The inside of the building was just as breathtaking as the outside had been: The decor was completely modern and sleek and all sorts of the newest technology sat out in the main room as well. Violet must have been much too absorbed in looking around because it took three tries for Pepper to finally get her attention.
"Come on then, let's get up to the living space."
Violet nodded and slowly followed the woman into the elevator, looking uneasy as the doors closed.
"What...what is this?" She asked as she eyed the panel of numbered buttons on the wall opposite her.
Pepper raised a brow "An elevator...where did you say you were from again?"
Violet smiled and couldn't help a small laugh and looks at the woman "I live where I'm needed. I stay in the woods, the forest...I've stayed in the desert once or twice."
Pepper looked intrigued as Violet spoke, trying to decipher if what the girl was saying was a joke or not.
"You say you go where you are needed," she starts. "What do you mean by that?"
As Violet opened her mouth to answer there was a loud noise outside that took her attention. It sounded like metal banging on concrete, and as Violet hurried to the window after the elevator had opened on the top floor, she realised that that was exactly what she had heard. The object that had hit the concrete was in fact metal, painted red and gold, and more remarkably, it was in the shape of a man. This metal man started to walk forward as a strange half-circle like machine followed and pulled off the metal piece by piece, revealing a shorter, well-kept man. Violet scrambled back, eyes wide.
Pepper laughed, quickly covering her mouth with her hand to quiet herself. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you. This is Tony Stark, he owns this place."
Tony took a look at Violet, a brow raised at her appearance. As he walked inside the building, he looked from Violet to Pepper. "I'm going to ask nicely, since I don't want to offend anyone, but...why is there a homeless woman in my house? Again, no offense."
Pepper strode over to him, a deep frown on her face as she grabs him by the collar of his shirt and drags him over to the corner of the room. Her voice dropped to a dangerously low whisper as she spoke into his ear. "This girl looks like she has been through a lot, Tony. She was wandering around New York all day, she lives in the woods...she doesn't even have shoes! We need to help her."
Tony let out a loud, exaggerated sigh as he looks back over to the girl. He kept his voice a bit quieter than normal as he spoke to Pepper. "Fine. But if she drags dirt onto my carpet you better get it out before it stains."
With a roll of her eyes, Pepper walks back over to Violet. "Ignore him, he doesn't play well with others. I'll take you to the spare room, Tony is happy to have you."
Violet glanced at Tony, who looked the complete opposite of happy, then looked at Pepper. She had two options: Stay here or go back outside. After a moment of thinking she nods once, knowing that she wouldn't last a day in this city alone. "Okay...thank you." She glances over at Tony. "And thank you, Mr. Stark."
Tony gave a hearty, albeit fake, nod "Of course. Just clean up before you get in bed."
Pepper groaned at his comment and steered Violet toward her room. "He's not always this rude, you know. But if you do want to clean up...there is a bathroom inside your room. I'll go get you some new clothes, okay?"
Violet nodded as she walks around the room, running her hands over all of the technology but being mindful of the buttons. "Alright, thanks."
She waited until Pepper had left to walk into the bathroom, her eyes still widening as she took in everything. This house- this city- was completely different than anything she had ever seen in her entire life. She made sure the door was closed before she stripped down, walking cautiously to the shower; even that had a panel of crazy buttons to control it. It took her a good three minutes to turn on the water and another few minutes to muster up enough courage to walk into the shower. She pulled the glass closed and stood under the water, watching as dirt started to drip off of her and go down the drain.
With a small sigh, she leaned against the wall, the right half of her body still under the hot water. She was still at a loss as to why she was in New York, but at least she had somewhere to stay as she sorted things out; even if she wasn't welcomed whole-heartedly.
That man, Tony Stark, he was a sort of enigma that she wanted to figure out while she was staying with him, that was for sure. Pepper had reacted so strangely when Violet didn't know who he was, and Tony acted like a snob; he must be important somehow. The biggest question she had, though, was about that suit. What was it? How did it work? And most importantly; what did he do with it?
