Teacher!Tony
don't worry, this isn't teacher!tony x student!reader, this is supportive teacher tony being supportive of his student
- school sucks, i think everyone can agree there
- but for you? it was that much worse
- your friends weren't really talking to you, schoolwork was exhausting, your reflection wasn't really yours anymore
- the back of the class was your solace, it was easier to hide behind the school than be obviously alone at lunch
- no one would notice anyway, so you faded into the background, isolating yourself and doing the bare minimum in class
- at least, you thought no one would notice
- your chemistry teacher, Mr Stark, was all too aware of you
- he watched as you participated less in class, stopped talking to the people around you, and refused to smile even at his chemistry puns
- you were also just barely achieving a passing grade, giving him several reasons to one day ask you to come in early the next morning, a Wednesday
- you had taken to coming in early anyway, it was easier than walking into a class full of people
- so half an hour before you needed to be, you opened the door to your chemistry class to see Mr Stark at his desk
- he smiled at you, and gestured to the chair at the end of his desk
- you took a seat nervously
- he turned to you- "okay, i'm not gonna bullshit you-"
- he'd found that a few curses helped relax students
- "-i've seen you withdrawing yourself, you're not happy. you can't tell me otherwise, i've seen this before."
- you were slightly taken aback at his blunt attitude, but for the first time it felt like maybe, possibly, someone gave a shit
- he leaned forward
- "so, tell me, no crap, what's going on?"
- you'd always liked him, he was funny and was good at simplifying difficult concepts without making people feel dumb for not understanding
- so you found yourself telling him about your lack of friends, appetite and motivation, and he genuinely listened
- he nodded along and let you spill your troubles- you weren't sure why you felt so comfortable with him, maybe it was just that he actually wanted to know what was wrong
- this became a weekly thing; you would get to school early on wednesday, go to his classroom and he'd ask you what was going on, how your week was going, if you were doing okay
- sometimes he'd help you with your work, and slowly your grades started to improve
- even just talking to Mr Stark was helping, as you were no longer holding everything in
- after a few weeks, he ventured the topic of you meeting another student- he'd gotten consent from another student he often talked to, who had a small group of friends, to introduce the two of you to get you further out your shell
- he promised you didn't have to meet if you didn't want to, there was no pressure, but maybe it would be a good idea to get to know this person
- you were cautious, but agreed to come in early the next day to meet this person
- it was with slightly shallowed breathing that you pushed open the door the next morning
- Mr Stark was sitting at his desk with someone tall with brown curly hair tied in a ponytail, black messenger bag by their chair and wearing a dark green jacket
- "ah, yes, come in" Mr Stark waved you over
- "this is MJ, come say hi"
- MJ stuck out their hand, and you shook it
- Mr Stark introduced you, and MJ gave you a slight smile
- "you seem cool. sadly i have to introduce you to two nerds, but don't worry, you can watch crime documentaries with me if you want"
- Mr Stark grinned at you
- "well aren't they a character. now off you go, i'm very busy pretending to be busy"
- that got a laugh from both you and MJ, and Mr Stark shooed you out the room
- MJ led you along the corridor, down the stairs and outside to a bench with two boys deep in discussion
- "these are the nerds i was talking about"
- the boys looked offended
- "first off, ow, second off, hi, i'm Ned" one of the boys stuck out his hand
- you introduced yourself to him
- the second boy also held out his hand
- "hey, i-i'm Peter, nice to meet you"
- MJ sat down on the bench "this is the headcase Mr Stark was telling me about"
- Peter gasped and looked at you, worried
- "MJ what the hell, you can't just say that!"
- you laughed
- "don't worry about it, they aren't entirely wrong"
- Tony was keeping an eye on the four of you from his window
- and was relieved to see you smiling for the first time in a while
this was fun and yes i gave mj they/them pronouns bc i like that headcanon
