Dirty socks and comfy couches (Paul&Johan)

[Johan Rudaski]

Johan had a couch. He had a couch and it was all his and if someone, save for a very select few, dared to even try and get him up and moving they would have words. Eloquent words. Words that would make anyone with a survival instinct comparable to a drunk dust mite and up, or had been one of his students through the years, quiver in fear.

He lay, spread out with his feet on one armrest and his head on the other and a book spread open, text down on his chest, on the couch. He was awake, really. Very awake. He just didn't feel like doing anything after having to deal with one of his students shifting into a cow mid lesson. There was nothing quite as distracting and an adolescent calf kicking at the desks.

At least it wasn't that bad as the story he'd heard from someone in Ohio where they had a goldfish shifter.

Cows were better.

He peered over his book and at his toes, carefully wriggling one after the other. Those socks could use a washing. They'd been light grey at the start of the day. They were just... smudgy now.

[Paul Craft]

"So, a cow? ...Which one? Jones, or the short fella who's allergic to me and doesn't want to tell anyone about it because having udders is apparently embarrassing?"

Paul was at the other end of the room, setting up another lesson plan and filling out a few forms. There were a lot of forms you had to fill out when you were a teacher, and even more when you were a shifter who happened to turn into a large fluffy dog. Some people were allergic to large fluffy dogs, so it was either fill out those forms every few months... or get fired.

He obviously didn't want that to happen.

"I've been thinking of approaching the school board with a proposition. It's been five years since Versi hit, but some students still haven't learned control. There should be a course available to them so they can learn. Extracurricular, of course."

That'd been bouncing around in his mind for a while. Paul didn't want to take the risk earlier on, but now... Well, times did change. He'd bring it up with the school's principal first. They were human, maybe they'd pass along the idea instead. It'd probably be heard more clearly than if he spoke to them himself, since he wasn't entirely sure of the board's all-around political stance on shifting. That risk was just too great for him to take.

[Johan Rudaski]

"Jones. It's always Jones. I'm starting to think he's doing it on purpose." Johan tried to crane his head back so he could look at Paul, but that didn't entirely work. Mostly because it was hopelessly uncomfortable. He heaved a sigh and sat up, taking a moment to give the forms Paul was labouring over the evil eye. He hated lesson plans. When did things ever go according to plan?

He got up from the couch, despite earlier vehemence that he wasn't going to move, and trudged over to Paul, peering at the forms as if he expected them to sprout a particularly hideous number of legs.

"I know a lot of teachers would be over the moon with that idea. I certainly would. It's impossible to teach a proper class when someone's desk is suddenly occupied by another species entirely." Of course he'd support Paul. Always. "But be careful before someone decides to make the school board clarify their stance on shifting." He'd hate to see Paul get caught in that crossfire.

He sat down and smiled. "What's your idea, exactly? I know I'm not much help, but I'll try and do my best." Johan was still, after all, completely and utterly human.

[Paul Craft]

"Think I should talk to him? He's stuck with me before the final bell goes, and I don't think he takes a bus."

Paul's lesson plans usually consisted of vague scribbles and even vaguer notes. More often than not, he was able to keep a whole week to just a page-long list. They also included what kind of music he was planning to bring in that day, even though the students were allowed to over-ride his choice if they came to a decision about what they wanted. He thought the system he'd set up was doing a fairly good job of getting his classes to actually speak to each other. It usually took a little time for them to start speaking to one another, but they were getting there.

"It's worth a shot. I doubt they'd be able to turn it down due to the fact that some students can and have shifted into fish mid-class."

And that had probably led to a student mortality rate. It probably would lead to a higher one if the disease made another pass. So it was crucial that they develop a system to help before something happened and the whole board had blood on it's hands, right? Then again, people had denied others far more foolish things for the sake of their own 'preferences'.

"Well if we can get the staff to agree on it and perhaps start it within our own halls, we could probably get the principal to take it up at the next board meeting. That's a month and a half from now, I think?"