+++++ Tokyo-3 Intercontinental. Sunday, +12.

Shinji had fallen asleep in the study, keeping his distance from anyone and anything he might have damaged in a myopic fit of childish rage. He had, as he'd said he would, finished all of the assigned homework and more. Choosing to take out his frustrations on the unsolvable riddles of math, physics, and literature instead of on the equally intractable Juraians, Norns, or furniture. The sound of his phone ringing with yet another unfamiliar peppy song drew him awake, and with a groan of irritation he tapped the button to answer the call. "This is Shinji."

"Good morning, Shinji-kun!" Misato, either genuinely chipper or forcing it regardless, greeted him brightly. "I was giving you a wake-up call so that you could get ready for our trip today. I told you how our departure time would be kept secret until it was time for us to leave, remember?"

The trip. While going to a strange ship with strange people to find a strange person was the last thing he wanted at the moment, he had a responsibility to go with her to meet the new pilot that would share the responsibility of saving the world with him. His eyes opened more fully, and he saw Ðandy asleep in the corner of the room, where she could be close to him without crowding him. "I'm going to have to bring a couple of people with us, Misato-san. Masaki-san insisted."

"Yeah, I figured we'd have one or two," she replied, undaunted. "That's cool with me, since the bird we'll be taking can carry at least six people other than us comfortably. I'll be by to pick you up in…thirty minutes? We'll grab something to eat on the way to the VTOL, and get airborne before the sun rises. Watch the sun climb up, watch the ocean glow. You know, stuff you should have been allowed to do earlier in life."

While not exactly poetic, the enthusiasm in her attempt did convey a certain type of magic. "Sounds like fun. I'll be in the lobby in thirty minutes. Thanks, Misato-san." Hanging up after a brief exchange of farewells, he climbed up off the couch he'd crashed on and moved quietly over to crouch down before Ðandy. Lightly shaking her shoulder, he urged her awake, "I'm sorry, Ðandy-san. I've got to be somewhere this morning. That means you'll be coming with me, right?"

Her steel-blue eyes popping open, the ostensible goddess was quickly awake and aware. "Oh my, oh my!" Accepting Shinji's offer of help in standing, she put on her most cheerful smile. "I have never been awoken by a man before. It is rather nice to have such a handsome face be the first thing to greet me."

Believing her to be humoring him, he slightly inclined his head in recognition of the supposedly false compliment. "That is nice of you to say. Waking up to someone as cheerful and gorgeous as you is welcome, as well." Changing the topic, memories of yesterday's stressors climbing forward in his mind, he motioned to the door. "I need to clean up. I'm going on a trip to a ship that's carrying something important from Europe, and I probably shouldn't let myself smell like day-old clothing."

"Shinji," reaching out, she stopped him from turning away with a hand on his chest, "I feel that it is important for me to tell you that it is all but impossible for me to lie. Especially to you. When I say that it is nice to see your face as the first thing in the morning, I genuinely mean it."

His brow knit, his emotions beginning to spiral out of control. "Before you came through the mirror…I finally had a purpose. I knew, in here," he slammed his fist against his heart, barely missing her hand, "that my life was meant to be spent protecting them." Opening his fingers just enough to grip his shirt, he stopped himself from slapping away her hand. "They brought me happiness. They showed me love. They healed me when I was hurt, they fed me when I was hungry, they taught me how to be human despite them being from another planet entirely." It wasn't her fault. It wasn't right to blame her. "Now that's gone." Gently removing her hand, he took a firm step towards the door. "I need to get ready."

"I-I can help," she interposed herself between him and the door again. She had made his situation worse, and even if he wasn't an almost unbelievably good soul with a handsome bearing she would be wrong to let him suffer in pain for her failures. "I don't need to use the System Force to do this. You're going to meet someone important? You should look professional?"

His frustrations were not her problem. He would not become…. "We are going to a military vessel. We are going to be in front of people who are sworn to defend lives, just like I am. We will be meeting another pilot, just like me. Yes, I should probably look professional."

"Ok," offering her hands, her positivity radiated outwards to encourage him to take them, "please, trust me."

Anger served no useful purpose among friends. He would not ruin a potential friendship over his own failures. Taking her hands firmly in his, he dedicated himself to being better than the other human men he knew. "Always." When her eyes lit up with joy, he added the important part, "We're a team now. If we can't trust each other, we're never going to make it."

Joy became elation and determination. "I swear to you, my life will forever be dedicated to our team from now on." The System Force had put them together for a reason, she had to have faith that the reason was positive. "You and I will protect everyone." Calling upon her own innate powers, she had them both cleansed, coiffed, and clothed in a soft flash of light between heartbeats. Stepping back, she presented herself to him in her new clothing. "Important men must have secretaries to keep and carry their secrets." With a dark blue pencil skirt that came below her knee, and a brilliant white billowy blouse, she waited for her grade.

In his mind, her beauty was never in doubt. "You are no less important than I am, that's how our team works." Remembering what Ritsuko had told him brought her to mind, and the realization that his 'alone time' with her was now forever in the past was smothered before it could overwhelm him. "Ok?"

She felt the emotional pain he suffocated, as clearly as if it were her own. She saw, in his soul, the acceptance that his life was now forever altered. His was a life meant for service, and the System Force had given him to her. "Only if you accept that you are no less important than me." She would lift him past the very stars above.

"I will try my hardest." Sliding the door open, he gestured for her to precede him. "But that is something I'm still working on."

In the entry area, Nanako sat with her legs crossed at the knee, her foot bouncing idly. "So she can leave a room if you ask her to…good to know." Standing up easily, she shouldered a mid-sized bag. "I packed some spares for you, including that lovely bit of form-fitting goodness you wear at work from time to time." Giving him a saucy smile and wink, she tried to make it clear that in her mind nothing had changed.

Seeing what he was now destined to lose, Shinji's heart clenched with the conflicting emotions of wrath and regret. "Thank you, Dojima-san."

With a sigh, Nanako walked calmly over and took the man she loved by the ear. Tweaking the external organ enough to get him to drop towards her, she let him know in no uncertain terms what was going to be happening, "You are not going to let this Norn bitch dictate your life to you, Captain. Minaho and I were, are, and will remain your lovers. We will continue on the road to becoming more officially entangled, as we come to learn and grow together. You will continue to use the thing between your legs or the thing between your lips to make my toes curl. A change in weather does not always necessitate a change in heading, how do you read me?" When Verðandy grabbed her wrist to stop her from keeping Shinji bent forward, Nanako drew her sidearm and set the muzzle directly beneath the ostensible goddess' jaw. "Attempt to come between me and my Captain, your highness, and I will let loose from your skull what never should have been placed there."

Shinji set one hand atop the pistol, and the other to taking Ðandy's wrist. "Please…Nana-chan…." He was angry. He was lost, confused, and didn't know what he could or would do. Gently pulling Nanako's weapon away from her target, he set Ðandy's hand back at her side with equal care. "I…none of us know what's going on. Please, let's not start a war over my-" His ear tweaking more painfully adjusted his statement, "…mutual misunderstandings." A part of him rejoiced at the way she stood on her toes and pushed into a deep, loving, kiss. Another part of him realized that it was very inappropriate to do in front of someone opposed to the idea of physical romance before marriage. Taking Nanako's hand from his ear, he stood up clear of her reach. "Help me see the stars to use. I promise, I'll listen."

Holstering her sidearm, she speared him with her eyes. "I'll hold you to that."

Staying on Shinji's flank to keep him between her and Nanako as they walked towards the exit, Ðandy asked curiously, "You are not a Knight, that I can see. How is it that he's your Knight Captain?"

Nanako opened the door, patting Sig on the upper arm as she led them past the big bruiser. "Wrong kind of Captain."

When realization dawned on her, Ðandy's face became flush and she sputtered out, "That…that is not a healthy-"

"Listen, Miss Staid-Huff Marshmallow Gal," Nanako snarled as she stabbed the button on the elevator to call the car, "not everyone subscribes to your narrow interpretation of interpersonal relationships. I will be riding my Captain when we want to. You had better get the entirety of the fuck over yourself. My love life is not going to be stunted by-"

The doors to the elevator opened, and Shinji walked between the two of them to board it. "We will find a balance. For now, we need to find our ride to NERV."

+++++ NERV Tokyo-3. Sunday, +12.

Misato's morning had taken a definitive turn for the confusing after she'd picked up Shinji and his entourage. Sitting in her backseat, apparently, was oil and water. The place they'd stopped for a light breakfast to-go had been treated to a hotly contested debate regarding what Shinji should eat that morning. Both women were arguing from a position of his health being a priority, and both women would have largely agreed on his resolution had either asked him his opinion before he told her his order.

What little she'd managed to get out of him made the picture ever clearer, yet more seemingly absurd. He'd told her there'd been a 'personnel change', which could have meant anything but she figured had meant that the woman with the blue-blonde hair was a recent, and potentially unwelcome, addition. When she'd asked the woman's position, he'd said she was his 'secretary, or something'. Now why he would qualify for or even need a secretary was beyond her understanding, but she knew from experience that the position was generally filled by interviews that included the person whose administrative needs would be filled. While she wasn't thrilled to see Nanako Dojima again, she had attempted to make small talk with her to keep the peace for Shinji's sake and had been rebuffed by terse, one or two word answers. When she'd tried to get a feel for the new girl on the block, she came away knowing nothing more than what she had already known, only with more flowery words attached.

The first answer she'd received from Shinji that didn't scream of evasiveness was when she asked what he thought of the horizon as the sun began to appear from beneath the ocean waves. "I…I've never seen anything so beautiful and chilling in my life." Without looking back to her, afraid of taking his eyes from the sight for fear of missing a single second, he explained himself, "An asteroid no larger than this airplane was bright enough at the edge of our atmosphere to outshine the moon as it visited us briefly. How unimaginably hot and large is the sun, that the small hint of its full power can set the sky on fire?" Looking away, a tiny smile on his lips, he finally faced Misato and gave her everything she'd hoped to receive during the trip, "Thank you, Misato. Thank you for letting me see just how great and terrible the world outside can be."

The VTOL pilot had, just at that moment, received clearance orders to approach the task force escorting Unit-02. Gesturing with one hand, he asked everyone to sit down and buckle in to avoid accidents during the landing phase. From her position next to Shinji, Misato reached over and took his hand in hers with a warm squeeze. The smile he gave her was a little more sad than joyful, but when he reversed his hand and gripped hers tight, she knew the sadness wasn't directed towards her. She had a good man on her team, and he wasn't one to hold a grudge. She could work with that.

After a bumpy landing on the carrier deck, Misato held Shinji back from opening the door, leaning in and speaking loudly to be heard over the engines as they spooled down, "We have to wait for the ship's security service. They get itchy when people come aboard without an escort." He nodded, giving her the thumbs up. She rubbed the base of his neck at the spine, letting him feel her appreciation, while enduring two distinctly different stares from the two other women onboard the aircraft. I'm going to have to file a report with General Masaki at the end of this. I doubt she puts up with it.

It took several minutes, but soon the sliding side door of the VTOL was hauled open. Poking her head in and taking stock of the people on board, a short-haired woman nodded perfunctorily and waved them towards her. After escorting them away from the landing deck so that the VTOL could clear out for other potential aircraft, she began introductions, "Good morning, I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Maria Ross. I presume you are Captain Misato Katsuragi, ma'am?" Extending her hand in greeting to the lavender-haired officer, she kept the tone professional and polite. "Pleasure to meet you." Her eyes briefly took in the other two women, accurately assessing that they were the 'seen and not heard' type before looking directly at Shinji. "Shinji Ikari?" Extending a hand to him as well, she waited patiently while he figured out what to do with it. "I'm afraid your bio didn't include your rank, sir."

"Captain," Nanako stated firmly before anyone else could. "He's not officially a part of anyone's armed forces, JG, but he holds the rank regardless."

"Thank you, ma'am," Maria nodded in gratitude to Nanako before helping Shinji understand how to shake someone's hand. "First time around Westerners, right? Don't worry, the Old Man is pretty savvy with foreigners."

Shinji nodded vigorously. "I'm sorry Lieutenant Junior Grade-san. I…uhm, I didn't get out much."

"Learning to pilot one of those beasts? I don't doubt it." Patting him on the back, with both reassuring and friendly intent, she gestured towards their new destination. "You can just call me Ross, sir. I'm bilingual, my mom was Japanese and my dad was American so I grew up learning both at the same time. Don't worry if you don't understand English, I'll be acting as your interpreter as well as your guide for the remainder of our journey."

"Thanks," Misato stated blandly, already sighting the trouble she was walking into standing atop a subsection of the main tower, "and I'm sorry for you having to deal with her."

Tracking Misato's gaze, the naval officer spotted the object of Misato's pronoun and grew visibly irritated. "Miss Langley-Soryu," she began in very loud English as they reached reasonable shouting distance, "we have discussed your presence aboard this vessel and the appropriateness of your location more than once before."

"Was?" The stubborn redheaded pilot replied facetiously in German, pointing to her ear, "Ich kann dich nicht hören?"

Shinji caught the briefest glimpse of his fellow pilot, her yellow sundress flaring wildly in the windy sea, before his eyes were covered over by Verðandy's hands. "She is not wearing appropriate accoutrement, sir," the suddenly optimistic Norn declared. Holding him close to her, which entailed pressing certain portions of her anatomy firmly into his back, she guided his steps with her presence until they stopped before the tower.

"She's wearing a skin-colored thong," Nanako snorted. "I believe the Captain knows where his eyes should be now, Miss."

Indeed, Shinji had tilted his head so that he was staring directly at the plates beneath his feet, before removing Ðandy's body from his by stepping closer to their guide. "I…am also sorry, ma'am. I would have expected a pilot to be less…."

"Your commiseration is appreciated, sir," Ross replied, a thick note of approbation and respect in her tone. "Let's clear the AO so that you're not forced to look at wares you have no interest in buying." Gesturing towards a nearby large portal, another member of the crew opening it for them, she added her own empathy to his, "I'm sorry that you're going to be the one accepting her."

Watching as Shinji kept his eyes down until he was safely where looking up would only result in seeing metal, noting that he barely managed to avoid braining himself on the odd-ovular entrance to the bridge tower, Misato silently agreed with their guide. She was going to have to help Shinji learn to deal with the mobile chaos generator that was the Second Child. "We'll be able to handle it, JG. Shinji isn't flying alone. He's managed to earn the respect of everyone that matters back at…." Freezing as she spied a man she had hoped wouldn't have come along with the ride, Misato changed her tone and bulldozed them towards their destination. "Let's not keep the Admiral waiting. We already have enough ground to make up after Asuka's been allowed to run wild."

Shinji just sighed as he was pushed up to the next level, the lift in his mood from watching the sunrise fleeing as he heard the new pilot's cursing and the unwanted visitor's subtle chuckling.

+++++ Tokyo-3 Intercontinental. Sunday, +12.

"They're offering him a choice of two more, to fulfill the 'wish' that atrocity against sentient life has declared mandatory," Funaho growled out loud. The letter of apology, only signed by the Foreign Minister of the High Choir, had been both lengthy and laden with praise for Shinji's efforts to maintain galactic order. The implicit insult arising from the lack of 'Royal' signature could be ignored, as they were being genuine in their desire to lift Shinji's stock higher. "Offering to cede their remaining two systems here in his galaxy to him. Offering to 'assist with the current dilemma' here, should he ask for their aid. Offering…." She paused, leaving the rest unsaid as she reread the line three more times.

Washu, now trying to untangle the increasingly complex genetic structure of Shinji Ikari, waited for a few seconds before asking, "Offering what?" Her seat on nothingness allowed her more room to look at her own work while allowing her good friend and ally the room she needed to spread out the papers they'd received not long after Shinji had left. Not that the room was terribly crowded, with Misaki and Minaho handling affairs back aboard the Juraian tree ship, but neither she nor Funaho were in a mood for 'closeness'.

"Tyr himself will waive the traditional marriage requirements, if he passes their test and agrees to continue brokering peace between the IGC and Asgard." She made a few annotations on the paper. "He is offering a compromise, and a diplomatic marriage, to try and stop the bleeding. That's…both new and worrying."

"Marriage to who? Haven't met many of their kind that aren't enormous sticks in the mud."

"That's not specified," Funaho answered with a shrug. "My guess, one of the two Shinji chooses from their offer. Maybe both, considering the offer to waive marriage requirements." Several more notes flowed into place. "Sasami was opposed to getting Shinji entangled in politics, and here we are proving her concerns right."

"He's strong, he can handle a little constructive lying."

"But can he survive being asked to marry for peace, instead of just living in love?"

+++++ UNN CVN-75, Over the Rainbow. Sunday +12.

The Admiral of the Fleet was a stocky man, with a well-kept moustache and a jaw that likely could have taken a torpedo without breaking. He listened with increasing patience as the introductions went on, mainly observing Shinji and how he failed to fulfill the profile that he had built in his head for the young pilot. "I will sign the transfer, Army Captain Katsuragi, once I have completed my mission." He said this while maintaining eye contact with Shinji, which in turn annoyed Misato greatly. "I appreciate that the cargo may belong to NERV, but so long as I am responsible for the safety of it I shall not place myself or my crew in legal jeopardy by prematurely declaring success."

After listening to the last of the translation from Maria Ross, Shinji nodded slowly. It made sense to him, were his opinion to be asked. He was responsible for Unit-01, and while he would trust the people who knew best how to repair and refit the Eva, he wouldn't feel right just absolving himself of responsibility simply because someone asked him to in the middle of a mission. "Misato-san," he attempted to broker another round of peace, "you told me that during an emergency, like if an Angel attacked, you were authorized by the UN to assume authority over the mission. That I was brought here in case Pilot Soryu couldn't do her job. Does it really matter if he signs that now, or once we're back in Japan? Should we really interrupt his team while they're in their environment?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Admiral nodding subtly as Ross provided him with his own translation.

Rather than get upset at Shinji for appearing to attempt to undercut her position, she took the opportunity to educate him while making her point to the Admiral himself, "I worry that the Admiral isn't fully briefed on the specifics regarding Unit-02, Shinji. If I take over responsibility for it, I can make certain that it's ready for deployment faster. The last thing we want is an Angel attacking us, and needing to spend fifteen minutes we won't have readying for combat."

Another sensible position, and another good argument in Shinji's mind. "Couldn't we just…cooperate, then? We go see Unit-02, see what needs to be done, and Ross-san lets him know so that he's not kept in the dark. He lets us start making preparations that won't damage his ships, we promise to be careful about what we're doing so we don't damage his ships. It's not like we have anywhere better to be, at the moment."

"An adequate compromise, Captain Ikari." The Admiral agreed with a short nod, "Army Captain Katsuragi, so long as you refrain from allowing that malignant terror of a pilot we've brought you to wreck the Pride of Dublin, I will authorize you to take whatever steps are necessary for battle readiness save for activation. That must be coordinated with the Captain of the Pride in order to prevent damage to her engines, and I will not authorize you to order her Captain around."

Shinji smiled, inner contentment washing through him at having made peace once again. He looked to Misato, who cocked an eyebrow at him, and shrugged. He'd take her being a little tart if it meant he didn't have to deal with more anger today. "At least we didn't have to make enemies. If we have to fight, it would be much better to have all of these people on our side, instead of working against us out of pride or anger."

"Well said, Captain, well said." Patting Shinji on the shoulder in a fatherly manner, he nodded to Ross who took the dismissal and began herding everyone off the bridge.

"You owe me one, Shinji," Misato warned him amiably. "I'm thinking dinner at my place, like you did with Rits, so that we can get on the same page."

Maria Ross added her thoughts to the issue, "I promise that the Old Man isn't looking down on you as a woman, ma'am. Seven of the twelve ships are run or XO'd by a female officer. Captain Ikari has him pegged correctly, he's concerned about the fleet from the mast all the way down to the tiny bolts holding the clipboard to the bulkheads. He wouldn't have compromised if he felt you were unreliable, and it was pretty easy to see that he was wanting you to simply acknowledge that he has his own responsibilities."

"Old habits, JG," Misato acknowledged the statement and moved the topic off of the point. "How can we get over to see Unit-02?"

"I'll arrange an interfleet transport with the air boss, ma'am. He'll have someone ferry us over once there's a clear path." Charting a new direction for the group, she added, "I'll set you down in one of the chow halls. Cookie will get you something to eat, if you want, and it'll be faster if I move alone."

Waiting just outside the tower, the same man who'd upset Misato earlier stood in a spot where ignoring him would be much less likely. Wearing a tan jacket and slacks, he mock-saluted Misato with a lit cigarette between his fingers.

On her way past, Maria took the lit stick, crushed it and tossed it overboard before pointing to a clearly marked sign. "No smoking includes you too, Special Agent. Follow me, please, Captain."

Whether she meant Shinji or Misato, both kept pace with her. Shinji frowning in disapproval over a clear violation of what was obviously something meant to protect people from fire, Misato glaring death at the man that she knew far too much about. "Never start smoking, Shinji," Misato told him loud enough to be heard by the man who'd taken up position behind Nanako and Ðandy, "it's a vile habit that entraps worthless men who have no consideration for the people around them."

Without any prior knowledge of the relationship between her and the man behind them, nor any real desire to pick up the habit, Shinji decided to reply with honesty, "It does smell pretty bad. I can see why you wouldn't want to spend time around someone who smells like the asphalt outside of a public bathroom."

Nanako's boisterous laughter shut down further conversation on the topic, serving to deflate the man behind them and encourage Shinji to maintain his convictions. Along the way to their destination, it became apparent that Maria Ross was a fairly well-liked officer, with both enlisted and superior officers acknowledging her passing with some display of positive emotions. After a ten-minute walk, they reached the enclosed room belowdecks where she urged them to take seats at a table in the corner of the room away from the entrance. "I'll have Cookie find someone who speaks passable Japanese or at least understandable English to come ask what you want. Better than having you try and muscle into the line and hold everything up."

Once she was gone, the strange man took a seat directly next to Ðandy, across from Misato. "Fancy meeting you here, Misa-chan."

What might have come across as suave to someone with more social experience than Shinji simply came through as brash flirtation. The way Misato's face darkened, and Ðandy shied away from the man, did not cause Shinji to feel overjoyed. "Who are you, and why are you at my table?"

Amused, the man looked at Shinji the way a teacher looks to an angry kindergartener. "My name is Ryouji Kaji, Ikari-kun. I'm a Special Agent with NERV HQ. Misato and I are…well acquainted."

His night had not been wonderful. His thoughts all day had kept the anger he felt boiling just below the surface. He had lost everything familiar to him once again, and for no reason other than some outsider wanted to ram themselves where they'd not been invited. "I want you to listen very carefully to me, Kaji-kun," he began in an ominously low purr, "get up from my table, walk away from my friends, or I'm going to feed you your smug sense of narcissistic entitlement along with those rancid cigarettes."

Had it just been the words, coming from the seemingly waifish young man seated next to Misato, Kaji probably would have laughed in his face. That those words were paired with a sudden sensation of dimming around the edges of his vision and fractures beginning to spread around where said young man was gripping the table, caused him to be more inclined to display the greater part of valor. "We'll…talk later, Misa-chan."

Torn between watching Kaji flee from someone for the first time in his life or watching as a clearly upset Shinji buried his face in his hands, Misato decided that the future was far more important than the past. "Ok, well…." Leaning down some to try and get in his peripheral vision, she began to smooth her hand along his spine. "While I definitely did not need you to do that, I have to say that not only am I impressed you did it but kind of flattered."

"I lost control of myself," Shinji groaned through his hands. "I'm sorry, Misato-san. I saw him…staring rudely at you, and he was scaring Ðandy-san by being close to her…I think Nana-chan just wanted to shoot him and be done with it." With a dry laugh, he lifted his head enough to look across the table at his lover. "Not my finest moment."

"A Captain protects his crew," Nanako declared simply. "He was being a dick, you treated him like a dick, nobody lost teeth. I'm calling it a win."

"Good day," a young woman declared, reaching the side of their table. Wearing a chef's outfit with a naval rank on the sleeves, the lanky blonde wore an expression begging for patience. "I don't Japanese very well speak, understand more yes than speak. Here are choices," she placed down several hastily drawn pictures of food, "you are hungry."

While Shinji suddenly felt much better about his own grasp of his mother tongue, he felt horrible for the young woman trying to be helpful to a group of guests without the necessary skill to do so. Still, he wouldn't let her feel as if they would make fun of her for reaching beyond her own immediate sphere of influence. "Are you hungry?" Putting on the appropriate article of speech that would have changed her statement into a question, he slowly repeated himself to make it clearer, "Are…you…hungry?"

Her face glowed with a hint of red, but her mood remained undiminished. "Thank you, sensei. Are you hungry?"

If all he ever had to do was help people who wanted the world to be happier, he probably would never feel anger again. "Yes. Can I try one of these?" Lifting one finger, he tapped what he saw to be some type of sandwich. "Do you have water?"

"Yes!" Genuinely enthused that she understood him, she began writing on a small pad of paper she'd brought with her.

"I'll take a salad, Petty Officer," Misato stated in the same fluent English she'd used with the Admiral. "You have to use that 'ka' sound at the end, otherwise it's not a question but a declaration."

"Understood, ma'am. Do either of y'all want anything?" Her question was directed to the final two occupants of the table, hoping that they spoke English so she didn't have to further embarrass herself.

"I'll take what he's having," Nanako said in only lightly accented English. "Honestly, you did a good job for someone without a lot of practice. Captain Ikari wasn't correcting you because he thought it was dumb, he's happy to see someone trying something difficult to try and be part of the solution." Gesturing to Shinji, she grinned and nodded.

"I will have a salad," Ðandy added, slightly put off at the way she felt Nanako trying to steer the foreigner towards Shinji.

As the young NCO went to gather the paper back up, Shinji made an equal effort to reach out to her the way she had for guests, "Chtankusu."

Biting on her lower lip, the NCO gave him the same respect she was offered, "Thanks." Hurrying back to her post, she carried a greater confidence in her steps after having been well-received.

"That sound is weird," Shinji griped without any real heat. "It's all tongue and teeth, and I feel like I'm going to be spraying whoever I'm trying to thank with saliva."

"We will practice," Ðandy assured him happily. "There aren't many languages I can't speak, myself. I'd be glad to help you see more of the world around you through a different lens."

"You will definitely want to learn some new languages," Nanako asserted, ignoring Ðandy entirely. "Never know where your road's going to take you, after all."

"You might even find your future wife is not from Japan."

Misato caught the sudden death glare Nanako gave her supposed teammate, rapidly changing topics to head off a loss of esteem for Shinji by proxy, "Speaking of, Shinji-kun, managed to find any young women in class that have caught your eye?" When his face turned flat, with a hint of darkness, and his eyes dropped to the table, she realized she'd just stepped on a landmine. "Yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat myself," she attempted a recovery, "the offers I've gotten aren't from people I think want more than access to the girls here," she lightly slapped one of her breasts as Shinji looked at her askance. "You don't want to just jump at the first person to cross your path, right? I mean, sometimes it's nice to just kind of spend time with someone, other times you want that someone special." Her hopes lifted slightly as his features became less dour.

"You deserve someone who will respect you for who you are, Misato-san." Shinji had forgiven Misato for her initial problems, now that he'd seen what she would do to help people that she felt would help her. "I'm sure they're out there, somewhere."

"Oh, here you are." Asuka walked into the dining facility as if she owned it. "What'd you say to Kaji-san? He came back to the room looking like he'd seen a ghost."

"I told him that I wasn't going to accept his rude behavior around my friends," Shinji replied for Misato, taking ownership of his actions. "You are Asuka Soryu, right? Pilot of Unit-02?"

"Yes I am," extending her hand in the odd Western gesture, she gave him a good firm shake, "and who are you?"

"This is Captain Shinji Ikari," Misato took over, readying herself to defend Shinji just as he had defended her. "The Pilot of Unit-01."

"Captain?" Looking between the seemingly unassuming pilot and the woman that had spent several years living with her in Germany, Asuka scoffed out, "How'd he get a rank?"

Nanako motioned for Asuka to get out of the way of the arriving food. "It was given to him by General Masaki, at the request of the UNOIG. The details are, unfortunately, classified." Helping the blonde Sailor get the food set down, she nodded in gratitude. "Thanks."

"If y'all need more, y'all come find me." Gesturing back towards the galley, she bowed politely. "Cookie says he's fine with makin' more if y'all need."

Screwing down his determination, Shinji tried anew, "Thhank yuu."

"Much closer, sir! Keep practicing." She paired her praise with two thumbs' up and a winning smile before hurrying away to be about her duties.

Clearly not accustomed to having the attention taken off of her, Asuka attacked a perceived weakness in her apparent rival, "Nobody taught you English? It's the second most spoken language on Earth."

"Asuka," Misato began warningly.

"Er war damit beschäftigt zu überleben," Nanako interrupted harshly in German.

"Nana," Shinji set his hands flat on the table, firmly, "we are here to try and work together with Soryu-san. Ayanami-san and I can use all the help we can get, and making enemies of the only other pilot on Earth isn't going to get us help." He didn't need to speak the language she'd used to know the tone of it. Taking a deep breath, he shifted his attention to the fries alongside the burger he received. "What are these? They smell good, but…I can't tell what they are?"

"Fries," Asuka declared, eying Shinji with a modicum of respect. "Potato insides deep fried in oil. You usually eat them with some sort of dipping sauce, but the ship's been out for a week."

"Ah, ok." Trying to build on the sudden peace, he dipped his head in gratitude to the new pilot. "Thank you. I don't have a lot of experience with non-Japanese food. Would you like some of mine?" He turned the plate towards her, openly offering to share. "I'm sure I can't eat all of it."

Pursing her lips, Asuka took a pair of fries off of his plate. "It's a rare man that shares his fries with anyone, Captain. Maybe you're not so bad." Her gaze had shifted from offended or annoyed to interested and impressed, and only one person at the table completely missed the shift and the potential issues it would cause.

+++++ Author's Notes:

DJexe: RE: Shenanigans.

It probably stems from the acerbically dry wit that is my default mode of speech. I look at most situations from the lens of, "How many people fucked up to make this particular clustermolest I'm dealing with?" Probably impacts my writing some.

ManMadeOfLasers: RE: Writing style.

Thank you. I am glad to hear any time I've managed to help someone seek to improve themselves. I can't make money off of the fanfics I write, for obvious reasons, but it feels really good to know that I'm gaining positive karma by making some small improvements to the world in these less than positive times.

Guest: RE: SIRP.

...I'm blanking on what SIRP stands for that doesn't have to do with IT work.