kotlc oneshots!

really pt 1

* Lodestar spoilers *

Today was just too long.

Keefe didn't know how they kept up with it— being evil and all. It was a full time job just pretending to be evil. He couldn't begin to think about how it must feel actually being a terrible person. But, he supposed that evil people must feel the same way about good people.

He laid in his bed that smelled strongly of the Havenfield animal pastures, thinking of Sophie. He was such a slacker before he met her. Below average grades, the prankster of the school. For a moment he reminisced back to the days of the Great Gulon Incident with a sigh. It was a truly amazing day.

He was glad he had a photographic memory, because those memories were going to be the closest thing he had to a nice, solid break. He laughed to himself, thinking of Fintan's reaction if he set a stink bomb or something into his pocket. (A stink bomb in the pocket? Man. He really needed to get back on his pranking game.)

"What are you smiling at?" a cruel voice snarled, breaking Keefe out of his daydreams. He immediately stood to attention and faced Ruy. Caught off guard, he scrambled for something to say.

"Just thinking about swearing fealty to the Neverseen," he responded quickly, mentally punching himself for the lame response. Luckily, Ruy was a dimwit and didn't suspect anything, only laughing giddily in response.

"Aye, I remember those days. Years ago, man." He wiped his brow, a small smile on his thin lips. "It was a great feeling." His startlingly pale eyes locked with Keefe's, and Keefe had to repress a shiver from crawling down his spine. There was no humanity in that stare.

He brushed himself off and stood up. "So," he said casually. "What's going on?"

Ruy continued to gaze at him icily. Instead of answering his question, he replied, "Fintan asked me to check how you're settling in." Keefe smiled politely, but he wasn't done. "But I don't trust you, kid."

Keefe's heart hammered in his chest, but kept his cool, unnerved gaze and shoved his hands in his pockets with a wry laugh. "Why?"

He thought for a second. "I just... I don't feel like your heart's in it. You'd better be careful around here." He stared at him for one more moment, and with a slight shake of the head turned on his heels and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Keefe slumped down onto his bed, puzzled. What the hell was that supposed to be? A threat? A warning? He shifted uncomfortably, nervous at the man's unreadable actions. Pondering, he leaned back onto the cold medal headboard. If they didn't trust him, everything was over. he knew what had happened with his mother. Prison did not seem like such a great place to be, much less an ogre prison.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice plummeted into his mind. Keefe?

"Holy shit," he exclaimed when he heard Sophie's voice. His fingertips went numb and he anxiously tapped them against his leg to try to wake them up. Taking a deep breath, he regained himself before talking back to her. He had a right to be nervous. It had certainly been a while.

Keefe, this isn't like an Imparter, Sophie continued, annoyance evident in her voice. I'm literally inside your mind. You can't pretend like you're not home. Well, maybe you're not home, because you were dumb enough to do this in the first place and got kill—

Hi, Foster.

Keefe pictured her blushing. Sorry. I didn't mean to get upset.

Oh, shut up. You know I love your feisty side. Now he knew there was even more blushing.