(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 202

Chapter 202: A favour owed is a favour paid

"Bella, how could you-" Carlos cut himself off, gritting his teeth as Guide Martinez smiled at him. Her dark eyes were soft as she looked upon the Esper she was in charge of, and it didn’t take long for Kellen to realise that the bond they had formed was more than just the one between an Esper and Guide. It made Kellen happy that his suggestion had resulted in two people finding each other.

"Don’t be mad at her. She said nothing wrong. I think it’s actually quite wonderful that she knows you so well. Wouldn’t you agree, Carlos?" Kellen could tell Carlos was vibrating with anger, and he turned his gaze to Sakura. The hostility there made Kellen step in front of Sakura and Kellen’s smile dropped from his face.

"Why are you defending her? She’s betrayed me." He hissed, and Kellen snorted.

"She did nothing of the sort. Any anger you have, direct it towards me. I’m the one who plans to use my favour that you owe me to convince you to help everyone. Sakura did not want me to know you existed." Kellen insisted, and Carlos grumbled. Kellen had a feeling that if Guide Martinez had not been here, he would have been much more aggressive.

Kellen cast a glance at Sakura, and wondered if she was the one who had asked Guide Martinez to be here when they spoke. He wouldn’t put it past her. Sakura winked at Kellen, but remained where she was. Back far enough that Carlos would have to leave his room to get to her, and also far enough that he felt like she couldn’t hear them.

It was a falsehood, but perception was everything sometimes.

"So you want to use your favour to help others? Kellen, you’re such a goody two shoes." Carlos snarled, and Kellen blinked. It had been a while since he’d been called that. Most people right now thought that he was a hardass, or a monster. It was nice to hear an old nickname.

"Ah, well, I won’t say that I disagree with you, but I do think there is a small bit of selfishness in this. I just don’t want my city to be ruined like the previous cities that had been near the last gate." Kellen shrugged his shoulders, his smile returning to his lips. "And I want what we do to benefit my pair. I think that’s a pretty selfish thing." He admitted it easily. He had wanted that before, but now there was a different meaning behind it. Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah. Sure. You’re one of the first people I’ve ever met where your selfishness barely exceeds what others would consider generous. Your pair must be quite upset considering you barely take care of yourself." Kellen winced at how close to home that jab hit. Carlos stared at Kellen’s slightly paler face, and burst into laughter. "I was right? Goddamn, that felt good." Carlos laughing made his raspy voice even raspier, and he ended up in a coughing fit. It sounded painful, but he didn’t seem remorseful.

In fact, he seemed quite pleased with himself, his grin reaching from ear to ear.

"Ha ha. Laugh at someone else’s insecurities. What a bad man you are. Oo, I’m so scared of Carlos." Kellen deadpanned, and his response didn’t seem to chase away Carlos’ smile. Even after coughing up what sounded like a lung, the man was still smiling.

"You don’t need to try to butter me up, Kellen. Though I do appreciate it. It’s been a while since someone called me a bad man." He looked thoughtful for a moment, before he sighed. "Alright dammit. I’ll do what you’re asking. It sounded interesting anyways." He muttered and Kellen’s smile grew painful; it was so big.

Reaching towards him, he took Carlos’ hands in his and gave them a squeeze. Carlos winced.

"Thank you. Remember that I want you to try to detoxify the area around the previous gate too. But maybe focus on making equipment that will make it easier to get into the gate first. Oh, this is so exciting! Thank you Carlos." Carlos’ cheeks turned red and he yanked his hands out of Kellen’s hold, clearly embarrassed. He covered his face with one of his hands, flustered.

"You’re using your favour to do this, so I don’t need a thank you. Get me some samples, and I’ll get started right away. And of course I will make equipment first. Don’t hurt my pride by saying something so stupid." He grumbled hoarsely, and Kellen chuckled. Carlos was rough around the edges, and still had some slightly twisted world views, but he was a good guy.

It was the reason that Kellen protected him so much. Kellen had seen how lonely he had been, and how much he just wanted to fit in. Most normal people didn’t do bad things because they wanted to. They did it because they had no choice.

But that didn’t mean Kellen would forgive them easily. It helped in Carlos’ case that he hadn’t done anything too bad in the first place. It had been his first major assignment and he had balked at the last minute. Saving him both from Kellen’s wrath, and from going down a path he could never take back.

"Alright, if we’re done here, I have to go. It was wonderful to see you again, Carlos. But I have to go meet up with a Guiding Center. We’ve had some problems in our Guild, so I need to go fix that." Carlos’ expression soured.

"What kind of problems would you have where you need to go to a Guiding Center?" He asked, clearly confused and a little disgusted. Carlos hated Guiding Centers.

"Well, let’s just say we had some Guides who were ’misbehaving’ and I had to deal with them. We are now lacking a bunch of Guides, so we’re recruiting some from other Centers. And keep in mind, Carlos, I did work at a Guiding Center before I met my pair." Carlos’ expression soured further.

"You worked at a Guiding Center? You? But your bedside manners suck." Sakura laughed, and even as Kellen’s cheeks heated slightly, he smiled.

"Yeah yeah. You aren’t the first to tell me that, and you won’t be the last. It took a lot to change how I was to fit in, but I liked it when I worked there. It felt...good to help a bunch of people without the fear of death looming over me all the time." Kellen said with a smile, and Carlos’ expression shifted slightly. It wasn’t as sour as it had been before, and he sighed.

He ran his hand through his hair, before tossing a glance in Kellen’s direction.

"Didn’t you say you were busy? Get out of here. I’ll send you word through Sakura since you know fucking everyone in this damn city." He was grumpy, and annoyed, which meant Kellen was in the clear.

Chuckling, Kellen reached out and ruffled his hair, causing Carlos to sputter angrily like a wet cat. Kellen grinned as he turned and waved behind him.

"It was great seeing both of you! I’m looking forward to the good news!" Kellen called over his shoulder, meeting up with Sakura a little bit further down the hallway. Sakura was shaking her head at his antics.

"I didn’t realise the two of you were that close." She muttered, almost sounding a little envious and Kellen snorted.

Sakura had to swipe her card again to get it moving, which was a good protocol. If someone had breached this area and hadn’t taken the key card, they wouldn’t be able to get up without causing a scene. That would be enough time to catch them. _{freewebnσvel.cѳm}