Work Text:
The physics teacher is kind of cute, and Dick is completely okay with admitting that to himself. He’d even go so far as to say that the physics teacher was beautiful, but those thoughts are for him and him alone. That deep red hair and shimmering emerald eyes—Dick chokes a little every time he has the pleasure of seeing the man.
Shaking his head, Dick refocuses his attention on his laptop screen; he has a lesson to plan for, and daydreaming about Mr. Pretty would do nothing to benefit that. None of his students seem to want to pay attention in his class, and he can’t understand why. English isn’t that horrible, and he knows that he’s not a bad teacher, so he needs to figure out what’s going on before something goes too wrong for him to fix.
His students file into he room about ten minutes later, looking even more disinterested than he thought possible.
What am I doing wrong?
Granted, these are tenth grade students; he’s yet to see any of them invested in anything. It’ll still be on his head if they all fail, though.
“Alright, how many of you read the two chapters I assigned? I know it was the weekend, but they were relatively short and I wouldn’t put that much on you.”
They all shift in one way or another. There’s no way none of them read it, right? However, to Dick’s horror, no one raises their hand.
“Really? Was it too much?”
You could hear a pin drop in the room, and the feeling of floundering in open water is becoming greater and greater.
“You guys, if I’m putting too much work on you, you have to tell me. I won’t be able to help you if you don’t.”
Just when Dick feels like ripping his hair out will be better than whatever the hell is going on in front of him, a knock sounds from his door. He goes over to open it, and his brain short circuits when he sees who’s there.
“Mr. Grayson,” Mr. Pretty greets softly, “I think you may have taken some of my graded tests by accident from the lunch room. Would you mind if I grabbed them?”
Now, Dick prides himself on being pretty calm and composed, loose and fun if he likes the people enough, but right now, in this moment, he wanted to say some things that weren’t even close to being appropriate for the classroom.
“Oh—yeah, of course.”
Whoa. Mr. Pretty has a nice fuckin’ smile. Whoa.
Mr. Pretty follows him over to his desk, waving at the students who try and grab his attention. Dick looks up from where he’s searching for the tests he mentioned, and he’s chocked with how much they seem to be in awe of him. Why can’t Dick get that sort of respect and attention when he’s actually trying to teach and not just stand there?
Mr. Pretty is officially Mr. Annoying.
He spots the papers he was on the hunt for, noting how many ninety-percents there were. Dick kind of wants to scream; his students seem completely incapable of putting in the efforts for eighties.
Giving Mr. Annoying a harsh look, he holds out the papers in his hand.
“Thank you, Mr. Grayson.”
Dick knows he’s the new guy here, but he wants to tell Mr. Annoying to get the fuck out of his classroom. It must seem to roll off him in waves, because Mr. Annoying is walking out of his class with a small wave to some students.
“Whoa, Mr. Grayson,” a student pipes up, “do you and Mr. West have beef or something?”
Mr. West is his name, huh? Dick likes his nickname a lot better. “No, of course not.”
“Looks like ya do.”
“I think that’s enough of those questions, don’t you?” Dick leans back against the front of his desk as he rests his hands along the edge. “It’s time for a serious talk, though. Why don’t you guys do the homework I give? I like to think it’s not too difficult, what I’m asking of you.”
None of his students meet his eyes; nothing new, but something that’s wearing down Dick’s confidence in himself.
“I’m here to help you guys, you know that, right? This is all stuff I know like the back of my hand, but I’m here to give this knowledge to you. You need this credit to pass, so why are none of you taking it seriously?”
“It’s just…” He looks to the student who spoke up. She’s one of the more talkative ones, and Dick has to tell her to quiet down at least once a day. “It’s almost like you expect us to know what you’re talking about without actually saying it. With all due respect, Mr. Grayson, we’re not mind-readers, and more often than not, we need you to tell us more than you do.”
“So, when I assign homework…”
“It’s like you’re trying to drown us.”
Well shit.
Dick walks into the science office when lunch rolls around. “I’m sorry,” he calls, “do you know where I can find Mr. West?”
“He went out to get us all lunch,” the biology teacher explains; if Dick remembers correctly, his name is Garfield Logan.
Mr. Annoying is becoming harder to hate by the second, much to Dick’s disgruntlement. “Oh, sorry. Any clue when he’ll be back?”
“Mr. Grayson,” a familiar voice calls, “I didn’t think you’d come to the dragons’ den. No one enters the science and leaves in one piece.”
Dick represses the urge to let out a small chuckle. “I’ve always been special. Would you mind if I talked to you?”
“And here I thought my detention days were over.” Mr. Annoying drops off the food on one of the less cluttered desks and follows Dick out of the room. “What’d you need?”
“I hate to have to do this, but… My students, I’m not teaching them right.”
Mr. Annoying raises a brow at him as they walk. “Oh? And you made it out of teacher’s college in one piece?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Dick admits. “This isn’t my first year teaching, and my students have never complained. The one’s that tried walked off with honours or higher.”
Mr. Annoying hums in consideration. “Well people are different, right? So, you can’t expect your same teaching method to work every time. Yeah, you need to do it the same way a lot of the time, but sometimes you have to change things up for the success of your students.”
“I just—” Dick sighs in frustration. “I’m lost. Completely and utterly lost.” He looks at Mr. Annoying out of the corner of his eye. “They seem to love the way you teach. The ones that have you as a teacher worship the ground you walk on.”
“I use a thing called “teen-ese.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
Mr. Annoying flashes him a wonderful smile. “Teen-ese. Talk to them like you’re a friend giving advice, without crossing the ethical line, of course, and make sure they understand. English is scary for them.”
“And physics isn’t?”
“I don’t teach them physics,” Mr. Annoying corrects. “I teach two grade eleven classes physics, but the students you’re saying worship me are in my general science class. That’s all they take in second year, anyway.”
“So your class should be even more of a pain!” Dick gets a few off looks from administrators and students alike from his comment, and he feels his cheeks go crimson. “Sorry,” he whispers.
“Look,” Mr. Annoying laughs, “I’ll help you. Let me sit in on one of your classes, and I’ll give you pointers after the lesson is done, okay?”
“O… kay. Thank you, Mr. West.”
Mr. Annoying grins warmly at him. “Just call me Wally.”
Dick huffs because of course he’s going to offer up his first name so nicely. “Richard. Call me Dick if you want.”
“Well, Dick, I look forward to seeing you teach. I’ll appreciate your efforts if none of your students will.”
Mr. Annoying is officially Wally.
Dick has this great fear of disappointment churning in his stomach about five minutes before Wally walks into his class to critique his capabilities as a teacher.
No big deal.
His students don’t sense it, thank goodness, happily filing in and chatting amongst themselves as if they don’t actually have to learn something while they’re here. Not a moment later a familiar head of red hair is making its was through his door and giving Dick a severe case of the butterflies.
“Hey, Grayson.” Wally calls. He looks refreshed, a sentiment Dick absolutely cannot say he shares. Walking closer to the desk, Wally gives a warm, reassuring smile to Dick as he nods his head in the direction of the students. “You ready?” he softly asks.
“No?”
“You’ll be fine.”
“Glad you think so.”
“Dick,” Wally whispers, “you like English, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then put your passion into it. That’ll guarantee success. If they sense it on you, they’ll mirror it.” He puts a comforting hand on Dick’s shoulder. “You’ve got this.”
Wally walks toward the back of the class and pulls up an empty chair. Ignoring the confused stares of his students, he nods to Dick to start the lesson.
Put your passion into it…
“So, class, you remember how we were discussing literary devices yesterday, right?” As per usual, he gets no response, but he locks eyes with Wally and he doesn’t get to feel the typical disappointment. “Well, I have a small assignment for you. Don’t worry, I’m sure at least some of you will enjoy this. It’s not big, and it’s due tomorrow. You have to find a literary work of your own choice, and you have to show it to me with an annotation five different devices you’ve been taught. You can pull it from online, it can be a poem; any work you want.”
“Mr. Grayson?”
“Yes, Mayah.”
“Um, a lot of us are away at the science trip tomorrow.”
Dick shoots Wally a smirk. “You trying to ruin my class, Mr. West?”
“Absolutely not,” Wally chuckles.
“Well, then it’ll be due on Friday. That gives you the day tomorrow to goof off with Mr. West at the Science Centre, no?”
“We do valuable things on that trip, Mr. Grayson.”
“I’m sure.” Dick takes his usual spot in front of his desk, and he feels more relaxed than he ever has in this room. “Alright, we’re gonna create the skeleton of an essay, because you’re going to have an assignment that requires one in a few weeks.” Some of his students groan miserably. Their work ethic is shit. “You can pick whatever topic you want.”
“How about how much better Mr. West is than you?”
Wally looks like he’s ready to tell the kid off, but Dick smiles at him softly. The redhead sits back in his seat, even though he’s still chomping at the bit to give the boy a piece of his mind. “Sure. An argument is an argument.” He writes down the thesis on the board before turning back to his class. “Now, you gotta prove it to me.”
They all look scared shitless, and if Dick can manage how to teach this to them, and scar them for the foreseeable future? What more could a teacher want?
“Come on, support your argument.”
“You… want us to prove how bad of a teacher you are?”
“Ah, but Christy, you never write an essay to prove. You write to support.” He draws an arrow from his thesis. “There will always be someone with an opposing view with their own facts, so all you can truly do in your essay is make a solid case.”
And for the first time in forever, Dick sees understanding dawn on his students. Holy shit.
“Alright, give me your first point.”
“Um… Mr. Grayson assigns homework about things we don’t know about?”
Dick nods as he writes it on the board.
“And, you’re just okay with this, Mr. Grayson?” Wally pipes up.
“They’re making points, Mr. West. Isn’t that an essential skill to have?”
The look he’s giving Wally is clearly flirtatious, and if the light flushing rising to the redhead’s cheeks is any indication, it’s well-received. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
“But back to what you said, Nathan; your main focus of each point should directly tie back to your thesis. My lack of ability doesn’t have much corilation to Mr. West’s skills, right? You could compare him to other subpar teachers later in your paragraph, but that shouldn’t be your supporting example for your point.”
Wally gives him a small nod, and Dick continues the rest of the lesion with a smile on his face.
When the bell goes for the start of lunch, Dick feels more accomplished with his career than he has in a long, long time.
“You were awesome in there, Dick.”
Dick grins warmly at Wally as the redhead approaches him. “I’m glad you thought so. It seems you’re my lucky charm.” He adjusts his book bag on his shoulder as he looks down on his feet. “I suppose you wouldn’t be able to sit down in all my classes?”
“No,” Wally sighs dramatically, “I can’t.”
“Oh. Well. Would you—if you want to, of course—wanna go for coffee? Sometime? You know, to share more tips on keeping my students from turning into zombies?”
Wally’s laugh brings a warm feeling to Dick’s chest, and before he can really think about it he’s staring up into shamrock eyes that have gotten much closer than Dick last recalled. “I would love to get coffee with you, but as a date, not colleagues.”
Dick’s mind is screaming at him to be cool, suave, but all he can do is stutter out an affirmative as his cheeks get impossibly harder.
“Great. I’ll come by the English office after classes are over?”
Dick nods shyly. “That sounds good.”
“You’re a good teacher, Dick. Honestly.”
God, Dick has a major crush on this goddamn physics teacher and he’s not even that mad about it.
So maybe Dick put a little bit of effort into looking very nice for Wally this morning. He likes to make himself presentable, especially for his dates, but this, looking good for Wally, somehow mattered a little more to him than most of his previous encounters. Why? Eh, he couldn’t say. His navy blue sports jacket is doing great things for his waist, so even if his look went over Wally’s head, he looked good.
The look does not, in fact, go over Wally’s head.
“Fuck, dude, you look hot.”
“Mr. West,” the department head chastises, “if you could refrain from using such profanity on the property, it would be greatly appreciated.’
“Sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
Dick chuckles as he joins Wally near the door. “You ready?”
“Absolutely.”
Wally’s car is a very nice one; it’s not brand new, but the Nissan is clearly well taken care of. He opens the door for Dick, and with a shy smile, the latter climbs into the car with deliberate grace. No point in making a fool of himself so early on.
They decide to put on some music, Dick offering the choice of station to the redhead. Not a moment later, Katy Perry is blasting through the speakers and Dick is losing his shit.
“Oh my god, this is too good!” He’s clutching his sides and his body is trying it’s best to curl in on itself, while Wally is shaking his head as he fights back a smile.
“Shut up, some of her stuff is good.”
“If you put on Swish Swish, I am jumping the fuck out of this car. You’re gonna pay for my hospital bills.”
It’s warm and welcome in the car, and the happy glow surrounding Wally is enough to make Dicks heart do The Thing.
The café Wally takes them too is far enough from the school that Dick doesn’t have to worry about being seen by their students.
“I’m gonna pay, alright?”
Dick lets out a noise of disagreement as he looks over at Wally. “No. We’ll split it.”
“You’re not going to say that when you see how much I eat.”
Dick doesn’t believe him in that moment, but there’s a small voice in the back of his head telling him to agree. “We’ll see about that.”
He walks through the door held open for them and walks over to one of the empty booths with Wally. “You been here before?”
“I have,” Wally replies. “I come here when I don’t want to sit in the silence of my apartment while I mark. Sometimes I like the busy bodies of the world.”
“Probably ‘cause you are one.”
“Oh?” Wally looks at him with something similar to amusement. “The new guy already knows my moves, huh?”
“Every time I see you move it’s like you’ve got an electric probe up your ass. Always shifting, walking; hell, sometimes I see you sprinting down the hallway because you forgot something. You’re a horrible example to the students, actually.”
Wally lets out a laugh as his eyes light up. “Yeah, you’re not wrong. I’m always on the move. What about you?”
“I’m more of a ‘leave-me-alone-to-do-my-shit’ kind of teacher. Marking takes forever and so help me god if someone disrupts me. Questions are always welcome though.”
The waitress comes to take their order soon after, with Wally ordering much more food than Dick ever thought to be possible for one human being to consume in one sitting. He understands why Wally said what he said, now. He gets a simple sandwich and black coffee for himself, sending the waitress off with a polite smile.
“So, what made you take the job here?”
Dick shrugs innocently. “It was a better position. I loved where I used to work, but this was just the next step for me. Better pay, more advance position.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Kids are cool, but I feel my purpose lies anywhere that is not teaching them the difference between ‘they’re’ as a contraction, ‘their’ possessive, and ‘there’ as an adverb.”
“Those are the backbones of this very language we speak, Dick!” Wally cries dramatically. “How dare you shun such an opportunity to impart this inexplicably significant knowledge?”
Embarrassed, Dick throws his napkin at the redhead as he shrinks back into his seat. “Quiet down!” he hisses.
The man across from him laughs with his whole body, and Dick is helpless to the small, amused sounds he lets out in response.
When their food arrives, they talk between bites of food as if they’ve known each other forever; stories roll easily off their tongues, falling on ever-eager ears and even brighter eyes. Dick decides he wants several more dates where he gets to feel this comfortable with Wally across from him.
They do eventually walk out of the café, but it’s hours later and they’re both not sure how the sky got so dark without them knowing.
“Wow. Guess time truly does fly when you’re having fun, huh?” Dick asks, a little sheepish.
“I enjoyed myself.”
He smiles at Wally as he fiddles with his hand. “Me too. A lot.” Dick steps closer to him, purposely looking the redhead in the eyes. “We should do it again.”
“I agree.”
Dick bites his lip before leaning up and pressing a small kiss to Wally’s cheek. “Come find me in on Wednesday? We can have lunch together.”
He’s glad to see Wally look as giddy as he feels, and the feeling only intensifies when Wally nods as he hugs Dick. “I’d love to.”
Whether it’s ‘Mr. Pretty’, ‘Mr. Annoying’, or ‘Wally’, Dick knows that this man is absolutely worth investing his love into.