Chapter 440: The fifth day after everyone arrived on the front lines
This was the day where Kellen switched up the groups that the Field Guides were training in. They had gotten comfortable. Used to what they were doing. Now, he had them move around. It was like watching them get their sea legs back after being on land for a while.
Kellen had chuckled as they made mistakes that they hadn’t made when they first started doing this exercise. It was funny to him, since today Charlie had asked for a break so that he could go have tea with Kellen’s Dad. Kellen didn’t even care if it was an excuse, Charlie was allowed to have breaks.
In fact, he hoped that it was true he was going to have an early tea with his Dad. His Dad needed to leave the apartment too.
Kellen spent the little bit of free time he’d gained by examining what the Field Guides were doing, making little notes of improvement he could recommend, and eating the food that Rhys had sent to him again.
Again, heart shaped, again, a full platter. This time though, the person who had delivered it was able to escape since Kellen had a track record now of eating the food mostly by himself. This time it was steak bites with several dipping sauces. Kellen didn’t want to share.
So, Kellen ate his snack, going over files and making notes and realised he’d finished the platter before his time was up. He could feel the happy gazes of Espers on him. It was clear that they were over the moon at these displays that Rhys was showing, and from an outsiders perspective, Kellen got it.
It was good that the Captain of your Guild had a stable, happy relationship. Especially since he’d been alone for so long. Kellen got it. That didn’t mean he wasn’t heavily embarrassed by the fact that more Espers were coming up here to see what Rhys would deliver for him today.
He knew that the Espers had increased because it was obvious. Kellen knew most of the crew that worked out in the morning.
Kellen wasn’t going to be able to hide how red his cheeks were, not for a while. Nor was he going to be able to express how much he liked this method of Rhys’. It wasn’t...aggressive, but it made Kellen think about him all day. He liked it. He was already thinking about Rhys all day, in combination with all of the worries he had, but Rhys’ actions had a way of shifting how he thought about things.
Kellen was more relaxed while his students were at their wits end. They were arguing with each other, frustrated with the sudden change in a dynamic that they had gotten used to. Kellen had to talk to them after class, and explain that they were all doing quite well. He could tell that they didn’t believe him, so he just smiled and confirmed that they would be working in the same groups again tomorrow. They seemed pretty pissed about that.
It was around lunch time when Rhys came down to the cafeteria, a little winded until he met Kellen’s gaze. He was eating alone, the first time in a long time so that he could work on some papers for his second class. Kellen had no idea why Rhys was panting, but he didn’t have to wait long.