Tempus' dependable scholar

Vesper Noir - the dependable scholar of the guild Tempus who is not only knowledgeable with everything under the sun, but also a rather silly yet lovable 'dad' figure to everyone. You heard of this famous scholar from all around Elysium. When you heard that he's part of your good friend Altare's guild, you immediately jumped onto the opportunity offered by him to be Vesper's personal understudy.

You simply wanted to study his ways of a scholar. but the longer you spend time with Vesper the more you feel more dependent of him. You swear you had already written up the weekly understudy report to update Altare, but he never received it. The trash is taken out every Saturday, but Magni mentioned it has always been on Sundays and Vesper had already did it for you. Even the chicken porridge that you thought you cooked perfectly turned out over-salted.

Every question and mistake you make, you consulted the scholar, and he ends up fixing them for you. You start to wonder if you're losing your momentum. Or you had overestimated your abilities. You're embarrassed of your mistakes; what will the rest of the boys think of their scholar's understudy being nothing but a burden? That will surely make him look like a bad mentor. You are afraid of what's becoming of you.

Vesper eventually suggests a little trip out of town for a week - just the two of you. To get some peace, away from the bustling atmosphere of central Elysium and maybe Axel's dumb antics.
"Perhaps you're being tainted by our Gladiator's goofy aura," he tries to make light out of the situation but you could only give a weary smile.

You notice the concern on your Altare's expression when they sent you off. You and the boys trust the guild leader's gut feeling with almost anything (he isn't the leader for nothing), and he seemed worried about this last minute decision.

Even then, you trust Vesper the most out of the four. He must have his plans to help you improve during this trip and it'll not be of waste. While Magni and Axel gleefully sees you off, Altare secretly whispers in your ear, reminding you that you have his contact number...in case anything happens.

Surely he wasn't being suspicious of his own guildmate, you think to yourself as you two settle down in a small hut in the hills late at night.

Vesper notices you sitting on the edge of your bed, fumbling around with your phone nervously with a slight frown. He asks you if you're feeling unwell and needed the day off the next day instead. His gentle voice breaking your train of thoughts and the next thing you know - you immediately break down in front of him.

You start to let out every single stressful thought you had on your mind, reduced to tears as your voice start to grow hoarse.

You don't know what's happening to you anymore. You aren't sure if it's right to feel worried about this trip, especially when Altare showed concern towards you before you left. But doing so would also mean that you're doubting your own mentor whom you looked up to since the start of your scholarship. That's the last thing you want it to happen.

The bespectacled scholar sits next to you, his right arm around you while he offers his other hand to hold yours for comfort.

"I'm sorry that you've been going through a lot on your own, I understand. You can always depend on me - I'm your mentor after all, you know?"

His hand caresses your messy hair, your head slowly leaning onto his chest as you sniffle woefully. His touch felt so warm, so gentle. You could feel his heartbeat slowly calming you. It felt almost hypnotic.

Leave everything to me, the dependable scholar whispers closely to you, sending a shiver down your spine as he slowly pushes you down on the bed. He grabs your phone out of your loose grasp, keeping it away.

You never wanted to see Vesper in that light. He's someone you simply look up to; someone whom you strive to be as dependable as...but tonight feels rather different.

Perhaps he's right. You should give yourself to him. You trust him the most. He'll take care of you. Nothing could go wrong - Noir Vesper is guild Tempus' dependable scholar, after all.