Playing Games PG-13
Niklas "Hawk" Jonsson

Summary: Ikari Shinji. A deck of cards. Six different opponents. Six games of cards, six discussions. Six chances for Shinji to learn something important about the world and chaos surrounding him.

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion and whatnot are not mine, though I certainly wish they were. The story is mine though, all mine. This story deals with some very unpleasant things. If this disturbs you, don't read.
If the layout looks screwy or symbols seems to be missing, you're probably reading the quickedit mangled version of this fic on fanfiction dot net, if it grates on your nerves too much, read it on hawksgalaxy dot com instead!

Feedback/Flames: Yes, please. Both of them are equally fun to read, although I must admit that I greatly prefer the first variety. :)
I can be found on ICQ as 21771860, MSN Messenger/E-mail as iamhawk at yahoo dot com, though not very frequently as real life lately interferes with my online existance more then I'd like. More stories are available at my nifty lil' site at hawksgalaxy dot com

"speech"
emphasis/shouts/Kindred Domination/post-hypnotic triggers
/thoughts/
/telepathy/
translation
+soundeffect/radio/telephone conversation/TV+

Chapter Two:

"Pilot Ikari?" Rei intoned neutrally, causing Shinji to look up from the bento he was currently busy consuming.

"Yes, Ayanami?" he responded after having chewed up and swallowed the contents of his mouth, putting his chopsticks down into his bento as he devoted his full attention to the mysterious girl. The times she had instigated one of their conversations were easily counted, so whatever she wanted was no doubt important, probably NERV-related and deserved his full attention. He just hoped that it wasn't another emergency.

"I wish to know why Major Katsuragi was getting undressed in your presence when we opened the elevator after yesterday's incident." Rei replied, causing Touji and Kensuke to choke on their food, as plainly evident by the shocked, choking and protesting noises from behind him. "Was Doctor Akagi correct in her assumption that the Major was attempting to become one with you by engaging in sexual intercourse?" Rei continued and the noises behind him took on a distinctively wheezing quality.

"Ah, no. We were playing poker to pass the time. Misato-san was loosing, badly, and ran out of money. She started betting her clothes, then fell over when the elevator restarted." Shinji explained with a blush and a lowered gaze.

"Ah." was all Rei said, then she went back to her seat, pulled out her bento and started consuming some sort of vegetable noodle dish, her curiosity apparently satisfied.

Of course, hers was the only one that was, so Shinji had to endure lots of questions and admonishment from his two friends, as they berated him for not telling them about this momentous event the moment it was over and now implored him to tell them everything about it. NOW!

Thus it was that after the afternoon classes, it was a tired and exhausted Ikari Shinji who strolled back towards Misato's apartment, looking forward to a calm, relaxing evening at home. Asuka would be spending the evening with Hikari, so it'd only be him, PenPen and Misato for the lion's share of the evening.

With his mind tired and his thoughts distracted, it was no wonder that he didn't spot Rei trailing him until he entered the elevator, turned around and staggered backwards, clutching his chest as the sudden appearance of his fellow pilot startled the shit out of him.

"A-Ayanami!" he exclaimed, his heart beating like crazy and his pulse racing like he'd just participated in the ironman. Twice. "What are you doing here?"

"I desire to learn and participate in the activity referred to as 'poker'." Rei replied emotionlessly.

"Ah." Shinji commented, blinking several times. "You... You want to learn how to play poker?"

"Yes. It appeared to be an interesting activity." Rei replied.

"Well, ah... Sure... I guess..." he replied, swallowing nervously, then the two of them left the elevator on the apartment's floor. He led the way and held the door open for Rei, who stepped into the apartment and stopped. "Misato, I'm home." Shinji called out. "Rei's here." he added. "Misato?" he called out after a few moments of silence, as the two pilots discarded their footwear. "She must be at work or something." he muttered.

Rei was silent, feeling no need to respond to his statement.

"Well, uh, do you want something to drink?" Shinji replied, heading for the kitchen.

"I require no such sustenance." Rei declined from the hall.

"Well, come on. We can play in the kitchen." Shinji called out, fetching a soda for himself and putting one in front of Rei as well, in case she got thirsty later. He opened his school bag and pulled out a deck of cards, then sat down and proceeded to explain the rules of the game to Rei. As he finished, she looked somewhat confused and her forehead creased.

"Where does the removal of articles of clothing come into play?" she inquired.

Shinji, while blushing furiously, then proceeded to explain about playing for money and how Misato had started betting her clothes when she ran out of money.

"But... I saw Major Katsuragi clothed later in the day. Did she purchase her apparel back from you after the game?" Rei inquired with a faintly confused expression.

"Uh, no. The clothes are returned after the game." Shinji replied.

"But... The money isn't?" Rei countered, her creased forehead wrinkling up even further.

"Eh, no. The winner takes that." Shinji answered.

"But clothing is returned. Most odd. Why is this? If ownership of the clothing isn't transferred, why is the temporary possession of said clothing for the duration of the game comparable to a sum of money?" Rei asked.

"Because... Eh... Because of the view the opponent gets." Shinji mumbled in acute embarrassment.

"The view?" Rei inquired in confusion, clearly not getting it.

"Of the... Unclothed opponent." Shinji muttered.

"Ah. Commander Ikari once explained the concept of a 'strip club' to me, where performers get paid to put themselves on unclothed display. Now I understand. So, in return for stripping off items of clothing, the winner forfeits a sum of money to the stripping party?" Rei inquired, wanting to make sure that she had correctly understood the situation.

"Ah... Yeah... I guess..." Shinji slowly replied, completely stunned by Rei's revelation of his father once having had to explain a strip club to her. He would have paid good money to be present at that talk! He was getting somewhat used to Rei's occasionally odd inquires, but the wide variety of topics she infrequently asked him questions about baffled him and made him wonder just where and how she came across the subjects in the first place. In the last week alone, she had asked him to explain the rules of tennis, the concept of love hotels, the reason pre-second-impact trance music was referred to as music when it so obviously wasn't and the appeal of imbibing alcoholic beverages.

In some areas, she was so knowledgeable that it scared him. In others, she was almost frighteningly ignorant.

"I see. Shall we play?" she inquired, looking pointedly at the deck resting on the table.

"Yes." Shinji piped up, eager to get away from embarrassing questions.

+Flop+

Shinji's eyes bulged outwards, as Rei threw her white socks onto the table.

"Eh!" he exclaimed in shock.

"I am not in the habit of carrying money with me, so I am forfeiting my socks." Rei stated, then blinked. "Am I doing it wrong? Should I forfeit my socks while dancing provocatively with music in the background, like at a strip club?"

"Eh... No... I just wasn't expecting... This..." Shinji replied, swallowing nervously.

"I still fail to see how the temporary transferral of items of clothing equates monetary resources. After all, you are not getting the 'view' you referred to earlier with the removal of my socks." Rei commented. "And since you've already seen me naked once, it is not something which you have not already observed."

"It's just the way the rules are..." Shinji muttered with a scarlet complexion, trying to figure out just why he couldn't get the vision of Rei's naked feet under the table out of his mind. Rei mentioning the incident at her apartment hadn't helped at all with his current acute embarrassment either.

"I see." Rei commented, well understanding the importance of adhering to rules even when they were somewhat disagreeable.

This game progressed a lot differently then the one with Misato. While Rei was just as bad a poker player as Misato was and never made any attempts whatsoever at bluffing, she had the best poker face Shinji had ever come across. No matter if she had nothing or a royal flush, the latter which she actually got in one hand, her expression never changed at all.

But he eventually learned that she always bet according to the hand she held, in easy to figure out amounts, so he slowly emerged as the winner. After a couple of hours worth of playing, Rei had lost her socks, skirt, blouse and a white top, leaving her in nothing but white cotton panties and bra.

"Do you wish to quit? We've been at it for quite a while now." Shinji suggested and Rei contemplated it for a few moments, before shaking her head.

"I still have items of clothing to bet, so unless you have previous engagements that I am keeping you from, I desire to keep on playing." Rei replied.

"A-all right." Shinji answered with a nervous gulp and another few hands went down, until Rei's brassiere joined the rest of Shinji's winnings. The way in which she handed it over, took him by extreme surprise however. She rose, she danced, she posed and her face was twisted in a VERY crappy imitation of a sultry, pouting, come-hither sex-bomb expression as she dropped the bra on top of the table amongst his other winnings.

Shinji slumped in his seat as Rei reassumed her place and looked expectantly at him.

"W-why d-di-d-did y-you do that!" Shinji exclaimed after a few seconds. "And where did you learn it!"

"Is that not the custom when a female removes her undergarments in the presence of a male?" Rei asked with an uncomprehending expression. "I have observed this manner of behaviour many times, in Commander Ikari's presence at the establishment known as 'The Pink Oyster'. I have also witnessed Doctor Akagi performing similarly in Commander Ikari's office."

"My father takes you to strip clubs!" Shinji exclaimed in stunned incomprehension. /It's unfair! He likes her better then me and he takes her to see naked girls/ he mentally wailed. Being abandoned as a child was nothing compared to this great injustice! "Wait... Doctor Akagi! My father and Doctor Akagi!" he gasped.

"Yes. She undresses on a regular basis in the company of Commander Ikari. I have observed them becoming one with each other many times in the past." Rei revealed helpfully.

"Oh, god! I think I'm going to be sick..." Shinji announced with a morose and disgusted expression. "Sure she's creepy, but I thought she'd have higher standards then that!"

"She is merely following in her mothers footsteps." Rei commented, failing to see the problem Shinji had with her revelations.

"Oh, God! Mother and daughter? My father is a pervert!" Shinji wailed.

"Intimate relationships are a healthy and natural part of the human nature." Rei calmly responded. "I fail to see the problem."

"Father... With Doctor Akagi's mother... And now Doctor Akagi..." Shinji spluttered, shaking his head in fervent denial and shuddering with revulsion. "That's just wrong!"

"He merely switched to a newer model of the same brand. I fail to see the problem." Rei commented.

"Oh, god. Father has corrupted you too..." Shinji whispered in a strained tone of voice, then promptly proceeded to faint.

"I'm home!" Misato happily announced as she strode into the apartment, carrying four bags of groceries.

Meaning three point five bags of beer and snacks, zero point three bags of instant meals and zero point two bags worth of penguin chow.

"Welcome home, Major Katsuragi."

Misato froze in her stride, as the voice that greeted her wasn't the voice she had expected to hear.

"Rei?" she questioned as she entered the kitchen, putting the groceries down on the countertop. "Where's Shinji?" she asked as she started unpacking the groceries.

"In his room." Rei responded. Misato nodded to herself and turned around to deposit several six-packs of beer in the cooler, when she suddenly stopped mid-stride only to stare at the kitchen table.

"Rei?" she asked, surprised at how hoarse her voice sounded even to herself.

"Yes?" was the neutral response.

"Why is your school uniform and your bra on the kitchen table?" Misato asked, steeling herself for an answer she wasn't sure that she wanted to hear.

"I stripped earlier." Rei responded.

"Ah." Misato responded dully. "What is Shinji doing in his room?"

"He's unconscious due to fainting earlier." was the First Child's simple answer.

"Ah. Where are you?" Misato questioned the unexpected houseguest.

"In Shinji's room." Rei answered.

"Do you think that you could come on out here and get dressed, before Shinji wakes up?" Misato requested, not wanting to traumatize the Third Child even more upon his awakening. She found herself somewhat envious however, he certainly hadn't fainted when she got undressed in the elevator with him! What did Rei have that she didn't?

"All right, Major Katsuragi." Rei responded and soon walked into the kitchen, apparently unconcerned that all that protected the faint revenants of her modesty was a pair of plain white cotton panties.

"So, how long has this been going on?" Misato asked, as she slowly continued to put away her purchases.

"Has what been going on, Major Katsuragi?" Rei inquired in mild confusion.

"You and Shinji. When did you two become a couple?" Misato asked.

"Oh, we're not." Rei responded neutrally, though a faint blush made a hasty appearance on her pale cheeks.

"Then... Why did you strip for him?" Misato inquired.

"We were playing poker." Rei replied, which caused Misato to blush as she recalled yesterdays embarrassing incident.

"And he fainted when you removed your bra?" Misato asked, eyeing Rei's chest speculatively as the young woman equipped the item in question.

"No, that happened as we discussed the Commander having sex with Doctor Akagi and her mother before her." Rei replied, a statement which caused Misato to drop three microwave dinners, splutter in shock and gape in astonishment at the first Child.

"What!" Misato exclaimed, not believing what she was hearing.

Half a minute later, Rei sighed to herself as she struggled to move Major Katsuragi to her room, after her shocked superior had fainted after Rei had repeated her reply. She shook her head in confusion, wondering just what it was that people found so astonishing about the fact that the Commander engaged in sexual relations. He was, after all, a healthy adult male.

Rei carefully deposited Major Katsuragi in her futon, then closed the door behind her as she left the Majors room. She hesitated for a few moments, then headed back to Shinji's room to observe the Third Child. She didn't know why she found him so fascinating, but earlier she had felt almost... Content, as she observed him slumber restfully.

She took no heed of the fact that due to the Major's unexpected fainting, she hadn't gotten much further in getting dressed then putting on her bra.

A circumstance which resulted in Shinji fainting again after he woke up and saw Rei sitting next to his bed, dressed only in panties and her bra, apparently unconcerned by this fact.

The End! ( For now... )