Chapter Text
Even after Casita was rebuilt, it was rare for people to go into Bruno’s room. However, it wasn’t out of fear or anything anymore. He just preferred being by himself and the rats most of the time, and everyone let him chill on his own. That being said, of course, his room was a lot more inviting now; there were a lot fewer stairs, there wasn’t as much sand, and the walls appeared more polished and less wild.
And yet, every grandkid in the house was currently sitting in his room, together in a group. Everyone sat on a makeshift set of wooden seats, shaped kind of like bleachers that were created by Casita itself. Mirabel sat in the middle, with Antonio seated right next to her. Isabela and Dolores took the higher seat at the back, and Camilo chilled at the front. Luisa, meanwhile, needed a separate little platform to the right of everyone else, though Casita made sure she was as close to her family as possible. The seats were surrounded by many of Antonio’s animal friends, including Parce the jaguar who was lounging around at the front.
Right before them was a little wooden stage, not constructed by Casita but hastily by Bruno himself. With a little bit of help from Luisa (hey, there was nothing wrong with helping out sometimes). On the stage was a barrel, where an even smaller stage - this one made primarily out of sticks and glue - lay upon the top.
Obviously, if this many people were going to be in Bruno’s room, all at once, there had to be a good reason for it. And indeed there was. The grandkids had all gathered into this room for one reason.
‘Trust me.’ Dolores said, grinning just a little. ‘You’re going to love this. He would put on these little rat telenovelas all the time while he was in the walls, and I listened to every one of them.’
‘Hey, look,’ Camilo said, looking slightly annoyed (just slightly). ‘I’m just here for my tio. From what you’ve said about these telenovelas, they sound a bit… cheesy.’
‘That’s why I’m looking forward to them.’ Isabela said, with a slight smirk. ‘They sound so crazy that they have to be heaps of fun.’
Mirabel chuckled. She may not have had nearly as much experience as Dolores had, but the little sneak peek that Bruno had given her when she first found him just a month ago was truly amazing. If the fate of the miracle hadn’t been on her shoulders at the time, she would’ve stopped to enjoy a show right then.
Bruno quickly made his presence known in the most Bruno-ish way he could manage - the sound of knocking wood alerted everyone to him, and he proceeded to miss a step and stumble onto the stage. The fact that he didn’t end up smashing his face onto the floor was quite impressive.
‘Bruno!’ Antonio cried with a wide smile, waving. ‘You’re here!’
When Bruno realised that his sobrinas and sobrinos could see him on the stage, he gave them a nervous grin and smiled like he had a knife to his back. It prompted Mirabel to chuckle again; no matter what he did, her tio would always come across as the dorkiest guy in the world. And the Madrigals wouldn’t have him any other way.
‘T-That’s right!’ He said, attempting to be like Hernando as best he could. ‘N-Now, uh, you’re all here because I have this thing I want to show you.’
‘One of your telenovelas, right?’ Antonio asked. ‘Mirabel told me about them, and I wanna see one!’
Bruno couldn’t help smiling, even though he was trying (and failing) to look more confident and tough. The love and innocence brimming from his youngest sobrino warmed his heart, even more so when the excitement was aimed at him.
‘Well, today’s your lucky day!’ He said, approaching the edge of the stage. ‘Because I’ve got a great one in store for you!’ The nervous grin came back. ‘This is a, uh, play based on one of my telenovelas. Telenovelas, you know, tend to go on for a while! Heh heh… So, I condensed the plot of one into a simple play. That took… forever. This one is about Valentina, a poor woman who has lost her memory due to an unfortunate piano accident. But, as she attempts to rebuild her life, she meets this breathtaking, younger but still above age stranger.’
He had adopted his ‘dramatic’ voice as he did this summary, once again proving that his real gift was acting. By this point, Antonio was leading forward in his seat from anticipation.
Dolores gasped. ‘Ooh, it’s this one! It’s one of my favourites.’
‘No spoilers!’ Isabela said. ‘I want to be surprised by the weirdness.’
‘Oh, you’re going to love the twist.’
Bruno was about to continue with his plot synopsis, until he noticed Luisa. The big girl was frowning just slightly, and she played with her hands in a manner that struck her tio as rather nervous. At least her eye wasn’t twitching anymore; it hadn’t in weeks, since it only did that when she hid her nerves. Which she didn’t anymore.
Oh goodness, did she not.
‘You okay, Luisa?’ Bruno asked.
Luisa remained silent for a bit, looking to the floor. As much as she knew her family would accept her feelings, it was still a little difficult to come out with them.
‘It’s not going to get… sad, right?’ She asked. ‘I-I don’t like sad stories.’
Camilo scoffed. ‘Lu, it’s a telenovela. It’s gonna get sad in the most unbelievably stupid way possible.’
Mirabel gave her primo a look, leaned forward as far as she possibly could, and elbowed him directly in the arm. She hit him just hard enough to get his attention, and juuust enough to hurt without actually doing any harm.
‘Hey, ow!’ He yelled, rubbing his arm where she hit him. ‘What was that for?’
‘Let’s try to keep our attitudes to ourselves,’ Mirabel said. ‘Okay?’
The shapeshifter huffed, but couldn’t help smiling. ‘Alright.’
Bruno found himself in a bit of a rough spot. He had spent waaay too long setting this up to change the telenovela now, but the show in question didn’t exactly have a happy ending. Luisa was already frowning, and the Madrigals knew that she had revealed herself to be quite the emotional person. Part of it was due to bottling it up for a decade and a half, but most of it was because she was just naturally emotional.
It made him cringe. Just a few days ago, Luisa had accidentally broken a plate and the poor thing cried out of guilt for seemingly hours. His poor (big) little sobrina...
‘Uh, w-well…’ He said. ‘This is definitely an emotional fare. A true telenovela tugs at the heartstrings and brings you through the entire rainbow of feelings.’
Luisa slumped. ‘... Oh. … Does anyone-?’
‘NO!’ He yelled, putting his hands up. ‘No no no, no one dies! … On-screen, at least. It isn’t that kind of a story.’
She smiled, just a little. ‘Oh! Yeah, I-I should be fine.’
Dolores waited a moment, taking only a second to debate her next decision, and then got out of her seat so she could get a little closer to her prima. On one hand - possible spoilers. On the other - her prima would be a little less upset. The choice made itself.
‘Hey, Luisa.’ She whispered. ‘I know this story. I’ll let you know when the sad part comes up.’
‘Oh, that would be great!’ Luisa whispered back, still not used to using an ‘indoor voice’ outside of serious discussions. ‘Thanks, Prima!’
‘I wouldn’t want you upset. I won’t be able to sleep if you’re crying all night.’
Luisa laughed. ‘Hey!’
With Luisa (and Camilo too) laughing, Bruno decided it was about time to get on with the show. He pulled back the cloak on his arm, revealing two little rats who had been hidden this whole time. Antonio smiled widely once again; old friends of his, perhaps.
‘I know them!’ He said. ‘They’re Amora and Deseo, and they’re in love. I helped them act, so they won’t just run off again.’
Mirabel chuckled. ‘So, you gave them names?’
He shook his head. ‘No. Tio did. He named every single one.’
‘Of course he did.’
The adorable little rat couple climbed down his arm and onto the smaller stage, which had been built with them in mind. Thank goodness the seats were so close to the stage, or this would be a miserable viewing experience. Bruno looked at his wonderful actors, only to realise something was wrong.
‘AH!’ He yelped. ‘Oh, uh, g-gimme a moment. I forgot the, er, costumes.’
A few minutes - and plenty of struggling - later, the little rodent actors donned the most adorable little costumes you can imagine. Amora was done up in this lovely pink dress, while Deseo wore the top half of a snazzy suit.
Dolores emitted a little gasp. ‘Oh my gosh… that is adorable.’
Camilo looked at those little outfits in confusion. ‘Wait… where did you manage to get rat-sized costumes? Is there an oddly-specific store in town that I don’t know about?’
‘Camilo,’ Mirabel said. ‘If you keep questioning things, you’ll never get through it.’
Bruno cleared his throat. ‘So, uh, I-I think it’s time that we get started. Alright? W-We should probably finish this before dinner time.’
The grandkids got comfortable in their seats and went quiet. Bruno waves his arms towards the sky, and suddenly the brightness in his room dimmed just a little, making the whole room dark enough that the spotlights aimed at our little rat actors stood out much more.
‘And now!’ Bruno declared, putting his arms out into the air and doing his best ‘dramatic’ voice. ‘Presenting, an untitled telenovela by Bruno Madrigal, starring Amora as Valentina, and Deseo as Diego. A story about love…’ He clenched one of his fists and turned away from the crowd. ‘And heartbreak .’
Luisa gasped. ‘Oh no…!’
Bruno had to really fight to keep up his ‘narrator’ self after that. There was something kinda precious about the big buff kid, of all kids, being the sensitive one. But he was in the middle of the show, and there’d be enough time to appreciate his amazing sobrinas and sobrinos later!
‘Now, of course,’ He continued, dropping the narrator voice. ‘The only one here who can understand my actors is Antonio. So, uh, I’m gonna need to read the dialogue out for them.’
Isabela held in a little laugh. ‘Oh, this is going to be amazing…’
And so, it began.