(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 119

Chapter 119: The Taylor pick up Chapter 119: The Taylor pick up Kellen spent the time traveling with the medical team listening to them go over medical jargon Kellen only knew because he had known Taylor for so long.  It was funny, the more time he spent around them, the more his worries disappeared.

It was clear that they didn’t care about what he’d done.

It was all in the way they talked.

They were clearly more upset with what the Guides had done to hurt the Espers than what Kellen had done to the Guides.  They also seemed…excited that had done what he had?

Kellen was a little bit afraid to ask why they were excited by it, but he was happy that he’d made the right call, even while pissed.

He knew that leaving anything to Espers when it was a situation wasn’t always a good idea, and he would gladly make that decision again.

He had needed to get his anger out as well, but at least he hadn’t had to deal with the clean up from the tower blowing up.  The rest of the medical team left them as soon as they got to the Medical Bay, so it was just Taylor and Kellen as they headed towards the usual guiding room.

Taylor had been holding back asking questions, Kellen could tell, and after they passed her office door, she finally spoke up.  “So, did you really have to throw her around like that?” She asked, and Kellen’s heart jerked.

He sighed.  “It was either that or I hit her.

I think I held back quite well.” He told her firmly, and Taylor glanced up at him before she shook her head with a sigh.

Kellen winced.  “Well, I commend you for holding back, but that meant I had to spend quite a bit of my time healing her.

I was disgusted the whole time.

I had to resist throwing up.

Next time, just break bones.

They take less time.” Kellen couldn’t stop the snort that left him as Taylor’s voice dripped with revulsion.

He covered his mouth, and glanced at Taylor to find her eyes dancing.

He shook his head, relief flooding him.

She wasn’t angry at him.

“I’ll keep that in mind the next time one of the Guild’s Guides decide not to do their fucking job and jeopardize everything the Captain has worked for.” Taylor stared at Kellen’s face as Kellen practically spat the angry words out of his mouth.

“Are you upset because of Captain Thatcher, or are you upset because they gave Guides a bad name?” It was an honest question, and Kellen felt his shoulders tense.

This wasn’t exactly the conversation he wanted to have on the way to his guiding session with the Captain, but it also felt good to get this off his chest.  “It’s a little bit of both.

I know that the way I view the job of being a Guide is a little extreme, and I accept that, but what they did was just downright wrong.

Did they forget that Guides used to be fucking tied up and used like objects before the D.E.C.

was formed?

Before rules with actual repercussions and consequences were put into place?” He shook his head, exasperated and Taylor kept watching his face.

Kellen ran his hand over his face, pushing his hair out of his face.  It was clear he was upset, and in pain.

She wasn’t sure if it was because of the words leaving his mouth, or because he was remembering the Guides who came before him.

“Beyond that, it was fucking attempted murder in the main fucking city!

Are they goddamn morons?” He was almost yelling, and Taylor chuckled.

She placed her hand on his upper arm, giving it a squeeze.  “Kellen, what you used could be classified as excessive use of force.” She told him but Kellen shrugged.  “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Plus, did you see how angry the Espers were getting in the room with us?

I did those damned Guides a service by not letting the Espers get their hands on them.” Taylor shook her head, but when Kellen met her gaze, that told him everything he needed to know.  She wouldn’t have been kind to them either.  It was one thing for an Esper to be an idiot and avoid guiding, it was another thing for Guides to deny guidance.

Espers could be forced to use their powers, but were usually strong enough that it never happened.

Guides, however, could not be forced to use their powers.

If they were, it never turned out well for the parties involved.  Sure, you could force imprint them, and threaten them and other awful forms of coercion, but if none of that worked in the long run.

Constant sexual and physical assault did something awful to the powers of a Guide.

It eventually shut them down, and caused a surge of powers of the Esper who did that, even if they were miles away.

And Kellen knew that.

There were several, disgusting and long experiments involved, along with the insane Espers who performed them.  It was clear that although Espers had the power, Guides now held more that they weren’t being treated like cattle, like objects.

Which was why it was important to have incentives for people to become Guides, and why most were treated well.

You couldn’t force someone to Guide.

But if you had signed a contract, and were being paid to do a fucking job, and you weren’t doing it?

Oo, that made Kellen’s blood boil.

Add in discrimination and you had Kellen’s whole body shaking.

Especially if it involved Class levels and damn bigots.  An abuse of power, even if it was done by someone who traditionally was weaker, was still an abuse of power.

If this news broke, that these idiots weren’t doing their damn jobs and were hurting Espers, nearly killing them, it could be a disaster.

They were already dealing with the fact that a terrorist group had attacked the city recently.

The terrorist group hated Guides too.

This would only add fuel to their fire, and it would likely spur on the anti Guide sentiment that they were building their group on.  “Well, I can’t disagree with you about that, but I still think it wasn’t a great call to get violent with them.

And film it.

I know you aren’t a criminal Kellen, but never film that shit.” She was trying to sound sincere in her words, but Kellen knew she was just worried about how this could affect him.

He patted the hand she had placed on his upper arm.  “I appreciate your concern, but if this happens to blow up in my face, I can handle it.

I’m a big boy.” He smiled at her, and Taylor frowned.

It was clear he was trying to soothe her, but she knew Kellen.  He wouldn’t tell her if this ended up becoming a problem.  Hell, she wasn’t sure if he would tell the Captain at this point.

Especially since the idiot thought that Captain Thatcher wanted to see him because he’d used more of his powers then usual.

She sighed.

It was for the benefit of the Guild if those two actually got their act together and ended up together as more than just a pair, but with Kellen as half of that pair, she worried for the Captain.

The man was oblivious to his own feelings the most, nevermind what others felt for him.  It was clear to her now, after the other shoe had dropped, that what had been said to Kellen when he was awakening his power had truly affected his development emotionally.

And it wasn’t a small impact either.

She was going to have to put in the work to make sure Kellen knew that she liked to be around him, and that he was important to her.

She had hoped that her two rounds of teasing and lectures had been enough, but given the way the man was behaving around her right now, she knew it was going to have to be more than that.  Otherwise, there was a chance Kellen would try to distance himself from her, and she couldn’t take that.

She loved the man like a brother, and Gwen like a little sister.

His family had taken her in when hers had been traveling, helping with everyone else’s family but their own, and she had a feeling Kellen didn’t even know how big of an impact that had on her.

She doubted that he would ever know, even if she explained it to him.

His family wasn’t normal in this day and age.

Not many stayed together, and supported each other the way that Kellen’s did.

All she wanted was for him to be happy, like he deserved.  “A big boy huh?

Should I ask Captain Thatcher if that’s true?” Kellen stared blankly at Taylor before his face flushed as he realised what she was implying.

She laughed as he pushed her hand away, taking a few steps away from her.  “Taylor Green!” He chastised and she laughed harder.  “What?

What’s wrong with that question?

Aren’t you two a pair?

I’m sure you know exactly how-” He covered her mouth, clearly embarrassed and she couldn’t help but smile up at his flushed expression, his blue eyes swirling with emotions.

Yeah, she liked seeing Kellen like this, instead of the shell he’d been when he’d left for the front lines originally.  “Taylor!” He shouted, and she moved his hand away from her mouth, grinning.  “Your response is very telling, Kellen.

So?

Is it true that all S Class Espers are big everywhere?” Kellen wouldn’t make eye contact with her and that only made Taylor laugh more.

“Oooh, I’ll have to ask Captain Thatcher if-” She was cut off as Kellen covered her mouth again.  “Taylor, please!

Enough with your teasing.” He was begging, and her eyes crinkled up with her smile.

It was a good thing that Captain Thatcher had ended up as Kellen’s pair.

He was lively, he was human.

He was becoming who he was meant to be with him, and she was excited to be next to him as he continued to grow.

CREATORS’ THOUGHTS CalyB A cute little insight into Taylor’s feelings regarding Kellen.