Tom Hauser (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
only_good_teacher) wrote2026-01-08 09:45 am
only_good_teacher) wrote2026-01-08 09:45 am
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“Mr. Hauser?”
Gwen Blake steps into Tom’s classroom on Thursday morning before class, and he smiles at her. She’s looking a little tired, but visibly no worse for the wear, and he’s relieved to see that she seems to be okay.
“Miss Blake! Please, come in. How can I help you?”
“I was hoping to ask… I’m sure you heard about all the sh, um, the stuff with the lodge.”
“I did,” he confirms. “That sounds very harrowing. I gather from your absences that you were involved; are you doing alright? Settling back in at home okay?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” she says. “I really missed my bed. It gets hard to sleep with that many people in one spot, and…” She turns her gaze away, and Tom thinks for a moment that she must be remembering something specific, to get that hollow-eyed look on her face. He’d heard about the creatures wandering the city, though he had blessedly not seen any himself. He hopes she hadn’t been terrorized by any of them while she was up there. He hoped nobody had been.
“Gwen?”
She lifts her eyes to him and smiles a little tightly. “I’m just really glad to be back in the city,” she says.
“Of course,” he says, leaning against his desk. “I’m sure it’s a huge relief, being back in a space that’s yours. I understand you recently returned to us here in Darrow? It must have been just as hard, readjusting—”
“No offense, Mr. Hauser, but I’m not here to get my head shrunk,” Gwen interjects. “Yeah, I’m fresh off the boat, whatever, I just. I came to ask about a homework extension? On the assignments from the last three days.”
“Oh!” Tom says, charmed in spite of himself by her candor. And then her actual question registers, and Tom says, “Ah, I see. I imagine you must have a backlog of assignments in all of your classes.”
“Yeah,” she says. “And it sucks. It really sucks, because that’s three days of homework for every class, plus all of the homework I’m going to have tonight and tomorrow night, and I’ve hardly slept in, like, a fucking week, and if you could give me an extension then I could work on all of this shit over the weekend instead of trying to get it all done during the week on top of everything else.”
She doesn’t rant in quite the way that Robin Buckley does — then again, nobody rants in quite the way that Robin Buckley does — but it’s clear to Tom despite that that Gwen Blake is having a rough time. This might even go deeper than the week she spent snowed in at the lodge. She’s only been his student for a few weeks, but she’s always been so quiet, keeping her head down and doing her assignments. This… Tom hesitates to consider it an outburst, since she hadn’t raised her voice, but an outburst is undoubtedly what it still was. This outburst strikes him as uncharacteristic of the girl he’s been coming to know.
“Gwen, have a seat,” he says, gesturing to one of the desks. She looks at it, then sighs softly and sits, her bag thunking to the floor at her feet.
“I’m sorry,” she starts, and he holds up a hand. She stops, looking at her hands.
“I know you’ve been through a lot, this past week,” he says. “I’ve been very worried, about all of the people who were trapped up there, and I’m glad to know that you’ve all made it back down unscathed.” He hesitates for a moment. “That being said, I can’t give you an extension.”
Her eyes snap up to him and she says, “What? Mr. Hauser!”
“I can’t give you an extension because you don’t have any missed assignments,” he says.
“...I don’t?”
“I suppose it would be more accurate to say, I’m waiving the assignments you missed,” Tom clarifies. Gwen looks like she isn’t sure she’s hearing him right, so he explains, “You’ve been a hard worker in my class, Gwen, and I know I could trust you to hand them in if I gave you that extension, but I can’t imagine expecting you to do a week’s worth of homework in only a few days after enduring what must have been the worst week of your life. So I’ve decided to waive the three assignments, for you and any other student of mine who was up there.”
Gwen leans back in her seat, staring up at him. It seems less a matter of whether she thinks she can believe him and more that she’s trying to determine if this is all going to be okay.
“Are you allowed to do that?” she asks.
He shrugs. “That’s not yours to worry about,” he says. Then he adds, “It’s three assignments. It won’t impact your ability to test, and if it removes a little bit of pressure from you, then all the better in my opinion.”
Students are beginning to mill in the hallway, lockers slamming open and closed. The warning bell will ring any moment and they both know it. Gwen stands and shoulders her bag so she can go to homeroom.
“Well… thanks, Mr. Hauser. That’s…” Her eyes widen and she huffs out a surprised laugh. “That’s really helpful.”
“I’m glad, Miss Blake,” he says, walking with her to the classroom door.
“And… to be honest? This wasn’t the worst week of my life. I don’t think this would even rank top five.” She gives him a wan smile, then ducks out of the classroom with a “See you in third.”
Tom stares after her, a worried, pensive frown on his face.
He’s still thinking about that later. I don’t think this would even rank top five. More and more, it seems he’s meeting people whose lives are tumultuous enough that spending a week snowed in with strangers isn’t one of their ‘top five worst experiences.’ Tom doesn’t know what to do with that, other than what he’s always done: offer them an ear, a shoulder if they need it, and try to help them feel not alone.
And there’s someone else he can do that for, too. Daniel hasn’t exactly had an easy week, himself, and while Tom suspects he also wouldn’t rank this within his top five, he knows he could probably use a pick-me-up. On his way home, he stops at a flower vendor, their shop warm and bright against the chilly January afternoon. He steps out with a bouquet of daisies. It had taken some convincing to stop the vendor from dressing the bouquet up with lilies and baby’s breath and green sprigs of filler, but when he looks at the daisies in his hand, he can’t help but smile a little, hoping the surprise will be a pleasant one.
Gwen Blake steps into Tom’s classroom on Thursday morning before class, and he smiles at her. She’s looking a little tired, but visibly no worse for the wear, and he’s relieved to see that she seems to be okay.
“Miss Blake! Please, come in. How can I help you?”
“I was hoping to ask… I’m sure you heard about all the sh, um, the stuff with the lodge.”
“I did,” he confirms. “That sounds very harrowing. I gather from your absences that you were involved; are you doing alright? Settling back in at home okay?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” she says. “I really missed my bed. It gets hard to sleep with that many people in one spot, and…” She turns her gaze away, and Tom thinks for a moment that she must be remembering something specific, to get that hollow-eyed look on her face. He’d heard about the creatures wandering the city, though he had blessedly not seen any himself. He hopes she hadn’t been terrorized by any of them while she was up there. He hoped nobody had been.
“Gwen?”
She lifts her eyes to him and smiles a little tightly. “I’m just really glad to be back in the city,” she says.
“Of course,” he says, leaning against his desk. “I’m sure it’s a huge relief, being back in a space that’s yours. I understand you recently returned to us here in Darrow? It must have been just as hard, readjusting—”
“No offense, Mr. Hauser, but I’m not here to get my head shrunk,” Gwen interjects. “Yeah, I’m fresh off the boat, whatever, I just. I came to ask about a homework extension? On the assignments from the last three days.”
“Oh!” Tom says, charmed in spite of himself by her candor. And then her actual question registers, and Tom says, “Ah, I see. I imagine you must have a backlog of assignments in all of your classes.”
“Yeah,” she says. “And it sucks. It really sucks, because that’s three days of homework for every class, plus all of the homework I’m going to have tonight and tomorrow night, and I’ve hardly slept in, like, a fucking week, and if you could give me an extension then I could work on all of this shit over the weekend instead of trying to get it all done during the week on top of everything else.”
She doesn’t rant in quite the way that Robin Buckley does — then again, nobody rants in quite the way that Robin Buckley does — but it’s clear to Tom despite that that Gwen Blake is having a rough time. This might even go deeper than the week she spent snowed in at the lodge. She’s only been his student for a few weeks, but she’s always been so quiet, keeping her head down and doing her assignments. This… Tom hesitates to consider it an outburst, since she hadn’t raised her voice, but an outburst is undoubtedly what it still was. This outburst strikes him as uncharacteristic of the girl he’s been coming to know.
“Gwen, have a seat,” he says, gesturing to one of the desks. She looks at it, then sighs softly and sits, her bag thunking to the floor at her feet.
“I’m sorry,” she starts, and he holds up a hand. She stops, looking at her hands.
“I know you’ve been through a lot, this past week,” he says. “I’ve been very worried, about all of the people who were trapped up there, and I’m glad to know that you’ve all made it back down unscathed.” He hesitates for a moment. “That being said, I can’t give you an extension.”
Her eyes snap up to him and she says, “What? Mr. Hauser!”
“I can’t give you an extension because you don’t have any missed assignments,” he says.
“...I don’t?”
“I suppose it would be more accurate to say, I’m waiving the assignments you missed,” Tom clarifies. Gwen looks like she isn’t sure she’s hearing him right, so he explains, “You’ve been a hard worker in my class, Gwen, and I know I could trust you to hand them in if I gave you that extension, but I can’t imagine expecting you to do a week’s worth of homework in only a few days after enduring what must have been the worst week of your life. So I’ve decided to waive the three assignments, for you and any other student of mine who was up there.”
Gwen leans back in her seat, staring up at him. It seems less a matter of whether she thinks she can believe him and more that she’s trying to determine if this is all going to be okay.
“Are you allowed to do that?” she asks.
He shrugs. “That’s not yours to worry about,” he says. Then he adds, “It’s three assignments. It won’t impact your ability to test, and if it removes a little bit of pressure from you, then all the better in my opinion.”
Students are beginning to mill in the hallway, lockers slamming open and closed. The warning bell will ring any moment and they both know it. Gwen stands and shoulders her bag so she can go to homeroom.
“Well… thanks, Mr. Hauser. That’s…” Her eyes widen and she huffs out a surprised laugh. “That’s really helpful.”
“I’m glad, Miss Blake,” he says, walking with her to the classroom door.
“And… to be honest? This wasn’t the worst week of my life. I don’t think this would even rank top five.” She gives him a wan smile, then ducks out of the classroom with a “See you in third.”
Tom stares after her, a worried, pensive frown on his face.
He’s still thinking about that later. I don’t think this would even rank top five. More and more, it seems he’s meeting people whose lives are tumultuous enough that spending a week snowed in with strangers isn’t one of their ‘top five worst experiences.’ Tom doesn’t know what to do with that, other than what he’s always done: offer them an ear, a shoulder if they need it, and try to help them feel not alone.
And there’s someone else he can do that for, too. Daniel hasn’t exactly had an easy week, himself, and while Tom suspects he also wouldn’t rank this within his top five, he knows he could probably use a pick-me-up. On his way home, he stops at a flower vendor, their shop warm and bright against the chilly January afternoon. He steps out with a bouquet of daisies. It had taken some convincing to stop the vendor from dressing the bouquet up with lilies and baby’s breath and green sprigs of filler, but when he looks at the daisies in his hand, he can’t help but smile a little, hoping the surprise will be a pleasant one.