Shinji had never liked undressing in company. PE had always been a mad dash for the quietest corner of the locker room to finish getting changed faster than everyone else before class, and then trying to be last into the shower afterwards so as few people as possible would be in it.
This time, swapping out a hospital gown for a plugsuit with just Rei in the room, something about it felt different. Maybe it was just that Rei wasn't a boy. Maybe it was the way Rei didn't seem to think being undressed in front of someone else was significant. She'd seemed far more upset about Shinji handling that pair of broken glasses – or badmouthing that man on the way into NERV – than about being seen with nothing on.
Shinji pushed the button on the wristband and the plugsuit pulled tight against skin. It wasn't entirely comfortable. Rei's suit had a different set of modesty inserts, of course, and the chest inserts, although well up to the task of preserving modesty, were just a fraction too snug. Rei, who'd had the grace to turn away while Shinji dressed even if she seemed baffled by the request, turned back towards Shinji. "You are ready."
Shinji plucked at the fabric over the inserts. "These are, uh, kind of squashing my... um..." Shinji hesitated. "Squashing my chest a bit."
"Compression is mildly uncomfortable. Bouncing is painful. Let's go," said Rei, striding briskly out the door.
Shinji hurried down the hallway after her, a little unsteady on unfamiliar legs. The metal panelling on the walls was largely unpainted, and the light fittings were much more widely spaced than in most of NERV HQ. "Where are we?" asked Shinji as the pair stopped at the doors of an elevator.
"This is a classified area. You are only here because the equipment could not be moved." Rei swiped her card through the reader, and the elevator doors slid open. "This elevator will take us back to Central Dogma."
Shinji followed Rei into the elevator. The doors shut behind them and the elevator started to rise. "So... you said you weren't sure Dr Akagi turned me into a girl? What do you mean?"
"Are you upset to have a female body?"
Shinji looked down, then back up at Rei. "I... I don't think so? I mean..." A deep breath. "It's confusing, but it's not... bad." A worrying thought. "Um, Rei, you know all those pills in your apartment? Am I going to need those?"
"Only if you suffer serious injuries. My body heals faster than normal, but requires special supplements when doing so."
Shinji gave a sigh of relief. "That's good," said Shinji. "I don't think I could deal with that many pills."
"It is not difficult. I simply take them according to the instructions."
An awkward silence hung in the air between the pair, and before Shinji could muster the courage to ask again what Rei meant about not being turned into a girl, the elevator came to a halt.
Misato was waiting outside. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she muttered something under her breath that sounded a bit like "I need to drink less".
"Hi Misato," said Shinji, not letting on that Misato's remark had been audible.
Misato's gaze flicked between the two pilots. "Right, you must be Shinji. Come on, let's walk and talk."
