strangetrip | [GP] Food for the soul

Carlos hated being back at the hotel. He had begun by trying to access the Nevernever but that had totally failed, then caught up with Buffy to go and visit both London and Edinburgh, for varying reasons, and the rest of the time he had headed to Spain - he may have been well travelled, but rarely got time to be a tourist - but his time relaxing and finding out about Spain had been unceremoniously cut short when he woke up and found himself back at the hotel. For a few moments he lay there, utterly fed up, and just feeling incredibly homesick.

That only lasted a few minutes; after that he was a man on a mission.

He hunted out Caroline, and had a long chat with her. Plans were set. Time to cook up a storm. They'd missed 4th July, this could serve as a belated celebration, as well as a 'things ain't all bad here' event. Posters went up throughout the hotel, giving notice of a cook out. Everyone was encouraged to attend. What could be bad about this?

Grills were set up outside to cook up as much meat as they could hold; non-meat options were there as well for variety; salads prepared... a vast array of food to try and cheer up anyone who needed it. Carlos took his place at the grills, brandishing tools, turning the meat over just at the right point.

All that was needed now was people to attend.

[ooc: Use as a general gathering post - if you want Carlos specifically, tag him in the subject line]

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"Thanks! I'm working on your comic, too." Mack wanted Miguel to know that he hadn't abandoned the idea. He flipped the pages a bit until he came to one of Miguel, Dante and Hector that he'd been working on. "Here, does this look okay? I mean I know what you and Dante look like but Hector, am I close?"

Miguel looked down at the picture and his mouth dropped open in awe. "Woah! That is amazing. It looks exactly like Papa Hector." He let his fingertips go over the drawing.

Mack was pleased with the response. "Good. I was a little worried about the way he moved to get his bones just right. Could you show me again sometime how he walked so if I do an action, I can kind of show it?"

"I can do it now if you want." Miguel offered, "I don't mind, or later if you don't want to do it now."

"Yeah, that would be great." Mack pulled out the smartphone they were given in Europe. "I can record it and play it back when I need to look at it anytime."

Miguel was still really awkward with his phone. That was something that his family couldn't afford but he was too embarrassed to ask anyone how to use it. Maybe he'd ask Mack or Liz to show him, but for now it was in his room.

He stood up immediately went into the stance of his Papa Hector. "Ready?" Miguel waited until Mack had the phone up and then began to walk.

Mack chuckled as he recorded, it was still funny to watch the walk. "Did other people walk like that, the skeletons I mean or was it just your Papa Hector?"

"Just Papa Hector." Miguel said as he turned around and walked back toward Mack the same way. "I don't know if he walked that way when he was alive though or if it was because of his bones."

"Were his bones crooked at the hip or knee?" Mack asked as he stopped recording and hit replay to make sure he had a good recording to use. He did so he turned off his phone and put it back in his hip pocket.

"I mean because of the way he walked."

Miguel scrunched up his face as he tried to remember exactly how his Papa Hector was. "I think his foot was turned in just a little, but it might have been his knee."

"I bet it's hard to get used to walking without muscles." Mack said his thought out loud. "But if he's the only one you saw walk that way, then it probably was because of his bones."

"Mama Imelda walked funny, too but not like that." Miguel made a face, "and I'm not going to show you how." It was weird the way her dress had moved when she walked.

"Don't worry, I won't make you walk like your great, great grandmother." Mack reassured him with a laugh. "But it's good to know, that without muscles the bones probably work differently and that will help with the panels."

Miguel sat back down and looked over the panel once more that Mack had shown him earlier. "You're really good. It looks so much like Papa Hector and you only did it from me telling you about him."

"Thanks. I can't play a guitar like you can. You learned all on your own and in secret." Mack totally got loving something so much that you'd do it even if your family didn't want you to. Luckily, he didn't have that problem.

"Thanks." Miguel was proud of the guitar he'd made. It wasn't fancy or anything like a professional would have done, but he was proud of it. "Did you learn to draw on your own, too?" He actually didn't know how Mack learned.

"Yeah. Mostly by trying to copy what I saw and then I got a book about how to draw comics. I saved up my allowance until I could afford the book and then did everything it said to do." Mack smiled slightly, "I spent hours under a flashlight so my grandfather wouldn't tell me to put it away and go to sleep."

"I used to go into a small 'fort' on our roof that I made from pallet woods and tin from garbage in the village. No one knew I was there except Dante. I would watch musicals and learn from them. It took me a long time to learn my first song." Miguel confessed.

"Seriously, that's amazing. I mean you're self taught without even a book. Just you and your amazing musical ear." Mack was beyond impressed that he could do that.

Miguel flushed with both pleasure and embarrassment at the praise. "Gracias. I would have learned from a book if I thought mi familia wouldn't have found out about it. I did shine shoes in the village plaza so I could listen to the mariachis. That was my sneaky way of listening to forbidden music."

"Oooh sneaky." Mack said with appreciation. "Did you always like music? I mean I know it was forbidden for you, but when you first heard it, did you like it or did it kind of grow on you?"

He had loved comics since the very first one he'd bought with his allowance.

"I loved it from the first time I heard music." He said with a wide smile. "I just couldn't tell anyone. I used to get scraps of wood when I found them and hid it in my 'fort'. When I had enough I made my guitar. It wasn't very good but it was mine and it made music."

"That's pretty cool." Mack made a mental note to put that in the comic because that was pretty cool. "You're multi talented." He smiled at his friend.

Miguel laughed, "so are you." Then he crinkled his nose, "I think everyone at the Inn is super talented in a lot of ways. Maybe that's one of the reasons why we're here." If there was a reason.

"Maybe." Mack agreed, because everyone he'd met was special in their own way even if they didn't have powers.

[GP] Food for the soul

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