Scoffing at Tradition (M'Baku x Black!Reader)

Confessions by Candlelight.

"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.