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Mason nodded. "That's where I first heard it. In your memory," he said with a sheepish grin. "And then I asked some other people about it and..." Mason shrugged. "I guess there are Senshi of--Viatrix, the Mauvian I've been talking to, said there's Senshi of the Zodiac," he said, "and they're connected to the Surrounding too. Have you ever heard of a Sailor Leo, or Pisces, or Libra? That's my Zodiac sign," he added with a bemused smile. "I wonder if Sailor Libra's cool. Anyway--they have, or had, a Princess, called Chronos? Of the...the..." Mason paused, nose wrinkling in concentration as he tried to remember the word. "Not equality, but--it sounded like it? I don't remember. Anyway, there are Chronos Knights, which is possibly the coolest-sounding name ever, and I've been talking to one, she seems really nice," Mason paused, realized he was babbling, and flashed a sheepish smile.

"Sorry. It's just - I'm learning so much everything all the time," he said, shaking his head. At her question, his smile faded slightly.

"No, I haven't met her yet," he said, slowly, "and it--didn't you tell me she's like--scary? Albite described her as a 'banana with horns'."

"'A lot' can mean a lot of different things," Mason said dubiously, as a self-described 'a lot' himself. Then again, Grieve was on the list of people Halle had given him, and Halle had told him to connect with as many deep space Senshi as he could. He peered curiously at the memory, noting with amusement that...yeah, okay, he could see the banana reference.

"But I guess there's nothing wrong with intense," he said, with a one-shouldered shrug. "So...sure. I'd like to meet her, if only to meet the person behind all the talk," he said with a soft chuckle. "I haven't met-met Viatrix, just messaged her, but she's--great. She's making apps," he added, his enthusiasm gaining speed again. "Like, for Senshi phones or Knight rings or whatever? To make it so we can actually, like, communicate with each other in a way that's modern and makes sense? I dunno why the space cats are also IT computer programmers, but I'm excited about it for her. I told her I'd be her hype guy," he added by way of explanation, "so whenever she comes out with the app officially, you gotta get it, so I can say I got at least one other person into it, 'kay?"

"Please, introduce me to everybody," he said, bumping her shoulder in gentle response. "If I had anybody other than my sister to introduce you to, I'd return the favor," he said with a chuckle, shaking his head.

When conversation turned to Mason's own life, he shrugged. "It's been fine," he said, fidgeting a bit with his Knight ring, which he always wore, even though it was glamored when he wasn't Blarneyed up. "Mads is getting really excited for DCU and I'm.....also....going to DCU...." he said, a weak laugh not doing much to cover the utter lack of excitement in his voice. "It's gonna be so weird. How do you like, care about college when you know about the giant space cauldron and the hologramic moon queen and stuff?" Mason didn't know, and he shook his head. He hadn't found even the tiniest spark to make college sound like anything other than a slog at best.

And then there was the Khaz of it all. Khaz who was still in high school. Khaz who didn't yet know about Mason's 'extracurricular activities'. Khaz who was so sweet, and so shy, and so - confusing, sometimes.

Mason's fidgting increased in tempo. He gave Halia a bright smile, hoping to distract both her and himself from that particular line of thought.

"But it'll be fine, I'm sure. We're still living at home, so it's not like it'll be some huge adjustment or anything. Just - like, high school, but with more obnoxious homework, a better schedule and the ability to go to the bathroom without a hallpass."

Mason wrinkled his nose - help you learn how to help. He was already doing that, and he was pretty sure that no mortal human college had demon snake classes, outside of the mythology department anyway.

Automatically, he let his arm fall loosely around Halia's shoulders, even as he continued to fidget with his other hand.

"It's not--I mean, it's not bothering me, exactly," Mason said, reluctantly, and mostly addressing the ceiling. "It's just--like, I mean--" Mason trailed off for a few moments, then let out a grudging sigh. Madeline didn't really want to talk about his dating problems, either, and Halia was asking, and he clearly didn't know what to do about them himself, so...

Both Halle and Miss Joy had told him to let people help him, or words to that effect. Did that count for this stuff too? He had to wonder.

"How do you know when someone likes you? Like, like-likes you," he said, hating how it made him sound like a fourth grader. "'Cause, like, I'm dating--" he caught himself before he said Khaz's name, and hated that he had to. "--someone, and like, every time I think they're into me like I'm into them, they kind of..." Mason shrugged. "Pull away, I guess? Or like, get weird and tense. I dunno. And I'm like, do I smell? Is it something I said?" Mason sighed. "It's so dumb to worry about this when there's, like, energy vampires running around and space snakes out there somewhere," he said, feeling worse the more he spoke. "I dunno. Never mind. Don't worry about it, it's fine. It's probably just me being oversensitive or something." Absently, he squeezed her in a one-armed hug. "Thanks for asking, though. Really," he said, looking at her for the first time since his stuttering admission. "I'm really glad we're friends, Hals."

Mason stilled as her hand found his, and he glanced down at her, a little smile on his face. "Yeah?" he said, momentarily distracted from his entirely too human woes. "I can stop, if it bothers you." Probably. He'd never tried to stop calling someone a name before, because he'd never had a close enough friend other than his sister to even give a nickname to.

"But...yeah, I know, I know, talk to him, I know," Mason said with a sigh, the smile fading from his face as he looked back up at the ceiling. "But--like, how do you even--I mean, I don't have any experience with this either, and I don't think he does either, so it's like--how do you casually go 'hey, quick question, are you worried that people will see you and think you're gay and that might be a problem?' without it being a whole--a whole thing? I don't want it to be a whole thing. I don't want anything to be a whole thing. I like him, and I just--I just want it to be easy, y'know? And if I talk about it, it's gonna make it--not easy," he finished, lamely, suddenly acutely aware that he was coming dangerously close to whining.

"And, like, if I'm doing college and--" he gestured expansively in front of them, "jumping around on rooftops fighting youma every other minute and trying to train and level up and everything, like--who even has the time for a big thing like that? I don't! There's only so many hours in the day."

Mason shook his head slowly, his eyes dropping back to their hands as she gave his a little squeeze.

"No," he said, voice low, and sadder and more real than every rapid-fire question he'd ever shot at anyone since awakening. "He won't even hold my hand if there are people around. How can I tell him I'm a magic superhero?" He looked back at Halia and gave her a small, sad smile. "How do you know if the person you're into can be trusted with something like that? How do I even know he's not, like, secretly a Negaverse guy?" That would be just his luck, honestly. "He could be just - using me, waiting to figure out who I am before--bam. I don't get how anyone can do this and have a relationship, even though Viatrix says a lot of people in the magical community just sorta naturally pair up."

Mason sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bum you out."

A smile came to his face as she examined his hand, but as she continued to speak, Mason sighed. A fresh set of eyes was good for problems like - like math, or maybe art or writing or something, but he didn't know how much good someone else trying to meddle would do. Granted, his experience with meddling was entirely confined to his sister, who had never meddled to positive end in her entire life, but...still. He doubted it.

"Maybe," Mason said half-heartedly. "I don't even know if he wants--or, if, like, he can meet my friends. I haven't met any of his," he said, despondent once again. "I don't know, Hals. I'll figure it out. But...thanks. For listening." Mason said, glancing over to her and giving her another smile. "Really. It means a lot."