Well I'd like to thank all the people who reviewed the first chapter. It was great to get that much of a response. Actually I normally get that much of a respnse but it's usually of the pitchfork and scythe variety. This, it goes without saying, is much better. I tried to reply to all and sundry, but I know that some mails didn't arrive for reasons I don't pretend to understand. Even if you didn't get a reply I do appreciate the time you took to review my first chapter. Anyway thats enough from me, so please go on and enjoy the next chapter. Or go on and don't enjoy it. See if I care. Bastards.

Disclaimer: see first chapter cause I ain't repeating it.

The following fanfiction has been brought to you by Yebisu Beer. The only way to kill a brain cell.

Asuka had confidently strode into the lead before they had left the Geofront, and was now marching proudly towards an exit into Tokyo-3, the other two Children trailing, somewhat distantly, behind her. Shinji, still less than enthused at the news that the German girl would be accompanying them, had his shoulders slumped and walked beside Rei quietly. As for Rei she silently followed the others, ready, if not actually eager, to begin her education in the ways of 'fun'. Shinji wasn't entirely sure what to make of the situation he found himself in. He had tried rewinding the events of the day thus far and still hadn't gotten any closer to a satisfactory conclusion.

'I got up, wasn't maimed by Asuka, wasted some life in a giant urine filled tampon, offered to help Rei...and then Asuka... appeared.' He frowned slightly. Yeah, that was pretty much it, but it still didn't make sense. Asuka never offered to help - well technically she hadn't this time either, she had just... appeared, and said she was going with them, but the intention seemed the same - and having her spend time in Rei's company volenteraly was as common as Gendo bursting into song. With Fuyutsuki on backup. And Pen-Pen on the drums. Well that wasn't totally true, Shinji supposed. There were times that Asuka had spent with Rei without complaint. Ok maybe a little complaint but not nearly as much as usual.

'That time after the 9th on the hill, or after the 10th at the ramen stand. Come to think of it she didn't really begin to hate Rei until after the 14th.' Shinji shuddered at the memories of Zeruel, then sighed. 'And after all, we all had our problems then.' Fine then, precedent alone had established that Asuka Langley Sohryu could spend time in the company of Rei Ayanami without casualties or property damage, but that did not explain why she had chosen to do so now. It was going to make teaching Ayanami anything all the harder with his gregarious roomate present, he mused idly.

"Hurry up, you two!" Asuka had reached the exit, and was standing, hands on hips waiting for them to catch up. Behind her Shinji saw the bright sunlight, and a promenade of trees trailing into the distance. As he and Rei got closer to the exit he heard the chicadas chirping ceaselessly, and he shielded his eyes as he passed from under the stone canopy into the open air. "Right, seeing as the baka's idea of fun is attempting to drown the prefecture in teenage angst, I'll be giving the orders here. Firstly we're going back to Misato's so I can change out of this shiesse uniform. You're coming too baka. If I have to be seen with you in public then you're not dressing like that. You can go home and change Wondergirl." After reeling off her orders, Asuka looked curiously smug, before her expression abruptly changed to looking slightly ill, though Shinji wasn't quite sure why.

"I have nothing other than what I am wearing Pilot Sohryu." Shinji watched as the redhead had a mild aneurism. Seeing as his roomate had more clothes than, in his opinion, she could ever have a use for, he easily recognised her loathing for such a lack of interest in fashion.

"What! You can't be telling me that those are all you have! That's a crime against nature." Asuka extravagantly swooned in exasperation and Shinji thought he heard a muffled sob. "There has to be a clause in the Human Rights Act that makes that illegal." The brown haired pilot rolled his eyes discretely.

"This is all I was provided with. It is sufficient. I have never had any need for any other clothing." Rei's tone was flat, but Shinji, who knew her better than most, heard the faint quiver of curiosity in her voice.

"Sufficient? It's atrocious!" The children had begun to walk now and Shinji found himself tuning out Asuka's attempt at an explanation off the subtlties of women's fashion, complete with wild and often near spastic arm movements. It wasn't that he disliked spending time with Asuka. On the contrary, he very much enjoyed her company as long as certain items or personages were not present. If any of the things on his self composed 'List of Doom' were in the immediate vicinity however it would save time for all concerned if he just shot himself in the foot before he even began. Then shot himself in the other foot. And once more in the crotch. It would probably hurt less in the long run too. So as long as Asuka wasn't;

Tired,

Hungry,

Bored,

In the prescence of Touji or Kensuke,

In the prescence of anyone, anywhere, ever,

Slightly damp,

Offended by the sun being too bright,

Forced to eat Misato's cooking,

Forced to look at Misato's cooking,

Or forced to physically subdue Misato's cooking, via the medium of net, knife, sword or flamethrower, all was well and peaceful.

Shinji sighed as he imagined slotting a clip into Misato's gun and pointing the barrel groinwards. Today was gonna suck...

Asuka strode confidently ahead of her two fellow pilots, focused on the square of light before her which herelded an exit from the Geofront. It gave her time to think, and it put some distance between her and the other Children.

'I can't believe I volenteered to do this! Teaching Wondergirl to have fun! Easier to have Misato swap to sparkling water.' Just because certain wimpy male pilots had been scrambling her brains lately, was no excuse for stupidity. Her face dropped as she thought about how Shinji had volenteered to spend time with the introverted pilot of Unit 00. He had looked...disappointed when she said she was going to accompany them. That...pained her. While not exactly at ease around Rei, Shinji seemed ready to permenantly flee when in her company, like a hare that knows the wolf isn't really asleep, always ready to make a break for it if the predator stirrs. Only a few months ago she would have been happy with his reaction. A healthy dose of fear made it easier to keep the sheep in line. But now she found she no longer wanted to be seen by him that way. She wanted him to see her as a...friend. She was tired of being angry. She was tired of being alone.

Asuka scrubbed at her eyes quickly, hating herself for the wetness she felt on her arm, and thankful she had outpaced the others. Reaching the exit, she stepped into the bright sunshine, blinking rapidly, trying to accustomise her vision to the sudden light. Feeling the warm air stir around her bare arms and legs, Asuka brushed her red hair out off her eyes and took a deep breath. Tears were something she didn't want to explain. When she was certain she looked as normal as...well normal, she turned to face Shinji and Rei.

"Hurry up, you two!" She watched as the two approached, noticing Shinji put his hand up to shade his eyes from the glare. Rei didn't react, but Asuka thought she saw a flicker in the pale girls eyes that indcated she had noticed the slightly red area around the German's eyes. "Right, seeing as the baka's idea of fun is attempting to drown the prefecture in teenage angst, I'll be giving the orders here. Firstly we're going back to Misato's so I can change out of this shiesse uniform. You're coming too baka. If I have to be seen with you in public then you're not dressing like that. You can go home and change Wondergirl." Two birds with in one stone, not only did she get to change out of this crappy uniform, but she got some time with Shinji alone, before the debacle that would inevitably be the rest of the day began. Hmmm...if Shinji thought she looked good in the damn uniform, how much would he like her in -. Abruptly she noticed she was getting giggly at the prospect of dressing up for her baka roomate. The realisation made her feel vaguely ill.

"I have nothing other than what I am wearing pilot Sohryu." Asuka heard a quiet popping sound and red blanketed her vision. She assumed she had popped a vein.

"What! You can't be telling me that those are all you have! That's a crime against nature." Asuka felt like fainting, and choked back a sob. No one with so finely tuned a fashion sense as the Great Asuka Langley Sohryu could fail to be pained by such a statement. And Asuka considered her standards to be higher than most. After all she hardly had anything in her wardrobe. "There has to be a clause in the Human Rights Act that makes that illegal."

"This is all I was provided with. It is sufficient. I have never had any need for any other clothing." The quiet albino's response nearly gave her an apoplexy all over again.

"Sufficient? It's atrocious!" As the three of them began walking Asuka began to explain the delicate and subtle intricacies of female fashion. As she spoke she occasionally looked past Rei to stare at Shinji walking on her far side.

'Why him?'

The command posts were curiously quiet compared to the raucious carcophany that had raged only 10 minutes ago, when the new commander had exchanged 'heated words' with the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02. Aside from the occaisonal fizz and spark that erupted from the damaged console Misato had shot there was little other sound in the control room. Shigeru had finished his victory dance, and rubbing his victory in Hyuga's face, only because Hyuga's shift had ended just after the children left. Therefore the two remaining bridge bunnies were occupied by their normal passtimes. Shigeru was playing air guitar with a passion and Maya was reading a romantic novel, in between shooting her fellow tech glances and blushing faintly. Ritsuko and Misato were passing the time as any high ranking officers in a near secret military organisation would do when idle;

"I'll buy Bond Street."

"I hate Monopoly! Not only do you have all the utilities, you own two thirds of the board." Misato sat back and pouted sullenly as her lab coated friend chuckled, and moved her metal avatar - a small cat - across the board, before sipping her pitch black coffee.

"This was your idea Misato. The only other board games we found in Gendo's office were Scrabble and that human scale chess board in the lower levels." Misato grimaced as she remembered setting free the prisoners who had been forced to play the part of the chess pieces under the former commander. They had all been eager to escape their captivity, though some siezed freedom faster than others. After all the pawns could only escape one step at a time. As for the other game...

"Oh no we are not playing Scrabble."

"You can't still be sulking over what happened back in college? That was years ago!" Ritsuko's voice was equal parts shock and humor. During their second year of college a drunken Scrabble match had ended abruptly when both she and Kaji had refused to allow Misato to use 'Asahi' as a word on a triple word score, using the rather valid reason that it wasn't a word, it was the name of a beer. This was compounded by their later refusal to allow the somewhat more esoteric word 'zxflblmuflble'. Once again Misato's arguement - this time that after as much to drink as she had had, every word in the dictionary looked like 'zxflblmuflble' - was dismissed. They had never played scrabble again.

"It's not that! I just know better than to play Scrabble with a scientist." Misato complained as she rolled the dice and moved her tiny penguin figurine around the board. "You probably know words that the dictionary hasn't heard of." Ritsuko's invariably mocking reply was lost as Shigeru actually began paying attention to his console, and nearly fell off his chair when he found that Nerv had been being hailed for 15 minutes.

"Er, Commander, it looks like we have an incoming communication." Misato perked up slightly at this news. Her normal day now was spent playing internet mahjong. Anything to break the monotony was a pleasent change.

"Who's it from?" Misato stood from her postion at the new Commander's desk, smaller and closer to the bridge bunnies station than the old Commander's desk had been and Ritsuko moved from her seat opposite Misato to discretely obscure the Monopoly board from the view of the new video screen that had been installed, hanging from ceiling in front of the command centre. Misato had decided that they needed to give an open face to face view with anyone contacting them rather than the old audio only system. The fact that it got great pay-per-view was not relevent she claimed. Or at least it would after she found a way to sneak a 500 channel subscription through accounts.

"A UN representative m'am." Shigeru responded, reaching over to Hyuga's normal seat to flick an old manga under the console and out of sight as he spoke.

"Put him on then." A vastly irritated man of middle years and receding hairline, appeared on the screen. "Hello, I'm-"

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO BLASTED LONG? I've been here for 20 minutes now, waiting for a response!" Misato cringed slightly at the verbal onslaught, and scowled silently at Shigeru. The tech looked abashed and tried to avoid her gaze.

"Er we've been experiencing some technical difficulties with our communications equipment. Still working out all the bugs. Sorry about the wait." Misato smiled apologetically at the man, squinting as light from an offscreen source bounced off the man's head and created some lens flare. Maya giggled quietly and glanced at Shigeru whose head had dropped lower and lower with every word the purple hair commanding officer had uttered. "What can we help you with?"

The man seemed to take a hold of himself, and visably drew himself up, shining the light reflecting of his head driectly into Dr Akagi's eyes. Ignoring her surprised sqwauk the man began to speak.

"Since Nerv was officially re-enstated and designated with the duties of Japanese Public Safety, through which the Evangelion units will be used in battle to protect the nation of Japan in cases of international conflict, it was the UN's plan to provide you with a liason officer. This man has now been selected and..." Misato remembered the disbanding and subsequent re-enstatement of Nerv. It seemed that the Evangelions were weapons to great to be given up easily, and aside from the always possible threat of another Angel attack, the Japanese government had decided to use Nerv as a Japanese defense force, independant of the JSSDF. Misato had been promoted to Commander, as both Gendo and Fuyutsuki, had disappeared and all the other members of Nerv had been re-enstated. It was only because Misato had repeatedly assured Shinji that no one would be foolish enough to challenge Japan when they had three Evas that the young man had stayed and continued to pilot. She knew that the JSSDF wouldn't let them run around totally unsupervised and supposed that this liason officer was their way of keeping tabs on the Nerv employees. "...has arrived. I'm sure you will work well together, Commander Katsuragi. Again." With that final comment the screen blanked out. Misato exchanged confused looks with Ritsuko.

"Again?" The sharp click of a spotlight echoed in the room, as the pillar of light illumninated the spot where Gendo Ikari's desk had once been, and the sound of gears gnashing and grinding heralded the appearance of two figures, one sat behind a desk and the other stood to his left, all rising on a hidden platform. Gasps came from the four people remaining in the command centre as the spotlight illuminated former Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki and former Commander Ikari, still in the same poses that they had always been in. The only significant difference was that both of them wore white cloth pants and tops with black lines running down the length of their clothes in the traditional American jail uniform. Both came complete with round cloth caps of the same design, though Misato thought that Fuyutsuki's might have been at a slightly jaunty angle. On closer inspection Misato noticed that Gendo's tinted glasses also had the black and white lined pattern running vertically up and down the lenses. Shigeru was the first to speak and it seemed his shock had left his brain out to lunch.

"Where have you two been?" He asked incedulously. Eying the monopoly board on the table below them Fuyutsuki replied tonelessly,

"We went to jail. We went directly to jail."

Behind his black and white gloved hands Gendo smirked.

Having arrived at the Katsuragi/Ikari/Sohryu household the three children were getting changed. Upon finding that Rei had no other clothes it was deemed largly pointless for her not to accompany the other two to their apartment and wait for them to change. Asuka had even agreed to lend the albino girl some of her clothing, her desire for her companions for the day to look halfway normal outweighing her distaste of sharing her clothes. Rei waited in the living room while the other two changed, Shinji returning first, assumedly because Asuka was sifting through her extensive wardrobe for herself and Rei. As Shinji exited his room, now clothed in a pair of dark jeans and a red t- shirt, he came across Rei in a staring match with Pen-Pen. Raising an eyebrow and forming a small sweatdrop, he edged towards the two of them, curious. Standing next to the couch he saw that Pen-Pen was propped in Rei's lap, her hands holding him in place so that he would not fall. The penguin stared at her wordlessly. Rei stared at him wordlessly. Neither of which was particularly surprising.

Asuka had scoured her wardrobe once, twice then three times, each time wrestling with herself. She wanted to look good, that went without saying, but did she want to look good for the same reason that she always had before or did she want to look good for Shinji? The redhead surveyed her fabric filled domain. Her bed was virtually hidden under numerous dresses, blouses, turtlenecks and various other apparel. Her hands tightened into fists and she almost screamed in frustration. When had this happened? When had she gone from never thinking about the baka, to thinking about him a little, to thinking about him a alot, to not being able to go five minutes without thoughts of him intruding? And why did she care anyway? Shinji hadn't changed. He was as wimpy as always. He still refused to stand up for himself. He still apologised for everything. He still cooked and cleaned for her...he still spent time with her when she asked him to. No one else had done that. She collapsed onto her knees, skirts of her bland uniform gathering around her as she slumped forward. Feeling the soft wetness of tears trickle down her cheeks, she gritted her teeth and tried to hold back the sobs. Alone in her dark room the girl muttered to herself in a broken voice.

"He's kind and he's gentle and he wouldn't want anything to do with me. I'm tired of pretending I don't care and I'm tired of being alone...Mama..." No-one heard her when she started to cry.

Shinji intrigued by the near athletic patience that both participants in the staring match were exibiting, had continued to watch the two of them. Eventually though the silence had begun to unnerve him. Only the occaisonal blink indicated life in the two people - well one person and a penguin - who sat before him. Glancing uneasily at his watch he saw that Asuka had been in her room for twenty minutes. Using this as a convenient excuse to leave the silent pair to their own devices, he made his way to his team mates room. Hesitating outside the door, Shinji thought about the possibility of a mauling if he disturbed the turbulent girl. Steeling himself against the possibility and preparing to adopt the foetal position he timidly rapped on the door with the back of his knuckles.

"Asuka?" Shinji was startled when the door slid open abruptly, leaving him staring into Asuka's bright blue eyes. The sight captivated him so much he forgot to flinch. Then he noticed the slight redness about her eyes. As he debated silently whether to enquire, Asuka roused herself out of the stupor she seemed to have fallen into, and frowned at him.

"Move baka. Your in my way." All thoughts of her puffy eyes were forgotten as he hurridly stepped out of her doorway, not wishing to aggrivate her. He watched as she stepped past him, clad in a light red skirt that came to her knees and a cerulian blouse, another skirt and blouse hung over her arm as she entered the living room only to stop suddenly as she saw the albino girl examining the family penguin. Shinji followed her into the living room and heard her tell Rei to get changed in the bathroom. After placing the penguin on the floor, Rei gathered the bundle of clothes thrust at her by Asuka then silently made her way to the bathroom.

"Your welcome Wondergirl." Asuka muttered sarcastically. "Some people have no social graces." Spinning she saw Shinji staring off the way that Rei had gone and addressed him sharply. "What are you staring at baka? Wishing you were in there with her? Mien Gott, a baka and a pervert!" Snapping out of his reverie Shinji began to protest stutteringly.

"N-no! I-I was just wondering...What kind of childhood my father gave her...that she has nothing but a school uniform to wear... and doesn't know what fun is." Privatly Shinji wondered if he would have turned out the same way if he had ended up staying with his father, instead of being sent away.

"Feh, it comes of being a doll. No sense, no feeling." Asuka snorted dismissivly.

"She's not a doll!" If Asuka was suprised by Shinji's outburst he was in shock. He moderated his voice, refusing to believe an expression of hurt flashed across her features when he defended Rei. "She just doesn't know any other way to be. I think...I think father raised her to be this way. I think she just needs some friends... someone to talk too..." He looked at his feet embarassed by his words, and didn't see Asuka's expression soften, then shift to hurt once more before she could master herself.

The soft thunk of the bathroom door sliding open caught both their attention. Both Children watched as Rei Ayanami stepped out uncertainly, left arm folded across her stomach to hold her right elbow. Her eyes would not meet theirs. Seeing the vulnerable young girl before him wearing a white skirt the same as Asuka's and a soft pink blouse, Shinji spoke.

"You look nice Rei." He was surprised when Asuka spoke up as well.

"Yeah Wondergirl, you don't look half bad." Rei looked up when they had both spoken.

"...Thank you.. both. I...have never worn clothing like this before. It feels... strange."

'She really has changed,' thought Asuka, 'before she would never have made a comment like that. Is it because of Shinji?' She turned to look at the boy surrupticiously.

'Is it because he treats her as a friend?' She heard him trying to put the albino girl at ease.

"It really suits you Rei." The quiet girl bowed her head again, in embarassment. There was silence in the apartment for a few seconds before Shinji spoke again. "So, uh, what should we do first?"

"I'll tell you what we're doing. We're going shopping. I haven't bought something new in days and Wondergirl here obviously needs to expand her wardrobe. And you can be our pack mule Shinji. Perfect! What could be more fun than shopping?" Shinji showed no expression other than a discrete wince, but was secretly thinking that sending a round of hot lead groinward bound would certainly be less painful than going shopping with Asuka.

Upon arriving at the closest thing Asuka had to a church - the Tokyo-3 mall - Shinji was hauled around numerous shops, boutiques and fashion stores, with the outspoken redhead dragging Rei around behind her, forcing her to try on various outfits and garments. Steadily the bags and boxes that he carried were building up, but nothing he couldn't handle. Asuka seemed to be showing remarkable restraint. He had expected to be crushed under the weight of her Nerv card powered spree, a mountain of clothes containers and shoe boxes serving as his monument and memorial. However the unexpected had happened. Shinji found he was activly enjoying himself. Asuka was amusing herself dragging Ayanami around the stores and advising her on appropriate dress, and Rei soaked it all in like an inquisative child, absorbing even the information she didn't understand.

'Maybe it won't be hard at all to show Rei what fun is.' Shinji mused as he trekked to the next store, following the two girls. As he entered the huge department store Shinji nearly gaped in awe. He'd never seen such a large clothes store in his life. It would take Asuka hours to work her way through the store in it's entirety.

"Baka! Hurry up!" Snapping his attention back to his companions, he began to wade through the clothes racks towards them. Rei was examining some fine gowns, feeling the material slide through her fingers, while Asuka was sifting through garments on the hangers opposite. Gently, the blue haired introvert lifted a powder blue dress off the rack and scrutinised it, peering at the fabric through ruby eyes. After watching her for a while Shinji approached, seeing the German girl was still distracted.

"Do you like the dress Rei?" He asked hesitantly. Rei lifted her head and met his eyes.

"It feels soft...pleasent." As he watched she ran her finger tips down the blue silk. He smiled.

"Why don't you try it on Rei? The changing rooms just there." He indicated an area behind a pillar to the left of them. Rei hesitated then shook her head slightly.

"I would have no use for such a garment." She did not stop stroking the silk, and the boy thought he saw a longing in her crimson eyes. Shinji paused, and then did something he was exceptionally poor at. He lied through his ass.

"Actually, Rei uh, Misato mentioned going out to a restaurant, um y'know the four of us. You could use it for that. It'll be like a party but with less people. Misato said she would like you to come." He forced a smile and tried desperately not to sweat. Rei stood frozen, analysing this new information before fixing her gaze on him. It was all he could do not to flinch.

"Would you like me to attend this party as well Pilot Ikari?" Despite her mild tone, it was obvious this question was important for Rei. Shinji wondered if she had ever been invited somewhere for being Rei Ayanami, not Pilot Ayanami. Depressingly he felt the answer was probably no.

"-"

"What party Wondergirl?" She did it again. She had... appeared. The German redhead materialised next to Rei. "There's a party?"

'Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcraohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap.'

"Pilot Ikari has informed-" The quiet girl was interupted by a loud sigh from the German.

"Look Wondergirl, He's your friend ok? So just call him Shinji for crying out loud. Mien Gott..." She muttered the last under her breath. Rei paused and looked to Shinji for confirmation. The dark eyed boy gave a small smile to her unspoken question, backing up Asuka's proclamation.

"And you Pilot Sohryu? Do you wish me to address you by your given name as well?" Asuka looked momentarily flustered, trying to decide whether Rei thought this made them friends of not.

"Uh, uh, yes of course, Wondergirl! Why wouldn't I?"

"I do not know. Why wouldn't you?" Growling quietly and throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation Asuka turned to Shinji.

"What's this about a party third?"

'Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcraohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap.'

"Uh, Misato said, er, the four of us should go out for a meal. Like a small party, neh?" He was sweating rivers now. Lying...'bending the truth' was easy with Ayanami, even he could pull it off, but lying to Asuka? She took nothing at face value, totally unlike Rei. Asuka drew herself up and cocked her leg, standing with one hand on her hip.

"She never said anything to me." Asuka's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Uh..she mentioned it a couple of days ago after you left for school early." Asuka gave him another skeptical look, but seemed appeased for the present. Muttering about needing a dress to go out in the German retreated back to the section where Rei had gotten the silk gown.

"You did not answer my question...Shinji." Shinji returned his attention to Rei, praying he could get in touch with Misato before Asuka did.

"What question Rei?"

"Would you like me to attend this party?" Shinji smiled at the girl.

"I would like..you to come to the party." Rei nodded and left for the changing rooms with the dress without comment. Shinji hoped it was the answer she wanted to hear. Musing to himself he wondered over to wait by the changing rooms. He was curious to see what the dress would look like on Rei. The changing rooms were tiny cubicles set next to the wall, with a row of chairs set opposite, presumably so the men could wait for their girlfriends/wives. A series of full length mirrors decorated any spare wall surface. Folding himself into one of the low chairs Shinji settled in to wait. He didn't have long. The door to the cubicle directly in front of him creaked open revealing...someone who certainly was not Rei. Rei had not been carrying a crimson dress, nor did she have flaming red hair that hung down past her shoulders. "A-Asuka?"

The girl looked momentarily taken aback to find him sitting in front of her cubicle, and hesitated. Swallowing slightly she stepped forward and gave a little twirl in front of Shinji.

"Well third? What do you think?" Her voice had a wierd hitch to it. She almost sounded...shy. Shinji was speechless. She had removed her sync-clips, allowing her hair to cascade in a waterfall down her back. The dress was red, only a few shades darker than her hair, held up by two ribbons that were tied in a bow behind her slender neck. The dresses neckline was modest, and hung just under her knees at the hem. She looked gorgeous. And her blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

'Wow. I'm gonna need to answer soon. Wow. Can't keep staring. Wow. Will look like idiot. WOW.' Shinji rapidly tried get his brain to provide his mouth with something to say. All he heard was a series of footsteps getting further away and a door slamming in the distance. Then a rather tinny voice echoed inside his head;

'I'm sorry, your brain is not in right now. Please leave a message after the beep and i'll get right back to you...BEEP.'

'Ok, that didn't work. Time for Plan B; open your mouth and hope like hell something good comes out, all the while being prepared to run like the buggery.'

Shinji opened his mouth;

"Your beautiful."

She blushed.

I don't own Scrabble or Monopoly obviously.