Online Shopping
Bucky’s POV
“Hey Bucky.” Bucky heard Iris and turned around to face her. His heart still jumped when he heard her say his name.
“I have a question and I want you to be completely honest.” Iris continued. Bucky had a guess on what he hoped the question would be but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t happen.
“Sure, hit me.” Bucky leaned against the door frame with his arms by his side. Iris looked nervous standing in the doorway to her new room.
“Do you wanna like, maybe…Never mind it’s stupid.” She began, cutting off her words before any came out.
“Go on a date?” He finished. Please be what she was implying or I’m fucked.
“Yeah, that.”
Thank God. It was what Bucky wanted. His heart fluttered childishly in his chest at the though.
“Sure. Tomorrow’s Saturday, how about then?” Bucky initiated. He had no idea what they would do but at least a date would be set.
“Well, since you asked so nicely.” Iris had flipped from her nervous demeanor to her more confident one which Bucky loved. Bucky laughed and crossed his arms.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” To be honest he didn’t know what else to say. He hoped she would be awake for breakfast but by the looks of it she was exhausted so he wasn’t sure how long she would sleep in to. Iris smiled as a response and Bucky entered his room. He closed the door behind him and let out a content sigh.
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Iris’ POV
Iris flipped on the light switch next to the door and her jaw actually dropped at the sight of the room. Actually, it was more like an apartment.
The entrance was like a small living room with a set of couches surrounding a glass coffee table. On the wall in front of the couches was a large flat screen TV. The far wall was covered by a thick curtain so Iris assumed it was a window. Behind the couch a section of the wall was cut away leaving a small kitchenette. There was a microwave and a sink along with many cabinets. Much to Iris’ disappointment they were empty but she knew better than to complain.
Besides the open kitchen was a heavy wooden door through which she found out was the bedroom. She flipped on the light inside and looked around. In the center was a king sized bed covered in cream colored sheets and more pillows than she could count. Another TV sat across from the bed. Another covered window stretched across the far wall. Above the bed sat two abstract paintings, both of which made no sense to Iris. Near the window on the same wall as the TV sat a desk. Sitting on top of it was a MacBook which Iris assumed was the computer FRIDAY was talking about.
There was one final door on the opposite side of the window with a large empty closet besides it. Iris opened the door and groped around for the light switch. When she found it her jaw dropped one more time.
A massive bronze colored bath which could technically be considered a small pool or hot tub was on a raised marble platform looking over the city on the right side of her. The entire far wall was covered in glass which Iris hoped was one way. That’s stupid, like anyone could see you this high up anyway.
On the far wall in front of her was another cut out section shaped like part of a hexagon. The warm colored tiles sat behind a glass wall with a glass door. A bronze tap handle sat on the wall inside with a matching shower head on the celling. Next to the glass door was a rack covered in fluffy white towels.
Another cut out section on the left held a toilet. There was also a single sink with a mirror covering the entire wall above it. A marble counter surrounded it and took up much of the rest of the wall. Everything was either made of glass, warm colored marble or bronze and was bathed in a golden light.
“How rich is this guy?” Iris whispered to herself.
Iris took in the surroundings for another minute before finally moving. She pulled off her boots placing her bare feet onto the cold marble floor. It felt refreshing.
She then stripped off her jeans and Steve’s shirt. Iris wanted to return it later but now she needed something to sleep in so she decided to keep it for now. She shivered as the cold air chilled her bare skin after pulling off her undergarments.
Iris padded over to the shower cabin and pulled open the glass door. She reached forward to the tap and turned it on. Steaming water fell from the oversized shower head in the ceiling. Iris adjusted the temperature, holding her hand out to test it until it was the perfect balance between boiling and pleasantly warm before stepping in.
She sighed as the clean water fell like rain on her dirty skin. It had been at least two days since she’d last showered and even then she was stuck with the shitty shower in Alex’s apartment that made her feel dirtier instead of cleaner.
Iris noticed a shelf on the wall which contained a few bottles. They looked expensive with French words she couldn’t read on them. There was one with something that looked like it said shampoo so Iris opened it and rubbed the soap into her hair. Iris almost moaned as the clean floral scent filled her nose.
It took Iris a solid fifty minutes to finish her shower. Most of it she spent just standing under the stream.
Every moment Iris was afraid she would wake up on some vomit stained carpet or worse, in some random guys bed with no recollection of how she got there. But after every blink she was still in the shower. Iris was praying it would never change.
Finally, Iris stepped out of the shower as her fingers were pruning up. She switched off the tap wondering how the steam hadn’t been building up in the cabin.
Iris stepped out into the main bathroom and shivered as the cold air attacked her skin. The shower cabin had been much warmer. Iris pulled a towel from the rack next to the shower around herself, relishing in its warmth.
Iris walked towards the mirror which was slightly fogged up but just barely. She began untangling her hair with her fingers but it was a loosing battle. Iris groaned and looked around for a hairbrush but the bathroom was basically empty except for the expensive soaps in the shower and the rack of towels. Iris could only think of one way to get a hairbrush and she felt weird about it.
“Here goes nothing.” Iris whispered to herself. “FRIDAY, can I have a hairbrush?” Iris asked her question a little too loudly, half hoping she wouldn’t get a reply not wanted the AI in her bathroom.
“Right away miss.” FRIDAY responded. Iris sighed There’s no escape. A second later a section of the tiled wall next to the sink opened up and a hairbrush sat inside.
Iris picked it up and the drawer closed.
“Where are you even getting all of this?” Iris asked. That question had plagued her since the beginning.
“A highly advanced 3D printer.” FRIDAY returned. Iris shook her head. This is insane.
“Well, thanks FRIDAY.”
“Your welcome.”
The room was silent again as Iris pulled the brush through her hair much easier than before. Without warning a wave of phantom pain rippled through her bones. Iris fell to the floor groaning. Fuck me, why do I even do drugs?
“Miss, do you want me to call someone?” FRIDAY asked.
“No.” Iris groaned loudly. “Just leave me alone.”
“Are you sure? I would recommend…”
“I don’t give a shit what you recommend, just fuck off.”
FRIDAY was silent after that. Iris regretted being so rude even if it was just a piece of technology. She lay on the tile floor shivering for a while longer until the pain began to fade.
She hoisted herself up using the sink as leverage.
“Hey FRIDAY, I’m sorry for yelling at you.” Iris apologized although it still felt weird talking to an empty room. Another wave of pain rolled threw her. It wasn’t as bad as before but it still caused her to double over, gripping the edge of the counter top.
“Apology accepted. Do you need anything else?” FRIDAY responded after Iris straightened back up.
“Um, some toothpaste and a toothbrush would be great. Maybe some pain killers to.”
“Right away.”
A few seconds later the drawer opened again and Iris took out the contents.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Iris was about to brush her teeth when the nausea hit. She barely made it to the toilet before she began heaving up her empty stomach. Nothing but stomach acid left her mouth but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Iris flushed before wiping her mouth off a few minutes later. She got up, groaning as more pains ached through her body.
I definitely need that toothbrush now.
Iris brushed her teeth, ignoring the pain shooting through her. She wasn’t sure how long she could stay like this. At this point during withdrawal she would usually have gone to Alex for anything so she had no idea if it would get worse.
Iris spit into the sink, rinsing her mouth. She drank some water straight from the tap as well as keeping some in her mouth to take the painkillers with. She didn’t recognize the label so Iris took three hoping it would be enough to dull her aching pain.
Iris walked back to where she had left Steve’s shirt on the ground and picked it up. She shrugged off the towel and pulled the shirt on.
She picked up her other clothes moving it to a corner before switching off the bathroom light and walking back into the bedroom. Iris went back into the living room area, turning off the lights there. She then returned to the bedroom, pulling back the curtains to view the city below.
Iris hadn’t paid much attention to the view in the bathroom as it had felt invasive but here she took in everything. It was beautiful. The other much shorter buildings were covered in randomly illuminated squares which were windows. The streets below were still bustling this late at night, cars were stuck in traffic and the people were no larger than ants.
Iris watched a few lights in windows switching on and some off before finally pulling the curtains shut again. The pain killers had begun working and Iris was feeling much better.
She was going to go to sleep but remembered what FRIDAY had said about buying clothes online. Iris knew she needed something to wear especially with the date tomorrow. Oh shit, the date. She had almost forgotten. Almost.
Iris sat down in front of the desk and opened the laptop. It showed the start up screen and asked her to choose a username and password.
Iris decided to go for her name as the username and the numbers in order from one to nine for the password. It wasn’t secure but Iris knew she could remember it.
The computer was brand new as it showed her an empty screen with only a few basic apps on it. She opened the browser but realized she didn’t know where to begin. She had never shopped online.
“Hey FRIDAY, you said I could buy any clothes I want, right?” Iris asked the empty room.
“That is correct. You can also buy other things if you wish.” FRIDAY responded. Nice.
“Do you have any recommendations of where to buy stuff?”
“Well it depends on your style.”
“I’d go for something simple and cute but also looks like I could kill someone in it.”
“I’m not quite sure what you mean.”
“Just anything then.”
“Okay, here are a few good stores.”
Iris watched in awe as the computer worked on its own. Five tabs opened up all leading to different online stores.
“Here are a few to start. If you need anymore feel free to ask.”
“Wow, thanks FRIDAY.”
“When you are ready to pay tell me and I’ll make sure your order is here by tomorrow morning.”
“Cool.” Iris began scrolling through the first tab. At first she didn’t look at the prices but when she noticed them her jaw nearly dropped.
Ninety dollars for a fucking T-shirt? Iris felt guilty just looking at these.
“FRIDAY, aren’t these a little pricey?”
“Mr. Stark said choose anything you wish. He is a billionaire in case you have forgotten.”
Iris was still unsure but decided to take advantage of her position. If they ended up throwing her out at least she would have some nice clothes.
Iris chose a little from each store including a few pairs of shoes, some dresses, shirts, shorts and jeans along with a few accessories from one of the stores which only sold jewelry. It was every girl’s dream. Iris hated to admit it but she did enjoy clothing quite a bit. Her style was quite edgy but still. She had never had enough money to buy even one of the items, much less all of them, so she felt giddy.
Iris even picked out a special dress that was slightly 40s style for her and Bucky’s date tomorrow. She wanted to dress to impress. She also picked out a few pairs of lacy underwear in case anything went down.
“Hey FRIDAY, would Tony mind if I bought some makeup as well?”
“That won’t be a problem. Do you want me to show you a store?”
“Yes please.”
Two more tabs opened on the browser.
“Thanks.”
Iris looked over to the clock in the corner of the screen. 1:09 AM. Shit. Iris began to speed up her shopping not wanting to stay up too late.
Iris picked out a few basic items including a foundation which FRIDAY had helped match up to her skin, a few lipsticks, eyeliner and a few other things. Iris could barely stay awake at this point so she decided to finish up.
“I think I’m done FRIDAY.” Iris yawned. A few dings sounded from the computer as confirmed purchase messages popped onto the screen.
“Everything will be in your room by tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks FRIDAY.” Iris was exhausted but content. “By the way, what time does everyone eat breakfast, if they do that sort of thing.”
“At nine.”
“Could you wake me up by eight thirty then?”
“Yes miss.”
“Thanks, good night FRIDAY.”
“Good night miss.”
Iris stepped into bed after closing the computer. She pulled the covers over her body, reaching towards another light switch next to the bed. Almost a second after the lights switched off Iris fell into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.