Points of Divergence: Episode 17: Dreams and Nightmares Chapter 3: Nighttime Fantasies
Shinji was having an impossible dream.
It was obviously a dream because Asuka was lying with her feet up on the arm of the couch and her head in his lap, and the only thing he could feel was the softness of her hair under his fingers.
Rei was making them breakfast, she was wearing a cute apron and a pair of very solid completely unrevealing pajamas underneath. They were blue and had penguins and icebergs on them. That made some sort of dream sense, Rei's impossible clothing came from some sort of pre-impact antique store.
After breakfast she'd hugged them both and sent them off on their date. Asuka was smiling and he managed to look away to say thank you to Rei. It was definitely a dream if he could do that.
He wasn't sure what happened during the date, except they'd held hands the whole time. Even if it wasn't a dream, that would have made everything else irrelevant. They had lunch together and holding hands meant they'd fed each other. That was the sort of thing you did on dates according to someone who wasn't in his dream. The only thing he tasted was the tips of Asuka's fingers.
They took the train home, their fingers still entwined, Asuka's head resting on his shoulder, her hair soft against his cheek. She wasn't asleep, because every so often she would squeeze his hand to let him know.
They kissed in the doorway. It was soft and gentle. It didn't hurt even when Rei opened the door and saw them.
Notes: The ultimate fantasy dream for Shinji: a date with Asuka where the only thing he can feel is her hair and her fingers as she holds his hand; a domestic breakfast with Rei who's fully dressed.
This is one of Shinji's "perverted" dreams, it has extreme amounts of hand holding.