Asuka sighed as she heard footsteps on the metal floor behind her. She'd hoped that by leaving the officers' meeting early and going straight to her room she could avoid this specific confrontation, but apparently that wasn't going to work. Spinning on her heels, she came face to face with the familiar Ayanami-type that had been tailing her for the entire week they'd been back on the Wunder.
"What do you want?" Asuka snapped, drumming her fingers against her hips. When Ayanami remained silent, Asuka leaned forward, towering over the smaller girl. "You've been following me around like a lost puppy for a week now, and it's getting on my nerves. If you want something, spit it out. If not, get lost!"
Ayanami shrunk back, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on Asuka's feet. Asuka sighed, her good eye narrowing dangerously, and whipped back around, keying in the passcode to her room. As the door hissed open, she heard Ayanami speak, her voice soft and almost lost in the ambient hum of the ship. "I just wanted to be your friend."
"Friend," Asuka scoffed. "You want to be my friend. That's the best thing I've heard since the brat said he was piloting to fix things. Oh, and next I suppose Commander Ikari is going to call us and say he was wrong and he'll be turning himself in, and maybe I'll get my mother back after all these years. You want to be my friend; is there anything else you want?"
Ayanami shook her head, still staring at the floor. "Good," Asuka snapped, and slammed the door to her room shut. The sound of metal on metal echoed in the silence, finally fading away. The rumbling of the Wunder's engine filled the quiet, shaking the floor beneath Asuka's feet. No, that wasn't right- the engine wasn't supposed to do that. "Are they running tests?" she murmured, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Then, she paused.
My legs are shaking.
That couldn't be right, either. With a frustrated grunt, Asuka threw herself back against her bed, staring up at the plain grey ceiling. The bed was firm against her shoulders and spine, which proved her suspicions about engine tests incorrect. It was nerves, after all. Another frustrated roar teetering on the edge of her lips, Asuka all but ripped her door open. Ayanami was still standing outside. She looked up, meeting Asuka's eyes, and Asuka could've sworn she saw something in there other than the usual empty stare. Hurt, perhaps, but that wasn't her problem.
"You can come in," Asuka said grudgingly, moving aside to let Ayanami pass. She thought she heard a hushed thank you as the other girl shuffled by, but she brushed the thought aside. She wasn't going to make friends with this copy of Rei; she had just let her in out of pity. That's right.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" asked Asuka. Ayanami shook her head, fidgeting with her hands as she stood in the center of the room. "You can sit down, you know."
This time, Ayanami definitely said "Thank you," as she sat down on the edge of Asuka's bed. Asuka joined her, falling back against the sheets and spreading her arms.
"Come on." Asuka patted the spot beside her. After a moment, Ayanami leaned back as well, letting her legs dangle off the edge of the bed. "So what's so important about being friends with me that you waited two hours for my meeting to end and risked getting found by someone who doesn't like you?"
"You."
Asuka blinked once in surprise, sparing Ayanami a quick glance before going back to gazing at the ceiling. "Wasn't expecting that," she admitted. "You've gotta work on that bluntness, Ayanami. It's going to get you in trouble someday."
"I'm sorry."
"You're gonna need to work on that, too. The apologizing." Asuka sighed again, drumming her heels against each other. "Guess I'll have to teach you, I don't want you picking up any bad habits from Four-Eyes." Ayanami remained silent, prompting Asuka to roll over and poke her in the shoulder. "So why am I so important to you, hmm?"
"You saved me." Seeing the flat skepticism on Asuka's face, Ayanami elaborated. "You made me act for myself. I want to know why."
"That's something you'll need to find out for yourself," Asuka replied, but with none of the heat from before. "Look, it's not something I can just tell you, but... I guess I can help you find out. You'll have to do something for me too, though!" Asuka added hastily, seeing Ayanami turn toward her.
"Yes?"
"You'll..." Asuka paused, not having thought her request through. "Okay, I've got an idea. Smile for me. Not one of those cheesy smile-for-the-camera ones. Actually smile."
Ayanami's brow furrowed, like this was the hardest thing she'd been told to do in her life. It actually might be, Asuka thought, watching the other girl struggle. "Look, try to think of something that makes you happy. Something you like doing, or being around."
To Asuka's surprise, Ayanami's expression became impassive, her red eyes disappearing behind her eyelids as she concentrated. The edges of her lips curved up, a soft look of joy transforming her face, and when Ayanami opened her eyes again, Asuka almost didn't recognize her. "There you go," Asuka whispered, the force behind her voice suddenly leaving her.
Ayanami held the smile for a second longer, then looked away, a long breath slipping out from deep within her. "Was it really that hard?" Asuka asked. Ayanami nodded, avoiding Asuka's gaze. "Well... what were you thinking of?"
"You," Ayanami said, and even though Asuka had been half expecting it, the weight of that one word still caught her off-guard.
"Me, huh?" Asuka repeated. It wasn't unexpected; most of Ayanami's interaction had been with either herself or with Sakura in the med bay, but actually hearing it from her was another thing altogether. I guess that's not so bad, Asuka thought, reaching over and tapping Ayanami on the shoulder. "Hey. Ayanami. Do you still want to be friends?"
Ayanami looked over, and for the second time Asuka got to see her process the feeling of a new emotion: confusion. "Could we?" Ayanami asked.
"I guess I could give it a try," Asuka said, rolling closer to Ayanami and draping an arm around her. Ayanami shifted closer to her, and for the second time that night, Asuka got to watch her face light up in a smile.