Harrowing Ghost Drift

Find the rest of this arc (Coat, Kiss, etc)
==Order of Events==
The sequence of events goes something like this:
Pietr goes off on his first combat drop with Mimmi, after the trainwreck of Wash's first armoring experience.
They win with minimal damage.
They come back, Wash tacklehugs Pietr. 
Mimmi hits on Wash.
The kiss incident happens. ("Kiss")
Pietr freaks out. 
Taller kaidanovsky finds him before he freezes to death. ("Coat")
Fallout of some sort happens.
Tahdah!
Yes, yes, Wash this is a /terrible idea.
==Handsy==
Mimmi Thought: We've established with both Chuckles and Wash that Pietr and his co-pilots Ghost Drift for a least a little while after a neural handshake. His first combat drop happens March 2021 with Mimmi. Mimmi just so happens to be sexually attracted to women, hits on Wash several times, and celebrates Kaiju kills with one-night stands. It just dawned on me that, post-drop, that's pressing on Pietr and bits of Pietr are bleeding through Mimmi ...
Are you suggesting Pietr and Mimmi get handsy with Wash and Wash totally locks Pietr in the washroom with his phone and sleeps with Mimmi?
I'm not suggesting anything about Mimmi etc. at this point. The possibility for weirdness just occurred to me and wouldn't go away. So I had to share.
Well then we've got one of many possible interpretations for weirdness XD
What's her likely reaction to Mimmi-the-Finnish-pilot hitting on her?
'Holy shite an actual human being is actually hitting on me. ... What the hell do I do?' Theres a chance she says that out loud; at the very least a rather lame "uh..."
==Kiss==
Chuck and Pietr work on the Drivesuit, or rather, Chuck works on the Drivesuit and Pietr lounges against her side. She pokes at his head--she needs her arm back--and he flops over, pressing his forehead into her neck. Chuck totally doesn't think about how she can feel his heartbeat or that she's blushing so hard she can /smell fairy floss; in fact she might focus on not giggling 'cause he's mumbling against her skin and it really tickles except Pietr can't talk and he's not talking he's kissing her neck dear god Pietr's kissing her neck--
Chuck swallows, reaches across with her free hand, and pushes at his shoulder. 
He sighs, a wash of cool air spilling down her shirt, and kisses just below her ear--
And his heart flutters. 
::Sor--:: and he's pinwheeling 'cause his chair's toppled--with the most deafening clatter /ever--and caught up his legs and he's down. 
Chuck's fingers are caught in her braid. 
::Oh my g-- I am-- oh sor-- I am so sorry--:: His eyes are impossibly wide and filled with panic. ::I don't--::
Chuck stares, not thinking about how she wants that sentence to end.
::It--:: He curls his hands. Still on the floor.
Chuck swallows. "Pietr?" Her hand wanders to cup the tingling just below her ear but doesn't touch it and make it obvious.
::Gho-- I-I shouldn't have--:: He's scrambling to his feet, ducking behind the worktable like it's some kind of shield. ::I let-- I am so sorry.::
"Pietr? What's going on?" It's embarrassing how tiny her voice sounds and is her heartbeat always this loud and she absolutely must not think about how the tingle is turning into a burn that's slowly spreading across her skin. Her hand's still against her neck and she isn't making any effort to force it away.
::I'm Ghosting. I-I let it--:: He gasps, finally stops holding his breath. ::I let it get out of control. I'm sorry. I didn't--::
"It's okay! It happens, okay?" Why is she cutting him off there's no reason to cut him off what is she thinking why is she so scared oh god it's getting warmer and she can feel it pooling in her belly.
::I think ... think I need to leave. Until this wears off.:: He presses himself against the far wall, darts out the door, leaving it wide open.
Chuck's heart drops and introduces itself to the soles of her boots. 
===Flee===
This would be the first time he's had a really odd effect, mostly contrary to what he would normally do, from Ghost Drifting and it's about the worst thing he /could do. He's borderline unfaithful to the love of his life/mother of his child /and putting one of his best friends into a horrible position and he's doing something romantic/sexual without said best friend's explicit consent. He's going to feel absolutely awful for quite a while, even if he does immediately recognize the actions are Ghost Drift-related. Which is why, in "Coat" he's outside hiding. He temporarily doesn't trust himself around Wash, so he tries to protect her by putting distance between them. He'll come groveling back at some point. Maybe after a spending a night on a couch in some corner of the Shatterdome?
==Commitments==
{(There are potentially words for Mimmi realizing she didn't just Drift with Janna but someone else and "oh crap /that's why I feel terrible. I AM SO SORRY!") 
Mimmi stops mid-sentence (because I'm lazy). 
Janna nudges her foot. 
//Sorry; feel like an idiot for some reason.// 
//Don't think you've done anything stupid late-// She glances up. "Evening, Darling." 
"Evenin', Rautio." Chuck hops over the sofa beside Mimmi. "Seppänen." 
Mimmi asks, "Where's your other half?" 
Chuck rubs her neck but aborts it. "Pietr's in the shower. We're doin' our, uh, we're not--" 
"So you've no commitments tonight." 
"'parently not."}
==Coat==
Pietr shivers in his dripping t-shirt, waiting for sunrise and the last scraps of Mimmi to evaporate from his head.
A sudden weight presses down on his shoulders. He whirls; the heavy coat goes flying.
He and Taller Kaidanovsky watch it float down from the Shatterdome roof.
::So-sorry.::
Taller Kaidanovsky shrugs. "Is no problem. We will collect later. But you will catch death in this rain without coat."
Pietr nods. Shivers.
"You have reason to hide, Dear Ranger?"
Nods.
"I will not ask."
'Thanks.'
Taller Kaidanovsky sighs. "I do not know how you do it." Shakes his head. "Is hard enough having /wife in head, but strangers? How do you not go mad?"
Swallows. Small gestures. ::Maybe I am. Going mad.::
Cocks his head. "Ghost Drift is not madness." Settles a giant hand on Pietr's shoulder. "Is surprising. Is maybe hard to separate self from other, but not madness, yes?" Steers them toward the stairwell door. "Darling Squire will forgive."
Pietr startles. Freezes. Raises eyebrows 'how?'
Shrugs. "You are easy read. You wear thoughts like coat." Smiles. "Come. Sasha will find better one for Russian spring. Silly Australian coat you forgot will not protect you."
==Cold==
Mimmi gets all dressed up, saunters down to Dearling's quarters, and finds Kirra sadly poking at the circuitry suit in an ice-cold suite. She freaks, bundles Kirra up in her hoodie and back to Team Eden Assassin territory. 
== Terrible Idea ==
"So, originally, my plan was to bring you here, feed you, and then seduce you." 
Chuck freezes mid-bite. 
"But that would be kinda not cool at the moment, so how about instead we finish eating, watch a movie, then maybe revist this after a nap?"
A noodle lands on Chuck's plate with a plop. 
"I didn't break you, did I?"
"You want to sleep with /me?" 
"I want to sleep with you fed, rested, and not half-frozen."
===Pickup===
After the ninth or tenth pick up line, Mimmi finally huffs with frustration and kisses Chuck. 
Mimmi is kissing Chuck. 
And then she's not. 
"Well?" 
"That was nice?" 
Mimmi drops her head to Chuck's shoulder. "Do you want more of that?" 
"Sure?" 
==Sleepover==
"Sasha!" booms Taller Kaidanovsky. "I bring guest!"
"Who is it, Sasha?" calls Tall Kaidanovsky, emerging from the far room of the Ranger suite. "Ah! Dear Ranger!" Takes in Pietr's bedraggled appearance. "You try to wash clothes without stripping?"
Pietr flinches.
Tall Kaidanovsky raises an eyebrow at Taller Kaidanovsky.
They Ghost.
"Dear may stay here for night. Now we will find Dear dry clothes," declares Tall Kaidanovsky.
A hot shower, dry trousers (Tall Kaidanovsky's, slightly too short), and a dry shirt (Taller Kaidanovsky's, much too large) later, Pietr is bundled onto the sofa in the Kaidanovskys living area.
==Reasons==
2020
Vladivostok, Russia
Dear Charlotte,
I know you're having trouble thinking straight right now, so I've compiled a little list to help you navigate the next several hours. I call it:
REASONS IT'S A VERY, /VERY BAD IDEA TO SLEEP WITH MIMMI
1. She's not Pietr
2. You don't like girls that way (you think)
3. You are compromised to the point I'm not sure you can properly consent
4. You'll feel terrible about it in the morning
5. You'll feel terrible about it for a very long time
6. You didn't even know Mimmi a week ago
7. Seriously, Mimmi is not Pietr
8. GHOST DRIFTING GOES TWO WAYS
9. The fallout from either party finding out will not be pretty
Sincerely,
the Part of Your Brain Still Functioning
==Hook up==
"This isn't working." 
"Sorry?" 
"Not on you. There is a pretty girl in my bed and I want to fuck her but for whatever reason that's not working so. Can I make this work?" 
Chuck pushes herself up. "What do you mean?" 
"Either we muddle through this and /maybe have a good night or I take over and we do." 
"You're awfully confident." 
"Is that a challenge?" 
"More a statement of f-uck okay- !!! You can be confi--mmphff!" 
==Morning After==
 
And in the morning, Mimmi's feeling especially cuddly and has Chuck warm and tucked under her chin, she's very content, almost purring, in fact, and says, "I was thinking about this all day yesterday." 
Chuck, suddenly, is neither squishy nor cuddly. 
"Chuck?" 
She's out in a heartbeat--"I'm sorry"--throwing in her clothes. "This was a mistake." 
"Yea," says Mimmi, "that's my shirt." 
Chuck huffs, tosses it onto her bed. "I'm really sorry, this never should've happened." 
"Chuck, what's wrong?" 
"God, I'm such an idiot." 
Mimmi brackets her against a wall. "What happened?" 
"I--" she blinks rapidly. "Pietr kissed me yesterday." 
"Okay, awkward, but--"
Chuck ducks under her arm, says, at the door, "You've been Ghost Drifting with Pietr." 
O shit. 
"I know, I am a terrible human being." Slips from the room.
"No, wait, Chuck!" Mimmi yanks on clothes, manages to catch up near the first corner. "Listen, Chuck, if anyone screwed up, it's on me, okay? 'cause you were here, I was doing and sleeping, otherwise I'd be thinking this all night and making it worse."
Category:Ficlet
Category:Scraps
Category:Harrowing Ghost Drift arc
Category:To Russia with Haste