endless path, infinite cosmos

chapter 98

Hearing that Ais wanted to kiss him, Vahn paused for a moment while thinking about his experiences with her. Much like Tiona, he had only known Ais for a short period of time and, in that time, they shared many of the same experiences. They had both dueled him, seen him naked, bathed with him, and each had relatively high affections for him. Tiona was leading with her 100 affection, but Ais was sitting at 81, which was very high considering the short period they knew each other.

Ais was still looking toward him as he was mulling over the thoughts in his mind, almost like she was waiting for his decision. Vahn made eye contact with her and, after considering things, decided there was no reason to refute her. She hadn't done anything to make him dislike her, and according to what he had learned from Riveria, there shouldn't be any problems. Vahn nodded his head, and Ais walked closer to him before stopping right in front.

Off to the side, Tiona stared at the two with stars in her eyes as she held Lefiya's mouth shut. Though she didn't plan to let anyone take away Vahn from her, it didn't mean she would prevent him from being with other people. For her, as long as she managed to secure all of Vahn's firsts, everything else just increased her prestige and Vahn's appeal. Lefiya seemed like she desperately wanted to stop the events that were about to transpire, so Tiona had sealed her mouth shut for the time being.

Vahn and Ais stared at each other without either making any movements for a while. Seeing the blushing Ais and her peerless complexion and doll-like face, Vahn felt the emotions that had been plaguing him lately begin to build up. She really was a very beautiful girl and, though she lacked expressiveness, Vahn thought she seemed to be the kind and gentle type. Well, as long as she wasn't fighting a monster...

After a while, Vahn got closer to Ais and reached his hands around her waist. Unlike Tiona, Ais actually wore much more armor than she did in the manga. Though there was a gap near her back, it was somewhat awkward to grab around the plating and leather bandings of the armor. Vahn took a moment to find a better spot to seat his hands as Ais's blush began to grow deeper. Finally, Vahn gave up trying to hug around her waist and just settled in the opening around her back, almost like he was hugging her normally.

Once his 'preparations' were complete, Vahn looked into Ais's eyes and noticed they were slightly watery. Though her expression hadn't changed much, Vahn could see her brows had raised a bit. Slowly leaning his face toward her's, Vahn overlapped his lips with Ais's and gently kissed her. The moment they made contact, Ais tensed up a bit, but as the kiss continued she slowly began to relax.

The first thing Vahn noticed during the kiss, was that her lips were both similar but very different to Tiona's. They were soft, but they had an extra springiness to them which made his head fuzzy. The next thing he noticed was the fragrance coming from her body. Unlike Tiona, who had a somewhat earthly smelling fragrance like fresh greens, Ais's fragrance actually smelled a little like distilled honey. It was a subtle, but almost addicting aroma and it seemed to seep into Vahn's mind and settle itself into the fuzzy feelings.

Just like when he had kissed Tiona, Vahn lost track of time as he began focusing on the different emotions and sensations building in his mind and body. He enjoyed kissing more than he expected, and it seemed like the longer the kiss went on, the better he felt. Suddenly, Ais began to squirm in his arms and Vahn pulled himself away from her. He could see that her face was red and she was breathing heavily with watery, almost pain-filled eyes. "Air...can't breath."

Hearing her words, Vahn felt very awkward and a bit anxious. "Sorry, I got carried away..." Without thinking, he apologized and bowed his head slightly. Ais, who had been trying to recover her breathing, shook her head after hearing his words. "No. It was good...fluffy." Thinking that Vahn was blaming himself, Ais tried encouraging him using her thoughts about the experience. As it was her first kiss, she had blanked out very similarly to how Vahn did so previously. While she was struggling with all the new emotions inside of her, she forgot to breathe and began to panic slightly towards the end.