The Captain, who had been chatting to Hill and Gunther in between Kellen and Casper, was surprised when Kellen’s hand touched his arm and moved him to the side. When he saw the direction that Kellen’s gaze was, he felt a grimace touch his lips. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Hill, sure he was going to know all about what was about to happen.
Kellen wasn’t paying attention to him though, and instead was trying to call Taylor with one hand. Raising the phone to his ear, he heard the phone ring twice before she picked up.
"Hey, I know I just left and it’s the end of the day, but can I ask you for a favour?"
"What’s up? You sound so serious. Did your ’talk’ with the Captain get too heated?" She teased.
"It’s Casper. Can you bring up a bunch of shakes to the conference room and do a check up on him?" Kellen heard the creak of a chair over the line before the sigh hit his ears.
"That dumbass. Alright. I was just about to leave for the night, but I’ll be there shortly." She hung up just as Casper caught sight of Kellen out of the corner of his eye. His already sallow and pale skin paled further.
"Uh, Kellen! So great to see you. I heard you weren’t feeling well yesterday. Are you doing any better?" Kellen was pissed that the man was even asking about him given his own personal state. Casper tried to get up, but Kellen was already there. Kellen’s hand gripped his shoulder, and Kellen could feel his bones easily. Casper stayed seated.
"Are you a fucking moron?" Kellen demanded, and Casper shut his mouth. "Brent is taking better care of himself than you are. Do you want to die?" Kellen’s harsh tone was undercut by Kellen’s tense, worried expression. Casper opened his mouth to respond, before he closed it. He took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes as he sighed.
"No one can replace me. It’s my responsibility to take care of the Guides and to also guide Espers." It wasn’t a full excuse on Casper’s part, since part of it was true, but Kellen felt his anger rise nonetheless.
"Bullshit. You’ve outright refused my help every time I’ve asked. You also have been avoiding the medical team, haven’t you? Since you know that they would put you on bedrest." Casper flinched, and Kellen felt his anger swell. Trying to keep it under wraps, he let out an angry sigh. "This is why I went above you and asked the Captain to let me help you." Casper’s mouth flopped open like a floundering fish.
"W-What do you-" freēwēbnovel.com
"I’m taking over. I’m finding replacement Guides. You yourself admitted you were too busy to do it, and since I’m not on the front lines, I have free time." Kellen’s gaze was hard and angry as he stared down at his fellow Guide. "You need to learn to rely on us, on me, Casper. I’m not an Esper, I understand exactly what you’re going through, but that doesn’t mean that I am going to allow you to work yourself to death." Kellen ran his hand over his face, angry at the state Casper was in. "How the hell did they let you get like this? Wasn’t there another training camp where most of the younger Espers were off so that you and Brent could recuperate?" Someone cleared their throat behind Kellen and he turned to glare at the three most powerful people in the room.
Kellen narrowed his eyes, and the Captain was the first to raise his hands.
"Hey, we did try to stop him. He wouldn’t let us. Anytime we tried to approach him to force him to rest, he would guide us." Hill said, raising her hands as well. Kellen frowned, now understanding why she looked so unwell this morning. When Kellen slid his gaze to Gunther, he didn’t look much better, which was strange.
Gunther was supposed to get guiding from outside of the Guild so why did he...
A light went off, and Kellen wanted to growl at the idiots.
The only person who looked fine, in fact, better than fine, was the Captain. Kellen released his grip on Casper’s shoulder since he knew the man couldn’t go anywhere, and ran both of his hands over his face.
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