Her White Wolf

Chapter Fifteen

"Shuri?" Cleo called out as she stepped into the palace, long dark hair braided over one shoulder. It has been a few days since the two had seen one another. She raised her hand to wave at some of the staff. Her face had been a familiar one here for years.

"Princess?" she called out again with a false pretentious accent. "If you're in the lab, you never get to call me a workaholic again."

"Don't call me that!" Shuri hollered. She was sitting at her computer in her lab. "You know I hate that."

"Which one?" Cleo asked with a smirk as she stepped through the doors of the magnificently advanced lab she had created. "Princess or workaholic?". She slid into a chair and rolled it over next to Shuri, bumping her chair to nudge her.

"Both," she admitted. "But I hate princess more." Shuri looked over at Cleo and grinned. "So, how's paradise?"

Cleo rolled her eyes at her friend in the same way Shuri had done to her just a few moments earlier. She had to admit, though, paradise wasn't a bad way to describe it. "Just like it sounds," she replied with a grin of her own. "Have you seen James? There's something brand new in him now. That arm, it's incredible."

"I didn't put anything in him," Shuri countered. "I just supplied a new working arm. I love the matrix of that thing."

"Oh, I know, but you created the opportunity for him to get a new one. I can't thank you enough," Cleo said, lightly nudging her friend with her elbow. "He wants to be useful, so if we can come up with some projects he could help with, that would be perfect."

Shuri eyed Cleo but gave her a smile. "What kind of projects? We haven't been building anything for a while."

"I don't know specifically, but something he could use his strength for. Even just stuff around town," she offered as she leaned back in her chair. "I can keep him busy house hunting for a little while but that won't take too long..."

"House hunting? You're moving in together?" She asked. "Are you sure Cleo?"

A different smile started on Cleo's face, but her friend's question made her furrow her brows. "Well I thought I was until you asked that question..."

"I know you love each other," Shuri grinned. "If you're ready, don't second guess it. There's that house on the hill that's been empty a while. It needs work though."

The brief anxiety that had filled Cleo's stomach evaporated at her friend's smile. "That house on the..." she muttered to herself as she tried to picture it. The lightbulb went on after a moment and she sat up a little. "Wait, that could be perfect... quiet, spacious... and James does need something to do..."

Shuri shrugged. "I could talk to T'Challa about it. It was originally a guest house before we let people stay in the palace."

"That would be great," she replied. "Could I take James over to look at it?"

"I don't see why not. The code on the front door is my birthday," Shuri replied.

Cleo's smile grew, of course recalling her best friend's birthday. "Thank you. If it helps, tell T'Challa I gave you puppy eyes," she replied with an exaggerated pout. She heaved a sigh then and dropped her head back, eyes drifting to Shuri. "I'm in deep with this one, Shuri."

Shuri chuckled and looked over at Cleo. "How deep?"

Cleo turned her chair more towards Shuri and relaxed her arms over either arm of the chair. "He's talking about... the rest of our lives. He wants to be together forever. And I do too and isn't that insane?"

"It's been what? Two and a half months? (Idk if that's right) He's been running and has missed seventy years of his life. I guess it could cause someone to move quickly."