neverbreaks | IC Inbox for Kaisou

[ Realizing that he might be uncomfortable in his position, she scoots over a bit to give him room to sit beside her and move her notebook to rest in her lap. ]

A little, yeah. But that just means we'll be learning together, right?

[ He's already reminded her often that she doesn't have to do things alone. The least she can do is return the favor when he needs it. ]

[He's happy to sit with her chuckling softly.]

There is that! Maybe we just need to do it as a united front [he nods at her notebook] share notes on the whole thing, y'know?

[ She can't help a faint blush as he draws attention to the notebook, and she places her arm on it, not-so-subtly trying to hide it a bit. ]

R-Right. Exactly.

[ That is totally what this notebook is for. Notes. Yup. ]

[Oh, well, that's a blush and Bruno is just gonna immediately change track, a teasing smile crossing his face. ]

Oh? Is that not what the notebook is for? Is it something else? Is it secret?

[ Her blush darkens slightly, and she manages a faint laugh as she traces the edge of the notebook. ]

Uh...well, it's not really...um...

[ Hesitating for another moment, she then opens the notebook and flips through a couple of pages. Then, though a bit reluctantly, she hands Bruno the notebook.

He'll find that the page she's opened up to is pretty filled, front to back, with Luisa's familiar handwriting, though there are also several lines that are scratched out and rewritten. But if he reads through the text, he'd find that it seems to be some kind of story - or more accurately, a rewrite of the myth of Atalanta and her race against Hippomenes. ]

[Bruno takes the notebook carefully from her, carefully reading it as he flips through the pages. He's clearly taking his time with this and falls quiet for a while as he takes it all in. ]

Luisa, this is really good. I love it! How long have you been working on this?

[ Some of the nervous tension in her shoulders seems to ease at his words, and her smile is a bit surprised but pleased. ]

Really? You do?

[ He's a great writer too, so if he likes it then maybe it isn't as bad as she thought. ]

Uh...for most of the month. [ She gestures to some of the crumpled sheets around her. ] I mean, when I can. But...you know that new girl, Luz? She was telling me about how people sometimes write stories based on things they like - like books, or shows, or movies, or...anything really. And sometimes people rewrite things they don't like about it, or things they might like to see. Mostly just for fun, and they even share stories with people online.

And... [ She blushes again, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her skirt. ] Well, I like mythology, so I...thought I could give it a try.

Of course I do! This is great!

[Tío Bruno is here to provide all the support for Luisa chasing her dreams!!!]

Ohhh, that's nice. So it's like...stories set in stories? That's really clever. And you've done a great job with it! I really do love it a lot. Are you gonna write more?

[ She's still a little embarrassed, but in a sort of stunned, delighted way. ]

Wow, um...Thanks. I'm glad it's okay so far.

Yeah, something like that. They're kind of like "What If" scenarios? Like if the story had gone one way, people can write about what might've happened if things went differently. I'm glad you like it.

[ His opinion means a lot too, since he's so good at coming up with stories. That fact that he likes it does help her feel a lot better about it. ]

I think so. It's actually a lot of fun, and I could probably use more practice.

[ Because given the crumpled sheets around her, it might be easy to tell that the actual process of writing isn't coming entirely easy to her yet. ]

Edited 2022-07-12 05:01 (UTC)

[Embarassment isn't allowed! Only proud uncles!!!]

Oh, I can get that. That's pretty exciting! Thinking about what could have been!

[He lives in a world where he knows what will happen most of the time. The altenative path speaks to him a great deal.]

Well, everything takes time and practice! So long as you keep going at it and you enjoy doing it, the rest will fall into place.

[ With a smile, Luisa nods and gestures to her notebook. ] Yeah. And sometimes things are just...weird? Like in the myth with Atlanta, she agreed to marry the one who could beat her in a race, and Hippomenes won because he distracted her with these golden apples that he'd gotten from Aphrodite? But she's a well-trained warrior, and it doesn't really make sense that she'd be distracted by things like that, even if they did come from a goddess. [ She shrugs a little. ] That's why I wanted to rewrite it, make it a bit different.

Right. I was...thinking of maybe taking some classes at the university. My friend, Bakugou, said that they have creative writing classes there.

Right? Exactly. So you can be "you know what, that is a stupid ending, I'm gonna make it better!" Honestly, anything sounds better than "distracted by golden apples."

[Oh, this is wonderful though! Sure, the Encanto has a school, but it's nothing like what she can learn here. The Encanto is limited to world knowledge before it was formed, nothing really after that. ]

You should do it! I bet you'll learn all kinds of things, and if you enjoy it, then that's even better, right? Being able to do something you love. And I bet you'll get even better at it.

[ She can't help a laugh. ] Exactly! It doesn't make any sense!

[ Sure the apples could have been enchanted or something, but it's still dumb. ]

Yeah, I'd really like to. It sounds like it'd be nice, and I would like to improve. Enrolling in the university does cost money, though. [ She plays a bit with one of the notebook pages. ] Mamá says that it wouldn't be a problem if I wanted to enroll, and not to worry about the money, but...

[ But she's still Luisa. She doesn't want to take away any money that the family might need for something unnecessary. ]

[Oh, Luisa. Bruno's expression gentles. He's never really had to worry about money before coming here- it's not something any of them have had to worry about. ]

Well, I'm sure between us we can help you out. And if you really wanted to help, maybe you could do something little and not stressful at the weekends?

[He knows telling Luisa to not do ANYTHING won't work here, but he also doesn't want her pushing herself too far. So he tries for a happy medium.]

[ Luisa nods a little, though it's a bit distracted as she thinks. ] I guess. But you know, some of the servers at the restaurant? They're in college too, and they work to try to earn enough money for their classes.

So...maybe Mamá would let me do that? Work at the restaurant to try and earn money for my classes too?

[ Julieta already did pay them for working at the restaurant, of course, but Luisa usually uses most of the money she earns for other expenses for the family anyway. But if she was going to start working for her tuition, it would be taking away from some of the family funds, which she still feels guilty for doing. At least this way she'd be earning her schooling, though, instead of taking money from the family for school and from working at the restaurant. ]

Edited 2022-08-02 12:07 (UTC)

[Bruno considers this, huming softly.]

Well, maybe you can use the money you get already towards that? Or...even a little bit of it? We'll be okay, I promise. It's not like we have to pay anything to keep Casita going. You don't have to use all your wages for the family, you know.

[You can't fool him, Luisa, he does the restaurant's books. ]

It'll be okay if you did that. Promise.

[ Luisa can't help the sheepish look to her smile. A part of her knew that she couldn't really get things passed him, but she couldn't help trying anyway. ]

Okay. I just...want to make sure we're okay. And to be fair, I don't use all my wages for the family.

[ She does still have piano lessons that she has to pay for, and she keeps enough for herself for food when she goes through that one week of binge eating. ]

But... [ She laughs a little. ] To be honest, I kind of like the idea of...working to be able to pay for my classes? Because it...it kind of makes it more mine, you know? Something that I'm earning, and doing just for myself. And knowing that it's what other people do makes me feel more like, I dunno, just...like regular people.

[ She feels her face growing a bit warm again, and she plays a bit with one of the crumpled up balls of paper just to have something to do with her hands. ] Is...Is that weird?

I know, but still. We'll be okay. There's still plenty of us, and there's three of us who are adults. You're still only nineteen, you're allowed to be that, y'know.

[He wants her to enjoy being young and full of life while she still can, gosh!]

I guess that makes sense. It's uh...nice to be kinda...regular, right? Like, we don't have to be The Amazing Madrigals here. We can just be that kinda weird family with the weirder house and that's...pretty nice.

[ She can't help what one might call pouting a bit. ] I'm technically an adult too.

[ Because the pout is totally grown-up. ]

Yeah. And there are still things here that I can help out with, but it's...It's nice that it doesn't feel like it's all on us. It's nice getting to just be like other people.

You are, but you're still young. And you're someone who never really got to be a kid.

[Neither did he, but that's beside the point. ]

Exactly! We can do our part, sure, but it's just a part. Not...everything.

[ She's silent for a moment, because she can't really argue that. And it wouldn't be wrong to just enjoy herself a bit, right?

That's what her family wanted her to do, so she can at least try. ]

That, yeah. I dunno, it's just...it's a nice feeling.

[ The feeling that the pressure was easing...that she's just able to breathe easier.

Playing with the edge of her notebook again, she clears her throat a little. ] If...If I write more stories...would it be okay to ask you to read them?

[He offers her a gentle, encouraging smile, patting her arm.]

Good, I'm glad! I'm happy to hear that.

[At that, his smile grows wider- perhaps even a little excited!]

Would it be okay? Are you kidding? I've love to read them. I wanna be first in line!

[ Luisa can't help a bright smile of her own. ] Really? Okay, great! Thanks, Tío Bruno.

But you can't go easy on me, okay? If something is written badly or doesn't make sense, you have to tell me. Promise?

Hey, anytime Luisa!

[Oh Luisa, you know he is utterly incapable of doing this.]

I'll...do my very best to give an honest review. How's that?

[ It's just to help her improve her writing! ]

Okay...that works. Thank you.

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