Chapter Text
His voice was so deep it resounded throughout the entire room, seemingly making every atom vibrate. You'd never heard a voice like it. His chin dipped slightly as he spoke, and he kept his eyes hard on the students in front of him. The way he seemed to absorb everything with his eyes made him appear to be completely new to everything he was seeing.
Wait, did he say his name was Castiel?
Well, he must certainly have imaginative parents. Castiel. You repeated the name in your head a few times, trying to get a feel for it. You wanted to say it out loud, but at that point in time that wasn't an option. It was unusual for professors to introduce themselves with their first name, so you were left not knowing how to address him should you need to.
He looked very young compared to Professor Lake, at least 30 years difference, and it was refreshing to have someone stood in front of you who didn't look like they were from the dawn of time itself.
The next question was why he was here at all. Others seemed to have had the same thought, because at that moment, a boy you knew as Jack spoke up. You wouldn't say you and he were friends, but he’d always been nice to you and you felt comfortable being around him when you were studying in the library or during a lecture.
"I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here? Where's Professor Lake?"
The stranger straightened his back even further and looked thoroughly uncomfortable after Jack had finished his questioning. His confused stare grew somehow even stronger as he struggled to find the right words, his head tilting slightly.
"Arthur Lake will not be returning. Forget about him."
All of the students broke into a murmuring drabble of whispers and comments about his answer, and as you gazed around the room at everyone, you caught Jack's eye and shared a baffled look with him, shrugging your shoulders as if to say 'don't ask me'. Everyone was as on edge and bewildered as each other. You were sure no-one was upset about it, but it was a shock. You knew he’d have a lot of admirers because of how attractive he was.
He stood there looking confused as people carried on their hushed conversations about him, and it became obvious that he wanted them to be quiet. He coughed quietly as if to catch everyone's attention, but no-one was listening. This only made him look more awkward and you could tell he didn't know what to do next. He closed his eyes for a second before speaking.
"Excuse me, everyone." The class of students thankfully noticed and the conversation died down. All eyes were on the new professor.
"Thank you. I will be taking your class for the rest of the year. I have been told what you are currently studying and for me to understand what level you are all at, I have an assignment for you".
Here came the groans from the class, which caused him to squint. He looked funny, frowning and squinting all the time like he was in a permanent state of confusion. You had to put effort in to try not to laugh, but a quick exhale of breath out of your nose and a smile forced their way out. His eyes flicked to you when you did this, and you hid it by smiling at him. The small gesture seemed to be enough to make him relax slightly, and he relaxed his shoulders. Strange.
Castiel turned around and walked to the other side of his desk, reaching for a pile of papers. Picking them up, he walked to the desks and began handing them out. You noticed the two girls from earlier start giggling again as he went past them, leaning into each other to talk about goodness knows what. In all fairness, there was a lot you could say about him. He was tall, handsome and seemingly so different from everyone else. You wanted to know him, but that wasn't exactly appropriate.
You’d gotten lost in thought, so it made you jump when an assignment sheet was put in front of you by Castiel. You looked up at him as he was now stood right in front of you and you felt yourself blush slightly when he just stood there looking at you. You smiled at him, and the side of his mouth twitched upwards briefly before he moved on to give out the final pieces. You looked down at the paper in front of you. The assignment was an essay, which was alright because you knew you could do it well. Your love for the subject meant that you never had to worry about not having the inspiration needed to do any of the work.
Castiel spoke again once he was back at the front.
“You may have the rest of this time slot to begin your essays. I will collect them during our next lecture”.
With that, everyone began to scrawl down the beginnings of their pieces of work, and you got your head down too. You really hoped that this would impress your new mentor as you wanted to make a good impression. Before you knew it, the time was up and you all packed up your things, students beginning to filter through the door. Because of where you were sat, you were always one of the last people to leave the room. As you slung your backpack onto your shoulder, you noticed the professor try - and fail - to pick up a pile of folders containing the already-completed essays from earlier in the year. Professor Lake must have given it to him. You watched them fall to the ground, scattering all over the floor, their contents leaving the folders.
The few remaining people in the room noticed what had happened but acted as if they hadn’t seen a thing, rushing out quickly so that they wouldn’t have a chance of having to help pick them up. Some people suck.
Castiel sighed and frowned once more at the mess, before bending down to begin collecting them. You weren’t the type of person who would be comfortable leaving the room without helping, so you placed your bag back on the desk and went over to Castiel, bending down opposite him. He looked up, startled.
“Need some help?”
“That would be appreciated, thank you”.
“No problem”. You smiled at him, and he returned it properly this time, as if he had learned what the proper response was. His smile was gorgeous, and you could have died right then and there. You couldn’t stop yourself from asking him a question, you needed to know more about him.
“So how are you finding it here so far?” Friendly, not inappropriate you hoped.
He hesitated for a while before he answered, scanning your face like he thought you were tricking him in some way.
“It is very different to what I am used to. This is my first time teaching.” He continued picking up the papers. It made sense; he didn’t exactly seem like he knew what he was doing and looked awkward the whole time.
“Oh, okay. What did you do before you were here then?” He was hesitating again.
“I’m sorry, I cannot tell you.” The look in his eyes told you he felt bad for not being able to share it with you even though it was a completely reasonable answer.
“That’s alright, we don’t know each other I guess.”
After a few minutes, all of the folders had been picked up, and you both stood up at the same time. You handed him your pile, your hand brushing his as you did so, causing you to once again blush. He was interesting and different and you couldn't help being attracted to him. He was just so out of bounds from you.
“Thank you for your help. You are very kind.” Surely his voice can’t naturally be so low.
“You’re welcome, professor.”
“I shall see you in our next class, I hope?”
“You will.”
This time, he smiled first, and you returned it warmly. It was then that you noticed how pretty his eyes were; such a bright blue. You mentally shook yourself so as not to scare him off and turned towards the door after picking up your bag.
As you walked out of the room, you noticed that his tie was facing the wrong way.
You didn't see his eyes follow you as you left, and Castiel was left wondering why this human had captured his attention more than every one of his other students.