KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Neverseen 16 (Keefe POV)

Keefe was sitting in the massive tree house in Alluveterre reading another boring Empathy book.

It was a shame that the Black Swan didn't have any super talented empaths that could've trained him. Foster and Fitz had Granite. Biana had Della and Wraith. Dex didn't have anyone mentoring him, but at least they were giving him projects to work on.

Keefe wished they'd let him help Dex. It would be better than boring books.

And better than having to sit there watching Foster and Fitz stare into each others' eyes.

Keefe wouldn't mind them getting so close if he didn't know just how much Foster liked it.

Okay, she hated it, too, but only because she was scared to spill her secrets.

But she liked all this quality time with Fitzy, as evidenced by the flutters she was flinging Keefe's way.

Cognate training apparently made her panic and swoon in equal measure.

Keefe's only consolation was that he was also growing closer to Foster—and there had even been a couple of times that she'd gone fluttery over him.

But not like with Fitz.

Which was really unfortunate, because Keefe had known right away how intriguing Foster was. And the more time he spent with her, the clearer it became--she was an incredible person. He'd finally managed to push and prod his way into her life--not just as a nominal friend but as an integral part of her circle. He could feel how much he mattered to her. And he loved it. He hadn't had very much of that--his few friendships before Fitz had been superficial. Mostly because Keefe hadn't wanted to let anyone in, let anyone see what his life was truly like. He even hid it from Fitz for a long time--and even now, didn't let Fitz see the full scope of it. But his relationships with the Vackers had been all he really had, until Foster came along. Fitz was both best friend and brother. But none of their other friends were as close.

And then Sophie Foster arrived on the scene and changed everything. The way she'd handled him finding out his family was even worse than he'd imagined? Looked out for him, worried about how it was affecting him?

That was huge.

And Fitz, Biana and Dex were all standing by him too.

And the Collective.

Apart from the Vackers, Keefe wouldn't have had any of that support if it hadn't been for Sophie.

The more he got to know her, the more he liked her.

And the more she liked Fitz.

Keefe was spared from this upsetting spiral by Calla running into the room. She seemed stressed as she told Foster that there was an urgent report and she couldn't reach the Collective.

They all followed Foster and Calla outside, where they were introduced to two gnomes named Lur and Mitya.

Unfortunately, they began speaking in gnomish, so only Foster could follow their conversation.

But when she told everyone that Lur and Mitya had apparently been the ones that had discovered where the Neverseen had been keeping her and Dex, Keefe had to resist the urge to hug them both.

They had saved both of his friends' lives that day--even if he hadn't known, yet, that Dex was destined to become his friend.

Keefe inwardly cursed not being a polygot as they continued talking in gnomish.

Especially since Mitya kept glancing at him as they spoke, and he could feel both dread and fear coursing through Foster. At one point, grief mixed with her dread and she actually swayed so hard she would have fallen over if he hadn't caught her.