Archive of Our Own

One Month

To a man like Ren Amamiya, designing and decorating cakes was an easy task. He created works of art on the daily-- from cakes to tortes, and from chocolates to eclairs. Ren could do it all.

He’d studied in France for seven years, and he’d owned his own bakery for three. Day in and day out, Ren creates lovely works of art with nimble hands and a keen eye. He is a man of detail-- critical of each creation.

His hard work was hardly unnoticed. After participating (and occasionally winning) multiple contests in the past, his name could be heard world-round on the tongues of food critics and judges.

The desserts he decorated were luscious; and to taste them was the dream of many.

Needless to say, when the question came up of who would be creating the cake for the day of his wedding, the answer was simple.

“Myself, of course.”

He was told that it was a bad idea. He was advised that it was probably the worst idea; but he was determined (and probably a little too stubborn about this whole scenario) to show what he was capable of.

One didn’t underestimate the best pastry chef in the world.

(Or well, someone who said they were the best pastry chef in the world.)

Creating cakes was something that he loved. It was something that he thoroughly enjoyed, even when someone just wanted a plain cake (what an insult. Didn’t they know who was designing it?). He took great pride in his work.

And wedding cakes were one of his absolute favorites to design.

Something about designing the dessert for a couples most special day just brought him so much joy.

At least when the fondant decided it would cooperate with him.

Sighing as he kneaded the coloring into the fondant in his hands, Ren watched the sugar dough carefully for any signs of streaking. Some days the colors just didn’t like to work with him. Usually he would have someone else fold in the dyes, but the one time he decided that it was about time he tried again getting the right shade of pink seemed impossible.

It appeared that it was obvious he was having difficulty, because soon a mop of blonde hair appeared in his peripheral, his assistant baker Ryuji peering down at the mess in front of him.

“S’wrong, maestro?” He asked, clear teasing in the tone of his voice. “Thought you said you could do it this time.”

A scoff came from Ren’s throat and he stood back from the workbench, pushing his glasses up onto his nose higher with the back of his hand. Sugar and glasses really didn’t mix, and his hands were stained a rather cute pink at the moment. He really didn’t need his glasses to look the same.

“I can.” He said, sending a small glare at his friend. Usually no one opposed him-- not like this. Usually others be intimidated by the baker’s attitude, but Ryuji never seemed too intimidated by Ren to tease him. It could have been due to the length or nature of their relationship. Ren considered Ryuji his best friend, after all.

“I just can’t seem to find the shade that I’m looking for.”

Stepping back from the product, Ryuji pressed one hand to his lips, thinking. He seemed very focused on his thoughts before snapping his fingers. “I got it!” He said before rushing off to the nearby ingredient shelving.

Ren watched as he rooted through the various gel dyes that were on the shelf, eventually coming up with one color he liked before making his way back to Ren’s workstation. Proudly, he slammed a large bottle down onto the table, then crossed his arms over his chest.

Frowning, Ren looked down at the bottle with a raised eyebrow. What was Ryuji thinking? Purple? But that would just… Turn the project purple.

Ren reached out, fingers wrapping around the bottle as he lifted it up. He’d have to clean the pink off of it later, it seemed. But for now, he really didn’t care.

“Lilac?” He asked, carefully eyeing the blonde. Usually he would just mix his own shades of purple, but sometimes a color called for a little bit more, and one would have to experiment a little with some pre mixed colors.

“Yeah!” Ryuji said, smile proudly working across his cheeks.

“Ryuji, this is purple. I’m making pink."

The blonde just heaved a sigh, his smile fading into a determined frown. He pushed the bottle, which Ren was holding pretty close to his face a little away. The eye contact he made with the black haired male was probably a little too aggressive, and it made Ren’s frown even deeper. Ugh. He knew that look.

“D’ya trust me?”

Why did Ryuji always have to say stuff like that when he was trying to prove his point?

Ren knew better than to oppose him at this point.

“Yes.” He said after a soft sigh. Flipping open the cap, Ren dropped a couple of drips of the lilac onto the fondant before setting the bottle aside to begin kneading the color into the fondant again.

“It’ll soften the color, you know.” Ryuji said, leaning on the table, to which Ren just hummed.

He was right though. The lilac really did soften the pink quite a bit. He’d only added a little to the project, but the colder hue really made the pink seem a lot more comfortable rather than powerful.

No wonder he usually forced Ryuji into making his colors for him. Even the most vague descriptions of “it’s not orange enough!” seemed to get the right shade he wanted.

Sometimes Ren hated how good Ryuji was. He was oh-so helpful though.

After a bit of silence, Ren finally becoming satisfied with his colors, and began the tedious job of rolling it out to the thickness he liked.

Using a sheeter was nice, but for the larger pieces he would definitely have to use his rolling pin. He brought out his favorite from beneath the table, pressing it on top of the fondant and began to press it out to the thickness he liked.

Ryuji seemed content with watching him too, leaning over onto the table, chin propped into the palms of his hands while he watched Ren work. It didn’t really bother Ren much-- many of his workers tended to watch and learn from the master. But Ryuji was probably busy, right? A little bit of personal space would be nice. Ren would probably have to shoo him away in a few short minutes.

Ryuji seemed to have other plans though.

“Hey,” he began, and Ren continued his pulverizing of the fondant as he listened. “You’re getting married soon too, huh?”

It was true. While Ren turned the dough on the table, Ryuji had began to stir up conversation.

Couldn’t he see that Ren was busy at the moment? He was thinking about someone else’s wedding. His own could come later, right?

“I’m aware.” He mentioned as he finished up the fondant, draping it over his rolling pin and then taking it to the first stack of cakes. He laid it over the top of the cake and then placed his rolling pin down, hands cupping the dessert to shape the fondant around it skillfully.

“Heard you wanted to make your own cake. Crazy move.”

Was there a point to this conversation? It seemed as though there were underlying meanings to Ryuji’s words, but he certainly seemed to be beating around the bush. Hell, Ren was able to finish the layer of fondant between his hum of response and the next time Ryuji spoke.

“You sure you can handle that?”

It was true that Ren had been asked no less than a thousand times if he was going to be making his own wedding cake, and the responses he’d received when he’d mentioned that he was were…

They were not encouraging.

He’d been told so many times in the past that if he’d ever managed to land himself a spouse, one of the worst ideas would be to make his own wedding cake. Even his predecessor had mentioned it when speaking about the own struggles with his own wedding cake.

But like teacher like student, Ren supposed.

But he knew. He was a million percent confident that he’d be more comfortable making his wedding cake. If he left it to anyone else-- even Ryuji, he would never be able to keep at peace.

No one could design and execute a cake like him, after all.

And asking for anyone’s help with the cake was entirely out of the question. Who was he? Some low-grade blue-tie? No. He’d earned his blue tie with honor and dignity, and through the skill he’d mastered with his own strong (yet delicate) hands.

Before Ryuji could ask anything else, Ren picked up a spare piece of fondant that he’d cut earlier to drape over a second stack of cakes before he began to smooth out that one as well. It wouldn’t be long before he could properly begin to decorate with the roses that he’d created out of gumpaste the day before.

They did need a little time to dry, after all.

“I’m completely confident in my own skills, Ryuji.” He insisted, intently focused on the cake in front of himself. And once that was done, Ren stood upright and tugged a washcloth from the apron around his waist to dust his hands off a little bit. He turned towards the blonde with a frown as well, his hands then resting on his hips. “I’m assuming you’re not nearly as confident as I am.”

“It’s difficult.”

“I've heard.”

He was getting sick of so many others judging him for the choice he was making. Creating his own wedding cake had been a dream of his for years, and he really didn’t appreciate others trying to sway him from his choice.

That was it. This was what Ren wanted to do, and nothing anyone said would change what he wanted to do.

If there was nothing else that could be said about him, Ren was stubborn.

Ryuji opened his mouth to speak again after that, but Ren just held one hand up in the air as if to tell him to shut his mouth, to which the blonde barely considered. Still, the pastry chef was able to speak uninterrupted.

“Is there a point to you bringing this up? Because I’d like to get back to work in peace.”

Ryuji took the opportunity to sit up after that, one hand lingering on the workbench as he looked at Ren, a frown on his own face. “Look,” he began, turning slightly on the stool to face his boss. “I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

Oh, so he was just worried, was he? There was nothing to worry about! Ren had the whole situation covered. And he was about to say just that when Ryuji spoke again.

“Have you thought about what you want the cake to look like yet?”

Now it was Ren’s turn to open his mouth, but no words fell out.

He wanted to say yes, but then he would be lying.

He’d thought about it only briefly at the beginning of his engagement to his beloved Yusuke-- back when his eyes still sparkled with the light reflecting off of the ring that he’d purchased for his love.

Times did change. And with the planning of the wedding came different measures to think about before the possibility of the cake’s decorations could be taken into account.

Ren closed his mouth immediately after he’d opened it, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

He really didn’t want to lie to Ryuji.

With that, he turned back to the table, picking up the smaller of the two stacks of cake and carefully-- very carefully--placing it atop the other. He placed the stack on the top of a turntable, and then he spoke.

“I have not.”

Then he slipped to the nearby shelving unit, picking up two small trays of prepared flowers before he brought them back to the table. He set them down and then turned to the table behind himself to pick up the bag of frosting that he’d prepared long before. He had to get to piping the decorations on, right? This cake was meant to be finished by the next day.

“Time is running out, you know.”

Of course Ryuji would be concerned about that, but not Ren. He was the wedding cake master. Not even his own cake would get the best of him.

“Yes, I know.” He insisted as he took the piping bag to the cake to pipe around the edges. “It won’t be difficult to come up with something. I have too much to worry about right now to think about my cake.”

“I know you know your techniques and everything, but we don’t need you running around here in a panic the week before your wedding because you have no idea what you’re planning on presenting to your husband.”

Ren paused in his work to look at Ryuji with a frown. “It won’t be that last minute!” It was like Ryuji didn’t have any faith in him!

And then Ryuji leaned on the table again, chin pressed to a clenched fist. “It’s not just your cake, you know.” Then he seemed to perk up a little bit-- just as Ren got back to work with his delicate frosting beading. “Did Yusuke mention anything he’d like on the cake?”

Ren just hummed after that, cleaning the tip of the pastry bag with his thumb and then rubbing it on his apron. “No.”

“Nothing at all?” Ryuji seemed… Confused about that. “I thought someone of his standing would love to have his nose in the cake business.”

What was that supposed to mean?

Frowning again, Ren stood upright, one hand on his hip. “Despite his background in painting, Yusuke decided that the cake is something that only I get a say in. He doesn’t know much about desserts in general, if I may remind you.”

“Then you’re really not working off of much, are you?” Despite his words, there was a small smile on his lips. “Just start thinkin’ about it, okay? So you don’t have to worry later.”

Ren just sighed after that, bending over and getting back to his work as he turned the cake slightly.

“It will be fine, Ryuji.”

Three Weeks

Suits. Suits were an essential part of every wedding. Looking the part of a newlywed couple was important.

Getting fitted for your suit was important.

Getting a suit at the same store as your fiance wasn’t exactly unheard of, but going with your fiance was… Different. Usually couples didn’t want to see what each other were wearing before the day of the wedding, but Ren had never considered the relationship he shared with his fiance as traditional, so he assumed it would extend to this.

However, Yusuke had convinced him that they really shouldn’t see each other in their suits at all. Ren would consider that far too traditional, but he obeyed his fiance’s small request without hesitation.

That didn’t mean they couldn’t get their fittings done on the same day though. It saved time, and offered a few more intimate moments together.

They’d wondered if renting suits was a better option at first, but why not go the extra step? Buy the suit that you planned to wear on the day of your wedding so that it may be tailored properly.

So that you could look your best that day.

Ren was the first to try on his suit.

And he stood there in the dressing room, admiring himself in the mirror. He had to say that he looked rather dashing. A pitch black suit complimented him nicely-- he always thought so. And along with a black tie, it could be considered a classic.

Was the black shirt too much though?

Maybe it was.

He was definitely having reservations about it at the moment.

He scrutinized himself in the reflective surface, fingers gently clenching the lapels to adjust the fabric against himself. Just as he sighed and leaned forwards towards the mirror, hand running through his hair to inspect it brushed back, he heard his fiance speak.

“You’ve been quiet for some time. Is there an issue with the suit?”

Yusuke’s voice was distinct. Posh and gentle, his voice was as smooth as the coffee Ren drank that morning.

His words did have Ren frowning harder than he’d already been doing, and the black haired male stood upright, bringing his wrist up so that he could look at the sleeves a little more closely.

He didn’t want to worry Yusuke though, so he answered as quickly as he could manage.

“The pants are a tad bit too short.” He’d noticed it immediately after he’d pulled them on.

He could hear Yusuke hum from the other side of the curtain, and there was the distinct ruffling of the few bags that were piled around the other male from previous purchases they’d made that day in the plaza. Likely, he was shifting in his seat, perhaps a bit nervously.

“You do have long legs.” And then there was a slight pause. “The tailor mentioned that may be a problem with the size you’d needed.”

Ren had been really adamant about not needing to go up a size in suit. There was no need if it was just the length of the pants that would be the issue.

Right?

“He’d also mentioned there was some fabric he’d be able to let out if that were the case.”

“You’re right.”

Ren could hear the bags rustling again.

“I’ll fetch an employee promptly.”

Ren couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. It was so unusual for Yusuke to worry about something so passionately. But he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop Yusuke once he was off and looking for the nearest poor, unfortunate soul.

He could, however, attempt to talk him out of it before he was able to escape.

Careful to hide his suit beneath the curtain on the small dressing room (Yusuke had insisted that they not see each other, after all), Ren leaned in the doorway. The curtain was tucked under his chin.

“Hey.” He said, a small smile playing on his lips.

Yusuke had indeed stood up from his spot in the chair provided for him. But he did stop when he heard Ren’s voice, turning to meet his gaze.

“Take a breath,” Ren continued. “I’ve never seen you so nervous.”

Yusuke visibly took the breath that he was ordered to, a small frown on his face.

“I apologize.” He said. He seemed rather deflated. Maybe he was more worried about this whole wedding situation than Ren would have ever thought to see. Yusuke was never someone that he thought he’d see worry about something as simple as this.

“The date is coming quickly,” Yusuke continued, his gaze falling to the floor as he spoke. “I suppose it’s just pre-wedding nerves. I’ve never planned-- nor participated, in something so elaborate.”

Really? But the planning had been relatively easy so far. They’d found a venue relatively easily (one that could be used for both the ceremony and the reception. What a find, really), and their tuxedos were, in Ren’s case, easy to plan. Finding food that suited Ren’s taste had been a bit of an adventure, but they’d settled on something after a while. Party favors were already in the process. They only really had to organize them at the moment.

There was the cake situation, but how difficult could that really be? Ren had made so many cakes in the past that he had nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

He did wonder if Yusuke was having more trouble with the suits, or if he was worried about something else more instead-- his concerns rubbing off on all of the elements that came along with a wedding.

For the first time, Ren found himself frowning that afternoon. Usually the time he spent with Yusuke was something that he treasured. It wasn’t often that they argued, and negative points were usually tip toed around in their household.

However, if he was being honest, Ren could admit that Yusuke had been seeming relatively… Depressed (was it?) lately. Rarely did he see a smile on his face, and he always looked so lost in thought.

Maybe it was about time he started paying more attention to Yusuke.

Sighing, Ren thought for a moment. Usually he knew just what to say to make his fiance happy. But something seemed different about him in this moment. Ren couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was upsetting him, and that thought was a bit unnerving.

“Hey.” He said again, bringing Yusuke’s attention back to himself. “Close your eyes.”

Yusuke opened his mouth in a futile attempt to protest, but he closed it just as quickly. Shrinking back a bit (a feat Ren hadn’t seen him do in years), he did as he was told and closed his eyes.

And once Ren was absolutely certain that he wasn’t peeking, he dropped the curtain to the changing room and made his way closer. He took Yusuke’s chin in his hands and pulled him close and into a gentle kiss, the thumb of one hand rubbing the artist’s cheek gently.

Only when he pulled away did he speak again.

“It’s okay.” He said, feeling a smile grace his lips as they gently brushed against Yusuke’s while he formed the words. “We’re working on this together.”

“Right,” Yusuke muttered, and Ren felt him let out a gentle breath. “Together.”

Something about the way he said that didn’t calm Ren’s nerves as much as he’d hoped.

Two Weeks

A week had gone by since the first time Ryuji had asked Ren about his ideas for the wedding cake. Work had been going smoothly, or relatively so, since then.

Overall, Ren had no complaints. Not until Ryuji was bound to bother him, that was.

And just as he was thinking about when the blonde was going to make his infamous entrance into the bakery, he spotted that familiar mop of hair wandering into the room, his boisterous voice greeting everyone for the day.

After shedding his coat and hanging it up in the closet, he was quick to invade Ren’s workspace, leaning on the table to watch Ren work on the profiteroles that he was currently filling.

The pastry bag in his hand came to a halt when he glanced to Ryuji over the rim of his glasses, a scowl already fixed upon his face.

“Ouch!” Ryuji said, though the smile on his lips said he wasn’t offended in the slightest. “What’s that look for?”

Standing upright, Ren set one hand on his hip as he looked across the table to the other male. “I’m well aware of your antics, Sakamoto. Get it over with.”

Ryuji seemed genuinely surprised by the statement, eyes widening and grin on his face only growing. “Hey, hey!” He said, chuckling softly. “At least give me some credit!”

Ren’s scowl softened and he heaved a small sigh. Ryuji was right. He shouldn’t automatically be on guard when the blonde confronted him.

He did, however, know Ryuji a lot better than the other male would have liked.

He decided to give Ryuji the benefit of the doubt though, and he leaned back over the table a bit, picking up one of the pastries and filling it as much as it would be allowed with the flavored pastry cream that one of the other bakers had prepared earlier.

“It’s nice to see you, Ryuji. How are you?” Ah, play it nice. That’s how he’d imagined would be most befitting of the moment, at least.

Ryuji gave another chuckle after that, finally leaving the table and heading to the sink to wash his hands. He was quick with it, drying his hands on a sheet of paper towel before he met Ren at the table again. Picking up the metal container of chocolate that his boss had set atop the table, he slipped it into the nearest oven and set it on the lowest heat setting. It appeared that he was willing to help drizzle chocolate over the finished cream puffs-- once it had melted, at least.

It was a good thing that he’d set it into the oven. Ren had completely forgotten about it-- an embarrassing notion since it’d been sitting on the table in front of himself. Hopefully the blonde wouldn’t mention it.

And he didn’t seem to want to, instead reaching under the table and pulling out another pastry bag from one of the containers- fixing it with a pastry tip and then snipping off the end with a knife he kept in one of the pockets of his chef coat. Taking the rubber spatula that was sitting on the tray of pastry cream, he filled his bag and then began starting on the unfilled cream puffs.

So he really was planning on being helpful today. Good. Ren had found himself running a bit behind earlier, and he really wanted to be finished with a few more pastry types before he had to open the bakery for the day.

“You know,” Oh, here it was. Ryuji was finally going to get started with his annoyances for the day, huh? “I was thinkin’ about the wedding.”

Of course. The wedding. That seemed to be topic of the century, didn’t it? Ren was almost tired of hearing his employees bring up the event at times. Sure, it was nice to have people care enough to talk about it, but there was also a bit of underlying pressure in hearing someone else bring it up. Ren was used to living up to the expectations of strangers, but what if he couldn’t meet those of the people that he cared about?

Yusuke’s opinion of the wedding was the one he was most worried about hearing.

Sure, the artist helped pick out most of the elements of the wedding. The venue, the decorations, the food… But what if there was something he was unsatisfied with?

Memories of when they were trying on their suits filled Ren’s mind again. Yusuke had clearly been nervous about something. Ren had chalked it up to pre-wedding jitters, but was it a little early for those?

Ren had never been married before. He wouldn’t know.

“Yes, what about it?” It was best to get this conversation over with as soon as possible, right?

In the back of his mind, Ren noted that it’d become a bit more quiet in the kitchen. He supposed the others had picked up on Ryuji’s words and were silently listening in. Gossip spread fast in the bakery. One could only imagine why.

“Well, you’re supposed to be thinking about what you want your cake to look like.” Right. Of course. This conversation again. Ryuji really couldn’t let it go, huh?

The stack of cream puffs was depleting a lot more quickly than it had when Ren was working on it alone though. Maybe there was one good thing about an annoying conversation like this.

“I’m aware of that.”

“When we make cake for customers though, we already know what we’re going to make for the couple…” And then Ryuji paused, and Ren spotted him looking at some figment of his own imagination-- likely a watch, on his wrist. Oh, he was toying with Ren. “Oh, about five months ago.”

Ren felt himself roll his eyes. Of course they liked to know what they wanted to make for customers. They had to order ingredients, make test bakes for the couple, discuss how they wanted the cake to look… It was a lot of work. A lot of planning went into creating a wedding cake.

“My case is different.” And of course it was. Ren was going to be making his own cake, after all. The only thing he had to worry about was what he wanted the cake to look like. Getting a rush delivery for his own cake was less of a big deal than it was for a customer. He still had plenty of time before he had to put in that order anyway.

His wedding was three weeks away. That was plenty of time for him to think of something. Admittedly, he hadn’t been thinking about the situation as much as he should have. But he was busy planning other things for the wedding! Something as easy for him as the cake could most certainly be thought about later on!

“If I’m making my own cake, then there’s less to worry about. The time slot is already reserved for myself, after all.”

Spring was the busiest season for weddings, so it was no wonder everyone tried to make their cake reservations early so that they knew they would be getting what they liked.

The advantage of owning a bakery yourself, however, was that you got first dibs on when you wanted your cake done.

That whole week was planned to be busy though. It was a good thing he and Yusuke had decided on a date so early.

“That’s not really the point.” Ryuji said after that, hands resting on the table after that. He looked at Ren as he did, and even the black haired male paused so that he could look at the blonde across from himself. “You should have it all planned out so you’re not doing it last minute.”

“I don’t plan on coming up with a design last minute.”

Ryuji frowned after that, and he spared a glance around the cafe for a moment. “You know, I plan on helpin’ ya out on your cake. And I bet everyone else here wants to put in some sorta effort too.”

There was a small chorus of agreement from behind Ren, and he found himself frowning. Right. So it wasn’t just about planning on his part. Everyone wanted to contribute.

Ren couldn’t help but smile. He did appreciate the efforts of his employees, but…

“As I stated before my engagement, I will be taking care of the cake by myself.”

It was a promise he had made to himself long ago.

Sighing, Ryuji placed the objects in his hands down, and then wandered to the printer on the opposite side of the room. He took out a piece of paper and then returned to Ren’s table, tugging the pen from the arm pocket on his chef coat and leaning on the table.

“Come on,” he began, drawing up a few rectangles onto the paper. “At least let me help you design somethin’. Making the cake by yourself is one thing, but you need an idea first.”

Ryuji was really going to be getting on his case about this today, huh? Hopefully something would come up to distract him.

Wait. A distraction.

“Ryuji,” he said, watching carefully as he finished filling up the cream puff in his hand. “I have a lot of work to do. You’re distracting me.” Maybe that would give Ryuji the clue that Ren wanted him to get lost.

But Ren could only notice the disappointment that Ryuji seemed to give up as he stood up a little better, palm pressed to the paper on the table.

“C’mon, man. Three weeks!”

“Yes.” Ren placed his items down on the table after that, hands on his hips. “Three weeks for myself to plan, prepare, and execute the perfect example of a wedding cake.” And with that, his hands moved to his hips, smearing a bit of pastry cream onto the apron he’d tied around himself. “Now, if you’ll excuse me--”

Ren took the time to push past Ryuji and make his way to the oven. Opening it up, he used a spare pair of oven mitts to pull out the container of chocolate, which had fully melted by that point.

Placing it down on his table, Ren was quick to grab one of the forks he had lying down on the table-- an easy way to drizzle the chocolate onto the pastries.

“You’re distracting me. Get to work before I fire you.” That should be a terrifying enough excuse for Ryuji to leave him alone, right? His job was on the line!

Ren’s hopes were dashed when he heard Ryuji chuckle.

“All right, all right. I get it.” He said, hands in the air in front of himself. “I’ll leave you alone. But don’t come cryin’ to me when everythin’ ain’t as fine as you keep insistin’ on!”

What a cheeky bastard. He knew about the false accusations in Ren’s threat.

Pouting as Ryuji finally left him be, Ren dipped his fork into the chocolate and began drizzling it over the profiteroles.

At least he was safe again. For now.

Having the same group of friends as your fiance was nice. They were always welcome to come along to friend meetings, there was no question as to whether it would be appropriate or not to be friends with a certain person, and there were a lot less names to memorize.

However, when you knew your friend group also had to take your fiance out for a bachelor party, you really couldn’t help but wonder what route they would have taken for him. Should you expect your fiance to come home safely and at an appropriate time? Or may they wind up in jail-- ripping a good few grand from your pocket?

Luckily Yusuke had come home safe and sound a few days prior, albeit a little tipsy.

Ren expected the same of himself at his own bachelor party, to be honest. He usually drank more than Yusuke, yes, but he really wasn’t looking forward to bothering his fiance so late at night when he was unable to unlock a door.

(But he could still properly recite and solve the entirely of the Gauss Theorem from memory while completely slushed. Alcohol did some strange things to one’s mind.)

Ren only had one request for his bachelor party though. He wanted a simple night-- nothing spectacular. A plain night in a not so rowdy place with his best friend.

Ryuji had taken him to his favorite bar. He’d expressed that all food and drinks were on him. Ren could never be more thankful for Ryuji’s intentions to bring him to the bar. It was a place he held dear to his heart.

Ren had met Yusuke in this very bar, after all.

Of course, they were both a bit more wild back in those days. Ren could almost laugh at how pitiful he’d been when he first met the artist--having to be forced by a good friend of his, Ann, to go over and actually talk to the guy he’d been practically staring at for a good portion of the night.

Ren owed a lot to her, apparently.

They sat at the bar, Ren leaning over the half-full glass of still frothed beer that Ryuji had ordered for him immediately upon their arrival.

It was a chilly night-- so much so that Ren hadn’t taken off his jacket even after they’d settled down. He wanted to get comfortably warm inside of the bar before he decided to get a little more comfortable.

Ren was really hoping that no talk about the cake for the wedding would come up. However, he wouldn’t place bets on it. The more time he spent with Ryuji in the recent month, the more and more the blonde brought up the issue of what the cake would look like. It wasn’t optimal, but Ren supposed he could see the reasoning in the blonde’s behavior. He was worried, and wanted to help him.

As annoying as that was.

The music blared through the bar at a volume almost too uncomfortable for Ren, but he really couldn’t do anything about that. There were plenty of other people around, and he was honestly a little glad that he could hear the music over their deafening chatter. It did make it difficult to hear Ryuji though.

But that might come in handy if he wanted to speak about something unsavory.

And Ryuji was certainly open to conversation, it seemed. He sat sideways on the barstool he’d decided to perch himself on, one elbow leaning on the counter as the other one rested on the back of his stool, a smile on his lips.

“Two weeks, huh?” He asked suddenly, and Ren found himself raising an eyebrow.

Well, yes. It was two weeks until the wedding. Usually, a couple would be worrying about the last of the details of the wedding by a time like this, but Ren found himself to be unusually calm. Yusuke was still a bit worried attimes, he’d noticed, but everything was fully planned out. Now, the wedding was more about waiting until the actual event.

He’d even managed to get his suit fixed in record time. Then again, there wasn’t much of an adjustment that had to be done. Thankfully, for Yusuke’s own sake, his suit had been perfectly fine, save for a few stitches to fix a waistline that was just too big to be comfortable.

He’d insisted upon a belt. Ren insisted he also get it tailored.

Ren was thankful that things were going smoothly now though. Aside from small bumps in the road along the way, it was smooth sailing. It was a good thing he was good at planning ahead. For someone who was usually a very last minute individual, Yusuke would probably be regretting every choice he’d made along the way at this point.

They meshed well, Ren supposed. It made for a good relationship.

“Ya scared?” Ryuji’s tone was teasing-- taunting, and Ren couldn’t say that he enjoyed it much at all, but he really couldn’t do anything about it. Of course the average human would want to ask such a question when the wedding was getting so close.

Ren couldn’t say that he was nervous though. Perhaps a little excited for the event to be over with due to the high influx of the same few questions from all of the people in his life.

Ryuji was the source of most of them though.

Ren took the time to sip from the glass of beer he’d been given, his gaze returning to the half-drained bottles of alcohol behind the bar. Colorful pieces. Suddenly they were much more interesting to look at than the blonde.

“Not particularly.” He mentioned over the drone of the crowd after he’d swallowed his drink. He placed it back upon the coaster he’d received with the glass, the monotony of the action causing him to not even have to look down to know just where it sat.

He could hear a soft laugh beside himself, and Ryuji was quick to lean onto the bar afterwards-- Ren had noticed in his peripheral. The blonde’s own drink, also a glass of beer, was pulled from the counter and Ren assumed he was taking a sip. Or perhaps downing the entire glass.

The later was proven correctly when the now empty glass was placed down on the bar, and Ryuji waved a hand at the nearby bartender to ask for another one.

And then, while he waited, he turned to Ren once again, leaning on the bar and almost mirroring the black haired male, though he actually made the notion to look at his boss. He’d always been far more polite than Ren could have ever hoped to be. Even in minor cases such as this one.

“Have you thought of what you want the cake to look like?” Ah, there it was yet again. They’d spoken about it recently and it’d been the topic for discussion for a while, but they’d really never made any progress in any of those conversations aside from the end result being two frustrated bakers.

Ren was really tired of these same few questions-- especially from Ryuji. Perhaps it was best they just settled on something together. If he was truthful, perhaps Ryuji would stop questioning altogether. And, my, did that sound lovely.

“Briefly.” Ren muttered after that, and his gaze fell to the glass of beer in front of himself.

He was sure that one word answers were not the way to get Ryuji to stop asking, but did he care to elaborate? It was much more he wasn’t sure what else to say.

“So? What were you thinkin’? Since I’m helping, I really wanted to know what we-”

“Helping?” Ren’s voice seemed to shock Ryuji-- the blonde’s mouth hanging open slightly as he stopped mid-sentence. He didn’t look offended, just stunned. “I thought we’d established that I would be working on the cake by myself.”

Ryuji’s mouth snapped shut for a moment in a pout as he thought about the words to say next. It didn’t take long for him to come up with something though.

“Well, yeah. We did talk about that, but I just thought that maybe I could help out. Y’know. Even though ya insist on doin’ it alone. Or at least help with some of the ideas.”

Ren couldn’t help but sigh at that, sitting up on his stool and then sparing one more glance in Ryuji’s direction.

“A croquembouche.”

“A croquembouche?”

“A croquembouche.”

Okay, maybe it seemed like some sort of last minute effort to attempt to pick out something for a wedding cake. It may not have been the best idea to just rattle off the top of his head, but Ren really had been considering having one to accompany the wedding cake. Perhaps one to sit on the dessert table with the other options that had already been decided on. It would certainly make an impact to have a large croquembouche sitting on one end of the table adorned with flowers and a caramel nest wrapped around it.

How elegant. Ren was sure that Yusuke would love something like that. Maybe not as the actual cake (as it could really hardly be called one), but it would be nice to have it. And with flowers to match their wedding cake?

Ah, that would be perfect. Ren knew it.

Ryuji did not look amused though. In fact, there was a frown on his face as he raised one eyebrow. “Okay,” he began, drawing out the vowels in the word. “But what about thereal cake?"

Oh. So he’d seen right through Ren’s half-hearted attempt to come up with a plan at the drop of a hat.

“That is the real cake.” Pushing this was probably the worst idea.

“I mean the cake that people are going to actually eat.” Well, he really did have a point. Due to the mess they caused, croquembouche were more suited for decoration rather than to actually feed people.

“You can eat a croquembouche.”

Honestly, Ren wasn’t sure why he kept insisting on digging this hole for himself deeper and deeper. Perhaps it was his reluctance to admit his own defeat at the hands of a cake.

He was a world-renowned pastry chef! He shouldn’t be having so much difficulty with one small project!

“What?” Ryuji scoffed after that, holding one hand out palm-up in exasperation. “Are you going to just feed everyone one cream puff each?”

“Perhaps.”

“You can’t do that and you know it.” Well, how matter-of-fact.

“I don’t see what the problem with it is.” Part of Ren wished that he would just keep his own mouth shut. It appeared as though that was too difficult for him though.

Ryuji probably wanted to rip his head off at the moment though. Ren almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

“Pulling apart a croquembouche would destroy all of the cream puffs. And cutting it would be just as bad mess-wise.” He said, his nose wrinkling. Nope. He was not amused. Not in the slightest. “Do you want everyone to walk away with their hands covered in pastry cream?”

And then he paused. It was a long pause, and the devilish smirk that spread over his face was almost too much to bear. Ren could feel himself pouting, and he suddenly felt the need to look away from the blonde.

“Or.” He began, and Ren shrank a little in his seat, sipping at his beer as if to distract himself. “Have you just not come up with any ideas at all?” Ryuji’s fingers were drumming atop the counter. “My, my. Are we losing our touch?”

How insulting! Ren was not losing his touch! He was every bit as wonderful at creating elaborate cakes as he had been fresh out of the Paris streets!

How dare Ryuji say something like that?

“I am not losing my touch, Sakamoto.” Ren said with a huff, looking at the blonde once more. “I’ll come up with something tomorrow. It’ll be fine.” There was no use in hiding it anymore. Clearly Ryuji knew that there was something wrong on Ren’s end.

Ryuji’s second glass of beer finally arrived just as Ren finished off his own. The glass was promptly removed from in front of him and replaced with a new one just as quickly. Ryuji must have ordered two of them earlier.

But then a thought crossed his mind. It was true that Ren hadn’t come up with any ideas for the cake, but… Well, he’d been thinking about it for a while. But what did he really want to make?

Maybe it really wouldn't be fine...

One Week

All right, so he had no plan. He wasn’t sure what to for the cake at all. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what flavor the cake should be. Granted, that might have been the very first thing he should have determined, but when in doubt, vanilla.

Still, he really didn’t want Yusuke’s wedding cake to be reduced to vanilla just because Ren had no idea just what flavor he would have liked.

It was mid afternoon, and Ren was hunched over a piece of paper-- pencil darting across the page with vigor as he planned. Three tiers? No, four. Five? Roses. No, definitely peonies. Beading? No, lace detailing. Buttercream? Should he add fondant?

This was difficult. Far too difficult for his liking. He thought that picking out something for his own wedding would be so much easier. As someone who created cakes on a daily basis, it should have been a walk in the park for him, right?

But maybe being around so many different cakes was actually his downfall.

Sighing, Ren sat up and balled yet another piece of paper and tossed it off to the side. It bounced upon the table twice before rolling to the far corner and coming to a rest. And then his pencil was promptly picked up once more and taken to a new sheet of paper. Start with a rectangle. Or should the cake be circular? Shit.

He really didn’t even know where to start.

Hell, none of his drawings were really sticking out to him. He tried everything. Everything that he could think of made its way onto the various strewn about pieces of balled up paper. Every single idea that he’d come up with in the past, every single idea that he’d portrayed onto a wedding cake, had been sketched out, but nothing-- nothing was standing out. For someone who saw wedding cakes on a daily basis, he would have thought that this would have been so much easier.

“You’ve been busy.”

He was not going to admit defeat. Especially not to Ryuji.

The blonde pulled a stool up to the table across from Ren and folded his arms atop the wood. Frowning, he picked up the paper ball closest to him after a few long moments of silence, Ren’s gaze set on the paper in front of himself.

Forehead pressed to the palm of one hand while the other taped his pencil on the paper, Ren never bothered to even look up at the blonde while he heard the paper being opened and unraveled, but the click of a tongue had Ren’s pencil stilling in his hand.

Upon glancing up at him, Ren was met with a frown to counter his own. Ryuji was holding the paper up and showing it off to Ren as if he’d never been the one to draw it to begin with.

Ren was not in the mood for this, and he felt his brows crease significantly.

“Throwin’ so many ideas away? Wow, looks like we got a problem, huh?”

What an insufferable asshole. Ren was far from in the mood to deal with someone such as Ryuji at a time like this.

He’d been thinking that a lot lately.

But Ryuji smiled after that though, placing the paper down and attempting to smooth it out for a few moments before giving up and leaning on top of it, chin pressed to the back of one of his hands.

“How can I help?”

Ren refused to admit that he needed help.

Sitting up himself, Ren placed his pencil down on top of his (currently blank) picture and looked at Ryuji properly, his arms crossing over his chest.

“I don’t need help.”

“Bullshit.”

Ouch. Well, at least Ryuji was honest. Ren supposed he had to at least give that to him.

There was a silence that fell upon them while the duo looked at each other-- a stand off between two very stubborn individuals. It was like a clash of the titans, and neither seemed willing to back down.

But it seemed as though Ryuji had decided to take a more logical approach to the situation instead of further clashing against his boss.

“Here.” He said as he reached over the table. Picking up Ren’s pencil, Ryuji flipped the crinkled paper in front of himself over to the back, starting with the basic outline of a cake.”We’ll start with basic decoration. Shape can come later. Ya want roses?”

Okay, so maybe he meant well, but this? This was a challenge-- one that Ren had taken on. Perhaps he had never initially thought that it’d be such a difficult challenge, but it was something that the still wanted to overcome on his own.

And as if upon sensing that Ren was uncomfortable, Ryuji put the pencil down. His gaze hovered to Ren once again, and he raised an eyebrow. “All right.” He said after sighing, and he sat upright as the arm he was leaning on fell to the table softly.

“All right, we’ll start here.” He leaned forward only slightly and onto his arms over the table. “What’s somethin’ that makes ya think of Yusuke?”

Ren thought for just a moment. “Art. Painting. The winter. Coffee. Pottery. Jagariko.” All simple things. But they were all Yusuke’s favorites. Granted, it was all stuff that anyone knew about him. But that much was obvious to anyone who spoke to the artist.

“Okay,” Ryuji began, drawing out the vowels in the word. “What about the kind of stuff that makes you think of your relationship with him?”

Ren took a few moments longer to think about that one. His gaze fell away from Ryuji and to the floor beside himself, hands falling to his lap as he thought.

“Warmth. Comfort. Someone I trust with everything. Someone I can talk to and who can talk to me. Care. Home.” They may have been generic things as well, but there was no other way Ren could describe the feeling he got when he was with Yusuke. Yusuke felt like home.

And he thought that it was a fitting answer.

“Okay, but those aren’t really things to make a wedding cake look like.”

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t great, but it was something.

Ren found himself pouting after that though, leaning onto the bench in front of himself. Threading a hand through his hair, he sighed before Ryuji spoke again.

“You shoulda worried about this sooner, you know.”

Ren could only continue to pout in response.

Despite his stress of the day, it was nice to come home to spend time and relax with Yusuke. Lately they’d had so much of their time occupied by nothing but affairs dealing with their wedding, but tonight? Ren had insisted on a night off.

Despite the fact that Ann had been bugging him to work on the wedding favors since he’d left work. Ah, they’d get to those tomorrow. No rush. None at all, right?

It wasn’t like there was only one week left until the wedding.

Ren was still dreading that thought.

The night ended in a flourish. Where it began with take out and a movie, it ended with something much more intimate. His position once above Yusuke was now beside him, arm draped over the artist’s stomach as heavy breath filled the air.

Bliss overcame Ren quite quickly at times, and post-coital cuddling was something the baker enjoyed-- cherished with Yusuke. Even when the artist wasn’t in the mood for it, Ren still felt the need for the comfort.

If only to show his appreciation to his fiance just a ilittle bit more. If he wasn’t affectionate enough, then who was to say that Yusuke understood just how much Ren loved him?

Pressing a kiss to Yusuke’s cheek after one rather deep intake of breath, Ren heaved a sigh. He was comfortable. Content. And the memory of calling his relationship with Yusuke his “home” filled his mind once again.

How warm and soft he felt in this moment. Ryuji would surely tease him if he ever found out.

Yusuke lay on his back though, only managing a small chuckle when Ren kissed the side of his face. He turned his head to look at the black haired male, then taking the time to stroke the bangs covered in sweat from his face with just the faintest of smiles.

Ren wanted to do the same to him, honestly.

He settled for reaching out to just stroke the side of Yusuke’s face gently. It was a tender moment. A silent moment. Ren didn’t feel the need to say anything, but he did urge Yusuke’s face closer to his.

A soft and lingering kiss was shared between them, and Ren took advantage of the moment with a small nibble onto Yusuke’s bottom lip. He may not have meant anything to further the moment, but the offer hung in the air if Yusuke asked for more.

He didn’t seem interested though, pressing one last kiss to Ren’s lips before he turned his head away, and Ren allowed it.

Draping his arm back over Yusuke’s stomach, Ren settled for resting lazy smooches upon Yusuke’s shoulder instead.

Maybe he was feeling a tad bit too affectionate at the moment.

Yusuke didn’t push him away though.

They were silent for a long while. Their heavy panting slowly turned into more even breathing, and Ren felt (or rather saw) his eyelids closing. It was probably a little too late for him to be drifting off to sleep, but he didn’t care enough to look at the time. He was too enveloped in the time he spent with Yusuke to care much for what time he fell asleep.

Even though he really had to wake up early for work. Oh well. One night of restlessness wouldn’t kill him. Probably.

Ren could hear a small yawn from beside himself, and he could feel the familiar shifting of movement from Yusuke to signify that he was probably covering his mouth with his hand.

A shower before he fell asleep was probably the best idea. But in the moment he didn’t really care for it. They’d cleaned up a bit, after all, and his body was far too tired to allow him to even get to his feet, let alone spending all of that time awake. And without Yusuke, of course, who Ren suspected was falling asleep just as quickly as he was.

That was until Yusuke spoke.

“I was thinking earlier.” He mused just as Ren was about to fall asleep, and the baker peeked open one eye to watch his fiance. Yusuke was holding one hand in the air, admiring the ring that Ren had bought for him months prior. He watched as the stones glistened in the dim light that shown through the window from the streetlamp.

Yusuke continued quickly.

“Our relationship,” he began, and Ren found one of his eyebrows raising. Curiosity piqued his interest, sleep no longer clouding his mind. What exactly was Yusuke getting to? “I was thinking of comparisons for it.”

So it was something as simple as that. Yusuke had always been poetic in nature. It was endearing at times, and rather peculiar at others.

“I should correct myself. I’ve thought about comparisons to our relationship for a long time, but I have never seemed to unearth the proper correlation until today.”

How long had Yusuke been thinking about it? Ren wouldn’t have been surprised if it’d been a long time.

Still the artist continued, his hand falling to rest atop Ren’s on his stomach as his sight set on the ceiling above them.

“To me, our relationship is quite similar to a flowing river. There are times when it is tame-- drifting at the pace of a snail as we do the mundane things that fill life. We pay bills, we shop for groceries, we clean.

“There are also times when the water flows more quickly. It is like the exciting bends in the river that take the shape of our dates, our shared laughter, and the passion that envelopes us during our day-to-day life. Whether it’s as simple as pouring a cup of coffee for each other, or nights like tonight, it matters not.”

“And, finally, there are the rapids. They are quick and fierce. The fast flowing and dangerous curves are when we fight and when we are upset with each other. It may be when one of us feels unappreciated or pushed aside, or it may be the excess spending habits that we both share at times, and it may be during the times when we can’t seem to get through a moment without bickering.

“But all parts of the river are essential. Environments could not exist without their aid, and I would like to think that I couldn’t exist without our river as well. I live for the exciting bends in the waves more than anything else, but I don’t mind settling for the steady waters or the rapids either. I’d just…”

And then he paused, sighing. It took him a moment, but he seemed to gather up the courage to turn to look at Ren after that, and Ren felt his heart skip one beat-- maybe two.

“No matter what the moment may be, I crave the time that I get to spend with you. It is my personal river-- my source of life. Nothing else in this world could make me feel more affluent, dazzling, tenacious, or even cherished.”

And though Ren really wanted to spend time dwelling on the words that Yusuke had just poured out from his heart to him, a sudden thought came to his mind-- flashing brighter than any light bulb.

Hell, he had found the answer he’d been looking for all day.

He knew exactly what to do for the cake.

The cake was baked early in the morning. In fact, Ren made sure to finish it as quickly as possible. Four tiers. Round. Nice and fluffy and tall. Ren even had a small amount of batter left to make a test cake.

It was delicious.

The champagne-baked-and-flavored cakes had been flipped out of their various pans quite a while ago. They sat on their cooling racks, heavy and awaiting the next portion of their preparation.

While they cooled, Ren worked on the frosting. Raspberry.

He planned on adding raspberries between the cakes’ layers as well.

Wonderful.

And as he finished up the frosting, he checked the cakes. Fortunately, they were cooled enough to work with, and for that he was thankful. He needed to get them assembled and covered in fondant as soon as possible so that it would dry in time.

Cutting, trimming, and frosting the cakes took little time. In fact, it took a longer time for them to cool enough in the refrigerator afterwards. But with the time he had left, Ren could get to rolling out the fondant-- by hand, of course.

The first cake was ready to be covered by the time the last one was finished being iced. So, like clockwork, Ren worked as fast as his hands would allow. Thankfully the majority of the fondant would remain white just so that he didn’t need assistance with any colors.

And, yes, he was still a tad bit upset about that situation.

The cakes were fully assembled, covered, and stored in one of the walk-in refrigerators long before his first employee showed up for work. It may have been an early start to the morning and he may have been nearly falling asleep by the time he left in the evening, but at least the most difficult portion of the work was done with.

Hopefully his “do not touch!” sign atop the covered cake would be a headed warning.

And while he trusted everyone else with the day’s work, Ren began working on a few flowers. He’d make them white at first and with a slightly yellowed center, and the painting would be done after they’d dried.

The next day he began work on painting those flowers. For now he’d have to leave the cakes alone. The flowers had to dry just as nicely as the fondant, after all.

Each flower was delicately hung on a rack so that they all could dry properly. Setting them down on their side would completely ruin their shape. Overnight they seemed to have kept their composure nicely.

Flat petals with ruffled edges looked as soft as silk, and Ren sat down happily at his table with his tray of flowers, picking up and inspecting a few of them before he pulled out hi assortment of petal dusts. He set the box filled with the colors down in front of himself and quickly pulled out the first color he liked.

Mixing it with just a bit of lemon extract, Ren created a nice watery base for the dust.

Blue. Blue was for imagination, creativity, sensitivity. All words that he’d use to describe Yusuke. Trust, loyalty, sincerity, and even stability. Blue was a color that was very much fitting for his beloved.

He began with a lovely shade of light (perhaps baby, even) blue at the center of the flower. With a brush carefully dipped in just a bit of the powder, Ren dusted the petals beginning at the center column. It remained rather pigmented towards the center, but slowly he drifted the color to lighter shades the closer he got to the outside of the petals. He was hoping to create a lovely ombre effect for the flowers.

And once all of them had been properly painted, Ren got to work with the next color.

Purple. Most notably associated with nobility, purple could also represent dignity, wisdom, pride. It could show mystery and luxury. It was a color that represented the elements of blue, with the underlying ferocity of red. Energy, strength, and determination also show through purple, and that was a color that (not only looked lovely with blue, but) he could entwine into his beliefs in their relationship.

The transition from blue to purple on the flowers was soft and gentle and just as he’d hoped it’d be. A light lilac color, it was a nice contrast to the blue, and stood out without being overpowering.

And once all that was done, Ren could put his petal dusts away. Luckily, the first few flowers had already dried by the time he finished, so he could get onto the last bit of painting.

Standing from his seat, Ren made his way over to the shelf where the gels and paints were stored, searching for the color he’d had in mind.

Faintly, in the near distance, Ren could hear a comment come from Ryuji.

“You’ve been busy the last couple of days, huh? Finally thought of somethin’?”

Ren didn’t respond. However, as he tugged the correct bottle from the shelf, he found himself smiling at Ryuji. Cakes were easy. They were his specialty.

He ducked back to his table as quickly as he could. Onto his stool he sat, and then a new paintbrush was acquired.

Dumping a few small globs of the paint onto a test piece of parchment paper he’d used earlier, Ren dipped the paintbrush into it before taking the color to just the edges of the flowers.

A light, champagne-colored gold-- a perfect nod to the flavor and color of the cake beneath the fondant, and yet another color with significance.

Gold was illuminous. It represented love, courage, passion, as well as love and wisdom. It was extravagant and shone brightly in the light. It was a color that he considered could represent himself.

And once he’d painted the tips of all of the flowers, Ren took a look at his handiwork.

Smiling down at the flowers, Ren admired them. Starting at the color of Yusuke, the opposite end was of Ren, and in between? Their love. The meaning behind colors was something that Yusuke would immediately be drawn to. Ren had learned quite a bit about colors from the artist, after all. Yusuke had pushed the hidden meanings behind such things into Ren’s mind since they’d first started dating.

He hoped that Yusuke would appreciate the comparison.

And now, as he finished up the flowers, Ren set his hands on his hips. The wedding was just a couple of days away. Tomorrow would be the final step in finishing the cake, and Ren had cleared all of his plans for the day to make sure that he could finish it on time.

But, for now, he really had to get to work on filling the eclairs that Ryuji had baked earlier in the day.

The wedding was tomorrow. One day away. And while most couples would be working on the very last minute aspects of their wedding (such as laying out all of the pieces of their outfits), but Ren had far too much to do here at work. The cake still needed preparations, after all.

This was the third day in a row he’d gotten to the bakery early, and he’d been leaving late as well. His body was tired and a bit aching-- but there wasn’t time to rest. If he was going to finish this cake, and alone at that, then he was going to have to work on it as much as possible.

The cake had finally been pulled from the refrigerator, and it was sitting on his workbench-- standing tall. It wasn’t anything to marvel at, really, since it was rather plain. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

Standing with his hands on his hips, Ren admired the cake from just a few steps away.

It was tall, yes, and it was bright white. The layers were perfectly even, and each tier was as round as could be. The end was in sight, yes, but Ren wanted to take his time with it.

“I never pegged you as the type to have a white cake.” Ryuji stood beside Ren, admiring the cake as well with crossed arms. He sounded rather amused by the turn of events.

Ren couldn’t help but turn to face the blonde with a smirk, pointing at him with one finger. “In due time, you will see, my friend. This cake will be a marvel.”

“Uh huh.” Ryuji may have sounded skeptical, but there was a small smile playing on his own lips. “Looks pretty borin’ t’me so far.”

“Tomorrow you’ll be eating your words.”

“You wanna bet?”

Ren could only chuckle in response. Despite his usual competitive nature, he wasn’t sure that Yusuke would appreciate him making one scheduled on their wedding day. He shoved Ryuji to the side a bit, and the blonde stumbled in response, catching himself on the table.

“Get back to work. I don’t pay you to stand around and ogle at my creations.”

“Y’sure do ask for it a lot-- even if ya don’t pay me for it.”

At that, Ren’s lip shaped into a pout. The thought of Ryuji being an asshole crossed his mind once again, and he just huffed in response. No need to get angry when he had work to do.

The petal dusts were pulled out once again, and Ren searched through the colors for the same baby blue and lilac from the day before. And once he’d gathered them, as well as dishes of lemon juice, Ren made himself comfortable at his work bench.

Mixing the colors and then testing them on a small piece of fondant he’d stolen from one of his employees, Ren mixed the colors to perfection. Someone had mentioned earlier that using an airbrush machine might have been a lot easier on him rather than painting everything, but the idea was quickly dismissed. Airbrushing always produced far too pigmented colors, in his opinion. Never was he one to get it to work with the lighter colors.

Also, he was positive he’d be able to get the finer details of the flowers onto the cake a lot easier with a paintbrush.

And with that, Ren took the paintbrush to the cake as slowly and carefully as he could manage. He wanted to make sure that the flowers he’d chosen were perfect, after all.

Orchids. The orchid symbolised luxury, beauty, strength, and most importantly love. It was everything that Yusuke had mentioned he’d seen in their relationship. It was everything that Yusuke seemed to have envisioned.

Ren had always loved orchids. They would look lovely alongside Yusuke at the wedding.

Ren took his time with painting the first orchid, dragging his paintbrush along the cake with perfect concentration. Starting with blue, he lined the cake along one side with dozens of orchids, and even managed to add a few scattered ones onto the other half of the cake as well. He didn’t want it to be overwhelming, after all.

And once the blue was finished, he had to take a short break. Let them all dry properly in the refrigerator while he decided to help out around the bakery-- choosing to assist customers for a bit.

Why did that day have to be so busy?

But he did return to the cake as soon as possible to work on the purple bits of the flowers as well.

By the time he’d finished that, it was already into the afternoon. Ren had skipped his break so he could finish up the petals, and then sought out the same champagne yellow paint to outline the orchids with, as well as to create the centerpiece of them all with.

Painting the cake took a lot longer than he’d ever anticipated it would, but the small details were what really set him behind. Sighing as he finished up, Ren sat up. He rubbed at his lower back with both hands once he’d placed his paintbrush down, and then reached up to take his glasses off so that he could rub his eyes.

And that was when he felt a hand on his back, patting his shoulder.

“Why don’t you take another break?” Ryuji asked as he leaned down onto the table, a small frown on his face.

Ren replaced his glasses after that, frowning as well. “Not until I finish the project.”

“At least eat somethin’. It’s already five.” Ren had to admit that he’d been rather hungry for the last few hours. He’d also been at the bakery for well over his assigned eight work hours of the day.

“I don’t really have the time for that.” Despite being hungry, he really just wanted to finish up the last bit of work on the cake. He was so close too…

“Come on.” Standing up properly, Ryuji reached to the table behind Ren’s, grabbing something before coming back into Ren’s view once more. In his hand-- one cream puff. “Here. Had some extras after making your stupid croquembouche.”

There was a smirk on Ryuji’s face, and Ren really wanted to wipe it off with his fist.

He did take the profiterole though, and took one bite out of it. Ryuji was only trying to be kind, after all. But the insult to his croquembouche really hit Ren deep.

He loved his "stupid" croquembouche.

But the cream puff was delicious. Ren found himself smiling as he finished it up. As messy as they could be, he loved cream puffs.

“There’s more if ya want ‘em.” Ryuji reached back to the table once again, pulling a plate into Ren’s field of vision. There were just a few resting on the plate, but they were obviously the ones that’d been rejected for being imperfect. They’d make for a nice snack, at least.

“Leave it there.” Ren said with a small motion to his table. He’d need water if he was going to eat anymore of them, but…

He’d at least have to wash his hands for the time being.

Setting down the plate, Ryuji looked over the cake once more. “It’s about time I should head out.” He insisted, sparing another glance back to his boss. “I’d offer to help, but you’ve made it pretty clear this whole time that ya don’t want any.”

Deciding on risking the thirst, Ren reached out and picked up another cream puff and brought it to his lips. “No, don’t stay on my behalf. I should be finished soon as well.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Ryuji heaved a sigh, and then he smiled. Patting Ren’s shoulder once again, he motioned to the cake with his head. “You were right though. Looks great.”

Ren couldn’t help but smile to himself at that, finishing up his cream puff. “Do not underestimate the master, Sakamoto.”

“Look out. Soon you won’t be able to fit your big head in here anymore.”

What a jerk. But Ren chuckled regardless, and gave Ryuji one last wave before he left for the night. He was the last of the bakers to leave, and in just a few short hours the front workers would be leaving as well.

But it was about time to get back to work, right?

Ren stood from his stool so that he could wash his hands, only returning to the table once his hands were dried.

He was able to manage dying some fondant to a nice shade of gold that resembled the color on the flowers (without Ryuji’s help, he’d like to add), and then he rolled it out and cut it into even strips using a spare ruler.

Once that was finished, Ren stood from his stool and made his way to the sink. Grabbing a spare metal bowl, he yawned as he added a bit of water to the bowl, and dragged his feet all the way back to the table.

Just a little bit longer. And then he could be at home with Yusuke once again.

And he could also try and get a little bit of rest.

Slipping back onto his stool yet again, Ren dipped a clean paintbrush into the water in the bowl, and then took it to one of the strips of fondant. Once that was finished, he carefully (as to not drip any water onto the cake) set the golden strips around the base of all four tiers.

One last detail.

Buttercream was one of the easiest things anyone could make. However, it would be a lot easier to make if Ren wasn’t so tired.

He dragged one of the mixers that was stored at the far end of the room to his table and heaved it up and onto the wooden tabletop with a grunt. Then, reaching for the hanging extension cord that swayed from the ceiling, Ren plugged in the mixer.

A small metal bowl and a whisk attachment was next to be fetched, as well as a few ingredients from the refrigerator. Butter and milk. Powdered sugar was retrieved from under a nearby table, and then Ren was flopping onto his stool once more.

In his tired state, the buttercream came out probably a little too thick for his usual liking. He could have added more milk, but he didn’t notice just how thick it was until he’d already half-filled a pastry bag with it. Sure, he could turn back now, but…

He was too tired to care.

Scooting his glasses onto his face with his shoulder, Ren then leaned over the table and his creation, piping small beads of buttercream at the base of all of the tiers of cakes and just in front of the strips of gold. A little bit of extra decoration wouldn’t hurt, right?

Then, finally, it was time to add the orchids. Since they were all shaped around wire it would be easy to adhere them all onto the cake. He simply picked each one up and stuck it into the dessert with care. He started from the bottom and worked his way up each and every tier of the cake-- making sure to make a small pile of them on the very top of the cake.

And, with that, Ren could heave a sigh of relief. The cake was finished. And it was picture perfect, might he add.

Ren found himself smiling to himself. Despite causing so much stress the last few weeks, he was pleased with himself, and with the finished product. Now, all he had to do was set it into the refrigerator, clean up, and head home.

The buzzing of the phone in his pocket caught his attention though, and Ren tugged it from his pants with a curious pout.

Oh. It was Yusuke. Seemed like he was worried. Ren would have to answer that before he had a chance to do anything more.

The Wedding

If he could sum up the day in one word; beautiful.

If he could sum up himself in one word; exhausted.

Whether it was from the lack of sleep he’d gotten recently, or from the lack of sleep he’d gotten from his pre-wedding nerves that he never would have guessed that he’d have, Ren couldn’t tell. If he had to make an educated guess though, he’d pick the former.

He was so tired. Ann had made sure to scold him a thousand times over for the bags that appeared under his eyes, but she was also quick to fix them with a small amount of makeup.

Ren was far too tired to protest.

But the day was indeed beautiful. It was magical. Peaceful. Happy.

Yusuke looked so handsome in his suit, and one look of the other male had Ren falling in love all over again. The kiss they’d shared at the altar was unmatched by any other feeling Ren had ever had.

The feeling of a ring on his finger was strange. He wasn’t use to it at all, but it was a feeling that he’d be happy to get used to.

They stood before the cake that Ren had made-- smiles abound. Ren allowed Yusuke to take the lead with making the first cut, and when it came time to feed each other, Ren was sure to wipe as much of the frosting as he could over Yusuke’s face instead of stuffing it into his mouth.

Yusuke had been about as pleased as one could imagine, but Ren received the sloppiest kiss he’d ever experienced. It was so sloppy, in fact, that Ren couldn’t make it away from the kiss without frosting over his own face. He couldn’t help but think that it was intentional.

No matter the case though, nothing could ruin the day for him. Yusuke was absolutely amazing, the venue they’d chosen was wonderful, the croquembouche was perfect.

And the cake? Could anyone expect any less from a world-class pastry chef? Ren thought not. It wasn’t the biggest or most elaborate cake he’d ever made, but it was what mattered most to Ren.

It was just perfect for himself and Yusuke.

What everyone else thought mattered not. All that Ren cared about was the look of absolute joy that crossed Yusuke’s face when he spotted the cake. Ren had known that the artist would know the meaning behind everything he’d chosen the moment he spotted it.

Yusuke had been the one to tell him the meanings of so many things, after all.

Maybe they were right in telling him that he was crazy for wanting to create his own wedding cake. But he wouldn’t deny that he was.

No one knew their relationship better than he did, after all.