He'd dragged Carter around the globe, from ship to ship, to plane and train, all the while carelessly risking both their lives on multiple occasions. They'd entered countries tortured by war, famine, and disease, had gotten shot at in the streets, chased by bullets across borders, and followed by death threats as they'd broken in and out of government facilities. Sometimes, they'd used the guise of a stolen uniform and sometimes the veil of the night's shadows—all of it to save innocent lives. But the price they'd paid had been high.
*~*~*
"We can't save everyone, Zyan! You can't save everyone! And nobody expects you to!"
"I shouldn't even be here, Carter! I might as well do something to earn the extra time I've been given."
"You don't have to do anything! I made you immortal. I made that decision, not you."
"Then you should stop trying to change my mind and support me like I'm asking you to!"
"It's killing you, Zyan! And it's killing me!"
"That's a possible outcome I have learned to accept."
"But I haven't. We shouldn't have to risk our lives to earn the right to keep on living."
"And neither should any of the people that are out there sacrificing their lives for a bigger cause!"
"Zyan—"
"No! I'm sick of hearing you complain. If you don't want to support me any longer, then leave, but stop trying to change my mind!"
"I just don't want to lose you!"
"And I never asked to lose myself, but you didn't seem to care about that when you brought me back from the dead."
*~*~*
Ultimately, Zyan had been forced to realize it was no longer his place to interfere. It'd taken him years, and one scarring incident, to come to that conclusion. Carter had threatened to leave him time and time again throughout, but in the end, hadn't seemed capable of bearing the uncertainty of not knowing whether Zyan was alive or dead, so he'd stuck around.
Now Zyan sat on his living room carpet, surrounded by the contents of a box he stored in the back of his closet. It was the same one he'd dug out to prove his immortality to Ava. That day seemed strangely far away, and ever since then, he hadn't been able to get the box out of his head.
Now, in the light of all the memories, it seemed like the only thing that'd keep him from falling apart.
A stack of menus sat in front of him, all collected from around the world over a span of many decades. He'd gotten them laminated a few years ago to keep them from getting even more battered than they already were. It was a stupid and sentimental tradition he and Carter had started by accident, when they'd been out on a date in Finland, and Zyan had accidentally stolen the menu because he'd forgotten he was still holding it. Carter had pointed it out when they were already three streets over, and by then, Zyan was too embarrassed to return it, so he'd decided to keep it as a keepsake.
Ever since then, Carter had made a point of stealing a menu from every place they went to, no matter how Zyan had protested, and after a while, Zyan had surrendered and begun to take them instead. By now, there were hundreds, each with an attached memory. Some were only faint, maybe even subconsciously made up, but others clear and sharp. His fingers brushed over the letters of that very first menu. The nostalgia burned in his chest. Things had seemed so much easier then.
Now, even after all the divorces and heartbreak, Zyan couldn't imagine throwing out the box. And he knew he never would. It was the same certainty with which he knew Carter still had a hat, bracelet, or necklace from every single place they'd ever been.
Zyan looked over at his box. The only thing remaining inside was his half of their large collection of books, and beside it, his share of their postcards and photos. They'd divided everything after their first divorce but had given up on an organized system after the fourth. It was how Zyan had gotten to keep the menus while Carter had kept their box of wedding invitations. Why Zyan had a large jar of coins from around the globe, and Carter several folders full of old recipes.
Maybe they were just sentimental old men, incapable of fully letting go of days long gone.
He wasn't sure how long he said there, looking at his past laid out in front him, but by the time he next looked out the window, it was long past nightfall.
*~*~*
The following day found Zyan on Ava's couch, controller in hand. They'd loaded up a video game to distract Ava from her worries, but instead of calming her worries, it'd only transferred her nervous energy into rage-laced perseverance to finally finish Cuphead.
They were only on two levels in, and had died twenty-three times, when there was a knock on the door.
Ava threw it a fleeting glance. "You go get it," she ordered.
"It's your door! You get it!" Zyan argued.
"Just go and get it!"
"Fine!" He got up without taking his eyes off the screen, wireless controller still in hand, and even managed to continue playing while he pressed down the door handle with his elbow.
He threw Jessica a quick glance before he looked back at the screen and caught sight of fiery hair and a charming smile.
"Hello, you must be Jessica!" He shot her another glance. "Come join the party!"
"Uh, um, okay." She shuffled closer to come in and closed the door behind her. "And you're Zyan, right?"
"Yes. And sorry about all this. I was trying to distract Ava from her nervousness."
"Parry, Zyan!" Ava shouted.
"And get hit by that nut? I don't think so!" Zyan called back. "And your girlfriend's here, by the way!"
"Jessie! Hey! Aah! Shit! I just died!"
Zyan cocked an eyebrow.
"No wait! Fourth life! I'm alive! I'm ali—" She cut herself off as her character fell. "No, I just died for real. Parry, Zyan! Parry!"
Zyan was about to tease her for it but got interrupted when he failed to parry and died himself.
Ava took the opportunity of death to turn around and face Jessica, who was busy taking off her shoes next to Zyan. He saw her warm smile and heart-eyes, and suppressed a smile to let them have their moment.
While Ava got up to greet Jessica, Zyan returned to his spot on the couch to give them some privacy.
"Well, you're dressed overly nice for a casual hang-out," Ava commented in a flirty voice.
Zyan rolled his eyes to himself. He'd have assumed her to have more originality than that.
The comment was followed by a mumbled reply from Jessica and low kissing noises that made him itch to get back home, where he didn't feel like an intruder.
"Keep it PG back there!" Zyan called over his shoulder.
The lip-smacking audibly stopped. He perked up and threw a quick glance over his shoulder, where Ava and Jessica stood, foreheads pressed together, and whispering too low for Zyan to make out. A smile tugged at his lips as he turned back around.
There was the sound of another peck after a few seconds, followed by Ava's return to her previous spot next to him.
"Strap in, Jessie, 'cause this might take a while!" Ava announced.
"Did you already beat the dragon?" Jessica asked as she dropped down beside Ava.
"We didn't even beat the carrot."
"Losers."
"Rude," Zyan grumbled.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jessica
Jessica had to admit that she liked Zyan. She didn't know if she'd come to the same conclusion if it'd only been the two of them, but seeing him with Ava? It reminded her of her own bond with her sister. They were shouting and poking fun at each other with every death of their characters, every missed jump and shot. It took her back to the time she and her sister had gotten a Nintendo 64 for Christmas.
"My thumbs hurt, and I think I'm starting to feel phantom vibrations in my hands and wrists," Ava stated while the screen flashed the results of their last mission. "I think we should move on to movies and dinner."
"But we just got through King Dice!" Jessica argued. She looked over at Zyan, who'd surrendered his controller two rounds ago to stop her from shou
ting orders every time they got hit. "Come on! We at least gotta try beating the clown!"
"I'm with Ava," he replied. "You guys want Italian?"
Ava flashed him a smile. "Sure. You cool with that, Jessie?" she asked, already on her way to the kitchen, where Jessica knew she kept her take-out menus.
"Sounds great," Jessica agreed. "But don't forget: no—"
"Yeah, yeah! I know! Damn vegans." Ava muttered the last part.
Jessica grinned to herself before she turned to look at Zyan, currently navigating through the game menu.
"Wanna keep going till the food gets here?" she asked. Zyan cocked an eyebrow at her. "I'm sure Ava wouldn't mind. She wants us to bond, right?"
There was a spark in Zyan's eyes when his lips tugged up in a smile. He grabbed the second controller from the coffee table and threw it into her lap. "You're on, Jessica."
Jessica immediately took them to the rollercoaster, where a ruthless clown started his rampage on their health points. "So…how long have you known Ava?" she asked, in an attempt to make casual conversation.
"I'm sure she's told you that already," Zyan answered as he mashed his buttons.
"You're right," Jessica admitted. "So tell me something I don't know? For example…are you a cat or a dog person?"
"Neither," Zyan replied. "Or both. Depending on how you want to look at it."
Jessica nodded. "Cool, me too, but I prefer cats because they're less work and I'm lazy."
Zyan chuckled, which cost him another health point. "I can respect that."
"You've gotta stop missing those parries, Zavala!"
"You've gotta start taking better care of your teammate, Jessica."
The comment caught Jessica off-guard. She laughed.
Out of all the ways she'd expected this day to go, truly getting along with Zyan somehow hadn't been one of them. She'd thought they might reach common ground when it came to Ava, but never that they could be potential friends.
The entire situation she'd found herself in was…interesting, to say the least. She was sitting here with an immortal person who'd lived through centuries of history, yet knew his way around technology and video game terminology like most millennials. It made her wonder how much of that latter part was Ava's influence and how much came with his field of work.
She knew from Carter that they'd both always done their best to keep with the times in all fields of life, but, unlike Zyan, she'd never gotten Carter into social media. The moment he'd realized the posts didn't appear in chronological order, he'd called bullshit and deleted his accounts. She couldn't blame him.
"What happened to those skills you kept bragging about? You just lost two health on the same attack wave!"
Jessica quickly refocused all her brain power on the screen. "Sorry, sorry!"
"Aw, look at you two," Ava cooed. "Playing video games together like friends."
Jessica felt a smile tug at her lips, but it was quickly vanquished when she died and Zyan had to revive her.
Zyan laughed in triumph. "Look who just brought who back to life! Who's the better player now, huh, Jessica?"
"Sit your cute little butt down, honey," Jessica said with narrowed eyes. "This just got serious!"
*~*~*
When Jessica arrived at Carter's studio, it was almost time for lunch.
She headed into the lounge and made a beeline for the control room, where she knew she'd find him. It was by far not the first time she'd sought him out at work—almost all his coworkers and even some of his signed artists had met her at some point or another—but it was the first time she'd shown up without warning.
When she pushed open the door to the control room, she wasn't prepared for the deafeningly loud music pushing against her eardrums. She recoiled and almost stumbled back out into the lounge before she adjusted enough to enter and close the door behind her. Carter and the formless figure hidden under an oversized hoodie and snapback didn't even notice her as she approached behind them. Both their heads were ducked as they hunched over the mixing board and bobbed along to the music.
Jessica grinned at the sight of Carter tapping his foot and shimmying his shoulders.
"Hey! " she called out.
Carter jumped and whirled around fast enough to nearly fall off his chair.
Jessica bit back laughter. "Are they the new guys?" she asked with a nod at the group of five sitting behind the glass in the live room, chatting and passing around water bottles. "I don't think I've ever seen them before."
Cater threw a glance over his shoulder. "Yeah, it's only their second time here."
Jessica gave herself a moment to take in the music instead of focusing on the sheer volume of it. It was only instrumental so far, but she knew talent when she heard it. "They're good."
"I know, that's why I signed them."
After he finished speaking, the recording cut off and dropped them into silence. Jessica's lips parted as she raised her hands to press against her ringing ears.
"Ten more minutes until vocals, guys!" the person at the mixing board announced over the speakers.
Behind the glass, the band nodded.
"So, tell me, what brings you really here?" Carter asked as he headed for the large black couch pushed against the wall. "Because I know it's not your interest in my work."
"Maybe I came to talk to my best friend about my date yesterday," Jessica said as she followed him.
"Oh yeah, how'd that go?"
"Honestly? Surprisingly well!" She shrugged off her jacket and shoulder bag, which she draped over the armrest before she sat down.
"We played video games, ate take-out, watched a buncha movies. It was, like, two in the morning before Zyan said his goodbyes, which I've been told is unusual for him."
She gauged Carter's reaction to the name-drop. His eyes widened a fraction and his lips parted for just a second before he got control of himself. If she hadn't known him, she wouldn't even have noticed the small shift.
"After that, Ava invited me to stay over, so I did," Jessica went on. "She wanted to sleep on the couch, so I could take the bed, but then I was like 'hell no,' so we both slept in the same bed and it was nice. She smells really good and her pajamas are so soft."
Carter raised an eyebrow. "I didn't need to know about that last part, but okay."
Jessica smirked. "Then I'm sure you don't want to hear about this morning, when we had some nice and steamy morning se—"
"Nope! No! Na-ah!" Carter cut her off. Part of her was expecting him to put his fingers in his ears and start to sing—sadly, he didn't.
Jessica laughed as she sunk further into the cushions. "It's okay. I'd rather keep my bedroom activities in the bedroom, anyway." They hadn't even had sex yet, but Carter didn't need to know that.
"Good."
Jessica lifted her hand and started to inspect her fingernails. "So…about her best friend, Zyan."
When she glanced up, Carter squinted at her. "What about him?"
"He seems like a pretty cool dude," Jessica said nonchalantly—or at least, she hoped it came across that way. "Ava and I thought it might be nice to get together as a group and—"
"Please tell me you're not actually trying to set us up."
Jessica dropped her hand. "What? No. I'd never—"
Carter raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine," Jessica said. "I might've done it before, but this time, it's different. Ava wants you two to meet because she still has hopes to become part of a friend group like the ones in those nineties sitcoms."
Carter snorted. "Good luck with that."
Jessica smiled a little. "Does that mean…?"
Carter sighed. "Yeah. Fine. I'll meet the guy."
Jessica beamed at him. "Awesome! I've gotta tell Ava." She fished her cellphone from her bag.
"Did you literally just come all the way down here to ask me that?"
"Yup!" Jessica responded as her fingers flew over the screen to inform Ava of the good news. Once she pressed 'send,' she du
g back into her bag and pulled out a paper bag. "And I brought you a cheese croissant."
Carter snatched it out of her hand. "Oh god, I love you!"
"You're welcome."
"Hey, Jess, you wanna stay for the rest of the session?" The question came from the figure at the mixing board, who'd now turned to face them.
Jessica looked up and felt a smile blossom on her face as she recognized who had been sitting there the whole time. "Tiffany? Damn, I almost didn't recognize you in that hoodie."
"My girlfriend's," Tiffany replied.
"Nice. And yeah, I'd love to, but my shift starts in two hours."
"Pity. That girl's got the voice of an angel."
"No worries, I'm sure my high-up connections will make sure I hear the finished product."
"Yes, he will," Carter butted in.
Tiffany chuckled, completely at ease in the presence of her boss. And rightfully so. As far as Jessica knew, Tiffany was the only one who'd been with Carter since the start of the company, which had earned her the position of being in charge whenever he wasn't around.
Jessica's phone buzzed. When she looked down, she saw Ava's name flashing on-screen. "Oh, I've gotta take this. " She jumped up and headed for the door. "Be right back," she called over her shoulder.
Out in the quiet of the lounge, she accepted the call, but before she could say something, Ava was already speaking.
"Hey, you, you still at Carter's?"
Jessica looked at the framed newspaper clippings and records on the walls. "Well, I'm in his recording studio."
"Really? Can you send me pictures? Can you get me autographs from the band?"
Jessica laughed. "You don't even know them! They're just recording their first album."
"It's the principle of the thing, Jessie!"
"Okay, I'll see what I can do," Jessica promised. "Did you get my text?"
"Yeah, and that's great, but…he was never the problem. Getting Zyan to agree to it—that'll be the hard part."
The Thing About Forever Page 10