"Well, Kellen." Ms. Hill began. "You're basically a veteran from the front lines. All of the Guilds know who you are because you were there for so long, and good at your job. You practically had a choke hold on the Field Guide work, and people fought to gain access to you and your partner. We are very grateful that you prioritized us, by the way. But, that being said, now that you are with us, and you are a higher Class, we want you to be on the team that goes into the gate. Not the scouting team, but the official team that goes in after them. How do you feel about that? I know you haven't gone into a gate that was higher than B Class just for safety reasons, but your basic knowledge and expertise is something we just can't overlook. With that being said, if you do agree, the Captain would be joining you as well in the gate. If you are worried you might be under too much stress, please speak up now. If you also don't want to do it, I understand, but that would mean we'll have to hire another Field Guide as soon as possible so that we can brief them on what we need them to do. Of course, if that ends up being the case, we would love your input on who to hire as well." Ms. Hill had dropped her playful personality, getting rather serious as she spoke. It was understandable, since this was the first pitch they were throwing Kellen as a Guide from their Guild. He was surprised that they weren't trying to force him do to it, but also pleased that the two Espers respected him enough to sit him down and have this conversation.
That being said, Kellen wasn't so sure he could accept the offer. He hadn't had a lesson with Casper yet, he barely even knew his new body, and he wasn't in perfect form yet. There were so many things he needed to learn before he could even think about taking on such a big role, and he didn't even know how far away they were from winning the rights for the gate. if it was only a few weeks, he would have to turn it down. That was not enough time for him to feel comfortable guiding however many people would be on the team.
"I'm flattered with the offer, but can I have some more time to think about it? I think if I was still a C Class I'd have jumped at the offer, but because I don't know the depths of myself right now, I need some more time to figure that out. It's not a no, I am very interested in this offer, but I just..." He trailed off. No one said anything for a moment, before Kellen felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the Captain, who gave his shoulder a squeeze.
"I understand. It's urgent, but that doesn't mean we should rush you. Take your time. Is there any way we can help? What do you need to help you with your decision?" He asked. Kellen looked away from him in thought.
"You probably aren't going to like my answer since we just signed a pair contract, but I need several Espers of different levels. That way I can test how much my powers have changed. Especially at the base level, which is the most important for Guides to know." Captain's grip tightened on Kellen's shoulder as the man stiffened.
"Base level?" He asked and Kellen nodded.
"Holding hands. I use that as my gauge for everything, which is standard practise." The Captain relaxed, and Kellen felt a small smile touch his lips before it disappeared.
"That's easy then. I can agree to that. What else?" He prompted and Kellen frowned again as he thought.
"Well, a sparring partner would be very helpful since I've not been keeping up with the fitness level I would need on the front lines. I also need the results from our guiding sessions with Taylor. I like to know every nook and cranny of my powers, which is what makes me so useful in the field. If I know exactly how close I can get to the edge without collapsing, that is the line between life and death." The Captain seemed surprised for a minute, before he softened.
"Of course. I'll ask around about both of those things." He told him but the sound of Ms. Hill clearing her throat made both of the men look at her.
"Office lackey, remember? I can do those things, Captain. On the topic of powers, I really do think Kellen should go in for another test to confirm if he is A Class or not. I know that we're just assuming that he is, but I think for everyone's peace of mind he should do it. I offered to be his partner, and it still stands. If you're worried, Captain, you can come with us." Ms. Hill offered. Kellen felt his body tense at the mention of retesting. The Captain, who still had his hand on Kellen's shoulder, felt the younger man stiffen. He glanced down at how he was staring straight ahead, and his lips tugged up in a smile.
"I would probably feel better if Ms. Green was there as well, just in case. Alright, so Ms. Hill will take over finding you a sparring partner and also some willing test subjects." He gave the Guide's shoulder a squeeze. Kellen turned his attention to him. "Are you opposed to getting retested today? I promise this will be the last time I ask you to. I know you're probably tired, but if we get this out of the way now, we don't have to worry about it again." The Esper's tone was soft, his yellow eyes gazing fondly at the man who was trying his hardest to hide his fear. Kellen wiped his damp hands nervously on his pants.
"Uh, sure. The sooner it is done, the sooner I never need to go inside that building ever again." He stated, and Ms. Hill looked at him strangely. The Captain, however, reached out his other hand and ruffled his hair.
"Exactly." He agreed, smiling. Kellen felt his heart race as he stared up into the soft, warm gaze. "Now, shall we go do some guiding under the watchful eye of Ms. Green? We can borrow her after the session for the retest at the Center as well. Did you already meet with her today? What did she say about your diet? You appear too thin, even more so since I saw you at the Guiding Center." Kellen nodded at his words, trying to push the nervousness that flooded his system down. He hated how he had no control over his body's response whenever the Center was mentioned. He hated that those people had so much control over him, even now. He had worked so hard to push them away and out of his mind, only to be proven wrong every damn time. The only thing that was able to comfort him in the slightest was that he wasn't going alone this time. This time he had the Captain, Ms. Hill, and Taylor with him. They wouldn't let them treat him the way they had before. Ms. Hill had no idea how the Center had treated Kellen in the past, but Taylor had some idea, and the Captain...well, Kellen had a feeling that he knew exactly how they had treated him. Probably more than his parents did. The only other thought that comforted the Guide was that after years and years of retests, it was proven that he was right. The Center would probably trip over themselves to appease him because of his test results yesterday.
"I agree with Captain Thatcher. You are still too skinny. I miss the Kellen who was a fucking beefcake, and I personally, would like him back. We should head for the medical bay." Ms. Hill got to her feet first, back to being her regular, bubbly self. She headed for the door while Kellen got to his feet. The Captain stood as well, watching the Guide intently. As Kellen went to pass him, he grabbed his hand. Kellen paused in his steps and happened to be in front of the man. He looked up, confused.
"What's up?" He asked and the Captain scanned his face for a moment. He thought he was going to make a comment about the retest, but instead he took him by surprise.
"How long do you think you'll need others to help you with your guiding?" He asked. Kellen blinked, before a surprised, but knowing smile crossed his face.
"A few days at most." He told him, and the Esper exhaled.
"A few days?" He confirmed, and Kellen couldn't help himself. The man was being strangely adorable. Kellen's hand only hesitated for a second before he reached up and cupped his cheek. The Captain's eyes widened as he spoke.
"You can be a big boy, Captain. It's only a few days and after that, only in extreme emergencies. I'll ask permission in those cases. I promise I won't guide someone else after that." Colour rode on the Captain's cheeks. Kellen thought he was going to get angry at him because he'd been so bold, but instead the Captain's eyes narrowed and he raised his hand to cover Kellen's on his cheek. He leaned into the touch, sighing.
"You should be careful when you tease me, Mr. Woods. Otherwise, you will find out just exactly how big my boy can be." Kellen blinked at his response, before he snorted, and his shoulders began to shake with his laughter as the tension left his body. The Captain smiled down at him, before shaking his head. "Get out of here before Ms. Hill complains we're taking too long." He let Kellen retract his hand, every move he made making it seem he was reluctant to let the Guide go.
"Captain, you can make sexy eyes at him later. We have places to be." Ms. Hill called from the hallway while the Captain ran his hand over his face with a sigh. Kellen turned, heading for the door to meet Ms. Hill in the hallway, but not before he felt the heated gaze of the Captain scan him from top to bottom. Woo. Was it hot in here?
~
When the three of them entered the Medical wing, Ms. Hill was the one to lead them to where Taylor was. She wasn't in her office, and instead was in a larger room a few doors down the hallway. Taylor was excited to see them when we entered, her smile infectious. First thing she did was shove three dense calorie shakes into Kellen's hands while she finished setting up the room. The trio glanced around the room. It wasn't huge, but was full of very similar equipment one would find in the Center. Kellen recognised several of the machines, and felt a wave of uncertainty wash over him.
Taylor, noticing that Kellen hadn't opened the shakes yet, gave the man a death glare. She took two of her fingers, gestured to her eyes, pointed at Kellen with said fingers, then made a line across her neck. Feeling mildly threatened, it shook Kellen out of his fear long enough for him to crack open the first shake. He poured it into his mouth, before cracking open the second and doing the same. Ms. Hill and the Captain watched on, concerned as Kellen opened the third and did the same.
"Green, is that normal?" Captain asked, as Ms. Hill got a phone call and had to rush out of the room. Taylor glanced back at the Guide who had now finished the three shakes she had given him, and the Esper who had never had a serious partner. She turned back to the equipment.
"Totally normal Captain Thatcher. You haven't spent too much time around Guides, right? Well, similar to Espers, they have drawbacks to their powers. One of them is that they have an unending appetite. A Guide who is on active duty will never be full."
"The active duty part is very important. If a Guide isn't using their powers they do eventually cap out and start behaving like a regular civilian." Kellen added and Taylor nodded at his words.
"So, if he ever starts to faint on you, just pour one of the shakes around the building into his body, or something equally high in calories. This doesn't just apply to Kellen, but any Guide." She clarified before sighing, nodding to herself and turning to face the two men. "Alright, tops off. Like when you go in for testing, I'm going to monitor your vitals." Kellen made quick work of his uniform, even as his fingers shook. He glanced quickly at the Captain, before his fingers stopped. Goddamn, the man sucked the breath out of him. He'd had a good look yesterday too, but now that he was going to be sitting across from him doing this who knows how many times, he felt his mouth dry up. He glanced towards his face and found the Captain giving him a knowing smirk and he looked away, flushing. There were a couple of chairs in the room, and Kellen placed his clothes on the one closest to him before standing still for Taylor. She had the pads out and ready, but the Captain was finished undressing first. Kellen fiddled with his fingers as he waited his turn, the cold texture of the pads reminding him of the Center. Fuck.
Taylor pulled over two chairs from the wall and forced the two to sit down facing each other. She ignored Kellen's deteriorating mental health to warn the Captain.
"Captain Thatcher, do not use your powers at all. This isn't like at the Center. Only Kellen will be using his, alright? Let him work without complaining either." Her warning was stern enough that Kellen was shaken from his thoughts. The Captain had a slight, joyous smile on his lips.
"It's different with Mr. Woods, Green." He told her and she harrumphed.
"Of course it is. You two have a 90% match." She turned to her friend. "Kellen, only basic guiding, and I'll cut you off at the 15 minute mark. If I notice you are visibly fading, I'll cut you off early. I'll let you know when to start." Snapping into professional mode, Kellen nodded as Taylor went back to her monitoring computer. Kellen wiped his nervous hands on his pants before offering one to the Captain. He took it with a smile, giving his hand a squeeze in comfort. "Three, two, one." Kellen trickled his power into the Captain until he felt like he found the right flow. It was hard to ignore how much guidance he needed, and instead focus on pouring a stable amount into him. It wasn't long before Kellen found himself back in the waves again. This time he could see that the previous work Kellen had done was still reflected in the waves here. It wasn't as bright as it had been when he had done it the day before, but he was happy to see that what he had done before had been the right thing. So, knowing that, he began once more sprinkling his guiding rocks into the waves, watching them smash against the rocky shore. He was surprised to find that the rocks he gave which he thought were 'base level' were larger than previous, but he then concluded it had to do with his jump in Class. Kellen observed the rainbows dancing in the water and thought that maybe the waves weren't as ruthless as he originally thought.
He hadn't realised that 15 minutes had passed until he felt a hand violently shaking his shoulder. "Kellen, are you there?" Taylor's voice was sharp, worried and Kellen blinked dumbly, reality washing over him slowly. He turned his head slowly, looking around him. The Captain sat across from him, his eyes watching him, captivated. Kellen cut off the guiding and slowly withdrew his hand.
"I didn't realise that Guides had their eyes change colour as well." Captain mused and Taylor sighed as Kellen processed that information.
"Higher Class Guides do. That's a sign that Kellen has passed a certain threshold for sure. Congratulations, that's confirmation without a retest that you truly are an A Class Guide, Kellen." Taylor's lips turned up as the smile reached her eyes. Kellen couldn't stop the big, stupid grin that crossed his face as the Captain's eyes widened. "What you did today was perfect, so continue to do that tomorrow as well. I want to observe you two for at least two weeks, every day. The more you two guide together, the more your body adjusts to each other. If I want to get an accurate read for you I don't want you two to guide outside of that. Well, try not to." She gave a pointed look at the Captain, who gave a sheepish, unrepentant smile in return. Taylor began removing the monitors carefully from the two men.
"Sorry for not hearing you Taylor. It was difficult trying to ignore how much guidance the Captain needs." Taylor's fingers worked quickly on Kellen's skin, and while everyone was distracted he tried to catch another glimpse of the Captain's chest. Taylor's lips quirked up in a smirk, but she didn't say anything.
"Well, I can only ask so much from you. The Captain probably is a mess inside, right?" She teased and Kellen nodded. She stepped away from him, going to the Captain while Kellen began pulling on his clothes again.
"Green, we were hoping you'd take time out of your busy schedule to accompany us to the Center for hopefully, Mr. Woods' last retest." Taylor hummed at his words while Kellen cleared his throat behind them.
"Ms. Hill will be my partner this time." He told her. Taylor finished removing the last pad from the Captain and threw the used pads into a waste bin. She glanced at the two men, and sighed.
"I have time if we go right now. I have a meeting at five so as long as Kellen doesn't pass out this time I should make it." Kellen didn't appreciate the dig, but Taylor grinned at the disgruntled Guide's expression as he finished buttoning up his shirt.
"Oh ha ha. You're hilarious. I rarely pass out anymore." Both of them stared at him until his face heated. "That's unusual behaviour for me, you know that." He insisted and the Captain shook his head, disagreeing with him.
"You aren't making a good case for yourself, Mr. Woods. Ms. Hill and I often found you on the verge of collapse when we worked together on the front lines." Kellen opened his mouth, but closed it shortly after. He couldn't argue with that.
"Okay, so I rarely actually pass out. I usually just live on the edge." Taylor groaned as he tried to make it sound better.
"That isn't good for your body Kellen. Now that I'm your Healer, you are going to take better care of yourself or so help me I will tell your Mother." She knew how to threaten him, and from the upset look on Kellen's face, it was effective.
"How dare you attempt to rat me out like that? I thought you were my friend." He protested and she laughed.
"I am your friend, so I have the right to threaten you. Besides, Captain doesn't have enough dirt on you yet to do that, so I have to step in." Taylor held her hand up for a high five that the Captain willingly followed through on. The sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the air as Kellen sulked at the feeling of betrayal.
"I appreciate your consideration for my lack, Green. It will be reflected in the funding for your research projects." Taylor pumped her fist in victory before grinning at Kellen.
"Don't worry, I'll treat you to some fancy tea to make you feel better. Don't look so betrayed. Also," she spun on her heel, heading towards a mini fridge in the corner. "Drink this." She tossed two more shakes at Kellen. He only managed to catch one while the Captain caught the other. "You're far too skinny. I remember when you were like a tiny tank. Let's get you back to that level." Captain seemed interested in her words.
"I had no idea you had developed even further, Mr. Woods." For some reason that made Kellen's heart pound. His cheeks flushed as he accepted the shake held out to him. He opened it and poured it into his mouth while Taylor picked up the topic.
"Oh yeah. Back in the day everyone would swoon when Kellen would take his top off. The man was shredded, and then once he became a Guide he worked twice as hard to keep it." She tsked. "I can't believe that only half a year has gone by and you've lost so much muscle mass already." Kellen shrugged, ignoring the first half of her words as he tossed the empty shake into the recycling by the door and chugged the other one.
"There wasn't a good gym nearby, and I thought it was okay that I took a rest for a little bit. Guides in the city aren't like Field Guides, and I wanted job security. I guess I didn't realise that it was also affecting my health." Kellen said and she gave him a look over her shoulder.
"Your parents didn't say anything about your declining health?" She asked and he laughed.
"I don't exactly go around topless in my parents home, Taylor. But no, neither one of them said a thing, at least not until yesterday." He told her and she nodded. Taylor stopped them from leaving the room as she had to take some papers with her. She took a moment to shove them into a bag while the Captain waited beside Kellen. The man adjusted his sleeves and Kellen tried not to follow the movement with his eyes.
"Well, I guess. I don't go around topless in my parents house either. I have everything I need. Did you finish your shakes?" She asked and Kellen held up the last, empty shake before tossing it into the recycling. She gave him a nod.
"I hope you get a good deal on the shakes Taylor." He told her sincerely. He'd seen the brand around before and knew they weren't cheap. Taylor chuckled darkly as Kellen opened the door to the hallway.
"Oh, I created them and we sell them as the Saturn Guild. Every guild uses them now." Kellen shouldn't have been as surprised as he was at the information, nor at her expression. She looked like an evil genius, and the doctor's coat didn't help either.
"I had no idea. Good job, Taylor." He gave her a thumbs up and she grinned. The Captain watched over the two friends with a light smile on his face.