Grooming

== Revised text ==
Date/Timing: 8 January 2019
Setting: Mess hall, The Shed; Vaucluse, NSW, Australia
.
They spot Another Chuck at the same time—Chuck and Pietr—or rather, they spot the arch of her braid as she jumps from a cook's way.
Pietr tilts his head.
Chuck hunches around his coffee. "Yea, fine, whatever."
Pietr pats his head—
Chuck swats.
—and stands.
Chuck tugs Pietr's sleeve.
Pietr attends.
"Get me some, too, while yer at it."
Thumbs up.
Pietr ends up butting in line a person back—Rama Raharuhi, special defence class—and taps his shoulder.
"What's up?"
Pietr nods at Another Chuck.
"Oh yea, sure. Hey, Chuck."
"Hm? Oh—" Her posture straightens. "Good morning, Officer Vos."
She kinda looks terrible.
Rama says to Pietr, "You wanna—"
"Go ahead, Rama," offers Another Chuck. 
"Thanks." Rama smiles goodbye—
Pietr bobs his head
—and sneaks by.
"Did you need something?"
Pietr smiles and ::Join me?::
"It's fine—" 
Pietr flutters his eyelashes. 
Another Chuck glances away, shuffles. "If—" Looks back at Pietr. "If you've got a table already, I guess." 
Pietr beams. 
"You wanna sit ...?" She half-shrugs in its general direction. "I can get ... whatever."
Pietr holds up his cup and shakes his head.
"Cool. See you over there?"
Agreement.
"Cheers."
Pietr passes by the line a couple minutes later, sipping from one mug and carrying a second.
Another Chuck projects 'A little much?'.
Pietr selects the other cup and makes a face.
'Aha. Enjoy—or not—whatever. Bye!'
Pietr skips off.
She gets her tray in good time, heads over.
"Chuckold."
"Ducky." She drops her tray beside Chuck and sits, draping her braid around her neck as she does.
"You smell weird."
"Yea, haven't had a chance to shower yet."
"That's disgusting," says Chuck.
"Says the guy who washes his hair once a week."
"So do you!"
"It's every two weeks, and it takes, like, three hours and a quarter-bottle of shampoo, and since I've been doing that for a year, it stays nice."
Out comes the mobile.
- Thought u followed her 2 shower -
Chuck goes funny. "It was /one /time!" he hisses.
"The bathroom thing? Isn't once enough, Ducky?"
"I didn't even know about your stupid preening thing."
"'Grooming', Ducky, get it right."
"I /never /knew. Pro'ly figured out what you were doing and high-tailed it outta there before I got bored to death."
Pietr flicks his eyes to Another Chuck's braid.
"Oh, less to catch on. Don't know pain until the appendix ruptures and it's actually cramps or a zipper tries eloping with your hair."
"See, I never have that problem 'cause mine is short."
Pietr takes a deep breath, sort of attends his mobile, watches Chuck and Another Chuck with half of his vision.
"And thank god it is or you'd be gr-/oss."
"Well, thank god you're not a Ranger or /snip /snip! Good thing, yea?"
"Yes, Ducky, good thing. Thank you /so much for throwing me out of the Drift and ruining my career. I don't know how I'll ever make it up to you."
Pietr debates banging the table, settles for admiring a picture of Izzy's latest scribbles.
"You gave up. After /one try. You /chose to leave."
"I did /not give up. I would've Drifted a /thousand times if it meant jockeying. /You made that choice for me when you tore my brain apart!"
Pietr takes a sip of coffee, just like that, totally calm, deep breath soothing the cold edges of dread spreading through his chest.
"What the—how could I—How the /fuck could you even think that?!"
"/You wrecked the Drift, /I tried to salvage it, you wrecked me, too." Chuck glances at her food. "You know what, whatever." She stands up. "Doctor Lightcap wants you ready in half an hour." She snatches up her tray. "Officer."
Pietr smiles and waves.
Another Chuck leaves.
Go, Team DriftSci! arc: (Hypothetical) | Pons Made of Garbage | A Distinct Lack of Caffeine | Highest | Grooming | Plushie | Interface | Safe | Sync | Cake | Aye, Aye, AGNIS | Exclusion | Jockeying | Sleepytime | Go, Team DriftSci! | Go! | Up | Rubber and Glue | (Go Over) 
Category:Ficlet
Category:Skeleton Key
Category:Pietr
Category:Pietr (ficlet)
Category:Chuck H
Category:Chuck H (ficlet)
Category:Chuck D
Category:Chuck D (ficlet)
Category:Rama
Category:Rama (ficlet)
Category:Izzy (mention)
Category:Chuck D has Drift damage
Category:Caitlin (mention)
Category:Ficlets with images
Category:Go, Team DriftSci! arc
Category:Go, Team DriftSci! navigation
Category:Pages with placement links