There's No Textbook For This
Characters: Billy Kaplan, Teddy Altman (Young Avengers), Tommy Shepherd, Eli Bradley, Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, Jonas (Young Avengers), Nathaniel Richards, Pepper Potts, Darcy Lewis, Carol Danvers, Jessica Drew, lots of random Marvel cameos
Relationships: Billy Kaplan/Nate Richards, Billy Kaplan/Teddy Altman (Young Avengers), Cassie Lang/Jonas (Young Avengers), Tony Stark/Pepper Potts if you squint
Tags:
Endgame is Billy/Teddy, all smut is Billy/Teddy, slow build, no-powers AU, University AU, romance, fluff, rating will start to go above Teen around chapter five
Summary:
The tenure-track teaching job is the rarest of holy grails for a young academic, but getting hired may have been the easy part.
These things he can be sure of: his students are going to drive him crazy, the bureaucracy is driving him to drink, and Bill Kaplan in the office down the hall is the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. Too bad Billy already has a boyfriend.
All Teddy wants is to survive his first year.
Note:
I've never actually been on the campus of either CUNY or NYU. Rather than make an utter hash job of a real college and trying to fake it through Wikipedia and school websites, I've chosen to set this story at the fictional NYCU instead, so I can make a hash job of continuity at an imaginary school. NYCU is not based on any particular institution, but is a general mashup of Various Post-Secondaries I Have Loved.
I do not own the Marvel characters in any way, shape or form, and all OCs that may appear are strictly a product of my own fevered imagination. Any resemblance to any real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintended on my part.
Betaed by Tzu and feebleapb. Without them, this would have been pages of nothing but "I am a fish."
August
Important Dates for the 2012/13 academic year
New Faculty Campus-wide Orientation – Tuesday, August 14
Freshman Orientation Begins - Sunday, August 26
The August day wasn't quite as hot and sticky as the radio had predicted, and Teddy Altman sat down on the wide concrete stairs outside the university library with a soft, contented sigh. He could see most of the campus from here, his perch at the top of the stairs overlooking the hill that sloped down to meet the green of the central quad. He dropped his bag beside him. A light breeze ruffled the ends of his hair; not cool enough to be useful, just enough so that the air itself didn't feel stagnant.
He'd made it. He was here.
There was a crazy amount of work waiting for him, between the official orientation meetings and unpacking, never mind pulling together his course packs, preparing for lectures...
Right now, though, he could have this moment, the sun and the breeze, the concrete warm beneath him, the sounds of cheering coming from the field behind the quad. He had five years to make his mark, put down the first tentative roots of permanence.
I did it, mom. I wish-
She should have been here to see this. If the world were fair, she would still be on his speed dial, be waiting for him to call and tell her stories about his new co-workers, the campus, the classes he was planning to teach.
He would e-mail Uncle Kurt on the weekend, but it was hardly the same.
A cloud passed across the sun, and Teddy pulled himself to his feet. The metal of the railing was hot under his hand and he scrubbed his palm across the thigh of his khakis to get rid of the momentary sting. A cluster of students were making their way across the quad and he smiled at them as they passed. At thirty-one, he wasn't that much older than they were, in the grand scheme of things, but they looked so ridiculously young.
He had an hour before he had his meeting with Virginia Potts. The name made him think of a sweet little grandmotherly type, the kind of department administrator who would have blued hair and horn-rim glasses on a chain, and keep a drawer full of chocolates to soothe panicking undergrads.
Hands in his pockets, whistling softly and a little tunelessly, Teddy ambled back along the path lining the quad. He took the long route to the Arts building, at least according to his creased and refolded copy of the campus map, and paced out the steps toward his new home.
oooOooo
"The History faculty offices are all along this hallway, and on the two floors above. Classics is to your right, and English on your left." The clicking of Ms. Potts' alarmingly high heels echoed down the empty hall of the Arts building, and Teddy nodded, taking longer steps than usual in order to keep up with her.
This building was new-ish, at least, part of the big campus renewal project that had been splashed over the NYCU website the last couple of years. If he strained he could hear the sounds of the hammers and saws from the construction next door, another set of renovations to turn an older brick building into a matching wall of glass and steel.
The long stretch of white wall was broken at regular intervals by wooden office doors, strips of glass window half-covered with comic strips and newspaper clippings. Each door had a nameplate and Teddy caught himself reading them as he passed. Dr. Carol Danvers. He knew that name – she was the department chair. Dr. Jessica Drew. Dr. Katherine Bishop. Dr. William Kaplan. Dr. Elijah Bradley.
Ms. Potts was still talking, Teddy realized with a start, and he guiltily tuned back in to catch the rest of her well-rehearsed instructions. The office manager was maybe ten years older than he was, if that, and frighteningly efficient. She had strawberry-blonde hair pulled back in a clip, shoes that brought her to his eye level, and a warmly practiced smile.
"You've got the University orientation tomorrow morning at eight, and the Faculty orientation on Thursday at eight-thirty." She paused by a door with no nameplate on it yet, pulled a ring of keys out of one perfectly-tailored pocket, and he felt a little thrill of excitement rush through him as she unlocked the door with a precise twist of her wrist.
The door opened onto a tidy little space; one bookshelf, a desk, a couple of the boxes of books he'd sent ahead, a computer, no chair but space for one, and maybe a couple of others for students. His office. Not a cubicle shared with two other post-docs, or six-grad-students-in-a-closet. He was able to hang on to his zen, not betray exactly how excited bordering on overwhelmed he was, but only just. "Eight and eight-thirty," Teddy repeated, just to confirm that he was listening. "At the student union building."
"Here are your keys. Your copy codes and internet access codes are in the package in your mailbox, and Darcy will be by once you're settled to take care of the intake paperwork." She stopped, smiled and laid a hand on his arm as he hesitated in the doorway. "We're right down the hall, Dr. Altman; just ask for anything you need. You'll have a few weeks to get settled in before classes start, so take a breath," she teased, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
Teddy nodded. "Thanks, Ms. Potts-"
"Pepper, please."
"Pepper?" He grinned, then decided that discretion was the better part of valour and didn't ask. "In that case, I'm Ted."
A door opened in the hallway behind them and Teddy heard voices. He turned, curious. Two men came out of the office three doors down, both tall and slim. One was dressed in an expensive suit, had hair so blond that it was almost white, and the other-
the other was dark-haired, dark-eyed and slim-hipped, casual in a plain black t-shirt that did nothing to hide the strength in his shoulders and arms. He had a leather bag slung over one shoulder, and the glasses tucked into his collar dragged his shirt down just enough for Teddy to catch a glimpse of pale collarbone beneath. He wanted to lick it.
And that's quite enough of that. Don't be stupid, Altman.
"Bill," Pepper called, and the men stopped talking, and turned almost in sync. "I'd like you to meet our new hire. Doctor Ted Altman, Doctor William Kaplan. And Thomas Shepherd, who isn't ours, but seems to live here regardless."
The surnames were different, but they looked the same.
It had taken him a second to make the connection, between the differences in their colouring and the clothes, but the two men had identical faces. They even had similar expressions at the moment, though the appraising look the dark-haired one was giving him along with the curiosity made Teddy's pulse race, just a little bit.
"You know you'd miss me if I stopped coming around, Pep," the blond twin replied, one side of his mouth twisting up into a grin. That made him Thomas, Teddy guessed, which made the other one Bill.
"How would I know if you never give me a chance to find out?" Pepper's reply was smooth and easy, had the feeling of an old game between them.
"Bill," the dark-haired twin replied, ignoring Thomas and extending his hand. Teddy clasped it and shook. Bill's grip was strong and steady, his skin warm, and Teddy groaned inwardly at the realization that he was cataloguing every last detail. Loser. The guy was a colleague, and more than likely straight. Now was not the time to get another hopeless crush.
"Ted."
Teddy dropped his hand as he introduced himself and Bill swung around to point at his twin. "No. Don't even begin to go there."
"Party time?" Thomas cracked regardless. "Excellent."
Bill rolled his eyes. "I'd apologize for my brother, but I know there's no hope."
"Ted is our new early modernist," Pepper stepped smoothly into the half-second beat before Thomas could say something more. "Bill is one of the department's medievalists."
Bill grinned with delight. "Ah, you're the guy taking the Tudor and Stuart survey course off my hands. You're my new best friend already."
"Turn my back for thirty seconds and I'm already being replaced?" Thomas glanced at his watch. "Shit; I'm late. It's been fun, chums, but I have to bail. Did you still want that ride, Billy?"
"Yeah, definitely."
Teddy felt a flicker of disappointment, tried to tamp it down certain that it was showing on his face. Real smooth. Bill adjusted the strap over his shoulder, fidgeted with the soft leather. "It was good to meet you," he said after a barely perceptible pause. "I'll see you around."
"See you," Teddy echoed, and watched for a second as Bill followed his brother down the hall an out of the building. He was not watching his butt. He was so intently not watching Bill's butt as he walked away that he missed the first part of what Pepper was saying, and he had to scramble to replay it in his mind, the tips of his ears flushing warm.
"Uh, yes. I have an appointment to meet with Doctor Danvers tomorrow. Are there a lot of younger faculty in the department?" It was a rougher segue out loud than it had been in his head, but it wasn't like she wouldn't be able to figure out where the question was coming from.
She looked like she was covering a smile, but she replied smoothly, like he hadn't just made an ass out of himself. "A few. Retirements always seem to come in waves. You'll have a chance to meet everyone at the departmental meeting next week." She glanced at her own watch. "I have to run to a meeting, and I assume you'll want some time to settle in. Remember to check your mailbox in the office, and if you have any questions-"
"I'll come find you, thanks."
Pepper laid a hand on his arm, a light and reassuring touch. "It can all be a little overwhelming at first, I know. But you'll settle into a routine in no time. Welcome to NYCU, Doctor Altman."
oooOooo
The 'Darcy' that Pepper had promised turned out to be Darcy Lewis, Administrative Assistant, a curvy brunette with a red-painted mouth slightly too large for her face and a houndstooth skirt slightly too short for the office. She breezed into Teddy's office about an hour after Pepper had left him to it, a pile of file folders in her arms and a smile a mile wide.
Teddy scrambled to his feet and set aside the couple of books in his hand, and dusted off the knees of his slacks out of sheer force of habit.
"Good morning, oh newest of the new guys. I'm Darcy, you're Theodore? That's an excellent name. Very posh."
"Ted," he corrected her. Her smile was infectious. He eyeballed the stack of papers in her arms with suspicion, but at least she was a friendly face. "No-one calls me Theodore. I'd offer you a chair, but I don't have any yet. There's a clear spot on the desk if you need to put those down." He crossed the two steps to get to his desk and shoved the small stack of books there to one side, to make even more room.
"Gracias," Darcy chirped in reply, and dumped the pile with little to no ceremony.
"Is all of that for me?" Teddy looked at the stack with alarm.
She looked down at the files as though surprised, then flashed a wicked grin. "'fraid so. But I am a veritable goddess at processing this crap, so we'll have you signed, sealed and delivered in no time flat. I've got your payroll forms, your tax withholdings, the TA lists and responsibility sheets, bookstore order forms, the survey for the departmental website, your copies of all the campus policies, and dates for your mandatory harassment training seminars. Do you know where the HR department is?"
Was everything going to be delivered in a wall of words so thick that it took him a second to parse it out? Teddy was going to get a reputation if all he ever did was stand there slightly agape. "No," he shook his head. "But I have a meeting with Ms. Hill next week."
"Better you than me," Darcy whistled, and took a seat on the large box he'd been using as a half-assed desk chair replacement. "Tell you what. I can't do it today, but one day soon we'll do lunch. I'll take you on the full campus tour, Admin down to Zoology. There's a half-decent sandwich place in the library atrium."
Teddy blinked, then nodded. "That would be good, sure," he replied. "I appreciate the offer."
"That's great," she said. "Because you're buying, as a thank you for all my efforts." And she flashed a wide and utterly un-self-conscious smile. "Now. Sit your butt down somewhere, because we have dead trees to justify." He looked around for his options, gave up, and perched on the corner of his desk as she kept talking. "You'll have TAs for two of your courses, but not the seminar – that's got a cap of twenty students, and we only have the budget for TAs on classes that go sixty-plus..."
oooOooo
Between orientation, and meetings with the chair, the Dean, human resources (and anyone who said that Maria Hill wasn't a terrifying woman had never sat down across a table from her), it was a couple of days before Teddy ran into Bill Kaplan again.
It wasn't as if he'd been looking for him or anything. Or leaving his office door open, just a little, to indicate that he was in and maybe open to the idea of visitors. It was only normal that he'd be interested in getting to know his new colleagues. He'd be just as eager to talk if he noticed Dr. Bishop's door opening, for instance. Or Dr. Drew.
Except that it wasn't either of them whose rushed footsteps he heard in the hallway late Friday morning. He glanced out from where he was perched on his box, and saw a harried-looking figure in the hall, a pile of books under one arm, a coffee clutched desperately in his other hand, and a key ring clenched in his teeth.
Right. He hit send on the email to Facilities Management; everything here, even ordering chairs, had a new process to get the hang of. –
Teddy rose to his feet and moved quickly into the hall to join him. He held out his hands when Bill glanced up, a flash of something – pleased to see him? – in his eyes. An answering jolt ran through Teddy's nerves, tingling down to his fingers, before he could remind himself that it was probably just relief that someone had showed up to help.
"Here, give me some of that," Teddy offered, already reaching for the coffee and the key ring before Bill could object, touching Bill's elbow gently to encourage him to let go. "You look like you could use an extra pair of hands."
"Or a minion," Bill joked, his eyes locking onto Teddy's for a second – what was that colour? Caramel? – and then he was looking at everything but Ted. "Position's open, if you're looking for a side job." He took his keys back, turned away quickly to open his office door, the back of his neck flushed.
Teddy chuckled, not sure what else to do or say, other than stare for a moment at the line of Billy's jaw, and- stop that. You're being creepy. He was still holding the coffee, though, so he followed him into his office and leaned against the door frame, trying to look casual.
Bill's office looked like a whirlwind had torn through it. Piles of printouts were stacked on every flat surface – and a few that were only nominally flat. More books and journals, many of them heavily tabbed and marked with different highlighters, were piled precariously on the floor.
"So- um." Bill began, setting his books on his desk and half-turning back to face Teddy. "Sorry about the mess. Kate and I are in the last push to get a manuscript out the door before the term starts, and somehow it all exploded in here." He gestured vaguely at the jumble.
"I don't mind," Teddy replied, though it was difficult to imagine how anyone could think, never mind work in this kind of disaster area, but hell – it wasn't his office; he didn't have to like it. He took the chance while Bill was rummaging through his papers to glance over the books on the shelves beside him. Knighton's Chronicle, the Grey Friars, Strunk and White, Wheelock's Latin- "You speak Latin?" He knew the question was dumb the moment he asked it – medievalist. Way to go, smart guy – but it was too late to take it back.
"I kind of have to, considering," Bill didn't seem to notice how ridiculous the question was, or if he did, he didn't laugh. Points to him. "Half of my sources are in that or Old English. You don't?"
"I managed to get away without it," Teddy confessed. "Eighteenth century French was bad enough."
"Lucky bastard." Bill grinned, a little more easily now, and crouched in front of his filing cabinet to tug open the bottom drawer. Teddy very carefully did not look at the way Bill's shirt rode up along his back, or how it pulled tight across the muscles of his shoulders when he leaned forward. "Where'd you do your grad work?"
"Dartmouth. UC Davis for undergrad, though." And there was a moment where he wasn't sure what reaction he'd get. Hell, he should be proud, he'd earned his way into a good school with sweat and tears, and no legacy to help him on his way. But he might sound like he was bragging, or-
"You're a California boy?" Bill stood and grinned at Teddy like he knew something that Teddy didn't. He rested one arm on the top of the cabinet and something warm inside of Teddy began to grow, to take the shape of that smile.
"Local, actually. I grew up here in New York but-" he hesitated, missed a beat only by a half of a second, then picked up again. "I moved to Oregon halfway through high school. I missed the east coast, though. It's good to be back." And then, because Billy was still giving him that amused smile, he asked. "Where did you go?"
"Boston." And there was something that Teddy was missing, because that didn't explain Bill's reaction. "But I did my undergrad at Princeton." And that was it, and Teddy laughed aloud.
"Oh, did you now?" Shades of green and red, flickering memories of face paint and jerseys and yelling himself hoarse at hockey games flashed through Teddy's mind. "Are we allowed to hang out, in that case, or do we need to draw a dividing line down the hallway?"
Billy was laughing with him, his eyes alight and warm and damn. "Not sure yet; I think I need to know more." He was gorgeous, in a way that was already sinking into Teddy's bones and becoming a simple fact of nature. The earth revolved around the sun. Water was wet. And Bill Kaplan was beautiful when he smiled. "You grew up in New York. Mets or Yankees?"
"Mets. You?"
Bill booed at him and shook his head in mock despair. "And I was starting to like you, Altman. Yankees." Was he leaning in a little? Standing a little closer? "More importantly – and I saw you carrying a Forbidden Planet bag this morning, so no denial allowed – Marvel or DC?" He flickered an eyebrow up, waiting for an answer.
"Pfft," Teddy scoffed. "Ask a silly question. Marvel. Let me guess," he turned a little so he was facing Bill fully now, arms folded across his chest. He couldn't help the flickered glance he gave at Bill's lips, couldn't help trying to read his body language for clues- are you flirting, I want you to be flirting; I want- "Three strikes and I'm out?"
"Redeemed at the last possible moment," Bill said with a laugh. "Though you're still down two to one."
Teddy could easily spend a couple of hours just staring into those eyes, and something about the way Bill was looking back at him suggested that he might not be entirely averse to that idea. "Damn. I'll have to find some way to earn those points back." His heart was starting to jackhammer in his chest, like he was a kid who'd never asked anyone out before- "I'd offer to get you a coffee, but it looks like you're covered there for now." That was casual enough that it could just be a friendly thing; if he was wrong, if Bill was straight-
"Um." Bill was shifting back, looking a little ... something. Nervous? Shit. "I've got to be at a Masters' defense in ten minutes. But there's a group of us that grab lunch at the faculty club most Fridays. You should come next week; meet some of the department before the term starts."
He phrased it casually, but his smile had slipped a little and he was watching Teddy and worrying at his lip nervously, like it mattered whether Teddy said yes or not, like it mattered personally-
The warmth inside edged out toward his fingers and toes, grabbed something in the vicinity of Teddy's gut and gave it a good squeeze. Stay cool, you big dork. "Sure, I'd like tha-"
Bill was letting out a puff of air and the tension in his shoulders relaxed, and-
"Ted!" His head whipped around at the sound of his name. Darcy Lewis was bopping along the hallway, long brown waves bouncing with every cheerful step. "Teddy! Or do you hate that too? God knows I hate it when people call me 'Dar,' like 'Darcy' isn't short enough? Anyway, tall blond and handsome, are you ready to take me to lunch? I'm signed out for the hour, and time's a-wasting."
Caught entirely off-guard, Teddy stammered out "Yeah, sure – absolutely."
Was it his imagination, or had Bill deflated slightly?
"Right," Bill nodded, slung his bag over his shoulder. "I have to go sit on a committee, and you have to go to lunch. I'll catch up with you some other time. Hey, Darcy."
"I'll be there Friday," Teddy stepped back into the hall as Bill let the door fall shut behind them. All he got in response was a little wave, and the back of Bill's head. He'd missed something again, something vitally important.
Darcy slid her hand securely into the crook of Teddy's elbow, already chattering away at a mile a minute. He looked down at her, tucked in against his side, and- oh. Oh.
They turned to leave, and Teddy chanced a glance back over his shoulder. Bill was walking away, more slowly now, hands in his pockets and his shoulders a little slumped.
Wait- Teddy wanted to call back, this isn't what you think, I- but Darcy was pulling him in one direction and Bill was walking in the other and there was no way to do it without making a scene. Teddy let Darcy tug him down the hall towards the front door.
oooOooo
"'Kate' would be Kate Bishop," Darcy said around a mouthful of samosa, gesturing with the hand that wasn't currently occupied. "She's our other medievalist, technically, but she's primarily a legal historian. Her dad's that Bishop." She gestured at the atrium, the glass windows that let light into the library stacks rising high around them on three sides, sunlight filtering down through the skylights. It took Teddy a moment to remember what she could be talking about- right. Bishop Memorial Library. Jesus. "But she doesn't deserve half of the shit she gets for it around here. No matter what you hear, that girl's not a nepotism hire."
Teddy nodded, filed that away with the sinking feeling that he should be taking notes. "And she's writing a book with Bill Kaplan?"
"Yup. Witches and witch trials are hot stuff right now, I guess. I was a PolySci major, so what do I know?" She shrugged, her gesture ridiculous considering she'd just spent the better part of the campus tour filling him in on about twenty years worth of back gossip. "And then the last one on the first floor is Eli. He's modern US history, mostly military stuff, but because he's junior fac he gets most of the shit survey courses and eight-am class times. Just like you will." And she flashed those dimples at him again.
"I don't mind the morning lectures, honestly," Teddy admitted, sitting back from his own empty tray. "They're a nice split between the really eager students who actually do the readings, and the slackers who waited too long to register and then never actually show up. It makes for a decent class size."
Darcy laughed at that, and poked him. "I knew I liked you, Ted. You're, like, all cuddly on the outside, stealth evil on the inside."
"I'm a multi-faceted guy."
Maybe it was because his mind was still partly elsewhere, maybe it was because he was no good at reading signals from girls, but her next question caught him off-guard.
"So, Doctor Evil, how would you feel about grabbing a drink sometime? Or do you not date within your department?"
Ted blanched, a rush of awkward and oops and aw shit flooding through him before he could reply. She waved him off, picking up on the expression on his face, and only looked a little stung. "Never mind. I should have guessed. A guy like you doesn't stay single. Girlfriend?"
He found his voice again, shook his head. "No. No girlfriend. I'm single, but. I'm gay."
"Ohhhh," and Darcy brightened up a little, losing the disappointment that had flashed across her face for a second and dimmed her smile. "That's cool. That's the ultimate 'it's not you, it's me,' isn't it?" she laughed and he relaxed again, grabbed his drink to take a sip and give himself time to regroup. (Conversations with Darcy seemed like they were going to require that on a regular basis.) At least he hadn't offended her.
"Wait…" she stared at him with narrowed eyes that held an unsettling gleam. "I totally cock-blocked you with Bill Kaplan earlier, didn't I?"
Soda up the nose was not one of life's most enjoyable experiences.
"I'm sorry," she laughed, not apologetic in the slightest. "But it's probably for the best," she continued in a more serious vein after a moment, once he'd stolen her napkins to dab the wet off the front of his shirt. "I think he's got a -"
Girlfriend, of course he'd have a girlfriend; it was Teddy's absolute knack for picking the wrong guy every time. Either they were straight, or-
"- boyfriend. I'm pretty sure they're still together, anyway. Or together again? Something like that."
"Boyfriend?" Teddy looked up sharply. Not straight, but apparently not available, either. If it's not one, it's the other. Figures.
"Mmm-hmm." Darcy busied herself with the last few fries on her plate. "This guy Nate- something. Richards. Cute, if a bit uptight. Bill brings him to all the department events."
He wasn't upset, Teddy insisted silently, the sinking feeling in his gut putting the lie to it. Bill was good looking. Ridiculously good-looking.
Stop that.
Bill was friendly, and that was a good thing when it came to co-workers. And maybe they'd been flirting a bit, and so what if they were? Attraction didn't mean you followed through with anything. Lots of people were flirty out of habit, not because they meant to do anything about it.
And he could keep telling himself all sorts of versions of that, and none of it would make a difference to that tangled sense of disappointment sitting low on top of the greasy club sandwich that had been his lunch.
"Oh. What sort of events?" he asked, seizing the chance to turn the conversation away from Bill Kaplan and his long-term boyfriend. Nate. What kind of stupid name was 'Nate,' anyway?
"All kinds of stuff." She took the hint, thank god, and let him change the subject with little more than a flicker of an eyebrow to show that she'd noticed. "Welcome-back wine and cheese; that's in September. Luke and Jess – not Latin Studies Jess, Luke's wife Jess - host a Hallowe'en party every year; most of the faculty and a lot of the grad students go to that. There's a holiday potluck after exam period, but you can come even if you don't bring food..."
He sat back and tried to concentrate on what she was saying, let Darcy's cheerful patter wash over him, drown out the thoughts of a rolling tenor laugh and the image of deep brown eyes.
oooOooo
Without the enforced regimen of lectures to keep them to a timetable, it was reasonably easy to avoid Bill after that. It wasn't that he was annoyed; it was that he had a lot to do to get ready for the term. It only made sense to keep his door closed and his head down and plough his way through his preps, to be a Real Grownup and focus on work before socialization.
Mind you, working would be a lot easier if he had a chair to sit on instead of his last box of books.
E-mailing Facilities was getting him nowhere; he had the mental image of some funny little gnome sitting in the back office deleting every email that came in with his name on it. He only tried phoning once, and got thrown into an electronic system that flipped him to four mailboxes before he found one that would actually let him leave a message, then disconnected him before he could get four words in.
The faculty lounge was a small room tucked in behind the department office. It was colourfully furnished with a couple of old overstuffed couches that must have come from someone's grandmother's basement. The rest of the furniture wasn't much newer, a table and plastic chairs by the counter with the sink and coffeemaker, a couple of armchairs that didn't match the couches, and one decent office chair that had probably been abandoned when someone moved offices.
At least one thing was going his way.
Teddy wheeled the chair back down along the hall to his office, returning Darcy's cheerful wave through the office window. He shoved the box out of the way and sank into the chair instead, kicked back and put his feet up on his desk just because.
The chair creaked and wobbled and he dropped his feet in a rush to avoid tipping over backwards. He pinwheeled his arms, glad as anything that he'd closed the door so no-one would see if he ended up on his ass.
If that wasn't the perfect metaphor for his month so far, he didn't want to know what was.
For now, though. Chair. You took your victories where you could.
oooOooo
The faculty club wasn't a club, exactly; more like a lunchroom with pretensions. The dark wood trim and long banquet tables suggested a slightly more illustrious history, but the bored bartender and disinterested student waiters weren't doing much to help the atmosphere.
He'd avoided this the previous week, but it was time to take Bill up on his offer of the group lunch. It wasn't as though he could avoid him forever, just because Teddy had gone and done something dumb like getting a crush on a guy who was unavailable. Not like that was anything new, right Ted? They were going to have to work together, which meant he was going to have to get over it. And fast.
Although maybe it wasn't going to be an issue today; so far Kate, Teddy and Eli were the only ones at the table, and Kate had only shrugged when Eli had asked about Bill. Teddy had liked Eli from the moment they'd been introduced at the first department meeting. He was straightforward, said what he thought. You didn't have to wonder where you stood with a guy like that.
Kate was exactly the powerhouse that Darcy had described, and while Teddy still didn't quite have a read on her, she wasn't bad company. So far, so good.
"Not even a 'revise and resubmit,' for god's sake. Rejected! I haven't had an article rejected since I was an undergrad." Kate was expounding at length, fingers tapping irritably on the table between them. Eli was nodding sympathetically but Teddy was only half paying attention, the other half certainly not watching the door for signs of Bill.
Or his twin, for that matter. What was Tom doing here?
"Hey, ladies. And Ted." Tom Shepherd slid into the booth beside Kate, cutting her off halfway through a sentence. Bill was trailing behind him and looking a little woebegone. He didn't quite meet Teddy's eyes when he said hello, but Ted put out his hand anyway. Bill's grip was just like it had been last week, warm and strong, and lingering there maybe a half-second too long before Teddy remembered himself and pulled away.
"What's up?" Bill asked, sliding into the booth across from Teddy, and Eli gestured for the hovering waitress.
"Kate's feeling the sting of rejection," Eli said, and Billy frowned.
"Which article came back?"
"The Yorkshire one," she griped, as if that meant something. It obviously did to Bill, because he shook his head.
"That one was solid; what was the issue?"
"One stupid reviewer savaged everything from my methodology to my sample sizes," she muttered, and frowned at Bill with sudden suspicion. "You'd tell me if you ended up with one of my articles, wouldn't you?"
"And violate the integrity of the double-blind process?" Tom teased, pretending to be shocked. "Kate Bishop, are you corrupting my little brother?"
"She leaves that to you," Eli shot back, and the vaguely hostile vibe between them that didn't seem entirely feigned. Tom laid his arm across the back of the booth bench, grazing Kate's shoulder, and Eli gave him a dirty look.
Ah.
"I'm looking at the thirteenth century. How many plea rolls does she think actually survived to the present day?" The waitress sat a basket of bread rolls down between them and Kate tore into one with delicate savagery. "I can't get a larger sample size if they don't exist! Oh wait, I know. I'll get Dr. Stark to build me a time machine, so I can go back and prevent the Great Fire of London from happening."
Teddy laughed despite himself, and won a smile from Bill for his troubles. The look shouldn't make him feel that good, he reminded himself sharply. Boyfriend. Out of bounds.
"They must have pulled a modern historian in to make a full review committee," Bill said, flashing a grin at Eli, who rolled his eyes. "Please. If you can call your primary sources on the telephone, it's not history; it's politics and current events. You guys have it easy."
Eli shook his head in mock exasperation. "Don't you start with me, witch boy."
"Don't hate just because my research is currently hot, and relevant to the zeitgeist."
"War is always relevant."
The conversation held the flavour of old argument and easy familiarity. Teddy tried to soothe his jitters with sips of water and the collegiality, the rapport between old friends that would hopefully someday include him. That he was sitting across from Bill and their feet brushed occasionally, well. That was something he wasn't paying attention to. Devoutly.
oooOooo
They'd lingered over lunch in a way that wouldn`t be possible once the term officially started, and it was a good two hours before Teddy finally got back to his office.
There was a note on his desk. That was the second thing he noticed.
The first was that someone had stolen his chair. His lovely fake-leather chair that he had rightfully swiped. The springs were suspect and it had the rip in the corner, and it had most emphatically not been a large, crumpling cardboard box full of books.
The note was on written on a large green post-it with a happy face printed on the top.
Lounge chairs must stay in the lounge.
The note was written in sparkly purple pen.
Thanks for your compliance.
CB, Facilities Management
Teddy growled at the note. Thanks for your compliance, my ass.
He pulled the box out of the corner and sat down gingerly on the edge. It sank in a little bit under his weight, and he shifted to stay stable. He grabbed a pen out of his chipped Big Green mug and drew a careful stroke through the date on his desk calendar. August 31st.
Three weeks down. Four days until his first lecture, nine months of classes to go.
One day at a time.