Work Text:
Mumbo and Zedaph
12 Jan 2024
9:18am
Mumbo: hey zed
Zedaph: hey mumbo! how's it going?
Mumbo: yeah
Mumbo: uh
Mumbo: i can cover your shift for you tomorrow
Mumbo: so you can do to decked out
Mumbo: surprise tango and all that
Zedaph: MJ!
Zedaph: you're amazing!
Zedaph: thank you so much!
Mumbo: all good zed
Mumbo: have fun tomorrow
Aqua Town Tech
12 Jan 2024
9:30am
It's far too early for Grace to be heading into college, especially on a Friday. But they want to get a head start on their assignments that are due in the coming weeks, and they've got a class later in the morning that they want to be on top of as well. Mixed-majors are stressful, okay? Especially when you're combining communications and engineering.
Sometimes Grace wonders how much their past self wanted current Grace to suffer, especially when they have five exams at the end of the semester instead of their usual two.
However, their attempts at getting to college early to study are halted by a text from Zedaph.
Oh boy.
Zedaph and Grace
12 Jan 2024
9:34am
Zedaph: hey grace, I have a question for you
Grace: hello zedaph. it's far too early for this
Zedaph: i need a favour
Grace: what's in it for me?
Zedaph: uhh
Zedaph: extra tutorial time?
Grace: hmmm
Grace: i suppose i can maybe do a favour
Grace: what is it
Grace: if it's breaking into the english department's stash of resources again i'm not doing it
Grace: i got threatened remember
Grace: that was so not fish emoji coded
Zedaph: no no no nothing like that!
Zedaph: also what is your deal with that fish emoji
Grace: it's the best emoji and it speaks to me on so many levels
Zedaph: i need you to loan out some communications equipment
Grace: ......
Grace: seriously? that's it?
Grace: jesus christ
Zedaph: i need it!
Grace: for what? can you not get it yourself?
Zedaph: redstone engineering doesn't have that kind of equipment
Grace: what do you even need?
Zedaph: earpieces and microphones. like the spies in movies you know?
Grace: oh my god
Grace: you're lucky you're asking me and not someone else in the communications department
Grace: when do you need it for?
Zedaph: ......tomorrow?
Grace: ZED
Zedaph: it's a last minute thing!
Grace: don't you have work tomorrow?
Grace: or are you pulling a sicky
Zedaph: no i got my shift covered
Zedaph: what kind of worker do you think i am!
Grace: okay true
Grace: next time i need a hot chocolate can i come and get a free one?
Zedaph: can you get me the equipment?
Grace: i can go and get it in like
Grace: two hours
Grace: i have my podcast class first but i can get it after that
Zedaph: thanks grace, you're amazing
Grace: i want my free hot chocolate
Grace: and my extra tutorial time
Grace: please
Grace: redstone engineering theory is kicking my ass
Zedaph: yep
Zedaph: i can help with both
Zedaph: come to the engineering phd office after you've got the equipment yeah?
Grace: yes sir
Grace: now stop messaging me i'm trying to learn about the importance of greenwashing in advertising
Aqua Town Tech
12 Jan 2024
12:47pm
Grace heads over to the PhD office after their podcast class, loaned communications equipment in their hands. Zedaph – dorky, British, intelligent Zedaph – is texting someone on his phone, and they decide it's the perfect opportunity to scare the life out of him.
"BOO!"
"Hadjah!" Zed yelps, and he turns so that he's face to face with the mixed-major undergrad student. "Blimey, Grace!"
They giggle uncontrollably. "Your reaction was too good, Zed! Oh my god, that's the funniest thing I've ever witnessed."
He tries to act stern with them, but he knows he can't. Grace is one of his most engaged students, and they're always willing to help out with anything, although he always has to negotiate some sort of deal with them.
"You got it all?"
"I only managed to get three. Sorry." They hand over the equipment, and Zed puts it in his bag. "Someone else hired the rest of it out for some social media class. I dunno. I wasn't really paying attention to the reasoning."
"That's all good," Zed reassures them. "Thanks, Grace."
"So when do I get my extra tutorial time?" They ask, a cheeky smile on their face. "I have to make sure I can fit in with my schedule, you know. Mixed majors, work and dates can fill in a schedule incredibly fast."
"Tuesday after our normal class? I have two hours then."
"Works for me!" They open up their phone to put the time into their calendar schedule. "What do you even need the earpieces and microphones for? I can't imagine your PhD research requires it."
"I'm surprising my friends at Decked Out tomorrow," he explains. "I thought it'd be fun to bring in outside equipment to help my team."
"Decked Out?!" They ask, their eyes lighting up. "Lucky bastards. I've been trying to get my boyfriend to go there for weeks, but we can never get it to work out with our schedules."
"Yeah well," Zed says with a shrug. "Sucks to be you, doesn't it?"
They stick their tongue out at him. "Well, have fun! I can return the equipment for you on Monday or something, I guess. Don't break it, my ass is not paying for the fixing fees."
"You got it, Grace," Zed confirms, watching them walk off with a wave. "Have fun with your homework!"
"Stop assigning me so much!"
Zedaph and Grace
15 Jan 2024
10:42am
Zedaph: i have the equipment
Zedaph: where are you?
Grace: in class
Grace: i finish in like 5 minutes though
Grace: i'm by your phd office i'll come grab it from there
Zedaph: okay
Aqua Town Tech
15 Jan 2024
10:58am
Grace walks back over to the PhD offices, and unfortunately for them, Zed is waiting for them.
"Damn it," they say when they get close enough. "I wanted to scare you again."
"Not today, thank you very much," Zed responds. He takes the equipment out of his bag, still in the condition that it was found in, and hands it over to the undergrad. "There you go. Nothing broken."
"Thank god," they say, putting it in their own bag. "I think the communications department is almost at their limit with me hiring stuff out, thanks to you." They punctuate the last word with a lighthearted jab at Zed's chest. "You should've just taken communications, man. Then you could hire this equipment out yourself."
"Redstone engineering is more my thing," Zed responds with a shrug. "And I haven't made you hire out that much for me."
"I can count at least seven times now. Six of which were for your Java Circuit group thing."
"I'm pretty sure at least two of those times you were asked by Tango."
"Not the point. Also Tango owes me a hot chocolate too. He's a slacker."
Zed snorts out a laugh at that one. "Yeah, sounds about right for him. I'll let him know."
Grace grins at him. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a study date with my boyfriend before I have work. See you tomorrow in class, Zedaph."
"See you tomorrow, Grace."