ses and bucket down on the table and tony sees that the bucket is in fact not full of champagne but full of ice.

※what, we＊re going to sit in the cafeteria and get drunk?§

※yes,§ natasha says simply.

※pepper will murder you for taking that,§ tony says as she takes the bottle back from his hands and cracks it open, pouring three healthy measures of whiskey which clint drops ice into, the ice clinking and cracking with a familiar and soothing sound.

※pepper is the one who gave it to me,§ natasha says as she sets the bottle down and pushes a glass over towards tony with her fingers. ※i think she＊d rather you be supervised through the self-destructive phase.§

clint lifts his own drink in a toast. ※i volunteered.§

despite himself, tony smiles, a weak twitch of his lips. ※so why is natasha here?§

※i＊m supervising clint supervising you,§ she says with a perfectly straight face, and tony starts to laugh. he spans his hand over his eyes, thumb and fingertips on his temples as he tries to keep control of his already wobbly emotions. thankfully, the other two ignore it. either they＊re being sensitive, or 每 more likely 每 they don＊t want to deal with anything remotely emotional right now. whichever it is, tony is grateful.

※this is officially the most expensive thing i have ever put in my body,§ clint says like it＊s an announcement, and tony looks up in time to see him neck his drink, the ice clinking softly against the glass. clint sucks in a breath, eyeing the bottle and frowning. ※aw, i can't tell the difference.§

※you need to work on your phrasing,§ tony remarks and then follows suit. natasha just smiles at them, sipping at her own drink in an altogether more dignified fashion.

※and steve drank eight bottles of this stuff?§

※one of the more impressive things i＊ve seen him do,§ tony says as clint pours two more drinks.

※more impressive than the throw he did that took out eleven aim grunts?§ clint grins crookedly. ※or the thing with the fire hydrant?§

※that wasn＊t impressive, that was moronic and cost me a small fortune to fix,§ tony grouches, and his chest is tight and his stomach rolling and he aches to be back with steve, to have him in sight and within touching distance.

※but it was inte gold,§ clint sighs, knocking back his second drink without pause. ※but then again, nearly everything steve does seems to be inte gold, whether he means for it to be or not.§

※he loves the inte,§ tony says absent-mindedly, staring at the ice in the bottom of his glass.

※erm, we＊re both talking about steve man-out-of-time rogers, right?§ clint asks sceptically.

※yeah, i mean he hated it at first. but he hated everything at first,§ tony says, and natasha hides a smile in her glass. ※too bright, too flashy, too in his face. too unnecessary, from his point of view. but yeah, he wasplaining about not getting something and i threw a starkpad at him and said to google it.§

※you taught him how to google.§

※he taught himself how to google.§

clint snorts. ※did you turn safesearch off?§

※christ, no. i＊m not a maniac.§