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[shadows_have_offended]

It was a passing comment at Valentines day, but Neil's been unable to put it out of mind, and so here he was, having worked hard on figuring out their schedules and his budget and a nice, but not too nice, place that they could go and get dinner together.

Dinner for a birthday seems like an important thing to do. And it's a Monday night, so when it comes right down to it, it's not hard to find them a table somewhere. But he really hopes that Gabriel's all on board with the idea. He's told him what to expect--dinner, dessert afterward at his place--but it's still sort of daunting to be arranging a whole date for Gabriel's nineteenth birthday.

And maybe he had other ideas for the end of the night, after dessert. But that was for much later. And it was a school night, so they'd see how it went.

Comments

[asoncalledgabriel]

Gabriel was a bit flustered when Neil insisted on taking him out to dinner for his birthday. It seems like a lot of fuss, but in the end, it does make him feel special. And when the meal is over, he can't really stop smiling.

"This isn't where the night ends, is it? Feels early yet... or-- well, I suppose it's a school night for you, yeah?"

[shadows_have_offended]

"I have cake and ice cream back at my apartment," Neil assures, for what it's worth. There are other things, too. Cookies. The makings for hot toddies, like when they were snowed in.

It's a nice, tender thought. A night in after a night out. He smiles and reaches for Gabriel's hand, twisting their fingers together.

[asoncalledgabriel]

Gabriel squeezes Neil's hand and bumps against him. "Yeah, alright. You didn't have to go through all this trouble, you know."

It's not that he isn't used to a little fuss around his birthday, he just-- well, he hasn't really had anyone to take notice since he arrived here.

[shadows_have_offended]

"I wanted to," Neil says softly, a blush on his cheeks. "I've...never gotten to plan something like this for someone."

He'd discovered Todd's birthday by accident. Every birthday--and birthday party--for any of his friends had been an affair planned and supervised by their parents, even the ones where they got to go to New York or Philadelphia or Boston. But Gabriel's? He got to plan this, and execute it, and be a whole part of making Gabriel feel loved.

"It's no trouble, anyway."

[asoncalledgabriel]

Gabriel's look softened and he bumped into Neil gently. "Thank you," he says, because he means that and it makes him feel special.

"My grandmother used to give me a market lamb for my birthday, then I got the money at the end of summer when it sold."

[shadows_have_offended]

It's a charming thought, and Neil is always, somehow, surprised whenever Gabriel says these things that are so country and rural and far away to Neil. He never really thinks about lambs and farms and those sorts of things. But he does like the idea of getting the money from selling the lamb off.

He doesn't think too much about selling it off for what.

"I'm sorry you didn't get that this year."

[asoncalledgabriel]

"Oh, it's been some years since she did that. My aunt found out about it - Nan never gave my cousins a lamb, only me. So when my aunt found out, she was furious and made a fuss. After that, Nan just slipped a bit of money into a card - I didn't get to pick out a lamb anymore."

Gabriel shrugged; he'd been his grandmother's favorite, and now he knew why, but he still didn't know what to do with that information.

[shadows_have_offended]

"I think the last birthday present my grandparents gave me was a card with five dollars in it," Neil says with a bit of a laugh. He was the only grandchild at all, let alone the favorite to be had, and sometimes he wished that they liked him a bit more. He wished anyone in his family liked him a bit more.

But it's hardly worth thinking about. He leans over and kisses Gabriel's cheek, near the corner of his mouth.

[asoncalledgabriel]

"She liked me," he says with a shrug. "More than my cousins, anyway. I never understood why until right before I came here. And it doesn't really matter now."

He puts on a smile after the kiss.

"So we're to your place, then?"

[shadows_have_offended]

Neil smiles a little bit, because he likes hearing Gabriel talk about his family. He imagines he must miss him--even Neil misses his family, even after everything, and they don't sound nearly so nice on the surface of things like Gabriel's family does.

"Yeah," he says. They're nearly there now.

[asoncalledgabriel]

He stays close for the walk, eventually even holds Neil's hand as they get up to the building. He wants to say again that Neil didn't have to go through all the trouble, but he doesn't want to sound ungrateful, or like he doesn't want it.

He's just not used to the fuss from-- well. He's never really had anyone like Neil.

[shadows_have_offended]

They reach the building, and Neil heads straight for the elevator. He lives too high up to take the stairs--and there's a moment of privacy, just the two of them on the way up. So as soon as the doors slide shut, Neil tucks himself in against Gabriel.

It's nice, just to be close. He's content to tuck in, to hold Gabriel's hand, and just relish that they can be close.

"Happy birthday," he whispers.