(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Guide secrets

There were a few more questions after that, but for the most part nothing else seemed important. Well, besides the wedding question. When that came up, the Captain answered for us.

"We're taking it slow and enjoying each other's company. I'm sure you'll be the first to know when we decide on the date." The Captain ended the press conference with a kiss on Kellen's forehead, much to the Guide's embarrassment. Shortly after the kiss, Gunther and the pink eyed lady ushered them back into the room they had come from. As soon as the doors were closed behind them, Kellen ducked to the ground, tucking his head in between his knees and exhaling shakily.

"Are you alright?" Casper asked, coming over and Kellen could feel his heart racing in his chest. Holy shit. That was overwhelming. People did those all the time?

"I can't believe I said half of the things that I did." He muttered at the ground. The boisterous laughter from his friend filled the air. "Taylor? You're here?" He asked, surprised.

"Of course I am. I got here after you went out. You did a great job Kellen. Very believable. No one would ever believe that you two aren't in a romantic relationship." She let out another peel of laughter and Kellen groaned.

"Taylor, you aren't helping." He told her and he felt her hand half heartedly pat his back.

Oh no, I am soo sorry that the man who joked about me dating Captain Thatcher is now basically dating Captain Thatcher three days later." She teased, giving Kellen's back a hard slap.

"You joked about Green dating me" The Captain's voice made Kellen freeze, before he groaned.

"I was trying to get a rise out of her, and I was delirious from almost being completely drained. I can't be fully held accountable." He told him and felt a large, familiar hand replace Taylors and begin to gently rub circles on his back. It did not feel half hearted, and instead made Kellen's skin prickle with goosebumps.

"Well? Did you get a rise out of her?" He asked and Kellen jerked his head in a nod. "I'm hurt. Am I not a catch, Green?" He sounded terribly sad and Taylor snorted.

"We aren't exactly each other's type, now are we Captain? After all, I'm not muscular." Ms. Hill laughed and Kellen swore he heard a crisp high five. Kellen didn't ponder that too long, as his own worries drowned him again.

"Oh god, I need to turn off my phone and pretend I haven't seen any of the messages because I was busy." He told the floor and the hand on him became heavier, as if the Captain was pressing his weight into him ever so slightly.

"Well, you can do that, but that should wait until after we have our guiding session with Green, Mr. Woods. You have plenty of time to panic later today." He told him kindly, which only made Kellen feel worse. One of the reasons he was panicking is because he felt like this was all a ruse, and that the Captain was going to punish him for his words today.

He took a few more minutes to calm down, before straightening up, fixing his shirt and grabbing his jacket from one of the couches. The others watched him, their gazes amused at how drastic the change in him was.

"Are you feeling better?" Captain asked and he nodded.

"I'll manage. Taylor?" Kellen prompted and she sighed. She had been talking to Ms. Hill and the pink eyed lady, but as soon as Kellen stood up once more, she had stepped away.

"I'll see you two later." She told them, but Casper stopped them before they left.

"Oh, Kellen! Meet me at the Guiding Division after lunch." He told him, and Kellen nodded before following the two Espers out of the room.

There were only two doorways into this room, which meant the three of them left the same way Casper had taken Kellen in. The other two said nothing as Taylor scanned her keycard to get out into the main hallway. It was quieter than before, but instead of leading them towards the elevators, Taylor took them towards the stairs. They went up on flight, and what would you know? There was the Medical Bay. Taylor took them to the room they had used yesterday for guiding, and Kellen was beginning to believe that this was just going to be the room they used every time.

Taylor started setting up the machines while the pair dutifully stripped their tops off for the Healer to pin the pads onto their skin. Kellen's hand didn't even sweat that much before offering it to the Captain, a great improvement. Once Taylor counted the Guide down, Kellen felt a little more confident in using his powers on the Esper in front of him. When Kellen stepped into the space for guiding inside of the Captain, he was pleasantly pleased to find that his powers had diffused into the waves. The combination of their powers created these beautiful, rainbow hued waves. Not quite similar to when an oil slick spills on water, since the powers didn't remain just on top of the water, but throughout, giving depth to the colours. But when they poured over the rocks, shattering more of the guiding Kellen poured into the ocean, it was stunning. The spray creating rainbows upon rainbows. It proved that the Captain was taking his guiding well, and pleased with himself, Kellen came out of the 15 minute session with a smile on his face.

"What are you smiling about Mr. Woods?" The Captain asked, also smiling since the joy from the Guide was infectious. Kellen took a moment to think before speaking.