Only a fool tests the depth of a river with both feet.
~ African Proverb
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Mbali
I woke up instantly to the smell of smoke and music playing from outside of the bedroom, so I knew that Erik was up. It wasn't the smell of any regular smoke; like food burning or anything like that, so I also knew that he was more than likely high. He would always smoke back home, so it wasn't a big deal.
As soon as I sat up and pulled the covers from off my body, I realized that I actually wasn't naked, and that he more than likely threw a shirt over me, and I was too blacked out to realize it. I clutched his black shirt to my chest and mentally cursed at how cold the room was. There was a mirror not that far from the bed, and as soon as I looked in it, everything that happened last night hit me all over again, and I ran my hands against my face. "We're not living this down." I mumbled to myself and huffed. I instantly felt nervous to even see him right now; not really because of what we did- we were past that point. We could literally do this all over again on any other day, and wake up the next morning to the awkward silence and sly comments, but because of what was said. Both of us agreed to and said some things that were probably in the heat of the moment, but it even felt different.
I threw my feet from the bed and grabbed one of the hair-ties that were on the nightstand, pulling my hair into a bun at the top of my head. I had a few things laid out for a shower anyway, so I grabbed them; along with the kimoyo beads, and brought them into the bathroom with me. Before I could even get the water in the shower running, the beads went off with a call from Sanaa. I knew that she'd eventually call since I haven't heard from her or Nakia in days; but I knew that they were busy, and wouldn't tell me a damn thing about what was going on. Answering it, her hologram came through clear, along with the grin on her face.
"Enjoying your mission?"
"First, fuck you. You knew that this wasn't a mission and didn't tel me. Second, yes I am enjoying it." I crossed my arms and watched as her eyebrows raised.
"Whoa, Mr. Stevens is definitely rubbing off on you." She laughed and threw her hands in the air. "How'd you find out anyway?"
"Erik told me last night, thank you very much. Why didn't you tell me, is a better question?"
"Oh, by the looks of it, I'm sure that's not the only thing he told you last night. And if I did, T'Challa would know, and I'm not about to put up with his uptight ass. You of all people know how he can be." She must've saw the confused look I had on my face, and it made the smirk come through on her lips. "You have a bruise on your collarbone, and I'm pretty sure you didn't let that man choke you out... unless you did in a really erotic way. Either way, I don't judge, but I'd like to know any freaky details that you're willing to spare."
Turning to look in the mirror, I noticed the light bruising that was on my left collarbone. "It's not like that."
"My ass. You don't have to tell me now, but you will eventually when you both get back, I'd rather find out face to face anyway if we're being honest." I swear she reminded me of another version of Sage.
"Y'know, Erik's friend has a girlfriend who I swear you'd get along great with." I chuckled. "It just happened, nothing more or less to it."
"Won't mean that it won't happen again." She sang.
"I have to shower, so I'll talk to you later." I rolled my eyes playfully.
"Yes, wash off the filthy sins you two committed last night-"
"Bye, Sanaa." I said quickly and ended the call. Tossing the beads onto the counter, I turned on the water in the shower, waiting for the room to get at least a little steamy before fully stepping in, and lathering myself in the floral smelling body wash and humming to myself. I watched as the white suds covered my skin and ran my fingertips against the keliods on my side, managing to count each one of them as I brushed against them. Mine were smoother when it came to mine and Eriks, but they still had the bumpy surface. The last scar from when we were in New York finally healed and started to feel the same as the others.
When I pressed my hand against the shower wall, I could still feel the loud bass that was coming from Erik's music, and I guess he had no plans on leaving the hotel today if he wanted to be this high. Rinsing my skin, I repeated the same process again before turning off the water and stepping out of the shower to dry off.
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I walked out the bathroom when I was done, and the cold air hit my skin with a force. Truthfully, I doubt if Erik even got cold like the rest of us at this point. Peaking around the wall, I saw Erik sitting on the couch in his jeans, while he kept a blunt secured between his fingers, and the remote to the TV in his other. I could smell that there was food in the kitchen, and he must've already ate. "Do you really have to play music this loud in the morning?" I asked, coming from around the corner fully and walked into the kitchen. He didn't seem phased by my voice cutting through the music, but he did turn and give me his full attention.
"It's eight in the morning." He looked at his phone, raising his eyebrow back up at me.
"Still too early." I said quickly and turned my back towards him, listening as the music to one song died out, and another slowly came in. I poured myself some orange juice into a glass and took a few of the grapes that were in the fruit bowl next to it, and popped some in my mouth, nearly choking when I turned around and was met by Erik sitting on the table looking at me, not saying anything. "What?" I questioned and leaned against the sink. I knew good and well that he could feel that I was nervous, and he was enjoying it because he knew why.
He simply looked at me and smirked, saying nothing before the words finally came out. "Why're you so nervous?"
"Why are you high?" I shot back.
"I think better when I'm high and it keeps me relaxed." He reached forward and pulled me towards him, making me look up at him. "So answer my question since I answered yours." His hands fell to my waist.
"I'm not nervous."
"You fucking suck at lying you know that? I can basically feel that you are. Just come out and say it." He hummed and reached behind him, bringing the blunt back towards his lips and inhaled the smoke; holding it in for a few seconds before letting it go in the opposite direction. "Talk to me Mbali."
"Do you remember what you said last night?" I asked quickly and kept my hand behind my back to keep him from seeing me toy with them.
"Mhmm."
"This isn't the time to get all one-worded on me, Erik." I groaned. "You said a lot of things, and I don't really want to be the one to start the conversation just for it to end in a argument with your nonchalant ass ways." His eyes stayed on my lips, as he listened to me rant. Truthfully, I don't think I liked him high because he was too calm and relaxed. He didn't even bother getting smarted with me. "If you don't listen to me, I'm gonna stab you in the knee and you know I will—"
He pulled me closer towards him by the tassel on my shirt and cocked his head, pushing his lips against mine. As he let go of the tassel, he dropped his hands back towards the counter; pulling away in a matter of seconds. Huffing, I pursed my lips together and looked at him with a blank stare. "Don't try to distract me."
"You ever been high?"
"So you're deaf today. Great."
Laughing, Erik inhaled more of the smoke and motioned for me to fill more of the space that I was keeping between us. When I did, his right hand squished my cheeks together as he kissed me again— but every bit of smoke he had kept in, he shot it between my lips for me to inhale. "Keep it in." He mumbled against my lips before he pulled away.
I wanted to choke, it was that strong. I wasn't sure if it was the amount of smoke he put in my mouth, or the smell of it— whichever it was, it was strong. I won't lie and say that it wasn't calming though. "Now let it out."
Turning my head, I blew the smoke out into the opposite direction and looked back at him. "You just couldn't let me do that myself, could you?"
"Like how you couldn't let me taste that damn mushroom tea by myself that night?" He smirked.
"I—"
"Exactly. You look like you enjoyed it though. Anyway, Sage and Y'lan are coming by later so we can grab something to eat. So, we got enough time to kill if you wanna talk about anything specific." He jokes and I muffed his shoulder. He kept bobbing his head to the music that was playing, that had a heavy west coast influence. "C'mon." Erik hooped from the counter and walked into the living room, plopping his body on the couch and throwing his head back. Following him, I sat down across from him, sitting with my legs crossed. "Why're you so far away."
"Because knowing you, you'll try to start something." I shot back, making his lips smack.
"Scary."
"I will beat the shit out of you. I won't hesitate."
Chuckling, Erik licked his lips and looked over at me, sending slight chills down my spine simply because of the slight demand his eyes had. "Hlala ecaleni kwam." Sit next to me.
Sighing, I got up and moved towards him, attempting to sit to the left of him, but he stuck his fingers into the belt loops of my jeans; pulling me to his lap. A small yelp came out of my mouth and his hands found both of my thighs, dropping them on top of them while I straddled him anxiously. "You said sit next to you. Lixoki ." Liar. Reaching next to him, he took the weed between his fingers again and inhaled before putting it between the both of us.
Hesitantly, I looked at it and back up at him before he shotgunned it into my mouth again. Giving him more of an excuse to keep his hands on me. Only this time, instead of letting it linger in my mouth, it was almost as if he managed to reverse his actions, and the smoke ended up back in his; coming from out his nose.
He pulled me closer, making the friction between up noticeable while his lips found my neck, until I gently pushed his back against the couch. "No. We're talking, Prince."
"You go first then." He grabbed the remote to turn down the music, finally giving me his full attention that I've been asking for.
"Like I said, a lot was said last night— and you claim to remember, so I need to know what's going on." I squinted.
"I said no more sharing, didn't I? I meant that."
"You don't like relationships, N'Jadaka."
"And didnt I say you'd be an exception?" He questioned.
Here comes the mind games.
"So... what are you asking me?" His hands continued to roam up and down my sides, stopping on the small of my back. "Are you sure you're focused enough to have this conversation?"
"I'm high, Mbali. I told you, it doesn't fuck me up mentally; if anything it's the opposite. But, you know what I'm asking you... even though it's already set in stone with this claiming shit."
I crossed my arms against my chest, "No... I don't." I lied. "Say what you feel, N'Jadaka. You're a big boy." I just wanted to hear it come from his own lips.
His hand found the back of my neck and pulled me closer towards him, leaving a small amount of space between us that was keeping our noses from touching. "You're childish."
"And you're an asshole. Now say it." I hummed and kept bumping my nose against his. He knew what I was demanding.
Smirking, his full lips molded against mine, almost too perfect. He kissed the corners of my mouth before pulling away, "I want you to be mine. No one else's, none of that." I cocked my head to the side slightly, taking in everything he was saying.
Smiling, I cupped his face in my hands, brushing my thumb against his bottom lip and bit my own . "Hayi." No.
That's when I fully had his attention because his eyes widened at me, like he was offended. "No?" His hands continued to roam under my thighs.
"No." I nodded.
His canines sunk into his lips as his head fell back. A hearty chuckle erupted from his throat before he looked back at me. "Kwaye kutheni kungenjalo?" And why no? He spoke back, and the huskiness that's was always present when he spoke in Xhosan made me feel warm. I don't know if he always did it on purpose or what, but I wasn't complaining. Erik always had a way with his eyes. They managed to always say more than anything else. He ran his tongue across the lip that his teeth were once puncturing.
"Because—"
"I smell weed, open the fucking door!" I already knew it was Sage, just by the amount of animation she had in her voice. "Sorry... I shouldn't have said that so loud. I forgot we're in an unseasoned establishment."
"Erik... please open this fucking door before she gets all of us kicked out for being Black. I don't have time to fight nobody today." I could hear the amusement in Y'lan's voice as he spoke.
Pushing off of him, I tried to stand and let them in, only for him to grab both of my wrists and bring me back down to his level. "This conversation definitely ain't over. Let them wait."
"If I let them wait, Sage will probably be trying to fight a white woman, while Y'lan struggles to pull her off." I shewed his hands away and went towards the door. A loud and childish groan came from his mouth as I did.
As soon as I opened the door, Sage was standing there smiling with her pink hair pulled into a bun at the top of her head, while Y'lan simply looked stressed. "What took so long?" She smirked, seeing Erik come towards the door attempting to pull a grey hoodie over his head to cover his chest.
"Why you always so damn nosey?" He asked back, opening the door wider so that they could come through it. But he didn't waste any time teasingly pressing his chest against mine in the process. Rolling my eyes, I bumped him with my elbow.
"See... there you go again, being fucking rude— trick ass." She muffed his head while Y'lan and I sat back and watched them argue.
"Honestly," he shook his head at them, but talked to me. "They argue so much that you'd think that's her older brother or some shit. That's why I just sit back and watch now." Y'lan laughed.
Their back and forth got so intense to the point where Sage tried— and I can't stress this enough... she tried to put Erik into a headlock, but only tired herself out. "Baby... you just need to chuck this shit up as a loss."
Sage's eyes widened as she looked at Y'lan and pressed her hand against her chest. "Oh, So you on his side? Well since you wanna be on his side—"
"Please don't say anything outlandish in front of them." Y'lan put his hand up while Erik dropped her from his back onto the couch. Her once semi-neat bun was now fully tossed around her head.
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Omniscient
"So there are different types of weed?" Mbali asked the three people sitting around her, while her head was pressed against Erik's shoulder.
He didn't mind; one reason was because he was focused on watching Sage roll one of the blunts, because he was convinced that she was horrible at it and didn't have the skill that he did. While on the other hand, one side of his mind was still mentally interrogating Mbali. But as always, they were trying to play it cool.
'So you really not about to tell me why.'
'Nope. Exactly how you made me wonder
about thing in New York, you can wonder
about things now. You're smart... figure it out.'
"Yeah, you got Sativa and Indica." Y'lan nodded and flicked his lighter in his hand. "Indica is more relaxing than Sativa. Sativa gives niggas a lot of energy and shit like that— then you got hybrids, that's a mix of both."
'So you really about to pull a me
on me? Like I can't play the same
shit back...'
"So what is this?" Mbali questioned, pointing to the buds in front of them.
'I'm not worried.'
"Godfather OG." Erik reaches towards the buds and put one in his hand. "Overall, it's Indica. I don't smoke Sativa, that shits for the birds."
"I smoke Sativa." Sage frowned.
"Did you miss when I said it's for the birds?"
For once, she didn't move. Instead she just looked at Erik with a blank face, probably trying to gather everything she's saying.
'Is that why Sage is always
like that? She's always high?'
'exactly'
"You can definitely get your ass beat today."
Y'lan continued to mess with the music that was coming from his phone and speaker. He tossed the phone onto the table and walked towards the bathroom, mumbling that he had to pee, while Sage closed her eyes and leaned back fort her into the spot that her boyfriends body once was.
Mbali hummed to herself, not actually smoking the weed that was surrounding her; but basking in the slight contact high as her head stayed against Erik's shoulder. His head nodded slightly to the music that was playing, mumbling a few of the verses to himself before coyly letting one slip from his lips, loud enough for both him and Mbali to hear.
"Love the way you activate ya hips and put ya ass out, got a nigga wanting it so bad I'm bout to pass out." He toyed with her, and she knew that he was. And he knew that he was winning, simply because he knew how her body would react.
"Stop." She looked up at him.
"I'm not doing anything." He shrugged and looked down at her.
Even though he wouldn't openly tell her; the exact same say that he had an effect on her— she did on him. He was never a people pleaser, but when it came to her, she was always the exception to every rule he set up for himself. And he didn't mind it.
He remembered every word that came out of his mouth last night; and truthfully, it was the reason why he woke up and felt the need to be high. Not that he regretted what he said, but it was to keep him mentally and physically calm for whatever Mbali would throw at him.
Mbali found herself looking over every inch of his face, and admiring it. Even when he carried no facial expression, she still loved it. Rolling her eyes at his comment, she took the hand that was draped over her shoulder and played with his fingers.
"See, it's you who always wanna touch on me."
"I'm naturally a touchy person, so shut up—"
"I really just need you two to stop pretending like you don't like each other and just fuck one more time for the sake of those around you, who have to witness the strong sexual tension. Like, I thought Y'lan and I were bad... but you two are on a completely different level of sexual tension. It's like it doesn't leave." Sage finally spoke, pulling her head up from the couch pillow.
__________________
Two hours went past after Sage and Y'lan eventually went back to their hotel, leaving Mbali and Erik alone in their own, and it was a calm feeling in each room. Mbali spent time in the bedroom talking to Sanaa about America, before she realized that she hadn't even heard Erik come through any of the rooms to mess with her.
She eventually ended the call and changed into more relaxing clothes since they spent the day inside. She couldn't find him in any parts of the hotel until she saw a slight crack in the balcony door.
"He's probably still high." She mumbled to herself and shook her head, preparing herself to possibly still see him sitting in a daze. When she looked out the large window, she tried to steady every thought in her mind so that he wouldn't know that she was watching him white in a black and gold journal, that she was sure came from the palace.
His face was calm at he wrote, before pulling away to look at the words on the lines, and continuing his writing. Mbali walked away and sat in the living-room, deciding to give him more personal time that he probably needed. Laying back against the couch, she toyed with the kimoyo beads on her wrists, deciding to look up information on the city while he wrote.
'We're still having a conversation,
You not off the hook, uthando.' Love.
Mbali rolled her eyes and chuckled, using her finger to scroll through the holograms search engine.
'Whatever you say, Prince.'
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CHAPTER UNEDITED
_________________
This was a filler chapter that
took toooo fucking long to post
for it to be a filler chapter
(Don't blame me, but blame me
at the same time)
Next chapter is coming
(I already started writing it I swear lmao)
But what do y'all think is gonna happen.
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