Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

After seeing off Minerva and Praxis, Vahn spent about forty minutes with Loki because he had free time and he felt like he didn’t get to see her that often. After the previous meeting almost a week prior, Loki had been taking care of business all over the City so Vahn had asked Fafnir to look after her on occasion. She typically had the escort of someone like Finn, Gareth, or Bete, along with a few other members of her Familia, but Vahn wanted to keep her safe. As Vahn had been spending a lot of time with individual girls, he strangely found himself thinking about Loki more often since he had more time to think. His interactions with the girls during the evening had become a lot tamer and Vahn felt like he had grown much closer to them during those intimate moments.

He had already expected it to be the case, but the girls behaved very differently when they were alone with him compared to when they were together. It was far more emotional and there was less of a ’rush’ to get things done, especially from Vahn’s perspective. Throughout the week, Vahn had spent time with Milan, Haruhime, Hestia, Lunoire, and had even spent his first period of time alone with Arnya. Vahn had never realized that she was actually a little ’possessive’ because he had always been with her when other girls were involved. She typically ’competed’ with him to make things last a bit longer, but this was just her way of monopolizing him for a marginally longer period of time. When they were alone, however, she became a lot more affectionate and was easily one of the ’loudest’ girls he associated with...

Loki reached up and poked his cheek with her index finger as she playfully asked, "Who are you thinking about~?" Vahn had been hugging her from behind and caressing her belly for a while and had gotten lost in his thoughts. He found he had become somewhat more reflective with his free time so he showed an apologetic smile and explained, "I was actually thinking about a lot of different things...including a certain mischevious goddess. This week has been a big shift for me and I was thinking if there was something I could do to express my gratitude..." Loki had started caressing his face as she sighed and said, "You shouldn’t always be thinking about what you can do to ’thank’ people around you, Vahn...you’re already doing your best, that is enough. Just think about being a good father to our daughter and try to make sure things don’t get out of control in your daily life..."

Hearing that Vahn was once again thinking about how to express his ’gratitude’ once again, Loki released a long sigh and slouched against his body, holding his hands with her own. It was difficult for her to understand how someone can be so selfless at times that, just being happy made him think he ’needed’ to do something. Vahn didn’t seem to be capable of accepting that he was ’allowed’ to be happy without having to ’earn’ it and it was starting to make Loki feel a bit depressed at times. She had been thinking that their daughter might have a similar disposition to herself and was worried the two wouldn’t get along. Unlike her, their daughter wouldn’t have had millions of years to adapt to various different people and Loki was worried she might oppose Vahn at some point...

Vahn could sense the fluctuations in Loki’s aura and saw the subtle negativity that had spread throughout the generally chaotic flow. He squinted his eyes thinking about what was concerning her before deciding to ask, "Is there something wrong, Loki? Please tell me..." Loki craned her head and had a much softer expression than normal as she said, "I’m worried that your children will think they need to ’earn’ their happiness from watching how you act...kids can be very impressionable, Vahn, so please try to become a more stable existence for them. I don’t expect you can change so quickly, especially after having such a messed up past...but I want you to become someone our daughter can look up to and respect..."

Realizing what she was saying, Loki was somewhat surprised because she felt compelled to be ’honest’ instead of trying to skirt around the issue. This had been happening more often recently and it was both scary and exciting since ’change’ was something she craved more than anything else. She hated the monotony of life in Heaven and had ’fled’ to the mortal world to experience new stimulus. However, the one thing she could never change was herself and this meant her nature caused Loki a great deal of frustration. For the first time in millions of years, this seemed to be changing and it made Loki want to ’protect’ the thing that had introduced such variety to her life. She began to feel that Vahn, and the baby in her belly, were actually more important to her than the ’pathetic’ life she had preserved for so long...

Seeing the strange fluctuations in Loki’s aura, Vahn tilted her head up and gave her a kiss on the lips while infusing a gentle stream of energy into her stomach to help her relax. She began laughing in response to his concern and playfully nibbled on his lip when he pulled back his head. Her eyes were slightly parted and Vahn could feel a gentleness contained within her ruby-like pupils that made him feel a strange pang in his heart. He didn’t understand why, but her gaze reminded him a lot of that single memory of his mother and the infinite love she had for him before their parting. It made his body tremble, but it was a very pleasant feeling that made the anguish he felt tolerable...

After sending Loki off at the gate, Vahn watched her departing figure alongside the always sour-looking Bete. He sent a signal to Fafnir asking him to protect her before turning away and heading toward the Manor to get some coffee to calm his mind. His date with Ryuu was supposed to be taking place pretty soon so Vahn felt the need to refresh himself before meeting up with her. He found Syr sitting in the study wearing a simple dark blue collared dress that had a white apron-like attachment, very similar to the clothes she often wore at the Hostess of Fertility. She was uncharacteristically barefoot and Vahn could see she had taken her brown boots off and set them at the side of the sofa before curling her feet up on the cushions.

Seeing Vahn’s arrival, Syr showed an elegant smile and said, "Good morning, Vahn. Did things go well at the Guest Residence~?" Vahn nodded his head as he walked over and sat down next to Syr on the sofa and set out some coffee for himself. One of the things that had changed in the last week is that Vahn didn’t try so hard to think about his actions and simply acted how he felt. Since she was the only one here, Vahn felt like being close to Syr and she seemed pleased by the opportunity as she shifted on the sofa and leaned against him with a peal of bell-like laughter escaping from her impeccably beautiful lips.

Vahn had a thought as he looked at Syr’s almost flawless appearance and asked, "I’ve never really spoiled you in the past, have I?" Syr showed a moment of confusion in her eyes, even though her expression didn’t really change. She wanted to say that Vahn had spoiled her plentily when they were together but realized he was talking about something slightly different than the thoughts that crossed her mind. Realizing this, Syr blushed because she felt like her mind had become a bit dirty as of late and her heart fluttered when Vahn pat against his thighs and said, "How about you lay down and I’ll pamper you, though not for too long. I’ll be going on a date with Ryuu in a bit..."

Syr’s eyes glittered slightly and, even though it made her feel strangely giddy, laid down across Vahn’s lap and looked up into his face. It made her feel weird to be looking up at Vahn like this because it was typically her that gave a lap pillow to him. However, she couldn’t deny that the change was nice because Vahn’s body was always very warm and he looked handsome even from this angle. As he had noticed the change in her aura and the subtle fluctuations in her expression, Vahn smiled and began gently caressing Syr’s head with his left hand while resting his right palm against her abdomen. She wasn’t pregnant, but Vahn had built a strange habit of caressing the girls’ stomaches lately as they all seemed to enjoy it.

As was often the case, Syr rested her hands atop his much like the other girls and closed her eyes to enjoy the comfortable stream of energy entering through her head and abdomen. Vahn activated his [Eyes of Truth] briefly to make sure there were no abnormalities in her body and watched as his own energy slowly coursed along her own mana circuits. One of the benefits of inserting his energy through their navel was that it was very close to the source of their mana and he could nourish their bodies with his source energy. He wasn’t sure about the long-term effects, but it would undoubtedly be beneficial for them. Syr was a demigoddess, meaning her aura and the flow of energy in her body was much purer than normal, but there were still noticeable changes in her mana circuits as they reacted to the presence of his foreign energy in a strangely hospitable manner...

Reminded of Ash momentarily, Vahn blinked and asked, "Syr, have you ever considered joining the Hestia Familia...?" Hearing his voice, Syr opened her eyes slightly and there was a glimmer of light that passed across her pale grey pupils. Vahn naturally resisted the spontaneous charming effect she emitted as she said, "I have indeed considered it...but I’ve never been fond of fighting and I feel a strange incongruity whenever I think about bringing it up. It’s like a part of me refuses to be bound in such a way...I’m not quite sure myself. If you think it’s for the best, I’ll go ahead and undergo the ceremony though. I know it would help track me down in an emergency situation, but I rarely leave the Manor and I’m not sure it is entirely necessary..."

Vahn squinted his eyes slightly which caused Syr to laugh as she asked, "You’re interested in knowing if it’s because of my origins, aren’t you? I heard about Ash and that you were able to see he had the blessing of Ares...if I have something similar, I feel like it would be both a good and a bad thing to know. Strangely, I feel that my past should be left behind because I’m far more interested in the present and our shared future. Knowing who my father is likely wouldn’t make me happy and it would just add another burden to you..." Syr knew that, even though she didn’t really care for the god that allowed her to become an orphan, she would still resent them greatly. If given the chance, she might even machinate to have them returned to Heaven just to feel some amount of vindication for the life she had been forced to live before meeting Vahn...

Realizing what Syr must be thinking, Vahn released a small sigh and said, "Sorry, I should be more considerate of others instead of allowing my own curiosity to guide my decisions. You have already been doing a lot for everyone, and I’m especially grateful for all you have done to make sure things are running smoothly within that Manor. Don’t worry about joining the Familia, as you’re already an important member of my family even without that..." Vahn leaned down slightly while lifting up Syr’s head so that he could kiss her to allay any concerns she might have. However, after pulling away from her lips Vahn realized something and smiled before saying, "If you think it would be beneficial for emergencies, I could always carve my own crest on your body..."

Syr’s complexion turned slightly ruddy after hearing his words and she even showed a slightly pouting expression before saying, "That sounds very embarrassing..." Though she said it was embarrassing, which she genuinely believed, Syr was also feeling a great deal of excitement at the idea of having a mark on her body personally put there by Vahn. She felt like it would be a good luck charm that would increase her own chances of getting pregnant in the future. After making the decision to let nature take its course, Syr had constantly been wondering when she might get pregnant and was a little worried about it after her time with Vahn was cut down with the schedule changes. She wasn’t in a particular hurry, but she also didn’t want to be one of the last girls in the bunch to have a child as the thought was somewhat frustrating to think about.

Vahn nodded his head but showed a somewhat sly smile because he could feel the changes in Syr’s aura and it was very apparent she wasn’t against the idea. He gripped her hand firmly with his own and said, "I’ll be doing salon treatments this evening...stop by and I’ll give you the crest and pamper you for a bit." Syr’s complexion became beet red and she bit her lower lip for several seconds before nodding her head and saying, "Yes, I’ll make sure to be there..." Though she didn’t have any inhibitions about it, Syr felt like Vahn bringing it up in a situation where she was laying against his lap was a little unfair. She could tell he wasn’t doing it on purpose, but it felt like he was bullying her by putting her in such a ’compromising’ position. The fact that he continued to insert energy into her belly made Syr feel especially giddy and she just wanted to run off and hide away for a few minutes. Thinking this, her eyes opened wide before she released a sigh of relief and said, "You should be heading off to meet Ryuu soon. It’s rude to keep a lady waiting."

With Syr’s reminder, Vahn showed a wry smile and gave her another quick peck on the lips before helping her right herself on the sofa. Syr used her hands to smoothen out the wrinkles in her dress before patting her chest and returning to her characteristically kind expression. She sent him a smile and said, "Run along, Vahn. I’ll see you this evening...fufufu~." Vahn shook his head with a smile and sent her a playful wink as he headed toward the door and made his way to the rendezvous to meet up with Ryuu. Given her personality, she had probably already shown up even though it was nearly a half hour until they were supposed to begin. He also believed in showing up early but knew it would just create a strange phenomenon where they showed up progressively earlier just to beat the other person to the location...

As expected, Vahn found Ryuu wearing a pale vanilla colored sweater with green shoulder straps revealed around the wide brim of her collar. She had on a soft purple pleated skirt, which was very uncommon for her, and pure white stockings covering her fair white legs. Instead of green boots, she wore a pair of neat red designer half-boots that came up slightly past her ankles. The most notable change in her casual attire was the fact that Ryuu had actually curled the ends of her hair a bit more than normal and there were two very small pigtails on her head. Her hair wasn’t that long, as she kept it very short so it didn’t interfere with her movements, so it was somewhat strange to see such a ’childish’ hairstyle on the cool and taciturn girl.

Seeing Vahn’s surprised expression, Ryuu hung her head slightly with a blush touching her cheeks and asked, "Does it look...strange...?" Vahn immediately shook his head as a large smile appeared on his face and he said, "Ryuu, you look amazing. Casual clothes suit you well...I was honestly just surprised by all the changes and couldn’t process them fast enough to compliment you properly, hahaha~." Ryuu’s complexion became somewhat rosy as a small smile appeared on her face as a result of Vahn’s words. She had talked with several of the other girls about how to properly dress for a date and it took her a lot of effort to finally pick out these clothes. Since she didn’t usually wear ’cute’ outfits, Ryuu had been somewhat worried Vahn, especially after Syr pinned her hair up with small ribbon-like clasps...

Vahn extended his arm to Ryuu and she gingerly linked her arm with his and leaned against his shoulder as naturally as possible. It was very strange that she felt more bashful at a moment like this than when they were together at night, but Ryuu couldn’t stop her heart rate from increasing. She had accompanied Vahn on ’outings’ with other girls in the past, but this would be their first ’date’, even though it was in a region they had been alone together previously. In fact, the first time this forest had been created she and Vahn had already shared a rather intimate moment with each other. Thinking this made Ryuu’s blush deepen further as she hung her head and allowed Vahn to escort her into the illusory forest ahead...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Maternal Instincts’,’Syr’s Convictions’,’Elves are quick to recognize lewdness (UwU)’)