The Light In The Sky (Cardinal Copia X Gender Neutral Reader)

Chapter 2/ The Library

After you both finished the paperwork you and Copia started heading to the library to discuss the info Sister wanted you to run over with him. She had even given you a checkless to ensure you could remember exactly what all to cover with him.

Thank god.

You both made it to the library where you led The Cardinal back to your favorite spot. It was all the way in the back, a set of two brown couches facing one another with a table in-between, giving you both enough space to settle in and away from any disturbances.

"Comfortable?" You said to the man as he sat, making sure he wasn't uncomfortable at all.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright thank you." The man responded with a hint of nervous awkwardness lacing his words.

With the few hours you've spent with him so far you've picked up on the man's awkward and unsure nature.

He seems to be the type that keeps to himself and just goes with whatever others want. That he wouldn't risk any confrontation over his opinions because they aren't worth any possible retaliation.

Plus you can't blame him, being thrown into such a big role so suddenly will definitely overwhelm someone enough to make them unsure about what to do or say.

"Good good, I'm glad." You spoke, giving him a reassuring smile to hopefully calm his nerves a bit. "Now uh, you obviously know the basics of your job, right?

"O-oh, uh ya I do." The man said with a nod, shifting in his seat a little.

"Alright then here's the rundown of what Sister has." You spoke, looking at the ref sheet you were given. "You'll need to have an album complete by June, Sister and Nihil said they want to get a jump on things as quickly as possible. Then obviously as you know a tour needs to be done for the album so costumes and props need to be designed and sent in as well. O-oh and Nihil wants some side shows here and there as well to increase fan interaction to gain more followers." You continued, looking at the man across from you, now noticing his now tense posture.

"Alright then, I'll do my best to be prepared on time. I-I... Thank you." The man said, sounding more overwhelmed than before.

You picked up on this, feeling bad and wanted to reassure him that it's going to be okay and that he won't have to do it all alone.

"Please be sure to not overwork yourself sir." You spoke, setting the papers down on the table in front of you. "I know I'm just some ghoul, but I'm also someone you can see as a friend, so feel free to come to me if you need help, or anything at all, alright?"

Cardinal looked at you, a small smile slowly creeping across his face, the mention of having a friend making him feel 10x better about all this. "Thank you Sirius, it means a lot to me, honestly," He spoke, fidgeting with his hand. "Since we are friends then You can call me cardinal, or copia, whatever you prefer instead of sir, o-or if that's what you prefer y-you can keep calling me that I don't mind!" He continued, trying to be humble about his status, his awkwardness only making him get jumbled and flustered up instead.

"Alright then, Cardinal." You said, now chuckling at his actions, putting out my hand for a handshake before continuing. "If we are going to be friends then it would be weird to address you as sir, wouldn't it?"

Cardinal's face was now flushed red from embarrassment as he quickly reached out to return the gesture.

Why did he have to be so awkward all the time? He thought to himself, thinking he's being too much already.

"How much time do we have left before we go into dinner?" He suddenly asked, now back to fidgeting with his hands.

You looked at the clock, reading it at 6:00pm.

Man those papers earlier really took a while to get through.

"It's currently six, so we have a couple of hours." You responded leaning back against the couch, noticing cardinal's nervous posture again. "That gives us time to get to know more about one another, if you'd like to that is?"

Cardinal's face instantly lit up, relived that he wasn't being too much for you already. He was so used to being brushed off constantly by Nihil and Sister whenever he said anything non-work related. Or when he tried making conversation with some of the Sisters of Sin once he didn't know what to say, or would become too much for them and they would make an excuse to end the conversation.

"O-oh uh- you want to... know about me? o-of course, of course!" He said, quickly sitting up and brushing off himself to look presentable.

You nodded while chuckling at his actions, glad that he is finally starting to come out of his awkward stage even if it's just a little. It's obvious from a thousand miles away that no one has ever let him truly be himself, so he has resorted to hiding himself to be more approachable in an attempt to get at least someone to tolerate him.

"Alright then! Why don't we take turns asking each other questions then?" You said, a smile on your face as you looked at the man.

"Alright, that would be fun, you can go first!" Cardinal replied with a smile, now awaiting whatever questions you have in store for him, as he came up with questions of his own.