Panini

3K 178 57
                                    


Your alarm blared on the pillow beside you. With a whine and a stretch you pushed up and off the bed. Shuffling around tired but hastily, you ran down stairs to your car to grab a few things before shooting back up to get ready for work. 

I shouldn't have hit snooze so many times. Sleep was a manipulative temptress, keeping you nice and secure in the warm caress of those sheets. That being said, your extra few minutes of rest left you with no time for breakfast. You got on the road and thankfully had an all green light trip, clocking in with a couple of seconds to spare.

"Mornin', Han." You said walking into the kitchen. Your boss did a double take at you, eyebrows furrowing. "Eh?! Come here!" He shot up from the stool he was in and over to you before you could get all the way over the threshold. "What? Why? What did I do?" You hesitantly moved closer. "Why're you so dark under your eyes?" Han poked your cheek.

"Oh, I was ju-"

"Playing games all night again!" He accused. "I told you to stop that!"

"Han, I sold my consoles." You sighed rubbing the sleep from your eyes. "I don't believe you." He huffed. "Okay, dad." You rolled your eyes. "You're lucky I don't come take them away." Han continued. "Now come over here and help me make these soup dumplings."

"Can I eat them?" You asked following him over to his prepping area, he blatantly ignored your question. Peeking over his shoulder you saw a plethora of dough balls filling a container to his right. "Damn, Han. How many do you need?"

"Three hundred." What the fuck. "Someone ordered for a party."

"I didn't know we catered." You moved to wash your hands. "We do now." He said, returning to the stool he jumped out of.

After drying off you took a seat on the opposite side of the monstrosity of prepped dough. "Look." He held out his palm, a ball pressed out into a circle resting in the center. "You close them like this." Carefully he pinched the sides in around the circumference. "I think I can handle that." You nodded slowly. "Good, here." He filled a smaller bowl with balls of dough to be flattened and sealed off and handed it to you.

"My son says you haven't been online in a while. Whatever that means to you." Han spoke softly. "That's because I sold my consoles, Han." You started on your second dumpling. "Hmph. I told him you have another job so you don't have time anymore."

Thinking back to it, when you purged your old apartment, you didn't think to tell your online companions you would be disappearing for an unknown amount of time. On top of that, you used to tutor the teen, helping him improve his English. 

"Something like that." You shook your head and gave up on trying to convince Han your babies were sold for fast cash. Maybe it's better this way. The less people that know about my situation the better.  "Tell him I'll be back as soon as I get the chance." 

"You'd better." Han pulled from the large container as your pulled from your bowl. "He keeps asking. I told him to come here and ask himself. He can work while he's at it." You got a good chuckle from that. "Don't say that. He'll come take my job."

"You're right." Han nodded. "And I won't have to pay him as much." Your eyes widened, still focusing on the folding. "Wow." Han dug for more dough. "I'm joking. He still wants to be a hero, I'm trying not to get in his way."

"Ah." You nodded. "Just support him as much as you can. That's...that's what I would want if I were in his position." Han tossed a few more balls into your container. "That doesn't mean he cant come help out around here of course."

"I know that. He'll be here tomorrow." Han cracked a smile.


At least a hundred little eggshell colored dumplings lined your side of the table. "Han." You set the last dumpling down after pinching it closed.

Time in a Tree (All Might x Reader)Where stories live. Discover now