[ OOM ] paint me in a corner and my color comes back

[from_the_outside]

Are we okay? he'd asked, there by the sunny shore of the impossible inlet, and the truth is: she's not sure. 

Something is still gnawing at her, sharpening her temper and setting her on edge. It knots in her stomach, unhappy and annoyed, and kills her appetite, leaves her preoccupied. The only way she can keep from brooding or snapping at him or picking another fight is to simply remove herself from being around him so much, and thankfully she has a ready-made opportunity: the office she plans to set up in what was originally her rooms at the Citadel. It gives her something to focus on, something to do, and it keeps her away from the hut by the lake for large swathes of the day and into the evening.

There's zero chance he won't notice she's avoiding both him and a replay of their fight, but Bucky won't push. He's not like her. And probably they both need some time to think about things. Besides, withdrawing a bit is better than getting into another argument, right?

(She's conscious of how different a call she'd have made when she first got here, but all it does is annoy her further.)

But there's a lot of work to do if she's going to set things up to work more effectively with Fury, and there's nothing like setting up a series of internal security measures to distract her from her thoughts. Also distracting: M'Baku's here, somewhere, and it would be nice to catch up with him before he heads back to Jabariland. But first things first.

Comments

[marvel_npc]

He likes T'Challa and the man's spitfire of a tradition-breaking younger sister, not that he intends to make it any easier for them while they all feel their way around what the relationship of the Jabari is to the other tribes of Wakanda. Besides, this kind of mutual testing is fun. But of course that means certain kinds of things are a little more tricky, such as anything that might be perceived as a request for assistance.

(It is not that T'Challa wouldn't gladly do so. Especially with their history. It is that he doesn't want to have to ask. Or to admit why he would.)

With all of that in mind, it's very convenient that there is a friend of the Jabari here in residence in this very Citadel of theirs, isn't it? M'Baku watches with amusement as his escort trades an expressive look with each other when he suggests that they bring him to Sharon Carter, wherever she may be.

Where she is, is not the fields near the lake where he has seen her before with the White Wolf. Good. That will be much more convenient.

Humming to himself, he raps on the door with a heavy fist before the guards can announce him. "Snow Leopard! Are you still sleeping? It is late! Are you ill?"

[from_the_outside]

Her head jerks up at the pounding on her door, before her mouth twitches into a smile. Sharon goes to open the door, lifting her eyebrows at the man on the other side.

"Who could sleep when the Great Gorilla makes so much noise?" she wonders, as she steps aside to invite him in. "Come in, come in. Welcome to my lair."

[marvel_npc]

"Lair, hm?" He strolls in with the confidence of one who belongs and looks around with interest. "What is it that you do here?"

[from_the_outside]

"Oh, this and that. Just indulging some personal interests."

She keeps the door open in deference to the guards, then follows M'Baku into the room, watching with amusement as he looks around. "To what do I owe this pleasure? If you're looking for the Wolf, he's not here."

[marvel_npc]

"I do not seek T'Challa's Wolf. Not today." He bends down to examine one of her little screens, then slants a sideways look at her. "Can I not just wish to visit a friend?"

[from_the_outside]

"Sure." She leans back against a table, arms crossed, and crooks a grin at him.

"Is that what's happening? A social call?"

[marvel_npc]

"Mm. You malign my manners. My children would be distressed," he drawls. M'Baku straightens and grins widely back at her.

"I am here to extend an invitation."

[from_the_outside]

"An invitation?" That's interesting. She considers him, one finger tapping the opposite elbow. "Does D'Jarra want a rematch?"

[marvel_npc]

Booming laughter fills the room. "A very good question! You should come and ask him."

[from_the_outside]

Her lips twitch again, and her eyes are dancing.

"Well, if it isn't him... what exactly are you inviting me to do?"

[marvel_npc]

"Another good question." Casually, keeping himself positioned so that the guards in the hallway can't see his face but that she can, he glances over his shoulder at them and back to her.

"I am inviting you to visit."

[from_the_outside]

Her gaze flickers only slightly, and her expression doesn't change as she notes his hidden glance toward the guards. "I'd be honored to visit your lands, Great Gorilla," she tells him. "They're beautiful, and I enjoyed my time there earlier. When should I plan to come?"

[marvel_npc]

"You may come with me now if you like," he says, expansively. "I have been too long in these lowlands and am heading home."

[from_the_outside]

"If you don't mind waiting a minute while I pack a bag."

She heads to her closet to retrieve her trusty tote, slipping her fingers into the side pocket to pull out a thin, gleaming golden bracelet. "Are you extending this invitation to the White Wolf, also, mountain lord?"

[marvel_npc]

He strolls to the side of the room to look out the window, then looks back at her, eyebrows raised. "Do you fear to visit my lands without him?"

It will cause more complications if she insists, but he can manage those as long as he is not the one requesting the aid of T'Challa's Wolf.

[from_the_outside]

He's trying to get a rise out of her with that particular phrasing. Sharon lifts her eyebrows back at him, skeptical. "Just wondering if we need to take a trip down to the lake."

A few weeks ago, she'd have insisted on at least going down and talking to Bucky, but maybe this invitation offers more than just an opportunity to go back to Jabariland, a place where she'd managed to feel almost like herself. Sharon finished stuffing some clothes into her bag, then goes to the new desk she'd had brought to her rooms and pulls out a piece of paper and a pen.

It takes only a moment to jot down her note, and another to put it into an envelope. After a moment of considering giving it to one of the guards to deliver, she sets the labeled envelope on her desk, then turns to M'Baku. "Alright. I'm all yours."

[marvel_npc]

"Then let us go from here." In the hall, the diplomatic escort trades looks with each other, but falls in silently on either side of Sharon's door to accompany them both to the Citadel entrance. M'Baku wonders, idly, how long it will take them to send a message to General Okoye.

It will be amusing to find out. Meanwhile, he keeps his stride small enough that the blonde woman at his side can keep up without difficulty - at least for now. "You did well with the heights before," he observes, seemingly at random.

[from_the_outside]

She shoulders her tote and keeps pace with the mountain lord, amused at how he has to mitigate his own so she can stay at his side. "I like heights," she says, breezy. "That's how you get the best views."

It's been way too long since she's gotten to go sky diving.

[marvel_npc]

A chuckle rumbles deep in his chest at that. "Among other things. We Jabari are fond of our mountains for many reasons."

He leads the way from the entrance without pausing, heading for a side path rather than the main one most know about.

"We care for them, as a good steward should, and they care for us in turn."

[from_the_outside]

She nods as she listens, as they turn down the side path. "I remember. The Jabari and the mountains are two parts of the same people."

What's it like to be so connected to a place, to identify with a piece of land? It's like Bucky's love of Brooklyn writ large. "I'm looking forward to seeing them again."

[marvel_npc]

"They are. To harm one is to harm the other, in some ways." He lets grim determination bleed through into his voice. "And not to be tolerated."

He glances down at her as the path curves to reveal a winding, twisty route up through the trees. "I heard you were able to climb at speed, before. How long can you keep up such a pace?"

[from_the_outside]

"How long do you need?"

But that's really not the most pertinent question. That blunt, grim tone of his has her slanting a look at him. "Somebody being stupid enough to hurt the mountains?"

[marvel_npc]

"It seems there are those who think the Jabari are weaker than the rest of Wakanda." Anger rises like a tide in his blood at the thought of it, again, and he stamps it down, also again.

"I intend to prove them wrong. But cleverly, so that none shall think to do so again."

[from_the_outside]

Whoever's dumb enough to attack the Jabari homelands is probably dumb enough to deserve whatever they'll get. "You have a plan?"

[marvel_npc]

M'Baku grins at her. "My hope, little snow cat, is that soon we will have a plan."