Shuri rolled her eyes as Erik had now began chatting up the waitress up in her mother tongue. Oh how lucky was she to have a boyfriend who in addition to being proficient in science and built like a god, was multilingual. That sure came in handy when they were in restaurants where the menus weren't English and also for flirting with the waitress in the middle of a freaking pizzeria where everything was in English.
That was just his way, he flirted with everyone, even unconsciously. And she'd be lying if she said it didn't tick her off a little bit.
"I'll be back with you soon," the waitress spoke switching back to English, still grinning and blushing like a schoolgirl.
"Hmm," Shuri responded, her lips in a tight line as she rolled her eyes watching the woman walk away.
"What?" Erik asked with a grin.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Shuri scoffed looking through her phone.
"Oh so I can't use my phone but you can use yours?"
"I don't want to interrupt you and your date. You seem to be really hitting it off."
"You're jealous of Carmen? I thought you'd find me ordering in Spanish sexy."
"I can't be jealous over something that's already mine."
"Territorial then," Erik scoffed.
"No, watching you flirt with another woman was not sexy, Erik."
"I wasn't flirting Princess."
"I've seen you flirting with enough people to know what it looks like in any language."
"That makes me sound like an asshole Princess."
"Hmmmm," Shuri hummed contently.
"Hey- I'm sorry," he sighed reaching across the table to grip her hand but she pulled it back and used both hands to tap away on her phone.
Shuri kept quiet on the drive back to her place, and while Erik always joked about how her giving him the silent treatment would be a blessing, it was driving crazy. She wasn't blabbing about her work or even looking at him. She just went back to her tinkering and didn't pay him any attention.
She'd come to bed around eleven and was actively prepared to ignore him. She would have, had he not grabbed her from behind and trapped her with his leg.
"Erik! Stop!"
Shuri whined attempting to break free of his powerful hold.
"Why you mad baby?"
"I'm not! I'm trying to sleep."
"Then stop fighting. Lie down and stop."
"I'm not in the mood to cuddle."
"You're always in the mood for cuddling. Or are you forgetting that you wrestled me to down just to cuddle me?"
"I'm not in the mood Erik."
"You're cute when you're jealous," Erik smirked kissing her nape.
"Erik N'Jadaka Stevens I swear to God I will murder you."
"Okay okay, I'm sorry. Go to sleep," he sighed pressing a kiss behind her ear.
Shuri woke up and fought her way out of Erik's vice grip causing him to wake up and groan.
"Leaving already?" He asked, his voice even deeper and more raspy from having just woken up.
"I have extra work to do."
"Gimme a kiss?"
"Go back to sleep Erik."
Throughout the day, Shuri's phone had been plagued with texts ranging from
Hey beautiful and Miss you.
Erik sure was extra when he wanted to be. It seemed to work as she found herself slowly caving but as she was about to type out a response- the doors to the labs opened and her guest had walked in.
"Hi, you must be Peter," she greeted.
Erik raised a brow at his phone, waiting for a text from Shuri that had yet to come. Unless she'd been typing for an hour straight which he knew was impossible, even for her. She wasn't gonna clown him like this, he thought getting up and heading over to the campus where she'd managed to score a private lab.
Walking in, he saw her giggling with some skinny white boy around her age. Was this the extra work she needed to attend to?
He cleared his throat, allowing them to turn their attention to him.
"Erik- what are you doing here?" Shuri asked.
"Came to take you for lunch."
"I'm actually kind of busy right now..."
"With what exactly babe?" He asked walking over and gripping her chin before placing a kiss to her lips.
"For starters, I have company..." Shuri scoffed.
"Oh," Erik scoffed. "Sup man," he added sticking his hand out.
Shuri rolled her eyes, he wasn't the handshake type of guy.
"Erik, this is Peter. Peter this is Erik."
"Her boyfriend, Erik. Nice to meet you man. You go to school here?"
"No, I'm just visiting from New York."
"Peter works for Tony Stark," Shuri added.
"Ah, that's cool. Need help with anything?"
"I'm fine Erik, thanks," Shuri replied.
"Aiite, but it's chilly outside, here," Erik spoke pulling his MIT hoodie over his head, causing the white t-shirt below to lift and reveal just the slightest sign of his defined v-lines.
"Thanks." Shuri blushed.
Of course he was showing off.
"But it's really warm in here," Shuri added. "I had to have Peter remove a few layers."
"Yea, I dressed for New York," Peter chuckled awkwardly.
"Right. Right, so you work for Tony Stark right?"
"Erik.... Not now," Shuri chuckled. Already weary of what her boyfriend could say.
"Don't you hate guns Princess?" Erik asked turning to Shuri, brow quirked.
"That's besides the point Erik...." She replied, hiding her contempt behind a forced smile.
"Primitive you called them?"
"Yes, I do believe guns are primitive. With technology like the one I hope to develop, the weapons industry will see an improvement."
"Right right, I hope you include something for long range, more work gets done that way. Plus, cops need something to confirm if their target is black before firing."
The room went dead silent after Erik's comment, suffice to say- the chill, comfortable vibe she'd attained with Peter earlier was now gone and you could hear a pin drop.
Peter was the one to break the silence,
"Well Mr Stark's primary clients aren't law enforcement."
"Yea I know, just rich white men and crime families."
Shuri wanted to murder Erik, then herself. He chose now to air his personal vendetta against the man? As if he had some deep rooted passion for gun reform. He collected guns, an odd juxtaposition to the African artifacts he also kept but she supposed he found it poetic. He was a hipster like that.
"Erik- I'm actually really busy right now, you can demonise Peter's boss later. I'll see you at your place."
"Ah. Got it babe. See you later." He replied walking out.
"Right, sorry about that," Shuri spoke. "Where were we?"
Erik sighed and pushed open the door to his place, causing Ali to run towards him, carrying his leash.
"Hey," he sighed crouching down and petting him. "Time for your walk huh?"
Erik decided to stay out with Ali a little longer than usual, to clear his head.
He knew that if he and Shuri were to talk now, his temper would probably get the best of him. And he didn't need that happening again.
Shuri sat in Erik's apartment, watching the time go by, she'd contemplated calling him- and she had, but he'd turned his phone off.
As she was getting ready to leave, the front door swung open and Erik came in carrying a very sleepy Ali.
Ali let out a small yip at the sight of her and she smiled brightly in response.
"Aww look at how cute you look," she smiled scratching his head and placing a kiss to his snout.
"Yea. He's tired though," Erik sighed.
"Mommy will play with you in the morning okay baby?" She grinned giving him one final kiss before Erik placed him in his bed. "Oh- by the way, I got the funding for my project," she scoffed.
"I hope you properly patented your work. Rich white men stay rich by ripping off young talent."
"What the fuck Erik," Shuri scoffed. "You're acting as if you haven't designed apps for these rich white men you're bashing now."
"My apps can't exactly trigger a shift in the way weapons are created."
"Now you have an issue with the design itself," Shuri scoffed.
"I have an issue with who's investing in your project."
"No you have an issue with Peter," Shuri scoffed.
Erik followed her to the bedroom and shut the door behind him, he didn't want to disturb Ali.
"I have a problem with you acting jealous then turn around and try to make me jealous."
"I wasn't trying to make you jealous! You weren't even supposed to be there! I was pitching the idea to get my project funded by a large organisation!"
"He was clearly interested in more than your project."
"Why is it that whenever a guy finds something I say interesting, you assume that they want to fuck me! Am I really that uninteresting?!"
"Don't fucking try to twist this into some feminist bullshit. You know damn well that you're smart and interesting and funny. It's for that exact reason that guys want to fuck you! It's not just because you're gorgeous and sexy!"
"Yea well- thanks? But don't try to butter me up to distract from the fact that you can't bear to see me speaking to another male because you believe that all men want is to crawl into bed with me!"
"I know that's what all men want because that's what I wanted!"
"Not all men are like you!"
"Exactly! There are some sick fucks out there Shuri! You didn't see the way he was looking at you. You don't see the way they all look at you." Erik sighed. "I know, I overreact a lot. And I get jealous. But I love you Princess..... I don't want anything to happen to you," he added, walking towards the window.
"N'Jadaka," Shuri sighed. "You get territorial, I get territorial. It's something we have in common. You don't need to hide it behind fake or exaggerated concern. I love you, it gets me really angry when I see you flirting with other women. Just like it gets you angry when you see me in the presence of other males."
"I get angry when I see them flirting with you." Erik scoffed, correcting her.
"You think eye contact is flirting N'Jadaka."
Erik sighed and cupped her cheek.
"Yea, okay, I'm sorry. How many times you gonna make me apologise baby? How can I fix it? Do I gotta get down on my knees and beg?"
"That would be a good start."
"Wait what?"
"On your knees," Shuri scoffed.
"You fucking with me?"
"I'm dead serious."
Erik scoffed and got down on his knees, grumbling expletives on his way there.
"Okay Princess, I'm on my knees. Better?
"Beg me to forgive you."
"You're seriously fucking with me."
Shuri simply raised a brow and crossed her arm.
"Shuri, baby, will you forgive me?" Erik sighed reluctantly, if someone had told him a year ago that he'd be literally on his knees begging a woman for forgiveness- he'd have laughed in their face. And probably punched them in the face for good measure.
"For?"
"Being a jealous fuck."
"And?"
"And for flirting," he scoffed.
"Okay, you can kiss me now," she grinned smugly.
"Fucking brat- imma do more than kiss you," Erik growled standing up and lifting her off the ground.