Chapter 13: A hissing, angry burrito

Kellen was a little angry burrito on the couch.

Rhys had forced him to get changed into his normal house attire. T-shirt of some kind and sweatpants, and then he’d gotten him some tea, a nice blanket, and plopped Kellen down on the couch. Kellen had been ready to protest until Rhys had wrapped his arm around him, pulled out his phone to a delivery app and forced Kellen to pick out any food that he wanted.

Angry that Kellen was being taken care of, Kellen had attempted to annoy Rhys by ordering a fuck ton of food. It wasn’t even the cheap stuff, but expensive stuff from restaurants that had no business being on a delivery app. Instead of being angry, Rhys had looked pleased. Purely pleased in a way some men looked when their partners had tried to one up them and failed spectacularly, and Kellen grew even more annoyed.

Rhys, however, had just placed the order with a generous tip, tucked the angry burrito of a Field Guide against his chest, and began to look through the t.v. to see if there was anything that Kellen wanted to watch.

It honestly felt like this was more healing for Rhys then it was for Kellen.

Annoyed, and even more annoyed that Rhys holding him tucked against his body heat was slowly draining him of his original annoyance, Kellen remained on high alert until he simply couldn’t do it anymore. His body relaxed against his will, and even if he let out an annoyed sound every once in a while, Rhys just took it. He wasn’t even complaining that Kellen was being difficult to work with when it came to choosing something to watch.

When the food arrived, Rhys gently moved Kellen off of him, keeping the man in his perfect burrito before going and answering the door. He didn’t even hesitate to bring it all over to the coffee table, then heading to the kitchen and grabbing two plates and a few utensils for serving things up.

Kellen was annoyed even more because he wanted to be the person that was doing this for Rhys, not the other way around. Rhys seemed able to sense the source of Kellen’s annoyance and that only seemed to spur him on more.

“Kellen, sugar, the love of my life, what would you like to start with first?” Rhys asked, all sweetness and sugar. Kellen growled at him. He felt like an animal that the man was trying to domesticate, and he was sure that he looked like it too.

He couldn’t fight it forever though, and he didn’t want the food to get even more cold, so they slowly began to go through all of the food that Kellen had ordered. It was a lot. It towered over everything else on the coffee table. Kellen was sure that he’d heard three new voices when the food had been delivered, and that made sense.

Rhys didn’t take much from the food that Kellen was eating, only a few bites from each dish. After he’d plated some up for Kellen to eat, and made it easier for him to eat with one hand. That meant he cut up all the meat that Kellen ordered, eating small bits here and there. He didn’t finish a lot of the meat he tried, appearing to enjoy the chicken dishes the most.

Kellen wasn’t a monster. He’d ordered a few vegetarian dishes, even in his anger, and Rhys slid him happy smiles every time he saw that Kellen had ordered something that was something he would like.

It was an easy form of payback. Look, even in his state and trying to be an asshole, Kellen had made sure that Rhys was being cared for. Take that, fucking S Class Esper.

~

It was later in the evening when they arrived.

Kellen had kind of been expecting it, but when the knock came, Rhys looked rather surprised. Kellen braced himself.

When Rhys answered the door, he was shoved aside as Kellen’s Mom, Dad, and Charlie came in. Charlie wasn’t as bold as the Woods couple, ducking his head nervously as he greeted the man that was his Boss. Rhys however, wasn’t mad. He just took Charlie’s coat, showed him where to tuck his shoes and locked the door behind him.

Kellen liked that side of Rhys. He was able to roll with most situations without questions, and treating Charlie with kindness wasn’t hard either.

Kellen didn’t have time to focus on Charlie and Rhys interacting though. He instead had to turn his focus to his parents who loomed over him. They took in the scene before them. Kellen, burritoed for maximum comfort. A tea pot, just just a mug nearby, several stacks of take out food with two plates, and a shitty action movie playing on the t.v.

His Mom wasn’t smiling, but she looked better. It was clear that his Dad was stable enough to take care of his wife, and he was doing so. That was also apparent in the way that his Dad’s cheeks were a little sunken in, but he didn’t look unwell. Just tired.

His Mom looked put together, wearing a more formal black outfit. She had been working in some capacity, but Kellen was unaware of what she had been doing, while his Dad was wearing an outfit he hadn’t seen in a while.

His old Guide outfit.

Kellen was a little surprised it still fit him, but then again, his Dad was married to an Esper. It was kind of hard to not keep an eye on what you were eating when someone relied on you to maintain a certain level of self care. He looked…really good in the dark grey outfit. It had silver trim to counteract the heaviness of the grey colour and with his pale complexion, it made his Dad look good. Younger.

He did look tired though, and while he had his arms crossed, his Mom had hers on her hips. A waft of the incense smell that Kellen was used to hit his nose and it twitched.

“I see that Rhys has learned the best way to deal with you.” His Mom said dryly and Kellen’s gaze narrowed.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Kellen asked dangerously and his Mom’s lips twitched, but her expression remained serious. Stoic.

“You need to incapacitate you before you’ll behave.” She told him and Rhys let out a bark of laughter from where he was at the door.

“I thought that it worked for kittens and other small animals, it would work for Kellen.” Kellen felt himself frown in frustration as his face flamed. His Dad smiled.

“Awe. Well, he is rather kitten-like sometimes. The sharp claws suit him.” His Dad said and Kellen hated that they were even having this conversation in the first place.

“I am not kitten-like at all.” Kellen growled and Kellen’s Mom’s gaze flared purple. Her nostrils flared as she took a step forward and ruffled his hair before she flipped up his eyepatch. She hadn’t done this so far, so Kellen had to be understanding as the light hit his covered eye.

It was a little jarring as his Mom loomed over him.

“Hush. You are very much a kitten. Mischievous, up to no good. Sweet and pretty. You take after me, after all.” His Mom mumbled as she stared at his eye. “Do you have any vision out of it?” She asked and Kellen blinked.

He closed his good eye, trying to just focus on the damaged one. If he was honest, he had a little bit of vision but it was dull, dark, and he couldn’t make out distinct shapes. It also hurt to focus with, so that didn’t last long. He didn’t want to hurt it more.

“Kinda? It’s not anything worthwhile though. Mostly darkness with a little bit of shapes in the background. Couldn’t even make you out and you’re standing in front of me.” Kellen told her and she frowned. She looked rather upset and Kellen didn’t know what to say to soothe her.

“Well, we came over to harass you anyways and your Dad wanted to make dinner. Though, given what you have here…” She trailed off, glancing around. It was Rhys who spoke up.

“Oh, this was just his lunch.” He said cheerfully. “It’s just taken us a while since he ordered so much to annoy me.” Rhys was all smiles as he nudged Charlie into the main room. Charlie looked really nervous to be there, glancing around, trying not to stare at Kellen.

Kellen found that even being around Charlie made his muscles relax. It was amazing what having an S Class Guide around him was doing for him.

“It was not lunch and I was not trying to annoy you.” Kellen muttered bitterly and no one believed him. Rhys, his Mom and Dad turned their gazes to look at Kellen, all with a fondness in their gaze.

“You were always a bad patient.” His Dad said, a smile in his gaze and on his lips. “You used to kick and scream when you would get a cold as a kid.” His Dad told him and Kellen pouted.

“I would not.” He protested and Rhys chuckled.

“That sounds adorable.” Rhys told him and his Dad grinned.

“It was. Sad that I wasn’t able to get any photos of him then. Either way, if you say this is lunch, is it alright if I make everyone dinner?” He was being hesitant. It was clear that his Dad was picking up on the dynamic between Rhys and Kellen, but Rhys just smiled.

“You aren’t overstepping, so don’t worry. I just need to be near Kellen right now, and this is mostly Kellen’s home.” Rhys said. His Mom snorted, while Kellen was a few paces behind in the conversation, like Charlie.

“Mostly, huh? What’s the end game?” His Mom asked and Rhys smiled, looking happy that someone had asked.

“Well, I’m planning to knock down this wall and expand the whole space. That way we have a three bedroom apartment and we can expand the kitchen. We might even be able to make it into a four bedroom place. I know that Kellen likes to host, so it would do us well to have a few extra bedrooms, or two offices upstairs.” Rhys told her.

This was all new to Kellen.

“We’re knocking down the wall?” Kellen asked softly and Rhys froze. His yellow eyes widened as he turned towards Kellen.

“I didn’t speak to you about this?” He asked, seeming to be genuinely confused. Kellen shook his head. Rhys blinked, before his face flushed and he covered it with his hand. “I…I think I thought I spoke to you about it when I was…out.” Rhys mumbled, looking embarrassed. Kellen swallowed.

“What did I say?” Kellen asked, curious. Rhys hadn’t spoken about what he’d witnessed when he’d been asleep. Rhys groaned.

“You enthusiastically agreed. I should have known better. You’re already asking more questions than you did in the dream. Damnit Rhys.” He muttered and his parents watched on with great interest. It was his Dad who spoke up first.

“Do you often have issues with figuring out what is reality and what is something you’ve seen?” He asked, curious. Rhys unveiled an eye with a sigh.

“I used to. When I was younger and I first awoke, yeah. I was nearly insane. It doesn’t happen that often anymore. In fact, this was the first time it’s happened in a while. I’m going to have to go over things. I thought I had a grasp on this.” Rhys muttered, upset, and Kellen felt his lips turn up in a smile. Well, that was adorable.

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