Time & Place (Tedgens)

Zoom Gone Wrong

This first chapter can be read as a oneshot, but there's more after.

It started off so simple. Schools were being shut down, so now Hatchedfield's college was having classes online.

It's not that complicated.

Henry Hidgens is a tech-savvy man. He has Alexa, after all. That's not the problem.

The computer was all set up, he had prepared his workspace, and he had his lesson plan even before the quarantine. It was his first class of the day, and it was going just fine.

"Now, who can tell me the function of the mitochondria?"

He was mostly reviewing information at this point, since adjusting to online learning could be difficult.

"Yes, Emma?"

"The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell."

"Very good! Now, moving on..."

Hidgens continued with the lesson, glad his students had retained some information. He was about to ask another question, when he saw movement on his screen not from him. He turned around just as a stifled yawn sounded from behind the couch where he was seated.

There stood a shirtless Ted, grinning sleepily at Henry.

"Mornin', babe."

Hidgens jumped up, not sparing any explanation, and pulled Ted from the room. Confused discussion could be heard from the computer, still where he left it on the table.

"Well 'hello' to you, too," Ted mumbled, still half-asleep and now very confused as to why his boyfriend pulled him into one of the many large hallways of the extravagant house.

"Ted," Henry practially whined. "I have a class."

Realization filled Ted's eyes.

"Ohh! Sorry Henry." He then got a mischievous look on his face. Pouting, he asked, "You don't want your students seeing your beautiful boyfriend?"

Henry sighed. "You know that's not it. This is my job, I need to be professional."

Ted straightened up. "I can be professional. I work in an office, for God's sake!"

"That's not-" Henry shook his head in protest. "It's too early for your antics."

"When will you learn-" Ted began, wrapping his arms around Henry's waist- "It's never too early for my antics?"

Ted smiled up at the man in his arms, a glimmer in his eye. Henry rolled his eyes but smiled back anyway, unable to resist his boyish charms.

"You know I need to do this. We have plenty of time later. It's not as if we have anywhere else to go," he chuckled.

"Fine," Ted huffed, placing a kiss on his lips and unwinding his arms from around Henry. "But you owe me."

He laughed lightly. "Of course, dear."

Henry pecked Ted on the lips then turned to leave, waltzing back into the room where his students had gotten considerably more rowdy.

When they saw their professor had returned, they all bombarded him with questions. All but one Emma Perkins, who sat with a look of shocked recognition in her face.

"Who was that?"

"Professor Hidgens, where did you go?"

"Was that your boyfriend?"

"Do you have a roommate?"

"What's going on?" The poor kid probably just woke up.

"Hidgens, was that your brother?"

Henry grimaced at the last one.

"No, no." He shook his head. "That's not important," he brushed off all their questions. Henry has always been a very private man.

"Do you know what is important?"

Without waiting for an answer, he went on with his lesson.

There's nothing particularly wrong with his students knowing about Ted, it's just that Henry believes there's a place and a time for everything. And this was not it.

...

Bonus!

CCRP Technical was having an online meeting. Just the usual, going over productivity and all that. Ted didn't need to listen; he'd heard it all a million times before anyway.

He zoned out, enjoying the peaceful stillness of the afternoon, blocking out the monotonous voices of his superiors.

The call suddenly got quiet, and Ted focused back in. Luckily it didn't seem like he had missed anything important, the conversation had just reached a natural lull.

The group sat in silence for a few moments, until Paul developed a lightly disturbed expression.

"Is someone," he began hesitantly.

"Yes?" Charlotte inquired.

"Is someone..." He shuddered. "Singing?"

Ted paused, listening. He realized that, in fact, someone was singing. And that someone was one Mr. Henry Hidgens.

"Not here, man. It's just me, myself, and I." Ted brushed him off with a sleazy smile. Not that Paul was asking him in particular, but he was the cause of the problem.

Well, technically Henry was. But that doesn't matter.

The meeting lingered on the mysterious singing for a moment longer, before someone redirected them back to business. Ugh.

Ted made the decison to zone back out, but before he did, he very consciously muted his microphone.

There's nothing particularly wrong with his coworkers knowing about Henry, it's just that Ted believes there's a place and a time for everything. And this was not it.