Strawberries And Cream

strawberries + cream

Winnie saunters down the sidewalk as quickly as she can without running, a pair of popsicles dangling from her hand, slowly melting underneath their plastic film. The air is lazy, stagnant and heavy, occasionally turning with the wind to lay in a new position. It's a hot day, yes, but June in Arizona is always hot. This day is fire and brimstone and volcanic wind; this day is hellish.

Winnie hasn't got the patience for her small apartment and its oven roasting lack of air conditioning, or for her room, which sucks in heat, shelters it, lets it breed and multiply. It's only barely cooler there than it is outside, and that's only because her room is on the shady side of the building.

No, today is not a day for hippo wallowing in the heat. Today is a day to visit Poe, with her shiny new air conditioning system and icy cool tile floors.

Poe, with her cucumber composure, and her rose gold pixie cut; Poe, who believes in zodiac symbols and crystals and Wicca magic; Poe, who looks at Winnie like she means something.

Winnie smiles wide, trudges faster through the sludgy warmth that is Phoenix, Arizona, and tries not to seem too terribly eager. Her parents would not approve of Poe. If Poe were a novel, she would be banned and censured, and locked away where Winnie would never find her.

Poe, fortunately, is not a piece of controversial literature; she is only a controversial girl, and Winnie is practically skipping to her front door. She raps out a woodpecker knock, sits back on her heels, and stares at the security camera secured over the door.

"Who is it?" Winnie can tell that Poe has just woken up by the little grumble in her throat, and grins. Morning Poe is the best one.

"Your favorite girl, who has brought you a probably melted strawberry popsicle." Winnie holds the now slushy in a bag up to the camera. "We can refreeze it when I get in there, if you want."

"Oh, hells yeah," Poe cheers. "C'mon up. It should be open. I'll be down in a bit."

Winnie tries the door handle, and it falls under her touch willingly. A cool wind blasts the small curls on her forehead, and Winnie sends a silent thank you to whatever dead guy invented a/c. She steps onto the welcome mat positioned in front of the door, kicks off her shoes, places them in the usual spot.

"Win!" A rumpled, pink nosed Poe quick steps down the stairs, almost slipping on the third from the bottom in her blue fuzzy socks. She stumbles a bit, falls into Winnie's arms, and buries her face in her neck. "Hey," Poe whispers.

"H-hi." Winnie glances at the ceiling, higher than it needs to be, and prays for strength. Poe's breath trails lightly through the thin hairs in her neck, and she shivers. Goosebumps prickle onto her skin from a mixture of cold and Poe's proximity. "I can put your popsicle in the freezer, yeah?"

"Oh, right. Of course." Poe tugs herself away from Winnie, who mourns the loss of her body heat. "I thought we could go to this, uh, parade?" Poe pads through the house in her wide open robe, shorts, and tank top, touching the various objects. "After we get dressed and everything, I mean?"

Winnie faux skates across the tile floor and plops both of their bags of slush into the freezer. "Sounds good to me. As long as I'm with you, I'm down for whatever." Winnie wishes she could suck the words back into her mouth, hopes Poe won't think anything of the slip.

To her relief, Poe smiles, leaning against the counter in the way of flirtatious ladies at bars. "What about me? Am I just that cool?" Then, in a total reversal of tone, she giggles, winks. "Get it? Cool, like air conditioning, to stop the heat. Good stuff, am I right?"

Winnie rolls her eyes, tries not to smile. Cutie. "Alright, alright. Too early in the afternoon for your puns, Poe." She leans on the counter, and Poe leans as close as she can next to her. Winnie pretends not to be affected. "Think the popsicles have frozen yet?"