Capítulo 14: Chapter 14
He growls. "He doesn't even know how to use his powers. We cannot involve him in this."
She's silent, which Johnny uses to speak, "And he also doesn't like to be talked about without his input."
"You're right, and I'm sorry about it," Peter says with a sigh as he rubs his head, making the mask cover all of his face once again. "Let's just call your sister, okay?"
"Sure, but I still want to know more about this SHIELD and Loki business."
"Believe me, you don't wanna know."
"You don't get to decide that." Johnny glares at him, though that stops as he yawns. He shakes his head to clear it. "Look, how about we call her later? I'm tired of the hospital bed, and I want to be free for a while longer. Or, well, at least, that is if you can offer me a bed. I wouldn't want to impose and… you know, forget about it. Let's call her; sorry about that."
Chuckling, Peter shakes his head. "I think I can give you my bed for at least a night. I'll be busy, after all."
The glare is back. "Don't you think it's too late for whatever you plan to do? I can sleep on your couch. You can take the bed."
He's about to say he doesn't have a couch when Edith speaks once again. "He's right, Spider-man. You've been awake for twenty-eight continuous hours."
Johnny mouthing the words 'twenty-eight' is distracting, but he ignores him. "It's not the longest I've been awake. Besides, which side are you on?"
"Yours. Also, while it's true you've been awake longer, wouldn't it be better to be in a well-enough state if you're going to fight an invasion? I can wake you up if there's anything important happening." Now Johnny is mouthing the word 'invasion' with a weirded-out look. He continues ignoring him as he already knows that it doesn't matter what he does; Edith is planning to include him in the conversation. So, knowing how stubborn she can be about his health, he concedes her point. "Okay, I'll go to my room, but keep me updated on what's happening around this. And if you see SHIELD start recruiting, let me know so I can make myself visible."
"It'll be too suspicious if I do so. I will look for a well-timed hour when you can appear according to the hours you've shown yourself previously." A beat. "Besides, we know the invasion didn't happen immediately after Loki appeared, but a couple of days later."
He sighs. "Okay, you win."
"I always win."
Peter nods absently as he turns to Johnny, motioning him to finish his hot dog, promising to explain later about what's going on as he does the same. The savory taste lingers on his tongue, but he cannot appreciate it. He knows Edith is right; being well-rested and prepared for everything is crucial. However, speaking with Johnny present is worrisome and he cannot help but worry as he doesn't know as much about the situation as he would have liked. He knows the bits that are known to the public but never really asked Tony for information about the invasion. Mostly because, even if his mentor always managed to shrug it off with a witty comeback, Peter could see how something of that day haunted Tony.
The Peter of that time was timid, too into his fanboying to push his mentor into something that made him uncomfortable. He would never do so, only to satisfy his curiosity. Now, he wishes he could have circumvented Tony to search for that information.
He cannot blame himself either because who would have known that he would erase himself from everyone's memories, after all?
With a sigh, he turns to Johnny, only to see him worriedly staring back. He grabs both of the papers covering the hot dog and throws them into a trashcan nearby. He looks around to see if there are cameras around, his mind racing with thoughts of the SHIELD base attack.
"Okay, don't freak out," he says when he's sure nothing can see them, which Edith confirms.
"That's worrisome and most likely will cause me to freak out," Johnny says reasonably.
He shrugs. "I'll explain it, then, so you don't get too surprised. Basically, magic exists, and now I'll open a portal to a place where people practice it, and I'm currently living. I cannot tell you exactly where, but it's far away."
Johnny looks confused, but Peter is too tired to care, so without a second thought, he opens a portal and goes to his room in Kamar-Taj. He looks across the portal to motion Johnny to walk through. After a couple of seconds of just staring at the fiery portal, he smiles giddily and crosses it.
Peter points to one to one of the doors. "That's the bathroom. The other is the exit, but I don't recommend you to go out if you don't want to get lost as this place is really like a labyrinth."
Johnny constantly looks around, even opening the window to see outside. "Woah, it's early morning here. Are we on another continent?"
"Yeah, you can take a shower first. I'll go and find you some clothes for you to sleep."
Johnny looks back at him and away from the gardens. "Are you going to leave me? Because leaving me in another continent would be so ru—oh, a cat."
Peter whirls around, and yeah, that's Goose lying on top of the dresser. It's not surprising, as the cat seems to come and go as it wants. He asked the Ancient One about it, and she didn't seem confused about the cat's appearance in Kamar-Taj. However, when he told her about the tentacles and the weird licking, she got a contemplative look before telling him all she knew of the species called 'Flerken'.
Which is not much.
Basically, they are alien species that reassemble Earth's cats with human-like intelligence and a pocket dimension inside them that one can access through their mouths.
The Ancient One knew of one on Earth but had never seen it, so she asked him to let her know when he saw it next. He did one better and picked it up to show Goose to her. She immediately told him that Goose is a female of their species. She can eat normal cat food and dimensional energies, which is probably why she likes Peter.
"You don't like me just for my taste, right?" he remembers saying to Goose after he heard that. She just meowed back.
He's brought back from his thoughts when he sees Goose jumping to the floor, with Johnny taking a step back.
Glancing at him, worried if he knows about Flerkens, but only sees him covering his nose.
"Are you afraid of cats?" he teases as he picks up Goose, Johnny taking another step back.
"Not really. I like them," he says honestly. "It's just that I'm a little allergic and not as handsome when around them."
"Oh." He says before looking down at Goose, and then, with a small mischievous smile, he throws her at Johnny, who catches her but maintains her at an arm's distance.
"It's not funny!" he hisses when he hears Peter laughing. "I'll get rashes soon and-"
"Don't worry about it, she's not a normal cat," he says between chuckles. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't qualify as a cat."
Johnny looks dubious but seems to trust him enough to approach Goose a little bit, sniffing at her as he does so, with the Flerken imitating his actions. It takes him a minute for him to smile at Peter. "Hey, I can still smell! And I don't feel stuffy at all!"
Embracing the cat better, he proceeds to caress her back. "Is she like a familiar or something?"
"Or something."
"Can I keep her?" he says, excited. Peter cannot help but think of the tentacles as he answers, "Believe me when I say that you don't want that."
He pouts but continues petting her. "What's her name?"
"Goose." At his raised eyebrow, he's quick to explain, "I didn't give her the name."
Looking at his watch, he quickly grabs Goose and points to the bathroom with his free hand. "Go and shower; I'll bring you some clothes."
"Aw, can't Goose be here with me?"
Peter looks down at the cat-like creature, who is starting to lick her mouth. "No licking today, Goose."
Hearing a snort, he looks up. "Afraid of some licking?"
"If only you knew," he mutters as he goes out, still wearing the Spider-man suit, hoping he can find some fire-resistant clothes.
Given the lack of questioning from one of the attendants, it must have been a pretty normal request, as he's given a blue robe with some fire-resistant runes on it. Somewhere, while he's returning to his room, Goose leaves him. So, with his free hand, he grabs a futon to sleep.
When he's inside, he knocks the bathroom door. "Johnny, I'll open the door slightly and leave the clothes next to it, okay?"
"Sure, buddy!"
At his answer, he lets out a relieved sigh. While he knows he wouldn't really go out while wearing only a shirt and nothing under, he is still worried, as Johnny seems the kind of reckless exhibitionist who would parade in the nude.
With a shake of the head, he proceeds to put the futon next to his bed. When he's finished setting the bed, Johnny is done with his shower and is now sitting on the bed. "Sure you don't want the bed?"
"Sure. You can have it."
"Aren't you worried I will burn it?"
Pete stops opening the bathroom door for his shower and sees Johnny inspecting his robes. "Actually, I asked, and most of the rooms are completely fireproof. I had to ask for the clothes, but they also had fire-proof ones. So don't worry about it."
"Really?" he asks, dubious.
"Yes, really. Though it doesn't mean you get to experiment as the smoke still lingers."
He's inside the room when he hears a soft "Thank you."
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