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Erik let out a great sigh as he stepped through the doorway of his friend’s home, shaking his head in a half-hearted attempt to keep himself awake. He rarely ever was this tired—he was used to going days at a time without sleep,—but with how much work he had been doing for the shah as of late, he found himself being in need if more and more sleep. Today had been harder than most; he’d barely had time to even breathe, what with multiple court appearances, working on architectural sketches for the shah, and the khanum’s persistent demands that he perform his magic tricks for her.
If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, he wished he could just run away from it all. However, as Nadir constantly reminded him, you can’t just run away from all your problems. I’ve done it before, Erik reasoned, but he knew it was a ridiculous idea to entertain. After all, it wasn’t as if he had anywhere to go.
And here, at least, he had some semblance of a family. Reza was like a little brother to Erik, and Nadir was…well, more of an annoying parent figure than anything else, but whether or not Erik chose to admit it, he still cared a great deal for Nadir. He loved them both, and even if their family wasn’t exactly a traditional one, he was still thankful for their little family of their own design—a father, a son, and the father’s odd rescue child who was in reality closer in age to him than to his son, though he chose to overlook that fact.
On a night like tonight, Erik was especially thankful for Reza. Erik had just made his way into his bedroom and sat down on his mattress when there was a soft little knock on the door. He sighed at first, rubbing his temple against his brewing headache, but knowing that it would upset his little friend if he simply ignored him, he softly called out: “Yes, Reza?”
“Aren’t you going to come down for dinner?” Reza asked as he opened the door, only pushing it enough to poke his head through. “Baba said we would wait for you to eat.”
“I…I don’t know, Reza. I’m very tired, and I’d like to practice my new magic trick a bit before going to bed,” Erik said with a sigh, but when he saw the disappointment in the boy’s big brown eyes, he felt himself immediately starting to give in. “But I suppose I could eat a little something.”
Almost instantaneously, Reza’s eyes lit up, and a smile replaced his dejected frown. “Really?” he asked, shoving the door open further.
“Yes, I’ll come down,” Erik replied, only to laugh quietly when he boy ran over to give him a hug. He couldn’t help but find a small bit of joy in the fact that Reza had so much life in him for someone as sick as he was. “What’s got you so excited about this, hm? I’m only joining you for dinner, and I’m certainly nothing special.”
“Of course you’re special, Erik; you’re my friend,” Reza said as he took his hand and gave it a gentle tug. “Come with me, I have a surprise for you downstairs!”
“Okay, I’m coming.” Erik shook his head fondly as he stood up from where he’d been sitting on his bed and gave the boy’s hand a loving squeeze. “Lead the way, go on.”
With a grin and a tight hold on his friend’s hand, Reza tugged his friend out of the bedroom. He ushered him down the stairs and into the kitchen, immediately giving his father a smile. “Hi, Baba! Look, Erik’s home!”
“I can see that,” Nadir chuckled, giving Erik a brief smile before he returned his gaze back to his son. “Are you going to give him your surprise?”
“I’m about to,” Reza said as he pulled his friend over to the table, then picked up a piece of paper. “Look, Erik, I drew this for you! It’s you playing your violin!”
Erik couldn’t help but smile as he looked over the boy’s gift, any thought of his difficult day at the palace now long since forgotten. “Reza, this is beautiful. Thank you very much,” he replied, sitting down at the table and pulling the boy onto his lap. “You know what? I’m going to put this up on my wall right above my desk. That way, I’ll see it all the time.”
Reza smiled at that and wrapped his arms around his friend’s neck. Erik, in turn, hugged his little friend close, thankful that he hand someone to help make his bad days brighter. He could always count on the boy to make him smile no matter what, and that meant more to him than words could easily express.