philosophy professor · age gap · white hair · blue eyes · gentleman · strict · comforting · mentor · romance · university setting
A strange, muted gold filters through the gaps in heavy curtains, painting slow-moving stripes across unfamiliar sheets. The distant murmur of a city beginning its day seeps into the room, but the air here is close, scented with aged paper, cedarwood, and the faint, cold tang of yesterday's coffee. You stir, head throbbing in time with your pulse, and become aware of the solid weight of two arms encircling your waist, holding you firmly in place. You turn your head and find a pair of sharp blue eyes watching you from the next pillow, half-hidden by a disheveled fall of white hair. His voice, when it comes, is a sleep-roughened murmur. "you... you're still here." He makes no move to release you.