(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148: Working up the courage

Kellen was a nervous wreck. He was in even more of a panic compared to three weeks ago when he went into the Center for his retest. His hands were sweating and shaking, and he heaved heavy breaths into his lungs.

He’d managed to get out of the elevator without having a panic attack, or the elevator going back down, but he could certainly feel one coming on now. How had he let Taylor convince him that this was a good idea? He’d been so angry the last time he’d seen him, and Kellen didn’t think this was going to improve his mood.

Glancing around, able to notice people even when he was in this panic induced fog, he noticed that there were quite a few people around. All of them stared at him as he stood in the hallway outside of Conference Room A. There were normally people around, but this felt like quite a few more, and Kellen felt his mind jerk back and away from his panic.

The Gate. Fuck. The Gate had mutated!

All of these people had to be related to the mutation that Hill had come to tell the Captain about. How the fuck did Kellen forget about that? That was such a serious thing to happen, especially since there were now two Captains on the front lines, with two remaining in the city.

Wait, calm down. That might not be the case. Yes, Hill had come down to interrupt them, but Kellen hadn’t heard anything else from anyone, and Brent would have been one of the first people to rush in if things had taken a serious turn, especially with the connections he still had on the front lines.

Maybe Kellen was just feeling extra sensitive with all the revelations he’d gone through today, especially with what he was about to do. Taylor had basically shoved him into the elevator and cackled, so it was no wonder his nerves were shot. It had barely been 20 minutes since he’d realised the true depth of his feelings for the Captain, and what those feelings actually felt like. How the hell was he supposed to be calm and composed in a situation like this?

Take a few deep breaths. You’ll be okay. You’ve already made it this far, and how scary could this really be? Remember the time when you were in a gate and a stampede started? This is nothing compared to that. The Captain isn’t as scary as a herd of stampeding B Class monsters. He can’t be. Taylor said he wouldn’t turn you away. You trust her.

He forced himself to move towards the conference room, and worked up the courage to peek inside.

The Captain along with several others including Gunther and Hill stood at the end of the room, in front of the giant projector screen. It was clear they were in a rather serious meeting, and Kellen recognised a couple of the faces outside of the Captains on the screen. They were specialists in the field, across several countries. Something had gone seriously wrong with the gate, and everyone seemed to be tense.

The Captain hadn’t changed, and was still wearing the tattered and torn Esper uniform from the photo shoot. His chest was bare and exposed to everyone in the room. This would have been hilarious if it didn’t feel like there was a 10 degree difference between the hallway and the conference room.

With his arms crossed, his bright yellow gaze, and tight jaw, he looked like the perfect image of an S Class Esper. Honestly, Pamela should have gotten him to take a photo like this too, since this was terrifying, but extremely hot. Kellen swore he could see sweat rolling down the back of everyone else in the room, and he swallowed. It was now or never.

Kellen knocked on the doorframe. Every set of Esper eyes shot in his direction, and when the Captain spotted him, a look of shock crossed his face. Then, his face hardened again and Kellen’s heart jerked in his chest. He swallowed. Hill gave a nervous laugh.

"O-Oh, Kellen. What brings you here?" She asked, clearly trying to tell him with her eyes to get the fuck out of here.