Misfit |KotLC AU|

|Kiss the Pain|

When ever Sophie was injured, she was taken to a doctor.

(She was taken to a doctor a lot.)

But she had a friend who thought herself just as good.

"Does it look like it's supposed to?"

Sophie turned in the mirror, inspecting her ankle.

"M-hmm."

"Is it in the right spot?"

"I guess."

There was a pause, then Marella asked,

"Does it still work?"

Sophie twisted her foot in a circle.

"Yeah."

"Then your good to go, girl."

Sophie sighed. "That isn't as reassuring as you think.'"

"Of course it is." There was silence on the other side of the phone, then shuffling. "I ask myself those questions every year on my birthday."

"About what?"

"Hmmm, the essentials. I go top to bottom, if you know what I mean."

Sophie hung up.

********

As Sophie stepped out of her apartment, she noted Keefe's open door. And the boxes piled against the far wall.

She walked over slowly, and pulled back on of the cardboard flaps on one of the boxes. It had books, a few of which had titles in different languages.

Sophie was about to look into another box when Keefe walked into the doorway.

"Hey," he said. He was barefoot. "What are you doing?"

Sophie shrugged. "Trying to figure it out."

He smirked. "That'll take you a while."

She sighed, and gave him a lopsided smile. "I know." She tapped one of the boxes. "Need help?"

Silence.

"Sure."

********

By the time they were done, the sun was setting and flowing warmly through the windows, and Keefe's Batarangs (which Sophie didn't know he even had) were stuck on the ceiling.

The boxes were now in a closet—and in the kitchen and in his bedroom and wherever there was space.

Sophie drank from her can of Coke while Keefe scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know where else to put them."

Sophie looked around the apartment. It had been crowded from the start, and now there was a wall of cardboard separating her from the exit.

"You really do need a Butler." She smiled.

Keefe shook his head, laughing. "We need a break." He looked around. "Come on."

He lead her to a window in the corner. They climbed out, and Sophie found herself on a long fire escape. There was a blanket on the metal floor.

They sat.

"Where were the books from?" Sophie finally asked, turning to him and bumping his leg with her knee.

Keefe was staring at the tree line, where the sun was making a ring of light like a halo. "A friend sent them to me."

Sophie remained silent.

"They were my mother's."

"Were?"

He turned to her then. His eyes flashed. "My mother died when I was thirteen. She had cancer."

Sophie blinked and she scooted closer to him. "Tell me about her."

Keefe nodded, his lips forming a small smile. "She was fluent in many languages. She did dubs for movies and cartoons and stuff like that. My father hated when she would leave for a few days at a time. It was the only time he showed actual emotions."

Sophie smiled too. "She sounds nice."

He grimaced. "She...she never was. She would hide behind my father every time someone asked for her opinion. A bad habit. Then my father hit it big and he wouldn't let her out of his sight."

"He loved her?"

"I like to think so."

The wind blew at Sophie's hair. "What happened after she was gone?"

"My father broke," was all Keefe said.

"Did you?"

Keefe looked down at his hands, then at Sophie. He leaned closer, and put his face close to hers, their noses almost touching. "Fix me."

Sophie felt her whole body flush, with his breath brushing over her skin and his heat overwhelming her. She finally managed to turn her head slightly, and place her hands on each side of Keefe's face.

He was crying.

She pushed him up, her forehead against his, locked eyes. Her lips were on his before she could think, and she smiled.

"I'll try."