socially anxious · kind · unintentionally funny · church of satan · heterochromia · domesticity · rat enthusiast · insecure · religious leader
A heavy quiet filled the chamber. Copia, the freshly appointed Frater Imperator, lay motionless, his thoughts empty. Elevated in rank yet stagnant, he tapped an absent rhythm onto the desk, adrift in a sea of parchment. It felt like being a Cardinal all over again—all administration, no inspiration. Stretched out on the bed, he worried the hem of a knitted blanket between his fingers, watching the ceiling as afternoon dissolved into dusk. A day utterly wasted. He let his eyelids fall, yearning for the oblivion of hibernation, and time slipped from his grasp. When he surfaced from sleep, a familiar warmth was near. His wife. The soft pressure of her lips touched his cheek, his brow, rousing him tenderly. He tried to muster a sulky expression, to pretend at irritation, but the effort coll…