Ned and Natasha were in the lounge playing cards when they returned to the compound. Both of them looked over at the new arrivals, and Peter saw that Natasha had Nutmeg in her lap, and even as he walked over, the kitten made a move for one of her cards, hooking it neatly with a claw and dragging it from her hand to bring it close enough for him to try and chew on it. Groot was sitting at the table, as well, but his attention was on the hand-held video game he was playing, while Rocket and Gamora were at the next table over. Rocket had an alien version of a tablet in his hands, looking at something complicated, while Gamora was sharpening a knife – reminding everyone who saw it of Natasha when she did the same thing to pass time.

"Who's winning?" Peter asked as they joined them – although Quill moved over to the other table, smiling a greeting to Gamora.

"She is," Ned lamented. "But I beat her at chess."

"Which is why we are playing cards," Romanoff pointed out. She frowned, looking at Peter. "You look tired."

"A little," he admitted, shrugging. "I'm okay, though."

Using the teleportation stone took a little out of him, and truthfully, he hadn't slept well the night before, being excited about flying in the Milano, and seeing Shuri and everything else that was going on.

"We got the tent set up," Ned told him. "The sleeping bags are in it. We left a space," he added. "I case we are able to set up a Bunsen burner to toast marshmallows and make s'mores."

Stark looked at Pepper, and saw that she wasn't any more certain about just how good of an idea that was than he was.

"Jury's still out on that one, guys," Tony told them.

Peter and his friend both nodded. They weren't surprised that it would need some thought – and maybe a couple of pairs of big, hopeful eyes? Ned used his all the time with his mom – and it worked, sometimes – but Peter wasn't as good at it, having had a lot less practice.

"Aren't you worried about bugs getting into your sleeping bags, leaving them out like that?" Pepper asked.

Ned frowned.

"I wasn't," he replied. Then he shrugged. "I zipped the tent door. The big ones can't get in."

"Unless they snuck in while you and Steve were setting it up," Tony added. "Then you're sleeping with them, tonight."

"Don't want that," Peter said, smiling.

He was Spiderman, yes, but that didn't mean he wanted to sleep with them – or with anything else that might want to sneak into the sleeping bag.

"Not to mention the little ones can be less obvious but more annoying," Strange added.

Tony looked at his watch.

"There's a little time before dinner," he said, looking at Peter. "Why don't you go take a nap and get some rest?"

By now Peter had learned that while it was a suggestion, it was also a strong suggestion. Not quite an order, but something that Tony (and Pepper) would really prefer that he did. The only time that they used it, for the most part, was when they thought that he was dragging, so he couldn't even be annoyed by it. Tony didn't play the dad card too often when it came to this kind of thing, after all – and Peter liked having a dad, now, and was willing to allow it, sometimes.

"Especially if you're going to sleep out, tonight, and get up early to watch the guardians leave," Natasha added, throwing her own considerable influence over him into the subject.

Peter forced himself not to roll his eyes; instead, he just nodded. No sense arguing, really. He was a little tired and he didn't want to be worn out that night.

"I think I will."

He looked at Ned, hesitating, because he had already left him to his own devices while they went to Missouri, and now he was talking about taking off, again. He wasn't being much of a host, and he knew it.

Luckily his friend could read him better than any of the others – and almost as well as Alec, who did it from the inside. Ned shook his head.

"I was just waiting for you to make sure everything is okay. I think I'm going to take a nap, too."

"My couch-"

"Outside in the tent," Ned told him, grinning. He knew Peter was tired, and knew if they were both in his rooms, they wouldn't sleep. Not with all the things that they could do, instead. "I'll try it out, and see which side doesn't have the giant rock under it before tonight."

Peter smiled, not fooled, but appreciating it.

"Okay." He looked at Nutmeg, but Natasha wasn't about to give the kitten away, just then, and her expression plainly told him that he'd have to fight her for him. The boy smirked. "Don't let me sleep through dinner."

"We won't," Tony assured him, making a shooing motion with his hand, dismissively – although there was nothing but love in his expression.

Peter left, alone and kittenless, and went to his quarters, thinking back on the conversation that he'd listened to Quill have with his mother, and all of the somewhat similar ones that he'd had with his own. Rather than make him sad, or melancholy, he was smiling when he reached his door, crossed through the living room and into his bedroom to flop down on the bed without even removing his shoes. It was good to keep in touch with them, and he was glad that he'd shown Peter what to do.

Without anything pressing on him to keep him awake, and the gentle exhaustion that comes with using the teleportation stone lingering, Peter was asleep in only minutes, and his dreams were only of planets.

OOOOOOO

"You don't have to sleep in the field," Pepper told Ned when Peter had left. "There are plenty of VIP rooms you could use."

"No. I want to," Ned assured her. "I can sleep in a bed, anytime. I won't have another chance to sleep in a tent for months, probably."

"Good point," Tony agreed. He gave a sideling look at Strange. "Maybe we'll take Stephen and go camping during a school break, before it gets too cold."

"Maybe monkeys will suddenly sprout from my rear end," the sorcerer replied, picking up the cards that Ned and Natasha had been playing with.

Natasha snorted, amused, and Tony turned his attention to Ned.

"You know where to find us if you need us."

"Yup."

"Go on, then. Have fun, but stay in the area."

He said he was going to go take a nap, yes, but Ned was intelligent, and that meant easily distracted, sometimes. Nothing had more distractions than the Avengers compound, after all.

"I will."

He got up and left, too, and the others in the lounge separated into smaller groups. Groot moved over to a sofa to make room for the newcomers – and to avoid being distracted from his video game – while Quill and Gamora left without a word, and Tony and Pepper shuffled themselves to make teams for cards.

It was Saturday, after all, and that meant downtime whenever possible.

Tony frowned when the cards were dealt, and he held up a Jack of diamonds that showed plain signs of small and pointy toothmarks.

"Why is my card gnawed on…?"

Nutmeg just ignored the reproachful look and waited for a chance to steal another card from Natasha's hand.