Snippet #2339789

The sensation of passing between realms was always an unpleasant one for Aeryn. Crossing from a realm saturated with the magical energies that imbued his being into one where the link to them was much weaker felt like walking from a seat inside by the fireplace into the cold and snow. It was like losing a sense, in a way, feeling so much less part of the world.

He always got used to it, of course, but those first few hours were a doozey. It was a stark contrast to how crossing to the neutral ground of Terra and Elante's realm had been a relief from the twisted energy of the Silver Dimension a few years ago. He didn't entirely understand how it worked, but from what Illura and Elante had told him (already his husband knew more about the way his home worked than he did, embarrassingly) the silverite and aurean energy that was such an integral part of the Silver and Gold dimensions respectively was what made Silvis and Auricians different. On Terra, they were practically impossible to tell apart after a few months as their defining traits faded from lack of exposure to the energy.

The silvis himself had once been aurician. Tiernan's banishment had been thorough though, and in severing him from aurean energy, that heritage had been destroyed. It had allowed the silverite energy of the realm he (and the other neo-silvis) had been banished to to claim him, and in its twisted state, threaten to destroy his mind. Now it had simply replaced the aurean energy as an integral part of his being, as natural as though he had been born with it.

Aeryn breathed in the Terran air with a sigh as he emerged onto the bridge. The midday sun shone brightly in the sky despite a slight chill in the air, and a strong breeze tugged at him at the high altitude. Behind him, the gateway's portal rippled again as Elante joined him.

Elante smiled to Aeryn, taking the silvis' hand. He was fully aware of the unpleasantness of the shift between worlds for his husband, and offered a squeeze of the palm for comfort. "I'm going to head straight to the Academies to speak with Scarlet. Are you going to come with, or run off and do your own thing?" he asked.

The touch of Elante's hand snapped Aeryn out of his thought, and he turned with a warm grin to face him. "Yeah, I'm just gonna snub all of our friends and bugger off to do something unrelated, that sounds like a plan to me. 'course I'm going to go with you, what do you take me for?" He rolled his eyes with a huff.

Laughing, Elante shrugged his shoulders, "You've never been the best at social niceties, sweetie." he pointed out, "I like to make sure."

Aeryn stuck his tongue out at the mage, only for Elante to lean in and steal a kiss in the process. "Oi!" Aeryn exclaimed, "Stop making it impossible to argue with you!" he grumbled, but the smirk he couldn't shake from his face gave away that he wasn't being serious. He wrapped an arm around Elante's waist and started forwards. "C'mon then, let's get on with it instead of standing on the bridge snogging. The Vigil and Vanguard guys at the bottom will be wondering why nobody's showed up yet."

The pair descended the bridge together, approaching the point at which it met the lake-shore and land. There was a small outpost set there, where a small number of auricians and silvis clad in the gold and silver armour of their respective orders. The Aureate Vigil and the Argent Vanguard were the military forces of the Gold and Silver dimensions, established two years ago upon the liberation of the Gold and restoration of the Silver and the creation of the link with Terra. There hadn't been a war between the two realms for centuries even before Tiernan's rise, and so such things had been largely neglected until Aeryn's hashed together army had waltzed into Bliss with minimal resistance to cast him down.

That had been a wake-up call to how unprepared both realms had been militarily for so long, and with their introduction to Terra, Aeryn had been one of the prime advocates for that change. He now held rank in both, only below the heads of the two orders. It was good being a hero sometimes.

As they approached the outpost, a blonde silvis woman stepped up to them with a smile. "Aeryn! You're back sooner than I'd thought you'd be."

Aeryn smiled and waved a hand. "Hey there, Lirael. We're back sooner than we'd thought too - all kinds of weird shit going on, we figured that we ought to be around in case things here go to pot." The silvis grinned, "And where would a world be without me to save it?"

Lirael was one of Aeryn's oldest friends, and had fought with him to bring down Tiernan. Now she was a Captain in the Argent Vanguard and led the outpost on Terra at the gate to their realm. She rolled her eyes at him with a smirk. "Don't get too big for your boots," she said, "Arrogance isn't very appealing, you'll put Elante off. I've noticed a little of what you're talking about. The Academies have been looking into it."

Elante nodded to Aeryn's friend, exchanging a friendly smile with her in greeting. "Yes, I got the message you passed on for Scarlet." he said, "Thank you for that. And don't worry about him," the mage gave Aeryn a sidelong glance, "I keep him in perspective."

Miming a gun to the head, Aeryn snickered when Elante shoved him teasingly. "You make me sound so whipped."

"Because you are." Elante retorted, winking.

Aeryn stared him down for several long moments. "...touche."

Lirael coughed. "If you two are quite done..?" she prompted.

Nodding, Aeryn moved forwards, pulling Elante with him. "We'll get out of your hair. It was good seeing you, Lir. We should catch up some time!"

"You know where to find me," Lirael said with a laugh, waving after the pair as they headed towards the Academy.