Despite the painkiller shot that he'd been given, Peter's arm ached just enough that he had trouble falling asleep. Instead, he lay in his makeshift bed looking up at the ceiling of the tent – which was boring enough in the light of day, but was even more plain in the near dark.

"He took that fairly calmly," Alec said, recognizing that Peter wasn't going to go to sleep right away.

Peter nodded, knowing that the ancient sorcerer meant Tony. He smiled, though.

"You were just hoping to see the vein…"

"Maybe…"

The boy chuckled, but then turned his attention to more serious matters.

"Do you know if there's anything I should be doing?" he asked. "To get this fertility thing figured out?"

"I don't think there is," Alec told him. "If you want to know what I think…" and he didn't wait to hear if Peter wanted to know, or not. "I think the shaman aren't going to be able to do anything. They're not witch doctors – not in the sense that Shuri called Wong's curative for her cold voodoo – but they're more in tune with the herbs and natural side of medicines, and that isn't going to be the fix on this one."

"Because my problem isn't natural…?"

"Right. I mean, having a baby – or fathering a baby, in your case – is as natural as can be, of course. But the solution for this isn't going to come from having them pack a poultice on your genitals."

Rather than be embarrassed at the idea, Peter snickered, amused – especially when Alec sent up a visual of his pants filled with roots and trigs and grass peeking out from everywhere.

"What do you think, then?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," the ancient sorcerer admitted. "I'm not medically inclined, remember. I can heal the psyche, but the body is beyond me."

"But you're waiting for something…"

He didn't read Alec's mind, but he had a feeling, of sorts, that that was the case.

"I am," he replied. "My guess would be the stones are the solution. Someone – somehow – must have an inkling of what could solve the problem. The possibilities of the power stone are quite literally endless, after all – as long as it's applied, properly. So the mind stone might be looking for the solution, and then maybe it'll give it to one of us."

"Like it got the information from you to help Stephen and Wong figure out how to change me back from being a little kid?"

"Exactly. The shaman might be a part of things, but I think the stones are the key – or maybe the light, if there's a way to bring it back."

"It's on the other side of the universe by now," Peter said.

"It doesn't move the same way regular light does," Alec reminded him. "You know that. Not to mention it's been hopping dimensions. If there was a way to control it, or to get it here, it could be here in an instant, I imagine."

"Too bad it can't," Peter said, flexing his forearm. "I'd have it take care of my arm."

"You'll feel better by morning," Alec assured him. "You know that."

Peter healed, quickly, after all – as long as it wasn't something too serious. Those injuries took a bit longer – even for him.

"Yeah."

"Go to sleep."

"I'm not sleepy."

Before he could decide to get up and pace, though, he felt a magical tingling, and the next thing he knew, Stephen's cloak was wrapping itself around his neck as well as it could, and was weighing him down, already working on making sure he wasn't cold. The thing was cheerful and happy, and that made Peter smile. The cloak was a fairly good barometer of how Stephen was feeling, after all, and if it wasn't worried, then that meant that Stephen wasn't – which meant that Tony and Pepper weren't, either.

He closed his eyes, even as it started humming that familiar tune in his mind, and Alec went silent to allow the boy a chance to decompress a bit. Both the alien sorcerer and the ancient artifact were smug when Peter fell asleep almost immediately.

OOOOOOOO

"Rise and shine, sunshine…"

Peter groaned and rolled away from the voice – and the hand that was shaking his shoulder.

"It's too early."

He realized that he didn't feel the heavy warm wight of the cloak – or feel the magical tingle – so it must have already left him. Stephen had said that it wasn't going to stay, so Peter had assumed that it was heading back to the sanctum the evening before. He'd slept pretty well though, so he was pleased that it had.

"We're having breakfast with T'Challa, remember?"

Tony's voice was amused, and far too cheerful for the hour of day. Peter shivered and pulled the blankets over his head.

"We should have said we'd have lunch, instead."

The billionaire snorted, and ruthlessly pulled the blankets off, making Peter groan in exaggerated dismay.

"How's the arm?"

"It's going to fall off any minute."

Another shake to his shoulder.

"I suppose we could tell Shuri that you didn't want to come to breakfast," he said. "Of course, she'll probably be really disappointed." Peter looked over his shoulder, and saw that Tony was fully dressed and really was wide awake and ready for his day. The light coming through the beige fabric of the tent was proof that the sun was up a bit, also. "She might even cry…" Tony added.

Peter rolled his eyes.

"She's not going to cry."

"Because you're going to get out of bed and come to breakfast, right?"

Peter sighed.

"Yeah." He yawned and sat up. "He's a king, right? It's bad form to turn down that invitation."

"And worse to turn down a chance to eat with your girlfriend."

"True."

Tony smiled; the kid had no idea how much he loved him. No matter how many times he said it, and how many times Peter acknowledged it.

"How does the arm feel?" he asked, again, knowing he'd get a better reply, now that Peter was more awake.

"It's okay. Just aches a little." He stretched. "The cloak went home?"

"Yes. Stephen said it doesn't like getting dusty. He was lucky to convince it to come for his bonfire, since we all know it isn't that fond of being smokey, either."

"True."

"Are you awake?" the billionaire asked. "Or are you going to go back to sleep the minute I leave?"

"I'm awake."

"I'll send mom in, next…"

"I'm awake."

"And then it'll be Wong."

"Not Natasha?"

"No. She'd just as leave cuddle up next to you and go back to sleep, too."

Peter heard Alec snort, but there was definitely a note of truth in that.

"How long do I have?"

"Two minutes."

Peter frowned.

"Seriously?"

"No. But don't take too long, alright? Stephen wants to take a look at your arm before we leave."

"Alright."

Tony left and Peter sighed, rubbing his face. It could have been worse, he knew. He could have fallen face first onto that porcupine.

That would have been much more serious.

OOOOOOOOO

Breakfast with the King of Wakanda wasn't a small affair. At least it wasn't when the king was at a tribal gathering. It wasn't just the Avenger tribe that was represented at the meal; there were representatives from all of them. Peter even noticed that there were a couple of the boys there from the night before. Peter walked in with Pepper on one side and Tony on the other, but it was informal enough a meal that he was separated from them almost immediately as the younger people in the room noted his arrival and came over to pull him into their own conversations.

The boy didn't mind. It was a relief, sometimes, to be with people his own age. Even when some of them were so vastly different from himself. Shuri was at his side, smiling, as she took his hand and frowned at the bandages wrapped around his forearm.

"What happened to you?" she asked, frowning.

Peter looked at the boys who had been with him the evening before, trying to decide if she already knew.

"They didn't tell anyone," Alec told him.

It wasn't his fault that he could hear what they were thinking, after all, and this wasn't something so personal that t wasn't his place to say anything.

"It's a long story," he replied, smiling, and taking advantage of the hold she had on him to squeeze her hand, cheerfully. "I'll tell you later."

"Is it serious?"

"Not at all." He smiled when she didn't look convinced, and he gestured toward Tony, who was standing with T'Challa and Ramonda. "He isn't hovering, right?"

"That is true."

She knew that if Tony were concerned, he wouldn't be hiding it.

"Azoru is going to show us the bow that Clint gave him," she told him. "After breakfast."

"Yeah. I'm going to go shag arrows for him."

She wasn't the only one to frown at the unfamiliar term. Peter smiled.

"I'm going to fetch them for him."

"Can you shoot a bow?" one of the boys asked, curiously.

"Somewhat."

"Peter can throw knives better than anyone I have seen," Shuri said, smiling because she knew Peter wouldn't have mentioned the ability, and she enjoyed the fact that he was so multi-talented, even if he didn't put himself forward as much as she would have liked. "You should give a demonstration of that," she suggested. I am certain they would like to see that."

Teenaged boys watching knife throwing? Yeah.

"I didn't bring them with me," Peter told her.

He knew that Tony had told him he could show his abilities while at the gathering, but he didn't want to show off, too much. It wasn't really in his nature.

"I have several," she assured him, smirking.

He didn't roll his eyes – but he really wanted to do so.

"Thanks."

Before anyone could say anything more, the soft bell was rung, and they were all called to eat.

"After breakfast," Shuri told the other boys as everyone went to find their places. She too Peter's hand and led him toward the tables. "While we are eating, you can tell me what happened to you."

"Sure."

It wasn't – exactly – a secret, now that it was done, after all.