"Maybe the female ogres are just friendlier than the males," Foster whispered to Keefe after the door was shut again.
Keefe snickered and shrugged. "Maybe so."
But his mind was elsewhere. He reached for Foster and pulled her in close again, catching her off guard. "Just to make up for the kiss Ro interrupted earlier," he whispered, bringing his lips to hers and holding her close, feeling her warmth.
Something about it made her shiver as she broke the kiss. "Or to distract yourself from how weak she sounded," she countered, sounding breathless.
Keefe pulled back. "Way to kill the mood," he muttered.
She laughed quietly. "Sorry," she said. "It freaked me out too."
He brought up a hand and stroked her hair gently. "I guess this is new for you. Usually you're the one lying in bed hovering between life and death." He shuddered at the memories. "Ro actually looks and sounds pretty good in comparison. It's weird to see her so weak, but mostly I'm just relieved."
She nodded. "If you say so, then I believe you." She blinked innocently, eyes wide in mock penance. "Sorry I killed the mood, then."
"You're too cute to stay mad at, Foster. Don't worry about it." Keefe winked at her before moving back into his chair. Sophie followed suit, but scooted her chair right up against his and rested her head on his shoulder while they watched Ro sleep.
"So..." Keefe said after a moment.
He felt strangely awkward, unsure how to bring it up but knowing that he needed to.
"So?" she asked when he didn't continue.
Suck it up, he told himself. This is important.
He shifted so that he was facing her, and she did the same, lifting her head off his shoulder.
"Well, I've been thinking about yesterday, at the Shores of Solace, when we were upset and scared and..."
Her mood shifted as she remembered.
"What about it?" she asked.
"I figured maybe we should talk about it a little more, because I..." he felt his cheeks flush. "To be honest, I didn't want to stop. I had to make myself, before...before things got out of hand."
Sophie's eyes widened. "Oh."
"Yeah."
"I'm glad you did," she mumbled. "Because if you had pushed things further, I honestly don't know how I would've handled it."
He nodded. "I know. We were scared and upset and comforting each other and it created a very intense atmosphere. But we haven't really talked about what lines we will and won't cross, or when that may change, or how to make sure we stick to whatever we settle on. And I was in control of myself yesterday, but what about the next time something happens?" He reached for her hands, squeezing them gently. "I don't want to mess this up," he reminded her. "And that includes me not wanting to cross any physical lines we aren't ready to cross."
She was silent for a moment. "We definitely aren't ready for that. And I can't help but think...the best way to make sure we wait until we are ready is to just decide to absolutely not go there until..." she blushed.
"Don't be embarrassed," Keefe told her gently. "Until when?"
"I just meant...I'd rather wait until I'm married, you know? It's way less drama that way. I figure if I'm old enough and feeling ready for marriage, then I'm ready for...all of that. So if things continue going well and we end up getting married...I'd like to wait until then."
Keefe's heart swelled to hear her say that. They'd already admitted that they were entering this relationship serious about it—this wasn't just casual dating—and had already expressed that they loved each other. But they hadn't actually discussed marriage yet.
They'd really only been dating a couple of weeks, after all.
But he'd always sort of assumed that if they ever got together—if she ever finally realized her own feelings—that it would be a permanent change.
No amount of time with her would ever be enough.
He leaned in and softly kissed her before saying, "I know it's early days in our relationship, but...my hope is that we will get married eventually. We work really well together and obviously there's a spark between us too. I'm in love with you, Sophie, and I don't see that going away."
She gave him a shy smile. "I'm in love with you too," she whispered. "It's just..."
Keefe squeezed her hands when she didn't continue. "It's just what?"
"Isn't that...a little weird? We're only, what, sixteen or so? And we're already talking about being in love and marriage and forever?"
"Well," Keefe said, giving it some thought. "I don't think it's as weird as you fear. I'm sure with your human upbringing, it all feels different. It's so odd how humans have such short life spans and get in a big hurry with some things and not with others. Some wait ages to get married and still often times it doesn't last. I think humans don't have that sense of permanence that we do."
She nodded. "My human parents would've flipped out if they knew I was already getting serious with a boy, but Grady and Edaline sort of expected it. Even in spite of the fact that Grady has tried to convince me not to date until I'm several decades old." She grinned. "I guess dads are the same everywhere."
Keefe smirked at her. "I mean...didn't you once tell me that Jolie and Brant met when they were six and were inseparable from that moment on? I realize they're not the best example, all things considered, but I think that just goes to show how different we are from humans. We are more steady. So while we obviously don't all end up married, some of us figure it out really young and some of us are several hundred years old. We literally have all the time in the world, but that doesn't mean we have to take it. We are far more apt to figuring things out early than humans are."
"And we just...figured it out early."
Her response was something between a question and a comment.
He smiled at her. "I mean...I think so."
Her emotions were perfectly aligned with her next response.
"I think so too."
Oh, this girl was incredible.
He leaned in for another kiss and then circled the conversation back around. "So, basically, we need to make sure we don't...you know...until we get married?"
Foster giggled. "Yeah...I think if we're too nervous to even call it what it is, then we're definitely not ready."
She definitely had a point.
And waiting until marriage made the most sense.
So they set a few boundaries, some hard lines they would commit to absolutely not cross, to keep them from going back on their decision in the heat of the moment.
"I do have one more question for you," Foster asked him, her face serious but her emotions playful.
"And what's that?"
"Who is this mature, responsible person, and what has he done with Keefe Sencen?"
Keefe rolled his eyes. "I take my life seriously, and Sandor and Grady would both kill me in an instant if I tried to push things too far with you," he told her. "In fact, having Sandor around everywhere we go will definitely keep us honest. But also, don't you worry your cute little blonde head about your jokester boyfriend. Knowing the boundaries means I'll know just how to dance veeeerrrryyy close to the line without crossing it."
"Why would you do that?"
He smirked. "To drive you crazy."
But only if he was in complete control of himself.
Because if he wasn't, then it wouldn't be teasing Foster, it would be risky.
He watched as the corners of her mouth twitched--a sure sign she was fighting a smile. "There's the Keefe I know and love."
Keefe let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist, scooting as close as he could with them sitting in chairs, and kissed her again.
Then they both turned back to watch Ro as she slept, but Foster leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder and whispered, "I love you, Keefe."
Keefe wondered if he would ever hear her saying those words without feeling his heart swell up like a balloon.
The fact that Sophie Foster loved him--and knew it--felt way too good to be true.
But her emotions didn't lie. She really did love him.
Enough that she, too, was planning on forever.
"I love you too, Sophie," he whispered back, turning his face to press a kiss to her forehead. "More than you know."
After a couple of hours, Ro woke again. It took the help of two ogres to get her in a seated position, but once they did, she was able to take some food and water. The effect was immediate, she seemed to have at least a small vestige of energy restored to her.
"Okay Blondie, tell me everything. How did you find Hunkyhair? Did you tell him you loooove him? Did you at least hit him for me?"
Foster looked over at Keefe, looking uncertain. He knew she struggled with the idea of treating her love for him as a joke.
"I got this," he whispered to her. Then he looked at Ro. "I told you earlier all about how my mad kissing skills sealed the deal. But I guess since you were unconscious I'll tell it again."
And then he recounted his weeks in the Forbidden Cities, the sudden arrival of Tam, Dex and Sophie, and his return home. His inability to understand her emotions as his abilities seemed to have shut down. Without too many details, he told her that he and Foster had finally had "the" conversation and had, indeed, kissed, before they had to go try to save the world again.
"I would cheer if I thought I wouldn't hurt something," Ro said. "Maybe now when I return to my post, you won't be so sad and mopey all the time. Though I'm not sure I can handle constant smooching either."
Keefe grinned wickedly. "Hey, you asked for it. Want a demonstration?" He looked over at Foster and exaggeratedly puckered his lips. But Foster merely rolled her eyes.
"We should probably just let Ro get some real sleep," she told him. Then she looked at Ro. "Do you think your father would let us visit again?"
Ro tried to shrug but winced in pain instead. "I'm awake now, it's not just up to him. Come back soon and bring some exciting stories. It's going to get very boring in here."
So they said their goodbyes, promised to come back soon, and left the room.