Chapter 4
When the bell eventually rang Loki just left his book open on a rack to dry and he closed his up and decided to take it with him. Loki then just dragged him from the room not giving him a second to stop and talk to Steve. And within minutes he found himself in the hallway attempting to get students to buy into their gnoming business. As Loki attempted to convince a group of freshmen to text the number he stood next to Nebula, a junior who many called one of the most intimidating girls in the school although personally, he didn't see it. He handed her the number and she questioned "what is this a booty call or something"
He shook his head and stated "text it, trust me you won't be disappointed, unless your looking for a booty call then you might be"
She laughed "Barnes if I get murdered I am sure I will be avenged"
He winked "I count on it"
With that, he walked off leaving a confused looking Nebula behind. He just walked over so he was across the hall from Clint who was talking to Pietro. When Clint glanced at him he signed 'prank up for grabs got a number for you to text, they'll send you the details.
Clint raised an eyebrow at him and signed 'alright then give us the number'
Pietro who had clearly seen Clint sign turned towards him. So he just walked over as the two continued their conversation whilst staring at him. When he got there he just slipped the number into Clint's pocket without Pietro noticing. Pietro questioned "you know sign language"
He shrugged "not a lot, learnt a few insults on YouTube"
Clint had a curious look in his eye and was clearly prepared to keep his ability to sign a secret and for that he was glad. He liked to be able to do things and for no one to have a clue that he could. Like when Natasha and Yelena have a fight in the middle of the halls in Russian without realising that he could understand them. Or when Pietro and Wanda gossip in Russian and he understands every word they say. It let him get away with so much and find out things he definitely shouldn't know. Like how one day he accidentally found out about Natasha's crush on Bruce because she was signing with Clint. That was long before the pair had officially gotten together. Clint nodded "yeah there's only so many times being called a retard will actually affect me"
He smirked as Pietro muttered "sometimes Barnes you scare me"
He just smirked and began walking off. As he passed Pietro he whispered "remember to use a condom, don't want to get aids or something"
Pietro's jaw dropped and Clint was clearly curious as to what he had said. He just gave a slight wave as he walked off. When he passed a Junior he was pretty sure was called Jimmy Woo he just handed him the paper. The boy stared at him curiously but he didn't stick around to give out an explanation. He did the same to a freshman that he knew was Eli Bradley. After just silently handing out the number to some other students in the hall he just set off to go find Steve. He found Steve out on the oval with the rest of his teammates playing football. He just sat down to watch as he began to sketch ideas for the gnomes in his Artbook. He wasn't sure if they needed designs but he was more than happy to do some in his spare time and if they didn't use them so be it.
Coming up with design ideas for gnomes had been easier than he thought it would be. His favourite was one of a gnome that was riding on a lawnmower and nearly falling off as another gnome pushed it. Another one of his favourites was a gnome in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat holding a lasso and a gun. When the bell finally rang he realised he probably went a bit over the top and had upwards of twenty designs. As he picked up his book and slipped his pencils into their case Steve jogged over to him and stated "I'm so sorry are you okay"
He nodded remembering that Steve had slapped him earlier and stated "it's fine, let's just get to History, yeah"
Steve nodded and intertwined their hands as he smiled "since when did you care about getting to class on time"
He wanted to say that he had always somewhat cared but in truth, the main reason he showed up to class was to be with Steve so he chuckled "it feels awkward for me too"
Steve laughed and kissed him on the head as he grabbed his things from him. and carried them for him. they stopped by Steve's locker so he could grab his things. Then they stopped by his and he remember he didn't have his books so he just grabbed his English book and decided it was close enough. He also put his Artbook and pencils into his locker. They got to history eventually and Steve just sat down in his usual seat and he sat beside him. Loki and Stephen both waved at him from the back of the room and he gave him a slight wave in return. Steve questioned "they tell you why they grouped with you"
He replied "they need a fourth person and I was their only choice"
From beside them, Walker laughed "yeah no one would willingly choose to group with Barnes"
He glared at Walker like he did most days and instead of sticking up for him, Steve laughed. He just let it slide. Steve stated "I mean it's not like he even does any work"
He felt like telling them he was right there and could hear everything they were saying but decide he just couldn't be bothered. He'd rather let them talk trash than cause a scene. Walker smirked "even if he did I doubt it would achieve much"
It hurt seeing Steve nod in agreement. But he had to grin himself when behind them Quill who had been throwing around a paper ball since they had walked in attempted to hit it and accidentally let go of the pen. The pen flew into the back of Walker's head and the ball just hit Steve on the top of the head. Both boys looked mad but he just picked up both items that had rolled towards him and handed both to Quill who looked like he was trying not to laugh. Quill smiled "sorry about that"
He was pretty certain Quill had done it on purpose and he was just amused at the boys guts. Especially since Walker had punched people for less. Steve just let it go and rolled his eyes turning back towards the front. Walker however didn't which was a surprise to no one and growled "if you throw that pen at me again I will snap it in half'
Quill just grinned "do you promise because I'd love to see ink go all over you and your desk"
Walker threw a sharpener at Quill which he easily dodged and just fell to the floor behind him. Quill just sent him a smile as Walker turned back around to face the front. Then Quill just slipped his headphones on and tuned out from the world and into his music. Steve just turned back to him and asked "what are you guys doing for your assignment anyways"
He shrugged "we haven't settled on an idea yet, no one knows how to agree"
He felt bad lying to Steve but he also wanted to surprise him by putting gnomes all up in his yard and he couldn't do that if Steve knew it was him doing it because he would be expecting it. And so he decided to keep it a secret for now. Steve laughed "of course no one can agree Stark's in your group and he just causes problems"
He refrained from rolling his eyes but only just. He was honestly sick of Steve's non-stop complaining about Tony. Sure he could complain sometimes but he didn't need to twenty-four seven. In the past few hours he realised Tony was even less of a nuisance than he originally believed. He shrugged "he's not all that bad"
Steve's jaw dropped and he looked completely shocked. Steve asked "how can you say that, he's literally the most annoying person I have ever met"
Steve had zero evidence to back that up and he knew that because he'd heard this conversation many times before. He replied "yeah well it's not exactly like you don't rile him up either"
Steve just stated "I can't believe you, you talk to him for five minutes and he's your new best friend"
God, Steve was dramatic sometimes. He wasn't even sure he would consider himself anything more than acquaintances with Tony and Steve was literally his boyfriend. He rolled his eyes and replied "you know that's not true"
Steve interrupted "really then why are you taking his side in this"
He put his face in his hands and groaned "all I did was point out that he's not so bad, calm down Steve"
Steve just mumbled "well if he's not so bad maybe you can date him"
Sometimes Steve could be really stupid. Why the hell would he leave his comfortable relationship to get with Tony Stark. Did Steve ever listen to himself speak. Thankfully for him their teacher put a stop to all the conversations going on around the room and ushered them all to be quiet and listen. They were learning about how independence was gained from the British. He found that he never really listened much in History but he somehow managed good grades anyways. He was just holding out hope waiting for a topic on the first and second world wars. He deemed himself something of an expert in the second world war as was Steve. So any unit on that he should find pretty simple.
After a few minutes Steve whispered "sorry Buck I overreacted a bit"
He nodded and smiled "yeah just a little"
Steve laughed and nodded in response. He was glad Steve could see that he was being a bit over the top. Sometimes Steve just got way too passionate about things he really shouldn't be passionate about. Like his hatred for Tony.
As the lesson continued he kept glancing at Steve because he was his boyfriend and he sure as hell was going to look at him. Steve was listening intently and copying down notes. He liked the look Steve got on his face when he was working hard. He thanked his lucky stars for Steve still being with him. It wasn't every day that someone as good-looking as Steve walked into his life and took notice of him. And he undeniably was with the hottest guy in school although some might deem that a biased view. Steve must have noticed him staring because he turned to him and smiled. He just grinned back and finally let his attention leave his boyfriend and turn towards the board.
When the bell for the end of the day rang he jumped up and grabbed his book and then waited for Steve so they could walk to their lockers together. Steve interlocked their fingers and they walked together to their lockers. They went to his first and he threw his book inside and grabbed out his Artbook and some other things placing them in his pocket as he held his book. They then walked to Steve's where Steve grabbed out some books and shoved them in his bag which he swung over his shoulder. Steve then leaned in for a kiss and he happily obliged. When they eventually broke apart Steve grinned "you're the best boyfriend ever"
He smiled "no Stevie you are"
Walker and Lemar were beside them and must have walked over at some point. Walker stated "come on Steve, unless you aren't coming to practice"
Steve waved him off and stated "of course I'm coming, see you tomorrow Buck"
There used to be a time where he would go to Steve's house just about every night but now he was lucky if he went there twice a week. Not that it really mattered because he was going to Stephen's tonight to work on their project. He nodded "Yeah, bye Steve"
With that, the group walked off towards the football fields and he just spun around to see Stephen, Tony and Loki walking towards him. Tony grinned "whatever you and Loki did at lunch it worked, we have more customers than we could dream of"
Stephen grinned "since the word has already been spread we were thinking we could all just go shopping"
He never really went shopping as he never had money too so it should be fun even if they were just there to get supplies to make gnomes. He stated "sounds good, what designs are we planning to make for the gnomes"
Everyone seemed to realise no one had thought about that and Tony admitted "that never even crossed my mind"
He just flipped his Artbook open to the first page of his gnome designs. The three grinned and Loki stated "these are amazing"
He smiled "there are a few more designs on the next pages"
Stephen grinned "what would we do without you"
He shrugged "fail"
The three boys laughed and Tony pointed to the design of a gnome with two pistols in its hands and was dressed in a suit. Tony grinned "the mafia gnome is my favourite"
Stephen rolled his eyes and stated "of course it is"
He just let them go through the drawings and debate which one was the best. They had decided that these were without a doubt the designs they were using. They decided to go to Stephen's house first to drop off their school stuff so they wouldn't be walking through the shops with it. Then instead of catching the bus like he would have to do if he was by himself Stephen's mum drove them to the mall. The closest mall was a few towns over from theirs and so was definitely not within walking distance. When they got there they all thanked her and he realised that the other three were just as polite as he liked to be and weren't assholes like he swore most people were like. He also noticed that none of them seemed to worry about the storm that was looming over the area. Tony grinned "come on guys I know exactly where we need to go"
So they all followed Tony and he realised as they walked that he hadn't been here in years. It had been so long that places he thought were in certain spots were gone. Although that might just be because he was remembering it wrong. Tony dragged them all into what appeared to be a high tech craft store. He had no clue what materials would be required to actually build a gnome so he just let the other three deal with that and roamed around the store finding some of the coolest things. Tony walked over and stated "Stephen wants to get some pants, you don't mind clothes shopping for a while"
He was kind of curious to see which shops they were going to go too so he stated "sounds good"
Tony grinned "come on then"
He walked with Tony to the exit of the shop where Stephen and Loki were arguing about something. Stephen then led them to a shop he would never willingly walk into due to the fact he couldn't afford a single thing inside. He wouldn't even be able to afford the socks. Although he guessed that he couldn't afford anything from anywhere. He was twenty-five dollars in dept. to T'Challa after all. As Tony gave Stephen unwanted fashion advice he and Loki just drifted over towards the jackets. He managed to find the coolest jacket ever. As he looked it over he choose to just avoid glancing at the price tag. It was a black jacket but there was yellow stitching and on the sleeve was a really cool patch. Loki must have seen him staring at it because he stated "you should try it on, it'll look good on you"
He shook his head. For starters, there is no world in which he would be able to afford it and on top of that, there was no way he was going to take his jacket off and give everyone in the shop an unobstructed view of his arm. Absolutely no way. Not ever. So he just replied "I already have enough jackets"
It was a lie he didn't. For an item of clothing, he wore all year round he had very little of them. The only jacket he had that was actually his was his leather jacket. All the others he had claimed from Steve. In fact, he had very little clothes all around. He had a pair of black jeans and a pair of sweatpants, two pairs of shorts if he was lucky and a few shirts. That was about it. Most of the things he wears are Steve's. Loki just stated "as if you could have enough jackets, they are a fashion statement in themselves"
Loki picked up a dark green jacket that looked a bit like a denim jacket and slipped it on in place of his other jacket and questioned "what do you think"
He actually loved the jacket and it suited Loki so he nodded "it looks great on you"
Loki slipped his own jacket back on and stated "guess I better get it then"
He wished he had the money to be able to make decisions like that. But it didn't really bother him. He'd been poor all his life and so he had long ago accepted that others were going to have things he never could. Plus he was going to make something of himself and one day be able to buy the clothes he wanted. He was glad Loki didn't try to push him in getting to try the jacket on and the two just made their way over to Tony and Stephen who were trying on pants. Stephen spun around and questioned "what do you think"
He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that actually suited him perfectly. He remembered seeing a red jacket that would likely suit Stephen perfectly so he stated "give me a minute"
He instantly spotted the jacket he was thinking of and grabbed one in what appeared to be Stephens size. It was completely red save for an emblem on the left that was bright green. The collar could either be folded up or down and so he walked back over and handed it to Stephen who grinned as he slipped it on. Tony smirked "who knew Barnes was a fashionista"
Loki grinned "he is gay, what do you expect"
He shook his head "I'm no fashion expert"
Stephen did another spin and smirked "look at this jacket choice, I think you are"
Tony smiled "you look amazing"
Stephen blushed as he stated "thanks"
Loki and he just raised an eyebrow at each other as they grinned. Yep, definitely crushing on each other. Loki suggested "so should we buy and head back to work on the gnomes"
Loki bought the jacket, Stephen bought both the pants and the jacket as well as another pair of pants and Tony bought a button-up shirt that he mumbled about needing to get for something fancy. He just left the shop empty-handed as was always going to be the case. Stephen must have told his mum that they were finished because when they walked out of the mall she was in the parking lot waiting for them. Looking at the sky he guessed there wasn't long before it started downpouring. And he was right because when they were five minutes out from Stephen's place the rain started and by the time they reached Stephen's he realised that maybe he should have gone home because his house always flooded and if he guessed right by tomorrow morning everything in his house would be ruined. He was just thankful that he never kept much at his own house. Stephen looked out at the downpour and stated "do you guys just want to stay here the night, it will probably be safest"
Loki didn't respond and he guessed that Loki already planned to stay over. Tony smiled "yeah that would be great thanks"
He just nodded "yeah, thanks"
Stephen just led them all upstairs to his room where they had put their things earlier. Tony grabbed the bag of things they had bought to build the gnomes and smirked "let's get to work then shall we"
So that's exactly what he did. He slipped the glove off his right hand but left the other one on because after all, it was easier to clean his glove than his fake arm. He also left his jacket on because one it was cold and he would rather owe T'Challa a new jacket than feel exposed in front of everyone else. So he just promised himself that he wouldn't ruin it. Tony and Stephen both took off their jackets but to his surprise, Loki left his on as well. So he wasn't the only one. They began making gnomes to make moulds from which was pretty easy. They all let Loki check over their design because he was awesome at sculpting and was able to fix up everything and make it detailed as hell. They made around forty moulds from his different designs and some they came up with as they went along. They had a mixture of sizes most being around twenty centimetres. Others were thirty and a few were forty-five. After they finished making their mould and waited for the moulds to set perfectly Stephen dragged them all downstairs to find food.
Looking down he was glad that he had managed to avoid getting any paint on T'Challa's hoodie although his black glove had a bunch of dried clay on it. Tony was covered in dried clay somehow but the rest of them only had it on their hands. So far, so good. Stephen grinned "you guys all down for pasta"
He nodded and Tony grinned "absolutely"
Stephen didn't even wait for Loki's answer just grabbed out a put filled some water in it and dumped the pasta in it. As Stephen cooked pasta Loki grinned "I hope neither of you are Italian because he's not that great at cooking pasta"
Stephen gestured to himself and stated "I'm white, it's practically required for me to be shit at cooking"
He laughed as Loki leaned over the pot and added salt. Something Stephen did not look like he was planning on adding. Tony laughed "you're lucky we're all white and therefore enjoy said shit cooking"
Loki grinned "speak for yourself Stark"
He had to agree with Tony. Shit food was practically normal for him. He was used to it and would happily eat it with no complaints. It's not like he could do any better. So he shrugged "food is food"
Loki groaned "why am I the only one here that knows the difference that the quality of food makes"
Stephen shrugged "cause you're Nordic and therefore have better expectations than us"
Loki just laughed as he shrugged and took over the cooking from Stephen who just seemed to be relieved. As Stephen left the room to show Tony where the bathroom was he leaned against the bench and stated "definitely like each other"
Loki agreed "for sure, they kind of work well together though and it turns out Tony isn't always a complete ass"
He nodded "it appears that way"
Loki questioned "is it the same with all your friends"
He raised his eyebrow and asked "what do you mean by that"
Loki explained "well your entire group seems like asshole jocks, and I swear you spend more time glaring at your own group than the rest of us, it's how we figured you weren't so bad"
He replied "most of them are scum but Steve and Sam aren't and neither is Wanda or Pietro"
Loki stated "I don't know how you even like sitting with them"
He shrugged "most of them are scared of me, it makes the experience easier"
Loki laughed "as they should be"
Stephen walked back into the room and questioned "what are you two talking about"
Loki snickered "your obvious crush on Tony"
Stephen groaned "I don't like him"
He levelled his eyes and asked "you sure about that one"
Stephen grumbled "not you too"
He and Loki just grinned at each other whilst Stephen looked like he wanted to die inside. When Tony returned no one had said anything but he and Loki was still smirking and Stephen looked like he wanted to punch them both. Tony chuckled "what did I miss"
Loki shrugged "not much"
Tony looked at them in disbelief but they gave him no time to continue the conversation as Loki dived into a conversation about who they were going to make their first customers. They had a list of seventeen people who already wanted their services. The main service was fifteen dollars and they got six gnomes from that. It was two dollars for every additional gnome after that. They also decided that if you already had the gnomes you would only have to pay five dollars for them to relocate them. So they decided it would be worth it as gnomes from the shops cost upwards of three dollars each and that was for ones smaller than what they were making. And it helped that people were lazy and not willing to actually go out and gnome their friend's yards themselves. Although their service was cheap it was most likely going to be effective as they already had a number of people willing to pay.
He was just excited to see how it worked out. He was also excited at the prospect of sneaking into peoples gardens and leaving gnomes behind. He was also positive that no one else would have thought of this idea. Their company name was also in his mind amazing. After some discussion, they all agreed on the company being called Gnome Way. Eventually, Loki stated "pasta's ready dweebs"
He laughed. They had all washed the clay from their hands and Loki just passed around the bowls of pasta as Stephen handed them all some cheese. They then sat down at the dining table and began to eat. The pasta was amazing and he was genuinely impressed so he grinned "this is amazing"
Loki just nodded "thanks, I pride myself on being able to cook unlike Stephen"
Stephen mumbled "shut up"
Loki smirked as Tony agreed "yeah this is amazing"
Once they were all finished eating they went back upstairs to pour the gnomes. After they poured a few he realised why they had done it at Stephen's. In the basement was a large kiln. Pouring the clay into the moulds got a significantly higher amount of clay than making the moulds had and he guessed it was likely just because they were bad at it. Once the first few came out of the kiln he and Loki were given the job to paint them as Tony and Stephen just pored more. When he finished painting his first one there was paint all over his hand and he had pulled his right sleeve up to avoid getting paint on it. Loki had just taken his jacket off. The painting was a pain because to use different colours you had to wait for the first to dry. So he would paint multiple with one colour wait for that to dry then do the second colour on them all and so on.
When he and Loki got onto painting the second complete set of them they decided to make them all zombies and when Tony and Stephen brought them the third set they were very confused by the zombies. Tony questioned "are they, zombies"
Loki and he both nodded and Stephen questioned "why"
Loki stated "because they're awesome"
Tony nodded "they really are"
For the third and fourth lots, they went back to making them like the first lot. But for the fifth, they went back to zombies. And then for the sixth lot, Tony requested for them to look like they were part of a cult. Then for the seventh Stephen requested they look like a biker gang. The eight they made look like they were either on a baseball team or baseball fans and then on the ninth lot they made them look like they were at a bonfire and for the tenth and final lot they let Stephen and Tony paint them. They looked around the room at the gnomes that hadn't been packed into boxes and stated "do you think we went a tad overboard"
Stephen who was painting a blue beard onto a gnome nodded "definitely"
Tony chuckled "no not at all"
He asked "how the hell did we even have enough clay to make this many"
Tony shrugged "we bought a bit much, I never realised how much eighty dollars worth of clay was, this seems more like hundred of dollars worth of clay"
When he glanced over at the floor full of gnomes and nodded his head in agreement. Loki shrugged "This is America, the land of freedom and cheap clay"
He laughed as Tony who was painting a moustache on his gnome smirked "and that's why this is the greatest country ever"
They all chuckled and Loki chuckled did you just give the gnome green feet. Stephen who was holding a gnome with green feet and hands laughed "it's half frog"
They all laughed and he slipped his phone out from his pocket. The screen read three-thirty which meant they had been working pretty much all night. He also noticed that it had been pouring rain the entire time and so his own house was likely flooded. He just leaned against a bookcase that was beside him and watched as Tony and Stephen painted the rest of the gnomes in the weirdest possible ways. Loki was just leaning against Stephens bed frame whilst he poked fun at Stephen's painting skills. The first nine lots had been packed into boxes and were in the corner of Stephens room so no one wrecked them. At some point, he felt himself falling asleep and glanced over to the awfully quiet Loki to work out he was already asleep.