6
Kurt's pov
Are those two loaded or what?
I mean judging by the property, the Astery's seem to be as well off as we are, if not better. The house looked like one of those huge mansions that you see on postcards and there was an actual maid. She even bowed and everything before shoving us the way through the gardens. From the way the other guys were looking around with their yaws on the ground I would say I wasn't the only one who was impressed.
Only Will seemed to not be surprised by the house and the gardens, he even greeted the maid with some familiarity, even though that seemed a bit rocky at first. But now they were talking softly using telepathy. I can pick up the sings of telepathic conversations now but it seemed private so I didn't even try to push it. Those two were born and raised savants so the barriers they had up to keep others out of their minds were much stronger than mine, even though Will had been working on improving mine and Margot's control over our gifts ever since the incident with Angel.
We stopped by a two-story building that looked like it had been built recently but the style of the building was still traditional Japanese as opposed to the manor which looked more western.
Just as the housekeeper – Megan - was opening the door there was a sound of some bells and then something that sounded like a collision of some sorts. Brian - our band's drummer - took a step back, straddled by the sound.
"Please don't worry the young lady and the master should be just about done, but they said to let them know when you arrived. Would it be acceptable for you to watch the lord and ladies practice while I set up the tea in the main house."
Will was quick to intercept before any of us had a change "that would be lovely" he gave the girl a smile, which she returned, after-which she bowed and left.
Will opened the door to a large room that seemed to go throw both floors. At the moment there were cables running through the room making it look like a spider's web, there were also bells hanging from those cables.
Raven was currently hanging upside down from one of them using her feet to stay swinging from it. Her brother, who was blindfolded, was standing in the middle of the room. He raised his hand in greeting "Great to hear you Will, I'd greet you and the others properly but I'm currently in the middle of something so if you could wait with Hiroshi until we finish off here, it would be very much appreciated" he gestured to a man sitting on a pillow a few meters from us.
Will waved a hand to Raven and then answered "sure thing, it's been a while since I have saw you two go at it" he motioned us to follow him, and we sat down by the guy named Hiroshi, who smiled and gave us a nod indicating that we would be introduced later.
Turning to look at the siblings I got a feeling that both of them were using their gifts, while they were practicing; well let's hope that they don't crash the building.
As I looked back up to where Raven had been just a minute ago, I noticed that she was gone, turning my head I couldn't see her anywhere. Will must have realized my confusion, because he said "just focus on Stellan and don't blink."
I did, and just in time to see a flash of black as Raven dove down crushing into Stellan's raised forearm with all her bodyweight, then bouncing off of it only to land on a cable again. She used it as a swing board and went flying again, this time spinning to kick which the male dodged by sidestepping.
Raven landed into a cart wile, once on her feet again, she charged, and then they were sparring; matching each other blow for blow. Moving so fast it was hard to keep track.
"How aren't they stumbling into those cables?" Sony asked astonished.
"They can hear the bells, and Ray has her eyes open" the Japanese man beside Will said in fluent English like it was easy as pie.
"These people are superhuman" Channing bereaved from behind me.
"And not taking this seriously" Hiroshi commented again.
"How so?" I asked not taking my eyes of the pair.
"See their faces, they are smiling, those two are enjoying themselves" he pointed out then raised his voice a bit "ten seconds Stellan" now his was grinning too.
Somehow I could feel the atmosphere change; it seemed more hostile, I wondered if that's what killer instinct felt like.
"Time" Hiroshi announced and both Astery's froze a meter apart. There was a small thud and then Ravens hair fell out off the bun-like formation it had been in before. They looked up, so I did as well.
There was a decorative hair stick stuck in the ceiling, hanging from its end was a silver bell.
"I do believe that it's 18-18 now" Raven said holding out her hand to her brother.
"20 out of 38" Stellan said as he lifted his blindfold.
"As you wish" they shock hands.
"So what was that about?" Sony said getting up.
"The hair stick" Hiroshi said getting up as well "they have twenty minutes to eider get or protect the bell hanging from its end. It's an everything-goes match and so far they have matched each other quite well" he explained.
"But the guy was blindfolded how is that fair?" Channing asked, as the cables started retreating to the holes in the walls.
"Stellan is Ravens senior by nine years it's only natural that we handicap him" the guy shrugged.
"Eight years actually, Raven started martial arts when she was three" Stellan corrected him.
"When she was three?" I looked at the petite girl smiling innocently at me from her brother's side.
"Yes, I did. It was supposed to help with my discipline and self-defense" she smiled "though Stellan has been practicing for twenty-six years so his better at executing moves, while I'm more experienced in survival and evasion, seeing as I have had the fortune to fight for my life on more occasions than him" she poked her brother's side when she said that.
A hand landed on her head "and that's why you are so dang hard to kill" he mused, ruffling the mass of black hair that was tangling all over the place.
As if remembering our presents Stellan turned to us, his posture straitening and the warmhearted smile he had been wearing just a second ago turned into a professional smile that people who have to constantly smile wear.
"I am Stellan Astery, the head of this household and the Astery Corp. I also occasionally work as a privet eye. This is my partner for those occasions Arishima Hiroshi, who is also a detective" he gestured to the messy haired mane who gave us a small nod.
"And this is my younger sister Raven Astery" he gestured his hand toward her, and she also gave a small bow "on behalf of us I welcome you to the Astery estate" he finished, with the slightest nod, which you wouldn't be able to see if you hadn't been paying attention.
I was a little taken aback by such a formal introduction, but found my bearings fast enough to introduce myself and my band.
"So you're not traveling with Black Belt anymore?" Raven asked, as we were walking back towards the European stile mansion.
"Yeah, they're on a joint tour with Angel Dares" I answered her taking note of the little wooden building in the far end of the garden, just near the forest line.
"But who's the warm up band then?" she asked almost skipping.
"We are currently working with many aspiring bands, so there is a different band on every concert to help promote the young artist" Margot answered her.
"Oh I see, using the locals to get a feel of the public, and adjust your performance accordingly. That's a good strategy to boost your popularity" Stellan pointed out something that took me by surprise. I hadn't seen it for a publicity stunt, but it could be possible that there might be people who do. I should figure out a way to assure those people that I really just want to give the kids a chance to shine.
Margot seemed worried too, but Will spoke up before she could "Stel, that's not why they are doing it" he sighed dramatically "we really just want the new generation to have a go at entertaining a big audience."
"Yeah, not all people are out to make a profit" Hiroshi togged our host.
"Yes of course, how inattentive of me, after all there is you, and your obsession with bedding women" Stellan said with a straight face and walked on leaving behind a stone-faced Asian.
Raven's pov
When we entered the parlor Megan had put out tea and snacks for us.
"I see you have reduced your staff" Will pointed out taking a seat next to Margot on one of the sofas.
"Yes, there was no need to employ more people, since there are only two of us here now, and because of that most of the rooms aren't in daily use and that makes managing the house much easier, but we do employ three maids, two gardeners and a cook. " Stellan elaborated drinking his tea from beside me. We were currently occupying one of the armchairs, with my legs sprawled over his lap, as I sat on the arm of the chair. We had somehow gotten into a habit of sticking close to each other whenever we were in the same room.
"And of course, we only have one mansion now so that helps too" it came out matter of fact even though I meant it as a joke. Even so Stellan still grinned "yeah fire five maids, and hire another gardener, quite a good deal"
"But getting down to business, do you have any idea for the backdrop you want for your portrait?" I asked turning to my client.
They seemed taken aback by my question, well that wasn't a big surprise, this was probably their first encounter with painted portraits and I'm a bit more lax with my decisions. It's more challenging that way.
"What were you thinking of?" Kurt finally asked.
"Well it would help if I knew where you were planning on hanging it" I gave them something else to think about.
"How about the meeting room back in headquarters" Margot suggested.
"Yeah, that would be great" the others agreed.
"Could I see a photo of the room?" I turned to Margot, because she seemed to be the most informed out of the group of six. The band members just seemed to want a painting and hadn't really put much effort into thinking what it included.
The band's manager took out her phone and handed it to me. The room was open and gave of a comfortable yet professional vibe. The walls were light blue, and the big windows looked upon a park that seemed to be in the center of the city. The carpet was a watery grey, probably a professional choice not a stylish one, though it wasn't bad, it also did nothing for the room. There was quite a lot of empty space on the walls even though it was lined with framed posters of Gifted.
I tilted the phone so Stellan could see "could you give me the approximate measurements of this wall?" I pointed to the back wall which was mostly bare.
"I'd say about thirty-six square meters" he answered me after taking a look.
"Alright then, judging by the room and taking into account what would bring out your best sides, as well as give of the vibe I'm getting from your band I'd say that we should go with a passion colured backdrop and have one of you sitting in a gray armchair. Oh yeah the study on the third floor, would be just right" I started talking about what I thought of, when I realized that it would be easier to show them. So I handed back Margot's phone and said that we could take a look at the room after we finished tea.