"I slept for about half a year."
"...I don't believe you."
"I never lie."
"..."
Lake stared at Steve Rogers, who stood by the window gazing at the skyscrapers outside, a smile on his face. He chuckled and said, "Of course, that was only the amount of time you spent sleeping. If you add the time you were frozen in ice, then it's been quite a while."
Steve: "..."
Lake hadn't lied. Steve had asked how long he had slept, and before that, Steve had been frozen in ice. No matter how you stretched it, being frozen and sleeping were two entirely different things.
It was like a polar bear hibernating. Polar bears slept normally, too, so why single out hibernation? It was obvious. Even scientists considered hibernation and ordinary sleep to be two different things.
Lake looked at the Captain, whose face was filled with bewilderment, and raised the corners of his mouth. "You fell into the sea in 1945. We thawed you out last year, then spent another six months waiting for you to finish sleeping. Counting all that time, sixty-five years have passed outside."
"Sixty-five years?"
"Yes."
Lake nodded, his expression calm. "An organization that wants to stick its nose into everything but can't actually handle anything suggested that we deceive you first. They said you had only slept for one night at most. But our military didn't agree. They've never been one of us. We felt they were underestimating the willpower of a professional soldier."
With that, Lake once again extended his right hand toward Steve Rogers. "Welcome home, Colonel Steve Rogers."
Steve looked down at Lake's outstretched hand again and shook it, though he said little. "Thank you."
They released their hands.
Lake put both hands in his pockets. "My welcoming ceremony is over. However,