KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Flight (Keefe POV)

The thrill of riding the world's most endangered--not to mention most beautiful--animal with his arms around the cutest girl he'd ever seen didn't last quite as long as he'd have expected.

Were they crossing the entire ocean tonight?

Keefe tried to keep conversation going. Foster fared better when he did that. Conversation kept her panic at bay. They talked about their sessions at school. Keefe shared some of his most enjoyable pranks--apart from the Great Gulon Incident, of course, because that needed to be told with hand motions and eye contact, not merely shouted into her ear on the back of an alicorn in mid-flight.

Then he told her she had good taste in friends, and that he was planning to rope Dex into some new pranks. Even told her that Dex had seemed genuinely pleased that Keefe was excited to have a technopath friend. Keefe felt her emotions shift as they discussed Dex. She was happy that the two boys were hitting it off, he could tell. She cared about Dex, and seemed to feel a strange responsibility for him. Almost a sort of pull in Dex's direction--though there was no indication of feelings. At least certainly not the way her mood shifted when Fitz was around.

Keefe couldn't be certain, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she felt a stronger bond with Dex after their shared trauma. They were kidnapped together and they were both tortured. Tortured. So it was only natural that Sophie felt more protective of Dex, more worried about him, than she would have before.

But something about that just make Keefe's heart warm. She was a fiercely loyal friend.

Well, that much was obvious, considering how much she still loved Biana and Fitz even though they were treating her very poorly at the moment.

Even so.

There was just something about this girl. Here she was, flying across the ocean with a boy she barely knew, to people she didn't know if she could trust, to hopefully get the help she needed to fix Alden's broken mind.

Alden.

Broken.

Nope, nope, nope.

Keefe shut that thought down. He was not going to get emotional. Not in front of Foster--or anyone, for that matter.

But she needed strength. She didn't need Keefe putting more pressure on her to fix Alden, which she would undoubtedly feel if she saw how much the loss of Alden was costing Keefe.

So as a means by which to distract himself, he switched to whining.

And more whining.

And asking how much longer it would be before something exciting happened.

"Are we there yet?" he asked sometime later—not for the first time.

And he felt her irritation rise as she answered.

"No--for the millionth time. You'll know when we are because we'll stop flying."

"Okay, that's how I'll know when we're there. But how are you going to know? Because it's been a whole lot of stars. And ocean. And oh hey--look! There's some stars! And ocean! And I'm kinda starting to wonder if that's all we're ever going to see."

"I'll know it when I see it."

Sigh. Something's gotta give here. Keefe felt like he could handle it if only he could be a bit warmer. He fidgeted, just trying to adjust before his tailbone actually bruised.

Unfortunately, his movement caused them both to start sliding off to one side.

"Careful!" Foster shouted in panic, but Silveny merely tipped a wing, catching them easily.