Chapter 152: What does any of this mean?

Kellen did not stop pestering, and essentially provoking Casper until he was hunched in on himself, but still lucid. Kellen did not let the man slide back into that dazed, hazy person that he had been.

It only took Kellen a little bit to realise that he had no control over that. That was Gunther. As much as Kellen didn’t want to admit it, it was the fact that Gunther was in the room with him that Casper wasn’t turning into a damn ghost of himself and had to sit and listen to everything that he had done in the capacity that he could.

Casper sat there as Kellen set up meetings for him. Appointments. Told him he was staying in the tower, that he was benched, that there was no way he was escaping from this right now. The only way would be through death, and Kellen was not going to allow that either.

When Kellen brought that up, Gunther looked like he was ready to start a fight with Kellen, but Kellen didn’t give a damn. This wasn’t about Gunther right now, this was about Casper, and he was unhinged enough right now that he could consider that as an option. Did he want him to? Absolutely not, but he was being realistic.

When wild animals were backed into corners against their will, they considered crazy things. Kellen was treating Casper like the wild animal he was behaving like.

Eventually, Kellen’s ranting and raving took them into a time when Taylor was free and she came by. To check on Gunther and discharge him from her side of the Medical Bay. Physically, the man was okay. There was no way he was mentally okay, and upon hearing that, Casper knew that he was not getting out of this at all. Taylor even looked at Casper with sympathy, but only because he was dealing with the full force of Kellen’s anger.

That was it.

After that, Rhys proved that he had time powers for a reason since he summoned two Espers as guards to make sure that Casper and Gunther were looked after. Since Rhys was discharging Gunther onto the same floor as Casper to rest, recuperate, and heal.

Both were supposed to do that, only Gunther was tentatively allowed back to work because Rhys knew that he would need to do something to occupy his time. Gunther was going to come in for a few hours everyday and get himself familiar with what had happened in the Guild and in the outside world while he was away.

Casper was forced out.

The divide was obvious, and it was clear now that Casper realised what exactly was happening. Casper had made a choice to not choose the Guild. He may not have betrayed them to someone else, but he had betrayed them at their core. Rhys couldn’t trust him.

Gunther, who had been smeared as a betrayer, who had to the outside world sided with the E.A.G., had actually just been following orders. Like Kellen asked him to. He was being welcomed back easily, happily in fact. His place was secure.

This was a completely different situation from when Casper was lost, wanting to leave Gunther and the others alone while he figured himself out, even considering leaving the Guild at the time. It might have looked the same before, but not now.

Now, Casper had to earn back their trust.

~

It was a hard moment, and left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth. As Casper was escorted up to his new room, with promises that Pamela would grab anything he needed from his apartment if he needed it, Gunther, Taylor, Rhys and Kellen stood by and watched. Taylor looked torn, Gunther looked gutted, but Kellen and Rhys?

They looked resigned. This was their duty. As the leaders of the Guild, they had to shoulder the hard choices. This just happened to be the first time that they had done it together.

Kellen could argue his other decisions hadn’t been fully made with a Rhys stamp of approval. At least not during. This one was different. Rhys had been by his side the whole time, supporting him quite literally in his choices. It was…a nice feeling to know that Rhys had his back like that.

Rhys ran his hand over his face once they knew that Casper was far enough that he wasn’t coming back, he was going to his room. Gunther moved over to his bed, sitting down even after Taylor had discharged him, but Taylor didn’t say anything. She, like Kellen and everyone else, took a moment to herself, and then composed herself.

She turned to Kellen, checking on him as her eyes turned green and she scanned him. Kellen had been keeping track of everything that he had been doing to Casper in his phone. It was a task, since he only had one hand, but it was only fair that if Kellen was going to put him through this much ’suffering’ that he keep track of it. Kellen took this moment to send what he’d done to Rhys, Taylor, and Pamela.

He made a conscious decision to not send it to Gunther. It would not help either of them, and it would do Gunther well to just speak to Casper about what he was doing. Kellen suspected that Rhys was going to put them in apartments next to each other. He was a friend like that.

What happened between Gunther and Casper after this wasn’t really a full concern for Kellen. While he was worried about both of them, it was clear that they both needed some kind of companionship from each other to heal properly. Was this a healthy relationship? Kellen could say that right now? No. But it was all either of them knew, and Kellen wasn’t such an asshole that he’d tell them not to speak to each other right now.

Rhys went to Gunther, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze. Kellen glanced at them and gestured with his head that Taylor and Kellen step outside to give them some privacy. Taylor easily followed Kellen outside, Kellen meeting Rhys’ eyes as he passed and pointing that he would be outside in the hallway. Rhys gave him a quick smile before turning back to his friend.

“God that was rough.” Taylor muttered and Kellen nodded.

“I even controlled myself.” Kellen muttered and Taylor gave him a surprised look.

“That was you restrained? Jesus, Kellen, the man was barely standing. He was so hunched in on himself when I came in, I’m worried about what else you said.” She joked lightly, but Kellen also knew that she wasn’t really. Kellen shrugged.

“I just said what needed to be said. I could have been meaner, and I chose not to be. He won’t realise that now, maybe never, and I’m okay with that. I’m fine being the bad guy in his story. Sometimes you need someone who is like that.” Kellen gave a dismissive shrug. “At the end of the day, my body is going through some crazy changes right now. If it gets too bad, I can do what everyone else has been doing behind my back, and blame those changes.” Kellen said.

Taylor coughed, hunching over, her hand slamming against the wall as she doubled over in surprise and shock that Kellen even said something like that. When she met his gaze, his eye was glowing, but like it had a small sparkle to it. He chuckled, and it was like a dam was let loose.

Both friends were giggling and snorting, the stress from the situation making them both fall over in relief. Taylor was bent over laughing, while Kellen pressed his back against the wall, running his free hand over his face, shaking his head. Taylor’s ponytail fell to the side of her head, her shoulders shaking as she laughed.

Kellen knew that it was probably a bit disrespectful that they were laughing right now, especially since Rhys and Gunther were probably having a serious moment right now, but Kellen couldn’t help it. Blame his new S Class sensibilities if they wanted to make themselves feel better.

Taylor’s laughter came to a slow halt, her eyes warm as she looked up at him.

“The others went smoothly.” She told him and Kellen grinned. That was just good news. “And you’re doing well. This is…this is good.” She told him, slowly pulling herself up to her full height, smoothing her hair back with her hands. She was doing a hell of a job trying to appear professional after they had just had a laughing fit.

Kellen’s smile was gentle as he stared at his friend. His friend who had been carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and still managed to keep herself mostly intact.

“This is good. Did you reach out to the research team to see if they could get a core sample for you?” He asked and she blinked, before she flushed.

“I…I forgot.” She muttered, then her face turned an even brighter shade. “I had some distractions this morning.” She mumbled and Kellen felt his eye widen.

“Distractions? What kind? Did something bad happen?” He asked, before he remembered what he’d heard this morning from his work out buddy in the A Class gym. Oh, there were some distractions this morning alright, he just didn’t know if they were good ones.

Taylor looked away from Kellen, her face going even more red as Kellen blinked at her, waiting for her to tell him with her own mouth what had happened. She eventually cleared her throat and leaned in, whispering.

Kellen was fairly certain that the two inside wouldn’t listen in, but she wasn’t exactly speaking at a volume that he was certain Rhys couldn’t hear.

“Um, did you tell Karen I was staying in the tower last night?” She asked and Kellen shook his head.

“No. I didn’t. Why?” Kellen asked and watched her eyes dart around and her throat work as she swallowed.

“She stopped by this morning with coffee and pastries.” Taylor mumbled and Kellen blinked. Good job, Hill. That was a very smart thing to do, and thoughtful. Taylor had been working herself to the bone, bringing her coffee and pastries was a sneaky way to take care of her without her thinking negatively about it.

Rhys could learn a bit of that from her. Kellen would keep that to himself.

“That’s kind of her.” Kellen told Taylor and as he watched her lips purse, he knew that wasn’t all there was to the story. “Did something else happen?” He asked and Taylor groaned.

“Um, well, I…I’m not certain. Does she…do that to others?” Taylor asked quietly, before she looked like she immediately regretted asking that question. “You know what? Forget I asked. That’s so desperate of me.” She mumbled and Kellen furrowed his brows. Desperate? How so?

Wanting to know the intentions of someone you were interested in was normal, wasn’t it? Kellen thought it was completely normal for her to be confused. He’d clarify in her situation too.

“I’ll figure it out, but I don’t think so. I mean, I know Hill ends all of her relationships on amicable terms, but that doesn’t mean that she takes people coffee and pastries, Taylor.” Kellen was in a special position of knowing a bit of what was going on. However, he was friends with both of them.

He was going to be careful.

Taylor looked so damn hopeful for a second before she glanced around the hallway, looking scared that someone else was listening in on them and she quickly schooled her expression.

“Oh, um, alright. Thanks Kellen. I have to get going.” She bolted, and Kellen waited to laugh until she was far enough away she couldn’t hear him. Hill was going to eat her alive.

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