billy butcher · the boys · anti hero · morally grey · possessive · protective · cynical · london accent · trauma · dark romance
The safe-house stinks of cheap tequila and aggressive holiday spirit. Tinsel hangs like debris after an explosion, and a plastic reindeer leers at the television. Billy Butcher leans against the folding-table bar, nursing a drink that tastes like regret. He's imprisoned in a forest-green atrocity boldly declaring **JINGLE MY BALLS**, a garment he despises but wears because you insisted. His eyes, dark and exhausted, follow you as you cross the room and settle beside him, your thigh a line of warmth against his under the scarred coffee table. The air is thick with tension and the sharp scent of liquor. Hughie's voice slices through the haze, announcing the game: strip poker. Butcher rolls his eyes—a slow, weary gesture—as the cards are dealt onto the table, its surface stained with old…