(BL) Hunting The Field Guide Chapter 80: Two kids in a candy store

Once Kellen had eaten, and maybe cald down a little bit, he allowed the Captain to massage his legs on the couch while Brent surfed through the channels on the T.V. Kellen paid him no mind as the Captain worked.

It was a blissful morning for him after everything he’d been through.

When he felt better, he dragged the two n to the coffee shop, ordered several expensive teas which only made Brent laugh at him, and took them all to a comfy seat by the window to enjoy them. The Captain, who hadn’t often seen, or seen this side of Kellen at all, was delighted that he was showing this side to him. Brent, who’d spent 3 years covered in blood, mud and shit with the man had often seen Kellen like this, but held his tongue. No matter how much he wanted to tease him, Kellen had been through so shit over the last week and he needed a break. Being a little selfish wasn’t a bad thing, and in his opinion, he needed to be more selfish.

So Brent kept his mouth shut, sipped on the iced drink the Captain had so kindly paid for, and watched the magic unfold of Kellen slowly working his way into a serious relationship with the Captain of the Saturn Guild. Without his knowledge. Brent was going to lose his mind when it actually beca official. He just wondered if Kellen was going to realise his feelings before or after.

Kellen, who now felt better, and his legs didn’t shake like a newborn anymore, wanted to do sothing. Anything. That was when he rembered the obstacle course. Brent hadn’t seen it yet, and soone had suggested that the Captain had been upset he hadn’t seen Kellen run through it last ti, so now was the perfect chance to kill two birds with one stone.

"Brent, do you want to see sothing cool?" Brent, who knew Kellen’s definition of ’cool’ was wide, raised an eyebrow.

"Sure?" He said and Kellen chugged his last drink. The Captain, who had been dragged along like so kind of coin purse, watched everything with amusent. Kellen, who was currently upset by any expression the Captain made, even if it was an innocent smile, narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Then let’s go. Are you coming, Captain Thatcher?" The Captain’s shoulders shook with silent laughter as he finished his drink. He’d ordered a bright pink lemonade concoction that made Kellen’s teeth ache. It only proved the two of them had different tastes. The Captain, all long legs wrapped in tight jeans, uncrossed his legs and stood. Kellen was still bitter, as he gave the man a one over. He was still angry that he looked so good, and that he was fine. Kellen knew he hadn’t been the only one...the only one climaxing, but the Captain was fine. He was still angry about it. Were Espers and Guides that different? Fuck.

"Of course, my dear Guide. You two lead the way and I shall follow behind." Kellen tossed him a dirty look over his shoulder as he crossed the coffee shop towards the elevator. unaware that the sweatpants he’d selected to wear hugged his ass quite nicely, and the Captain was enjoying the view. Brent kept his laughter to himself, well aware it would get him punished later if he didn’t.

The Captain received a call while they were on their way to the obstacle course room, and Kellen’s anger simred down once more. The Captain was a busy man, but yesterday he had spent the whole day with Kellen. He’d accepted no phone calls, nothing. It had been just about Kellen. It made him feel guilty. He was the Captain of a Guild, he didn’t belong to just Kellen.

He didn’t belong to Kellen at all.

A sharp pain in Kellen’s chest had him rubbing the spot in confusion, but he ignored it.

The three of them arrived at the obstacle course and no one was around. The Captain was still on the phone, and waved the two excited Guides on their way. Brent’s eyes had grown to the size of saucers, and sparkled like a kid in a candy store. Kellen had a feeling that was almost exactly what he had looked like when Casper had taken him here. Kellen waved Brent on so that he could look it over, and Kellen chuckled to himself. He could tell that Brent was checking his prosthetic to make sure it was in perfect condition so he could run the course. Kellen couldn’t bla the man, he was thinking about the sa thing.

It was around the ti that another, newer prosthetic usually arrived for Brent at the front lines. The duo had never discussed it, since Brent wasn’t one to talk about himself, but it was clear that no matter if Brent was trying to run away from the people in his past, so still cared about him. Otherwise, Brent wouldn’t open those packages with such a tender look on his face. It gave Kellen so comfort. He hated the thought that Brent’s childhood had been straight awful. The sa way that Kellen didn’t pry into Brent’s past was the sa way that neither of them spoke about Brent’s path to destruction he’d been on since Kellen had t him. It was like the man had hoped to stop coming out of the gates. Kellen had never pried, but had beaten the shit out of him a few tis when he got too close.

He hoped that he was making the right choice by bringing Brent away from the front lines right now. Kellen hadn’t thought about what Brent would be like once Kellen left the front lines. Now, actually looking over Brent for the first ti since he’d gotten here, he realised Brent had had serious bags under his eyes. He had looked exhausted and unapproachable in his mories of when he’d first seen him. Now? Now Brent seed at least rested, and the bags were mostly gone. His gaze seed a little brighter, and like Kellen, he had filled out a little more. Kellen just worried now about how he was ntally, but he was hesitant to ask. What if Brent didn’t want to talk about it? What if it made Brent not like him anymore? What if he was too nosy?

Brent glanced back at Kellen after having gone over the course with his eyes and grinned at the other Guide.

"Are you going to run it with ?" He asked, and Kellen jerked. He opened his mouth, about to say no, when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Why don’t you go run it and I’ll ti you two? I’m done with my phone call now, and have ti to focus on you two again." The Captain’s genuine smile relaxed a tense part inside of Kellen he hadn’t been aware of. He sighed, smiling, and turned to Brent.

"Alright, but don’t cry when I beat you because I’ve run it before." Kellen warned the other Guide, and Brent snorted. Brent began to stretch, and Kellen followed suit. His muscles did protest, but not as much after the massage. He fird his mouth into a thin line, before doing the right thing. "Thanks for the massage, Captain." The Captain, who hadn’t expected anything and was simply happy to be here, smiled easily.

"Of course. I’ll gladly do it again, so don’t be afraid to ask." The Captain told him, and Kellen wanted to remain angry at him, wanted to keep this anger inside of him, but it wasn’t like him. The Captain had been punished enough, and had paid for their drinks and listened to Kellen’s ridiculous demands. His anger faded, and Kellen turned his attention back to Brent. Brent was smirking.

"Forgiving him so quickly?" He whispered and Kellen shot his arm out and pushed his shoulder. Brent threw his head back and laughed.

"I already told him what he did wrong, and he apologised." Brent’s eyes sparkled.

"All he did was buy you drinks and massage you. Things he would have done easily without a threat. You need to get more creative in getting him to beg for your forgiveness. You might need it in the future." Kellen frowned at the man, before getting to his feet after finishing his stretches.

"Shut up Brent, and get to the starting line." Brent laughed, doing what he was told. The two Field Guides were excited, and Kellen had been right, the Captain was excited to see them run it. He’d seen so of the Espers run the courses made, and it was impressive, but he had always loved watching the two of them move. Kellen specifically, but Brent was also impressive.

The Captain counted them down, and the two of them took off like bullets. They were neck in neck for the whole race, Kellen only beating Brent by a second. The two didn’t even wait to hear the results from the Captain, and ran back to the beginning to run it again. And again. And again. Like two small children, they were grinning wildly, excited and enjoying themselves. When they had finally exhausted themselves, and left the rankings in the dust. The Captain kept watch over them, offering them water bottles as they ran the course over and over. Making sure the two giddy Guides were healthy and happy. He even humoured them by running the course himself, and the two Guides stood back and watched.

Kellen, and Brent, had both forgotten how smoothly the Captain could move. It had been a while since Brent had seen him in action, and for Kellen, it felt like forever since he’d seen the Captain and Hill fight earlier in the week. He moved as if the obstacle course didn’t bother him in the slightest, his eyes blazing as he looked forward. The Captain almost beat their scores on his first attempt, and the two were impressed. He was impressive. He wasn’t a Captain for nothing. The two clapped for him and he smirked, giving a small bow as if he was accepting a reward.

"Okay, now that the Captain has run it, should we look over it and see if we can change anything to make it more fun?" Brent asked, and Kellen was easily sucked in. The Captain was also interested in what they would have to say, and followed them as the two discussed the changes. The Captain, who hadn’t thought of the changes they were saying, started taking notes on his phone to send the team that built the courses. Clearly they had only been thinking of these courses from an Esper perspective, but the suggestions that Kellen and Brent were coming up with were difficult. Just plain difficult, and would benefit those who needed to go into gates, which was basically the whole Guild.

They carried on into the mid afternoon, and Brent left, saying he had an appointnt. He’d wiggled his eyebrows when he said it, leaving nothing really to the imagination about what he was doing, or where he was going. The Captain escorted Kellen back to his apartnt, but didn’t join him. He had so work he needed to catch up on, but if Kellen needed him, he would be in his apartnt.

For the first ti in a while, Kellen was left alone.

At first, Kellen was happy to have the space to himself, but as the minutes ticked by, he beca aware of a few facts. One, he didn’t like to be alone right now. Two, he liked having the Captain in his space. For so reason, the Captain felt like he belonged here, around Kellen. Three, his thoughts were spiraling without his control, and he hated it.

Knowing these three things, Kellen began puttering around his apartnt. He finally took this ti to hide the boxes better, tucking them into the drawer where he kept his underwear. For good asure, he tucked them behind the box he kept his sex toys in. He would find it less embarrassing if those were found then if the posters were. At least with the sex toys he could explain it. He also took this ti to go over his training plan and make sure it was rock solid. He’d have to check in on where the equipnt he had ordered was and whether so of it had arrived since he’d ordered it.

Now that Brent was here, he wanted to see how many people for sure wanted to beco Field Guides. It wouldn’t be an easy process, and he had a feeling a few would drop out, but he wanted to make sure that he had all his ducks in a row. He wanted to give them a fighting chance, he wanted to give being a Field Guide a good rep so people would want to go into it. It was hard work, but Kellen found it rewarding. He just hoped that all of the work he was putting in wasn’t for nothing.