Keefe was scared that they'd leave him behind. They didn't the first day, they seemed worried for him. He could remember the overwhelming 'are you okay?'s from the first day it hurt. He remembered how his Mentor had sent him down to Elwins. He remembered breaking down that day. He remembered breaking down the next time, 4 months afterward. And the third time, a few months after that. He remembered the panic he'd been in the time Sophie had shown up with him. He didn't want to leave her(her emotions were so strong he could almost believe he was that warm inside). He remembered almost 9 months later, visiting the Healing Center again. He remembered telling Elwin a bit more than he normally did. Elwin had some advice, although he didn't press. Keefe appreciated that. He remembered going on a streak. He'd made it through a year and a half, before inevitably coming down to Elwin's Healing Center. Keefe remembered when he was sent to exilium. He didn't have a choice, at all anymore. He probably couldn't choose for a long time. He'd attempted to busy himself with the Neverseen's schemes, with mixed results. He'd had another hurting day in the exilium hut. Sophie was there, but he couldn't make himself care much. The thing that tipped him over the edge was Sophie keeping the secret about his mother. He'd broken down again that day, and without Elwin there, well, he was desperate for anything. He slept at the window that day. It was surprisingly calming.
He still missed the healing center. It became one of his favorite places, one where he could be whatever he was feeling there. Sometimes, he stayed after there, specifically when Elwin was restocking the shelves of elixirs. He'd help a bit, although he tended to drift to his sketchbook after a while. Elwin didn't seem to mind, often conversing with Keefe while plopping the vials into their places.
Things had gotten more action-filled down at the Healing Center. Sophie, Fitz, Keefe himself, all their friends were risking their lives for the Black Swan. Keefe wasn't bitter. He just wished he didn't have to worry about them. Sometimes, when one of his friends fell into another coma, Keefe would walk down there. He wouldn't talk to Elwin about his problems, and Elwin let him be. They usually talked about the patient who was lying in a cot, unmoving.
It helped to know Elwin was there, though.
At some point, Keefe started to ask Elwin about his life. It was usually while Keefe waited for someone to heal from a, in comparison to the group's normal injuries, relatively small injury. The worry was still there, but both he and Elwin enjoyed the break from being 5 seconds away from a panic attack on (most likely) Sophie's behalf.
Sometimes, when Keefe was far too cold in his blanket pile, when he was hugging Mrs. Stinkbottom like the world was ending, when he couldn't feel warm, no matter what he tried, Keefe pretended he lived with Elwin. He pretended he met Elwin's best friend, pretended he could see the stars on the ceiling that Elwin had told him about. It was scary how much he wished that the life he'd imagined was real. It was even scarier how it made him finally feel warm inside.
But it worked like a charm, so who was he to complain?
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KOTLC Oneshots Cause Why Not
FanfictionA collection of KOTLC oneshots that i took extreme artistic liberty with. Goes from best tow rost, disregarding the actual timing that i wrote this, so the ANs are messed up, but i don't have the energy to fix them
