Chapter Text
Billy rolled his eyes, feeling the gooey sentiment rushing through his ward’s brain and heart before he even spoke.
“We need to take him, Billy.”
“We don’t need to do anything.”
“I want to take him,” Will Byers insisted, which…was good. Not ideal towards Billy’s opinion, but the kid growing a spine was…good.
“Fine. What’s your name, angel?”
Really, he knew it was already a lost cause, because Will could see him, the angel. That meant they both already had a connection of some sort. The angel cared. Will wanted him. Boom. It was just Billy’s luck that his massive-hearted ward could make connections so easily. Billy considered himself a handful, but Will reached his gentle hands out for the despondent little guy with dark, swooshy hair and soft, white wings.
“Steve.”
Billy frowned. “That’s not very biblical of you.”
“Billy!” Will hissed.
But Billy grinned his devilish smile. “Now, now, Byers. That’s a compliment from me. Steve is a name that has roots older than Christianity. Does that make you ancient, little Stevie?”
Will peered at the small demon on his shoulder. “But you’re both ancient?”
“Yep,” Billy clipped, vaulting off his shoulder to land on the gaming table in the belly of the Wheelers’ basement. The other kids were upstairs getting food. Will had stayed behind because he saw Steve, a little morality angel, looking lost as he hovered over each of their heads, looking for a shoulder to roost on.
He’d sat on the brim of Dustin’s cap for a while, but in the fervor of the D&D campaign, Will observed the angel flinching at Dustin’s strong reactions to the story’s goings-on. Then, he flew tiredly up and over to the window, shoving up the blinds with his little hands to gaze at the rain outside.
Now he stepped tentatively onto Will’s offered hands. Billy sauntered down the kid’s arm to stand on his wrist, meeting the angel halfway. His statuesque nose had blushed ruddy on the end, a clear sign of crying.
“Between your name and your lack of a ward, I wonder if that means we’re both bad at following rules.”
Steve perked right up, downright bristling, “Mine outgrew me. We’re not the same.”
Billy’s eyes shined. Hot, tropical waters glistening over an open-mouth smile at this angel. “Are you sure? You spark like a demon. You’ve got spots on your pretty white wings—”
“Don’t talk shit about my wings!” Steve exclaimed, immediately hugging one of them to the front of his body. “What’s the matter, freckles? You’ve never seen moles before?”
That made Billy some kind of thrilled. He strolled back up Will’s arm until the steepness made him unfurl his black wings. Landing once more on Will’s shoulder, Billy purred, “You can keep him. This will be fun.”
“We’ll keep him,” the human corrected before he wondered for no one in particular. “Are angels allowed to cuss?”