Author's Note: I'm back! Miss me? I hope so lol. I considered not posting the chapters because I love cruelty. I'm kidding, stone me gently.
Anyway, enjoy the next few chapters! They're kinda short, but oh well. You've dealt with my writer's block before. I'm considering discontinuing this story forever, because I've still lost interest. Leave a review and tell me, on a scale of one to ten, how upset would you be if I quit? Ten is really annoyed, one means you couldn't care less. I just need to know because I'm considering dropping it.
I have this horrible thing where I'll start writing something, like for an essay or whatever, and I'll do all this crazy world building and character development and halfway through I get bored and just kill everyone. It sucks. It also annoys my english teachers because they get invested in the story and then I get bored and everyone dies a gruesome death so y'know~
Plus I have a really good idea for a Sokeefe pirate AU, because of my Pirates of the Carribean obsession.
Please leave a review and tell me what you think!
What could Keefe possibly have to tell her?
Before he could elaborate on his statement, however, the Imparter on the nightstand lit up. It had been there since they'd arrived, presumably left by Lady Gisela. Sophie hadn't figured out how to get it to work, and Keefe had thought that maybe it was altered so it could only receive calls from the Neverseen. Sopie had tried telepathically contacting someone, but her telepathy couldn't get through whatever barrier the Neverseen had around the hotel.
Keefe pressed the button to receive the hail.
A girl with red hair and turquoise eyes appeared on the screen, obviously an elf. Sophie could only see her head and shoulders, around which was draped a black Neverseen cloak.
"Ms. Foster and Mr. Sencen," she said, her voice sounding robotic and cold. "Feel free to go down to the lobby for breakfast. Don't try to escape. Any attempt would be useless and result in your injury. Report to the roof at 8:00. Failure to do so will result in punishment. Don't be late."
The imparter clicked off, and Sophie grumbled, "Rude."
Keefe laughed and nudged her gently in the ribs with his elbow. "It's the Neverseen. What do you expect?"
"Touche. I tried light-leaping out of here last night," she admitted. "With my home crystal. It didn't work. I figured it wouldn't, but. . ."
Keefe nodded, understanding. "Yeah. I get it."
"Now, what were you about to tell me?" Sophie asked.
"Nothing," Keefe replied. "Shall we go get breakfast?"
He was hiding something from her. She was tempted to pester him more, but. . .
He would tell her when he was ready. And, no matter how curious she was, she would wait.
Sophie sighed. "Sure, I'm gonna take a quick shower first though."
Keefe smirked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Want company?"
Sophie smacked him with a pillow, giggling. She stood up, trying to avoid blushing. Or, worse, trying to distract herself before she could ponder the idea any more. "Hush, child."
Keefe smiled and laid back down on the bed lazily. Sophie grabbed a random change of clothes out of the closet and went to take a shower. After about thirty different attempts at fixing the shower valve, she resigned herself to the frigid water.
Fifteen minutes later, she was showered and dressed in a simple white t-shirt paired with jeans and a grey sweater. Her boots remained her only shoes, but they worked well with the outfit. Never before had she worn anything like this. Back in her human life, she stuck to dark colors. As an elf, they didn't really wear this sort of clothing. But it looked good on her, she thought. Casual and comfortable.
"What on earth are you wearing?" Keefe asked.
Sophie shrugged. "Human clothes. I guess they want us to blend in so we don't look like freaks."
Keefe smiled. "Looks cute, Foster. But those pants look hecka uncomfortable."
"They're jeans, Keefe. I promise, they're great."
"Whatever you say."
"Just a warning," she added. "The water is freezing."
He winked at her. "Good thing I'm so hot, then."
She pretended to ignore him until he disappeared into the bathroom. Then, she let herself blush and attempted to calm her heart rate. This was getting out of control. A single flirty comment shouldn't have affected her this much.
Keefe took a shower and changed into a simple red t-shirt (he was disappointed that it didn't have the batman logo on it, he'd grown rather fond of the hero) and jeans.
"They are actually surprisingly comfortable," he admitted grudgingly. "Even though they look like they're made of cornstarch."
Sophie laughed. "Okay, whatever. Let's go get breakfast, cornstarch man."
As they made their way out into the hallway, heading for the elevators, Sophie could feel the tension between them. It was an awkward and all-consuming silence. Despite how much they had ignored it last night, they were now about to face the cold, hard truth of their new reality— and Sophie hated it.
She was only now realizing how much she missed her friends. How much she needed them. Their support, their courage. They used to have such a tight bond, and then that thing with Fitz happened. That alone had been enough to change it, but Sophie and Keefe's confinement. . .
As she glanced at the beautiful boy beside her, staring in awe at the opening elevator doors, she realized something that she should have figured out much, much sooner. She watched his excited smile, his intrigued face as he examined the rows of buttons and started at the slight bump that marked the beginning of the ride down. She let her eyes inspect his face, memorizing those ice blue eyes and the tilt of his nose and the curve of his barely parted lips. His jawline, the mess of golden curls on his head.
He caught her stare and gave her a questioning glance, as if asking why she was looking at him. Sophie didn't need to use her telepathy to know what he was thinking. She could see all his feelings painted in his eyes. The fear, the anger, the sadness. Guilt, trepidation, nervousness. But buried among all of those was a tiny spark of hope, like the flame of a candle in the darkness. She could barely see it, but it was there.
She hoped that she'd be around when that dim candle finally erupted into a blazing inferno.