The Ripple Effect [Stein x Reader]

Difficult

The man was relentless, you would give him that much. He seemed to be going to great measures to move your soul in ways that you had probably never experienced before. It seemed as though he couldn't get you to feel anything, though. Not even something as small as slight pity that could pull ever so gently at the heartstrings. You were like a robot, to put it shortly. You couldn't feel. But the notion that you couldn't feel was preposterous. All human beings felt, it was in their nature. But you seemed to keep your emotions bound somewhere deep inside your soul, in depths that nobody could see or feel. Not even him.

Stein twisted the bolt in the side of his head with a keen eye focusing on your unwavering figure. You were focusing on grading the papers that he had set for you to grade, dragging that red pen across the paper with a concentrated look wearing on your face.

Currently, he was attempting to use his soul perception on your body. Your soul was steady, unfaltering and focused. Not a hint of detectable emotion showing through you. Not even in the deepest parts that you could see.

It was frustrating.

Most people were so easy to read, to understand and grasp. Most people were so easy to understand that it was rather boring once he had grasped all the knowledge he could get based off of them. With you, it was a challenge. So much of a challenge that at some points in time, he would feel the slight throb of a headache coming along and have to divert his gaze somewhere else and recuperate his thoughts.

It was rather obnoxious, you see.

"How is grading going over there?" He asked almost tauntingly, the traces of a rather sadistic smirk coming across his features as his gaze on your relaxed and the bolt in the side of his head came to a final, subtle, click. He had zoned out of the soul-perception mode and kept his gaze focused on you as he usually did.

Your eyes flicked up to him, the same amount of focus in them, the pen coming to a halt.

"I am rather enjoying myself, yes" You replied in a bantering manner.

"What a shame, I was rather hoping that you were miserable" He said lazily, taking a drag on the cigarette that was hanging out of the corner of his mouth and letting smoke roll from his lips.

"Sucks to be you" You replied, sticking your tongue out in a slightly childish manner.

The Professor rose a quizzical eyebrow at you as he put out his cigarette in the ashtray that was sitting on his wooden desk, that smirk on his face becoming slightly more visible on his lips.

"Sticking out your tongue? How childish. And to think that I thought you were mature enough to handle yourself, but you can't practice enough self-control to keep your tongue inside your mouth? Tsk, Tsk. What a shame"

It seemed as though you didn't even falter at the comment. Your irritation-level remained at a constant, not lapping over toward the higher end of the measurement sick. Instead, you simply leaned over the desk you were sitting at and continued to grade the papers that had been given to you like a good assistant would do.

And then the thought occurred to him: Maybe he could attempt to get a rise out of you? Maybe you were quicker to succumb to the emotion of anger than pity or other feelings.

Leaning back in his chair, he pushed off toward you. The sound of wheels echoed through the room before he came to an abrupt halt in front of your desk, wheels screeching loudly. He thought that perhaps you flinched at the sound of the wheels screeching, but the movement was so minimal that he couldn't tell whether or not you did and had to void the thought.

"Are you almost done with that?" He asked leaning over the desk as you marked the last question of the last test you had to grade incorrect.

"Yes, this is my last paper, why is that?" You asked, folding the paper close and setting it on the finished pile.

"I need you to order them alphabetically by first name and last name" He said. His eyes skid up to the clock, which read 4:15. You had already been after school an hour and fifteen minutes grading papers. Time out of your day that could have been spent reading or relaxing. To his dismay, you didn't argue back or say a word of contradiction toward him, but simply replied,

"Alright, if that's what you need then I'll do it"

"Too bad my students don't take after your obedient personality" He stated calmly, eyes lazing over to your line of sight, "It would be nice to have more students who are willing to wait hand and foot on me"

The comment did not stir your anger or irritation as you simply answered,

"Unfortunately that is not the case"

"Unfortunately . . ." Stein trailed off as he turned the bolt in the side of his head, concentration focused on the ceiling as he wondered out loud, "Why were you created so stubborn and difficult to handle?"

A hidden smile encompassed your face as it drew blank, your eyes twinkling in amusement,

"The same reason why you were created so unusual and abnormally" Was your witty response.

"I give you that . . ."

The Professor frowned. He had never had two failed experiments on someone in this manner in a row, it was simply unheard of. Ah, so you were much more difficult to crack than he had originally thought. Oh well, that made it just that much more challenging. It had been a while since his brain had been exercised anyways, as he usually taught lessons on what felt like a loop.

"You're a difficult human being, (name) . . ."