A Late Night For Tweez

Bryce bumped open the swinging door to the kitchen with his hip and tiredly kneaded the bridge of his nose with his free hand. He just couldn't understand why the same old lady came in every day (Usually in the middle of the night), ordered after bossily dismissing Simon, and bitched into Bryce's falsely sympathic ear for five minutes about the food coming out exactly like she ordered it. Hell, he couldn't even blame Simon for bolting in the opposite direction when he saw her coming.

Not to mention she got handsy around Bryce's behind after the third Long Island Ice Tea. Lily just snickered when she heard about it. Bryce got a move on with a sigh and gently set the half eaten bagel down on the stainless steel counter in front of Tweez.

"The Bat is baaack." He felt pretty bad about cutting into his Head Chef's nap at nearly one in the  morning, seeing how Tweez stuck around for four hours after her eight hour shift ended. Stefan was supposed to come in when Tweez's shift ended, but got a nasty cough. Lily had sicced herself on him and found him hanging out on his couch, joint in mouth with no hint of a cold. Lily had not been thrilled.

"_{Fucking hate her wrinkly ass.}" Tweez groaned into her folded arms before lifting her head enough to give Bryce a baleful stare. "So how did I manage to muck up her bagel and cream cheese after five years of cooking school?" Bryce sheepishly smiled and said with a wince.

"Says the bagel is raw in the middle-"

"Oh fuck off, I triple checked that thing!" Bryce frowned at her for swearing extensively, even if she was exhausted.

"I know, but she's going on about how only the edges are toasted and not all over." Bryce held his dark hands to ward off another blue streak of swearing. "Tried telling her that's how the toaster works, but she won't have a damn word of it. Pay you fourty bucks extra if you make it one more time with the blow torch and you can take off for the night and tomorrow with pay." Anything to keep Tweez from going after the old lady with a butcher's knife.

Tweez was already gently toasting a fresh bagel with the blow torch she didn't get to half as often as she liked and giving Bryce a thin and pinched smile. "G'Night, Boss." She set one of the grave yard waiters running with the bagel once she finished and pulled her hair out of the ponytail with a long sigh.

She managed to get to electric sign out screen only to suffer brain freeze for her logging in password. Tweez popped two of the buttons open on her chef jacket and tapped the four numbers in with her short finger and logged off before heading out the back door. She shuffled the two blocks in a sleep-craving haze and tucked a fiver under the homeless boy's head in her door step before stepping over him.

'_Thanks."  The fourteen year old snuggled deeper into his ratty sleeping bag and flashed the short tempered chef a gappy smile.

"No problem, Boo. How's that Stephan King book turning out, by the way?" Tweez might have a soft spot for the kid. But only after he convinced a thief to piss off from trying to steal from her appartment.

"Creepy like you wouldn't believe, but it's a damn good book otherwise. Have a good night, Miss Tweez." She returned the well wishes before heading up a short flight of stairs till she got home. Tweez moaned softly after she unlaced her shoes off after twelve hours before standing up and stripping off her clothing as she went on her way to the bathroom.

She banged on the dryer to get it going and waited for a minute or two till she fished out a warm and soft t-shirt and pair of fresh panties and slid them on with a wiggle of a thin hip. She snagged two aging slices of pizza from the fridge and headed for her couch and a plump blanket and settled in before flicking on the TV.

Tweez winced at the commercial pleading for homes for puppies and kittens with sad eyes and changed the channel to one that had half decent music on most of the time. The puppies reminded her too much of Boo and Simon. She glanced over at her cell phone vibrating its way across her coffee table and grabbed it with a more lively smile at seeing Cael's number.

Tweez flicked the small phone open and said softly, with a hint more throaty-ness to her voice than there was usually. "Heeeey."

"Hey yourself, Gorgeous. You finally got off work?"

She hummed a yes and coyly ran her thumb under the line of her t-shirt. "Dare I ask what you're wearing, you Detroit hound?"

"Welllll, since you asked so nicely...iddy biddy towel. Barely big enough to dry my knob off, yanno." Tweez's mouth went dry and she smiled against her palm. Too early to go to sleep.