[oom] see right through my walls

[nerves_of_ice]

As T'Challa stares at the hologram in the palm of his hand, he can already feel the headache forming. "She what? No. Never mind. Bring her to me in the throne room, when she arrives. I will deal with her myself."

He clears the image, then taps the Kimoyo Bead again. "Nakia. I need you."

* * * * * * * * *

"You cannot be serious."

"I don't see why this is a problem. You brought Everett Ross here--"

"Ross was dying! And he was never allowed to know that the man he was seeking was here! Nakia, I have made a promise to protect him."

"She is not a threat. Not to him."

"I will be the judge of that."

Nakia throws up her hands. "Fine. You will see. I hope it does not bother you that I stay and watch?"

T'Challa smiles. "Of course not."

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

"I have, actually," Bucky says, slanting a sideways look at Sharon. His small smile is warmer than he realizes. "It was a memorable occasion."

He looks back to Nakia and adds, frankly,

"But you're right. I'm - I'd be a rotten host right now. Maybe someday."

Being able to look towards a 'someday' is itself a new and fragile thing.

[from_the_outside]

For her part, Sharon has gone pink from throat to ears, and it's not all from holding back laughter. She flushes under that small smile and grins at the ground.

Nakia glances between them, and makes no comment, though her eyes are eloquent, and they soften when she looks at Bucky.

"Until then, you are welcome at our table," she says, decisively. "And, I would guess, afterwards as well. Come, I'll show you the way."

"Okay, but I need to wash up a little," Sharon says, falling into step...but not until Bucky does, too. "I'm not exactly dressed for dinner with royalty."

[nerves_of_ice]

It hadn't even occurred to him - either to dress more formally himself (as limited as that might be), or to try to offer Sharon somewhere, somehow, to refresh herself after what must have been a lot of travel.

He goes silent, unable to come up with anything to say, and paces along beside them.

[from_the_outside]

"You are dressed perfectly fine for dinner with friends," Nakia says, firmly, "which is what this is. Besides, it is good to keep T'Challa humble. He is already king; he does not need to give himself airs about it."

It's deeply fond, and Sharon gives her friend a close, cunning look. "So, you two are...?"

"Oh, look!" says Nakia, brightly. "Here is a washroom. Please go and wash your hands, thank you!"

Sharon, twisting her mouth, rolls her eyes at Bucky and disappears briefly, followed shortly by the sounds of splashing water.

[nerves_of_ice]

He huffs out a small breath of what might be laughter and turns to Nakia as the door closes.

"Thank you," he says, bluntly. "I mean, I know you're friends, but thank you anyway. She's ... done a lot for me. And Steve."

[from_the_outside]

Nakia's eyes are kind as she looks at him.

"I am very glad I could help, but I believe she would have found a way here whether I did or not." Dryly: "She can be very determined."

She says it in a way that makes it clear what she really means is mulishly stubborn.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I've noticed." He says it just as dryly, shrugging his right shoulder, where the backpack rests comfortably. A hint of teasing flickers in his glance as he adds,

"Put the two of you together, and..."

[from_the_outside]

"And?"

That's Sharon, coming back out. She's scrubbed her face and throat and both are now clean and pink, and she holds up her hands sardonically for Nakia's review while trying not to smile in Bucky's direction.

"Unbelievable. I leave for thirty seconds and you're already talking smack about me. Nakia! You are such a bad influence."

"Good enough," Nakia proclaims her hands, not dignifying Sharon's remark with a response. "Come along, we are nearly there."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Should have made it a little bit longer," he observes, dryly. "I was just about to learn some interesting stuff."

He follows along beside them with possibly-surprising ease to someone who's more used to seeing him operating in public spaces with full situational awareness.

[from_the_outside]

"Anything interesting Nakia knows about me is classified," she says, smoothly. Nakia snorts, but says nothing.

There's something different about him, and it's not just the missing left arm, she realizes. She'd gotten used to him constantly, casually checking his perimeter, keeping an eye on any possible exits, avoiding cameras.

Not here. He's more relaxed than she is, but she supposes that's to be expected. The tables have flipped; this time, she's the one on the run, trying to keep a map of where they've already been in this palace in her head, taking unconscious note of how high they are.

It's nice to see that weight lifted from him.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'll keep it in mind."

It's not in any way a promise not to ask. It's not meant to be. He realizes how it sounds only after he says it, and quietly curses himself.

It's just so easy to fall into old habits with her, for all that they haven't actually spent that much time together. But he can't. He can't. Especially now.

[from_the_outside]

"You do that," she says, amused, and catches Nakia's eye out of the corner of her own. She shrugs lightly, as if to say tell you later.

Nakia shakes her head, then leads them around a corner and through an open door into a bright, airy room. Light spills in over a table and chairs through wide, west-facing windows and illuminates richly-colored wall hangings and woven rugs. The general air is one of warmth and welcome; there's nothing stuffy or formal about it at all.

[nerves_of_ice]

"It took you long enough." Laughing, Shuri dismisses the holo-projection hovering over her wrist and comes to join them. "Nakia, did you lead them in a circle first?"

Bucky smiles, just a little. "Princess," he says, then, when she gives him a look and waves her hand at the room around them, amends that to "Shuri."

"Better," she tells him, and looks at Sharon. "How was your visit?"

[from_the_outside]

"I met a lot of goats," she reports. "So it was by far the best social interaction I've had for a while."

She was also a big hit with the kids, but why brag?

Nakia moves to a small bar near the windows and pours a glass of water that she holds out to Sharon, who takes it with a grateful smile. She pours another and offers to Bucky, shaking her head smilingly at Shuri.

"We are right on time," she points out. "It is your brother who is late. Again."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I do not know why this should surprise you," Shuri tells Nakia, as Bucky accepts the water with a nod of thanks. He's content to quietly observe the others for as long as he can, which turns out not to be long at all.

"Did you tell her their names?" Bucky shakes his head. "I didn't get to that," he says. "Although Sharon offered to come up with a few names herself."

"Did she." Shuri turns to look at her, eyebrows raised.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon lifts her eyebrows at him. "You told me they didn't have names," she points out.

J'accuse!

To Shuri: "He was not impressed with my past naming performance. I got benched."

[nerves_of_ice]

"They don't," Bucky says, mildly. "I haven't - I couldn't - I didn't get to that yet. I--"

"They will," Shuri breaks in. "When you have thought of them."

To Sharon, she adds,

"This I must hear. What kinds of names did you suggest?"

[from_the_outside]

"None yet," she admits. "All my ideas were terrible. But to be fair, I haven't named an animal since I was six, so I'm a little rusty."

There was that one especially stubborn little white doe. Maybe he should call that one "Sharon."

"And the kids came back, so that was kind of a distraction."

From a lot of things!

[nerves_of_ice]

Shuri laughs. "Of course they did."

"I don't mind," Bucky says. "They're good kids."

"They are fascinated by the White Wolf," Nakia observes, as T'Challa walks through the door.

"Sorry to be late," he says, and Shuri sniffs at him. "You say that every time, brother."

[from_the_outside]

"Yeah," Sharon says, turning to Bucky with a crookedly quizzical smile. "Where did that nickname come from, by the way?"

It's new. She likes it.

But T'Challa arrives before Bucky can answer, and Sharon purses her mouth to keep from laughing at Shuri's disdain.

Nakia leans towards her. "He likes to make an entrance," she says in a stage-whisper, and gives T'Challa an innocent look when he narrows his eyes at her.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Later," Bucky murmurs, as something wry touches the corner of his mouth, and leaves it at that as he turns to T'Challa.

"Nothing wrong, I hope?"

T'Challa shakes his head. "Nothing that cannot be handled. And no threat of violence," he adds, causing the faintest hint of tension to fade from the set of Bucky's shoulders.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon, looking at him, watches the tension thread into and out again from his shoulders and back and glances thoughtfully at T'Challa.

For her part, she's not right at Bucky's shoulder, but consciously or unconsciously has positioned herself near enough to step there, if needed. And when he relaxes, she does, too.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Good," says Shuri, firmly. "That means we can enjoy a nice dinner."

T'Challa shakes his head at her. "You are a bottomless pit."

Shuri laughs at him, and waves the rest of them to the table. "Come, come."
She looks at Nakia. "Do you get her, or do I?"

[from_the_outside]

"Ladies, please," Sharon laughs. "There's enough of me to go around."

It would be easiest to sit next to Nakia. She considers it, then opts to pull out the chair next to Shuri instead.

(Nakia knows her. It's Shuri and T'Challa she needs to put at ease.)

Nakia, no slouch, winks at her and takes her own seat. For a second, Sharon's transported back in memory to a time of posh country club dinners, quiet conversation and impeccable manners, but she shakes it from her head and sits down. "What are we having?"

It's been a while since she's had a really good meal. She's looking forward to it.

[nerves_of_ice]

"A few of our traditional dishes," T'Challa tells her. As Bucky quietly takes the seat on the other side of Sharon from Shuri, he takes his own on the other side of Bucky, between him and Nakia.

"I hope you enjoy spice."