7744/Big Brother Doing Big Brother Things

Big Brother Doing Big Brother Things
Date of Scene:	08 September 2021
Location:	Wakandan Embassy
Synopsis:	T'Challa questions, in his way, Shuri's visit to the Iceberg Lounge and chat with Tim Drake. When she realizes how he found out, she is not that happy. Revenge for one-upping her is planned.
Cast of Characters:	T'Challa, Shuri

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T'Challa has posed:
Information has been provided to T'Challa from Okoye and Ayo, and he asked their opinions of what they saw. How serious did it seem, what did they overhear, were there any secrets that came up, things like that. It's not that he doesn't trust her, but..she does have a tendency to go off and do her own thing. 'Headstrong' is a word. 'Impulsive' is another. But, so too is 'Youthful.'

He busies himself with rearranging a basket here, a carving there, wiping off a speck of dust when he spots any. They have people to do these things, but it helps him feel more involved. It keeps him from thinking too much about any one thing. The Dora Milaje have a constant presence when he is around, or her for that matter.

Speaking of her, he is expecting Shuri to be here sometime soon. She usually is around this time of day, on this particular day. T'Challa waits in a suit.

Shuri has posed:
Like clockwork Shuri strides into the Embassy, striding long and purposefully. (She's not one to just hang around and smell the rose coffee, or however that expression goes.) Her heads-up display lights as soon as she enters the building proper, and her Kimoyo beads start projecting auxilliary displays around her.

They're mostly related to the slum project. She seems to be taking that very seriously.

"Brother," she says as she passes him by. "Good ..."

She glances quickly at the HUD.

"... morning. How are you?"

T'Challa has posed:
"Ah, my dear sister," T'Challa says jovially, though he waits to see if she returns the customary Wakandan greeting before he returns the same. If she doesn't, he doesn't. "I am well, thank you for asking."

The man wonders, "What is on your schedule for today? The latest with our outreach program for the section of the Bronx we visited? Or is that tomorrow? The days blend together easily sometimes."

He is being oddly conversational, in ways he often is not. A couple of the Dora Milaje share glances with each other at this.

Shuri has posed:
Seeing as business is being discussed, Shuri does, in fact, do the salute, changing her demeanour somewhat from bratty sister to poised professional.

Somewhat.

Like the ocean is somewhat different from the sky.

"I've had to go there several times over infrastructure issues," she reports. "Water. Sewage. Power. Telephone service. It's all terrible there. I swear some of the sewers date back over a century! And I think some of the pipes are lead-contaminated." Her face makes her displeasure at all this very obvious. "This is all something we could fix in a few days if we just unleashed our technology on it, but you don't want that revealed yet, so ... we're doing it the local way."

She takes a deep breath and sighs in frustration.

"I guess it's OK. It gives the place value in their eyes because it's their labour, but such a waste of potential on such menial labour!"

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa begins to make his way toward the second floor. "We could, but..I am still working on the methods and details. I do not know if the world is ready for the truth, but they will have it in some way. I am trying to think of ways to limit worries, because this will change the world as they know it."

A hand slides along a bannister, ornately carved wood. "So for now, we must work on things, as you say, the local way. We will find things the residents can do, but I do not expect them to be able to handle all the needs for infrastructure. We will have to leave that to the professionals, but we will still make sure the people who live there can find a way to own the projects that are to be taking place. They must be involved and feel a sense of purpose from it."

Now as he overlooks the entry area below, he casually asks, "By the way, what do you recommend at the Iceberg Lounge?"

Shuri has posed:
"Nothing, honestly," Shuri says, still focused on the travails of fixing infrastructure that was the victim of malignant neglect. "It's a twee kind of place with a theme that's so forced it's ridiculous. How it became so popular as an 'it' place is bey..."

It registers.

"How did you...?"

She glances at Ayo and Okoye.

"Oh, of course. It seemed interesting, so I went. I didn't evade security, brother, and I thought we were permitted to go out of the embassy?"

T'Challa has posed:
"No, they did not come to me. I came to them," T'Challa explains. "I do not need to be kept in the know every time you go off somewhere. I am not your../our/ father, and you are old enough to decide where you want to go hang out. But you should know it is owned and operated by one of Gotham City's criminal underground, Oswald Cobblepot, also known as the Penguin. I do not keep close tabs on Gotham City's criminals, but there are some things I stay in the know of in case any of them ever decide to expand elsewhere."

He fiddles with his Kimoyo beads and pulls up an image of one of the gossip sites, then another, a few different pictures scrolling by. "You two are all over the tabloids. This Wayne heir, Tim Drake? Is he nice?" No question is raised beyond that, yet.

Shuri has posed:
Shuri openly scoffs. "You think I didn't already know that?" she asks about Cobblepot. "I was testing an AI for recommending places to visit and it popped that up, so I dug. I also know he's in jail and that Gotham's top families' scions go to that club. That was curious to me, so I took security..." She stresses the last two words this time, to make it clear she wasn't being irresponsible. "...and investigated. And the place is ..."

Then the gossip sites and pictures start popping up and she pauses, blinking.

"Wha...?"

Someone hasn't been watching social media.

"He's nice enough. Smarter than he looks. I just ran into him there and ..."

Even Shuri knows how bad what's next coming is going to sound.

"...I don't know him!" she preemptively defends herself. "But the people who came up after him were social parasites and treating him badly so I smacked them down verbally and pretended to be old friends with him. To give him face, you understand." She gestures at the picture of her kissing his cheek. "That's a SISTERLY peck! You know that! I give YOU kisses like that!"

Flustered she pops up her own displays and rapid-scrolls through the articles, visibly fuming.

"There was no romance!" she growls when completed. "I will rip their lungs out through their nostrils for this!"

(An amused cough from one of Ayo or Okoye ... OK, this is Ayo's style ... punctuates that oath.)

"We talked about my satellite project. He understood my ideas and architecture instantly. So we talked. Technology. Engineering. That's all!"

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa grows quiet, shifting into listening mode as he rests an elbow against the bannister, cupping his chin with the palm of that hand as he looks increasingly curious the more Shuri speaks, the more she grows flustered, the more she begins to make threats. Oh, how curious the 'cat' is now.

There is an occasional nod, a simple, 'mm-hmm' or 'ahh' or 'I see,' but he lets her continue for as long as she will. Why interrupt? She's on a roll. He even leans over for a closer look at her and her reactions to what she is seeing on her own display.

"Please, continue. There is no need to stop on my account," he tells her, and that smile is just a bit too wide.

Shuri has posed:
"There's nothing to continue. He was interested in my work and we talked. That's all. This..." Her hand sweeps away a dozen displays into trash (accidentally symbolic). "...is just the local so-called 'press' playing its irresponsible game. At home the publishers of such scurrilous trash would be called for a 'frank discussion' with the Royal House."

Body language says Shuri is planning exactly such a 'frank discussion' if the tensed muscles and narrowed eyes are anything to go by.

"I know my responsibilities!" she finally says. "Marriage to one of the other clans to cement ties of blood. I'm not ... THAT irresponsible."

She must be angry. She just admitted to being somewhat irresponsible...

T'Challa has posed:
"This is what they do here, sister," T'Challa says. "I have been to a basketball game with Diana of Themyscira, and your head would spin if you saw how quickly the media fell over themselves to document it. The truth does not matter to many of them, only what sells and what gets clicks. My advice to you is to ignore it. Reacting will only make you a more interesting target for them. I saw enough of it during my time at Oxford. British tabloids are multiple times worse."

To say this has been a grand source of amusement to him now that Shuri's the one in the crosshairs is putting it mildly. It was about time. "If I am being honest, I am a little surprised it took this long for you to be the subject of a story. If you talked, and if you discussed things of interest, and you put on an act in order to help him out?" Yes, that is asked more as a question to confirm, "Then it is as it is. Also..playback, Shuri's last sentence."

Her voice emanates from his beads: "I'm not ... THAT irresponsible."

Shuri has posed:
"That is all that it was, yes, Brother," Shuri says emphatically. "He is nice. He may become a friend. But there was nothing past that. Nothing that would concern the Royal House nor the lines of succession."

Then T'Challa weaponises her words against her.

"Be careful, Brother!" she says, still fuming, now directing her ire at the King. "That spear is double-headed!"

But ... ugh. Siblings. They drive you mad. They become king and think they're better than you. But they're siblings. You can't hate them for being what they are.

Shuri giggles.

And looks shocked and dismayed.

But giggles again. Which turns to guffaws and finally full laughter.

"OK, T'Challa," she says. "You got me this round, but the war is not over! I *will* seek my revenge for this!"

Hoo. Boy.

T'Challa has posed:
T'Challa remains patiently waiting for Shuri's reactions to finish cementing themselves. Meanwhile, Okoyo and Ayo watch this with no small amount of amusement.

He says, "Friends are good to have. I know you have come to know a few of the Titans, and there are others you call friend. I am certain it beats being stuck around your boring old brother, and there are things you tell them that you would never dream of telling me, am I right?" Oh, he knows. He may not know everything, but he knows enough.

Her efforts to fend off the laughter that fails by the second leads a chuckle out of him. "Revenge? I would expect nothing less from you, sister. You will let me know if you learn of anything interesting about that place? I might find reasons to visit Gotham City myself one of these days."

Shuri has posed:
"Of course there are things I tell them I won't tell you!" Shuri says. "Much like there are things I'll tell you I won't tell them. But yes, I will, of course, keep the database up to date with my observations on any place I visit. Just use your retina scan and the passphrase, spoken, "T'Challa is a boor" and you'll get whatever information you may want."

Is she telling the truth or is she bluffing? Can't tell from her eyes. (Of course Oyoke and Ayo are desperately trying to keep from laughing themselves now. A common pattern when the pair butt heads.)

"Oh, speaking of information, have you come to any conclusion about that photo shoot? I've been gathering materials for it: scenic backdrops of Wakanda. Traditional weapons and charms and such. I think you really should do it."

And with that Shuri salutes and makes her way up to her apartments.

To pet the enormous ball of yarn that's in her room.

For reasons.