Sitting casually on a bench, Keefe leaned back against the stark white walls, brainstorming how to get out of the Universe, until he felt a wave of embarrassment. That was not his feeling. Keefe smirked. He'd always been told that he was talented-- or at least that he had "his father's talent", but this was... unusual. He looked up just in time to see a short blond girl stumble around the corner, and realized that the overwhelming emotion was from her. "You must be lost," he said.

She started, and he watched her take in her surroundings.

"How did you know?"

Keefe smirked. "It's the middle of session," he said. "Either you're lost, or you're ditching--and clearly you're not ditching." He knew he was right. Young, nervous, innocent; this girl didn't seem like the type to ditch class.

"Why couldn't I be ditching?"

Keefe almost laughed out loud. "Are you?" he asked.

"No," she admitted.

Keefe grinned. Now, he recognized her. "You're the new girl, aren't you?"

He watched her nod. She sighed, but he didn't need to hear it to know she felt awkward.

"I'm Keefe."

"Sophie--but I'm sure you already know that."

Keefe cracked a smile, and he laughed. "You may be the biggest news to hit the academy since the Great Gulon Incident three years ago--which, by the way, I had nothing to do with." Or did he... Keefe smirked. "But that's not a bad thing. Personally, I've always enjoyed being the center of attention."

"Where are you supposed to be?" she asked.

Keefe smiled again. "The Universe. I ditch whenever I can. Lady Belva has the worst crush on me. I mean, I can't really blame her"-- he cut himself off by gesturing at himself-- "but still, it's awkward, you know?"

He could tell Sophie wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, so he took the opportunity to study her. Blonde hair, short-- definitely a year or two younger than him, and wait-- brown eyes? Weird. But she looked sweet, and he couldn't help but notice that she was pretty, too. He ended the silence. "And now I get to meet the mysterious new girl," Keefe said, "so I'd say ditching paid off pretty well."

He saw that Sophie tried to hide her blush, but it didn't work. Besides, Keefe was an Empath! He could feel her embarrassment almost as much as she did-- which was actually strange, considering he wasn't touching her.

"I'm hardly mysterious," she said.

"I don't know. You won't tell me why you're not in session. Don't think I haven't noticed." He smirked at her.

"That's because it's too embarrassing," she said, gazing at the floor.

"I love embarrassing!"

When she kept silent, still intently focused on a random spot on the floor, he laughed. "Will you at least tell me where you're supposed to be?"

Sophie sighed. "Alchemy with Lady Galvin," she mumbled.

"Ugh, she's the worst. I had her as a Level Three-- and she hated me, probably because I turned the lab table to silver. But she said she wanted me to impress her." Keefe threw in a wink. "Still, I wouldn't mention that we're friends if I were you." He felt her surprise, and wondered what he'd said. He guessed that she was surprised that he was able to turn the lab table silver, but that didn't seem to fit just right. Oh well, he thought. "So, what, did Lady Galvin kick you out or something?"

"Kind of."

"Now this I have to hear," he said eagerly.

"You're going to laugh at me," she said hesitantly.

"Probably," Keefe said. Inside he was dying to know what happened.

Still staring at the floor, Sophie finally gave him his answer. "I accidentally exploded the serum I was making."

Keefe went into hysterics. "Did you do any damage?" he managed to eek out.

"Only to her cape--"

"Woah, woah, woah," he cut her off. "Do you have any idea how epic that is? That cape is her pride and joy! Did she send you to Dame Alina's office?" He wondered if his original assessment was wrong-- this girl actually could cause some trouble. Then again, she was so ashamed about it... so maybe not.

"No," Sophie said, "she sent me to the Healing Center. A little of it got on my hand," she said.

Keefe noticed her send a glance towards her hand, which brought his attention to the red, swollen, blister-like welt on her hand. Woah. "Wow," he said. "Most girls would be crying about a wound like that-- most guys, too. Even I'd be playing it up for sympathy and stuff."

"It must look worse than it is."

"Still, don't you think you should get it treated?"

"I guess," she said.

"You just turned whiter than these walls. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Well that was obviously not true, but he let it go-- for now. " Come on then. I'm taking you to the Healing Center so you don't get lost again." He linked arms with her and pulled her off towards the Healing Center, winding their way through the halls he knew so well. Within minutes, they were standing in front of Elwin's office in the Healing Center.

"Sophie? I figured I'd have to drag you back here to check up on you."

Keefe looked at Sophie. Interesting...

"I know," she said. "I have a tiny burn I need you to treat--"

Keefe internally scoffed. Tiny? That thing was waaaaay bigger than tiny. There was a thin line between admirably tough and a cover-up, and New Girl had just crossed it.

"--no big deal," she finished.

"Well, let me check it out," Elwin said.

As he got up, Bullhorn hissed and ran across the floor. Keefe saw Sophie back up against the door. What, had she never seen a banshee before?

"Don't mind Bullhorn," Elwin said. "He's harmless."

"Uh, sure," Sophie answered. Keefe laughed to see her flinch when Bullhorn snapped at her ankles, knowing Bullhorn wouldn't hurt a fly.

"What brings you here today, Keefe?" Elwin asked him.

"Just helping a fellow prodigy, sir," Keefe replied, with a gleaming smile. Elwin returned his grin.

"I notice you've had to miss your session to do it," said Elwin.

"I know. Such a shame," he said, careful not to lace it with too much sarcasm. Keefe heaved a huge, and fake, sigh. "But Sophie needed help, so what could I do?"

"What, indeed? And I suppose you'll be wanting a pass to excuse you?"

"What a good idea," Keefe said.

"You always have been one to seize an opportunity," Elwin said, handing Keefe a pass. "Session won't be over for another half hour, so I'd walk slow if I were you."

"Oh, I can't leave yet-- not until I know Sophie will be okay."

"Mmm-hmm. So, where's the burn?" he said to Sophie.

Keefe smiled. You can always count on Elwin, he thought. He saw Sophie hold out a shaking arm, and he could tell she was nervous about something while Elwin examined her.

"This looks like an acid burn," Elwin said, frowning. "How did you manage that?"

"Um... slight accident in my alchemy session."

Keefe demonstrated, although he hadn't actually been there, using his hands to mime an explosion. He even included sound effects. "Destroyed Galvin's cape," he finished.

Elwin cracked up and let go of Sophie's hand. "Wish I could have seen that!" he exclaimed. "Sorry," he amended, noticing Sophie's scowl. "Have a seat so I can treat it."

Sophie sat on the bed as Elwin grabbed a salve. He rubbed the purple cream on her burn, and Keefe saw her flinch, though he could tell she tried to cover it up.

"Out of curiosity," Elwin said, "how did you explode the serum?"

"I'm not sure," Sophie replied. "I measured everything twice, and added it in the order I was supposed to, but when I whipped it, it exploded."

Wait a minute, "Whipped it?" Keefe asked.

"Yeah. At first I thought it said 'whap', but I figured I read it wrong, so I whipped it."

Keefe and Elwin both exploded into laughter. Keefe managed to choke out an explanation while holding his stomach. "WHAP means 'wash hands and present.'"

He could still feel her emotions bouncing around, so it was impossible to miss her irritation and utter mortification. He could imagine her berating herself inside her head. He was about to say something-- try and cheer her up-- when Elwin beat him to it.

Elwin cleared his throat. "It's an honest mistake," he said. "Could have happened to anyone."

Keefe privately disagreed, but he loved the new chaos. "This is going to be epic!" Keefe cheered. "I can't wait for tomorrow!"

Sophie sighed, and Keefe grinned.

The story would be all over the school within an hour.

He gave it the Keefe Sencen guarantee.