It was only a little bit later that the first of the Guides started to arrive. Thankfully, Kellen had composed himself, but the Guides were surprised to see Rhys there.
Apparently, much to Kellen’s dismay, he had been in a rather important eting with the other Captains and leaders of the city, but as soon as soone told him that Kellen was crying in the cafeteria he had dropped everything to run over. It was sweet, but that didn’t an Kellen didn’t feel bad.
Rhys brushed off Kellen’s attempts to send him away. He wasn’t going to have it, until Kellen told him that he was actually okay. It took several minutes, and the rest of the second half of his class showing up before Kellen finally told Rhys that he was going to be okay.
Rhys then bent, kissing Kellen’s forehead, a soft smile on his face and in his yellow eyes before he left. Not without making Kellen feel like butterflies were in his stomach, and he knew his face was a little red.
He then went to get in line with the others to get food.
They chatted amongst each other, all of them excited to speak with Kellen about their issues, and their excitent, until Kellen caught sight of Casper coming into the cafeteria. He looked tired, with circles under his eyes, and he was alone.
Despite the feeling of isolation that he was getting from the other man, Kellen didn’t like seeing him alone. So, even if Casper was trying to avoid him, Kellen wasn’t going to let him this ti. Plus, he knew that the other Guides would probably want to speak with him as well, and get advice from him.
So, Kellen called out to him, waving wildly so that Casper couldn’t ignore him. Casper, at first, seed like he was going to try to avoid him, but it wasn’t going to work in his favour. Kellen wasn’t going to let him. As soon as the other Guides saw what Kellen was doing, they joined in, calling to Casper as well.
He was hooked, and Kellen could see it in his face that he knew it too. If Kellen had to turn away to hide his smile, it was no big deal. He just needed to gather his ga face for a second. It was clear that as Casper approached that he didn’t want to join them. Kellen could see it in the stiff way he was walking, and the way his gaze darted to Kellen and away. He was nervous, and clearly didn’t want to see him.
Kellen didn’t really care. This was his form of care. Casper needed to eat, probably needed to socialise, and his Guides had just co back from the front lines. Casper couldn’t go around avoiding him, not for their professional relationship. It did sting that Kellen could feel the distance between them, but he wasn’t going to force Casper to be friends with him.
He was trying his best to understand that people didn’t have to be friends with him, and that if he felt another pulling away, he didn’t need to chase it. He was also learning about what that feeling was. Should he talk to Casper about it personally? Yes. Was he going to do it? Soon.
Kellen just needed to gather a bit more courage.
So, this felt like an easy step, an easy way to kill two birds with one stone. Test if Casper actually really didn’t like him anymore, while also making sure that he was getting needs t that he probably wasn’t even aware of. Kellen was, after all, a Guide still. He couldn’t fight who he was, even if soone didn’t like him.
He would take care of enemies. It was how he t Carlos after all. Kellen wasn’t about to change that part of himself. Rhys didn’t want him to.
So, Casper was roped into the line with them. All of the Guides spoke to him excitedly, including him in their conversations while Kellen spoke more closely with a few of the Guides he noticed were having a harder ti. A few from this group had co back feeling...different. Kellen could tell. They weren’t as sure as the others about continuing on the front lines as Field Guides.
That was okay. Kellen wanted to hear out their concerns and make them feel heard. He understood that reality was much different than what was promised sotis. It was why they were only doing week long stints instead of month long stints like the new recruit Espers were doing. Unlike the Guides, it wasn’t mandatory (though that was going to change soon).
Kellen could feel Casper’s gaze on him every once in a while, but when Kellen would look over at him he would jerk his gaze away. Kellen did wonder what that was about, but didn’t pay it too much attention as he focused on making sure that the Guides were eating enough to refuel after Taylor had lectured them.
His half written email to Brent was sitting on his phone, in his pocket. He’d decided that calling his Aunt was more important than work and he was glad that he had. Brent would understand. He might not have family that he spoke to often, as revealed to Kellen, but he did have family that he cared about. Hell, it was one of the reasons he was on the front lines right now.
After everyone had gotten their dinners, they headed over to the table that Kellen had secured, and dragged over another table after promising that they would move it back. It was like they were a large family gathering for dinner in a restaurant. Kellen thought it was cute, and nice, but he could tell that Casper was a little uncomfortable still.
He seed to be relaxing though, and Kellen was glad for it.
Kellen was sat next to Bree on one side, and one of the Guides who might leave the program. On the other side of Bree was Casper, so they were still quite close to each other. Everyone was eating and chatting, bragging about good monts from the front lines to Kellen, clearly looking for praise.
Kellen gave it easily, freely, making sure that they knew that he was proud of them. They had trained hard to get there, and Brent had told him that they had done a good job. Kellen had also seen over the weeks how much effort they had put in for this. They deserve the praise that he was giving them, and he could tell that they really appreciated it. So even looked like they were about to cry.
Kellen did notice that Bree, even if her eyes were sparkling, was a little quiet. Kellen only asked about that after everyone had eaten, and the chattering had slowed down. It wasn’t Bree who answered, but one of her friends.
"She’s just quiet because we all know that she’s exceptional. She wants us to get praise too." It wasn’t a dig, it wasn’t even a slight. The Guide said it like it was the truth, and Bree went bright red. It was clear that if it was true, Bree was embarrassed that it was being pointed out. The others began to tease her, poking fun at the girl.
Kellen wasn’t sure what to do.
"While it is true that Bree has always stood out, that doesn’t an that she doesn’t put in as much work as everyone else. I hope everyone understands that." Kellen said carefully, a little worried that he’d bred an environnt that might make them think that he considered Bree better then the others.
But from the open faces, the smiles, and the looks in everyone’s eyes, that wasn’t the case. Kellen’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
"No, we understand that, Guide Woods. We’re just teasing Bree. The whole ti on the front lines she was trying to make sure that everyone got praise over her." One of her friends said, and Bree looked uncomfortable. Kellen stared at her.
"Bree? Is that true?" He asked and Bree wouldn’t et eyes with him. He nudged her. "Bree, you know that you also deserve praise for all of the hard work you’ve put into your training too, right?" Kellen pestered, poking, and Bree eventually nodded.
"I-I know. I just know that you...wanted to be the best so I-" Kellen cut her off.
"No, Bree. While we did single you out originally, you are still just a human. The fact that you far exceeded our expectations for you is because of the effort you put in, not because of anything else. While there was pressure on you, you’re the one who rose up to et that pressure. That does not an you are less worthy of praise because you t the ridiculous goals we set in place." Kellen told her, and watched as the purple haired girl blushed down to the roots of her hair. She looked like a tomato.
Casper cleared his throat beside her, and everyone looked in his direction. His tired gaze hopefully held the sa passion that Kellen had felt in his bones as he had spoken.
"Guide Woods is right, Bree. We singled you out. We thought you might be a good fit, and as I’ve been sent the progress reports on you, and the rest of you, I have watched as all of you have far exceeded the projected growth that Guide Woods had suggested next to his plan. All of you have done an exceptional job. You are all worthy of praise." Casper’s voice held conviction, determination, and pride. "We, as a Guild, are proud of you and what you have done. Whether you continue to stick to this program, or not, I want you all to know that we are all proud of you. We should say it more, because I know that what you did isn’t easy. Guide Woods wouldn’t have made it so because he knows the perils of being in gates. He wants to set you up to succeed. To thrive. We as a Guild, as a team, want to put an end to the suffering of those around us, and the fact that all of you volunteered your ti, your energy, and your effort into this is amazing. All of the Guides who didn’t volunteer have noticed the changes, and I won’t lie and say that they aren’t a little jealous of how you have turned out." Casper told them.
Kellen was moved by what Casper had said himself, and again, was grateful that he had called out to him. Hearing it from Kellen would have an impact, but hearing it from Casper? The man who had been looking after them this whole ti?
Kellen could see in their faces how his words had impacted them. It was good. It was nice to see. Kellen felt his lips turn up slightly.
"Hey now, it’s not as if they will be my students forever. Who knows? So of them could turn into teachers, hmm?" Kellen said, raising his eyebrow with a smile. "I’ve already been getting requests for teachers from other Guilds. What do you think? A secret group of elite trainers who travel the world training other Guides to be Field Guides? How does that sound?" Kellen was able to bring the mood together, making them laugh, while also giving the Guides who weren’t so sure about being on the front lines another avenue. Sothing that they hadn’t even considered.
Kellen was so proud of them, and as he looked around the table, he was happy to see that every expression was relaxed, every smile was real, and the tension that he normally saw in Field Guides weren’t there. They had had a good experience, and now it was just hope that the rest of them would have the sa.
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