The Man My Father Always Talked About • A CAPTAIN AMERICA STORY

18

~18~

"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." Sam told Steve as they walked up the stairs, away from some of the guests.

"If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called you." Steve added and smiled at his friend.

"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy." Sam smiled.

"Be it ever so humble." Steve chuckled. They stood on the second floor, watching the party from below. His eyes landed on Clara as she was trying to teach Thor how to play pool. She laughed as Thor missed the cue ball and the pool stick hit the air. Her laugh echoed through the room, a laugh the could make anyone who heard it do the same thing.

"So you and Stark huh?" Sam asked, making Steve come back to reality.

"No, no..." Steve started, but Sam laughed.

"No?" Sam said, not believing the answer.

"Yes. No, I mean...we haven't really...you know..." Steve couldn't find the words.

"You haven't discussed it, have you?" Sam asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Not really," Steve admitted.

"Well, I think you'd know from experience that you shouldn't wait." Sam said. He noticed Steve staring at Clara with a sad look in his eyes when he noticed what he said wasn't the best thing to say. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

"No," Steve stopped him. "You're right. Excuse me." Steve patted Sam's shoulder as he left and met back up with Clara and Thor. Clara was still laughing as Thor tossed the pool stick down on the table and gave up. The two of them followed Thor to the bar where he pulled out a a weird looking flask from his pocket. Clara laced her arm through Steve's, making him look at her quickly before blushing softly. They watched together as Thor poured his strange looking liquor in a glass and handed it to Steve before pouring himself one.

"I gotta have some of that!" An old man said, seeing Thor lift his glass up. The man seemed familiar to Clara, but she couldn't place him.

"Oh, no, no, no. See this, this was aged for a thousand years, in the barrels built from the wreck of Brunhilde's fleet, it is not meant for mortal men." Thor said. That caused Steve to look in his glass and smell it, scrunching his nose at the strong scent. Clara furrowed her eyebrows as she looked from Thor to Steve, wondering if Thor thought of Steve as a more than just a mortal man.

"Neither was Omaha Beach, blondie." The old man said. "Stop trying to scare us. Come on."

Thor looked at Steve and Clara. They shrugged, laughing quietly. "Alright," Thor sighed. The poor old man ended up being helped out the door, too drunk to stand up by himself. Steve and Clara sat down across from each other, chatting up a storm while the others partied around them.

"So, I have to admit, once you left and I had some free time, I rewatched those movies you like." Steve said.

"Oh." Clara took a sip of her drink. "Which ones?"

"I can't remember the name. They were in space and some guy named Lee...no Luke." Steve corrected.

"Star Wars." Clara said, taking another sip.

"Yes Star Wars." Steve smiled. "So you've watched these, I'm guessing several times, right?"

"Of course." She nodded. "What's your point?"

"This has been bothering me." He sighed. "In the bar, who shot first?"

"Oh no, we're not going there." Clara laughed as she took a sip of her drink.