Shifting Allegiances (Camilo x OC)

~fifteen~

Elian and Verónica had been sitting in Verónica's room as the latter showed Elian the embroidery she had been talking earlier in the square about when they felt the house shake.

Verónica frowned worriedly. "That can't be good..." The two rose to their feet and walked to the main area and looked out the front window.

A huge crack ran through the center of the road. They exchanged horrified glances and rushed out the door. "If the magic is breaking... and it comes from the Madrigal's candle..." Verónica trailed off.

"Come on!" Elian grabbed Verónica's hand and the two began to sprint up the streets, trying to wend their way through the crowds of people best they could.

The Casita had fallen down. It lay in ruins. "Are they okay...?" Verónica asked softly.

"Let's find out." Elian prepared himself for whatever the Madrigals would have to say to him. Luckily the Abuela wasn't around.

Julieta rushed up to the two as soon as she saw them. "Have you two seen Mirabel?!"

Verónica paled further. "She's missing?"

"Yes-- she's okay, none of us are hurt, but she's run off somewhere. Camilo's over there, child." She directed the last part to Elian who muttered a low "thanks."

"I'm going to check the picnic spot," Verónica said. "Maybe she's waiting for me or something."

Elian nodded grimly. "She's smart. She's fine, just probably upset by whatever happened."

Julita nodded. "If you find her bring her back please!" she fretted.

"Si, Señora." Verónica gave Elian's hand a squeeze before running off.

Elian approached Camilo, who was sprawled out on the ground, staring at the darkening sky. "Hola niño bonito," they said, without any real inflection.

"What happened here? You good girl?"

"Better, now that you're here." Their tone managed a joking air, but that was all.

Elian lay down on the ground next to them. "Can you tell me what happened to the house? You don't have to."

"Mirabel and Abuela had an argument. She confronted her about the pressure put on all of us and said that it was all Abuela's fault. Then the Casita fell down. Mirabel tried to save the candle, and she got it down, but it went out anyway." Camilo frowned. "I think. I'm a little hazy on the details."

For the first time, they shifted to face Elian. "I can't shift. " Elian nodded. "I'm trapped in this body, and I hate it. I hate this body. I hate that I can't shift. How do you handle it?"

"It's hard. I still have bad days. but when you can start living as yourself it gets better. And maybe this'll be a wake-up call for your Abuela."

"You're right. You usually are, with this stuff." The two looked up at the sunset.

"I know," Elian said, linking his pinky with Camilo's, resting on the ground. They didn't say anything, but enjoyed it.

"Do you wanna go shopping for dresses soon?" Elian asked. "Or even just feminine clothes in general, it's not all dresses and skirts."

"That actually sounds great, Elian."

They lay in silence for a little bit longer until Elian asked, "Have you seen what of your stuff survived?"

Camilo sat bolt upright. "My drawings!"

"I regret saying that," Elian groaned, seeing that now he'd have to get up. Camilo stood up and offered him their hand to help him up. He accepted it and got hauled to his feet.

"My room would be just around... here," they said, noticing his doorknob. They started excavating the area. "Oh!" Camilo held up a mirror shard. "It's definitely around here then."

"Really? A giant mirror?" Elian suppressed a laugh.

"To help see transformations!" Camilo protested.

"Sure. Tell me, how many long hours did you spend transformed as me staring at yourself in the mirror?" His tone was joking, and Camilo responded with a laugh.

"Not nearly enough," they said with mock dismay. "Here we go!" Camilo held a notebook aloft.

"Can I see what you've done? You don't have to show me, I know it can be personal."

"Nah, I love showing off." Camilo found some rubble at a good height to sit on. "Here's my first drawing." It was of Camilo making a silly face. It was an amazing drawing, they really had a knack for shadows and light, as well as the specific creases of a face.

"Wow, that's incredible." Elian was impressed. As Camilo flipped through the notebook they saw lots of drawings of faces, mostly them and their family.

"It does of course help that I can shift into the subject and really study their face. It would be much harder if I couldn't see what I'm doing."

They were reaching near the end when a very familiar face came up. Elian stared at the picture of him.

Camilo flushed bright red, wishing their skin was darker to hide it.

"Huh. So you really did spend hours shifted as me, staring into the mirror," Elian joked. "It's very good. Detailed. Shows a lot of care."

"Thanks," Camilo said, getting over their embarrassment. "It did take a while."

"Obviously. Camilo, these are incredible." Elian turned the page, seeing the almost done picture of them as a girl. "Damn niña bonita. This looks great."

"Obviously, it's me." Camilo grinned and winked at him.

Elian swatted the back of their head lightly. "It does look like you're almost out of pages. Maybe it'll be my turn to buy you a new notebook."

"You don't have to--"

"I know I don't have to, but I want to, Camilo."

"Alright." The two sat in silence for some time before the sound of hooves alerted them to someone's approach.

"Mirabel's back!" someone yelled.

Elian stood up and offered Camilo his hand. They took it and the two walked over to the broken doorway. "There were so many bees," Augustin was saying, shuddering. HIs swollen ears flopped, but he smiled at his daughter. "I'll be okay."

"Not if we don't have a house," Camilo said dryly. Their Papa elbowed them. "What? We don't have a house. I can't say we don't have a house? What is that? Not a house."

Elian rolled his eyes. "We can make a house, dummy. We townspeople can build things, even if we don't have gifts."

Mirabel smiled and launched into song. Señora Madrigal apologized and Bruno got reconnected with his sisters and family. Camilo pouted that he wasn't some eldritch monster thing, but they gave him a hug and resolved to really get to know him.

Elian smiled at Camilo and squeezed their hand. "You'll be okay. We'll be okay."

A/N

Looks like this book will be about 20 chapters long... we're 3/4 of the way there peeps! hope you all like it!
Sorry to marvel over the number of reads I have but 2 days ago it was 351 and now it's 585, so... thanks guys!