Spoils

T'Challa was still somewhat flustered around Erik, although he gradually relaxed throughout the course of dinner. Soon he was chatting civilly with Erik as if they hadn't tried to kill each other just a few days ago.

"What's this?" Erik asked, poking at his food with a fork. There were several little pyramid-shaped clump of food wrapped in what looked like giant leaves.

"Glutinous rice dumplings," T'Challa said. "Steamed sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and bamboo twine. The traditional fillings are pork, mushrooms, peanuts, chestnuts and salted duck egg yolks. But my mother sometimes likes to put in winter melon peel too for added sweetness. Here, let me help you."

He took one of the dumplings from Erik's plate. Erik watched as T'Challa's nimble fingers unwound the knotted twine and peeled the bamboo leaves away from the sticky rice. A misty sheen of steam rose up from the unwrapped dumpling.

Erik noticed that one of the corners of the dumpling was blue. Blue rice - Erik had never seen that before.

"It's stained with butterfly pea juice," T'Challa explained. "That's just done for the colouring. There's no noticeable difference in taste."

T'Challa's fingers brushed against Erik's as he put the unwrapped dumpling on Erik's plate. Erik felt actual flutters in his chest. It was disgusting.

"Huh." Erik took a bite of his rice dumpling. It was sweet and savoury, like nothing he had ever eaten before. "It's good."

T'Challa gave him a small, genuine smile, one that made Erik's heartbeat speed up again. "I used to love eating these when I was young."

A strange wistfulness came over Erik then, devoid of the usual rage and hatred whenever he thought about Wakanda. He wondered how things would have been like if he had grown up here with T'Challa. Would he have enjoyed these dumplings as much, or would it have been so normalised as to be completely unremarkable, just another luxury that he  unthinkingly enjoyed without a care?

T'Challa seemed to pick up on Erik's darkening mood. He said hesitantly, "Erik -"

"Oh, don't start apologising again," Erik interrupted, holding back a sigh. "I'm not going to blow up at you over every little thing, you know."

"I know," T'Challa said quietly. "I admit, I had been afraid of that in the beginning. I knew you could have tormented me if you really wanted to. My mother and sister were out of their minds with worry. But you haven't been cruel to me. I appreciate it."

Erik shrugged. "I've never hurt any of my omegas before." He had always been indulgent, had enjoyed spoiling his partners with what little he had. Erik had never even spanked anyone else before T'Challa, although it was a commonly accepted method for handling disobedient omegas. Dealing with their tears and drama was too much trouble, and besides, it made Erik feel bad.  

T'Challa smiled. "I was probably stricter with my omegas than you've been with me."

"Really?" A spark of interest ignited within Erik. He wouldn't have thought T'Challa would be the disciplinarian type. Come to think of it, this was the first time that T'Challa had volunteered any information about his past experiences as an alpha. Losing that part of himself couldn't have been easy for him, even if he hadn't outwardly expressed any resentment after the first fight they'd had.

Erik could sense T'Challa's regret at the back of his own mind now, thick and bitterly unpleasant. But if not for the mating bond, he would never have been able to tell from T'Challa's outward expression. T'Challa's facial expression didn't waver as he continued, "Yes. I was never cruel either, but I was a bit more firm with my partners. Though they were usually quite compliant, even for omegas - I think they were intimidated by my position as the Crown Prince. Unlike you," he added wryly.

"The perks of fucking the king," Erik agreed with a leer, just for the fun of watching T'Challa squirm and blush. T'Challa was cute when he was embarrassed, and he was especially embarrassed whenever Erik brought up the fact that they’d fucked. More than once.

T'Challa choked as a bit of food he was swallowing went down the wrong way. Erik watched with some alarm - what if something happened to him? - but T’Challa soon regained his composure.

"Erik, I'd like to know your plans as king of Wakanda," T'Challa said, becoming serious. "And - and your plans for us."

Erik considered the question. How much should he reveal to T’Challa? Truth be told, his original plan had gone so far off track that he was now essentially making it up on the fly. Obviously killing T’Challa was now out of the question, and T’Challa would be very unhappy if he mentioned anything that even hinted at world domination, but that didn’t mean that Erik was willing to compromise on his core principles. The current system wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t sustainable. He would soon be making major changes to Wakanda, whether T’Challa liked it or not.

As Erik mulled his answer over, he could feel T’Challa’s anxiety rising as the silence stretched. T'Challa finally got tired of waiting for Erik's response. He said, “Erik, when we first met in the throne room, you told me that you wanted Wakanda's weapons. That you wanted to arm rebellions everywhere, to take over the entire world - "

Erik thought fast. There was nothing to be gained from admitting it, especially not now, when things were just starting to go so well with T'Challa. There was no need to upset his soft-hearted omega by telling him that he still had every intention of building an empire, even if the exact details still had to be worked out. Besides, matters of the state were no longer T’Challa’s concern now.

Erik put on a wry smile. “I’ve changed my mind,” he said, a half-truth.

T’Challa looked like he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to believe Erik or not. Erik realized that he would need to be more convincing.

“That was my original plan,” Erik admitted. “But that was before I realised exactly how advanced Wakanda's technology was compared to the rest of the world. I've spoken to your scientists and the commanders of your armed forces, and it wouldn't be realistic to expect disprivileged people to be able to use these weapons without prolonged training. And the risk posed by these weapons falling into the wrong hands… I'm reassessing my plans now, in light of this new information." Hopefully this explanation was plausible enough for T’Challa.

T’Challa did look somewhat relieved, although his brow was still furrowed. "But your goals haven't changed?"

"No," Erik said bluntly. "There are people out there who need our help - our brothers and sisters who have suffered for centuries under the yoke of the colonizers. They are our people, even if they aren't Wakandan, and I'm going to do whatever I can to help them. That's still my goal, and I'm working towards it.

"But my priorities have changed now," Erik continued, his voice softening unconsciously. "I didn't expect to find myself bonded to you. It wasn't something that I had originally planned for - I was just going to kill you if you didn't cooperate with me. But you have been cooperating, and I know you're trying to be a good mate. I think we could work together. If not…" Erik let his voice trail off, but the threat was clear.

T'Challa thought it over for a few minutes, then to Erik's surprise, he said," I agree."

Erik blinked. He had expected T'Challa to resist, to try and argue for maintaining the status quo like he had during their first meeting, but instead T'Challa was now nodding his head, saying, "You're right. I've had a lot to think about these past few days. It's much easier to see the injustice of the system when you're on the receiving end of it. I know that my father, my ancestors - all of them were wrong. It was wrong to leave you behind in America, and it was wrong to withdraw from the world when there were people out there who needed our help. I don't fully agree with your methods, but I'd like to work together with you to find a peaceful way to achieve your goals."

T'Challa placed emphasis on the word peaceful, widening his eyes appealingly at Erik as he did so. Sincerity rang through in every word, and Erik could tell that T'Challa truly meant it.

T'Challa continued, "If you intend to implement any radical changes, you'll need the support of the people. I can help you with navigating Wakanda's internal politics. I understand how the councillors think, and I can help you gain their trust."

"I'll think about it," Erik said, after a pause. Truth be told, the more he considered it, the more attractive T'Challa's offer sounded. T'Challa had been helpful during the Council meeting earlier - Erik had let T'Challa take the lead after it was clear that there were some undercurrents running through the surface chatter about flower supplies and wedding decorations. It would also be useful to have someone else - someone he could trust - to handle day-to-day minutiae.

Also, the way that T’Challa was looking at him right now, all bright-eyed and hopeful, was very appealing. Erik half-suspected that T'Challa was doing it on purpose to manipulate him, but still, it was working. He'd always had a weakness for pretty omegas.

"Erik," T'Challa said, just bordering on the verge of a wheedle.

"I said I'll think about it," Erik repeated noncommitally. "I'll consider it if you continue to be good. Now finish your dinner."

T'Challa complied immediately with a faint smile on his face.

That manipulative little shit, Erik thought to himself with no real anger. His animosity towards his cousin was crumbling by the second, but somehow, Erik found that he didn't mind so much.