After (Magics Oneshots) *requests open!!*

Certain

This oneshot is going to take place maybe a week and a half after Found (hey, it's not going backwards anymore XD), and it's going to be AMAZING, if I can get it right. 

~

Ezekiel was really starting to get annoyed with the concussion he'd been given almost two weeks ago. Almost every movement sent throbbing pain through his temples, any light made him squint with gritted teeth, and any loud noises made him want to rip his own ears off. Because he was constantly in pain, he was extremely impatient and snappy with anyone who was too loud. (Even though he was already pretty impatient and snappy, but that was just his personality. He could do and would do nothing to change that.)

Which was pretty much everyone. 

The only few people who were considerate toward him were Falte, Abby, and Ruby. The others either didn't care or didn't notice, but Zeke didn't really want to find out. He didn't particularly care if they were intentionally ignoring the fact that he'd been hit really hard on the head, he just wanted them to shut up. 

That was one of the reasons he'd isolated himself into a randomly picked room in one of the hallways - no, not hallways. Gosh darn mazes. Zeke couldn't count how many times he'd gotten lost in just two days in the stupid, empty hallways. He'd wandered around the castle, going up and down stairs and opening closed doors, for almost three hours yesterday. 

It had been extremely tiring, but finally he'd come across Shintaro, who seemed to be in a good enough mood to show Zeke where to go. Ezekiel wasn't sure how that guy had managed to practically memorize the whole castle in only a week, but he was eventually grateful that Shintaro had. 

Another reason Zeke had placed himself alone, away from everyone else, was because he needed to sort out his thoughts. He wasn't sure if it was because of the concussion or if he was really having trouble, but his thoughts were all in a jumble ever since...

Ever since he'd gotten to know Ruby. 

Ezekiel wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He hadn't known Ruby personally for the first few days that they had been in the same house (the one he'd conveniently fled to after the attack on his town), but when they had started moving through the woods to escape from the Darks, he'd started actually talking to her - getting to know her, even laughing with her sometimes.

Which was even weirder, because he wasn't used to talking to people. Mostly because he didn't really know how to deal with them, and because his personality made him seem rude. Most of the time he was kind of being rude, because that was just his personality, but he hoped he wasn't seeming too blunt to Ruby. 

Now, he couldn't even get halfway through a thought about her before he pictured her soft smile. There was something about that small tilt of the lips that made his stomach flip strangely. He had a guess on what was happening to him, but he wasn't entirely sure - because he'd never been in love before. 

It annoyed him that he was being so ridiculous. 

There was also something off about the smile that Ruby always shared with others. There were only a few times that Ezekiel knew that it was genuine. Most of the time, it seemed like a smile that she had practiced until perfection to make her seem like the nice woman who never opposed anyone. 

Zeke wasn't sure why she had to do that. He didn't smile when it wasn't necessary, nor did he smile much. If it wasn't a true smiling matter, he didn't do it. He wasn't sure why Ruby smiled when she didn't need to, or why she tossed people that smile almost as if it was automatic. 

To Zeke, it seemed like she was throwing around gentle happiness without actually meaning it. 

And strangely, it was concerning him. Normally, he wouldn't have cared - it's their problem if they're aren't actually happy with whatever is going on around them, was his usual mindset - but for some reason, he found himself worried that Ruby wasn't as calmly happy as she let on.