"You shouldn't have come." Shuri pushed out as her lips caught Riri's in a bite before dipping her tongue back in the scientists mouth.
"You shouldn't have come to get me, then." Riri sassed back, pushing against the Panther's steadfast body. Shuri would normally humor this and move back, but there was a deep, almost dark aura to the young queen tonight. Nothing felt funny anymore. Riri was aware of this, as she chose not to complain about not having time to pack when she heard a knock at her door at 3 am. She followed Aneka quietly to the jet, eyes scanning for her friend, if that's what you'd call whatever this was.
"You didn't exactly say no." Shuri pushed back into her, one hand wrapping around her neck and pulling the shorter woman deeper into her mouth, threatening to clench around her but not committing.
Shuri was right, Riri didn't say no. She didn't want to say no. She wasn't sure what she wanted because she wasn't sure what was right. She wasn't sure she even deserved to be alive.
"You didn't give me much of a choice." Riri fought out a whispered rebuttal, trying not to lose ground in their power struggle. Shuri silently knew this was true. If Riri had refused to come, she would've made up some excuse. She was desperate. They'd barely made it into the palace before their hands were exploring each other. Shuri felt little shame in the moment, knowing that they would never see each other again if that is what she decided. She wasn't sure how Riri would react when she brushed past her to open the door to her living quarters. She wasn't sure how they'd fallen so quickly into this, pushed up against the back of the door. She didn't care, it was primal. She needed it, she needed her. To hell with the rest.
"I'll send you back right now, if you wish." Shuri offered right away. If Riri asked to go home, she would probably send her home. Probably. Shuri was aware of the power dynamic between them too. It was glaringly loud but Riri always held her own.
"I wish you'd fuck me already."
A surge of ecstasy ravaged through the two women's bodies - a circuit of energy nearly making sparks between them as they move to the rhythm of each other. No beginning or end in sight, skin melding into skin. It was hard, jagged and rough. It was angry. It was maddened. They could pretend to be mad at each other, but the knives were pointed inward as they fucked into each other, heat pouring from their bodies like sweat. Shuri rocked into the scientist as Riri fought to keep Shuri in her mouth at all costs.
Riri clawed at the panther's back, digging her nails as deep into the warm brown skin underneath the panthers clothes as she could. She felt desperate as Shuri dug into her.
Shuri was desperate too. She could feel the her skin healing itself under Riri's touch, her mind racing to hold onto the pain from each mark for as long as she could. She wished she would bleed. She wanted Riri inside her. She wanted to be engulfed by the person below her. As Riri's legs began to flail, Shuri curved her fingers deeper and harder. She knew her powers gave her extra strength so she tried to keep it under wraps, but Riri only asked her for more.
"Fuck me like you mean it."
Like she was begging to be broken. Shuri tried her best to tighten her grip on her own body, refusing to give Riri what she was asking for.
Riri's body yearned into Shuri's as she rolled through her orgasm. It was good but she felt the guilt slip through the doors she had been trying to keep shut in her mind. Her body felt static for a moment, almost numb.
"Are you alright?" Shuri asked, fighting herself too. When Riri doesn't answer, she pushes again. "I asked you a question."
"You should hate me, you know?" Riri spit out as she sat near the edge of the couch they had fallen onto just a few minutes prior.
Shuri's body tensed at the brute honesty. There wasn't anything manipulative about the statement. One thing Shuri could always trust was Riri's dedication to telling the truth. One thing she couldn't trust was her own. She felt hot, not like before. It was the darkness that had been growing in her since everything happened. This was Riri's second time in Wakanda, and it felt all too similar for them to be sitting in this room telling the truth to each other, even after a year. Only this time, the only fight they had ahead of them was in their own minds. There was no chance to save things, to save the Queen. The nation had already agreed to peace and there was no chance of heading into the water and committing murder tonight. Instead, Shuri sat at the opposite end of the couch. She sat and watched Riri torture her own mind as she still felt the warm slickness from her pussy on her fingers. Shuri was tired of fighting the thing in her that allowed her to fill with rage. She wanted to burn tonight and she would let Riri burn with her.
Licking her fingers, Shuri tastes the remanence of her now lover. Her Riri. After what felt like too long, Shuri speaks.
"Maybe I should. Does that make you feel better?" Shuri spit out without a thought. Riri shuddered. Shuri wanted to shake her.
"But I don't. I wanted to, for a long time. I wanted to hate you the way I hate him. But I don't. And I won't. I have worse things to worry about than some smart ass girl from America."
Riri turned to face her, shocked as she awaited what Shuri had to say.
"I'm-" She tried to get out before being cut off. Shuri stands up and paces around, thankful for the noise cancelling technology in her room. Apologetic for what was to come, but not enough to stop it.
"I don't want you to be fucking sorry, Williams! I want you... to be fucking happy." Her hands articulate each word. "I want you to be successful and brilliant and take over the world like you were always supposed to. I wish I could rip Wakanda out your fucking mind and leave you untainted like before so you could stop feeling guilty and start living the life you were given back. But I can’t. And I don’t want you to forget me because I don’t want to forget you. I just want your life to mean something more than feeling sorry about all of this because it has to! You have to!” Shuri nearly screams at her.
"Shuri..."
"NO! You have to live. Because she didn't!" Shuri turns away. Riri feels the guilt sitting in her chest, waiting to explode. She fights the tears rolling down her face, the last thing she wants to look is weak in front of the new Queen. Tears would be an even bigger slap in the face, wouldn't they? She wishes she could punch something or scream, but she's stuck. She can't move. Shuri's right, her whole life has to measure up to the one that was lost in her place. Impossible shoes to fill. She's embarrassed to even exist but embarrassed to feel that way too. It should've been her but it wasn't. It wasn't and that's it. She shouldn't have built the vibranium detector but she did and that's it. She spirals through her thoughts, the feeling of sinking not unfamiliar to her these days, until Shuri says something else.
"But... It's not just that." Shuri admits, her voice breaking, mirroring her spirit. She had tried to let the fire engulf her again but she couldn't. She didn't feel vengeance for anybody but the Winged Serpent. She didn't feel anything besides that for so long. Except for Riri. She feels for Riri. The only light left in the purple city, she thinks.
"What... what can I do, Shuri? Please..." Riri whispers, her own voice breaking from the weight of her own pain.
Shuri turns back to her.
"I can't live in a world where you don't exist." Shuri meets Riri's eyes, holding contact as she walks forward.
"I refuse to live in a world that you're not in. It's not just because of my... mother. It's because of you."
Riri shakes her head, suddenly feeling like the room was spinning. Shuri reaches for her face, both softer than expected and harder than intended. She forces the woman to look in her eyes again.
"It's always been you. It'll always be you." Shuri says smoothly, as if it's the only thing that makes sense. Riri stares back into her, wanting to believe her.
"You're right, I shouldn't have come here." Riri pushes her back, this time actually moving the shocked panther. She stands, frantically looking for a way out of a room with several doors. It's all swirling around her. But the Black Panther recovers quickly.
Shuri pulls her back in front of her.
"Listen to me!"
"No! No! We can't do this. I can't be here and see you. You look just like her!" Riri yells back, now drowning in the room. She closes her eyes and tries to shake free of Shuri's grip.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Riri. You have to accept that. I did! I accepted it the moment it happened and I'm telling you that I need you!"
"You can't need me! You have to hate me or none of this makes any sense! I ruined everything!" The tears are winning the battle as the scientist can no longer contain her mess. Shuri twitches as the desperation in the woman's voice.
"I won't hate you. If that's why you came here, to try to convince me to hate you, then your mission has failed."
Riri stares at her as Shuri sits down, trying to collect herself. Swallowing her tears, Riri asks the question that Shuri hoped she wouldn't - in true Riri fashion.
"Why did you bring me here? It's been a year and we've had a few phone calls. That's it."
"That's... everything. It's been everything to me."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Acting like this!" Riri yells again, forcing Shuri to snap her head up and look at her.
"I'm telling you the truth. You're the one who doesn't want to hear it. Why did you come?" Shuri can feel her calm dissipating again.
Riri grows silent, unable to answer. She only has the truth and the truth isn't good enough.
"Well?! You have all this doubt in me, but I've never stopped fighting for you. I've never stopped looking for you. I've never once stopped thinking about you! Do you not think of me too? Do you not want the same thing I do?"
"Stop!"
"No!" Shuri stands, walking back over to her counterpart as they both inch towards the wall. "I am the Queen of Wakanda. I am the Black Panther. I can do and be anything I want, I can go anywhere I want. I saved the fucking universe and still lost everything, every single time. But I haven't lost you. I don't give a fuck about any of it, if you're not here. So answer me! Do you want me or not, Riri?!"
"Fuck!" Riri screams, a last defense as Shuri pushes her against the wall behind them.
"Answer me!" Shuri shakes her,
"I do! I do, okay! More than anything!" Riri relents, releasing the truth she had held onto since the beginning of this whole ordeal over a year ago. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to catch her breath. The silence covers them, slowing the world down. They both become hyper aware of Shuri's hands pressed against the shorter woman's shoulders. They become aware of how close they are. How quiet the world around them is. The faint sounds of hearts beating and bated breaths fill the space.
Shuri stares at the scientist's face, her mind blank aside from how the woman's eye brows furrow when she's upset. Just like they used to. Just like they do on their video calls when she's working on an experiment and Shuri's pretending not to watch while she sits quietly pretending to do work. She notices Riri's lips. How they're perfect. Riri lets out a breath she's been holding for too long, relaxing her shoulders just a bit. Shuri snaps back to the moment and moves her hands.
Riri opens her eyes. They stare at each other for a moment too long. Tension that you couldn't even cut with a vibranium spear sits in the air.
"Sorry." Shuri mutters, trying to regain her ability to be a person and not a beast once more.
"Me too." Riri replies, looking down and locking her fingers together.
Shuri lifts her face back up.
"I'm not that sorry, actually."
"W-What now?" Riri askes. Shuri looks down at their feet, still only a few inches apart. She got what she wanted but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to know. She needed more. She needed everything.
"Are you afraid of me now? Now that I've acted like a fool and yelled at you." Shuri asks. Riri shakes her head.
"No." Solid. She's telling the truth.
"Then let me have you." Shuri pushes back into her, their noses braced against each other. Their lips dancing on the edge of each other. Riri lets out another breath, nearly shaking at the sensation.
"Can I have you?" Shuri asks, pulling away just far enough to look Riri in her eyes again. She nods but she knows Shuri. She knows she has to say it. Just like before.
"Yes." She whispers. She's telling the truth.
The panther's body lights up, purple blood coursing through her. She moves on instinct, her body and soul finally free from the prison of her mind. She lifts Riri up quickly and with ease, guiding her legs around her waist. As if she's floating, Shuri brings her into the bedroom they'd spent so much time in before. With one hand she holds the woman to her torso, with another she rolls a bead in her hand in different configurations to put the blinders on the windows that allowed them to see out but no one to see in, noise cancelled the room, and shut off griot. She drops one of the beads into her waist band and not so gently puts Riri on the bed. Looking up at her, Riri watches as Shuri takes the rest of her kimoyo beads off and tosses them on the floor. They scatter and find their way to different corners of the room silently.
Before Riri can ask if she's sure, the Princess is back on top of her sucking at her neck, hoping to leave some sort of mark, trying hard not to bare her teeth. Riri fights the moans but they come out like gasps. They both feel feverish, and Riri soon looses her insecurity as if she's scattered it on the floor too. Shuri breaks contact for a moment and it feels like an eternity for them both, feeling their bodies swell with heat for each other again.
"Are you sure this is what you want?"
"Please" Riri yearns, "I need you too." Aching for her touch, Riri pulls Shuri back to her, this time pulling their lips together. It starts off just as desperate as they left off, only getting sloppier as time cruelly pushes forward, both of them wanting to live in this forever.
Shuri reaches down to Riri's heat, rubbing above her underwear, feeling the soaking fabric of her boy shorts. Riri moans into the queen's mouth again, feeling the light frenzy return to her chest. It was like the feeling you get when you reach the top of a rollercoaster and then suddenly drop, but better. It was pure ecstasy, it was something sacred here, even in their mess.
But this time, Riri wanted more. She reached down to feel between Shuri's legs, sliding against her toned stomach. She felt Shuri buckle a bit as Riri's fingers reached her clit. Shuri fought her moans, much to Riri's dismay, but the veins in her neck surged. Riri pulled away to kiss her lover's neck, sucking as if she could draw blood while Shuri rubbed against her. The panther could feel her core get tight. Pushing their faces back together for another sloppy kiss, Shuri enjoys another few seconds of pleasure from Riri's perfect hands. Leaning back, she looks down at the breathless woman beneath her. There aren't enough words in English or Wakandan to describe the beauty.
Shuri stands and pulls her own shirt off smoothly and kicks her pants off like they were never there. Now wearing only a black sports bra and boxers, she gets back on the bed and pulls Riri into her lap, reaching under her shirt slowly, hoping Riri will confirm. Riri lifts her arms and allows Shuri to pull her top off and then make swift work of her sports bra. In no time, she's half naked.
Shuri can't help but to admire for a moment before digging in. Capturing one nipple in her mouth, she palms at the other. Riri leans forward more, feeling her warm core aching as she slips her fingers into Shuri's perfect hair. She missed the way the panther smelled. Perfect. Before she can let out her moan, Shuri is back on top of her, leaving Riri impressed with the cat like speed.
Shuri's feverish again, pulling Riri's pants off and throwing them to the side. She hooks her fingers through her underwear and pulls those too, leaving Riri with little time to be nervous. With a rough kiss, Shuri slides down Riri's body and meets her where it matters.
Leaving gentle kisses, Shuri reaches up and grabs Riri’s hand. Looking up for confirmation one last time, Riri squeezes her hand and bucks her hips up to meet Shuri’s waiting mouth. Diving in, Shuri licks through her with ease and technique, watching and listening for all of Riri’s cues. She tasted like something to live for.
Riri let herself be eaten alive, feeling herself ride against Shuri's face like she needed it. Like what was at the edge of her orgasm could save her from the torment. She felt Shuri's tongue slip in and out of her before focusing back on her sensitive bud, drawing her closer to release with each movement. Riri gripped desperately at the sheets but it wasn't enough. She grabbed Shuri's curls again, tangling her hand into the mess they were making together. She reached with her other hand to the base of Shuri's neck, pulling her deeper into her pussy. She couldn't bare the air between them.
Shuri was in agony herself, the best kind. She needed to be inside of her lover. She needed to feel her wrapped around her, fucking like their lives depended on it. Maybe they did. She pulled back enough, having to lean into her own strength against Riri's grip, only enough to slide two fingers up against the sweet wetness of Riri's cunt before dipping back in. Riri squeezed around her, begging for more. Shuri dug into her again, this time with a recklessness that was only calculated in the sense that she was determined to make Riri cum.
And that's what Riri did. High on Shuri. High on relief. High on release. Shuri threatened to stop as her body rolled through the waves of orgasm and Riri had to fight back tears again.
"Please. Don't stop yet... I don't want this to... end." Riri's voice is breathy and weighted. Shuri listens, watching over Riri as she rides her fingers. There was anguish here but Riri was like an angel. She'd yet to see herself that way but that's all Shuri could see. Heaven. Finally.
Once Riri's body stopped shaking, she felt her body go limp. Shuri wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Heat to heat. Chest to chest. The world threatened to soften around them, to make them warm. They needed to burn. Riri recovered quickly, afraid to hold on too tight to the rest just behind her eyes. She was afraid to blink and miss it all. To sleep and realize it was all a dream - another fucked up dream. She couldn't let herself get comfortable in Wakanda again. Not yet. She felt Shuri's hips roll against hers and any thoughts of protecting her heart were melted down into nothing. She needed to be filled up and Shuri needed to fill her.
"Take them off." Riri demanded. She pulled at the boxers and Shuri ripped them off in one tug, adding them to the pile on the floor. She'd never been bare like this in front of anybody. Riri slipped off her bra, the last layer of defense between their bodies, leaving only skin and a square of vibranium up against Shuri's hip bone. Riri ran her fingers over it, working her brain over the possibilities of what it was. She was hopeful but not certain. She looked back up, meeting Shuri's eyes. There was something somber in them. She was more than angry.
"Are you afraid?"
"No."
There it was. Shuri was lying again. But it didn't matter. She was going to do it regardless. Whether she was afraid or not, and whether Riri believed her or not. Riri wasn't sure if that was good but was any of this? Though she doubted it, Shuri could have her killed tomorrow. She could kill her tonight. She could send her home and never speak to her again. She could dox her, ruin her life. She could do anything to her. That was part of the high.
Riri pulled her in, kissing her slowly at first, assuring the queen.
Shuri let her lead the kiss. Riri palmed at Shuri's chest, hoping to find her heart somewhere in the mix of things. Riri enjoyed the taste of her on the Panther's lips. She swelled with pride that there was no one else in the world in the Black Panther's palace. No matter what happened tomorrow, she would always have this. It embarrassed her to think these things, the heat of the moment not fully quelling the imposter in her brain. But the embarrassment only added to the fire. It only made her needier.
Shuri moaned into Riri's mouth as the woman once again slid her hands down her body. She was ambitious with her touch, kneading her ass while she sucked Shuri's tongue. Shuri felt captive, Riri turning her into putty in her hands. Shuri bucked her hips into the woman underneath her. She was frantic for their pussies to touch, needing to feel Riri's core against her own. Riri pulled her closer, arching her back as they rubbed against each other. It was wet and warm, enough to make them both twitch. Their bodies became a mix of pleasure and depravity as they leaned into their vice for each other. Grasping and humping and pulling and pushing. It was everything, their bodies meeting was a nexus event. But it still wasn't enough.
Looking into Riri's eyes again, Shuri tapped the vibranium on her skin. Pulling back only to make room, Shuri admires the woman as she watched a strap form around the Panther’s body. It was perfectly molded to her, seeming to dip inside of her as Shuri squirmed. Meeting her eyes again, Riri took a deep breath.
"Please."
Shuri slid into her. The strap molded itself to Riri's pleasure points, filling her entirely in the way she needed most. They rocked slowly as Riri's body adjusted. Shuri hovered over her, feeling her own sensations as the strap expanded and gently moved inside of her lover. When Riri released her breath with a moan, Shuri's body took over. Seeking her own pleasure mixed with the need to please the woman laying under her. She rammed into her slowly, a force to be reckoned with. Sliding all the way back out, Shuri rubs the tip against Riri's swollen lips. Riri could see the panther biting back her own pleasure. She needed to hear it. Grabbing Shuri by the back of the neck again and pulling her close, she whispers in her ear while Shuri watches herself slide back in.
"Does it feel good? Tell me."
"MmY-yes. It feels good."
"Then act like it." Riri demands, bucking her hips up to meet Shuri's, letting her body disappear the strap. Shuri let the moan slip out and it was all she needed to let loose. Grabbing Riri by the hips and digging in, Shuri slams into her with no remorse. Riri's back lifts from the bed and she lets her body be taken over. Feeling Shuri inside of her, pushing against her soft spots in perfect rhythm left her incapable of forming real words. Slurring and sloppy moans escaping her, she reaches down to rub her clit only for Shuri to grab her hand away and put it in her mouth. Shuri angles them so Riri's upper back and neck are supported to watch the show. They both watch as Shuri fucks into her and plays with her needy clit. Riri fucks back, needing more of her still.
In and out. In and out. Harder and faster. Shuri feels herself slipping through the girl. Riri's head begins to bang against the headboard. Shuri swiftly flips them again, leaving Riri on her lap to ride. Needing no instruction, Riri bucks into Shuri's lap at an eager pace. Shuri grabs her neck and pulls her into kiss, leaving a hissing moan in her mouth as Riri grinds down, using Shuri to stretch herself out.
As her coil builds, Riri chokes Shuri back. The pressure to the head sends them both nearly over the edge, Shuri's legs arching off the bed to meet Riri's swirling hips. Afraid to loose the feeling, Shuri flips them over again. Giving Riri's needy body only a moment of reprieve, Shuri flips her on her stomach and slides back in. Between Shuri pounding into her from this new angle and the pressure on her clit, Riri screams. Her release is right around the corner despite her best efforts. Shuri is right behind her, leaning down and leaving sloppy kisses and hickeys on Riri's back. Riri turns her head to the side and reaches back to pull Shuri into a struggle of a kiss. Shuri takes the opportunity to swap spit with the woman, needing to mix with her in any way she can. Riri's receptive, sucking it from the woman's mouth. Shuri can barely hold it together and all Riri wants is to hear it.
"Tell me. Tell me it feels good."
"You're mine. You're all mine. This pussy is mine."
"All of me. I belong to you." Riri whimpers back. She belongs to the Black Panther. She needs more.
"Take me. Take all of me. I need you so bad." Shuri moans out at the edge of her climax.
"Cum in me, please cum in me baby" Riri screams, ready to be filled and covered in her lover.
Once again, Shuri listens. She empties herself into the woman under her, pushing them suffocatingly into the sheets enough to muffle Riri's screams.
"I love you. Fuck I love you." Shuri pounds into her.
Riri returns the favor, squeezing and cumming around Shuri like a lock with no key.
"I love you I love you I love you" over and over as they slide through each other. Shuri rolls them onto their sides, still not removing herself from Riri's body. Riri squirms around the shaft, grabbing behind her to hold Shuri's neck as she desperately bites into her. As things slow down, their bodies go limp. Not yet wanting to pull out, Shuri nuzzles in closer, massaging Riri's chest as she plants kisses along her neck, soothing the bruising bite marks. Riri fights to catch her breath.
Finally, with a sound that nearly sets off round two, Shuri retracts the strap and rests an arm over Riri's body. The waves of pleasure and emotion vibrate through both of them, seemingly in sync. They had just been as close as you can be to euphoria without going to the afterlife. Suddenly, they were both fighting tears too as their chests filled with lightness and change. The tension in the air was gone, leaving behind only the rawness of the moment and the stark truth between them.
Riri turned to face Shuri against her brain trying to tell her to hide. Shuri opened her tear stained eyes to meet the woman's. She was the first to speak.
"What now?"
"You tell me. You're the Queen around here." Shuri huffed a small laugh but knew that this was one of those moments where she would need to make the right choice. So, she chose to tell the truth.
"I meant it. I'm in love with you."
Riri's heart fluttered but she wasn't ready.
"How do you know this isn't some crazy trauma bond? What if you -"
"I don't hate you."
"But what if we're just-"
"Then we'll get help. I know you American's don't really have health care but here we do. We'll talk to a couple's therapist. We'll work it out." Shuri shot back, sure of herself.
"A couple...?" Riri questioned out loud by accident.
"Ah... well, yes. I'm ruined for anybody else, honestly. Have been since I met you." Shuri said definitively.
Riri hid her face, unable to believe this was all really happening.
"I don't understand how you can even look at me, let alone all this-"
"I don't understand how you expect me to look away." Shuri says, pulling her face back up once again. "You look at me. Tell me if you think I'm lying."
Riri looked into the Panther's eyes. It wasn't hard for her to tell when she was lying. Which is why this was so terrifying, because she wasn't. She shook her head. Shuri smiled for the first time in a long time.
"I'm not good at this but I feel... I feel like I've already wasted a year. I love you. If you love me too, then I don't care how we make it work."
Riri's mind told her to run, hide away from the affections of the woman she loved so deeply. Her mind told her she didn't deserve it. She would be better off rotting in some Wakandan prison. But her body told her otherwise. Her body trusted Shuri, like it always did. Like they were still trapped underwater and Shuri was promising to come back. She always did. Riri's body told her guilt to shut the fuck up.
"I love you." Riri spoke finally. “And the year wasn’t a waste.”
The angry daggers they had both been using to flay themselves had disintegrated, all they left behind were two women who only had each other.
Riri leaned in for a kiss again, not able to bare the distance anymore. Shuri was pleased, feeling safe in the moment regardless of what would be waiting for them tomorrow. Riri prayed she would be free from her own mind. Finally, they fell asleep, mouths still half way connected trying to share the same air.
Riri woke in the throne room. The water stuck in the air like frozen rain drops. One person sat across the room.
Riri had been here before. Many times. Only this time the room wasn't destroyed and she wasn't sinking into a darkness she couldn't get out of. She approached the throne with soft steps, hoping to see someone.
Queen Ramonda met her eye line, starring her down as she approached. Riri felt the rain begin to pour. The Queen looked beautiful but she looked dead. And she looked angry.
Hours later, Shuri stirred awake. Finally a night with no dreams, only a sweet whisper in her ear. She reached around trying to find the warmth she expected to be wrapped in but to no avail. Opening her eyes, she looked around and saw no one. An empty room.
Trying not to think the worst, she gathered herself up and threw on some clothes from the floor, noticing that Riri's were nowhere to be seen. Tapping her neck, she summoned her kimoyo beads back to her body and turned on griot. As the AI booted up, she walked out to the living room she had been in just a few hours before. Looking over to the couch, she sees a note. A sigh of relief, hoping to see that Riri has made herself comfortable in the lab or has gone to eat something.
She unfolds the paper and reads to herself.
"Shuri -
I'm just not ready yet.
Thanks for not hating me.
I love you. - Williams"
Shuri felt a pang of rejection and longing rise in her. She had been so lonely before. What did this mean? Would they speak again?
"Griot. Where is Riri Williams?"
"Good morning Panther. Miss Williams is currently on a flight back to America. Cambridge, Massachusetts to be exact."
"Fuck" she whispers to herself.
"Call her the moment she reaches her dorm." Shuri feels herself getting frantic, thinking about ways to apologize.
"As you wish, Panther. But I must advise, Miss Williams has left instructions with me to contact you in 3 months.”
"Did she say why?"
"She said 'she's not ready but she will be.' she told me to tell you when you asked."
"She will be?"
"She will be ready for your proposal. She would like me to advise you to meet her court side."
Shuri felt her heart relax. The next Bull’s game is in three months.
"Ah. Thank you, Griot."
She laid back down, not wanting to shower away the events of the night. Shuri could handle a few months. She'd certainly use that time to work on some things herself - including learning about American basketball - she noted as she felt her body ease into the bed they had shared. The Queen didn't detect the darkness that had taken home in her the past year and a half, but a lighter sense of being. Sure, she still had work to do. She still had a country to run. She still had a family to fully mourn. She still had enemies. She still had vengeance. But she had Riri now, too.