daybreakacademy | Ella con su triste canto te acompañará

Entry tags:

héctor rivera: coco

Ella con su triste canto te acompañará

WHO: Héctor and closed to close CR only
WHERE: Lumiere to Aube
WHEN: Wibbly wobbly time but a little after the WYMW plot
WHAT: A phone call reunion
WARNINGS: The BIG SPOILER tm (I will NPC the person on the phone as needed)

The conversation starts off in Lumiere. It's not a voice that most will have heard around Imelda, let alone coming from her room. Hitching sobs and gasps, and eventually laughter and quick spoken Spanish. It starts in the early evening, but soon carries late and the door opens but the conversation doesn't stop, a phone cradled to his ear and not a care in the world for who sees him, tear tracked and smiling wide. 'Coco' and 'Mija' and 'Te extraño mucho' are words that come with frequency. Héctor barely minds his path, let alone those he passes.

But there are still one or two for whom he might pause, wet-faced and still heedless as he stops to say, "Mija, este es mi buen amigo, my good friend..."

It's a rare honor, but he does reserve for those already in the know of his situation. None of it holds him so long that he's late for their song. Even with her voice on speaker now, they both sing softly-- as best they can with tears in their voices-- so as not to be heard. But his fingers play upon the guitar and those notes ring out, like it or not, throughout the common room of Aube. Those up terribly late may just catch the tail end, or at least the sung word, "Recuérdame".

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Peter has been ... well, not tuned into a lot lately, which likely isn't a surprise for Héctor. First studying his ass off to dig himself back out of his failure hole, then back into keeping his grades passable, which also has taken a lot more work than he expected. And beyond that, he's slowly drifted into a nocturnal schedule. Which has been a little bit hellish, given he can't seem to switch back but. That's just how things are, now. The spell holds otherwise, and there aren't any new cracks, but ...

All that is a long-winded way of saying Peter's been distracted, and up late at night, which puts him in the perfect spot to poke his head out of his room unexpectedly when he hears his tío having a bad time. Especially when he hears who he's talking to, and can piece together some things himself.

"Tío Héctor?" he says, his voice quiet. "Hey, um. Are you okay?"

If one person has been particularly involved in his life since this insane semester started, it'd have to be Peter. The boy's been there for just about everything. Finding out what he is, Ernesto, that... other stuff he still doesn't want to think about. Of course, it was obvious when Peter had to begin that night time transition and catch up on schoolwork that things would get a little quieter, but he's missed him.

Just, perhaps, not as much as the girl on the phone. Peter's got it wrong though. He's not having a bad time. Not at all.

He quiets just a moment at the voice, turning to blink at Peter like he forgot other people in the world exist. And then he smiles wide, teary faced and all.

"Mijo," He greets. "I'm doing wonderful. Please, come, come! There's someone you've got to meet!" He waves the boy in closer to the phone and speaks into it. "Mija? Hay alguien que quiero que conozcas. El habla ingles. This is Peter, mija. Peter, this... this is my Coco. My daughter."

There's a silence on the phone, broken only by a sniffle and a heavily accented voice saying, "Hola, Peter. You are a friend de mi Papá?"

With the tears and the Spanish he'd really expected much worse, but either he wasn't hearing properly through the door or he just plain doesn't understand quite as much Spanish as he thought. Regardless, he's glad to see his tío smiling through his tears. And better to see him light up when Peter pokes his head out.

"Really? You sounded kinda --" And then Héctor waves him over and that answers all his questions. For all his dumbassery, Peter is a smart boy; he instantly realizes who he's talking to here, even before Héctor makes his introductions. He gestures silently at the phone with a grin, like really? this is really her? before he leans in closer.

"Yeah. I'm Peter. And he's definitely a really good friend of mine." Whatever Héc wants to call him to his daughter is fine with him. Adoptions can be discussed later. "Um, he helps me out a lot. Especially with school stuff."

At Peter's gesturing, he bobs his head, breath hitching even as he laughs. It's her. It's really her. He can still hardly believe it.

"Papá, you've been helping at the magic school?"

It doesn't matter what comes from the speaker, he seems to revel in the very sound of her voice. "Si, Coco, when I can. Your Papá's picked up a thing or two."

Coco says to Peter, "That sounds nice. Papá won't tell me anything. He keeps asking about me."

"What more wonderful thing could there be, mija?"

"Papá," she scolds, but even she still sounds teary with joy and relief.

"Peter here's actually helped me a lot as well," he tells her. "With my illness and other things. He's a very kind boy. He's going to be coming to Santa Cecelia with me and your Mamá, when I'm able to go back."

Héctor's joy is infectious; Peter can't help but grin even more just listening to their exchange. He's so glad Héc has his daughter back, even if it's just via phone like this. The promise of getting to see her when he goes home brightens his face too. And -

Wait. He jolts when Héctor says that last bit, his eyes wide. He manages to keep his mouth shut, because Coco's on the line and it seems entirely unnecessary for him to freak out audibly?? But at the same time, holy crap. He sort of flails his hands for a moment. Like. Héctor! You didn't tell him you and Imelda got back together. He's going to demand details once this phone call is over.

But okay, he won't go into that now. Back to the phone. "I'll tell you anything you want," he says, beaming. "I know all the good stuff. Also the bad stuff." And while he'll refrain from, uh, telling Coco her dad's a skeleton, he won't hold back on anything else. "But - um, it's mostly good stuff. Like letting me travel with him."

He's also not sure when it got confirmed that he'd get to go back to Mexico with Héc, but he's glad for that too.

He can think clearly about this later. Right now is time for happy things. Coco, whatever makes her happy, and getting to share this moment a little. Which means, at the moment, Peter's doing much better than him at being reasonable. Absolutely nothing is confirmed from relationship repair to travel.

But really, the worst case is he moves into a house across the street right? right. He looks a little sheepish at the flailing, but still too happy altogether to keep it up.

Even as he says, "Let's hold off on bad stuff."

Which is in exact time with, "There's more bad stuff?"

"No, no, no, mija, it's okay, I'm- I'm okay enough. Sick or no, I'm here and in one piece."

"...Can I have el nombre de Peter?"

"Are you going to ask him while I'm not on the phone?"

"No," She lies, immediately. "But! I do want to hear the good stuff! Por favor, Peter! As much as you can! It'll be muy chido to see you in Santa Cecelia! Everyone's really normal here, which is nice, but I don't have anyone to talk to about the other kind of stuff! There are so many things I want to ask about!"

In his defense, Peter mostly means fun bad stuff, like Héctor staying up all night and dumb puns. Not horrifying bad stuff like turning into a Hollow. He winces a bit when Héc says he's sick, opening his mouth to ask - when. Right. Skeleton metaphor, probably. Like his own "medical condition" excuse.

"I'll totally give you my number," he says, recovering with a grin. "I'll tell you anything you want."

Sorry, Héc. You probably shouldn't have introduced them.

He definitely shouldn't have introduced them. I'll tell you anything you want gets wide eyes, a frown, and a quick shake of his head. Not everything Peter. In fact, a very large circle around certain topics.

On the other hand, this could be good practice for Peter.

"Gracias, Peter! I hope you are very good at keeping promises!" She's holding him to it now. "I have a pen. Ready when you are!"

Despite his worries, Héctor waits until the number passing is done. It also gives him time to somewhat wipe his face a little drier.

"If you two are talking, best be sure to listen to your Mamá and get to bed on time. For real next time. Not like right now, which she will never know about, si?"

"Si, Papá," She laughs.

Edited 2019-05-21 14:53 (UTC)

Peter just sort of shrugs! Look, he'll stay away from things that are actively dangerous, like the whole undead thing. And he'll try very hard to preserve his own undead secret, just. Um. Probably fail. He really, really needs more practice, yes.

Anyway. He rattles off his number, waiting to make sure she's got it. "Nice talking with you," he says with a grin. He really likes seeing these interactions. And he's especially glad to see Héctor happy. God knows he deserves it after everything he's been through lately. "I'll text you tomorrow and stuff. All the deets."

"Which... I suppose means I should let you go as well," He says to Coco. The words come with difficulty. For all the joy of speaking to her, fear waits like a black pit, crumbling ground beneath his feet. He takes the phone up in both hands and holds it close.

"Wait! Wait! No, it's only..." There's the sound of footsteps, moving quick. "It's only a little late!"

"A little late on a school night, mija," He says sadly, even as he smiles.

There's a sound from her, a little frustrated, a little desperate. "But... Papá, I finally got to talk to you! It's been so long! I don't care about school, I want to talk to you! Papá, please!"

"I know," He says. "...I know... It'll be okay, Coco. I'll be here tomorrow night. And the night after that. And I'll call you every time and do everything we used to do, me and you, okay? I promise. Te amo. Te amo mucho, mi pequeña."

"Te extraño, Papá," comes the strained voice at the other end. Héctor takes a shaky breath and says, "Yo también. Te extraño mucho. Aunque tienes que irte, mi amor. Y yo también."

"...Okay. Buenas Noches Papá. Te amo." There's a brief moment where it looks as though he might cry again, right there. But he manages to speak; "Dulces sueños. Buenas Noches, Coco." And with that, the call ends. He hugs the phone to his chest. He needs this moment. He doesn't quite manage any more words after that, but he looks to Peter with a smile. Fire away those questions, kid.

God, he can't stop grinning. He's so happy to see Héctor finally get to talk to his daughter - and he's doubly glad for what that must mean. No way Imelda would let him talk to her without making up at least a little. In fact, it sounds like they might have gotten back together? In any case, he's got a billion questions, and Héc is right to give him that look. He might just explode a little here.

"How long has this been going on?" he asks, his eyes bright. "When did you and Imelda get back together? Was it adorable? Did you get video? If you haven't video called Coco you really should, that's the best."

The usual flurry of words from Peter. Did you miss him, Héc?

You know? He did. He really did miss this boy. It's a bit of balm on having to hang up on his Coco. He actually manages a laugh at the barrage.

"Slow down, slow down, mijo! One at time," He pleads, amused. Okay, answering. Let's see...

"You'll have to elaborate on 'this', but that was my first call to Coco. We've been going for hours now. Imelda and I are not back together, I told you to stop jumping to that. But we are better than we were. It's not on video, unless someone's not telling me something. I expect a crash course on this video call thingie, classwork or no."

Aww. His face falls a bit at Héctor denying that assumption, but not much. It's still great! They're talking again, at least, and surely Héctor can work something out from there? Makes sense to Peter anyway. It's enough to make sure he's still beaming about it, despite the slight dimming.

"Dude, that's amazing. I had no idea." School work, etc. He finds a spot to perch in the room, probably sitting on Imelda's bed or something. "About any of it. You getting to talk to Coco or Imelda not hating you. And if course I'm gonna show you how to do a video call."

Please, Héctor. Believe in your teenaged adoptee.

It is still great. And he understands the boy's disappointment in not having a purely happy end, they can both agree this is something good all the same.

He flashes a grateful smile at Peter, not contemplating the video call too much lest he gets lost in the idea of seeing his daughter for the first time and weeping all over again.

And then he's smiling down at the phone in his hands again. "The uh... what happened really shook us up, didn't it? She's been having me see her. I thought it would just be until I could make myself look... not skeletal again, but she's still been talking. And when our younger selves went running around, our two clung. When they went back, we remembered and... it's still hard for her, and I don't blame her, but I guess despite everything she's considering things. And she and I are going to work on getting me home. With all that... she gave the new number for home. Warned Coco I'd be calling, told her I was lost and sick and staying here to get better. Not entirely a lie."

He'll help later, he promises. You can gush about video calls all you want later.

"I was wondering," he says. "If you got along better when you were kids. She was totally different." And Héc, well. He was different too but not as pronounced as Imelda was. "I'm glad she's gonna let you go home for real though. And talk to Coco."

All good things, all good starts. It makes him think that maybe he'll get to see Coco in Mexico later too.

He laughs a little. Soft and rueful.

"She's not so different," He says in her defense. "She's the same person inside. The same passion, same care. Things just got hard for her, that's all. In her element, I'd bet she's just the same as she was." Whereas he? Well, he's always been a scruffy urchin. Peter's never seen him at his best and maybe never will.

"I used to play in the plaza, all day and all night. Foster kid, they never noticed I was gone. Besides Ernesto, she was one the only one who really noticed me beyond my guitar. But, mage family, they didn't exactly approve. I'd say we didn't get into so many antics as we did here until after her quinceñera. But... I'd always admired her. As you know." He turns his smile downward, laughing again. "I don't think Teto so much convinced her as Imeldita did though. The only catch is that I can't go home yet."

Ha. Scruffy urchin is right. Regardless of how old Héc is.

Peter flops on the bed a little more, still grinning at his skeleton uncle. "Right, right, traveling is hard when you're a skeleton," he says. "That's why you told her you're sick, right? Since you can't mention - y'know."

He gestures at all of Héctor. And also all of himself, for that matter.

"But I knew you guys would get back together eventually. You love each other too much not to."

And that's yet another rueful smile won.

"Si. That's why. A little of secrecy law and a little... not hurting her where it's unnecessary." At least, for now.

Of course then he's snorting and shaking his head. "Ay, mijo, it's just chance. We love each other plenty but there'd be no getting back together if not for all this. Or all my being here at all for that matter. And I just told you we're not exactly back together. We're... something. Co-parents. Who are taking things slow. It's different."

But so different he can stop smiling about it.

"I get it." He'd do the same for May if May didn't know everything already. And he'll keep the same secrets with Coco, at least as much as he can. Better with Héctor's. Maaaaybe not so much with his own.

Also, that's not going to make him grin any less. "That's still progress," he points out. "Way more than you thought you were gonna get, right?" As far as Peter's concerned, that's a win.

He rolls his eyes but he really can't stop grinning. "Alright, alright, have your victory. You relentless kid."

He reaches over then quickly rustles Peter's hair. Take that!

But with that done he's back to looking at the phone, that bittersweet look upon him. His thumb runs over the darkened screen. "I waited so long for this. I finally got to apologize. I got to tell her I loved her. That I still do." He looks up again to Peter. "She didn't forget me."

Hey, hey! He didn't ask for that. But he laughs anyway, ducking his head a bit. You missed this dumbass kid, admit it.

"I'm real glad," he says, with a softer expression too. "I mean, you don't always get second chances like that." He had the same with Ben, and he's desperately glad for it. Some nights he manages to talk to his uncle too. Mostly up on the roof in the middle of the night. So ... not so dissimilar, really. "But she couldn't have forgotten you, right? You're her dad. That's way too important of a relationship."

It's nice to hear the kid laugh along. The kid needs more of that. He doesn't have to admit a thing about missing because it's obvious.

It's a nice thing that Peter doesn't have to miss his uncle so much. Even if the reasons for it, Peter's own status, are less than ideal.

He understands Peter's trying to reassure, and his smile doesn't waver for in the end he was remembered. But, he shakes his head. "How much do you remember from four years old, Peter? Me, I can't remember anything. I don't know my own parents' names. I don't even know what my own last name was supposed to be. I died when my daughter was four... and then there was no trace of me at all. But she remembered me anyway. She missed me. She's a miracle, my Coco is. And I'm the luckiest man in the world."

That's a good point, honestly. Peter's own biological parents died at around the same time for him, and he can't remember a darn thing about them. But. He'll maybe keep that to himself. It's clear Coco did remember, and that's good enough.

"I'm glad, Tío," he says, his expression warm. "You're gonna get to be a part of her life from now on."

He might have missed a lot so far, but. Having this now is a lot too, surely.

He imagines Peter doesn't remember. It's fine. He knows how it goes. He's just amazed for otherwise.

At those words, his heart swells. He has to close his eyes a moment, just to imagine it, to think of all he won't miss for once, instead of what he has. He looks up and over then, smiling. "And you."

He reaches over, gripping Peter's arm a moment in a light squeeze. "We're all family now, si? Which means you can be her family too. And she can be yours. If you both want to."

Peter lets out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Of course he hadn't really thought that Héctor would shut him out now that he has his real family back. But he also wouldn't have blamed him if he had. Coco is his daughter, and Peter is ... well he's just some dumb undead kid. And if Coco had been there all along maybe they wouldn't have bonded like this.

But they have, and - and Peter is relieved to hear that won't go away just because the situation has changed. "Course I want that," he says. "We're going to your home town after everything's done, right? Santa Cecilia."

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