Work Text:
It's a weekend, and the siblings are hanging out in Kalidos' room. Kalidos seems bored, having no one to talk to, since all her friends were busy with their lives. She quickly seemed to remember her little 10-year-old brother, Santiago, was still in her room, playing with his action toys.
He had come in earlier to bother her, and had only started playing when Kalidos was clearly annoyed to annoy her further. To him, he wasn't doing anything wrong anyway.
Kalidos turned her chair to glance down at the little boy, scoffed and chuckled, and then turned back to her computer again.
She looked for stuff on the internet to talk about with Santiago, since all the stuff she'd be interested in wouldn't be interesting at all to him. Assuming that family would probably be the easiest thing to talk about, she asks her brother to get up and come and sit on her bed next to her.
"We're just going to answer some questions together, alright? I'm bored, and you're my only hope for some sort of... entertainment." Kalidos said, sighing as she crossed her arms.
Santiago nodded, chuckling a little at the fact that she had indirectly said that she was desperate. "I'll only do it if you promise to play with me after."
Surprised, Kalidos raised a brow at Santiago, rolling her eyes and holding a hand out for him to shake — to make sure that she could keep her promise later. "Fine. Ojo por ojo, ¿eh? [An eye for an eye, huh?]" She smiled a little, looking back at her computer.
For a second, she paused, looking for a good question. "Alright, first question. Did being the younger sibling change your view of me?" She looked over at Santiago, interested in what he was gonna say.
"Ah... Creo que nunca me enseñaste a decir ciertas cosas en inglés, Kali... [I don't know how to say these things in English, Kali...]" Santiago looks down, moving his hands as he tries to explain himself.
"Say it in Spanish."
"Well... Eres... como una segunda madre para mí, ¿creo? A veces juegas conmigo, así que, en cierto sentido, sigues siendo mi hermana, pero eres como un padra. [You're... like a second mother to me, I think? Sometimes you play (around) with me, so, in a sense, you're still my sister, but you're like a parent.]" Santiago explained, his legs crossed at the ankles, and he was swinging them back and forth in a rhythmic motion.
Kalidos seemed surprised, but her eyes looked like they were on the verge of tears. This sweet boy. She breathes in and out slowly and shakily, trying to keep her composure.
Santiago notices while he's lifting his head to look at his older sister, tilting his head. "You okay, Kali? Did I, um... ¿Cómo se dice? Say something bad?" He asks in a soft tone.
Kalidos couldn't hold it in anymore, tears coming down from her eyes. "No, no, Santi - you didn't do anything wrong, baby. That's a good response." She puts a hand on Santiago's shoulder, her other hand on his cheek.
"¿Qué vas a decir? What about me?" Santiago looks at her with concern - but more interested in her answer than anything now.
"Ay, Santi... Como el mayor, te veo como mi hijo, pero sigo siendo tu hermana, en cierto sentido. [As the oldest, I see you as my son, but I'm still your sister, in a sense.] I feel the same as you." Kalidos pulls her hand away, about to look back at more of the questions — when in the corner of her eye, she sees Santiago open up his arms for her to hug him.
"I don't want you to cry because of me, Kali... Don't cry any more, ok? Come." Santiago motions for her to hug him, and that broke her.
Kalidos burst into tears, hugging Santiago and crying into his arms. "Oh my god, I wish you could stay like this forever, Santi... You're so nice..." She says, muffled. Santiago chuckles a little bit, confused.
"Heeyy, I said
don't
cry!" Santiago lets out a big sigh. "...It's ok, if you need to... Es que no me gusta verte llorar. [I just don't like seeing you cry.]"
He hugs Kalidos tighter in his arms. "Y no puedo estar así para siempre, Kali... Necesito ser más fuerte, por ti. [And I can't stay like this forever, Kali.... I need to be stronger, for you.]"
Kalidos laughs softly, pulling away from Santiago. “I think you’re already very strong, Santiago. Me estabas abrazando muy fuerte. Sentí como si me fueran a aplastar la cabeza. [You were hugging me pretty tightly there. I felt like my head was going to be crushed.]"
Santiago chuckled as he crossed his arms, observing Kalidos wiping away her tears. "Next one?"
"Ah, give me a second..." Kalidos breathes in and out again, calming herself down. "Alright, um... Let me think of one this time."
A few seconds pass by and both of the siblings are silent. Finally, Kalidos gets one in her head.
"Sé que eres joven, pero te lo preguntaré de todos modos... [I know you're young, but I'll ask anyway.] Who was the first person to break your heart?"
Santiago goes quiet for a second, seeming deep in thought.
"...Justo ahora, verte llorar me rompió el corazón. Cada vez que te veo hacer eso, me duele el corazón. [Just now, seeing you cry broke my heart. Every time I see you do that, my heart hurts.]" Santiago says quietly, his voice breaking. You can hear the hurt in his voice while his eyes are glossy with tears.
Kalidos looks like she's about to burst into tears again. "You know what...? We can just... go play with your toys now, Santi. Si te hago más preguntas, los dos vamos a estar llorando todo el día. [If I ask you any more questions, we'll both be crying all day.] Mami will get worried." She gets up from her chair, getting on her knees to pick up the action figures Santiago had left on the ground.
Santiago gets up from Kalidos's bed, giggling a little. "Okay, but it was, um... fun. ¿Podemos repetirlo más tarde? [Can we do it again later?]" He gets up from her bed, smiling.
"Yes, yes, we can do it later. But for now, playtime."