Chapter 23: A meeting of like minds

When the doors of the elevator opened on the food level of the Guild tower, Kellen’s body tingled. He was on high alert immediately as he moved towards the coffee shop. Something told him that he needed to move, and quickly.

When he rounded the corner, Kellen found Charlie sitting down on one of the soft chairs near the window, his hands up in a placating gesture as he tried to tell a few of the Espers around him to back up. Kellen felt his blood boil and thought he could see red.

There were three of them, all male and they were crowding Charlie. Kellen felt his nostrils flare as he wondered where the hell the Espers that were normally in charge of monitoring him were. Were they part of the team that was supposed to monitor Charlie? If they were, Kellen was going to rip them a new one.

The words Charlie were speaking washed over Kellen as he stormed over, taking in the way that the employees that worked at the coffee shop looked uncomfortable, as did many of the other patrons of the shop.

“W-While I appreciate your concern, I am waiting for someone. I’m okay, but thank you.” Charlie said with a smile. Kellen was pissed.

Charlie was a cutie, anyone could see it. With his bright, amber eyes and his pretty grey hair coming in through the dark, almost black colour he had it dyed before, it looked like an intentionally done hair style. He didn’t look like a husk of a man anymore, so filling out had made his features softer, sweeter. He looked like a snack to anyone with eyes, but you know what else he looked like?

Young.

He looked like the barely out of his teens man that he was.

These fools who were cornering him were clearly in need of guiding if they were from the Guild, which they had to be, if they were approaching Charlie like this. Kellen could feel his blood reach a dangerous boiling point as he noticed that Charlie had ordered two drinks and had placed one at the seat across from him.

It was a matcha latte.

Kellen’s free hand reached for the shoulder of the Esper closest to him.

“Head to the Guiding Division, now.” Kellen rumbled, pissed, and all three men jerked as they turned to face him. The colour of their powers were in their eyes, but so was Kellen’s. He wasn’t playing around as he glared at the trio. “What the hell are you three doing, harassing a Guide? In my Guild? Get your asses downstairs and get your levels checked. Now.” Kellen ordered and watched as the Espers swallowed, scanning as they took in Kellen’s condition, connected the dots and paled. They nodded, practically bowing as they fell over themselves as they scrambled away to do as he said.

Kellen pulled out his phone, making sure that what he ordered was followed up. He dialed a number that was intimately familiar to him.

“Hey Dad, are you in the Guiding Division right now?” Kellen asked as soon as his Dad picked up.

“Just heading there now. Why? What’s up?” He asked, his voice sounding on the more happy side of curiosity at the moment. Kellen sighed.

“I was supposed to be meeting with Charlie right now and I found a trio of Espers bothering him in the coffee shop. It seems that they are all on the higher level of their used powers. I sent them your way. Please make sure that they actually show up.” Kellen said and heard a dark chuckle from his Father on the other side of the line.

“Understood, sweetheart. Have a good chat with Charlie.” His Dad said before hanging up. It was clear he was busy, and now Kellen had given him something else to look after. Or, look forward to. Kellen almost felt bad for the Espers. Almost.

Kellen then turned to face the man he was originally meeting in the first place. Charlie looked a little stunned at what had just happened, and how quickly it happened. He was still blinking, his hands still up in the air. Kellen sighed, tucked his phone away into his jacket and smiled at him.

It was obvious who Kellen was by his jacket alone. He was wearing the field jacket that the Captain had given him way back. Kellen had started wearing it around after he’d caught Rhys staring at him one too many times in the last week. Rhys was stressed and anxious when he was away from Kellen, so it was easy for him to help ease his mind a bit. If he wanted Kellen to be obviously marked by Rhys, that was okay.

It soothed Kellen too, though Kellen hadn’t told Rhys that part yet. He was fairly certain that the man understood that though since his expression got all soft when he spotted Kellen in the Medical Bay wearing it while speaking to Taylor, Carlos, or one of the other members of the team in charge of the poison detoxification.

“I-I had that covered.” Charlie said weakly, still blinking and Kellen chuckled.

“I actually have no doubt that you did, Charlie.” Kellen told him, actually meaning it as he sat down across from the S Class Guide. A few more minutes and Charlie would have had them managed, whether he was aware of it or not. That was part of the problem. A problem that Kellen had created by being too protective. Charlie didn’t know the extent of his powers. “But, the rest of the people here were uncomfortable, and on a completely different level, they are not supposed to be behaving that way in the Saturn Guild. I had to step in as the partner of the Captain.” Charlie glanced at Kellen, swallowed, and nodded. He dropped his hands to his lap, looking a little stunned.

“I-I see. You trusted me to have that.” He said softly and Kellen nodded.

“I did. I know you are capable, Charlie. That was never, ever the issue.” Kellen told him, putting force behind his words so that Charlie knew it was true. Charlie nodded, looking a little dazed. “Anyway, outside of that, how are you doing?” Kellen asked him and Charlie turned his gaze towards the window, looking down and out over everything below.

“I…I’ve been okay. Thinking about what I want to do. What I think I can do.” Charlie said softly and Kellen nodded.

“Are those two things different?” Kellen asked him and Charlie’s gaze darted around nervously before he let out a little laugh.

“I…I don’t know. I don’t want them to be, I think. I think I want them to be the same thing. I want to feel capable. Needed.” Charlie’s voice had a bit more strength behind it as he said that and Kellen smiled.

“Good. I want you to have some conviction about what you want to do next. Have you made a list of things? Or have you just been thinking about it without writing it down?” Kellen asked and Charlie flushed, looking embarrassed. He clenched his hands together, the skin under his hands going pale under the strength of his hands.

“I’ve just been thinking about them. I didn’t write anything down. Should I have?” He asked, glancing at Kellen and Kellen felt his heart warm. He wanted to be useful, he wanted to mean something. Kellen felt such sympathy for the boy.

“That’s alright. We can make the list together. You might have to type it though.” Kellen said with a grin and Charlie blinked, before he gave a small smile.

“I can do that.” Charlie said, releasing his hands and fumbling for his phone. Then, Kellen and Charlie workshopped the things that Charlie wanted to do, and what he thought he could do. His list of things that he wanted to do was a mile long, and some were just…unreasonable given what they had found out him to be. But, he also had some really good ideas of how he could be useful in the Guild. Things Kellen hadn’t even considered.

The list of things he thought he could do? Too small for Kellen’s liking. This was his fault, so now it was time to amend it.

“There is one more thing you can add to that list.” Kellen said, his heart thudding in his chest loudly as he wet his lips. Charlie seemed a little confused.

“What is it?” He asked, curious, and Kellen bit the bullet.

“You can help Rhys stabilize while I’m not allowed to guide.” Charlie dropped his phone. His eyes flew to Kellen’s face, his face going pale as his mouth fell open.

“What?” It was loud, especially for Charlie and he looked around, slamming a hand over his mouth after he’d practically shouted. Everyone was looking at them and Charlie leaned forward. “You can’t be serious?! He’s-He’s the Captain!” Charlie sounded scandalised. “You’re his partner! I couldn’t do that!” Charlie sounded as if Kellen had asked him to have sex with a close friend. In a way, that could have been what Kellen had asked, but there was no way that Rhys or Kellen would be okay with that level of guiding.

Kellen shook his head, smiling.

“Just hand guiding, the basic level Charlie. I would never ask of anything more than that, and Rhys and I would never be in agreement if I suggested something so ridiculous. He would be beyond mad at me for that.” Kellen told him and Charlie stared at Kellen. Really stared at him.

He took in the eye patch, the bandaged arm, the sling and swallowed.

“It’s not getting better, is it?” Charlie whispered and Kellen smiled at Charlie. Charlie thought that was all he was going to get as an answer as he let out a shaky breath.

“I had another appointment today.” Kellen told him before he sighed and with a smile, shook his head. “Nothing’s changed. Not a single thing. I’m fine with the reality that I could be like this for the rest of my life, but no one else is happy with it since it also means that they are at a standstill. They need a miracle, and the only person I know who can perform them is currently tied to me, and I can’t guide right now. So, Charlie, we have to turn to you.” Kellen said and Charlie’s jaw was still on the floor.

“But I…I’m just a Guide.” He stuttered and Kellen gave a laugh.

“Just a Guide? I hand selected you, remember? You’re the second Guide I recruited into the Guild by hand like that. You are very important to me, and because of what I’ve done to you, you are in the perfect position to be of help in this circumstance. If Rhys takes too much from you, you won’t be letting anyone else down since you aren’t on the guiding rotation.” Kellen told him and Charlie blinked.

“Takes too much from me?” He asked and now it was time to explain the dangers. Kellen glanced around them, glanced at how much of the drinks they had finished, before he sighed.

“Let’s get another round of drinks and then head to Rhys’ office. It’s better to discuss this further somewhere private.” Kellen told him and Charlie nodded, the chair loudly scraping on the tile as he stood up. His flushed cheeks as he grew embarrassed were cute, and Kellen felt some of his nerves settle.

That was the perks of being near an S Class Guide. You always tend to find yourself calming down in the end.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep