Dog Days

Most kids, if you asked them, would say winter was the worst. In the dead of winter, you could freeze to death on the street, breathing made your lungs ache, and even opening your eyes to the wind was painful. But by the middle of August, Jack could swear summer was worse.

There was the heat, practically visible, shimmering in the air. And there was the humidity. The air was like soup, thick and damp. The city smelled like trash at the best of times, but when inhaling was more like swimming, taking a deep breath could make a guy retch. Winter was deadly, true, but summer was miserable.

Jack ran a hand through his hair and it came back covered in sweat. He grimaced and gestured David over to a stoop and sat. "This'll break soon," he said, glancing up at the horizon. The sun was just touching the tops of the buildings, once it dropped down, the heat -- well, it wouldn't go away, but it would at least become tolerable.

"Mm," David agreed vaguely. He tugged at his collar until it loosened, and for a second Jack could see a splash of David's skin. For just a heartbeat, he could even see a freckle on David's collarbone, but when David shifted his shirt rode back up and the view was gone. Heat built low in Jack's stomach, warmth that had nothing to do with the oppressive city weather.

Jack swallowed, his throat gone dry, and began to talk, because talking put him back on balance. "They call these the dog days. You know, August, summer. When it's worst. Days are long, the heat is..."

"Yeah," David said, and fanned himself with his last remaining paper. "The dog days of summer... And then it ends."

"Can't wait for that," Jack said.

"I can." David handed the make-shift fan to Jack, and leaned back on the stone stoop. He looked up at the sky as he murmured, "Summer ends. Leaves fall, days get shorter, and students go back to school."

Jack blinked, sat up straight and looked over at him. He felt almost dizzy, thrown off-kilter, and that wasn't from the weather, either. "School? You mean... You're going back to school, Dave?"

"Yeah," David said. "My dad brought it up this morning. Me and Les, we both go back when the semester starts. When fall starts..."

"Oh."

"He says it's important."

"Yeah," Jack agreed blankly.

David sat back up, almost thigh-to-thigh with Jack. "I told him I still want to sell papers. After school, weekends. When I have time, I'll be... I'll still be out here."

"You will?" Jack asked, not sure he believed it. Of course David would try, but once he got back to school he'd be busy, and when it started to get cold, no one in his right mind would choose to stay outside, watching his limbs turn blue. And even if he did keep coming and selling every day, he'd be gone for most of it -- they'd only have a few hours together. To sell together.

"Of course I will," David said, his voice still quiet, subdued by the oppressive heat. "I mean, we're partners, aren't we?" As he said it, he reached over and put a hand on Jack's shoulder, and a moment later dropped it down to rest against the small of Jack's back.

Jack smiled slowly and leaned in to David's side, not caring that the body heat was almost unbearable, not caring that his shirt was caked to his skin and he could feel David's sweat rubbing on to him. "Yeah," he said, and looked over to meet David's eyes, his smile. "Partners."

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