“Just crown yourself King or something. Why do you need to do community service?” Asked Sadik when Nikola came back dead tired and plopped on their bed hours later.

“The overseer didn’t like the fact that his girlfriend had to go to kindergarten. So, he made me replant a shit tone of times,” which explained to Sadik why Nikola was tired. But, it was an avoidance technique. Once, he wouldn’t stand for.

“Think about it, Niki. You are their supreme Overlord. There is no need for you to mingle,” Sadik watched as Nikola rose his head just enough to see him, and then the man groaned.

“If I do, it will be admitting defeat,” which was true, but, Sadik didn’t want Nikola to give into his masochistic tendencies.

“Am I your chief advisor or chopped liver?” Asked Sadik in a low tone. One that promised the mother of all fights if Nikola argued.

“Fine,” Nikola got up with much struggle and got to the laptop. He made a program that proclaimed him Tsar by printing his name with the title on every order he would give, and then got himself out of the school and work algorithms. “And now, I am once more a hermit.”

Sadik smiled and went to the bed.

“I am a university student now,” he said as Nikola went to lay next to him. “And those get down to fun things.”

Nikola hummed and showed his back to Sadik.

“You have a hand,” Sadik sputtered at that. Nikola was asleep within seconds. Well, if this was how Nikola liked to play it.

The next morning, Sadik behaved as normal, but, when Nikola leaned in to kiss him, Sadik backed away.

“You have a hand,” Sadik repeated, and Nikola’s eyebrows rose.

“You are mad at me?” Sadik shook his head. He understood that it was petty of him. Nikola had been tired. But, he felt like pushing the man’s limits, for once. He wondered for how long he could keep the dry spell.

“Fine. I do, indeed, have a hand,” Nikola kissed his hand and then blew the kiss towards Sadik. Sadik pretended to dodge out of the way of the kiss, and Nikola cracked a grin. The game was on.

The day at the university passed much the same. New courses, downloaded from private accounts of professors that were made because of the pandemic, were shown. People took notes and prepared for the coming exam as good as they could.

Then, it was time for Sadik to pick up Eric and Harriell from their school. He did so and when he came back home, he felt a delicious smell coming from the kitchen.

Nikola was putting the finishing touches to a cake and Sadik was confused.

“You remembered!” Squalled Eric as he ran to Nikola to stare at the cake. Then, Sadik saw the candle that was in the form of a six, and he understood.

“What sort of parent forgets their son’s birthday?” Asked Nikola half-joking. Sadik rushed to their bedroom and rummaged amid the replicas of his keepsakes for something he could give his son. There, amid the effigies of long forgotten pagan gods, was a wood carving he had made centuries ago. It was a wooden horse. He remembered that he had been still alive when he made it.

He looked for wrapping paper next. Nothing. Not even a ribbon. He looked at Nikola’s laptop. The program was still booted on.

What were the chances that Nikola would find out? Surely, he wouldn’t mind even if he did? True, there were gift shops and the likes. Some of the people who qualified for university, having decided to start a business instead.

But if he run to one of those, he would need to admit to Eric that he had forgotten. He went and navigated the GUI until he managed to get to the spawn section. Quickly, he typed a roll of wrapping paper in the prompt, and it appeared.

It was pink and had no pictures. Sadik typed blue wrapping paper with teddy bears next and it, too, appeared. The Turk hid the pink wrapping paper under the bed and wrapped the wooden carving in the teddy bear one. Then, he went back to the prompt and wrote beige ribbon. He tied the ribbon in a bow and rushed down the stairs.

“I got you this. It is something I made when I was alive,” Sadik didn’t want to lie to his son. But, he wanted to avoid letting him catch up on the fact that Sadik had forgotten, either. Eric’s little face brightened.

There was an already opened present on the kitchen chair. There was a baseball glove and a ball inside the box. Sadik also saw a card and berated himself for not getting one. He handed the present to Eric, and the boy carefully unwrapped the paper.

“The horse makes,” and Eric neighed. Then, he got slightly sad. “Papa, when are you going to create some animals?”

Eric missed the zoo most of all. Sure, he sometimes wondered what Jake was thinking of him. For, Eric had left without a word. But, it was explained to him that he had been in danger. He also missed the small winged children of whom he sometimes dreamed. However, he had been warned against trying to search for them in his dreams, too.

“I can’t create animals, kiddo. They have souls. And, they don’t end up here,” which was a pity, Sadik thought. But, he supposed they could all pick up gardening.

“I want to see Ivar!” Screamed Eric and he ran to his room. Nikola sat in his chair and looked at Sadik.

“Do you think he would forgive me for bringing him to the land of the dead?” Nikola was tired again. Sadik supposed that he had typed the entire day.

“It is for his safety,” unknown to them, Eric had not gone to his room. He had gone to his parent’s. Where the program was still booted. And, Eric had always been a smart kid. He knew just what to do.