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Earlier in the day, Diego had left their shared room with a quick goodbye to Hot Pants, rushing to the library to pick up a book she had reserved and had been waiting for with bated breath. She told her roommate that she would likely stay in the library for another hour or so after she picked up the book. The library was quiet and dark, filled with the smell of old books and a sense of peace. Diego enjoyed sitting in a tiny seat close to the back of the building, placed next to a window that let her soak up the sunlight.
Watching the gathering clouds above her, Diego walked briskly up the steps to the building and immediately went to pick up her prized book. A picture of a velociraptor covered in colorful feathers adorned the dust jacket of the book, and Diego eagerly flipped to the opening pages. A part of her knew that her intense interest in dinosaurs was a little childish, but she couldn’t help herself. They looked like kings of the animal world, all sharp teeth and scaled skin. The book she had chosen was a compilation of new research and theories around the appearance of dinosaurs, along with other new information.
She was brimming with excitement as she walked over to her usual spot, idly reading the introduction, written by an up and coming archaeologist from England, only to find that someone had decided that her private spot was the perfect place to canoodle with their boyfriend. Johnny Joestar turned away from his partner to shoot Diego an utterly disgusted look as he snarled at the intruder.
“You do know that this is a public institution, correct?” Diego said, quirking an eyebrow.
“Why should I care? It’s not like anyone comes to the library anyway“ Johnny snapped, Gyro’s agreeable grunt somewhat muffled by Johnny’s chest.
Gyro poked his head out to grin at Diego, his metallic teeth catching the light. He pulled the collar of his shirt down to show off a collection of bright pink marks covering his neck. “Me and Johnny were having a great time! If you hadn’t interrupted us, I’m sure we would’ve been done for public indecency. Thanks for the cockblock, Dio!”
Diego curled her lip at the man’s response. ”Oh my god. Jesus Christ. I am fucking done here. Goodbye.” She turned sharply on her heel and left to the sounds of Gyro’s distinctive laugh filling up the aisle behind her. She guessed her outing was to be cut short after all.
Diego was almost glad that her time at the library was cut short, as she began to be spattered with raindrops towards the end of her walk. She walked up to her door, and was just about to fling it open when she heard a quiet voice filling the room inside. Diego was confused. She had never heard Hot Pants sing or even play an instrument, so she doubted they possessed much musical prowess. She thought for a moment it could be Lucy, a high school student who often visited the university and was close friends with HP. She listened closer, and began to make out the words of a song in a language she had never heard out loud before.
“Gloria in excelsis Deo, Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntaris.
Laudamus te, benedicmus te, adoramus te.
Glorificamus te, gratias agimus tibi, propter magnam gloriam tuam.”
The voice trailed off, and Diego heard footsteps approaching the room’s door. Hot Pants opened the door and widened their eyes.
“Dio, I thought you were going to be at the library? Did something happen? I didn’t expect for you to be back so soon” they trailed off, glancing away from their roommate.
“Someone happened, yes. D’you think that Joestar and his boyfriend could consider the public before going at each other in a goddamn library?” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I managed to collect that book I reserved, so something good came out of that errand”.
“That’s good to hear. I fed the Scary Monsters for you, by the way,” they said, looking over to the large terrarium containing Diego’s three beloved bearded dragons.
“Thanks, HP.” She gave a small smile and began to quietly pick at the side of her face. “Um, was that you singing before? Just before you let me in?”
“Yeah.”
“It was. Uh. It was really beautiful,” she stammered out, staring at the floor.
“That’s what four years in a girl’s school choir will do for you” they replied sheepishly.
“Y-you sounded like a-uh an angel” Shit. Why the hell did her roommate somehow turn her into a stuttering mess? she thought. This isn’t like me at all.
“Thank you.”
“Latin, right?”
“Yes. It’s a hymn we sang at Mass.”
“Ah.”
Diego picked harder at the sore on her cheek, the flesh becoming red and raised. Hot Pants stepped forward, gently pulling Diego’s hand away from her face.
“Hey, hey,” Hot Pants grasped their roommate’s hands, bringing them to their chest. They looked Diego in the eye, their lips parting, beginning to form their usual quiet, kind words. It’s just me, No need to be nervous. We live together, yeah? You’re safe here. No need to worry.
Diego didn’t even hear the words HP was saying. All she could focus on was the way their full lips formed the syllables, wondering what it would be like to kiss them, even just once. Wait. What the fuck. No no no no no. Absolutely not. I can’t be thinking this. They’re my roommate, for Christ’s sake! And there’s no way they could like me like that. Still…
Diego cleared her throat and mustered up one of her rare genuine smiles. “Thanks HP.”
“You’re welcome, Dio”
“I’m uh- I’m going to go read my book now,” Dio looked at them shyly, “D’you want to see it? I can explain the things you don’t understand.”
“I’d love to, Diego.”
The pair wandered over to the couch and sat down, Hot Pants curling their legs up onto the seat and leaning into Diego. Dio smiled, and opened up the book to the first chapter. Maybe this is all I need for now, she thinks. Someone that I can lean on. She rests her head against HP’s, and begins to read.