(BL) Taming the Field Guide

Thankfully, the party finished without any issues. Brent and Sergei appeared to have done the right thing since Aunt Dina came by and spoke quietly to both of them, looking stricken.

The S Classes that had harassed Brent didn’t reveal themselves, but Kellen could tell that the energy in the room wasn’t as joyous as it had been. Good.

Rhys kept his arm around Kellen’s shoulders, tucking him against him possessively even as Kellen wore his ring out and proud. Then again, the S Classes here, or some of them, had just essentially told them that they didn’t care about the regular rules.

Thankfully, Kellen had a gun. He might as well give one to Brent since no one else had. So, that is what Kellen did. As the party was winding down and everyone was heading off to bed, Kellen grabbed Brent and Sergei and pulled them with them, telling them that Kellen had something to give Brent.

Rhys, who had not been informed of what Kellen had planned, frowned. He clearly didn’t like the idea of Brent and Sergei coming to their room, but when it was made clear why at the door of their apartment, he relaxed.

As did Sergei, and Brent.

Kellen led him over to the bag where he kept all of his smaller guns. Easier to maneuver, easy to hide. Kellen only took out the two that had sentimental value and gestured for Brent to pick one from the remaining five. Sergei seemed to be the only one surprised by the amount of guns that Kellen had brought, and even asked him why he had selected them.

Kellen listed off the reasons. One had a good silencer, one never missed a shot, one had a good grip, one his Mom had gotten him as a congratulatory gift before he headed to the front lines, one used older style bullets and had a good weight to it, one was the first gun he’d bought with his Field Guide money and the last one?

Well, that was the new gun, the laser gun, and that one had been purchased for a particular reason. He wanted a new gun, Rhys had helped him, and it was similar to the weapon that Rhys had that was named baby.

Sergei, hearing his words, nodded but otherwise remained quiet.

Brent ended up selecting the one that never missed a shot, asking for Kellen’s help before checking the gun, nodding, and Kellen handed over the proper ammo for him in case he got a little trigger happy while they were gone.

They were only going to be gone for a day or so, but Kellen wanted to be careful. If his shitty brother or anyone else came by to bother him, shoot first, ask questions later. Brent’s smile reached his eyes when he laughed.

"You’re turning into your parents." Brent warned and Kellen frowned outwardly, but he didn’t really see a problem with that. Wanting to protect the people who were close to him just meant he had people he cared about enough to want to do that.

The truth was, Kellen wanted to take Brent with them, but it was more dangerous to take him with them in case some of the S Classes recognised him and wanted to kidnap him. Sergei was good, but not against so many people. Plus, he wasn’t an S Class, and Rhys had explained that those who weren’t, the partners, were kept in a separate room. Kellen wasn’t going to get such treatment, which was one of the reasons why Rhys was letting him go, beyond the other fact that they were there to plead their case.

Ask for help.

Guides were better at that than Espers, and that was just the truth.

Brent thanked Kellen, but Kellen told him that this was just a temporary fix. Without his normal prosthetic, Kellen knew that firing the guns would be hard. So when they came back and Brent had done the press conference, those two things would be Kellen’s top priority. He would even use the help of his Mom to get something for Brent.

Being defenseless for people like Kellen and Brent was the worst, and Brent, for all of the hard exterior, softened.

"You don’t have to, Kellen." Brent started, about to downplay what Kellen was offering. Kellen was getting ready to rip into him, but Brent just smiled. "However, thank you for thinking of me, Mr. Esper." He teased and Kellen felt his face warm.

"It’s not like that." Kellen mumbled, annoyed and flustered. He crossed his arms, Rhys hovering beside him as they stood in their bedroom, the door open. Sergei’s expression tightened as Brent teased Kellen, and Kellen wondered what kind of expression Rhys had.

"Are you sure?" Brent teased, seeming to have a fun time teasing his friend while Kellen huffed.

"I wasn’t even really aware that I was getting like that. It’s a slow process. I just...I just want to make sure that the people I consider mine are safe. Sometimes it comes off as if it’s the same kind of possessiveness as others because, well, most of the time I am possessive of other Guides. That’s just a hazard of being a Guide first, I guess, and knowing that the treatment of them can be bad. It’s probably a good thing I’m not with the partners or else I might strangle their partners." Kellen mumbled. Rhys’ arms slid around his waist, pulling him against his chest. Kellen would have stumbled if the man wasn’t behind him and such a good wall.

Rhys’ lips pressed against Kellen’s cheek, his breath washing over Kellen’s senses. He felt relieved.

"It probably is a good thing, but they are going to try to tuck you away, Kellen. You know that, right?" Kellen pouted.

"I have my gun." Kellen reminded him and Rhys chuckled.

"That doesn’t matter much when it comes to a group of S Classes. We’re all monsters, Kellen." Kellen scrunched up his face, hating when he said that about himself. Brent also didn’t seem that happy with Rhys’ words.

"You’re not monsters." Kellen and Brent said in unison, surprising both Espers. Kellen scowled at Sergei and Brent scowled at Rhys.

"You both think that, don’t you?" Kellen accused and Sergei blinked, a little surprised at the force Kellen was speaking with.

"Uh, well," Sergei seemed flustered in the face of Kellen’s anger directed towards him. Brent scoffed.

"You fucking idiots." Brent muttered. "Do you think we’d love monsters?" He asked Rhys. Sergei went still while Rhys gave a light laugh.

"It would offend you if I gave you an honest answer, Brent." Rhys joked and Kellen roughly elbowed him in the guts. He coughed. "That hurts, love." Rhys complained and Kellen turned to glare at him with his good eye.

"Yeah, that was intentional. I wouldn’t just love a monster, I love you, idiot. You aren’t one, and not because of my flawed logic, but because you’re a person, a human first, Rhys. You just also happen to have a ridiculous amount of power. You already pay the cost of that power with your sanity, remember? That’s why you even needed me in the first place." Rhys’ jaw tightened.

"Kellen, don’t refer to yourself like that." Rhys said and Kellen rolled his eyes in frustration.

"That’s not the point, and you know it. I’m trying to tell you that you aren’t a monster because monsters don’t have to pay a price! They’re monsters!" Kellen said and Sergei let out a low breath.

"You’re not going to like our conversations, Guide Kellen. You’re probably going to want to be with the partners when we get to that point of the meeting." Sergei said with a chuckle. "Otherwise, you might get too angry and worked up." He was even smiling slightly, his shoulders dropping. He turned to Brent. "We should go. I’d like to hold you for as long as possible before I need to get up to leave." Brent’s face went red at the simple, easy way that Sergei said that.

"O-Oh. Um, yeah. Thanks for the gun, Kellen. Have a good night you two." Brent nodded to them, letting Sergei tug him out of the room. Kellen began packing the guns away before he heard the apartment door closer, shaking free of Rhys’ grip.

Rhys watched Kellen for a moment before heading for the door and locking it, then coming back to watch Kellen as he moved things around, putting the bag back into the bottom drawer of the dresser he was using.

"Sergei is right. I forgot that some of the reason we get together is to discuss our origins. You aren’t going to like it." Rhys said, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, his glowing, yellow gaze watching Kellen carefully. Kellen didn’t stop moving until he’d put the bag back perfectly. Then, he stood up, brushing his hands of any dust or dirt and met Rhys’ gaze head on.

While Kellen appreciated that Rhys was trying to be polite and tell him about it, getting mad like this when it was just the four of them was completely different then getting mad at a whole room of S Classes. Kellen wasn’t an idiot.

He’d known plenty of S Classes. Did he have as much sway or pull with the current ones? Outside of Sergei, Rhys, Sakura and his Aunt? No, not really.

Why?

Because the ones that he had known were all dead. Either suicide, taking themselves out for ’the good of the people’, the weight got too heavy to bear, or something awful had happened to their partners and they couldn’t take living in a world without them. Then there were those who were murdered. Sometimes their murderer was found, but thanks to the E.A.G., that wasn’t happening as often anymore.

Kellen knew how S Classes felt about themselves, he had listened to them speak of their own powers, the weight, everything that entailed, since he was a child. It was why he was so adamant when it came to Rhys, and now, Sergei. He’d always treated Sakura the same, no matter what, and he hoped that told her that he was always there for her, even if she was a little weird sometimes.

"It might be hard," Kellen said carefully, watching Rhys the same way that Rhys was watching him, "but that does not mean that I am going to let you discuss this alone anymore. You have me, and I’m also newly an S Class. Don’t you think I have a right to speak about our origins? I’m the one whose the fucking weirdest next to you, right? What C Class jumps all the way to S Class in only a few months?" Kellen asked and Rhys remained silent for a long moment.

"Alright. It’s not as if I have any right to stop you, I just...I want you to experience good things, Kellen. I can at least try to warn you. Grant me that much?" Rhys asked, his face falling and Kellen couldn’t ignore him for a second longer. He went to his Esper, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his face against his shoulder. Kellen felt his lips find the edge of the collar of his dress shirt, his lips rubbing against the sensitive skin there. Rhys shivered.

"You are always granted that. I’m worried that the others are going to look at how handsome and attractive you are and try to seduce you. I have no idea how Sergei is remaining calm right now." Kellen muttered and Rhys let out a startled laugh.

"Were you...imagining me in Brent’s position? Is that why..." Kellen felt his face warm.

"Not exactly, but it’s not wrong either. You’re who I’m possessive of like Espers are possessive of their Guides normally. You’re my Esper." Kellen mumbled and Rhys laughed.

"Understood, my love. I’ll show off my ring more." Kellen blushed at the joy in his tone, but didn’t tell him not to. It would make him feel better, and Rhys laughed at his silence.