2023-08-24: Interlude (3.33: the stars)

• Log: 2023-08-24 Interlude (3.33: the stars)
• Cast: Kaworu Nagisa, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Mari Makinami Illustrious
• Where: A mountain in OCU Japan
• OOC - IC Date: August 24, UC 0097 (2023)
• Summary: Summer vacation is drawing to a close, so the Evangelion Children take a small trip to enjoy their time together while it lasts. Part three of three.

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<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Despite getting lost along the way, thanks to the collective ingenuity and effort of the Children of the Scenario, they've made it to the top of the mountain in time to set up camp and cook dinner, a nice hearty curry and rice boiled over a campfire. The blaze of sunset accompanied them as they did so, and there might well be a need to collect firewood to keep the fire going... but it's okay if the embers are cooling for now.
        
        "There," Shinji says with satisfaction, stepping back from the telescope he'd borrowed from the Aidas. "It's all set up if anyone wants a closer look. The moon already set, so we'll have plenty of time for stargazing without the moonlight getting in the way."
        
        The smell of the fire and the remains of dinner are pleasant. Kaworu stands from pitching the tents and laying out everyone's sleeping bags inside--there's one for him and Shinji, and one for Rei, Asuka, and Mari--and strolls over to join his dearest friend.
        
        "The Perseids have passed their peak for this year, but there should still be some left for the season," Kaworu comments. "The Milky Way is quite bright from here, and there is of course the Summer Triangle."
        
        "Yeah," Shinji says, looking up at the sky, then smiling at Kaworu. "Deneb, Altair, and Vega... People usually just think of Orihime and Hikoboshi, but it's just like you to be interested in all three, Kaworu-kun."
        
        Kaworu only smiles back.
        
        "Right now--" Shinji points to a bright spot in the skies. "There's Venus! We should be able to get a really good view of it through the telescope." He adjusts the tool to get a good view, peeking in every so often to make sure he has it pointed in the right direction. Then he steps back. "Who wants to go first?"
[Entertainment] Zan> :eyes his email. "Ok. This thing looks damn impressive." https:'www.usagundamstore.comcollectionsnewproductsmotor-nuclear-04-mnp-xh06-trainee-mk-weiyuan-model-kit-with-metal-joints?_kx=aFYv7B9Ag29Yaavm5XyvtBUfORR83VCtch5XvHPIfbc%3D.QPkpvt
You are now gagging Entertainment.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

The firewood wasn't hard to refill, ultimately. Not with Hatchet-chan.

It was probably more trouble to clear, then clear again, then clear once more the space around the merry little fire, providing space, even so, for the sextant to be deployed. And the regular tents, too. Somehow there are only two.

Shouldn't there be six?

Rei, of course, is not that bamboozled by such topics. She aided in raising the tents, and then went to sit by the fire, enjoying the glow, perhaps; but now, with dinner eaten and the heat of the sun fading off into the infinite vaults of space, it is a point of warmth.

Kaworu moves out of the charmed circle of the fire, and Rei's head turns to look after him. Rising upwards, she steps forwards.

"Venus?" Rei asks Shinji, with an understatement of academic curiosity. Her hands fold behind her back as she gazes out towards the sky, and then, she crouches down to look into the telescope's eyepiece and see the deeper-resolved form of that so-distant point. A planet untouched, for the most part, by Man - a thing increasingly rare, in the modern Solar System.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka did not help in making the curry, instead she went for the campfire under the excuse 'it's my turn to chop wood' which led to her assisting Rei with hatchet-chan.

Mostly it's because she's not confident with her cooking enough to actually offer to participate. She has made attempts, as concealed by the wraps on her hand but...

She knows it's not there yet, for the standard she sets for herself.

She ate her portion though, almost too much.

And she helped with what was left with the tents after. She's just finished fussing over her sleeping bag, muttering "Still think I should have gotten my own tent."

And yet she didn't actually BRING her own though, so did she actually object that hard to this arrangement? Out of the tent, her eyes fall upon Kaworu and Shinji as the two discuss the stars.

It's hard to say what she thinks listening to Shinji talk about that old tale, and it being 'just like Kaworu'. The offer is made to look at Venus, and- "Lemme take a look."

She says as she nudges ahead just after Rei finishes looking, "It's named for the Goddess of Beauty so let's see if it lives up to its name."

Asuka bends over to look into the telescope to look at it, at that bright dot up close.

"... It's a hostile world, with a corrosive, toxic atmosphere. Even on Mercury, we have mining colonies - but noone lives on Venus - or can live there."

She comments, as she looks at it, "But looking at it from a distance... you really wouldn't know it. I guess I can see why early astronomers who didn't know any better gave it that name."

She makes a few small adjustments with the instruments, and the focus. "Hmmm. I guess it's still fitting. A goddess of beauty would have unwanted visitors all the time if she couldn't protect herself."

Perhaps an ideal of beauty can be isolating in it's own way.

There's a thoughtful look, but ultimately, she nods - and offers her own sort of evaluation, "Not bad." She says to Shinji, as if in compliment, before taking a step back to let others do it.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Rei approaches, and Kaworu moves aside a step or two to make room for her. The smile he gives her is soft, but he soon returns his attention to Shinji.
        
        As for Asuka having her own tent... maybe. But they only brought two. At least the girls got the bigger one, having more of a need for space.
        
        As she and Rei both approach the telescope, though, Shinji moves aside to let them take a peek. "What Asuka said," he chimes in. "Its clouds are this really pretty golden color, and that's why it's the Golden Planet in Japanese. But..."
        
        Another nod Asuka's way. "Yeah. It's incredibly harsh, but it's also beautiful."
        
        Like you, Shinji thinks as he looks at her. Maybe if he weren't himself, he'd have the nerve to say that to his girlfriend in front of god and everyone. As it stands, his cheeks redden and he coughs into one hand. It at least breaks back into a smile when she praises him, though.
        
        Kaworu chuckles. "It's very like you to think of unwanted advances," he remarks to Asuka. "What about you, Rei?"
        
        He doesn't try to take a turn with the telescope just yet. He seems content to gaze up at the sky with his naked eye.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

"Once," Rei says, "I read that they proposed to build colonies, held aloft by great balloons, above the clouds of acid." This is an answer to Asuka. Is it? It's said AFTER Asuka speaks and seems to be germain, anyway.

She looks towards the distant golden star.

Shinji's feelings stay unsaid behind her, and after a few seconds, she raises her head so that others may take a peek. She folds her hands before her, stepping aside, even, so that Asuka's due turn may be taken.

"It looks beautiful, I think," Rei answers Kaworu.

"I think of Amaterasu's cave," she continues. "Of something beautiful beyond compare, hidden away. Such comely clouds would only be the light to come round the edges of the cave door, then; the cracks around the stone, illuminated."

A pause, and with slight, very slight embarrassment, she says, "I suppose it is a barren surface, though. Dark, and hot, with such vicious clouds above."

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"Golden Planet."

Asuka repeats, as if working out the Japanese construction in her head. It is known that writing in Japanese is her worst subject after all.

Before she glances sideways at Rei, "Huh. It's a pretty simple but innovative idea... I guess it turned out to be too costly or something? Or just something they weren't interested in while there's still room in the Earthsphere."

'Incredibly harsh, but also beautiful.'

She looks at Shinji in that moment, and it's hard to say how she feels. As if she were waiting for something but-

... eventually she looks away...

Crossing her arms against the cool night air of the mountainside. And Kaworu...

"Yeah?" She says to his comment, and indeed one wonders if she's going to snap at him for it but her eyes lift towards that golden dot-

"You would too if you were a girl."

Perhaps it's even true. Kaworu is popular amongst the girls, but they're hardly as aggressive as if it were the other way around.

And at Rei's answer to Kaworu's question, Asuka keeps staring at the golden dot, before...

"... Pretty poetic of you, Ultra Girl." A few moments later, "It's, not a bad way to think about it, I think."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Right. Then Mercury's the Water Planet, Mars is the Fire Planet, Jupiter's the Wood Planet, and Saturn's the Soil Planet. It's based on the Chinese elements," Shinji tells Asuka, pleased for an opportunity to be the knowledgeable one. He's hardly an astronomer, but enjoying stargazing means he's looked up an astronomy book a time or two, just to get more familiar with the view he was seeing.
        
        "Uranus and Neptune weren't visible with the naked eye, so their Japanese names are based on the Roman gods--Sky King Planet and Sea King Planet," Kaworu adds. "And while Pluto is known to be a dwarf planet now, back then, it was considered a full planet, and was so named the Hell King Planet, for the god of the underworld."
        
        "Right!" Shinji says brightly. "Did you know that Neptune was found purely through mathematical calculations? Modern astronomers found Uranus first, but there were weird things about its orbit, so someone named Urbain Le Verrier calculated where an eighth planet would have to be to make Uranus do that. And when someone took out a telescope just like this," he gestures at the delicate instrument, "and looked where he said to, there it was."
        
        "Many astronomers tried to find a theoretical planet named Vulcan, which was supposedly closer to the Sun than Mercury, the same way, but it was never discovered," Kaworu adds.
        
        "Yeah! You know a lot about astronomy, huh, Kaworu-kun?" Shinji says, impressed again.
        
        He smiles warmly. "Just like the Moon, the stars are beautiful, after all."
        
        "Yeah..." He looks up at the bright spot that is Venus. "Even if it's really harsh, from a distance, it's really something else." He peeks again at Asuka; when he catches her looking at him too, though, he loses his nerve and quickly looks away.
        
        Kaworu nods, meanwhile, to Rei as she gives her own impressions. Something immeasurably beautiful but locked away... "An apt comparison," he muses. "Though Amaterasu was the goddess of the sun, Venus looks much like how Lilim often assume the Sun to be." His smile turns briefly rueful. "Though it's true that's only how we perceive its atmosphere, rather than its surface."
        
        He considers Asuka thoughtfully--that he'd be concerned with unwanted advances if he were a girl. He doesn't argue with her, though. Being neither male nor female, but at least having the appearance of a male, he doesn't experience the trials and tribulations that those with a female form do.
        
        But there is someone else here who does, and so Kaworu looks to Rei. "Are unwanted advances something that trouble you often too, Rei?"
        
        Shinji looks up at that, a look of concern in his eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

"That's because our Vanilla Bean has art in her heart, princess."

The declaration is one cooed out in the evening wind by a familiar, cheeky voice from behind the Evangelion pilots. And there, at the edge of the campfire, stands Mari Makinami Illustrious; having departed from the group in an apparent flight of fancy early on with the excuse that she "wanted to experience the savagery of nature uninhibited~~~" (her words (and tildes)), her reappearance is as abrupt as her disappearance and just as cavalier.

"It's a wonderful thought. But beautiful things don't stay hidden for very long; horrifying ones, too," she continues on, nonchalant. "Jupiter's storms are awe-inspiring in their constant violence, and now humans mine the planet for helium." She casually unzips her bag as she speaks, pausing only to lift her hand and wiggle her fingers when she says, "To say nothing of the great and mysterious Jovian Lizards that live there! OoooOOOoo." But her hands summarily drop again, engulfed by voluminous, striped sleeves as they ferret around that bag.

"It's only a matter of time before Venus' beauty becomes a beauty humans can take for granted. It's something they excel at like nothing else." Despite how dismal the content of what she has to say can be construed, she says it like it's a wonder all its own. That might just make it all the more harrowing.

On the plus side, she's returned bearing gifts: specifically, a trio of packages she pulls from her bag one after the other and sets next to each other, one by one.

A box of graham crackers.

An assemblage of chocolate bars.

And a bag of the fluffiest of marshmallows.

She doesn't call direct attention to her post-curry snacks quite yet; instead, she draws back up to a stand, stretching leisurely as she looks between Kaworu and Shinji. Her brows climb, just so, as Kaworu speaks.

"Oho," she exhales, full of hidden meaning and understanding.

"Such a bold astronomer, Tabby Cat is."

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

"I don't know," Rei answers Asuka about the castles in the sky. Shinji, then, breaks down the meaning of some of the Japanese terms - where the planets were granted elements instead of the names of empyrean gods. She nods along, fractionally. From her expression, she did not know what Shinji mentioned, looking at him with curiosity.

"A planet nearer to the sun would melt," Rei muses. "Would it not?"

At the question of unwanted advances, Rei's brow furrows, which suggests perhaps that she either does not quite understand the question or is trying to decide on the answer. How many passes does she get? Some would call her beautiful in an ethereal way; others find her creepy, disquieted by her features and her pale skin which seems to never tan or burn.

"I don't think that I spend enough time with people to see such things," Rei says, before

                        ~mari~

occurs, and she is drawn to look towards her and her rather bleak summation, however cheerily rendered. "It is easy to become bored with anything, perhaps," Rei echoes.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka actually does listen to Shinji as he says that, interested. She isn't as familiar with the Eastern mythology behind these planets.

"Not a single one of those really lines up." She points out, "But like with Venus being a forbidding place - ancient astronomers would have no way of knowing."

The facts about Uranus and Neptune however, Asuka certainly knows, she just looks up, "The Hell King Planet." She repeats, perhaps wondering what they think about their domain being so small.

And as Shinji continues to enthuse, Asuka comments, "You're really into this." As if she were actually somewhat surprised by how into it he is, "Huh. Way to go. Baka Shinji really knows his stuff when it comes to things like this."

As she compliments him in her own way. Even as Kaworu appears to know just as much, or more. But she expects Kaworu to be smart, so she doesn't even compliment it.

Whereas Mari- "Yeah?" Asuka gives Mari a suspicious look, "Your influence?" As if it would make more sense to attribute it purely to Mari than to assume Rei was simply an artist at heart.

Still, she listens to her speak of other planets, it's only on Jupiter that she chimes in right as Mari does her spooky OoooooOooo, "Tck. Jovian Lizards. How'd we even get that title for them! Noone's ever seen one - or communicated with one!"

Asuka said as if in suspicion, as if to dub them that without evidence feels like 'bad scientific method.' to her.

However, it's only a matter of time? Asuka stares at the Golden Dot, as if Mari's statement just, makes her feel depressed, "Kinda hope it never gets like that."

Perhaps... just perhaps, she can empathize with the idea of not wanting to be something taken for granted.

And as Kaworu asks Rei as if to confirm, even as Kaworu teases her, she eyes Rei, then looks away. "It's also just her whole... vibe, that she puts off. The way she looks at people, the way she talks."

It's perhaps surprising that she can say it without being so insulting for once?

"They don't get it, so they keep their distance."

There might be something to what Asuka is saying, but it also is likely more herself projecting. For all the ways she thinks she gets Rei - she knows she doesn't really understand what's going through her head most of the time.

A moment later, Mari might catch Asuka's eyes staring upon the trio of packages...
...
...
...
She has no idea what a S'more is.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Welcome back, Mary. Did you enjoy indulging your wanderlust?" Kaworu asks, smiling over at the Undesignated Child. This is a joke. You see, he asked as if he didn't know, but they all know she did. This is what 'humor' is to the Fifth.
        
        "Good question. Everything I've heard about the Jovian lizards says their machines are based on bugs. Maybe it's because lizards eat bugs?" Shinji sugggests, frowning. "I wonder what the Jovian lizards have against us... They just attacked Mars for no reason one day, and then Earth was next." He glowers at the rocky ground. Poor Lucine had to live through all that... though he doesn't know the details. "I wish they'd just leave us alone."
        
        He doesn't comment on humans taking advantage of natural beauty, though. That's just how humans are... right? And it's not like technology and advancement are a bad thing. But then, Shinji is a child of the era of technology, for good or ill.
        
        He does pause at Rei's idea that getting any closer to the Sun than Mercury is would make the planet melt. "I... don't know," he admits. "A lot of really smart people thought it was possible. Even now there are some people who're convinced it's real. I don't think it is, though. If it were, we would've found it by now, right?"
        
        He's relieved to hear that Rei doesn't get harassed. I guess she's too strange for most guys to try hitting on, he thinks, echoing what Asuka says aloud. He glances at Kaworu, who's at least equally strange to Rei, and he is glad--if with an unwelcome painful squeeze in his chest--that the two of them are together.
        
        The stars may be as beautiful as the Moon, but they're all so far away, while he's on the Earth--a detestable place (rubytext: person). In that way, Rei and Kaworu are perfect for each other. And he's phenomenally lucky and just as happy with Asuka. He is, he insists silently to himself.
        
        "I see," Kaworu says to Rei and Asuka both, meanwhile. "I've had a similar experience," or at least he has ever since he was shot last year, "so I understand."
        
        "Well, yeah," he says to Asuka. "They just knew what they could tell from watching the planets with the naked eye." He rubs his head. "Come to think... I can get Venus and Mars because of their colors, but I wonder why they decided on what element for what planet...? Hm." That might be a bit of a contradiction to him knowing things, but not everyone can know everything--and this is ultimately a hobby for him. He grins shyly at Asuka's praise all the same. "I really like stargazing, but it's hard to do in the city," he explains. "So I used to just read about it when I could."
        
        But then Mari starts unpacking packs of snacks that Shinji's not sure she had before. She must have, though, because there are no stores for miles around. "What are those for?" he, who is thoroughly Japanese and thus has never heard of a s'mores, asks.
        
        By contrast, Kaworu pays the snacks no mind. He had a small plate of curry and rice earlier to pay homage to Shinji's efforts and the vibe of the night, but he never has been a big eater. Instead, he simply smiles at Mari and her hidden understanding. "I only speak the truth," he replies.
I don't understand that.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

A set of questions. First, Kaworu, framed in a joke:

Did you enjoy indulging your wanderlust?

Mari claps her hands together.

"I wandered far, yet my lust remains unsatisfied!" A joke, you see(??).

Second, Asuka, framed in suspicion.

Your influence?

"Aw!" announces Mari, holding her hands to her lips.

"You think I'm influential??"

Perhaps...

Not the point.

With that, she lets her hands fall, merely offering a casual and easily forgotten, "Ah, or maybe it's easier to imagine a horrible alien as a horrible reptile," to Shinji and Asuka's commentary on the Jovian Lizards. But it's as talk turns to Rei and Asuka and the possibility of unwanted advances, Mari springs into action!

By throwing herself at Rei, arms 'round her neck to drag her into aggressive cheek-to-cheek rubs.

"Vanilla Bean is a true treasure!" she announces in the midst of her aggressive hug sesh. "Anyone who doesn't see that is blind to the beauty hidden in front of their eyes! And if anyone ever -does- try to take undue advantage, you tell me, Vanilla Bean."

She smiles, brightly, and sing-songs:

"I'll take care of them." o/`

w-why is it so cheerful and yet so frightening

Still, eventually - fortunately - Mari pulls away, dusting off her hands with a casual one-two gesture; her gaze drifts towards Asuka, as she speaks on Rei, like a distant echo to her hopes for the Golden Dot.

"It'll always be like that," she says simply, because much like Kaworu, she must be honest.

"... But that means there'll also always be those who recognize and cherish the secret splendors most would prefer to keep at a distance."

Is Asuka speaking of Rei, or herself?

Either way: Mari's words stand.

But Asuka's attention drifts. So does Shinji's. She looks between them. Tracks their stare to the packages she placed so conspicuously so as to grab attention. She sees the lack of understanding there, in their eyes. And when Shinji asks the fated question,

What are those for?

"Oho."

Mari's grin grew three sizes that day.

"Tell me -- are any of you partaken in the sacred ritual... of the S'mores?"

How she manages to make 's'mores' sound so ancient and sacrosanct by tone alone is truly a gift beyond human ken.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Something Asuka says seems to surprise Rei; she glances at her with a faint frown. It was after she brought up the Jovian Lizards. She had, no doubt, taken the name at their word, and perhaps assumed that they were either quite literally lizards, or that they were lizard*like*.

Rei considers what she knows about Jupiter; great clouds of gas. They have moons, but they are not good places to be lizards. Frowning slightly, Rei glances back at Asuka, which probably confirms her general point.

"Mars isn't near Jupiter, except in relative terms," Rei says to Shinji, about the Lizards and their crimes.

"Perhaps if there were a planet, it would be liquid," she continues. "A fluid drop in the Sun's constant embrace."

Shinji poses another question - how did they give the planets names like that? Rei considers.

"If you could see the moons of Jupiter, it would seem as though it were growing and shrinking, like a tree," Rei proposes as a theory. "Even if it was very small, it would be a difference."

Rei looks towards the heavens... which means she didn't have her eyes on Mari, which is a *deadly mistake*. Soon enough she is embraced with vigor and furer, grasped and pulled inwards, her vanilla-bean fragrance having been lightly smoked and salted by the campfire and honest effort. As she is cheek-rubbed, her eyes go wide, though it's hard to tell in the darkness. Squish squish squooooosh.

An offer is made.

"... Understood," Rei says.

Once released, Rei tugs down the front of her hooded sweatshirt, a sacred and ancient maneuver of reorientation. "Sumores?" Rei echoes, ignorant. She glances at Shinji, who may be the master of cuisine amongst them.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

'You think I'm influential??'

"Mostly I think you're annoying!" She tries to correct, but perhaps anyone could see that yes, she absolutely thinks Mari is influential, even if she wouldn't admit it.

'It's because lizards eat bugs?'

"What kind of weird logic is that!?" Asuka grouses, not upset at Shinji, but at whatever idiots decided to name them in that way. But then Mari adds her own information, "Tck. So what then, make them sound like alien invaders in some old B movie even though you don't know the first thing?"

She sounds... displeased by that, but it makes sense enough to her.

Mostly she doesn't realize that Shinji seems to agree with her on Rei being too weird to be harassed, but it is quite true that in class Asuka gets a lot of unwanted attention from the boys from being the foreign exchange student.

(And Eva pilot, now that most of them realize that.)

As Kaworu answers that he understands, Asuka raises an eyebrow but then... doesn't say anything to him saying he gets it.

Instead giving Mari a sidelong look, "That doesn't mean you need to make up for their absence!" She complains again her way, even while knowing it's not THE SAME in the way Mari harasses them.

Cheerful, and frightening-!

Instead she just focuses on Shinji shyly taking the compliment well, "Well... it's... a nice thing to know about you." She says after a moment, as if awkward herself in how to respond to that.

Meanwhile, she glances out of the corner of her eye at Mari, deciding not to comment, but her eyes linger on that golden dot a touch longer, less melancholy than before on the subject.

"S'mores?" She echoes and then- "Sounds like a word you made up."

Asuka is going to be quite vexed the moment she has internet coverage to learn that Mari did not in fact, make the word up.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Kaworu laughs, soft but genuine. "I suspect your lust may never be satisfied," he tells Mari, and it might be raunchy humor except for the fact that it's Kaworu. His humor remains unabated as Mari all but drapes herself on Rei, declaring without a hint of irony that she'll take care of anyone that takes advantage of her at but a word. (Shinji, however, shivers. scary mari)
        
        "She is a treasure," he agrees instead, and perhaps his and Rei's red eyes meet in that moment. "Unappreciated by Lilim for her true worth, and yet prized all the same."
        
        It'll always be like that, though--and Kaworu again raises his eyes to the heavens, where stars twinkle and planets shine uninterrupted. "Indeed. It's this contradiction in values that define Lilim as a whole."
        
        "Well, yeah," Shinji meanwhile tells Rei of Mars and Jupiter, "but they still attacked it." He frowns. "I don't really know how... I don't think I've ever fought the Jovian lizards before. You'd think we would've by now." After all, they should fall under NERV's mandate. Right? ...Maybe it's just him.
        
        Asuka suggests his logic is weird, though, and all Shinji can do is shrug haplessly, not realizing she isn't actually snapping at him per se. "I don't know, I'm just guessing!" he protests, defensive.
        
        But she says it's nice to know what he likes, and he grows flustered--but pleased--anew. "Thanks," he says quietly. "I hope you end up liking it too. It'd be nice if it could be something we could share." Even if, it occurs to him, it looks like it's something he already shares with Kaworu. For a moment, he gazes at him--and when Kaworu meets his eyes and smiles, he ducks his head but can't help but smile back.
        
        A liquid planet, though, huh. Shinji contemplates this. "That sounds really scary," he admits. "Even if Vulcan doesn't exist, I wonder if there's a planet like that out there somewhere in the universe." Rei's suggestion about Jupiter's moons and how they'd affect how it appears to amateur astronomers is something else he considers. "That'd make sense. And I guess Mercury moves really fast, like water can," he suggests. "Not sure about Saturn, but maybe soil was just what was left over?"
        
        He looks sidelong at Kaworu, troubled. He doesn't say it either, but he knows why Kaworu would understand why people might avoid someone who's too strange to approach. He'd been very popular at first, but after the shooting... Shinji fails to suppress a shiver that's unrelated to the mountaintop cold and rubs his shoulder.
        
        Rei glances him as if seeking answers about these sumores. Shinji shrugs haplessly. "I've never heard of them before," he says.
        
        "It's unknown to me as well," Kaworu says, but he's more intrigued than confused. "Are you about to share a new experience with us, Mary?"

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

I suspect your lust may never be satisfied.

"I hope so, too!"

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kaworu said 'suspect' not 'hope.'

But in Mari's mind, how could her lust NOT be considered a valuable virtue?

I mean honestly

For now, though, it at least seems her lust for hugging and fawning over Rei has been satisfied. She even looks satisfied, for all it is but fleeting folly! Moments must move on, however... but before the Advent of the Sumores, Mari looks sidelong, Shinji's way, as he talks about how a liquid planet would be scary -- wondering if such a planet like that might ever exist, somewhere.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm," is her suspiciously long, musing sound as she eyes Shinji up. And then, abruptly, she asks:

"What kind of world would you want to find the most out there, somewhere in the universe?"

It's an abrupt question but no less sincere for it -- and no less curious. And the way she looks at him, with that expectant sort of intensity lying just beneath the surface of her bespectacled stare, almost suggests there's more layers to that question that can be seen -- like a treasure, hidden away in a cave. That distant thing that can only be speculated.

It lasts, four, possibly additional, seconds, and then,

"S'mores!"

S'mores time!

And off Mari hops, back towards her treasure trove of sugary snacks. Asuka criticizes:

Sounds like a word you made up.

Mari rebuts:

"Words are all words a person made up."

And with that teasing pedantry delivered (complete with a blown kiss!), Mari crouches down, cracking open the box of graham crackers. Is she about to share a new experience with them? She blinks once, in honest surprise.

"All of you?" she wonders with sincere guilelessness. It's -- disarming. And it lasts only a handful of seconds before a big, truly pleased grin blooms at her lips. "Ohoho, so I am it seems! What a gift! You betcha, Tabby Cat. A sweet experience, for all of us~."

And then, her gaze laser focuses upon Rei. She smiles, an inviting smile.

And then crooks a finger, beckoning her forth.

"Come forth to the altar of fire, Rei Ayanamiiiiiiiii."

she croons

in a way not at all ominous

If she does, though? She'll lean forward, and whisper something into Rei's ear. The words "graham crackers... on chocolate... stuff in the fire..." can be heard; around 'stuff in the fire' she shoots a conspiratorial look Shinji's way which should not at all be construed as dangerous and alarming.

Because it's not! She's just giving Rei instructions on the making of the s'mores!

How does she make it weird like that!

Regardless, once she's done? She leans back, looking satisfied.

"Now!" she announces. "Everyone follow Vanilla Bean's lead."

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Rei's eyes meet Kaworu's then. Her face colors faintly and her head lowers, eyes half-lidding for a moment. Humility, perhaps, or shyness. She takes a deep breath, and then she looks at Shinji as he tells her of Jupiter and Mars.

"I think they don't come to Earth," Rei says. "Perhaps there are too many Mobile Suits, and they could only challenge a less defended target." For as much as they can only fight the Angels, there are hundreds, at least, of Mobile Suits in patrol around the Earth Sphere.

Slightly fewer lately, but nevertheless.

She has no insight about Saturn, and Shinji has no insight about smores, and so perhaps they are even and their exchange is equivalent. She takes a deep breath and lets it out.

A question is advanced by Mari, then. What kind of world would she want to find out in the universe? The question may have been for Shinji, but it floats through Rei's mind even as the Smores are introduced at their last.

And Rei is designated as the First Children (to make smores) and she advances as per instructions. Nearer to the flame. She leans slightly towards the soft, seductive whispers of Mari Makinami Illustrious. She hears summarized information. Guidance.

Words of knowledge. Of tentative heating. Rei advances. She picks out one of the sticks and considers the tip, then -- sticks it into the fire for a moment. It smoulders, sparks, and ignites. After turning it around, Rei brings it out and waves it around.

Marshmallow comes up and is held forwards. Rei does not get tentative about it. She decisively sticks the marshmallow into the fire. It ignites, and Rei waves IT out too, while reaching down to pick up her own graham crackers and a piece of chocolate. After this, holding the two pieces in her hand, she grips the marshmallow on the stick and pulls it out, squishing them together in her hand.

The graham cracker crunches.

Rei raises it to her mouth and takes a bite. Chew, chew, chew.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

Asuka looks at Kaworu in alarm for a time as Mari's 'lust' is evoked, and yet she gives him a strange look after that. Before eyeing her cheek rubbing Rei and the response.

Her eyes wander upwards, like she's reassessing something.

In the end, however, she flicks Shinji an annoyed look as he says he doesn't know, "Well... that's a weird guess!" She says-! Perhaps without thinking over it all too much.

Mari asks Shinji what kind of world would he want to find the most out there, and Asuka considers the subject herself, seriously. What kind of world would she like to find? Again perhaps, her eyes trail to the gold dot in the sky.

Even if it's already discovered but-

"But your word sounds more made up than most!" Asuka counters, willfully, even if she can't refute her ACTUAL logic there. And indeed, the fact that NONE OF THEM! KAWORU INCLUDED has heard of it makes her think that Mari is DEFINITELY putting them all on!

She watches, alarming looks towards Shinji by Mari and all, as Rei takes the lead, and she watches up until Rei starts biting it.

And then she picks up one of the firewood sticks, examining it suspiciously, as if it's unsanitary but then weighing it against the sanitizing effect of the fire.

Eventually she jams the marshmallow on roughly, and then IGNITES IT. With a quick turn she takes her Sugary Flambe, brings it up and blows it out.

She then follows the lead with the chocolate and graham cracker sandwich.

Asuka takes a bite, then rears back, looking at it like a cat who just smelled something THOROUGHLY unpleasant.

It's still in her mouth, bite unfinished, frozen in time, and then chew, chew, chew.

"I can't handle anything this sweet."

Asuka says as if in rejection, looking away willfully. Eventually however... her eyes move towards the unfinished S'more.

Stare...
        Stare...
                 Stareeeee...

She takes another nibble. A couple minutes later there's no S'more left.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "I see... That'd make sense, then," Shinji admits of the Jovian lizards maybe not hitting Earth that much. And they've been a huge problem on Mars--he does know that much--so that alone would be cause for people to talk about them here. Earthlings wouldn't be so heartless as to not care about the plight of their next-door neighbor. Right?
        
        Either way, there's nothing Shinji can do about it as long as he isn't ordered on as mission against them. Maybe one day he will be.
        
        Kaworu's smile deepens, lips parting as his eyes pinch upwards, when Rei's cheeks color. She's adorable. He won't press further, though--at least not for now. There are other things for them to do and talk about.
        
        "Huh?" Shinji meanwhile blinks at Mari's sudden question. "I haven't really thought about it before..." Though they've been talking about planets a lot tonight, that's just because Venus was right there, and that kicked off the conversation. His interest is more in the stars--being so far away and so long-lived, they seem unchanging and constant, and that reassures him. The planets that might orbit around them haven't really been of interest to him.
        
        But it's a question from Mari, and Mari is someone who demands answers, even with just the intensity of her bespectacled stare. Shinji considers it, then suggests, "A peaceful world? Somewhere where there's a lot of vegetation and clean air." A pretty standard answer; it essentially boils down to 'a planet like Earth, but unspoiled by man,' and that tracks from someone who usually finds the company of people stressful. It is an honest answer, though.
        
        Kaworu laughs quietly at Mari's rebuttal to Asuka. "It's true," he chimes in. "Language is a construct. And even if Mary had made this ritual up just now--wouldn't that be wonderful, to be able to experience something entirely new together?"
        
        "When you put it like that, it does sound nice," Shinji remarks, smiling.
        
        Kaworu mirrors those smiles, his and Mari's both.
        
        And then: s'mores! Whatever those are. Kaworu keeps smiling, and Shinji watches dubiously, as Mari beckons Rei forward. It is a special sort of love, Kaworu reflects, to be chosen first for a new experience. Truly, Rei is blessed.
        
        Shinji feels significantly less blessed as Mari sneaks looks at him while whispering to another girl, which is the nightmare of every young man. But it turns out to be innocent, more or less, as Mari declares that everyone should follow Rei's lead. He shares that dubious look with Asuka, but nonetheless steps closer to the fire to get a better look. This is a cooking thing, so he is interested, if wary--and this is a group he trusts. Yes, even Mari. In a worse mood, or with different people, he might refuse to play along, but things have been going pretty well for Shinji lately, emotionally speaking. Even that setback earlier in the woods was ultimately overcome by the five of them together.
        
        As it stands, he utters a startled, "oh!" when the marshmallow catches fire. Everything seems under control, though, as Rei pulls it back and merges it with chocolate and graham cracker. As she chomps away, he wonders, "...How is it?"
        
        He'll find out soon enough when he makes his own. He bites into it; chews; makes a bit of a face, but tries not to. "...It's got a good mix of textures," he says carefully, searching for something positive. "But it's, uh... very sweet." He attempts to move his fingers. "And very sticky..."
        
        Kaworu, who had cooked and assembled his s'mores deftly, chews thoughtfully. Once he swallows, he agrees, "All true. It's an interesting experience."
        
        That's one way of putting it, Shinji thinks.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

A peaceful world. Full of vegetation and clean air.

Away from the influence of man, goes unspoken and yet heard all the same.

Mari considers Shinji, in those moments before the S'mores. And she smiles a simple smile, so unlike her usual, teasing affairs.

"That's very like you, pup."

And with that she leaves for the camp fire, without further explanation.

If she inspired others to contemplate their own answers in the asking, well...

Mission accomplished.

Rei completes her s'mores for the others, demonstrably. And Mari flops down into an easy sitting position next to the campfire to watch as the others try their hand at it, gauging each reaction and how much it reflects each of them.

Shinji clearly cannot handle the sweetness, and yet tries to mask it with some polite platitudes all the same. She smiles.

Kaworu savors the new experience for that fact alone, enjoying it for what it is. She smiles.

Asuka tries to deny enjoying it, and then finishes it within a matter of minutes. She s m i l e s.

And Rei...

"What d'you think, Vanilla Bean?" wonders the bespectacled girl of the bluenette, gaze turning her way. She waits for a moment for that answer, before her gaze turns towards the fire.

"I heard of these a long time ago, but only tried them when I went camping with a friend of mine. I tried to impress her with it and ended up catching the whole stick on fire. It was horrifying! It was exciting!"

Mari sighs. Blue eyes hood with some small fondness.

"... She just laughed the whole while, and then got it right the first time. And so I ended up the one being taught."

She lingers in silence after that before, without a word, she gets her own batch of graham, chocolate and marshmallows. She roasts the marshmallow in comfortable silence, blowing out the flicker of flames. Puts it all together.

It's as the others are enjoying their s'mores, or talking by the campfire, that a second confectionary concoction is floated into Asuka's field of view.

Holding it out in offer to her, Mari smiles, bright and easy.

"Want some more, your highness?"

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.

Rei chews the smore.

Does she think some deep thought about it? Does the sweetness overwhelm her tongue? What about the burnt flavor, on a tongue that has such a strong and clear inclination to water? Will she be awakened to some subtle taste? Rei has neither disdained sweets nor sought them out. Will this awaken something?

Her eyes turn towards Shinji and Kaworu as they speak to the others. Language is a construct. A creation; it may come from somewhere, and perhaps there are patterns, but nonetheless it is an arbitrary matter.

Planets -- are they arbitrary?

Eventually she swallows.

"... It tastes of the outdoors," Rei says. "I think the fire is unique." This isn't the same as 'good,' but she does in fact take another tentative bite.

Mari has a story behind them. That she learned to make them a long time ago; no doubt, when she was herself a younger girl, however glamoroously retrograde she feigns and acts. (Rei, of course, does not suspect the truth; but do any of them? Is this place here, atop a mountain, with a small spot of flame and the heavens above, not a truth as well?)

Then Rei hears Mari address Asuka.

Her eyes half-hood. Her lips press together. She stops chewing. Her eyes open again. They turn towards Shinji, and there's a soft "hm!" from her lips.

("I think you could make one without burning the white thing," says Rei, "but it might take a long time.")

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.

"IF she made it up entirely - WHICH is likely - I'd be thinking she were scheming something!"

Something diabolical. Asuka doesn't say that, as she looks at Shinji and Kaworu.

But, Asuka is trying her best not to lick her fingers, instead waving her hand, unsuccessfully, when she looks up at Mari's s m i l e. There's the equivalent of deer in the headlights for her.

Then she looks away, blushing fiercely at knowing she's been CAUGHT. Who pays attention to someone when they're eating anyway!?

Despite it all, she listens to Mari's tale of how she originally came to know of the noble and probably made up Smore.

"A long time ago?" Her eyes wander back to Mari, as if reassessing certain... assumptions she had, "Some childhood friend or something?"

Though, perhaps 'childhood friend' is not exactly what Asuka means in this regard, given her prior assumptions. All the same, she listens...

To the idea that Mari was not just effortlessly good at something, which she admits, fondly, in a memory...

Her eyes wander, abstracted, as if contemplating the mystery of Mari Makinami Illustrious, as she thinks of the taste of the outdoors. When...

A second one floats into her field of view, and she goes crosseyed looking at it. "I said I can't handle anything that sweet." She echoes from before, irritated. But then...

... her hand just snatches the offering...

"But if it's just going to go to waste!"

... but as she takes a bite from it, she might be thinking of Mari's friend from long ago, and wondering...

... if the outdoors, is really what it tastes like to her...

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "That does seem likely," Kaworu tells Asuka mildly, of Mari scheming.
        
        "...It does," Shinji agrees, with considerably more of a grimace.
        
        Still, even if all this is due to her scheming, has it been so bad? Even Asuka seems to be enjoying herself, for a relative value of 'enjoying.' She's not just ignoring the rest of them to play on her Wonderswan, anyway.
        
        Shinji listens to Mari's story, and pictures a pair of elementary school-age girls, camping for the first time. He hums thoughtfully, and while he doesn't care for the treat, he does appreciate the story--the opportunity to learn a little more about the Child about whom he knows the least.
        
        Kaworu listens to Mary's story, and pictures something else. He smiles softly, with sympathy, and says nothing.
        
        "The outdoors... It does, now that you say so," Shinji comments to Rei, a little impressed. Language may be a construct, but she uses it so poetically. She and Kaworu both, though when he thinks about it, Kaworu's speech has gotten less and less abstract over the time that he's known him. Rei talks more too, and Asuka's less abrasive... Even I'm more positive now, Shinji reflects (though of course more positive is not the same as positive, period). Maybe being around people has been good for all of them.
        
        He smiles at the idea. Not maybe; definitely.
        
        "I'm glad we took this trip together," he says out loud, and he lets his affection ring in his voice for his companions. "Even if it's just one night, I've had a really good time with you all." He smiles at Rei's subtle aside and adds, "Let's try making some more, then. --Ah!!"
        
        And as Shinji accidentally stumbles on the linguistic root of the s'more, Kaworu smiles at them both, a chuckle on his breath. He may catch Mari's eye, and that smile broadens in silent gratitude--to express that he concurs wholeheartedly with Shinji, and not just because it's Shinji.
        
        As the night goes on, perhaps they'll talk more--about the stars, about the mountain, about what treats they'd like to try making in the future. Shinji will definitely return to the telescope in time, and then for a time simply lie on the ground to take in the breathtaking view of stars--including a few stray shooting stars from the Perseids, streaking across the night sky. When eventually they all turn in for the night, he'll fall asleep next to Kaworu in his sleeping back with a smile on his lips.
        
        Kaworu won't sleep. He'll simply lie next to Shinji and watch over him for the night. But he'll do it with a fond smile of his own.