Nashuri Collection (Namor x Shuri)

Honey (Oneshot!)

Shuri was tempted to put her hands over her ears. A council meeting hadn't been this noisy since Killmonger's total upheaval. She had stayed by the entrance door with the Dora Milaje, but the negotiations were taking place in the middle of the room near the throne.

The small gathering of Talokan warriors behind Namor was chanting. It wasn't a siren's call, but it was feeding the tension in the room. Something akin to how classical musicians built up to a crescendo. Despite herself, the chants sounded otherworldly—beautiful even. She could see how they enchanted others to their deaths.

M'Baku's forehead wrinkled and no carrot was in sight for once. But he appeared confident on the throne. There was a reason he was leading the Jabari clan; he could keep calm under pressure. Today's evening was one of their first real negotiations or alliance meetings. Wakanda had small, less important meetings with some Talokan officials before. However, now there was something pressing to discuss.

"Okoye, what's happening? Even from my lab, I can hear the turmoil," Shuri asked and leaned into the woman's ear. After her title had been stripped, Okoye was treated as a royal guest, one who could at any time wield a blade and serve her country.

"Ah, Princess Shuri, Namor has brought his foolishness once again to Wakanda's door," Okoye told her, not taking her eyes off Namor or his people. Ayo had been made the next in command, but no one would stop Okoye from leading a charge if the meeting sparked a fight. "And the big one keeps staring at me. I think he wishes to be knocked down again."

"Attuma?" Shuri asked. Okoye raised an eyebrow.

Shuri smoothed down her dress, feigning innocence. "It's nothing that I remember a few names. More importantly, what do they argue about that they put stomping elephants to shame?"

Okoye told her, "War. Bloodshed. All things that winged man revels in. Wakanda has acquiesced too much to this creature. Our first and only request of him is for safe passage in his sea to retrieve a fish. The Canadians are sniffing around for a certain species nearing extinction in the depths of his water."

"I ... why does this involve us? M'Baku's popping a blood vessel."

"All of Talokan's impulsiveness involves us whether we wish to or not. We should end him." The woman huffed. Her fit arms folded against her chest.

Namor was being difficult as usual, but it was hard to concentrate in the Wakandan royal court. Too much chanting, too much elders' shouting, and too much of the noise of the stomps of spears or drums to regain order in the court. A royal shouting match indeed despite Namor nor M'Baku raising their voices.

Letting her gaze drift for a moment, Okoye glanced at Shuri. She narrowed her eyes. "And princess, why may I ask are you here? Why are you dressed like that?"

Okoye was so much like family. One of the few who would dare question her.

Shuri fumbled the electro ball in her dress's pocket. The little gadget doubled as a toy and a Wakandan tablet. She had been tinkering with it as a birthday present for Toussaint later. He wasn't old enough for his own pair of kimoyo beads. Before she was taken away from her work to play peacemaker, she had almost finished it.

"I offered. I told M'Baku I could help. Y'know we're working together despite me postponing the throne." If anyone knew how to deal with Talokan and that winged man, it was her. The other question went unanswered.

Okoye sucked her teeth. "A shame that "fish man" as he puts it has started this circus."

Shuri looked at the annoyed and weary expressions of the Wakandan council. Intelligent elders felt disrespected by Talokan's refusal to contribute or acknowledge the plight it put Wakanda in. The Talokan people were determined but also afraid. Often anger was a secondary emotion to fear. They were right to want to protect themselves. It wasn't wrong to want to be untouched by the ills of the world. Wakanda in all its glory and prosperity hadn't had to fight colonizers and threats to its way of life until recently.