(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 347

Chapter 347: Friendships that last forever, with the Captain

"Gunther, are you in there?" Rhys asked, knocking on the door. There was a soft chuckle on the other side before the other man opened it up. He looked...okay. He was in the Guild’s gym clothes, his hair around his shoulders. It was at least brushed this time, unlike when he’d been by before, and the split lip was healing nicely. The other things were fixed with Green’s healing power, but for some reason he wanted to keep the split lip.

Rhys knew he should have asked some questions, but he didn’t want to.

"Where the hell else am I going, Rhys? Or should I call you Captain Thatcher?" Gunther joked, his lips turning up in a smile, but his eyes weren’t laughing. Hill sighed, while Rhys felt his heart squeeze painfully.

"Oh don’t be mean. He comes to visit you as much as he can. With two Lieutenant’s benched, he’s got his hands full. Now let us in, fucker." Hill stepped forward, pushing Gunther out of the way while Rhys watched Gunther with pained eyes. Gunther only took his eyes off of him as Hill marched further into the room. Rhys stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

At least now the couch wasn’t destroyed, the kitchen was in one piece, and Gunther seemed...okay on the outside. Rhys knew he was probably lying to everyone, biding his time until he got free to do whatever he wanted.

Rhys had done the same thing when he’d first been declared an S Class Esper and everyone thought he was a monster. Fuck.

"I’m sorry." Rhys said, and both Gunther and Hill paused. Gunther turned, an incredulous look on his face.

"Now you’re apologising?" He said and Rhys winced at the look of pure mockery on his face. "Oh, how kind." He snorted and Rhys sighed softly.

"You have every right to mock me. I should have apologised earlier. I should have...there are a lot of things I should have done." Rhys trailed off. He clenched his hands tightly, dropping his gaze before he looked up and met his gaze again. "When you told me about what you and Casper had done, or what Casper had done to you, I should have...I shouldn’t have supported it. I should have told you it was wrong. I was just so caught up in the realisation that we had taken two different approaches to our shared history that I was...I was in shock." Rhys swallowed. "I’m sorry, Gunther. I should have realised it sooner. I was too...I was self absorbed, or I had put blinders on. I didn’t want to see how you were hurting, and I thought being with Casper would fix it for you. That wasn’t the right answer, and in the end I hurt everyone." Hill’s face twisted from behind Gunther.

She opened her mouth, about to say something before she shut it, shaking her head. Gunther was silent, his expression softening from the pure mockery and scorn that it had been before, but Rhys wasn’t able to tell what he was thinking.

"What do you mean that we had two different approaches?" Gunther asked and Rhys made a pained face.

"Gunther, what they did to us was wrong. It wasn’t right. That wasn’t...that’s not love. That’s not what it’s supposed to be." Rhys let out a hard laugh. "I know that as Espers, love can be a little on the rougher side, especially if we don’t keep a grip on ourselves, but hitting like that? Abuse? Without consent, without our permission? That’s not love. Kellen didn’t hit me to confirm that he cared about me. He just told me with words." Gunther stared at him, unblinking, to the point that Rhys worried that he wasn’t breathing.

Rhys took a step towards him, worried, and that was when Gunther inhaled. It wasn’t a stable sound, and finally Rhys could tell what Gunther was thinking. He was shaken, and Rhys reached into his pocket, pulling out the whiskey he’d grabbed for Gunther. It was one of his favourites, and Hill gave him a betrayed look from behind Gunther’s back. Rhys gave her an apologetic smile.

Gunther looked at the offered whiskey, Rhys’ outstretched hand, before he let out a shaky sigh and took it. He unscrewed the cap, putting the neck to his lips and poured the whiskey into his mouth. It had to be warm since it had been against Rhys’ body, but he didn’t hesitate. He only stopped when the bottle was half gone. He then thrust the bottle towards Hill, turning his back to Rhys.

"Here. Take a swig. I know you like this stuff." Hill’s eyes lit up, but she hesitated for a moment.

"Am I okay to do that?" She asked, and Gunther growled.

"Take a fucking swig, Karen, or so help me, I’ll split your lip again and this time your precious Green won’t patch you up." Hill let out a gasp, snatching the whiskey from Gunther’s hand and taking a deep swig before she handed it back. Gunther chuckled at the sour expression on her face.

"We’re just friends!" Hill protested and Gunther rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. I’m sure she thinks that." Hill’s face went red.

"Gunther!" Hill screeched as Gunther turned and held out the bottle to Rhys. Rhys swallowed and Gunther nodded at him.

"Take it, Rhys." Gunther said and Rhys took the bottle, taking a deep swig of his own. The whiskey burned as it slid down his throat, but that was okay. He handed the nearly empty bottle back to Gunther who finished it off and tossed it into the kitchen. "Alright. Tell me about this shit that you’ve come to pester me with. What do you mean that you and Kellen don’t hit each other?" Gunther asked, glancing at Rhys and Rhys took a shaky exhale.

This was...this was going a lot better than he thought.

"And don’t fucking lie, either. I see the state that Kellen gets into when he’s been with you. The man doesn’t know when to wear a shirt." Gunther warned and Rhys’ lips twitched despite the seriousness of the topic.

"He does hate shirts." Rhys said, knowing the secret behind that. It made him smile as Hill and Gunther sat down on the couch. Hill sat, spread legs, arms wide, taking up as much space as possible. Gunther sat a little more reservedly, and Rhys barely sat down. He was a bit too much worked up for that.

"Well, we don’t do anything like spanking. Mm, not really. We haven’t explored anything like that, but to be clear, this isn’t how we show affection for each other." Rhys told him and Gunther narrowed his eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what kinks are, right?" Hill piped up from the side and Gunther nodded slowly.

"I’ve heard about it, yeah." He replied and Rhys tried to think of the best way he could say this.

"Kellen has a pain kink. But he’d beat the shit out of me if I ever did anything to him without his consent. Again, when Kellen and I confirmed our feelings for each other, there was no violence. When I told Kellen I liked him as more than a pair, I didn’t hit him. He didn’t hit me when he told me that he had feelings for me. There was no violence, not kicking, no hitting. We didn’t break plates, or glasses, or anything of that nature. No furniture was broken, at least not in that way, and we’ve never done that kind of stuff without confirming with each other that we wanted it." Rhys sighed. "There are times when we are intimate together that we don’t do anything like that."

Gunther sat in silence, listening to what Rhys was saying. He seemed to be having a hard time processing it and Rhys watched him.