3 times Bucky took over T'Challa's brotherly duties when he was busy, and the one time T'Challa noticed.

Attention

1.

She'd finally completed the project she'd devoted herself to for the past two days. Long nights in the lab and heaps of frustration from just trying to figure out why it wasn't working exhausted her. But when it was done, she felt refreshed. She always felt this way after inventing - she had felt it when she was six and created a new spearhead for the Dora Milaje, and she felt it now.

She immediately rang T'Challa, wanting to show him. It was for him, anyways.

He answered the holographic call. "Shuri?"

"T'Challa! I've finished it!" She beamed, not able to wait another second for him to come see it.

"That's great!" He smiled.

"Come down! I want you to try it out, and I'm sure there are still lots of other ways I can improve it, but it works!"

"Oh, er-" He scratched his head. "I actually have a meeting with one of our potential business partners. Everett Ross is getting us a plane as we speak…"

"Oh." Her brow furrowed, shocked. He'd never turned down a visit to her lab.

"I'm sorry, sisi. You understand, don't you?" He looked genuinely guilty.

She was disappointed, but tried not to show it. He was king now, and had responsibilities to the whole of Wakanda. Her inventions weren't so much of a priority. "I understand, T'Challa. Some other time," she sighed as he hung up.

She looked down at the invention, frustrated. She'd worked so hard to finish them quickly, and now what? He wouldn't even see them for a while.

"Hey, Shuri." A new voice called as he walked through the lab. He'd spent a lot of time in there as she made countless adjustments to his new arm, and she'd assured him that he was always welcome to it… as long as he didn't touch anything.

She turned to him, hiding her disappointment that her brother wasn't coming and smiled. "Bucky, you are my new brother today because T'Challa is annoying me."

Despite the confusion, he wore a half-smile. "Um, alright." He followed as she grabbed his hand and drug him over to a table.

"Now this, is the invention of the week!" She said dramatically. "Ta-da!"

He had to squint and lean over the table to look at it. He tried to look impressed, but failed. "Wh-what is it?"

She laughed at his cluelessness - T'Challa would've done the same. "Such simple minds," she rolled her eyes. "Here," she picked up one of the small black stickers, and as she did it shimmered purple in the way that only vibranium could. She placed it on one of the knuckles of his flesh arm, smoothing it down. He watched in wonder as it changed color to his skin tone. It was now indiscernible to the rest of his skin.

She put the rest on his knuckles, and they did the same. "Now, make a fist and clench it."

He did so, a little wary but trusting her. As he did so, he nearly jumped in shock. Panther claws unsheathed, molding to his fingers. Examining them he said, "That's amazing." How they could fit into the little sticker was unknown to him.

"Nano-bot technology," she explained. "I've had it around for a while, but it's a bit trickier to figure out with vibranium."

He looked at her, and she looked ready to jump up and down. He smiled - she was truly brilliant. He'd never met anyone with her smarts before, not even Stark. "That's- wow," he breathed. Any way he moved his fingers, the claws were there.

"Will you help me run a few tests?" she asked him.

"Of course," he answered quickly. "It would be an honor."

2.

"Stupid Mother," Shuri stomped through her lab. "I hate her," of course, she loved her mother very much. However, at this very moment, she was being highly unreasonable. "I always get out of it; why must I go to this one?!"

"Maybe she's not as smart as you, doll, but I think Mother Ramonda is far from stupid," Bucky's voice drawled.

She jumped, turning to him and clutching her heart. "Stop scaring me!" Sure, she'd told him that the lab was always open to him, but today she was in a mood. Politeness be damned. She may be a princess, but she was pissed off.

"What's up?" he asked, wondering what could put her in such a mood.

She wanted to make him prod further, work for his answers, but she was desperate to spill this time. She needed someone to rant to, and he was here. "There's this dumb ball coming up, to improve relations with neighboring countries now that we've come out of the shadows. Mother for some reason, expects me to go. Not only that, but she insists that I take place in the stupid sibling dance! 'It's tradition,' apparently. But I don't actually know how to dance - not like that anyways. It's the twenty-first century! No one does! But still, I go to T'Challa and ask him to teach me. But he says he's too busy preparing. So now what - youtube?"

He was laughing by the end of her rant. "If you need someone to teach you dance the old-fashioned way, I'd be happy to."

"Really?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. He pulled up the music on her computer, the only program he knew how to work. He dramatically bowed and held his hand out. "Care to dance, princess?"

She rolled her eyes at his antics. "Yeah, yeah. Sure, whatever."

"Usually the girls are a little more enthusiastic when I ask them to dance," he teased.

"Bucky, I'd love to dance with you," she deadpanned.

"We'll work on that part." He led her to the middle of the room, placing one of her hands on his shoulder and taking the other, putting his flesh hand on her waist.

"Now step like this," he directed. "No, no, that way," he kept leading patiently, as she stepped all over his toes and everywhere else. They danced until she finally learned the steps and could do an entire song without stumbling.

"See, it's not that bad," he said when they finished. "You've got the hang of it."

"Half an hour later," she mumbled, before perking up. "Thank you, Bucky! I thought it was hopeless."

"You're welcome."

"Now, I have to teach you a little something called the Milly Rock…"

Mother Ramonda watched from the doorway, smiling. Her new adopted son, though she didn't think he saw himself in that role yet, fit in with the family perfectly. As she watched him teach Shuri patiently, she knew that he was a blessing to the family.

3.

The ball was extravagant. Bucky wore a suit, mostly sitting in the corner as the rest of the family socialized. Since Wakanda had opened up to the world, they welcomed people from other nations into the ball. It was meant to bring peace, and it looked like they were succeeding.

Shuri wore a beautiful dress, very Wakandan. Her hair was pinned up on her head, and her makeup done by a professional. Despite looking beautiful as ever, she was ready for it to be over. Her corset was painfully meshing her spleen and her kidneys into one, and the foreigners she was being forced to play nice with were boring. She'd rather be watching vines.

Mother Ramonda's voice echoed around the room, "It is time for the family dance! Grab a family member and bring them out on the dance floor."

She went to seek out T'Challa, spotting him a little ways away. "T'Challa, you can see that I've finally learned to dance." She grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the floor.

"Actually, Shuri…" he stopped, rubbing his neck.

"What is it?" she asked. "Don't tell me you don't know how." Oh, he would never live that down.

"Lady Daya's father just passed, and she's here all alone," he trailed off. "I was going to dance with her, so she wouldn't feel bad."

Her face fell. "Okay," she looked down.

"You understand, don't you? It's just-"

"I get it," she interjected quickly. "Don't act like not dancing with me is hurting my feelings; I'm sure that I'll be better off without you stepping all over my toes."

"Thank you, Shuri," he sighed in relief, and she waved it off.

Sitting in one of the chairs, she was approached by her favorite white man.

"All that hard work and you're not dancing?" he asked, one brow raised in the way she hated because she could never get hers do move independently.

"T'Challa is dancing with someone else, and Ubaba…." she trailed off, not sure how to put it. It was still hard to talk about "Ubaba is gone."

"Dance with me," he said.

"Really?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I thought I was your new brother when T'Challa annoyed you?"

She stood up suddenly, taking his hand and leading him over to the floor. "Yes, you are." He had been so quiet through the event that she thought he'd gotten bored and left. If she have to freedom to go, she would have a long time ago. Maybe that was why she didn't….

They started dancing, as rehearsed. This time there was no toe-stepping, and she danced gracefully. He twirled her slowly, allowing her to show off her new skills.

She received numerous compliments for her dancing, which she didn't really care about because everyone here was incredibly boring. Still, it might have been a little fun, and maybe she didn't wish she was in her room watching vines so much anymore.

+1

Bucky had stayed behind, volunteering to help with the cleanup. It eased his conscience to make himself useful in his new home, so he gave himself as many responsibilities as he could. The royal family assured him that it wasn't necessary, but he still liked to do it.

"I saw you with Shuri tonight," T'Challa's voice greeted him.

He turned from where he was stacking plates to see the king walking towards him, a smile on his face. "Yeah, um, I just thought since you were-"

"It was very nice of you to do. Thank you," T'Challa patted him on the shoulder.

"You're welcome, but it was my pleasure."

"You know, she calls you her favorite brother," he laughed.

Bucky smiled. "I thought that was just when she was annoyed with you."

He turned serious. "No, you are her brother now no matter what. I hope you know that."

He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he just nodded.

"I've been busy lately," T'Challa sighed, running a hand along the fine tablecloth. "I've been neglecting my family responsibilities to take care of other matters."

"Well, understandably. I'd imagine being king is a pretty busy job."

T'Challa nodded, chuckling. "You have no idea. I came here to thank you, actually."

Bucky furrowed his brow. "What for? I haven't really done anything."

"For being there for Shuri when I cannot." He replied. "I haven't had much time for my sister lately, but I feel better knowing that she has you when I am too busy. Thank you, Bucky."

He waved it away. "You don't need to thank me - I should be thanking you for letting me into your amazing family."

It was the first time Bucky had really spoken like he knew he was a part of the family, causing T'Challa to smile and step forward, hugging the other man. "Of course, ubhuti."

So it was supposed to be a 5+1 but I ran out of ideas, and I wanted them to all be connected in some way. Plus, I didn't want to run through all of my oneshot ideas in one go. XD

Please leave suggestions!