Convince Me

Chapter Two - Nazeera

I pull Kenji out the door, and surprisingly, he doesn't resist. Ha. How easy. I look at him, stumbling as I let him go, with awe. How can a man be so childish but so determined? His black middle part is messed up, my credit, to be perfectly fair, and his cheeks flushed, I don't know from the recent rush or from the extremely convenient hangover that has saved me most of his usual jokes. I drag him outside, and it takes him a few hot seconds to realise that I'm being serious here. And not about to pull him and kiss him. He's so delusional sometimes.

"Stand still, Kenji, please." I rub my temples. He stands straight like a soldier, it's like a little child. This man sometimes.

"Something's wrong," I begin. I lean against the wall, staring intensely at him, and immediately, at the look on my face, he sobers, glancing at me with those deep brown eyes, thick brows—

"No shit. I just saw Lady Ice Queen smile? Like I know I've only seen her for a few minutes but I personally think just that was enough to know her personality enough-"

"Kenji, that's because she's basic. Not the point though. The ex-supremes asked us for an alliance."

Instantly, the small smirk is gone, and his very luscious eyebrows are raised in surprise. I can't say I didn't have the same reaction, however much I tried to hide it.

"And— J agreed?" He replies back, now fully switched into don't-mess-with-my-friends-or-family-or-I-will-make-sure-you-have-a-nice-meeting-with-the-underside-of-a-bus mode. AKA the rare one.

"No shit. Why else would she be smiling like a maniac like that?"

"What about Warner? Surely he's smarter than that."

"Kenji— haven't you seen him recently? He practically worships Juliette. After she went kaboom and every bad guy died, he hasn't questioned any of her actions."

"Oh. Ooooohhh. Oh shit. Fuck. Did you not say anything?"

I sigh. I mentioned if it was a good idea quietly as the supremes were readying themselves to leave, but they brushed it off. Besides, having grown up with the supremes regularly around me has let me into their head a little, and I can tell that compromising anything in front of them or doubting them would not be a good move.

"I'll tell them later."

Kenji looks into my eyes, and oh I wish I looked away, because this man can read my mind.

"You think they're not going to believe you." He says slowly, his mind clearly fumbling, dawning.

"....It's stupid, I know."

"No—no it's not, it's just..."

"Yeah. Juliette's a little too...optimistic." I sigh. My head fucking hurts. It's such a stupid reason, but you can tell Juliette and Warner are deluded. They're not thinking straight. Juliette, I don't want to be rude, but I honestly expected, but what I didn't was that Warner wouldn't argue too. Their love is so sweet but so toxic, they let each other get into their heads too often. "When they asked me if I would make an alliance, I said I would have to talk to Haider. This means that both North America and Oceania are compromised because of them. We have to talk to them."

"They won't believe us straight away. We just won a war, our greatest enemies have perished. Why would we have enemies now?"

"Exactly that." I take a breath. "The alliance terms consisted of trade, regular meetings as a united front along with consistent speeches, and access to each other's headquarters. I can see how it would get inside Juliette's head. She wants the best for her world, therefore allying with an experienced leader would help her a lot. Trade would benefit her dying economy, meetings would help her get more organised, and access would help her learn more about each other. I don't think she realised that they would have access in Oceania too."

"...ok, so that's that. When will the alliance officially start?"

"Two weeks, the twenty-third of March."

"Ok. There's still time. Are they staying here?"

"Yes."

"Shit."

I'm almost surprised at how quickly Kenji took my side. I'll admit, I've underestimated him. He can be a good leader, and can keep his head clear. I suppose having him on my side will be more advantage than distraction. I smirk at the thought, and glance back at Kenji,

but

why is my fac

e

on the floor

ow

I gasp.

Everything comes rushing back

Emotions, thoughts, pain.

I'm on the floor, on my side, my hand cradled around a...bullet wound? Shit.

Crimson blood dots my fancy chains, staining the ariuc colour. A gaping hole in my flesh in one of my revealed parts, near my belly button. I try to move my head, but instantly, everything echoes, visually. Ghosts?

Nothing hurts anymore

not even the cracked bone I can now sense,

not even the gaping wound I have failed to hold, my hand flopping, my strength draining by the second

where is Kenji?

I crane my neck, something twisting, and oh no, he's on the floor too, a burgundy splash of paint coating his right leg, and oh, I see the artist, I think her name was Elsa?

She's smiling, a cheshire, oh no how very scary, I think. Walking dramatically with her very pretty fur coat, I want one, where did she get it?

And now the Elsa Artist has painted my vision black, and a rush of andredaline propells me, I hit something, but Ow, that hurts, but at least I hear a grunt.

My vision fades, what paint did she

use

?

A/N

I hate this part sm omg. especially the start. ok this is prob bad author stuff but js pretend Juliette and Warner not suspecting anything is canon and valid and shouldnt be questioned 😭😭

sorry this is so short as well