Disclaimer: I don't own Legacy of Kain or any other identifiable pop culture references.
Janos had hung a rope ladder over the side of his tower to preserve the brickwork from Raziel's claws. Raziel found some small amusement at seeing it, as he would never need it again. He still did not soar, but he did manage to gain enough altitude to serenely glide into Janos' tower.
"I had wondered why you could restore yourself, but did not do so completely." Janos said.
"It wasn't that simple," Raziel answered.
"I saw you coming," Janos said sternly. "You treat the wind as something that can be conquered."
Raziel shrugged, admitting his ignorance.
"Follow me," Janos continued. "It is unseemly to have you thrashing around like that."
Janos leapt from the tower and hovered in the air. Raziel did his best, but even through his exertion he could see the angel wince in sympathetic embarrassment. Janos explained through example how to catch updrafts and use the breezes to his advantage. It turned out that Janos could see the currents as slight distortions in the air. Raziel was fortunate that the skin along his wings was so sensitive; it allowed him to feel what he could not see.
After an hour of shadowing Janos, Raziel found himself hanging off the ledge of a building in exhaustion. He could now fly gracefully, but his muscles were sore from unfamiliar effort. Raziel pulled his wings against his body to relieve the ache.
"I think you've done enough for one day," Janos said as he balanced on an updraft.
Raziel did not object as Janos teleported both of them back to his tower. He did object when Janos tried to rub his abused muscles.
"Please," Raziel said, squirming away from Janos' talons, "Don't touch me."
Janos could see that Raziel had two hand-shaped marks near the wrists of his wings. He could only assume what Raziel had been through, and why he was so afraid. "Let me do this, Raziel. I doubt that your recuperative powers could deal with these strains," Janos implored.
Raziel reluctantly lay facedown on Janos' bed. Though the memories of his execution no longer caused him to lose control of his form, Raziel still had to fight against the urge to shove Janos away. Because of the different arrangements of their flight muscles, it took Janos a while to find the right spot. He gently but firmly kneaded the knots out of Raziel's back.
As he did this, Janos reflected on what he expected his messiah to be. He had been confused when Raziel had come through the interior of his retreat instead of flying directly to the balcony. The reason was clear the moment Janos saw Raziel for the first time. Janos could not bear to imagine what it must be like to live with damaged wings.
Janos could see the misery etched into Raziel's restored face, how he clutched at the sheets in the grip of a painful memory. Janos hoped that someday Raziel would be able to tell him what he had been through.
When Janos was finished, Raziel sat up slowly. His breathing was shaky, even though it still was not necessary.
"Shall I make us some tea?" Janos offered.
Raziel nodded quickly. As odd as it sounded, caffeine had a tendency to soothe jangled nerves. He stood and folded his wings, tucking them between his shoulder blades.
They spoke of inconsequential things as they sipped at the tea. Raziel related stories about how scary Jennifer's driving was. Janos chuckled at this; he didn't remember getting hit by the car, so it didn't bother him.
When Raziel decided that it was time to leave, he decided to go ahead and use a transport spell. He had known how to do it for a while, but he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea. The tea had done its job to revive him, but Raziel was still too tired to fly or even walk back.
An uneventful week went by. Late one evening, Janos teleported onto Jennifer's balcony. He was in the company of a strangely submissive Azrael.
"I found this vampire making trouble in the bad part of town. He seems familiar," Janos said, scrutinizing Azrael's talons.
"He's from Nosgoth," Jennifer confirmed. "This might sound strange, but he's a younger version of Raziel."
"This menace is Raziel?" Janos asked, studying the eyes of his captive. Between the scarring of the abyss and Raziel's inventiveness when he regained a handsome appearance, it was hard to see the resemblance.
"He goes by the name of Azrael now, or he should be," Raziel said as he wandered into the room.
"I thought you said that there was no more bloodcurse, but he was on the hunt," Janos said.
Raziel addressed Azrael with a sneer. "Explain yourself, you know that you don't need blood."
Azrael's face was contorted in a vicious scowl. "When I left here, the hunger returned."
Raziel thought about this for a moment. He remembered when Jennifer decided to take a two-day assignment in another town from her temp agency. The busses ran in such a way that it was easier for her to stay there instead of coming home. Raziel had felt hungry the night that she was gone, but he felt better after eating a can of ravioli. Janos still ate as well, but that could just be for pleasure. Azrael was still tied to his vampiric nature; of course he would turn to blood.
Raziel decided to let the matter rest for the moment. Instead, he asked, "Where have you been?"
"I don't see how that is any concern of yours," Azrael spat.
Raziel smirked. Obviously, Azrael had forgotten who was stronger here. Seeing that his former self was tense with pent-up indignation, Raziel decided to annoy him with the friendly approach. "Come on, we'll have a cup of coffee and you can tell me all about it," Raziel said, wrapping his arm around Azrael's shoulders.
Janos and Jennifer had been watching the exchange in silence, but now Janos muttered, "The voice is the same, but it is still hard to believe. How is this possible?"
"I'm not the only one with the power to summon vampires," Jennifer said. She knew about Janos' aversion to being reminded about the details of his existence here, so she simplified her explanation. "Someone else pulled Raziel from a different moment in time, it's possible only because what happens here doesn't affect Nosgoth."
They were both startled by a loud thud from the kitchen, followed by shouting. "This is not the empire!" Raziel had slammed Azrael's head against the counter, hoping that it would drive the point home.
Janos was somewhat confused by the rough treatment. "I would expect Raziel to show a little sympathy towards himself."
Jennifer stopped herself from answering. She had been about to mention how the sarafan had gotten reaved. If Janos didn't know about it, then it was up to Raziel to tell him. Jennifer simply patted Janos' arm reassuringly.
Fortunately, that minor scuffle was enough to convince Azrael that he should play nice for a while. He sat calmly and participated in polite conversation. It turned out that Azrael had wandered aimlessly for a while, and then joined a motorcycle gang. His oversized boots and leather clothing certainly reinforced that idea.
After Janos had left and Jennifer went to sleep, Raziel convinced Azrael to try playing a video game. Jennifer's collection included a multi-player combat game called Barbarian. After several minutes of losing, Azrael complained that he didn't have enough fingers to use the controller.
Raziel smirked. He didn't have any trouble back when he only had three fingers. Still, if that was the excuse that Azrael was going to use, then Raziel would delight in proving him wrong. He dropped into his wraith form and waggled his claws at Azrael before pasting him some more.
"This is a stupid waste of time," Azrael growled.
"Of course it's a waste of time. That's what it's for," Raziel said, gently tossing the controller aside. "As for stupid… Yeah, I agree with you on that." He decided that this was one of the worst games that Jennifer had randomly bought.
"How do you tolerate this life?" Azrael asked in frustration. "You've grown soft and comfortable."
"I guess this proves that we really aren't the same person anymore," Raziel said.
End notes: I had a really tough time writing Janos' reaction to Raziel's clumsiness in the air. I felt that the angel would be really embarrassed, but I had trouble showing it because I don't think Janos would react by teasing Raziel.
Another note: I think the worst part about facing Azrael vs. Raziel is that I have trouble spelling Azrael, and I keep forgetting which one I'm trying to type.