"Okay, so, um, my Class officially changed." Kellen told Brent. "And I’m now an S Class Esper. In conjunction with that, we also found out that I have Esper powers as well. What kind is a bit inconclusive because the machine we used was an older type, but we’ll know that soon. Anyways,"

"-You cannot just gloss over that! Why didn’t you start with that, you asshole! You’re now an S Class Guide, and you can be an Esper at the same time? Isn’t that a huge fucking deal?" Brent asked and Kellen flinched.

He’d been moving along with Rhys and his mentality on all of this that he forgot that this was a big deal. Right. This wasn’t normal.

"I, uh, I guess I’ve just been so absorbed in these past few moments that I forgot that this was a big deal." Kellen admitted. He’d been happy to finally be confirmed as an S Class, hadn’t really had time to process anything else. "I was more worried about making sure Rhys was okay than if I was okay." Kellen admitted softly.

"Kellen." Brent admonished. "Come on man, you need to be thinking about yourself at this moment too. This is a big fucking deal. An S Class and an Esper? What the hell? What do you mean that you don’t know what type of Esper you are on top of all this?" Brent asked, clearly upset for Kellen.

Kellen turned his gaze towards the bowl in his lap, on top of the pillow balanced there for comfort.

"I, uh, well I think I’m an Esper type like Rhys. He suggested that was the case, and he was also pretty upset about it. He suggested that my ability to sense if things could go good or bad inside gates that it was a low level ability similar to his. Plus, I’ve been getting visions, too." Kellen admitted.

The sound that left Brent’s mouth on the other side of the phone made Kellen wince. The man was not happy in the slightest.

"Okay. So, he thinks that you’ve always had powers similar to his? And he didn’t say anything until now?" Kellen winced.

"Well, how could he? It wasn’t like I was obvious about my abilities until now. Taylor didn’t call it my lucky rabbit foot for nothing, and I didn’t really talk about it until the poison gate." Kellen told him. Brent grumbled.

"I’m just not happy with how this went down without me there. I can’t believe that Rhys didn’t say anything until now. After all, he knows what it’s like to live as a...Time Esper, is that what he is? He knows what that’s like, and he didn’t even suggest that you might be one? When did he tell you about it?" Brent asked and Kellen flinched.

It was uncanny how Brent seemed to be able to sniff out the issues that Kellen and Rhys had been having.

"He didn’t tell me until he had to." Kellen said. "But!" Kellen interrupted before Brent could go off. He felt the energy building up over the phone. "But Brent, please understand that for Rhys, everyone else who has ever had the same powers as him has gone insane. He didn’t want this to be the case. He was really hoping it was something like a transfer of his powers to me because of our compatibility. It’s clear from how my test is inconclusive that my powers aren’t any of the normal ones." Kellen said quickly.

"That doesn’t excuse him keeping things from you." Brent told him. Kellen felt his anger in his heart.

"No. It doesn’t, and I’ve already told him that I am not happy with what he did or how he did it. He thought he was protecting me, but I can’t protect myself if I don’t know what’s going on. He’s learned the error of his ways, and he’s trying. He is. I’m sure you’re going to run into something similar with Sergei as well. When they’ve been in power for so long protecting others, and maybe not dealing with their own issues, they get a little twisted. That’s just how it is being an S Class." Kellen said.

Then, he sighed.

"He also...kept the fact that I was an S Class from me for a while, and forced the others to lie. Sergei was the one who hinted at it. He was also pissed for me." The roar that came from Brent on the other side of the phone would have woken anyone up if they were close to him.

"Are you fucking serious? And you didn’t beat his ass for that? Kellen! That’s not partner behaviour!" Brent roared. Kellen winced.

"Yeah, well, I was also an emotional asshole the whole time so maybe they were worried that I wouldn’t take it well. I don’t really think I did." Brent growled. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"No, I think you were just worried about how Rhys would take it. You’ve been so damn focused on that man’s mental health compared to your own that-" Brent cut off. "Not that you shouldn’t care about your partner, you should, but from the conversations I’ve had with you thus far, you’ve been putting him first over yourself." Brent sighed. "Kellen, you’ve been busting your damn ass to get even a crumb of acknowledgement of how good you are at your job, how strong you are, how capable you are. You put other people who were a higher Class than you to shame. Over and over and over. You’ve been so competent that no one dared say you got your position due to nepotism or anything as ridiculous as that. Now, you’ve not only raised Classes once, but I think four fucking times if you’re also registering as a damn Esper now. Now one knew that you had that ability either. No one questioned it, and you haven’t had fucking time to sit with that." Brent growled. "So we’re going to fucking sit with it." Kellen felt his eyes widen.

"Brent, we don’t-"

"How does it feel finding out that you were an Esper this whole time?" Brent asked. Kellen’s chest squeezed.

"Brent-" Kellen tried to start again.

"Kellen, answer the fucking question. How does it feel to know that there is a chance that all of your hard fucking work meant fucking nothing as a Field Guide because you were an Esper all along?" It was a stab to the heart.

Brent went right for the issue that Kellen had been avoiding this whole time. No one had considered it, no one had even brought it up, but now that Brent said it, Kellen couldn’t avoid it.

He’d been happy with the raise in Class. Of course he had, because it had meant that he would be even better at his job. Even better at being a Field Guide. Finding out that he had been an Esper as well?

He wasn’t...as happy about that. Brent’s question went right to the heart of the issue.

Was all of Kellen’s hard work...meaningless now?

Kellen hung his head, letting out a soft, shaky breath.

"I was probably a D Class Esper." Kellen muttered and Brent growled.

"Kellen." He warned and Kellen sighed.

"I don’t like it." Kellen admitted. "You’re right. It makes me feel like...like if I could do it all so easily in the first place, then all of my hard work was for nothing." Kellen muttered. "But again, I was a Guide. My Esper traits were...nothing." Kellen mumbled, but not even he believed his words. Brent sighed.

"For what it’s worth, I don’t think that way. I think, no matter what, you wouldn’t be able to do what you did without you being as determined as you were. I just want you to think about the hard things. The things that some might say to you once word of this gets out. ’Oh, he was capable of doing it because he was an Esper all along’ or other bullshit like that. I know best how fucking hard it is to be your kind of Field Guide, and that it is also possible to do it without being a fucking Esper." Brent’s anger wasn’t directed at Kellen, but at those who would question him without knowing him.

Kellen smiled.

"Who knows? You could also have some Esper in you." Kellen said and the loud, harsh laugh that came from Brent made Kellen’s skin prickle.

"Sorry, no dice. I’m very certain that there isn’t anything Esper about me, Kellen. Don’t you think my family would have been more excited about having an Esper child then a Guide child? I would have been paraded around even if I had been an F Class Esper. Instead, they buried the fact that I was an A Class Guide because it didn’t benefit them. Well, after my brother tried and failed to kill me the second time." Brent said. Kellen could imagine him shrugging, and that only made Kellen’s jaw tighten.

"I’m going to punch him in the face when I meet your brother." Kellen told him lowly. Brent chuckled.

"I might do the same to Rhys." Brent countered.

"Brent." Kellen admonished and Brent growled.

"He’d deserve it! I’m surprised your parents haven’t hit him yet, either! They should! He was keeping important stuff from you! Fuck, they were keeping it from you too, weren’t they?!" Brent was so upset for Kellen that it relaxed the tight feeling grasping Kellen’s chest. Kellen shook his head slowly, a warm smile on his lips.

"Brent, thank you for getting angry on my behalf. Really. I...I think my own emotional state has been blinding me to how big of a deal this is so that I would stay stable. Less volatile. However, you’re right. This is a big deal. Maybe...like Rhys, the powers kept my Class low so that I didn’t go insane until I was in a better place. They dropped him from being an SS Class Esper when he awakened." Kellen told Brent. Brent listened.

"They can do that?" Brent asked cautiously and Kellen gave a dark laugh.

"When you have the ability to see fucking everything, whether you like it or not, why wouldn’t you choose the path where you live the longest? It’s not like the powers are there to kill you." Kellen countered. "They are supposed to be a blessing from the gods, remember?" Brent gave a low, dark laugh.

"Yeah, the gods. Can’t say people like Charlie and I agree." Brent said. Kellen’s jaw tightened further. Another confirmation that things were so messed up in this world.

"Yeah, well, when you give people powers, people are bound to think that they are gods. It’s not like there aren’t civilians who worship Espers like they are gods already." Kellen muttered. Brent remained quiet for a moment.

Then, he let out a heavy sigh.

"I’m sorry. I wasn’t supposed to make this a sad, angry conversation. You were calling me for a good reason, weren’t you?" Brent sounded apologetic, even if his tone was still tense, still angry. Kellen sighed, staring at the page on his phone screen.

"It’s okay, Brent. I think I needed this. Everyone’s been so tense, so on edge about everything else that we’ve had a hard time having conversations like this. We’ve been...keeping the balance so that we don’t all drown. I appreciate you talking to me like this. I...missed you." Kellen admitted. Brent exhaled slowly on the other side.

"I missed you too."