[center][img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/z23_15Fzdrw/maxresdefault.jpg[/img][/center]
[right][hr][color=gray][b]New York City, United States of America[/b]
Stark International Penthouse[/color][hr][/right]
[indent]“You’re a piece of shit, Tony.”

There was a long pause as Tony Stark heard it. He couldn’t say he disagreed as he stood there, looking straight ahead with long bags underneath his eyes. His hands were pressed downward on the surface as he looked at the person in the eye as he heard it.

“Nobody likes you. I mean, how can they when you pushed them apart and drink yourself into oblivion? How can they like an unending pit?”

The black-haired superhero and inventor took a heavy breath. He knew they were right. He was a problem. He wasn’t sure why the Avengers had put up with him for over a decade. Even the kid knew what he was. There wasn’t much he could do about it. He looked at the bottle of cognac that was sitting right next to him. A dry, deadened chuckle left his mouth. He couldn’t stop could he? It was a bad thing that he surrounded himself with it and he didn’t bother to do anything. He never changed. It was why Piper left. It was why they all left. He hated it. He hated himself.

“Don’t you fucking pick up that bottle.”

He picked up the bottle.

“Don’t you do it, you piece of shit. Don’t drink a damn drop of that shit.”

He was drinking it. He wondered what time it was. But he didn’t care, did he? 

“I can’t fucking believe you.”

Tony looked closer, peering at his reflection in his bathroom’s mirror as a look of disgust grew on his face. The little Jiminy Cricket in his head was unbearable. But then again, he never did listen to it. He groaned as he turned around, back to the mirror, heading back into his bedroom.

When he came to his bed, Tony had finished a quarter of the cognac and it was empty. It didn’t make all of the pain and anxiety go away, but it numbed it. Numbed it just enough that he could function. His eyes looked to the flashing pager on his nightstand – a high alert message had been sent to all of the Avengers about… something. He probably should’ve got ready unless any one of the other Avengers had already gotten to it. But then again, the open skies were a lot better than the four walls of his penthouse. Sometimes he wished he had never repaired all of the damages to it. Sometimes he wished he let the Hulk just let loose so he didn’t have to look at it anymore. But then again, it wouldn’t change anything. He would have the same feeling in a hotel room or in one of his many properties across the globe. It was a him problem, not an it problem. He sighed as he let the bottle hit the floor and swiped the pager.

In a few seconds, he cleared his throat before he went on comms. [color=853333]“Alright, team. What’s the 411? Is this a ‘Tony, we need you’ thing or what?”[/color]

He weakly smirked. [color=853333]“I just want to know because I missed breakfast and I really like to savor those little moments in life.”[/color]
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