Zeke listened intently to the story.  Curious as to why he paused, Zeke picked apart Alex's words.  They were vague, giving only the specifics of irrelevant information, such as geographic locations.  He was hiding something.  Which college did he attend?  What kinds of odd jobs?  Zeke a mental note of the cities; all he knew about the places of the world were this place and Itrora.  He'd have to search for details on them later.

He was about to ask a question when Alex suddenly prepared a magic demonstration.  Biting his lip, he watched closely, trying to decipher the spell.  It didn't make any sense.  Zeke didn't have any use for a demon-warding spell, but if he were to try one, that's not how he'd do it.  What was the green sphere?  He could sense that it was comprised of energy... was Alex pooling energy into his hands?  He looked around the bar.  What was the source?  If it was Alex's own energy, he wouldn't have to gather it like that.  Was he taking it from the air?  There wasn't a noticeable drop in temperature.  Other people?  Possibly, but he didn't feel anything.  Zeke hummed quietly as he tended to when he pondered strange information.

Suddenly the orb vanished and Alex appeared unwell.  Backlash.  Standing quickly, Zeke knew the consequences of failed magic all too well, and had the scars to prove it.  Gloved hand gently on Alex's shoulder, he searched his coat for a kind of remedy.  [color=8882be]"Are you all right?  I have something - a dispel - I don't know if it works on your magic, but -"[/color] he bit his lip.  With runic magic, it lingers, so the best thing to do when a spell goes awry is to dispel it.  It was a complicated spell, and he hated to use it on a stranger.  He cursed himself for offering, but didn't show any outward signs of his internal discomfort.