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Who: The fine crew of the SS Red Fish!
Broadcast: Probably not so much...
Action: You betcha.
When: Barely forward-dated to Halloween!

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[welcome to the Red Fish, the ship that always looks ready for Halloween anyway.

while today is a popular Earth holiday, it's also Zhas' birthday, and he has probably mentioned it to everyone on board in an unsubtle way over the last few weeks. there are a hilarious number of jack-o-lanterns around the ship, showing off skull-face carvings of... varying quality. thanks, Syeira!

what's in store on this spooky night? HILARITY, probably.]

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How long have you been together again?

[God, men are stupid. She'd almost bet her life that Zhas didn't give him anything for his birthday, either, assuming that announcing it to the crew was present enough. How aggravating. Asuka takes another swallow, one that stings her throat.]

It's what you do, stupid. You think he'd be picky? Come on.

[he probably would have just shrugged again if it hadn't been for the fact that part of this tradition of theirs involved Zhas badgering him until he joined in on the drinking. he comes out of his defensive, hunched shape enough to gesture out helplessly with his half-empty cup, before starting to sign with actual words.

'I never--' he starts, before a short sigh and starting over with different signs. 'birthdays were new.']

[At first, Asuka's not inclined to be so charitable at his explanation. He ought to know how customs work; they're pretty much universal. And yet something about the way he signs it makes her sort of want to cut him a marginal amount of slack. Up until recently, real food was new to her. Blue oceans were new. And the alcohol is softening her up to some tiny extent, so instead of snapping back, she shrugs.]

Whatever. He won't mind if you're late about it as long as you do it.

[She points to his drink.]

You don't like that, either, but you're doing it.

[he looks down at his drink. letting his partner push alcohol on him, turning a blind eye when the skull paint came off, keeping watch while one night a year was spent forgetting about the job they had to do--he'd maybe sort of assumed that had been his gift. obediently going along with whatever Zhas had wanted, whether the evening consisted of spending time with each other or watching in anguish while his friend disappeared into the company of a stranger, had been the sacrifice he'd made every year.

but maybe he had been thinking wrong about it.

he never would have looked to her opinion if the alcohol hadn't been helping, and if the topic had been any less important to him.

looking a little hesitant about it, he finally asks, '...not enough?']

I don't think so.

[Time can be a gift, sure. She's given it to Shinji enough that it doesn't rattle her, that she doesn't think it's trivial. But Coil... he's known this guy for years. Asuka's prone to thinking harshly about families, but Zhas seems like the closest he's got.]

What're you so worried about, anyway?

['not worried,' he answers, before spending a minute thinking about what the problem might actually be... which, to Asuka's credit, is more than most people ever get him to do. sure, the booze helps, but he still wouldn't be listening at all if he didn't think she must know what she's talking about.

he eventually strings together a few short signs that seem to fit. 'don't know how. maybe.']

What do you mean, you don't know how? You just pick something out. It's not something weird.

['like what?' he signs with another wide, aimless gesture. because he's thought about it before... or, he did once, back when the concept had first been introduced to him, before he'd been excused from it through lack of follow-through.

it's not hypothetical when he asks, 'what would be good?']

God. [Asuka raises a hand irritably, and then her shoulders follow along like an afterthought.] How would I know? You're the one that's been with him for years.

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