The Ripple Effect [Stein x Reader]

The Ripple Effect

Professor Stein leaned back in his rolling chair as he starred up at the ceiling, eyes peering up at the top as smoke trailed from the end of the cigarette. His sharp eyes peered lazily from behind rounded lenses as he removed the cigarette from his mouth with his thumb and index finger, stretching forward and pressing it into the ash tray, twisting the end of the cigarette in the ash tray.

His eyes skidded over to the female that was sitting at her desk: You. He had known you for a while. And no, you weren't one of his students. It wasn't that teacher and student cliché. You happened to be an assistant teacher that was studying for her teaching degree. It may be the DWMA, but things still needed to be legal. Sighing, he starred at you with a rather lazy look on his face.

Sighing, you focused on grading the papers that he had asked you to do for him. Stein didn't like grading papers, despite the fact that he was required to do so on a near daily basis. Such was the turmoils that teachers faced, yes? He smirked slightly as he watched your eyebrows furrowed together in frustration as you starred at the papers, attempting to grade them. Oh, how he enjoyed using others to do his grading. It made his life easier.

Stein rubbed is hand against his chin, thinking for a moment. You were something, that's what you were. Distant and far away, impossible to catch. You socialized frequently with people and yet you were so isolated from everyone else. How was this so? He didn't understand, but it was made him very curious about you.

"You absolutely fascinate me" Stein said, almost spontaneously.

Your (color) eyes slid up to meet his own sharp ones, locking gazes. Your gaze was a mix between amusement and your own curiosity. This man was interesting. What other man compulsively spoke his mind and had a large bolt sticking out of the side of his head?

"Is that so?" You asked, your eyes never leaving his own, focused and steady. Never faltering.

"Yes, that's so" He said, his hand coming up to twist the bolt on the side of his head, three concise turns clicking nearly rhythmically as he kept up the gaze that seemed to be turning into a starring contest.

His silver bolt came to a slow click as the eye-contact was never broke.

"And how is that?" You asked him, twirling the red pen that was positioned in between your index finger and thumb, rolling back and forth as a faint smirk came across your own features.

"To put it simply, (name), you are like a ripple. Whenever you come close enough for me to reach out and touch you, you quickly move away. You can touch me, but I surely can't touch you. Why is that, (name)? I don't know. And it makes me wonder, what experiments would I need to conduct to find the answer to my question?"

A blush did not crawl onto your cheeks like they would any other girl would. Your face remained stoic, slightly entertained with what this man was saying. It was compulsion, again. And his compulsion with experimenting and testing was entertaining.

"That's such a poetic way of putting it. I had no idea that you had such a poetic way of speaking, Stein" A small smile graced your features as you said this.

"I suppose so" Stein shrugged.

You smirked and broke eye-contact with the man, looking back down to the papers that you were grading. Your fingers twirled the red pen that sat in your hand.

You were infatuated with him, and he was infatuated with you. Perhaps the infatuation was dangerous, the keen interest that both of you shared for each other. Or perhaps it was meant to be. Ah, no. That was impossible. He was incapable of loving and you were uninterested in the world of dating, loving that little barricaded world that you had set up for yourself, refusing to let people seep in and touch, dare I say move, you. Yes, that was the way it was supposed to be. You would sit here grading, daily, and he would openly talk about how you sparked his interest, the words merely compulsion and empty. Never to be acted on. That was the way the days were supposed to pass by, emptily.

"They say you're the woman who can't be moved" He stated, once more breaking the silence.

You raised an eyebrow at him, a small snicker escaping your lips. He was simply serious today, wasn't he? Ah, but he was usually serious. Of course, he had his silly moments, but his humor was one that his students couldn't understand.

"Did Spirit tell you that? Because he thinks anyone that rejects his flirting is a woman that can't be moved" You replied in a playful, matter-of-face, tone.

"Well, yes and I do take Spirit's personality into consideration. But Spirit isn't the only one who says that. The staff say it, that you can't be emotionally moved. Students agree"

"Can't they say the same thing about you, Stein?" You questioned.

"I am not as emotionally stagnant as you are, (name). I openly admit to my students moving me in emotionally platonic ways, making me reevaluate some things in my life. You, on the other hand, are different. Students come to you with their stories, their life, their problems. Of course, you help them. But, from what I have observed, you have never once been moved" He explained lazily, starring at you with that same bored look on his face.

"You always have the most interesting observations, Stein" You said, circling the grade on top of a student's paper. Your eyes focused more on the paper and not the man, as you wanted to get your work done so that the both of you could go home.

"Which brings me to a conclusion" He said.

"And what is that conclusion?" You asked, interest spiked.

"It brings me to the conclusion that I will find a way to move you, (name). Whether you like it or not, I will find a way to make you move" He stated, a smirk gracing his features.

"Good luck with that" You chuckled slightly at him, not believing him.

But this man was far beyond determined.