Who: Nakia & T’Challa Udaku When: March 19th, 2018 Where: Ship: Quarantine What: Nakia arrives and T’Challa comes to wait out quarantine with her. Warnings: None Status: Complete
He had been told that before the cruise, that there would have been days spent in quarantine, to ensure that anything that they brought with them when they became displaced would be killed before it could spread to anyone else. There had been an incident of some sort, but he was still working out those details. It didn’t really matter at that moment, because when he had found out Nakia was here, he did what any good person in his place would have done - he went to her, to see if she needed anything, to ensure that she was fine and the robots had not harmed her in any way.
Though he had already had a filling breakfast earlier in the day, he made sure to stop to pick up some food and drinks for Nakia. He had no idea what time period she was coming in from, but it wasn’t a bad idea to make sure she was well nourished.
When he got to the area dedicated to quarantine, he was directed by the robots to where Nakia was being kept for now. Reaching her, he knocked politely on the door leading into the room, before he entered. And there she was, looking just as he remembered her. A smile took over his face as he greeted her. “Nakia. I hope I find you well.”
The last memory Nakia had before here was that of the UN meeting. As she sat, waiting out the hours of quarantine, her mind drifting to that event from the network on the tablet she’d been giving (primitive, compared to Wakanda, but she was highly adaptable to other less developed countries anyway). Whether they were there because of her words, or Erik’s influence, or a bit of both, Nakia hadn’t cared. She had seen the beginnings of history being made for Wakanda, a story that she had wanted placed in their books herself.
But, the robots had made her aware of how people were displaced in both time and space, and for all she knew, T’Challa could either be from the past before he made this decision or from the far future. At least, he hadn’t been from so far back that he wouldn’t recognize her.
She returned the smile when he walked into the room, standing up from her spot. She wore the same dress she had on that day. “As well as I can be in strange lands. You look good.”
It had been months since the United Nations meeting for him. Those long months had been spent working on what he had promised Erik after his death. There would be protections in place for people that looked like them. That no one would feel like they were without a nation anymore, without something or a place to call home. Wakanda, if T’Challa managed to pull this off, would be the home for those in need, for all the black people that had no other resources. So those months since the UN conference where he announced that Wakanda would be changing their foreign policy had been spent hard at work with Shuri, with Okoye, Ayo, the Queen Mother, and, of course, Nakia. And, surprisingly, after Sergeant Barnes returned to them clear of his demons, had also found a place in their new world order and it was welcomed thoroughly.
He recognized the dress and the discrepancy in their timelines, but there was no need to bring it up now. “That is a very familiar dress,” he said in return, smiling and standing to face her. “It is good to see you. Please, let us sit.” He held up the to go containers he had brought with him. “I brought you something to eat.”
She hadn’t been thinking of food at the moment, and truthfully, she probably could have asked the robots to order something for her, but her brain had been busy trying to wrap itself around the concept of multi-dimensional traveling. From her familiarity with technology back in Wakanda, it hadn’t been too much of a far-fetched idea, but she hadn’t expected the journey to be taken without her consent.
Nakia gave him a nod and proceeded to sit back in her previous spot. “You thought of everything, thank you,” she said with a grateful smile as she took one of the containers. “With two weeks here, I assume you’ve learned the workings of this entire ship, then? Or should I rely on Shuri for a tour?”
T’Challa set aside the other container for her to have later, finding an empty chair and bringing it around so he could sit facing her. “What is available to the people here has been thoroughly studied, yes. Unfortunately, there are a lot of restricted areas that we have not been able to breach.” While he hadn’t asked Okoye directly, he suspected she had done her best to try and get past the restricted area measures. “But I will do my best to answer any questions you might have about our current situation.”
Nakia cracked open one of the containers. Honestly, she could have gone for something better than scrambled eggs and potato pieces, but food was food. Or so she hoped it was actual food. It was hard to tell with some cruises. “Alright,” she started, shifting in her seat slightly to get comfortable as she dipped a fork into the container. “What do you remember last?”
‘’I doubt it will mean much to you,” he began, knowing that she was trying to place their timelines. “With this place, this situation that the Displaced have found themselves in, a person may be taken from their world at any point in their lives. Steve, for example, is from right after Shuri’s white boy, Sergeant Barnes, went into cryogenic stasis. Sergeant Barnes is from much after that, after he woke up. I am from that time as well, after our conference at the Vienna International Centre. It has been months, with us hard at work opening Wakanda’s borders.”
Nakia had a notorious poker face (she had to, as a spy), but around T’Challa, and other close Wakandas, she tended to drop any pretense and be herself. Therefore, when she perked up about that news, it was very obvious how excited she felt about it. “Months? Months after the conference! What did you get to so far?”
“Outreach centers,” he started, before launching into what they had accomplished so far and was in store for the future.