I promise there's a gay speculation of what comes after Unlocked coming, but I'm writing antsy and I don't want to outline, so expect some Sophiana or Marelinh in the next week or so. This is the first time I've written in third person so I'm sorry if it's rocky. Pretend that Keefe comes back right after unlocked ends and it's waayy into the future when he can control his voice and stuff. Also, thanks to A Very Obsessed Fangirl for the glorious pun that I managed to work into this chapter. Go Check her writing out, it's great.
Normally Keefe Sencen sleepovers are atrocious. It makes Dex uncomfortable, lying on his floor, pressed up next to one of his friends. Thinking about what they could be thinking about. Thinking about the blunt and brutal What If's. Truth be told, Dex has had a crush on almost everyone in his close group of friends at some point. He's been caught on both pairs of silver-blue eyes, brown ones too. Council knows he's been infatuated with both pairs of teal ones. But for years now he's been stuck on a single pair of ice-blue eyes, and he's yet to have a crush on Marella, you do the math.
But when Sophie comes back from a Top Secret™ mission to the Forbidden Cities brandishing a bag of human treats and Cassius goes out of town, you have a sleepover. And who can say no to ice blue eyes anyway? They put periwinkle ones to shame. They're sitting in a circle. Marella, Linh, Sophie, Biana, Tam, Fitz, Keefe, and then Dex. Marella has given Dex several inches of space, deciding to press herself into Linh, but Keefe has decided to be less gracious. Dex can feel the tingling of Keefe's knee digging into his. Sophie dumps the bag out onto Keefe's carpet and hands it to Biana. She holds it up in front of her.
"What does it say?" Biana asks. Sophie is busy sorting out the giant pile of sweets to hear, so Dex motions for Biana to hand the bag over. Sophie tried to teach them her version of Human a while ago, but Dex was the only one who got it to stick. He inspects the bag. It's two cats holding hands with the familiar curve of "English" letters. Dex squints, waiting for the words to make meaning.
"I get the first few words. We should get, and then it says M-E-O-W-I-E-D and then someday. I don't know what Meoheyed means Sophie," he glances up at her. She's sorted the snacks into several different categories. On top of one of the sections is a pack of those little elf cookies. Keefe dives for him as Sophie explains the "pun".
"The sound that humans associate with cats fits into the English word for married, so they splinched them together. It doesn't really work in enlightened language," she shrugs. Dex tries to focus on Sophie and not the loud chewing noises Keefe is making with the poor Elvin biscuits. Sophie holds up four glass bottles. "I've only got four of these, but they were my favorite. We'll have to share," she tosses one to Fitz and Tam, who look horrified at the idea of sharing a bottle, then one to Linh and Marella who look ecstatic at the idea of it, and then one to Dex and Keefe. Upon closer inspection, he can see the white font on the red paper. He reads it in his head first and then out loud for everyone to hear.
"Share a coke with Dexter, what is this sorcery, Sophie?" She shrugs.
"Campaigning," Keefe snorts as Dex hands him the bottle for inspection.
"Well, , I'll have to follow your instructions," he looks up at Sophie, "how do I open it?" a confused look crosses Foster's face.
"You don't happen to have a bottle opener in your house, Keefe, do you?" Keefe shakes his head solemnly. "A spoon then," Keefe nods and then leaves the room for a second, returning with several napkins for later and a spoon. She then demonstrated on her own bottle, using the circular part of the spoon as a lever to pry the lid off. The red cap flies into Biana's lap who squeals at its velocity.
"Sorry Bi," she says, passing the spoon onto Linh, who struggles for a solid minute to open the bottle. Marella rolls her eyes as Linh hands both the bottle and the spoon to her. She manages to pop the bottle cap off in two tries and then passes the spoon over to Dex. Dex hands the spoon over to Keefe, who is still holding the "Share a Coke with Dex" bottle.
"Do the honors?" He asks. Keefe nods.
"Thought you'd never ask," with his brows furrowed and his tongue sticking adorably out of the side of his mouth, he manages to pop the cover off the bottle, sending it flying behind him and into the wall. Keefe then passes the spoon over to Fitz, who opens the bottle in one quick motion. Biana, who somehow has convinced Sophie to let her have the first sip, holds the bottle (Share a Coke with Sophie) into the middle of the circle.
"Cheers," we clink the bottles. Dex watches, mesmerized, as Keefe presses the bottle to his lips. He holds his gaze on the lips instead of the bottle for half a second too long, and he chides himself for it as the bottle parts from Keefe's mouth.
"It's good. Fizzy," he says, passing the bottle over to Dex. "Like you,"
"Like me?" Keefe shrugs. It's a graceful movement. How is a shrug graceful?
"You're bubbly," the rest of Dex's friends, who were having their own reactions to the soda, fell silent, scrutinizing Keefe's words, eyes squinted.
"Okay…" Dex says, he holds his bottle up to the other three who hadn't tried the drink, "cheers," he presses the bottle to his lips. The soda is overwhelmingly and sweet and artificially flavorful. It's not a taste Dex is used to tasting. It's fizzy, he'll give Keefe that. Bubbly.
Like him.
Several hours later, the circle has dissipated. Linh and Marella have gone off to who knows where to do who knows what. (They all know what.) Biana's head is in Sophie's lap, they're covered in cupcake linings and golden wrappings that used to hold chocolates. Fitz and Tam are still only half of the way through their bottle of Coke (Share a Coke with a friend). Dex doesn't think either of them likes it very much, and they're just being nice about it for Sophie. They did, however, manage to finish a sleeve of "Thin Mints" between them. Keefe and Dex managed to finish their bottle astoundingly quickly, but Dex can still feel the caffeine in his body. It's making him want to fidget with a gadget. Keefe is trying to pull the circle of cream off of the middle of an Oreo, and he's failing at it. Dex is propped up on his elbows, thoroughly enjoying watching him try. He glances over at Biana, who is twirling the bottle on the floor with one finger.
"We should do something," Biana says.
"Like what?" Keefe asks, chocolate cookie crumbs spraying from his mouth. It's adorable, and Dex hates himself for thinking so. Sophie glances down at Biana and then gets a mischievous look on her face, complete with the smile that made Dex fall for her in the first place.
"We spin the bottle," this makes none of them as excited as Sophie would've liked. "You sit in a circle, and you spin the bottle, and then whoever the mouth of the bottle is pointing at you have to kiss," this makes Biana sit up enthusiastically, and makes Tam and Fitz freeze.
"Yes please, I love the idea of this game," Biana says, shedding wrappers, as Keefe nods enthusiastically with her. "Here," Biana picks up the bottle that Linh and Marella left on the floor and throws the bottle at Keefe, (Share a Coke with Bianca (close enough)) he catches it. The group scoots closer together to compensate for Marelinh leaving the circle. Dex gets up from his half sprawled on the ground position to sit cross-legged like everybody else. Keefe glances up at Dex for a second as he places it on the ground and gives it a flick. Dex crosses his fingers behind his back. He's not sure if he's wishing to kiss Keefe or if he's wishing for it to skip aimlessly over him. The bottle spins.
Past Tam.
Past Fitz.
Past Biana. It slows at Sophie for a second, everyone hitches their breath.
At the last second, the bottle moves just enough that it is undoubtedly pointed right at Dex. He uncrosses his fingers as Keefe turns to look at him. They move so their knees are Dex can hear Biana trying to hide her fangirling squealing (She's the only one who knows he's a gay disaster; Dex tells her everything) in a series of coughs. It's not working, but it fades away into the background. Keefe shrugs. Dex stares at his shoulders as they rise and fall, then he forces himself to meet Keefe's eyes.
"I don't have anything snarky to say. I get it if you don't want to kiss me," he pauses "because you're straight," he tacks on the end, like it hurt him to say it. Keefe came out years ago, way before Linh, or Marella, or Tam, or Fitz, or Biana, or Sophie. Way before Dex. Like the first domino in a series. Biana can't hide her laughs this time. For a split second Keefe glances over at her, slightly confused, but he brings his eyes right back to Dex's.
"NoNoNo," Dex manages to spit out, "That's how the game works. Also, me, pandexual, er, pansexual," Dex breaks the eye contact, his eyes flit down towards the ground. He can hear Tam snort at his failure excuse of coming out. He can feel the blush rising up his cheeks. "Sorry, I'll just," in a smooth motion Dex puts his hand on the back of Keefe's head and brings their foreheads together.
He pauses for a second, his eyes drifting into Keefe's,
and then he lets their lips touch.