The First Popsicle

The First Popsicle

"I'm feelin' sorry for any bad biker on the road today, rock n' rollers, cause it's now a scorchin' 101 degrees out there in Chi-town. Better keep in the pool or by the a/c, bros, there ain't gonna be a cool down for another week," said the voice of Sweet Georgie Brown over Charley's old radio.

"Aw, turn it off," Vinnie moaned from his spot on the cool concrete floor of the garage. "Its hot enough just in here!"

"Yeah, don't need to know how hot it is outside too," Modo groused from his seat on the couch, one arm and his tail waving fans at himself.

"Quit your cryin'," Throttle snapped as he almost twisted the off knob off the radio. "At least you're both short hairs. I'm ready to shave my fur off if it'll cool me down."

Chicago had been in the grip of one of the worst heatwaves it had known in a long time. The mice had checked to see if Limburger was behind it, destroying another Tower in the process, but that wasn't the case. At least they had gotten some fun out of making Limburger shell out for another construction contract.

It wouldn't have been quite so bad if the air conditioning hadn't gone out at the scoreboard. The mice had been forced to temporarily move in with Charley. She didn't mind, really she didn't, but all three guys were shedding something feirce. It was everywhere. From the shop to the couch to somehow even in the fridge, grey, tan, and white fur was all over her home. She'd gone through five vacuums trying to clean it all, four of which had clogged and somehow caught fire before exploding. Number five was barely holding on to life, but the mechanic figured the only reason it was was that the boys could only shed so much, and were starting to run out of fur.

The poor mice were positively miserable. It only got this hot in the worst deserts of Mars, so the guys had no experience dealing with this sort of weather. And it wasn't just hot, it was humid too. Charley had been philosophical about it, saying that Chicago weather was always unpredictable. At least the forecast said that a nice cold front with lots of cooling thunderstorms was due in a few days, but for now, they would just have to suffer.

Throttle was practically living in front of the a/c vent, with his longer fur causing him to be hotter than his bros. The extra insulation was making the normally even-tempered mouse very cranky, shorting the fuse of his anger considerably. Both his bros were keeping a safe distance away from him until the weather changed.

A banging on the door had Modo up from his spot on the couch to open it for a grocery-laden mechanic. He took three of the four bags from her arms as he moved to let her in. "Hey, Miss Charley. How'd the shopping go?"

"Same old thing," she said with a smile, putting the last bag on the kitchen counter. "But I've got a few presents for you guys."

"Presents?" Vinnie said eagerly. "What kind of presents, doll-face?"

"Check this out," she said, unwrapping a large box. "An inflatable adult size pool. Load it up with cold water, and"--

"Instantly chilled mouse," Throttle said, taking it from her hands and heading for the air pump. He stopped mid-step and turned back, giving the girl a grateful kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Charley-girl."

"No problem," she said with a slight blush. She adopted a game-show host's voice as she said, "But wait, there's more!" She switched back to her normal tone with a laugh, "I've got a few old fashioned treats you guys might like."

"Like what?" Modo asked.

She pulled out several boxes from the grocery bags. "Boys, let me present to you the greatest summertime invention in the history of mankind."

"We've already met the air conditioner," Throttle called over the sound of the air pump.

"Har, har," she said sarcastically. She pried open the first box revealing a brown colored soft brick of--something, taking a large spoon from a drawer and scooping some up for them to try. "This is chocolate ice cream. Here, big guy, try some."

Modo shrugged as he took a bite. He froze in place as the sweet stuff melted on his tongue, and his eye closed in pleasure. "Oh, mama," he said softly. "That tastes great, Miss Charley!"

"Let me try some," Vinnie said, taking another spoon and taking a huge bite. He gasped as the cold hit his mouth and the sugar exploded. "Oh my god! Throttle! Get over here, mouse, you've got to try this!"

The leader reluctantly left his project of filling the pool up with ice water and tried some of the sweet treat. "Whoa. What's this called again?"

"Chocolate ice cream," she said, smiling at the looks on their faces. All three looked like little kids with a new toy. "And that's not the only flavor I've got. Vanilla, strawberry--you'll like that one, Modo--mint chocolate, sherbet. I've even got some pistachio, which tastes a lot better than you might think with a name like that." She then pulled out some small pints of ice cream with wild sounding names.

"Cherry Garcia? What kind of flavor is that?" Vinnie asked.

"Its cherry flavored with a twist, its delicious, and don't you lay one finger on it, Vinnie Van Wham. At least without asking, okay?"

"Bikers honor, babe," he promised.

"Is it good?" Modo asked.

"Oh yeah, its good," Charley said happily. "Modo, you like coffee, you should try the 'From Russia with Buzz', its the bastard love child of coffee and caffeine."

Throttle chuckled at that. He'd never seen her so passionate about anything that didn't involve a machine. "You really like ice cream, don't you, Charley?"

"Who doesn't?" she asked rhetorically. "Oh, I've also got some Popsicles if you're not in the mood for something that sweet."

"Popsicles?" Vinnie asked.

"Those are like frozen ice on a stick, so its more portable than lugging a bowl of ice cream around. I bought the regular juice kind and I got some of the kind that taste like a root beer float if you all want to try some. And I bought some of the fruit smoothie flavors," she said as she put the rest of the frozen treats in the freezer. The girl pulled out a strawberry smoothie Popsicle and unwrapped it as she sat beside the mice.

"Thanks for going to so much trouble, Charley," Throttle said.

"Ah, its nothing." She couldn't help her small blush at his words. The girl began to lick her pink Popsicle, which was already starting to melt all over her fingers. She sucked at the base of it to clear off some of the juice before licking the sides clean.

Vinnie saw all of this, his jaw dropping as she made delicate laps of her tongue on the pink-colored ice. He nudged Modo, who looked up from his bowl of ice cream and nearly choked at the site of the beautiful girl licking the treat all over. Throttle, disturbed by the noise, glanced over to see what the matter was and almost fell off his seat. All three couldn't help but lock eyes on the sight of Charley's tongue on a pink Popsicle.

She then pulled the very tip into her mouth and started to lightly suck to pull any of the melted juice out so the ice wouldn't start sliding off the stick.

Vinnie made a tiny whimpering noise.

Her lips sealed around it and her eyes closed in pleasure at the taste of one of her favorite flavors.

Throttle swallowed hard.

"Mmm," she moaned softly as she pulled it back out of her mouth to lick the sides again of the juice.

Modo's tail almost tied itself into knots.

She put the tip of it back to her mouth, suddenly noticing all the attention she was getting. "Something on my face?"

"Not yet," Vinnie said, "Ow!"

Throttle and Modo had both kicked him under the table, glaring at him to shut up.

Charley frowned in concern. "Something wrong, Vinnie?"

"N-nothing, babe, just--I'm just gonna head out for a drive, ya know, clear my head a bit, I'll be gone for a while, don't wait up for me, see ya later, doll, 'bye!" He was out the garage door in seconds.

"I wonder what's the matter with him," she said in confusion, turning back to the other mice. One of which was sporting a furious red flush. "Modo? You're not having heatstroke, are you?"

"No, M-Miss Charley, but you know, I'm feelin' a little tired, I think I'll take a quick nap. Thanks for the ice cream, Miss Charley."

"You're more than welcome," she said, surprised at how fast he headed for the guest bedroom. "I hope he's feeling okay."

"He should be fine, just a little worked up from all the heat," Throttle said, proud of how calm he sounded. Mentally, he was becoming a nervous wreak. He didn't know how much longer he could take her licking that Popsicle without--

Throttle's higher brain functions came to a sudden crashing halt.

Charley had taken almost the entire Popsicle into her mouth, lips sealed tight around it to suck up all the melted juice. She sucked back as she pulled it out with a slight 'pop' of sound, and proceeded to lick the part she hadn't reached clean.

"You know, a cold shower sounds really good right now, should have thought of that sooner to cool off, I'll clean up the dishes later, see ya'!"

The girl could only stare as the tan mouse bolted up the stairs. "What in the world has gotten into them?"