Coping with Existence, Part One FL-00

July 4, 2016

Morning.

Something was wrong. Seriously out of place. Unusual.

It was an annoying itch. Something that couldn't be scratched as easily as a simple mosquito bite. It was to dark to notice at first, so he pressed a button to activate the internal lights. The light speared through the room, too fast for his eyes to adjust normally. He shielded his eyes from the blinding fury. As his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he finally noticed what was wrong.

There was no beer.

Wildly, Pen-Pen turned his small, refrigerated room upside down in an attempt to find his morning supply of beer. Finding none, his Penguin mind temporarily took a nose-dive in sanity. For a few minutes, random connections were made. Maybe Shinji had taken his beer and dumped it out in an attempt to get him to stop drinking. Kaji had sneaked over to bathe in the sweet, sweet liquid. Asuka had stolen it and she and Shinji had gotten so drunk, they admitted their feeling for each other and ran off, presumably to get hitched and/or buy more beer. Misato might have drunk all of it during his sleep-time. This seemed most logical idea, so Pen-Pen calmed down a bit, wondering what to do to Misato to get back at her for the loss of the beer.

During this little line of thought, Pen-Pen made another connection. He remembered that he had forgotten to stock up on beer before the night, and therefore panicked. Slapping a flipper against his head, he pressed another button to open the door to the outside world...and beer.

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Shinji stepped out of the bathroom just as Pen-Pen waddled to the door. Before the penguin stepped inside, he stopped the boy and gave him a couple of pats on the leg, followed by what looked an all-knowing smile. Confused, Shinji patted the penguin on the head and watched as Pen-Pen slid the door shut. Running water was heard soon after. Shinji just shook his head.

"Weird," he said, and walked to his room.

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Asuka would admit one thing about Shinji. He had a VERY nice taste in music. The SDAT tape she had listened to yesterday had a mix of classical and old 20th century jazz, which was contrasted by some rock (there had been a Smashing Pumpkins song that she hadn't heard in a while on the tape). Everything on the little SDAT tape she either agreed with or disagreed with so much she couldn't help but like it anyway. She found herself wishing to find an SDAT player of her own.

She also found herself wondering about yesterday's events. The ones that had happened after Shinji apparently grew some sort of a spine. She kept thinking about his reasons for his non-pervertedness. Especially the last reason. She was surprised somebody like Bak-like Shinji could give that detailed of an answer. Then again, he wasn't exactly like Toji and Kensuke...

And when he said her name like someone you would lo-

No. Not right now. Despite what she told herself, her brain had a different idea. Asuka felt her body warm and her face burn. Knowing that it might not stop sometime soon, she got up out of bed, put on a housecoat, and made her way to the bathroom. She almost pulled the door open when she realized that the water was running. She had heard water running earlier, but assumed it was Pen-Pen, as the bird usually woke early to bathe first. She knew Misato slept in, so her brain thought of Shinji. Then her brain thought of Shinji in the shower and made images to accompany the thought. Blushing harder, she ran back to her room, accidentally thumping the door in the process.

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Pen-Pen looked up from his shower. He waited a few seconds before returning to his bathing, shrugging in the way only a Penguin can.

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Misato felt like dirt. Looked like hell. And surprisingly didn't smell as bad as she thought. At least she wouldn't have to bug the others by making an appearance in the kitchen to get her morning beer. Beer. 'Oh shit,' she thought. 'I forgot to remind Pen-Pen about his personal stock.' Oh well, she figured, as she helped herself to a Yebisu from the little mini-fridge next to her bed. She had wisely made the purchase after Shinji had politely told her of Asuka's complaints about her "entrance" in the kitchen after a night of hard drinking. Soon after that Asuka, feeling Shinji didn't do a good enough job, told her flat out that it was pretty damn gross when she walked, and sometimes crawled, into the kitchen smelling of alcohol or vomit or both. Getting the hint, she bought the mini-fridge and hadn't heard a complaint since.

She and Kaji had patched things up recently (owing to the fact that Kaji FINALLY had a full-time job at NERV), and were trying to make up for lost time. What had been even better was the fact that Asuka had finally realized that a relationship with Kaji wouldn't work out, no matter how hard she tried. Kaji still worked odd jobs for the Commander, but was more integrated with helping Section Two and working as a courier for the different sections. Misato smiled at the thought. Kaji the Mail Boy. She chuckled and stretched, rubbing up against a warm, soft object.

She froze involuntarily, her military training taking over, but eased down when she realized it was the Mail Boy she had been thinking about. Misato remembered the beers shared the night before...the little comments passed between...the small touches and kisses...she smiled again and blushed. Kaji was passed out next to her, smile on his face, drooling slightly. Misato's face grew into a full grin. In the years she had known Kaji, she couldn't remember a time when he drooled in his sleep. Maybe she was just noticing it. Maybe he just developed it. Whatever the case, she put her beer down, and snuggled against Kaji's inviting warmth.

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Shinji rummaged around in the cupboard-slash-pantry, looking for something for him to create into an edible, if not delicious, breakfast. He made a mental mark after noticing that the rice was running a little low. Shinji decided to make a kind of Western-style breakfast: bacon, eggs, toast, and an amount of something called "hash browns" he had read about in a cookbook in the local bookstore. 'Asuka should enjoy this. She has been wanting something other than Japanese food for a while now,' he thought. The boy gathered the foodstuffs necessary to make the planned meal from the small, off-to-the-side refrigerator that contained things other than beer.

The shower stopped and a door slid open and shut in the background, signaling the end of Asuka's shower time. Shinji couldn't help but blush at the remembrance of the events of the day before. When the memory of his little slip-up came to mind, he cursed slightly under his breath and ground the palm of his hand into his forehead.

'Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, DUMB,' he thought over and over. 'Why did I have to let that pop out? It just embarrassed both of us and got her pissed at me! I feel so stupid! But why did that come out!? Why!?'

"Why?!" Shinji spoke out loud, unknowingly.

"Why what?"

The first thought that came to Shinji's mind was "Crap!", which was a natural reaction to getting caught or discovered in any way. His second thought was his brain's reflex to identify the speaker. His third thought was that of panic as his brain reached the conclusion of Asuka as the questioner.

"Well? Why what?" Asuka asked again.

"Ahh...why don't we have something else for breakfast! Yeah! How does a traditional Western breakfast sound?"

'Smooth, Shinji. Very smooth,' he thought as Asuka's face lit up with a grin.

"'Bout time you started listening to me, Shinji," Asuka stated, smiling proudly. "I thought I might've had to take matters into my own hands." Shinji smiled a little at that. From what he had seen, Asuka had never cooked a day in the time he had known her besides a few times, leaving it up to Shinji and occasionally (but not preferably) Misato. On that thought, Shinji wondered if their guardian had woken up yet. Ever since she had gotten that mini-fridge, per his and Asuka's request of course, her appearance in the kitchens in the mornings had dropped off, and she usually made clean entrances during the day. Rather than risk bothering her and possibly causing unwanted trouble, Shinji started his cooking, knowing that Misato wouldn't mind.

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Misato had almost fallen asleep in Kaji's arms when she felt him stir. Turning to face him, she saw the man's nose perk a little, sniffing the air. His eyes opened and lock onto hers. Misato leaned into him for a kiss, one he gladly returned. After coming up for air, Kaji sniffed the air again and slurred "Whazzat? Izzat hazz brownz?" Misato sniffed the air and nodded a reply. "Ooh! I loves hazz brownz!" the man tried to get up from the bed, but ended getting tangled in the sheets and fell to the bed. Misato was a bit startled to see him fall, but laughed when he landed on the mattress, causing it to bounce. She grew slightly more serious when the smell of something else washed over her.

"Kaji?"

"Hmm?"

"You smell like beer. Go take a shower."

"Hm'kay..."

Misato watched as Kaji stumbled out of bed, opened the door to her bathroom and almost fell inside. She chuckled and got herself another beer.

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Asuka grabbed herself a can of orange juice and proceeded to the living room to practice the art of the channel-surf. Her mind wandered around, trying to find something to focus on. Eventually she came upon the topic of remote controls. 'We use them practically everyday. They can be used for one or more things. They have the power to turn something on or off. Essentially, the remotes have power over us because we depend on them to do menial tasks, like change a song on a stereo or channel on a TV. Spooky.' She continued to surf, waiting for Baka to finish cooking. 'Boy,' she thought again. 'Those hash browns smell good.'

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"Asuka! Breakfast is ready!" Shinji called out from the kitchen. Sounds of movement from the living room and the static SNAP of the television being turned off told him that Asuka was indeed coming. He made his way over to Misato's door and knocked a few times.

"Misato," he called. "Breakfast."

The door opened to reveal Kaji standing behind it, left arm outstretched to open the door. He smiled at Shinji's surprised look.

"Morning Shinji! I see you're looking well. Say, are those hash browns I smell?"

Shinji got over his shock. "Hai. When did you get here, Kaji-san? I didn't hear you come in this morning."

"We came in late last night, after you kids had gone to bed. Didn't want to bother anyone, so we were pretty quiet about it. Oh, we also thought of going out to dinner tonight at some new fancy restaurant not too far from here. You and Asuka are welcome to come if you want."

The boy shrugged but nodded. "It'll be a nice change of pace, going out to a fancy restaurant. I'll see what Asuka thinks."

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"Hey Asuka."

Asuka replied back with something that sounded vaguely like "What's up" followed by "Baka". It was hard to pick out the words due to Asuka's mouth being crammed full with bacon and maple syrup.

"Kaji and Misato thought about going to a nice, new restaurant tonight, one that's pretty close to here. Do you want to come?"

Asuka's answer came back in a muffled reply.

"Okay, great. I'll tell them right now."

Asuka swallowed her bacon. "Kaji's here right now? When did he get in?"

"Apparently he and Misato got in late last night, after we went to sleep."

"I went to bed around one and I didn't hear anything. Must've gotten in REAL late. It sounds like a good idea and it might be a change from what we usually eat."

Shinji didn't know whether to take that as a complement or insult, but left anyway. Asuka remained in the kitchen, thinking about what would happen later and if she would be able to ask some questions that had been floating in her head lately...

END CHAPTER TWO

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Whee! This is chapter two, "Coping with Existence"...PART ONE!!! Yes, I plan on extending this chapter onto another, "Coping with Existence, part two", to further enhance the spookiness. Damn! Aren't I spooky?!

Apologies abound for the MAJOR time gap between the first chapter and this. Personal life and Writing life mixed, making a big confusion, and screwed with my stories. Thanks to those who've waited in EAGER ANTICIPATION for this chapter to come out. I'm gonna try to stick to a possibly workable biweekly schedule. That means every two weeks a chapter comes out! Oh crabs it's so fun!

As some of you may point out, most of the romance in this chapter was focused on Misato and Kaji. This was INTENTIONAL, people, just to get some sort of plot going and add some fuel to the Romantic Fire. Or something like that. Don'tchu worry, the WAFFy stuff between Asuka and Shinji will happen eventually, possibly sooner than you think.

Anyway, it's past Three AM on my side of the world (try and track me-I dare ya) and instead of sleeping I will now proceed to work on the next chapters. Either that or play video games until sunrise, where I will re- nail the blankets around my windows in an effort to block out that DAMN, DIRTY DAYSTAR!!!

Cheers and Lucky Moon Cats.

If you want to drop me a line concerning something with either of my fanfics, scream at me for no good reason, or just want to talk to me for the hell of it, send it to the regular e-mail Inbox.

I'm getting better with replying.

FL-00