(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 254

Chapter 254: Something terrible is happening here, with the Captain

Rhys considered himself a rather level headed man.

Well, as level headed as one could be with an enormous amount of power at your fingertips, and a government that tried to keep you in check, but couldn’t even manage that.

But still, he considered himself calm. Rational. Given everything that he had just had to go through, he felt he was doing quite well for himself.

He had not killed a bunch of people when Kellen passed out and nearly died from blood loss. He had not bitten off Green’s head when she had tried to take Kellen from him. He had not harmed anyone else while Kellen remained unconscious and he felt like he was going to surge for the first time in his life since right after he manifested.

He didn’t do any of those things.

Instead, he’d held a tight grip on all of his powers, somehow made it through that hellhole, and, not only that, he’d gotten to hold Kellen when he’d woken up and had the wonderful moment and realisation that he could provide comfort to the man.

It was beautiful. It was horrible how they got there, but it truly showed him that Kellen trusted him and cared for him enough that he trusted Kellen to Rhys. His whole body and soul, not just the outside bits. It was a big thing. It was a gift that Rhys didn’t think he was worthy of.

Kellen didn’t even know how much that meant to him. Outside of sexual things or things of that nature, it was the truly vulnerable moments that Kellen allowed Rhys to witness and participate in that showed Rhys how much Kellen valued him and how much Kellen cared about him.

The fact that Kellen kept his toothbrush in his bathroom even when he was upset and mad at him?

Rhys’ heart hurt with how much of it the man occupied. How much more could Kellen take up space inside of him before Rhys was just a walking, talking Kellen stan? Wasn’t he one already?

This moment of reflecting was all to say that Rhys knew he’d been, previously, on the edge. So he could see the signs. Hell, he and the signs took a weekly tango session together. Out of anyone around, Rhys could tell when someone was teetering on the edge.

Gunther? Gunther had them in spades.

Rhys knew something was up. For one, Gunther had disappeared when everyone had needed him most for an hour. No one knew where’d gone, no one had any reports or sightings of him anywhere, and in fairness to Rhys, Kellen and his Father had nearly died.

He’d been preoccupied, and Gunther had seemed stable.

Then he came back with a giant ass bruise forming on his cheek and under his eye, a wildness in his black gaze, and a damn smirk on his face. Hill had alerted him immediately, along with several other Espers.

That included several healers, and that was alarming in the highest regard.

There weren’t really...Espers who would be considered mental healers. That was, essentially, the job that the Guides did. But, there were times when that wasn’t enough and regular therapists were called in.

Sometimes, there was just too much shit wrong with someone that getting guiding from a Guide wasn’t enough to fix them.

Rhys, admittedly, probably should have participated in the therapists that he’d hired earlier in his life. He had made sure that everyone in the Saturn Guild had access to the best of the best. He’d forced several other Espers into therapy when they’d grown too irrational and had taken it out on their teammates. He’d been a good leader.

To everyone but his dearest friend.

It wasn’t a secret but it seemed many people forgot. Gunther and Rhys awakened from the same gate eruption. Rhys had been higher up in the apartment building while Gunther had been lower down, on the second floor.

For some reason, that distinction, that distance from the gate when it formed, made Rhys an S Class Esper, and Gunther an A Class Esper. No one knew why, and it wasn’t as if they were the only ones who survived and awakened, but it was something that Rhys never forgot.

It also meant that like Rhys, Gunther never got to confront his parents since they had passed away in the gate eruption.

Rhys knew that a part of him was messed up from the way he was treated as a kid.

He was able to view it objectively as he’d grown up and realised that those around him had not been treated the same way that he was being treated at home. That ability to observe, understand, and process meant that even though Rhys knew he should talk to someone else about these feelings and emotions inside of him, he didn’t think that he wasn’t worthy of love.

He knew he was worthy of love. His parents were the fucked up ones in this equation.

It took Rhys a while to realise that Gunther had not come to the same conclusion that he had. Or for Rhys to realise how much more fucked up Gunther’s relationship with his parents had been.

Rhys wasn’t blind. He’d known from the beginning that Casper liked Gunther. He also knew that Gunther liked him back. To him, it was a no brainer. The two were a cute couple, and they would fulfill each other in the perfect way. Casper was also a good man who cared deeply about the people who cared about him in turn.

So Rhys had thought it was a done deal.

He did not think that it would ten years on and the two would still be fucking edging each other about a damn relationship. Rhys didn’t know who was at fault since he didn’t fucking ask unless Gunther opened up to him about it, but the man was tight lipped outside of when he was blackout drunk.

Rhys was not above taking advantage of him when he was in that state, but it was also a busy time. He couldn’t deal with a hungover, moody Gunther while also dealing with the whiny sons of bitches in charge of the city he loved.

"Okay, so you went over to Casper’s place. Why didn’t you report that?" Rhys asked, and Gunther looked a little sheepish. He scratched the back of his head, avoiding one of his braids. _{freeωebnovēl.c૦m}

"Cas hit me! We’re finally courting!" It felt like Rhys had been punched in his sternum. All air left his lungs as Gunther grinned widely. "I didn’t think it would take this long, but here we are. I gave him all the signs but it took him ages to catch on. Honestly, I thought we were going to pair before you and Kellen, but I can’t be upset. I’m on cloud nine right now."