KOTLC Unlocked Fanfiction ~ Dex's POV

Instructions

Hello hello! My first ever kotlc fanfiction :)) !!! SPOILERS FOR KOTLC BOOK 8.5 UNLOCKED !!! !!! DON'T SCROLL BELOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED !!! !!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!! This takes place in Unlocked after Keefe wakes up, and it's from our favorite cinnamon roll's pov! <3 hope you guys enjoy, and lmk your thoughts! . . . Dex sighed as he fiddled with a mesh of wires, twisting the jumbled metals around and around and around. So far, they were making zero progress on helping Keefe. How many hours had they spent mixing elixirs, testing gadgets, studying scrolls? He sighed again. “That’s the thirteenth time you’ve sighed in the last five minutes. I counted.” Elwin called from the other corner of the room. “Why don’t you take a break?” Dex shook his head. “I didn’t decide to stay the night and borrow your furry gremlin pajamas just to sit around and do nothing.” He pulled at the fabric of the much too large pajamas he had borrowed, frowning at the embroidered gremlins. It looked like they were doing some sort of ballerina dance. He crossed his arms, trying to cover up the animals as much as possible as he looked up at Elwin. “I didn’t say you should do nothing, although you definitely need more sleep. Have you seen those circles under your eyes?” Dex crossed his arms tighter as Elwin pointed at his face. “Anyways, why don’t you hail one of your friends? I don’t have to be an empath to feel that you have some intense gloom and doom going on.” Elwin made an over-exaggerated show of fanning the air, trying to lighten Dex’s mood. All it did was make Dex feel even more depressed. That was something Keefe would’ve done, before all the terrible stuff with his mom happened. Now all Keefe did was stay silent, staring into space. “I don’t have time to chat with friends, Elwin. Keefe needs our help.” Dex turned back to fiddling with his wires. Elwin came over and snatched the gadget out of Dex’s hands. “Hey!” “Yes, Keefe needs our help. But you also need to take some pressure off of your shoulders.” It was Elwin’s turn to heave a sigh. “You can’t be expected to fix everything. In fact, I think we need to realize that we may not be able to fix Keefe.” Dex snorted. “Don’t tell Keefe that.” His stomach soured as he remembered his conversation with Keefe earlier. Keefe had begged Dex to build another ability restrictor. Of course he had said no, and nothing was going to change his mind. But still, he felt a twinge of guilt as he remembered how desperate and scared Keefe had acted. “I’m sure there’s a way to help him! I just need to--” He was interrupted by a beeping noise coming from his imparter. Dex snatched the imparter from a pile of discarded gadgets, expecting to see Sophie. Instead, he was surprised to see Biana’s face filling the screen. She grinned. “You look like you lost a fight with a verminion. Or better yet, a gremlin,” she giggled, pointing at Dex’s pjs. He scrambled to conceal the dancing figures, knocking several elixirs off of a nearby table in the process. After a lot of flailing and cursing, he somehow managed to catch them all before they tumbled to the floor. Several snorts of laughter came from Dex’s imparter. “Sorry! I wasn’t expecting to see anyone in these!” Dex huffed as he returned the various jars and bottles to their places. “Um, you look way too cute in furry ballerina pjs to apologize for it.” Biana laughed, adjusting one of the barrettes in her hair. “Ugh, these are Elwin’s, not mine. I’m staying the night at his house. So…what’s up?” He asked, fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt. “I guess I was wondering how Keefe’s doing. Fitz told me he’s not talking at all…is that true?” Dex bit his lip. “Yeah, pretty much. Elwin and I are trying to figure out how to fix his abilities, but…we’re kind of getting nowhere.” Biana laughed. “You realize that you’re putting way too much pressure on yourself, right? I mean, Keefe’s mom spent his whole life preparing for this! You’ve spent, what--a few hours?” “Two days,” Dex said, rubbing his eyes. Biana frowned. “How are you holding up? Have you gotten any sleep?” “No.” He admitted. “Yeah, well, that’s gotta change. If you don’t get some rest right now, I’m going to personally come over there and clobber you.” Dex was tempted to listen to his friend. In fact, he was sure that if he closed his eyes for more than a second he would fall asleep. He would probably start snoring, too, and he definitely didn't want to do that in front of Biana. “Seriously though, can I do anything to help?” Biana asked as she fiddled with a strand of her hair. “I feel super useless over here with Fitz.” “You’re not useless.” Dex objected, trying to snap back into wakefulness. “Why don’t you come over here tomorrow?” He flushed as he realized he’d invited Biana over to Elwin’s house without asking him first. (CONTINUED BELOW)