(Author's Note: Hello my readers, and welcome to our next installment.
I know...it has been a while, but I'm going to have more consistent updates going in 2024. I'll make it work...somehow:/
Anyway...hope you guys enjoy:)
Chapter Seventeen: The Talk
Concept: For forty-five years, Bruno had been a part of a magical family. He's seen far into the future, hidden in near-complete isolation for ten years, and even survived the collapse of Casita. You'd think that nothing could surprise the seer at this stage in his life…but his niece's boyfriend wanting to speak to HIM of all people? That certainly took him off-guard.
"Tio Bruno? Could you come here for a moment, please? Mariano's here, and he said that there's something very important he would like to discuss with you." Bruno raised an eyebrow at Dolores' words. Mariano wants to speak…to him? What on Earth for? While the two of them get along pretty well (especially with them both being men who love poetry, drama, and stories), they certainly weren't as close as he was to other members of the family like Mirabel or even Camilo.
"Did he say why?" Bruno asked as he stood up from his red armchair…before he suddenly froze, "He, uh…didn't want a vision, did he?"
"No," Dolores quickly responded, "He didn't tell me exactly what he wanted to talk to you about, but he did specify that it wasn't a vision." Although the family has done magnificent work in helping Bruno appreciate his Gift, he still doesn't like to look into the future unless necessary.
"O-Oh. Okay then." Bruno brushed off the crumbs from his mid-day arepas from his ruana, "Let's go, I guess."
"Hola, Señor Bruno!" Mariano waved from his seat at the dining room table when he saw his girlfriend and her uncle step into the kitchen.
Bruno gave a little wave back, "Hey." To the old man's embarrassment, he had to be pulled to the chair on the direct opposite end of the table.
"Mi amor," Mariano spoke to Dolores, "Could your Tio and I have a moment?" At her frown, he held up a hand, "Please? It's…something important." At Mariano's earnest expression (and knowing that he's far too kind and pure-hearted to keep secrets out of any sense of malice), Dolores eventually nodded.
"Okay, I'll head up to my room to give you both some privacy," Dolores gave her tio a quick kiss on the cheek (being quite "tactile" with Bruno since his return to the family, enjoying the ability to actually be able to touch him without concern after ten years) and quickly made her way up the stairs.
"You know Casita will tell us if you sneak out of your room," Bruno snarked at his sobrina, with Casita's tiles rippling in agreement.
"In my room! Can't hear YOU!" Dolores called back just before the two men heard the closing of a door.
Bruno just shook his head and muttered, "And people say she and Camilo aren't similar." He then turned to Mariano, "So…w-what did you want to talk about?"
Smiling softly at his girlfriend's retreating form, Mariano turned back to Bruno. He took in a deep breath and let it out before locking eyes with Bruno (who was, admittedly, shocked by the serious expression on his face), "I came here today to ask for your blessing."
Bruno raised an eyebrow, "M-My blessing? F-for what?"
"To marry Dolores."
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…
…
…
Bruno blinked, "I-I'm sorry…let me make sure I heard you correctly. You said to MARRY Dolores?!"
(The lack of shrieking clued him in on the fact that Casita wasn't letting Dolores eavesdrop)
"Yes," Mariano nodded, unfazed by Bruno's surprised reaction, "I've already spoken to her parents and Doña Alma about this, and received permission from them all."
"But then…why are you asking me?"
"Because I know how important you are to her-," Mariano simply replies, "-and I know how close you and Dolores are. She's told me in the past about how she would always spend her time with you before you left and how she would do everything within her power to see you while you were within Casita's walls," (Mariano had been one of the few people outside of the family who had been told the truth of Bruno's disappearance), "I may never have heard her say it out loud, but it's clear to me that she's arguably closer to you than anyone else in the family…and that she holds your opinion to the highest regard. Truth be told, the others were more out of necessity compared to you. Felix and Pepa are her parents and Doña Alma is the head of both the Madrigals and the Encanto itself. I couldn't do this without talking to them…but this one was especially important." Mariano then let out a breath, "So…that's why I'm here. I humbly request your permission to ask Dolores for her hand in marriage."
Bruno wasn't even trying to keep the surprise off of his face. How could he be blamed? This was CERTAINLY not where he thought his day would go. He obviously knew how close he and Dolores were (definitely one of the grandkids that he'd most consistently spend time with), and knew how this fact was known by others, but he NEVER would have thought that someone would see it fit to ask him for her hand. He felt as honored as he was confused.
But Mariano was looking at him expectantly, clearly wanting an answer. So…he gave him the only one that made sense.
"Did Dolores ever tell you about how my Gift works?" Mariano's eyes widened a bit in confusion at Bruno's sudden (unrelated) question.
"Uh…she's told me about the ritual you use to make it easier to look into the future. But she also said that sometimes they can come to you without your control."
"Yes, though the involuntary ones have become less common since we rebuilt Casita," Bruno chuckled as he scratched the side of his face, "Most people don't think about how far I really look into the future. Most figure that it has been a few weeks to a few months after visions they have, with the consensus being that the vision I had on the night of Mirabel's ceremony was the furthest I'd ever seen (over a decade). But that's not true. The years into the future I've seen? Easily multiple decades, and certainly into the triplet digits," Bruno laughed at the stunned expression on Mariano's face, "Yeah, and I've seen some stuff that far into the future. Things so wondrous that they'd make you cry-," Bruno's smirk immediately fell into a frown, "-and things so horrifying that they'd chill you down to your very soul." Bruno then stood up and began walking to Mariano, "My point is this: I'm alright with you marrying Dolores. I just want you to understand that if you do ANYTHING to hurt her…I will make you suffer in ways that you couldn't even begin to comprehend." Bruno finished his threat by making his eyes glow brightly (a little trick he learned throughout the years; one that was especially useful when Agustin and Felix began courting his sisters).
Although Mariano gulped, he surprised Bruno by not tearing away his gaze, "Señor Bruno…beyond being the love of my life, Dolores is a spectacular woman with one of the most compassionate hearts in the Encanto. If I could become so despicable as to hurt someone as wonderful as her, I HOPE that you will make me regret being so horrible." Bruno narrowed his eyes at the young man before standing up straight.
"Well then…that's all there is to it, I guess."
Mariano blinked at the older man's sudden response and created space, opening his mouth for a moment before closing, "You mean…that you do support me proposing to Dolores?"
Bruno shrugged, trying to hide his embarrassment now that his "act" was over, "Yeah, why not? You're the man of her dreams. I know how much you both love one another. You getting married is really just an inevitability at this point." Mariano gave Bruno a look of wonder before a massive grin appeared on his face and he suddenly stood to wrap his arms around the shorter man (lifting him right off of the ground), "Too tight! Too tight!"
(Author's Note: Annnnnnnnd scene!
This was a short chapter (finished less than three days after I originally started it), but I hope it made you smile. This was inspired by Chapter 18 of "Mi Familia" by Destiel101 on Archive Of Our Own, BTWs.
Big question: what'd we think of Bruno's threat? I've actually been trying to think of ways that Bruno could threaten people in protection of his family, and I wanted to try something a bit more…detailed than in Chapter 14 (where he gave the very blunt "I'll kill you"). I'd be lying if I said that the threat wasn't a large reason for this chapter's creation.
Constructive criticism ONLY…no flames, please.
Review, Favorite, Follow, and I'll see you guys next time:)
