First story with the whole group and my OC; Mr. Nathan ('Nate') Patterson, a tall, dark, tattooed 31-year-old woodshop teacher who there is much more to than meets the eye. The ladies of the group develop a soft-spot for him, Jeff reacts predictably.

Significantly less 'shippy' than 'Indecent Proposal', though there is some OC/Britta, OC/Annie...and if you look hard enough, even some Annie/Britta (the best ship).

Rated T for some suggestive situations and a severed finger.

Community, not owned by me...OC Nate is essentially me.

Introduction to Woodworking

"I'm so excited for woodshop!" Annie squealed as she walked down the narrow hallways of Greendale, Abed and Britta in tow, "Last month when the police kicked in my door because they thought the meth-dealing former tenant of my place still lived there, they totally broke my coffee table and now I can make a new one!"

"I'm actually excited to see how the dynamic of us working with our hands affects the group." Abed replied, wearing a typical 'Abed' outfit; hipster t-shirt, blue and yellow hoodie and pencil jeans, "I had a really good time when we took pottery, watching Jeff come undone and reveal his deep insecurities, but this will be more interesting; it's all of us in the class."

"Well I just want to get in there and get my hands dirty and learn a new skill." Britta, her eyes darkened under aviators responded, "Maybe even stick it to the patriarchal machine and prove that just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that I can't..."

Annie and Abed both groaned in unison as Britta prepared to launch into one of her 'I am woman, hear me roar!' spiels that they had learned to tune out. As they entered the shop, Britta kept speaking, while Abed remained stone-faced and Annie marveled at the size and amount of the machines; one that looked like a giant, metal oven, a few that looked like big sewing machines, and finally, a few large machines that she recognized were saws of some type. They walked to the far end of the shop where a classroom awaited.

Britta continued to speak as they entered, noticing that the rest of the group had already made it and the class was nearly full, "...and even though women now eclipse men in the numbers of applicants to and graduates from university, the average woman working full-time earns only 79 cents on the dollar compared to the average man..."

"Can you go ONE day without sucking the joy out of something?" Jeff said with exasperation. He was seated in the middle-right of the classroom, looking good as usual in a tight gray button-up and pencil Dockers.

"I'm sorry...Man." Britta condescended, "For trying to make aware the injustices of our supposed free society."

"They are aware...WE are aware. You make us aware every time you open your mouth." He shot back rapid-fire.

Britta was silenced as she prepared her retort by a deep, masculine voice behind her; she turned around to see a tall, dark-haired man enter the room in a floor-length white coat, "Alright everybody, take a seat so we can begin."

Annie and Abed sat at the front by Shirley, Pierce and Troy were near the back, while Britta plonked down, defeated, beside Jeff. There were a few recognizable faces in the room; Starburns, Chang, Garrett, Magnitude and Vicky stood out, and among them were a crowd of ten or so additional faces that no one else knew or recognized. The man at the front grabbed a sheet off his desk and regarded the class.

"Hello all, I am..." he grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard his name in messy, rushed printing, "Mr...Nate...Patterson...you may call me Nate, or Nathan, and if you're in the right place, then let me welcome you to Introduction to Woodworking, where in addition to learning and respecting the rules and machinery of the shop, you'll get to make all sorts of great things; birdhouses, end tables, footstools, shelves..."

Britta regarded the teacher with curiosity; around her age (which was fairly young), about as tall as Winger, with dark skin, medium-length chestnut hair and a relatively solid build...but what she really zeroed in on were his eyes; they were blue...no, green...no...grey. Some eerie combination of the three that played a sharp contrast against his relatively dark features. They were animated and alive, but also carried a heady sadness to them that struck a deep chord with her.

He was actually a very attractive man, but to acknowledge or make light of this would probably only confirm to the group that she (like most women) have a bit of a thing for men in authority positions, a viewpoint that while wholly real and logical, clashed against the Marxist-feminist ideals she had set up and ingrained within her mind. He continued to speak as he took a look at the list.

"Alright, so let's take attendance...Barnes, Troy..."

Attendance took only a few seconds, but Annie was rapt the whole time, sitting beside Abed as she stared at Mr. Patterson. She, too, was not at all impervious to his charms...I mean look at him! Tall, dark and intimidating, but with sad, thoughtful eyes and a heavy command of the room; he was like an alternative Jeff. She wondered how Jeff would react to all of this, though at the same time she knew probably not well; probably the same way he had reacted to Rich and Vaughan in the past. Whenever Jeff's Alpha-male status is threatened, he goes into attack-mode.

"Okay, well now that that's over, let me show you the machines and how they work." He ordered the class. Slowly they rose from their desks and followed him into the shop. Shirley caught up to Annie and scrunched herself between her and Abed as they walked out the door.

"Mhmm!" Shirley grunted, "Tell the mailman I want to receive that package!"

"Shirley!" Annie laughed along with her at her obvious sexual double-entendre, "He is something though, isn't he?"

"He does seem to have the same intimidating but charming presence as Jeff does..." Abed answered, "But there's something kind of different about the vibe that he puts off...something I can't quite put my finger on just yet..."

"Well when you do, let us know!" Shirley said.

As they were all out in the shop, he stood before a machine that looked like a steel table with a six-inch-high partition in the middle. On top of it was a cardboard box.

"In addition to the classic 'No running in the shop' rule, I have just three others." He said as he held out the box in front of him, "The first rule is that in my shop, when machines are running, you must always wear safety goggles; trust me, the last thing you want is for a nickel-sized piece of wood traveling 60 miles an hour to hit you in the eye. "

Everyone reached forward into the box to remove the plastic, clear goggles, though only Annie in her fastidiousness had placed them over her face. Mr. Patterson noticed this and gave her a gentle smile, which she definitely noticed. She blushed and looked at the ground for a second. As she did this, he walked to stand in front of her.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Miss Edison." He said kindly from just a few feet in front of her. She looked up; the man towered over her and smelled like cedar, cigarettes and hard work, quite a tantalizing melange even if it shouldn't be, "But we won't be running the machines today, so you can take the goggles off...just remember for the next time, okay?"

"Okay!" She said meekly, feeling gleeful on the inside, though that feeling began to slightly dissipate as he stepped away.

"The second rule; no jewelery or excessively loose clothing; it can get caught in the machines." He said, "I've seen more than one student lose a pair of pants to the lathe, and it's a very embarrassing situation."

The class nodded in agreement.

"The third and final rule is also very important, as I don't want anyone here to be placed in danger." He continued to his rapt audience, looking at Annie again, "Miss Edison, you'll want to pay attention to this one too; if you have long hair, it must either be tied into a ponytail and tucked into the back of your shirt, or tied back into a bun..."

"Why is that a rule?" Britta snarked. The group collectively groaned; was this her typical 'I need to defy!' instinct kicking in?

...or...OR...did she just notice Mr. Patterson semi-flirting with Annie and get a little bit envious? Loath to admit it to herself, it was probably about 40% the former and 60% the latter. Annie always got attention from guys...she was her best friend and her biggest competitor.

"Because it's for your own safety, Miss Perry." He answered politely, training his now-intense eyes onto her with a gentle smile for a daring contrast.

"Are you sure it's not some sort of way to keep the women of the class in their proper place?"

Instead of being outraged or mad, he just laughed; Britta noticed the little lines around his mouth and eyes jiggled as he did, "Look, Gloria Steinem, there is no sexism or racism or reverse-placeism happening here, this is just a shop rule that ensures the safety of everyone, man or woman, with long hair."

"It seems like a weird rule." She replied sarcastically, matching his stare.

She felt Jeff grab her arm from beside her and lower himself to speak quietly into her ear, "Please, for once just shut up."

She stared daggers at him, "No, I won't!" She stomped her foot, "This dinosaur wants to see to it that the women of his class are further repressed, and I won't..."

This time everyone in the class groaned; Britta's shtick was hardly unknown to the student body at Greendale.

Silence ruled the room until it was broken by a familiar monotone voice, "Would you like a piece of chocolate, Britta?" Abed asked.

"No!" She yelled at Abed, even though it probably would have helped immensely.

"I won't have disrespect and insubordination in my shop, Miss Perry." Patterson replied with liquid calm, before pointing at the door behind her, "Get out."

Britta's mouth dropped at this...nice move.

Britta was like that, though; she was like that with Jeff, and he clearly remembered; whenever she's attracted to a man that she knows she shouldn't be, all she does is challenge him...maybe it was so later after sleeping with them she could somehow rationalize it away, or maybe it was just how she was raised to flirt...it was her mating dance.

Before she can remember anything, she turned back into the hallway and walked away. She heard Mr. Patterson continuing to speak.

Instead of going home to hang out and study, Britta lingered around the school, taking in a quick session with her study group in Room F. She listened as Pierce spoke.

"I think he's cool; his no-nonsense approach and rakish good looks remind me of me." Pierce said in response to someone, obviously speaking of Patterson.

"He's such a cutie!" Shirley gushed shamelessly, shaking her head in a tizzy.

"Not as cute as I was at that age...if you could have seen me then then you would have thrown yourself at me so fast that..."

"I see you now and I'd rather throw myself in front of a train." She said in her usual I-ain't-messin' tone that she could turn on and off like a faucet.

"Yeah well, I don't like him." Jeff spoke, and as usual when he did, everybody turned to listen.

"Oh come on Jeff!" Annie answered in her 'You're hopeless!' voice, "This again?"

"I just think he's kind of bossy and authoritarian...you guys saw what he did to Britta."

"He wouldn't have done that if Britta wasn't being a turd." Abed said plainly, causing Britta to turn to him and say his name in a shocked gasp.

"Jeffrey, are you really going to be jealous of every guy that comes along that's better looking and more charming than you are?" Shirley said with sympathy and a sad face.

"He is NOT better looking than me!" He said through clenched teeth. No one at the table responded positively or negatively, though he did hear a few sighs and one-syllable answers.

The group continued to argue and bicker back and forth, but curiously, Britta remained silent the whole time.