#cali bros

[miramelindamusings]

I was planning to take a small social media break but I saw the amazing headcanon that Argyle and Billy might have been friends in California! It such a sweet idea that I just had to draw something with that :) There’s something so special about childhood friendships and having seen someone through everything including growth spurts and the preteen awkward phase! And in a scenario where Billy lived, seeing that pizza van would be like some sort of miracle after everything he’s endured.

[lazybakerart]

NO GOODBYES ONLY SEE YOU SOON

for @weird-an !! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! here's a lil drawing of argyle and billy, where Things are still new and hawkins is some place neither of them have ever heard of. you're a wonderful friend an and you mean the world to me!! thank you for being you!! <3!!

++ close up!

[weird-an]

Billy: I'm unforgivable, don't be fucking nice to me.

Argyle: Don't be so hard on yourself, sunshine.

Billy (blushes): What the fuck did you just -

Argyle (hugs him): Come here, it's alright.

Billy (not knowing what to do): Uhm-

Argyle: Shh. We'll figure it out, sweetheart.

[reineydraws]

surfer boy pizza was billy's first job and argyle was one of his bffs growing up and u cant change my mind about this

[ihni]

It's @weird-an's birthday, so have a little Argilly (!) (yeah I know!) piece inspired by this post.

This piece is written to be read around the time they release season 5, because whatever shit they come up with to happen in Hawkins, our forgotten boys will just be living their best life in Cali.

~~~

Billy wakes up slowly, gaining awareness in increments. The softness of the sheet underneath him, the sounds of the traffic interspersed with voices coming from outside, the warmth of the air in the room and from the body behind him. Taking a deep breath, he stretches until his joints pop and then releases the air in a content sigh as he becomes boneless once again, turning around and snuggling up to the man behind him. Tucking his head in under the man’s chin, still without opening his eyes.

There’s a chuckle. Billy can feel the vibrations through the body he’s clinging to, and can’t help but smile.

“How long have you been awake?” he murmurs, and hums contentedly when a big hand splays out over the back of his head, scratching lazily at his nape.

“A while,” comes Argyle’s voice from close by, and Billy feels a gentle kiss on the crown of his head.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” he asks, then yawns.

“You’re cute when you sleep,” is the answer.

“I’m cute all the time.”

A laugh, and Billy can feel Argyle move as he nods. “Truth. But especially when you sleep. Also, we’re not in a rush. We can stay here all day, if we want.”

Billy starts to nod along, but then stops. Reluctantly blinks his eyes open. “Not all day. We’re meeting Tommy later, remember? You promised you’d show him all the best burger places in town.”

“Yeah but that’s not until the afternoon,” Argyle argues. “We have hours to go before then.” A pause. “You can go back to sleep, if you want.”

Billy considers. It’s still a luxury to be able to wake up at his own pace, and not have to hurry to get ready in the morning. It’s also not until recently that he has started sleeping through the night, with the nightmares being less frequent the longer he spends away from their source.

Two years. Two years since he clawed his way back to the real world, two years since he stopped having to sleep with one eye open, two years since fate – perhaps as an apology for everything it had put Billy through – brought Argyle to that godawful Indiana town. (No one could tell who was most surprised to see the other; Argyle, who had been told that Billy had died in a fire, or Billy, who hadn’t thought he’d ever get out of that hellish place at all. Their reunion was emotional and tearful and came as a shock to everyone else, who hadn’t even known that they knew each other. But honestly fuck everyone else.)

It has been two years now since Billy sat down in the passenger’s seat of Argyle’s van and went back to California without looking back; his only goodbye being a middle finger aimed at the ‘Leaving Hawkins’ sign as they passed, while Argyle’s hand rested on his thigh, gripping Billy’s other hand in his.

Two years later, and here Billy is, in bed with Argyle; his best friend, his lover, his Aggy. There are no monsters anymore, there is no Neil to be wary of. He is safe, he is warm, and he can go back to sleep if he wants.

Does he want that, though? He frowns. Something tickles his mind, like a half-forgotten memory. He dreamt something, he realizes, but trying to remember what it was is like trying to capture mist in his hands. It slips between his fingers like smoke, but still leaves him feeling vaguely uncomfortable.

Argyle, like always, notices. “What is it, Bee?” he asks, and hugs Billy closer. “Nightmare?”

“I don’t know,” Billy says, truthfully. “I don’t remember.”

Argyle hums. “You were moving around a lot. Talking in your sleep again.”

“Really?” Billy says. It’s been a while since he did that. “What did I say?”

“Just murmurs. No real words. You sounded kinda worried, though.”

“Hm. Well, I don’t remember.”

Billy rolls back a bit and puts his head on the pillow. He immediately misses Argyle’s warmth, but Argyle keeps his hand on the back of Billy’s head, playing with his hair, and at least this way he can look at Argyle’s face.

He’s beautiful. Big and strong and soft, with his sunshine smile that never fails to make Billy feel all warm inside and his long hair that somehow always looks perfect even right after waking, unlike Billy’s. There’s a mark on Argyle’s cheek from a crease in the pillow, and Billy wants to kiss it.

Argyle’s smile – widening at the sight of Billy, which will always be a thrill – is contagious, and Billy finds himself smiling too.

“’Mornin’, Aggy,” he says and leans forward to place a kiss on Argyle’s lips.

“’Mornin’, Bee,” Argyle replies and smiles into the kiss.

They lean their foreheads together and breathe for a while. Then Argyle stretches out too, like a big cat. Billy seizes his opportunity to plop himself on top of Argyle, who just laughs and puts his arms around him, pulling him closer. Chest against chest, Billy moves with Argyle’s expanding lungs as he inhales. It is soothing, and he tries to relax. But he doesn’t quite succeed – the remnants of the dream is still lurking in the back of his head.

Of course, Argyle notices. “Bee?” And of course, he knows what’s Billy’s thinking. “Do you think it’s got something to do with, you know, all that stuff from a couple of years ago?” He doesn’t even say ‘Hawkins’ out loud, because he knows how Billy feels about that town. It is just another reason to love him.

Billy wants to say no. Wants to reject it out loud, because all that is over. But that nagging feeling in his brain stops him. “I don’t know,” he admits. Argyle knows about the nightmares, about the dreams. He has met El after all, and knows what she can do – and he knows about the times, right after they got back to California, when Billy and El’s dreams merged. It has stopped now, thankfully. Or, he thought it did.

“Do you think something’s … wrong?” Argyle asks. His voice is neutral, but Billy knows him well. He knows what Argyle went through, too; what he had to see and live through on his way across the country two years ago.

And Billy decides, then and there, that “No. Nothing’s wrong.” Because they’ve had enough, him and Argyle. They’ve done their part. Billy has served his time; he paid the price, survived, got out and got away. The people they left back in Hawkins – none of whom cared enough about him to try to save him, by the way – could have left too. If they stayed around for the next wave of horror, that’s their choice.

Hawkins can burn to the ground, for all that Billy cares. If something’s about to go down there, Billy doesn’t want to be involved. Doesn’t even want to know about it.

“Okay,” Argyle says and pats Billy’s shoulder. As if he knows what Billy’s thinking. He probably does.

“And if it is,” Billy says, petulantly. Makes sure to say it out loud, so that the powers that be can hear his refusal. “If something is wrong .... If something goes down, back there? I don’t give a fuck.”

“Right on.” Argyle chuckles and kisses his curls. Hugs Billy even closer, trapping him against his chest and making him feel … small, and safe, and cared for. Something that Billy has only ever felt with Argyle, outside of when he was a child and his mother was still around. “Right on, my dude.”

Billy huffs out a laugh, but wrinkles his nose in distaste at the same time. “Don’t call me ‘dude’ in bed. It’s weird.”

“But you are my dude, dude.” Billy tilts his head back so he can glare at him. It’s hard to maintain a façade of annoyance in the face of Argyle’s sparkling eyes, but he manages through sheer force of will. “My little man.”

“Stop it.”

“My bro.”

“Aggy.”

“Brochacho.”

“I will literally kill you.” But despite his words, which are an obvious lie to the both of them, he cannot stop the smile that blooms on his face, or the blush that follows when Argyle laughs and peppers his face with kisses.

“Sure you will, dude.” Argyle sees straight through him. He always has.

That doesn’t mean that Billy will just take this kind of disrespect lying down. He struggles out of Argyle’s grip – only succeeding because Argyle lets him – and rolls and crawls with grunts and mutters to the edge of the mattress. He pushes off the bed and gets to this feet, uncaring of the fact that he’s naked, and cocks a hip to the side while he points at Argyle, who’s still sprawled out in bed, grinning. “Just for that, breakfast is on you.”

Argyle just keeps smiling, even as he leans forward and hooks his own finger around Billy’s, shaking his hand a little. And damn it, Billy is charmed. As always. “Sure thing, Bee. Cold pizza?”

“Leftovers? You call me ‘dude’ in bed, and I get leftovers?”

“Tasty, tasty leftovers, though.”

Tasty leftovers. Breakfast with his Aggy, after waking up in bed with his Aggy, in the apartment he shares with his Aggy.

A look to the window reveals blue skies with barely any clouds. The leaflets on the palm tree just outside moves gently in the breeze. Billy knows that if he opens the window, he will smell car exhausts from the road and Chinese food from the restaurant across the street and a hint of decomposing trash from the dumpster around the corner … and under all that, the salty air blowing in from the ocean, barely two blocks away.

Life is good.

He releases Aggy’s finger and takes his hand instead, pulls him up until he’s standing. Pokes him in the middle of his chest and raises his eyebrows as he looks up at him. “I want garlic sauce on mine.”

Argyle salutes – lazily, and with the wrong hand – and says, “You got it,” before pressing another kiss to Billy’s face – forehead, this time – and walking past him to get out the bedroom. Argyle’s not wearing anything either, and Billy watches appreciatively as his behind disappears around the corner.

Whatever might go down in Hawkins, it’s got nothing to do with him anymore – him or Aggy.

Life is good for them, now. He’s not trading this for anything.

And with that, he files the fragments of the dream away to be forgotten and follows Argyle out into the kitchen for a cold pizza breakfast.

~~~

(And yes, Tommy has moved there too because he deserves some kind of appearance as well, so I'll just headcanon that he and Carol maybe have moved out there and is finding their feet out in the real world. He's gonna become fast friends with Billy and Argyle and become a cook or something.)

[imsodishy]

Billy needs food and reassurance, in that order.

[king-ratboy]

'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby

[ickypuppi3]

billy and argyle playing basketball together in california and argyle lifting him up so he can dunk the ball <3

[kiraixi]

They were standing at the door, waving his father away.

All Billy could think about was the way the sun bounced off Mama's jewellery. She only ever wore them for big events. He couldn’t help feeling just a teeny bit excited for the freedom they’d get over the next few weeks. The house was getting colder, he was getting older and Mama was getting more tired.

It was fine though, there was a suitcase hidden under the bed. She promised they’d go north to see his cousin's farm, even saying he could learn to ride a pony!

Happy would’ve been an understatement of the century. He was vibrating.

As soon as the car turned at the end of the road Billy was running upstairs, Mama was right behind him.

“Okay, okay darling slowdown..”

Soon enough Billy was sitting in the passenger seat while his mum was changing gears.

He hadn't seen the farmhouse in a long time, and last time Andrew said he’d even let Billy see their new horses , he must’ve said it out loud as Mama snorted and gave him a fond head ruffle.

The radio started up and Billy put his head on the window corner, eyes idling past the shoreline.

It was a good drive.

He liked watching the terrain change from palm tree beach houses to open fields and cattle. They didn’t travel that much, sad since he liked long drives. Just feeling the sun on his skin and the engine hum was easy to lull him to relaxation.

He looked over at Ma,

A daydreamy smile on her face, red sunglasses perched atop golden curls. She wore bright colours today, a red blouse over blue jeans. Her eyes were outlined black making her look bolder, prettier.

She looked over at him and winked before returning her gaze to the road and humming softly.

She was so cool.

@fanny-is-a-pirate thanks for your comment! Pushed me to add another chapter to my argilly fic <3

[c0bblenygma]

you know what I need?

Cali bros Billy and Argyle in Hawkins and Argyle meets Eddie and they bond over weed to the point they start hanging out just the two of them. Billy starts to get jealous and plays it like Eddie is stealing his best friend. But he is actually jealous because he has a crush on Eddie.

He starts leavening Argyle without a ride saying he can ask his new bff to give him one. He stares at both of them so hard that Eddie is afraid lasers are gonna come out of Billy’s eyes.

Meanwhile Argyle is just talking about Billy 70% of the time (the other 30% is him rambling about random stuff) because he is trying to be a wingman and get Eddie to ask Billy out lmao

[miramelindamusings]

your billy x argyle friendship drawings mean so so much to me they are perfection :) please never stop drawing, your art is gorgeous

Thank you so much!! I’m so happy to hear that! Their potential dynamic has warmed my heart too :) I really do think there can be something so unconditional and sweet about the friendships you forge when you’re a child. I think Argyle and Billy would look out for each other as best as they could.

Thank you once again! Please accept this small drawing :)

[lazybakerart]

I would loooooove to see you write the billy/argyle Cali friends and Steve is on the slow cooker just steaming with questions and being kinda jealous but most importantly driving himself insane about it

[weird-an]

"Damn, Hargrove, you need to relax," Harrington says with a smug smile on his face. He sucks on the joint and blows the smoke in Billy's direction.

How can he say that? Billy's boiling inside. He was supposed to hang out with Argyle today. They haven't seen each other in years. He has fucking missed that idiot.

"You're hanging out with Harrington," Billy repeats, pointing at the asshole in question and turning to Argyle who's all sunshine and calm, not matter how high the waves of Billy's rage get.

"Steve is a nice guy." Argyle shrugs, then hesitates for a moment. "Apparently we've got some things in common. What's your problem, amigo?"

"Yeah, Hargrove," Harrington chimes in. "Are you jealous of me hanging with your childhood friend?"

"He is jealous," Argyle says, eyes shining in amazement, still a little glassy from the weed. "Billy, that's..."

"Don't you dare," Billy grits his teeth.

Argyle's hand ruffles his hair. "That's so cute."

"I'm not fucking cute." Billy's flush turns more pink than red now. He can feel it creeping down his neck.

Harrington hums and gets up, gaze heavy on Billy like he's seeing him for the first time, one brow raised. Billy wants to fucking deck him.

"You are kinda cute," he says, when he's so close that Billy has to plant his feet to not tackle him.

Wait. That has to be the joint talking, right?

Harrington bops Billy's nose with his finger.

"Freckles," he tells Billy like he had no idea, like he never really looked. "Very cute."

That's it. Billy raises his fist to teach that arrogant ass some manners, when Argyle's warm big hand closes around his wrist, gently but firmly guiding his arm away from Steve.

"It's a compliment, Billy," Argyle whispers, other arm sneaking around Billy's waist and pulling him closer.

"Is it," Billy says weakly, the world around him being turned upside down. He feels Argyle's warmth behind him, weirdly grounding and there's Harrington's hand again, stroking a blonde curl back behind his ear.

"What do you say when somebody gives you a compliment?" Steve tilts his head.

Oh.

Fuck.

Billy stares at Steve's crooked grin, reminding him of a cat that got some cream. Argyle pushes his hips against him. He's hard. Billy's pants turn tight too. He doesn't dare to look at Steve's. He knows the answer already.

"Fuck you," Billy spits.

Argyle laughs in his ear. "C'mon, show some manners, sunshine."

"Fuck you, too," Billy mumbles, ears ringing, skin prickling.

"That's kinda the plan," Steve says.

[shprka]

Billy and Max meeting Argyle at the skatepark bc Billy did sneak Max out of the house so she can learn

Argyle is sitting around smoking a joint while Billy and Max fall down and argue and he's like "wow you're so bad at that" and they try to argue with him until he picks up his skateboard and turns out he's actually pro level good

So then he teaches Max and Billy how to skate and Billy and Argyle become besties and Max actually likes hanging out with them bc Argyle, unlike Billy's other friends, isn't an asshole

[ghostlynimbus]

Billy in black and Argyle in purple.

[apocalyptic-byler]

hmmmmmmm thinking many thoughts about this scene

also thinking many thoughts about this particular photo

anyway mike wheeler watch your back 👍🏾