Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its contents, nor am I making any money off of this.
The prompt was from the lovely Yeaka! "Kirk eats a terrible cupcake and complains before realizing Spock baked it in an attempt to please Jim"
The cupcake had sat on his dresser. It was the first thing Jim noticed when he walked into his room after shift. Jim didn't have many possessions, and so the cupcake stood out. It looked delicious, perfectly in the center and set out on a golden doily. The icing was simple and vanilla, perfectly shaped on top of the vanilla cake. It was wrapped in simplistic yellow paper. Everything about it was perfect and simple. So of course Jim didn't hesitate to enjoy the treat.
Except it wasn't perfect. The icing tasted weird and wrong, not sugary and sweet. It was hard and chalky to the taste. The cake, though it looked perfect and fluffy, tasted all too much like flour and salt. He was forced to spit the cake back into the paper in his hands, gagging at the awful taste. How could something so pretty and delicious looking be so deceptively awful? He threw the cupcake in the recycler without a second thought, heading to the bathroom to wash his hands and brush his teeth of the awful taste.
He didn't think of it until later. Spock had come to his quarters for their evening chess game. Jim was setting up the board for their game as he told the Vulcan the, what Jim thought, was a humorous story. He didn't notice the Vulcan tense as he spoke. "-I mean it looked perfect! I had no idea something so good looking could taste so awful!" He finished with a laugh as he placed the last of the pieces in their starting positions.
It was only when Spock didn't say anything, did Jim look up and notice how still the Vulcan was. How blank and controlled his face was. Jim hadn't even thought about how the cupcake had gotten onto his dresser, or who had put it there. The sudden realization that it could be Spock hit him way too late and his humorous expression fell. "Oh shit… Spock… You didn't?" Spock couldn't have? The Vulcan didn't like sweets, and he thought gift giving was illogical. Jim hadn't though for a second he would be insulting his first officer and boyfriend, if that was what they were, and his baking skills.
"I am sorry the baked good was inadequate." Spock said stiffly, not meeting Jim's eyes. Jim was kicking himself mentally. He had been trying to pull the Vulcan out of his shell and the first time Spock did something so completely human, Jim had sat there and insulted him for it.
"No… Spock… I… I didn't know you made it for me." He reached out a hand and slowly caressed the Vulcan's fingers in an apologetic kiss. Spock didn't pull away, but looked at Jim, confused. "I feel bad about being so honest about it now." He clarified.
"I prefer your honesty." The Vulcan didn't look any less confused, or any less hurt.
"Then I wouldn't have been so brutal. Spock, I'm sorry." Jim amended. He moved closer to the Vulcan, wanting to make this right. "It makes me happy that you made me something. To humans… it's the thought that counts, rather than the gift."
Jim could just imagine what Spock was thinking. Humans desired gifts from partners, but yet they didn't matter because it was the thought behind them that counted? What was the point of the gifts then, if they already had their thoughts?
"How about this," their fingers threaded together. "Next time we make the cupcakes together?"
Finally, the Vulcan seemed to relax. His eyes warming at the thought of Jim helping him with the difficulties of baking. "I would be amenable." He said simply.