go big or go home

punz

ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ ʟɪꜱᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛᴇ

☆

punz was substituting today. he's on a lot of schools' contacts for when they need an emergency cover, and he was called early this morning from a frantic class teacher needing some assistance.

their kid is off sick at home and they're a single parent, so they needed someone to cover their first-grade class so they could stay home. obviously, punz agreed. he wouldn't work as a substitute teacher if he wasn't willing to substitute, after all.

now, it's a well-known fact that teaching is a hard job, especially in elementary school. after three years of working, a quarter of teachers quit their jobs because the workload and demand is so high, and punz thinks they deserve more credit for the job they do.

still. being a teacher is hard, but stepping into a class you've never met with no prep besides what's been left for you, which usually isn't much, is arguably harder.

sure, punz doesn't have to do prep and marking and all of this, but the actual length of the school day is exceedingly difficult. still, he does his job, and he does it well.

even if some of the kids were little devils, he had a pretty good day. they were a generally okay class, so he didn't leave wanting to rip out his hair. that doesn't mean he isn't exhausted though.

he doesn't head straight home either, because he needs to stop at foolish's to pick up a parcel. usually, he would just stay at his boyfriend's, but the brunette has an early morning tomorrow and punz has a day off so he wants to be able to sleep in.

punz lets himself into foolish's house, calling, "it's just me!"

"i'm in the kitchen!" foolish responds.

punz follows the voice, treading through the house until he finds his boyfriend at the kitchen table with work splayed out before him. punz's parcel is on the edge of the table, so the blond steps over to get it at the same time as leaning down to meet foolish for a kiss.

"how's work going?" he asks, tucking the package under his arm. he gazes over foolish's work, but he doesn't understand any of it. he recognises some brand names and some very big figures, but none of the technical stuff.

"good, i'm almost done for the night," foolish says, putting his pen down to smile up at punz. "how was your day?"

"good," he nods. "i'm tired though."

foolish pouts sympathetically. "i won't keep you then, love. go home and get some rest."

"i will," punz smiles. he leans down again, meeting foolish for a slightly longer kiss this time before stepping back. "i'll see you tomorrow?"

"course, love." punz nods, offering his lover one last smile before turning to make his way out of the kitchen and back towards the front door. "oh, punz?"

the blond glances back from the doorway to the hallway, finding the other's eye contact. "hm?"

"i just wanted to let you know i won't be able to make it to the wedding."