I stood with a grimace, gripping my stomach still. "Dammit..." I muttered, beginning to walk back to the elevator now, "They weren't kidding..." I received a few concerned gazes from the other WATCH officers as I waited for the elevator doors to open; once they did, I stepped inside and pressed the button to the ground floor. The doors shut and I waited in silence for the elevator doors to open once again at my next destination. They opened, I stepped out, then walked to the exit door. That opened too, and once again, I found myself wandering aimlessly on the streets of Neon District. "Now what..?" I thought as lowered my head, "I could try to get rid of E..? No, I couldn't. But, I have to. Yet... I can't. Fuck." I took my hand off of my stomach and moved it to my pocket with an elongated sigh of defeat.
I stopped suddenly, glancing up at the Executive Apartment building ahead of me. I simply just stared, thinking still, "Is this a good idea?-". I lowered my head as I made my way inside. The lobby was quiet, only the water trickling from the fountains, and the receptionist typing away on her terminal could be heard.
I then walked towards the left elevator to floor 1. The doors instantly opened as I arrived outside of them. I pressed the button, the doors closed, the elevator moved, the doors opened, and I stepped out. God, I hate elevators, such a boring, old routine of travel. Tsk.
I now stood outside E's apartment door. My nose had started to bleed again as I arrived. I brought my hand up to the door, pausing for a moment before giving two relatively loud knocks. I wiped the blood from my nose with my thumb as I waited for a reply. I glanced at my bloody thumb, then returned it to my pocket. A voice now came from inside, "Come in!" I pushed open the door and walked in, taking a swift glance around the apartment. "E?" I called out, looking to the sofa, where E was sitting. She turned, staring at me for a quick second before quirking up, "Ayeeee~ Conannie!~," She smiled.
"Hello Eee~" I replied, matching her voice's energy. I walked over to the pillar beside me and leant on it, attempting to stop myself from passing out. God, I was dizzy.
E's smile faded as she glared, "What happened?"
I paused for a moment, "Uh, WATCH happened."
"Do they not like you, or something?"
"Or something, yeah."
"Tsk, well, are you alright? Come sit," She sighed, patting the space beside her.
I began to walk to her, "I'm somewhat okay."
"That's alright then, kinda," She gave a short laugh and I sat down, "Just don't go dying on me, alright?~"
I looked at her now, "Oh, I would never, you all mean too much to me to go dying. I would never forgive myself, E." I smiled.
"Good."
We were in silence for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen or to be said. E sharply inhaled, "Would you like some wine?" I glanced over to her, giving a small nod. She stood and headed over to the kitchen. On the counter was one half-empty bottle of red wine; E had already had a bit to drink, it seemed. She opened the cabinet and took out an extra glass. She placed it down and gripped the bottle, slowly lifting it and pouring it in. She now picked up the glass with her free hand and walked back over to the sofa. She placed down the bottle on the table, replacing it with her glass and sat down, holding out a glass to me. I gently took it from her, leaning back and taking a relatively small sip. At this point, my nose had finally stopped bleeding, however, my head was still pounding, and the wine probably wasn't helping. E began to speak but was cut off by a few loud knocks from the door. "Who is it!?" E shouted towards the knocking. Silence struck the room once again for a few seconds before a voice finally replied, "It's Marcus..!"
"Oh Shit," I muttered.
E glanced at me, "Fucks sake... Come in!"
I listened as the door opened, then clicked shut again. Marcus now appeared from around the corner. He was wearing a grey jumper and black trousers. His hair was styled into black twists. A pair of katanas rested on his side and a few blades around his front. E and I simply just stared at him, sipping our wine still. Marcus glared back, narrowing his eyes, "Hey..."
"Ello," We replied in unison.
E now spoke individually, "What do you want?"
"Nothing..." Marcus replied.
"Then why are you here? You're not welcome."
"...I don't know..."
I gripped my holster as I turned back to face the TV. E gave one last 'fuck off' glare at Marcus before turning back to me. I took a sip from my glass, then cleared my throat, "So, Marcus. What have you been up to?"
"Searching..." He began to walk around the sofa, to the coffee table.
"Oh?" I leant back, "For what?"
Marcus remained silent for a moment, before uttering, "Can I stab you..?"
E turned to Marcus, shooting him a glare, "What?"
In all honesty, I wasn't surprised that Marcus would say such a thing, besides, he was only 8, or... 9? It's not like he knows any better. If anything, I expect him to say that, or I guarantee, something would be very wrong.
"Can I stab Conan?" He repeated.
"No. You can't." She sounded a lot more stern.
Marcus placed his hand on the hilt of his katana. I simply just watched in silence, occasionally taking sips from my wine. E sighed, downing the rest of her wine. She leant forward toward the table and placed her empty glass down. She stuffed her hand into her pocket; all with direct eye contact with Marcus. She swiftly took a tranquillizer dart from it and threw it at Marcus' arm. "Bullzeye," She grinned.
Marcus turned to me and pulled the tranq from his arm, "You..." He sigh. He released his grip from the hilt of his katana as he fell to his side onto the floor, and blacked out.
I now looked at Marcus, who was laying on the floor, out cold, "Well, damn." I finished my wine, then placed the glass down onto the table. E turned to me, "Lord-" I laughed slightly. I had been thinking of my way out of WATCH's grasp throughout this whole time. And I had given myself the idea to fake my death yet again for the 3rd time. Yes, the 3rd time. It was risky though since I promised I would never do such a thing again to Naomi, she wouldn't have been able to handle it. I stuffed my hand into my pocket, then pulled my Leaf from it. E stood, walking to the kitchen. I began to scroll down my contacts until I met the name 'Ben'. Ben was my brother. A damn good one too. He cares, a lot. Like. A lot. I tapped it, then began to type, hesitating ever so slightly. The conversation passed quickly, as Ben was the type of guy to be constantly on his phone. It wrote:
"Ben." - Conan
"Yeah?" - Ben
"Could you get over to ND?"
"Of course, why?"
"I need a favour, a big one."
"Ah. Alright, I'll start to pack now."
"Say goodbye to the family- please."
"Why?"
"Nothing."
"Conan..."
"Just say it, gotta go."
And with that, I stuffed my Leaf back into my pocket, letting out a sigh. E walked over with another bottle of wine. She gave me a short and sturdy stare, "You good?" Narrowing her eyes.
I glanced up to her, "Of course, just uh... worried, and thinking."
She popped the cork off from it, "About?"
"Nothing important-" I slumped back into my seat.
"Well. Then it's nothing a couple of glasses of wine can't fix," she smiled as she poured her glass, and refilled mine. She was wrong. So wrong.