003. text + action.

[astrobleme]

[network.]

[Shinji isn't mincing words today:]

This is totally outrageous.

I got a ticket from the local police for going 'too fast,' even though it was only - only!!! - by an infinitesimal amount. Literally a couple zeroes after the decimal point right here. I'm not a great pilot, I'll just say that, but there's no way I should be getting ticketed for this freaking crap. [Freaking crap. That's how you know he's really annoyed.]

So the other pilots should be aware that these so-called police are more interested in filling quotas for speeding tickets instead of actually protecting people. Whatever.


[action, aboard various ships in the Fleet.]

[Shinji and his bad mood can be found on the Red Fish, standing outside Asuka's room; on the Vanquish, in search of Kaworu; and on the Heron, his home ship, where he's trying to nurse a bruised ego with the coffee maker in the kitchen.]

Comments

[astrobleme]

[Shinji's horrible red eyes fall shut after that kiss. Every time, literally, he's surprised with how something so small can mean so much to him. He'll never take a kiss for granted. Never in a million years... His tears trickle down to nothing. He's warm, somehow cramped with warmth, somewhere in the center of his chest. He's thankful for Asuka's undeserved patience.

His hand overlaps her own, fingers curling in, delicate like fronds on a fern.] Mmm... [And his eyes open again, but only halfway. They're more like rose petals now. A flowery forest clearing.] I guess you're not wrong, [he says quietly, shyly. Asuka is a beautiful girl. Asuka has always lingered at the back of his mind: the color of her hair, the sound of her voice. There's no escaping someone like her. She left footprints in the podzol of his heart.]

Does that mean... you choose me?

[A stupid question, he knows. But he has to be sure.]

[interstices]

[He's stopped crying. That's worth everything in this world. She doesn't mind confirming for him-- he should know already, but she doesn't mind at all. It's the kind of reassurance she needs sometimes, too, but almost always refuses.]

Yeah. I chose you a long time ago.

[His hand feels like it's meant to be against hers, like they fit together. It's always been that way, even when she was at her worst, most acrid. She only hesitates slightly before adding in an unasked for confession.] When we were kids. That's when I decided I wanted you.