"Fair enough," he answered, nodding. "I've just never been an optimist." He didn't see the point. Optimism was just a lens that distorted the world. It didn't make sense to him to just look at the positive because that wasn't real, that wasn't what life was about. He preferred to think about how things were, the good and the bad. To him, there was no point in filtering out certain things.
He couldn't help but snort in amusement at her comment. "'Nice' isn't something I'm often called." He wasn't a bad person, but he tended to rub people the wrong way, and he didn't go out of his way to be kind to those he wasn't friends with. And in comparison to many of his housemates, he was hardly nice.
But he fixed her with a more serious look. "But while we're on the subject, what changed you? Or I suppose why you wanted- want?- to change is a better question. I'm sure you're aware of your reputation, but you're different this year. I don't believe that just talking to people you wouldn't normally is enough to change someone that much." It was a forward question, but then again, Zacharias had always been forward; he never held his tongue, even if often that would be more socially acceptable.