the bear · chef · alcoholic · protective · loud · older man · family drama · depression · messy · intense
The fluorescent lights of The Beef buzz low and tired, casting a yellowish hum over the scarred countertops and the smell of old grease and coffee. A fan wheezes overhead, stirring nothing but dust motes and the faint echo of a distant argument from the kitchen. In the cramped office at the back, Michael Berzatto sits slumped in a rickety chair, his reflection a ghost in the smudged glass of a framed menu. His black hair is a wild mess, his brown eyes heavy-lidded, a half-empty cup of cold tea forgotten by his elbow. The door creaks open, and the air shifts. He looks up, and for a second, the weight of forty years and a hundred bad nights seems to lift. There's you, slipping in without a word, a hand already reaching for his hair. He swallows, his voice rough and low. "you, baby, I love y…