"Psssssssssssssssssssssssst. Tío Bruuuuuno?" Dolores called out into the vast emptiness of the hollow walls. Silence answered her for a good few seconds, and then the sounds of chattering mice. Soon enough she heard approaching steps, far, far, away from her, on the other side of the house. She chose a wrong moment then, but oh well. It was one of the only moments that she wasn't needed in the city or sought after by the rest of her family, so her tío would just have to deal with that.
The man was not dealing with that well, as she could clearly hear his muttering, about how dangerous it was to meet up, about how she should pretend he didn't exist, about how it would be so much more convenient if his gift was disappearing. She ignored it the same way she ignored common folks' gossip and her family's whispers. No one seemed to realize just how good she became at separating their voices from the constant clamour of noises surrounding her from all sides.
She'd like to keep it that way.
Finally, after a few minutes, the man arrived, looking spooked and nearly as anxious and small as the rats hoisted on his shoulders. Classic tío Bruno.
"Hi tío, just wanted to give you this," she extended her hand, holding a small basket of baked goods Julietta made earlier that day, that got immediately moved elsewhere in the house, rendering the pathetic man unable to steal some for himself from the kitchen. That much was clear both from the noises heard from the kitchen-adjacent room earlier that day, and louder, satisfied noises of Camillo, who managed to sneak some out for himself right before the goods got moved.
"I— probably shouldn't accept that now, should I, because you might get in trouble if something disappears and um— Yeah…" The man trailed off, as his stomach started grumbling loudly.
"I think you not starving is a bit bigger priority," Dolores noted, a bit amusedly. It never got old, Bruno's excuses and their inevitable fall.
There was an annoying voice in her head telling her she's wrong for helping her tío not because he was in need, but because it gave her a thrill and much amusement, but, she supposed it didn't matter why she was doing a good thing as long as she was doing a good thing. The man would have been found years ago if she didn't start helping him.
"Um… You might be right, but consider this, I am perfectly capable of getting food myself." Bruno tried to deliver the statement confidently, and not only utterly failed with his tone, but also got betrayed by his body, as his stomach gave out another angry growl.
Dolores opened her mouth, perhaps to say something, perhaps to laugh, but she stopped as she heard her abuela's steps becoming louder, instead of quieter, signalling she was finally coming towards the house. She couldn't risk being spotted, so she opted for thrusting the basket into tío's arms, and turning away swiftly.
"Others are coming, I'll be back when I can to retrieve the basket. Enjoy your meal, tío."
She crawled out of the walls before the man could reply—still stunned by her gesture probably—and dusted her dress off, making sure to not leave a single sign of where she went. She then directed her steps to her room, closing the door seconds, before abuela Alma entered Casita.
As per usual, she left no trace of the meeting. She was just good at keeping secrets like that. Well, most of the time at least.
But it wasn't like that ability of hers got tested often anyways. She's been telling her family she can hear Bruno in the walls for months before she gave up because they didn't believe her, so why should they start believing it now?