(BL) Taming the Field Guide-Chapter 45: I know crazy runs in the family, but I didn’t come here for a crazy off

Chapter 45: I know crazy runs in the family, but I didn’t come here for a crazy off

Brent was stuck inside without any news, without any freedom, and without anything to really distract him from his spiraling thoughts, but hey, at least this time he had good food, a soft bed, and dumb, boring books on politics, right?

That was considered a decent upgrade compared to the square hole of hell he’d been in before that landed him in the hospital, right?

He didn’t think so, but that was what Colby kept telling him. Brent wanted to tell him to go put a shotgun in his mouth and take the safety off, but thought better of it. If he provoked him too much, that could only end up delaying Brent more.

Brent just wanted to get this fucking hell over and done with.

There were places he needed to be. Instead, he was stuck healing in this godforsaken home, people who he fucking hated coming to ’check up’ on him which was really them just checking on the state of his bruises.

Brent had broken several chairs just by lifting them up and throwing them around the room. He made sure not to damage any of the important ones, but fuck!

He needed an outlet! He needed to know what was going on! And he needed to fucking get the fuck out of here!

~

Brent spent a full fucking week in this damn hellhole. Unable to know anything, unable to do anything. He got really good at one handed pushups, that was for fucking sure, but that was the only thing he was able to do.

This was some kind of torture, he was sure of it. He knew because even his crazy fucking brother gave him a wide birth when he came to check on Brent the last time. It was probably the glint in his eyes.

"Well, you look well enough to leave the house and head to the lawyers office. We’re going to take that time to do a publicity shoot. Nothing...forced. We just want it known that you are safe, healthy, and willingly signing the papers." His brother had told him after he had made sure there was about two meters between them. Brent nodded.

He would have rolled his eyes previously, laughing at how hard he was emphasizing every little detail, but he was beyond that point. Brent felt that he might, for a second, understand how Espers felt. If they felt this crazy when they weren’t guided, man, Brent got it.

He’d be nicer to them going forward.

"Understood. Is that happening tomorrow? How long is this going to take?" Brent asked. He wasn’t playing around. He was tired. He was done. He needed to get out of here. His brother watched him, able to tell that something had shifted about Brent.

"Well, the process is going to take a while. Grandfather made sure of it." His brother said with a tense smile. Brent didn’t smile in return.

"That old coot." Brent muttered, angry, and his brother’s eyes widened. Colby looked shocked enough for the both of them.

"You were the closest to him. Why would you say that about him?" Colby asked from his designated corner in the room. Brent’s brother had made it very clear that he wasn’t allowed near Brent since he needed to be in perfect condition. Brent didn’t give a fuck at the show of power.

His brother clearly had, making a big production of how he was making sure Colby knew better and that he had ’disciplined’ him for his actions. Bunch of horse shit. There was no way his favourite henchmen had been punished. Maybe he’d just been told he wasn’t allowed to watch his brother fuck a money bunny for once and that would leave Colby in tears.

Any time the man wasn’t on his brother’s balls was a bad day for Colby.

"Just because I was close to him doesn’t mean I agreed with him or understood him, Colby. He disowned his son after he did exactly what he told him to do, and then felt guilty over what he had ordered his son to do, but didn’t bring him back into the fold. How the fuck am I supposed to understand someone like that?" Brent asked, and watched his brother’s lips twitch.

"I agree. That was a rather...short-sighted thing for him to do. That’s not how someone rewards loyalty." His brother said and Brent scoffed. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Reward? He only paid attention to me because I was trying to escape the family. I think he couldn’t wrap his head around why I would want to leave." Brent only meant half of what he was saying. He did believe his grandfather was capable of actual remorse. Especially after his grandmother passed and he was, essentially, left alone with the choices he had made throughout his life.

He had shown Brent that people could change, even if it was for completely selfish reasons. That was why most people changed.

However, his brother didn’t need to know that. It was also nice to get this old anger off of his chest. He had felt this way before his grandfather reached out and didn’t just apologise with gifts. He hadn’t gotten this anger out prior to this, and Brent was currently upset.

He felt stir-crazy, he was furious, he was scared. For him, for his Guild-mates, for the Guild that was slowly taking up a larger part of his heart. For the people who he had left behind on the front lines.

For the man who he was almost certain had gone into a gate so dangerous that it was a fool’s errand and who had done so alone. Without him.

So, he lashed out at a dead man. His grandfather would understand, and it would win him brownie points with his brother. Fucking sue him.

"He would have a hard time understanding why anyone in his familial line would want to leave, even given how you were treated. After all, the man worshipped money, wealth, and his experiments. His family fell as a distant fourth." His brother said slowly. Brent was a little surprised at the words his brother was speaking, but then again, who else would he speak these words to?

Everyone else in the family would just agree with him, not push back in the slightest.

"You put wealth there twice. I think you meant the acquisition of wealth first, then the actual wealth, research, and then family." Brent corrected and watched as Colby shifted in his corner. However, Brent’s brother smiled slowly. He had been sitting back in a chair that Colby had brought into the room. A toxic velvet green thing that made Brent’s eyes hurt looking at it.

Now, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he clasped his bejeweled fingers together, smiling as he stared at Brent.

"You’re right." He said and Brent felt a shiver run down his spine. Why the fuck was he looking at Brent like that? "He did actually enjoy getting wealth more than the wealth itself. Otherwise, he would have spent more of his money on things." Brent could argue, one needed to keep acquiring wealth to have it, and that his grandfather spent lavishly, but he didn’t want to poke the hornets’ nest.

It honestly felt like his brother was trying to be more crazy than Brent. Like, he was challenged by the fact that Brent was feeling unhinged. It was a truly fucking crazy situation if that was what was going on. How the hell could someone lock another person up without any interactions with the outside world and then try to out-crazy them?

Only someone truly mentally unstable would try to fight them, but hey, that would fit his brother to a T.

"Well, I’m sure he spent money, but it was usually tied into his research." Brent muttered, and his brother’s insane smile widened further. He gestured to Brent’s missing arm with a chuckle.

"Yes. Like all of the research that went into replacing the limbs taken from civilians and Guides. If he spent money, it was usually in such a fashion that it could be written off for tax purposes. That conniving old man." Brent’s brother said and Brent realised that his brother might be...having fun talking to Brent? What the fuck?

There was excitement in his gaze as he scanned Brent. Like he was speaking to someone who...had the same beliefs as him? Was he fucking crazy? Scratch that, Brent knew he was fucking crazy, but crazy enough that he thought he shared the same views as him?

"I don’t know how rich people spend their money, brother. I’ve been living a relatively normal life. Plus, any money I do have I have because there isn’t a lot to spend money on besides food, drugs and sex, and I didn’t need to pay for two of the three of those things." Brent said with a shrug and his brother let out a bark of laughter.

He scanned Brent again, smiling in a way that made Brent’s skin crawl before he leaned back in his seat. Brent wasn’t foolish enough to relax just because he looked relaxed now.

"I can’t argue with that. There was no damage to your brain from excessive drug use, and while I do hate to admit it, you’ve always been a handsome devil." His brother said and Brent had no fucking clue what to say to that.

"You took scans of my brain?" He asked, veering away from the sexual comments his brother had made.

"Of course. We had to make sure your brain wasn’t swelling from fever or damage." Yeah, Brent didn’t fucking trust that for a second. They were probably hoping that there was brain damage so that they could use that as an excuse. Brent sighed.

"Glad to know I don’t have any brain damage then." Brent muttered. His brother’s smile was so damn calculating as he looked at Brent that Brent wanted to shiver. "We’re doing that shit tomorrow, right? The publicity thing?" Brent asked and watched as his brother nodded slowly. He gave an unbothered shrug, smiling.

"Of course. We can do that tomorrow." Brent clocked that as something to worry about. That was not good. Whenever he was acting like that, he was planning something. Brent would have to have his guard up from this point on. Something in their conversation had caught his attention. What it was, Brent had no clue.

Should he be worried? Yeah, of course, but Brent didn’t give a fuck, not really. If it meant he could get out of here in the pieces that he was already in, that was fine by him.

Especially if being outside meant that he might catch a whiff of what was going on outside in the world.