(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Negotiations Chapter 42: Negotiations Kellen led the way out of the elevator, shaking his head at Brent’s antics.

They hadn’t even had lunch yet, and he already felt exhausted.

Brent had his head on a swivel as they moved down the hallway, but because Kellen was leading, he couldn’t notice the trepidation on his face as Kellen continued to lead him down a white hallway with locked doors.

When Kellen finally paused to open the door to the field department, he relaxed.

He even smiled as he saw that there were people in this room, and the scientists inside perked up at the sight of two Guides, but grew nervous at the sight of a new person.  “Good morning Kellen, Lieutenant Casper!

Who’s the new friend?” Maeve’s voice carried over the room and Kellen heard Brent gulp beside him.

Kellen reached over and smacked his shoulder, warning him to behave.  “Maeve, this is the other Field Guide I wanted to bring in to help me.

This is Brent Jameson.

Brent, this is Dr.

Maeve Lyons.” Maeve stared down at Brent, her deep blue eyes unblinking for a moment before she turned her gaze to Kellen.  “I didn’t realise that all Field Guides had to be attractive.

How do you screen for that?

Does it help with getting others to trust you?” She pondered and Brent laughed.

He threw his head back, laughing still, before reaching out his hand and patting Kellen on the shoulder.  “Kellen, man, I fucking love her.

Is she an Esper?

Does she have a regular Guide?

Holy hell.” Kellen shook his head at Brent’s antics, sighing.  “Maeve, despite his looks, he’s an expert in his field.

He specialises in fluctuating gates while I specialise in stable ones.

It would be good to have discussions with him about anything you’re curious about when it comes to your research.

Be careful though, he’s handsy.” He warned her.

Maeve’s expression didn’t change for a moment, before she gave them a calculating smile.  “Well, he’s such a little thing, I’m afraid I’ll break him.” She teased and Brent blushed.  “Kellen, I’m in love.” He whispered loudly and Maeve’s smile turned into a grin.  “Guide Jameson, I’ll trust you for now since Kellen has so much of my own trust, but if I find you snooping in my office, I’ll have to punish you.

And you have no idea where any of these doors lead to.” Kellen had no idea if Maeve was winding Brent up on purpose or not, but it was working either way.

Brent was going to be pestering her for days now.

Shaking his head, Kellen grabbed Brent by his duffle bag strap and pulled him towards his office.  “You don’t have to worry about that Maeve.

If he agrees to work with me, he’ll be too busy to snoop.” Maeve grinned at Kellen’s response.  “Why wouldn’t he want to work with you?

From what I’ve gathered, you’re good at your job, you have a good reputation, and you treat your colleagues well.

Besides, no one is going to the front lines until the deal with the new gate is settled, which means he has no work to do there.

This is the perfect time to get involved with your plans.” Brent made a face at her words.  “She’s tragically right.

Ugh, I don’t want to think about that.

I miss the stagnant air on the front lines.

I can breathe too easily here.

Feels like I’m having a panic attack constantly.” Kellen snorted, fumbling with his keys to open the door.

“Don’t lie.

You just miss being busy.” Kellen pointed out and Brent grinned, unrepentant.

Brent took that moment to notice the pedestal in the center of the room.

“Ooo, snacks.” He grabbed a fistful from the top, eyes sparkling as he looked over the bowl.

The rest of the room, which had held their breath, relaxed.

And like that, Brent had confirmed that he was, in fact, a Guide, and he could be trusted.

Kellen held the door open for the fellow Field Guide, an unamused look on his face that only made Brent grin at him.

“I grabbed some for you too, don’t be too mad.

I only have one hand.” He laughed at his own joke, while Casper looked pale, and Kellen shook his head.

He had missed this idiot, but he forgot what having Brent around felt like.  Once he had finally gotten everyone into the office, and that the door was closed, they started into the serious conversation.

Brent had to at least get one snack into his system before they could begin.

Kellen leaned against his desk while the other two sat next to each other.

Brent had propped his legs up on his bag while Casper sat calmly, waiting.  “It’s great that you called me here, but what do you actually need me for Kellen?

That letter had some serious weight to it.

Felt like it cost five dollars to make it, and the ink?

Coulda fed a family.

I’m not that important.” Brent joked as he pulled the plastic off of his next treat with his teeth, holding the rest of the wrapper in his hand.

The wrapper exploded, spraying coconut everywhere, and it only caused Brent to laugh.

Kellen sighed heavily.

He’d always been a messy eater.

“The Captain wants more Field Guides.” Brent raised his eyebrows at that.

Kellen swallowed before uttering the next line.

“Apparently, he was always going to offer me this position.

It just happened to be a series of happy accidents that led to the situation we’re in now.” Brent smirked.  “He planned to offer you this job?” He asked and Casper cleared his throat.

“To be fair to the Captain, Gunther was the one who was very insistent since Captain Thatcher worried you were going to outright refuse.

Gunther can be…uh…very persuasive to others when he wants to be.” Kellen knew Gunther, and so did Brent.

The two of them shared a look.

Casper had all but confirmed that Gunther had ‘taken care of’ the previous members who held this position.

Kellen felt his lips quirk up in a smile while Brent laughed.  “His own people?

Wild.” Brent breezed past that revelation with ease.

“Well, despite that, it’s good to know that your man knows you so well.” Kellen’s face went red, and Brent breezed by that too.

“So, you were handed this job on a bloodstained platter but that doesn’t explain why you want me here.

You know I’m shit at teaching.

I just throw them to the wolves and see who survives.” He shoved another snack into his mouth, and Casper had to take a moment and think about if he was joking or not.

From the way Kellen reacted, he gathered that he wasn’t.

What the hell kind of training did they do on the front lines?  “Well, how much have you been paying attention the news Brent?” Kellen asked and he shrugged.  “You know service is shit on the front lines.

We rely on printed pieces of paper for info out there.

I’ve been in town, sure, but you know I hate watching t.v.

I know that there’s a new gate.

Is you wanting me related to that?” He nodded.  “Yeah.

The Saturn Guild is fighting with the Nemesis Guild and the D.E.C.

for rights of the new gate.

If they get it, they need more Field Guides to help them since the gate is rumoured to be A Class.” Kellen didn’t want to give away the info his parents had given him, especially since Brent hadn’t signed a contract yet.

He knew the man the best in this room, and Brent had a big mouth when it came to certain situations.

Brent whistled.  “That’s a big fucking deal, but I don’t think it’ll be an A Class gate since it’s remained stable at B Class for over a week.” Casper’s eyes widened at the information that Brent had.

Brent, however, shrugged.

“But hey, I’ve been away for a couple of days, things can change at the drop of a hat out there.” Kellen nodded in agreement, but didn’t change his expression.

Brent pouted since he didn’t seemed shocked like Casper at his information.

He’d had to sleep with someone high up to get that.

“But more Field Guides?

Who the fuck wants that.

We’re freaks of nature.” Kellen shrugged.

“My guess is they would probably want to take smaller teams in since it’s an unknown gate so far.

What I do know is that if we went with that plan, there are not enough freelance Field Guides on the front lines to do those kind of teams, and it would be expensive.

So, training your own supply seems like the best plan of action.” Brent made a face.

He opened his mouth but Kellen raised his hand.

“Also, you say you only threw them to the wolves, but you did much more than that.

You taught them what their equipment did, how to wear it, what were the wolves weaknesses.

The fact that we only had one severe injury tells me that you are actually good a teaching, you just don’t view yourself in a good light.” Brent scrunched up his face at Kellen’s words of praise, and Casper enjoyed watching these two interact.

It was like seeing the Captain with the other lieutenants.

“Plus, if you ever have any concerns, you can always fall back on asking me for help.

I do have four more years on you.” He chuckled.  “You are never going to let it go that you have more experience than I do.” Kellen shook his head with a smile, and Brent sighed.

“Okay, so they want to train more Field Guides in case they get the new gate?

What if they don’t?” He asked and Kellen smiled.  “It’s all but confirmed that the Saturn Guild has the new gate.

I have that under good authority, trust me.” Brent snorted, tearing into another snack with his teeth.  “Of course I’m going to trust you.

You’re new boy toy is the Captain of the Saturn Guild.

Who the hell else is going to have anything on ‘good authority’ if you don’t?

Fucking God?” Kellen’s cheeks heated at his nonchalant attitude.

“So, it’s all but confirmed that they have the gate.

Great.

They also need more Field Guides because of that.

Cool.

But why me?” Brent’s gaze sharpened as he stared at the other Field Guide.

“I know you’ve been trying to butter me up Kellen, but I don’t understand exactly why me.

Sure, I’ll go so far as to say I’m good at my job, but I’m not good with people I’m not trying to sleep with.

You know that Kellen.” Casper’s eyes were wide as Kellen sighed.

“You’re good with me.” He offered and the other man shook his head.  “That’s because you kept that juicy ass from me for three whole years.

I got hitting on you out of my system.

I’m not a good teacher.

Hell, I’m not even a good person.

I wouldn’t be a good fit for this.” His tone was firm, just as Kellen had feared.

Like him, Brent was stubborn to a fault.

He was going to have an uphill battle to fight to get him in the Guild, even on contract.

Kellen ran his hand through his hair.  “Brent, I know you feel like you aren’t going to be good at this-” “Because I won’t be.” He interrupted.  “-But I have faith in you.” Kellen continued.

“You always try to flake out of something when you’re worried about the level of responsibility you’ve been given.

It’s like you have a phobia of it.

I know you’ll be great at teaching the Guides as my assistant, and I know you will be kind, caring, considerate, and harsh all at the same time.

We’ve also taught plenty of other Guides how to be Field Guides before.” He reminded him gently, and Brent threw his hand up.  “Yeah!

In the field!

Not in a stuffy tower where I can’t even touch grass!” “But we don’t have to live in tents here, Brent!” Kellen countered.

“Jokes on you, I love sleeping in tents.” He replied tartly.  “But what about the bugs, Brent?” He snorted.

“I love bugs.

You’re the one who screamed like a little girl when you found a spider on your bed.” Casper snorted, covering his mouth and turned his face away as soon as the two Field Guides threw their eyes towards him.  “Okay, what about the fact that we’d have real beds here?

Real beds, less bloodshed, and working internet?

You would have access to all the porn you could ever desire.” Brent gave Kellen a disgusted look.  “Porn can never replace people Kellen.

No digital nonsense can replace the feeling of warm flesh against warm flesh.” Kellen could feel his frustration rising.

He was continued to say not him in the most Brent fashion possible.  “Warm showers.” “I like waterfalls.” “Laundry services.” “I don’t mind buying new clothes every day.”  “There are new faces here.” “There will be new faces once the gate issue is solved.” “You’ll get paid.” “I was getting paid before.” “Health care?” He snorted.

“You know we get our health care covered by our contracts.” Kellen sighed.

This wasn’t working, and his brain was drawing a blank.  “The Guild has pretty nice uniforms.” He told him and Brent paused.

He looked over the two Guides beside him and hummed.

“Well, not a bad thing to offer.

I do look good in white.” Casper cleared his throat.

“As amusing as watching this whole thing has been, we really should go grab lunch Kellen.

You haven’t had your guiding session with Captain Thatcher yet, so you should eat before you get busy with that.” Kellen watched as Brent stiffened at Casper’s words.

That was when Kellen remembered that Brent was obsessed with food.

Of course!

Why hadn’t he thought of that?

“Well, we can discuss this further over lunch.

Care to join us Brent?

We have a cafeteria here.” Brent cast a suspicious look at Kellen, before grabbing his duffle and getting to his feet.  “Alright, but I’ll eat and then head on my way after.

Your offer hasn’t been too appealing.” Kellen opened the door for the three of them, sighing heavily.  “How upsetting.

I should at least treat you to lunch in the name of friendship.” Casper cast Kellen a confused look.

He’d never heard Kellen speak like this before, and given that Brent was now behaving like a nervous animal, he wasn’t exactly sure what was happening.

Casper hadn’t expected Brent to say no to Kellen.

Hell, even Kellen wasn’t sure why Brent had been so insistent in saying no to him either.

But he was hoping that this ramshackle plan would work.

It had to.