What fools these mortals be

“Right? Maybe go somewhere nice Reagan; a beach hut or something,” she smiled before turning her attention back to the issue at hand. “Okay, arrange a meeting with the two of them over recess or something. Have them sit down next to each other and hand them the copies and see their reactions. Let me know the time you pick and I’ll pop along a little while later.”

“Exactly; we’re surrounded by kids everyday and all the other stuff that comes with working in a school. No matter how much we like our jobs, we need a break too.” Kat leaned forward in her chair and read over the two essays. The were word for word identical. “Are these two students in the same class?”

“ i wasn’t gonna say anything that wasn’t true. ” perhaps she sounded like a petulant child, but her mama’s many lectures on the importance of getting at least a high school diploma ran through her mind. “ just that if they don’t want to spend their life as a stationary piece of shit who won’t ever do anything productive in their life until they die of a heroin overdose under whatever the nearest bridge is, then they need to go to class. ”

                  QUINN didn’t usually take PTA business outside of the meetings, but this time she was more annoyed than usual. She’d been fighting for what felt like years to have ASL incorporated in the wider school curriculum, and whilst she’d gotten an interpreter set up for Dallas starting school, it wasn’t enough. This time, she had two new petitions prepared, and had gone around every high school class that she could find, eventually finding herself in Reagan’s, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips as he spoke, “Oh, I’m never a pleasure to see. But that’s beside the point. Can I borrow about a half hour of your time?”

Kat breathed out a laugh when she heard his question before shaking her head, “Believe me, I wouldn’t be here if I could help it; I’m trying to leave myself with minimal paperwork for next week when we finish,” she explained before adding, “Did you need to ask me something?”

Kat was working a little later than usual in the school. Tommy had already stopped by at the end of the day to let her know he was heading to a friends to do more of an end of year project. Poppy was heading to his grandparents to her Gran bake something; that left her free to go over some extra paperwork. She was going over a set of transcripts for the following year when she heard a voice. “Hello Reagan. It’s no problem; I’m still here aren’t I? Come in please.” 

Brayden jogged the rest of the way to meet the man and hand over the keys with a bright smile.  “Yeah, I bet!  Losing your keys has a way of wrecking your whole day.” He noted the man’s business attire and found it almost odd for such a small town like this one, it seemed no one had a job around here that required more than jeans.  “Yeah?  What’s the name then?”  He reached out his own hand to shake the man’s.  “For when I’m ready to cash in my favor.”  Brayden joked, laughing slightly at his own words.  He was never the kind of guy to keep score like that but the gesture gave him a reason to meet someone new and that was always on his radar.  If he could befriend every person in this town that wouldn’t be too many for Brayden.

“ now, i’ve seen a lotta weird stuff, but… sick-aritus is definitely not a real thing. ” hathor shook her head. her mama would have whooped her ass if she’d ever tried to pull something as dumb as that. “ here, gimme that phone- i’ll tell ‘em to get off their ass and get their education. ” she held out her hand, already mentally drafting how to emphasize the importance of getting an education.

“There’s nothing wrong with teaching, someone has to do it, right? You all don’t get enough credit.” Nora tells him, shrugging a shoulder. She isn’t sure where this conversation is going, but she entertains it nonetheless. There’s nothing wrong with a quick banter on the street, right? That’s what southerners do? “Life isn’t shitty, people just make shitty decisions. Cause and effect, all how you handle trauma and balance your grief. It’s point of view.”

Perhaps, now wasn’t the time to mention that bringing someone home wasn’t exactly his priority. Not now that he was… well, was dating the right term if you had only had one date? Well, he was dating someone. The alcohol didn’t seem to care it wasn’t the right time, however. “I’m seeing someone anyway so… hooking up isn’t really at the top of my agenda, right now,” he said, turning to focus on his sandwich, listening to his father speak about his dad’s snores.

“You know, I don’t know how you sleep next to him sometimes,” he smirked, an obvious tease in his tone. “I can hear him from the other side of the house sometimes. It’s like an earthquake.”

Of all the things he was expecting to hear, that wasn’t one of them. Not that he thought there was any reason for him to be single, just not normally a revelation to have in the middle of the night. Though alcohol was a thing, he needed to remember that. “Don’t know, could be hooking up with them. You kept that quiet though” or maybe just from him, he wasn’t sure.

As far as Reagan had been told, his transfer to Edens had all been set up in such a way that no one would ever question it. Worked out pretty well for him, and it wasn’t as if he wasn’t teaching before he moved over. Simply was just a useful transfer because of the importance of Edens. Though really, most people seemed oblivious to it all. For now he didn’t have to worry about it, only focus on teaching, and if he was lucky then he would never have to think about his other job. “Evening, sorry know it’s late, can we talk?”

Placing the knife back onto the counter, he frowned a little at the news that his father was already awake, fearful he had been waited up for but Reagan hadn’t been that kind of man before so he could only assume it was something else. Placing his hands onto the kitchen counter, he leaned against it and huffed.

Clearly he knew him too well. It hadn’t been the greatest of night but, well, there would always be others. “Nothing wrong with a sandwich,” he whispered, glancing down to his feet. “I just went for a drink after work. Needed to unwind a little bit, you know. I wasn’t looking to bring anyone home.” He paused, “not that I’m going to get into a conversation about that with you, no offence.” Grinning, he shrugged. “Why’re you awake?”

“No, nothing wrong with it, but not really how people normally want to end a night out” he replied with a shrug. Not like he really wanted any of the details, there was a line between it. “Oh, but I’m very offended. How am I meant to tease you about it otherwise” not that he was serious, he was sure he could find another way to tease him. 

@reaganxtyler​ location: the tyler household

It was late when he turned the key to the front door of his family’s home before pressing the door open. He’d made the decision to stay out late again, have a few drinks before cycling home in the early hours of the morning. While he was, indeed, an adult… it was difficult to not want to disappoint or worry your parents so he tried his best not to wake them. 

Moving into the kitchen once he’d toed off his shoes, he ran moved to the bread bin for a couple of slices of bread to prepare some early morning toast. He’d be awake in a few hours, likely, and wouldn’t have time for breakfast. He decided he might as well eat now. That plan was, however, interrupted by the loud clang of a knife hitting the kitchen floor that resonated around the house.

Cursing, he bent to pick it up, moments later aware that his dad was stood in the kitchen with him, “sorry, I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

Once upon a time, Reagan had been a pretty deep sleeper. But years of watching his own back, and alarms at all hours had changed things, and the moment he heard the door open, he woke up. He didn’t think too much of it, he knew Jamie had been out. Besides, a robber wouldn’t have come in the front door, and an assassin would be quieter. Grim to think about such things, but he also knew he had pissed of some people.

It wasn’t until he heard the clatter that he moved. Whispering to his husband to go back to sleep, before heading downstairs. Carefully, always carefully, not knowing what he was going to find. It was almost a relief to see it was only a knife. How odd his priorities were.