Variation

A/N: Close to the end here, kids. Not sure how timely I'll be these last few days, and I am fairly certain my final post will be several days late due to the holiday.

Divide and conquer. It was the only option.

With fewer than 24 hours until their big Christmas Eve party – the first one Kurt and Blaine were holding in their new apartment as husbands – things were getting a little, well, tense. There was decorating to be finished, gifts to wrap, food to prepare. Kurt fleetingly thought that perhaps his expectations were too high and he may have overdone things, but he dismissed that thought and charged onwards.

One break came thanks to their neighbor across the hall. Mrs. Meyer was out of town for the week visiting her daughter in Florida, and had given the "nice gay boys" her keys, asking them to water the plants and generally check on the place in her absence. Kurt realized at t-minus 22 hours that they were in the midst of a Christmas (or, in Mrs. Meyer's case, a belated Hanukkah) miracle.

"Blaine!" he exclaimed in his excitement, practically scaring his husband to death since he was standing directly beside him at the kitchen counter.

"Geez, Kurt," Blaine huffed, nearly dropping a bag of flour.

"I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner," Kurt said, as if that were a complete explanation. Upon reading the blank look he received in response, he expounded further. "With Mrs. Meyer away, we have access to her kitchen, Blaine. We can divvy up the baking! Here," he said, shoving a bowl of cookie dough at him, along with several other necessities. "Take this, and the extra cookie sheets and go over there. You can make a batch of gingerbread cookies at her place, and I can make the other batch here. It'll go twice as fast. I'm a genius!"

Blaine dutifully did as instructed, not only because it was actually a good, time-saving idea, but also because it would give him a little breather from Kurt in pre-party mode. Win-win.

A little over an hour later, Blaine reappeared, a tray of baked and decorated cookies in hand. He triumphantly placed them on the counter next to the tray of cookies Kurt had produced.

Oh.

It wasn't that they were bad looking. Not really. It was just that there was some…variation between the two batches. Kurt's cookies were perfect. Pristine. Identical little cookie men all lined up and ready to go. Blaine's were less Martha Stewart and more 'hey mom, look what I did in class today' in comparison. He was no Kurt when it came to cookie decorating, though he tried his best. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. This was not going to go well. Kurt had been so stressed out about this party. Blaine wanted things to go well, too, but he wasn't putting pressure on himself like Kurt was. The last thing he wanted to do was to add to that pressure with his sub-standard baking skills.

Making a snap decision, he picked up the tray and was about to throw away his batch when Kurt came into the kitchen. "Good, you're back! Oh, and you have your cookies all done – fantastic. Let's see."

Blaine must have looked like a deer caught in headlights as Kurt approached.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Kurt asked in concern.

Blaine glanced down at the tray in his hand and back up again. "I, uh…"

"Oh, my god!" Kurt squealed, seizing the tray from Blaine and staring at the gingerbread men piled upon it.

Here it comes, Blaine thought. He actually closed his eyes tightly, as if he could avoid the fallout if he couldn't see it coming.

"Blaine! They're adorable!"

Huh?

Blaine opened one eye first, just in case he'd misheard. Was that 'adorable' or 'deplorable'? And seriously, wasn't 'deplorable' a bit harsh? They weren't that bad, after all…

"Thank you," Kurt said, hugging Blaine swiftly and kissing him on the cheek. "They're perfect."

Blaine accepted the hug, as always, and when they parted, he opened both eyes. "Kurt," he began tentatively, "are you messing with me?"

"What? No! They're great, Blaine. Really! I mean, you put little bowties in different colors on each of them. This one has a vest, that one has a sweater…really, you outdid yourself here," Kurt gushed.

"But…but Kurt," Blaine stammered. "Look at these, and then look at yours," he gestured towards each tray in turn. "Yours are perfect. Every single one is like it came from a professional bakery. Mine are like something a kid would do."

Kurt reached out and took Blaine's hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly. "And that's what makes yours perfect, too," he said gently. "I love how free and expressive you are with your decorating. It's so you."

Blaine let out a sigh of relief, which Kurt didn't miss. "Blaine, did you think I would be upset because your cookies weren't like mine?" Blaine shrugged and glanced down.

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt admonished, pulling him close again. "Making little Stepford Gingerbread Men is my way of doing things, and that's fine for me. I don't expect you to do that though. Yours are great, and people are going to love them." Kurt ran his hand up and down Blaine's back slowly as he continued more quietly. "I know I've been a nightmare the past couple of days about this party. I'm sorry if I stressed you out."

"It's okay, Kurt," Blaine replied, nuzzling Kurt's cheek. "It's actually one of the things I love about you – you put so much passion and energy into everything you do, be it a performance or a party for our friends. And if you get a little carried away sometimes, I like to think I'm pretty good at calming you down. I like that I can be that for you."

They held each other quietly for a few moments, basking in the warmth of their embrace and the sweet smell of gingerbread.

"Kurt?" Blaine whispered into his ear. "I made one special cookie for you. It's under that one with the red tie."

Kurt disentangled himself and moved the cookie in question. "Blaine!" he shouted, jumping back. "Oh, my god! What in the world did you…how did you…Blaine!" he repeated.

Laughing to himself, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind. "Like it?" he said, his voice low and seductive.

Now over the initial shock, Kurt reached out and picked up the pastry in question. "I cannot believe you made an x-rated gingerbread man, Blaine. I mean, what are you, twelve?" Blaine just chuckled and held him tighter. "Is that a Warbler tie – is this supposed to be you?"

Blaine nodded against his shoulder.

"Huh," Kurt muttered, tilting his head to the side, supposedly in thought but actually to give Blaine better access to the spot he'd started kissing. "I don't see the resemblance," he said, pointing at a rather particular part of the cookie and letting out an undignified squeak when Blaine nipped at his earlobe.

"Maybe you need to compare it to the original to remind yourself," Blaine offered.

Blaine's gingerbread cookies were the hit of the party the next day. No one seemed to notice that neither Kurt nor Blaine had one, though Santana did eventually ask Kurt why he kept blushing whenever someone mentioned them.

A/N: Sorry to be super late again. Lack of time and inspiration. If you are a "Friends" fan, you may notice that I borrowed part of this concept from an episode in which Chandler tries to clean the apartment for Monica and fears she'll freak out because he didn't do it right.