The Rise of a King - Copia x Reader

IX

With a big smile on your lips you entered the dining hall in the morning, happily taking your seat between Aether and Sodo.
"Look who's a true sunshine this morning", Sunshine chuckled as everyone saw you're being happier than usual.
"Have you had a date with Copia or what?", Phantom huffed ironically but everyone looked at you with big eyes at the idea.
You give Swiss a stern look and give him a punch in the rips. Of course the Ghouls knew about your little crush on Copia, whether you would've told them or not, you just were too obvious with your admiring gazes.
"Oh shut up, Swiss! No such thing happened! I'm just excited to be given the task of helping Primo in the garden today!"
The Ghouls let out an "Ahhh, that explains a lot", as you were quite infamous for having a great passion for nature.
Almost on your way to the garden, you shoved the last piece of your pancake in your mouth and hugged the Ghouls and Aurora goodbye.
"Will we see you at lunch?", Cirrus quickly asked before you were out the door and you gave her thumbs up.
Lost in thoughts, picturing what the garden would look like, you rushed down the hallway and almost ran against a wall as you heard a familiar voice laugh not too far from you.
Across the hallway to your left, you saw Copia and Terzo coming towards your direction, both laughing and gesturing wildly.
"And I told him 'Well if you're looking for a handsome man to have a good time with, I'd know someone' but he told me he was looking for a taller exemplar..", Terzo fake sniffed and Copia gently slapped his shoulder.
"No way he resisted that handsome face", he laughed and Terzo continued.
"I was so mad, I told him I knew someone who would absolutely match his taste! D'you know who I sent?", he now grew a little excited and as did his younger brother.
"Who? Who did you send?"
Terzo took a dramatic pause before he spit it out in wide laughter
"Mister Saltarian!"
"Satan no!", Copia almost broke down from laughing so hard.
"It would fit though! So how did it end?"
"Well after Mister Saltarian found out it wasn't a business meeting, he wouldn't talk to me for over a month"
"Unholy shit!"

From what you had heard of the story as you walked to the men's direction, you found yourself giggling like anything.
As the brother's caught your attention, they waved at you with a smile.
"Good morning, cara", Copia greeted you with a wink while Terzo stopped for a second to place a soft kiss on the back of your hand.
"Good morning, mia fiore", he spoke in warm voice with a teasing sub tone.
You appreciated his greetings, yet they did not fluster you as much as Copia's, his magnificent eyes still rested on you as he watched with well hidden jealousy how Terzo tried courting you.
"Good morning, you two!", you greeted them and went back on your way.
"Have you seen how she blushed when I greeted her?", Terzo's voice echoed confidentially after you as he was sure you were out of range.
Copia tried to sound reasonable, trying to hide his disapproval for his brother's behaviour as he told him "I didn't see anything"
"You must have, Fratellino! Oh Satanas, you must always forget your glasses in the most important moment".
His words in this especially thick Italian accent were the last you heard from the brothers' quite amusing conversation.

To your excitement, you soon found yourself standing in front of the huge, black iron gates leading to the garden. You studied its pattern carefully, it was significantly high, the black fence surrounding the unholy fields of nature was spiked so not even a bird would dare bother Primo's plant meditations.
Yet, the gate seemed to be as hold as the man himself, you could see the paint peel off at various spots to reveal the rusty iron underneath.
You felt your ears ache horribly as you opened the screeching gates and walked the clean stone path leading through fields of dandelions, tulips and hyacinths.
You stood for a moment to admire the sea of purple you found to your right, Primo truly had a green thumb with his plants, they all flourished to healthy, magnificent flowers.
"Oh, Sister Y/n!", an older voice suddenly called from inside the greenhouse that throned in the middle of all this beauty to your feet.
"Please feel free to enter", the voice you recognised as Primo's would invite you and you did as asked.
"Good morning, Papa- and you too, Papa", you greeted first Primo and then to your surprise the highly concentrated Secondo sitting on the other side of the middle garden table.
"We are currently enjoying a round of UNO, please feel free to have a seat in the meantime", the oldest Papa gestured to a chair to his left on which you gladly let yourself down.
"Quiet Fratello, I need to focus", Secondo gave him a stern look and the man rolled his eyes playfully which made you giggle quietly. A couple minutes later, Secondo returned to his daily duties being master of Origami and Women which left you and the Papa to why he asked for your help.
"I'm glad you are here, Sister! My Fratellino told me what a great help you were to him so I hoped you could help me with my issue too"
You blushed a little at the fact Copia had praised you let alone spoken to his brothers about you, you were happy to see he thought well of you.
"I'm sure I can help, Papa! I love being in nature and hope I can even learn from you spending time here"
"Oh you will definitely learn something! See, I need help with repotting my flowers!"
He reached for one of the Lilly's and patted it gently. 'He almost looks like Copia with his rats', you thought to yourself eyeing them like the most beautiful things in the world.
"I would do it myself and of course I will do my best to help you but I'm afraid age has not done me good, my back won't play along"
After having shown you how to repot flowers and where he'd want to have them grow you done your best to execute his wishes, though he was not easily disappointed. The man probed great patience and you on the other hand, great talent.
"Unholy Satan, if I ever were to bite the dust, I feel like with your doing this temple of a garden will continue to flourish"
You smile at his compliment
"Thank you so much Papa, I feel truly honoured. Yet, there still is so much for me to learn about every kind of these flowers, let alone the fruit trees! And besides, you're still far from that age and your plants need you, you're not going anywhere!", you give him a little poke in the side and he laughed warmly.
"Your kind words ease my concern, Sister. But I think I can do something about your hunger for knowledge around the garden. I can teach you right here, I mean let's start with these absolutely precious Parsley. For some just a boring spice but to the experienced eye, it could also serve as natural healing resource!"
His little teachings continued for hours until a growl from your stomach told the two of you that it was enough work done for today and you deserve a break.
You thanked the elderly man once again for this opportunity to widen your horizon and made your way up to your room.
You grabbed a canvass, paint, brushes and a sandwich, taking course to the forest. It's been so long since you had just sat alone within the green leaves, admiring nature around you while trying to capture its beauty, that you had almost forgotten what it felt like.
You once again found yourself wandering the corridor's of the huge ministry as you heard voices wildly arguing from behind a few doors away.
As you slowly approached the source of said argument, you recognised Copia's voice echoing from inside.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
His almost trembling voice was filled with despair, he was clearly hurt.
"What's the matter with you? Since the day I was born you have been neglecting me and now instead of making up for your mistakes, you just keep on picking on me?"
"What do you expect from me?", Nihil now stepped into your view as he spat at the younger man. In shock you stood there, watching the two of them. You didn't know what was going on but you felt guilty for having started to listen to the ongoing argument.
"What do you want from me? Some warm, fatherly love? Terzo's power? You are nothing more than my pathetic bastard son, so stop acting like you deserve to be treated like my flesh and blood!"
You had thought about just going your ways but felt like glued to the ground as your heard Nihil yell these words at Copia who now stood there in shock. His eyes were widened, even a little teary and you felt your heart ache at the view.
He slowly lowered his head and let out a sigh which rather sounded like a sniff.
"I don't want Terzo's place nor your love, I just don't want to be treated like I'm the cause of your issues. I am this clergy's most dedicated Cardinal so whether you like me or not, whether you see me as a respectable son or not, I deserve to be treated with respect", his voice became shaky like he was afraid to speak up.
Nihil only shook his head and turned on his heals before he stormed out the room, gladly not into your direction.
Copia stood in the now empty room for another minute, slowly silencing his sniffs before he disappeared into the neighboured room with a disappointed sigh.
"I guess some things just never change", you could hear him mumble under his breath before he was out of reach.
You wished you had run after him and done your best to comfort him but deep down you knew he probably needed to be alone at the moment, he was vulnerable and knowing he had unwillingly shared his secret struggles with you might make it all worse. So all you did for the moment was keep going and eventually had a seat within the forest, just as you planned to. Yet, instead of capturing the late summer atmosphere, the clear blue sky and singing birds, you let your brush wander over the canvass and paint no one else than the person your whole soul longed to be with at any time of the day. He was represented in an elegant cassock, his favourite red one, where his rats comfortably laid on his shoulders. To you, Copia's smile was the most beautiful smile in the world and your favourite thing about him. Only the faintest hint of it could brighten your day within an instant and you were really satisfied as you watched his cherry red lips laugh at you from onto the canvas.
"Nihil's such an idiot", you spoke to yourself as you brought the finished result inside to dry, hoping this little gift would brighten Copia's day the way his smile did brighten yours every single time.