CHAPTER 3

OF APPLE JUICE AND EXPENSIVE TABLETS

Endure,
endure,
and the syllables harden
like stoic sheets struck
with rigor mortis
on the clothesline
of winter.

– Sylvia Plath

Meeting one of Stark's friend was inevitable at some point, and she thought it would have happened in a normal way, as normal as she could get from the genius' friendships. Eris would have seen them, they would probably said hello awkwardly at her stony face, and maybe, maybe, she would have nodded back in greeting had she been in a good mood.

And really, it had started like a good day.

She had slept well for the first time in months, feeling quite rested after ages of nightmares, not as jumpy as usual, and not with the feeling something was going to explode because of her.

She had already planned her morning watching some movies or series she was falling behind, hoping that if Stark had never bothered her for anything, he wouldn't appear just to tell her to get off his expensive television. And maybe later in the day, if she felt like it, she could go to search for the gym she was sure was around their reserved building, as it was basically impossible the Avengers didn't work out.

So today had really started as a good day.

Eris had opened her eyes and hadn't felt the obsessive need to draw that had been a constant companion since she had arrived. She hadn't felt the fingers twitch in agitation begging to trace lines and shadows, and hadn't felt the need to fill page after page with stupid and useless doodles.

After god only knows how many months, she felt a bit calm and somehow peaceful. Maybe it was because no one had really bothered her in any way, unlike the persistent nagging feeling everything was going into shit every time Fury visited her with his usual scowl, asking questions above questions she never answered.

It was a good day and Eris truly didn't expect something would go wrong. For certain, she didn't think that her hair would become crime victims of sticky apple juice. That was something of which she didn't think would have happened in her quiet and lonely morning.

Eris knew that people, the rare times she would put her nose out in the outdoor, would sometimes think of her as… standoffish.

Even as younger, and not bothered by the heaviness of her past, people in general would stay out of her way. She faulted her always blank look, the kind of brooding presence and usually dark clothes.

However, throwing at her their drinks in fright was totally a new experience even for her.

It wasn't exactly his fault, the big Caucasian man with a bit of belly and dressed in a fancy suit had been with his head deep into the fridge, in his left hand a big glass full of the liquid protruding precariously with every movement he did.

She had thought he had heard her as she went near to also grab something to eat, completely forgetting how quiet her steps could be, and he had been too engrossed into his important search to notice the other person in the room, behind him.

In a comic sad sequence, she had tapped his shoulder to gain his attention because he was in her way, to which he replied by yelping, hitting hard his head on a fridge shelf and making everything rattle dangerously. He then turned fast, making the juice from his glass splash on everything and, obviously, on her hair as she was way smaller than him, barely reaching his shoulders.

So here she was, staring back at the man who was silently gaping down in what could only be describes as comical shock. He had been so lucky Eris had been just a little surprised by the action and hadn't thought of an attack, or there would be no more big wide eyes and open mouth and the kitchen would have had another colour.

Eris was sure Stark wouldn't be happy with the new design.

After what seemed a solid minute of staring, Eris lifted an eyebrow at him, finally making him snap out the self-induced trance. He immediately began to spurt apologizes, face red for the embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry Ma'am" he said regretful as he quickly turned around, in search of a towel. He grabbed the nearest and handled it to her "I didn't hear you coming"

She grabbed the offered orange towel and put it into her hair, trying to take off some of the sticky substance as he waited for a reply that wouldn't come any time soon.

"Ma'am?" he asked, a frown on his face.

Eris ignored him, her eyes passing quickly on his gelled brown hair before going to the fridge, to search for some milk. It was already eleven in the morning, but she still needed to have breakfast, and milk and some Pop-Tarts she had found some days before seemed a good way to continue her now ruined day. She saw from the corner of her eyes the man fidgeting on his place, the frown deepening on his face.

"Are you the new cook?" he asked, and his eyes followed up down her small figure and definitely borrowed bigger male clothes, coming to the conclusion she didn't resemble one. He took a step towards as she turned her head to look better at him, not appreciating the closeness and casting a warning glare, the hand grasping hard the fridge handle.

Her patience was thinning.

"You don't have the badge" he said, narrowing his eyes at her, as if accusing her of something she didn't know "Who are you and why are you here?" he then asked, voice hard and losing all trace of sorriness from before. She saw his hand go to his back as his body tensed, ready for any sort of threatening move from her.

Vaguely, in some distant part of her mind, Eris remembered she had seen this man in some article, and he had to be, or had been, Stark's bodyguard, and that if he was here then he had some sort of permission and was only doing his job. Eris, however, couldn't care less.

She had been coped in this place for weeks, and if the man hadn't been notified of her presence, it wasn't her fault. She had been feeling peacefull until he arrived here, and if he even thought of attacking her, then she wouldn't hold back. She would never hold back any more from a fight.

And now, she thought bitterly, all the remaining little pieces of peace in her heart had shattered, and instead of calm, irritation had begun to flow in the veins alarmingly.

She had never been good with patience. She had never been good with people.

She snapped close the door hard, making the little bottle inside clang again and turned her whole body to look openly at the man, showing her complete displeasure with the situation with a dangerous expression, and how much he was walking on thin ice. If anything, he seemed even more alarmed than before, and even more than ready to attack her at the first wrong movement.

"Miss Guerra is a guest" intervened luckily Friday, probably sensing her heartbeat increase and saving the man from having his intestine used to strangle him.

Eris saw the taller man open his mouth in surprise, turning his eyes a few times from the small young woman to the ceiling. Slowly, he shifted his look from hard guarding dog to slight interested, visibly calming down.

He eased his muscles in a more relaxed position and removed his hand from what she was sure was a gun on his back, probably wondering why someone like her would be a guest in the Avengers Facility.

Then, as if the juice in her hair wasn't enough, Eris heard steps and saw the indistinguishable figure of the genius coming their way, walking in a lazy way and sporting a huge eat-shit grin on his face that transformed his pale and usually tired face into something just a little lighter.

He was dressed in filthy clothes, full of dark spots and oil all over his face, but he at least looked quite happy to see the man next to her.

"Happy!" he shouted excited. He walked around her, sporting a big happy grin and clapped hard the shoulder of the taller man who simply smiled back uncomfortably.

"Hi Tony" replied back, glancing quickly between the duo.

"I see you have met sunshine here" said Stark, indicating the young woman who was watching the couple with cold eyes "And I see you have welcomed her beautifully" he added as he saw the towel still in her hands and her hair wet.

"New fashion?" he asked at her with a smirk, walking also to the fridge and taking out a coke. He leaned casually on the counter, grinning at her. Eris narrowed her eyes in warning, but he simply replied by grinning wider, showing even more his white and perfect teeth.

She felt her hand twitch around the towel and decided that it would be best if she retired to her room and watch something there on the smaller tv in the bedroom. She had no more taken residence in the room with the photograph, but had decided to go for another one. The one in which she was currently staying clearly belonged to a man, really tall and with big clothes.

He seemed to have simple tastes, with simple spartan furniture and quite a hard bed, and with a kin passion to draw just like her. He was way better than she could ever be, expecially on drawing portraits, and he had a lot of pencils and papers around that had saved her from asking more to Stark.

Eris turned on her heals, completely ignoring the men who were now both looking at her, one with suicidal amusement, and the other with fitting worry, and made move to leave.

"Wait!" shouted Stark at her.

For a split of moment she considered ignoring the irritating man, just to spite him, knowing that ignoring him would probably aggravate him, but in the end she turned her head to see why he had finally decided to bother to her after weeks of self-imposed silence.

Stark walked to her the few metres she had managed to take, and handled her something with a big expectant smile. She didn't take immediately it, only stared back into his eyes with an empty stare.

"For you, take it" he said, almost putting it into on her arms. Eris grabbed what seemed to be a tablet cautiously, as if she it would explode any second. Knowing the man had a liking to invent strange things, and usually hearing various explosions from his laboratory, she almost expected it.

"It's just a tablet" said Stark, smirking at her "It's not gonna eat you"

Yes, it might, Eris thought as she looked at the really expensive piece of technology.

It had the Stark logo on it and she didn't doubt for a second it was something that couldn't break easily. Stark was, and she hated to admit it, one that never joked with creations, and never made something that would shatter at the first fall.

"It's directly linked to Friday and to me, so whatever you need, you can just write on it" he added, indicating the black screen "It also has various programs if you find yourself tired of drawing"

Eris looked up and down, from the object in her hands to his face. He looked more tired than ever, completely worn out from whatever was eating him, with circles under his eyes that looked more like tattoos. His brown eyes, even if tilted for the smile, didn't hold the spark that she had seen on some videos time ago, where he always smiled happily, and drunkly, and had a different gorgeous woman under his arm every night. Now they just were like hers, empty, lonely and above everything, tired of all the shits always happening.

Eris didn't bother reply to the man, he already knew she wouldn't, so she just turned on her heels and slowly walked away from the men's stare. She heard the other one mutter something that sounded like 'strange one' but she didn't care. She went to her room and closed the door behind her, ignoring the loud laugh resonating in the too big empty building.

She closed it a little too hard behind her, but she didn't pay any mind to it. She was too busy looking at the expensive tablet on her hands as if it was going to eat her.

It had been kind of him to give her one, unexpectedly so as he had basically ignored her since day one except for giving her a few curious glances here and there. It was almost strange for her to receive something just out of hearts from someone else that wasn't Fury, but then again, Fury would just give her moneys or things to keep her alive with decency.

Stark didn't need to do it. He had no reason to gain anything in giving her the tablet, well maybe he could watch what she searched on it, but Eris has the feeling he wouldn't breach that kind of privacy.

She sat on the bed and opened it. Immediately various links of games and even applications to learn to draw popped on the front. She looked around and found also apps for music, movies, obviously Internet and for almost all things one could do with a tablet and much more. He had overdone it.

On the contact there were just two links, one under the name of Friday and one to Stark.

Eris touched that one, opening a white empty chat. She battled for a few seconds with herself, one hand going to the sticky hair as she contemplated what to write.

In the end she settled for a 'thank you'. She closed it quickly, not even wanting to see if he was going to reply any time soon and headed to the bathroom to take a shower, bringing a set of clothes with her.

When she returned, after drying her hair, she was a bit surprised to see he had replied.

'You're welcome'

It was simple, it wasn't sarcastic, and it was so not like him.

In the end Eris just decided he was strange and just didn't have the patience to consider more his motives, she already had enough problems in her mind to even bother with others, so she just decided to search for some movie to see.

She completely forgot she still had to eat breakfast.