(BL) Taming the Field Guide

Rhys was on edge. He had to be. Not because Kellen was unaware, but he had a strange belief that while all Espers were foolish and dangerous, that didn’t appear to translate to S Classes. Rhys hadn’t realised it until this moment, but Kellen didn’t view S Classes with the same lens that he viewed everyone else with.

It had also taken Rhys a while to pick up on that because, well, he liked that Kellen treated him like a normal person. Or as normal as he could have when they first started getting to know each other with the gap between their status. With Rhys being a Captain, and Kellen being a Field Guide for hire.

That was how it all started, and Rhys realised, with alarm, that he had been delusional. He hadn’t noticed it because Kellen knew Sergei and Sakura beforehand. He got off on the wrong foot with Jax and Jules so they couldn’t be used for a reference either. It was only now, when Kellen was around people that he didn’t have a personal connection to that Rhys realised the alarming truth.

Kellen was not afraid of S Classes like he should be. He didn’t notice the way that others were looking at him, and if he did, he didn’t think anything of it. He probably thought Rhys’ behaviour in the bathroom was out of line. Rhys didn’t know how to tell him that S Classes had snatched up people from bathrooms, from hallways, in between the seconds where someone had been speaking to them and turned their back for a second and then turned back.

They were a boogeyman that lurked in the dark, and Kellen was a delicious, scrumptious snack that had painted another target on his back. This time though, it wasn’t because they wanted to kill him. They wanted him for themselves.

Rhys was grateful that he had more of his sanity nowadays. Truly. Without it, Rhys probably wouldn’t have let Sergei help him protect Kellen. He would have tried to do it on his own, and he realised now that two people were better than one.

It was a good thing that Brent hadn’t come. He hated to say it, but that was the truth. Especially with that weird as fuck meeting between Kellen and the other S Classes. Rhys had never been allowed into these rooms before, had been denied because he was, well, not in a relationship with anyone who could have been in this room. He had no idea how creepy the S Classes were, or that one of them was severely injured.

Why the hell their partner had let them remain that way, living in suffering, was beyond Rhys. If that had ever happened to Kellen, Rhys wouldn’t care about his personal reasons behind remaining that way. Rhys would not allow him to commit that kind of self harm against himself.

Rhys’ respect for the older S Classes that Kellen’s family didn’t interact with was plummeting with each interaction, he found. He hated that, since they were his people, but he also knew that some of these people here were not on his side.

He could feel it in the small whispers, the looks, the images that were pummeling his mind at every move. Rhys didn’t often see visions of his friends and family.

So yeah, maybe Rhys was being a little overprotective of Kellen. That was his right. He was his fiancé. Rhys had every right to be possessive, especially since it was Kellen who had proposed. Even if it was reversed and Rhys had been able to pop the question to Kellen and take him by surprise, it was still the same. He was allowed to feel this way about Kellen, and it was terrifying that Kellen wasn’t noticing it.

Rhys didn’t like how even the S Class Guides were looking at Kellen. Like he was fresh meat, like he was their saviour.

He might be, but that wasn’t any of their business. Kellen got to decide that, and he didn’t like how they were assuming that he would save them. Granted, they might need some saving, but that didn’t mean they had to force Kellen to be that saviour for them. Kellen already had a lot on his plate. He was trying to save the damn world, as far as Rhys was concerned, and while Rhys loved that aspect of his partner, his lover, his fiancé, he didn’t like how people were beginning to assume Kellen was going to do the hard work for them.

Oh, it was great that the S Class fucks upstairs had wanted Kellen to take over the meeting. Had wanted him to show off, voice his opinions. At first. Rhys had thought it had been done in good faith, but as time had ticked on and Kellen remained at the front before the disastrous guiding sessions had happened, Rhys realised that they were using him like a damn puppet. Kellen didn’t see it. He was too happy thinking that they were listening to him.

All Rhys saw were wolves surrounding a deliciously plump sheep and Rhys hated it. Did it mean that none of them were listening to him and what he was saying? No, they were, but they were salivating at the thought of getting their hands on him. Rhys didn’t want Kellen to stay upstairs and be witness to that behaviour any longer, but being in this room seemed like a pretty shitty idea as well.

He just wanted them to treat him like a fellow man, but apparently that was asking too much of the S Classes. Even as Kellen was coming to them with important information and ideas, they were eyeing him up. It was fucked up that they didn’t respect Kellen for who he was and instead were respecting him because he was at Rhys’ side. Rhys hated that.

He was almost inclined to let Kellen go wild with that gun he knew he had. He’d felt it when he’d pressed up behind him as he’d used the bathroom. However, this circled back to the fact that Kellen, probably due to how he was raised, didn’t view S Classes as true monsters. Rhys worried that was going to bite him in the ass, and then wondered if it had in their case.

Not that Rhys wanted to examine too closely how he’d treated Kellen when they first started getting involved with each other, how Rhys himself hadn’t been a good partner and had pushed boundaries with Kellen, but there was some truth to that. Why had Kellen given Rhys so much rope? Rhys had barely even hung himself with it because Kellen kept untying him.

At the time, Rhys thought it was because he had secretly loved him and had forgotten about it and a bunch of sappy reasons, but now that Rhys was seeing how Kellen interacted with people who were literally eyeing him up like he was a delicious steak, he didn’t think that was the case. Or, that there was more to it than what he thought.

Did…Kellen secretly like being eyed up like a delicious steak? Should Rhys be doing that more to keep him satisfied? Was he okay with this because so many others had already looked at him like that? The more that Rhys thought about it, the more that he felt himself spiral.

Then, Rhys came to another conclusion. His parents. Nothing against the Woods, he did think that they had done the best that they could with everything that they had been given and everything that they themselves knew, but they had failed in one way.

By being friends with S Classes and raising their children around them he knew that they were trying to show them that S Classes were good people. The problem came with the fact that they didn’t teach Kellen stranger danger when it came to S Classes, ever. After all, he had trusted Tom, had protected him, and that wasn’t a mark against Kellen or even his parents.

That was a mark against Tom. How dare he treat a child the way that he had? Fucker. He better remain in hiding or else. The only reason Rhys hadn’t dealt with him was because he was a small fish in an even smaller pond. Rhys would find him eventually.

All of these concerns swirled in Rhys’ mind as he escorted Kellen back up into the room, Sergei having gone back to the kitchen after handing out the snacks that he’d given to the Guides to restock. Kellen had smiled at him appreciatively and Sergei had given him a rather stern nod in response.

Now, Kellen and Rhys were hand in hand, and those fuckers were watching Kellen as soon as he came up the stairs. There was a bit of a bitter success as the woman, the Esper who shared the same powers as his family, scowled at Rhys from across the room. She had been trying to get to Kellen as soon as the break had been called and Rhys had not let her get close. She was clearly pissed, but what probably made her more angry was the fact that there were some S Classes that were blocking her way.

Surprisingly, despite the way that he had also looked at Kellen, Elder Ellis was at the forefront of that. Rhys wasn’t certain if it was because he wanted Kellen for himself or not, but he would take any assist he could get in a room full of superpowered freaks.

All Rhys could do was see the future and move some things. He wasn’t like the others, and he was feeling it when it came to protecting what was important to him. Kellen with his gun might be more effective at this moment in time.

Rhys didn’t let Kellen linger and chat to the others. Even if some wanted to approach him with good intentions, Rhys didn’t want the monsters to slip in through the cracks. Kellen had no awareness of them, even if he didn’t fight Rhys gently leading him towards the couch that they had selected before the break. He even let Rhys sit him down before Rhys sat down beside him.

Elder Ellis was at the center of the room once more, getting things ready, speaking to a few of the other S Classes. Kellen held his hand, keeping Rhys grounded.

When Rhys glanced at him, Kellen wasn’t looking at anyone else. He was looking at him, and Rhys realised that he’d been lost in his own thoughts and hadn’t paid attention to him. Guilt filled him, but it was quickly pushed aside as Kellen sighed and leaned his head against his shoulder.

“I am so glad I’m not a city Guide.” Kellen muttered quietly and Rhys squeezed his hand. He was glad too.

“I don’t think I could imagine you anything but a Field Guide.” Rhys admitted. “I mean, what would be your city Guide hobby? Cooking like your father? Or would you take up something else?” Rhys asked. Kellen’s eye sparkled with humour when he turned to face Rhys.

“Well, cooking is rather common but that’s more of necessity than a hobby. Maybe…working out isn’t a city Guide hobby…um, knitting?” Kellen suggested and Rhys burst into laughter.

“Knitting? You? I can’t see it.” Rhys told him and then worried that he might be offended, but when Kellen started laughing, he knew he was in the clear.

“Yeah, you’re right. Probably not that. Maybe jogging? They do that kind of thing, don’t they?” Kellen asked and Rhys laughed. He didn’t know, but it was also clear that Kellen didn’t know either. They shared a grin, the tension leaving both of them before Rhys sighed and pulled Kellen tightly against his side. It wasn’t to show off, but more to soothe his own heart.

“Jogging maybe, or maybe dance? It would have to be something physical because even if you were a city Guide, you’d still want to move your body.” Rhys told him, confident in that. Kellen’s arms snaked around his sides, hugging him tightly and Rhys loved it. He loved when Kellen touched him, sexual or otherwise.

“You know me so well.” Kellen told him. Rhys thought he was teasing him, but he didn’t say anything else. They sat there until a loud sigh from Sergei drew both of their attention towards him.

“I go and do you a favour and you’re cuddling here, waiting?” He accused, glaring at them. Kellen laughed, smiling at the other Esper.

“Don’t think it won’t be reciprocated, Sergei.” Kellen told him and the fake sting left his gaze.

“I know. Here. I made sure to grab extra and a few of the Guides downstairs wouldn’t let me leave without some particular ones. Enjoy.” Sergei said before he left with a wave. Kellen sighed.

“He’s so funny.” Kellen muttered and Rhys just snorted. Sure.