Shiller and Hela were back shortly, and Stark kept hinting with his eyes, wanting Shiller to tell him what exactly was going on, but Shiller acted as if he hadn't seen anything and returned to his original seat. Leaning on his stool, he leisurely sipped his juice.
Strange and Loki both had very stiff expressions. While drinking his juice, Shiller observed their subtle movements. Stark was the first to come over, with a straw in his mouth, pretending to drink juice as a substitute for eating sunflower seeds.
"What do you think is up with the two of them?" Stark gestured with his chin towards the opposite side.
Shiller shook his head, just smiling, and Stark felt even more antsy. He tugged at Shiller's arm and said, "You can't do this, Xier. Don't you know secrets are supposed to be shared with good brothers?"
Shiller glanced at him disdainfully and said, "As if you can keep a secret. Once you know a secret, it's no longer a secret."
"So, there is really a secret?" Stark's eyes widened, and after turning his eyes, he said, "They wouldn't be... you know."
Stark deliberately wriggled his eyebrows, but Shiller still ignored him. Stark then started his own analysis, but after a while, he couldn't find any clues.
"It shouldn't be that serious," muttered Stark. "I haven't seen any signs of anything between those two before..."
Shiller laughed again, apparently thinking of something funny. Stark couldn't take it anymore and hissed at Shiller, "Tell me now! This is my party, and I can't allow gossip that I don't know about!"
"Did you know there was a time when Steven would stand on top of the Karmajit Palace every day looking up at the sky?" Shiller leaned in and said.
"No way, why would he do such a silly thing? How is that different from being lovesick for a girl but too scared to confess, then running to the seaside to blow off steam? It's ridiculous!"
Seeing Shiller's expression, Stark's face gradually turned incredulous, but he still somewhat disbelievingly confirmed, "Really? Would Steven do something so silly?"
"Have you forgotten about the Supreme Magicians from other universes? Is there any among them who isn't silly when it comes to love?"
Stark had no comebacks.
He counted in his mind and noted that basically every Supreme Magician had tried to turn back time to save their girlfriend, with half of them not having complete control over the possible severe repercussions, one-tenth knowingly doing so despite possible bad consequences, and nearly one percent who had already caused severe consequences and continued regardless.
One hundred percent of Supreme Magicians didn't consider their girlfriends' feelings when doing this.
Stark was speechless for a moment, as if choked up, but looking at Shiller's expression, he felt there was more to the story. His eyes darted around again, then he asked, "You didn't get involved, did you? You and Loki seemed pretty..."
"This does have something to do with me, but not in the way you think," Shiller finally couldn't help but laugh. He said, "Mainly it's about Steven getting what he deserves, hahaha..."
"Tell me now!" Stark's burning curiosity was about to explode. He said, "Tell me what's going on with the two of them!"
"It's a bit complicated, I can't explain it in a moment, you could ask Natasha."
"Why Natasha?"
"Weren't you the first to look for her when you wanted to time travel?"
"There's time travel involved? Which one of them?" Stark looked around to make sure their attention wasn't on him, then took out his phone to send a message to Natasha.
Soon Natasha sent him coordinates, but they were on a timeline, suggesting Stark should go back and see for himself. However, now that Nick was back, it wasn't easy to tamper with things, so Stark simply asked Natasha to summarize it for him. Natasha agreed but said she needed some time before she could send it to him.
Stark was itching to know more, wishing he could press for updates immediately, but being someone who's enthusiasm often waned quickly, he soon found something new to pique his interest.
As everyone was busy preparing food and those who had been in the water came back to help, everyone who was attending the party seemed to gather round, and Stark realized there seemed to be a stranger among them.
"What's the deal with that kid." Stark looked curiously, stretching his neck to see in another direction towards Sky Eye, pointing at Miles and saying, "He doesn't look like the black Spider Man. How did he come here with that group of kids?"
"They're all young people; isn't it normal for them to become friends?" Shiller said as if it were no big deal, but Stark gave him a suspicious look, feeling that something was off.
At that moment, Shiller chose to discuss Peter's issue with Stark because he had just received a message from Peter asking Shiller to inquire about Stark's opinion on the matter.
"Do you know Gwen is pregnant?"
Stark was startled and pretended to stare with one eye at Shiller as he said, "Gwen's pregnant? So her discomfort is because she's pregnant, I didn't hear they had a pregnancy plan…"
"It was an accident," Shiller considered for a moment and then said, "But Peter said they haven't had any problems recently, although he can't quite remember how it happened."
Stark, somewhat dissatisfied, curled his lips and said, "What else could it be, obviously, he was careless. I thought he had finally matured a bit, turns out he's still just a kid."
After that, Stark let out a sigh and said, "From a scientific perspective, if there weren't preparations for pregnancy, it's probably best not to keep it. From a magical perspective, isn't there something about children who arrive unexpectedly being more likely to...? I forgot..."
"They both think this way, too. The arrival of this child has completely disrupted their rhythm and could potentially change all their future life plans, and they don't feel they can accept that change."
"Being cautious is good," Stark stated, touching his fingers, "After all, once a child is born, there's no turning back, and by then it'll be too late to start complaining."
Shiller nodded and conveyed Stark's opinion to Peter. Seeing Steve also engrossed in his phone—usually he wouldn't do this under such circumstances—Shiller suspected Peter had sought his opinion as well.
On this matter, most mature people would give the same advice, because they actually all felt that Gwen and Peter didn't want to change their plans right away, so if one were to advise them in the opposite direction, the couple would surely regret it later.
Rather than that, it's better to advise them to consider carefully, especially since they discovered it very early on, and given modern medical methods, it's basically harmless. If they hesitate any further, that may not be the case.
In the resort room, Peter and Gwen had made up their minds. Peter still felt guilt, saying, "I'm wondering if it was that day when we were both tired, so we weren't focused..."
"But I clearly remember…" Gwen, with a perplexed expression, said, "I'm starting to doubt my memory. We never had an issue with our precautions before, so how could this happen?"
"In any case, we have to double-check in the future. I booked the earliest flight. We'll fly back to New York as fast as we can and get a proper check-up at Elders Council Hospital before deciding what to do."
Gwen could only nod in agreement, but she was clearly still lost in thought. It wasn't that she was attached to the idea; after all, it was too early in the pregnancy, and what was inside her was just a fertilized egg, hardly a life yet. She was just constantly trying to recall which part went wrong, as in her memory, their measures had been meticulous and never failed.
This wasn't overconfidence on their part. They had been dating since high school, and after a year or two of a purely platonic relationship, everything became routine without a hitch. It was not like now, when the likelihood of making a mistake due to stress should have been greater during their studies.
Peter was equally puzzled, but he knew it had happened and brooding over the past was useless. He had to take on an additional burden, that of explaining things to Gwen's Dad.
Although theoretically there'd be no harm to the body, that was still her birth father, who had the right to know. He could already imagine being lambasted upon their return to New York.
Upon learning Peter and Gwen had returned to New York, Stark gave repeated reminders and even personally contacted acquaintances at the hospital, ensuring they used the latest technology to avoid any harm.
Although it was a somewhat regrettable situation, fortunately, there was no harm done, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon, the party atmosphere heated up, the barbecue grill was set up, and the ingredients were laid out in order. Shiller's geometric ingredients were already mingled together, and everyone gathered around the table enjoying the spicy feast, their heads covered in sweat.
Robert grabbed a bottle of champagne and shook it wildly. Stark didn't have time to react before he was sprayed in the face, thankfully he had already changed into swim trunks. He wasn't about to show weakness; grabbing a beer, he sprayed Robert in return.
With a wave of her hand, Wanda summoned a red light shield to block the splashing foam, rolling her eyes irritably. As she tapped the table, Jarvis smeared a clump of beer foam on her face.
Wanda let out a scream, gritting her teeth as she looked around, shook a can of beer vigorously, and sprayed it towards Jarvis.
Shiller sat on the other side of the table, away from the fray, teaching Steve how to use chopsticks. With the long sticks, one could snatch the best part of the spicy chicken from the box and also pick up noodles.
Hela, utterly bored, tied knots in her noodles while Polaris wrestled with the various cold sauce ingredients, exclaiming that she added too much one moment and too little the next. Bobby made faces as he struggled to open the seasoning packet, biting it to no avail.
After the commotion, everyone grew hungry. Squirrel Girl and Fungi Man took charge of grilling. Jarvis adjusted the fan to help with smoke dispersal. Everyone chatted leisurely while eating, and time flew by until sunset approached.
The orange-red sun gradually neared the horizon, clouds gathering downward, casting even more colorful light. The shallow waters by the shore shone clearer, and one could even make out the silhouettes of small fish. The light and shadow wavered over the shallow water, the gentle fragrance floating under the moonlit dusk.
With a buzz, Stark looked down to see a lengthy message from Natasha, and the first sentence shocked him.