Early morning clouds of blue and purple covered the wide expanse of desert. The sun would rise soon; Asuka could see a strong aura of light in the east, becoming more and more prevalent as the minutes passed. A chilly breeze whipped around her, flustering her long hair and disturbing some smaller hills of sand around her. There was certainly enough of it, a sea of formidable red dust stretching out for miles from where she sat. She was not even sure that they would find the Lilin. It was more likely that they would be swallowed up by the numerous dunes that surrounded the small party. Her one good eye narrowed and she rubbed her temples with a hand. She still felt tired.
"Pretty lousy, huh?" She said out loud. Her companion was staring out in the direction of the approaching sunrise, harsh red eyes glittering. Asuka was still trying to puzzle this strange girl out. It was clear that she was not the Rei that she had known. This girl was colder, quieter; like a switch had been flipped somewhere in the doll's mind to make her go from slightly human to unreadable machine. Not that the old Rei had had much humanity to begin with, but still. Asuka could tell she had at least been making an effort. This one barely reacted to anything Asuka did, which was both annoying and unsettling.
At Rei's silence she huffed. "What's your deal anyway?"
As if snapped out of a trance, Rei looked at Asuka quizzically. "My...deal?"
She held her tongue for a moment, trying to choose her words. "We were...kind of friends, weren't we? Before the Impact happened. Are you even the same...?" Her sentence hung in the air. She didn't know how to finish it and it was clear that Rei was not going to either. She had resigned to looking down at her hands, which were idly scooping up sand and letting it drain out between her fingers. The dark red grains fell in a fascinating way, as measured and precise as an hourglass. It was a welcome distraction in the empty space where an answer should be.
"The Ayanami you knew...isn't here anymore." Rei said finally, barely audible as the wind blew around them.
Asuka didn't flinch, having figured as much. After a pause she wondered aloud "Then what does that make you?"
Rei turned to look at her properly so that their eyes met. She still had the intense, stony gaze that unnerved Asuka to some capacity. She had learned to hide the fact that she was affected however, and her hard blue eye returned the stare. "That's a good question," she said after a long pause, and Asuka raised her eyebrows. Did she just crack a joke? "But I am Rei Ayanami as well..just a new part of her."
Asuka considered this for a moment before scoffing again. "Well if you are supposed to be Rei, you're certainly not acting the part. Shouldn't you be coddling Shinji over there?" She cocked her head in the direction of where the boy was still dozing. "You did like him, after all."
Rei's expression didn't change, but she looked back over her shoulder at the boy. "Is that something Ayanami would do?"
One blue eye rolled skyward while Rei wasn't looking. "Oh, I'm positive."
Rei looked back at Asuka, but didn't move from her place beside her. "It seems I have a lot to learn."
They were both quiet for a time, watching the sun come up over the horizon. They would have to get moving again soon. Asuka regarded this new Rei beside her silently. She wasn't the most ideal of company, true, but she was the best Asuka was going to get besides that Shinji brat. Maybe she could even get this Rei to have more personality than she had previously possessed. Asuka shook her head at herself, suspecting that probably too much LCL had gotten into her skull. That combined with the sunrise actually made her feel hopeful, a feeling she had forgotten.
Feeling particularly friendly, she put her hand in one of Rei's that had been laying idly in the sand and squeezed it gently. "To be honest, there wasn't a lot to you. But if you need any pointers, I'd be happy to help."
Rei didn't flinch at Asuka's contact with her, merely looking at their hands with an unreadable expression. "Do you think Rei Ayanami would accept that offer?"
Asuka shrugged with a small grin. "Hell if I know. You can take it or leave it...Rei."