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10 years in the walls. 10 years alone with nobody but his rats. 10 years without anyone around to socialise with. Those 10 years were some of the hardest of his life, Bruno longed to spend those days with his family but he just watched from a far. During those years he picked up some new habits to keep himself sane, and he learned what it was like to have no physical contact, to the stage that now he is back home, he will jump or flinch slightly at physical touch like a hug, not having had said hug in so many years.
When Casita fell, he had nowhere to go and ended up getting reconnected with his family and they took him back in, he apologised for everything he did wrong and spent days forgetting he was back with him, freaking out when they called his name and not remembering he was back. Everyone thought it was weird, which only made him shrink back into himself more.
He helped out when re building Casita, but in the meantime the family was split up to stay in different houses for sleeping at night, nobody wanted Bruno, but his hermana and sobrina, Julieta and Mirabel, more a less begged him to stay with them so he stayed with the same family the two were staying with.
Not to say those nights were easy, he slept curled into himself, a few rats surrounding him and the more frequent nightmares, nobody really noticed them that much but they were there, pretty much every night.
No matter how much he slept, when we woke up to help out, he looked like he hadn’t slept in a long time. And he still yawned and stumbled in the mornings tired as well, but he was a real help in re-building Casita, he had the walls and shape of everything completely memorised and new where all the supports and everything went.
He helped patch things up, well Jorge did, and when the bucket was in his head, he got nothing but stares, people asking why he had a bucket on his head and why he was being weird, they would stare and give dirty looks and just ignore him. This causing him several times to sneak out and go sit on his own by the river and talk to himself like he had done for many years.
Soon, Casuta was rebuilt, and it was a wonder is sight to see Mirabel put the doorknob on and for the magic to all flow back, granting everyone their gifts back. But honestly, Bruno felt a twinge of pain when his gift came back, he though that maybe with his gift gone that people would like him again, but it was back, and people would be asking for their futures again.
After the party for having Casita back, Bruno slept in his new bed, and he slept for 2 nearly 3 days straight, someone came to check on him at one point, but seeing he was out and in a deep sleep, they left him alone and let him sleep until he came down after he woke up.
When he woke up, he yawns and stretched, “woah, I haven’t slept that well since before I left…” he heard his stomach rumble and gently wraps his arms around himself, “and looks like I’m hungry too, when was the last time I ate?” He mumbles to himself as he gets up and puts his new clean clothes on, putting on his poncho and picking up his rats and letting them sit in their pockets, shoving his sandals on and going downstairs to the kitchen to look for some food.
He goes over to the cabinets and starts looking for food, not quite sure what time it was but it was still daylight, he starts sneaking around for food like he did the last 10 years before he feels eyes on him and stops, turning round with an arepa in his mouth, seeing Julieta standing against the frame.
“Brunito…you don’t have to sneak food anymore you know?” She watches him look down and take the food out his mouth, letting the rats eat the food, “listen, we were having dinner early tonight and it won’t be that long, I’ll make your favourite if you help me out and I’ll make extra and you can eat as much as you want” she smiles at him and goes to start cooking
Bruno looks at her and nods, helping out here and there with the cooking, setting the table and doing what he was asked to do, sneaking snacks to eat throughout to keep him going, Julieta giving him snacks too.
When everyone came down for diner, Bruno helps put the plates of food on the table, everyone sitting down. His mama, Alma, doing her speech before she allowed them to eat, Bruno more focused about the food, hearing they could start eating then getting a side plate and putting food on it, setting it to the side and letting the rats eat if that small plate before getting food onto his own plate and eating away.
It surprised everyone when Bruno gave the rats a plate, then when they say Bruno taking food and eating it like there was no tomorrow, going in for seconds but paused looking at his hermana like he had to ask for permission, as soon as we was told it was okay he got more food and ate it, also letting the rats eat if his plate and that’s when people realised, he hadn’t actually had a proper dinner since he left, shared the little food he was able to get with his rats and this was the first real meal he would have had in so long.
He ate away and loved it, finishing a bit longer after the others and just looked away a bit and fidgeted with his poncho under the table.
“Tío Bruno?” Bruno looked up and say Mirabel looking at him,
“Yes Mirabel?” He managed to reply after realising that yes, she was talking to him.
“If your hungry just eat however much you want, you were back there for so long living on little, mama made more than enough”
He stared at her for a second before smiling a little, “it’s okay, I’ve had enough for now, but thank you sobrina”
He felt one of his rats climb up his arm and onto his head, the rat playing with his hair and squeaking, not needing Antonio to tell him the rats wanted him to take a shower. He got up after helping clean things up before going back to his room, turning on the shower and putting his clothes to the side to hopefully wash later.
When the water was hot enough the day the rats to the side and got in, feeling the water against his skin and watching the dirt come off his body and out his hair, this being the first proper shower he had since he left, yes he had the less frequent shower which weren’t really that good, but this one was real. He washed his body off then washed his hair, giving his hair a good wash and brushing out all the nots that had formed over the years, giving it some good treatment and smiling softly and ran his fingers through his hair for the first time in years.
He got out and turned the water off, drying off and putting clean clothes on, doing his hair and gently towel drying it, letting it naturally dry off after fixing his curls before sitting on his bed. He sat there and pets his little rat friends and plays and talks to them before going to bed.
He woke up the next day and felt so much better, he felt like he’s had a good nights sleep and he felt clean, he didn’t feel like some homeless guy stuck in the Walls anymore. He got up and ready for the day before going downstairs to be treated by both his hermanas. “Is something wrong?”
He was handed breakfast, he smiles and eats it before he was dragged down to the town by the pair. He walks with them and fidgeted with his poncho, and looks around, looking at how things had changed since he last saw it. His hermana’s talked to him and they told him things he didn’t know or hadn’t remembered.
He walks with them and laughs with them a bit, getting somewhat more comfortable around them but he noticed the stares he got from the townsfolk, the whispers he heard about him being back and how he should have stayed away. He looks at the ground but pepa noticed, a cloud forming and it was an angry one.
“HAY! All of you leave Bruno alone! He has done nothing wrong ever in his life and he is my beloved hermano!” With that she hugs Bruno, making him help a little and flinch a little, “he was gone for ten years after all those comments you said made it to much for him to stay, he left to protect his family which makes him one of the strongest Madrigals. Now leave him alone or you will be dealing with storms for the next week”
She let his head and lets go, Bruno looking at her quietly and giving a crooked smile. “Thanks Pepa, you didn’t have to do that you know” he mumbles as Julieta goes and bugs them some food and the three of them go and sit on a bench and the three of them talk and laugh, they gave him hugs and they all looked after eachother.
He soon got up to go get them drinks, walking over to one of the stalls and getting them bottles of water each, on his way back he accidentally walked right into someone, starting to apologise when one of his rats crawling up his arm to sit on his hand, the person he walked into screaming and yelling about the rat and running away, everyone now looking at him. He froze and put his good up and walked away, the same rat cleaning back up his arm to nuzzle his cheek, he walks over to his hermana’s and gave them their water before walking back up to Casita, the townspeople stared at him as he walked.
Someone came out their home going on about how rats were in their home stealing the food, he walks over and sits in the person’s kitchen where the rats were, letting the rats go over to him and climb up him and go into little pockets, some perched on his head and his shoulders, two of them playing on his arm, he soon walked back out, mentioning there weren’t any more rats before going back home and let the rats go to his room and play.
The next day we went out to go try find that person he walked into so he could apologise to them, but instead he bumped into the person he took the rats out the home. They were thanking him. People were being nice to him and he wasn’t expecting it, kids ran up to him asking about the rats and wanting to meet them, so he sat down and took the rats out, telling the kids and anyone else who wanted to listen about his pets and their names and all that.
He was enjoying it yes but it was a lot, it was getting to much and he was trying to hard not stim and do his little habits he had picked up over the years. His rats priced and started doing what they could to take attention away from Bruno but it wasn’t really helping. He was just managing to cope until one of the kids asked to se their future, everyone just kinda went quiet and looked at Bruno, Bruno just staring at the kid.
Bruno sighs and throws a punch of salt over his shoulder, crossing his fingers and holding his breath for a few seconds before exhaling and looking at the kid again “w-well I don’t really do visions anymore” he tried to give a small smile but the kid just looked sad, “um…since the magic’s and stronger, I can look at short snippets of the next few days? I can see if anything interesting?” The kid’s eyes lit up and nods, the adults givving a few looks to eachother.
Bruno takes a deep breath and takes the kids hands, letting his eyes grow green as he watches the kids over the next few days, there being a little wind wrapping around him and a few speckles of sand but nothing much. He looks at the kids afterwards and let his eyes return to normal, giving his eyes a small run after not having used his gift in so long, the kid and everyone else waiting for an answer.
“Y-you break your arm by falling down some stairs” he heard the whispers around a bout him, the ‘bad luck Bruno’ and how he only makes bad things happen, the mother of the kid storming forward coming forward and grabbing the kid and giving Bruno an earful “m-m-ma’am, it c-could hopefully be prevented if he’s carefully a-as I saw him jumping down a full flight of stairs…” he managed to blurt out and flinched back a little expecting to get hit, the mother just staring at him before storming of.
“And this is why I don’t do visions anymore” he quietly mumbles out. He sighs and stands up, gathering his rats and walking off, hugging himself a little bit and balling his hand in his hair and one point, walking back up to Casita, he was trying not to cry and walks quietly. He walks inside and tried to get past the others but is stoped by Camilo.
“Tío Bruno what happened, we’re the towns people being mean again?” Camilo followed him as he started the walk up the stairs in his room
“It’s noting Camilo, don’t worry about it” he sighs and feels one of his rats nuzzle his cheek.
“Tío…they were being mean again weren’t they.”
“They were being nice but a kid asked for a vision and I told them they would break their arm from jumping down stairs and their mama got mad at me”
Camilo stared at him, staying quiet and following his tío up the stairs, Camilo out of breath by the time he got up there, panting a bit. Bruno looking at him “just go sit down, I’m not sure why you followed me up here but just take a rest” he offers him a seat and Camilo happily takes it, Bruno then going and putting the rats in their little play area which Casita had added in for them, mumbling to himself as he walked over and sat on his bed, messing with his poncho and his hair.
“Tío Bruno?”
“Hm?” Bruno looks at him and stops messing with his hair,
“I know holy don’t like doing visions for anyone, but I was wondering if you could do one for me? I was hoping to see how your gift worked as I don’t really know, your kind of a mystery”
Bruno looked at him, thinking about it for a minute before standing up and leading Camilo to his vision cave, he knocks on some wood then his head as he does, holds his breath and crosses his fingers for a bit. He sat down and threw a pinch of salt over his shoulder because doing a vision for Camilo.
Camilo loved the vision, thought it was cool and all. Bruno was shocked but after that experience him and Camilo spent more time hanging out, Camilo had warmed up to him and wasn’t afraid of him, another person that would stand up for Bruno. Another one of his family members who was there for him. He was happy, glad that even if the events leading up to now were bad, that those events happened. He was home.