Nerv HQ
Tokyo-3
September 14, 2015
5:30PM Local Time

Asuka lay on the issue bed wedged into one corner of the
windowless, somber room she'd been assigned in the geofront's dormitory
'pending final quartering arrangements.' One slim hand was tangled in
long auburn hair near the old style interface clip she used to hold it
out of her face.

The other paged through another catalog, purses and handbags this
time, which did its best to distract her from the mix of crushing
boredom and maddening 'jumping out of her skin' itch she'd felt from
practically the moment she'd stepped from Eva-02's entry plug almost a
week ago. Admiral Takaya had been the soul of courtesy as the crippled
force limped the rest of the way to Japan, in spite of her destruction
of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment between dumping
half his air group in the Pacific with her landing, the divots she left
in his flight deck, and the assorted damage she'd done to several of
Fearless' escorts. Of course, saving the -rest- of his fleet in the
process of all that hadn't hurt.

But once she'd changed back into 'mufti', she became just another
pretty teenage girl in a dress. Not necessarily to the Fearless' crew,
many of whom had saluted with real respect when she passed them in the
flagship's passageways, never mind she was a civilian and half most of
their ages, and she basked in it like a lizard on a sunny day. But the
feeling was related to the reason she was never without her headband,
and why she'd kept her plugsuit in her closet when it made as much sense
to leave it in the Eva.

She was the Second Child, Pilot of Eva-02.

Everything else, the glow of other's adulation, the adrenaline
rush of launching herself into battle with the foes of humanity, the
pride of being the best there was at a difficult and dangerous job, and
a thousand and one other feelings all boiled and swirled together in a
complex, heady brew, but the kettle that held it all was as simple as
its cast-iron counterpart. Without it, the rest was as nothing.

Which in part explained why, when Misato knocked on her door,
she all but launched herself at the handle before reining herself in and
proceeding the last meter at an almost bored pace.

"Evening, Misato."

"Heya, Asuka. Ready?"

"Are you kidding? Let me out of here," Asuka snorted as she
turned and locked the door.

"That's the spirit!" Misato chirped. "A nice, friendly..."
'Read: boozy' Asuka mentally substituted, having visited similar events
in Germany, "party should be just the thing to get everyone off on the
right foot," Misato nodded to herself while they walked to the
escalator to the parking garage.

The two women engaged as in a spate of polite chit-chat as the
escalator carried them along, catching up until they arrived at Misato's
parking spot.

"They let -you- have one of these?" Asuka grinned delightedly at
the sight of the Alpine 310 occupying it. "But what's with the duct
tape?" Asuka frowned and leaned closer to examine the strips holding the
headlight lens in place, complemented by the strips wrapped around the
driver side mirror and, she saw as Misato unlocked the door, some of the
upholstery.

"It's all the rage in Japan, you see it everywhere," Misato
replied with a sour look.

"Uh huh," Asuka spied the cracks in the door frame not covered
and replied, "What really happened?"

"I -don't- want to talk about it," Misato grumbled as the Alpine
reached the exit ramp. With a wave at the guard in the kiosk, Misato
cruised past the striped barrier, turned onto the ring road circling
Tokyo-3, and put the pedal to the floor.

//Sammy Hagar "I Can't Drive 55" _Unboxed_//

Asuka replied with a joyous whoop. "I could never convince Hilde
-this- is how you're supposed to drive!"

Misato laughed over the wind noise from the rolled down windows.

----------

Shinji wished, not for the first time, that his guardian had a
wider selection of beverages than 'beer, beer, and Mesozoic-era tea' in
stock, the latter found in the back of a cupboard and likely left over
from the last tenant. Of course, springing the idea on him about an
hour ago hadn't helped the situation.

'At least she's paying for all this,' the allowance his contract
granted him was decent, but still. Regardless, he did feel a little
proud of his efforts, even though most of it had consisted of buying
assorted snack foods and beverages and some last minute cleaning.

The distinctive ping of the elevator at the end of the hall
announced the first arrivals, most likely Misato and Eva-02's pilot,
Asuka Soryu-Langley. Fighting the urge to fidget as the sound of
footsteps grew outside the door, he listened intently.

"...on in. Shinji's done a nice job with the place," Misato
remarked just before the door opened.

"So it's just dirty instead of a pit?" a girl's voice answered her
as Shinji rose to greet them in the entryway, unsure whether to flush at
the compliment or frown at the response. He rounded the corner to find
his roommate in the familiar routine of hanging up her red uniform
jacket and beret in the hall closet, leaving her in her usual short
black dress. Her companion was another matter.

The somewhat dated file photo for Asuka Soryu-Langley showed an
auburn haired, mostly Caucasian girl of about twelve, sky blue eyes
focused sternly on the camera, who might have been cute if not for the
intensity of her expression. What greeted him now was a leggy, trim
figured girl his age in a yellow sun dress, hair held back with some
sort of headband that reminded him of nothing so much as a pair of shiny
red horns, with a sardonic smirk at Misato's sideways glare from her
previous comment.

"Ah, here he is," Misato took the opportunity to change the
subject. "Shinji, this is Asuka Soryu-Langley, Eva-02's pilot. Asuka,
Shinji Ikari of Eva-01."

Shinji bowed a polite distance. "Pleased to meet you," he greeted
her, managing to speak the formal phrase without stammering under her
keen gaze.

After a long moment, Asuka finished her examination of her
counterpart, from neatly combed hair to sock covered feet, with black
slacks and an unbuttoned dress shirt over green t-shirt in between. All
in all, not much like the case-hardened fighter she'd expected.
"Boring," she finally decided before she stepped past him into the
apartment's common area.

Shinji turned a somewhat hurt look at Misato, receiving a
sympathetic shrug before following.

----------

"When are the rest coming?" Asuka asked as she selected a soda
from the cooler and plopped down on the sofa. Misato raised a mental
eyebrow at Asuka's behavior. In Germany she'd been better mannered than
most of her classmates at the University, this was definitely new. And
intriguing. 'A little insecure, are we Asuka?' Misato smirked behind
a can of brew she'd retrieved from the kitchen fridge, pretending not to
notice Asuka's none too subtle efforts at ignoring her 'rival,'
currently sitting on the opposite side of the couch nursing a soda of
his own.

"Fei and Lin are due soon. Ritsuko, Dr. Akagi, is supposed to
bring Rei if she can pry herself from her desk in time," Misato rolled
her eyes heavenward. "Roberts and Testarossa's flight was delayed, so
they only got in this morning and might not make it."

Shinji winced in sympathy, twelve time zones worth of jet lag was
no joke.

Asuka tipped her can back and nodded.

Misato took the pause in conversation to congratulate herself on
her plan's success. She'd had the idea for a meet and greet for the
pilots some time ago, but had early on decided to conduct a small
experiment. Specifically, testing what would happen if she dropped the
idea of a social gathering on Shinji with no notice, and thus no time to
work himself into a panic. Looking at the comprehensive selection of
snacks and drinks, the unusual even post-Shinji neatness of the living
room and kitchen, and the new outfit he'd changed into, all without more
than the barest suggestion he 'set things up here' she felt justified in
a little maternal pride.

Shinji had apparently scrounged up enough nerve to ask Asuka about
her Eva, since she was declaiming its superiority at length. "Of course,
it was designed to correct all of the mistakes made in the prototype and
test models. -And- it avoids the 'bells and whistles' approach of the
-other- production models," she bragged to the politely attentive pilot.

"A real pilot's machine, then." Misato supplied, deciding to
reenter the conversation. "We'll have to get the others checked out on
it," she nonchalantly added, pretending not to notice her target's
nostrils flare in anger. Suppressing a smirk, she turned to Shinji.
"Which reminds me, how'd your latest test go?"

"Good. I came up a point."

"From what?" Asuka asked with studied indifference.

"Sixty-three."

"Decent," Asuka grudgingly allowed, taking a sip from her soda.

"Not half bad for someone who only started about two months ago,"
Misato agreed wholeheartedly.

And up the soda went. "What! How could he possibly have improved
forty points in that time! That's impossible!" Asuka protested as she
futilely tried to control the fizzing in her sinuses.

"He didn't," Misato replied seriously.

"Then how..."

"He started at forty-one."

----------

Asuka turned to stare incredulously at the quiet boy seated beside
her. 'That's half again my starting score! And he's only been doing
this for two months?! But that must mean...' "Your first mission. It
was also your first time to pilot."

"Yes," Shinji confirmed with a shrug. "I've gotten better."

"That's," Asuka struggled a moment, recalling the footage she'd
seen. The first thirty seconds or so had been an unmitigated disaster,
Eva-01 had stumbled around like a drunkard and got its ass handed to it
by the Angel, but given the aggressively competent counterattack he'd
launched right afterwards she'd put it down to control problems in the
demonstrably unstable Test type. Though the dog's breakfast he'd made
of the second attack made a lot more sense... "Well, at least we've got
a -real- pilot on staff now."

"I'd say he and Rei have paid their dues, under the
circumstances," Misato corrected. "But no one is happier than I am to
have more minions," she chuckled.

"Empire builder." Asuka muttered.

The doorbell's chime signaled the next arrivals. "Come on,
Shinji. Time to play host," Misato nudged him with a foot as she
unfolded herself from the beanbag on the floor.

---------

"For heaven's sake Han. Its a party, not a funeral," Nami
complained not for the first time, eying the small bouquet her
boyfriend carried. "Or a date."

Han maintained a stoic silence and pressed the doorbell. Before
she could make another, admittedly only half serious, complaint the door
slid open to reveal their new lady and mistress.

"Hiya! Oh thank you! I've got a vase perfect for these." Misato
exclaimed on seeing the small bundle of mixed tulips and sprigs of some
small white flower Nami didn't recognize offhand. Taking them from Han,
she turned to lead them inside. Nami stole a glance as they removed
their shoes in the entryway, in hopes of catching any victorious smirk
at her expense. Han, unsurprisingly, was solemn as a judge.

No fool he.

-----------

Shinji caught his first face to face look at his new comrades as
Misato turned away from the door. Nami smiled a greeting once she'd
removed her shoes, and introduced herself and her companion. The boy
was dressed in khaki slacks and a white button down shirt similar to
his, a brown leather belt completing the picture. The girl had,
unusually, though Shinji was unaware of it, chosen a brown knee length
skirt and light blue blouse combo, her ponytail swaying from her turn
to face him.

Shinji responded in kind, not quite sure how to continue the
conversation.

Fortunately, Nami had it covered. "Hey, we're glad to be here.
It's not every day you meet a hero."

"I..."

Nami steamrolled right over Shinji's stammer. "Anyone who even
climbs aboard one of those monsters is already brave, but if doing it
three times to go into combat, with no backup, doesn't qualify you
then I'd like to know what would!" she finished indignantly.

'I forgot to say something. You did a good, brave thing today.'
Shinji shook off the memory of the first real praise he'd gotten in
Tokyo-3 and thought to reply.

Misato beat him to the punch. "Hey, no hogging the guests!" the
lady in question called from the kitchen.

Shinji started, and gave an embarrassed smile. "R-right, come
in."