Holtzmann offered to drive her back to her shop where her car was parked. Winifred said she'd been planning to take a cab, and she didn't want to make Jillian drive while she was still sore.

"Trust me, the stuff they gave me is so strong I can't feel my clothes." Holtzmann had said. "You should be more worried about me crashing the car when I don't hit the brakes when I think I did."

"Alright, that sounds good." Winifred had said.

The street parking had been somewhat full, so they parked a few spots away, walking alongside each other back to the shop.

"Well, looks like you found your friends." said Holtzmann.

"You think so?" said Winifred.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, Patty's not gonna be separated from your shop with a crowbar, Abby rightly thinks you're brave, and Erin shares your attraction for unattractive tweed blazers."

"They were unattractive. Then I put them on."

Holtzmann chuckled.

"True." she said.

Winifred opened the front door of the shop, turning to stand in the doorway.

"What about you?" asked Winifred. "Do I have a friend in you?"

There was a pause.

"Hang on." said Holtzmann. "I'm trying to find a way to make that dirty."

"Seems kind of obvious." said Winifred.

"Yeah, it's beneath us."

The moment seemed to be passing. Winifred half gave up.

"Well, I don't want to keep you." said Winifred. "You've got a lot of healing to do."

"Yeah, I do."

Just be brave, dammit. Winifred thought.

"And maybe once you've done that, we can go on a real date." said Winifred. "With food, and less ambiguous flirtation-"

Holtzmann reached forward, and cupped Winifred's face in her hand, the leather of her glovelettes warm against her skin. Winifred met her in the middle, careful not to jostle her injury. She threaded her fingers into Holtzmann's curly hair. Holtzmann's lips were soft, and their movement against hers sent a flood of cool thrills through her body. Holtzmann put an arm around Winifred's back, pressing their bodies together as the kiss deepened. Then, just as fast as it had begun, it ended. They looked at each other, short of breath.

"Are you alright?" said Winifred, worried about her chest bruises.

"Yeah." said Holtzmann. "I mean, it smarted, but it was worth it."

Another pause. Holtzmann nodded.

"Yeah, that was pretty good." she said.

"Yes, quite satisfactory." said Winifred.

"10/10, would kiss again." said Holtzmann.

"Well done on the lip action."

They high-fived.

"Well, I will see you-" -here Holtzmann shot her with finger guns- "- on the flip-side, Winnie."

"Till next time, Jillian." said Winifred.

Holtzmann headed off, and Winifred closed the door. She moved the shades, and peeked out of the window. Holtzmann was casually making her way down the sidewalk. Then she started running, and pumped her fist.

"YeeeeAAAAAH!" she shouted.

Winifred grinned, then fell back against the door, and giggled like a schoolgirl until she'd laughed herself out.

The End