Shattered Souls | 18+

5. Old Wounds

Toni's decided she doesn't need to sleep. She's gone 72 hours without it before, and besides. Sleep is for pussies. T'Challa seems to silently agree. They've been sifting through the Accords—complemented now by Toni's awful chicken scratches—for the better part of a week, and they've gotten just under half of the way through the extensive amount of paperwork. All in all, Toni's sort of proud of what they've gotten done. All of her previous inventions needed extensive amounts of fine-tuning in the past. The Accords were no different.

"I think we've made great progress," T'Challa says through a yawn. Perhaps Toni should make a jab about T'Challa and yawning and possibly The Lion King, but she's far too tired to be snarky.

"You say that every night."

"And every night we make great progress."

Toni huffs out a laugh and stands, her chair squealing lightly beneath her. "Alright, I'm off."

"To bed, I hope?"

Toni scoffs. "God, no. Shuri and I have been working on a new project, I'm heading to her lab now."

"A new project?" T'Challa gives Toni a knowing grin. "Sounds intriguing."

"Oh, it is. But it's also top secret." Toni pats the top of T'Challa's head affectionately. "Sorry, Kittycat. Some secrets must remain untold between us if we're to keep the mystery in our relationship."

"Have a drink with me tonight," the young king blurts suddenly. Toni halts, slightly taken off guard.

"You mean as friends?"

"Of course. As I've said, I'm spoken for."

Toni grins. "When are you going to let me meet her? I've heard so much about the brave spy who stole your heart."

Ever the secretive bastard, T'Challa dances around her question. "You know, I'm really glad you and my sister are getting along so well. She could use a wise influence like you."

Toni pauses in the doorway to throw a mischievous grin over her shoulder. "I wouldn't exactly call myself a 'wise influence.'"

"Ah, call yourself whatever you want, Miss Stark. I see through the facade."

"Sure you do, sweetheart!" Toni calls in a sing-song voice. T'Challa's laugh echoes behind her.

. . .

After so much time spent in Shuri's lab, when Toni enters it, she feels some semblance of comfort.

She's grown quite accustomed to the Wakanda tech, and the thought of having to leave the golden city within a week's time fills her with a surprising amount of dread. She ignores the fact it doesn't just have to do with the extensive amounts of paperwork surely waiting for her back home.

"Honey!" Toni calls as soon as the glass doors slide open, allowing her entry. "I'm h—shit."

There, with her head resting against the tablet she always seems to have dangling by nimble fingers, the new prototype for Cap's shield in her lap, is the princess. Completely and utterly asleep.

Toni smiles. With the usual snark gone, her face is smoothed over. For once, Shuri almost looks her age. Sometimes Toni forgets how truly young the princess is. How much someone who's only been alive for seventeen years has been through.

Toni slides off her jacket and slips it around the girl's shoulders.

And when the princess lets out a loud snore (of which Toni is. . . probably much too excited to tease her for), Toni doesn't try to hide her smile. They come easier to her these days. Some are false—but then, when you are born and bred into the public arena, faking your happiness tends to be second nature. But the point is, sometimes she smiles. And sometimes, she means them.