48. Wife Antics

It wasn't as if he truly needed the sleep to sustain him. But if he was already half-asleep, he didn't like to break it.

Shuri poked him again. Once on his pec. Then his upper arm. His cheek.

Namor could hear her breathing.

"Ch'ah Tohhhh. Are you listening?"

He gave a punctuated yawn more for his benefit than actual fatigue.

"Yes, dear. It's late for you."

She laid on her back next to him in their king-sized bed. Naturally, she had grown tired of his hammock the first time it impeded their adult activities. Or, when she kept flipping out of it by accident for midnight trips to the restroom.

"Would you like me if I had no eyebrows?"

How could he have ever known what a night owl she was? They were still newlyweds, so he was learning all of her quirks and nighttime habits.

"…"

"Well?"

Anticipating the action, he blocked her hand from poking him.

With one eye open, Namor asked. "Do eyebrows determine attractiveness in Wakanda?"

"Not really. Sometimes." Shuri adjusted her bonnet from sliding down her forehead. "It's just weird if you don't have them but not bad. But would you like me without them?"

"Yes, Shuri. I want you in any form or measure you come in."

"Good. Not that I wouldn't shave my eyebrows if you didn't like it, anyway. But I appreciate that you're so accepting. I accept you too."

He could hear the smile in her voice.

Satisfied, Namor snuggled into his pillow.

"Ch'ah Toh?"

This time a tired sigh for real. "Yes, dear?"

"What if I grew gills?"

"You know every Talokan doesn't have gills—"

"I know that. But what if I grew them? I already have some of the Talokan herb in me. What if it's any day now? Hold that thought. Griot!" Shuri called out.

Namor rubbed his eyes. That obnoxious machine. It never seemed to have a silent mode.

"Yes, Queen Shuri?" Griot loudly chimed in the dark room. Namor tried to push his head further into the pillow. Curse his acute hearing.

"Remind me to do a full body scan of my DNA and monitor any abnormalities."

"Yes, Queen Shuri!" It confirmed.

"So, again if I had gills?"

"Then, I would lick them every night and kiss your neck! Rest, Shuri! If I'm exhausted, surely your mortal body is in worse shape."

Content and mischievous Shuri reached for his cheek, coaxing him out from his pillow fortress.

"Okay, last question. What if I turned blue—or plot twist Pink with purple polka-dotted skin?"

"Enough. Sleep." He turned on his side with his back facing her.

Suddenly, he almost went thrashing off the bed. Pouring ice on him would have been warmer! Shuri's frozen feet pressed against his bare back. He was only wearing sleeping shorts while his wife was in a nightgown.

"What? I was cold." She laughed

He whirled around and gave her a furious look.

"Don't trifle with me! Good night!"

His breathing wasn't nearly as loud as hers or any mortal's for that matter, but she recognized his fuming with the short breaths.

A beat of silence passed.

"Ch'ah Toh … Are you mad?"

He didn't answer.

Warm hands gently touched his back. She hovered over his ear.

She apologized softly. "I'm sorry. I was just playing, baby."

Wordlessly and with eyes closed, he shifted to face her and lifted his arm. She happily snuggled into his embrace.

"Ch'ah Toh?"

He mumbled into her neck. "No, Shuri. No more questions."

"I love you."


49. Family Dinner

The dinner table was stacked with a spread of fish and vegetables and a sweet liquid akin to lemonade. There had been a light conversation among the royal family until the question. Esihle beamed at her parents with bright, expectant eyes. Only the obnoxious chewing of her baby brother Amari filled the room.

Eishle cleared her throat. "Did you hear me? How did you two meet?"

Namor and Shuri shared an uneasy gaze from across the dinner table. The succulent fish was going cold.

"She's at that age, Shuri." He told her.

Detecting the drop in mood, Esihle asked, "Is everything okay?" Her oval-shaped brown face twisted in concern, and her ears drooped like a cat's. So much of Esihle was her mother with a spritz of her father.

Namor folded his hands together. Shuri adjusted his cape collar as a sign of support and a gesture that said it was his problem to deal with.

That dear wife of his. His eye twitched and his remnant of an ankle wing kicked up an annoyed flutter.

"We met by the river. I sought her out."

Amari rolled his eyes. He was more interested in stuffing carrots into his squirrel-like cheeks.

The boy groaned. "Ew, were you kissing? Yuck. Yuck."

Shuri grabbed one of his round cheeks between her fingers. "Hey, little one, you're the one who brought it up." Releasing him, she finished. "And absolutely not."

The husband and wife shared a small smile.

Esihle played with a piece of salmon on her plate, absentminded. Talokan (and some Wakandan dishes) favored food eaten by hand, but she had surface sensibilities as well so she used a fork.

"You thought she was pretty?" Esihle asked her father.

"Ethereal."

"Ether-real?" His daughter scrunched her adorable wide nose.

"Too beautiful to be of this realm. Divine. Fitting for a god like me."

Shuri snorted, content to listen to him talk. To praise. To moon over her.

"You're just our pa. You go whale riding with us and make us brush our teeth." Esihle pointed out. With her speaking engagements and overseeing technology in Wakanda and Talokan, Namor tended to be the more hands-on parent than Shuri.

"I'm both. I never divorce the two." He reached for the head of his fish.

"Why were you looking for her?" The beads at the end of Esihle's braids shook and rattled with every movement of her head.

"Because I needed to kill an American scientist, and it was in Wakanda's best interest to help me." He rubbed his chin in thought.

Shuri gasped and reached for her cup of juice. He was honest to a fault!

Their daughter's mouth hung open. Kill?

"Pa? Are you joking?"

"No, her entire existence threatened our livelihood—"

"Did you know when I met your father he was in these tight, green booty shorts? Like, some tacky tourist overseas. He was just missing a fanny pack." Shuri cut in. She rubbed her fingers together. "The shorts were this tiny. You could see every dent and ripple."

Thinking it was the funniest joke ever, Amari burst into giggles. Esihle wasn't amused.

These days Namor wore a sarong or longer swim shorts, so the children weren't as acquainted with his less modest wear.

"Uh-huh." Esihle rolled her eyes with all the measured patience of a preteen tired of their parents' shenanigans. "Anyway, how did you fall in love?"

Shuri's mouth went dry.

Thankfully (or unfortunately), Namor didn't miss a beat.

"Attraction is instant, but love takes time. Your mother and I talked first, sensing our similarities. We both had experienced painful times but had an undying protectiveness for our people."

Namor gently reached across for Esihle's hand. "The bracelet on your wrist was your mother's first. And my mother's before that."

With a toothy smile, the girl exclaimed. "Mama, what did you think when he gave it to you?"

She paused for a moment. Looking into her daughter's face was like a mirror aside from the rounder face shape and elf ears as if someone had added them last minute.

Shuri said, "I thought it was beautiful, then I was amazed at its age. I could barely believe a stranger would gift me something so valuable and sentimental. It wasn't from some store, but his deceased mother."

Esihle nodded. She spun one finger around on a spot on the tablecloth. "Wow, I wish a boy would give me something that nice."

"Who? One from Talokan?" Namor said softly. Then, with eagle eyes and his fist balled into a gorilla grip, he continued. "Or one from the surface? I'm not against love, but surface dwellers are two-faced and frankly many are beneath you."

Esihle folded her arms. "Beneath me? I don't even want to be a stupid princess. I just want to be normal."

"You're normal. But you have a responsibility to this kingdom. Other Talokan can live happily in peace because they know we protect them."

"Bla blah blah. Whatever." She mocked him. And immediately stopped and sat up straighter from Shuri's sharp gaze. Shuri was more of a disciplinarian.

"This small, small child of yours has an attitude." Shuri quipped.

"Yes, our child is opinionated and strong-willed like her mother," he said, gazing lovingly into her eyes.

Shuri broke into a cheesy grin. "You're such a flirt. Stop it."

"Anyway," Esihle interrupted. She loved romance but not at the expense of watching it in real time with her parents. "What did grandma think about you and Pa? You never really talk about her."

The grin instantly disappeared from her face though Namor's gaze didn't waver. He used one of his hands to grasp his wife's.

"Your grandmother made a terrible mistake to go against me and paid the price for it." He squeezed Shuri's hand. "But we're better for it. Trauma makes a couple stronger."

Shuri boiled over, snatching her hand from his. The glasses on the table trembled from the force. Amari had to reach for his cup, so it wouldn't fly off the table.

"No, it doesn't! That sounds like some garbage a cheating man would say. Better for what? You think I was better as an orphan!?"

"Mama?"

"It's simply what happened."

"Pa…" Esihle tried to interject again, her eyes wide. But she went ignored.

Shuri took an angry gulp of her drink before slamming it down. "You left out how you tried to strong-arm us into an alliance and kill an innocent girl."

Namor frowned. "I told her I wanted to kill the scientist."

"You didn't tell her Riri was only 19 then!"

"Aunt Riri?" Amari asked, looking around for her. He was only five but despite being the child of a genius he couldn't read the room.

"What did grandma do wrong?" Esihle questioned.

"Nothing but love her child!" Shuri yelled.

Esihle slid back into her chair. Her mother usually kept a cool lid on her emotions. It was more likely for her to make a goofy joke than have an outburst.

"She schemed and tricked. Just like her daughter tried to beguile me and lower my defenses. 'Keep me instead' was a siren's song." Namor's jaw clenched. His dark eyes were stormy. Finally, he freed his balled-up fist.

Shuri pointed at herself. "I never tricked you. That was my true desire. I would've stayed willingly if you hadn't done what you did."

He closed his eyes.

She continued. "Why couldn't you have been more understanding? You're the reason the kids have no grandmother." Her eyebrows were so scrunched together that she was afraid she would start fighting him or worse—burst into tears.

"But what about Grandma Okoye?" Amari babbled.

"Quiet, Mari." His sister shushed him. The interaction went largely ignored with the way Shuri and Namor were staring each other down.

"I was understanding. I warned the former queen, but she failed to listen."

Shuri slammed a manicured hand against the table. "If someone seemingly kidnapped Amari or Esihle, what would you have done!?"

"Don't go there!"

She jammed a finger into his half-covered chest. "Answer me! What would you do?"

"Protect them and kill the offenders!"

Shuri threw her hands into the air. "Of course, you and all this killing!"

"If you leave the ones I love alone, then there's peace. Those who won't deserve my wrath."

"You … you." Shuri sputtered.

Namor said with pity, "You're still so naïve." His wife was in her forties but so young compared to him.

"I was even younger when I whooped that—"

"The children, Shuri!"

"Oh, but you can parade how you murdered my mother in front of our babies, but you can't look weak in front of them?"

"We're equals. It's not that. This subject always works you up, and I don't want to upset you further."

"Too late!"

The wet sound of feet on tile abruptly paused all conversation. A Talokan maid, wearing a breather and a topknot, carrying a platter entered the room.

"More fish Ku'uk'ulkan and Queen Shuri? Shall I refill your glasses? Is the meal to your liking?"

"Yes, Amira. The lemonade is lovely," Shuri answered with no trace of anger. She was seemingly the picture of calm.

Esihle was amazed. The skill of a royal to act like nothing was wrong. It probably came in handy during wars and famines.

"Yes, daughter, Chaac blessed your hands to cook. We're so thankful. Children?" Namor said coolly.

"Yes, thank you, Amira," Esihle mumbled and Amari yelled with gusto.

In a small voice, Esihle mumbled. "Do you regret getting together?"

"Of course not!" they said in unison. The two sported matching incredulous expressions.

"Please, I love my man!" Shuri said, emphasizing it with a loud kiss on his cheek. Namor's grin was wolfish.

Esihle shook her head. " I see why Aunt Riri said you were bird-ish and Pa was psycho. I asked her why you guys were so crazy, and she said it was because you two were crazy for each other. That's why I had to find out why."

Namor and Shuri shared a frown.

"Go to your room, Esihle. And no whale riding or technology for the next two days until you learn to watch your mouth. We're your parents, not your little friend," Shuri declared.

Namor reprimanded her. "Never demean your mother. You'll address her with respect. To your room at once."

"But, but!" The girl cried.

"Now!"

Esihle groaned on the way out. Her parents weren't crazy—they were insanely in love. And the worst parents ever!