"Are you supposed to be out of bed?"

Shuri scowled, but didn't even look up from her desk – or the 3-D display that she was manipulating with her right hand.

"I am not a child," she said, grumpily. "I do not need permission to…" she trailed off as he illness befuddled mind finally caught the fact that it hadn't been T'Challa who spoke, but that she definitely recognized the voice. She looked up, surprised. "Peter. What are you doing here?"

The boy smiled and walked over from the door, looking around with interest. He'd never been in her room, before – for obvious reasons – and it was an interesting mixture of traditional and modern; tech strewn about, haphazardly, souvenirs from her trips to New York and other places, and Peter recognized the artistry of the Jabari wooden carving on the wall above her desk. He set a large mug on the stand by her bed, rubbed Tony's ears where the puppy was lounging indolently on the foot of her bed, and then joined her at her desk.

"I came to check on you," he replied, noticing immediately that she was definitely ill. Her voice had that gravelly quality that only came with a cold, and her eyes looked tired. Not to mention the million tissues that were balled up all over the desk, the floor and her bed. "T'Challa said that you're not being very cooperative."

She rolled her eyes, but turned the display off, turning her focus to him.

"He thinks I am on my deathbed. Mother is no better."

"You look sick…"

"I feel fine."

"You'd probably feel even better if you went to bed like you were told."

Now the scowl returned.

"I am tired of being in bed. I have many things to do, and I cannot do them from my bed."

A few days of being sick had made her petulant and stubborn. Peter didn't mind, though; he'd been on that side of the illness before. He understood, completely.

"If you get some rest, you'll feel better and be more productive."

"Do not patronize me, Peter," she told him, haughtily. "I do not want to rest."

"You want to get better, don't you?"

"I will – right here at my desk while I work on this project."

She was over her surprise at his sudden appearance, and annoyed that it seemed as if her brother sicced him on her to get to do as they were all constantly nagging her to do. She wasn't tired, and it had been a long time since she'd required the services of a nanny.

"Doctor Strange gave me something that might help," he told her, ignoring her scowl. "He made it for me when I was sick, last time, and it got me on my feet a lot quicker."

Strange had come to Wakanda with Peter, Tony and Pepper, and had consulted with Shuri's doctors before he produced a large keg-like container that was filled with the potion that Wong had made for those at the compound to get them over their colds quicker. It would have the added helpfulness of making her sleepy enough that she wouldn't want to be out of bed. And would get her healthy faster.

"I have healers. I do not need your American voodoo medicine."

Peter smiled, wishing that Stephen had heard that particular comment, and decided to be a little more assertive. She was a princess, yes, but she definitely needed to be in bed. He reached for her hand, using his braced right hand, automatically, which worked out well because she would almost certainly have snatched her hand from his had she not been immediately worried about hurting him. Instead, she allowed him to use his hold to pull her to her feet.

"Come on," he said, coaxingly. "I'll even tuck you in once you've taken your medicine."

He led her over to the bed, and pulled her blankets back. She was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt – one of the ones Peter had bought for her – and that was perfect. She would be comfortable. Shuri sat down on the edge of her bed, and eyed the liquid in the mug when he handed it to her once she was seated.

"What is it?"

"No clue," he admitted. "And it tastes awful."

"I am not drinking this," she declared, smelling it, suspiciously.

"Please?" He didn't realize that his eyes were hopeful and entreating – which was devastating to Tony and Pepper, and even Stephen – but she most certainly noticed. And found herself just as helpless as the others around him to say no and disappoint him. "If you drink it fast, you hardly notice how terrible it is."

"That is not a rousing endorsement," she chided, taking the plunge and downing the mug of medicine, and then making a disgusted noise and a face to match. "Ugh."

Peter smiled.

"Yeah. I warned you. He says if medicine tastes good, people would get sick all the time."

"That was vile."

"He left a lot of it. You're supposed to drink it a couple times a day."

She shuddered at the thought, and rolled her eyes when he got up and pointedly gestured for her to get under her blankets, which he then tucked around her. When she was settled, Tony shifted from the foot of the bed to come cuddle with her on one side, while Peter sat down on the other, reaching over her to scratch the puppy's ears, affectionately.

"What is in it?" she asked.

"As near as I can figure, he found the grossest plants, ground them up in a blender and then mixed them with everything bitter and sour, threw in a dash of horse poop and added enough water to make it go down. It works, though," he added. "You'll see."

"It was nice of you to come here," she told him, her head coming to rest on her pillow, but her hand reaching for his. "How long can you stay?"

"This time? Long enough to convince you to get better. But as long as you cooperate, I can come visit, tomorrow, too."

"Really? I thought you were grounded…?"

"It means different things," Peter replied, shrugging. "No phone and no driving are the real punishments, but even if I wasn't allowed out of my room, Tony would let me come check on you. We're friends – and Wakanda is an ally to the avengers, so we definitely take an interest in her princess getting healthy."

"That is nice of you."

"You'd do it for me."

She nodded, closing her eyes.

"Of course." Her grip on his hand tightened before he could decide to leave her to her nap – and now she did feel a little sleepy. "Can you stay a while?"

"Yeah. Of course. Ned is sparring with Natasha, and Tony and Pepper are checking in with Sirah, so I have plenty of time to keep you company – and Ned gets Natasha all to himself for a while."

"He is at the compound?"

"Yes. We're camping out in the field, tonight."

She opened her eyes.

"Is that wise?"

"It's the field," he said, amused. "Not the Siberian wilderness. We'll be fine. It'll be like camping, only safer."

The princess didn't look convinced, but she shrugged, well aware that Tony Stark wouldn't be allowing it if there was any chance of them being injured.

"It sounds like fun."

"Should be," he agreed. "I start school, again, on Monday."

"Really?"

"Homeschooling, first," he told her.

He settled in beside her, making sure to stay above the blankets to keep there from being any gossip about him being in her bedroom in the first place, and told her about the plan to get him caught up to the others. Somewhere along the way, she drifted off to sleep, and Peter smiled, softly, looking down at her – and then at her puppy.

"It wasn't that interesting a story," he admitted, making Tony wag his tail, idly.

He got up, double-checked that the blankets were tucked around her and suddenly had the urge to kiss her cheek. He decided that that particular gesture probably had something to do with sleeping people, since he knew Pepper and Natasha did it to him all the time. Of course, Tony did it a lot, too. Feeling a little daring, and hoping that she didn't wake up, he kissed her cheek, carefully, and smiled when Tony stuck his nose in between them, licking his cheek, in return.

Another pat to the dog's head, and Peter left Shuri to her sleep and went to find T'Challa and Stephen.