Overstimulated

Erik's Interlude I - Longing

(Poems by K.Y. Robinson from The Chaos of Longing and Rupi Kuar from The Sun and Her Flowers.)

Day 3

Erik sat on his couch, flipping through mind-numbing channels of trash television, his mind on the girl down the hall. He hadn't seen nor heard from her for a few days, her car isn't in its usual spot and he's hard-pressed to say she never came back home the day after their fallout.

Is that what it was?

The night has been stuck on repeat in his mind since. Her wide, fearful eyes, the defensive stiffness in her body, the uncertainty in her voice when she suggested they be friends. There's more to the story than she's letting on, but he knows he can't push her; she's too fragile right now.

His phone pinged next to him and he snatched the device up faster than he cared to admit. His notification screen showed that it was only an email from T'Challa with the outline of his responsibilities and the timeline for the Chicago center. The same email he had sent yesterday as well.

Erik smacked his lips. "Get off my dick," he barked and tossed the device to the side again. He didn't need his cousin telling him how to do his job. He knew what the fuck he was doing.

He scrubbed a hand over his face roughly before switching the tv off, walking over to his desk, and turning his laptop on. His mind immediately shifted back to Aurora without prompt.

"We aren't like that. This is just you fucking with me. Poor, clueless, gullible Ari."

He gritted his teeth, wishing he had told her just how fucking wrong she was. He thought about that girl every fucking day. Everything reminded him of her; music, flowers, tv shows, art. He had a fucking playlist dedicated to her and shit. He hadn't been on a date or gotten his dick wet since he'd first met her. And now he was sitting at his computer thinking of doing something he'd never done for anyone, outside of a mission, in the past.

He needed more information.

Erik activated his communication bead to send a text to Shuri. He signed out the message and waited for it to translate to text...

Hey, you busy?

She called him almost immediately and he patched the call through, her laughing face popping up in front of him.

"N'Jadaka!" she greeted happily. "To what do I owe the annoyance?"

"Sup, Nutmeg?" He smiled back, his sour mood lifting slightly. He missed the little nerd more than he thought.

She groaned comically, rolling her eyes. 

"You know how much I hate that nickname. I am not a mad scientist."

"You were mad every time I came into the labs."

"That's because you were always poking your large nose into my business," she sassed back, the small lift at the corner of her lips belying her sharp words. "You were always wreaking havoc and starting literal fires."

He kissed his teeth, "That was one time -"

"Yeah, and the flame almost caught my face," she interjected. "I would have had eyebrows like yours." Her chuckle broke through at his comical expression.

"Ha fucking ha Shuri," Erik growled with narrowed eyes. "I need your help."

"When don't you?" the scientist joked but Erik could see she was moving to a more secure area of her lab. "What now?"