Peter wasn't finished with unexpected discussions for the night.

Ten minutes after he left Natasha's quarters, he was in front of the door to one of the VIP rooms. He knocked, softly, and Flash opened the door after only a few moments. The other teen looked somewhat annoyed and the expression didn't change when he saw who was knocking.

"What's up?"

"I'm looking for Nutmeg. Karen said he's in here, and I didn't want him to break anything of yours."

"Yeah, he's here," Flash confirmed. The boy moved away from the door, but went over and sat on one of the two beds in the room. Nutmeg was on that same bed and Flash picked him up and held him, fingers caressing the fuzzy head. "I was wondering how he got in, when I know I closed the door."

"He's a ninja," Peter said, shrugging. "Pepper says that he's probably using ventilation pipes, or something like that. Steve thinks he's magic. Just teleports himself into wherever he wants to be. He has a tracking beacon on his collar so I can find him."

Flash looked at the collar with interest.

"That's cool."

"Ironpig has one, too."

"I can't believe Tony Stark has a pet pig."

"He started as mine."

"They bought you a pig when they adopted you?"

Peter recognized that it wasn't said spitefully. Just curiously. Because of that, he was willing to answer.

"No. I was in Wakanda visiting Shuri and she took us on a tour of some of the various tribes. One place the kids were playing a game that's kind of like football, here, only they use piglets as the ball."

"Weird."

"It gets better," Peter told him. "The winning team eats the ball."

"That's ghastly."

Peter smiled, surprised that Flash would agree with him. The guy wasn't a monster, after all, he supposed.

"Yeah. I thought so, too. So I stole the piglet and all the little kids chased me around for a while trying to catch me and get their lunch back. Then, because they were proving to me that they could be proper hosts, they offered him to me as a gift when we left the village. Tony asked me what I was going to do with it."

"And you decided to keep it?"

"No. A guy and his wife live on a farm south of here. Pepper had it all set up for them to take him and board him for me."

"Then why is he still here? And why does he have sweaters?"

"Because he got a name and Tony wanted to keep him." Peter shrugged. "Pepper said it's only until he's too big to be a pet, anymore, so we'll see what happens."

"That's so weird."

"Yeah." Another shrug. "I'm a weird guy with a weird family."

"You're definitely odd," Flash agreed. He gave Peter a look that he couldn't figure out. "You're rich, and you're not stupid, and you're obviously more athletic than you pretend to be. Why do you still hang out with the nerds? You could be class president, or a jock. Definitely more popular than you are, now. Especially with the connections that you have."

The question was sincere, and it surprised Peter enough that he actually answered it.

"Because Ned was my friend before I was rich, or athletic, or knew any of the avengers. He didn't want anything from me. Same with MJ – although I haven't known her as long – and the kids on the team. They let me in before I met Tony and everything happened. I don't need to worry about them just using me to meet famous people."

"They're meeting famous people, now…" Flash pointed out. "This whole weekend they've been hanging out with a princess and then a king and always the Avengers."

"Because they're my friends and I want them here."

"Then why am I here? We're not friends. I'm a dick to you every chance I get."

"Because Pepper said so." The answer was brutally honest – and Peter wasn't usually that cold. "And you're on the team," he added. "She said that it wouldn't have been right to not invite you when everyone else was coming. I didn't agree with that, at first, but she's right. Just because you're an ass, it doesn't mean that I should be one, too."

Flash scowled at that. No one likes being told they're a life lesson for someone else, after all.

"If I had your connections, they'd be all over my social media."

"It doesn't work like that," Peter reminded him. "You wouldn't be allowed a podcast, or blog, really."

"They wouldn't stop you if you wanted to do all that, though. I've seen the way they all spoil you. You could get away with any of it."

"And someone with an agenda against the Avengers, or against Tony, personally, or some even someone who is just crazy and wants to hurt someone could come after me – and all of my friends. Make an example of me, and blow up my school in the process? It isn't worth the 15 minutes of fame to have everyone around me in danger. I'm better off being as behind the scenes and invisible as I can be."

The other boy made a noncommittal noise, and Peter wondered what he'd been thinking, trying to explain himself to someone who wouldn't understand.

"He understands," Alec assured him. "He just doesn't like what he's hearing."

He didn't explain, and Peter didn't ask.

"Anyway, I just came to get my cat. Sorry if he was bothering you."

"He isn't," Flash said. "I like cats and we can't have one because my mother is allergic." He made an annoyed face. "Like she's ever home enough to get affected. If you don't need him, why not prove you're a good host and let me keep him with me, tonight?"

Proving that he hadn't missed the comment about the kids in Wakanda.

It was Peter's turn to shrug.

"Yeah. I mean, I guess. If he gets annoying, just shove him out your door. He'll either come to my room or go to the control room. Either way, Karen will let me know if he's wandering."

"We'll be fine."

"Alright. I'll see you, then. At the gym."

"Is Leeds really all that good?" Flash asked, curiously.

"He's pretty good. Don't let his size fool you; he's faster than he looks, and his weight gives him a lot more force than someone little like me can muster. You'll see."

"Have you ever fought Agent Romanoff?"

"I've sparred with her. I've pretty much sparred with everyone here."

"Including Mr. Stark?"

"No. He's pretty indifferent with hand to hand. He knows some, but he relies on the suit to keep him out of trouble."

"You should have him make you a suit…" Flash said. He doesn't have any special skills, and he's Ironman. You could be a superhero, too. Pewterboy, or something. Maybe his sidekick."

Peter felt his face freeze at the first mention of having his own suit, and knew he'd paled – although Flash didn't seem to notice. He forced a smile – and it was a shaky one.

"I don't have time to be a superhero. I'd better go. Goodnight."

"Night."

The boy left, closing the door behind him and taking a deep breath, relieved.

"That was close," he muttered, more to himself, really.

"Closer than you know," Alec agreed. "He isn't stupid, after all. And Spiderman is his favorite superhero."

"What?"

"Crazy, right? The irony is so amusing that I almost wish that he'd figured it out. If not for your well known connection to Natasha and her Black Widow moniker, your new tattoo – small though it is – might have given it away with the spider webbing."

"I don't need anyone else figuring it out," Peter said, turning to walk back to his quarters – sans his kitten. "Especially Flash. He'd tell the world in a heartbeat, just for the ratings."

"You might be surprised. He's not as shallow as he'd like to believe."

"I'd believe that when I see it," Peter said, aloud.

But that wasn't a challenge to the universe, he added, quickly – just in case someone decided that he meant it.

Peter headed back to his rooms