Asuka, Shinji and Rei deal with their individual and collective traumas together, with a little help from their friends. For better and worse. Til death do us (not) part.
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[NGE] Code Red
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Intro
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Intro
CodeRed is the result of a one-shot metastasizing into an entire AU. It's not a 'pick a point of divergence and retell all of NGE' (there are some good ones that do that, this doesn't). It's the result of the initial variations when I was drafting the original Code Red and going "how did they get here", rinse and repeat, jumping around the timeline as my inspiration and ability to turn something into a coherent scene allows.
The Code:Repeat side story was originally a crack-fic of Code Red based on a (unexplained) loop of the Code Red AU. Like the mainline Code Red it's gotten a little out of hand. Initially it was partly getting things out of my head and partly writing to practice when I get stuck.
The Code:Rei-peat side story is Rei doing the repeat.
Feedback and comments welcome, I'm not averse to rewriting sections to improve them.
Notes:
Reading in either Chronological (written) order or Threadmarks (Timeline) order works.
CodeRed is the result of a one-shot metastasizing into an entire AU. It's not a 'pick a point of divergence and retell all of NGE' (there are some good ones that do that, this doesn't). It's the result of the initial variations when I was drafting the original Code Red and going "how did they get here", rinse and repeat, jumping around the timeline as my inspiration and ability to turn something into a coherent scene allows.
The Code:Repeat side story was originally a crack-fic of Code Red based on a (unexplained) loop of the Code Red AU. Like the mainline Code Red it's gotten a little out of hand. Initially it was partly getting things out of my head and partly writing to practice when I get stuck.
The Code:Rei-peat side story is Rei doing the repeat.
Feedback and comments welcome, I'm not averse to rewriting sections to improve them.
Notes:
| Code Red(head) | Is the original one-shot |
| Code Red(Ice) | Is a small variation with extra Rei |
| Points of Divergence | Vignettes of various scenes up to |
| Get Out of the Damn Robot, Shinji | Parallels Episode 20 |
| Primordial Soup Leftovers | Parallels Episode 20 |
| Heatwave | Parallels Episode 21 |
Reading in either Chronological (written) order or Threadmarks (Timeline) order works.
Last edited:
Code Red(head)
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Code Red
aka what happens when I binge on the entire ao3 Shinji/Asuka tag before bed.
Asuka woke sprawled face down from a thankfully dreamless sleep even more irritated than when she went to sleep, if that was possible, and groaned.
At least the sound was muffled by the pillow and wouldn't be heard through the paper thin walls.
She hated having to be quiet.
She hadn't even shouted at the idiot in over a week, not since... not since the last attack.
Whimpering, she closed her eyes for a moment. It didn't help.
"We're home" - Misato's voice came faintly from the doorway. It really was the end of the world. Misato was being quiet. And sober. Or she'd have forgotten again and the idiot would be screaming.
The smell of food seeped into her awareness, replacing the feeling of his fingers breaking in her hand, the warmth of blood from somewhere, the words screamed that neither of them could hear. Idiot. What was he thinking.
"Leave her alone!"
Her hearing was just fine now, unlike whatever it was going on in the idiot's head. There wasn't any brain damage and the physical damage had healed almost as fast as her own ears. There was something else going on that meant he'd go from not being able to hear anything to the slightest sharp noise causing enough pain he'd actually complain. Dammit. Baka Shinji.
Fuming to herself she started gathering herself to get up and eat. Not that she wanted to deal with anyone. She'd avoided both of them for days, eating re-heated takeout and keeping to the room she'd kicked the idiot out of. Shit. That wasn't the smell of takeout. It can't be the idiot's cooking. It would be at least another week before the splints came off the hand she hadn't broken. And Misato had said "we're home" but the idiot hadn't gone anywhere today. The endless tests were apparently not endless.
Sighing she lay back down. Dealing with Shinji and Misato was one thing. Dealing with Hikari was another.
And if baka Shinji was defending her in that tone, they were talking about her and they didn't know she was home. Which meant he deliberately hadn't told them and they were talking quietly for his sake, not to avoid her hearing them. Not that hearing them was at all necessary. She'd screwed up. Again. She'd hurt the idiot. Again. They'd be trying to protect him from her. Again. They'd blame her. Again. Try to make him leave. Again. They didn't understand. Dammit. And now she was even thinking like him. Shit.
"... Rei ... ".
She covered her face with her hands. They didn't smell of blood. Wundergirl was here. And he'd called her Rei. This was not good. No male voices though, was that better or worse? At least the nightmares were predictable. These unknown futures might be more terrifying.
"Asuka"
"What?!" she snapped back.
He'd called her. That was pitched so she'd know it was directed at her, not about her and that he wanted her attention.
She stuck her head out of the room to see the concerned faces of three women looking at her. Well, two concerned women and a slightly raised blue eyebrow from whatever the fuck Rei was.
At least she hadn't been crying.
Shinji was mostly facing away from her, the cast covering his forearm and fingers resting on the table, the hand with the splits wasn't visible but from his posture it looked like he was holding it out to Rei. Asuka stared. What the hell was going on.
"Code Red"
Asuka blinked.
"Now?!" she yelled, slamming the flimsy door shut between her and the startled faces and the Idiot gesturing them to sit back down, and before the stabbing pain ripped through her head. Baka Shinji. Baka baka baka baka baka. She was so derailed she forgot how to swear in German. How was that even possible. Baka Asuka, she knew very well.
Pain rapidly fading as she pulled a dress and a small box from the closet where they'd been sitting for some time.
Slipping the dress over her head she steeled herself, she needed the right kind of anger for this.
Opening the door just enough to peek out, no one had moved. Good. She was still faster than their reactions.
Dropping the contents of the box into one hand and closing it into a fist she strode out into the room scowling.
Hauling Shinji up by his shirt and twisting him to face her, she growled.
"You leave me alone for a week, I finally get some sleep and now this?! How are you going to explain this one Mr. Soryu?"
"Well", he said, twisting in her arms to face their friends, fingers of his healed hand entwining with hers so that the bands of woven red gold, blue steel and white gold on their fingers aligned as they rested on the cast, "I liked it better than Mrs. Ikari".
Rei quietly let go of the very firm grasp on Misato's wrist which had been holding her in place, reached out, and placing the back of her hand gently under Hikari's chin closed her mouth.
Author's note (do we do those here?) : The sensory nature of PTSD was what part of what I was trying to capture, the way flashbacks can be interspersed with and interrupted by real-world sensations, along with the weird way their synchronization affects how their traumas interact with each other.
aka what happens when I binge on the entire ao3 Shinji/Asuka tag before bed.
Asuka woke sprawled face down from a thankfully dreamless sleep even more irritated than when she went to sleep, if that was possible, and groaned.
At least the sound was muffled by the pillow and wouldn't be heard through the paper thin walls.
She hated having to be quiet.
She hadn't even shouted at the idiot in over a week, not since... not since the last attack.
Whimpering, she closed her eyes for a moment. It didn't help.
"We're home" - Misato's voice came faintly from the doorway. It really was the end of the world. Misato was being quiet. And sober. Or she'd have forgotten again and the idiot would be screaming.
The smell of food seeped into her awareness, replacing the feeling of his fingers breaking in her hand, the warmth of blood from somewhere, the words screamed that neither of them could hear. Idiot. What was he thinking.
"Leave her alone!"
Her hearing was just fine now, unlike whatever it was going on in the idiot's head. There wasn't any brain damage and the physical damage had healed almost as fast as her own ears. There was something else going on that meant he'd go from not being able to hear anything to the slightest sharp noise causing enough pain he'd actually complain. Dammit. Baka Shinji.
Fuming to herself she started gathering herself to get up and eat. Not that she wanted to deal with anyone. She'd avoided both of them for days, eating re-heated takeout and keeping to the room she'd kicked the idiot out of. Shit. That wasn't the smell of takeout. It can't be the idiot's cooking. It would be at least another week before the splints came off the hand she hadn't broken. And Misato had said "we're home" but the idiot hadn't gone anywhere today. The endless tests were apparently not endless.
Sighing she lay back down. Dealing with Shinji and Misato was one thing. Dealing with Hikari was another.
And if baka Shinji was defending her in that tone, they were talking about her and they didn't know she was home. Which meant he deliberately hadn't told them and they were talking quietly for his sake, not to avoid her hearing them. Not that hearing them was at all necessary. She'd screwed up. Again. She'd hurt the idiot. Again. They'd be trying to protect him from her. Again. They'd blame her. Again. Try to make him leave. Again. They didn't understand. Dammit. And now she was even thinking like him. Shit.
"... Rei ... ".
She covered her face with her hands. They didn't smell of blood. Wundergirl was here. And he'd called her Rei. This was not good. No male voices though, was that better or worse? At least the nightmares were predictable. These unknown futures might be more terrifying.
"Asuka"
"What?!" she snapped back.
He'd called her. That was pitched so she'd know it was directed at her, not about her and that he wanted her attention.
She stuck her head out of the room to see the concerned faces of three women looking at her. Well, two concerned women and a slightly raised blue eyebrow from whatever the fuck Rei was.
At least she hadn't been crying.
Shinji was mostly facing away from her, the cast covering his forearm and fingers resting on the table, the hand with the splits wasn't visible but from his posture it looked like he was holding it out to Rei. Asuka stared. What the hell was going on.
"Code Red"
Asuka blinked.
"Now?!" she yelled, slamming the flimsy door shut between her and the startled faces and the Idiot gesturing them to sit back down, and before the stabbing pain ripped through her head. Baka Shinji. Baka baka baka baka baka. She was so derailed she forgot how to swear in German. How was that even possible. Baka Asuka, she knew very well.
Pain rapidly fading as she pulled a dress and a small box from the closet where they'd been sitting for some time.
Slipping the dress over her head she steeled herself, she needed the right kind of anger for this.
Opening the door just enough to peek out, no one had moved. Good. She was still faster than their reactions.
Dropping the contents of the box into one hand and closing it into a fist she strode out into the room scowling.
Hauling Shinji up by his shirt and twisting him to face her, she growled.
"You leave me alone for a week, I finally get some sleep and now this?! How are you going to explain this one Mr. Soryu?"
"Well", he said, twisting in her arms to face their friends, fingers of his healed hand entwining with hers so that the bands of woven red gold, blue steel and white gold on their fingers aligned as they rested on the cast, "I liked it better than Mrs. Ikari".
Rei quietly let go of the very firm grasp on Misato's wrist which had been holding her in place, reached out, and placing the back of her hand gently under Hikari's chin closed her mouth.
Author's note (do we do those here?) : The sensory nature of PTSD was what part of what I was trying to capture, the way flashbacks can be interspersed with and interrupted by real-world sensations, along with the weird way their synchronization affects how their traumas interact with each other.
Code Red(Ice)
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Code Red(Ice)
A few extra words and everything changes.
Asuka woke sprawled face down from a thankfully dreamless sleep even more irritated than when she went to sleep, if that was possible, and groaned.
At least the sound was muffled by the pillow and wouldn't be heard through the paper thin walls.
She hated having to be quiet.
She hadn't even shouted at the idiot in over a week, not since... not since the last attack.
Whimpering, she closed her eyes for a moment. It didn't help.
"We're home" - Misato's voice came faintly from the doorway. It really was the end of the world. Misato was being quiet. And sober. Or she'd have forgotten again and the idiot would be screaming.
The smell of food seeped into her awareness, replacing the feeling of his fingers breaking in her hand, the warmth of blood from somewhere, the words screamed that neither of them could hear. Idiot. What was he thinking.
"Leave her alone!"
Her hearing was just fine now, unlike whatever it was going on in the idiot's head. There wasn't any brain damage and the physical damage had healed almost as fast as her own ears. There was something else going on that meant he'd go from not being able to hear anything to the slightest sharp noise causing enough pain he'd actually complain. Dammit. Baka Shinji.
Fuming to herself she started gathering herself to get up and eat. Not that she wanted to deal with anyone. She'd avoided both of them for days, eating re-heated takeout and keeping to the room she'd kicked the idiot out of. Shit. That wasn't the smell of takeout. It can't be the idiot's cooking. It would be at least another week before the splints came off the hand she hadn't broken. And Misato had said "we're home" but the idiot hadn't gone anywhere today. The endless tests were apparently not endless.
Sighing she lay back down. Dealing with Shinji and Misato was one thing. Dealing with Hikari was another.
And if baka Shinji was defending her in that tone, they were talking about her and they didn't know she was home. Which meant he deliberately hadn't told them and they were talking quietly for his sake, not to avoid her hearing them. Not that hearing them was at all necessary. She'd screwed up. Again. She'd hurt the idiot. Again. They'd be trying to protect him from her. Again. They'd blame her. Again. Try to make him leave. Again. They didn't understand. Dammit. And now she was even thinking like him. Shit.
"... Rei ... ".
She covered her face with her hands. They didn't smell of blood. Her Wundergirl was here. And he'd called her Rei in front of other people. This was not good. No male voices though, was that better or worse? At least the nightmares were predictable. These unknown futures might be more terrifying.
"Asuka"
"What?!" she snapped back.
He'd called her. That was pitched so she'd know it was directed at her, not about her and that he wanted her attention.
She stuck her head out of the room to see the concerned faces of three women looking at her. Well, two concerned women and a slightly raised blue eyebrow from whatever the fuck Rei was.
At least she hadn't been crying.
Shinji was mostly facing away from her, the cast covering his forearm and fingers resting on the table, the hand with the splits wasn't visible but from his posture it looked like he was holding it out to Rei. Asuka stared. What the hell was going on.
"Code Red"
Asuka blinked.
"Now?!" she yelled, slamming the flimsy door shut between her and the startled faces and the Idiot gesturing them to sit back down, and before the stabbing pain ripped through her head. Baka Shinji. Baka baka baka baka baka. She was so derailed she forgot how to swear in German. How was that even possible. Baka Asuka, she knew very well.
Pain rapidly fading as she pulled a dress and a small box from the closet where they'd been sitting for some time.
Slipping the dress over her head she steeled herself, she needed the right kind of anger for this.
Opening the door just enough to peek out, no one had moved. Good. She was still faster than their reactions.
Dropping the contents of the box into one hand and closing it into a fist she strode out into the room scowling.
Hauling Shinji up by his shirt and twisting him to face her, she growled.
"You leave me alone for a week, I finally get some sleep and now this?! How are you going to explain this one Mr. Soryu-Ayanami?"
"Well", he said, twisting in her arms to face their friends, fingers of his healed hand entwining with hers so that the bands of woven red gold, blue steel and white gold on their fingers aligned as they rested on the cast, "I liked it better than Mrs. Ikari".
Rei quietly let go of the very firm grasp on Misato's wrist which had been holding her in place, reached out, and placing the back of her hand gently under Hikari's chin closed her mouth.
A few extra words and everything changes.
Asuka woke sprawled face down from a thankfully dreamless sleep even more irritated than when she went to sleep, if that was possible, and groaned.
At least the sound was muffled by the pillow and wouldn't be heard through the paper thin walls.
She hated having to be quiet.
She hadn't even shouted at the idiot in over a week, not since... not since the last attack.
Whimpering, she closed her eyes for a moment. It didn't help.
"We're home" - Misato's voice came faintly from the doorway. It really was the end of the world. Misato was being quiet. And sober. Or she'd have forgotten again and the idiot would be screaming.
The smell of food seeped into her awareness, replacing the feeling of his fingers breaking in her hand, the warmth of blood from somewhere, the words screamed that neither of them could hear. Idiot. What was he thinking.
"Leave her alone!"
Her hearing was just fine now, unlike whatever it was going on in the idiot's head. There wasn't any brain damage and the physical damage had healed almost as fast as her own ears. There was something else going on that meant he'd go from not being able to hear anything to the slightest sharp noise causing enough pain he'd actually complain. Dammit. Baka Shinji.
Fuming to herself she started gathering herself to get up and eat. Not that she wanted to deal with anyone. She'd avoided both of them for days, eating re-heated takeout and keeping to the room she'd kicked the idiot out of. Shit. That wasn't the smell of takeout. It can't be the idiot's cooking. It would be at least another week before the splints came off the hand she hadn't broken. And Misato had said "we're home" but the idiot hadn't gone anywhere today. The endless tests were apparently not endless.
Sighing she lay back down. Dealing with Shinji and Misato was one thing. Dealing with Hikari was another.
And if baka Shinji was defending her in that tone, they were talking about her and they didn't know she was home. Which meant he deliberately hadn't told them and they were talking quietly for his sake, not to avoid her hearing them. Not that hearing them was at all necessary. She'd screwed up. Again. She'd hurt the idiot. Again. They'd be trying to protect him from her. Again. They'd blame her. Again. Try to make him leave. Again. They didn't understand. Dammit. And now she was even thinking like him. Shit.
"... Rei ... ".
She covered her face with her hands. They didn't smell of blood. Her Wundergirl was here. And he'd called her Rei in front of other people. This was not good. No male voices though, was that better or worse? At least the nightmares were predictable. These unknown futures might be more terrifying.
"Asuka"
"What?!" she snapped back.
He'd called her. That was pitched so she'd know it was directed at her, not about her and that he wanted her attention.
She stuck her head out of the room to see the concerned faces of three women looking at her. Well, two concerned women and a slightly raised blue eyebrow from whatever the fuck Rei was.
At least she hadn't been crying.
Shinji was mostly facing away from her, the cast covering his forearm and fingers resting on the table, the hand with the splits wasn't visible but from his posture it looked like he was holding it out to Rei. Asuka stared. What the hell was going on.
"Code Red"
Asuka blinked.
"Now?!" she yelled, slamming the flimsy door shut between her and the startled faces and the Idiot gesturing them to sit back down, and before the stabbing pain ripped through her head. Baka Shinji. Baka baka baka baka baka. She was so derailed she forgot how to swear in German. How was that even possible. Baka Asuka, she knew very well.
Pain rapidly fading as she pulled a dress and a small box from the closet where they'd been sitting for some time.
Slipping the dress over her head she steeled herself, she needed the right kind of anger for this.
Opening the door just enough to peek out, no one had moved. Good. She was still faster than their reactions.
Dropping the contents of the box into one hand and closing it into a fist she strode out into the room scowling.
Hauling Shinji up by his shirt and twisting him to face her, she growled.
"You leave me alone for a week, I finally get some sleep and now this?! How are you going to explain this one Mr. Soryu-Ayanami?"
"Well", he said, twisting in her arms to face their friends, fingers of his healed hand entwining with hers so that the bands of woven red gold, blue steel and white gold on their fingers aligned as they rested on the cast, "I liked it better than Mrs. Ikari".
Rei quietly let go of the very firm grasp on Misato's wrist which had been holding her in place, reached out, and placing the back of her hand gently under Hikari's chin closed her mouth.
Preludes: Hikari
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Preludes: Hikari
Hikari surpasses Kensuke in conspiracy theories, at least when it comes to relationships between their friends.
Hikari carefully schooled the grin she'd had for the last few minutes as she'd watched Asuka and Toji approach
"After what we've been through, you are going to do this."
"I know you're a man," Asuka sniped, "but if I didn't know better I'd think you had no balls"
Toji was looking up the slope and did not respond.
Hikari had a very good idea what Asuka wanted to ask her about. Between better hearing than she let on, observation and directly or indirectly through the school grapevine, she had a better idea of what was actually going on around her - and what was just rumour - than most people realised. And while her friend may be the smartest person in the room, Hikari thought Asuka would be unlikely to understand people even half as well as she did. Especially when it came to herself.
She had planned on just teasing her friend, but Asuka couldn't have set up this alternative better if she'd been trying.
"Sit" she instructed in her best Class Rep voice.
Asuka sat, fidgeting and blushing. Toji sat opposite Hikari refusing to look at either of them.
Hikari looked from one to the other and said seriously, "I know what's going on".
"So, Asuka, when are you due?"
'I bet you didn't see that one coming,' she thought to herself, 'looks like this is going to be a successful distraction from what's bothering you'.
" and of course I'll help plan your and Suzuhara's wedding, what are friends for?"
Hikari enjoyed the stunned silence for the brief while it lasted.
"You, you, you" spluttered Asuka. "How could you even think that I would ... with that... " she waved an angry finger at Toji
"Especially as I know how you... " Hikari silenced Asuka with a finger on her lips and a glare.
Hikari was rather surprised that actually worked and went on rapidly before she could start blushing, or get interrupted.
"Well, it all adds up."
She starts ticking points off on her fingers.
Asuka calls me last night and says she has something urgent to discuss with me at lunch.
This morning, Suzuhara asks me if I'm available at lunch as he has something important to ask.
Last week Asuka was overheard asking Kensuke for pictures "with the other stooge in them".
Ayanami told Asuka that she would accompany her to the doctor when it was scheduled.
There are several rumours of Suzuhara being seen with Asuka entering the maternity facility.
Hikari takes a breath and switches counting hands.
Suzuhara would of course take responsibility and do the honourable thing
Asuka has noticeably reduced the amount of verbal and physical abuse she inflicts on Ikari-kun and redirected it at Suzuhara.
When both Asuka and Ikari-kun were out of school, Ayanami delivered bentos to Suzuhara with the message "Asuka requested I give you these".
Blushing and lowering her voice from "Class Rep" to "concerned Hikari", she continues:
"Asuka does not appear to have had her period in six weeks, and is apparently not only very well-informed about Suzuhara's manliness, but has him so under her thumb he doesn't even defend it."
Hikari had been too busy going through her list and watching the assorted emotions crossing her friend's face to be paying much attention to Toji.
This inattention was rectified by the sound of Toji literally falling over laughing.
After several moments of unknowingly being glared at by both girls, Toji scrambled back to his feet, still grinning.
"Good on ya, Hikari. I can't wait to tell Kensuke how well you've beaten his 'Shin-man is dating both the Red Demon and the Ice Queen' theory. An' you manage to silence the Demon at the same time."
Toji trails off, finally noticing the looks he's getting, and that he just called the Class Rep by her first name.
Asuka stood abruptly, "Hikari, my dearest friend", ice in every word, "I will talk to you later, after your Important Conversation".
She dug through her bag, "This" dropping a picture face down in front of Hikari, "is what I got from Kensuke. At this point, I don't know if it's revenge for your little stunt or a reward for being my friend." and stalked away.
Hikari watched her friend go and nervously turned the picture over. She looked at the picture. She looked at Toji. Toji looked at the picture. Toji looked at her.
Authors note:
Yes, every single point has an in-universe explanation.
No, none of them add up to Asuka having Toji's child.
Yes, Hikari knows this.
No, it's not going to stop her.
Asuka & Hikari have a different dynamic here, this was exploring it.
Hikari surpasses Kensuke in conspiracy theories, at least when it comes to relationships between their friends.
Hikari carefully schooled the grin she'd had for the last few minutes as she'd watched Asuka and Toji approach
"After what we've been through, you are going to do this."
"I know you're a man," Asuka sniped, "but if I didn't know better I'd think you had no balls"
Toji was looking up the slope and did not respond.
Hikari had a very good idea what Asuka wanted to ask her about. Between better hearing than she let on, observation and directly or indirectly through the school grapevine, she had a better idea of what was actually going on around her - and what was just rumour - than most people realised. And while her friend may be the smartest person in the room, Hikari thought Asuka would be unlikely to understand people even half as well as she did. Especially when it came to herself.
She had planned on just teasing her friend, but Asuka couldn't have set up this alternative better if she'd been trying.
"Sit" she instructed in her best Class Rep voice.
Asuka sat, fidgeting and blushing. Toji sat opposite Hikari refusing to look at either of them.
Hikari looked from one to the other and said seriously, "I know what's going on".
"So, Asuka, when are you due?"
'I bet you didn't see that one coming,' she thought to herself, 'looks like this is going to be a successful distraction from what's bothering you'.
" and of course I'll help plan your and Suzuhara's wedding, what are friends for?"
Hikari enjoyed the stunned silence for the brief while it lasted.
"You, you, you" spluttered Asuka. "How could you even think that I would ... with that... " she waved an angry finger at Toji
"Especially as I know how you... " Hikari silenced Asuka with a finger on her lips and a glare.
Hikari was rather surprised that actually worked and went on rapidly before she could start blushing, or get interrupted.
"Well, it all adds up."
She starts ticking points off on her fingers.
Asuka calls me last night and says she has something urgent to discuss with me at lunch.
This morning, Suzuhara asks me if I'm available at lunch as he has something important to ask.
Last week Asuka was overheard asking Kensuke for pictures "with the other stooge in them".
Ayanami told Asuka that she would accompany her to the doctor when it was scheduled.
There are several rumours of Suzuhara being seen with Asuka entering the maternity facility.
Hikari takes a breath and switches counting hands.
Suzuhara would of course take responsibility and do the honourable thing
Asuka has noticeably reduced the amount of verbal and physical abuse she inflicts on Ikari-kun and redirected it at Suzuhara.
When both Asuka and Ikari-kun were out of school, Ayanami delivered bentos to Suzuhara with the message "Asuka requested I give you these".
Blushing and lowering her voice from "Class Rep" to "concerned Hikari", she continues:
"Asuka does not appear to have had her period in six weeks, and is apparently not only very well-informed about Suzuhara's manliness, but has him so under her thumb he doesn't even defend it."
Hikari had been too busy going through her list and watching the assorted emotions crossing her friend's face to be paying much attention to Toji.
This inattention was rectified by the sound of Toji literally falling over laughing.
After several moments of unknowingly being glared at by both girls, Toji scrambled back to his feet, still grinning.
"Good on ya, Hikari. I can't wait to tell Kensuke how well you've beaten his 'Shin-man is dating both the Red Demon and the Ice Queen' theory. An' you manage to silence the Demon at the same time."
Toji trails off, finally noticing the looks he's getting, and that he just called the Class Rep by her first name.
Asuka stood abruptly, "Hikari, my dearest friend", ice in every word, "I will talk to you later, after your Important Conversation".
She dug through her bag, "This" dropping a picture face down in front of Hikari, "is what I got from Kensuke. At this point, I don't know if it's revenge for your little stunt or a reward for being my friend." and stalked away.
Hikari watched her friend go and nervously turned the picture over. She looked at the picture. She looked at Toji. Toji looked at the picture. Toji looked at her.
Authors note:
Yes, every single point has an in-universe explanation.
No, none of them add up to Asuka having Toji's child.
Yes, Hikari knows this.
No, it's not going to stop her.
Asuka & Hikari have a different dynamic here, this was exploring it.
Preludes: Hikari : Aftermath I
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Preludes: Hikari : Aftermath I
Asuka waited until she was sure she was out of both hearing and visual range before leaning against a wall and bursting out laughing.
'Reward' she thought, 'Definitely reward'.
Toji was probably right that her friend had the more absurd idea, though only relative to each other.
Her having a child with anyone would have to be at gunpoint, and probably not even then.
The Idiot and the Doll would never get together - he'd never have the courage to ask her, despite how he seemed to look at her sometimes, and Wondergirl would never date either of them unless ordered to. Commander stick-up-his-arse would never do that, so they were all safe.
After a few minutes Asuka wandered back to class, confident that the only relationship going on was the one she'd just started between Hikari and her stooge. That she'd woken up in Shinji's bed this morning had nothing to do with anything.
Asuka waited until she was sure she was out of both hearing and visual range before leaning against a wall and bursting out laughing.
'Reward' she thought, 'Definitely reward'.
Toji was probably right that her friend had the more absurd idea, though only relative to each other.
Her having a child with anyone would have to be at gunpoint, and probably not even then.
The Idiot and the Doll would never get together - he'd never have the courage to ask her, despite how he seemed to look at her sometimes, and Wondergirl would never date either of them unless ordered to. Commander stick-up-his-arse would never do that, so they were all safe.
After a few minutes Asuka wandered back to class, confident that the only relationship going on was the one she'd just started between Hikari and her stooge. That she'd woken up in Shinji's bed this morning had nothing to do with anything.
Preludes: Hikari : Aftermath II
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Preludes: Hikari : Aftermath II
In which Horaki I Am A Proper Japanese Girl Hikari gets herself a date.
Toji and Hikari looked at each other. For a while.
They look away, Hikari staring down at her hands, Toji putting his hands behind his head and staring at the sky.
"Toji?"
"Yes, Class Rep?"
"If you're going to ask me out, you should call me Hikari".
"Oh"
"Right then. Hikari. Are you free Thursday after school? Maybe we could go somewhere that doesn't have either your or my sisters for something to eat?"
In which Horaki I Am A Proper Japanese Girl Hikari gets herself a date.
Toji and Hikari looked at each other. For a while.
They look away, Hikari staring down at her hands, Toji putting his hands behind his head and staring at the sky.
"Toji?"
"Yes, Class Rep?"
"If you're going to ask me out, you should call me Hikari".
"Oh"
"Right then. Hikari. Are you free Thursday after school? Maybe we could go somewhere that doesn't have either your or my sisters for something to eat?"
Preludes: Hormones
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Preludes: Hormones
Toji makes one too many jokes about Asuka being "permanently hormonal". Shinji has an unexpected reaction.
Toji and Kensuke were joking around about something as usual.
Asuka and Ayanami were off doing some sync test that didn't involve him.
Shinji was thinking about pain.
He was used to pain. A lot more so since coming to Tokyo-3, but it was just one more thing to endure or ignore.
There was only so far he could disconnect from feeling his arm being ripped off, at least once the adrenaline wore off, but that's where the endure part came in. And that wasn't his pain, it was the Eva's, which apparently meant most painkillers didn't affect it at all. He just had to wait for the synchronisation to fade and occasionally pass out.
What he wasn't used to was seeing people he cared about in pain.
Not that he hadn't seen plenty of people in pain, but that was different, less real to him.
What was new was having people he cared about. It wasn't many, he could still count them on one hand, but ...
Shinji yawned. He'd woken up when Asuka had of course, but other than leaving her the painkillers and a glass of water there hadn't been very much else he could do that early in the morning other than being very careful not to touch her. Neither of them needed that right now.
The sudden stabbing pain in his left side told him neither the distance nor the painkillers had been sufficient. He was going to be having some extremely embarrassing conversations with Asuka, Misato and Dr Akagi, possibly all at the same time.
"Hey, Shin-man, are you alright? You went pale for a minute and now your face is the colour of the Demon's hair"
Shinji didn't respond until Toji put a hand on his shoulder.
Neither of them was expecting the force with which Shinji's fist impacted Toji's stomach.
"What the hell, man" / "S-sorry"
Shinji tried to explain, "You know how Asuka and I had to do that stupid training so we would move and react together when fighting? and for a week afterwards we were answering questions simultaneously? Well, sometimes it still happens. I wasn't paying attention. She's in some sort of combat training session with Ayanami today, and you just walked up behind me and put your hand on her shoulder.
Toji went as white as Shinji had earlier, but for a different reason.
Neither of them had noticed Hikari marching over until she grabbed Toji by the ear, "Suzuhara, explain why you are starting fights again".
"I didn't start anything, Shinji was just filling in for his hormonal demon girlfriend while she's away".
Shinji started, once again, to insist that Asuka was not his girlfriend, but then he thought of a better idea.
"Horaki-sensei, it genuinely was not Suzuhara-san's fault this time. Either Pilot Soryu or I can explain the details at your later convenience. If you would release him, I believe I can instruct him on how to reduce the number of altercations he gets into in future. You can determine the appropriate punishments afterwards". Hikari managed to frown and blush at the same time, why was Shinji being so formal and respectful towards her? Something more complex than she thought was going on. She let go of Toji.
"Toji", Shinji started in a much more casual tone, "you know I'm your friend, right?"
"Of course"
"You aren't stupid, despite what you let other people think. Sometimes you just need a practical demonstration of why something is important. Like the fact that Misato entrusts me to do all the grocery shopping"
Toji blinks at Shinji, "What does punching me in the gut have to do with what you buy for dinner?"
"And when did you get so strong anyway?" he adds, touching the somewhat sore spot, "that was a lot harder than the last time, and I didn't deserve this one".
Shinji sighs, "Kensuke, what do you think Pilot training involves?". Then he realises what he just did and interrupts Kensuke before he can get going, "Never mind"
He turns back to Toji, "Other than being burned, stabbed and dismembered, piloting involves fighting monsters in a Giant Fucking Robot. Asuka's been training for years. I've been doing this for weeks. You have no idea what training hell she's been putting me through".
Before the conversation can get more off track, Shinji pokes Toji in the stomach at the exact same point. "Hurts a bit still huh?"
"I can take it"
Shinji pokes him again.
"Hey"
"What if I were to keep doing that all day? Except sometimes I'd punch you the same way I accidentally did earlier?"
Shinji clenches his fists, digging his nails into the palm of his hands, and tries very hard to focus on Toji and not on the pain in organs he doesn't possess.
Toji misreads this and takes a small step back, just to be on the safe side.
"Then tomorrow I'm going to do the same thing, except every ten minutes I'm going to take a vote from whichever girls are present on whether next time I'm going to kick you in the balls instead."
"And the day after the same thing is going to happen again, except you are going to completely ignore it, you are going to pay attention in class, you are going to greet every one of our classmates cheerfully by name as they arrive."
Shinji attempts to slow his breathing. He's not fighting simulated angels.
"By then you'd already be annoyed and in pain." Shinji's voice has been rising and it's no longer just the Class Rep that's listening.
"I'm annoyed already. What's your point?"
"Do you think that by day five you might be just a little cranky ?"
"Could you tell me which three of the girls in the class are currently in more pain than you would be?"
"Could you tell me which one is on day eight?"
Shinji is almost yelling. Toji is backing away. Hikari is just staring at them uncertain as to how to intervene or what was actually going on. The other girls in the class are a mix of staring, listening in and wondering how on earth quiet little Ikari knows...
Shinji goes quiet as he feels arms wrap around him gently, despite no one being willing to be within several feet of him. Toji had backed into a desk and not retreated further.
"So, do you think you can take that like a man?
You certainly couldn't take it like a girl"
Shinji pulls Toji down by his ear and adds in a soft voice that carries across the silent room:
"Now once you've had a minute to think about it, you will politely ask the Class Rep for the list of supplies needed to restock the girls' bathrooms. Then you are going grocery shopping. If you ask nicely, maybe she'll go with you. If you ask really nicely, maybe she won't."
"And if you ever make a joke about any girl being hormonal again, I'll ask my 'wife' to implement the lesson."
What colour was left drained from Toji's face at the thought of Asuka enjoying using him as a punching bag for several days.
"And Ayanami doesn't know how to pull her punches".
Authors notes:
This was partly inspired by a combination of: a scene from Defence in Depth [NGE], where Shinji and Asuka are having sync issues after Episode 09 and Asuka explains period pain to Shinji by sharing the sensation; several fics where Toji (and others) accuse Asuka & Shinji of behaving like a married couple and of Asuka being constantly hormonal, thus "explaining" her anger issues; and by the fact that period pain sucks in multiple ways.
Toji makes one too many jokes about Asuka being "permanently hormonal". Shinji has an unexpected reaction.
Toji and Kensuke were joking around about something as usual.
Asuka and Ayanami were off doing some sync test that didn't involve him.
Shinji was thinking about pain.
He was used to pain. A lot more so since coming to Tokyo-3, but it was just one more thing to endure or ignore.
There was only so far he could disconnect from feeling his arm being ripped off, at least once the adrenaline wore off, but that's where the endure part came in. And that wasn't his pain, it was the Eva's, which apparently meant most painkillers didn't affect it at all. He just had to wait for the synchronisation to fade and occasionally pass out.
What he wasn't used to was seeing people he cared about in pain.
Not that he hadn't seen plenty of people in pain, but that was different, less real to him.
What was new was having people he cared about. It wasn't many, he could still count them on one hand, but ...
Shinji yawned. He'd woken up when Asuka had of course, but other than leaving her the painkillers and a glass of water there hadn't been very much else he could do that early in the morning other than being very careful not to touch her. Neither of them needed that right now.
The sudden stabbing pain in his left side told him neither the distance nor the painkillers had been sufficient. He was going to be having some extremely embarrassing conversations with Asuka, Misato and Dr Akagi, possibly all at the same time.
"Hey, Shin-man, are you alright? You went pale for a minute and now your face is the colour of the Demon's hair"
Shinji didn't respond until Toji put a hand on his shoulder.
Neither of them was expecting the force with which Shinji's fist impacted Toji's stomach.
"What the hell, man" / "S-sorry"
Shinji tried to explain, "You know how Asuka and I had to do that stupid training so we would move and react together when fighting? and for a week afterwards we were answering questions simultaneously? Well, sometimes it still happens. I wasn't paying attention. She's in some sort of combat training session with Ayanami today, and you just walked up behind me and put your hand on her shoulder.
Toji went as white as Shinji had earlier, but for a different reason.
Neither of them had noticed Hikari marching over until she grabbed Toji by the ear, "Suzuhara, explain why you are starting fights again".
"I didn't start anything, Shinji was just filling in for his hormonal demon girlfriend while she's away".
Shinji started, once again, to insist that Asuka was not his girlfriend, but then he thought of a better idea.
"Horaki-sensei, it genuinely was not Suzuhara-san's fault this time. Either Pilot Soryu or I can explain the details at your later convenience. If you would release him, I believe I can instruct him on how to reduce the number of altercations he gets into in future. You can determine the appropriate punishments afterwards". Hikari managed to frown and blush at the same time, why was Shinji being so formal and respectful towards her? Something more complex than she thought was going on. She let go of Toji.
"Toji", Shinji started in a much more casual tone, "you know I'm your friend, right?"
"Of course"
"You aren't stupid, despite what you let other people think. Sometimes you just need a practical demonstration of why something is important. Like the fact that Misato entrusts me to do all the grocery shopping"
Toji blinks at Shinji, "What does punching me in the gut have to do with what you buy for dinner?"
"And when did you get so strong anyway?" he adds, touching the somewhat sore spot, "that was a lot harder than the last time, and I didn't deserve this one".
Shinji sighs, "Kensuke, what do you think Pilot training involves?". Then he realises what he just did and interrupts Kensuke before he can get going, "Never mind"
He turns back to Toji, "Other than being burned, stabbed and dismembered, piloting involves fighting monsters in a Giant Fucking Robot. Asuka's been training for years. I've been doing this for weeks. You have no idea what training hell she's been putting me through".
Before the conversation can get more off track, Shinji pokes Toji in the stomach at the exact same point. "Hurts a bit still huh?"
"I can take it"
Shinji pokes him again.
"Hey"
"What if I were to keep doing that all day? Except sometimes I'd punch you the same way I accidentally did earlier?"
Shinji clenches his fists, digging his nails into the palm of his hands, and tries very hard to focus on Toji and not on the pain in organs he doesn't possess.
Toji misreads this and takes a small step back, just to be on the safe side.
"Then tomorrow I'm going to do the same thing, except every ten minutes I'm going to take a vote from whichever girls are present on whether next time I'm going to kick you in the balls instead."
"And the day after the same thing is going to happen again, except you are going to completely ignore it, you are going to pay attention in class, you are going to greet every one of our classmates cheerfully by name as they arrive."
Shinji attempts to slow his breathing. He's not fighting simulated angels.
"By then you'd already be annoyed and in pain." Shinji's voice has been rising and it's no longer just the Class Rep that's listening.
"I'm annoyed already. What's your point?"
"Do you think that by day five you might be just a little cranky ?"
"Could you tell me which three of the girls in the class are currently in more pain than you would be?"
"Could you tell me which one is on day eight?"
Shinji is almost yelling. Toji is backing away. Hikari is just staring at them uncertain as to how to intervene or what was actually going on. The other girls in the class are a mix of staring, listening in and wondering how on earth quiet little Ikari knows...
Shinji goes quiet as he feels arms wrap around him gently, despite no one being willing to be within several feet of him. Toji had backed into a desk and not retreated further.
"So, do you think you can take that like a man?
You certainly couldn't take it like a girl"
Shinji pulls Toji down by his ear and adds in a soft voice that carries across the silent room:
"Now once you've had a minute to think about it, you will politely ask the Class Rep for the list of supplies needed to restock the girls' bathrooms. Then you are going grocery shopping. If you ask nicely, maybe she'll go with you. If you ask really nicely, maybe she won't."
"And if you ever make a joke about any girl being hormonal again, I'll ask my 'wife' to implement the lesson."
What colour was left drained from Toji's face at the thought of Asuka enjoying using him as a punching bag for several days.
"And Ayanami doesn't know how to pull her punches".
Authors notes:
This was partly inspired by a combination of: a scene from Defence in Depth [NGE], where Shinji and Asuka are having sync issues after Episode 09 and Asuka explains period pain to Shinji by sharing the sensation; several fics where Toji (and others) accuse Asuka & Shinji of behaving like a married couple and of Asuka being constantly hormonal, thus "explaining" her anger issues; and by the fact that period pain sucks in multiple ways.
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Preludes : Hormones: Aftermath I - Hikari
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Preludes : Hormones: Aftermath I - Hikari
Shinji and Horaki I Am Not The Spanish Inquisition You Were Expecting Me Hikari have lunch.
Shinji and Hikari were sitting at an isolated table outside, at the Class Rep's request, silently eating lunch as each of them tried to work out how to start the inevitable conversation. The class rep obviously had questions. Shinji was fairly certain he didn't have acceptable answers.
"I'm sorry" was, as often the case, Shinji's automatic response, and it seemed he had more than usual to apologise for today.
"No, no, you aren't in trouble," Hikari responded, "at least from me. Obviously I don't condone violence between classmates, even if Suzuhara does seem to go out of his way to try to deserve it. Let me just say that if you weren't already spoken for...".
"It's not like that," interrupted Shinji automatically.
"... if that really was the case, you could have a date with a different girl every day for at least a week".
"And that's just the girls who don't care that you are a pilot" Hikari added after a moment, knowing Shinji's reaction to the flurry of requests he'd had once his pilot status had become known.
Hikari pondered which question to start with. Well, the one both she and most of the other girls in the class, some of whom had been quite insistent both that she found out, and that they thought Shinji should be rewarded not punished, even if they weren't brave enough to risk Asuka's reaction to them offering.
"So, how did you know which girls..."
"Oh that," Shinji responded, relieved it was a question he could actually answer, "I actually have no idea. There are only so many days in the month, there must be someone. Anyway, I knew for certain that Toji didn't know."
"He's made jokes like that before, especially about Asuka, and why are you bothered by it this time and not before? Did Asuka say something?"
Shinji blushes brightly, "No, no, she'd never talk to me about something like that. I'm not sure which of us would be more embarrassed. She still thinks Misato is the one that buys her supplies". Shinji puts his hand over his mouth, trying to hold his words back far too late, "Please don't tell her? She'd be upset"
Hikari agrees and waits for Shinji to continue.
"You heard me mention the synchronisation issues, and I'm fairly sure Asuka will have complained to you about them."
Hikari nods.
"Well, it's intermittent, and it rarely includes actions like today's ... but when it happens it carries pain easily. Both ways."
Shinji pauses for a moment. "So she's not as physically violent as she used to be, and I know which painkillers to make sure are in the bathroom cabinet before she looks for them".
'So Shinji probably hadn't noticed, or hadn't known what the problem was until he found out the painful way,' thought Hikari, 'but as soon as he knew, he goes straight into supporting Asuka despite his obvious embarrassment, sparing Asuka's embarrassment and of course, Asuka doesn't even notice what he does for her as usual.' Asuka was her friend, but sometimes she could be as dense as she accused Shinji of being.
Hikari decided to change the subject.
"Sooo... when was your no-longer-secret marriage to Ayanami-san?" Hikari could be subtle, but subtle didn't work well with either Shinji or Asuka.
Shinji laughed, which was not the reaction Hikari was expecting.
Then he looked far more serious, and doing a passable imitation of Ayanami's deadpan said "About a week after Kensuke approached you with a white flag and admitted he couldn't come close to you on weird theories about our classmates' relationships. Given he's a conspiracy theory nut, that was high praise".
Hikari stared at him for a minute before finishing processing what he'd said and collapsing in a fit of giggles.
Shinji and Horaki I Am Not The Spanish Inquisition You Were Expecting Me Hikari have lunch.
Shinji and Hikari were sitting at an isolated table outside, at the Class Rep's request, silently eating lunch as each of them tried to work out how to start the inevitable conversation. The class rep obviously had questions. Shinji was fairly certain he didn't have acceptable answers.
"I'm sorry" was, as often the case, Shinji's automatic response, and it seemed he had more than usual to apologise for today.
"No, no, you aren't in trouble," Hikari responded, "at least from me. Obviously I don't condone violence between classmates, even if Suzuhara does seem to go out of his way to try to deserve it. Let me just say that if you weren't already spoken for...".
"It's not like that," interrupted Shinji automatically.
"... if that really was the case, you could have a date with a different girl every day for at least a week".
"And that's just the girls who don't care that you are a pilot" Hikari added after a moment, knowing Shinji's reaction to the flurry of requests he'd had once his pilot status had become known.
Hikari pondered which question to start with. Well, the one both she and most of the other girls in the class, some of whom had been quite insistent both that she found out, and that they thought Shinji should be rewarded not punished, even if they weren't brave enough to risk Asuka's reaction to them offering.
"So, how did you know which girls..."
"Oh that," Shinji responded, relieved it was a question he could actually answer, "I actually have no idea. There are only so many days in the month, there must be someone. Anyway, I knew for certain that Toji didn't know."
"He's made jokes like that before, especially about Asuka, and why are you bothered by it this time and not before? Did Asuka say something?"
Shinji blushes brightly, "No, no, she'd never talk to me about something like that. I'm not sure which of us would be more embarrassed. She still thinks Misato is the one that buys her supplies". Shinji puts his hand over his mouth, trying to hold his words back far too late, "Please don't tell her? She'd be upset"
Hikari agrees and waits for Shinji to continue.
"You heard me mention the synchronisation issues, and I'm fairly sure Asuka will have complained to you about them."
Hikari nods.
"Well, it's intermittent, and it rarely includes actions like today's ... but when it happens it carries pain easily. Both ways."
Shinji pauses for a moment. "So she's not as physically violent as she used to be, and I know which painkillers to make sure are in the bathroom cabinet before she looks for them".
'So Shinji probably hadn't noticed, or hadn't known what the problem was until he found out the painful way,' thought Hikari, 'but as soon as he knew, he goes straight into supporting Asuka despite his obvious embarrassment, sparing Asuka's embarrassment and of course, Asuka doesn't even notice what he does for her as usual.' Asuka was her friend, but sometimes she could be as dense as she accused Shinji of being.
Hikari decided to change the subject.
"Sooo... when was your no-longer-secret marriage to Ayanami-san?" Hikari could be subtle, but subtle didn't work well with either Shinji or Asuka.
Shinji laughed, which was not the reaction Hikari was expecting.
Then he looked far more serious, and doing a passable imitation of Ayanami's deadpan said "About a week after Kensuke approached you with a white flag and admitted he couldn't come close to you on weird theories about our classmates' relationships. Given he's a conspiracy theory nut, that was high praise".
Hikari stared at him for a minute before finishing processing what he'd said and collapsing in a fit of giggles.
Preludes : Hormones: Aftermath II - Kensuke & Toji
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Preludes : Hormones: Aftermath II - Kensuke & Toji
"I don't care if you think it makes you look like a wuss, we made more from that video in the last twenty-four hours than all the pictures we sold of the Red Devil" whispered Kensuke.
"WHAT?!" responded Toji at a considerably higher volume.
"I'm telling you, there was a bunch of senior High School girls waiting for me outside school when I turned up. I thought I was done for, but what they wanted was copies of the 'educational video'..."
"And no, I didn't edit out the first part, it lacked a certain ... punch without it", Kensuke grinned at his friend
"Besides, you could use the extra earnings to ask the Class Rep out on a date," he added, demonstrating that he did indeed have a death wish this morning.
"I don't care if you think it makes you look like a wuss, we made more from that video in the last twenty-four hours than all the pictures we sold of the Red Devil" whispered Kensuke.
"WHAT?!" responded Toji at a considerably higher volume.
"I'm telling you, there was a bunch of senior High School girls waiting for me outside school when I turned up. I thought I was done for, but what they wanted was copies of the 'educational video'..."
"And no, I didn't edit out the first part, it lacked a certain ... punch without it", Kensuke grinned at his friend
"Besides, you could use the extra earnings to ask the Class Rep out on a date," he added, demonstrating that he did indeed have a death wish this morning.
Get Out of the Damn Robot, Shinji
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Get Out of the Damn Robot, Shinji
Shinji is stuck in Unit 01. Rei misses him. Asuka has to look after 'her' pilots, but only after she finally gets to sleep in.
The first few days after the idiot dissolved himself into goo, were the most peaceful Asuka had had in a while.
She was relieved and not at all concerned. This was the Invincible baka-Shinji, he was certain to be back soon to annoy her.
In the meantime, she had the apartment completely to herself - the idiot was in his Eva; Misato was sleeping at the Geofront, if she was sleeping at all, doing whatever she could to help recover her precious Shinji; and Hikari had "borrowed" PenPen for some reason she didn't really care about right now.
What she cared about right now was sleep glorious sleep.
There was no alarm for school, angels, or anything else.
She had woken up late, in her own bed, having slept for nearly half a day.
Not at oh mein gott early whenever the baka woke up to make breakfast.
Most of the weird synchronisation issues had faded, but the sleep one had never quit. She would wake whenever he did, if she went to bed early, he'd fall asleep on his homework books.
But that was finally broken - syncing with a puddle of LCL was apparently beyond even the Great Asuka, for which she was very grateful.
When Agaki had announced they had successfully detected Shinji's pattern, Asuka had scoffed - of course he was still in his plug, he had gone in and not come out, where else would he be? When everyone else had assumed or feared he'd gone, Asuka had never doubted. He was right there. Even if she was sleeping well, and no longer accidentally walking into the men's locker room.
By day five she was annoyed. The idiot wasn't back and she was tired of takeout and her own attempts at cooking. At least those were still better than Misato's.
On the night of day six the nightmares were back.
Day seven she'd gone back to the Geofront to yell at him. It hadn't had any effect.
She'd even tried sleeping in his bed that night - Misato still wasn't home, no one would notice. She dreamed of watching her Eva be swept away by swirling magma, her own screams in her ears as they burned. She took a cold shower on waking, but her skin still felt like it was burning for hours afterwards.
On day eight she slept in her own bed, at least her own nightmares were familiar.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? I'm hungry.
Misato had ordered Asuka to the Eva cages as soon as she'd arrived at the Geofront to support her fellow pilot in her time of need. Or some such drivel. As if Rei would even notice anyone being concerned about her. Or anyone would notice that Rei was unhappy. At least that's what Misato had meant by "She's already down there", right?
Rei is sitting on the deck, her back to the wall, looking up at Unit 01, her face expressionless as usual.
Asuka walks up and leans against the wall beside her, "Hey Wondergirl".
Rei does not show any awareness of her presence, but there's nothing new there.
Asuka tries again, "Look, obviously I'm not Shinji, and we don't know when we're going to get your boyfriend back, but I can't stand watching you moping around like this."
"Would you like a hug?"
Not looking up, Rei replies in her typical monotone, "Yes."
Asuka waits impatiently but gets no further response.
"I know you want a hug from him ... I meant would you like one from me?"
"Yes"
Another minute passes, "Then stand up and come and get one! I swear sometimes you're worse than he is".
Rei is barely upright before Asuka wraps her in a tight hug. After a moment, she slowly puts her arms around Asuka and rests her head on her shoulder.
It is several minutes before either of them moves.
Asuka adjusts her stance slightly to redistribute the weight, Rei moves with her, not letting go.
"Comfortable there First?"
Rei's breath against her neck is the only thing Asuka gets in response.
It's a comfortable silence, but silence isn't something Asuka is very good at.
"Sooo.... are Shinji's hugs better than mine?" she tries to tease Rei.
"No"
Asuka blinks, "No? I know I'm the Great Asuka, but are you really telling me my hugs are better than your boyfriend's?"
"No"
Asuka pulls away slightly to look at Rei, Rei does not let go.
"Well they can't be the same, and I refuse to believe you can't tell the difference between my amazing hugs and those from baka-Shinji"
Rei does not answer.
"Well, are you going to explain what you mean?"
"Yes"
Asuka rolls her eyes, "When?"
"After at least an additional sixty seconds of hugging"
Asuka pulls Rei close, naturally remaining completely unaware of how soft Rei is, how their bodies fit together or the warmth of Rei's breath across her cheek. 'Well, at least I've gotten a whole sentence out of her. That might be more entire words than the last week'
"Wait, did you just try to blackmail me into hugging you by withholding information?"
"I succeeded", Rei's monotone almost sounded pleased.
"Well, next time just ask when you want a hug" responded Asuka with some considerable exasperation.
"I will remember that, Pilot Souryu"
If she wasn't so comfortable and annoyed at the same time, Asuka might have realised what she'd just done.
"And you still owe me an explanation Wondergirl"
"Not for another eight seconds"
Nine seconds later...
"Your questions are based on several erroneous assumptions. Hugs are a subjective phenomenon, depending on who is engaging in the hug, the environment, and the physiological and psychological state of the people involved. It is therefore impossible to rank every possible hug from one person over every possible hug from another."
Rei pauses for a moment.
"Pilot Ikari's hugs are firm and gentle and make me feel content and warm inside. However, if I attempted to hug him now, it would not be possible and I would be unhappy. Your hugs are soft and fierce and make me feel protected and something I do not recognise. I would not like to hug you when you are angry. Ikari would."
"If you require more, I will require further experience to determine the optimum situation in which to hug you both."
Later Asuka would have important questions to consider. The one about how angry she was going to be at the idiot when they got him back and if it would be enough for her to actually hug him and ask if he enjoyed it. Not the one about how as Rei talked she could feel the movement of Rei's lips across her skin.
In the meantime, she had to continue hugging Rei until her blush faded so Wondergirl wouldn't notice it. This was already a lost cause.
"And Pilot Ikari is not my boyfriend"
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? Rei misses you. Not that anyone else noticed, but you would, if you were here like you're supposed to be.
Asuka was standing in the elevator holding Ayanami and cursing baka-Shinji.
Of course it was his fault. Who else could it have been? If he hadn't gotten himself dissolved in such a ridiculous manner this whole absurd chain of events would never have happened.
If he wasn't such an idiot, she wouldn't have had to keep such a close eye on him to make sure he didn't mess up and make her look bad.
Without that, she wouldn't have been paying much attention to Ayanami, because as leader of the elite pilots, she couldn't just pay attention to just trying to train the idiot. Misato made enough off-colour jokes as it was.
Then she wouldn't have noticed that Wondergirl was actually missing the idiot. Not that anyone else had noticed. Everyone was too busy trying to extract their precious Shinji. It didn't help that Ayanami almost never volunteered any information and only really had two and a half expressions - the blank you-are-an-interesting-bug-I-will-observe stare, the almost identical look except the stare just went through you like you didn't matter, and the slight smile she reserved entirely for interacting with the idiot.
Gott-Dammit you idiot, get your ass out here, people are waiting for you.
Another day, another seemingly endless elevator ride to the cages.
The elevators were slow, again. Rei was in her arms, again.
If the latter wasn't so comfortable, the former would be a lot more annoying.
Which brought her thoughts to something that was definitely the idiot's fault.
He considered Rei huggable, he was right for once, Rei was definitely huggable.
The problem was that the reverse was also true, Rei considered him huggable.
Rei also considered her huggable, at least going to the increasingly frequent requests.
This meant Rei might actually be accurately assessing the idiot's hugs.
'So why hasn't he hugged me like this?'
Baka-Shinji, I'm trying to take care of Rei for you, but you know you do the caring for people thing better than I do.
"Asuka?"
"Yes, Rei?"
"After Shinji returns, you should ask him to hug you"
"What?! Why?"
"You asked me how your hugs were different than his. You should have the same opportunity to compare. Perhaps it would give you the answer you seek."
"You wouldn't mind?"
"Why would I mind Asuka? You are my friend. He is my friend. Both of you provide comforting hugs. Why would I wish to deprive my friends of that same experience?"
"That wouldn't work. He'd just do it because he thought he had to. He wants to hug you. He doesn't want to hug me".
Rei squeezes Asuka gently, "You just have to ask him, as you asked me. He is quite willing".
Asuka kicks the Eva and hobbles away.
Somewhere along the way Asuka had stopped counting the days. She and Wondergirl weren't going to school. Time was measured in visits to the cages. She would leave to eat, and occasionally to sleep. If she needed to know, Rei could tell her the precise number of seconds until the next retrieval test. It was always too long.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? The nightmares are back. I. I need you.
Elevator rides with Rei's head on her shoulder their arms wrapped around each other were becoming Asuka's time for quiet contemplation.
The apartment no longer felt much like home with both Misato and the idiot missing.
The cages were a place for letting her annoyance fuel her thoughts on finding something to get the baka back that Akagi hadn't thought of yet.
There weren't any sync tests or training sessions as all the technical efforts were going into the "extract the idiot" project.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? Your girlfriend misses you.
"You are not useless," Rei murmured into her shoulder, "You are helping me. I am happy you are my friend".
Baka, don't make me come in there and get you. I'll have to kick your ass, and that'll hurt both of us.
'So why hasn't he hugged me like this?' a thought that had been interrupted by the end of a previous elevator ride occurred to her again as Rei's arms slid around her.
'Probably because if he tried I'd punch him, and he knows it.
And knowing my luck that would be one of those times synchronisation decides to provide a teaching moment.'
'but you've woken up with his arms wrapped around you' prompts a treacherous part of her brain.
'That doesn't count. He was asleep. And out of pity.'
'But it was comforting, wasn't it? or it wouldn't keep the nightmares away'
'Shut up brain'.
Suddenly even Rei's presence wasn't making the elevator ride any more tolerable.
Baka. Are you running away again? You promised you wouldn't do that any more. Of course this is the Invincible Shinji, so you're doing it in the most impressively stupid manner possible.
Asuka groaned as the elevator stopped at a floor she had not selected. The last thing she needed right now was someone else annoying her. baka-Shinji was managing to do that all by himself, without even existing.
The doors opened and Rei studied Asuka for a moment before stepping inside.
A brief tilt of the head, a deadpan "Hug?" and Asuka had her arms around Rei, Rei settling into her usual position.
Pavlov would have been proud, almost complete conditioning in just over two weeks.
Asuka could always say no. She just never did.
Baka.
Asuka stares at Misato, "What?! You're suggesting Rei just go down there and demand Shinji comes back and gives her a hug?"
Misato sighs tiredly, "Pretty much, it makes just as much sense as anything else we've tried."
"And psychological need might be the piece we're missing here. We know Evas react to strong emotions"
"But this is Rei we're talking about, the girl couldn't show strong emotion even if you ordered her to," lied Asuka.
Misato gives Asuka a look, "I'm not blind Asuka. I've seen the way Ayanami clings to you like her life depends on it when neither of you thinks anyone else can see. Don't tell me there's no depth of emotion there.".
Asuka looks down sadly, avoiding Misato's eyes, "We already tried that. I yelled. Rei asked. We even tried together. As you can see, it didn't work".
Shinji, if you don't come back soon, I'm not going to forgive you.
Asuka leaned against the elevator wall alone and sighed.
How had she gotten so used to holding Rei on the way down to the cages that the elevator felt so large and empty without her there?
Soft arms gently wrapped around her.
Asuka bolted upright.
'What the hell? Am I so far gone I'm hallucinating her now?'
She could still feel herself being hugged, but something wasn't quite right for it to be an invisible or hallucinatory Rei.
The elevator doors opened, Asuka hadn't even noticed it stop at whatever floor this was.
"Rei?"
"Are you unwell Asuka?"
Asuka just nodded and opened her arms enough for Rei to fit.
It was a moment after Rei's arms slid around her that the other hug started to fade.
Asuka didn't say anything, just gave Unit 01 a death glare(tm).
Misato is holding Shinji's empty plugsuit, staring at Unit 01 and weeping when Asuka storms past.
"Give him back you overgrown purple piece of obsolete gott verdammt scheiße." Asuka's angry voice is loud even in the cavernous room.
"I need him. Rei needs him. He's mine and you don't get to keep him. So give him back!"
Rei steps up beside her silently. Asuka doesn't need to look to know she's there.
She puts her arm around her shoulders. She puts her arm around her waist.
A moment later, She starts to climb up to the entry plug. She matches her move for move, the only differences those necessitated by their different positions.
She looks into the empty plug still half full of LCL. She steps over the edge and drops inside. She follows a moment later.
She hits the plug close sequence. She hits the override to stop the command centre from interfering.
Shinji, I love you, she says. Shinji, I miss you she says.
Yui, let him go, adds Rei.
Warmth spreads between them that has nothing to do with their close proximity to each other.
She finds herself holding a very solid and very naked Shinji. She wraps her arms around them both.
Shinji stays motionless for a moment, this feels different from his mother's hug a moment ago.
She kills the camera feed. She hits the plug eject.
Shinji blushes as he feels multiple hands on his bare skin, and his bare skin under her hands.
He doesn't need to to know who's there, but he opens his eyes to see them anyway.
"I'll yell at you later, baka-Shinji, we need to make sure you're alright first".
As the synchronisation with Rei fades, Asuka notes to herself that naked-Shinji feels very different to naked-Rei. As she disconnects from Rei's calm she notices that observation.
"Argh! Naked baka!" She shoves a startled Shinji at Rei while desperately not noticing that Shinji had been facing her.
As soon as the entry plug retracts far enough to open, Asuka sticks her head out, "Misato, pass me that plug-suit would you? We don't want the baka dying of embarrassment on the way to medical when we only just got him back"
Asuka bent down to pass back the plugsuit, carefully not turning around. Unfortunately not turning around meant not looking behind her.
Which meant that she didn't know whose face she had just planted her butt on, only that their nose was somewhere it really shouldn't be.
She decided that not knowing gave her some level of plausible deniability and started to climb out of the entry plug. Rei and Shinji could work out the logistics of getting him dressed while still in the plug without her.
Shinji's face is almost the same colour as Asuka's legs as she climbs out.
He flails at the floating plugsuit, his arms not quite working after a month of not existing at all.
"Do you require assistance Shinji?" Rei asks from right behind him.
He can feel her through the thin fabric of her plugsuit against his bare skin.
He starts to wonder if he's even going to get out of the plug before dying of embarrassment. As long as Asuka doesn't come back to check what's taking so long...
"N...N...No. I can manage. I j..ju..just need to get used to having arms again."
"Can you let go, so I can get dressed?"
"and p.pl.please turn around."
"Why?"
"I'm naked"
"I know"
Rei can feel Shinji's heart rate increasing under her hands as she lets go.
"I am here if you need assistance" she adds once she's facing away from him.
In some ways Shinji feels relieved now that he's no longer naked, but he actually felt more anxious once Ayanami was no longer touching him.
Shinji struggles as he tries to climb out of the entry plug.
"Asuka," Rei called up past him, "Assist please. His legs do not work."
"Just tell me he's decent" responded Asuka, slightly muffled as she did not look down to check herself.
"Ikari is sufficiently covered as to prevent further embarrassment"
Asuka leans down into the plug, holding herself up with one hand and extending the other to Shinji.
"Give me your hand baka, lets get you out of here"
There was something weird about the way Asuka and Ayanami were talking to each other, but at least Asuka was still calling him an idiot.
Rei and Asuka stood on opposite sides of the elevator awkwardly.
Shinji had been whisked off as soon as the medical technicians had arrived and determined he was healthy enough to move. Which they both knew without the need for an outside opinion.
"Asuka?"
"Rei?"
"May I?"
"Of course"
Once Rei was nestled against her where she belonged, "Just because baka-Shinji is back doesn't mean you can't ask me"
Several levels later.
"Asuka?"
"Rei?"
"You should let Shinji see you naked"
Asuka blinks, "What did you just say?"
"You should let Shinji see you naked"
"What the hell Rei, why should I do that?" It's difficult to be angry at Rei when she's hugging you, but Asuka manages it anyway. Anger is why her face feels warm of course.
"You have seen me naked. I have seen you naked. I have seen Shinji naked. Shinji has seen me naked. You have seen Shinji naked. He has not seen you naked. This feels. Uncomfortable."
"Wait a minute! Just now. That doesn't count. I didn't look."
"Do not attempt to lie to me Asuka"
Asuka splutters, "and before you start, it doesn't count as a hug either".
She can feel Rei smile even if she can't see it, "Then the obvious solution is for you to hug Shinji naked."
Asuka pushes Rei away, "What?!" Then she catches the smile and the eyes ... "Gott Dammit Rei."
As the doors open, something else nudges at the back of Asuka's mind. "Hey, when did he see you naked?"
She gets no answer other than Rei's back as she walks away towards the medical wing.
Shinji is stuck in Unit 01. Rei misses him. Asuka has to look after 'her' pilots, but only after she finally gets to sleep in.
The first few days after the idiot dissolved himself into goo, were the most peaceful Asuka had had in a while.
She was relieved and not at all concerned. This was the Invincible baka-Shinji, he was certain to be back soon to annoy her.
In the meantime, she had the apartment completely to herself - the idiot was in his Eva; Misato was sleeping at the Geofront, if she was sleeping at all, doing whatever she could to help recover her precious Shinji; and Hikari had "borrowed" PenPen for some reason she didn't really care about right now.
What she cared about right now was sleep glorious sleep.
There was no alarm for school, angels, or anything else.
She had woken up late, in her own bed, having slept for nearly half a day.
Not at oh mein gott early whenever the baka woke up to make breakfast.
Most of the weird synchronisation issues had faded, but the sleep one had never quit. She would wake whenever he did, if she went to bed early, he'd fall asleep on his homework books.
But that was finally broken - syncing with a puddle of LCL was apparently beyond even the Great Asuka, for which she was very grateful.
When Agaki had announced they had successfully detected Shinji's pattern, Asuka had scoffed - of course he was still in his plug, he had gone in and not come out, where else would he be? When everyone else had assumed or feared he'd gone, Asuka had never doubted. He was right there. Even if she was sleeping well, and no longer accidentally walking into the men's locker room.
By day five she was annoyed. The idiot wasn't back and she was tired of takeout and her own attempts at cooking. At least those were still better than Misato's.
On the night of day six the nightmares were back.
Day seven she'd gone back to the Geofront to yell at him. It hadn't had any effect.
She'd even tried sleeping in his bed that night - Misato still wasn't home, no one would notice. She dreamed of watching her Eva be swept away by swirling magma, her own screams in her ears as they burned. She took a cold shower on waking, but her skin still felt like it was burning for hours afterwards.
On day eight she slept in her own bed, at least her own nightmares were familiar.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? I'm hungry.
Misato had ordered Asuka to the Eva cages as soon as she'd arrived at the Geofront to support her fellow pilot in her time of need. Or some such drivel. As if Rei would even notice anyone being concerned about her. Or anyone would notice that Rei was unhappy. At least that's what Misato had meant by "She's already down there", right?
Rei is sitting on the deck, her back to the wall, looking up at Unit 01, her face expressionless as usual.
Asuka walks up and leans against the wall beside her, "Hey Wondergirl".
Rei does not show any awareness of her presence, but there's nothing new there.
Asuka tries again, "Look, obviously I'm not Shinji, and we don't know when we're going to get your boyfriend back, but I can't stand watching you moping around like this."
"Would you like a hug?"
Not looking up, Rei replies in her typical monotone, "Yes."
Asuka waits impatiently but gets no further response.
"I know you want a hug from him ... I meant would you like one from me?"
"Yes"
Another minute passes, "Then stand up and come and get one! I swear sometimes you're worse than he is".
Rei is barely upright before Asuka wraps her in a tight hug. After a moment, she slowly puts her arms around Asuka and rests her head on her shoulder.
It is several minutes before either of them moves.
Asuka adjusts her stance slightly to redistribute the weight, Rei moves with her, not letting go.
"Comfortable there First?"
Rei's breath against her neck is the only thing Asuka gets in response.
It's a comfortable silence, but silence isn't something Asuka is very good at.
"Sooo.... are Shinji's hugs better than mine?" she tries to tease Rei.
"No"
Asuka blinks, "No? I know I'm the Great Asuka, but are you really telling me my hugs are better than your boyfriend's?"
"No"
Asuka pulls away slightly to look at Rei, Rei does not let go.
"Well they can't be the same, and I refuse to believe you can't tell the difference between my amazing hugs and those from baka-Shinji"
Rei does not answer.
"Well, are you going to explain what you mean?"
"Yes"
Asuka rolls her eyes, "When?"
"After at least an additional sixty seconds of hugging"
Asuka pulls Rei close, naturally remaining completely unaware of how soft Rei is, how their bodies fit together or the warmth of Rei's breath across her cheek. 'Well, at least I've gotten a whole sentence out of her. That might be more entire words than the last week'
"Wait, did you just try to blackmail me into hugging you by withholding information?"
"I succeeded", Rei's monotone almost sounded pleased.
"Well, next time just ask when you want a hug" responded Asuka with some considerable exasperation.
"I will remember that, Pilot Souryu"
If she wasn't so comfortable and annoyed at the same time, Asuka might have realised what she'd just done.
"And you still owe me an explanation Wondergirl"
"Not for another eight seconds"
Nine seconds later...
"Your questions are based on several erroneous assumptions. Hugs are a subjective phenomenon, depending on who is engaging in the hug, the environment, and the physiological and psychological state of the people involved. It is therefore impossible to rank every possible hug from one person over every possible hug from another."
Rei pauses for a moment.
"Pilot Ikari's hugs are firm and gentle and make me feel content and warm inside. However, if I attempted to hug him now, it would not be possible and I would be unhappy. Your hugs are soft and fierce and make me feel protected and something I do not recognise. I would not like to hug you when you are angry. Ikari would."
"If you require more, I will require further experience to determine the optimum situation in which to hug you both."
Later Asuka would have important questions to consider. The one about how angry she was going to be at the idiot when they got him back and if it would be enough for her to actually hug him and ask if he enjoyed it. Not the one about how as Rei talked she could feel the movement of Rei's lips across her skin.
In the meantime, she had to continue hugging Rei until her blush faded so Wondergirl wouldn't notice it. This was already a lost cause.
"And Pilot Ikari is not my boyfriend"
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? Rei misses you. Not that anyone else noticed, but you would, if you were here like you're supposed to be.
Asuka was standing in the elevator holding Ayanami and cursing baka-Shinji.
Of course it was his fault. Who else could it have been? If he hadn't gotten himself dissolved in such a ridiculous manner this whole absurd chain of events would never have happened.
If he wasn't such an idiot, she wouldn't have had to keep such a close eye on him to make sure he didn't mess up and make her look bad.
Without that, she wouldn't have been paying much attention to Ayanami, because as leader of the elite pilots, she couldn't just pay attention to just trying to train the idiot. Misato made enough off-colour jokes as it was.
Then she wouldn't have noticed that Wondergirl was actually missing the idiot. Not that anyone else had noticed. Everyone was too busy trying to extract their precious Shinji. It didn't help that Ayanami almost never volunteered any information and only really had two and a half expressions - the blank you-are-an-interesting-bug-I-will-observe stare, the almost identical look except the stare just went through you like you didn't matter, and the slight smile she reserved entirely for interacting with the idiot.
Gott-Dammit you idiot, get your ass out here, people are waiting for you.
Another day, another seemingly endless elevator ride to the cages.
The elevators were slow, again. Rei was in her arms, again.
If the latter wasn't so comfortable, the former would be a lot more annoying.
Which brought her thoughts to something that was definitely the idiot's fault.
He considered Rei huggable, he was right for once, Rei was definitely huggable.
The problem was that the reverse was also true, Rei considered him huggable.
Rei also considered her huggable, at least going to the increasingly frequent requests.
This meant Rei might actually be accurately assessing the idiot's hugs.
'So why hasn't he hugged me like this?'
Baka-Shinji, I'm trying to take care of Rei for you, but you know you do the caring for people thing better than I do.
"Asuka?"
"Yes, Rei?"
"After Shinji returns, you should ask him to hug you"
"What?! Why?"
"You asked me how your hugs were different than his. You should have the same opportunity to compare. Perhaps it would give you the answer you seek."
"You wouldn't mind?"
"Why would I mind Asuka? You are my friend. He is my friend. Both of you provide comforting hugs. Why would I wish to deprive my friends of that same experience?"
"That wouldn't work. He'd just do it because he thought he had to. He wants to hug you. He doesn't want to hug me".
Rei squeezes Asuka gently, "You just have to ask him, as you asked me. He is quite willing".
Asuka kicks the Eva and hobbles away.
Somewhere along the way Asuka had stopped counting the days. She and Wondergirl weren't going to school. Time was measured in visits to the cages. She would leave to eat, and occasionally to sleep. If she needed to know, Rei could tell her the precise number of seconds until the next retrieval test. It was always too long.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? The nightmares are back. I. I need you.
Elevator rides with Rei's head on her shoulder their arms wrapped around each other were becoming Asuka's time for quiet contemplation.
The apartment no longer felt much like home with both Misato and the idiot missing.
The cages were a place for letting her annoyance fuel her thoughts on finding something to get the baka back that Akagi hadn't thought of yet.
There weren't any sync tests or training sessions as all the technical efforts were going into the "extract the idiot" project.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? Your girlfriend misses you.
"You are not useless," Rei murmured into her shoulder, "You are helping me. I am happy you are my friend".
Baka, don't make me come in there and get you. I'll have to kick your ass, and that'll hurt both of us.
'So why hasn't he hugged me like this?' a thought that had been interrupted by the end of a previous elevator ride occurred to her again as Rei's arms slid around her.
'Probably because if he tried I'd punch him, and he knows it.
And knowing my luck that would be one of those times synchronisation decides to provide a teaching moment.'
'but you've woken up with his arms wrapped around you' prompts a treacherous part of her brain.
'That doesn't count. He was asleep. And out of pity.'
'But it was comforting, wasn't it? or it wouldn't keep the nightmares away'
'Shut up brain'.
Suddenly even Rei's presence wasn't making the elevator ride any more tolerable.
Baka. Are you running away again? You promised you wouldn't do that any more. Of course this is the Invincible Shinji, so you're doing it in the most impressively stupid manner possible.
Asuka groaned as the elevator stopped at a floor she had not selected. The last thing she needed right now was someone else annoying her. baka-Shinji was managing to do that all by himself, without even existing.
The doors opened and Rei studied Asuka for a moment before stepping inside.
A brief tilt of the head, a deadpan "Hug?" and Asuka had her arms around Rei, Rei settling into her usual position.
Pavlov would have been proud, almost complete conditioning in just over two weeks.
Asuka could always say no. She just never did.
Baka.
Asuka stares at Misato, "What?! You're suggesting Rei just go down there and demand Shinji comes back and gives her a hug?"
Misato sighs tiredly, "Pretty much, it makes just as much sense as anything else we've tried."
"And psychological need might be the piece we're missing here. We know Evas react to strong emotions"
"But this is Rei we're talking about, the girl couldn't show strong emotion even if you ordered her to," lied Asuka.
Misato gives Asuka a look, "I'm not blind Asuka. I've seen the way Ayanami clings to you like her life depends on it when neither of you thinks anyone else can see. Don't tell me there's no depth of emotion there.".
Asuka looks down sadly, avoiding Misato's eyes, "We already tried that. I yelled. Rei asked. We even tried together. As you can see, it didn't work".
Shinji, if you don't come back soon, I'm not going to forgive you.
Asuka leaned against the elevator wall alone and sighed.
How had she gotten so used to holding Rei on the way down to the cages that the elevator felt so large and empty without her there?
Soft arms gently wrapped around her.
Asuka bolted upright.
'What the hell? Am I so far gone I'm hallucinating her now?'
She could still feel herself being hugged, but something wasn't quite right for it to be an invisible or hallucinatory Rei.
The elevator doors opened, Asuka hadn't even noticed it stop at whatever floor this was.
"Rei?"
"Are you unwell Asuka?"
Asuka just nodded and opened her arms enough for Rei to fit.
It was a moment after Rei's arms slid around her that the other hug started to fade.
Asuka didn't say anything, just gave Unit 01 a death glare(tm).
Misato is holding Shinji's empty plugsuit, staring at Unit 01 and weeping when Asuka storms past.
"Give him back you overgrown purple piece of obsolete gott verdammt scheiße." Asuka's angry voice is loud even in the cavernous room.
"I need him. Rei needs him. He's mine and you don't get to keep him. So give him back!"
Rei steps up beside her silently. Asuka doesn't need to look to know she's there.
She puts her arm around her shoulders. She puts her arm around her waist.
A moment later, She starts to climb up to the entry plug. She matches her move for move, the only differences those necessitated by their different positions.
She looks into the empty plug still half full of LCL. She steps over the edge and drops inside. She follows a moment later.
She hits the plug close sequence. She hits the override to stop the command centre from interfering.
Shinji, I love you, she says. Shinji, I miss you she says.
Yui, let him go, adds Rei.
Warmth spreads between them that has nothing to do with their close proximity to each other.
She finds herself holding a very solid and very naked Shinji. She wraps her arms around them both.
Shinji stays motionless for a moment, this feels different from his mother's hug a moment ago.
She kills the camera feed. She hits the plug eject.
Shinji blushes as he feels multiple hands on his bare skin, and his bare skin under her hands.
He doesn't need to to know who's there, but he opens his eyes to see them anyway.
"I'll yell at you later, baka-Shinji, we need to make sure you're alright first".
As the synchronisation with Rei fades, Asuka notes to herself that naked-Shinji feels very different to naked-Rei. As she disconnects from Rei's calm she notices that observation.
"Argh! Naked baka!" She shoves a startled Shinji at Rei while desperately not noticing that Shinji had been facing her.
As soon as the entry plug retracts far enough to open, Asuka sticks her head out, "Misato, pass me that plug-suit would you? We don't want the baka dying of embarrassment on the way to medical when we only just got him back"
Asuka bent down to pass back the plugsuit, carefully not turning around. Unfortunately not turning around meant not looking behind her.
Which meant that she didn't know whose face she had just planted her butt on, only that their nose was somewhere it really shouldn't be.
She decided that not knowing gave her some level of plausible deniability and started to climb out of the entry plug. Rei and Shinji could work out the logistics of getting him dressed while still in the plug without her.
Shinji's face is almost the same colour as Asuka's legs as she climbs out.
He flails at the floating plugsuit, his arms not quite working after a month of not existing at all.
"Do you require assistance Shinji?" Rei asks from right behind him.
He can feel her through the thin fabric of her plugsuit against his bare skin.
He starts to wonder if he's even going to get out of the plug before dying of embarrassment. As long as Asuka doesn't come back to check what's taking so long...
"N...N...No. I can manage. I j..ju..just need to get used to having arms again."
"Can you let go, so I can get dressed?"
"and p.pl.please turn around."
"Why?"
"I'm naked"
"I know"
Rei can feel Shinji's heart rate increasing under her hands as she lets go.
"I am here if you need assistance" she adds once she's facing away from him.
In some ways Shinji feels relieved now that he's no longer naked, but he actually felt more anxious once Ayanami was no longer touching him.
Shinji struggles as he tries to climb out of the entry plug.
"Asuka," Rei called up past him, "Assist please. His legs do not work."
"Just tell me he's decent" responded Asuka, slightly muffled as she did not look down to check herself.
"Ikari is sufficiently covered as to prevent further embarrassment"
Asuka leans down into the plug, holding herself up with one hand and extending the other to Shinji.
"Give me your hand baka, lets get you out of here"
There was something weird about the way Asuka and Ayanami were talking to each other, but at least Asuka was still calling him an idiot.
Rei and Asuka stood on opposite sides of the elevator awkwardly.
Shinji had been whisked off as soon as the medical technicians had arrived and determined he was healthy enough to move. Which they both knew without the need for an outside opinion.
"Asuka?"
"Rei?"
"May I?"
"Of course"
Once Rei was nestled against her where she belonged, "Just because baka-Shinji is back doesn't mean you can't ask me"
Several levels later.
"Asuka?"
"Rei?"
"You should let Shinji see you naked"
Asuka blinks, "What did you just say?"
"You should let Shinji see you naked"
"What the hell Rei, why should I do that?" It's difficult to be angry at Rei when she's hugging you, but Asuka manages it anyway. Anger is why her face feels warm of course.
"You have seen me naked. I have seen you naked. I have seen Shinji naked. Shinji has seen me naked. You have seen Shinji naked. He has not seen you naked. This feels. Uncomfortable."
"Wait a minute! Just now. That doesn't count. I didn't look."
"Do not attempt to lie to me Asuka"
Asuka splutters, "and before you start, it doesn't count as a hug either".
She can feel Rei smile even if she can't see it, "Then the obvious solution is for you to hug Shinji naked."
Asuka pushes Rei away, "What?!" Then she catches the smile and the eyes ... "Gott Dammit Rei."
As the doors open, something else nudges at the back of Asuka's mind. "Hey, when did he see you naked?"
She gets no answer other than Rei's back as she walks away towards the medical wing.
Primordial Soup Leftovers 1
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Primodial Soup Leftovers 1
After what felt like hours of being poked, prodded, questioned, scanned, debriefed, and tested, Shinji escaped Medical with instructions to come back the next day for more testing and later in the week with his fellow pilots for a sync test.
He wanted to go home, not the comfortable imaginary home with his mother. The real, messy, one with an annoying Asuka, Misato making inappropriate jokes, PenPen stealing beer, his own life as small and strange as it was. He wondered if Asuka and Ayanami had already gone home, there was no reason for either of them to stay around waiting just for him. He certainly didn't expect them to. Once again he found his expectations did not match reality.
Before the last fight. Before he'd ... 'left'... Asuka and Ayanami had seemed to hate each other, and Asuka barely tolerated his existence on a good day. So what were they doing outside his hospital room asleep with Rei's head on Asuka's shoulder, holding each other up? At least that was the only reason he could think of for why their arms were around each other. Maybe he could ask Ayanami about it later. Asuka was not likely to explain anything, she rarely did.
His body needed food and movement, even if he did want to stay watching this moment of calm for a while longer before everything became terrible again.
"Hi," he broke the silence cautiously. "Sorry that took so long".
He got no response.
He cautiously reached out to touch Asuka's shoulder and felt Ayanami's arm around him. Well, for better or worse, that hadn't changed, he was still picking up sensations Asuka experienced. Then he noticed the sensation of Asuka's arm around her, something he hadn't felt since sitting in front of her in the mouth of an Angel just after they met. Oh, maybe it had. What did it mean that he was picking up Ayanami feeling Asuka?
Two pairs of eyes opened simultaneously.
"Sorry," he said again, briefly wondering why Asuka did not look annoyed at him as she usually did when he apologised for anything. "Would you like to go home? I can make a real meal. I hope you haven't been living on Misato's cooking while I was ... gone".
Asuka smiled, "That's the best idea I've heard all day. Well other than the one I had for getting you out of course. In case you don't remember what I told you while you were in there, I've missed your cooking".
Shinji stared at her. "Asuka are you alright? Are you real?"
Asuka growled at him "Yes I'm real, baka-Shinji. I'm also hungry. Let's go"
Shinji sighed and followed her as she got up and walked away, pulling an unresisting Rei behind her. Whatever had happened in the last month had not only turned Asuka and Ayanami into friends, or at least made them very comfortable with each other, it had also caused Asuka to complement his cooking. Twice if her words were to be believed. And Asuka wouldn't admit to something like that even happening most of the time. What else had been said that he did not hear?
Still confused he followed them, mentally preparing a shopping list. If there was real food at the apartment he'd know this was an illusion after all.
After what felt like hours of being poked, prodded, questioned, scanned, debriefed, and tested, Shinji escaped Medical with instructions to come back the next day for more testing and later in the week with his fellow pilots for a sync test.
He wanted to go home, not the comfortable imaginary home with his mother. The real, messy, one with an annoying Asuka, Misato making inappropriate jokes, PenPen stealing beer, his own life as small and strange as it was. He wondered if Asuka and Ayanami had already gone home, there was no reason for either of them to stay around waiting just for him. He certainly didn't expect them to. Once again he found his expectations did not match reality.
Before the last fight. Before he'd ... 'left'... Asuka and Ayanami had seemed to hate each other, and Asuka barely tolerated his existence on a good day. So what were they doing outside his hospital room asleep with Rei's head on Asuka's shoulder, holding each other up? At least that was the only reason he could think of for why their arms were around each other. Maybe he could ask Ayanami about it later. Asuka was not likely to explain anything, she rarely did.
His body needed food and movement, even if he did want to stay watching this moment of calm for a while longer before everything became terrible again.
"Hi," he broke the silence cautiously. "Sorry that took so long".
He got no response.
He cautiously reached out to touch Asuka's shoulder and felt Ayanami's arm around him. Well, for better or worse, that hadn't changed, he was still picking up sensations Asuka experienced. Then he noticed the sensation of Asuka's arm around her, something he hadn't felt since sitting in front of her in the mouth of an Angel just after they met. Oh, maybe it had. What did it mean that he was picking up Ayanami feeling Asuka?
Two pairs of eyes opened simultaneously.
"Sorry," he said again, briefly wondering why Asuka did not look annoyed at him as she usually did when he apologised for anything. "Would you like to go home? I can make a real meal. I hope you haven't been living on Misato's cooking while I was ... gone".
Asuka smiled, "That's the best idea I've heard all day. Well other than the one I had for getting you out of course. In case you don't remember what I told you while you were in there, I've missed your cooking".
Shinji stared at her. "Asuka are you alright? Are you real?"
Asuka growled at him "Yes I'm real, baka-Shinji. I'm also hungry. Let's go"
Shinji sighed and followed her as she got up and walked away, pulling an unresisting Rei behind her. Whatever had happened in the last month had not only turned Asuka and Ayanami into friends, or at least made them very comfortable with each other, it had also caused Asuka to complement his cooking. Twice if her words were to be believed. And Asuka wouldn't admit to something like that even happening most of the time. What else had been said that he did not hear?
Still confused he followed them, mentally preparing a shopping list. If there was real food at the apartment he'd know this was an illusion after all.
Primordial Soup Leftovers 2
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Primodial Soup Leftovers II
Asuka watched Shinji cooking, familiar smells, familiar movements, her mind in turmoil.
Once Rei had left, she'd taken her calm with her, leaving Asuka alone with the boy she'd admitted she needed, who one of them had said she loved. As a friend? As family? As more? She wasn't sure. And even less sure she wanted to know.
"What's wrong Asuka?"
A month dissolved into LCL and he was more concerned about her. Baka.
'Nothing. Everything. Nevermind. I don't know.'
What was she supposed to say?
'I need you to hold me'?
'Rei thinks I should do that naked'?
'I need to go to bed with you so I can sleep without nightmares'?
'I need Wundergirl to hug me every day or I fall apart'?
Rei made it all seem so simple. "Just ask". 'Ha! Like that would work with baka-Shinji.' Or her. It had taken a month of Rei coming to her, consistently, reliably, and the idiot coming back before she'd risked being the one to ask Rei.
She'd just had ... two months of living with the idiot? or was it three months? Between boring school, irregular angel attacks and the lack of seasons in Japan's endless summer, it was hard to keep track of time, and the last month obviously didn't count. Two months of weird synchronisation issues. Two months of sleeping the same hours. Two months of occasionally crawling into his bed and lying next to him just to be able to sleep. Two months of watching him be better than her, but only if he was in an Eva. Two months of him cooking for her. Two months of fighting Angels together. Two months of him taking care of her. Of caring for her? He smiled at Rei. And he wouldn't even look at her. And she couldn't talk to him without calling him an idiot.
Rei was good for calm. Calm was rarely what she felt around her baka.
Her baka. She'd screamed "mine" at him, at the Eva, at probably the whole of NERV.
And the very first thing she'd done once he was back was to literally push him into Rei's arms.
"I've missed your cooking" is all she eventually said.
Asuka watched Shinji cooking, familiar smells, familiar movements, her mind in turmoil.
Once Rei had left, she'd taken her calm with her, leaving Asuka alone with the boy she'd admitted she needed, who one of them had said she loved. As a friend? As family? As more? She wasn't sure. And even less sure she wanted to know.
"What's wrong Asuka?"
A month dissolved into LCL and he was more concerned about her. Baka.
'Nothing. Everything. Nevermind. I don't know.'
What was she supposed to say?
'I need you to hold me'?
'Rei thinks I should do that naked'?
'I need to go to bed with you so I can sleep without nightmares'?
'I need Wundergirl to hug me every day or I fall apart'?
Rei made it all seem so simple. "Just ask". 'Ha! Like that would work with baka-Shinji.' Or her. It had taken a month of Rei coming to her, consistently, reliably, and the idiot coming back before she'd risked being the one to ask Rei.
She'd just had ... two months of living with the idiot? or was it three months? Between boring school, irregular angel attacks and the lack of seasons in Japan's endless summer, it was hard to keep track of time, and the last month obviously didn't count. Two months of weird synchronisation issues. Two months of sleeping the same hours. Two months of occasionally crawling into his bed and lying next to him just to be able to sleep. Two months of watching him be better than her, but only if he was in an Eva. Two months of him cooking for her. Two months of fighting Angels together. Two months of him taking care of her. Of caring for her? He smiled at Rei. And he wouldn't even look at her. And she couldn't talk to him without calling him an idiot.
Rei was good for calm. Calm was rarely what she felt around her baka.
Her baka. She'd screamed "mine" at him, at the Eva, at probably the whole of NERV.
And the very first thing she'd done once he was back was to literally push him into Rei's arms.
"I've missed your cooking" is all she eventually said.
Primordial Soup Leftovers 3: Interlude - Sleepless in Tokyo 3
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Interlude - Sleepless in Tokyo 3
It was 3 am and Shinji was still awake.
Shinji was awake because Asuka was awake.
Asuka was awake because she needed Shinji.
Asuka was awake because she needed Rei.
Asuka was awake because she needed her simpler life back.
Where the only thing she had to fear were the nightmares of her mother.
Where the only thing she had to do was make sure no one got close.
Where the only thing she had to do was be strong.
Where the only thing she had to do was be alone.
If she could sleep, she might have nightmares
If she had nightmares, she would have an excuse
If she had an excuse, she could go next door and lie next to her idiot
If she could lie next to him she wouldn't feel so alone
If she was stupid, she could ask him to hold her.
It was 3 am and Asuka was still awake
Asuka was awake because Shinji was awake
Shinji was awake because he needed Rei
Shinji was awake because he needed Asuka
Shinji was awake because he didn't want his simpler life back
Where there was nothing but watching his mother die
Where there was nothing but being abandoned by his father
Where there was nothing but ridicule for what he was
Where there was nothing but being alone.
If he could sleep, he might have nightmares
If he had nightmares, she would have an excuse
If she had an excuse, she could come and lie next to him.
If she could lie next to him she wouldn't feel so alone
If he was brave, he could ask her to hold him.
It was 4am and Asuka was asleep, alone.
It was 4am and Shinji was asleep, alone.
It was 4am and Rei was asleep, alone.
It was 3 am and Shinji was still awake.
Shinji was awake because Asuka was awake.
Asuka was awake because she needed Shinji.
Asuka was awake because she needed Rei.
Asuka was awake because she needed her simpler life back.
Where the only thing she had to fear were the nightmares of her mother.
Where the only thing she had to do was make sure no one got close.
Where the only thing she had to do was be strong.
Where the only thing she had to do was be alone.
If she could sleep, she might have nightmares
If she had nightmares, she would have an excuse
If she had an excuse, she could go next door and lie next to her idiot
If she could lie next to him she wouldn't feel so alone
If she was stupid, she could ask him to hold her.
It was 3 am and Asuka was still awake
Asuka was awake because Shinji was awake
Shinji was awake because he needed Rei
Shinji was awake because he needed Asuka
Shinji was awake because he didn't want his simpler life back
Where there was nothing but watching his mother die
Where there was nothing but being abandoned by his father
Where there was nothing but ridicule for what he was
Where there was nothing but being alone.
If he could sleep, he might have nightmares
If he had nightmares, she would have an excuse
If she had an excuse, she could come and lie next to him.
If she could lie next to him she wouldn't feel so alone
If he was brave, he could ask her to hold him.
It was 4am and Asuka was asleep, alone.
It was 4am and Shinji was asleep, alone.
It was 4am and Rei was asleep, alone.
Primodial Soup Leftovers 4
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Primodial Soup Leftovers 4
"Morning Asuka" greets Shinji placing a cup of coffee in front of her.
Even the baka isn't trying to pretend it's a good one. They both know how well each other didn't sleep. She's only awake because he is. He's only awake because he has to go down to the Geofront to get poked and prodded again.
The coffee was starting to clear the exhaustion from her brain when Shinji reached across the table to put a plate in front of her. At least she got to have his food again, even if it did contain fish. She reached out to take the plate absently. The plate dropped the last inch with a thunk as Shinji dropped it and jumped backwards.
"What was that for baka?" she snapped.
"Ssorry." Shinji was retreating to the kitchen nervously.
'Dammit'. Their fingers had almost touched as she reached for the plate. He was scared of touching her again. He'd emerged from the LCL in her arms. She'd pulled him out of the entry plug. The synchronisation backlash pain hadn't even crossed her mind. Had she changed so much in the last month? Even if they later woke up tangled in each other, it had always been nerve-wracking risking the edge of his bed. He seemed to be more afraid than he had in a long time. It probably wasn't a good idea to push the issue right now.
"Hey Shinji," she called softly, "Did they find anything?"
"Huh? Oh. The tests yesterday? Nothing obvious, and if they'd found anything urgent when they were analysing the samples they'd have called already".
There was something in the way he'd winced when he said 'samples'. What had they done to her baka while ... while she'd been asleep with Rei in the hallway. She slammed her coffee mug down on the table, then winced as she saw him jump. She was angry at who'd hurt him, and possibly herself, but not at him this time.
She tried again, "Ask them to check how old you are."
"Sure. Why?" He placed a second cup of coffee in the middle of the table, the handle towards her.
She took the cup carefully, "You practically didn't exist for a month, maybe you came back the same age as you went in. Or younger if your body is new. Especially as you don't remember anything from while you were in there". No one else would have noticed the slight tightening of his muscles when she said that, they weren't visible but she felt them. Maybe he was right to avoid touching her.
"Just fragments of my own memories from when I was younger" he answered the question she hadn't asked. "The doctors think it was just from my brain reassembling. I don't know any new german curses if that's what you're asking"
Asuka blinked at him.
"You were in my Eva, Asuka. I can't believe you were never there during the last month, and there are only so many ways even you can pronounce the word 'baka' - I'm sure you were much more inventive."
Asuka grins, "You'd be right, baka" She sees his eyes widen, 'shitshitshitshit'. No one outside her own head other than Rei had heard baka(affectionate). At least Rei hadn't heard, and he didn't remember, baka(pleading).
Asuka looks down and picks at her breakfast, "Are there enough leftovers for lunch? They probably won't let you go in time to be back"
"There'll be plenty for just you. Is there anything you want for dinner? I only picked up enough for three meals last night, so I'll stop on the way back"
She was still staring at her plate when he got up to pack the food away. She was still sitting nursing the second coffee when he left.
She was sitting at the table when Shinji got home. At least it was a different cup of coffee.
What she'd really wanted to do was go back to sleep after he'd left that morning, but she didn't dare risk it. She'd just gotten him back, for whatever that was worth, having him fall in front of a train because she'd dozed off was not acceptable. So too much coffee and too much thinking. Misato hadn't come home, she hadn't called either, not even to check on her precious Shinji last night and of course not to check on her today. Which probably meant she was off with Kaji and too busy getting fucked to care. That particular emotional quagmire had kept her occupied for a while. She didn't need either of them anyway. She didn't need anyone. Except.
"I'm home" Shinji stumbled into the apartment.
She was there to catch him before she realised she's moved. He stepped around her like she was no more than a wall or piece of furniture.
Asuka watched him, somewhat stunned. She'd seen him afraid to go near her. She'd seen him ignore her more times than she cares to count. She'd never seen him not notice she existed. He was running on autopilot, putting the groceries away, assembling the food for dinner, getting the cookware out.
"Baka stop!" Thankfully he freezes, the knife a fraction above his finger.
"Dammit. I don't know what they did to you, but you're useless like this. Go sit down and let me do this before you get hurt."
'Useless. Sit.' is all that penetrates Shinji's consciousness, so he sits at the table out of the way.
Asuka knew her cooking was no match for Shinji's but she'd helped him make this meal a dozen times, it'll be good enough, and, unlike Shinji, she had been still awake from drinking coffee half the day.
By the time they had both eaten in silence, Shinji looked a little less dead on his feet and could actually focus on Asuka.
"What happened? You've looked better after an Angel attack."
"Nothing showed up on the tests. I think they were hoping I remembered something that would help them with the Evas. The only thing I remembered they were even remotely interested in was hearing my mother talk to my father. I don't know what they were saying, but at least I remember what she sounded like now" Shinji attempted a smile. It wasn't a very successful attempt.
Asuka checked her mental "what would Shinji do? (extremely revised edition)" list.
"Why don't you go take a shower. I'll clean up. Then we can have an early night, you're tired enough for the both of us."
"Morning Asuka" greets Shinji placing a cup of coffee in front of her.
Even the baka isn't trying to pretend it's a good one. They both know how well each other didn't sleep. She's only awake because he is. He's only awake because he has to go down to the Geofront to get poked and prodded again.
The coffee was starting to clear the exhaustion from her brain when Shinji reached across the table to put a plate in front of her. At least she got to have his food again, even if it did contain fish. She reached out to take the plate absently. The plate dropped the last inch with a thunk as Shinji dropped it and jumped backwards.
"What was that for baka?" she snapped.
"Ssorry." Shinji was retreating to the kitchen nervously.
'Dammit'. Their fingers had almost touched as she reached for the plate. He was scared of touching her again. He'd emerged from the LCL in her arms. She'd pulled him out of the entry plug. The synchronisation backlash pain hadn't even crossed her mind. Had she changed so much in the last month? Even if they later woke up tangled in each other, it had always been nerve-wracking risking the edge of his bed. He seemed to be more afraid than he had in a long time. It probably wasn't a good idea to push the issue right now.
"Hey Shinji," she called softly, "Did they find anything?"
"Huh? Oh. The tests yesterday? Nothing obvious, and if they'd found anything urgent when they were analysing the samples they'd have called already".
There was something in the way he'd winced when he said 'samples'. What had they done to her baka while ... while she'd been asleep with Rei in the hallway. She slammed her coffee mug down on the table, then winced as she saw him jump. She was angry at who'd hurt him, and possibly herself, but not at him this time.
She tried again, "Ask them to check how old you are."
"Sure. Why?" He placed a second cup of coffee in the middle of the table, the handle towards her.
She took the cup carefully, "You practically didn't exist for a month, maybe you came back the same age as you went in. Or younger if your body is new. Especially as you don't remember anything from while you were in there". No one else would have noticed the slight tightening of his muscles when she said that, they weren't visible but she felt them. Maybe he was right to avoid touching her.
"Just fragments of my own memories from when I was younger" he answered the question she hadn't asked. "The doctors think it was just from my brain reassembling. I don't know any new german curses if that's what you're asking"
Asuka blinked at him.
"You were in my Eva, Asuka. I can't believe you were never there during the last month, and there are only so many ways even you can pronounce the word 'baka' - I'm sure you were much more inventive."
Asuka grins, "You'd be right, baka" She sees his eyes widen, 'shitshitshitshit'. No one outside her own head other than Rei had heard baka(affectionate). At least Rei hadn't heard, and he didn't remember, baka(pleading).
Asuka looks down and picks at her breakfast, "Are there enough leftovers for lunch? They probably won't let you go in time to be back"
"There'll be plenty for just you. Is there anything you want for dinner? I only picked up enough for three meals last night, so I'll stop on the way back"
She was still staring at her plate when he got up to pack the food away. She was still sitting nursing the second coffee when he left.
She was sitting at the table when Shinji got home. At least it was a different cup of coffee.
What she'd really wanted to do was go back to sleep after he'd left that morning, but she didn't dare risk it. She'd just gotten him back, for whatever that was worth, having him fall in front of a train because she'd dozed off was not acceptable. So too much coffee and too much thinking. Misato hadn't come home, she hadn't called either, not even to check on her precious Shinji last night and of course not to check on her today. Which probably meant she was off with Kaji and too busy getting fucked to care. That particular emotional quagmire had kept her occupied for a while. She didn't need either of them anyway. She didn't need anyone. Except.
"I'm home" Shinji stumbled into the apartment.
She was there to catch him before she realised she's moved. He stepped around her like she was no more than a wall or piece of furniture.
Asuka watched him, somewhat stunned. She'd seen him afraid to go near her. She'd seen him ignore her more times than she cares to count. She'd never seen him not notice she existed. He was running on autopilot, putting the groceries away, assembling the food for dinner, getting the cookware out.
"Baka stop!" Thankfully he freezes, the knife a fraction above his finger.
"Dammit. I don't know what they did to you, but you're useless like this. Go sit down and let me do this before you get hurt."
'Useless. Sit.' is all that penetrates Shinji's consciousness, so he sits at the table out of the way.
Asuka knew her cooking was no match for Shinji's but she'd helped him make this meal a dozen times, it'll be good enough, and, unlike Shinji, she had been still awake from drinking coffee half the day.
By the time they had both eaten in silence, Shinji looked a little less dead on his feet and could actually focus on Asuka.
"What happened? You've looked better after an Angel attack."
"Nothing showed up on the tests. I think they were hoping I remembered something that would help them with the Evas. The only thing I remembered they were even remotely interested in was hearing my mother talk to my father. I don't know what they were saying, but at least I remember what she sounded like now" Shinji attempted a smile. It wasn't a very successful attempt.
Asuka checked her mental "what would Shinji do? (extremely revised edition)" list.
"Why don't you go take a shower. I'll clean up. Then we can have an early night, you're tired enough for the both of us."
Primodial Soup Leftovers 5: It's never enough until your heart stops beating
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
It's never enough until your heart stops beating
Shinji was awake when the door opened. The synchronised sleeping meant they woke from each other's nightmares too. That hadn't changed.
He waited for Asuka to decide if she was going back to her own bed or taking her side of his own. For two people who struggled to understand each other, some things didn't need words.
The silence stretched into what seemed like minutes.
"Asuka, are you alright?"
"Baka!" Asuka snapped back in a I'd-yell-at-you-but-that-would-wake-Misato-if-she's-home tone.
"I'm standing in your doorway in the middle of the night in my underwear. I'm not fucking alright".
'I'm sorry' would make things worse. He managed not to say it.
He shuffled over and pulled back the covers, leaving the unspoken invitation there if she wanted to take it.
Asuka's shadow shook her head, "I. I can't sleep in here. Can you come to my room?"
"Are you sure?" Asuka always came to him, never the other way around.
"No." she whispered, "Don't make this any harder".
Shinji followed Asuka the few steps back to her room, somewhat confused. He was used to being confused by Asuka, but that was because Asuka was herself. This was very un-Asuka like. She was loud and demanding, not quiet and ... needy? Shinji wasn't sure and, other than waking him on cue, there was nothing helpful from the synchronisation, he could only tell where she was from the faint city light coming through the curtains.
"Get in the bed" That sounded more like Asuka. Telling him what to do. If only it didn't sound more like a plea.
Asuka crawled under the covers after him and settled with her back against his chest. Nothing happened except a whisper.
"Hold me"
Shinji tentatively put an arm around her, blushing in the dark as he tried to find the safest place to put his hand.
"Hold me like you want to, dammit"
"Sorry" he couldn't help it. "I. I. " he stammers.
"I don't want to touch you somewhere you don't want me to" he finally blurts out.
Asuka laughs, but there's a sharp bitter edge to it, "A half-naked girl asks you into her bed and you're worried about accidentally touching a boob. That's my baka".
"If you don't want to hold me, let me go and get out of my sight."
Before Shinji can interpret that as a rejection or an instruction, she adds
"If you do want to hold me, do it properly. I don't care what you touch, just fucking hold me".
Shinji wraps both arms around her, one around her waist and the other up across her so his hand is on her shoulder and he can pull her tightly against him.
After several minutes of breathing the scent of her hair and feeling her very slowly relax, Shinji risks stating a thought out loud.
"Asuka, even when the synchronisation is helping and not making things worse, I can only sometimes tell what you need. I can't work out what you want. You should know by now that I'll do whatever I can for you. But you need to actually ask".
Asuka attempts to smother a laugh with her free hand, "Damn Wündergirl" she mutters in german.
"Huh?" asks Shinji, somewhat muffled by her hair, and for once doing the sensible thing and avoiding saying anything that would put him further into that particular minefield. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Ayanami so he didn't know what was going on between them. Or if it would help him understand what was going on here in any way at all.
"Something from when you were doing your dramatic sync-rate so high I'm primordial soup thing.
Rei was moping around because she hadn't had a hug from you in over a week. So I offered her one.
After some discussion on the nature of hugs, I mentioned you never hugged me.
She said if I ever wanted one from you, I just had to ask".
Shinji smiled against her cheek in a way unlike but still similar to Rei, "Well, she was right".
Asuka snuggled back against him, "That was the day after I discovered I couldn't sleep in your room anymore"
"Oh. That explains why we're in your bed, not mine I guess" Shinji was focusing on the conversation, not the sensation of Asuka pressing against him.
"Yeah. It turns out that a week without baka hugs is enough to make Rei sad, and a week without baka's bed is enough for the nightmares to get bad again".
"I guess that it didn't go well"
"Well, I didn't have my nightmares. I had yours. I spent the rest of the night in a cold bath trying to get my skin to stop burning"
"Oh. Asama. When I can't catch you".
Asuka takes Shinji's hands and pulls him closer around her. 'Stupid baka. Has nightmares about dying in a volcano so bad it takes hours for the burning sensation to fade and the only thing he thinks of it is that he's losing me'.
"Baka-Shinji, at least you can swim now."
It takes a few moments for Shinji to follow her train of thought, the swimming lessons had been the first time heshe had felt herhis hands on hisher bare skin. Accidental touches had become even more of an emotional minefield after that for both of them and, of course, he'd never touch her on purpose unless absolutely necessary - she might have learned the hard way not to respond with physical violence but somehow that had just ramped up her volume. Yet here they were, with her insisting he do what he wanted to do but didn't dare, to just hold her when she needed it. As long as he didn't screw up.
"I didn't know Nerv even had a pool until you insisted on teaching me". Asuka had yelled at him for being an idiot diving into a volcano when he didn't know how to swim after he'd woken them both up from the same nightmare. The next day she had discovered Misato didn't know he couldn't swim. To call the ensuing discussion an argument would be to assume Misato got a word in - Asuka's rant about the complete lack of pilot training and Misato's incompetence had lasted until he put breakfast in front of her.
Shinji felt her tense. 'How was that the wrong thing to say? Once she'd gotten over being irritated she'd had me swimming in a week or so. But between my fear of water and the weird feeling each other touch each other thing, it had taken the first couple of days just for her to be able to let go of me without me drowning. How many times did she call me a pervert who was pretending to be bad so she'd have to keep touching me? Dammit. I bet that's what she's thinking and she's going to pull away any moment'.
Asuka was however having an entirely different conversation with herself. Since the swimming lessons she'd avoided physical contact with anyone - especially the idiot. Doctors couldn't be avoided but they never felt like they were touching her. Then her irritation and that damned feeling of responsibility had caused her to offer Rei a hug. Rei who'd gotten under her skin and filled a hole she didn't know she had. Rei whose words had prompted her to take the risk and ask her idiot. Her idiot who was holding her. It was different than Rei. More something that she couldn't describe. It wasn't desire, she didn't want Shinji that way any more than she did Rei. Maybe Rei was right again and I need to hug him naked. That's never going to happen. I'm already in just my underwear, that's as close as it's getting.
"Take your shirt off" she blurted before she could stop herself.
Shinji froze, not even breathing.
'Dammit, I ruined everything. I was wrong. I don't need him. I don't need...'
"Asuka," Shinji interupted her thoughts gently, "if that's what you want, but I'll have to stop holding you for a moment to do that"
'Oh. Damn.'
Asuka wrapped a leg around his, maybe that would be enough skin contact to last. "Just be quick about it baka".
That was just him doing as he was told. He wasn't deliberately caressing her skin. He wasn't leaving. She could still feel his legs. He wasn't dissolving into a puddle behind her. I can feel the fabric of his shirt moving across his skin. Good. He's doing what he was told. Hurry up and hold me again baka. I almost wish I did want you that way, then I could have you touch me everywhere and maybe it would be enough.
Shinji slowly lies back down behind Asuka and starts to carefully wrap his arms back around her.
"I said be quick" mutters Asuka as she yanks him down as soon as his hands are in reach, not caring as theirhis hand brushes across theirher breast on the way, herhistheir arms clench tightly pulling theirher back against theirhis chest, settling into almost the same position. It's better. It's not enough. It'll have to be. There's still too much fabric between them. Rei was wrong, that still wouldn't be enough. This is still far better than she ever expected of the baka. Her baka. Whatever that meant.
Despite the original intention of sleep without nightmares, it was a long time before they finally fell asleep, and even longer until they woke in exactly the same position.
They woke up at the same moment of course.
It was incredibly comfortable.
It was incredibly awkward.
Asuka let go of Shinji's hand and grasped the bedcover instead. It was bad enough he was touching her bare skin, she wasn't letting the early morning light let him see it as well. Shinji released her and moved his hands away in a slow-motion precision manoeuvre which somehow managed not to touch her on the way. It took another minute before she finally rolled off the arm which had been wrapped around her, and was now just pinned to the bed by her side, and broke contact completely.
"Get dressed baka," she says softly, "and go make me breakfast" Normally that would be an imperious order, today it's just an inevitability. "You can have the bathroom first" She knows his bladder is fuller, just like she knows exactly where he is as he pulls his shirt on and goes to the door, even with her face buried in a pillow. She needs a long shower to wash his scent off her. She needs time to decide that's what she wants to do.
'Never again' screams part of her mind.
'Get him back here right now' yells back another.
"Shinji?"
He stops and turns in the doorway, looking back at her. She can't tell what he's thinking.
"We don't talk about this.
"Of course Asuka. I.. Just promise me something?
"What?!
"Remember you can always ask.
Asuka waves him away with the hand which is not holding the covers around her, not trusting anything she might say out loud.
By the time she's out of the shower, breakfast is waiting on the table for her.
There's no sign of Misato, which is a relief, she really didn't want to deal with what Misato's reaction to last night would have been if she'd known.
There's no sign of Shinji either, which is not. His door was ajar when she went past so he wasn't there. She'd just come from the bathroom after dropping her towel and sheets in the laundry pile. Where was he? Had last night scared him as much as it had scared her? He had to know abandoning her right now was the worst thing he could do, right? No, there was a bento box on the other end of the table with a note.
A bento. Which meant school. The last thing she needed right now. Though maybe she could talk to Hikari. No, there was no way she could explain last night to Hikari. She couldn't explain it to herself.
Maybe the note explained where baka-Shinji had gone.
"Don't forget we have a sync test after school"
Was that better or worse than school? Maybe sitting in the comfort of her Eva for a few hours would help.
"Meet you outside"
Maybe he thought she needed the place to herself for a while, that was her considerate-baka, but it felt too distant. No he felt too distant. Maybe last night's synchronisation was finally fading. No, it wasn't less it was far. Where had the idiot gone? Where ever it was he better be back by the time she'd finished eating.
He wasn't.
He wasn't outside when she left for school either.
She stomped down the stairs rather than letting the slow elevator spoil her mood further.
That was probably a good thing she thought as she spotted him. Walking towards her. Holding Rei's hand and talking to her animatedly. He'd left her to go see Wundergirl? Was he utterly insane and without any sense of self-preservation? Worse was he telling her about last night? There'd be nothing left of him after she'd finished stomping him into the ground.
What happened next initially made no sense. They both spotted her at the same time. Their hands parted. Shinji didn't look guilty like he should, he smiled at her. Rei paused for a moment and then ran at her at full speed. Rei was fast. Asuka braced for impact, fearing an attack by the charging girl. Instead Rei stopped barely a foot in front of her, tilted her head in that way and simply asked "May I?".
By the time Shinji arrived, they'd been wrapped in a tight hug for several minutes, "I guess I was right"
"About what?" growled Asuka over Rei's shoulder.
"You mentioned last night," Shinji started then realised he was on very dangerous grounds, "Before you get even more angry at me, no I didn't say anything about it to Rei." He started over carefully, "You mentioned last night that Rei missed hugs while I was away. And you haven't seen each other since I got back. So I thought you both probably needed that" he nodded towards the pair of them.
'Damnit baka, you're either very lucky or smarter than I think you are'.
"I'll meet you at the gate. If I don't see you I'll tell Hikari you were delayed because of pilot business." With that, Shinji left them behind, ignoring Asuka glaring at him.
Shinji was awake when the door opened. The synchronised sleeping meant they woke from each other's nightmares too. That hadn't changed.
He waited for Asuka to decide if she was going back to her own bed or taking her side of his own. For two people who struggled to understand each other, some things didn't need words.
The silence stretched into what seemed like minutes.
"Asuka, are you alright?"
"Baka!" Asuka snapped back in a I'd-yell-at-you-but-that-would-wake-Misato-if-she's-home tone.
"I'm standing in your doorway in the middle of the night in my underwear. I'm not fucking alright".
'I'm sorry' would make things worse. He managed not to say it.
He shuffled over and pulled back the covers, leaving the unspoken invitation there if she wanted to take it.
Asuka's shadow shook her head, "I. I can't sleep in here. Can you come to my room?"
"Are you sure?" Asuka always came to him, never the other way around.
"No." she whispered, "Don't make this any harder".
Shinji followed Asuka the few steps back to her room, somewhat confused. He was used to being confused by Asuka, but that was because Asuka was herself. This was very un-Asuka like. She was loud and demanding, not quiet and ... needy? Shinji wasn't sure and, other than waking him on cue, there was nothing helpful from the synchronisation, he could only tell where she was from the faint city light coming through the curtains.
"Get in the bed" That sounded more like Asuka. Telling him what to do. If only it didn't sound more like a plea.
Asuka crawled under the covers after him and settled with her back against his chest. Nothing happened except a whisper.
"Hold me"
Shinji tentatively put an arm around her, blushing in the dark as he tried to find the safest place to put his hand.
"Hold me like you want to, dammit"
"Sorry" he couldn't help it. "I. I. " he stammers.
"I don't want to touch you somewhere you don't want me to" he finally blurts out.
Asuka laughs, but there's a sharp bitter edge to it, "A half-naked girl asks you into her bed and you're worried about accidentally touching a boob. That's my baka".
"If you don't want to hold me, let me go and get out of my sight."
Before Shinji can interpret that as a rejection or an instruction, she adds
"If you do want to hold me, do it properly. I don't care what you touch, just fucking hold me".
Shinji wraps both arms around her, one around her waist and the other up across her so his hand is on her shoulder and he can pull her tightly against him.
After several minutes of breathing the scent of her hair and feeling her very slowly relax, Shinji risks stating a thought out loud.
"Asuka, even when the synchronisation is helping and not making things worse, I can only sometimes tell what you need. I can't work out what you want. You should know by now that I'll do whatever I can for you. But you need to actually ask".
Asuka attempts to smother a laugh with her free hand, "Damn Wündergirl" she mutters in german.
"Huh?" asks Shinji, somewhat muffled by her hair, and for once doing the sensible thing and avoiding saying anything that would put him further into that particular minefield. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Ayanami so he didn't know what was going on between them. Or if it would help him understand what was going on here in any way at all.
"Something from when you were doing your dramatic sync-rate so high I'm primordial soup thing.
Rei was moping around because she hadn't had a hug from you in over a week. So I offered her one.
After some discussion on the nature of hugs, I mentioned you never hugged me.
She said if I ever wanted one from you, I just had to ask".
Shinji smiled against her cheek in a way unlike but still similar to Rei, "Well, she was right".
Asuka snuggled back against him, "That was the day after I discovered I couldn't sleep in your room anymore"
"Oh. That explains why we're in your bed, not mine I guess" Shinji was focusing on the conversation, not the sensation of Asuka pressing against him.
"Yeah. It turns out that a week without baka hugs is enough to make Rei sad, and a week without baka's bed is enough for the nightmares to get bad again".
"I guess that it didn't go well"
"Well, I didn't have my nightmares. I had yours. I spent the rest of the night in a cold bath trying to get my skin to stop burning"
"Oh. Asama. When I can't catch you".
Asuka takes Shinji's hands and pulls him closer around her. 'Stupid baka. Has nightmares about dying in a volcano so bad it takes hours for the burning sensation to fade and the only thing he thinks of it is that he's losing me'.
"Baka-Shinji, at least you can swim now."
It takes a few moments for Shinji to follow her train of thought, the swimming lessons had been the first time heshe had felt herhis hands on hisher bare skin. Accidental touches had become even more of an emotional minefield after that for both of them and, of course, he'd never touch her on purpose unless absolutely necessary - she might have learned the hard way not to respond with physical violence but somehow that had just ramped up her volume. Yet here they were, with her insisting he do what he wanted to do but didn't dare, to just hold her when she needed it. As long as he didn't screw up.
"I didn't know Nerv even had a pool until you insisted on teaching me". Asuka had yelled at him for being an idiot diving into a volcano when he didn't know how to swim after he'd woken them both up from the same nightmare. The next day she had discovered Misato didn't know he couldn't swim. To call the ensuing discussion an argument would be to assume Misato got a word in - Asuka's rant about the complete lack of pilot training and Misato's incompetence had lasted until he put breakfast in front of her.
Shinji felt her tense. 'How was that the wrong thing to say? Once she'd gotten over being irritated she'd had me swimming in a week or so. But between my fear of water and the weird feeling each other touch each other thing, it had taken the first couple of days just for her to be able to let go of me without me drowning. How many times did she call me a pervert who was pretending to be bad so she'd have to keep touching me? Dammit. I bet that's what she's thinking and she's going to pull away any moment'.
Asuka was however having an entirely different conversation with herself. Since the swimming lessons she'd avoided physical contact with anyone - especially the idiot. Doctors couldn't be avoided but they never felt like they were touching her. Then her irritation and that damned feeling of responsibility had caused her to offer Rei a hug. Rei who'd gotten under her skin and filled a hole she didn't know she had. Rei whose words had prompted her to take the risk and ask her idiot. Her idiot who was holding her. It was different than Rei. More something that she couldn't describe. It wasn't desire, she didn't want Shinji that way any more than she did Rei. Maybe Rei was right again and I need to hug him naked. That's never going to happen. I'm already in just my underwear, that's as close as it's getting.
"Take your shirt off" she blurted before she could stop herself.
Shinji froze, not even breathing.
'Dammit, I ruined everything. I was wrong. I don't need him. I don't need...'
"Asuka," Shinji interupted her thoughts gently, "if that's what you want, but I'll have to stop holding you for a moment to do that"
'Oh. Damn.'
Asuka wrapped a leg around his, maybe that would be enough skin contact to last. "Just be quick about it baka".
That was just him doing as he was told. He wasn't deliberately caressing her skin. He wasn't leaving. She could still feel his legs. He wasn't dissolving into a puddle behind her. I can feel the fabric of his shirt moving across his skin. Good. He's doing what he was told. Hurry up and hold me again baka. I almost wish I did want you that way, then I could have you touch me everywhere and maybe it would be enough.
Shinji slowly lies back down behind Asuka and starts to carefully wrap his arms back around her.
"I said be quick" mutters Asuka as she yanks him down as soon as his hands are in reach, not caring as theirhis hand brushes across theirher breast on the way, herhistheir arms clench tightly pulling theirher back against theirhis chest, settling into almost the same position. It's better. It's not enough. It'll have to be. There's still too much fabric between them. Rei was wrong, that still wouldn't be enough. This is still far better than she ever expected of the baka. Her baka. Whatever that meant.
Despite the original intention of sleep without nightmares, it was a long time before they finally fell asleep, and even longer until they woke in exactly the same position.
They woke up at the same moment of course.
It was incredibly comfortable.
It was incredibly awkward.
Asuka let go of Shinji's hand and grasped the bedcover instead. It was bad enough he was touching her bare skin, she wasn't letting the early morning light let him see it as well. Shinji released her and moved his hands away in a slow-motion precision manoeuvre which somehow managed not to touch her on the way. It took another minute before she finally rolled off the arm which had been wrapped around her, and was now just pinned to the bed by her side, and broke contact completely.
"Get dressed baka," she says softly, "and go make me breakfast" Normally that would be an imperious order, today it's just an inevitability. "You can have the bathroom first" She knows his bladder is fuller, just like she knows exactly where he is as he pulls his shirt on and goes to the door, even with her face buried in a pillow. She needs a long shower to wash his scent off her. She needs time to decide that's what she wants to do.
'Never again' screams part of her mind.
'Get him back here right now' yells back another.
"Shinji?"
He stops and turns in the doorway, looking back at her. She can't tell what he's thinking.
"We don't talk about this.
"Of course Asuka. I.. Just promise me something?
"What?!
"Remember you can always ask.
Asuka waves him away with the hand which is not holding the covers around her, not trusting anything she might say out loud.
By the time she's out of the shower, breakfast is waiting on the table for her.
There's no sign of Misato, which is a relief, she really didn't want to deal with what Misato's reaction to last night would have been if she'd known.
There's no sign of Shinji either, which is not. His door was ajar when she went past so he wasn't there. She'd just come from the bathroom after dropping her towel and sheets in the laundry pile. Where was he? Had last night scared him as much as it had scared her? He had to know abandoning her right now was the worst thing he could do, right? No, there was a bento box on the other end of the table with a note.
A bento. Which meant school. The last thing she needed right now. Though maybe she could talk to Hikari. No, there was no way she could explain last night to Hikari. She couldn't explain it to herself.
Maybe the note explained where baka-Shinji had gone.
"Don't forget we have a sync test after school"
Was that better or worse than school? Maybe sitting in the comfort of her Eva for a few hours would help.
"Meet you outside"
Maybe he thought she needed the place to herself for a while, that was her considerate-baka, but it felt too distant. No he felt too distant. Maybe last night's synchronisation was finally fading. No, it wasn't less it was far. Where had the idiot gone? Where ever it was he better be back by the time she'd finished eating.
He wasn't.
He wasn't outside when she left for school either.
She stomped down the stairs rather than letting the slow elevator spoil her mood further.
That was probably a good thing she thought as she spotted him. Walking towards her. Holding Rei's hand and talking to her animatedly. He'd left her to go see Wundergirl? Was he utterly insane and without any sense of self-preservation? Worse was he telling her about last night? There'd be nothing left of him after she'd finished stomping him into the ground.
What happened next initially made no sense. They both spotted her at the same time. Their hands parted. Shinji didn't look guilty like he should, he smiled at her. Rei paused for a moment and then ran at her at full speed. Rei was fast. Asuka braced for impact, fearing an attack by the charging girl. Instead Rei stopped barely a foot in front of her, tilted her head in that way and simply asked "May I?".
By the time Shinji arrived, they'd been wrapped in a tight hug for several minutes, "I guess I was right"
"About what?" growled Asuka over Rei's shoulder.
"You mentioned last night," Shinji started then realised he was on very dangerous grounds, "Before you get even more angry at me, no I didn't say anything about it to Rei." He started over carefully, "You mentioned last night that Rei missed hugs while I was away. And you haven't seen each other since I got back. So I thought you both probably needed that" he nodded towards the pair of them.
'Damnit baka, you're either very lucky or smarter than I think you are'.
"I'll meet you at the gate. If I don't see you I'll tell Hikari you were delayed because of pilot business." With that, Shinji left them behind, ignoring Asuka glaring at him.
Primodial Soup Leftovers 7: You can (not) synchronise
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
You can (not) synchronise
Disastrous. That was the only way to describe the first sync test after Shinji was back.
The only way fit for the official report anyway.
They were all in their Evas at the same time, as a precaution in case something went seriously wrong with Shinji's first attempt to sync since he'd returned. If necessary Unit 00 and Unit 02 could probably restrain Unit 01 between them if it went berserk. It also put them close enough that Rei and Asuka could get to Shinji fast if he started dissolving again despite the reconfigured limiters.
Everything had gone fine until the test started. The three of them had suited up, Rei had hugged Shinji and Asuka in turns outside the changing rooms, and the pilots had gotten safely into their entry plugs. All three Evas had powered up with no anomalies.
"Alright everybody," came Akagi's voice over the comms, "As planned we will take this one slowly. Asuka first, then Ayanami, then Shinji. Then we'll run through some basic tests to ensure everything's working and shut down again."
"Unit 02 online. Pilot Soryu synchronising. Threshold reached." Ibuki's tone was measured and calm until, "Synchronisation stabilised at 32%. That can't be right, Asuka's never been that low. Senpai, you need to look at this, I'm seeing 10% synchronisation with Unit 00. Asuka, not Ayanami, Ayanami is still offline"
"Shut it all down now. Reset everything and we'll try again"
Ibuki sounded more nervous the second time, "Unit 02 online. Pilot Soryu synchronising. Threshold reached. Synchronisation rising. stabilising at 68%, no sign of cross-contamination, the readings look clean".
"Ok. We can look into the earlier glitch later. Rei you're next"
"Unit 00 online. Pilot Ayanami synchronising. Threshold reached. Synchronisation stabilising at 40%. Low but viable"
"Ok Shinji, you're up next."
"Unit 01 online. Pilot Ikari synchronising. Threshold reached. Synchronisation stabilising at 64%"
"Nya! Still better than you, baka" Asuka makes a face at Shinji across the shared comm.
"Behave Soryu. This is a serious test."
"There's obviously still something wrong with the sensors if it thinks my sync ratio is that low."
"Senpai, I'm seeing that ghosting again. Asuka's showing up in both Unit 00 and Unit 01."
"Let me see, and get the Magi focused on this anomaly. I want to know if it's just a monitoring problem or not"
Moments later an alarm goes off as Maya hits the emergency eject on the pilot plugs.
"I assume there was a good reason you did that Lieutenant." snaps Akagi.
Maya brings up the last readings on the main screen, cramming multiple datasets together in a way that would only make sense to a few people in the world. Fortunately, most of those were in the room.
"That's why Senpai. Asuka dropped to 50% in 02, but the ghosting was up to 20% in 00 and 25% in 01. Rei started reading as being in 02 at 13%. I knew you were watching and you hadn't said anything, so I wasn't that worried. Then Shinji crossed the activation threshold on 02"
"Oh." There's a long pause before Akagi continues, "It looks like we have a problem with either the test equipment, the Evas or the pilots. Let's hope it's the first, so at least some of us get to sleep tonight. Shut everything down. Make sure everything is logged. Then everyone take a break while the Magi run the diagnostics and dig through the data. We'll meet back in two hours and see what we have."
"And someone go recover the pilots and get them to the infirmary. I want them all thoroughly checked out, including for any brain abnormalities. Just in case."
Disastrous. That was the only way to describe the first sync test after Shinji was back.
The only way fit for the official report anyway.
They were all in their Evas at the same time, as a precaution in case something went seriously wrong with Shinji's first attempt to sync since he'd returned. If necessary Unit 00 and Unit 02 could probably restrain Unit 01 between them if it went berserk. It also put them close enough that Rei and Asuka could get to Shinji fast if he started dissolving again despite the reconfigured limiters.
Everything had gone fine until the test started. The three of them had suited up, Rei had hugged Shinji and Asuka in turns outside the changing rooms, and the pilots had gotten safely into their entry plugs. All three Evas had powered up with no anomalies.
"Alright everybody," came Akagi's voice over the comms, "As planned we will take this one slowly. Asuka first, then Ayanami, then Shinji. Then we'll run through some basic tests to ensure everything's working and shut down again."
"Unit 02 online. Pilot Soryu synchronising. Threshold reached." Ibuki's tone was measured and calm until, "Synchronisation stabilised at 32%. That can't be right, Asuka's never been that low. Senpai, you need to look at this, I'm seeing 10% synchronisation with Unit 00. Asuka, not Ayanami, Ayanami is still offline"
"Shut it all down now. Reset everything and we'll try again"
Ibuki sounded more nervous the second time, "Unit 02 online. Pilot Soryu synchronising. Threshold reached. Synchronisation rising. stabilising at 68%, no sign of cross-contamination, the readings look clean".
"Ok. We can look into the earlier glitch later. Rei you're next"
"Unit 00 online. Pilot Ayanami synchronising. Threshold reached. Synchronisation stabilising at 40%. Low but viable"
"Ok Shinji, you're up next."
"Unit 01 online. Pilot Ikari synchronising. Threshold reached. Synchronisation stabilising at 64%"
"Nya! Still better than you, baka" Asuka makes a face at Shinji across the shared comm.
"Behave Soryu. This is a serious test."
"There's obviously still something wrong with the sensors if it thinks my sync ratio is that low."
"Senpai, I'm seeing that ghosting again. Asuka's showing up in both Unit 00 and Unit 01."
"Let me see, and get the Magi focused on this anomaly. I want to know if it's just a monitoring problem or not"
Moments later an alarm goes off as Maya hits the emergency eject on the pilot plugs.
"I assume there was a good reason you did that Lieutenant." snaps Akagi.
Maya brings up the last readings on the main screen, cramming multiple datasets together in a way that would only make sense to a few people in the world. Fortunately, most of those were in the room.
"That's why Senpai. Asuka dropped to 50% in 02, but the ghosting was up to 20% in 00 and 25% in 01. Rei started reading as being in 02 at 13%. I knew you were watching and you hadn't said anything, so I wasn't that worried. Then Shinji crossed the activation threshold on 02"
"Oh." There's a long pause before Akagi continues, "It looks like we have a problem with either the test equipment, the Evas or the pilots. Let's hope it's the first, so at least some of us get to sleep tonight. Shut everything down. Make sure everything is logged. Then everyone take a break while the Magi run the diagnostics and dig through the data. We'll meet back in two hours and see what we have."
"And someone go recover the pilots and get them to the infirmary. I want them all thoroughly checked out, including for any brain abnormalities. Just in case."
Primodial Soup Leftovers 8: Unfamiliar Feeling
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Unfamiliar Feeling
Unfamiliar ceiling.
Well, not that unfamiliar but he'd spent almost as much time in a Nerv hospital room as he had in his original room before Asuka arrived. And if you didn't count the last twenty-four hours the last time he'd seen this ceiling was a lot longer ago. Not counting the last day would certainly reduce his life to a more normal level of ... no 'normal' could be applied to very little of his life over the past months since his father's summons.
Asuka was awake of course, for some definition of awake that seemed to involve ignoring that she was using his chest as a pillow and that her long bare legs were twined around his, holding him in place.
By unspoken agreement, they were both as fully clothed as was comfortable in the summer heat. More than so once you added their combined body heat. Which explained the way Asuka's body was arced across the bed in what looked like it should be uncomfortable but apparently was not. At least Asuka's winter pyjamas had lasted a few scant seconds of consideration before ending up in the pile in the corner. It seemed she hadn't realised just how 'eternal' Japan's eternal summer was that she'd even packed them. But short of stealing a pair of plug-suits there was little possibility of sharing a bed and not touching each other. And after yesterday, he was doubting the ability of any material acting as a barrier.
By unspoken agreement ... those were the only things that seemed to work between them. Attempts at actually talking to each other generally ended in verbal barbs and withdrawing to their respective rooms, or at least him retreating into the solace of familiar music and disconnecting from the world. Sometimes it felt like it would be better if they could have physical fights - they'd be just as one-sided of course but maybe it would release the tension he could feel building up in Asuka.
The tension that seemed to be completely absent from this strange version of Asuka that was apparently so comfortable lying on him she was ignoring her growing hunger. This Asuka who had cooked him dinner and sent him to bed. This Asuka who hugged Ayanami ... no ... Rei... like her life depended on it. This Asuka that had just looked at him and said "Wrong room" when he'd headed to bed last night carrying his SDAT. This Asuka who seemed to need him for something other than his ability to cook. This Asuka who openly appreciated his ability to cook. This Asuka who'd ignored her friends - to the point Hikari was mad at her - to watch over him. Maybe he could mess up breakfast and she would call him an idiot and sound like she meant it.
Asuka's stomach grumbled, followed by Asuka herself, "Time to get up and make me breakfast, Trödler" as if she weren't still pinning him to the bed.
Eventually she rolled off and let him up. Maybe this strange Asuka would stay close enough that the only thing he'd see when he closed his eyes was the inside of his own eyelids. He wasn't holding any hope that this would be the case.
Notes: Trödler = slow poke, lazy
Unfamiliar ceiling.
Well, not that unfamiliar but he'd spent almost as much time in a Nerv hospital room as he had in his original room before Asuka arrived. And if you didn't count the last twenty-four hours the last time he'd seen this ceiling was a lot longer ago. Not counting the last day would certainly reduce his life to a more normal level of ... no 'normal' could be applied to very little of his life over the past months since his father's summons.
Asuka was awake of course, for some definition of awake that seemed to involve ignoring that she was using his chest as a pillow and that her long bare legs were twined around his, holding him in place.
By unspoken agreement, they were both as fully clothed as was comfortable in the summer heat. More than so once you added their combined body heat. Which explained the way Asuka's body was arced across the bed in what looked like it should be uncomfortable but apparently was not. At least Asuka's winter pyjamas had lasted a few scant seconds of consideration before ending up in the pile in the corner. It seemed she hadn't realised just how 'eternal' Japan's eternal summer was that she'd even packed them. But short of stealing a pair of plug-suits there was little possibility of sharing a bed and not touching each other. And after yesterday, he was doubting the ability of any material acting as a barrier.
By unspoken agreement ... those were the only things that seemed to work between them. Attempts at actually talking to each other generally ended in verbal barbs and withdrawing to their respective rooms, or at least him retreating into the solace of familiar music and disconnecting from the world. Sometimes it felt like it would be better if they could have physical fights - they'd be just as one-sided of course but maybe it would release the tension he could feel building up in Asuka.
The tension that seemed to be completely absent from this strange version of Asuka that was apparently so comfortable lying on him she was ignoring her growing hunger. This Asuka who had cooked him dinner and sent him to bed. This Asuka who hugged Ayanami ... no ... Rei... like her life depended on it. This Asuka that had just looked at him and said "Wrong room" when he'd headed to bed last night carrying his SDAT. This Asuka who seemed to need him for something other than his ability to cook. This Asuka who openly appreciated his ability to cook. This Asuka who'd ignored her friends - to the point Hikari was mad at her - to watch over him. Maybe he could mess up breakfast and she would call him an idiot and sound like she meant it.
Asuka's stomach grumbled, followed by Asuka herself, "Time to get up and make me breakfast, Trödler" as if she weren't still pinning him to the bed.
Eventually she rolled off and let him up. Maybe this strange Asuka would stay close enough that the only thing he'd see when he closed his eyes was the inside of his own eyelids. He wasn't holding any hope that this would be the case.
Notes: Trödler = slow poke, lazy
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Primodial Soup Leftovers 9
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Primodial Soup Leftovers 9
"Hey Shin-man, good to see you back" Toji called as he settled into the seat next to Shinji.
"You alright? All we hear is that you're in hospital and not allowed visitors. Red's nowhere to be seen either, though Miss Misato told Hikari she was fine."
Shinji is spinning a pencil between his fingers, a motion that's mirrored with a pen by Asuka as she walks over from several desks away.
"What happened? It's been a month since the last Angel, normally you're back on your feet in no time."
"You sure you should be back? I don't see no bandages or shit, but you look terrible"
Shinji's pencil snaps. Asuka doesn't notice the ink spreading across her fingers.
"Leave him alone stooge" snaps Asuka, putting herself between Toji and Shinji.
"He can talk for himself, he don't need you interfering..." Toji trails off as Asuka, rather than picking the fight she seemed to want, simply turns her back on him.
Asuka crouches in front of Shinji so she's looking up at him and places her hand on the desk next to, but very carefully not touching, his. "Hey baka?" she asks softly, "You need to go home?"
After a moment he shakes his head. "Better to be around people"
"And Toji means well, he just doesn't know how to be quiet about it. How would you feel if one of your friends ..." Shinji finally notices that Asuka is staring at him, practically daring him to finish that sentence.
Asuka sighs, "Well, just let Rei or I know if you need to go. We'll get you out of here"
She turns back to Toji and looks over to include Kensuke in her glare as well, "No, he's not well. He's been unconscious for most of the last month. He'll talk to you when he's ready. Just make sure you're there when he is."
As Asuka strides back to her desk, Toji and Kensuke look at each other, "What the hell just happened?" "Beats me".
"Hey Shin-man, good to see you back" Toji called as he settled into the seat next to Shinji.
"You alright? All we hear is that you're in hospital and not allowed visitors. Red's nowhere to be seen either, though Miss Misato told Hikari she was fine."
Shinji is spinning a pencil between his fingers, a motion that's mirrored with a pen by Asuka as she walks over from several desks away.
"What happened? It's been a month since the last Angel, normally you're back on your feet in no time."
"You sure you should be back? I don't see no bandages or shit, but you look terrible"
Shinji's pencil snaps. Asuka doesn't notice the ink spreading across her fingers.
"Leave him alone stooge" snaps Asuka, putting herself between Toji and Shinji.
"He can talk for himself, he don't need you interfering..." Toji trails off as Asuka, rather than picking the fight she seemed to want, simply turns her back on him.
Asuka crouches in front of Shinji so she's looking up at him and places her hand on the desk next to, but very carefully not touching, his. "Hey baka?" she asks softly, "You need to go home?"
After a moment he shakes his head. "Better to be around people"
"And Toji means well, he just doesn't know how to be quiet about it. How would you feel if one of your friends ..." Shinji finally notices that Asuka is staring at him, practically daring him to finish that sentence.
Asuka sighs, "Well, just let Rei or I know if you need to go. We'll get you out of here"
She turns back to Toji and looks over to include Kensuke in her glare as well, "No, he's not well. He's been unconscious for most of the last month. He'll talk to you when he's ready. Just make sure you're there when he is."
As Asuka strides back to her desk, Toji and Kensuke look at each other, "What the hell just happened?" "Beats me".
Primodial Soup Leftovers 10: Lunchtime
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Primodial Soup Leftovers 10: Lunchtime
Rei smiled at him as he sat down next to her and handed over her lunch bento.
They ate in silence until Shinji finally spoke up, "What happened while I was away?"
"Can you be more specific? You were dissolved in Unit 01 for 29 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes and 3 seconds. Many things happened during that time."
"Between you and Asuka. Before you barely tolerated each other. Earlier I couldn't have separated you with an Eva and a sonic glaive."
"I spent a cumulative 18 days, 2 hours, 19 minutes and 8 seconds with Asuka between discovering your high synchronisation rate had caused your dissolution and your reconstitution. We could not replace Asuka if you attempted using a glaive as leverage, so please do not do so."
Shinji attempted a more specific question, "What started it?"
Rei moved over and rested her head on Shinji's shoulder, "I missed you"
Shinji wrapped an arm around her shoulder, then when Rei did not continue asked, "I'm sorry. What happened then? I mean what happened next that brought you closer?"
"Asuka noticed. I do not know how. My demeanour had not changed but she accused me of "moping". Then she asked if I missed hugging you, though she once more incorrectly referred to you as my boyfriend. I did. I missed many other things, but that is the one she asked about. Then she insisted on hugging me. This was peculiar, she does not touch anyone unnecessarily. The hug was not like yours. However it did seem to comfort us both. So I tricked her into hugging for a longer period"
Shinji laughed, "You tricked her?"
"Correct. She asked if your hugs were better. Then she asked if her hugs were better. I stated that I required a minute before I would tell her."
"You fooled her with that? Was she feeling alright? Obviously they aren't better, just different. Each hug is different, it doesn't necessarily make one person's better or worse. Unless you don't want one. Or it hurts."
"Yes. I do not believe she was. She was greatly concerned for you but attempting not to admit this to herself. I told her a similar thing about the nature of hugs, although it required many more words".
Shinji wrapped his other arm around Rei's waist. Probably the sort of thing that caused Asuka to call him Ayanami's boyfriend, but right now he didn't care. Rei had missed him. Rei had missed him hugging her. He could at least do that much.
"And this happened more than once, I'm guessing?
"You are correct. Asuka stated that if I desired another hug I just needed to ask her.
Shinji smiled into Rei's hair, "Somehow I don't think she thought that through. How often did you ask?"
"A minimum of once and a maximum of twelve times in a twenty-four hour period. We met in the elevator on the way down to the Eva cages at least once a day. That appeared to be her preferred location for extended hugging."
"Those elevators are slow. Those must have been some long hugs"
"I would like equally long hugs from you. Unfortunately the bell is about to ring for class in 27 seconds. Would you be available this evening? We could share a meal. That is also something I have missed."
"Sure," Shinji replied as the bell rang.
Rei smiled at him as he sat down next to her and handed over her lunch bento.
They ate in silence until Shinji finally spoke up, "What happened while I was away?"
"Can you be more specific? You were dissolved in Unit 01 for 29 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes and 3 seconds. Many things happened during that time."
"Between you and Asuka. Before you barely tolerated each other. Earlier I couldn't have separated you with an Eva and a sonic glaive."
"I spent a cumulative 18 days, 2 hours, 19 minutes and 8 seconds with Asuka between discovering your high synchronisation rate had caused your dissolution and your reconstitution. We could not replace Asuka if you attempted using a glaive as leverage, so please do not do so."
Shinji attempted a more specific question, "What started it?"
Rei moved over and rested her head on Shinji's shoulder, "I missed you"
Shinji wrapped an arm around her shoulder, then when Rei did not continue asked, "I'm sorry. What happened then? I mean what happened next that brought you closer?"
"Asuka noticed. I do not know how. My demeanour had not changed but she accused me of "moping". Then she asked if I missed hugging you, though she once more incorrectly referred to you as my boyfriend. I did. I missed many other things, but that is the one she asked about. Then she insisted on hugging me. This was peculiar, she does not touch anyone unnecessarily. The hug was not like yours. However it did seem to comfort us both. So I tricked her into hugging for a longer period"
Shinji laughed, "You tricked her?"
"Correct. She asked if your hugs were better. Then she asked if her hugs were better. I stated that I required a minute before I would tell her."
"You fooled her with that? Was she feeling alright? Obviously they aren't better, just different. Each hug is different, it doesn't necessarily make one person's better or worse. Unless you don't want one. Or it hurts."
"Yes. I do not believe she was. She was greatly concerned for you but attempting not to admit this to herself. I told her a similar thing about the nature of hugs, although it required many more words".
Shinji wrapped his other arm around Rei's waist. Probably the sort of thing that caused Asuka to call him Ayanami's boyfriend, but right now he didn't care. Rei had missed him. Rei had missed him hugging her. He could at least do that much.
"And this happened more than once, I'm guessing?
"You are correct. Asuka stated that if I desired another hug I just needed to ask her.
Shinji smiled into Rei's hair, "Somehow I don't think she thought that through. How often did you ask?"
"A minimum of once and a maximum of twelve times in a twenty-four hour period. We met in the elevator on the way down to the Eva cages at least once a day. That appeared to be her preferred location for extended hugging."
"Those elevators are slow. Those must have been some long hugs"
"I would like equally long hugs from you. Unfortunately the bell is about to ring for class in 27 seconds. Would you be available this evening? We could share a meal. That is also something I have missed."
"Sure," Shinji replied as the bell rang.
Primodial Soup Leftovers 11: No one expects the Hikari Inquisition
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
No one expects the Hikari Inquisition
Asuka opened the door to find Hikari and Toji on her doorstep.
"Hikari! Jock-Stooge! What are you doing here?" Shinji would have noticed how false her cheer was and be already brewing tea. Hikari didn't appear to notice, and the stooge was as observant as a brick.
"Hi Red, we brought your roommate back"
For a split second Asuka thinks it's Shinji and a cycle of puzzlement, confusion, concern and alarm flashes by before her mind catches up with her emotions and realises there's only one 'person' any of them would call her roommate rather than something else.
"Hi, PenPen" she greets the bird as Toji helps it out of the oversized backpack he's carrying.
PenPen looks up at her, pecks her ankle and pushes past her inside. "Welcome home, I guess"
"Later, Red" Toji turns and leaves, leaving Hikari on her doorstep.
After a moment Asuka realises Hikari isn't going with him and sighs, "You better come in out of the heat".
Hikari looks around as Asuka goes to fetch her a cold drink. "Shinji's not home?"
"No, he's over at Rei's, cooking or making out or something"
Hikari ignores Asuka's casual tone and tries to decide which line of conversation to risk. There were days she enjoyed verbally sparing with Asuka. She was reasonably sure this wasn't going to be one of them. "Cooking?"
"You know how good his cooking is, right?"
"Asuka, given the way you defend your lunch bentos, everyone knows how good his cooking is. Even if they haven't had the pleasure of actually eating any. It's one of the few things he knows he's good at."
"You know how he's always so non-committal and apologetic and wouldn't criticise a fly for landing on his face." Hikari raises an eyebrow.
"Well, I asked him one day why he made Wundergirl lunch every day, even if he didn't know if she'd be there. I'm expecting some apologetic crap he can barely stammer out. Except he looks at me, 'Asuka' he says, " and Hikari recognises the tone that Asuka is mimicking even if Asuka herself doesn't, "'I've seen what she eats at home. It's like Misato,'" Asuka pauses for dramatic effect, "'except bland' and he sounded so disgusted and outraged that I laughed. Then he threatened not to make my lunch. And I asked why, if it was really that bad - we've both experienced Misato's "cooking" - he was only making her lunch. Which shut him up so I could enjoy my food before class started."
Hikari knew her friend well enough to know there were definitely things left out of that description.
"Anyway," Asuka continued, "now he goes over there every so often and makes a bunch of meals for her so she has something edible. Apparently he's tried to teach her, but he doesn't use recipes and it hasn't gone well. I suspect she's not trying very hard because she wants him to keep cooking for her. Which is stupid as all she'd need to do is ask and he'd do whatever she wants. Obviously she's completely out of anything remotely edible, what with him having been gone for a month, so they left school together."
"So, I have you all to myself and we can catch up?"
"You mean you want to brag and tell me what Toji was doing at your place other than picking up a penguin" snarked Asuka.
"Well, yes" blushed Hikari, "but mostly I'm worried about you."
"Worried?" Asuka looks startled.
"Yes, worried about my friend" snaps Hikari.
"The first time I know anything is wrong is when I get a call from Miss Katsuragi. 'Shinji's been hurt. Asuka's being kept for observation. Can you look after PenPen for a bit?' Except "a bit" was over a month. Ayanami disappeared completely. I didn't hear anything from you for two weeks and then all I got was 'He's still alive'. You could all have been dead and I wouldn't know. Then you come back acting like nothing had happened, except Ayanami is giving you that contented smile she uses for Shinji and Shinji is acting like his mother just died.
Hikari saw the expression on Asuka's face and realised she'd made a big mistake. She just didn't know how big.
For a moment she thought Asuka was going to hit her in a blind rage, then she watched her friend collapse in on herself and that was even more frightening.
"Do not ever mention our mothers ever again. Especially his."
Hikari knew that whatever had happened to Asuka's mother was bad enough Asuka whimpered in her sleep and woke up from nightmares in the middle of the night. What had happened to Shinji's mother that Asuka thought it was even worse? She'd never shared a room with Shinji, obviously, but if his nightmares were as bad they probably woke each other up frequently.
After Hikari's nod in acceptance, the silence dragged on. If it had been one of her sisters, Hikari would have held them for as long as it took. But their mother's death provoked sadness, not night terrors and rage. She didn't know what to do for her friend. Eventually she decided that the loaded silence was worse.
"I know a lot of it is probably classified, but is there anything you can safely tell me?" Hikari tried to choose her words carefully, giving Asuka as much room as possible to both share and withhold whatever she needed. The word "safe" was doing a lot of heavy lifting.
It takes a while for Asuka to answer her.
"Shinji wasn't in the hospital. That's why no one could visit. Something "classified" happened during the last attack and he was trapped in his Eva. The only thing keeping him alive was the Eva's life support system. Those are only designed to keep you alive for a few hours. Long enough for a fight and for recovery afterwards." Asuka knows exactly how long, even if she hadn't already had the spec memorised, she'd counted them down to the last second twice now.
"Hours?" prompted Hikari.
"Hours. Then days. Then weeks. Akagi's a bitch, but she's a brilliant bitch, and she's got Ibuki and multiple supercomputers. I grew up with my Eva, but she's worked with his almost as long. I only caught a couple of things that she missed. All I could do was double-check the technicians for any mistakes and make sure Rei didn't fall apart.
'Rei. Not Wondergirl. Not First.' Asuka was holding back a lot that probably wasn't classified. Ayanami was one of Asuka's few exceptions to her "call everyone by their first name, Japanese sensibilities are stupid" approach. And she'd just offhandedly mentioned noticing things that the head researcher at Nerv, her staff and several supercomputers had missed. What had happened to her boastful friend?
"And you looking after Rei meant you couldn't call your best friend to let her know you were alive?"
Hikari had all but given up trying to predict how this conversation was going to go. Shinji would have been apologetic. Her sisters would have given a long excuse as to why phones didn't work. Asuka, Asuka screamed at her.
"They gave up on him. They were just going to let him go. Too much time. Too much money. They were going to put his plug into storage and find another pilot. I couldn't let them do that. They can't replace my baka."
Hikari barely heard Asuka's whisper, "He wouldn't even be dead, just 'missing'. As if they didn't know where he was. As if I didn't know where he was".
Asuka was much more subdued when she continued, "So no, I didn't call you. I didn't call anyone. I had to make sure we got him back. I had to make sure his girlfriend was still alive when they did."
For a moment Hikari wasn't sure if Asuka was talking about Ayanami or herself there. Things were obviously a lot worse than she'd known, and far more complicated. Asuka had been calling Ayanami Shinji's girlfriend for a long time, no one had taken it as anything other than Asuka teasing Shinji. It was obvious to everyone, except perhaps them, that Asuka and Shinji were a couple. But Asuka sounded deadly serious, literally.
Diversion or conversation killer, take your pick, "I thought she was the wife and you were the girlfriend?"
Asuka stared at her, "Oh no. You're not getting me this time Hikari. Not that I could get between them if I wanted to. Which I don't."
"I'm not so sure about that, it sounds to me like between them is exactly the position you want to be in" Hikari smiled suggestively.
Asuka blinked and asked in a sugary tone Kaji would have recognised instantly, "So tell me, Hikari-dear, does Toji get any bigger than when he's freezing his balls off mooning me on the deck of an aircraft carrier?"
Hikari covered her mouth and blushed furiously - diversion but certainly not in the direction she wanted. "He didn't?"
Asuka grinned, "He did. The three of them came out to the carrier fleet bringing my Eva over. Misato brought Shinji to meet me for some reason, why that couldn't have waited I don't know. Anyway, he dragged the other stooges with him. Kensuke was beside himself of course. So they're walking across the deck towards me when the wind blows my dress up and they all get a free panty shot. Aida is too busy drooling over some ancient aircraft, Shinji lies and says he doesn't notice, Toji decides to pay me a 'viewing fee' by reciprocating."
Hikari groans, "That's such a Toji thing to do. Though Shinji wasn't lying."
Asuka looks confused, "What makes you say that about the pervert? Of course he was looking"
"Asuka, Shinji is the least perverted boy I know. Toji could probably tell me what colour your panties were. Shinji told me how proud you looked and how the angle of the sun made your eyes seem an even more brilliant shade of blue."
While Asuka is having her perspective on Shinji rearranged again, Hikari is pondering how much to share with her friend. Asuka had been the one to break the ice between her and Toji, and she certainly couldn't talk to anyone else in class about it - some of the girls might have more experience, but she was the Class Rep and had to keep up appearances. She couldn't talk to her older sister about it without another uncomfortable conversation. Asuka might tease her mercilessly, but she would listen and she wouldn't tell anyone. She might talk to Shinji about a lot of things, but this was never going to be one of them.
"And to answer your question," Hikari makes a gesture with her hands.
Asuka looks at her for a moment before realising what the gesture means, "Oh. Definitely larger then. Smaller than Shinji though" she replies casually.
Hikari does not know what to do with that information. She waits for Asuka's brain to catch up with what her mouth just said.
Asuka sighs and looks almost sad "I'm sure you found out in a much more enjoyable way than I did."
"Shinji's no good in bed? I'd have thought he'd be very considerate."
"Shinji's perfectly fine in bed, when he's not too afraid to touch me."
"Asuka, are you winding me up again or are you really sleeping with Shinji?
"I'm not this time, his hands are distracting me. Of course I sleep with him, it's the only way I get any rest."
Hikari stands, deliberately scraping the chair across the floor noisily, "Asuka, if you can't stop daydreaming about Shinji I'm going home".
Asuka jolts at the noise, "What? Huh?" then replays the last few minutes of conversation. "Shit. It's not like that."
Hikari sits back down, "So tell me what it is like?"
Asuka gets up and gets a fresh drink, wishing Misato's beer was even remotely drinkable and settling for a coke instead.
"Cooking"
"Sex with Shinji is like cooking?" Hikari looks confused.
Asuka manages not to spit her drink all over Hikari, but it's a close call. "What? No! I've never had sex with Shinji. I never want to have sex with Shinji".
"Well, if you don't want me to draw the obvious conclusions from your words, you'll have to be a little clearer."
Asuka sighs, "You've seen us cooking together. Perfect synchronisation. I chop. He stirs. He reaches past me to grab some spices. I step behind him to drop the vegetables in the bowl next to the pan so he can add them. He nudges the cutting board the moment the knife gets too close to my fingers. We work very close to each other and we never touch."
"Never? When I cook with my sisters we're always bumping into each other, grabbing for the same pan at the same time, and so on."
"We don't because we know precisely where each other is. He nudges the cutting board because he's felt how close the knife is, not because he knows I'm sometimes careless when I'm cutting, he's busy - he's not even looked my way. No one really notices because it just looks like we're well coordinated from when we had to do everything together for that Angel. No one notices that we don't touch because of course we do, how would we avoid it?
"We avoid it because sometimes it hurts."
Asuka reaches out and puts her hand on Hikari's lightly. "Feel that? Pleasant? Gentle? What happens if I double it?" She presses a little harder, "And again?" Hikari starts to look uncomfortable. "How many times until it hurts? How many times until I start breaking your bones? How many times before your bones are dust?" Hikari is looking scared by the time Asuka pulls her hand away.
"Now imagine you went to hug your little sister and half the time it would be a happy hug, and half the time it felt like your bones were shattering before she'd finished putting her arms around you. And you'd never know which until you tried. How long would it take before you stopped hugging your sister no matter how much either of you wanted one? What if she fell and scraped her knee and you had to call someone else because you were afraid to touch her?
"Now imagine waking up from a nap and seeing your sisters cuddling on the couch asleep. How do you feel watching them? Imagine your little sister waking up and running towards you. Are you going to hug her? Or flinch and move out of the way? How's she going to react?
"That enough of a nightmare for you?
"That's the risk I take when I go to lie on the edge of Shinji's bed. That's the risk he takes when he lets me. Because we discovered that if we are both asleep at the time we touch, it doesn't happen. If we can do that then the worse nightmares don't happen. And we always wake up at the same time, so we can coordinate letting go without accidentally touching again.
"So this started when you were doing that dance training?" asks Hikari before Asuka can get lost in thought again.
"No, not until later. That really was all timing and practice. It had to work when we were attacking the Angel with giant robots and half a kilometre between us. The close proximity synchronisation like the cooking thing wouldn't be enough."
"Not that distance seems to have been a problem for a while," Asuka added in a tone that could have been bitter, sad or wistful.
"How do you know?"
"I felt it when the baka got to Rei's because she hugged him. And I was distracted by his hands because he was chopping vegetables and I could feel the motion. It's faded now, but that doesn't seem to be dependent on range, there's no pattern to it that either of us has found."
"If it didn't start when you were trying to synchronise, when did it happen?"
"When I kissed him."
Hikari looks stunned, "You mean when you spent two days at my place upset because you'd tried to kiss him and it had gone badly?"
Asuka looks sad, "I mean the least painful part of that encounter was him throwing me across the room and landing on my arse."
"Wait? He threw you all the way across the room? And that was the best part?"
"Why do you think it took me two days to be willing to go back? I'm not some melodramatic hormonal teenager."
Hikari just looks at her.
Asuka rolls her eyes, "That's good coming from miss 'my best friend is having my crush's secret lovechild'. I still haven't come up with a way to top that yet."
Ignoring the barb, Hikari continues "And I thought he'd just rejected you"
"Well, you have to admit that was a pretty convincing rejection at the time".
"Anyway, when I went back he was just normal Shinji, apologising for everything and saying he just wanted it to stop hurting like the coward he is. It took Rei explaining it to me before I understood what he actually meant. Just like Rei isn't afraid of dying, Shinji isn't afraid of physical pain - he gets his arm ripped off by an Angel and just keeps going despite how much it hurts - so it wasn't his pain he wanted to stop, it was mine, he was just faster than me to react.
Hikari studies her friend for a moment. She's heard Shinji mention that fighting in an Eva hurts, and Toji's description of Shinji seeming almost an entirely different person when he shared the Eva with him. Asuka's description of it ... she didn't say 'having the Eva's arm ripped off' she said 'his' as if all the pain was felt by Shinji. And Asuka was so casual about her possibly-boyfriend being hurt, and Shinji made it seem like it was just something to deal with, like math homework. What did that say about either of them? What could she possibly do for her friends in the face of that?
"So you know Shinji's bigger than Toji because you sleep with him? Shinji I mean!"
Asuka grumbles, "No, it's more embarrassing than that."
"More embarrassing than falling asleep on the couch after a movie and waking up with your boyfriend's erection pressed against your butt?"
"Well, now I know how you know about Toji," Asuka teases, "but no it's synchronisation weirdness again."
"Oh, like you can feel pain as well as position?"
Asuka looks at her questioningly.
"Shinji mentioned it once. How when one of you hurts the other sometimes feels it."
"Position, pain, pressure, texture. No sight or sound thank gott, we aren't forced to watch each other shower. No taste or smell either. No thoughts, involuntary telepathy would be even worse than feeling each other pee.
"So I know how big he is for the same reason he asked Misato to take me bra shopping.
Hikari laughs, "He did that? That sounds as much like Shinji as Toji mooning you in payback".
"He asked her not to tell me of course, but it's Misato, there's no way she could resist. Fortunately, it was 'I do all the laundry and her bras are getting worn and she's not replaced them herself' and not 'the band's hurting my ribcage and her nipples are chafing in the heat'. Thankfully Misato found it easier to believe that I didn't want to go shopping than that Shinji somehow knew how uncomfortable most of my bras had become."
"Well, I think it's great you can talk with him about things like that.
Asuka stares at her, "What? You think I've said any of this to baka-Shinji? Weren't you listening? We know things about each other because we have no choice, not because we talk."
"Asuka, I know I can't know what it's like for you. In some ways you're already closer to him than I'll ever be able to be with Toji. In others you may as well still be in Germany for all the difference it seems to make. So please, work out how to talk to each other. Before you learn what you have by discovering what you've lost.
"Wark!" agrees PenPen.
"So where is Miss Katsuragi anyway?"
"Some special assignment according to Frau Doctor. Which just happened to start the day baka-Shinji got back. I haven't been able to reach Kaji either... " Asuka trails off, leaving the assorted possible implications unsaid.
"So it's just me and the idiot for at least a few days more, if you and your stooge wanted to come for dinner."
"Wark!" notes PenPen impatiently.
"I think that's your cue to feed poor PenPen, and mine to go and feed my sisters."
Hikari hugs her friend briefly. "I'll get back to you on dinner. I don't know Dad's schedule for the rest of the week yet."
Asuka opened the door to find Hikari and Toji on her doorstep.
"Hikari! Jock-Stooge! What are you doing here?" Shinji would have noticed how false her cheer was and be already brewing tea. Hikari didn't appear to notice, and the stooge was as observant as a brick.
"Hi Red, we brought your roommate back"
For a split second Asuka thinks it's Shinji and a cycle of puzzlement, confusion, concern and alarm flashes by before her mind catches up with her emotions and realises there's only one 'person' any of them would call her roommate rather than something else.
"Hi, PenPen" she greets the bird as Toji helps it out of the oversized backpack he's carrying.
PenPen looks up at her, pecks her ankle and pushes past her inside. "Welcome home, I guess"
"Later, Red" Toji turns and leaves, leaving Hikari on her doorstep.
After a moment Asuka realises Hikari isn't going with him and sighs, "You better come in out of the heat".
Hikari looks around as Asuka goes to fetch her a cold drink. "Shinji's not home?"
"No, he's over at Rei's, cooking or making out or something"
Hikari ignores Asuka's casual tone and tries to decide which line of conversation to risk. There were days she enjoyed verbally sparing with Asuka. She was reasonably sure this wasn't going to be one of them. "Cooking?"
"You know how good his cooking is, right?"
"Asuka, given the way you defend your lunch bentos, everyone knows how good his cooking is. Even if they haven't had the pleasure of actually eating any. It's one of the few things he knows he's good at."
"You know how he's always so non-committal and apologetic and wouldn't criticise a fly for landing on his face." Hikari raises an eyebrow.
"Well, I asked him one day why he made Wundergirl lunch every day, even if he didn't know if she'd be there. I'm expecting some apologetic crap he can barely stammer out. Except he looks at me, 'Asuka' he says, " and Hikari recognises the tone that Asuka is mimicking even if Asuka herself doesn't, "'I've seen what she eats at home. It's like Misato,'" Asuka pauses for dramatic effect, "'except bland' and he sounded so disgusted and outraged that I laughed. Then he threatened not to make my lunch. And I asked why, if it was really that bad - we've both experienced Misato's "cooking" - he was only making her lunch. Which shut him up so I could enjoy my food before class started."
Hikari knew her friend well enough to know there were definitely things left out of that description.
"Anyway," Asuka continued, "now he goes over there every so often and makes a bunch of meals for her so she has something edible. Apparently he's tried to teach her, but he doesn't use recipes and it hasn't gone well. I suspect she's not trying very hard because she wants him to keep cooking for her. Which is stupid as all she'd need to do is ask and he'd do whatever she wants. Obviously she's completely out of anything remotely edible, what with him having been gone for a month, so they left school together."
"So, I have you all to myself and we can catch up?"
"You mean you want to brag and tell me what Toji was doing at your place other than picking up a penguin" snarked Asuka.
"Well, yes" blushed Hikari, "but mostly I'm worried about you."
"Worried?" Asuka looks startled.
"Yes, worried about my friend" snaps Hikari.
"The first time I know anything is wrong is when I get a call from Miss Katsuragi. 'Shinji's been hurt. Asuka's being kept for observation. Can you look after PenPen for a bit?' Except "a bit" was over a month. Ayanami disappeared completely. I didn't hear anything from you for two weeks and then all I got was 'He's still alive'. You could all have been dead and I wouldn't know. Then you come back acting like nothing had happened, except Ayanami is giving you that contented smile she uses for Shinji and Shinji is acting like his mother just died.
Hikari saw the expression on Asuka's face and realised she'd made a big mistake. She just didn't know how big.
For a moment she thought Asuka was going to hit her in a blind rage, then she watched her friend collapse in on herself and that was even more frightening.
"Do not ever mention our mothers ever again. Especially his."
Hikari knew that whatever had happened to Asuka's mother was bad enough Asuka whimpered in her sleep and woke up from nightmares in the middle of the night. What had happened to Shinji's mother that Asuka thought it was even worse? She'd never shared a room with Shinji, obviously, but if his nightmares were as bad they probably woke each other up frequently.
After Hikari's nod in acceptance, the silence dragged on. If it had been one of her sisters, Hikari would have held them for as long as it took. But their mother's death provoked sadness, not night terrors and rage. She didn't know what to do for her friend. Eventually she decided that the loaded silence was worse.
"I know a lot of it is probably classified, but is there anything you can safely tell me?" Hikari tried to choose her words carefully, giving Asuka as much room as possible to both share and withhold whatever she needed. The word "safe" was doing a lot of heavy lifting.
It takes a while for Asuka to answer her.
"Shinji wasn't in the hospital. That's why no one could visit. Something "classified" happened during the last attack and he was trapped in his Eva. The only thing keeping him alive was the Eva's life support system. Those are only designed to keep you alive for a few hours. Long enough for a fight and for recovery afterwards." Asuka knows exactly how long, even if she hadn't already had the spec memorised, she'd counted them down to the last second twice now.
"Hours?" prompted Hikari.
"Hours. Then days. Then weeks. Akagi's a bitch, but she's a brilliant bitch, and she's got Ibuki and multiple supercomputers. I grew up with my Eva, but she's worked with his almost as long. I only caught a couple of things that she missed. All I could do was double-check the technicians for any mistakes and make sure Rei didn't fall apart.
'Rei. Not Wondergirl. Not First.' Asuka was holding back a lot that probably wasn't classified. Ayanami was one of Asuka's few exceptions to her "call everyone by their first name, Japanese sensibilities are stupid" approach. And she'd just offhandedly mentioned noticing things that the head researcher at Nerv, her staff and several supercomputers had missed. What had happened to her boastful friend?
"And you looking after Rei meant you couldn't call your best friend to let her know you were alive?"
Hikari had all but given up trying to predict how this conversation was going to go. Shinji would have been apologetic. Her sisters would have given a long excuse as to why phones didn't work. Asuka, Asuka screamed at her.
"They gave up on him. They were just going to let him go. Too much time. Too much money. They were going to put his plug into storage and find another pilot. I couldn't let them do that. They can't replace my baka."
Hikari barely heard Asuka's whisper, "He wouldn't even be dead, just 'missing'. As if they didn't know where he was. As if I didn't know where he was".
Asuka was much more subdued when she continued, "So no, I didn't call you. I didn't call anyone. I had to make sure we got him back. I had to make sure his girlfriend was still alive when they did."
For a moment Hikari wasn't sure if Asuka was talking about Ayanami or herself there. Things were obviously a lot worse than she'd known, and far more complicated. Asuka had been calling Ayanami Shinji's girlfriend for a long time, no one had taken it as anything other than Asuka teasing Shinji. It was obvious to everyone, except perhaps them, that Asuka and Shinji were a couple. But Asuka sounded deadly serious, literally.
Diversion or conversation killer, take your pick, "I thought she was the wife and you were the girlfriend?"
Asuka stared at her, "Oh no. You're not getting me this time Hikari. Not that I could get between them if I wanted to. Which I don't."
"I'm not so sure about that, it sounds to me like between them is exactly the position you want to be in" Hikari smiled suggestively.
Asuka blinked and asked in a sugary tone Kaji would have recognised instantly, "So tell me, Hikari-dear, does Toji get any bigger than when he's freezing his balls off mooning me on the deck of an aircraft carrier?"
Hikari covered her mouth and blushed furiously - diversion but certainly not in the direction she wanted. "He didn't?"
Asuka grinned, "He did. The three of them came out to the carrier fleet bringing my Eva over. Misato brought Shinji to meet me for some reason, why that couldn't have waited I don't know. Anyway, he dragged the other stooges with him. Kensuke was beside himself of course. So they're walking across the deck towards me when the wind blows my dress up and they all get a free panty shot. Aida is too busy drooling over some ancient aircraft, Shinji lies and says he doesn't notice, Toji decides to pay me a 'viewing fee' by reciprocating."
Hikari groans, "That's such a Toji thing to do. Though Shinji wasn't lying."
Asuka looks confused, "What makes you say that about the pervert? Of course he was looking"
"Asuka, Shinji is the least perverted boy I know. Toji could probably tell me what colour your panties were. Shinji told me how proud you looked and how the angle of the sun made your eyes seem an even more brilliant shade of blue."
While Asuka is having her perspective on Shinji rearranged again, Hikari is pondering how much to share with her friend. Asuka had been the one to break the ice between her and Toji, and she certainly couldn't talk to anyone else in class about it - some of the girls might have more experience, but she was the Class Rep and had to keep up appearances. She couldn't talk to her older sister about it without another uncomfortable conversation. Asuka might tease her mercilessly, but she would listen and she wouldn't tell anyone. She might talk to Shinji about a lot of things, but this was never going to be one of them.
"And to answer your question," Hikari makes a gesture with her hands.
Asuka looks at her for a moment before realising what the gesture means, "Oh. Definitely larger then. Smaller than Shinji though" she replies casually.
Hikari does not know what to do with that information. She waits for Asuka's brain to catch up with what her mouth just said.
Asuka sighs and looks almost sad "I'm sure you found out in a much more enjoyable way than I did."
"Shinji's no good in bed? I'd have thought he'd be very considerate."
"Shinji's perfectly fine in bed, when he's not too afraid to touch me."
"Asuka, are you winding me up again or are you really sleeping with Shinji?
"I'm not this time, his hands are distracting me. Of course I sleep with him, it's the only way I get any rest."
Hikari stands, deliberately scraping the chair across the floor noisily, "Asuka, if you can't stop daydreaming about Shinji I'm going home".
Asuka jolts at the noise, "What? Huh?" then replays the last few minutes of conversation. "Shit. It's not like that."
Hikari sits back down, "So tell me what it is like?"
Asuka gets up and gets a fresh drink, wishing Misato's beer was even remotely drinkable and settling for a coke instead.
"Cooking"
"Sex with Shinji is like cooking?" Hikari looks confused.
Asuka manages not to spit her drink all over Hikari, but it's a close call. "What? No! I've never had sex with Shinji. I never want to have sex with Shinji".
"Well, if you don't want me to draw the obvious conclusions from your words, you'll have to be a little clearer."
Asuka sighs, "You've seen us cooking together. Perfect synchronisation. I chop. He stirs. He reaches past me to grab some spices. I step behind him to drop the vegetables in the bowl next to the pan so he can add them. He nudges the cutting board the moment the knife gets too close to my fingers. We work very close to each other and we never touch."
"Never? When I cook with my sisters we're always bumping into each other, grabbing for the same pan at the same time, and so on."
"We don't because we know precisely where each other is. He nudges the cutting board because he's felt how close the knife is, not because he knows I'm sometimes careless when I'm cutting, he's busy - he's not even looked my way. No one really notices because it just looks like we're well coordinated from when we had to do everything together for that Angel. No one notices that we don't touch because of course we do, how would we avoid it?
"We avoid it because sometimes it hurts."
Asuka reaches out and puts her hand on Hikari's lightly. "Feel that? Pleasant? Gentle? What happens if I double it?" She presses a little harder, "And again?" Hikari starts to look uncomfortable. "How many times until it hurts? How many times until I start breaking your bones? How many times before your bones are dust?" Hikari is looking scared by the time Asuka pulls her hand away.
"Now imagine you went to hug your little sister and half the time it would be a happy hug, and half the time it felt like your bones were shattering before she'd finished putting her arms around you. And you'd never know which until you tried. How long would it take before you stopped hugging your sister no matter how much either of you wanted one? What if she fell and scraped her knee and you had to call someone else because you were afraid to touch her?
"Now imagine waking up from a nap and seeing your sisters cuddling on the couch asleep. How do you feel watching them? Imagine your little sister waking up and running towards you. Are you going to hug her? Or flinch and move out of the way? How's she going to react?
"That enough of a nightmare for you?
"That's the risk I take when I go to lie on the edge of Shinji's bed. That's the risk he takes when he lets me. Because we discovered that if we are both asleep at the time we touch, it doesn't happen. If we can do that then the worse nightmares don't happen. And we always wake up at the same time, so we can coordinate letting go without accidentally touching again.
"So this started when you were doing that dance training?" asks Hikari before Asuka can get lost in thought again.
"No, not until later. That really was all timing and practice. It had to work when we were attacking the Angel with giant robots and half a kilometre between us. The close proximity synchronisation like the cooking thing wouldn't be enough."
"Not that distance seems to have been a problem for a while," Asuka added in a tone that could have been bitter, sad or wistful.
"How do you know?"
"I felt it when the baka got to Rei's because she hugged him. And I was distracted by his hands because he was chopping vegetables and I could feel the motion. It's faded now, but that doesn't seem to be dependent on range, there's no pattern to it that either of us has found."
"If it didn't start when you were trying to synchronise, when did it happen?"
"When I kissed him."
Hikari looks stunned, "You mean when you spent two days at my place upset because you'd tried to kiss him and it had gone badly?"
Asuka looks sad, "I mean the least painful part of that encounter was him throwing me across the room and landing on my arse."
"Wait? He threw you all the way across the room? And that was the best part?"
"Why do you think it took me two days to be willing to go back? I'm not some melodramatic hormonal teenager."
Hikari just looks at her.
Asuka rolls her eyes, "That's good coming from miss 'my best friend is having my crush's secret lovechild'. I still haven't come up with a way to top that yet."
Ignoring the barb, Hikari continues "And I thought he'd just rejected you"
"Well, you have to admit that was a pretty convincing rejection at the time".
"Anyway, when I went back he was just normal Shinji, apologising for everything and saying he just wanted it to stop hurting like the coward he is. It took Rei explaining it to me before I understood what he actually meant. Just like Rei isn't afraid of dying, Shinji isn't afraid of physical pain - he gets his arm ripped off by an Angel and just keeps going despite how much it hurts - so it wasn't his pain he wanted to stop, it was mine, he was just faster than me to react.
Hikari studies her friend for a moment. She's heard Shinji mention that fighting in an Eva hurts, and Toji's description of Shinji seeming almost an entirely different person when he shared the Eva with him. Asuka's description of it ... she didn't say 'having the Eva's arm ripped off' she said 'his' as if all the pain was felt by Shinji. And Asuka was so casual about her possibly-boyfriend being hurt, and Shinji made it seem like it was just something to deal with, like math homework. What did that say about either of them? What could she possibly do for her friends in the face of that?
"So you know Shinji's bigger than Toji because you sleep with him? Shinji I mean!"
Asuka grumbles, "No, it's more embarrassing than that."
"More embarrassing than falling asleep on the couch after a movie and waking up with your boyfriend's erection pressed against your butt?"
"Well, now I know how you know about Toji," Asuka teases, "but no it's synchronisation weirdness again."
"Oh, like you can feel pain as well as position?"
Asuka looks at her questioningly.
"Shinji mentioned it once. How when one of you hurts the other sometimes feels it."
"Position, pain, pressure, texture. No sight or sound thank gott, we aren't forced to watch each other shower. No taste or smell either. No thoughts, involuntary telepathy would be even worse than feeling each other pee.
"So I know how big he is for the same reason he asked Misato to take me bra shopping.
Hikari laughs, "He did that? That sounds as much like Shinji as Toji mooning you in payback".
"He asked her not to tell me of course, but it's Misato, there's no way she could resist. Fortunately, it was 'I do all the laundry and her bras are getting worn and she's not replaced them herself' and not 'the band's hurting my ribcage and her nipples are chafing in the heat'. Thankfully Misato found it easier to believe that I didn't want to go shopping than that Shinji somehow knew how uncomfortable most of my bras had become."
"Well, I think it's great you can talk with him about things like that.
Asuka stares at her, "What? You think I've said any of this to baka-Shinji? Weren't you listening? We know things about each other because we have no choice, not because we talk."
"Asuka, I know I can't know what it's like for you. In some ways you're already closer to him than I'll ever be able to be with Toji. In others you may as well still be in Germany for all the difference it seems to make. So please, work out how to talk to each other. Before you learn what you have by discovering what you've lost.
"Wark!" agrees PenPen.
"So where is Miss Katsuragi anyway?"
"Some special assignment according to Frau Doctor. Which just happened to start the day baka-Shinji got back. I haven't been able to reach Kaji either... " Asuka trails off, leaving the assorted possible implications unsaid.
"So it's just me and the idiot for at least a few days more, if you and your stooge wanted to come for dinner."
"Wark!" notes PenPen impatiently.
"I think that's your cue to feed poor PenPen, and mine to go and feed my sisters."
Hikari hugs her friend briefly. "I'll get back to you on dinner. I don't know Dad's schedule for the rest of the week yet."
Primodial Soup Leftovers 12: Never going to give it up, never going to live it down
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Never going to give it up, never going to live it down
"Shut up Toji" snapped Asuka/Shinji in perfect unison.
Rei walked up behind Asuka and rested her chin on Asuka's shoulder. "Is there a problem Asuka?"
"No, Rei, just the stooges being themselves."
Multiple pairs of eyes stared at them.
"What on earth happened?" Kensuke asked a stunned expression on his face, "Shinji disappears for a month, supposedly in a Nerv hospital. And now the Demon and the Ice Queen are friends? How did that happen?"
"In an elevator" supplied Rei, accurately but unhelpfully.
"Well, I was going to ask about your next date with your girlfriend, but I think your wife has stolen her" teased Hikari, joining the group.
Horaki Avoiding-The-Obvious-For-Her-Own-Safety Hikari refrains from specifying which is which.
Shinji groaned, "I'm never going to live that down am I?".
"No" responded Asuka/Rei, Asuka's cheerfulness somehow harmonising with Rei's almost-monotone.
"For the last time, I'm not dating Asuka and I'm not married to Ayanami."
"Rei" retorted Asuka.
"What?"
"If you're married you should call her Rei. You're too formal baka."
Shinji puts his head in his hands.
Rei put her arm around Shinji's shoulders. No one had even noticed her move.
"You no longer wish to be married to me?"
Shinji stared at her. He was almost certain she was joking, possibly at Asuka's instigation, but it was always better to take Ayanami, no Rei, literally.
"Rei, I'm fourteen, I don't want to be married to anyone."
"Shut up Toji" snapped Asuka/Shinji in perfect unison.
Rei walked up behind Asuka and rested her chin on Asuka's shoulder. "Is there a problem Asuka?"
"No, Rei, just the stooges being themselves."
Multiple pairs of eyes stared at them.
"What on earth happened?" Kensuke asked a stunned expression on his face, "Shinji disappears for a month, supposedly in a Nerv hospital. And now the Demon and the Ice Queen are friends? How did that happen?"
"In an elevator" supplied Rei, accurately but unhelpfully.
"Well, I was going to ask about your next date with your girlfriend, but I think your wife has stolen her" teased Hikari, joining the group.
Horaki Avoiding-The-Obvious-For-Her-Own-Safety Hikari refrains from specifying which is which.
Shinji groaned, "I'm never going to live that down am I?".
"No" responded Asuka/Rei, Asuka's cheerfulness somehow harmonising with Rei's almost-monotone.
"For the last time, I'm not dating Asuka and I'm not married to Ayanami."
"Rei" retorted Asuka.
"What?"
"If you're married you should call her Rei. You're too formal baka."
Shinji puts his head in his hands.
Rei put her arm around Shinji's shoulders. No one had even noticed her move.
"You no longer wish to be married to me?"
Shinji stared at her. He was almost certain she was joking, possibly at Asuka's instigation, but it was always better to take Ayanami, no Rei, literally.
"Rei, I'm fourteen, I don't want to be married to anyone."
Primodial Soup Leftovers 13
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Shinji is standing in the doorway watching Asuka sleep. It was a rare event, one of them waking without the other. If she knew he was there she'd either threaten to kill him for being a pervert or demand to know what he was waiting for.
What her baka was waiting for.
She'd been slipping a lot recently, like she didn't care who heard her any more. As long as it wasn't him. As if he wouldn't notice. The only person who paid more attention to her was Rei.
Shinji didn't know what he felt for the redhead tangled in sheets before him. Fear and pain he understood. Anything else. He'd seen Toji and his younger sister together and as much as his friend would do anything for his sibling - as he would for Asuka, or Rei - it didn't seem like that. Hikari and her siblings had different relationships and while it was clear they supported each other, it didn't seem like that either. It obviously wasn't anything like his relationship with his father, his only direct experience with family. He pushed the images of his mother's dissolving face away faster than they formed. It certainly wasn't the objectifying lust that some of his classmates seemed to have as their only expression of reaction towards girls. Nor was it the odd combination of friendship and desire that Megumi and Chihiro had for each other. Maybe it was the same thing that had driven Asuka to demand he hold her never mind how, but even if he dared ask her, he'd seen her expression when she'd said "We don't talk about this", he doubted she knew either.
Whatever it was, it was no longer something he could run away from.
Not that running away would actually work any more. He'd felt Asuka's anger all the way out at Rei's apartment as if she'd been right there, glaring in his face. He'd felt like he was sitting right behind her the way they'd been when they fought the fish Angel together, not separated by a hundred tons of Eva and a hundred metres in the cages. He'd felt her pacing as he sat in the hospital down in the Geofront answering repetitive questions about things he had no memory of, and avoiding those about things he now did. Asuka would know where he was.
Not that running away was something he wanted to do anymore. He still hated and feared piloting. But he had people to protect now. Including the confusing girl in front of him. People he cared about. Including the confusing girl in front of him. People who seemed to care about him. Including the confusing girl in front of him. And Rei, who was confusing the girl in front of him.
He withdrew quietly back to his own room so as to not accidentally wake her.
'If I'm yours Asuka, I wonder how long it's going to take you to notice you're Rei's' he wondered as he let her shallow breathing pull him back down into a dreamless sleep.
What her baka was waiting for.
She'd been slipping a lot recently, like she didn't care who heard her any more. As long as it wasn't him. As if he wouldn't notice. The only person who paid more attention to her was Rei.
Shinji didn't know what he felt for the redhead tangled in sheets before him. Fear and pain he understood. Anything else. He'd seen Toji and his younger sister together and as much as his friend would do anything for his sibling - as he would for Asuka, or Rei - it didn't seem like that. Hikari and her siblings had different relationships and while it was clear they supported each other, it didn't seem like that either. It obviously wasn't anything like his relationship with his father, his only direct experience with family. He pushed the images of his mother's dissolving face away faster than they formed. It certainly wasn't the objectifying lust that some of his classmates seemed to have as their only expression of reaction towards girls. Nor was it the odd combination of friendship and desire that Megumi and Chihiro had for each other. Maybe it was the same thing that had driven Asuka to demand he hold her never mind how, but even if he dared ask her, he'd seen her expression when she'd said "We don't talk about this", he doubted she knew either.
Whatever it was, it was no longer something he could run away from.
Not that running away would actually work any more. He'd felt Asuka's anger all the way out at Rei's apartment as if she'd been right there, glaring in his face. He'd felt like he was sitting right behind her the way they'd been when they fought the fish Angel together, not separated by a hundred tons of Eva and a hundred metres in the cages. He'd felt her pacing as he sat in the hospital down in the Geofront answering repetitive questions about things he had no memory of, and avoiding those about things he now did. Asuka would know where he was.
Not that running away was something he wanted to do anymore. He still hated and feared piloting. But he had people to protect now. Including the confusing girl in front of him. People he cared about. Including the confusing girl in front of him. People who seemed to care about him. Including the confusing girl in front of him. And Rei, who was confusing the girl in front of him.
He withdrew quietly back to his own room so as to not accidentally wake her.
'If I'm yours Asuka, I wonder how long it's going to take you to notice you're Rei's' he wondered as he let her shallow breathing pull him back down into a dreamless sleep.
Primodial Soup Leftovers 14: Everyone expects the Hikari Exposition
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Everyone expects the Hikari Exposition
Surprisingly Hikari and Toji came to dinner only a couple of days later.
Even more surprisingly Asuka found she actually had something in common with Toji - watching their partners cook for them.
It was interesting. Shinji was just as precise as when they cooked together, she could feel the familiar movements. It was just slightly jarring when he didn't move correctly and bumped into Hikari. On one hand, this was right - her baka only synchronised perfectly with her after all. On the other, she kept feeling her best friend brushing against her baka. On the third hand, it was obvious they had done this before. Possibly not this particular meal but they were far too coordinated working in the same kitchen even if they had both cooked this particular meal themselves separately.
Asuka had an uncomfortable and unfamiliar feeling in her chest. She looked over a Toji, who was happily watching the pair cook. That or he was admiring Hikari's ass. Probably the latter - but he'd been obnoxiously proud of Hikari's cooking when he hauled the ingredients in. So it was actually possible it was the former.
The sensation of something soft pressing against her back broke into Asuka's thoughts. Looking over at the cooks she could see Hikari leaning around Shinji to put something in a pan, neither of them seemed to have even noticed the casual touch which Asuka was suddenly very aware of. A casual touch that never happened between herself and Shinji because they always knew where each other were and never touched without careful planning. Not that she wanted to be pressing her breasts against Shinji. But not having to be so constantly aware. To constantly avoid it. To not be afraid of it. The Great Asuka Langley-Soryu was not afraid of anything. Just-Asuka was scared of accidentally touching the boy she lived with and she hated it.
She knew the uncomfortable feeling after all. She used to feel it when she saw Kaji and Misato together, even when they were pushing each other away. Dammit. It made no sense.
"It's good to see him doing so much better" Toji's remark slammed through her ruminations.
"What was that Stooge?"
"Shin-man. A few days ago he was like a zombie. Look at him now. Making us dinner with my girl, like they're a pair of professional chefs. Whatever it is you're doing for him, keep it up."
"What I'm doing?"
"Come off it Red, I know we don't get along well. You don't think I'm good enough for Hikari, and I don't think you're good enough for Shinji. But don't think I don't notice what you did that first day. It was the strangest thing I've seen you do. You were mad at me because you thought I was bothering 'im. You were so caring I could have mistook you for Hikari. An' you brought in Blue like you trusted her to take care of your boy. It was the first time I thought maybe Shin-man was right an' you might be good enough."
Asuka for once had no idea how to respond.
"Now we don expect ya to stop being the Red Demon, don't worry. I don't think ya went soft." Toji looks embarrassed, "I just wanted ya to know we appreciate what you're doing for him".
Thankfully they were interrupted by the arrival of food. Hikari putting Asuka's plate in front of her and then joining her. Shinji doing the same with Toji's larger one on the other side of the table.
Shinji looked nervously across at Asuka, "I hope you like this one. It's a recipe I gave Hikari when she wanted something to make for a date with Toji. She was just showing me the improvements she'd made. They both liked it, so I thought you might too."
"As long as it's not stooge-food" grumbled Asuka before taking a bite.
"Ok. Not stooge food. Make sure you remember this one baka."
Asuka noticed the quiet, looked up and rolled her eyes, "You two lovebirds going to eat, or are you just going to stare into each other's eyes until PenPen steals your dinner?"
Hikari laughs and there is a different kind of silence as they eat.
Shinji and Asuka are washing the dishes in the kitchen. Hikari and Toji are talking about something quietly in the other room, not quite audible but enough to know they are talking and not doing something else.
"Hey baka?" Asuka's voice is pitched to not carry.
Shinji looked at her and did that Rei-tilt silent question.
"My room tonight"
Asuka catches the plate Shinji was drying before it crashes into the sink and hands it back to him.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, baka, you can see that." snaps Asuka quietly.
"Then..."
"Then we're going to finish the dishes and go back to our guests before they start having sex on the couch, maybe we'll talk later".
Asuka catches another dish. "The dishes can wait."
"Hikari, are you and the stooge decent?" Asuka calls into the other room.
"Asuka!"
"I'll take that as a yes."
Other than the blush Hikari is sporting, there is no indication of anything Misato would make fun of going on.
"Hey Shin-man, you up for an hour at the arcade?"
Shinji looked over at Asuka, given her request a few minutes ago...
Asuka just nodded and made a shooing motion, "Go have fun, we'll just be having some girl-talk"
Toji's ears turned an interesting shade of red as Hikari smothered a laugh with her hand.
Once the boys had left, Asuka went back to the kitchen to finish up the last few dishes. Sure Shinji would do them when he got home, but if she was right, that probably wasn't going to be a good idea. If she was wrong, well at least the kitchen would be clean and breakfast would be on time.
"Can I help with that?" Hikari asked as she followed her into the kitchen.
"No." snapped Asuka.
Hikari stepped back
"You already cooked, and you are a guest." deflected Asuka.
"So, 'girl talk' Asuka?"
Asuka looked at Hikari and then at the door, "Boy talk actually. Someone pointed out that while it's only been a few days for him, it's been a month for his friends. They need some time together without us in the way".
Putting the last of the dishes away Asuka turned to her friend, "So, are you joining Shinji's harem or is he joining yours?"
Hikari shook her head, "No, still not even close. You can do better than that."
"So you rubbing yourself all over him wasn't a recruitment drive?"
"What is going on in your head Asuka? I come over to see my friends, with my boyfriend, at your request and you want to accuse me of trying to seduce the boy you are sleeping with? Who you not only claim to not be interested in, but actively claim is dating someone else. Who is also apparently now your friend.
"I was cooking. I wasn't flirting with anyone other than Toji. I didn't even touch Shinji...
"Oh crap. I must have. We were cooking together. I didn't even notice. How did you? Oh.
Asuka nodded, "Synchronisation. I felt every time you touched. You said you didn't notice. I bet he didn't either, his heart rate didn't change, even when you pressed your boobs against him"
Hikari blushed, "I didn't? No wonder you're acting all jealous."
Asuka took a page out of Hikari's conversation manual, "So Shinji said you learned that meal from him in order to cook for Toji?"
"Yes." Hikari perked up, "I wanted something different for the first time he came over in his official capacity."
"Official capacity? Oh, as your boyfriend as opposed to childhood friend? That's a big thing here isn't it?"
"It is. It's not like he hadn't met my sisters before or anything. And it wasn't the formal dinner with my Dad - we're a long way from him proposing. Still, it was a bit nerve-wracking."
"Well, you're still all lovey-dovey so it can't have gone too badly."
"No, it went well, even Kodama didn't tease us too badly. Until the next day anyway.
"She insisted we both come home right after school before Dad got home. Then she gave us "the talk". Not the one from health class, the one that comes with practice bananas."
Asuka cracked up, "Oh dear. Shinji and I had that from Misato just after I arrived. If it hadn't been so embarrassing it would have been hilarious. I couldn't stand him back then. The very idea of him touching me, let alone anything more, was repulsive. So I was angry at Mistato and he was baka-Shinji, so red I thought he might faint from blood loss. If nothing else it did convince Misato that there was no risk of "little baby pilots" as she put it."
"At least it wasn't your older sister bringing out a half used box of condoms for you to practice with in front of your boyfriend. Poor Toji didn't know where to look."
"Ok, I'll admit sitting there knowing your boyfriend was just imagining your older sister having sex is probably worse than waiting for Misato to get back with a new box because her unopened one had already expired, but it was even worse for poor baka-Shinji than me. I'd seen Misato's antics before.
"So when you get around to it, make sure you check the expiration dates. It is a future-when right? You haven't been holding out on me?"
Hikari blushed, "When would I have had chance to tell you? And no, other than the movie incident we've only kissed. I don't get to wake up to anything other than Nozomi jumping on the bed".
"So how do you manage dates? You see each other every day at school - I didn't notice you acting any differently there."
"The Class Representative can't display favourites. You know I can be different when I don't need to be as respectable. Though I don't have anyone else I can talk to like this.
"Oh, come off it Hikari, you always gave Toji and Kensuke more leeway. You just overcompensated by yelling at them more, not by actually punishing them for their antics. You're fooling no one. Just don't get caught making out in the janitor's closet and you'll be fine."
"You are avoiding talking about Ayanami"
"So?"
"So what's going on with you two?"
"I had to take care of her because baka-Shinji got himself ... while he wasn't available".
"And that required becoming friends? Or something more?"
"WHAT?!"
"She looks at you the way she looks at Shinji - who you insist is her boyfriend."
"It's not like that"
"So what is it like?"
Asuka sighs, that question was getting annoying, "He always gives her a hug when they meet. So I gave her one."
Hikari looked at her sceptically but didn't interrupt.
"It's Rei, so it required a long philosophical discussion on the nature of hugs. But it stopped her moping for a while and having that look in her eyes.
"Then she decided that since I was substituting for Shinji this meant that every time we met it was necessary for me to hug her."
"And you put up with that?" asked Hikari not even attempting to hide the smile.
"I had to" grumbles Asuka, "I made the mistake of saying she could ask when she needed one. I couldn't go back on my word.
"Worse, she's a good hugger. I swear she spent the first couple of days working out what the best position to hug in a cage elevator is. Then she'd do the same thing every time. She was like a self-optimising hug machine! And she never let go until we reached the Eva cages."
Hikari laughs at Asuka's obviously fake outrage. "That doesn't explain the smile. Or you calling her Rei"
"I bet that smile is exactly the one she gives Shinji.
"He told her to smile when she's happy, because Rei doesn't know how to react to things. And she gave him that smile, and he liked it. So now that's the best smile for smiling at Shinji, because for some bizarre reason watching Shinji makes her happy."
"I think watching your boyfriend is supposed to make you happy. For some of us anyway."
"Are you getting all soppy on me again?"
"Maybe."
Asuka rolls her eyes.
"So why did you start calling her Rei?"
Asuka blushes brightly and pauses for a moment before coming up with "Rei logic"
"Oh?"
Asuka attempts Rei's monotone. "You instructed me to hug you. You are only comfortable with physical contact with your friends. You are comfortable when you hug me. Therefore you appear to consider me a friend. I would like to consider you a friend if that is acceptable. As we are friends, you should call me by my first name."
Hikari bursts out laughing, "Please. You have to let me tell Toji about this"
"What's so funny Hikari, my Rei impression wasn't that entertaining."
"You remember what she said to you the first time you met?"
It takes a moment for Asuka to put the pieces together.
"Oh fuck! I accidentally ordered her to be my friend."
"Well, it seems to have worked."
"It probably wouldn't without baka-Shinji. It was his fault we were in that position to start with. He was the one who managed to get her to talk. He was the idiot who jumped into a volcano. Which is how I found out he wasn't just incompetent he had almost no training, and Rei didn't have much more. So I had to train them, because Nerv is obviously a pile of idiots. Argh. That's how she did it. I counted as 'Sensei' from training so she could interpret it as an order."
"You make it sound like she tricked you into being her friend"
"What? No. I don't think so. That's just Rei. She's cryptic because it's often impossible to follow her thought processes so you can't understand what she's saying. But she means what she says. If she says 'The sky is blue' you can bet there's not a cloud in sight. If she says 'I want to be your friend' she means it. You just have to make sure you don't ask 'what do you mean?' unless you want a discussion on the nature of friendship for the next several hours."
"You barely accept brief hugs from me. Shinji punched Toji because he was synchronized with your touch reactions. You must have gotten very close over the last month if you're hugging for long elevator rides"
Asuka sighs. "How do I explain this?
"You know how I explained the issues with touching baka-Shinji?"
Hikari winces in acknowledgement.
"Rei is like an inverse of him. I always know where he is, so I can avoid accidentally touching him. She always knows where she is, so I don't have to be constantly aware - trying to avoid touching her. So it's still creepy sometimes because I can't tell she's there until she says something or I can see her. But it's also comfortable. She won't touch me without permission. She proved that by asking every single time and by taking no for an answer without any attempt to make it seem like it was my fault. The only way to tell that she's unhappy about it is because her tiny expression changes make her look like Shinji.
"I know there's a lot of things she isn't telling me. Like why she's not allowed to have friends. Or why her hair is naturally blue. But I trust that she means what she says. That if she does something that's not because of a direct order, she's thought about it. I just have to double-check her decisions to make sure they aren't stupid or suicidal."
"You weren't exaggerating then? About keeping her alive for Shinji?"
Asuka's face drops, "She talks about being replaceable. Like an appliance. 'Oh, this Rei's broken, lets go to the store and buy another one off the shelf'. I can't get through to her. The baka hasn't. 'The sky is blue. I am replaceable' and this is Japan's eternal summer, there's not even a fucking cloud in sight."
There's a long awkward silence that Hikari eventually interrupts.
"I think I worked out why she likes Shinji's food."
"Huh? Of course she likes Shinji's food. You know how good it is."
"You said she keeps asking him to cook and can't seem to learn herself. You also described her finding the perfect way to hug and then doing the same thing each time. So I'm betting she can follow the recipe just fine and create a perfectly fine meal. But Shinji doesn't follow recipes after he's made a meal once, so the food is never quite the same each time. It's always good, but slightly different. She can't replicate that, any more than I can. Which means there's never a best way to eat it, so it's always interesting to her. As well as being tasty.
"Maybe Toji was right."
"Either I'm hallucinating, or you just uttered the words 'Toji was right'"
Asuka laughs, "There's very little we agree on that's for sure. You being a great friend is one of the few.
"He couldn't shut up about how good a cook you are, and earlier when you were cooking with Shinji, I thought he was busy looking at your ass, but no he's all 'look at them, working together like professional chefs'.
"You'd probably have to hire Rei though - she'd be eating every meal at your restaurant anyway.
Asuka glances up at the clock, "The boys will be back soon, and I know you made enough to have lunches for us tomorrow. Knowing you there's probably enough for your boyfriend's insatiable stomach too".
Hikari laughs, "I managed to fill him up once. If you can get out Shinji's spare bento boxes as well as your own, I can help pack up what we made." After watching Asuka hunt around the cupboard, she adds "Rei's is already in the fridge, Shinji did that before adding the meat to the main meal".
While they put tomorrow's lunches together they talked of less consequential things. Hikari's little sister's latest antics. Whether there was actually anything useful they'd missed at school. Hikari's last date. Day-to-day things that reconnected them with each other and filled in the cracks in their friendship.
"I'm home"
Shinji was looking more cheerful than when he left but even more tired. Toji was hovering in a passable attempt at looking casual but looking like he could step forward and catch Shinji before he hit the floor.
"Have fun you two?"
Shinji nods, "Toji says I should ask you to take me swimming."
"Not just playing video games then?"
"A month unconscious? He needs to rebuild some muscle. Something low stress, no weights and shit. He said you taught him to swim, so as long as he's not by himself swimming's probably best."
Asuka nodded. As far as she knew Shinji had come back with the same muscles he went in with. But who knew what might not have connected correctly and it wasn't as if he were well toned to start with. Toji was the sports and fitness nut, he wasn't Jock-Stooge just because of his brains. If he'd actually noticed something it was probably worth paying attention to.
"Ok baka", Asuka said affectionately, then added sternly "Shower and bed for you. I'll see to our guests. And I'll see if I can get the Geofront pool cleared for a bit tomorrow and I can see what training you'll need."
Shinji groaned as he headed towards the bathroom, "As long as it's not a repeat of Pilot Soryu's bootcamp".
"Don't call it that!" snaps Asuka at Shinji's back as he disappears behind the bathroom door.
Toji had to ask "Pilot Soryu's bootcamp?"
"After baka-Shinji jumped into a frigging volcano, I discovered how little training he and Rei had. I'd gone through years of rigorous training, they stuck him an Eva the first time he saw it. Misato was all 'if you've got the time to complain, you've the time to do something about it'. The bridge bunnies started calling it 'Pilot Soryu's bootcamp' and I couldn't get them to drop it.
Toji laughed, "I suspect the only person who'd enjoy that is Kensuke"
"Probably. But it was necessary."
"Four" remarked Hikari.
Toji and Asuka turned to look at her.
"Four times Asuka has agreed with Toji this evening. Maybe we should go home before it happens again and the world ends"
Asuka threw up her hands, "Fine. Be like that. I need to check the baka hasn't drowned, or worse, used up all the hot water."
Asuka leaned against the door after she closed it behind them. She knew he hadn't drowned. She didn't even care that much about the hot water. In this heat a cool shower wouldn't be a bad thing. She didn't even have to decide whether to ask Shinji to sleep next to her, she'd already done that. Now she just had to live with her earlier decision.
Fortunately Shinji is sitting on the edge of her bed when she's done with her own shower.
"Stand up and hold out your hand, I need to check something"
He looks tired and confused but does so without complaint.
Approaching carefully she reaches out slowly to touch the back of his hand. She's a centimetre away when it starts to hurt, slightly less by the time they both pull away in pain.
She sighs in frustration and holds her hand out, "You try this time" she demands.
His hands are shaking nervously, or possibly from exhaustion, but he reaches out slowly. It's even worse, he's barely five centimetres away when she starts to feel it, four when it starts to hurt. "Oww." they go in unison.
Asuka folds her arms around herself, holding her sides with her hands until the pain in them subsides.
They are standing too close together. She can feel his hands on her sides so clearly she has to look down to check they are just holding themselves in a perfect mirror of each other. As if the pain wouldn't have told her otherwise.
"So much for that plan. It's going to have to be opposite sides of the bed" Shinji grumbles in an annoyed almost angry tone.
Asuka stares at him, "I'm sorry" she says.
"What the hell Third" he snaps back.
Asuka panics and instinctively shoves Shinji away from her. She feels her hands on his chest. She feels the edge of the bed behind his legs as he's pushed backwards. He grabs onto the nearest thing to help stop his fall. Unfortunately the nearest thing is her. It's her bed so it's relatively soft when he impacts it. He's not as soft when she lands on top of him.
They stare into each other's eyes, their noses almost touching, for a long minute as their heart rate gradually slows.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly, his breath gentle across her lips.
It's another minute or more before either of them risks moving - a shifting combination of fear of pain, the unexpected comfort of their position and rising embarrassment keep them in place.
Asuka lifts her head away from Shinji's face and lays it on his shoulder.
"Do you think Rei would mind if I kissed her boyfriend?" Asuka doesn't know where the unwanted intrusive thought came from, or how it bypassed her brain to reach her mouth. At least it was her own mouth.
She felt Shinji relax under her. Relax?? What was the baka thinking? Worse was he actually going to answer? Why did lying on top of him holding him like this feel almost as comfortable as holding Rei. Where did that thought come from? At least she hadn't said that one out loud.
Unfortunately for Asuka, Shinji had been contemplating her question in favour of contemplating how Asuka felt laying on him with his arms around her. She'd asked how Rei would respond. Not how he would. He could focus on that. Ignoring the fact that he was not Rei's boyfriend and Rei would insist on reminding Asuka of this, how would Rei actually react?
"She would not mind, as long as we enjoyed it this time. She would insist we did it again where she could observe. Then she would require you to kiss her for comparative purposes".
Asuka groaned. That was such a Rei answer to the question.
"Grab a pillow baka. I'm not moving and risking it fucking hurting again. And I'm not waking up with a crick in your neck."
Shinji was too tired and Asuka was too comfortable for them to stay awake for long.
'I'll deal with whatever the fuck just happened tomorrow' Asuka thought as she drifted off, 'Preferably during a Rei hug when I can think clearly.' Mercifully sleep claimed her before she could dwell on that thought.
Surprisingly Hikari and Toji came to dinner only a couple of days later.
Even more surprisingly Asuka found she actually had something in common with Toji - watching their partners cook for them.
It was interesting. Shinji was just as precise as when they cooked together, she could feel the familiar movements. It was just slightly jarring when he didn't move correctly and bumped into Hikari. On one hand, this was right - her baka only synchronised perfectly with her after all. On the other, she kept feeling her best friend brushing against her baka. On the third hand, it was obvious they had done this before. Possibly not this particular meal but they were far too coordinated working in the same kitchen even if they had both cooked this particular meal themselves separately.
Asuka had an uncomfortable and unfamiliar feeling in her chest. She looked over a Toji, who was happily watching the pair cook. That or he was admiring Hikari's ass. Probably the latter - but he'd been obnoxiously proud of Hikari's cooking when he hauled the ingredients in. So it was actually possible it was the former.
The sensation of something soft pressing against her back broke into Asuka's thoughts. Looking over at the cooks she could see Hikari leaning around Shinji to put something in a pan, neither of them seemed to have even noticed the casual touch which Asuka was suddenly very aware of. A casual touch that never happened between herself and Shinji because they always knew where each other were and never touched without careful planning. Not that she wanted to be pressing her breasts against Shinji. But not having to be so constantly aware. To constantly avoid it. To not be afraid of it. The Great Asuka Langley-Soryu was not afraid of anything. Just-Asuka was scared of accidentally touching the boy she lived with and she hated it.
She knew the uncomfortable feeling after all. She used to feel it when she saw Kaji and Misato together, even when they were pushing each other away. Dammit. It made no sense.
"It's good to see him doing so much better" Toji's remark slammed through her ruminations.
"What was that Stooge?"
"Shin-man. A few days ago he was like a zombie. Look at him now. Making us dinner with my girl, like they're a pair of professional chefs. Whatever it is you're doing for him, keep it up."
"What I'm doing?"
"Come off it Red, I know we don't get along well. You don't think I'm good enough for Hikari, and I don't think you're good enough for Shinji. But don't think I don't notice what you did that first day. It was the strangest thing I've seen you do. You were mad at me because you thought I was bothering 'im. You were so caring I could have mistook you for Hikari. An' you brought in Blue like you trusted her to take care of your boy. It was the first time I thought maybe Shin-man was right an' you might be good enough."
Asuka for once had no idea how to respond.
"Now we don expect ya to stop being the Red Demon, don't worry. I don't think ya went soft." Toji looks embarrassed, "I just wanted ya to know we appreciate what you're doing for him".
Thankfully they were interrupted by the arrival of food. Hikari putting Asuka's plate in front of her and then joining her. Shinji doing the same with Toji's larger one on the other side of the table.
Shinji looked nervously across at Asuka, "I hope you like this one. It's a recipe I gave Hikari when she wanted something to make for a date with Toji. She was just showing me the improvements she'd made. They both liked it, so I thought you might too."
"As long as it's not stooge-food" grumbled Asuka before taking a bite.
"Ok. Not stooge food. Make sure you remember this one baka."
Asuka noticed the quiet, looked up and rolled her eyes, "You two lovebirds going to eat, or are you just going to stare into each other's eyes until PenPen steals your dinner?"
Hikari laughs and there is a different kind of silence as they eat.
Shinji and Asuka are washing the dishes in the kitchen. Hikari and Toji are talking about something quietly in the other room, not quite audible but enough to know they are talking and not doing something else.
"Hey baka?" Asuka's voice is pitched to not carry.
Shinji looked at her and did that Rei-tilt silent question.
"My room tonight"
Asuka catches the plate Shinji was drying before it crashes into the sink and hands it back to him.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, baka, you can see that." snaps Asuka quietly.
"Then..."
"Then we're going to finish the dishes and go back to our guests before they start having sex on the couch, maybe we'll talk later".
Asuka catches another dish. "The dishes can wait."
"Hikari, are you and the stooge decent?" Asuka calls into the other room.
"Asuka!"
"I'll take that as a yes."
Other than the blush Hikari is sporting, there is no indication of anything Misato would make fun of going on.
"Hey Shin-man, you up for an hour at the arcade?"
Shinji looked over at Asuka, given her request a few minutes ago...
Asuka just nodded and made a shooing motion, "Go have fun, we'll just be having some girl-talk"
Toji's ears turned an interesting shade of red as Hikari smothered a laugh with her hand.
Once the boys had left, Asuka went back to the kitchen to finish up the last few dishes. Sure Shinji would do them when he got home, but if she was right, that probably wasn't going to be a good idea. If she was wrong, well at least the kitchen would be clean and breakfast would be on time.
"Can I help with that?" Hikari asked as she followed her into the kitchen.
"No." snapped Asuka.
Hikari stepped back
"You already cooked, and you are a guest." deflected Asuka.
"So, 'girl talk' Asuka?"
Asuka looked at Hikari and then at the door, "Boy talk actually. Someone pointed out that while it's only been a few days for him, it's been a month for his friends. They need some time together without us in the way".
Putting the last of the dishes away Asuka turned to her friend, "So, are you joining Shinji's harem or is he joining yours?"
Hikari shook her head, "No, still not even close. You can do better than that."
"So you rubbing yourself all over him wasn't a recruitment drive?"
"What is going on in your head Asuka? I come over to see my friends, with my boyfriend, at your request and you want to accuse me of trying to seduce the boy you are sleeping with? Who you not only claim to not be interested in, but actively claim is dating someone else. Who is also apparently now your friend.
"I was cooking. I wasn't flirting with anyone other than Toji. I didn't even touch Shinji...
"Oh crap. I must have. We were cooking together. I didn't even notice. How did you? Oh.
Asuka nodded, "Synchronisation. I felt every time you touched. You said you didn't notice. I bet he didn't either, his heart rate didn't change, even when you pressed your boobs against him"
Hikari blushed, "I didn't? No wonder you're acting all jealous."
Asuka took a page out of Hikari's conversation manual, "So Shinji said you learned that meal from him in order to cook for Toji?"
"Yes." Hikari perked up, "I wanted something different for the first time he came over in his official capacity."
"Official capacity? Oh, as your boyfriend as opposed to childhood friend? That's a big thing here isn't it?"
"It is. It's not like he hadn't met my sisters before or anything. And it wasn't the formal dinner with my Dad - we're a long way from him proposing. Still, it was a bit nerve-wracking."
"Well, you're still all lovey-dovey so it can't have gone too badly."
"No, it went well, even Kodama didn't tease us too badly. Until the next day anyway.
"She insisted we both come home right after school before Dad got home. Then she gave us "the talk". Not the one from health class, the one that comes with practice bananas."
Asuka cracked up, "Oh dear. Shinji and I had that from Misato just after I arrived. If it hadn't been so embarrassing it would have been hilarious. I couldn't stand him back then. The very idea of him touching me, let alone anything more, was repulsive. So I was angry at Mistato and he was baka-Shinji, so red I thought he might faint from blood loss. If nothing else it did convince Misato that there was no risk of "little baby pilots" as she put it."
"At least it wasn't your older sister bringing out a half used box of condoms for you to practice with in front of your boyfriend. Poor Toji didn't know where to look."
"Ok, I'll admit sitting there knowing your boyfriend was just imagining your older sister having sex is probably worse than waiting for Misato to get back with a new box because her unopened one had already expired, but it was even worse for poor baka-Shinji than me. I'd seen Misato's antics before.
"So when you get around to it, make sure you check the expiration dates. It is a future-when right? You haven't been holding out on me?"
Hikari blushed, "When would I have had chance to tell you? And no, other than the movie incident we've only kissed. I don't get to wake up to anything other than Nozomi jumping on the bed".
"So how do you manage dates? You see each other every day at school - I didn't notice you acting any differently there."
"The Class Representative can't display favourites. You know I can be different when I don't need to be as respectable. Though I don't have anyone else I can talk to like this.
"Oh, come off it Hikari, you always gave Toji and Kensuke more leeway. You just overcompensated by yelling at them more, not by actually punishing them for their antics. You're fooling no one. Just don't get caught making out in the janitor's closet and you'll be fine."
"You are avoiding talking about Ayanami"
"So?"
"So what's going on with you two?"
"I had to take care of her because baka-Shinji got himself ... while he wasn't available".
"And that required becoming friends? Or something more?"
"WHAT?!"
"She looks at you the way she looks at Shinji - who you insist is her boyfriend."
"It's not like that"
"So what is it like?"
Asuka sighs, that question was getting annoying, "He always gives her a hug when they meet. So I gave her one."
Hikari looked at her sceptically but didn't interrupt.
"It's Rei, so it required a long philosophical discussion on the nature of hugs. But it stopped her moping for a while and having that look in her eyes.
"Then she decided that since I was substituting for Shinji this meant that every time we met it was necessary for me to hug her."
"And you put up with that?" asked Hikari not even attempting to hide the smile.
"I had to" grumbles Asuka, "I made the mistake of saying she could ask when she needed one. I couldn't go back on my word.
"Worse, she's a good hugger. I swear she spent the first couple of days working out what the best position to hug in a cage elevator is. Then she'd do the same thing every time. She was like a self-optimising hug machine! And she never let go until we reached the Eva cages."
Hikari laughs at Asuka's obviously fake outrage. "That doesn't explain the smile. Or you calling her Rei"
"I bet that smile is exactly the one she gives Shinji.
"He told her to smile when she's happy, because Rei doesn't know how to react to things. And she gave him that smile, and he liked it. So now that's the best smile for smiling at Shinji, because for some bizarre reason watching Shinji makes her happy."
"I think watching your boyfriend is supposed to make you happy. For some of us anyway."
"Are you getting all soppy on me again?"
"Maybe."
Asuka rolls her eyes.
"So why did you start calling her Rei?"
Asuka blushes brightly and pauses for a moment before coming up with "Rei logic"
"Oh?"
Asuka attempts Rei's monotone. "You instructed me to hug you. You are only comfortable with physical contact with your friends. You are comfortable when you hug me. Therefore you appear to consider me a friend. I would like to consider you a friend if that is acceptable. As we are friends, you should call me by my first name."
Hikari bursts out laughing, "Please. You have to let me tell Toji about this"
"What's so funny Hikari, my Rei impression wasn't that entertaining."
"You remember what she said to you the first time you met?"
It takes a moment for Asuka to put the pieces together.
"Oh fuck! I accidentally ordered her to be my friend."
"Well, it seems to have worked."
"It probably wouldn't without baka-Shinji. It was his fault we were in that position to start with. He was the one who managed to get her to talk. He was the idiot who jumped into a volcano. Which is how I found out he wasn't just incompetent he had almost no training, and Rei didn't have much more. So I had to train them, because Nerv is obviously a pile of idiots. Argh. That's how she did it. I counted as 'Sensei' from training so she could interpret it as an order."
"You make it sound like she tricked you into being her friend"
"What? No. I don't think so. That's just Rei. She's cryptic because it's often impossible to follow her thought processes so you can't understand what she's saying. But she means what she says. If she says 'The sky is blue' you can bet there's not a cloud in sight. If she says 'I want to be your friend' she means it. You just have to make sure you don't ask 'what do you mean?' unless you want a discussion on the nature of friendship for the next several hours."
"You barely accept brief hugs from me. Shinji punched Toji because he was synchronized with your touch reactions. You must have gotten very close over the last month if you're hugging for long elevator rides"
Asuka sighs. "How do I explain this?
"You know how I explained the issues with touching baka-Shinji?"
Hikari winces in acknowledgement.
"Rei is like an inverse of him. I always know where he is, so I can avoid accidentally touching him. She always knows where she is, so I don't have to be constantly aware - trying to avoid touching her. So it's still creepy sometimes because I can't tell she's there until she says something or I can see her. But it's also comfortable. She won't touch me without permission. She proved that by asking every single time and by taking no for an answer without any attempt to make it seem like it was my fault. The only way to tell that she's unhappy about it is because her tiny expression changes make her look like Shinji.
"I know there's a lot of things she isn't telling me. Like why she's not allowed to have friends. Or why her hair is naturally blue. But I trust that she means what she says. That if she does something that's not because of a direct order, she's thought about it. I just have to double-check her decisions to make sure they aren't stupid or suicidal."
"You weren't exaggerating then? About keeping her alive for Shinji?"
Asuka's face drops, "She talks about being replaceable. Like an appliance. 'Oh, this Rei's broken, lets go to the store and buy another one off the shelf'. I can't get through to her. The baka hasn't. 'The sky is blue. I am replaceable' and this is Japan's eternal summer, there's not even a fucking cloud in sight."
There's a long awkward silence that Hikari eventually interrupts.
"I think I worked out why she likes Shinji's food."
"Huh? Of course she likes Shinji's food. You know how good it is."
"You said she keeps asking him to cook and can't seem to learn herself. You also described her finding the perfect way to hug and then doing the same thing each time. So I'm betting she can follow the recipe just fine and create a perfectly fine meal. But Shinji doesn't follow recipes after he's made a meal once, so the food is never quite the same each time. It's always good, but slightly different. She can't replicate that, any more than I can. Which means there's never a best way to eat it, so it's always interesting to her. As well as being tasty.
"Maybe Toji was right."
"Either I'm hallucinating, or you just uttered the words 'Toji was right'"
Asuka laughs, "There's very little we agree on that's for sure. You being a great friend is one of the few.
"He couldn't shut up about how good a cook you are, and earlier when you were cooking with Shinji, I thought he was busy looking at your ass, but no he's all 'look at them, working together like professional chefs'.
"You'd probably have to hire Rei though - she'd be eating every meal at your restaurant anyway.
Asuka glances up at the clock, "The boys will be back soon, and I know you made enough to have lunches for us tomorrow. Knowing you there's probably enough for your boyfriend's insatiable stomach too".
Hikari laughs, "I managed to fill him up once. If you can get out Shinji's spare bento boxes as well as your own, I can help pack up what we made." After watching Asuka hunt around the cupboard, she adds "Rei's is already in the fridge, Shinji did that before adding the meat to the main meal".
While they put tomorrow's lunches together they talked of less consequential things. Hikari's little sister's latest antics. Whether there was actually anything useful they'd missed at school. Hikari's last date. Day-to-day things that reconnected them with each other and filled in the cracks in their friendship.
"I'm home"
Shinji was looking more cheerful than when he left but even more tired. Toji was hovering in a passable attempt at looking casual but looking like he could step forward and catch Shinji before he hit the floor.
"Have fun you two?"
Shinji nods, "Toji says I should ask you to take me swimming."
"Not just playing video games then?"
"A month unconscious? He needs to rebuild some muscle. Something low stress, no weights and shit. He said you taught him to swim, so as long as he's not by himself swimming's probably best."
Asuka nodded. As far as she knew Shinji had come back with the same muscles he went in with. But who knew what might not have connected correctly and it wasn't as if he were well toned to start with. Toji was the sports and fitness nut, he wasn't Jock-Stooge just because of his brains. If he'd actually noticed something it was probably worth paying attention to.
"Ok baka", Asuka said affectionately, then added sternly "Shower and bed for you. I'll see to our guests. And I'll see if I can get the Geofront pool cleared for a bit tomorrow and I can see what training you'll need."
Shinji groaned as he headed towards the bathroom, "As long as it's not a repeat of Pilot Soryu's bootcamp".
"Don't call it that!" snaps Asuka at Shinji's back as he disappears behind the bathroom door.
Toji had to ask "Pilot Soryu's bootcamp?"
"After baka-Shinji jumped into a frigging volcano, I discovered how little training he and Rei had. I'd gone through years of rigorous training, they stuck him an Eva the first time he saw it. Misato was all 'if you've got the time to complain, you've the time to do something about it'. The bridge bunnies started calling it 'Pilot Soryu's bootcamp' and I couldn't get them to drop it.
Toji laughed, "I suspect the only person who'd enjoy that is Kensuke"
"Probably. But it was necessary."
"Four" remarked Hikari.
Toji and Asuka turned to look at her.
"Four times Asuka has agreed with Toji this evening. Maybe we should go home before it happens again and the world ends"
Asuka threw up her hands, "Fine. Be like that. I need to check the baka hasn't drowned, or worse, used up all the hot water."
Asuka leaned against the door after she closed it behind them. She knew he hadn't drowned. She didn't even care that much about the hot water. In this heat a cool shower wouldn't be a bad thing. She didn't even have to decide whether to ask Shinji to sleep next to her, she'd already done that. Now she just had to live with her earlier decision.
Fortunately Shinji is sitting on the edge of her bed when she's done with her own shower.
"Stand up and hold out your hand, I need to check something"
He looks tired and confused but does so without complaint.
Approaching carefully she reaches out slowly to touch the back of his hand. She's a centimetre away when it starts to hurt, slightly less by the time they both pull away in pain.
She sighs in frustration and holds her hand out, "You try this time" she demands.
His hands are shaking nervously, or possibly from exhaustion, but he reaches out slowly. It's even worse, he's barely five centimetres away when she starts to feel it, four when it starts to hurt. "Oww." they go in unison.
Asuka folds her arms around herself, holding her sides with her hands until the pain in them subsides.
They are standing too close together. She can feel his hands on her sides so clearly she has to look down to check they are just holding themselves in a perfect mirror of each other. As if the pain wouldn't have told her otherwise.
"So much for that plan. It's going to have to be opposite sides of the bed" Shinji grumbles in an annoyed almost angry tone.
Asuka stares at him, "I'm sorry" she says.
"What the hell Third" he snaps back.
Asuka panics and instinctively shoves Shinji away from her. She feels her hands on his chest. She feels the edge of the bed behind his legs as he's pushed backwards. He grabs onto the nearest thing to help stop his fall. Unfortunately the nearest thing is her. It's her bed so it's relatively soft when he impacts it. He's not as soft when she lands on top of him.
They stare into each other's eyes, their noses almost touching, for a long minute as their heart rate gradually slows.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly, his breath gentle across her lips.
It's another minute or more before either of them risks moving - a shifting combination of fear of pain, the unexpected comfort of their position and rising embarrassment keep them in place.
Asuka lifts her head away from Shinji's face and lays it on his shoulder.
"Do you think Rei would mind if I kissed her boyfriend?" Asuka doesn't know where the unwanted intrusive thought came from, or how it bypassed her brain to reach her mouth. At least it was her own mouth.
She felt Shinji relax under her. Relax?? What was the baka thinking? Worse was he actually going to answer? Why did lying on top of him holding him like this feel almost as comfortable as holding Rei. Where did that thought come from? At least she hadn't said that one out loud.
Unfortunately for Asuka, Shinji had been contemplating her question in favour of contemplating how Asuka felt laying on him with his arms around her. She'd asked how Rei would respond. Not how he would. He could focus on that. Ignoring the fact that he was not Rei's boyfriend and Rei would insist on reminding Asuka of this, how would Rei actually react?
"She would not mind, as long as we enjoyed it this time. She would insist we did it again where she could observe. Then she would require you to kiss her for comparative purposes".
Asuka groaned. That was such a Rei answer to the question.
"Grab a pillow baka. I'm not moving and risking it fucking hurting again. And I'm not waking up with a crick in your neck."
Shinji was too tired and Asuka was too comfortable for them to stay awake for long.
'I'll deal with whatever the fuck just happened tomorrow' Asuka thought as she drifted off, 'Preferably during a Rei hug when I can think clearly.' Mercifully sleep claimed her before she could dwell on that thought.
Primodial Soup Leftovers 15: Overheard Conversations
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Overheard Conversations, or How many schoolgirls does it take to annoy an Asuka
Asuka disliked using the school bathrooms. Even the risk of PenPen walking in on her wasn't as bad as overhearing the inane chatter of other girls while she was taking care of things. There were a couple of voices, one of which she recognised but couldn't put a name to, so probably from the same class. The other she didn't know at all.
"Thank you to whoever is keeping these things stocked," said the unfamiliar voice.
"That would be our class jock" responded the girl from her class.
"Horaki-the-tyrant is still making him do that? It's been weeks!"
"She's not. I mean she goes with him to make sure he doesn't walk in on anyone, but no, it was Ikari".
Asuka hadn't really been paying attention until they mentioned Shinji. Not that she cared about what other people thought, but Shinji did and if anyone was going to bother him it was going to be her.
"What? That scrawny little runt with all the personality of a wet rag?"
'Runt? How dare she?! Sure baka is shorter than me...'
"Well, our scrawny little runt," says the second girl sounding somewhat... defensive? ... "apparently has hidden depths. You know how they tease him about being married to Her Royal Highness because he acts like a henpecked husband and she's always with him however annoyed with him she seems?"
The apparently taller than everyone girl if Shinji's a runt, "I never got that, even if he had a thing for her, there's no 'dere' in that 'tsun'"
'Hey! That's not fair. Just ask Shinji. Actually don't. Ask Rei. No don't do that, she'll make some accurate but totally misleading statement and I'll never get the rumours squashed. Actually, just keep thinking that so you keep away and don't annoy me'.
In our class, why don't I recognise her voice continued, "Anyway, she was missing one day, no idea where, didn't care, and the next thing we know he's giving a very passionate and accurate lecture about monthly pain, he's emphasising his points by prodding the meat-head in exactly the right spot. Then he tells Mr Manly Man that he couldn't handle it as well as a girl - and he uses that derogatory tone for 'girl', except he's totally being sarcastic about it. And to make his point, he points out how many of the girls in the class are currently cramping and that you can't tell"
'He did WHAT?' Asuka isn't sure which part of that most surprises her, it all seems so out of character for the baka-Shinji she knows.
Bitch who's taller than everyone asks "What? How did he know then?"
'Probably just guessing. Obviously he knows when mine are, possibly also Rei's though she's never mentioned them although she has no problems being very straightforward about other bodily functions, but other than that, no way the baka knows'.
Mayumi-perhaps responds, "No idea, but he knew who, and how long for! He didn't point anyone out, he's far too polite for that, but he knew. It was weird. But he didn't stop there. The next thing he does is to ask She Who Must Be Obeyed to take the idiot jock shopping for pads and painkillers and stuff."
Tall bitch who maybe is actually a senior, "And they actually did?"
Not Mayumi, "Oh yes! There were witnesses. Horaki didn't let him get out of it, though apparently he didn't even try. What I do know is that she picked out the store and went there earlier to ask the staff not to help him out at all. At least she gave him a list as Ikari asked, otherwise who knows what we'd have ended up with."
Asuka smothers a snort, 'That's so Hikari, at least it wasn't aimed at me this time. And of course Jock-Stooge didn't try, Shinji had insulted his manliness'.
Not Mayumi, maybe Kaede continued, "Well, what happened next might have helped. Ikari still wasn't done. By this time the entire class was watching, there were girls from at least three other classrooms standing in the doorway and Ikari's got this odd distant look on his face."
'If I wasn't there and he was, I must have been in the GeoFront going through one of Akagi's boring tests. So looking 'distant' in the middle of a conversation was probably him mirroring my expression when I'm bored out of my freaking skull. Why wouldn't he be in sync testing then if I was stuck there though? Akagi never let an opportunity to poke us go to waste. Maybe it was the time she tried to see if Rei and I could synchronise in the same Eva the way Shinji and I did against that stupid fish angel. Hrm. I wonder if that would work better now Rei and I get along, maybe I'll ask Akagi next time she tries to pull some experimental shit on us.'
Probably Kaede, "And he's like 'If you ever make a joke about that again, I'll get my 'wife' to repeat the lesson', and you can tell he's just so done with the whole 'wife' thing, jock-boy is practically shitting his pants at the thought of how the Baroness would give that lesson and Ikari still isn't done!"
"You sound like you have a crush on him." teases her friend
Almost certainly Kaede responds, "What? No! Anyway, I wouldn't stand a chance. So anyway after all that he just deadpans this bombshell
'Ayanami doesn't know how to pull her punches'
and gets up and leaves."
Asuka bites the side of her hand to keep from laughing out loud, 'Baka! You really are never going to live that one down'.
"Ayanami?? The Ice Queen? The one who burned Her Highness to the ground on her first day? The Statue that wouldn't know a facial expression if it bit her in the ass."
"There another one? Of course that Ayanami. And she does have at least one other facial expression. It's this cute little smile. Only when she's looking at him."
"Ohhh."
"Hidden depths, I told you"
"Not so hidden apparently," adds a new voice. "Ikari and Ayanami were seen holding hands on the way to school this morning. Before they stopped to pick up Soryu."
'Well, shit, who saw that? There's supposed to be no one around but Section 2, and they aren't going to be talking to school kids.'
Another new girl asks "Doesn't Ikari still live with Soryu?"
Tall bitch remarks "I bet the Baroness wasn't at all happy with that, you know how possessive she is of her pet Ikari"
New new girl, sounds like a senior snarks, "I'm not sure he is the pet. Hidden depths an' all".
'Shinji ordering me around?' muses Asuka, 'That would never work. I'd be laughing too much. Curling up in Shinji's lap with him stroking my hair now... gah! why am I thinking such things?'
Spy girl ignores miss snarky, "No, get this, they let go as soon as they see Soryu and my reliable witness is waiting for the explosion, but Ayanami runs up to Soryu and hugs her."
Kaede disbelievingly responds "You're joking, right?"
Spy girl who needs a Section 2 background check, "I saw them arrive together, Soryu was laughing at something Ayanami said and Ikari was walking behind them smiling at both of them. And unlike every other male at the gate, he wasn't watching their asses."
'Well', thought Asuka, 'he wasn't watching our asses then'. She was sure he had been earlier so she'd started teasing him with the way she walked, then Rei had fallen into sync and it was amusing until Shinji had stumbled, "Dammit Asuka, my hips don't work that way" and she'd stopped in a fit of giggles.
Tall bitch, "So the runt really does have something going for him?"
Suicidal Kaede, "Other than the stupid pilot thing? I'm pretty sure he shot down the first dozen girls because he saw that's all they wanted or knew about him.
'Stupid pilot thing?!?' Asuka is so busy fuming and resisting the urge to get up and give almost-certainly-Kaede a piece of her mind that she almost misses the next comment.
Senior Snark, "Yeah, I can't see any other reason anyone would go after him, unless he has a really big..."
There's a quiet gasp from one of the girls and a giggle from another, Asuka can't tell which.
Asuka's anger transforms into amusement. If she weren't sitting there with her underwear around her ankles and eavesdropping, she could have told them exactly how big Shinji got, and that he was apparently bigger than Jock-Stooge. Not that she'd ever admit to knowing that, even if the result wouldn't be Death-by-Hikari. Who was probably the only other person who now had that piece of information. Hikari was a proper little Japanese girl, except around her, so there was no risk of her sharing it with anyone. Though being able to cut Toji's dick waving down to size would be entertaining for the few seconds before her demise.
While Hikari was somehow no longer embarrassed to share intimate details with her, she had successfully sidestepped Hikari's questions about the details of how exactly she knew about Shinji. Though she'd told Hikari how one of the side effects of the glitchy sensory synchronisation was that they each knew far more about the shape of each other's bodies than either was even remotely comfortable with, there were limits. "Morning Wood" had been an abstract concept she was vaguely aware of until she had felt Shinji struggling with one in the bathroom. She'd berated him for being a pervert of course. Until she'd discovered something else that was obvious in retrospect - male anatomy is messed up - you can't pee with an erection and Shinji had had an uncomfortably full bladder. Which she could also feel. So she'd snuck away quietly and hoped the synchronisation faded before one of them died of embarrassment.
Asuka had been lost in uncomfortable memories and missed whatever they had been saying about Shinji's dick. Which was probably a good thing.
Kaede was still talking about Shinji when Asuka started paying attention again, "Sure he's quiet, and so apologetic that he'd probably get up at his own funeral to apologise for being dead."
'Good one, Kaede. Not good enough to forgive you for the pilot comment though.'
The still very dead girl formerly known as Kaede continued, "He cares about people, even people he doesn't know, even people who ignore him or who are mean to him. You just called him a runt, you could do that to his face, and worse - people have - and he'd still be the person who made sure you didn't have to worry about not having a tampon last week. He's apparently such a good cook that the Baroness stabbed the Class Rep with a chopstick when she merely asked politely if she could try a piece of the lunch he'd made."
'Hey! I didn't stab anyone. That was Rei!'
"You know what he did about that? The next day he made five lunches - himself, the Baroness, the Ice Queen and two he hands to Horaki - as samplers of all the different things he makes - one's for the Class Rep, the other is for her sisters to try, with the offer of showing her how to make anything she doesn't already know how to do. Do you have any idea how much work that many different kinds of food would be?"
'So that's why he was up early that day. The two german lunches in a row weren't leftovers, he really made everything all over again. Baka.'
"He's smart - not next to Soryu of course, none of us look smart next to her - the only time she looks worse at something is because Japanese isn't one of the three languages she reads fluently."
'Of course no one looks smart next to me! Especially the baka.'
"He's patient. He's protective of the people he cares about. He's brave - and I don't mean the whole piloting thing - he's risked his few friendships by speaking up when he could have just let things go. Not just the thing with the Jock either. The whole pictures thing, I'm pretty sure that was Aida - he's the best photographer in the school by a long way - that stopped several days before Soryu found out."
Oh really? That's why Kensuke claimed he'd already stopped doing it, even though neither Hikari nor I believed him. And why do I never see this supposed backbone of his? He doesn't stand up to me when I'm teasing him.
"He's passionate, just watch that video if you don't believe me, even if you have to pay Aida for a new copy.
'Video? There's a video of this apparently famous speech? Of course there is if Geek-Stooge was in the room. I can see what he actually said, as it seems he and Hikari have been holding out on me. I'll have to twist Kensuke's arm to give me a copy.'
"No, I don't have a crush on him," Kaede claims, in a voice that in an older girl might have sounded like 'but I want to have his babies', "He's turned down everyone who's approached him, including several boys and two high school girls - who apparently had already ditched their boyfriends because they didn't measure up to him."
'What? I bet he didn't even notice he was being hit on, especially by the boys.'
'But two high school girls? That's stretching the story a bit much there. There's no way my baka is being used as a measure for what makes an adequate boyfriend. If it's true those guys must have been terrible. Then again, aren't most boys. There must be something to Jock-Stooge otherwise Hikari wouldn't be dating him, but the only other boys Hikari talked to where Geek-Stooge and Shinji.'
Obviously Shinji was much better than either stooge. Sure he was annoying, but he was an excellent cook, he'd looked after Rei from the day they met - even before he even knew who she was. He'd been the leverage I'd needed to get Rei to open up. He was a good pilot, not as good as me of course, but he was creative in battles when the Angels pulled some weird shit that violated the laws of physics. As I discovered before that particular pool session, that is possibly because he doesn't know which laws of physics they keep breaking, which is more an inditement of this useless school we are stuck in than his intelligence, he'd picked it up as soon as I explained it properly. I know I tease him a lot about doing anything for Rei, but he held me when I asked despite his own nightmares and the risk of the excruciating pain we get almost every time we touch. Hikari was right, he wasn't a pervert. The only reason I'm sure he's straight is because I can feel when he gets embarrassed about girls, he doesn't seem to notice boys at all. His reaction to the complete failure of a date Hikari set up was to make me a replacement dinner that was probably far better than what that disaster of a date would have gotten me. He hates piloting, but he does it anyway to protect people. To protect Rei. To protect me.
Asuka's thoughts about Shinji were interrupted when her attention was brought back to the other girls nattering.
"If either Soryu or Ayanami actually wants him, I hope they do enough to be worthy of having him."
'Why that little Scheißekopf. I am not worthy of him?? How dare she.'
Except, a little nagging voice in the back of her head went, 'Maybe she's right'.
She tried to ignore it but she remembered Toji's words from the day before, "I don't think you're good enough for Shinji".
Fortunately for Kaede, by the time Asuka got back to class she was so lost in thought about what she'd overheard that she'd forgotten who had said what.
Notes: If anyone knows which fic I stole calling Asuka 'Baroness' from, I'll credit it (based on her mother being 'Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu' and thus technically related to Baron Zeppelin). Only Kensuke would associate Baroness with the Red Baron fighter pilot.
Asuka disliked using the school bathrooms. Even the risk of PenPen walking in on her wasn't as bad as overhearing the inane chatter of other girls while she was taking care of things. There were a couple of voices, one of which she recognised but couldn't put a name to, so probably from the same class. The other she didn't know at all.
"Thank you to whoever is keeping these things stocked," said the unfamiliar voice.
"That would be our class jock" responded the girl from her class.
"Horaki-the-tyrant is still making him do that? It's been weeks!"
"She's not. I mean she goes with him to make sure he doesn't walk in on anyone, but no, it was Ikari".
Asuka hadn't really been paying attention until they mentioned Shinji. Not that she cared about what other people thought, but Shinji did and if anyone was going to bother him it was going to be her.
"What? That scrawny little runt with all the personality of a wet rag?"
'Runt? How dare she?! Sure baka is shorter than me...'
"Well, our scrawny little runt," says the second girl sounding somewhat... defensive? ... "apparently has hidden depths. You know how they tease him about being married to Her Royal Highness because he acts like a henpecked husband and she's always with him however annoyed with him she seems?"
The apparently taller than everyone girl if Shinji's a runt, "I never got that, even if he had a thing for her, there's no 'dere' in that 'tsun'"
'Hey! That's not fair. Just ask Shinji. Actually don't. Ask Rei. No don't do that, she'll make some accurate but totally misleading statement and I'll never get the rumours squashed. Actually, just keep thinking that so you keep away and don't annoy me'.
In our class, why don't I recognise her voice continued, "Anyway, she was missing one day, no idea where, didn't care, and the next thing we know he's giving a very passionate and accurate lecture about monthly pain, he's emphasising his points by prodding the meat-head in exactly the right spot. Then he tells Mr Manly Man that he couldn't handle it as well as a girl - and he uses that derogatory tone for 'girl', except he's totally being sarcastic about it. And to make his point, he points out how many of the girls in the class are currently cramping and that you can't tell"
'He did WHAT?' Asuka isn't sure which part of that most surprises her, it all seems so out of character for the baka-Shinji she knows.
Bitch who's taller than everyone asks "What? How did he know then?"
'Probably just guessing. Obviously he knows when mine are, possibly also Rei's though she's never mentioned them although she has no problems being very straightforward about other bodily functions, but other than that, no way the baka knows'.
Mayumi-perhaps responds, "No idea, but he knew who, and how long for! He didn't point anyone out, he's far too polite for that, but he knew. It was weird. But he didn't stop there. The next thing he does is to ask She Who Must Be Obeyed to take the idiot jock shopping for pads and painkillers and stuff."
Tall bitch who maybe is actually a senior, "And they actually did?"
Not Mayumi, "Oh yes! There were witnesses. Horaki didn't let him get out of it, though apparently he didn't even try. What I do know is that she picked out the store and went there earlier to ask the staff not to help him out at all. At least she gave him a list as Ikari asked, otherwise who knows what we'd have ended up with."
Asuka smothers a snort, 'That's so Hikari, at least it wasn't aimed at me this time. And of course Jock-Stooge didn't try, Shinji had insulted his manliness'.
Not Mayumi, maybe Kaede continued, "Well, what happened next might have helped. Ikari still wasn't done. By this time the entire class was watching, there were girls from at least three other classrooms standing in the doorway and Ikari's got this odd distant look on his face."
'If I wasn't there and he was, I must have been in the GeoFront going through one of Akagi's boring tests. So looking 'distant' in the middle of a conversation was probably him mirroring my expression when I'm bored out of my freaking skull. Why wouldn't he be in sync testing then if I was stuck there though? Akagi never let an opportunity to poke us go to waste. Maybe it was the time she tried to see if Rei and I could synchronise in the same Eva the way Shinji and I did against that stupid fish angel. Hrm. I wonder if that would work better now Rei and I get along, maybe I'll ask Akagi next time she tries to pull some experimental shit on us.'
Probably Kaede, "And he's like 'If you ever make a joke about that again, I'll get my 'wife' to repeat the lesson', and you can tell he's just so done with the whole 'wife' thing, jock-boy is practically shitting his pants at the thought of how the Baroness would give that lesson and Ikari still isn't done!"
"You sound like you have a crush on him." teases her friend
Almost certainly Kaede responds, "What? No! Anyway, I wouldn't stand a chance. So anyway after all that he just deadpans this bombshell
'Ayanami doesn't know how to pull her punches'
and gets up and leaves."
Asuka bites the side of her hand to keep from laughing out loud, 'Baka! You really are never going to live that one down'.
"Ayanami?? The Ice Queen? The one who burned Her Highness to the ground on her first day? The Statue that wouldn't know a facial expression if it bit her in the ass."
"There another one? Of course that Ayanami. And she does have at least one other facial expression. It's this cute little smile. Only when she's looking at him."
"Ohhh."
"Hidden depths, I told you"
"Not so hidden apparently," adds a new voice. "Ikari and Ayanami were seen holding hands on the way to school this morning. Before they stopped to pick up Soryu."
'Well, shit, who saw that? There's supposed to be no one around but Section 2, and they aren't going to be talking to school kids.'
Another new girl asks "Doesn't Ikari still live with Soryu?"
Tall bitch remarks "I bet the Baroness wasn't at all happy with that, you know how possessive she is of her pet Ikari"
New new girl, sounds like a senior snarks, "I'm not sure he is the pet. Hidden depths an' all".
'Shinji ordering me around?' muses Asuka, 'That would never work. I'd be laughing too much. Curling up in Shinji's lap with him stroking my hair now... gah! why am I thinking such things?'
Spy girl ignores miss snarky, "No, get this, they let go as soon as they see Soryu and my reliable witness is waiting for the explosion, but Ayanami runs up to Soryu and hugs her."
Kaede disbelievingly responds "You're joking, right?"
Spy girl who needs a Section 2 background check, "I saw them arrive together, Soryu was laughing at something Ayanami said and Ikari was walking behind them smiling at both of them. And unlike every other male at the gate, he wasn't watching their asses."
'Well', thought Asuka, 'he wasn't watching our asses then'. She was sure he had been earlier so she'd started teasing him with the way she walked, then Rei had fallen into sync and it was amusing until Shinji had stumbled, "Dammit Asuka, my hips don't work that way" and she'd stopped in a fit of giggles.
Tall bitch, "So the runt really does have something going for him?"
Suicidal Kaede, "Other than the stupid pilot thing? I'm pretty sure he shot down the first dozen girls because he saw that's all they wanted or knew about him.
'Stupid pilot thing?!?' Asuka is so busy fuming and resisting the urge to get up and give almost-certainly-Kaede a piece of her mind that she almost misses the next comment.
Senior Snark, "Yeah, I can't see any other reason anyone would go after him, unless he has a really big..."
There's a quiet gasp from one of the girls and a giggle from another, Asuka can't tell which.
Asuka's anger transforms into amusement. If she weren't sitting there with her underwear around her ankles and eavesdropping, she could have told them exactly how big Shinji got, and that he was apparently bigger than Jock-Stooge. Not that she'd ever admit to knowing that, even if the result wouldn't be Death-by-Hikari. Who was probably the only other person who now had that piece of information. Hikari was a proper little Japanese girl, except around her, so there was no risk of her sharing it with anyone. Though being able to cut Toji's dick waving down to size would be entertaining for the few seconds before her demise.
While Hikari was somehow no longer embarrassed to share intimate details with her, she had successfully sidestepped Hikari's questions about the details of how exactly she knew about Shinji. Though she'd told Hikari how one of the side effects of the glitchy sensory synchronisation was that they each knew far more about the shape of each other's bodies than either was even remotely comfortable with, there were limits. "Morning Wood" had been an abstract concept she was vaguely aware of until she had felt Shinji struggling with one in the bathroom. She'd berated him for being a pervert of course. Until she'd discovered something else that was obvious in retrospect - male anatomy is messed up - you can't pee with an erection and Shinji had had an uncomfortably full bladder. Which she could also feel. So she'd snuck away quietly and hoped the synchronisation faded before one of them died of embarrassment.
Asuka had been lost in uncomfortable memories and missed whatever they had been saying about Shinji's dick. Which was probably a good thing.
Kaede was still talking about Shinji when Asuka started paying attention again, "Sure he's quiet, and so apologetic that he'd probably get up at his own funeral to apologise for being dead."
'Good one, Kaede. Not good enough to forgive you for the pilot comment though.'
The still very dead girl formerly known as Kaede continued, "He cares about people, even people he doesn't know, even people who ignore him or who are mean to him. You just called him a runt, you could do that to his face, and worse - people have - and he'd still be the person who made sure you didn't have to worry about not having a tampon last week. He's apparently such a good cook that the Baroness stabbed the Class Rep with a chopstick when she merely asked politely if she could try a piece of the lunch he'd made."
'Hey! I didn't stab anyone. That was Rei!'
"You know what he did about that? The next day he made five lunches - himself, the Baroness, the Ice Queen and two he hands to Horaki - as samplers of all the different things he makes - one's for the Class Rep, the other is for her sisters to try, with the offer of showing her how to make anything she doesn't already know how to do. Do you have any idea how much work that many different kinds of food would be?"
'So that's why he was up early that day. The two german lunches in a row weren't leftovers, he really made everything all over again. Baka.'
"He's smart - not next to Soryu of course, none of us look smart next to her - the only time she looks worse at something is because Japanese isn't one of the three languages she reads fluently."
'Of course no one looks smart next to me! Especially the baka.'
"He's patient. He's protective of the people he cares about. He's brave - and I don't mean the whole piloting thing - he's risked his few friendships by speaking up when he could have just let things go. Not just the thing with the Jock either. The whole pictures thing, I'm pretty sure that was Aida - he's the best photographer in the school by a long way - that stopped several days before Soryu found out."
Oh really? That's why Kensuke claimed he'd already stopped doing it, even though neither Hikari nor I believed him. And why do I never see this supposed backbone of his? He doesn't stand up to me when I'm teasing him.
"He's passionate, just watch that video if you don't believe me, even if you have to pay Aida for a new copy.
'Video? There's a video of this apparently famous speech? Of course there is if Geek-Stooge was in the room. I can see what he actually said, as it seems he and Hikari have been holding out on me. I'll have to twist Kensuke's arm to give me a copy.'
"No, I don't have a crush on him," Kaede claims, in a voice that in an older girl might have sounded like 'but I want to have his babies', "He's turned down everyone who's approached him, including several boys and two high school girls - who apparently had already ditched their boyfriends because they didn't measure up to him."
'What? I bet he didn't even notice he was being hit on, especially by the boys.'
'But two high school girls? That's stretching the story a bit much there. There's no way my baka is being used as a measure for what makes an adequate boyfriend. If it's true those guys must have been terrible. Then again, aren't most boys. There must be something to Jock-Stooge otherwise Hikari wouldn't be dating him, but the only other boys Hikari talked to where Geek-Stooge and Shinji.'
Obviously Shinji was much better than either stooge. Sure he was annoying, but he was an excellent cook, he'd looked after Rei from the day they met - even before he even knew who she was. He'd been the leverage I'd needed to get Rei to open up. He was a good pilot, not as good as me of course, but he was creative in battles when the Angels pulled some weird shit that violated the laws of physics. As I discovered before that particular pool session, that is possibly because he doesn't know which laws of physics they keep breaking, which is more an inditement of this useless school we are stuck in than his intelligence, he'd picked it up as soon as I explained it properly. I know I tease him a lot about doing anything for Rei, but he held me when I asked despite his own nightmares and the risk of the excruciating pain we get almost every time we touch. Hikari was right, he wasn't a pervert. The only reason I'm sure he's straight is because I can feel when he gets embarrassed about girls, he doesn't seem to notice boys at all. His reaction to the complete failure of a date Hikari set up was to make me a replacement dinner that was probably far better than what that disaster of a date would have gotten me. He hates piloting, but he does it anyway to protect people. To protect Rei. To protect me.
Asuka's thoughts about Shinji were interrupted when her attention was brought back to the other girls nattering.
"If either Soryu or Ayanami actually wants him, I hope they do enough to be worthy of having him."
'Why that little Scheißekopf. I am not worthy of him?? How dare she.'
Except, a little nagging voice in the back of her head went, 'Maybe she's right'.
She tried to ignore it but she remembered Toji's words from the day before, "I don't think you're good enough for Shinji".
Fortunately for Kaede, by the time Asuka got back to class she was so lost in thought about what she'd overheard that she'd forgotten who had said what.
Notes: If anyone knows which fic I stole calling Asuka 'Baroness' from, I'll credit it (based on her mother being 'Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu' and thus technically related to Baron Zeppelin). Only Kensuke would associate Baroness with the Red Baron fighter pilot.
Primodial Soup Leftovers 16: Interlude - Feeding time at the Zoo
gloomy-moods
Gloomy Moods & Inspiration
Interlude - Feeding time at the Zoo
Asuka is sitting with Hikari eating the bento Shinji made her for lunch when Hikari bursts out laughing.
"Care to let me in on the joke?"
Hikari points at the chopsticks that Asuka just removed from her mouth, "You ran out of food several minutes ago".
Asuka looks down at the bento box that has been picked clean to the last grain of rice. "Argh!" She turns and throws her chopsticks over at the back of Shinji's head, "Dummkopf, stop chatting up Rei and finish eating already". Not being particularly aerodynamic, and thrown in irritation, the chopsticks fall short and fail to gain Shinji's attention.
She turns back to Hikari, "The synchronisation issues have gotten worse since he got back. We had to brush our teeth together this morning!" She sighs in frustration, "At least we can touch each other sometimes now."
Hikari fails to smother a grin and looks at Asuka
"What? You! I did not mean it that way!" She attempts to suppress the blush by explaining "You know it hurts, even accidental contact. And two of us by that tiny sink it was ridiculously difficult to avoid bumping into each other."
"Is the kitchen sink not functional, Asuka?" asks Rei deadpan from behind her.
Asuka buries her face in her hands.
"Apparently the issue extends to borrowing his wife" teases Hikari
Asuka whips around and threatens her with the chopsticks Rei has just dropped into her hand...
"I do not need to be borrowed, Horaki-san. Asuka has my permission to request me whenever she wants me".
Hikari ignores the feeble chopstick threat and grins at her friend, not needing to add anything to that.
Asuka is sitting with Hikari eating the bento Shinji made her for lunch when Hikari bursts out laughing.
"Care to let me in on the joke?"
Hikari points at the chopsticks that Asuka just removed from her mouth, "You ran out of food several minutes ago".
Asuka looks down at the bento box that has been picked clean to the last grain of rice. "Argh!" She turns and throws her chopsticks over at the back of Shinji's head, "Dummkopf, stop chatting up Rei and finish eating already". Not being particularly aerodynamic, and thrown in irritation, the chopsticks fall short and fail to gain Shinji's attention.
She turns back to Hikari, "The synchronisation issues have gotten worse since he got back. We had to brush our teeth together this morning!" She sighs in frustration, "At least we can touch each other sometimes now."
Hikari fails to smother a grin and looks at Asuka
"What? You! I did not mean it that way!" She attempts to suppress the blush by explaining "You know it hurts, even accidental contact. And two of us by that tiny sink it was ridiculously difficult to avoid bumping into each other."
"Is the kitchen sink not functional, Asuka?" asks Rei deadpan from behind her.
Asuka buries her face in her hands.
"Apparently the issue extends to borrowing his wife" teases Hikari
Asuka whips around and threatens her with the chopsticks Rei has just dropped into her hand...
"I do not need to be borrowed, Horaki-san. Asuka has my permission to request me whenever she wants me".
Hikari ignores the feeble chopstick threat and grins at her friend, not needing to add anything to that.