2024-04-05: Special Delivery
- Log: Special Delivery
- Cast: Naoko Suzuki, Shinji Ikari
- Where: Ra Mari II, Private Hangar Bay
- OOC - IC Date: February 0099
- Summary: Shinji's meal delivery routine takes an unexpected turn, as he finds himself not only delivering to, but also being delivered a meal by, of all people, Naoko Suzuki.
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Gargantuan as it is, the Ra Mari II has a great deal of available hangar space. As much of it there is that's being actively used for servicing machines of various shapes and sizes, there is still a lot of room for expansion in case it ever becomes necessary.
Not many people have cause to visit these unused spaces. Which is part of the reason why Naoko Suzuki has been hanging out in them a lot, using them as a workspace. It's easier to focus away from crowds for one thing, and for another... she's been warned that any Special Projects she works on are probably best kept out of the public eye.
Before, this was more of an occasional thing. Whatever she's working on now, though, has seen her visiting one particular hangar bay on an almost daily basis, spending most of the day in there, always keeping the door securely locked. The fact that she goes there is fairly well-known. What exactly she does in there... there's little to go on for most, though given Naoko's Arm Slave has been moved out of the public hangar, it almost certainly has something to do with that.
Whatever the case may be, there isn't much point in trying to visit, given the locked door and Naoko being so engrossed in her work that she doesn't even hear people knocking. Yet there is a certain type of crew member that comes by that door a lot: cafeteria workers. On Eight's orders, whenever Naoko's in there, meals are delivered to that door around dinner time, as the only measure that's proven to work in ensuring that she actually eats properly. Knocks are still never responded to of course, so it's become routine to just knock once and leave the food outside.
Naoko would never have requested this arrangement herself. Quick to feel like she's a bother, having people go out of their way for her like this just doesn't sit right with her. No matter how many times she's told this is part of the job and many others have food delivered to their quarters, she can't help but think it's not necessary to give people more work for her sake. Especially one particular person, who she's trying to be extra careful about bothering.
Today, she knows that it's Shinji's turn for a food delivery. She went to ask about this in the mess hall at the start of the week, with specific instructions not to tell Shinji she asked, which she can only hope were followed. The reason for this? A special surprise, in thanks for his efforts. She got the impression that he could do with a little more appreciation in his life, and hit upon the idea: he makes food for so many people, what if she made him food, just this once?
Within her reserved hangar space, an alarm sounds on Naoko's phone, alerting her of the time. 5:50. Ten minutes before dinner normally arrives. Timing it perfectly was important: it wouldn't do for the dish to be cold by the time Shinji gets there. This gives her time to take the tinfoil-wrapped bowl out of the thermal bag she'd kept it in after preparing the dish not too long ago. She smiles to herself, imagining Shinji's face when he discovers this sitting outside of the door, accompanied only by a note with his name on it.
Yes, of course she'll stick to the imagining. There's no way she'll actually give this to him in person, it would be way too embarrassing. She's just going to go out there, set down the bowl, and go right back inside, satisfied with the knowledge of having done something nice. She doesn't need any gratitude, especially when this is just a favor repaid.
As perfectly planned as this is in her head, one can never quite plan for every eventuality. You'd think she would have at least considered the possibility that Shinji could be a few minutes early, and that when she opens that door, he's going to be right there on the other side. Nope, didn't occur to her for even a moment.
Holding her prepared dish with one hand, she uses the other to retrieve the access card from her pocket. As she moves to swipe it past the lock release, one could imagine the look of shock that would be on her face, if that door were to open and Shinji was right there on the other side. It's a good thing there's no chance of that actually happening. Right?
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji doesn't know what Naoko goes to the unused hangar spaces to do, and he doesn't want to know. (He is curious. But he also doesn't want to know. Contradiction, thy name is man.) He's heard the rumors, but while there isn't bad blood between them anymore, he doesn't really know how to handle Naoko. The easiest way to deal with that is to not put it at issue in the first place.
Of course, he also learned how to make ramen because she specifically requested it. Getting tips and advice from the Boss of Boss Ramen helped a lot--Boss of course didn't give him his secret recipe, but he did teach Shinji enough that he could figure out a very solid basic broth and boil the ramen noodles just right. There's a lot of accoutrements that go into a bowl of ramen, of course, but at the end of the day, a bowl of ramen is noodles and broth. You have to nail that first before going forward.
...it's not the sugary monstrosity that Naoko wanted him to make, but baby steps.
Of course, Shinji isn't going to just give someone a bowl of noodles with literally nothing else when this is people's dinners he's making and delivering, so there's bean sprouts and corn kernels cooked in with the bowl, green onions sprinkled on top, a soft-boiled egg cut in half, grilled chicken slices, and of course red ginger on the side. The side of what? The bowl itself, which Shinji is carrying on a tray over to the hangar. It is in fact his turn to deliver dinner tonight. He's delivered several dinners already, in fact; this is the last one. It's packaged accordingly, with the broth separate from the noodles in a thermal bag that he's been carrying on his back like a backpack, so folks can pour hot broth on their noodles without worrying about it going cold or the noodles getting soggy. It's an innovation he came up with himself, in fact.
Naoko is the last on his list. (He doesn't know that she requested him specifically, but obviously he knows who he's delivering to.) Despite this, he is indeed here early, on the other side of the door to the hangar. He's looking at it with a grimace, wondering if he should bother to knock or if it'd be better to just leave everything in front of the door for her to discover. No, no, he shouldn't do that, that's bad customer service--who knows when Naoko would know to check? Her entire meal could be stone cold by the time she steps outside. And what if someone thinks it's garbage and tosses it out? Or what if Naoko ends up tripping over it and ruining everything? Except Shinji also knows from other kitchen workers that Naoko never responds to knocks anyway. So maybe he can just put it down and leave. That'd be fine, right? Yes, that should be fine.
Except the others still do a knock. Because that's the point, right? Even if she doesn't respond, she still needs to know it's there. So, no, he really, really should knock.
Shinji continues to mentally hem and haw about it until the issue resolves itself and the door opens to reveal Naoko on the other side.
Shinji's jaw drops as he startles. As one might have imagined, he is quite shocked. One can only imagine what she looks like right now, as long as one isn't Shinji, since he has a front-row seat.
"Uhhhhh," he utters, intelligently. After an excruciating number of seconds, he holds out the tray. Again, the tray is, at present, still just a brothless bowl of ramen. (And a napkin and chopsticks and Eastern-style spoon, but still.) "F-for you."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
The knocks have certainly proven to be wasted on Naoko, historically. It's even happened, quite a few times in fact, that Naoko not only didn't hear the knock, but entirely forgot about dinner arriving. Sometimes she'd heat it up, other times.... she just ended up eating it cold. Good food is good food, she might say, though she wouldn't argue it'd have been better warm. She'd never just let it go to waste, either way.
Now today, it would have been a very useful signal to get. If only Shinji had not wavered in knocking, she would have known in advance that he was there early, and quickly aborted the entire plan. As it is...
As it is, there is a very startled Naoko on the other side of the door, struck silent by the unexpected development. Wearing a denim ensemble of matching jeans and jacket, which is something she'd started doing about half a year ago and she seems to have developed a strong preference for. Her brain needs enough of a reboot that she can't even vocalize any sounds, just sort of staring at Shinji with that overly perplexed 'why are you here' look. It wouldn't have been nearly this paralyzing if it hadn't been for her plan. That element has made this go from 'surprising' to 'absolutely mortifying'.
If Shinji casts a glance into the room behind her, he may get a glimpse of a purple machine at the far end. Thankfully, the color is all that it has in common with a certain Evangelion, for one thing it's way too small to resemble one very much. If he's seen Naoko's Arm Slave before, there's little resemblance to that one too, this one striking a much more slender figure than the more bulky one she flew before.
It takes the offer being held out to Naoko to snap her out of it, glancing down at the tray, that surprise starting to make way for confusion as she's quick to spot the obvious. "Is this... ramen...? Uh, not to be rude, but... are you sure you didn't forget something?"
>"Don't mind that! The bowl, show him the bowl!"<
Shinji is probably not psychicly sensitive enough to hear Ariel chiming in with some much-needed encouragement, though this doesn't help the awkwardness any. "Oh, uh, actually, I, um..." Best to just rip off the bandaid, or in this case, the tin foil.
And wouldn't you know it. What she was holding is her own bowl of Ramen. Tonkotsu, by the looks of it. There's the traditional pork chashu, two eggs, green onion, white leek, Naoko's favored menma, as well as sweet corn and some thinly sliced butter for that extra Hokkaido touch. She pauses long enough for one to start to wonder, but after that (and a deep breath), she finally confirms that she did not in fact make this for herself.
"It's uh... it's for you. I just... just thought it'd be nice?" Already starting to second-guess herself, she goes on to downplay the whole thing. "I-it's nothing special, I just, it's all convenience store ingredients, and I had to just sorta guess what you'd like, so you probably shouldn't expect too much-- oh, and, don't worry, I didn't make it like that, this is just a... a normal flavor?"
At least she's aware that her preferred flavor isn't normal. Downplayed expectations or not, just looking at what she made, it's clear that this wasn't just randomly slapped together, she did put thought into this.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji, for his part, is in his usual ensemble: black-and-white moon-themed hoodie, baseball cap, white T-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. He has other clothes; they just mostly look like this, too. When he left Tokyo-3, he wasn't really packing for fashion, and by the time Kaworu helped bring his things to him at the end of last year, Shinji had gotten used to this look and found it comfortable. (Especially since the hoodie was a gift from Kaworu.) More notable is that it's been over a year since he joined the Ra Mari II--he's closing in on eighteen years of age--and he still looks like a middle schooler.
Wait, is that notable? Maybe in another context, but in this current context of 'the two of them are face-to-face when they didn't really want to be,' they've surely got other things on their minds.
Shinji shakes his head quickly in reminder when Naoko points out that there's something missing from this bowl of ramen. "Oh right--" He un-shoulders one of the straps of the foil backpack and unzips the top. "It'd get soggy if they came in together, so--"
He's certainly not psychic enough to hear Ariel, but he pauses before actually bringing out the broth to stare at Naoko when she holds up another bowl of ramen. One that looks better than his own, in his very humble opinion. He stares at it for a second, unable to connect the dots until she does it for him; then he blinks rapidly at her, clearly floored.
"Oh," he utters at her own rapid explanation. "O-oh, thank you. Um. You really didn't have to," he says awkwardly. Even if it's normal and not sugar ramen. Actually, he finds himself touched, but at the same time, he doesn't know how to react. It's a kind thing that Naoko's done for him, while he's just... doing his job. He looks down at the backpack, then brings out a reusable plastic tub of ramen broth. "U-um, here's the rest of it," he offers. He doesn't yet accept the bowl of ramen Naoko is offering to him. Even if it does look and smell tasty... and how long has it been since he had lunch...? He really should say something--
"...Do you have a mini-kitchen in there or something?"
Shinji Ikari, nailing it as usual.
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Shinji is in good company in at least one regard: it wouldn't surprise Naoko in the slightest if even at 19, she were to still be mistaken for a middle-schooler. And she has no qualms about that, zero interest in trying to specifically tailor her looks to be more 'grown up'. Not only would she probably overdo it and come off as trying too hard, she figures that if she doesn't look like an adult, nobody'll mind if she doesn't act like one. That works for her.
As such, this is one thing that Shinji doesn't have anything to worry about Naoko getting on his case over. Besides, she's far too busy feeling super awkward about all of this. She asked Uriel and Ariel to not speak to her in other people's company unless it's really important, and this absolutely qualifies: a situation that would have likely caused her to clam up entirely, and look for ways to escape the unplanned social interaction. She needs time to prepare for these things! Or, as it happens, just a little nudge in the right direction to start her off.
Once the ice is broken, and Naoko is adequately convinced that everything is fine and nothing is ruined, a significant portion of that tension visibly leaves her. She was already worried about upsetting Shinji, it would've been the worst if that happened while she was attempting to do something nice for him. But, everything seems fine, he's calm-- well, 'calm', in the sense that Naoko probably looks calmer than him by comparison, even though neither actually are. Good enough.
"Huh," she starts, figuring out the idea behind keeping the broth separate readily enough. "That's... pretty clever, I didn't think of that." Hopefully her dish is still good either way, it hasn't been that long since she made it.
Being told she didn't have to make anything to begin with prompts her to answer almost automatically, "I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to." And in so saying, embarrasses herself, prompting a blush. "D-don't get the wrong idea or anything," she quickly adds, absolutely not getting into what 'the wrong idea' could be. Never mind that she's probably the one who had the more immediate thought of how this might look, especially this close to Valentine's Day. It's not like it's chocolate!
>"Calm down. There's no way he would be thinking anything like that. Just focus on the food. And make properly sure he accepts his, too."<
Once more, it was absolutely necessary for Ariel to intervene. This would all go so much worse otherwise. Just a little encouragement, and she manages to steady herself, managing a small smile as she glances at the tub of broth Shinji produced. Sure, she could pour it on there herself, but... perhaps Shinji too could use a little encouragement. "Well... how about you finish the dish, and we'll trade?"
That... pretty random question of Shinji's actually does a lot to help break the tension also, Naoko briefly looking over her shoulder in confusion, before letting out a short laugh. "No way, I made this back in my room. I arranged to get a little mini-kitchen put in there... my quarters didn't have one to start, but I like to do my own cooking when I can find the time, so..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
That does make Naoko good company. It makes Shinji feel less like he's a weirdo. ...or it would if he knew how old Naoko was. Have they ever shared their ages...?
Well, that's not important anyway. It's true that Shinji is a lot less panicked than he might other have been thanks to Naoko offering him his own dinner, though that's at least half due to him being confused. When she compliments his separate-noodles-and-broth idea, he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. Still, the slight curve up at the ends of his lips might signal that it's not a bad thing.
Except then she starts blushing and telling him not to get the wrong idea, which gets him to start blushing too. "E-exactly what idea is the wrong one...?" he mumbles. It isn't chocolate, but she did just say she made it normal and not to her own tastes, which is sweet. Is this supposed to be a Valentine's Day gift?!
No, that's silly. Who would want him for a Valentine? She's probably just trying to be nice.
She prompts him to complete the dish, and he hastily moves to comply. It's a little awkward, having to kneel down to set down the tray so he can open the reusable jar and pour in the broth, then lift it up so he can give it to her properly, and it's even more awkward when he realizes that neither of them have hands free to do the trading with. But she seems to have calmed down, his question having actually been a decent thing to say. He follows her gaze inside when she glances over her shoulder, and flinches when he sees the purple machine--but no, that's no Evangelion. Obviously. It was just that initial glance. ...Weirdly, the feeling that tightens his chest isn't entirely fear... or even disgust.
He shakes his head a little again and focuses back on Naoko. "Oh... Then you made that in your room and--came here?" he asks, confused all over again. "Wouldn't it have been easier to ask for delivery to your room if you were going to do that?"
He looks down at the tray again. "Though, speaking of, um... how do you want to trade? I could, uh, put this back down, or you could put that bowl on here and I'll give you the tray and then I can take the bowl, or..."
He doesn't suggest going inside and eating dinner together. That would be too sensible. (Maybe someone else can be sensible for them?)
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
Shinji did in fact ask after Naoko's age shortly after she turned 18, so perhaps he remembers! He might think she was making stuff up, given the way she acts, and the way that she started to say 17 before correcting herself, but she answered that truthfully. Naoko has no idea about Shinji's age though, she never asked. She doesn't generally think that it's a number that should matter as much as most people think, an attitude born of having been mentally far ahead of her peers in school.
Mentally, but not emotionally. For instance, she absolutely cannot handle a discussion about anything that even implies intimacy. She would have turned into a puddle trying to gift somebody something meant for Valentine's Day purposes, that much has nothing to do with Shinji specifically. Obviously, she is so not answering that question, it wouldn't be within Ariel's power to push her over that threshold. Shinji will simply have to be left wondering what idea she was talking about.
No, focusing on the food was a much better idea. While Shinji handles the finishing touch, she can have a moment to breathe and put the Wrong Idea out of her mind. Even if the question to follow kind of blindsides her too. She... probably could have arranged for delivery to her room for today, huh? "I, uh... well, look, I have a lot of work to do here." So she says, but her face is easy to read, it's clear that she didn't think of that at all. Still true, though. She's been working on this project for over a year now, that's how long it took to get to the finishing stages. And that's with her being shut in this private hangar space the majority of the time.
It takes her this long to realize that the door's still open behind her, seeing Shinji glancing at what's back there. She has a short moment of panic, stepping forward and hitting the big button next to it with her elbow to close it up. That's the real reason for going inside to eat together being off the proverbial table. No one else is around, so dropping the volume of her voice is a little pointless, but she does so anyway. "...I don't know how much you saw, but, what I'm working on is a secret." There is a short pause, during which she realizes that probably everybody knows it's her Arm Slave she's working on, and she should rephrase. "Okay, how I'm working on it is a secret." She frowns, unsatisfied with how that probably just made it more puzzling and thus a more alluring secret to learn more about. But it's the best she's got. Rather than go into that more...
She kneels down, placing her bowl down on the tray. Motioning to Shinji, she invites him to the same. "Let's do it like this," she suggests, placing her hands on the bowl in front of her. "Simultaneous exchange." She's grinning, childishly amused by making this appear like some sort of clandestine backroom deal.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Being that the mention of her age was suspect, Shinji definitely ended up unsure if she was telling the truth or not, and so remains unsure of how old she's supposed to be. Maybe if they have a more serious discussion. They have been walking on eggshells around each other.
And that's even before Naoko's general emotional immaturity. Shinji will end up wondering about that... but not for very long. He's too used to Asuka's prickliness to mind Naoko's very much, now that he's starting to get used to her. ...and in getting used to her, getting less hurt by the reminder of who she's like. At least now he knows she's alive... if not precisely well.
"Uh huh," Shinji replies. He does indeed see on her face that she didn't think of his suggestion. But while his skepticism is clear on his own face, he still relents and says, "I guess that makes sense."
Even so, it still startles him when she has a mini-panic and slaps a big button to close off visual access to that purple machine. He blinks rapidly, but when she whispers, he leans in to listen. He frowns, furrowing his eyebrows... but then she clarifies, and he nods.
"Okay," he says, and leaves it at that. He's curious--but he'd rather not know. He doesn't want to upset her again.
As for dinner, Naoko has an idea and pulls it off with a grin. Shinji takes the bowl she offered him as suggested. "I guess I'll leave the tray with you, then," he replies. "You're really having fun with this, huh?"
That's not a bad thing, though.
"Thanks for making me dinner. It's nice of you," he adds, a little quieter. "I'll... let you know how it was, I guess." He nods a bit to the inside of the hangar. "Good luck with your project. I hope it works out the way you want."
<Pose Tracker> Naoko Suzuki has posed.
It's funny how Naoko can come across as less than sincere by accident, given that she's a pretty terrible liar when she actively tries to. Earnestness is her default, but not always the best policy, as their initial meeting has clearly demonstrated. The silver lining is that thanks to that, some level of maturing has also happened. It certainly taught Naoko to recognize tells a little better, and be a little bit more careful about hurting other people's feelings by doubling down on things that are rubbing them the wrong way.
And speaking of tells, she certainly knows a skeptic expression when she sees one, which makes her insist, "No, really!" Thankfully Shinji appears to accept this in the end. Even if it was used as an excuse this time, her work ethic is no joke. In every sense - it wouldn't do to skimp out and just make Shinji something quick and easy, it had to be quality ramen. Besides, you don't put rubbish in front of someone who knows their cooking, that's a good way to get called a donkey.
She also catches the way she startled Shinji by her sudden action, quickly clarifying, "Just so you know, I'm not upset, and I do trust you. It's just that this is... well. If I were to put it in cooking terms, I might just have a world-famous recipe on my hands here. Wouldn't want anybody to know what the ingredients are, right?" She winks, playfully phrasing something that she's obviously very proud of, in lieu of being too boastful before it's done, and she can properly verify the quality. This too is a certain level of increased maturity, by her standards.
With the way she goes on to gleefully exchange ramen bowls as if it were swapping a briefcase full of money for an object of equal value, Shinji's assessment is of course 100 percent accurate, which she isn't shy to admit. "I'm a firm believer in having as much fun with things as possible." Quite the opposite of a bad thing, in her estimation.
And yet, all it takes is saying she did a nice thing for her to get embarrassed again, scratching her cheek as she looks away. "Ah... it was no big deal. I mean. You're welcome." She's just glad it worked out, even if not quite according to the original plan. It did lead to now knowing for a fact that Shinji liked the gesture, so despite the embarrassment involved, it wasn't all bad.
As for how her ramen tastes... she went with medium-spicy as a safe middle road. One couldn't help but notice that there's a touch of sweetness to the broth, but rather than going overboard with it, she took care to sensibly balance the flavors, blending nicely instead of overpowering the salt. Regardless of how you feel about it, it's clear enough that she knows what she's doing in the kitchen.
With a firm nod, she raises her own received bowl up, almost solemn in response to Shinji's well wishes regarding her work. "Thank you. I have faith that it will work out well." She smiles, then, adding, "It better, right? Wouldn't be much of a Miracle Worker otherwise."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Human interaction is hard like that. But it's rewarding precisely because it can be so difficult. If Naoko is growing up a bit more, maybe there's hope for Shinji too.
Maybe they'll both end up respectable adults, one day.
For now, though, they're still teenagers trying to muddle their way through life. At least things have gone all right in the end here. When Naoko explains further about what she's doing, Shinji nods. There are lots of people who're plenty protective of their original recipes; it follows that Naoko might be protective of whatever she's building back there. It's clear she's very excited about it, too--all that smiling and winking. So: "That makes sense."
He can't bring himself to be excited about it too, but he at least can acknowledge what she's doing. And it's good to know that she isn't upset... though he doesn't know why she'd trust him. It does make him feel like he shouldn't let her down, though... He can keep his mouth shut about what he saw. It's not like he saw anything important, anyway.
"You'd like Makinami-san," he comments. Then, realizing Naoko probably has no idea who he's talking about, he adds, "Oh--she's a girl I used to know. She liked keeping things fun, too." His gaze turns wistful. "I wonder how she's doing... I haven't seen her in ages." Maybe he ought to ask Kaworu about her... She promised she wouldn't let him be alone, so he ought to know.
He bobs his head a bit when she accepts his gratitude and his well wishes. He doesn't know what she's talking about when she calls herself a Miracle Worker, but, well, it wouldn't be the first time he met someone who talked about themselves in grandiose terms. Shinji accepts it at face value with a faint smile. "Later, then."
He'll take that bowl to a good spot to sit, then eat. The noodles have definitely gotten soggy and the broth cooled, but it's still tasty. The flavors are balanced well, and that touch of sweetness is weird but interesting. She really is a good cook, despite her strange tastes. Maybe they could make something together sometime...
Afterwards, once he's cleaned up, he returns to his room to re-read The Happy Prince and Other Tales.