Work Text:
~several years ago~
"C'mon Camilo! Tell me another story! A really scary one!"
"Alright, alright!" Camilo feigned annoyance but you could see his smile. He was entertaining your nephew for a while so you could actually get some work done. "I'll tell you the story of....my tio Bruno!" with a swish of his ruana he began his tale of a seven-foot tall man with an army of rats, preying on your fears and reveling in misery. You found yourself idling, listening to the story with morbid curiosity.
You had heard whispers about Bruno, now and then. The first time someone had mentioned him shortly after you moved here, you tried to ask who he was, but you were dismissed with a harsh "we don't talk about Bruno!". When you asked your sister, she explained, the third child of Alma Madrigal had disappeared years ago and nobody knew why. She refused to elaborate, only saying good riddance.
"That's not...really true, is it?" You asked Camilo
"Of course it is." He winked at you, and you didn't know if he was lying or not, but you hoped this Bruno stayed gone.
~present day~
"Excuse me?" You heard someone call from the other room. You gave it a moment, but not hearing your sister greet the customer, you set down your shuttle and stepped into the shop.
"Hello!' You called as you passed through, and a vaguely familiar man turned to face you. He was pale, with deep purple bags under his eyes. His hair was a mass of salt-and-pepper curls, and he wore a threadbare ruana and sandals that looked to be repaired hastily with yarn. He had a sadness about him you couldn't place, though he was smiling politely.
"Hi." You maintained awkward eye contact for a few moments before he seemed to remember what was happening. "I need some new clothes."
"Yes," I can see that, you resisted the urge to say. You didn't want to judge. "Would you like me to take measurements for a custom piece, or just browse our selection?" You gestured to the finished garments hanging on the walls. Without saying anything, he started thumbing through the racks. What a strange man.
"So, are you new in town? Or just your wife usually does the shopping?" You asked, studying the man. He seemed a bit short, but you weren't sure if he truly was, or if it was just the hunched sort of way he stood.
"No! Um. Well, I grew up here, um, well I was away for a while and now I'm back." The simple question seemed to be stressing him out.
"Well...welcome back." You smiled at him.
"Thanks." He met your eyes again. They were a greenish-goldish sort of hazel. "You own this place?"
"No, my sister does. Not sure where she slipped off too, actually. I moved here a few years back, when our folks passed."
"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that." You'd heard that plenty of times in your life, but he really seemed to mean it.
"Thanks. It's okay, it brought me here, to this beautiful place. We're so lucky to be here!" You looked out the front of the store, towards the hills and forest that surrounded you.
"Right. Well...I think I'm all set." He placed a stack on the counter, a few shirts and a pair of pants.
You rang him up, and as you handed him his bag, your fingers touched. You swear for a second, his eyes seemed to change. He turned to go, and you found yourself blurting out "My brother-in-law is a shoemaker, next door. Tell him I sent you, he'll take care of you."
You had imagined this would lead to him asking your name, and you could ask his in turn. But instead he just said great, thanks and left, leaving you feeling curious.
~~~
You peppered your sister with questions about the mysterious man, but she couldn't tell you anything. "You mean to tell me as the only weaver in a village of 200 people, there's somehow someone you don't know?!"
"I'm bad with faces, you know that!"
"What's this about?" Your brother-in-law stepped in the room, taking off his hat and giving your sister a kiss.
"Did a short pale guy come in for some shoes today?"
"Yeah, Bruno? He mentioned you."
"Bruno?" You and your sister said simultaneously. "You don't mean Bruno Bruno?"
"Bruno Madrigal? Yeah, definitely him. Why?"
"No! But he's-..." You cut yourself off, feeling silly.
"What?" He probed
"...Scary?" You admitted sheepishly. "I may have also been under the impression he was, ehm, seven feet tall?"
Your brother-in-law burst out laughing. "Who told you that?"
"Camilo."
"In one of his stories? Y/n, you can't actually believe what he says in those."
"So he's not actually....evil?" You felt like a silly little kid asking, but you were having trouble reconciling the tiny man you had seen today with the whispers of a malicious rat king.
"No, no."
"Amor, he is. Remember what he told us!" Your sisters voice was icy.
"It wasn't his fault!"
"He had no right-"
"Mi vida it's been years-"
You stood between the two of them, hands up. "Someone tell me what you're talking about!"
Your sister sighed. "Elena." Her first pregnancy. A miscarriage. "He found us. Sought us out the night before we planned to announce we were expecting. Warned us...that she..." Her eyes misted over and you and your brother-in-law held her tight. "He only tells vicious things."
You weren't sure how to feel. More than anything, you wanted to know Bruno's side of the story. So when Bruno's new shoes were ready, you asked your brother-in-law if you could deliver them.
As you walked towards the newly-rebuild Casa Madrigal, you realized you had seen Bruno, several times, when you had helped with the rebuilding, though never up close. A gentle sort of man, but goofy. He was good with spackle, and liked to make sure everyone was drinking enough water.
"Hi!" Mirabel Madrigal greeted you as the door magically swung open to let you in. "What can I help you with?"
"I'm here to make a delivery, for Bruno?" You held up the shoebox.
"Oh thank goodness! It's a miracle those sandals haven't fallen to bits already. He's out in the sun garden, just through there!" She led you toward an archway on the south side of the house, where colorful cacti bloomed around a large clearing.
In the center sat Bruno, his back to you. He looked to be saying something, shoulders animated as looked towards the ground. Was he doing it now? Having one of those...visions? As you got closer though, you heard a small squeak.
"That's right Coco, very good! Now spin, spin spin! Hold on Arequipe, you're nex--Hi!" He quickly stuffed something into his shirt. "Hi."
"Who were you talking to?"
"Nobody."
"You were talking to yourself?"
"No!"
"So you were talking to somebody."
"Look, its...a lot of people think it's gross."
"Try me." You sat down next to him, handing him his shoebox.
"Okay fine, might as well keep the village wierdo reputation...This is Coconut." He pulled a small rat from his collar. "And this is Arequipe." He pulled out another. You watched them sniff the air, moving around in Bruno's hands, curious but not seeming to be afraid.
"It's nice to meet you both." You gently patted the tops of their heads. "My dad fostered baby squirrels. I think that out-weirds you."
Bruno was grinning, holding them out to you. "You can hold 'em if you want." You scooped up their tiny squirming bodies and they quickly started exploring, Coco running up your arm and around your neck, while Arequipe enjoyed getting lost in the bunched-up folds of your skirt. "They like you."
"They're such little sweeties. I miss having a pet."
"Well, there's a dozen more where these two came from. Feel free to come visit whenever."
"That's a lot of rats!"
"Meh." He shrugged and you giggled.
~~~
The routine was simple. On your off mornings, you would go to Casa Madrigal and play with the rats in the sun garden. Bruno would serve you coffee and snacks, help you tell the rats apart and learn their names, tell you little stories, and make you laugh. Every so often, you would catch him zoning out as you spoke, eyes getting a faint glow as he gazed straight forward. He would excuse himself, but urge you to stay as long as you wanted to. And a few times, you'd turned up just to be told by Mirabel that he had a bad migraine, and wasn't up for company.
Days you didn't come to see him, he visited you in the evenings. He would bring you sweets from the bakery and just watch you work on the loom, he said it was relaxing to just watch the threads weaving back and forth, patterns steadily coming to life while you told him about your day.
Things went on this way for weeks before you finally asked. He explained as best he could how his gift worked. Sometimes people would ask him to look in their futures; though he warned them over and over that he had no control over what he showed them, and that they were probably better off not knowing, they still asked.
Sometimes though, the visions came unbidden. The only times he ever shared those were when he truly thought it would help, that steps might be taken to fix, or that the damage could be somehow mitigated.
~~~
"Your boyfriends here!" Your brother-in-law teased as he spotted Bruno coming up the road. Your sister snickered as you rolled your eyes.
He had apologized to her, months ago. He only warned her so that she had the option of not telling everyone, if she wanted to mourn more privately. That was all. She forgave him, with a teary-eyed embrace.
Though you tried to brush off the comment, you found yourself blushing. Of course you had developed feelings for your soft-hearted, misunderstood black sheep, but you wouldn't ruin things by saying so. Things were just friendly....ish. He would hold your hand, sometimes, while you walked. You had once dozed off together in the sun garden, when you woke your whole body felt aglow with the warm sunshine and Brunos heartbeat next to yours. Sometimes you felt him watching you, and when you turned to face him, the look in his eyes could only be described as 'adoring'.
"Hey."
"Hi. Walk?"
"That sounds nice." As you wandered down the alley and around the corner, he took your hand. It was sweaty. You ended up by a bench surrounded by enormous jasmine bushes, their luscious fragrance perfuming the air.
"So. Um. I'd like to show you something." Bruno looked nervous. But also a little...hopeful? Excited?
"Okay."
"I...had a vision. Today. About you." He was blushing now. "And it was a good one! And I," he swallowed, "Well, you know I don't tend to show people but um, well, just look." He reached into his bag, withdrawing a slab of emerald-green glass. He handed it to you, and it felt cool in your hands. Studying the image, you realized why he was so nervous.
It was the two of you.
Embracing.
Staring at one another with such love and adoration you felt yourself immediately blush.
A ring glinted on your finger.
There were about six rats in the background.
"I didn't want to mess things up." Brunos voice pulled you back to reality. "I didn't think....I never thought I could ever be worthy of someone like you. I wasn't going to say anything, ever probably. But then, um," he gestured to the tablet. "Haven't had a wrong one yet. So. I figured maybe...you could actually-"
"I think you're incredible." You blurted out. "Um. Pretty amazing, honestly. You're sweet, and kind, and you've got such a big heart, and you make me laugh, and...I love you, Bruno."
He looked stunned and overjoyed. He hugged you tightly, so tightly, like he was afraid to let go. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered in your ear.
"I'd like that." You whispered back.
~~~~~~
A/N: Thanks for reading! There have been requests for a Part 2, so that might be coming but no promises. Feel free to come yell at me on tumblr @pjwritingblog