2022-02-12: The Taste of Happiness

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[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Did anyone catch the news?

[T-NRV] * Asuka Shikinami Langley sounds like she's in an uncommonly bad mood, "Tch. Yeah. I saw." Switches to English briefly, "'Celestial Being'" She then switches back to Japanese, "-right?"

[T-NRV] * Zoia Surovy ka-click. "Hm? I saw Volchenkov beat Le Breguet-- oh. Right, yes, that part."

[T-NRV] * Shinji Ikari needs a second. "-yeah. Three bases at once, some new Gundam variant no one's heard of. Just wiped them out."

[T-NRV] Asuka Shikinami Langley> Does it actually surprise anyone that the terrorists showed their true faces?

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Gosh, I'm being insensitive. Did they get anyone you knew, Asuka, Surovy?

[T-NRV] * Zoia Surovy is actually speaking Japanese. She's very fluent but has a noticeable accent. Especially her 'w' sounds tend to hit more like a 'v'. "I don't think so. At least, I haven't heard anything!"

[T-NRV] * Asuka Shikinami Langley just is quiet for a long while then, "It doesn't matter. I wouldn't even remember any of their names. Maybe an officer or two if they pissed me off badly enough."

[T-NRV] * Kaworu Nagisa says to Zoia, "That's fortunate."

[T-NRV] * Shinji Ikari bit of a pause, "I hope not. I mean how will you show them up if they're dead?"

[T-NRV] * Zoia Surovy's line is quiet at that.

[T-NRV] Asuka Shikinami Langley> I don't need to. That's the privilege of being dead. Those things don't matter anymore.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> If you say so. Um, nice to meet you Surovy, by the way. Sorry I've got like half my head in an oven.

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Hello, Ikari! Please don't bake your head.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> ....to bake. I should clarify. Since we were being all morbid.

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Oh! What are you baking?

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Cupcakes, right now. Did a batch of brownies earlier. Misato's list read like she's still in her first year of college but I toned it down a little...

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Those sound good. It's nice that you know how to do that.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Well no one told me to stop, so.

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Then you should definitely do it if you enjoy it.

[T-NRV] Asuka Shikinami Langley> What's with all the baking anyway? Are you trying to do a NERV bake sale at school or something?

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Misato's orders. She has some crazy idea she didn't tell me all the details of, you know how it is.

[T-NRV] * Shinji Ikari is obviously fond despite his complaining.

[T-NRV] * Kaworu Nagisa says, "Hmmm... What unusual orders."

[T-NRV] Asuka Shikinami Langley> Whatever, so long as she doesn't order me to help out.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> She probably doesn't want them burnt.

[T-NRV] * Kaworu Nagisa says, like a normal person who eats regularly, "That's a logical desire for something meant to be consumed."

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Well you do...not burn, but mess with heat on some stuff. Sugar work. I'm not that good yet, baking alone is kind of nerve wracking. It's a lot more precise than cooking.

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> I'm still unpacking my kitchen things but I brought along some golubtsy to reheat until then.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> gluwhat?

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Cabbage rolls, excuse me!

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> I've just never heard of them.

[T-NRV] Asuka Shikinami Langley> Good luck getting more once you're out. Tokyo-3 is a wasteland for cuisine that isn't Japanese.

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Yes, so I noticed....

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> There's always the NT world market. It's a day trip by train and you have to know what stalls aren't toruist traps.

[T-NRV] * Kaworu Nagisa says, "Do you go often?"

[T-NRV] Asuka Shikinami Langley> Pass. As if I'm gonna waste a day just to get proper food.

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> I'll have to try that. Japanese food's fine too. Zaftra's close to the REA so we get a lot of chains from places like Khanka and China anyway.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> I usually go once a week if nothing's on fire. Fresher produce, I can get the foreign shampoo Misato likes, Pen-Pen's gotten uptight about Japanese herring lately so I get the real stuff...

[T-NRV] * Kaworu Nagisa says, "You sound as though you enjoy it. It must be nice to take a small trip every so often."

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Well I never had a train pass before getting, uh, recruited. I mean I'd rather a bus but good luck.

[T-NRV] * Kaworu Nagisa does not comment on trains. "Do you get anything special for yourself?"

[T-NRV] * Shinji Ikari verbally shrugs. "Not really. So, uh, what's in these cabbage rolls?"

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Mincemeat and rice. Then you wrap them in cabbage leaves and stew them in tomato sauce and sour cream. They're delicious.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Tomato sauce and sour cream?

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> Mmhmm!

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> It's called smetana and it makes everything better.

[T-NRV] Shinji Ikari> Huh.

[T-NRV] Zoia Surovy> If your market has the right things, maybe I'll have to bring some Zaftran food in one day. The soft drinks I probably can't get here, though. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

PREVIOUSLY,

Shinji Ikari sat in the dark. There was movement, and he looked away from it, forcing his eyes closed and trying to listen to the sound of nothing even as weight nestled itself on his uncomfortable bed.

"Rough night." Misato Katsuragi said, waiting for an answer, and plowed on. "Buddy, sometimes you get a rough sortie. I'm sorry it happened and I'm sorry I wasn't there, but picking fights with STORAGE isn't going to bring anybody back. Even if you do think you're defending a friend..."

"Does she have a reason to be afraid?" Shinji finally answered, a whisper from his voice being neglected for the better part of a day. "You guys keeping score?"

Misato paused, shifted her weight, and looked over at this wild left turn in her life's plan. "Shinji." She said, bit her lip, and nodded. "I've got a job for you, kiddo."

NOW,

Shinji Ikari looked at the commissary. At the cheap hand printed 'WE BEAT THE ANGEL!' banner, and the handful of party favors that had probably been bought this afternoon, and the fact that no one had gotten napkins.

"You couldn't afford a caterer."

"Our generation's more frugal than yours, Shinji." Misato says, sticking her hip out in obvious, misplaced pride. "A little levity's just what we need to restore morale! Now uh set those up..."

"What are we going to eat?"

"The cake!"

Shinji takes a long look at the most responsible adult in his life, sighs, and flips open his phone. "Hello, Tak-kun's? Yeah, I'm going to need, at least five pizzas if I know this place. Maybe seven, actually...do they come with napkins?"

"Paper towels are JUST as good, Shinji!" Misato snaps, leaning on his head to read over his shoulder. "Oh who have you been texting little man--ow!"

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

It had taken Zoia some time to wake up after the fight. She hadn't been shipped directly to NERV headquarters. She stayed the night in the aircraft carrier's medical ward, under monitoring after the hardship of the fight. She'd never fought an Angel in live combat; for all that she'd kept her composure, she's still fourteen years old, and still came out of the battle hurt, scared and badly drained.

She woke up the next morning and carried on like it was just another day. Since then she hasn't been seen on the base.

At least until the commentary door pushes open. "Hello...?"

Not entirely sure how to dress for one of these occasions, Zoia went with the closest thing to 'nice workwear' she has at the moment: her REA military uniform. It involves a knee-length navy coat over matching slacks, the coat worn open to reveal a white shirt and a black tie. While there's an associated hat, she's taken it off, revealing short blonde hair gelled and nearly parted.

She pushes up her glasses with a blink, trying to recognize faces before migrating into the room as she recognizes that, yes, she is in fact in the right place. Pausing, she takes a look up at the banner and presses her lips together.

        'WE BEAT THE ANGEL'

Zoia nods simply, then smiles and gives the banner a quick thumbs-up.

"...Did I hear someone ordering pizzas?"

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Asuka's taking a break between runs in the sims when her phone buzzes.

>party at the commissary come on down!!!
>thats an order btw

Asuka makes a disgusted noise and resists the urge to toss her phone.

>also u have to mingle
>thats also an order btw

Her foot instead lashes out and dents a metal locker. Fortunately not hers.

-=-=-

Asuka shows up before too long, a bag slung on her shoulders, having changed into her workout clothes, which is a workout tank top and some shorts. Upon entering the room, she immediately rolls her eyes seeing Zoia in her REA military uniform, walking...

... adjacent to the others, her and Shinji rather than some far corner of the room. And dropping her bag.

She then immediately leans against the wall, crosses both of her arms, and looks away.

For Asuka Shikinami Langley... this... is mingling.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Rei Ayanami was able to return EVA-00 to the Tokyo-3 area under power. After a brief interlude, in which the Evangelion was tasked to facilitate maneuvering into repair dock --

(Imagine a giant pushing one of the great ships as if it were so much lumber and wood and scrap metal. There would have been photos, but the Pachelbel's ops crew knew the rules.)

-- and then back to the cage, and into the Geofront.

Plating damage was assessed. The entry plug purged. After the usual unpleasantness Rei left. She sat. She was examined, and she was given an anti-inflammatory for unfortunate aggravation of a tendon issue. After this she went home, as she does.

She laid down, and she looked out of the window.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKKmwieN-6Q

Time passed, inevitably. Nothing of importance occured. Rei had a dream, but sometimes that happens; nothing of importance.

Her phone buzzed.

> misato's throwing party in the main room
> she had me bake half the food for it, jeez
> if you want to come any special orders for your pizza?

Rei did not reply for six minutes. Then she did.

Understood. <
I do not eat meat. <

That was probably ambiguous. Until the waveform resolves and Rei comes in through the door.

Rei is wearing a short-sleeved button up blouse with that mandarin-and-throat-brooch style that is sweeping the Tokyo-3 sartorial landscape. The blouse is an extremely pale purple to the point of being more a tinted white. There is a skirt as well. It would be classifiable as business casual; you could wear it to a professional dinner and be completely correct. Rei has slightly smoother hair than usual, as if she took some effort to brush it.

Rei steps inside. Her eyes go across those who are already present, one by one. Shinji first. The Major (so Rei thinks of her, and perhaps always will). Surovy. The second.

Rei takes another step forward. She takes a specifically deeper-than-usual breath; lets it out. She looks at the banner.

"We, did," Rei says then, to no one in particular. (Well, to the banner.)

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        As people begin to gather in the commissary, and as Kaworu ends his shift, he gazes up into seeming empty air, his gaze in a certain direction. He ponders for a moment; he considers the text on his own phone, which is lying on his desk; then he picks it up, gets up from his seat, and heads to the closest bathroom with a small duffel bag, convenient for travel. When he leaves, he's changed into his normal, casual clothes: a button-up white shirt over a violent undershirt, belted in place with black slacks, and--bizarrely--sneakers with popped sides.
        
        And so, a short time after the others, he strolls into the celebration area with hands tucked in his pockets. The banner greets him first, and he looks up at it. His ever-present smile turns briefly rueful. When that sentiment passes, he focuses his smile on Shinji.
        
        "Hey, Shinji. So this is what Lt. Col. Katsuragi's orders were actually about, I see," he comments, gaze starting at his fellow pilot before turning to rest on Misato. From there, he looks over at Zoia, dressed smartly in her REA military uniform. "You look well. I take it you've had enough time to rest?"
        
        Rei remarks on the banner's message then: more a straightforward acknowledgement than anything else. "An accomplishment worthy of celebration, hm, First?" he remarks, looking over at her.
        
        He ignores Asuka. That's probably the nicest thing he can do for her right now. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Shinji Ikari has somehow gotten a white t-shirt that says "NERV UNIFORM" in big black letters. This is funny to him for reasons that have to do with multiverse theory and the suffering that defines the human heart. Misato also thinks it's funny, because she has absolutely no class. Standard black slacks, and his sneaker game has also improved. Someone cut a deal I guess.

"Hello kids!" Misato greats, bouncing over as Shinji works out on the phone. "Great to see everybody coming out! Now this isn't anything formal, of course, but I thought it'd be nice if we all got a little breather before the next thing shows up to end the world. Just a little informal mixer!"

"We would've gotten balloons but SOMEONE was being a bit of a yankee." Misato says, smiling like she's a functional adult. "We've got some chips and dip and baked goods and."

"Yeah, I need two plain, a double pepperoni, a meat lover's, a veggie lovers." Shinji nods at his co-workers as he talks on the phone, "One of those shrimp and mayo ones, I've never seen anyone eat one but they always vanish," Shinji is about to ask Asuka for an opinion, sees the look on her face, and goes back to the phone, "Hey Kaworu. no, you're not Kaworu, lady, just make it a hawaiian to round it out. Yeah and some extra pop, and that cheese bread, everyone likes that. Twenty? Great. Yeah, K A T S oh you've got her on file? Sure."

"Ugh." Shinji turns around, sees Rei, smiles, realizes she's dressed like THAT and fees his ears earm up. "uh." Shinji swallows. "Hey Ayanami. Glad you could make it. That color's nice on you?"

Misato cracks open a beer that has somehow found its way into her hands. 

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

Some people make themselves blatantly obvious. Zoia can practically feel a very red thundercloud descending on the room even as she hangs her hat somewhere off to the side, her coat following. Inevitably, this draws her eyes towards Asuka.

The Seventh Child considers the Surly Child for several seconds.

And then smiles politely and looks away, largely because other people seem like they want to talk. Leaving Asuka to stew seems like the approach least likely to get them all yelled at.

Besides, Kaworu seems more pleasant to socialize with, and Zoia rewards the greeting with a quiet smile, clasping her hands politely at waist level. "Yes, thank you, Administrator. And for everything during the fight. I'm glad everyone was there." Fighting the Angel further out to sea, with just the escort fleet, would've been rather more nightmarish.

Misato takes her aback ever so slightly, manifesting as a quick blink, but she covers it by resuming that neat smile and inclining her head. It passes to a glance downward. "Oh-- maybe I should have worn something different," she murmurs before lifting her gaze again.

Back to Shinji. "Oh, those sound good. Thank you so much." The smile returns, as polite as ever. "It's nice to meet you in person. We talked a little before, but, you know."

Zoia turns as she speaks and swings her attention towards the other Child in the room. Rei's outfit provokes another thought:

        I should have packed something casual.

"Yes... yes, we did! I'm glad things went alright."

A thought occurs to her. "Well, most things."

Heat of battle or not, she had very much noticed a disturbed Shinji standing on a ship with a thoroughly gutted bridge.

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


"'Just a little informal mixer!'" Asuka repeats, muttering under her breath, while she generally actually likes and respects Misato her patience has been wearing thin on Misato trying to get them all to get along.

That line to her she suspects means Misato hopes they'll do more than just get along here.

Asuka's eyes look to Rei as she enters the room, lofting a single eyebrow as she sees Rei in those casual clothes. It's not exactly the style she expected of her. Yet the moment that she sees Rei looking at the banner and speaking... 'We, did.' As Zoia joins in soon after 'Yes... yes, we did!'

"I did."

Asuka corrects, none too gently, though not with such volume that it sounds like she's picking a fight with either Rei or Zoia. Her eyes gaze immediately shifts to Kaworu afterwards, not saying anything. Just... staring.

Eventually though her attention turns towards Shinji as she asks, "Who put you in charge of ordering anyway? 'Veggie Lovers'? Who's even going to eat that?"


<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Kaworu arrives. Rei hears what he says.

Another Angel defeated. Seventeen injuries; two hospitalizations; zero fatalities on the staging craft. The arrival of Z2 and 'Zahlos'. Interception well south of Tokyo-3.

"The mission was accomplished," Rei answers him.

Her eyes turn to Misato as she speaks. She blinks several times. A graphical illustration:

<-- (Misato's idiomatic speech)
(air (6cm))
(Rei Ayanami)
(The ground)
(approximately 12.5km of structural elements)
(classified)

Shinji's food order is somewhat more comprehensible. Her expression doesn't change, even as the names of the pizzas are articulated to the person on the other end of the telephone connection.

While she does not exactly smile, her face lightens discernibly as Shinji speaks to her. "Yes. It was recommended to me."

"Your attack interfered with the Angel's ability to attack," Rei answers Zoia, sort of. She doesn't really look at her while saying this. "It was a successful tactic."

The Second takes credit. Rei considers. She seems to pass the topic by. However, there is a question. "I will eat it," Rei states, "if it is a pizza without meat."

Is a pizza a meal for an individual?

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        Kaworu gets a better look at Shinji's shirt, and his smile broadens in a way that makes it clear he's laughing even if he's not actually vocalizing a laugh. It's funny to him too, coincidentally for the same reasons. Since it seems he's still caught up with placing an order for pizzas, he lets that be his response to Shinji's counter-greeting for now.
        
        "Hello, Lt. Colonel," he greets Misato. "Thank you for the invitation. It's kind of you to provide the opportunity to relax after a mission." Whether she's done a good job at actually arranging it is another matter, but on that, Kaworu doesn't remark. Perhaps he has low standards when it comes to social gatherings.
        
        He smiles warmly at Zoia's thanks. "You're quite welcome--but you needn't thank me for my role in the battle. We all did what we needed to."
        
        Asuka cuts in that *she* defeated the Angel, then stares at Kaworu. He gives her a sidelong, unsmiling look--but he doesn't say anything. Instead, he looks over at Rei.
        
        "It certainly was," he replies. He pauses when Asuka scoffs at a Veggie Lover's pizza and Rei says that she'll eat it if it doesn't include meat. "A single pizza is usually too large for one person," he comments to Rei, as if reading her mind. In truth, he's simply been to a Pizza Hut within the past month and had almost a whole pie pushed onto him, which he promptly then pushed onto someone else. "Shall we share it?" 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Misato has noticed the tension, and indeed allowed it to fester for some mysterious reason instead of gently taking Asuka aside and putting the fear of god and Nerv into her. She can feel Asuka glaring at her and responds to it by continuing to drink her beer, though the two kids who directly address her get a thumbs up.

Shinji deflates, visibly, as Asuka starts again, as there's that weird tension with Kaworu again, as he feels like a chess piece between the two of them again. Just like that he suddenly looks as exhausted as he was this morning, and lets out a slow breath. "Vegetarians." Shinji says, "Obviously. Ayanami, I wasn't sure if you were vegan or not, you usually just talk about meat, so I took a guess. Sorry if I screwed that up but this is all last minute."

"Whimsical." Misato corrects.

"Whimsical." Shinji says, and forces a smile at the new girl. "I got some extra for second shift." Shinji feels a little underdressed between Zoia's uniform and Ayanami suddenly discovering the fashion world. What HAPPENED to her in Thailand anyway? What the hell does he say, here? "Can I get anyone a drink?" Shinji defaults to playing houseboy out of lack of knowledge about how parties work.

"I'll take a beer, bud!"

"You just had one." Shinji says with seemingly shocking casuallness. His hair is ruffled in response. "That isn't an answer!"

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

"Yes," Zoia answers with a nod for Kaworu, her smile just as warm and polite. "Though it was nice to see how you all work together--"

        'I did'

So much for avoiding a fight. Zoia slowly turns her head towards Asuka Langley. She gives her a long, considering look. Delicate fingers come up to push her glasses up her nose.

And then she smiles approvingly. "Yes, you did."

"And so did we all. Thank you!"

Rei's even kind enough to... compliment? Zoia's not sure if it's praise or a statement of fact directed at open air somewhere off thataway, but she folds her hands again anyway and dips her head politely, deciding to take the hook and respond anyway. "Yes, thank you. The rocket system's never been deployed live against something with a real AT Field before - I was afraid it wouldn't work! I'm just glad it did. But you had very good aim, too!"

The offer of a drink is met with a quick nod. "Oh, thank you! What kind of cola is there? I don't know all the brands in Japan."

It doesn't help that her case of Baikal ended up on Misato's doorstep. 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Asuka stares at Zoia for a while, as if trying to figure out if she was being patronized here or not. Yet when she then addends 'And so did we all. Thank you!' Asuka clucks her tongue in annoyance seemingly unimpressed, "Covering all your bases huh?"

Asuka just gives Shinji a look that says 'What are you stupid?' without actually saying it as he says 'Vegetarians' which... why would she thinks that's stupid?

"How childish." Asuka says of Rei's statement that she'll eat a pizza without meat, and her eyes narrow further as Kaworu says he'll join in. "Hey Commander's Pet, Fifth String in case you didn't realize - living beings like us need to eat meat in order to survive. You two wanna bond over a veggie pizza that's already coming?"

SHINJI gets a glare there as if she was mad at him for ordering it. Unmoving by the idea that Rei requested it before her attention returns to the pair.

"Knock yourself out, but don't let me catch you ever getting picky if there's meat on your plate in the future."

It's a strange thing for her to get upset about isn't it? To even risk picking a fight with Kaworu after yesterday. And yet, it's important enough to her that she did it anyway.

"It's precious life, so never waste it."

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Rei glances towards Kaworu directly now. She blinks once and then nods; and amplifies it further, "Yes, Administrator." Her hands, having nothing else to do, come up; loosely folding her arms in front of her.

"What does 'vegan' mean?" Rei asks Shinji when he raises the issue. Then, "If I won't eat it, it is not your fault." A beat passes. "Yes," she answers Shinji, not specifying.

Zoia is speaking about work. Rei regards her with a turn of her head. She nods at the compliment, and replies: "Failure can teach lessons, too. It is good that it was successful."

And then--
Asuka strikes!

Rei responds to this statement with a facial expression! It is a momentary and slight frown; it would probably be taken for a slight case of RBF if her expression had not been a stop or so brighter a moment ago. She shifts to face the Second.

Upset. Outrage. It is not her concern. Is it her concern? Why would it be her concern? My diet is not her concern.

A hunger for flesh. The taste is not repellent to her. Her flesh is otherwise from other flesh. She can. She can. Yes. That is why.

"Yes," Rei agrees with Asuka. Then, "I will give you my portion, if it happens."

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Rei glances towards Kaworu directly now. She blinks once and then nods; and amplifies it further, "Yes, Administrator." Her hands, having nothing else to do, come up; loosely folding her arms in front of her.

"What does 'vegan' mean?" Rei asks Shinji when he raises the issue. Then, "If I won't eat it, it is not your fault." A beat passes. "Yes," she answers Shinji, not specifying.

Zoia is speaking about work. Rei regards her with a turn of her head. She nods at the compliment, and replies: "Failure can teach lessons, too. It is good that it was successful."

And then--
Asuka strikes!

Rei responds to this statement with a facial expression! It is a momentary and slight frown; it would probably be taken for a slight case of RBF if her expression had not been a stop or so brighter a moment ago. She shifts to face the Second.

Upset. Outrage. It is not her concern. Is it her concern? Why would it be her concern? My diet is not her concern.

A hunger for flesh. The taste is not repellent to her. Her flesh is otherwise from other flesh. She can. She can. Yes. That is why.

"Yes," Rei agrees with Asuka. Then, "I will give you my portion, if it happens."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        "Please," Kaworu tells Shinji at his offer to get a drink. He can see his discomfort, but if it's discomfort at the tension with Asuka, there's little he can do to directly dissuade that. He already tried last night. For now: "I'll have a glass of ice water. Thank you." ...Giving him something to do is the best he can do for him, meager though it may be.
         

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

"I'll go get some more drinks from upstairs." Misato says, giving Shinji's hair another ruffle solely to embarrass the boy.

Grumbling, Shinji says, "Well the usual. Canned coffee and some waters, and Calipis of course." A pause. "And fanta! You have that in europe, right? We've got, uh, blue, and melon, and lemon, and cherry? They make cherry?"

"I don't drink a lot of soda." Shinji admits, glad to just be out of the power struggle that now seems to include Ayanami. "Sure, Kaworu." Shinji quickly adapts to playing bartender, pouring some ice, the cold water, and a slice of lemon for taste. "Anyone else while I'm by the ice?"

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

Zoia cants her head towards Rei, taking stock of the other girl with a quick once-over. The outfit is pretty, but to say there's something strange about her would put it very, very lightly.

        ...What am I getting from her? She feels... lifeless, somehow.

She seems like she's about to say something, until Asuka strikes. Again.

She opens her mouth to say something, but checks it at the door of her mouth and exhales with a look towards Kaworu. The smile's taken on a look of vague helplessness, as if she's trying very hard to keep the expression up. Behind it, she's rapidly drawing a few conclusions. The empty spot in her fridge shaped just right for a case of Baikal feels entirely regrettable the more she thinks about it.

"...I'd never tried to be a full vegetarian," Zoia admits with a look back at Kaworu. "Maybe I'll try a few no-meat days. Once I figure out what I can get for a good price."

Then she blinks at Shinji. "Canned coffee is a thing? Okay, I have to try that...." A beat - "Fanta? Oh yes, we have that. But I really want to try the coffee."

She purses her lips and taps her cheek with a fingertip. "...I've never had Japanese pizza, either, come to think of it...."

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Shinji's playing bartender, but right now Asuka's attention is laser focused on Rei, drinks were never a concern of hers. It's both fortunate and unfortunate that Misato left for drinks upstairs at this moment...

Zoia gets a momentary glare from Asuka as she states she might try some no meat days. Why is she so passionate about this that she's getting so upset about dietary preferences? Kaworu's words are ones that she can let go - and does let go even if she's irritated that he's trying to play nice with the Commander's Pet.

Rei's response though...

Asuka just stares at Rei for longer, arms crossed, then there's a twitch of her right eye this look in it like she's just been supremely insulted. She's confident that Rei came from a similar place as her, so there's no way she didn't understand what she was really talking about. Uncrossing her arms, she steps up to her, "Hey, Commander's Pet. Are you picking a fight with me?" She says dangerously, staring at her red eyes.

Unlike with Shinji at least, she doesn't seem like a coiled spring, ready to strike Rei at any given moment. It's like she's waiting for Rei to confirm one way or another what her intention was before she'd take any action.

"I don't mind stepping outside the party right now if you want to settle things." Her eyes flick to Kaworu briefly, "In... the sparring ring." She adds, though it seems clear that she didn't intend it that way originally. Though maybe it cuts at least the edge off the hostility, as if she's been at least partially defanged by just being forced to give that much ground.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

"Oh!" Shinji says, realizing he missed Rei's question while avoiding the three way stare down, "A vegan is someone who tries not to eat any animal products. Cheese, milk, uh. Gelatin. That sort of thing, while a vegetarian just avoids meat."

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Rei takes a few steps to follow after Kaworu towards a table. Other people are doing it, even if her legs aren't tired.

Rei looks after Shinji as he moves towards drinks. He lists some example foods. Rei reviews them - cheese and milk are animal products but aren't flesh. She is unsure what gelatin is, but, she reasons, if she had eaten it she did not know it. Which suggests provisional acceptance. "Understood," she answers Shinji with a slight nod.

Zoia is unfortunately neglected in the moment, because Asuka is speaking. Rei turns her attention back to her and gazes at her, steady, level, unblinking. She does not answer immediately. This may send a message accidentally, but the real reason is because somewhere in the back of her mind, Rei is trying to puzzle this behavior out.

Was her concern that the animal's sacrifice would be wasted? But she would gain the benefit. She wants to fight me. If she fights me, I will be hurt. The Commander will be disappointed. Ikari will be disappointed. EVA-02's pilot may suffer consequences. I won't fight her.

Rei's eyes narrow, fractionally.

Ikari worked with the Lieutenant Colonel to organize this event. His efforts are confusing. His efforts are--
--
I do not want these efforts to be in vain. The Second is challenging me to a fight. What would the Commander do?
What would the Vice-Commander do?

"No," Rei replies. The Vice-Commander would explain his action. "The situation is unlikely. Our rations will be prioritized in an emergency situation." Rei turns to resume moving towards a seat. "If it arises, we can discuss it at the time."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        When Shinji delivers Kaworu's drink to him, he gives him a broad and sincere smile. "Thank you," he says, toying momentarily with the lemon wedge. For some reason, he seems inordinately pleased that it's there. After a moment, he takes a long drink, then sets the glass down on the table.
        
        "Price?" he echoes at Zoia. After a heartbeat, he answers himself: "Oh, I see. The price of meat relative to fruits, grains, and vegetables. Yes, meat is quite cheap these days, isn't it?"
        
        Asuka meanwhile demands if Rei is trying to pick a fight with her, and then tells her she's ready to take it to the sparring room. Kaworu sighs behind closed lips. Fortunately, Rei has it in hand... more or less. Even so, it's near certain Asuka will continue to press the issue, so he says, "It sounds as though there will be more than enough food to accomodate everyone's personal preferences. Shall we leave it at that?"
        
        This will probably *still* not be enough. He thus continues, "By the way, Zoia Surovy. The Second Child was interested in the circumstances leading to Unit-04's transfer here. Since you were assigned to protect the aircraft carrier on which it was transported, perhaps you have some insight on the matter?" 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

The fight?

It doesn't dissolve so much as go nowhere. It's kind of fascinating to watch from the outside. Shinji notices that despite it all Asuka does not look as murderous as she does with him on a regular basis. He wonders what that means.

"Here's your coffee." Shinji says, handing Zoia a regular. "I'm kind of curious too, since apparently it almost exploded. Also, like, shouldn't it be Unit-03?"

"Only shouldn't Eisen's be Unit-03?" Shinji pauses. "I really don't get how our manufacturing practice works."

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

There's enough venom seething through the social encounter that Zoia's half-tempted to call poison control for one particular Second Child. She resists the urge. She's keeping her eyes and smile directed towards Shinji and Kaworu for the most part, but the barbs from Asuka aren't missed. What's behind them is... interpretable, through some sense.

She's content for now to let Rei and Asuka argue - or is it to let the latter bully the former? She's not sure. There's a dynamic there that she can't fully place. It's like the two of them somehow pooled enough emotionality for two people and then gave it all to the redhead.

        'Price?'

Zoia's eyebrows arch slightly. But Kaworu clarifies, and she ohs with a blink. "Is it? I'm not sure! I haven't shopped in Japan yet...."

When the administrator brings up work, however, Zoia folds her arms and purses her lips, looking up towards the ceiling a moment. "I'm not sure of all the details myself," she admits. "But it sounded like there was some kind of problem during testing. From what I heard, the Eva would have destroyed itself and taken NERV Britannia with it, but someone stopped it somehow. After that they decided to send it here." She shrugs. "That's what I heard, anyway... I only found out when I loaded up in Vladivostok and got over to their ship. I didn't meet the pilot, though. Actually I think I was the only pilot on the ship."

She shrugs, then waves a hand. "The other thing the Britannia people were saying is that the Eva that just got here isn't the only one. Apparently there's another one that *did* work fine. But I don't know any more than that."

Shinji's question is met with a shrug even as she takes the coffee. "I mean... I'm not sure about the numbering...?" She cracks open her coffee and takes a sip.

It isn't as weird as she expected. She holds the can up and nods at it approvingly.

"I think it's Unit-Z2 because it's the second Evangelion produced in Zaftra," she guesses. "I don't know about the... Carestia? Isn't it the Zahllos unit? I don't know what a Zahllos is, though...."

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Rei is treated to this look of complete bewilderment as Asuka seems to straighten up at an answer she regards as confusing. That combined with Kaworu's answer just leaves her even more confused. For a few seconds she's just looking from Rei to Kaworu with this sort of dull incomprehension. Her hands at both sides suddenly clinch into two fists as she seems to tense up, her whole body just shaking as her chin dips. One might wonder if indeed she's going to strike her after all. Then she just rasps out at Rei in particular, though... maybe it's for Kaworu too, "Don't... mess with me... you think it's cute to stand there and act oblivious to what this is really about?"

Yet for all of the tension, eventually... in the room but she takes a step back, before whirling around and storming back to her place by her gym bag. It might have been the change of subject to Unit-04 that kept her from storming out of the party right now. Though... that's unclear...

What is clear though from her posture is that she seems even more withdrawn than ever.

She doesn't seem to comment on the conversation, though she has an ear on it.

The Z2 designation still pisses her off though. It ought to be Unit-05. That at least she could accept.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Kaworu offers them an escape route. Silently Rei is relieved. (This relief encourages her, too, on some level. It will end.)

Ikari and Zoia are talking about the new unit... Unit-03. Rei focuses ahead.

When Asuka tenses up Rei straightens up as well. A little. Her arms have stayed folded in front of her because she had nothing else to do with them. They tighten around herself as if she's bracing, quietly, for impact. How often has she been struck by someone in anger? Results here may vary.

Cute? What is cute's meaning, here? It is not a preference for meat. It is not a confusion regarding a breach of tradition... she is educated and has been in Japan for some time. Does my presence offend her? Does she wish to be alone?

Rei blinks once.

Asuka turns away -

Rei exhales visibly but silently.

After this, Rei advances at last -- to sit down. It comes in time, with patience. Rei sits in the seat in a rather formal way, spine fully upright. Her hands are folded in her lap. The conversation about the price of goods eludes her. Evangelions do not. "The Eva is complicated to manufacture. It is good that they avoided disaster," Rei offers, looking at Zoia again.

She is a preferable presence to the Second.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        "Unit-03 is still under construction. Although it was started before Unit-04, various issues have delayed its completion, and Unit-04 ended up getting finished first," Kaworu explains to Shinji, resting his fingertips on the lip of his glass. When Rei sits down at last and pipes in about Eva manufacturing, he nods her way. "Yes. We'll see Unit-03 sooner or later, come what may."
        
        For some reason, there's a vaguely ominous cadence to that last sentence. Oh well, it's probably nothing.
        
        Kaworu shrugs when Zoia asks if meat really is cheaper now. "So I've heard. Meat production was moved to space, and that drove down the prices." He takes a sip as she goes on about what she heard while transporting 04. "Interesting," he comments of 04's pilot not having actually been on the ship. "I wonder if she intends on parachuting in again."
        
        He has gone back to ignoring Asuka. Acknowledging her last comment would not lead anywhere good, and now that the topic has shifted to Unit-04, she seems content at last to hang around more or less peacefully. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Shinji frowns. He thinks.

YOUNGER DAYS,

"Brat!" Matsuda's voice stank of stale sake, or whiskey, Shinji didn't really care which. He kicked on the door. "Not supposed to keep this locked, brat!"

"You're supposed to call."

"Not supposed to cheek me either, brat! Time for lessons!"

Shinji opens the door, looking up at his teacher, Gendo Ikari's old colleague from younger, dirtier days. They glare at each other.

"I got the groceries." Matsuda has a small bag of essentials. The rest, Shinji knew, he pocketed, and eventually drank. It didn't matter. If father was concerned, he'd surely do something, right? "And the books. You know what to study by now, right?"

No. "Of course."

"Good, good. Maybe I should make you something before I go." Matsuda leers at that, a particularly pleasant memory of when he finally got a lesson through to the bot.

"No." Shinji said, softly, gesturing at his tiny camp stove. There was a bowl of rice gohan, steaming. "Turns out I can do it myself. Want a bowl, sir?"

The old man turned his head, smiled, and grabbed the bowl out of Shinji's hands. He was going to anyway, and shoved the boy for good measure. Shinji smiled, bruise or no, feeling a tiny shred of victory.

TODAY,

Shinji gives the miserable, withdrawn look of Asuka Langley a glance, and remembers being hungry. She's not interested in his pity or understanding, though. Why would she be? Why would anyone?

The pizzas, mercifully, arrive. Shinji isn't even irritated that no one's eating the food he worked on; second shift and the bridge bunnies will mop it up. "Tak-Kun, thank god."

"Hmmph." The moody teenager on the vespa says, "Should get tipped extra for delivering to this hole."

"Can you help me carry it in?" Shinji asks, balancing four pizzas in his arms and wincing at the heat. Its like the universe is setting him up for some kind of punchline. 

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

The bright red hate-fireball burning its way through the delicate and flammable flypaper of this conversation is impossible for Zoia to miss. She's not sure she wants to engage Asuka. Not when she's fairly sure some kind of explosion is coming.

The look she gives to Asuka isn't particularly angry. More concerned - lower lip lightly caught between her teeth, head tilted to one side as if expecting the redhead to spontaneously combust.

No danger of that from Rei's corner, anyway. Zoia pulls a chair out for herself and settles into it. She sits fairly primly, smoothing out her trousers with a pass of her hands, then straightening her tie. "Aren't they supposed to be hard to get working at all?"

Zoia takes a quick sip of her coffee. It's growing on her. She swallows before looking back at Rei.

"Unit-Z2 is a proof-of-concept, actually. It's a Full Armour Type. Even if something gets past the AT Field, it's supposed to handle it and keep going."

Trailing off, she looks towards the door, watching Shinji struggle with the pizzas. "...Excuse me," she says delicately to Rei before standing and stepping over.

"Here." She flashes him a faint smile as she takes a couple of pizzas. They're hotter than she expected, and she wobbles with them perilously a moment before steadying them. 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


It's hard to say what Asuka is thinking of at the moment, whether she's being moody, actively sulking, or is just... distant. Whatever roused her anger from Rei's vegetarian preferences is still unclear. And the conclusion to that encounter gave her no outlet for that anger to go.

Yet for how isolated she seems to have made herself from the rest of the room does get through to her...

...a single comment does, anyway.

Kaworu comments on the pilot of Unit-04, and that doesn't cause her to bat an eye. What does is her manner of entry, which causes her to suddenly just... look... straight at him as Zoia and Shinji leave the room.

"What do you mean parachuting in 'again'?"

She asks... giving him this long look, like she's searching, trying to glean something out of his typically inscruable expression.

"You said she was from Bethany Base in AEU-Britain right? And she's going to be piloting a Britannian Project they just... gave up to us after a near disaster?"

A beat.

"Just what kind of connections does this new girl have?"

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


The conversation is less awkward than she had thought. Rei does not feel quite as isolated as she thought - expected. She came primarily because Ikari invites her. (A secondary topic was curiosity regarding pizza-- but she could have ordered one herself.)

That said, Rei looks at Kaworu blankly when she mentions 'she' parachuting in.

Is he referring to the Second? But she did not have a parachute. The leap from a high place, a powered craft. Perhaps it's an analogy. Yes, that would make sense. He wonders if the Second will rejoin us after the nervous stress subsides.

Zoia explains something about Z2. Full Armor. A second line of defense if the initial line of defense should fail. Rei's head inclines slightly, as if to say 'yes, I did hear you' with a minimum of effort. Her eyes turn down to the tabletop after the doorbell rings and they have a moment of peace.

A superior defensive unit. I am afraid of it.
Why?

But then -- the pizzas. They're straining Ikari! Rei straightens up, about to rise. Zoia is better positioned to assist. But then the Second says something.

For whatever obscure reason, Rei turns her head to abruptly look directly at Asuka. At almost the exact point she said 'parachuting in 'again'?'

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.

'Can you help me carry it in?'

The moody teenager on the vespa is already vespa'ing away.

Zoia, helpfully, is there to pluck a few pizzas off Shinji's plate. And that, it seems, would be the end of it --

Except for the fact that, the second Shinji turns around, there's -someone immediately behind him-.

This is something plainly obvious because of the fact that there is a face hovering -directly beside his face-.

Glasses. Reddish-brown hair. A big smile. Smelling him.

        --smelling him--?

sniff, sniff

"Ahh, that's a good scent~."

Whereupon the tall girl who has inexplicably appeared behind Shinji Ikari will reach out from behind him--

--to pluck the rest of those pizzas up and bring them up and over his head, to free him entirely from clenching pipin' hot fresh pizza pies.

"Let's relieve you of your burdens, Puppy Boy."

The pizzas, of course. She was smelling the pizzas.

Of course(?).

Wait. Who is she, exactly?

Who she is, in the immediate sense, is the girl with a bright smile who's taking all those pizzas to the first free seat at the table she can find to flop down with all the comfort of someone who's been here all her life, and flip open those pizza boxes one by one to critically inspect their contents.

"Oho, what have we got here..."

But in the broader sense--

--well, she's busy humming along looking at pizza toppings to answer that, at the moment, obviously.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        "They are," Kaworu confirms to Zoia. As for the Z2: "It's an interesting design philosophy. Most Evangelions rely on their A.T. Fields, but naturally the Angels have them too. Ensuring an Evangelion is defended even after it's breached is quite sensible. I personally prefer light and dynamic units myself, but having those differences distinguish us is wonderful."
        
        He pauses to watch Shinji as he leaves to fetch the freshly-delivered pizzas. Zoia gets up to go after him, and Kaworu... stays where he is. Something melancholy shadows his gaze before he lowers it. When he looks up again, a resolved calm has replaced it. ...it's for the best. Making Shinji too reliant on him will only lead to his unhappiness. Alexis made that quite clear. Hindsight only makes it clearer. So he chooses to watch over him from a distance.
        
        Asuka verbally barges in while Rei gives him a quizzical look that she later turns to the Second. Kaworu doesn't respond--not at first, at least. At first he has no intention to respond at all--Asuka's questions are largely rhetorical, in his perspective--but when a certain someone takes Shinji's burden and waltzes in with it like it's no big deal, he smiles. It's only a little bittersweet.
        
        "Hmmm... If you're really curious--" He turns a pointed look at the newcomer. "--why don't you ask her directly?"

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

"You suck Tak-Kun! Twenty dollar tip." Shinji groans, and the conversation returns, inevitably, to Evangelions. Man don't they all have any hobbies? Shinji struggles with the pizzas, and smiles a bit, "Hey, thanks Zoia."

And then he feels a presence behind him. Shinji knows what that means and part of him is already looking for his mug-me money when he turns around and.

Shinji sees Mari, looks up at Mari's eyes, and she.

She had to be sniffing the pizzas, right?! (Shinji smells like discount shampoo, lcl, and cheap aftershave that smells like cheap aftershave.). Shinji looks at anyone as this crazy woman sniffs him, steals his pizzas, opens them up (they are hot and delicious looking, Misato knows her cheap local pizza places.) and starts sniffing THEM.

"...Puppy Boy?!" Shinji's voice cracks as he gets yet another stupid nickname.
Rei Ayanami tosses a coin: Tails

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

Zoia's getting the idea she may be relatively well-adjusted for her company. This strikes her as impossibly sad - not because of any of the others, though.

"No problem, Shinji." She returns the smile. Between Asuka being the way she is and Rei seeming to have little desire to express, it's beginning to occur to her that Shinji could probably use a friend. Or at least a pizza carrier.

Besides - they smell good.

Cradling the pizzas, she too begins to turn, but even as she does, something's beginning to occur to her.

Shinji may be surprised to find a very tall brown-haired girl behind him. Zoia isn't. She looks up at the new person through her own prescription frames, assessing her with a quick toe-to-tip scan.

And a blink. Smelling Ikari? She hadn't noticed him having a particular aroma. And--

        ...Puppy Boy?

"...Well, that's helpful of you!" she comments as she pushes a polite smile back up, as if to deflect the weirdness away by presenting the usual air of composure she tries to put on. In either case, she's trotting in when Mari and Shinji do, setting the pizzas down.

She organizes them compulsively into a neat row. She even fusses with one of them because it's a few millimetres crooked. 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Before the conversation progresses further, that bespectacled girl with reddish-brown hair just walks in, confident and cheerful. "Right, just set them down on the ta..." It's somewhat dismissive, like she just thinks she's delivering the pizzas. That's before she sits down, and starts opening the boxes. Despite her disinterest, she can't help but say something as she suddenly pushes herself up from the wall and uncrosses her arms. "H-Hey! Since when does pizza delivery just invite themselves in to a party on a military base?"

'-why don't you ask her directly?'

Asuka looks like she locks up for half a second, as she looks at Kaworu. Then back at Mari.

"'Her?'"

Asuka looks at Shinji and Zoia as if they betrayed her for not alerting her to the fact that this was not in fact, some pizza girl - but was in fact the very Child they were speaking about.

Immediately she steps forward, Asuka putting her foot up on a chair beside Mari, crosses her arms, and leans forward from her now elevated position. "Hey, four-eyed crony." She states, seemingly having plucked a nickname for her out of the ether from all the mystery surrounding her and the events with Unit-04.

"I was stationed in Europe. Why haven't I ever heard of you?"

As she brusquely starts interrogating her immediately, not even bothering to ask her name.

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Rei looks away from Asuka and towards--

She has a placid look on her face from a distance but inside:

???????????

She's got nothing here, not for a moment. "..."

Rei settles back down, aborting her 'Stand and Deliver' operation. The new girl (woman? she seems mature, but, so goes the automatic processes of reasoning in Rei Ayanami's head, Britannians are often taller than Japanese) sets the pizzas down. Their smell releases into the room.

Savory. Cheese, of course. The bread. Something else - an additional savory taste? Rei does not recognize it immediately from the aroma. An array of other scents. Her nose wrinkles faintly, because that one wasn't the vegetable lover's.

The administrator proposes they ask the new person direct questions.

Asuka asks a question, and after a moment Rei derives that it is another form of the question that had come to her mind. As such, she moves on to topic #2 on the proverbial stack, and that is why it is Rei Ayanami who says:

"His name is not Puppy Boy,"

To what seems to be her own, slight, surprise.

You paged Zoia Surovy 'pearl from steven universe'
Zoia Surovy has paged Kaworu Nagisa with, 'oh!!' 

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.


"Oh, wow, these look tasty," declares the girl with the pizzas who is not the moody delivery boy with the vespa. She seems sincere about it - her eyes even alight as she spies each one! - but she doesn't actually take a slice to eat.

Instead, she places two of the pizza boxes onto the end of the row Zoia has made. She, in fact, takes care to make sure they are perfectly aligned with Zoia's silently exacting standards. Maybe she just got lucky; maybe she's being considerate. It's hard to say. One pizza box remains in her lap; if they heat stings, she doesn't seem to make much of a fuss.

It's only when she's done helping the arranging that she looks back. From Kaworu, offering a sly raise of her brows. To Rei, whom she offers an amused cant of her head. To Zoia, who gets a mouthed 'hello!'. And then...

'"Her?"'

Asuka, to whom she regards with all the blinkingly wide-eyed owlish innocence in all the world. Her hands lift. Her fingers waggle, airy as the air conditioned breeze.

"Moin moin," greets the girl who did not deliver the pizza, merely carried it in.

With that, she clasps her lone remaining pizza box and, with a close-eyed smile, hefts herself back up. "He's Shinji Ikari, of course," she agrees amiably to Rei, before casting a look her way. "But he's a Puppy Boy at heart. Nicknames are the way we break the boundaries between hearts to show we notice and care." She flashes Shinji a warm smile, at that.

"Besides! He has that puppy dog smell. It's a fine scent for someone still growing." So she was--

And with that, Mari moves smoothly on to the interrogation of Asuka Shikinami Langley. Her question initially receives little more than a lackadaisical "ufu" on the part of the girl, who's expression is best described as "nyan-like" as she approaches. She gets within seven, six, five steps of Asuka --

And then swoops down with an eloquent flourish to present the pizza box to her like someone presenting royalty with their favorite of fine dining.

"I must have simply been beneath the notice of Her Highness. Right~?"

It's a playful smile that couples well with her words. And the glint of her glasses.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        'Nicknames are the way we break the boundaries between hearts to show we notice and care.' ...What an unusual sentiment. But... Kaworu's expression turns pensive as he considers this, as he glances at Shinji. Would they get closer if they made nicknames for one another...?
        
        ...
        
        No. It's best not.
        
        At least Mari's general demeanor serves as an *excellent* distraction. He watches Asuka finally focus her attention on the new arrival with a smile. Rei turns her attention to her too, speaking up that Shinji's name isn't Puppy Boy--maybe because Shinji sounded so started by the instant nickname. For a few seconds, he watches Shinji himself directly this time, expression affectionate.
        
        Then he turns his attention to the boxes and boxes of pizza. It is... a lot of food. He may as well handle that now, he supposes. He gets up, retrieves a couple of plates, and heads to the boxes. His hand passes over several before settling on and opening one. A fresh, steaming veggie lovers rests within. He takes a single slice for each plate he holds, then closes the top and neatly arranges it back the way Zoia had had it before. Mari quirks an eyebrow at him; he simply smiles back.
        
        On the way back to the table with Rei, though, he stops near the baked goods. There's quite a lot, from cookies to brownies to cake. Despite all he can remember, Kaworu is not sure he's ever had any of them before.
        
        "You made all of these, didn't you, Shinji?" he wonders. "Which do you recommend?"

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Asuka uses nicknames like a compulsion, which is really Shinji's only experience with them that didn't involve something being thrown at him. This new girl seemed, to Shinji's jaundiced eye, like a consummate bullshit artist. At least she didn't want to fight everyone in the room, Shinji thought, and then.

"You sniffed me?!" Comes the squeak,as Shinji's entire body turns into a blush and he sniffs his own pits for a second, realizes Zoia's RIGHT THERE, and somehow blushes harder."S-sosrryy sorry instinct uh."

"Try the brownies they're probably safest." Shinji squeaks, holding up a his hands at Rei because now she wants to throw hands too and parties, Shinji decides, SUCK.

"You sniffed me?!" Shinji manages again. "And now you're propositioning Asuka?! M-man they really DO do it like that in Brittania."

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

Zoia looks back at Asuka and holds her hands out at her sides with a shrug and a lopsided smile. Hell if she knows. She just got here too!

She takes it in stride, at least, particularly when she notices Mari lining up the pizza boxes. A few thoughts move into place behind her eyes, but all she shows outwardly is a quiet approval, meeting the mouthed greeting with a quiet "Hi" in return - not loud, particularly not with Asuka kicking up another firestorm.

She does give Rei a look of surprise, though. The pushback is the closest thing to animated she's seen from the quiet girl all evening.

Otherwise, she quiets long enough to retrieve both her can of coffee and a paper plate. She goes straight for the double pepperoni and delicately lifts a couple slices out for herself. Tonight is not veggie night for Zoia Surovy.

As she drifts to the baked goods, she pauses and blinks twice, remembering the radio conversation earlier. "Oh, right! You *were* baking, weren't you, Shinji?" She plucks a brownie.

...She plucks two brownies. She's hardcore, yo.

"...Yeah," she adds with a look at Mari, "why did you sniff him? Like, not to kink-shame, da? Just kind of--"

Zoia waggles a hand. It is the universal sign for 'sus.' 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Asuka's expression bears a scowl as Mari greets her in German. Even if she's instantly in competition with Asuka by virtue of being another Child, another Evangelion pilot, she'd almost win points from her alone by calling Shinji Puppy Boy. Even as Rei denies that its his name. However, she's too focused on the mystery to burn either Shinji or Rei, or count it in this mystery girl's failure.

The lackadaisical 'ufu', which transitions to being so cat like gives Asuka this look like she's not certain exactly what she walked into, her posture loosening up from the unexpected, "What's with that look on your face-?"

And then she swoops down to present a Pizza. The motion takes Asuka off-guard, her posture becoming defensive, and one wonders if with her weight balanced forward so much with one leg on that chair that she's going to slip on backwards and onto her butt.

But she doesn't.

The moment is so absurdly unexpected that she just stares down at the pizza to check and be sure there's not a loaded bomb - before looking into the glint of Mari's glasses, just taken aback by the first person to actually call her a nickname that wasn't a serial number. Usually she's the one giving them out. "Wait - Highness?"

'And now you're propositioning Asuka?!'

"W-What!? Why would you even think that's what's happening right now Daddy's Boy!" As she howls in outrage at Shinji's comment, this whole scenario becoming dizzying. Sucking in a breath tries to entangle this mess. Mari's obviously making fun of her but it's not...

... it's like a game, a riposte, a challenge. That's at least something she can understand.

"Fine then." Asuka straightens herself back up as if trying to maintain her composure and reassert dominance... as she reaches out, and plucks a slice out of the box Mari is offering as if it's some kind of power play, or at least one in her own mind. "Keep your secrets. Whoever you are - it doesn't matter, because I'm not losing to you!"

She then takes a bite of the pizza.


<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


Rei is not sure, but she is pretty sure, that moin is not a word. She looks at the woman before her with a mildly dubious expression. Very mildly so.

She relaxes when the woman says the correct name. The disapproval remains -- though she looks at Shinji with a sort of curiosity when Mari declaims him to have the spirit of a puppy boy. And the smell of one. Rei files something away for later.

With this, Rei rises up from her seat. She has had enough of these events to understand the concept of serving oneself at a buffet. She reaches, at last, the point where she sees pizza-- and recognizes it! Dimly. They are larger than the ones she saw, and those were sliced far more thinly. The smell of meat is transparent, but Rei takes a slice from the vegetable lover's pie.

Kaworu drops another bomb into the conversation. Rei seems momentarily taken aback at the news that all of the baked goods -- she gazes at them with new wonder.

Rei takes a brownie, like the others.

Seeing that you eat pizza standing up, Rei lifts a slice to her mouth and takes a bite. The vegetables are not that crispy but the taste -- tomatoes, she realizes. After chewing in thought, Rei swallows.

"This is very rich... it's a pleasant taste." Another bite. She is facing towards Mari and Asuka at this point, potentially to see the downfall of a princess.

<Pose Tracker> Mari Makinami Illustrious has posed.


She could confirm or deny that she is Britannian.

She could confirm or deny that she is propositioning Asuka.

She could confirm or deny that smelling people is kind of sus.

In the end, she only does one of those things, and only partly, and it is neither of the first two.

Instead:

What happens first is the fact that Shinji's accusation and Asuka's flustered howl coming hot on its heels is met with nothing more than a widening smile. Is she? Isn't she? Isn't she isn't?? The world may never know as the new Child seems to see fit to just fan the flames of human imagination instead of providing concrete resolution to this conundrum.

Maybe Britannians (??) really ARE just like that.

The second thing that happens is that the pizza's cardboard lid snaps shut on the heels of Asuka's pilfered pizza, before the (other, non-Zoia) bespectacled girl rises up straight once more. Asuka makes her declaration in a throwing save to her composure. The girl's brows climb.

"Oho~. The Princess has a stubborn spark!" And so Mari pivots away from Asuka with a flutter of skirts, commenting as she goes,

"I'm not sure it's about winning or losing, though..."

And with that, she does abscond to the treasure trove of baked goods, pizza box still in hand. She is eyeing the assortment when she tilts her head to regard Zoia, and then Shinji, blinking guilelessly.

"Hm? Because he smells interesting, of course. Can't you tell?" Is she saying Zoia should see for herself, or-- "You have a nice smell too, but it's not the same. The LCL interacts with everyone differently."

With this vaguely disconcerting comment out of the way, the girl plucks a couple cookies, sets them on top of her pizza box, and meanders back away from the baked goods.

She takes a brief detour near Rei, leaning in to comment, "That's the taste of happiness," with a wink, before she continues on her journey.

"Now, I must depart! I need to make sure they're treating my cute cursed boy well." She makes her way to the commissary's exit, pizza and cookies in tow, before she turns to waggle her fingers to all assembled.

"Mari Makinami Illustrious. I look forward to all our fond memories together, both pleasant and not~."

*hiss* *click* goes the door.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        "Thank you. I'll eat them with care," Kaworu tells Shinji of the brownies. He takes one for each plate he carries--but then Rei fetches food for herself on her own. He laughs a little. Oh well, what can you do? He isn't going to tell her not to. Instead, he sets the second plate down on a nearby table and takes the other back with him to his seat.
        
        Once situated with napkins (paper towels), he raises his slice with delicate grace and takes small, careful bites as he watches Mari corral Asuka with interest, and Shinji and Zoia ask Mari what's up with the sniffing.
        
        Mari absconds with pizza and cookies while being peak Mari at all times. Kaworu's quite unfazed by it as he polishes off that slice, wipes his fingers clean, and turns to his brownie.
        
        "You see? She's a my-pace kind of person," he remarks conversationally before savoring the fudgey treat. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

Shinji takes a long look at.

Well everything.

Oh, he thinks, and feels stupid.

"I'm. I'm going to go get some more drinks." Shinji says, despite the lack of need. The brownies are pretty good but Shinji clearly used a box: he's a novice baker. No eggshells or anything though, and he used enough chocolate chips.

"Yeah she's a real thrill." Shinji says, and then procedes to the elevator. He looks at the scene inside. "Jesus christ." 

<Pose Tracker> Zoia Surovy has posed.

It occurs to Zoia that watching Asuka's expressions right now may be the most fascinating thing she's seen in months, and that's held up against fighting an Angel inside a robot she drives from inside a cramped tube full of yuck.

Sitting down once again, Zoia enjoys the veritable panoply of human emotion the redhead cycles through. She briefly covers her mouth with her fingertips to suppress the urge to giggle. As odd as Mari seems, the blonde doesn't dislike it, per se - it's different. The brunette seems to feel freer to be silly. It's not something Zoia can manage.

        'You have a nice smell too'

Zoia opens her mouth slightly and blushes a little. "Um," she responds ever so gracefully, entirely forgetting about the joys of reading Asuka's expressions. "Thank... you...?"

She does manage to force her smile back up. It takes some effort. She covers the moment by biting into one of the slices of pizza. It's delicious.

"...Bye!" she calls after Mari with a little wave, upon swallowing. The girl's already halfway out the door.

The door closes. Zoia calls, "Please don't sniff me anymore, though! That's--" She cuts off and sags a little. "...that's weird," she finishes in a faint murmur, glancing to one side at Kaworu, then at Shinji.

        Do I really smell like LCL?

She will go home tonight and shower for a very long time en route to being paranoid about her alleged Tang stank for the next week. 

<Pose Tracker> Rei Ayanami has posed.


'That's the taste of happiness,' Rei is told. She takes a last bite, leaving her with the crust of the slice; she considers it, for a moment, the melted cheese and fragments of vegetable.

Her eyes turn to Kaworu for a moment (she doesn't see it) and then after the departing Shinji.

Then Zoia.

Oh, Rei thinks.

"I am Rei Ayanami," she tells her, "the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 00."

She bites into the pizza crust, at the point where she should be saying 'pleased to meet you' or 'welcome to Tokyo-3' or even something more pedestrian.

The taste of happiness.

It is Rei's opinion that happiness would benefit from additional garlic.

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