Rising Shards

I knew I’d have to pull over at some point before I dropped my rental off, just over the few days I had the car I ended up with a lot of garbage in it. I kept thinking about the piles of garbage, maybe because that mess was easier to understand than whatever happened with Pippi.

Whatever happened with Pippi was not a bad thing by any stretch, but I was not used to someone treating me...nicely? Having sex with them where they didn’t mention how disgusted they were to sleep with me at least seven times? Where they didn’t mention that at all?

And I didn’t screw things up either? Sure, I blurted about my fling with Kitty, but Pippi was really awesome about it. I was so scared it’d go like the last Kanibari girl I had a one night stand with where I accidentally made things really awkward by saying it was my first time with a Kanibari girl and how I was looking forward to exploring that in an intimate manner. That girl taught me that my phrasing left a lot to be desired, and that I really needed to bone up on cultural differences between people if I wanted to bone down without incident. But with Pippi, everything went well?

I guess I managed a bit of reflection about it. When I pulled over to fuel up and take out all that garbage, Pippi called me.

”Hi, I hope I’m not being weird,” Pippi said.

”Oh, no? I don’t think? What’s up?” I asked, wincing as I reached in front of the side seat into something gooey. I don’t know how I accumulated so much garbage in such a short span from just a few fast food trips.

”I, um, missed you,” Pippi said. ”Are you driving?”

”I had to pull over, but I can talk,” I said.

”You better have a hands free thing,” Pippi said.

”Oh yeah, I had a stock market phase, got a bunch of headsets to talk business,” I said. ”Didn’t work out financially or socially, but I did keep the headsets. And I’m pretty sure I...” I moved to the trunk and searched through my bag quickly. ”Yeah, I brought mine! If you need a car headset I have like thirteen crates I haven’t opened back home.”

”Not sure on the connection between the stock market and owning a bunch of headsets,” Pippi said. ”But good. Would it...be a pain if we talked on the drive home?”

”I, uh....no?” I said. ”You want to talk to me?”

”Alix, we spent like half that trip fucking, yes I want to talk to you,” Pippi giggled.

”Ah...I see...” I said. ”That’s...quite good, I think.”

Once the car was cleaned and gassed up and I had gotten some snacks and drinks (making sure to get a bag so I didn’t make another mess), I got my headset up and running and called Pippi back.

”I’ve never talked to someone on the same drive as me like this,” Pippi said. ”Kinda weird.”

”Yeah...” I said.

”Um, hey, I was thinking,” Pippi said. ”I’m just gonna say it. This was so much fun, and I like you. We don’t have to rush it, but I want more.”

I pictured myself immediately careening off the road from the shock, but I managed to somewhat keep my cool, and more importantly not crash my car. ”I...”

”I’m sorry if it’s a lot, and I’m sorry if it’s complicated between you and Kitty, but I think it should be fine, I’m fine with it at least,” Pippi said. ”I just...haven’t had fun like that in a while. You’re fun, and cute. And I’m talking a lot, I talk a lot when I’m nervous sometimes. You can say no, too.”

I gulped, some very stupid ways to respond rushing into my mind that involved me saying ”YIPPEE!” a bunch that I knew would make Pippi like me less. I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t, desperately trying to choose my words carefully. Don’t fuck this up, don’t fuck this up, don’t fuck this up.

”I...yeah!” I said. ”I had fun too. And...yeah. You’re cute, too. I’m...would. I’m would. I mean, I would. Be.” I coughed, a nasty one that turned into a painful burp halfway through. ”Liking that.”

Was this really happening? Sure we fucked a bunch and made out all the way back to the Brambler thing. But usually people lose interest by now. Or get me in some horrible situation. Or I do that, I could never tell.

”Maybe...let’s go on a date? When we’re home?” I kept turning everything I said to her into a question. I was nervous, but also thrilled. It didn’t feel quite real, like I was going to wake up any second. But a pinch to my forearm confirmed that this was still reality. ”You can pick whatever to do. And go. Or whatnot?”

Pippi giggled. ”It’s a date,”