(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 347

Chapter 347: Friendships that last forever, with the Captain
“Gunther, are you in there?” Rhys asked, knocking on the door. There was a soft chuckle on the other side before the other man opened it up. He looked…okay. He was in the Guild’s gym clothes, his hair around his shoulders. It was at least brushed this time, unlike when he’d been by before, and the split lip was healing nicely. The other things were fixed with Green’s healing power, but for some reason he wanted to keep the split lip.

Rhys knew he should have asked some questions, but he didn’t want to.

“Where the hell else am I going, Rhys? Or should I call you Captain Thatcher?” Gunther joked, his lips turning up in a smile, but his eyes weren’t laughing. Hill sighed, while Rhys felt his heart squeeze painfully.

“Oh don’t be mean. He comes to visit you as much as he can. With two Lieutenant’s benched, he’s got his hands full. Now let us in, fucker.” Hill stepped forward, pushing Gunther out of the way while Rhys watched Gunther with pained eyes. Gunther only took his eyes off of him as Hill marched further into the room. Rhys stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

At least now the couch wasn’t destroyed, the kitchen was in one piece, and Gunther seemed…okay on the outside. Rhys knew he was probably lying to everyone, biding his time until he got free to do whatever he wanted.

Rhys had done the same thing when he’d first been declared an S Class Esper and everyone thought he was a monster. Fuck.

“I’m sorry.” Rhys said, and both Gunther and Hill paused. Gunther turned, an incredulous look on his face.

“Now you’re apologising?” He said and Rhys winced at the look of pure mockery on his face. “Oh, how kind.” He snorted and Rhys sighed softly.

“You have every right to mock me. I should have apologised earlier. I should have…there are a lot of things I should have done.” Rhys trailed off. He clenched his hands tightly, dropping his gaze before he looked up and met his gaze again. “When you told me about what you and Casper had done, or what Casper had done to you, I should have…I shouldn’t have supported it. I should have told you it was wrong. I was just so caught up in the realisation that we had taken two different approaches to our shared history that I was…I was in shock.” Rhys swallowed. “I’m sorry, Gunther. I should have realised it sooner. I was too…I was self absorbed, or I had put blinders on. I didn’t want to see how you were hurting, and I thought being with Casper would fix it for you. That wasn’t the right answer, and in the end I hurt everyone.” Hill’s face twisted from behind Gunther.

She opened her mouth, about to say something before she shut it, shaking her head. Gunther was silent, his expression softening from the pure mockery and scorn that it had been before, but Rhys wasn’t able to tell what he was thinking.

“What do you mean that we had two different approaches?” Gunther asked and Rhys made a pained face.

“Gunther, what they did to us was wrong. It wasn’t right. That wasn’t…that’s not love. That’s not what it’s supposed to be.” Rhys let out a hard laugh. “I know that as Espers, love can be a little on the rougher side, especially if we don’t keep a grip on ourselves, but hitting like that? Abuse? Without consent, without our permission? That’s not love. Kellen didn’t hit me to confirm that he cared about me. He just told me with words.” Gunther stared at him, unblinking, to the point that Rhys worried that he wasn’t breathing.

Rhys took a step towards him, worried, and that was when Gunther inhaled. It wasn’t a stable sound, and finally Rhys could tell what Gunther was thinking. He was shaken, and Rhys reached into his pocket, pulling out the whiskey he’d grabbed for Gunther. It was one of his favourites, and Hill gave him a betrayed look from behind Gunther’s back. Rhys gave her an apologetic smile.

Gunther looked at the offered whiskey, Rhys’ outstretched hand, before he let out a shaky sigh and took it. He unscrewed the cap, putting the neck to his lips and poured the whiskey into his mouth. It had to be warm since it had been against Rhys’ body, but he didn’t hesitate. He only stopped when the bottle was half gone. He then thrust the bottle towards Hill, turning his back to Rhys.

“Here. Take a swig. I know you like this stuff.” Hill’s eyes lit up, but she hesitated for a moment.

“Am I okay to do that?” She asked, and Gunther growled.

“Take a fucking swig, Karen, or so help me, I’ll split your lip again and this time your precious Green won’t patch you up.” Hill let out a gasp, snatching the whiskey from Gunther’s hand and taking a deep swig before she handed it back. Gunther chuckled at the sour expression on her face.

“We’re just friends!” Hill protested and Gunther rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. I’m sure she thinks that.” Hill’s face went red.

“Gunther!” Hill screeched as Gunther turned and held out the bottle to Rhys. Rhys swallowed and Gunther nodded at him.

“Take it, Rhys.” Gunther said and Rhys took the bottle, taking a deep swig of his own. The whiskey burned as it slid down his throat, but that was okay. He handed the nearly empty bottle back to Gunther who finished it off and tossed it into the kitchen. “Alright. Tell me about this shit that you’ve come to pester me with. What do you mean that you and Kellen don’t hit each other?” Gunther asked, glancing at Rhys and Rhys took a shaky exhale.

This was…this was going a lot better than he thought.

“And don’t fucking lie, either. I see the state that Kellen gets into when he’s been with you. The man doesn’t know when to wear a shirt.” Gunther warned and Rhys’ lips twitched despite the seriousness of the topic.

“He does hate shirts.” Rhys said, knowing the secret behind that. It made him smile as Hill and Gunther sat down on the couch. Hill sat, spread legs, arms wide, taking up as much space as possible. Gunther sat a little more reservedly, and Rhys barely sat down. He was a bit too much worked up for that.

“Well, we don’t do anything like spanking. Mm, not really. We haven’t explored anything like that, but to be clear, this isn’t how we show affection for each other.” Rhys told him and Gunther narrowed his eyes.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what kinks are, right?” Hill piped up from the side and Gunther nodded slowly.

“I’ve heard about it, yeah.” He replied and Rhys tried to think of the best way he could say this.

“Kellen has a pain kink. But he’d beat the shit out of me if I ever did anything to him without his consent. Again, when Kellen and I confirmed our feelings for each other, there was no violence. When I told Kellen I liked him as more than a pair, I didn’t hit him. He didn’t hit me when he told me that he had feelings for me. There was no violence, not kicking, no hitting. We didn’t break plates, or glasses, or anything of that nature. No furniture was broken, at least not in that way, and we’ve never done that kind of stuff without confirming with each other that we wanted it.” Rhys sighed. “There are times when we are intimate together that we don’t do anything like that.”

Gunther sat in silence, listening to what Rhys was saying. He seemed to be having a hard time processing it and Rhys watched him.

“Gunther, you’ve been around the block a few times. Did you get violent with your sexual partners?” Gunther made a disgusted face, horrified at the suggestion.

“No! Why would you even suggest that?” He demanded and Rhys stared at him.

“Okay, so why do you think you need violence to be involved when love is involved?” Gunther was stumped, and Rhys watched as the gears turned in his head, and then got stuck. He dropped his head, knitting his hands together as he bent, leaning over as he contemplated what Rhys had said. Their positions were very similar.

“I…I don’t know.” Gunther admitted. “I just…I guess I just thought it was natural.” Gunther admitted. “Dad made it seem like it was normal. He even discussed what to do after they hit you for the first time.” Rhys wanted to kill their parents all over again, but reeled in his emotions. For Gunther.

“My Father tried to do the same thing. It’s unfortunate that our parents were friends as well, but Gunther, listen to me, that’s not fucking normal. I don’t know where we veered off course from each other in this thinking, but hitting and violence like they were doing? Not love. Furthest from it. It’s selfish, and cruel. They were looking for submission from our Mom’s, not showing them love. That’s why Casper was so upset. He couldn’t imagine hitting someone that he loved, like he had done to you.” Gunther’s face fell at the mention of Casper’s name.

“Ah fuck.” Silence filled the room, no one saying anything as Gunther took a moment to process what Rhys had said.

When Gunther looked up, he was shaken, unsure, but he didn’t look like he had as harsh of an edge to him anymore. Some of him had softened.

“Is he…is he doing okay?” Gunther asked softly and Rhys didn’t think he should lie to him.

“No, he’s not. Casper’s shaken. He’s…considering leaving the Guild.” Rhys told him and Gunther was on his feet in a second. He turned to face Rhys, his eyes going blue as his emotions raged.

“You can’t let him! I can’t-Stop him! You can’t let him leave, Rhys!” Rhys’ face cracked.

“And what am I supposed to do, Gunther? Watch as the two of you destroy yourselves as you hang around each other? You’re both my lieutenants! Do you think I like what’s happening? You’re both important to me, but I feel like I can’t fucking win no matter what happens! Either way, I’m going to lose one of you, and I’m honestly too scared to look into the future to find out which one.” Rhys admitted. The two men stared at each other.

“Fuck, Rhys, I-” Rhys’ voice shook as he spoke again.

“Do not make me look at that again, Gunther.” Gunther’s expression went slack as Rhys’ words washed over him. Hill looked horrified. She had an inkling of what he’d seen, but it was at this moment that both her and Gunther realised he’d seen all of the options Gunther had come up with. Rhys had been desperately searching for a reality where it didn’t happen. He’d had to look through dozens of futures to find it.

Gunther dropped his head.

“…I can’t live without him.” Gunther admitted softly. “I can’t. Even being by his side the last few years has been…it’s been hard.” Gunther admitted and Rhys exhaled.

“I know.” Rhys said, and Gunther raised his gaze. He met Rhys’, and his lips twitched slightly. “But that means that you’re going to have to learn from your mistakes, from my mistakes, and get some help. Kellen’s not…lying when he said therapy helps.” Rhys told him and Gunther raised an eyebrow. So did Hill.

“Are you going?” Hill asked and Rhys nodded.

“I am. I’ve only had two sessions so far but…it’s nice. I haven’t spoken about any of this in such a long time it’s…it’s not terrible to get it off my chest.” Rhys shook his head. “But that’s not the only reason we’re here. We have a big ask of you, and you can say no.” Rhys started and Gunther blinked. “We would like you to go undercover in the A. E. G.” Rhys didn’t want to beat around the bush, instead just getting right to the point.

Gunther took a moment to hear what he said, before he started laughing.

“You want me, as I currently am, to go into a terrorist organisation? Are you sure?” He was joking, but Rhys understood. Gunther was putting on a great front, but he was highly unstable. It was why he hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but damn Kellen…

“Kellen suggested it.” Rhys admitted, doing as Kellen told him. Gunther covered his mouth as he laughed incredulously.

“The same motherfucker who saw what I look like inside right now suggested me? Are you sure he’s the sane one out of the two of you?” Gunther’s words had a bite to them, but Rhys brushed them off.

“He also…wanted to introduce you to someone. Who he had apparently rescued from the A. E. G.” Hill, who hadn’t been there, gasped.

“What? When did that little rule follower do that?” She demanded and Rhys shrugged.

“No idea. But apparently they’re at…the Peach Guild.” Gunther’s eyes widened, as did Hill’s.

“That little snake. He hid them right under our noses. Why didn’t he come to us to hide them?” Hill asked the room. Rhys shrugged. He had no idea, but he wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t sting that he hadn’t trusted them to hide someone like that.

“Alright. How long?” Rhys shrugged.

“Until we unearth the lieutenant or whatever that’s hidden in the city I guess. Or until you get caught, so don’t get caught. The D. E. C. has been keeping an eye on it, but they ran as soon as they realised that they were being tailed.” Gunther nodded slowly.

“You know what…I think this might be the perfect time for me to do this. I get to work out some of this aggression, Casper gets his distance, and I can live out my rebellious phase I never got.” Rhys sighed.

“Gunther, your rebellious phase was not beating up people on a daily basis, if I remember correctly.” Rhys replied but the decision was already made. The dead look in his gaze was gone and that was all Rhys needed to know.

Now he just needed to plan for him to be gone long term, and break the news to everyone.

“Oo! Do we get to plan like, a big break up from the Saturn Guild so that you have a better alibi? Oo! This is going to be so much fun!” Hill clapped her hands together and Rhys gave her a weak smile. Fun, huh?