(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14: An Esper Mother's worry for her Guide son

Surprisingly, the Captain was called away while the Woods were leaving. Kellen thought he would have insisted that he take them down to the lobby, but the man stood at the elevators and waved goodbye with a bright smile. Kellen felt that there was something strange about his behaviour, but he couldn't put his finger on it, so he left it alone. He thought Ms. Hill was going to make a comment on it when they were in the elevator, but as the four of them went down in the elevator towards the lobby, they picked up some stragglers. Everyone held their tongue.

Once at the lobby, Ms. Hill directed Kellen towards the front desk and made sure that he had everything he would need to get into the building tomorrow. The clerk was the same one who had listened to his plea earlier in the day, and she seemed a little shocked that now Kellen was getting a full access pass into the Guild tower. No doubt he would be the topic of her gossip later in the evening. Ms. Hill made sure Kellen hadn't left anything behind that she couldn't easily grab, and just before he was about to leave with his parents, she grabbed him, pulling him close.

"I am so excited to finally work with you Kellen. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a slightly too tight squeeze before releasing the Guide, all smiles. She waved excitedly as the trio left the Saturn Guild building, and let out a a small squeal when Kellen gave her a nod in return. It wasn't until Kellen was getting into the back of the sports car his Father had driven like a bat out of hell to the Guild tower that Kellen realised he still had the Captain's jacket tucked around his shoulders. Fuck. He'd left the building clearly marked, and walked around the lobby. He sighed. Well, it didn't matter now. It wasn't like he was going to cheat on the pairing, it was more about the obsession to mark him that worried him. He knew he shouldn't feed into the Captain's delusions about their relationship, and that tabloids would do that for him. But at the same time, he knew that if he denied it too much he could end up in a bad situation, like his Dad had warned.

The sound of the car doors locking shook Kellen from his thoughts.

"So...I had never realised how close you'd gotten to the Saturn Guild, Kellen. I thought you avoided guilds like the plague. So why am I only now finding out that you know almost everyone in the upper levels of the top guild in our country?" His Mom's voice was sickly sweet. Kellen started sweating.

"Uh, well, if I'm honest, I probably know the upper levels of lots of powerful guilds. I only happened to spend more time around the Saturn Guild because Captain Thatcher likes to train his new recruits on the front lines, while other Guilds bring their older members." That and there was a huge difference in attitude between the Saturn Guild's Espers and other Guild's Espers. The others were...well, typical Espers. Slightly crazy, rude, crude, and hard to manage. Because the Captain insisted his newest members went to the front lines early on, they were far more malleable compared to the others, so he liked working with them more.

Kellen worried since his Mother had locked the car that he was in trouble. His Mom sighed, pressing her face into her hands while his Dad, sensing his son's unease, turned around to look at him from the front seat.

"Honey, we're not mad, we are just confused. To have so many connections in the world is a blessing and a curse. You could have a lot of enemies because of your new connection to the Saturn Guild, and we don't know how to protect you from that. Even if Captain Thatcher is capable, you're our only son. You don't have the powers of an Esper to threaten someone to leave you alone." Kellen was confused at what they were trying to say. Enemies? Kellen might have those, but why would he have more now?

"Mom, Dad, what are you saying? Are you saying you're against me joining a guild now? You tried so hard to sell me on a guild before I came back from the front lines, but now you're saying there is a problem with it? I remember you saying that Guiding Centers provide decent security, while Guilds provide better simply from the fact Guiding Centers are cycling drained Espers while Guilds are recharging their own. Why now are you protesting this? Is it because it's the Saturn Guild? Because it's number one?" Kellen asked. His parents shared a look in the front seat at their son's questions.

"It's the Captain. His eyes....They're always yellow Sweetheart. They haven't changed colour since your incident at the Center. We're worried that his powers are going to be too much for you. If you are always guiding someone whose like that, you're going to be drained all the time. We both know that you're strong, and are able to take care of yourself, but that would take a toll on your body." Mom admitted. Kellen blinked, stunned that they hadn't voiced their concern until now. He had a feeling that if the match rate had come out when Kellen was still a solid C Class the Captain wouldn't have been able to see Kellen ever again. His parents would have whisked him away. That was how dangerous the gap between C Class and S Class was.