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Since he was quite young, Henry Haddock had garnered a bit of a reputation. The lanky young man, who had always been exceptionally smart, had skipped one year in elementary school and his senior year of high school and hopped right into community college at the young age of 16. His young age and short height, especially for someone who attended Viking community college, had been so widely spoken of in the tight community that young Henry Haddock had been given the nickname “Hiccup,” which he supposed was better than other names he could have been christened with (considering his inability to lift heavy objects or the multitude of freckles that covered his body). Eventually, the nickname stuck, even as Henry transferred to university and entered graduate school to the point where he began to instinctively introduce himself as Hiccup.
There was no exception for when Hiccup became a teaching assistant for a general chemistry class and, in his nervousness, accidentally introduced himself as Hiccup Haddock. Of course, the name stuck, and Hiccup just had to let things be.
However, nickname aside, Hiccup had also known about his reputation as a TA. According to the students, he was a good teacher—very clear and patient, even for a TA of a class of mostly freshmen. He always made time to reply to frantic e-mails and people who weren’t even in his class attended his office hours specifically (although, to be fair, the reason Hiccup was always available was because he never did much outside of school anyway). His young age and friendly demeanor made him approachable to the younger students and he was rather proud to say that he had heard that he held the coveted title of “that one really cute TA.”
However, despite all of his good fortune and glowing rep, Hiccup had come to realize that every TA has a problem student (but maybe it wasn’t one hundred percent the student’s fault, Hiccup had thought with an exasperated sigh).
Hiccup finished copying down the last equation on the board, his left arm aching and his hand cramping as he tried his best not to smear the chalk on himself (a vain attempt, as always). His nose wrinkled at the stench of chemicals that filled his nostrils and his goggles fogged up continuously, much to his annoyance. He heaved a sigh of relief as he set the chalk down, admiring his work as he clapped the chalk dust off of his hands. He turned to the lab coat-clad students, who were all furiously copying down the equations in their notebooks.
"If you guys have been going to discussion you should know all of this already," he said, "but if you still don’t get it, then you can stay back after the lab and I’ll help you out."
He looked out into the sea of faces silently hoping everyone understood so he could go back to his apartment after this and take a nap. “Any questions?”
“I have a question, Hiccup,” a student with shockingly snow white hair and a cheeky grin raised his hand in the back.
The entire classroom seemed to dissolve into giggles as Hiccup rolled his eyes. “What is it, Jack?”
“What’s your number?”
Hiccup reached over the table to retrieve a stack of papers lying in front of him, heaving them into his arm. “Jack, if I were you, I’d be less concerned about my phone number and more concerned about the number on your midterm.” Hiccup watched with a bit of satisfaction as the jaws of every student dropped and Jack’s mischievous smirk was wiped off of his face. “Get to work—I’ll come around and hand these back to you.”
However, even as Hiccup handed back the exams among forlorn faces and frustrated groans, Jack’s smile had somehow crept back on his face as his freckled instructor gave him his test.
“You know,” Jack began as Hiccup rifled through the papers, “I don’t think I did as well as I wanted to on this midterm I could really use the extra help,” he said in a sing-song voice, waving his unopened test in front of him. “Maybe Saturday night? You and me? My place?”
“I have a lot of better things to do than hang out at your freshman dorm on a weekend,” Hiccup said coolly as he handed a test to Jack’s lab partner. “Why don’t you ask Aster to help you?”
Jack’s lab partner, an Australian international student with a temper and strict attitude gave them a glare as he poured acid into a beaker. “Don’t drag me into this,” he said as Hiccup walked away.
The rest of the lab went as usual, which is to say, as usual for them. Jack bothered Hiccup with pick up lines he had probably pulled off the internet and he shot Jack down with a sharp wit. After all, no matter how charming the white haired young man was, no matter how utterly attractive Hiccup found his stupid pale face and horribly perfect smile, it was forbidden for staff to date their students and, as a TA, Hiccup was technically staff.
And so, Hiccup remained vigilant, and after the hours passed, Jack had stayed back as usual, although his incessant flirting had faded away and he had actually asked Hiccup to explain some of the problems on the midterm. The rest of the students filed out and the stench of chemicals that had filled the air decreased a bit.
Jack and Hiccup watched as the last student waved them goodbye, they watched the door shut in complete silence.
“That was harsh,” Jack said with a pout.
“Hey, I was just repeating what you said about living in the dorms last week,” Hiccup said, nudging Jack with his elbow. “Besides, you were so persistent today, I couldn’t just let it go.” Hiccup reached up to erase the chalkboard. “What was with that anyway?”
“It’s been a long day,” Jack whined, resting his chin in the crook of Hiccup’s neck, wrapping his arms around his thin waist. “I missed you,” he said, pressing his lips to Hiccup’s neck, sending a shiver down the genius’ spine.
Hiccup relaxed his arm and leaned into Jack’s embrace, resting his head against the other’s and sighing. “I just saw you this morning, settle down,” Hiccup teased, his voice gentle. “If you keep getting uppity, someone’s going to realize something’s going on at some point.”
“Good—I’m tired of sneaking around,” Jack said stubbornly,
“You’re such a kid,” Hiccup laughed, putting down the eraser. “We only have about half the semester left—be patient.”
“I’m only two years younger than you,” Jack objected childishly. “Half a semester is a really long time,” Jack insisted.
“Then maybe we should pass the time together?” Hiccup said, turning around to wrap his arms around Jack’s neck. “Let’s say… 8 o’clock this Friday? My place?”
Jack hummed, pressing his forehead against Hiccup’s, closing his eyes as if in contemplation. “I dunno if I can wait that long,” he said huskily, “You know me, Hic—I’m an impatient guy.”
Hiccup’s breath hitched as Jack pushed him against the chalkboard. Even through their foggy goggles, Hiccup could see the hungry look in Jack’s eyes that made him want to lunge for the young man’s lips right then and there if it weren’t for the safety protocols that nagged Hiccup in the back of his head.
But hey, maybe it’d be okay for just this one moment. Maybe Hiccup could just reach up and pull off their goggles. In that moment, Hiccup felt that there was nothing that could possibly stop the passion building up inside of him like boiling water.
However, as Hiccup began to slip from his self control, the door creaked open and Hiccup shoved the boy to the side instinctively, turning back towards the chalkboard and erasing frantically.
“A-and that’s how you calculate the pH of a buffer solution,” Hiccup stammered awkwardly as Jack stared up at him from the floor in a daze.
Astrid, the head TA and a good friend of Hiccup’s, gave them a neutral look. “Hiccup, there’s a TA meeting in fifteen minutes, are you coming?”
“Oh, yeah, er—“ Hiccup fumbled with his belongings. “Let me just get my stuff.”
The three were left in awkward silence again as Hiccup gathered his papers and Jack heaved his backpack over his shoulders.
“So, uh, I’ll see you during my office hours on Friday then?” Hiccup asked as Jack stepped past the blonde woman and towards the door.
“Y-yeah, Friday,” Jack stammered, as he slipped the goggles off of his head and closed the door behind him.
Hiccup stepped towards Astrid, the neutral look on her face turning into a small smirk that made Hiccup blush twenty different shades of red. “S-so are we going or what?” Hiccup asked.
“Oh yeah, sure, but—“ Astrid snickered, reaching back to swat the back of Hiccup’s head, “you may want to get all that chalk dust off your back, lover boy.”