"They're asleep?"

T'Challa shrugged.

"I do not know. What I know is that they are in their quarters. I am assuming they are sleeping because that would be wise of them and Peter has had enough experience, now, to know that he should sleep when he has the chance to do so."

Shuri could have scowled at the response, but she was in a good mood and couldn't be annoyed with her brother. Not when he'd made it all happen. She was looking forward to having time with Peter and his friends and getting an opportunity to show off Wakanda to Ned and MJ. With as few adults around as possible. It was going to be a fun week for her – and for the others, if all went as planned.

"The welcome ceremony is set up," she told him, instead. "And a trip to the orphanage so Peter can check on Sirah, since Steve asked that he take a moment to make sure she needs nothing."

"The others do not know she is from outer space?"

"Ned does. MJ does not."

"So we will keep her occupied here at the palace while Peter and Ned go to the orphanage this evening."

Shuri nodded. That had been her idea, too.

"I will show her the palace. Ned and Peter have already seen it, so they will not be annoyed to be left out while they go to the orphanage."

"And she will not want to go to the orphanage?"

"I think she will be more interested in the palace. There is more to see."

The young king nodded.

"Then that will work well. Let me know if there is anything you need from me."

She looked pleased – and still excited.

"Just permission to show her everywhere she wants."

"She is Wakandan," her brother reminded her. "She can be shown anything in the palace."

"Including your quarters?"

He scowled and waved her away.

"Go decide what you want to do after everyone is back in the palace. We will not want to keep them up late – or you, for that matter – since you will be leaving early, tomorrow."

"Yes, brother."

She turned and left the council room, and T'Challa turned to Okoye.

"Everything is laid on?"

There was only confidence in the leader of his bodyguards. She nodded.

"Yes. They will undoubtedly have a very good time, but they will remain safe."

"Very good."

That was the whole idea, wasn't it?

OOOOOOOOOO

They slept longer than any of them expected to, but it wasn't surprising to any of their hosts. And it wasn't all day, or anything. Predictably, it was Ned who woke, first, and he sat up on the couch, looking around to make sure he hadn't missed anything while looking at his watch – even though it was still set on New York time, and he'd already decided that it would stay that way. That way he knew when he shouldn't call home to check in with his mom (which had been part of the agreement to let him come) in order to avoid calling in the middle of the night. His phone would automatically go to local time because it was synced with satellites, so that was good enough.

Since the suite was an interior one there weren't any windows, but Ned knew that there were plenty in the palace and that all of them afforded a good view of the city. He hesitated, though, because he didn't think he should go out without Peter and MJ. Not because he was nervous about facing the Wakandans, of course. He was too outgoing for anything like that. He just didn't think that he should go looking around until the others were awake, too, so they could share the experience with them.

He was just sitting back down onto the couch and reaching for his phone when the door to MJ's room opened and she walked out, stretching and looking as if she'd just woken up.

"Where's Peter?"

Ned shrugged.

"Still asleep, I guess." He wondered if she was worried that he was out doing something dangerous but didn't want to ask and potentially make things awkward for Peter, since her overprotectiveness was one of the reasons that him and MJ had broken up. "I want to go look around. Why don't you go wake him up?"

"You're the one who wants to go out. You wake him up."

Ned rolled his eyes and touched his watch. A moment later there was a soft beep and then they heard Peter's voice coming through the communication feature of the watch.

"What's up?"

"Me and MJ. Come on. We want to go look around."

Another pause.

"Shuri says she's coming to get us."

Proving that he could multitask.

"Should we dress up a little?"

The door to Peter's room opened, then, and he walked out putting his phone in his pocket.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea," he told them both. Of course, at the moment he was in jeans and a t-shirt, but he and Ned had both packed a pair of slacks and a button down shirt just for this occasion – and MJ had a casual but nice blouse and skirt that she'd wear when the time came. For the safari it was going to be jeans and long-sleeved shirts for the most part. "Shuri said the official welcoming ceremony is going to be before dinner – and they eat early, here."

"We don't have to do anything though, right?" MJ asked.

"Right. The Wakandans welcome us to their country and remind us that they're here if we need anything to make our visit better or more comfortable, and we reply telling them that we're happy to be here and we thank them for opening their homes to us."

"Not their country?" Ned asked.

Peter smiled.

"We're Wakandans," he reminded his friend – even though he didn't need to, really. "It's our country, too. It's the home that is personal to the people and the real concession that is being made by having visitors. Especially once we're off Avenger tribe land and while we're in the palace, of course."

"I'm going to go change," MJ told them. It wasn't like the skirt was uncomfortable. She could walk around in it for the evening. "You guys should, too."

Ned rolled his eyes at being told what to do, but he nodded.

"Yeah."

OOOOOOOOOOO

The throne room was decked out in all its usual finery, with banners from all of the tribes present, representing each of the delegates who had been summoned for the welcoming ceremony. They weren't in the capitol just for that occasion, however. Yes, it was exciting to the Wakandans to have visitors – especially members from the newly formed tribe – but since the palace was literally the seat of power for T'Challa, all of the tribes had a permanent presence in the palace in the form of dignitaries and representatives. These were the people who gathered that late afternoon to welcome their visitors – and maybe have a chance to get another look at Shuri's chosen betrothed.

Peter was the most familiar with these people from his many visits, now, and also with the help of Alec or the Mind Stone to make sure he didn't forget a name, so he was the spokesman for his friends, and after T'Challa offered up a warm greeting and welcome, the boy bowed, deeply, and assured the king – and his people – that they were very honored to be where they were and thankful to have a chance to enjoy the hospitality of those gathered.

The speech was (thankfully) short and the murmurs of approval told him that he hadn't done too badly. With a relieved smile he heard the soft gong that told all the people attending that the formalities were over and they could mingle for a while as they waited for dinner to be announced.

"He did very well," Ramonda said, approvingly, from where she was seated in a chair next to her son's throne.

They both were watching as Peter and his friends were offered a tray of drinks to choose from and then guided by Shuri into the small crowd of Wakandans to do some official meet and greets so they could get that out of the way as quickly as possible.

"Yes. He will make a good representative for his people if Tony and Pepper are ever unable to fill the role due to scheduling conflicts."

Running a huge business was a lot of work, obviously, and being Ironman was as well.

"Have you spoken to them?"

T'Challa smirked.

"What do you think?"

She smiled. Of course they would call and check in on things.

"And you told them all is well?"

The young man's eyes lit up with amusement.

"I told Tony that I was going to feed Peter cinnamon rolls for dinner and then take him out for a ride on a battle rhino."

"You didn't."

"I did."

She chuckled.

It was always fun to see the light-hearted side of T'Challa. It didn't come out all that often, really.

"You did make sure there is nothing in the menu with nutmeg or cinnamon, right?"

They both knew that the palace cooks loved to outdo themselves showing off when guests came, and that might include importing something that didn't normally grow in Wakanda. Like cinnamon or nutmeg.

"I did."

"Good." She nodded hello to one of the members of the Water tribe who passed by the throne and then turned her attention back to the conversation – although she did change the subject.

"I will take the boys to the orphanage, after the meal."

"Thank you."