𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 , shuri udaku - discontinued

SIRENIC CHARM

CITY OF STARS.
03. ❛ sirenic charm. ❜

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE on Klaue, you need the best of what the design group has to offer." Shuri started as the trio stopped in front of T'Challa's original suit. "Exhibit A."

"My design," T'Challa said proudly.

"Oh," Aquaria spoke up with a slight hint of disgust at the design, and both royal siblings turned to her. She could feel her face heat up, and she gave an awkward smile, "Sorry, it's just, the suit is...eh."

"See!" Shuri gestured to the girl to prove a point, "She gets it. It's old tech."

"Old?"

"Functional," Shuri corrected, slapping the back of her hand against his shoulder. "But old! 'Hey! People are shooting at me! Let me put on my helmet!'"

T'Challa shook his head with a small smile, "Enough..."

"Now, look at these." Shuri moved on to show the two mannequins that stood before them, one wearing a gold necklace with teeth, and one with a thin string, having matte silver teeth.

T'Challa narrowed his eyes at the gold necklace, and Shuri's face contoured into a smug smirk, "Do you like that one?"

T'Challa blinked, "Tempting, but the idea is to not be noticed." He moved to the second necklace that was silver and less distracting; "This one."

Shuri raised her wrist, syncing the suit with him through her Kimoyo Beads. "Now tell it to go on."

T'Challa focused on the suit, and suddenly the mannequin was covered in a black suit within seconds. Shuri let out a whistle. "Ooh! The entire suit sits within the teeth of the necklace. Strike it."

"Anywhere?"

Shuri hummed, stepping away. T'Challa clenched his fists, raising his foot to kick it in the abdomen. The mannequin flew backward, slamming into the wall of the lab. Shuri's eyebrows furrowed quickly. "Not that hard, genius!"

"You told me to strike it," T'Challa said calmly. "You didn't say how hard."

Shuri walked over, picked up the dummy, and placed it back in its spot. "I invite you to my lab, and you just hit things around? At least Aquaria has respect for my things."

"Well, maybe you should make it a little bit stronger. Aye...wait a minute." T'Challa looked at the suit, seeing a purple hue from where he struck it. He touched his hand to it.

"The suit absorbed the kinetic energy and held it in place for redistribution." Shuri boasted proudly when she saw the way Aquaria leaned forward slightly with interest.

T'Challa nodded, scratching the scruff on his face, "Very nice."

"Strike it again in the same spot," Shuri said, backing up and lifting her wrist. She raised her other hand and beckoned Aquaria to her side.

T'Challa glanced at her, "You are recording?"

Shuri looked up and shrugged innocently. "For research purposes!"

"What are you doing?" Aquaria whispered in the girl's ear from where she stood behind her and watched as goosebumps rose on the princess's neck. Aria was two inches shorter than the princess, so she had to tippy-toe a little to whisper in the girl's ear.

Shuri inhaled sharply when she felt the heat from Aquaria's breath; her velvet voice was the one that seeped into the hollows of Shuri's ears, intruding like a mischievous harmony, a song of sirenic charm.

Shuri shook her head and answered Aquaria's question, "Just watch."

T'Challa shook his head before kicking the suit in the abdomen again. The kinetic energy exploded, recoiling T'Challa backward. Shuri laughed loudly, following her camera at him.

Aquaria's eyebrows shot up in shock, and she let out a breathy laugh, amazed by what the suit did.

T'Challa landed on the ground before pointing a stern finger at his sister, "Delete that footage!"

ONCE T'CHALLA LEFT, it was just Shuri and Aquaria. It was awkward in the beginning, but then they had both settled down at a table sitting opposite of each other.

Aquaria watched as Shuri fiddled with the electronics of her new project, breathing in and out. She was busy making herself vibranium gauntlets. Aquaria took note of the beautiful tattoos that raked Shuri's right hand.

"What are those for?" Aquaria asked, motioning to the gauntlets.

"I made these for myself," Shuri answered, putting down her tools to show Aquaria the design. "If Wakanda is ever in danger, I can protect myself and my country with these."

Aquaria smiled, obviously showing her interest, and leaned closer to the princess, "Show me everything."

"Ok, so it has..." Shuri started explaining, and Aquaria couldn't help but stare at how Shuri got so happy explaining her gadgets. She went on for almost fifteen minutes, and even if Aquaria didn't understand what Shuri was saying, she listened to every single word. "and right now, I'm adjusting the sonic blasts to a higher frequency."

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Aquaria asked and with Shuri's single nod she fired the question. "Would you have been the Black Panther if your brother was not?"

Shuri froze and looked up, no one had ever asked her that question. "I-I... I never thought of it. The mantle of the Black Panther was always going to be passed on to my brother so I never really cared to think of it. The responsibility that comes with that mantle is... daunting. I could never fill those shoes. I'm better off in my lab, it's where I belong, it's my home. Truth is I wouldn't trade it to be the Black Panther. I'm not a leader like my brother is but if I had to be the Black Panther for Wakanda I'd do it without question. But truthfully I am just an inventor."

Aquaria nodded slowly, "I understand. My father wants me to-"

Before Aquaria could finish, the mold of a car suddenly appeared on a sand table as T'Challa called out for his sister. Shuri cheered and ran over to the car, hopping in the driver's seat, and before she shifted the gear she paused, "Wait! Which side of the road is it?"

"For bast's sake, just drive!" T'Challa screamed through his comm piece, running down the small street. The car's engine roared to life, taking off towards T'Challa. Peaking behind his shoulder, he mentally activated the suit, flipping backwards into the air to land on the roof of the car.

"Okay, calm down!"

Aquaria, who could see what was going on through the screen panels that came out of nowhere, rose her eyebrows and ran to the other side of the car to hop in the passenger seat.

Shuri cheered, "Let's go!"