Chapter 307: A pouty Esper
The rest of the evening went well. The Guides split the remaining food amongst them fairly, and then settled down to eat with the others.
Kellen and Rhys sat with each other in a very similar fashion that his parents were sitting with each other. Rhys had kind of wrapped Kellen around himself in a way that made sure Taylor didn’t yell at them for hurting his wound. Kellen could feel the way that Taylor was looking at him though, her gaze razor sharp.
With that being said, it appeared as if everyone was having a good time. Kellen and his Dad were clearly worrying about if everyone had enough food, but it appeared that everyone had a full plate, they were happy, and the conversation was flowing.
Kellen, who now had time to think about what he experienced while remaining mostly silent while everyone chatted to each other, had a moment to self reflect. He’d messed up. He had thought that he hadn’t behaved like Casper or Hill or Taylor, but that appeared to not be the case.
He had pushed himself too far, and everyone else had watched it, like he had done with the others, and they had been waiting for him to crash. Kellen didn’t feel like he’d done a complete crash, but he certainly had landed rather roughly.
Rhys shifted below him, getting more comfortable as he chatted to Hill and Pamela, and Kellen stared at him, his expression contemplative. While Rhys had certainly had a moment in the car, he was behaving almost normally now. Kellen wasn’t sure if he liked that.
Was Kellen being too vulnerable with him now? Did Rhys feel like he couldn’t confide in him anymore? Was he coming off as if he couldn’t support his partner? All these thoughts filled his head, and he was happy that he had finished eating because he wasn’t sure if he could raise the fork to his mouth again.
His stomach was churning. He felt full of...panic? The same feeling that had filled him when he couldn’t talk or move, but not to the same level. He just...felt. He couldn’t really put a finger on it.
"Kellen." It was Gwen’s voice, and he turned his head, meeting her gaze. She had moved over, close enough to him that she could speak softly. Kellen looked over his sister, still in her sweats that she wore for her training but her eyes bright. He wondered if she had been with Gunther all day. He wondered how Gunther was doing.
He hoped he was doing okay. God, that was going to be an awkward conversation. An awkward several conversations, honestly.
"Yeah?" Kellen said, his head feeling like a jumbled mess. While he was happy that he had invited everyone over for dinner, he felt that maybe he wasn’t good company. From the way that Gwen was looking at him, her grey eyes all soft and warm, she had some kind of feeling about it as well.