Hard
Chapter 23 - Hard
Regardless of how she felt about it, , Charlie still gone on her way to Verosika’s door, with Blitzo following behind her.
Of course, as she’s creeping through the halls, the blue bow blonde was griping about and questioning what she’s to do next. “Why would embracing Verosika do anything?”
“Fuck if I know,” the future-seer responded. “Our family got a miracle. How do you help a family miracle? Easy. Hug a sister. In any case, running out of time here.”
“It’s not gonna work. She won’t hug me, okay? Ever. She hates me! Also, I don’t know if you heard, but I ruined her proposal!”
“Charlie…”
“Plus, P.S., she is just annoying.”
“Charlie…”
A frustrated groan. “Of course, it’s Verosika. Obviously, she’s annoying!”
“Charlie.”
“What’s her problem with me anyway? She’s the one with roses coming out of her-”
“Charlie!”
The funny thing is, that last shout wasn’t heard all that well by either sneaking person. No, it was the thunder that caught both of their attention. It wasn’t until the one responsible for said thunder got closer that they could hear the anxiety-ridden voice they both so familiar with.
“Oh, this is just fantastic. Simply wonderful! First, my little Collin was missing at first during his Gift ceremony, and now Charlie had run off after she appeared in the vision… and now I’m raining and thundering! What else can go wrong!?”
Charlie and Blitzo looked at each other, wide-eyed. They could hear Pentious walking around on the second floor, still yet to see them. They knew it was imperative to hide. After all, if the weather manipulator saw his niece, then that’s one thing. If he saw his long-lost brother, though? Well, that’s just a hurricane waiting to happen.
The only problem was that neither the blue bow blonde nor the future-seer had any idea where to go. On the second floor, there were only the bedrooms of the residents. They had a chance of encountering any of their owners in them and the nursery is too far away.
“Papa.”
It was spoken softly but Pentious could never miss Arackniss when he calls. So upon turning around, “Yes, Arackniss?”
Charlie would have run for Verosika’s door while they were talking but Blitzo had seized her by the arm and started tugging her to the stairs.
“We’re not make it, even with Arackniss distracting him. Let’s hide in the bathroom.”
“But that’s all the way down-!”
“I’m not going to deal with a fucking hurricane or whatever weather shit Pentious can dish out and I seriously doubt you would want to, either! Now come on!”
So, silently but swiftly, the two went down the stairs and to the bathroom. It was only an incredible stroke of luck that no one else had spotted them, even if it was a rather short way to their destination.
Later, Charlie and Blitzo heard Pentious complaining, “And now someone is using the bathroom. Why does Vivienne have only one bathroom again!?”
“What are we even going to do? We’re even further away from Verosika’s room,” the blue bow blonde voiced. “Not that I’m bummed out about being away from Verosika but I apparently need her to save the miracle!”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t get around this house as well as I do if I just had one tunnel around here.”
At that, the future-seer had tapped a hung up picture of some nature, which revealed itself as a doorway to another tunnel going into the walls of the house.
“What?” Charlie asked in a shocked whisper. After all, all these years, she’s never noticed the pictures opening like doors.
“Yeah, I’m careful not to have too many of these. Don’t want to give Arackniss a lot of work to do in making sure no one finds them.”
Now the blue bow blonde was stuttering and stammering a storm, only careful enough to keep it quiet enough for everyone in her family except for her super listening cousin to hear.
The future-seer further explained real quick, “Don’t you remember what his Gift is, Cha-Cha? It would be mind-blowing if he didn’t know. The boy, being the good nephew to me like he is, has always helped me keep a low profile. Vivienne, too.”
Charlie was still quiet but she was in disbelieving rage. “And yet he just blabbed and shouted about me in your vision at the dinner table!?” A pause of realization. “Vivienne knows, too!?”
“I always have to time it but I do need a fucking bath sometimes and the little water pipes from inside the walls can do only so damn much.”
Before the blue bow blonde could respond further to this, she overheard Molly come to the scene. “I’m assuming no sign of Charlie yet, Pen?”
An aggravated sigh. “No… it was already concerning she didn’t appear at breakfast. But now she’s nowhere to found! Arackniss couldn’t give us anything, either… not that anything is your fault, Niss, remember that.”
That that the two in the bathroom could see but the super listener gave a rigid nod, seeming tense. “Right.”
The sharply dressed lady tried to ask, “You don’t think this will be like when Blitzo dis-?“
Of course, the weather manipulator interrupted her. “We don’t speak of Blitzo!”
Molly frowned and gripped Pentious’s hand, firm enough to let him know that she’s serious. Then she tries again. “I’m sorry, mi vida, but I need you to listen to me. What if we pushed her into disappearing for good? Like how he did?”
Of course, the possibility of that never occurred to the weather manipulator. “W-why would Charlie disappear? She’s not like him. She doesn’t make bad things happen. Well, not by visions, anyway. But Charlie is different! And the family and the town of Encanto have given her plenty of love, right? And she loves us! I know things are incredibly, incredibly tense around here right now but there still shouldn’t be a reason for her to just leave everyone!”
Arackniss piped up then. “But she wants to help our family. The community. Surely, you have to know how that feels like, Papa.”
Charlie is too into this conversation she's overhearing now, ignoring her uncle’s attempts to get going inside the tunnel. Then she lightly knocks on the walls, whispering, “Vivienne. Get something from my room and give it to Tio Penn. You know, that?”
Vivienne complied, despite how no one saw how the house knocked down the item requested in the nursery, opened the door, and used the floor tiles to move said item. At least Arackniss heard and so turned and picked it up from the floor, then giving it to his father.
“Here.”
Pentious accepted from him a handcrafted bracelet, made with a tough, endurable string thing and equally tough, endurable beads. At least, that’s what Charlie hoped for when she created the bracelet. The colorful beads had letters on them that spelled out the man’s name.
The weather manipulator stared at the piece of manually made jewelry. Then he noticed the house flapping titles and such.
“See, Penn? Vivienne is telling you that Charlie will be fine and to not worry,” Molly told him.
Pentious spent a moment or two looking at the jewelry he’s holding, soon tapping his foot to a certain rhythm, at a rather fast speed.
“Time for a song?” Arackiss asked.
“Time for a song,” Molly confirmed.
Charlie and Blitzo were in agreement they could listen to a song first. Besides, the former of them was too invested in her uncle’s emotional state to want to leave and wanted to see if Pentious was okay. The latter is just happy that he gets to listen to his brother
Well, the weather manipulator got to singing, also speeding through the lyrics a bit. Sunshine, clear skies, light rain or even some pretty clouds. That has to be the weather during my rounds. Then again, that’s the way it is all the time, isn’t it? Thunderstorms, fierce winds, they’re unneeded, unwanted, those emotions, they have to get!
Of course, the bits of weather mentioned have surged briefly around him, his family bracing for it, as they’ve accustomed to do so by now. Pentious had danced to the center, managing to sing loud enough for his hidden audience to hear from the bathroom, even with the brewing, occasionally thundering, clouds forming above.
I can’t be a burden, I have to help the town of Encanto. Then a short pause before the next line, which had a bit of a crack at the end. The weather manipulator had also turned to his wife with a flourish. I have to be a worthwhile husband to you, my rainbow
Molly wasn’t going to take that. She rushed up to her husband, gripping him firmly by the waist. Then she and the weather manipulator began dancing, the latter now following the former’s lead.
Also, the sharply dressed lady took the next verse. I’ve always loved helping you and making you smile. You indeed are worthwhile. Of all the men in town I could’ve been with, I’m grateful to be with you, my lovable half-width
Pentious had a happy but still troubled expression as the clouds began to drizzle. Also confused, considering what rhyme his wife decided to use for 'with'. Flattering but to everyone else, it’s a blemish. Those violent feelings, I have to make them diminish. And as much as you love me, I do bother those around me. I can create the weather so it’s an inconvenience, that much you can see!
Molly knew that she was going to have to really lay the soothing words on her husband thick tonight. Then the tempo got a little slower, as the weather manipulator continued. The clouds have emitted a light rain during the next verse.
Sometimes, I would like to feel. The ones I’m not allowed to make real. It might be nice, might be pleasant, if I could ride out the emotions when they become present. Instead, they have to stay in. I have to bear the bad and grin. But it’s just so hard being what my mama wants me to be. So hard to fit the ideal that she can see. It’s just so hard, so hard, so hard!
Pentious felt a little tightening on his shoulders, knowing that Molly. Really, as much as she can mesh well with people, she can be at a loss in this kind of dilemma and has been at a loss. Countless times.
Still, the weather manipulator continued, knowing that he should. At least I have you, my beautiful wife. At least I have the children who cast more sun in my life. So even when it’s hard being what my mama wants to be, even when it’s hard to fit the ideal that she can see. With you and our mijos, it won’t be as hard. Won’t be as hard, won’t be as hard, won’t be as hard!
The sounds of the light rain had drifted away, indicating that Pentious is going away. Arackniss watched him and Molly go, seeming to be troubled about something.
“Okay, coast is clear,” Blitzo said, opening the painting door after listening to the fading rain. “Now let’s-“
However, both he and Charlie have heard Arackniss tell them, “I’m afraid not. Stay quiet.”
The two in the bathroom waited, the guy of the pair gasping when he heard the next voice. He made sure to swiftly clamp his hands over his mouth when he realized he made that gasp. Still, he found it difficult to keep quiet thanks to recognizing exactly who came by next.
“Arackniss, hello there,” Mimzy greeted when she noticed her nephew. Then the healing chef pressed, as she looked worried, “Are you absolutely certain you haven’t heard Charlie? At all?”
With a shake of the head, “No. Charlie’s taking care to be especially quiet. She knows just how good my hearing is, since it's my Gift and all.”
“Oh, but she has to make noise or sounds for some reason. To eat, to drink, you said she snores…”
“Well, she was awake by breakfast. I could tell that she’s wasn’t snoring by then.”
Before Mimzy could say anything else, Husk was calling out to her. “Mimzy! Mimzy, where are you!? I need- I need-!”
An exasperated soft groan from the healing chef. “Oh, please don’t tell me…”
“Yeah, Tio Husk had another run-in with the bees,” Arackniss said. "From what I heard, it was both of his hands and an ear."
“Well, it’s a good thing I always have an arepa tucked away. But it is nice to know he fared a little better this time.” Sure enough, like Mimzy said, she took out a pastel-cloth-covered item, revealing to be an arepa. She stuffed it in Husk’s mouth once he got close enough for hand-feeding.
“Thanks, mi corazon,” Husk said with a sigh of relief.
“Of course.” The healing chef got to hugging him. “Truly, it might be like Blitzo all over again. I always feared I was in danger of losing Charlie like this, like my missing brother. Maybe I didn’t love her enough?”
“Hey! No talking like that, okay, Mims?” The accident-prone father made sure his wife was looking at him as he continued. “You know it’s not like that. It’s no doubt the pressure that comes with this family. You felt it the least out of all your siblings, out of everyone with a Gift, but you still felt it sometimes and you know that pressure was on everyone else in our family. Even Charlie, despite or maybe even because she never got a gift.”
“Then do you think we should have done something about it?”
“We’re trying to talk to Abuela Rosie about it, aren’t we? Always did? Whenever we could? But you know how your mama is…”
Mimzy looked down to the floor. She didn’t want to admit it but she didn’t argue with her husband. Some things are problematic no matter how it's seen.
“Look, we just need to keep looking for Charlie,” Husk continued, giving a light massage to his wife’s shoulders. “I know she’s capable of holding her own but dammnit, we’re the parents. Why wouldn’t we worry about her? That’s why we’re going to keep searching, right?”
“Yes, but how? Arackniss just told me-“
“I don’t care about the odds. I just care about finding our daughter. The… the one who’s missing, you know? Because we know where Verosika and Ozzie are.”
“Yes, I’m aware which one you’re talking about.”
“Yeah. And I know how much pain was felt all those years ago but we’re not! ” The accident-prone man had hit his hand against a vase of flowers and made it shatter on the floor, much to the house’s annoyance. Then back to the healing chef as the mess was carried away via tiles, “Going to go through it again, you hear me?”
Mimzy sent Husk a smile, her face showing that she's a little bit more cheered up but she still has feelings weighing down on her. “Yes, you’re right… but Charlie being missing out of the blue like this… it brings me some unpleasant memories.”
Charlie was dealing with a conundrum. She wanted to be there for her mother, like she’s there for her. No doubt her parents were out there, trying to console each other. More than likely, just the two of them is enough. Then again, there’s always a chance it wouldn't be this time.
Finally, the blue bow blonde thought of something. “Vivienne! How about you tell mami this…?”
The healing chef was wrapped up in her worry, while being wrapped up in her husband’s arms as well, until the house got her attention by lifting up the floor tile underneath her foot.
“Hmm?” Mimzy hummed, taking notice. “What is it, Vivienne?”
The magical building was telling the healing chef, who gasped with delighted hope. The accident-prone man was happy, too, excitedly gripping his wife’s shoulders.
“You hear that, Mims? Charlie’s apparently coming back! Tonight!”
The worried mother was relived now, happy smile very much present on her face. “Yes… I don’t have to lose my Charlie now, like how I lost Blitzo.”
Mimzy began tapping on Husk’s arm, the latter starting to hum. Apparently, they were so happy they were going to sing it about. Because why not? This is a very musical family.
Charlie gasped, before quickly stifling it, realizing that maybe she was gonna hear her mother’s inner thoughts. Really, she couldn’t help but be curious, since they’re so scarce and fleeting. The moment when the healing chef was consoling the blue bow blonde when the latter claimed the house was breaking down, when the former was missing her brother… that moment was the first time in a long time when Mimzy’s feelings were known. And yet, here is the healing chef possibly singing out what’s on her mind.
Charlie then noticed Blitzo was really pressing himself against the door, not at all concerned with trying to hurry to Verosika's room.
“Tio Blitzo? Did you really, really miss mama, even though you were in the walls?”
A second or two before a sigh. Then, “I really, really missed everybody. It’s just… Mims… she was the only one, at least before Arackniss was born, who would see the best in me, even when no one…” the future-seer stopped for a second and then insisted, “Let’s just listen, alright?”
Arackniss decided to just lean against the wall and listen, too. After all, the super listener would be able to hear it anyways, especially if he’s not in his room at the time. Even then, the sounds are more muffled than anything and some can still get through. Otherwise, how would Ozzie keep him up with eye twitching that one night?
Mimzy got started, the music being a slower but still pretty upbeat beat. Throughout the song, above the dancing couple, there were multicolored lights taking turns flashing. In colors of purple, blue, and red.
I didn’t have problems with mama, not me personally. But I didn’t like seeing her with my siblings, from what I could see. Pentious would always feel stress. Blitzo would always be seen as people’s distress. It was always so hard, so hard, so hard…
Husk looked at his wife with sympathy. You always did have your big heart, mi corazon. You always healed people and kept going until the patients were all gone. Even when Vaggie gave you more attention, you’d never let it be a distraction, not when you had people to help. I know that must’ve been so hard, so hard, so hard…
Of course, I would care, about my family and the town of Encanto. I don’t know what to do now, though. My hermano went missing and now is so my hija. I’m worried I might lose next Ozzie or Verosika. Or Pentious or Collin or Arackniss or Molly. I also fear of losing you or my Abuela Vaggie!
The accident prone man was doing the dance moves as fast as he could, to keep up with the speed. Although the healing chef was also keeping herself from going too fast. Really, to him, this was the best thing about this amazing woman in his arms. She would always go his pace, not just because she’s content with that but also because she finds it natural for spouses to accommodate for each other.
I don’t think that great, either. Ozzie and Vera would be a great help to the family and the town. I try to help whenever I go down. But I’m such a screw-up, always a klutz. I know you never held it against me or let it get in the way of us. But being in this family, I can’t not feel like not enough. Especially to Abuela Vaggie, I can’t feel like I’m up to snuff. I wish I can be better for everyone or just better at all. When I’m around, there’s hardly a festival
Mimzy frowned and, through the dancing, had held him tight in her arms. One of the things that can get to her is knowing her family is being plagued with insecurities like this.
It was sometimes fine. It was sometimes hard. But when it was the latter, it was so hard. So hard to be what my mama wants me to be. So hard to fit the ideal she can see. And you know how it’s like. We can support each other whenever the pressure spike. When it becomes so hard!
The accident prone man was rather cheered up by that and so let out a small, crooked smile. He looked as tired as ever but one can tell he really was happy if one really looks at him. And for the healing chef who was married to him, it was more than enough.
Husk and Mimzy began dancing away to who knows elsewhere, the semi-fast tempo and beat of the out-of-nowhere-music fading away as they did.
“I can’t believe even my parents felt like this… I wonder why this hasn’t come up?” Charlie asked, reeling from the newly-learned information.
Blitzo’s face drooped into something more somber. Then at grasping Charlie’s shoulder, “Some things are better off left inside, ‘specially when there’s more important things at stake, like the community or the family. Now come on, Cha-Cha, let’s blow this joint.”
“Still no,” Arackniss interjected. “Not if Charlie wants to learn about Angel.”
“Oh, fucking, come on-!“
Charlie quickly clasped her hands over Blitzo’s mouth since the dummyhead is pretty much screaming. The two waited and listened, soon catching Angel’s voice talking to Arackniss.
“Hey, Niss, ya sure that ya haven’t-“
“Yes. Charlie’s going out of her way to be quiet, even by me. So there.”
“What? I can’t believe that shit. It’s Charlie. Clumsy Cha-Cha Charlie. Like the time when she tried herdin’ the mules with dancin’ and an accordion but just ended up with ant bites all over her hands and all over her pops and some of the townsfolk.”
“Must be serious this time.” Although Arackniss was trying to hold back giggling himself as he said this.
Charlie was frowning, not finding it funny. It wasn’t helped when she noticed Blitzo snickering.
“What? It does sound downright hilarious.”
“Well if ya ain’t gonna be useful, then I’m gonna keep lookin’ for Chuck,” Angel said, starting to walk away.
Of course, Arackniss took the remark as fighting words and so stopped the shapeshifter from going any further. “My hearing is sure to be more useful than your shapeshifting. You can’t even copy someone else’s abilities, like Ozzie’s strength or Verosika’s ability to make flowers.”
“Oh, fuck you, Niss! I got uses for it! What can ya even use yer hearing for, anyway? Ta gossip? Doubt that’s really helpin’ the community or even the family.”
“I say that’s more like you.”
“I gotta get out there!” Charlie whispered, looking around for something to use, probably as a disguise. She and her uncle missed the cracking forming in the house’s walls and floor, as did the uncle and his nephew outside the bathroom.
“What!?” Blitzo made sure to be just as quiet as he spoke. “Charlie, are you loco!? The whole reason we’re hiding in the fucking first place is to get to Verosika’s room without anyone seeing us and stopping us!”
“I know, I know. I just… need… something… wait! Vivienne, get me that, off the wall!”
The future-seer turned to see exactly what his niece was pointing at. Then, mostly deadpan, with a twinge of annoyance and disbelief, “Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me…”
Angel was having had enough of Arackniss and scowled out, “forget this! I coulda been lookin’ for Charlie by now…”
However, before the family’s shapeshifter could really take another step, there was a mirror discovered upon turning around. Well, a mirror frame. In that frame was not reflective glass; instead, there was the missing girl the family was looking for, who quickly changed her face to that of surprise, like Angel’s. That face swiftly changed into that of bafflement and then thinking.
Very freaking obviously, Angel wasn’t fooled for even a goddamn second. Arackniss looked on in quiet but apparent disbelief and Blitzo was hiding again in the bathroom with hands over his face, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The family’s shapeshifter would have just told his now-found niece he can see through her bullshit. However, he saw it. Charlie’s usual try-hard attitude, this time being applied to copy Angel’s expressions and movements. That combined with the clearly-detected anxiety, well… it was a perfect chance to be a piece of shit and have fun doing it.
Angel went ahead and made a crossed-eyed face, tongue sticking out. Charlie did her best to copying it, which wasn’t exactly easy when her eyes leave the shapeshifter. Then a pair of waving arms with spread-open hands, all the while their faces were now like if one was giving a raspberry with puffed up cheeks. Now a freaking baby head on an adult body, the blue bow blonde making baby noises in desperation.
Arackniss slumped, now recognizing what his uncle was doing and eventually doing a facepalm. Although he can’t believe his cousin and wondering just how she was expecting this to work. Blitzo didn’t have the same ability of sight so he was left squirming on the floor and against the door.
It was amusing to Angel at first but then found himself getting irritated as he looks into Charlie’s eyes while they do this strange routine. Those eyes held the desire to reach out, just like she would have if she ever wanted to talk to him about… him.
The next thing anyone knew, the family shapeshifter had screamed, “FUCK DAMMNIT, CHARLIE!”
Everyone around had cringed and it was either a good or bad thing that no one else was able to hear that and come running over here. Hard to tell. Regardless, Angel continued on with the screeching, rather talking to himself at the moment.
“Ya keep lookin’ at me like that! Ya keep actin’ like there’s some pretty, little flower just waitin’ to come out of the ground; it just needs some tender, loving care. But there’s nothin’! Not a single fuckin’ thing wrong with me! Fuck, why the freaking hell do ya think I avoid ya most of the time!?”
Charlie’s eyes drooped, looking on with concern and sympathy. She tried, “Angel…? Please, talk to me. I actually… always wanted to talk to you… The real you…”
The family shapeshifter had turned around, near hunching on the floor and clutching his head and hands. Pissed-off-sounding grumbling and muttering can be heard.
The super listener exchanged glances with the blue bow blonde, sharing a silent conversation with her. The former was sending the loud and clear message: talk.
Although Arackniss was rather clueless on how to go about this, this specific matter. The only thing he saw he could do was to put his own feelings out to dry like laundry. In song, no less. Might as well, though, since energetic but confrontational-sounding music played, seemingly by... something. Arackniss began to dance, elaborate steps done with precision and grace, all the while spinning in circles with Angel in the center.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to infuriate. It’s just I don’t appreciate being called a busybody, a gossip, someone who doesn’t know the word ‘privacy’. I don’t like being known only for my ears. And being nothing more is one of my worst fears. But you know, don’t you? How hard it is to be what Abuela Vaggie wants us to be, to fit the ideal that she can see. You know exactly how hard, how hard, how hard
The family shapeshifter didn’t want to deal with this. Because really, he always found these things annoying and frustrating to deal with. He got up and faced his nephew, only to be face-to-face with blank mirrors.
Angel backed away from them, only to have bumped into another one. All around him were the mirrors, in a wide space but said space being darkened, with only enough light in dark pink hues to show the mirrors. Each and every single one of them didn’t have a reflection. Specificially, they didn't have Angel’s reflection.
The family shapeshifter got the next verse, all the while trying to run around the mirrors. Of course, for every reflective surface he maneuvers around, another is waiting for him. And like before, they’re all blank.
Shut up, ya!? Nothin’ is wrong, everythin’s fine. Insistin’ there’s a problem is yer problem, not mine! Yeah, maybe it wasn’t always- oof! Sun and- rainbows, helpin’ the town and the fam- umph! But that’s just how it goes. So it can’t be- gah! So hard, so hard, so hard
Angel was getting more and pissed off when he keeps getting stopped by all these mirrors. He even started falling down on his feet at the latter half of his lines.
Arackniss, in contrast, was dancing gracefully around the mirrors, while taking his turn to sing. But it’s not a little problem, not when your gift is just an emblem. People never ask for you. They ask for…
Angel, while trying to get out of the maze of mirrors, overpowering his nephew in volume and making him not heard all that well by everyone listening. Things were supposed ta be a breeze when I had gotten my Gift with ease. It would help me fit in, ta get me close to folks and help me get in. Get in what? I don't know but my hermana has the man of her dreams, it tore my world apart at the seams, but this still shouldn’t be so hard, so hard, so hard
… an emblem. People never ask for you. They ask for another Linda, or Augustin. It all makes you feel unseen
If I really wanted ta feel I don’t know who I am, if I really wanted ta… if I really wanted ta…
…what Abuela Vaggie wants us to be, to fit the ideal that she can see. You know exactly-
Angel had stopped singing and had screamed the next line at the top of his lungs. “I COULDA JUST STAYED IN MY ROOM!”
At that, the family shapeshifter ran off, leaving the super listener where he is, who had stopped with his portion of the song. The blue bow blonde was just standing there, stunned over all the trouble that practically everyone in her family seems to having. Not just due to her disappearance but over how they’re perceived due to their gifts and how the family is buckling under the pressure to help out the community.
Then Blitzo cracked open the bathroom door, whispering to Charlie, “Come on, let’s go. Because I seriously don’t wanna stay in this bathroom all fucking day.”
“Oh, right! At least I don’t hear anyone else around right now so let’s go!”
The two rushed into the bathroom and through its tunnel back to the second floor, to Verosika’s door.
The super listener knew what his ‘missing’ uncle and cousin were doing and so got to singing a verse on his lonesome, knowing that it won’t be heard by no one except for maybe the house. Because truly, the only one who can keep secrets or anything hidden in the town of Encanto is Arackniss himself. Not that many people are really interested in finding out more about him...
I really am just a gossip, aren’t I? Just a busybody, an eavesdropping guy. I would love if I can just have the man of my dreams. With his attention, I wouldn’t be behind the scenes. Then like with my tia and padre, I wouldn’t give way to the pressure of being what abuela Vaggie wants me to be, to fit the ideal she can see. With him around, it wouldn’t be so hard… so hard… so hard…
Arackniss couldn’t get himself to dance during this last verse, standing around idly while feeling like he’s alone. It’s not helped at all that, currently, he is alone. Soon after finishing his verse and the song overall, the super listener retreats to his room, where he can get some extent of reprieve from all the noise surrounding him every single day, ever since his Gift ceremony.
At least Arackniss had the memory of Moxxie catching him all alone in the middle of the ceremony, overwhelmed by all the noise, and wanting to play him a soft song so that the super listener can have something pleasant to listen to for a change. All the while the freckled boy had the two of them all alone and away from the noise outside of Vivienne. Sure, the noise of the party wasn't drowned out even from all that distance but the consideration hit Arackniss's heart right in the center and he'll never forget that.