T'Challa sits on the light gray cushion of the Wakandan space ship. He stares out of the window, and takes in the view of the olive colored leaves swaying with the wind, but like a woman's hips swaying elegantly as she walks with pride and confidence.
He is on his way to the Wakandan spy center. He was called in just moments before after he was informed that one of the spies had insight on a man who was a suspect in their database.
The voice of Okoye enters his ears. She speaks in a heavy accent, "We are here, T'Challa."
He nods and prepares himself to exit the ship.
✻
T'Challa enters the large, glass building with an aurora of authority surrounding him. His posture is exquisite. Shoulders back, head held high, and a look of royalty on his face. He was faking it a bit, but it was going to get him far.
T'Challa nods at the people he passes as he walks in. Some men are jealous of their soon-to-be ruler, due to the simple fact that he is who he is, a handsome man with a bright future ahead of him. The woman are quick to drop to their knees when he walks passed.
T'Challa is soon met with Nakia, his former lover, her very close friend. He originally thought that it would be awkward after they broke up, but that wasn't the case at all. They were mature about it and handled it like the adults they are.
"Hey, cat boy," Nakia greets. T'Challa gives her a look of disapproval. Shuri had told Nakia that it was her new nickname for her older brother, and she couldn't wait to test it out.
Nakia laughs. She enjoys messing with him more than anything else in the world. Softly she says, "Follow me, T'Challa."
"Where are we going, Nakia?" T'Challa asks her through his thick accent. They come to a large, metal door that is painted black. She opens it and allows him to go in.
"We are going to the commuting room. There's a spy here, one that I work with, and she says that she knows some things about this man that is noe considered a suspect, while I was on my break. She is new, and isn't very talkative, so she won't give us a lot of information."
T'Challa nods slowly. He enters the room and looks around. It looks much like a police precinct. There are desks, with computers made out of vibranium. Along with a multiple monitor panels on the walls. Cameras are surrounding them, and there are also two guards in the corner.
"Where is she?" T'Challa asks Nakia, who points to the right hand corner.
T'Challa follows the direction of her hand, and sees a familiar bunch of curly redish-orange hair that is wrapped inside an African print scarf. It is Tendai. He knows it. He thinks back to the day where he helped her with her groceries. She did mention she works with the Wakandan government, but she didn't reveal what her position was.
She is wearing a pair of black dress pants, and a navy blue dress shirt, with a long piece of blue and black African fabric pinned across the chest. Her head scarf matches.
"Tendai!" Nakia calls. She whips around quickly. Nakia motions her over, and Tendai obeys.
"You know Prince T'Challa. Would you share the information that you've told us with him? The Prince always needs to know."
Tendai gives her a silent nod.
Nakia leans over a bit to whisper in his ear, "Talk to her. You might be able to get her to talk more than I. You are the future king after all."
Nakia gives his shoulder a pat, then migrates to the left side of the room.
"Tendai," he says breathlessly. "Hi."
"My Prince," she greets gently. T'Challa chuckles a bit.
"I told you to call me T'Challa," he tells her. Tendai blushes and mumbles a small sorry.
Shrugging a bit, T'Challa says, "So the threat? What happened?"
"When I was in the southern part of Wakanda on a mission," she starts. "There was a man there. He was speaking to a few men. He went by the name Erik Killmonger."
T'Challa purses his lips. The name seems oddly familiar, for a reason he cannot understand.
"Were you able to run him through the database at all?"
Tendai nods and motions for him to follow her. She leads him her desk, which has two computers on it. One with his picture, and another with a short file.
"His name is Erik Stevens, but he goes by Erik Killmonger, due to the fact that he racked up kills like crazy during his time as a Navy Seal," she says. "He also tried to cross our borders a few times before, but has not succeeded, until now."
T'Challa squints and brings his hand upwards to use the mouse to enhance the electronic window. Tendai shivers when she feels his the cool fabric of his shirt graze her slightly exposed skin.
She feels his soft breathing in her ear, and it's making her a bit nervous, but it's getting her hot and bothered at the same time.
T'Challa hums, "Will you send me this file, please?"
Tendai nods. She hands him a notepad and a pen. She watches as he scribbles down his information on the paper.
"I'll keep you updated, T'Challa," she says.
"Thank you, Ms. Tendai."
She gives him a nod and a smile before walking off to communicate with Nakia. T'Challa has his eyes on her as he moves. He chuckles to himself as his tongue glides across his bottom lip slowly.
Tendai is definitely a puzzle he was going to solve.
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