Dude, that hero x mentor was so fucking good. Man, you should write more about that dynamic cause its totally good one that doesn't get explored enough.
sorry to the anon that submitted this... it's been sitting in my inbox for a good long time. anyways. thanks for the request, i love the hero x mentor dynamic. soooo let's go!
The hero rubbed their eyes harshly, trying to collect themselves before walking into their office. Biting the inside of their cheek, they stepped into the office, gaze locked on the ground at their feet. The hero walked up to their desk and sat down, in a mechanical way that felt far too fake. With any luck, their colleagues wouldn’t notice. They tugged the hood of their hoodie over their head, praying that no one would notice the dark purple-blue bruises around their neck.
The hero tapped their fingers anxiously against the wood of their desk. They tried their best to maintain a semblance of working, but even they knew that it was flimsy at best. Putting their head in their hands, they willed themselves not to cry. Not here. Anywhere but here.
The hero’s eyes stung as they felt tears begin to stream down their face. Hands shaking, they dug their nails into their skin, hard enough to draw blood. Why were they so pathetic? Surely their supervisors wouldn’t have reacted like they had.
A clap on their shoulder brought them out of their thoughts. Flinching hard, the hero stiffened, recognizing their mentor standing over them. Their mentor looked to be angry at them, except their eyes were flitting around their form in a way that made the hero increasingly confused.
“Yes?” the hero asked quietly, refusing to make eye contact. Instead, they left their head tilted down to the ground. The last thing they wanted was for their mentor to see them cry. So, they manifested an intense interest in the floor at their mentor’s feet. Even then, their vision was blurred with tears.
“Come with me,” their mentor said, quietly enough so that the hero was just barely able to hear them. The hero remained frozen in their office chair, unable to calm their racing thoughts. Were they going to get fired? Let go? Reprimanded?
Their mentor reached out, loosely grasping their wrist and tugging them up into a standing position. The hero followed their mentor, looking down at the hand enclosing their sleeved wrist. The grip on their hand wasn't very tight- the hero could easily shake their mentor’s hand off. For whatever reason, however, their mentor’s touch eased their anxiety a little bit.
The hero shook their head, lurching forward as their mentor tugged them after them. Their vision became tunneled, and all they could see was their mentor leading them into a different room. They vaguely recognized the dark walls of their mentor’s office space, but they were too dazed to comprehend what was happening.
The hero remained quiet as their mentor guided them to the plush couch in the corner of the office, a gentle hand on the small of their back. They looked down, watching out of the corner of their eye as their mentor shut the office door and then sat next to them.
Their mentor’s stare burned into the side of the hero’s head, and suddenly they felt themselves turning to face them. Their mentor’s eyes flitted across their face, as if searching for injuries. The hero sat there mutely, trying to ignore the way their heart suddenly picked up. Then, their mentor reached out to just below their jaw, in what the hero assumed to be a move to take off their hood. The hero immediately jolted back, scooting to the edge of the couch and away from their mentor.
“What?” their mentor asked. The hero tugged their hood further over their head, in what they hoped could be seen as a casual gesture. In reality, they were hiding the mottled skin on their neck. Heart racing, they looked at their mentor. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” the hero replied, wincing at how their voice cracked at the lie they uttered. Their mentor didn’t seem to buy their answer- instead pausing for a second. The hero sighed in relief.
It was then that their mentor whipped their arm out and yanked their hood off. The hero immediately covered their exposed neck with their hands, eyes wide. Their mentor’s eyes darkened.
“Move,” they whispered, their voice carrying weight in the otherwise silent room. The hero grimaced and shook their head, holding their hands tight to their neck. They couldn’t let their mentor see.
Suddenly, their mentor’s hands were on top of theirs. The hero swore they relaxed for a millisecond, and then their mentor was removing their hands from their neck.
Shaking their head at the aghast expression on their mentor’s face, the hero exhaled in amusement. “That bad, huh?” they spit out before they could help it. They chuckled awkwardly, looking askance before returning to look at their mentor. Their mentor had an angered expression on their face, and their eyebrows were furrowed. They reached their hands out and placed them on their neck, adjusting them to what the hero assumed to be the shape and position of the marks.
“Who-” their mentor asked, their voice breaking off. Their hands fell down to their sides, and the hero felt guilt course through them. “Who did this?”
“Doesn’t matter,” the hero muttered, averting their eyes. They knew that the second that they made eye contact with their mentor, they would fall apart. The anger and sympathy that was likely written all over their mentor’s face was a sight that the hero did not need to see.
“It does matter,” their mentor shook their head, eyebrows furrowed. “Why did you try to hide this from me?” Their hands ghosted over the marks on their neck, before moving up to their face. The hero blinked at their mentor, sitting passively as their mentor looked for more injuries. “You’re bleeding,” they remarked suddenly.
The hero squinted at them, bringing their hand up to their forehead. Sure enough, when they retracted their hand, there were droplets of blood on their skin. “Ah,” they remarked dumbly.
Their mentor sighed, before tugging them back to a standing position and practically yanking them to follow behind them. The hero let themselves be lead down the hallway, but after a few steps their curiosity got the best of them. “Where are we going?” they asked, wincing at how small their voice sounded.
“My room, of course,” their mentor remarked, with all the casualty in the world. The hero spluttered, pausing in their tracks. Their mentor, noticing them freeze, turned around to face them. The hero tried to quell the blush that they were sure was prevalent on their cheeks, but their efforts didn’t work- judging from the mischievous smile on their mentor’s face. “I have a first aid kit in there, obviously,” they justified, clearing the hero’s confusion.
The hero swallowed hard, muttering words of understanding. Their mentor just stood there, infuriatingly silent, before their laugh broke the silence. The hero’s head whipped up from where they had been looking at the ground.
“You thought-” their mentor started, breaking off into a laughing spurt. The hero’s heart raced unpleasantly, as they felt it begin to break in their chest. Their mentor was laughing at them. It made the hero’s stomach turn with humiliation and anger.
“Not funny,” the hero gritted their teeth, but that only seemed to encourage their mentor. Their mentor chuckled under their breath, before taking a step closer and putting their hand on the hero’s face.
“Let’s get you patched up first,” their mentor whispered, a flirtatious grin on their face as they moved even closer to the hero’s face. The hero gulped, suddenly feeling robbed of their balance. “We’ll see what happens after that.” They turned around and lead the hero further down the hallway. The hero followed, cheeks pink and a soft smile on their face.
