As Alex abruptly disappeared into the light, causing the air that once seamlessly blended with the cold night to bend and simmer in a cascade of waves. What looked to be an odd extension of their world into a world of light appeared to be some sort of barrier that only expressed its almost liquid nature when disturbed. As the ripples shimmered, the two on earth-side found they could no longer see the strange world that lay beyond. Matt and Jeff turned and looked at eachothef with uncertainty.
"Uh...should we follow?" Jeff said with a nervous shiver "I uhh I don't feel too comfortable going into that weird shimmer...ain't natural." As a physic major, and a good one to boot, Jeff was a man of laws, constants, and empirics. This - portal - defied all he knew to be true. He didn't like it.
"If he's right, and there is something valuable, I don't want that nerd getting a bigger share than us." Jeff replied, eyes fixed on the shimmer "I guess the little guy does know a hell of a lot about this place, and didn't even hesitate when he saw this gate....thing. He must have known about it before come." Tough as always, Matt found himself instinctually puffing up his muscles in response to this peculiar unknown. The otherworldliness oddly awakened an alpha male instinct in him that felt challenged by its mere existence. He didn't understand it. He didn't NEEED to understand it. What he needed was to prove himself stronger than it. A light tinge of anger welled in him as he pondered how Alex, the weak little nerd, went through with no hesitation while he stood here with Jeff pondering what to do next.
Meanwhile the wheels in Jeff's mind turned. Matt had a point. This portal....thing was unlike anything anyone had ever discovered. Who knew what riches lay beyond? What discoveries he could attach his name to? Being able to claim success on the football field, in the classroom AND a major scientific discovery all before he was 22 sure had a nice tenor to it. Jeff smirked slightly, taking another look into the still shimmering portal. The smirk quickly faded as he once again took in the alien shimmer. Even the waves that spilled across its surface seemed otherworldly, dancing in patterns that defied fluid mechanics. "Certainly not a fluid then" He thought, his scientific gears cranking in the portals features "Perhaps its a new state of matter? Antimatter? Something all together new?" This was weird, certainly novel, but the realist in him knew there was a physical explanation for this. he just needed to find the right theory. Absent mindedly, he straightened his spine as his brain suppressed his uncertainty through the mental jumping-jacks needed to reaffirm his steadfast realism.
Jeff turned to Matt who was now leering at the portal. "Alright dude, lets go through. Dr. Jeff Warner, Nobel Laurette has a nice ring to it. As does Dr. Jeff Warner, Millionaire.'
"Sounds good, I ain't letting that twerp get the gold, or whatever's on the other side first" Matt muttered, his fragile masculinity making mountains of the molehill of going through second.
"Ladies first" Jeff said with a gesture to the portal.
"Fuck off" Matt said as he lumbered through.
As Matt disappeared, Jeff took a deep breathe. "I can do this" He thought as he took his first step across, entering the unknown.