"So are you gonna keep that stick in your ass or are you gonna speak to me?" M'Baku whispered loudly on purpose, tearing you away from your thoughts. He couldn't possibly hear what you're thinking, could he? Lightly shaking your head, you laughed a bit at his childish antics. You looked down while pulling the needle through the last part of his stitches, seeing that his eyes remained closed.
"Who has a stick up their ass? I'm trying to make sure I don't mess up on this fine work."
M'Baku peeks through one eye and chuckles at your statement. "You've never messed up on me before, so why start now?"
"Because if I leave a single scratch on the Jabari tribe's greatest treasure, the ladies would never let me hear the end of it."
"Ladies? What ladies?" he asked with a tinge of curiosity in his tone.
You gaped. "You're joking."
"I am not. What women?"
"As your best friend, I have to say that I am thoroughly shocked," you paused. "The women who have to fan themselves whenever you make your way across the room. The women who cry when you take your seat on your throne and sit there with your legs wiiiide open. Your fans, I guess you would say?"
His thumbs drew little circles at your hips as you playfully hum. In his momentary daze he said, "Do they really cry?"
You nodded, your eyes falling down to watch him try and mask his prideful smile.
"I was unaware that I drew that kind of attention."
"Bullshit. Men envy you and children practically want to be you. You have the makings of a worthy and respectable role model," you added on.
You pulled the needle through the last loop before bringing it up a hair further to seal and close his wound. With an outstretched hand, you grabbed the scissors to neatly cut the thread as close to his forehead as possible. Your eyes glossed over your work, an immediate smile falling upon your lips.
"It's like you act like you don't even notice how the nurses bat their lashes at you whenever you come to see me at the clinic."
M'Baku batted his eyes open to see you pressing your glove-covered fingertips lightly around the inflicted area, noticing that your doctor face cracks into that gentle, loving smile he's always known. And until now, desperately made his way home to see.
"Aren't you the least bit curious as to why that is?" he questioned while shifting his weight to back up on the front edge of the bed a bit more. Which you don't seem to notice as you're more interested in your work.
"You sound like you're about to admit you have a crush on someone," he doesn't say anything back and your heart jumped a bit in your chest from his silence. You coughed and continued, "Can I at least guess who it is?"
"No need to guess. I'll tell you."
Your heart wasn't prepared for the weight of the name that would soon come through his mouth. That meant you'd have to admit defeat and rid yourself of these feelings once and for all. For the sake of your friendship. And your sanity.
"She's... Someone I'm oddly close to. I see her in passing everyday because of my work around the village. And it seems that every time I come around, she doesn't falter in her work. Like I always fail to grab her attention when it's my every intention to get her to notice me."
You swallowed the lump in your throat and shifted your body to the side to start packing up your kit. M'Baku kept his hands leveled on your waist, a certain normal level of skin-ship you shared between each other.
"I think you must be really good at hiding her because I have no idea who she might be," you said with a laugh, backing out from between his legs to leave before you could get hurt.
That is until you feel his hands tug you back into place and pull you forward into his chest, your knees landing softly on the bed and right in between his legs. It is in that moment when you are mirrored in his warm dark hazelnut eyes.
"It's you, idiot. You are the only one who doesn't bother to treat me any differently when I walk in a room. In fact, you do the exact opposite. You flat out ignore me," he whispered in a low breath, not breaking his gaze from yours despite the close proximity of your bodies.
An overpowering woodsy aroma dominated your senses, successfully numbing your mind into a quiet mist. A faint vanilla musk wafted by and tickled your nose, hinting that M'Baku must have lifted the body wash from your bathroom.
It was something about his scent that reminded you of laying out in dewy grass, barefoot, after a long day of rain showers that made you feel like you were home. You couldn't help but sink deeper, growing intoxicated by it.
Because it was him. He was your home.
Gods, he had no right to do these things to you.
You couldn't believe that M'Baku—the same M'Baku you spent the better half of your life growing up with—just confessed to you giving him tunnel vision. There was just no way. Your hands flew to the top of his chest as you tried to push yourself back onto your feet, but M'Baku's hands managed to keep you steady in front of him on your knees.
"No no no," you stammered, "I can't be the one you like. There's plenty of other women who could be the object of your affections—just not me! You've got to be kidding me. You must be joking!"
Though the anger builds up inside of you, you remained still within his grasp. M'Baku chuckled in astonishment at your willingness to dismiss his feelings for you.
He moved one hand from your waist to cradle your cheek, his thumb drawing small, gentle circles and reel you in with a generous side of him you already knew to be true. Your eyelashes bat themselves closed at the contact of his fingers tracing your skin.
"I do not joke about the affairs of my heart like this. I have no reason to lie to you."
It crossed your mind that this just might be a highly vivid daydream of yours that has taken a mind of its own. His thumb then grazed over the bottom curve of your lower lip as you speak up.
"You're the most uptight person I know. And I'm pretty sure the rules say that this, " you said as youreyes peeked through your lashes for a moment as you gestured between your bodies with a hand, "Isn't allowed."
M'Baku licked his lips before breaking out into a wide grin, tipping his head off to the side. "Challenge Day was indeed a wake-up call for me. That and T'Challa put me into a headlock over the edge of the Falls and left me with a possible concussion."
You parted your lips to interrupt, but he immediately pulled at the side of your cheek to stop you with a hearty chuckle.
"Will you let me finish first before you give me a lecture about my poor health decisions?" he waited for you to give a little nod before talking again.
"He could have ended my life right there, but instead... He told me that my people still needed a leader. And as much as I despise the man, for once, he was right."
"Oh? When T'Challa says it, you consider his words. But when I said it, you cursed me for even saying it out loud Men." you groaned in the middle of an eye roll.
"I do value your opinion, Y/N. I'm sorry about that. It's just I'm a little more... hard-headed than most."
"You can say that again," you said with a grumble under your breath.
"But when I was at the edge of the waterfall, the first thing that flashed to my mind was your face. And how I had to be sure to apologize to you for my disrespectful behavior. I mean, along with the rest of the tribe."
"So it took for you to be at Death's door to realize that my face saves lives AND I was right? We gotta do this shit more often."
"Shut up, Y/N. I'm trying to admit to you something that is truly killing me to say out loud."
"Which is?" you lock eyes with him only but for a moment, permitting your attention to drop down to his lips.
"I'm in love with you. Ever since we were kids and you said that the two of us would go the distance together. At first, I didn't believe you. Because I assumed that you would come across another man and he would grant you a lifetime of happiness in my stead. When I saw you cry before I left, I... I knew I was wrong to think that way. I wanted to be the one to hold you. I wanted to be the only one who heard about the ups and downs of your days and share in your successes and your triumphs. To be the one you run to when your days leave you battered and beyond repair. I wanted it to be me," he paused and flashed a smile. "And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize this. But listen to me when I say that it has always been you."
M'Baku noticed how you remain silent and watch his mouth carefully to brace for his next words. He laughed quietly and wobbled forward, closing the nonexistent space between the two of you to seize your lips in a kiss.
The movement alone took you by surprise, but soon your lips are coaxed into parting open and allowing his tongue to poke around a bit inside. A squeak managed to muffle its way in as you placed a hand on top of his that rests upon your cheek and return the passionate kiss, leaning your chest against him. The other hand crept behind his neck to pull him in closer, as your lips and his part and close, occasionally breaking away while steamy gasps become more audible.
A low growl rumbled in his throat, that territorial nature of his was beginning to shine through as the hand on your waist tugged at your coat. A clear signal that he wanted to feel more of what was confined under your barrier of clothing. Which with his mental math, he calculated would take him no time at all to get you out of. If he had his way.
M'Baku caught your lower lip in between his teeth and dragged it lightly with another growl, causing a shudder from the base of your spine to send ripples down your back and making you slightly dizzy from the sensation.
If this was how one can obtain a drunken buzz induced by alcohol, you didn't mind the sweet nectar of his lips bringing you to a hazy state. Especially if it meant you could stay in this moment forever.
You were the first to tap out, pulling back from M'Baku's face with harsh exhales and swollen lips. Giggles filled the room as you pulled your hand back from his neck with opened eyes. Mustering some hidden strength from deep inside, you land a punch square on M'Baku's shoulder blade with a little force—causing him to hiss in response.
"The hell was that for! I'm a patient!"
"And I am nothing if not a lady of my word," you said immediately after. "That was for going to the Falls anyway and almost dying!"
M'Baku was laughing—really laughing with his whole body—baffled by your ability to still claim your superiority over anything else. You landed another punch on the opposite shoulder as M'Baku groans once more.
"And what was that for!?"
"For making me break the rules and falling in love with you!"
M'Baku broke out into a dorky smile, looping an arm around your waist in efforts to keep you against him. He said, "That sounds like a personal grievance you should deal with in your free time, ife mi."
Your hands rested on his shoulder blades, fingertips lightly ghosting over his collarbones. "No, you're going to have to deal with it too. It takes two to fall."
He took both of your hands into his. Tugging at the latex material, he pulled one after the other to reveal your bare hands and hold onto one of them to press a kiss into the center of your palm. M'Baku's lips slowly moved towards your fingertips. He speaks in between each little kiss.
"And...to think...these fingers...healed me," he shifted his eyes to your face. "And Doc, it's way past visiting hours and my guards are off duty. Which means you'll have to stay the night."
You wrapped your arms around M'Baku's neck, smiling from ear to ear at his words. "I hope this isn't going to be like our old sleepovers when we were kids."
"You mean one of our many traditions that cultivated years of friendship and bonded us together forever? Why? Should we have gotten rid of it?"
You shook your head lightly and leaned forward to press gentle pecks against those sinful lips of his. You couldn't help but take advantage of the present opportunity, answering him in the same breath.
"Of course not, it was the only time you would go stargazing with me. You remember, don't you? I was stupidly in love with the stories of the moon and the stars. We would go out at the bottom of the mountain bank with our large blankets for layers and huddle up close to each other for warmth. You came with me even though you thought it was silly thing for a girl to like."
M'Baku tilted his head to the side, letting out a chuckle. "It was silly at first. Because who in their right mind would listen to a 8 year old girl babble on about the placement of constellations and how she just has to go see it or she'll die?"
"Okay, so I exaggerated a tiiiny bit to get you to come. But did you even hate it?" You retracted your arms back to your sides, eyes scanning M'Baku's unusually calm exterior.
"Maybe the first couple times." he said honestly as you shoved his chest. "After a while, I got used to having you dragging me out in the middle of the night to look at the sky. Because I knew you wouldn't want to go with anyone else me."
You shrugged your shoulders in a nonchalant manner and said, "It was our thing. I never wanted to share it with anyone else but you. Mostly because everyone was annoying and you were just the right amount of annoying for me."
He laughed again, rolling his eyes at your playful tone. "I'm so flattered."
M'Baku stroked his chin before lifting a finger. "There was that one time that I knew I wanted our little excursions to be our little secret, you know?"
You blink, raising a brow at his words. "When?"
"That time we were looking for the Cassiopeia constellation and you convinced me to go out with you anyway even though I knew you were exhausted. You probably don't remember it. But I gave you a piggy-back ride to our spot at the mountain bank and you immediately got under the blankets and tried to use my warm arms to keep your body awake, shaking and talkin' about 'I'm not tired, I have to see her!' And we weren't even there for a good 15 minutes, your ass was out like a nightlight."
He chuckled in the middle of his recollection episode. "I saw her up in the sky right after you passed out. But I didn't want to wake you because you looked so... serene. So safe and secure in my arms. I thought you'd be disgusted or jump right out of your sleep if you found out you were being held by me. But instead, you mumbled a little wish from your heart and snored harder than any girl I've ever known in my life."
You smiled as he said, "I knew in that moment that I wanted us to stay in our little bubble."
You remained silent while listening to him describe what happened to be one of your favorite moments together. The truth was you weren't really asleep. You just wanted to be in his arms but didn't know how to approach such an awkward question for something that should have been normalized between friends.
M'Baku squinted his eyes a bit at your expression, unable to read if this was a good reaction or one reeking of disappointment.
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
Quickly, you shook your head and placed a finger on his lips to stop him from speaking on it any further. You sighed out a giddy smile and made your way out from between his legs, taking off your lab coat to toss it beside him on the bed even as his eyes stay following your sudden movements.
You walk over to the window closest to the bed and fold your arms across your chest briefly. You couldn't help but scan the snowy surface before focusing your attention to the moon shining brightly in the night sky. Soon, you pressed your palm against the glass surface with a breathy sigh. M'Baku silently turned his body a bit, still on the bed, to watch you completely entranced by the moon's appearance, chuckling to himself.
"Did you really just leave my arms for that? Are you going to make another wish?"
"No, I'm sending a thank you out to the universe for hearing my wishes and making the impossible...well, possible," you laughed. "It only took a decade to come true."
"Time is a tricky beast. But I'm sure that the Fates are smiling down at us right now," M'Baku whispered once he's made his way up to stand behind you. He brought his own hand on top of yours, allowing the other to wander to the side of your hip and settle there, pulling you back a bit onto his frame.
You shuddered slightly as he bent down to kiss the side of your face painstakingly slow. And with each dragging kiss, you found it harder to say anything.
Damn him for his ability of rendering you speechless with ghost-like touches and little suckles to your neck.
Damn him.
"This must be one hell of a dream," you murmured, missing the appearance of the smirk on M'Baku's lips reflected back through the window. He busied himself by moving down your neck with kisses, grumbling out a proper response.
"You were meant to be worshipped under the same stars you spent your whole life wishing on."
You widened your eyes, refraining from moving so suddenly as his fingers pull up your blouse to untuck it from your skirt, raising it past your stomach.
"I just finished sewing you back together, idiot. You still need to heal."
M'Baku began to unbutton your blouse and stopped right at your navel, to which you forced yourself to watch him by staring hard at his mirrored reflection in the window. His other hand pulled at the back of your neck to leave you completely vulnerable and open to him.
Soft mumbles leave his mouth, the curve of his large lips dragging across your left collarbone.
"If you think that my stitches are the only thing that is coming undone tonight, then you're sadly mistaken."