Thanks for reviews and stuff everyone. This would be the cheap end game chapter. Comes complete with difficult plot twist and magical this and that. It was a lot of fun to write this stuff. Unfortunately it was not very much fun to go over it and make sense of the whole thing. If something almost makes sense I'll ask that you fill in the blanks. I'm happy that I could at least add something to this big archive of fiction. Max thanks to anyone who has written or will write good stuff keeping in with this particular fandom. Good night (morning technically).
N E O N G E N E S I S E V A N G E L I O N
-An Obvious Tangent?-
Third Impact was the result of so many hundreds of factors. At the end of the day, me personally, I see it all as his fault. After instrumentality, we awoke on the shore. I honestly would have stayed in the ocean that captured all of humanity's essence. Only at his bidding, his somehow godlike hand in the process did I come back out.
So, we lay on the shore; the edge between the ocean of souls and the burning creation that was once society. He was angry, some how not pleased with his decision. I no longer have a say in this. It is his world, his sandbox. I feel that I had never had a direct connection with the events that took place anyways. His hand shaped everything.
He had rolled over me, choked me, and then began crying. He could have saved everything. Perhaps he did make the right decision: a true history of our lives left no sympathy for the people he had abandoned to the ocean. During instrumentality we had watched betrayal, agendas, misplaced love, and so much wasted potential scattered the world that he had just destroyed.
I held my hand up to his cheek. With what breath I had available, I told him that this is his entire world, all his doing.
"You can change this place, it is still undecided. I don't feel whole."
He looked down at my one open eye. Quickly he began fading around the edges of his body. I no longer felt the sand under me. Instead my body became a cloud. I was only visible. My hand passed right through his shoulder. His body and the sky became white noise, and then all settled into black.
Before me, a large mirror reflected my body's image virtually popped into existence. The bloodied girl wearing a body suit blinked back at me, one eye bandaged thoroughly with limbs incapacitated on either side. Then suddenly, Pieces of the image began taking flight from the mirror. A flock of them left its surface, startled birds on a walkway. Each spread out from the puzzle image of me, now missing segments. Some burst into bright stars of light, others immediately paired with others and began playing small movies of my life.
My fractured puzzle-self and I watched them, each a different story being told. From elsewhere, blue shining lights came and joined each small "screen". Shinji entered each story, some depicting themselves slowly, some over and over again. He's testing the waters I guess.
Some were terrible, smaller screens depicted us murdering one another. Other smaller screens were pretty self explanatory; they showed us in tangles of flesh, coupling endlessly in some dream dimension. Some showed us happy, somehow disconnected from one another. I paid attention to several at once, keeping the small ones out of sight. Several of the largest ones played out in real time.
One of the larger windows continues its entertaining story without repeating or terminating at a certain point. When I concentrate hard enough, I become absorbed into the picture, the world around me not the black void, but in this case a large hotel room. This picture had enough of the mirror pieces that its version of me was competent and nearly my full self.
Some of the movies were completely alternate versions of my life, or his related to mine. Ones like this were "do-overs". This world contained the Angels, the Evas, him, me, and the rest of the humanity, all moving and living. I can't help but wonder if the other people and living things I see have their real souls, or if they are just a bent piece of his imagination. Perhaps, like the pieces of mirror, some of the people had fractions of their soul involved in his multiple cinematic dreams.
It wouldn't be too hard to say that the drunken Misato's portrayal had a piece of the older woman's concern and happiness. The two jolly police men, perhaps in this dynamic state had brought their opinions out from the ocean of souls. The beautiful lady proprietor of the inn holds fast; wanting to watch over the decisions that would decide the fate of the lives we pursued in the past.
Which brings up another interesting question, from the start, was I living my life for the first time when Shinji pulled the trigger on instrumentality? Am I, or was I, Asuka prime?
Even with reality split in so many directions right now, that line of thought seems somewhat far out, even so. I wonder if the Asuka napping on that hotel bed questions her genuine nature. I say this in jest, but she would receive my stamp of approval. Kind of odd, many of the fragments of the mirrors take on a different occupation or hobby, each of them funny and interesting for their own reasons. The thing however, is that Shinji always stays, always becomes involved with the Asukas who seem to burn with passion.
That aside, who knew I could play the piano that well? I had watched that small story unfold, how interesting and beautiful to watch what you could become. Could I just become any of these? Was it his choice? Do I get a say in the matter?
Speaking of him, his blue lights had been separating off of several of the small worlds in the screens and redistributing rapidly to different screens. This sounds rather strange, but maybe having more of the small stars of blue indicated his favor between the playing time lines. Going by this logic, most of him was watching the story with the car. I wonder if I couldn't just borrow that clone body to put some hurt on Shinji just for a few minutes. Asshole is taking his time in this creepy End of Time Cineplex.
As I had done many times already, I focused in on the story. I couldn't feel, but could now at least see myself walking across the floor of the hotel room. His and my approximations lay apart on their different surfaces; the quiet murmur of the room comforting compared to the noiseless vacuum behind me where the screens waited.
Experimentally I touched some of the slack on his pants where it meets his sock. Like a cloud, I pass right through him. Fair enough, puzzle girl can't screw with things. Or rather, I can't mess with anything but myself. The red glove of my suit does not pass through the me laying out cold on the bed. Its strange that my arm, up to the elbow, seems to go into the body instead of coming out the other side.
A quick browse around the room confirms that I'm not being watched by anyone but myself; silly, but ultimately necessary. An uncommon sensation occurs to me as I find my body holding itself on the bed I cannot feel. That's a new meaning to being beside yourself. Even a heavy breath doesn't reach the girl's hair, an invisible wall that separates her and me. The two of us lay prone facing each other. I reach in to hug the less tarnished version of myself.
As simple as that, I am her now. I actually hear out of my ears now, my hands feel the soft sheets beneath me. The ghosts of damage done to my original body still hover in their respective places. That thick set of wrappings cast around my arm weighs heavily against me despite its pristine appearance in this body. The feeling of the muscles moving up and seating myself on the edge to the bed is refreshing, if not exciting.
While I feel slightly sorry for the girl previously occupying the body, she was just a fraction of me to begin with. Welcome home I guess. Time to take account of things, world ends, a bunch of worlds begin, I'm a ghost in the wall. Now would be an excellent intermission for a vacation. As I get up and stretch, it becomes obvious that it is time for a bath.
"While I'm here," I speak softly and rap Shinji on his sleeping head several times and then run off using long and silent lunges. Indecisive little fucker deserves it even if he doesn't realize it. The dry wood floors feel alive beneath me; the prim corridor of the inn looks vibrant even built with the Japanese sense of modesty and the low light. A sensory overload gives me shivers up the back.
Yup, just for a little while, a nice bath. No fucked up time-space bullshit, no transcendental teenage girl, and Shinji-idiot can just take a fucking nap for like an hour. Watching him, I don't think this one has planar-scale homicide on his mind, but perhaps they all have the potential to create the third impact endgame in any of these timelines.
Oh, listen to me, little miss quantum philosopher.
"Bah." Shake it all off and grab a towel. It made sense; the Asuka in this version was simply looking for a relaxing occasion to escape everyone's pace. They were all dragging her to hell. I however have a nice grasp on everything. If Shinji is the great destroyer, I am the great mother. Maybe the part of me playing in this story saw me there watching. She allowed me to take control, or had no choice against "seniority". Regardless of all these things, I'm here now.
After the end of the world, this kind of pleasant bubble is maybe the closest to reality I will get. Being absorbed into this body, I could no longer see the far off entrance of the outer world I had come from. It had rested like a hole in the sky before, but now did not break the continuity of this place.
This place is very modern, now that I think about it. A presence of the new mixing with the old or at least what I would assume are traditional parts. A comfortable room holds baskets and some benches. The room then splits off into two shower areas, but ends up back in one place. Of course the damn car picks a mixed bathing facility. It is no longer her/my birthday, judging by the clock on the wall. It won't matter; I doubt any one is out there in the open air bath.
Her body is lovely naturally. The jeans slide off and the shirt comes off. No marks or undesirable discoloration. No missing pieces flawing some of the other bodies I've studied as of late. This is only as fucked up as it sounds. Humans adapt after a few rounds of something; even if something is being a ghost watching the creation of a new world.
The large area is an open view, but everything is obstructed by a thick fog. The blue moon shows dimly through the miasma engulfing the hot springs. Hidden orange-yellow lights display the edge of the wooden walk and some large rocks placed in the middle of what reminds me of a big pond. This water better be toasty.
There is an easy to remember shelf made out of rock nearest me, it was either meant to hold my towel or I'm just really practical. The water is far more pleasant than I could ever imagine. Not a hot tub by any means, but crawling across the bottom warms up my body and spirit. From the big rock in the center, the muted lighting barely makes a silhouette describing the doors to the shower rooms.
Only thing I would possibly desire right now is a personal music player of some type.
Rap, trance, rock, classical, anything I could sing to, wordless or otherwise. The joy of feeling something is overpowering. Even Shinji's play list of drawn out classical suites would make me shiver. More than anything I want right now to forget. Not forever mind you.
I want to just sleep. To rest in this body, my mind firmly seated here in this world; until tomorrow if possible would be nice. Maybe he will just decide that this place is okay, lets settle down here. It sounds partially wrong to say such a thing, but this is close to how I want to be. Close to how I would have originally lived my life, had the world not been hanging from the last hair of sanity as we grew into adolescence.
The door from the showers opens lightly and out steps a familiar shadow. The water flows up to my cheeks when I scoot into an unlit section of the spring. He lowers one foot into the spring and then just seems to walk the rest of the way in. He and I are going to have a talk. The shadow of his body perks towards the sound of me displacing water as I floated over to him; walking with my palms as my back and legs floated on the surface.
"Asuka?" he asks then suddenly makes to get out of the spring. He turned and covered himself with his towel.
"Did you have a good nap?" I asked, remaining submerged in the water . I trailed him and clenched one of his ankles with the hook of my elbow; a dirty move on my part. "Sit-down," I pulled his towel and threw it at the edge of the wooden deck bordering the water. He instantly immersed himself in the water, covering himself with his arms.
"Nice isn't it? Shinji, Oi…" He was looking upwards and inching towards the exit. He turned full swing and swam / palm walked quickly. He hurried as he heard me stand out of the water and walk in front of him. He flipped the other way when I sat down in his path with my legs crossed like an Indian from an old western.
"'Afraid of naked girls Shinji?"
"Hardly, but girls who are crazy scare the shit out of me." He threw back over his shoulder, arms around his knees he just sat in the water and breathed out.
Not the cute response I was looking for, but things take time. Doing a funny moon jump with my bottom I came up behind him. I pushed down on his shoulders with my palms and waited for him to release tension from his back.
"No point in being ashamed of the human body y'know." Not like I had a lot of room to talk, but this is more of an experiment. Yea, that's it, experiment.
"That's not it," he sighed and his head came to rest on his left arm. "You're not yourself at all. Days ago, you were quiet, angry, and not sociable! Now look at you, you're dragging me around and acting like this is something normal!"
Touché I guess. Perhaps I'm trying to make him the whole Shinji who knows everything that the real Shinji would. Waking up the tired soul who is searching for home. So that he might just wake up long enough to see that I'm here. Were he to remember everything I'd ask him if we could just stay in this place for a duration. We could take it easy for a while.
"Is it so bad?" I pulled my arms around his neck and brought his back to me. "I want this to be normal." Well, being closer anyways. When's the last time you received a legitimate hug? I'm sure this Asuka won't mind this turn of events.
"You're crazy."
I kissed his cheek and he shivered roughly.
"Fuck off." I pulled away from him and turned. I laid my back on his sloped form. A sparkling feeling resounded where skin touched skin. I pulled my hair out from between us. He grumbled and put his arms around his knees. The muscles in his back lost their tenseness after several minutes of doing nothing. As I transferred more weight to my human lawn chair he huffed.
"Not bad at all." I brought my hands to the back of my head and raised my elbows out. Further mockery might include a mixed drink and a large sun hat.
"Asuka, please stop joking around."
"What seems to be the problem Shinji? I still think you're afraid of me, pretty as I am." The most childish retort I could possibly find. I doubt the situation was in any sense dangerous. Still, I wondered where Shinji might break out of sexual tension.
"Insane," He said only half serious by the sound of it. Even my head was a bit lost in the sensation of our bodies touching. Don't screw with Mother Nature I guess.
I'm not in the position to tell Shinji what he should be and should not be favorable of. However I find myself enjoying this sandbox situation.
"Too aroused Shinji?" I'm sure he is, I certainly am, but this is not the time for mindless things like that.
"You confuse me so much. Changing moods on a dime like you do. Did this you jump out of a different world only to bother me for a while?" I don't think he meant to get that close to the truth, but startling none the less.
"Funny story about that…"
He staved off attempts to playfully grab him in spots I should avoid. I don't know that he was really angry, but his back slid out from under mine and he raised himself. He said that he was going to the bathroom in a frustrated tone. As he walked out of the spring I caught glimpses of his body despite him covering it awkwardly with his hands. His image faded into a shadow as he walked farther away into the fog.
"Strange"
I lay on my back in the water looking up to the muted moon in the sky. It might be time to go in before this body starts pruning out.
Pruning, yeah, but I wonder if it would be comfortable there.
There, you know.
With him.
In there.
It might be truly empty. It might be warm. It might be sexy.
"Oh fuck, I'm really done for now." I whisper exasperations of my idiocy to no one.
Normally people use the expression 'I've got nothing to lose' in a situation where they have everything hanging in the balance. It seems like my true calling has been to react to all the events of my life. Rolling with punches and punching back on occasion. For all my gusto, how many times have I actually struck first? Or what I mean to say is, how many times have I considered what is in my best interest.
I've not a thing to lose, not a thing to gain. I'm an honest person when I have to be and this has me wondering. Where will I go once Shinji has resolved this massive game? After he is done playing dress-up with me and himself, where will the cards fall? Furthermore, will I get a good hand?
I'm all strung out here; babbling in my head.
"Hup," I twist in the water and bounce to my feet. Through the changing room, I leave clad in a big towel, clutching all of my clothing in one hand. Back in the room, I listen to the sound of the bathroom's shower running and look around for the travel bag that I had seen packed. The water shuts off and he shuffles around in the bathroom. Shinji walks out in some loose pajama pants. Finding me in the middle of clothing myself he turns in embarrassment to the wall.
"It's alright." I call at him as he avoids looking at me.
In a style not his own he walks to the back of the couch and leaps over it supported by one hand. He sits there facing away from the bedroom side of the suite.
"Shinji"
"Asuka," He somberly calls back my name as I had said his. I remember on and off that this is not my world. I feel like getting absorbed right now. I'll show him that it is okay.
As if watching myself again, I walked over to the couch and sat beside him. I stared forward much as he was doing. Without looking for his hand I reached over for it and took it carefully; interlacing his fingers with mine. My perceptions attune to him, feeling his eyes close, his body twitch as he breathes irregularly.
"Why are you doing this to me?" He asks, probably thinking this is all just a mind-fuck game I'm playing with him.
"I don't know."
"You don't know why you're tempting me like this? You're doing this just for fun?"
"No!" I spin to look at him quickly with the emphasis showing on my face.
"You're a very close person to me Asuka, I can't figure out if you know that."
"I think so too." Great, now my breathing and thinking is accelerating. There are a few moments of quiet between us.
"Shinji, just share things with me, that's all I ask of you." I feel like choking on each word. How is this so hard?
"Like a friend? Dates, lovers, all these things I don't understand really?"
"Whatever you feel comfortable with, just know that I want to share it with you."
"Why me then?"
"Don't ask me the things I can't answer. These kinds of relationships happen!" As if I knew all about these things.
"I cannot understand you doing this. I mean, you're acting really different than I expect."
"Well then follow my lead in faith that I know what's good for you." He laughs lightly at my matter of fact explanation. A crack of humor finally shows on his face in this terse conversation. This is getting me all worked up.
Shinji asked more questions. Prodding about how he should act, what he should consider us.
"I've never really done anything like this before either Shinji, so just pay attention and learn from mistakes. I guess." I'm sure that instilled a bunch of confidence in him. Yeah, a whole bunch.
The hand in my own returns the grip finally.
"Nothing even has to change if you don't want it to happen like that." He doesn't say anything back.
I'm done with the adolescent drama we're working through at this point. My back and my mind are suddenly at ease with his mild acceptance. My jaw opens wide and excites a huge and unsightly yawn.
Ghosts can't sleep, but they do get very tired.
The borrowed body and I, the aforementioned ghost, felt the onset of nap time all at once. I thought about brushing my teeth, for whatever reason. I tugged him off the couch and to the bathroom. Stubbornly we danced in front of the mirror as I brandished toothpaste and brush in my other palm. He was made to switch hands so that I could brush my teeth in a less awkward fashion without him leaving.
Dream Shinji was well put together; for a Shinji anyways. I ogled him as his eyes refused to look at anything but the door out to the rest of the hotel room. The scrubbing sound against my teeth was comical compared with our image in the mirror. A skinny young man in pajama pants holding the hand of a young, rather impressive looking, lady in modest underwear. I don't think I trust him, but he might be the key to getting back any sense of reality.
"Fuuuuaaaaa," A twisted sigh through a mouth of toothpaste. Now that I think about it, we've done this before; brushed our teeth together during the sync dilemma. Question is, did this iteration of Shinji experience that? He may have already cleaned up, his gaze suggested that he wanted nothing more than to leave the bathroom.
Obedient posture in place he followed me back out to the bed. All the thick bedding made a swish of air as I turned it over. I hopped in with no hesitation. He came after and pulled the covers over me and tucked me in a straightforward method. Momentary quivering fell over me as I settled. This particular comfort faded when I became aware of him moving away.
Yeah, yeah; I get it. You're not going to do that. Don't want to bite from that apple. Just go on thinking that way; see if I care.
Looking around, my view met his back heading towards the couch.
"Idiot," he keeps walking.
"Hey dumbass," twitch visible.
"Shinji, get back over here." I sit up and lay against the pillows and head board.
"Ikari," I draw out his family name to get his attention, I can only guess that it will work this time around.
He faces me after sitting on top of the couch-back. "I'm afraid." This is a new sort of sincerity from him, but I'm beyond caring at this time. Now that I'm paying attention, I'm kind of insulted. The girl he was dealing with several hours ago was looking for reasons. The woman he is dealing with now knows what she wants. No one said it was going to be easy.
"The key to a man's soul is new experiences, now get the-fuck over here. You'll like it." I point sharply downward with my index finger next to me on the bed. He continued to stutter some excuses at which I proceeded to exaggerate the pointing motion.
Now frustrated beyond measure, I brought the bedspread off the mattress and ran at him with it. I dodged the frosted partition and pinned him to the couch surface.
"Fine, the couch is alright also." I suggest this while manipulating the cover to trap him. He accepted the embrace through the blanket without too much struggle. Still with my arms around his neck, we fussed with our position on the not too large couch. This exchange boiled down to laughter, I've so little to say about the experience with the exception of truly how pleasing it is. Laughing and stealing a kiss then to play keep away when it is returned. The uncommon stress uncoils; a spring slowly unwinding.
A mutual agreement finally found us lying on the bed. From somewhere Shinji finds that holding me tightly to him is accepted and encouraged.
"It's nice isn't it?" I ask him. He brings his lips to the back of my head, slightly bumping a kiss into my hair. We might try something more. I'd love to try of course. For now though, I think that which is found will be better than that which can be made. Without further ceremony we rested.
I awoke still in the body that resembled my own self image. The fact that I had actually shut down and slept was a godsend. Shinji's limbs still tangled around me, leaving a comforting radiance. This world is nice, I'll definitely put my word in for this one.
Squirming around I managed to get him into a tight hug. He came to as his midsection was squeezed. There was a muddy expression of confusion on his face when he found me so near.
"What if this all goes wrong?" He asked that and I bit him. The mark on his shoulder was dark pink before he grabbed it. "What if, Shinji? What have you got to lose? We're pretty stuck together; Eva, Tokyo III, and whatever else."
I got up to go for a shower. Over my shoulder I mentioned that we just need to go slow and enjoy the things we can share. I left him to dwell on it. Time to clean up some.
I silently question if the other me in this body would have agreed with all the actions I've taken during my stay. Tough luck! Besides the terrible amount of hypocrisy, there is no reason why he and I couldn't be happy.
Stretching out after the shower my pretty smile in the mirror was stopped suddenly.
The car! I still wanted to drive the car. With speed I dressed, slamming the door open I did not delay in telling Shinji to get ready. His face was having a hard time deciding if he should mad or laughing.
"GO GO GO," I prompted the poor guy with a stiff palm to the back of the head. The fresh air in the hall hit my face as we finished grabbing our things and exited the room. A brief conversation with the caretaker of the inn took place. The woman's personality has a strange uplifting quality. I forget my situation when speaking with her.
The sun outside brings color to the garden surrounding the entrance to the inn. I remember the sunglasses that were packed by these hands. As we near the machine I pull out the polarized specs and the key. Sometimes memories of my birth country are hard to find or to stand. It would be hard to explain why the car has anything to do with it.
Well, if nothing else, the car looks German from every angle. With any luck I can drive it as competently as my other self. We stow our gear in the back and jump in. Shinji is looking weirded out. My guess is all the changes being made. Hey, that's life for ya.
"Are you going to show Misato?" Now that is an entertaining idea Shinji. Sitting in the driver seat heightens my senses just a bit. "April" becomes aware and runs a small bunch of things across the screen on the center console. Green circles cover all the fields and April announces all systems nominal. Shinji mumbles some more intrigue about the car. Space ship this, Jupiter something or another.
It takes a second to get the car in gear after it spins up. One has to pull hard to the left and then forward to get this damn thing in reverse. Shinji looks at me warily when I fail to repeat the motions I had managed the night before. I'll get it quickly enough.
Ah, a light press is followed by a hum and the car gently pushes backwards. Driving a car is a differing task when you pilot something like the Eva. The simple naunces and minor challenges of driving a machine rather than a being seem like a sport.
The car did not shift as easy as I would have expected. The curvy road from the inn was navigated with caution. As with anything, small repetitions of an action will teach one quickly. The clutch needed to be pushed in fully for a smooth shift. The deceptive feel of the pedal threw off my fumbling sense of things. Quickly the small adjustments paid off.
From the beginning of an on ramp I pushed my bottom back and braced into the seat. As the tachometer needle rose a sudden force drew the car endlessly forward for a moment. The suspension jerked softly when the clutch disconnected. A satisfying click from the gear shift was followed by the engine. It growled in a lower tone as the wheels traveled closer in concert. It all flies by as the needle rises and falls; telling me when it needs a different ratio with the high running sound.
This pleases me.
It was a shock when Shinji suddenly spoke up. He indicated the blue and red lights following us.
"Really?" I accepted the violation bill and was quickly on my way back to Tokyo III and the apartment. Fuel is not cheap in these times, but then again, neither are speeding tickets apparently. Just getting "home" required that I sign a total of three moving violations.
"This one was not built for a leisurely drive." I remarked after the 2nd ticket.
"You or the car I wonder?" Shinji stated rhetorically.
"I couldn't tell you."
We arrived home and went up to the apartment to gather and cook something for a midday meal. Rather, Shinji did all this and I stretched out on the couch content with myself. He brought some food into the living room and set down my portion on the coffee table. I pulled my legs off the couch so he could sit down.
"Thank you for taking me along Asuka."
"Yup, we'll do it again soon."
Misato chose this time to arrive back from wherever she had been. She appraised Shinji's presence and then my own when she walked into the living room. Looking back we just ate from our respective bowls.
"Well?" She asked crossing her arms in front of her. Shinji slurped on some bottled tea in the air hanging from that question. He smiled in slight embarrassment. Misato smiled back and her edge softened a bit.
"Wanna see my cool car?" Animatedly I bubbled and oozed happiness so that Misato would have no idea what the hell to do about us. Indeed she took the bait and shrugged with false disdain. She indicated that I should show her my used rust bucket of a car. She knows I have better taste than that. I can only imagine she knows what to expect. Perhaps she had already talked with section two?
"Technically it's Shinji's car. I helped pick it out." At this she waved us out the door and I guided her to where I had parked outside. The aggressive professional look of the car stood out amongst most of the other vehicles. I clicked the door unlock switch from my pocket. The lights blinked on and the car's profile became even more notable.
"Should have seen that coming." She didn't seem too surprised, but of course the car was a magnet to the eyes. Browsing it over, there were surprised "oh"s that she could not hide. Finishing she made a scrunched up face that didn't tell me what she was thinking. The driver's side door was unlocked and she ducked in.
"Are we going for a drive or what?" She got a feel for the seat and controls. I looked at the key now in my hand and then at her with a doubtful expression. She joked lamely about how she needed to approve its safety for use. If her precious charges were to be riding around in it certain levels of quality were required. I looked at Shinji and he put his palms up and backed away. I laughed all the way to the passenger side door.
With just her and I the Tokyo III circuit commenced. It might just be the crazy woman driving, but the machine feels even faster when you have fewer things to hold onto. When we did get home Misato was beaming; I was nauseous. It's getting pretty late. Misato congratulated me with a happy birthday slap on the back and went up to the apartment.
I stared at the hardly visible silhouette of the car parked in the withering sunlight. All is good, all is right. I find that Misato was already getting trashed and talking on the phone about the story she has been piecing together. her surrogates' small vacation was going to be big talk at the "office".
The older lady was not aware of much anything by the time I stealthily inserted myself into Shinji's room. He was knocked out on top of his covers. Gracefully stepping up onto the bed I fell into the free part of the mattress and then cuddled to his back.
"That may take some getting used to," he spoke aimlessly. He may have not been very awake right then.
"Feel free to start on that any time, I'll be right," I yawned mid-sentence, "here." I moved him so that I could get under the blankets. I pulled him down under and into an embrace. Thought was lost to slumber for some time. I found myself watching over Shinji and my stand-in sleeping on the small bed. Time to roll out I guess. I'll check in later for her reaction to waking up next to him. She might already have an idea of what's occurred. Dream or not she is me after all.
This is fun of course, I'm going to see more of these worlds. Only thing is, I hope there will reality again. Traveling between these small pockets of warmth and dreamlike qualities may become a chore some day. Until he makes up his mind, I'll be there in the hub, watching over things. Windows to other worlds similar or foreign bring exciting adventures to mind. Not unlike a video game, but different in sense of immersion.
I'd stay in this one and enjoy myself but, hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained.