Chapter Text
K'uk'ulkan was given the name Namor for a reason. The child without love, the one no one cared for. But in this moment, Shuri calling him by his birth given name, he felt his heart flutter.
He had to question wether or not his heart had their own set of wings that were only activated when he felt strongly about someone. Namor was stiff and Shuri could see it, his back muscles clenched and the tension in the cave could've been sliced with a butcher knife from how thick it was.
Shuri bit her lip and played with her fingers out of nervousness, she was wondering if it was the right thing to call him that, after all that has happened? When she called him K'uk'ulkan it wasn't on purpose, it just slipped. It felt right. And vice versa as well, Namor hearing his name slip out of her mouth felt blissful, so much that he could've shuddered.
"You're welcome, princess," Namor's voice came out, smooth and quiet, so quiet she almost didn't hear his response, he left no time for her to speak another word before he jumped into the water and swam away swift-fully.
Shuri let out the breath she'd been holding in for at least a minute now, her heart too, fluttering, beating rapidly like the drums often heard in Wakanda.
"Bast," she whispered as she walked back into Namor's tiny home. Shuri felt restless, there were too many things to think about for her to close her eyes and relieve her headache.
Wakanda, for instance. She knew the elders might have not cared much for her disappearance but Nakia, Toussiant and Okoye, she couldn't imagine how worried they must be. The crime scene that was left in the forest, her body missing, they had to have thought she was killed.
But, fortunately, Wakanda would not rest until she was found, alive or dead. She began to worry about another factor which regarded Wakanda and Talokan. She had attended all of the council meetings since her mother's passing. She knew that any issue that would arise in Wakanda, Talokan would be blamed for it not too long after.
In a sense, they wouldn't be wrong, but Shuri wasn't brought here to be killed, at least she thought. So, waging war against Talokan for her would be pointless, she thought.
These were just some of the minor thoughts in her head, the ones she could think about with her stomach twisting in fifteen different directions, the thoughts she used to distract herself from thinking about him.
Her thoughts trailed back to Namor. She gazed at the back of her hand, where he had raised it to his lips and kissed it tenderly. Shuri could have sworn it was tingling, but she knew it was just apart of her imagination, her mind playing tricks on her.
She had hoped that's what it all was. All the invasive thoughts she would have about him, the attraction she felt when he came near her, she hoped it was all apart of her head.
Shuri dreaded him coming back, she dreaded the awkwardness that would spread across the air and eventually suffocate them both. She almost wished she would go back to despising every part of him. At least then it wouldn't be..
She sighed and sat down in front of the wall with him and a black panther drawn on it. Shuri admired it, she hadn't fancied herself much of a painting artist but she did like to express art in different forms. Wakanda had very talented artists, from sculptures to simple graphite drawings, talent never fell short when it came to art but this was truly impressive.
It was a depiction of their battle, one that Shuri would absolutely never forget. Thoughts of her holding a spear to Namor's neck, him impaling her with one, on the other hand flashed through her head.
The words, "it could have been different," ringed through her, he was going to leave her there, attached to that rock and spear. He was going to leave her there to bleed out and— she closed her eyes and squeezed her hands into fists. Forget it, Shuri. It is in the past now.
She reopened her eyes to continue analyzing the artwork but the reoccurring images of the battle was all that came to her. The look in his eyes as she prepared to kill him on that beach was one she would never forget about. And the yell of sheer pain when she easily swiped one of his wings off, Shuri sucked in a breath, and shakily released it.
"Is everything alright, princess?" A voice spoke behind her, she jumped up on her numb legs and flipped around, her body instinctively getting into a defensive position. Namor raised an eyebrow at this and she eased up when she realized it was only him.
"I'm sorry... what did you say?"
"I asked if you were alright," Namor stepped closer to her looking her up and down and licking his lips after. That action alone made her take another deep breath.
What was this feeling?
"I am fine, just reminiscing..." Shuri lied, she turned around and gazed at the artwork, "it's impressive."
Namor hummed and made his way over to the wall, he didn't stand next to her, no, of course not, he stood directly behind her. So close that if she moved a single inch they would be touching, which would be all too much for her today.
"I worked on it as soon as I returned to Talokan," his lips inched closer to her ear, "I could not get the battle out of my head."
Chills made haste to spread around Shuri's arms, but her temperature rose.
"Oh?" She retorted softly.
"Yes," he responded, "I could not get you, out of my head," Namor sighed, "every tiny detail about you captivates me in the best ways, Shuri." Namor spun Shuri around to face him he tucked his thumb and index finger underneath her chin and lifted her face to meet his.
"Namor..." she whispered. He was growing increasingly impatient day by day, it was slowly driving him crazy, he needed her.
"Look me in my eyes, tell me you feel nothing from me and I will return you to Wakanda right now."
Her lips parted in surprise of his words, of his question, of his offer.
"K'uk'ulkan... I.. I—" Shuri stumbled over her words, trying to wrap her head around what was going on, her body was hot and Namor's being so close to her didn't help.
"Tell me, tell me the truth, Shuri," Namor asked, almost ready to beg her to say what he wanted to hear.
Shuri took a deep breath, the chain of events from these past two months flashed across her head, from Namor introducing himself to her and her mother and to this moment right now. She knew what she had to do, she knew what she had to say. It was the only reasonable thing to do.
She straightened her back and cleared her throat, "K'uk'ulkan Feather-Seperent God of Talokan, I do not feel anything for you."
It pained her to say it, of course it wasn't true. Even if she didn't understand what feelings she was experiencing, she knew they were there. She felt them in the form of her heart quickening, her stuttering and her biting her lower lip when he neared. But, as princess you have to decide when and when not to put yourself before your people and in this moment, Wakanda needed her more than Namor did.
"I see..." he grumbled, annoyance seeping out of his words.
"Shuri, Black Panther of Wakanda," Namor grunted, "you spew nothing but lies." His words caught her off guard but nothing could have surprised her more than what he did next.
He moved the palm of his hand toward her jaw and brought her face closer to his slowly, she allowed him to guide her towards him until their lips were grazing upon each other, waiting to connect with each other in the most romantic way. Every breath they took, the other felt from the lack of space.
The reasonable side of her hastily snapped her out of whatever trance she was in and she was grateful for that. Shuri had one goal and that was to get out of Talokan and get away from Namor. How could she have let her guard down so much that she nearly kissed him?
Shuri pressed the palm of her hand against his bare chest, right over his heart, that was beating very rapidly, too.
"Namor..." Shuri whispered, "we cannot." Not being able to actually mention the words 'kiss' or 'touch', she felt like a child all over again.
"Why can we not?" He questioned, K'uk'ulkan was fully prepared to kiss the princess and go however far they desired afterwards.
Shuri let out a huff of frustration, "because we—" she couldn't seem to think of a mature reason at the moment so she said, "because we are not... together."
Namor brought his hands up towards her arms and rubbed her smooth skin, softly. "I could arrange that, if it's what you would like,"
"What?— That's not what I was trying to say!" Namor was amused at how flustered Shuri got over the simplest statements, "I understand you, princess, if you are not prepared to accept your feelings, I will not rush you." And with that said, he dropped his hands from her and took a step back.
Namor was many things but impatient was rarely one of them. When it came down to Shuri he would wait another hundred years if that's what she asked of him. He recognized that she was inexperienced and that didn't bother him, it only drew him in more.
He saw that Shuri kept a straight face, she tried not to act like his comment didn't annoy her more than hearing M’baku munching on a carrot obnoxiously.
"I am done with this conversation," she blinked at him and turned to walk away. Don’t let him know what you’re feeling, Shuri thought.
“One last thing, princess,” K'uk'ulkan spoke up causing Shuri to flip around and look at him once more with the best neutral face she could muster.
Namor held up a tan dress, decorated with beautiful patterns, a language she had not known but was interested in learning in the future. The dress hung low and had tiny specks of jade scattered around it. She thought the dress was gorgeous.
“What do you expect me to do with this?” Shuri raised her eyebrows at him, trying not to stare at the beautiful dress too much.
Namor sucked in a small breath and walked towards where Shuri stood, “I figured you would want to bathe,” she nodded her head, telling him to continue.
“And I wouldn’t want you to be draped in…” Namor paused and analyzed Shuri’s outfit, “those.” Was what he described her clothes as. She couldn’t be offended, really, these were merely clothes she found and threw on in haste before entering Wakanda’s dark forest.
She decided not to answer his question, she greedily snatched the dress from his hands and ran her fingers over the soft fabric, “fascinating.” She whispered.
“We have a talented group of clothing artists, they only pass their secrets down to their kin and they are very stingy about how they craft them,” he told her, earning a short giggle from Shuri.
Just a simple giggle from her made him grin.
Shuri gave the dress one last glance before looking back at Namor, “I don’t suppose Talokan has showers?”
“Show-hers?” He questioned, confused, completely butchering the pronunciation.
“Mhm.” Shuri noted and clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, “where do you advise I bathe at?”
Namor exited the humble abode, “follow me, princess,” she trailed behind him, curiously until he reached his destination. “Here.”
“This?”
“Yes.”
“Oh,” Shuri mumbled.
Namor turned toward her with a expression she could not decipher, “is it not up to your standards?”
Shuri clutched the dress against her body as she stared down at the oversized pond that he expected her to bathe in, “it’s just very.. public.”
“I see,” K'uk'ulkan muttered, he hadn’t thought much about the differences between the surface and Talokan when it came to little things such as bathing, “privacy is rarely an issue here, no one in Talokan comes to this cave,” he observed the cave once more and then looked at Shuri, who was still staring at the pond with slightly widened eyes.
“Unfortunately, Talokan does not have these… show-hers you speak of,” he said, earning a small laugh from Shuri, “but, I can assure you your privacy will be respected here.”
Shuri shut her eyes, debating this. She really did need to clean up, her clothes were all wrinkled, dried blood covered her in multiple places and she was beginning to smell bad. On the other hand, being naked near Namor after what just happened?
Sighing, Shuri reopened her eyes and looked over at K'uk'ulkan, “it will be fine…thank you.” She whispered.
And with that, Namor left her with the pond and the humidity that was the cave. She sharply exhaled a breath that she hadn’t known she was holding and loosened her grip on the dress, setting it down on a nearby rock.
“Make it quick,” she encouraged herself, “in and out, Shuri, in and out.” The princess quickly ridded herself of all the clothing she has on and slid into the pond before any peering eyes could see anything they shouldn’t.
The pond was lengthy, but not very deep and the temperature was damn-near perfect. Not too cold, not very hot, she felt her muscles relax while she sat in the water, letting her body soak.
Shuri had once thought her and the so-called Feather-Serpent God were complete opposites, not alike in any way but while residing with him for the past two days she had come to conclusion that she was wrong.
Her lab back in Wakanda was much like K'uk'ulkan’s cave, a safe place to get away from all the pressures of being a leader, from being royalty. This was where he would unwind, just like how Shuri would in her lab.
She sighed and began to rub her body with nothing more than her hands and the warm water.
What was supposed to be a five minute rinse became a twenty minute soak as the princess took her sweet time to scrub herself and also lounge in the pond she was opposed to not even an hour ago. Her wounds slowly healed, thanks to the gifts of being the black panther, and transformed into more battle scars. When the discomfort in her legs returned, Shuri relaxed her body and allowed it to float atop the water like a swan.
Not even a mile away, Namor sat on the bed slept in not too long ago, his elbows set on his knees and his hands dug into his dark hair. Reality began to set in, for him.
He had the princess of the greatest surface empire locked away in his cave like some type of damsel. Namor didn’t want her to leave, he wanted her to stay here with him and cure the loneliness that settled in his heart. He wanted to carry all her burdens and support her unconditionally, too.
But, even if he was successful in his goal, and she wanted to stay here with him, Wakanda would soon invade Talokan in search for the princess. K'uk'ulkan wasn’t afraid of battling the Wakandians again, nor afraid of losing, in fact, he was afraid of winning.
In defeating Wakanda, Shuri will have lost her friends, her people, those that were close to her, ultimately wedging an invisible barrier between him and her.
That was his biggest fear, having to choose between defending his people or seeking out what he desired, which was her.
Namor did not want to think about it now, stressing over the future will not change anything, he learned that after his many years of leading Talokan. He wanted to appreciate the beauty that was princess, now, before the rage consumed him or her once again.
With one last sigh, K'uk'ulkan sat up from the bed and walked out of his hut, he figured the princess had finished bathing and that she was waiting for him near the pond but, he was false.
He froze in his steps, eyes wide, staring at the princess in all her glory.
Shuri’s hair was short, coiled up from the water and shrinkage, her naked back was on full display for him, the rest of her body hidden underneath the water. She didn’t notice him, at first, she admired the crystals that hung above.
The urge to join her in the pond almost overtook him, but his self control didn’t allow it. Instead, he observed and admired her beauty. He basked in it, almost.
So much that he unconsciously spoke, “Jats'uts,” he said.