KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Flashback 13:Part 1 (Keefe POV)

"Well, I think it's safe to say that the Fitzphie slumber party is a total snoozefest," Keefe said, throwing himself onto the cot next to Foster's. "And I mean that literally," he added, pointing at Fitz, who was still sedated.

Ro poked Fitz a few times, apparently suspicious that he was faking it. He simply snored and slept on.

Keefe smirked. "Epic Fitzphie fail."

He wished his best friend hadn't been so badly injured that he needed to be sedated, but...

He also didn't mind, really, that Fitzphie wasn't getting endless amounts of alone time.

Especially since Keefe could feel how happy Foster was to see him.

She'd missed him.

"How'd you convince Elwin to let you in today?" she asked him.

"You know I never reveal my secrets."

"He had a pass from Magnate Leto," Elwin called from his office.

Keefe scowled. He preferred to keep an air of mystery—it always made things so much more fun. "Yeah—but that doesn't explain how I convinced him to give it to me!"

"Edaline told him to!" Elwin shot back.

Sigh. Oh well. He loved that Edaline thought of him.

Even if that was only because Fitz was sedated.

"Really?"

Fosters emotions were full of awkwardness and regret. He assumed those emotions—paired with Edaline's comment about having your mom fussing over you all the time—meant they'd had a bit of an altercation causing Edaline to give Foster space.

He examined her, still slightly pale but no less beautiful—especially with that braid woven throughout her hair. She didn't usually focus too much on her face and hair, and certainly couldn't have braided it one-handed, so Keefe assumed Edaline had braided it for her at some point before leaving.

She had a good mom.

And thankfully, that mom seemed to like him, despite everything that had happened.

"She's worried about you," Keefe told her.

"I know. But I'm fine."

Liar.

Oh well. She was cute even when she tried to lie to an Empath.

But he was still going to call her on it.

"Yeah. She said you'd say that." He crossed his arms, looking at her. "She also told me about the echoes."

Just the mention of those echoes freaked her out. She grabbed her blanket and pulled it tighter around herself.

Getting comfortable on his cot, he and Ro both admitted they hadn't really understood the explanation.

"Still," he added seriously, "...I'm guessing it's kind of a big deal, if you're chugging those every night."

He pointed to the vials of sedatives lined up by her cot.

It must be bad if she's using those every night.

She blushed, but said nothing.

So he leaned in closer, looking intently at her. "Okay. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get an honest answer to this question, but I'm going to start there anyway: How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

No you're not. Please open up to me.

But all he did was raise one eyebrow at her.