"Where is Shuri?"

Peter gave Azoru a wry smile and shrugged.

"She went to the Merchant tribe's bonfire. Her mom asked her to represent them, there, instead."

"She is princess," the Jabari youth said, with a shrug of his own. He was dressed in an impressive tunic of black, with decorations of feathers, beads, and semi precious stones. The matching leather pants weren't so adorned, but were obviously fine quality. He was clearly ready for his turn at storyteller and Peter wondered if he should have brought something fancier to wear for his own stint. "It is a great honor for her to attend their fires – and a great amount of responsibility upon her to allow herself to be seen by all."

"Yeah."

"There is a place up front for you," his friend said, shrugging. "By my parents."

"Where's M'Baku?" Peter asked, curiously, as they walked over to the fallen tree that had provided the wood for the Jabari tribe's last few bonfires, and was also a perfect height and length to be a bench for many of the observers.

"He is at the River tribe, this evening."

Peter was cheered to see Natasha – Azoru's half-grown dog, and he rubbed her ears as he greeted Azoru's mother and father. They inquired about his own parents, and complimented him on his sparring, since they hadn't had a chance to do so, sooner. Then he complimented them on their fine gathering. Azoru slipped away during the pleasantries, but the fire was lit and everyone settled in, while Azoru's father asked how he was enjoying his first gathering, Peter had a chance to look around and see that there was a fair representation of all of the other tribes, there.

And not just for the refreshments that were being offered up.

The Jabari tribe was more isolationist than most of the others, and now that they were beginning to open up a bit, the other tribes were embracing them – as well as their products that were sought after.

Peter was in the middle of discussing the bee fiasco when there was a single gong that sounded, quieting them all as Azoru walked out of the darkness and up to a slightly raised platform on the other side of the fire that allowed everyone else to see him – and he to see them.

"How to be a host is an important lesson," the Jabari youth said to his audience. "A lesson that should be learned at a young age. Many Wakandans – most Wakandans – learn this lesson and live it as it should be practiced. That you are a noble, or a common person, a king, or even a farmer, or a herder, it does not matter, for the tradition is the same: when someone shows up at your hearth, it is your responsibility to be host to them. To protect them. To feed them. To protect them."

He looked at Peter, and then back to the rest of those who were watching.

"Sometimes that lesson is not learned as quickly and thoroughly as it should be," he said. "In my pride, I allowed the lesson that I thought I had mastered to be forgotten, and because of my actions a guest of our country nearly died."

For the most part they all knew the story of what had happened between Azoru and Peter, but this was the story that the youth was telling them, that evening. They all listened, transfixed, as Azoru told them of his actions; slipping Peter the drink that addled his mind and made him go crazy. And the results of those actions.

He told them of his anticipation of their guest being ridiculed. Merely because he didn't like having foreigners in his country, and explained without saving his pride how he had felt when he thought he was being brought back to the capitol to be rewarded, only to find that his clever plan had had dreadful consequences and what was supposed to be a prank had become much more serious than anticipated, or expected.

The young Jabari then told his audience how he had been disgraced – by his own actions, and how he'd felt sure that the only fate left to him was for him to be put to death. Or shunned. Or banned from his tribe. All would have been deserved, he told them. He told them of those terrible minutes when he'd presented himself in front of not only the royal family, who were looking down on him with shame and disappointment (as had his own parents) but also in front of the very person that he had wronged, so appallingly. And the parents who had almost had their son taken from them because of his foolish pride.

"I thought I was ready to accept whatever fate I had earned," the boy told the silent crowd. "For it was my own doing that had brought me to my knees in that throne room that day." He smiled, then. "But I learned that I was wrong," he said. "Because instead of demanding my disgrace, or my death, Peter made an even more outrageous demand on me. He told me that I was to come to his country. To his home. I would be his guest for three days, and he would show me a lesson that I was supposed to have already had learned. How to be a host."

The boy shook his head.

"I was shocked. And refused. I did not need a non-Wakandan child to teach me anything, for I was sure I already knew it all. But the very pride that had brought me to my knees forced me to my feet, again, and sent me to Peter's home. A place where I was treated far better than I had treated him in my own. A place filled with people who knew what I had done, and yet were gracious enough that they did not hold it against me. A place where the non-Wakandan child I thought would only use my presence at his home to remind me of my transgression gave me his forgiveness without hesitation. Utterly and completely. And taught me a final lesson."

He smiled at his friend.

"It is a lesson that I never knew I didn't know, until it was proven to me, and because of that lesson not only will I be a better man, and a better host to any who come to my hearth, but I have gained a real friend. A friend who will always be as a brother to me. If his Avengers would not have been made into a tribe, I would have demanded that my uncle bring him into ours – and that my parents adopt him as a Wakandan." There was a gentle stirring of surprise at that, for the Jabari was a tribe that few were invited to join, and Azoru waited until it had died down before speaking, again. "It is better this way, however. As my brother, I would have competed with Peter even if he did not realize we were competing. As his friend, there is nothing that he could ask of me that I would not give. My firstborn son, someday, will bear his name as a reminder of the lesson that I have been taught. A lesson of host and guest, and of grace and forgiveness."

Peter smiled at that, feeling a little embarrassed, but hiding it as well as he could – although he was glad that there was darkness enough around him that hopefully no one could see his blushes. He scratched Natasha's neck and ears as he listened to his friend, and heard the approval coming from all directions in the crowded darkness around him.

"That is all I have to say," Azoru concluded, in typical storyteller fashion. "Please enjoy the hospitality of my people and be our guests for as long as you would warm yourselves."

He bowed to the applause that followed his final words, and stepped back out of the firelight as the crowd started dispersing. Many went to the area where the refreshments were, while some came to talk to Azoru's parents; to compliment them on their son's tale, and to greet Peter, although most of them had already had the chance during the gathering.

As the initial crowd all scattered to their own conversations, and Azoru's parents moved to act as hosts with the other guests, Azoru rematerialized at Peter's side.

"That was great," Peter told him, sincerely.

His friend smiled, looking slightly relieved.

"I am glad to hear you say that. My father told me that I should have asked your permission before telling this tale, but it is an important part of me, and one I felt should be shared."

"I appreciate it," Peter said. "You don't really have to name one of your kids after me."

"Of course I do." Azoru rubbed Natasha's side, cheerfully. But that is for another day. Some of the others have told me they are going to try a new activity, tonight, and have invited me to come along. They also asked me to invite you."

Peter raised an eyebrow.

"More bees?"

There was a flash of teeth as Azoru grinned at that, and then shook his head.

"Nothing of the kind," he assured him.

"What, then?"

"I am sworn to secrecy. Do you want to come?"

After that bonfire story? Peter was pretty sure that he didn't have a choice.

"How long will it take?"

"I am uncertain."

"An hour?"

"More, perhaps."

"I'd better check in with Tony, first."

"You cannot tell him what we are doing," Azoru told him.

"I don't know what we're doing," Peter reminded him.

"True."

The younger boy tapped his watch, and a moment later the two heard Tony's voice, clear but a little faint.

"Peter?"

"Hey," he said, grinning, even though they weren't in a face-to-face call so Tony didn't see it. "The bonfire's done and Azoru and some of the guys are going to go do something. Do you care if I go, too?"

"Is it dangerous?" he heard Pepper ask.

Peter hesitated, looking at Azoru, who shrugged.

"I don't think so," the boy said.

"Are you planning on leaving the gathering area?" Tony asked.

Peter looked at Azoru, again, but got another ambiguous shrug.

"No."

It was a large area, and completely under the shield. Peter didn't need to go any further than that. If the other guys wanted to, he'd hang back. He didn't mind, and then he wouldn't have to worry about Tony and Pepper (and maybe the others) worrying about him.

"Then go ahead," Tony replied, after a moment when Peter was certain that his parents were debating how to respond to his request. "But if you need anything, call."

Meaning if he got himself into trouble, don't forget that he was Ironman.

Peter smiled at that, and nodded.

"I will." The call ended and Peter looked at Azoru, again. "I guess I'm in," he said.

"Good." The older boy grinned. "I will have my parents take Natasha," he said, looking around for them. "She will not be helpful for this."

"Oh?"

"You will see," Azoru promised, still looking cheerful.

Uh huh.

"No bees, though."

"Correct." He headed for his parents, with Natasha on one side and Peter on the other. "This is better than honeycombs, I assure you."