Quick rewritten version of how Evan's abilities work.

At the core, Evan IS a Mesmer. He controls the actions of others with his mind, just like Grady can, and also their feelings. That doesn't necessarily mean he can read their feelings, but he can influence them. All with his mind. HOWEVER (because I really wanted him to be one of those angsty guitar-playing bad boys) his singing basically enhances his Mesmer abilities. Thinking, he can control about as many people as Grady. When he's singing, he can control a lot more. He's not like, all-powerful, but he's definitely stronger than Grady.

Check out the "Update Schedule & Works In Progress" section on my profile. It's a list of what I'm working on and when some updates are going to be!

Thanks to Undecided13 for betaing! Without her the Keefosterness would have been suuuuper basic. She added a bit of pizazz (and a bit more clarification. *laughs tiredly*)

-Ideas and Flusters

"Guess what time of year it is."

Sophie sighed and resisted the urge to bang her head onto her desk. Homework had piled up over the past few weeks and she really needed to get it done. Unfortunately, Evan thought he would be the perfect source of moral support for her intense study session. He'd been jumping on her bed for the past ten minutes and the creaking had started eating at her sanity, so support isn't exactly the word Sophie would use.

"Evan."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll shut up after this, but guess what time of year it is!"

Sophie set her pencil down with a bit more force than necessary. "What time of year is it?"

"Guess, guess!" he insisted.

"October."

"The end of October," he clarified, completely unfazed by the bite in Sophie's tone.

"And?"

"Halloween, genius. How could you not remember Halloween?"

Huh, she supposed it was around that time in the Forbidden Cities. "Elves don't celebrate those holidays, so I kind of . . . forget about them." Sometimes it's easier to forget about them too, because when she started remembering holidays, she couldn't shake the memories of all the happy times she'd spent with her human family.

And she just never wanted to deal with that guilt.

"UNACCEPTABLE!" Evan screeched. He leaped off the bed with a thud. "How can elves ignore the majesty that is Halloween?"

Sophie tried turning back to her homework. "I highly doubt they care-"

He grabbed onto her shoulders, getting her to face him again. Someone kill her now. "Yeah, because they don't know what they're missing out on." His face lit up and she flinched at the volume of his voice. "WE SHOULD THROW A PARTY."

"No."

"That's cruel."

"You know what else is cruel? You testing the edge of my patience."

"Oh come on! We could go to Humania and get costumes and decorations . . . we could invite the whole school!"

Yup, homework was officially a thing of the past. "You honestly think that a bunch of Elvin teenagers are going to care about a human costume party?"

"They will if I'm throwing it." He winked and Sophie rolled her eyes. "You know I'm popular! I could get people excited about it."

He found the problem. "No."

"I bet your friends would be excited about it."

She glared at him. "Are you threatening me?"

"I don't know, am I?"

He locked her in an unofficial staring contest. She blinked and looked away, defeated. "Okay. But-" she stopped him mid-cheer, "you have to convince all my friends. And you're not inviting the whole school."

He scowled. "Party pooper."

"And tell my parents."

"Ugh, seriously?" She didn't say anything, only raised her eyebrows daringly. "Fine. But in return, I get to pick your costume."

"Uh, no. In return, you get the throw the party in the first place."

"Aw, please," he whined, clasping his hands and falling to his knees in front of her.

She pushed his hands away. "No, because knowing you, you'll make me play matchy-matchy to whatever you're wearing."

He stood, kicking his foot disappointedly. "I really wish I could argue."

"But you can't because I'm right."

"So then what are you gonna to go as?"

Sophie couldn't believe she was actually agreeing to this. "I'll think about it."

What should she go as?

"But I'm not telling you, at least not until after you've already decided on your costume." She finished.

His bottom lip wobbled. "I'm hurt that you don't want to do a couple's costume with me."

She started putting away her books (who could concentrate now?). "Well, we're not a couple, so I don't know why you're surprised."

Silence.

She looked up at him. "Evan?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, you're right. Duh."

More silence. Sophie glanced at him from over her shoulder once more before putting the rest of her things away. He stared at her with an unsettling frown on his face. She tried to cover up the newfound awkwardness with a weak laugh. "What happened to all of your energy?"

He shook his head and smiled, but his jaw still seemed tense. "Sorry, I just got lost in the planning. Which reminds me, I better go ask Emillia if I'll be able to raid Humania."

"Are you sure you want to leave now? I just put away my homework . . ."

Even as she talked, Evan was walking toward the door. "Yeah. Sorry, I was distracting you. But that Halloween party-we're doing it!"

He pumped his fist into the air and disappeared out the door. She went back to her desk, but a loud thump made her jump. "Evan?"

"Sorry!" he called. "Ran into the wall! Leaving now!"

She shook her head. What was she going to do with him?

"A Halloween party, huh?"

Sophie sighed and went to grab another piece of mallowmelt, but Keefe snatched it out of her hand and ate it in one bite.

"Seriously?" She couldn't even eat mallowmelt in peace anymore.

"You saw me do it, didn't you, Foster?" he mumbled through his full mouth. He'd shown up not long after Evan had left asking for help with homework. She didn't really see how he, the Prodigy who skipped a year, needed her help with homework, but she'd let him in. They'd both worked through their mountain of assignments together. Sophie felt relieved to have it all finished, and they'd both decided to head down to the living room and celebrate with some mallowmelt that Edaline had made that morning.

"Anyway, I wasn't even supposed to tell you yet," she admitted, picking up another piece and shielding it from Keefe's hungry eyes.

"What? Why?"

"The deal was that he'd be the one to get all of you on board."

Keefe chuckled shortly. "It doesn't really matter if you tell me early because I'm sure they're all going to be excited. I mean who doesn't love some cool human traditions?"

"I know," Sophie sighed, throwing her head back. "Everyone's going to be super excited about it."

"And you don't want them to be?" he guessed

Sophie immediately felt a tinge of guilt. Keefe probably thought she was being such a jerk. "That's not what I mean . . . What I was trying to say was . . . I just . . ." She was rambling by now. "Nevermind, it's nothing."

"You can talk to me."

"No, really. It's nothing. I'm just getting upset for no reason." She tried swallowing the burning in her throat.

"Foster, stop," he demanded softly, grabbing her hand before she could reach her eyelashes. "I'm not calling you out or anything; you always have your reasons for being upset. I just . . . want to understand. Why don't you want to have a Halloween party?"

"It's just . . ." she choked. Great, here come the tears. Again. Hasn't she cried enough by now? No one needed to hear her pathetic problems over a dumb Halloween party. Not when there were much bigger issues at hand. And yet, she found herself telling him, "My family-my human family . . . Halloween was our favorite holiday . . . and it's just hard."

Keefe slipped his hand behind her upper back and over her shoulder, gently pulling her up against his chest. Her arm subconsciously wrapped over his stomach, clutching his waist as his rubbed small circles on her upper arm, letting her speak.

"I have a lot of happy memories with them," she whispered, sobbing quietly as said memories flooded her mind. "Nothing but happy memories. And I know that I'd make more memories like them with all of you. But it's just . . ." Her legs curled up against her stomach, partially on top of Keefe's legs.

"Halloween is their thing, right?" He finished softly. "You wanted that to be something special you had with them."

She lifted her head up to look into Keefe's icy eyes. "Is that selfish?"

"'Course not, Foster. I don't blame you. But . . . did you tell Evan?"

"No. How could I?" She looked down, her cheek squishing against his firm chest. "He's so excited about the idea. He grew up human too. I can't just take a holiday away from him because it makes me emotional."

"But that's just it. It makes you emotional, Foster. And that's not a bad thing. You have memories tied to those holidays, and if celebrating them makes you feel crappy . . . well then it's okay if you don't want to celebrate them." She glanced back up to see mischief sparkling in his eyes. "You know we could ditch."

Sophie arched an eyebrow. "Ditch the Halloween party?"

"Oh yeah, I have extensive ditching experience. I can ditch anything. Detention. Foxfire. Parties. Leave it to the Ditch Master."

She laughed but shook her head, her grip tightening on his waist as she spoke into his tunic. "I can't do that. That'd make me feel worse."

"Pssh you're no fun, Foster."

She turned her face back outwards to breathe something other than Keefe's subtle scent of cologne. They lapsed into silence for a moment, until Sophie noticed Keefe was stroking her hair. They were slow, light movements, so she assumed he must have been doing it absentmindedly. When she looked up at him again, though, he was staring right down at her with a look in his face that she couldn't quite place.

"What?" she asked and blushed a bit. "Are my cheeks all puffy from crying?"

"Yeah, but you're still beautiful."

If her face wasn't red before, it certainly was now. "Trying to cheer me up with flattery, huh?" She pushed herself off of him and sat back down on the couch.

Keefe rolled his eyes. "Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly. Sophie's eyes instantly narrowed when he gave her a look.

"What are you planning?" she asked guardingly.

He grinned and saddled up to her. "You knoooow, if you really are going to go to this party, you're going to need a costume."

"Before you ask, no, I'm not doing a couples costume with you. I already turned Evan down."

"What?" He shook his blond head. "No. But good idea, saving that for another time." He tapped his temple.

"Of course you are."

"Come on, seriously, Foster. I just got a great idea."

She inhaled deeply, mentally steeling herself for Keefe's "great" idea. "Alright, shoot."

"You need to make new memories, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So you need something new. Something elfish to wear."

"I'm not dressing up as a Keebler elf," she grumbled.

He seemed slightly taken aback. "What?"

Sophie waved her hand. "It's nothing. So what exactly do you have in mind?"

He smirked and got up off the couch. "I'm going to need a pad of paper and some colored pencils. The Keefster's about to blow your eyeballs out of your head."

"Gruesome."

Keefe's POV

Keefe was beyond ecstatic. He hadn't been this excited to draw since, well, making those paintings for Sophie. His fingers flexed with anticipation as Sophie went to find some pencils and paper. The longer he sat here, the more ideas spun around in his head.

"Here." Sophie set the materials in front of him, which he grabbed eagerly. He heard her chuckle at his enthusiasm. "So are you going to tell me what you want to draw or what?"

Her question barely registered in his mind. "Do I have to?" he whined, already beginning to scribble on the paper.

"Yes," she deadpanned.

He sighed, and in a few minutes finished a rough sketch and showed it to her. "This is just one idea, obviously. But this is basically the gist."

Pride bloomed in Keefe's chest when her jaw went slack after a quick glance. She grapped the paper pad and told him, "This amazing, Keefe."

He felt the tips of his ears go hot (nuh-uh, he could not blush around Foster) and quickly tried to cover up his fluster. "W-well duh, I made it." He took another sheet and started drawing again, changing aspects of the first to create another design.

"Maybe you could add something right here. It looks a bit empty," Sophie pointed out. Keefe gulped; he'd been so lost in drawing that he hadn't noticed how close she'd gotten. Their thighs were touching, and when she reached out to take a pencil, her arm brushed against his. A tinge of pink formed on her cheeks after a few seconds of Keefe's silence and realizing just how close she'd scooted to him. He could feel her embarrassment in his stomach, but she didn't pull away.

Get a hold of yourself, Keefe, he chided himself. Sophie's just a girl, and you're just a boy, and right now you're just friends. You're designing her costumes because you're friends.

Grady and Edaline weren't due to be home until late, so he and Sophie worked like that for the rest of the night; side-by-side. They didn't stop until they had perfected the idea and figured out exactly what materials they would need to get. Papers covered in drawing were scattered all around them on the carpet, both teens laying flat on their backs. Along the way, Sophie also suggested ideas for Keefe's costume.

"I think a gulon would honestly be perfect for you," she giggled, causing Keefe to roll over and poke her stomach with the eraser side of his pencil. It only made her laugh harder. "You could even make it stink like a real gulon!"

Keefe rolled his eyes. "I'll take that into consideration, Foster."

"No, seriously-it's a great idea. I mean you are the mastermind behind the Great Gulon Incident."

"Uh, no, I had nothing to do with that, remember?" he teased.

"Sure, Keefe, whatever you say. I'll get the story out of you someday."

"I'd love to see you try."

They both laughed lightly before a relaxed silence settled over them. Sophie yawned, and Keefe realized he'd never felt so content in his life. Here he was, Sophie by his side, the both of him surrounded in drawings, cracking stupid jokes and laughing. From where he was laying, he could see a smudge of blue paint on the end of Sophie's nose. These moments were so simple-nothing Keefe had ever imagined for himself, yet still somehow everything he'd ever wanted.

He just wanted someone special, and no matter what exactly Sophie was to him, she would always be that someone special. Maybe it was about time he accepted it would always be this way.

"I'm tired," Sophie mumbled, yawning again. "I bet it's super late."

Keefe didn't want to go home-if he could even call the Shores of Solace "home." A better name would be "place of temporary residence." At least calling it that gave him less anxiety.

"I've already worked up my creative spirit! I can't stop now!"

"Oh great," Sophie groaned. "You're all riled up, aren't you?"

"I'm never going to sleep!" He laughed triumphantly.

"I have something that might change your mind."

She sat up and pulled her iPod and a white chord from her pocket.

"Music? Really, Foster?"

She shot him a glare. "Give it a chance." She put one part of the chord in her ear and gave the other end to Keefe. He tried his best to match what she did, but it took a few tries (and a bit of help from Sophie) to finally get it right.

She clicked around a bit on the device before a beautiful melody drifted from the tiny speaker in his ear, followed by singing. "It's All of Me by John Legend," she whispered, already lulled by the song. Keefe had to admit, even if he couldn't understand the words, he could still feel the emotion in the lyrics. It almost matched the warmth in his heart when Sophie scooted over to him and almost cautiously laid her head on his chest. He leaned his back onto the bottom of the sofa and let out a content breath.

Sophie sang the words softly to herself, her voice blending in with the song.

It soothed Keefe more than any elvin lullaby ever had, and it wasn't long before he drifted off into sleep, still stroking Sophie's blonde locks.

Taking suggestions for everyone's costumes besides Sophie's!