Perpetua leans in nice and close so Copia doesn't have to strain too far forward to read the messages. He scrolls a little to let him see more of them, but they keep getting pushed upward by the new messages coming in every few seconds. He grins at Copia, who clearly wasn't expecting this kind of reaction from the ghouls. See? His visiting can't be all that bad for him.
"Are you kidding? Of course they want to see you," he chuckles, giving Copia the gentlest pat on the shoulder. "They've missed you terribly. Do you know how much they talk about you? It's exhausting." A wink to show he's kidding. It mostly made him feel... jealous. Insufficient. Every bit the cheap knockoff of Copia that he worried so much about being. It wasn't like any of them hated him, but it was easy to tell this was an unpleasant adjustment.
"They did warm up to me, but I'm not you." Exhaling, he tries to put it out of his mind by opening his phone's camera, crouching next to the bed to awkwardly get them both into the frame.
"Say cheese! Or, well, just try to look like you aren't completely miserable?" Another forced laugh and he hits the shutter button a couple times before stepping away, inspecting the photos. They're not great, but they'll do. The point is proof of life.
They talk about him? To V? To a point where it's exhausting?
...
"Well, how about that," Copia murmurs. It's nice to be remembered. To not feel quite so forgotten, so easily replaced in the little group that had traveled, eaten, slept, and performed together, like a family. Maybe. Copia isn't entirely sure, but family is what it had felt like when they'd passed out into their shared Chinese takeout at 4 a.m. on the tour bus.
But I'm not you.
Hearing it loosens a knot that's been sitting in Cardi's chest since he first began to suspect his time was coming to an end. It doesn't untie, not completely, but it doesn't feel quite as tight. He doesn't even hate the pat to his shoulder. V's gloved hand is warmer than he expected, even through the bandages.
"Eh?"
He looks up just in time to hear the click, and this time he recognizes it as a phone camera -- he'd been on the other side of those plenty of times. Copia comes out wide-eyed and staring unsettlingly, shell shocked and possibly like he's being held hostage depending on Perpetua's expression.
"Fuck," he says. And then-- "...how did it turn out? Let me see."
He knows it's probably going to be shit, he looks like shit right now, but vanity is a sin and Copia can't contain his curiosity.
It strikes Perpetua as odd that Copia doesn't expect the ghouls to have missed him -- wasn't it obvious? The fans miss him, but the ghouls miss him even more. And while it had made him jealous, it also made him more impatient to finally meet him. If he was so great why was a newbie like him taking the reins? Bloodline or not, it didn't seem like he'd been ready to pass the torch.
Before giving his brother a chance to look, Perpetua sends off the selfies to appease the group chat. Inevitably they will be roasted -- he's told he takes "old man" selfies -- but this is more about, you know, proving he's alive and well(ish).
"Here," he finally says, leaning in with his phone to show him the pictures. "Not our best angles, I fear. But we'll have time to take better ones once you're a little less bandaged up, eh?"
Because, well -- he's really hoping they can get some quality time together before Copia runs off on his little beach holiday. Judging by the messages streaming in at the top of his screen, he's not the only one.
THANK LUCIFER
cardi!!!!! hi cardi!!!
tell him i say hi!!
WHOA what bones didnt he break???
🥺 is he ok papa???
This time he doesn't have to force his laughter. He's pretty damn fond of the ghouls himself, so making them happy is always a pleasure. He doesn't even feel jealous now, just... relieved. Whole, in a way. One great mystery of his life can begin coming to a close.
"Should I tell the Psaltarians you're awake? I can wait a little, if you don't want to be bombarded just yet."
"No, no, it's very good. I look very good," Copia says when he sees the pictures. "The bandages, they're very, ah, rugged."
What's worse is that he isn't even searching for a nice thing to say out of politeness. Copia means every word. Perpetua is great at taking pictures. That fucker.
He almost doesn't notice that V wants to take other pictures together, later. It hits Copia like a boomerang to the back of the head -- V wants to hang out. Doing what, the devil only knows, but Cardi has no idea how he feels about that. On the one hand: Sister was right, V is apparently curious about him, and did want to meet him, and he's not acting like a nasty conniving thief determined to cuckoo his twin out of his lifelong goals. He's telling him the ghouls missed him, and it isn't even a lie. But on the other, it's fucking V, who is still a thief, and Copia hates him.
Uncomfortable and guilty sits the knowledge that Cardi wrote a number of unkind, if uninspired, things about him on the internet, and Perpetua is here, and doesn't know.
"Eh," he says, finding a change of subject. "You can tell them. They will be here when they are here, and not a minute before." It almost comes out profound. "Besides, it's not as though I have anything better to do. I've already gotten a night's sleep, yeah? Pretty much?"
The next few weeks promise to be very, very boring. More boring than paperwork. But hey, the ghouls remember him, and are sending all caps messages about how glad they are that he's alive. He's glad that he's alive. That's not nothing.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2026-04-01 06:36 pm (UTC)"Are you kidding? Of course they want to see you," he chuckles, giving Copia the gentlest pat on the shoulder. "They've missed you terribly. Do you know how much they talk about you? It's exhausting." A wink to show he's kidding. It mostly made him feel... jealous. Insufficient. Every bit the cheap knockoff of Copia that he worried so much about being. It wasn't like any of them hated him, but it was easy to tell this was an unpleasant adjustment.
"They did warm up to me, but I'm not you." Exhaling, he tries to put it out of his mind by opening his phone's camera, crouching next to the bed to awkwardly get them both into the frame.
"Say cheese! Or, well, just try to look like you aren't completely miserable?" Another forced laugh and he hits the shutter button a couple times before stepping away, inspecting the photos. They're not great, but they'll do. The point is proof of life.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-01 07:21 pm (UTC)...
"Well, how about that," Copia murmurs. It's nice to be remembered. To not feel quite so forgotten, so easily replaced in the little group that had traveled, eaten, slept, and performed together, like a family. Maybe. Copia isn't entirely sure, but family is what it had felt like when they'd passed out into their shared Chinese takeout at 4 a.m. on the tour bus.
But I'm not you.
Hearing it loosens a knot that's been sitting in Cardi's chest since he first began to suspect his time was coming to an end. It doesn't untie, not completely, but it doesn't feel quite as tight. He doesn't even hate the pat to his shoulder. V's gloved hand is warmer than he expected, even through the bandages.
"Eh?"
He looks up just in time to hear the click, and this time he recognizes it as a phone camera -- he'd been on the other side of those plenty of times. Copia comes out wide-eyed and staring unsettlingly, shell shocked and possibly like he's being held hostage depending on Perpetua's expression.
"Fuck," he says. And then-- "...how did it turn out? Let me see."
He knows it's probably going to be shit, he looks like shit right now, but vanity is a sin and Copia can't contain his curiosity.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-02 07:29 pm (UTC)Before giving his brother a chance to look, Perpetua sends off the selfies to appease the group chat. Inevitably they will be roasted -- he's told he takes "old man" selfies -- but this is more about, you know, proving he's alive and well(ish).
"Here," he finally says, leaning in with his phone to show him the pictures. "Not our best angles, I fear. But we'll have time to take better ones once you're a little less bandaged up, eh?"
Because, well -- he's really hoping they can get some quality time together before Copia runs off on his little beach holiday. Judging by the messages streaming in at the top of his screen, he's not the only one.
THANK LUCIFER
cardi!!!!! hi cardi!!!
tell him i say hi!!
WHOA what bones didnt he break???
🥺 is he ok papa???
This time he doesn't have to force his laughter. He's pretty damn fond of the ghouls himself, so making them happy is always a pleasure. He doesn't even feel jealous now, just... relieved. Whole, in a way. One great mystery of his life can begin coming to a close.
"Should I tell the Psaltarians you're awake? I can wait a little, if you don't want to be bombarded just yet."
no subject
Date: 2026-04-02 07:52 pm (UTC)What's worse is that he isn't even searching for a nice thing to say out of politeness. Copia means every word. Perpetua is great at taking pictures. That fucker.
He almost doesn't notice that V wants to take other pictures together, later. It hits Copia like a boomerang to the back of the head -- V wants to hang out. Doing what, the devil only knows, but Cardi has no idea how he feels about that. On the one hand: Sister was right, V is apparently curious about him, and did want to meet him, and he's not acting like a nasty conniving thief determined to cuckoo his twin out of his lifelong goals. He's telling him the ghouls missed him, and it isn't even a lie. But on the other, it's fucking V, who is still a thief, and Copia hates him.
Uncomfortable and guilty sits the knowledge that Cardi wrote a number of unkind, if uninspired, things about him on the internet, and Perpetua is here, and doesn't know.
"Eh," he says, finding a change of subject. "You can tell them. They will be here when they are here, and not a minute before." It almost comes out profound. "Besides, it's not as though I have anything better to do. I've already gotten a night's sleep, yeah? Pretty much?"
The next few weeks promise to be very, very boring. More boring than paperwork. But hey, the ghouls remember him, and are sending all caps messages about how glad they are that he's alive. He's glad that he's alive. That's not nothing.