siesiegirl asked: Lokane #4 [teacher/single parent au] pretty pleeeeease? :D

Totally out of control word count drabble courtesy of the tumblr numbered AU prompt list. Also for youaremyfantasyachapcanbeabook, who requested the same number. Post-Thor. Embrace ALL the tropes!

Kindergarten teachers are supposed to have chalk smudges on their pants and marker splotches on their fingertips.

He doesn't.

Not that that's why she's here. She's here for Issac. But, still…he's not what she expected.

Her first attempt at conversation is stumbling and incoherent; when he waves off her thanks, Jane has to try again. "You've made a real difference," she says, placing a hand on his desk, needing him to understand. "When Mrs. Gatling died—"

"Such a shame about that."

"—I was sure we were in for a really rough time. Issac… he doesn't take to people very easily."

"Your son is a rather singular child."

He has no idea. "It's my fault," Jane explains. (Well, some of it is. His father is a god who I hit with my van and he promised me he'd come back but it's been five years and I've kind of lost hope isn't something you say unless you want someone to call social services.) "I've never been very outgoing, so he's never been very outgoing, and… okay, you don't really need to hear about all of this, I guess."

"You overburden yourself. I've found Issac to be quiet, thoughtful, and substantially more clever than I expected. Those traits can have no other source but you."

"Oh." Was that a compliment? "Um… thank you?"

He just smiles.

She's getting off track. Isaac's probably driving his babysitter crazy by now. "Look, the point is, all I hear after school every day is Mr. Laufeyson said this and Mr. Laufeyson said that—"

"How tiresome."

"No! It's wonderful! He's never done that before! I've tried and tried, but…" How can she possibly explain the sleepless nights, the worry, the guilt over her inadequacy as a mother? Issac needs a flesh-and-blood role model, and all Jane's ever been able to give him are biographies of famous physicists and a Norse mythology book read so many times that the pages are scotch-taped to the binding. "He absolutely idolizes you."

"He's of an age for hero-worship."

"Exactly! Yes!" Oh, good, he gets it. Now to the point. "The thing is— look, I know the end of term is coming up, and you've probably got all kinds of plans, but I was hoping that even though you won't officially be his teacher anymore, maybe you could still—"

"Doctor Foster, nothing would please me more than to continue mentoring your son."

Jane almost collapses from relief. Her worst nightmare was that he would say Sorry, headed back to England next week, have a nice life and Issac would be heartbroken. (She never wants him to know what it's like to be forgotten.) "That's exactly what I was hoping you'd say. I can't thank you enough."

"Your gratitude is unnecessary—" he leans back in his chair, his gaze turning speculative "—but it is rather welcome. You may express your appreciation by having dinner with me."

Wait. "What?"

"Is that not what people do when they wish to know each other better?" His smile grows. "Do you know, I had intended to pay you a visit long before now? But, well, what with one thing or another…"

"Um, teachers have busy lives, I guess."

"Indeed, and it's past time to rectify my neglect. You would be an object of interest simply for being Issac's mother, of course, but… you may prove fascinating on your own merits, Doctor Foster. So have dinner with me."

Is this flirting? It's been so long, Jane can't really tell anymore. "I… I guess I can check my schedule and get back to you?"

"Please do."

As expected, the babysitter is more than done by the time Jane gets home. "It's not polite to ignore people," she explains to her son for the fiftieth time.

"She wasn't nice." (This is Issac-code for A perfectly reasonable person didn't immediately catch my interest and so I pretended she didn't exist and refused to speak a single word for two straight hours.) "Do you like Mr. Laufeyson?"

"I do." Jane pauses, then hesitantly adds: "I think he likes me, too."

Issac accepts this at face value. "He can teach you like he does me. Mr. Laufeyson knows things no one else does. Can I have Pop-Tarts for dinner?"

She ruffles his blond hair.