Chapter Text
The usual circles were doing their thing. The whispers carried from table to car to alleyway to eventually Billy’s ears. A ritual. A wish.
The deep pit of anger sitting like a diseased corpse in his stomach stirred as his mind ran wild with the possibilities. All corporations burning. The government restructured and for the people instead of the dollar. He smiled. He could finally make a change, he could be somebody important and not like one of those assholes who think the sun shines for them and them alone. No. He'd be the kind of person to actually make people listen to him. No one ever listened to him.
No one ever wants to listen to the truth. It hurts. It's awkward. But it always needs to be said. That's why so many people just ignored Billy. Not this ti-
“Whatcha thinking about?”
A soft raspy voice. The kind of silk that rubbed against your skin with texture woven in. It feels good. Billy looked to his left and saw her. It was a Friday night, a week before this ritual deal was supposed to go down, of course Vyper would be here at Jezebel’s.
“I was thinkin’ about that ritual deal. I think I got a good wish to make.”
Vyper was already tipsy, already smiling. Her hand slithered onto Billy’s wrist, she leaned in close.
“Yeah? Let's practice, Billy. Pretend I'm a patron, make that wish.”
He hated it when he touched her. It made his skin tingle, little bumps, the hairs on his arm feeling like they're trying to pop out of his skin.
“Shut up. You makin’ fun of me? I got real big plans, Vyper. I ain't gonna just sit around and watch the world keep goin’ down the shitter!”
She just had that sly smile on. The kind of smile that said a thousand things at once but the most important was always obvious. “I know you.”
“I’m not making fun of you, silly Billy. Stop being a party pooper and play along. Ask me, the Gorgon Princess of Wisconsin, your wish.”
Gorgon Princess. Billy always thought Vyper was a moron with her head in the clouds. Too focused on small scores. She would never change the world. Not like Billy. But she made his skin tingle.
“I wish that Fairfax would go down in flames, all the big companies that run our country, our government, flooded with gas and lit with a match. And I wanna be the one to do it. I wish that people were as pissed as me, that they would get a bat or a pipe or whatever and get to fucking work!”
She kept smiling. She was still smiling. He wanted to grab her by her head and slam her face into the counter. Infernus would probably ban him. It would probably suck, Jezebel's was one of the last bars to not ban Billy. But she was definitely fucking making fun of him. He could feel it.
“You wanna know my wish, silly Billy?”
Her words were slurred. She was knocking back drinks while he was ranting. Maybe she was smiling because she was drunk. He hated her.
“What?”
She slapped his shoulder and said in a playful scold, “Nnnnoooo… You gotta be a patron too, Billy! Be my patron! Be. My. Patron!”
The slap made his nerves reverberate through his body. Before she showed up, he had already killed a few beers, he probably smelled like cheap booze and sweat. He was trying to be numb, planning for the ritual. She kept ruining it.
“What's your wish? Ask…”
His eye twitched. He couldn't tell if his annoyance was at her or himself.
“Ask the Mosh Pit Champion your wish.”
Her smile got wide then, tiny sharp teeth and wide, almost childish eyes.
“I wish that you lemme wear that jacket. Maybe behind the bar in our usual spot. Mama V got some cheddar. We can get the nice room that doesn't have puke on the curtains.”
Billy scoffed. Usually he would take her offer up, no questions asked. But that diseased corpse in his stomach was rioting.
“Get real. I told you my wish. My real one. Stop makin’ fun of me, Vyper. If you're gonna lie to me like everyone else, then you really are a fucking moron.”
He got up, unsteady angry stomps towards the door. As he got to the door, he felt Vyper’s hand close around his wrist. He looked back. She wasn't smiling, she wasn't sad, she just was looking into his eyes with a very intense stare. As if all the alcohol burned off in that moment.
“I’m not lying. The thing that I want most in the world right now is you. I wanna listen to you bitch and moan about how New York sucks even though we both know you'll never leave. I want to see you drink my special batch of pruno and cough it up again like the little bitch you are. I want you. You stupid goat.”
His skin tingled, nerves alight with awkward little fires, the corpse inside his gut was trying to climb its way to safety out his mouth.
“S-shut…. Shut the fuck up and leave me alone. I gotta go burn shit or something.”
He wrenched his hand away. It felt wrong. The tingles were nice. The corpse would finally be out of the house, at least for a little bit. But he was stubborn. That's just who he was, rushing headfirst into things and rushing out just the same.
He ran. And ran. And ran. And ran.
By the time the morning light had reached him, he was on the rooftop of an abandoned building in the dead corner of the city. Failed businesses and construction projects. Sitting down, killing a case of stolen beer, Billy was staring away from the sunrise. He watched instead the way two dogs were fighting over the remains of some raccoon. He smirked. Even in the animal kingdom, these idiots were fighting each other instead of the real enemy.
“Fucking stupid.”
“Yeah. You sure are.”
He whipped his head behind him. Her. Always somehow her.
“Vyper?”
“Heya.”
She looked the same as ever. No. That wasn't right. She was smiling again, her clothes were dusty and barely maintained, hidden knives lined inside. But the sun behind her made her look like like a Goddess. Emerald scales shining and radiating light towards him.
He'd deny it until the day he died. But in that moment, Billy thought of a life with Vyper. He'd probably still be angry. He'd probably still be mean. But he'd be mean with her, be angry with her, they could pull off small scores and pile some money together for a big attack on some bank or something. He could make anarchy with her. He could…
“How did you find me?”
She stepped closer, her eyes narrowed, kneeled down to his eye level.
“This is where I first saw you, Silly Billy. This is where we started. The real question is, why did you run to a place where I could find you?”
He didn't say anything. He couldn't.
She got on her knees, facing him, her hands found their place around his neck, and she leaned in. A whisper. His entire being was sparklers and malt liquor. He felt like there was a ring of clouds, good music, and satisfaction around his neck. She smelled good, goddamn it, she smelled good. She smelled like cheap diner food and booze.
“Mind if I call you Lash?”
His lips twitched, shook. Not a smile. Not the same furious frown he usually had on either.
“You just got the same kind of bod’, you know? Nice strong hunks. Plus sometimes when you talk all nice and low, you sound like him.”
The corpse inside banged against his rib cage. Tell her no, it demanded. Have some fucking self respect, it screamed. Get her to take you seriously. He swallowed his anxious spit. The corpse drowned again.
“I don't give a shit.”
That same knowing smile spread on Vyper's face. She leaned into his space, her lips trailing little kisses from his lips to his cheek to his ear, her hand gripping his horn like it was more a handle than it was a natural weapon.
“Good. The most fun I've ever had was a Philly prison riot. Let's see if we can beat that, huh? You can bitch about the world. And I can listen. Like I always do.”