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Diego pulled his scarf tighter around his neck, shivering as the biting wind blew past him once again. Since developing his stand, he had noticed a stark decrease in his ability to stand the cold weather, which was a problem in all this snow. He turned to his companion, frowning into his scarf as she loosened her own. She smiled over to him, the warmth of it seeping into his chest a little; he refused to believe that a nobody stablehand could cause butterflies in his stomach.
“I can’t see the Joestar group anymore, so we must have put enough space between us and them.” She turned around to scan the land behind her once again. “Yeap, we’re completely clear. Do you know how much further we have to go?”
“I don’t know!” Diego snapped, the cold sneaking under his coat as he whipped his head around to look at her.
“Are you alright Diego? You’re looking pretty pale, and you’re really snappy at the moment.” She asked, her smile fading to a frown. She took one of her thick glove off, before reaching over towards him. He turned away from her before she could touch his cheek, letting out a small, annoyed click of the tongue.
“I’m fine, lets just hurry along; there is another town not that far away from here.” He moved Silver Bullet away, continuing through the birch forest. She let out a disappointed sigh, before following behind him, her brown mare letting out a small huff with her rider. Diego knew she was just concerned about him, but his weakness was too much for him. He just needed the warmth, and distance from Joestar, who he had seen through the trees an hour before. A shiver ran through his body, his hands starting to shake and stiffen, as the light started to fade.
“Diego? Diego?!”
He opened his eyes slightly, wondering why the land in front of him had gone a strange grey colour. She appeared above him, her short hair falling downwards, and in front of her face. He blinked slowly, trying to figure out why her hair was in front of her face now. She placed her hand against his face, flinching slightly at the burning sensation.
“Shit, you’re freezing cold!” She shouted, panic starting to sneak into her voice. He stared up at her in annoyance, his eyebrows starting to knit together.
“What...what are.. You talking about?” His voice was slow, stuttering, and slurred, and that’s when he realised how bad his situation was. He was freezing to death, and the only person with him could probably do nothing about it.
“Diego, stay with me, I’m going to try and find us somewhere to hunker down, alright?” She started to babble at him as she moved from his view. He felt her gloved hands slip under his armpits, before lifting him up; with his view returned to normal, he could easily see that he was lead on the ground, Silver Bullet stood next to him. He reasoned that he must have blacked out fallen off his horse, a fact that irritated him to no end. She quickly bent down, hoisting him up onto his feet, which refused to cooperate with him.
“Once you’re on Silver, we’ll be away, I promise.” She tried to soothe him, he could tell, but her misnaming of his prize winner, his champion companion, struck a nerve with him.
“It’s Silver Bullet.” He mumbled as she hoisted him up into the saddle once again, letting him lean forward onto Silver Bullet’s neck. She moved around to get something out of his pack, as his eyes slipped closed once again.
He slowly opened his eyes as he was rolled onto his side, to face a blank stone wall. They were in the open a second ago, where were they? He was lowered back down, to look up at her face once again. Her cheeks sparkled slightly, as relief washed over her features.
“Diego! Please, stay with me!” She begged, as she began to button something closed. He looked down, to see the two sleeping bags wrapped around him. She was trying to warm him, he reasoned, and this was her only plan? He opened his mouth to criticise her half baked plan, but she moved away from him, a box of matches lying next to her. He watched for a few minutes as she stacked the wood haphazardly, trying to build a suitably sized fire quickly. He watched as she pulled some of the hay they had brought to feed their horses, and stuffed it into the bottom of the wood pile, quickly followed by a lit match The pile smoked for a few seconds, before the warm amber glow began to surround it. Diego looked up at her warm smile, echoing one on his own face, before his eyes began to lip open and shut.Each time they opened, the scene before him changed; the entrance to the small cave she’d moved them two became blocked, she moved in front of him to feel his face, she was russling something behind him, before finally leaving him alone in the cave. The final one confused him the most, she had never abandoned him before, even after his multiple fights with Joestar and the Italian, so why now? She had always given him a sweet smile as she cleaned his wounds, telling him it was fine, soothing his bestial mind until Scary Monsters fully faded. He huffed in annoyance, before hearing a small, incoherent mumble against the shell of his ear.
Diego tried to turn around, but something held him tightly in place; there was a dead, heavy weight draped across his waist, curling up towards his chest, and something warm and soft intertwined with his legs. It took him a moment to realise that he was naked, stripped of his usual turquoise uniform, as was the thing behind him. He looked around the cave, trying to find his travelling companion so she could deal with the problem, but he couldn’t find her; that’s when the penny dropped; He could hear her gentle breathing brushing against his ear, her heartbeat softly thumping, and her warmth radiating within him. He carefully untangled his legs, before turning around in the shared bedroll, looking down at her relaxed face. His face flushed a deep red, as he realised she was just as naked as he was.
He tried to not look down at her breasts as he tried to gently shake her awake. He watched her blink slowly, a sleepy smile dancing across her lips as her eyes opened, so Diego quickly tried to put an angry scowl.
“Where are my clothes?” He asked sharply, keeping his eyes locked on her face as she sat up.
“Oh, I put them near the fire to warm up. You almost froze out there today.” She replied, disappointment lacing her soft voice.
“You shouldn’t have bothered,” He said sharply, as he looked around once again for his clothes. He sat up quickly, the cold air of the air suddenly swirling around him, making him shiver. He turned his back to her, refusing to look at her, as her voice took on an angry tone.
“No, you don’t get to say that. You would have died out there Diego. I know you hate having to rely on people, and feeling like you owe people, but that would have been it; you wouldn’t have found a way out of that on your own.” She reached up and grabbed his shoulder, dragging him back down to face her. “You don’t get to make a choice like that, no when there’s us two together in this race not when I-” She turned away, her cheeks taking on a dusting of pink. Diego realised exactly what she wanted to say, and he took a moment to think about how he felt about her as well.
She had been with him since shortly after he had gotten his stand, and she had refused to leave his side ever since. They were a good team, and she was surprisingly alright with him turning into a raptor during the race; as well as helping him stitch up his wounds. He had caught himself staring at her a few too many times, staring at her eyes, her smile, and her profiled face. He took a deep breath before moving her head to face him once again.
“Alright, fine. I shouldn’t have said that.” He admitted stubbornly as he kept his eyes locked with hers.
“Diego what do yo-” He interrupted her with a kiss before she could finish her question. She was frozen against his lips for a moment, before softly returning the kiss. They remained pressed together for a minute, before they both pulled back, hooded eyes meeting. She wore a dopey smile on her face, which made Diego roll his eyes before laying flat on his back. She lead herself across his chest, pulling the sleeping bag tight once again. He brought his arm around her shoulders, gently running his hand down her side comfortingly, as she hummed with content.
“How long were you waiting to do that?” She asked with a small giggle, as she ran her finger in circles on his chest.
“Long enough.” He admitted, not wanting to reveal his feelings in depth. She gave him a knowing smile.
“It was after that time when you injured your leg, when I had to stitch the wound closed. The way you were so calm, even when you were in full raptor mode, towards mel That’s when i knew.” Diego remained silent for a beat.
“It was before that, when you bothered to make breakfast for me even after I had a go at you. You’re too kind for you own good.” He chastised, earning a giggle from her. He pulled her close, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead.
“How long do you want to stay here?” She asked with a smile.
“Until I get warm.” He replied simply, as he pulled her closer. He closed his eyes, listening to her gentle breathing, as he let himself be lulled into a sweet, sleep. His dreams were filled with the beautiful future they would have together once he won the race, and his life with her. They stayed lead together until late into the next morning, more than content to just remain together, in their small peaceful cave, in the middle of the bitch forest.