The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]

"Sir? Mr. Lennox? Team Leader Damien Lennox, Sir?"

After leaving the lecture hall, Damien led Lane through the hallways in silence. But how could Lane be willing to stay well-behaved? Before long, he caught up with Damien to walk side-by-side, and started bothering the man.

Damien gave him a sideways glance, slowing down the pace to make it more comfortable for Lane. "What is it?"

"Are you going to introduce me to the team now, Sir?"

"No." Damien paused for a moment, but sensing the incoming questions, he soon continued, "May I remind you that it is not yet certain whether you will join my team. If you do not pass the Basic Guide exams tomorrow, you will have to rejoin the training course. Depending on the opinion of your instructor, you might even have to retake the whole course right from the start."

Lane couldn't help but roll his eyes. As if he would fail something as easy as that.

To Damien, however, he said, "Don't worry, Team Leader! I will do my best! I will join your team for sure!" He flashed a wide smile at the man once again. "But… In that case, where are we going now?"

"To the Guiding Center. You are going to receive tutoring on how to give Espers guiding. Unlike the theory, you cannot study this alone at home. You need an experienced Guide to watch over you, but most importantly, an Esper to practice with."

"Hmm… Isn't that supposed to be rather intuitive?"

Damien shook his head slightly in response. "This, I cannot tell you, as I am not a Guide. For us Espers, using our abilities is indeed intuitive, so perhaps it is so for the Guides as well…" Damien stopped and turned to face Lane. "But no matter how easy it might turn out to be, I suggest you start taking it seriously. A Guide's job is extremely important. In the future, when working in the field, there might be times when your teammates' lives will depend on you. So, for the sake of your comrades, all the civilians we protect, as well as your own, take advantage of this opportunity and learn properly."

Lane's smile diminished. He was tempted to mess around a bit more, but…

Damien had a point. As an Esper himself, Lane was aware all too well that without guiding, Espers couldn't survive long - unless they were to never use their abilities, that is. So, he could somewhat understand why Damien was so disapproving of his attitude.

Acting all cheery and carefree to mess with Damien was one thing - he already knew the man wouldn't dislike him on a personal level - but as he was about to join his team, Lane didn't want his future Team Leader to think of him as someone completely unreliable. 

So, for the first time since they'd met in the lecture hall, Lane put on a serious expression. "I understand. I will do my best to meet Team Leader's expectations."

Damien's frown finally eased a tiny bit, and he nodded at Lane with approval. He then watched as the 'newbie' Guide met with his tutor, all the way until they disappeared in one of the guiding rooms. 

Even after Lane completely disappeared from his sight, he stood in place for a while, staring at the door. Eventually though, he shook his head with a sigh, and turned around, leaving the Guiding Center to attend to his other duties.

***

When Lane arrived at the Association the next morning, Damien was already there, waiting in the foyer. As soon as he saw him, Lane rushed to his side, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"Good morning, Team Leader! Are you here to cheer me on?"

Damien gave him a long, stern look. "You're late. The exam is starting in less than ten minutes," he scolded Lane. "Let's get going."

Lane rolled his eyes behind the man's back. Ten minutes was a lot of time - how exactly was he 'late'?

If it was a raid, then alright, he could understand. Raids required a lot of preparation. There might be a need to go through the strategy one last time, check all the equipment, review all the information they have, perhaps receive some guiding so that they can start in perfect condition… But this was just a written exam. All that Lane had to do was to take out his pen and take a seat. As long as he somehow made it to the classroom before the exam started, it would be just fine.

But, he still followed Damien without a complaint.

They arrived in front of the exam room with still a bit of time to spare. It seemed that it was just Lane who thought that coming in at the last minute was appropriate - the three other Guides taking the exam with him were already there. Even the examiner was present, just waiting for the clock to strike so that he could start handing out the papers.

Lane wasn't even a bit ashamed, though. He simply turned to Damien, asking, "Team Leader, are you not going to wish me good luck?"

"…Do your best."

"Thank you!" Lane flashed a smile and walked into the room.

…But, before Damien even had a chance to leave, Lane was out yet again.

"Team Leader… Do you have a pen? I seem to have forgotten mine…"

Damien was rendered momentarily speechless. There were only two things Lane needed with him - his ID and a pen. And yet, he somehow managed to forget one of them?

Without a word, he took a pen from a pocket on his chest and handed it to Lane.

"Haha," Lane let out a short, bashful laughter, tapping the tip of the pen on his lower lip. "Thank you, Team Leader! With your pen, I will pass the exam for sure! It's going to be my lucky charm!"

It was only when he noticed the change in Damien's expression that Lane realized what he was doing. His behavior right now… It could be considered a bit flirty, couldn't it? Especially by someone like Damien's standards…

Oops.

Lane quickly turned around and headed back inside. 

He wasn't supposed to mess around with Damien, not in such a way, at least not in the near future… But, oh well. What could he say? It was just a force of habit.

Lane shrugged his shoulders, taking a seat. Right now, what was more important was that stupid exam he had to take. 

A little bit of flirty behavior didn't really matter anyway. After all, Damien Lennox wasn't someone who could be captured so easily…