"Well, that's arguably less depressing than Iobel's situation. She's married to an Adarin, but the circumstances leading to it are staggeringly terrible and they're still trying to make their way out of all the excess sad."

"... That sounds depressing, whatever that is. Aya, I am glad you are not depressing. You're my friend, you are not allowed to be stuck in excess sadness."

"I'm not sad. Apparently I'm sort of mediocre, though."

"I'm sure you'll do beautifully with more resources."

"Mhm," says Adarin, loyally. "You'll be throttling the economy and declaring yourself empress in no time."

Idania giggles.

"Or whatever. I'm not sure how much leeway you get from Perinixu or how much you care about what she lets you do?"

"She has some finicky preferences about trivial details for her priests and acolytes," shrugs Ayabel, "that I don't mind, but she's responsive to arguments about efficiency and has reasonable ideas about what to be efficient at doing. With the resources I had, that meant I biked around healing people and teaching the priests how to update the sanitation systems and writing the occasional book. If you're giving me more stuff, that will change."

"... This is coming off as another world that probably would benefit greatly from germ theory. Love, you are going to end up Empress of Useful Wikipedia Facts at this rate."

"...This world has germ theory. My original world doesn't, though. Well, last I checked, more than fifty years ago - how much more I couldn't say, Rae, what year is it?"

"I have no idea," says the god.

"...Okay. Roughly where are we?"

"My domain, near the border closest to Perinixu."

"... Gah, I need to update my maps, I bet it's been ages and the domains have all shuffled around. Is the ocean-bitch gone?"

"No."

"Damn. Okay then. I'll go grab maps later and figure out what's changed while we were dead. Also how long it's been."

"Perinixu isn't going to be able to produce the year on command either, but she might know where my bike is because I left it to another acolyte. Unless the visitors are starving I would like that ride to her domain now. What am I getting a ride on?"

"This," says Isabella, hefting her cloud-pine. "It will just barely fit three if we all get along really well, without anybody's daemon getting in the way. Idania seems to have flying covered by herself."

"What gave me away?" teases Idania, doing a little loop in the air.

"The humongous flying apparatus you're attached to. Obviously."

"That's definitely it. I should have hidden the strings better, darn."

"Well, you've been found out now, no use continuing to deceive us. Anyway." Isabella sets the branch to floating and sits as far forward as she reasonably can to leave room for alt and spouse.

Spouse first. He sits behind Isabella, trying to leave Aya as much room as possible behind him. This may or may not involve cuddling his wife. Oops.