1. let it happen
⏾ professor! bruce wayne x student! reader
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⏾ cw: 18+ (MINORS DNI), opposites attract, eventual smut, you can’t tell me this man isn’t ocd, your professor is hot 🥵
⏾ content: Your professor calls you out in front of the entire class. Your world comes to a screeching halt.
⏾Hi! I haven’t written a fanfiction in a really long time so I’m sorry if this is not the greatest piece of work. I’m going to probably turn this into a series as well so stick around if you’d like! Thank you so much to @ellesthots for inspiring me to write this and being so encouraging and so dang sweet!
“Y/N L/N. See me after class today, and yes, I see you pretending not to see me.” Professor Wayne’s voice abruptly interrupts your thoughts, snapping you out of the dissociative episode you were in.
You can’t help but scowl at his callout. You did not appreciate being called out in front of your fellow classmates. Especially after the ever so slight smirk on his face upon seeing you scowl. Only for a split second of course. Almost immediately, he returns to lecturing as if nothing had happened. His face and body language was perfectly composed, it seemed like everything he did was deliberate, no matter how small the action. Somehow, he always remained in complete control of the room. Which wasn’t hard because not only is he a genius on multiple subjects, but he also happens to be incredibly attractive.
‘What is his deal?’ You think to yourself, internally cursing yourself for letting him catch you off guard like that.
You sigh softly, knowing exactly what his deal was. Not only were you incredibly late for almost two weeks straight, but you had a handful of unexcused absences. Missing five of his classes was bound to get you dropped at one point or another, you just wished you had communicated more. Perhaps then you wouldn’t be in the predicament you were in right now.
The rest of class is spent with an insurmountable amount of anxiety about the meeting with Professor Wayne after class. Your mind was racing with possible scenarios of how it would go; in one he absolutely shits on the entirety of your submitted work, and in another he just sits and stares while you cry and beg him to not drop you (he drops you).
Finally, he excuses everyone and you find yourself practically sprinting out of his class to get the meeting over with. Of course, by the time you get to his office he is already there. Perfectly composed at his desk, presumably looking over your school profile on his computer. You wonder if he is secretly the shadows or something. You go to knock politely, but he speaks before your hand reaches the door.
“Come in Y/N.” His voice was smooth and low; unreadable as always.
You nervously walk in, not saying a word. Professor Wayne was always unnerving to you. How could someone be so passionate about what they teach while being one of the most intimidating people you had ever met? Not because of who he was or how much he was worth. But mainly because of the way that he seemed to see through others so clearly while remaining incredibly aloof. You have never really been able to get a read on him, so you had no clue how he felt about you, or anyone else for that matter.
He points to the chair directly across his desk and simply states, “Sit.”
You adjust yourself uncomfortably in the small chair across from him, internally cursing yourself for choosing to wear a skirt today. You stare at him awkwardly, noticing his piercing blue eyes for the first time. You watch him type something and then meet your gaze, making you blush ever so slightly.
“I’ve noticed you’ve missed several lectures now.” He fully turns towards you, placing his now folded hands neatly on his desk. His tone is sharp, but not harsh. Just straightforward. You expect him to ask why, so you open your mouth to finally speak, but he continues. “Is everything alright?”
You swallow softly and nod, slightly shocked at the question, but then shake your head. “It’s been…a really tough few weeks. Just some family stuff.” You say, trying your hardest to not unravel in front of him and embarrass yourself by crying. “I know that that’s no excuse Professor, I know that I’m falling behind. I just didn’t want to give up so easily…especially because I’ve really enjoyed being in your class.” You look down at your hands ashamedly, 100% certain that he’d fail you.
Bruce looks at you, his expression unreadable. “You’re not one to give up so easily.”
You look up at him. Was that a… compliment? “You think so?”
“If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t have told you to come in today.”
You stare at him, unsure what to say. You didn’t realize that he was actually paying attention to you or the assignments you submitted.
“I’m offering you a chance to earn your grade back through extra credit. A research paper.” He stares through you, leaning back in his chair slightly. “A research paper on the psychological and social effects of constant exposure to violent content, specifically on social media.”
You look at him with an intrigued gaze, “So. Desensitization?”
“That is one part, yes.” He grabs a thick file next to him and places it in front of you. “The most important part though, is how this desensitization is affecting our ability to sympathize with others. Specifically when it comes to self proclaimed victims. The ones caught in the middle.” He pushes the file towards you and continues. “Especially when these ‘victims’ are committing acts of violence openly in the name of ‘real change’. Think of how the public reacted in the past year to Edward Norton. Some were angry, yes, but he gained quite a large following within a very short amount of time from the first video he broadcasted. Do you remember how people mainly reacted to his videos and livestreams?” You look at him with slight shock, impressed at how well versed he was on a subject so fresh. You open the file and look at him again. “With anger?” You could barely remember the last year, especially with the terrorist attack committed by the ‘Riddler’ and his followers. Everyone in Gotham was heavily impacted by his ‘real change’. He had made thousands homeless, killed hundreds, and forced everyone to start over.
“Close.” He says with a slightly amused look in his eye. “Amusement. People like to say that they’re empathetic, but if you give them a phone screen to hide behind and one person's confession? Then it becomes entertainment.”
“Thats…heavy.” You say.
“That’s exactly the point.” He pauses before continuing. “I expect your work to be 100% your own. No regurgitating my lectures, and no citations that are already in this file. I don’t want to read about something I have already researched myself. ” You look at him, feeling defeated. The file was huge! How could you ever find evidence that he hadn’t?
He ignores your look of defeat and continues on. “Not only will your work be 100% your own research, but you will also meet with me weekly. If I’m going to invest my time into this then I expect you to show me that you’re fully committed to this. We’ll meet for progress check-ins, research reliability, and any other needs that arise.” Professor Wayne stares through you expectantly, awaiting your response.
“I’ll do it.” You say quietly, not wanting to come off as ungrateful. “I’ll work hard and I won’t let you down sir. Thank you. Really.”
For the first time maybe ever, you see his expression soften ever so slightly. “Good. I look forward to seeing what you find. This is going to take more than a little bit of effort to redeem your grade.”
As you left, you could feel your knees buckle as you turned slightly to look at him again. He was still looking at you. With the same damn smirk from earlier. Maybe he wasn’t just talking about grades.
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