Lalo Villanueva (lalovilla) wrote in summerview, @ 2019-02-27 21:21:00 |
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Living with his brother wasn’t bad at all when he had the entire basement to himself, giving him a large living space, bedroom and separate bath, which was ultimately all he needed. There was even a small kitchenette area, though he did most of his cooking and eating in the larger main kitchen upstairs. It was perfect for his needs, not to mention the perfect cost.
His space was heavily decorated with plants hanging from the ceiling and were on tables near the windows. There was a shrine for worship as well in a corner, still plenty of plants incorporated into it. Laying on the couch, Lalo opened an eye as he heard footsteps on the stairs coming down to his lair. “Nunzio?” he called, expecting his cousin. The call from Lalo had been … unexpected, but definitely not unwelcome. It had Nunzio wracking his brain, trying to remember the last time he'd talked to his cousin was. Gabriella's funeral? Uncle Jose's? It all sort of blurred together at this point. So much had happened in the last year, Zee was having a hard time keeping it all straight. Still, family was family and while Nunzio wasn’t entirely in the know about the drama going on with that side of the Villanueva clan, Zee knew enough about the stranger side of the world to have any sort of issue with Lalo’s life choices. As long as his cousin was happy, that was truly all that mattered to him. After a brief hello with Lalo’s older brother, Nunzio headed down into the basement. “Hey there, kiddo.” Not that Lalo was truly a kid anymore. That was still mind boggling to the older cousin. “I’m digging all the plant life. I wish my place was this green, but God knows I can’t keep plants alive for shit.” “Yeah.....” Lalo sat up, pushing his dreads from his face in a single move. “I like it,” he agreed. The plants were all designed to do well indoors, but there was enough light coming through the walkout basement windows that he could have a reasonable variety, “What until spring, I already planted the backyard to bloom once the snow is gone. Got more planned too, gonna build a greenhouse...” Not why he was here. Getting a couple beers from his fridge for the duo, he handed one over without asking if the other man wanted one. “What’s up with you then?” Taking the beer, he muttered his thanks before popping the cap. “Too damn much, it feels like. Still adjusting to my new partner at work. Nuno is … interesting.” That was one word for it. The guy looked like he was twelve, but could easily kick damn near anyone’s ass at the precinct. The two of them hadn’t gotten the greatest of starts, but Nunzio could genuinely say that he liked the guy. Then there was the other half of his life. “Manny is still adjusting. Most days he’s fine, and then others … It’s like someone flipped a switch in the kid. He seems to like Nuno, though, which is good considering the guy seems to not understand the concept of personal space.” “Losing a parent is hard,” he said, speaking from experience and he had been much older when his father had passed. And he still had his mom, even if their relationship wasn’t what it used to be. Manny had lost his only parent and moved in with his uncle. An uncle who loved him and would do anything to raise him right, but still not his mom. “It’s probably even harder when you’re his age.” He paused, unsure now if he should bring up what he saw. Who he saw. Taking a long sip of beer, he sat back on the couch again, motioning for his cousin to join him, “I....ah, ran into someone the other day. Thought you should know.” He wasn’t sure of the details of their breakup other than it sending his cousin halfway across the country. He could only imagine that losing a parent, even now, would be difficult. “I can’t even begin to imagine how he feels. He’s been having some trouble at school, too. Kids are fucking cruel.” Thankfully, Manny had a good teacher, and the bullying had stopped almost as quickly as it had started. Zee settled in on the couch, letting his head fall back and his gaze drift to the ceiling. His attention didn’t stay there long; the moment Lalo spoke again, he turned his head to look at him. “Oh? Who did you run into?” And why did he suddenly get a strange feeling in his gut? “Scarlett.” No explanation added. Not yet anyways. Scarlett.. It surprised him, yet it somehow also managed to be the least surprising answer Lalo could have given him. It explained why he kept thinking he was seeing her random places. Chances were, he probably was. “Huh,” He brought the bottle back to his lips. “How, uh, how was she?” “Fine. Surprised to see me,” and he'd been surprised to see her. “Uh.... look, I don't really know what happened with you two, but she was always cool to me. I'm not gonna choose or whatever,” not when they were both witches and he needed to learn witchy stuff. “And she said she'd turn me into a toad,” she hadn't, but he wanted to test the waters if Zee knew she was a witch. “I'd never ask you to choose, Lalo. Who you hang out with isn't my business. Besides, I don't hold any ill will towards her.” Alright, maybe that was a bit if an understatement. He still cared about her, even if she wanted nothing to do with him. Shaking his head and laughing, Nunzio replied, “Not a threat I would take lightly.” Could witches actually do that? Zee didn't know. Maybe he'd ask Nuno. He might know. Of course, now he was wondering just how much Lalo knew. “Scarlett is … special.” Somehow, he didn't think Zee meant ‘love of his life’ type special. “Special? How?” he asked carefully, shifting slightly where he sat. “That doesn't sound good.” Shit. It wasn't as though he could just come right out and tell Lalo the truth. That wasn't Zee's secret to tell. “It's not necessarily bad,” even if it had been what had caused them to breakup. “But it's Scarlett's secret to tell, not mine.” Gotcha. “You mean that she's a witch,” he stated, not dancing around anymore. “Not the kind that wiggles her nose, but like... the kind that wears a black pointy hat. A real witch. Because shit like that is real.” Well. There it was. He supposed, if Lalo already knew, there was no point in denying it. Clearly she had told him, or he'd witnessed it. “Yeah. Shit like that is very real, and apparently everywhere.” Zee seemed to keep finding himself surrounded by it. Leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees, he sighed. “Any particular reason you're bringing this up?” “I... wasn't sure you knew she was around?” he asked, voice going up nearly an octave. He hasn't had his voice go up like that in nearly a decade. “AndI'mabrujo, too,” he burst out all at once. “I had my suspicions.” He'd never been able to confirm it, until now. His eyebrow raised again at the sound of Lalo’s voice going a little squeaky. There was more to this story, wasn't there? And there it was. His cousin was a … was there an actual male equivalent of a witch? Tilting his head, Nunzio took a moment to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. Finally, he busy shrugged his shoulders, leaning back in his seat again and polishing off what was left of his beer. “You're my cousin. Being a brujo doesn't change that. We're family, Lalo, af that's all that matters to me.” If only he'd been able to see that sooner with Scarlett. Visibly relaxing out more tension than he realized he'd been carrying, he finished off his beer easily now. “I haven't told anyone else. I don't know if it matters, they wouldn't believe it anyways probably. I don't... know anything. Like, it's tied to plants and stuff, which isn't surprising, but I figured you and Scarlett....” “Well, I’m glad you told me,” he said truthfully, watching as the tension seemed to disappear from the younger man almost instantly. “I’ll admit, when Scarlett told me … Well, that was not exactly the best conversation, let me tell you.” What was it with him and making extreme understatements today? Somehow, Lalo did not doubt it. “If you could keep it to yourself, I dunno if anyone else is and people are already....judgy,” over his choice in religions. Mostly his mother and the older generation, but it did make his life more complicated since they were not very accepting and very judgemental on certain things. He likely would have been better if he was gay than by practicing Santeria, but it was what it was. “I wasn’t sure you knew Scarlett was around, either.” He knew all about judgy. He’d been one of those people, five years ago. It had cost him dearly. “Of course. Your secret is safe with me, kid.” He knew that Lalo’s mother, and some of the older generation didn’t exactly seem keen on his cousin’s path in life, and the last thing that Nunzio wanted to do was make that worse for him. “I’ve caught glimpses of her, here and there, but I didn’t know for certain it was really her until you said something.” Part of him was glad to know that he wasn’t just being haunted by memories of the past. The other part though, was a bit more complicated. He wanted to reach out to her, to tell her how sorry he was, but he had a feeling that wasn’t a conversation that would go over very well. “I’m probably going to see her again,” definitely would, “if you want me to pass something along?” he offered, unsure if Nunzio would want to or not. At least he wasn’t yelling or being crazy about everything. Then again, given his lack of surprise about witches in general, things were beginning to make a lot more sense. “Or not, if you don’t. Not trying to make things worse.” Pass something along? The idea of sending a message to Scarlett, using his cousin as a messenger, was both appealing and terrifying. What the hell would he even say? Hey, Scarlett! Sorry I’m an asshole. I miss you. Just thinking the words made it sound stupid. The stupid thing was, that was exactly what he wanted to tell her, but not like this. At least, not entirely. “Tell her … Just let her know that I’m here, if she ever feels like talking. Tell her I’m sorry.” Well, Lalo hadn’t expected his cousin to bare his soul or anything, hadn’t actually expected a message at all despite the offer, but it seemed....odd. “Sure,” he agreed, “I assume I can give your number if she deleted it in rage? Or does she need to use floo powder and show up in your fireplace?” If he could joke about it, then it was better, right? Maybe? The joke actually got a bit of a laugh out of Zee. “Yeah, feel free to give it to her, if she asks. If not, well, she knows where to find me.” It helped, though, that he’d never changed his number. It was an easy one to remember, and that was a huge benefit now that he had Manny. Plus, his parents didn’t have to memorize a new number. In truth, Lalo had no idea what was and was not possible about magic or being a witch. At this point, all he knew was ‘yer a wizard, Harry,’ and still needed to get his Hogwarts books or something. Emphasis on the ‘or something,’ bit. There didn’t seem to be any sort of formal training, no schools at least. No one said, ‘What? You didn’t get trained at the school?’ in shock. That was something at least. “Cool. Will do.” |