#billy the silly engine

[lomotunes2008]

Oh... That's gore... That's gore of my comfort characters...

[magicpie16]

thomas showing off his blue paintwork 2 Edward ohmygoddddd 😭😭😭😭😭💖💖

Also, happy 10th anniversary 2 this move !

Also Also, ignore that ugly capcut logo, I can't remove it w/o paying 4 premium. ByteDance when I catch you.. (I should start looking into pirating a free version of capcut..)

[gullemec]

So It Goes

Golden Cage - Chapter Seven

series masterlist ao3

Pairing: Billy Butcher x f!reader

Summary: A late night visitor leads to a discovery that changes everything.

Warnings: SMUT (18+ mdni), oral (f and m receiving), fingering (f receiving), unprotected piv sex, dirty talk, creampie, soft!butcher, reader Realizes Things, heavy angst, fighting (verbal), major self-doubt hours!!!

Please let me know if I missed any TWs <3

WC: 5k

You drive all the way back to your apartment with your eyes glued to the rearview mirror, your gaze never leaving the van that's shadowing you in the distance. Its headlights are a pair of tiny, glowing orbs, keeping a respectful distance behind you.

The road is quiet, save for the rhythmic hum of your tires and the soft buzz of adrenaline in your veins. Every now and then, the headlights dip below the horizon, vanishing from your line of sight, and your heart leaps into your throat. For a few moments, all you can hear is the pounding of blood in your ears, your grip tightening on the wheel. Then, just as quickly, the lights reappear, bobbing gently back into view, and you exhale in relief.

When you finally pull into the underground parking lot, you exhale as the weight of the day settles back in. You watch the van glide past you, its headlights cutting through the darkness like twin beacons. They can’t see you, not in this dim light, but you raise your hand in a small, reflexive wave anyway. It’s a gesture that feels silly, but you need it, need to acknowledge the strange comfort in knowing they’re still there, even if they don’t speak.

You sit there for a moment, engine idling, watching the van disappear down the road. The quiet stretches on, and a dull ache settles in your chest. You're thankful to be out of that room, away from those people, the oppressive tension and false smiles that weighed on you all evening. Still, the thought of returning to your apartment, of being alone yet again, feels unbearable. The silence you feel in the car now is nothing compared to the emptiness that will greet you upstairs.

You hesitate for a moment, fingers tightening around the steering wheel as you prepare to face the solitude, before forcing yourself to move.

~~~

An hour later, you’re sprawled on your couch, the last dregs of wine swirling in your glass, now a murky shade of purple. Stevie Nicks croons from your sound system, her voice washing over you like a spell, amplifying the quiet confidence that still clings to you, thanks to the dress.

You’d spent a good thirty minutes admiring yourself in the mirror when you got home, twisting, turning, watching the way the fabric hugged and draped over your body. It was empowering, intoxicating even, but fleeting. Now, as the adrenaline from the night begins to fade, the glow of self-assurance is flickering out, replaced by an empty sort of buzz.

Three heavy knocks crash against your front door, loud enough to make you jump, the wine sloshing dangerously close to the rim of your glass. Your pulse quickens, but it’s not fear—it’s something closer to anticipation. The kind that makes you reckless.

You don’t hesitate. Whether it’s the wine or the remnants of adrenaline surging through your veins, you stride to the door and yank it open without so much as a glance through the peephole.

It's Butcher. 

He stands in the doorway, his frame filling the space, eyes shadowed and face unreadable. For a moment, neither of you speaks. His gaze holds yours, intense and unwavering, like he’s waiting for something. Permission, maybe? Or an invitation? There’s a heat there, simmering just under the surface, and you feel it radiating between you like static.

You don’t say a word. Instead, you step aside, letting him in, the air shifting as he brushes past you. You’re hyperaware of the way your bare back is exposed by the low cut of your dress, of the sway in your hips as you walk ahead of him. His gaze feels tangible, like it’s tracing every curve, greedily taking you in, and the thought sends a shiver down your spine.

In the living room, you pour him a whiskey, the amber liquid catching the dim light. He accepts it with a muttered “Cheers,” his voice gravelly, and settles onto the opposite end of your sectional. The two of you sit in a quiet charged with unspoken things, sipping your drinks as you recount the events of the night.

Butcher listens in silence, the lines of his face hardening when you describe how Homelander cornered you on the terrace, his hand clamping around your wrist. He doesn’t interrupt, but you catch the way his grip tightens around the glass, the muscles in his jaw flexing.

“Fucking wanker,” he mutters when you finish, tossing back the rest of his drink in one swig. “I’m glad you got what we needed,” he adds, his voice softer now, though no less serious. “But I’m even gladder you’re still here to tell me about it. Took Hughie, Frenchie, and MM to hold me back when I heard the way he was talking to you.”

"I can take care of myself, you know."

“I know,” he replies, and there’s a sincerity in his voice that catches you off guard. “But maybe you shouldn’t have to.”

You swallow, caught off guard by his sudden display of sincerity. His words hang in the air, heavier than you expected. You start to brush them off, to change the subject, but he’s not done.

“You scare the shit outta me, you know that?” His voice is low, rough, almost reluctant, like he’s dragging the words out of himself. He runs a hand over his face, shaking his head. “Haven’t cared about anyone since Becca. You know that too. Thought I couldn’t, maybe even thought I shouldn’t.”

You blink, caught completely off guard. This isn’t the Butcher you know, the hard, cynical bastard who keeps his emotions buried six feet under.

He exhales sharply, staring into his empty glass. “But the way I feel when you’re in danger—it’s paralyzing. And when you come out the other side, when you’re still standing...” He trails off, his eyes finally meeting yours. “It’s better than any bloody drink or drug I’ve ever had.”

You move closer, closing the distance between you. You don’t speak, sensing he needs the space to get it out.

“I’ve been thinkin’ about that night at the motel,” he says, his voice quieter now, almost hesitant. His eyes flicker between your face and your lips. “Thinkin’ maybe I’ve got somethin’ to learn from you. About not running from what you want, even if it scares the shit out of you.”

Your hand finds his face, your fingers curling against the rough stubble on his jaw. He leans into your touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment before snapping back to yours.

“I thought about you all night,” you admit, your voice barely above a whisper. “God, Butcher, I wished you were there with me.”

He stares up at you through hooded eyes. The tension between you is electric, pulling you closer, until there’s no space left at all.

“Help me out of this dress?” you ask, your voice soft, inviting.

He nods, the movement slow, deliberate. You take his hand, leading him toward the stairs, your fingers curling around his like they were made to fit.

He stops when you reach the top and you continue on, letting the fabric of the dress flow down your body as you stroll. You spin around to face him, desperate to gauge his reaction. 

His eyes darken, his expression twisting into something primal, something utterly sinful.

“Look,” he says, his voice thick, almost hoarse. “I know we said it was just the once, but...”

The corner of your mouth turns up in a devilish grin. You reach behind you, finding the edge of the string pulling your dress closed. You pull swiftly, the fabric loosening, falling over your soft curves before pooling around your feet. You're left standing naked before him, save for a scrap of underwear and the wire still stuck to your sternum. 

His jaw hangs open, words failing. You step toward him, agonizingly slowly, letting him take in every inch of you. Your hand falls to his chest, fingernails clawing lightly at his chest. 

"But maybe it doesn't have to be," you whisper.

You crash your body into his, mouths pressing together with urgency. You pull his jacket off frantically, fingers steadying to unbutton his shirt and rip it down his arms. You stare into his eyes sinfully as you fall to your knees before him, taking your sweet time unbuckling his belt. His body shakes with a broken sigh. 

You can't help the delirious smile that spreads across your face when you pull him out, his sheer size overwhelming you. It's just as impressive up close as it was when it was buried inside of you. You grasp a hand around it, lifting it to lick a strip from all the way from base to tip, tracing a thick vein. You pump him gently before taking him entirely into your mouth. He groans, errant hand threading through your hair as you bob back and forth. You press forward, taking him deeper, when your throat seizes up.

Goddammit.

But his other hand flies to the base of your neck, guiding you to show you exactly what he likes. You place both your hands on his thighs, gently scratching with the tips of your nails as he uses your mouth. He mutters curses under his breath like there's anyone else around who might hear. 

You're barely down there for a minute before he's pulling you off, fingers grasping your chin.

“Stand up."

You rise and he spins you around to face the bed. He bends you forward so that your forearms come to rest at the foot of the bed. The floor length mirror beside your bed beholds a vision you want seared into your memory forever; Butcher is knelt behind you, staring at you in reverence. He opens his mouth to take a soft bite of one cheek, then the other. He leans forward to kiss your pussy through your lacy underwear, your body jolting unintentionally. He chuckles to himself and he slowly guides your underwear down your legs, taking great care to toss them into your laundry hamper. Something about the way his fingertips ghost all the way down your legs has heat pooling in your core, threatening to drip down your leg. This is somehow even hotter than when he practically tore them off of you. 

He's face to face with your exposed ass facing him, legs pried apart into a wide stance. 

“I could just fuckin' eat ya,” he says, almost to himself. 

“So do it, then,” you say. 

He doesn't hesitate.

His fingers are exploratory, gathering your wetness and spreading it back and forth. He dips one, then two inside of you, your hips bucking back in response. When he withdraws a wanton moan falls from your mouth. His face dives forward, thick tongue delving deep into you. You raise your hips up as much as you can, giving him all the access he needs to continue to ravish you from behind. He keeps both of his hands on your ass cheeks, spreading them wide open and keeping you in place as he continues to lick and suck. The pressure inside of you builds.

You feel so vulnerable in this position, and yet you find no space for shame in the pleasure flowing through you. You push back against him, his face grinding into you. The tightness inside of you expands until it's pushing past your limits, like it's exploding out of you. Every bit of tension you hold from the night melts away, leaving pure stardust in its wake. You're practically buzzing. 

He doesn't stop until you're pulling away from him, knees hitting the bed. He moves his hands to your waist and you crawl forward onto the bed, arching your back. You listen as he rids himself of the pants gathered around his ankles, swaying your ass languidly from side to side, teasing him. You toss a look back at the mirror, finding him right behind you, cock in hand, lining himself up. 

“You're so fuckin’ sexy, baby,” he groans, feeding you inch by agonizing inch. He takes his slow, cruel time, making you wiggle your hips back onto him. You're desperate for more and you don't care if he knows, don't care if you're giving him another thing to gloat about. You just want more of him. 

His fingers dig into the meat of your hips as he bottoms out. Your eyes roll back into your head, involuntary whines escaping your open mouth. 

He juts forward, giving you a couple of experimental strokes, like he's trying his goddamn hardest not to come in thirty seconds. You'd rather he didn't, but then again it would give you something to gloat about.

Before that thought has a chance to germinate he's slamming into you, falling into a rhythm that has both of you moaning unabashedly. 

You are once again shocked at just how vocal, how dirty you become the second you're wrapped around his cock. Guttural sounds tear from deep inside you. You find yourself babbling words you never thought you'd utter aloud as he pushes you toward the precipice, every ounce of self-consciousness evaporating. 

“Love it when you fuck me like this,” you moan. 

“Yeah?” He answers. “You want me to keep fucking you just. Like. This?” He punctuates each word with a thrust. 

“Please, please,” you gasp out. You're so damn close. “Gonna come.”

Then you're clenching around, hands twisted in bedsheets. Your vision blurs, ears ringing, as your body falls forward, knees giving out beneath you. Butcher collapses atop you, hardly losing his rhythm before he's repositioned and fucking you senseless. 

He pounds your body into the bed, arms caging you underneath him. His body envelops yours until you feel no difference between his pleasure and yours. You feel his thrusts falter, dirty words coming out fragmented and slurred. 

“So fucking good, baby, so good, sooo—fuck.” His voice vibrates through you. 

He slams a hand into the bed beside your head as his hips stall, entire body seizing up and then relaxing as he empties inside of you. 

You both lay motionless on the bed, chests heaving, his fingers tracing patterns into your skin. 

You think this is what people are talking about when they describe bliss. 

~~~

Consciousness finds you sprawled out on your stomach, half-covered by the blanket, tangled up in the heat of Butcher's sleeping body. Your fingers rest gently in his messy hair, his arm draped lazily across your back, and your legs twisted up in the sheets together. Your fingers twitch to life as you wake, scratching lightly against his scalp. 

With this he slowly emerges from his slumber, hand quickly finding your ass and squeezing before his eyes even flutter open. You can’t help the laugh that escapes you, light and breathy, and he finally wrenches open one eye, catching your gaze with a half-sleepy, half-amused smile that sends a wave of warmth straight through you. You smile back, your stomach flipping at the sight of him, even in his groggy state.

You lean in, pressing a soft kiss to his mouth, your heart hoping desperately that he won’t pull away. You play the scenario out in your mind: him scrambling for his clothes and staggering out of the apartment like being there physically pains him to be there, to be close to you. You see weeks of awkward stakeouts and inventing reasons not to be partnered on missions, avoiding each other's touch like it might reawaken whatever demons possessed your bodies last night. But just as you're about to pull away, you feel the smile that had begun beneath his lips ignite into something deeper, something far more genuine,  banishing the cruel visions from your mind. You melt into him, feeling the heat of his body, the tenderness of the kiss.

He shifts his weight, moving so you're beneath him, his lips pressing against your neck, his hands already exploring your skin in greedy, familiar motions. “G’morning beautiful,” he rasps, voice thick with sleep, sending a pulse straight to your core. He's kissing down your throat now, hands greedily exploring your naked body. You were just hoping his fear of intimacy didn't send him running, so this feels like a luxury. He still wants you in the light of day. 

“Okay, okay, cool your jets,” you laugh. “Let me at least make us some coffee before we replay last night, hm?”

He rolls off of you, releasing you from his grasp with a theatrical groan. You can’t help but giggle at his theatrics, the sound light in the quiet room.

You strut across the room, giving him a show as you sway your hips side to side. His appreciative whistle sends a rush of warmth to your cheeks, a burst of lightness overtaking you. You haven’t felt this carefree in… Well, you can’t remember when.

You open the top drawer of your dresser, hands roaming over the bits of lace and silk stored there. You settle on a lacy little robe, the perfect barely-there material to flounce around the apartment on the morning after. You envision him coming up behind you while you stir eggs in the pan, his hands cupping your breasts as the scent of fresh coffee wafts over you. Domestic bliss. 

But as you pull the robe out, it snags on something. Furrowing your brows, you tug gently on the material. It catches again, but comes free on the third tug. You slip your fingers under the lip of the drawer to investigate, feeling for a splinter or something. You feel something hard and round affixed to the wood, digging your nails in to rip it free. 

Your stomach drops as you're met with the same small, round disk Hughie pressed into your palm a few short weeks ago. The same listening device you stuck beneath your father's desk so Butcher could listen in. 

You freeze. 

“You gettin’ us coffee, love?” he asks from the bed, one arm stretched behind his head, the picture of comfort. 

“Butcher…” You swivel around to face him, holding the bug in your hand. “What the fuck is this?” Your voice is strained, barely beneath a shout. Your heart thumps violently in your chest. 

His face says it all. His features drop, guilt written large across his face as he swallows, excuses forming and then failing on his lips.

You stand frozen, your blood running cold. The warmth of the morning, the intimacy of moments before, evaporates in an instant, leaving a sharp, biting void in its place. Your nudity suddenly transforms. Those feelings of empowerment, of being safe, of being worshipped by him—now twisted into something dark and cruel. Your fingers fly to your robe, clutching it to your body protectively, as though the fabric can shield you from what’s happening.

“Listen to me, please,” Butcher starts, his voice low, desperate. “At the beginning it was—you were… A liability. We didn't know who the hell you were or if we could trust you.”

“I was a liability so you bugged my fucking apartment?!” you snap, the anger rising like acid in your chest.

He sits there for a moment, looking at you, unable to meet your eyes. “How was I supposed to know you weren't going to flip and tell your dad? I didn't know who the hell you were other than that you were Stanley fuckin’ Morgan's daughter and the stepdaughter of a Vought exec. I couldn't risk it.”

“And after that?” you ask, your voice shaking with anger. “After I proved myself? After I risked everything for you?”

He stays silent, his jaw clenched, brows furrowed in regret. He reaches out to you, but his hand falls helplessly at his side. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

“So you heard me, then? Every night I lay in this bed crying? Every—fuck, everytime I came home goddamn alone, crying myself to sleep?” 

You think back to all the times you fell against your bedsheets in a haze of drunken lust, hands pushed between your legs, brushing over your nipples, his name softly falling from your mouth. Had the bug picked up on that, too? 

“D—did you hear me… when I said your name?” you ask, the question slipping out before you can stop it.

His lip trembles, and in that moment, the dam breaks. Hot tears spill down your cheeks as you take a step back, instinctively recoiling from him. 

He says your name, so softly, so sweetly, like it means something to him and you hate it. You reject it. 

“Please,” he begs, and for a moment, you almost relent. His sincerity pulls at something inside you, but you shut it down, harder than before. “Let me fix this,” he pleads, stepping toward you.

But you're done, you're gone. You can’t let him fix it. You can’t even look at him.

Your body is on fire with anger and shame and embarrassment, the voice inside your head screaming at you, asking how you could be so stupid as to trust a man with a kill count even he can't remember, a man who probably hasn't even fully healed from the loss of his wife. You're just a temporary replacement, a means to an end, a bit of extra fun to be had during a mission. Yet here you were, thinking you meant something to him. 

Foolish. 

“Where else?” you demand. Your hands fly through the drawers, tearing through clothes, searching for more bugs. More signs of his betrayal. His apologies flood the air, too fast, too desperate. He stumbles out of bed, pulling on his pants, still begging you to listen, to understand.

“Where, Butcher?”

He sighs heavily, avoiding your gaze. Finally, he points to your side table. “In the kitchen, too. Under the counter.”

Your heart crumples, folding in on itself, a heavy weight settling in your chest.

“I can't trust you,” you say, the words tasting like betrayal on your tongue. “I can never trust you again.” You're angry at how your voice breaks on the again and the anger makes you cry even harder. It's painfully ironic how he thought he was the one who couldn't trust you. 

You rip the bug from your side table and storm downstairs to the kitchen, finding the second one exactly where he said it was. You hurl all three bugs out the balcony door, watching them tumble into the streets below, the final vestiges of trust slipping away as they disappear into the New York traffic. You brace yourself on the railing, attempting to alleviate the heavy gulps of breath you're taking in, heat bubbling throughout your body. 

When you turn around, he’s standing in the doorway, his guilt radiating off him like a tangible thing. His silence is deafening. You feel a particular kind of ache, the kind that feels like you're being drawn toward something that will hurt you. You want him to hold you, and you want to punch him in the face at the same time. 

You stare him down until you find it in your to formulate a sentence that isn't punctuated every three words by fuck.

“I still believe in what we’re doing,” you say, your voice steady despite everything. “The Boys, I mean. I’ll do whatever I need to do to stop V2 from being released.” You swallow, the next words burning. “But after that… I’m out. After we do that, I never want you to contact me again.”

His face falls, as though you’ve just delivered a physical blow. He opens his mouth to speak, but his words stutter and die before he can form them. “I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, for everything, I—”

You turn away from him, cutting him off. He continues to apologize, to beg for you to look at him, but you can't.

“Go,” you say firmly. “Just go.”

He says your name. 

“Go!”

And so he does. 

The door clicks shut behind him, and your knees give out. You sink against the balcony railing, the tears coming now, unstoppable. Your heart twists thinking of all the tears he'd heard you cry, all the breakdowns he'd unknowingly been silent witness to. But now that it's his fault, now that those tears are courtesy of his coldness, he won't hear a thing. 

~~~ 

The couch is stiff beneath you when you collapse onto it, your cheek pressing into the stiff fabric, damp from the tears that won’t seem to stop. The room feels distant, blurred at the edges, like you’re watching yourself from outside your body. Inside, the void gnaws at you, a hollow, monstrous thing with claws that tear at your lungs, your ribs, your soul. The sobs come in waves, choking and violent, wracking through you like a storm. If someone were to see you now, they might think you were being exorcised. For a fleeting moment, you wonder if there are hidden cameras watching this spectacle, but the thought only fuels the next wave of guttural cries.

He never trusted you. Not from the beginning.

Eventually, after putting on a great show, the sobs finally subside, leaving your throat raw and your chest sore, you lie motionless, limp with exhaustion. Your body feels weightless, as if the grief has wrung you out and left you hollow. The room is dim, shadows stretching long across the floor as the last traces of daylight disappear. Heavy clouds hang over the city, and the rain begins to patter against the wide windows. It’s almost cinematic, you think, like the heartbreak scene in some 90s chick flick. The absurdity of it is your only small victory.

What did you think this was? Love?

The room darkens further as the storm gathers strength. The only light now comes from the faint, polluted glow of New York City beyond the windows. You consider getting up, forcing yourself to climb the stairs and collapse into bed, but the thought of what you might find up there stops you cold. Tangled bed sheets, your dress pooled on the floor, maybe even some of Butcher's things, abandoned in his hasty exit this morning. You don’t have the energy to face it. Not tonight. Not when it would only set you off again.

You fall asleep on the couch, still wearing the delicate lace robe you never bothered to change out of. Butcher’s anguished expression loops behind your closed eyelids, a cruel and relentless film reel.

You really thought this would have a happy ending?

The light of dawn pulls you from restless sleep, pale and cold against your skin. You peel yourself off the couch, the stiffness in your body a cruel reminder of where you spent the night. Without thinking, you drag yourself to the bathroom and turn the shower dial all the way to the left. The water scalds your skin, turning it blotchy and raw as you curl up on the tiled floor, knees pressed to your chest. You claw your fingers through your hair, letting the citrusy scent of shampoo fill your senses as if it might scrub the darkness off of you. For a moment, you pretend it does.

When you emerge from the bathroom, a heavy plume of steam billows behind you, dissipating as you move through the apartment like a ghost. Hours blur together. Eventually, you find yourself in your car, the engine purring beneath you, but no destination in mind. You just drive. Anywhere. Somewhere far from here.

Your eyes flick to the rearview mirror more often than they should, your fingers gripping the wheel too tightly. Each pair of yellow headlights in the distance sends your heart racing, your mind spinning through worst-case scenarios. You watch them obsessively, waiting to see if one set lingers too long, if one car hangs just far enough back to seem deliberate. But none do.

It’s only when you’re somewhere upstate, the city lights long behind you, that you let yourself relax. Twenty minutes pass without seeing another vehicle, and yet the absence of headlights brings no comfort.

You sift through every moment with Butcher and the Boys like looking for artifacts in the ashes of a house fire. You try to make sense of what you thought you knew with what you know now. What was real? Was any of it real? Had Butcher used you for your body or your proximity to Vought—or both? Had the rest of the Boys known and just played along, feigning friendship to coax you into giving them more?

You desperately search for a truth where you're not exclusively playing the fool. 

You shake your head free of the thought. Maybe Butcher was telling the truth; at the beginning they couldn't trust you. Not yet. You just needed to prove yourself. But somewhere along the way you know there was something real between you, something electric between you and Butcher. The way his touch lingered, the way his eyes softened when they met yours.  Beyond that, you know there was something between you and the rest of the group, a warmth and closeness that had grown. You saw it in Hughie's face after he heard your father berate you, in Annie quickly learning how you took your tea, in Frenchie's affectionate nickname for you. 

What if you had just been another lowly intern having a smoke in the alleyway that day, rather than a spoiled rich girl masquerading as one? Would things have gone differently? Would the Boys have let you join them properly, based upon your skills and merit alone, rather than because of who your father was?

Then again, would you really have had any desire to join a Supe-killing, vigilante group if you hadn't inherited the kind of trauma only bestowed upon the bereaved daughters of withholding, ultra-wealthy men?

It's a toss up in the end. 

The sky is starless and black by the time you turn the car around, heading back toward the city. Again, you check the rearview mirror compulsively, scanning for yellow headlights that aren’t there. The emptiness settles into your chest, heavy and familiar.

You know it’s irrational, maybe even pathetic, but some small, desperate part of you wants to see the bright yellow headlights of that all-too-familiar van trailing behind you. At least then, you wouldn’t feel so utterly alone.

Taglist:

@mystic-writings

@imherefordeanandbones

@bluemerakis

[lovebillyhargrove]

Part 2 of this where Steve's unhappy about the new guy, unhappy about the new guy's car and decides to ruffle his feathers a bit

***

Inhale .. exhale.

In .. out.

Smoking calms him down, always has. Thank fuck for cigarettes.

"I gotta find out who it is. And when I do, I'm gonna skin him alive."

That's got to be him. A girl going to all these lengths ..? Piling up snow all around and on top of a car? Losing her beauty sleep for that?

Nah, girls have other ways to drive a guy crazy. That's got to be a dude. A dead man walking cause Billy will fucking end him.

The latest pranks were pretty innocuous. A couple of moronic licence plates, nothing new, nothing too inventive. The damn prankster must have a collection of them at home, which he's showing off.

Having troubles with imagination? Lacking creativity?

Loser.

But then Billy found this plate screwed to the back of his car, and that was it. That was the last drop that turned him into a beast, thirsty for blood.

It kinda hurt his feelings. What, you can't even fathom Hargrove might actually have a couple of those?

Well, you know about his mom and his dad, the story's not special at all, but it's like the bastard took this very word right out of Neil's hate-spewing mouth. It felt like a low blow.

..

And that's why

Billy doesn't sleep at night anymore. Stays wide awake. Catches up on sleep during daytime when Neil's not at home. Parks the camaro so that he can keep an eye on it, out of his window. Can't really skip classes at school, also cause he doesn't want to let the guy feel he's being spied on. Hargrove's waiting for him to come to the car under the cover of darkness, hoping for good luck.

The universe doesn't let him down this time.

One night when he's sitting near his window in the dark, smoking and building his patience up,

Billy finally sees him.

Well well well, lookie what we got here.

He even stops breathing for a few seconds. Then lets out a quiet scoff.

Steve fucking Harrington — crouching, kneeling beside the camaro.

Of course. Of fucking course, how could Billy be so clueless, so blind ..? He didn't think the preppy prick was capable of something like that?

The fallen king. Pretty boy. The fucking babysitter for fuck's sake. So many faces. The night prowler, voilà.

Hargrove's squint is that of a predator.

Steve Harrington, in all his treacherous glory.

Billy has to fight the urge to deal with the motherfucker right then and there. Beat him up till his face is all bloody and he can't walk.

Hargrove's gripping his own thighs bruising himself, eyes glowing with fiery hatred in the inky blackness that surrounds him.

No.

***

If Steve's absolutely honest, he has run out of ideas lately. He knows the game's getting kinda old and lame but .. His brain just refuses to work that well. Especially when he sees Hargrove swaying his annoying ass around, cool as a damn cucumber, and girls following him around like he's hypnotized them. He's still the centre of everyone's attention, no matter what silly inscription Steve's scribbled on that stupidly hot car.

Maybe he should lay off with his little game, at least for a while, until inspiration hits, like it did back in autumn.

Steve finishes breakfast, glances at the clock. School time.

When he comes up to the beamer, his heart starts beating a little faster and blood rushes to his head.

There's black spray paint all over the hood and the windshield

I KNOW

..

Oh shit.

Shit shit shit!

Suddenly he hears the rapidly approaching car engine roar.

SHIT. That's the camaro's rumble. Harrington recognizes the sound in an instant.

The thunder is coming to get him.

Uh-oh. Guess he's gonna be late for school. Saving his ass seems of bigger importance at the moment.

Steve runs back to the house, in sheer panic, locks the door, draws the blinds on the kitchen window. What should he do ..!?

It's Hargrove alright. The psycho almost hits the beamer when he swerves into the driveway. There's nothing normal about the way Billy drives, he does it like a madman. Gets out of the car ..

With a bat.

Not hesitating a single second, swings it, smashing the BMW's left front light, then swings again — the driver's window follows, glass coming down like a sparkly waterfall.

"Come out, Harrington!" The voice sounds almost cordial. "Let's talk."

Yeah, talk. Okay, Steve absolutely didn't think it through when he started the whole thing. In his defence, he got carried away!!

"Come the fuck out, asshole. Let's see who's the mistake here after all." Drawls Hargrove.

Another swift swing, and the second window is down.

Crap, sharp pain stings Billy's elbow. He cuts himself on glass shards through his long sleeve with one careless movement. In all blinding fury he actually forgot to put his jacket on, it's on the front seat.

And yeah, Max had to get to school early today. The shitbird was pouting the whole evening yesterday when he told her

"Tomorrow morning be ready to leave half an hour early. I have to help Mr. McCarthy before the class starts."

The elbow is definitely bleeding, but Billy doesn't feel any pain.

Does he ever feel any pain anymore?

Hargrove leisurely leans on the beamer's side, takes out a pack of Marlboros, lights up

"So are you coming out or what, Harrington? I just wanna talk, no need to be afraid, amigo." The cigarette is irritatingly dangling between his stupid lips. "Let's have a friendly chit-chat, shall we?"

Circles the car like a vulture.

Bang.

There goes the third window.

Is Harrington fucking insane? Billy's going to ruin his fucking car. He has to crawl out of his hiding hole at some point.

He's there. He's right there, peeking out from behind the blinds.

Unbelievable.

"You know I'm not like .. a violent person, Steve. We can settle it like adults. I have receipts for changing the tyre and uh .. repainting the door. Well .. the moral damage that you have caused me is of course uh .. very serious. I wonder how you will pay me for that, but like I said .. I'm open for discussion."

Nah. The coward is not willing to have a constructive dialogue.

Billy swings the bat for the fourth time when all of a sudden the door of Harrington's house is flung wide open and he runs out holding his own bat,

Studded with sharp nails.

His wild eyes gushing horror

"HARGROVE, LOOK OUT !! BEHIND YOU !!"

***

Blood attracts them, don't you ever forget.

***

Wanted Billy to lure Steve to the quarry and almost throw him off the cliff but then went with this instead.

[zyxoxox]

I CAME RUNNING SO FAST WHEN I SAW THE CHARACTER + SONG

So, hear me out, Romeo and Cinderella by our god and savior Hatsune Miku with Billy Kid? 👀

Idk why that is what my brain came up with but hmmm, it would be so silly

If you don't like the first combo tho, Bud Like You by AJR with Anton would be the other one I have in mind

romeo and cinderella.

note: YES HII!! this is my first time listening to this song, actually, i haven’t heard much vocaloid. it seems to be about teenage rebellion/ running away with your lover?? it’s also pretty suggestive but i’m not so good at writing that haha 🙂

i like how it’s about getting caught up in a moment and wanting to live in it forever, and moments like that for me are at the beach, so this is sorta structured like a beach episode!

send me a song + character!

billy kid x reader || 0.5k wc

“no, [name], not the water, my circuits are gonna burst!”

the cunning hares, after a long and tiring commission, needed a break. and while nicole still had her eye on their expenses and growing debts, she figured no harm would come from a simple beach day.

“your circuits will be fineee! and if they’re not, i’ll just fix ‘em up later. c’mon, anby, help me catch billy!”

for the last 15 minutes, you had been chasing billy around the ocean with a bucket of water, hoping to dump it on his head. he seemed to be firmly against the idea- not that you cared.

“but my hair! it’ll get all wet!”

“we’re at the beach silly, that’s supposed to happen!”

he shook his head vigorously and ran away, shouting for nicole’s help.

“you’re on your own, billy, i’m too busy getting a nice tan.”

billy had run quite a bit before stopping to cool down his engines. he was about knee-deep in the water, and you were- nowhere to be found? wait, that couldn’t be right.

it was eerily quiet, too quiet, in fact. had he outrun you so easily? that had to be it!

“haha, take that, [name]!” he laughed to himself. “nobody can chase down THE billy kid!”

he cockily held up his head in the air, looking back at the shore. “well, it can’t be helped, i’m much stronger after all. [name]’s probably gonna be super upset and make that cute pouty face! it’s alright though, i’ll buy them some ice cream to make it up to- aaaAAAAA!”

an icy cold splash of water crashed down billy’s head, seeping into his clothes and onto his body. he could feel the water crackle in his circuits, making his auditory sensors buzz.

“GOT YOU!”

in the split of a second you emerged from underneath him, jumping onto his back. the two of you toppled into the water, and you managed to fall flat on his face.

“ow! ugh, billy, you hurt to fall on,” you complained, rubbing on your forehead.

“that’s what you get for dumping water on me,” billy laughed, helping you soothe out the place you’d fell. “look at that, i managed to see your pouty face anyway. tit for tat, right?”

“you’re insufferable,” you huffed. he ruffled your hair with a laugh, throwing you back on your feet. you still looked a little sulky, billy thought. then he got an idea.

“hey anby, race you to the shore!”

without a moment’s hesitation he hoisted you onto his shoulders, making you scream in surprise.

“billy, what are you-“

“no time to talk, [name]! we’ve gotta catch up with anby!”

and so he ran, with you on his shoulders, as though you weighed nothing;as though he was a knight in shining armour.

but… if he was a knight, were you cinderella, who had found their prince charming? or were you juliet, whose future with romeo was unforeseen and uncertain?

well, it certainly didn’t matter now. right now, you wanted to live in this moment, not the ones ahead of you.

whatever tomorrow held could be dealt with later- after winning the race, that is!

[ideas-4-stories]

Currently going insane for any au where Douglas Bullet successfully learns the power of friendship while he was with the rogers pirates. I’ve seen more than one where he just starts adopting bitches and I love it.

But like, Crossguild would not be ready for Buggys big brother to show up, it starts with whispers from Buggys crew, because it’s so exciting for captains brother to come visit him and then in their next meeting Buggy let’s Mihawk and Crocodile his brother is coming to visit but for whatever reason, they do not receive context and assume Shanks is on his way, and they’re not happy about it, but it’s Shanks.

Until the day arrives, and Buggy goes to the docks to meet him, and Mihawk and Crocodile invite themselves along, and they realize they can’t see the ship coming but they can feel someone powerful, and then the catapult surfaces and they are suddenly very aware that Buggy never actually said Sharks was coming to visit and honestly they’ve been around long enough they probably should have remembered that yeah, there was another cabin boy on the oro who’d been older than Buggy. And then they’re kinda shittin bricks, it’s Douglas Bullet, it took two admirals and a bustercall to take him down, and he’s here, and he considers them for a moment when Buggy introduces them, but, it’s like a “you guys know who Bullet is” introduction because, they do, Crocodile and Bullet fought before, and Bullet remarks he’d be down for a rematch before turning his focus back to Buggy. Buggy is either oblivious or purposely ignoring Mihawk and Crocodile being weird about Bullet, in favor of spending his free time with his brother and their crews for a bit, and is having a great time of it.

(Au points

Bullet has a small crew aboard The Catapult, they aren’t actually like, necessary to run the ship because of his devil fruit but hes Franky’d most of the anyway (literally found them in the gutter and brought them home with him). Submarines have serious captain/goofy ass crew energy.

It’s pre romantic crossguild but not by much, Crocodile especially is regretting being a dick to Buggy, because not only has he started to respect and become emotionally attached to the clown, but Bullets here and that guys scary.

Buggy and Bullet are doing engineering and inventing type shit together and at some point they invite Mihawk to come and it’s so Bullet can ask him gardening questions for hydroponics. They have lunch and a good time of it. They probably start growing strawberries, to ward off scurvy, like every good little pirate should.

Bullet dresses way more casually, not too pirate-y but definitely not a military uniform.

Bullet can and does hold Richie like he’s a house cat sometimes. Richie likes it.

I’ve been imagining Rogers trying to adapt to Bullet being older than shanks and buggy but like still definitely needing a dad even if Bullet himself is,,, unfamiliar with having one and,

Rogers: Hey, Bullet, so I know it’s awkward, but we do have to talk about something-

Bullet: I got the sex talk when I was in the military

Rogers: oh thank the sea)

Oooooo, I love this AU ready!!! Sorry it took so long to respond, I didn’t forget about it. It’s just that I’m low on motivation for writing anything right now. Life’s been crazy and busy again.

Roger definitely has the vibes of ‘ I’m adopting you and you have no choice! ’ Much like Whitebeard, but Roger has his crew (mostly Rayleigh and Gaban being the voices of reason in this) to make sure he doesn't adopt a town's worth of kids every time they stop at an island. There were other cabin boys before Bullet, Shanks, and Buggy. Either the cabin boys are now promoted to regular crew mates or they decided to leave on their own adventure.

Also, Douglas Bullet gathering very silly people is amazing and funny 🤩 😂 It could be something that just happened naturally or it was intentional. I mean Bullet spent most of his childhood in so having silly billies that speak their minds and are honest instead of stone-face betrayers. I think it was unintentional at first and then he went along with it.

Holy stars from up and beyond. I just love the trope of the serious, scary captain/leader and their crew/group full of unserious goofballs. So much so that I’ve already been thinking about ideas of their personalities, appearances, and what their occupations are. Going crazy for this AU too!

Now onto Crocodile’s and Mihawk’s realisation that this man wasn’t Shanks is so amusing to me! I can just imagine their faces shifting from annoyance and boredom to Crocodile slightly sweating, trying to conceal his ‘Oh shit!’ face while Mihawk is tense, ready to fight at any time.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Bullet stated that he wanted a rematch with Crocodile, just to intimidate the sandman for amusement purposes as well as a feeling that he should beat the shit out of him.

Bullet picking Richie put like a cute housecat is amazing, of course, Richie loved it, why wouldn’t he! Thinking about how Buggy will be introducing his crewmembers to Bullet and stops at Richie with jazzy hands and a big smug grin, saying how powerful he is to have a lion willing to be a part of his crew. Bullet agrees with him while holding Richie like a Maine coon cat.

The image of Buggy and Bullet doing engineering and inventing things is great! With how much of a worry-wort Buggy is on a daily base, you know the man wears as much safety gear as he can whenever he’s doing anything with chemicals or working with materials. I can see Buggy scolding Bullet for wearing safety gear for himself. It doesn’t matter if that man thinks he can tough it out, but Buggy isn’t taking any chances with his big brother’s safety. Bullet, Buggy, and Mihawk working together in the swordsman’s garden is so cute! It makes sense that Bullet wants to know that if he’s in a submarine, there’s no chance that the plants his crew grows in there will live.

We know that plants will live on ships from Nami’s tangerine trees. Buggy probably will help to make a light that plants will mistake for the sun so they can grow in the submarine.

That little part is great. Roger awkwardly walks up to Bullet (who’s reading a book or playing a single-player game, you know minding his business away from everyone else), sweating and fidgeting as he rather not do this, but he knows it must be done.

Luckily for Roger, someone beat him to it and he’s very happy about it.

[lucysgraybird]

modern!billy with a farmers daughter!reader but not in the cute silly way?

youve grown up on a farm, ik billy is western but im actually thinking something more midwest; iowa/missouri/kansas

for the express purpose of the vibes of a once-great steel or railroad town, now resigned to notice by road trippers and academics researching the fall of industrial america

with this you've been kind of isolated; you had friends in high school but they've all either run as far as they could from their childhoods after graduation or languished in the remorse of not being able to escape

you. you didn't really want to escape; you're happy with your quiet ghostly life of taking care of your animals and avoiding talking politics with your parents

you grew up religious in a way that taught a god who was fear, you have made peace with a god who is your friend. knelt by your bed he has heard your deepest secrets told as girlish, gossipy whispers; your most outlandish, complicated questions asked like you are up too late at a sleepover

you are quiet for the most part, happy to twist your thoughts around into your head until they either make a pretty shape or break in two, and when you're not working the farm, you're wandering aimlessly through creeks and cemeteries and abandoned buildings

billy is, like everyone not born in a place like this, just stopping through - you meet him through your wanderlust, traipsing down a dead and dying main street as he pulls his equally moribund truck up to the curb, asking you for directions to the nearest mechanic

mechanic is the only one for miles and thus extortionate, but your father is handy and ready to help a stranger, so you tell billy that if his truck can make it a few miles up the road, he'll have a fixed engine for a reasonable price

he, of course, accepts and leans over to push open the door to give you a ride. you get to talking, learn that he was born in new york and has been living in new mexico, he's just travelling for a new job atm. he learns that you have lived here your whole life and have no real desire to move, have never had a reason to have that desire, and he smiles and tells you that he respects comfort in consistency, that he wishes he had a place he felt that settled

when you get back to your house your father helps billy fix his truck and your mother has you take iced tea out to the men, which you also drink a glass of while sitting on the cluttered porch and watching billy bent over the open hood

he's pretty, sure, but you cannot decide whether he is worth loving. if he is as transient as everything else that blows through this town like tumbleweeds, if - and a big if - you fell in love, would it flit away just as quickly as businesses seem to be closing down?

you pray those questions that night, as cricket song and sticky, heavy heat presses through your open window and gets circulated by a white box fan that stays on more for the comforting noise than any kind of cooling

god doesn't respond in words, because that's not how god works, but the next morning when you're in the grocery store squeezing plums to find one that is a little bit further from overripe than the others, billy finds you and tells you that he'll be staying in the motel in town for a few weeks (you make a face, he laughs) because his job has been delayed and maybe if you'd like to go out with him sometime, you could go to the one nice chain restaurant in town and if you decide you trust him (and his truck, which is still...questionably functional, even after repairs) enough, maybe you could drive out a little ways, just towards some of the corn fields? he would show you the stars?

and oh, you realize, this is god's answer and love and guiding hand. maybe it is time to move on.

[harumasa-wifey]

Heard you wanted to talk about Asaba Harumasa, here I am! He's my second favorite character in the game after Billy Kid and I already have some nice headcanons for him, such as him and Corin being childhood friends because they were both in the same hospital (remember Corin had a critical illness that needed a deadly surgery which you can see that she still has the scar in her Mindscape) so I see him as her adopted big brother who gave her her teddy bear. I also headcanon that he takes as much as leaves and sick days as possible just to be able to keep up with his treatments and hospitalisations that probably takes up a lot of his time, I could see him having lived in the hospital for as long as he can remember. One canon fact that I know thanks to one of Yanagi's trust event is that he is the only one who can sing well (apparently) when Section 6 and Section 5 meet up for karaoke, as Soukaku only knows oni songs which aren't in the playlists and Miyabi doesn't know any songs of this era, and Yanagi is a terrible singer, so for that I do hope that we'll see his VA sing a song in one of his character videos that we'll probably get this week since he and Miyabi are coming next week. Also while Yanagi is labeled as the normal one in the group, actually it would be Harumasa, since he is just very lazy and carefree but he is actually more down to earth compared to her, as she seems to have perfect memory and gets work done so well that even a robot would have trouble keeping up with her. I like to headcanon him and Miyabi as the disaster twins for constantly trying to shirk off work and constantly cover one another and help one another and have meetings about how to dodge their responsabilities in the office more often. Harumasa gives her ideas in how to skip section heads meetings and Miyabi is fine with him taking his sick leaves and doing his best at not getting any overtime, they get each other so well on that. XD

Oh please he is my favourite character now! I dropped playing the game on the first version because it got tiresome to me BUT when I saw leaks of him in the new quest (event special) I knew i needed this man now i don't have a single 5 in the game he will be my first and last i am definitely pulling for him don't matter if I get him free his w- engine LITERALLY CONTAINS MEDICINE he makes me wanna cry why did they do this to my man. I thought he was just a little silly guess he is more than that. I DID NOT KNOW THAT ABOUT CORIN I LITERALLY MAIN HER WTF guess i need to more deep search thank you for the info tho AND BIG BROTHER HARU THAT GUY IS A SOFTIE. He Gotta keep with all those medical reports and medicine literally he was a child i am not sure if they experimented on him or it was an accident but oh boy if they experimented on him hoyo is up for some serious talk. I REALLY WANNA HEAR HIM SING NOW. Gotta manifest his va singing fr. Yanagi is extraordinary to me she is literally so smart and holy crap she memorized that whole manual in such a short time yep she is anything but normal. While soukaku is busy thinking about snacks and miyabi and harumasa finding new ways to skip work yanagi almost manages everything including their leaves which oh boy it sounds tiresome yet she looks balanced doing all that shit. I love my lazy and carefree boy he could have been more normal if all that didn't happen. I genuinely didn't see this coming it broke my heart seeing his child self wrapped in all those endless wires and kept in confinement. The disaster partners!! Yess! Can definitely imagine them skipping meetings and paper work the only paper miyabi needs signed is her will by her gf (yanagi) it almost as anytime yanagi does something fascinating she has her will paper out with a pen "sgin this (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)" like calm down girl y'all can get this signed in your marriage. Like i just finished the special mission and oh boy i wanna kiss harumasa so bad i typed his name so many times even my keyboard knows it now 😭. HIS LITTLE BANGBOO IS SOOO CUTE I WANNA HOLD HIM SO BADD. Thank you so much for indulging me in this i wanted to talk about it so badly.

[enmuswife3]

Maybe its a Blessing in Disguise

Jacob x werewolf!Reader

reader moves from LA to Forks in order to reconnect with her old family friend Bella Swan and meets Jacob.

Reader is slightly Afro Latina coded I haven’t rlly said anything about reader’s hair tho so maybe just Latina, also speaks Spanish and incorporates it into random sentences but only if she knows the other person can understand it, reader wears a black juicy tracksuit and chunky sandals bc I said so Jacob does not know that reader is a werewolf reader and is in a pack ill add more as i write

Bruh he is SO FOINE GRRRR BARK BARK BARK WOOF WOOF WOOF

I yawned as I drove to my best friend's house after hearing that her pasty-faced boyfriend had broken up with her. “Bells! vine tan pronto como pude!” I said barging into the house and the young girl's room. I walked in and saw her crying in her bed “Okay pause those sheets are so tacky what the hell” I said carefully sitting down and taking her in my arms letting her cry into my velvety tracksuit. “let's get you better amor” i said kissing the top of her head and helping her stand up. I got her into the shower, washed her face, and put her back to bed as it was already 10:00.

I woke her up bright and early and got her into the bathroom to do something to her face and hair you know to bring that Arizonan girl out and honestly, it worked wonderfully. I put on another tracksuit this time it's dark green and I give Bella a matching one “Tan guapa” I complimented her smiling softly seeing her face turn red alright let go I say grabbing my keys “Wait you driving?” Bella asked “yea silly it’s a sports car though so prepárate,” I said stepping outside and unlocking my Dodge Charger and turning it on making the engine rev like crazy. I smiled as I headed towards the school that I recently enrolled in.

I pulled into a parking spot seeing all the different people including some of Bella’s acquaintances that she showed me a picture of. I stepped out of the car looking around seeing her pasty faced ex-boyfriend through my shades looking right at me, I smirked slightly walking over and opening the door for Bella and helping her out. I chuckled seeing her stumble due to me going 30 over the speed limit. She put her arm around my waist covering up my back tattoo i did the same as we walked through the parking lot ignoring the stares. Thankfully i was able to get all of my classes with Bella so we walked to class together.

Time Skip

It was the end of the day and me and Bella were walking outside and to my car just to find a bunch of random people standing around my car “watch this” i snickered as i pressed the automatic on button and watched as the people jumped and yelped by me turning on the car. I open the door and get in and so does Bella i peered into the mirror seeing the Cullens staring at my car “they stare a whole lot” i said raising my eyebrows. I drove out of the parking lot “ hey can you take me to this place my friend wants to hang out” Bella said “sure”.

We made it to this guy named Billy’s house and when you pulled up several shirtless dudes where sitting on the front deck. I got out and immediately smelled like there were other werewolves and i guess they could smell me too because they immediately turned in my direction. “Guys this is y/n l/n” Bella hesitantly introduced me i smiled politely at the boys “well I’m Seth that’s Quill, Embry, and Jacob” the boy said smiling sweetly “n/n wanna come with us to La Push there’s gonna be a bonfire” Bella asked “uh sure i wont stay too long though a bitch needs her sleep or we wont make it to school tomorrow” i laughed “ well I’m gonna go home i need a shower” i sighed pressing the automatic button on my car key turning up the car making the engine rev. I walked to my car “you stayin’ right?” I looked at Bella as i opened the door, she nodded a few times and i got in my car and sped off.

Bella’s POV

I watched as my friend sped away in her car “soo where’s she from? I know she wasn’t born here” Quil asked “Yeah she’s from LA” I responded as I sat down next to Jacob “What’s LA?” Jacob asked with a raised eyebrow “LA stands for Los Angeles it's in California” I said leaning back and pulling out my phone to text y/n the time she can come back and where. Jacob leaned his head to the side to see what I was doing “So this y/n girl…is she single?” Quil asked as he leaned back in his chair licking his lips “Surprisingly yes” I said “Honestly I don’t even know how or why she’s single I guess the boys in California didn’t catch her attention” I shrugged.

“Are you all ready? And do we have everything we need?” Jacob called out as he finished loading the supplies into his truck “Yeah we’re ready” I called out getting into the passenger seat and the other boys got into the back seat. I dialed y/n’s number and waited for her to answer” Hello?” She answered, “Hey we’re on our way to La Push where are you now?” ��Umm I’m at a shopping center right now getting Auntie Annie’s” she answered “Oooh get me a pretzel please,” I asked “ está bien I’m about to leave now no estoy muy lejos” “Okay bye” “Peace”. I hung up the phone “Was she speaking Spanish?” Seth asked “yea it’s her first language” I said looking out the window as the trees turned into cliffs and this cliff turned into the beach. It was slightly crowded but I wasn’t bothered by that. The bonfire was set up and I was waiting patiently for y/n to come with my delicious pretzel.

Y/n’s POV

I pulled into the parking lot and looked around before I got out holding Bella’s pretzel and a lemonade in my other hand I walked towards the bonfire which was actual a long distance away so I started sipping on my frosted lemonade. The soft light of the fire grew larger as I neared I scanned for a spot to sit at and slightly tensed up seeing that the only spot open was by that Jacob guy. No I don’t hate him or anything he’s actually very attractive in fact he looks like he was sculpted by a god or something. And ohh don’t get me started on his eyes and the way his brows furrow- that’s enough rambling for one day I thought to myself. I saw Bella get up happily scurrying towards me grabbing the pretzel and taking a bite happily. “Oh um there aren’t anymore seats by me so I guess you’ll have to sit with Jay” Bella said looking around “oh okay” I said sitting down on the bench by the young boy.

Time Skip

Everyone was laughing and enjoying their time Jacob and I grew silent but I could feel his eyes on me. Bella and the 3 other boys were talking and laughing but I kind of just zoned them out by playing a random game on my phone. “So y/n how’s the weather there in California?” Jacob asked as he sat up straight “extremely hot I can say that” I laughed breathlessly “so do you like it over here more?” I grew silent for a moment looking back at Bella and the others joking around “I guess you could say that though I do miss my family” I smiled softly looking back at Jacob. I could see a slight hint of red in his cheeks but I dared not to say anything about it. “Alright y/n I’m ready to go” Bella said getting up “okay” I said getting up “it was nice meeting you all” I said softly walking over to Bella and turning around. “Yeah it was nice meeting you” Seth said as the others nodded in agreement I softly smiled and turned around to see Bella already walking off I smacked my lips jogging after her.

We had finally made it to my car and we got in and I drove away “soo Jacob huh~ think he’s cute?” Bella asked teasingly and laughed when I blushed “I think he’s really into you y/n~” she laughed “I should set you two up” I laughed nervously “I mean I wouldn’t be complaining he is cute” I said as I pulled into the driveway and got out the car. “Oh by the way me and Edward are okay now I guess but I don’t know if we’re back together yet, also prom is Friday night and I think you should come” Bella said as we walked into the house “okay but I don’t trust that pasty-face bastard, and yea we can go to prom can you come dress shopping with me?” I asked “sure”.

“Alright goodnight Bells” I yawned as I walked to my room, I laid down and called my mom as it was only 8:00 where she was “hi momma” I spoke sweetly “hi my sweet baby how is mare you doing?” My mother cooed “ah I’m alright schools pretty nice here and I love the weather” I gushed “that’s good sweetie now have you met anyone? Any boys?” My mother asked slyly. I chuckled nervously “there’s this one boy but when I first met him I got a whiff of that wet dog smell so I think he’s one of us including his friends or should I say pack” I whispered “another pack? Well I’m not surprised. You haven’t come across any of those cold ones have you?” She asked “unfortunately yes, I have and I think Bella has a relation shit with one of them” I sighed “god well if you need any help let out a howl and your siblings will be there in a bling of an eye” “I will momma, I’m going to go to sleep now okay?” “Alright love call me if you need anything alright? Bye now” I hung up the phone and placed it on my nightstand and rolled over to look at the ceiling. I waited for a few minutes just in case then I softly closed my eyes.

I was woken up by my 5:00 alarm and got up with a groan. I quickly got ready and headed downstairs just to see Bella introducing her so called “boyfriend” to Charlie “good morning Charlie!” I say walking up to the chief giving him a big hug somehow he was still taller than me “mornin’” he huffed “y/n this is Edward” Bella said “hi.uh nice to meet you” I said looking him up and down questionably. “It’s nice to meet you too I’m about to take Bella to play baseball ball with my family would you like to join?” The pale-faced man smiled “I’ll go if Bells wants me to” I stated as I turned to the girl raising my eyebrow. “Yeah you should come but take your car so I can have a ride home,” Bella said smiling “Okay. “

“Y/n, I trust that you’ll keep Bella safe and not let any harm come to her correct?” Charlie asked sternly but I could see right through him “She won’t get into any type of danger as long as I’m breathing” I said with a glint in my eyes. “She’s safe with me,” I said holding up my hands and retracted my claws smiling. Charlie nodded and walked off to get ready for work Bella and her boyfriend were already outside I sipped on some water and pressed the button to turn on my car “I’ll follow you guys or you could just tell me the location so I can speed how I’d like to” I said looking at Edward “I think it’d be best if you followed since I don’t know where we’re going” “erm okay I guess” I shrugged walking to my car.

The car ride there was pretty long but I understand what Edward meant by him not even knowing where we were going himself because there were three other cars in front of him at last we finally made it to the destination three women got out of one car and three men came out of theirs I opened my door and got out and walked next to Bella and rested my elbow on her shoulder. “Y/n this is Alice, Rosalie, and Esme” “Hi y/n I’ve seen you in the halls but I was too nervous to come up to you,” Alice said chuckling nervously “I know right? When I first met her she looked like she wanted to fight me but she’s a sweetheart really” Bella smiled “Looks like it” Rosalie said eyeing me up and down. I heard a twig snap and immediately turned my head to see who it was kind of surprising the three women.

After I was introduced to everyone the game had finally begun and I could tell that they were very serious about the game. I stood at one of the bases and looked to my side seeing Bella at another one then all of a sudden she caught the ball and threw it at me and I could see in the corner of my eye Rosalie running towards me using her super speed I caught the ball just before she could slide to the base “you're out.” I said looking down at her. She stood up immediately and let out a growl as if she were trying to scare me I raised my eyebrow tilted my head and watched her stomp away.

“Stop!” Alice yelled everyone walked to her “Someone’s coming”

Yall i was so excited writing this yall do not knowww anywho not rlly proof read i just used Grammarly to correct sum stuff so if it sounds weird it’s that😓🙏

[paigeparty]

(what kind of deer is tinker? :3)

(/OOC)

There's no definitive answer as to what species of deer Tinker is, as Cervidae Faeries don't have exact breeds. All of them have different patterns, characteristics, and more because of past genetics!

However, both Tinker and Madeline closely resemble Fallow Deer! Only, both of their antlers haven't grown out to the fullest extent. 🤞

Whenever Tinker's antlers get itchy, she'll scratch them on an engine because it's hard to itch them with her hands. Victor is still confused about why some engines come in with scratches on their paintwork. She's just a silly billy with the case of the itchies

[hoosbandewan]

THE Billy Taylor Post

I have a love/hate relationship with The Halcyon as a show overall. I don't feel like all of it is written well, but the area in which it definitely excels is Billy Taylor's story. You know, the cutie pie bellboy that Ewan plays and who is always bugging out in all of the gifs we make of him. He's young, he's sweet, and he's insanely adorable.

And his story is also the best in the entire show. In my opinion!!

I also cry whenever I think about Billy for too long but we'll get into that later, hehe.

Spoilers for The Halcyon, btw!

If you haven't seen it, The Halcyon is set at a fancy hotel in London just as WWII has come to Britain. Also, fair warning that this post is a little bit all over the place because I have SO MANY BILLY TAYLOR FEELS

At the start of the show, Billy is seventeen and working at The Halcyon as a bellboy. He's portrayed by Ewan as someone who's maybe a little bit... no thoughts, head empty. I jokingly refer to Billy as having big NPC energy when he's in the background of scenes because it looks like he has radio static going through his head whenever he's not being interacted with. And like to think that it's not because it was Ewan's first gig as an actor. I think Billy genuinely is a little bit daft. He's the baby himbo. He's the golden retriever puppy who isn't the smartest in the room but he makes up for it with hard work and dedication and pure sweetness.

I mean, he's only seventeen and he appears to be one of the higher ranking bellboys at the hotel. He's given important tasks like welcoming ~secret guests to the hotel, showing new hires where to go, and personally taking care of high ranking guests' belongings. He's clearly trusted by the management and is, more importantly, very good at his job.

But, bless his heart... Billy can be kind of a mess. He's forgetful and sometimes just plain thick. He loses the family dog of the lord and lady who own the hotel while taking it out for a walk. (Literally how does that happen. Billy.) He bungles the staff poker game by revealing his hand without realizing. He's also a silly little dumbass when he and a couple of the other hotel staff are at the movie theater and see the lady who owns the hotel (who's there on a !secret date) and he straight up points at her from several aisles back with his eyes all bugging out. Be more obvious, Billy!

Billy is young and naive and maybe not the smartest guy around, but you know what? He's good at what he does (most of the time, lol) and he's a damn hard worker.

He's also someone who knows that people are reluctant to believe in him and he clearly doesn't like that. Billy signs up to join the army the moment he turns eighteen and, although we don't see it, his mum Peggy (who works at the hotel as the telephonist aka switchboard operator) mentions to the hotel general manager that there was a bit of an argument between them over it.

“Do you know why he was so upset that I didn’t want him signing up? He thought I was saying he wasn’t good enough.”

He also gets angry with his mum when his call-up papers do arrive. I know I called him daft before, so I'm giving him credit where credit is due - he actually very cleverly notices that the letter should have gone to his family's house, but it showed up at the hotel instead. And, upon learning that he's been assigned to the Royal Artillery instead of what he wanted - the engineers - he knows it was his mum (with the help of the hotel general manager, but he doesn't know that part) who moved things around so that Billy could stay close to home.

He angrily tells her, "I ain't a child no more," and storms out of the room. Billy wants to prove himself. He wants to be a grown up with responsibilities and he wants to be believed in.

You feel for him, but you also feel for his mum, who is watching her only son grow up and enlist in the war effort. At one point, Peggy mentions that she was only 19 or 20 by the time she'd had Billy, so she was a young mother (and still is!). Her worrying and fretting over him clearly annoys him because he's a teenager, but, god you feel for her. We also learn that Billy's dad, Jim, was drafted to fight in the war so she must be out of her mind with worry. I'll get more into my Billy feels as related to his mum in a bit. But I mean... just look at this line of Peggy's after Billy's joined the army:

“I pray. I fuss. I hold him a little tighter each time I see him."

Before I move on, GOSH, Billy is such a teenager when it comes to his interactions with his mum, lol. He doesn't want her fussing over him or being affectionate. He shrugs her off when she tries to fix his collar. He's reluctant to let her kiss his cheek... but he lets her do it anyway, of course.

Speaking of his family, Billy's relationship with his little sister, Dora, is also so cute and I love them. She tells another character that she doesn't miss him once he's moved out to join the army because she thinks he's "annoying" but she really does love him, lbr. And he's clearly very close with her, too.

At one point, their family home is destroyed in the Blitz so Peggy and Dora move into The Halcyon for a while. Billy watches his sister on mornings that he can get away from his army duties. He carries her around piggyback style. He lets her wear his army hat. He calls her "squirt." They're freaking adorable.

There's also a cute little moment during one of the Blitz raids where Billy's mum and sister are in the hotel shelter and Dora is frightened. Her mum tells her to listen for the sounds of the artillery and says, “That’s our Billy. He’s protecting us.”

And he is. Billy is a protector. He's always looking out for the people he cares about. When Kate, the maid he has a crush on, is SA'd by the Count, Billy angrily confronts him and even points the Count's own fucking gun at him. AND HE PULLS THE TRIGGER. He was about to fucking murder this man for doing what he did to Kate!

Billy is a fucking real one. God, he's the best character.

I don't have anywhere specific to put this, but I wanted to mention how much I love the little detail the writers added in about Billy's handiness and interest in machinery:

He is seen chatting with one of the waiters about the guns they use in the war and is later able to correctly identify the type of German plane flying over the hotel.

Later on in the season, The Halcyon's general manager and head concierge are trying to fix the hotel generator and lamenting that Billy was the one who always maintained it before he left to join the army. (I will come back to this later because omg)

Billy himself mentions to his mum at one point that he's planning on helping a neighbor with some things she needs done in her shelter and that he expects it to be a quick job.

When he joins the army, he's put in charge of operating one of the anti-aircraft guns - directing his fellow soldiers and being the one to manually operate the machine itself.

Now that I think I've covered every other Billy feel, I have to talk about... the worst one. The saddest one. His death. /:

I don't know how to say this without sounding like a complete [Michael Gavey voice] loooser, but I can't really think about Billy and his story in this show for too long without... crying? Oof.

I think that's a testament to just how well written his storyline was in this show. They make you care so fucking much about this sweet, innocent, pure-hearted, good to a fault, daft, brave young man so much that, when he dies in the Blitz, it really fucking hurts.

I swear, thinking about Billy Taylor deals psychic damage to me every time.

And I think that, part of the reason that Billy's death hurts so much is because of how it's shown to us. We all know the famous orange scene between Billy and Kate so I'm sorry for ruining it by making it sad, lol. But that scene ends with Kate telling Billy that she'll meet him the next morning to share the orange with him. So when morning comes and the hotel staff are arriving and see Kate waiting impatiently for "someone" who hasn't arrived, your heart fucking sinks immediately.

They don't even tell us about Billy's death by showing Peggy learning of the news. We're told through Kate's POV. He doesn't show up to their meeting in the morning and, when she arrives for her shift, the staff has been gathered around by the general manager. Only then do we learn that Billy was killed by a parachute mine the night before. And we follow Kate to the same closet where Billy gave her the orange, where she's sobbing and cradling the fruit in her hands.

But what's even sadder is that Billy remains a presence throughout the rest of the show. You, as the viewer, grieve him alongside not only his family, but also the people who knew him and worked with him.

When the hotel loses power during a bombing one night and the general manager and head concierge are trying to fix the generator, they're lost for what to do and even lost for words because Billy was the one who always handled the generator. They end up fixing the thing by taking a wrench and banging the side of it because "That's what Billy used to do." And it works. The generator turns back on thanks to Billy. Thanks to the memory of him. And the concierge look up and says, "Clever lad," as though Billy can hear him.

Of course, Peggy spends the rest of the season grappling with the loss of Billy, too. The other characters mention more than once that she's "talking about Billy as though he's still here" and that it's worrying them. Eventually, the general manager sits down with her and she says that she does know he's gone but that it's so hard to believe because she wants to think that he could just walk through the door at any moment.

But, oh my god, the saddest moment of the show for me... is the moment when Peggy is walking through the hallway in the staff area of the hotel and she sees one of the bellboys walking towards her. He has his head down so his face is in shadow but he's about the same height as Billy... and you can see in Peggy's face that she's allowing herself - just for that one moment - to imagine that it's Billy. To let herself think that he's still alive. You're watching her process the scene before her and seeing her think, "Could it be him?" for those few seconds... until she sees the bellboy's face. And, oh my god, it absolutely wrecks me every single time.

Billy's death is the reason that Peggy gives up the one thing she has left - Dora - and sends her away to the countryside along with the other children who are being evacuated from London. Because she can't bear the thought of losing her last living child.

Billy is the character who shows the audience how cruel and unforgiving the war is. That it can take anyone, no matter how sweet and kind and young and good the person is.

And it illustrates the enormity of the chasm they leave behind.

Billy's loss is felt in everyone, from his family to the people he worked with to the girl he had a crush on. AND IT'S FELT IN ME, TOO, GODDAMN

This was so long and I may not have even touched upon all of my feels but thanks for coming to my Billy Taylor TED Talk. I fucking love him. The writers did an amazing job writing him. 10/10, no notes whatsoever. I cry every single time.

He's such an underrated Ewan character and, I know I haven't mentioned it much, but Ewan's portrayal of him is flawless. He's perfect at capturing all the silliness, daftness, and earnestness that makes up our sweet little Billy!

Tl;dr - Everyone should love Billy Taylor!

Aaaand here's another gif of our sweet boy to end this massive post:

[firefistfiri]

About Billy's true creator...

1.2 leaks ahead !! Read at ur own risk !!

Disclaimer: this is just a theory and speculation!

There's little to no information as to who built him and when he was built. This guy could secretly be like a hundred years old and we wouldn't even know! It's not like he told us for how long he wandered in the Outer Ring all by himself before he joined the Sons of Calydon (very heavily implied) …

But I wanted to point two things out: His official model name, and then the inventor of BANGBOO Sunbringer, which we have seen in the lore teaser on ZZZ's official youtube.

In his Teaser, he described himself as an Intelligent Tactical Unit with Firepower-Based Area Supresson Capabilities .. That's a mouthful..

He might just he flattering himself here, but given that, this might imply that there might be more of his models around, wherever he was created.

This leads me to think that whoever created him has made him for a good purpose. Whether it's military, or hollow exploration. But the real mystery here is did his creator set him free? Did he escape because he passed the forbidden fruit test?

We can say one thing for sure and that is: He either doesn't have a clear memory of his origins for whatever reason that might be, OR he is hiding something.

.. And if you read my Billy lore summary you already know that the ''mysterious Gang'' they're talking about is the Sons of Calydon, and the gang leader refers to Caesar.

You might also remember that I have mentioned that he is not up for talking about pasts, but we don't know if he meant his more recent past or his old past, so both of these ideas could potentially work at the same time imo.

now.. shortly ABOUT SUNBRINGER, INVENTOR OF BANGBOO..

Bangboo are silly little robots that have made living on this earth filled with hollows a little less stressful and terrifying. Now they are simple, but complex at the same time.

Bangboo all have their own tasks to perform, but they also have their own language and personalities!!

I only wanted to mention this because I believe that Sunbringer might have ties with Billy's creator. Since both of their engineering are very complex in my opinion.

Whether either of them are alive stays unknown for now, I might make a deeper dive on these characters introduced in the lore teaser.

Now, I might just be overanalysing things. The world of Zenless Zone Zero has introduced us to many different species in the world and sometimes it's really not that deep. They just exist, and it's normal to them. That could also just be it, end of story.

Now I do strongly believe that we will get a bit more of Billy's lore in 1.2, as it is going to focus on the faction I have mentioned previously, Sons of Calydon, and we will even get to explore a new area which is the Outer Ring!!

... But I am afraid that they will keep it at that, and the rest we have to figure out by trust events and random mentions of the character in story and quest dialogues. Please let me be wrong!!

I mean.. how complex can he really be..?! Am I just overhyping him? Maybe! But It's fun to theorise about, that's for sure!!

Again, please lmk what you think, your theories and if I have skipped some things or have accidentally put misinformation in the post!

[intothedysphoria]

What’s your favorite ficlet universe? Have you ever written any longer fics?

Hmmmmmm I’ve gotta say probably the one I’ve worked the hardest on thus far, the transalpha Billy verse. It’s like a hehe what if the omegaverse was transgender au but as a trans man in the UK rn, I REALLY need an au to be a feelings outlet rn.

Currently I’m collabing with my we-started-harringrove-writing-at-the-same-time-and-immediately-became-besties @shieldofiron on Start Your Engines. It’s a Rupauls Drag Race au, very camp, very silly and I love it.

[jellyontheside]

time to talk to myself again but i feel strongly about these characters

but i've been wanting to do more animating audios to nicktoons unite but everytime i fine one and wanna do one i stop myself cause im just like. "i like this audio on these characters but out of context it will look like im characterizing this character as something i DON'T want"

i Don't want to characterize jimmy as this "no emotion autistic science man". he is SILLY just like the others, he can be a little bossy but that's more like the mom of the group way. he WOULD yap your ear off about his new silly thing he thought of. he WILL hyper focus on a topic or project and it takes timmy dragging him outta his lab to do something. he's not a perfect scientist, he fucks up, he makes himself look dumb sometimes and he gets embarrassed about that. he is a silly billy thats not the best socially.

and sorry for turning it gay but its like, omggg thats why i like timmyjimmy so much. they are opposite but are basically the same. they will parallel play while they are hyperfixating about their fav thing. its going to be timmy that speaks up and makes himself look like a fool. timmy has such gross passionate love for that man and jimmy is so like oughghsdjhg about it cause timmy is fucking insane.

timmy will buy him 3 bouquets 2 chocolate boxes and 5 love cards. jimmy will takes several weeks making him this elaborate very engineered contraption.

i got side tracked. i wanted to talk about danny too. who i think i feel im better with for characterizing, i just always worry that all im making him is the "haha im depressed" guy which noooo. he's a bit of a fucker and just big brother to timmy. i can't really say much here because i haven't watched much of dp yet. (imma be honest i got 4 eps in and started watching mlaatr because the corny writing and sound effects were getting to me)

[rayas-ryoiki-tenkai]

feeling things for 261. So have some 236 angst with 261 spoilers (was I thinking about billies "the greatest" while writing this? Yes. Yes I was)

Sometimes, Satoru liked thinking about his youth.

It wasn't much eventful. He didn't get his clothes muddy from childish messes, neither did he scrape his knees during a rebellious game of football on neighbouring roads. None to call him a disrespectful godforsaken brat for silly little pranks.

No pesky classmates and their shenanigans. No ugly squawks from street vendors. No one to glue to his side and ask what song he was listening to.

For it to be so tasteless, so timidly hollow as if acknowledging its existence had dire consequences. It mustn't fit for a body like his.

As a child grows, their bones ossify to lock in the crutch of a growing future. Wiggle room, so bony parts could shift to best fit for the adulthood that was shaped by their own hands. Gojo felt he was born with his bones complete.

Satoru cranes his neck to catch the glare of the sun head-on. He knows the golden hour colours the blue of his eyes the best, much too used to filling the role under the spotlight. Perhaps, in a strange way, Satoru felt he only existed as such: through the eyes of others and nothing more.

The weight settles on his chest but it's nothing new, so he chooses to pull a smile instead. It's hilarious, really. Knee-slapping, even. Within the churning of responsibilities that carved on his skin in slashes, Satoru's thinking of a regretful childhood.

What would it have been like if he bled a little from cycling over a cracked curb? Would it have hurt the way he'd seen on a passing child once?

Would someone pull his head into their chest with a consoling "who's a strong boy?" without it dampening his breath?

Satoru coughs a dribble of blood, though he intends it to be a bubbling laugh. Someone did cycle with him. Satoru can still feel the greedy arm he'd wrapped around his waist, clear days in the blue spring, twin birds of black and white chasing each other tree by tree.

Satoru liked thinking about his childhood, for that selective moment where his best friend let him have one.

Energy warps in insignificant swirls around him. His body feels light even if fate keeps him lying in his own blood, a sadistic call from gravity. The sky looks unhelpfully bland, though Satoru finds it to be pleasantly stimulating. No clouds to pose as backdrop. No aerial flybys scribbling autographs with the trail of their engines.

Devoid of extravagance. It's simple. Dull. Gojo wishes there were more sights to see like this one. Perhaps, there'll be more down south.

You were wrong, Suguru. Satoru sighs to himself. I couldn't have been the strongest. Not when I lost to you.

Satoru lifts his hand to block the sun in his eyes. His wrist falls short in a grievous loss of blood. Crimson drops on the tainted skin of his cheek. Strength slips from each of his dying cells.

The call of the strongest was a curse beyond one's he'd exorcised. Even as his limbs roll with a cry of their own, the camera rolls, and he is to fill the role of centre-stage until somebody rolled out his puppet corpse. Satoru briefly recalls the doings of his body after a supposed death, and Yuta's wide eyes at his reaction to doing whatever the hell they wanted.

So much for strongest. Even in ripping through the higher ups with the claws of the collective vengeance after Jujutsu society, nothing changed. The grumps were dead. Maliciously killed to feel the death equivalent to the magnitude on their hands. Still...

"Please, don't bear the burden of being a monster alone."

Nothing changed. The burden never lessened. Never shared. To belong to him and him only. And nothing changed.

I'm sorry, Yuta.

Satoru doesn't cry. Though the burn of his disappointment stings bad enough to spring a few tears in his eyes.

I'm sorry.

A plane cuts through the sky. The burden never lessened on his shoulders. Gojo passes it on to someone else.

[lorifragolina]

Firebird baby

Hello! I wanted to write something like this for a long time, and it's just silly and short, I hope you enjoy as I enjoyed it! @harringrovesummerbingo

Title: Firebird Baby

Square & Prompt: B3 "Listen to the roar of that engine"

Rating: General

Word Count: 1163

Major Tags: too much fluff.

Summary: Billy is wealthy now and collects car. Steve loves him, and this day he loves him more.

Read in on AO3

“Hear the roar of that engine”

At that point, Steve used to think the very same sentence when Billy spent a little time in the garage taking care of his babies, polishing them personally and trying the engine just to check if all was in order. He was still stuck to his Camaro, now a little vintage but still rocking, for every other day, but sometimes he decided to go to the panoramic just to show them off.

”Hear the roar of this engine”, he said every time, breaking in front of Steve, with a tempting smile “Jump in, princess,” he said, and Steve quivered with pleasure and joined him in the convertible. 

Billy liked his cars, he was working hard and he deserved every whim he wanted; now they were wealthy enough to indulge their guilty and not so guilty pleasures, and all was thanks to their effort and hard work. 

Steve liked the wind in his hair, at BIlly’s side, on the road near the coast, smelling the scent of the sea and watching his boyfriend glow in the sun of his place.

“The Firebird? Why?” Said Steve that morning,  adjusting his sunglasses at the end of the driveway where Billy stopped for him. 

Billy shrugged, that mischieving crease of his mouth that always predicted troubles.

“For a change,” he smiled, chewing gum. 

He started the car and drove down the hill, slowly, a hand resting to the window, thinking. The radio was at an unusually low volume and Steve had the sensation that Billy wanted to talk, but he kept driving silently.

They both had a day free from work and both of them had errands to do, then they would have lunch together, and Steve was excited almost like for a date. 

At the end, Billy entered the city and stopped nicely at every red light without a word. He kept fidgeting with an unlit cig and looking in front of him through the ray ban, and when he parked, Steve left the car a little confused. 

“See you here in a couple of hours”, said Billy, taking off his sunglasses and dragging him close to his waist. They kissed passionately and then Steve waved to him, walking to the bank. Billy insisted on going separately to their tasks and that  was confusing too. He was acting strangely, but Steve didn’t mind it a lot, sometimes Billy liked to change, that’s all.

Steve hurried up looking at his clock. He had left the bank quickly, but then lost the track of time in the shops of the boulevard, and he was guiltily carrying more bags than he wanted to admit. He wasn’t late but he knew that Billy got easily impatient. 

Luckily Billy came in the same moment from the opposite direction. He hadn't seen him so Steve slowed a little, relieved.

He raised his eyes and saw a little kid getting out of his mother’s hand and ran right to the Firebird, his eyes popping out of his face for surprise and excitement.

Billy saw him too. Steve lowered his pace a little more, just wanting to watch the scene. 

He knew that Billy was absolutely jealous of his cars. He passed the time literally vacuuming and polishing them and let Steve drive them only on a few occasions and after a plethora of recommendations and instructions. He didn’t use them after the rain or when the desert wind blew sand in the air. He avoided smoking inside and for this he had a big provision of gums in the glove glove box. 

And he knew that never, under any concept, never never would he let someone else touch his car. Even less, a kid, with his sticky and greasy hands and his messy breath. 

The kid ran near the car, raising his hands but not daring to touch the red polish. His mouth was a perfect “O” and he made little jumps and cries, looking at the shiny color, the silver mirrors, the polished bands in the middle of the doors.

His mother grabbed him at the last second before he could touch the car.

Billy was already there at their side, towering the kid and making the keys clinking in his hand.

“I’m sorry, he just likes nice cars, but…” the mother started to excuse, but Billy ignored her, squatting in front of the kid instead.

“Do you like it?” He asked sweetly. 

The kid suddenly became shy and grabbed his mother’s hands.

“Come on, do you like it?” Billy smiled a little more. “I’m Billy, what’s your name?”

“I’m… I’m Adrian, sir,” the kid answered politely. 

Billy nodded. “And do you like cars? Do you like this car?”

The kid loosened a little. 

“Yes sir. I like the Firebird sir”.

Billy nodded and kept smiling, impressed. Steve was fascinated and enamored by the light he had in his eyes at that moment. 

“And do you ever touch one?” 

The kid shook his head. “Do you want to sit inside?”

The kid nodded and clapped enthusiastically, already forgetting of his shyness and completely captivated. Steve could understand him really well. 

Billy opened the car and helped the kid sitting in the driver seat, letting him touching the wheel, the leather seats and the briar interior. He then sat and took Adrian in his lap, Steve was surprised about how naturally Billy was acting with the kid, and inserted the keys, opened the roof and turned on the engine. 

“Hear the roar of this engine,” he said, giggling with the kid, who was completely ecstatic and happy.

“Come on Adrian, we have to go now. What do you say to this kind man?”

Adrian climbed out from the car reluctantly and took his mother’s hand again.

“Thank you, Billy,” he said.

“Anytime, Adrian. Bye!” He waved his hand, smiling brightly, noticing Steve only in that moment.

“What was that? I thought you didn’t want anybody touching your car”.

“Mmm”, murmured Billy, quickly taking a soft cloth and polishing the door around the handle.

“I thought you didn’t like kids, and less around the car”.

Billy shrugged, looking furtively at him before jumping in the car.

Steve didn’t let it go.

“Come on, what was that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”.

“I was sure you didn’t want kids in the cars”.

“Well, maybe it’s not true”, he took a gum and chewed it for a while. “Maybe I can change some rules. Maybe I can admit some selected kids on selected occasions in the cars”.

Steve felt a warm blush of happiness glowing on his cheek, and tried to say something, but Billy stopped him raising a hand.

“But not six. Six is too much. I’d never drive a van, I swear to God”.

Steve bursted to laughing. 

“Ok, ok, less than six”, he sputtered.

“Let’s start with one. Let’s try”, smiled Billy.

“I love you,” said Steve, grabbing his hand and kissing it.