It was about seven in the evening when Mirabel heard a low groan coming from the dark corner of the hall. She paused, dinner cravings forgotten for the moment. She already had an inkling of an idea who it was, and her suspicion was confirmed when she turned into the dark corner and saw the hunched silhouette of her uncle sitting on the floor.
"…Hi, Tío."
Bruno looked up groggily. When he saw Mirabel, he waved at her with a sigh. "Hey, kid."
"Are you okay?" she asked. She slowly sat down on the floor next to him, shoulder to shoulder.
Bruno shrugged. "Yeah, just…you know how it is. Still adjusting."
"Is this about your Gift coming back or about being around people again?"
"Eh, a little of this, little of that." He paused. "Look, kid, don't waste your energy worrying about me, okay? I can handle it. Go head down to dinner. I'll come down—soon."
Mirabel smiled softly. "Okay. Do you want me to bring you food later? Mom's cooking might help."
"Oh yeah. Uh, maybe, maybe. If I don't come down later."
"You got it."
With that, Mirabel got up and started to head back down to dinner. As she went, she heard another soft groan, and slowed down.
It had been a while since the house had been rebuilt and Bruno still had trouble re-adjusting. The magic that had come back to Casita wasn't the same as what it had been before. She didn't know how she knew, but she just…felt it.
And because of that, she knew that many of her family members were struggling to get a handle on these new versions of their Gifts. They weren't always bad, but—sometimes both they and the townspeople got a little too excited about the magic coming back. For Bruno, this meant random visions, not always bad ones, but enough to give him headaches at the end of the day like this. It hurt to watch, sometimes.
Bruno didn't end up showing up for dinner, and Mirabel kept her word to deliver some food to his room later. She found him resting on a couch is his (now admittedly much nicer) room.
"I'm back."
Bruno looked up. "Oh jeez, did—did I miss it? Sorry, I just have a bad sense of time, you know…present, future, gets all jumbled up. Heh."
He tried to laugh at his own joke, but it fizzled out to nothing. Mirabel gave him a smile anyways, and sat down next to him like before.
Bruno slowly sat up and started eating, pressing their shoulders together once more.
"Oh, uh, you can go now," he told her. "Thank you. I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning."
Mirabel sighed. Instead of getting up to leave, she leaned against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around him.
"I wish you could get a break from your Gift, Tío."
Bruno chuckled. "A break? We got months of a break, remember? The whole house re-building…thing. Don't tell me you forgot."
She scoffed. "I didn't forget. But I feel like you preferred it back then. No headaches or visions."
Bruno snorted. "Kid, I told you a thousand times. Don't worry about me. You're gonna take on more than you should." He gave her a one-armed hug around the shoulder. "Your old tío's dealt with it for years, I'll handle it for a few more. You just keep doing what you're doing, it's help enough for me."
But Mirabel wasn't convinced. Her uncle was great at putting on a smile and pretending he was okay, but she'd long since learned to see through his acting. She knew he was tired. As wonderful as their miracle was, it could also be exhausting sometimes, and she wished—she wished that her family could just step away for a moment. Put the magic away for just a second like a book on a shelf and come back when they were ready for it instead of holding it on themselves all the time.
Mirabel hugged her uncle tighter, sighing deeply, muttering too quietly for him to hear.
"I wish I could give you a break."
