Summary:In which Steph meets Shuri. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Tuesday afternoon. Stephanie Brown walks from the university, headed toward one of several places to eat nearby. Sunglasses hide her eyes from the midday sun as she makes her way down the sidewalk. She's got one earbud in her ear and her phone in her hand. Clearly, she's listening to something, but by the faint frown and creased brow, it's not Swift's latest.
…Or maybe it is.
Finding a cafe that will serve meals outside, Stephanie steps into the gate, eye looking for a table she can sit at.
"The niversity is over there, right?" Shuri asked to her driver as he pulled to the sidewalk, getting the answer before leaving the vehicle. She wears the same black suit she so often does, the fabric shimmering as it clings to her form, the purple coat with the golden claps and fur trim around her neck making it decent. A couple moments she eyes along the streets. "We have time for a coffee, don't we?" she comments over to the car before moving into the direction of the same caffee Stephanie was walking to, her steps careful and almost regal.
Selecting a table, Stephanie pulls her glasses down her gaze sweeps about the area. Old couple in the corner, grad student stressing over an essay, regal queen just arriving. …That last one draws a faint double take from the blonde, who looks just on this side of too young to be in college. It's made worse by the Winx backpack sitting on the ground at her feet
It's not exactly a queen, but an Ambassador, but that's a little difference to most. The young royal steps in line to the counter, eying the menu before ordering one of the speciality drinks, paying with an ebony black credit card quickly after. A couple moments later she looks for a place to sit down…
With the demand of the day, there are few spots open. Stephanie doesn't take up much space at her table, keeping her notebook on her lap and propped up on the edge of the table. When the regal figure passed her, the blonde turned to sip at her drink, eyes sliding to the car window parked on the side of the street, using the reflective surface there to keep an eye on the other woman.
The dark eyes of the Wakandan woman seem to wander the room a little aimlessly, but there is system behind the wandering. She eyes for prossible dangers just as much as trying to find a free spot. Finally she grabs her drink and moves over to that blonde slowly, her eyes pinning the reflection of those of the young woman in the reflective surface.
Stephanie watches the beautifully dark woman scan the area for threats in a manner not all to dissimilar to how she would scan for threats herself. When she suddenly finds those rich brown eyes meeting hers in the reflection of the car, Stephanie's back straightens a quarter inch.
'Busted.'
Turning from the reflection, Stephanie twists to put her drink down on the table, her peripherial counting the steps Shuri takes to reach the table. And when she does, Stephanie lifts her gaze with a bright smile making her face seem too young to be any sort of threat.
"Hi. Did.. You want to sit with me?" is the offered olive branch, seeking to smooth over having been caught staring at the woman's reflection.
A smile is the immediate answer as Stephanie offers the open chair at her table, though there is a tiny hint of a grin in it as they both know she spotted the younger one watching her. "Oh, how nice of you! Thank you for the kind offer, I will take you upon it, if you realy don't mind," she says, keeping her brown eyes on those blue-greens of the athletic blonde. "People always say New Yorkers are so rude, but clearly they must be wrong…" It's a little ramble as she settles down, the movement just as fluid as water… or a cat possibly.
"I don't mind at all," Stephanie replies, pulling her bag closer to her feet to give the impression that she's more than willing to give Shuri the space she needs to feel comfortable. At Shuri's comment that New Yorkers are rude, the blonde blushes. The dusting of pink highly visible on her pale cheeks.
"Um.. Thank you," Steph stammers a little, tucking a lock of gold behind an ear before holding out her right hand.
"I'm… Stephanie," she says, withholding her last name, like withholding a secret.
The smile on Shuri's face shows off her white teeth, her eyes giving a little flutter at the thanks. "You're welcome. I mean, it's just what the people say abotu the town."
A moment later she takes the offered hand, the african woman's grip quite firm. "Shuri, and it's a pleasure to meet you." She doesn't offer a last name either, though in her case it's not a secret - Wakanda doesn't use last names.
"I've.. heard that," Stephanie replies of what out of towners say about her town. Feeling the strength in Shuri's grip, Setphanie tries not to make it seem like she noticed. Her own grip is firm, but not overly so.
"Well… Welcome to New York, Shuri," the blonde says, hand retreating after the greeting is done.
Retracting the hand, Shuri continues to smile, a little chuckle on the lips. "I had been in town a couple weeks by now. It's much different than Wakanda, but I had a great stand in festivity."
She had even been in the newspapers with it, and surely she was pretty sure of herself parading the ammoutn of gold jewelry - real gold - around she did.
"Oh." chirps the blonde, having been too busy trying to keep up with school and patrols that looking at the newspaper at which foreign dignitary was in town sort of got put on a back burner. Stephanie clears her throat delicately before taking a fortifying sip of her drink, eyes fluttering to her notes before she looks up again.
"I…" 'Don't ask what Wakanda is like!!!' "What's Wakanda like?" 'Dammit, Steph!' Stephanie manages not to cringe too blatantly at the social faux-pas.
"Oh, for you americans, it's just a little backwater nation in Africa. We export mainy grain but at least we are a stable nation, unlike our neighbors. But for me it's home, so I wouldn't be the best to be asked about how it is, don't you think?" Shuri answers, chuckling a little, her hands gracefully cupping the cup on her side of the small table.
"I take you're studying? Isn't it summer break?"
While Stephanie managed not to cringe overtly, Sjuri's amused answer does have the blonde blushing. The color flushes onto the apples of her cheeks, hinting at the pale freckles she might have. When a subject change is offered, Stephanie leaps for it.
"Yes. And yes. I… I go to school, all the time, for housing," she says, the blush sliding from conversation faux-pas to uncomfortable in a heartbeat.
"You go to school for housing?" Shuri asks, an eyebrow rising slightly. "Do you mean you have a scholarship of some kind? Schooling in Wakanda isn't like in the US, so I have to guess here based on what I learned about it. What are you studying?"
There's that blush again, equal parts shame and embarassment. The tip of her tongue peeks out to drag over suddenly dry feeling lips. Some of her lip gloss goes with it.
"It's a scholarship, yes. I'm… studying a little of this and that, but my declared major is fashion and design, but I might change it. I don't know," she admits, because she's still flailing at the idea that she's got a rather permenant home in Wayne Manor if she just sucked it up and allowed herself to.
"Fashion and Design? There's a lot of work in that area, though only few large names. Most are pretty much a brand on their own. Do you have to do something for the Scholarship? I mean, I heard most need you to keep good grades or something." Shuri wonders, lifting her cup to the lips, her eyes wandering over the pink cheeks before returning to the eyes of the blonde.
"It really is a lot of work, and a lot of hours," Stephanie says, sounding like she's not keen on that part of it and that this is the sole reason for her thoughts of switching majors. She sips at her drink, trying to refind something calmer.
"Yes. I have to keep up my grades, and a certain number of classes per semester. The scholarship pays for summer, even if it's optional. It's just.. better… than trying to find a place for a few months."
"Well, it seems like you use your time well then. Just remember to stay healthy, ok? It was a pleasure to meet you, Stephanie." Shuri says as she stands up slowly, giving a nod to the young woman.
"Ah. Yes. Likewise," Stephanie says, not rising to her feet. It's not engrained. Plus, American. Stephanie watches Shuri stand, noting the regally feline grace again.
"Have.. have a good day," she says since it seems the other woman was departing.