#about billy

He does not have good control over it.

For my version of Billy, this is displayed as him being able to block people out, for the most part, until they are too 'loud' (IE, passionate about what they are thinking of, too close, too excited, or otherwise naturally loud inner voices). This presents as him being reclusive at school, eating lunch in the library to create space for himself, etc.

For my Billy as well, his power can be activated by physical touch. We usually only see him wearing layers ( a hoodie on top of a thick sweater that covers his hands). If he has skin-to-skin contact with someone, he does get direct access to their noggin, and it cuts off access to anyone else, creating an 'almost' quiet that is just him and that one other person.

“I said it was nothing!” Will shrieks from the backseat. “Can we just go? We’re going to be late.”

“What?” Billy asks again. “Is this because of when he disappeared?”

“We don’t talk about it,” Mike insists. “Just drop it. It’s nothing.” He, Will, and Mike are all talking quickly amongst themselves.

“Fuck that!” Billy whispers. He tosses his cigarette and starts after the boys.

“Billy,” Dustin says. Billy ignores him. “Billy! Hey, Billy!”

“Guys! Hey, guys!” Lucas yells.

“Yo! Shit stain!” Billy yells and the boys laugh.

“Oh, shit, now you’re in trouble,” one of them says, pushing the kid who’d flipped them off towards Billy.

“Billy! Stop!” Steve yells, but it’s too late. The kids take off, scattering. Billy zeros in on the first one, chases after him. The kid doesn’t get far, gets himself trapped in a mini courtyard. Billy grabs him by the back of the shirt and shoves him up against the building as the kid is trying to jump over a low wall.

“Hey, shit stain, didn’t you hear me calling you? It’s rude to not respond when people talk to you.”

The kid is shaking, seconds away from screaming and crying. He’s flailing, but can’t get a hold of anything as Billy pushes him up against the wall.

“Do you know who I am?” Billy asks. The kid nods. “Did you know Will is my friend?” The kid shakes his head, no. His mouth is opening and closing. He’s trying to say something, but Billy just shakes his head, no. “You think what happened to him is funny? You wanna know what it’s like to die and then come back? I mean, I can’t really promise you’ll come back. But I can promise you it won’t be pleasant.” He pauses. “I can fucking arrange it if you want.”

Panting, Steve comes around the corner just as the kid pisses himself. Tears are pouring down the kid’s cheeks, and it just makes Billy angrier.

“You think you’re so tough picking on kids like Will, don’t you?” Billy growls. Steve comes up slowly to his side, making sure Billy can see him before coming too close. “You’re such a fucking coward.” The kid thuds onto the cement as Billy lets him go. Once he’s taken a few steps back, Steve goes to Billy.

“Dude, someone called the cops, we gotta go!” Steve says. Billy shakes his head, no.

“He knows who I am. It’s only a matter of time.”

Billy is smoking another cigarette when Hopper comes around the corner. He looks fucking pissed. Smiling, Billy waves.

“Good to see you, Chief,” Billy says.

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Hopper says as a woman comes running over to the sobbing kid. She’s screaming about what a monster Billy is, and how she wants to press charges, and if there’s even one hair hurt on her precious baby’s head, she’s going to sue him for all he’s worth. Billy wants to tell her to have fun with that, cause he’s broke as fuck, but he just flicks his cigarette away and holds out his wrists for Hopper. Steve puts his hands behind his head, mutters curse words under his breath. The other boys have come over to see, and Billy winks at Will.

“He shouldn’t fuck with you any more,” Billy says as he nods towards the boy who’s no longer crying, but still shaking.

“I said shut up,” Hopper says as he closes the cuffs around Billy’s wrists tightly.

“Ooo, you know just how I like it,” Billy says.

“Jesus, Billy, shut the fuck up! You’re not doing yourself any favors!” Hopper says. He leads Billy away. People are standing around, whispering and pointing. Billy wants to flip them off, but decides he doesn’t actually want to make Hopper’s life harder than it’s already going to be, so he just walks quietly to the police cruiser. Hopper helps him in and then slams the door loudly.

Billy can’t help but smirk as he sees the other bullies staring after him as Hopper switches on the sirens. The boys are staring at him, mouths open wide. Laughing, Billy blows them a kiss and they all run away again.

“Jesus, Billy, what the fuck were you thinking?” Hopper asks as they take off.

Shrugging, Billy just says, “Pretty sure that’s the end of any of those little shit stains bugging my kids again.”