Billy Lee Black slept peacefully in his bed in a cabin of the Yggdrasil. Under normal circumstances, he was not allowed to sleep as late as he damn well pleased, and he was not about to let a golden opportunity like this to pass him by. However, there was someone who would thwart his plans to sleep all day…

         Bartholomew Fatima was leaning against a wall in the Gun Room. His arms were crossed and his foot tapped impatiently. Two related thoughts ran through his mind: Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored… When's he gonna wake up so I can argue with him? After a few more minutes, he stood up straight and declared, "OK, that's it, I'm gonna go wake the kid up!"

         "I wouldn't if I were you," Jessiah warned, already loitering at Maison's little bar, "Do you know how many times that boy's shot the alarm clock this month alone?"

         "Ah, but he wouldn't shoot me, right?" Bart asked.

         Jessiah had to stop to think about that for a minute. "Probably not, but-"

         "So it'll be fine!" the pirate said, paying no heed to the "but". With that, he descended the staircase leading to the cabin Billy was staying in.

         "He must have been a handful when he was a kid," Jessiah commented.

         Maison sighed. "You have no idea…" He paused, then asked, "Just how many times has your son shot the alarm clock this month?"

         "It's the 20th today, so… 19 times," Jessiah said.

         All Maison could say was, "Oh dear me…"

         The lights are on, Billy in his half-asleep state realized. He quickly remedied that by pulling the covers over his head. Something pulled them away, so the boy just pulled them back. This went back and forth until the force pulling the covers away pulled them out of Billy's reach. Billy had no remedy for this situation, so he had no other choice but to open his eyes and look for where the covers went to.

         It was then he saw Bart holding what Billy was looking for. "You awake now, kid?" Bart asked with a grin.

         Billy was not quite as happy as the pirate to be awake. "You…" he mumbled. He sat up, reached into the drawer of a nearby nightstand, and pulled out a revolver. He pointed it at Bart and in a no-nonsense tone said, "Get out."

         Bart blinked and dropped the covers. "Huh?"

         "Out. Now. Turn lights off on way out," Billy said, the revolver not wavering in the least.

         Bart raised his hands, and backed away, saying, "All right, all right, you don't have to get nasty about it…" He opened the door, shut out the lights, and left.

         Billy calmly put the gun back and laid back on the bed. Of all the stupid… why that… argh, now I'll never get back to sleep now…

         "He pulled a gun on me," Bart mumbled to himself as he went up the stairs, "He freakin' pulled a gun on me…"

         Bart had to sit down after his most recent encounter with Billy. He kept thinking about just how casual Billy was in drawing the gun. "And they put him in charge of children… unbelievable."

         A few minutes later, the sound of someone stomping up the stairs was heard. It was obviously Billy, who must not have felt like dealing with buttons or lime-green bows, for he was dressed rather simply in jeans, a T-shirt, and a long coat. By the expression on his face, he was unbelievably pissed off and was ready for a fight. He stopped about a foot away from Bart and said, "Just what the hell did you think you were doing, waking me up like that?!"

         "Kid, it's two in the afternoon. What were you doing still asleep?" Bart countered.

         "Listen, I usually have to wake up at five in the morning to take care of all the kids, I get tired, and if I can sleep later than that, I'll be damned if I don't take that opportunity!" Billy replied, nearly yelling at the pirate.

         "So? You don't have to get so huffy about being woken up!" Bart retorted, adding, "If this is how you act after you wake up, I feel sorry for the kids!"

         "Why you… you…!"

         Maison looked up from the glass he was drying. "They're arguing again."

         "Yep," Jessiah replied.

         "Should we try to break it up?" Maison asked.

         "Would they listen?" Jessiah asked in reply.

         "At least I don't have a stick up my butt!"

         "I do NOT have a stick up my butt!"

         Maison shook his head. "I'm afraid you may have a point there, Mister Black…" he said in resignation.

         The argument wore on, and the longer it went on, the more personal it seemed to get. The more personal it got, the angrier the two got. This cycle could be broken by one thing, and that one thing was only moments from coming.

         "At least no one's trying to get me to marry my cousin, you inbred royal pain in the ass!" Billy yelled at Bart.

         "Oh yeah? Well… Well…" Bart stammered, trying to recover from the verbal blow. It was then it happened. "A least my mother wasn't on the cover of 'Crack-Whore Magazine'!"

         Billy drew a sharp breath and took a few steps back. The boy looked at Bart as if the pirate had just slapped him. No, I take it back, if only he were just slapped, it wouldn't have hurt Billy nearly as much. Bart had gone too far. He had crossed the line, and was about to pay the price for it. "You… You…" Words escaped the boy in how to describe Bart.

         He finally chose what word to pick. "You BASTARD!" the boy cried. He then hit Bart squarely in the jaw, which quickly sent the pirate to the floor. Slowly, deliberately, in order to preserve some of his dignity and to keep his pain under wraps, he walked away from the fallen man. He turned to Maison, who was staring in shock at the scene, and said softly, "I'm sorry, but he went too far…" He kept walking until he reached the door and left the room quietly.

         Billy wasn't sure where he was headed. He just knew he had to find somewhere where he wouldn't have to face anyone who he thought might scold him for his behavior.

         He eventually made his way to the room where Margie, his sister, and Chu-Chu stayed. Without a word, he sat on the nearest bed, turned to face the wall, and drew his legs close to his chest. He couldn't help but shake after what had just come to pass.

         "Billy? Are you all right? What happened?" Margie asked, concerned about Billy strange behavior.

         Billy sniffled. "Stupid Bart… why'd he have to say that…?" he muttered.

         "What did Bart say to you?" Margie asked, still trying to get a straight answer from the former priest.

         "He said… something bad… about my mother…" he said softly, trying to keep from crying.

         That was all the information Margie needed. "Well, I'll just have to go make him apologize for that! Really, you'd think he'd know better…" She went out into the hall and went off in the direction of the gun room, leaving the door open and calling, "BAAAAAA~AAART~YY! You have some apologizing to do!" as she went. Primera, a little annoyed at Bart's behavior, which not only insulted her mother but put her big brother on the verge of tears, followed and closed the door behind her.

         Billy, almost alone and not caring what the last inhabitant of the room thought of him, finally broke down and cried. "Stupid Bart," he choked out. Why am I crying? I mean, we always fight. It's not like it's that much different than any other fight. So why now? Why would his betrayal… He stopped his train of thought right there. Betrayed? Why the hell do I feel betrayed? It's not like I'm in love with the guy… He sighed. Who am I trying to kid? I started falling the moment he said he'd help me and Prim if we ever needed it… "Stupid Bart? Stupid me…" he said.

         "Chu like Bart, don'tchu?" Chu-Chu asked him.

         "What? No!" he said reflexively. After a few seconds, he then said, "'Like's' not strong enough a word for how I feel."

         Chu-Chu hopped onto the bed and sat next to him. "Well then, chu wanna know what chu should do?" she asked chipperly.

         Billy wiped his eyes and looked at the pink furball. "Sure, why not?"

         Chu-Chu stood up and proclaimed, "Chu just grab him and say, 'I love chu, chu handsome hunk of manliness chu!'"

         Billy gawked at Chu-Chu. "I can't do that!" he cried in shock.

         When all that started, something else was going on in the gun room. Bart had managed to sit up, but was still rather dizzy from the punch. "I never knew Billy could hit that hard…" he mused.

         "What can I say? He's more like me than he'll admit," Jessiah said with a laugh. He then smacked Bart upside the head.

         "Ow! What was that for?!" Bart complained.

         "For insulting Raquel. Do it again and I'll be the one to hit you, kid," Jessiah said in a tone that meant he wasn't kidding.

         "Young master, should I get you some ice for that?" Maison said, trying to get off the subject of members of the Black family physically harming the prince.

         Bart shook his head. "Maybe after I try to tell the kid I'm sorry. Even I know I went way too far with that comment."

         Maison and Jessiah looked at the boy as if he had just been replaced by a pod person. "Think the hit knocked some sense into him?" Jessie asked Maison. The caretaker just shrugged.

         "Jeez, is it 'Put Down Bart Day' and no one told me?" Bart complained, getting back on his feet.

         "BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART~YYYY! You have someone to apologize to!" Margie announced upon entering the room.

         "I know, I'm going to," Bart said.

         "And I don't care if you- you're going to? On your own?" Margie said, a little stunned. "Did anyone tell you to?"

         "Well, no, but…" Bart started, but was interrupted by someone tugging on his jacket. He looked down and saw Primera. "Why, hello-"

         Primera kicked Bart in the shins before he could get the girl's name out. She then handed Maison a note reading, "Sorry, but he insulted mom and made Billy cry."

         "How peculiar… both your children are polite after they hurt someone, Mister Black," Maison said.

         "Well, chu could always say 'chu cutie-pie chu' instead," Chu-Chu suggested.

         "Chu just don't get it, do chu?" Billy said, not realizing he had slipped into Chu-Chu speech like her.

         The door opened and a certain blond pirate stepped in. "Uh, Billy? Can I talk to you for a minute?" he said, suddenly quite anxious.

         Billy returned to his former position as Chu-Chu hopped off the bed and walked past Bart. "Well, chu just think about what Chu-Chu's said," she chimed. She turned to Bart and said, "Chu don't chu anything Chu-Chu wouldn't chu!" before leaving.

         "What was that about?" Bart asked. Billy said nothing in reply. "You don't wanna say anything to me, huh? If I were you, I wouldn't wanna talk to me either." Still no answer. "Anyway, I just, uh, well, I went over the line and… eheh, I…" Bart said, stumbling over his words every which way. He took a seat next to Billy on the bed and stumbled over his words some more. "I know, I probably shouldn't have woken you up in the first place, but… er…" Damn, how do you say you enjoy arguing with someone because it's the only way he seems to talk to you?

         "But what? What possible reason could you have for waking me up?" Billy grumbled.

         "I… well…" Bart took a deep breath and started over. "I'll be blunt here. I wanted to argue with you. It's the only way you ever talk to me and I…" he coughed before he could finish the thought.

         "Bart," Billy said, this time with a gentleness that surprised Bart. "Do you… want to know why I always argue with you?" Bart wasn't sure what to say, so he just nodded dumbly. "Well, you see… let me start at the beginning. You know I was with the Ethos for a while. I was a priest, even. There are doctrines and vows I had to follow. It's hard to fight against the ones I wasn't so sure I believe even now. One of them… well… it…" Billy stopped, his words failing him.

         "What does this have to do with arguing with me?" Bart asked, rather confused at this point.

         Billy shifted to a position where he could better look at Bart. "Everything. You see… I've been pushing you away because.." He paused, gathering what courage he could. "They said… this was wrong!" he almost cried right before taking hold of each side of Bart's jacket and kissing him on the lips.

         Bart's good eye widened as realization of what was happening set in. So that's it… I knew he couldn't have been that much of a jerk unless he was trying!

         Billy slowly pulled away. "Now do you understand? I love chu, chu thoughtless fool chu," he said.

         "Good, because I… did you just talk like Chu-Chu?" Bart said, switching gears in mid-sentence.

         Billy blushed, let go of Bart's jacket, and turned away. "Eheh, Chu-Chu gave me some advice and… uh… I guess it stayed in the back of my mind… What were you about to say?"

         Bart made the former priest look at him. "I was gonna say, 'I love chu too, chu prissy brat chu!'" he said with a big smile.

         Billy let out a little laugh and said, "Hey, I'm not that prissy."

         "I'm not that thoughtless," Bart replied.

         "Sure you are," Billy told him.

         "Am not!"

         "Are so!"

         "NOT!"

         "SO!"

         Chu-Chu listened at the door. "Those chu never change, chu they?"

The more things change, the more they stay the same… *sweatdrop*

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