Informalities
By: lynx
Chapter1: A Meadow, A Boy, And A Girl
"Rei." Shinji said, while he sat amongst the grass in a small meadow near the outskirts of the city that he, along with Rei and Asuka protected.
"Rei." He said once more, breathing in the night air.
It felt like a cold liquid rushed down his body. He felt happy with this feeling, it was like he was the ground on which a cold river runs on. Shinji then laid his back on the grass. Breathing in the scent of the night air along with the whiff of the grass, this brought a small amount of joy to Shinji. He hadn't done this in a while, for the past few weeks of his life the only thing he saw was doctor Akagi in the control room from an entry plug filled with LCL. He finally had the chance to take a break from all that testing.
"To hell with those tests." Shinji said, running his fingers through the grass around him, feeling the multitude of small, harmless blades make contact with the tips of his fingers while he fixated his sight towards the night sky. The serenity of the environment intoxicated him with it's quietness and beauty, a few moments later, he fell asleep.
---A few hours later---
A familiar figure appeared out of the morning mist and was walking towards the sleeping Shinji, taking small paces in his direction. When the figure was at least only a few centimeters apart from Shinji, the figure spoke and held his arm.
"Pilot Ikari? Pilot Ikari wake up now." A calming voice whispered to the sleeping boy. Shinji felt a warm feeling swell up inside him.
"Wake up now, Pilot Ikari." The voice repeated. Shinji then felt that someone was shaking his body.
"Unnnn... Wha? Whe? Whoooo?" Shinji stupidly responded, trying to fight the urge to get up to the call.
But then, he was forced to answer the wakeup-call given to him, as he got up, his vision started to clarify as well. Shinji saw a blur of what seemed to be blue orb with two small red orbs on it while he focused his sight at the figure who was in front of him. After a while he found out that the girl he was dreaming about was shaking him to wake up, because he had been asleep all night on the meadow. It was Rei, in her school uniform, clasping his arm and shaking it gently.
"Major Katsuragi started to worry about you, but she was afraid to search for you at this time of night. So she requested me to search for you instead of her." Rei said.
"You did? Thanks." Shinji said, scratching his eye, then he took a look at the surroundings, it was the same old meadow, but it seemed rather different.. Shinji didn't need to ponder on this thought, according to him, he already knew the cause of this phenomenon. To him, the place became more beautiful because of Rei's presence. Then he turned his glance to Rei. Rei was, as usual, staring at something, more particularly, she was staring at the moon, as if in a trance. Shinji looked at the girl who was beside him, he stared at her blue hair and kept his eyes there for a few seconds, then shifted his sight to the one thing about her that always swept him away. Her eyes, those two red orbs that seem to always stare at nothingness. Then Rei turned her head towards Shinji who was still looking at her.
"No need to express gratitude." Rei suddenly said, then returning her attention to the night sky. Shinji wasn't surprised at this kind of comment coming from Rei, he then started to think of something nice to say as he placed both his hands behind his neck and fell back to the ground. Rei hugged her knees as she kept her steady sight on the stars that kept them company that night.
"Rei, why do you keep staring at the surroundings, staying in one place the whole time? What draws you to it?" Shinji asked.
"Why do you inquire?" Rei backfired, who was now staring at Shinji. This made Shinji blush a little.
"I dunno, just thought of asking." Shinji answered. Then, he felt the urge to say it. Say what he head been planning to say to her the whole day.
"No, it's not that, I asked because...it makes you look..."
Rei still looked like she was paying no attention to what Shijni was saying, keeping her eyes on the sky.
NOW!!!!!!!!
"Beautiful."
A sudden hot feeling passed through Rei's chest, she felt no pain though. Rei felt a warm feeling swell up inside of her as well, she felt an unexplainable feeling within her.
"What, was that Pilot Ikari?" Rei asked, blushing lightly. She felt blood rush up to her cheeks the moment Shinji told her that. She had absolutely no idea on how to explain the phenomenon that was happening to her.
"I said, staring at nothing makes you look...beautiful." Shinji answered.
"It does?" Rei said, now trying to explain to herself the warm feeling inside of her.
Then, all of a sudden, Shinji got up and got a hold of Rei's hand.
Rei quickly turned her sight to her hand.
"Let's go back." Shinji said. Rei was a bit shocked at this, but she kept silent while looking at the other hand that was taking hold of hers. Rei was surprised to feel that Shinji's hand was somewhat warm, the warm feeling inside her swelled up even more.
"Running in the cold morning is good exercise, let's try it out, it's still three thirty in the morning." Shinji said, gesturing Rei to start running. Rei said nothing, she was wrestling with her thoughts, but she started running anyway. The two of them started running their way out of the meadow, feeling the cold morning air rush through their faces. Rei was staring at Shinji's hand that was holding hers as they ran through the city streets. Shinji still kept a firm hold on Rei's very smooth and cold hand. Rei was still struggling with her thoughts as they both ran in their school uniforms.
What is this feeling? Rei mentally asked herself, while feeling the warm grip of Shinji's hand. The two of them were silent as they ran to Misato's apartment where a worried Misato and an annoyed Asuka were waiting for them. And still, Rei was trying to fathom that warm feeling that was continually swelling up inside her.
---Apartment 4:00 A.M.---
Misato was walking back and forth in front of the door in her apartment room, waiting for Shinji to come home, the way a spider waited for a fly to fall in it's web, Asuka was in her room, sleeping. Misato kept that movement, as if she was spinning her web for about fifteen minutes when the door opened.
"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!! I HAVE BEEN DAMNED WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!" Misato yelled, as the fly had fallen victim to her, lifting the figure that stood in the doorway.
"At a meadow, near the outskirts, I fell asleep there, I swear that's all that happened!" Shinji said as he covered his face with the back of his palms.
"I found pilot Ikari lying on the grass on a small meadow near the outskirts." Rei reported.
"See?" Shinji said, smiling a wry smile at Misato.
"Feh." Misato said, who was then walking towards the kitchen to get herself a Yebisu.
"Since we're awake and happy, why don't we have breakfast together? I'm cooking. Would you like to join us, Rei?" Shinji asked Rei, smiling at her.
"I am in fact hungry, I guess I will, if it is permissible to Major Katsuragi." Rei said.
"Fine." Misato said as she sunk into the couch to drink.
---Kitchen---
"Good thing it's a Saturday today." Shinji said, cracking open some eggs.
"Why is that?" Rei asked Shinji, as she stared at the way he handled the eggs.
"No school today, I can go back to the meadow again." Shinji answered, looking at the eggs in the frying pan.
"Oh, I see." Rei said, remembering the things Shinji told her when they were at the meadow. Then they both stood there in the kitchen helping each other cook breakfast. The two were then silent for a few seconds when Rei decided to break the ice.
"Did you really mean what you have said to me a while ago, pilot Ikari?" Rei asked, totally blowing Shinji off his guard. Rei had done this rarely, talking when no one started a conversation with her all of a sudden.
"Yes. Why? You don't believe me?" Shinji asked back. Now scratching his head, as he sprinkled some table salt on the frying egg.
"No, it is not that." Rei answered.
"Then, what is it?" Shinji asked.
"It is just that..."
"Just what?"
"I felt a hot sensation within me."
"A what?"
"I felt warm inside, despite of the cold morning atmosphere."
"You did?"
"Yes. And I was hoping you would be able to provide me assistance on giving meaning to this phenomenon."
"Uhhhhh..."
"Maybe you should go ask Misato, she happens to know a lot, and she happens to be in front of the tube."
"The tube?"
"Uhhhhhhh... I mean the TV?"
"Oh. I see. Thank you." Rei finished as she left the kitchen and headed toward the living room. A few minutes after Rei left, Shinji sighed and scratched his head. He was now feeling a dozen butterflies in his stomach.
"Shit." He said, watching the eggs in the pan.
---------End of Chapter 1---------
By: lynx
Chapter1: A Meadow, A Boy, And A Girl
"Rei." Shinji said, while he sat amongst the grass in a small meadow near the outskirts of the city that he, along with Rei and Asuka protected.
"Rei." He said once more, breathing in the night air.
It felt like a cold liquid rushed down his body. He felt happy with this feeling, it was like he was the ground on which a cold river runs on. Shinji then laid his back on the grass. Breathing in the scent of the night air along with the whiff of the grass, this brought a small amount of joy to Shinji. He hadn't done this in a while, for the past few weeks of his life the only thing he saw was doctor Akagi in the control room from an entry plug filled with LCL. He finally had the chance to take a break from all that testing.
"To hell with those tests." Shinji said, running his fingers through the grass around him, feeling the multitude of small, harmless blades make contact with the tips of his fingers while he fixated his sight towards the night sky. The serenity of the environment intoxicated him with it's quietness and beauty, a few moments later, he fell asleep.
---A few hours later---
A familiar figure appeared out of the morning mist and was walking towards the sleeping Shinji, taking small paces in his direction. When the figure was at least only a few centimeters apart from Shinji, the figure spoke and held his arm.
"Pilot Ikari? Pilot Ikari wake up now." A calming voice whispered to the sleeping boy. Shinji felt a warm feeling swell up inside him.
"Wake up now, Pilot Ikari." The voice repeated. Shinji then felt that someone was shaking his body.
"Unnnn... Wha? Whe? Whoooo?" Shinji stupidly responded, trying to fight the urge to get up to the call.
But then, he was forced to answer the wakeup-call given to him, as he got up, his vision started to clarify as well. Shinji saw a blur of what seemed to be blue orb with two small red orbs on it while he focused his sight at the figure who was in front of him. After a while he found out that the girl he was dreaming about was shaking him to wake up, because he had been asleep all night on the meadow. It was Rei, in her school uniform, clasping his arm and shaking it gently.
"Major Katsuragi started to worry about you, but she was afraid to search for you at this time of night. So she requested me to search for you instead of her." Rei said.
"You did? Thanks." Shinji said, scratching his eye, then he took a look at the surroundings, it was the same old meadow, but it seemed rather different.. Shinji didn't need to ponder on this thought, according to him, he already knew the cause of this phenomenon. To him, the place became more beautiful because of Rei's presence. Then he turned his glance to Rei. Rei was, as usual, staring at something, more particularly, she was staring at the moon, as if in a trance. Shinji looked at the girl who was beside him, he stared at her blue hair and kept his eyes there for a few seconds, then shifted his sight to the one thing about her that always swept him away. Her eyes, those two red orbs that seem to always stare at nothingness. Then Rei turned her head towards Shinji who was still looking at her.
"No need to express gratitude." Rei suddenly said, then returning her attention to the night sky. Shinji wasn't surprised at this kind of comment coming from Rei, he then started to think of something nice to say as he placed both his hands behind his neck and fell back to the ground. Rei hugged her knees as she kept her steady sight on the stars that kept them company that night.
"Rei, why do you keep staring at the surroundings, staying in one place the whole time? What draws you to it?" Shinji asked.
"Why do you inquire?" Rei backfired, who was now staring at Shinji. This made Shinji blush a little.
"I dunno, just thought of asking." Shinji answered. Then, he felt the urge to say it. Say what he head been planning to say to her the whole day.
"No, it's not that, I asked because...it makes you look..."
Rei still looked like she was paying no attention to what Shijni was saying, keeping her eyes on the sky.
NOW!!!!!!!!
"Beautiful."
A sudden hot feeling passed through Rei's chest, she felt no pain though. Rei felt a warm feeling swell up inside of her as well, she felt an unexplainable feeling within her.
"What, was that Pilot Ikari?" Rei asked, blushing lightly. She felt blood rush up to her cheeks the moment Shinji told her that. She had absolutely no idea on how to explain the phenomenon that was happening to her.
"I said, staring at nothing makes you look...beautiful." Shinji answered.
"It does?" Rei said, now trying to explain to herself the warm feeling inside of her.
Then, all of a sudden, Shinji got up and got a hold of Rei's hand.
Rei quickly turned her sight to her hand.
"Let's go back." Shinji said. Rei was a bit shocked at this, but she kept silent while looking at the other hand that was taking hold of hers. Rei was surprised to feel that Shinji's hand was somewhat warm, the warm feeling inside her swelled up even more.
"Running in the cold morning is good exercise, let's try it out, it's still three thirty in the morning." Shinji said, gesturing Rei to start running. Rei said nothing, she was wrestling with her thoughts, but she started running anyway. The two of them started running their way out of the meadow, feeling the cold morning air rush through their faces. Rei was staring at Shinji's hand that was holding hers as they ran through the city streets. Shinji still kept a firm hold on Rei's very smooth and cold hand. Rei was still struggling with her thoughts as they both ran in their school uniforms.
What is this feeling? Rei mentally asked herself, while feeling the warm grip of Shinji's hand. The two of them were silent as they ran to Misato's apartment where a worried Misato and an annoyed Asuka were waiting for them. And still, Rei was trying to fathom that warm feeling that was continually swelling up inside her.
---Apartment 4:00 A.M.---
Misato was walking back and forth in front of the door in her apartment room, waiting for Shinji to come home, the way a spider waited for a fly to fall in it's web, Asuka was in her room, sleeping. Misato kept that movement, as if she was spinning her web for about fifteen minutes when the door opened.
"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!! I HAVE BEEN DAMNED WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!" Misato yelled, as the fly had fallen victim to her, lifting the figure that stood in the doorway.
"At a meadow, near the outskirts, I fell asleep there, I swear that's all that happened!" Shinji said as he covered his face with the back of his palms.
"I found pilot Ikari lying on the grass on a small meadow near the outskirts." Rei reported.
"See?" Shinji said, smiling a wry smile at Misato.
"Feh." Misato said, who was then walking towards the kitchen to get herself a Yebisu.
"Since we're awake and happy, why don't we have breakfast together? I'm cooking. Would you like to join us, Rei?" Shinji asked Rei, smiling at her.
"I am in fact hungry, I guess I will, if it is permissible to Major Katsuragi." Rei said.
"Fine." Misato said as she sunk into the couch to drink.
---Kitchen---
"Good thing it's a Saturday today." Shinji said, cracking open some eggs.
"Why is that?" Rei asked Shinji, as she stared at the way he handled the eggs.
"No school today, I can go back to the meadow again." Shinji answered, looking at the eggs in the frying pan.
"Oh, I see." Rei said, remembering the things Shinji told her when they were at the meadow. Then they both stood there in the kitchen helping each other cook breakfast. The two were then silent for a few seconds when Rei decided to break the ice.
"Did you really mean what you have said to me a while ago, pilot Ikari?" Rei asked, totally blowing Shinji off his guard. Rei had done this rarely, talking when no one started a conversation with her all of a sudden.
"Yes. Why? You don't believe me?" Shinji asked back. Now scratching his head, as he sprinkled some table salt on the frying egg.
"No, it is not that." Rei answered.
"Then, what is it?" Shinji asked.
"It is just that..."
"Just what?"
"I felt a hot sensation within me."
"A what?"
"I felt warm inside, despite of the cold morning atmosphere."
"You did?"
"Yes. And I was hoping you would be able to provide me assistance on giving meaning to this phenomenon."
"Uhhhhh..."
"Maybe you should go ask Misato, she happens to know a lot, and she happens to be in front of the tube."
"The tube?"
"Uhhhhhhh... I mean the TV?"
"Oh. I see. Thank you." Rei finished as she left the kitchen and headed toward the living room. A few minutes after Rei left, Shinji sighed and scratched his head. He was now feeling a dozen butterflies in his stomach.
"Shit." He said, watching the eggs in the pan.
---------End of Chapter 1---------