Motion Sickness | Simon Petrikov x Reader

Chapter 10 | Words Fail

The winter weather was starting to set in as December rolled around faster than you expected. The fall semester was coming to an end. You were helping students prepare for their finals as you did your best to piece together your exams for the classes you were teaching. Simon seemed to embrace the winter months, which made sense to you considering he lived in the cold for hundreds of years. You did see him freak out a little bit when it was flurrying earlier in the morning, but he calmed down a bit after disconnecting it from his past experiences. You watched Simon from your classroom, his body upright and pacing as he gave his students a lecture. You liked that his class ended 30 minutes later than yours. You got to listen to him talk about the subjects he was teaching about and watch him get all excited over the topics he loved teaching. You watched him wrap up his class, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as he watched his students file out of the classroom.

You walked to your classroom door, making eye contact with him. He let out a sigh, walking over to you after the last student of his left. He relaxed in your presence, leaning against the wall outside your room door.

"Long class?" You asked.

He nodded, his eyes drifting over to you, "You have no idea."

You gave him an empathetic smile, "Hey, at least you don't give a difficult exam. You only assign a research paper, right?"

"And yet, they still complain about it. I try to meet them in the middle, but I just can't please everyone all the time." He let out another sigh, his head slightly tilting to the side as he looked at the decor in the hallway.

"Don't beat yourself up about it too much. Everyone is exhausted and burned out right now. I think that includes us."

Simon nodded in agreement, shifting his weight off of the wall. He seemed absolutely exhausted.

"Are you feeling okay?" You asked.

He shrugged, his expression staying neutral, "Just tired. Like you said, burn out is really bad right now."

You nodded slowly as you examined him. Maybe he just didn't sleep well last night or he stayed up too late. You didn't want to think he was overusing that mirror again or stretching himself thin with his research. Simon yawned, stretching himself up before looking to you.

"I have a proposal." He crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall again.

"I'm listening." You looked at his gaze.

He cleared his throat, his eyes darting away from your look, "We eat in our offices a lot, and it sometimes feels repetitive and what not. I was thinking that we need a break in our little lunch routine."

He remained silent for a moment before tucking his white bang behind his ear to get it out of his face.

"We should go out somewhere for lunch. They just opened this little café downtown and I heard it's really good. The students have been talking about it a lot and asking if I've tried anything there yet." He forced himself to look at your gaze, his cheeks hot.

"That sounds great, actually." You stood upright, placing your hands in the pockets of your dress pants.

Simon looked relieved and excited before he ran off to go grab his car keys, "Great!"

—

Simon opened the door to the little coffee shop, holding it open for you to walk in first. The place was bustling with a few college students at tables. The atmosphere was very nostalgic, the color scheme of the place being an off white and sage green. There were plants everywhere, some hanging from the ceiling in little brown pots. It smelled of coffee and bread as if it was the love child of a bakery and a café.