The first thing that graced Billy's awareness was the natural ambiance that came with each morning, leaves rustling, birds singing... Smiling, he lazily stretched and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. As he stretched he felt the familiar weight and feel of his guitar strap, guessing he must have fallen asleep while playing again. "Wait…" He had been playing for a reason last night, right? What was it again?
"Spencer!" Billy sat up mid-air in a jolt, eyes snapping open in a mix of excitement and fear. He'd been fighting with Spencer, then suddenly the kid could see him! He looked to his- Spencer's race car bed and came face to face with a weirdly familiar expression. The kid looked shocked again. Maybe he was in awe of the idol floating before him? Billy couldn't blame him, he was pretty breathtaking. Still, now that he was awake, maybe he should get around to apologizing again? He didn't really know how this kind of thing worked, but now that he was remembering the events of yesterday, he needed to do something about all this bad juju. "Uh-"
"Why did you trash so many hotel rooms?" Spencer interjected, staring at Billy with a disappointed expression. Billy didn't really know what to say to that. He hadn't really been expecting the kid to go this route. No 'How are you floating?' or 'How are you invisible?' or even 'How do you get your hair to do that?'. Billy lowered to a sitting position and thought for a moment. "I-I don't really, know? It was just a part of my bad boy-"
"I heard you closed down a hotel for a week." Spencer pressed, frowning a bit. "And I also heard you totally demolished a set, just because a camera guy didn't like your shoes!" At this point Billy was totally thrown. This had turned into an angry press reporter grilling him at eight in the afternoon when he'd rather be anywhere else. The only thing keeping him from storming out was the fact that someone was finally talking to him for the first time in forever!
"O.k, first off? It only shut down for like, a couple days! And the second one is just not true! That camera guy had went out of his way to insult my new boots! He was being a jerk-wad, not me!" He fumed, pouting and crossing his arms in indignation. He would not allow such slander!
Spencer looked at him for a few more moments before smiling. "You know? I really liked your music when I was a kid." Billy perked up at that, though he could do without the past tense. His new music was just as great as his older stuff! "On my first day of school, you released Gives you Butterflies and I heard it on the radio on the way there. When I got to school, all the kids and teachers were singing it, even the principal. They played it over the speakers during lunch! I was kinda cool, like it was a holiday or something, we didn't even get homework." He finished, looking fondly around the room like he was finally appreciating the legend who gave him that experience.
Billy sniffed, eyes watering at the touching story. He loved stories like that! One of the best compliments he could ever get about his music was stories like this one. He once got told by a fan that they just had a kid and that they'd had the kid to one of his songs! 'We're naming them Billy! After you!' they'd said, Billy had been so over the moon at the story that he'd performed at the kids second birthday party for free.
"Did they make it a holiday?" He asked, he wouldn't be surprised if they had, Gives you Butterflies had been a pretty big hit. Spencer laughed in response, shaking his head as he collected himself. "No, sorry du-Mister Cobra. It was a really good song though." Billy frowned a bit, but shrugged it off. If they made a holiday for every new release, the world would be partying 24/7, and while that sounded rad, even the Cobra needed time to just chill.
"Their loss." he said, then, realizing that there was a lull in the conversation, decided that they'd never to talking about their bad juju unless he took the initiative. "Look dude, I really want to talk about some stuff." He started, biting his thumb as he thought over his next words carefully, he didn't want to mess this up.
"Last night was...bad. Like, it was kinda awful." He sighed, curling up a bit as he glanced up at Spencer carefully. Spencer was frowning now, but he didn't look angry, which was good. "I just think we should try to clear the air and stuff, ya'know?" He shrugged, he wasn't so good at being adult and getting serious. He almost wanted to disappear again, but he needed to make things right. He finally had the chance and he wasn't going to waste it because talking was suddenly uncomfortable.
He watched as Spencer sighed and nodded. "Cool! I, uh, just think I should start out by saying-"
"I'm sorry." Spencer blurted, cutting Billy off before he could finish. "I was a big jerk to you yesterday and I'm so-"
"You're sorry? I'm sorry!" Billy argued "You didn't do anything. It was my fault you got kidnapped!" It was his turn to interrupt, and he was darn well going to! This kid had it totally backwards!
"I only got kidnapped because I was so caught up in handling things on my own that I didn't even consider asking for help! My parents or the guards could have gotten me my bag easy as pie if I had just asked!" Spencer sputtered, apparently just as upset with Billy's apology as Billy was with his.
"I still put you in a corner, I knew you weren't supposed to go near the gates! It was my groupies who kidnapped you! I almost left you there!" Billy challenged, waving his arms in frustration at the kids poor excuse. He couldn't actually be blaming himself, he was just a kid!
"You weren't the one who kidnapped me, you aren't your fans! And you could have left me, but you didn't! You saved me!" Spencer countered, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"Oh yeah! I saved you? I flew you home even when you told me not to, because I couldn't bring myself to take out my literal kidnapper Cobra Heads! I put their safety over yours!" Billy sarcastically replied, standing and staring down this infuriating child. He was glorifying Billy's half assed rescue mission and blaming himself!
"I'm not going to hold "not assaulting people" against you, dude! How do you think those guys would have reacted to being attacked by some unknown force? Things could have gone bad, fast. And besides, you saved me twice. From a literal monster!" Spencer stood as well, arms still crossed, and seemingly determined to not give an inch.
"I "saved" you, from a blanket. An old, zombie themed, children's blanket. And the only reason I needed to "save" you, was probably because of some weird side effect of whatever's up with me!" He yelled, taking a commanding step forward, forcing Spencer to take a step back.
"Yeah, a children's blanket. A sentient, flesh and rotting skin, monster blanket that tried to smother me! I was caught up with trying to salvage something that wanted to kill me! It tried to jump me when I was trying to protect it. At least you were able to set your priorities straight. I was being an insufferable baby about the whole thing and started breaking your stuff because I lost my blankie!" Spencer yelled back even more forcefully than Billy, stomping forward until he was butting heads.
"You were being childish, because you're a child! Meanwhile, I'm twenty six years old, and you know what I did when you broke my stuff? I threw a tantrum! Like a child. And unlike you, I didn't even care about half the stuff you broke!" Billy asserted, leaning back and and gesturing wildly. "You can be upset about your stuff, dude! So what if you cry over your blankie? It's your blankie! It matters, and you should be upset! I was a total tool!"
"What about you? I know some of the things I broke were important. I wanted them to be! I wanted to hurt you! The stuff I broke can't be fixed either! I can sew up my clothes and blanket, but I can't fix a glass trophy!" Spencer argued, gesturing to the shards of glass on the ground around them.
"Well-! I don't-You can't-Ugh! Just shut up!" Billy stuttered angrily. He glared at the glass remains in frustration, wanting nothing more than for the traitorous shards to vanish.
"You can't just-You shut up!" Spencer snapped back.
Billy and Spencer glared at each other, like a serious version of a staring contest. Billy had the advantage of course, and he was just about to snap his fingers to get Spencer to blink when the reality of the situation hit him. "Pffff-!" He slapped a hand over his mouth and tried to control himself, but it was too much!
"What? Why are you…" Spencer deflated, plopping back onto his bed and looking at Billy with a plea for an explanation shining in his eyes. For some reason that did it, and Billy was all out cackling.
"It's just-Heheheh! We're-we're fighting-Hehe! Over whose most sorryehehe!" He giggled, curling up into the air and taking shaky breaths to try to calm down. Right when he was finally calming down, Spencer started giggling and then Billy started laughing all over again.
"So dumb!" Spencer chuckled, rubbing his face in embarrassment. They were caught in a cycle of chuckles for a while, and Billy was afraid they'd be stuck as giggling fools forever. Finally, Spencer's stomach cramped, and they finally calmed down. "Whew! That was intense! Can you suffocate from laughter?" Billy sighed, relaxing in the air for a moment in the laughter after glow.
"I mean, you can't. But maybe? I've never heard of it happening though…" Spencer shrugged, then sat up and frowned. He looked at Billy with that sad puppy face and Billy lowered in response. They still had talking to do.
"Listen Spencer, I was a jerk. Maybe not in all the ways, but I really did go out of my way to mess with you before the kidnapping thing, and that's on me. I'm sorry." Billy admitted, he wasn't going to get into the semantics of who was the most awful, but he knew he was in the wrong and he wanted to fix it. Spencer looked conflicted for a moment before sighing and hunching forward.
"I...can't say I forgive you for all the stuff you did. But I appreciate you wanting make things right, and I want to make things right too. I'm sorry I broke your things Mister Cobra, I really regret doing it." Spencer apologized, and Billy smiled. He was weirdly o.k with Spencer not forgiving him, he didn't really need it to feel better.
"It's all cool, little man. We both did things we regret yesterday." Billy forgave, holding his hands up in a reassuring gesture. "I just hope we can…" Billy stalled, frowning as he realized he didn't know what he wanted. To be friends? Roomies? Bros? Would Spencer even want that? He still wasn't sure how the kid was feeling about him and friendship was a big step from bitter rivals.
"I just-I just don't wanna fight with you anymore. You and your family can stay as long as you want! I won't mess with you guys anymore, promise!" Billy coughed, feeling a little awkward now that all the emotional stuff was out of the way. Being visible was turning out to be not so great. He'd been so much better at the whole confident and cool vibe before he'd turned invisible and stuff! He rubbed his head awkwardly and kicked his legs trying to think of something else to say when Spencer giggled.
"What?" Billy pouted, curling up a bit as Spencer smiled at him. "Nothing really. It's just, I've never had arguments with anyone outside of my family and had them stick around after." He marveled, shifting a bit to get a better look at Billy confused face. "Whenever I fought with kids at school, friends and all, they didn't tend to stay friends after. I never was good at compromise, and I'm not really someone people are willing to stick around with." He shrugged, then grinned at Billy.
"I always thought how cool it would be if I had a werewolf, or a zombie as a friend or something." He hinted, giving Billy a meaningful look and adding "But I guess a ghost as a friend would be pretty cool. Just think of all the pranks!"
Billy was a mix between stunned disbelief and bursting with excitement, a small smile spreading till he was sporting a full grin. "Really?!" He squealed, Spencer rolling his eyes and nodding in response. Billy beamed and started zipping around the room and cheering. "Whoooohoooooo!" He rejoiced and picked Spencer up to wrap him up in a bone crushing hug.
"Whoa! A little tight Mister Cobra!" Spencer grunted, Billy dropping him onto the bed immediately and floated down to give him a scolding look. "If we're gonna be buds Spence, I can't have you going 'Mister Cobra' to me all the time! Just call me Billy!" He suggested, straightening his jacket and giving him his best magazine cover smile.
Spencer looked like he was going to say something but thought better of it and nodded. "O.k Billy. Now that we've cleared the air, I think we should get round to dealing with some obvious questions" Spencer frowned at Billy's blank expression as Billy tapped his chin in thought.
"Like what Michael Brosner?" Billy wondered as he back stroked through the air lazily. Spencer huffed, grabbed Billy's collar and pulled him out of the air to sit next to him. "You can't be serious Billy! You're not even a little concerned about my blanket turning into a horror show?" He grilled, looking at Billy seriously. Billy gulped at the memory of the evil patchwork beast and nodded slowly. It was pretty weird that happened, no question.
"Good!" Spencer approved, then let go of Billy's collar and took a thinking man pose. "No offense, but I really do think it has something to do with you, dude. My blanket never turned into a monster before this, you're the only constant. Can you remember doing anything to it when I was in the shower?" He questioned.
Billy thought back for a moment and when over yesterday's events. He hadn't really done much with that blanket, it'd been so creepy he'd actually avoided it. The only times he'd even touched it was when he nabbed it from Spencer in the morning and…"Oh, dude! I used it as a tissue when you were showering! I remember how freaked out I'd been when I realized I used it!" He recalled, smile wilting at the look on Spencer's face as he took in the new information.
"Yeeaaaah, sorry Elizabeth Broftus. Probably shouldn't have done that…" He apologized nervously, he didn't want Spencer mad at him so soon after their new friendship. "It's fine." Spencer mumbled, still lost in thought and really nailing that thinking man pose. Billy tried to strike the pose as well before Spencer suddenly jumped up on the bed excitedly.
"Ectoplasm! I remember now! It's supposed to be this supernatural goop that ghosts secrete or something. Your tears are probably made of the stuff and messed with my blanket somehow!" Spencer continued to jump on the bed as he spoke, exciting Billy into jumping on the bed as well. "That's great Douglas Scott Brogo! That...is good, right?" Billy kept jumping in hopes that what he was hearing was good. He didn't really know anything about the whole paranormal business, but he trusted Spencer to do the thinking when it came to it.
"I...don't think so." Spencer admitted, falling onto his bed and sitting up. "I mean, it's probably gonna be a problem if your ectoplasm makes stuff turn into halloween decorations on steroids. Can you control it?" He asked, looking a little worried as Billy stopped jumping and sat down. Billy shrugged, "Can you control the stuff your body does?' He countered crossing his arms and frowning. He couldn't help it if he got emotional and cried, he was only human!
"I just thought...No, you're right. You'll just have to be a bit careful when it comes to stuff like that. Sorry man, but it's probably for the best." He assured as Billy pouted. "Has this kind of thing really never happened before?" He asked Billy as the ghost started floating around the bed restlessly.
"Never! I think I'd remember my stuff coming to life and attacking me!" He assured, then added "Well, your blanket was pretty dead looking, so maybe coming to death? I don't know." He groaned, slumping and looking to Spencer for their next move. He didn't know what ectoplasm was, or why it ruined good stuff, but apparently he had too keep an eye out so he didn't end up monsterfying something else.
"Just try to keep the more watery stuff to yourself, at least until we find out what makes the ectoplasm tick." Spencer concluded, Billy nodded, then grimaced a bit. "Dude, ectoplasm is such a mouthful, can we shorten it to ecto? I think it sounds cooler." He suggested, already becoming attached to the improved word.
"Sure." Spencer agreed, then swung his legs over the bed to go get dressed. "Whoa! Stop!" Billy cried out, yanking Spencer back onto the bed urgently. "What's the deal, dude?" Spencer exclaimed, looking around the room in concern. Billy crossed his arms and gestured to the floor in exasperation.
"Spence Angel, are your clothes really worth the glass walk?" He cautioned, pointing the the shrapnel scattered all over the floor. Spencer gulped, frowning at the disaster zone that the floor had become. "Well now what? I'm not staying in bed all day!" He pressed "It's a minefield here!"
"Chillax, Spencestar! I've got you, just hold on a sec." Billy flew over to the bathroom and picked up Spencer's shoes, gagging after getting too close to his smelly socks, and leaving those behind. He handed Spencer his shoes and smiled proudly. "See? Now you get dressed so you-we can clean up!" He suggested as Spencer put on his shoes and carefully walked over the scrap filled floor. "Thanks Billy!" Spencer called over his shoulder as he grabbed a pair of clothes and went into the bathroom to change.
Billy looked around the room and sighed. He almost wanted to just throw everything out that had been trashed and be done with it, but he didn't know what Spencer wanted to keep, and Billy didn't want to mess up again. He floated over to the most glassy area and sifted through the shards until he found what he was looking for. He picked up the gold rectangle and slipped it into his pocket, maybe later he could find a good place for it. The trophy had been too easy to break anyway, and at least he'd been able to find the piece that actually mattered.
"Maybe we can make a new one?" Spencer asked from behind him. Billy spun around quickly and flushed in embarrassment, he hadn't expected Spencer to change so fast. "It's fine…" He tried, though he could tell Spencer wasn't falling for it. He took the tiny plaque out of his pocket and got an idea. "Here. You hold onto this until you can make a better one." He looked around the room and zipped around picking up all the scraps of Spencer's blanket he could find. "While I give this little guy some Cobra magic! Not-not the evil monster kind, I mean fixing it." He added hastily, he wouldn't want that thing back in his house any time soon, or ever.
Spencer slipped the tiny plaque into his pocket and smiled. "I like it! But, are you sure you know how to sew…?" He asked critically, looking a little unsurely at the pile of scraps in Billy's arms. "Hey! This is me you're talking about Oh Spence-of-little-faith. I'll patch this guy up so well you won't even be able to tell the horrifying fate it met!" He boasted, puffing out his chest proudly. Billy set the pile inside a shoebox in his closet and flew back out. "Now lets clean this place up!"
"O.k, where's your broom?" Spencer looked around the room curiously for any cleaning supplies. "Bro, I had people for that kinda stuff! I've never even touched a broom." Billy bragged, then shrank back at Spencers withering glare. Spencer sighed then looked around thoughtfully. "I think I wanna try and find any salvageable stuff in this mess. So you go find a broom and dust pan, while I sort this out. That way we don't throw away something we might wanna keep." He decided.
"Sounds like a plan, Spence Man!" Billy saluted, then phased through the floor, leaving Spencer to his work. Billy tried to think of the last time he'd seen a broom, it felt like almost forever! "If I were a broom, where would I be?" Billy wondered, turning the question over in his head until an idea struck. "I saw Spencer's mom use one before! When I-uh...yeah." Billy decided to focus on the positives, like how he'd just found a broom! Yaaaay Billy!
He flew into the kitchen and found it occupied with Spencer parents, they looked like they were having a serious talk. "-just worried that he's having trouble adjusting. Do you think moving here was a mistake?" Spencer's mom worried to her equally concerned looking husband. Billy frowned at the topic of conversation. He felt kind of responsible for the mess Spencer was in, should he try to explain to the parents? "Spencer would probably want me to talk to him first…" He would just have to ask him later to see what he decided.
The father stood straighter and smiled at his wife. "Jane, I think he's a strong, intelligent boy, just like his mother. It may be hard at first, but I think Spencer can really fit in here! We both know his old school was a dead end, that place was the bare minimum when it comes to schools. Here, he can finally get the chance to really show off those filming skills of his!" The dad enthused, putting a comforting hand on Jane's arm.
"You're right, he's just been acting so different lately. I'll have a talk with him later." Jane agreed, hugging her husband and giving him a quick kiss. Billy stuck out his tongue at the show of affection and watched them wander out of the kitchen curiously. He felt like the name was familiar, where had he heard the name Jane before? "Eh, I'll remember it later." He shrugged as he started searching around the kitchen for the broom and dustpan. When he found the pair next to the fridge, he swung the broom around experimentally and held the dustpan up like a shield. "These are pretty cool! I'm a total Brouge right now!"
Billy squeezed the items until they were see through and phased up to his-Spencer's room. "Hey Despencerl! I got the handles to handle this mess!" He looked around the room and found Spencer organizing a pile of their stuff. "What's all this?" He asked, floating over to look at the varying array of items
"These are the things I found that I think might be sorta salvageable. If you see anything I missed, or you don't want anymore, let me know." Spencer backed away from the pile and let Billy sift through it. It was good stuff to be sure, figurines and merchandise that managed to only get chipped or cracked, some that only got dented. He smiled at seeing that most of Spencer's clothes were in the pile, glad that he hadn't permanently damaged everything he'd gotten his hands on.
"This looks great Brozilla! Seems like it's my turn to take on this what's left!" He cracked his knuckles in anticipation and spun the broom expertly. " Just try not to be too impressed by my cleaning skills." He bragged setting the broom down and smacking the floor with it. "Take that! And that!"
"Dude, are you serious?" Spencer raised his eyebrows and frowned, looking at Billy with an unimpressed an expression. Billy decided to ignore him in favor of hitting the floor harder. "I've! Never! Been! More! Serious! In! My! Life!" He replied with every smack, creasing his brows at the lack of cleaning happening. This was how it was supposed to work, right? "Why! Isn't! It! Working?" He grunted and hit the piles of scraps harder.
"Let me have that!" Spencer sighed in exasperation and snatched the broom out of Billy hands before he hit the floor again. "Now watch. This is how you sweep a floor." Spencer then began sweeping a small pile of the mess to a corner as Billy watched in awe. "It's so simple! Yet so complex…" He admired as Spencer rolled his eyes. He smiled a bit though, and swept the pile into the dustpan and tossed it in the trash.
"Now you try." Spencer handed the broom back to Billy and watched as he grabbed at the broom eagerly and started sweeping. "This is so fun! No wonder you people do it all the time!" Billy was making quick work of the mess on the floor, phasing the broom and himself through any furniture in the way. "If you say so, dude." Spencer replied, happy to humor the optimistic spirit as it heaped a large pile of trash onto the dustpan and dumped it in the trash.
After a few more minuets, Billy finished sweeping up all the mess (and put the couch back) and they started on the keep pile. "I think we can just super glue this one back together." Spencer guessed, holding up a Billy figurine and it's missing head. "Is this o.k?" Billy held up a shirt he'd just sewn, stitched down the front and on the sleeve. Spencer was surprised at how well it was done. "You did that? It looks pretty good." He complimented, taking the shirt back and stretching it experimentally.
"Of course I did! When you wear as many costumes as I do, you have be ready for wardrobe malfunctions! I learned that the hard way." Billy shuddered at the memory. He'd been so excited for the rhinestone encrusted pants he'd gotten for a show, he'd wanted to wait for the show premiere to wear them for the first time. He'd went on stage and tried doing all his usual dance moves, but they'd been so stiff they'd torn right down the middle while he'd been on stage! "Fans were picking rhinestones out of their hair for days! After that, I tested and adjusted all my clothes myself! Or, at least the ones I wore on stage." He was a little embarrassed at the memory, the tabloids had had a field day with that one.
"That's great, dude! And don't worry too much about hiding the stitching, I'm really digging the Frankenstein's Monster look." He approved, gluing the head back onto the Billy figurine. By the afternoon, they'd managed to restore most of the stuff they'd broken and were putting them back in their rightful places. Billy redecorated a bit as well, seeing as he had a roomie now, he had to spice things up a bit, no?
"I never knew zombie figurines were even a thing." Billy admitted as he set them next to his restored Billy action figures. He'd been right about Spencer interests, this kid was a Horror Head, no question. Billy shuddered at the tiny zombies and turned them away from him. "What if they eat my mini-me's while I sleep?" He complained, giving Spencer puppy eyes.
"Dude, they aren't real. As long as you don't get you ecto on them, or any of my other stuff, everything will be fine. They're just like your dolls, perfectly harmless." Spencer assured as he folded and put away the last of his restored clothes. "They aren't dolls Brometheus, they're action figures! Can't you tell the difference?" He pouted and flew over the couch, surveying the now remodeled and restored room. It looked pretty good!
"We should be interior designers or something, this place looks awesome!" Billy jumped off the couch and flew over to Spencer as he finished unpacking his stuff and looked around. "I don't know about the interior designer thing, but you're right. This place looks pretty cool." He smiled at Billy and held out his fist.
Billy gasped in excitment, holding down a squeal and fistbumbed happily. "Couldn't have done it without you Bro." He admitted, and he really meant it.