Chocolate-flavored Dessert Cream on the House

[thespaceopera]

[The bunks are filling up, but the new faces just keep appearing!

Are you a travel-weary passenger having trouble keeping your crew roster straight? Perhaps you are a fresh new recruit, finding themselves dumped into a new (and much less shiny) home. Or, maybe you've been around for a little bit and just haven't bothered meeting the other weirdos on this ship yet--what is their problem, anyway?

Well, this is the place for you!

All new passengers from the last few Shuffles, especially those who haven't met their crews yet, are welcome to post starter-comments here to invite those living on and visiting your ship to come and interact. Newbies could be just arriving on the ship, busying around where others can find them, or you can offering multiple options for interaction--however you'd like to set up your thread is fine. Just make sure to include the name of your ship in the header, so your crewmates can easily find you!

Everyone else-- go meet those newbies! Whether they are new to your own crew, or on ships you frequently visit, now is a great time to bump into them.]

Comments

[astrobleme]

I'm scared.

[It's such a simple, obvious statement, but it contains all of his heartbreak. Despite Asuka's hand helping to steady him--Kaworu's hand has done the same thing--Shinji is also terrified of it. He doesn't know how to deal with the honesty of a caress. Kicking him, even punching him would be preferable to this. He can absorb a blow to the gut. He can wash away blood and apply ice to a black eye. But a gentle touch leaves an impression different from a bruise. Much deeper than a bruise. It doesn't stop at the level of skin or muscles.]

W-What if I end up hurting more people? [There's no Eva to pilot here, it's true, but he has a dense, dark feeling that he can be destructive all on his own.] I don't want to hurt them. I don't want to keep hurting them, Asuka. It's better to stay in here, just s-stay right here.

[interstices]

You're wrong. It's better to live.

[She's not Kaworu. She's not that perfect ideal he's tossed in front of her like the most impossible hurdle. But she isn't going to let him suffocate in a cramped compartment on a spaceship. She isn't going to let him give up, any more than she'd let herself give up.]

[Her heart, not lento and not even largo, usually more like an elephant's lumbering pumping, feels like it might be beating at a normal rate. Feels like it might be beating faster than that as she wipes his eyes off with her hand. Faster than that as she disentangles herself and manages to tug the compartment back open and crawl out, holding her hands in front of her, beckoning. She's not gentle and she's not good. She's not. But he needs her.]

Come on. Come on out.

[astrobleme]

[More so a frightened animal than a boy, Shinji looks like he's going to stay huddled in there until Asuka drags him back out. But then, more like a stray that's been offered food, he slowly begins scooting his way out of the compartment. Maybe it's the sound of her voice that's convincing him not to give up. He blinks owlishly at the light in the hallway, the light he genuinely thought he'd never see again.

The first thing he does is cling to Asuka's hands, then her arms, and then he's attaching himself to her like before, in another hug. He's now just a shitty parasite. He just wants to sit here and breathe for a while, absorbing her warmth and her charity. His mind is blank and quiet, all of his fears put on hold.

Finally, he has the strength, the willpower, to pull away and get back onto his feet. It's probably a good sign that his cheeks are pink from embarrassment. He's feeling more than existential despair.]

You didn't have to do that, [he says quietly. Following him. Holding him. Wiping his tears away, even. She didn't have to.]