Apparently I cannot stop.
(Ezekiel is really fun to write, hopefully I will find time to explore more of my fic ideas including him sometime very soon.)
Enjoy 3
[cross-posted to AO3]

Ezekiel hadn't thought the Library would seem so much quieter with Jake away. It wasn't like he made a lot of noise, always sitting around reading or working on a paper. Maybe Ezekiel had become more used to Jake's quiet presence than he'd thought. Or maybe it was just that without Jake around, there was less conversation, because it was that much less likely for more than one person to end up in the same place during downtime. And of course, no Jake meant Cassandra was off on her own somewhere, instead of hanging out in the Annex just to be near him.

For the first few days Ezekiel really didn't mind. He wasn't, broadly speaking, unaccustomed to being on his own, though he had admittedly gotten more used to company in the last few years. Just for kicks, he'd decided to skateboard all the way around the Library, only to find it was somehow much larger than he'd realized. "You messin' with me, Ray?" he had asked of the empty air, wondering if the Library had been quite so vast yesterday. He may not know the layout as well as Flynn or Jenkins or Cassandra, but he felt like he should have a pretty good idea by now of how far it stretched.

After about two and a half weeks he really started to get restless. He hadn't realized it was possible, but he was beginning to miss human contact. It wasn't like he hadn't seen anybody at all – Jenkins and Eve had had to get in their quota of scolding, of course, and his personal clippings book had sent him on a one-day jaunt to Geneva to snatch a necklace that, bizarrely, gave its wearer a voracious appetite. Other than that, though, things had been stunningly quiet, and he was bored. He could only spend so many hours sitting with his feet in Baby Nessie's pool before he started to crave an actual conversation.

There was a reading room he knew Cassandra liked to spend time in sometimes, when she was feeling quiet. He'd never been in there before and was mildly surprised to realize it was much comfier and more luxurious than the other reading room he'd seen. Plush sofas sat around the room, soft pillows and blankets spilling onto the floor. Warm sunlight was streaming in through the windows, which he knew had to be magical, since it was cloudy outside today. He found Cassandra curled up in a deep, cushioned window seat in a corner, leaning against the wall and staring into space, her knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them. Her shoes were on the floor beside her, her stockinged feet overlapping nervously on the seat cushion. "Off," he heard her murmur.

"Hey," Ezekiel greeted quietly, not actually wanting to startle her. He knew she'd been on edge since her surgery. "Can I join you?"

She nodded, and he climbed onto the other end of the seat, facing her with his back to the other wall. Pulling off his shoes, he sat with his toes on top of hers. His plain grey socks were a stark contrast to her bright purple tights. Resting his forearms across his knees, he asked, "How're you feeling?"

She thought about that for a moment. "Okay, I guess," she said eventually. "Kind of… tired. Or overwhelmed? I'm not sure. There's so much going on up here, and I…" She was waving one hand vaguely at her head. "It's like I'm processing it all, but I can't process that I'm processing it all. Like I'm thinking on two levels at once and the conscious one can't keep up with the unconscious one."

Ezekiel toyed with the cuff of his sweater as he considered that. "I can't pretend I actually understand," he answered slowly. "But I think I kind of get it. A little like having a computer that works fast but has a laggy display. Or," he added, still thinking, "a computer that works fast and a display to match, but you can't read any of the information as quickly as it's moving past."

She laughed a little. "Maybe, yeah."

"You controlling it any better?"

Cassandra shrugged. "I can make it start and stop okay. But it's so huge I haven't quite figured out how to… narrow my focus."

"And…" he hesitated, not wanting to pry too much. "What about the other part? How you threw that nurse the answers to her Sudoku puzzle?"

She looked down again. "No. I don't know how I did it in the first place. I don't think it's happened again."

Ezekiel watched her for a moment, twisting one corner of her sweater. "You haven't told the others about that part, have you?" She shook her head. "Why tell me?"

At that she glanced up, gave him a half-smile. "You're always the most comfortable with magic, with using it. I had to tell someone, I couldn't keep that to myself. I thought you'd take it the best."

He smiled. "I guess that makes sense." They sat quietly for a minute or two, him absently tapping a little rhythm on the tops of her feet with his toes. After a few moments he looked up at her again, feeling unusually candid. Something about being alone with her in a quiet room on a pensive day. "Cassandra, I'm glad you're okay."

"Hm?" She lifted her head and met his gaze, apparently surprised by his statement.

He leaned forward just enough to reach out and gently tap her forehead. "I'm glad you're okay," he repeated. "We were worried about you, you know."

"Oh," Cassandra said. "Thank you, Ezekiel."

He gave a tiny little laugh, shaking his head slightly as he glanced down into his lap. He realized that she didn't quite take his meaning. Looking back up, he took a breath and said, "I was worried for you. None of us knew what to do or how to feel for the hours we stood in that waiting room. But I don't think… Well, I don't think I had ever been that scared before. I've never really had anyone to lose."

"Oh," she repeated, and it was considerably more surprised this time.

"You're important to me, Cassandra," he told her, sliding his feet playfully on top of hers and pinning them in place. "I feel like I've said it before, I'm pretty sure I'm more like everyone's annoying little brother than anything else around here. But if I'm going to be your brother it makes enough sense that I'd love you like one." By now he was facing the window, but he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her eyes shining, a big smile on her face.

For a few seconds she was quiet. Then she wiped a sleeve quickly across her eyes and reached out for one of his hands, dangling in front of him where his arms still rested on his knees. She took it gently and he gave her a little squeeze. "You know something?" she asked.

He turned to face her again and lifted his eyebrows. "What?"

"I always wanted a brother," she told him. "It sounded nice. Someone who would look out for me when I needed it, someone who would always be there. I really couldn't have asked for a better one than you."

Ezekiel rolled his eyes a bit, but he was smiling. She didn't seem inclined to let go of his hand just yet, so he let her keep it. With a sigh, he said, "You know, if you tell anyone about this conversation, or that I admitted to loving you…"

"What?" she asked, grinning.

"…I don't really have any threats. But it'll be bad," he laughed.

"Okay," Cassandra said with a laugh, eyes sparkling. "Your secret's safe with me. As far as anyone else is concerned you're still completely unattached to any of us."

"Thanks," he said with a chuckle and a nod. Again they sat quietly for a few minutes, holding hands and staring out the window.

"By the way," he said absently after a while. "You really should tell Stone you're in love with him."

"What?" she squawked, head snapping around to face him again. She dropped his hand.

He grinned, but didn't meet her eye. "Third time's the charm, and all."

"What?" she repeated, her alarm increasing.

"Well, you know," he continued, grinning ever larger. "Jenkins… and then Estrella. Stone's number three. Anyway, I really think you should tell him."

Ezekiel watched her out of the corner of his eye again as she covered her face with both hands. "You know about-? How could you possibly know about… about either of those?"

"Of course I know!" he teased her, facing her finally. He leaned forward and patted her knee gently as he dropped his legs off the seat and slipped back into his shoes. "And look at that! Now I have a suitable threat just in case you let anyone know I love them."

Cassandra dragged her hands down her face. After a couple seconds, she suddenly asked, "Wait. Ezekiel, do you know something about Jacob that I don't?"

He was already on his feet, leaving the room. He turned and walked backwards for a moment, offering her a wave and a wide grin as she watched him in distress. "I have a baby lake monster to feed. Thanks for the chat, Cassandra."