#nygus x reader

[mytheoristavenue]

SE Dr. Franken Stein x Teacher!Reader - Good Medicine

Summary: While Stein looks over your lesson plans for the neck week, you let it slip that you've been ill.

Warnings: slight angst, fluff, mentions of madness/illness/ symptoms of serious illness, fem!reader, mentions of addiction/substance abuse, platonic!nygus x stein, platonic!nygus x reader, not proofread

You sighed before gathering another deep breath as you made your way through the halls of the academy shortly after the final bell. The school was mostly desolate, save for the staff and the few remaining students who had to stay late for whatever reason. You waved to a few of them on your way, hands trembling nervously as you clutched the file in your hands.

Finally, you stopped at his door, the entrance to the EAT classroom. Hesiently, you knocked, before quickly stepping backward to put distance between yourself and him when he opened the door. Just as predicted, you could hear shuffling within the room, an aggravated groan, and desk chair wheels rolling. Then the door unlocked and cracked open, revealing a terrifyingly tall figure, shrouded in darkness, glass lenses gleaming and obscuring his eyes. "Miss (Y/N), can I help you?"

You swallowed hard, stepping forward and nodding. "I-I was wondering if you could look over my lesson plans for this next week? I've not been well and Lord Death asked me to have someone-"

"Have you tried asking Sid?" he interrupted in a monotone.

You blushed, feeling embarrassed and silly for thinking he'd be willing to help you. "W-Well, Sid's gone for the day, he left early today. Besides-"

"I see," the man acknowledged, bringing up a hand to straighten his glasses. "Spirit then?" he suggested, cocking a brow. "I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help a lady in need."

You began to feel defeated, you were a people pleaser at heart and hated bothering people. "Um," you said, shrinking under his gaze. "He's in an important meeting with Lord Death this evening." Stein's posture seemed to shift as he slowly began to realize he couldn't pawn you off on someone else. "Also, Lord Death asked that I go to you specifically..."

He seemed to mull the idea over for a moment before answering. "Is that so?" You nodded timidly. "So Lord Death instructed you to come to me for help and you directly disobeyed him by looking into every other option beforehand?"

Your eyes blew wide and you struggled to form a response. "N-No! Of course not, I just didn't want to bother you! I know how busy you-"

"Relax," he finally said, chuckling and opening the door further. As he did so, the glare on his frames dissipated to reveal kind and playful eyes. "I'm just playing with you. I'd love to help, for a price, that is."

"W-What is it?" you asked, nerves shot to hell.

"Can you go get me some coffee from the teacher's lounge, please?" Your shoulders fell in defeat as you nodded, beginning to walk away. "Oh," he called before you could get out of earshot. "Bring the syrup bottle, I like mine sweet."

-----

Brows furrowed in annoyance, you rounded the corner into the lounge and set the file down on the counter. You hated dealing with Stein, all he did was play mind games and make your life difficult- not to mention how scary he was. Sighing, you got a tray down from the top shelf, and then a pair of mugs, figuring you might as well get yourself some while you're here. Carefully, you poured muddy water into both cups, dressing yours the way you liked. Absent-mindedly, you began to fiz Stein's mug the same way, pouring simple syrup into it. It wasn't until you began stirring caramel cream into it that you realized. "Shit!" you hissed, realizing your mistake. Quickly, you took out another mug from the cupboard, and grabbed the carafe, only to find it nearly empty. Now you had no choice but to bring him an incorrect cup of coffee and pray to Death he still helps you.

You gripped the handles of the tray nervously, seeking some kind of support from them. Blonde coffee swished in each cup, and the syrup bottle treated to tip, but you eventually made it back all in one piece. "I'm back," you called into the dark room from the ajar door. "Can I come in?"

"The door's open, isn't it?" Stein's monotone voice replied from deep within. Stepping in, you found him at his desk, a single tabletop lamp illuminating his workspace. He seemed deep in thought as his red pen scrawled hastily across pages, shuffled one after another. In response you let yourself in, slowly inching toward him, before eventually deeming yourself close enough and standing at his side awkwardly. "Are gonna set that down or just stand there?" he asked, not bothering to even give you a side glance.

"Sorry," you muttered, shuffling in place. "I just wasn't sure where you'd like it." He pointed to a spot on his desk, equally cluttered but mostly flat with his pen. You obeyed and set the tray down, before taking his cup and setting it in front of him, as well as the syrup bottle. You tensed a bit when you noticed the sticky bottom of the bottle had adhered to what seemed to be a page of homework. He never seemed to notice, though. "Um, before you drink that," you interrupted, just as he lifted the cup to his lips. "I...zoned out a bit and started pouring the syrup in, so it may not be exactly how you prefer it."

Stein sighed, rolling his eyes. "Leave it to you to make pouring a cup of coffee harder than it should be." At that, he took a sip, pausing for a moment afterward. "Is there caramel in his?" he asked sternly, finally looking up at you.

You shook in your spot. "Y-Yes? I'm sorry-"

"It's really good." he smiled, taking another sip. "I guess I'll have to have you make all my coffee from now on." Your muscles fell lax with relief and you stepped closer. "Now then, pull up a chair, and let's have a look." You did as he instructed, dragging a nearby stool to his desk. You felt like you were a student again, having to stay behind with the teacher to review why you hadn't passed a test.

Once in a good position, you handed over the file which you'd carried under your arm. Stein took it and slayed it out on the desk as you looked over his shoulder. "What's the subject?"

"Soul bonds and forces that affect them." you responded astutely. Now he understood why he was the one Lord Death had you ask.

"I taught this last year to a pair of my students," he recalled. "Though, the results weren't very pretty. What's your goal in teaching this?" he wondered.

"To educate my kids on how to nourish their connection and help them understand the consequences of not doing so." you replied, gaining some sort of confidence in showing him that you knew what you were talking about.

"And what are those consequences?" he asked, lazily flipping through the loose pages inside the file.

"Potentially irreparable damage to the partners' bond, bodily injury, mental strain, inability to fulfill their duties, and in extreme cases where students cannot be reassigned to new partners, expulsion."

"And how can a bond be nourished or restored?"

"Trusting in one another, appreciating your partner internally and externally, and understanding of how a healthy dynamic should look between partners." You answered as he followed along with your written word. It was as if you'd memorized the words on the page.

"Well," he concluded. "You seem very knowledgeable on the topic, your notes look great," he paused to pack the papers back into the file and handed it back to you. "As long as you tell what you just told me to your students, I have no doubt they'll be well informed."

Finally, you beamed at his analysis, happy to have his approval. Pressing the file to your chest, you went to stand, only to have him point his palm to you- a signal to stop. "Just a moment," he said, taking out a legal pad and his red pen. "Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to talk to you about something if you've got time."

You froze, a tad stunned as you fully sat back down. "Sure, I'm not in any rush," you accepted, tilting your head curiously. "Have I done something wrong?"

"Wrong isn't the right word for it," he reassured. "More like odd." Stein quickly jotted down the date, time, and your name before continuing. "You said you hadn't been well, and that Lord Death had noticed and sent you to me to double check your lesson plans. Let's talk about that."

You couldn't help but notice how his voice had changed. It wasn't quite as monotone now, and paired with his kind and genuine smile, you couldn't keep the butterflies out of your chest. He was being so gentle all of a sudden and you didn't understand what changed. "Which part?" you asked.

"Tell me about how you've been feeling, (Y/N)." he instructed. "With everything that's taken place, I don't blame you for not feeling like yourself."

You instantly knew what he was referring to. The Kishin Awakening. The battle with Medusa and Crona beneath the school. The ruined celebration of the academy. It was all fresh and heavy on your mind still. "I suppose..." you began vaguely. "Everything that's happened has stressed me out a bit."

"What happened wasn't your fault, you do know that, don't you?" he soothed, adjusting the frames on his nose. "Nothing you could have done would have changed the outcome of that fight."

"I know that," you admitted, twiddling your thumbs. "I guess I just wish there was something more I could have done. I mean, our kids were down there risking their lives- getting hurt, getting traumatized, and where was I? Stuck up here with everyone else, helpless."

Stein offered a gentle smile. "You're too hard on yourself." he laughed, removing his glasses and wiping the lenses on the tail of his coat. You were able to catch a glimpse of his eyes, swampy and genuine. They put you at ease. "Besides, you helped keep everyone calm, that's not nothing."

"Maybe you're right..." you relented, pinching the bridge of your nose and shaking your head. "I've just been having these terrible nightmares where things end differently."

"Nightmares?" He perked up, suddenly vastly more interested in what you had to say than before. "Tell me about that."

His change in attention span didn't go above your head, but you chose to ignore it for now. "I'll have dreams that the students you had with you die or become gravely injured, or that those witches managed to get into the school and hurt the people I was with."

"And have you experienced any other odd symptoms? Headaches, hallucinations, insomnia?" he asked, quickly scrawling your answers on the note pad.

"All of those, yeah," you confirmed, nodding and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. "And nosebleeds."

Suddenly, Stein froze entirely. "Have these gotten worse since the Kishin awoke?" you hummed in response, giving even more basis to his hunch. "And have you had these in the past?"

"Well, I've had chronic migraines since I was a kid," you replied, unsure where he was going with this.

"Have you ever been medicated for it?" he asked, eyeing you as if waiting for you to confirm his suspicions.

"Many times," you answered, and he seemed to relax at this. "Nothing ever helped, though. Except for some herbal tea Medusa prescribed me a while back."

Stein tensed again, jotting down the new information before continuing. "And the symptoms subsided during that treatment?" You nodded and he pressed on. "And how much would you say they've worsened since you stopped taking the herbals?" You remained silent, guilt creeping up your back as you lowered your head. "(Y/N)?" Stein leaned in, concerned about your sudden shift in willingness to talk. He repeated the question, hoping you just hadn't heard, but your continued stillness told him everything he needed to know. "You're still taking them?!"

The sudden raising of his voice startled you, as well as the slamming of his fists on the desk. "Are you stupid? Don't you realize she's been poisoning you?"

"I'm sorry! It's the only thing that helps!" you cried abruptly. "I stopped for a few days but it just got so bad I couldn't resist! Now I have to take them even more often to get them to work!"

Stein composed himself, taking in and releasing a deep breath before reaching out and grabbing you by the shoulders. "That's enough, (Y/N), you need to listen to me," he began, pausing to make sure you were. "You have to stop taking those herbals, that's not medicine, it's a curse." Your eyes searched his for an indication that he was joking but came up short. "She has you addicted to this remedy, but all it does is make the problem worse, that way when you need a higher dosage, you'll have no choice but to go to her for more. Then she'll use you against us." Something in his voice revealed itself. Maybe it was worry, maybe frustration. Either way, it made your stomach churn.

"I'm about to tell you something you won't want to hear," he warned, sighing before looking back up to you again, mossy eyes boring into your (e/c) ones. "You've most likely got a parasite inside you, and it's possible she's been using it to gather information on the academy. Now that she's no longer a member of staff, you're much more important to her than you might realize."

There was nothing you could do to hold back the tears that began to stream down your cheeks. It was so ironic that the thought of bringing harm to the school had driven you mad, but in an effort to stop the madness from taking over, you put everyone in danger. "Oh my God," you sobbed, not even noticing when Stain pulled you into his chest.

"Shhh," he hushed. "Don't cry, it's gonna be okay," he reassured, rubbing your back as you cried. "Now that we know what's wrong, we can fix this."

"I'm such an idiot!" you sniveled. "I can't believe I fell for her lies!"

"You're not an idiot, you were deceived. We all were." he soothed, pushing you away and holding your shoulders at arm's length. "You made a mistake and that's okay." He withdrew himself from you, giving you a moment to compose yourself, and turned back to the desk. He then opened a drawer and pulled out a smaller pad before scribbling on it before tearing off the top page and handing it to you.

"I'm prescribing you something for the headaches and something for the parasite. When you stop taking the herbals, the hallucinations, nosebleeds, and nightmares should go away on their own."

"I didn't even know you could write prescriptions..." was all you managed to get out, still stunned at the revelation and his overall coolness about it. He simply gave you a kind smile.

"I am a doctor, after all." he chuckled, putting the two pads back into the desk drawer. "If you give me a second, I'll walk with you to the infirmary to have Nygus fill these."

-----

You'd been nearly silent since Stein's diagnosis, and now that you were walking through the halls beside him, you couldn't bring yourself to speak. He chatted away, nonchalant as ever, and you'd usually be delighted to see this rare side of him, but you couldn't get out of your head.

Finally, you both ended up at the infirmary, him walking in ahead of you. "Evening, ma'am," he greeted the woman behind the counter, grabbing her attention.

"Oh," she said, turning around and smiling softly behind her bandages. "Hello, you two. A bit late to be at work, huh?"

"I could say the same for you," Stein laughed, leaning on the counter. "If Sid left early, I assumed you'd be with him." Nygus rolled her eyes and sighed with a lighthearted chuckle.

"Not this time, I needed some time to reorganize my office." Her sky eyes suddenly flicked up to you, then back to your companion. "So, what can I help you with?"

Stein looked back at you and tilted his head towards her, prompting you to hand over the slip he'd made you. "We just need some prescriptions filled, if you're not too busy."

"Not at all!" she chirped with a grin, taking the slip from you. "Let's see here..." Suddenly, the contour of her wrappings fell flat and the sparkle in her eyes disappeared as she looked back at the man with a questioning look.

"I know you can keep a secret, Nygus. I appreciate that about you." He smiled, aware that she'd caught his meaning.

"Well, if you've got worms, that's none of my business, now is it?" She finally said, spinning on her heels and walking deeper into her office, dreads bouncing as she went. Something about her reaction melted your heart, knowing that she knew even a fraction of the truth- the worst fraction, and she wasn't upset with you.

Within a few minutes, she'd returned, a small white paper bag in hand. She gave you a reassuring smile as she handed it over. "For the headaches, take one as needed and no more than four in a day. For the other one, take one with breakfast and one with supper every day for two weeks."

After a tad more conversation, you both thanked her and exited the infirmary. "Start those both tomorrow and keep me updated on how they work for you, if need be, we can always adjust your dosage," Stein said, turning to head back to his classroom. "Have a good night, (Y/N)."

As he walked away from you, the question that had been burning in your mind bubbled back up to the surface again and you blurted out his name. "Stein! Wait," He halted, glancing at you curiously over his shoulder as you ran to catch up to him.

"Was there something else you needed?" he asked as you stopped beside him.

"I wanted to know..." you began, fidgeting timidly with your fingers. "Why are you being so kind to me?"

He laughed heartily, which embarrassed you a tad. "I can 't recall a time where unkind to me, why wouldn't I?"

You blushed a bit, shuffling in place. "W-Well.. you're-"

"Big and scary?" he chuckled lightly.

"Um, yeah..."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, perhaps one day I can change your mind." he mused, turning to leave again.

"U-Um, Stein?" you called out again, and once again, he indulged you with a quizzical look. "I'd like to get to know you better," you confessed. "I know you're not like I thought you were, and I'm sorry I made assumptions about you."

"Well, that's kind of you to admit," he accepted, beaming.

"I was wondering..." you trailed nervously. "Since you're going to be keeping up with the results of my treatment...we should probably..." try as you might, you couldn't will the words from your throat.

"Miss (Y/N), you're going to have to come out and ask me if you want me to say yes." he finally said, hinting at knowing what you wanted.

"W-Would you like to get coffee with me tomorrow?"

"I'd love to."

Thank you for reading, if you'd kindly like and reblog, I'd greatly appreciate it!

#soul eater #franken stein #franken stein x reader #stein x reader #stein x teacher!reader #soul eater stein #mira nygus #soul eater nygus #nygus x reader #dr. franken sten