Happiness shared is the Flour [Wewuwe and Noise Prince]

[Noise Prince]

Seiji smiled back, feeling warmed by Ulrich despite no longer having his cardigan. The cardigan, instead of concealing Ulrich's figure, only emphasized his physique. Tall, broad shoulders, muscular, handsome, and he baked. Was this person even real?

"Right, tomorrow morning then." He nodded. "Take care until then!"

[Wewuwe]

"You too Seiji." Ulrich finally said his name, it almost sounding like a purr coming from his lips, his voice deep and husky.

 

The blonde turned and began walking to his apartment, thinking about what he souls cook tomorrow for Seiji..

[Noise Prince]

Seiji waited until he was back inside before all but literally melting from the way his employee said his name, leaning against the door for support.

'Stop that, Seiji!' He scolded himself, shaking his head and standing upright. He was his boss- thinking of him in such ways was really, really awful. Unprofessional, and could lead to a lot of potential problems. 'Besides, he can't possibly like men…' He reminded himself.

 

Seiji yawned, walking in the brisk morning air to the bakery. He slept surprisingly well the night before, all things considered, but he still felt really tired that morning. He unlocked the bakery, and walked inside, wondering what time Ulrich would arrive. Either way, he thought it was best to go back into the office and start up on the menu changes.

[Wewuwe]

Ulrich showed up around 8:30 the next morning, walking into the bakery doors, the bell jingling as he opened it.

He glanced around to find Seiji, assuming he was here.

He shrugged off his jacket and walked to the office to hang his coat.

"Oh, good morning." Ulrich said to Seiji as he opened the office doors. "How'd you sleep?" He asked, smiling softly at his boss.

[Noise Prince]

Seiji heard the door open, assuming it was Ulrich. He continued editing the layout a bit more before saving his progress to go and say hello, but by the time he did, Ulrich had already found him in the back office.

 

"Good morning," Seiji replied, smiling. "I slept… pretty well, thanks." He answered, nodding. "How about you?" He stood up, as when he was sitting in his chair the height difference was enough to hurt his neck.

[Wewuwe]

Ulrich just gave a simple shrug. "Fine." He smiled "so, have to thought about what you want to put on the menu?" The blonde asked, glancing over at what Seiji was working on.

[Noise Prince]

"Yes, here, you can see what I'm doing here," Seiji pointed to the screen, where he was rearranging the lay-out of the current menu. He moved his chair to the side so they could both get to the screen easier.

 

"Since some of your recipes are similar to my dad's old ones, I've been replacing the ones that would be redundant, so I've had to play around with the whole lay-out." He explained. "What do you think?"

[Wewuwe]

Ulrich leaned down over Seiji, glancin over the menu.

"It's such a large variety, it'll definitely bring people in." Ulrich smiled. "I was actually going to show you one more candy I know how to make." The blonde leaned up and motioned for him to follow.

"It's a crystallized sugar flavored into whatever the customer wanted ontop of a small pastry I'd make.

" Ulrich was too excited to show, so he didn't think about putting on an apron.

"So why's your favorite flavor?" Ulrich asked as he grabbed a large pan.

[Noise Prince]

"Thanks! I'm hoping that will be the case," Seiji replied with a cold smile. It was always really popular, even when he left and his dad ran it almost all by himself. He looked back up to the blond.

 

"You make candies, too?" He asked, beaming. Seiji followed him back to the kitchen.

 

"I like blue raspberry," Seiji replied. "We should have plenty, I like to keep that flavor in stock, for obvious reasons," He told him

[Wewuwe]

"Blue rasberry huh?" Ulrich grabbed the sugar and we be into the back room for the blue rasberry flavoring.

"I like strawberries myself." The blonde said as he poured water into the pan, waiting for it to boil.

 

"What I do is caramelize the sugar flavoring and make it into a design before it hardens to put on top of the pastry." Ulrich explained as he dropped a few drops of the flavoring into the water.

 

"I hope you like it."

[Noise Prince]

Seiji watched Ulrich get the ingredients, and prepare the pot and the water.

 

"Ah… what sorts of shapes do you usually like to make?" Seiji asked him, watching as he poured the ingredients in the pan. The room became filled with the sharp smell of pure raspberry flavoring.

 

"And is it always a flat design?"

[Wewuwe]

"I like bending the sugar into a rose shape. Three-dimensional ones of course." Ulrich poured the sugar into the rapidly boiling water, watching it cease it's boil for a moment.

"I can make them into hearts, flowers, a cat head, and a leaf." Ulrich smiled as he watched the water harden.

Suddenly, the sugar bubbled and popped over Ulrich's shirt, causing him to flinch. He cursed and turned off the stove, wincing in pain from the sugar burning onto his shirt and on his chest. "D-damn.. I ruined the sugar." He cursed.

[Noise Prince]

Seiji listened, while watching the sugar boil. Candy-making was what Seiji did best, and he always enjoyed watching how other people made theirs.

 

"Really? So if I-" Seiji was interrupted when he saw a large amount of molten sugar burst from the pot, hitting the wall, and spreading on Ulrich's chest! Seiji cursed himself for not realizing neither of them were wearing aprons.

 

"I've got plenty of sugar- it's your chest that's going to be ruined!" Seiji exclaimed. "Be careful, and remove your shirt, I'll get the first aid kit!" Seiji instructed, running to the back storage room, pulling a rather large white box from the shelf, reciting burn treatments in his head.

[Wewuwe]

Ulrich winced as he pulled off his shirt, making it obvious that he was a backstroke on his swimming team in college with how toned his shoulders and back were.

"Really Seiji, it's okay, it doesn't hurt that bad." He lied, looking down at the already dark red burn on his abdomen.

[Noise Prince]

"We should still treat it- just look at it!" Seiji said, returning into the room. He placed the first aid kit on the counter, and took a clean cloth from it.

 

"We need to keep cold water on it for a few minutes," He explained, turning on the sink, testing it to make sure it was cold, before soaking the washcloth.

 

"It'll be a little cold…" Seiji warned, squeezing about the excess water, and turned to Ulrich. He couldn't help but notice the rippling muscles under the burned skin, his suspicions about Ulrich's physique were confirmed. Seiji regardless placed the cloth up to the burn gently.

 

"Is that okay?" He asked, wanting to be careful with the burned area.

[Wewuwe]

Ulrich flinched softly, tensing his muscles.

"It just hurts a little.." He said, letting out a low, pained moan.

"I should have been more careful.." He looked down at how gentle Seiji was being, it was nice to be handled that way for a change.

[Noise Prince]

Seiji could feel the muscles under the cloth tense, and saw them harden and become more defined from the touch. A single drop of water trickled down between the grooves of his muscles, guiding Seiji's gaze.

 

"Sorry, it's just for a few minutes…" Seiji assured him. "And don't blame, I'm the one who was being irresponsible. I'm sorry, safety should be my first priority in the kitchen." He replied. "I got too excited and wasn't paying attention."

[Wewuwe]

"..n-no it's okay." Ulrich tried to focus, not use to someone touching him. He would never admit it, but it had been a good year and a half since he was even remotely physical with another...

 

He felt his gaze move from the hand in his chest, to his shoulders, to his sharp jawline.

He made a small noise, almost trying to wiggle from his touch, but only backing into the counter more. "I...I can do it myself Seiji, really, it's okay." He tried to stay focused, licking his suddenly dry lips as his gaze fell to Seiji's lips.

[Noise Prince]

"Oh, yeah, sorry!" Seiji stepped away, removing his hand from the cloth when Ulrich placed his own hand on it to take over. Their hands overlapped briefly, and Seiji pulled away rather quickly. He looked away from Ulrich, and wiped his hand on the seat of his pants.

 

"I'll get the cream out." He said, going to the kit on the counter beside the tall blond. "Ah, yeah, I forgot I had some left." He added, taking out a small bottle of a pain-reliever, the rattling indicating there was maybe three or four left. "You should take two of these, too." He said, opening a cabinet to take down a glass to fill with water for him.

[Wewuwe]

"Thank you, it's just a small burn, I'm more upset about the candy.." He said as he held the washcloth to the burn, letting out a low, pain-filled moan. "Okay, so this definitely hurts like hell." He chuckled nervously, glancing up to watch Seiji leave for a moment. He walked over to where his boss was filling the water.

"You're like a worried mother." He said softly, reaching out to take the pain pills from his hand, his fingers brushing against his not very subtly. He put down the wash cloth for a moment to open the bottle, pouring out two pills.

"Thank you." He spoke gently, his voice still slightly off from how Seiji touched him, almost like his body wanted more..

[Noise Prince]

"We can always make more candies." Seiji assured him, unraveling a bit of gauze. He hated how he liked the way Ulrich moaned… he was in pain! But despite that, in was so low and rich.

 

"If I was like a good mother, you wouldn't have been burned in the first place." He replied in a teasing tone. "But it'll hurt less once the pills kick in." He added, handing him the pills, their hands touched yet again. This time, Seiji let his hand linger a little longer in his employee's. He looked up, greeted with the now-familiar sight of Ulrich's handsome face looking downwards, his broad chin and jaw sitting on his muscular neck. His hand finally withdrew.

 

"Yeah, n-no problem." Seijie answered.

[Wewuwe]

Ulrich tried to read the expression Seiji had on his face when he moved his hand away, but couldn't figure it out.

He felt his heartbeat quicken at the thought of what Seiji was thing about.

"Are you alright?" He decided to ask instead. He stepped forward, backing the other man against the counter.

"You're the one who doesn't look very good right now. You look anxious." He was worried Seiji ha a weak stomach and would pass out from looking at the burn.

[Noise Prince]

"Do I?" Seiji asked, his brows furrowing a bit. He looked away, and leaned back, against the counter behind him, in front of the box of medical supples. "Sorry, I guess it's been a while since I've treated a burn." He replied. "I remember how, don't worry." He added.

 

He looked back up Ulrich's bare torso and up to his face.

 

"How's it feel now?" He asked. "Think you need to keep the cloth on for a bit longer?"

[Wewuwe]

Ulrich pulled away the cloth, hissing softly as the fresh air nipped at the burnt flesh.

"I think it'll be okay.." He murmured, looking down at Seiji.

The way he leaned against the counter made the blonde want to crowd against him and pull him close.

 

God, what am I thinking? Ulrich creased his brow in frustration, looking at his boss.

"Do we bandage it or keep it exposed?" He couldn't remember. Even taking in a deep breath cause the burn to stretch and send a sharp pain to his chest.

The blonde groaned and hunched over, catching himself just before he toppled over Seiji.

"I didn't expect that to hurt as much as it did." He had the other man caged against the counter, just begause he was holding himself up so he didn't fall over.

"I'm sorry.." He was sure the man felt uncomfortable. "It just hurts to move still. The pain meds need to kick in soon.."

[Noise Prince]

"Ah, no, we need to apply a soothing aloe gel," Seiji explained, his voice sounded a bit odd since his throat was stretched upward.

 

He was about to turn to get something from the box, but Ulrich's great height seemed to nearly topple.

 

"Whoa-!" Seiji nearly reached up for his chest, but caught himself at the last moment, and placed them on either side of the man's shoulders. Ulrich was more or less stable himself, propping himself with his hands against the counter behind Seiji, but the smaller man remained with his hands in place.

 

"I'm sure they will. I'm sorry it hurts so much, but bear with it and soon enough it will hurt less. We can wait for the pain-killers to take effect before we put the gel on it."