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Peter stretched out along the couch, the TV playing Game of Thrones once again, though he desired to watch season eight he knew better than to do so without Shuri.
She would probably make a skewer out of his body if she found out he even watched one episode without her. They promised they’d watch it at the Stark residence as Peter would be babysitting Morgan and it’d make it much easier.
FRIDAY was quite silent but still responded to Peter even though Pepper had told him that he could always install Karen if he wanted to. Though he didn’t, it was comforting for Karen to be with May and Happy. FRIDAY was in the Stark residence and he wasn’t one to make those changes.
“Your girlfriend is on the phone.”
Peter turned his head to see Morgan standing in the doorway with a phone to her ear. He furrowed his brows as he told FRIDAY to pause to episode, the last thing he wanted was to scar Morgan by having her watch an incredibly violent show. Knowing her, she’d probably end up watching it when she was ten – or something. Though that was doubtful.
“Who?”
“Your girlfriend.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Peter stood up from the couch and made his way towards her.
“Princess Shuri.” Morgan made a face. “Aren’t you two dating?”
“No.” He took the phone as she handed it to him. Morgan looked doubtful and raised an eyebrow at him, not believing him as if she could tell that Peter seriously wanted their relationship to take that next step but didn’t want to at the same time.
“Shame. You’d look cute together.” Her grin up at him caused Peter to flush, especially since he figured that Shuri could hear their entire conversation.
“Be quiet.” He raised the phone to his ear and could hear Shuri laughing, and then raised his other hand to ruffle Morgan’s black hair. “What are you doing out of bed?”
Morgan shrugged. “Heard the phone ring.”
Peter raised an eyebrow. “The phone didn’t ring; I would’ve heard it. This is my phone; it was in the kitchen.”
The young girl ducked her head, caught in her lie. “The storm woke me up and I came downstairs and I saw Shuri had sent you a text.”
“So you called her?” Peter directed the question to Morgan but Shuri answered, saving her from replying.
“No. She said it was her and that you were watching TV so I asked if she could call me.”
Peter huffed out a laugh before turning his conversation to Shuri. “Okay, then, Princess. Why are you calling?”
“Can you answer the front door?”
Wait. What?
“Seriously, I’m drenched and Morgan wouldn’t answer the door.”
At least Morgan recalled one lesson she was taught. To never answer the front door alone and to get someone else or just ignore it if she could. Though she was never home alone it calmed Peter down to know she remembered it.
“Okay fine. What are you doing here anyway?”
“I am bored and want to finally watch Game of Thrones, so answer the bloody door.”
“Okay, okay, I’m getting to it. Geez.” Peter hung up and placed his phone on the table they were passing and approached the front door.
Opening it, he saw Shuri standing on the veranda looking highly annoyed. She’d probably been out there for a little while and Peter just hadn’t heard her knocking which he felt bad about but at least she was inside now.
“I haven’t been here for long.” Shuri said as Peter stepped aside to let her in. “And I have a bag of stuff, so don’t worry.”
“My brother has warm clothes.” Morgan piped up and grinned brightly when Peter snapped his gaze towards her. Shuri snickered, not even hiding her own grin at the splutter of indignation that Peter had before turning away from the both of them.
“Be quiet, Morgan. You should be in bed.”
“But I’m up now.”
Peter gave her a pointed look and she shrugged. “I’m also thirsty.”
“I’ll get you some water.” Peter entered the kitchen and Morgan trailed right behind him, her eyes bright and Shuri also followed. “Want anything, Princess?”
“It’s just Shuri, ya know.” Shuri peeked into the fridge when Peter gave Morgan a cup of water which she happily took, trotting up the stairs to her bedroom. “You don’t have to call me Princess.”
“Force of habit.” Peter responded simply and noticed Shuri was looking at the muffins that he and Morgan had made earlier that day. The kitchen had been covered in flour and muffin mix, so he was glad that he’d been able to clean it all up. “Tony was always miffed about it too.”
Shuri laughed at that, though he heard the slight strain in it. He didn’t blame her.
“I can imagine that.”
“You can because it is true.”
She hesitated and then turned to him. “I wanted something to eat, but I think I should put my stuff somewhere before that. I’m also drenched from the rain. It was a bit of a walk from the jet to the house.”
Peter nodded his head to indicate for her to follow him as he approached the stairs. “Come on then.”
He showed her to the bathroom where she could have a shower or at least dry off in and then showed her to spare bedroom that Peter was sleeping in but he reassured her that he’d sleep on the couch so she could take the bed.
Shuri didn’t bother arguing any further with him.
“Brother!”
Peter sighed as he entered Morgan’s room, she was pointedly sitting on top of her blankets looking at him. He gave her a look, wondering if he’d be able to get away with locking her out of the house since she is going everything she can to make this whole babysitting duty a lot harder than it needs to be.
“Morgan, you-“
“Should be in bed.” Morgan sniffed. “Is your girlfriend staying the night?”
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Not answering my question.”
Peter sighed. “Yeah she is. Now, can you go to bed?”
Morgan hummed and Peter stepped forward to sweep her up into his arms and moved her blankets back. She sniffed and clung onto his neck, whining about being let go. Peter laughed and ruffled her hair as he dropped her onto the mattress. She made a face at him and then pulled her blankets up to her chin.
Peter smiled warmly down at her; her green eyes were startling in comparison to her black hair. He pushed her hair back and kissed her forehead, letting her snuggle into the warmth of his skin, eyes fluttering shut as she felt at ease. Peter was thankful that she found him comforting and safe, he perched on the side of her bed, not wanting to leave until he could hear her breathing had evened out.
The last thing he wanted was for Morgan to sneak up on him and Shuri watching Game of Thrones and make a comment on the fighting.
He and Shuri could deal with the violence but Morgan was much to young to be exposed to such things. She sighed heavily and clutched the Iron Man and Spider Man plushies that were on her bed. The sight was much too cute for Peter to even bear and almost cooed out loud but was able to catch himself in time.
He stood up, feeling that she’d be alright to fall asleep.
Plus, he heard the shower shut off and the bathroom door open.
“Big brother…” Peter looked back at her. “I love you.”
Peter paused and bit his lip as tears welled up in his eyes, the dampness was amplified as everything almost came back to him. He recalled how she didn’t know how to feel about him but grew to like him and to call him ‘big brother’. The first time she referred to him as her brother was with company and she pointedly made a big deal out of it.
He felt as though he had just achieved something greater when he heard it.
Morgan also very rarely said ‘I love you’ or that she loved anyone in general that weren’t her parents. So for her to say ‘I love you’ to Peter who she’d only known for a short amount of time in comparison to some others said a lot about how much she trusts him.
He kissed her forehead again. “I love you too, baby sister.”
She snuggled into her pillows and blanket and he knew that was his cue to leave. The door shut quietly behind him and he sighed in bliss at the recollection of what just transpired. He smiled to himself and didn’t notice Shuri approaching him until she spoke.
“Why are you smiling?”
He huffed and opened his eyes, looking at her. Trying to avoid noticing how refreshed she looked after her shower…and the fact she had decided to steal one of his shirts that must’ve been lying on the bed that he didn’t bother putting away. That spare bedroom is practically his at this point anyway.
“My baby sister just said she loved me; can’t I be happy?”
“Yes.”
“Then I will be happy.”
Shuri nudged him as she strolled past him. “Come on. We have an entire season of Game of Thrones to watch. I don’t want to fall asleep watching it either.”
Peter laughed, agreeing with her. Plus, it’d probably last until the very early morning in the first place with how long all the episodes are after all.
~~~~~
It must’ve been about four am.
Peter didn’t want to check the clock because he and Shuri were deep in a conversation about the brief glimpses they had gotten from the Soul World. Neither of them recalled their time their vividly but it was odd to realise that everyone who was there could recall bits a pieces but none of it made sense.
There was no rhyme or reason for them.
Some said it was a nightmare landscape. Others claimed they were surrounded by loved ones. Some others said that it wasn’t different to the real world and they didn’t even know where they were.
The stairs creaked, causing Peter and Shuri to pause in their conversation. Peter frowned, the storm had died down but the claps of thunder were still quite loud and regular. He could see why Shuri didn’t want to fly home in such weather.
Morgan wasn’t really one to wake up from storms, so perhaps she had woken up to the sound of the jet landing because she wasn’t used to it. Peter was therefore he didn’t register it as something he should listen out for since he also didn’t know Shuri was coming over.
A soft whimper came from the stairs and instantly, Peter flung himself over the back of the couch. Reaching his sister who was holding one of the many plush toys she owned. Her eyes were rimmed red and sniffled as tear tracks stained her cheeks.
“Morgan.” Peter whispered, bundling her up in his arms once more that night before making his way back to the couch. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Bad dream.” She murmured into his neck, fingers curling around his shirt and he could feel the wet tears land on his skin. The smell of the salt was striking to his senses and he sighed, running his fingers through her wavy long hair.
Peter leaned against the couch and noticed Shuri had moved to let him lay down. He’d rather take her back to her bed at least but she didn’t seem to want to move at all from him, nor was he in any desire to get up. The couch was really comfortable after all.
“It’s just a bad dream.” Peter whispered. “It’s not real.”
Morgan shivered and Peter motioned towards one of the blankets, that Shuri collected and tossed it over the two siblings. The Princess hesitated as she watched Peter comfort the shaking child in his arms, and Peter could see that she was contemplating whether she should remain in the room or try and get some sleep.
The tiredness in her eyes spoke volumes and Peter shifted to the back of the couch and moved the blanket. “Come on.”
Shuri frowned and met his gaze. “Are you sure?”
“It’s big enough. Come on.”
Shuri was torn between letting them remain on the couch or joining them. Peter hoped she’d join them because he could only imagine what kind of dreams Shuri wakes up from, shaking in her bed that she tries to hide from everyone. He knows she must go through it because he does as well. Maybe even more than her, but he wouldn’t know.
“Fine.” Sighing, Shuri laid down on the couch, sinking into the soft and warm cushions. “You win.”
Peter laughed and let Shuri find a way to sleep comfortably.
He didn’t want to tug her towards him but when Shuri rested her head on his chest, he couldn’t help but wrap his arm around her. It was just comfortable and came as second nature, that’s all. There is nothing else to the action.
Shuri must not have cared about it, or she didn’t argue with it because she didn’t try moving his arm away from her. Morgan had also moved and blinked at both, curious but Peter knew her better than to think she’d let this go.
“Are you two dating?”
“Morgan-“ Peter started, sounding exasperated by her near constant demands to know where their relationship stood. It was amusing as much as it was infuriating.
“Your brother hasn’t asked me.” Shuri said, cutting Peter off on one of his many ramblings of how they aren’t together.
Morgan yawned, settling in to sleep. “Well, he better ask soon.”
Peter felt his face flush and noticed Shuri’s smug and amused look that she sent him. He turned his head away and was half tempted to push Morgan off him and leave the girls on the couch while he retreated to his bed.
But, Morgan would follow him, whining about how ‘as her big brother he shouldn’t push her around because then he’s just being mean’, and Shuri would follow just to amuse Morgan. Or to troll Peter, who knows.
“Yeah, he better.”
Peter huffed. “It’s late.”
“It’s actually really early, Spidey.”
“We should sleep.”
Shuri snorted and Morgan seemed to drop off to sleep within mere moments. Her breathing indicated as much. Shuri followed suit a few seconds later. As much as the couch was large, Shuri still had to rest directly against him, especially since his arm was still around her. That she still didn’t move away.
Peter kept his sigh to himself. This was his fate now so he might as well accept it and go to sleep.
Trapped by his baby sister and the girl who basically gave him the go ahead to ask her out.
That’s how they were found at nine the next morning.
Peter sound asleep on the couch with Morgan and Shuri both resting either on him or against him. Both of which were equally just as asleep as him. The blanket was wrapped tight around them as a soft music tune played through the house as FRIDAY figured that it would help them with their sleeping.
While Morgan looked content, Shuri and Peter looked pleased and well rested.
As if night horrors and memories hadn’t resurfaced during the night.