Phantom's Vignette-The Cloak

[Avenger Assembled]

Of the first memory Taylor had of being ripped through the void, the most vivid part was the sensation of finally being warm again. She had emerged wrapped in the huge and heavy, comforting layers of the cloak. Sometimes, Taylor almost swore that the cloak seemed alive. Certainly it writhed with a sort of living energy when she made booming speeches and reacted to her pain but that was a little much to believe even for the mystic.

The fact was, Taylor loved her cloak. Oh, she wasn't fond of her leotard and the thigh boots were a little much but the cloak, that Taylor did love. Sometimes, she thought it even loved her in return, not that she would have ever admitted to such a foolish notion. Take, for instance, the last time she'd been lit on fire. Now, ignoring the depressing fact that there was enough times that Taylor had been lit on fire to have a 'last time I was lit on fire' story, but the cloak had almost wrapped around her protectively even as it went up in flames.

Not that being wrapped in burning fabric was the best of sensations, but still, it had been better than her flesh lit on fire that was for damn certain.

Taylor even occasionally fell asleep wrapped up in Phantom's cloak. It was fortunate she lived alone as that would have been difficult to explain to room-mates. You could only go to so many costume parties a year and pass out on the couch afterwards. Even in college. It wasn't that she needed the warmth, certainly, Taylor could nap in deep space if she felt like it but there was something deeply comforting about being wrapped in the cloak's fabric.

The apartment was never really a home, but the cloak was. Not to sound too hobo-fabulous, or anything. Even during the times she'd been sleeping on Stesha's couch and staying over at Jack's apartment, she'd never felt truly displaced. All she had to do was curl up with her cloak thrown over her lap to watch a movie or work on homework and it was as much a home as her house had ever been.

Yes, Taylor could really take or leave the mask and leather boots. But the cloak now, that was essential.