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Nikolai Gogol had a love-hate relationship with his birthdate.
He loved April Fools–especially so, since it fell on the same day as his birthday. The only unfortunate part was that everyone seemed to avoid him on this day every year. Sure, Nikolai enjoyed a good prank, but was celebrating with friends too much to ask for?
He sat in his little dorm, poking idly at the cake slice on his desk with a plastic fork. The cake was cheap, and it tasted as much. Nikolai had lost his appetite anyway.
Even his roommate (and wonderful boyfriend) was extra busy today; at least, it felt like he was.
The cake fell apart the more he poked at it, so he gave up and pushed the plate aside, in favour of resting his head against his desk. The lamp would’ve been directed right into his already bad eye if it was on.
“Nikolai! I’m sorry I’m late, traffic was a nightmare!” Sigma quickly filled the room with life, taking off his heels at the door. He immediately dropped in height.
At the sound of his boyfriend’s voice, Nikolai sat up, eyes shooting over to Sigma. He looked… really nice. Surprisingly nice, actually.
Sigma had put up his hair and was dressed in something slightly more formal than the already-nice clothing he wore daily. It must’ve taken him ages to get on this morning…
Sigma also carried a small shopping bag–the reusable kind, making it too opaque to see what he had bought.
Nikolai turned in his seat to face Sigma before getting up to meet him halfway in his path, quickly embracing his boyfriend in a much-needed hug. The way Nikolai’s face melted into the top of Sigma's head was a clear indication that something was wrong.
He could hear Sigma hunt through the bag for something, but couldn’t quite see what it was until Sigma took a step back out of the comfort of Nikolai’s touch.
“Here, I got you something. You know, for your birthday.”
When offered the bag, Nikolai reached inside, removing a card and small box wrapped with a pink ribbon. The box wasn’t very big; it fit in his hand quite easily.
“Oh, thank you.”
Despite the previously melancholic mood, Nikolai’s expression had noticeably brightened, which seemed to please Sigma in return.
Nikolai went to open the box first, which Sigma quickly protested.
“Open the card first, goodness…”
Placing the bag aside, Sigma took a seat on Nikolai’s unmade bed. Nikolai followed with a laugh as he sat next to his boyfriend, waving his hand in a jokingly dismissive manner.
“Fine, fine.”
Nikolai opened the card— and was immediately covered in brightly colored glitter. He looked down at the card that just showered him in a rainbow-sparkled mess; written on it was, “𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘪 ! -𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘮𝘢 <3”
Sigma was visibly trying not to laugh at Nikolai’s confusion, his mouth covered by his hand as quiet snickers made their way out of his throat no matter how much he attempted to keep them contained. Nikolai loved that sound.
He laughed himself, unused to being the one to get pranked on April Fool’s.
“I thought you hated April Fool’s?”
After Nikolai had calmed his laughter, he looked Sigma’s direction. He nodded in response before actually replying.
“Yeah, I do.” Sigma handed Nikolai the little box. “But I felt like you needed to be cheered up.”
Taking the little box, Nikolai finally pulled the ribbon off and opened it. Inside was a small bracelet, half from a boyfriend-girlfriend set teenagers would get. It was definitely cheap, but it was something Nikolai had joked about buying for Sigma in the past.
In the box was only one bracelet, the boyfriend side, since Sigma was already wearing its partner.
“Oh, you idiot..”
Nikolai set the box aside, instead leaning to give Sigma his attention. His arms wrapped around Sigma's already-corseted waist, his forehead pressed against his.
“You really didn’t need to get me anything… Let’s have some cake, I bought a cheap one earlier.”
Sigma pulled back just enough to shake his head without hitting Nikolai, placing a gentle kiss onto the tip of his nose.
“Don’t be silly, I’ll bake you a nice one.”