#One day off a week and I'm pulling 4-12am

[cxpperhead]

Not going to be online much for the next two(?) weeks, just got told (yes, told!) I was going to be pulling doubleshifts and I only have Wednesdays off!!!

[angelskills]

Can you do Choso reacting to the reader casually referring to him as their husband for the first time?

a/n: hello! thank you sm for requesting :) chosos reaction would be soo cute! I'm not sure if you wanted fluff or smut, so i added both! sorry for posting so late, also NOT PROOF READ!

"He's my husband"...

warnings: riding, teasing, p in v, overstimulation, multiple orgasms, doesn't pull out(birth control), whimpering, penetration, idk what else.

characters: choso, your friends

intro: your friend, Yumi, offers to go on a double date to catch up on your lives.

You and Choso have been engaged for about 3 months now. You guys dated for about 4-5 years until Choso finally proposed to you. You both agreed on moving in together after the proposal. You must admit that agreeing to move in together was the BEST decision ever. You always woke up to him making breakfast for both of you guys, you never went to sleep mad at him, and it was just... perfect.

Choso knew your friends. You always gossiped about them (not shit-talking, just about the drama they have) to him and he listened to every detail VERY well. He knew every single thing about your friends.

Since you guys haven't hung out in a long time, one of your friends, Yumi, wanted to go on a double date. She was all the way in California for about 4 months, meaning you both had a lot of catching up to do.

After trying to convince him, Choso finally agreed to go, you know he can't say no to you.

You guys were finally at the restaurant at a table for four, talking to Choso as you waited for Yumi and her date.

"Y/N!!" Yumi yelled out, running towards you.

You smiled, standing up from your seat to give her a hug. "New man every day, huh?" You whispered in her ears, teasing her. Yumi slightly pinched your arm before sitting down. There's nothing wrong with Yumi, just the fact you see her with different men every week, guess every man she meets is always a red flag.

"I hear you guys are engaged," Yumi speaks, looking at you and Choso.

"Mhm," You say wrapping your arm around Choso's, "He's my husband now."

Choso turned red. So red, that man was BLUSHING. His face went rosy-cheek. This was the first time you actually called him husband. Even though you guys have been dating and are now engaged, he has never heard you call him your husband. This was new to him.

While you, Yumi, and her date were talking and gossiping, all Choso could think about is the fact you called him your husband. Husband. Husband. 'My husband'. Those words rang in his ears. He couldn't get it off of his mind.

After eating, you and Yumi finally decided to go home. It was like, what, 12am now?

On the ride home, Choso didn't seem to talk as much. His face was red, red to the point you thought he had a fever.

"Bae? You okay?" You worry, placing your hand on his head to see his temperature.

Choso gulped, he was so embarrassed to tell you this.

"That's why you weren't talking the whole time?" You laugh, making fun of Choso, "Because I called you my husband?" You were lying on the sofa. Choso sat beside you, letting you place your legs on his lap. This might've been weird for you guys to do before, but you both did so many weird things together, that this didn't even mean anything.

Choso always gets flustered easily, and it wasn't making it any easier for him now that you were making fun of him.

"You never call me husband, it's a... it's a new thing." He mumbles, leaning on the sofa.

"Can you get me a glass of water, husband?" You teased, doing a silly face.

You calling him husband again, wasn't helping him, at ALL.

"Stop..." He cleared his throat, his eyebrows furrowing.

Hearing you say husband again and again turned him on so much. Especially with your voice, the word husband. He could feel the bulge in his pants. He palmed it, trying to hide his boner from you.

Sitting up, you were confused, why wasn't he saying anything? Until you noticed his hand on his crotch, you knew what was happening.

You smirked as you crawled on his lap, poking his hand for him to move it.

Choso gulped as you placed yourself right against the bulge in his pants. Choso's size was big. Big for someone like him. You nearly blacked out when you both first had sex. That dick was WORLD-ending.

He appears innocent, yes, the man who buys you flowers whenever possible, the man who chases and follows you around, the man who writes poems for you, is the same man who has you a moaning mess, dumb on his cock every time.

Tears were rolling down your face. Him and his fucking stamina. Choso was fucking you through your fourth orgasm. You were a fucked out mess on his lap. His hands were on your waist, lifting you up and then letting you drop on his cock. The pleasure was overwhelming for you, you were just babbling and moaning, not being able to speak a word. His length kisses your cervix with each one of his deep thrusts, his hands placed on your ass, and his fingers digging in your flesh. His thrusts made you see stars every time, had your toes curling, and made your eyes roll back.

"Hngh.. f-fuck." He whimpered, as he jerked his head back, his fingers digging in your waist, leaving marks.

You felt another orgasm build up inside of you, your hands were placed on Choso's shoulders as you were riding him. He's even noisier than you are at this point. Loud whimpers, groans, and expressions from your warm and wet pussy clenching around him so tightly. Your nails were leaving little red marks on his shoulder, which is like a reward to him because he knows that you're making him feel good.

You were so close to your orgasm. You managed to whimper out a whiny "Choso...!", your pussy clenching around him even tighter.

"Haah, holy s-shit..." His voice cracked as he was interrupted by whimpers, feeling you tighten around him.

You felt like you were in heaven, your orgasms around his cock made a little ring around it.

He sped up his pace, his thrusts now bruising your cervix, his grip on your waist tightening. Your eyes rolled back, his fast and deep thrusts blurring your vision.

"F-fuck... wanna s-see you milk my cock ple-ase baby, o-oh my god..!" He whimpered, breathing heavily.

That sweet innocent man was fucking you as if he hated you. He hit your G-spot again and again, finally making you cream around his cock.

His eyes almost rolled back after he felt you milk his length and tighten around him.

All it took was a few more deep thrusts before he finally reached his orgasm. He made sure to have his cock deep inside of you so he can fill you to the brim, thick ropes of cum spurting out of his cock as he painted your walls white.

After cooling down for a few seconds, he finally lifted you off of his cock. Giving you a little kiss before carrying you to the bathtub to help you get cleaned up.

[gravity-falls-fanatic89]

November's Naughty and Nice Stories

Day 23: Detour

"Ugh! You've got to be kidding me!" you yelled out, feeling defeated, laying your head on the steering wheel. You missed the exit for gas 20 miles back, and realized that you used up your last gallon. Sleep deprivation was getting to you too, and you had no reception out in this crappy little town of....

"Gravity Falls. Well that's corny as hell."

The car finally gave up, and so did you. You were supposed to make it back home for Thanksgiving, and you were already a day behind. Really, it was just to see your siblings, but it was just going to be sad since your parents passed. You at least got the car pulled over, and decided to get some sleep.

You'll figure out your life in the morning.

THUD.

A noise beside the car had woken you up. You looked at your phone, and it was 4:12am, and you heard something stirring beside the car. Something big....And the only thing you had on hand was some pepper spray. Your heart was beating a million miles a minute, and you slid your hand to the center console for the spray. Sliding your head quietly, you tried to make out what was at the side of the car.

A dragon? Like, a man sized dragon? No....You drank too many energy drinks, and you were losing it. But it had a long tail, and....A suit? Both intrigued and terrified, you gripped the pepper spray with a shaky hand, and tried to quietly open the door.

"Listen doll, I can feel ya shufflin' around in the car...Please don't try to attack me. I brought ya some gas." The figure stood more upright, and spoke in a clear, gravelly voice to you. It turned towards you, and had piercing yellow eyes.

You opened your mouth to scream, but the figure came up to you, and put a cold, scaly hand over your mouth. Looking at it in the moonlight, you saw outlines of what its features were: Protruding fangs on the top and bottom jaws, horns coming through silver hair against grey skin, and those eyes staring a hole through you....With glasses?

"Please, don't scream. You'll scare anything nearby, and that ain't gonna be good for ya. My name's Stan, and, um, Imma gargoyle. Weird, right? I ain't gonna hurt ya, but ya can't freak out....Please?"

You nodded in his hand. He could have killed you already if he wanted, and he chose not to. You were going to have to trust him. You dropped the pepper spray, and took a deep breath. Stan pulled his hand away, and took a deep breath too. "I'm, I'm Y/N....Uh, are there more of you here?"

Stan scratched his head, and responded. "I seem to be the only gargoyle here so far. My brother, Ford, he's a griffin, and there's a bunch of other weird anomalies this whole town has turned into....Some water my great niece and nephew found turned us all, and we've been stuck for weeks like this."

"I see....I mean, okay, at least this lets me know not to freak out so easily. But, I should really try to get on the move," you said, for some reason not really fazed anymore by a gargoyle man thing talking to you. You had to be dreaming. That's it.

"I wouldn't be tryin' to drive through this in the dark.... There's literal things goin' bump in the night that ain't as friendly as me," Stan said, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Why doncha come with me back to my place at least until mornin'? Then I'll bring ya back."

You looked around in the dark, and nervously thought it over. If this was a dream, I need to wake up, you thought. But, Stan looked at you, and grinned a little...And it made you blush. If this is a dream, you may as well go with it. "Okay, it's a deal."

Stan swept you off your feet, and in seconds, took to the air with you. You were too shocked to scream....And started to consider that maybe this wasn't a dream.

Part 1/2?

Considering a part 2 for this one! Let me know what you think! 😁

[girl-in-the-chairs-void]

Mishaps and Apologies

Summary: Jake wants to apologise but You wont give him a chance to speak until...

Word count: 2.4k

warnings/Tags: Jake being Jake. for the sake of this fic, there has been a change that is different to the movie. please roll with it. ANGST, ANGTY, DID I MENTION THE ANGST?

A/n: Here is your early new years gift! I speed wrote this chapter between 12am and 4 am, and well I'm gonna sleep after posting it. This chapter is a mess. BUT we only have a few more to go! 

Previous part | masterlist | Next part

“Good morning, the Uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days time. As a result, your mission has been moved up, one week.”

Fucking great. One phrase that was bouncing off the walls of all the aviators gathered in the room. Sure, the mission is difficult but so far none of them have even cleared the valley simulation to move on to the next step, much less complete the training by next week. 

You leaned forward in your chair as Admiral Bates continued his announcement and took his leave as Mav came on. The noise from jets landing and taking off made it harder for you to hear him. You wanted to fly this mission no matter what. Nothing was going to get in your way of it. 

However, there is one person that may get in the way. Jake Seresin. You had been going above and beyond to avoid him today, after the ‘talk’ yesterday, you didn't want to face him again unless you had victory of being on the team. 

“We have one week left to focus on Phase Two. It’s the most difficult stage of the mission. A pop-up strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles.” Maverick spoke, pacing back and forth on the little step in front of them. The screen lit up showing a U shaped valley with the uranium plant at the center of it, surrounded by two tall mountains. The Gs on the way out will be significant, you thought as you listened to Mav.

“Two pairs of F-18s will fly in a welded wing formation. Teamwork. Precise coordination of their aircraft is essential to both mission success and your survival.” He warned. 

“As you know, the plant rests between two mountains. On final approach, you’ll invert directly into a steep dive. This allows you to maintain the lowest possible altitude and the only possible attack angle.” It made sense. Somehow, the first part of the approach up till now made sense in your head and hopefully was do-able. Until he explained further about the Coffin Corner…

“Egress is a steep high-G climb out to avoid hitting this mountain-“

“A steep climb at that speed, you’re pulling at least eight G’s-” Jake butts in.

“Nine, minimum.” You cut him off.

“The stress limit of the F-18’s airframe is 7.5.” It's Rooster who pipes up this time. Challenging Mav. While they have had a rocky relationship thus far, Rooster is managing to retort back to Mav during each exercise.  

While Maverick goes further into the exercise and the rest of the mission, there isn't one moment where your foot hasn't stopped shaking. Yes, there was nervousness in the air about flying this mission, but more so about who was gonna be flying it. 

“Sir, is this even achievable?” Phoenix questions, almost as if she read the minds of the pilots in the room, who were thinking the same thing.

“The answer to that will come down to the pilot in the box.”

Well shit. This is not gonna go well. 

For this exercise, Mav had paired you and Phoenix, along with Coyote. While Phoenix usually has Bob as her backseater, Mav has paired you up with her.

You didn't think much of it, at least it wasn't with anyone else, it was Phoenix.

Exiting the room, to move to their assigned teams and places, you felt his stare. He had tried catching up with your fast pace when you were out on your morning run at the beach. Even when you had came to the base early to clear your head, he was there. But you didn't give him a second of your time. Managing to slip away every time he came too close. 

Now, as you moves through the halls and narrow corridors of the naval base, he is hot on your heels. Calling after you as you increase your pace; taking one swift turn after another, trying to shake him off but he is relentless until you take one last turn and comes face to face with the door that leads outside to your respective planes. Before he could catch up, you had already exited, leaving the door swinging wide open and close. 

Jake closes his eyes, breathing out a deep sigh and turns around to make his way to the lounge where he had to be with the rest of the pilots while you, Phoenix and Coyote were up in the air. He made his way to sit next to the radio, which was situated right next to where Rooster sat. Wanting to avoid any questioning from the man, he sat himself down at a safe distance, giving him a nod to acknowledge his presence before carefully listening through the radio for your voice.

…

“Talk to me, Athena!”

“We are 12 seconds late on target. We gotta move, Phoenix!” You spoke in a panicked voice, eyes blown out wide. you needed to hurry up. Testing the target lens again, making sure it was working well before they reached the target point. 

As Phoenix mumbled slight curses under her breath, Coyote agreed; “Copy. Try to stay with me.”

Your eyes scanned the radar in front of you, noticing a small aircraft making its way towards them. You let out a sound of bewilderment as you heard Mav over the radio. 

“Wait, who's that?”

“Blue team, you've been spotted. I’m a bandit on course to intercept. What are you gonna do?” he announced himself, as you examined his location. He may be able to catch up with them if they keep this speed. They had to make a move.

“He’s 20 miles left, ten o’clock. 700 knots closure.” You informed Phoenix and Coyote. 

“Your call, what do you want to do?” Coyote proposes. 

“Continue, we’re close. Stay on target.” Phoenix ordered before you could have a say. You wanted to buy in and tell them that it wouldn't be a good idea to stay on course without dealing with Mav or increasing their speed further.

“Phoenix, he’s swinging around to the North! Maybe we should-”

Before you could finish the pop up point closed in. Making Phoenix shout; “be ready on that laser, Thena.”

“Copy, I’m on it.” you sat back in your seat, focusing on the situation in front of you as your hand closed around the laser joystick. Testing the Laser focus, the plane shot straight up before rotating on its back. Blood rushed to your head as you gripped the stick tighter. Closing your eyes and trying to regain focus. 

“Talk to me, Thena. Where’s Mav?” you heard Coyote through the helmet, eyes opening as you analyzed Mav’s location. 

“He’s uhh five miles out. He’s coming in fast!” You shouted and immediately regretted doing so. your head throbbed by all the noise around you- regardless of the thick earmuffs headphones that were sitting snug on your head.

The planes rotated back into their normal positions, moving at the same speed that you knew was too slow but chose not to speak of just yet. 

“Where’s my laser, Thia?” Coyote questioned the younger woman. Gathering any strength you had left, shaking your head. Narrowing your eyes on the target screen in front as the laser moved uncontrollably. 

“Shit. Deadeye! Deadeye! It’s no good if I can't get a lock. I’m sorry.” You repeated into the mic. 

“We’re out of time. I’m dropping blind.” He panted before dropping the bombs and hoping that it would hit. But it missed just by a meter as they flew by.

“Damn it. That's a miss!” He exclaimed before the planes straightened out again for Coffin Corner. You could feel your lungs compress; skin and flight suit starting to dig into your ribs. 

The oxygen mask you had on felt too much to breathe into. Your breathing became ragged. Vision blurring out, regardless of the aviator glasses you had on, similar to Bob’s. Tunnel vision was not uncommon during this but your version of it was always the worst.

Many aviators experience a blurred circle and darkness around that point when under an immense high G pressure. But for you, it was a fully darkened vision with spots of lights like it was farther away than it was meant to be. You felt your hearing starting to give out just as a familiar, piercing ringing took over your ears. 

“Maverick’s got a missile lock on us.” You spoke through a blind sight. You knew the tone, so it didn't take a flying genius to know that they were dead. Breathing out a sigh of relief and disappointment, she heard Phoenix over the comms.

“Shit, we’re dead.” She steered the jet around, leveling out.  Making their way back to the ship before you noticed that Coyote was still leveled up in Coffin Corner. That wasn't right. 

“Coyote? Do you copy?” You heard yourself shouting into the comms before Mav repeated the words. Becoming more and more concerned about your best friend. you noticed his plane started to drop, rotating its way towards the ground at a high speed. Something clicked into your mind. He must be in G-LOC.

“Mav, I think he is in G-LOC, I repeat, Coyote is in G-LOC. He’s gonna burn in.” You swiftly informed the older man. Silently praying for his safety as you closed your eyes. 

“Damnit! I’m going after him.” 

You watched in shock as Mav tried to get a missile lock on him, hoping it would snap him out of it. You called after him over the comms over and over again. Trusting him not to die on you. It was getting harder for you to breathe now. You couldn't lose him. He was gonna fly this mission with you. He’d promised. Your eyes were tightly shut as Mav finally got the missile lock. You needed to hear him. To know that he was okay. But you couldn't do it with your eyes open. Otherwise you were sure you would end up throwing up in the oxygen mask.

“I'm okay. I’m good.” Javy repeated as you breathed out a sigh of relief. Not noticing the small tears that blurred your vision. 

“You ever do that again, Coyote, I will personally kill you.” You threatened in fake annoyance. Happy that he was safe. Hearing him laugh but before he could retort something, you saw something smack the jet’s canopy and get caught in the back engine. Which set off a bunch of alarms and warnings at the screen in front of you. The left engine was on fire.

“Bird strike! Bird strike!” Phoenix announced, panicked.

“Phoenix, the left engine is on fire!” 

“Climbing.” She shot the jet up in the air, turning away from the bird strike as she turned off the left engine. Throttling back while Y/n noticed another warning pop up.

“The right engine is out! It's still spinning.” This was not good.

“Copy, trying to restart it. Throttling up.” Phoenix spoke as she faintly heard Mav warn her about something being on fire. But before you could ask him to repeat, the plane started spinning out of control.

you were on fire. Red lights flashing wherever you looked.

“Hydraulic failure! I repeat we are on fire.” This was not the time to panic. You had to think. THINK, THINK, THINK!

“We’re going in, Phoenix! We’re going in!” Shouts, warnings and toned ringing was all you heard. you could faintly make out Mav over the comms as Phoenix repeated his words. 

“EJECT, EJECT, EJECT!”

Reaching to pull the ejection tab that rested upright between your legs. Having a steady grip before you pulled, waiting for the seat to take off. Nothing.. 

“Mav, my ejection seat isn't working!” You called urgently, pulling harder on the duct tape wrapped rope. 

“Athena, pull harder, you gotta pull harder. Come on, you're gonna crash!” He encouraged. The urgency in his voice was evident as you heard Coyote.

“Y/n focus on my voice. Come on, you gotta pull harder.” taking a quick breath, gathering any strength that you had left and pulled as if your life depended on it. Immediately, you felt yourself shoot off into the air, the bottom of the seat lit on fire. You closed your eyes, not wanting to see the plane crash as a sharp sting took over your skull, smashing with a force you had only imagined. Before all you heard was silence.

…

Jake heard the entire situation. He‘d already played and replayed it in his head over a million times. Pacing in the empty radio room, where only he and Rooster sat. Rooster was weirdly calm. Jake didn't know why but he didn't want to ask either. She is gonna be okay, She’s strong. she’ll pull through. He had been repeating those words in his head like a mantra. He felt helpless. all he wanted to do at this moment was be with you, apologize to you. Hell, he’d go and personally ask the Striker team and Torch to take you back in. 

Mav entered the room, a solemn expression on his face which Hangman thought could bring both good or bad news. Mav looked towards the two men. As he and Jake met eyes, he didn't see a pilot, or a son or someone who was concerned for a friend. He saw a man that was on the brink of losing someone he loves dearly. Tears were gathered in his eyes that he had refused to let go. Rooster wasn't any better, yet he didn't hold the same, intense love that Mav knew Jake held for you.

“They’ll keep Phoenix in the hospital overnight for observation. But, there is something you should know. There was a problem with Athena's ejection seat which caused her to pull out much later than she had intended to. It caused some problems, she sustained a few injuries to the back of her head.” 

No, no this could not be happening right now. Jake felt like all the air in his lungs was suddenly being pushed out. His head was dizzy as he managed to grab onto the nearest table to steady himself. 

“Wha-? What did the doctors say? Is she gonna be okay, Maverick?” The words spewed out of his mouth like a waterfall. One after the other, it didn't make sense. 

“She is in surgery right now.” That was all it took for him to storm out the room in a hurry. Exiting the base as he grabbed a few of his things from his locker before sprinting to his car. He managed to break every single traffic light and speed limit just to get to the hospital.

Taglist:

@topaz125

@alittlereadingcorner

@inthestars-underthesun

@blue-aconite

@madikiel007

@merakiaes

@nicolemval

[vernalseason]

Here's why I'm so goddamn feral about The Bear.

I ran an ice cream store for about five years. No, it wasn’t fine dining, it wasn’t even a restaurant, but it was still food service. We were in a vacation town, and our place was the only ice cream store in the area, and the ice cream was GOOD. Customers used to ask me all the time if I got sick of eating it and I’d say no, and I meant it. It was reasonably fancy as ice cream goes, with some pretty out-there flavors, but mostly it was just GOOD. Super flavorful, dense but not chewy the way that some ice creams get where it feels like it’s stretching unnaturally when you pull your spoon away…

Point is, it was an ice cream shop in a tourist town, and in the summer we got killed during service every single night. Nonstop lines from 7 til 12 or 1 in the morning, no breaks. We got after-dinner crowds, after-show crowds, hordes of camp kids a busload at a time, and it might not have been fine dining but we worked HARD. We had 8, 9, 10 people on peak days all scooping, cleaning, making milkshakes (which is The Worst, in case you were curious), restocking by running down rickety definitely-not-to-code stairs to our tiny walk-in and hauling ice cream up 4 boxes at a time—because goddamn it, time was valuable and running up and down the stairs sucked and no one was going to go down multiple times when you could just grab 4 at a time and grit your teeth and shove them onto the counter upstairs feeling like you’d just benched your own body weight.

At the start of the summer, Memorial Day weekend, we were at our absolute peak. Following a truly herculean hiring effort aided by the promise of unlimited free ice cream, we had a crew of 20-odd overcaffeinated teenagers and twentysomethings who were working a truly awe-inspiring pace to kill the line. My favorite moments were, variously:

Being so busy I had to run two registers simultaneously, waiting for Square to process a transaction on one (chip card readers were murderously slow in the early days) while taking cash on the other;

Absolutely shattering every store record on a Saturday night with a skeleton crew and getting approval to order 12AM pizza on the company card, and taking a long, long hour to eat before we finally had to get around to scrubbing the calcified ice cream off the floors;

Gearing up to call for a restock on spoons, napkins, and other such necessities only to find that my assistant manager was behind me with a milk crate of those very things;

And so on.

There was about a month and a half of beautiful, well-staffed, smooth-running time before things frayed at the edges. Suddenly the factory couldn't get enough ingredients, since the company was chronically broke (turns out wholesale ice cream is a bad idea, folks; retail is where it's at), or the store walk-in broke down and we had to resort to chest freezers for storage for a month, or, most commonly, we started losing staff. I was always after the owner of the company to hire more year-round full-time staff, but there was always something more urgent for him to spend money on, like rent. So inevitably our staff would start leaving for college, and we'd be left with about half to a third of the staff we really needed to run. Which is when things started getting bad.

There are only so many doubles you can work before you start losing your grip on reality. I recall one day in August when I was somehow, improbably, the only person available to fill an entire day of shifts, and worked from 9AM pre-open to 11PM at night. The only thing that I remember is that the tips were phenomenal. But by Labor Day weekend we were down to our last seasonal staff and the entire core crew had worked at least two doubles that week and we limped into the off season with about two remaining brain cells between us.

Anyway. This post was supposed to be about The Bear.

I've never seen a show—or at least, never seen a FICTIONAL show—that so deeply understands what it means to be in food service. I watched the first episode in absolute awe of how they captured the intensity—just GOING until you get a moment to yourself in the bathroom, in the walk-in, in the office. And when you slow down, you think about how tired you are. How burnt out. How much all you really want is just to sit, maybe eat a slice of pizza, and stare into space for an hour. But then you go back out, and you get back to work.

I've also never seen a show that so accurately captures what it looks like and feels like to be a manager. Carmy losing his temper, giving in to that righteous anger in 'Review'—how DARE you not cover your station, how DARE you leave me with this mess that you created—I've been there. I'm not proud of it. I didn't punch a ticket printer, or scream in anyone's face, but I lost my cool, and that sticks with me. You don't get to take it back. You apologize (even if you were right), you patch things up, but no one ever really forgets.

But the show also does justice to one of the great joys of the service industry: getting to see people improve. One of my favorite subplots is Tina going from sabotaging Sydney to respecting her, trusting her, defending her. But mostly, it's my favorite because we see her get BETTER. She goes from just holding down her station to being a pro, from throwing things together to being careful, and thoughtful, and focused. And that moment when Tina says 'thank you, chef', and means it, really MEANS it, that's the kind of thing that gets me all teary. Because it's so much more than just 'thank you', but you'd have spend a hell of a lot longer to get it all out.

I guess if I was going to trace my rabid and, so far undiminished love of the show to a single thing, it would be the fact that it makes me feel seen. I haven't done that much reading on the people who made the show, but enough of them clearly lived this life or got close enough to it that they understand what it does to people, and what it requires of them. I loved working in food service, and sometimes I even miss it. I loved getting to make people's days, to give kids their first-ever ice cream, to feel like people were leaving in a better mood than they came in. And I met my partners through this life, all three of them, which is as exactly as wild and improbable as it sounds. But every time I look back on it fondly, I make myself remember that it was miserable too. The late nights, the early mornings, the days off cut short by delivering emergency stock or jumping in to cover a shift or just ending back up at the shop out of habit. The crushed toes and ragged wrist tendons and hoarse throats, the constant phone calls or checking sales to try and anticipate if we needed more staff. The sensation that after service, the rest of the world was dim in comparison.

I sank so much time and energy into that life, and I think the last thing I love about The Bear, the other thing that makes me tear up a little bit, is that for them it turns out alright in the end. They work through the problems, they make things run smooth, and they get the chance to build the place they dreamed about. That was always what I wanted, what I was working toward—the chance to make things better. And even in fiction, it makes me happy to see that come true.

[quirkdotcom]

Hey everyone !! I am super excited to post this as part of a collab with my fellow members of BNHA Sanctuary! The prompt was " _____ is concerned bc (y/n) isn't sleeping." I chose Izuku Midoriya as my character because he needs a little more love ! So I hope everyone enjoys! Don't forget to check out the other collab writers fics too !!

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Technically, Midoriya wasn't supposed to have anyone over in his dorm, even in college he had tried to follow that rule knowing that if he didn't, Iida would probably find out and scold him, but as he flipped over and looked just above your shoulder, his All Might themed alarm clock read out "4:12AM" with red numbers, and he gave a small sigh.

Tonight was one of the first nights that you had been able to sleep before 5am, but the reason was unknown. Midoriya had asked you plenty of times, each time you resulted in you shaking your head vigorously and eyes watering until he just hugged you tightly, saying that you would find another time to talk about it. 

Slowly, scooted closer to you, wrapping an arm around your side, pulling you closer to him.  

The movement, which Izuku had thought he was being slow with, actually woke you up. You blinked a few times before turning and nuzzling into his chest, quietly mumbling, "Are you awake Izu?"

"I'm definitely sleeping…are you awake (Y/n)?" 

You hummed, starting to wake up more now, "A little bit," Yet despite your words, you didn't make any effort to move, "What time is it?"

"4:14 in the morning," he responded, pulling back a little so he could look at you

Slowly you sat up, pulling yourself free from his grasp, suddenly wide awake. 

"Baby?" He sat up next, eyeing you slightly as growing concern seeped in. 

You looked back to him, offering up a smile, "Don't worry Izu, I'm still tired enough to sleep," 

He seemed to relax some, the tension slowly leaving his body, "I'm glad then, because I think it's too early to get up for the day, and that's coming from me of all people,"  he then proceeded to lay back down, hugging the comforter to his chest

You laughed lightly, then paused, letting out a heavy breath, "Hey Izuku, I owe you an explanation, I shouldn't make you worry all the time and have to have me over in your dorm like this," 

Again, he sat up, scooting closer to where you were sitting, "Whatever the reason is, I'd be happy to help you over and over again, okay?" 

You nodded, leaning against him, glad to have that reassurance of support. 

"Well...my quirk has some nasty side effects…" You paused, closing your eyes and allowing the shadow like mass begin to rise from your body. 

It was a lot like Tokoyami's dark shadow in the sense that it was almost another being but attached to you. It could take a multitude of shapes, and most items couldn't pass through it, rather instead would get stuck to it. 

Most of the time you used it to create a large beast of sorts, and it only grew stronger from the fear or unease of your opponents. 

However it's main and personal drawback was arguably the worst. 

"When I don't use my quirk enough, it turns on me in my dreams…well nightmares. The Mass as I call it, separates from me and chases me down. In the end it envelops me and...well I start to suffocate. So I've been staying up late to try and put off the dreams as long as I can," 

In the dark of the room, your quirk was even more unsettling. It looked to be wriggling around, crawling amongst the edges of the room. But the one area it wouldn't go near, was the spot where Midoriya sat. 

Instinctively he wrapped his arms around you, feeling your trembles.  He thought for some time about what you had said until finally, he knew what the root of this issue was. 

"(Y/n) my love, don't let it feed off you," 

You turned at his comment, looking up to him, his oddly calm demeanor throwing you off guard. Normally, most people tended to draw back from you and your quirk, but Midoriya never did.  

"You said that your quirk grows stronger when people are scared or uneasy, and I think that it applies to you as well. It's easily taken over the whole room by now. " 

As you looked to the room, watching as the Mass would slink around the room, at times catching a ray of moonlight, seemingly drowning the light in itself. 

The longer you looked, the more it started to grow, your heart raced, you couldn't find a spot for your eyes to stop, they just kept looking. No one spot in the room was safe from it's grasp. 

Before you could fall further into its depths, two arms circled around your waist, pulling you close, "(Y/n)...you're safe…" 

All at once, the mass receded, leaving the room as it was before. 

With that, you laid down, pulling Izuku with you. While you didn't fall asleep very fast, you still knew that you'd be able to come back tomorrow to try again. 

And you did. You continued to do so for about a week, every night repeating as it had been the first night of that week. 

You still got hardly any sleep, and were starting to fall behind in both your classes and your training. In fact, there would be times where he would catch you fighting the urge to doze off while just hanging out with friends. 

Midoriya found himself asking for the help of your best and closest friend.

"Hey, Tanako, can I ask you something?" 

The water vortex hero-in-training looked up, as she was currently focusing on a book, "First, Midoriya, you can call me by my first name by now, but what's up?" 

"Ah sorry Katsumi…" he gave a sheepish smile and took a seat across from the brunette, "You know how (Y/n) stays up all the time? I've been trying to help them but...nothing is working," 

Katsumi dog eared a corner to her book, closing it as she hummed, "Well, when we were younger, we used to sleep in forts, and had lights strung up so that it wasn't so dark," she met brown eyes to his green ones, "I'm not sure if it would work now...but I think it's worth a shot. " 

Izuku nodded, standing back up, "I'll need to get some lights then..and figure out a good setup for a fort, Thanks Katsumi ! Have fun reading!" 

He started to walk away but didn't get too far before your friend called back out to him.

"Oh and Midoriya, thank you. We've all gotten pretty worried for (Y/n)," 

He nodded, turning back and going over his plan in his head. 

His first stop would be the store, finding some fairy  lights to hang up. He also decided to buy a few extra blankets, and another pillow. 

With that being done, he headed back to the university dorms, making his way to his own and luckily for him, he had some time before you were supposed to come over. 

He started to move things around, pulling the bed over towards the window, and his desk to the other wall. From there, Izuku started to round up all his extra blankets, grabbing extra tacks to hold them up. 

What took up the most of his time was the fact that he couldn't settle on a good way to have the blankets and the overall shape of the fort, after all he only had so much room to work with. 

In fact, he was still working on putting up the blankets by the time you had let yourself into his dorm. 

"Uh..Izuku?"

Midoriya jumped lightly, and turned around to face you, a blush spreading across his face as he realized he had been caught, "Uh..surprise?" 

You took a moment to look around his dorm, noticing the changes in where your bed was, and where he was currently sitting, blankets in hand. 

"Are you...building a fort?" 

Despite all the evidence you had already seen, he quickly glanced around and hid the blanket behind his back, smiling embarrassedly, "I uh...I was..I mean yeah but…" 

But to his surprise, you barked out a laugh, letting your bag slide off your shoulders and to the floor as you made your way over to him, "That's cute ! Let me help!" 

And so, together you both figured out the best set up, easily hanging up the blankets and lights, then using the rest of the blankets to create a comfy space on the floor underneath the fort. Midoriya pulled out his laptop, playing your favorite movie and starting it as you grabbed a few snacks. 

Once fully settled in, he wrapped his arms around you, and let you rest your head against his body. 

In his arms was perhaps the safest spot for you to be. He was warm, comfortable and you knew that you wouldn't have any troubles as long as he held onto you. In fact, you could hardly keep your eyes open in the moment. 

Within the next ten minutes you fell fast asleep. Izuku flicked his eyes to the clock in the corner of his laptop, smiling as he read that it was only around 9:38pm. H3 let out a small and content sigh, holding you a little tighter and closed his own eyes, getting ready to sleep, letting the movie play out in the background.

"I love you, (Y/n)..." he murmured, though you couldn't hear him, he was sure that you knew...and you did.