KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Nightfall 28 (Keefe POV)

When Keefe arrived at Havenfield, the first thing he noticed--apart from the evasiveness Foster was flinging at him--was that she was wearing crush cuffs.

Wait, what?

No, no, no.

But hang on...definitely no. Fitz would have told him if he was getting her crush cuffs.

She also didn't seem the type to wear them.

So he asked.

And she evaded his questions.

So naturally, he kept asking.

And finally, after an agonizing number of questions, he dragged the whole story out of her.

They were from Dex.

To help mask her enhancing without the need of gloves.

And they worked, but it had led to a very awkward interaction between them.

Dex, whose crush on Foster had been painfully obvious, had forced her hand.

But Keefe was shocked at how she'd handled it.

She'd kissed him.

Keefe should be so lucky.

She seemed to be bracing herself for a lot of teasing, but Keefe didn't have it in him to tease her. Not for this. Not for something that was probably really hard on her--and even harder on Dex. So he lowered his voice and asked, "How's Dex?"

"Hopefully okay." She looked around the living room, obviously checking to see if they were still alone.

"What about you?" He asked her, pointing to the dark circles rimming her eyes. "Couldn't sleep after crushing Dex's fragile heart?"

Okay, so maybe he was going to tease her a little.

"I didn't crush it," she contradicted him.

But he felt her doubt. He moved closer to her. "I'm just kidding," he told her gently. "All you did was prove my dad's theory."

He watched as she thought about what he'd said, and understanding dawned on her. He knew she was remembering his dad's book, The Heart of the Matter, where his dad had theorized that the heart and head held two different sets of emotions.

"Since when did you start agreeing with him on that?" she asked.

"Since Lumenaria, when you enhanced me."

Her eyebrows shot up at that, but she didn't say anything.

Keefe smoothed the front of his navy blue jerkin before elaborating. "I'd assumed that the enhancing made everything feel more intense than normal. But I realized later that some of what I picked up didn't match the usual Foster Feelings you're always flinging my way."

"Empaths," she grumbled, pulling her cape closed, as if that could keep her emotions away from him.

"Hey, it's not my fault you hurl your emotions at me like we're in a big old splotching match of feels," he reminded her. "I'd ignore you if I could."

As if he would ever ignore her.

"And I'd block you if I could."

He laughed. "Then it looks like we're stuck with each other. But if it makes you feel any better, it turns out you're only giving me a tiny piece of the Foster Puzzle. I got a glimpse of the bigger picture and...well...let's just say it was very enlightening."

Extremely.

And he loved it.

She looked away, staring at the floor. "How so?"