Daniel returned several minutes after Nathan left with a frowning man beside him. Penn nodded hello and returned to his seat, wondering if that was the Hunter he had been warned against. He assumed so when the Hunter only grunted an acknowledgment before sitting in the chair beside him. The time passed quickly with the other Hunter, resulting in a seventy-seven percent sync rate.

The Hunter nodded and quietly left, leaving Penn confused by the interaction—or the lack thereof. Wasn't this the Hunter that had personality issues? He was more just basic rude than anything else. Penn scratched the back of his neck, lost in thought before he noticed a waft of steam hit his nose. He lifted his eyes to meet Daniel's gentle hazel stare.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, handing a fresh cup of tea to Penn, who took it gratefully. 

"Strangely better after the test with the Hunter that came while you were gone," Penn replied, his hand barely fitting in the handle as he blew the top of the tea, attempting to cool it down. Daniel frowned. 

"While I was gone?" he questioned slowly. "Was there someone that came in while I was fetching Hunter Dan?"

"Yes," Penn responded, looking at Daniel over his tea, his brows knitted. "A hunter in my complex that I met the other day. We matched well, and the director said he would be assigned to me as a priority going forward."

"Matched well…" Daniel replied, his face going still. "Higher than what we matched?"

"Ninety-three," Penn replied carefully, watching Daniel's face go cold. He felt a prickling sensation on his skin. "Daniel, is everything okay?"

"Excuse me for a moment," Daniel spun around, rushing into the overview room. A hushed argument broke out that lasted a few moments. Penn paused his drinking out of concern, watching the door frame where he could see Daniel's hands move exaggeratedly as he talked in hushed tones. After a bit, Daniel stormed out of the overview room, face flared with anger. He started towards the hallway door before pausing to look back at Penn.

"I'm sorry, Penn, something came up. I have to head out. Since you're done for the day, why don't you go home and get some sleep." 

"No prob-" as Penn responded, the door slammed shut, cutting him off. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, not knowing what to do or how to react to Daniel's outburst. The testing director exited the overview room with a sigh.

"You're good to go. We have to arrange the results and forward the tests to some higher-ups. Thank you, Guide Jennson."

"Thank you as well," Penn responded, finishing his tea and nodding to the team as he left the match test room. He momentarily stood in the empty hallway, confused with himself, before heading to the elevators. He did, after all, have an appointment to get to.

***

As Penn opened his office door, he was greeted with a dark, empty room. He wasn't surprised since Nathan had left not long ago, and it would take a bit to go to the dorm complex and back - adding in the ordering time. Penn made his way to the lounge couch, lying down once again. He knew it'd be rude for Nathan to come in to see him like this, but nothing differed from the previous time Nathan had found him like this. 

He must have dozed off momentarily because he woke up with a jolt as a cold sensation overtook his body—as if he had fallen asleep inside an icebox, everything dark and all-consuming. He sat up in a cold sweat, heaving deep breaths. Why did it feel like his oxygen was cut off? He looked around to see Nathan sitting beside him, looking concerned, his hand on his. 

"You seemed to be having a nightmare. I was trying to wake you," Nathan replied. "Do you need some water?"

"No, sorry, I'm fine," Penn replied, confused as he scanned the room for whatever caused that unsettling feeling within him. 

"I was going to let you sleep longer since you seemed to need it, but you started shaking and sweating, and I grew concerned."

Penn looked at Nathan and then at the clock on his desk. He had been asleep for two hours, though it felt more like he was unconscious than asleep. Nathan leaned for the food bag and pulled out a wet serviette pack. He opened it and patted the sweat along Penn's forehead and neck.

"Thank you," Penn responded awkwardly, giving a small smile. Nathan smiled back.

"No problem. You should eat. I picked out some simple grilled deli sandwiches they had, if that's okay." Nathan leaned to the coffee table, pulling the wrapped sandwiches from the bag. "Turkey, ham, beef or chicken? I got them all because I wasn't sure what you liked."

"I'm fine with anything. Hard to be picky in the army," Penn laughed. Nathan's smile deepened, his dimples making an appearance. 

"You may not be, but I'm quite picky," Nathan joked, handing the beef sandwich in his hand to Penn, who chuckled in response. 

"I'll do my best to remember."

"I would appreciate it if you would." he joked, picking up the turkey. Penn laughed.

"And thank you for waking me up. I'm not one to sleep that deep in public or even dream."

"It seemed more like a nightmare," Nathan commented, glancing at Penn before focusing back on his food. 

"I haven't been able to remember my dreams lately," Penn replied, opening the wrapper. He paused, eyes darting to Nathan in confusion. Why was he telling him this? They were practically strangers. That unsettling feeling started to prick at the back of his neck. 

"Isn't that just a normal occurrence? Don't most people forget their dreams when they wake up," Nathan asked after he swallowed a bite. 

"Hmm, that's true…" Penn mumbled through his own bites. Suddenly, a thought popped into his mind.  "Why did you want to meet up in my office? My trainer isn't even here today."

"Well, there's a couple of reasons. I'm not the biggest fan of the cafeteria, for one. S-ranked espers tend to be weirdly territorial - we all have some sort of personality or mood issue. Another reason is there are two reactions when being in public with many awakened. If there is too wide of a gap in ranks, they seem to have their survival instinct kick in - like their whole body is saying, 'that's a monster, they're dangerous, run away.' But if the gap is too close, like rank A's, they become weirdly attached - like's it's herd mentality. ."

"That's horrifying," Penn's face contorted, highly disturbed. 

"It's even worse with Guides. They just stick to you and follow you around. You can even take a piss without someone standing beside your urinal. Something about the sensation of guiding a rank S esper is like an aphrodisiac."

"What?" Penn froze, then stopped to evaluate himself. Nathan noticed and chuckled.

"Maybe it's your unique constitution, having awakened as both a guide and a hunter, but it doesn't seem to affect you much or at all. Your high rank could also be a factor."

"Ahh…" Penn replied, relaxing against the back of the lounger, his toes wiggling in his shoes. But once again, he frowned. Nathan seemed to notice without even looking at him. 

"You're worried about how easily we're getting along even though we're strangers, right?" Nathan chuckled, setting his food down and reaching for the bottled water. Penn nodded as he took one Nathan handed to him. "It's our sync rate - the proficiency. Because we match so well, enough to bond, that it feels natural to be around each other. Like finding a long-lost friend, brother, or lover. It's a survival thing. Guides need espers to protect them, and the esper needs Guides to purify their mana and mind."

"They don't really go into much detail during the training lectures for Guides," Penn said, recalling his lessons in the morning. Nathan nodded. 

"I'm not surprised. There are a lot of taboo topics about Guides. Probably all the stuff you've heard rumors about, like the illegal Guide houses that are pretty much just brothels." Nathan opened up a container that had a salad, frowned when he saw olives and handed the Greek salad to Penn before picking up the Caesar salad for himself. 

"Wouldn't it be safer to know more for Guides? At least for their own safety…" Penn questioned, accepting the fork that Nathan handed him.

"You were military, so you should understand. Knowledge is power, a weapon. Knowing too much makes trouble for your superiors. I feel like you're a smart guy who listens to his bosses well," Nathan commented, a hollow tone echoing in his statement. Penn wasn't sure if he was making a snide comment at him or not.

"I'm average, at best," Penn laughed awkwardly. Nathan stopped and turned to him, his back hitting Penn's knee.

"A rank A+ Guide who is also Hunter… there is nothing average about you. Besides, don't say that out loud to anyone. You'll give them indigestion. Nothing more offensive than to hear a handsome man call himself average."

"You seem pretty self-aware. Speaking from experience?" Penn laughed. Nathan smirked.

"My face pisses people off before I can even talk. What can I say?" he shrugged, snickering as he returned to eating. "After we're done eating, let's do a proper practice run."

"For what?" Penn asked between bites. 

"Guiding," Nathan smiled sweetly.