2022-04-03: Liebestraum No. 3
- Log: 2022-04-03 Liebestraum No. 3
- Cast: Rei Ayanami, Kaworu Nagisa, Shinji Ikari
- Where: A hospital in Tokyo-3, OCU Japan
- OOC - IC Date: April 3rd, 0096 (2022)
- Summary: Kaworu and Shinji visit Rei in the hospital to wish her a happy belated birthday.
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
The medical case of Rei Ayanami, the First Child.
After the battle in the outer reaches of that certain other space, Eva-00 was recovered without incident. The pilot was withdrawn from the Entry Plug and medically examined, at which point she was prepared for emergency transport to Tokyo-3. (It's a hell of a way to get home first.) Word would have gotten to those concerned - patient responsive - and those who dug in or listened closely would have heard some more concerning things.
But all things considered, it could have been worse.
Rei had been whisked into the Geofront and immediately subject to close examination. From this point she simply disappeared from public notice for approximately 39 hours. If you do the calculations, this is not an unreasonable time frame for assessment, preparation, medical interventions, and immediate recovery...
But it was no doubt worrisome.
So, after that, however long it may be.
Rei Ayanami is still in the hospital. Reclined on a fully mobile bed, clad in the bland mint-green so common in these environments. She has an IV line in her left arm, and several monitoring devices resting along the left side of her body. Rei is staring at the ceiling. She has no choice: a framework of plastic and cushioning, carefully adjusted, partially immobilizes her shoulders and fully immobilizes her neck. The left side of her neck is taped and anointed in surgical dressings.
She has not answered her phone.
And yet: Now she is in some place, not 'nowhere, no answer, can't say'.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
All considered, Kaworu is quite concerned with Rei Ayanami's condition. Understanding that she does need time to rest and recover, he hasn't pressed the matter, but he has paid attention to the status of her care--including when she's cleared for visitors. He hadn't had a chance to say anything the actual day of that mission on Wednesday, but... that day was a special one. He and Shinji had both prepared for celebrating it, and even if they couldn't celebrate it properly with Rei on the day of, of course they aren't going to let it slide.
Or at least, Kaworu isn't. Shinji might need a bit of coaxing. He certainly makes sure to let him know once Rei has been cleared for visitors, and told him that he's going to see her. If Shinji digs in his heels with reluctance, he'll gently encourage him to come along. Maybe gently go over to his place to collect him and bring him to the hospital. They both need to grab the presents they picked out, anyway.
Either way, before too long, it comes to pass that Kaworu walks through the halls of the hospital, one hand in his longcoat pocket, the other holding a long, thin package wrapped in silver-white paper and blue ribbon. A metal wristwatch hangs from his left wrist, and from that hand hangs the handle of a fruit basket, something that Kaworu was given to understand is typical for hospital visits. It would be best to bring something for the injured Rei separate from her birthday presents, he'd reasoned, and fresh fruit seemed like something she would appreciate. A nurse has given them directions to the correct room, so it isn't hard to find it--not hard for Kaworu, at least. As they approach the room, now in sight, he stops in front of the door, then glances to Shinji at his side.
"I'm about to knock," he tells him softly, a way to give him a moment to pull himself together emotionally if needed, before he knocks on the door. He waits a moment; then, whether there's a response or not, he eases the door open.
"Hello, First," he greets her, tone and smile both relaxed (and hopefully relaxing). "Shinji and I have come to pay you a visit, if that's all right with you." He steps to one side to allow Shinji space to enter with him; then, assuming Rei hasn't told them to leave, he shuts the door behind them both for privacy.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"I can be replaced."
It was one of the most disturbing things Shinji Ikari had ever heard; it was, in part, the reason he rushed to save Rei from her entry plug during their battle with dread Ramiel. Shinji had no idea how to find the words, but he just waned this strange, cold girl to realize for a second that she wasn't replaceable.
What a strange presumption. Apparently they're awfully replaceable, there's half a dozen Evangelion pilots now. Shinji thinks about this, staring angrily at a ceiling, thinking about what bullshit island sized volcano men are, and then Kaworu reminds him of something.
The gifts.
Well he can't NOT give Rei her gift. He can leave right after. Yeah. Ten minutes is about the amount of time anyone can expect. Shinji is therefore dragged, reluctantly, to the hospital to do a beatitude. Kaworu knocks, and enters, with a fruit basket. Was there anything red in the basket? Heh.
"Hey, Ayanami." Shinji says. He wishes he was the sort of person to come up with a cool, morale boosting nickname. The kind of guy who could ruffle her hair and go 'hey killer!' and make her feel happy. Shinji frowns, wondering what he's been wondering for weeks, and mildly steps inside. "They got you in that brace a while?"
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
When Kaworu knocks at the door there is no answer.
Then he enters. "Administrator," Rei says, remaining fully prone. She does not look towards him directly, especially as he lingers at the door for a moment.
Then-- 'Hey, Ayanami.'
Shinji moves closer. Close enough for him to see Rei's eyes, which are turned downwards-- towards him. A struggle, to focus, but it's the angle of approach.
"... Ikari" she says, sounding-- surprised?
It isn't dissimilar to how she sounded, then, in that plug, that night at the end of the longest day. Her mouth opens slightly, as if shocked. To form words -- but he asked a question. "Yes," she says, before her left hand reaches out.
Her fingers splay outwards as they spider-crawl over the bedclothes towards the controller wand. (This is a full-fledged hospital bed, not a comfortable cot for monitoring.) "To prevent the repaired - nerves, from -" The blind motion of her hand bumps the side of the controller but she does not seem to notice.
"Inflaming--" Too far. It falls off the side of the bed, clattering on the ground on the end of its stout cable. Rei's expression doesn't change but her left hand tightens into an impotent, poorly-toned fist.
She finishes her sentence. "Again."
"It's difficult," Rei concludes.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Eight Evangelion pilots, specifically, and an Eva for almost all of them completed--and for the one that isn't, his is in the works. It's easy to see from *that* standpoint why someone might think of themself as replaceable. But it's not quite the same.
Setting that aside, the fruit basket doesn't include any red fruits, even though at the very least red apples are an absolute staple of the Japanese hospital visit. It has *green* apples, bananas, mandarins, black grapes, and a few other easy-to-eat things. She *is* in here with a neck injury, after all.
He lets Shinji approach her first, remaining at the door as Shinji walks over, even if only a few steps. Rei, understandably, seems more affected by Shinji's presence than Kaworu's, and he doesn't want to overwhelm her, either. He watches silently as Rei struggles with speech--for non-Rei reasons--and fumbles the controller for her hospital bed. It *is* a full-fledged bed, too... It seems it was the right decision to let her have a few days to recover before coming by. But doctors know best, don't they?
He glances at Shinji when that controller clatters on the floor. He expects Shinji to retrieve it for her; that's the kind of person he is. If he doesn't, Kaworu will pick it up himself, but if he does, he'll instead fetch a pair of seats from the other side of the room and bring them over to Rei's bedside. "It sounds difficult," he says with sympathy, setting the fruit basket on the stand next to her bed. "Would you like a snack, or would you prefer not?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji's angels and demons wage war in the back of his mind. His very PRESENCE made things worse for Rei, what the hell was he DOING.
She's just happy to see you.
Why?
Why are you happy to see the people in your life?
Shinj's breathing slows, goes shallow, his eyes widen and pupils dilate as Ayanami hurts herself just to see him better. He should go. He needs to go. But. What good would that do? She'd still be hurt.
What, are you stupid? Shinji leans down to grab the wand, gently placing it in Rei's hand. He can even handle the touch because-because his friend is hurt. Because he didn't have her back. Because he was showing off with a new toy instead.
"Thanks, Kaworu." Shinji says at the proffered seat, sitting down. "Painkillers okay, Ayanami? Just let us know if you need a nurse, alright?"
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
The two visitors move around. Kaworu speaks to her and is answered with, "Yes... I can eat. It is only --"
Shinji is moving closer. Rei tracks him closely. When he places the wand in her palm, Rei thinks she feels a pressure. Her grip suddenly tightens, making that fist again, and she raises it upwards -- bringing it into her field of view.
Her eyes turn towards Shinji then. She does not say a word, but it is the same sort of look that a trapped cat gives you when you set it free.
"Yes," she says to him, before returning intense focus to the device. Now that she can *see* her hand she seems to have much fewer problems, and soon enough she finds the arrow that makes the motor lift the back of the bed and gently draw in the lower half as well. It is a gradual process - even slower than usual - and there must be a twinge here and there, because her pulse jumps up on the monitor.
But finally...
She's sitting up. Or at least, nearer to it, and able to see the entire room. "... Fruit?" Rei says, sounding baffled, gently. Her eyes return to Shinji for a moment as the seats come down, filling with young men. They are further down than they might otherwise be, but Kaworu found they had all been placed there by whatever nameless nurse organized this care room.
Rei takes several full breaths. "Ikari," she says. "... It's difficult to feel my hand." Her eyes turn down and she deliberately drops the wand control into the pit of her lap. Then they turn back upwards, at the others.
"What is that box?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
From the corner of his eye, Kaworu watches Shinji as he physically reacts to the sight of the First exacerbating her injuries. But he does approach and pick up the wand for her, so he goes forward with fetching the chairs and setting down the fruit basket.
"You're welcome," he tells him as he sits down next to him, folding his legs with easy grace and setting the wrapped present on the bedside stand next to the fruit basket. Rei has said that she can eat--takes slow pains to seat herself more or less upright--and Kaworu waits patiently for her, spikes on the monitor and all, as he plucks up a mandarin and offers it to Shinji to peel. Should he accept it, he'll fetch one of the apples and a knife, and work on slicing it with perhaps alarming casualness, considering that apple is still in his palm. Otherwise, he'll peel that mandarin himself.
"Yes," he tells Rei with his usual easygoing smile. "When visiting someone in the hospital, it's considered appropriate to bring a gift to wish for their speedy recovery, and a common gift to bring is fruit."
What is that box, though?
"It's also a gift. But I didn't bring it because you were injured," Kaworu replies. He looks up from his task to fix his smile on her. "March 30th was the day of the operation in which you were injured. It is also marked in your files as your birthday." Rei's files are largely erased, much like his own, but at least the days of their birth--or the official days of their birth, anyway--are recorded. He pauses to set his task in his left hand, then reaches out to pick up his present and holds it out to her.
"It's a few days late, regrettably, but happy birthday, Rei Ayanami," he states. It's a decently large present, but not any larger than can be held between two hands, and hard. If Rei unwraps it on the spot, she'll find two things: a handwritten card under the blue ribbon that likewise says, 'Happy birthday, Rei Ayanami,' and inside, a large hardback cookbook. It's bright and colorful, both on the outside and if she cracks it open, with plenty of instructions and an array of recipes from easy to more complicated with detailed instructions. According to the cover, it's '101 Indian Recipes for the Vegetarian.' The list includes one or two for naan pizzas.
"Shinji recommended it," he explains once Rei has taken it in. "He told me that Indian cuisine has a wide variety of vegetarian options, so you might enjoy exploring it."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji blinks, unsure of what to do with this information. The idea that she might want her food cut up is incredibly obvious and literally never occurred to Shinji, who blushes a little as Kaworu gets it right away. Of course he does, Shinji thinks warily, but also you have to respect a man that adept with a paring knife. Funny how he barely seemed to get eating a few weeks ago.
Shinji gets a mandarin. He sticks his tongue out, messing with the peel. "They make this look so easy on tv." Shinji grumbles, and there's a squish as he gets a spray of citrus juice directly into his eye. It doesn't even sting all that much, it's just. Of course.
"Good news is its fresh." Shinji says after a second, swallowing his tiny bit of pride. It's still a little weird looking up someone's birthday on their confidential files, but Shinji went along with the scheme didn't he. "I, uh, got you something too."
"It has cats on it. You seem like a cat person." And not just because of the intense trapped cat vibes she was giving off just a second ago.
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
Rei contemplates the fruit basket and its range of produce. This may be the most fruit Rei has seen, intended for herself, at once. (But then she has only recently begun shopping for food on a level beyond 'obtain vegetarian-friendly shelf-stable storage ration.')
Kaworu explains and her eyes turn to him. "Understood," she says, but quietly; almost conversationally.
"Is that so?" Rei says, about the birthday - in the same sort of conversational tone. She looks down towards the proffered book -- she reaches forwards with her right hand, palming it and guiding it up towards herself despite the weight. It sits there, and she uses her right hand to untie the blue ribbon, which she toys with for a moment before picking up the card. And then the book is revealed.
Rei reads the cover, and then she opens it - the dish she opens it too is something with paneer and a mango chutney on the side. The vivid picture is the most colorful thing in this room, after the fruit basket. Rei touches the picture - feeling the plate with her fingertips.
She looks at Kaworu, blinking several times. After this she closes the book with a bit of a heave from her left arm and stares at the cover for a moment.
Then Shinji speaks up while he works on the fruit, and her right hand shifts as if wanting to reach outwards, but it seems subliminal. "Oh." A second or two passes.
"Yes," Rei says. "I... Cats are pleasant," she concludes, as if groping for the idiomatic thing to say. Or perhaps the other way round.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Understanding 'eating' and researching what to do during a hospital visits are two very different things--as are 'eating' and 'cutting up things that can be eaten.' Though it's true that Kaworu's a quick study in technical matters.
"It is," Kaworu tells Rei, unbothered by the way she frames her response. It is, after all, questionable if it actually *is* her birthday or not. But for the purposes of celebrating, it works as well as any other. Perhaps better, in some senses.
As Rei looks over her present, the mandarin squirts some juice into Shinji's face. Kaworu pauses to look over at him in mild concern. "Are you all right?" he asks--but smiles when Shinji seems to take it in stride. "Yes, I should hope so." He spins the paring knife in one hand and holds it out to him handle-first, fingertips light on the blade. His motions and expression lack fear and brim with confidence. "Do you need to use this?" If Shinji needs a moment to hand his present over first, he won't mind waiting.
Rei seems confounded for a moment as Shinji chimes in that he'd gotten her something cat-themed. Kaworu laughs faintly, fondness in the crinkle of his eyes. "They are," he agrees.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Cats don't like me." Shinji admits, giving Kaworu a quick no I don't need a knife to peel a clementine hand motion. Shinji's pride is small but inexplicable. He manages it after the squirt, and there's quickly a little fruit plate for Rei to indulge herself with. "There was this feral cat in the old neighborhood that I used to leave milk out for, once in a while. I tried to pet it, once, and it screamed like it was dying and bit me."
Shinji kept leaving the milk out until he was really sure the cat had moved on, but he decides to keep that pathetic fact to himself.
"Mine's, uh." Shinji pauses, wondering if the gift's an insult. "Well it's a notebook. A diary, sort of." Shinji hands the clumsily wrapped parcel over. "And some stationary, to get started with. You always seem to have something on your mind, even if you don't always know how to express it. I thought you might enjoy your own little poetry notebook."
"Or prose. I'm not the boss of writing." Shinji says, though Rei always seems like a time lost beat poet to him.
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
Rei accepts Kaworu's words. They don't take a lot of thinking about; he is astonishingly easy, in Rei's experience, to just be in the same area as. He was perhaps not wrong when he said they were the same, or at least similar.
Though Rei would be less likely to give Shinji a knife.
Less; not 'not'.
"... You were kind to feed the cat," Rei says, after Shinji shares his story. Then he offers the package, which Rei accepts - it is not quite as big and imposing as the cookbook so it rests atop the closed book as she unfolds it, which she does fairly adroitly for someone with only one hand that's at full power. It's not very neat, but she doesn't even tear the wrapping paper that much.
It rustles in the room, a lively sound.
"... To write down my thoughts?" Rei says. She blinks then, looking at Shinji, and then back at the object. She picks it up - weighs it in her hand - pops it open and seems to stroke the inside of a randomly chosen page.
She closes it with a softer pap. She doesn't set it down.
"Do you want to read what I write?" Rei asks Shinji then.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Shinji declines the knife, and Kaworu twirls it around with ease to finish up apple-slicing--without looking, even, as his gaze remains on Shinji as he tells the story of the feral cat who hated him. He nods in sympathy at the end. "It's a shame it never warmed up to you," he guesses, because if this were a story with a happy ending, Shinji wouldn't have prefaced it by saying that cats hate him. "But the First is right; it was kind of you to keep trying. Have you had any good experiences with cats?"
He finishes up apple-slicing, then sets the slices in the basket within Rei's reach. The knife he sets a bit further away, handle pointed towards her, so she can take it up without hurting herself if she needs to. She shouldn't need to, though; by the time she gets through what's easily available to her, a nurse can always come by and cut some more up for her. Or confiscate the knife, either or.
For the time being, though, he falls silent, seemingly content to fold his hands over his legs and watch as Shinji and Rei converse over the present he's given her without interrupting.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji sort of looks at Kaworu as if he is missing an important part of the logic, here. "It was just something I could do. The milk was going to go bad anyway. I've never had any real adventures with pets, to be honest. None allowed at my old apartment, and Pen Pen pretty much runs the new place."
"I guess it didn't hate me. It was just scared. Maybe if I was a little more patient it would've given me a chance." Shinji says, wistful in a way that has doomed him over and over again.
Rei immediately offers to let him read her diary. That throws Shinji for a loop until he realizes, she has no idea what a diary is. Why wouldn't you have someone read what you write down. "Well, uh, that's really your call Ayanami. I mean a lot of people think notebooks like this are very private."
Shinji pauses. "I have an idea. Why don't you use the colored pens? Stuff you want to share can be in one color, and stuff you want to keep private can be in another. That way you can have the best of both worlds."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
For the moment Rei is heedless, but she will likely relish these things soon enough. The apple that Kaworu is dissecting - sparing her the struggle of the core as well (and isn't that a mercy) - will be gone before it has a chance to turn brown.
A different colored pen.
A different ink. For different eyes.
Why would I write something which no one will read, other than I?
Was he informed?
Rei blinks several times, looking down at the journal. "... Different inks. There are pens in other colors of ink?" She would probably tilt her head here if she wasn't, well, literally incapable of doing so, but there is an echo of this expression on her face.
"... I will do that."
Her eyes turn towards Shinji once more. She doesn't, quite, smile, but there is a look in the corner of her eyes that isn't that far off. And then again, perhaps it's the set of her face; different tension in her cheeks; a suggestion of tension at the sides of her mouth.
There is a calmer sort of silence; pain has passed. For now, at least.
"Was the evacuation successful?" she asks -- mostly Kaworu if not uniquely. She shifts the books nearer to her body as her posture adjusts in the miniscule ways it can.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"Throwing the milk out without leaving it out for that cat is also something you could have done," Kaworu points out. But he simply nods at the rest, smiling slightly--and in his own way wistfully--as Shinji muses about how maybe he could've befriended that cat if he'd tried harder. "That sentiment is just like you," he remarks, thinking of Asuka.
As Shinji makes his suggestion, and Rei eventually meets it with a suggestion of a smile, Kaworu remains silent. The thumb of his right hand brushes down his wrist along the edge of his watchband as he keeps his hands folded, and he watches the two of them talk with a slight, fond, bittersweet smile.
"Yes, thanks to you," he tells Rei. "And once the fight was over, Shinji went out of his way to make sure you were seen safely back." He leans forward on the balls of his feet and stands upright in one elegant motion. "Speaking of which, I should go speak with the doctors about the timeline for your recovery. Shinji, could you please keep the First company until I return?" He nods personably to them both. "If you'll both excuse me..."
He strolls out of the room, hands tucked into his pockets. One comes out to open the door and pull it behind him--but he pauses for a moment before actually shutting it, instead glancing over his shoulder at the two through the crack.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Ayanami very nearly smiles at him.
Shinji manages one back, a little watery eyed. This poor girl. Father, what the hell did you do to this poor girl, and how can I get her out of here alive?
"I won't be long, Kaworu. Thanks for talking me into this." Shinji admits, a strength in his voice that hasn't been there since the battle. Kaworu may be their only real ally in NERV command, right now.
Shinji lets his face slide into a frown, briefly, sitting back and trying not to feel guilty at Ayanami's discomfort. "I'm sorry." Shinji murmurs, when the Administrator's gone. "I got cocky, and stupid, and you nearly got killed because I was showing off. I think I was jealous of the new girl. Isn't that the stupidest thing in the world?"
"It's not fair. All of this because some mad scientist wanted to run a test."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
'Yes, thanks to you.' Rei takes another deep breath -- and then says to Kaworu, "Yes," as he departs.
Perhaps she is proud of what she has done.
(The doctors' opinion is that she will be safe to release in approximately 52 hours barring setbacks. The neck immobilization device will be safe to remove when the dressings are done. Hopefully no Angels attack and require *seven* Evangelions instead of six for the next, like, week?)
But...
Shinji is alone now with Rei. Her eyes stay on him even if it is intrinsically a sidewise glance. Her brow furrows when the apology begins, although she does not interrupt. With the collar construct in place she has a certain regality in her posture, although it helps that from Shinji's side he can't see the bandages.
"Ikari..."
Rei reaches over. It is a gradual thing, moving in only one axis of motion -- faltering at the end because she cannot extend her arm long enough, but it leaves her with a slightly outstretched hand. She was going to put her hand on the nearest section of Shinji to hand: his knee, in this case.
"..."
What is it that you say in a moment like this?
"It is alright," Rei says. "The mission succeeded. We protected the others. I -"
Rei stops herself.
She finishes the thought, though it is obviously not what she was going to say, but maybe this has its own message. "I am glad, that you were not hurt. You did not need to --" And then she just sort of stops, mouth slightly open as if the words she was reading ran out.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
When Shinji thanks him with newfound strength, Kaworu simply gives him a broad, sincere smile, eyes squinting momentarily shut. That smile lasts when he pulls the door shut behind him after that last glance back. He slips his hand off the handle and rests his fingertips on the door. After lingering for a few heartbeats, he at last pulls away, leaving the two in peace as he searches for the proper physician.
The news of her condition isn't so bad, at least. Fifty-two hours... No, based on its current rate of growth that he's observed so far from this approximate distance, it seems unlikely that the next Angel will attack before then. Kaworu keeps this assessment to himself and thanks the doctors for their hard work.
After that, he takes his time returning to Rei's room. Shinji and Rei will have plenty of time to talk--enough, perhaps, to say all they need to say. For now, at least. When Shinji's ready to go, and Rei's ready to rest, Kaworu will be there.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji looks at the gentle hand on his knee. He's seen this manga.
It's not like that, though. It's just touch, from someone who understands what the Evangelion is like. It's all it needs to be, for the moment, and before Shinji realizes.
"I think I killed someone." Shinji says, distantly. "At the concert. A Zentraedi shot the scaffolding. It hit Toji. Broke his arm. He was lucky, the doctors said, his rib could've pierced his lung. He could've drown in his own blood. They said this in front of his kid sister, of course." Shinji says, sounding farther and farther away. "I saw the alien and the guys won't tell me what happened, just that I had to pull away because of that heavy artillery wanzer."
"Someone had to be piloting that, too." Shinji says, after a long moment. His dreams of a black cape had to be just that. "Before I."
"I don't like what this job is doing to me, Ayanami. I thought I'd be afraid all the time, but it's worse. I feel like I'm becoming comfortable with the violence. I swore I'd just fight the Angels, and then it became any monsters, and now it's any aliens. How long until they drag us out to take out a flight of Zekes?" Shinji says, looking at Rei's soft, injured hand. "How long until I stop caring?"
"Maybe I should get a diary." Shinji musts, the mood sliding away to be stored for later. He gently, hesitantly squeezes Rei's hand. "I'm glad you're okay too, Ayanami. I hope we can get through this war in one piece."
<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.
Shinji speaks.
Rei has a minor mystery of the world revealed to her. She had seen Suzuhara; had noticed, in the same way that she sees many things, that he was subdued. Now she knows why.
"You will not stop caring," Rei says, almost thoughtlessly.
Violence. He is afraid of it.
There is violence in the world.
Mobile Suits. Knightmare Frames. Even the Black Castle of Iron. All have fought other humans.
A Zentraedi. Cousin to man.
'Zeke.' A Spacenoid. A creation of man.
Man. A creation of man.
Violence. A creation of man?
Rei turns her eyes down. She has her thought derailed when her hand is taken and gently squeezed. Her fingers curl and squeeze back, and her eyes turn towards Shinji again.
"If you want, I will get you a 'diary.'"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji looks at Rei.
He smiles, because sometimes that's all you can do. "Yeah, alright. We'll trade secrets and make smores."