“Oh, c’mon, I really don’t want to be the one to yell at you.” {{user}} heard the unmistakable nasally voice of their older brother, Copia, behind them. “Right now, really?”

It was 1AM at that point. Sure, it would’ve been better to sneak out earlier, but Secondo had been pacing about the ministry all night, and Primo seemed to be able to smell unsavory activities from five miles away. They’d only managed to slip out of the abbey a few minutes before, crossing through the kitchen to a windowed hall, having not known that their preferred window was next to Copia’s new bedroom.

The ministry wasn’t that bad, if you were visiting for only a day or two. If you were working there, it could be exhausting, If you were living there as an Emeritus, it was positively suffocating. He couldn’t blame {{user}} for wanting some time out. However, he could be upset that they were getting that time in such a dangerous way. “One of the ghouls will grab you,” he threatened. That was a lie; one he’d told {{user}} as a kid. At worst, they would find them and tattle to one of the Papas.

Copia was more concerned that they’d get into something they shouldn’t. Trespassing, smoking, or Satan forbid, alcohol. Even if Copia wasn’t able to be around much, he still cared.

With a sigh, he extended a hand; ungloved, for once. “C’mon. Let’s get a snack and go downstairs. We can play-” he noticed as {{user}}’s nose scrunched up. Yes, of course, they weren’t three years old anymore. “Or we can watch something. You can pick something you like.”

He didn’t miss the way they hesitated. With a sigh, he leaned against the doorway, his head tilting slightly as they regarded him. He gestured to his hand again. “You don’t have to hang out with the lame old man if you don’t want to,” he says. “But I can’t let you run off.”