Craig wasn't upset.
Most people would have been irate if their birthdays were ignored. But no, Craig was rather pleased that finally, this birthday, he was left entirely alone. No annoying coworkers stopping by every few minutes, interrupting his work, no Caroline baking him one of those godawful cakes she was so proud of, and no party in the break room like last year that would inevitably lead to someone calling someone a moron and a full fist fight breaking out. It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and so far he was in the clear.
...It would have been a nice gesture, though; one of the coworkers he regularly passed in the halls waving and giving a casual 'Happy birthday, Craig.'
But still, everything was perfectly fine –
"Crai~ig?" came a sing-song voice from behind him as he typed away at his desk.
Oh, no.
He swiveled around in his chair to see Neil, smiling brightly as always, with his hands behind his back.
"Hello, Neil," Craig sighed, obviously displeased at having been yanked from his train of thought and his work. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Neil ignored Craig's usual glare. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it down here earlier, but it's been so busy lately," he gestured in the air with one hand while maintaining the other behind his back. "I probably shouldn't even be away right now, but I had to see you before you went home."
Craig tapped his index finger on his desk. "Well, what is it, then?"
Neil produced a small package, wrapped in pastel pink paper, complete with a white and pink bow on top. He shoved it into Craig's hands, golden eyes glowing. "Happy birthday, Craig!"
He had to admit, Craig was stunned that Neil, empty-headed space cadet Neil, of all people, would remember his birthday.
Craig stared at the package for a moment, before muttering, "It's beautiful."
Neil grinned and clapped his hands together. "Open it!"
He gently peeled off the tape from the back and unraveled the paper, placing it on his desk. He held in his hands a book, decorated with a picture of the Andromeda Galaxy on front, reading in bold print: "The Cosmos: An Encyclopedia of Space".
Craig ran his thumb over the title. He had bookshelves full of encyclopedias in his apartment, but he didn't have one on space.
Neil rocked on his feet in front of him, hands neatly interlaced, looking a bit anxious at Craig's lack of response.
"Do you like it?"
Craig couldn't help the grin that tugged at the corners of his lips. "I love it. Thank you."
The young blonde held up a finger. "Wait, there's a catch."
Craig raised an eyebrow.
"You have to memorize it, you know, like you do everything that comes your way," Neil leaned forward a bit. "And you have to come visit me during work and tell me some interesting facts about space. Deal?"
Craig blinked in shock; someone was actually instructing him to relay his vast knowledge to them. He looked down at the book and set it gently on his desk, before grabbing Neil's yellow tie and pulling him downwards.
Neil gasped sharply in surprise before Craig kissed him lightly on the cheek. He released his grip on the tie and pulled away to see Neil grinning like a moron.
He simply huffed and swiveled around in his chair, waving Neil away while his fingers tried to find their normal position on the keyboard. "Go away. You may not need to work, but I'm busy."
Neil remained for a moment longer, his grin never faltering, before gently bumping Craig's chair with his hip and turning on his heel to walk in the other direction.
Craig brushed a bit of blond hair out of his face and picked the encyclopedia up, opening the book with a crack of its spine, and began flipping through its contents. He had quite a bit of memorization to do, and only so much time before work would begin again tomorrow.