Jotaro anything about your breakdown.

He knows it too, sharp blue eyes glaring at you from under the brim of his hat as he snarls a soft, "Get the fuck off me, you bitch."

Mom smiles widely, a loud tittering laugh spilling from her smiling mouth in spite of his false ire. "Of cooourse!"

Her sweet blue eyes swivel to you, lighting up like Christmas lights in her excitement. Releasing Jotaro, she scampers over. Reaching out and pressing the back of her hand to your cheek, then pulls you against her chest much like she had your brother. Her voice raises into a soft whine, her cheek rubbing across your hair. "Oh, I'm so sorry baby! Are you okay? Oh!"

Mom pulls back, her eyes shifting to study your face in concern. "Did I mess up the bandages? I hope I didn't hurt you too bad. . ."

Jotaro snorts from behind her, muttering in false annoyance, "Yare yare, she's fine. You're much noisy Mom." Your Mom simply smiles brightly, giggling as she drifts aside to start shuffling through her bag.

"Ah, it's 'too noisy' Jotaro," he grumbles a bit, flushing at his mistake but he doesn't immediately snap at her, especially when she pulls a small wrapped parcel out of her purse. "And I think you're too grumpy JoJo, your sissy doesn't need that right now."

You snicker at Jotaro's confused look, realizing that he probably hasn't heard the word "sissy" before. Your Mom seems to realize it as well, her pink lips pulling up into a sheepish grin as she slips into Japanese for a moment. "Oh, uh that's an affectionate way of saying sister."

Jotaro sniffs just slightly, quick to shoot a pointed look at the parcel in her hands.

Luckily, your mom isn't as dense as her lofty, high pitched voice led people to believe. Taking the olive branch for what it is, she quickly extends the small package out to you, a smile stretching across her soft face.

You blink, stretching forward and delicately taking it from her. "Mom?"

She simply smiles, placing one manicured finger against her lips with a secretive wink. You eye her wearily, slowly unwrapping the little rectangular parcel. A sweet smell drifts up to your nose, dragging your eyes downwards immediately and pulling an excited squeal from your mouth.