In the interest of being honest, Peter did call Shuri. It was hardly an arduous chore, after all, and he wanted to catch up on anything she'd done interesting that day. Strange smirked and vanished – no doubt heading to the sanctum for a moment to check on whatever spell he was going to try using – and Peter settled on the edge of the couch, turned toward the large TV on the wall. Karen helpfully dialed for him, and a moment later Shuri was looking at him, cheerfully.
"Hello, Peter my love."
He smiled, wondering if she was being sincere, or if she was just messing with T'Challa. Either was fine with him, of course, and both were equally appealing to him. Enough to make him reply in similar fashion.
"Hi, Shuri. You look ravishing."
Her eyes were even more amused, now, and there was enough mischief in her expression that he knew T'Challa was almost certainly able to hear their exchange.
"Thank you. Is everything alright?"
He nodded.
"I'm just checking in with you. Making sure you don't need anything before I begin any evening activities. How are you doing?"
"We are well." She smiled at someone off to the side before looking back at him. "T'Challa says to tell you hello."
Which made Peter grin.
"What are you guys up to?"
"I am showing him an update I made for his mantel."
"The Black Panther one?"
"Yes." She smirked, looking like every little sister ever born when talking about an older sibling. "He is not impressed by my addition."
The girl was suddenly pushed slightly to the side as the king of Wakanda moved into the camera, looking at Peter.
"She wants to give me a parachute, Peter."
"It is a sound piece of safety equi-"
"I am not going to be jumping out of airplanes," he told her – and it was obvious that it hadn't been the first time. "Tell her I do not need a parachute, Peter."
"Oh." The boy hesitated, unwilling to be caught in the middle of that conversation. He smiled. "I think I hear Tony calling."
Shuri frowned.
"I do not hear anything…"
"Peter… dinner…"
She rolled her eyes, amused.
"I saw your lips moving…"
He allowed his own eyes to widen in shocked innocence.
"Whaaaat?"
T'Challa chuckled.
"When does Tony want her at the compound, Friday?"
"I'm not completely sure," Peter admitted.
"Have him call me, please."
"I will, T'Challa. Good luck with your conversation."
"I need it," he assured the teen.
"I will call you later," Shuri told Peter.
"I'll be waiting."
He smiled and ended the call.
"Tony is coming here," Karen told him before he had a chance to even stand up.
"Just Tony?"
"No. Pepper, Natasha, Pete, and Wong are with him."
Peter looked around, making sure that he, Pete, or Ned hadn't left something gross out on the coffee table, or the floor, but the place looked okay. Peter wasn't really a slob, or anything, but he was a teen and knew that he sometimes became a bit lazy when it came to cleaning his rooms.
"Not Stephen?"
"He is not returned."
"Oh." Peter tossed a towel into the bathroom and closed the door behind it. "Are they bringing Nutmeg?"
"Yes."
A couple of minutes later there was a knock on the door, and he was always gratified when they waited for a response before coming into his quarters. It was different, of course, when he was hurt or sick and couldn't come open the door for them, but an indication of their willingness to allow him privacy (and the respect in admitting that he was old enough to deserve it). He opened the door and stood to the side so everyone could enter.
"We're going to do our little experiment here," Tony said, walking in and immediately looking at the screen to see if Peter was talking to Shuri. "How's she doing?"
"Shuri?"
"Duh."
Peter smiled and shrugged.
"She's having a bit of a conversation with T'Challa about putting a parachute in his Black Panther suit. He says he doesn't need it."
"If it'll make her feel better about things and it doesn't affect the quality of his suit, he might as well give in," Tony said, offering Pepper and Natasha the couch, and at the same time handing Nutmeg over to Peter.
"You should have a parachute in your suit, too," Pepper said.
"I don't need one," he told her. "Unlike T'Challa, my suits are fully integrated by Friday, and she wouldn't allow me to crash and burn."
"Still…"
"Where's Stephen?" Tony asked, more to cut that particular conversation short – although the sorcerer supreme was needed, since it was his experiment, after all.
"He left a little while ago."
"He went to the sanctum," Wong answered. "We're going to need an object to attach the trace spell to, and he went to get it."
"What are you going to use?" Pete asked, curiously, sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa, while Tony sat beside Pepper and Wong went over to stand to the side of the TV and lean against the wall, easily. "Something little, right? He's still a baby."
Tony rolled his eyes, but Wong nodded.
"A marble."
Before anyone could reply to that, Tony's watch beeped, and when he pressed the communication button they all heard Stephen's voice.
"Tony? Where are you?"
"We're all in Peter's quarters."
"Anyone in his bedroom?"
The billionaire did a double-check of everyone in the room.
"Nope."
A moment later Peter felt a slight tingle and right after that Stephen walked out of the boy's bedroom door. He now had the cloak of levitation on his shoulders, but the relic immediately swept across the room to land on Peter's shoulders, instead, crooning cheer and happiness into his mind.
"Is everyone here?" the magician asked.
"All we need," Tony confirmed.
Really, they didn't need most of the people in the room. Peter, of course, since Nutmeg was his cat. And Wong and Stephen – or maybe just Stephen. Tony was there because anything that may concern Peter would definitely be something he wanted to be around for – and Pepper and Natasha were the same. Pete didn't have to be there, either, they supposed, but it was him they were trying to get back where he belonged, after all, and besides, he might as well know what Nutmeg was capable of doing. Just in case his Frodo exhibited any weird behaviors in his own reality.
"Peter?" The boy looked over at him, and Stephen handed him a small green marble. "Here. See if you can get him to eat it."
"He'll choke on it," Pete protested.
"Not if he uses his other mouth," Wong replied.
Peter took the marble with his free hand, and started to offer it to a very disinterested Nutmeg.
"Don't hold it, son," Tony told him, looking a little concerned. "We don't want anything untoward to happen…"
"Nutmeg won't eat me."
"On purpose," Tony agreed. "But he's young, still."
Peter rolled his eyes, which made Natasha smile, and he set the marble on the end table next to the sofa. Out of reach of everyone around him. In the back of his mind, he could sense more than hear a quiet communication between Alec and the mind stone, and knew they were discussing how best to achieve their goal.
"Well?" he asked, silently, holding Nutmeg in one arm and stroking the kitten's ears with the other hand. "What now?"
"The mind stone is going to tell him what to do."
"Too bad it can't tell Stephen where the figurine is…"
"It doesn't know. There are no minds near the things, right now, so no one to communicate with at the source."
"Are there a bunch of rotting creatures?" Peter asked, curiously.
"No idea," Alec answered, cheerfully. "Now hush. I'm listening and you're distracting me."
The boy shrugged, and watched the marble. So did the others.
"What's going on?" Pete finally asked. "It's-"
Before he could finish the thought, Nutmeg suddenly stirred in Peter's grasp and turned toward the marble, as well. A moment later the kitten's mouth opened. Not the usual yawn that showed every sharp tooth in that little space, but the other one. The one that suddenly was filled with razor sharp teeth and tentacles. Despite knowing that it was coming, Pepper still gave a soft cry of alarm, and Pete's eyes were wild. No one said a word, mostly frozen in various levels of shock and awe as one of the vicious tentacles came out, carefully scooped up the marble and drew it back into the suddenly gaping maw.
Then the mouth closed, and Nutmeg made a satisfied noise and started purring.
Pete's gaze went from where the marble had been, and then over to the kitten.
"What the holy fucking hell…?"