Late night meant Shinji had gone to sleep already, meaning not yet meeting possibly the single most important person I would have to interact with throughout this entire journey.

A journey I was still trying to wrap my head around. A journey that would probably see me either dead or turned into goop and left up to the mercy of a depressed and immensely troubled 14 year old forced to play God.

But I couldn't keep worrying about that. Not all the time at least, or I'd never have a single moment of peace. Or get anything done. So I instead turned my thoughts to my apartment and my new guardian.

The place was exactly the same as the show portrayed, though only halfway between being clean and messy.

Probably cause Shinji only moved here like, less than a week ago.

Misato's stacked emptied beer cans were something to behold, even stripped of much of their glory. But they were a dying species.

I could already feel my cleanness freak throwing a bitch fit in my mind regardless, though I sucked it up and ignored it for tonight. Despite being in bed for the better part of five days, I was feeling more tired than ever. I chalked it up to muscle cramps, soreness, my concussion and whatever the symptoms of interdimensional travel were.

Misato herself was a different story, lounging around in nothing but that tank top and shorts, utterly perfect from head to bare toe. Stupid anime designs.

Well, she's not entirely perfect.

I couldn't help but catch quick glimpses of where her scar was supposed to be. I didn't mind too much though, as not doing that meant catching glimpses of other places. I wasn't trying to be a perv, but the woman definitely showed off an ungodly amount of skin towards a total stranger.

That, and I couldn't meet her eyes for whatever reason. So I just settled for the floor or the fabric of her clothes as conversation partners. My microwaved food also occasionally served that role.

She tried to get me to open up a bit, though I wasn't in the mood and clearly she wasn't either. Even the several swigs of Yebisu she'd taken didn't seem to help with her own tiredness, which despite being far less obvious was still present.

The closest we got to a real conversation was when I was reminded of the fact that my Eva was mentioned earlier, and all I knew was that it was going to be Unit 05, along with being shipped here sometime in the future. So I inquired her about it.

"Oh that's right," she had evidently forgotten about the fact herself. "Your Eva is being shipped here along with Unit 02 and it's pilot."

"Oh...well that's nice," I said, trying to focus on the fact that we might potentially get Asuka showing up earlier over the fact that my Eva was being transported here with her, and all the ramifications that could cause to the timeline.

"Yup. So no more solo missions for you guys. Although, it should be a while," she snorted as she rubbed her nose. "We have to navigate through a metric ton of paperwork and red tape to allow four Evas here. Freaking politicians and bureaucrats."

Or maybe not? Could Asuka take as long as the original timeline?

I nodded. No point in worrying about it. Both my Eva and her would get here when they got here. At worst I could see them coming in a bit later than canon, but I highly doubted they'd leave us to fight Gaghiel on our own.

More importantly, it seemed the Vatican Treaty was not an existing force in this universe, or even if it was, possessed far less sway than in the Rebuild timeline. Yet another thing in favor of the original timeline.

Still, the hold up was to be expected. If I were a group of nations and or a shadowy cabal hellbent on furthering human evolution through a potentially disastrous scheme, I wouldn't want a single power player to have four whole god machines in their arsenal without a damn good reason.

Not that an Eva was much good for conventional combat anyway.

Conversation mostly drifted off after that, not so much dying as being ignored entirely.

Eventually Misato decided it was late enough for the both of us to get to sleep. I, feeling like I had an actual Eva sat on me, couldn't disagree.

"The Eighteenth is already known. You cannot change that."

"Hmm," the woman murmured, licking her dry lips. "The scrolls are open to interpretation. It stands to reason they are open to change as well."

"The old men will not like what you are doing."

"I am doing this specifically to spite said old men, Doctor Akagi," the woman turned around, staring at some figure in the far off distance, not quite visible through the thick fog and industrial low lighting. "The day they decided to play God is the day they should've known it wouldn't be that easy. And I'm going to make sure of that."

"You're running a fool's errand. They'll get what they want in the end."

"Enoch will work Akagi. There is no doubt in my mind."

I awoke, my bed hot and sweaty.

I didn't have a clock in my room but given that I hadn't heard the probably thunderous noise of hundreds of buildings rising from the ground, I could only guess it was before dawn.

That dream...hadn't felt like a dream. Again.

I frowned. There seemed to be a pattern forming with things. Maybe next I'd wake up as the woman head of Project E with a vendetta?

It'd make no sense, but then again I was a 14 year old forced to pilot a gigantic biomechanical abomination spawned from the most fervent dreams of a religious nutjob, battle against other barely understandable cosmic horrors, and eventually die and get reborn in an extravaganza of tang and sexual imagery.

So safe to say, sense had been thrown out the window the moment I popped up in here. I could wake up as Pen Pen the next morning for all I knew and it'd fit right in with the rest of what was happening.

I tried to chase thoughts of giant human/Angel hybrids and penguins from my mind, but sleep didn't come for a long time after that.

When it did, I would remember nothing of the dream, in the morning.

"Uh..."

Alright, note to self: not going to improve anything in this universe if I don't get better at not being dumbstruck.

I mentally took had a deep sigh before continuing.

"Hello," I said, somewhat flatly.

"Hi," the Third Child replied meekly, in all his apron-wearing glory.

I suddenly became very aware of the height difference between us. Again, it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating, he seemed to be closer to his Rebuild height, just like Misato and Ritsuko, but still. It was weird seeing a dude that short, even if I'd seen shorter, be the supposed savior/destroyer of mankind.

I coughed uncomfortably, and approached him, holding out my hand.

"Kano Akashi," the name still came out a little strained. "Fourth Child."

It took a bit for him to recognize the gesture, and I was reminded that that was probably not the best choice of greeting a Japanese boy who had probably had very little Western influence. I contemplated changing the gesture for a few seconds, until he rocked my hand.

"Shinji Ikari. Third Child," he sounded about as uncomfortable as I felt. Still, for now? I'd take the messed up kid.

If Shinji had been different I might have well given up right there. I knew for a fact it would nigh-impossible enough to affect anything in regards to him and any other character, even knowing all their dirty little secrets, which I already felt guilty about. A different main protagonist would make literally everything that followed impossible to predict, and very likely disastrous.

I'd been thinking about said secrets since yesterday, and just knowing how someone ticked at that level of depth felt dirty, but my options were essentially to pretend to myself like I didn't know anything and probably not change much, if not adding to the misery, or bending my moral values somewhat and using that prophetic information to at the very least attempt to keep their lives from becoming more miserable.

These people needed someone who understood them, not some stock motivational dumbass. Besides, if everyone was just going to play puppet master, then at least I'd be one who had some actual human decency and desire to help left...

I hoped.

Well, no better time to start Operation: Feelgood that right now I guess.

"It's nice to meet you," I smiled as best I could, while not trying to overblow it. "I heard you defeated the Angel. So, good job I guess. I just hope next time I can have your back, ha."

"Oh...thank you. It's nothing," the boy said, retracting his hand and looking very flustered despite himself.

"I'd say it's something. We would've all been screwed if it weren't for you."

Shinji's big thing, aside from being a hedgehog, was his own need for validation. Something to lend weight to, in his own mind, his meaningless existence. Validation from his peers, from his father, from the world. But before I could even begin to show that there were other things besides that, and that not everyone wanted him around just because he was a tool, what with all the people that loved him, I'd have to attack from the one angle I had access to right now.

Besides, it just felt nice to be nice and congratulate the poor kid for once.

"Sorry."

And there it is.

"No need to apologize," I said, still putting up the lively tone just because one that would suit my actual mood would probably not go great with attempting to befriend someone. "But like I said, I'll try to help you from now on. We're teammates after all. Consider me your friend."

I couldn't help but feel like I was actively going against a lot of myself just by being so open and outspoken with someone I'd technically just met. But if I was going to do anything to change these people's lives, I'd have to get out of my comfort zone.

Shinji himself looked somewhat dumbstruck by the display. It was just then that it hit me that he'd probably never heard anything like it from any other person in his life. I tried not to let the sadness show on my face, but...

Ouch.

Shinji himself eventually recovered, switching back into kitchen mode without saying a word more. But I could see the small smile forming at his face.

That's what I'm talking about. Power of friendship will save your whiny depressed ass.

The reality would almost certainly be more complicated than that. But a dimensionally displaced deaged person could hope.

I switched off from that topic, clearly having done it's intended effect and not wanting to push it. We did technically just meet, and anything more would just seem weird.

"So what's for breakfast?"

"Well Misato said you weren't from here. So I went very basic. Is white rice and vegetable soup okay?"

"Yeah, that's good," I said. It wasn't really. Well, if stuff like it was all that we were going to eat that is. I had very specific likes in my diet, not to mention a need for more quantity. And I was planning to get into shape again as well, if not for the sake of piloting then at least to have a hobby. But now was not the time. "Smells good. You cook?"

"Yup," he said, this time a little excitement creeping into his voice.

Maybe I can just fix all his problems with cuisine? Hell, Rei almost did in Rebuild.

It was all wishful thinking, even if I was likely going to have to learn some stuff just so that I didn't feel bad about asking him all the time. But the mere thought of me and Shinji becoming inseparable battle brothers made of pure win through the power of the culinary arts was the first thing in a long time that brought a genuine smile to my face.

"Well, it looks better than Misato's microwaved cooking, that's for sure."

"Yeah, she really...doesn't know how to cook," I could swear I saw fear flash over his face. It'd been five days, so it was likely he had already tasted what he would probably regret for the rest of his life. "She can just microwave stuff. Which isn't bad, but it's not all that healthy."

"Yeah. I guess."

"So, you're leaving for school?"

"Yeah," he replied as he picked up his bag. "Misato usually takes a bit to wake up."

He made to leave, but seemed hesitant.

"What is it?"

"Oh..." he looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Well, I just thought that...you know, you are 14, right? So, they'd send you to school like me. Um..."

He fidgeted uncomfortably with his SDAT player.

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize," I said again, feeling like that would very soon become my mantra. "And I guess they're just holding off on that for now. Concussion and all."

I bonked my head with my hand for good emphasis, which was probably a bad idea seeing as it still hurt. Still, I'd take that over being crushed to death or burnt to crisp. Those two were things that were far more likely to happen when you had a nuclear weapon dropped on top of you.

Which reminded me.

"Also I have a sync test today. So you know."

"Oh. I see," he made for the door. "I'll be back by noon."

"Goodbye."

He said nothing more, and I found myself just staring for no real reason at the closed door he left behind, remembering Kaworu's words from the second Rebuild movie.

"Shinji Ikari...This time, I'll be sure to bring you happiness."

Well I wasn't an Angel. Nor was I kinda sorta almost certainly gay for him.

But I would bloody sure try.