♡ for a starter, apparently we have some angst? @lullabyhrt ( ophelia finch ) + ramón duarte.
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 and... antiseptic — sweet rot and polished wood. he hates these places; they feel confined, slow and sad... some find comforting, he does not. ramón lingers near the doorway longer than he should. hat in his hands, fingers turning the brim slowly, like he’s forgotten what to do with them, the room is quiet except for hushed, somber chatter and the low hum of refrigeration somewhere deeper in the building. ramón hasn’t seen mrs. alvarez in almost ten years, but he remembers her... the motherly smile, the slightly dry laugh and the smell of dry rose petals that filled her home... how she sang him to sleep when she babysat him whilst his mother worked double shifts. a lump forms in his throat, but he swallows it down. on a hook goes his coat, his hat, and ramón, who is rarely ever shaken, finds himself unsteady for a moment.
𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, the sight settles heavy in his chest — the woman in the casket is... smaller than he remembers, hands folded neatly holding her rosary, like she’s just waiting for someone to wake her. ramón exhales slowly through his nose, makes the sign of the cross over his body and kisses his fingers, "que descanse en paz, doña carmen. cuando llegue a casa… salude a mi mamá por mí." he reaches out, almost to touch her, but pulls his hand back and moves on so the next mourner can have their moment. his gaze drifts toward the doorway where the mortician works: the quiet figure moving with practiced care, he steps a little closer, voice low, respectful.
“𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫?” ramón tilts his head slightly, studying the woman with a private investigator’s habit of noticing details he shouldn’t. he clears his throat just so — “you did good work.” a pause. softer now. "she looks… like herself," but so so fragile, so... still. "she's — was a friend of the family. ramón duarte," he offers the woman his hand, "thank-you for taking care of her, mrs. alvarez was a good– a great woman."
