"Last one…"
There were a lot of groans of disappointment, and Peter smiled at the warrior of the Merchant tribe who had spoken. He was having a good time, really, but yeah, he was ready to stop sparring for a while. The challengers had come one by one, though, once he'd defeated Bartel so quickly. All of them were good hand to hand fighters – for the most part – but compared to Peter, they were slow and predictable. It wasn't their fault, of course. Peter had the reflexes and intuition from the spider bite and those attributes had been honed by hours and hours of practice with Steve, Natasha, and anyone else who would step onto the mat with him.
As a result, none of them had even landed a blow. Peter's defenses were just that good. He'd put all of them to the ground, some more than once when they had repeatedly tried him. He was careful, even while he wasn't holding back – supposedly – to make sure that he didn't inadvertently hurt someone by slamming them to the ground, and he made sure to pull his punches enough to not injure.
There was no doubt, however, to anyone who had been watching that he was a dominant fighter amongst all of the young men and boys who had attended.
Azoru stepped up, grinning at his friend.
"Are you worn out?" he asked.
Peter smiled, wiping his forehead with his forearm.
"Sure."
"Then, perhaps I will take my turn against you."
The spectators cheered the two on, but Peter wasn't so tired that his Jabari friend had much chance – even with the advantage of having seen the American fight many other people and many other times. The young man of the Avenger tribe was just too good. Azoru was soon stretched out in the dust, looking up at the sun – and at Peter, who was watching him, his expression clearly concerned and waiting for Azoru to speak up so he could reassure himself that he hadn't hurt him.
"You okay?"
"It is bad form to make your friends look so soft."
Peter smiled, offering Azoru his hand to help him up.
"You're the one who told me that it's bad to hold back at a gathering," he reminded the Jabari.
"With everyone else."
"I'll keep that in mind." He looked at the adults who had been monitoring the sparring for the last two and a half hours. "We're done," he said. "I am, anyway."
What the others decided to do was completely up to them. Peter was feeling the sun on his bare back and shoulders, and was definitely ready to call the sparring done so that he could find something to drink, and a cool place to stay out of the sun. The others were used to the heat, but he definitely wasn't.
"A very impressive showing," the River tribe representative said, handing Peter his shirt and smiling when the girls and women now started over to mingle with the group of young men and boys.
The males had all been aware of their presence, of course, but the girls tended to form cliques that the boys weren't always willing (or able?) to integrate with. Like Peter had noticed in high school – and even junior high – the females were the ones who decided when the boys were included in their conversations and activities. Apparently that was the same all the world over. Azoru had been able to wander over to talk to Shuri when she was surrounded by a gaggle of young women, but that was because he was her friend and had no other intentions toward her. He had, of course, but he was one of the few who knew that Peter and the princess were an official item, now – even if there hadn't been any announcement of the fact.
He would settle to be Shuri's friend – as well as Peter's, of course – and would find a different woman to pursue, eventually. Preferably one that wasn't an alien in disguise.
"Thanks." Peter took his shirt, gratefully, and put it on. "You think I'm good, you should see Steve and Natasha," he told the man, aware that the others were all listening, as well. "They're the ones that taught me, and they're way better."
The adults smiled at that.
"There will be many such impromptu sparring competitions this gathering," the Jabari warrior said. "It will be interesting to see them in action."
Peter couldn't agree more.
"It is hard to believe that anyone is better than you are…" one of the younger girls said, clearly impressed. "I have never seen someone fight so many different opponents sand win so decisively."
The young man shrugged, looking towards Shuri for a little help, since he didn't know what to say – or do. She was heading his way, but had been stopped by a couple of younger boys before she could make it over to him.
"I was fighting them one at a time," he reminded her. "It wasn't so hard."
Not to mention, the guys Peter had been taking on weren't hardened warriors, either. They were boys, for the most part, despite the impressive displays of some of their tattoos that proclaimed a few of them to be adults in their tribes.
"It was amazing," another girl told him. "You must have many suitors, back home."
Peter shook his head, again looking toward Shuri for some help, and finding none. She was off to the side, a little, still speaking to the two boys – and also a few others, who were taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere that the impromptu bout had created to make their manner with the princess. As well as some of the other girls, of course.
"No. Uh… none, really. I mean…" he realized that he sounded just a little pathetic, when it came out like that – true though it was. "Not really. I don't get out a lot," he added, lamely. "Just school…" he wasn't sure what Shuri had told the others about them – or if it was something that was confined to just families and friends knowing. Did a princess allow the rest of the tribes to know about her social life? Was he potentially showing off if he told them that he was dating her? Or breaking some kind of unwritten rule or tradition? Peter wasn't sure, and he didn't want to throw a pallor over his gathering by screwing up and saying something that he shouldn't.
Luckily for him, Azoru was his friend, and was Shuri's friend, and already knew the traditions and unwritten rules among the nobles and commonfolk alike. While he was (privately) amused at the way the girls were cozying up to his friend, he also knew that Peter was clueless when it came to the culture of Wakanda and her teens.
"Peter is taken," he told the girls – and the boys, for that matter. He saw Shuri walking up to the small crowd, now, but he never looked her direction. "Chosen by one of our own – and very much off limits, for she would not approve of your interests…"
The young woman who had been asking about suitors frowned, looking at Azoru, curiously – and maybe with a little haughtiness. She was beautiful, and influential – and her family was wealthy enough that she had many boys and even older men casting looks of longing her direction when she walked by. She wasn't used to being told that she couldn't have something that she wanted.
"Taken?" she echoed, looking at Peter.
He nodded, realizing that Azoru wouldn't have said it if it weren't alright to do so. He was his friend, after all.
"Yes."
"By who?" one of the other women asked, curiously.
Obviously they were all interested, and that wasn't surprising. To them, anyway. Peter didn't understand any of it, really.
"That would be me," Shuri said, having heard the exchange as she walked over. She glanced at Azoru, her eyes amused, and then her expression turned serious as she hooked an arm through Peter's, looking at the gathering of teens. "Peter is my choice, and Azoru is correct when he says that I would not approve of anyone attempting to take him from me."
Not the way she might have chosen to announce their relationship, but it was perfect, really, and she couldn't have planned it better. With those words, she'd thrown the gauntlet down in front of every girl there, and had made her intentions clear to all the boys, as well. She wouldn't accept any other suitor for her own attentions, and would throw down with any of the women or girls who thought that they were a better option for him. He – of course – still could make up his own mind about their potential future, but the girls now understood that she wouldn't put up with any foolishness when it came to him.
Someone with a little less confidence wouldn't have been able to pull it off, but Shuri was a princess, was brilliant, and had helped save the world. She knew who she was, and what she was worth. Even more, the others knew it, too – or knew some of it, anyway. Those women who might have risen to the challenge of her words hesitated at the challenge in her expression.
"He is a good choice," the first young woman said, backing down as graciously as she could.
Shuri nodded, and the mood lightened a bit as the rest followed suit.
"I agree."
Peter just stood there, uncertain what had happened, but pretty sure that whatever it was had been more serious than any of the sparring matches that he'd participated in that entire afternoon.
"I'll explain it to you, later," Alec promised, and Peter relaxed a bit since the ancient sorcerer seemed more amused than anything. Whatever it was, it couldn't be bad, right? "For now, smile and hold her hand and walk with her back to her brother."
"Okay."
"And then have someone find a healer to give you something for the sunburn you don't know you have, yet."
Right.