When Schiller entered the room, it was so quiet it seemed empty, even the sound of breathing suppressed. Steve sat in a booth beside the bar, with two unopened cans of beer on the table.
When Schiller sat across from him, he touched the surfaces of the two cans and discovered that one was room temperature while the other was cold.
There was also a bottle of high-proof liquor beneath the table. It looked like a base spirit for mixing cocktails, but since it was too close to Steve, Schiller did not reach for it. He could only judge from the bottle's appearance that it was strong liquor.
This room was actually the recreation room at the Avengers base. Whenever there were no missions, the base members gathered here to chat, drink, play pool, or spend some time at the foosball table.
It followed the Avengers base's usual decorating style. The walls were covered in smooth metal panels, the floor was a darker shade with rivets around the edges, industrial-style chandeliers and decorative pipes covered the walls, and two bright strips of light beneath the bar were currently the room's only source of illumination.
Steve sat on the couch with his elbows braced on his knees and his hands covering his face.
At the hiss of a can being opened, Steve's hands moved slightly, but he still did not raise his head. Not until Schiller placed the other opened can of beer in front of him.
Steve whimpered, shook his head, and covered his eyes with his hands again, like a drunk too intoxicated to stay conscious.
"Steve, stop pretending. I know you haven't been drinking." Schiller took another sip of the room-temperature beer. Without enough chill, it had an astringent bitterness he was unaccustomed to, so he put the