Act I: Care

Shinji poured his tea and sat down in front of the TV. It was a quiet night, accented by the gentle breeze and ever-present cicada noises.

The channel he decided to watch was airing movies all night, so he figured he'd relax with it on. The current flick was an old animated film about aliens that play instruments, set entirely to music. He wasn't sure what to expect at first, but the movie intrigued him enough to keep watching. The particular style of music wasn't exactly his thing, but it wasn't too bad.

Commercials aired between scenes, but the one that caught his eye was a promo for some documentary about the "Angel Wars." It made him chuckle. Five years really went by fast, and now the most turbulent time of his life was a TV special. Thankfully, Misato managed to attain a fantastic therapist, which made dealing with those memories much easier.

The movie returned, putting his sudden trip down memory lane in the back of his head. He was tapping his fingers to the upbeat rhythm of the current song when the phone rang.

Shinji took a sip of his tea before getting up to answer. "Hello?"

"Shhinji!" said a rather slurred voice. "Shhtupid, idiot-Shinji! C'mere!"

"Asuka?" he answered.

He heard some shuffling around before another voice greeted him. "Good evening, Ikari."

"Miss Horaki, hi!"

"You've known me long enough..." she trailed off before continuing. "Look, Asuka's had too much. Would you mind coming to pick us up?"

He sighed. "No problem. I'll be there soon. Are you okay, though?"

"I'm fine. I had a few drinks, but this one got way ahead of herself. We'll be at the front of the club on Minato. See you in a bit!"

"Hhhikari! When'z Dumb-Stupid-Idiot-Boy-Shhinji gonna get his cute butt over he-"

The line died, and Shinji shook his head. This would happen every so often; Asuka would go for a girls' night out with Hikari, and he'd have to reel her in. Sometimes he was woken up, other times it was fairly early.

He grabbed a jacket and his keys, and stepped out of the apartment, taking the elevator to the ground floor and exiting into the cool air of the night. The commercial brought back stray memories of his piloting days, and how hard he and Asuka fought against the Eva series to a narrow finish.

Thoughts and memories continued to swirl in his mind as he drove down the lamp-lit streets towards the nightclub. The radio softy played some classical music as the wind blew his hair around. Asuka was a tough situation to him. He assumed that once everything was said and done she'd move back to Germany, but she insisted on staying. He figured it was because he took care of things around the house, but she always said that he couldn't do simple tasks without her, so they remained part of an odd household with Misato, eventually moving out once they became adults. He was her roommate and occasional wrangler, but it beat living alone.

Shinji's thinking came to a decrescendo as he pulled up in front of the nightclub. It was a decent-sized building, and not super flashy. For some reason Asuka loved going here whenever she wanted a night on the town, but to each their own. He saw two feminine figures in red and green dresses and knew it was the young women he was chauffeuring. He honked his horn to get their attention, and Hikari threw Asuka's arm around her, leading her to the car.

The girls got in the back. "Hi! Sorry about this!" Hikari said sheepishly.

Shinji turned to address them. "It's no problem, really." Hikari had her wits about her, but Asuka was swaying like she was light as a feather. He turned back around and started to drive.

"About freakin' time, Shtupid Shinnji!" Asuka slurred. "You... You took... For freakin' ever!"

"Sorry," he said with a little smile.

"You idiot! Allllways with the shtupid apologies! What if our- What if you..." she drunkenly trailed off.

He first dropped off Hikari at her house. She expressed her gratitude before hurrying to the door. Once she was inside, he started to head home.

"So, have a fun night...?" he asked, but a glance in the rearview mirror told him that she was not conscious enough to respond. Putting his eyes back on the road, he chuckled to himself, thinking of all the times Asuka bragged about her 'German liver.'

The empty streets provided a quick path home, and once parked, he got out and carefully opened the door to the back. Reaching over, he un-clipped Asuka's seatbelt and sighed to himself before lifting her out of the car. He put her arm over his shoulder, and she seemed to come to her senses just enough that she loosely walked with him. The two of them made their way to the elevator, then the apartment.

The door opened, and he gently hoisted her inside. "Wehrre home!" Asuka quietly slurred, before stumbling and grabbing onto Shinji with both arms for support.

Shinji guided her to the bathroom, where he assisted her in taking off her makeup and brushing her teeth. It was awkward and difficult the first time, but he had gotten the hang of it by now, at least to the best of his ability as a male.

Once done in the bathroom, Shinji helped Asuka to her bedroom. He silently asked any and all deities for assistance before putting his free arm under her legs, swooping her up into a bridal carry. Gently, he placed her down on her bed.

He looked at her sleeping form, his arm still under her shoulders. He smiled. "Goodnight, Asuka," he whispered. When he went to remove his arm, he hit a snag in the form of his roommate's iron grip. For a drunk 20 year-old girl, she was holding on surprisingly tight. He gave a tug, then another, but she wasn't budging.

"Nnno, shtay," he heard Asuka say through the muffle of her pillow, and he sighed. She wasn't gonna let him leave. Instead of fighting it, he simply knelt down beside the bed, resting his head sideways on the soft mattress. He felt Asuka's body turn before an arm draped itself on his head.

"Idiot Shinnji," he heard her whisper gently before drifting off.

The morning sun shone through the window, directly into Shinji's eyes. It was a fantastic wakeup call. He moaned in pain as his body reminded him of the hellish sleeping position he was in. He looked up to see Asuka, her arm still cradling his head from above. He moved slowly and slipped out of her grasp, which elicited a groan as she stirred, but remained asleep. He rubbed his face as he quietly exited her room and made his way to the kitchen.

Shinji's mind kicked into "Hangover cure-mode," which consisted of a perfect breakfast for Asuka: Pancakes. He had the mix recipe memorized down to each ingredient and measurement, as well as pancake shape and time in the pan for each one. Recently, he had the idea of homemade strawberry jam, so he retrieved the jar from the fridge, as well as a small teaspoon for spreading it. He flipped the current pancake before going back to setting the table. He made Asuka's spot, carefully lining up the fork and knife. Another flip, and he prepped the plate. While shopping once, he found a bunch of shaped stencils meant for coffee, as well as other things. He decided on the rose-shaped stencil to match the redness of the strawberries, and sprinkled three little roses made of nutmeg. First pancake of the stack was placed on the plate, and he started on her coffee. Having enough piloting money to sit around for the rest of his life made Shinji pick up different methods of coffee-making. Asuka's favourite was a cappuccino, so he made sure to prepare the milk perfectly, and mix it just enough with the coffee itself. Placing that down, he stacked the second pancake. With everything else prepped, he focused all of his attention on the third and final pancake. It was the perfect one to top the stack, looking fluffy and golden-brown. He gave a satisfied smile as he placed it on top, completing the breakfast.

Just as he finished up, Asuka trudged into the kitchen, plopping herself onto the chair.

"How are you?" he asked calmly.

"Are you stupid?" she groaned. "I feel like crap!"

"Well, here," he responded, placing down the pancakes in front of her. Asuka's mouth opened to bite back a remark, but the presentation, as well as the smell of fresh pancakes, stopped her in her tracks. She wordlessly grabbed the cold jam and spread some on top of the first pancake before cutting a piece and taking a bite.

As he washed dishes, Shinji peered over his shoulder to see if she was enjoying her meal. "How is it?"

Asuka took a sip of her coffee and paused for a moment. Silence hung between the two before she gave her assessment. "It's acceptable. I'll allow my stomach to grace it." It made Shinji smile. After living with her long enough, he knew that vague backhandedness was Asuka's way of giving compliments. He continued to clear the sink, satisfied with his work.

Drying his hands, he went to leave the kitchen, seeing Asuka sitting cross-legged on her chair, three quarters of the final pancake in front of her. "Just leave the plate in the sink when you're done, I'll take care of-"

"Eat the rest of it." She wasn't making a request.

Shinji obliged, taking a bite and assessing his handiwork. Asuka said it was fine, and he couldn't agree more. He offered her a smile before quickly finishing the pancake and clearing the table.

He was blissfully unaware of Asuka staring at him from the doorway to the living room, a small smile of her own spread across her face.

A/N: Funny story, I got this idea from a tiktok I saw. This guy made a really nice looking plate of pancakes for his hungover roommate, and I thought it was Asushin-esque. Not as on the nose as "Practice" but it was a nice thing to write. Gonna continue on YW now.

Also, bonus points if you can guess what movie Shinji is watching.

Special thanks to HydrationStation for reading it over. Keep on rockin' in the free world, folks.