Peter figured that he must be getting better. Healthier, anyway. Tony and Stephen walked him to his room, but neither had stayed once the doctor had checked him out, quickly, and Tony had helped him out of the dress clothing that he was wearing and into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. They'd simply asked if he needed anything and when he'd shaken his head, they'd left, reminding him to have Karen tell Friday if he needed anything.

No one was hovering, and that was always a good sign, right?

"Incoming call from Ned."

"Thanks, Karen." He didn't bother with his phone. Instead, he propped himself against the mountain of pillows on his bed, facing the TV. "Put him on the TV, will you please?"

A moment later his friend came on the screen.

"Hey."

"Hi. How was homecoming?"

Ned's expression was a little concerned.

"Have you heard anything about it?"

"No. I've been busy, tonight. Why? What happened?"

"Nothing. There was some dancing and food. What did you do? How were you busy?"

"Pepper and Tony set up a private homecoming dance for me, since I couldn't go to the one at school."

"That's cool."

"Yeah. It was great. Shuri was there, and Clint brought his kids and his wife, and Dena and the guardians were – "

"Was Sirah there?"

"Yeah. She didn't dance, though. I think she thinks we're crazy, really."

"Did she have something hot on?"

Peter rolled his eyes.

"Just a dress."

"Did you get pictures of Natasha?"

"I didn't take any pictures," he admitted to his friend, smiling when Nutmeg suddenly jumped up onto the bed and walked across his chest. The kitten was light enough, still, that he didn't even make Peter's bandaged arm hurt when he stuck his little body into the space between Peter's sling and his side. "But there probably are some good ones. I'll see what Karen can find, in the morning, and send them out to you. None with aliens, though."

"Sirah doesn't even look like an alien," Ned pointed out. "Not like the girl with the antennae on her head – or Gamora. Find some with her, too."

"I'll think about it." He hesitated. "Was MJ there?"

"Yeah. She went with Bobby – but everyone knows he wasn't her date; it was just a sympathy thing."

"What was she wearing?"

"A blue dress – like the one she wore to the formal, only not so fancy."

Peter nodded.

"I asked Tony about you coming out next week. Unless something happens, he said that it was a good idea."

Ned's face lit up.

"Sweet. Make sure nothing happens, will you?"

"I'll try."

"How's the hand?"

"It's okay. Hurts a bit."

"Full recovery though, right? I mean, you're still going to be able to do your thing…?"

"Yeah, Definitely."

He hadn't heard anyone say otherwise, but then he realized that if there was any kind of concern, they wouldn't mention it him. Not until they knew for sure, one way or the other. But what if there was a concern and no one was telling him. What if it didn't heal right and he couldn't be-

"You heal fine and no one's worried about that," Alec interrupted before Peter could really start to worry himself. "Strange would be the first to be concerned, but he knows your abilities and he's seen you through worse, and he isn't even considering anything like that. Relax."

He felt the sudden beginning of the panic attack fade in the face of the ancient sorcerer's logic. Alec would know. He was right. Peter didn't ask the being in his mind to spy on the thoughts of those around him, but that didn't mean that he didn't know what they were thinking and worried about. If anyone would know, it was Alec.

"Exactly. Now talk to Ned before he thinks you've gone bonkers."

"I'm fine," he assured his friend. "Tell me what else you did. What have I been missing?"

He was eager to hear what his friends were up to – and Ned was always so observant (and nosy) he was definitely the one to ask.

OOOOOOOOO

"How was China?"

"Quiet. How was homecoming?"

"It was enjoyable." Any chance he had to dance with Natasha was nice, as far as Strange was concerned. "Did you have any chance to look at the image I sent you?"

Wong nodded. While there hadn't been any video cameras or footage of what Nutmeg had done in Peter's room, Stephen had used a spell to pull an image of what he'd seen directly from his own thoughts and put it on a piece of paper. It wasn't video, and it wasn't moving, but it showed tiny Nutmeg with huge (compared to the size of the kitten) tentacles coming from his mouth.

"I've never seen anything like it, but I showed it to the magicians in China, and Xia is almost certain Nutmeg is a Flerkin."

"A Flerkin?"

Wong nodded, and walked over to the island in the kitchen, where an ancient book was sitting – already open to the right page.

"Yes. It certainly matches the image you sent."

Strange looked at the small paragraph of information and the picture that was drawn next to it. A cat in one picture and a huge, tentacled, creature in the next.

"'Extremely rare, extremely dangerous animal with human level intellect that happen to look like felines. Egg layers, hunted to near extinction because they are so feared. Huge maw of tentacles and teeth and an inner pocket dimension that allows them to eat anything without being destroyed by it.'"

He looked at Wong, who was smiling rather than concerned.

"Peter has a Flerkin."

It certainly seemed so.

"That isn't going to sit well with Tony and Pepper."

"It should," Wong told his friend. "Nutmeg likes Peter. The kid couldn't have a more dangerous bodyguard. Even if Natasha isn't around, Nutmeg can be. Bad guy comes up? 'Hey, kid, come with us or die'? Gobble, gobble… no more bad guy."

"We can't have him eating would-be kidnappers."

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't-" Strange shook his head; people thought Natasha was coldblooded, he knew (and so did she) but Wong was always right up there, giving that reputation a run for the money. "Where did he come from, if they're so rare?"

"Who knows?" Wong shrugged, unconcerned. "You know magical items are drawn to the sanctums, maybe magical aliens are too – and Peter just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Or maybe he was drawn to Peter, specifically. Other artifacts like him – why can't a Flerkin? I'll remind you that he was in the sanctum for a couple of weeks and didn't cause much trouble. Aside from kitten-related things, of course."

"Ugh."

"If it worries you so much, don't tell anyone. I won't."

"No. They need to know. Tony, Pepper and Natasha, anyway. They can decide who else they want to let know."

"And Peter?"

"Yes. He should probably know, too. I know that he's already been told what we saw the kitten do."

"And?"

"And he asked Tony if he'd been drinking."

Wong snorted, amused.

"It might be interesting to do some experiments, later," the sorcerer said, speculatively. "If he has a pocket dimension, maybe we can utilize it, somehow."

"We're not going to experiment on Peter's kitten. He wouldn't approve, and Nutmeg might get annoyed. For now, I'll talk to Tony about it, later, and let him decide what to do."

"Peter won't give him up," Wong advised. "You probably know that, right?"

"Yes." He'd been present for Peter's meltdown when Tony had suggested it, initially. And that was before they had a name to put to the creature. "I'm aware."

"Life certainly is interesting with that kid, isn't it?"

Wong approved.

Strange nodded and stretched, looking down at himself.

"It is, at that. I'm going to bed."

Everything could wait until morning.