A/N: Day 26: Call

Slice-of-life AU feat. sentient stands. Functionally a soulmate AU, but there's no actual mention of soulmates.

Bruno is running spectacularly late courtesy of waking up to a broken refrigerator – which wouldn't be this much of a problem on any other day off, but today he has lunch plans and Narancia will worry if he's late. Hell, Narancia might even be worried right now, if he's already at the café waiting for Bruno, who always gets there first…

The simplest fix would be to call him, to let him know that Bruno is running behind schedule but definitely on his way. And that's absolutely what Bruno would do! If only his stand would cooperate.

Sticky Fingers is no better than the refrigerator, today.

"Honestly," Bruno mutters under his breath, hurrying through the streets while Sticky Fingers slowly searches through various zipper pockets, "what's gotten into you today?"

A few stashed and forgotten hair accessories tumble to the ground, but he doesn't stop to mourn their loss. These cluttered pockets need to be cleared out anyway, and there isn't really time to stop and re-stash unimportant things, so as long as his wallet stays hidden, he'll keep on the move.

Sure, he could wait for Narancia to start blowing up his phone, but he'd like to spare Narancia the stress. …And anyway, Narancia probably forgot his phone; he has a bad tendency to do that when he goes out.

Sticky Fingers seems to be moving slower than usual, for some reason. Unless it just feels that way because Bruno is in a hurry. Either way it's a hassle.

It really isn't like Sticky Fingers to not admit to where he stashed Bruno's phone and then proceed to agree to search for it only to fumble the whole way through. Whatever this is feels awfully deliberate to Bruno, though he can't even begin to fathom why Sticky Fingers would do this. It's infuriating, but his only option is to keep –

Unless.

Maybe there's another option.

There's a policeman standing on the sidewalk a little ways ahead, lingering next to a parked patrol car.

But what really catches Bruno's attention is the officer's phone. He has it out, is checking it for some reason or another – and Bruno makes a beeline for him out of what's fast becoming desperation.

"Can I borrow your phone?"

The officer lifts his head, looks at Bruno – and pauses. Bruno is aware that he's more than a little harried thanks to all of his rushing around this morning, but surely that's no reason for the policeman to gawk like he is. His eyes are wide and everything. It'd be insulting if Bruno wasn't in such a hurry.

…Then again. Bruno is maybe a tiny bit distracted himself, caught off guard by sharp features and shimmering golden eyes and dark lipstick.

The undeniably attractive policeman blinks. His cheeks are bizarrely pink in the morning sunshine, for some reason. "I'm sorry," he says at last, his voice deep velvet, "what did you need?"

It takes Bruno an embarrassing second to recover from that voice. "Your phone. Can I borrow it?"

A tiny furrow appears between the policeman's brows. "What do you need it for?"

"To call myself. I don't remember which pocket I put my phone in."

That furrow only deepens, but the officer is offering his phone, holding it out with the calling function at the ready. Albeit while muttering, "How many pockets do you have…?"

Bruno accepts the phone, tapping in his number and hitting the call button. There's no need to explain about the pocket thing – most of the world's population aren't stand users, and it would only confuse him more, trying to describe the existence of Sticky Fingers. Not to mention, it would take time Bruno doesn't really have…

He holds the phone to his ear out of habit while the other line starts to ring – and a second later he feels vibrations somewhere around the middle of his back, on the left hand side. What the hell is his phone doing there…?

Absently, he returns the borrowed phone, focused more on summoning Sticky Fingers to zip his own free of its backmost hiding place.

"You're a stand user."

A glance reveals the officer standing there, eyebrows raised and phone still resting in his hand. He's looking right at Sticky Fingers (who is taking his sweet time, by the way).

"You, too?"

By way of an answer, the policeman summons a holographic-purple stand with speakerphones for eyes, and oh that's a pleasant surprise. Their head tilts curiously in the direction of Sticky Fingers, and they make a soft elongated beeping noise.

Suddenly, Sticky Fingers is quite efficient. He fishes Bruno's phone free and hands it over with considerable speed – which is almost too fast for Bruno to get hold of – and he scrambles to not drop it –

Sticky Fingers is already hurrying away from his side, and the policeman's stand mirrors this movement with a couple steps of their own, until they're close enough that if one of them so much as twitched, they'd brush against the other.

"Arri," Sticky Fingers says.

His new stand friend nods their head, and then makes a series of sounds that remind Bruno of a dial tone, interspersed with a few bits of static and cheerful beeps here and there.

Whatever they said – if anything – makes Sticky Fingers smile. Bruno feels the shadow of it on his own face, which is…kind of weird. That's. Not a common thing.

The conversation continues for a few turns, and all Bruno can do is stand here bewildered. Phone cupped in his palms.

Sticky Fingers has never done anything like this before. He usually keeps to himself (that is, when he's not tolerating Aerosmith's tendency to ride on his head, or plucking Sex Pistols off of his dangling zippers that they like to swing on).

He doesn't usually…converse. Overmuch.

The policeman seems just as perplexed. That cute little furrow is back, accompanied by a stern sort of frown as he watches.

…Bruno ought to introduce himself properly, maybe. Seeing as their stands are hitting it off, and all. And. The officer is, as previously noted, very handsome. He only gets more attractive, the longer Bruno looks, which is altogether too long. Probably. (Definitely.)

His phone vibrates in his hand, and he nearly jumps, finally tearing his eyes away from the policeman to see Narancia's name on the caller ID.

Swearing under his breath, Bruno realizes that he is now a good fifteen minutes late. "I have to get going," he says, earning himself the attention of stands and policeman alike. "Thanks for letting me use your phone."

He hurries off, then, dispersing Sticky Fingers – or trying to, but Sticky Fingers stays stubbornly tangible for a handful of seconds –

Long enough to haul the stand of that total stranger into a hug before he agrees to dissipate.

What the –?

Bruno really has to be going, keeps his face forward, tries not to puzzle this out yet, can't bring himself to turn and check for the policeman's reaction though he thinks he hears a muffled, "No problem," or something to that effect.

…The sensation of his arms wrapping around solid warmth stays with him, no matter how he tries to shake it off as he accepts Narancia's call and rushes to the restaurant.

x

"Sticky Fingers, where is my phone?"

"Arri."

Bruno crosses his arms, and Sticky Fingers – wearing an insolent pout – does the same. His stand is refusing to cooperate. No matter how many times Bruno pleads with the manifestation of his own soul. "This is getting ridiculous, you know."

Sticky Fingers lifts one arm out of their folded position so he can stick his thumb and pinky out of a fist and mime holding a phone up to his ear. "Arri, arri," he explains. Shrugs and then gestures to himself. "Arri."

And Bruno frowns, barely managing to contain an eye roll. "Moody Blues can call you back any time – I have a scheduled conference call that I need to be on. For work."

Apparently taking some kind of offense to that, Sticky Fingers spreads his fingers and taps insistently at his own chest. "Arri!" he protests. His frown is deeper than Bruno's.

"Pericolo still hasn't forgiven me for the last call I missed."

Reasoning with Sticky Fingers is a lost cause, though. He only re-crosses his arms and sticks his nose in the air with a harrumph sort of noise. No matter how Bruno tries to disperse him, or how strongly he wills his own stand to cooperate, Sticky Fingers stays put. Surely more stubborn than Bruno himself has ever been.

The muffled sound of Bruno's phone vibrating interrupts their standoff, and Sticky Fingers' face lights right up. He lurches for the arm of the couch, unzipping it along the underside to retrieve Bruno's phone. The caller ID reads 'Officer Abbacchio', and Sticky Fingers answers it with glee.

"Arri!"

Bruno can just barely make out the muffled dial tones and whirrs that make up Moody Blues' speech, coming from the other line.

Whatever the other stand said, Sticky Fingers laughs at it – laughs! – with a fond smile in place as he takes up residence on the couch. Lounging around like some love struck teenager chatting with their first ever partner.

And so Bruno resigns himself to the fact that he will be chewed out by his boss later on. Starts to plan which days off he's willing to sacrifice in penance. Considers where to look for work when he's fired. Thinks that might be overdramatic, and that maybe he ought to just go to his office, see if he can get in on the conference call from his landline…

But even if he does go and save his job, Sticky Fingers will have to follow thanks to his short range. And Bruno will have to explain away his chatty stand, which is the same as admitting that he's slowly losing all control over Sticky Fingers, which would not impress his superiors – and, right, yeah, that's why he didn't do that last time.

Plus, Sticky Fingers would get mad at having to move, which would irritate Bruno. When they get caught in a cycle of annoyance like that, it isn't pretty.

So! Instead of the office, Bruno sinks into the couch, taking a seat in the small space leftover at the end of Sticky Fingers' sprawl.

…He's sure his track record is impressive enough to spare him his job. And anyway, Sticky Fingers' obvious happiness makes his own chest feel too light to be bogged down by stress (though it tries, because stress is a near constant companion of his anymore).

For a good handful of minutes, Sticky Fingers chatters on, sometimes pausing to listen to Moody Blues here and there – and then he lifts the phone away from his ear, and for a second Bruno has hope that he won't have to grovel to his boss.

But no such luck. Sticky Fingers turns the phone to point the screen at himself. Flashes a tiny grin, and gives an especially cheerful, "Arri!"

There's some friendly beeping and a whirr in response, more coherent like Moody Blues is on speaker.

That's a new one.

"…Are you video chatting with him?"

Sticky Fingers nods, and even turns the phone around to show Bruno. Moody Blues is there, offering a wave that Bruno thoughtlessly returns.

For some reason that simple gesture causes a slightly darker discoloration beneath Moody Blues' eyes, around where his cheeks would be on a human face, but Sticky Fingers reclaims the phone before Bruno can puzzle out what that means.

The stands' conversation picks back up, and it has a different tone to it than before.

Bruno is eavesdropping and he knows it – not like he can help it. He's stuck eavesdropping every time, but this feels especially like an intrusion, right now, even though he can't really understand what they're saying.

"Moody Blues!"

Oh. Bruno's heart stutters at the sound of that voice, and he may or may not sit up a little straighter, pay a little more apt attention to the goings on at the other end of the line.

"Get off my phone, we have work to do." (Relatable.)

There are some sounds of protest from Moody Blues' repertoire of beeps, and Sticky Fingers is frowning at the distress.

"Don't give me that," Abbacchio grouches.

"You can call your boyfriend back later," says a voice that Bruno recognizes as belonging to Abbacchio's partner, and well, damn, Bruno didn't need that particular word applied to the weird rapport that Sticky Fingers and Moody Blues have struck up.

…He can't say it's not entirely accurate, but that doesn't mean it doesn't put certain presumptuous ideas in Bruno's head and set his heart stuttering anew.

More angry grumbling from the other line, more whirring and dial tones, and then Sticky Fingers chimes in with a series of gentle "Arri,"s. Bargaining or something. Bruno isn't sure, but whatever it is earns a melodic chiming from Moody Blues.

Then Sticky Fingers sits up and thrusts the phone at Bruno with so much gusto that Bruno nearly drops it.

Moody Blues is gone, and in his place is a disgruntled Abbacchio. He has a small, scabbed-over cut on his cheekbone and his hat is missing, but otherwise he doesn't look too worse for wear as he mutters out a, "Hi."

It hits Bruno that this is the first time he's been face to face (in a manner of speaking) with Abbacchio since they met all those weeks ago. Fleeting as that meeting was. Abbacchio is more handsome than Bruno remembered. There is a real actual grumpy pout on his face, too, and it's cute –

And one single word from him is enough to make Bruno's heart fold in on itself. He tries for a smile, but definitely misses the mark. "Hello."

"I'm sorry Moody Blues tied up your line again. He's supposed to be working. This is the third time this week he's slacked off…"

"I'm sorry, too." Ah, there's a smile at last, or at least it feels like one. Probably wonky from disuse, but better than nothing. "I tried revoking phone privileges, but Sticky Fingers is better at hiding things than I am."

There's a snort of laughter from Abbacchio, and his mouth tweaks on a smile. It is not at all good for the health of Bruno's heart.

This is the fault of their stands. It has to be. This unabashed fondness that rushes through Bruno's entire being whenever he gets to talk to Abbacchio can't be the product of anything other than shared, secondhand attraction.

Because Abbacchio is nice, yes, and they've talked some when hijacking their stands' calls a couple times – mostly to figure out what the hell is going on and to offer apologies and swap names (this is how Bruno learned that Abbacchio works for a special police faction composed entirely of stand users). Nothing substantial or too in depth…and yet…

"Zippers?" Abbacchio guesses.

"Zippers," Bruno confirms. "He's concealing them, now."

"Tch, these two…" Abbacchio runs a hand through his short white hair, glaring off to the side where Moody Blues must be. From the sound of it, his stand is busy rewinding. "Listen, I was wondering…" he continues, not facing the camera, "do you think if they met up, they'd stop calling so often?"

The thought of seeing Abbacchio in the flesh instead of through a phone screen sets Bruno's out of control heart off again, and his stomach swoops – and he fights not to send an accusatory glare in Sticky Fingers' direction, because this is all his fault.

It takes Bruno a quick second to compose himself, during which he spots what's either a blush or sunburn coloring Abbacchio's cheeks.

"I…think they might agree to text instead, at least."

Abbacchio laughs – a short, quick thing – and his expression cracks open fully during it. His eyes have a pretty sort of sparkle to them when they fix back on Bruno. Oh hell.

"So, should we…"

"Get together?" Bruno kicks himself as soon as the words are out of his mouth.

That's definitely a blush on Abbacchio's face. His cheeks flush so dark that it's unmistakable now, even in the meager lighting of wherever he is. "Yeah – yeah it's…for the best, probably. So our stands can…" he clears his throat, "work this out."

"Right." Bruno shoots a glance at Sticky Fingers, who is closer now, sitting on his knees and looking far too pleased. "Our stands."

"Okay." Abbacchio glances over his shoulder at something – or someone – scowling at whoever or whatever it is before looking back. His expression eases to something softer when he does, and Bruno fails not to take it to heart. "So we'll…dinner?"

Stands do not eat (Sex Pistols notwithstanding). Bruno does not feel the need to point this out in any way. "Dinner sounds nice."

A dazzling sort of smile splits Abbacchio's face for a moment, and he ducks his head. He schools his expression quick enough, but the image of that smile is seared into Bruno's brain for all eternity. He'll think of little else in days to come, and again, surely Sticky Fingers and Moody Blues are to blame.

"That's great," Abbacchio says. His partner calls for him, and Moody Blues makes a noise. "I have to go, we just caught wind of this guy we've been tracking and Moody Blues almost has him – but I'll…"

He hesitates for so long that Bruno can't resist. "Call me?"

"Yeah." There's another real actual laugh – this one sharper – and a wry smile from Abbacchio. "I'll call you."

A/N: This is the longest one yet and I Am Tired but it's the only idea I had,

Thanks for reading-!