Despite this being a common means of travel, Xaiden still felt a bit anxious as his turn to enter the monolith approached. The feeling of pulling and compression was something some people couldn't get used to, and Xaiden had heard there were even people who refused to travel with portals entirely, opting to take the long way instead. Not the Caelus family though, they weren't allowed to set such a terrible example, so at the first sign of Xaiden's aversion to it, his mother hired a team of doctors to treat his discomfort. He was 6 years old when his imprint was updated to numb his amygdala when he entered a certain radius of a portal. One more foot forward and it should activate, he thought to himself absentmindedly. The nerves and the eerie calm that followed had also become a normal aspect of traveling for Xaiden.
He was standing next to the large tree trunk waiting on Nivra to arrive before his senses returned to normal. The numbing effect ending as abruptly as it started, and the full force return of his anxiety about meeting a stranger for the first time made his heart rate spike rapidly. His imprint flashed with alerts and recommendations while the world around him flashed white then darkened at the edges. Ugh, not now! he thought impatiently to himself as he shakily sat on the grass and held his head in his hands. With his eyes closed, all he could see now was the display from the imprint, he selected a breathing exercise and watched the balloon fill and deflate as his breathing steadied. Once his heart rate calmed a bit, he checked the time to see how much had passed. An hour? Xaiden wondered silently, then muttered. "That's crazy!"
It'd been a while since he'd had an episode like this, and he never got over how quickly time passed for others while it felt completely paused for him. He looked around and noticed that none of the people from the group he traveled with were here anymore. Someone had set up an easel and was halfway through a painting nearby, and a small family was in the middle of a picnic.
"Did I miss her?" he continued talking under his breath, the sound of his own voice calming him slightly. "She wouldn't have known what I looked like. Gosh, I don't even know what she looks like. We never even planned for a way to identify each other when we met!" He smacked his head repeatedly as he chastised himself for being so careless and sloppy. "Should I just go back and try to reach her on the radio again?" Ultimately, Xaiden decided to wait out the remaining time just in case she did show up holding a sign with her name or something. He had nothing to write on, so he spent the rest of the time scanning the people coming and going for any one looking as lost as he was.