[A/N: bold; indicates an unknown voice.]
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As you lay in bed, your mind lost in the world of dreams, you felt at peace.
However, the comforts of your dream were soon broken when you found yourself being woken by the voice of your grandmother, Alejandra. "Time to rise, my nieta."
Creaking open an eye, you were met with your open window. Watching as the sun bloomed on the horizon, its golden rays stretching into the once-night sky, you groaned at the telltale signs of a new day.
Rolling over, you threw your blankets over your head to block out the growing light. "Abuela, please. It's too early," you whined, curling onto yourself.
An airy chuckle was heard as your grandmother gave your head a gentle pat. "It's never too early to start a new day, my nieta. Now come; your presence is needed downstairs." With that, you were left with no one but yourself.
Knowing that she was right, you gave another sigh before heaving yourself out of bed to get yourself together.
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As you walked out of your room, cloak draped over your arms, you expected to find your father sitting at the small dining table with breakfast waiting for you, not the bane of your existence, happily chatting with him.
"So I said, 'What is that? Not a houseㅡ'" Before allowing Camilo to finish, you loudly cleared your throat, catching the two males' attention.
"Good morning, my muñequita. How did you sleep?" Your father smiled over at you.
"Yeah, how did you sleep, Y/N? I hope you didn't lose any sleep thinking about me all night," Camilo purred, leaning on his elbow to stare up at you with half-lidded eyes.
Ignoring him, you made your way over to your father, bending down to place a kiss on his forehead before sitting down beside him. "I had a restful night, Pápa. And you?"
"I haven't slept this peacefully in a long time," he answered, taking a sip of his coffee.
Accepting his answer, you reached down to grab a piece of toast from the platter in the middle of the table, only to pick up crumbs.
Looking down with furrowed brows, a shocked squawk left your lips; the platter was empty.
"What happened to the toast?" Your question trailed off as your eyes followed a crumble trial, the crumbs ending up on Camilo's plate.
The auburnet was chomping on the toast without a care in the world, his upbeat hums leaving him with each bite.
"Did you...did you just eat all of the toast?" Your voice was low as you glared over at the teen.
Licking stray jelly off of his fingers before taking an exaggerated sip of orange juice, Camilo gave a shrug. "What can I say? Your father is a talented cook," he smiled before shifting into an elderly man.
"It was toast," you growled, hands clenching into fists, "a whole platter of toast. And you just ate it all like nothing, you overly hungryㅡ"
"Uh, I'll just go make you something else to eat. No need to stress yourself, muñequita," your father awkwardly laughed, interrupting your insult before getting up to head to the kitchen.
As soon as he was out of sight, you stood up, slamming your hands down onto the table with a growl. "I don't know what you're playing at, Camilo Madrigal, but my father is off-limits."
Still shifted as an elderly man, Camilo playfully twirled his withering beard. "Hmm, and may I ask why?"
In the blink of an eye, you grasped Camilo by his shirt, yanking him towards you. The movement was so sudden that it shocked him to the point of changing back into his original form.
"I'll say this once, and only once," you hissed, glaring into his wide eyes, your face a centimeter from his own. "I will not allow you to take him from me and corrupt him with your little shenanigans, you chameleon. So take this as a warning; you're threading on thin ice."
Seemingly coming out of shock, a smirk grew on Camilo's lips. "Well, I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask, muñequita."
Your brain short-circuited for a moment, unable to register what he said. After a second, it dawned on you.
Muñequita?
Feeling as if your face were on fire, you pushed Camilo back into his seat before sitting down on your own, embarrassment filling your whole being.
He used my father's nickname for me against me! You thought in horror.
When your father returned with a plate of breakfast for you, he was met with silence.
Camilo continues to enjoy his toast, and you scowl at your hands.
Shaking away his curiosity, he sat on the plate before you, giving your head a gentle ruffle. "Here you go, muñequita."
"Thank you, Pápa," you grinned before digging in.
Though your father wasn't as talented as others when it comes to cooking (read: when it comes to Julieta), you still appreciated that he tried, which made it all worth eating the soggy eggs and semi-burnt toast.
"If you don't mind my asking, Camilo, why did you come by this morning? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having you for breakfast, but you don't come by unless it's to help me pack my wagon to barter with those outside of Encanto."
"Yeah," you spoke up, picking up your cup of orange juice. "Why are you here, Camilo?"
"I'm here because it's your turn to have the Amazing Camilo help assist you with today's chores."
You couldn't stop the spray of orange juice that left your mouth and nose at his words. "My what?"
Your father immediately jumped into action, grabbing a nearby napkin to help you clean the juice, fretting over your now ruined shirt.
An amusing grin grew on Camilo's lips at the enraged look on your face. "Oh, don't you remember what was said at our last meeting? Abuela thought it would be beneficial if I used my abilities to help take a bit of the load off of everyone's shoulders," he explained, leaning back into his chair. "So today's your lucky day because I'm all yours."
"B-But..." you felt your head swimming, trying to decipher his words. "How could you even help? You don't have my gift! You can't do what I do!"
"Oh, but I can~" Camilo sang, doing jazz hands. "My gift entails me being able to take the form of whomever I wish. This includes gifts."
Your father halts his fretting at this, the confusion apparent on his face. "But wouldn't that make youㅡ"
"ㅡoverpowered. That would be absolutely correct, Señor L/N. But instead of being able to copy my family and Y/N's gifts, I can only replicate about 1/2 of them while shifting into their forms. For example, while shifting to Antonio, I can only understand broken sentences from animals. Or when I shift into Tío Bruno, I can only see a bit of the future, kinda like riddles."
"So what about Y/N? What can you do while shifted into her?" Your father wondered, intrigued by Camilo's gift.
"Well, while shifted into Y/N, I can also communicate with spirits, except I can't see them like she can, I can only hear them."
Suddenly, as he explained this to your father, you recalled a similar notion happening when Alma did the same to the rest of the Madrigals and yourself in the last meeting.
He was right. Alma did explain to you all how she was going to reduce your workload.
With fewer chores as well as Camilo's help.
You specifically remember that part because it was then you got on your knees to beg her to allow yourself to be crossed off the schedule, explaining how Camilo's assistance wasn't needed nor wanted.
But it seems your plight of stress was ignored.
Groaning softly to yourself, you rubbed the bridge of your nose, feeling a headache forming.
"Well, thank you for helping Y/N with this, Camilo," your father smiled, settling himself back into his seat.
"It's no problem, Señor Miguel," the auburnet waved off, "it's the least I could do."
Help!?
You don't need help!
Especially from someone as incompetent as Camilo Madrigal!
Before you could open your mouth to say that, as well as a few more colorful words, your father spoke up once more.
"I'm happy as well as thankful that she won't have to deal with this on her own, or stress herself out over it," your father smiled as he reached over to give Camilo a firm pat on the shoulders before gently ruffling up your hair again.
Swallowing your words and insults, you forced a sickeningly sweet smile onto your face before turning towards the mischievous trickster. "Yeah, thank you, Camilo," you gritted out through clenched teeth.
"No problem, Y/N," he smiled back, toasting his glass of juice to you.
"Well, hurry up and change. The two of you have a long day ahead of you," your father prompted while nodding at your juice-covered shirt.
"Of course, Pápa, I'll be right back." With that, you stood to change, but not before glaring at Camilo once more.
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The coolness of the early morning was deceptive; the gentle heat of the sun, basking the air around you with warmth, the fallen leaves from nearby trees depicting the autumn weather; it was a truly beautiful sight.
Any other day, you would have enjoyed the sights around you, yet the nuisance beside you stopped you from doing so.
"ㅡthe look on your face was honestly the best part. I mean, I can't believe you actually fell for me pretending to be Antonioㅡ"
You felt the twitching of your eyes in agitation as Camilo droned on and on. Since the two of you left your house, he'd spent the entire walk talking about all the times you fell for his tricks.
"ㅡIf I'm being honest, I can't wait to summon a few spirits! This will be the most epic thing to find ways to trick people!"
You came to a halt at his words, swiveling around and delivering a ferocious glare to the auburnet. "This is not something to joke about! One wrong move can result in dire situations and shouldn't be taken lightly."
With a laugh, Camilo waved you off, "Relax, Y/N, you worry too much."
"No. Don't play with me, Camilo Madrigal. I'm being serious," you huffed, crossing your arms. "Now, promise that you won't go off summoning spirits without me being there to make sure nothing goes wrong. It's imperative that I'm there to not only make sure it goes well but to also cleanse you afterward."
Camilo sighs, scratching the back of his neck, "C'mon, Y/N. Aren't you sure you're being a little tooㅡ"
"Promise me!" You hissed, gripping the front of his shirt.
"Fine, fine, whatever. I promise," the auburnet huffed, with a small roll of his eyes.
Now, with his promise spoken, you found yourself relaxing. "Okay, great," you said, releasing him with a dust of your hands. "Now hurry up, because I have an early appointment with the Salazar's."
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The smell of incense was strong as you wrapped up your final appointment of the day.
"Thank you so much for seeing me," Mateo smiled, standing up from his seat and reaching into his pocket to retrieve a coin pouch.
A frown graced your lips at this, "Señor Mateo. I told you, myᅳ"
"That your service is free. You've said that several times before the séance has even begun," Mateo cut you off, placing two galeóns on the table. "It's the least I can do. I didn't have a schedule to see you today, yet you took time to help me." With one more smile, Mateo left your small shop.
Sighing, you placed the coins into a nearby jar.
Turning around, you are met with Camilo lounging across a stack of pillows.
"If it were me, I would have accepted it," he spoke, waving a stick of incense in the air. "Free money is what it is. Free~"
"Camilo"ㅡyou rubbed the bridge of your nose, letting out a deep sighㅡ"what are you still doing here? I thought I told you to go home."
"Can't, the shift isn't over yet, muñequita."
"Please, refrain from ever calling me that," you groaned, grabbing your cloak from the stand.
Camilo's brow rose at the sight of you donning the dark material. "Where are you going?"
"I have to go ask Isabela to grow me a few thistles of sage. I need a fresh batch to burn after having so many spirits visit," you told him, pulling the hood over your head. "So don't do any Camilo-ish things while I'm gone."
"Camilo-ish things? What's that?" The auburn asked, balancing a few jars of salve on the tip of his nose.
"That. That's what I mean about Camilo-ish things," you said, stomping over to grab it and place it back in its rightful place. "Now, I'll say this one more time. Don't do anything. I'll be back shortly." With that, you left the room.
As soon as you left the hut, you felt a foreboding feeling sweep over your body. "Goddess, why do I feel like something is going to go wrong?"
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Plopping himself down back onto the pile of pillows, the auburnet sighed to himself. "God, I'm bored," while blowing a piece of curly hair out of his face.
After a few more minutes of this, Camilo found himself unable to cope with the boredom. "That's it! I have to do something!" With this in mind, he stood up and began lurking around the room.
"What to do, what to do, what to do," he hummed, nosing in containers and jars; the curiosity didn't last long due to Camilo finding only different kinds of jars.
Leaning against a nearby window, Camilo could only watch as the outside world continued to move beyond the glass.
He groaned once more, turning away to stomp towards a mirror, where he shifted into you and started making funny faces. "'Don't do this' and 'Don't do that', yap, yap, yap," Camilo taunted, waving his hands in the air. "Pssh, like I'm going to do anything."
"Who are you and where is Y/N?" a voice whispered into his ear.
"What theᅳ!" Camilo nearly jumped a foot into the air, his head swiveling side to side as he tried to figure out who had just spoken. "Hello? Anyone there?"
"I said: Who are you and where is Y/N?"
Camilo's (read: your) face scrunched up in confusion at the question. "Y/N?"
"Yes, Y/N. My eyes tell me you're Y/N, but I know her soul, and yours isn't hers. So I'll ask once again, who the hell are you?"
Camilo felt a sudden chill flow down his spine, an unsettling feeling that weighed him down as the voice grew harsher.
"Well?"
"I-I'm Camilo...Camilo Madrigal," he pathetically stuttered.
"The shifter?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Hm. So why are you here and where is Y/N?"
"Y/N went out to gather some sage or something, and I was here to assist her with her appointments today," Camilo answered, nervously wringing his hair (read: your hair) in his hands.
"Hm," the voice hummed in thought, "Very well, I'll wait until she returns."
"Oh, alright," Camilo croaked out in a high-pitched voice.
"Can't you see me?"
"Um, no? Am I supposed to?" Camilo scratched the back of his neck, unsure if this was something he should tell Y/N.
"Interesting. So you said your name is Camilo, right?"
"Y-Yup, that's me."
"Ah, I think I finally recognize your name."
"You do?"
"Of course, Y/N talks about you all the time."
Camilo didn't know why, but he felt himself growing a bit excited at the prospect of you talking about him. "S-She does? What did she say?"
"That you're a menace to society. A trickster that constantly plays tricks on her, or as she so puts it, 'the bane of her existence.'"
Camilo felt all of the happiness within him deflate at what he said. "O-Oh. Yeah, I guess she's right," he awkwardly smiles, letting a half-hearted chuckle escape his mouth.
"No need to worry, Camilo, she does say good things about you," the spirit spoke up.
Once more, Camilo found himself growing excited. "Can you tell me?"
"Hmm, I could, but that would be a breach in the friendship Y/N and I share if I did."
"I mean, it's just a few things, right? C'mon, tell me," Camilo whined, uncaring of how it looked to be begging to an open space.
The voice seemed to give a light sigh at his begging. "Alright, alright, calm down. I'll tell you, but under one condition. In the corner of the room is a container that contains dried up plants. I want you to take a few and spread them around town, mainly where she sleeps. Oh, also keep a bud on you at all times."
Following the voice's instructions, Camilo was surprised to find a small bundle of violet plants; they almost resembled buttercups. As he stared down at the box, he couldn't help but feel a tad bit unsure. "I don't know, I'm not supposed to touch anything or leave the room," he spoke, his hand hesitating over the bundle.
"You want to know a few things Y/N likes, right? Well, one of the things she enjoys is hepatica flowers. They remind her a lot of her mother and help lessen the pain she gets every time she communicates with spirits."
Camilo nearly gasped in shock.
Pain? You never spoke of being in pain. Why didn't you tell anyone?
"She gets sick? How bad is it?"
"Oh, it's very bad. Some days she can't even get out of bed, but she pushes herself to do it because it's what's expected of her," the voice sighed, its tone low and worried.
Camilo found his will wavering; how could he not do something that would help you? "Are you sure this would help her?"
"I'm 100% sure this will help her."
"Alright, I'll do it," Camilo smiled, grabbing the bundle.
Standing up, he felt a giddy sensation fill his stomach at the thought of being able to do something other than cause you annoyance.
Just as he was about to do what he was instructed, Camilo suddenly realized something. "Hey, what's your name anyway?"
"Sidero. Sidero Patricio."
━•༓☾ ❝ 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐀/𝐍 ❞ ☽༓•━
***DUN! DUN! DUUUUNNNN!
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter~
(tactus mortis)
camilo madrigal x fem!medium!reader
@winxanity_ii
(wattpad)
~
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ᴠᴏᴛᴇ 💛 / ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ💜 / ѕнᴀʀᴇ 💙
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