(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Unlike Captain Thatcher

The four of them stayed in the cafeteria until Hill finished her food. Kellen, having not heard from the Captain or Taylor, decided that he was just going to go to the medical bay and wait. He’d rather not be hunted down by the Captain again, especially if he was in a bad state.

Leaving the sour faced Brent to Casper’s capable hands, Kellen watched the three of them get out of the elevator before him before got out at the medical bay. Humming a little tune to himself, happy now that he felt things were going his way, he knocked on Taylor’s door.

"One minute!" Her voice called through the door. Kellen could hear chattering on the other side before the door opened. Expecting to see only Taylor, he was surprised when he found Miro inside once more. He was hooked up to the same machine as last time. Miro glanced at Kellen, before staring down at the ground. Taylor smiled. "Hey Kellen." Kellen gave a nod to Taylor as he watched Miro. The poor man seemed nervous around him, and Kellen hated feeling like he was a bother to the poor man. Anyone with eyes could tell he was an introvert, so he wasn’t really expecting anything from him until Miro spoke up.

"Hello Guide Woods." He greeted Kellen with a small head nod and Kellen felt a smile touch his lips.

"Hello Miro. How are you today?" Kellen asked, well aware he probably should call him Lieutenant, but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Miro glanced at Kellen, before glancing at the machine he was attached to.

"I feel better now. Green is taking care of me well." He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed how adorable Miro was until now, but given the look even Taylor was giving the man, it was clear that others thought the same. His big brother instincts activated, Kellen reached out to ruffle the messy green hair on his head. Baffled, Miro turned his dark gaze towards the taller Guide.

"I’m glad to hear that Taylor is taking such great care of you." Miro stared up at Kellen for a moment longer before dropping his gaze back to the floor. The only noticeable difference was a light tinge to his cheeks. Taylor chuckled.

"I just got a text from the Captain. His meeting is dragging on longer than he thought. He asked if you were already there, and if you were, to wait in the room we’re using for your guiding sessions." Taylor frowned. "I don’t have any problems with that, but don’t you have his number?" Taylor asked. Kellen shook his head.

"No, I don’t. It keeps slipping my mind to ask him for it, especially since we always happen to run into each other. It just hasn’t felt necessary." Taylor snorted, her eyes sparkling.

"Oh, so because you can wave your hand and magically the Captain is there you don’t think it’s important to have his number? Wow Kellen. I see how you are in a relationship now. No wonder you haven’t been in one until now." Kellen’s face turned red at his friend’s teasing.

"That’s not-! We’re not-! The Captain and I aren’t in that kind of relationship!" Kellen protested, a little too loudly. Taylor laughed at him.

"Uh huh. You keep lying to yourself Kellen. See where that gets you. Have you already forgotten that you told the public that you two are in that kind of relationship? I’m not the only one keeping an eye out for where I’m going to find you two next." Kellen blinked, unsure what she meant by that. Taylor didn’t clarify, instead turning to Miro. "I’ll be gone a little longer this time. Are you okay on your own again?" She asked the other Esper and he nodded.

"Yeah." He paused for a moment, and Kellen would have missed hearing his voice if he hadn’t been standing so close to him. "See you next time, Guide Woods." Kellen smiled at the Esper with a warm gaze, before following Taylor out into the hallway. He wasn’t sure why Miro stirred his heart in this way, but he had a feeling the first welcome party might have something to do with it. Remembering how that welcome party ended, Kellen’s cheeks heated, but he had composed himself by the time the two of them made it to their usual room. Kellen followed Taylor as she flicked on the lights, looking over the papers she had in her hands. Kellen hadn’t even noticed her grabbing them.

"So, I’ve had time to look over the reports Casper sent me from your first round of tests with the other Espers. It’s a shame we don’t have our other S Class Espers around right now, since I would love to have the info from that." She tsked. "But, I am not stupid enough to think that Captain Thatcher would have allowed that." When Kellen gave her a confused look, she gave him a knowing look. "Kellen, you got a 90% match with an S Class Esper. You hadn’t been tested with any other S Classes before him. Don’t you think he would worry that you would match well with another S Class?" Kellen furrowed his brow at her words. Taylor, who had been walking towards the back of the room where all of the equipment was set up, paused, facing her friend who had never been in a romantic relationship in the 17 years she’d known him.

"I mean, why would that be a problem? I’m not going to test myself against anyone else. If I got a high score with another Esper, it wouldn’t be as high as the one I share with him." Kellen said and Taylor sighed. This dumb man.

"Kellen, that wouldn’t matter to him. He’s going to view most S Classes as a threat. That they are going to take you away from him. You know the man wants a relationship with you, right? Like, romantically?" Taylor clarified. She had thought things were progressing well, given that Kellen had shoed her out of the room previously while climbing into the Captain’s lap. But given the way her friend was staring at her she had a feeling the Captain had a lot farther to go then she thought.

"I know that, Taylor. I just think it’s silly he would worry about something so stupid. I’ve already signed a pair contract with him, why would I test with anyone else?" Taylor was silent for a moment, before she sighed, shaking her head. Kellen only grew more confused, but pushed his worries to the side when she began to speak about what she originally had brought up.

"Anyway, I’ve had a chance to look at them. I agree with Casper’s findings. Your efficiency has been boosted across all Classes, which interests me the most. We’ve always known that there is a difference between Classes when it comes to rankings. With the new phenomena of jumping Classes, add to the fact that there aren’t that many Guides who have done it, I find this research fascinating." She waved the papers in her hand. "This right here is concrete proof that Guides really do have the doubling effect between Class levels. Before now, at least as far as I was aware, we’ve just been saying that is true. I also don’t have access to the same information as an Esper as a Guide would. Casper confirmed for me that there are now other papers coming in with the same research, which is wonderful. I am glad to find out that Espers and Guides are similar in that sense." Taylor’s grin was wide as she stared down at the words before her, before grinning at her friend. Kellen knew that smile, and with a quiet sigh, he began stripping his clothing off, aware that Taylor was about to launch into a passionate speech about his results. He didn’t mind, since it had been a long time since he’d seen her like this. Maybe four months when they had last met up?