"Now," said Everett. His tongue briefly touched his lower lip. His eyes were dreamy. "Where were we?"
"On our way to the desk," said Shuri. "But first ..." She locked the door.
"That's surprisingly old-fashioned hardware for my technological genius," Everett said.
"I like a lock that cannot be hacked."
"Smart."
"I think so. This long skirt is so awkward. Help me up, please, my dear Everett."
"My pleasure, my dear Shuri."
But as he lifted her to sit on the desk, there came a knock on the door so loud and so forceful that somebody might have been firing cannonballs at it.
"Holy shit!" Everett exclaimed. "What the fuck?"
"Whoever is out there, go away!"
"Girl, answer your door. I am on an errand from the King."
"M'Baku," Shuri muttered, her face dire. She shouted, "The King and his errand will have to wait!"
M'Baku pounded on the door again in answer.
"Shuri, I think we found somebody who can literally hack that lock," Everett said.
Shuri sighed in exasperation and ulocked and opened the door.
"What?"
"The King has invited Agent Ross - hello, there! - to dinner. I will be attending, as well, so we may catch up. The beard is good. You used to look like a boy. Now you look like a man. A short man, but a man nonetheless."
"Thanks?"
"You have delivered your message. Now go away!"
"Don't work him too hard, girl. The man just arrived."
"Go!"
M'Baku wandered away, chuckling in an aggravating fashion. Shuri slammed the door and locked it.
Everett looked at her, and then he began to laugh. She'd never heard him laugh like that before, freely as a child.
"It is not funny," she said, trying to sound put out. But his laughter at first fascinated her, and then infected her, until she forgot her annoyance.
"Oh, Shuri," he said. "Just how many people know about your vow of chastity?"
"Nobody!" she said. "Nobody but you, that is."
"And I didn't tell a soul. Well, it seems as if everybody in Wakanda is bound and determined to help you keep it, whether they know about it or not. Oh, my dear Shuri. Shall we be good little children?"
She canted her head to one side and looked at him. Then she smiled. "Can you be good?"
"If you wish me to be, then yes."
"I no longer know what I wish. Such is the effect you have on me. All my wise resolutions and good intentions go straight out the window."
"Do I make you tipsy, Shuri?"
"You make me knee-walking drunk, my adorable Everett."
"Well, let's knee-walk together and meet your brother. I can't wait to have dinner with M'Baku."
They exited the office, arm in arm.
"Now tell me," Everett said, "what a princess of the Merchant Tribe would want with a copy of The Customs, Rituals, and Superstitions of the Wakandan?"
"Oh dear Bast. I am sure she left that for your express benefit - though perhaps benefit is the wrong word."
"It's all malarkey, isn't it?"
"What do you think? Fermented lion urine? We're not savages, you know."