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Chapter Text

Getting lost in Africa had not exactly been his plan but it was turning out to be quite a good alternative to his original reason to being in Africa. The plane had made a crash landing on the way to his arranged marriage. In the chaos immediately following, Tony had shifted into his animal form and run for it. He was hoping that the mess that was the crash would cover it up; he would miss his family but he couldn’t live with being forced into a marriage.

The arranged marriage was being forced on his by his father – something about mending bridges and a good business connection. Tony didn’t want to be forced into marriage, he wanted to marry for love – as foolish as that sounded. He had nothing against the guy he was supposed to marry, he didn’t even know his name or where he was going to live. His father had probably told him at some point but Tony hadn’t filed the information away. At the time he’s been too upset about the arrangement to listen beyond that.

So given the opportunity, he ran.

Ran and ran and ran.

He ran until the pads of his paws were blistered and burned by the scorching ground, until he was dehydrated and exhausted, until he found a forest and just collapsed.

When he woke up it was to the feel of someone nudging him. Opening his eyes reluctantly, Tony found himself blinking up at a much larger black panther. It’s eyes were practically glowing. It nudged Tony again.

With a groan, Tony gingerly got to his feet and limped after the panther who clearly wanted him to follow it. In his shifted form Tony couldn’t talk to real panthers but emotions and general ideas could be understood. And the vibe this panther was giving off was, ‘Follow me you pathetic thing’.

So Tony followed.

As they walked, Tony thought back on his first shift. He had been three and turned into a fluffy little kitten. He had been thrilled, his father had smiled, though his eyes looked sad.

Cats didn’t go for very much as far as marriage prices went.

Tony had always loved his panther form. Most people shifted into domesticated animals or those animals that were native to their parents homeland. No one was quite sure why, science thought it had to do with evolution and adapting to survive the surroundings. However, nothing had been proved and every once in a while someone shifted into an animal that appeared nowhere in any family history. As Tony grew, it became clear that he wasn’t an ordinary cat but a black panther. That seemed to cheer Howard up but all Tony really cared about was running around.

A sudden noise caused Tony to look up, taking in his surroundings again for the first time in a while. He was now standing in front of a gorgeous building.

Tony shrank back, belly to the ground, apprehension overwhelming him as the door opened.

The most beautiful man stepped out of the building. He was tall, maybe a couple years older than Tony, wearing the softest looking clothes Tony had ever seen. He just wanted to rub his entire body against it and if his feet didn’t hurt so much he would have.

“Hello there beautiful,” said the man, crouching down to be level with the two panthers. “Who is your friend?”

Tony’s ears flicked in interest. The man seemed nice enough, unafraid of panthers which was strange to Tony. Most people ran screaming from his shifted form. Maybe this place had panthers as pets, in which case Tony was screwed. He did not want to be a pet but he also didn’t know if anyone had reported him missing. If he was reported as missing, there may be a photo of him floating around, in which case he couldn’t shift back. Howard hadn’t shared what type of animal he could shift into, it would lose his cards if people knew. Tony had been instructed not to shift until after the marriage was official. Even if that hadn’t been the tradition, Tony wouldn’t have bothered shifting before, he had gotten so tired of people running from him.

The real panther got up and walked back into the forest, leaving Tony and the man staring at each other.

“I won’t insist that you shift back to human form,” said the man calmly. “I can see that you are in pain. You aren’t from around here, I know all the panthers here, so I have to assume the journey was long.”

Tony growled subtly.

“You’re not from here, so I’ll let you know now, we adore panthers,” said the man. “I am Prince T’Challa. I promise you will be safe here whether you decided to stay as a panther or change back into a human. Will you allow me to care for your wounds?”

Tony narrowed his eyes.

“You are in Wakanda,” said Prince T’Challa.

Tony was pretty sure Wakanda was far enough away from his airplane to shift back, however he was unwilling to take that chance before he gathered more information. Mind made up, Tony hauled himself back to his full panther height and limped after the prince, hoping he wasn’t making a bad choice.

The building – maybe it was the palace or castle or wherever royal people lived these days – was amazing. Tony wished could explore more but instead walked after the prince.

“You may rest in here,” said Prince T’Challa, opening a door to a beautiful room with a huge balcony that reached out to trees so if he wanted, Tony could leave. “Would you allow me to tend your wounds?”

After thinking it over, Tony curled up on a fluffy red pillow, leaving his aching paws exposed to the prince.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” said the prince with a smile.

He gathered the supplied he would need and sat down next to Tony, talking while he worked.

“It’s nice that you showed up when you did,” said T’Challa. “I was expecting a guest yesterday but it fell through. I must say I am a little relieved. I wasn’t ready for my life to change quite so drastically. I wonder what happened to you that made you run.”

Another man walked into the room looking like an older, more stressed version of the prince.

“My son, what are you doing?”

“This young shifter was brought to me by one of the panthers. I’m helping him.”

“You don’t know where he came from.”

Tony rolled his eyes. It’s not like he had fleas or rabies or something. He wasn’t a wild animal, he was just in hiding.

“You’re right, but I do know that he needs help.”

“T’Challa, you have always had a good heart, always want to help those less fortunate, but you can’t save everyone.”

“But I can save this one,” said T’Challa with a smile.

“It won’t make a difference. There is too much wrong with the world, it is best to focus on keeping that out of our home.”

“It’ll make a difference to him, and that is enough,” said T’Challa firmly.

“We will talk later.”

Tony watched the man leave. When he was gone, T’Challa seemed to deflate a bit. Tony chirped a bit to get his attention.

“That was my father,” said T’Challa with a rueful grin. “He is a wonderful king but we do not always see eye-to-eye when it comes to when to stick our necks out.”

Tony nodded. Not seeing eye-to-eye with your father was something he understood intimately.

“But you don’t have to listen to all this,” said T’Challa. “Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve just talked to someone. Most of the time I have people who are looking at me for all the answers or they work for me, so I can’t be open with them. It can be…taxing.”

Again, Tony nodded. He understood that. Being the only child of a very famous inventor and business owner, Tony was used to being in the spotlight. Growing up, people wanted things from him and rarely wanted to actually know him.

“Perhaps I should let you rest now. I will return later with food. Anything you would prefer?”

Tony would love to have a burger but there was no way he could communicate that to the prince. So he resigned himself to eating whatever the prince brought him. That, and giving the prince an unimpressed look.

“Oh, I suppose that was a stupid question,” said T’Challa, laughing a bit at himself. “I’ll see what we have.”

When the prince was gone, Tony curled up more firmly on the pillow and went to sleep, not entirely unhappy with where he had ended up. When he woke, he would have to find a television or computer to find out what was being said about him. After that, maybe Tony could get to know this prince more. He seemed like a nice enough guy.

Chapter Text

By the end of the week Tony had determined that it would be safe to turn back into his human form, but he only wanted to do it in the room he was staying in. He didn’t want to have to answer anyone’s questions. He had been getting along well with T’Challa. The prince seemed to enjoy his company and would spend several hours every day talking to Tony, telling him about his life, the country, and what he wanted to do.

When T’Challa entered the room in the morning with a plate of fruit, he found Tony sitting on the floor pillow – an entirely human Tony dressed in a soft blue robe.

“Hello,” said Tony with a shy smile. “Um, I’m Tony, the panther shifter. Thank you for taking care of me until my feet were healed.”

“You’re welcome,” said T’Challa, setting the try on the low table next to Tony and sitting across from him. “I’d like to formally introduce myself to you. I know I’ve spent the last week talking to you but now you’re able to answer back so…I’m Prince T’Challa but I’d really rather you called me T’Challa. It’s nice to meet you.

“I’m Tony,” said Tony. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

They smiled at each other before bursting into peals of laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“I’m sorry for crashing into your life,” said Tony after he caught his breath.

“You’re fine. Do you want to tell me what happened that made you run?”

“I was supposed to get married,” sighed Tony.

Something flickered across T’Challa’s face but it wasgonebefore Tony could figure out what it was.

“And you didn’t like the person you were going to marry?” asked T’Challa.

“No, I didn’t even know the guy,” said Tony. “I’m sure he’s a great human, I just want to love the person I’m going to marry before I marry them. Also I know my dad was using it was a business deal and I don’t like to be treated like a trading card. If I’m going to be treated like property it’s going to be the sexy type.”

T’Challa chuckled, shaking his head at the man in front of him.

“How did you get out of it? Did you just sneak out one night? Because, I’m sorry but you’re not from around here so it would have been an incredibly long journey for you to make it here.”

“Um, actually the plane sort of crashed,” admitted Tony, his face going sad. “People were hurt, I’m not sure if anyone died, but there was chaos and flames and I took advantage and ran for it. I know, I know, that makes me a terrible human to let my family think I am dead or something, but I just can’t go through with it! I swear, I’m not just being selfish – just partly selfish.”

“I’m sure.”

“Really,” insisted Tony. “See, if I was forced into that marriage I was going to be a pain in the ass for at least the first year. Trust me, I’m just that petty. And then I would be making my husband unhappy and I’d feel guilty about it because it’s not his fault and I’m sure he’s a great guy who is just as forced into this as I am. And then me being so difficult would just ruin any business deal Howard wanted. Then I would end up back with him and we would both be just as miserable as before – only worse because I had failed just like always.”

Tony stopped, panting, eyes wide.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” said Tony. “I did not mean to just unload on that.”

“It’s fine,” said T’Challa with a fond smile. He could see how nervous Tony was. It was a little endearing.

“So yeah, I can just go now,” said Tony.

“No, no please stay,” said T’Challa. “I know that you haven’t been able to respond with words this last week but I’ve really enjoyed talking to you. I would love to get to know you better. You could stay here – it’s near my quarters. I could show you around, take you some of my favorite places to eat. It could be fun.”

Tony looked at him skeptically.

“I don’t know,” said Tony. “I don’t have any money or anything to pay for things.”

“I’m a prince, Tony,” said T’Challa, eyes crinkling with mirth. “I think I can handle it.”

Squirming on the pillow, Tony looked around the room again. It was beautiful, he was sure that the rest of the palace and country would be beautiful too. And T’Challa was nice. Tony had loved everything he had learned about him so far. His stomach got all fluttery when the prince decided to spend his free time with Tony even when Tony couldn’t do anything for him – or even verbally respond to him. T’Challa didn’t seem to want anything from him and Tony was halfway to adoring him already.

“Okay,” said Tony.

T’Challa smiled at Tony. The prince could tell that Tony was a bit reluctant but he could also tell that he was smart and kind and thoughtful and when he had run away, it was because he was scared.

“Let’s go get a late breakfast,” said T’Challa, pulling Tony to his feet. “And over breakfast you can tell me about your favorite books.”

“Will there be coffee?” asked Tony, falling into step next to the prince with a bright smile.

“Yes,” chuckled T’Challa.

It was not how he had expected to meet the man his father had arranged for him to marry but T’Challa thought it was better this way. Now he had a chance to woo his husband properly. T’Challa smiled down at his future, more excited about it than he had been since his father had announced it months ago.

"Wait, can you GROW the coffee here?" said Tony when they passed a window overlooking the garden. "I love it here!"

Yes, it was going to be fine."