𝓂𝒾𝒹𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 (𝒶 𝓀𝑜𝓉𝓁𝒸 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉𝓈 𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀)

~Champion of the Pillow Arena Runs Solely On Caffeine (Keefex)~

Haven't updated in a while, but I'm here now I guess.

I don't know what it is about me making oneshots where someone begs Dex to get some sleep. It's fun for me, and plus, super cute for everyone else (I hope).

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✩Keefe's POV✩

I wonder who created the saying "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Whoever they were, they were right.

That was what Keefe Sencen was thinking to myself as he trekked up the snowy hills of Rimeshire. The freezing wind supplied a prominent contrast to the humid air blowing throughout the rooms in the Shores of Solace. A pleasant one, according to Keefe. Anything opposite to his father's miserable beach mansion was considered enjoyable to him.

The closer Keefe came to the crystalized house on the snow-capped hill, the more he managed to notice little details of Rimshire that seemed like they were sculpted to make the wonderland-like estate as different to the Shores of Solace as possible. The loud, obnoxious voices from the small elves playing in the snow contradicted the suffocating silence of Keefe's father's own house. Keefe shuddered in his dark blue jerkin as he remembered last night, lying in his bed at midnight, wide awake, barely able to breath. The walls seemed to be shrinking in his imagination. But when he opened his ice blue eyes that he didn't know were closed in the first place, he let out a sigh of relief at the cold, open sky.

Keefe's nerves started to tingle with anxiety as he reached the door. He knew how busy Dex was, with all his Technopath work and annoying siblings. And Keefe couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought of unloading all of his problems onto someone who Keefe has had barely enough time to pay attention to. He was considering giving up and going back home, letting Dex deal with his own bullshit when the door opened in front of him.

"Keefe?" A tall, lanky ginger woman stood at the door in mild shock. She then smiled, opening up her arms and pulling him into an embrace. Keefe barely resisted the urge to melt into her warm arms and stay there, in hopes of tricking his mind into thinking those arms were attached to his father's body, not his friend's mom's.

"I'm here to see Dex," Keefe found himself saying. Juline smiled at him, opening the door wider and stepping aside for Keefe to come in.

"He'll be in his room," Juline informed him. "About time he gets some visitors!" Keefe felt a small pang of guilt in his gut; his stomach churning with the knowledge that Keefe wasn't here to visit Dex, he was here to force someone to help him deal with his own problems.

I wonder when the last time that anyone came to Dex's house solely to spend time with him was, Keefe wondered as he lightly rapped on the wooden door at the end of the hall, the only one that was closed.

A mumble of consent gave Keefe the permission to open the door, and come inside. Dex's tired periwinkle eyes never left the gadget he was tinkering with as Keefe made his way over.

"Um, hi," Keefe said nervously. "Are you busy, perhaps?"

Dex's horrific eyes shot up from his work, and shook his head no. He was clearly lying.

Keefe chuckled softly. "How's the work going?"

Dex reached over to grab a vat of dark, bitter coffee and chug it down in several gulps. When he finished, his eye bags were still present, but at least he looked a tiny bit more animated. "Fine."

Keefe chuckled again. "You need to take a nap, we'll talk after."

Dex's chapped lips curved upwards ever so slightly; a ghost of a smile lingering above his mouth. "I refuse."

"Trust me on this one, Dexy," Keefe told him with a smile. Small, but sincere. Dex gave him a bored look, making his smile grow a little more. "Trust the Empath."

"Fight me," Dex declared, opening the cap of another coffee vat and downing it in a few gulps. "I dare you."

Keefe grinned, picking up a pillow from the bed and bending his knees in a battle position. "You're challenging me, Dizznee?"

Dex picked up his own pillow from the cluttered floor below, matching Keefe's battle-ready stance. "What else would I be doing, Keefe?" He managed an exhausted smirk, charging straight forward and knocking Keefe's pillow out of his hands.

Keefe fumbled down for the pillow, only to have Dex snatch it from his hands. "Nope! You lost. Too bad, too sad."

Keefe stood up, snatching the pillow back and smirking confidently. "Fine. Let's make another bet now. Five lusters?"

Dex's eyes flickered to his empty coffee vats. "Well, I do need more money for those human drinks..." Dex turned back to Keefe, his lips pressing against each other and forming a thin line. "Fine," he spat. "Five lusters."

Keefe grinned triumphantly. If Dex wasn't going to fall asleep willingly, he would simply battle him until he collapsed on his own. Perfect plan.

"Ready?" Dex's eyes narrowed into glaring little slits, but the fluttering of his eyelashes let Keefe know that it was getting harder and harder for him to keep them open.

"Set..." Keefe smirked again, his trust in his pillow fighting skills going through the roof, especially with someone who hasn't slept in days. This would be a piece of cake, even against Dex, the renowned (but sadly, self proclaimed) Champion of the Pillow Arena.

"Go!"

Keefe and Dex charged into each other at the same time, pillows guarding their faces protectively. Keefe toppled over onto his back, sending Dex to fall on top of him, hands placed on his chest. Keefe smirked at Dex and wiggled his eyebrows. Dex's nerves were awake enough to understand what he just did, and also awake enough to blush because of it. He quickly got off of Keefe, and maintained his composure before grinning.

"I win," he declared triumphantly. Keefe booed, making a small laugh escape from the Technopath's lips before he clutched his head in his hand, obviously in pain. Keefe's smirk dropped from his face and morphed into a concerned frown.

"Ow," Dex complained. "I have a headache now." Keefe rolled his eyes, heaving himself off the ground and placing his hands on Dex's shoulders.

"It's called being tired, Dexy," Keefe said in a mockingly patient voice, as if he was talking to a small child. "Go to sleep."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a little nap," Dex mumbled, wobbling on his legs as he made his way to the bed. Keefe pumped his fist in victory as the small boy curled up in his dark blue blankets, bending his knees to hold against his chest and resting his head against a nearby pillow.

"Goodnight," Dex murmured as his eyelids fluttered closed.

"It's midday," Keefe whispered with amusement, but Dex was already too asleep to hear him.