"We're not worried…?" Pepper asked, looking like she might be – just a little – worried.
Tony shrugged.
"A little worried," he conceded. "But not enough to go looking for him, or to tell him that he can't hang out with his friends."
They were on the ferry, heading back to their camp from the Merchant's bonfire, and simply enjoying the night – and a chance to be together. Especially since Tony was using the chill in the air as an excuse to put his arm around her as soon as the conversation with Peter had ended.
"I could play bad cop," she offered. "If you want me to."
She didn't do it often, after all. Of course, Peter didn't require a lot of good cop/bad cop from them, really.
He smiled at that and shook his head, only letting her go because the ferry was hitting the riverbank and he didn't want to drag her off balance as they got off the boat and send them both into the cold water.
"Nah. He's not going to do anything too crazy, right? He's smarter than that. And he has Alec to help keep him in check."
She rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see the action in the darkness.
"A group of teenaged boys against one ancient sorcerer? I'm pretty sure who will win if it comes to a battle of wills."
"He'll be fine."
"Who'll be fine?"
Natasha practically materialized from the darkness and Tony started, tripping over an unseen root and almost falling.
"You're not on a mission, Romanoff," he complained, only somewhat serious. "Put on a glow in the dark vest, or something."
The assassin smirked.
"Tell me you weren't talking about Peter…"
"We were," Pepper confirmed. "He just called Tony and asked for permission to go hang out with Azoru and some of the other boys.
"Doing what?" she asked, curiously, as they all turned toward the lights of the Avenger campsite.
"He didn't say."
"Think they're sneaking into a girls' bathing area, or something?" she asked.
"I have no idea," Tony admitted. He kind of hoped that was the sort of mischief they were getting into, though. He could deal with an angry father much easier than he could deal with a bloodied or battered son. "Hopefully it's nothing too outrageous. I didn't have the heart to tell him no, though."
"Want me to go check on them?" Romanoff offered. "I could see what they're up to and let you know if it's something that should be vetoed."
"Peter will feel you," Tony pointed out. He'd considered that, already. While Natasha was familiar to the boy and he'd once told Tony that she never registered as a tingle he needed to be aware of, he still would know she was there. "But thank you."
"We could send Stephen's cloak," she suggested, as they walked into the light of the dying bonfire, and were met by the man in question, wearing the cloak along his collar. "It isn't that far-fetched that it would come looking for him, anyway."
Strange frowned, looking somewhat sinister in the glow and shadows of the fire.
"What is Peter doing, now?"
Stark smiled at the instant concern in the other man's tone.
"He isn't doing anything," he replied. "And he probably doesn't need us spying on him."
"He went out with some of the other boys," Pepper answered. "He asked us if we were alright with it, first, and Tony told him yes."
"Why on earth would you do that?"
"Because he asked," Tony answered. "I couldn't say no."
Tony knew that he wasn't the only one who had trouble telling the boy no, so he didn't get defensive like he might have.
"Did you ask what they were going to be doing?"
"He didn't know."
"Is he leaving the shielded area?"
"He said that he wouldn't."
"That's good." He shrugged. "I could send the cloak…"
"No." Tony vetoed the idea before the ancient relic could twitch. "For the same reason we're not sending Natasha to keep an eye on him. He'll feel it, and then he'll know that we didn't trust him enough to make good decisions."
"He's a teenager, Tony," Stephen reminded him. "They are notorious for not making good decisions."
"True."
"Let's go play cards," Natasha suggested. "That way we can wait up for him without him thinking that we're waiting up for him."
"Good idea." Tony turned to the sorcerer supreme. "How was your bonfire?"
"I was incredible, of course."
"I recorded it," Natasha told them. "He used magic, and had his audience's attention from the first word and gesture and no one left because they were bored."
"I'll want to see that," Tony said.
"I'll send you a copy."
She was sending one to Wong and to Peter, already.
"Thank you."
OOOOOOOOOO
They walked in the dark around a small hill and then toward the west, away from the gathering area – although they were still under the shield, Peter knew. He could feel the tingling from the energy the thing gave off, even if it was invisible to the eye – including his own. Azoru didn't seem to have any trouble seeing where he was going, and Peter could see just fine. After about ten minutes, they came around another bend, and this time Peter could see a very small campfire with a dozen boys gathered around it. All of them were bare-chested, despite the chilly evening, and they looked over when Peter and Azoru approached.
The wind shifted as they walked up and Peter frowned, wrinkling his nose.
"What smells?" he asked, even as he realized that one of boys seemed to be rubbing something that stunk over his bare arms and torso.
"It is elephant dung," came the reply, and a flash of teeth against the darkness as the boy grinned, excitedly.
"Do I even want to know why you're smearing elephant dung on yourself?"
"One of the Jabari trackers told me of a people on the other side of the world who prove their bravery by sneaking into an enemies camp and slapping a painted handprint on their horses – to prove that they were there, and that their people cannot keep them out." One of the boys told him. This one was Azoru's cousin. "When Azoru and I pointed out that we have no enemies – and there are no true horses in Wakanda, any longer – he said that it would be a mark of bravery and stealth if one could do the same thing with a wild animal."
"Like a lion, or something," said a young man from the Border tribe.
Peter groaned, softly, and shook his head, while Azoru was quick to reassure.
"We are not foolish enough to try to sneak up on lions," his friend told him. "They are nocturnal and are dangerous at any time."
"Not to mention, they are on the other side of the shield," added another.
The device was programmed to keep all predators out of the area, to keep the gathering area safe from any accidental contacts with something that might not appreciate people wandering by.
"So you're going to sneak up on elephants?" Peter guessed, looking at the smear of crap on the boys' bodies.
"No." Azoru's cousin said. "They do not see well in the dark, that is true, but they are as dangerous as lions, and we don't want them chasing us back to the camp if they caught wind of us and decided to charge us."
"What then?" Peter asked, curiously – fairly certain that he already knew.
He'd been part of this story the Jabari guide had told the other boys, after all.
"Zebra."
"Yup." Alec had been following along, of course. "I'm fairly certain your parents won't approve."
"I know."
Of course he knew. He'd actually had this conversation with them.