Shinji winced. If there were anything physically wrong with the boy that routine checkups did not pick up on, it would be his extreme sensitivity regarding loud noises. An attribute probably brought on by repeated use of his S-DAT player. It made sense that no one had really noticed it, though. After all, the only time it seemed to prove a problem was when she was around. And at the moment, she was certainly around. The sudden onslaught of booms, bangs, crashes, and slams were enough to attest to that.
He drew in all the breath he could muster, holding it for but a moment before releasing it in a rather distressed sigh. Dropping into a squat, the boy gently deposited several brown bags on the ground and eyed the door to the apartment with no small amount of trepidation. Ringing the doorbell would be so easy, opposed to the cumbersome task of fishing out his keys, but he wasn't quite sure he wanted to suffer the consequences of rousing Asuka from her uh, venting.
However, before he could decide on his course of action, the door swung open at a rather alarming speed and he was met by the devil herself. Her eyes held untold fury and her teeth were clenched in what could only be a painful manner. "Idiot!" She hissed. "How dare you just go off like that, without making dinner?"
He blinked, obviously confused. After all, the reason he had gone out in the first place was because they needed groceries. How could she expect him to make dinner if he had nothing to make it from? Despite how much he wanted to voice such comments, he resigned to simply hanging his head and murmuring a sullen apology.
Snorting, the red-haired teen took a step back, leaving just enough room for Shinji to gather the goods and scurry inside. Placing her hands on her hips, she followed the poor boy into the kitchen. Setting the bags on the counter, Shinji tipped one over so he could properly empty it when he stopped short. His brow creased, and a simple frown tugged at his lips. Quickly, he dug through the others, but found everything to be quite alright.
Pen-Pen's food, herbs, spices, and a variety of other condiments, all there. The items he had specially selected for that night's dinner? Gone. Or rather, replaced. It seemed he had picked up the wrong bag at the grocery store. The woman ahead of him, the teacher who had been buying treats for her class…Yes, that must be it. That must be why he had returned home with a bag full of things one would need in order to make…cookies.
Asuka made a grab for his ear, but was unsuccessful, for he unknowingly evaded the attack when he sunk to his knees in despair. "Idiot," She repeated her earlier insult, looking quite disgusted. "What's the matter now? Did the great Third Children buy salt instead of pepper?" Sarcasm. What else?
"Something like that," Shinji muttered, trying his best to ignore the peculiar feeling in his fingers, the one making them twitch, as he stood up and began the desperate search for the little business card of their favorite take-out restaurant that Misato always kept around the kitchen.
Asuka watched him, expression curious at first, twisting in rage moments later when she realized what he was doing. "You mean to tell me--" Here she shrieked -- "That I've been waiting on you all this time when I could have just ordered out?"
"I'm sorry," He whispered, before promptly cringing. Even he didn't mean for it to come out that way. "…T-There must have been s-some kind of mix-up at the g-grocery store or s-something…"
She seemed to just notice the foodstuffs splayed out over the kitchen counter. "Cookies, Ikari? Hope you remembered the tea. I'd suggest getting out the dolls," The casual way that word rolled right off of the German girl's tongue rather disturbed Shinji, given her track record, "But I'm sure Wondergirl and her little friends have things to do." Again, with the sarcasm.
Insulted by her cruel jabs at Rei, but even more annoyed by the fact that she simply wouldn't listen, he cupped the sides of his head, hunched over, and in a simply uncharacteristic display, screamed, "Shut up!" Wow. Maybe he should go see a doctor, or something. His fingers kept getting itchier by the second.
Stunned into silence, for once, Asuka took a step back. "Jeez," She muttered, averting her gaze, trying to blow the whole thing off. "It's not my fault you were too stupid to check and see if you had the right groceries before you left the store."
He should have known better than to try and get any sort of compassion out of her. He figured he wouldn't be able to do that, even if he could stick some sort of hook in her and drag it out. Sighing, he recomposed himself and set to work clearing the counter off. Let Asuka order what she wanted. He was just going to take a bath and go to bed.
"W-Wait!"
He briefly turned to face her.
"I…Uh…I," Noticing she was stuttering, she scowled. "The least you could do is make some of those stupid cookies. After all, you left me here with nothing to eat for all this time!"
He simply stared at her for the longest time. Asuka returned the stare, though hers was quite defiant (how dare he look at her like that?). Just when she was getting irritated -- and getting ready to tear him a new one -- he dropped his gaze and nodded. "Sure thing," He mumbled, shuffling off to fetch his apron and slippers, leaving a smirking Second in his wake.
----
"Can you believe it?" Asuka growled, slamming her fist on the table, prompting a…Sympathetic look from Shinji? Ordinarily, the girl wouldn't tolerate any sort of pity, but she needed this. "So I say to her…"
Said boy listened intently to what the red-head had to say. Sure, she was complaining as always, but it was somehow different, listening to her complain about someone else for a change. He had never noticed quite how nice her voice sounded. Probably because she was always either screeching like a fish-wife or pouring on false charm.
From his vantage point, he was able to make sure the cookies weren't burning. Noticing that they were just about done, Shinji stood up to fetch the hot pads. Asuka didn't even seem realize he had moved. The boy couldn't hide his frown. Maybe this wasn't so nice after all. Seemed she was just using him, as usual. Oh well. Again, it was nicer than getting his head ripped off.
Drawing back from the oven after safely retrieving the baked goods, he closed the heavy door with his foot and set them on the range to cool. Removing the pads from his hands, he groped around in one of the cabinets for two tall glasses. Filling them with chilled milk, he set them back in the refrigerator and grabbed a clean plate from the sink.
The cookies seemed fit for consumption around the time when Asuka's rant-slash-story appeared to be drawing to a close. Using a spatula to deposit the cookies onto the plate he had prepared, he was unaware of two ice-blue orbs watching his every moment, with something resembling…fascination. Swinging by the fridge to retrieve the glasses of milk, he brought both them and the plate of gooey, chocolate chip cookies to the table.
The two munched away in silence, pausing every once in awhile to take a sip -- or a gulp, depending on which pilot you were referring to -- of the refreshing liquid.
Too absorbed in his thoughts to notice anything else, Shinji reached for the last cookie and nearly died when he felt himself clasp something warm in his firm yet gentle grip. It certainly wasn't that elusive cookie. He let loose a startled squeak and started to shrink back. "S-Sorry!"
"Don't be." It was now she who held his hand in her grasp.
His eyes trailed up her arm to light on her face, but she was concentrating on the connection of their hands. Using her free hand, she picked up the cookie and bent it sideways on the plate, causing it to snap directly in half. Flipping his appendage over, she pried his fingers apart and placed one half of the cookie in his open palm.
Swiftly retracting, she glanced down at the other half of the cookie that she still held. Bringing it up to her lips, she took a fierce bite of it before draining the last of the milk in her glass. Carefully slamming the cup down on the table, she pushed back her chair and abruptly stood.
Stalking across the softly padded apartment in the general direction of her room, she tossed her silky mane, carelessly calling over her shoulder, "They were lumpy." Surprisingly enough, her tone held no malice. She seemed to be employing the use of her ever-resourceful sarcasm again. But like everything else about her since they had first sat down at the table, there was something different about it. Something softer. Something nicer. Something almost friendly.
For the first time in a long, long while, Ikari Shinji smiled. And it was every bit as genuine as the one a certain red-head unknowingly mirrored, all the way across the apartment.
A/N: Holy crap, I actually did it. My first one-shot in the fanfiction department. I honestly didn't think I could pull it off, folks. I generally tend to drag stuff out forever. Another big accomplishment? It's G-Rated! LMFAO. Honestly, it is. I swear it.
On another note, I know there are so many places I could take this story, but it's staying a one-shot. Want more? Check out my other story, I.O.U. One Galaxy. This fic was inspired by a scene mentioned in said fic. I used hot chocolate in that one, and milk here. And also, Asuka called the cookies 'lumpy', rather than tough. So sue me. "Lumpy Cookies (Or So She Said)" sounds retarded. Besides, I mentioned in the fic that the cookies were nice and gooey ...
So leave me your honest comments and criticism. I myself am only fond of the opening paragraph and the ending ones. The middle was too blah for me. Probably because I wrote it. Probably because I found it so hard to write. Anyway…
Please Review!