Chapter 52: A bee in the Bonnet
Casper and Brent joined the table at that point, unaware of what had happened while they were in line. They were more excited to see Kellen up and about and wanted to check on him. Casper picked up that something had happened, given that Hill was still wheezing. Brent, however, set down his tray without a care about the situation and sat down.
"You went off of the radar so I was worried about you. How are you feeling? Are you still having side effects Kellen?" Brent was full of concern for his friend, his green eyes watching Kellen’s face for any reaction. Kellen, in the face of such genuine concern, felt his body relax. He could be mad at the Captain later.
"Only a little bit, but I’m much better than yesterday. The Captain was very kind in taking care of me." He didn’t look at the man and Brent whistled.
"Oh, so Kellen the Celibate finally got down and dirty with someone? Popped your cherry? Good for you. I’m proud. You’re part of the big boy club now." Brent didn’t mean it in a teasing way. He was actually being quite sincere. Kellen felt his face heat as everyone else at the table stared at him in stunned silence. It was only broken when the Captain burst into laughter. Kellen wanted to crawl back up to his apartment to hide.
"No way." Casper murmured, covering his mouth as he sat down beside Kellen, between him and Brent. Gunther seemed confused while Hill looked ready to burst.
"Hold on a fucking minute. Were you a virgin before the Captain? Before yesterday?" Hill’s voice was very loud in a suddenly quiet room. Kellen wanted the ground to swallow him whole as the Captain’s shoulders shook beside him. Only they knew that he was, in fact, still a virgin. It hadn’t mattered to Kellen up until this point, but when he saw the excitement on Hill’s face, he dreaded the next day’s teasing even more.
"Now, what Guide Woods chooses to do with his body is none of our business, is it? So what if he was saving himself for the perfect guy of his dreams like a true romantic? That’s none of our business." Brent’s voice had taken on a fake dreamy tone. Kellen reached around Casper to punch Brent’s arm, hard. Brent rubbed the flesh he’d hit, laughing as Kellen glared at him with flushed cheeks.
"That’s not true! I just, it was never a big deal to me, and I never had time." Kellen said lamely and Hill covered her mouth. This was some of the greatest information she’d ever heard. No wonder Kellen had never done ’that’ kind of guiding on the front lines!
"Never had time? Kellen Woods! What kind of attitude is that? You have no idea what you were missing out on!" She exclaimed, dropping her hands from her mouth to grin at the Guide. Kellen gave her a wary look.