“Finn, ya prick!”, shouts Billie down the barrel of his telephone device. It’s five minutes past midnight. Huck and Billie have never spent New Years Eve together. Physically, that is.

“Armstrong, ya prick!”, shouts Huck in immediate reply. Taking inspiration from a play they were both in, Billie began this yearly tradition with this paraphrased quote. Huck was not expecting it the first time it happened. Not even a little bit. That was many years ago now. The tradition continues. It’s Huck’s favorite phone call of the year. While he annoys a lot of people throughout the year without fail, being called a prick to kick off the new year was a strangely comforting constant he looked forward to every year.

Sometimes Huck was the caller. Sometimes Billie was the caller. Some years, Huck was half thinking about skipping a year. Some years, Huck had to remind Billie of this silly but important tradition. Again, it was the best way to start the year.

Huck and Billie almost always arranged a meet up during this call. It’s all that Huck wanted. Something to look forward to. He was sure the feel was mutual. He hoped, anyway.