thinking about how billy's every day life was a performance "look at me! I'm top dog and drive a fast car and upkeep big muscles and fuck bitches and every. single. thing. Is Fine." When in reality he has not a single thing in his life going well for him. Not home, not actual friends, not anyone who cares about him.
but with steve? it's like he can't help but let the performance drop a little. he wants steve to Look at him so damned bad he would make a fool of himself just to keep his attention. he's bleeding from under the mask all over steve and he doesn't know how to stop it.
Rose was THE icon of her time. Like yes girl. Pile on that mascara. Go fuck that alien man with two hearts. He wants to take you to Barcelona (the planet)! Wear your pretty outfits. Go solve some crime from hundreds of years ago that has some oddly supernatural causes. Go watch your home planet get destroyed billions of years in the future.
on the note of billy needing to keep up appearances (which is why he PRACTICES flirting with women- because it doesn't come naturally ✌️) people with nothing to hide don't have to worry about putting on a believable façade. ... but queer boys forcibly moved to the midwest do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ straight boys don't do things like complain about how all the girls in this town are cows and then make eyes at the very male high school heartthrob