(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 239

Chapter 239: We are more than our family’s name

Brent didn’t calm down enough to talk for another five minutes. The room was a disaster after, and although Kellen knew that Brent had this potential inside of him, he was still surprised.

He knew that Brent had the ability to be...energetic like this, but he’d normally never seen it outside of inside of a gate. He usually kept his calm, and it seemed to also shake Brent that he had behaved like this.

His hands were shaking as he tried to calm himself. He ran said shaky hands through his hair, both hands at a time. He did look a little insane, but it was clear that he was working through something bigger than Kellen being attacked.

"Fuck. I’m just like him." He whispered angrily, almost defeated, and Kellen frowned. His grip tightened on his cane.

"Like who?" Kellen asked, and Brent gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"Like my father." The way he said it told him that he didn’t view it as a good thing. Kellen took in the destruction of the room, and how violently Brent was now trembling and mulled it over for a minute.

"Do you want me to kill him?" Kellen asked, meaning it, and Brent flung his gaze towards Kellen. Obviously, he assumed Kellen was joking, but when he met the serious gaze of the other Field Guide, Brent froze.

Before he burst into laughter.

"The Kellen Woods offering to make someone disappear? For me? Awe, you really do care about me." Brent’s joke didn’t make Kellen feel any better.

"I’m serious. If this man hurts you this much, I don’t think-"

"-while I appreciate the offer, I do not want to make you a murderer." Brent sighed. "Have you been hanging out with Captain Thatcher too much? That was a very Esper thing to say." Brent told him, and Kellen made a face. Arguably, for his own health, he hadn’t been hanging out with the Esper enough. But he also wouldn’t deny that it was an...abnormal thought.

"I would argue that my Dad would also suggest to quietly make someone disappear, if you catch my drift. He’d just be subtle about it." Kellen stated, and Brent stared at him, his hands still in his hair, before he burst out into laughter.

"Fuck. The whole Woods family are just build different, huh?" The smile fell from his face and he sighed. He covered his face with his hands, bending over until he was crouched on the ground, his head in his hands. "Fuck. I don’t like seeing other people injured like I am." Brent said quietly, and Kellen shifted.

"But I’m not. I still have my leg." Kellen told him, and Brent chuckled.

"Does it matter? You are still using an aid to walk, and it looks fucking painful. I didn’t want us to match like this." Brent told him, and Kellen frowned further.

"I’m going to heal from this, Brent. Taylor just doesn’t have enough juice to do it right now. Not with my Dad injured." Kellen told him. "And I’m working on that issue. Guiding Center B is going to send over some Guides. I have a meeting tomorrow with Guiding Center D, and I might just have to bite the bullet and ask for some Guides from Guiding Center A. Things are going to work out. This is just a temporary road block, and I will get better." Kellen clenched his hand tightly around the cane. They had to get better.

Brent didn’t move for a long minute. When he did, it was to uncover his face and stare at Kellen.

"Sometimes, I want to smack you for being so fucking optimistic. But, I think I needed it for today." He sighed, still crouched down. "My father...gets violent whenever something doesn’t go his way." Brent admitted. "He used to get angry a lot around me. I never did what he wanted." Brent chuckled, and it made Kellen’s heart ache. "I don’t have many fond memories of my childhood, and I’ll admit I had it good for a time, but...yeah. I just hoped I never grew up like him." Brent had never spoken about his family. Ever. This was a big step. Kellen needed to not mess this up.

"Woah there. No need for that. Leave that to the professional crazies. We have several S Classes who are properly pissed that this happened in their city." Brent stood up, and moved towards Kellen. "I absolutely understand that you’re upset, but we are still Guides. All we can do is support the crazies who are going to hurt them. It would be worse if you got hurt during this again, alright? Just...do what you did before. With the bomb threat." Brent encouraged and Kellen laughed.

"I went past my limit, and the Captain was so mad at me." Brent smirked.

"Then warn him that it could happen again if he doesn’t let you get a shot in before they finish whoever did this off." Brent suggested, and Kellen chuckled.

"Thanks Brent. But don’t think that this gets you off the hook for being moody today. I mean it. I’m going to be fine, and if you are going to be weird about me getting injured again, just talk to me about it. We can go...shoot something or fight to work it out. I don’t like when you’re like this because of me." Kellen told him, and Brent winced. He looked like he was in pain, before he groaned.

"Fuck. Alright. I’ll admit it wasn’t fair to you. You didn’t...you really didn’t do anything wrong." Brent mumbled, and Kellen smiled. He reached out, placing his hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"And, for what it’s worth, you aren’t like your father. You didn’t hit me, did you?" Brent went white as Kellen gave him a warm smile, squeezed his shoulder one more time, before turning and opening the door. "I moved our session to the next room over." He told Brent over his shoulder quietly. "Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay, we’re just going to move to the next room. Guide Jameson and I had some things to discuss, and it got pretty heated." Kellen told the group waiting outside while Brent grappled with what Kellen had said.

It was clear to Kellen what kind of environment Brent had grown up in before meeting him, or, he had some very clear pictures. There were just some things you couldn’t hide, and Brent craved others’ attention and affection too much for him to hide it completely. That in itself was a telling sign.

Brent, like any regular Esper, craved attention. Affection. Any ounce of positivity. And, like Captain Thatcher had said, high Class Espers rarely came from happy homes.

Kellen just didn’t think that also applied to Guides.