Chapter 29 : Afternoon

After having finished with lunch and its clean up, Anton, Kianna and Fiona had decided to enjoy a little sunshine and burn off some calories outside.

The property that the dark elves little mansion sat on was a large square parcel that encompassed a little over two hundred and sixty acres of lightly forested land. The mansion itself was situated towards the front center of this square, and was only a few acres back from the road. A tall border fence surrounded the entirety of the property while a smaller fenced in section stretched down from the double entryways and separated the mansion, and the area directly around it, from the rest of the property.

When exiting out of the backdoors located in either the kitchen or in the large sitting room that ran along the back of the mansion, one would find themselves out in what was essentially the backyard portion of this area. A tall wooden privacy fence encircled the backyard and separated it from the tree filled acreage that lay beyond it. To the right when exiting from the kitchen was a small playground area complete with a playhouse, swing-set and sandbox. To the left was a large stretch of open lawn. A small grove of trees grew towards the back of this area and a long wooden picnic table had been set up beneath them. Past this lawn, and directly in front of the sitting room, was a very large, in-ground swimming pool.

This pool had an over all rectangle shape with rounded corners, and it’s length stretched out towards the back of the property. The corner of the pool that was closest to the kitchen expanded out into a large teardrop shape, and although still connected to the rest of the pool at large, acted as a sort of shallow lagoon area. Surrounded and partially shaded by chest-high stone planters filled with hardy palms, this shallow section of the pool was a perfect place for relaxation.

Set up around this little lagoon, and situated among the planters, were a selection of umbrella covered tables, cushioned patio furniture and long lounge chairs.

It was on one of these lounge chairs that both Anton and Kianna were currently laying together, sprawled out and dozing in the warm rays of the afternoon sun.

Clad in nothing but a pair of swimming trunks, Anton’s tired state came to pass after having spent a good deal of time in the pool he was now snoozing by and discovering yet another unexpected fact about the dark elves.

They were surprisingly quite adept in the water.

With their slender frames, lightweight bodies and taunt musculature, both Fiona and Kianna were able to glide incredibly fast through the water with what seemed like an almost effortless ease.

While Anton’s bulkier human frame regulated him to more traditional laps, the dark elves would zip back and forth as they smoothly preformed elegant underwater maneuvers that were reminiscent of the dance moves preformed during a ballet.

Once Kianna discovered, to her immense joy, that she could quite literally swim circles around Anton, she gleefully instigated a fast paced game of cat-and-mouse with him by stealing away his swimming trunks and holding them hostage.

After over an hour of playful antics, a surrender was finally declared, and the end result of their merry chase was the now very smug dark elf who was laying on her stomach with her head resting on Anton’s bare chest, happily snoozing away and fully content with her victory.

Fiona had opted to stay out of their game, citing her disgust with Anton’s nudity as well as claiming that her muscles had still not fully recovered from the night before and were already sore again after just a short time in the water.

When she had inquired as to why Kianna seemed to be so much more refreshed than she was, she was regaled by her sister about Anton’s amazing massage. When offered one for herself, she refused, and claimed that she would rather die a fiery death then to be touched by him in such a way.

Despite her attitude, Fiona had chosen to remain close by, as rather than disappearing back into the house where she would be alone, she was instead basking in her own lounge chair just off to the side from where Anton and Kianna were now dozing.

Anton couldn’t help but to find it humorous that Fiona had originally been laying on a different lounge chair on the other side of the pool. Far away from where he and Kianna had been swimming. Whenever they had left the water and taken up residence in their current spot however, she had apparently decided it was best to move so as to be closer to them. When she was asked about this, she merely glared venomously and refused to speak on it.

Sighing contently through his nose, Anton cracked open his eyes and glanced down at Kianna. His vision slightly blurred from the sunlight, he grinned softly to himself as her sleeping form came into focus, his grin grew in size as his gaze traveled down her length and came to rest on her bikini clad bottom.

The bikini that Kianna wore was a hot pink in color and was outfitted with metallic, golden colored rings. These rings acted as anchoring points for the material that the bikini was made out of and helped it to keep its shape. The rings on the bottoms rested on the crests of Kianna’s hips while those of the strapless top were nestled between her breasts in front and between her shoulder blades in the back.

Fiona’s bikini was identical in every way but color, as her’s was a bright white rather than pink.

At first glance these bikini’s appeared to be several sizes too small for the dark elves that wore them. But it was explained by Kianna that if they weren’t as tight as they were, then they would slip off whenever the dark elves moved or twisted too quickly through the water while swimming.

Anton let his eyes linger as he enjoyed the sight of Kianna’s bottom rising and falling as her whole body just barely bobbed up and down in time with his breathing. The thin material being stretched to its limit as it was forced to encase her round form was doing a poor job of maintaining her modesty as a tantalizingly tiny bit of her butt cheeks cleavage was peeking out over the hem.

Not wanting to disturb Kianna’s slumber, Anton resisted the urge to give her bottom a squeeze and instead draped his arm gently over her back. He was immediately rewarded for this when she sleepily wrapped her own arms around his sides and, while still dozing, pressed her breasts against his body as she hugged herself to him with a sigh.

Fiona clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes in irritation as she took in the look of satisfaction on Anton’s face. Her aggravation with both Anton and her sister’s antics had been steadily growing throughout the afternoon, and with this little display, her patience with them was now at its limit. Without even consciously realizing what she was doing, she let her aura flare outwards and fill the area around her.

Anton stiffened and reflexively tightened his arm protectively around Kianna’s shoulders as he felt the air around him thicken and become heavy. Concerned for her as well, his eyes immediately jumped to Fiona and he blinked in surprise when he registered the sour expression on her face.

As realization dawned in his mind, he narrowed his own eyes in annoyance.

“ ... You just always have to be difficult. Don’t you.” he muttered under his breath as he let his own aura expand out from his being.

Fiona’s eyes tightened as she felt the force of Anton’s aura press back against her own. Without a second of hesitation she focused her aura back against him. Though in the back of her mind she knew that this was foolish, as she had already gotten a taste of what he could do and knew that he was far more capable than she was. Her aggravation was clouding her judgment however. And despite knowing full well that he was the more experienced between them, she was the dark elf here. And she was determined to show him exactly what that meant.

Sensing her resolve through the force that was now pushing back against him, Anton shook his head and sighed through his nose.

“Stubborn dark elf.” he muttered under his breath “Fine then, let’s see what you can do...”

A twisted smile spread across Fiona’s face as she felt the tide of power roll in her favor. Letting herself go at the prospect of actually beating Anton, she poured everything she had into her assault and made an effort to crush him in a single go.

Her confidence immediately began to waver as she watched an expression of tired disappointment spread across Anton’s face.

Shaking his head, Anton closed his eyes and grinned.

Fiona had no time to react as the air was forced out of her lungs by the crippling invisible weight that instantly landed on her chest. All of the power that she had focused against Anton was erased from existence as it was crushed beneath his own wave of might. The power that he had was in its structure no different from her own, but the shear amount of it that he could put forward was leagues above her, and this factor alone left no room for any comparison to be made between them.

Fiona was in essence, nothing but a tiny candle facing the sun.

Anton couldn’t help but to let his grin widen and become sinister as he watched the anguish spread across the dark elf’s face. Deciding to drive his point home, he let the well of his mana pool open even further and sent the power outwards to flow freely and fill his aura.

Pinned down in her seat, Fiona’s breath hissed in through her teeth as she laid her ears back submissively behind her head and gripped the armrests of the lounge chair she sat in. She began to quiver uncontrollably as Anton let a wave of malice flow into his aura and fill the area around them with a heavy, menacing dread.

Faced with this unstoppable terror now surrounding her, Fiona’s widened eyes began to ache in their sockets as she focused all of her efforts on keeping her heart from beating its way out of her chest. Unable to take in another breath, her panic set in even deeper as her lungs started to burn and her vision of the world around her began to go dark.

“Stop!” whined Kianna.

Anton smiled playfully as he released his aura and dropped his gaze down to the sleepily, glaring dark elf that was laying on his chest.

“Quit it!” whined Kianna as she lifted her head and rested her chin down on the center of Anton’s sternum while she pouted up at him “What are you doing!?”

“Aw, I’m sorry...” soothed Anton as he laid his hand down on top of her head “Did I disturb you?”

“Yes...” whined Kianna as she folded her ears down and out of the way so that Anton could rub her head “You did!”

“Oh, my poor little dark elf, I ruined her nap...” chuckled Anton as he ran his fingers through her hair “And she was sleeping so peacefully too...”

“I was.” grumbled Kianna as she tilted her head forward and to the side as she guided Anton’s fingers.

“I’m sorry...” breathed Anton as he let his fingers slowly follow the path that Kianna set for him “But I’m afraid your sister was acting up again, so I had to teach her a lesson...”

“Argh. Of course she was. Why are you always being stupid, Fiona!” growled Kianna as she shifted her head to the side and glared at her sister while pointing her ears straight back in annoyance.

Still gripping the armrests of her lounge chair, Fiona blinked in uncertainty as she met her sister’s eyes.

“Stupid bitch...” mumbled Kianna as she turned back to Anton and let her ears hang limp.

Chuckling through his smile, Anton ran his hand back over the top of Kianna’s head before absently taking hold of one of her ears.

Kianna blinked and went still in surprise as Anton held her ear in place and smoothly ran his thumb down its length before gently gripping its pointed tip between his fingers.

Keeping his sights on her ear, Anton continued to smile softly as he ignored Kianna’s probing eyes and proceeded to playfully, and gently, grope her ear.

Having apparently accepted her fate, the dark elf let loose a huffed sigh and rolled her head to the side so that she could both lay her cheek down against Anton’s chest, and give him better access to the ear that he was currently playing with.

“Aw, such a good girl.” whispered Anton as Kianna hummed softly in response.

Fiona’s eyes were wide with disbelief as she remained stock still and stared at her sister. Stunned by the facts that Kianna seemed to have not only been completely unaffected by Anton’s display of power, as she had no idea that her sister had already been exposed to it in the past and was thus fairly accumulated to it, but that she was now willingly allowing him to handle her ears and was apparently unfazed by this as well.

“K-Kianna!?” she called in uncertainty.

“ ... What?” mumbled Kianna as she flicked the ear that Anton wasn’t fondling towards her sister.

“Are, you okay!?” asked Fiona as she loosened her death grip on her chair “He’s, touching your ears!?”

“Yeah...” muttered Kianna as she closed her eyes and sighed “He does that...”

Anton chuckled as he let Kianna’s ear go and stretched his arms out before folding his hands behind his head.

Kianna blinked up at him as he settled back into a relaxed position and closed his eyes.

“ ... Hey.” she mumbled as she dragged her head to the side so as to look at him straight on “Can I ask you a question?”

“Hm? Of course.” sighed Anton as he left his eyes closed “Ask away.”

“Do you have a job?” asked Kianna as she creased her brow in question.

Anton began to chuckle as he tilted his head forward and smiled down at her.

“I’m a little surprised it’s taken you this long to ask that.” he said as he resettled himself back in such a way that he could be relaxed while still keeping her in his sights.

“Um, well I was gonna ask you at one point but I didn’t get to ... And then I guess I just never thought about it again?” explained Kianna.

“Hm, I guess when you don’t have a job, you don’t really think about them too much. Do you?” teased Anton.

Kianna shrugged around a smile.

“I guess not...” she mumbled sheepishly.

“Right. Well, technically...” chuckled Anton as he looked up at the sky “I don’t have a traditional job per’se. As in I don’t go somewhere everyday to work. Instead, for money, I dabble in real estate and do a bit of buying and selling of trade items. Things like antiques, rare books, collectible weapons and coins. For the most part it’s stuff like that. Though I do try not to limit myself to any one major group of things. Essentially, I make money by stumbling across things of value, and holding on to them until I find the right buyer.”

“Stuff of value ... Does that ever include slaves too?” asked Kianna.

“Sometimes.” grinned Anton as he glanced at Fiona “It has before.”

Fiona blinked and flattened her ears down submissively as she grimaced in unease.

“I’ve ended up with a few slaves through trading in the past.” explained Anton as he brought his eyes back to Kianna “I don’t make a habit out of buying and selling slaves though.”

“You’ve never wanted to keep any of them?” asked Kianna.

“No. I’ve never kept a slave for very long before. Just a week or two at most.” explained Anton as he smiled broadly “I never found any that I wanted to keep. At least not until just recently.”

Kianna blinked and then ducked her face down as she hid a small smile.

Chuckling in his throat, Anton turned his head to the side and let out a deep yawn.

“ ... That’s not really what I consider my job though.” he said as he turned back to Kianna “If someone were to ask me what I do as a career, I’d tell them I’m a naturalist.”

“A naturalist?” questioned Kianna as she cocked one of her ears in a curious manner “What does that mean?”

“Well, in a nutshell, it means someone who studies nature or some element of the natural world. For me, that element is people themselves.” explained Anton “I think all the different species of people are each fascinating in their own ways. So I like to study them. Especially the ones that aren’t very well understood already. Or the ones that ... like to be mysterious...”

“ ... Wait? You study, people!?” questioned Kianna as her brow creased in thought.

“Mm hm...” hummed Anton as a knowing grin spread across his face.

Kianna was still for a moment as she stared back at him.

“ ... So?” she asked as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards “Are you studying me and Fiona!?”

“ ... Well, maybe.” smiled Anton “Would it bother you if I was?”

“ ... I don’t know?” mumbled Kianna as she lowered her ears “ ... That’s, kinda creepy, I guess?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable!” chuckled Anton as he placed his hand back on her head and gave her a reassuring rub “And I’m not trying to pry or force anything onto you. I’m just trying to understand you a little better. That’s all.”

“ ... So? What does this mean, exactly?” questioned Kianna “What are you going to do, to study us?”

“Nothing much, really.” said Anton with a shrug “Mostly just get to know you. Maybe I’ll ask you a question every now and then. Shouldn’t be anything beyond that though.”

“ ... So then, you’re not going to cut us up into pieces, and put us jars or anything like that?” questioned Kianna as she laid her ears back submissively “Right!?”

“No! Of course not!” laughed Anton “Honestly, Kianna! What would even make you think that?”

“I don’t know!?” cried Kianna “I’ve never been, studied, before!”

“Well it’s nothing like that. Like I said, the only thing I’m going to do is try to get to know you better.” said Anton “And that’s really it. I promise.”

“ ... Okay then.” mumbled Kianna “ ... That’s still weird, but whatever!”

Anton laughed as he nodded his head in agreement.

“So, that’s really your job though?” questioned Kianna “To study people?”

“Well, I like to say it is, but unfortunately, I don’t make much money doing it. So it’s more of a hobby at this point.” explained Anton “It can be a pretty expensive hobby too. With traveling and what not.”

“Oh, so, nobody pays you to do this?” asked Kianna.

“Not really.” answered Anton “I do have a few books published on the subject, and they bring in a little money, but not too much. I’m not really concerned with making money as a naturalist though. I do it because I enjoy it more than anything. It’s fun for me.”

“Oh ... So you’re just a weirdo who likes to study people for free then?” reasoned Kianna.

“More or less.” smiled Anton “Like I said, I make my money in real estate, trading and in other more, creative, ways.”

“Right. “Creative ways”, like taking all of my money!?” mumbled Kianna as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Hey now! That was actually fairly creative!” teased Anton “And don’t forget, I also took your stocks, and the apartment complex ... Which that actually reminds me. I really need to give Leopold a call here pretty quick.”

“Who?” asked Kianna.

“Leopold, Tajikara. Him and his wife Ila are my real estate attorneys. They’re actually pretty good friends as well.” explained Anton “You see, they make an effort to connect with their clients by hosting holiday parties. And after going to a few of them, we figured out that we clicked pretty well and became friends. I used to meet up with them for lunch pretty regularly ... We haven’t done that in awhile though ... I really do need to call them ... Both about the apartment complex, some other things, and just to reconnect a little.”

“Why do you need to call them for the apartment complex?” asked Kianna “I thought Fiona already sold it to you?”

“She did, technically.” said Anton “But I need to finalize the transfer and make sure everything is set up correctly with the taxes and what not. I just want to make sure everything is taken care of in the right way.”

“Mm hm ... I see ... You know, you could always just give it back to us.” mumbled Kianna “That way we could have some money for ourselves again.”

“Hm ... True, I could do that ... But no, I’ll hold on to the apartments for now.” mused Anton “We do need to do something about money for you two though ... But I’d rather do something more creative than just giving you the apartments back...”

“Oh, do you want us to use creative methods like yours?” mocked Kianna as she cocked an eyebrow “Whenever we need some money we should be like you, and just go out and enslave somebody so we can take all their stuff?”

“Hey, that’s not exactly what happened! And that’s not one of my normal methods. I’ve never even done this before now.” chuckled Anton “Of course, I’m not saying that wouldn’t work. Since it clearly did for me. But no, I don’t think you two need to be doing that.”

“Uh huh, so what do you mean then?” asked Kianna.

“Well, I don’t know yet. We’ll have to think about it...” mused Anton “I’m sure we’ll figure something out though, eventually.”

“ ... What were you talking about before then? When you said you use more creative ways?” asked Kianna “What do you normally do?”

“Uh, well, normally, whenever I find myself needing a bit of money, or a large amount of it really quickly, then I’ll go and do an odd job or two.” explained Anton.

“Odd job?” questioned Kianna “What does that mean?”

“It’s, something like a temp job. They used to be called “quests” back in the day. Usually it’s just a task that you complete for pay.” explained Anton “There are several agencies that I’ve signed on with that offer odd jobs. Things like delivering valuable items, or recovering lost ones. Then there’s surveying wild lands, collecting bounties, driving away hostile creatures, hunting manaraged animals, and so on and so forth. These type of things can pay pretty well depending on what the job is. And these agencies are always looking for people with magical talents. So I tend to get at least a few offers sent to me everyday. And if I think a job offer looks interesting, then I’ll take it, and if not, then I won’t. It’s that easy.”

“Oh, really!? So you’re kinda like a mercenary then!” exclaimed Kianna “That’s cool! ... Do you think we could go with you whenever you do your next odd job!?”

“Well ... we’ll see about that.” said Anton with a smile “It depends on what it is. And if it’s something I think I can even take you with me on. So it may not be the very next one. But, I’m sure you’ll get to come along at some point. So don’t worry.”

“Cool!” exclaimed Kianna as she began to wiggle back and forth in excitement “I can’t wait!”

Chuckling, Anton went to speak again but was stopped short as a ringing buzz began to blare out from his phone which was sitting on the shaded table far off to his right and out of his reach.

“Uh oh.” muttered Anton as he went to rise up from where he was lounging.

“I got it!” exclaimed Kianna as she slipped off of him and darted over to the table and back.

“Thank you.” said Anton as he took his phone and immediately looked at the screen “ ... Hm, I’m not sure who this is?”

Anton patted his chest as an invitation for Kianna to lay back down as he put the phone to his ear.

“Hello!” grunted Anton as Kianna gleefully clambered back onto him “ ... Oh! Hello Salia. It’s good to hear from you. I was starting to think you might have forgotten about me.”

Both Kianna and Fiona pointed their ears straight upwards as they turned their attention to the phone.

“ ... Well I guess you’re right, it hasn’t quite been a week just yet.” mused Anton as he moved the phone in front of his face for a second and glanced at the date “ ... Just a day off though, so close enough I guess ... Ah! So your Master’s planning to make his call tomorrow then. Well, I do appreciate the heads up on that.”

Kianna’s eyes were wide and probing as she rested her chin on Anton’s sternum and stared up at him. Anton grinned as he noticed that her ears had been shifted forwards a bit and were tilted to the side so that she could focus them on his phone. Although her eyes remained on him, it was clear that she was listening intently to the shoggoth speaking on the other side of the line.