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Elaine let herself be ushered into the mansion, wishing she had a camera or something to take pictures with. Because the mansion was gorgeous.
"Note to self," she murmured to Kae, "next hardware upgrade has to include a camera I can operate without Claudia." |
"Done," Kae said with a little grin. "I'll make a note to myself." She was also busy looking around. It definitely looked like a Stark place of residence.
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"I wish I could take pictures now," Elaine whispered. "Show Tony when we get back."
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"He... might or might not like it," Kae said quietly. "But I've got my phone on me, somehow, so I can take pictures while the battery lasts."
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Elaine nodded.
"Take some pictures," she said. "If he asks for them after we tell him what happened, then you've got them." |
"Good plan." Kae snapped a few pictures as they walked (discreetly, so Howard wouldn't notice) before Howard stopped in front of a few guest rooms for them.
"You two can stay here. Anything else you'll need for now?" |
Elaine almost opened her mouth to say no, and then remembered that she and Kae were still just wearing illusions.
"Clothes?" she asked. "We can't go around wearing these the whole time, I won't be able to keep it up." She didn't explicitly say the word 'magic', but she came close. |
"Oh. Right." Howard blinked. "How about I just give you some money and point you at a store instead?"
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"That would work," Elaine said, nodding. She grinned a bit. "Vintage shopping, this should be fun."
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"Vintage?" Howard raised an eyebrow at them.
"For us," Kae said with a brief grin. "But that would be much appreciated, Mr. Stark." |
Elaine nodded her agreement.
"It would," she said. Howard looked at the two of them for a moment before nodding. "Alright," he said. |
Kae waited patiently for him to fish out his wallet and hand them a little wad of money.
"I'll get someone to take you over to a store, I need to get back to work, there's an experiment that requires my attention." Howard looked at them both. |
Elaine nodded.
"Thanks for your help," she said. "We'll try to stay out of the way." |
Howard nodded and waved them back into the main living room, where he got one of his butlers to take the girls out to a store so they could do their shopping.
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As the butler led them out to the car, Elaine nudged Kae.
"Is it just me, or is this guy kind of familiar?" she murmured to her friend. "Like, I feel like we should know him." |
"He is, kind of." Kae eyed the butler as they walked.
"Here we are," the butler said quietly, opening the back door of a car for the two. Kae paused, and then blanched and turned almost white. |
Elaine had done a double-take at the butler, one hand covering a gasp. She ducked into the car quickly, pulling Kae with her.
"It's Jarvis," she whispered to her friend once the door closed. "Oh gods it's Jarvis." |
"It is Jarvis," Kae agreed, even as he slid into the front seat to start driving. "Oh gods it's him, but it's him much younger than Tony would have remembered."
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"He's not just an AI anymore now, there's a person behind it," Elaine said. "Gods, what will Tony say when we tell him this?"
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"I haven't got a clue. I don't know if I want to find out." Still looking shaken, Kae settled in for the trip.
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Elaine nodded in agreement and settled in. She wanted to get the shopping done with so she could get to figuring out the mess she made.
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It didn't take them long to get to a store, and thankfully Jarvis did not insist on going in with them, instead just letting them go get what they needed.
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Elaine looked around the store in interest.
"This is kind of neat," she admitted to Kae. "I kind of hope whatever I get makes the trip back." |
"Yeah really." Kae blinked and starte looking around for clothes that would suffice for their stay. Hopefully they wouldn't be stuck for too long.
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Elaine settled on a few skirts and blouses that she could mix and match, even as she rolled her eyes at the prices.
"Ugh, inflation is outrageous back home," she murmured to Kae. "This has to be a third of the price it will be then." |
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