Talk:Keefe and Sophie/@comment-98.187.134.230-20191217031342/@comment-216.139.2.247-20191217094144

EEEEK I CAN SO SEE THIS! *Goes into all-out author mode*

The first thing Keefe became aware of was the throbbing ache behind his eyelids. It penetrated the blackness in pulsing waves, each sharp flash pulling his closer and closer to consciousness.

Why does my head hurt so much? He mind slurred, like his thoughts were moving through jello. ''What... happened?''

The question felt as if it should have brought back an overload of memories crashing into his head. But there was nothing. Just swirling darkness behind his eyelids, that was slowly, slowly being penetrated by light. Why couldnt he see?

Oh right, His groggy mind managed, I have to open my eyes first.

As simple as the task seemed in his head, dragging his eyelids apart proved to be a lot tougher than anticipated. Everything was slow and achy as so so tired. Like he hadn't moved for an age.

At first, there was a bit of discomfort as the light hit his corneas, and despite wanting so badly just to close his eyes again and return to that blissful silence, he didn't let them drift shut, suddenly struck by the irrational fear that if he closed them he wouldn't be able to open them again. His blurry vision began to clear, and he found himself staring at a ceiling.

A ceiling.

Once his mind managed to move past that revelation, he let his eyes drift to his surroundings, feeling his awareness grow sharper by the second. He was in a large room, lined with beds... he couldn't remember ever being here before, but for some reason it felt... comfortable. Safe. His cozy confusion was disturbed as he felt something else. Something... strange.

Another feeling niggled at the edge of his consciousness. A sense of quiet, patient calm that somehow felt like it didn't belong inside his head. It took him a few moments to remember why.

I'm an Empath.

Which meant that the feelings had to have a source.

He mustered up more of his energy to let his gaze drift farther, searching for the source, down to the foot of his bed.

There was a girl sitting there, curled up among pillows that she had clearly stolen from other beds. Her eyes weren't on him, though. They watched a strange, tablet-like gadget in her palm- kind of like an Imparter- but it had a thin wire leading from it, splitting into two little pods that rested in her ears- Keefe could hear sounds of some sort leaking softly from the tiny pods, but it was too muffled to make anything out.

But far more interesting than the gadget was the girl. Her blond hair fell around her shoulders in uncombed waves, but it somehow still seemed pretty, and the light reflected off the pale gold in an oddly familiar way. Her intense brown eyes were distant, and her nose was scrunched up a little in thought in a way that made him feel warm inside, though he had no clue why.

If he weren't so tired, he would have smiled.

Instead, he just watched her, observing the minute changes in her expression and feeling the tiny shifts in her emotions as she stared into the distance with the odd pods in her ears and the gadget in her palm. He didn't even bother to wonder why she was sitting at the end of his bed. It only seemed right that she would be right there waiting for him.

But why?

Suddenly, her emotions changed to worry and the distand look on her face faded as she began turning to him. He watched her, not sure why his heart was beating so hard, but it all but stopped the moment her gold-flecked eyes met his.

He could feel that her heart had all but stopped too.

Those warm brown eyes widened further, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Then she abruptly jerked straighter, grabbing the wire in her gadget to yank the pods out of her ears and all but lunge for him. She halted though, as if afraid she would hurt him, and her brown eyes flicked over his face, studying every feature.

"...Keefe?" She whispered finally, almost tentatively.

"Hey." He responded hoarsely, half surprised by how much his throat protested. He needed water.

"You're..." Water fled Keefe's mind as the girl crawled closer to him, eyes not leaving his face. "You're awake?"

Keefe swallowed, studying the desperation on her face. "I'm awake," He whispered finally.

The girl's beautiful eyes welled with tears, and Keefe felt an odd, sad kind of fondness fill him.

Crying again, are we?

It was an odd thought, he realized, considering he had no clue who this girl was. But everything about her seemed so familiar, and as his gaze drifted over her features, he felt himself automatically relax. Like everything was fine as long as she was in front of him.

He was jarred from his thoughts as the girl let out a choked sound that could have been a sob or his name, reaching forward and twining her fingers tightly through his.

An instant buzz set set off between them, and Keefe's mind was suddenly plunged into an intricate web of overwhelming emotions, flurrying through him so fast it was all he could manage to pull his hands away from hers, startled.

The girl stared at him, and the tiny bit of hurt that registered on her face made guilt yawn in Keefe's core, but her hurt was quickly washed away by worry.

"Keefe... Keefe, I was so worried about you," She moved closer, not trying to reach for his hand again, and studying his eyes frantically, as if searching for a sign of recognition. "We ALL were- oh god, I need to hail Elwin. I can't-" She broke off as tears began spilling down her cheeks, reaching for a pocket, but Keefe couldn't tell if they were tears of relief or worry, her emotions were so muddled. "It's okay now. I'm here- I'm here and everyone else will be soon too. Okay?"

Keefe stared at her, feeling confusion and guilt rising inside of him. "Who are you?" He managed finally, not sure why the question hurt so much.

The girl's eyes snapped back up to him, tear-filled and frantic. "Keefe," She shoked out, "Keefe it's me. It's Sophie- It's Foster!" Her words grew increasingly urgent, more tears spilling down her cheeks.

Keefe felt something twinge in his mind at the last word, but he couldn't quite hold onto it. His head still hurt and his chest was beginning to hurt even more, and he couldn't focus on anything except for the wet tracks down her face.

...I made her cry again.

"Foster," He tried finally, the word coming out a whisper. It flowed easily off his tongue, as if he'd memorized the name inside and outside and backwards and upside-down, but his brain remained frustratingly silent.

"I- I'm sorry." He dragged his eyes back to hers, marveling at the familiar way the gold in them shimmered, but feeling guilt drag at his chest at the tears in them. His voice was hollow when he spoke.

"I can't... I can't remember."

Wheeeew, that was longer than I intended. XD Sorry!

~ JAKS