"This is ridiculous." Kellen muttered, the annoyance sneaking out into his voice, his shoulders creeping up to his ears as he frowned deeply. "There is no way that I could be both an Esper and a Guide this whole time. Someone would have said something, or noticed something before now. It’s just a small little thing that I had." Kellen protested. He was fine believing that he had developed powers now. That was fine.

Being an A Class or an S Class came with some perks, and some detriments, and honestly, in the last decade or so, it had been observed that their powers were shifting. What they had known to be normal or ’average’ had been changing. That was also because the world was adapting, changing. They’d created Guides to help save Espers, what was to stop humanity from changing their powers more?

However, Kellen was against him being both from the beginning. He was strongly against it. After all, wouldn’t have Kellen known himself if he was an Esper? He hadn’t been stronger than other C Class Espers, in fact, he had to work very very hard to be taken seriously. He had to push and climb and train and do everything that the Espers on the front lines had done with ease, but Kellen had to struggle with because he had been a Guide.

If it was true that Kellen had had even a hint of Esper to him while going through all of that, Kellen would be angry all over again. The chip that he had worked so hard at would come back with a vengeance, and he didn’t need that right now. This time was not supposed to be about him right now, he was here to support Casper, Gunther and the others. Kellen had to work on himself, later.

Working on his control of his emotions could happen now, but working on the depth behind them? He didn’t have time. They had too much on their plate for Kellen to have time to deal with this. He was actually a little pissed off that Rhys would even consider this right now. That he would even bring it up.

Everyone could tell that something had switched in Kellen. The mood around him shifted, and unbeknownst to him, the guiding that he had no choice but to emit at a base level because he was an S Class had changed. Shifting into something a little prickly and hard to be around. It was a doubly surprising event, but Kellen’s soured mood was more important to deal with over the fact that he had the power to make everyone uncomfortable.

Rhys turned to his boyfriend, who was clearly angry and upset, probably specifically at him, and gave him a gentle squeeze. Kellen’s eye, when it slid to him, was filled with annoyance, a slight glow behind his normally blue gaze.

"It could have been small, true, but it’s an ability that’s like mine. You’ve also said that it’s helped you a lot, Kellen." Rhys said and Kellen practically snarled at him.

"So? What kind of damn power tells you when it’s going to leave, Rhys? Yours would never do that. If it really was a power like that, it wouldn’t leave. No one’s Esper powers have just left them before. That’s a big part that you’re forgetting about." Kellen told him sharply. "I would have been able to keep them if I had been an Esper all this time." Kellen argued.

"Or," Pamela began softly, her voice gentle, "it was differing to the stronger Esper power. The Captain’s. We need to keep in mind, we have no idea what could happen going forward. We claim that we know a lot about our powers, but then we have people like the fucking bitch from the E.A.G. and that poison guy downstairs with Taylor. The powers are changing and shifting. Kellen because he comes from an Esper mother and a Guide Father could be an example of the new shift." Kellen scoffed.

"Then how come Gwen is so normal?" Kellen asked. Silence filled the room before Gunther made a small noise in the back of his throat, clearing it carefully. Kellen snapped his attention towards him and Gunther looked a little pale under Kellen’s hard gaze.

"Well, that might not be the case. Gwen has always had an...infectious personality. She has the ability to soothe even the meanest Esper around. She has a way of making a room feel warm and welcoming and everyone becomes friends." Kellen’s frown deepened. He knew what that sounded like. He knew what the implication there was.

"She’s just a good person." Kellen argued and Kellen’s Dad looked a little pale, with a soft sigh leaving his lips.

"That sounds...mmm. It will be interesting to test her when she wakes up. I’m sure she’d be delighted to be able to help more people." He muttered and Kellen’s chest tightened at the reminder. She would wake up, she was just taking the longest to do so because of the complicated poison she had come in contact with compared to the others.

"What does this matter?" Kellen asked, cutting into the thoughtful moment with his pessimism. "What does this change?" Kellen asked and Rhys let out a soft exhale.

"What does it change? Well, it could change our approach to things. If people are awakening as two things, Kellen, that could change how we train them, how we treat them. What if the classification isn’t right because there are some people out there who could do more, be more, but we’re only measuring one side of them? What if it’s all bullshit? What if the Espers that are going to the E.A.G. are doing so because they are just Espers without a touch of Guiding ability and that is why they are having a harder time? This opens up a lot, Kellen." Rhys leaned in, pressing a kiss against Kellen’s stiff cheek, the man having practically become a board under Rhys’ arm as soon as the conversation started. "This isn’t to make you upset." Rhys told him.

Kellen glanced at him with his one eye, Rhys watching Kellen’s every move.

"Yeah, well, you know my emotions are all over the place right now. No matter how hard I try to control them, I haven’t had time yet to sit with them alone and try to manage them." Kellen told him and Rhys’ eyes softened, his expression concerned, but warm.

"You could also make time for yourself. Yes, we’re all busy, but you can’t exactly expect others to do what you tell them without leading by example." Rhys’ eyes danced slightly as he was able to turn Kellen’s own words against him. The air grew even more prickly.

"I’ve gone to therapy before." Kellen reminded him.

"Yeah, but not as an S Class, and not recently, right? You’ve been letting everyone else go, and not dealing with your own issues. Don’t have time, right?" Kellen stiffened further and Rhys chuckled. He pressed another kiss against his cheek, pulling back with a warm smile. "I’ll make the appointment then, you just tell me where. Maybe I’ll make it for tomorrow, after your retesting. You’ll probably feel better talking to someone after going through that again." Rhys told him.

"It’ll be better though." Pamela piped up. "It’ll be Taylor this time, not the Center." As if that made a difference. It should have, Kellen knew that, but now he was all wound up, his emotions chaotic, and he felt terrible for making this moment all about him when he was supposed to be here helping Casper.

Kellen looked over at the other man, still sitting on the couch next to Pamela and his Dad, and found that Casper was watching him. Casper’s grey gaze almost looked silver in the light, his glasses slightly dirty from their baking and getting some flour in the air. His expression was...complicated. Kellen had a hard time reading the emotions there.

Kellen could tell that there was envy there, but Kellen didn’t know its source. Why was Casper feeling envious of Kellen? There were several reasons, the changing powers, the relationship that he was able to show openly, the freedom Kellen had right now. The list was too long.

There were other emotions there, but Kellen was already worked up enough that he himself couldn’t get past the envy that he had seen on the other man’s face. He felt terrible for making him feel that way in his own damn room. He didn’t want to make Casper feel bad again. He’d done that already, now it was the time to make him feel better.

"We’ll also have someone from the Center too." Kellen muttered and Pamela’s expression softened.

"They aren’t a bad person. I’ve already spoken to her." Pamela said. "Do you honestly think that we wouldn’t let someone come into this building right now who we haven’t personally vetted? What do you even think my job is at this point? Since the Guide fiasco, I’ve essentially been turned into the bouncer for this Guild." Pamela pointed out, her tired expression making even more sense. "No no, don’t you dare look at me like that, all of you." Pamela protested, her pink gaze sharpening as she looked around at Casper, Kellen and Gunther. "I’m a damn Lieutenant too. I’m just...different from the rest of you. I’m your reputation defender. You can all fight with your hands, fists, powers or whatever, I just have a different battle ground." Pamela pointed out.

Casper reached out, placing a hand on her thigh. It was close to him with the way that she was sitting in Kellen’s Dad’s arms. He gave it a squeeze, drawing everyone’s attention to the action.

’It’s a hard job. Thank you, Pam." Casper told her. Pamela’s eyes widened in surprise, the red around them growing darker as Kellen watched her eyes water again.

"Stop it. You’re the last person I want to hear thanks from." Pamela sniffed. "He’s the one who has to thank me the most." Kellen watched as Pamela thrust her finger towards...him? Kellen blinked a few times, completely confused before Rhys burst into laughter.

"Yeah, that would make sense. Your job has gotten harder as soon as Kellen got here." Rhys agreed, and Kellen gave him a confused, and offended look.

"What did I do?" Kellen asked, and Gunther chuckled. Even Casper gave a small smile. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Well," Gunther began, pulling out his hands so that he could count the incidents on his fingers. "First, there was the initial announcement that you were joining and the compatibility score between you two, then there was the clean up after you beat up those Guides. Then there was the clean up from the explosion, or switch those around. There was also the poison gate announcement that you played a role in, all the Field Guide stuff you’ve been doing and the subtle advertising we had been doing because of it. The shooting, the second press conference and the shooting that happened at that. Gosh, the list is endless. All of this was semi triggered from you joining the Guild." Gunther said, giving Kellen a little smirk.

Kellen felt wronged. Half of that had nothing to do with him, or had to do with shitty people and him cleaning up their messes. He couldn’t be blamed for that.

"How is all of that my fault? I just happened to join the Guild right before everything hit the fan." Kellen protested and Pamela let out a tinkling laugh.

"I do have to agree, but thank you for the reminder, Gunther." Pamela said with a smirk, the tears in her eyes shifting from sorrow to amusement. "I don’t blame you for all of those, but you have been involved with all of them." She said. Kellen sputtered.

"What about Rhys?" Kellen protested. Rhys snorted.

"She knew what her contract was when she signed up to work for an S Class." Rhys said with confidence. Kellen looked at him in disbelief. Pamela sighed.

"Yeah, but my contract didn’t say I would be covering up TWO S Class problems. Right now, it’s actually four." Pamela muttered bitterly. "Thankfully, Jax and Jules have been too happy with just being back in society so I don’t have to worry. Yet." She muttered, sounding bitter before she turned back into Kellen’s Dad’s arms and snuggled in. His Dad just chuckled, happy to be a place of comfort.

Kellen’s foul mood had shifted, the air not as prickly, and Rhys took that as their cue to leave. Before Kellen got upset again.