#keefe heslege

[the-great-gullon-incident]

Keefe: You really thought I was that kind of stupid, doc? Elwin: Honestly… yeah. I did.

[alaydabug2]

I don't think I posted this on here yet

If so oh well

(Keefe Pov)

Keefe slammed his door shut and locked it. He flopped onto the bed, grabbing Mrs. Stinkbottom and squeezing her tight.

Him and his dad had gotten into their fourth fight that week. It was only Tuesday. One in the morning. One after school. That wasn't even counting their small skirmishes.

On Monday morning, it was about him staying up all night drawing. After school, it was about him not cleaning his room. That morning, it was him not doing his empathy exercises.

Now, it was about his father saying he was just like his mother.

Keefe was able to handle a lot of his insults. But that hit too hard of a nerve.

Cassius called him useless, a burden, whiny, ungrateful, disrespectful, unworthy of love. He was able to slide off all of those things. He'd heard them millions of times.

But being told he was like his mother? Out off all them, that hurt the worst.

But...wasn't he, though?

He'd betrayed people he cared about. Done awful things.

He had her blood flowing through his vains. She was part of him, whether Keefe liked it or not.

That didn't stop him from finally snapping.

Keefe finally argued back. Tried to defend and stick up for himself. But his father knew exactly what to say to make him submiss.

He said he never wanted a kid in the first place. His mother managed to somehow convince him. He regrets ever letting her. That he never loved his son. He wished Keefe was never born.

The last one was the final nail in the coffin to make him flee to his room. Cassius taunted him along the way.

Keefe had screamed himself hoarse. That didn't stop him from pulling out his imparter.

"Sophie?" he murmured, his throat still raw.

"I'm here," she told him. "What's up?"

He sucked in a trembling breath. "I need you right now. My dad and I had another fight."

Sophie didn't need any more explanation. She simply said, "I'll be right over." And hung up.

Five minutes later, he heard a door slam open. Then, the sound of a lot of yelling. Particularly a female. Then stomping towards his door. But when he heard the knock, it was soft and gentle.

He got up. The comforter still tangled around himself, the green gulon in his hands. Slowly, he opened the door.

Sophie walked into the room. She placed a box on the desk. She quickly locked the door behind her and took his face in her hands.

She brushed the tears away from his eyes. "What happened?"

By the time he was done explaining, he was curled up on the bed, Sophie sitting beside him. She was gently running her hand through his hair, his head propped up on her knee.

As much as he complained about people messing with his hair, he had to admit, it felt good.

The box she had brought turned out to be Edaline's mallowment. After snacking on it and talking to Sophie, he felt a lot better.

But he still didn't want to stay there that night.

"I... think I'm going to ask Elwin and see if I can stay there for a night or two," Keefe thought aloud. "I know I've been there a lot, but I just can't stay here tonight."

Sophie nodded. "I'm sure he'd be ok with it. Do you want me to get your overnight bag?"

"I've got it. I need a couple more things anyway."

He got up and headed to his closet. He pulled out two uniforms and threw them into the overnight bag. He'd had one ready for the past two and a half months in case he ever needed to get away from his father for a break. And he used it a lot.

Most of the time, it was to Splendor Plains. Others, it was Havenfeild and occasionally Everglen.

Sophie handed him the imparter. He thanked her and spoke Elwin's name into the device.

Keefe glittered outside of Splendor Plains. He adjusted his bag on his shoulder and knocked on the door.

Elwin answered and hugged Keefe before bringing him inside. Nothing needed to be explained. He knew the drill. Keefe had gone there so many times in the past few months that he knew the reason.

Elwin just asked if he wanted to watch a movie as he pulled dinner out of the oven. (A/n pretend they have movies for this 😅)

They settled on the couch with the TV on. He wrapped an arm around Keefe. It felt nice. Why couldn't his father just be caring? Was it really that hard?

Elwin probably sensed something was wrong because he asked, "Everything alright?"

Keefe shrugged, taking another bite of food.

He didn't like that awnser, so he said, "You can tell me anything. You know that, right? I'm not gonna get upset."

"We just... really had it out tonight. No big deal."

By the emotions that got flung Keefe's way, Elwin wasn't buying it. But something else was in the mix, too. A combination of worry and concern and sympathy. Something he didn't know how to take in.

Elwin didn't say anything else, though, and they finished their movie and food in silence.

When it started to get late, Keefe got up and started to go to bed. He had Foxfire in the morning, unfortunately. He said goodnight to Elwin, got showered, ready to go to sleep, and into the bed.

By the time he was under the covers, Elwin cracked open the door. "Can I come in?" Keefe nodded. Elwin sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing the blanket a bit. "Are you sure you're ok? I can tell it was a pretty bad fight. Did something else happen than usual?"

"I guess you could say that. Umm... he said I was like my mom. I fought back for the first time, but he...," Keefe trailed off. He curled further into himself. "He said things. He wished I wasn't here. That I wasn't born. Turns out he never wanted a child, but thanks to my mom's 'legacy' stuff, she convinced him. So, here I am. Nothing that comes from them are good. It was inevitable anyhow."

"That's not completely true," Elwin whispered. "You did, and that's enough."

Elwin took his hand, squeezing it. Keefe scooted closer.

To his surprise, Elwin never left. At least not until he was asleep, because he stayed sitting on the bed. Not talking or waiting for any answers, just being there with him.

Yeah, definitely different than just several hours earlier. At some point, Keefe fell asleep.

"You should come over after school," Sophie prompted.

It'd been two weeks since Keefe's major fight with his dad. He'd had to go to Elwin's place three times in the short amount of time. The abuse just kept getting worse. So he had zero hesitation in agreeing.

He walked through the door, trailing behind Sophie. When he saw the living room, he got an uneasy feeling. All of his friends were there. Their parents. Elwin. Livy. Mr. Forkle.

That couldn't be good news.

"Is something going on?" He asked.

Sophie got a mischievous grin on her face. "We have a surprise for you."

"Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that."

"Calm down." She pushed him down to sit on the couch. "It's good."

Edaline snapped her fingers. A box about the size of a donut box appeared on the table in front of him. Everyone gathered around in a semicircle.

He pushed the box away. "This is something to get back at me for all of my pranks over the years, isn't it." He looked at Biana. "Is it glitter?" He looked at Dex. "Will it explode?" Linh. "Shoot water at me?"

"No, but we should do that," Tam suggested.

"I'm not going to trust Bangs Boy," Keefe told them.

"It's fine," Fitz said. "Just open it already."

Keefe eyed them all. "If this is a prank," he warned, "you are all going to regret every single decision in your life that led you to this point."

Everyone just stared expectantly at him. He pulled the box back to him. He slowly raised the lid. He braced himself. Nothing happened. Slightly more than confused, he opened it completely.

Inside, there were three items. He wasn't able to see what the other two were because his gaze fixated on the open scroll.

It read, 'The official and legal adoption of Keefe Sencen by Elwin Heslege has been approved. Keefe will now permanently reside at Splendor Plains. Lord Cassius Sencen has no legal rights over Keefe Sencen.'

Keefe gasped. He looked up at everyone. They had smiles on their faces. "You all knew?" Everyone nodded. Keefe's gaze shifted to Elwin. He stood in the corner of the half circle. He had a soft grin on his face.

Keefe fell back onto the cushions. Incredulous to the paper in front of him, he murmured, "This is a prank. It's not true," with his hands covering his crying face. Weight shifted on the cushion beside him. He turned his head to see Elwin beside him. "You're joking."

Elwin moved the hands away from Keefe's face. "I'm not joking, I swear." He held out his hand, challenging him.

Keefe swiped his hand across Elwin's. He was telling the truth. He accepted Elwin's open arms.

Elwin's hug was crushing, but Keefe didn't care. It was warm and comforting. Everything he wanted during his childhood. Everything he needed. It felt like home. Another sob escaped.

He sniffled as he finally pulled away. Elwin reached for another item from the box. A family crest. A Heslege crest. He unpinned the Foxfire crest from his cape and replaced it with the new one. He made sure it was secured on.

Keefe choked on his words. He reached up and clasped the pin in his hand.

"Your part of the family now," Elwin told him. "Only seemed fitting."

Forever Keefe had wanted to be truly part of his family. It never felt legit. No matter what he did or said, his parents never made him feel part of his own family. He wasn't able to earn his own crest until he was fourteen, and it was a tracker. Now Elwin was just giving him one. No strings attached.

Maybe something wasn't wrong with him, after all.

He had no words. Although he did start crying again once Elwin pulled the last item out of the box. It was a home crystal. He told Keefe it was his.

He hugged Elwin again. "Thank you," he murmured. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Of course," Elwin said softly. "I couldn't stand seeing you stay there any longer."

Keefe glanced at Sophie. She has holding into Grady and Edaline's hands like a lifeline. This must've been how it felt for her to finally get adopted by them. Like something finally clicked into its place.

When it was finally time to leave, Elwin let Keefe do the honors with his new home crystal.

Keefe froze when he got to the doorstep. Elwin gestured for him to go inside. "It's like it always was. Just more official now." They hesitantly stepped through the door. "Come on, I want to show you your room."

"My room?" Keefe asked.

"The room you've been staying in is my guest room. This will be your permanent room." They trailed up the stairs to a door they'd never been in before.

Keefe stopped in his tracks. The room was a pale yellow. In one corner was a desk. On the wall beside it was shelves full of art suplies. By a bay window was a few bean bag chairs and a rug. Several stuffed animals were strewn about. Against the wall  in the center of the room was the bed. He couldn't help a chuckled when he saw it had batman bedsheets. He was confused to see that Mrs. Stinkbottom was already on the bed. He turned around.

"Got permission from Magnate Leto for your friends to skip class to help me move your stuff today," Elwin explained.

"Wait... does my dad know?"

He laughed, "He will tomorrow when he gets the scroll. He was at Atlantis when we were there."

His jaw dropped. A smirk spread across his face. "He's going to be ticked."

He looked at the room. Then back to Elwin. He practically tackled him with a hug. His eyes started to well up again

"Don't worry," Elwin murmured. "You never have to go back there again, Keefe. I promise. You're wanted here. You're going to be loved here.

Keefe wanted to deny it. Say it wasn't possible for that to happen. But being an empath, he knew he wasn't lying. It was going to be ok.

More than ok.

He had a parental figure to care for him. For the first time in his life. He was wanted.

[keeper-of-the-lost-dadwin]

for @cavennmalore I was your secret Santa!

It started with a broken vase.

It started with a locked door.

It started with a loveless match.

It started with a cruel, cunning woman.

It started with an arrogant, gullible man.

It started with a secret organization.

It started with two, really.

It started with a boy.

Keefe should know better by now. It’s been two months since moving to Splendor Plains. It was so easy to fall for things like Elwin’s gentle hair ruffles and friendly shoulder pats. It was different than Candleshade. Different than his father.

He had done different before, had survived different before. But different didn’t mean safer, didn’t mean it couldn’t be ripped away. It just meant a new battlefield, a new threat to avoid.

Elwin was not Cassius. That had been obvious since Keefe had gotten into his first fight. A butterblast and bruise cream had replaced the usual harsh words of disappointment. It had felt weird at first, but the infirmary o had become a welcome reprieve.

So he may have instigated a few fights. Or many. Who could blame him? The look on his father’s face was worth the one on Elwin’s. Sympathy replaced that of harsh criticism. Elwin had once told him that Keefe could come around whenever he wanted, not just when he was injured. He had shrugged it off. No one had ever wanted him around before. Elwin was just doing his job, it meant nothing that part of it meant being nice to him.

It wasn’t like Keefe shouldn’t be grateful. He had a good family. Really. His parents weren’t nice by any means. But nice parents didn’t matter. They made sure that he was raised properly, not letting even a hair be out of place. Their names didn’t end up caught up in gossip. That was better than that Wylie kid.

He had parents, and he shouldn’t complain about them. Their punishments were more than fair. The harshest ones were being locked in his room for the night, always being let out for school the next morning. He would miss a single meal, which wouldn’t kill him. The comments made about expecting better were more than well deserved. The long gone infractions being used against him years later was par for the course. It was all normal parent stuff.

Never mind he didn’t remember the last time his dad had touched him, other than to keep him in check. Never mind that his mom would apologize for him, explaining how it was always Keefe’s fault Cassius had gotten mad for a spilled glass. He was fine, his family was fine. Everything was fine.

The Vackers were more than fine. It ached to see Alden hug his children. To see him give out love like it kept him alive. Della had fussed over Keefe, as if he belonged with them. They worried about him, and agreed with him whenever he complained to Fotz about his parents. The gentle encouragements to stay for dinner had almost seemed real. Not that any of it was actually. Their friendship was fabricated. The Vacker family was built on lies and secrets. His own family was a plot for him mom’s schemes. Any love they may have had an act for her genetic experiments.

Elwin was different. He never judged, even when he rightfully should’ve. His touch was gentle, even when Keefe flinched away from it.

It wasn’t like his parents never touched him, or were abusive. Keefe still remembered him mom’s cold grip, digging into his shoulder when he said something stupid. Or the way his father pulled at him harshly whenever he dragged his feet.

But Elwin wasn’t like that. Everything from his smiles to his house were warm. It made Keefe want to relax, even when it made him mess up.

He should’ve been more careful. He was stupid for forgetting. One of the few things Elwin actually cared about, and Keefe had managed to break it.

It wasn’t fancy by any means. The vase was misshapen and garishly colored. His parents would’ve been disgusted by it. And yet Elwin loved it. Not unlike him.

It had been made by one of his former apprentices, back when they had been a level two. Elwin had told Keefe how similar they were to him. A tendency to get in trouble, and a habit of hiding out in the infirmary. It was clear how fond Elwin was of the memory, from the way he had smiled.

It had made Keefe proud then, to have made Elwin smile like that, even when he hadn’t actually done anything. He had never made his parents smile like that.

Of course he had to mess it up. What else could he expect?

Keefe had been going to his room after school. His bag had swung in just the right way, leaving it shattered in a million pieces. It had happened in an instant and he barely had time to process what was happening before it was over.

His heart stopped.

The floor rose to meet him.

Broken clay dug into his palms.

Blood puddled on the cold floor.

He desperately grabbed at the pieces.

He only succeeded in smearing them with blood.

He was screwed.

Utterly screwed.

He should’ve known.

Elwin had been so kind, so forgiving. When he had screwed up on a test, there was no yelling. When he had forgotten to clean his room. Whenever he ran off on Black Swan business. His first concern had always been Keefe’s wellbeing.

No more.

This would be the end of late night hot chocolate and talking through his deepest fears. No more resentment Elwin buried deep inside of him, completely hidden.

There were hands grabbing his shoulder.

There was a violent flinch.

There was begging.

There were frantic apologies.

There was calm nonsense words.

There was a firm grip on his wrist.

There was measured breathing.

There was his slowing heartbeat.

Elwin sat next to him, holding his hand. He kept exaggerating his breaths, letting Keefe follow. It took several minutes, in which Keefe refused to make eye contact. He kept his gaze firmly on the ground. On the shattered vase. He still didn’t process anything Elwin said. Eventually, he was guided into standing up. Led away from his mess and to his bedroom. Elwin left only to get a bottle of some goo. Blearily, the sensation of cold rubbing brought him out of his mind. Elwin had been applying a salve to his hands and arms. The coolness soothed the sting of the cuts.

Elwin was reassuring him. Telling him that everything was okay, that he wasn’t in trouble. If only.

But Elwin didn’t lash out. Didn’t take advantage of Keefe’s trust. He swept up the remains of the disaster.

Keefe had started crying somewhere along the way. Salty tears giving way to quiet, hiccuping sobs. Instead of scolding him, Elwin held him. Let him bury his face in a soft shirt. They both went to bed early, exhausted from the day’s events. Keefe stared at the stars on his ceiling, restless.

By all means, Elwin had every right to react worse than Cassius ever would. Keefe was not his son. He had no obligation. Keefe’s bed and home were an act of kindness. A pity for an unlovable child.

And yet Elwin loved him anyways.

@song-tam

[elwin-at-your-service]

Will you adopt me

Yes.

Forever and always, I will say yes - whether our Elvin legal system allows it or not!

[stargirl-evie]

“Are you staying or leaving”Keefe x reader

um hello, im Evie and I’m not an experienced writer, but I like imagining scenarios with the characters and stories I like, so I figured I’d try to share them, so maybe you could enjoy them too!

I typically imagine myself in these scenarios so I apologize if the reader presents feminine or is described in any way that might exclude another reader… uh, anyways, basically this is a short one shot/ head cannon/ prompt…? (I’m honestly not sure) about Keefe Sencen meeting and sort of falling for (human) reader while in the forbidden cites. It didn’t really follow the plot or timeline of stellerloon, it’s implied that he’s in the forbidden cities much longer than in the book and that he struggles way more with adapting and it’s probably very ooc…anyways I love Sokeefe but I just though the idea was interesting :]

oh this also isn’t proofread and it’s probably really cringy but yeah, there isn’t enough x reader fics in the Kotlc fandom so I figured I’d try, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome and encouraged :))

…

⭒ …

To put things simply, he was lost, hungry, confused, and currently short on cash. Turns out walking around with the money from his mothers jewelry in his pockets…wasn’t the safest plan. He’d lost a good amount of it, and probably been scammed out of most of it. He’d considered sneaking back to the lost cites to steal borrow some more of mommy-dearest’s stuff, but the idea of getting caught and possibly facing his friends caused him to quickly scratch that plan. Besides, if he could get away with it the fist time, then it would probably be even easier to take some things from one of the fancier human houses he had paced by in his travels.

So here he was, standing outside the biggest house he had seen in the neighborhood, if you could call it that- all the houses were so far apart that of you tried to walk from the first one to the last one, you might need to stop and camp before continuing to the end.

He had planned it all out-making sure to use the weird human invention called a phone- to look up the owners, make sure they weren’t very good people, or that they’d be home that particular night. He could easily levitate to one of the higher windows since no one would be around. The (l/n) family would be in their vacation home, far from here, and no grounds workers or servants would be back until the owners were ready to return.

It would be easy, slip in, grab a few valuable things, maybe some food too, then slip out and continue on his way to London. What he didn’t have a plan for, was you.

His plan had been going smoothly, he was inside and sifting through your mother’s jewelry box, when you walked in.

For a moment you both stared at each other. You, at the seemingly your age and incredibly handsome boy in black jeans and a Batman hoodie that was currently holding a pair of your mothers diamond earrings- and him at a girl, probably a little younger than him, standing in a soft pink nightgown, and holding a metal baseball bat in both hands.

That seemed to snap him out of his initial shock, and quickly throw his hands up so you wouldn’t hit him with it.

Braking your own trance, you pulled the bat back, and demanded, “Who are you? Why are you in my house? How did you even get in? Wha-”

He was quick to back up a bit before interrupting your questions, “I’m Keefe, I swear I’m not here to hurt you, I just needed to make some money real quick,I thought your family was away, I wouldn’t have come if I’d know you’d be home!” He internally smacked himself for his stupid mistake.

“Oh yeah ‘cause that makes it so much better” you said while rolling your eyes and lowering your arms and ignoring the strange feeling you got about him not wanting to be there while you were, even though it made no sense for you to be upset by that. You decided to blame it on the fact that it was 2:47 am and he just happens to have really nice hair.

You pitched your voice lower to mimic his before adding, “I swear I’d only steal from you if I didn’t think you’d be home to catch me (y/n) sorry ‘bout that.” and then swung the bat around to place the head on the floor and lean your weight against it while smirking at him.

His eyebrows shot up, surprised that you were almost joking with him right now, instead of clobbering his head with the bat, like he thought you were about to. He cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just-actually I don’t know what I was trying to achieve with that..” He brought his arms down to wrap them around himself, before deciding that he probably looked stupid standing in front of you like that. Especially since you seemed so calm.

“Um, I should go,, I don’t, this was a mistake, sorry, I-I should probably go now-God I sound like an idiot right now. No wonder you aren’t scared of me. Not that i wanted you to be, of course i didn’t. Who would want a pretty girl with a weapon to be scared of them? Not that I think you’re pretty. I mean you’re not, not, pretty im just-“

It was time for your to cut him off, “hey! Relax ok, im honestly not sure what your rambling about right now, but you look like you haven’t eaten in days, and im going to ignore the fact that you called me ugly and pretty just now and offer you some food so you stop trying to steal from me.”

He took a step closer to you, confused as to why he was being so unlike himself right and even more confused as to why you were now offering him kindness. He focused on the emotions coming from you, trying to figure out if you were only helping him out of pity, but only finding empathy and a few more frantic vibes.

You shifted under his suddenly intense-and very close (seriously when had he backs you up against your mothers vanity chair)-gaze, the moonlight steaming through the open window highlighted his eyes and you could see in your proximity the striking ice blue and the darker flecks of azure, cobalt, and royal blue. but you shook your head and forced yourself to ignore his stunning eyes to push him back and question why he had gotten so quite and intense.

He apologized and stepped even further back. “ I guess I was trying to see why you were being so nice to me.”

“And you thought the best way was to push the limits of stranger danger and stare into my soul all intensely with your snowstorm eyes?”

You had meant to be teasing him, but the words came out quieter then you meant them to be, and he seemed to pick up on the later half more than the first.

“So… you were staring at my eyes?” There he was, flirty and teasing and giving you a smirk that had your insides doing weird flippy-floppy things they didn’t usually do.

You felt your face get warm, and you prayed to whatever higher powers there might be that your face wasn’t nearly as red as it felt.

Not that it mattered of course.

He gave you another smirk before letting out a laugh that would have the best choir angels embarrassed by their singing abilities. And that had your betraying face warm even more.

“C’mon, let’s get you something to eat before you push me into this mirror” you quickly turned to the door to lead him towards your own room.

He followed you down the long hallway while teasing you about the pink hue that still refused to let up, particularly due do his continued torture.

You grabbed a coat from your closet and pocketed some cash before leading him out the front door.

“So where are we going (n/n)? I didn’t see anything down this way to eat while I was stalki-er, uh, looking up this place.” He cringed at himself for reminding you about the circumstances of your meeting.

You ignored the word slip and the little nickname in favor of describing a little town with plenty of back alley restaurants that you often snuck out to eat at when your parents were actually home.

He caught the shift in your mood when you mentioned your parents and decided to risk asking about it, besides, how much weirder could this first meeting get?

“Sooo…. I’m kinda confused about something.” “Yeah? What’s up?” You slowed slightly to look at him while he spoke, noticing his slight shift in tone.

“Well, you don’t have to answer or anything, since you don’t really know me-”

“Oh wow, uh sorry to interrupt, but it feels like I do, given how easy it is to talk to you, strange that we only meet what? An hour ago?”

He stoped walking completely to stare at you. “Really? Only an hour? Huh it does feel like we’ve know each other longer…”

The both of you fell quite for a moment before walking again, this time with your destination in sight.

“Uh anyways, why are you here, if your parents and staff are away?” He focused on you emotions to make sure he hadn’t seriously overstepped.

“Oh, well, we don’t really agree about much, or anything really. They’re jerks that only care about money and showing off to other people about how perfect they are. My mom is always taking about how young men approach her about leaving her husband because shes so ‘naturally’ beautiful and my dad is always bragging about how incredibly smart he is and how good he is at handling his business. They like to talk about how well they raised me, even though they never spent time with me or did any of the parenting stuff, and they like to parade around like they’re better than everyone when really, they’re miserable together and they’re always doing shady shit behind the scenes of their business. When they said they wanted to go on a cruise around one of their vacation homes I refused to go with them because they’d just ignore me and force me to play along with their stupid charade.”

By now you were standing in front of a tiny Italian restaurant with low lights and tall booths, very warm and inviting, the perfect safe space that just so happened to smell amazing. And Keefe was more than ready to eat whatever smelled so good. Even if it meant more of the god-awful human water.

But he couldn’t help but stop to watch you for a minute. It was insane how easy it felt to be around you, and safe. He had been in the forbidden cities for months and this was the safest he’d felt in a very long time. Everything about you felt like a complement to him. Even your shitty social status obsessed parents were another way you were similar.

You looked at him, and for a moment he wondered if the weird emotional flurry around you meant you felt the same way. “Keefe? We should head inside, and you can tell me about whatever led to you breaking into my house.”

You giggled at him, it was soft and sweet and he absolutely believed that you could bribe any of the councilors to do your bidding if you wanted to with that laugh.

The rest of the night (or rather, incredibly early morning) was spent sharing every detail about both his and your lives, even when he confessed that he was an elf you barely bat an eye, and he could tell that you genuinely didn’t mind that his mom had done all kinds of weird shit to his head.

You shared your own secrets as well, and you marveled at how accepting he was. Everyone and everything faded away, and for a few hours you were simply two teens that could really understand each other, and it was you best either of you had felt in a very long time.

As the sun came up you took him to the roof of a flower shop that had yet to open for the day. Together you sat and shared the desert from the restaurant while you described your passion for drawing, and he described his. Everything just seem perfect and both you and him wished it could last forever.

Of course things could never be that easy, after all, he explained why he was in the forbidden cities, and you understood that he would probably return to his world eventually, but that did nothing to stop the overwhelming desire to kiss him and run away together.

Even as he explained how his empathy worked and you tried to get your emotions in check so he wouldn’t think you were insane for developing such strong feelings in the span of a few hours, nothing could shadow them.

And when he looked at you, even more intensely than that first time he read you in your mothers bedroom, you couldn’t help but feel like he felt the same way.

He leaned forward slightly and you met him halfway, there was a hairs space between you, and you could feel his warm breath, see all the different blues in his eyes, and smell his soft skin…

“Wait Keefe.”

He froze and his eyes opened so wide you almost worried they would crack like real ice.

“Yes (y/n)? Is something wrong? Did I say something or-”

You cut him off before could spiral, trying to make your emotions clear so he wouldn’t worry so much.

“ I have to ask, after everything you’ve said, are you staying or leaving?”

He paused before pulling back and letting out a deeply emotional sigh. “I have to go, there’s still so much I don’t know or understand, and I still haven’t made it to London to look for those people and, wait! What if, and I know this might sound crazy but…”

He trailed off looking afraid to continue. You could feel your heart beating faster than ever before, and you tried to not get your hopes up. Gently, you urged him to continue, especially since these next words could change everything for you.

He said your name in a way that made your soul tingle and your stomach knot, “Would you be willing, to leave with me?”

You stared at each other for a moment, before you closed your eyes and quickly but softly pressed your lips to his. For a moment, your were scared, for a moment, you considered pulling back, for a moment, you thought you read all his teasing and flirting wrong and completely ruined the best night of your life, and then? He was kissing you back. He was wrapping an arm around your waist and cupping his hand around your face. He was blushing and nervous and probably feeling everything you were feeling.But he was kissing you back. And everything felt perfect.

Slowly you pulled apart and he reseted his forehead against yours while closing his eyes.

The two of you sat there, on the roof of the flower shop, bathed in soft light of the rising sun, practically glowing in each other’s arms.

It would be risky, but leaving everything behind for him seemed worth it, not that there was anything really keeping you here. Maybe you were crazy, but leaving with him felt like the best idea you had ever had, and you were not going to give that up.

He could only hope that none of this would put you in to much danger, but he’d do anything to protect you now, and keep you by his side. Maybe he was crazy, or maybe his mom had truly screwed his head on wrong after she messed him up, but this was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he was not about to give that up.

[moonlarked]

We should do dadwin week

[rusted-phone-calls]

what if we. put our hands in ice water together to test our endurance against the cold? (flirting

[elwin-at-your-service]

And I am the latter, not the former!

There’s two kinds of people- the ones that think Elwin is Sophie’s bio dad and the ones who want him to adopt Keefe

[crumpetsandbiscuits]

Biana made so much sense in the first book

Let’s say you were Biana in the first book.

Before the events of KOTLC:

Your brother and your dad are always disappearing and leaving you out. You find yourself picking out flaws that your brother never had a problem with. “Am I always going to be the bronze to his gold?” Naturally, you start to turn to your friends for entertainment, including your best friend and your brothers’ cute friend who skipped a grade. You quickly become the most popular girl in school, everybody at your feet. “Do they like you because of you, or your status?” One day, you invite some friends home. They seem really giggly, for whatever reason. The second your brother walks in, they all flock to him. “Did he really make it about him today?” Your mother and your two best friends are the only ones who understand. Your mother tells you to be nice, because he doesn’t have many friends. It’s ok, at least your brother’s back.

When Biana is first introduced:

A dress suddenly disappears in your closet. When you ask your mom what happened, she says they’ve picked up some girl your age. It’s why they were doing all those errands, and they took your dress instead of buying a new one. “Another kid for my parents to love more.” You finally can’t take it, and you and your mom get into an argument. She uses her powers to disappear. “Classic. Always running away from conflict.” You hear your father’s voice. Oh. That girl is here. The epitome of everything your parents love more. Secrets, leaving you out, and your brother. Whatever.

The Elwin scene:

Is the school nurse in your house today? In taking a closer look, he is. You go to investigate when you see a ‘moment’ shared between your brother and that girl. She’s scared of the doctor. Yeah, right. The worst thing in the doctor is the medicine. You have a fun little chat with your brother and then go back to your room. It’s ok. You can always ignore her. It will be hard, but not impossible.

[the-great-gullon-incident]

Elwin: In order to have control over your powers, you need self confidence.

Keefe: I have self confidence!

Elwin: No, you’re just loud.

[elwin-at-your-service]

Indeed, I have posted about this a number of times. I would absolutely adopt Keefe if it were legal to do so, but the Council do not recognise him as being in need.

adopt that kid elwin i triple dog dare u see now u HAVE to do it

[alaydabug2]

Here's a nice oneshot for once ☺️

(Keefe Pov)

Keefe slammed his door shut and locked it. He flopped onto the bed, grabbing Mrs. Stinkbottom and squeezing her tight.

Him and his dad had gotten into their fourth fight that week. It was only Tuesday. One in the morning. One after school. That wasn't even counting their small skirmishes.

On Monday morning, it was about him staying up all night drawing. After school, it was about him not cleaning his room. That morning, it was him not doing his empathy exercises.

Now, it was about his father saying he was just like his mother.

Keefe was able to handle a lot of his insults. But that hit too hard of a nerve.

Cassius called him useless, a burden, whiny, ungrateful, disrespectful, unworthy of love. He was able to slide off all of those things. He'd heard them millions of times.

But being told he was like his mother? Out off all them, that hurt the worst.

But...wasn't he, though?

He'd betrayed people he cared about. Done awful things.

He had her blood flowing through his vains. She was part of him, whether Keefe liked it or not.

That didn't stop him from finally snapping.

Keefe finally argued back. Tried to defend and stick up for himself. But his father knew exactly what to say to make him submiss.

He said he never wanted a kid in the first place. His mother managed to somehow convince him. He regrets ever letting her. That he never loved his son. He wished Keefe was never born.

The last one was the final nail in the coffin to make him flee to his room. Cassius taunted him along the way.

Keefe had screamed himself hoarse. That didn't stop him from pulling out his imparter.

"Sophie?" he murmured, his throat still raw.

"I'm here," she told him. "What's up?"

He sucked in a trembling breath. "I need you right now. My dad and I had another fight."

Sophie didn't need any more explanation. She simply said, "I'll be right over." And hung up.

Five minutes later, he heard a door slam open. Then, the sound of a lot of yelling. Particularly a female. Then stomping towards his door. But when he heard the knock, it was soft and gentle.

He got up. The comforter still tangled around himself, the green gulon in his hands. Slowly, he opened the door.

Sophie walked into the room. She placed a box on the desk. She quickly locked the door behind her and took his face in her hands.

She brushed the tears away from his eyes. "What happened?"

By the time he was done explaining, he was curled up on the bed, Sophie sitting beside him. She was gently running her hand through his hair, his head propped up on her knee.

As much as he complained about people messing with his hair, he had to admit, it felt good.

The box she had brought turned out to be Edaline's mallowment. After snacking on it and talking to Sophie, he felt a lot better.

But he still didn't want to stay there that night.

"I... think I'm going to ask Elwin and see if I can stay there for a night or two," Keefe thought aloud. "I know I've been there a lot, but I just can't stay here tonight."

Sophie nodded. "I'm sure he'd be ok with it. Do you want me to get your overnight bag?"

"I've got it. I need a couple more things anyway."

He got up and headed to his closet. He pulled out two uniforms and threw them into the overnight bag. He'd had one ready for the past two and a half months in case he ever needed to get away from his father for a break. And he used it a lot.

Most of the time, it was to Splendor Plains. Others, it was Havenfeild and occasionally Everglen.

Sophie handed him the imparter. He thanked her and spoke Elwin's name into the device.

Keefe glittered outside of Splendor Plains. He adjusted his bag on his shoulder and knocked on the door.

Elwin answered and hugged Keefe before bringing him inside. Nothing needed to be explained. He knew the drill. Keefe had gone there so many times in the past few months that he knew the reason.

Elwin just asked if he wanted to watch a movie as he pulled dinner out of the oven. (A/n pretend they have movies for this 😅)

They settled on the couch with the TV on. He wrapped an arm around Keefe. It felt nice. Why couldn't his father just be caring? Was it really that hard?

Elwin probably sensed something was wrong because he asked, "Everything alright?"

Keefe shrugged, taking another bite of food.

He didn't like that awnser, so he said, "You can tell me anything. You know that, right? I'm not gonna get upset."

"We just... really had it out tonight. No big deal."

By the emotions that got flung Keefe's way, Elwin wasn't buying it. But something else was in the mix, too. A combination of worry and concern and sympathy. Something he didn't know how to take in.

Elwin didn't say anything else, though, and they finished their movie and food in silence.

When it started to get late, Keefe got up and started to go to bed. He had Foxfire in the morning, unfortunately. He said goodnight to Elwin, got showered, ready to go to sleep, and into the bed.

By the time he was under the covers, Elwin cracked open the door. "Can I come in?" Keefe nodded. Elwin sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing the blanket a bit. "Are you sure you're ok? I can tell it was a pretty bad fight. Did something else happen than usual?"

"I guess you could say that. Umm... he said I was like my mom. I fought back for the first time, but he...," Keefe trailed off. He curled further into himself. "He said things. He wished I wasn't here. That I wasn't born. Turns out he never wanted a child, but thanks to my mom's 'legacy' stuff, she convinced him. So, here I am. Nothing that comes from them are good. It was inevitable anyhow."

"That's not completely true," Elwin whispered. "You did, and that's enough."

Elwin took his hand, squeezing it. Keefe scooted closer.

To his surprise, Elwin never left. At least not until he was asleep, because he stayed sitting on the bed. Not talking or waiting for any answers, just being there with him.

Yeah, definitely different than just several hours earlier. At some point, Keefe fell asleep.

"You should come over after school," Sophie prompted.

It'd been two weeks since Keefe's major fight with his dad. He'd had to go to Elwin's place three times in the short amount of time. The abuse just kept getting worse. So he had zero hesitation in agreeing.

He walked through the door, trailing behind Sophie. When he saw the living room, he got an uneasy feeling. All of his friends were there. Their parents. Elwin. Livy. Mr. Forkle.

That couldn't be good news.

"Is something going on?" He asked.

Sophie got a mischievous grin on her face. "We have a surprise for you."

"Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that."

"Calm down." She pushed him down to sit on the couch. "It's good."

Edaline snapped her fingers. A box about the size of a donut box appeared on the table in front of him. Everyone gathered around in a semicircle.

He pushed the box away. "This is something to get back at me for all of my pranks over the years, isn't it." He looked at Biana. "Is it glitter?" He looked at Dex. "Will it explode?" Linh. "Shoot water at me?"

"No, but we should do that," Tam suggested.

"I'm not going to trust Bangs Boy," Keefe told them.

"It's fine," Fitz said. "Just open it already."

Keefe eyed them all. "If this is a prank," he warned, "you are all going to regret every single decision in your life that led you to this point."

Everyone just stared expectantly at him. He pulled the box back to him. He slowly raised the lid. He braced himself. Nothing happened. Slightly more than confused, he opened it completely.

Inside, there were three items. He wasn't able to see what the other two were because his gaze fixated on the open scroll.

It read, 'The official and legal adoption of Keefe Sencen by Elwin Heslege has been approved. Keefe will now permanently reside at Splendor Plains. Lord Cassius Sencen has no legal rights over Keefe Sencen.'

Keefe gasped. He looked up at everyone. They had smiles on their faces. "You all knew?" Everyone nodded. Keefe's gaze shifted to Elwin. He stood in the corner of the half circle. He had a soft grin on his face.

Keefe fell back onto the cushions. Incredulous to the paper in front of him, he murmured, "This is a prank. It's not true," with his hands covering his crying face. Weight shifted on the cushion beside him. He turned his head to see Elwin beside him. "You're joking."

Elwin moved the hands away from Keefe's face. "I'm not joking, I swear." He held out his hand, challenging him.

Keefe swiped his hand across Elwin's. He was telling the truth. He accepted Elwin's open arms.

Elwin's hug was crushing, but Keefe didn't care. It was warm and comforting. Everything he wanted during his childhood. Everything he needed. It felt like home. Another sob escaped.

He sniffled as he finally pulled away. Elwin reached for another item from the box. A family crest. A Heslege crest. He unpinned the Foxfire crest from his cape and replaced it with the new one. He made sure it was secured on.

Keefe choked on his words. He reached up and clasped the pin in his hand.

"Your part of the family now," Elwin told him. "Only seemed fitting."

Forever Keefe had wanted to be truly part of his family. It never felt legit. No matter what he did or said, his parents never made him feel part of his own family. He wasn't able to earn his own crest until he was fourteen, and it was a tracker. Now Elwin was just giving him one. No strings attached.

Maybe something wasn't wrong with him, after all.

He had no words. Although he did start crying again once Elwin pulled the last item out of the box. It was a home crystal. He told Keefe it was his.

He hugged Elwin again. "Thank you," he murmured. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Of course," Elwin said softly. "I couldn't stand seeing you stay there any longer."

Keefe glanced at Sophie. She has holding into Grady and Edaline's hands like a lifeline. This must've been how it felt for her to finally get adopted by them. Like something finally clicked into its place.

When it was finally time to leave, Elwin let Keefe do the honors with his new home crystal.

Keefe froze when he got to the doorstep. Elwin gestured for him to go inside. "It's like it always was. Just more official now." They hesitantly stepped through the door. "Come on, I want to show you your room."

"My room?" Keefe asked.

"The room you've been staying in is my guest room. This will be your permanent room." They trailed up the stairs to a door they'd never been in before.

Keefe stopped in his tracks. The room was a pale yellow. In one corner was a desk. On the wall beside it was shelves full of art suplies. By a bay window was a few bean bag chairs and a rug. Several stuffed animals were strewn about. Against the wall  in the center of the room was the bed. He couldn't help a chuckled when he saw it had batman bedsheets. He was confused to see that Mrs. Stinkbottom was already on the bed. He turned around.

"Got permission from Magnate Leto for your friends to skip class to help me move your stuff today," Elwin explained.

"Wait... does my dad know?"

He laughed, "He will tomorrow when he gets the scroll. He was at Atlantis when we were there."

His jaw dropped. A smirk spread across his face. "He's going to be ticked."

He looked at the room. Then back to Elwin. He practically tackled him with a hug. His eyes started to well up again

"Don't worry," Elwin murmured. "You never have to go back there again, Keefe. I promise. You're wanted here. You're going to be loved here.

Keefe wanted to deny it. Say it wasn't possible for that to happen. But being an empath, he knew he wasn't lying. It was going to be ok.

More than ok.

He had a parental figure to care for him. For the first time in his life. He was wanted.

[elwin-at-your-service]

Do you think you’ll be in the upcoming book?

I sure hope so, though I don’t know for certain.

While you don’t see enough of it in the series, Keefe and I have quite a close relationship which predates Sophie’s entrance to our lives. It would be marvellous to see some of that explored on the page.

A little more of it (during early Keeper timeline) is explored in Vildefol’s works, should you be inclined to check out their AO3 offerings.

[lotusishere]

You know one thing that I hate that Alden did? There’s a couple things he’s done. But one of the things that really irks me is (I forgot what book it’s in) but it’s when Keefe hasn’t been home in a while. He just found out his mother was a part of Neverseen and his father is being as bad as ever. And they’re heading to…(I’m about to butcher the word) Exlilium??? That’s where Linh and Tam were discovered. And Keefe didn’t say goodbye to his dad because why would he? He’s an ass. And Alden pulls keefe aside saying that’s his father and blah blah blah. And how he should at least say something. That entire scene pissed me off.

“But why Lotus? Why does this make you angry?” It makes me angry because Alden has seen FIRST HAND the damage and pressure his parents have put on him. Do you guys remember one of Keefe memories of Alden telling Keefe he’s proud of him when he’s literally never heard those words in his life? I hate when people do this. It’s my biggest pet peeve. Cassian is a bad father. There has been nothing in his character to forgive him for what he’s done. He hasn’t changed. He is still harsh to Keefe. He is still an emotionally neglectful parent. And I HATE when Alden pushed Keefe to talk to him cuz that’s his dad. Like okayyy??? And Gisela is his mom? Should he give her a kiss goodnight too? NO!!!

[milo-igidk]

breaking my slience i rlly dont like the dadwin hc