"......haven't really thought about it." Zeke admitted.

"Doubt I'll stay home, though." he then said.

"If Mom and Dad find out about this injury, they'll overreact." he muttered. "Mom'll worry about me, even though she'll say it's fine, and Dad'll take it as reason to train me even harder." he grumbled.

"I'd rather not deal with any of that." he said.

"So the deskwork may be the preferable option here, as much as I hate to admit it." he finished.

Zeke just laughed nervously, and scratched the back of his head.

"Eh-heh, sorry." he said.

"The team I was on ended up facing some demons." he told her.

"They concentrated their fire on us, and I shielded those that were with me with my back." he said further.

"Seems taking 5 demon blasts at once is a little past my limit." he added sheepishly.

"But at least I protected the others."

Zeke just chuckled nervously again, and turned around so she could see his back.

When he did, she saw that there was a pretty extreme burn there, as well as throbbing demonic mana in it.

However, she could see that Zeke's own mana was fighting back the demonic mana, but while he normally could fend it off and smother it easily, the combined energy of the 5 of them was just enough to be a match for him. So it wasn't getting worse, but it wasn't getting any better.

The burn itself was intense, and if anyone else had received it, they would have been in VERY bad territory, to the point where emergency medical treatment would have been needed.

"How's it look?" he asked her.

"Cool!" Zeke called back to her as she left.

When she was gone, he chuckled to himself.

"Heh... she even gets kinda mad at me." he said.

"Well... exasperated, and isn't afraid to show it." he then muttered.

"She really IS something." he commented further, smiling to himself.

".....she... she really is." he seemed to realize.

'...oh my... I've actually been doing this.' he then thought, as he fully came to another realization.

"Ohhhhhhhh Zeke, what are you doing...?" he mumbled to himself.

As she applied the cream, she saw Zeke relax. Visibly and noticeably.

"...ahhhhhhh." Zeke moaned.

"That feels good." he said.

"Like..... REALLY good." he told her, before pausing.

"The cream, that is!" he quickly said further.

"Feels minty!"

Zeke was silent as Angela said what she did, and the questioned him about his recent reckless behaviour.

"Uh... well..." he stammered.

"I mean... well, maybe I was careless this time..." he said. "And last time... and perhaps the time before that..." he then mumbled, trailing off a bit.

"But it's coincidence!" he insisted.

"It's not like I'm intentionally letting myself get hurt." he then told her, glancing off to the side.

'...maybe taking missions where there's a higher chance of it...' he thought to himself.

"I'm not suicidal or masochistic or anything."

".............this... this is true." Zeke admitted.

"I... well... I mean..." he stammered, before sighing.

"Maybe I'm just more confident, suddenly." he said.

"I mean, I'm resilient and such, but when it's a bit much, YOU'RE here for me." he reasoned.

"You've been able to help me every single time." he continued.

"You're smart, talented, got the right attitude, pretty..." he then listed off... moments before freezing in silence and horror, realizing what he'd said at the end.

"....................." Zeke was silent for another moment, and then sheepishly looked at her.

"To be honest, I deserve 'pissed'." he mumbled.

"But the fact that 'charmed' is even an option is flattering." he said.

"...also, to be fair, I actually just fully realized what I've been doing just recently." he then admitted.

"I guess I was taken by you when you treated me like you would anyone else." he went on.

"That's rare for me to come across." he told her candidly.

Zeke accepted the cream, and sighed.

"Yeah... yeah, I guess so." he said, before pausing.

"....wait." he then muttered.

"Wait, seriously?" he asked.

"Dinner?" he asked her.

"You'd... actually consider that? With me?"

"No! I'm not rejecting it!" Zeke quickly said.

"That would be great!" he told her.

"Amazing! Awesome!" he said further.

"I'll be there! I mean... at the entrance." he then said further.

"Sounds good. Like a plan. Yeah." he finished.