(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 101

Chapter 101: When the gate talks back

The next day came quickly, and passed just as quickly. Between all the concerns involving the new Field Guide program, how many students could actually attend the first round, and all the moving parts that needed to be sorted out, the two Field Guides forgot about food and the time. If it wasn’t for Maeve, they would have skipped lunch. She knocked on the door, surprising the two focused Guides with a grin on her face.

"Time’s up. It’s lunch time, you two. Get out of here and go eat. If I didn’t knock, you two wouldn’t have stopped working." Chuckling, Kellen closed the laptop and grabbed his jacket that he’d shrugged off at some point. Brent stood up from the couch and stretched.

"You’re right, Dr. Lyons. We’re both workaholics." Brent told her with a grin. She shook her head in exasperation.

"I didn’t realise that this was a trait shared among Guides. I’ll have to add it to the observation journal." She muttered. Kellen was pretty sure that she thought that they couldn’t hear her, and Kellen laughed again.

"Hey now, I wouldn’t say that about all Guides. Brent and I are pretty extreme in our work ethic, but there are also Guides out there that are extremely lazy. Guides are just like other people. We’re just a little on the strange side." Kellen told her, and she stared at him. Eventually, she nodded.

"You aren’t freaked out that we have an observation journal?" She asked and Brent shrugged, while Kellen finished buttoning up his jacket.

"Hell no. You are a bunch of scientists, and this little nerd over here isn’t any different. He keeps track of so many things when we’re on the front lines. It’s hard for me to manage all the data that he comes back with from the gates." Brent puffed out his chest. "I’m the one who usually makes the reports since Kellen isn’t gifted in that way." He was so proud of that, and Maeve couldn’t contain her laughter.

"I guess I didn’t fully realise you were as nerdy as we were, Guide Jameson. I think I was thrown off by the scar down your face. It made me think you were just a pretty playboy." Brent gasped, and Maeve went white. It was clear she was worried that her words had hurt Brent, but Kellen rolled his eyes.

"Oh Dr. Lyons! That’s so nice of you to say! Thank you for appreciating that I am a playboy, but I am so much more than that. Awe, now I’m embarrassed." Brent covered his face with his hand, acting perfectly and Maeve snorted.

"Well, I don’t like to come to conclusions on others right away without research." She stared at them for a moment longer, before sighing. "Either way, I’m heading out for lunch as well. Make sure to take care of yourself, since I won’t be coming back to the office after. I have a few meetings with the other research teams." She waved and disappeared from the doorway.

Brent dropped his hand, a faint smile still on his lips.

It was clear to Kellen that he was only playing around with Maeve, so he was glad that Maeve was being a good sport about it. She wasn’t being cruel about it, but also wasn’t letting Brent’s shit fly. Good for her.

Kellen and Brent ate like they were on a mission, speaking only briefly to each other as they ate before heading back down to the office. With the plan to start their sessions tomorrow, the two of them were focused on making sure everything was perfect. They were so busy that Kellen didn’t pick up the Captain, and instead it was reversed. The Captain had to come pick up Kellen, and finally, he put everything down and promised to meet Brent up within the gym after they finished.

The session went well, with Taylor being mostly there today, while the Captain’s hands lingered a little longer as the two finished up. He didn’t ask about Kellen’s dinner plans this time, and as the two rode the elevator up, they ran into Brent. The three separated as the Captain got off at the conference level, ruffling Kellen’s hair before leaving the Field Guides alone.

The two headed up to the gym, and while they did follow Kellen’s normal, aggressive workout, then did also run some of the stretches and suggestions they were going to propose to the Guides. They did get some input from the Espers in the gym, and found that they were going in the right direction.

They went on longer then Kellen expected, so the two of them got showers in the gym before heading down to the cafeteria for dinner. Brent and Kellen ate like men who hadn’t had food in years, with Kellen’s portion almost doubling Brent’s, which was three plates. The two of them kept chatting about their plans, both now getting nervous that tomorrow was the day.

It felt like to Kellen that he’d gotten nothing done today, but as time went on, and he began to lay out everything with Brent, he was beginning to feel more confident. They finished up, and finally, they stopped chatting about tomorrow and went back to their apartments to relax.

That was when the ball dropped.

~

The next morning, Kellen was woken up with his phone going off and rapid knocking sounding at his front door. Rushing to shove his feet into his slippers, topless, he rushed to the door, grabbing his phone on the way. Checking his phone, he saw it was his Mother. Worried, he wanted to answer it first, but he was already on his way to the front door. She could wait a few minutes.

Throwing open the door, he came face to face with the Captain. He was only partially dressed, without his Captain’s jacket, his dress pants on with his belt half done, and his dress shirt tucked into his pants. His shoes were regular shoes, not the ones he normally wore, and his hair was damp, and a mess. He had a panicked look on his face, and he opened his mouth, but froze when he caught sight of Kellen.

Kellen wasn’t sure why, and glanced over himself briefly. He hadn’t gone to bed naked last night, and instead had worn his boxers. They were covering enough, but that was it. He was in his boxers and slippers, with his cell phone in his hand. His hair was probably all over the place since he hadn’t had a shower yet. Glancing down at his phone, he realised it was only an hour before he normally got up to go to the gym.

"Captain? What’s wrong? Mom’s also calling me." Kellen’s gravelly morning voice seemed to shake the older man out of his panic.

"Ah, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting a nice view on such an awful morning." Kellen blinked, before his cheeks heated.

"Stop joking around. What happened?" He asked, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. His phone stopped vibrating, only to start up again. The Captain sighed.