Chapter 4
Chiffon closed the front door behind her reaching down and slipping a finger between her shoe and heel. She peeled both of her shoes off tossing them against the wall near the door. Ahead of her Varen sat down on the couch and bent over unlacing his boots. In the year since he had come to West Genetics he had undergone more changes than just his powers. He trained regularly and his body showed the rewards for that labor.
When he first arrived he was of average build with equal parts fat and muscle. Very little definition could be seen on his body back then. After a year being here though Chiffon could instantly see the difference. His arms were bigger and she could see the veins running along his skin. His back and chest had become broader and taken shape. She doubted any fat even remained in his body nowadays.
"Longest day ever." He sighed unbuttoning his uniform shirt. He removed it draping it across the back of the couch leaning back in his white t-shirt. It was well past midnight when they returned home. Varen and she lived together since the expansion had been added. All the Nightingale accommodations were single bedroom apartments. Each had a living room, bedroom, full bath, and a kitchen dining room. At Varen's request enough rooms were constructed for the Nightingales as well as the Chevalier staff stationed there.
"You're home now. I'm sorry I got so caught up with Ticy. It's been a long time." Chiffon said walking into the living room.
"I understand, I'm glad you two had fun. She will do great I'm sure of it." Varen said. Chiffon smiled and unbuttoned her shirt laying it over Varen's on the couch. She sat down across from him in her white tank top she wore under the uniform. Her nerves were beginning to get the better of her as she felt the pangs of anxiety. She wanted to know about the letter General Renalt had given him.
"Here take a look." Varen said sensing her thoughts. He handed her the envelope to look over. She took it and unfolded the paper that was inside reading over the contents. She looked back up at him once she was done and her glowing eyes narrowed.
"What the hell?" She asked her face twisting in disgust.
"Basically the same thing I said to him." Varen agreed.
"E-Pandora? Are they serious?" She asked tossing the paper onto the table between them. Varen merely shrugged shaking his head.
"Seems like it. I'm not saying it's a horrible idea to have, but to actually put it into practice feels wrong." He answered.
"Varen, the Pandora being invited are the best in the world. This is very serious if they are pulling the top Pandora from their schools for this." Chiffon said.
"Don't think we have a choice on this one." He replied. Chiffon sighed arching her back stretching her back out.
"At least we're all going together." She added.
"I can't help but feel like we're only going to be part of this giant guinea pig experiment." Varen answered.
"Chevalier's orders are clear so I guess that's that. You will be able to meet the other world rankers though. That is exciting." Chiffon said a bit more upbeat.
"They really that good?" He asked. Varen had only met a handful of Pandora from other schools. Chiffon on the other hand regularly spoke with other schools. Being the student body president as well as one of the world ranked Pandora meant she had dealings with the other genetics facilities.
"Quite good, yes. Charles Bonaparte from De Orleana, Julia Munberk of Freystadt, Roxanne Elipton from Midland, and Cassie Lockheart from Asakura. Those four and myself make up the top five Pandora in the world." She explained.
"Cassie was the Pandora we met in Kaizu right? The Godspeed of the East is what she's called?" Varen asked to which Chiffon nodded.
"Yep, that's her. Fastest Pandora to ever live. Only living being able to achieve Mach 4 speeds. She earned her title and lives up to it." She answered. Varen remembered seeing her in the orientation video he was shown when he first came to West Genetics. The video couldn't even capture her body as she accelerated through the center of a Nova. All that could be seen was a streak of light she left behind.
"Wonder if I could do it." He asked out loud.
"Maybe, but it's dangerous. It takes a lot of practice to not only control your stigmata at that speed, but also to understand your bodies limits. At those speeds your body could literally tear itself apart." Chiffon answered.
"I'd rather like to avoid that then." Varen said laughing causing Chiffon to giggle a bit. When she thought about it there was little doubt that Varen very well could pull it off. The abilities he was able to manifest seemed to have no limit. Before they both became a pair he already showed signs that he could accelerate as well as form a volt weapon with no stigmata. After their first night together his powers stabilized to the point where he could control them.
There were two questions she still could not figure out. What exactly were the limits of Varen's powers, and did her implanted stigmata trigger further changes in him? It was already a risk when she performed the baptism with Varen due to him being 24 years old. Furthermore, he was still undergoing rapid changes with whatever within him had awoken. There was no way of knowing what her stigmata would do when introduced to his body. Not to mention hers were not implanted when she came to West Genetics, she was born with them.
Now that she had time to think about her actions it was very reckless to have performed the baptism without some sort precautionary measures. Everything had gone smoothly thankfully, but it still served to remind her that other risky choices may not pan out so well. All the risks aside, that was still the best night of her life. It marked the beginning of a life she never thought possible for herself. Given that she may or may not be human meant that school girl fantasies about love were something she would not experience. At least for many years that was what she believed.
Varen grabbed a book off the table between them and opened it to a page he had marked. When was it exactly that she had started wanting more from him? When he first came her curiosity drove her to question his actions. A 24-year-old man had no business in a genetics facility, so she wanted answers. What she didn't plan for was that for every detail about himself he revealed, he in turn demanded she share about herself. At some point it went past interrogation and shifted into casual conversations together. She began to visit him almost daily, preparing meals together, and just talking about their lives and day to day events.
Perhaps it was because he respected her for her position, while still treating her like a normal girl. During all those early months of spending time together he never treated her like the first ranked Pandora or student body president. When they were together he talked to her and looked at her like she was normal.
Thinking back, it was most likely during the carnival dance that she admitted the truth to herself. At that point she already knew she wanted to be paired with him as Pandora and Limiter, but she realized then that she wanted more. Regardless of their playful banter and foolish arguments it was the first night she caught him looking at her body and found herself enjoying it.
For the next few days she made Ticy more uncomfortable than she ever had felt before as Chiffon grilled her about relationships. For some reason Chiffon had the notion that Ticy would know what the proper process was when in truth Ticy herself had no experience. She held back a laugh covering her mouth just thinking about she had acted back then towards Ticy. Varen was still reading through his book and didn't seem to take notice of her stifled laugh.
In the end she had simply winged it and let nature take its course. Ridiculous fantasies of candlelight dinners, romantic moonlight walks on the shore, and riding off into the sunset on a unicorn were the initial plans she had made. They would embrace one another running off to live in a vast castle where she would live as a princess as her devoted prince waited on her hand and foot. 16 years of repressed girlish fantasies flooded her back in those days and poor Ticy had to listen to them all.
When the time came that she finally told him that she wished to be his Pandora she found herself fumbling to grasp at the fantasies. They had known each other for a little over six months the night she gave him her stigmata. What surprised her was that 16 years of repressed girlish fantasies disappeared in that moment. It was replaced by something else she had tried to ignore.
After her stigmata had successfully taken to his body she sat there in just her skirt and bra and her fantasies of romance shifted. She wanted to touch him, and more than that she wanted him to touch her. Candlelit evenings were completely abandoned as she rapidly tried to figure out what to do next. Chiffon addressed the situation the only way she ever knew how to handle things. Blindly diving in without examining the consequences.
She closed her eyes as a bright smile spread across her face just remembering that night. Her cheeks turned red just thinking about it. She shrunk down on the couch laying on her back hugging her knees to her chest rocking side to side slightly a smile still plastered on her face as her fantasy driven mind began to run wild.
"What is with that face" Varen asked staring at her. She opened her eyes slowly seeing him leaned forward his arms on his knees giving her a look that clearly gave the indication he thought her crazy. She quickly sat up straight straightening her skirt.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied giving him a dismissive wave.
"Right, that was one creepy smile you had going on." Varen replied.
"It was not creepy at all! Stop being an ass!" She yelled pointing an accusing finger his way. He widened his eyes a vein in his forehead showing clearly.
"I have been quietly relaxing after a long day and evening and I look over to see you looking like an old man perving out on young girls and I'm the ass!" He yelled back. Chiffon stood continuing to point her finger at Varen trembling slightly.
"How dare you! I am not some old man perving out! I am a princess!" She yelled and instantly realized how ridiculous she sounded. The princess part wasn't meant to come out, but she had just been thinking about her old fantasies and it slipped out. Varen's eyes widened further his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"A what?" He said giving her a look up disbelief. It was too late now and one of Chiffon's defining characteristics had always been stubbornness. So, she responded exactly as anyone would expect from Chiffon Fairchild, student body president and number one ranked Pandora of West Genetics.
"That's right a princess kneel before me peasant!" She yelled stomping a foot on the ground. Varen just stared at her unsure if she was sick or just an idiot.
"What kind of princess stomps her foot like a child and lays around with perverted smiles on her face?" Varen responded back.
"You….you… why you…" She trembled angrily still pointing her finger at him trying to come up with a response to his words. He merely sat waiting for her to say something comprehensible.
"What's wrong princess? Can't handle a peasant uprising?" Varen added another shot for good measure. It was her turn for her mouth to hang open in shock.
"Fine! I'll show you perverted!" She yelled and grabbed his shirt shoving him back into the couch. He forgot how fast she was trying to react to her sudden aggression. Before he could even steady himself she was on top of him straddling his waist shoving her mouth against his. Both her hands grabbed his t-shirt and ripped it off cleanly tossing the two shredded pieces of cloth aside. Besides speed Chiffon also possessed incredible strength you wouldn't guess from her feminine physique.
"Chiff…" Varen said between breaths only for her to grab his jaw in one of her hands.
"Shut up." She hissed tearing her own tank top off followed by her bra. They both breathed heavily as a quiet moan escaped her mouth. She slipped her hands under her skirt hooking her fingers around the sides of her underwear raising her body up enough to pull them down. In this condition there was no fighting against her so Varen let her lust play out. Not that he could complain as she tore at his pants pulling his hips up to remove them.
"Wait, Chiff…" Varen said, but she shoved him back into the couch and pressed her hips back down onto him. He gripped her midsection as her voice got louder. She slowed herself and put her forehead against his, her wild aggression seemingly gone. Drops of sweat traced down her face and chest as she breathed hard.
"Hey, do you think we'd ever be able to…you know…" She trailed off and Varen could hear a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Able to what?" He asked genuinely concerned. Typically, it would be near impossible to form coherent thoughts considering she was still sitting atop him, but he could tell something was off with her. She continued to look him in the eyes biting her lip as if debating her next words carefully.
"Do you think I could ever have a baby?" She asked deciding not to hold anything back. She was afraid of how he might respond, but from time to time it was something she had thought about when considering their future. To her surprise his face did not change into one of shock or surprise. He thought for a minute or two still holding her gaze.
"Yah, I think so. Your mom did." He answered.
"My dad wasn't like you though. He was a normal human, what if we can't?" She asked nervously.
"If anything your mom and dad were a more different couple than you and I. We are far more similar than they were. There's no doubt you could." He answered and a small smile came across her face. She rested her head on his shoulder hugging him tightly.
"I really missed you." She said.
"I can tell." He chuckled and she leaned back again looking him in the eyes.
"So…do you want to?" She asked causing a questioning look to cross his face.
"Want to what?" He asked not sure what she meant.
"Have a baby?" She answered quietly and he swallowed hard.
"You're still only a third year Chiff. Not to mention we're Nightingales. This is a really bad time." He panicked. He had already happily accepted that his life would be spent with Chiffon, and admittedly he had thought about their future once or twice.
"That a no?" She asked sweetly raising her hips slowly before lowering them back down.
"Jesus Chiffon! That's not fair!" Varen answered grabbing her waist again from the sudden sensory overload.
"Then just tell me no." She said in the same tone.
"Ah what the hell I don't care!" He answered much to her enjoyment. She desperately tried to keep the volume of her voice down as her excitement grew.
Varen understood that no matter how strong he became, he was still no match for Chiffon.