Black Panther has nothing on me

@princetajiri·

“So,” Stella said, setting a plate of cookies on the counter and pulling at the ribbon holding the tissue paper together. “I was experimenting with royal icing and I was thinking.” She looked up at the prince, ex-fiancé. It was awkward still. Mostly because she remembered her mother’s pressure to make nice with him all those years ago and here she was. “I could use a non-bias friend. A sounding board, if you will. One with no stake in the politics of my country.” 

“That’s the advantage of having a lot of experience. I won’t be surprised if you got some while I was away.”, Arabella teased him. It felt natural for her to do so but with her memory not being reliable at the moment, she shouldn’t have trusted in what she remembers about her relationship with Tajiri but she did and hoped that she wasn’t wrong to. “I’ll think about it.” She smiled upon hearing that recovery won’t take that long for him, more so when he mentioned them clubbing together. “If memory is serving me right, and I really hope it is, you’re the type who can quickly get back on his feet. Once you do, please don’t enjoy being out and about without me too much.” She laughed. “I had a feeling you’d say that. Go for the diamond and have your initials engraved while you’re out at it.” After nodding in response to his question, she took a bite of the mochi in her hand. “The red bean is my favorite one so far.”

❝ Not going to comment on that. ❞ He grinned. Tajiri had a well deserved player reputation. He indeed had a lot of experience in kissing. However he would not talk about the other women he could be seeing with Arabella. That was never a good idea. ❝ Just how unreliable is your memory ? What kind of memory loss are you experiencing ? ❞ He was no expert in medicine and brain and memories were complex topics. He wondered what was exactly wrong with his friend. ❝ I'll try all the places so when you’re up for it, I can take you to the best spot. ❞ He winked. The testing should be enjoyable. ❝ That is a lovely suggestion. ❞ He laughed as she suggested the initials. It could be something that he would be interested in. He took a red mochi, guessing that it must be the one she was recommending. ❝ I’ll get you another box for my next visit. ❞          

     ‘ TWO MORE months if all goes well. if not, i don’t know, maybe a year. ’ he just hoped not. ilija simply wasn’t ready to spend a full year in recovery but they repeated it over and over again that he had to follow their rules so it wouldn’t happen. ‘ i know, it’s very much your style. and functional. ’

“Hold on, are you-” Before Arabella could finish her question, he cut her short by placing his lips on hers and she found herself smiling into their kiss. “Yeah, you definitely were serious and I now have an idea of how good you actually are at giving a kiss. It’s a real shame that we didn’t get to have our sleeping beauty moment.” She smiled at him then extended her arm in case he needed any help while walking to the couch but he seemed to manage on his own so she let him be and took a seat. “That’s good. How long do you have to walk with a cane?”, she responded while picking up a bear-shaped mochi from inside the box. “As long as you don’t get one with a dollar sign or cobra on the top, I say go for it. Silver might look better.”

❝ I never had any complaints. ❞ Tajiri grinned as she complimented his kissing skills. Hopefully, she would be satisfied by his other talents. Although they would have to wait for her to be better for that. ❝ We can still have one sometime. You just have to pretend to be asleep. ❞ That should be easy. It would not be the real thing but close enough. ❝ A couple of weeks if I’m healing well. ❞ He hoped that it would not be longer than a month. The crutches were already getting annoying. ❝ I can’t wait to fully be on my feet. And take you clubbing. So you have to heal quickly too. ❞ He winked at Arabella. ❝ I like gold. ❞ He pondered what she had suggested about the cane. ❝ Honestly I could have gone down the cobra route. ❞ He chuckled. That would not have been out of character for him. ❝ Or have an encrusted diamonds head. ❞ That was flashy but so was he. ❝ Can I have one ? ❞ He pointed at the mochi box. 

“I am not but I am saying that if you decide to give me a reminder of what it’s like to be kissed by you, I will gladly receive it.” She laughed with him before placing the video games down on the table so she can take the mochi from him. “You didn’t have to bring any of these. I would have been happy just to see you but thank you.” She walked over to her living room couch, gesturing for him to follow. “Are you okay? Did anything happen to you during the earthquake?”

❝ Then who am I to refuse a princess ? ❞ He grinned before leaning across the table and kissing Arabella.  ❝ Are you all better now ? ❞ He teased her after breaking the kiss.  ❝ I like to spoil my friends. Especially those who are not feeling their best. ❞ It was always nice to try and cheer someone up. And his little gifts had been fairly simple. He limped towards the sofa, following after the Austrian and let out a sigh as he took a seat. ❝ Apart from the ankle and the muscle tear, I’m pretty good. ❞ Nothing like what Arabella or Ilija had to go through.  ❝ Ilija suggested that I get a pimp stick instead of those ? ❞ He gestured towards the crutches he had left by the table. They were not very fashionable, even if he had his custom made.  ❝ What do you think ? ❞

     - ‘ THEY GET their job done which is what i’m worried about now. ’ the last thing on his mind at the moment was flirting or anything of the sort. not when his entire life was revolving around his recovery. ‘ get a pimp stick and use it as a cane. ’ it was outdated but better than nothing.

“ summer’s nice until it’s scorching hot, and i’m pretty sure i’m three sunburns away from a melanoma. ” she pursed her lips briefly. “ ooooh. the nightlife will be superb. i can’t wait for the weekend ! ” 

“Definitely too early but now that you have, I wouldn’t mind you making up for missing that opportunity.” Relieved that someone was speaking to her normally for once, Arabella smiled and her smile grew as she took the tamagotchi from him. “Tamagotchis still exist? I don’t think I’ve played with one since I was a child.” Which is why she was excited to give it another go. “What else did you bring?”

❝ Just so we’re clear, you’re subtly asking for a kiss ? It’s not the concussion speaking ? ❞ He chuckled. ❝ We’re in tamagotchi homeland baby ! ❞ Or so he believed. ❝ I brought some mochi too. I found one shaped like a little cat. ❞ He gave Arabella a box of sweets. He had thought that she might find the animal shapes cute. 

     - ‘ AFTER YOU. i kind of already have a pretty big team. ’ a neurologist, a psychiatrist, a physical therapist… it was a lot. most of his time was now spent on check ups and speaking to professionals to make sure he wouldn’t get worse instead of better. ‘ how’s the ankle ? ’

“ we just survived argentinian summer and now we have to survive a japanese one ? life’s full of challenges, huh ? what are you most excited for ? “

        “    are  women  incapable  of  carrying  their  own  bags  ?    ”    she  raises  an  eyebrow  in  the  male’s  direction.    she’s  never  known  anyone  call  carrying  a  bag  independent  before.    “    that’s  him,  over  there.    do  you  know  him  ?    ”    she  points  towards  the  big,  buff  blonde  ahead  of  them.