Keefe mentally smacked himself. He could brood about how he and Ro understood the dynamic between him and Foster better than anyone else did--including Foster herself--on his own time.
He couldn't focus on any of that right now. He had to focus on cheering Foster up.
So he latched on to Ro's comment about wanting to bash his pretty face, and he looked at Foster. "Aw, did you hear that? Ro thinks I'm pretty! I mean—I usually go for more of a roguish handsome, but..." he tossed his hair and fluttered his eyelashes, really trying to sell it.
And...bingo.
Foster was amused against her will, smiling at him.
Just like he'd known she would be.
And he agreed to help her with her telekinesis. "Sorry," he added. "I was just...stalling."
"Why?"
He fidgeted with the blanket on her cot, not really looking at her. "The thing is...I'm not exactly proud of that time period, you know? Whenever I think about it, I want to slam my head into the wall."
Ro—always so helpful—offered to do it for him.
But as they discussed his time with the Neverseen, Alvar's involvement, and Alvar's current predicament, Foster suddenly started to worry again.
And panic about the Neverseen taking both her and Fitz out of commission.
Keefe had promised Edaline he would help her keep those echoes from stirring.
And he wasn't going to give them a chance to take hold.
So before she could truly start to panic, he reached for her hand, quickly removing her glove and lacing their fingers together. She didn't even seem to notice him doing it.
"Relax, Foster." He squeezed her hand, sending her mental breezes, imagining them chasing away the darkness.
He watched as she closed her eyes, welcoming the calming breezes he sent, clinging to them.
"You okay there?" he asked after a moment.
She nodded, but didn't say anything. She seemed to have calmed down, but didn't want to let go of his hand.
He sure didn't want to let go either. So he squeezed her hand tighter and apologized for getting her worried again. And he encouraged her as best he could, assuring her that he'd been busy searching Everglen and was confident there was no way to breach security. No way anyone could get to Alvar and no way Alvar could get out.
And he sent her more soothing breezes, squeezed her hand as tightly as he could without hurting her, and told her that her priority had to be resting and recovering so she could get back to full strength.
"So...you okay? I don't have to let go yet if you still need the boost."
I don't have to let go ever.
Still clinging to his hand, she asked about Alvar's move-in date, which was still up in the air.
Elwin came in, then, to check on Foster. He even admitted he'd almost rushed in when she'd started to get upset.
And he hadn't...because he realized Keefe had it under control.
Outwardly, Keefe simply agreed with an "I did."
But inwardly, he was rejoicing. Especially when Elwin confirmed it after examining Foster with every color of light imaginable.
No one else could have calmed her that well.
Even before they discovered his ability to send her those mental breezes, he had been the best at cheering her up.
But ever since that day in Ravagog, when he kept her from Inflicting on Dimitar, that ability had been even more pronounced.
This girl felt things on a major scale, and only Keefe could keep her calm in a crisis. Help her see she wasn't carrying any of this alone.
Tam had said they each had a part to play. Their team worked well because they all had a role.
Keefe's role wasn't just the designated loser.
He could fight. He would fight. Protect his friends.
And, in a way no one else could, help keep the Moonlark's emotions from knocking her out of commission.
That was his role.
Quite apart from the fact that this was Foster and he had feelings for her, this was also the Black Swan's not-so-secret weapon: the Moonlark, the catalyst for much needed change.
And Keefe could help make sure that she remained up to the task set before her.
So he helped Foster get that glove back on her hand while Elwin agreed to let them train together every day.
Alone time with Foster every day sounded like a great plan to Keefe.
It sounded like some sort of paradise, if he were being honest with himself.
Elwin said they could start with something 'quick and easy', which worked out perfectly given what they'd already been working on.
"I was already planning to have us start with telekinesis, since that's what got Foster all swoony about my skills in the first place," Keefe said, feeling mischievous.
"I didn't get swoony," she argued.
Except, she kind of had. And he'd thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Keep telling yourself that, Foster. Keeeeeeep telling yourself that."
Or, you know...don't. Maybe just...accept what it means that I sometimes make you swoon.
Pushing that thought aside, Keefe taught her how to use foot energy (way more fun than pompous-sounding 'full body momentum') to give her telekinesis that extra oomph.
And he was so confident in her ability to master it now that she knew the trick, he made a bet with Ro that Foster could totally whip an empty sedative vial back at Ro before it shattered against the wall behind her.
And to Foster's apparent horror, agreed that if Ro won, he would shave his head.
Honestly it kind of freaked him out too.
But if you're not betting high stakes, why even bother?
Plus, he had full confidence in Foster's ability to amaze.
She certainly always amazed him.
And...he also had full confidence in Kesler's ability to make him a string of hair elixirs to get his hair back in working order very fast.
But he wouldn't need Kesler.
And Ro would look awesome with a Sparkles Rule! tattoo.
Foster acted as though her last hope had died when Elwin didn't put a stop to it but rather came out of his office to watch.
And Keefe tucked away the knowledge that nothing he said to Foster in that Healing Center would be private. Elwin heard everything.
He also tucked away, for future consideration, the fact that Foster didn't argue when Ro referred to him as "your boy" when talking to her.
Confident though he was in Foster's ability to learn fast, even Keefe was amazed when she knocked Ro backwards into the wall of medicine...then managed--even while panicking slightly--to save every. single. vial. Not one of them fell to the floor and shattered.
This girl was incredible.