Ash & Jotaro : "Colleagues With Benefits"

The closeness starts with smoking cigarettes outside of Ash’s van during lapses in work. Then, Jotaro begins to stay over for drinks, more comfortable to crash in Ash’s dismal one-bedroom apartment than to stay in his own lux condo, for some reason. Ash learns one morning on their run-down couch that Jotaro doesn’t totally hate being touched by other people as they had previously assumed. They push their luck, stealing whatever little touches they could. Even sleeping together a few times.

Whenever Jotaro disappears for a few weeks, Ash realizes how deep they’re in. They have always been someone who is aloof, only being near someone to take what they want from them, detached. But now, they’re hoping that Jotaro can come back, and that they could convince him to stick around. When Jotaro returns, he escapes to the safety of Ash’s apartment, looking for any sort of distraction they could afford him. Alcohol, drugs, touch, sex. The two forget themselves and start to kiss as well, starting with cheeks and arms and necks before they commit to touching their lips together.

Every oddity about Jotaro’s life sticks in Ash’s mind like a hot coal, igniting a burning curiosity within them. They want to know what happened to him, not only to satisfy themself, but also to try and help him, as he certainly won’t help himself. First, they grill him about his wife, then, his daughter, and eventually, what happened to him in Cairo. Eventually, they pressure him enough to crack him, and he tells them everything. It’s all too much for Ash to believe, and they don’t believe it until they feel a giant, invisible hand grab their arm.

It’s a few months before the two of them talk again. There’s one week where Jotaro has to make a wellness check to Ash’s apartment; not due to their argument, but because of Ash’s horrid relationship with their own grief. Unfortunately, Jotaro is the only person who ever gave them the time of day, and he knows that someone calling the police to check on them would end badly. Jotaro’s compassion doesn’t fix much between the two of them, but it rekindles their relationship just enough for them to eventually return to each other, despite it all.

Somehow, the both of them accepting and being comfortable with Ash knowing about Jotaro’s secret past draws them closer together than ever. Ash does everything in their power to protect Jotaro, which they don’t realize isn’t anything at all. After they visit his mother in his hometown, they gain a renewed motivation to extend themself as far as they can, and after they complete their dissertation they join the Speedwagon Foundation.

In the back of their mind, Ash hides their ulterior motives for joining the Foundation. They grit their teeth doing something so underhanded, but they are able to eventually steal a Stand arrow for their own purposes, piercing their right palm before being apprehended by their fellow agents. They spend a couple of days with an extreme fever, with Jotaro once again beside himself with silent anger at their decision to make this sort of choice for themself. After a brief probation, Ash is tentatively welcomed back into the Foundation after proving that their newfound Stand may be potentially useful.

Ash and Jotaro’s first missions together are shaky. Ash is not only learning how to use their own Stand effectively, but also begin to push their luck, feeling indestructible now that they feel they are a worthy protector. Jotaro maintains his bitterness towards Ash putting themself in danger for his sake, when they are fragile and unable to defend themself no matter how often they posture otherwise. Seeing the opportunity to get under his skin, Ash begins to act inappropriately towards Jotaro to stoke his frustrations further, enjoying his passion even if is at the both of their expense.

The two eventually settle into a rhythm, finishing their dissertations between working for the Foundation together. Being whisked to the corners of the Earth to complete their duties give them a renewed sense of security and freedom to act as they please, especially since Ash now has a Stand that can at least somewhat protect them. The boundaries of their relationship are pushed further and further, with Jotaro finally settling into something… comfortable. Nothing even close to resembling a typical romantic or sexual relationship, but that doesn’t matter.

Ash and Jotaro become more involved in each other’s lives than either of them had ever originally expected. They both begin to share the same apartment, only staying to rest between work. Ash finally meet Jotaro’s ex-wife and daughter, both of whom resent Jotaro far more than they resent them, despite obviously being more present in his life than them. Most importantly, their relationship becomes more than just seeking an escape from their miserable lives.

Things would not be well for long. Somehow, their superiors at the Speedwagon Foundation find out their relationship is more close than it had first appeared, and this is massively inappropriate behavior, especially for Jotaro. In their eyes, Ash and Jotaro’s relationship makes them liabilities. Ash is reassigned to handle subduing and bringing in potentially dangerous Stand users, as well as acting as a parole officer for those that the Foundation is keeping their eye on. Jotaro continues his work fighting Dio’s forces, now separated from Ash as long as he is doing work for the Foundation.

Not one to be outdone, Ash still finds a way to sneak away to wherever Jotaro has gone, meeting him in the night like a secretive gentleman caller. They also still live together between missions, against the Foundation’s urging. Seeking further legal protection in case the two are separated, or god forbid something happens to one of them, they become legally married in Boston.

The two end up moving into the same house, a place on the edge between somewhere and nowhere where the two can go to lay low. Ash never wished for a “normal” life growing up, and certainly not wishing for a domestic one, but having a space that is wholly theirs gives them an alien feeling.

With their lives finally beginning to feel like their own, Ash and Jotaro continue their work, hopeful that maybe one day, the two can live the rest of their life however they want.

• Ash is not (directly) involved in any of the events of any part of JJBA. The events of Diamond is Unbreakable occur after Ash learns about Jotaro’s involvement with Stand users, but before they join the Speedwagon Foundation, thus they spend this period of time speaking to Jotaro over the phone. They are a fresh agent when Vento Aureo starts. I have still been mulling over their possible involvement in taking care of Jotaro during the events of Stone Ocean.
• In canon, Ash survives beyond the series’ end, seeing ‘Jotaro’ re-live his life without suffering and realizing that if his life went well, it would have had no room for them in it. It takes a few years to recover from their losses, but they end up re-marrying and trying to find happiness again.