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griots-tales · 2 years

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Put Sum Respeck On her Name!

Summary: A teenage Shuri accompanies her brother and his girlfriend on a trip to America... where she's antagonized by some incels, who soon regret it.

Word count: 2000

Warning: portrayed misogyny and bodyshaming

Characters: Shuri, Nakia, T'Challa, Okoye

Her attire stood out from the bleak morning crowd of Upper East SIde; her gait almost announced the Royal blood in her veins, and her company only confirmed the fact that she was someone important: Princess Shuri of Wakanda strolled down the pavement in full style and Okoye in tow, sipping some coffee together.

"Finally, got some Starbucks, eh?" She grinned at her General and confidant.

Okoye shrugged but smiled softly as she answered, "Bast, it might be the only American thing that I like."

Shuri brought her lesbian flag-themed (cherry and tangerine meringue) drink to her lips, scowling as the sun hit her directly in the eyes. "Is this the place 'Kia was talking about?"

"I believe so, Inkosazana..."

They faced the kebab stand beside them, and watched its owner set it up for the day. Nakia was familiar with the landmarks around, and had suggested that they chill in the city for a while as they made plans.

"Sanibonani, babies!"

The person in question had arrived, sashaying down in her bespoke maroon and olive pantsuit. A pair of gold rimmed sunglasses framed her eyes, protecting it from the flashing sunlight.

"Sawubona! Where's my douchehead?" Shuri greeted, referring to T'Challa.

"Oh he's on his way," Nakia replied, proceeding to wave at the vendor cheerfully and socialize with him. They waited for the King and also their delicious-smelling lamb kebab order around a plastic table.

Minutes passed in small talk, and T'Challa ended up arriving only just in time to start eating along with them.

"I was helping this old lady with her car," he explained.

"And it took this much time?" Shuri complained.

The King rolled his eyes. "It was parked a little too far into the side of the road, and it was stuck in the mud. Her arthritic self wasn't the best candidate for the job."

"Pulling a car out would take you, like, five seconds."

"She thanked me for at least five minutes," He replied and turned towards his sister, irritated now. "Also, would you stop making such a fuss about the time?"

"And what if I don't?"

"I will stop bringing you along on any of my trips to nice places." T'Challa retorted, annoyed.

Okoye sighed audibly, knowing that both siblings were aware of how tiring they could be when they bickered. "I say we should discuss what we saw in the city, right now... it's a relatively leisure trip but we have serious work at the back of this."

"You're right," Nakia caught on, helping Okoye dispel the can't-stand-you vibes the siblings had today. "There is still a lot to observe, but we now have an idea of what kind of teams to dispatch to analyze the society. Putting up an outreach center will be of no use if it doesn't cater to the nuanced needs of each unique neighbourhood they're placed in."

Shuri seemed to cut her attitude down for Nakia: "There's a lot that can be improved infrastructurally, but the main problem seems to be the usual one. I did some research beforehand, and there is a clear trend of systemic causes behind the low paying jobs and increasing crime rate. Not any lack of resources."

"I agree," Nakia nodded. "That, along with more engaging and applicable education for the kids in the hood. These schools don't really provide them with everything they need."

Their discussion went on, and T'Challa took notes on a Kimoyo bead disguised as a phone. They came to some conclusions about how the resource planning and channeling should take place, and took them down on an agenda to discuss with the council and the WIOC team.

They got up from their chairs and thanked the vendor, who was now swarmed with more customers than seemed usual, probably because of the accidental sponsoring the expensive looking Wakandans did by eating there.

Speaking of looking expensive, T'Challa noticed that they stood out a little even though they had tried to dress more Western. "We should use something more casual..." He suggested, dipping into an alley and pressing a Kimoyo bead to turn his subtly patterned overcoat and leather shoes into a printed hoodie and sneakers. The others did the same, checking for any surveillance before using their technology to tone their outfit down a little. Only Nakia's pantsuit remained more or less the same, as her experienced ass actually knew what to wear outside.

They split up again, now T'Challa and Okoye going together to navigate some lesser known places.

Nakia accompanied Shuri on their second round of the city, interlocking their arms as they chatted about different things and browsed items in the Black owned stores, keeping some in mind to buy from later. They spent about an hour at a local art exhibition, noting how it helped recognize small scale artists.

When they felt hungry again mid-morning, they stopped by a ice-cream-parlor and ordered a pair of brownie sundaes to cool off with. There were way more people around, now, including a trio of twenty-something-year-olds in identical-looking sweatpants and t-shirts standing just outside the parlor.

**tw colorism, bodyshaming, misogyny**

The War Dog had caught bad vibes from them even as she passed them, but didn't acknowledge them the least. They stayed out of their way only until she first stuck her ornate little spoon (a speciality of the store) into the chocolatey ice cream.

One of the men, a lanky one, sat up in his chair and stared shamelessly at the two women.

"Whew chile, I thought it was the darkness of the void " He sniggered and munched obnoxiously on his half-eaten ice cream cone. "Man why she even dressed up? Is she going out with someone?"

His group guffawed lazily, leering at Nakia.

"Bruv I'm more worried about the other one... how her ankles ain't snapping?"

"No shit, sis ain't got no ass!" The first guy continued, talking loudly to make sure Shuri could hear him. The princess didn't even turn to look, raising a cold eyebrow as she stiffly let the dessert melt in her mouth. Nakia was tired of this already, but prepared to tell them off to protect her friend. However, she turned around and realized that she didn't need to:

A large hand came firmly to rest on the back of the leader's chair; and the mere presence was enough to make him believe that the long fingers were just a second away from reaching his neck and snapping it. The vibranium rings were still on, and though neither asshead knew anything about them, they fell silent as they took in the new arrival.

"Hello there." T'Challa's voice was as smooth as a blade held to one's throat.

"Sup, mister..." The shitface's voice cracked a little.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" He growled, "...like finding your eyebrows?"

They all stared back at him, bug eyed. The ashy fellow truly lacked any definite eyebrows, and seemed shocked at the fact that his natural features were being mocked.

Shuri giggled at her brother roasting the shit out of the incel. Nakia joined in, grinning as her boyfriend turned on the other two.

"And you. I saw you just an hour ago, sucking on the same damn soda can; Bast knows what your teeth look like now." He observed that the other idiot's tongue had immediately darted somewhere inside his mouth where he was definitely missing a tooth.

"Get outta here, N----" The third one said, in a brave and foolish attempt to make T'Challa back off.

He was returned with a glare that seemed to cut through him with no effort.

The King didn't need to speak a word before the first man made a run for it, jumping out of the chair and followed by the others, swiftly following his lead. T'Challa kept his gaze on their backs until they were completely out of sight, before looking back at Shuri and Nakia.

The War Dog smiled at him as she licked some vanilla cream off her spoon, to which her boyfriend slowly came out of his stoic-aggressive state. Shuri waved at him to join them, and he did.

"Ubhuti, I didn't know you could throw shade?" Shuri teased once he sat down on a stool between them.

T'Challa grinned. "I've been throwing shade before you were even born, sister what are you talking about?"

" 'Go find your eyebrows' !" Nakia chuckled, "I was actually gonna use that, by the way"

She watched the smile slide off a little from his face as it took on a serious expression. " They had no right to speak to you two like that, though. "

"I've seen worse." Nakia admitted darkly.

"I haven't." Shuri shrugged, and a little shakily, T'Challa observed. Her voice was concerningly smaller than he was used to.

Both their statements hurt his chest a little; and he took their hands in each of his own.

"The next time anyone says something like that to you, they might have to go find their lower jaw." He whispered, leaning to Shuri, earning a snicker that indicated her good imagination.

"And Nakia," He addressed his girlfriend, not letting go of Shuri's hand, "You don't need brush anything off if it doesn't respect your worth. Like I said, they'll spend days searching for their mandibles."

Nakia's beautiful lips widened in a humored smile, inspiring him to bend forward to plant a kiss on them. She was returning a brownie flavored one when-

"EURGH! Not in front of my salad!"

Shuri ripped her hand unceremoniously from her brother's in faux disgust at the PDA.

T'Challa rolled his eyes to the back of his head. "That is an ice cream, Shuri."

"It's the ice cream version of a salad!"

"Are we really doing this?" He groaned, going back to finish the kiss.

Shuri made it a point to make retching noises as they went on for a few seconds before breaking apart.

"This actually tastes good... can I have some?" He murmured flirtatiously to Nakia, completely ignoring his douchebag of a sister.

"Here take mine, I don't want to eat anymore!" Shuri joked in the background, over reacting. T'Challa pretended to steal it to tease her, but she swiftly moved it out of his reach and began eating it faster under the threat.

Nakia shook her head endearingly at their antics, giggling as she scooped some brownie and ice cream to feed T'Challa with. The King accepted it with a momentary, but pointedly seductive eye contact as he practically sucked the fancy spoon: throwing hints like these weren't uncommon between them.

Having a (now, thankfully and unfortunately) loud and annoying teenage sister around wasn't the best way to get sparks going through dessert metaphors, but it did help keep up the vibe for the rest of the morning until noon, where they met Okoye again at Sylvia's for some good soul food.

The General was inevitably livid when she heard what happened to her Princess and her friend.

"Kumkani, you should have cut his tongue off-" She stabbed her barbeque ribs as though they were his.

"It would have been a legal complication, and he had also taken his chance to run. I decided against it." the king explained.

The Princess smirked, "But you looked like you were gonna do it. He low key deserved it, too."

T'Challa shrugged. "Andazi, kungcono ukuba asimfaki ezingqondweni zethu"

"He's not wrong... we have better things to think about." Nakia nodded, digging into her macaroni.

"You can always talk about it if it bothers you, though. Don't hold back." He corrected himself slightly.

Shuri smiled, and looked at Okoye as the General took her hand.

"And if you want him impaled, I have no problem-"

They all laughed, but knew that the Dora wasn't bluffing, since they had enough experience of her dutiful brutality. Shuri felt warm inside for once, feeling the security of her family and friends again. In the recent years of turmoil and instability in her country, it wasn't many nights that she could lie down and sleep without feeling the weight of the country in her gut.

Ironically, in this strange land which she had been (rightfully) warned about before, she found a day and night of peace. Harlem buzzed and stirred constantly around her, as she could see in the bird's eye view from her personal suite that night. T'Challa visited again to check on her before leaving her to the perineal buzzing of her own mind.

No shit! Sis ain't got no ass!

The words echoed again in her mind. But this time what bubbled in her throat was mirth.

"Who, me?" She said to herself, chuckling at the mirror. "Bitches be assless and brainless but come at me, damn!"

Her full length reflection smiled back at her: And she loved herself more than anything at the moment.