“Sammy stop it right now!” T'challa is yelling at the top of his lungs from above the arch on their dorm building. No one walking past even bats an eye. This isn't the first time this has happened it won't be the last. Sam Wilson has once again chased t'challa up yet another building.
“I could get you if I really wanted to you know?” sam has a wicked grin as he looks up at T'challa.
“It really wouldn't take much really just a running start.”
“Sammy don't you dare!”
Sam is hunched over laughing he nearly spills the water as a thunderous laughs passes through him. He loves these games he and t'challa play. Well he says he and t’challa play really it's just sam being a dick to his boyfriend.
“Sammy if I come down and you wet me I will rip you to shreds and not give a flying fuck.”
“I love it when you get frisky like this.”
T'challa hesitantly jumps down from the building and stands away from sam.
“Can I have a hug?”
“Not until the water is gone.”
Sam walks towards the nearest tree looks at T'challa and slowly pour all the water from the bucket.
“Happy you big kitty cat?”
“Very much actually.” T'challa has a grin that makes Sam's heart flutter.
Sam and T'challa have been together since high school. 9th grade to be exact.
T'challa had just moved from wakanda all the way to new york. Its his first day in class and the very first thing he notices is the kid with huge wings sitting next to from what he can tell is the most pissed off cat hybrid in the world. The cat is sitting with his head down ears flicking just slightly when anyone makes a noise. His head flies up when T’challa moves forward into the class eyes locked on to t'challa he whisper something to the one with wings and t'challa is nervous now. His first instinct is to run get some place high far away from the stares. He's about to turn and run when the teacher tells him to take a seat. He looks around the class and is about to sit in the first empty seat up front when he hears it.
“So you like cats?”
He looks up and makes eye contact it's the bird.
“Yeah and you like hawks right?”
The pissed off cat laughs hard and deep and the hawk ...maybe? he still isn't sure, breaks the pencil in his hand with gritted teeth and a stare that could kill. T'challa should feel even more nervous now but he doesn't he likes this takes it as a challenge.
“I'm. A. FALCON.” Its strained and T’challa swears he can see a vain about to pop in the poor guy's head.
“Same difference giant bird” He's getting bold now he knows he is but he can't stop himself now and he does it he winks and sits down to ignore the falcons gaze for the rest of the class. He can still hear the cat laughing occasionally through the rest of the class.
The bell rings and it’s over now and t'challa has to face what he's done to the falcon kid and now he's nervous again where his confidence has gone he has no idea but it's not here anymore flown out the window somewhere.
“Hey what's your name?” He looks up and it's the cat again he calms down a little bit.
“T'challa.”
“James everyone calls me Bucky. My friend Sam.” Bucky points to the falcon kid “Everyone calls him asshole.” T'challa nods his head.
“You should join us for lunch sometimes it'll give Sam an aneurysm and it'll be amazing.”
T'challa laughs quietly.
“That sounds like a great plan.”
So T’challa joins Sam, Bucky, and the very excitable golden retriever called Steve. T'challa over the next 3 weeks becomes close with Some of them. Bucky and T'challa have the same sense of humor where they tend to push their limits with Steve. Steve and T'challa both have the same need to protect all things including the poor ant kid who just can't catch a break. Sam he isn't sure about he has no idea if sam is his friend or not and it's really confusing.
“Sam that's your guy.” Bucky is whispering just loud enough for sam to hear.
“You don't know that Barnes shut up.”
“I'm telling that's him I can tell.”
“How can you tell.”
“It's in my code.”
“We are never watching that movie ever again Buck.”
He stares at this new kid hard he doesn't care that he's staring if buck says that's his guy hell test this himself
“So…” he doesn't know what he expected when he called for the kid but whatever it was it definitely wasn't to be called a hawk. He isn't a hawk like Clint. Where Clint is annoying and loud he is graceful and smooth maybe that's why he says he's a falcon so forcefully. He's irate almost immediately when the kid winks at him and after that doesn't even notice the pencil in his hand break until it's too late.
“Told you that's your guy.”
“Shut.It.” Sam is still staring at the back of the kids head like he's waiting for they kids head to explode. Sadly it never does.
“I'm going to go talk to him.”
“If you go over there I'm telling Steve.”
Bucky shrugs “It's worth it Sammy”
“STOP CALLING ME THAT!”
So bucky goes and talks to the kid and now he's looking back at sam and sam smashes his face in the book ( smooth remember?) he laughs at whatever bucky says and there's a nod and now bucky is motioning for sam to follow him to their next class.
Its lunch and the panther sits with them. Steve is the first one to speak with his over enthusiastic approach to the new kid.
“So you're from wakanda? There's panthers all over that place! And not just like you panthers but like panther statues an-”
“Stevie calm down.” Bucky is scratching Steve's back and Steve's once furiously wagging tail has slowed and he takes a deep breath.
T’challa takes notes when he sees steve and Bucky interact. Notices the way their tails coil together when they sit next to each other. Notices the way Bucky's pissed off attitude melts away when ever Steve gets over excited and he smiles like Steve is the person who put the stars in the sky. Whereas Steve is even more protective when it comes to bucky. T’challa notices the way whenever anybody gets close to Bucky's left side Steve is right there making sure nobody reaches or touches bucky and when anybody gets to close Steve's tails still completely and Bucky has to whisper something in his ear to calm him down again.
While Steve and Bucky are in there own little world t’challa chances a glance at Sam who's looking at T’challa with a blank expression.
“Do I have something on my face or something?”
“No.”
“Is there something on my shirt?”
“No.”
“Is there anything in particular I can help you with?”
“Maybe.” and that's the very first time t’challa sees the wicked grin on Sam's face and he knows he's screwed. T’challa learns very quickly not to trust this grin ever. No matter how attractive sam is when he gives that grin T’challa has to will himself to not stare like a lost kitten.
“You called me a hawk.” Sam stands and T’challa looks around because if he's gonna die he at least wants to see if there'll be witness. There won't be. No one is paying attention to them. Bucky and Steve are whispering in each other's ears and all the other students around are busy with their friends or homework.
“Do these look like hawk wings to you?” Sam opens his wings out and they are at the very least 5 feet long. T’challa looks at Sam's face and it's stone cold. No signs of amusement or a laugh or anything really. He knows what the answer to this question should be. Knows what he should say but T’challa is stubborn and quite frankly he thinks Sam is cute when he's angry so he replies with an almost identical smirk as Sam gave him earlier.
“Yes they do actually just like that kid in the purple over there.” T’challa stares Sam down after he says it and it's worth it it's so very worth it to see the vein in Sam's head bulge out after he's registered what T’challa has said.
T’challa doesn't wait around for the reply to what he said he runs out of the room as fast as he possible can. He's laughing hysterically and he knows he looks crazy but he doesn't really care. He doesn't look back when he hears Sam frustrated scream or the tale tell sign of someone running after him.
“Go after him you asshole.” Bucky looks annoyed they've been talking about this for such a long time now. Bucky was the one who told sam that there would be a new transfer student. He was the one that snaked his way through the office when he finally arrived and spied on T'challa. So Bucky is very annoyed about Sam's stubbornness.
Sam sighs “I was going Barnes.”
Sam runs after him and he doesn't know why he ever listened to Bucky. T’challa is fast of course he's fast and Sam and his giant wings are slow especially in the crowded hallway so it takes awhile a very long while to get to T’challa.
When T’challa finally stops it's because there's a dead end nowhere to climb or hide he's a sitting duck. Given his speed though he was a few minutes to spare before he's caught by Sam and he takes these few minutes to reflect on a few things. The first is Sam is attractive and he'd be lying to himself if he said when he first saw him he wasn't already 110% invested. The second is that there's no way Sam will want anything to do with him after he purposefully called him a hawk … Twice.
So when Sam finally comes and finds him at the dead end T’challa looks like someone knocked his ice cream out of his hand.
“Sad cat videos on YouTube get millions of views mind if I record this?”
T’challa looks up and see Sam standing a few feet in front of him so he stands and bows his head before he speaks
“I would like to apologize on behalf of my wakandan people for disrespecting you. You are not a hawk. My deepest apologies”
Sam laughs like T’challa is the funniest person in the world. He laughs the sound makes T'challa's heart flutter and he thanks every one of his ancestors for his dark skin because he's sure his face would be bright red if he was a fair skinned man.
“T dude. Do you mind if I call you T? T’challa just seems so business.”
T’challa is staring hard now.
“Uh no T is fine I guess? Never had a nickname that wasn't a title before it's always been Prince or king ya know?”
“No I literally have no idea what you're talking about. The only prince I know sings Purple Rain.’
“Right so uh T is fine.” T’challa is blushing ten times harder now
“Good. I don't mean to laugh at you or your people but that's kinda hilarious. You're in new york now buddy talking trash is part of the territory here so don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah. Okay. Good to know.” He feels unbelievably relieved now.
T’challa ends up hanging around Sam Bucky and Steve a lot after this. Mostly with Sam as Steve and Bucky tend to have plans everytime they ask to hang out. Over the next few months Sam learns a lot about him like he doesn't like cats all that much (“I'm more of a dog person loyalty and obedience.”)
It doesn't take long after the first few months for Sam to finally get the guts ( not really guts Steve threatened to tell the hawk kid that Sam wanted to preen together if he didn't … But we’ll go with guts.) to ask T’challa out.
Its summer time and they're laying peaceful for the most part under a giant tree in Sam's backyard eating grapes. Sam is almost shaking with anxious energy as the day goes on and he goes over what he's going to say in his head when the hears it.
“...Back to wakanda.” His eyes must look like flying saucers by the expression on T'challa's face.
“Sammy? Are you okay? Are you choking on a grape again?”
“DoYouWannaGoOutYouCanTotallySayNoNowThatYoureGoingBackButIHadToAskFo-”
He's cut off by a laugh. A full belly laugh. The kind that makes your face go purple and your eyes start to water and you get short of breath and you want to stop but you can't.
“I … I was being serious.” The look on his face does a fine job of sobering T’challa up because instantly he's sitting up right and the tears in his eyes are completely gone and his cheeks are immediately ablaze.
“Did you not hear what I said then?” Sam very well wasn't listening far too focused on finally asking T’challa out that of course he wasn't paying to much attention.
“I uh kinda asked you out already.” He clears his throat and fiddles with his thumbs avoiding any and all eye contact with sam. Now it's Sam who's in a fit of laughing uncontrollably and with tears in his eyes.
“It would absolutely be me who's to in his own head worrying about asking someone out that I didn't hear them ask me out.”
“So..?”
“Ugh.” Sam takes this opportunity to kiss T’challa full on and unapologetically.
“That's yes?”
"Yes but if Steve asks this isn't how it happened." And he leans and they kiss again and again and again. Until T'challa has to leave.
The weeks when T'challa is back in Wakanda are the worst weeks Sam's had in years including when he walked in on Steve and Bucky when he thought he heard Bucky say ' come in! ' that was very embarrassing. He walks around the city sad and lost for way too long and its annoys Bucky to the point of physically violence in the form of many many stale doughnuts. The very last day of Sam's outright obnoxious behavior he's sulking in the backyard in the same spot he had his first kiss with T'challa when there's a knock on the door.
“Nobodys home!" There isn't anyone in the home so he isn't lying
There's another knock a little firmer this time.
"I said NO ON-."
They aren't knocks anymore they're outright pounds loud and way too rough. He gets up and heads to the door to yell at whoever is on the other side because don't they know he just wasn't to sulk until the week over. When he gets to the door the knocking is nonstop and he waits to see if it'll ever end. It doesn't for a good minute at least. So he finally opens the door and is greeted by a giant panther plush.
"Took you way too long to answer the door were you pooping?"
"I hate you so much."
"Oh? Should I go visit Bucky and Steve? I bet they'll appreciate my early flight home."
And then he's in a bone crushing hug. A hug that last several long minutes. And for a while they're just hugging and standing with a giant panther between them and it's all sam has wanted in these few weeks.
T'challa is splayed out on the couch with Sam in the common room watching a dumb show about a girl who ate a couch. T’challa is subconsciously nudging into Sam's hand paying no real attention to his surroundings when Sam begins to scratch his ear and he can't help himself because it feels to good and the next thing he knows a small purr is escaping his mouth. Sam smirks big and T’challa can feel it in his stomach without even looking up. He tries to get up move away from Sam but gets grabbed by him anyway.
“You like that T?” it's a really dumb question because it's very apparent that he loves it. He's liked it since Sam first started doing it a few months back. T’challa struggles to move against Sam's arms because he isn't going to play into Sam's game but this is Sam the guy he's loved since 10th grade. The very same Sam that once pushed their fully loaded truck up a hill with him steve bucky and all the possessions they have in the world. He gives up after the third try because if Sam doesn't want him to leave he won't.
“Shut it bird.”
“I’m hurt T. That's no way to talk to someone you love. You gotta make it better now.” He still has a giant grin on his face that T’challa has come to love.