Shinji was nervous, really nervous.

He sat in the metal cylinder uneasily, fidgeted uneasily with the control sticks as he waited for his orders. It was his first time inside an entry plug, and it showed, even after both Ms. Misato and his father had told him what was going to happen inside here, he still couldn't shake the nervous tension that sat in his stomach.

"Shinji?"

"AH!" He screamed, turning around rapidly to try and find where the voice had come from.

"Calm down Shinji, I'm talking to you over the com system build into the EVA, I'm just checking to see how you are doing."

"O-Oh.. I'm fine, father, just nervous. That's all."

"That is to be expected, just remember what you were told and you should be fine." The grave tone of hos father's echoed through the plug.

"Of course father, I'm ready. I'll make mother proud!"

"Good boy." Gendo said with some warmth in his voice. "Insert the LCL!"

The pumps came to life, a foul smelling liquad pouring into the plug and rapidly filled it. Quickly coming up to Shinji's knees. He tried to not panic, he knew what it was, he knew that he could breath in the LCL like it was air, that he was perfectly safe here.

But all the knowledge in the world didn't stop him from screaming as it flowed up to his head.

"AHHHHHH!"

================#

"That could have gone better."

Gendo didn't say anything, he just stared at the ceiling, like he had done for the past fifteen minutes.

"I put him to bed, by the way, he's sleeping with Asuka and Rei at the moment. Took about half an hour of the poor thing crying his eyes out before he finally went to sleep.

"Hmm"

"Asuka isn't too pleased either, you know how protective she can be, so expect a lot of trouble from her for the next few weeks." Misato gave her head a disbelieving shack "I didn't know she could give a person a look like that, it cut right to the soul! And that language... Where in the name of God did a seven year old learn how to swear like that? It just not normal!"

"I believe..." Gendo spoke for the first time in conversation "...that we over estimated the courage of an eight year old. The next live Sync-Test that we perform will be a dummy run, one of us will have go with him to make sure he doesn't panic again."

"Yeah, maybe we should have done that in the first place! For an organization full of geniuses, you'd think we know to take it step by step, instead of rushing it."

"Hmm, it is our genius, our arrogance that led to today's fiasco. We believed ourselves to be so smart, that we overlooked those who are supposed to be our wards. Such a mistake must not happen again, lest we ruin ourselves."

Misato rolled her eyes at his flowery choice in language.

"Yeah, what ever you say Ikari, damn flowery bastard. Still doesn't change the fact that the poor kid isn't going to go back into that coffin without a lot of incentive, and no" She said coley "I'm not letting him get to second base" The smirk on her face could have made a straight woman reconsider her orientation.

Gendo just grumbled and sat up from the bed, the covers falling off to revel his naked form. Stretching, walked over to the lounging form of the equally naked Colonel Katusragi who lay on the ruined sheet, giving him the most glorious bed-room eyes.

"Come, we've a lot of work to do," he said, giving her bottom a sharp 'slap' before he quickly made his way out of the room, away from the indignant Misato.

=======#

He was still crying!

Asuka turned in her bed restlessly, before she grabbed a pillow and covered her face in a vain attempt to block out the sound of Shinji's incessant sobbing.

It didn't work.

He had been crying ever since he had gotten home, about two hours ago, had still was at it! Asuka had it to here with it!

Yelling into the pillow in frustration, Asuka kicked the blankets off, and got out of her plush, European style bed, like she'd sleep in anything else! And stalked out of her own cubicle and towards Shinji's, the pillow still clutched in her hand.

The rooms they had didn't have doors, Asuka had tossed a hissy fit when she first found this out, but the Colonel nor the Commander were budging on the subject, so Asuka had let it lay. But now she wondered with her drowsy mind why they didn't have any doors?

With no answers forth coming, the seven year old continued her advance into Ikari's room. His was colored blue and white, like they had painted it on first few days together, posters of anime character and famous composers covered walls.

In the middle of the room was Shinji's bed, another western style bed, and there lay the boy in question, gentle sobs hitching his chest.

Walking over to the bed and claiming onto it with her pillow in hand, Asuka sat on her knees and stared at the boy.

Shinji had stirred from his sobs by the movement of his bed, turning to look at the intruder.

"A-Asuka... hic!... w-whats wron-Gah!"

Asuka had hit him with her pillow, he hadn't even known that a pillow could hurt!

"Stop crying you big baby!" She yelled, before she pushed the boy back into his bed, and snuggled down with him, pulling the blankets over both of them.

"Just go to sleep, you cry-baby..." She mumbled.

"Ah... Okay..." He said, before he lay back down into bed, sleep quickly over taking him.