"You mean besides the fact that the value of money is different?" Kae snorted. "Yeah, if we compared relative prices, home is more expensive."

"Yeah," Elaine said. "Inflation. Value of the dollar is only going to drop, which is terrible. A lot of people would kill for these prices back home."

"No kidding." Kae sighed. "But then we have tech they don't."

"True," Elaine said. Quickly, she rounded up her choices and added a pair of plain black shoes to the pile. "We ready?"

"Yeah I think so." Kae gathered up her own purchases and headed up front to pay.

A few minutes later, they were getting back into the car.

"This is weird," Elaine murmured to Kae. "Just all of it."

"It is all so weird." Kae shook her head. "Well maybe tonight you can start working on this."

"As soon as I can," Elaine promised. "I'll fix this and get us home."

"Good. I mean I'm willing to stay for a few days but not too much longer. Just in case."

Elaine nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I don't want to be gone any longer than we need to be." She was already starting to miss Steve and the twins, and she knew it would only get worse.

Kae nodded and relaxed for the trip back, nodding to Jarvis when he led them back inside.

"Is there anything else you require for now?" He asked them.

"No, thanks," Elaine said as she opened the door to the guest room she'd been given. "Thanks for the help."

Jarvis nodded and left them to settle in.

Kae went to go flop over on her bed for a bit. What a day.

Elaine also flopped over onto her bed. After a few moments of just laying there, she released the illusion she had been holding over herself and Kae. One less thing to concentrate on while she worked. Then she gathered her magic and started to work. Time to figure out what had happened.

Kae left her to it, instead just settling in a bit and trying to relax. As much as she could, anyway. After a while she got up to take a few more pictures and investigate a bit more.

Elaine heard her moving around, but didn't go out to join her. She had a spell misfire to fix.

Howard, though, ended up coming back in a while later and found Kae wandering.

"Settling in alright?" he asked.

"Yes, just fine," Kae said with a quick smile. "Just getting a look around. Thought I'd explore a bit, if you don't mind?"

"Not at all," Howard said. "Anything for such a lovely lady." He grinned at her, though it seemed more habitual than anything.

Kae noticed and almost snorted, instead just shooting him a quick smile. Yup, just like Tony: habitual flirter. She started meandering a bit again, taking discreet pictures once in a while.

Discreet wasn't discreet enough, because Howard noticed.

"So what is it that you're doing?" he asked.

"Getting a look around. I've never been in a mansion before, after all." Which was technically entirely true.

"Excellent evasion, but you know what I was asking," Howard said. "That thing in your hand. The gadget. What is it? What does it do?"

"It's... complicated." Kae sighed. "You've read extensively, you're a genius, you should be able to figure out that I can't tell you much. That doesn't end well. Ever."

"It's not like I'm asking for government secrets," Howard pointed out.

"No, fortunately. I'll tell you what I think is appropriate. If I say no more, I mean it." Kae looked at him before she sighed. "It's basically a portable phone."