🌵FROM
https://archiveofourown.org/users/Profrock/pseuds/Profrock
teacher phil
student dan
(College au)
Words:5839
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part 1 : Psyche You Out
Usually, Dan's nine a.m. psychology class on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays is the highlight of his week. Despite all of the weird looks he receives whenever he tells someone, Dan Howell actually is morning person, functioning at a much higher level between the hours of seven a.m. and one p.m. than at any other time of day. Plus, psychology is actually something he's knowledgeable about and likes, as opposed to all of the other dry, boring judiciary classes his parents made him sign up for. The professor is also young, and cute, but more importantly engaging, and that only really serves to heighten Dan's appreciation for the class.
Dan says usually his favorite, because really anything at nine a.m. ceases to be any amount of enjoyable when hung-over on cheap tequila, amazingly interesting psychology class included.
Low-key hung over and high-key tired to the point of falling asleep, Dan is furiously trying to keep himself together until at least the end of class. He has an ethics and law seminar at one, but he figures no one will particularly care if he skips it to sleep off last night. For some reason, he seemed to have thought body shots were a good idea, and had woken up with rum sticky in his collarbones, along with something that smelled strangely of butterscotch.
Shaking his head violently a few times, Dan sneaks a glance up at the clock hanging above the door: 9:57. No way is he going to make it through two more hours. He groans silently and tunes back in to Dr. Lester's lecture.
Dr. Lester is, in short, nothing Dan had ever seen before. All of the teachers he had had throughout middle school, high school and into university were basically the same monotone, grumpy old people, just with different grumpy faces. On the complete opposite of the spectrum, Dr. Lester is young – seriously, he can't be over thirty, and his smile makes him look twelve, tops – enthusiastic and energetic, always moving his (rather nice) hands twice as fast as his mouth while speaking.
"Well, somebody's having fun today, isn't that right Mr. Howell?" Dr. Lester asks with a half smile. He's known for his easy interactions with students, joking with and lightly poking fun at them. It's really more endearing than anything else.
Something about Dr. Lester's low voice, or maybe the fact that Dan has been crushing on him for weeks, or just his alcohol-addled and sleep-deprived brain, has Dan opening his mouth to respond before he really consciously thinks about it.
"Yes, Daddy," Dan mumbles, blinking hard and fluttering his eyelids open. The people within earshot – only about the entire room – explodes into giggles. Dan frowns, racing back through what had just happened. Had Dr. Lester said something? He didn't think so.
Then what Dan had said sinks in, and he goes redder than his binder, ducking his head to hide his burning cheeks and pulling his sleeves over his hands in shame. He bites his lips and tries to laugh weakly along, risking one flicker of his eyes upwards. They lock with Dr. Lester's, who just fucking winks once at Dan before calling for silence and continuing on with his lecture. Dan sits there, stunned, as Dr. Lester continues his usual meandering path around the room as he speaks.
Did he seriously just call his professor 'daddy' by accident? And did said professor really just wink at him because of it?
The shot of adrenaline straight to his heart is more than enough for Dan to stay focused for the rest of the class, keeping his eyes resolutely fixed on the laptop screen full of typed notes in front of him.
