As he stared out the bus window, a boy was unable to peel his gaze from a girl in a light blue and black accented dress. God, she's perfect.
Her shoulders twitched and she spun around to meet his gaze. As she did, her knee-length skirt lifted a bit, revealing half of her thigh for a split-second before returning where it came from. The boy could only mouth one, inaudible syllable.
In response, Rei barely moved her mouth, but the look on her face held curiosity. I know him from somewhere...
As soon as the bus stopped to disembark passengers, he made his way outside only to be stopped by Rei and nearly collided with her before looking where he was headed.
Rei took a long, examining look at the boy, "I do know you. From school I believe."
"That's right!" He exclaimed, simultaneously lifting his arm to scratch the back of his head in a subconscious, nervous reaction.
Before he could utter another word, Rei lifted a finger and touched the bridge of his glasses, "What is it like, having to wear those... glasses?"
"Uh..." The boy started, caught off guard by the question, "if I don't use them, everything's all blurry."
"Blurry." For the briefest of seconds, Rei giggled, "What an amusing word."
He couldn't help but get out a segment of a chuckle too, if an awkward one, "Kensuke Aida."
Kaji sipped his regulation coffee with regulation patience. Pretending to read the regulation paper in regulation fashion was supposed to be interesting.
That's when he saw the 5:15 bus pull away from the corner and saw Rei talking with a boy. The Chief promptly coated his paper with the coffee he had been sipping upon.
The pair disappeared with the small crowd as it emptied into various doors and corners where he couldn't see.
The Chief stated quietly, "Have spotted target, but was evaded as quickly. Next note when... if I find her."
Rei led Kensuke into a train station for NERV, "Uh, I don't have clearance to this, Rei."
She took his hand in her own, leading him into the tram car, "You have never seen the Geofront."
Her statement rang true in his head, though.
Leading him to the back of the tram, they both put a hand on the railing. "Shouldn't we sit to be safe?"
"These vehicles have a perfect safety rating." Rei finally let his hand go, but now plucked his glasses from his face. She looked through them, trying to see as Kensuke would, "Your prescription is very odd."
"Astigmatism and myopia run in my family." Watching her, he smilingly chuckled, "I never figured you for such curiosity, Ayanami."
Pausing as she registered his comments, she looked at him with regret, "I don't know if I have any family."
He shrugged at her, "If you have any friends, then that's your family."
Rei spied sweat forming on his face and neck, "You are perspiring."
"I'm nervous." Now he saw some color in her cheeks, "... and you're blushing."
"It... is warm in here?" She turned her eyes from him to the tram's rear window, "Oh. Here it comes..."
"I don't see..." The black of the tunnel abruptly ended and the tram filled with light. A moment later, as their eyes adjusted, Kensuke could only make out vague blotches of light. He tapped Rei's hand that held his glasses, "May I have those back?"
She turned to him and went to put his glasses back herself, not realizing her face was as flushed as his. Rei set the glasses back on his face with both of her hands. For a moment, they looked into one anothers' eyes while she daintily held his head. Acting solely on instinct, Kensuke put one hand on her hip. Both felt the other tense for a moment at the new sensation before each turned their head, trying to pry their gaze apart.
"What is this feeling?"
"I- I really don't know myself, Ayanami."
Looking elsewhere, Rei felt her cheeks renew their warmth, "I like the way you say that." She returned to looking at his face, "This feeling is most odd, but there is no malice within it."
Kensuke would later recall how odd he sounded in response, "It's quite pleasant."
A shifting of the tram brought them back to reality and they separated, as it came to a halt at the platform beside a man-made lake with a battleship in it.
The poor Stooge stood in awe at the sight. A freaking -battleship- in here? "How did..." he said as he pointed to the vessel in the pristine, shimmering lake.
"It was constructed herein approximately twelve years ago."
"Is it as classified as the Evas?" He looked at her again, a terrible curiosity hung over him like a cloud about to burst into a full monsoon.
Rei glimpsed between him and the ship, "I'm not sure it's appropriate..." She trailed off.
He put his arm around her waist, "Maybe some day..."
Staring at the ship, she rested her head against his shoulder. She inhaled, "I believe Pilot Sohryu would say," Rei tried a poor impersonation of Asuka's voice, "To hell with it, let's go!"
The Stooge briefly rested his cheek against her head, breathing in the scent of her hair, "Would they really do anything past tell us to go elsewhere?"
Rei's mind stalled for a few seconds while her unconscious mind processed what was happening, "Uh..." was all she could utter.
With gentle effort, he cleared his throat, bringing her out of her little trance, "They could arrest you, but I would just tell them my name. Verification would let me take you back."
Kensuke lifted his head from hers, "I dunno. Those Section 2 guys are scary and tough."
"I think a certain, monocular Evangelion would be endlessly more intimidating."
Now he tiled his head away from Rei to peer at her a little farther way, "You... what?"
With a Mona-Lisa-esque smile, she turned her head to see his face, "I will not lose the source of this feeling."
He shifted his arm and pulled her slightly closer to himself. They never noticed the tram leave. They were, each, too busy. What with their lips sealed against one another's, their eyes closed, and tuning out the rest of the planet.
::: I think 1,086 is about right for these intermissions between fights. There's a bunch to be written for JA yet. Gah, I had to watch that episode again to remember everything that happened. Necessary refresher successful.