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Life as Diego was… definitely strange, to say the least. When he had first woken up, he had been in complete shock, and then denial. The idea that he was experiencing something so surreal as another life after his untimely death was almost impossible to wrap his head around. His only saving grace had been the fact that his new family hadn’t been very social with each other, allowing him time to acclimate before he had been forced to return to his school. That had been the worst realization he had been saddled with, that all of his years of grueling work and slaving away was rewarded with nothing but even more work. Weren’t you supposed to be able to rest when you’re dead? Thankfully his supposed “friends” at the school- little more than glorified cronies following whomever had the biggest wallet, really, he was well acquainted with the type- hadn’t seem to notice anything amiss with him either, allowing rather smooth sailing all things considered. The original owner of the body seemed to have been rather a stickler for the class system, having a little booklet in his nightstand about proper etiquette and manners that he had taken to studying like it was finals week all over again.
His new body wasn’t all that different from before, except for an additional foot of height. Most of the time he hadn’t spent studying up on social etiquette had been spent trying to stop bumping into things or knocking them over with his new wingspan. Seriously, how did those protagonists in the comics and stories never have this kind of problem? Thankfully, the physical side of things was most of the issue. The schoolwork he had been dreaded had turned out to either be things he had already studied before or things that he could easily bluff his way through. Honestly, after a while, things started to get rather boring. There were only so many parties one could go to before they all blurred together into one giant, boozy, kiss-ass blob.
Another of the downsides besides being forced to go to school again was the personality that the original goods sported. A bully and an all around piece of shit, nothing like how he was. Well, he supposed outwardly he had seemed just like Diego to those around him, but he had wanted nothing more than to spoil those around him. It wasn’t his fault that everyone always thought he was mocking them! But all the people around him as Diego were nothing more than self centered brats who spoke too big of a game to back up. Not a single one of them were worth indulging, already spoiled rotten by their circumstances. He had resigned himself to a life of monotony, bored out of his mind. Unchallenged by the lectures he attended, nothing like the complex architectural classes he had spent hours memorizing. If he applied himself, of course, he could probably become the kind of prodigy that would be the pride of the school, but… the idea just felt hollow to him. The combined knowledge he carried and the wealthy status of his family meant he could simply coast along with minimal effort. And so his days marched on, each one more monotonous and boring than the last.
That was, of course, until Julian arrived. The young man had shown up in class, clinging to the edge of the room and getting a seat closest to the door. All his clothes were slightly worn down, his books clearly second-hand. Diego- it had taken a while to learn to refer to himself that way- had straightened up a bit in his seat, eyes gleaming with what his cronies had assumed was malicious intent. Apparently, Julian and the previous Diego had a bit of a history. It was clear to see, what with Diego’s obsession with maintaining the status quo. The red hair and freckled face, the way he treated each piece of paper with care, cramming as many notes onto a single sheet as he could… It was familiar behavior he had grown used to looking for in his previous life. Not to mention the way that, when cornered between classes, he did nothing but hold his tongue, baring the mockery and violence with as much grace as one could muster in the situation.
Unlike his previous life, however, he couldn’t simply walk up to the man and ask to be friends, to offer to take him out and watch him stuff his cheeks with food so delicious it would make him cry. Instead, he had to apply himself. He spent hours planning what to say and when to approach, to slowly wean his cronies off of the abuse they reigned down on Julian. He had to calculate how many times he could simply describe something as hideous and a mistake before he could pawn it off onto Julian, as a mocking charity case so as not to make the boy suspicious. He tried once to compliment him, but that had been too much too quickly, leaving Julian to spook like a frightened rabbit and then hide from Diego for the better part of a week. Instead, he doubled down on the insults, but began to change the way he delivered them. No more of the physical violence or threats, but more of the cruel mocking tones that were always expected from people like him.
He had to find another victim for the idiots around him to narrow in on, leaving Julian free from the targets painted on his back for the first time since maybe he had even come to the school. He had felt a twinge of guilt when he witnessed another student getting cornered, but the guilt had quickly been washed away at the sight of Julian’s confusion and then hope as he managed to walk down the hallways unaccosted. The sight of him scurrying to his next class with a slightly shell shocked expression had fueled Diego for days, the thought of his planning finally panning out leaving him nearly ecstatic. He found himself wondering how long it would take until he could see Julian smile- until he could be the cause of said smile. Would his freckles scrunch? Would his eyes get squinty or would they be wide in delight? It was embarrassing how much the idea got under his skin, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
So he continued to plan. To plot and scheme on how to get closer to Julian. It would take a very long time to repair the negative relationship that had formed between the two, although he liked to think that he was already making a good headway with it. And he began to resort to methods from the modern world, ones that no one in the current world would have any defenses against. Anonymous gifts and presents snuck into his rooms, his books ruined so he had no choice but to take the new ones that Diego offered. It was underhanded, but Diego was determined to get what he wanted. And by the end of it, Julian would be so well cared for that he may burst with all the affection that he’d be lathered in. There would be enough doting to drown in, and Diego would be able to watch Julian smile and thank him, to rescue Julian from the unfortunate situation he was in. It would be easy enough to wipe out the debt that the barony was suffering from, but he didn’t want to expend so much energy on someone who wasn’t Julian.
Diego had his favorites, and he was heavily biased. He wouldn’t deny that. But in the face of all the problems that his previous host had made for his current self, he found himself more excited than ever. He
would
make Julian happy, even if it took every penny he owned and every favour he had ever gained.