kaisou | [CLOSED] Family means nobody gets left behind

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[CLOSED] Family means nobody gets left behind

WHO: Dolores and Bruno Madrigal
WHERE: Casita
WHEN: Some time late February
WHAT: Breakfast!
WARNINGS: Noted as required

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[Meal time was always family time in the Madrigal household, and breakfast was no exception. Abuela insisted on such things and although Dolores had never truly minded it - she does love her family, after all - being in Kaisou has given her the opportunity to experience something truly novel.

Sleeping in.

Though it isn't an indulgence she lets herself have too often, this morning she wakes up late and stretches the last threads of weariness out of her body before she gets up. With Tía Julieta around it's all but guaranteed that no one will ever go hungry, so of course there is something left for her to eat. But when she hears in a passing comment from someone walking by that Bruno had also not been present at breakfast, she needs only a moment to consider her options.

Bruno's door had been a forbidden thing for almost as long as Dolores could remember. Never spoken of, it was as if everyone tried to ignore that it existed. And going through it? Unthinkable, until Mirabel had done just that. Now, it glows in the same soft way as every enchanted door in the house and although she feels a twinge of trepidation at doing so, she turns the knob and pushes the door open.

And beyond... a curtain of sand that parts in an almost friendly manner to let her through when she approaches. A wide, open hall, a bridge, and--]

Ay Dios mío.

[Stairs.

And it's so high! Would he even hear her if she called out?

But then-- ah, wait! Call! Dolores pats the pockets of her skirt quickly and pulls out the funny little communications device that she was given on her arrival here. She prods at it until she finds her ongoing conversation with her uncle and then, looking up at the high... very high spiral of stairs, she calls him.

And, as soon as he picks up.]

Good morning, Tío. I'm-- uhm, in your room. At the bottom of the all of these stairs. Would you like to have breakfast with me?

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[Bruno had been surprised to see his tower had returned to him intact after Mirabel destroyed it. He'd not really had the chance to check on it when Casita had been restored, and regardless had kind of assumed it was still trash.

But here he is- with a functioning room again. It's not as hostile as it used to be when he was living in the walls, an echo of his own self-imposed exile from the family, but it's not exactly friendly yet either. The sandfall might not be actively trying to kill people anymore, but the stairs are still very much there.

But hey! The phones are handy. He'd honestly just been sitting in his vision cave, enjoying the dark and quiet of it all. But at least this saves Dolores from...climbing the stairs. So many. He guesses that's a problem that's only going to solve itself when he deals with...well, all his internal conflict. He expects it'll be a while. ]

Oh, good morning. I missed it? What time is it? [Time doesn't exist in the vision cave. Or rather, it does, it's just not the present.] Uh, sure, sure. Gimmie a sec, I'm coming.

[He'll pull himself to his feet and head down the creepy stone corridor to the entrance to the stairwell. She might just be able to see him up there, waving at her, before he makes his way down.

Gonna take him a while. But at least he has his phone still, even if he's...bad at small talk.]

So. You-you sleep good?

Almost ten.

[It doesn't entirely surprise her that he would maybe choose to keep to himself now and then even if he was happy to be able to be with the family again. It had been ten years after all, with no one but Dolores even knowing that he was in the house at all.

And what a secret that had been to keep.]

I slept fine. It's nice to be able to get some rest without every sound I hear becoming part of my dreams.

[She laughs, but there's an oddly dry quality to it. Even in a sound-proofed room there were still some noises that would get through. While she waits she sits down in the sand at the bottom of the stairs and smooths some of it flat in front of her, before beginning to draw patterns in it.]

How about you, Tío?

Ooof, I'm really late. I'm surprised Julieta hasn't yelled at me yet.

[Yet. There's still time.

He's still prone to keeping his own company. But that was normal even before he chose to cut himself off from the world. He never quite...fit in. He always felt like he was a janky, broken piece of a jigsaw that simply didn't slot in with the rest of the puzzle. ]

Hah, I bet. Not hearing every single little thing ever has gotta be nice.

[His footsteps are a little louder now, sandals scraping over the stone as he descends. He doesn't respond right away.]

I slept a little.

[Which is to say...not really. Sleep has eluded him since he got his Gift. He didn't get bags under his eyes for nothing, after all. Finally, he makes it to the bottom of the stairs, giving her a little wave,]

Hi.

[There's still time.

Though as long as he does, eventually, eat... she suspects he might be spared his sister's wrath. Or at least most of it. Dolores had entirely expected that he might politely refuse her invitation to join her, but may still have brought him something up after she had finished. They all have to take care of each other while they're here after all, don't they?

And although she does keep the call open while he makes his way down she doesn't pressure him to talk, and soon enough the sound of his footsteps is close enough that she can look over her shoulder and see him approaching. While she's been waiting she's made a few childish patterns in the sand, swirls and boxy-looking trees, and she leaves them there as she hangs up and gets to her feet.

Dolores brushes the sand off her skirt, then approaches her uncle and loops her arm through his.]

Good morning. Ready to face the world?

[There's always still time for a good Julieta lecture.

He casts a look at the little doodles in the sand- they are definitely gonna stay there, he will never erase them. They're just part of the room now. At the question he chuckles awkwardly, rubbing his arm. ]

I don't know about the world yet. Maybe we can start with breakfast and move on from there?

[She chuckles, using her firm grip around his arm to guide him around the sand doodles and towards the door out of the room.]

I think that sounds like a good idea.

[The world can wait - Dolores doesn't feel much like facing it, either.]

Tía Julieta made arepas, and changua with some almojábanas. I'll make us some tea.

[He'll just let her guide him out of his little cave-room, smiling. He's glad Dolores understands- the world is a big and scary thing and there are so many people in it. Bruno just needs to be able to take a breath before he goes out there.]

Ooooh, she's been busy. [She's stress cooking, he mentally adds to himself. That little triplet language they have only between themselves. Hrm. He'll need to check in on her, she's got a lot on her shoulders since coming here. He wants to try and help her with that. ] Sounds good!

The kitchen still smells amazing.

[Stress cooking. Yes. Dolores would agree with that had he said it aloud, though she doesn't really think of it unprompted. Her thoughts are on her uncle right now; how surreal it still is to have him right here and not just a voice muttering inside the walls.

So they leave the room, head down the steps, and over to the kitchen where what is left from the family breakfast that morning is still sitting out ready to be eaten. Dolores had at least warmed everything up before she had come to collect her uncle, so there needs to be no waiting on hungry stomachs.]

I'll make tea, so... help yourself! Just leave some for me, okay?

It always does when she's in it.

[He's worried about her. She doesn't have Agustín here to lean back on. No Pepa either. She's just got him and as strong as their bond is, he's also been missing out of her life for a decade. He can't help but feel he's...lacking for her. For all of them really. They needed their brother and uncle in a strange world and he's bearly in a place where he's capable and willing to step outside all that much yet. He really wants to do better by them, even if he doesn't know how to.

He takes a step inside, pauses, rummages around in his ruana, and pulls out a couple of rats, which he places carefully on the floor.]

Sorry guys, you know the rules. I'll save you something.

[The rats squeak and scurry off, almost as if they understood him. He moves to take a seat, grabbing some food and adding it to a plate. ]

It's kinda nice to be able to eat meals hot again.

[She tilts her head a little in his direction when he sees off the rats, though she could have kept her silence had he decided to keep them in the kitchen. Perhaps just not on the table.

Dolores sets the kettle on the stove while Bruno keeps speaking and her hand lingers on the handle and she stares at the wall for a moment. Her lower lip draws in between her teeth, but when she turns around her expression is fixed into a warm smile.]

I bet it is. [The young woman is quiet while she gets some breakfast and she sets the plate down without sitting.]

... Did you know that I knew you were still here? [She asks then. She tries to keep her tone light, sliding onto her seat but keeping half an ear on the heating water.] Hearing you in the walls every day... it was like having my own secret friend for ten years.

[Julieta would have known there's no hiding things from Julieta. Especially concerning her kitchen. He leaves Dolores working away, giving her the peace of some silence while she does it- he knows her Gift isn't what it once was, but it still has to be nice to have things not be so...loud, right?

He glances over at her, surprised. He had kind of figured at some point she had to have heard him- it would be impossible for her not to, no matter how quiet he was. But having it laid out plain as day was...not what he was expecting. But the my own secret friend is what really makes a wrench in his chest. ]

Oh- really? Hah. I hope I wasn't a...bad one? [Because wow he had a WHOLE BUNCH of breakdowns in those walls. ]

[The only really nice thing about the problems with her gift is the silence. After years of hearing everything going on for miles around herself, just being able to concentrate on the sounds in the kitchen is a wonderful thing. Her uncle's choice to be silent is noted, too, and appreciated.

But they had never really talked, had they. Dolores' tendency to hold herself a little distant from the rest of the family notwithstanding, approaching Bruno had always felt a bit... odd.]

No. [She chuckles faintly, shakes her head.] Sometimes... I wondered what you might do if I talked back. If you knew that I knew. [Dolores starts picking at her breakfast, keeping her eyes down.]

But I didn't want to drive you away completely. I know that you... did what you did because it felt like the only choice you could make.

[He chuckles- it's a sad, awkward little sound- as he rubs the back of his neck. ]

Probably some panicked screaming at first? I kinda thought I'd...stealthily got away with it.

[Obviously he had not and he knew that was impossible, really. But he knows everyone in the family was lonely. Hurting. Maybe he could have reached out to her. Made the whole thing more bearable. Hell, he knew how many years Dolores had been in pain, watching the boy she loved fawn over her cousin. He'd seen it coming long before it came to be. ]

I did. I...I don't think it was the right one...in hindsight. But I guess that's...just a lesson to learn. I'm- it might have done us both a little better, if we'd both reached out, huh?

[She gives him a 'look' when he says he thought he got away with it. When it came to everyone but Dolores he certainly had, and maybe at some point over the years she should have said something even if it was only to him. Just a few words to let him know he wasn't alone. But the weight of carrying the knowledge that he was still in the house had grown heavier over the years, to the point where it felt like the secret was stifling her.

It was a relief, now, to not have to keep that quiet anymore.

Dolores only smiles - softly and gently - and looks down at her food.]

Maybe it would. I thought about you a lot. [Another mouthful, thoughtfully chewed and swallowed, then the kettle begins to whistle and she pushes herself up from her chair.]

But we have time now, right? You don't have to hide anymore.

[He does manage a marginally abashed look in return. Look, he didn't think about it at the time. For someone who can see into the future, Bruno has an insane lack of foresight into his own actions. He stills, trying to ignore the bite of guilt.

He hid away to protect Mirabel, thinking he wouldn't be missed anyway, as much as it hurt him to 'leave'. But this is clearly wrong. He was missed. Dreadfully.]

I thought about you, too.

[He'd missed all of them so very dreadfully. He hated being in the walls. But at the time he couldn't see any other way out. ]

You're right, I don't have to hide anymore. We've got all the time in the world now.

[Dolores smiles to herself as she sets about making the tea for them both. It just feels so normal to have Bruno sat with her, but then Dolores has always known that he was sitting right there with them every meal time since the day he vanished. Having him on this side of the wall instead of the other is just a step up in the situation as far as she's concerned.

She puts the tea together quickly and brings the teapot and cups back to the table, sitting down again with a soft exhale.]

I could ask you to tell me more about what I've missed, but... [Well, she knows almost all of it, doesn't she? Her lips purse for a moment and she shrugs.]

I don't know. You probably noticed I don't really talk a lot at meal times.

[It's MUCH better to be on this side of the wall again. Awkward as it is sometimes, navigating dealing with people again, this is much better than the yearning. Than missing them while being only a heartbeat away from them all.]

There's not a lot to tell. You...probably know more than most people.

[Even all the ugly, horrible parts where he talked to himself in an attempt to break the silence around him- even if he didn't always have the...nicest things to say to himself.]

I did. I kinda assumed you were just...listening.

[Because that was Dolores. She never spoke, she listened. ]

[She knows what he means and just smiles a little awkwardly in acknowledgement. It's true, she had heard more than perhaps she should have and more than he would have wanted her to, but wasn't that the case for everyone? Very little happened without Dolores hearing about it.]

I suppose I was.

[Listening. Always listening. It's all she feels she ever seems to do.]

But I think... it's nice to talk, too. When there aren't so many people around. [And she has said it before, but she will say it again.] I'm glad you're here, Tío Bruno.

[She needs to be able to do more than just listen, he will stand by that. They all need to be more than their Gifts, difficult as it is to make that transition. ]

Yeah, it is nice to talk. And...it's good to talk to you [That needs to be said!] I'm glad you're here too, Dolores.

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[CLOSED] Family means nobody gets left behind

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