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 Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 3:36 pm
It had happened almost accidentally. Sure, after the conversation over the messaging app, Mason had, on purpose, looked up the DCU chemistry professors and found the one that matched the photo his new friend Knight Promethei had sent over. Dr. Zebulon Castaneda, was his name. Zebulon. Mason had repeated it to himself so many times it didn't sound like a real word anymore, never mind a name, and then he thought he'd more or less forgotten about it. Until he found himself standing outside a partially-ajar door with Dr. Zebulon Castaneda written on the little plaque. He hadn't planned to wind up there, but wind up there he had, and he only hesitated a moment before he walked in and flopped down into the nearest seat. "Hi," Mason greeted, trying not to sound as deflated as he felt. "You and I--we talked on the--the messenger thing?" To show what he meant, Mason lifted up his hand, where his Signet Ring rested in its plain, disguised form. "I'm the guy with the million questions about the husband horde?" Mason gave a weak, tired smile. "I'm sorry to barge in on you like this but I--my--the person I was dating? I--I'm not...I'm not dating them anymore and I--I don't know what to--I don't know how to--I--" Mason was not very coherent on the best of days, and this was not the best of days. He ran a hand over his face and then through his hair, letting out a puff of air as he did. "I'm--I'm sorry," he repeated, "but I think I need--help? Please?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2025 10:41 pm
Mason had arrived during his open office hours, a time of day where Zebulon was not only in his office but open for visitors in even the most chaotic days. Today in particular wasn't particularly chaotic; the quiet allowed him to fine-tune his critiques on some of the essays he received back from some of his master's students. This was the kind of situation that he probably shouldn't be giving such a snarky answer for- The arrival of a student--he presumed--caught his attention, and he closed out his critiques to other students to glance up at... Ah. A knight. He recognized the mention and his eyes widened slightly. It made sense with the way he introduced himself and spoke so casually that eventually one of them would find him at work. That, in itself, was fine. The fact that the door was open might not have been fine, so Zebulon moved to get up from his desk and close the door behind Blarney as a civilian. Oh. Relationship drama. Well. A bit different than powered drama-- "Alright, think the first thing y'should do here is take a deep breath." Zebulon rounded back to his desk and sat down. "Do you need a sip of something? I got a coffee maker in the corner there and some different types of pods to put in it. Gather your thoughts a bit. Then explain what happened."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2025 9:55 pm
Mason let out the world's biggest sigh: despondent, forlorn, and exhausted. It wasn't quite 'taking a deep breath', but it was as close as he could get at the moment. He shook his head at the mention of coffee, but gave him a little smile in appreciation. "My sister says we're not allowed to have caffeine. It makes us even bonkers than we usually are," he said with a little chuckle. "I'm--I'm really sorry to just bust up on you like this, and you're at work and everything, I just--I feel like--" He felt like the walls were closing in. Or that he was drowning. Or that he was drowning in a room where the walls were closing in. "I just feel like I don't know--what to do," he said, sounding lame to his own ears. "It's like--I mean, like I said, it's not like we were--you know, we weren't like gonna get married next week or anything, and it was--weird and hard because he--they weren't out, but like--he broke up with me. Over text. Over text." Mason repeated, gesturing like what do I even do with that. "And then he said he was breaking up with me because I was 'too wonderful'. What does that even mean? And like, Professor, I don't think--I really don't think I was wonderful! I wanted to be wonderful, but with all the knight stuff going on, I just--I didn't have time to be wonderful. I was--part of what's so--like--I feel bad about it! I don't think I was--" Mason cut himself off and ran a hand through his hair, forcing himself to take a deep breath, as he'd suggested. "I don't think I was that good a boyfriend," he admitted, mostly addressing the floor. "I wanted to be. I really did. But I--I wasn't. And I felt bad about it. I still do feel bad about it. If he'd broken up with me because I was being a bad boyfriend, that would--that would at least make sense. But he--he didn't! He said a bunch of stuff about like, not being ready and whatever, and then. And then, Professor, he said-- He said he loved me! He said he loved me! After saying I was too wonderful and breaking up with me! Over text!" Mason paused. "...Sorry. I was yelling. Sorry." Mason flashed him an apologetic smile, sheepish. "Sorry. It's just--I just don't even know what to do with it, y'know? And that makes it--hard not to--to go to the yelly place a little bit. And the rambly place. I'm so sorry. You don't know me and I just--sorry..."
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Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2025 1:18 am
"For what it's worth, there's hot chocolate in there, too. Tobias' preference." And considering the time of year, even with it still being relatively warm out, it had been a popular pod. Tobias had graduated and moved onto his fancy government job, but Professor Castaneda hadn't thought it necessary to pull the hot chocolate pods. ... Especially since a certain Fr. Hollenbeck and Dr. Castaneda-al Baksh also kept stealing them ... Professor Castaneda kept quiet, letting Mason air his grievances and frustrations and upset aloud. Considering he had always been nosy, he was a surprisingly good listener, but it went beyond that. He was a professor. Professionally, even! His job was now to deal with people on a daily basis, including people who came to him with frustrations and hopes and losses and dreams and -- it was his job to field all of that, even beyond his love of the research and the field. If he only cared about the field, after all, he could just go be an industry chemist. But he chose to stick with this despite. "It's okay to not know what to do right now. To be suddenly broken up with over text would take anyone by surprise." Himself included, honestly. He knew the background between Mason and the person he was dating was a bit murkier with the closeted element, but there was still a suddenness and coldness to over text. "Especially to have him also say he loves you. Which." Zebulon crossed one leg over the other and flicked his wrist in a way that was surprisingly flamboyant. "Take that to mean it's not your fault that this happened. A very it's not you, it's me sort of situation. That could mean a lot of things for him, but for you, that's none of your business. Hightail it out of there. Focus on yourself for a bit. You're going here now, right? College is the time to spread your wings per se anyway." He sighed, gathering in a way where he sat with his back a bit straighter. "That being said, it's okay to feel hurt by this. Take the time you need to process it. Don't jump immediately into something else until you feel ready. And," Zebulon shrugged, "if your ex comes crawling back, consider carefully if you'd even want him back, no matter what. This is a fundamental break of trust, either way."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2025 11:44 am
Mason blinked owlishly. He hadn't considered, for even one single solitary second, that 'I love you' might mean anything other than...what it meant. That Khaz loved him and was breaking up with him for being too wonderful. For some reason. Hearing the professor speak, though, it did - start to make sense. And just like that, Mason felt the knot of confusion and angst in his chest begin to melt away. Not all the way gone - the professor was good, clearly, but not that good - but it was a start at untangling it, and that was way more than he'd had before he walked in the room. Mason blinked again. He hadn't even - he hadn't even considered the idea of Khaz coming back. Or if he had, he hadn't considered the idea that he could say no, and actually sorta-kinda have a reason to do so. From the outside - a view that Mason suddenly had - he could very easily see Khaz coming back, if/when things were different for him. He could very easily see himself letting Khaz come back, too. Mason had never had a relationship before. He'd never been dumped before. He'd certainly never refused someone who wanted to be with him, even if that someone had broken up with him ( by text). "I was already--" Mason sighed softly. "With college and everything I hadn't had a lot of...time. To be any kind of boyfriend, really. He's still in high school--I graduated early, it's not weird or anything--and it's just..." Mason sighed again and leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling. "I know you have all the partners and it works for you guys, but I don't think I can date anyone and be--you know, doing our thing." Mason gestured with his ringed hand once again. "I'm barely like, making it to classes and stuff. If I didn't have my sister basically chaining me to my desk and making me do my assignments, I probably would've failed out by now." Mason sighed and looked back at the professor. "It's also just like...it's hard to care about like, Rhetoric 101 or whatever when there's--you know, space snakes and stuff out there. It just feels--like, why bother with how to properly arrange a bibliography when--" he dropped his voice to a lower volume, though the murmur did nothing to contain his excitement, "--when I went to the moon a few weeks ago? Like??" Mason threw up his hands. "Maybe college and dating and everything just--isn't for everybody. Maybe this is what I'm supposed to do, y'know? This and just this, 'cause just this is--it's a lot."
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Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2025 1:23 pm
Zebulon must've said just the right things to have Mason outright blinking at him. And, patiently, he waited for the other to sort out what that meant to him, exactly. Did he expect his words to resolve everything? Of course not, but there might've been less stress behind the way Mason talked and thought once he was done sorting things out. It's not you, it's me breakups always has a way of being messy. He would admit, Zebulon felt bad for all of his students that had run into being what they were now and found themselves still students. (He felt less bad for any of them that were Chaos instead, but that was another topic entirely.) Zebulon hadn't exactly had to worry about anything like Rhetoric 101 or Chemistry 102 while he was a knight. He had long since graduated with his doctorate. It was why he was sitting where he was. Of course, juggling being a professor and having four husbands and being a knight had been a challenge of its own. It was part of why Diryas and Tobias didn't power up as often as Zebulon and Teegan did. That, in itself, helped formulate his response. "That doesn't need to be something you decide now. You can jump into being what we are," with a gesture at his own ring, "fully later. You can be in a relationship later. None of these options leave, exactly. Dise, for example, has opted to take a slower approach to his ...," Teegan was so much more eloquent than he was, what would he say-, "ringed life," sure, "than I have, for example." He licked his bottom lip. "Having three husbands in this life is helpful, to be honest. We share the workloads. But that doesn't mean you should immediately go find someone else romantically in this life you can rely on. That will come in time. Building community otherwise will ease how heavy being what we are feels." After scratching at his beard for a moment, Zebulon finished, casually, "And for now, you can focus on getting through your classes. Think of this with classes like having a part-time job you're passionate about at the same time. Don't worry about the relationships portion unless one comes along."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2025 10:43 am
"But I don't want to take it slow," Mason complained, only faintly aware of how whiny he sounded. "This thing isn't a part-time job. For one I don't get paid, and for another it's not serving some evil corporate overlord. Or even like, just bringing me personal fulfillment. It helps people. It saves people," he said. " I save people. Just by--by being there, and being like, semi-competent with a stick." And magic, now, but he was still practicing on that front, so he was still a bit far off from even semi-competence. He was thinking about Eles, the boy he'd saved during StarFest. He hadn't heard from him in a while, which he guessed was normal, but--he had saved him that night. He'd helped him. He'd made a measurable, objective difference in the world, for the better. "I'm--I'm good at the other thing. Or at least...good-ish. Or I could be good, or something. School is..." Mason sighed, wrinkled his nose. "It's always been more my sister's thing. She's smart. Like, really smart. And now she's involved with this too, except she's basically refusing to actually do it, and refusing to let it 'change her priorities'. But like, it has to change the priorities, doesn't it? Like, by the very nature of--of the thing! It's not like--it's not like I'm going to cure cancer or write the next great American novel or something. I don't even--I haven't even declared a major yet. But with this other stuff? I--I feel like I get it. Like I know what I'm supposed to be doing, even if sometimes I'm still figuring out exactly how to do it."
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2025 1:59 pm
[Zebulon found his brows raising minutely at the complaints. It did, easily, remind him that he was talking with someone of freshman student age, even around all the other signalers. Not wanting to take it slow also reminded him of himself. There were multiple reasons why he had ended up where he had over the years. Including behind a desk, talking to a teenager about relationships. "But sometimes you do need to take it slow. I can tell you're passionate about this, which is why I mentioned treating it like a part-time job. Perhaps a part-time volunteering gig instead, like volunteer fire houses." They were, arguably, saving lives. Even without having been asked if they wanted to be part of it, or getting paid for doing so. Arguably, the stress this s**t had put him through probably deserved some ******** pay- "But getting good at anything requires practice with it. That can include at school, at relationships, at being ring bearers," sure, that was what this was, "at anything you're going to need to be patient about. That includes your sister, being slower with the life saving thing. And you can be slower with university or anything else if you wish." His lip tilted upward. "Nothing wrong with it."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2025 8:53 pm
Mason wrinkled his nose slightly - patience had never been his strong suit. It had never been any kind of suit for him, if he was being honest; patience was for other people. Namely his sister, who had to have the patience of a saint to deal with him, he knew. Going slow was similarly frustrating. He also hated being bad at things, and school was - School was hard. Things that were hard were, perhaps unsurprisingly, far less interesting to him than things that were easy. School was hard, was the problem. In comparison, ring bearing was easy. Or at least...eas ier. "I can't really go slow at university stuff," Mason said, resigned. "I'm in all these classes, and my sister won't let me fall behind in them. If I tried to like, take a half-load or whatever next semester she'd lose her mind. I know you're a--like, you're not gonna tell me to drop out and follow my bliss or whatever. Like, I get that. I'm just..." Mason sighed and ran a hand through his hair, flopping back into the seat. "How did you know you wanted to do--chemistry? Teach? All this?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2025 10:06 am
"For what it's worth," started Zebulon, after listening to Mason comment on how his sister would take it, "your college load and experience is your college load and experience, not hers. If you need to go part-time for your own sanity, do it." And that was coming from a professor, if that helped his case. Zebulon had never gone part time himself, but that was because he always went very hard and very passionately at everything he did. That wasn't for not knowing anyone who had. For one, Tobias did part-time for the entirety of the time he had been going to university. For another, plenty of his PhD classmates had opted to take a slower approach so they could maintain full-time work on the side. Just because he hadn't didn't mean it wasn't valid. The other question got both more and less complicated all at once. "Well, chemistry seemed like the logical adult progression of things like wanting to play with kids' science sets constantly and loving explosives and other," he cleared his throat, "dangerous things." It really was too bad that he couldn't just slip some poison into his weapon... Just a bunch of it in a jug- "But as for teaching, that one is a bit more complicated. Could've just gone into research or industry for most of what I love about it. "But research is still open for me as a professor. Encouraged, even," he shrugged, "but there's also something surprisingly exciting about guiding other people to be excited about these studies or at least interesting in furthering the understanding of either the global studies of chemistry or their own." It, admittedly, also helped that he loved the field innately. "Finding your calling, though, is a hard one. Some people don't even find it while they're here and just make sure to get a degree they're happy with. I personally suggest chemistry," obviously, "but even outside of that, think of what you handled well in school and try starting out there. See what really feels like it's sticking. Or stuff socially, perhaps, like a cultural studies or psychology degree. The world is your oyster and you have plenty of time to shuck it."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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