(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Over 9000?

Chapter 83: Over 9000?

Taylor scanned Kellen’s flushed body with her green gaze, before sitting back in her hair with a smile.  “Hmm, well, your body is honest.

Outside of a little bit of strain, you seem to be well.

Much better than when I first saw you a week ago.” She glanced over Kellen, her expression thoughtful.

“Your body when I first saw you at the Guiding Center was in complete disarray.

You ate well this weekend, and all throughout the week with minimal strain on your body.

Have you been taking care of yourself since you left the front lines, Kellen?” She asked, and Kellen blinked at her.  “If I’m honest, I thought I was.” He told her.

He’d eaten a regular amount, hadn’t worked out as much, maybe three times a week.

He had thought he had been giving his body a break.  “Did you go to the Guiding Center’s doctor while you worked there?

Were they checking up on you?” He shook his head.  “No.

I thought I could manage on my own.

I wasn’t feeling weak and I thought I was a normal weight.” Taylor closed her eyes, shaking her head at him.  “That explains the large gap between when you were on the front lines and getting regular check ups and now.” She opened her eyes, setting her gaze on her friend from high school.

The same friend who clearly had trust issues when it came to if people actually liked him, given the trauma he’d received as a child.

That she had very little knowledge about.

“Kellen, it’s super important as a Guide that you go in for regular check ups.

Especially in the situation that you were previously in.

Guides who guide multiple people have fluctuations in how much power they use between different Espers.

You already know you have low compatibility with some types of Espers.

But you need to compensate for that with calories.

You know this.

You must have had someone who drained you more over time, but slowly.

That’s why your health wasn’t great and probably played into why you drained yourself dealing with that surged Esper of ours.” Kellen blinked, surprised.

What she said made sense, and it felt like a missing puzzle piece slotting into place.

“I probably have a moment in between everything to ask them to make some more flavours for the shakes.

They’ve been on the market long enough now that I can add some flavours.

If they suck, I’m blaming you.” She warned, and Kellen laughed.  “Alright, I understand.

I promise I’ll make sure to come get check ups regularly, especially after the Captain and I start doing higher level guiding.

But still, 20 000 calories for the top level intimate guiding is insane.” He told her and she chuckled.  “Right?

Good thing that as you two guide together more it’s reduced.

Make sure that the Captain understands that, and don’t jump ahead if you don’t have to.

It’s dangerous.

I know I don’t have to warn you, but I’m still going to.

I doubt the Captain will get anywhere near surging any time soon, but you never know.

After all, we’ve had the terrorist attack, plus the new gate, and we also had a surging Esper.

None of that is a good sign.” She sat back in her rolling chair and shook her head.

“I know Captain Thatcher is always using his powers, and that he has a huge pool to draw from.

So, as long as we continue to maintain it as we have been, and he doesn’t fight another S Class Esper, we should be fine.” Kellen ran his hand over his face.  “Taylor, that sounds like a curse.

Are you trying to kill me?

There were several red flags all at once, and my luck isn’t that good.” She laughed, pulling the chair across the floor until she was close enough to pat his shoulder.  “Oh, you’ll be fine.

You’ll come out in one piece.

You always do.” She told him cheerfully, and Kellen glared at her.  “Weren’t you the one warning me about being careful?

Something about my lucky rabbit’s foot was running out?” She shrugged, waving a hand dismissively.  “Kellen, that was last week.

Things change quickly here, and besides, you’re not alone anymore.

You have us now, and I plan to live a long and healthy life just so I can keep an eye on you.” A sense of warmth filled Kellen, one that he had missed for several days.

Shivering at the new feeling, he glanced away from Taylor’s open, happy expression.

Rubbing his arm, he reached for the folder again.

Flipping open the folder, he looked down at the pages which had a breakdown of high caloric dense foods that he could add to his diet.

They were food groups he was familiar with, from eating with his parents, to what his current meals mostly consisted of.

He was fine keeping his lunch the way it was, but he was going to have to buff out his breakfast and dinners, while also upping his snacking game throughout the day.  “I’ll have to make sure to ask my Dad for his granola recipe.

He’ll be excited to give it to me so I can use it for snacks and breakfasts.” Taylor sighed, knowing that Kellen was avoiding acknowledging her previous words.  “He’ll be super excited.

Some of the suggestions were based off of a list of meals he has been eating for the last ten years.

He keeps track of everything.

It’s great for me as a doctor.” If anyone else would have said it, it would have sounded like they were being sarcastic and making fun of his father.

But Taylor meant it.

She had been getting advice from his Father for a very long time when it came to the care of Guides.

Plus, his Dad loved having his brain picked over it.

It’s why Kellen didn’t even flinch when his Dad said he was going to text her directly previously.

They had been friends for almost as long as…almost as long as he had been friends with Taylor.  “Yeah, I can tell.

It’s nice to know that most of the meals I was eating as a kid are still safe.

I’m also glad I’m not a picky eater.” She chuckled.  “I didn’t think Guides were allowed to be picky eaters.” She joked, while Kellen nodded seriously.

He closed the folder, and placed it in his lap.

“Yeah, not really.

Outside of allergies, Guides just need to eat.

Or not guide, but I don’t think any government looks kindly on that.

Nor do I, if I’m honest.” Taylor seemed thoughtful for a moment.  “I think I remember a news story about that once.

Wasn’t there a Guide who got arrested for not doing their duty for the country?” Kellen chuckled, but it was humourless.

He shook his head, meeting Taylor’s gaze.  “Yeah, I think that’s what happened.

Makes you feel like we don’t live in a democracy, but after seeing the front lines and working there for seven years, I get it.

It isn’t like we’re fighting each other, this isn’t a war in the normal sense.

Harder and harder gates keep showing up, so we need all the hands we can get.

I feel bad for that Guide though.

You can’t help it if you were born with powers, and sometimes people don’t suit them.” Taylor shrugged her shoulders, watching Kellen’s reaction.  “I’ve never worried about it so deeply.

I like my job, and my powers suit me.

If I had gotten something like, oh, I don’t know, what’s the most common power?” She asked.  “There are a lot of people with elemental abilities, along with flying, teleportation, telekinesis, speed, physical enhancement, super strength, those are the ones that come to mind.” Kellen suggested, and Taylor seemed impressed he could list as many as he had.  “I didn’t know you knew so much, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Guides have to understand Esper powers to help guide them better.

Well, let’s say I ended up with speed.

I’d hate that.

I do not like being near the front lines unless it’s to help others.

Give me a stab wound or missing limb any day, but I hate gates.” That surprised Kellen.

They had never discussed the gates before, but he had assumed because she was in this Guild that she was cool with them.

He shouldn’t have, since Pamela hated gates too.  “Huh.

I never would have guessed you hated them.

Have you been in a gate before?” He asked and she nodded.  “Yeah.

All members of the Saturn Guild have been in a gate before.

It’s mandatory to become an official member, and I wasn’t going to ask them to bend the rules for me.

Recruits who never make it inside of a gate are quietly removed from the Guild, usually meaning a different Guild took over their contract.

There isn’t any shame in it, but the Captain is very serious about his mission statement.

We as the Saturn Guild are here to help manage and close gates.” Taylor was impassioned, and it was clear she agreed with the mission statement.

Kellen couldn’t argue.  He didn’t like gates any more than the next guy, and when they exploded…the utter chaos that caused made his heart ache.

It brought on thoughts of all the people who were affected in those first few years of the gate breaks.

The millions who had never stood a chance against the monster.

The children who hadn’t died in their sleep, and the parents who hadn’t been able to save them.

The Espers who had received their powers like a gift from god, only to hurt the very people who they had promised to protect.

The hundreds of active gates that were open across the world.

A world that had still been divided up until about 50 years ago, when contact was reestablished with a few countries, and then more, and more, until most countries now had contact.

The Internet was reconnected across the globe, but travel by air and water had changed.

The oceans weren’t safe anymore, and some areas of the sky weren’t either.

While he had heard there were no fly zones before all of this, there were serious no fly zones now.

New maps had to be drawn, and whole areas of the world were covered with blacked out areas.

No one had heard anything from those countries, and when parties had been sent in to make contact, they either never made it back alive, or made it back with horror stories.

And usually missing limbs.

If you looked too deeply into what was going on around the world, there was no way you were going to come out of it without being depressed.

It felt like the world was losing.

Which was why Kellen didn’t have a lot of sympathy for the Guide who got caught not doing his duty.

Guide’s only made up a small percent of the global population, but their job was very, very important.

It was their job to help Esper’s protect the whole human population.

Or else the world would be absorbed by the things that came out of the gates.

By the gates themselves.  “I didn’t realise that was the official statement of the Guild, but it makes sense now that you say it.” Kellen got to his feet, dusting off his knees and butt before exhaling.

He smiled at Taylor who remained seated.

“It was good chatting with you like this Taylor, but now I need to go grab Brent and prevent the Captain from making a big mistake.

Then I have to make sure that my whole program doesn’t crumble around me.” Taylor furrowed her brows in confusion, and Kellen didn’t blame her.

This was brand new information to her, Kellen, and Casper.

“I’ll make sure that the Captain and I stop by later today for our guiding session.” He told her, and she nodded.

She shrugged, not bothered by what she didn’t know, and turned towards her computer.  “Alright, I’ll see you two then.” She told him with a smile.

She waved as he headed out, and Kellen turned, waving at her as he closed the door behind him.

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