Simmer Chapter Two

Misato Katsuragi entered the apartment fully expecting her two juvenile roomates to be arguing full-tilt. What greeted her, however, was a bit of a surprise, even for the battle-hardened Major.

Asuka was sitting quietly at the table, waiting for Shinji to finish the wonderful-smelling food he was preparing. She wasn't yelling at him, wasn't calling him 'Stupid Shinji', or, the more common 'Baka!'.

And Shinji...

Shinji Ikari was confidently moving about the small kitchen, acting as if the entire place belonged to him, rather than just the room he slept in. His hands moved with skill and precision, almost without him even looking. It was as if he was piloting, except without the anger, without the sorrow. This was a joy for him, and it clearly showed.

"Ahem."

The two Children looked up, Asuka from her magazine, and Shinji from the stove, where the alfredo sauce was just about done. "Yes, Misato?" they both echoed in unison, a flashback to their synch training.

She fought the urge to shudder. This was getting to be more than a little creepy. "Shin-kun, what's this?" she asked, dipping a finger into the saucepan.

Shinji tried to stop her, but it was too little, too late. Misato yanked her finger from the bubbling liquid, cursing herself for her stupidity. Shinji sighed, taking her hand, and placing it under the faucet. Turning the cold water on, he held her burnt finger under the cool stream, soothing the pain. After a moment, she removed the afflicted digit from the sink, opting to suck on the tip instead. Shinji tried not to look at the way her lips were wrapped around the injured finger. "It's fetticine alfredo, Misato-san. If you would wait, I'll have it ready in a few minutes."

"You'd better," Asuka piped up, "Because the longer I wait, the more bored I get..."

Shinji turned to the stove, trying to hide the blush that had crept up on his face.
***
Several minutes later, dinner was finally set. Shinji dished out a helping of noodles, and added the sauce. he then served himself, sitting back and waiting for the two women to try the dish.

Asuka didn't hesitate, spooling up a forkful and taking a big bite. She closed here eyes, savoring the creamy taste of the sauce and the perfectly cooked noodles. This was the best thing she had tastyed in a long time.

Misato, seeing Asuka's determination, took a bite of her own serving. She chewed slowly, letting the flavors speak for themselves, a testament to the young man's skill in the kitchen. Shinji would definitely have to cook like this more often. "Shin-kun, this is excellent! Where did you learn to cook like this?"

He rolled his eyes. "Where do you think? I'm the only one around here that does cook, thankfully." He took a bite himself. "Not bad. The sauce needed a bit more cheese."

Asuka, meanwhile, still eating, was looking at the young man with a sense of amamzement. "Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Baka-Shinji?" she inquired mildly.

His expression fell a bit at that. For a moment, Asuka could see the old Ikari, the apologetic boy who was sorry for everything he did. He recomposed himself, though, and the confident Shinji was back again.

"I'm still the same Shinji, I just like to cook."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Both Children looked to their guardian. She had finished her plate, and was dabbing at her lips with a napkin, something she would normally never do. "Because I think that it's time that Asuka learned how to cook."

A stunned silence descended over the room. Asuka was the first one to break it. "I don't NEED to know how to cook , that's what Shinji is for!" She stood, resting her hands on her hips. And there is no way that I would allow this weakling to teach me how to cook!"

Misato gave Asuka a skeptical look. She had lived with the German girl for long enough to know when her rants were genuine, and this was most definitely not one of them. "Asuka, step into the other room with me." Her tone left no room for argument. The two females left Shinji sitting there, a puzzled expression on his face.
***
Misato pointed to the couch. "Sit."

Asuka sat.

Misato gave her a look. Now there are the looks that mean trouble, and the looks that mean...*trouble* This was a *trouble* look.

"Ok, what's going on between you and Shinji?"

Asuka looked at the floor. "I...it's like he's a different person in the kitchen! He actually *yelled* at me today! Twice! And I didn't kill him!"

The older woman nodded sageley. This was to be expected, and in fact, it was what she had suspected through dinner. Asuka had kept sneaking looks at the boy when she thought Misato wasn't looking. Of course, Misato was paying far more attention than she appeared to be, and knew about the glances, the furtive peeks.

This was going to be fun.

"Ok, Second Child. I can either help you, or make this harder than it's already going to be."

Asuka looked up, catching Misato's eye. "And what makes you think that I need your help."

Something in the return look made Asuka shiver. "Because if I suspect that you're toying with him, or doing this out of spite, I'm going to make your life a living hell. And don't think i can't, either."

Misato turned, leaving the room.
***
Shinji looked up as Asuka entered the kitchen. "What was that all about?"

"Never mind, Third Child. Would you like some help cleaning up?"

He immediately went on guard. Asuka Soryu *never* offered help. "Uh, sure. You can start clearing the table."

The young man began to wash the dishes, as Asuka handed them to him. This was something completely unexpected, and also something to be wary of.

"Umm...what do you like to eat?"

Asuka looked at him as if he was crazy. Shinji Ikari didn't make small talk. "Well, I suppose that I like Italian now." she said, a smile gracing her visage.

Shinji turned to face her, catching the smile. He gave her a small one in return.

"Good."
***
Later on that evening, Shinji sat in his room, going through a cookbook. He had wanted to find a good recipe to start teaching Asuka. However, he wasn't even sure how he would teach her even after finding a suitable first lesson. She was so...stubborn. And if past incidents were any indication, it would be a long, uphill battle just getting her to listen to him.

Flipping through the pages, he saw many simple recipes, but nothing that seemed...right...for a beginner. Especially one that had already graduated college. He didn't want to patronize her, yet he wanted to show her that *he* would be the one in charge. Earlier, when he had inadvertently yelled at her, something had passed through her eyes, something he had never expected to see there.

Respect.

It had only been for an instant, but it *had* been there, nonetheless. Shinji wanted more, wanted to be respected by her so badly it hurt.

And now, maybe he could be.
***
Asuka was going through a similar struggle in her room. As much as she despised her roomate, there was no denying that he had his...appealing qualities.

Having gone to college, she had had more than her fair share of male attention. However, after discovering that most of them wanted nothing more than to get her in bed, she began to act like she currently did. As a result, none of the boys here had ever asked her out, more or less yelled at her.

It was a new experience. After being the dominating one for so long, it was a refreshing change to not be in charge. Asuka actually found that she quite enjoyed it when Shinji showed a little backbone. And his cooking...

She found herself nearly drooling at the thought of another dinner prepared by him. Shinji might not have been the best looking guy she'd been around, but he certainly was the most proficient in the kitchen. Even during her stay with Kaji, she'd never eaten so well, as the perpetually unshaven man seemed to never have the time to cook, instead ordering out on a nearly daily basis. Of course, as a result of this, Asuka never learned how to cook for herself either.

But now that Shinji would be teaching her...

She tried to supress the evil grin that crept up on her otherwise angelic face. She really did. As much as she attempted to tell herself that she would behave, she knew far too well that this was going to be a lot of fun.
***The Next Morning***
The alarm went off, and a hand reached out from the tangle of covers to silence it's inhuman noise. After slapping the snooze button, the occupant of the futon rolled over, trying in vain to go back to sleep. Today was Saturday, after all, and there were no test scheduled at headquarters, so there was no good reason to get up yet.

But habits die hard, so Shinji got up anyway, thinking that at the least, he could have a quiet breakfast. Rolling out of his bed, he pulled on a fresh pair of slacks, and a t-shirt, one of the few that he owned. Forgoing socks and shoes, he left his room, heading for the kitchen.

What he saw there made him pinch himself to ensure that he was indeed awake, and not merely sleepwalking.

Asuka Langley Soryu was quietly fixing her own breakfast. Or rather, attempting to. The kitchen looked like an Evangelion had rampaged through it, dirtiying seemingly every clean plate, and leaving no countertop untouched. If Shinji was seeing everything correctly, it appeared that the young woman was trying to make pancakes.

Shinji rarely made these, but he knew how, and they didn't require nearly so many pots, pans, plates, spoons, or bowls as Asuka had used so far. He stood there, watching her carefully measure out batter into a bowl, only to quietly curse the inanimate object in German when it didn't quite do what she wanted it to. A smile crept across his face as he realized how attractive she was when she wasn't actively screaming at him.

Asuka finally managed to get the batter into one bowl without spilling most of it, and she set the mix down, turning to see her roomate regarding her with a bemused smile on his face. "Morning, Asuka."

She started, her startled eyes quickly narrowing as she scowled at him. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to see that you're not so bad in the kitchen."

The compliment took her off guard. Shinji would normally never say anything like that to her, for fear of bodily harm. "Is that right, Third Child?" she asked in a sultry voice.

The young man had to mightily fight off thoughts of Asuka in an apron, and nothing else. It wasn't easy. "Well, I figured that I would fix breakfast, but you already seem to have that covered." He replied, a slight blush betraying him nonetheless.

Asuka took immediate note of this, however. "Just because I can cook pancakes doesn't mean that you can be lazy all the time, Third," she shot back, hands on her hips. "After all, *you're* supposed to be teaching *me* how to cook, remember?"

He fough back a snicker that would probably get him beaten later. "Not like this, I can't. There aren't any clean dishes or pans left in the apartment, I'm betting..."

The firey girl's jaw dropped slightly. Shinji was...teasing her?

Shinji, meanwhile, mistaking the look on her face for anger, quickly cast his eyes downward. "Sorry, Asuka."

Her expression gentled somewhat. "It's okay, Shinji. I'm jsut not used to hearing complements, that's all."

It was his turn to be stunned. "What? You, the prettiest girl in Tokyo-3?"

She blushed, much to her chargrin.
***
Later on, after washing many dishes, and wiping down many surfaces, breakfast was finally ready.

Shinji sat down, taking a plate and one of the pile of pancakes that Asuka had fixed. Adding syrup, he took a bite, tasting what was her first attepmt at cooking since she moved in.

The taste wasn't quite right, but it was better than he expected. Perhaps this wouldn't be as hard as he thought. "Not bad, Asuka, not bad at all."

She beamed, throwing a genuine smile across the table at him.