Rise || Marvel

《35》Knock, Knock. Who's There?

(Song: Fireflies - Owl City)

《 Tia's POV 》

As it turns out, I'm pathetically horrible at making masks. Luckily for me, YouTube exists. Also, I happen to be very, very lucky to be close friends with a certain genius in Wakanda.

"...So, what does the YouTube video say to do now?" Shuri snickered. I had my laptop propped open in front of me, one half of the screen open on a DIY YouTube video about full-head mask making (the video was about making cosplay, so I thought that was close enough), and the other half displaying Shuri's face via Messenger call.

"Uhh..." I frowned down critically at the sort-of misshapen mask on the workbench before me, "It's saying to do some sewing stuff, but I don't think I'm using the same material as the person in the video."

"Send me the link to the video. What time are you at?" Shuri's gaze flicked over to her right, undoubtedly opening up a new Internet tab.

"'Kay..." I copied the YouTube link and sent it over the Skype chat, then typed in the time point. Several seconds later, the tell-tale sounds of the YouTube video began to play from Shuri's end of the Messenger call.

"Mhmm..." She mumbled, "Okay... I see... Yeah... Right, so this finishing stuff is bull-crap. Just wait a couple minutes, I'll pull up some documents I've made about armour and mask manufacturing. I'll send them to your email, but for now, what you've got is fine. Just add in a re-tractor to the side... Maybe pop over to Wakanda when you're free, too, so I can take a look at it."

"Okie dokie, thank you, M'lady!" I pushed away from the bench on my trusty wheelie-chair and rolled over to the closest cabinet drawers. After opening three drawers without any success. In the fourth drawer, I found a box of re-tractor devices.

As I bumper-car span back over to desk, I made a mental note to congratulate Valerie on her great design abilities.

I wonder if she's aiming for a career in design...

I pressed the re-tractor against the side of the mask and got to work on securing it firmly in place.
In the Messenger call, Shuri's face had vanished, but I could hear her shuffling about off-screen.

A serene 'dinging' sound echoed around the lab.

"What's up, Friday?" I asked distractedly, fastening the final latch of the re-tractor in place.

"There's a young man waiting downstairs. He has an appointment with Mr. Stark," Friday reported, "Could you please bring him up to wait for Mr. Stark to return?"

"Yeah, sure..." I jumped up from my chair, pausing momentarily at my laptop, "Hey, Shuri? I'll be right back, some stuff came up. Be back soon."

Still off-screen, Shuri's voice replied, "Mmkay. I'll send the files as soon as I find them. You attached the re-tractor?"

"Yep!" I shouted over my shoulder, already half-way out the room. On my way over to the elevators, I snatched up my glasses from the kitchen bench, quickly sliding them onto my face. Can't let random civilians see my satan eyes and spray holy water at me again, right?

One thing that I really appreciated about Stark Tower was that the elevator was freaking fast. It only took about 15 or so seconds to descend from near the top to the very ground floor. Thankfully, Pepper had apparently stashed the stack of Brooklyn 99 and Parks & Recreation DVDs Tony and I had been binge-ing lately out of sight.

Near the entrance door, a sandy-haired male probably about my age was awkwardly fiddling with the hems of his jacket sleeve. He looked around as I narrowly avoided tripping over a coffee table. I have a special way with introductions, okay?