Erysis is sipping on some tea, her red fingers clutching the warm cup. "We had a fight." Then she squints at me, carefully studying my face. "Have you been crying?"

I scoff dismissively. "No. {Allergies}."

"What's that?"

"A failed redirect."

She levels an unamused stare at me, quickly transitioning into a grin with the shake of her head. "Same old Lucius." Then she imperceptibly stiffens. "Umm, seeing as you are older than me, should I call you Mr. Lucius?"

"Ew, no."

"Just 'no' would have been fine..."

"Sorry. Subconscious reaction."

"Umm..." She tries to say what's on her mind, but does not find the mettle, choosing to return to the oddity. "What are all— allergies?" she asks, the pronunciation foreign.

"A peculiarity of Earth biology not shared by the inhabitants of this world, attributed to your supercharged immune systems."

"Supercharged by mana?"

"Indeed."

"Huh. And are they dangerous?"

"Depends on the severity, but generally, no. Runny nose and irritated eyes being the worst of the symptoms. Tree pollen's a big trigger."

Erysis snorts. "Nice excuse, then. Did you teleport somewhere warmer to sulk?" she asks with a grin. "Wait. Do you have allergies?"

"I could if I wanted to, but no."

"That's... Uh... You're really powerful, huh. But if you can control stuff like that, why'd you choose to be a string bean?"

I fake some hurt. "Kick me while I'm down, why don't you." But then we both chuckle, with Elisa smiling at us happily.

Erysis interlaces her fingers, resting her now connected hands on the table. She takes a deep breath and determination blooms on her face. "Look, real talk. I don't see why this should change anything between us. You are still my friend, the friend I've gotten to know quite well. Am I feeling certain negative emotions toward your actions? Kinda. And I feel bad that I do. But... I understand why you did what you did. I really do. You might see me as some stupid child that has a lot of growing up ahead of her, and I probably am and do, but I understand." Her eyes are filled with trepidation, waiting for a reply.

"First of all, you are not that stupid." She shakes her head, her nerves calming instantly, a smile breaking through again. "And second, sorry and thank you. I'm sorry for what I did. Elisa can confirm that I struggled with it a lot." The person in question nods her head in agreement. "And thank you for accepting me for who I am."

We look at each other, no pretenses and lies. Then Erysis' eyes briefly dart to Elisa. The fire mage loses her flames and springs up. "'Kay. That's it. Sorry for disturbing you. I'll show myself out now."

"Sit back down," Elisa says.

Erysis produces a tiny 'eep' sound and swiftly follows the command. I resist the urge to laugh at her. Referencing my digital timer reveals that we're pretty close to bestie status, having accounted for the unfortunate... detour, of course.

Elisa takes a sip from her own tea, while her eyes are regarding the squirming Erysis. "Don't hold back. I know you have a lot more questions. I certainly did." She pokes my shoulder with a finger. "And this dummy is happy to do whatever you want." I nod, earning a slightly confused look from my friend.

Said friend then says, "Okay. This might be an inappropriate thing to ask..." She pauses for a moment and then blurts out, "I wanna see a star."

Blinking a few times at her, I point to a window. She groans.

I chuckle at her well-concealed delight of my flawless comedic timing. "Any preferences?"

"There are different stars?"

"Yeah. Big, small, various colors, age."

"Big."

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"I can do big."

Erysis addresses the elf, her voice full of hesitation, "Will you join us, Archmage?"

"Why are you still calling me that?"

"...Elisa, then."

"Sure. Haven't seen any up close myself."

A warp portal manifests in the room, leading to another much dimmer space. The two walk in ahead, and I follow after.

"Aren't stars supposed to be bright?" Erysis asks.

"He has a flair for the theatrical," Elisa replies, motioning to a curtain covering one of the four entirely blank walls.

Erysis turns around and regards me with a flat look. "Couldn't have guessed." She turns back to Elisa. "Did you know he revealed his magic to me in the middle of spar?"

"You should have seen him going undercover as various dwarves," Elisa adds. "You should also see him when we play games." And there it is. Her teeth have just sunk into her latest prey.

I clear my throat, now beside the curtain, drawing their attention. "Behold. VRCNBNWR-5B67E803D1A243BBA062AD42C4E1FA66." As I am saying the entirely sensible identifier of the star, I am also slowly pulling the curtain open. It splits in the middle, revealing a blinding flash.

When it is fully ajar and their eyes adjust to the immense brightness, they see a celestial body of unfathomable size. The red giant is dominating nearly the entirety of space that can be seen from the viewing port, a sea of silently raging plasma, each tiny splotch on its surface bigger than anything they have ever imagined.

For a time, Erysis stares at what fire magic wants to be when it grows up. Elisa is more interested in her newest prospect's reaction than the star, watching her expression with an inconspicuous smile.

Erysis manages to tear her eyes away to ask a question, "How big is it?" I project a little yellow marble next to the wall-sized fireball, hardly discernable amidst the reddish inferno.

"That's our star for scale."

"Huh... Nexen's missing out," she says, gazing out again.

Elisa chimes in, "My sentiments exactly."

We then take a tour around the universe, observing all manner of interesting astronomical objects and phenomena. Supernovae, other star systems and planets, black holes, that funny thing dark matter does from time to time. During that, the two women get to chatting, with discussion about the nature of reality itself quickly taking a backseat to more important matters, like what kind of games the elf was talking about.

"And that's as close as we can get to the edge safely. Any closer and we risk losing atomic and temporal cohesion, among other, less pleasant, occurrences," I say at the end of the improvised tour.

"Less pleasant?" Erysis asks. "Never mind. What's on the other side?"

"Well, until recently, I would have told you I had no idea, but with what I've experienced, there are some theories that seem promising."

"Other universes?"

"Possibly. Or the framework between them."

Erysis nods sagely, then turns to Elisa, losing interest in the metaphysical properties of existence. "What do you think the campaign's gonna be about?"

Elisa hums. "He's been weirdly quiet about it."

The two regard me with some expectation.

"Sorry, my lips are sealed," I say. Both playfully boo.

With most of the universe's touristy spots explored, we return to our still warm tea, courtesy of yours truly. Which is promptly ignored in favor of another supreme curiosity.

Elisa is showing off the interfaces in the gaming room. If her intentions are to ensnare my friend forever, she is certainly succeeding.

"Does that work?" Erysis asks.

"Not exactly. You can finagle it, but the result is subpar and prone to failure."

"Hmm... What about that one?"

"That works, yes. What we think of as 'light' is a much more complex phenomenon than we've ever been able to study. Take a sunburn as an example. You get it if you stand too long under the sun, but you can also get it if you are not careful with some of your hotter spells, can't you?"

Erysis nods along. "Yeah, I've noticed. With how intense my training's been recently, I had to account for it in my protections."

"Now why does that happen from both 'fire' and 'light'?"

The former mage thinks intently. "Why do we get sunburnt again? Uh... Right, skin cell damage..." she tries to reason herself to a conclusion. "So, they share the same harmful component? Have we discovered what that is?"

"Not yet. Fire emits it, while light is it. Energy, radiation, a spectrum of possibilities," Elisa says. Erysis stares into space. Then her form pulses in a series of unresolved spells. Elisa smiles. "Feel it?"

"The knowledge helps conceptualization..." Erysis says. Her burning eyes pin the Archmage next to her. "How much stronger have you gotten?" Elisa's smile only grows wider.

We spend the better part of the day diving into what my scientific knowledge changes for the magical arts. The unanimous consensus? A small increase in raw power, and a large increase in versatility and potential.

Not having tired of asking questions even a bit, Erysis adds another, "What's the neural interface like? Is it itchy?"

"It's not itchy," I deadpan.

Elisa elaborates, "You get used to it really quickly, and after a few days, you can't live without it."

Having gotten all the permission she would ever need, Erysis employs an amateurish begging technique. A technique I'm not falling for. "Fine," someone possessing my voice says. Her pleading eyes promptly return to their normal configuration.

My second guinea pig gets her wish. She flicks her gaze around the room a few times, then reorients to the new pseudo dimension that's revealed itself to her. "Is this how you see the world, Lucius?" Erysis asks.

"Hmm... A good enough analogy, I suppose. Multiply it by a lot, though."

Erysis then addresses the elf, "And I can annoy him whenever?"

Elisa nods. "Hasn't complained yet."

"First time for everything," I add. Both regard me with looks containing a mix of pity and condescendence, the truthfulness of my statement sniffed out instantly.

As the winter sun disappears behind a cloudy horizon, making way for an early night, Erysis decides it's time to head on home. She would have probably slept over, but there is someone waiting for her. My friend gives me an extra-long hug. Then she hugs Elisa, maybe finding comfort in their shared situation. The elf is momentarily surprised but swiftly returns the embrace.

With goodbyes said, Elisa and I settle in on the couch, spending the time left until dinner by watching her show of choice.

"I believe you just got an apprentice," I say.

"Oh, fuck. ...I did."

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