Friends
September 17th
Friday
Bruce wasn't sure how long they had been there for. Maybe an hour, hour and a half. It hadn't been incredibly long, but it did feel like it has been long.
Music was playing from someone's phone, to fill the silence. There hadn't been much talking once they started. Everyone just seemed to be in their own bubble.
There wasn't much of a plan, besides deciding who to clean what. And at the moment Bruce was waiting for the next layer of dish soap to fizz into affect. Which he had to retrieve from the cafeteria after figuring out that if he wanted to get mold off the wood he would need it, plus warm water.
Thankfully the water spout was able to produce warm water, cause Bruce could not imagine having to walk back to the cafeteria every time he needed warm water.
Bruce had volunteered to work on the bleachers, one of the more intricate pieces to clean.
“Does anybody find it somewhat weird that we just have two famous people in our club?” Clint stated aloud, bring attention to himself
“Like we have Thor Odinson which his parents are pretty famous in the acting and modeling business, lets not get started with his Sister,” Thor stiffened a bit at the mention of his sister "And Tony Stark. Which we all know who his dad is"
If it wasn't for the music they would be sitting on a awkward- no tense silence. It was still tense, just not quiet which helped a little.
“I guess it is interesting meeting Tony, since Stark never really talked about him” Steve muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear
There was a bitter almost sarcastic laugh from where Tony was kneeled down scrubbing at some metal.
“Never talked about me? What do you mean Steve? He’s always talking about me on the press”
Steve stayed quiet for a moment, and the gym was still tense. Briefly shaking his head, “Yea… right”
An Ad played on the phone, breaking the tense environment, but not the awkward one.
“So. You guys seem to know each other. And in the ‘before boarding school’ kinda way” Tony said looking at Clint and Natasha
“Yea we met at this summer camp a few years back” Clint said, dipping his rag into the bucket of water dampening it.
“We’ve been writing to each other since”
“Why would you write to each other and not just call over the phone? Wouldn’t that be a lot easier?” Thor asked, no condescending tone just pure confusion
“Not everyone can afford stuff like that” Clint huffed (which Bruce could definitely relate to that).
“And besides. This idiot secretly really likes writing” Natasha commented teasingly
“Hey!”
Bruce found himself smiling at the interaction. He’d always envy people who could easily make friends. It was never Bruce’s strong spot. He was just the weird science kid.
“Well sorry to break it too ya Clint, but me and Natasha seem to get along pretty well” Tony added jokingly
Clint looked to Natasha in betrayal
“You're hanging out with this dude and not me!” Clint exclaimed, humor in his voice
“Welcome to the club Clint” Steve said sarcastically
“What about you Bruce? You ever been betrayed by your best friend?” Tony asked
“Nah, you kinda need one to be betrayed by one”
Clint sighed, “That's relatable.”
“I can't count the many times my brother has betrayed me” Thor huffed
“What's it like having siblings?” Bruce asked, as an only child himself he always wondered what it was like
There was a collective sigh from Thor, Natasha, and Steve.
“Horrible. One moment their on your side, the next they tattle to your parents and then you get in trouble” Thor said exasperatedly
“Or just dealing with the youngest's. They always seem to get the best treatment over the oldest and middles.” Natasha added
“They can be sweet. But only when they want to be”
“Sounds like a lot of work.” Tony said
“It is. Especially as one of the oldest” Natasha replied
Noticing the soap was settled, Bruce grabbed his sponge and started cleaning it.
“You keep mentioning plurals, do you live in a big family or something?” Bruce asked
“You could say that. Although the right term would be orphanage”
“Oh- I'm sorry”
“Nah, it's fine. It's basically my home now”
And just like that. The once quiet music was now replaced with conversation as they cleaned.
Bruce enjoyed it.
With a smile he continued to clean, interjecting in conversation every once in a while. Mostly Tony, Natasha and Thor were talking although they all made their contributions and it felt as if they had been friends before this with how familiar it felt.
Maybe after this Bruce could say he had friends.