Beautiful Ones (Nakia/Everett)

Chapter 2

"I thought you wanted to be a Search and Rescue doctor."

"I can multitask."

Before Nakia could respond, she saw smoke in the corner of her eye, and she walked to the exit doors with furrowed brows. "What in Bast's name is happening now?"

When the doors opened, she found T'Challa standing at a barbecue grill, fanning smoke out of his view.

Naomi stood a few steps behind him, her nose scrunched in concern. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Minor glitch in the system, but I assure you I have this under control." He flashed his infamous gap-toothed smile to calm his wife's nerves.

"Okay." She placated him with a skeptical nod.

Nakia shook her head. "Please refrain from burning the building down. It's a bad look after we've just opened."

"Nakia," he flashed that same smile towards her, "you know me."

"I do, and that's why I'm concerned." That look didn't affect her like it used to, so it was easy for her to give him a stale face and walk away.

It took an hour, but everything was finally the way Nakia wanted it. Kya got the black and gold decorations up, T'Challa barbecued without setting the building on fire, and Naomi, with the other tribal elders, had the side dishes and desserts cooked and ready to serve. She sighed in relief, but it was short-lived when she noticed her baby sister walking by, carrying a large pair of scissors.

"Kya," she got her attention, "what are you doing with those?"

"These are for the ribbon-cutting."

"I know that. My question is, why do you, of all people, have them?"

"I wanted to cut the ribbon."

Nakia rolled her eyes, but decided it was best not to argue with her about it. "Fine. Just be careful."

"Relax, usisi." Kya smiled reassuringly. "It's not like I'm going to cut my head off."

"That's it! Give me those."Kya frowned as her big sister confiscated the scissors from her. "But Nakia, I-"

"Nope. You had your chance, and you blew it."

"Hello?" A familiar voice caught their attention and Kya beamed when she saw the man walking towards them, followed by a familiar blonde and an unfamiliar redhead.

"Hi, Agent Ross. You're here early."

"I apologize. I can come back."

"No worries. We're almost done setting up. I'm going to check on the last-minute details, but Nakia is over there if you want to speak to her." She pointed her eyes at her sister and walked away.

Everett looked over at Nakia, setting the large pair of scissors to the side. "Hello, Miss Nakia."

"Hello, Agent Ross." She greeted him while scanning his outfit. "Nice khakis."

"I told you," Salina mumbled to him.

"He dresses well, doesn't he?" Savannah interjected before Everett could thank Nakia for the compliment, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Suppressing an eye roll, Nakia gave her a pleasant grin. "Nice to see you too, Agent Greene. You don't look too bad yourself."

"She looks like a-" Kya, who just returned with a bowl of cookies, mumbled under her breath only for her sister to stuff a cookie in her mouth.

Salina chuckled and extended a hand to Nakia. "Salina Ross."

Nakia shook her hand. "You're the infamous Salina. You're more beautiful in person."