I'm trying to write Shuri as smart and capable as she is while maintaining her goofier, childlike qualities. The story I'm Peter By The Way by Triscribe does a great job of representing Shuri and Peter, I highly recommend checking it out, I personally am obsessed with it.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 4- Shuri

Shuri took one look at the day's schedule and knew that she wasn't going to have time to "hang out" with the boys today. Yesterday had been a great day, but today she would just be far too busy with the program. So she sent a text out to Ned to let him know of her unavailability.

"No problem, I'll tell Peter," Ned texted back, adding a few seconds later, "Have a good day!"

She went into work smiling. Today would be a busy training day. Many of the people they'd hired from the community would need to be trained in their different positions. Shuri was excited but exhausted by the prospect. It would be a good day, but a long one. She got ready to work.

About an hour or two in her work was interrupted by a call from T'challa.

"Shuri, how is the program going?"

"It's going well, brother. We are training our newest employees today. Many of these people were put out of a job when the snap was reversed. Hiring them was our first big outreach."

"I'm proud of you, Shuri. I'm sure a lot of good will come out of the program.

"I hope so."

"And how are you doing? Did yesterday go well?"

"I am perfectly fine T'challa," she would never mention the homesickness, "I went sightseeing yesterday afternoon with some friends."

"You've already made friends in Oakland?" T'challa asked in disbelief.

"Well no, I've made friends in New York. But we video chatted and went sightseeing."

"Digital friends does make more sense for you," T'challa teased. Shuri huffed.

"I have met one of them!"

"The Spider kid?"

"Yeah."

"Who else?"

"Peter's best friend Ned."

"I'm glad you've made friends Shuri. Enjoy your time in California, but be careful. Your guard is there for a reason. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll be careful, brother. I'm not going to be reckless, you should know that."

"I expect you to be responsible, Shuri, and if you are not, I may have to bring you home." That's what she'd feared.

"I will not put the outreach program in jeopardy," Shuri promised solemnly.

"Good." Her brother's words held much weight. He wasn't messing around and expected her to not mess around either. He could turn a blind eye to bagel excursions, but he wouldn't turn a blind eye forever. The world was still reeling from a disaster of unimaginable proportions, and she knew T'challa was doing his best to rebuild and readjust. But he was scared. Everyone was.

"Trust me, T'challa, I need to be here. So I can help people."

"I know you will help people. Now I must do the same. Good luck Shuri. We'll talk later."

"Goodbye, brother." She was relieved when he was off the call. He was obviously well-meaning, but his scrutiny was overwhelming. She was doing her best here, and his promise to bring her home if she was irresponsible sounded more like a threat.

"I just need him to trust me," she muttered and got back to work.

The rest of the day was spent surrounded by people, but honestly, Shuri felt incredibly alone. She thought about calling up Peter and Ned, but there was no doubt both boys were busy with homework and families.

"I wonder what American school is like…" She mused aloud when she took a very late lunch break away from the others. She wanted to get to know her employees and that included eating with them, but today she was a little tired. She'd gotten up early to start working, and had been going all day except for the few minutes when she was talking to T'challa. She just wanted to sit down for a bit and think things out.

"I bet the boys would tell me." The boys. They were the boys now… Her boys. She really liked those two. They were her first teenage friends, and they made her life a little better.

"Tomorrow," she amended.

"I'll make time for them… I'll make time for me tomorrow." She promised, grabbing a small lined pad of paper and writing at the top, Questions for American Bois.

"I wonder if it's like what's on Tumblr…" She wrote down a couple of questions as she ate her lunch.

What's American school like?

What are school dances like?

Taco Bell?

Is American life like Tumblr?

Then she added a couple of questions because she realized she didn't know her "bois" very well.

Favorite Musical?

Favorite Vine?

Taco Bell?

What are your family's like?

It was just a starting list for now, but thinking about questions she could ask Ned and Peter made her feel a little bit less alone right now. She pocketed the question list and went back to work, making a difference in the community.

She made other lists that day, lists of the strengths and weaknesses of some of her employees as well as a list of the things she would have to get to tomorrow and in the days after that. But of all the lists she made and all the work she did, the thing she seemed to care the most about was the list of questions for her friends in New York. Each list represented a bit of who she was, her outreach lists represented her more serious, hardworking side, and the list for her boys represented the side of her was still just a teenager and just wanted friends to laugh and joke and have fun with. Sometimes her brother only wanted her to be one of those two lists. But she knew both had to exist for her to be complete.

Her guard had to carry her back to the hotel, as Shuri had insisted on staying late after the employees left to finish some paperwork and had fallen asleep at a breakroom table. Shuri needed the sleep, and she'd done a lot today. She was proud of her accomplishments, and she was proud of the little list of questions she had for her friends when morning came. But she got a bit of an early wake-up call around 11 o'clock at night, two in the morning New York time, and it became pretty evident pretty quick that she wasn't going to be getting much more beauty sleep.