sickening blame (on hold)

it's you, it's me.

It was dinner time for the Madrigals. All of them sat at their respective seats. Quietly eating their food. Bruno on the other hand played with his food with the fork. Pushing it aside then back. Alma, their mother took notice of her son's unusual behaviour. "Mijo, are you alright? You're barely eating your food," Bruno was startled by his mother's voice. He placed down the utensil on the plate and turned to look at Alma. "Yeah, mama! I'm alright. I think I'm not that hungry tonight," He let out a light nervous chuckle. Alma wasn't too satisfied with that answer. "Bruno-"

"Mama, I think he's tired," Julieta budged in. Bruno looked at his sister then back to his mother, nodding. "Okay then. Bruno, you can go rest up if you want," The older woman suggested. Bruno smiled at her and hummed in response. Picking his plate up and place it in the sink. Hurriedly made his way to his room.

All of them watched him walk away and continued with their dinner. Pepa nudged Julieta with her elbow. "What's up with him?" she whispered. Julieta shrugged. "I don't know. Something happened when he was helping me hand out the food for the injured. I asked but he didn't tell me," Alma grunted softly, catching the attention of her two daughters. "What's wrong mama?"

"Oh, it's just the chairs. It's getting worn out. I had asked our town carpenter to fix us some new chairs to sit on. I'm going to visit him tomorrow morning. Would you like to join me?" She asked, to which they both nodded happily. "Oh! And bring Bruno too,"

The next morning, the Madrigals made their way to the Carpenter's shophouse. Julieta and Pepa forcibly dragged Bruno out with them. He was visibly annoyed and upset that he was forced out of his room. Trying to hide away from a certain handsome boy that caught his eyes. Unknowingly to him, he was actually going to the house of said male.

On the other part of the village, a certain [h/c] head was working on the new orders. Four chairs. Currently, he's working on the last one. Checking the final measurements and drawing out the joints. He placed his pencil down, took a deep breath and out. "That'll be it. Let's take a break," he muttered to himself. Grabbing a cup of milo on his table, taking a sip of it. His stomach began to rumble. "Oof, I need to eat,". [Name] stood up from his study table and went to his kitchen.

While rummaging through his refrigerator, [Name] heard a knock at the front door. He was startled by it and quickly patting the wood dust off his clothes. Reaching for the doorknob, he took a deep breath and out. Putting on a happy face. He swung the door open and greeted. "Hello! How may I help you- Oh! Mrs Madrigal! What makes you come to visit me? I haven't finished your chairs yet. It's almost done though! Oh, you brought your kids!" Alma was enlightened by [Name]'s enthusiastic demeanour. It made her chuckle. "Oh, calm down, [Name]. I just want to see how you're doing,"

[Name] was taken aback by her words. "T-to see how am I doing..? Oh, that's- That's kind of you, Mrs. Madrigal. Please, come in. The living room's upstairs. I'll bring over some snacks for you," he offered as he moved aside for them to walk in. Alma thanked him and walked into his shophouse, her triplets following behind.

Bruno wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. He was lost in thoughts. Thinking about something. Specifically a certain someone. Pepa aggressively elbowed her brother, signalling him to go into the house. He yelped in pain and shyly followed his sister. Walking past the door, his eyes landed on the male beside the door. He jumped backwards in shock. "I-it's you..! Oh- Oh god-" His face deeply reddened.

"A-ah, yes. It's me. Nice to see you again, Bruno," [Name] laughed. "Come on in, Bruno. Go on ahead upstairs," Bruno hesitantly nodded and quickly walked towards the stairs, pulling up his hood to hide away his blushing mess. [Name] snickered and closed the door behind him going straight to the kitchen.

Everyone settled in the living room. It felt homey. Everyone was comfortable on the couch. Meanwhile, Bruno was uncontrollably fidgeting in his seat. "Bruno, calm down, will you? I know you don't like to be outside but behave alright?"

"N-no, Mama. It's not that. I'm just- nervous...?" He whispered the last word. "Nervous?"

"Snacks has arrived!" [Name] announced excitedly and placed the tray of snacks and drinks on the coffee table. "Mrs Madrigal. Thank you for checking up on me. I'm doing just great! Everyone can chill here if you want! I'll be just downstairs in my workshop. You're free to roam around if you like!" He says before going back down to continue with the last piece of chair.

Alma sighed softly. "That boy. Same age as you guys. So young and he's doing all this. He's very energetic," The two older triplets nodded in agreement while the youngest just nervously gripped onto the cup of milo. But then he stood up and placed the cup back down on the table. "Mama, I'll take a walk around for a bit,"