halle berry… that has a kick!

“i’m sorry, did i hear that right? you’re in love with eva stratt? the fucking head of the institution?”

you couldn’t help but slump in defeat, slamming your head against the hard surface of the bar table. when one hears ryland grace start swearing like that— the guy who does his best to maintain a clean vocabulary under all circumstances—  then you know that you’re a lost cause and that he’s seriously baffled by the entire thing, and the man has a phd in molecular biology. as your best friend since childhood who is practically your older brother at this point, he's seen you through all the stages of life, the highs and lows, the thick and thin, and especially when you felt your heart getting struck by cupid's arrow. he's heard about it all, from that flight attendant you had a crush on, to that guy who you thought you felt a connection with before learning he was the worst, to that lengthy situationship you had with a woman who probably wasn't even that into you, and all sorts of others who he couldn't list even if he wanted to. what can he say? you're the biggest hopeless romantic he's ever met, and judging by the current situation, you've managed to hit rock bottom and still found yourself a pickaxe.

there are dozens of other people who work at this university that you could have fallen for. there are no shortage of options, and honestly, he can't think of anyone who wouldn't have accepted your confession. the more he thinks about it, he's sure that all of them would have been willing to go on at least one date with you, even if they might not share the same feelings at first. it could have been the cheerful material scientist olesya, the stern yet kind vice principal yao, the brilliantly handsome aerospace engineer martin, the gorgeous annie on track for a nobel prize, the surprisingly funny head of security carl, but no, it had to be eva stratt.

this isn't either of you saying that she doesn't have any good qualities or that she's impossible to crush on, because she definitely is. it's both of you saying that there is no one within a thousand-mile radius who has a chance with her, especially you,the physics professor who is constantly butting heads with her because you both have very different ideas on how to teach. everyone is certain that there isn’t a single person out on campus who gets called into her office more than you do, not because of anything romantic, like she wants to see you, not because of anything sexual, like she desires you in the middle of the day, but because she has received yet another complaint about the way you run things and needs to tell you to behave.

the students absolutely love your fun and unconventional teaching methods, giving you the highest attendance rate of any of the other teachers, but the school board thinks otherwise about your abilities and complains to the head of the institute. they say all sorts of things about you, although you’re sure that eva keeps her mouth shut about most of it to spare your feelings, boiling it down to you being unprofessional, careless, and sloppy. still, despite being regularly scolded by her to change your ways and start teaching more by the book, you continue your ways, finding that your students' enjoyment and interest are much more important than what a bunch of old people may think— not that you were saying eva stratt is old, although she sort of is, compared to you anyway, since you’re in your late-twenties as the youngest professor at this establishment and she was in her mid-forties. that being said, she doesn’t hate you, or at least, you don’t think she does. she’s never been hostile or rude to you, just mildly irritated at times, and you can tell that she’s looking out for you in her own way.

“how did something like that even happen? was she just grilling you in her office one day, and you realized that you had a crush on her?”

well, it was more like she was grilling you in her office one day, and you realized you were into that, but he didn’t need to know the details about how all you were able to focus on during those moments was trying not to look as flustered as you actually were. even before you started teaching, you were well aware of your attraction to older women, so from the moment you laid eyes on eva for the first time during your job interview, you already knew you were a goner, although how were you supposed to expect that having her berate you so frequently was going to awaken a new kink within you?

every time you enter her office, you can smell her sharp citrusy herbal perfume and can feel her sharp gaze on you when you close the door behind you, always making you dizzy with lust while she unintentionally uses the sexiest authoritative tone on you. truth be told, you usually aren’t listening to half of the things that she’s saying, but to be fair, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, and you have a natural talent of zoning out when you don’t feel like listening. actually, you always feel like you’re both wasting time when you can think of dozens of other things the two of you could be doing instead of just chatting. eva stratt, heh, more like eva strap because you just know her strap game is something mindblowing—

“are you even paying attention to me?”

“no, i wasn’t. what were you saying?”

“i don’t even want to think about what’s going on in your mind right now, but you’re never going to guess who is here.”

you followed his gaze into the crowd, jaw dropping to the floor when you spotted the queen herself seating herself at the bar and ordering herself a pilsner. out of all the dozens and dozens of local bars she could have been at, she just had to be at this one while you were pouring your heart out to ryland about your feelings for her. she had yet to notice either of you, but it was only inevitable until she spotted two familiar faces only a few feet away huddling together while whispering to each other and looking in her direction.

"go talk to her!"

"no! i'm scared!"

"don't be such a coward!"

"i'm not, but she probably hates me! i don't want to ruin her night by showing up and bothering her!" “i don’t think she hates anyone, she just gets really irritated, really fast, and sucks at hiding her emotions— hurry up and shoot your shot before someone else does!"

taking a deep breath and using the alcohol you drank earlier as liquid courage, you decided that you might as well try. sure, you could be cruelly rejected and would be wallowing in embarrassment for the rest of your life, unable to look your boss in the eye ever again, but there was also a slim chance that you could progress your relationship and become closer than ever! the percentage of success was way too low for any sane person to take, but you're absolutely horrible at math when tipsy, so the odds looked good enough for you!

normally, you would be overthinking your every word like crazy, wondering what tone of voice you should use, what the starting conversation should be, what drink you should order to make you look cool, and all sorts of other things that she probably wasn't even paying attention to, but all you did was cheerfully call out her name as if you were the bestest of friends instead of just co-workers.

"hey, eva! nice seeing you here, do you mind if i sit by you?"

you could feel your entire body heating up as if it were on fire from how self-conscious you were, getting onto the stool next to her after she patted the open space. maybe you should have run into the bathroom really quickly first to make sure that you looked alright without your hair being out of place or your lip gloss being smudged, but it was already too late for that.

"you look nice," she remarked. "i've never seen you out of the dress code before."

her eyes flickered down to your chest for a split second to where your tastefully skimpy outfit showed off a nice amount of your cleavage, too quickly for you to notice, but just enough for her to commit it to memory. it's so strange to see you outside of the business casual attire that was expected for staff at the university, but she couldn't deny that you looked absolutely magnetic in a way that was extremely dangerous for her.

(and, for the record, she isn't a pervert, you just make it very difficult for her to keep her eyes to herself. she is a pervert, however, when she's grilling you in her office, and you keep making that pouty little face that makes her want to bend you over the surface of her desk.)

obviously, while eva was known to keep her work and personal life strictly separate, the line keeping them apart always seems to blur when she's around you. while she might seem like she's as oblivious as a rock towards romantic advances, she just finds that ignoring it is the easiest way to shut it down since they never bother trying again when she just acts like she doesn't notice. still, whenever you make cute little comments about how nice you think she looks, how she's such a natural-born leader, or how intelligent she is, there's always a part of her that wants to drop the facade and flirt back.

while no one is aware of it due to how good she is at hiding it, she's painfully aware of how attracted she is to you, and sometimes, it even gets in the way of her work when all she can do is think of you instead of her paperwork. she isn't blind or stupid, she can see how beautiful you are with a personality to match all, someone who is bound to get snatched away by another, yet she can't bring herself to make a move. there are so many different factors that make her think it would be an awful idea to pursue a relationship with you, the main two being the age difference and the power imbalance. yes, you're both adults who could consent to it without much problem; no, it doesn't look good to outsiders when she's about twenty years older than you and your superior. she could personally care less of what others think about her, but you're such a social butterfly who flourished from knowing that others approved of you, so how could she ruin your reputation in such a way and take all of that away from you?

yet when she sees you sparkling under the club lights, leaning in closer than what is friendly while chatting her up, she has to restrain herself from closing the gap and kissing you. it would feel so wrong, yet so right, with your plush lips probably being better than she could ever dream of, but once again, she pulls away before she could fall to temptation.

"you know, i used to think you hated me," you giggled, your finger tracing along the rim of your ramblin' rose cocktail. "we never really saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things."

"that doesn't mean i hate you," she said bluntly, very confused about what gave you the impression, but she supposes that most americans take her german stoicism the wrong way. "at most, i get annoyed, but i would find it very difficult to hate you, even if you did wrong me in some way."

"did you just admit you have a soft spot for me?"

normally, that would have been something you wouldn't ask out loud, although you weren't sure if it was because you were too shy or because it was a little too inappropriate, but with the booze flowing like water and all your inhibitions gone, it felt like you could say anything you wanted just to hear her responses.

"doesn't everyone? you are the youngest staff member at the university— of course we all have soft spots for you."

that was something you already knew, but learning that eva actually shared the same sentiment was making your face heat up like crazy. how is it that she always has this effect on you even when she's talking in the blandest and most deadpan manner ever! it's a rhetorical question, obviously, it's because you're down bad for her and you would do literally anything imaginable for a chance with her. if she could peek into your intoxicated mind at the moment, she would see you gnawing at the bars of your enclosure because you swear you're getting more drunk from the proximity and seeing her rare smiles than you were from the drinks. you aren't sure if you were going to regret drinking so much tonight because of the hellish hangover that was awaiting you in the morning or because of the insane tab you keep adding more to in the process, but it was so, so worth it to be getting closer to her.

this was something that you've been dreaming about for ages, and it was finally coming true while you both opened up to each other, finding that your personalities were so much more compatible than you expected. sure, you did most of the yapping while she did most of the listening, but she was listening to every word you said, nodding along and asking questions to show that she was invested. time flew by like the wind, and before you knew it, it was two in the morning, and the bartender was politely asking you both to leave so that they could close down.

ryland had already left before either of you did, as expected for a man who needs to be in bed by ten like a grandfather, but it also goes to show that he secretly had faith in you and eva hitting it off so that she would take you home for the night. you aren't quite sure if she was intending to do that at first, but once she saw you practically fall off the stool and stumble around, it was clear that there was only one course of action for her to take.

"alright, you're coming with me," she sighed, shrugging off her jacket to wrap around your shoulders to keep you warm.

it was only just now that she realized how tired she was since she wasn't very used to having late nights out, yet she didn't have any regrets when you slumped against her frame so that she could guide you into the passenger seat of her car. although she suddenly felt a little self-conscious about how the inside of the vehicle low-key made it obvious that she was a smoker, but you didn't give her much time to ponder over it when your sweet perfume was filling her senses once again and she heard you giggling.

"do you usually go home with younger women like this?"

"only the really cute ones."

for obvious reasons, while she was going to be tucking you into her bed tonight, she wasn't going to be taking you to bed. that would be reserved for another night, but when you wake up in the morning, you'll be all snuggled up underneath her covers while she orders you a delicious breakfast since she can't cook to save the world, and it will be the most romantic moment in your entire damn life. who knows, if she's lucky, then it will be the start of many more…

request one

could you possible write something along the lines of “me x stratt age gap yuri college au and ryland is my protective older brother,” I saw the idea from @jayishyperfixed and wanted to ask :)

request two

HeyheyHEYYY Celestia queen, great poet of sapphic Eva Stratt content, and who unluckily hasn’t posted in 6 days, I come here with a REQUEST 👅😈 I’ve been thinking about a PHM AU… University AU actually. Stratt could be the head teacher of the institution, and I was thinking of fem!reader as the sloppy physics teacher that all of the students like, but she’s like; ‘you have to be more professional >:|’ and reader is like; ‘But Ms. Stratt happiness is key :(‘ and so they basically almost hate each other and just don’t get along really well… BUTTTBUTBUTBUTBUT, after a drink at the local bar with the greatest best friend of all times, the greatest Biology professor, Ryland Grace, he spots STRATT IN THE CROWD 💀💀 and then stuff happens idk I thought I could leave that for you, anyway BYE THANK YOU MUAK