THE WILDERNESS. ❨ T'CHALLA UDAKU ❩

02. | UNO!

TWO.

Mari hated hospitals with a passion, they were too white, death was heavy in the air, they were full of sick people, they reeked of antibacterial and disinfectant-- and while they were effective in many cases, their scents weren't the nicest-- the list just went on and on.

But, considering the circumstances, she figured she could sit down and suck it up for a day or two-- for Aisha's sake, it was the least she could do.

Apparently, Aisha had not only broken her leg, but hit her head just a touch too hard and gotten a major concussion. Of course, she had woken up the next morning but with a major lasting headache.

And this was how Mari found herself sitting in one of the crappy, hospital issue plastic chairs with a stiff back and bleary eyes for the second day in a row, promising the teenager a round or two of Uno.

She hadn't slept a wink since the explosion, nor had she really eaten, so she struggled to keep herself awake, but somehow managed to nevertheless-- neither sleep nor the terrible hospital food they had to offer appealed to her, so she just skipped out on the both of them, although admittedly that probably wasn't the best course of action to take when it came to her health.

She spent most of her time waiting for Aisha to wake or watching the news which had been going nonstop about the explosion in Lagos and neglect of the Avengers. Many people were blaming the newest member of the earth's mightiest heroes for the disaster, Wanda Maximoff-- though Mari wasn't entirely sure where she stood, she didn't have the whole story.

According to basically every news channel-- and even a few journalists for places like the Daily Bugle-- Wanda had thrown the ex SHIELD Agent, Brock Rumlow-- who was apparently feeling suicidal in that moment-- into the URC outpost when he had detonated a bomb strapped to himself.

And while it was a dick move, Mari-- again-- didn't make a move to jump to any conclusions. For all she knew, Wanda could have been protecting herself or maybe it was just an accident.

She decided not to dwell on it.

Sighing, she uncomfortably shifted in her seat, glancing over to the younger brunette who was grinning widely as she passed Mari the stack of Uno cards from the nightstand. She knew that, eventually, she would have to leave and sort shit out with the URC-- considering she was the Assistant Director-- and on top of that, she had been requested by King T'Chaka and the US Government to attend the Sokovia Accords signing considering she was not only a native to Wakanda, involved in the 'tragedy' in Lagos and a vigilante of sorts with powers, she was one of the many tasked with signing the accords.

But she couldn't leave just yet, Aisha was basically alone and Mari seemed to be the only one that cared enough to so much as ask her how she was-- the Doctors and Nurses don't count considering it's in the job description.

"How do you feel?" She questioned the teenager as she dealt the cards out.

Aisha scowled in annoyance, narrowing her eyes into a glare directed at the plain bedsheets she sat on. "I'm fine, Mari," She answered shortly, her gaze softening and face falling when she registered the sharpness to her tone. "I'm sorry, it's just-- you are the third person to ask me that within the last half hour. And it's really getting on my nerves."

"It's okay." Mari offered a small smile, placing the remaining cards on the tray between her and Aisha before she flipped the first over to start them off. "I'd be pretty annoyed too."

"I'm not even annoyed with you," Aisha rambled, placing a blue nine over the zero. "Just annoyed in general. With everyone. But not you, I mean, you've been here for the past two days and we barely even know each other. Not even my mum bothered to make the trip."

Mari could tell that the subject of her mother was a rather sensitive one, so, she merely smiled and placed a yellow nine on the quickly increasing pile of cards. It seemed that Aisha was well prepared for yellow as she immediately placed down a skip, reverse, skip and plus two.

Mari gaped for a moment, absolutely dumbstruck, before she quickly scrambled through her cards and smacked down a red plus two, frowning when Aisha placed yet another one atop her own.

"Uno!"

She pulled a face, retrieving the six required cards as Aisha excitedly bounced in her spot, clutching her last card in with a wide, Cheshire-like grin.

Finally, Aisha placed the last card down, a red seven, bolting up from her spot with an ecstatic ‘whoo!’. She danced around the small hospital room, repeatedly chanting ‘I win, I win, I'm awesome, I'm awesome’ and occasionally making the loser motion with her fingers at Mari who in turn, chuckled in amusement, but decided to let the nineteen year old have and celebrate her small victory.

"Good job," She praised with a smile, absently shuffling the cards between her hands. "Next time I'll have to show you the ropes for a game of Poker."

"Really?" Wide eyed, Aisha paused in her erratic dancing, glancing over to Mari hopefully. "I've never played Poker. Or Blackjack," She added as an afterthought, pursing her lips.

"Then I will show you the whole nine yards when I get back," Mari promised, letting it slip that she would have to be leaving.

"Back?" Aisha inquired, tilting her head to the side with a confused frown. "Where are you going?"

"Vienna."

Aisha made an 'ah' sound and clicked her tongue, settling onto the bed. "The Sokovia Accords," She murmured knowingly.

Mari nodded. "Yes. It's been requested that I—not only sign the accords—but be present during the speech."

"Alright then." Aisha nodded and the two fell into a silence—not including the sound of the television which was currently playing Doctor Who. A small grin grew on the teenager's face and she reached forward to take the cards from Mari's hands, waving them through the air as she said, "Another game?"

•••

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

So that's it for this chapter, apologies that it took me so long to finally update this book.

Yes, the next chapter will be during the bombing at Vienna and T'Challa and Mari will reunite, hopefully a touch of fluff.

By guys,

Wakanda Forever!
- Queen of Death.