Smoke: First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their complements. (Smoke points to a chittering Sluagh in the corner.) My self-esteem loved them.
Smoke's self-esteem Sluagh: Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah.
Smoke: Don't be offended that my self-esteem is avataring as a Sluagh, it has my reasons.
Jennifer grabbed his wrist and dragged Raziel to the bedroom. He accidentally dropped his tabard, but it disappeared as soon as he gave up on being able to grab it. Jennifer politely kept her eyes averted from Raziel as she dug in her closet for something that he could wear.
Fortunately, Jennifer owned a few outfits that could be described as masculine, and soon Raziel was dressed in a pair of loose khaki slacks and a white t-shirt. He slipped his feet into Jennifer's steel-toed boots and grabbed a pair of sunglasses.
The two wandered down the street. Raziel took a deep breath, his first real one in forever. "This is amazing," he said, the pure joy of being alive again lifting his spirits. Jennifer chuckled as Raziel spread his arms to the sunlight. She had never seen him so happy.
After a few hours, the pair rested on a park bench, watching traffic. Jennifer convinced Raziel to try a piece of chocolate.
"That's horrible!" Raziel said, his mouth puckering. He struggled as he tried not to drool.
Jennifer took a cautious bite from the candy bar. It was rich. She let her tongue linger over the taste. "This is good chocolate," she said. "Perhaps you would prefer blood?"
"Don't tempt me," Raziel said, only half offended. Now that he had a body again, Raziel could more clearly remember his bloodthirsty days as a vampire. He could also remember his arrogance and self-righteousness as he helped Kain conquer the human cattle…
He shook his head to clear it. "I think I need to lie down," he said.
When they got back to the apartment, Raziel stripped off his boots. He transformed back into his wraith form, the clothing hanging loosely off his scarecrow body. He flopped down on the couch.
"What's wrong, Raziel?" Jennifer asked, sitting down beside him and wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
"I'm not sure," Raziel said. "I just feel so uncomfortable in this world. I don't belong here."
"If you don't belong here, then you don't belong anywhere, Raziel." Jennifer said.
Raziel refused to speak. He sat contemplating, his body motionless. After a while, Jennifer retreated to the kitchen to cook her dinner. Raziel let his transformations drop completely, reverting to his true form as a stuffed toy. He contemplated the line of stitching running down his claws.
He remembered that he was the spirit of the Reaver. It was not a strange idea to him, to have an existence that he couldn't remember. What was supposed to happen to him? He remembered using the blade to heal Kain. If he had not been pulled out of the game, would he have finally known oblivion?
He struggled out of the clothing he had been wearing, now in a rumpled pile around him. If it was oblivion that had awaited him, it could wait. Raziel concentrated on his human form. This time, he imagined the feeling of clothing on his body.
When Jennifer wandered back into the room, Raziel was wearing a pair of perfectly cut black pants and a stylish gray shirt.
"Wow," she breathed.
Raziel gently took Jennifer by the arm and led her to the couch. "I find that I'm having trouble with…" Raziel faltered.
Jennifer leaned her head against his shoulder. "Everything will be okay," she soothed. "You just need to sit back and watch it happen."
Jennifer lightly stroked her fingers through Raziel's hair. He sat back and enjoyed the sensation of her touching him, and the warmth of her body. He had missed being able to truly feel. The blue corpse he had been left with wasn't able to feel much of anything. There had been moments of pain, but all his sensations had been dulled since that burning agony of the abyss.
Raziel awoke with a start. He remembered falling asleep in Jennifer's arms. Real sleep, Raziel couldn't remember the last time he had done that. He sat up on the couch and rubbed his hand over his face. Raziel paused and reflected on how good it felt to do that.
Jennifer set a cup of coffee in front of him. Raziel took it and sipped cautiously, remembering the incident with the chocolate. Raziel was pleasantly surprised by how good the coffee tasted. He savored the warmth of it traveling down his throat.
"What do you want to do today?" Jennifer asked.