okay let’s talk about deaf/hoh billy headcanons!
he lost his hearing due to an injury from, you guessed it, his piece of shit father. without supports, he full on faked-it-til-he-made-it, relying on reading lips and visual cues until max came along and figured out that the reason he often ignored her or failed to answer her questions or engage with her was because he genuinely couldn’t hear her. she immediately checked out asl books from the library. billy was resistant at first, but liked having a clear way to communicate with someone. he also liked that sign gave them a way to communicate that neil couldn’t understand, so he and max could easily let each other know to stay out of a room/go outside/get in the car when things looked like they were getting bad. max is the only who signs with him. (that is, until steve comes along and insists on turning off his voice to sign with billy and max so that he can learn and best accommodate billy.) (of course, in an au where billy and argyle were besties in california, you know argyle would learn, too.) (eddie would, too, let’s be real.) (heather nails down basic signs so that she can ask billy if he’s okay or he can tell her when he wants to leave a party; she’s not the best at it but she tries her damndest because that’s her bestie and she wants him to feel supported.)
he purposefully turns off or removes his hearing aids when speaking with people that annoy him. he stares at them while he does it so that they know it’s deliberate. he most often does this jason, whose reaction is to talk louder for some reason, as if that will help, getting redder and redder in the face when billy says, “what what was that? can’t hear you.” when he really wants to piss jason off, he’ll only reply in sign, knowing that jason has no idea what he’s saying and probably thinks billy’s casting some kind demonic curse on him tbh.
he hates when people talk to others, like max or steve, instead of himself, like waiters asking max or steve for his order. there’s always an edge of pity or condescension to it. his friends hate it just as much as he does. he’s deaf — not stupid. max is snarky about it. immediately, “i don’t know, ask him.” steve mocks the person to billy in sign, letting them think that he’s asking what billy wants before turning around like, “he says he’ll have a burger. and also that you can go fuck yourself.” while billy gives them the most innocent smile.
he gets easily overwhelmed in crowds. he likes being around others to an extent, but keeping up with all the extra noise and distractions drains him quickly. he’ll often sign to steve or eddie or heather (or whichever designated hearing friend he’s brought with him) when he wants to leave. they’ve all mastered the irish goodbye. oftentimes all four of them will ditch the party together to go somewhere quiet and chill.
robin is fluent in asl, and she and billy hit it off right away, partly because they can easily communicate with each other and partly because they are essentially the same person in two different bodies. prepare for trouble and make it double (thoughts & prayers to steve harrington). steve loves that he can learn from them but also always accuses them of talking about him behind his back. (which they do. but it’s literally all about how much they love him. they put on tough exteriors but they’re both big softies at heart.)
he likes to blast his music as loud as possible so that he can feel it. eddie loves to hang with him for this reason alone — billy is the one person who will always tell him to crank it up, and up, and up. he spends a lot of time with corroded coffin, even jams with them sometimes. eddie nicknamed him beethoven because of the whole deaf musician vibe.
when he was younger and struggled to communicate with hearing classmates, he read voraciously to occupy himself. he is literally the most well read person in the group, and he will pull out random and obscure literary references at all times.
he knows that he’s gained dustin’s approval when dustin starts learning sign specifically to tell billy that if he hurts steve, he’s a dead man. billy respects this and promises that steve is safe with him. satisfied, dustin immediately starts badgering billy to teach him dirty words and swears in sign. billy, of course, obliges.
i have so many more but this is long enough for now!!
ellievsbear
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