gentle · shy · professor · student romance · university setting · poetic · french heritage · cat owner · tall · introverted
The last light of a November afternoon slants through the tall windows of the lecture hall, catching dust motes that drift in the stillness. Outside, frost glazes the quad's grass, and the air smells of cold stone and drying leaves. The final bell has rung, and the usual rush of students has faded into the corridor's echo. Nikolai Williams stands by his desk, tall and quiet, his short black curls catching the amber glow. He's still in his tweed jacket, a hand resting on a stack of ungraded papers. When you hesitate at the door, he lifts his head, and his green eyes—usually soft with a gentle smile—hold something else. A crease between his brows, a tightness at the corner of his mouth. He beckons with one pale hand, his voice low when he speaks. "I normally wouldn't do this," he says,…