To Last Forever

Ch. 4

Peter's POV

So, obviously I had never met a princess before, but Shuri seemed like she wasn't your average one. She was absolutely brilliant (probably smarter than Tony, but don't tell him that; he might not like it) and she could respond to every vine I referenced. Not only was she smart and well aware of the current internet fads, but she was a princess of a foreign country which made her ten times cooler than anyone else I had ever met.

"Hey, Pete?" Tony asked, waving his hands in front of me. Shuri and I turned to face Tony and King T'Challa who were now standing in front of us with smirks. How long had they been trying to get our attention? "Yeah, we're gonna start working on preparing to leave so we need both of you to get your smart little butts up and to the desk." I rolled my eyes but stood up. Shuri followed me over to Tony's design desk and sat down in his chair. As soon as it sprang up, her eyes lit up and she began bouncing in circles in it.

"Shuri," King T'Challa sighed. Tony waved him off, telling him it was fine. "I will be over here. Try not to offend anyone," he said, giving Shuri a pointed look. She rolled her eyes and got off the chair, looking for how to turn on the design desk.

"Princess, I hear you're brilliant," Tony said, claiming his chair back as Shuri finally figured out how to turn on the desk. She pulled up the hologram screen and began flipping through files, searching for something. "I've had trouble trying to create a certain update for my suit and was hoping you could help," Tony said. Wait, he knew how smart Shuri was? He wasn't offended?

"Certainly," Shuri said. She stepped back from the screen, giving up on her search. "If you could find it, I can look over it." Tony nodded and stood up, searching through his files for the update then projecting it for Shuri to look through. He briefly explained what it was supposed to do for his suit and how he had been trying to go about it. Shuri listened as she read through the coding. She stopped scrolling and brought the hologram down to the desk. "I think I found the mistake." She began editing the codes and I expected Tony to freak out, but he just leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

"You're letting her mess with your programing?" I asked, astonished. Tony just nodded.

"Tiny Cat said she was the best," Tony answered. "Showed me his suit update and some of the other things she's made for Wakanda. The kid is smarter than me and I am more than willing to step back if she can help." I stood by the desk in surprise, turning from Tony to watch Shuri work. She seemed very invested in her work, so I didn't try to distract her. Maybe she could teach me a few things for my suit.

* * *

I ended up going to bed before Shuri had finished. She had moved from Tony's suit upgrades to writing up her own. Tony just told her to have FRIDAY lock down the lab when she was done then went upstairs to his room with me. T'Challa seemed to know where his room already was and FRIDAY would tell Shuri how to get to her's, so we just let her work in the lab until she finished. I'm not sure how late she was up, but she didn't come to breakfast in the morning.

When I walked into the kitchen, I was surprised to find two people, besides Tony in there. Then I remembered King T'Challa and Miss Nakia had come with Shuri and relaxed. They seemed to be cooking something for breakfast while Tony talked to them about Wakanda. I slid onto a stool beside Tony and listened to the conversation.

"Who designed the barrier?" Tony asked. What barrier?

"Our great ancestors," King T'Challa answered. When he turned around and saw me, he smiled and greeted me in what I assumed to be Wakandan. "It had been improved over the years. Shuri is the most recent improvers and has added quite the update. I believe you would find it fascinating." Tony nodded and I asked him what they were talking about. He explained how the main city of Wakanda, the one that showed their true wealth and technology advancements, was hidden by a protective barrier. He told me that it looked like a large rainforest to make outsiders believe the interior was inaccessible, but that was just a disguise projected by the barrier.

"Awesome!" I breathed. "How do you get in?"

"Every one of our people has a vibranium implant on their lower lip," Miss Nakia explained. She pulled down her lower lip to reveal a glowing blue line. My eyes widened in amazement and I leaned closer to get a better look. She chuckled and let go of her lip. "In order to get through the barrier, you have to have the implant or be traveling in a vehicle or jet with it. Otherwise you will run into the barrier and crash."

"That's so cool," I exclaimed. Miss Nakia smiled and returned to whatever she was making.

Tony continue to ask them questions about the technology behind it, but King T'Challa and Miss Nakia could not answer. They said he would have to ask Shuri and all they knew were the basics of the barrier. As if they had planned it, Shuri chose that moment to walk into the kitchen yawning. She stretched as she sat on the stool beside me, still not quite awake.

Shuri said the same greeting King T'Challa had given me and both King T'Challa and Miss Nakia replied back in Wakandan. I greeted her in English, however, since I didn't know their language. I was hoping I could ask her to teach me though, since Wakandan would be so much more cooler to know than Spanish.