altarebear

[altarebear]

alright for context i used to work in restaurants (mostly fast food, some full-service) and watching the fast food simulator vod right when i was getting into holostars gave me so much brainrot. is this the best thing i've ever written? probably not but i'm pretty happy with it

so have grill cook axel with a little crush on host!you (2k words)

You have been working in Tempus, a local, low-key restaurant as a host for about six weeks and are finally starting to get a hold on the atmosphere. Your coworkers, as…eccentric as they are, are generally pretty understanding and helpful. So far, your shift has been fairly slow, but as you get closer and closer to the dinner rush, a waitlist quickly builds up. Having been alone for close to twenty minutes, you walk to the kitchen to find the other host, Bettel.

Shit.

As soon as you open the door to the kitchen, chaos erupts. The servers and the prep cook are rushing around, calling out requests you can barely comprehend. The sounds of kitchenware scraping and voices trying to be heard over each other is nearly overwhelming, but one voice is easily audible above the rest.

“WHO THE FUCK KEEPS PUTTING PATTIES ON MY GRILL?”

Well, at least now you know who the grill cook is today. You haven’t worked with Axel all that often, but you can almost always hear him straight through the kitchen door when the restaurant is empty. He must’ve just started a little while ago, right as you started to get busy. You bite your tongue as the door swings shut behind you, not wanting to risk facing his wrath but needing to know how long to wait before you can start to seat people again.

As you step forward, Axel is laughing, but it’s somewhere between nervous laughter and a cackle. “I’m gonna fuckin’ bite your dick off, you fuckin’ cocksucking FUCK!” You see Bettel behind him, a grin on his face, and you catch a glimpse of the grill covered in frozen burger patties. He glances up at you, raising his eyebrows as if to question why you’re there, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Um –” you start, but the look in Axel’s eyes as he looks up at you stops your question before you can ask. His eyes widen slightly as he looks at you, the tension melting in his shoulders.

“Oh, hiii,” he says, his voice not exactly quiet but much softer than it was just a moment ago. The fire in his eyes has dwindled, now more of a gentle warmth than anything else.

“I was just coming back to ask how long of a wait I should be quoting.” You glance nervously up at Bettel, who seems more amused than ever.

“Ah, I’m not sure,” Axel responds, flipping one of the patties. “I got a few orders about to be up…we should be caught up in ten minutes. Bettel ought to be able to help you.” He glances pointedly at Bettel.

“Yeah, I’ll be up in just a second, [Y/N],” Bettel says dismissively. “I gotta ask our lovely cook something. You can start seating people.”

You nod once again, squeaking out your thanks and turning around, almost jogging back to the host stand. You hear faint laughter from behind you as the door closes, but you brush it off. It takes you a minute to organize everything, but you start to seat the tables. A few minutes later, most of the tables are full and your waiting area is empty. Of course, that’s when Bettel finally returns to “help”.

Bettel leans against the stand itself almost lazily, looking you up and down. “How’d you get Axel to be so nice?” he asks, his tone almost accusatory. “If I asked him how long of a wait to quote, he’d tell me to go fuck myself.”

“I…I don’t know,” you respond, looking up from the list of reservations for that night.

“Huh.” Bettel raises his eyebrows at you but doesn’t push the conversation further. He nudges you slightly, looking at the reservation sheet with you and helping you to plot out tables for the rest of the night. The rest of your shift goes smoothly and the conversation fades from your mind.

It’s a few days before you work with Bettel again. The lunch rush has just ended and the restaurant is nearly completely empty when Bettel rests his head on the host stand and looks up at you. “[Y/N],” he starts, stretching your name out. “Can you do me a huuuge favor? Can you ask Axel for a burger for me? Don’t tell him it’s for me, though. He’ll, like, do something to it. I’ll close for you.”

The opportunity to not close is too sweet to resist, and you find yourself in the kitchen just a moment later. It’s quiet, most of the staff is out smoking or organizing things in the walk-in freezer but the grill cook is leaning against one of the counters, scrolling on his phone. He looks up as he hears you walk in, glaring for a half second before a look of mild surprise crosses his face.

“There’s no wait,” he tells you automatically, slipping his phone into his pocket.

“Oh, I was actually if I could get a burger.”

“For you?” he asks, already moving toward the grill.

You only nod in response. He nods back.

“Yeah, just hang back here a minute. Won’t be long.”

The silence that follows isn’t awkward, broken only by the sound of the patty frying on the grill. “Want anything special on it?” he asks without looking up at you, pulling out buns and various toppings.

Bettel didn’t give you any instructions like that, and it’s not like you can go back up and ask. “No, thanks,” you say instead. “Just however it comes. Please.”

A half smile tugs at his lips as you say “please”. It’s gone before you can fully register it, leaving you to wonder if it was ever there in the first place. He tops the burger, wraps it carefully and sets it in a paper bag before dumping some fries from a basket on top. “Just made ‘em a few minutes ago,” he tells you as he hands you the bag. “They’re still fresh.”

Your hand brushes against his for a moment as you take the bag from him and you can feel his fingers twitch ever so slightly. “Thank you,” you respond with a soft smile. He seems to hesitate for a moment before he releases the bag. You start walking towards the kitchen door, but as your hand touches it, he calls out softly.

“Wait, wait, your name’s [Y/N], right? The…the new host.”

“Yeah.” You back at him, turning slightly. “I don’t think I ever introduced myself, sorry.”

He shakes his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “Nah, don’t apologize. I should’ve asked earlier. I’m Axel, by the way.”

You nod slightly, unsure of how to reply. After a moment, you decide on “Nice to meet you.”

At that moment, the back door opens up and you hear a prep cook you’ve only referred to as Gibby talking loudly to Ruze, one of the servers. He goes quiet for only a millisecond as he sees you talking to Axel before a loud laugh comes from his mouth. Ruze only grins, giving Axel a look you can’t quite read. You take that as your cue to leave the kitchen, making your way back to the host stand where Bettel’s been waiting.

“Wow, in a bag and everything. How fancy,” he hums as he takes the food from you. His eyes light up as he opens it and sees the fries, still slightly warm from the frier. “Y’know, I’m not that hungry. You should eat it.”

You furrow your eyebrows at him. “You…told me you were hungry, though.”

He shrugs, handing you the bag back. “Had some water. I’m all good now. Come on, don’t waste it.”

“Alright,” you sigh, knowing you’re not going to win. “I’ll go sit at –” Before you can tell him where you’re planning to eat, he interrupts you.

“Oh yeah, Hakka’s got this new rule. We’re not supposed to eat in the main restaurant, you gotta go to the kitchen.”

“Alright.” You glance back at the kitchen doors before turning back to Bettel. “I’ll eat fast.”

Bettel only hums in response, turning to the reservation sheet and making himself busy.

“I’m not in denial, fuckface,” Axel is saying as you quietly open the door. His back is to you and you can see a spatula in his hand, being held more like a weapon than a cooking utensil.

“You are absolutely in denial,” Gibby laughs, leaning back against the counter. Hakka, one of the managers, walks in at that moment with a grin on his face.

“Oh, are you guys talking about Axel’s crush on that new host?” You freeze, taking half a step back but not opening the door quite yet. You feel like this is something you aren’t supposed to be hearing, and you’re not sure they’ve seen you until Hakka glances at you. His eyes widen slightly but a quick look at Gibby and the grin on his face seems to convince him to be quiet. If Axel notices anything, he gives no indication.

“It’s not a fucking crush,” Axel groans, rubbing his face with his free hand. “I’m not a fuckin’ middle schooler. They’re just…nice. And cute. And a better host than Bettel.”

“That’s not what you were saying last night,” Hakka teases him. You feel like you should go, like you should have gone as soon as you heard them talking, but it would be more awkward now if they caught you leaving. You bite your tongue, considering your options.

“Shut the fuck up,” Axel grumbles, picking something off of the handle of the spatula. “They haven’t even talked to me before today. I bet Bettel’s been talking shit since they started, too. I’m the scary grill cook, y’know?”

“Can’t be that scary,” Gibby retorts, his eyes landing on you. “They haven’t run out of here yet.”

Axel’s head snaps up and he whips around, his eyes wide as they make contact with yours. “Oh, uh, hey, [Y/N],” he starts, a little bit awkwardly. “Something wrong with the food?”

You’d almost forgotten about the bag of food in your hand. You shake your head slowly, trying your best to act like you didn’t just hear about Axel’s personal feelings for a new host. “No, Bettel just told me I’m supposed to eat back here. Something about a new rule of Hakka’s.”

Hakka has a sort of half-smile on his face as he cocks his head ever so slightly. “I didn’t make any new rules.”

“Fucking Bettel,” Axel groans, his eyes squeezing shut for a moment. “Listen, uh, what’d you hear?” You’ve never seen Axel look nervous. Even on the busiest nights when he’s knee-deep in orders, he’s only ever looked focused. This expression on his face is completely new to you.

“Not a lot?” you respond uncertainty. “I didn’t know we got a new host, though.”

Gibby’s grin spreads. “We didn’t. Not after you, anyway.”

Oh.

Time seems to stand still for a second as the dots connect in your mind. You clutch the bag of food a little bit tighter, trying to work out what to do, what to say, what to /feel/. After what feels like forever but has probably only been two seconds, you speak despite your dry throat. “Bettel doesn’t talk bad about you. I don’t think you’re a scary grill cook.”

The look of anxiety fades from Axel’s face. His eyes seem to glimmer as he responds. “Oh, really? Surprising that he doesn’t talk shit. What does he say about me?” Hakka nods to Gibby and the two quietly leave towards the manager’s office. Even as the door closes, you know they can still hear you, that they’re still listening, but you can’t find it in yourself to care.

You consider for a moment. “That you’re the best line cook the restaurant’s had since he’s been here, that you always get everything out on time…you deal with him even when he annoys you. That kind of thing.”

“I mean, I am a pretty good cook,” Axel confirms, a confident grin spreading on his face. “I’ve had too much of our food lately, though. I was gonna get some hot pot tonight, if…if you wanna join me?”

You blink at him. “Yeah, that sounds nice. My shift’s over at four.”

His grin only gets wider as he responds, “What a coincidence, so is mine. So, it’s a date?”

You nod, a soft smile on your lips. You leave the bag of food in the kitchen, knowing someone else will gladly eat it, and make your way back to the front. As the door swings behind you, you hear Axel shouting, “Banzoin! I’m clocking out at four!” and you can’t help how your smile widens. Bettel leans on the host stand, his eyes trained on the kitchen door as you come out, completely ignoring the dozen people impatiently waiting to be seated.

[altarebear]

We're birb'in

[altarebear]

when the outline is 1.3k words and it's 4 am and i'm actually really excited to write this out >>>

[altarebear]

How to spoon:

Dick hard on the butt

Titty in my hand

Kiss ya neck

Hell yeah