Work Text:
“Goodbye Mr. Mcallister!”
“Goodbye to you, too, Mr. and Mrs. Stevens! Get home safe.”
Emmett Mcallister sighed into his coffee as he watched the door to his classroom close. Parent/teacher conferences were his least favorite time of the year. He had chosen to become a teacher to influence young minds, not get questioned about every aspect of his teaching by people who either thought he was being to harsh on his students or not harsh enough. In the past 2 hours he had heard every variation of “My child deserves special treatment because of X” and “What do you mean a disturbance during class? My angel would never do such a thing!” and was frankly sick of it. This last couple he spoke with had hardly let him say hello before demanding to know why their “genius” daughter was only getting a B grade instead of an A grade. He had tried to explain that their daughter was missing several homework assignments, but all that resulted in was the parents asking why he had lost their daughter’s homework because “ Of course she turned it in!”
To be fair, not all parents were awful.
Just most of them.
Emmett rolled his neck, hearing the joints pop as he did so, and picked up the schedule to see which parents were next. Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov , Emmett read and smiled a little. Masha Katsuki-Nikiforov was an incredibly well behaved child for a third-grader. With a golden smile and shy demeanor, she was one of Mr. Mcallister's favorite students. The young girl had moved to the school halfway through the second term. Emmett had initially been worried that Masha would have trouble adapting and making friends due to her shy demeanor, but she surprised him by making friends as easily as if she had been there since the start of the year.
One of the ways she made friends with her classmates was with the fantastic things she would bring to show-and-tell. Each week the students of the class were invited to bring items that matched a particular theme. Misha’s first week in school was Gold Week, and she had instantly won the respect and adoration of her fellow students by bringing in a real gold medal from the Olympics with a note of authenticity and everything. She bravely told her class that one day she would have an Olympic gold for herself, not just her dad’s. Last week she had brought in a pair ballet slippers and had proudly announced that her papa was teaching her how to dance like a prima ballerina.
Thinking of her papa, Emmett racked his brain to try and remember if Masha had ever mentioned a mother in the picture. After his first year of teaching, he had learned that one of the worst missteps that could happen during parent/teacher conference is him referencing a parent that was not in the picture. Emmett had made the unfortunate mistake of asking a student when the father would be joining them (after only the mother showed for the meeting) and was faced with the harsh reality that just because someone is wearing a wedding ring doesn’t mean the spouse is alive.
Thinking of what Masha had told him though, there was only one parent in the picture. When asked about her home life, she was always ready to talk about how amazing her papa was and how she and her dad had gone to the zoo last week. When Emmett had asked her about the gold medal from show-and-tell, Masha had enthusiastic about telling her how “Papa is an amazing skater!” and “Dad can jump soooooooooooo high!”.
Emmett was startled out of his musings by a knock on the door.
Well, let’s meet Mr. Amazing-Olympic-Father-Of-The-Year-Nikiforov , Emmett thought to himself before letting out a “Come in!” and rising from his seat.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Katsu-” Emmett started before trailing off. This man can’t be real, he thought, This must be a dream.
Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov wasn’t just an athlete. He must have been sculpted by the ancient gods themselves. With a slim but obviously toned masculine frame and eyes a shade of brown so rich a man could drown in them, Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov was the most beautiful man alive. Emmett could almost taste the raw sensuality and power that the other carried as naturally as breathing. Emmett’s eyes caught sight of Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov’s thighs and almost ascended to heaven with that brief glance alone.
I want those thighs to crush my head, Emmett thought. That’s how I want to die.
“-Icallister? Mr. Mcallister? Are you alright? You look flushed.” Mr. OHMYGODHAVEMYBABIES-Nikiforov said.
“Sorry! Sorry. I think, uh, I, um, I just stood up to fast and got dizzy. No-no worries.” Emmett replied, trying to take deep breaths to calm himself. He was a grown man, for heaven’s sake! He shouldn’t be turning to mush just at the sight of the most absolutely beautiful man in the world.
“Are you sure? Perhaps you should sit down. I can get you some water if that would help.” Masha’s father said. Oh no, he was sweet and kind too? That’s just not fair.
“Really, I’m fine! Nothing to concern yourself with. Let’s just get started, shall we?” Emmett prompted, lowering himself into his chair and pulling out Masha’s file of homework and projects.
From then on the meeting picked up and started following a normal flow for the conference. Emmett went over the classes projects and assignments then presented the outline for what the rest of the year looked like. Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov (“Please, call me Yuuri.”) asked questions and seemed very interested in his daughter’s progress. The meeting seemed fairly average excluding the thoughts running through Emmett’s mind.
He doesn’t have a ring on his left hand! He must be a single parent. That’s so brave of him… and hot.
Oh god, Yuuri is such a cute name! A want to shout it out as he rams into me.
His glasses make him look so educated. I’m going to be thinking about his eyes behind those glasses later tonight.
He loves children too!?! I love Masha, but I wonder if he would want to adopt more with me…
He’s asking so many questions and seems so genuine in his interest. He is literally my teacher/parent wet dream.
His accent is adorable. I bet it would sound even better whispering in my ear…
Emmett’s mind would have probably continued on in the same manner if, near the end of their meeting, he and Yuuri weren’t interrupted by a knock on the classroom door.
Both men looked up as the door opened to reveal the second-most beautiful man on earth. Tall, blond, and blue-eyed glory took a look around the room, passing over Emmett, before settling on Yuuri.
“Oh, my darling! I am so sorry I am late! Our Yura kept me late at the rink with drama about his music not “fitting his image.” Hopefully it is not too late?” said the newcomer earnestly as he walked over and dropped a kiss on the top of Yuuri’s head.
Wait. Wut.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Emmet said, looking between the two of them, head moving back-and-forth as if watching a tennis match.
“Oh dear! I am so sorry for my manners. I’m Victor Katsuki-Nikiforov, Yuuri’s husband.” Victor said, reaching a hand out to shake Emmett’s.
They shook hands, Victor’s grip strong and commanding while Emmett’s was loose to match his disappointment in losing his soulmate. The look in Victor’s eyes said that he knew exactly what Emmett was thinking and that he didn’t like it one bit.
The realization that Masha had been referring to two different people when talking about her “Papa and Dad” strikes Emmett like a backhand across the face.
The rest of the meeting went on far too long for Emmett’s liking. Every minute seemed to stretch to five as Victor held Yuuri’s hand, touched his cheek, stroked his back, and rested on his thigh. The looks Victor shot him while doing this said that he was highly aware of what he was doing. Victor was making it very clear that Yuuri was by no means on the market. By the end of the alloted thirty minutes, Emmett was defeated.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mcallister.” Yuuri said as they shook hands for the final time. Man, Emmett was going to miss his hands.
“The pleasure was all mine, Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov and Mr. Katsuki-Nikiforov.” Emmett said.
“Until next parent/teacher conference.” Victor said. (More like, Victor warned .)
“Until then.” Emmett said, doing his best to cover up his fatally wounded heart with a smile.
Masha’s parents left the room and Emmett was allowed only a brief moment to prep himself before the next couple came in.
---
“You know her teacher was super into, right?” Victor whispered to Yuuri as they made their way to the parking lot.
“Pssshhh,” Yuuri replied, “Yeah, right. Is that what you call it when he completely ignored me the second you walked into the room?”
“Eh, maybe you are right. But that just means less competition for me.” Victor said with a wink and a not-so-subtle caress of Yuuri’s backside.
“There’s no such thing as competition in that regards. It has always been you, and it will continue to be you forever.” Yuuri giggled back, leaning into Victor’s side as they neared their car. “Now let’s pick up Masha from my parent’s place. I’m sure by now they’ve let her eat far too many sweets.”
“Of course, my dear.”