People change; a rather simple concept that didn't seem to fit Craig at all. He was always a thin, pointed man who made a point of being an unfriendly prick to everyone he met. Either they weren't as intelligent or attractive or noble-whatever he felt like fabricating that day. He'd always been that way, ever since he was a child. It was a nasty way to cover up feelings of inadequacy and insecurity, though he would never let anyone close enough to see that about him.

All of two people in his entire lifetime had discovered anything amiss with the cold, cruel facade he'd put up. One was his roommate in college, Ethan Schuler, who found that Craig was not as brilliant as he made himself out to be. Ethan was the genius out of the pair; he blew through to his robotics courses and improved even the teaching method. Craig, however, was nothing more than an eidetic memory, able to parrot back everything he'd ever read or seen without much effort. In matters of problem solving, he was definitely lacking. If the problem did not have a solution he hadn't come across before, it was completely unsolvable to the man.

That had ended in an explosive fight nearing their graduation. Craig was jealous and Ethan finally called him out on it. They'd parted ways violently and when they began to work at the same company, they were in completely different departments. Words were exchanged when they found one another, very unkind words.

Craig was currently glaring at over the top of his cubicle at the second person, unable to believe that he'd stumbled across two people he could easily say he hated in the same building.

Now, Richard Ames, he changed. He changed quite a bit. Craig swore the other man was shorter than his rather puny 5'6" frame, back in high school, but now he easily towered over the secretary he was talking to, likely a good 6'3", maybe taller. He was tanned and muscled, all that sort of manly good looks and features that were unmistakably Rick, but a whole lot more attractive than what was very clear in the small man's memory. His face colored in a bit of shame and a whole lot of anger when a pair of green eyes met his pale pink ones from across the office. He was much too proud to duck out of the way, so he was in full view of Rick's sudden glare. By the looks of it, the dark-haired man recognized him as well. Rick turned back to bid a farewell to the secretary and started toward Craig's cubicle.

Okay, he could sink back into his chair now. Inside, he was attempting not to panic, but on the outside, his face was a mask of haughty contempt. Richard Ames was the sole person in his entire life who had seen him cry. Not even his long-estranged parents could remember seeing such a thing. The paper in Craig's hand crumped in remembrance of the day.

Back then, he was the star of the Debate club and he was up for nationals as a sophomore. It was quite the honor and he naively thought that when both his parents said they would attend, they would keep their promise this time. Not only was it bone-crushingly disappointing when they were nowhere to be found, but the ensuing loss was too much humiliation for a young Craig to handle. He thought he'd locked the classroom he'd hidden in to save himself the further humiliation of getting overly-emotional about the grueling day. It didn't seem that way when he looked up from under the teacher's desk to see a pimply, chubby boy about the same age staring at him with his head cocked to the side.

He'd tried to be friendly and introduced himself to Craig, but the smaller boy was further embarrassed by his reddened eyes and tear-stained face. He was smiling and invited Craig to come with his mom and him to celebrate his wrestling meet. If he weren't so embarrassed, the gesture might've been really touching. It didn't matter, Craig was jealous that Rick's mother cared and embarrassed that this guy had seen him crying—so he lashed out. He made fun of the wrestling singlet he wore under a jacket; Rick just laughed that off. That was frustrating, so he did one worse until he finally got onto the topic of his weight and assumed mental capacity his obvious strength. That seemed to get Rick's goat and bothered him enough to frown and storm out of the room. Craig had no idea how to react to positive attention like that, so he felt somewhat accomplished, though the guilt burned at the bottom of his stomach slightly.

Even if he felt bad, the teasing didn't stop when they began to share classes. Craig was a regular bully and went out of his way to say nasty things whenever he possibly could. Rick was nothing but nice to him at first, but once those cruel words were flying, Rick hardened up and the words flew back, though much less sure and a whole lot more defensive.

Just as Craig got into a rhythm working here at Aperture, he avoided Ethan mostly and did just well on solo projects as he was not allowed to work in a group. Now all of that was going to be shattered with the tenfold return of a guilty cold feeling at the pit of his stomach and one very tall, very hot man who used to be a lot less easy on the eyes.

Craig was lost enough in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice when Rick swung into his cubicle with a narrow-eyed grin on his face, "Well I'll be, if it ain't Craig Schwartz."

Calmly, Craig folded his hands into his lap as he turned to face an old friend, "Good of you not to forget me, Richard," he said, an obvious bite in his tone.

As though he were invited inside, Rick sauntered up to Craig's desk chair, obviously using his height to tower over Craig as he leaned down right into the other man's space. Craig involuntarily shrank away, both because his heart began to slam in his chest out of nerves and guilt, but also because he was not used to being intimidated.

"Looks like we'll be workin' real close, Craig," Rick said with a growling murmur, "Can't wait to get reacquainted."

Craig sneered, "Perhaps it will be easier now, seeing as your great girth isn't blocking the view."

Rick's hands found their way to the armrests of the desk chair, letting him lean in closer so Craig could hear him breathe, "See nothin' much as changed. Well, I ain't a kid no more."

He pulled away suddenly and extended a handshake which Craig just stared wide-eyed at, "'M gonna be the bigger man here 'n offer up a truce. Start over?"

Again, Craig had no idea how to react. Rick was smiling a familiar smile that tugged at his heart and it seemed genuine, but the way Craig was starting to feel was not going to allow this. His stomach felt warm and his head dizzy, but he firmly smacked Rick's hand away.

"Not a chance. Not that I think you can, but you'll have to earn my respect," Craig said rapidly, relying on old skills that let his mouth run while his brain could not.

Though he did not look surprised, Rick scowled, "Fine. Not worth my time, four-eyes."

With that, he sauntered right back out of the cubicle. Craig finally allowed himself to breathe, pressing a hand to the middle of his chest. It was still pounding in a curious way and that guilty bit of his conscience was suddenly making his stomach hurt. Pink eyes glanced just outside of his cubicle to see Rick getting comfortable in the one right across the hall.

Oh god, it was going to be a lot more difficult to avoid him like he avoided Ethan… Just as his heart rate calmed down, Rick caught his eye again and it raced just like before. Guilty consciences didn't do this, this was idiotic. Craig seriously considered taking the day off because of his strange behavior.

But then the next meeting of eyes was a glare. No, he would win like that. Craig wasn't going to lose again. He turned back to his computer and made a pointed effort to regain his composure and ignore his new coworker. It'd be as simple as ignoring him in every possible way. He just couldn't get close or look him in the eye or hear him growl like that again… Craig pressed his hands to his face. This was going to be harder than he originally thought.