Chef! Matt Murdock X Reader - Tumblr Posts
An update! (sorry about your trouble sleeping; it can be so awful)
"I'm fine." Oh Reader, any bestie knows that answer is unacceptable. Good thing Skyler is not buying it. Plus Skyler is ready to take out Chef Hottie Matt if necessary; I'm taking note of that in case we need her to kneecap Kelsie. Go stomp some grapes, Kelsie, maybe it will improve your mood.
"Can I get you anything? Water, coffee...tea...my hot and adorable colleague Skyler?" I like Reader and Skyler's tagteam matchmaking approach. This is good. I suspect that it will (unbeknownst to Reader and Matt) assist in the romance of Reader and Matt because Foggy and Skyler collaborating could result in Matt and Reader being in forced proximity to each other.
Pretty bold of Foggy to show up at the Bulletin, though. Tip of the hat to him, especially when he intimates to Reader that there's some uhm interest between her and Chef Cake Matt. That's a delicate situation but Foggy is way better at direct but tactful communication than Matt in a way, perhaps because Foggy is the interested bystander. Foggy understands Matt (similar to Skyler/Reader) and how past experiences influence present choices, as well as how we rationalize our responses to those situations. Foggy sees they are lovesick for each other but Matt is wary, Reader is wary and neither is being particularly honest with themselves (yes and no, they admit the attraction but not the relationship that accompanies it) or with each other, perhaps in the desperate hope that hearts will remain whole?
Hearts are meant to be used; it makes them stronger and full of life.
Cooking Up Love, Chapter 10
Pairing: Chef!Matt Murdock x F!Journalist!Reader
Rating: T
Story Summary: Here
Warnings/Tags: Hallmark levels of fluffy, cheesy goodness (and speed that their relationship develops, lol), no use of Y/N, Matt is not a vigilante, idiots in love being idiots
Word Count: ~3200
A/N: Here we are with the next chapter! I have to prep for an important work event on Saturday that will more than likely cut into my writing time, so there may not be another update until next week, but until then enjoy our pining dumbasses!
(As always, thanks to the fantabulous @theradioactivespidergwen for the divider!)
Tag List: @yarrystyleeza @hailey-murdock @mattkinsella @bellaxgiornata @danzer8705 @chezagnes @shouldbestudying41 @thepunisherfrankcastle @mattmurdocks6thscaleapartment
"Come on , you stupid thing," you grumbled at the Bulletin's ancient copier as it sputtered and creaked. "I know it's early, but work , damn you."
You weren't in the best mood this morning -- you hadn't slept well, your mind choosing to replay your almost-kiss with Matt from the previous evening every time you closed your eyes.
You looked over at the doorway as the sound of footsteps neared. "Oh, hey, there you are," Skyler said as she poked her head in the doorway. "You have a visitor."
Your heart leaped. "Who is it?"
Skyler sighed wistfully. "The future father of my children. He didn't give his name but he's a really hot blonde-haired dude."
Part of you wished that it had been Matt, but after the way you had run out on him the previous night you supposed that would've been too much to hope for. "Okay, thanks."
Skyler stepped fully into the copy room, her brow furrowing. "Hey, are you alright?"
You shrugged. "I'm fine."
Skyler crossed her arms. "No, you don't look happy. Did something happen with Chef Hottie last night? Because I don't care how many Michelin stars he has, I'll go kick his ass if I need to."
You huffed out a soft laugh and shook your head. "Not necessary. I'm just tired."
Skyler nodded and uncrossed her arms. "As long as you're okay."
"I am. Thanks for your concern, though. I really appreciate it."
Skyler gave you a quick hug. "Of course. You're my bestie, I'm not going to let anyone mess with you."
You gave her a hug back. "Ditto. I'll tell you all about last night as soon as I deal with whoever this is, 'kay?"
Skyler nodded, then winked. "You'd better."
You followed her out of the copy room and into the bullpen, your eyebrows raising as you spotted your visitor. "Chef Nelson."
Chef Nelson raised his hand in greeting. "Hi. Is this a bad time?"
You shook your head. "Oh, no, I was just fighting with our copy machine, but I can let someone else have a turn trying to battle it out. What can I do for you?"
Chef Nelson bit his lip. "Can we talk?"
You nodded. "Sure."
You turned towards Skyler. "By the way, Sky, this is Chef Nelson, Chef Murdock's business partner. Chef Nelson, this is Skyler. She's our Lifestyle writer here at the Bulletin ."
Skyler reached out to shake Chef Nelson's hand, a broad smile spreading across her face. "It's nice to meet you, Chef Nelson."
"Nice to meet you too," Chef Nelson replied with an equally broad smile. "And please, call me Foggy -- uh, both of you."
You smiled to yourself. You could practically see the cartoon hearts floating above both Foggy's and Skyler's heads.
You nodded. "Sure."
You turned towards Skyler. "I'll be in the conference room. Foggy, you can follow me."
You led Foggy to the conference room, your heart twisting as you remembered doing the same thing with Matt not even a week earlier.
You closed the door and gestured to a chair. "Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything to drink? Water, coffee… tea?"
Foggy shook his head as he sat. "No, thank you."
You sat across from him. "So what can I help you with?"
Foggy took a deep breath. "I um, I just wanted to apologize for interrupting you and Matt last night. I had no idea that he, uh, had company at the restaurant and didn't mean to intrude."
You shook your head, your heart beginning to thrum nervously in your chest. "No, you weren't intruding. I was just there to taste some new recipes that Matt had said he was thinking about adding to the menu. We had already finished and were just talking when you came in."
Foggy huffed out a laugh. "Seemed like a pretty important conversation."
Your face heated. You weren't sure what exactly Matt had told Foggy about your evening together. "Nothing he and I couldn't talk about later."
You licked your lips nervously. "By the way, how, um, how is Matt this morning?"
Foggy shook his head. "I don't know, I haven't talked to him yet today. We start prepping later on Tuesdays since Matt's always experimenting in the kitchen until really late on Mondays."
"Oh." You couldn't help but wonder if Matt had ever had anyone else over to the restaurant for a 'blind tasting'. "Okay."
Foggy studied you. "You know, I really do appreciate you giving him a second chance after you two started off on the wrong foot. Not that I'm trying to make excuses for him, but he's been through a lot in the past couple of years and is still dealing with some stuff."
You shook your head. "It's not a problem. And there's no need to apologize for last night, I promise."
"Thanks so much." Foggy stood. "I should get going -- I have a couple of errands to run before I head to the restaurant, but thanks for taking the time to talk with me."
You nodded. "Of course. Here, I'll walk you out."
You opened the door to the conference room and ushered Foggy out into the bullpen, stopping by Skyler's desk. "You know, I actually really do need to get back to my battle with the copier, so Sky, would you mind walking Foggy out?"
Skyler shook her head. "No, it'd be my pleasure."
"Thanks." You turned towards Foggy. "Thanks for dropping by."
Foggy nodded, his eyes firmly on Skyler. "Sure."
Skyler stood. "Right this way."
You shook your head with a smile as Skyler and Foggy headed towards the elevator. There was no denying the chemistry between those two and you would've been shocked if Skyler didn't come back with Foggy's phone number at the very least, if not a date.
You headed back to the copy room, determined to beat the copy machine at its own game.
You had finally gotten it to cooperate when Skyler came in, sighing happily.
You grinned over at her. "You're welcome."
She playfully shook her finger at you. "Girl, why didn't you tell me Chef Hottie's business partner was even hotter than him?"
You huffed out a laugh. "I only met Foggy one time before last night, which reminds me…"
You grabbed your copies. "Come on, let's go get some coffee and I'll tell you about it."
You walked into the break room, pointedly ignoring Kelsie, who was talking to another one of your coworkers.
"James surprised me with tickets to this very exclusive wine tasting event upstate this weekend," she was saying. "Only the finest vintages will be served."
You rolled your eyes. You had never met Kelsie's boyfriend and knew absolutely nothing about him (nor did you care to), but you had certainly heard his name enough times to already be tired of hearing about him.
Kelsie sneered over at you. "Well, I guess I better go get started on my Restaurant Week coverage since someone stole the feature story from me."
You sighed to yourself as they left the break room, grabbing the bag of coffee you kept at work and filling the permanent filter pod for the office Keurig before popping it into the brewer.
" God , I can't stand her," Skyler muttered. "Anyway, tell me about last night."
You filled a cup with some water and poured it into the reservoir before placing the cup underneath the Keurig and setting it to brew. "Okay, well, Matt was waiting in the lobby to unlock the door for me when I got to Daredevil," you began. "I was supposed to watch him cook again, but instead he sat me down at a table near the kitchen then went to get some water and crackers."
You bit your lip. "After he came back he, um, he pulled a blindfold out of his pocket and asked me if it was okay if we did a blind tasting."
"He blindfolded you?" A small smirk appeared on Skyler's face. "Kinky."
You huffed out a laugh. "It wasn't like that! Matt just wanted me to be able to understand how he develops his flavors and have me judge a dish using my non-visual senses."
You shook your head. "Anyway, he brought out the first dish, which was a butternut squash risotto with pancetta that both smelled and tasted amazing ."
Skyler hummed. "Ooh, that does sound delicious."
You nodded. "It really was."
"So how was it trying to eat without being able to see your food?"
You huffed out a breath as your coffee finished brewing. "Honestly, it was really disorienting. Matt had to help me find my spoon for the risotto and since he had me eat a cracker and drink some water in between dishes so I wouldn't still be tasting what I had just eaten when he brought out the next dish I was terrified of spilling my water all over. Luckily I made it through without making a mess."
Skyler smiled softly at you as she took a turn at the Keurig. "Something tells me he would've been understanding even if you had accidentally spilled something."
You nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, the second dish wound up being a beet hummus, which I'm afraid to say was awful ."
You grinned at the memory. "Luckily Matt tasted it and agreed with me that it was terrible, that it was definitely a no for the menu."
You continued telling Skyler about the different dishes Matt had you try, including the pesto-parmesan linguine that you were still thinking about. "Finally he brought out this blood orange cremé bruleé that he had been working on and a blood orange mimosa to go with it, and oh my god, Sky, it was so damn good."
You took a sip of your coffee. "I made a joke about it replacing Matt's tiramisu as my favorite dessert and it actually turned out that he had also made some tiramisu and wanted me to try it since he had tweaked the recipe. He also said I could take the blindfold off then asked if I wanted some more champagne since he had opened a new bottle for the mimosa and there was no sense in letting it go flat."
Skyler took a sip of her own coffee. "I'm sure that wasn't the only reason, but go ahead."
"The tiramisu was even better than the first one he had made for me, so he said since it had my approval it was ready to go on the menu." You bit your lip, second-guessing whether you should tell Skyler about the rest of your evening. "I, um, I asked him to tell me when it was added to the menu so I could be there to order it as soon as they opened, and Matt joked that he'd have it ready for me when I arrived, so I asked if he'd bring it out to me personally and he said yes, that he'd make the time to come say hi… and then he asked me what I looked like."
Skyler's eyebrows raised. "He did?"
You nodded. "He said that he'd had a blank picture of me in his head all week so he had been curious then he said that he could picture people based on physical descriptions alone but could more accurately picture them if he felt their facial features, so after I described myself to him I told him he could feel my face if he wanted."
"And did he?"
Your face heated at the memory of Matt's fingertips softly gliding along your skin, his brow furrowed in concentration as he painted a mental picture of you.
You nodded. "He said I was beautiful… then he leaned in to kiss me."
Skyler gasped. "You kissed him? "
You winced and quickly shook your head. "Right before we did Foggy came in from the kitchen and startled me, so I jumped back. He apologized for interrupting and I said that it was fine, that I needed to go anyway, and then I grabbed my stuff and practically ran out of there."
Skyler groaned out your name. "Girl. Why? "
"Because I'm an idiot, that's why." You sighed. "I panicked. "
"And that's why you couldn't sleep."
You nodded. "I kept replaying it in my head over and over, trying to imagine different scenarios and ways it could have turned out if Foggy hadn't shown up or if I hadn't bolted. That's actually why he came by -- to apologize again for interrupting me and Matt last night."
You bit your lip as a thought struck you. "He said that Matt had been through a lot in the past couple of years, so what if Kelsie is actually right? What if Matt is just pretending to like me so I'll write a positive article about him that'll help him rebuild his reputation?"
Skyler shook her head. "Do you even know what could have happened to where Matt would need to rebuild his reputation?"
You shook your head in response. "No."
"Then don't listen to Kelsie. I'm sure she's just making shit up."
"I hope so, because I really like him. I haven't felt this way about anyone in a really long time, Sky, so if it turns out he's been playing me this whole time…" You trailed off with a sigh.
"Hey, if he has been then that offer to kick his ass still stands." Skyler smiled at you. "No matter how hot his business partner is."
"Oh, shit, yeah." You shook your head to clear it. "How was walking Foggy out? You seemed pretty happy when you came back."
Skyler grinned. "Well, that's because I have a date Saturday morning. Foggy and I are going to go have coffee before he has to get to the restaurant."
You smiled. I knew it. "That's great. I'm really happy for you."
Skyler studied you. "So what are you going to do about Matt?"
You shook your head. "I'm just going to wait until my article is turned in and see how it goes."
You finished your coffee and rinsed your cup out. "I need to start going over these printouts."
Skyler gave you a brief hug. "Hey, I'm sure everything is going to be fine."
You nodded. "I hope so."
You really hoped so, because with the way you were starting to feel about Matt you weren't sure if you could handle a broken heart.
"Combine properly, damn it," Matt growled at the dough he was trying to prepare for the night's supply of dinner rolls. "Why aren't you cooperating?"
"Because you're being mean to it," Foggy said as he came into the kitchen. "Well, that or the fact that your yeast is still sitting over here on the prep counter."
Matt groaned then dumped the dough into the trash. "Shit ."
Foggy chuckled. "Good morning to you too, buddy."
Matt turned his head towards him as Foggy passed him to go wash his hands. "You went by the Bulletin this morning. I can smell newsprint on you."
Foggy hummed in the affirmative. "As a matter of fact, I did. And before you ask, yes, she looked just as miserable as you do."
Matt could feel his friend studying him. "I'm not miserable , I'm just tired. I got less sleep than usual."
"Are you ready to tell me what happened last night?"
Matt nodded. "Originally the plan was for her to come watch me work on developing those new dishes for the menu, but I decided to make it a blind tasting instead in order to try to make it a bit more… personal."
Foggy chuckled. "You mean romantic."
"Yeah, okay, romantic." Matt sighed as he began to re-make the dough for the rolls. "And it seemed like it was working, too -- she was responding positively to my hints that I'm attracted to her."
He shook his head. "Everything was going great -- she gave me some really good feedback on the dishes and was joking around with me about the cremé bruleé surpassing the tiramisu as her new favorite dessert of mine, so I asked her to taste the final recipe before she made that distinction.
"She loved it, of course, and said to let her know when we added it to the menu so she could be the first one in line to order it once we opened that day, so I told her that I'd have it ready for her when she arrived, and she asked if I'd bring it out to her personally and I said of course, that I'd definitely make the time to come say hi to her."
Foggy huffed out a laugh. "Wow, you two are not subtle."
Matt shook his head as he mixed all of the ingredients and began to knead the dough together. "It's been driving me crazy not having any sort of clue what she looks like, so I asked her. She seemed a bit surprised at the question, which honestly was understandable since I just kind of threw it at her out of nowhere, but I explained how I can "see" people by touching them, so after she described herself to me she offered to let me feel her facial features."
He smiled to himself as his mental picture of you floated into his mind. At least he managed to get that before everything went to shit. "I told her she was beautiful, and that's when I tried to kiss her."
"And when I walked in and ruined the moment."
Matt shook his head. "It's not your fault, really. Obviously I had misread something between us somewhere and trying to kiss her made her uncomfortable."
He covered the (now correctly prepared) dough and put it in the refrigerator to rise. "I spent all night replaying everything in my head trying to figure out exactly where I screwed up. She's the most incredible woman to ever come into my life, Foggy, I don't know what I'd do if it turned out she was just using me like Elektra did."
"I honestly don't think she is, Matty, but speaking of meeting incredible women…" Foggy huffed out a happy sigh. "I'm pretty sure I met my future wife today."
Matt chuckled as he moved to the sink to wash and dry his hands. "Well at least one of us is sure. Who is she?"
"Her name is Skyler -- she's the Lifestyle writer at the Bulletin ."
Matt nodded. "Oh, yeah, I met her the other day. She seemed nice."
"We're going out for coffee on Saturday morning, so I might be a bit late getting here depending on how well things go."
Matt patted Foggy on the back. "I'm really happy for you."
"Thanks." Foggy paused. "So what are you going to do about everything?"
Matt shook his head. "I don't know yet. Probably just wait until the article comes out on Monday and go from there."
Foggy sighed. "Well no matter what you decide, I'm here for you, buddy."
"Thanks." Matt began dicing tomatoes for the marinara sauce, his mind drifting back to you by his side as you cut up tomatoes for the salads at Clinton Church.
He really hoped you weren't just using him, because he was pretty sure he was already falling for you.