Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

Perfection (Keefe POV)

A/N: @liberty-print requested this chapter from Keefe's POV. This was the first installment of a 3-chapter arc in my first one-shot collection, set shortly after the events in "Stellarlune".

Keefe had just woken from the best night's sleep he'd had in weeks--maybe even months--when his Imparter rang. His heart rate picked up when he saw who was hailing him.

"Good morning, Foster," he said the moment her face flashed onto the screen. He felt his lips pull into a smirk when he took in her appearance.

She, too, must have just woken up. Her hair looked like a bird had nested in it.

It was absolutely adorable.

"I'm loving that case of bedhead," he teased.

She brought a hand up to her head and felt the messy hair situation, letting out an embarrassed little groan.  "I didn't think to look in the mirror before I hailed you."

"I'm glad you didn't. It really is cute. Besides, not everyone can have awesome hair when they first wake up."

That little eye roll she gave him?

So adorable.

"Anyway," she said, obviously eager to change the subject. "Everything okay over there? Should I come over? What did Elwin say?"

Keefe shook his head, trying not to show just how much he loved the concern in her voice. "You're getting that crinkly eyebrow again. Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I feel...better than I have in weeks, honestly."

Her smiled looked mingled with relief. "So...do you have any plans today?"

"Well..." Keefe pretended to deliberate. "There's this really cute girl I was hoping to see..." he smirked at her.

Right on cue, Foster blushed. "I just woke up too," he told her. "I'll get up and find Elwin, let him check me over again. When he gives me the go-ahead, I'll leap to Havenfield."

Keefe rushed through getting dressed and fixing his hair. In fact, he was pretty sure he'd set a new record for how quickly he achieved his perfected messy hairstyle.

He really did want to get to Foster as fast as possible.

He found Elwin down the hall, already at work in his lab. He looked up at Keefe and grinned. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"

"Fantastic," Keefe admitted. "I feel...like maybe I stand a chance of being normal again."

"Someone with your brains and your talent should never settle for being 'normal'," Elwin chided him as he reached for his pair of iridescent spectacles and snapped his fingers, conjuring an orb of blue light. "Looks good." He snapped his fingers again and a yellow light appeared.

Once he'd made it through nearly every color in the spectrum, he removed his glasses and smiled at Keefe. "Your cells look perfectly fine. Everything looks great, actually. Whatever Elysian did to help you yesterday was a clear success."

"Great," Keefe told him. "So can I go now?"

Elwin brought both hands to his heart, pretending to be offended. "Is Splendor Plains that bad?"

"No," Keefe told him honestly. "But..."

Elwin grinned with that knowing look that only adults seemed to give. "But you like another place better?...Havenfield, perhaps?"

Keefe shrugged. "Maybe."

Elwin laughed. "Eat something first. Then as long as you still feel good, I'll let you leave."