Edwin wasn't quite sure what to make of the sensation that gripped him once they'd crossed into the circle. It certainly didn't feel like returning to his natural state -not that he'd know, really- but it was a sort of deep itch all the way under his skin and into his muscles, it was a sensation he didn't particularly care for, borderline painful, but not enough that he could tune it out the way he so often did with pain.

It didn't take long for it to pass, however, fifteen, twenty seconds, maybe, which was about as long as it had taken for him to realize he was solid in the first place.

However, distressingly, they still had reflections in that carefully-placed mirror, the one that he still wasn't wholly sure was part of the circle or not, but he'd felt it was better to leave it in case it was necessary. The breath he'd been holding escaped him in a rush, "Well, suppose that's that, then."

It was, as Charles had predicted, a devastation, not one he wouldn't overcome, given time and being able to bury himself in research, but still enough of one that he hadn't yet noticed the lingering ache of his injuries was gone.