Four Months Later

Zen really never understood the point of New Year's Eve. Like, he got the point of it. But the 'New Year, New Me' was just a load of crap. People didn't magically become new people over-night. And maybe he had a bit of a cynical look on it because he was immortal. Time meant nothing to him, but he did know that it changed people. He knew more than anyone, the only person who could really rival with that being Skylar Laverdure, after his three hundred year nap. But he supposed that it was just a cup little mortal tradition. Perhaps it was a way to make them feel like they had better control over their life, and that they could shape the next year into something that would benefit them.

He really didn't think that Malum would let the entire army have the day off, but now that he thought about it, Malum didn't seem to attack people on holidays such as Christmas. Even though it would really help, considering most people weren't prepared on those days. So maybe he had a bit of a conscious. It didn't really matter to him. Zen himself wasn't interested in the celebration. He settled in his room and waited for it all to stop so he'd be able to actually settle down and sleep. To pass the time he sat at his desk and did what he usually did nowadays when he had some time to himself. He drew. It kept his mind and hands busy and stopped him from wandering into his mind. That usually did more harm than good.

At some point, he stopped to give his cramping hand a rest. He sighed at the small picture he had drawn. It was a forest. He tried not to think about how familiar it looked. He was going to put a small cabin in the background but decided that that would hurt too much. He stood up and stretched, wincing at how his chest ached. He sighed before he turned towards the window next to his desk, crossing his arms. He looked out at the party through the clear window pane. He watched everyone go crazy in the large field the house was in the middle of. The lights could be seen clearly at the house, and he could just distantly hear the loud music. He glanced at the clock on his wall and saw that it was about twenty minutes until midnight. He sighed. "Finally." He muttered, rubbing his cheek. Zen was debating on settling down in his bed, or maybe running outside to snatch up a snack since he had had a pretty light lunch and had skipped dinner. Those thoughts vanished when he saw someone on the steps up the mansion.

He knew those colors, especially on that build and those clothes. He stared for a few moments before he turned and left his room, grabbing his jacket and scarf as he went. It was too cold to be outside. He was surprised that it wasn't snowing just yet. He sighed as he stepped out and watched the fog that formed in front of him, looking over at the group before he shook his head. Mortals really were crazy. He walked down the steps before he came to a stop.

"You know, usually, the host actually goes to the party." Malum glanced at him before he smirked, pushing his hat up so that Zen could see his face better. The man was leaned back against the steps beside him, his broad shoulders pressing against the cold metal comfortably. A beer that was half empty sat beside him.

"If I was down there, they wouldn't really be having a lot of fun." He said.

"Ah yes, the dangerous Malum," Zen hissed, mocking disgust though it wasn't very hard, "if he's in your vicinity he's there to kill you!" Malum snickered, scratching the underside of his chin.

"Funny, I think I remember you being under that category when you first came here." Zen rolled his eyes and leaned against the railing next to him, crossing his arms over his stomach.

"Yeah, and in my defense, I snapped out of that real quick." He said.

"Yeah, because you saved my life," Malum said. "Not a lot of my soldiers can say they've done that. Actually, I'll bet you fifty coins that there isn't one person under my command that I haven't saved at least once." Zen smirked. It was strange, really. After being here for nearly a year Zen found himself almost... Comfortable around Malum. Trust me, he hadn't forgotten what he'd done in both the past and present, but after you hang around a guy for so long... Especially when you were climbing the ranks as quickly as Zen, or if you kept getting pulled into unnecessary crap like a certain demon attacking you and blaming you for a Valkyrie's murderer. He still hated his guts, but he was comfortable enough to talk to him like this when they were alone. That wasn't often, thankfully, but...

"Why aren't you down there, Zen? You deserve the break." Zen glanced up, staring at the man before he sighed.

"I don't celebrate New Year's Eve." He said simply. But an answer like that was never enough for a guy like Malum. His eyebrows raised and Zen sighed because that was a tall-tell sign that he wanted to know more. "I find it, for the lack of a better word, stupid. It's a night just like any other. But it'd be different for me. I'm immortal." He shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Do you celebrate any holiday then?" Malum asked. Zen looked at him, face twisted in annoyance he didn't even bother trying to hide.

"Of course I do. Saint Patty's Day is a favorite because a lot of bars have great discounts for the entire night. And of course, there's some of the classics; April Fools, and Christmas, though I always celebrated those with..." Zen trailed off. He didn't need to finish his sentence. He sighed and tilted his head back. "But we never celebrated New Years' Eve. Time meant nothing to immortals like us."

Malum stared at him and didn't respond for some time. Then he suddenly chuckled and looked back at the party raging on across the clearing. Zen could see the clock they had set up from this position. There were five minutes left.

"I think it's cute." Zen blinked and looked at him with eyebrows raised. Malum smirked. "Of course a holiday revolved around time would be useless to us. We're immortal. Time won't run out for us for a long time. But for little mortals, humans especially, they don't have much time themselves. Most don't like to take every single day for granted, and they want to make the short little life they have as meaningful as they can. Some want to leave a mark. Others just want to leave behind a few children to carry on their legacy. Whatever their reason is, it's important to them." He sat up, propping his elbow on his knee before he leaned his head against his hand. Zen stared at him and found that the moonlight gave him a view of Malum he had never seen before. The cursed man glanced at him, amber eyes shimmering.

"So... I think it's cute. Sometimes I wished I still had that look on life myself. It'd make the days easier."

The silence stretched between them. Zen was floored. Malum had to be messing with him, right? This guy didn't care about anything but revenge, anger, bloodshed, and war. The only reason he was looking for Medicus was that he wanted to kill him himself, and he felt like he had no reason to fight a Death Court led by SS. But here he sat, talking about how much this holiday meant to little mortals who would never live as long as they did. Here he was, smiling at him with beer left in his cup and the moonlight shining on them. Malum had smiled at him before, but this time was different. His eyes... There emotions there that...

Zen glanced away. The clock said they had three minutes left until midnight.

"I never thought of it that way," he said so that the silence didn't last any longer. Malum hummed and grabbed his beer, downing the rest of the liquid inside in a few gulps before he crushed the can. Zen shuddered and blamed it on the wind.

"I'm not looking forward to cleaning all that crap up," Malum grumbled as they watched the crowd prepare fireworks and streamers for when the clock went off. He glanced at it and saw that they had less than two minutes left now. "Well, are you going to go inside to escape their blasted counting, or are you gonna sit out here and suffer with me?" Zen glanced at the man. He really should go inside. Get something to eat, maybe take a quick shower, even just draw if he found he couldn't sleep. But for some reason... He couldn't get himself to.

He sighed and walked over to Malum before he crouched down beside him, placing his elbows on his elevated knees. "I guess I'll stick around." He said. "The last time I saw the countdown was in some city in this advanced realm, during the 1600s. They were going into the 1700s. They were almost certain the world was going to end." Malum chuckled.

"Mortals," he said as they watched the clock begin to count down from sixty, "will never cease to amaze me."

They sat in silence as they watched. The crowd began shouting the numbers when it reached ten. Couples couldn't keep their hands off of each other. The music was blaring so loudly that Zen could feel the beat traveling through his feet. He closed his eyes.

"Eight!"

An entire year... It hadn't felt that long. He was in a state of denial he supposed. He was confused about what was going on with Medicus. He was confused about what was going on with Malum. He was confused about that stupid drawing he started when he was sleep deprived last week.

"Seven!"

He was alone, terrified, without anyone on the other side. He didn't think that he'd be able to make even a month here.

"Six!"

He thought he'd have to just drop the act after the Medicus news, and crawl his way to the Courts and beg for forgiveness, beg for them to believe him. He had come close to it so many times, even when he knew that SS would never in a million years believe him. His brother was stubborn that way, always so stubborn no matter how many years passed, that it was his downfall so many times.

"Five!"

But he had made it. He opened his eyes. He glanced at Malum. To his surprise, he found that he was staring at him too.

"Four!"

"I celebrate Chinese New Year," Zen blurted out. Malum raised his eyebrows in that signature way of his.

"Three!"

He wondered how much longer he'd be able to survive here. Malum would find out at some point, whether it'd be next week or in a few years. Anything could happen, he found. Especially when luck wasn't in his favor. It hadn't been in his favor for eighteen years now.

"Two!"

"Will you need that week off?" Malum asked. Zen shook his head, still trying to figure out why he had said that in the first place. "Well, good. I need you here."

"One!"

Oh god. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did he really need him?

"Happy New Year!"

The group screamed, jumping up and down. The couples leaped onto each other and basically started to eat each other's faces. It was rather disgusting and for once Zen was pretty glad that he was single. He sighed and leaned his head against his hand, propping his elbow up on his knee.

"Happy New Year, Malum," Zen muttered before he even realized he opened his mouth.

"Happy New Year, Zen," Malum responded, and they sat in silence as they watched the rest of the fireworks.