Shifting Allegiances (Camilo x OC)

~one~

Elian woke up at 9:30 am, mentally complaining about life again. 

Shit, what was their gender?

Her gender? His gender? The latter felt better. He/they for now, then. He stood up with a groan. At least they didn't have work today, always a plus. Though now he did have to go to the market to buy food for the week. And that meant people who would talk to them. It wasn't that he hated people, he supposed as he put on his day clothes, it was that the people didn't like them very much. Only the older ones cared about his gender stuff, but he was so distanced from the kids his age they just didn't like him. They could live with that. 

"I'm going out!" He called to his Papa and Abuelo. 

"Get me some arepas!" Abuelo yelled at them from his room.

"Si, Abuelo!" The square was packed, per usual on a Saturday morning. Especially the morning of a gift ceremony, when everyone's buying stuff for the celebration. Hopefully, Abuelo would let Elian go, even if he himself wasn't going.

Now, remember Elian was still half-asleep at this point, but he was pretty sure his Papa was in the house. So why was he at the arepa stand? He walked closer. And Papa was being surprisingly brazen... It clicked. Must be that shapeshifting Madrigal who was his age. Looking closer, Elian noticed that as Camilo chatted up the shopkeep in their papa's skin, he was subtly sneaking arepas into a pocket beneath the poncho he wore.

Hmm.

Elian waited until Camilo walked away, pulling an arepa out of his pocket, before they approached him.

"Heyyy, It's el Madrigal mágico!" He fell in step with the boy. 

Camilo shifted back. "Ha! How'd you know?"

"Luck. You chose mi Papa. For the record, he's way shyer than you portrayed him as."

"Gracias, should help me for next time. Oh and sorry, but are you a boy or a girl?"

"Boy today. Tomorrow? Who knows?"

"Hm. Never heard of that. Intriguing."

"Just like me. My gender changes from day to day and hour to hour. Never felt like I was just one. You prolly get that, hm, Madrigal mágico?"

"You can call me Camilo, niño bonito, and I get that. I do have a default form though, this gorgeous body." He was grinning arrogantly.

"I can't shapeshift, regretfully. I'm stuck in this form, all that changes is how I present myself and my pronouns. But here we are. And did you just call me pretty boy?"

He winked. "Guilty, I'm afraid. But are you going to deny it?"

"Why would I do that? It's true. I just don't find enough people who agree."

"Well, niño bonito, I think it's quite accurate."

"I'm sure you do, Madrigal mágico." Elian grinned at him. "What are you doing in the market today, aside from pilfering arepas?"

"You caught that? Guess I'll have to up my game."

"Oh no, it was very skillfully done. I just had a good eye-- and you were shifted as my Papa." Elian's Abuelo would be so upset to learn that that the Madrigal boy had not only shifted into Papa, but also talked to Elian. Well, they had their reasons for talking to the boy.

"True. As you said, luck. I'm here to escape la casita-- everyone's panicking and freaking out and decorating and I needed a break. Everything needs to be perfect for mi hermanito Antonio."

"That's an oof. Hope it goes better than last time. It must be so hard to live there without a gift in a house where that's the only thing that makes you special."

"Oh, please," Camilo responded with a scoff. "I'm perfectly capable of being special without a gift. Though it helps."

"I suppose so. You're pretty enough."

"Pretty enough? I bet I'm the prettiest boy you've seen all day!" he cried indignantly.

"Sorry, I looked in a mirror when I woke up. You just can't compare to this." Elian gestured to their face, smirking.

By now they had circled the market, and Elian had most of what he needed. They glanced around to see what to get next. Their gaze snagged on a small group of girls whispering and stealing glances at him and Camilo. He rolled his eyes and found what he was looking for. 

"You got a girlfriend?" Camilo asked out of nowhere.

"Hm? No. You applying for the position?" Elian winked. "They don't like me very much, I'm afraid. You?"

"Nah. Not that I don't like them, I just don't appreciate the blushing and stuttering. Half of them can't hold a conversation with me and half of them just give me bad vibes." Camilo let out a frustrated sigh. "Shame Encanto is small. I have to settle for what I can get."

"The only person our age who's datable is me, and unfortunately I'm in a committed relationship with the arepas I stole from you. Coming Papa!" Elian ran off towards the man Camilo had been impersonating earlier as the Madrigal stared after him in dismay. 

He snapped out of it long enough to yell, "Wait! Will I see you tonight?"

"If you're lucky!" Elian yelled over their shoulder as they raced away.

"Wow," said Dolores, walking up behind Camilo. "Do you even know that dude's name?"

"I was too busy flirting to ask." Camilo sighed deeply. "I'm so fucking gay."

Dolores elbowed him. "At least he's single."

"Sure, but he stole the arepas that I stole earlier! I don't know if it would work out." He shook his head mock-sadly.

"Hey, cheer up. You'll probably see him tonight."

"If I'm lucky," he said, repeating the boy's words. "Why're you here?"

"I was told to find and retrieve you. You know you have to help with the decorations." 

"Yeah, yeah. I was planning to go back anyway."

"When?"

"In time for the celebration..." he said sheepishly.

Dolores shook her head. "Come on mi chico. We need tall people, and you can become one of the tallest."

"Uh-huh. Let's go." The two started the walk over to la Casita.

"Oh! And stop stealing everyone's arepas! It's rude."

"Si, Dolores..."

A/N

Heyo! So I watched Encanto and I became OBSESSED with Camilo. Let me know if I'm portraying gender fluidity wrong, I'm agender myself and know some genderfluid people but I'm not perfect. hope you all enjoy!

If you need translations for any Spanish in my story just comment, there isn't a lot though.