KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Flashback 19 (Keefe POV)

Let her get hers over with before she knew what it was going to be like.

Keep her anxiety at bay.

Even if she was cute when she was anxious.

And it was...really gross.

It smelled like something had crawled into her bandage and died.

Weeks ago.

And was now decomposing.

And honestly, that's kind of how it looked, too.

He coughed, trying not to gag. "Okay. That might be too gross even for me."

But he was going to stick it out. He didn't want to look like a wimp by waiting in the hall, and he also didn't want to make it any harder on Foster or on Fitz by being so grossed out.

He also knew Ro would stay in the room and enjoy it...and drive them crazy.

So he asked if he could get a bottle of that goopy nastiness to force upon his unsuspecting dad, but it was apparently going to Livvy.

Livvy was one lucky elf, with Elwin sending her gifts like that.

But Keefe had to hand it to Elwin...when all that horrible goop was scraped off, Foster's arm looked almost normal again.

And seeing that—after seeing how bad it looked when Dex carried her into the Healing Center—was worth every moment of grossness during the Ooze Fest.

Which gave him the strength to stay for Fitz's turn.

Seeing his leg the way it belonged—no grotesque break, no bone sticking out—was another huge relief.

Elwin was a miracle worker.

It even sounded like the Fitzphie Slumber Party was coming to an end.

He was mostly grateful--both that they would get to leave the Healing Center and that they would no longer be basically living together--but wasn't sure that Fitz should be going home to parents with whom he was currently really angry until they could find a way to finally silence those echoes.

Keefe loved and appreciated Alden and Della more than they knew. Or actually, maybe they did.

He didn't resent them for allowing Alvar to be moved back to Everglen, the situation was so confusing.

Not that he would admit that to anyone but Foster.

But he also didn't really blame Fitz for his anger, either.

It was an awful situation for all of them, and they were all handling it differently.

But he still wasn't sure Fitz should be going back to Everglen. Wouldn't it cause a setback?

But he couldn't exactly invite Fitz to move to the Shores of Solace either. That was definitely not a happy place.

And he supposed Biana deserved to have her one good big brother back at home to help her deal with everything.

But Keefe made a mental note to ask Biana to keep an extra close watch on Fitz and try to help keep him calm. Not that she'd need reminding--she had probably already thought of it.

But still.

But as Elwin announced that they should be getting to go home, Sir Tiergan walked in.

Shaken out of his brief but worrying reverie, Keefe looked over at Tiergan and said "you just missed the Fitzphie Ooze Fest."

And Tiergan turned green when he saw what was in the basin. "That explains the smell."

As Elwin got everything cleaned up and Fitzphie choked down their medicines--Keefe really didn't want to know what ingredients went into all of them--Foster asked Tiergan why he'd come.

"That hurts, Foster," Keefe teased. "Have you already forgotten about Operation: Privacy Invasion?"

He could tell that she actually had.

Probably because she was fretting about the prospect of having to face Fintan.

He sure wished they wouldn't do it.

He knew Fintan couldn't actually hurt them or anyone else this time, but...he could play mind games.

Mind games that could absolutely trigger their echoes.

But hopefully they'd know their limits and get out of there if they needed to.

Foster's mood turned downward again at the reminder of Keefe's request.

So again, he promised her he could handle it.

She didn't believe him.

And she would rather protect him, his heart and his dignity, than get potentially useful information.

Which was unwise, but...incredible.

Incredible of her.

But she'd already agreed, and was true to her word, so she looked at Tiergan and asked, "okay, how do we do this?"