Your powers are basically the powers from The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan.

Summary: Thanos is about to destroy the universe, but who cares? You're too busy falling in love...

QOTP: Are you excited for the movie?

Word Count: 1982

When you meet T'Challa Udaku, you look at him funny. He immediately becomes concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," you reply, shaking your head. "I'm just not used to seeing you not in a cat suit."

"Panther."

You shrug. "Cats are cuter."

You're all staying in the Avenger's base to prepare to stop Thanos, the feud momentarily forgotten. There's also some other recruits staying with you; Peter Parker, Steven Strange and a few of his friends, a team from space led by a man named Peter Quill, and an extremely vulgar guy who's invincible. Among others.

There's only a handful of you who don't actually have powers, and you are not one of them. You're an Egyptian magician.

You were not necessarily born in Egypt; you're a descendant of a Pharaoh, who was gifted powers by one of the gods. The god that gifted your ancestor was Ra, the sun god.

And the gods aren't really gods - they're aliens that have powers that the Egyptians adopted. The theory that aliens helped build the pyramids? Yeah.

The thing you've worked out with Thor is that the Egyptians gods exist in one of the nine worlds, and the Duat, the underlying world of magic Egyptian magicians can reach into and store magic weaponry and tools in, is one of the nine worlds. Haven't figured out which one yet.

Anyway, one night, you wake up from a nightmare in which Thanos kills everyone except you, leaving you completely alone. You can't fall back asleep, so you decide to go to the kitchen and get some juice.

You're digging in the fridge when you hear footsteps behind you. You take a second to decide what to do, then turn around, quickly reaching into the Duat and pulling out your staff that Tony recently reinforced with vibrainium.

Looking at your attacker, you quickly realize it's a startled T'Challa, raising his hands in surrender. You breathe a sigh of relief, then put your staff back.

And then quickly turn back around because you just realized he's shirtless.

"I'm sorry," he says, a hint of amusement in his voice. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," you laugh, pulling your juice out of the fridge. "So what are you doing up? Can't sleep?"

He nods. "I have been... worried about Thanos. I came to get some water."

You grab two cups out of the cabinet and hand him one, making sure to keep your eyes solely on his face. He nods in thanks. You glance down.

Well.

You turn and pour your juice, putting it away then jumping up and sitting on the counter. He fills his cup up from the tap. "What are you doing up?"

You hesitate. "Can't sleep either." It's silent for a moment, then you say, "You know, I expected you to get milk instead of water."

"Why?" he asks, brows furrowed.

You grin. "You know - cats like milk."

He laughs. "I am not a cat." You gasp, and he stops. "What?"

"I made you laugh," you reply, astonished.

He nods. "... Yes."

"I thought you didn't laugh."

"I laugh," he replies defensively.

You shake your head, adopting a deeper voice. "I'm T'Challa Udaku, and I'm so serious all the time."

"I'm a king," he says jokingly.

"Oh, sorry. I'm king T'Challa Udaku, and I'm so serious all the time."

He shakes his head, finishing his water. "When you are a king, the times to be serious are much more frequent."

"Not necessarily," you reply simply, swinging your legs back and forth. He looks at you thoughtfully for a second, puts his cup in the sink, then turns to go back to bed.

"Goodnight, Y/N."

"Goodnight, 'Challa."

He chuckles, and you jump down off the counter, the conversation having calmed you down enough to go back to sleep.

////

The next night, the dream returns, somehow much worse than before. You walk out into the kitchen, hoping T'Challa will be out there.

You sigh disappointedly when he's not and go to get juice. Five minutes later, you're sitting on the counter, quietly drinking your juice, unable to think of anything but Thanos, the fight to come, and how you wish T'Challa was there to fill the silence.

////

T'Challa wakes up from another nightmare in his "room". The dreams have been varying from his father, Thanos, and, sometimes, a combination of both.

Last night, he wished he was back home in Wakanda, but now, he's not sure. Yeah, he misses home, and all he wants is to go back. Now, he's not that mad about staying.

And he can't lie to himself. He knows very well why. The thing is, he never had time or care for such things. And now, of all times, is not the time to start.

He finally decides to quietly walk out to the kitchen, guilty hoping that you'll be out there to fill the silence and distract him from his worries.

He's half shocked when he finds you sitting on the counter, nursing a cup of juice and staring off into space.

He stops, unsure of what to do.

You look so... sad.

////

You jump, almost spilling your juice when you hear a faint, "Y/N?"

"Huh?" you ask, turning. T'Challa is standing there, shirtless and looking concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asks, taking a few steps closer.

You smile. "Yeah." He looks at you suspiciously for a second, then decides to drop it, getting a glass of water. You swing your legs back and forth. "Can't sleep again?"

"No," he says, turning off the tap and leaning against the counter next to you. "You?"

"Me neither."

You sit in silence, but it's better than it was before; it's not completely silent, and it's nice to just have someone else there.

You finish your juice, but don't move, just sitting there, waiting. T'Challa says nothing, staring ahead.

Suddenly, he says quietly, "I lied."

You stop, letting the statement sink in. "About what?"

"It's not as simple as not being able to sleep. It's... nightmares. About Thanos," he replies. "And... my father."

"I lied, too," you reply, a weight being lifted. "I've been having nightmares, too. About Thanos."

He smiles a little, happy to not be going through it alone. You smile back.

After a pause, he asks, "Is now a time to be serious?"

"Not in the slightest," you reply with a grin. And you spend nearly a whole hour telling each other corny jokes until you get tired.

"Goodnight, 'Challa."

"Goodnight, Y/N."

////

The next morning, you walk in the kitchen for breakfast and see him talking to Bruce at the table over pancakes. He smiles at you. You're about to say something when you hear a distant shout of, "Shut up, Wade!"

You laugh and make yourself a bowl of cereal, then sit next to T'Challa. Tony walks in, Rocket and Groot trailing behind him.

"You're annoying," Rocket says bluntly. Tony rolls his eyes, about to say something when Steven Strange walks in, uses magic to grab and peel a banana, running into Natasha on his way out.

Natasha sighs. "Can I switch rooms? All I could hear all night was Peter and Gamora arguing."

"Get used to it," Rocket says. Groot nods in agreement. You can hear Drax and Thor shouting at each other in friendly, excited conversation off somewhere in the base.

Everyone else is no where to be seen, probably off trying to find some peace and quiet. You look at T'Challa, who looks overwhelmed, and laugh.

"Let's go outside," you suggest. He nods gratefully, and you walk outside, where Sam, Peter, and Scott are talking calmly, to your relief.

You pull your chest out of the Duat and open it, deciding to practice some spells. T'Challa looks at the contents with intense interest, so you explain to him what everything is and demonstrate a spell or two, which catches Scott's attention. He walks over, Sam and Peter following behind him.

"That is amazing," T'Challa says, after you use a form of telekinesis to pick up a rock and throw it at Wade Wilson as he was running by. When it hits him, he turns to the side, says something to no one, and continues running.

Sam shakes his head. "That guy is weird."

////

Over the next few months, the universe's imminent demise gets closer, and the nightmares get worse. So, you both end up in the kitchen, drinking your respective drinks and filling the silence for each other.

Then, one night, T'Challa has his worst nightmare yet; he wakes up in tears. He can barely calm himself down and in his panic and desperation to just not be alone, he runs into the kitchen, hoping that you'll be there.

You're not.

So, he goes and finds you.

////

You're having another nightmare. The worst is about to happen, but then you're jolted awake by knocking on your door. Deliriously, you open it, and are fully awake when you see him standing there, in tears.

"'Challa? W-What's going on? Are you okay?"

He freezes, regretting even getting out of bed, then shakes his head. "Never mind. I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Did you have another nightmare?" You interrupt. He stops, then nods. You stand there for a moment, unsure as to what to do. Finally, you grab his hand, lead him to the kitchen, and sit him at the table.

Then, you pour a cup of juice, fill another cup with water, and sit down next to him. It's silent for a second, then you ask, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-No... And I'm sorry for waking you up."

"It's okay. I was having another nightmare anyway."

It goes silent again, but it's already so much better than before. You chuckle. "We're a mess, aren't we?"

"It would seem so," he replies. He wipes his eyes, sniffling. You already know the dream was about his father.

After more silence, you stand, taking your cup to the sink, and, oddly enough in the moment, thinking about when you grabbed his hand; what did he think about that? Did that make him uncomfortable? Was he not really thinking about it, considering the situation?

He stands, his cup now also empty. You turn to go back to the table but you run into him; he's directly behind you. He grabs your hand, hesitates, then says, "Thank you."

"... It was nothing," you reply quietly.

He gently shakes his head. "It was more than nothing."

You both stand there, silent; you're extremely close, he's still holding your hand. And he's shirtless...

"Is now a time to be serious?" you ask quietly.

He smiles. "Not necessarily."

And then he's kissing you and you can't think straight and oh, my gosh you're in the kitchen at four a.m. kissing T'Challa Udaku, an actual king of a country and also probably the man of your dreams if you're feelin' a lil' dramatic.

He pulls away, and you realize that he'd wrapped his arms around your shoulders and you'd wrapped yours around his waist. You back away, distancing yourself. He frowns, then panics. "I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Am I gonna, like, go to jail in Wakanda for... treason or something? Because that was great, not gonna lie, but... actually, no, I'd go to prison over that any day."

He laughs, shaking his head. "No, Y/N, you will not go to jail in Wakanda for 'treason or something'."

"So... So that means that we could totally do that again?" you ask.

"We can definitely do that again."

"On second thought, I'm pretty tired."

"Oh-"

"I was kidding - you really should expect this by now."