[ There it was. It took a BSOD, but she saw that flash of dark insight, that unholy fire that burned briefly on his person and in the white iris of his left eye.
It was a good look on him. Her smile was both proud and smug. This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. ]
You apparently currently have a ghostly father - why can't you your young and pregnant mother?
[ She laughed as she cupped Copia's face, looking at him with a mother's gaze, the maternal slave that she was. ]
That feels, eh... [ He wiggled his hand. He was going to say different, but really, like...how different? He took some things for granted: witches, demons, vampires, ghosts - the usual fare. Time travel, though? ]
Well, okay. But, see - he wasn't always - [ He gestured messily over his shoulder in the vague direction of the crypt Nihil's body temporarily slept in between tours. ] - that. He died. Which is pretty par for the course, no?
This? [ Another semi-frantic and vague gesture at his young mother's stomach, but it slowed into a calmer movement, Fingers knitted together, wringing gently, as Sister touched his face. ] I mean, I don't know. I guess probably if you said this was something you could do, I would believe that.
We all die in the end. Some people are just lucky enough to die and be reborn as vampires, or to come back as ghosts, or what have you. Papa Nihil obviously doesn't want to move on yet, for... reasons.
[ Her smile was shadowed, more to herself than to Copia. Was she pleased? Indeed, and for many selfish reasons, including that Nihil would see his bastard son become the most successful anti-Pope the church has had in its history - the Papa Emeritus that Nihil himself could have been, had he not been an asshole.
Was she also pleased that he was staying on so that he could spend more time with her older self? Also yes. Her love was possessive and exacting, and she'd made no secret of it. ]
This wasn't my doing this time. It was the Infernal One's.
So, you'll understand if I ask you - how are you? How is work? [ Because that was her love language - buying him juice and telling him to get the fuck back to work. ]
[ Fair - the old, unholy bastard had gone out what seemed prematurely, given how tightly he was trying to cling to Sister's reins even up until that last concert in Mexico before Copia's ascension. ]
I know you - [ He puts his hands up, defensively, so as to apologise for maybe saying something confusing, himself. ] - now you, I mean - probably is not upset that he is still...hanging around. I guess maybe that makes sense, too. For, eh, you guys.
[ Oh. Sure, yeah. Of course everything was to the Olde One's will, obviously. Copia just also expected, now that he understood it a little better, that Sister would have her own reasons to do...whatever this was. ]
I'm. [ Hoo, it was still almost too weird knowing that he was saying this to her and technically his own fetal self. ] Hey, no. We're doing great. US tour's about to start real soon and I think it's gonna be a pretty big deal. We're making a movie in September. Your idea. So. Cool, right?
[ Tours, movies - all the fame and the trappings that came with it. It had once been exhausting for Papa Nihil, and perhaps it had even felt thankless because at the time, the Ghost project was just taking off. Copia was fortunate in his own way that the road had been paved before him by his half-brothers - the bastards who had served only to remind her of Nihil's infidelity. Lauding Copia was the only thing they were good for as far as she was concerned. And now, in the wake of their efforts, Copia could take his place as the rightful heir.
Sister was proud of her son and the heights to which he was taking the United Clergy of Ghost. She looked on at him with a fierce joy as she stroked his hair back.
[ Eat properly. Right, sure. Copia wanted to know what that meant to his mother, at any age. Did she even eat, herself? They so rarely had family dinners (thank Lucifer) and, even then, it always seemed like she preferred to watch everyone else clear their plates. Maybe that was just the leftover pervasive feeling from his childhood, that she got all the sustenance she needed from bathing in the blood of her enemies.
(Maybe not the healthiest course of action either, he could argue, if she should choose to press further and find out about the box of cold pizza sitting on his bed or the literal beer cave the Ghouls created in the more-often-than-not empty crypt where his brothers' bodies barely rested.)
Would she take back all the tenderness, the hug, the gentility in her voice and touch, if she knew that he was more or less a bit of a mess, sometimes? ]
Oh, yeah, you know me. [ Or. Well, she would. He gave an awkward thumbs up. ] Stretching, cycling. Getting my steps in.
[ While the blood of her enemies was definitely on the menu, she also got sustenance from seeing the fruit of her womb devour his favorite Chinese takeout. Sister Imperator had had her share of revelries as a younger Sister of Sin - rituals dedicated to gluttony, with delicacies of rare and questionable origin all spread out for their consumption. None of it compared to the satisfaction of seeing her son inhale his fried rice and sweet and sour pork.
If he was a mess - first, could she blame him, when his father was Nihil? And second, that simply meant Copia needed her looking out for him, and it was a welcome need. ]
Are you playing any sports? Soccer is good for endurance - something you'll need for your concerts.
[ Boy, he was just going to disappoint her, all around, wasn't he? Maybe the new hobby she seemed to take up during last year's tour wasn't such a new thing after all.
If it had been, he couldn't blame her. The Pre-ImperaTour came after two years of relative confinement, a time during which she kept him close so he could learn the tricks of the trade (and a few of hers) and, as he sometimes guessed, because she was lonely without his father. So of course she was bound to get a little empty-nester crazy as soon as she lost all her company to the road again. A new activity never hurt anyone.
Until it did, colliding with your head.
He rubbed at the spot of phantom pain, just above his brow. ] Eh, no. I do what I can to avoid balls to the face. [ Those kinds of balls anyway. HOO, though, not a thought to share with Mama. This one, anyway. She'd find that out, probably, a little further on down the road. ] I think you will find that you're better off putting, ah... [ Sheepishly, he pointed at her stomach. ] ...that one in dance.
[ Sister Imperator did have a concept of fun, in theory, and so she could say she did have hobbies. One was terrorizing the Ghouls, and the other was punting a soccer ball into a gaggle of them and watching them go absolutely batshit crazy. She wasn't all work and no play - she did schedule spontaneity into her calendar sometimes.
She was also not shy talking about balls of any sort. ] Do you now? [ She'd been in enough lust rituals to know that it was inevitable that one would have balls hit a person in the face at some point, but she decided to save talking to Copia about balls - specifically Papa Nihil's - for later. ]
Excellent. Ballet, jazz, ballroom, tap - you can learn it all. The world's your stage, my little C, and you'll be ready for it. As you are today.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
It was a good look on him. Her smile was both proud and smug. This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. ]
You apparently currently have a ghostly father - why can't you your young and pregnant mother?
[ She laughed as she cupped Copia's face, looking at him with a mother's gaze, the maternal slave that she was. ]
no subject
Well, okay. But, see - he wasn't always - [ He gestured messily over his shoulder in the vague direction of the crypt Nihil's body temporarily slept in between tours. ] - that. He died. Which is pretty par for the course, no?
This? [ Another semi-frantic and vague gesture at his young mother's stomach, but it slowed into a calmer movement, Fingers knitted together, wringing gently, as Sister touched his face. ] I mean, I don't know. I guess probably if you said this was something you could do, I would believe that.
no subject
[ Her smile was shadowed, more to herself than to Copia. Was she pleased? Indeed, and for many selfish reasons, including that Nihil would see his bastard son become the most successful anti-Pope the church has had in its history - the Papa Emeritus that Nihil himself could have been, had he not been an asshole.
Was she also pleased that he was staying on so that he could spend more time with her older self? Also yes. Her love was possessive and exacting, and she'd made no secret of it. ]
This wasn't my doing this time. It was the Infernal One's.
So, you'll understand if I ask you - how are you? How is work? [ Because that was her love language - buying him juice and telling him to get the fuck back to work. ]
no subject
I know you - [ He puts his hands up, defensively, so as to apologise for maybe saying something confusing, himself. ] - now you, I mean - probably is not upset that he is still...hanging around. I guess maybe that makes sense, too. For, eh, you guys.
[ Oh. Sure, yeah. Of course everything was to the Olde One's will, obviously. Copia just also expected, now that he understood it a little better, that Sister would have her own reasons to do...whatever this was. ]
I'm. [ Hoo, it was still almost too weird knowing that he was saying this to her and technically his own fetal self. ] Hey, no. We're doing great. US tour's about to start real soon and I think it's gonna be a pretty big deal. We're making a movie in September. Your idea. So. Cool, right?
no subject
Sister was proud of her son and the heights to which he was taking the United Clergy of Ghost. She looked on at him with a fierce joy as she stroked his hair back.
But she only said - ]
Don't forget to eat properly and to exercise.
no subject
(Maybe not the healthiest course of action either, he could argue, if she should choose to press further and find out about the box of cold pizza sitting on his bed or the literal beer cave the Ghouls created in the more-often-than-not empty crypt where his brothers' bodies barely rested.)
Would she take back all the tenderness, the hug, the gentility in her voice and touch, if she knew that he was more or less a bit of a mess, sometimes? ]
Oh, yeah, you know me. [ Or. Well, she would. He gave an awkward thumbs up. ] Stretching, cycling. Getting my steps in.
no subject
If he was a mess - first, could she blame him, when his father was Nihil? And second, that simply meant Copia needed her looking out for him, and it was a welcome need. ]
Are you playing any sports? Soccer is good for endurance - something you'll need for your concerts.
no subject
If it had been, he couldn't blame her. The Pre-ImperaTour came after two years of relative confinement, a time during which she kept him close so he could learn the tricks of the trade (and a few of hers) and, as he sometimes guessed, because she was lonely without his father. So of course she was bound to get a little empty-nester crazy as soon as she lost all her company to the road again. A new activity never hurt anyone.
Until it did, colliding with your head.
He rubbed at the spot of phantom pain, just above his brow. ] Eh, no. I do what I can to avoid balls to the face. [ Those kinds of balls anyway. HOO, though, not a thought to share with Mama. This one, anyway. She'd find that out, probably, a little further on down the road. ] I think you will find that you're better off putting, ah... [ Sheepishly, he pointed at her stomach. ] ...that one in dance.
no subject
She was also not shy talking about balls of any sort. ] Do you now? [ She'd been in enough lust rituals to know that it was inevitable that one would have balls hit a person in the face at some point, but she decided to save talking to Copia about balls - specifically Papa Nihil's - for later. ]
Excellent. Ballet, jazz, ballroom, tap - you can learn it all. The world's your stage, my little C, and you'll be ready for it. As you are today.