A/N: A true one-shot, set sometime soon after the end of Stellarlune. Keefe's abilities are back in balance.
Keefe was quiet as they approached the Leapmasters at the end of the school day. He'd been back at Foxfire for a full week now, adjusting to his new schedule, which Magnate Leto had altered to accommodate training for his new commanding ability.
"You okay?" Sophie asked, squeezing his hand.
He offered her a small smile before calling down the crystal for Havenfield and pulling her into the light.
"It's just kind of been rough," he admitted when they reached Havenfield and began walking toward the house. "I don't like training for this ability. But I know that I have to. It's just so hard since it's new to us. They're doing the best they can, between Grady coming on to help, and Councillor Noland, and they want me to sit down soon with Councillor Terik and talk about it."
"Because he also had a totally unique ability?"
"Yes. And I think it'll help, all of it, it's just...frustrating. But," he said, leading her into the living room and sitting beside her on the couch, "we don't have to talk about that. It's the weekend now and I'd rather take a break from all of that. Especially since part of my frustration is that I'm now having to concentrate more at school and that gives me less time for pranks."
He smirked as he said that last part, and Sophie couldn't help but giggle. "Well, I'm sure we can find a way to get up to something mischievous this weekend."
Sandor tried to say something at that moment, but Sophie cut him off. "I said mischievous, not dangerous!"
"They're usually one and the same when you two are involved," Sandor pointed out.
Sophie thought for a second. "I don't see how leaping to the Forbidden Cities for date night would be dangerous." She grinned at Keefe, whose eyes lit up immediately.
Sandor sighed. "Probably not dangerous, but also not allowed."
"We sneak off to the Forbidden Cities for Black Swan stuff sometimes. You don't seem to mind then. Okay well actually, you do, but we do it anyway. Usually without you."
Sandor growled. "What are the odds of talking you out of this?"
"Zero," Keefe said immediately. "I'm way too excited about it now."
"And...it's not really date night with a goblin bodyguard who would have to stay way too close for the Obscurer to do its job," Sophie pointed out.
"Yeah, totally kills the mood," Keefe agreed. "And I know you don't like having to watch all our smooching. And there will be lots of smooching going on." He winked at Sophie.
Sandor growled something under his breath, and Sophie distinctly heard the words "teenage boys".
"Especially since the most immediate danger is behind us," Keefe added, more serious now. "We know the remainder of the Neverseen is scrambling now that Fintan is in captivity, Vespera is dead and my mom is in Exile."
Sandor glared at them. "And just what am I supposed to tell your parents?"
"Tell us about what?" Grady asked, walking through the door. "Whatever it is, is it dangerous?"
"No, just...talking about date night," Sophie hedged.
"In the Forbidden Cities," Keefe finished. Sophie looked at him, surprised.
"Hey, I'm not lying to your dad. He'd kill me."
"Smart move," Grady agreed. "But going to the Forbidden Cities isn't allowed. That's why they're called the Forbidden Cities."
"Okay, okay, we'll do some recon while we're there. Or at least we'll pretend we did. And hey, we'll bring you back some banoffee pie!" Keefe exclaimed.
"Some...what?"
"Just a British dessert Keefe didn't get around to trying while he was in hiding," Sophie told him.
A strange look crossed Keefe's face, and Grady must have seen it too. He looked at them both for a moment and said, "okay."
"Really?" Sophie asked.
"Really. Just...stick to the Obscurer and be careful. And don't be back late. And answer if I hail you. Got it?"
Sandor started giving Keefe his own set of instructions—and goblin throwing stars.
Sophie swiftly kissed Grady's cheek. "Thanks, Dad," she said.
"Of course, kiddo. Just...look after him, okay?" He glanced at Keefe. "Sometimes, revisiting places connected to trauma...well, it won't be as bad as going back to Loamnore would be, but...still. Maybe he needs this. Needs closure."
Sophie nodded. "I'll look after him."
Grady gave them an Obscurer and reminded them to be careful.
"And...I'll pretend I didn't know you still had access to a pathfinder," Grady called out as they walked back outside.
The streets of London were busy as people went about their day, but no one noticed two teenaged elves wandering the streets in strange clothing, holding hands, talking and laughing, thanks to the Obscurer in Keefe's cloak pocket.
"So even after weeks staying here, you didn't manage to try this dessert people kept telling you about?" Sophie asked Keefe as they wandered the streets looking for a restaurant or bakery that might sell it.
"I tried some weird things, but hadn't tried banoffee pie yet. It wasn't like I got out a lot. I got out some, trying to research the family my mom murdered—" a shadow crossed his face—"and occasionally had a few people I could talk to that could help me navigate the human world—without them actually realizing that was what they were doing—but I still had to try to stay hidden. I couldn't risk my mom finding me. Of course," he said bitterly, "I didn't know about the shadowflux in my heart."
Sophie squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry."
He let go of her hand and put his arm around her. "I'm just glad you came and found me."
"Me too," Sophie whispered, holding on a little tighter.
They found a bakery claiming to have award-winning desserts—including banoffee pie—so Sophie slipped inside, away from the cover of the Obscurer, and purchased a piece of pie with the human money she'd managed to acquire.
She'd ordered the pie to go, and she and Keefe wandered until they found an inconspicuous park bench along a small stretch of grass that apparently counted as a park.
Keefe opened the container. "Okay, so...what is it?"
Sophie giggled. "Banana and caramel, basically. Or toffee. Hence the name. Banana, toffee...banoffee."
Keefe snorted. "Clever." He sniffed it. "I tried human fruits and vegetables while I was here. Bananas were kind of bland but not bad."
With an air of great bravery, Keefe got a big forkful of pie and tried it.
"Hmmm." He looked thoughtful, and Sophie couldn't help but think he looked like the Food Network's most attractive food critic as he tried to decide what to say. "Well...it's not the worst thing I've ever had."
Sophie laughed, took the fork from Keefe and tried a bite. It really wasn't too bad. "You know, I actually think I would have really liked this before trying things like mallowmelt and custard bursts."
"Yeah, our food definitely trumps anything the humans can make. Especially if Edaline makes it."
Sophie noticed a certain pride—or maybe it was affection—on Keefe's face when he mentioned Edaline's name.
Almost as though talking about Edaline was like talking about a mom. A real mom, who loved him and looked after him.
She hoped he was starting to see Edaline that way.
They decided the pie was good enough to finish it off. Keefe kept trying to feed her bites of it off the fork because "I saw it on the human TV shows, it's what cute couples do during the romantic musical montages!" But Sophie just laughed and turned her face away whenever he tried it.
Keefe pouted, which she found very attractive.
And the smug grin he then gave her told her he was well aware of it.
"Okay Foster," Keefe said as they finished off the pie. "While we're here, I'd like to show you a few places I visited."
"Won't that be...I don't know, kind of hard?" Sophie asked, concerned.
Keefe looked at her and chuckled. "You know what I've always wanted to do?" he asked.
"What?"
He reached out to smooth the crease between her eyebrows with his finger.
"You get this cute little worry crease, and every time I see it, I want to smooth it out. But most of the time I didn't give in to the impulse for fear it would freak you out."
Sophie smiled at him. "You did it once. And then you looked me in the eye, and you were sitting so close, and I completely lost my train of thought."
Keefe smirked. "I remember. That seemed to happen to you a couple of times that day. And if Forkle hadn't shown up hours early telling us we had to head to Nightfall..." he looked almost wistful.
"Wait a minute," Sophie said, understanding hitting her at last. "You were about to kiss me, weren't you?"
"Yup."
She sighed. "Why didn't you say anything, after?"
"You were having a rough time, watching your parents' memories of you being completely erased. And then everything happened with Alvar's tribunal, and all your time in the Healing Center...and then you and Fitz confessed your feelings..." he shrugged. "I didn't want to get in the way and I really didn't want to be rejected."
He'd waited so long for her. She'd had no idea, and wasn't sure how things would have turned out even if she had. She'd been so obsessed with Fitz.
And Keefe had been patient and kind and supportive and...had practically been her boyfriend for years, without the fun perk of expressed shared romantic affection. Or kissing.
So Sophie did the only thing that made sense in that moment.
She grabbed his face and pulled him toward her for a kiss.
Keefe let out an amused chuckle, but responded enthusiastically enough, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in even closer, kissing her deeply, both of them briefly ignorant of the world around them, lost in each other instead.
"Hmm," Keefe said for the second time as he pulled away. "I guess I haven't kissed you like that right after eating dessert," he murmured. "You taste good."
Sophie let out a startled laugh. "You know, that sounds kind of...scandalous."
Keefe shrugged. "Just saying. Kissing you after eating a dessert just makes it that much sweeter. In fact," he added, bringing a hand up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "We should try it with different desserts. Maybe sneak back to that little shop in Italy where we bought that gelato. That was by far my favorite human dessert." He smirked at her. "I'd love to taste that--"
"Keefe...I don't know if that's really weird, or really hot," Sophie said, bursting into a fit of giggles.
He leaned in and kissed her, more softly this time. "Hopefully a little bit of both," he said, standing up and taking her hand. "But to answer your question from earlier, yes, it might be kind of hard to revisit the places I went while I was hiding here, but...I'm hoping it'll be healing, too, visiting them with you."
"Okay then, where to first?"
"You'll see."
He took her to a toy store on a busy street, bustling with people. "This is where I bought you that stuffed elf," he told her.
"I love that little elf!"
He grinned. "I know you do. I thought of you the moment I saw it--of course, I was almost always thinking of you and our whole friend group--so I bought it and held on to it. I went back and forth between despair, thinking I'd never see you again, and hope, knowing my feisty Foster wouldn't rest until you took my mom down. So when I saw that elf, I got it for you."
His face turned serious. "And while I was here, there was this mom with her baby, he was probably only a few months old, and he got really fussy. And she pulled him out of his stroller and held him and started singing to him. Obviously I didn't know the song, but it was soothing and sweet and the sound of her voice calmed him down. He just watched her until he fell asleep. It might've been the sweetest thing I'd ever witnessed, and not something..."
His voice trailed off, but Sophie understood.
It was not something he'd ever experienced.
Neither of his parents had been good with the comforting, or the tenderness, or the treating-their-son-with-the-respect-and-love-he-deserved.
And it had left its mark.
She squeezed his hand.
And was really, really tempted to whisper, "I love you".
But...they hadn't been together that long.
It felt way too early for something like that, even if she suspected that that was what she was feeling.
So she simply said, "that sounds like a really beautiful moment to witness."
"I actually drew it," he admitted. "I put it in my journal of hard things, because...well. Obvious reasons I guess."
"Maybe someday you can sing to our kids," Sophie suggested. "Show them all the love your parents withheld from you."
Keefe's eyebrows shot up. "Our kids?"
Sophie blushed a deep scarlet. "I meant...your kids. With...whoever."
Keefe reached out just in time to stop her from plucking out an itchy eyelash.
"Obviously none of us know what the future holds," he said quietly. "And I know we're only teenagers, but...I know I'm hoping for an 'our kids' situation someday. Don't be embarrassed. Even if it really was just a slip of the tongue, I really don't mind. I actually...liked hearing you say that. But also...no pressure. We're what, sixteen? We can just have fun. Enjoy being together. Sneaking away from our bodyguards for pie and making out in the Forbidden Cities. You know...typical teenage hijinks."
Sophie rolled her eyes. "So...where to next?"
"I want to visit their graves," Keefe said quietly. "Ethan Benedict Wright II...and Eleanor. I was afraid to visit them before, in case my mom was watching or had someone watching. But now with her in Exile..."
Sophie kissed his cheek. "Let's go."
They stopped and bought flowers for each grave before heading to the cemetery.
They didn't stay long, but Sophie was glad they went. Keefe was very somber as they left.
"It isn't your fault," she reminded him quietly.
He put an arm around her as they walked back towards the tube station. "Oh, I know. I realize I really didn't have control of what happened, and even the small part I played by delivering that letter...I couldn't have known. And even if I had, I was just a kid. A kid being manipulated by my mom. I didn't want to visit their graves out of guilt, it was more just...out of respect. And because...I don't know. Someone should remember them."
"We can come bring them flowers whenever you want, Keefe."
He laughed softly. "Whenever Sandor lets us, you mean."
"Okay, that too."
"Ro wouldn't try to stop us. Once she's back, if Sandor wants to keep us from going, we'll goad Ro into challenging him to an arm wrestling match or something. Then slip away while he's growling at her."
Sophie giggled.
"Okay, what now?" she asked.
"Just one more place," Keefe said. Sophie was surprised at how well he seemed to know London when he spent most of his time in his hotel room, but then realized memorizing the maps for the tube would've been easy with his photographic memory.
He took her to a large, beautiful park with a duck pond. There was a bench under the shade of trees.
"Sometimes when I just didn't want to be stuck in the hotel, I would come here and just sit and watch the ducks. It was always so peaceful here. London is busy, always stuff going on, always people rushing around in a hurry, and right in the middle of it is this park. And here...life just seems to slow down. And it made me feel like...I don't know, like there's always a way to have peace even in the middle of chaos. It gave me hope. It was a really dark time for me, being in hiding, but coming here...it nearly always made me feel just a little bit better."
He brought one hand up to her cheek. "If only I could have seen, then, that I'd get to come back to this spot just a few weeks later with you..." The warmth in his eyes made Sophie feel incredibly swoony. "Well. Let's just say I'm very glad to be here with you now."
"Me too," she whispered, standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss.
They sat together on the bench, his arm across her shoulders, and watched the ducks in silence for a few minutes.
"We should probably be getting back," Keefe told her after a while. "We promised Grady we wouldn't be out late."
Sophie sighed, leaning her head back onto his shoulder. "True."
Keefe smirked. "Don't sound so sad, Foster. It doesn't mean we have to say goodnight yet. Personally I'm hoping Edaline has been baking away in the kitchen. If not, maybe we can go in and make something ourselves."
"You're that desperate for more dessert?"
Keefe's smirk turned very mischievous as he leaned in and softly kissed her. "Yes, because just imagine how sweet kissing you will taste after you eat mallowmelt."