KOTLC Stuff

The Road to Recovery (pt. 1)

TW!: Depression, self-hate, Mention of s/lf-h/rm and su/c/de
Reader caution advised!

As an Empath, Keefe knew a lot about emotions. He prided himself in his ability to know Foster's emotions better than she knew herself. From his father he'd inherited his ability which far exceeded most other empaths. Of course, even with all the practise in reading emotions he'd gotten from hanging around Foster, he was aware that there were some emotions he didn't know yet. Elves were prone to emotions on the spectrum of happy, sad, angry and it was rare to find other emotions as their body's couldn't handle them well.

Keefe had experienced guilt as an emotion several times and had long since decided it was the worst thing one could possibly feel as an elf. As such, he tried to make sure no one went down the road of guilt. He made sure to touch his friends often enough to see if their emotional balance had changed but not too often so as not to seem suspicious. Through this he discovered a lot about his friends.

 
Foster's emotions were the most wide-spread, ranging from happiness and hope, to despair and hurt, to confused and worried. Keefe was able to figure out where all these emotions came from more often than not and tried to help her relax.

Fitz was holding a lot of anger and frustration at not being capable enough or whatever, but calmed down around Dex so Keefe did his best to push then to spend more time together.
Dex was almost always calm unless frustrated with his gadgets or worried for everyone's safety. He seemed to enjoy being around Fitz, his emotions becoming s whirlwind of butterflies when he was near.

Biana showed strong determination and resolve, often planning ahead and being prepared. Keefe mostly let her be.

And Linh. Linh was her usual bubbly self but the longer Keefe checker her emotions, the more he noticed her growing worry that started to consume her. Eventually he had to confront her.

 "Why are you always so worried?"

At first, Linh denied being worried at all and it took Keefe admitting he'd been checking her emotions for a while that she finally conceded.
"I'm worried about Tam."

Now, normally Keefe wouldn't care much about bangs boy, but the sheer amount of concern in everything Linh did was enough to worry anyone.

"Why are you worried about him?"

Linh seemed equal parts relieved and scared to tell another elf what was on her mind.

"Tam is acting strange. I'll find him in his room just staring at the wall not reacting to anything. He's constantly awake at night and I sometimes think I hear crying but when I go check he says he's fine. I've also caught him hiding things and sometimes when I go to his room, he has his window open and is sitting outside on the windowsill."

As Linh talked, Keefe felt his own concern growing. Stupid bangs boy. In a split-second decision he offered the only thing he could think of.

"Would you like me to check his emotions? See if he's okay?"

As soon as he said it, he wanted to take it back. But Linh looked so grateful, he knew he had to try.

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The next day at Foxfire, all appeared normal. Biana was harassing Sophie and Fitz, Dex was pretending he wasn't staring at the Vacker boy's smile, and Linh was dragging Tam over with help from Marella. Keefe looked over at Tam. Now that Linh had pointed out Tam's behaviour, he began to notice small changes in his appearance as well. His bangs were covering his eyes more than normal now, his shoulders were ever so slightly slumped, and he'd wrapped bits of ribbon around his wrists to prevent his sleeves from slipping up.