driftfleet | first one to make that doctor who joke loses

[Asuka doesn't know the keys apart, not that she'll own up to that. A hopeful key sounds like something they're both owed, honestly. When he leans his head against her shoulder, she's impulsive enough to release his hand and put an awkward arm around him.]

[He's not going to tell her what's bothering him. Selfishly, she doesn't mind as long as he's paying her attention, as long as he's willing to smile at her.]

Shinji? [Stupidly. She's glad that at this angle she's not looking him right in the face.] I missed you.

[Shinji hasn't been hugged enough to feel like a hug is anything but amazing. With Asuka's acceptance, he settles more of his weight on her shoulder, meager though he is. She smells like a girl. Not a girl saturated with LCL--just a girl. Plenty normal.

His voice is the softest thing in the world:]

I know.

[She didn't have to think of him. She could have forgotten all about him, writing him off as a stupid mistake that she had to live with for a few months. But she kept his memory alive, and now they're soaking up the jazz music and each other's familiar presence.]

Hey, I... don't have anything else to do today, if you want to stay with me...

Yeah.

[She closes her eyes. It's not often that she's calm, always haunted as she is by discontent and irritation. Right now, she feels smoothed-down, softened. He's not afraid to get closer, not right now.]

I want to.

Okay.

[When the next song has finished playing, Shinji suggests they go get some lunch or something. He isn't particularly hungry (he isn't hungry at all), but it's a nice communal activity to do. They're on the way out of the exhibition hall when the frog mascot tells them to have a good day. It takes Shinji a few seconds to realize the frog mascot isn't wearing a frog costume. That slimy, gaping mouth is literally... the guy's... face...

Shinji shrieks in horror. He almost pisses his pants right then and there.

Later in the evening, he is still embarrassed about that faux pas. It doesn't help that Asuka refuses to stop poking fun at him.] Come on, [he whines,] just do me a favor and forget today ever happened. [He flops onto his back on Asuka's bed, staring at the ceiling dismally. The Red Fish isn't a bad ship, and he seems reluctant to leave, even with all of Asuka's teasing. That's just how rocky things have gotten with Kaworu.]

Edited 2016-04-26 02:33 (UTC)

Never. That was hilarious. [For once, Asuka's outright lounging on her bed beside him, feet propped up with a pillow. Shinji's a whole lot more endearing when he's trying not to be.] The look on your face... [For about the third time today, Asuka tries to mimic his aghast expression, but it's pretty well ruined by asymmetry and her own barely-held-back giggles. She just can't help it. It's been so long since she's found anything funny, and all his protests make it even better. She elbows him cheekily.]

[She really hadn't expected him to stay so long. Asuka hasn't been directly told, but she's always sourly assumed that Kaworu slept over with him more often than not. Maybe they had a spat; maybe that's why Shinji's been a little off. He'd talked about taking things, taking her for granted, so just maybe...]

[Nah, he'd be more broken-up than this. But that doesn't mean Asuka won't thoroughly enjoy Shinji's singular company for as long as she can have it. Her room's a dismal place, totally without decorations. There are a few hairties on top of a cabinet and the products of her shopping spree on coathangers on the doorknob, but that's all. It's a definite downsize from the masses of boxes she'd had shipped with her from Germany. She stretches out with a slight grin.] Don't worry. I'll protect you from the frog people, too.

[They haven't had a spat. They haven't talked at all about what happened, so there hasn't been an opportunity for a spat. Shinji is afraid that the next time he sees Kaworu, he's going to hear exactly what he doesn't want to hear. That Kaworu still loves him, but Kaworu can't be with him.

It's the same thing he's afraid of with Asuka herself. She's an all-or-nothing kind of person, and he doesn't know how to keep her satisfied. A few kisses feel more like he's buying time than anything substantial. On another level, it's ghoulish to think of affection as currency and of her as a commodity. He really doesn't want to be alone... Frowning, he turns his head to look at her, before rearranging himself to be nearer to the pillows.]

I don't need your protection. Back in my day, I held my own against aliens, real aliens, like giant monsters with energy tentacles and crap. None of this overgrown frog nonsense. What kind of evolutionary path ends up with talking frogs... [Mumble, grumble. Down below, his foot nudges against hers in a weak retaliation.] It just isn't right, that's all.

Edited 2016-04-27 20:10 (UTC)

You think he might have thought the same about us? [Probably not, honestly. Most people on the moon looked more humanoid. Still, Asuka's not looking for a real debate, and she's not feeling nearly sour enough to point out the Angels she'd taken down without him, real aliens all. She's feeling good. They've had a good time. So why does she still want an answer to what's bothering him? Why can't she just enjoy the moment without wondering?]

[Maybe it's because he keeps baiting her, in his mopey way. Comparing her to Kaworu, with her always ending up shortchanged in the bargain. Giving some affection but tugging away before she's gotten more than a taste. Every time she wants something real he drifts away. So she hooks her ankle around his, obvious as usual, as if to reassure herself he'll stay.]

You sound like an old man. Your day hasn't started.

Maybe. I tried to apologize, but I wouldn't blame him for thinking humans are weird and stupid.

[His foot twitches slightly. Sharing close quarters with Asuka...

Not for the first time, of course. She once had the impudence to lie down on his futon like it belonged to her. Is that when she started to crush on him? Or could it have been even earlier than that? She never seemed all that impressed with him as a person or a pilot. Compared to Kaworu (he's doing it again), she's the furthest thing from tender and adoring. Which isn't a bad thing. He'd probably suffocate to death if she applied herself to him like synthetic seaweed to sushi.]

How old do I have to be for my day to start? I'm almost fifteen, you know...

Edited 2016-04-28 00:42 (UTC)

[She glances at him in mild surprise. For all she'd kept up his memory, maybe for all the wrong reasons, there's all sorts of statistics she never bothered to find out about him. Shinji's history was never as important as Shinji not being where she needed him to be.]

You are? You never told me when your birthday was. [There's a flicker of blue light emanating from behind her eyepatch, gone after a second or two. She presses hard on the fabric with her palm. It's been happening more and more often, sometimes, like now, when she's not even stressed. Probably the glyphs are weakening, wearing down. Hopefully. She doesn't apologize, but her face is still flushed after the glow recedes, and she unhooks her ankle from around his. He hates the patch. He has to hate every time he sees another obvious piece of evidence of the inhuman eye behind it.] So when is it? [She's talking faster now, as if she's trying to distract him from what he's already seen.] Maybe we'll be off this stupid moon by then.

Edited 2016-04-28 01:01 (UTC)

[It's impossible for Shinji to overlook that flash of blue light. His skin crawls with it. There's something leaking into his mind, like music but shapeless, or maybe it was always there to begin with. He's being submerged in LCL and told that he's going to help so many people someday.

He seems mesmerized, not disgusted. He zones out until well after the light is gone.]

... What? [Birthdays? What about them?] My birthday is... [It takes him a second to remember the exact date. Even so,] It's just another day to me, Asuka. I'm not worried about it or anything. But yours is--uh, it's in December, isn't it?

Edited 2016-04-28 01:50 (UTC)

December fourth. [The answer comes automatically, markedly faster than his reply. Asuka's brow furrows. He wasn't avoiding looking at her at all, not the whole time her eye had decided to start glowing. It's disturbing, but it shouldn't be special. He's seen it before. The lapse of attention was weirder than when he'd done badly at darts. Asuka swallows some spit, decides not to push it, ashamed, disgusted at herself for being ashamed in the first place.]

Tell me yours. I want to know. [She's horrible at distracting herself, worse at it when she can't pinpoint why he'd reacted like that, or why she's not backing off herself. If anything, she's scooting closer up.] It gives me some time to get ready.

[Shinji still feels a little bit like he's underwater. His vision isn't blurred, but it's lost some of its clarity, especially around the edges. Asuka has a very pretty face that looks fine with or without makeup. He can't say that he cares about someone's makeup. He exhales, and it's with difficulty: every so often, he forgets about breathing. It's hard to care about makeup or breathing when he has more important things to think about.

It wouldn't be that hard to reach up and unwind the eyepatch from her head. He could see everything he's responsible for and much more than that.]

Get ready? For my birthday? [He blinks in confusion, then scrunches up his nose distastefully.] I told you, it's just another day to me. Nothing special about it. [But Asuka reminds him of a dog with a bone it won't let go of. Reluctantly, he admits,] It's in June. June sixth. Seriously, it's nothing...

Edited 2016-04-28 02:47 (UTC)

June sixth. [Asuka parrots it back, feeling out of sync herself. He's throwing her off when he shouldn't; he still doesn't look quite... what? With it? Is that it? Is he really acting strange, or is she just getting more and more demanding, wanting not just his time but the whole of his attention? Her sluggish heart is starting to beat just a little faster. But that's stupid. There's nothing to anticipate. They're just talking. So why should...]

Birthdays are important, idiot. [Asuka's spent the bulk of her own by herself. By college she was buying her own cakes, enjoying her own meager celebration with her doll across from her on the desk. She'd felt lower than dirt when she wasn't reassuring herself that she was above any paltry friendship, any worthless love that could be tossed her way. Swallowing again, she reaches over and squeezes his arm.] They're what started you.

You want to celebrate my birthday? [Shinji's voice spikes higher up than the question warrants. It's insane to him. Like one of Misato-san's insane plans, but digging deeper than that. The idea of someone relishing the day he was born makes him feel sick to his stomach-- Or it would, if it weren't for the morphine drip that is Asuka's presence.

Her hand is touching his arm. It's warm. Maybe too warm.]

Why do you want to do that?

[No one has ever done that for him. Not even his father could be bothered to give him a call on his birthday. Over the years, Shinji dutifully sat next to the phone, telling himself that a call would come in this time. It never did. It never will.]

Do you have to ask why?

[He's so incredulous that it's pathetic. That he's pathetic. Asuka can't give herself over to pity any more than she already does, not even for him, but her face reddens, expression a mire of consternation. Like her, Shinji's always starving for affirmation while denying it to everyone else.]

If you don't want it, I'll figure something else out. [Another box of chocolates, maybe. Something. Asuka scoots closer in like a groundhog burrowing. She thinks about resting her head on his shoulder the way he'd done with her.] It won't be stupid.

I didn't say I didn't want it... [Shinji's disbelief has nothing to do with whether or not he wants it. Case in point: he can't believe Asuka wants to be close to a loser like him, but he isn't shoving her away, right? If anything, he's drawing her in closer when he curves his arm around her lower back.

This is a very private place. More private than the cargo bay, or a boutique's changing room. No one's going to walk in on them. In Misato-san's apartment, Asuka used to guard her bedroom with fire-breathing ferocity. Shinji couldn't even go in there to pick up dirty socks without getting chewed out. So, he doubts Asuka's shipmates will drop by and interrupt. There's nothing to stop him from...

He kisses her softly.]

I just, [he says, throatier,] want to know what you're thinking.

[The kiss is entirely unexpected, Asuka's eye widening, whole face getting hotter. It doesn't last long enough, like always, but it's amazingly potent. It takes so much and so little simultaneously to keep her satisfied. If he punctuated all his harder questions with kisses, he'd get further towards understanding her than he probably ever wanted.]

[She exhales. Her room since the time he first met her has gone from a sanctuary to a self-imposed prison, but he doesn't know that. Inviting him in just to lay around and talk to her is a bigger step than it should be at her age. A kiss is good enough for now, but she's too greedy for that to suffice forever. His arm wrapping around her is proof he has to-- she hopes he has to-- feel the same. Her foot brushes up against his ankle, and she almost forgets to answer his question at all.]

I'm thinking you should kiss me again.

[Shinji smiles faintly, just letting his head rest against the pillow.] I'm thinking you don't know when to stop, [he replies, then. His tone is warm and conciliatory, not scolding. It isn't a bad thing to him. Asuka is determined in all the ways he can't be or hasn't been able to figure out.] If we do it too much, maybe you'll get bored of it.

[He doesn't honestly believe that. He's just teasing her, kind of, with his fingers curling against the pretty, worn-to-please-him blouse. In small ways, in big ways, she's always trying to catch and keep his attention. It makes him wonder about all the things she might be willing to do for him. He'd never abuse it (or so he tells himself), but she's giving him a lot of control... a lot of power...]

Maybe you'll get bored of me. And then what?

Edited 2016-05-01 01:54 (UTC)

Then you'll have to step it up. [She's not-- well, she is a little serious. Asuka's smile is downright mischievous, on the border of wicked. It still feels a little wrong to smile over anything that isn't a great shot on the battlefield.]

[He's never chased her affections. He's let her do all the pursuing, which has only served to make her efforts all the more intense. Just grabbing onto her blouse and holding her is significant, another tiny victory that means more than it should. Asuka never knew how desperate she was to be touched until he came back.]

If you think you can. I've got some older shipmates, you know...

Edited 2016-05-01 02:04 (UTC)

[Asuka is just saying that to make him jealous. It won't work. (It's working too well.) If she likes him, and he's the worst person in the universe, then she's like a fly that's attracted to a unique pile of shit. She couldn't find a mess as disgusting as him anywhere else. (She's better off with anyone else. Literally anyone. Even the frog man wouldn't be a bad option.)

Sighing quietly, Shinji doesn't seem all that aggrieved. He closes his eyes and asks her,] Am I allowed to spend the night here? With you? I don't want to step on someone's toes...

Of course you're allowed. I'd let you even if you weren't. [Asuka, as usual, isn't intimidated by anyone on her ship. They're all weirdos of one variety or another, not really any competition of Shinji's. But it pleases her vanity to see how he reacts to her teasing. And though it's not with another kiss, that's okay.]

[She shifts to rest her head on him, turning so the patched side of her face is against his shoulder. There. That's better. It shouldn't start to glow again. Asuka feels soft, like all the rough parts of her are getting sloughed away, at least for tonight.]

Are you jealous?

[That's the second time Asuka has asked him that today. Admittedly, it holds less of a sting when she's climbing all over him, settling in, as close as she can be for now. Shinji didn't realize how much he hated sleeping alone until Kaworu started staying with him overnight.]

What would you say if I said I'm jealous?

[Purely hypothetical...]

I'd say I was glad.

[Her grin is catlike. Her face hasn't changed in all these years, just her expressions, harder, fiercer. That's wrought its own alterations, really. She curls up, not really caring that they're on top of the covers rather than beneath them.]

I like you getting jealous over me.

[It feels like Asuka is trying to reinvent herself as a blanket. Shinji doesn't know that he minds, since she's about his size and comfortable. Surprisingly comfortable. It used to be that he flinched whenever someone looked at him...

Asuka could have her pick of anyone in the Fleet, probably, if she wanted them. Jeez.]

There's a Japanese proverb, and it goes something like... "You shouldn't burn your hands frying an already fried rice cake." In other words, being jealous can be dangerous. [His hand, meanwhile, ventures high enough to play with her hair. He shouldn't encourage her adoration, but he can't help himself.]

Edited 2016-05-02 04:28 (UTC)

Being jealous means you care. [She can't offer up a German proverb as a rebuttal, only her own. She closes her eyes, whole body starting to relax when he starts to play with her hair. It's like a cube of ice melting into water.]

[If Shinji didn't get jealous, whether out of magnanimity or pure cowardice, she'd be upset. Worse than upset. He wouldn't be worth her time anymore. If he didn't care, if he really didn't care who else she saw, who else she liked. she'd be humiliated. Crushed. Taking an unnecessary breath, she reaches an arm over to rest her hand on his chest, right near his heartbeat.]

It's a motivator. If you don't want things, there's no reason to push yourself forward.

first one to make that doctor who joke loses

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