The affective dimensions of intimacy and emotional labour in academic development are explored utilising two methodological resources: autoethnography and narrative practice. An excerpt from the author's reflective professional journal infused with affect and emotion is analysed utilising theories of intimacy in modernity, emotion work, and professional intimacy. The journal excerpt is "restoried" to produce narrative lines that provide insight into the journal entry. The article concludes by proposing a "pedagogy of intimacy" as an analytical space that values both skill and care.