Sophie is a simple being. She goes to school, comes home with way too much homework, and then has way too much trouble falling asleep. She has great friends, and at least half of her school has some sort of crush on her, which she is not totally aware of. She's good at talking, demanding things, getting her way.

And yet, when the situation calls for it, she cannot, for the life of her, flirt.

She spends almost every waking moment with her friends, who are all great at flirting, but for some reason, that is the one thing she hasn't been able to pick up from them. Keefe is constantly flirting with her, and maybe she has a photographic memory, but being able to know how to flirt, and actually executing the task are two very different things. One of which Sophie cannot do.

So when she finds herself in the position of wanting to flirt, she's left with the very disappointing fact that she has to wing it. Otherwise, she's probably never going to be able to advance on her newly found crush on Keefe, because she's also one of those people who can't seem to just outright say how they're feeling, and she curses herself everyday for that.

While she might not be the best person at managing her feelings, she thinks that she's got a good handle on it, having gone through so much worse already. Really, why should having a crush be more scary than looking death in the face? And Keefe's an empath, he probably knows already that she's become aware of the feelings she has for him. She now knows that whatever Keefe was feeling every time she enhanced him was a subconscious crush on him, and the fact that he kept it a secret from her was seeming kind of necessary now. She has to admit that if he had told her at the time, she would have tried so hard to deny it, to push it away, to ignore it. Because she was dealing with so much. Trying to figure out what to do with her crush on Fitz, or the fact that she had just broken her best friend's heart, and then was about to go to Ravagog to wager with an ogre who had previously tried to put her into one of his work camps. So yeah, she wasn't as ready then as she is now.

But right now, she can see Keefe across the hall, talking to Dex, and she has an impulse. The impulse to go over there and to kiss him spontaneously, without a care in the world.

Or... maybe she'll just start with a few lines.

So, she marches over there, all smiles while putting her things in her locker, trying to look as attractive as possible and inwardly cringing when she thinks about it, and waits for someone to acknowledge her presence before doing this stupid thing she's planning on doing.

"Hey, Foster, you heading home?" Keefe asks, sliding up next to her open locker, looking at her from over the locker door. She answers him without even looking up.

"Yeah, gonna help out with the animals today. You're free to come over and help with me," she says, trying to sound absent minded. She is so not good at being nonchalant.

"You mean hours in stinky animal pens with my favourite girl? How could I pass that up?" Keefe says, sounding sarcastic, but it makes her cheeks flare up with heat, and a small smile paints her face.

"Okay, just let me get my stuff all ready and then we can go," she tells him, putting her homework into her satchel and closing the locker, taking as long as possible.

When she's finally ready to leave, they say goodbye to Dex, who gives her a look that says 'you better do what I think you're about to do,' and head down the hallway in silence, while Sophie tries to figure out what to say. So when they finally get to the Leapmasters, she turns to him and gathers up the courage to finally just blurt it out, because she is so nervous.

But never did she think she'd do as bad as she does in this moment.

"You have a face," she states, and immediately furrows her eyebrows, wondering how she can mess up so extravagantly. Obviously, her own confusion shows on her face, because Keefe starts to chuckle at her.

"Yes, yes I do," he says, amusing her. She sucks in a breath. This is the situation she's in now, just take it and run.

"A nice face. You have a nice face," she gets out awkwardly, as if that explains everything.

"Thanks, I think," he replies with a knowing smile, and another chuckle that proves he's patronising her on purpose. So Sophie just has to suck it up and finish this awful thing she's started, and then hide in the pile of Verdi feathers they have until he goes home.

"Please accept my attempts at flirting, I don't know what I'm doing," she pleads, coming clean. She hopes that Keefe can see in her eyes that she doesn't know how she messed up so horribly.

And then Keefe laughs, loud and hysterically, until he's doubling over and has to crouch down so he doesn't fall, and Sophie can feel tears already stinging her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'll just...," she starts, walking away from him and to the next open Leapmaster, already planning to wallow for a few hours, because she has officially blown it with each of the guys she's close to. Maybe she'll call Biana and ask her to sleep over.

"Wait, Sophie!" she hears, and then her hand is being is being grabbed and she's suddenly turning to face him. "I didn't mean to laugh it's just... that's what you call flirting? You very obviously need some classes, and I would be more than happy to volunteer to be your teacher," he says, and Sophie groans, but feels a smile come to her face.

"Keefe, I'm being serious," she whines, running her fingers through her hair to get it out of her face.

"I know you're being serious, and so am I," he tells her, putting his hand on her cheek and wiping away one of the straggler tears that has escaped without her permission. "Let me teach you how to flirt. That way, I'll never have to go through seeing you do that ever again. Plus, it's like a date."

The drop of the word "date" sends Sophie's brain into overdrive, and her eyes widen. She hadn't thought this far ahead in her plan, it was mostly just try to get through the flirting and then do the same thing everyday until something better happens. She didn't realise that the something better would be happening that day.

"I, uh, yeah. Like a date," she repeats, looking at the sparkly floor. Keefe shifts their hands so that their fingers are twined, and suddenly her heart is flitting a mile a minute, and her stomach does somersaults as his other hand moves under her chin, forcing her to look at his face, into his eyes.

"I didn't think the conversation would go like this when I started it," Sophie admitted, making Keefe smile sweetly at her.

"I don't think you thought it through much at all, and I love it," he says, making her cheeks and her ears start burning again, even hotter than last time. Because now she's a hair's breadth away from his lips, somehow his voice had gone lower, she's now very nervous, and suddenly the moment is intense and serious.

"Those Foster Feelings are getting pretty extreme," he points out with a smirk. "What suddenly gave you the confidence to attempt to flirt?" he says as he moves his hand from her chin to her other hand, playing with her fingers before linking them and walking a short step closer to her, making her have to lift her head to keep looking at him.

She bites her lip, knowing she'll never get herself out of this now.

"Just, looking at you, knowing it was time to take the next step," she says, lowering her voice to a whisper and trailing her vision from his lips to his eyes, barely able to breathe anymore.

"Do you think anyone will mind if I kiss you right now? Because it's very tempting and I've pretty much been thinking about doing it for the past three years," he says, eyeing some of the people in the hall who are staring at them, and they turn away at the acknowledgement. Sophie smiles.

"I'm certainly not stopping you," she says, swallowing nervously. The only other person she's ever kissed was Dex, and that pretty much was the most horrible kiss in the history of kisses, so she seriously hopes that he somehow knows what he's doing so she doesn't have to lead it again, seeing as she pretty much sucks at it.

There's no talking after that, just a sickly feeling in her stomach due to the fluttery things, and her head floating in the clouds, reminding herself that this is actually happening, and she doesn't have to wait anymore. She wanted to make something happen, and actually made it happen. And now her chest feels tight in the best way possible, so she closes her eyes and just lets it happen.

She feels his breath on her cheek, the soft movement of his thumb moving back and forth on her hand, and she starts to understand why everyone enjoys kissing so much, because she can't wait for it to finally happen, and to do it again and again afterward.

So she's standing there, eyes closed, knowing that she's leaning in slightly, waiting for him to close the gap, and anticipating the moment way too eagerly, getting more nervous by the second. By every single second that goes by that he's dragging out the moment.

And then suddenly, it's not being dragged out anymore. It's going a mile a minute, because he finally ended the suspense, and it's perfect. It's like a missing puzzle piece has been found, and it's a natural feeling, making her want even more of it. The feeling is almost addicting and she never wants it to end, even though it just started. It's tentative, and slow, but starts to pick up pace after a few seconds. Sophie knows that everyone is staring, but she can't bring herself to care.

"Um...," she starts, letting out an exasperated breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. She was going to have to get used to the whole kissing thing. How are people supposed to breathe?

"Yeah. That was...," he adds on to her sentence.

"Great," she finishes, smiling to herself.

"So, I have a face?" he asks, smirk finding its way back on his face. She knows he's messing with her again, and she has to laugh, her head falling on his shoulder as he wraps an arm around her shoulders, holding her close, and laughing with her. A beautiful sound that she never wants to stop hearing.

"You have a face. A face I would much like to kiss again sometime soon," she says, amusing him.

"That won't be a problem," he says, kissing the top of her head and wrapping his other arm around her waist as she brings her arms up to his shoulders to hold on. Giving her a sense of security, even though she's slightly embarrassed to be in such a public place, having such a private moment, but isn't that what the rest of her life is about?

"Come on, my dad is expecting me soon, and Verdi isn't eating again, we have to go," she says, starting to pull away. "And then I promise we can finish this later," she wagers, trailing her hands down from his shoulders to his hands again, holding on tight, trying to keep in her happy squeals, because that would probably break whatever kind of image she has. She'll have to hail Dex or Biana later to tell someone about it. She might even tell her mom, she's always been good about Sophie's constant admirers.

"Oh gosh, how do I even face your dad?" Keefe complains, and Sophie rolls her eyes.

"You know, my dad doesn't hate you. He just hates what you did. To be completely and blatantly honest, I think he just got protective because you did exactly what Jolie did," she says, putting it out there. A look of understanding falls onto his face. "I don't think anyone really blames you anymore, and I certainly never did. So don't be so scared of Grady, he's not as protective as he used to be."

"I guess that makes sense. But he's still your dad, and I'm still just some guy who kissed his daughter. That's gotta merit some sort of dad speech," Keefe says, bringing up a valid point. Sophie laughs.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna get my own dad speech. And then we can compare them later, okay? But right now we really do have to go before Verdi accidentally starves herself, I'm the only one who can make her eat, and I'm pretty sure the verminion wants to eat one of the newer residents. Please?" she asks, pulling him toward the next open Leapmaster.

"Yeah, let's go. But I better get some task other than pooper scooper this time," he complains, walking with her. He lets go of one of her hands so they can walk more easily.

"How about I let you in the pen with Verdi while I fill her trough?" she asks with an amused smile.

"Ha-ha, that's so funny. Maybe I can learn to ride her this time!" he exclaims as Sophie hails their crystal, and she's rolling her eyes as they step into the light, on their way to Havenfield.

"I don't think riding her is something you can do. So far, the only people who've been able to do that are Grady and Edaline, but trust me, I've tried. She was not very happy about it," Sophie says once they've glittered onto the Havenfield pasture,

"She wasn't happy the first time I tried, either. Hi Keefe, you staying for dinner?" Edaline asks, coming in from the shed with a bag of something new for Verdi to try.

"I think so, if that's okay with you guys," he says, looking from Edaline to Sophie. Sophie nods, smiling.

"Well of course it's okay. I've been baking all day, and while I'm sure the three of us could finish a whole three batches of custard bursts on our own, it would probably be more efficient if we had some help, don't you think?" Edaline asks, putting down the bags and brushing off her work clothing, still managing to look like a princess despite all of the dust and dirt.

"I could never say no to custard bursts, that's for sure," Keefe says, smiling. His grip on her hand tightens, the way he always does when he's nervous about something.

"We're gonna go inside for a little bit, Mom, and then we are totally ready to help out," Sophie says, leading Keefe to the house. His hold relaxes again, and she waits for Edaline's acknowledgement before walking into the house, Keefe in suit, and makes a beeline to the kitchen, grabbing two bottles of lushberry juice and immediately runs up to her bedroom, dragging Keefe along who's been laughing the whole time, seeming to enjoy her fast pace.

"What's with the rush, Foster?" he asks, sitting down on her bed as she closes the door, and she throws one of the bottles to him. He catches it flawlessly midair, a smirk on his face as she walks across the bedroom to grab her own work clothes from the closet, and then to her dresser where she gets some for Keefe, and throws them at him, so that they promptly nail him in the face.

"Since when do you have clothes for me here?" Keefe asks in a humoured yet serious voice.

"Since I found out you've been hopping around when you're not with your father. I keep them here in case you need a place to crash," she says hesitantly, wondering now if it's weird for her to have clothes for him. But when he's at Everglen he can borrow Fitz's clothes, and if he finds himself at Dex's they're close enough in size, but if he ever comes to Havenfield, the closest he'd have is Grady's clothing, and they are nowhere near the same size. So it only seemed fit to keep something there for him. "That's okay, right?" she asks, suddenly very worried that she overstepped a boundary.

"That's more than okay, it's really sweet of you," he says with a soft voice and a small smile. "You're going a mile a minute, come sit down." He moves over a little bit, making room for her to sit next to him, and she walks over to take the spot as Keefe wraps an arm around her, holding her close once again.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just have a lot of adrenaline," she apologises, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Oh yeah? What from?" he asks sarcastically. She laughs an unbelieving chuckle, rolling her eyes for what has to be the hundredth time that day and pushing him to the side. But when they come back, there's no time between her looking at him and when he goes in to kiss her again, and she can't help the smile that paints her face.

"Look, as much as I love that, we're about to have a relationship simply based on how well we kiss each other," she says when he pulls away.

"Well, we do it pretty well, so I'd say it's a great relationship," he says with a smile. Sophie goes in to kiss him again, and she brings her hand up to his cheek to get closer. "That is a very nice way of telling me to shut up."

"Oh, come on, go get changed in the bathroom, we can't leave Edaline to do all of the work herself, can we?" she asks, running her thumb over his cheek, looking him in the eye.

"I guess not. Knock on the door when you're done," he says, getting up to walk to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Sophie sits on the bed for a minute, just smiling to herself as she replays the recent events in her head, but she's interrupted by Keefe's muffled voice coming from behind the bathroom door.

"You know, I can still feel your emotions through a closed door," he calls out, making Sophie laugh to herself, completely giddy. Her head is floating, and her eyes are darting around as she starts to change into the work clothes, and knocks on the door when she's done. When he doesn't come out in the next two minutes, she puts her hair up in a very high and tight ponytail, pulling so hard it gives her a headache. Since he doesn't come out in the next minute as well, she decides to braid a small strand of her hair within the ponytail, and applies the clear lip gloss she keeps on her bookcase. Then she goes to knock again.

"Don't rush perfection!" Keefe yells from the bathroom.

"Can I at least open the door?" she asks, crossing her arms and waiting for his answer.

Her only reply is the door opening with nobody behind it, and she walks in to see that Keefe has pulled out every single hair product she owns, and has never used, onto the counter, and he's staring at himself in the mirror.

"Okay, I realise that you have a hair obsession, but I've never actually seen it in action. And this is... slightly ridiculous," she says, staring at all of the products. In the Forbidden Cities, all he'd have to do is take hair wax and just mess it up a little. But this... this is full on salon style craziness.

"You think this is ridiculous? What's ridiculous is that you have all of this stuff, and yet you've never used any of it," he says, running his hands through his hair, styling it the way he wants it. Sophie comes up next to him and looks at herself too, waiting for him to be done.

"It's the stuff Biana and Della bought for me, they completely stocked me up for a lifetime of stuff I don't need," she explains, looking at some of the labels on the things. One of them is supposed to make her hair sparkly, another will turn it pink. Humans would totally take these things and run like the wind with them.

"You and your minimalism. I get that humans have a budget, but you can live large now. Three years you've been living here, and I don't think I've seen you buy a single thing for yourself," Keefe says, not even taking his eyes off of his hair. Sophie finds it in herself to look at him through the mirror, admiring his features in a way she hasn't been able to do before. His nose, which is dotted with a small group of freckles, and his eyes, wide and crystal clear with ice blue irises. And his lips. The only word to describe them is perfect. Pink, soft, irresistible would all work, but perfect is the best word.

"Would you rather I start going all shop crazy like Biana?" she asks, sporting her best attempt at a smirk. It's not as good as Keefe's, but it gives off the same vibe.

"No, I'd rather you start thinking about yourself every once in awhile. You're too selfless," he says, turning to look at her. He puts his hand under her chin and takes a long look at her. So long, she almost feels uncomfortable, but it's nice. "And I know that you have a bunch of stuff from when Fitz went all gift-happy, but just to let you know, I will become mildly possessive." He says it in a joking manner, but Sophie secretly hopes he's serious. She likes the idea of being his.

"But he bakes things!" she whines, pouting at him. His eyes narrow at her, but she doesn't back down.

"Then I'll make you a deal. I'll bake with you if you let me make Fitz stop," he wagers, and Sophie grins while nodding.

"Deal. And maybe we should have a conversation later, about all of this. And not just the obvious stuff, the stuff we haven't said yet, too."

"Sophie, let's get through one thing at a time. Of course we'll talk later," he says softly. "And I'm done now, let's get downstairs and feed that stubborn T-rex, alright?"

"Alright, I'll let my brain settle just this one time, for you," she says as he hooks an arm around her shoulders and starts walking them out of her bedroom. The warmth radiating off of him is soothing, especially when she feels the goosebumps on her arms from being so nervous and tense. It's crazy how confessing to someone can make you so jittery and shaky, but it's as if his presence is stabilising her, grounding her, and making her see things with new light. Even though they haven't talked yet, Sophie has a good feeling about what is to come, and she knows it's going to be perfect.