The bar was less hectic than it would have been on a friday, but still busier than Steve would have expected it a thursday - not that he had more experience going to bars in weekdays (or at all).

Glancing around the room he spotted many equally lonely and depressed people, but one stood out.

The dark brown haired girl sitting by the bar seemed too proper to be in a place like The Dead Rabbit, a bar that was, unaffected by the cozy interior, home to mostly alcoholics and the occasional junkies.

Because of that, and the fact that it was walking distance from the tower, it just so happened to be a favourite among the avengers, and one of the only bars Steve could have a drink in without being recognised.

He slid up from the booth he was sharing with no one and approached her, knowing that a guy sitting next to her could and would shield her from the many stares.

"Hi," he greeted, leaning against the bar.

"Hey," the girl asked uninterested, not even sparing Steve a glance.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he tried, and she looked to him before freezing.

"Your shirt is so tight," she commented fascinating, reaching out to touch his chest before she realised what she was about to do.

"What?" Steve asked, slightly confused.

"I mean," she rambled, turning in her seat to face him; "No hate, but no way that's comfortable."

"I-"

"Like, you do realise shirts come in bigger sizes right?"

"Well-"

"Or," she continued, her speech slightly slurred and a slight british accent very present; "Is it an attempt to look bigger?"

"Have a nice evening, miss," Steve said with a polite smile before turning away.

"No, no, I'm-" the girl insisted, making him turn back; "I'm sorry. I'm a litte drunk and very sorry. Let me buy you a drink. As an apology." She scratched her eyes frustratedly and Steve felt a sort of pity.

"So," he mentioned, sitting down next to her; "Why are you drunk?"

"Uh, ethanol. It's in alcohol," she explained, looking down into the glass she was drinking from.

Steve smiled slightly.

"In my experience, people who drink alone are sad people," he told before giving his order to the bartender.

"My dad used to always do it when I was a kid," the girl told him, folding her arms and lying her head down on the table.

"Well, maybe he was sad," Steve jokes, receiving the hardly clean glass from the bartender.

"He was very sad, a very depressed man indeed," she agreed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was a joke," Steve tried.

"It's fine. It is what it is. What's your name?" she asked, sitting up straight again.

"Steve," he said, leaving out his last name; "Yours?"

"Lana," she told, reaching her hand out to him. He gently grabbed it and they shook hands.

"So, why are you sad Lana?" Steve asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm just... going trough shit," she replied with a sigh; "You?"

"Yeah, me too."

"My dad doesnt want me, neither did my boyfriend and now I'm in a new country and homeless," Lana informed.

"My best friend, James, was brainwashed and kept trying to kill me. Now we have to take turns watching him so he doesn't turn into a homicidal maniac again."

"That's... Alright, you win this roung, Tiny-shirt," Lana admitted; "Sorry about your best friend being a psycho."

"Sorry about your dad being a dick," Steve replied, almost smiling; "So, what's the deal with that anyway?"

"Urgh, I just don't think i fit into his life. Boarding schools and lots and lots of summer camps. Once I finished college I didn't see much of a reason to go back to the man who sent me away, so I stayed away," she told. Steve couldn't help but notice she seemed almost sober by that point.

"And, so, now you're back?" he questioned.

"Yup," Lana replied, popping the 'p'; "They didn't want me there either, so now I'm just gonna be places where you can buy stuff because then I can pay people and in my experience people like me better when I pay them. Speaking of, another drink?" she offered.

"No, thank you," Steve replied quickly; "Maybe you're done for the night, too?"

"Oh, no, no no no, not at all, I am far from done!" Lana replied quickly, suddenly seeming rather fresh.

"Why not?" Steve smiled.

"Because," she began, ordering another drink for herself and Steve, ignoring his answer; "I am going to do something very unlike me, and in order to do that, I need to be in a state where I'm very unlike my usual self."

"What are you gonna do?" her new friend asked after thanking the bartender for the refill. He took a sip while waiting for Lana to reply.

"I am gonna have sex," she told surely, making Steve choke on his drink; "Not that, that sex is unlike me. Oh no, I'm, I'm good. I know what I'm doing down there, you know? But, sex with a stranger, now that, that's new! I've been having sex with the same guy for aaaages and apparently he's been having lots of sex and I just wanna-"

"Yup, I get it," Steve assured, confident he must've been paler than a ghost at that point.

"Like, I want someone to just take me," Lana continued unaffected; "I want to feel our bodies move against each other and to have his hands on me and-"

"Okay, okay, that's, that's good, that's, I get the idea," Steve tried again, blinking quickly while taking a big gulp of his drink.

"Sorry. I overshared. I do that when I drink," Lana told, entirely unaffected.

"I can tell," Steve mumbled, trying to keep his brain from thinking unholy thoughts of the girl.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go. Nice to meet you, Steve," Lana told, jumping down from the bar stool.

"What? Where?"

"I don't know, I'm gonna go for a walk and fin someone to fuck," she stated with a shrug. Steve ignored the eyes he noticed turning to the attractive girl as he said; "That.. Does not sound like a good idea."

"I know. Brilliant, isn't it?" she asked with a big smile.

"Why don't I walk you?" Steve suggested, quickly grabbing his coat. Lana shrugged again.

The streets were as dark as they ever got in the city that never sleeps as Steve and Lana wandered them, a cup of froyo in each their hands.

"So," Lana asked, taking a spoon of the ice in her hands; "What are you going to do about James?"

"Well... He's back to his old self, technically, so... Just wait for him to get better, I guess," Steve said. Talking about Bucky was nice, even if he had used his other name for privacy reasons.

Lana sensed the mood and quickly changed the topic.

"I feel like froyo is a gift from god. Like, who actually invented froyo? Was it an attempt to make yoghurt last longer? I don't even care to be honest, it's amazing."

"It is," Steve agreed, smiling.

"I can't believe you've never tried it before," she added, looking up at the stars while walking.

"There's a lot I haven't tried. I've been a bit... Occupied, for the last while," Steve muttered.

"Hah, bet you haven't had sex for a while either, then," Lana joked, having no boundaries while affected by alcohol.

"What? I," Steve laughed nervously; "That, that, sex is, no, I don't-"

"You're a virgin?" Lana interrupted calmly. Steve didn't reply.

"Don't worry, I'm not judging. I think it's cool," she added with a shrug; "Wish I was a virgin and had never slept with my stupid moose of an ex."

"Moose?" Steve questioned with narrowed eyebrows.

"I feel like he's the type of guy who would smell of moose. Like, he didn't, but, he easily could have. I think. I don't know how a moose smells," Lana added; "So maybe he did actually smell like a moose."

"That's-"

"Speaking of sex though, the streets empty. There's no one to sleep with here," Lana interrupted, glancing around as if she expected some people to come by and offer their bodies.

"Guess not," Steve replied, quite frankly a tad relieved.

"You're so lucky you don't get horny," she muttered disappointed.

"What?" Steve asked confused.

"Well, I mean, you're good looking, surely you could've had sex. You've probably had plenty of chances, I just assume you've chosen not to. Asexuality is a thing, you know," she added calmly.

"No, I... I feel... Urges, I just... There's never been anyone," Steve explained with a shrug.

"Ahh, looking for that special one?"

"No, there's just... Never been anyone at all."

"You're such a liar," Lana scoffed, still eating her froyo.

"I'm serious!" Steve assured, happy to get away from the awkward mood and back to the joking.

"No, you're not," she replied.

"Yes, I am!" he laughed before trying to prove his point; "Do you wanna have sex with me?"

"Sure," Lana replied quickly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean tha - wait, what?" Steve interrupted himself, not having processed her answer immediately.

Lana quickly pulled her hand behind his neck and pulled him in for a rough kiss.

I feel like I have enough works in progress and I feel really bad about pausing them just to write yet ANOTHER story but I have so many ideas for this it was hurting my brain:(