Spider-Man Oneshots

Hunger

It started with the bills. After losing his job, they had started to pile up.

Rent, water, gas. It had seemed like a lot of money when he worked for Octavius, and it seemed like an absurd amount now.

He'd tried his best to avoid it. Cut down showers to once a week, and left any light or computer charger unplugged unless they were clinging to their last shreds of life. He'd moved into an even smaller apartment than his last one, if that was even possible.

In the end, it didn't matter.

It started small. He was a few dollars short for rent last month. It was about the price of a sandwich. In the long run, he wouldn't miss it that much. Probably wouldn't even remember doing it.

But when there were more flies than pennies in his wallet, one sandwich turned into whole meals. Turned into excuses made to skip lunch with MJ because he couldn't have her know he wasn't eating, and couldn't afford to pay for the bread holding the thing together. It turned into half-hearted lies when his stomach kicked up a fuss, whining and rumbling in protest.

'I haven't had lunch yet, I was going to get some as soon as I finish up here.'

'I actually just ate, it's probably just the food settling.'

'I have some food at home, but thanks for inviting me!'

Tumbling out of his mouth before he was even aware of saying them, one lie after another reached the ears of anyone who offered meals to him. He couldn't take their money, and he couldn't buy it himself, so he couldn't have it.

Its been three days since he last ate. That was bad for a normal person, and it was downright outrageous for him.

He'd lost weight. It was hard to see in the patchy plaid and worn jeans he wore as Peter Parker, but he had to be extra careful as Spider-man.

The once skintight suit swam around, the loose bits of fabric billowing in the wind as he twisted and flipped. Shockingly, Yuri hasn't mentioned it. Probably hasn't even noticed.

Speaking of Yuri, his phone was ringing. "Hello?"

"The towers are down again." Echoing across the line in a flat tone, Yuri's voice swam through the fog that has been encompassing his brain recently. "I was wondering if you could swing by and take a look?"

He groans. "I'm on my way." Springing off the tower, his vision swims for a moment, spots clouding over the busy streets and the moonlit buildings as his heartbeat pounded in his ears, the tempo unusually slow. He shakes his head rapidly.

He'd have to get this sorted out, and fast because he couldn't live like this for long.

Yuri watched the cars trickle down the road, huffing impatiently. Oscorp's surveillance towers had gone down for the second in the past few months. Cutting-edge technology was usually finicky at first, so the regular maintenance wouldn't bother her so much if there was maintenance.

However, Oscorp wasn't too keen on sending out repairmen. Despite the numerous voicemails and emails, she had sent, no one in the company had contacted her. Finally, she had bitten the bullet and called Spider-man, who seemed to have a knack for machines. He might work in a STEM field of some kind.

At one point, it wouldn't have mattered to Yuri. Background and qualifications aside, Spider-man got the job done, and the work he did was comparable, if not exceeding the licensed engineers Oscorp sent. Who cared if he had experience, or if he was just naturally gifted in engineering?

More recently, however, Yuri had broken past the no-nonsense, business partner mindset.  It hadn't affected their dynamic. She told him what to do, and he did it and left, no extra communication necessary.