Encanto Shorts

Chapter 3: A Basket Of Arepas

"Can you believe he actually stuck it up his nose, though?" Camilo asked from his place flopped dramatically on one of the many plush couches that littered Dolores' room. "Man, I love babysitting, but those kids are so weird sometimes."

"Hmm." Dolores nodded in sympathy. She blinked, looked straight up, and held out a finger to stop Camilo from continuing. "Tio Bruno," she yelled (or as close as she got to yelling) upwards, "are you in my ceiling?"

Ah, that explains it, Camilo thought. Typically, Dolores couldn't hear anything outside her room once the door was shut, but things inside her ceiling or walls apparently counted as 'inside' her room. And the only thing ever inside her ceiling or walls was Bruno and his rats, her room being one of the only ones his tunnels could access.

Or at least Camilo hoped he couldn't get in the others this easily...

A moment passed in silence, before a muffled voice answered, "...no?"

"Too bad." Dolores shrugged, pulling out a basket, "Guess that means that I'll have to give these arepas to Camilo instead."

Camilo had never seen a grown man scramble out of a secret door faster than Bruno did at that moment. And he'd seen his uncle scramble out of a lot of secret doors before.

Bruno froze when he saw him, swallowing. "C-Camilo. Hey."

"Hola, Tio Bruno." Camilo waved, feeling uncharacteristically awkward. Despite Dolores telling him about their uncle's living situation years ago, it was always unusual to actually see him. They didn't interact much.

Bruno stared at him for a moment, unblinking, before turning to Dolores. "Here's the, uh... The thing."

He pulled a glowing green tablet out of his ruana, handing it over to Dolores, looking nervous. She looked at it for a moment before nodding in approval, slipping it into her bag. Bruno visibly relaxed.

Camilo's eyes went wide when he realized what it was. "I thought you didn't do visions anymore?"

"I don't," Bruno answered, wringing his hands and looking everywhere but Camilo. He gestured towards Dolores, chuckling. "But! But it's, you know, for Dolores. So..."

Camilo nodded his understanding. There was very little Tio Bruno would not do if Dolores asked. She did know his secret, after all. And though she'd never tell on him unless someone was dying or something, giving in to blackmail you both know won't actually be used is a part of being family.

Camilo had seen Bruno do everything from fold Dolores' clothes to play lookout while she stole a midnight snack. A part of Camilo wondered if his tio would do the same for him, but a larger part was sure the man would pass out from stress if they interacted for more than two minutes, so he never asked.

"Ah!" Bruno made a happy little sound as he looked in the basket of arepas, immediately biting into one. He hummed in delight, tearing off a smaller piece to share with one of his rats. "There's so many. Are, are you sure no one will notice these missing, Dolores? I don't want you getting in trouble just for me."

"Just for you," Dolores repeated as if he was being ridiculous, chuckling. "Tio, getting scolded for taking too much is a lot better than you starving."

"My rats and I are perfectly capable of scavenging–" Bruno began, pushing the basket back towards her without so much as a forlorn glance at the food inside of it, but Dolores interrupted him.

"Relax, Tio, it's all taken care of," she assured him. "I pretended to eat seconds at meals, took some approved snacks, and asked Tia Julieta for a few to 'feed birds'. It's fine."

Camilo had helped, actually. He usually did. But he always asked Dolores not to tell Bruno that. Their relationship was awkward enough without some sort of debt between them.

Bruno smiled, pulling the basket close to his chest. "Ay, Dolores, you're much too good to me." A nice moment passed before Bruno spun on his heel, heading back towards his secret door. "Bye."

"Why don't you stay and chat with us?" Dolores asked, making Bruno freeze and curl into himself just a bit. "Camilo was just telling me about how babysitting went today, it might be nice if he had an audience that didn't already hear it happen."

Bruno turned slowly, looking between them. "That's... not exactly how exile works."

Camilo was fairly certain that Bruno didn't know how exile worked. The creepy 'watching them eat through a crack in the wall' thing was his evidence for this. But the poor man looked terrified right now, like a rabbit cornered by a fox, so Camilo didn't crack a joke about it.

"Okay, see you later, then." Dolores sighed. Then she smirked. "But first, Tio?"

"Yes?" Bruno asked, more curious than nervous now that the prospect of staying was no longer there.

"Say 'thank you for the basket, mí wonderful, amazing sobrina'."

Bruno chuckled, actually amused rather than the awkward laughter from before. "Thank you for the basket, mí wonderful, amazing sobrina." He turned to Camilo adding, "It... was nice to see you. Both. Bye."

"Adios, Tio Bruno." Camilo sighed as he watched Bruno disappear back into Casita's hidden inner areas.

He wondered if he'd ever live in a world where his interactions with his uncle involved more than stolen food and simple greetings.