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Sleep for many of the Residents of Stark Tower was elusive, it seemed. Whether their bodies needed the rest due to elevated alpha wave levels, healing wounds and other psychological factors, including PTSD, many nights of restlessness occurred. JARVIS had noted this on many occasions since the Avengers had taken residence within Stark Tower. After battling, as Sir called them, “incessant” Doombots on a snowy and extremely cold night, any normal person would be abed. But, the Avengers were far from normal.
Ms. Romanoff rarely left her apartment on nights such as this but as he noted the anomalous behavior of her door opening, other protocols, including “Late Night Snack?”, began running. The light level changed from pitch black to a low level in the Common Room, the elevator and the staircase. The level having been previously deemed early on as perfect for the sleep deprived and possibly hungry Residents.
The southern camera in the Common Room tracked her movements up the staircase into the room. He watched Ms. Romanoff enter the room dressed casually in yoga pants and a hooded sweatshirt that he had most recently seen upon Mr. Barton. She extracted a highball glass and a bottle of Jewel of Russia Ultra from the locked cabinet behind the bar. Setting them both on the bar she stood contemplating each. Her biometric readings showed slightly elevated heart rate and respiration. Her body temperature was 1.5 degrees below her nominal.
He reviewed her readings of the last two hours and noted she had only slept 45 minutes before awakening and leaving her floor. She continued to stare at the objects on the bar, rubbing her arms as she shivered. He noted her obvious discomfort with the ambient conditions and activated the gas fireplace in the seating area to her right and increased the room temperature by two degrees. Slowly she poured the glass full. She looked up at the main room camera, lifted the glass and saluted it before downing the glass.
Protocol “Late Night Snack?” processed to completion when Mr. Barnes’ door opened two floors below and triggered Protocol “Gangs All Here”. The Common Room lighting raised to 75% as a casually dressed James Barnes had exited the elevator and walked towards Ms. Romanoff. Mr. Barnes' biometric readings also showed elevated heart and breathing in addition to a stiffness to the movements of his bionic shoulder corresponding to a large temperature differential between it and the surrounding tissue/adamantium structure. He sent a message for Sir to read when he awoke to have Sir run diagnostics on the arm and run the maintenance subroutines.
Mr. Barnes too contemplated the items on the countertop as he stood at the bar. Ms. Romanoff smirked and retrieved another glass and poured each of the glasses full. JARVIS observed Barnes rubbing the back of his neck, and he editing the notations to Sir, this time including Dr. Banner to run further biological diagnostics to investigate possible issues with the pain/cold management of the bionics.
She sipped from the glass. “Не как оно должно быть” she commented quietly.
“Спасибо, кукла" He shrugged and sipped the drink. “Мы больше не существует” he replied. She shivered and rubbed at her arms.
“We are in America, Talia. That was a long time ago, кукла, but one formal toast for that memory” whispered Mr. Barnes. "На здоровье."
Ms. Romanoff nodded, raising her glass to his to touch. "На здоровье" she softly answered. And in unison they tap their glasses on the counter and drained them completely before she refills them once again.
Each stood sipping the liquor and JARVIS watched as both of their biometric readings settled further towards their means for heart rate/respiration with each emptied glass. He observed Mr. Barnes throw the bionic shoulder backwards attempting in an attempt to force a hard reset in the mechanisms but it it did not seem to work, noted the grimace that flashed up his face. Ms. Romanoff raised a slender eyebrow and proceeded to pour another glass full for each of them.
"I'm surprised Tony doesn't keep this in the freezer" he commented and a visible shiver shook through him. Ms. Romanoff's lips twitched just slightly and she nodded.
"He can be very typically American male when he wants to be, but he noted that I never drank anything in his refrigerator unless Clint stole it and left it sitting out. Then, I believe, JARVIS noted the brand I prefer and we educated Stark on the proper, customary, drinking techniques. Right, JARVIS?"
"Yes, Ms. Romanoff,” JARVIS stated. “Sir was quite pleased to find and acquire what are standard libations for his 'Ruskies in Residence' as he so in eloquently states. I have made sure local distributors from Little Odessa place a few bottles on reserve with each shipment. If there are brands more to your liking, Mr. Barnes, I can make further inquiries."
Mr. Barnes shook his head. "No, J, it's fine. I'm very happy with Jewel or Russian Standard. What had me was that it wasn't served ice cold like everyone thinks it's done. Never have been able to figure that out."
"It is a common misconception that I have noted in American literature and pop culture to drink many liquids ice cold. Scientifically, the colder an alcohol, the less the flavonoids of each particular substance can be deduced by the human palette" JARVIS commented.
Ms. Romanoff smirked while she finished her glass and Mr. Barnes chuckled. "Yes, J, and after tasting what most people think is 'good' vodka in this country, having it ice cold makes it flavorless swill versus jet fuel” Mr. Barnes lamented. “The French stuff is the worst too!” he continued. “I was amazed that it was rated so highly in the magazine of Pepper's," Mr. Barnes related.
"It would seem that most publications in charge of the rating and ranking of various liquids do not have native drinkers on staff, Mr. Barnes." JARVIS quipped.
"Only part of me is a native drinker J and I only learned to drink this stuff from her" he pointed to Ms. Romanoff. She shivered at his commentary. Mr. Barnes placed his prosthetic hand across the bar to engulf her empty one. He rubbed the knuckles of her hand with his thumb in a familiar gesture. “кукла,” he whispered, “I'm just glad I remembered why I knew what I liked. That is the important part.”
She nodded and removed her hand from his grasp. She moved around the bar and hesitantly sat next to him. He slowly brought his flesh arm around her shoulders and she relaxed into the embrace. They sat for a time, drinking more slowly now.
“Taste they could not take from me, Natalia” he stated. He swirled the clear liquid in the glass before sipping again. “Taste and smell center me more than anything. I vaguely recall some rot gut from the war and some wine while in France with Steve but I seemed to have only ever really liked this.” He raised the glass to finish the contents. “I do wish at times it actually had an effect on me.”
Ms. Romanoff sighed as she poured another glass for them. JARVIS observed her body temperature had gained a quarter of a degree as she was still steadily drinking. He noted to himself that he had never seen her drink to Sir's excess, but that the few times on his record that she had been legally drunk her body had metabolized a considerable amount before she had been even slightly impaired. Once again they lapse into silence. Ms. Romanoff leans more heavily on Mr. Barnes and rests her head on his chest after a time.
"You can drink to remember or you can drink to forget but it should always be with comrades" she stated stoically and raised her glass in salute to him. Mr. Barnes nodded and raised his own to her, drank and placed a chaste kiss to her hair. “Спасибо, кукла” he whispered.
"Mr. Odinson will be here shortly," JARVIS announced as he conversed simultaneously with the Asgardian Prince three floors below. The pair straightened from their embrace. Ms. Romanoff nonchalantly tugging at the sweatshirt while pulling a few curls behind her ear. Mr. Barnes turned to face the elevator.
"Ah, greetings my friends!” Thor's voice was warm and held a hint of mirth. “I had hoped you would not mind company. Lord JARVIS informed me you were here after my Jane awoke to an idea. She left for the laboratory at haste. As I am not wont to sleep while she works so diligently at the science, may I join you? I have brought libation."
He set a bottle on the bar and they could see that it was of Asgardian manufacture. "Lord JARVIS states that you may still be chilled from our battle this day, my friends. And he also mentioned that you are thus afflicted as Steven, friend James, for Midgardian liqueurs do not warm you to your core. All warriors from time to time need to relax both body, mind and soul and this may have something that can do all three,” as he tapped the bottle.
"Steve mentioned you had something that could get him soused. I'm game to try a bit. Was just using memory to warm my blood a bit it seems" he replied, looking to Ms. Romanoff.
"Warm your blood, brother? I have just the preparation for a night such as this!" Thor exclaimed. He went to the kitchen area of the Commons and they heard him pulling out a pot and filling it with water.
Ms. Romanoff again raised an eyebrow. This was the first she'd witnessed Thor use the kitchen for anything other than making a Poptart, getting coffee or helping with dishes. She pushed herself gracefully away from the bar, grabbing her full glass and tossing a curious look in Mr. Barnes's direction to follow.
They sat down at the island and watched as Thor placed the bottle in the pan of water and placed it on induction cooktop. Soon the water was boiling and very quickly the cork popped from the bottle with a sharp sound that made both assassins reflexes switch to alert mode.
“Ah, my friends, I should have given some preamble for my actions.” Thor stated realizing their reaction. “It is the easiest to tell the perfect temperature by letting the bottle sing you its music but after today, well, I apologize for the manner…”
Taking the pot off of the cooktop and onto a trivet, searched the cabinets near the coffee maker to find a set of earthenware tea cups. He poured them each a cup of mead. The scent of the liquid was quickly analyzed by the embedded room sensors to reveal it to be a series of spices, honey and the remnants of yeast. JARVIS noted that the herbal combination was common with many soothing tinctures from a much earlier point in Earth history. Odinson motioned them to the seating area near the fire as he passed them their cups. He sat next to the fireplace, placing the jug near the flames. Ms. Romanoff folded herself into the couch tucking her legs underneath her. Mr. Barnes flopped down next to her, not quite touching her body but again close.
Mr. Barnes took a sip and breathed out a sigh as the hot liquid filled his mouth with spice and his belly with warmth that was seeping into his neck and shoulder. Another sip and he lifted his head in a smile.
Ms. Romanoff followed his example and tasted the liquor. "Is this the same batch we had before?” Mr. Odinson nods his affirmative. “The flavor is much more complex now" She marveled aloud.
Odinson nodded and she sipped again and sighed herself. “Heating mead can make even a remedial mead exquisite, while heating an exquisite mead can make it the drink of legend.” He raised his cup in toast to them both.
The trio lapsed into a comfortable silence. JARVIS noted that the biometric levels of Mr. Barnes and Ms. Romanoff leveled off completely and each had increased core temperature another full degree after just one cupful.
"Steve didn't mention this being warmed when he drank it. Is it for special occasions?" Mr. Barnes asked.
"It is more normal in the fall and winter to enjoy mead thusly. I had not shared this custom of Asgard as I had always been treated to cool drinks as seems the custom on Midgard. But in discussion with Lord JARVIS and the Lady Darcy it seems even that is seasonal.” Odinson explained. “Usually we place mead close to the fire on the hearth to keep it warm.”
The Prince motioned to refill the glasses and both accepted. Mr. Barnes drank the second cup more quickly as Ms. Romanoff simply nursed hers. After the third cup Mr. Barnes flexed his shoulders again with a result this time of a full mechanical reset of the arm and an audible adjustment of his C1-C4 vertebrae.
JARVIS added this observation to the notes to Sir and Dr. Banner and this time included the specifications for the surface heaters used on the Mark 3 suits and how they may be leveraged to heat the biometric arm and adamantium structure in Mr. Barnes's torso to alleviate some of the pain of the bionics.
Ms. Romanoff sat watching Mr. Barnes further relax, she raised her head from her cup and winked at Odinson. His mirth was silent but vibrant on his face and he raised his glass to her. Mr. Barnes slowly drank another cup and he too grinned at them. Ms. Romanoff suppressed a small laugh before patting him on the shoulder.
“Thor, thank you. This is quite the stuff...” Mr. Barnes commented, his lost Brooklyn accent sneaking into the edges of his speech. “I’ve not felt this way in a very, very long time. Thank you, Sir.” Odinson, grinned and chuckled his approval.
“Thanks to you Friend James for being here to share this, and to you Friend Natasha. You should always end the day with those who you are loved by especially on a night like this one. Even those in Jotunheim would take shelter this night and would search out a proper drink.”