Bruno mostly just stayed out of the way while the rest of the Madrigals prepared for the party, partly because he hadn't been to one of these celebrations in ten years and he wasn't even sure how to help set up (he was so afraid that he'd just be in the way), and partly because some people from town were already beginning to show up with food. Since the house had just been finished, no one expected the Madrigals to make the food this time, or at least, that's what he was guessing. Anyway, the point was that he was trying to avoid the townspeople. It would be inevitable once the party actually started, but there would be a whole lot more people there which meant he could easily slip away and just blend in with the crowd. The last thing he wanted right now was for someone to start talking to him about his "gift", so for now, Bruno was awkwardly standing by the staircase, watching people pass by.

The casita, however, seemed to think he should be helping out. An "Ow!" rang out from Bruno as the casita made several tiles move beneath his feet, causing him to stumble a little. He glared at the floor. "Hey! I want to help, okay, but you know they don't need it…They don't want my help, I'd only be in the way." The tiles shifted again as if arguing, but what did the casita know? Magical or not, it couldn't understand the situation. It couldn't understand how Bruno would only mess things up, and he did not want to ruin anything at the first party he'd been to in years. He'd be blamed for any disasters that struck, so it was just better to stay out of it. No one had asked him to do anything anyway.

"Tio Bruno?" A soft voice said, one that Bruno immediately knew belonged to Dolores. "Is everything okay?" Oh right. She must have heard his exclamation of pain. Amazing really, how she could pick that small sound out from all the other noises in the house right now.

"Oh! Uh-yep! Yeah, everything's fine over here!" He managed a smile, though it wasn't a very convincing one. Nevertheless, Dolores shrugged and accepted his answer, moving on to continue whatever she'd previously been doing.

Bruno let out a sigh and clasped his hands together. He stayed like that for a minute, nervously glancing around at everyone moving past him, and then reached inside his ruana and pulled out one of his rats. Sofia. Sofia was a plump little rat and she almost always stayed near him. He'd have to ask Antonio what Sofia was saying sometime. The young boy's gift of speaking to animals really was extraordinary.

Bruno held the rat up close to his face. "You have to stay with me at this party, okay?" He smiled at Sofia. "And then after we can do some telenovelas. It'll be great!" The telenovelas would be great, anyway. He wasn't so sure about the party. Sofia squeaked and scurried back inside the ruana.

About 15 more minutes passed before guests actually started arriving, and somehow, against Bruno's will, he ended up at the front of the casita greeting everyone with the rest of his family. Greeting people was the absolute last thing he wanted to do (who'd want to be greeted by him anyway?), but he did his best to throw on a smile (no matter how fake and forced it looked) and very awkwardly waved to everyone who showed up. Luckily, most people seemed to not notice Bruno, thanks to his charismatic family members who were great at shining attention on themselves. Camilo, for example. He shifted into people as they came by, shouting their names in a warm welcome. Little Antonio too, who was standing by several of his animals, excitedly waving people in and having some of his toucans fly around everyone. Then there was Isabela who, thanks to showing the true version of herself, seemed happier than ever.

Once the festivities began, Bruno found himself drifting to the most secluded place he could find. It was good enough for him to just be able to watch everyone else have a good time. Seeing his beloved family so happy at having their house back brought a smile to his face. Maybe he didn't feel completely comfortable around all his family members yet (and he was the only one to blame for that. If his gift didn't cause so much trouble then he'd still be in good standing with everyone), but he still enjoyed seeing them like this.

After a little while, Bruno saw that Mirabel was headed his direction. She was laughing at something and once she noticed her tio looking her way, she smiled warmly and waved.

"Hey Tio!" she said. "Enjoying the party?"

A sort of nervous laugh escaped his mouth. "Yeah-yeah, it's um..It's great! Really great."

Mirabel raised an eyebrow and eyed him suspiciously. She'd spent the most time with him out of everyone else so far, so she always knew exactly when he was lying. But he also wasn't a very convincing liar, so…

"You're not having a good time, are you? Well, have you had any food yet? Maybe some food will lift your spirits!"

Bruno scratched his head. Some food wouldn't hurt; he was hungry after all. He peeked down his ruana to look at his rat. "What do you think Sofia? Should we find you something to nibble on?" He glanced back up at Mirabel (who was giving him an odd look) and nodded. "Food sounds good."

And now Mirabel was practically beaming at him. "We can get some food together then! You shouldn't be standing alone at a party anyway, even if you only talk to our family!" There was an undertone there. Something that felt like 'Being alone at parties only makes you wallow in your thoughts and that's not good.' She probably understood more than anyone here what it was like to feel out of place, so Bruno was glad it was her out of all people who approached him first.

Mirabel took her uncle's hand, and the two of them went off towards the kitchen.