The final day of a tribal gather was intended to be restful and relaxing. After days of meetings – formal and otherwise – and competitions among all of those who cared to participate, the last day was for simply enjoying the company of those others. Some of whom might not be seen until the next gathering, as long as nothing came up. Particularly among the Jabari and the Border tribes.

As such, when Peter mentioned to Tony and Pepper that he was going to go to the field with some of the others, Tony had simply waved him off and told him to have fun – and stay away from porcupines. Which had made Peter – and a couple of the other boys – smile and nod their agreement. Peter wasn't the only boy heading to the field that was bearing the marks of the encounter with the porcupine.

Azoru was waiting with his cousin and a few other boys from different tribes – as well as several girls and young women. Just because the pressure of the competitions was off of them, it didn't mean that the boys weren't going to show off when they had a chance – especially if they had a particular girl in mind. Peter wasn't a natural showoff – although he knew that Tony was – but he wasn't immune to the idea of doing the best that he could when he was doing all of the activities that they had planned in the field to make Shuri smile at only him.

The Jabari noble was holding the bow that Clint had given him when he'd first visited the compound. The hard case was open and propped against a tree. Azoru was showing it to the other boys, who were clearly impressed with it. As well they should be, Peter knew, since it was a prize.

"How man arrows have you lost?" Peter asked, when he was close enough that he didn't have to raise his voice.

"None," Azoru replied. "I have been very careful."

"And he makes arrows to use with it, instead of using the ones that were gifted to him," his cousin added.

"Smart." Peter looked down the field at a makeshift target that had been propped against a tree. "Show us what you can do, Robin Hood."

The reference wasn't known to any of them, but Azoru snapped his fingers, and his cousin rolled his eyes, amused, and handed him an arrow. All of the teens moved to the side and watched as Azoru knocked the arrow, took aim and then fired. With a satisfying thunk, the arrow hit the target, and the crowd cheered their approval.

Azoru fired off several more, and Peter was pleased when they all hit the target, as well.

"You're really good," he said, impressed.

The young Jabari preened.

"Thank you. It is easy when you have such a fine weapon."

"There is much skill involved, as well," Shuri told him.

It obviously pleased Azoru that she added that, even though Peter knew she was sincere.

"Would you like to try it?" Azoru asked, offering her the bow.

Shuri smiled, and glanced at Peter before stepping up and accepting it.

"Thank you."

She wasn't above wanting to show off, either, of course.

OOOOOOOOO

"What's the plan for tonight?" Natasha asked as the adults of the Avenger tribe gathered in their tent to decide what they were going to do that day, and how they were going to disperse themselves for the final bonfires of the gathering. "I suppose we can't all stick around here to watch Peter…"

Pepper wasn't the only one to smile at that, and she shook her head.

"I think there is probably a tradition that says we have to visit the other bonfires – I know there's one that says at least one of us has to attend the host's bonfire."

"I'll go to the Jabari one," Strange said. "M'Baku is speaking, and I think his is going to be about the changes wrought so far since there has been more contact with the outside world. It should be interesting."

"I'll go to the merchants," Wong told them.

He was interested in every aspect of the Wakandan society and had yet to have a chance to really dig into the commerce side of things. Who better to talk to than the merchant tribe, right?

The others divided themselves up, as well. As much as Tony and Pepper both wanted to watch Peter at the bonfire that night, they had had to make an appearance at T'Challa's, since they were for all intents and purposes the elders of the Avenger tribe. And they – for the same reason – needed to attend the River tribe's as they were the hosts of the gathering. So they gave Natasha the responsibility of making sure Peter had support from the audience, and she promised to record it so they could all watch it, later.

"Do you know what he's going to talk about?" Pepper asked Tony when they broke up their impromptu meeting to go enjoy their last full day of the gathering.

"He said he was still working it out in his mind when I asked him if he needed any help," Stark replied with a shrug, as they boarded the ferry. "That was yesterday, and he hasn't come to me asking for any suggestions, so I'm assuming that he has it figured out."

"Maybe I should ask him…" she murmured, looking toward the field across the river where they knew that he was going to be, just then.

Tony smiled, taking her hand.

"Or you can come shopping with me and see if they're having any clearance sales on anything that we can use as souvenirs for everyone back home."

She shook her head, amused.

"You don't think we have enough junk, already?"

He tapped her nose.

"Not junk, my dear. This is the craftmanship of your fellow Wakandans." And most of it was very high quality, Pepper knew. "But in answer to your question; no. I think that you have a million people at the tower who would love to have something authentic straight from the secretive country of Wakanda – or even some kind of souvenir that doesn't have 'Made in China' stamped on the bottom of it."

Pepper smirked, pleased at just how good a mood he was in – and felt herself responding equally cheerfully. They should have gatherings more often.

"I suppose I could find something for the secretaries…"

"Yes."

"And maybe the VPs…"

Tony shrugged.

"Probably."

"And the janitors…"

"Peter already got them presents."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

She'd actually been half-joking, but she could tell that her husband wasn't.

"He showed them to me. Not all the janitors," he added. "Just the ones that keep his rooms at the tower from getting dusty and smelly since he doesn't use them. He also picked up presents for the people that work in the cafeteria."

Peter saw them quite a bit, especially since he'd begun doing homeschooling at the tower. Lunch was almost always in the cafeteria, there, and the boy was a favorite with the workers. The older women babied him, outrageously, making sure that he always ordered enough food for their growing boy and the younger people spent plenty of time talking about movies with him as he worked his way through the deli line, or the grill area.

"What did he get them?" she asked, curiously, as the ferry hit the other side of the river and they waved a thank you to the ferrymen and headed for the center of the gathering – and the marketplace.

"Mostly jewelry and carvings," was the reply. "They'll appreciate it, and the stones aren't so precious that Peter will have to marry any of them. Just-"

He was interrupted when his watch chimed at him, and Tony frowned.

"Stephen?"

"Hey." The sorcerer didn't sound too concerned, but there was definitely a tenseness in his tone. "Where are you?"

"We just got off the ferry. You?"

"I'm at the field," came the reply.

"Do I even want to know why?" Stark asked.

"Apparently Shuri stabbed Peter."

"Accidentally," they heard Peter said – and even through the watch's communications they could hear the amusement in the boy's voice, which made Pepper and Tony both feel a little of the automatic tension they'd felt ease a bit. "I'm fine."

"Is he fine, Stephen?" Pepper asked.

"I've already managed to stop the bleeding. It isn't bad, but I assumed that you'd want to know."

"We'll be right there."

"Don't hurry, or anything," they heard Peter tell them. "I'm fine."

The communication ended and Tony shrugged.

"Guess we'll shop for your secretaries, later."

"Yes."