(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 342

Chapter 342: Kellen, the new mascot of the Saturn Guild
Kellen was worried that his words could have had an opposite effect on how Gunther recovered, but that didn’t appear to be the case.

Rhys, after helping Hill clean up the apartment, joined Kellen in the hallway. He’d fixed his clothing as well, but he was still sporting a few bruises, and his hair was still askew. Kellen, without even realising it, began to groom the man as Rhys stood before him, his expression complex.

Rhys couldn’t fight the smile that touched his lips as Kellen straightened his collar, his lapels, and adjusted his hair. Kellen didn’t even seem to notice that he was doing it, and Rhys held his tongue.

Kellen jerked when he felt Rhys’ hands touch his waist, pulling him closer. Rhys pressed his face into his shoulder, groaning as his grip tightened on Kellen’s body.

“Rhys?” Kellen asked carefully and he exhaled in response. He didn’t speak for another few minutes and Kellen almost called his name again.

Rhys cut him off just before that.

“The futures where he…they’ve decreased. Thank you, Kellen.” Rhys murmured. Kellen jerked, surprised, before he felt his body relax. Ah. That explained his reaction. Kellen sighed, cupping the other man’s head and letting him rest against him still.

“I am glad to hear that. You let me know if you need me to yell at more people. I’m always happy to.” Kellen offered and Rhys let out a bark of laughter, squeezing Kellen again.

“I just want to kiss you.” Rhys mumbled. “But I just know that if I kiss you right now, I’ll want to touch you, and then I’ll want to do more.” Rhys let out a wistful sigh. “Being a Captain is hard.” He complained, whining and Kellen laughed.

He knew that the other man was partially serious, and also partially joking. Kellen sighed, tugging the man tighter against his shoulder.

“This will be only temporary. Until Gunther agrees to getting help, or anything else, we’ll just be carers of a sort.” Kellen said. “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have many people we can ask for help in this regard, but at the same time, it’s okay.” Kellen said. “We’ll get through this, and the day is almost over. We can kiss as much as we want later.” Kellen promised, pressing his lips against the side of Rhys’ head.

Rhys jerked his head back suddenly, his face flushed as he met Kellen’s gaze. Kellen, startled by the sudden movement, stared at the other man in equal amounts of shock.

“You just kissed me.” Kellen nodded. “Not on my lips.” Kellen nodded again. Rhys’ mouth hung open before he swallowed, and Kellen wasn’t sure what was happening. He wasn’t…turned on. His gaze wasn’t going golden, but he appeared flustered, surprised, and confused?

“Was that a bad thing?” Kellen asked and Rhys shook his head.

“No! You can do it whenever you want! I give you permission to do almost anything you want! I just…I was just surprised, is all.” Rhys ducked his head, flushing more. “It was nice.” Rhys muttered, and Kellen, surprised at the soft, adorable side of the man who had just fought his friend to the point of destroying an apartment, grabbed the silly man’s face.

Kellen pulled him closer, kissing his cheeks and face over and over. He half expected Rhys to protest, but instead the man held perfectly still, trembling slightly, his cheeks pink, but that was it. Kellen halted after a few kisses, his own cheeks pink and Rhys placed his hands on top of Kellen’s.

“You can do more.” He told him. “It’s fine if you wanted to. Or you can stop now. I’m fine with whatever you decide.” Rhys said quickly, his eyes yellow and warm and filled with affection. Kellen felt an emotion swell up inside of him. It was tender, and made his heart ache. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but he certainly felt a little uncomfortable.

Kellen sighed, pressing his forehead against Rhys’ cheek. The other man held still, as if he was afraid that if he moved he would spook the other man. Kellen’s shoulders began to shake.

“Damn it Rhys, I was trying to tease you and you just…took it.” Kellen muttered and Rhys exhaled slowly.

“I…I like when you show me affection like this. Especially right now. I just…” Rhys swallowed. “Did you want me to react a certain way?” Rhys asked and Kellen rubbed his forehead against his skin, the friction prickling slightly.

“No, well, maybe. I expected you to sputter or protest. Instead you just…” Kellen sighed, moving his head back to meet Rhys’ gaze. “Now I just want to smother you in kisses. You were so cute.” Kellen told him and the big, scary Esper turned bright red.

“Only you would call me cute, Kellen.” Rhys told him and Kellen shook his head.

“Bullshit. I know that’s a lie. Too many people like you.” Rhys smirked.

“On the outside. No one would say I’m cute like you do, and mean it. Maybe sexy, but never cute.” Rhys didn’t seem upset at his words, even if Kellen was. “No one thinks S Classes are cute. We’re too…other for most people.” Rhys could tell he was making Kellen upset. His eyes creased as he smiled at the Guide, Kellen’s own gaze narrowing.

“That’s so upsetting. I’ve always hated the difference in treatment between Classes. We’re all humans. It’s just a classification to help document the powers of others. It says nothing about someone’s character or if they are a good or bad person.”

The door slammed against the wall, and Hill stumbled out. Gunther wasn’t in sight, but if she was leaving the apartment, that was a good, or bad sign. From the look on her face, Kellen took it as a good sign.

Hill took in the couple, both men wrapped around each other just a few steps away and her face scrunched up.

“You two couldn’t even wait a few minutes to get all lovey dovey while Gunther is fighting for his literal life?” Kellen felt guilty immediately at her words, but Rhys tightened his grip.

“Kellen was just comforting me. He knows what I saw.” Rhys said and Hill’s expression hardened. She didn’t say anything for a minute before she inhaled, then exhaled. She put her hands on her hips, her clothes still a mess. Kellen wondered why Rhys hadn’t repaired them, and didn’t have to wait long since Rhys glanced at her, and then suddenly her clothes were back in working order.

“Did it change?” She finally asked, her lip still bloody. Her voice was low, quiet, and Rhys nodded.

“Kellen’s words seemed to have an impact.” Rhys said and Hill sighed. She raised one hand, running it through her mess of brown curls and scowled when her fingers got caught.

“Fucking hair. Fucking Gunther. Damnit.” Hill cursed. Kellen jerked, wanting to go to her, but Rhys wouldn’t let him. When Kellen cast a look towards him, Rhys shook his head. “Fuck. Okay. Good. I’m glad to hear it. I was worried for a while what that would mean if his words hadn’t helped, but Gunther seems…better now. He’s passed out, which is why I’m out here. Fuck. I didn’t think I’d have to call you so soon for help. Sorry you two.” Hill apologised, looking embarrassed.

Kellen did shrug off Rhys’ touch then, moving towards her and placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. We’re supposed to help each other out and pick up the slack of others when things are hard. Isn’t that what a Guild is supposed to be?” Hill’s eyes widened at Kellen’s impassioned words before her hard expression softened further. She sighed.

“Yeah. You’re right. Everything has just been so stressful for so long I just…yeah. Okay. I’m going to get this checked out by Taylor, and then I’ll be back. Should we call someone to keep an eye on him?” Rhys shook his head.

“No. I’ll do it. They’ll call me if they need me for a meeting. Apparently Kellen left quite an impression while I was gone, and the random calls for meetings have decreased in just a day alone.” Hill glanced at Kellen, impressed, while Kellen flushed.

“I didn’t do anything.” Kellen protested and Rhys chuckled.

“No, you called them all out on posturing for power. They needed it, and now my inbox is more full, but I don’t have to see Tom’s ugly mug as much, or Sergei’s.” Rhys gave Kellen a thumbs up. “Good work, my pair. My job has become easier. Who knew all it would take was one inconvenienced Guide who told them to call them when they had more information for them all to get flustered?” Rhys chuckled, and even Hill’s lips turned up slightly.

“We should have known. Kellen has that effect on others.” Hill pointed out and Rhys nodded.

“Right. No bullshit. That’s our Kellen.” Hill said, giving a thumbs up. Rhys’ eyebrows shot up.

“Our Kellen?” He asked and Hill chuckled.

“You have to share him, Captain Thatcher. He belongs to all of us now, not just you. That’s what happens when you run your own Guild.” Rhys’ expression darkened.

“Should I just close down the Guild?” He muttered and Hill laughed, while Kellen smacked his arm with the back of his hand. Rhys winced as if he had actually hurt him when Kellen had barely put any force into the strike.

“Don’t even joke about that.” Kellen warned and Rhys gave him a smile.

“Alright. I won’t.” Rhys agreed easily and Hill shook her head.

“See? No bullshit. I need to go now. Taylor only has about five minutes to see me, so I gotta run. I’ll be back shortly, Captain.” Hill nodded towards them before racing off. Kellen stared after her, before turning his gaze to Rhys.

“You want me to hang around?” He asked and Rhys shook his head, his expression soft.

“No. I’ve got this, and you have a class to teach. Go put Brent out of his misery. I’ll see you for our Guiding session later.” Rhys hesitated for a moment before he reached out, brushing Kellen’s hair back from his forehead and pressing his lips there. “I’ll see you soon.” He promised, and Kellen stared after the man as he headed back into the apartment.

He understood why Rhys liked it now.