Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lyndin waited as the three settled, because even if this couldn’t be a traditional ceremonial promotion, he still wanted it to be meaningful. He still wanted them to understand how proud he was of them. He still wanted them to be able to celebrate and bask in Velencya’s strength.

Their hands were all joined, and almost immediately an energy seemed to spread from Lyndin to them. First to Vyn and Andreiya, but shortly after to Aliez, too. There was a hum in the air, warm and inviting.

Lyndin’s eyes began to glow; it was faint at first, but as they grew in power, so too did the energy around him. Something that almost felt like an electric warmth danced over his skin and spread rapidly to the three Velencians.

It wasn’t painful. It felt like home, in a distant way. The electric hum that radiated from Velencya’s core.

Lyndin was linked to that power in a way the others weren’t, and for a moment, he was able to share that power with them. There was something untapped in each of them, something they had cultivated and grown and strengthened on their own. Lyndin simply possessed the power to help them unleash it.

Their badges flickered in tandem, flashing from both their chest and belts. It was a rapid change; they’d earned a new color and their uniforms already reflected this. The crystals in their weapons hummed with new power–not his, but theirs. In sync with their wielders' starseeds, a new power hummed within them. They would need to process it and upgrade their weapons to properly accommodate this change, but the power was within their hands, now.

Lyndin stood in the presence of three new Corporals–and he was proud.

The hum of energy lessened and faded, as did the glow in his eyes.

But, the smile remained.

Gentle. Hopeful.

Briefly, Andreiya was confused about what Aliez was doing; he was worried he was falling, or that something was wrong, but by the time he’d half turned to see, he was already bumping into the Commodore and–

Well, he would have been horrified if he hadn’t realized that this was completely intentional, and even if he wouldn’t have said it, he wanted a hug, too.

He was far from home. Far from his family. Stuck on a world that he didn’t understand, and that didn’t understand him. They took everything for granted and he wasn’t going to. Aliez had pushed them into a hug with the Commodore, and they were too far in for him to back out. He didn’t look up, but he instinctively wrapped his arm around Lyndin when he was close enough to do so.

It was too late to take back the promotion anyway, right?

Right?

The hug was surprising, thought not unwelcome. Lyndin did not seek out contact or reassurances; he thought himself long past the need for such signs of affection and reassurance. He’d spent too long in a position that demanded he not have such weakness.

And yet, it didn’t feel like a weakness to have the three of them pressed against him in a hug.

They were young. They were in an unfamiliar place. They were doing their best in the face of great danger and loss.

It wasn’t so unlike what he’d gone through when he was younger.

They had grown up with stability when he’d grown up without it. He was used to turmoil, and he’d worked hard to build a world they could grow up in, a world they could be safe in.

Right now, they were away from it. On a disaster of a mission.

It didn’t feel like weakness when they hugged him.

It felt like home.

He wanted to give them what they gave him, so he carefully wrapped his arms around the three of them and hugged them back.

For as long as they needed it.