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His mornings always started the same way. He got up, put on a pot of coffee, took a shower, filled his thermal mug with fresh coffee, drove to work, grabbed one of those delicious sponge cake rolls, sat down in the office and took care of the paperwork piling up on his desk. Mostly, he sent the S.T.A.R.S. members off to train or help out with the other RPD departments, since it wasn't too often that there was an actual S.T.A.R.S. mission. Chris and Jill in particular loved to help out, to his personal relief. The two were excellent fighters, but for his taste, they had too much energy that cried out to be balanced.
A soft sigh escaped Wesker as he placed his thermal mug on his desk, hung his jacket on the coat rack and headed to the S.T.A.R.S. unit's common room for a sponge cake roll. As soon as he entered the room, he paused. On the table... there were no baked goods, as usual. Immediately he looked at his watch. Had he come too early? No, exactly 8:03. As usual. Kennedy should be there already. Why was there nothing here? Not even the grotty coffee was prepared! "Good morning, Captain.", a sweet voice announced, which undoubtedly belonged to Rebecca. Her eyes fell directly on the empty table before she looked up at Wesker. "Oh, excuse me, sir. Normally Leon takes care of the catering, but I'm afraid he's ill. If you'd like, I can go to the Pi-Maker quickly. I'm sure Jonah has everything ready." Huh? Pi-Maker? Was that the bakery Kennedy got the baked goods from? Then Jonah must have been the baker. "Rebecca!" Urgh, Chris. It was too soon to be able to stand the muscle man. "Rebecca, we need your expertise for a minute!" As quickly as he had come, Chris Redfield disappeared. Apologetically, Rebecca looked up at him. "I'm going straight to the Pi..." Swiftly, the blond man interrupted the young woman. "You will get to work immediately. I'll take care of..." Briefly, he looked around the empty common room. "...I'll take care of this."
The Pi-Maker Bakery was just seven minutes from the RPD. It was a small store, but it smelled wonderful as soon as Wesker entered. The first thing that hit him was the lovely scent of cinnamon and lemons before he caught a whiff of bourbon vanilla. A gentle sweetness spread across his tongue. A small bell sounded above him, announcing his visit to the small, comfortably warm store. Through a wide door that must have led to the bakery itself, a rather young man, flour stuck in his dark hair, came smiling toward him. "Good morning, sir. How can I help you?" Brown eyes twinkled at Wesker as he stepped closer to the counter behind which the dark-haired man was washing his hands. "Well..." the S.T.A.R.S. captain began, but the baker interrupted him directly. "You must have come to pick up the order for the RPD, right? Normally Leon comes in at 7:49 every morning, but not today. If he can't come for some reason, such as he has an assignment, he lets me know so I can bring you the order or wait for Rebecca. Since he didn't do that, I assume he fell ill unexpectedly." As he spoke, the young man took a tightly wrapped package from under the counter before giving Wesker another smile. His eyes twinkled warmly. "Mind you, I've never seen you before. Are you new to the RPD?" How interesting. This baker wasn't dense. On the contrary. He had observed and combined quite well. "No, I'm not new. But as head of the S.T.A.R.S. unit from the RPD, I usually have more important things to do than take care of errands." The baker's gentle smile took on a mischievous note. "And yet here you are today, running one of those pesky errands. I guess Rebecca was indisposed, huh?" Tss. This guy was really smart and quick-witted. Somehow he liked him.
Barely noticeably, Wesker nodded, whereupon the young man pushed the package toward him. The police officer was already about to take the package and finally return to his desk when he felt a hand on his. It was rough and calloused, but warm and its touch was so much gentler than anything that had ever touched him. It contrasted harshly with the physical labor the man was engaged in. Surprised, he looked to the baker. "Tell me, what's your favorite?" He had expected anything, but not such a trivial question. Why does the young man care? Surely Jonah knew that all his baked goods were outstanding. "I like your sponge cake rolls," Wesker replied hesitantly. He still didn't quite understand why the younger man wanted to know, but as his hand wrapped tighter around his, he briefly felt like he was having a stroke. The world around him spun inexorably, yet one fixed point remained. Jonah. "Will you wait a minute?" he asked, his voice sounding almost as sweet as it smelled in this cozy little store. Even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't have denied him a wish. One word was enough and he would bring the sun down from the sky for this man. His gaze drifted to Jonah's lips and for a moment Wesker wondered if he would taste as sweet and perfect as his sponge cake rolls. Abruptly, he looked to the side. In his life, he had never been so glad to be wearing his sunglasses. Why was he thinking such nonsense? Why did he suddenly find this guy so attractive? Was it because of his hands? Or his smile? Or his eyes? The way he looked at him? The way his eyes sparkled? The way his smile made Albert feel that strange tingle? "Just for a second?" asked Jonah softly, yet he heard him as clearly as if he'd called across the store. Again, Wesker nodded.
The hand moved away from his and for a moment it felt as if he could suddenly breathe again. Had he seriously forgotten how to breathe? Hesitantly, he looked after the baker, who gave him another smile before disappearing back into his bakery. Wesker used this time to get his thoughts in order. Why the hell was he letting the younger man influence him like this? Jonah seemed like a nice guy, no question about it, but this attraction... Did he have this attraction to Kennedy as well? Because then Albert could really understand why the rookie had no problem picking up their collective order before work. Madness...
It took a few minutes for the young man to come out of his bakery and present him with what had kept him busy. A complete sponge cake roll, which he had decorated with wafer-thin lemon slices, cream and mint leaves. It was pure perfection; an absolute work of art that made Wesker's mouth water. "Who would have thought I'd meet you today? The Biscuit Monster.", Jonah said with a laugh that took the S.T.A.R.S. captain's breath away, "Leon told me about you. About his superior, the Biscuit Monster who devours all sponge cake rolls." As if on cue, Jonah held a hand to his forehead, probably meant to mimic Kennedy's ridiculous bangs. He also mimicked his voice pretty well. "Jonah. Code White. The Biscuit Monster has struck again. I repeat, the Sunglasses Guy has struck again." An amused snort escaped Wesker before he shook his head. The younger man's melodic laughter filled the store and it was really nice to watch the baker imitate the rookie. He was having fun, you could tell.
Wesker had certainly watched him do his amateur theatrics for several minutes. Only when he looked at his watch after a particularly impressive scene did he remember that he had to get back to work. How could he have forgotten that? Jonah also looked at the clock. "Oh! Now I've delayed you quite a bit. I'm really sorry." the baker said apologetically, but put his hand back on the captain's. Immediately his eyes wandered to her hands. The young man stroked his knuckles lightly and barely noticeably. "Before you go... May I have your name, Mr. Biscuit Monster?"
Gently, he grasped the hand stroking his wrist and kissed the back of the hand.
"Call me Albert.“