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An adventuring party recruited from Osirion teleports into Azir on the 8th of Desnus. Rahadoum's recruiting contact in Osirion wrote ahead to note they were expected. Couple of guys he's known a long time - a wizard, a ranger - and a new guy, sorcerer, probably to replace the cleric they usually travel with. They spend two days in Azir getting oriented and head out to the front. The ranger wears an unusually high quality amulet of Nondetection; the sorcerer wears a headband for intelligence, which is a bit unusual as sorcerers usually don't need it to cast, but some variants do; they are otherwise unremarkable. Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, no reading, which could mean neutral or 'hiding it'. They work quickly and effectively, manage resources reasonably well, get recommended to higher-ups for a closer look on that account.
It'd be very silly if not! If someone attacks them with a sword or something he won't be able to kiss her during that, but at baseline it won't even be noticeable once she's used to it.
And then they can return to circling and greeting people and dancing and accepting congratulations and getting asked a lot of times how they met - "Iomedae sent me a vision to tell me to go to them" is the version she feels like explaining to strangers -
When the sun goes down there are fireworks and she is so incredibly incredibly exhausted.
Leareth is too, though a lot less frazzled than he'd expected; being able to put his own shields on Carissa hardly makes her invulnerable, but the fact that he can feel them as directly as his own does wonders for his peace of mind, which isn't strictly rational but oh well.
He puts his arm around her while they watch the fireworks together.
"I feel very married," he says in a murmur, half to himself. "I suppose that is the point. Spend a day entirely about that, in front of everyone, and it feels so real."
"I think that's the idea, yeah." Lean. "At least make it awkward to back out.
Glad we decided to rush it. I think it went off fine, and this way we're ready whatever comes up next..."
"Would you like to head out now? I suppose we have not looked at most of the presents yet, but I think I will appreciate them more once I am rested."
"I super do not want to go through presents today, it can definitely wait. How'd you know to grab just this one?"
"...Khemet informed me I ought to." Along with quite a lot of other advice, every time he asked for help guessing what someone was thinking and what he ought to say - sometimes he didn't even need the advice as much as the reminder that Khemet was nearby.
"Ah." She can't even feel annoyed, Leareth's been considerably more at ease ever since they got the bracelets and she now has her husband's powerful shielding and spell resistance and apparently he can just make them stronger if anything happens. "I'm ready to go, if you are."
"Just a moment." Still with his arm around her, Leareth Mindspeaks Nayoki and Taver again to say that they're headed out. There are a lot of other people he should thank for their help properly, but he's so tired right now, especially of saying words to people.
Instead he just checks if Khemet is still in Mindspeech range or has already left.
:We are headed to Aktun: Leareth tells him. :Thank you so much for being here today. I know it was inconvenient, but - it made such a difference for me:
:I love you. See you in a few weeks, probably:
He gets started on an interplanar Gate to Axis, aimed for the same concourse where Abadar redirects all the Plane Shifts.
She watches, suddenly nervous for no reason. Maybe because this is the last moment anything can go wrong, maybe because soon they'll be alone together.
The Gate snaps up.
He takes her hand and leads her across into Axis. Some of the tension is already leaving his shoulders. It feels like coming home.
"- Sorry, it is probably a less overwhelming introduction when one is not very tired." Still holding her hand tightly, Leareth quickly dismantles the Gate and then leans on her a bit until he's finished casting his last remaining Recharge Innate Magic for the day; he hasn't been doing that much heavy-lifting magic, technically, but constantly using mage-sight and shielding both of them is tiring by itself, if maintained for sixteen hours straight.
"It's nice," she says. "Not everyone who makes Axis gets here, though, right - how does He pick them -"
"Abadar does not exactly select people directly." Leareth starts walking, leading her toward the trolleys. "Anyone can travel through who follows the rules. It is a popular city to live in so property is very expensive and most people cannot afford it immediately. The market balances itself out. I needed to sell them a lot of my very old rare books to afford a stay here."
"Huh. I guess maybe that'd turn out more efficient than Hell because people are more motivated to allocate themselves wherever they can make the most money, even if you're claiming a smaller share of it. Or - maybe it gets less out of most people but more out of the most productive ones, and you could place a bet that that matters more?"
"My understanding is that the wealth of Aktun is also less - accessible to the material plane, or directable toward a specific end such as a war. It is a prosperous place, especially if one has skills with high earning potential, but Abadar could not use that wealth to fund a country directly, the way Asmodeus used the output of Hell. It is not for that, I think."
Leareth keeps his arm protectively around her and watches the crowds of people, human and not, and seems content not to talk.