19. Coffee Couple

Upon hearing the news, Julieta and Pepa squealed so loud Mirabel was sure people could hear them all the way across town.

“Oh, Hermano!” cried Pepa as she squeezed the life out of Bruno. “Do you know how long we’ve waited for this moment?” If she could, she’d be producing a vivid rainbow right now. Julieta chuckled as she patted his shoulder, smiling mischievously.

“It took you long enough!” She quipped, much to her brother’s chagrin. As much as he loved his sisters, Bruno couldn’t take all this teasing. He was only human.

“Alright, geez! I-I’m sorry that between years of being shunned and years of exile, I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to girls!” He blurted.

After his exclamation, the mood fell fast. His sisters, along with Mirabel and Antonio, all wore very somber expressions. Afraid they had pushed him too far.

He buckled under their disheartened gazes. He hadn’t meant to upset them, he was just embarrassed. He desperately tried to salvage the situation with a nervous grin. “Th-That was supposed to be a joke, hehe…”

Just then, the door burst open. They all turned to see a very winded Alma, clearly having rushed over as fast as she could.

“Julieta, Pepa, I heard you screaming, what’s wrong?” As Bruno moved to help his panting mother, Mirabel regained a small smile and pointed to her uncle.

“Tio Bruno has a date tomorrow.” The old woman’s eyes opened wide, and she froze in place. Slowly, she turned to her only son. Voice barely above a whisper.

“…Is it true?” With a shrug and a nod, he confirmed it. With an adoring sigh, Alma brought both her hands to Bruno’s face. Squishing his cheeks, and earning him chuckles from the other Madrigals in the room. “Oh, Brunito! I’m so happy for you!” She was quickly stricken with an idea. “This has to go perfectly! We’ll plan everything! We’ll have music, and- “

“Or…” Mirabel interjected. smirking. “We can just let them have a nice, casual lunch.”

Her grandmother didn’t look convinced.

“But this is Brunito’s first date in …ever!” She pleaded, still squishing her son’s cheeks. “Shouldn’t it be special?” Mirabel moved to put a reassuring hand on her uncle’s arm.

“Si, Abuela. It should be special. And as long as he’s there, it will be.” She gave him a bright smile, which he tried his best to return in his current state.

Finally, Alma relented. Removing her hands from Bruno’s cheeks, but placing one on Mirabel’s shoulder. “Just when did you get so smart?” She asked with a gentle smile. Mirabel didn’t respond verbally, but she beamed ever brighter.

Pepa came rushing in. “Okay, okay, okay! This is cute and all, but aren’t we forgetting something?” Everyone just stared at her. With a sigh, she elaborated. “Your clothes, Bruno! We have to get you new clothes for the date. You’re not wearing that dusty ruana!”

He crossed his arms and frowned. “And why not?”

With a huff, Pepa answered her younger brother. “It’s ratty! Literally! It’s full of rats!” At their mention, several rodents popped out of Bruno’s pockets and scurried into his hands. He cradled the small creatures close to him, protectively, and replied. “Hey, that’s one of the perks! Pet transportation!”

Mirabel had to raise an eyebrow. “I don’t know, Tio. Is it a good idea to wear rat clothes on a first date?” Antonio thought it was, earning him a hair rustling from his cousin.

Bruno began to fiddle with his hands. “I mean, you’re probably right but- “He never got to finish that sentence. In a flash, Pepa was behind him. Firmly gripping his shoulders and pushing him out the door.

“Don’t worry, Hermano! We’ll get you something that’ll blow your lady-friend’s mind!” With a call for Antonio to follow, the three made their way to the shops. Alma excused herself shortly after, leaving just Mirabel and her mother.

With a teasing smirk, Julieta turned to her daughter. “You told Abuela not to meddle, but weren’t you and Hiccup just meddling with Dolores and Mariano a few days ago?” She chuckled as Mirabel blushed and stammered out an explanation.

“What, am I not allowed to learn from my mistakes?” She asked, flustered, as her mother failed to hide her amusement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruno felt ridiculous.

There was a reason he wore that baggy ruana at all times, it hid his wiry frame from view.

…Well that, and it provided many places for his rats.

But now, here he was. No ruana in sight, no rats on his person.

He felt so naked.

It was the next day, the day of the date. At Pepa’s insistence, they bought him some new clothes and he had now undergone a wardrobe change. He now wore an oversized button up shirt, white in color. Overtop it was an olive-green vest, garnished with a corsage Augustin had lent him. The outfit was completed with grey slacks, brown dress shoes, and his wavy hair tied up into a little man-bun.

With his thin, bony proportions, he looked like a kid wearing his father’s clothing.

And Pepa loved it.

“EEEEK!” She squealed again, clapping her hands together. “Bruno, you look amazing!” Checking himself out in the mirror, he sardonically responded. “I’ll take your word for it…”

Now appearing very emotional, Pepa grabbed her brother’s cheek and turned his gaze towards her. “Listen to me, Hermano. Don’t think about anything those people say about you. You are a wonderful man, and I know this girl will see that.” A bit uncomfortable with the prolonged eye contact, he turned away. But he nodded all the same.

They stood like that for a while. In a comfortable, uncomfortable silence. Before Pepa suddenly jolted.

“Oh Dios Mio, look at the time!” It was almost an hour past noon, the agreed upon time for the date. Shuffling Bruno out the door, she enquired. “You remember how to get there, right?”

With a slight roll of his eyes, he confirmed. “I’m kinda the one who picked the location, so y’know…”

She nodded, satisfied. And lightly shoved him outside. “Okay! Have fun, Brunito!” After returning her energetic wave goodbye, he began his trek to the local café.

Despite his anxiety and pessimistic outlook, he was pretty excited. Valentina was fun to talk to, and he wanted to learn more about her.

He felt a small, hopeful smile growing on his face. Maybe, for once, things wouldn’t be so bad.

Just before he was out of earshot, Pepa called out to him one last time.

“AND DON’T FORGET TO USE PROTECTION!”

Never mind, this was gonna be a disaster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The location of the date was a small café. It was situated just on the outskirts of town, instead of the more populated hub. Perfect for Bruno, he didn’t feel like facing the village again right now.

He had arrived too early, he must’ve. Because he had been waiting for a short while and she still hadn’t arrived. He was starting to get nervous, especially as he had to tell the waitress he was waiting for someone to show up.

“Of course.” He began to think. “Why would anyone go out with me? This must’ve been a prank or something…”

He was starting to sweat, his knee was shaking, he was tapping his finger on the table rapidly. He could feel so many eyes on him, even though the only other person in the building was the waitress.

Just when he’d finally had enough, he was sure he’d been stood up and was about to stand himself up and leave, he heard a chime.

Looking towards the door he saw her. There stood Valentina, entering the café with a nonchalant look on her face. Wearing the same clothes she wore upon their meeting.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Valentina, you made it! I thought you-I thought maybe you wouldn’t- “

“Sorry about that, I was on my way here when I saw this skinny kid with this crazy looking dog!” She gestured with her hands to indicate its size. “I’m tellin’ you, it was this big!” She paused. “…Kinda cute, though.”

Bruno had to agree with that. “Yeah, yeah he is pretty cute.” He abruptly stiffened as he realized he’d almost forgotten his manners. “Oh but please, please! Have a seat!” He pulled the chair opposing his own out, and looked to her expectantly.

She smirked, amused. “What is this, some kinda fancy-schmancy restaurant? It’s a coffee joint!” She snorted as she took her seat.

Sitting himself down as well, he remembered something else he was supposed to do. “Oh! Un, you look great! Really great-lovely! You look uh…” His bombard of compliments petered out when he noticed her befuddled expression.

“I’m…wearing the same thing I wore yesterday?” He withered under her questioning stare, before muttering. “You s-still look nice…”

He perked up again when he heard her snickers.  “Well thanks, then! You look pretty damn good too!” Bruno severely doubted that, but he laughed along with her anyway.

The scruffy man jumped slightly when the waitress reappeared, seemingly out of thin air, to take their order. The menu was surprisingly expansive for such a small store, and all the options were making Bruno’s head spin, so he just ordered whatever Valentina was ordering.

They sat for a moment. Bruno flitting his eyes about while his date lackadaisically looked out the store’s window. He coughed into his hand to gain her attention. “So erm, how-how was your day?”

She shrugged. “Figured I’d take a look around town, couldn’t spend the whole day sleeping in the forest.” Wait, she slept in the forest? Before he could question her, she continued. “I took a nice little walk around the village, and I’ve gotta say…” Her eyes sparkled with a glint of wonder. “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen!” Her smile fell a bit. “But it’s also a wreck…”

He shifted nervously. “Yeah, we’ve had some…issues recently. The magic is kinda gone…”

She then rolled her eyes a bit, smirking and replying. “Oh yeah, the magic. The totally real magic is gone…”

He looked aghast. “What, you don’t believe me?” She regarded him with a skeptical squint.

“I believe you guys made a village in the mountains to keep yourselves safe. I don’t believe some fairy tale about a magic candle, or a living house, or lady who summons hurricanes whenever she stubs her toe.” He responded with a shaky grin.

“Well we’d all be more than happy to demonstrate, but as previously stated the magic is kinda kaput, so…” She took that as a concession, and smugly crossed her arms. Victorious.

Bruno decided to shift the topic from his town to hers. “Okay, you know about my home, which I didn’t lie about by the way! W-What about you? Where are you from?” She stared at the ceiling, deep in thought, before replying. “A little village, by the sea.”

He face lit up with interest. “Oh, that sounds nice- “

“It sucked.”

Bruno was glad the coffees weren’t here yet, because he was sure he’d have just spit his out.

“It was awful, everything was broken down and janky. Trash was everywhere, it always smelled like oil and cigarette smoke…” She crinkled her nose in disgust at the memory. “But the worst part was the people!”

She began to gesticulate wildly as she told her story.  “Nothin’ but a bunch of thugs, every single one of them! One time, my history teacher strangled my math teacher until he passed out, because he owed him money. In front of all of us!” At this, Bruno winced.

“This other time, I couldn’t even get into my house because some dead guy was blocking the doorway. I had to just step over him, only to go inside and find three more dead guys!” At this, Bruno blanched.

“You know what I got for my tenth birthday?” He motioned for her to explain. “I got shanked.” Bruno trembled in fear, as she nodded. “Yeah, that was probably the worst gift my mom ever gave me…”

The quivering man gulped. “Jeez, that-that sounds really…that’s awful.” But she shrugged, seemingly unbothered.

“Eh, it was just something I had to adapt to. I would collect empty glass bottles, and there were a lot because everyone was drinking, so I could break ‘em if I ever got into trouble.” Still very uncomfortable, Bruno managed a slight smile.

“That’s uh…that’s very resourceful!” She grinned back, confidently. “Yeah! Pretty smart for a six-year-old, huh?”

As Bruno’s jittering reached its peak, she leaned back in her chair. A nostalgic smile tugging on her lips. “It wasn’t all bad, though…”

His jittering decreasing, he gave her an intrigued look. Which she returned with an answer. “My Abuela, she was the only person in that whole town I could tolerate. The only one who really loved me.”

Her smile grew as the memories rolled in. “We would bake together, though I always sucked at it. And she’d make me these pretty little dresses, they’d always get stolen but she kept making me more. She’s the one who taught me to knock on wood, for good luck! I needed all the luck I could get in that dump.” Valentina was beaming now, and Bruno couldn’t help but think that her smile was beautiful. “But most of all she would just…listen.”

“She would listen to whatever I had to say, no matter what. No one else cared if I lived or died in that town, except for her. She was my only real family.” Her smile faltered. “That’s why…that’s why I left when she died. I had no reason to stick around anymore.”

Bruno felt terrible for her. “I’m…I’m so sorry.” Valentina fought to regain her grin, and tried to brush off his condolences. “Thanks, but don’t worry about it. She was old! She lived a long life, and she died with me at her side. It’s fine.” She didn’t look entirely fine, but Bruno wouldn’t push her.

“So, what’d you do when you left? Where’d you go?” After being asked, she shrugged once more.

“I went all over the place. I travelled, hopping from town to town and seeing what I’d find. Sometimes I’d run into trouble, but growing up in my town? Yeah, I knew how to handle trouble.”

She flexed her well-toned arm as Bruno chuckled. “Sometimes I’d get wrapped up in something really weird, though. Like this guy who got into a knife fight with the boyfriend of the girl he loved, only for his mother to show up and reveal that the girl is actually his half-sister. In front of a corner store. I just wanted to buy some food!”

“That sounds like something out of a Telenovela!” Bruno snickered, before noticing her confused expression.

“Teleno-what-a?” asked Valentina.

Bruno gasped, how could this be? How could she not know about the greatest form of entertainment ever devised?

“You don’t know about Telenovelas? They’re incredible! The heartbreaks, the betrayals, the passionate embraces, the plot twists! There’s this one with a lady who’s- “As he began to explain the plot to his favorite show, their lunch arrived. He took a sip of his coffee, and his face almost scrunched in on itself.

What was this abomination? This wasn’t coffee, this was a crime against humanity!

His date noticed his uneasy expression. “You good, Bruno?” As she casually took a sip like it was nothing.

With great effort, he swallowed it. Pounding his chest as he felt the foul liquid pour down his throat. “Sorry, I just-I just prefer coffee that doesn’t taste like death…”

“More for me, then!” She smirked as she slid his cup over to her side of the table. She look backed to him. “You were saying?”

With a grin, he continued his retelling of the plot. Making sure to hit all the best dramatic notes, as she watched enthralled.

It was a pretty good date.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup’s knees hurt.

He, alongside Mirabel, were sat on their knees. Peeking over the ridge and into the coffee shop, sneaking glances at Bruno and Valentina.

“I thought we agreed we weren’t meddling anymore!” He harshly whispered to her.

“We aren’t meddling, we’re just observing! Totally different!” She whispered back.

They continued to watch the date in silence, Mirabel making quiet little aw’s at the interactions before them. She really was ecstatic for her uncle.

As weird and mildly painful as this was, Hiccup enjoyed seeing Mirabel happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love was in the air in the Encanto.

Or at least, that’s what it seemed like to Hiccup.

Bruno and Valentina’s date last week been a success, leading to another, and more to come. She was even here at Casita’s construction site, cheering Bruno on as he mixed spackle and applied it to new walls.

“Yeah, crush it! Show that wall who’s boss! Woo-Hoo!” This really wasn’t something you cheered at, but Hiccup could see that Bruno appreciated the encouragement. Even under that bucket he was wearing.

Not only that, but Dolores and Mariano were a thing now too.

It was a little earlier. It was a bigger rebuilding day, and every able-bodied person was present to help. Including Hiccup, of course. Though he wouldn’t really consider himself able-bodied.

He had just finished applying various bolts, screws, nuts, and whatever else in various places. He was heading down the hill to pick up a quick drink of water, when he spotted Mariano. Sitting in a doorway, and looking quite upset.

Feeling bad for the guy, he figured he’d try to cheer him up. As he approached, he noticed Mirabel appear at his side. Some words Hiccup couldn’t quite make out were exchanged, before Dolores appeared as well and took his hands in hers. They both looked very happy.

Noticing her friend, Mirabel sauntered over to Hiccup with a smug look. “Looks like my meddling worked out, huh?” He rolled his eyes, lopsided smirk forming.

“Alright, you got lucky! Don’t let it go to your head!”  With a light jab to his shoulder, she replied. “I am absolutely letting this go to my head!”

Now Hiccup was leaning against a wall, drink of water in hand. He looked around, noticing the familiar scenery. The house was almost finished now. Another week or two, and they’d be done.

Another week or two, and he’d have to leave.

Someone leaned next to him. Looking over, he noticed Augustin deciding to take a breather as well. He regarded the boy with a nod, which Hiccup returned.

Augustin sighed, and spoke. “Bruno and Valentina, Dolores and Mariano…it seems love is in the air, huh?” Hiccup nodded again, this time in agreement.

They stood quietly for a bit, Hiccup taking small sips of his drink, before the tall man spoke again. “And what about you, Hiccup? Ever been in love? Anyone catch your eye?”

This got really awkward, really fast.

However, despite his better judgement, Hiccup replied honestly. “There was this girl, back home…” Augustin perked his eyebrows in interest. “I had a thing for her for a while but…things didn’t work out.”

His brow furrowing just a bit, Augustin asked. “And why not?”

Hiccup sighed, the answer to the question making him uncomfortable. “She hated me! Just like everyone else in my village hated me…” Hiccup then averted his gaze, staring at his own feet.

The taller man looked thoughtful, before stating. “Well, that’s their loss!”

That got Hiccup’s attention. He picked his head back up and swiveled to Augustin, bewildered. The man spoke again, a warm smile on his face.

“You, Hiccup, are a wonderful young man! Your village was foolish not to see that, and any girl would be lucky to have you!” The scrawny teen, shocked by those words, turned away. Not wanting to look the man in the eyes.

He searched for something, anything else he could focus on.

And spotted Mirabel, engaged in a hug with her sisters. Before she was let down and the three started squabbling in that way only siblings can.

She looked so happy, it was almost like she was glowing.

He pondered Augustin’s words again. “Any girl would be lucky to have me?” Hiccup thought.

…

Yeah, right.