Shifting Allegiances (Camilo x OC)

~ten~

That night Elian held a pencil over the notebook Camilo had bought for them. They weren't sure what they wanted to write, but it was something. They began to mutter under their breath and slowly the poem began to form.

You stifle me inside this house
I lie to you, you try to douse
my dreams and hopes you shred apart
You will not let me have my heart

You sit in your hate
keep me within your gate
there's nothing I can do
I can't possibly please you

You don't know me
you don't try to see
and you don't want to know
I cut you loose a long time ago

I survive by the grace of my pain
and yet you still grip my chain
I pity you and what you lost
but you are not worth every cost.

Elian knew that poetry was an outlet for their feelings. They knew that often, in the search of rhyme and rhythm, they often found a deeper meaning than they were going for.

But this poem about their Abuelo was very telling.

They needed to fix something, and fix it soon. After all, they didn't need their family financially anymore, did they? Not that they had anything saved.

But something needed to change.

The next morning he was a he, and had to go to work again.

That morning Camilo went downstairs for breakfast and learned that Mariano was coming over to propose that night. He cast a glance at Dolores, who was doing a great job repressing her emotions and pretending she didn't care... He shifted into Mariano and made kissy faces at Isabela. She puffed flowers at his face, and he had to spit one out. Dolores gave him a small smile.

When he finished his breakfast he went back inside. He wanted to do some self-reflection, and the best way to do that was to draw himself.

There was so much pressure on him to be perfect. Not perfect the way the others were, but to fill his role as the jokester. He needed to make people laugh, to be a cheerful force in his family, to lighten moods and be nice and make them smile. He didn't have to have perfect manners, or get everything done, but he did have to be perfectly what he was expected.

Even he hadn't seen how stressful that was, to never stop smiling and be responsible for everyone else's laughter.

Who was Camilo when they just let themself be totally Camilo?

His thoughts were interrupted by knocking on his door. Probably Dolores. He walked over and opened it.

Abuela stood there. "We should talk," she said.

Camilo immediately assumed an easy grin and snapped his mental walls up. "Sure, Abuela. Come on in."

"I hope you know I'm just trying to protect you from that girl," she said, sitting on his bed.

"Person," he interjected. "Haven't seen them today so their gender is unknown."

Her eyes flashed, but she didn't argue. "I just don't want you influenced by that kind of person. She'll just--"

"They'll."

"--confuse you, especially if you grow an attraction for her."

"Them."

"Well, she would have to be a girl for you to like her romantically!"

He didn't say anything but rather regarded his Abuela shrewdly. "They are themself. I don't understand why you are so intent on spreading misery."

"I just don't want you to end up confused like her."

"Them. And I'm not confused. I know exactly who I am." He took a deep breath. "I am Camilo Madrigal. I am a shapeshifter. I live in Encanto. And I'm tired of being forced into a box. The gender binary is an oppressive social construct anyway and I don't care about it." He shifted into the figure he had been drawing earlier, a female version of his regular form. "Maybe this is me too. Maybe I don't care what you think."

Their Abuela just stared at them in shock. "Adios Mio," she said. "No. You are a boy. You will never not be one."

And finally, anger bubbled up in Camilo's chest. "Out." They pointed to the door. "If you can't accept me, then I can't handle you. Get. Out. Of. My. Room."

"How dare you. This is MY house--"

"OUT."

Abuela drew herself up and looked down at him haughtily. "You will change your mind." Then she left.

Camilo collapsed and started crying.

It hurt. It felt like physical pain. They could feel their chest constricting, it was harder to breathe, what had they done? They didn't regret it, but everything just got so much harder... they felt like their room was closing in on them. They got to their feet and raced out the hidden back door, closing it behind them.

They breathed in the outside air, trying to fill their lungs. Camilo took the time to calm down. They needed to talk to Elian. Elian would be able to help them. They shifted back to their normal form, and a wave of discomfort ran over them. This definitely felt wrong.

They took Dolores' form instead. They knew she wouldn't mind. They walked around the square, trying to find Elian or even Verónica.

They found the latter first, spying the girl looking at a stand for hair things. They walked up to her.

"Hey, can we talk for a moment?" they said in Dolores' voice.

"Yeah, sure, Dolores. What's up?" Verónica asked. Camilo led her a bit away from the market before shifting back into themself.

"So I think I might be like whatever Elian is and I told my Abuela and she was super not okay with it and I started having a panic attack and I really need to talk to them." The words all came out in a rush.

"Okay. Uh, Elian's at work right now, but they get out for lunch break soon. Do you want to talk to me for now?"

"Sure. Okay."

"First of all, make sure you're in the form you want to be in." Camilo nodded. They had shifted into the default. Assuming a more feminine look grounded them. "What pronouns do you want, and do you have a name change?"

"They/them for now, and no, at least not yet. I don't know about that."

"Okay. Can you tell me what happened?"

A/N

Hope you like my poetry,it was very thought out. Enjoy!