Teacher AU Ghost/Soap
Soap who is teaching science classes. He especially likes to teach the practical lessons where he gets to teach the kids how to cause harmless chemical reactions.
Ghost who became a PE teacher who also teaches extra classes on the side to struggling students and falls in for unavailable teachers.
I imagine in this AU that Soap is the fun teacher who is really excited with his explanations and makes a big show out of showing his class experiments. The kids love him for this.
Ghost is the chill but no bullshit teacher. He’ll support kids that are scared to try something challenging in his PE classes and will tell them they did a good job if it works out.
He’s all for gentle but firm encouragement, but will also make you run laps or clean up the entire gym after class if you don’t behave.
He’s a bit of a show off when it comes to teaching. He will throw an insane ball or do a challenging move then ask casually, “Who wants to learn this first?”
In my AU Simon starts to teach at the school before John joins the team. He didn’t particularly care about the new addition to their team, at least at first.
John was just a new colleague like any other, until he heard the kids talking among themselves. They praise Mr. Mactavish wherever they go, excited for his lessons and loving his way of teaching.
Simon hears about how patient and kind he is with his classes, how hard he works to keep learning fun and exciting. After hearing about the man so many times, he can’t help but be intrigued.
It wasn’t intentional, but Simon keeps out an extra eye and listening ear for the man. He gets curiouser by the day as he watches and listens to the man's work each time he walks by John’s classroom.
One time after Simon is done teaching an extra class, he walks down the halls, ready to go home. That is until he walks past his new colleague’s science classroom.
The man is still busy, much to Simon’s surprise. Normally he doesn’t involve himself in other teachers' business, but his curiosity as of late seems to catch up on him, when he sees John moving things around.
Simon takes a step inside the classroom, knocking on the open door. “Mactavish?” The younger man whips his head around and upon seeing the PE teacher, he smiles. “Simon, to what do I owe this visit? I thought your classes ended a while ago.”
“Extra classes got moved to today.” Simon simply explains and John answers with a soundless “Ah.” John is in the meantime still busy with moving boxed chemicals and tubes around.
“What are you doing?” Simon asks and John gets that excited gleam into his eyes. “Well,” He starts upbeat. “I am preparing a special class for my students for tomorrow.
I know the next chapter is usually one of the more difficult ones so I thought showing them an example of the subject we’re discussing might make it easier to understand.”
Simon hums in understanding. “I hear you do that a lot.” “Do what?” John asks. “Use examples.” Simon elaborates. “The kids can’t shut up about your lessons. They seem to appreciate the visual aid.”
John seems to outright beam at that. The pure excitement he feels about his lessons makes him look like an excited kid himself. Simon thinks the youthful energy John has is exactly what the kids need while learning such a difficult subject.
“I’m glad they do. I like teaching them. They’re good kids.” John says with a fondness that surprises Simon. In all his years of teaching, he’s never seen anyone so invested in their job before.
John seems to truly enjoy his career choice and he’s great at it by the looks of it. all the kids seem to truly understand what John is trying to teach. It’s an achievement that Simon can admire about the man.
“You’re a good teacher.” Simon says before he can stop himself. John’s eyes widen a little from Simon’s honest words. He laughs a little, seemingly feeling a bit flustered from the compliment.
Simon needs to suppress an amused smile of his own because of it. “I certainly try to be.” John answers heartfelt, smiling with a hint of red on his dusted cheeks. “Thank you, Simon.”
Simon feels himself fluster a bit, heat running up the back of his neck. He clears his throat. “Just telling the truth.” Simon adds, trying to seem casual like always.
He could go now, but he doesn’t particularly feel like leaving yet. “Need-...need any help?” He offers, breaking the short, awkward silence after a short moment.
John shakes his head a little, seeming to have been lost in thought himself. “Yeah! Yeah, sure. Help would be great.” John says, quickly turning around and picking up a box, placing it in Simon’s hands.
“Could you place one of each on the students' tables?” John already turns around before Simon can say ‘sure’. The both of them prepare the classroom for the next day. It isn’t much work since John had done most of the prep before Simon found him.
When they’re done with putting away the empty boxes and storing the prepared chemicals, John speaks up. “Seems like that was everything.”
“You do this every day?” Simon asks and John shakes his head as he grabs his bag from behind his desk, getting ready to leave. “Not every day. I try to be home on time for dinner.”
“Got someone home who waits for you?” Simon asks. “No, but I don’t like eating dinner too late. I’m a bit of an early bird instead of a night owl.”
The young teacher chuckles sheepishly. “What about you? Got a warm meal waiting for you at home? Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn’t have kept you here till this late.”
“Nonsense. I offered to help myself.” Simon says, walking out of the classroom after John, who locks the door behind them. “Still…” John muses unsure as they walk down the halls. “I appreciate the help.”
Suddenly John perks up, seeming excited as he starts to ramble. “How about we go out for dinner? Since there’s no one waiting at home for the both of us, some company might be fun. My treat, of course, as a thank you.”
Simon is a bit surprised by the invitation since there’s no need to thank him. He feels like he should say no, that he shouldn’t go out with John since he doesn’t know him well enough, but there’s also a part of him that wants to go, to take this chance.
Normally he is quite hard on himself when it comes to these things, with meeting new people and making friends, since he’s known plenty of people who turned out to be not so great, but there’s something about John that just makes it so easy to relax.
He’s been told by his boss, and old friend, Price, plenty of times to do so, but only John has made him truly want to believe again that it’s okay to open up to new people.
He should try to make the most of this. It’s why he complies so easily to John’s idea. “You don’t need to thank me, John, really.” Simon starts. He can’t help but feel slightly amused as he notices a hint of a pout forming on the grown man’s lips.
John already seems to think he’ll turn the offer down. The hint of disappointment in John’s eyes is almost flattering. Simon doesn’t get why the man would want to spend time with him, why anyone would want that, but It’s still nice to know that John does.
Simon quickly continues to explain himself, wanting to fix that sad look in his eyes. “But, uh, dinner sounds lovely. Any place you have in mind?” John’s eyes seem to light up again with genuine joy at Simon’s complying.
“I know the perfect place. There’s this nice bistro that serves really good Italian food. Unless you don’t want that of course, we could also-” Simon chuckles as John starts to ramble off again, way too worried about what Simon wants for his own good. John appears to be truly kind and seeing how admirable the young man besides him is, has been a breath of fresh air. John seems to wear his heart on his sleeve and has, thus far, been respectable and genuine to Simon’s knowledge.
He should try to make the most of this, he tells himself. He expects that spending time with John could truly be enjoyable. It’s why he complies so easily to John’s choice of dinner. “Italian sounds great.” Simon says, cutting John’s ramblings short.
“Okay, Italian it is!” John smiles. They fall into an easy conversation as they make their way to the restaurant. During dinner they share stories, interests and at the end of it, Simon even dares to crack a few bad jokes which John seems to enjoy.
By the end of their dinner, Simon feels comfortable and bold enough to fake going to the restroom. He pays for both their dinners before heading back to the table. “Ready to go?” he asks John who now gets up as well.
“Yeah, just have to pay first.” He says as he grabs for his wallet. “No need.” Simon tells him. “I already paid.” John looks at him with an open mouth from surprise. “You paid? But I promised I would pay as a thank you.”
Simon smiles. “I felt like I should thank you for the fun time. How about next time you pay?” John’s shocked expression turns into a bewildered smile. “You sneaky bastard.” He chuckles. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Mister Riley. Next time I pay. No take-backsies.”
Simon wears a toothy, genuine smile as he holds open the door for John as they walk outside. “Well then, Mister Mactavish. I’m already looking forward to it.”
