Nothing Will Ever Change That
Chapter 65: A Little Help
Same Place – Morning
I wake up to the smell of food being made, but I wasn't able to pinpoint what it was. Dietlinde was still asleep on my chest, and so was a byproduct of her being there; a large drool mark. Truthfully, it didn't really bother me; I just lifted her up and get up.
"Oh! You're up! Breakfast is almost ready," I rub my eyes to see Asuka making breakfast… I had to be dreaming.
"Wow… smells good. What is it?" with my free arm I grab a small milk carton and open it.
"It's a German-style pancake that I learned how to make before I moved here, it's pretty good in my eyes," Knowing that I haven't had anything to drink since yesterday morning, I chug the milk.
"Smells good, but I don't think we can have the normal breakfast drink, this milk tastes a little funny," she whips around her head to look at me, then laughs, "What? What happened?" she points to the milk carton while laughing.
"That's… not… milk…" she couldn't stop laughing. If it wasn't milk, then what was it? "Shinji, try asking before you go drinking things. That wasn't store bought milk!" then where did she… EW!
"Oh man! That's just wrong! You could have warned me! Why did you even put it in a carton!" God! I pray that this never leaves this room!
"Because I didn't have a clean bottle," I'm never going to be able to forget this, "How was it? I was wondering how it tasted." She was asking ME this?
"Ask her!" I point to a giggling Dietlinde, "Can't we feed her normal food yet? This is just getting weird!" she shakes her head.
"Nope, Ritsuko said that she could only drink this week, and she also said that she needed calcium. So, you know, two plus two!" I don't know how Dietlinde drank that stuff, it was nasty! "You need to get ready for today. Remember, you need to find a job, so try and look passable!" I forgot about that.
"Okay, I'll just put Dietlinde in the stroller for now. I had… some trouble with the crib…" she chuckles a little as I enter the bathroom.
"Have a good shower!" I had just started the water and I was getting in… until I saw what was hanging on the shower curtain.
"Okay, you're just doing this on purpose now, aren't you?" she walks past me and grabs the object on the curtain.
"Well excuse my C-cup! Baby…" now I was able to get in and relax! That is until I realize I just walked out into the main room without clothes on… and my daughter in there. Thank god she was in the stroller! Not the best of mornings, but not horrible compared to what I've had in the past. As I relax under the hot water I remember the first morning with Asuka. she awoke in a rage at the fact that 'the man hasn't made food yet'. Come to think of it, that's kind of how I started to cook everyday. When I was done I turned off the water and headed out – this time with a towel on.
"Here, I grabbed you some clothes," she handed me a button-up shirt with a tie and black pants. She sure seemed in control today.
"Oh… thanks," I take them into the bathroom and get dressed. When I walk back out I was greeted with Akagi standing in the doorway; it looked as if she was just arriving.
"Oh, hey Shinji. Getting ready for job interviews?" I nod as I finish doing my tie, "You look pretty handsome when you get dressed up, not that cute boy I used to know!" was Akagi hitting on me! "Any idea where you're even going?"
"Actually, I was just going to wing it. You know, search the newspaper for the de-classifieds, see what I can find," she pulls a folded piece of paper out of her pocket.
"Already done, I've scheduled about five interviews for today, the times are pretty close together, so you'll have to rush it a little. Your first appointment is in about an hour, so hurry up and eat. You look so cute all dressed up like this! Shinji's getting his first job!" she did all of this? I really wouldn't consider this my first job, just my first paying job. Damn, if you don't call fighting giant monsters work, then what do you call it!
"Wow… thanks…" I take the paper from her, "Really, you didn't have to, but thanks," she waves a hand in the air as she walks away. Ritsuko never did know how to make an exit; she always left on an unsaid note or an awkward moment.
"Okay, was it just me or was she hitting on you? That was seriously creepy," Akagi was at least fifteen years older then me. Even so, she still had the body of a twenty-year old. The only reason I have an idea of her age was from seeing her bio a few years back.
"Nah, I doubt it. Is the food ready? It smells great!" just then, she turns the stove off.
"I gotta admit, you're good," she sets up a plate with four of the thick pancakes, "eat up! Tell me if there good or not," she didn't mean that. What she really meant was 'Either eat them or get out,'! As I take my first bite, I see that she was feeding Dietlinde, making it a little herd for me to eat. I don't know what it was about her breast feeding, but it just made me uncomfortable.
"Pretty good, great actually. Where did you learn to cook like this?" it was actually really good. I was a little worried, last time she cooked I damn near died. I fairly convinced that she tried to kill me!
"Well before I moved here, when I was around twelve, one of the NERV staff members taught me how. She was an old rusty woman, and she was quite the bitch if you ask me. I liked her all the same though, and I clung to her like a lost puppy. She eventually warmed up – to me at least – and started to go out of her way to spend time with me. She was the closest thing I ever had to a mother, yet I still never truly loved her. One week before I left, she…" Asuka paused, "she took the cowards path and hung herself. That was yet another reason I didn't let anyone in, because that was then two people that had left me," the odd thing was that her voice wasn't hurt, it didn't even sound bland. In fact, I think I heard some happiness in it.
"I'm sorry you went through that…" nothing was said for awhile.
"Okay, that's enough for right now," I knew that she didn't want to talk about it! "You can have some later," huh? Oh! She's talking to Dietlinde! "Shinji, you should get going, your first appointment is in half an hour," I start to get up and heard one last statement, "Have a nice day!" was that coming from Asuka! She has never said those words to me!
"Uh… thanks… you too," with that I open the door and head for my first interview. When I get to my car and open the door, I see that my hands are shaking slightly. Was I actually nervous? I felt no sign of it, that's the odd part. The whole drive there I saw my hands trembling. When I finally pulled up to the building, my heart actually sank.
"Okay, I'm nervous," I was actually nervous! I would never understand the logic of it; I was able to fight angels and stare down Gendo, but I was nervous about this! I get out of the car and head for the white building. All Akagi wrote down was the time, place, and a short description. The description she wrote for this was 'Keep a constant poise, you'll need it.' Yeah, that was helpful! I enter the building to immediately to see a woman behind the counter. "Excuse me? I have an appointment for ten here and I…" she cut me off.
"Hey Jeff, the first of the beggars is here," she spoke over the intercom. Beggar? How exactly did she figure that?
"Okay, send him in," he had the same tone of voice as Sam, suggesting he was American. She points to a room with a large wooden door and I walk in. I see an American – I was right – sitting behind a wooden desk.
"Hello, my name is Shinji Ikari," I put out my hand, he looks up from his work, stares at it, then goes back to what he was doing. Well, looks like I'll be dealing with an asshole today.
"Take a seat, okay, I don't like to beat around the bush, so let's get right to it shall we? Why do you think you should have the privilege of being my assistant?" assistant! Hell no! I can't stand this guy! If he needed an assistant, then who was that woman outside of his office? With a soft sigh, I remember that I need a job… time to kiss ass.
"Well, I believe that I'm pretty reliable when it comes to getting things done. I also have a…" he cut me off.
"Wait… have I seen somewhere before?" ah, here it comes; "Your name sounds familiar too…" might as well say it.
"Yeah, I'm the pilot of Unit 01," he damn near jumped out of his skin, "are you okay?"
"Yes… I'm sorry… look, you got the job. If you're able to save the world, I'm sure you can organize papers. Now, when can you start?" that's it? All I had to say is that I was a pilot? I'll be using that more often from now on!
"Really? Thank you! I can start at any time," sure, I wasn't looking forward to working with this guy, but at least I had an income now.
"How about tomorrow?" I nod with quite a bit of enthusiasm, "Okay, good. Now, for your pay; you will be paid by the hour, and you will receive a paycheck twice a month. By the hour, you will make 1300 Yen of you complete your work. Your hours will be from eight in the morning to five at night. You have Saturday and Sunday off." That actually sounds pretty good!
A/N- 1300 Yen is about $13.00
"Yeah, that's great! Thank you!" he laughed a little.
"You know, I still don't understand why the government doesn't pay you for piloting. You'd think that saving the world would be worth something! Anyway, I just need your signature and we'll be done," he slides a piece of paper on a clipboard to me. I sign it and get up.
"Once again, thank you," I put out my hand – again – and this time he takes it. With a feeling of victory, I leave the building I will be at for nine hours a day. Now that I actually had a job, I didn't need to worry about the times of the other job interviews, so I just went back home. The drive there was a pleasant one; now I was able to make sure that Dietlinde will be okay. Who needed Gendo anyway? When I finally pull up to the parking lot, I see Gendo apparently waiting for someone. I walk up to him – or rather, he walks to me, and I meet him halfway – and he speeks.
"Where were you?" that harsh tone really had no effect on my poise.
"Getting a job since SOMEONE refuses to help with their grandchild. Why does it matter to you?" I think I actually intimidated him! His face was priceless!
"Well… it seems that most of the NERV staff is on your side, and many are planning a strike…" really? Looks like we do have some friends! "NERV can't afford to let that happen, so I will support your child on one condition; you don't marry Asuka. I believe it will affect how you will perform on the field," like hell I won't!
"Are you serious! If you didn't want us to get married, then what was up with the check!" he lifts his glasses slightly using one finger.
"That came out of NERV's account. One of the employee's requested it," Ritsuko must have bitched at him. I had to remember to thank her… but for now…
"Listen to me you bastard, we WILL be getting married, and you can't do anything about it! I don't need your help to support Dietlinde, you see, I already got a well-paying job, so fuck you!" with a certain 'bird' making an appearance, I walk off, leaving him to fume. I finally get to Asuka's room and see that she was reading a book to Dietlinde. Not wanting to disturb her, I stand back and watch. I tried to recognize what she was reading, but then I realize she was reading in German. It made sense if you thought about it; Dietlinde had the same chance understanding Japanese as she did German. I was mesmerized by Asuka's voice, it always seemed like she was a completely different person when she spoke German, like she was on another planet. She closed the book and turned her head towards me.
"You want me to read you a story?" she brought me out of my trance with a sarcastic remark.
"How about a bedtime story?" she rolled her eyes as I chucked a little.
"That's alright," she acted like I was offering food! "Aren't you supposed to be at… oh, I don't know… a JOB interview right now? What happened?" I walk over and sit next to her.
"I already got a job! Pretty good pay too, I start tomorrow," she cringed a little at the last comment, "I know it's soon, but the sooner I start, the sooner I get my pay."
"Okay, as long as you got it resolved… have you looked at Dietlinde?" I look down into the crib and see her snuggling up to a wadded up shirt.
"Is that… my shirt?" it looked like the one from this morning that I changed out of.
"Yep, she's been holding it since you left. Pretty cute, huh?" more then that, it was heart melting. She looked so peaceful with it, like it was the real thing. As I stared at her, I realized something… she was in a crib.
"Asuka… where did you get this crib? Is this the one I tried to build?" it was! How did she get it done?
"Yeah, I just found it lying on the floor in shambles, so I threw it together. Why didn't you do it?" how the hell did she… that wasn't funny.
"But I… how'd you… it… how the hell did you get it together! I spent all night trying, and you throw it together in half an hour!" was she serious?
"Well… yeah, why? It wasn't that hard. Did you just say that it took you all night to get that far!" she laughs at this, but I was just confused. I was fine with it though, because of my inability to get it done, I was able to bond with Dietlinde a little. I saw that she was now looking up at me while she clutched the shirt in her tiny hand.
"Guess what?" I pick her up and cradle her; "Daddy got a job!" she smiles at my up-beat tone. I set her back down into the crib, "Asuka, we need to talk," she perks up.
"Yeah? What is it?" I take her hand and lead her to the other side of the room, I knew she was going to yell, and I didn't want Dietlinde to get freaked out.
"Look, Gendo tried to stop us from getting married," hey, I was right about her yelling.
"What! But he was the one paying for it!" crap I hated it when she was wrong.
"No, he wasn't. NERV was paying for it. I think Ritsuko talked him into doing it. Look, he really can't do anything; we're the pilots so we can do whatever we want. Hey, if he tries to interfere, just say that you'll refuse to pilot. Simple. Just don't worry about it," she took my word and left it at that.
"Okay, if you say so. You're right though, what CAN he do?" a few seconds pass and she speaks up again "Shinji… I hate to ask this of you… but can you do me a favor?" something bad was coming, I just knew it. She had THAT tone of voice.
"Um… sure, what is it?" she starts to blush very slightly.
"Have you… noticed anything different about me?" were we going to have this talk again?
"You mean since the baby?" she nods, "Well, your personality for one, why?" she shook her head.
"No, not that. I mean my body, have you noticed anything different about my body?" not much really.
"Well, aside from you not wearing a bra lately, no. You already said why you don't though, it's to feed Dietlinde." Once again, she shook her head.
"Close, but no. I lied about that, that's not the reason I'm not wearing a bra…" now I'm lost, "Damn! Are you seriously telling me you haven't noticed? God, I can't wear one because I can't!" she can't?
"Noticed what?" now she was blushing quite a bit.
"Look, after I gave birth, I started to… grow…" grow? Oh!
"Oh that! Yeah, I've known that," I did, but I shouldn't have said that/
"So you have noticed? Hey, I'm not complaining, but it's embarrassing as hell! I need you to go to the store and pick me up another bra," me! "I would go, but like I said, it's embarrassing to go out like this…" I swear, she makes that face on purpose!
"Fine… tell me what I need to get…" God this was going to be embarrassing!
"Really? Wow… thanks… okay, I need a large C-cup with a back clasp," even hearing about it was bad, but actually buying it was going to kill me!
"Ugh… I'll be back…" this was going to be a long day…
A/N- I'm trying to enter some humor into my story, is it working? If not, tell me what I could change. Anyway… the next chapter will be a major filler, but I think it'll be pretty good. See what I mean in the next chapter; A Single Gift, until then, keep on keepin' on!