(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 379

Chapter 379: A week is only a few days
Gwen and Kellen continued to chat until all of Kellen’s food was finished, the cafeteria was empty save them, and Kellen’s head started bobbing. Kellen and Gwen had even chatted as they had put away their trays, getting smiles from the kind workers around them.

Gwen, who had never seen this sleepy side of Kellen before, had decided that she would help him back to his apartment. At first, Kellen had protested, until he had nearly fallen over as he was getting up from the bench. His whole body had gone weak, and Kellen could only theorize it was because he had relaxed around his sister. Gwen took up her duty as his Esper sister quite seriously.

Everything about her was smiling, but her grip was tight as she wrapped his hand around her forearm, tucking it against her body as she helped him move towards the elevator, and then up to the gym floor and passed. Only a few Espers were inside working out, and a few waved to Kellen and Gwen.

The duo made it up to the apartment, Kellen offering for Gwen to come inside but she turned him down. It was obvious to everyone that Kellen was exhausted and that he was going to pass out once the door closed behind him. She told him to rest well, and Kellen wished her the same.

Kellen hugged his sister goodnight, and told her that he had enjoyed their time tonight. Gwen had smiled, her eyes better after they had spent some time together, and agreed with him. Kellen would have to make more time for her going forward. Now that they worked in the same Guild, there wasn’t any reason not to.

After saying goodbye to Gwen, he followed along with her predictions. He managed to send a text off to Rhys, letting him know he was going to bed right away, and after taking off his shoes and jacket, he drowsily made his way upstairs. He pushed getting a shower away to tomorrow, since he hadn’t done anything that was too strenuous today, and got into his pajamas.

It took him no time at all to fall asleep once his head hit the pillow.

~

The next week kind of passed in a blur. Kellen focused on making sure that the next half of the morning class was ready, much like he had for the first half of the class, before he sent them off with some of the higher level, more trusted, well traveled Espers who had been assigned the duty of taking the trainee Field Guides to and from the front lines.

Kellen stood in, watching as they all excitedly said goodbye to everyone, their coffees in hand, before they left.

Kellen knew that the first round of trainees would be arriving around the same time his second class was starting, so he had moved them up to the morning class. The afternoon class were excited for the day of change, but he was also sure they were excited to hear from their companions about how the front lines were.

Kellen had kept an eye on the front lines, making sure that if there was a significant accident, he would hear about it. Brent had taken Captain Sergei up on his offer to allow him to use his equipment once, and told Kellen he would only do this once a week to give him a mid week update since he wasn’t comfortable leaving the trainees alone for too long, even with their own people.

Kellen understood. There was an inherent feeling of responsibility that came along with this assignment, and Kellen had worried, only for a second, that he would have issues rising to the occasion. He shouldn’t have worried. Brent had no issues rising to any occasion.

He just lacked confidence in this specific field.

Either way, Kellen, after saying goodbye to the second half of the morning class, he went on to teach his afternoon class, but in the morning class slot.

A few of them seemed a little nervous, as if the time slot would change them. Kellen didn’t think it would, and he proved to be right as they continued to perform the same way in training as they had in the afternoon. Kellen didn’t tell them that. They were getting the impression that they were doing better, and if that was something that motivated them, he wasn’t going to crush their dreams.

Not when he was worried about how the first group that had gone to the front lines. He had alerted the therapists on staff that they were arriving today, and that some of them might make their way there over the next few weeks. He did not expect them to run over right away, but he didn’t want any faction of the Guild to be unprepared.

Kellen knew from personal experience that there were some things that he had witnessed on the front lines that he hadn’t spoken to about with anyone but a therapist, or when everyone else was drunk around campfires. It was almost like a sacred rite, like these experiences couldn’t be spoken in any other situation.

Kellen didn’t want to take that away from his people, but he also didn’t want them to feel like that was the only way to do so. Maybe…he would have a welcoming party for them, with alcohol, and see if that helped start it up, or to see if they needed it. They could have had perfectly fine interactions, with no problems, but Kellen knew that even as he had that thought, he was wrong.

What was normal for the front lines wasn’t normal for a Guide who had, up until this point, never gone to the front lines in a Field Guide capacity before.

So, he was a little nervous after lunch as the time neared for the group to arrive. He had planned to mull over his feelings and go through some papers and files that he needed to in his office alone, until Gwen and Rhys had stormed his office and yanked him up, dragging him to the conference room to have a joint lunch with everyone else.

They weren’t drinking, but they were celebrating the first full week of nothing major happening after they had sent their newer recruits to the front lines. Gwen was roped in because she was Kellen’s sister, and that she was close to everyone now.

Not so close that they would reveal anything above her level, but Kellen smiled. Gwen always had an easy time getting to know everyone. A social butterfly compared to her older brother. It was also nice, even if it spelled a terrible future for him, that Rhys and Gwen were close enough to tag team him out of his bad behaviours.

Even Casper, who had been distant for the last little while, was warmer when Kellen arrived. He even assured Kellen that he hadn’t heard any complaints about his Field Guides, and that everyone only had good things to say. A rumour of the ‘Kellen effect’ was spreading on the front lines, and Pamela let Kellen know that they were already getting a flood of requests from other Guilds for Kellen to train their Guides.

It appeared, from the glimmer in her eye, that that was Pamela’s intention the whole time. She had wanted to create a department inside of the Guild that could create international ties. Kellen hadn’t imagined that was the plan, he had thought that they had just wanted a selection of fine, well trained Guides that could help them cut back on costs.

He was only half right, and he listened to Pamela rant about it at the luncheon as Kellen stuffed his face with greasy, high calorie food like the good little Guide he was.

Kellen wouldn’t admit to the others that he and Rhys were participating in higher levels of guiding, but he didn’t think he needed to. Pretty much everyone had assumed they had already gone the whole way, and Kellen would admit that over the last week things had gotten close. Kellen was getting closer and close to just demanding the man shove it in him.

It was like a dam had broken loose once Rhys discovered the box containing all of his memorabilia from his childhood. Rhys had even teased him about his plastic sealed, unopened copies that were in perfect condition. Kellen had no excuse for it, and flushed profusely when Rhys had grinned, that simmering, golden hue to his gaze.

Rhys had also become relentless in a different way. Kellen’s body never knew peace, not after the night he had slept for nearly 12 hours. Kellen had noticed a dip in his body mass, hence, him shoving his mouth full of dense calories while Pamela ranted about her plans. They sounded eerily like world domination plans, but Kellen knew that the others were keeping her in control.

Kellen didn’t think Pamela had the desire to take over the world, not truly, but she certainly had passion about making sure that the world, all of the world, knew the Saturn Guild’s name.

So, Kellen humoured her, listening to her as she spoke while everyone else mingled in a similar way. Rhys came by to check on him, as did Gwen, and even Casper, surprisingly, and Kellen felt a little more level headed as the time approached to meet his students.

To see if they were going to remain Field Guides and continue onto the next leg of training, or if they were going to toss in the towel.