IC Inbox for Kaisou

[neverbreaks]

INBOX text / audio / video / action -supposed to be recording? Oh wait, there it goes. Uh, okay...this is Luisa Madrigal. If you need to reach me, I guess you can leave a message? That's how this works, right? art credit code credit

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[prontissimo]

[ When Luisa picks up the phone, a tiny wave of relief breaks. But only a small one. Because he can hear that tone in her voice — like she's dreading this and trying to hide it. So he lays it on a little thick as his panic starts to rise, exaggeratedly feigning a saccharine energetic tone to show his stress through sarcasm. It's a more frenetic energy about him than the cool, carefree front Alberto usually tries to evoke. ]

Heyyy, Luisa~! ...Where's Bruno?

[ Right to the chase. He starts pacing around his kitchen, forcing himself to "smile" unseen behind the phone, as if that'll increase the chances of good luck here, but truthfully, it's little more than gritting his teeth. ]

[neverbreaks]

[ Even knowing that the question is coming, she can't help wincing once the words are out there. And for a moment she isn't sure how to answer, because she doesn't want to be the one to say it, but she can't lie to him either.

She can't do this, she can't... ]

I...I'm sorry, Alberto...

[prontissimo]

[ There's silence. He feels his chest tighten, coming to a halt in his pacing, as he quickly realizes exactly what she means. But not unlike Luisa, his words fail him. A panic swells in him as he infers what's happened, this new reality he can't wish away with any anti-bad luck charms or little superstitious rituals Bruno taught him. He doesn't say anything for a long moment — a painfully long moment. ]

[neverbreaks]

[ The silence stretches on for too long, and soon Luisa starts to worry. And in that slight panic words start to tumble out, even though it wouldn't tell them anything they both didn't already know. ]

W-We couldn't...couldn't find him at first...he didn't show up at the restaurant. And his door, it's not...

[ She cuts herself off as tears start to build behind her eyes, and she tries to blink them away. ]

I'm sorry.

[prontissimo]

[ There's another long silence, though slightly shorter than the last, as he manages to croak out a vague hope. He feels the lump in his throat form already, his voice a little hoarse when he does speak up. ]

What if— ...W-What if he's been kidnapped again? That's a possibility. I-I mean— When he got kidnapped last time, was his door still lit? Maybe he's just—

[ ...just what, he doesn't know. Is he hoping for a repeat of October? He knows exactly what Luisa's saying, and he doesn't want to believe it. It's a horrible hope, because if that's the case, then something akin to the most terrifying experience of Alberto's life is best case scenario. But it's a better option than Bruno being gone, if only for Alberto's own selfish reasons as a knee-jerk reaction. But he knows immediately, knew before he even made this call, deep down, that Bruno's gone. This question is just a final grasp at the final straw, even if it'll break him; it'd still break him less than the actual reality here. ]

[neverbreaks]

[ Luisa bites her bottom lip. Him getting kidnapped the previous month hadn't been good, but she could understand how that might feel better than...than this. ]

N...No, Alberto, he wasn't...he wasn't kidnapped. When he'd gotten kidnapped before, his door was still lit.

He's not...he's not here anymore.

[prontissimo]

[ There's another silence, Alberto standing still in his kitchen, clutching the phone tight but loose to his ear, staring into nothing as he processes this. At last, all he manages to say is a raspy, hollow, inappropriately relaxed: ]

...Okay.