Summary: Episode 20: Shinji is stuck in Unit 01. Rei misses him. Asuka has to look after 'her' pilots, but only after she finally gets to sleep in.
The first few days after the idiot dissolved himself into goo, were the most peaceful Asuka had had in a while.
She was relieved and not at all concerned. This was the Invincible baka-Shinji, he was certain to be back soon to annoy her.
In the meantime, she had the apartment completely to herself - the idiot was in his Eva; Misato was sleeping at the Geofront, if she was sleeping at all, doing whatever she could to help recover her precious Shinji; and Hikari had "borrowed" PenPen for some reason she didn't really care about right now.
What she cared about right now was sleep glorious sleep.
There was no alarm for school, angels, or anything else.
She had woken up late, in her own bed, having slept for nearly half a day.
Not at oh mein gott early whenever the baka woke up to make breakfast.
Most of the weird synchronisation issues had faded, but the sleep one had never quit. She would wake whenever he did, if she went to bed early, he'd fall asleep on his homework books.
But that was finally broken - syncing with a puddle of LCL was apparently beyond even the Great Asuka, for which she was very grateful.
When Agaki had announced they had successfully detected Shinji's pattern, Asuka had scoffed - of course he was still in his plug, he had gone in and not come out, where else would he be? When everyone else had assumed or feared he'd gone, Asuka had never doubted. He was right there. Even if she was sleeping well, and no longer accidentally walking into the men's locker room.
By day five she was annoyed. The idiot wasn't back and she was tired of takeout and her own attempts at cooking. At least those were still better than Misato's.
On the night of day six the nightmares were back.
Day seven she'd gone back to the Geofront to yell at him. It hadn't had any effect.
She'd even tried sleeping in his bed that night - Misato still wasn't home, no one would notice. She dreamed of watching her Eva be swept away by swirling magma, her own screams in her ears as they burned. She took a cold shower on waking, but her skin still felt like it was burning for hours afterwards.
On day eight she slept in her own bed, at least her own nightmares were familiar.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? I'm hungry.
Misato had ordered Asuka to the Eva cages as soon as she'd arrived at the Geofront to support her fellow pilot in her time of need. Or some such drivel. As if Rei would even notice anyone being concerned about her. Or anyone would notice that Rei was unhappy. At least that's what Misato had meant by "She's already down there", right?
Rei is sitting on the deck, her back to the wall, looking up at Unit 01, her face expressionless as usual.
Asuka walks up and leans against the wall beside her, "Hey Wondergirl".
Rei does not show any awareness of her presence, but there's nothing new there.
Asuka tries again, "Look, obviously I'm not Shinji, and we don't know when we're going to get your boyfriend back, but I can't stand watching you moping around like this."
"Would you like a hug?"
Not looking up, Rei replies in her typical monotone, "Yes."
Asuka waits impatiently but gets no further response.
"I know you want a hug from him ... I meant would you like one from me?"
"Yes"
Another minute passes, "Then stand up and come and get one! I swear sometimes you're worse than he is".
Rei is barely upright before Asuka wraps her in a tight hug. After a moment, she slowly puts her arms around Asuka and rests her head on her shoulder.
It is several minutes before either of them moves.
Asuka adjusts her stance slightly to redistribute the weight, Rei moves with her, not letting go.
"Comfortable there First?"
Rei's breath against her neck is the only thing Asuka gets in response.
It's a comfortable silence, but silence isn't something Asuka is very good at.
"Sooo... are Shinji's hugs better than mine?" she tries to tease Rei.
"No"
Asuka blinks, "No? I know I'm the Great Asuka, but are you really telling me my hugs are better than your boyfriend's?"
"No"
Asuka pulls away slightly to look at Rei, Rei does not let go.
"Well they can't be the same, and I refuse to believe you can't tell the difference between my amazing hugs and those from baka-Shinji"
Rei does not answer.
"Well, are you going to explain what you mean?"
"Yes"
Asuka rolls her eyes, "When?"
"After at least an additional sixty seconds of hugging"
Asuka pulls Rei close, naturally remaining completely unaware of how soft Rei is, how their bodies fit together or the warmth of Rei's breath across her cheek. 'Well, at least I've gotten a whole sentence out of her. That might be more entire words than the last week'
"Wait, did you just try to blackmail me into hugging you by withholding information?"
"I succeeded", Rei's monotone almost sounded pleased.
"Well, next time just ask when you want a hug" responded Asuka with some considerable exasperation.
"I will remember that, Pilot Souryu"
If she wasn't so comfortable and annoyed at the same time, Asuka might have realised what she'd just done.
"And you still owe me an explanation Wondergirl"
"Not for another eight seconds"
Nine seconds later...
"Your questions are based on several erroneous assumptions. Hugs are a subjective phenomenon, depending on who is engaging in the hug, the environment, and the physiological and psychological state of the people involved. It is therefore impossible to rank every possible hug from one person over every possible hug from another."
Rei pauses for a moment.
"Pilot Ikari's hugs are firm and gentle and make me feel content and warm inside. However, if I attempted to hug him now, it would not be possible and I would be unhappy. Your hugs are soft and fierce and make me feel protected and something I do not recognise. I would not like to hug you when you are angry. Ikari would."
"If you require more, I will require further experience to determine the optimum situation in which to hug you both."
Later Asuka would have important questions to consider. The one about how angry she was going to be at the idiot when they got him back and if it would be enough for her to actually hug him and ask if he enjoyed it. Not the one about how as Rei talked she could feel the movement of Rei's lips across her skin.
In the meantime, she had to continue hugging Rei until her blush faded so Wondergirl wouldn't notice it. This was already a lost cause.
"And Pilot Ikari is not my boyfriend"
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? Rei misses you. Not that anyone else noticed, but you would, if you were here like you're supposed to be.
Asuka was standing in the elevator holding Ayanami and cursing baka-Shinji.
Of course it was his fault. Who else could it have been? If he hadn't gotten himself dissolved in such a ridiculous manner this whole absurd chain of events would never have happened.
If he wasn't such an idiot, she wouldn't have had to keep such a close eye on him to make sure he didn't mess up and make her look bad.
Without that, she wouldn't have been paying much attention to Ayanami, because as leader of the elite pilots, she couldn't just pay attention to just trying to train the idiot. Misato made enough off-colour jokes as it was.
Then she wouldn't have noticed that Wondergirl was actually missing the idiot. Not that anyone else had noticed. Everyone was too busy trying to extract their precious Shinji. It didn't help that Ayanami almost never volunteered any information and only really had two and a half expressions - the blank you-are-an-interesting-bug-I-will-observe stare, the almost identical look except the stare just went through you like you didn't matter, and the slight smile she reserved entirely for interacting with the idiot.
Gott-Dammit you idiot, get your ass out here, people are waiting for you.
Another day, another seemingly endless elevator ride to the cages.
The elevators were slow, again. Rei was in her arms, again.
If the latter wasn't so comfortable, the former would be a lot more annoying.
Which brought her thoughts to something that was definitely the idiot's fault.
He considered Rei huggable, he was right for once, Rei was definitely huggable.
The problem was that the reverse was also true, Rei considered him huggable.
Rei also considered her huggable, at least going to the increasingly frequent requests.
This meant Rei might actually be accurately assessing the idiot's hugs.
'So why hasn't he hugged me like this?'
Baka-Shinji, I'm trying to take care of Rei for you, but you know you do the caring for people thing better than I do.
"Asuka?"
"Yes, Rei?"
"After Shinji returns, you should ask him to hug you"
"What?! Why?"
"You asked me how your hugs were different than his. You should have the same opportunity to compare. Perhaps it would give you the answer you seek."
"You wouldn't mind?"
"Why would I mind Asuka? You are my friend. He is my friend. Both of you provide comforting hugs. Why would I wish to deprive my friends of that same experience?"
"That wouldn't work. He'd just do it because he thought he had to. He wants to hug you. He doesn't want to hug me".
Rei squeezes Asuka gently, "You just have to ask him, as you asked me. He is quite willing".
Asuka kicks the Eva and hobbles away.
Somewhere along the way Asuka had stopped counting the days. She and Wondergirl weren't going to school. Time was measured in visits to the cages. She would leave to eat, and occasionally to sleep. If she needed to know, Rei could tell her the precise number of seconds until the next retrieval test. It was always too long.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? The nightmares are back. I. I need you.
Elevator rides with Rei's head on her shoulder their arms wrapped around each other were becoming Asuka's time for quiet contemplation.
The apartment no longer felt much like home with both Misato and the idiot missing.
The cages were a place for letting her annoyance fuel her thoughts on finding something to get the baka back that Akagi hadn't thought of yet.
There weren't any sync tests or training sessions as all the technical efforts were going into the "extract the idiot" project.
Baka-Shinji, when are you coming back? Your girlfriend misses you.
"You are not useless," Rei murmured into her shoulder, "You are helping me. I am happy you are my friend".
Baka, don't make me come in there and get you. I'll have to kick your ass, and that'll hurt both of us.
'So why hasn't he hugged me like this?' a thought that had been interrupted by the end of a previous elevator ride occurred to her again as Rei's arms slid around her.
'Probably because if he tried I'd punch him, and he knows it.
And knowing my luck that would be one of those times synchronisation decides to provide a teaching moment.'
'but you've woken up with his arms wrapped around you' prompts a treacherous part of her brain.
'That doesn't count. He was asleep. And out of pity.'
'But it was comforting, wasn't it? or it wouldn't keep the nightmares away'
'Shut up brain'.
Suddenly even Rei's presence wasn't making the elevator ride any more tolerable.
Baka. Are you running away again? You promised you wouldn't do that any more. Of course this is the Invincible Shinji, so you're doing it in the most impressively stupid manner possible.
Asuka groaned as the elevator stopped at a floor she had not selected. The last thing she needed right now was someone else annoying her. baka-Shinji was managing to do that all by himself, without even existing.
The doors opened and Rei studied Asuka for a moment before stepping inside.
A brief tilt of the head, a deadpan "Hug?" and Asuka had her arms around Rei, Rei settling into her usual position.
Pavlov would have been proud, almost complete conditioning in just over two weeks.
Asuka could always say no. She just never did.
Baka.
Asuka stares at Misato, "What?! You're suggesting Rei just go down there and demand Shinji comes back and gives her a hug?"
Misato sighs tiredly, "Pretty much, it makes just as much sense as anything else we've tried."
"And psychological need might be the piece we're missing here. We know Evas react to strong emotions"
"But this is Rei we're talking about, the girl couldn't show strong emotion even if you ordered her to," lied Asuka.
Misato gives Asuka a look, "I'm not blind Asuka. I've seen the way Ayanami clings to you like her life depends on it when neither of you thinks anyone else can see. Don't tell me there's no depth of emotion there.".
Asuka looks down sadly, avoiding Misato's eyes, "We already tried that. I yelled. Rei asked. We even tried together. As you can see, it didn't work".
Shinji, if you don't come back soon, I'm not going to forgive you.
Asuka leaned against the elevator wall alone and sighed.
How had she gotten so used to holding Rei on the way down to the cages that the elevator felt so large and empty without her there?
Soft arms gently wrapped around her.
Asuka bolted upright.
'What the hell? Am I so far gone I'm hallucinating her now?'
She could still feel herself being hugged, but something wasn't quite right for it to be an invisible or hallucinatory Rei.
The elevator doors opened, Asuka hadn't even noticed it stop at whatever floor this was.
"Rei?"
"Are you unwell Asuka?"
Asuka just nodded and opened her arms enough for Rei to fit.
It was a moment after Rei's arms slid around her that the other hug started to fade.
Asuka didn't say anything, just gave Unit 01 a death glare(tm).
Misato is holding Shinji's empty plugsuit, staring at Unit 01 and weeping when Asuka storms past.
"Give him back you overgrown purple piece of obsolete gott verdammt scheiße." Asuka's angry voice is loud even in the cavernous room.
"I need him. Rei needs him. He's mine and you don't get to keep him. So give him back!"
Rei steps up beside her silently. Asuka doesn't need to look to know she's there.
She puts her arm around her shoulders. She puts her arm around her waist.
A moment later, She starts to climb up to the entry plug. She matches her move for move, the only differences those necessitated by their different positions.
She looks into the empty plug still half full of LCL. She steps over the edge and drops inside. She follows a moment later.
She hits the plug close sequence. She hits the override to stop the command centre from interfering.
Shinji, I love you, she says. Shinji, I miss you she says.
Yui, let him go, adds Rei.
Warmth spreads between them that has nothing to do with their close proximity to each other.
She finds herself holding a very solid and very naked Shinji. She wraps her arms around them both.
Shinji stays motionless for a moment, this feels different from his mother's hug a moment ago.
She kills the camera feed. She hits the plug eject.
Shinji blushes as he feels multiple hands on his bare skin, and his bare skin under her hands.
He doesn't need to to know who's there, but he opens his eyes to see them anyway.
"I'll yell at you later, baka-Shinji, we need to make sure you're alright first".
As the synchronisation with Rei fades, Asuka notes to herself that naked-Shinji feels very different to naked-Rei. As she disconnects from Rei's calm she notices that observation.
"Argh! Naked baka!" She shoves a startled Shinji at Rei while desperately not noticing that Shinji had been facing her.
As soon as the entry plug retracts far enough to open, Asuka sticks her head out, "Misato, pass me that plug-suit would you? We don't want the baka dying of embarrassment on the way to medical when we only just got him back"
Asuka bent down to pass back the plugsuit, carefully not turning around. Unfortunately not turning around meant not looking behind her.
Which meant that she didn't know whose face she had just planted her butt on, only that their nose was somewhere it really shouldn't be.
She decided that not knowing gave her some level of plausible deniability and started to climb out of the entry plug. Rei and Shinji could work out the logistics of getting him dressed while still in the plug without her.
Shinji's face is almost the same colour as Asuka's legs as she climbs out.
He flails at the floating plugsuit, his arms not quite working after a month of not existing at all.
"Do you require assistance Shinji?" Rei asks from right behind him.
He can feel her through the thin fabric of her plugsuit against his bare skin.
He starts to wonder if he's even going to get out of the plug before dying of embarrassment. As long as Asuka doesn't come back to check what's taking so long...
"N...N...No. I can manage. I j..ju..just need to get used to having arms again."
"Can you let go, so I can get dressed?"
"and .please turn around."
"Why?"
"I'm naked"
"I know"
Rei can feel Shinji's heart rate increasing under her hands as she lets go.
"I am here if you need assistance" she adds once she's facing away from him.
In some ways Shinji feels relieved now that he's no longer naked, but he actually felt more anxious once Ayanami was no longer touching him.
Shinji struggles as he tries to climb out of the entry plug.
"Asuka," Rei called up past him, "Assist please. His legs do not work."
"Just tell me he's decent" responded Asuka, slightly muffled as she did not look down to check herself.
"Ikari is sufficiently covered as to prevent further embarrassment"
Asuka leans down into the plug, holding herself up with one hand and extending the other to Shinji.
"Give me your hand baka, lets get you out of here"
There was something weird about the way Asuka and Ayanami were talking to each other, but at least Asuka was still calling him an idiot.
Rei and Asuka stood on opposite sides of the elevator awkwardly.
Shinji had been whisked off as soon as the medical technicians had arrived and determined he was healthy enough to move. Which they both knew without the need for an outside opinion.
"Asuka?"
"Rei?"
"May I?"
"Of course"
Once Rei was nestled against her where she belonged, "Just because baka-Shinji is back doesn't mean you can't ask me"
Several levels later.
"Asuka?"
"Rei?"
"You should let Shinji see you naked"
Asuka blinks, "What did you just say?"
"You should let Shinji see you naked"
"What the hell Rei, why should I do that?" It's difficult to be angry at Rei when she's hugging you, but Asuka manages it anyway. Anger is why her face feels warm of course.
"You have seen me naked. I have seen you naked. I have seen Shinji naked. Shinji has seen me naked. You have seen Shinji naked. He has not seen you naked. This feels. Uncomfortable."
"Wait a minute! Just now. That doesn't count. I didn't look."
"Do not attempt to lie to me Asuka"
Asuka splutters, "and before you start, it doesn't count as a hug either".
She can feel Rei smile even if she can't see it, "Then the obvious solution is for you to hug Shinji naked."
Asuka pushes Rei away, "What?!" Then she catches the smile and the eyes ... "Gott Dammit Rei."
As the doors open, something else nudges at the back of Asuka's mind. "Hey, when did he see you naked?"
She gets no answer other than Rei's back as she walks away towards the medical wing.