(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 363

Chapter 363: I’m not affected. This is a super normal reaction

It was the morning that his parents left, and Brent and Hill left with the first batch out to the front lines.

Captain Sergei had been messaging him for the last 24 hours, excited to have ’fresh blood’ as he said, but Kellen was sure he was just happy that Uncle Tom was leaving him alone since the Saturn Guild was coming to the front lines.

He had been kept out of the loop about who was coming to the front lines, which Kellen did think was ridiculous. There had to be people around him who were still useful. Keeping everyone on his team in the dark seemed like a bad idea.

Kellen’s alarm went off, and Rhys groaned in the bed next to him. Kellen, not just because Captain Sergei was texting him constantly, had barely gotten any sleep the previous night. Rhys had flung his arm around and over Kellen in his sleep, and Kellen had laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling as the other man had slept on beside him.

It was a big day today. He was allowed to say goodbye to his parents as they left for this mission. Even Gwen was allowed to say goodbye to them. He didn’t think they were going to their death, but with everything going on, it was better for them to take every chance that they could get.

Guides and Espers had been killed for less. Hell, civilians had been killed for less. Humans were brutal, but monsters were relentless.

They were heading off first, on a very expensive flight that wasn’t actually full. It was the only way they were able to get away with two invisible people getting onto the flight. It was a milk run, or so Kellen had been told. He hadn’t been told what flights. That information had been kept to a very select few. It had been offered to Kellen, but he had turned it down.

They would let him know if something happened to them. The D.E.C. knew better than to keep it from him.

After he saw his parents off, Brent had asked that he work out with him one last time before he headed off for a few weeks. They had forgone the week break, where Brent would come back in between classes, so he was going to be out there for a month without coming back into town. So, they were working out together before that happened.

Brent had basically gone armless the last few days since it was getting so bad. He said he had a stash of other arms back on the front lines in a locker, so he was going to check them out to see if any of them were usable when he got there. Kellen was upset for him, since Brent was trying to brush off his worries. Kellen didn’t know what to tell him.

His grandparents, well, his grandma had passed before he’d even gone to the front lines. His Mom’s had never been around, or were long dead, and his Dad’s Dad had passed when Kellen had been a baby.

It wasn’t something he could relate to, but he understood that Brent was worried all the same. So, Kellen was going to do his best to be supportive and normal. Even as he stared up at his ceiling, his alarm was still going off.

"Babe, is that your alarm?" Rhys’ sleep filled voice filled Kellen’s ears. A shiver went down his spine, but Kellen brushed it off.

"Sorry. I’ll-" Rhys’ arm, which was across his chest tightened and he pulled himself closer to Kellen. He pressed his lips against his jaw, his lips a little dry from sleep.

"I’m getting up too. I’m not letting you say goodbye to my Mother and Father-in-law by yourself." Kellen swallowed. He’d been feeling more sensitive since he started therapy, while Rhys had been the almost exact opposite.

He’d mellowed out, while Kellen felt like he was a loose cannon. He felt overly sensitive, like he was poking at an active wound. He knew that he was, since he himself had avoided it when he’d gone to therapy before. But he hated taking it out on Rhys. He felt like he was. He’d been avoiding him a little bit, trying not to be around him, or when he was around him, he was silent. Rhys had only asked him once if everything was okay, and when Kellen said he was just dealing with things, but he still wanted to be around him, Rhys had nodded, and remained nearby.

Kellen felt like an asshole for having such an understanding partner, when Kellen knew that right now wasn’t good for him either. He wanted this to be equal, even. Just. He didn’t want to feel like he was taking more than he was getting from this relationship.

Kellen’s sigh that left his lips shook the bed. Rhys gave him a squeeze, pressing another kiss against his chin, moving his lips to his shoulder to plant another kiss there before, with a groan, he sat up. He ran a hand through his hair, reached across Kellen, and turned off the alarm.