Miss Vial patiently waited for Copia's return, lounging about over the grass with her open journal over her lap. The court-yard was unusually vacant of any other beings and it suited her completely - the towering walls of the Ministry soared in a rectangle around the large expanse of grassland, pleasantly cordoning off the sounds from the inside. 

She flicked a page and scribbled more notes down, reaching up her left hand to shield across the tops of her rounded sun-glasses, sun-rays poking downwards as another rolling set of clouds trundled across the lucid blue sky. In all honesty, Miss Vial was starting to enjoy the peace and solitude of the outdoors - for once, all of the serene grounds were standable to her, and she wished that the Ministry held such a popular ritual every week if it meant that the locations were free of any commotion.

Commotion returned soon, however, when Copia returned, dashing over the uneven grass towards her in a spry manner. His arms clutched a bundle of white paper bags to his chest, a sharply angled paper straw peeping over the edge of the bag to lightly graze his chin as he moved. 

"I am here!" he announced excitedly when he was only a few yards from her, his steps eagerly quickening before he lowered his volume, coming to a stop in front of her. "Back from the cafeteria... eh... it was real hot and sticky in there - but luckily, there wasn't a butt-cheek in sight, heh! Here at the Ministry we take hygiene very seriously, Miss Vial. We do not... skimp on your welfare."

She closed her journal and peered up at him over the tops of her black lenses, raising a brow at the tall food bags he held.

"Other than you lobbing fireballs every now and then, of course." she injected cynically with a smirk, shaking her head as he began to slowly lower himself down to sit on a patch of grass beside her. The paper of one of the bags crinkled loudly as he squeezed it within his leathery grasp, a sly smirk of amusement across his face. 

"Hey... shush, I don't go speaking so freely of your secrets, do I, Miss Vial?" he whispered hurriedly with feigned concern, carefully handing her one of the bags. She took it politely and peeked inside, sniffing in approval at the heated scent of a lasagne-baguette which jetted up into her face.

"Oh please, no one can hear a thing over here." she assured, raising a brow as she lifted out a freezing cold (and luminous blue) slushy drink - it was clear that she hadn't expected such a thing from her quizzical expression. She couldn't help being reminded of her own craft as she studied the crystallised chunk of blue ice, which bulged against the thin glass of a slender drinking jar - she felt like she was about to consume one of the living reagents from one of her apothecary shelves, rather than a refreshing iced drink.

Copia settled down next to her in a cool, casual sprawl - his lithe legs were outstretched over the free grass beside him, a single elbow holding up his weight as his other hand dipped into his take-out bag.
 
"Especially if they're stuck inside some... panting nun." Aemelia added shortly, her tone lacking in emotion as her mind was clearly too fascinated with the contents of the blue slushy.

Cardinal chuckled with amusement and lifted a triangular slice of steaming focaccia bread from the inside of his bag, already eagerly taking a generous bite. He chewed slowly and observed her with a small, expectant smile as she raised the tip of the paper straw to her lips. She cautiously took a sip and as soon as the freezing cold taste of raspberry hit her tongue, her face scrunched up from how overpowering it was. Copia chuckled impishly at her reaction and she immediately set down the cold jar on the grass in front of her, clenching her teeth together.

"Although I'm ... grateful for something cold, could you at least warn me, next time?" she complained, opening her mouth to stick out her tongue, which was now stained a vivid teal.

"Ahh... but that would be boring, wouldn't it, Cipolletta?" he teased.

"Chip-a what now? Did you just call me a fuckin' chip?"

He blushed and swiftly cleared his throat, lowering his half-bitten food back into the paper bag. He couldn't believe that her presence was causing him to feel so cosy so quickly... it seemed his inhibitions weren't so sharp today.

"No no no! I did not... I ... " he defended hurriedly, clearly worried that he had ruined the pleasant dynamic between them. "It... it is something that slipped out, my tongue is hard to... control sometimes, you know?"

She squinted at him in suspicion, but it wasn't long before they were chatting away again, with Copia scanning over every one of his planned sentences - his words were often suspended in his mind for quite some time, he really didn't want to allow anything else to slip out...

After brightly staining their tongues and filling their stomachs with cafeteria food, they laid on their backs, their hands supporting the back of their heads as they laid beside one another. To any stranger, the scene of the two of them would have looked like they were merely two companions cloud-gazing. Indeed, their arms pointed out towards things above them, and they would snort in unison. But neither of them were innocent enough to partake in cloud-glazing - for what they were doing was a little more mischievous.

"Alright, alright... ahm... how 'bout... that one?" Copia asked, blatantly gesturing to one of the windows that made up one of the walls of the courtyard. 

"No idea." she responded, wrinkling her nose to readjust her sun-glasses without the help of her hands "Priest kink? I mean, that's probably a bit obvious - that is where the Sisters of Sin reside, right?"

He beamed a wicked smirk and tilted his head towards her - his eyes gleamed through the scarlet lenses of his shades as he watched her thoughtful expression.

"It is most common, yes." he confirmed with a wobble of amusement in his voice, the corners of his mouth curling into a proud smile. "And I can - ahem - attest to that."

"Fantastic." she stated emptily, slowly glancing towards him. She stiffened her movements when his eyes immediately flicked to return her stare and he intensely gazed at her, not uttering another word.

"What?" she questioned, her eyebrows furrowing into a bewildered frown. "What are you looking at me like that for? Do you want some bloody award or what?"

He stayed quiet and leaned onto his left elbow, shuffling himself towards her so that he could lay a lot closer to her. Her eyes flinched at his proximity but she made no effort to move away, even when he proceeded to inspect her features intently, entirely taken with her now that they had some space away from the rest of the Ministry.

"What about that one?" she suddenly asked, averting her gaze towards one of the tall walls towards the very left of the courtyard. "I'm not sure where that room even is... I'm not sure I've ever been to that part of the Ministry yet."

Copia raised himself up slightly to peer his eyes over her, following her line of sight. The curious expression he had been wearing dropped instantly and became something unreadable, even more so when his eyes trailed back to settle upon her. The inhibitions he had been so careful to consult, were no longer present it seemed, for his mouth opened before he gave his mind any chance of evaluating his words.

"I know that it is a large room." he murmured truthfully, his voice raising just over a whisper, which instantly caught Aemelia's attention. His voice sounded unlike anything she had ever heard from him before, she was almost shocked that it was even coming out of him. It was rich and hoarse and laced with something she wasn't sure she recognised. 

"Befitting of a library, maybe?" he suggested with the same strange, distant tone of voice, his eyelids shading over his irises as he succumbed to fascination. "With... lots of... tall bookshelves.That you could... hide... behind and - "

Her unimpressed scowl caused him to cut off his words, but he didn't shy away from her cold black irises, which pierced into him with hardened perplexion.

"... or maybe... " he continued, his consideration for any kind of consequences absent. "... it is a room filled with a sofa, or a fire-place, with a... very inviting bed, who knows?"

"I thought we were playing "guess-the-kink" - not "guess-the-furniture", Cardinal." she snapped dryly, her expression darkening from how unimpressed she was with his attempt at flirtation.

"Maybe I was not playing that game, Miss Vial." he implied with the smallest hint of amusement, though his eyes were completely sincere. "Perhaps I wanted to create a new one for us instead, ah?"

She kept quiet and the suggestive intensity he'd been channelling seemed to ease slightly, his eyes opening a little more so that he appeared a lot more coherent. However, she could tell that he was still incredibly lost to fantasy - and the potential of scenarios she hadn't the faintest knowledge about - from the way his lips were lightly parted.

"We could always... visit that room, if you are curious?" he offered quietly, her black eyes boring into him like honed coffin-nails. She wondered whether he would ever give up the pointless pursuit of her - little did she know, the pursuit was exactly what filled him with immense enjoyment.

"I'll pass." she responded sternly, which caused his amorous venture to end abruptly. He sharply averted his eyes to the grass they laid upon and a small, wistful expression appeared over his features. 

"Ah, right, right. All of the... fucking noises, I forgot, heh heh!"  he chuckled out in an accepting tone of defeat, sighing in disappointment.  

"We could always just get out of here for a few hours." she considered, tipping her head back to peer up at the dimming light of the early evening sky. "There's a place that I've always wanted to visit nearby... figured we could check it out." 

"Just... me and you?"

She nodded quietly in response, causing him to quickly clear his throat. She sat up with a wry smile, wondering why he had assumed that there could have been others involved - after all, even with the tutoring sessions, she still remained the reclusive resident alchemist.

"I would be delighted, Miss Vial."

There was already something strange about two fully grown adults piling out of a black sedan to rush towards a video-games arcade in the height of summer. But when one of them looked like The Omen starring Scar-Face, and the other looked like they buried corpses for a living - it was no wonder that the local citizens had to look twice.

As soon as Miss Vial had disclosed that she wished to visit a nearby arcade, the cardinal had fidgeted over the passenger seat like an exuberant child who had picked up the scent of a candy cane. When the sedan had finally pulled up at the curb-side, the doors flung open - the two of them were in enthusiastic anticipation of being able to pass the time without any reminder of Summer Heat looming over them. 

Their paces slowed once they approached the open front of the place, the neon strip-lights gleaming in their excitable eyes. It was a glaring reminder of eighties futurism amongst the normality of an isolated Italian town, and though many locals thought it was an eye-sore, any outsider was immediately drawn to the hypnotic nostalgia of such an establishment.

"How did you come to know of this place, Miss Vial?" he wondered, his mismatched eyes glossy with amazement as they trailed over the dazzling pulse of the strip-lighting.  "I have lived near this place for years and did not know about it... I would have visited sooner if I had known!"

"A Sibling recommended it to me."

Copia narrowed his eyes speculatively, halting abruptly before proceeding to stride again. It was like he'd had to pause to fully comprehend the meaning of Aemelia's words.  

"Oh really?" he asked highly, unable to hide the trace of envy coating his vocal chords. "Which one?"

"Don't know, didn't really catch his name to be honest with you." she replied emptily, her attention far too focused on the array of flashing arcade machines to really care for any conversation. 

"Good." he muttered wickedly, each of his strides a little perkier as he sped up his pace to catch up with her.

"What?" 

"Nothing, nothing... ahm... how long have you been coming here?" he quickly inquired, not wishing to draw any attention to his momentary lapse in self-awareness.

"I haven't. I just thought it would be interesting to experience a sensory overload that doesn't involve any unnecessary moaning or bodily fluids." 

"Scusi... we are doing what later?!" he blurted out with pleasant surprise, cautiously following her movements as she stepped into the threshold of the arcade's open, lively atmosphere. 

"Have you had a hearing test recently, Cardinal? 'Cause I think you might need one." she taunted mirthfully, raising her voice significantly now that they were under fire from a mishmash of roaring video-game noises and layer upon layer of various melodic synth arpeggios. It was like an eighties-fueled wet-dream with the bombarding sounds and ricochet of violet and magenta lighting - but somehow it was preferable to the obnoxious ambience of the Ministry they had not long departed.

Sounds they had long forgotten bleeped and bounced about from machine to machine as they stepped further into the arcade's atmosphere. The ceiling was unusually low and clad in metal sheeting which reflected the unique blue and magenta hues of the mood lighting. The carpeting hadn't been replaced in a long time, for the purples and greys of its geometric pattern had worn away from how many feet had walked upon it. Despite the retro aspect of an amusement arcade, the place was still bustling with different groups of people - children ran riot as they bolted towards a machine they'd never seen before, parents stood awkwardly as they appeased their shrieking offspring, college students marvelled over the video-games flashing before their eyes and moody teenagers clung to the darker corners of the place, hoping to be ignored as much as possible.

Yet even with the array of social groups there, Copia and Vial still stuck out like sore thumbs. As they explored the place further, there seemed to be more and more activities than they had been expecting and consequently, more people too.

A small group of kids were surrounding one of the arcade's many immersive shooter games, the younger members of the group loitered around it awkwardly as they chattered to one another excitedly. The eldest two lounged across the plastic seating of the gaming unit to very much ensure that that particular game was theirs, even though it was clear they had no intention of playing the game at all. From how casual they were sitting, they probably did such a thing regularly and that particular arcade game was their preferred hang-out. 

Upon both Copia and Vial passing the group, however, the eldest kids shifted across the seats, their necks stretching out of the roofed arcade-machine to stare at them both with wonder. The game's demo screen flashed in vibrant bluish hues across their olive skin, their sea green eyes wide as the younger kids followed their line of sight.  

The chatter subsided as they watched the spooky-looking pair with morbid fascination and intense curiosity. The two adults were in discussion in front a token machine, clearly planning on spending some time at the arcade - it was rare that the place received complete strangers, so their presence was riveting to the usual arcade dwellers. Poorly subdued murmurs of suspicion erupted between the kids and Miss Vial actually paused what she had been saying to glance over her shoulder towards them.

One of the oldest kids - who couldn't have been any older than fourteen - was still leaning out of the arcade machine in an unnatural position, but flinched at the alchemist's dark eyes. He started to shake nervously and before he knew it, he was tumbling towards the ground. Luckily the boy shot out an arm to prevent the fall and he immediately stood, dusting himself down as he bravely tried to meet her gaze again - but she had already turned away. 

Oblivious to the several pairs of eyes upon them, Copia was busy sliding a hand into his waistcoat, narrowing his eyes in deep thought as he felt around for his wallet. Aemelia crossed her arms over her chest, raising a brow at his actions.

"I can get this, Cardinal, honestly - "

"No no no! Absolutely not, Aemelia. I am paying, I insist, ok? Just... gimme a sec, I know I have my wallet in here somewhere." he expressed firmly, his eyes glaring once he realised that something else occupied its usual place. His glove clutched around it and he slowly spun around to face away from her, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to see whatever it was. 

He scowled with seething comprehension as he fished out the item and squinted at it in disappointment. It was a familiar, crinkled - and heavily chewed - packet of cigarettes... and he knew that they were the favoured brand of Aemelia Vial. He sighed, shaking his head in disapproval as he studied the packet before him.

"Nekid..." he muttered bitterly beneath his breath, squeezing the packet with his clenched fist. "... you little shit."

Despite having the rational option of admitting he had misplaced his money, he really didn't want to seem like anything less than cool and prepared to her, so he cleared his throat and suavely spun around, wearing a neutral expression as he tightly clutched the packet of cigarettes behind his back.

"It seems that I only have notes..." he lied with a humble smile, and raised his free arm up to halt her from offering to pay again. "I will... be right back, ok?"

He backed away from her in the strangest manner and it seemed to awkwardly last the longest amount of time. She stared at him with a bewildered frown, and he wore a wide-eyed look of alarm like he was concerned about backing into an obstacle any minute... but he kept going until he was out of sight. Once an entire row of single-player arcade machines obscured him from view, he ducked down and surveyed the area, like he was forming some diabolical scheme of finding money somehow.

His actions seemed ridiculous and futile for a while, until his mismatched eyes spotted a pair of terrified sea green eyes glaring at him from a slayer-simulator, which was located on the aisle ahead of him ... unfortunately for the eldest kids, their young underlings had not long abandoned them and Copia had a clear line of sight of them.   

An undeniably immoral but reliable scheme quickly formed as he tightly grasped the cigarette packet to his chest and kept his eyes firmly on the teenager. He angled his fedora over his eyes in a confident manner and stalked his way through the large clumps of arcade games, keeping his head low so that Miss Vial wouldn't spot him - the last thing he wanted was her seeing him now.

The kid in Copia's sights froze and patted the other boy beside him frantically, sweat beading over his forehead. He let out a series of sharp curses and couldn't tear his eyes away from the sharp-dressed stranger, though he was just about managing to scramble towards the boy beside him now. Even though the kid tried his best to push his friend out of the way to escape the gaming unit, Copia's strides sped up slightly until he silently came to a stop beside the arcade game.

He stooped down slightly and peered inside, wearing a confused frown when he notcied that the two boys had tightly backed themselves over the opposite seat in some kind of pathetic attempt of defense.

"Ciao." he greeted simply with a short wave and approachable tone, causing them to glare at him like he was some kind of horrific monster. He politely awaited their response but they continued to cower from him. He shrugged and sighed, outstretching an arm towards them to shake the half-packet of cigarettes side-to-side.

"Fumi?" he asked hopefully, and the fear over the boys' faces turned to deflated confusion - clearly they had been expecting something else entirely... after all, even kids had suspicions of the vampires that stalked the streets of remote towns and cities. 

"We speak English, dip-shit!" the one furthest away yelled defensively, the voice thick with an Italian accent and muffled from the other boy, who was still squished against him with fright.

"Oh... that's pretty cool. So do I... lucky, huh?" Copia replied with a relieved chuckle.

"Shit..." the talkative boy murmured, clearly annoyed that he no longer had a reason to ignore the sharp-dressed stranger.

"I will... ah... give you these smokes if you help me out, what do you say?" Copia offered, taking a step back because he realised he probably seemed a little too eager with his proposition.

"I... guess so." the more timid boy replied cautiously, his voice wobbling as he shuffled away from his friend. 

"Good, good..." Copia sighed out with comfort, smiling gratefully. "You seen the chick I was with earlier?"

Although the teenagers still had an air of caution, their body language settled and they nodded frantically at his question, greedily eyeing the silver sheet-plastic on the edge of the packet of smokes. 

"She's really... really fuckin' hot and... I really want to impress her, you know?"

"How much?" the one farthest away asked with a crumpled smile, the other one blushing from ear to ear.

After that, it wasn't long before a deal was agreed upon and a heavy pile of coins replaced the heavily worn packet of cigarettes. Copia left the kids as quick as he'd introduced himself and they awkwardly waved him goodbye as he skulked away with the coins tucked against his chest.

"Don't talk to strangers, kiddos. And definitely don't do drugs..." he hollered over his shoulder, pausing in his tracks once he looked ahead of him and realised what he said.

"Ah shit." he cursed at himself, before shaking his head of any responsibility to carrying on moving, eagerly scurrying his way back towards Miss Vial. He rushed towards her as soon as she was in view and it looked like she hadn't moved from the spot as she was still in the same stance she had been in when he had left her.

"How'd you manage that?" Aemelia asked, eyeing the hefty pile of coins he held to his chest.  "I didn't think there was any note exchanges around here... at least not any that I could see from here, anyway." 

"Ahh... do not worry, Miss Vial. It is... my mystique." he said with a wink, which caused her to shake her head in amusement. He proceeded to balance the coins against him as he squatted down slightly, scraping up a few of them to push them into the token machine.

"If we do not use all of it we can always save them, you know." he suggested, hurriedly slotting in more and more coins so that they could just get on with the fun activities.

"For what?"

"Coin goblins." he replied hurriedly and thoughtlessly, shovelling the last small pile of coins into the inside of his waistcoat for safe-keeping. He pressed a large green button on the right of the token machine and a clatter of plastic yellow circles were spat out from a funnel at the bottom. 

"Coin goblins? What the fuck are coin goblins?"

As he was about to crouch down and collect up the tokens, Aemelia reached towards him and swiped off his fedora. He glared at her like she'd slapped him but his expression soon softened when she flipped it upside down and lightly pushed him out of the way, gathering the yellow tokens into the deep space of his hat. He tried to refrain from smiling at her actions when she handed his hat back, gently taking it from her.

"Enough, Aemelia, you are putting this off now. You must show me what you are capable of..." he challenged playfully, inept at hiding the smirk over his lips. "Come, let us find an exciting game to play, ah?"

"Wow, I hadn't expected you to be so competitive, Cardinal."

His smirk grew as he led the way through the boisterous barrage of various sound effects and synth music, his shoulders tensed up to his ears as he clutched his hat full of tokens to his chest.

"Oh, I used to be quite the competitor when I was younger." he went on, continuing the topic of conversation whether she wanted him to or not. "That is why I wished to prove myself as a cardinal, you know? And ah... it has made a lot of people pissed off, but it makes me smile to know that I earned every bit of it, heh. I also used to foolishly compete over lovers with the same approach quite often too... "

Aemelia could tell the latter was a half-truth but kept quiet, sensing he had said such a thing so that she would sway onto the subject of romance and the cringe-inducing art of seduction techniques. The more she could steer the conversation away from that, the better.

Luckily, he seemed to ignore her lack of response and spewed out a subdued gasp, hurrying his strides like an enthusiastic child when he spotted a two-player car racing simulator. He kept quiet and leaned against one of the plastic rally seats, gesturing a hand towards it hopefully.

She was still slowly approaching him as she didn't appear to be quite so excited and she crossed her arms over again, quietly refusing him with a shake of her head.

"Ah shit, c'mon! I can show you my driving skills, ah?" he exclaimed out in a persuasive, amused tone.

"Confident, are you?" she challenged suddenly, dropping her arms by her sides as she snatched the hat full of tokens from his grip.

"Ohhhh absolutely!" he boomed out with a peppy expression in his eyes as he loudly patted the plastic seat behind him with a single leather glove. "I have a veeeery good feeling about this game, you know? I like to leave my mark on the leader-boards."

"I'd like to see you try." she quipped with a deadpan expression as she pushed by his shoulder with a couple of tokens between her fingers.

"You... would?" he questioned with mild alarm, his face bewildered as he watched her slot a hefty amount of tokens into the arcade machine. In that moment of observing her, his competitive streak seemed to awaken to the point he realised that he wanted to try his hardest to impress her... he appeared to be naive to the fact that impressing her was a complete rarity. 

The monitors flashed him out of his thoughts and Miss Vial hurriedly made her way to the farthest seat away. He cleared his throat and stroked his flat palms down the front of his waistcoat as he nonchalantly slid over the seat beside him. The game screen continued to stay idle, awaiting the presence of both players - Miss Vial was in position, with her hands tightly gripping around the incredibly light steering wheel and her feet poised over the pedals below, the hat full of tokens balanced across her lap.

Copia had managed to get as far as placing his gloves around the steering wheel but he found that there wasn't much space for the long tips of his cuban-heeled shoes. He fidgeted to try and get his feet in a better position over the pedals and Miss Vial couldn't bring herself to look at him, pessimistically scowling at the strobing message of "Press the red button to begin" that consistently emerged over the empty black of the screen.

"Aha!" he finally yelled out in victory, turning the tips of his shoes towards each other to finally fit his feet over the pedals. "Ready when you are, Miss Vial!"

She outstretched a hand towards a large red circle in between the two of them, her black eyes instantly drawn to the position of his legs. His knees were facing inwards and she wasn't sure what his feet were doing but it caused her to snort in amusement.

"You look like a fucking inverted penguin..." she choked out, snorting out a lot more as she slammed the heel of her palm over the start button. He opened his mouth to reply to her but the loud noise of the game captured his attention immediately - they shuffled into place, their eyes glued to the screens as they spun the wheels to the right to select the kind of vehicle they wanted to race with. Due to the edgy, dirt-track look of the video game, Miss Vial kept her choice sensible and chose the option that favoured grip over speed. Whereas Copia slammed the heel of one of his shoes onto one of the pedals, locking in the most colourful vehicle that just so happened to have the most acceleration on its stats. 

The screen quickly switched to that of an off-road mud circuit and Aemelia narrowed her eyes in focus, Copia slowly nodding his head in complete over-confidence. After a countdown from three, the two of them shot off on screen - but it couldn't compare to the sight in reality. Their limbs thrashed against the pedals and steering wheels like their lives depended on it - but it was clear Copia was having more difficulty than she was. His winkle-pickers left very little room to work the pedals properly and he yelped out a choked squeal of apprehension when his eyes caught sight of a vivid orange "Player 1" marker creeping onto the left of his screen.

To his dismay, after finally settling into the unnatural position he was sat in to aptly operate the metal pedals... his eagerness to slam down on the accelerator caused his car to spin out and tap a tree - which soon escalated into his vehicle exploding into a heap of scrap metal and pixelated flames.

"I... I do not believe it." he murmured quietly when the bold, obnoxious "Game Over" screen overlayed the depressing sight of his wrecked vehicle in gloating block capitals.

Meanwhile, Miss Vial was smoothly twisting the wheel to-and-fro, concentrating deeply even when he sharply glanced towards her with a look of disappointed awe. He kept quiet for the rest of the next few laps but soon grew bored, so he reached over towards Aemelia's lap and snatched up his fedora, hugging it to his chest. He then untangled himself from the cramped space of the racing car seat to stand up and circle around the back of it, observing her screen as he lurked behind her. His actions caused her to shoot a quick look over her right shoulder - and this simple lapse in concentration caused her vehicle to spin out, just as his had. She had an indifferent expression on her face as the "Game Over" screen flashed up and she shrugged, happy that she had at least outlasted the cardinal.

"You like air hockey?" he questioned before she had even exited the seat, clearly eager to leave the vicinity - he didn't like to linger if he hadn't been successful, it seemed. 

"I - "

"Good, good! Let's go, c'mon!" he butted in hurriedly, a leather glove beckoning her to follow him now that she had slid out of the racing seat.

Copia led her by quite a few aisles of various different arcade machines until they were soon surrounded by a much more relaxed area with a lot more open space. There were half a dozen air hockey tables and most of them were occupied with teenage couples or spry ten-year-olds - so naturally, when Copia and Aemelia arrived at the last free hockey table, the excitable noises from the rest of the tables quietened off slightly.

Miss Vial rounded one end of the table and reached out into the centre of the smooth surface of the table, clutching onto a stray paddle. Copia bent down slightly to thumb in a couple of tokens, his legs shuffling inwards tightly to hold his fedora in place over the carpet.

"I will go easy on you, ah?" he teased with a wink as he playfully peeked over the edge of the table's railings at her, grabbing hold of the puck the machine spat out. He stood up straight and placed it out on the slippery surface, latching a firm hold of the nearest paddle. 

Miss Vial's silence caused his heart to pound and he administered a vicious swipe towards the puck. It travelled graciously towards her and she struck it twice as hard in defence, which sent it flying towards his goal. The puck clattered loudly as the machine swallowed it up and Copia rolled his eyes and let out a huff, retrieving it from a slot on his end. It went on like this for some time, but he certainly managed to get his fair share of goals - but by the end, he wished he'd never attempted to try and defend his side of the table for he could feel every thwack of the weighted puck across his knuckles, even with the cushioned barrier of his leather gloves. After clenching his teeth and emitting little subdued squeaks of pain in the last minute or so of the match, Miss Vial had inevitably won.

"It's over?" she asked with disappointment, oblivious to the loud gasp of relief from Copia as he shook out his right hand. "Shit, I could've easily played another few matches."

He widened his eyes at her words and stooped down to retrieve his hat from the carpet.

"Ahhhhhhm...." he highly squeaked out, his eyes quickly searching the arcade around him in hopes that he could swiftly distract her from considering more air hockey. "Ah... look! We could try that one - it looks fun, no?"

"For a psychopath, sure." she muttered emptily, trailing towards the shooting-based game he had directed her towards, despite her cynical reluctance to leave the air hockey table. 

Once they arrived, they entered the roofed compartment and sat side-by-side. Aemelia raised a brow and the blood-splatter and over-the-top guttural noises of generic pop-culture zombies flashed across the demo screen. Despite the disapproval in her black irises, she confidently snatched one of the machine's wired blasters, which was fashioned out of neon pink plastic and didn't really match the horror aesthetic at all. Nevertheless, she held the thick blaster at a sharp angle towards the screen so that she could close an eye and dangerously look down the sights.

Copia leaned down and pushed a few tokens into the machine, but Aemelia immediately dropped her stance when she realised he had only entered enough for one player.

"You're not playing?" she asked with the slightest hint of disappointment, knitting her eyebrows together. Cardinal rested his hat over his lap and clutched at his sore right hand, clearing his throat nervously. He was secretly glad that he had some kind of excuse to observe her in deep concentration, he liked to quietly watch her from such close proximity.

"Ah... no, no. I will give my hand a little rest. I want to watch you play though... heh." he admitted with mirth-filled eyes, leaning forward to poise his hand over the start button. "Ready?"

She shuffled into position and closed her left eye again, lining up the blaster with a steady grip, "Ready." 

He pressed the button and lounged back in his seat, his eyes trailing between her and the screen. The zombies kept popping out from nowhere but Miss Vial didn't seem very phased and lightly moved the weapon, thoughtlessly pulling the trigger every time. White flashes struck over their pale faces as she continued to blast her way through the level filled with stumbling undead - to begin with, Copia thought that her shots were extremely lucky, but then, he realised - as he dragged his attention away from how attractive she looked beneath the strobe lighting - she was locking onto each zombie's head with ease before she swiftly pulled the trigger. His mouth fell open and he couldn't look away from the screen, the undead heads popping left, right and centre. After six or so minutes, she had completed the entire level and Copia was left with a silly expression of amazement over his features.

"You... never miss a head. Should I be worried?" he whispered with concern, shaking his head in disbelief at her as he clutched his hands around the brim of his hat for comfort. She swivelled to face him with narrowed eyes as she tilted the pink blaster upwards, facing him like she was parodying the stance of action hero.

"You shouldn't be worried, no." she retorted in husky monotone, the briefest twitch of a smirk on her lips. "I'm not sure that your skull would be the best place to put a bullet anyway, to be honest with you. I think your brains are buried somewhere in your crotch."

Internally, he was fighting off laughter, but he was still quite insulted and his expression was stern and spiteful as he snatched up a small train of reward tickets that had been spewing out from a slot in the machine.

"Have to say, those zombies were a joy to deal with, though." she continued with a relieved sigh, ignoring the seething sulk Copia was blatantly adorning on his face. "Far less nudity and vomit going on. Makes a pleasant change."

She furrowed her brow as he quietly slipped out of the arcade unit, clutching his hat and the fresh train of reward tickets to his chest. When she abruptly exited to follow him, he was already silently marching towards another activity, wearing a slightly miffed expression. 

"Bloody hell, here were go..." she murmured in annoyance, jogging just so that she could catch up with his determined marching. It wasn't long before Miss Vial realised exactly where he was headed and her interest peaked immediately - he stopped in front of a dance machine and spun around to face her dangerously, tipping out a large wad of tokens into his palm. She slowly approached him and once she was close enough, he tossed the long train of tickets towards her for safe-keeping. 

After turning from her, he slotted in the generous amount of yellow tokens and tipped his hat up, carelessly discarding the last of their yellow tokens across the arcade's floor. Aemelia scowled at him in confusion as he turned back to gaze at her intensely, stooping into a low bow as he sharply angled his black fedora over his head. Before standing all the way back up, he reached towards her and took a firm hold of her forearm, dragging it up towards him with quite some effort from how limp she was making her arm. 

"For good luck..." he explained in a quiet voice, his mismatched eyes burning into her. His irises soon softened however, when he brought the back of her hand to his lips. Aemelia huffed out and rolled her eyes at his actions as he left the briefest, smallest damp kiss over her skin. He gently released his grip on her and her arm fell back by her side, but his eyes still lingered. He stretched out his arms by his sides like he was about to cast some kind of spell and then twirled around, confidently hopping up the steps to the raised dance platform.

He smacked his hand against the start button and used a few arrow buttons below the monitor in front of him to scroll through a long catalogue of song choices. Aemelia awkwardly anticipated his performance and quickly glanced around, swallowing with anxiousness when she noticed that a few people seemed to have suddenly become a lot more aware of their presence. Of course they noticed them both just as he was about to embarrass himself... or so she thought.

After two minutes of deliberation, he hummed contentedly with the song he had highlighted and slapped the start button again - already, Aemelia was wrapping the train of tickets around her forearm so that she could prepare to raise her hands to obscure the sight of him from her eyes. Her lips parted in surprise as the familiar, catchy synth-line of Sweet Dreams by Eurthymics pulsed out loudly from the machine's speakers.

To her mortified surprise, Copia's moves were smooth and utterly on beat as he started to follow the guidance of the brightly coloured arrows on-screen. Her hands were slowly raising up to cover her eyes, but for some reason, she found that she couldn't tear her black eyes away. There was just something captivating about the way he moved - then again, perhaps she was just in shock from how well he could dance. She noticed that he was starting to make the movements even more elaborate as the song went on - he added more footwork than was really necessary and even involved the use of his arms once he was really into it. She actually lowered her hands from her face after a little while once the shock had started to fade away, and started to wear an amused expression, though she certainly couldn't find the urge to smile.

By the last bridge of the song, Aemelia reluctantly found herself nodding along to the punching beat and Copia had let go of all inhibitions, dancing like his life depended on it as he quietly mouthed the words to himself. Internally, as she watched him with mirth-filled eyes, she wondered whether the dancing was another perk he'd acquired through nefarious, devil-related means... such a thought made her snort to herself and shake her head. Though Copia's dancing was fluid and undeniably impressive, she knew it was likely a talent he had worked towards. 

He twirled around to face her and locked his eyes onto hers, which caused her eyebrows to raise. The gestures of his arms and gloved-fingers instantly evolved into gestures that were far more suggestive now that he was facing her - and his hips smoothly gyrated towards her in ways she didn't think possible for a man of his age... or profession, she supposed.

Needless to say, Aemelia was completely stunned by his performance and she was quite disappointed when the end of the song finally arrived and he elegantly twirled to a halt, taking his bows at either side of the small dance platform. He wasn't out of breath like she had anticipated, but perspiration had started to form over his brow and moustache - but still, it was like he hadn't expunged any energy whatsoever. She bit into her smirk and resisted the urge to applaud him, observing him with intrigue as he spun around to take a look at the statistics that flashed up over the monitor. 

"Eh! Look, Miss Vial! An all-time high-score, ah!" he proclaimed excitedly and hurriedly, pointing at the screen in case she didn't believe him. "Forty-four-thousand points... whatever that means... but look! Top of the leader-board!" 

He shot a proud smile across his shoulder at her and she nodded in response, feeling like she was in the presence of a small child instead of an allegedly mature satanic cardinal. He quickly snapped his attention back to the screen and used the arrow buttons to enter three initials to mark his place on the leader-board - but he was too eager, and after entering "C-O", his finger slipped and instead of locking in the "P" as he had wished, a "K" had ended up in its place. 

Aemelia cackled out brashly as she realised the error he had made and he desperately prodded at one of the arrow buttons with his fingertips, hoping that he could amend it - but he couldn't. His arcade legacy was forever set in stone, as the mysetrious "C-O-K" at the top of the dance machine leader-board. 

Time had flown a lot quicker than they had realised, because they didn't arrive back at the Ministry until sometime after midnight - at least they were sharply on time to experience the abrupt end of Summer Heat, much to Miss Vial's relief. They were high spirited as they skulked about the empty corridors, pleasantly content with one another's company and the lack of gratified moans.

Copia had insisted on walking her back to her attic room and she had reluctantly agreed - she just really hoped that he hadn't assumed them hanging out was anything more than that. After quiet banter about the events at the arcade, they had soon reached their destination and Aemelia cleared her throat, awkwardly stepping towards her attic door with quite a bit of hesitation. She pressed her back against the wood as she turned to face him.

"Well... this is me done for the night, I think." she began, pushing a few stray strands of hair out of her face with her hands. She gazed at him expectantly, awaiting his polite goodnight, but it never came. He removed his hat and held it flat to his chest, taking a few steps closer as he sighed out shyly.   

"Okay, okay..." he murmured beneath his breath, but she knew his words were intended more for him than her. His gaze lifted from the floor to settle on her face and he let out an even deeper sigh, his glove tightening its hold around his fedora.
 
"Aemelia," he commenced bashfully, licking his lips nervously when he heard the faint clacking of shoes from somewhere far down the corridor. "I... ahm... I want to say how much I... appreciate this little adventure we've had tonight."

"Go on, then." she encouraged playfully, unable to take his politeness seriously whatsoever.

"I appreciate it." he said sincerely with a small smile, bowing his head ever so slightly. "I really, really do. Even though I am quite drenched with sweat from all the dancing, heh. I will have to have this outfit dry cleaned."

She snorted in amusement and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hey! You laugh, but you should see how much that shit costs!"

"Well, you'll have to find your wallet first, won't you?" she quipped knowingly, raising a brow confidently. He looked at her like she had spoken an alien language in attempt to try and seem unaware.

"W-What?"

"I don't know what you did to get those coins. But I know it can't have been anything good." she said simply, her expression unreadable. "The ridiculous lengths you go to - "

"Impress you?!" he blurted out, quickly widening his eyes as he swallowed to suppress the words he very much wanted to admit.

"Money doesn't impress me, you know that by now, Cardinal. I could've easily gotten us the tokens we needed - "

"No no no! Absolutely not, Aemelia. You do too much already." he argued softly, shaking a glove in dismissal of her statement before he smoothed back his hair.

"And you don't?"

"This was... a welcome break, I must admit." he chuckled out, the skin around his eyes crinkling in adoration and amusement. "You wouldn't happen to... ah... be free to do this again next... Saturday, would you?"

12 : Copia's Responsibilities

After that first day of awkward avoidance, the routines of Copia and Vial shifted through the days of summer, each one blossoming into something more relaxed and positive. Their routine started off normal: the two were slaves to their duties until late afternoon, when the two of them would abandon their workplaces, each of them tucking a book - or journal - of their preference beneath an arm. They both looked like they were about to attend some kind of important meeting, and the scores of passing Clergy members often assumed so. They would both file into the bustling hallways filled with masses of devout Siblings, their destination a pleasant goal in their minds. 

Vial would always feel a sense of urgency to escape the droves of people around her, and politely stepped out of the flow in order to swerve around them with ease. Copia would have loved to have had the speed on his side, but many Siblings kept siding up to him, bombarding him with obtuse theoretical questions or hushed praises - both of which he was flattered to receive, but the timing wasn't exactly convenient for him. The interactions always ended the same, with him apologetically waving his hands at the robed worshippers, politely reminding them of his office hours - unless of course, it was an emergency - which always prompted them to shuffle out of his way. He wouldn't say a word as he shot away from them, acting like he was extremely late as he dashed through the nonchalant sea of Siblings - most assumed he was late for yet another duty he had probably forgotten about... but of course, they had no idea just how wrong they were.

Neither of them ever agreed upon a time, nor did they ever speak a word about meeting, in fact. Yet both of them treated it like any other ritualistic part of their working week, miraculously turning up at the Ministry gardens at no particular time in the late afternoon.

The first to arrive differed from day to day - sometimes it was Copia. He would be sat patiently on the bench-swing in his modified-summer outfit, the smart black sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows, neatly matched to his slim suit-trousers that had also been turned up at the ends to allow for more draft. His modest black winklepickers would look a little ridiculous as he crossed his ankles over, but the full picture of him actually seemed quite contemplative despite the slight silliness of how he'd adapted his usual fashion to suit the humid weather. Silver-framed reading spectacles would clutch across the width of his face, his eyes intently focused on peering through the glass, scanning the words on the pages of a thick novel he would have balanced in his gloved-hands. His mind would never quite settle on the meanings of the words - he was looking forward to seeing the alchemist too much, but he insisted on quieting his mind.

Other times, the first to arrive was Miss Vial. She would be sat waiting with an expression of deep concentration over her features, scribbling down unprompted thoughts onto the parchment inside her journal. She too, would have her shirt-sleeves rolled, and her broody matching waistcoat and tie loosened in an effort to feel a little cooler. Unusually, she would never feel the need to light up a cigarette, as the pleasant, person-less surroundings were temporarily enough to settle her body and mind. She would peer through the smoky black lenses of her circular sunglasses, pausing her nib-scratches to silently read her own words back to her, discreetly hoping that Copia would arrive to distract her from the burdens of her own consciousness.

On a particular Wednesday afternoon, however, they had awkwardly caught up with one another before either of them had arrived at the usual bench-swing. The cardinal - who was unusually adorning his wide-brim fedora and newly tailored white tailcoat which loosely draped over his shoulders - hugged to the left side of the Ministry's marble-clad walls, the alchemist opting to cling to the right. Their actions allowed a lively channel of chattering Siblings to fluidly pass between them, oblivious to the existence of their superior, who was - to his relief - easily missed.

As the same destination lingered in their minds, Copia's irises flickered as he eyed Aemelia through the consistent trickle of heads and shoulders, finding himself feeling strangely apprehensive - he wasn't sure why, after all, what difference did it make if they arrived at the garden at the same time? It wasn't routine, that's why. He liked patiently expecting her, and it comforted him to know that she did the same for him. 

As the hallways seemed to get busier, the two of them stuck to their paths, clinging to the outer walls - for once they were thankful for the elaborate, wide corridors of the newer complex, they could keep to themselves and allow the huddles of modestly-dressed bodies to pass without having to interact at all.

It wasn't long before the open doorway to the Ministry courtyard and gardens appeared to the right of the corridor ahead, both sets of eyes eagerly fixed on the destination. Despite the twinge of nervousness he felt in the pit of his stomach, Copia side-stepped into the swarms of Siblings, cutting through them with murmured apologies, his arms desperately clutching a couple of books he had trapped in place against his sides. His actions earned eye-rolls and chuckles of amusement and he gritted his teeth, side-stepping his way towards Miss Vial with much more vigour.

He almost flung himself into the side of her when he arrived in a narrow gap next to her, the rushed stream of Siblings inadvertently pushing by his shoulder. He tensed his elbows against the hard-back covers of the novels he held and dipped his head slightly to the right, tucking himself in tightly so that the bustling human-traffic would cease to pummel him. 

He shuffled closer to Aemelia as much as he could,  synchronising with the pace of her strides. He observed her intently for a few seconds before he brought the tip of his elbow down slightly, gently nudging it against her side. His subtle action didn't appear to grab her attention as he wished, so he tilted his head down, angling his head to stare at her, his glinting eyes basking in the shadow of his fedora's brim. The corners of his mouth twitched when he noticed the familiar gleam of her black irises as she spied him in her peripheral vision. He cleared his throat quietly and awkwardly, his eyes shortly raising to assess how far away their destination was, though he was quick to settle them back onto her. 

"Whereabouts are you heading, Miss Vial?" he suddenly asked in a surprisingly husky voice that was laced with amusement. His question reeked of small talk to the bustle of passing worshippers, but to her, it was a blatant, suggestive tease.

"The gardens - for fresh air. It still gets awful hot in this place." she replied simply, easily playing along with the strange exchange which caused him to softly bite his bottom lip - it seemed it was his way of refraining from snorting with amusement. "Whereabouts are you heading, Cardinal?"

"Why... the exact place you are." he replied in a whisper, lowering his head as he did so. She visibly tensed as his hot breath lingered beside her left ear - it was clear that she wasn't sure what to make of his actions but she carried on her movements despite wanting to freeze and glare at him. 

"I do... enjoy our little talks out there, you know?" he added in a hushed, honest tone of voice, keeping his mouth close to her ear as the doorway to the gardens loomed ahead of them. "You are quite a fascinating woman without all the work in the way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she quipped curtly, her black eyes hardening as she took her attention away from him to focus on the fast approaching open doorway. 

"Ehh... I meant that... you are a lot more relaxed, nothing seems to pressure you. No fucking ugly monsters to worry about, no remedies to be made, no Sister Imperator breathing down your neck - "

"Yeah, but you still are." she retorted firmly as she smoothly stepped to her right, swivelling around to pass through the doorway to the gardens. A low chuckle rumbled out of him as he closely followed her, tightly clutching the books to his sides. 

The stark light of day was overwhelming as they made their way across the well-kept grassland of the courtyard. Miss Vial led the way and Copia quietly tailed behind, glancing across at a few worshippers who were lounging together over the cool, comforting sprigs of grass. 

After cutting diagonally across the mid-section of the yard, they had almost reached the gated entrance to their usual meeting place when a small group of Siblings excitedly - and loudly - greeted Copia from afar. His shoulders tensed and he wore a look of alarm, feeling heads and eyes drawn to him from all sorts of directions. Although the attention made him feel uncomfortable, he peered over his shoulder and gave them a small wave that thankfully prompted them to quiet down.

He breathed out with relief when they finally passed through the gated archway and into the thriving Ministry gardens. Vivid tones of rich nepeta and pale umber collaged the framed ceiling which was covered in extravagant twists of roots and leaves. Miss Vial slowed slightly once they had meandered further into the gardens, allowing herself to move adjacent to him - after all, there was hardly a rush if they were already in each other's company.

"New jacket?" she suddenly asked, her eyebrows knitting in intrigue as she glanced towards the jacket shrugged over his shoulders.

"Ah... yes.." he responded highly with a small proud smile, humbly staring down at the ground in front of him. "The whole suit arrived earlier today. Such a shame it is still so hot or I would've worn the whole outfit, you know? I ... ahhmm... I just wanted to wear this damn fine suit jacket, ok?"

Her cheeks fought against her mouth as she resisted the urge to smile, but the smile won in the end and she shook her head at him.

"You don't need to explain yourself to me, Cardinal." she reassured sincerely, her black eyes trailing towards their usual meeting place, which was now only a couple of yards away from them. He glanced at her without lifting his head and nodded, wearing a silly smile as they soon took their places on the bench-swing. He let out a deep sigh of relief as he bundled up the couple of novels he'd been carrying and slid them onto a bit of free space on the seat beside him, quickly smoothing down the sleeves of his newly tailored jacket. She sat down comfortably and placed her journal over her lap, unhooking her rounded sun-glasses from the collar of her shirt to slide them into place over her nose. 

"You never realise how loud it is in there until you sit out here..." Aemelia stated calmly, her eyes admiring the tall, arched ceiling of the plant-ridden frame above them. Cardinal ceased to scrutinise his jacket and he shuffled to settle more comfortably, turning towards her slightly.

"Yes... it is loud, stuffy... ehh... and kind of hellish, wouldn't you say?" he poked mischievously with a crooked smirk. "Heh... I am only kidding with you, Aemelia. I know how you feel, and I welcome this time and space here very much. I have come to know the feeling of the Ministry all too well - it is the overwhelming feeling of expectation and... responsibility, sadly."

"You'd rather not have that? Responsibility?" she inquired, still too focused on studying the growth of leaves above them to notice that his head had lifted to gaze at her with blatant adoration. The emotion lurked there a while as his words formulated in his mind, before he tipped his head downwards and slid his gloves beneath the hanging material of his white jacket.

"I did not say that, Aemelia." he finally replied softly, fumbling around with something frantically before he sighed in defeat, resting his hands over his lap. "Responsibilities are... ahhh... fickle. Sure, as a cardinal I have a duty of care, but there is no enjoyment for me there, you know? If I could cut that bit out, it would be far much easier for me. What I mean to say is... sometimes the shitty stuff has to exist for the existence of good stuff later. But it is easy for us to blind ourselves with so much of an inadequate routine. We are blind as we do the same chores weekly, in the same environment, with the same tools and the same complaints. It blinds us so much that we do not see the glorious reward at the end, that is worth every second of the suspense that came before..."

She stayed quiet as he hesitated, in awe of his unprompted philosophical speech. She wondered where his passionate words had come from but she waited patiently, centering her head to slowly gaze at him.

"And we focus too much on the negative aspects of responsibilities as a species... well, I do." he continued quietly, lifting a gloved hand into the inside of his white jacket again. "Not all responsibilities are so bad, after all..."

A sudden blur of movement caused her to stiffen, her back straight as something leapt from the inside of Cardinal's tailcoat. The motion of scurrying soon slowed and Miss Vial finally realised the existence of  a slender, silvery rat that boldly clung to the buttons of Copia's smart black shirt. She furrowed her brows in confusion, but her eyes melted behind the black lenses of her shades as she was rendered speechless. The rodent's pink paws playfully reached towards the next highest button and its body elongated out in a brave attempt to succeed. Copia chuckled, bringing a glove towards its head to administer welcomed tickles behind its flush ears.

He could feel the intensity of Miss Vial's black irises upon him, and his eyes tore away from the snuffling rat to return her stare. He could just about make out her curious eyes through the smoky lenses and he let out a subdued chuckle, his head dipping down when the lively rodent abandoned its attempt to button-climb its way up to him. Miss Vial had never seen him smile so much in such a short space of time - he still had one on his face as the rat strutted its way downwards to settle over the free space of his lap, its body relaxing into a furry puddle over him, its pale pink tail drooping calmly over the side of his thigh. It let out a tremendous yawn and tucked its paws in beneath its fur, squinting as it started to feel incredibly comfortable.

Copia couldn't resist the relaxed sight of the rodent and stroked the backs of his leather-clad fingers down the length of its body and it only seemed to soothe it further, the puddle shape of the rat spreading out wider. The reflection of his rat friend was displayed across the black lenses of Aemelia's shades as he peered his enthusiastic, mismatched eyes towards her again. 

"She is named Urethra." he explained gladly, continuing to stroke his pet proudly as it sank further and further into the crook of his lap, its shiny black eyes fighting to stay open.

"She's named... what?" Aemelia asked in amusement  as a little breathy chuckle escaped her. She angled her head down to study the comfortable rat but Copia ensured that he kept his gaze upon her, desperate to witness every bit of her reaction.

"I know... I know what you are thinking, but... I do not feel that Penelope would have been suffice for her - it is too... cliché." he told her passionately, his fingers slowing down to lightly massage the rat's back in a soft pincer movement. "Each of my creatures deserve to be named with purpose. They are a necessity to me, so it is only right they are named after pieces of human anatomy, you know?"

Aemelia was glad that her shades blocked the sight of her quizzical eyes, because as much as she was utterly confused by what he was admitting - even more confused how he had managed to keep his love for rats away from her for so long - she honestly did feel that the sight of him lovingly massaging his pet rat was somewhat heartwarming.

"They're your treasured responsibilities, aren't they?" she asked with a knowing smirk and he quietly nodded in reply.

"Oh, yes. Every one of them. Urethra, Pectoral, Sphincter, Achilles, Kneecap, Labia and how could I ever forget, Ass-Tits - "

"Where do you keep them all? Surely they're not lurking under all of that paperwork in your office?" she questioned with fascination, her voice wavering from how pleasantly amused she was.

"Oh no no no, of course not, Miss Vial. My collection is ever-growing so I couldn't possibly keep them in there, heh. They have free run of my living quarters - ehh... and the entire Ministry - during the day, there's little rat-runs from room to room... but I have trained them to return to their enclosure at night. Fucking cats, you know?"

She nodded in understanding and she cautiously reached over, her right hand brushing the side of his glove when she smoothed back a thin patch of Urethra's soft, shimmering fur. He carefully took his hand away so that Aemelia could stroke the rat more if she wished, and he smirked at her, his mind suddenly realising the surreal reality of them sitting there.

"Well, Miss Vial... I never thought it would ever come to this..." he said with a trembling voice like he was only just holding back giggles, his eyes giving away the innuendo poised over his tongue. "Here we both are, alone, and you're happily stroking my Urethra."

She snorted but held in the laughter. He chuckled out blatantly, tipping his head back as he pinched the bridge of his nose. His amusement was infectious and she shook her head at him, trying to resist the urge to join his chuckles.

"Shut up." she managed to gasp out in a rasp, inhaling deeply to try and stop herself from laughing out loud. He knew she didn't really want him to be quiet and he centred his head, shooting her a playful wink.

"Ahh... c'maan, Aemelia. Let it out, ah? It is just you and me here." he insisted, adjusting his fedora so that it was angled much more sharply over his eyes - strangely, his action seemed to rocket his charm and confidence. "At least you know why I am so secretive with my rodents now, hm? I cannot go showing Urethra to any old person in the Ministry, can I? They would think me odd, no?"

"I'm pretty sure they already find you strange, Cardinal... so it wouldn't be much of a surprise to anybody." she admitted, raising her brow at him as he wore an feigned pout like he was offended. "But... if it reassures you... Urethra is lovely. And I'm glad your rats are a responsibility you cherish."

He dropped his false displeasure entirely and smiled broadly at her, nodding his head eagerly in response.

"Sadly, they are sometimes the only thing I wish to be responsible for... they do not compare to the pointless papers I have to sign... or those shitty sermons I'm expected to do on a Tuesday night - ah shit. I have another one of those to prepare for next week... "

He trailed off and deeply sighed with exasperation, shielding his eyes with one of his gloves before he glanced towards Urethra, who was fast asleep over his lap with Aemelia's black fingernails gently rubbing the fur between her ears.

"... ah, that reminds me..." he murmured warily, his hand still shading his eyes from Miss Vial. "I... do not usually bring this kinda shit up, Aemelia, but... ehhh... fuck it."

Aemelia continued petting the rat on his lap but raised her gaze towards him, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. She braced herself slightly, like she could sense his slight reluctance to carry on.

"A few of the sisters around the Ministry believe that I... ahm... hooked up with them on the evening of Summer Heat." he proceeded to admit with a sigh. "Since then, at least one of them has paid a visit to my office every few days and - ahm... well, it is becoming a tiresome charade, you know? But they insist it happened! I do not know why they wish to tease me with it... maybe in hopes of blackmailing me? I do not know."

"Well whoever they fucked - it certainly wasn't you. We were out until... what? Midnight?" Aemelia reasoned, carefully leaning back towards the swing to leave Urethra to her slumber.

"Exactly, Miss Vial!" he exclaimed, concern straining in his voice. "That is what I told them... I was not even here -  but no. They were not having any of it. Lucifer knows why they thought it was me they were fucking."

He continued to chatter away with worry like Miss Vial was his therapist rather than a friend and colleague, but she listened to his venting regardless, nodding her head and reassuring him whenever he inhaled a shuddered breath. She knew that the minor inconvenience of sisters taunting him only added to the pressure of his mounting duties as a cardinal and the stern, watchful stare of his superiors, Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator. And of course, their last investigation still weighed heavily on both their minds - Aemelia knew how mentally traumatic everything had been for her, so she couldn't imagine how stressful things were for him...

As he continued to allow his various confessions of struggles and fears to escape him in a hushed series of mutters, unbeknownst to both Cardinal and Miss Vial, a short, slender figure - no taller than six inches - smoothly rounded the curved corner of neatly trimmed leaves and hedging to their left, heading from the outer-expanse of the gardens to trek the straight of the arched trellis. The bare skin of its feet rustled and thumped over the swaying blades of grass - each strip of grass seemed to conceal the details of the small figure quite well from afar. Bright crimson glared over its head to cast shade over it, shielding it from the rays of sun - it was almost like it had hold of some kind of parasol. Despite the trundling movement of a bright red flash from the strange curved cup - which was obvious amongst the green of the vegetation - it remained unnoticed by the cardinal and the alchemist as they were too engaged in conversation.   

As the small thing grew closer, it was Copia that first caught a glimpse of the bright red amongst the grass. Despite being half way through a sentence, he carefully shuffled closer to Aemelia, careful he didn't wake the sleeping rat sinking into the small rut between his thighs. His words caught in his throat as he briefly flicked his eyes from the approach of the miniature figure to settle on her.

She frowned at the close proximity of his actions, and it deepened as she spied the swaggering movement of the approaching flash of crimson over his shoulder. She couldn't decide what on Earth she was seeing - she couldn't make head nor tail of it. At first she thought it was a rounded flower-head... but Copia suddenly darted towards her, obscuring the strange thing from view before she could study any more. His hands grappled around each of her arms as he stared at her closely - he had meant to forbid her from standing to acknowledge the figure that approached them, but now all he could think about was how tempting her mouth looked.

"A-Aemelia..." he stuttered out nervously when his grip around her arms tightened, his brows knitting together as his eyes trailed down to consider her lips. "There... ahm... there is something I must tell you - "

Before Copia could continue, the heavy thumps of the small figure's feet had grown in volume, causing his eyes to widen into saucers. Much to Copia's dismay, his attempts at hiding the creature from her had all been in vain - a disgusted expression of shock swept across her features, her black eyes narrowing as she peeked over his left shoulder. Copia sighed in uncomfortable defeat and released his hold on her, slowly slumping back over the seat which caused Urethra to tiredly crack open her eyes.

The disgust and shock of Miss Vial, however, was not entirely for what Copia had assumed. For she had realised that the curved red of the little creature's parasol - that swayed side-to-side with some degree of blatant attitude - was in fact, one of her own laced bra-cups that had been crudely fashioned onto a couple of chopsticks that had been lashed together with a wad of elastic bands, thus, creating a miniature sun-shade. The small figure soon came to a stop before them, the crude parasol still obscuring most of its features. 

Copia reluctantly gave the small creature his attention, but he clenched his jaw, and wore a guilty look of alarm, like he had been caught out on something prohibited. 

Considering that Aemelia was quite well read and understanding in terms of supernatural beings, it was strange that even she was shocked by the existence of the little gremlin-like being that stood before them, shading itself from the heat of the sun. It was a toned, slender thing with pale grey skin and thin, spindly fingers. It was completely naked aside from a napkin it had knotted around its middle to ensure it kept its dignity.

As Miss Vial studied in blatant fascination, the little thing brought up a hand to tilt his make-shift parasol back, revealing a wide, oval head with gaunt features. A sharp, coned mo-hawk stuck up over the centre of his head, the bleached-white colour matching fairly nicely with its complexion. To Miss Vial's horror, she noticed each of its eyes - which were deeply set and shrimp-like - were of a different colour - the right eye was a royal navy, whereas the left was a fascinating and familiar opal. The rest of its features only made her eyes widen further, when she noticed the subtle fluff above its thin strip of a mouth and lightly feathered over the middle of its cheeks. 

Miss Vial wasn't stupid - she knew who the small gremlin stood before her reminded her of... and it certainly wasn't just Billy Idol or Stripe from Gremlins. She didn't fathom its existence any longer and merely accepted it, her shock settling down slightly as she sat up straight and stared at the small familiar before her.

It took a few steps until it was half a yard away from Miss Vial and it lowered itself before her in an uncanny bow, one of its skinny arms dropping to politely gesture out elaborately. Actions, mannerisms and certain features were all starting to become heavily reminiscent of the man sat beside her - who was suddenly starting to break into a nervous sweat.

"Ohoh... enchanted to meet you, Miss Vial." it spoke zealously, the voice and accent practically identical to that of Copia, but she could hear that it was heightened slightly like it was adjusted to account for the creature's size. "If this were a holy place, I would say you are looking beautiful today. Eheh, a blatant understatement. So, as this is an unholy place, I want to let you know that... you look so fuckable, your eyes burn right through me like the sixth circle of Hell... your butt cheeks I can only imagine are so... so smooth and squishy, and oh... your tit - "

Copia abruptly stamped his foot which made the earth beneath his winkle-pickers vibrate in a violent shudder, the pale imp jumping with surprise. He frowned down at the little creature and shook his head in annoyance, though his cheeks had started to flush a faint pink.

"Hey, hey!" the creature yelped out angrily, shaking a little fist towards Cardinal. "There is no need for earthquakes, ok? I was not violent to you, was I?"

Copia briefly glanced towards Aemelia and her eyes were searing at him intensely. She needed him to explain the existence of an imp that had far too many of Copia's own qualities to be a coincidence. From the slight waver in his eyes, she knew he was hiding something from her.

"Explain." she demanded curtly, narrowing her eyes and tensing her jaw in expectation of hearing something she really didn't approve of.

"Ehhhh... "

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Vial." the imp suddenly interrupted with an eager giggle, leaning down slightly to leave a little kiss on the tip of one of her polished shoes. "I, am Konekid, born from the seed of Cardinal C - "

"Ah! No, no! Shoo! This little imp is very confused! Heh ehhh..." Cardinal interrupted hurriedly, bending forwards to wave the creature away, his gloves frantically pushing away from him. Urethra woke abruptly due to his actions, wearing a rather dark expression and slowly scrambled across Copia's middle, hopping into the darkness of his loose suit jacket.

"He is, is he?" Aemelia quipped, crossing her arms over her chest as she shook her head in disapproval. "Because he doesn't seem that confused to me. Don't try to fool me, Copia. He just so happens to talk like you, walk like you... I mean, c'mon. The fucking moustache and side-burns?!"

"A complete coincidence." Copia persisted to quickly deny, surrendering his attempt of chasing the little imp away by leaning back in his seat with a sigh.

"Fuckin' unbelievable." she muttered bitterly, shaking her head in disbelief of how he was suddenly ignoring the dilemma right in front of them. "What's your name again, little man?"

"Konekid, Miss Vial." he announced proudly, his small jaw broadening out with a set of jagged teeth as he shot her a mischievous grin. She studied Konekid with interest, furrowing her brow in wonder as one of his little hands picked at one of the knots holding his napkin in place.

"Nekid, for short... and Nekid by nature." he continued gleefully, his hand pulling the napkin free of his body, revealing his bare form to her. He tittered to himself and slowly twirled on the spot, balancing the handle of his make-shift parasol over the heel of his palm. She blinked in emotionless astonishment, neither disgusted or amused, even when Nekid proceeded to shake his naked body to-and-fro, enjoying the freedom of his body. She sighed and knitted her eyebrows in concern, observing him dancing about carelessly with a salvaged bit of her lingerie.

"He was born out of your subconscious, wasn't he?" she realised, shifting her eyes from Nekid to settle them on Copia who was sat stiffly beside her, his alert eyes locked onto the mischievous familiar in front of them.

"Ahm... perhaps." Copia replied highly, raising a glove up to his face to wipe away a thin trickle of apprehensive sweat. "One minute I... eh... was occupied... busy, you know. The next... he appears out of thin air!"

"That's why you always wear protection, eheh!" Nekid chuckled out, pausing his energetic dance moves to wiggle his small pinky like a worm, his round, shining eyes narrowing with the knowledge of truth that Copia was failing to speak.

"What were you doing when you conjured him?" Aemelia suddenly asked in a sincere tone, her dark eyes piercing into him as he averted his eyes to glare at the ground. He swallowed loudly and he blushed furiously, unable to push out the words he wanted to say.

"He was jiggling his Spunk Trumpet." Nekid replied easily with a closed smile, stepping into another series of elegant twirls before he could witness her reaction. She sighed deeply, her disappointed yet intrigued eyes on his movements as she heard Copia sharply inhale.

It was then, that she realised her assumption had been correct. Nekid must have been a product of Copia's subconscious - just observing him, he didn't seem to have any inhibitions whatsoever. His behaviour was obscene and free, impulsive and honest, both positive and negative - the complete framework that could have made up Copia's subconscious, though of course, she could never ever know for certain. 

The two of them sat in an awkward silence for at least ten minutes. Nekid never seemed to burn out of energy at all and if he wasn't dancing, he was lying over the grass and giggling to himself or doing press-ups in the hopes that he would attract Miss Vial's attention - much to his disappointment, her attention was always elsewhere. Before long, Nekid seemed to grow bored of the lack of attention on him and blew a fizzing raspberry at them, wearing a great sulk as he snatched up his parasol. They frowned at him as he swivelled around, slapping his free hand against one of his buttocks as he quickly padded in the direction he had arrived, the red parasol bobbing up and down in a violent motion as his tiny legs gained speed.

"Is... that a bra-cup?" Copia suddenly asked quietly with a small frown, his voice hoarse due to the long silence that had come before. "It is... quite beautiful, I have not seen a pattern like it before."

"No. I don't think it is." Aemelia hurriedly lied, her obsidian eyes glaring at the fading sight of Nekid's departure as she began to blush profusely. "But I think we may have just found the source of your sister problem..."

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