Casper stood on the other side of the front door this time. His hair was spiked to the high heavens, his uniform was a mess, and he was typing furiously on a digital notepad in his hand, looking down still. Kellen, amused at the sight of the man who he knew was smart and well-spoken so disheveled, rested his arm on the door frame above them, grinning.
"Oh, Lieutenant Casper. Nice to see you." The busy man glanced up at the Guide, before doing a double take as Kellen used his other hand to push his hair out of his face. Kellen watched as a flush crossed his cheeks.
"What have you been doing to get yourself so worked up into a sweat so early in the morning?" Casper asked, his voice cracking before he cleared his throat. Kellen smiled at him.
"I was unpacking. Sorry. Do I smell?" Kellen sniffed himself self-consciously and the man shook his head, eyeing him warily.
"Not at all. You should grab your jacket and keys and follow me. We need to get you into a briefing and also make up." His eyes narrowed as he inspected Kellen's face. "What were you doing yesterday that gave you such large bags under your eyes?" He chastised, and Kellen laughed as he did what the Guide asked.
"Do I need anything else?" He asked.
"Beyond jacket, keycard and identification, no." He confirmed as Kellen pulled on his jacket. He made sure to check twice that he had everything before leaving the apartment, following after the Guide who was walking at a brisk pace. Casper wasn't doing it intentionally, since Kellen observed him going over the files on the electronic notepad rather seriously, even as they waited for the elevators at both floors. Kellen didn't mind, just taking the time to amp himself up for his first press conference. Casper paid just enough attention to their surroundings to select the right floor, the fifth floor, once they were in the second set of elevators. Kellen was adjusting his uniform as they headed down, while Casper finished up whatever he was working on, closed the notepad, and pushed up his glasses.
Once the doors to the elevator opened, the sound of voices filled the air. Casper reached out for Kellen's arm, gripping it in a tighter grasp than Kellen was expecting, and quickly dragged the man away from where the voices were coming from. He swiped his keycard on an innocuous name plate pressed into a random wall. A doorway opened, surprising Kellen but Casper just pulled him inside, shutting the door behind them before continuing down the slightly darkened hallway. Kellen could see another doorway in the distance, but let Casper pull him around, smiling slightly. Casper scanned his keycard again before shoving the door open, dragging the other Guide behind him. Kellen blinked at the sudden bright light.
The area looked like a green room of some kind, with a couple sets of couches pushed against the wall facing the doorway, a sink, counterspace and a microwave next to the couches to the right, with a small, round table directly to the right of him. To the left was a legitimate vanity, with the bright bulbs and everything, along with a comfy looking chair. The rest of the space was free, except for a set of double doors at the far left of the room. Kellen took in all the people shoved into this space with shock. All of the lieutenants as he knew them were in the room, along with the Captain. In fact, he was currently sitting in the comfy looking chair getting his makeup done.
Ms. Hill waved when she spotted the two Guides entering the room and Kellen waved back. Kellen glanced at the others before his eyes landed and stayed on the Captain. He was leaning back, his hair now slicked back officially and with his eyes closed he looked like a statue. The make up artist who had been bent over the Captain turned, then gasped as they caught sight of Kellen.
"Your eyes! What did you do last night?" They demanded and Kellen shrugged sheepishly.
"I'm sorry. I got caught up reading and before I knew it, it was morning." They tsked at his response, and he heard the Captain chuckle.
"Be kind to him, Izzy. He's never done a press conference before." The Captain told the make-up artist and they sighed.
"You wouldn't have had to tell me that. I can tell just by looking at him. Although...who did you say he was related to?"
"Eleanor Woods, that famous A Class Esper. The one you had a poster of on your wall for years." Ms. Hill told Izzy. Izzy's face heated before they cleared their throat.
"Ah, I see. Well then, at least I know I have something good to work with then." Kellen felt a smile touch his lips as he glanced at the others in the room. Besides Gunther, Ms. Hill and Casper, there were two more people in the room. One was a shorter man with vibrantly coloured green hair, thick rimmed black glasses and black eyes. Remembering him from the brief interview he had done publicly when he was recruited into the guild, Kellen knew that this was the famous Earth Esper who rearranged the lobby. He appeared grumpy, his hair messy and his uniform ruffled. The woman sitting next to him had eyes glowing pink, with long blonde hair pulled into braids. She was reading over a script quite raptly and didn't notice Kellen looking at her. She also only wore civilian clothes, so Kellen assumed she was either off the clock or not officially in the guild.
"Mr. Woods, it's your turn." The Captain called and Kellen turned, taking the spot the Captain had vacated. The Captain reached out, touching the bags under the Guide's eyes. "What were you reading that kept you up all night?" Kellen could feel Ms. Hill's burning gaze on him and when he heard her chuckle, he knew he had to answer before she did.
"I was doing some research." He told him, not exactly lying, but not telling the whole truth. Izzy ordered him to close his eyes and Kellen was grateful he didn't need to meet the probing yellow gaze.
"Research? What were you researching that kept your attention all night?" Kellen felt the laughter bubble out of him nervously, while Ms. Hill was chortling from the couches.
"Oh, you know, guiding stuff. It's not very important. After staying up all night I found that most of it wasn't relevant to my current situation." He said, meaning it. The gentle touch of brushes against his face made him want to sneeze, but he held back.
"Guiding stuff? What kind?" Casper asked, genuinely interested and Kellen felt his cheeks heat.
"Uh, just some things my Dad suggested. Older textbooks and articles." He told the other Guide, desperate to drop the subject. Ms. Hill was losing her mind behind him on the couches.
"Oh? If he has anything interesting, or any insights, I would love to hear them." Casper was being so sincere and it took everything in Kellen to not flinch. Izzy was getting frustrated with the man twitching, and said so. Kellen sighed shakily before relaxing his body once more.
"I can show them to you later then, Lieutenant Casper. Is there anything I am supposed to know for this press conference?" Kellen asked, begging to get onto a different topic. The Captain answered him.
"Well, I'd like it if you didn't outright deny that we're in a romantic relationship. I know you wouldn't consider it this way, but I am doing my best to court you currently. It wouldn't look good for the Guild if you denied it so openly." He felt his face heat up more and Izzy's fingers paused before moving again.
"I...I can do that." He muttered and felt long, familiar fingers run through his hair.
"Thank you Mr. Woods. I appreciate your cooperation in this. Beyond that, be honest but if you don't want to answer a question, you don't have to. Just be straightforward and tell them to fuck off, alright?" He said it with such a soft, kind voice that it took Kellen a minute to register his words. He opened one of his eyes to stare up at the Captain.
"You mean that?" He asked and got a mischievous grin in return.
"Why wouldn't I?" He asked in return and Kellen closed his eye.
"Well, as a Guide we don't get the same level of freedom publicly as Espers. I've never seen a Guide cuss someone out on air, or even in public." He told the room and Casper sighed.
"You're right, but you're now part of the Saturn Guild Guide Woods. You aren't part of Guiding Center B anymore, so you don't need to keep a soft, sweet image. We don't care about that here." Casper told him rather firmly, and Kellen felt his lips turn up.
"Ah, so you want me to be like how I was on the front lines?" He asked and Gunther sighed.
"Not exactly. We would prefer it if you weren't covered in dirt and blood at your first press conference. We'd also like it if you didn't make an Esper cry. We wouldn't want to scare away future members." Gunther's voice held a warmth to it that made a true smile break Kellen's face.
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. I'll save that for my second press conference." The Captain laughed, touching Kellen's hair again. His fingers felt nice, and Kellen found himself relaxing at his touch.
"Okay, I've covered them up as much as I could. Worst case scenario, lie and say it was because of the Captain." Kellen's cheeks heated as he opened his eyes to find the Captain staring down at him, his yellow eyes roaming his face.
"I'll...keep that in mind then." He told Izzy, before getting to his feet. Casper glanced over at him and frowned.
"I think both of them should go without their jackets. It'll make it feel less formal." Kellen noticed that Casper had directed his words towards the lady with pink eyes, who then got up and inspected the two main characters for the event. She nodded in agreement.
"Alright you two, strip." Doing as asked, Kellen pulled off his jacket and felt eyes on him. Glancing up, he found everyone had their eyes on him except the Captain. He wasn't able to read their expressions.
"What? What's wrong?" He asked and Ms. Hill mumbled to herself before shaking her head.
"You're filling out again. The shirt is straining against the buttons." He blinked, before glancing down at the shirt in question. She was right, the buttons did look like they were on life support. An idea popped into his head.
"Oh, I can fix that." He stated confidently. Before anyone could stop him, Kellen turned to the Captain who had also taken off his jacket. Squinting at him, he realised they had more of a height difference than he thought. "Captain, can you bend down for me?" He asked, and the Captain did it without question, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. Placing his hands on either side of the Captain's face, he pulled him down a tiny bit more until their lips met. Kellen knew Taylor didn't want him to guide the Captain without her to witness them, but this was alright, right? Kellen's head felt slightly fuzzy from the guiding, and pulled away after a few seconds, licking his lips. He glanced at the others in the room, who were now dead silent. "Did that work?" He asked, and Gunther dropped the paper cup of water he'd been holding. It splashed all over the floor and he cursed, using his powers to pull the water out of the carpet quickly. Glancing back at the Captain, he stood there, stunned. Kellen removed his hands from the Captain's face and frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was supposed to ask first, right?" Kellen was genuinely upset that he had messed up in not getting his consent. Kellen was about to apologise again when the Captain's face went red and he covered his mouth with his hand.
"I forgot how bold you can be, Mr. Woods." He muttered quietly, stealing a glance at the clueless Guide. "You do not need to ask me permission to kiss me. In fact, please kiss me whenever you want to. You have my permission. I insist, even." Kellen met his darting gaze for a second, confirming it as true, and nodded.
"Thank you. I appreciate you clearing that up for me." Kellen said with a smile and the Captain shook his head.
"Should I expect kisses as a form of guidance now?" The Captain asked, his eyes a darker yellow, not quite golden while Kellen thought about the question.
"Outside of when Taylor is monitoring us, maybe. I'll decide in the moment if I think you need urgent guiding." The Captain's hand fell away from his mouth, revealing a calculating grin. Kellen immediately felt like he had agreed to something he shouldn't have. "I was supposed to say no then, wasn't I?" He asked and the Captain threw his head back with laughter.
"Oh, I think you made the right choice. If anyone tells you that you made the wrong one, they are either lying or jealous." The Captain told him. Jealous? Why would anyone be jealous of Kellen?
"It's go time, you two. Remember, you're from the Saturn Guild. It is their pleasure to speak to you." The glowing pink eyed, blonde haired lady told them and Kellen nodded. He gulped, pushing his nerves down. Nothing would be as difficult as taking two retests back to back at the Center. He could handle some questions.