Chapter 75: A threat made with love
The Captain reached out his fingers, grazing the space just beneath Kellen’s eyes to wipe away the tears threatening to fall. Kellen sighed at the touch, but froze at the words that came out of the Captain’s mouth.
"Good boy." He murmured, and Kellen felt his heart race for a different reason. Combined with the way he looked, Kellen felt in over his head. The Captain chuckled at Kellen’s expression. "Didn’t like that?" He asked, and Kellen gave him a look. Kellen pushed Gwen’s arms off of him, and she released him slowly. The mood was ruined for the night, and Kellen knew it was his fault. Everyone had been having such a good time until all of his shit was brought up. It was always like this. It was one of the reasons he never spoke about himself. Feeling awkward, he wasn’t quite sure how to recover from this situation.
"Well, no, I didn’t." Kellen told him rather firmly, lying more to himself than the Captain. The way the Captain’s eyes glinted told Kellen that he didn’t believe him in the slightest. Taylor’s laughter over the phone distracted Kellen from his thoughts.
"I think you said something about not being the kinky one, Kellen? Can I make an argument that both of you are kinky, and neither one more than the other? As your primary physician, there are some things I cannot disclose, but as your friend, I do have some questions." Hill was particularly interested in what Taylor had to say, which didn’t surprise Kellen. What did surprise him was how interested Casper was in what she was going to say. Brent, however, scoffed, waving his hand in disinterest.
"Of course he’s kinky. The man kept going back over and over to the front lines after literally getting beaten out of gates. Over and over. Anyone who does that is kinky." Brent shrugged, aware of what that said about him. Hill laughed, reached out, and patted his shoulder.
"Yeah, I guess that’s right." She agreed easily, and Gwen wiped her eyes. Casper was kind enough to grab her some paper towels from the kitchen since Kellen didn’t have any tissues or something like it in sight.
"Then I hope I don’t enjoy my time on the front lines. So far I’ve managed to avoid the Esper curse of losing their humanity. I don’t want to start now." She said with a sniffle, and Hill laughed, smiling at the young Esper.
"Oh sweetheart, I don’t think you’re going to get out of there unscathed, but if you ever need some help, I’m always available." Gwen blinked at Hill’s clear offer. Then she blushed.
"Absolutely do not hit on my sister in front of me, or I will beat your ass." Kellen warned Hill, and she gave him a cheeky grin.