Book Nerds {IronStrange} |ON HOLD|

6

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"Welcome to the Stone Age, Stephen."

I looked at with with wide eyes, trying to deduce him. "I'm scared that you might actually think that that is what the Stone Age is." Tony scoffed at me, how dramatic of him, sifting through the box he placed in front of us. "Hey, they used sticks and stones." He spoke with a sarcastic tone, "What else did they have to work with." He dropped a few sheets of tin and some bolts and screws he though he could smelt. "You know that's not what I meant, Tony." Tony shook his head, "Well your making me out to be a dummy." "I never said you that you are. Besides, I wouldn't have come to you if you were dumb."

Tony stood up and walked to the corner of the room to a big,, thing that was covered with a cloth tarp. As Tony usually does with everything, grandly revealed what was hiding beneath it. "I'm not dummy, this is." I stared in confusion at the small man. He bent down to grab a cone hat that had the word 'dunce' printed on it, before placing the hat on the machines 'head'. "D U M dash E." He spelt it out for me as I nodded along. "Dum-E isn't working right now due to the end of the technological era but this idiot of a machine was the best and is my son." I hummed in response as he began to walk over and rejoin me looking through the scraps. "You have no clue how many fire extinguishers that machine had used on me, especially when I didn't need it."

——

"Alright! I think we've got a nice line up of materials here. Gold, bronze, copper, aluminum, and zinc. Hopefully one of these will be our lucky match." Tony sprung to his feet, sorting each of the metals into heat-resistant melting pots. I stood awkwardly, following him as he did his busy work. I checked my watch, quarter to one. "We should get lunch." Tony's head perked up, "Like, now?" "Yeah. Do you want Chinese?" Tony smiled, "I'm always good for Chinese delivery. I'll call it in, is there anything you specifically want?" I shook my head no. "Cool, I'll get something vegetarian for you." "Thank you for remembering."

Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket as he left the room. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, I wondered around the room. The dark oak floors made the space feel big, I tried to envision it without any of the clutter. This was definitely the only bedroom in the place, meaning it was also the master. The room had a lot of tables, nightstands and flat surfaces for Tony to clutter up. There were a lot of big, tall, and smudged windows, allowing light to seep into almost every corner of the room. The corner his messy, unmade bed was in was opposite to a door that led to the balcony. I walked out and closed the door behind me as took a step outside to get some air.

The gusts of wind made some of the snow spill between the top of the railing and the bottom lip of the balcony above. There was a glass door that led into the kitchen, where I could see Tony sitting on the counter and hanging up the phone. Tony hopped off and began towards his bedroom, not noticing me. I went to open the door to his bedroom, when I realized, it wouldn't turn. I tried and failed three times before Tony entered his room.

"Yo, I ordered the,, goods. Stephen?" Tony's muffled voice made its way to the glass of the door as another strong wind came around. My shivering hand knocked on the glass. His brown eyes looked confusingly at me as he opened up the glass door. "Hi." I said smiling. "Hi... What are you doing out on my balcony in thirty degree weather?" Tony said, stepping outside with some slippers on. "Exploring your apartment." I said with a slight chuckle at the end. This may have been kind of awkward but it was best to just laugh it off. Tony hummed in response as he closed the door.

"Tony." He absentmindedly responded, "Yeah?" "Did you just close the door." "Mhm." He quickly noticed his mistake, it was evident by how wide his eyes became. "Why?" "So my room wouldn't get cold." "Are we locked outside?" "Maybe? Check the kitchen door." I walked over to the other side of the balcony and fidgeted with the doorknob. We were locked outside. This was not a time to laugh things off.

——

Time seemed to pass slowly. As the cold consumed us, we stood closer and closer together, 'huddling for warmth'. It was kind of nice, he was really hot like a marshmallow, or some kind of human torch. We waited for the Chinese food delivery person to show up, Tony claimed that he didn't lock his front door, so this person could come in, let us out and be our salvation. Every so often, I'd pace back and forth, trying to gain warmth, as Tony would look out for the delivery person.

After a total of twenty-six minutes, we had a suspect. A man, who had just done a terrible parallel parking job in a company car, that carried one of those insulated food bags came close to the apartment. Tony cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, "CHINESE FOOD DELIVERY GUY?!" All that was heard in response was a small, "God?"

Tony, by using an app he made on his phone that triggered a small robot to press a button near his front door that buzzed people into the building, let our savior in. Once we heard the knock on Tony's specific door, Tony and I synchronized screaming, "COME IN!" Only to ensure that he heard us. We then banged frantically on the glass of the kitchen door, and as he came over to free us, Tony and I did a little happy dance. Tony vogued and I hopped and spun around, "We're saved!" Tony sang out as the man opened the door. "Wong?" "Stephen?" "Food?!"

Tony practically stole the bag of food off the man as he brought it over to his couch. I stepped inside, finally exiting the cold wasteland of Tony's balcony, and caught up with an old pal. "Wong, I haven't heard much of you since you dropped out of college freshman year. What's been up with you." Wong shrugged and smiled, "Working to live and living to work. How about you, you dropped out too right?" I let out a small laugh, "Not on my own volition."

       "STEPHEN! PAY YOUR PAL AND GET YOUR PATOOTIE OVER HERE!" Tony yelled, shoving more food into his mouth. I gave Wong a fifteen dollar tip, along with what was owed, for freeing us from our cold prison. "Bye Stephen, nice to see you again." Wong left immediately, as I threw myself onto the sofa. My legs draped over the armrest and my head was on the cushion right next to Tony's crosses legs.

       I sighed, a wave of tiredness hitting me. "Stephen, you gotta get your energy back up, eatttt!" Tony chimed. "Once you're done, we gotta get back to work."

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