"Thank you so much for this," Riri's appreciative soft voice answered a lab assistant as they passed the reports that she requested.
Riri scanned the documents on the white table of the Wakandan lab. It was the most recent damage report that Griot printed for her suit taken during the battle against the Talokans a couple of days ago.
She analyzed the damage reports extensively and was impressed with the amount of damage that it sustained. According to Griot, it was minimal, meaning that her design was extremely durable; she couldn't wait to continue making improvements on her suit.
A couple of minutes passed until she heard footsteps. She turned her body around and her eyes met Shuri. The morning sun glistened behind her as she smiled brightly in her direction, her black dress fitting beautifully around her figure. Her vibranium necklace that held the Black Panther matched her outfit profoundly.
"Hey!" Riri matched her energy giving her the same smile as their hands connected in their signature handshake.
"Yo, you're looking good?" Shuri responded happily as the taller woman stood in front of her.
"Me Nah, but not you walking in here with open-toed sandals though," as the shorter woman glanced at Shuri's feet in mock judgment.
There was a slight heaviness to her eyes as she processed the statement and chuckled as if reliving a distant memory "I guess I understand why my brother loved wearing these awful shoes so much,"
Riri laughed out loud with Shuri.
"So my plane leaves in a little bit right?" Riri asked "Are you sure it's safe for me to head back to the States so soon?" The hesitation was evident in the way that her breath hitched thinking about what might await her in Chicago other than a furious mother.
"Yeah, I think things should calm down a bit, you just need to slow down on those homemade projects of yours," Shuri poked fun at her though Riri knew it wasn't malicious.
Riri just averted her gaze from Shuri's burning eyes and started to play with her hands as she softly bit her lip in a nervous response as she spoke.
"So they said that you needed to talk to me about something," Riri didn't intend for her voice to drop in octaves the way that it did but she did notice the slight effect that it had on Shuri as Riri's eyes glanced down quickly as she again tried to avoid eye contact.
Shuri stiffened her posture a bit and smiled softly "Yes it's about your suit," the tall woman's eyes found Riri's "It's an amazing design but I can't let you leave with it," her voice apologetic and firm.
"Oh yeah I understand I need to repay Wakanda for the mess I caused anyway," Riri nodded in understanding
"There is something else that I wanted to show you though," Shuri smirked as she walked towards a sheet that was covering a car.
Riri's interest was piqued; whatever vehicle was underneath the sheet would be a kind gesture but she would decline the car; it was just too much. She decided to humor Shuri as she pulled off the sheet and a familiar coat of red paint reflected off her dark brown eyes as her breath halted.
Her late stepfather's car was parked here in Wakanda.
"How did... what... I," Riri couldn't even properly articulate a cohesive thought let alone a full sentence she gave herself a couple of seconds to formulate words "Is this really her?" Riri looked at Shuri in amazement.
"Yes, every last piece I had to fish all the parts out of the water but it was worth it," Shuri responded proudly, her smile as bright as the sun behind her Shuri's eyes followed Riri waiting for her reaction.
Thump. Thump. Riri's heart felt like it was hit with a brick. She wasn't sure where that came from but there were instances where she felt like she couldn't breathe in Shuri's presence.
It was probably the excitement from her seemingly endless adventures here in Wakanda it will pass like it usually does.
Riri's hands touched the car door. The smooth buffer of the paint job made her smile; she had never seen her dad's car in such mint condition.
"This was my dad's car. He loved it so much he never got to finish it before..." Her words stopped in her throat before the tears started to fill her eyes.
Riri perked up as she continued to examine the car, opening the driver's side. Everything was polished to perfection as if the car was repurposed with vibranium, knowing Shuri she wouldn't be surprised if it had been. Riri raced to the hood of the car and opened it.
The orange two-piece outfit that Shuri let her borrow had slightly lifted as she lifted the hood up to analyze the interior. Riri wasn't surprised at the brand-new engine parts that were already installed.
Riri could feel Shuri's gaze on her and the taller woman couldn't contain her excitement with her.
"I can't believe it Shuri it's really her," Riri exclaimed happily her hands coming up to her mouth
"The keys are in the front seat and will probably land in Boston before you do," Shuri responded, matching her energy.
Riri closed the hood of the car and smiled brightly "Bring it in man," she closed the distance between them quickly and hugged Shuri.
Riri noticed that Shuri was almost hesitant to exert too much pressure on her; she assumed it was due to her adjusting to her newfound superhuman strength.
Nonetheless, she didn't ignore how the Panther smelled divine slight hints of cocoa butter and palm oil, it ignited all of her senses to the point that her heart started racing again.
'Panther, Miss Williams' transportation is ready on the runway,' Griot announced loudly pulling Riri out of her trance.
Riri glanced behind her not leaving Shuri's arms as two Dora Milaje warriors came from a sliding door that opened up to the runway outside.
Riri turned back to look at Shuri whose arms were still wrapped around her waist. She was completely silent as if she were waiting for something to happen. Riri cleared her throat and slowly backed away from Shuri's arms, smiling brightly as her arms reached up to mess with her cornrows, another nervous action.
Shuri finally spoke up as she gave a short "Be safe in the states," her deep brown eyes brightening slightly.
As Riri was about to make her way to the aircraft she boldly asked "Sure you not trying to slide to Chicago maybe catch a Bulls game," her voice dropped a couple of octaves as Riri's gaze slowly trailed down to Shuri's intricate tattoo from the back of her ear that crawled down to her right hand meeting her burning gaze once again.
She was shocked to see how the Panther reacted. She smirked at her statement "That sounds fun, but there are some things that I need to take care of first," Shuri responded softly as if contemplating her answer.
Riri nodded and gave her a delicate smile. It wasn't a complete rejection so she picked her stuff up and started to walk with the Dora Milaje to the runway. She slowed as she tried to soak up everything before she was on the aircraft back to Chicago.
Taking in the lab that she was holed up in for the past couple of weeks, the futuristic sleek design of the vibranium-filled room. Riri brought her hands together prolonging the inevitable that in a few hours she would probably never step foot in Wakanda again. So before she had to leave she glanced at Shuri once more taking in her tall beautiful melanated figure, curly black hair, and perfect smile.
Riri hoped that she could convey how grateful she was to Shuri for everything that she did for her in this short goodbye but all she could muster was "It's been real Shuri, see you around."
"I'll make sure of that," Shuri responded sweetly as she waved goodbye to Riri.
The aircraft took off a couple of minutes after she boarded and as it zoomed through the skies the path took them to the river border as the barrier opened Riri watched from the window as the same barrier slowly began to conceal the beautiful city of Wakanda from the outside world. Concealed from her since she was no different. Her heart swelled nonetheless seeing Wakanda hidden since her heart was still in the golden city.
Riri chuckled as she watched the dry plains turn into a vast ocean and the oceans morph into skyscrapers and polluted-filled skies.
She was in Chicago. Home sweet home.
The aircraft dropped her off in front of a middle-class apartment complex in downtown Chicago as she grabbed her bag which contained clothes that Shuri let her keep. As she climbed the staircase to apartment 415 she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
The door was harshly almost pulled off the hinges as her identical twin also known as her mother quickly pulled her into her arms. Riri's mother sobbed into her shoulder as her grip on her daughter didn't falter for a solid five minutes. Once she calmed down her mother lightly grabbed her daughter's cheeks and examined her for any damages, but she wouldn't find any courtesy of Shuri healing her after the fight.
"Riri you are never leaving Chicago again," her mother stated matter of factly
"Mmmm we may need to have a logical debate on that," Riri challenged laughing
After dinner, Riri went into her room and her room was the same as when she left for MIT, posters, and flyers of the late Tony Stark filled her desk, drawings of her equations and inventions that she wanted to build scattered her walls, bolts and her toolbox was neatly tucked away into her closet.
Tucked away on her nightstand several newspaper articles about Shuri when she was 16 years old making technical advancements for Wakanda at such a young age. Riri examined the article Shuri's features didn't change but her style was a complete antithesis of her younger self, Shuri now 22 years old she chopped off her braids for her current fade and curly hairstyle. Riri realized that she was staring for way too long as she tucked the articles back into her desk.
As she started unpacking her bag she heard the faint distinctive sound of Kimoyo chimes, she dumped everything on the floor until she found a pair of vibranium kimoyo earrings that Shuri never took off.
Riri put the earrings on and was shocked when the sound of Griot came through clearly
'Miss Williams my name is Griot and I am your personal AI'
"Shit, am I able to get in contact with Wakanda?" Riri asked without thinking
'Unfortunately not Miss Williams my programming does not allow me to connect with Wakanda,' Griot responded
"Oh I get you, but why are you still called Griot if you aren't connected to the original program?"
'I was designed as a synthetic beta form of my original predecessor 'Griot' however you can change my name and design at any point, Miss Williams,'
"That's what's up, would you be down to help me build another suit from scratch then?"
'It would be my pleasure, Miss Williams,'
"Then let's get started then," Riri smiled brightly, pulling out an old notebook with inventions in it.
~ ~
Hello beautiful people!
I really appreciate ya'll for checking out my very first fanfic! This is my first time publicly bringing my writing to an open forum but I knew this was the time. I have already seen Wakanda Forever multiple times and I knew immediately that my heart was all in for Shuri and Riri! I can't wait to hear what you think of the first installment! I am about to take us all on a crazy ride! I hope ya'll enjoy!
Also, I would love to hear your feedback commenting would really let me know if you're loving the story!
Bye loves! 💕