Chapter Text
Even with the suit, there were certain liabilities that Tony couldn’t risk to take. And being untrained in at least some hand-to-hand combat was one of them.
When he’d originally asked Happy to spar with him it had been more of a joke, but the security guard took it to be the gospel. Just as he did with every other task Tony had ever given him, Happy threw himself in 110% and the two had been training together semi-frequently since.
It was a Tuesday, not particularly bright out, and the approaching change in Stark Industries leadership had Tony feeling a little stressed. Not because he didn’t trust Pepper, he did – with his life. But signing away his company regardless of who it was to, along with the looming shadow that was his second life as Iron Man, it was safe to say he needed to release some stress.
He and Happy were busy sparing, Happy kitted out in protective padding ready for Tony to punch. Tony was dressed more casually than normal, opting more for comfort than style. The hood of his jacket was up, covering a mop of sweaty black hair.
The pair were dancing around each other, both trading hits when Pepper arrived.
“Bring it in”, Tony said quietly to Happy as the larger man swung a punch and Tony dodged. He stepped to his right, throwing his own punches.
Slowly, Pepper’s voice registered around the large Malibu gym room.
“… here. Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?”
Tony continued to work with Happy, aware of Pepper entering the room and setting her stuff down behind him. He and Happy continued to trade jabs until Happy swung once more, Tony dodged, and landed an admittedly hard elbow to his security guard’s face.
Happy grunted, recoiling.
“Sorry”, Tony said offhandedly, shifting on his feet.
Happy glared at him, his eyes wide. “What the hell was that?”
“It’s called mixed martial arts”, Tony said, looking away as he jumped rhythmically in place. “It’s been around for like… 3 weeks-”
“-It’s called dirty boxing, there’s nothing new about it!” Happy argued, before waving the older man toward him. “Come on, come on.”
Tony distantly registered the sound of another person entering the room and it wasn’t the clipping of Pepper’s heels. Used to the constant flow of people in and out of his house, Tony didn’t react, and raising his hands in preparation. It was only Happy’s inability to look away from said newcomer that made Tony pause.
Happy punched his arm lightly, nodding behind him with a look of both shock and confusion.
Tony frowned, looking over his shoulder.
The young man who had entered the room couldn’t have been more than 25; he was tall, almost 6 feet of smooth skin and curves. His long legs crossed the room quickly.
Tony froze, staring the man down. Feeling his gaze, the newcomer looked up and Tony was left entirely speechless.
The boy – man, Tony correct himself – had sharp features offset by the softness of his eyes. His brown hair was thick and untidy on his head, but looked almost artfully bedridden.
He looked like he’d just woken up.
Or just had sex.
Tony felt his blood boil at the latter, and when his eyes met the younger man’s he had to force his mouth to remain closed. The brunet had an almost coy smile on his face, but simply bowed his head and continued on his way to Pepper.
Speaking of, Pepper was saying something, but for the life of him Tony couldn’t seem to get his senses to focus. They had honed in so completely on the supermodel that had just waltzed into his gym and seemed reluctant to leave.
The man opened a black, leather-bound folder and held it out towards Pepper. Passing her a pen, he spoke softly to her under his breath and Tony felt distinct resentment for the fact that he couldn’t quite hear what the man was saying.
Pepper smiled softly, listening attentively to the younger man. Tony couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Clearly that had irritated Happy, who hit him around the head with his heavy gloves. Tony spun to face him, mildly annoyed at having been interrupted.
“Lesson one”, Happy began condescendingly. “Never take your eyes off-”
Tony ignored him, leaning backwards and darting his leg out to kick the man backwards. He followed it up with a few hits to the protection over Happy’s stomach, before the larger man tapped out.
Tony could feel the eyes on him from behind, and puffed up his chest just slightly as he turned around to meet the stranger’s eye. He quickly grabbed his water bottle; his throat burned and he needed something to do with his hands. He wanted to run them through the brunet’s hair so desperately.
“What’s your name?” Tony called across the room, leaning slightly against the rope of the cage he and Happy resided in.
The brunet looked up, his face serene and peaceful. “Peter, Peter Parker”, he said softly.
Tony felt the corner of his lip raise and nodded once. The man’s -Peter’s – voice was even nicer than he’d pictured.
Feeling unsure where to go, Tony gestured animatedly to the ring. “Front and centre. Come into the church.”
He quickly turned away, refusing to meet Pepper’s judgemental gaze. He subsequently didn’t see the small smile that branched across Peter’s face.
“No, you’re seriously not gonna… ask him”, Pepper said, speechless.
Peter rocked forward on his feet, clutching the binder to his chest.
“If it pleases the court… which is does”, Tony said simply and without room for debate.
Peter smiled as he looked over at Pepper. “It’s fine, really.”
With a tight smile, Peter approached the ring.
“I’m sorry, he’s… very eccentric”, Pepper said tersely. She was evidently unsure what to do.
Peter reached the ring, and carefully took one of the ropes into his hand. With surprising flexibility and grace, he ducked under and stepped inside.
Tony was frozen, eyebrow raised as he panned Peter up and down. As Peter straightened up, their eyes met and Tony couldn’t stop his gaze from dropping obviously to the younger man’s lips. Peter stood straight, but did so slowly. It was almost seductive how he never removed his eyes from Tony, their gazes heated and heavy.
The billionaire grit his teeth slightly, his throat dry again. Raising the bottle to his lips and taking a large gulp, he refused to drop Peter’s gaze.
The brunet met the challenge easily, his lips curling into a soft smile.
Tony felt distinctly hotter than even the training had made him, his skin clammy. A moment or two passed between them in silence, the room entirely motionless, as Tony finished drinking.
He lowered the bottle reluctantly, his eyes darting between Peter’s eyes and his mouth.
“Hi.”
Peter raised his eyebrows, clearly amused. “Hi”, he said softly.
Tony nodded sharply, attempting to force the thoughts swirling around in his head out of his ears. He looked down and away at his feet, stepping awkwardly. Never before had Tony felt awkward and unsure around a beautiful person, in fact he tended to thrive around them. This particular man however, seemed to captivate him in ways he hadn’t felt since first meeting Pepper.
Speaking of her, Tony’s caught her eye momentarily. The blonde looked confused, but there was an air of disapproval around her.
Tony couldn’t contain his smirk. He hoped the heat in his cheeks wasn’t as noticeable as it felt.
He looked up once more at Peter, whose lips were turner at the corners in a smile. Tony immediately looked away, feeling like an embarrassed teenager caught staring.
The silence grew too much even for him and with a quick nod and an instruction of “Can you, uh, give him a lesson?” to Happy, he darted from the ring.
“No problem”, Happy said distantly, saddling up to Peter but not before casting Tony a conspiratory look.
Tony hurried away towards Pepper, ignoring the eyeroll she gave him. He could hear Happy and Peter speaking quietly behind him in the ring but pointedly didn’t look back.
He sat himself down beside Pepper, crossing his legs immediately. He dropped the bottle beside him, “Who is he?”
Pepper sighed. “He is from legal, and he is potentially a very expensive… sexual harassment lawsuit.”
Tony folded his arms defensively. “I need a new assistant, boss.”
“-If you keep ogling him like that. Yes, and I’ve got three excellent potential candidates that are lined up ready to meet you.”
Tony shook his head minutely, eyes locked on where Peter was elegantly removing his shoes and standing opposite Happy. “I don’t have time to meet, I-I need someone now. I feel like it’s him.”
Pepper looked up from her phone, deadpanned and exasperated. “No”, she scoffed. “It’s not.”
Tony looked away, smiling. He watched Happy and Peter interact for a moment before he felt a drive to speak up- anything to get the brunet to look back at him.
“How do you spell your name, Peter?”
Peter looked back over his shoulder, the move making Tony sigh as it perfectly highlighted the rippling muscle of his legs and the firm curve of his ass. Who wore such tight trousers to work?!
Peter looked bizarrely amused, as though he knew exactly what Tony was doing. “P-a-r-k-e-r. Parker.”
The assistant watched as Tony typed quickly away at the glass coffee table in front of him, the screen glowing a faint blue as multiple files and pictures popped up. He smirked when he noticed Tony pause contemplatively on an artistic shot of him from his Instagram profile. The picture was of him, on the dock, in his swimming trunks. Peter wasn’t blind to how flattering the photo was, his abs and biceps tight and visible.
Tony shifted minutely and Peter was so distracted by it that he didn’t hear Happy approach.
It was only because of the tell-tale shot of electricity up his spine that Peter even apprehended Happy but in moments he had caught the older man’s hand, twisted it, wrapped his ankles around his neck and flipped him onto his back.
He could hear Pepper shout in surprise from across the room, but his sensitive ears focused on the pleasantly surprised gasp from Tony.
Peter quickly released his opponent, flipping gracefully onto his feet. He caught Tony’s eye as he landed and the billionaire looked thoroughly impressed.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about”, Tony said teasingly as he approached the ring.
Peter, despite his common sense telling him otherwise, smirked and leaned toward the older man across the ropes dividing them. Tony looked up, startled, but the smile on his face clearly indicated that he was pleased with Peter’s brazen behaviour.
Tony kept his eyes on Peter’s as he quickly tapped the bell beside the ring, hearing Happy grunt. “TKO, Peter wins.”
Peter stepped out of the ring with the same grace that he had entered it, his breathing not even a little broken from the exertion. He blindly slipped his shoes back on, shifting his shirt back into place and stepping toward Tony.
Tony turned to face him head on, and their eyes locked again. Why the pair couldn’t seem to look away when their gazes met baffled him, but he wasn’t exactly complaining.
Peter sighed but were it not for the slight dropping of his shoulders Tony wouldn’t even have noticed. There was another moment of silence between them, the only sound Peppers mutterings of disbelief and Happy’s grunting as he straightened out his back.
Eventually, Peter took one more step closer and opened his mouth to speak.
Tony raised his hand, interrupting him. “You ever been trained before?”
“No”, Peter responded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His eyes finally darted away from Tony’s, but they ran across his face. “Just… always been very fit.”
“And flexible”, Tony noted innocently. Were it not for the intensity of his stare, Peter might have suspected the billionaire was simply impressed, but the nature of his gaze made it clear that Tony was as much attracted to him as Peter was.
Peter nodded slowly, the tension between them only deepening. “Very.”
Happy coughed quietly, clearly attempting not to be too harsh to save either man the embarrassment. Peter reacted immediately, bending down to pick up the binder he had discarded upon entering the ring.
“I need your impression”, he said, opening the binder.
Tony smirked, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t know, you’re an old soul, ridiculously flexible, very-”
“- I meant your fingerprint”, Peter interrupted, his cheek tensing as he forced himself not to smile.
The moment was broken, and Peter stepped back to direct Tony to the page in front of him.
“Right”, Tony said sharply, quickly stamping his newly inked thumbprint on the box Peter indicated to. He looked up at Pepper as she approached, “Hey. You’re the boss”, he said as he pointed to his fresh fingerprint.
Pepper’s cheeks were pink as she smiled.
Only the sudden slap of the binder closing pulled Tony’s attention from the blonde, and he looked Peter over appreciatively. He seemed a little tense and Tony hoped beyond anything that it was because he was jealous.
“Will that be all, Mr Stark?” Peter asked pleasantly.
Pepper laughed beside him, “Yes that will be all, Mr Parker.”
Peter nodded, ducking his head and quickly leaving the room. Tony followed his exit with his eyes, appreciative of the view. Right before Peter turned the corner to leave, he looked back, and his coy smile made Tony’s chest ache with heady desire.
“I want one”, he said simply as he watched Peter leave.
Pepper turned to him, smirking. “No.”