Chapter 24: What a lovely couple
Unsure of what he was supposed to do and where he was supposed to go, Kellen fell into line behind the Captain. The Captain pushed open the set of double doors at the end of the room, and Kellen was blinded by flashing lights. The sounds of cameras shuttering and people yelling filled his ears, and he was immediately overwhelmed. To the right there was a platform setup with tables and chairs, with a banner behind that covered in the Saturn Guild's logo. Only four seats were at the table, and when Kellen felt like he was going to drop, the Captain grabbed his arm. He stopped him, letting Gunther, who he hadn't even realised had followed them out, go ahead of him. Then he motioned for Kellen to follow the other Esper up the small steps to the tables and chairs. Kellen sat down when Gunther sat down, wedged between the two Espers while the pink eyed lady sat on the far end, filling out the table. Kellen's hands were clenched into fists under the table, his eyes wide as the bright lights flashed all around him.
"Guide Woods, look over here!"
"Captain Thatcher, what do you think of the Nemesis Guild gaining the rights to the new gate?"
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Kellen wasn't feeling well all of a sudden, and the Captain glanced over at the Guide. Suddenly, he felt the Captain's hand cover his own under the table and gave it a squeeze. He turned it over under the table and threaded his fingers through the younger man's, resting the intertwined hands on Kellen's thigh. He smiled down at him, ignoring everything around him easily and Kellen felt his shoulders relax. If the Captain was able to behave as if nothing was happening, Kellen felt like he could too.
"Alright! Settle down everyone. We are happy to take any questions, but I will point at you and we'll go around slowly. Everyone will have a turn, so please be patient." Pink eyes ordered, and quickly everyone settled down. Kellen had no idea how she was able to see among all of these lights, but maybe her powers had something to do with it. She must have pointed at someone because the first question came.
"How did you two first meet?" The voice from the crowd asked. Kellen glanced nervously at the Captain, seeing if he would answer. When he didn't, Kellen licked his lips before opening his mouth.
"We met on the front lines while I was working as a freelance Field Guide." He answered, which caused a stir in the room.
"How long were you a freelance Field Guide?"
"I was a freelance Field Guide for about seven years, give or take. I only recently stepped away from the front lines to settle down and work at a Guiding Center, but, well, you can see how that turned out." He joked with a wry smile.
"I have reports you were retested several times without any changes to your powers. Why now do you think that has changed?" He gulped. Pink eyes seemed upset at the question, but Kellen shook his head. He answered the question before she could berate them for it.
"Well, to answer your question, no, it wasn't that my tests had no changes in them, just that the progress was small. Since we have access to all of my retests we are able to see that over the 12 years that I have been active as a Guide my powers have been growing, but slowly. Yes, my powers have recently taken quite the jump, but I was going to change Classes even if that happened when I was 40." He smiled his best Guide smile to finish the question off, hoping no one prodded.