(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148: Working up the courage

Kellen was a nervous wreck. He was in even more of a panic compared to three weeks ago when he went into the Center for his retest. His hands were sweating and shaking, and he heaved heavy breaths into his lungs.

He’d managed to get out of the elevator without having a panic attack, or the elevator going back down, but he could certainly feel one coming on now. How had he let Taylor convince him that this was a good idea? He’d been so angry the last time he’d seen him, and Kellen didn’t think this was going to improve his mood.

Glancing around, able to notice people even when he was in this panic induced fog, he noticed that there were quite a few people around. All of them stared at him as he stood in the hallway outside of Conference Room A. There were normally people around, but this felt like quite a few more, and Kellen felt his mind jerk back and away from his panic.

The Gate. Fuck. The Gate had mutated!

All of these people had to be related to the mutation that Hill had come to tell the Captain about. How the fuck did Kellen forget about that? That was such a serious thing to happen, especially since there were now two Captains on the front lines, with two remaining in the city.

Wait, calm down. That might not be the case. Yes, Hill had come down to interrupt them, but Kellen hadn’t heard anything else from anyone, and Brent would have been one of the first people to rush in if things had taken a serious turn, especially with the connections he still had on the front lines.

Maybe Kellen was just feeling extra sensitive with all the revelations he’d gone through today, especially with what he was about to do. Taylor had basically shoved him into the elevator and cackled, so it was no wonder his nerves were shot. It had barely been 20 minutes since he’d realised the true depth of his feelings for the Captain, and what those feelings actually felt like. How the hell was he supposed to be calm and composed in a situation like this?

Take a few deep breaths. You’ll be okay. You’ve already made it this far, and how scary could this really be? Remember the time when you were in a gate and a stampede started? This is nothing compared to that. The Captain isn’t as scary as a herd of stampeding B Class monsters. He can’t be. Taylor said he wouldn’t turn you away. You trust her.

He forced himself to move towards the conference room, and worked up the courage to peek inside.

The Captain along with several others including Gunther and Hill stood at the end of the room, in front of the giant projector screen. It was clear they were in a rather serious meeting, and Kellen recognised a couple of the faces outside of the Captains on the screen. They were specialists in the field, across several countries. Something had gone seriously wrong with the gate, and everyone seemed to be tense.

The Captain hadn’t changed, and was still wearing the tattered and torn Esper uniform from the photo shoot. His chest was bare and exposed to everyone in the room. This would have been hilarious if it didn’t feel like there was a 10 degree difference between the hallway and the conference room.

With his arms crossed, his bright yellow gaze, and tight jaw, he looked like the perfect image of an S Class Esper. Honestly, Pamela should have gotten him to take a photo like this too, since this was terrifying, but extremely hot. Kellen swore he could see sweat rolling down the back of everyone else in the room, and he swallowed. It was now or never.

Kellen knocked on the doorframe. Every set of Esper eyes shot in his direction, and when the Captain spotted him, a look of shock crossed his face. Then, his face hardened again and Kellen’s heart jerked in his chest. He swallowed. Hill gave a nervous laugh.

"O-Oh, Kellen. What brings you here?" She asked, clearly trying to tell him with her eyes to get the fuck out of here.

Kellen could tell he was on a fine line, and anything he said could and would be used against him. Whatever Kellen did from this moment on would be used to determine where the Captain fell on that line. The Captain usually didn’t have his S Class tendencies riding him this hard, but today had been a hard day. Kellen licked his lips, and watched as his eyes darted down. He felt his cheeks heat.

"I was going to say I understood why you had been so harsh, even if it wasn’t fair to Hill. I realise that I must have pushed you in some way, and I wanted to apologise." With every word from his mouth, the Captain’s expression darkened. Kellen swallowed, playing with the buttons on the side of his pants. "S-So I wanted to invite you to dinner at my place. A-A date." It was like the room held it’s breath. The Captain let out a shaky exhale.

"A date?" He confirmed and Kellen gave his head a jerk in a nod. His eyes darkened, shifting from the iridescent yellow to a more subtle shade. "You’re asking me out on a date?" He repeated, and Kellen knew he was bright red now. He nodded again. The Captain’s throat worked as he swallowed. "You mean it?" Chuckling slightly, Kellen nodded again.

"Yes, Rhys, I’m asking you out on a date." The smile that broke across the Captain’s face made Kellen’s heart stop. It was filled with so much happiness, and light, Kellen immediately understood what Taylor had said when she said that love was worth it. Reaching up with his hand, Kellen brushed a lock of hair out of his face, smiling up at him too.

Glancing over the Captain’s shoulder, Kellen was surprised to find that everyone’s response to this situation. Hill had both of her hands over her face and it looked like she was...crying? Gunther seemed emotional as well, along with the other people in the room. The Captains on the screen behind them seemed emotional as well, and he was pretty sure he saw Sakura holding up a phone?

"Kellen." He jerked, the sound of his name coming from the Captain’s lips surprising him. The Captain reached for his hand, and when Kellen took his hand willingly, he gave it a squeeze. "Let’s go." He said, and nodding, the two of them turned towards the elevators, hand in hand.

He didn’t say anything, only occasionally squeezing his hand as they headed one floor up, and then made a beeline for the next set of elevators. He had a smile on his face the whole time, and a swelling feeling of emotion filled his chest. Not everything about this seemed to be negative, just like Taylor had said.