Chapter 92: Guests

Helen was still looking at me after I answered, “Everyone?” Before she could say anything else, I heard another set of footsteps coming from the stairs. White appeared a few moments later, already completely dressed as usual, and stopped when she saw the dining table and most of the kitchen counters covered with food. Her eyes moved across everything before settling on me. Unlike Helen, she didn’t look particularly surprised. She simply asked, “Did my Lord prepare all of this?” I nodded and told her I’d been trying something new, and White looked over the dishes again before saying, “They appear excellent, my Lord.”

“Of course you’d say that,” Gwen’s voice came from behind her. She walked into the kitchen while fixing her hair, then stopped when she finally noticed how much food there was. Her eyes widened as she looked from the table to the counters before turning toward me. “Wow. This much for them?” Helen immediately looked at her and asked, “For who?” Gwen answered far too casually, “His new favorites.” I stared at Gwen for a second. I really thought she’d drop that after our conversation last night, but apparently not. There was a small smile on her face this time, though, so I decided not to start another argument over it.

“It’s not specially for them,” I said before Helen could start asking questions. “I wanted to cook something, then I got into it. By the time I stopped, all of this was already here.” I gestured toward the table, although looking at the amount of food probably made my explanation sound worse rather than better. Helen didn’t say anything. She walked past me, opened the refrigerator and stared inside for several seconds before slowly closing it again. “You almost emptied the entire fridge.” I told her, “I noticed that,” which made her sigh and rub her forehead.

“Which means I have to go shopping again.” Helen looked around at everything before apparently deciding complaining wouldn’t put the food back into the refrigerator. “Fine. Which ones are the best?” I pointed toward several dishes and explained, “Those are probably the best savory ones. That one’s a little spicy, the one beside it is mild, and that one is more sour than spicy.” I then pointed toward the other side of the table. “The desserts are there. I think those three came out best.”

Helen looked at me for a moment before picking up a spoon and tasting one of the dishes. She chewed slowly, looked down at it and then took another bite. I smiled and asked, “Good?” She ignored the question and tried another dish instead. After tasting that too, she finally looked toward Gwen. “Call your friends and ask where they are.” Gwen checked the time and said, “Mom, it’s only nine. They weren’t supposed to be here yet.” Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the doorbell rang.

For a few seconds, nobody said anything. Gwen looked toward the entrance while Helen slowly turned back toward her. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “Apparently they’re early.” White was already moving and said, “I will answer it,” before leaving the kitchen. Gwen immediately pointed toward the stairs and told me, “Go freshen up.” I looked down at myself. I was still wearing the clothes I’d exercised in earlier, and although I’d cleaned up a little afterward, I probably didn’t look ready to have guests over. “Fine.”

“And wear mine,” Gwen added. I looked at her and immediately knew she meant the midnight-blue suit she’d chosen for me yesterday. “We’re going into the basement, not an opera.” Gwen didn’t care and replied, “I chose it, so wear it.” Before I could argue, voices came from the entrance. White returned a moment later with Sara and Emily following behind her.

Sara greeted Helen first with, “Good morning, Mrs. Stacy,” and Emily greeted her after that. They both said hello to Gwen before eventually looking toward me. Sara smiled and said, “Morning,” while Emily followed with a quieter, “Good morning.” I replied, “Morning. Apparently I’ve been ordered to make myself presentable, so give me twenty minutes.” Gwen immediately added, “And wear mine.” I gave her one last look before heading upstairs.

I showered quickly and changed into the clothes Gwen had chosen for me yesterday. By the time I came downstairs again, a little over twenty minutes had passed. Everyone was already sitting around the dining table, although none of them had started eating yet. I stopped near the kitchen entrance and looked at them. “You should’ve started. There was no reason to wait for me.” Sara shook her head and said, “It’s fine. We just got here,” while Emily looked over the table again before asking, “Did you really make all of this?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” I pulled out a chair and sat down. “I wanted breakfast and got a little carried away.” Gwen looked around at the food covering both the table and counters before asking, “A little?” Helen started moving plates toward the center and said, “If we’re going to have this much food in the house, everyone is eating.” She then looked at me. “Tell them what’s what, since you’re the one who made it.”

I pointed toward the dishes closest to Sara and Emily. “Those two are mild. That one is spicy, so don’t take too much unless you actually like spicy food. The one beside it is more sour than spicy, and those three have stronger spices but aren’t really hot.” Sara immediately reached for one of the spicy dishes and said, “I’ll try that.” Emily chose one of the milder ones, while Gwen picked something I’d already warned her was spicy enough that she’d probably complain about it later.

I looked at Gwen’s plate and told her, “You’re going to blame me when that’s too spicy.” She gave me an innocent look and replied, “You made it. Obviously it’ll be your fault.” Once everyone had food, the conversation became much more relaxed. Sara kept trying different dishes and asking what I’d used in them, while Emily asked how I’d managed to make so much food before they arrived. I didn’t exactly have a normal answer for that, so I only told her I’d learned quickly.

By the time everyone finished eating, there was still an unreasonable amount of food left. Helen looked over the table and sighed. “I’m putting most of this away later. Whatever doesn’t fit is going with you three.” Sara immediately shook her head and said, “You don’t have to do that.” Helen replied, “There is no way we’re eating all of this before it goes bad, and apparently Chris doesn’t understand portions anymore.” I defended myself by saying, “I understood portions. I just got carried away.”

Gwen finished eating, stood and stretched before looking toward Sara and Emily. “Ready?” Both of them looked toward me almost immediately. Helen waved a hand toward us and said, “Go do whatever you actually invited them here to do. I’ll deal with this.” I started to tell her she didn’t need to clean everything herself, but White was already standing beside her. “I will assist Lady Helen,” she said. Helen gave her a grateful look before turning back toward me. “Go.”

I stood and looked toward Sara and Emily. “Alright. Come with me.” We left the kitchen together and headed toward the basement. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, Sara looked around before asking, “So this is where you’ve been working?” I nodded and answered, “For some things.” There wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the basement itself compared to what I was about to show them, so I didn’t bother stopping to explain much

I led them toward the work area with Gwen walking with us. The table I’d used earlier was still there, and Blueberry sat in the middle beneath the thick cloth I’d wrapped around it. The covering hid the reactor itself, but it couldn’t completely stop the light, so faint blue lines were still visible through several parts of the cloth.

Emily noticed it first and slowed down while looking toward the table. Sara followed her gaze a moment later, and Gwen turned toward it after noticing both of them had stopped. The moment Gwen saw the faint blue light, she frowned and looked at me. “Chris, what is that?” I smiled slightly. She hadn’t seen Blueberry either because I’d made it while she was still asleep this morning.

I walked toward the table and told them, “This is what I wanted to show you first.” The three of them followed, and by the time I reached it, all of their attention was on whatever was glowing underneath the cloth. Sara looked from the table to me before asking, “What did you make?” I only answered, “You’ll see,” before grabbing the edge of the cloth and pulling it away.

Blue light immediately spread across the table as Blueberry came into view. For a few seconds, nobody said anything. Sara’s eyes widened, Emily stepped closer to the table, and Gwen stared at the reactor before quickly turning toward me. “Chris, when did you make that?” I answered, “This morning.” Gwen looked back at Blueberry and then at me again. “You made that this morning?” I nodded. “Yeah.”

Emily leaned a little closer to the table without touching anything. Her eyes moved over the glowing center before following the blue lines running through the casing. “Is that what I think it is?” Sara looked at it for another moment before turning toward me. “Is that an Arc Reactor?” I nodded and answered, “Yeah.” Gwen immediately looked at me again. “You already built one? I thought you only got the designs yesterday.” I reminded her, “I did only have the designs yesterday.”

Gwen stared at me for a second after that answer before looking back at the reactor. Emily finally pulled her eyes away from it and asked, “Is this the same one Stark Industries made?” I shook my head. “Not exactly. I changed a lot of it.” Sara looked between me and the reactor before asking, “How much did you change?” I rested one hand beside Blueberry and answered, “Enough that I wouldn’t really call this Stark’s reactor anymore. The basic idea came from his work, but this version is mine.”

Emily’s attention returned to the glowing center. “What’s powering it?” I smiled slightly and answered, “That’s another thing I changed.” She looked back at me, waiting for the explanation, but before I could continue, Sara asked, “Wait, does it have a name?” I answered, “Of course it does,” which immediately made Gwen look at me suspiciously.

“Why did you say that like I’m going to regret asking?” Gwen asked. I tapped the side of the glowing casing and answered, “Blueberry.” Gwen stared at me for a second before slowly looking back at the reactor. “You made a new Arc Reactor this morning and named it Blueberry?” I nodded and gave her the obvious explanation. “It’s blue.”

…

I am taking three day break as i am busy sorry for this.