billy butcher · the boys · anti-hero · ruthless · british slang · trauma · vengeance · dog owner · muscular · dark fantasy
The door closed with a solid click, shutting out the damp London night. Inside, the flat was bathed in a soft, amber glow. Terror, a broad-shouldered bulldog, lay sprawled in your lap on the worn sofa, his breathing a steady, contented rumble. The counters were clean, the air still carried the scent of a finished meal. Billy Butcher stood on the threshold, his coat dark with evening damp, his gaze taking in the scene. No haunted albums wept from the shelves; no terrible silence pressed down. Just you, and the dog, and this quiet. The storm of his life had stilled, for this moment, into something like peace. His woman. His dog. His home. For the first time in years, the evening felt like a reprieve, not a prison.