Winnie

You trudged through the snow on the sidewalk. It’d been snowing since midday yesterday, but only dusting. This evening though, it was really coming down, and according to the weatherman, it was only to get worse. But you pushed on. Your expertise in wiring speakers was needed. Your friend, a werewolf, won some nice speakers in a raffle at a steakhouse. You’ve never heard of steakhouses having raffles, but you couldn’t think too much about it, you were concentrating on keeping a healthy blood flow to your numb toes and fingers.
The werewolf, Winnie, doesn’t need these surround sound speakers just for television, and she probably wasn’t going to listen to music through these speakers, so it didn’t seem she had much use for them. But she had one. Winnie was a huge fan of old slasher and gore flicks, she watched them all the time. It’s actually how the two of you met. There was a gore day at the local movie theater, and she and her friend, a ghost, were there. You accidentally bumped into her after a showing of The Fly(1986), and the rest is history.

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	You came upon her house. It was a small place that she and her ghost friend co-rented. Music was playing inside. It was muffled, but it didn’t sound like the stuff Winnie typically listened to. This must have been Phantasma. You knocked on the door and waited, but no answer ever came. You knocked again, still no answer.
	“Winnie?” you called. “...Phantasma?” Still no answer. You tried the doorknob, and it spun in your hand, free of any lock. You thought about it for a minute and shrugged, you and Winnie are good enough friends. You swung the door open. Your eyes widened at what you saw. You just stood in the doorway, you couldn’t believe it.
	Across the room was Winnie, her back turned to you, dancing, something you’ve never really seen before. She shook her hips as well as she could, wagging her rear (and tail) as Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper played.
	“WHEN THE WORKING DAY IS DONE OOOOOHHHHH GIRLS THEY WANNA HAVE FU-UN!” she sang in her hoarse, but still feminine voice. She spun around, her eyes closed, smile on her face, singing into a hairbrush. You couldn’t help but crack a smirk watching sing and dance. It’s like a rabbi enjoying ribs. “OOOOOHHHHH GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUUUUUUUUUN!” She opened her eyes, still dancing for a moment until she saw you, standing in the doorway, smiling at her. Her eyes widened and she jumped in fright, dropping the hairbrush, and letting out a little yelp. You’ve never seen her scream like that, you aren’t even sure if you’ve ever seen her scared. She just stood there, looking at you in the same way a deer looks into headlights.
	“So you got the speakers working?” you said, stepping inside, the music still playing. She smiled bashfully, face flushing. She fumbled with a controller to turn the song off.
	“How long have you been standing there?” she asked.
	“Not long.” you said. “I saw you singing...and uh, dancing” You walked to the speakers. “Did you wire these yourself?”
	“No, Elsa did.” she said. “Please don’t tell anyone that I was dancing.”
	“Elsa is…”
	“The Frankenstein...or conglomerate, or whatever we’re supposed to call them these days.” she said. “But seriously, I’ll never hear the end of it.” You looked at her and smiled.
	“Don’t worry. It’ll be our secret.” you said. She smiled back at you, her little fangs poking out.
	“Thanks.” she said.
	“...Well, I guess you don’t need me.” you said. “I’ll see you later.”
	“Well, you don't have to go yet…” she said. “We can um…” She thought of something to do. “We can watch a movie! Give the new speakers a spin, I mean, if you want...”
	“Sounds great.” you said. Her tail wagged behind her.
	“Ok!” she said, walking to her shelf and bending over to look at her dvd collection. You tried not to look at her butt as she rummaged through her movies, out of respect for the werewolf.
	“Have you ever seen Hell Night?” you asked. It was one of your favorites. It may not have been “good”, but slasher movies revel in campiness and poor quality.
	“Yeah.” Winnie said. “I don’t have it though.” She twirled around with a dvd in hand.
	“How about Blood Rage?” she asked in a thematic low growl. You thought for a moment. You’ve seen it, but barely remember.
	“Alright, let’s do it.” you said. She smiled and popped the disk into the dvd player, then took a seat on the couch, leaving a careful distance between the two of you, but decided it was a bit too much space, and scooted slightly closer to you. The movie began.

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	“So, where’s Phantasma?” you asked as the movie played. Winnie just shrugged. “Because, that’s who I thought was playing that music. It seems like something she’d do.”
	“Yeah…” Winnie said, smiling bashfully. “I’m still kind of embarrassed.”
	“No need to be embarrassed.” you said. “You were just having fun.” You grinned and cast a glance at her. She stifled a smile.
	“Shut up, Anon.” she said, trying not to laugh.
	“Still nothing to be ashamed of.” you said. “Do you do it a lot?”
	“Not...a lot…” she said. “Just anytime Phanty isn’t here.” You nodded and looked at the movie. “But seriously, werewolves shouldn’t act like that…” You looked back at her.
	“What do you mean?” you asked.
	“Y’know…” she said, looking at you with her wide wolf eyes, pupils full. “Werewolves just act a certain way, and people expect them to act that way…”
	“What people?” you asked.
	“Just people on the streets...and, like, my dad and stuff.”
	“Hmm.” you said, but she kept her eyes on you.
	“It’s just...you know...I’m a werewolf. I didn’t ask to be one obviously, but...since I am...I just have to act a certain way. And if I don’t...I’ll be a disappointment...or...defective.” You’re not quite sure how to respond, but you’re smart enough not to play problem solver.
	“I’m sorry that you’re caught up in this.” you said. You think it came off as insincere.
	“But, what do you think?” she asked.
	“Think about what?”
	“What do you think I should do?” she asked. She looked up at you, not sad or emotional, but almost inquisitively. Had she ever talked to anyone about this?
	“Well…” you said. “I think that...as you are...is the way you should be.” No reaction from Winnie. “What I mean is, you shouldn’t stifle yourself from doing things that you don't think a werewolf would do. If you want to dance in private, there’s no shame in it. I guess the bottom line is…” You felt the cliche coming, but felt no way around it. You tried to think of something better, but it never came. “Just be yourself.” Winnie looked at you blankly for a moment, then crawled closer to you.
	“Can you do me a favor?” she asked. You wondered what could this be about.
	“Uh...yeah.” you said. She reached behind her head, and took her hair elastic out, letting her hair fall down in a wavy waterfall of orange locks. It was longer than it looked when it was in a ponytail. She pointed her finger at you
	“Don’t tell anybody about what I’m gonna ask you.” she said. Your mouth got dry as you thought about what she was possibly going to ask you. “Seriously. I’ll take out your lungs and give them to Elsa.”
	“I won’t tell anyone.” you said.
	“Good.” she said. “And just know that I’d never, ever let anybody do this to me on any occasion besides this one.”
	“Do what?” you asked. She took a breath, and moved even closer to you, and looked up at your face with her big, almost glowing eyes.
	“...Can you pet me?” she asked. Your brow creased.
	“Pet you?” She nodded. It was a strange request.
	“...Alright.” you said. She slowly bowed her head, presenting it to you. Hand trembling for some reason, you lifted your arm, put your fingers into her soft hair and scratched. She let out a sigh, along with all the tension and worry she had harbored within her. You moved your hand to the spot behind her ear, and your other hand to the back of her head. She made some small, pleased, involuntary sounds, glanced up at you, maybe to see if you heard, then slowly moved her head to rest against your chest.
	“Just don’t stop for a while, ok?” she asked.
	“Alright.” you said. She nestled into a comfortable position.

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	You were awoken by a pretty much simultaneous shrill “Hello!” and a blunt smash to your mouth. You covered you mouth with your hand and looked at Winnie, her hands on the top of her head, where she must have banged it on your face. A soft blue glow filled your peripheral, and you heard giggling.
	“Oh...what was going on in here?” Phantasma asked, hands over her mouth as she chuckled. You still weren’t sure what was going on.
	“Phanty!” Winnie whined. “Don’t do that!”
	“Sorry!” she said before breaking into her goofy banshee laughter. “But seriously.” She swooped down in front of us. “Why were you guys all cuddled up, sleeping?” You looked at Winnie.
	“...That’s just how we happened to fall asleep.” Winnie said. Phantasma smiled, her gaze shifting between the two of you. She started her ghoulish laughter again.
	“Ok!” she said, obviously incredulous. You took your hand off of your mouth.
	“It’s pretty late, I should go.” you said. Winnie looked up at you, her eyes almost glowing yellow.
	“Oh, okay.” she said. “Good night.” You waved as you walked to the door.
	“No, no!” Phanty said, gliding to you. “Those streets are crazy, you won’t make it home alive!” She giggled. “You can stay here on the couch! Right Winnie?”
	“Uh...yeah.” she said with a nervous smile.
	“Great!” Phanty said as she soared into the closet, then burst out with blankets. “Here!” She threw them at you.
	“Thanks.” you said.
	“No problem.” she said before flying to her bedroom door. “Goodnight!” she phased inside, but poked her head out. “Lovebirds!” She disappeared behind the door in a storm of laughter followed by the clunk of the door locking. I looked at Winnie, who wore a scowl and blushing cheeks. She glanced up at you, embarrassed.
	“Goodnight.” you said.
	“Goodnight.” she replied, backing to her door. She put her hand on the knob, but hesitated. “Uh...Anon?” she asked.
	“Yeah?”
	“We can go back to sleep...like we were.” she said. “I mean...if you want.” You smiled.
	“Sure.”