We Are (Not) Cursed

by BardInTheForest

(Pax Ikari vol III) When Shinji Ikari rides the train from Nagano to Tokyo-3, he is made the epicenter of a reality altering event. With the reality he had occupied now changed forever, he must conceive of a future that will accomodate diametrically opposed ethos. A man who has never known love is now responsible for the fate of the very humans he's been kept from, for good or ill.

28. Chapter 28

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

Cloistered in the conservatory with her female classmates, Mitsuru looked amongst her peers with thinly veiled irritation. "I expect better. Not 'expected', expect. At any moment, Tartarus can reach out and grab him, you, me, any of us. If we cannot operate as a team, if we allow…divisions between us based on outdated modes of thinking, everyone will pay the price."

"And that price is?" Ulala tossed a thumb over her shoulder. "Don't know if you've looked outside recently, but there's not enough viable farmland to produce food for us. Has anyone checked on if the male fish are gone? Or chickens? Cows? If all the human males are gone, and all their medical samples with them, then all we have left is maybe a couple years of entertaining debauchery before the entire argument regarding Tartarus becomes kind of pointless. Eriko popped the cork on the champagne bottle, I say we all have some fun with the bubbly at this point. He's willing, we're willing: party."

"There are people working on solutions," Yukiko retorted, moderating her voice carefully to avoid setting off Mitsuru. "I agree that if Shinji is willing, there is no reason for any of us to not proceed with him at a pace we are comfortable with. All of us have a chance to improve our chances against Tartarus, and I'm more than willing to do what I can to help him learn to love himself enough that he can actually love me, but getting into fights in front of him is going to produce the opposite effect really quickly."

"Is it really that hard for you to understand Rise-chan's point?" Sumire sat on the floor, against one of the bookshelves, arms crossed and scowling at her peers. "Yeah, we're probably going to have to share him. She doesn't want it rubbed in her face, and I'd really rather not have it rubbed in mine either. Just walking into a room and nonchalantly announcing that you spent the evening riding his baloney pony hurts when I've had a hard time even getting him to recognize that I'd like to spend time with him!"

Chie coughed out a laugh. "Ok, we're not going to use that term again. It's a penis. That's not a hard word to use, and we're all old enough to use it without tittering behind our hands."

"I agree," Mitsuru bolstered Chie's unspoken point. "What are your thoughts, Chie-chan?"

The athletic brawler shrugged. "We're stuck here. Live, die, slowly decay into nothingness, or accelerate headlong into disaster…we've only got the time we have. I plan on sitting down with him, talking things over to get his perspective, and offering to get to know him better. If that leads to us growing physical, I fully intend on keeping it to myself. I don't need or want to be judged against women who are unarguably more attractive than I am. If he makes me happy, and I make him happy, that's that."

Yukiko frowned at her friend. "You are just as beautiful as any of us, Chie-chan. There's no need for you to sell yourself short like that."

"I'm short, I have no tits, my ass is flat despite all of the exercises I do, and I have a voice that's too low to be feminine and too high to be sultry. I'd accepted my shortcomings a long time before I met him, Yukiko-chan. Growing up around you, I had to accept that I was, at best, the 'girl next door'." She shrugged, her natural confidence content with what was. "The way Shinji-kun looks at me tells me that what I am is enough for him, and that's more than enough for me."

Rise was glaring a hole through the door, pointedly not looking at anyone. "So is this what we're going to do, then? Just…divvy up his time amongst ourselves to suit our whims? Just ignore what's happened in his past because we're all too consumed with our own desires rather than show him that there's more to life than mindless sex?"

"It really wasn't mindless," Eriko declared calmly. "Every time he attempted to do things that would be solely focused on my enjoyment, I found a way to make it about 'us' instead. While it was my first time, I most certainly did not make it all about me."

The volume of the 'discussion' quickly rose out of control as several different perspectives on the matter were brought to the general consciousness regardless of the capacity for anyone else to make much sense of them in the bedlam. Just as Mitsuru was about to raise her voice to bring everyone back down to a simmer, Chie nearly broke every glass surface in the room with a whistle that was painful to be near. "Really not kidding, guys. Of anyone in this room, I'm the one that needs to be the most concerned about garnering his attention. The fact that I'm sitting here calmly planning out how to get to know him better so that I can figure out if I even want to have that kind of relationship, and not clamoring to be the next one to lose their virginity, should really be something that helps you all calm the hell down."

"Fuck it," Rise swore uncharacteristically, "none of you understand my point."

Mitsuru saw the former idol angrily move towards the door and attempted to regain control, "Rise, it's not that-"

Her auburn hair flared out as she spun to point directly at the student body president. "I don't want to hear it from the woman whose mother started preparing a wedding ceremony for her with him decades ago. I am not going to be a part of manipulating him into thinking that he should just blindly accept requests for sex because he's the only man left!" Storming out of the room, she slammed the door behind her.

Sumire stood up, smoothing out the skirt she'd worn and moving towards the door herself. "I think you all need to take a long look at what you're saying, and put some thought into why we're opposed, and what it says about you." While her exit was far quieter, the gymnast left just as strong an impression on the remaining women.

"Mind having a talk in my room, Eriko-chan?" Ulala ignored Mitsuru's growing anger, instead making a move towards her own goals for the moment.

"Sure. I think we've probably reached the end of the utility of talking this over for the moment." The fencer stood up from the chair and gestured towards the door, joining the would-be fashion model in quietly departing the meeting as well.

The next to speak, once only four women remained, did so in a manner that was very 'out of character' for her. "I agree that we should come up with a solution amongst ourselves before we…make him feel even more uncomfortable with his own feelings and the way he shares his affection." Yuka remained where she'd sat the entire conversation, her legs swinging beneath the table she was perched upon as she eyed Mitsuru with an air of challenge. "He is not a piece of meat to carve up, however. He is not an unfeeling hard-on. Accommodating each other is only part of the solution, and I think we might be better off in the short-term having a frank discussion with him about what we are thinking the endgame is."

Yukiko did not bother hiding her surprise at the eloquent point made by the woman she considered least likely to make it, "Where'd you come from?"

"Language is a tool used to convey ideas between people," she quoted from a lesson they'd received months prior. "I don't always take things seriously because I'm never going to seriously apply the things we learn in school. I've watched generations of men in my family abuse the women they married to try and cover over their own inadequacies by farming off the blame for them. I've watched generations of women in my family cheat, lie, and steal." Her shoulders moved in a small shrug. "Shinji-kun's my chance to break that cycle. I'm very serious when I say that they," she tipped her head towards the door, "are not entirely wrong."

Chie once more proved that she had a far better eye for people than most of her peers. "Any solutions in there, Yuka-chan?"

"For now? Pairs." She flicked one finger between Yukiko and Chie. "You two spend time with him together. Sumire and Rise. Eriko and Ulala. Me and Mitsuru." Her eyes drifted over to Mitsuru, an offer of peace on the table. "If we're with him in pairs, the chances for abuse lower dramatically. The awareness of our obligations to him increases by the same. If sex is going to happen, it's going to happen regardless of what we do. At least this way we start to become accustomed to how we not only have to accommodate one another, but also gain awareness of his needs as a human being. Scheduling 'dates', for whatever definition you want to apply to that term anymore, with four groups is easier than eight individuals. Giving him time to himself is too. If we can, we include more than one pair. If we can't, at least he'll feel less like he's 'picking favorites' and more like he's 'developing preferences'. Ulala-chan may not be what he wants in a woman. I might not be. Mitsuru-chan might not be. Or, maybe, he's interested in all of us and those of us who are interested in him can spend the time we all need to not be at each other's throats."

Blowing out a sigh of frustration, Mitsuru eyed her peer with a hint of irritation. "I'll presume that you are aware of how useful this attitude might have been in class?"

"But, like," she resumed her typical demeanor with a knowing grin, "then I totally would have had to pay attention to Uzuki-sensei. Yuck!"

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

Both teachers had briefly consulted in front of Shinji, determining that a 'day off' might be best for everyone after the previous day's traumas. Hesitantly, he asked if they would excuse him so that he could spend some time playing the piano to help him calm his own emotional turmoil. When both women gave him reassuring smiles, and overt approval for his idea, he had bowed politely and thanked them for what they had tried to do to help him.

Lost in the medley of songs he was playing, he failed to notice the door to the library open. With music wrapping its delicate arms around him, he did not see the two women that had entered the room to see him. His focus on the sprightly motions required to produce the melody allowed him to show his new audience a side of his personality that few had ever seen. It was the wafting scent of strawberry and vanilla that managed to break through his reverie enough that he resumed 'normal function'. Flowing from the style of music he'd been enjoying into one more fitting for his new audience, he led with what he felt was appropriate and not what he'd been told might be better, "I'm sorry. I…I shouldn't have…."

"No, no," Rise hurried over and hugged him from behind, "I shouldn't have caused a scene. I'm upset at Kirishima-san, not you." Rocking side to side with him, his arms still free to continue the music, she attempted to bring peace to their interactions. "You're in an impossible place, and the last thing you need is us yelling at each other in front of you. I could feel your heart, when I was sitting in your lap. You need us to bring you the calm you crave."

Sumire looked into the open piano, admiring the mechanics at work. "I'm going to get the hard question out of the way first, if you don't mind. Did she…push you into it?"

"N-no." He shook his head slowly, attempting to avoid jostling Rise. "She told me I could say 'no'…if I wanted."

"Well, that's something then." Bunching her lips off to the side, the gymnast looked at him with a lack of surety. "Can we be honest with you? It's not going to be pretty, but I think you'll be better off hearing what we're thinking."

His head bobbed eagerly. "P-please. If you know what I should be doing, or shouldn't be doing, tell me. I…uhm, I think it's pretty obvious I have no clue."

Rise squeezed her arms tight, pushing her hopes to where they could bolster what she truly believed was a good man. "That's only because you were never given the chance to learn. The three of us were pushed by others to do things we didn't want to do. I became an idol because they wanted me to succeed where they failed. Sumire-chan practices gymnastics constantly because…well, I'll let her tell you."

"It…isn't really equivalent to what you've gone through." Sighing, she flipped her cascade of long red hair behind her back. "My sister, Kasumi, was always just…better. More confident, more graceful, more capable. When she died, and my mom…lost hope…I decided that I'd become just like Kasumi to try and cheer her up. It worked. The more I acted like Kasumi, the happier my mom became."

"Which is why we're upset," Rise asserted firmly. "Everyone's wanting you to…to be what they want. They want to convince you to be with them. They want to have you choose what they want." Slipping under his arm, she moved to sit astride his legs. The music stopped, as he couldn't play around her torso, and she looked at him with a fire that wasn't typically present. "What I want is to know what you want. Do you want a bunch of women hanging off you? Do you want to be forced into being the center of a ball of yarn?"

Shinji blinked rapidly, confronted by two women looking to him as if he knew any of what Rise had just asked for. "I-I…." How did he respond? How did he explain? He'd told them, repeatedly, what had happened to him. Now he had a woman with a wonderful heart astride his legs, a woman with genuine compassion by her side resting a hand on his shoulder, and no possible way to answer either of them. "I…I just…I want you all to be happy." It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a lie. He wanted to feel love the way that it seemed everyone else could. He wanted to not be cursed with a constant desire. He wanted to have a life that was closer to 'normal' than not. Their emotions all screamed that he could provide solace for them. That his attentions could bolster their resolve to face what was coming.

"I can't really blame you for lying," Sumire sighed out. "I'm probably the last person who should blame you for lying." She shook her head slightly when he looked towards her in fear. "Living for someone else is just running away from life. What do you want, Shinji? Do you know?" His eyes dropping towards the floor gave her the answer. "You know, but you can't put it into words yet…that makes sense."

"Ok…ok, then…." Rise bounced slightly, excited that some small amount of progress was being made by Sumire's atypically blunt actions. "Are you afraid that by telling us we'll hate you?" She saw him curl in further, once more answering a question without speaking. "What if…." She looked to Sumire, a plan forming in her mind. "What if we practiced our stretching, like we'd talked about. Relax as we work on our flexibility, spend some time talking to one another!"

Sumire shifted to 'help' Shinji stand up. "We'll listen to whatever it is you want to say, you'll benefit from the relaxation a good stretch provides, and maybe we can help you find a path towards what you want."

Working with both women to gain his feet, Shinji ventured to ask for something he believed might be considered 'reasonable', "Could…uhm, could we use my room?"

"Sure can!" Rise was genuinely pleased that he'd been brave enough to ask for something he wanted. "That's the benefit of stretching exercises, you can do them anywhere."

"I do a lot in my chair in class," Sumire added. "Not everything is about huge movements or setting your legs completely around your body. Sometimes it's just making sure your calves aren't going to cramp terribly."

+++++ NERV. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

The cavernous cargo bay that the equally enormous angelic being's corpse had been moved into was, at once, suffocatingly rank and bone-chillingly cold. Neither truly bothered Yui Ikari, though she did recognize the impact it was having on those women that were with her. "As you can see, Madam Prime Minister, Unit-01 succeeded in destroying the enemy despite its formidable defenses." Without looking at the woman who'd insisted on a tour, she reached over and urged her to step further into the room. "It's quite safe. We've run every conceivable test, and there are no chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats present."

Walking reluctantly alongside the far more confident leader of NERV, the Prime Minister shook her head to deny the reason for her trepidation. "I have no doubt that you would take every precaution possible, Commander. My concern is more predicated on awe, than fear."

"Son of a bitch!" The cry of an individual swearing to declare that they'd hurt themselves echoed in the room from closer to what had once been the 'neck' of the fallen foe. "Mmmm, that's gonna bruise."

Moving without significant concern for either the social faux pas or the safety of the woman responsible for it, Yui led the small entourage towards its source. "Our studies have managed to produce a great deal of information that should help us defend against further assaults, should those future assailants prove to be constructed of similar material." When she reached a more polite distance, she maintained the 'human' appearance that played well with her temporary audience, "Doctor Akagi, is something the matter?"

Ritsuko had caught sight of the group's descent, but didn't really care whether they'd heard her or not due to her frustrations continuing to multiply. Shaking her hand to flick away the pain, she smiled falsely and lied, "Sorry about that, Auntie Ikari. Drill bit failed and I slammed my hand into the sample. Cold hands plus outside force equals reduction in eloquence." Looking to the other ladies present, she did her part for the charm offensive, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Madam Prime Minister. Come to tour the madhouse?"

With a smile that indicated she knew Ritsuko wasn't actually pleased to see her, the Prime Minister gestured to the angel lying in repose. "While not the predominant religion, there are a number of our fellow citizens that are concerned about what it might mean to have something resembling an Abrahamic messenger show up out of nowhere to lash the earth with fire and fury."

"Oh, that's easy to answer, they're fu-"

"Doctor." Yui's one word was delivered in the appropriate tone to immediately silence the caustic wit of her oft-glib surrogate niece. "As you can see, there is nothing 'divine' about our enemy. While the appearance is certainly able to be mistaken for something resembling the more common depictions in art, if you refer to the source material there is very little that could be considered similar. Certainly nothing inexplicable."

One of the others in the group, a smallish lady with a nearly permanent scowl on her face, tugged off the glove she'd been wearing and gently touched the corpse. "I believe I must agree, Commander…." Removing her hand and flexing it as if she were searching for something that might have lingered upon her skin, she shook her head and looked to the Prime Minister. "I have stood in the presence of His Holiness. I have been given the honor of standing in the presence of the relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Toulouse. What I felt of God's glorious works in their presence is…absent. There may well be something here, but it is not of Our Father." Looking to Yui, she bowed politely. "Thank you, for allowing me to see with my own eyes, to feel with my own spirit, the truth of things."

"You are quite welcome, Your Reverence. I assure you, we are not intentionally causing any offence your flock might be feeling from our defense. My son made every effort to come to an understanding with his opponent, and only engaged with lethal force after diplomacy had been truly exhausted." Yui gestured back to the elevator. "If you would do me the honor of joining me for lunch, I would like to make certain we are all working on the same page to keep the peace. There are a great deal of stressors, the last thing I want is a group of angry women full of misunderstandings showing up on our doorstep."

The Prime Minister was grateful that Yui had accentuated the attempts at peace, and used the reference to the progenitor of those attempts to reach for something else she'd wanted, "Of course. Perhaps we might have an opportunity to speak with your son, afterwards?"

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

What had begun as awkward attempts to not 'stray out of line' had evolved into a trio of young adults laughing along with one another as they discussed the traumas of the past. Each had experienced pain, and despite the fears of the two ladies present Shinji was not inclined to claim supremacy in any regard. Both Rise and Sumire found a young man with a full willingness to laugh at something that was funny, even if it was also tragic, quickly bonding with him over the fact that surviving the past required that type of humor.

Shinji surprised himself with how flexible he actually was, as well. Not able to manage what Rise could, to say nothing of what Sumire was able to accomplish, he was still able to contort his body well enough to earn genuine accolades. With a rueful smile, he shook his head while Rise sat on his back to help him push his hips further towards the ground as he attempted a front split with his body laid against his leg. "I guess it could be worse, then. I could have gone through all of that and not come out with the ability to avoid serious injury due to hyperextension."

Sumire, who was holding onto his hands to steady him as he worked on lowering further, snorted out a dark laugh. "I'm fairly confident that there are far less traumatic ways to gain those abilities, but I'll agree that it's going to be advantageous when we start teaching you how to dance."

"What type of dance?" He rolled his head slightly to the side to look with a degree of interest that was typically borne by knowledge in a topic.

"Can you dance?" Rise pat-patted his back with a hint of excitement growing. "Do you like to dance?"

Whether it was the series of conversations earlier in the day or the fact that he felt much calmer around Rise and Sumire, Shinji's confidence had climbed back up in his preparedness to deal with a 'known unknown'. "I…uhm, I don't know if I like to dance. I've only ever danced with one person, and…and neither of you deserve to be compared to her in any form or fashion."

Rolling off his back, Rise stood up and urged him and Sumire to their feet. "Ok. Honest question, face to face: do you want to try dancing?" Her hand flicked between her and Sumire. "We both like to dance, but that doesn't mean you have to dance with us if you don't want to."

"True, very true." Sumire joined Rise, facing Shinji. "I should have asked, and not told you we would teach you."

He frowned slightly, trying to think of the difference between the two. If they wanted to dance, he'd dance. "But…you want to dance, right?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you want to dance. Or that you want to dance with us."

He nodded slowly, still attempting to piece it together. "But I want to do whatever you want to do…."

Rise's lips bunched together. "Ok. What if we wanted to kick you repeatedly?"

"That'd be fine," he responded with a shrug.

"Would you want to be kicked?" Sumire could see the problem, but needed him to see the problem.

"Not really."

Rise huffed, "Then why would you be fine with us kicking you?"

"Because it wouldn't hurt, and it would apparently make you happy to do it." He shrugged, still lost.

Sumire managed to become confused as well. "If it wouldn't hurt, then why wouldn't you want us kicking you?"

"Because I think you'd hurt yourselves. I wouldn't want that."

Blinking slowly, Rise strangled down the urge to swear. "Shinji…just because you don't feel it doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt you. What would you be thinking, while we kicked you?"

"That I'd upset you somehow."

"And would that hurt you?"

"…Oh." His brow knit. "But…."

It was Sumire, this time, that came up with a question that was in service of better understanding the man before them. "What if I told you that it would make me happy to know, truthfully, if you were interested in dancing with us? Could you give us a proper answer then?"

Opening his mouth to speak, then closing it, and repeating that process a few times as he thought in circles regarding what it was she was asking of him, his eyes brightened as he found an internal solution to the problem. "I would enjoy having the opportunity to find out if I would like to dance with you. I think the only way to know, for certain, is if I offer to dance with you and we try. Does that make sense?"

"Works for me," Rise cheered happily. "Just remember, if you're not having fun, say something!"

"Please do," Sumire added urgently. "We really don't want you to live your life like everything you do has to be for someone else. It's ok to be selfish sometimes."

While he disagreed, at least on a personal level, he kept his disagreement to himself. He'd managed to convince them to try what they wanted to do and risking that victory by attempting to be perfectly honest wouldn't get them anywhere.

+++++ NERV. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

The ceaseless hum of machinery always brought a smile to Kyoko's face. Her love of heavy industrial operations dated back to a childhood filled with engineering amusements gifted to her by a father that tried to remain as much of a presence in her life as he could while also helping the two halves of the nation of his birth avoid a final, fatal, war on their soil. His calm, loving demeanor had set her expectations for any potential future husband way out of the reach of most mortal men. Her mother's insistence that any man she might bring home be of her father's caliber cinched shut any chance of Kyoko ever managing to break her lifelong abstinence.

Rounding the corner of a partition wall that separated the causeways from the machining floor, she spied the target of her expedition into her second favorite group within NERV as a whole. "Sergeant Valatok?" Engaging the disarming smile that she preferred to use when attempting to not startle the lab specimens, she waved politely at the powerful engineer when she turned to face her. "Might I have a word?"

A woman to Andreja's side, mousey of build, looked at her ally with a worried expression. "The fuck did you do, Andi?"

"I did nothing, ok?" Andreja urged the woman to get back to work, hurrying over towards Kyoko to not waste the Sub-Commander's time. "I want to see that magnet secured before I return, yes? We would not want to fall behind Third Group again, Pilot Ikari is depending on us, yes he is." Reaching Kyoko's immediate area, she gestured back behind the partition. "Please, let us stand behind the safety wall. I do not think the Commander would be happy if I let you catch hot metal in the head, ok?"

"Of course," Kyoko agreed, moving as requested. "I am glad to see that you are paying attention to safety issues, myself. Each of you is invaluable, now that we're left to do the work of five times our number alone." Easily able to read how nervous Andreja was, she motioned for calm. "You have done nothing wrong, Sergeant. I came here to speak with you because I need you to do me a small favor."

Andreja was not in the habit of considering the requests of her boss' boss' boss' boss' boss 'favors'. "Is…is it more questions?"

"No, no. I believe we've received exactly what we needed from our previous interview. That Lieutenant Ibuki felt comfortable asking you to give her a hand in calming poor Shinji speaks well enough to that." Pointing with two fingers to the ceiling, far above them in the cavernous engineering bay, she shifted her smile to 'apologetic'. "I would like to ask you to consider accepting something of…a promotion. You see, now that you know what happened-"

"I have not told anyone of it, I swear I have not," the big woman interrupted urgently. She'd not needed Ritsuko's admonition that she should keep what she'd learned to herself, such things simply were not spoken of to just anyone! He had been defiled against his will, by someone he ought to have trusted. She would go to the grave with that secret! "Please, I do not need to abandon my unit simply to keep my mouth shut. I promise, no one will learn of anything from me, no they will not."

Kyoko's chuckle was both quiet and amused. "This is not a bribe, dear. Nor is it a threat. There are precious few people who work directly with NERV that he has shown any degree of comfort with. While he does not lack for confidants, or for bodyguards, what we are thinking of having you serve as is a combat liaison."

Andreja frowned, even more confused than before. "I…was never in charge of tactical operations. My duties were always to follow orders, not give them, you see?"

"And he lacks experience even following orders. He needs someone he is comfortable with to teach him how to use his strength to his advantage. Throwing you around is going to be far more acceptable, in his eyes, than throwing any of the young ladies he lives with around." She gestured to herself. "I am of a size with most of the young ladies there, do you think he's going to be learning much by tossing me around like a ragdoll?"

"Captain Katsuragi is…smaller than I am, she is." She was many things, but slow was not one of them. "I do not believe she will smile on this arrangement. Creating a division between the person advising him in the Evangelion and the person teaching him to fight is unlikely to end well, yes?"

Kyoko nodded amicably. "Hence, promotion. If you're a peer, and not a subordinate, you'll have the authority to help the good Captain understand that this is not an indictment of her or her abilities. You'll help him understand the…special relationship forward operators have with the person performing overwatch, she'll benefit by having him learn to pay attention to that type of relationship at the least."

Looking back over to the machinery, Andreja took a moment to piece her thoughts together again. She wasn't being threatened, nor was she being ordered. "I can say, 'no, thank you'?"

"I'd rather you didn't, but I'll accept your refusal. It's better that we find someone who wants to work with him, instead of someone who's going to be forced to." Her volume lowered slightly. "If it helps you understand our position, we wouldn't be opposed to the two of you developing a relationship beyond simple comrades. He is, unfortunately, likely to have even more expectations piled on his shoulders with regards to such matters."

Andreja's frown became a scowl. "I am afraid I do not understand what you mean, ma'am."

"What I mean is simple: the only male remaining on what is left of Earth is going to have exceptionally unique burdens placed on his shoulders. If he finds solace in your arms, and you find joy in having him there, his mother, as well as both Sub-Commander Akagi and myself, find that arrangement acceptable. He is going to have more than one 'spouse', and this position we are offering would not proscribe you from settling into one of those positions as well. What we want is for him to be happy, not just 'alive'."

What she wanted was to slap the woman before her for daring to arrange Shinji's love life as if it were a coloring book. "May I have time to think on it? I do not want to…rush an important decision, no."

+++++ Author's Notes:

RE: Slovakian customs.

I worked with a lovely Slovakian lady for a time, while I was assigned to assist KFOR. She and I spent several long vehicle rides discussing customs and courtesies, and the way that they had changed over time in both her homeland and in my experience growing up all over the world. She mentioned that her father had failed to bring a 'house gift' when he'd stopped by his then girlfriend's, now wife's, mother's house without a prior invitation or meeting. Almost scuttled the relationship right there until he apologized for forgetting his manners and pulled out a piece of scrimshaw he'd been working on to give to his now mother-in-law. He of course had no idea about the custom, and was merely fast on his feet. As I was writing, I remembered that story and decided to include it as a bit of fluff.

RE: Andreja and the Elves.

They make themselves visible to those they wish to be visible to. Since Andreja is someone Shinji prefers, they choose not to hide themselves.

RE: Does he even lift?

Yes. Shinji is only able to lift as much as he is because he is becoming the Demi-Fiend. The Magatama that was introduced into his spine is strengthening his body for the trials to come, and that includes the ability to lift well past the capacity of your average young man. He's nowhere near as strong as The Wanderer, at the moment, but he's still far stronger than anyone else around him.

RE: Kurva suka.

Circling back to the Slovakian lady I was speaking of earlier, 'kurva suka' isn't...simple to translate. The intent, in English, you would give it would be along the lines of 'fucking whore'. Suka, as in most languages in that group, translates directly to female dog. The intent, however, is synonymous with the English 'bitch'. A kurva is someone who exchanges sexual favors for something of tangible value. While you could simply say 'bitch whore' and be close enough for government work, that's not necessarily the intent behind it. The curse can be applied liberally, to include to the engine of a POS that breaks down in the middle of nowhere.

RE: Shizoku.

Yeah, that was a typo. Shizuko, 'silent child', coming from shizuka, silence. I blame my proofreading software for knowing that Shizoku is actually a name as well.