Daybreak | IC Inbox.

[awooligan]

CLIFFORD NORMAN
UN: REDRIDINGHOODIE

STATUS: grade 11

ACCOLADES: n/a.

BIO: name's cliff. let me know if you'll buy cigarettes and shit for me, we can work something out.

© TESSISAMESS

Comments

THE COCO BOX

[awooligan]

[Because a girl doesn't have an inbox but a dog wants to bug her, so here we are.]

post-move, being self-indulgent

[awooligan]

[There's no space on campus that really feels safe to do a video call from, but he's missing his family something fiercely after all that bullshit with the herald(s?), so Cliff's tucked away in his room. Odds that something weird would happen or walk by there were low, at least... And yeah, he kinda looked beat to shit still, but that wasn't exactly unheard of, to his household. It would be fine.

His face lights up when the screen does, showing him the inside of his brother's room and -- more importantly -- his brother. The enthusiasm he sees there is almost a mirror of his own, but even brighter and more pure.]

Cliff!

Hey, Kev! Miss me? How're things going over there?

It's boring! I never get to go anywhere anymore unless Mom or Dad is free, and there's no one to play games with.

Sure there are. You might even win for once if you play with your friends.

But I want to kick your butt, not just theirs. I've been practicing! You're going down next time.

Ooh, I'm scared. Hey, maybe you can make the time difference work in your favor. You'll need all the advantages you can get to beat me.

If you weren't on the other side of the world learning to be a good kid again, I'd tackle you.

[Learning to be a good kid, huh...]

That what Carl's saying?

Sometimes. But Dad isn't mad so much now that he doesn't have to yell at you all the time...

[Because he had to yell every other time. Clifford clenches his teeth a second, then puts on a lopsided, easy smile, which Kevin gives a little frown at in return as if to say, come on, Cliff, take this seriously!!]

Look at that, school must already be working. Oh -- Hang on.

[Sounds like his new roommate -- well, the unofficial one -- is back from her outing, judging by what he hears just outside the door. Hey, Coco!!]

Re: post-move, being self-indulgent

[kept_his_letters]

[A girl's head pokes in and, yup, that sure is Coco slipping into the room.]

Cliff? Hey. I heard voices...?

[Specifically English voices, so not Lalli.]

I'm not intrerrupting something am I?

[awooligan]

[He offers her a grin, this time much more genuine, and tilts his laptop to show her the younger boy on the other side of the video call.]

Nah, it's fine. This --

[Before he can explain, Kevin's face goes back to the excitement that had been there when the call first started and he's leaning in like that might help him get a better look.]

Woah! Cliff! Is she your girlfriend?

What? N-no!

Clif-ford ha-as a girl-friend!

Kevin...!

[He might actually die, this is much worse than what injuries the Herald had caused. A bit muffled from distance comes a different voice: older, feminine, and coming closer.]

What? Clifford!

Oh my god, Mom, don't --

[THIS IS THE ACTUAL WORST, should he just close his laptop? Chuck it across the room or out the window? Maybe that would destroy all evidence of the fact that this is happening.]

Oh! Oh, sweetheart, look at you... [The already-tired-looking woman's face becomes even more tired, falling from the brief teasing joy, and she sets the basket of laundry she'd been carrying down as if suddenly the weight is too much extra to bother with.] You just got there, are you really getting into fights again already?

[Again...right. At least it helps his heart rate go back to normal... Well. He can clear up one of the misunderstandings.]

Mom, can we not, right now? Go back to meeting my friend Coco.

[She sighs, but then her eyes shift a bit to indicate she's looking at the girl and a smile and patiently amused tone returns.]

Sorry about that, Cliff's friend Coco. It's nice to meet you. I'm Nora.

I'm Kevin! What do you like about Cliff?

[kept_his_letters]

[She finds she's comforted by the immediate smile. It summons one of her own, before the screen is even turned around to a young beaming boy.

She opens her mouth to greet him but not a word is out before the word girlfriend is dropped. Shock registers, followed by a deep flush. Cliffords defences are defeated with gusto and she finds herself rooted, trying to shrink in on herself as a woman's voice joins in on the humiliating game.

It breaks for just a moment, Cliff's mother focusing on those injuries and her assumptions are enough to shake her into motion. She's still a little flushed, hearing the air quotes around the word friend, but she can properly speak now.]

H-Hola, Señora Nora. Hola, Kevin. Um! I just want to say! Cliff didn't get in a fight! I mean, he did! But it was for a good reason! He, um, kind of rescued me.

[All of humanity, really, but that's hard to explain. And she did technically get his help. A lot. So, it would work.]

So, don't be mad at him, please. He's a really kind person.

after the tobias thread

[awooligan]

are you busy? I need to talk to you about something but I know you call your mom at this time sometimes
I'm in the room when you can get here

[kept_his_letters]

[There's no response for a time. It seems she is indeed speaking with her mother. It's an effort to keep Mamá from knowing what's going on. She's always seen through her, but she hasn't dragged Coco back to Mexico yet so she hopes that means it's working.

Finally, she reads over the text and makes her way back to the dorm, peeking her head inside.]

Hey, Cliff. I got your text. Is something the matter?

[awooligan]

[That's...a tough one to answer, but what Cliff looks up from is his laptop and the open files they'd stolen earlier in the month. Somehow even just that felt like a long time ago, now. It was...strange, not living the same thing day after day after day.]

Maybe? [Probably not encouraging, but he doesn't think cushioning this topic too much would be a good idea.] Tobias said something when I was over at his place, about the Veil. I don't know if it would help find your dad, but...

[So. Is this a good time to talk about the secret mission...]

[kept_his_letters]

[Definitely a strange feeling, things being different. But she'd gotten her taste of that when Mamá started coming here to stop nightfall.

The moment her father is mentioned, her expression turns to one of seriousness.]

Tell me.

[It doesn't matter how tangential. Any little thing could be a lead. She goes to sit by him.]

underage woof drinking

[awooligan]

[It had become a bit of a cycle, the past couple days -- if a couple days is enough to call something a cycle, anyway. He gets up feeling irritable, gets frustrated at his inability to pay attention in class, if he bothers to go at all, does some laps around the track trying to get back to something normal, and when that fails, he hits the town. City. Whatever the fuck Soleil was. What mattered more was the handful of older kids he'd managed to find that were so far okay with taking his money in exchange for liquor and cigarettes. Sometimes he sticks around them, enjoying the casual camaraderie that came along with finding fellow smokers, or getting a beer or so in before taking his leave. They probably have real fun after that, but Cliff heads back to what he supposes he's calling home now, making his way through a bottle so that by the time he's climbing through his window, he's feeling pleasantly floaty, edging on sleepy. Then, at some point, he curls up on his bed and passes out. The next morning, he's woken by an alarm that, even if the volume is at its minimum setting, is like an ice pick in his hungover skull, which is a crappy way to start the day and his bad mood doesn't let up until he's well over buzzed.

He'd fallen on his way in last night, something he's reminded of when the pulse of pain goes through his entire face and it feels like his nose is one of those big red rubber balls clowns wear. Definitely going to be bruised around his eyes... Cliff touches it with a wince while pushing himself up and fighting back the urge to puke. Oh boy, not liking any sort of movement with that extra barrage of pain. Cliff's eyes are scrunched up slits as he looks groggily around the room.]

Fuck. [ughhh, maybe if he chopped his head off, he'd feel better? It's worth a try, he thinks... He doesn't look directly at Coco when he speaks with a sort of dry croak, so it isn't clear how much he's really addressing her. It doesn't...quite feel fair to look at her, no matter how crappy he feels, when he's been trying to avoid spending too much time with her. He doesn't want to snap at her again.] God, where'd I put my phone...

[kept_his_letters]

[It wouldn't be quite right to say that Cliff is acting weird. She hasn't known him so long that she can really determine what's normal and what's not. For all she knows, he'd acting different those weeks before and this is what was normal.

So, he snaps at her and it takes her by surprise, but she moves on with her life. She tries to do what she does with Mamá when she's a little harsher than she needs to be; not take it personally, but step a little more carefully.

She's not usually awake this early, typically heading to sleep late so she can pretend that she's still in Mexico on her phone calls home. But, she couldn't sleep and now the ringing is going off.

There will be a moment's pause, a short one, and then he'll feel a phone being set in his hand.]

[awooligan]

[Even if it's an answer to his half-hearted prayers, actually having the phone handed to him makes him jump a little -- which in turn makes him feel like his brain is moving around like a bumper car on the inside of his skull and makes his face scrunch up again. Aaand there's the throb in his nose again. Ugh, everything was like a Rube Goldberg machine of pain.

He takes care of the alarm first and tries not to acknowledge the vague, buzzing annoyance he feels over someone else touching his phone. That's stupid, Cliff. She's helping, Cliff. Now it's finally fucking quiet, Cliff.]

...Thanks. [With his raspy, destroyed throat, it almost sounds like a growl. Of course it did. Fucking shitfuck.] Shouldn't you be asleep?

[Nope. Try again.]

Uh. [He tries to swallow, but his mouth is way too dry for that.] Did I wake you up?

[kept_his_letters]

[Shouldn't she be asleep? Probably. Almost definitely.]

You didn't wake me. I've just got things on my mind.

[Her voice is kept in that careful balance of being light but not too cheery.]

I was going to make a drink. Did you want something? Coffee? Tea? I'd make atole but I don't have the right stuff.

[awooligan]

I have to go home
I'll be back soon I think
probably

[kept_his_letters]

Oh.
Um.
Okay. Before I say anything, is this good news or bad news?

[awooligan]

I don't know
Mom saw me in the background of something I guess
she wants to talk

utultar does a thing

[awooligan]

hey
are you busy?

[kept_his_letters]

No.
Not so busy I can't text.
Is something wrong?

[awooligan]

herald shit again
there's a way I know I can help and they want me to, but I'm feeling kind of weird about it after meeting your dad

pre-coco leaving

[awooligan]

good morning, sort of
you eat yet?

[kept_his_letters]

[It was a surprise to hear from him, but a welcome one. She'd stay up late and slept late and she was still getting accustomed to the painful quiet of the daylight hours. Cliff's
text breaks that silence, even if only with a pinging sound.]

Good morning to you too.
And no, I haven't yet.
Why?

[awooligan]

gee I wonder
just hurry up and get over here

el día del amortifying

[awooligan]

He'd been worrying about his luggage and how it would be doing, tossed around an airplane and out onto that weird conveyor thing, whether he'd packed things carefully enough that they would still be okay when he got settled in or if he'd have to go out in a panic and find a florist that still managed to have a replacement Most Obvious and Demanded Flower still in stock this late in the game… One that was patient enough to sit through his pathetic Spanish skills, too.

As it would turn out, all his silent worrying over this was absolutely unnecessary, as was the follow-up fretting about when he was actually supposed to give her the dang thing. Cliff stands next to Teto, who had naturally been beside him the whole flight, and his wheeled bag, and can only stare. He'd like to say he was just stunned by the sight of his beautiful girlfriend (??) he'd missed so much, but honestly he doesn't have the capacity to register her right away.

“What…?”

What the hell was he looking at? It occurs to him then that maybe he should have put a little more effort into the solidifying the actual travel plans instead of just his dumb teen nonsense, because at least then he might not be looking so dumbfounded at the herd of Riveras there to greet him and the other boy at the airport. Blankly, as if addressing no one and everyone at the same time, “Is this your way of telling me to go back to school? I don't think there's going to be room for me in whatever you drove here in.”

Luggage or not. Right now he's thinking not.

“Uh! I mean, thanks? Hola...everyone.”

Perhaps he hadn't been thinking at all until right just then, oops. The first time he's meeting some of these people and those were the words that fell out. He's fucking nailing this first impressi -- oh no, there's someone that looks an awful lot like Teto racing up to them, what does he do, someone save him from Mili who is extremely happy to see both their brother-son and their sister's good dog, best friend.

[unpocoloco]

If Cliff had been worried on the plane, Teto had been on another level. Vacillating between excessive chatter and absolute deathly silence complete with staring out ahead of himself at absolutely nothing, nervousness didn't cover it. But, it wasn't anything to do with the plane trip. Not really.

As Cliff stops and stares, he looks too. His nervousness gnaws hungrily at him and grows. He recognizes the twins vaguely between memories of their youth and the photos he'd seen in Tía Bruja's room, they hold up signs with his and Cliff's names, frown at each other, then switch. Coco, he recognizes also, though there's no old memory to fill him in there. Coco beams at Cliff, waving, and smiles more shyly at him. Tía Bruja is there, bringing a a flicker of a smile for the memories he had with her years ago, and yet an ache for the loss of his friend again, and with it, more uncertainty about how he's supposed to approach this. (When Cliff talks about going back, he almost thinks to beat the other boy to it.)

And then there's the fairy, Mili, who made this all happen by half and, who really does look to be his sibling in a way no one ever has, and who's racing to meet him faster than his heart is trying to race away. Not so fast they'll escape the reach of the final figure, reigning them in with a smile. This one he recognizes quickest of all. The man stands with a cane in one hand and Mili's hand in the other. His face is sunken like someone slipped out of a long stay in a medical ward and there's a darkness under his eyes like he didn't sleep in all that time. He wears exhaustion like a thick cloak, but at the same time, he's never seen Señor R look so happy.

Do you want to know a secret? About the future? Tía had asked that. He remembers. There's a family in your future, one that loves you more than anything. You make them so happy, just by being there with them. So you make sure to treat them well, alright? When you find something like that... His hands curl tight around the handle of his suitcase and the strap of the guitar on his back. Don't ever let it go.

Tía, severe in a way he can only half see, steps forward. Then, she opens her arms to him. He rushes forward, meeting her partway as her arms wrap around. He makes a faint noise that he's already working on pushing down, but he suspects she sees through him away. She runs a hand through his hair and croons, ay, mijo, estás bien. She lifts her head and speaks over him.

"And you. You must be the one I've heard about. The one who enabled mi hija's foolhardy choices." She lifts a brow at Cliff. Then, frowns, blinking down. "What is this?" She asks Teto now, and in that moment, he realizes his piercings have been, at last discovered. He smiles in that way that only proves his guilt. So begins the quizzing of how he got them. The twins both look curious. Coco and Héctor, bringing Mili, step around.


"Hola, Cliff," Héctor greets. "Good to meet you in the flesh, huh?"

"Papá," Coco chides, only half meaning it. She stands by with a faint bit of color to her cheeks whenever she looks at Cliff.

"Anyway," He says, "Don't worry about having room. We've got two taxis, lots of magic, and a flying cat. We'll just need to decide who's going with who and we can be off."

[awooligan]

Held at bay -- something allowed more than enforced, with the fairy's strength -- Mili pathetically claws at the air in continued eagerness to get to the pair, but having Héctor's hand in their's does a good job of grounding them. Cliff appreciates it more than he can say, with how the Teto-but-fluffier whines a soft 'No fair!' at their Mamá getting the first hug. It is fair, though, and they know that, as excited as they are. They'll allow Teto his comfort in familiarity before overwhelming him with a disproportionate amount of affection. Besides, this new face is interesting, too, and Mili blinks owlishly up at Cliff while they switch to clinging to Papá's arm.

The joke, despite Coco's weak, predictable protest, makes Cliff's shoulders relax a bit more following a short laugh. He'd poke fun at him in return (because if he'd looked like shit before, then Cliff has no idea what to call this) if not for the spike of nerves he gets whenever he considers Imelda's greeting or her questioning about Teto's piercings -- he hadn't considered that of course this would be her first time seeing them.

Not to mention all the weird butterflies. Oh gosh, those are some butterflies. At least he can still manage a normal smile in her direction, with how comfortable he'd grown to be with her around. "Hey," he says to her more directly in a tone that was a touch softer than what little else he'd offered. She was still his best friend, no matter what else was going on between them. God, he's happy to see her. Happy to see her so happy.

More thoughts on that are mercifully interrupted at Héctor's assurance, with Cliff's eyes instead flicking over, bright with curiosity. He looks between the father -- plus one gremlin with what he could describe as a cheshire grin that had curled into place at some point (when Coco kept blushing) -- and daughter, asking, "Can we take the flying cat?"

Give! Him! Cat!! Give! Him! Flying!!! And, quite frankly, give him some time to adjust to the idea of having so much attention on him, as something of an invader to this bizarre, wonderful family...