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The first time Diego Brando ever experienced what high society was like he was 15, it was during the after party of his first ever win as jockey. The rush from his first victory and finally seeing all his hard work paying of was carrying him through most of it. He had felt like he was about to pass out at any moment from all the excitement.
People kept coming up to congratulate him and most of the night was a blur save for some of the food. At the time it had all seemed do bright and enticing, if a bit overwhelming. Though he was sure he'd get used to it eventually. This was what he was building up to after all, to be apart of all of that. Even if Diego had to escape the venue at some point into the stables to calm down. Even if it had drained him so much that he barely talked to people during the following week despite usually being talkative.
It was going to be worth it, even if Diego's mind screamed at him otherwise.
-
Over time Diego had gotten used to the draining feeling from those sorts of events, it had become nothing more than just a nagging feeling at the back of his head which he could ignore. But then had come the realization of how many more unspoken rules and standards that existed among this level of society. The ones that existed normally had already confused Diego enough when he was younger so this only served to confuse him more.
Figuring it all out took too much trial and error, it frustrated him how every time he thought he finally figured it all out there was something else he missed. Diego could've been making better use of his time by training or taking care of the horses. He kept telling himself this would be worth it however, if you want to remain at the top you need to fit in among high society. Networking was an important aspect of it, and Diego wasn't one to ignore something that would help him in the long run. Even if he hated how many things he needed to remember for seemingly no reason but to appease others, even if he wanted to just understand what others were saying but needed to play mind games to figure out what they were talking about.
Diego wished humans weren't so complicated, maybe this is why he preferred to spend time around horses. But it'd be worth it, even if he was starting to doubt that.
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Camping wasn't an activity Diego had expected he'd enjoy so much, but through having to do it out of necessity during the Steel Ball Run he was beginning to enjoy it. It was quiet, even with the sounds of the natural world it felt a lot calmer than the cities he was used to during his entire life. The peace Diego felt as he stared up into the starry sky with only Silver Bullet by his side was unlike anything he had ever felt before.
It felt right, as if this was where he was meant to be. Nothing else in the world mattered right then and there. But Diego knew he'd have to leave it behind eventually, there was no way he'd be able to do this as often as the Steel Ball Run would give him the chance to once it was over. He'd just need to savor it while he still had the chance.
The last time Diego was covered in this much dirt thanks to sleeping in the woods was when he was during his early days as a jockey. He remembered being scolded when he got seen that dirty due to not having fully trusted the stable hands to properly take care of the horses just yet. Diego had gone to ensure they were properly cared, it had been a while since he did that much horse care himself. At least now he had a chance to engage in all of that again, he liked being able to do that for himself.
Diego wished this could last forever, but it's just a small piece to his victory in the race. Even if this felt like everything he ever wanted.
-
When Diego finally got a moment to sit down and figure out Scary Monsters, it was odd. Despite turning him into a literal dinosaur, using it felt almost like second nature. The enhanced senses and new instincts that came with it were strange to say the least but what truly was odd to Diego was how unbothered he was by any of this. It was almost as if he's had the Stand his entire life, despite the fact that he only recently got it.
There was something so natural about using Scary Monsters, Diego could feel that it had just been waiting to be released all this time. Something so primal that had been waiting in him for so long, he worried about how he was going to get it back into the cage which it had left when the race was over. There was no way he'd be able to go any of his usual events with the Stand active like this. Diego knew that'd be no easy task however.
Scary Monsters was a beast who had finally be set free, and it wasn't going to play nice if Diego tried to shove it down as he had been doing already. For it was the part of him that knew it was never truly worth it.