Nightmusic...

One hour oneshot.

Neon Genesis Evangelion are copyrighted works.
Other stuff might be mentioned that's copyrighted
I don't own anything.
It's just a bit of fun anyway.

I...I

Shinji lay back in his bed, enjoying the familiar warmth of his sheets. Music from his SDAT drifted through his mind, threatening to carry his mind away on rising air guitar strings, an odd feeling of peaceful freedom washing over the boy as he allowed himself to dissolve almost into Marooned strings.

He was tired, but he was loath to sleep.

Sleep brought nightmares, hellish visions of a world dripping in blood, and certain knowledge that it would be his failures that had cause it.

Sleep, would detach him from his music.

And it would cause the batteries on his player to run down

The boy noted that, in all likelihood, he was single handedly keeping Asahi electric battery in business.

And then he heard something, a soft, depressed moan filtering through the electric chords. For a moment, he could dismiss it as tape hiss, bootlegs not always being of the best quality, but as the tape clicked over to reverse and silence reigned supreme he could still hear it.

It sounded like someone crying.

Curious, he plucked the black plastic buds from his ears, straining to pinpoint the origin of the sound. Attenuating himself to it, he tracked the source to a thin wall beside him.

Shared with Asuka.

He gulped slightly.

Asuka was crying then, he realised. Of course, he'd seen tears in her eyes once before, but he'd never heard her cry.

Pressing himself gently against the wall, he strained hard to listen in. For an instant, his mind chastised him for such auditory voyeurism, but he was far to curious to pay attention to it.

He could hear her, almost as clear as if she was sleeping beside him.

He could hear each moaning, wreaking sob, each heavy gasp for breath as she tried to calm herself. He could hear her tossing, he could hear her turning. Shinji could picture in his mind her suffering, and there he was just listening away.

It stung at his conscience, that he could allow someone to suffer.

He wondered if perhaps, he shouldn't try and comfort her, to wake her up from whatever nightmares she was reliving.

Of course, the youth remembered the bruise he'd gotten the last time he'd disturbed Sohryu's sleep.

It wasn't worth getting beaten up over, was it?

How disgusting he was then, that he wouldn't even try to help someone in trouble.

Maybe Misato could help then? Shinji thought. Maybe she might be able to reach Asuka in ways he couldn't?

His Guardian had been relatively sober that night, there was no real reason why he couldn't. But still, he couldn't bring himself to actually do it.

The mere thought of crossing the threshold into a sleeping persons room felt like a violation of the worst kind.

So, what was listening to them cry themselves to sleep then... a peck on the cheek?

He shook his head, banishing that accusing inner voice from his conscience, forcing it intohiding for as long as he could.

So then, that was it. Wake Misato... tell her that Asuka was crying in bed... let her deal with it.

That was all rendered moot by a sudden, coughing gasp for breath, followed by one final, soul crushing moan.

Then silence.

Shinji strained to hear more, pushing almost his entire bodyweight against the thin plasterboard panelling, just to bring his eardrum that critical millimetre closer, in case he should miss something important.

Still silence.

And a single, softly spoken word Shinji couldn't quite pick out. It wasn't in his native language, or anything he'd learned at school. Curiosity demanded he discover what had been said, if only for closure, other elements of his mind already placing the tone of that word as either disgusted, or depressed.

And then, he heard something else that made his heart spasm in his chest.

Movement.

A shuffling of blankets and two feet falling heavily onto carpeted floor.

Crap! Shinji's mind gasped, an absolute terror running through him as he jumped back from the wall, stifling a yelp with his cupped hands.

Fuck help Asuka, God help him if she ever found out he'd been eavesdropping on her.

Quickly, he tried to replace his ear buds, the door to the room next door sliding open with a hollow, muffled rumble.

Damn, when had his music ever been that loud, he didn't even have his SDAT at half volume.

Turn it down quickly! She's coming!

Shinji could here the barefoot steps coming towards his door, each one announcing the imminent arrival of his potential executioner.

Shinji prayed that she would just pass over.

One, Two, Three.

All!

His door was wrenched open, a painful bright light stabbing at Shinji's eyes momentarily. God, he was sure he'd jumped six feet, that he'd had a heart attack, and that'd he'd soon die and go to heaven.

Or hell.

Either would be better than the wrath of this German girl.

There she stood, silhouetted menacingly by the hall light their mutual guardian insisted on. He couldn't see her face, her expression, anything, except a dark shadow of her figure, Asuka's hands firmly on her hips.

She took a breath, gasping slightly before swallowing something.

"You Pervert!" Asuka spat, "You were listening in on me weren't you?"

Yes...

"No, " Shinji whined, his mind still trying to get over the shock of being caught. "I have my em..." He faultered.

And silence as Sohryu waited for his explanation.

He was sure he'd be caught in the lie now. It had to be obvious.

"I was listening to this." he showed his player.

More silence.

The worst of his life.

He could feel himself breaking into a cold sweat, the terrifying silhouette standing, considering his answer.

Chances are, that silhouette would be the last thing he'd ever see, and he knew it.

A single second dragged out until the end of eternity almost as he waited.

"Perversen Idioten," Asuka huffed, snapping Shinji's mind back to the present.

And then the door closed, the boys room flooding with a safe, soothing darkness once more.

Shinji shivered as he lay back, his pyjama's damp with terror sweat. Again, he listened for Asuka, hearing her eneter the bathroom, followed by the rush of a tap and a long sigh.

Another instant of terror as he watched the shadows of his roommate's feet pass under his door and then he heard her return to bed.

And then silence.

Something for which Shinji was now most thankful for.

Groaning, promising himself never to do anything like that again, he slipped back inside his own digital audio world.

It was safe there.

Peaceful...

Among Sheep.

He could sleep.

I...I

Crude and simple, but hits the spot.

What Asuka was doing, I'll leave up to yousre imaginations to fill in...

Slán libh
Dartz IRL