kaisou | Casita Party!

Casita Party!

WHO: The Madrigals and EVERYONE
WHERE: Casita
WHEN: March 11th
WHAT: A big party mingle!!
WARNINGS: It's the Madrigals that's a warning in itself

[There's a network text that goes out early on the 11th. It's from Mirabel! This time with no embarrassing pictures included.]

🥳 Party at la Casa Madrigal!! 🥳 🥳

Come on over! Everyone's invited! We've got food and music and lots of dancing!

[CASITA MINGLE]

[If you choose to accept Mirabel's invitation (don't worry she'll give directions), you'll find a hard-to-miss house next to a coffee shop. It looks definitely out of place, and it only gets stranger as you enter. The building itself is three stories tall, with the kitchen and dining room being on the ground floor.

The main event is being held in the courtyard, which has been decorated with hanging flag banners, flowers, and a variety of plants. No matter where you choose to explore, you can always hear the sound of lively party music coming from somewhere. Out in the courtyard, there's a spread of Colombian food. Arepas, empanadas, ajiaco, tamales, guacamole, roasted corn, coconut rice, fried dough are among the selection you can find spread out on the table. There's a variety of drinks for the adults too! Occasionally, you might catch a Madrigal carrying out food to the table, because there can never be enough food!

But more interesting enough is the second floor. On the second floor are rows of glowing doors, each with a Madrigal and their Gift engraved on it (Mirabel's is not there, of course). Each room leads to one of the Madrigal's bedrooms - a special, very large room tailored to them and their Gift. There is one plain door - that leads to Mirabel's room, the Nursery.

The third floor leads to Bruno's Tower. Enjoy all the stairs and sand if you choose to enter it.

Regardless if you chose to explore or not, you may notice something... weirder, with this already weird house. Like the shutters waving at you as you pass by, or you might find yourself pushed forward by the floor tiles themselves as they shuffle and move you. You might even find the house trying to hang up your coat for you as you come in! And if you're doing anything Casita doesn't approve of? You might find yourself ejected out of the house itself. It would take a lot for that to happen, so explore and party away!

OOC: Feel free to make your own top levels and mingle with each other!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Luisa needed a bit of a breather herself, and had managed to slip outside for a little while. She's not entirely surprised to see her cousin, especially since she'd noticed he'd disappeared from the dance floor, and even less surprised with the pile of food he had.

With a smile she returns the wave as she steps further onto the patio to join him. ] Yeah, it's been great. I think the party's been going pretty well.

[ Glancing back at him again, she grins a bit. ]

Glad we won't have to worry about too many leftovers. I'd wondered where all the buñuelos went, though.

[ Honestly, there were actually still plenty of buñuelos left. Luisa might have even snuck not-quite-a-few away for herself to snack on later. ]

[ Camilo flashes her a sly grin in spite of himself, feigning innocence. ]

Heeeyyy— this is my first plate!

[ ...Because he was manning the food table off and on all night and didn't use a plate. Just has pilfered off the buffet and from the kitchen while restocking the buffet. There's no end to his slyness when it comes to sneaking food; you'd think they starve the kid!

He crosses his arms behind his head comfortably, pushing himself backwards in his chair slightly to balance it on two legs, steadying himself with his foot on the bottom of the table. A precarious and showoff-y idle position he frequently takes casually, one that will surely land him some scolding once he starts attending high school here — liiiike this tilting move does for most teenage class clowns. Four on the floor, buddy. ]

Your máma outdid herself, hah? Abuela would be proud of us — we're great at this on our own! Everyone's having so much fun!

[ Not to pat themselves on the back, but, uh... yeah, actually, patting themselves on the back. Madrigals got this party thing down with or without Alma's supervision. ]

[ Luisa playfully rolls her eyes because, yeah, she saw you snacking while going in and out of the kitchen, primo. You're not fooling her.

She watches him, and for a moment to tell him to correct the chair so he doesn't fall. But...well, he knows what he's doing, and her saying something wouldn't make much of a difference. Besides, if he falls it's his own fault.

So instead she glances back out to the rest of the city. ] Yeah...I guess we did do a pretty good job, huh? Though I'm actually a little surprised by how many people turned up.

[ It was one thing to host a full party back home, where everyone knew everyone - especially the Madrigal family. If they were hosting a party at Casita, it was a pretty big deal, and if someone in town didn't turn up then everyone would know. But she couldn't think of anyone who would turn down a chance to visit their magical house.

Here, though...she knows that they each knew some people around the city, but the Madrigals certainly weren't as well-known or as popular here as they had been in the Encanto. That people they didn't even know would want to come, even just because they were curious, felt different somehow. ]

[ Camilo smirks at that, reading her loud and clear between the lines. ]

Yeah— and something tells me this wasn't everyone in town... Next time, there'll be even more people, heh!

[ Luisa can't help a laugh. ] I think this is a pretty big city. I don't know if even Casita could fit everyone in it.

[ After a moment, she shrugs a little. ] Besides, I don't think a smaller party would be too bad either. It's easier getting to know people if they're smaller, you know?

[ Of course that hadn't been a problem back in the Encanto, where everyone knew everyone. But in a big place like this, there was something nice about getting to know even a small group of people. It felt a bit more personal somehow. ]

Yeah... I guess you're right. I have had way more conversations like this tonight than ever. Much quieter party than usual. I even gave someone a tour...!

[ Cuz that would be preposterous in the Encanto. There's too much going on to wanna separate. To much to do to be able to, as a Madrigal, typically... This party has been much more manageable, affords many more opportunities for more personal moments like these. ]

Yeah, it's been pretty nice just...getting to talk to people.

[ Like now, getting to just sit and chat with her cousin. With all the work they would put into their parties back home, sometimes they wouldn't get to spend a lot of time with each other either. ]

How'd the tour go?

[ He snorts at the question, shooting her an indiscernible but obviously good-humored look. ]

It went. It was with this guy I talk to on the thing sometimes. [ He pats a hand at his pants pocket to indicate "the thing" means his phone and/or the Internet. ]

"Golden Guard." He's a witch, I guess. He knows a lot about magic. So I've been asking him questions about our Miracle. Explaining stuff.

[ Rather, Hunter's been asking Camilo, but in answering, it's forcing Camilo to ask questions, too. Things he's never considered about their magic before. Guy keeps him on his toes; he's still not totally sure what to think, but... he's not not a fan. It'd be hard to make Camilo actively dislike someone. This guy's just a tough cookie. ]

Oh yeah, I know that kid. I've talked to him a few times too. He's [ She hesitates a moment, trying to find the right words. ] ...really something.

[ Luisa's feelings about Hunter were a bit more mixed. She honestly doesn't mind the questioning of their magic, and it has her thinking more about it as well. But his attitude sometimes does rub her the wrong way, and she isn't sure if that's just how he is or if there is something else going on there.

Then again, she does still talk to him anyway, so that probably says a lot more about her than it does about Hunter. ]

[ Camilo snorts at that summary. He couldn't agree more — he has no words exactly, either. ]

Ha. Yeah. ...Guy knows a lot about magic, though. Told 'im about our family. The Miracle. All that.

He does, yeah. He doesn't seem too open to the idea that our magic might be different from his, though.

[ She'd had that discussion with him once and it...did not go well. ]

Right. I'm tryna figure out what it means... There seem to be overlaps, sure, but— a lot doesn't seem to fit in, either. He told me he thinks our Miracle is "wild magic," buuut... I don't know anything about not-wild magic — these covens and stuff he's told me about — sooo... I dunno! A miracle's a miracle, how do you study a miracle?

[ He munches on a bite of food thoughtfully, giving a dismissive shrug. Hunter makes his mind reel and has from their very first conversation. He can tell this is gonna be a pattern if he keeps talking to this guy. And while it's certainly been confusing — and at some points, disconcerting — talking with him, it's not been off-putting, necessarily. He has no reason to assume he won't talk to him again. But it really is all a lot to process... ]

[ Luisa shakes her head a little. ] I don't know. He's definitely set to try though.

[ And she doesn't mind that necessarily. It would be nice to learn about the magic that had been gifted to their family. But was it bad to just...accept and be thankful for it? ]

It is weird, isn't it? Supposedly we came from different worlds, but there are still at least some similarities with magic. At least enough that he recognizes certain things about it. I don't know if it really means anything, but it's...it's interesting to think about, right?

Yeah. Interesting enough to break your head over it.

[ Camilo shoots her a flat look, sarcastic as always. ]

I've talked to him so much about our family, our Gifts, everything... I thought it'd help me understand more, but now I feel like I don't understand anything. I never really questioned it before, I've always just been thankful for it, never asked how the Miracle works, and now I'm like— miércoles.

[ Luisa laughs faintly. ] Yeah, I know what you mean. I've never really thought about it before either.

[ Even with her personal struggles of having to do her part in "earning" the Miracle, she'd never questioned why they had it or doubted what it was. Their family had been given magic, and until coming here, that was all they needed to know. ]

And...I dunno, I'm not sure if he'll really find anything more about it. But I guess I am a bit curious to see if there's more to it than we thought.

[ Camilo lets out half a sigh, leaning back in his chair idly again and turning his gaze skywards. It's weird to him, still, not being able to see the stars well at night from the city; in the Encanto, you could see stardust, practically, the curvature of the earth, no light pollution and cloudiness like here. It looks empty. He rocks his chair back and forth gently on two legs, arms behind his head against its back as he muses. ]

...I dunno. The more he tells me about magic where he's from— the more it just seems like we're... the exceptions, even in the big picture. Not just the Encanto. He said humans can't do magic, there's no magic in the human realm, and, uh, I dunno, pretty sure we're all human... He said it sounds like "wild magic," but then he had second thoughts. He asks me weird questions I've never thought about. There's obviously more to it than we thought, but—...

[ He lets out a full sigh, and settles onto four legs again, turning to Luisa with a lopsided look as he props his head up by his hand, elbow on the table, cheek squished a bit comically despite the heaviness of the topic — casual as ever, Camilo as ever. ]

...if we pick it apart— ...it feels like... I dunno, it's insulting God, or something. Or worse— dishonoring Abuelo. I don't wanna dissect it. What if it— ...I dunno. Y'know what I'm saying.

[ He doesn't finish his thought. "What if it doesn't hold up under scrutiny." "What if it can be explained by science." What if it isn't as miraculous as they thought. But after the collapse of the house, the wildness of Bruno's vision about Mirabel, losing their Gifts, regaining their Gifts, the massive shift in their powers and home and dynamics and philosophy... things have already started to be put under the microscope, but Camilo wasn't exactly on the frontlines of that deconstruction process with his cousins and uncle and grandmother. He's still sorting this stuff out. The party is petering out by the hour, so it's not so bad to take a ruminative pause to chew on all he's spoken to Hunter about, both tonight and in general — and all this place has made him reconsider... It's been surprisingly easy to talk to Luisa in this place in a way they never really did back home, because they're on a new same page here they never shared before: everyone in the family, no exception, are equally lost now. All thrown for the same loop. All asking questions. But everyone's finding different answers... if any answers at all. ]

[ Luisa nods a little. ] Yeah, I think I know what you mean.

[ She does, at least on some level. Because the more she's gotten to talk to Camilo, the more she's learning that they actually had a bit more in common than just being the middle children of their respective siblings. And she actually feels comfortable talking with him about even serious subjects like this.

Luisa had always felt a little like the odd one out growing up, not having gotten to grow up with a "buddy" like her sisters and cousins had. She had spent some time in the nursery with Isabela and Dolores, but they already grew up for a few years with each other, and being younger than them she had been a bit of a third wheel to their duo. She had also not had much longer in the nursery when Camilo and Mirabel came along, and had already received her gift by the time they were old enough to remember anything.

Her gift had also made spending time with them difficult, since she hadn't been allowed to play with or hold them until she had gotten control over her strength, and the distance only grew as they all got older and the demand for her gift became higher and higher, until she was spending less and less time at home. By then, she hadn't felt as close to her cousins, but had just accepted that that was just the way things were.

Being in this place now, though, not having a need to work or do as much, meant that she is spending more time with her family, and getting to know her cousins better than she had before (or at least, two of them). And while she is still a bit conflicted about this place as a whole, she is grateful that it's given her a chance to bond with her cousins in a way that they hadn't back home.

So as she takes a moment, trying to find a way to explain her thoughts, she at least doesn't have to worry that he would judge her for what she'll say. That he'll listen, and take her seriously, just as she is learning to listen and really consider what he says as well. ]

Honestly, I don't...think it's really a bad thing to wonder about the magic, or to want to learn more about it. It's kind of like...It's kind of like, as little kids, we think our parents know everything and can do no wrong. But as we get older, we start to see them more as people...that they can make mistakes too, and that they're not always perfect. That doesn't mean that we love them or appreciate them any less, and we can actually start to understand them, and grow closer to them because we can learn about who they are outside of just being parents.

Even if we have questions about the magic...even if we learn more about it, and find that it's not everything as we thought...I don't think it'd be that bad. Because it...it already isn't as perfect as we all thought, right? [ Because something so "perfect" wouldn't have left members of their family to suffer, would it? Mirabel and Bruno...they wouldn't have been so hurt over the years if the magic had been meant to be perfect, right? ] But asking questions, and wanting to know more about it...to understand it better just means we're trying to get closer to it, doesn't it? And it doesn't mean that we should stop appreciate everything that the magic has given us, and even finding that it isn't everything we thought it was doesn't make Abuelo's sacrifice mean any less, or make it less of a miracle. It just means that the magic isn't really perfect. And...maybe that's okay.

[ Because none of them are perfect either...not even Abuelo. ]

But...I also think it's okay to...not want to look deeper into it. Sometimes it's okay to just believe in what it is, even if we don't understand it. Because that's what having faith is, right?

That's why I don't mind looking into the magic, and trying to know more about it. But if we don't find any answers...I'm okay with that too.

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Casita Party!

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