"Hey Rei, are you going to be much longer?"
Rei finished applying foundation as Shinji's voice called from outside the bathroom.
"I'll be out in a moment."
She looked in the mirror quickly - the makeup she had applied complemented her appearance, with a light amount of mascara, an opaque, light pink shade of lipstick applied across her lips and the gentle dusting of foundation she had applied to her cheeks.
She was ready for the night ahead of them. Smiling, she opened the bathroom door and let Shinji in. They'd been living together for a good 3 years already, but Shinji was still blown away whenever he saw Rei dressed up - and this time was no exception.
"Oh wow, you look really good." His face went red, and he shifted in his shoes.
To Rei, he was too cute not to tease.
"Are you saying I don't usually look good?" She gave him a playful poke in the arm, and Shinji's limited composure fell apart.
"N-no, of course not!" Shinji felt the heat from his face spread to his shoulders as he tried to respond to Rei. She smiled gently, and planted a soft kiss on his cheek to calm him down.
"It's fine, I'm joking."
Shinji sighed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, please don't do that."
Smiling, Rei left the room. Shinji stepped up to the sink and rummaged through a nearby box, pulling out an electric razor - his unkempt stubble was beginning to give him a resemblance to Kaji. His outfit for the night - beige slacks, a grey dress-shirt and a black/grey striped tie - added to the resemblance.
After shaving, Shinji joined Rei in the kitchen and poured himself some coffee. Both he and Rei were dressed and ready for their night out, but they had some time to spend before they left.
"...I hope they don't serve sandwiches at this restaurant, you and Ms. Katsuragi have a complicated history with those." Rei toyed with Shinji's hair as they leant against the kitchen counter.
"You're in a playful mood tonight," Shinji grinned as he moved away from Rei's hands. She smiled as he untangled his hair from her fingers.
"Honestly, I'm really excited for tonight. I can't wait to see where the night takes us."
"I get what you mean," Shinji said as he sipped his coffee. "We'll be with Misato and Kaji tonight - they always get into trouble when they're drinking. It'll be fun to tag along with them."
The pair stood still for a few moments. The warm smell of coffee swirled around the room, and it blended with the heat from the setting sun to create an intoxicatingly warm atmosphere.
Shinji looked over Rei's body. She had decided on an open maroon jacket and a dark grey dress which reached her knees - both her and Shinji had opted to dress up nice for the night, but not to the point where they'd look out of place dancing or such.
Rei noticed Shinji's gaze, and went over to him. Shinji put his arms back on the counter, sitting his coffee down, as Rei occupied his personal space. He could feel the energy radiating from her as her hands travelled upwards towards his chest, and waited for what he felt would be a short, intense make-out session.
Rei's hands stopped at his tie, and she straightened it. Content with her work, she pulled away from Shinji and poured herself a cup of coffee.
Embarrassed and slightly disappointed, Shinji buried his face into his cup.
"Come on, get your ass out of my shower!"
Misato tapped her foot impatiently, standing outside her bathroom door. Her hair was up and she was dressed for the night, but she still had to apply her makeup. Kaji had rushed her out to have a shower, and they were running out of preparation time.
The shower stopped after 15 minutes, and Kaji soon walked out of the room wearing a towel. Misato scowled in frustration as he strolled towards the bedroom, whistling.
"Inconsiderate bastard."
She entered the room, only to find that Kaji hadn't turned the ventilation fan on before the shower. The humidity in the room was intolerable - her makeup would run if she attempted to apply it in there.
Misato scowled harder.
By the time the humidity had subsided and she had applied her makeup, they were 10 minutes behind schedule. A fairly calm and relaxed Kaji was soon set upon by an angry Misato, makeup decent but noticeably rushed.
"Damnit Kaji, are you a caveman or something? Use the damn ventilation fan!"
"I'm sorry, it honestly slipped my mind." Kaji lowered his shoulders slightly.
Misato glared at him, but quickly diverted her attention to the time. They had to be on their way out - and fast.
"Whatever. Just grab your stuff and let's go."
Misato picked up her purse from the living room table, and Kaji grabbed his wallet and phone from the kitchen bench. They were soon out the door, Kaji struggling to keep up with the irritated Misato.
AN: This is more or less a filler chapter. Like absolute filler - it was going to be the beginning of one big chapter about the night out, but I'm really falling behind on this story and I need to make some announcements. Sorry.
First - I am aiming for a monthly release schedule. I have no idea if I'll be able to adhere to it, though, so don't expect too much. Secondly, I am going back and editing some chapters. Chapter 5 already had a few tweaks, and I removed the thing about Gendo seeing the sandwich thing. I also plan to just remove the entire sandwich fight in general. Most of the edits will probably be some rephrasing and typo removal, though.
That's pretty much it. See you whenever the next update is, and I'm sorry for the lack of content lately - including this meager offering. The story's not dead, but I am struggling to write it.
