Chapter 19 : Early Afternoon

“Hm, hm, hm...” hummed Anton as he tapped at the surface of the bathwater and magically warmed it up to the point that thin lines of steam began to rise from it “...Perfect!”

Stepping over the sidewall, he slowly eased in one foot and then the other.

“Oooo, oh, oh yeah, just right...” he mumbled to himself as he lowered himself into the steaming water and laid back against the sidewall “...Oh yeah, I needed this!”

Anton had filled the tub up high enough that when he entered it and sat down, the water would rise up to just below his neckline. With his back leaning against the side, he was able to lay his head down on the edge of the tub and sink down a little further into the water as he relaxed and stretched out his limbs and body.

“Been pretty busy these last few days...” he mumbled as he shut his eyes and took in a deep breath of the warm, steam filled air “And this is just what the doctor ordered...”

Cracking open a single eye, Anton peeked over at Kianna and couldn't help but to grin at the sight of her.

The dark elf had a completely blank look on her face as she stood still and unmoving next to the counter-top. Her ears had pointed themselves straight upwards, which had given her a very surprised look, and she had unconsciously covered herself by wrapping one arm over her breasts and dropping the other down to hide her slit with her hand.

“Feel free to jump in whenever you want!” chuckled Anton as he closed his eye and went back to his dozing “The water is just perfect...”

Kianna never actually said a word or even made a single sound herself, but after several minutes of waiting, Anton heard the water being lightly disturbed on the opposite side of the tub from where he sat and he grinned as he felt the water level rise up to his neck.

Deciding to play it dumb, he forced the grin from his face and let himself go slack as he focused on enjoying his own relaxation. After another few minutes of soaking he had nearly fallen asleep when he began to feel faint ripples in the water roll in against him. Cracking both of his eyes this time, he glanced over to his right and found that the dark elf had moved in close to his side.

Kianna's ears were still pointed straight upwards, and her large eyes were open to their fullest as they slowly roved over and did the best they could to examine Anton's body while it was being obscured by the steaming bathwater. She was currently on her hands and knees and had an air of caution about her that Anton couldn't help but to find adorable. The water level in the tub was high enough that her shoulders were almost fully submerged and as Anton's eyes moved further down her length he couldn't help but to be delighted with the view of her very round little bubble butt.

Kianna's heart-shaped bottom was being held at just the right height and angle so as to be only partially submerged in the water, and each of the rounded globes that were her butt cheeks, crested the surface in such a way that they appeared as two smooth, glistening little islands that seemed to be floating along behind her. Preoccupied as she was, she clearly didn't realize that she was lightly bobbing her bottom up and down in what appeared to Anton as an almost mischievous manner.

As Anton shifted his gaze back and forth between Kianna's face and bottom, the dark elf continued her slow and methodical exploration of his body. Though she couldn't see him quite as clearly as she would have liked, she was still determined not to waste the chance to sneak in and view him while he wasn't looking. Her eyes crept along at an even pace as she let them travel down his torso and stop at his groin. There she lingered for several moments as she struggled to discern as much detail as she could through the thin layer of steam that billowed along the surface of the water. Frustrated that she just couldn't see him as clearly as she wanted too, she moved on to his legs before reversing the trip and making her way back upwards.

Anton kept his eyes on Kianna's as he noticed that her gaze was slowly moving back towards him and it would only be a moment before she was fully facing him. He let a thin smile form on his face as her eyes suddenly darted to his.

Kianna completely froze as she realized that she had been caught in her peeking. Smiling sheepishly, she hunched down and laid her ears back submissively before jumping in surprise as the tips of her ears dipped into the warm water.

Anton couldn't help but to chuckle uncontrollably as the startled dark elf's ears began to throw tiny droplets of water into the air as they twitched wildly up and down.

“Did you just scare yourself!?” he teased as he smiled at the now flustered dark elf “Aw! You poor little thing!”

“Shut up!” whined Kianna as a warm blush spread across her cheeks “It's not funny!”

The blushing dark elf flattened her ears again and sat back on her folded legs as she covered her face with her hands in an effort to hide from her shame.

“Oh! Are you embarrassed now!?” continued Anton as he reached out and lightly poked the side of her head “Don't try to hide!”

“Quit it!” whined Kianna as she cringed away from his touch “You're being mean again!”

Anton chuckled again as he settled back against the sidewall and watched the squirming dark elf.

“Well that's what you get for trying to be sneaky!” he teased as she again hunched in on herself “My curious little dark elf!”

After a few moments Kianna turned away from him and dropped her arms down into the water before folding them around her torso.

“I'm sorry I was sneaking!” she mumbled as her ears tightened themselves together behind her head “...I just wanted to look at you for a second!”

“Hm, well I don't mind if you want to look at me. You don't have to try to be sneaky for that.” said Anton as he let his head tilt to the side “Have you, ever been with a human before? And by that I mean, intimately?”

“Wha? No!” chirped Kianna as her eyes immediately darted back to his groin “...Not, with a human, no.”

“Hm, have you ever even seen one before?” asked Anton as his grin widened a bit “As in, all of one?”

Kianna was quiet for a moment as she bit her lower lip and squinted her eyes as she continued to stare at his crotch.

“...Yeah. Well, just online.” she mumbled “Not in real life...”

“Hm, I see.” nodded Anton “So none of the guys that followed you around in college were humans then?”

“No.” said Kianna as she shook her head “One was an incubus and the other was a kaftar. Well, there were 2 kaftars, I guess, but I never actually did anything with Samar, only Josh.”

“...Remind me again what a kaftar is?” mumbled Anton as he creased his brow and looked up at the ceiling “Because I want to say they're the one's that are like hyenas, right?”

“Yeah, that's them. They look like hyena people.” nodded Kianna “They were kinda scary looking at first, well their teeth were! But they were both actually really friendly...”

“Did you like them?” asked Anton.

“They were nice, and I thought their fur was pretty. It was like a silvery, orange and black mix... And their ears were cute...” reminisced Kianna as her tone became quiet and far off “I liked Collin better though...”

“...Collin was the incubus?” asked Anton after a moment of silence.

“Yeah.” nodded Kianna “He was nice too... They all were... But they were just, well, everything was just weird...”

“...Weird?” prompted Anton.

Kianna shifted her gaze to him and smiled sheepishly before looking back downwards.

“...They were scared of me. ...They tried to hide it. But I could tell.” mumbled the dark elf as her face took on a troubled look “It didn't matter how nice I was... It was always, it was just never comfortable! It was like they were always nervous, or, waiting for something to happen? Like they were always ready to jump as soon as I said anything. I don't know, it was just... It was weird...”

Anton nodded slowly and looked back up at the ceiling as he mulled over what she had told him.

“...It, actually makes a little sense.” he mumbled as he let his head roll to the side so he was facing her again “Both of those species are traditionally attracted to stronger woman. So they were probably all expecting you take charge. And were constantly on pins and needles while they waited for that to happen.”

“Take charge?” questioned Kianna as she looked over at him “What do you mean?”

“I mean just that.” said Anton as a thin grin spread across his face “They all probably thought that you were going to dominate them, and eventually take control of them.”

“...What!?” questioned Kianna as her ears pointed themselves straight upwards “Why would they think that!? I never said I was gonna do that!?”

Anton couldn't help but to chuckle at the confused look on her face.

“Well, they probably thought that!” he said as he gave her a broad smile “Because that's what a dark elf would normally do, Kianna! And if it had been any other dark elf, besides you or your sister. That's exactly what they would have done.”

Kianna was completely still for a moment before her eyes lit up in realization.

“Oh!” she exclaimed as she looked back down at the water “Oh, that! That makes so much sense!”

Anton began to laugh loudly as he shook his head back and forth.

“Oh, those poor saps!” he exclaimed between bouts of laughter “They probably thought they hit the jackpot! ...And instead they found the world's most defective dark elf!”

“Shut up!” cried Kianna “I'm not defective!”

“Oh! My poor little defective dark elf!” teased Anton as he sat up and pulled her into a one-armed hug “She had no idea what was even happening! She just wanted to be friends with everybody!”

Kianna was pouting angrily as she let herself be pulled in for the hug.

“I did!” she whined as she pointed her ears straight back “I didn't know, that! That they wanted that! Any of that!”

“I know you didn't, Kianna.” reassured Anton as he tightened his arm around her shoulders “And that's okay. It's not your fault that they didn't make themselves clear. And besides! Dominating them wasn't what you wanted to do. Was it?”

“No!” said Kianna as she shook her head “I never even thought about doing that!”

“Well there ya go then!” said Anton as he grinned at her “They can just go find themselves a Mistress somewhere else then. My defective little dark elf just isn't like that!”

Kianna went quiet for a moment as her face became marred with thought.

“...But maybe I should have been?” she mumbled as she tilted her head and met his eyes “Do you really think that I'm defective!?”

“Hmm... Well, I don't know for sure.” said Anton as he pulled her in closer “But yeah, I'm starting to think that you probably are...”

“Wha!? Really!?” cried Kianna as she flattened her ears back submissively “Are you serious!?”

“Yeah. But it's alright!” declared Anton as he held her to himself and laid his cheek against the top of her head “Even if you are broken. I couldn't care less! You're still be my little dark elf regardless! And I think you're amazing, just the way you are!”

“...You're so mean to me!” grumbled Kianna as she laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes “My Master is such a cruel, evil man!”

“I know... And I am sorry...” mumbled Anton as he tightened his hold on her and let his eyes drift close “But being mean, and teasing you, really is just so much fun for me!”

Kianna sighed through her nose in frustration as Anton chuckled softly.

Going quiet save for their breathing, the two of them sat together this way in silence as they enjoyed the warmth of both the water around them as well as each others bodies. After some time, Kianna sighed again.

“This is so weird...” she mumbled as she lightly nuzzled her cheek against Anton's chest “It was never like this before...”

“Hm?” rumbled Anton as he took a breath in through his nose “What wasn't like this?”

“Being with them...” mumbled Kianna as she cracked her eyes and stared at nothing “It was just never like this...”

“...What do you mean?” asked Anton “How was it different?”

Kianna was silent for a moment as she put her thoughts together.

“...It was never this easy. Like, this is so easy! We're just here, right now. Together! ...And it never felt like this...” explained the dark elf “I don't know... This is just different... You're different! I guess?”

“...How am I different?” asked Anton.

“You're totally different! Like, in all the ways!” exclaimed Kianna “You're not scared! You're... honest? I don't know how to say it... You're just... You're, you're not scared! And you don't know how important that is!”

The dark elf's voice began to crack a bit as she pressed herself into his chest.

“You touch me! You hold me! And you're not scared of me! You were never scared of me!” she exclaimed as Anton let his aura seep into the area around them “Like this! Right now! I'm touching you, and it's okay! You're okay! And this is so awesome! I never got to do this before!”

“Wait? You never touched them?” asked Anton “I thought you had sex with them? How did that work if you never even touched them?”

“It didn't! ...At least not really!” exclaimed Kianna as she pointed her ears straight back “Like I said it wasn't easy like this is. They were scared! They barely let me touch them at all! Like, everything was just slow. And it never felt... easy... You've already let me touch you way more than any of them ever did! And we haven't even done anything yet!”

“Really? That's... just crazy!” said Anton “I'm really sorry about that Kianna. That had to be difficult, and, well, frustrating!”

“Oh yeah it was!” exclaimed Kianna “And those were the ones that were nice to me! Nobody else would even come near me! ...At least I got to touch them a little bit, so I guess that's something...”

“...Hm, well, things will definitely be different for you now.” said Anton as he lifted his arm off of her shoulders and moved it up and over her head before letting it come to rest in front of her “In fact, here! Go ahead!”

Kianna blinked in confusion as she looked from his offered arm to his face and back.

“Wha, what are you doing?” she asked as her voice became laced with uncertainty.

“Well, I'm letting you touch me!” chuckled Anton “Obviously!”

“...Really!?” questioned Kianna as she stared at the arm hanging in front of her “Just, however I want to!?”

“Mm hm, go ahead!” grinned Anton as he wiggled his fingers “Knock yourself out!”

Kianna hesitated for only a brief moment before a broad grin spread across her face. Moving slowly she reached out and tentatively took hold of Anton's offered arm.

Kianna was completely enthralled by the chance she had been given to examine her Master's arm and she wasn't about to let this opportunity go by without taking in every tiny detail that she could.

She started with the forearm itself and noticed immediately that unlike with the incubus, and unbeknownst to her, her own kind, human men actually had short hair on their arms.

The hair on Anton's arm didn't actually cover the entire limb, and only existed on the top and sides of his forearm and as a thin line that ran along the outer edge of the top of his wrist. Unlike the kaftar whose fur was dense but soft to the touch, Anton's hair was sparse and thinly spread across his arm, and although it wasn't quite bristly to the touch, it wasn't necessarily soft either. It was sort of coarse but with just enough give to it that it moved easily whenever touched, and actually had a rather pleasant feeling to it whenever she ran her hand across it.

Anton's skin, wherever he had no hair, was very different from her own. Where her skin felt soft and smooth to the touch, his was rough, unyielding, and although still pliable, there was a toughness to it that she just didn't have. She wasn't sure if his skin was actually thicker than her own but it certainly felt like it was. And she was quite sure that it would probably take a lot more to hurt him than it would herself.

As her eyes traveled up his arm she noticed that his hairline stopped just past his elbow, and right before the rise of his bicep. ...His big bicep, his very big bicep, his bicep that was actually a lot bigger than she first realized.

Since he had been clothed until just recently, Kianna hadn't been able to tell just how muscular Anton's arms and torso actually were. She knew that he was strong, as she herself had experienced just how easily he could lift and move her around. But she didn't realized just how large his muscles really were until now that she could see them up close.

She wouldn't necessarily call him musclebound, as she had seen beings, even other humans, that had muscles that were far larger than his. But as she took a closer look at his body it became quite clear to her that he was a trim, fit and very healthy looking being. And even though he didn't have the largest muscles she had ever seen, his were still very big, far bigger than she had first realized. And as she put her hand on his bicep, and felt just how hard and unyielding the muscle really was, she couldn't help but to marvel at the fact that it was actually so big that her whole hand didn't even come close to being able to wrap completely around it.

Kianna didn't know how strong a human normally was, or if they were usually stronger than elves or not. But she did know that her Master was strong, very strong, strong enough that he could easily throw her whole body over his shoulder and carry her around like she was nothing. Which this was something that she very much doubted that she could do to him, and as she lightly squeezed the muscles of his arm it became very easy for her to understand just where all of his strength came from.

As Kianna pondered where a humans level of strength fell in comparison to other species, the thought suddenly occurred to her that in all actuality she really didn't know all that much about humans in general. And her mind immediately began to race as she tried to remember everything that she had ever known about them.

She knew that humans were one of the most common sapient species, and that they could be found living almost everywhere. And that this was the reason why they, unlike many other species, had so much variety among them. She knew that the differences in color, size, hair and other features were all markers that signaled that this particular humans family came from a certain part of the world. And that people who were familiar enough with the differences in humans could even tell where a specific humans ancestors came from, just by the sight of them.

Though her own experiences out in the world were pretty limited, Kianna had still seen plenty of humans herself and had always noticed that very few of them were ever really similar looking. And one of the things about them that had always been the most surprising to her was that despite how different they may look from each other, there was only one species of human.

Unlike with her own kind, the elves, all of the different looking humans were the same. And this meant that despite how different two humans may look from each other, they could all still produce children together without any problems. This wasn't the same with the elves, as to produce elven children you would need to have two elves from the same species or nothing would ever happen. The elves couldn't just naturally hybridize with each other without magical aid, although they could still produce children with other species. Babies produced this way would either be one species or the other though, as only certain species would create hybrids by mixing.

Humans and elves didn't create a hybrid by mixing with each other, and any baby born from a union between them would be either a human or an elf. And as it was with most cases were two different species had produced a child, the baby would have a much higher chance of being the same species as the mother, and would more than likely be a female like her. The higher likelihood of producing females this way was why there were so many more woman in the world in comparison to men. And why males of certain species were sometimes very rare, or almost non-existent.

Humans were different in this way too, as even though the parents may look completely different from each other, their baby would not look exactly like one or the other but would instead have traits from them both. This gave humans even more variety in their appearances.

Kianna was in no way familiar enough with humans to be able to tell where Anton's family came from by just looking at him. This fact was a little upsetting for her, and something that she planned to fix by doing some research on humans. That way she could figure it out herself without having to ask him. She didn't think that this would be too difficult to do, since Anton didn't appear to be a rare type of human, as she had already seen other humans that looked somewhat similar to him.

He was a tall human, but not necessarily huge, and she guessed that he was at least a few inches over six feet but she wasn't exactly sure. And all she could really say was that he was definitely taller than herself. She knew that humans could technically get bigger than him, but she did like that he was still on the taller side for his species. His skin tone was a lot lighter than her own but wasn't as pale as some other humans she had seen and she would say he was probably somewhere in the middle when it came to human colors, if not just a little bit on the darker side. She kind of liked this too, since it made her own skin stand out more clearly when it was next to his. His hair, which was cut short and was just a few inches long across the top of his head, was also the complete opposite of her own when it came to color, as his was solid black while hers was a pure, bright white. She wondered if it would stay like that, since she knew that a humans hair could turn white as they aged. And she wasn't sure if she liked that idea or not, as on the one hand if it did turn white it would be the same as her's and on the other, as black, it was a nice contrast to her own, and their alternating color schemes, with her dark skin and light hair, and his dark hair and light skin did give them a nice balance that she did like and would be a little sad to lose.

Something else that she actually really liked about him was his ears. To her they were kind of dumpy and cute since they were so small and round. She did think it was a little weird that they didn't move, and this did make it kind of hard to tell what he was thinking or how he was feeling. She had to question a few times if he was actually mad or not, simply because of this. But this did also teach her something that was very interesting, and a little scary, about humans.

They didn't speak with their ears, they spoke with their eyes.

Anton's eyes were a vibrant, rich brown that she couldn't help but to find frighteningly beautiful. Unlike an elf's eyes which were large, bright and clear, his eyes were small, dark and deep. Like windows into his mind, they showed all of his thoughts, emotions and desires.

She didn't know how to describe it, but just by looking at them she had somehow found herself able to understand him. It was the strangest thing to her at first, but already she was quickly learning to recognize his silent speech.

There had been several times when she had looked into his eyes and felt a sense of reassurance, as though he were telling her that everything was okay, that he understood her and that she didn't have to worry anymore.

It was very odd how he could do this, and it could also be a little frightening, as more than once now he had used his eyes to give her what she now called his “Stop it!” look. And every time that he had given her this “Stop it!” look, her reaction had always been the same.

Without even realizing what was happening she would respond immediately by stopping whatever she was doing, almost as if she was being paralyzed, and would stare at him as she waited for his next silent or vocal reaction.

This was a little scary for her, as she would always respond this way without even thinking about it at all. In fact, she wouldn't even consciously register what she had done until it was already over.

She knew that there was no magic involved in this, and that it had nothing to do with her collar. It was just him and only him. This power was his, and with nothing but his eyes he could use it to strike her so deeply that she would immediately recognize his “Stop it!” look, for the command that it was, and without a seconds hesitation, she had always acknowledged him.

She didn't understand why this power that he had could work on her so easily. Especially since it didn't seem to effect Fiona the same way. And even more troubling was the fact that she couldn't even decide whether or not she hated that he could do this to her, or if she actually really liked it...

Anton's grin grew broader and broader as he watched the clearly excited dark elf. Though he had no way of knowing what she was actually thinking, it was still very entertaining to see her thoughts as they marched across her face. It had been especially entertaining, and quite an ego boost, to watch her eyes light up and go wide as she realized just how large the muscles on his arms really were. And it had taken a bit of willpower to stay still and keep from chuckling as she tried to wrap her hands around his arm and then again when she tickled him by tracing her fingertip back and forth along the base of his bicep, where the bulge of his muscle met the rest of his arm.

Once satisfied with her examination of that section of his anatomy, Kianna then quickly jumped back to the opposite side of his forearm and excitedly discovered that there was in fact a hand attached to the end of his limb.

After flipping his hand over one way and then the other, Kianna spent several minutes tracing the lines on his palm with her fingertip and then watching closely as those same lines creased together whenever she bent his thumb in over the top of his palm.

Anton's grin grew into a smile as he watched her eyes narrow and become focused while she bit her lower lip in obvious thought. She had apparently discovered through her gentle squeezing that the bones of his fingers were quite thin on either side of his knuckles but they then became thicker and bulged outwards at each of the joints that made up his digits and allowed them to bend. With the tips of her ears pointed straight upwards for the entire duration, the dark elf spent the next twenty minutes bending each finger at each of it's joints and then watching closely as Anton stretched them back out. She then spread the fingers apart so she could gently tug on the loose skin that was between them, before moving on to tapping at and examining each of his fingernails. Once she was satisfied with the fingers she moved back down to his palm and started tracing her fingertip along each of the veins that could be seen through the thin skin at his wrist.

“Such a curious little dark elf!” teased Anton as he watched her move her pressed fingertip along his veins in an effort to feel his pulse “Are you having fun!?”

Startled by the sound of his voice, Kianna jumped and immediately let go of his hand as she flattened her ears back behind her head.

“I, I'm! Yes!” she stammered as she turned to him and pointed her ears straight back “Don't scare me like that!”

Anton laughed as a light blush spread across her cheeks and she folded her arms over her chest.

“I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you.” soothed Anton as he sat up and planted his palms against the floor of the tub “But the way you jumped makes me think you've got a guilty conscious! So what were you thinking about just now!?”

“Nothing!” exclaimed Kianna as she looked off to the side “I wasn't thinking about anything!”

“Uh huh, sure!” smiled Anton as he scooted himself forward “If you say so!”

Kianna began to lightly pout as she watched him move to the center of the tub and use his foot to lift a metal lever and open the drain.

“Hey! Wait!” she exclaimed as she grabbed at his shoulder “What are you doing!?”

“I'm just letting some of the water out.” explained Anton as he grinned at her “Don't worry! We're not done yet!”

“Oh, okay.” said Kianna as she watched the waterline begin to fall “I thought that, nevermind!”

Anton chuckled as he pushed the lever back down and closed the stopper.

“Did you really think we'd be done before I got to have my turn!?” he teased as he pushed himself back to the side of the tub “Now how would that be fair!?”

“...Your turn?” questioned Kianna as her brow creased in confusion “What do you mean by your turn!?”

“I mean my turn!” teased Anton as he leaned himself back against the tub's sidewall “Obviously!”

“...Your turn, for what?” asked Kianna as she tilted her head to the side and cocked one of her ears “What are you talking about!?”

“I'm talking about how you got to play with my body for a little while...” explained Anton as he narrowed his eyes and gave the dark elf a playfully sinister looking smile “So now it's my turn... to play with yours!”

Kianna merely stared at him for a moment before her eyes became nervous and she eased herself back.

“Wait!” she exclaimed as she laid her ears back submissively “Wha, what are you going to do to me!?”

“Well... why don't you come just a little bit closer...” mocked Anton as he curled his index finger in and out to beckon her over “And we'll find out!”

Kianna was still for a moment before a tiny smile appeared on her face and she began to slowly scoot herself backwards.

“Oh no you don't!” smiled Anton as a thin glowing orange light chain shot out from his fingertip and instantly attached itself to the blood gem on Kianna's collar “C'mere you!”

Whining playfully, Kianna started biting her lower lip as she tugged back on the chain. Despite planting her hands and knees in an effort to brace herself, she was still slid across the smooth floor of the tub by the chain that reeled her in to Anton's side.

“What a naughty little slave girl!” exclaimed Anton as he caught her by quickly wrapping his arm around her shoulders and giving her a tight squeeze “And where do you think you're going!? Huh!? Nowhere! That's were you're going! Such a bad little dark elf!”

“I'm sorry!” whimpered Kianna playfully as she snuggled up against his side “But you're being scary and I don't know what you're gonna do to me!”

“Well don't you trust me!?” teased Anton as he squeezed her again “Hm!?”

“...Yeah!” mumbled Kianna as she lowered her ears “I do!”

“Good!” declared Anton as he twisted to the side and took hold of her around the waist with both hands “Then don't panic, okay!”

“Huh!?” exclaimed Kianna as she was lifted partially out of the water and set back down between Anton's legs “W-wait! What are you doing!?”

“I'm just going to play with you...” mumbled Anton as he spun her around until she was facing away from him and then pulled her in closer to himself “And I really don't want you to panic, okay. I'm not gonna hurt you! I promise!”

“Wha, what are you doing!?” exclaimed Kianna as she looked back over her shoulder at him “What is this-!”

The dark elf instantly froze and went silent as she felt a firm grip take hold of the sharp tip of her long, pointed ear.

Letting his aura flare outwards to bathe the area around him with a calming essence, Anton grimaced as he watched the panicked surprise instantly form in Kianna's large eyes.

“Now just relax, Kianna...” soothed Anton as he gently held on to her ear “Just, relax...”