(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 92

Chapter 92: A step in the right direction

Now that Kellen was here, he was nervous.

He had allowed the Captain to lead him up to his apartment, even waved goodbye to the others as he passed them, but now that he was here, he wasn’t sure what to do.

The Captain had left him alone in his apartment while he changed. Kellen, who had only been in this apartment a few times, was feeling overwhelmed. It mirrored a lot of the traits that his apartment had, but he felt uncomfortable. He sat nervously on the couch, his jacket draped over the arm of it, his socked feet tapping lightly on the wooden floor. His hands were sweating, and he wiped them nervously on his pants. He could tell that his eyes were darting around, looking around the apartment but not taking anything in.

"Kellen, don’t look so stiff. Make yourself at home." Kellen jumped when he heard the Captain’s voice from above, and then the Captain’s laughter. "What? Are you now nervous? In my house?" The Captain almost seemed offended. Kellen glanced up at him to find him in a soft gray t-shirt and a pair of soft looking pants. They didn’t seem to be sweatpants, but they weren’t dress pants either. Kellen had never seen a pair like them before.

"I can’t help it." Kellen muttered.

"What do you mean?" Kellen watched the Captain move down the stairs, and found himself unable to take his eyes off of him. When the Captain came to a standstill before him, Kellen swallowed.

"Well, I just..." Kellen trailed off, before glancing away from him. The sigh that left the Captain made Kellen flinch, before the Captain chuckled.

"It’s alright, Kellen. I’m not angry or anything like that. I just hate that you don’t feel as comfortable in my apartment. Should we go to yours?" He asked, and Kellen flinched. He didn’t want to be that kind of person, but... "Your facial expression is telling me yes. Alright, get up. Let’s go." The Captain grabbed Kellen’s jacket from the arm of the couch and headed for the door. Kellen didn’t even have time to protest before he had his shoes on and was ushered out into the hallway and one door down. He felt ridiculous, as he entered his apartment and instantly felt relaxed.

The Captain, who had been happily taking his shoes off and hung up Kellen’s jacket in his closet, glanced at him with a smile. Kellen flushed, ducking his head.

"I’m sorry. It’s just...this is the first time I’ve ever considered...doing things with you, and I’m just nervous about it." The Captain blinked, stunned, before a wide grin spread across his face.

"So you knew what I was asking of you?" He asked, and Kellen nodded, his cheeks turning red. "And so you got embarrassed and uncomfortable being in my home alone with me, but you’re fine in yours? They are practically the same, Kellen." His smile made the words feel less harsh, and Kellen swallowed.

"I know you’re right, but I’m in my head about this. W-We aren’t going to do anything as practise for guiding, so I’m..." Kellen could feel his heart rate picking up, and his ears turning pink. The Captain seemed delighted.

"I know you don’t like it when I call you cute, but you are adorable, Kellen." Kellen couldn’t take it anymore, and covered his face before turning and heading for his bedroom. _{frёeωebɳovel.com}

"Can you stop calling my name?" He asked, flustered. He also worried that the Captain was going to follow him up the stairs, and was surprised and maybe a little disappointed when he heard his laughter remain downstairs as he hit the landing.

"No."

Flushed, and a little hot, Kellen quickly changed into something light, before rushing downstairs. The Captain remained standing, but he was looking over some of the shelves Kellen had decorated. He seemed to be particularly fascinated with a weirdly shaped bone fragment his sister had brought back at one point. Unsure how to treat him in this new, weird relationship that was forming, Kellen cleared his throat. The Captain glanced back at him, his lips twitching.

"Gwen gave that to me. Probably when she was still a teen. She burst into my room to give it to me. Said it was from a deer." Kellen wanted to kick himself. Why was he being so awkward?

"I was going to ask. It has a strange past. Did you want to hear it?" Kellen, confused, stepped closer to the Captain, and tensed only for a second when the older man wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer. The Captain spun the little bone fragment in his hand. "This doesn’t happen all the time, but every once in a while I’ll come across an item that has a particularly strong imprint of a specific time. I’ve never really categorized what this powers are, especially since they don’t come up often. For some reason, this little piece of bone has a very strong imprint." He glanced at Kellen, and Kellen noticed his eyes had changed colour. They were back to being yellow, and Kellen felt a little disappointed, but his curiousity won him over. "The imprint is of a monster."