Spider-Man Whumptober - 2023

Oxygen Deprivation/Sweating

(AN: Let's all just pretend that, for this one-shot at least, Steve and Tony made up after Civil War, and Ragnarok [and everything after that] never happened. In this universe, Peter spends a lot of time in the Avengers compound, May and Tony kind of co-parent I guess.)

"Come, Man of Spiders!" Thor called over his shoulder as he passed by Peter, who was eating a snack in the kitchen. The god was currently downing an entire box of poptarts, which could only mean one thing.

Thor was getting ready for a fight.

He claimed that it had been scientifically proven on Asgard that "consuming poptarts before battle was the key to victory", but Peter suspected that he only said that because he knew it bothered Tony. The billionaire had wasted a lot of time and breath trying to argue with the god over the nutritional value of a poptart, let alone an entire box's worth.

"Where...?" Peter asked, trying to feign ignorance and disinterest. It, of course, did not work.

"To the battle chamber, where we may spar!"

"Coming," Peter said with a resigned sigh, pushing aside his plate of cheese and crackers and following Thor to the training room. For some reason the god had taken quite a liking to the teen, and every time they were both in the Tower with little to do, Thor insisted Peter come and fight. And every time, without fail, Peter eventually lost.

He would probably stand a better chance if he had his webshooters, but seeing as Thor's hammer would give the Asgardian a huge advantage against anyone and everyone he fought, weapons were typically banned from training matches. Unfortunately, the team had decided that Peter's webshooters counted as weapons, and were thus not allowed. He was still a competent opponent without them, but while he was grounded, his efforts didn't hold much of a torch to Thor's superior stamina and experience.

The only thing Peter looked forward to when Thor challenged him to a match was that the teen no longer had to pull his punches as much. In fact, during their first match (after Thor had practically wiped the floor with him) the god had boasted to the others how he'd thought the boy would have been a more difficult opponent. Once Natasha had mentioned that Peter always suppressed most of his strength, Thor had told him--no, commanded him--to not hold back when they fought.

They'd taken a break for Peter's sake, and then had a rematch. Peter still lost, but this time the god was so impressed by the boy's strength and resilience that he 'claimed' him for all future training matches.

Once again, Peter suspected that was just to annoy Tony.

They entered the massive room, the automatic lights turning on and bathing the room in a soft blue glow. Peter grabbed his training clothes, which consisted of simple black sweatpants and a black tank top, from his locker and stepped into the bathroom to change. When he came out, Thor was also dressed in a similar manner. Peter had to hold back a laugh when he saw that the last two poptarts were sitting by the door with Mjolnir on top to prevent anyone from stealing them.

"Alright, Man of Spiders. Whenever you are ready, begin!"

Peter rolled his shoulders as he stepped onto the mats, watching the god carefully so that he couldn't be surprised again. He would never live that particular match down, especially since Sam had been the one watching.

Peter eased closer and closer, bringing his fists up into a defensive position as he and Thor began to circle each other. Thor was being cocky about it, distractedly looking around the room with an amused expression, only paying enough attention to Peter to keep a solid distance between them.

After a long while of circling each other, Peter accepted his fate, and with a roll of his eyes, he lunged.

Thor dodged the first two blows, but they both knew Peter was too fast for Thor to keep that up, so the third time Peter swung Thor simply extended his hand and caught Peter's fist. The force of the blow had the Asgardian sliding backwards with a surprised expression on his face. Peter was hitting harder today, but it didn't bother him in the slightest.