(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 121

Chapter 121: A good kind of threat Chapter 121: A good kind of threat Honestly, Kellen wasn’t surprised about being topless around the Captain anymore.

Or, at least, he shouldn’t be.

The times he didn’t have a shirt on around the man now went into the double digits, and he could count on his hand at least a couple of times where the alarms were blaring in his head, and he was still topless.  This was another of those moments.  Kellen chugged the shakes Taylor had thrown at him before she left, making sure that when he threw them into the recycling this time, that he didn’t miss.

It was too much of a risk if he did.

He could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing on end whenever he slightly turned his back to the Captain.  After finishing the shakes, and making each shot, he forced himself to get dressed.

He forced himself to go at a normal pace, as if he was completely calm.

The Captain watched him, not saying a word.

He was getting more nervous by the second.  “Mr.

Woods, is it alright if we have a word in your apartment after this?

I know your day should be over, but I thought you would feel more comfortable if we did this outside of prying eyes.” That did not sound good.

The Captain’s voice was normal, and so was his tone, but the back of Kellen’s neck tingled.  “Uh, I just want to stop by the office first before we head, but sure.” Kellen told him cheerfully as he finished pulling on his leather straps.

The Captain stood up, pulling on his jacket.

He began to tuck all of his appliances into his pockets as Kellen reached for his own, long, leather jacket.  “Good.

Let’s head up then.

I think it’ll be a long conversation, so we should stop by the cafeteria and have them deliver food to us.

You also need to keep up your calorie intake as well.” Everything he said had an ominous tone to it, but Kellen dutifully followed him out of the guiding room and into the hallway.

Nervously, Kellen followed the Esper as he moved towards the elevators and then on to the Field Office.  The main office was fine, since most of the scientists were gone.

Kellen did note that the snack bowl had taken a serious dent, probably from Brent, and knew that would make the scientists happy.

He could feel the Captain’s eyes on him, so he took at least one snack from the bowl and shoved it into his pocket.

Hopefully that would help appease him.  Kellen turned and found the office door open, and the inside was a disaster.

But, no Brent.

Then, Kellen picked up on voices in the hallway.  “Ha ha, you’re so funny.

Thank you so much for your help.

I honestly had no idea what I would have done if you two didn’t help me.” Kellen, knowing better, grabbed the Captain’s arm and ducked around the corner so that they weren’t in line of sight when Brent opened the door.

It was a tight fit, since it was the corner where the side table was against the couch.  The Captain didn’t complain, since he now had Kellen pressed against him in a tight corner with nowhere for Kellen to run.

The Captain kept his grip firm on Kellen’s waist, and Kellen held his tongue as his hands wandered lower, giving his ass a good squeeze.  “Oh, it’s no bother.

We were just glad we were in the right place at the right time.” Brent’s giggle filled the air, and Kellen rolled his eyes.

Those Espers outside didn’t stand a fucking chance.

Kellen’s grip on the wall beside the Captain’s head tightened, and the Captain watched Kellen’s reactions.  “I’m so glad to hear that.

Is there any way I can replay you two?” Kellen wanted to gag at the sweet way Brent spoke.  “O-Oh, um, I wasn’t really-”  “I’m willing to do anything.” The Captain dropped his head, pressing it against Kellen’s shoulder, his own shoulder’s shaking.  “W-Well, we have to get to training, but could we have your contact info so that we could…get repaid?” There were a couple of beats of silence, but from the way the Captain’s shoulders shook, it wasn’t silence.

Kellen could only imagine what Brent was up to, and since Kellen had walked in on Brent many a time, he had a pretty good idea.  “I’ll be waiting, big boys.

Make sure to message me.” Kellen could practically see how flushed the Espers were, and Brent winking and blowing them kisses.

Those Espers were lost to Brent now.  Brent was humming to himself happily as he stepped into the Field Office proper.

Kellen heard the door close behind him, and also heard him shuffling around in the snack bowl.  “I can tell that the devil works hard, but you work harder.” Kellen said, peeking around the corner.

Brent froze, his eyes going wide.  “Did you hear everything?” Kellen made a face.  “No, but the Captain certainly did.” Brent swore, before he sighed.

Kellen tried to come out fully in front of him, but the Captain’s grip on his lower half tightened.

Instead, the Captain spoke up from the office.  “I am worried, Brent, that you are going to corrupt my people.” Brent blinked, glancing between where Kellen was exposed, and where he’d heard the voice of the Captain come from.

A slow grin crossed his face.  “You shouldn’t be concerned, Captain Thatcher.

I keep the morale up of any army.

I’m very good at it too.” He winked, and Kellen groaned.

“And that’s not the only thing I keep up.” He teased with a chuckle.

Kellen rolled his eyes, and the Captain gave Kellen’s ass another squeeze.

“But, Captain Thatcher, is there a reason you’re shoved into a corner?” Brent asked.  “Oh, Mr.

Woods shoved me here as soon as he heard voices.

Speaking of favours, Brent, could you take a picture of us?” Kellen’s eyes went wide at the Captain’s words, and Brent’s laughter filled the air.  “Of course!

Anything to embarrass Kellen.”  “Brent!” Kellen protested.

“Captain Thatcher!” Kellen nearly shouted, but the man laughed.  “How often am I going to have you in a tight corner willingly squeezed against me?

I must take advantage when I can.

It’ll be a nice memento.” Kellen glared at the Captain, who was unrepentant.

He was delighted to have the Guide’s attention on him, even if it was in anger.

It usually worked out for him pretty well.  The flash from Brent’s phone went off, and Kellen gasped, turned and Brent got another one.  “Nice.

Now that one looks like I caught you in a naughty position.

I’ll make sure that one gets to you, Captain.” Kellen grumbled something, and the Captain laughed, letting go of Kellen finally.

Kellen adjusted himself, still flustered, and both men looked at him fondly.  “So?

What brings you back here to the office after abandoning me to clean up?” Kellen snorted.  “Clearly, you had some help.” Brent sighed wistfully.  “I didn’t even need to bat my eyes.

They were just so willing to help a lil old Guide out.

It was pretty cute honestly.

They are probably new hires.” Kellen chuckled at Brent’s tone, and the soft look of his gaze.

Yup.

He was going to eat those Espers up.

Dusting himself off, Kellen moved out of the Captain’s reach, checking on what Brent and the Espers had brought in.

It was the rack holding the rest of the Field Guide uniforms.  “You didn’t stop by storage?” Kellen asked and Brent shrugged.  “Thought it was better to keep them up here for now, especially if we might have new students to replace the old ones tomorrow.” Ah.

A fair point.

Kellen nodded.  “Did you already speak to Casper, or are you expecting me to?” Kellen asked, and Brent gave him a look.

Kellen sighed.

“Right.

Dumb question.

I’ll try to message him before the Captain and I have our chat.” Brent, curious, glanced between the two of them, before his light, happy expression darkened.  “Is everything alright?” He asked, and Kellen blinked.

He glanced back at the Captain, who still had a smile on his face, and then at Brent, before it clicked.

Brent could feel the power fluctuations from the Captain, while Kellen couldn’t.

The Captain was still tucked into the corner, giving the two Guides more freedom of movement in the smaller office.  “Do I appear as if I would ever hurt Mr.

Woods, Brent?” The Captain asked, and Brent wasn’t certain if he should answer.

Kellen could tell since he didn’t fire back immediately.

He took his time to drop the laptop bag onto the desk and shuffled through some of the papers on the desk before he sighed.  “If I’m honest, Captain Thatcher, I wouldn’t say that you would ever hurt him intentionally.

Kellen, however, would.

So really, at this point given your emotions, I’m more worried about you.” Kellen’s jaw dropped at Brent’s words, and the Captain laughed.  “I can manage myself, but I appreciate your concern, Brent.” The Captain’s tone was cheerful, while Kellen stared daggers at Brent.

Brent’s face scrunched up in disgust, before he smoothed it out and sighed heavily.

He placed his hand on his hip, shaking his head.  “I knew you cared about him, but I didn’t realise you had it this bad.

Well, it’s not my business, really, so I’ll leave it alone unless you need my help.

So?

Why’d you come back to the office for real, Kellen.

Did you need something?” He asked, and Kellen had to take a minute.

He was having a hard time processing everything that had just happened.

The Captain was behaving strangely, and triggering Kellen’s flight reaction, and now Brent had seriously asked if the Captain was okay.

Implying that it was Kellen’s fault too.  Kellen needed a cup of tea.  “Well, I originally wanted to go over our plans for tomorrow, and make sure you were okay after clearing everything up from the obstacle course room by yourself, but clearly you were fine doing so.” Brent held up a thumbs up, winking.  “Yup.

And don’t worry about the small stuff.

We can go over our plans tomorrow, but we’ve already micromanaged the first four weeks of the program to a T.

We can go over it before class too, if that makes you feel better.” Brent told him, and Kellen felt the Captain shift behind him.

He finally stepped out from the corner.  “He might not be able to do that tomorrow.

Mr.

Woods has to attend a press conference tomorrow before your first class.” Brent stopped moving, before spinning to face them.  “Why does he-?” He stopped when he saw how grim the two of them had gotten.

“The only thing I can think of is the terrorist attack.

What else could have happened?” Kellen did appreciate that it didn’t even cross his mind what he’d done to the Guides was bad behaviour.

Kellen wiped his hands on his pants before he ran them over his face.  “Remember how Casper was filming today?

Well, apparently someone else thought it was a good idea too, and they released to the public me beating up the Guides without context.

Now the public is demanding an answer.” Brent went ghost white.

It was the first time Kellen had seen him do so.  “Oh my god.

Are you going to be okay?” He asked.

Captain snorted beside Kellen, and the two Guides turned to look at him.

The Captain moved closer to Brent, reaching out to ruffle Brent’s hair as he got closer.

His eyes were a soft, yellow colour, different from the colour they normally were.  “The Saturn Guild isn’t some small-time Guild who can be shaken by one scandal, Brent.

Plus, even if it was, I am one of the few Espers in the world with my powers.

Who is sane.

Who the hell would truly try to mess with me and my Guild?

On top of that, Kellen has far more support behind the scenes then even I knew about.

We’ll be okay.” Why did he sound so upset when he said that?

The Captain didn’t glance back at Kellen, only patted Brent’s head until Brent pushed his hand away, his cheeks slightly pink.  “Wow.

You take your brother-in-law role very seriously.

But thanks, Captain Thatcher.

I know somewhere in my brain that you two will get through it, but scandals follow you for life.” Ah, more pieces of the puzzle that was Brent slid into place.

It was Kellen’s turn to reach out and ruffle his hair.

Brent grumbled.  “I’ll be fine.

It’s not my first rodeo, just my first one where they have been so public about it.

Usually I had to handle these kinds of things behind the scenes.” Kellen grinned, trying to sound reassuring.

If he was honest with himself, he was terrified.

He was playing it cool, but he’d only done one press conference before, and that was last week.

They were going to ask him intrusive questions, and try to get him to react negatively so they could get it on camera.

He was going to have to call on all of his training from Guiding Center B to get through this.  “Well, okay, if you say so.” Brent didn’t sound convinced, and Kellen kept his smile on his face.

He wasn’t going to try to worry him, especially since Brent had started off the day in a mood.

The Captain turned, and wrapped his arm around Kellen’s shoulders, pulling him towards him.

Surprised, Kellen stumbled in his steps and the Captain caught him, grinning.  “Don’t worry Brent.

We’re going to have a discussion about what we’re going to do during the press conference.

If you can’t have faith in Mr.

Woods, you can have faith in me.” Brent’s face didn’t change after hearing the Captain’s words.

“Don’t let me stop you two if you’re in a rush.” He deadpanned, and the Captain laughed.

Brent stared at Kellen, who was flustered by the Captain’s attention and he sighed.

“I’ll be fine Kellen, so get outta here.” He waved his hand dismissively, and the Captain didn’t hesitate.

He used his hold that he had on Kellen to spin him, and head towards the door.  “We’ll see you after the press conference, Brent.

Have a good night.” The Captain was basically rushing them out of the Field Office, and Kellen barely had time to wave at Brent before they were out of there.

The alarms hadn’t stopped while we were in the office, but now they were the only thing that Kellen could hear.

CREATORS’ THOUGHTS CalyB Even Brent is worried about Kellen’s press conference.