When Raphael's eyes fluttered open, he found himself staring at the ceiling. He quickly shot up, noticing that he was on a sofa in Magnus's loft. He turned his body around to see the sofa opposite of him, where he saw Simon crouched down and holding the hand of an unconcious body and sobbing. He felt even more alarmed when he recognized the body as himself, causing him to jump back.
Still, he instinctually inched toward Simon, placing a hand on his shoulder to fulfill the basic need for Simon to be okay.
"It's okay," Raphael said, to which Simon had no reaction. Instead, he continued to look at the unconcious Raphael.
"Listen, Raph, if you can hear me, then please, you gotta pull through. You just have to pull through for us," Simon whispered.
Raphael then shook his head.
"I️ can hear you. Simon, I'm right here. Simon!" he said to know avail.
"He can't hear you. Not from here," a voice said from behind Raphael.
On one hand, Raphael recognized the voice; he couldn't forget that voice in a million years, but, on the other hand, he knew it was impossible. Still, he remained hopeful as he turned around ever so slowly, only to see exactly who he thought it was.
"Ragnor!" Raphael exclaimed.
Ragnor smirked.
"That's my name. Don't wear it out," Ragnor teased.
Raphael looked at the warlock with wide, tear filled eyes and shook his head in disbelief. It was really Ragnor Fell standing there in front of him.
"Dios, it's so good to see you!" Raphael said.
Ragnor sighed, a pensive expression on his face. He then shook his head disapprovingly, causing
Raphael's heart to sink down into his chest.
"I️ wish I️ could say the same," Ragnor replied quietly, feeling slightly pained from the dejected look on the vampire's face.
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Raphael asked.
Ragnor threw his arms up dramatically.
"What's wrong? You're on your bloody deathbed for Christ's sake!" he hollered.
He then took a deep breath before coming closer to Raphael. Gently, he placed a hand on Raphael's shoulder.
"I'm not angry with you, you know that. But you know you have to go back," Ragnor whispered, gesturing toward Simon and Raphael.
Raphael sighed. He knew it was the right thing to do, but goddamnit he was tired of doing the right thing. He was just so tired. He was ready to watch his last sunrise and peacefully fade into oblivion.
Raphael then made his way back to the sofa that he woke up on and took a seat. Ragnor followed him and sat down next to him.
For a moment, he looked longingly at Simon who hadn't moved. He appeared as if he hadn't slept in days, and that alone broke something in Raphael.
Raphael shook his head pensively.
"I️ didn't mean to cause this. He wasn't supposed to find me like that. They weren't supposed to know," Raphael reflected.
Ragnor placed a hand on the other's knee.
"It's a good thing that your boyfriend found you!" Ragnor said.
Raphael raised his eyebrows and quickly stood up from the couch.
"Oh, no, no. The fledgling is most definitely not my boyfriend," Raphael corrected.
