(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 52

Chapter 52: A bee in the Bonnet

Casper and Brent joined the table at that point, unaware of what had happened while they were in line. They were more excited to see Kellen up and about and wanted to check on him. Casper picked up that something had happened, given that Hill was still wheezing. Brent, however, set down his tray without a care about the situation and sat down.

"You went off of the radar so I was worried about you. How are you feeling? Are you still having side effects Kellen?" Brent was full of concern for his friend, his green eyes watching Kellen’s face for any reaction. Kellen, in the face of such genuine concern, felt his body relax. He could be mad at the Captain later.

"Only a little bit, but I’m much better than yesterday. The Captain was very kind in taking care of me." He didn’t look at the man and Brent whistled.

"Oh, so Kellen the Celibate finally got down and dirty with someone? Popped your cherry? Good for you. I’m proud. You’re part of the big boy club now." Brent didn’t mean it in a teasing way. He was actually being quite sincere. Kellen felt his face heat as everyone else at the table stared at him in stunned silence. It was only broken when the Captain burst into laughter. Kellen wanted to crawl back up to his apartment to hide.

"No way." Casper murmured, covering his mouth as he sat down beside Kellen, between him and Brent. Gunther seemed confused while Hill looked ready to burst.

"Hold on a fucking minute. Were you a virgin before the Captain? Before yesterday?" Hill’s voice was very loud in a suddenly quiet room. Kellen wanted the ground to swallow him whole as the Captain’s shoulders shook beside him. Only they knew that he was, in fact, still a virgin. It hadn’t mattered to Kellen up until this point, but when he saw the excitement on Hill’s face, he dreaded the next day’s teasing even more.

"Now, what Guide Woods chooses to do with his body is none of our business, is it? So what if he was saving himself for the perfect guy of his dreams like a true romantic? That’s none of our business." Brent’s voice had taken on a fake dreamy tone. Kellen reached around Casper to punch Brent’s arm, hard. Brent rubbed the flesh he’d hit, laughing as Kellen glared at him with flushed cheeks.

"That’s not true! I just, it was never a big deal to me, and I never had time." Kellen said lamely and Hill covered her mouth. This was some of the greatest information she’d ever heard. No wonder Kellen had never done ’that’ kind of guiding on the front lines!

"Never had time? Kellen Woods! What kind of attitude is that? You have no idea what you were missing out on!" She exclaimed, dropping her hands from her mouth to grin at the Guide. Kellen gave her a wary look.

"Obviously I have no idea what I was missing out on. I also don’t see what the big fuss is about, either. Why do anything higher when holding hands works just as well?" Hill’s jaw dropped as Kellen sniffed. "Besides, even if I was attracted to anyone on the front lines, my compatibility with them was so low that it didn’t make sense to even offer higher types of guiding." The Captain shifted, wrapping his arms around Kellen’s shoulder.

"That isn’t and wasn’t true. You have great compatibility with me, and you also like me." His smile was cocky, and Kellen sighed. He couldn’t outright deny it, especially since they were in public.

"Even if that is the case, I was a C Class Field Guide up until a week ago and you are an S Class Esper. I was never going to get my hopes up." Hill, who had been prepared to tease Kellen even after the Captain’s earlier warning, stopped. How was she supposed to tease him when he said something that sad?

"Enough of that. You’ve gotten the fairytale ending every Guide has wet dreams about, so you aren’t allowed to be sad when reminiscing. I hate it. Makes us perpetual single people feel bad." Brent shoved a forkful of food into his mouth after he said his piece, munching away.

"Uh, beyond that," Casper started nervously, "how are you feeling Kellen? If you were to rate your side effects compared to before, how bad were they? What was different?" Casper, who spoke softly, also had his phone out and ready to take notes. Kellen hadn’t been aware that Casper was such a workaholic until this moment. He chuckled, amused at the new information. It made sense, especially if he worked often with the chaotic, but organised Hill and the never not using his powers Captain. Kellen cleared his throat. _{fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓}

"Uh, well, if I’m honest about them. They were the worst I’ve ever experienced." The Captain dropped his fork, his face going white.

"You are never doing that ever again. I would rather die than inconvenience you." He proclaimed. Stunned at first, Kellen then burst into laughter, before patting the Captain’s shoulder.

"I’m all better now, aren’t I?" Kellen asked, teasing, but the Captain’s yellow eyes were serious, along with his frown. "You aren’t going to go back on your word, are you?" Kellen prodded, and the Captain closed his eyes, sighing.

"No, I won’t go back on my word, but you should have told me that was the worst you’ve ever experienced them before." The Captain added. Kellen shrugged, turning back to his food.

"He finds it especially hard to be away from me for any period of time and has to have some kind of skin on skin contact at all times. It was worse yesterday. He was also rather, uh, into my scent as well." Ground, please, swallow me whole. Brent put down his fork, and Kellen expected him to tease him. Instead, he nodded.