I Am The Storm

Chapter Twenty-One

As the next week passed, Mr. Stark allowed me out of my room more and more, to the point where I was allowed to roam my floor and go up to the Lab or Penthouse, with permission for the last two of course. I may have abused this power, though it was small, asking everyday if I could go somewhere just because I could. I had never experienced this kind of freedom before and I fully intended to use it.

Though as I went places, I found that there were certain changes happening. Little things, usually either in red, green, or gold, went up around the Penthouse. Some things that resembled giant socks went up on the mantle and an evergreen tree appeared in the sitting room. The tree had spheres hung all over it and a star on the top.

I was thinking about it as I sat at the small table in the kitchen of my floor, drawing. It was just a passing thought, but it still made me put down my pencil.

"Friday?" I asked. Mr. Stark had given Friday the permission to answer questions as long as they were harmless, which I was extremely thankful for. It would have been awful trying to find the lightswitch.

"Yes Cori,"

"Why did Mr. Stark put up those socks and a tree in his living room?"

"Those are Christmas decorations. Boss and Ms. Potts put them up to prepare for Christmas. The socks are called stockings, and they decorate the tree with ornaments," Fridays answered, also anticipating my next question.

I was quiet for a minute before I spoke again, trying to decide if I should even ask the question.

"What's Christmas," Not that I had anything against Peter's explanation, but I wanted a more comprehensive explanation. Because Peter's explanation was honestly terrible.

"Christmas is an annual festival commemorating of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people . Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving, completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath, Christmas music and caroling, viewing a Nativity play, an exchange of Christmas cards, church services, a special meal, and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly," Friday answered.

So apparently this Jesus guy was pretty important. He had a whole holiday to celebrate him. I guess that was pretty cool. The whole holiday seemed a little over the top, if anything.

We were both silent for a minute, before Friday spoke again.

"Boss is requesting your presence outside the Lab," she said as the elevator door opened.

I nodded, getting up from the seat and walking into the elevator, whose doors were already open and waiting for me.

The Lab was a cool place, even if I was subjected to waiting outside it, watching as Mr. Stark worked on all sorts of interesting projects. I couldn't complain. Watching him work on some cool projects was still really fun.

The elevator ride to the Lab was short, but it always seemed to take forever. The amount of things I could build with the materials in that lab always excited me, even though I could never touch them. When the doors opened, I rushed out and raced to the window, looking for Mr. Stark in the mess that was always somewhat organized. But I couldn't see him.

I searched for Mr. Stark inside the lab, but as soon as I reached out with my powers, I felt him standing next to me. I was getting too used to this.

I turned to look at him. He chuckled.

"Looking for me?"

"Yes," I said, no emotion in my voice. This only caused him to smile further.