(BL) Taming the Field Guide

Chapter 201: A Guide’s duty and an Esper’s promise

Kellen was exhausted.

Everything had been going well, so well that he had forgotten that S Class Espers normally didn’t spend extended periods of time together for a reason. They clashed like giant beasts fighting over territory.

He had forgotten that shortly after Kellen and Rhys had started something together that he had run off and actually fought Sergei. He had been foolish to forget something like that, and it reared its head as they were traveling across the ocean.

It started as a little fight. Picking at each other, like what Gwen and Kellen used to do in their teens. It was more Gwen if Kellen was honest, but in this case it was both of these adult men who were needlessly picking at each other.

Kellen didn’t try to diffuse it at the time because he didn’t think anything of it. It was only when they started to get loud that Kellen started to worry. When they tried to get violent with each other on the second day of travel over the ocean Kellen had to put his fucking foot down.

He’d had to grab both men by the ears and slam their heads together. It had not been satisfying in the slightest because he was hovering over an ocean that even S Classes deemed was unsafe since they had no idea what lived in it. He was reliant on the S Classes keeping their sanity enough that Kellen didn’t suddenly drop into that ocean like a tasty little snack.

Thankfully, the head knocking worked, for a time.

Once they got back on land Kellen sent both men into a time out. They were in the perfect area for them to fight. It was a secluded forested area, Kellen had even moved them slightly out of the flight path so that no planes would be affected. No one lived out here outside of beasts, monsters, and other things that most humans considered pests.

However, Kellen made them take a break for a few minutes to cool off before they could fight. That way it wouldn’t be as destructive. That was Kellen’s hope, but he wasn’t sure that he achieved that.

The timeout lasted 10 minutes, and then from that point the two men went at each other like unchained animals in a fight ring. Kellen wanted to shake his head at them, or even a fist. They were fighting so terribly that Kellen couldn’t even set up camp in fear that they would destroy the very ground he had set it up on.

They were behaving more like kids than ever before. Kellen felt his stomach sink as he realised that he was probably going to see more of this at the S Class meeting that they were going to have, and that it was probably going to be worse.

Kellen’s heart sank in disappointment. He was going to act more like a babysitter than a fellow S Class, huh? Figures. Guides always had to be the peacekeepers. Not that he minded, but...

Kellen brushed aside his own feelings in the moment and instead focused on the fool he was dating and the fool his friend was going to date. He would let them get their emotions out along with their pent up energy, and then they were going to get a tongue-lashing from him.

He hoped they were prepared.

~

They weren’t, it seemed. They had come back, bruised, bloodied, and with a glint in their gaze that pointed to their lack of humanity only for Kellen to yank it back with both hands and force them to listen to him lecture them. He made both Captains sit on their knees, hands in the air as he lectured them about safety and how much time they had wasted on their petty squabbles.

The S Classes wanted to argue with Kellen, but he was angry enough that his own eyes were glowing. He even made them feel bad about what could have happened over the ocean if either of them had slipped up.

What was Kellen supposed to do if something happened then and there? They should learn how to control themselves better or else they were going to put others in danger, namely Kellen. Were they going to do the same thing when they met the other S Classes? What about Brent? What about the innocent civilians? What if they had gotten into a fight and a plane had been around?

Kellen lectured and guilted them into compliance until they had to set up camp because it was too dark.

Kellen did patch up Sergei in the end and let Rhys heal himself and rewind their clothes so that they didn’t have to repair them. Kellen muttered unkind things the whole time he helped them, but he could tell that the two Espers understood what he was getting at. They did seem genuinely apologetic, so Kellen finally calmed down by the time it was time for bed.

He didn’t punish Rhys by not letting the man cuddle him. That was cruel and unusual punishment for the both of them, and Kellen wanted his man wrapped around him even now. Rhys seemed relieved that Kellen didn’t turn him away and by morning Kellen had softened significantly towards the two men.

They were still walking on eggshells around the S Class Guide. After all, he was their life-line and if he was pissed at them, they were in as much danger as Kellen had been in over the ocean.

Thankfully, there was only a day and a half of travel left. Kellen was almost tempted to pull another all-nighter to get to the city in the morning, but he also knew better. He would need to be well rested to face his Aunt Dina and whatever fresh hell Brent found himself in.

So, he stuck to the plan, the boys continued to follow their flight map, and they checked in the next night to let them know that their travels were going smoothly. They had forgotten to check in the previous night because Kellen had been lecturing them, so the others on the other side were happy to hear that everything had gone smoothly.

They hadn’t panicked but had been worried, but Sergei assured them that all was well, they had just gone a little stir crazy. He did not mention Kellen lecturing Rhys and Sergei, he just explained that they had been exhausted from the two full days they had been awake.

No one asked further questions. They were Captains. As long as everyone was safe, and the mission was still on, so nothing else mattered.

One of the things that Kellen noticed as they traveled in this new part of the world was the difference in the feeling of the air. He knew that there were other changes, like different plant-life and animals, but the air on this continent felt...different.

It was charged in a way that wasn’t the same back home. Back home there was also a hum in the air. He was sure it was something you noticed as soon as you awakened. It was a pressure, something that you felt behind your eyes that never truly went away. It wasn’t cruel though. It was more like a positive reminder that you had something important to do, so make sure you do it.

Here?

Here it was like needles stabbing behind your eyes. The pressure held not a single hint of comfort. It was aggressive and malicious and Kellen did not like it.

He asked the two if they felt it, and it took a minute for them to understand what he meant. When they did, both of them shared an awkward, tense smile.

"Yes, we do, Kellen." Rhys told him. "There is also nothing we can do about it either. That’s just how it is over here." He told him. Kellen scowled. That was annoying, but he supposed he could put up with it temporarily. He needed to get Brent out of here if that was the case. It was probably not doing him any good being around all...this negative energy.

When they camped for the final night, Kellen pulled out the little store of liquor he’d been carrying this whole time. Rhys and Sergei were surprised, while Kellen was just pleased that he’d gotten away with surprising both of them. It was a small celebration, probably nothing in the face of what his Aunt Dina would prepare for them, but it felt important nonetheless.

They had made it over the ocean without any issues beyond what the Espers called a ’fight’ and now, tomorrow, they were going to finally see Brent for the first time in weeks. It was going to be emotional for all of them.

They had also made it through the hell that had been Gunther going undercover and the E.A.G. trying to harm their people. They had also gotten through that with minimal casualties, the city was mostly safe, and Jules and Jax were back in the city. They were crazy enough to make sure that no one was going to step out of line while they were gone, plus Sakura was still there. She would be able to keep the peace.

Things were falling into place in an ease that Kellen had never felt before. Even if he was injured, he just didn’t think things happened this easily for him before. He was sure the others would argue that things were not going easily for anyone, but Kellen didn’t feel that way.

He was now a Class he couldn’t have even dreamed of in the past, he was with a man that he had loved and idolized for years and he was going to propose to him soon. His best friend was finally going to reveal the truth about who he was after all this time and was asking Kellen for his help to clean up a huge mess. His best friend was also in a strange, complicated relationship with an Esper that Kellen respected.

So what if the E.A.G. were still at large on this continent? Kellen and Rhys were about to reign hellfire down upon them. Kellen just knew it.

It was a tingling in his gut, a similar, but not quite the same feeling that he had grown up with.

Kellen was going to be able to get revenge on all of the people the E.A.G. had stolen from others. From him. He had no idea if he could confirm that they had played a role in his Uncle’s deaths, but he wouldn’t put it past them. Kellen was going to make Brent’s family rue the day they had decided Brent wasn’t worth it, since that had meant that Kellen would get his hands on him.

No one messed with Kellen’s family. He wouldn’t allow it.

His parents were also coming, ready to swing around their own authority and connections to help their adoptive son. The only thing that would have made this moment even better would have been Gwen being awake as well, but Carlos and the others were working on it.

Kellen knew it was only a matter of time before she would be up, smiling, trying to figure out where her life would go now that she was injured. He knew that she would be on a plane helping everyone out as soon as she could.

Kellen smiled, looking forward to the future he was imagining, and he would do anything and everything to make sure that it did happen.

The E.A.G. had messed with the wrong Guide, the wrong city, and the wrong front lines.