Chapter Text
“Please don’t kill Riri,” you step out towards the front of the cell, placing yourself between Namor and your roommate. The g-d has his back to you but you can feel the shift that happens. You’ve caught the g-d’s attention.
Before today, you’d been acquaintances who shared a dorm. Riri had made fun of you for studying folklore and mythology at MIT. You had offered to share your microwave mac and cheese at 2 AM while you crammed for finals.
That feels like it was ages ago now. Riri doesn’t say anything but you feel her tense behind you. She’s a genius after all; with Shuri in the other room and Namor intent on killing her, she has no power over what the g-d chooses to do to you for speaking against him. You are not a genius. Nor are you a princess. And you’re certainly not a g-d. You’re just an idiot who thought her roommate was being abducted and didn’t have the sense not to follow her. Now you’re the prisoner of a Mayan serpent g-d and his blue-skinned merpeople.
Namor turns around slowly, with an air of casualty that strikes a stark contrast to how silent and still the room has gone. His deep brown eyes trail over you, taking in every inch. They spark with something too dangerous to be amusement.
“And who are you?” he asks, his accent flicking over the words like the devil’s forked tongue.
You gulp, but hold your head high. “She didn’t know about your people, she couldn’t have known she’d be putting you in danger.”
He steps forward, the soft pad of his bare feet in contrast with the sharpness of his gaze, the primal grace of his movement. His eyes scan you up and down, taking in every detail of you. You try to hold still, but you’re sure he caught you tensing. The barest hint of smirk tugs at his lips.
“That is not an answer to my question,” he tells you.
He is close enough to the bars of the cell that you can smell saltwater on him, see where it glistens against his exposed golden skin. You’re struck by the idea that this is what it feels like to be caught in a riptide.
“I’ll answer it if you leave her alone,” you reply.
A twitch of his right eyebrow, so quick you’d have missed it entirely if you’d blinked a half second later. Something dangerous glints in the murky depths of his brown eyes. Your veins thrum with the urge to run. You’re glued to the spot. You can’t seem to look away from him, no matter how much Riri tenses behind you, no matter how much your own mind screams at you not to pick a fight with a g-d.
“I asked your name , surface dweller.”
There’s something in his eye. It’s like being swept up in a strong current.
“Y/n,”the words fall from your lips before you’re even aware you conjured them.
“Y/n,” he tries the name on his tongue.
He takes another step towards the bars of your cell, close enough that you can smell the saltwater on his skin.
“What are you doing?” Shuri’s voice echoes on the marble. You don’t glance at her, and neither does he.
“Princess,” he smiles, eyes locked on yours, “I was just meeting your friend.”
He finally, finally turns his head to look at her. The spell is broken. Your eyes dart to Shuri as he moves towards her. Her brow furrows at you, alarms ringing out from behind her eyes. It is then that you realize your eyes are wide. It is then that you realize your chest is heaving.
You watch Namor’s back as he moves to Shuri, his gait less predatory than it had been a minute ago when he advanced on you.
“Come,” he tells her. “We have much to discuss.”
The two of them walk to the door, which he gestures for her to move through first. His eyes catch yours again. His smirk is foreboding, an omen only a g-d could conjure. Your mind begs you to look away. You ignore the omen and the pleading and hold his gaze again. The smirk widens. He walks out the door.
You’re struck with the terrible feeling that this isn’t the last of your interactions with Namor. You’d acquired the attention of a g-d. It is not lost so easily.