Peter found Tony, Pepper and Shuri sitting in the lounge when he arrived, but no one else. He walked over and sat down by Pepper, who smiled a greeting at him, reaching out and brushing her fingers along his cheek.

"Hi, sweetheart," she told him, her expression bearing that look that she held almost exclusively for him. One that he loved so much it made his heart happy. "Finally woke up?"

"Yeah. Sorry I slept in."

"I'm not. You probably needed the sleep."

"And now he won't be grumpy," Tony added, winking at Shuri, who smiled. "Grumpy Peter is not very much fun."

Peter rolled his eyes at that, looking around.

"Where is everyone?"

"It's Saturday," Tony reminded him. "Everyone's off doing their own thing. Carol and Steve went back to Clint's. The guardians are wandering around somewhere; last check, Groot was playing on the Quinjet simulator with Rocket and Peter and the others are doing whatever space pirates do when they're not in space."

"Are they really space pirates?" Shuri asked, her eyes excited.

"Probably not," the billionaire admitted. He smirked. "It's fun to say, though."

"Stephen and Natasha should be coming, soon," Pepper added. "They were planning on having lunch with us."

"There they are," Shuri said.

She had the spot that faced the entrance to the lounge and was able to see them enter, but Peter turned and looked over his shoulder, watching as Stephen and Natasha walked over. Romanoff went behind Peter and wrapped her arms around him, cloak and all, before pressing her cheek against his.

"Hey, baby," she murmured in his ear. "How was the nap?"

"Good."

"Fourteen hours hardly qualifies as a nap," Strange pointed out as he pulled a chair out for Natasha and then seated himself when she'd joined him. "But you look better for having had the rest."

"I feel okay."

"How is your hand?" Shuri asked, watching while Tony reached over to put Nutmeg in the boy's lap.

For some reason the action made Alec chuckle in the back of the boy's mind. Peter didn't bother to ask what was so funny. He looked down at the sling and the bandages that were covering the damaged hand, just in time to watch Nutmeg crawl into the spot that he'd clearly decided was a perfect den for a small kitten.

"It feels okay. Just hurts a little."

But he was getting used to it hurting, so he wasn't complaining.

"It's a good excuse to not play cards," Tony said. "So when we're done eating, we'll find a board game or something similar to amuse ourselves."

"Unless you would rather do something else," Pepper added, smiling a thank you to the server who brought several platters filled with the makings for tacos or burritos. "You don't have to spend time with us if you don't want to."

Just because they wanted to hover over him without making it seem like they were, it didn't mean Peter wanted to spend his afternoon with them. Especially since Shuri was there, and she was much closer to his age than the rest of them.

"No. I want to," the boy assured her, sincerely. "But you guys can play cards, if you want. I don't mind watching."

He was feeling a little groggy, still, and almost numb. But he was glad to be allowed out of bed.

"We'll discuss it when we're done," Tony replied, reaching for a stack of taco shells and handing a couple to Pepper, since he knew she preferred those over burritos. "Although I suppose Charades and Pictionary are out, as well."

Peter smiled at the gentle teasing, and shrugged.

"I can probably draw just as well with my left hand as I could with my right."

"Eat," Natasha told him, handing him a tortilla. "You must be starving."

Stephen had warned them that if the cloak and Nutmeg were augmenting Peter's healing – and they were doing everything they could to keep both as close to the boy as they could, just in case – then it would probably make him use a lot more energy. He told them to assume that he was going to be sleeping a lot and not to worry if that happened, and that he'd probably need a lot of food to regain the energy that he'd be using.

Because of that, Shuri had been the only one worried, then, when Peter hadn't shown any sign of waking for breakfast, and she'd allowed Tony's casual manner to reassure her that there probably wasn't anything wrong with him. If Tony wasn't worried about Peter, then there must not have been anything to worry about.

Peter nodded his agreement, and took the tortilla, and then took a couple more – just for good measure.

OOOOOOO

"That didn't take long…"

Strange looked at the couch near the table they were sitting at – and the boy who was sleeping on it, wrapped in the cloak with Nutmeg cuddled against him and Shuri sitting close at hand, her feet tucked under her reading a book about the Avengers that she'd found in the lounge.

"He lasted longer than I thought he would," the doctor told Tony, amused.

They'd eaten lunch, watching in near amazement as Peter made his way through an enormous meal. Then once the table had been cleared, they'd pulled out the Pictionary game and Tony, Pepper and Shuri had taken on Peter, Stephen and Natasha in several rounds of play. It had been amusing, because Peter – even left handed – wasn't the worst artist at the table. Tony and Natasha were easily the best – one of the reasons they had to play on opposite teams – but they all had a good time and it had been interesting enough that no one became bored.

Peter had begun to droop a little, however, almost as soon as his teams won the last game, and Tony suggested that he stay in the lounge to keep them company, but maybe they should end the game for a while to give him a chance to relax. He was tired enough to agree, and had gone over to the sofa, settling in with Nutmeg. And had promptly been wrapped up in the cloak, which had then started humming that now-familiar lullaby in his mind. That and the soothing caresses, coupled with Nutmeg purring in his ear, had been all that it took, really, and he'd fallen asleep almost immediately.

Shuri had frowned, looking at Tony and Strange.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" she asked the adults. "He should not be sleeping so much."

She wasn't – technically – a doctor, but she knew enough to know that.

"He's using a lot of energy to heal," Strange had pointed out to her – without telling her that it was even more than she thought. "It's going to take a lot out of him."

"We'll let him sleep himself out, and then feed him, again, when he wakes up," Tony said. "But I want a quiet night, tonight – movies, or something like that."

Pepper nodded her agreement, and the adults had asked Shuri if she wanted to play cards with them. She'd shaken her head and had found the book, settling herself on the end of the sofa, next to Peter's feet, and Stephen had found a deck of cards and a scorepad.

"He might feel better when he wakes," Stephen said, shuffling the cards. "If he does, we'll have to find something a little more interactive than movies – but nothing too crazy." He gave Natasha a pointed look. "No Spoons."

She'd made a face, pouting, and had shrugged, before giving Tony a side-long glance.

"Maybe we could do an impromptu D&D campaign…"

Shuri hadn't been the only one to look at Stark at the suggestion, and the billionaire nodded.

"I just happen to have one in mind," he replied. "If he wakes up wanting to play D&D you're all invited."