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thus-wrote-mrs-zeppeli · 3 months ago

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I haven’t worked on this since April since it hasn’t really been coming together for me but I really liked the beginning portion and I haven’t posted in a while so here is something!

Diavolo x Reader: Perfect Night

Content: forced relationship, reader referred to as “pretty” but not gendered, canon typical violence, alcohol, reader backstory is vague

Reader’s stand: Strangers in the Night. Although it has no practical combat benefits, Strangers in the Night is an especially desirable stand to Passione’s Boss. Every night, without fail, from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. any memory or evidence of the user’s presence will be entirely erased from the world. Even photographs and videos of the user taken during this time will mysterious vanish once 2 a.m. occurs like they were never taken at all. The user can share the effects of this stand consciously with one other person, though they will have to stay in close proximity to the user.

Notes: I am obsessed with this man. Wanted to explore what actually getting involved with this man would be like. Kinda a character study thing where I experiment with what would happen if he actually pursued a relationship while also aiming for his other goals because I don’t think he Would. But like. It’s fanfic lol-

Remember when bro’s whole goal was to be anonymous but then he had a kid on accident without knowing for a very long time? What an idiot. So yeah a very headcanoned Diavolo but hopefully it sounds in character.

It was illogical, completely contradictory for some grand plan aimed at “complete anonymity” to willingly let himself be known even minutely by you. It was so ingrained in his mind, so ingrained he believed it himself that he was just being a fool and having a momentary lapse in judgement by allowing you to wander close; but regardless of how many shadows he bathed in and evidence he burned and lives he took and ruined all over an unintentional glance at his visage he wasn’t a truly blank slate, and he never would be.

“Diavolo” was a fitting moniker for him. From all outside perspectives, he was about the closest thing a man could be to the Devil. Coming into direct contact him would almost certainly result in death, there was not an ounce of empathy in his entire being for anyone; selfish, arrogant, wrathful, using his own paranoia as justification for excessively harsh brutality. Every member of his once carefully crafted mafia was nothing more than a pawn, a meat shield, a weapon to toss at whoever got in his way. He’d constructed his own soldiers’ bodies into a throne, and mouths that tried to bite his hand were quickly defanged, often never opening again. It didn’t matter if he was hurting his own adjutants, the slightest bit of defiance was met with a swift punishment; that’s how a King should rule, in his eyes.

But he was no True Devil. What kind of embodiment of pure evil would step in his own plan over and over again, holding himself back ever so slightly, just over something pathetic? For one simple, stupid, painfully human reason; the smallest sliver of evidence that he wasn’t just a demon, but a weak and pathetic human man as well: his own loneliness.

Oh how he hates it. It’s so illogical, so contradictory. A willing step backwards, for what gain?! A companion to talk to, a pretty face to look at, a warm body next to his in bed? What a disgustingly human thing for him to yearn for, and no matter how he pressed it down and down he will inevitably find himself picking up the phone again and sending you a set of instructions through an untraceable signal from a new number and alias. Always so complicated and specific. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going, make sure you’re not followed, leave exactly an hour after Strangers in the Night activates, do not arrive early under any circumstances, make sure you’re inside for the rest of the night an hour before Strangers in the Night concludes. There are to be no unnecessary risks, no deviations from his carefully crafted schedule for you, or he will put you down immediately and eradicate your entire existence from the planet.

All that effort, just for a date night.

You’ve been doing this cautious little dance with him on and off for the past two years now. Long enough to know what sort of conversation he’d indulge and what he’d immediately shut down when you tried to talk to him in your secluded little corner booth in a restaurant you definitely couldn’t have afforded if a literal mafia boss wasn’t your date.

It didn’t matter, given the nature of your stand would guarantee the protection of his identity. But by pure instinct he remained cautious and private…maybe it was your imagination but you swore even the way his pink bangs framed his face intentionally concealed his eyes a bit. Yet he wore such expensive lipstick. What for if no one was allowed to look at him? Just to flex his wealth to anyone who did manage to catch a glimpse of him? You don’t want to ask.

Such a frustrating man of many contradictions, calling you here for your company but then detesting most of your conversation topics.

He refused to answer what he’s been up to lately, asking about where he’s been staying or traveling to next will result in a hard glare…never have you met someone who hated talking about themselves THIS much…and yet he always stares at you so expectantly, waiting for you to come up with a topic he actually has something to say about.

If you had literally any other stand…anything, or even none at all, he would’ve been content to dismiss you as useless and insignificant. He never would’ve revealed himself to you…you could be properly living your life as a normal person…but no. You just HAD to have this stupid, awful stand that just so happened to greatly intrigue the mafia. And now anytime the boss of Passione demanded your attention you had to drop everything and go to him. You can’t defy the mafia. He’s made a point of showing what would happen if you decided you weren’t going to obey him.

“It’s a beautiful night,” you say half-heartedly, once you’ve given up on thinking of any mildly interesting topic that wouldn’t immediately irritate him.

He exhales through his nose, bringing his glass of wine to his lips. You wonder how you managed to irk him with just that.

Oh…

“I wouldn’t know,” is all he says, clearly dismissing this topic for conversation.

Right.

He wouldn’t know.

Doppio was the one who came here, waiting for you in a suit visibly too large for him. And the table that he reserved for you (according to his boss’s specifications) was a booth, in the corner, without so much as a window near it. A habit. Even with the knowledge that Strangers in the Night protected his identity from a passerby glimpsing his side profile through a window, he wasn’t going to flaunt his face willingly.

Diavolo had not seen the night due to how the evening had played out, but he’s never been one to stop and observe a beautiful evening just for the sake of it anyways.

Hatred always seemed like a very strong word to you. To hate someone…how badly did someone have to hurt you for you to Really hate them? You thought you had already felt hatred for another human being before, when your feelings were severely hurt, or you were left behind or betrayed by someone supposed to be your friend…but ever since you’ve started meeting face to face with Diavolo, you’ve learned.

You don’t know hatred.

This man radiates it in droves. Pure, obsessive, all-consuming hatred. It permeated his very skin. It drove him to punish and kill without an ounce of hesitation. He hated so much, everyone was an enemy, anyone that wasn’t himself was a threat, and that extended even to you, a person who’s never done a Thing to personally offend him. An innocent person wrapped up in a spider’s web of his own creation. He was the one who dragged you to this point, threatened you into submission, forces you out on these stupid and pointless dates, and you had done EVERYTHING he said to his exact specifications, obeyed easily because you didn’t want him to hurt any other innocent people, and yet…

He had a special type of hatred for you. Beyond his usual hatred for anything with eyes and a mouth. Because just as much as you were a boon to him you were a bane. A mirror that showed him his own weakness so plainly it disgusted him. As much as he hated you, he wanted you. This shallow lust was like a deep affection for a man like him, the closest thing he could feel to love. He had only felt this once before, and he remembered how it only led to a mess for him to clean up. So why was he letting it happen all over again? Has he always been such a desperate, pathetic fool?

Could he really say the extra precautions he took with you meant anything when fundamentally he’s still repeating a past mistake?

He had done Extensive research on you before he had actually committed to entangling your life in Passione. Almost no family, just a father you’re not on speaking terms with. A few friends who might look for you, and you just recently had a tough breakup with the only boyfriend you’ve ever had…but the power of your stand was too good to pass up. At most he’d have a few citizens contacting the police to report you missing.

A low risk for a very high reward. One even the ever cautious boss of Passione was willing to take.

He met you as Doppio while you were out running errands. The strength of your heartache and the loneliness of disappearing from everyone’s memory every single night made you all too easily won over by compliments and pretty words.

Combine that with him sharing an interesting story with you a little after your friendship progressed about how he has unusual powers, the ability to see the future. It’s always made him different from others, if that makes sense? Do you ever get a feeling like that?

You replay your time with Doppio over and over again. Was there a way out of it if you had known? Anything you could’ve said or done to get away? At the very least you wished you hadn’t played so easily into Diavolo’s hand; you had practically sprinted right into his trap. It makes you sick. The only piece of Diavolo you have ever witnessed that you could actually even remotely relate to: you were both weak to your own loneliness.

It didn’t take you long to open up to him about your own mysterious ability. Though you said you considered it more of a curse.

Doppio had smiled after you explained it, balancing his chin on his hands as he seemed to consider the plus sides of such an interesting stand.

“Ah, but imagine all the fun you could have if nobody remembers it in the morning,” he suggested.

“Like…the crime type of fun?”

He shook his head vigorously, like it was an absurd thought and he’s shocked that’s where your mind immediately went. “No, not like crime! Like things you’re too embarrassed for other people to remember.”

“Ahhh, like karaoke when I’m drunk.”

He huffs at your unwillingness to see the good of your stand, but shrugs it off. It’s not like making you feel any particular way about your stand was part of his orders.

Doppio knows how to present himself as someone easy to trust. Only a few months after knowing him, you began inviting him over to your house. A bit of an isolated place, you said you had been renting it for a while. Doppio makes a mental note that there will be a landlord who might search for you.

A few days after that, your ex-boyfriend started calling you again, telling you things like how he regretted the way things ended up between you, and how he missed you and wanted to talk to you again. You were conflicted, not quite ready to talk about it yet.

He hadn’t mentioned anything about coming to see you. Because your ex was a rather dramatic romantic, thinking showing up in the middle of the night unannounced was somehow better than asking to meet you somewhere public where you’d feel more comfortable talking to him.

And because you didn’t know, you had invited Doppio over. He was a little on edge tonight, much more so than usual. It was almost time for the plan to be enacted. The boss of Passione has decided that you were worth it. Silencing a landlord was easy, and all that recon spent on you led to the conclusion that your “friends” weren’t too concerned with you. He doubted they would even report your disappearance, but it wouldn’t be hard to get to them before they even noticed you were gone. He’s already been through your phone, memorizing every name in your contacts. He knew Doppio wouldn’t disappoint him, getting you comfortable enough with him that you didn’t worry about setting your phone down next to him and then occupying yourself with something else.

Your ex-boyfriend was slightly more of an unpredictable piece in this game. But from the way you talked about him, Diavolo didn’t think he would be much of a problem.

Even if he started poking around looking for you it wouldn’t be a problem.

But showing up entirely unannounced at your door while Doppio was at your house?

He really hated having to improvise, but he had already decided he wanted you, and he wasn’t about to trip right before the finish line.

You and Doppio both jumped at the knocking on your door so late at night.

“Who the hell is that?” Doppio asked, an uncharacteristic amount of discomfort and stress in his voice.

When you get to the door, you sigh, letting out an irritated “oh no,”when you see who it is. “My ex.”

“What?!”

“It’s fine, I’ll just tell him to leave.”

Why was Doppio SO on edge tonight? He had already stood up and was currently racing over to the door, his eyebrows furrowed in an intense stress that didn’t suit his usual demeanor.

“Don’t open that door!”

“What’s WITH you? It’s not a big deal, I’ll just shoo him away.”

Your hand is already on the doorknob, confused about why all the guys around you were suddenly acting so weird, but you’re not alarmed enough to really think about Doppio’s sudden demand.

“Hey, I’m serious! Don’t open it! We can just pretend we’re not here…” his boss hated when his plans got interrupted. It would put him in a terrible mood if he had to enact the final part of his plan a few days earlier than he initially planned. Killing your ex right in front of you would make it way more difficult to get you to willingly use your powers for Diavolo’s sake. Trying to force you was gonna be WAY more unpleasant, and undo all the effort he had put in to gaining your trust.

#thus wrote Mrs Zeppeli #diavolo x reader #jjba Diavolo x reader #jojos bizarre adventure x reader #jojos bizarre adventure Diavolo x reader #this is only the first part but I think I need to rewrite the second. but I’m curious what you guys think

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