What Happens On Tour, Stays On Tour.
Budapest - 18th of May
Dawn's first light crept through a gap in the curtains, the darkest of the room had now been disturbed. The soft sounds of snoring could be heard, the bed sheets were crumpled and pillows lay scattered around the room. The tour bus had been silent, but someone was stirring from their slumber. Copia rubbed at his eyes and stretched his legs out in the bed while he yawned loudly, his toes wiggling he let out a couple of toot toots. He was beginning to wake up, but the jerking of the bed startled him. Someone roughly scrambled over him, he heard hurried footsteps before the door was kicked open. He soon heard Papa Nihil yelling from the other room, he didn't sound too pleased.
" Watch where you're going, little ghoul! How dare you, don't you do that finger gesture at me again!"
A soft chuckled escaped his lips while he sat up straight in his bed, he looked around the room. His mismatched eyes getting use to the dimly lit bedroom he noticed three of his unmasked ghouls piled up next to him. Rain, Swiss and Mountain. They were still deep in slumber, he had no idea why his ghouls liked sleeping in the same bed has him. He enjoyed their company on cold nights, but they got fidgety and sometimes sweaty when it got too hot on the tour bus. Swishing tails and rogue elbows, he himself had received an elbow to the face in his sleep.
" You ghouls need to find your own bedroom..." He sighed.
Copia watched his ghouls sleeping, their tails twitching and teeth grinding together they looked peaceful. They sometimes reminded him of his rats, they had the same sleeping habits has the ghouls. His thought were interrupted by the clanking of saucepans, the scent of porridge and toast wafted into the room. His stomach grumbled, it seemed like breakfast was being prepared in the tour buses kitchen. He planned not to wake his sleeping ghouls just yet, if they knew breakfast was on it's way there would be a stampede to the kitchen. He stayed in his bed for a couple of minutes before he decided to move, he was beginning to feel hungry.
" Okay, let's roll now." He said.
Throwing back his blankets back he swung his legs over the edge of his bed, yawning once again he allowed himself to wake up fully before he got to his feet. His arms stretching above his head Copia's back cracked while he walked towards the open doorway, he planned to take it easy today since it was his last day off before the European tour ended. Standing in the doorway he noticed Sodo opening a window in the kitchen, he soon got shooed away by Cumulus and Cirrus. They tried to hit him with spoons and a pair of oven gloves, but he soon escaped their wrath.
" Good morning, how are you all doing?" Copia asked.
Sodo glared at Copia while he walked passed him, the little ghoul wasn't too amused with the rude awaking he had received this morning. Aether was sitting with Papa Nihil at the tour buses table, they were playing Uno together. The ghoulettes were busy preparing breakfasts in the kitchen, he was surprised to see them on their tour bus since they travelled separately from the male ghouls. It seemed like today was going to be a family day.
" Good morning, my ladies." Copia said.
Copia approached the ghoulettes and greeted them with a friendly hand gesture, but he himself got shooed away by Cirrus with a slice of toasted bread. Holding his hands up in surrender he ducked beneath her arm and back away from the ghoulette, but he soon noticed Sunshine clicking her fingers at him. She was holding a cup in her hand, she pointed at it more than once. She was offering him a cup of coffee in her own way, the ghouls and ghoulettes never used words. They mostly signed at Copia, but he understood them most of the time.
" I would love a coffee, thank you." Copia said.
Sunshine giggled happily before she skipped over to the coffeemaker, she enjoyed making coffee for others. It brought her happiness. Copia left the kitchen and made his way over to the leather couch, he found himself a comfortable place to sit while he waited for his coffee. His attention was soon caught by Papa Nihil laughing, he had beaten Aether at Uno once again. The big ghoul crossed his arms while he sulked, he was soon joined by Sodo. He gave the banana loving ghoul a slap on his arm before he shuffled the Uno cards, he then shared them out between the three of them. The elderly Papa's voice broken the silence on the tour bus, he wanted to ask Copia a question.
" Cardinal, are we going out today?" He asked.
" Maybe, I don't know yet." Copia replied.
" But tomorrow is the last tour date." He said. " We should go out and have some fun before we returned to the Ministry, I think the ghouls and ghoulettes deserve some freedom."
" I don't know, Papa." Copia replied before he took his cup of coffee from Sunshine. " I don't think that is a good idea, we don't need anymore incidents. The Clergy wasn't too amused about what happened at the museum in Madrid, they had to send them a cheque for the damages."
" But that was your fault, not mine!" He said.
" And you told Sister about it..." Copia sighed.
" I didn't know she would react the way she did, she normally enjoys a good laugh." He said while he picked his Uno cards up from the table. " I thought she would have found it funny, I know I did. It tickled my funny bone."
" I didn't find it funny!" Copia said.
" I did, I enjoy hearing about your failures." He said.
" Oh, you found it funny uh?! How about the time you got a waffle stuck on the back of your Mitre?" Copia asked, he hid his amusement from the elderly Papa. " Not to mention the chocolate egg on the stage, Oh! Then the time you fell off the stage, that was very funny. Also don't forget the time you almost straggled Jesus, hopefully you apologised for that little incident."
" Yes, yes!" He replied before he placed one of his cards on the table." I said sorry to him, it won't happen again."
" Good, very good." Copia said. " I'm glad you did that, Papa. Sister will be pleased, he is the best employee we've got right now outside of the Ministry."
" Do you think Sister will give me second chance for being kind to our employees?" He asked.
" No, I think not." Copia replied.
" I will keep trying, surely I will win her over someday." He said.
" Okay, Papa." Copia said with a slight snigger. " You keep doing that, she won't..."
Copia was interrupted by Cirrus, she was holding a plate of buttered toast towards him. He nodded his head at her before he went to take a slice of toast, but she soon slapped his hand away from the plate. She wiggled her finger at him before she placed the plate down on his lap, she didn't want him getting any crumbs on the couch. He soon heard the old guy laughing, his gaze immediately focused on Papa Nihil. He was watching him with Aether and Sodo, they seemed amused that he had gotten scolded by Cirrus.
" You're too soft with the ghouls and ghoulettes." He said.
" They're like my family, I care for them." Copia said. " We spend a lot of time together on the tours, it's how we roll."
" Back in my day if one of the ghouls had slapped my hand like that I would have had them thrown off the tour bus..." He said before he looked at Aether sitting next to him. " While it was still moving, there's no respect these days. They should be obeying their Papa, not scolding him over toast crumbs!"
" Okay, okay..." Copia said with a sigh. " That's enough now! You're forgetting your place old man, I'm Papa now. You're just a surprise guest on this tour, please stop talking!"
" That boy, how dare he talk to me like that..." He grumbled.
The old guy turned his gaze away from the boy, he didn't look very pleased about the way Copia had just spoken to him. Sodo and Aether hid their laughter from Papa Nihil while they continued playing Uno with him, the former Papa didn't even notice when Aether snorted with laughter from behind his cards . They enjoyed the little arguments between the old guy and the newest Papa, it kept them entertained on the tour bus.
Taking another sip of his coffee Copia heard hurried footsteps, the other ghouls had finally woken up. They were soon sitting around the table with bowls of porridge and the plates of toast, it wasn't long until the sounds of slurping filled the air. Papa Nihil moved away from Swiss when he drank porridge from his bowl, there was half eaten toast and porridge spattered across the table. Rain and Mountain began to snarl at each other, they were arguing over the last slice of toast. But their snarls were soon silenced when Sodo stole the last slice of toast from the plate between them, it caused Aether to chuckle from behind his Uno cards. The ghouls were messy eaters, this is why Copia sat by himself when the ghouls were eating their breakfast together.
Copia had been ignoring the argumentative ghouls while he ate his breakfast in silence, he was looking through one of his puzzle books. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the couches cushions move next to him, his eyes squinted. His head slowly turning he noticed someone sitting next to him, it was Papa Nihil. He had left his seat at table, there was an amused smile creeping across his face. The old guy's smile made him feel uncomfortable, he had no idea what he wanted. The former Papa soon broke the silence between them.
" Hey, Cardinal." He said.
" Yes, Papa?" Copia asked in an annoyed tone. " What do you want now?"
" Do you remember the time when the little ghoul scared you with that Jason Voorhees mask?" He asked with a chuckle. " Not to mention the time you got your finger stuck in your microphone stand, then the other time you fell off the stage."
" I think it was the ummm... no!" Copia replied.
" Don't say you have forgotten already." He said. " Do you remember when one of the ghouls tooted on your microphone? Not to mention when you got your finger stuck in the screw hole underneath the tour buses table, it was very funny."
" I remember that tooting incident, I heard it from my dressing room..." Copia replied before he took a sip of his coffee. " But whoever stuck that Bratwurst inside your saxophone deserves an award."
" That wasn't funny!" He said.
" I wish I knew who did that little prank, I'd give them extra breakfast." Copia said.
Sodo went to raise his hand but Aether stopped him, he shook his head at the smaller ghoul. Copia eyed up Nihil while took another sip of his coffee, he wasn't too amused that the old guy was bringing up embarrassing incidents from the past tour rehearsals. He was happy that they had one more day left before the European tour ended, he couldn't wait to return home to the Ministry.