"Hello my love…"
Peter smiled at Shuri's image on his screen.
"What are you doing up so early?"
She rolled her eyes, amused.
"You are supposed to say good hello, Peter."
"Hello, my princess. How are you?"
"I am well, thank you. Excited to come to the compound, later."
It was early morning in Wakanda, so while Peter was looking forward to the next day, it was already the next day where she was. Definitely a long-distance relationship if ever there was one.
"I'm excited, too. Did you sleep?"
She smiled.
"Of course. After I made certain my device is ready to throw pumpkins."
Her expression made it clear that she was looking forward to it, even if it was something that she'd never heard of, before.
"Is it?"
She hadn't really shown him – or Tony – the plans or the device, itself, telling them that she wanted it to be a surprise.
"We do not have pumpkins to allow me to experiment with them," she reminded him. "So it will remain to be seen. The simulations I ran were promising, however."
"It'll be fun."
"Is it cold, there?"
"It's November in New York," he told her. "Of course it is. It wouldn't dare rain, though, tomorrow, though."
"Because it would annoy Tony Stark?"
"Because it would mess with Natasha going shopping."
Shuri had heard all about the tradition of shopping the day after Thanksgiving but hadn't really believed it until Peter had shown her videos that he'd found of some of the greats crowds of people that went out all across the country. Then she'd politely declined the invitation to join whoever was going out. She was much more interested in spending time on the farm and throwing pumpkins with her friends.
Not to mention the challenge of creating the pumpkin chucker.
"Tell me what you did, today."
"You didn't see the parade?"
"What parade?"
That started Peter off with an exciting beginning to his tale of the day, and he was more than willing to share it.
After coming home and soundly beating Stephen at chess – and then Wong, who had teased Strange for being so bad – they had all gathered at the table to eat. Tony's toast had been heartwarming; a reminder to all of them everything that he had to be thankful for that year, and since he'd been looking at Peter, the boy had flushed with happiness. He, too, had plenty to be thankful for, didn't he?
Rather than allow all of them a chance to toast (and turn the day into a huge sobfest of happiness and warmth) Tony had simply pronounced it to be Thanksgiving and had gestured for the caterers to start serving.
The meal had been wonderful, and the conversation light-hearted. Mostly the cheerful chatter of people who were comfortable with each other, but held the underlying awe of people who didn't have that relationship with those around them only a year before. The meal was more than filling for the body, it was also fulfilling to their psyche.
Once the meal was finished – and none of them (except Peter) were interested in dessert – they lounged around. Peter munched on pie while playing chess with Pepper, while the rest watched football or played cards. It was a very laid-back day and enjoyable for all of them. Especially Bruce, who was able to relax more than he'd ever been able to, before.
Enough that when Peter had suggested that maybe Steve could beat the Hulk at arm wrestling Banner had snorted and told him that no one could beat the Hulk. Not even Captain America and his new parade balloon.
"It's on," Steve had told him, eyes lighting up with a boyish excitement.
With the outside staffers all departed from the compound by then, Bruce had smirked, and a moment later the Hulk was squaring off against Steve in an arm wrestling match at the bar since none of the tables were sturdy enough to handle that kind of competition. A few minutes of give and take and then Steve had lost in spectacular fashion, making a show of rubbing his hand as he conceded defeat with far more grace than Tony ever would have been able to.
Hulk hand looked at Peter, then, and the boy had shaken his head, well aware that he wasn't going to win if Steve couldn't. He'd found himself pushed forward, though, and a moment later it was his hand that was enclosed by the huge green one. And in less time (probably because Peter was a bit more intimidated by the size of Hulk than Steve was) the boy found his hand pinned to the bar, too.
It had been fun.
Then since Nick was there, as well, Tony had brought up the fact that he thought they were going to need a Christmas tree. Nick had scowled at the idea of any kind of long-term decorations in his compound, but a glance at Peter – who obviously liked the idea – had him shrugging, and suggesting that it could go in the lounge. In a corner, out of the way, he'd added.
"We'll go get one sometime next week," Tony had stated.
"A fake one?"
"A real one.'
"I don't need to bring up a million YouTube videos to show you what cats do to Christmas trees…?" Fury had asked, pointedly.
That had made Tony hesitate, but eventually he'd shrugged.
"We'll figure it out, somehow."
More relaxing, more spending time together and more food. Then Peter had decided that he was going to go make calls to his friends to check how their day had gone and to make sure they were all ready for the next day. He'd said goodnight and had gone to his room. A quick call to Ned, and then a slightly longer one to MJ since he'd already spoken to Ned that day. She was ready, she told him – although she did ask if Tony had finished her pumpkin chucker based off her designs and he'd been able to assure her that it was ready and was going to be transported with the rest of them the next morning. She'd also mentioned seeing him in the parade and had teased him, giggling at the interview that had taken place, after. He'd accepted that with good grace and was sure he wasn't going to hear the end of it for a long time.
Pepper had already called MJ's folks to let them know it was Steve that was going to go collect her in the morning, so she was going to be ready and said that she was looking forward to it.
After that, Peter had called Shuri, and by then he was sprawled, lazily, on his bed with Nutmeg on his chest, purring himself to sleep.
"It sounds like you had a good day," Shuri said when Peter finished talking.
He nodded.
"It was great. Thanksgiving is supposed to be about thinking about what you're thankful for and I have a lot to be thankful for, really."
She smiled at that.
"I do, as well." She turned and looked to the side, and made a face that made Peter smile. "I must go, my love," she told him, saying it louder than she had, earlier, which told Peter that T'Challa was probably somewhere close by to hear it. "I look forward to seeing you, later."
"Definitely." He sat up, a hand keeping nutmeg from tumbling off his chest. "Make sure you get a nap, or something, so you're not tired, later."
"I will be fine."
"She has more sense than you do, Peter," T'Challa said, putting his head into the display area so he could see the boy. "You should know that by now."
The boy nodded.
"Yeah. Are you coming?"
"I was not planning to," the king of Wakanda told him. "But the more I see of Shuri's contraption, the more interested I am in seeing it work."
"You should come," he replied. "It'll be fun – and maybe there's a practical application that you might be able to use in Wakanda…"
The young king raised an eyebrow.
"You think Wakanda needs to develop a device to toss vegetables that we do not even grow?"
Good point.
"Well… maybe not," he conceded. "But come, anyway. Pepper will need someone to keep Tony and me from getting too competitive."
"I will see."