"Do you want me to make myself scarce?"
Peter hesitated, looking at his watch. He wasn't worried about being alone with Nico Ito, of course. Unless the guy was a secret ninja and had some reason to want to assassinate Peter (and managed, somehow to hide that ambition from SHIELD and all of the background checks – not to mention Alec) there wasn't any real reason to be concerned. But it could be that the other boy wouldn't want Ned to be there.
It might be personal.
"It's regarding your grandfathers," Alec reminded him, unnecessarily. "It could be personal, yes."
Good point.
"Yeah," he said, smiling to his friend in appreciation. "He didn't mention having you here."
Ned shrugged. He was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that had 'May the Kg.m/s2 be with you' across the front. A gift from Peter and part of a series of them that the boy had found on an obscure website. He had a backpack with what he'd need for the trip to the compound – which wasn't much, of course – and was ready for the day.
"I'll go have breakfast, then, and see who's around."
Which meant he was going to go look at girls. Peter smiled.
"I'll come find you when I'm done."
"And you'll tell me what he had for you?"
"Yeah. Unless it's something secret."
"Okay."
He left his backpack but made sure to take his phone – of course – and headed out, closing the door behind him. Peter looked around the room, making sure that he and Ned hadn't left a mess for the cleaning people, and then sat down on the edge of his already made bed. He wondered if he had time to call Shuri. He'd spoken to Pepper and Tony the night before after returning to the room from the pool and he and Ned had given them a rundown of pretty much everything that they'd done that day.
Then they'd gone over the plans for the next day, even though Peter already knew what was going to happen since he'd talked to Natasha about anything that he needed to know about. He was going to have a bit more freedom at the compound than the others – including Ned. They were going to keep the visitors in a queue for the entire visit rather than allowing them to separate and look at various sections of the place in their team groups. It was going to make things easier on the hosts, since they wouldn't have to spread themselves out covering more area.
Peter was going to be allowed to leave the group if he needed to do so, and he was looking forward to having a chance to check in with Nutmeg.
"That spoiled kitten is fine."
The boy smiled at the amusement in Alec's 'voice'.
"What? He isn't spoiled."
An amused snort but Alec didn't have a chance to give any examples before there was a knock on the hotel room door. Peter walked over and opened it, not bothering to check that it wasn't someone planning on kidnapping him since his spider senses weren't telling him to be careful. Sure enough, Nico Ito was standing in the hallway. The other teen was dressed in khaki slacks and a polo shirt and Peter was sure that most of the other kids were going to dress up a little more than those on his own team who had already been to the compound at least once or twice and didn't have to worry about making a good first impression.
"Am I too early?" he asked.
Peter shook his head, smiling.
"No. You're good. Come on in."
He was carrying a small satchel, Peter saw as the other boy walked past him and into the room =, looked around and opted to stand near the desk.
"I called my father, last night," he said without greeting. Peter wasn't sure if he was excited or nervous. "I told him that I met you, and that you confirmed who your grandfather was to my satisfaction."
"That's good." Peter smiled. "I confirmed it, too," he admitted. "SHIELD was interested in what you told me when I told them about it."
"You talk to SHIELD?"
Peter shrugged, casually. He knew how impressive it had sounded – even though he hadn't meant to show off.
"Sometimes. Right now, especially, since they're all over the place with security."
"It makes sense," the other boy said, nodding. "Especially with you being who you are and your relationship with Tony Stark."
Peter was sure that Nico had heard about him being kidnapped, the year before. It was news, after all, and maybe it hadn't been interesting in Japan when it had happened, but once they knew they were going to meet Peter and Tony, then it had probably been discovered. He nodded.
"Right."
"Well, anyway," Nico wasn't to be distracted for too long. He set the satchel on the desk. "My father has given me permission to give you this and fulfil my grandfather's honorable request."
"Give me what?" Peter asked, curiously.
The boy pulled an oblong box out of the satchel. It was red velvet and worn on the edges, a sure sign of the age of the item. It was flat – about 3 inches high – and maybe a little smaller than Peter's tablet.
"This," the boy replied, handing it to him.
Peter took it, carefully, and noticed the hinge on the end, proving that it was supposed to be opened. He opened it, curiously, and was surprised to see what looked like a medal. An old-fashioned medal that was green in some spots at the top (or at least where Peter thought was the top) making what looked like leaves and trailed down to what looked like a cross on a metal ring. It was pretty fancy.
"Wow. What is it?"
Looking pleased at the reaction, Nico smiled.
"It is called the Order of the Paulownia Flowers," was the reply. "It is a medal that is now only given to senior statesmen and foreign heads of states. In my grandfather's time it was primarily only given to distinguished military officers. My grandfather was awarded it for his actions in the war and it is a token of the pride of my family ever since."
Peter looked down at it.
"Are you sure you want to give it away, then/" he asked. "It should stay with your family…"
The boy's smile widened; he was clearly pleased that Peter understood how important it was.
"No. Grandfather reminded my father that he would never have won this medal if not for the actions of the man who saved his life. He reminded my father that without the actions of Jefferson Parker, none of us would be here to admire the medal in the first place. It is right and an honor that you should have this medal. If your father was alive, still, it would have been my pleasure to give it to him, instead, but it is fitting that you should have it."
"Don't try to refuse it," Alec told Peter. "It's an honor thing and he is proud that he was allowed to do this."
Peter wasn't going to argue once Alec and Nico both used the word honor. He wasn't going to go through another honor issue if he could avoid it.
"It's my honor to accept this," he finally said, giving the other boy a slight nod, and wondering if he should bow or something but deciding that he wasn't going to – in case he ended up looking dumb and ruining the moment. "Thank you."
"You are welcome, Peter Parker."
"You won't be offended if I take it to the compound for safe keeping when we go there, today?"
"Of course not."
"I can't wait to show it to Tony," Peter added, cheerfully. "He's going to be amazed."
Now Nico looked proud as well as happy.
"I will tell my father you appreciate it."
"I do." He looked at it again before closing the box, carefully. "Can I write him a letter, or something?" he asked. "To acknowledge what your family has given me?"
"That would be great."
"Then I'll make sure you have it before the competition is over so you can take it home with you."
He was excited to show Steve, really – although he knew Tony and Pepper would be interested.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Thank you." He opened the drawer of the desk and put the box carefully in it for safekeeping. "I'm going to meet Ned for breakfast. Do you want to come?"
"Sure. Thanks."
