That night you drove him back to his dorm room, though you didn't even think to ask for your jacket back. Which is why you're now standing in this goddamn field with your art 103 class shivering your fucking ass off while you try to draw this little wooden school house. In the distance you can see someone that looks familiar. You assume that it's probably just your mind playing tricks on you. So many Midwesterners look alike to you.
But then you realize that inside the big, wooly parka and Hello Kitty hat is your freshman partner. He's one of the few people that seem to be able to tolerate you so you'd called him this morning to bring you a coat.
That was, admittedly, a terrible idea. Because even though he likes to call himself the Knight of Time during your show with him, he is far from timely. In fact you can't remember the last time he'd shown up when he was supposed to. But here he is, extra parka in tow as he sits next to you.
"Oh my god, you useless late ass fucker!" You give him a solid thwap on the arm and he swats back. It's nice to have someone on your level with that. Even if they're dressed like Randy from a Christmas Story. For the irony he says. And you always roll your eyes because you know that he's not used to this horrible weather having grown up in such a hot place.
But for once the layers come in handy for you as you shrug a fluffy, grey parka over your nearly frozen shoulders. At once the heat trapped by the down makes you let out a happy little noise and you hear him just snort at you.
"Man you are a fucking loud son of a bitch aren't you?" He smacks your now-padded shoulder and you just roll your eyes, still drawing.
"Yeah, well, I got my own show so fuck you."
"You're old."
"You're a cunt."
"Oh that hurts my heart, Ampora."
"Yeah, yeah Strider." You shake your head. You love the way you two can go off like this, but you've got more pressing matters on your mind at the moment. "So I gave away my leather jacket last night."
"What the fuck for? You go out after your show?"
You shake your head. "No... There was. There was this kid on the bridge. I mean I say kid, but fuck he was probably older than you. But he looked so cold... So fuckin' scared..."
"So you just... gave away your favorite fucking jacket because of that?"
"No! I just like stopped to see if he was okay and he said he was gonna..." You take a moment to think about whether you should say it and you decide to go for it. Though your words are markedly quieter than usual. "He said he was gonna jump off."
"Whoa shit." He adjusts the straps of his hat. "You stopped him then?"
"I think so... I took him back to his dorm. But that's why I don't got my jacket today."
He nods his head like he's listening to a song and you almost think that he's done talking. But who are you kidding? This kid never shuts up. "You know who he is at all?"
"No. Just know he really needs to be talkin' to someone and it ain't me. I'm terrible at this shit."
He looks right at you at an angle that you know he knows lets you see his eyes, and he just looks so sincere, even through his douche bag shades. "Cronus." And that's when you can tell he's serious as a heart attack. "You're actually pretty damn good with that shit. I mean I heard you talking to that fucker last night and what you said seemed to make a difference."
You smile a little. "Thanks, Dave." You chew at your lip. "I just wonder who he is..."
"Well what's he look like?"
"What?"
"Hey I got more classes than you and I live in the fuckin' dorms. I probably seen him wandering his little suicidal ass around campus."
You glare at him a little. "That ain't exactly a good thing to be sayin', Strider. You never know who's gonna fuckin' hear you."
"I see that you did take that class about tact and shit then."
You give him another solid hit to the arm. "Shut your fuckin' trap, Strider." You sigh and pull a cigarette from your pocket, lighting it to watch the tendrils stream up while you take a drag. "He was kinda short. Had kinda like... Brownish-red hair I guess? Auburn I think is what you'd call it?" You furrow your brow, watching as a fresh layer of snow begins to accumulate. "He wore like black skinny jeans and I think it was a homemade turtleneck."
"What color turtleneck?"
"Fire engine red."
"I know who it is." He nods his head like he's white-boy dancing in a club with a stupid smirk spread across his face.
"What?"
"It's that gaddang turtleneck. It can't be anyone but Kankri Vantas."
You take another drag and watch as your class disperses. "Kankri Vantas?"
"Yeah. He's in my freshman anthropology class. You know the one. Every fucker on campus's gotta take it."
"Yeah I know the one. You know where his dorm is?"
"Sure do. He lives on my floor."
"No shit?" You raise your eyebrows as you pull the cigarette from your mouth. "You think you could get my jacket from him?"
"I can try but I make no guarantees."
You nod. "Thanks, Strider."
"Don't be thanking me yet, I don't have it." He snickers at which you make it a point to just roll your eyes exaggeratedly.
"Yeah well find out where he is and lemme know. I could always go in person." You grin at him and now it's his turn to roll his eyes. Or at least you think he does from the way he moves his head.
"Easy there lover boy." He smacks you in the shoulder and you return the gesture.
You stretch and give your neck a good crack. "Fuck you, Strider. I just wanna get my jacket back." You pause to take a drag and flick ash from the end of your cigarette. "And maybe check to see if he's doin' okay."
He sighs and stands up. "Yeah, yeah. C'mon, bro. I am freezin' my Southern gonads off and I would very much like to be keeping them." He offers you and hand and helps to pull you up and you take it. As the two of you walk together you study the faces of the students walking past you. You almost miss when Dave speaks up again in the University Center. "Hey, Ampora. You wanna get some food?"
You nod and the two of you get some soup and part ways.
The rest of your day proves uninteresting. At least until your show starts.
Dave sits outside your booth while he pulls on all of his layers and you just introduce the music while he makes obscene gestures at you again. Once your mic is off and the music starts, you flip him off and he just laughs as he leaves the studio.
After about twenty minutes, you stop the music and smile into your microphone. "Hello, listeners. This is Daddy Dualscar's Dubstep Corner. We're goin' to be takin' a break from the music to take a few calls here. So if you have anything to say, be sure to give me a ring."
You wait until you hear the phones ring and answer the first line. Nothing interesting, so you just put it to the back of your mind. Two more callers and then... "Hello listener, this is Daddy Dualscar. Who's calling?"
The line is quiet for a moment, though you think that you can just barely make out the sounds of voices in the background. Like someone's sitting in a room with something happening outside. But the moment passes and you hear a familiar voice. "Hello, Dualscar."
The voice is just as sweet as you remember and you smile without thinking. "And hello to you as well, Signless. What has you calling tonight instead of next week?"
You hear him sigh on the other end. "Nothing, really. Just... Checking in."
You spin a little in your chair, just glad that he's alive. "I'm glad you did, love. Always nice to hear back from people." You wish that you could see his face at being called love. Did he blush? Or was he just completely indifferent?
"I... Thank you. You really did help me yesterday."
You swallow and smile sadly, knowing that he doesn't know it was you after the show. "Glad to hear it, Signless. How are you feeling?"
"I'm... A little better. Feeling like someone cares."
"Of course I care, Signless."
"I know. Thank you."
The two of you talk longer than you probably should, but it's nothing much. Just small talk about classes and little stories about his lunch, though you can hear subtle changes in his background noise. To anyone else it would be nothing. With anyone else it would be nothing. But his voice makes you want to protect him and tell him that he's going to be okay.
So you set your resolve as your call nears its end. "Signless? I've got to go soon. My show is drawing to end end for the night."
"Okay..." He pauses. "Can I call again?" You can hear a shaky hope in his voice. Like he's afraid that you'll say no, but is desperately hoping that you won't.
"Of course you can. Same time. I'll be waiting for your call."
"Thank you." Relief in his tone. Beautiful.
"I'll talk to you later, then." You smile, already looking forward to it.
"Of course. Talk to you later... Goodnight, Dualscar."
"Goodnight, Signless.
The line goes dead and you turn off the line, knowing that you can't take anymore calls, but still you wait for just a second before speaking. "Thank you again for calling, Signless. Hope to hear form you again soon." You lose the reverie in your tone after addressing him personally. "Now as for the rest of you, wigglers, this is Daddy Dualscar, getting off." Your signature sign off phrase. You wonder how many people have noticed how overtly sexual you are through everything. Though you've positive that all of your listeners have. They are in college after all.
You pull on the grey parka and walk out in to the cold night air, lighting a cigarette and just watching the smoke again. It had been a good show. Signless had even called in. With a wistful sigh, you start up your car and clear it off before heading back to your apartment.
On the way home you see the same boy from yesterday, sitting on a bench in a park a few blocks from campus. Around his narrow shoulders hangs your jacket, so you take the opportunity to park the car and sit next to him on the bench.
You don't say anything. It's time for you to let him speak first.