KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

Dex

The days passed slowly. Dex spent as much free time as possible at Watchward Heath, checking the footage to see if any images had been captured. Occasionally there would be a false alarm, some red headed human who looked similar but clearly was not Kenric. He'd switch the search from city to city, town to town, painstakingly covering every possible place.

Days turned to weeks. It was exceedingly difficult to focus on their studies, but they all did their best.

Mr. Forkle had given Dex access to enter Watchward Heath whether he was there or not, so any time Dex needed to adjust the area of search he didn't have to rely on Mr. Forkle's availability.

One evening, he had moved to a rural area with less camera footage and less population, so he was having to be very creative in figuring out ways to search for Kenric. He was hard at work, but Biana had promised her family she'd come home for dinner, so Sophie and Keefe took it upon themselves to bring him something to eat.

"It's weird," Dex said while they sat together eating dinner. "It's not hard but it's very tedious. Once I get it set up, the technology does the work for me. But in these small towns there's only so much I can do, but I'm always afraid it isn't enough so I keep looking for security cameras, for people carrying their cameras, all of it. And I'm afraid to just work on a really broad search and do the whole country at once, too afraid something will slip through the cracks and we'll miss him."

"You're probably overthinking it," Sophie told him. "I'm glad you're being thorough, but you can't worry yourself sick over it either."

"I'm sure Biana talks him down if he starts to stress too much," Keefe reminded her.

Dex grinned. "Sometimes I don't know if I'm more distracted with her here or more distracted when she's not here," he admitted to them.

Sophie and Keefe shared a knowing look.

"That sounds familiar," Keefe said, smirking at Dex. "Why do you think we got married so early? Being apart was a huge distraction."

"Well, I'm starting to think that too. Like, maybe I could focus better if..."

"If what??" Sophie asked excitedly.

Dex blushed slightly but grinned at them, flashing his dimples. "Okay, you can't say anything, but I'm planning on proposing to her after midterms."

Sophie squealed and tackle-hugged him.

Dex hugged her back, blushing even more than before. "I'm no Empath, but I'd guess you're happy about this?" He asked with a laugh.

"Yes!" Sophie told him, loosening her hold on him and backing up to look at him. "Have you told Alden and Della?"

He nodded. "I mean, Biana and I had already talked with them pretty extensively, they know we plan to get married, since we told them we weren't registering and that she'd be taking my name." He still looked amazed by this. "But yes, I just told them the other day. I had to try to sneak a meeting with Alden since I would like this to actually be a surprise for Biana, but I wanted them to know what I was planning."

Keefe grinned at him. "Exciting stuff."

"Yeah," Dex agreed. "Scary though, even though I know she loves me."

"Totally get that. I was kind of panicking before I proposed to Sophie even though I literally already had a ring on her finger."

"You were?" Sophie asked, surprised.

"Of course. What if you had told me to wait and ask you later? Getting married this young—during Elite levels instead of waiting until you graduate—is not unheard of but it is somewhat uncommon."

Sophie laughed. "No way was I saying no to you." She looked at Dex. "Do you know when you want to get married?"

"Well I'm open to whatever Biana thinks, but I thought maybe sometime after final exams. During the break between our Elite levels."

"I guess that means you'll talk to Leto?" Keefe asked knowingly.

Dex looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, I kind of already have."

Keefe reached out and touched Dex's shoulder. "Yep, I thought so. You feel awkward all of a sudden, want to tell us why?"

"It's really not that big of a deal," he assured them. "Just a little bit embarrassing." He laughed. "Biana was here a couple of days ago, and after I checked the feed for any captured images, I wanted to stop staring at screens for just a minute before I started tweaking the search. So I started talking with Biana and then I just thought—" he shook his head and rolled his eyes, "I just kissed her for a second but that's when Mr. Forkle walked in."

Keefe doubled over laughing. "Forkle caught you making out?" He couldn't stop laughing.

"We weren't making out, I just...she told me I looked cute when I got all techie and serious so I couldn't help it, I leaned over and kissed her and of course he walked in right then."

Sophie was trying very hard not to laugh. "What did he say?"

"He said if I was done with what I came to do then maybe we should leave the office and go enjoy each other's company somewhere else. He wasn't mean about it, I think he was even a little amused, but there were definitely a few "you kids" comments thrown in there. But I told Biana she could head back to Foxfire while I finished what I was doing, since it was awkward with Forkle there after that."

"So she left and then you talked to him about moving off campus?"

"Yep. He said as long as that meant we could do our kissing at home and not in his private office then he would give us permission."

Sophie couldn't help but laugh now. "Well good."

"That is good. We've been hoping you two would join the happy married club. Plus, it is fun having your own home to kiss at." Keefe smirked at Sophie. "Among other things," he muttered mischievously.

Dex, who had just taken a swig of his bottle of Youth, gagged and sputtered, spewing water everywhere. "And on that note," he managed to choke out. "I think I should get back to work."

Sophie rolled her eyes and smacked Keefe on the arm. "Sorry about that," she said to Dex. "He can't seem to help himself." Then she wrapped Dex in a hug. "I'm so excited for you. I promise I won't give you away to Biana."

Dex grinned. "Thanks." He looked at Keefe, eyes twinkling with amusement. "For everything but the embarrassing comments."

Keefe shrugged, unfazed. "You knew what you were getting into when you became my friend."

Sophie rolled her eyes, mouthed sorry at Dex and pulled Keefe outside. "Let's get you home, trouble maker."

Keefe smirked at her and tugged softly on a piece of her hair. "You know you love me."

Sophie rolled her eyes again but leaned up to peck him on the lips. "I really do."