Work Text:
Four coughed out a large amount of flem into the bathroom sink. He groaned loudly once he threw it all out and pressed his forehead against the corner of it. Two knocked on the bathroom door with a bowl of soup in their hands.
“You okay sweetheart?” They asked nervously, though his coughing as a response pretty much answered their question. “I see…”
They opened the door to and exhausted Four laying his head on the sink. They gently set the soup on the toilet and went to give him a hug. He immediately pushed them away. “Don’t. You’re gonna get sick.”
Two frowned and lowered their arms. “It’sfinenotlikeIwantedtohugyouoranything.” They cleared their throat. “Anyways. You should eat this. I did research and it can help you with your sickness.”
They picked up the soup bowl and presented it to him. He looked at it, turned his head to cough, then back at the soup. He gently took it from their hands. “Thanks.”
Two guided him to bed. He sat down on it and let Two moved his legs around so that he was sitting up against the bed frame. “I’ll make sure you’re all good and okay for work tomorrow.” They said with a smile, pulling the bed sheets over his legs while he drank the soup.
He removed the bowl from his mouth and wiped his lips with his hand. “I don’t think I’m gonna go tomorrow.”
Two froze. They stared at him with a look like he just admitted to committing some heinous crime. “WHAT!? BUT FINALS ARE NEXT WEEK! YOUR STUDENTS NEED HELP TO STUDY!”
“I’ll just post my lesson plan for them to review before the tests,” he took another sip from the bowl. “I really don’t want to be on campus feeling like this.”
Two tapped their chin in thought before they got an idea. “I could teach your class for you!”
Four stared at them dumbfounded for a moment. “What.”
“I could teach your class for you!” They repeated. “Like a substitute teacher! That way, your students won’t miss their class!”
“Two you don’t know an ounce of math.” Four said judgingly. He didn’t wanna burst their bubble but it was true.
Two scoffed. “I know plenty math!”
“What’s the Pythagorean Theorem?” He tested.
“The path in which the slope goes on those grid thingies.” Two answered proudly. They smirked as if Four underestimated them.
Four pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Give me my computer so I can call off class.”
Two stared at him betrayed. Then they got an idea. “Wait.” They got up and walked out of them room. Four watched them confused then looked around like something was gonna happen.
They came back a few minutes later with a cup of tea. “I don’t like tea.” Four said, his face scrunched.
“Yes but this will help you.” They said, bringing the cup closer to him. He stared them suspiciously before taking the cup and chugging it down.
He smacked his lips for a moment then looked down at it. “Did you spike this?”
Two just laughed and patted his back before leaving the room. Four’s eyes widened, looking between the cup and the door. It wasn’t long before he blacked out and woke up again.
They couldn’t have possibly put something on his drink right? He thought to himself, sitting up quickly. He grabbed his phone and saw a message from Two.
‘Hi four! Sorry I totally spiked your tea.’
FUCK
‘It’s okay though, it’s just melatonin! I’m sorry, but your students deserve to pass this test! And I’m determined to make sure they do! >;)’
Goodness they’re gonna ruin them. Those kids aren’t going to learn jack from them! How would they even know what they’re teaching?
‘I stole your lesson plans too so I can just go off of those. And YouTube videos. Please relax today. I love you so so so so much. ❤️❤️❤️’
Four sighed once he reached the end of the text and put his phone down. He stayed laying down on his back for a while before he got an idea. He picked up his phone again and looked for another unread message he had. From Leafy.
‘Hey teach! Heard you were out sick today. I hope you feel better soon!’
He opened the keyboard and responded back:
‘I need you to do me the biggest fattest favor ever.’
—————————
Two set all their stuff down onto Four’s desk. No one was in class yet but they sent out ma email saying that Four was sick and they’d be covering.
They don’t know if students would actually show up or not but they’re really hoping they do. Especially when they’re a known teacher that everyone likes.
They pulled out Four’s computer and looked through all the lesson plans he had set up in his files. They cringed slightly looking at it. So many big words and equations that they don’t understand.
They wanted to tell themselves that this was a bad idea but they stoped themself from thinking that way. They’re doing this for Four. Kinda of…it’s more for the students.
They’ve spoken to a few of them before and they’ve really enjoyed their company. But they also knew that there were some students that weren’t all the best. And they know that from Four’s rants about her.
Pencil.
They had to admit, they themselves were a bit worried about her. It wasn’t her first time taking the class they were pretty sure.
The time passed, and students were finally entering the class. Some of them had very confused looks on their faces. Others waved at Two happily. And others just ignored them. That was fine.
“Alright!” They clapped their hands together. Everyone seated and quieted down. They looked around to observe the class. A green-haired girl was struggling to stand her phone up. Other students were whispering to each other. “Welcome to the last lecture of the class!” Someone raised their hand. Questions already? “Yes?”
“Why do you sound so different? And look so different? And dressed so different?” One of the students asked.
Before they could answer, a student from behind him smacked the back of his head. “You idiot. That’s obviously not Four. Just a sub or something.”
Two snapped their fingers at him. “That’s right! Four is currently very sick and couldn’t attend class today. So I will be teaching the class for him!” They explained. “Which you all would know this if you read the email.” They mumbled to themselves.
“Aren’t you a theater teacher?” Another student called out without raising their hand. Rude.
“Well yes-“
“So why aren’t you teaching that class?” Another one asked.
“We already finished our semester.”
“And you know how to teach math?” That one was in a rather judgmental tone.
Gosh these students have such attitudes. They should be getting along with Four swell. “I will today. Now pull out your notebooks or textbooks or whatever you guys use.” They all exchanged looks then simultaneously looked at Two. “Come on guys. Your test is next week I’m doing this to help you!”
They finally pulled out their supplies and waited for Two to start the lesson. “Okay let’s see…” they mumbled, checking the lesson plans for what Four wanted to teach today.
They open some pdf with a weird looking fraction and wrote it on the board. “OKAY! Uhm…” they stumbled while trying to copy it down. “The b..is an underlined…uhm plus..divided by…four..a..?”
They could actually feel sweat falling from their forehead. They had no idea what they were looking at. Suddenly, someone from the back row said something they didn’t fully hear. Like they had mumbled it.
“What was that?” They called out, waiting for the person to respond and re-ask the question.
It was silent for a while. Then a blonde girl in the back slowly raised her hand. “The ‘division symbol’ there, is a square root. Not division.”
Two’s eyebrows raised and then looked back at the board. “Oh!”
“And the ‘underlined plus’ is a plus or minus symbol. Meaning there are two different answers.” She kept going, her voice lowering as she noticed the whole class looking at her.
“Oh!” Two smiled. “And what’s your name?”
The girl looked around then hid her face embarrassingly. “Pencil…”
Right after she said that, clapping came from someone’s phone. It was the phone of the green-haired girl that was struggling to stand it up before. “That was AMAZING!” A voice came from the phone.
“FOUR!?” Two yelled out, recognizing the voice almost immediately.
The girl turned the phone around and Four was waving excitedly before going into a minute long coughing fit. “Where’s pencil?” He asked once it stopped.
Two was about to answer before the door to the class room slammed shut. They looked back to where Pencil was before. Empty.
“She just left..” they cringed slightly.
“Of course.” Four groaned. “Well Two. I overestimated you.” Two frowned. “Please never try teaching a math class again. You couldn’t even get past the first page of the lesson plan. And we need to talk about you spiking my tea so you need to go home now. And also because I just threw up blood.”
“Oh goodness.” They very quickly excused the class and ran home. Four posted the lesson plan for the class while Two made their way home.