2024-05-29: Basil and Tomatoes
- Log: 2024-05-29 Basil and Tomatoes
- Cast: Shinji Ikari, Anita Rosetta
- Where: Magallanica
- OOC - IC Date: May 29, UC 0099 (2024)
- Summary: Shinji opens up a little about how he's been feeling lately. Anita listens and does her best to respond.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
It was never Shinji's intention to watch over Magallanica as it's grown from a small colony to the ever-expanding metropolis it is now. However, after a couple of recent visits to Tokyo-3 to resolve things with Asuka and Rei, it's struck him how more robust Magallanica is compared to when he first arrived on the Ra Mari II and was hired as an assistant cook.
Today is his day off, and so he spends it walking around town, hands stuck in his pockets like a certain someone he knows, looking around at the various shops, stores, and restaurants that have opened up over the last two years. He's actually not in his usual hoodie get-up for once; instead, he's wearing a blue-and-white T-shirt, khaki cargo pants, sneakers, sneakers, and a carry-on bag that's strapped across his chest. Like this, he looks even more like a late middle school-aged boy than usual, rather than the eighteen-year-old he's a week away from becoming.
Ultimately, he makes his way to a local open-air grocery mart. It's hard for him to maintain interest in things and has been for a long while, but food at least is constantly relevant, particularly since it's his job. Right now, though, he's only looking for ingredients for his own dinner. He stops in front of one of the displays to inspect the veggies there--cucumbers, eggplants, carrots, and so on. He picks up one of the eggplants and squeezes gently to test its ripeness.
"...That one seems good," he murmurs to himself, then tucks it into his bag. He leaves the cover flap open so people can see he's shopping and not... shoplifting.
If he looks lonely, it's because he is. For a variety of reasons.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita's time, these days, is largely spent traveling between her home in Orb and Magallanica. It does mean moving around a lot... but both places are important to her, each with their own responsibilities for her. Today, she's visiting Magallanica! She's still on leave, so rather than the uniform of the Ra Mari II or the Magallanica Defense Force, she's in her usual casual dark blue hoodie and sweatpants.
And right now... she's going for a walk! Her route has taken her to the open-air grocery mart. She's not much of a cook herself... but Rena is, so every so often when she spots some ingredients that look particularly good she brings her phone out to snap a picture or two to send her way.
It's as she's finishing up taking some pictures of some particularly plump peppers that she spots Shinji out the corner of her eye. Running into him is a surprise - she'd greet him anyway, but with how lonely he looks...
Anita slides her phone into her pocket.
"Hey, Shinji. Fancy meeting you here." Anita greets with a smile and a casual. "Shopping for yourself or for the ship?"
Judging by the amounts... probably himself, but it's a good way to open a conversation even if she knows the answer.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Magallanica is a safe place--or at least, it's never been attacked while Shinji's been there--so when someone calls his name, he looks up to see who it is without flinching. R
"Oh, Miss Anita. Hello," he replies, bobbing his head in greeting. He's quiet as usual, but he does look a little more relaxed to see her. Anita's a nice person. They're not close, exactly, but he only has good impressions of her.
"I'm shopping for myself. Today's my day off," he continues. "If I were shopping for the ship, I'd need way more than just this bag..." He gestures at his shoulder bag. "I'd have Bud here too."
Sure enough, his Haro isn't with him at the moment. Maybe that's contributing to his lonely look. Or maybe...
Well, it's not information he overtly offers. Shinji's never been like that.
"What about you?" he asks instead. "It looks like you're off-duty too... Are you looking for ingredients for dinner too?"
He hasn't actually figured out exactly what he's having. The eggplant looked good, so he started with that; that's all. He wanders a little deeper into the market, slow enough that Anita can follow if she wants.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita nods back as he returns her greeting. Quiet, but relaxed. That's a good sign. If he seemed unhappy to see her, she'd give him his space.
"Oh yeah, that checks out..." Anita replies, noting that Bud isn't here. She hadn't thought about that. He asks about her, then.
"Me? Nah. I'm uh, not that much of a cook." Anita admits with a small laugh, massaging the back of her neck. "I'm just going for a stroll. Happened to see this market, figured I'd let Rena know they've got some good veggies for next time she's around. Kind of impressed to see food this fresh."
Shinji wanders deeper into the market and Anita indeed follows, her eyes occasionally tracking toward each of the stalls they pass before, eventually, back to Shinji.
"How've you been doing?" She asks.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Oh, I see. I didn't know." Shinji's been to Rena and Anita's place--he'd been a bit overwhelmed at the grand opening, so he sat out the tour, but he was there--and since food was generally a potluck brought by people bringing food as gifts, there wasn't really a need for Rena or Anita to do any cooking, aside from putting rice in a rice cooker. He hasn't ever had Anita's cooking... though if she's not much of a cook, that only makes sense.
"Yeah, it's nice," he says, looking back at the vegetables. "I wonder when this place opened up... There's been a ton of new places opening up for the past while. Magallanica looks really different compared to a year and a half ago."
It's a good thing. It means the city is thriving. Shinji can at least acknowledge that, even if it's hard to feel it.
He doesn't respond immediately when Anita asks how he's doing. He doesn't want to tell the truth, but he also doesn't want to lie. "Um," he starts, and then stops.
...That probably tells Anita a lot, all on its own.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Yeah. I mean, I can make some darn good chili 'cause it's mostly just throwing a whole bunch of stuff in a pot and waiting... but other than that, my best quality is that I don't mind handling clean-up duty." Anita replies with a grin.
With that, she takes a look around.
"It really does, huh? I guess with all the people coming in, there's a bunch of new skillsets added to the mix..." Anita considers. ...And, of course, a lot more need for food - there's been a bit of pressure, at times, but she doesn't see the need to bring that up.
And as for how he's been doing... Shinji stops in his tracks with an 'um'. It's a response that tells quite the story on its own.
"Like that, huh?" She replies, massaging the back of her neck. "...It's alright. You don't gotta go into it."
Rather than let an awkward silence fall over them, she steps over to a nearby stall to provide a convenient conversational off-ramp if he wants to take it.
"Oh hey, they've got a pretty nice assortment of herbs over here... I don't think I've heard of some of these." Anita notes, impressed.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Having someone else to clean up does make it a lot easier," Shinji remarks, smiling faintly. When he was living with... Misato and Asuka... he did all the cooking and cleaning himself. That's one advantage (just one?) to the Ra Mari II compared to the old days; the distribution of labor is a lot fairer and more even.
When Anita looks around, Shinji mirrors her, looking in the opposite direction. "Yeah... A lot of people are finding new homes... starting new lives." People like him--though their needs are a lot more dire and more important than his, he assumes. He's only here because of his old connections. ...Even if Eight and many of the others are genuinely his friends now.
Anita, too, demonstrates that she's a good friend even if they still don't know each other well by letting him off the hook of explaining anything. He flashes her an awkward but genuinely grateful smile, and follows her over to the herbs. When he sees what's available, though, that smile drains away.
One of those herbs is fresh basil.
"...Yeah," he says quietly. It's questionable if he actually heard what Anita said, though, given that he reaches out to gently rub the basil leaves, and that's certainly an herb he's heard of before. After a moment of staring off into the distance, though, he finally takes a small bundle and tucks that into his bag too.
"Eggplant parmesan tonight, I think," he says faintly. "What else... breadcrumbs... mozzarella... ...tomatoes..."
Another distant look. Then he sighs a bit. Oddly, he doesn't look quite as depressed now, though he doesn't look happy, either.
"Have you ever failed someone, Miss Anita?" he wonders as he walks further in. "Like... really failed them. Failed them so hard it completely derailed their life?"
Yup. Like that.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Right? It's a pretty handy skill." Anita replies with a nod and a grin. He's smiling, even if only a little - that's good. And the people of Magallanica...
"Yeah. It isn't easy, starting over... but I'm glad folks seem to be finding their footing." She replies. "Means a lot, seeing this place start to shine."
Shinji offers her a smile and Anita smiles back, but as he approaches the herbs... the smile fades away. She notes the way he inspects the basil. Was it the basil...? Did it touch on from something from his past...?
He decides on dinner, though.
"That sounds pretty good." She comments. Breadcrumbs, mozzarella, and tomatoes... she'll help keep an eye out. But before she can start - that distant look and a sigh... She pauses, looking toward him...
And he hits her with a pretty heavy question. Has she ever failed someone?
That's... a rough one. And it provides a small glimpse into what's been eating away at him. She thinks for a moment, a contemplative look crossing her face as she considers it. It's hard to say that she... hasn't. In her line of work, that's always going to happen from time to time. But if it's affecting him this harshly... she gets the feeling it's a little more personal than that.
"...I... can't say that I have." She admits, massaging the back of her neck.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Tomato sauce, technically. But it's the tomatoes themselves that weigh on Shinji.
"Oh... I see." He falls silent for a moment. Then, fatalistically: "I guess you're a better pilot than I was, then." A beat. "I'm glad. That means you'll protect who you need to protect."
Since it is tomato sauce and not tomatoes themselves that he's after, there isn't much that the vegetable section has left to offer. Fortunately, canned tomato sauce is not too far away. He picks up a can of that and sets it in his bag with care. From there, he looks around. "Cheese, cheese... Do you think they have fresh cheese here?" he asks Anita. (Breadcrumbs are something you can make yourself in a pinch, but homemade mozzarella is a lot more labor intensive.)
...It seems like he's going to leave it at that. Whether Anita does or not is up to her, but Shinji feels reasonably confident she won't push. Or at least... won't push more than he's comfortable with.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Shinji goes silent. He guesses she's a better pilot than he was...
...That hurts. There's a lot left unsaid, but she can see the shape at what must have happened. And while she's thinking that, he asks a question.
"Uhh... yeah." She replies after a second, shaken from her thoughts. "The environment's nice enough that they can probably display it just fine."
She's quiet for a moment.
"...It's not always about being a better pilot." She eventually ventures. "Sometimes you get put into a situation and all you can do is... make a choice and hope. And sometimes, even that's out of your hands."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Not to mention--Shinji's been around the Ra Mari II for a while, so he's clearly older than he looks--but he still looks like he's barely fifteen. Even assuming he's a late bloomer or has babyface or something like that, just how old was he when he was a pilot?
"Mmm. Still, they'd probably want to keep it cool so it doesn't get moldy or anything..." Shinji rises up on his tip-toes--on top of looking young, he's also short--and cranes his neck to try to spot where there might be goods on ice. Maybe a cheese wheel to guide the way. Even if it's not mozzarella, the mozzarella will probably be around there. Probably.
He sinks back to his feet when Anita offers an attempt at comfort. All you can do is make a choice and hope, and even then it might be no good. He knows she's trying to help, but it strikes home in a bad way. He can't help but glower at the ground. "That doesn't help the people who get hurt over it," he mutters. He maintains that simmering anger for a moment; then his shoulders sag. "...Especially when the stakes are the whole world."
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
"Yeah. They've probably got a set-up for it." Anita considers. Shinji is short - but Anita is on the taller side and has the benefit of enhanced cybernetic eyesight besides, so she peers over the crowd - until, eventually, she points. "Over there, I think? Let's check it out."
She's quiet for a moment, then. She can't blame him for his reaction. She watches him for a moment.
"...Yeah. It sucks." She admits. "No one person should have to carry that kind of weight alone."
She hesitates for a moment before adding...
"...Sorry." She apologises, massaging the back of her neck.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Anita's superior height and sight are a blessing. Where she points, Shinji doesn't see anything, but he nods anyway and follows her lead. He trusts that she wouldn't mess with him. ...Also, Shinji just naturally follows other people's leads.
Soon, they get close enough to see that they have indeed reached the cheese section. He's as quiet as Anita is. For a moment, he wonders if he said too much--if she thinks he was being melodramatic. But instead she commisserates, and even apologizes. He looks up at her, then away.
"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong..." he murmurs. To himself, he adds, Unlike me.
No one should have to carry that kind of weight alone... It's true. And yet he abandoned his fellow Evangelion pilots to do exactly that. He knows Kaworu would never think of it like that, and neither would Mari, but... that's what he did anyway.
...It's too late now anyway. He couldn't go back even if he wanted to. And he never wants to. Ever again. Even now, he still has dreams about the smell of blood in Unit-01's entry plug.
...Even if it's weirdly not scary but kind of soothing. He doesn't know why.
Shinji shakes his head to try to shake off those thoughts, then focuses on the available cheese. Fortunately, there are several balls of mozzarella, wrapped up and ready to go. He picks one and tucks it into his bag. "Just breadcrumbs left, and then I'm ready," he says aloud. He's got spices at home, so no need to pick any of those up. "Though I could just make toast and then crumble it up, too..."
He hesitates, weighing his options. Or, more accurately, paralyzed by the need to make a choice.
<Pose Tracker> Anita Rosetta has posed.
Anita, for her part, wonders if she said too much. She doesn't know his full story - only what she's been able to pick up here and there. He says she didn't do anything wrong, and she nods.
"...Alright." She replies. "If you wanna talk about anything... let me know?"
She leaves the invitation out in the open, present but free to be acknowledged or ignored - but gladly lets the topic shift again as he requires the mozzarella he needs and then gets stuck on the next step. The look of someone caught between two decisions - that she recognizes.
"Well, if it were me... I'd probably save myself a couple of steps and just buy 'em. Way less effort that way." She considers, in hopes of offering a helpful nudge. "There's bound to be someone around here selling bread..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"Mm." A non-committal noise--neither a 'yes' nor a 'no.' But: "Thanks," Shinji murmurs.
...There's that, at least. And there's Anita's opinion that it's better to buy than make. He huffs something close to a laugh as the edges of his lips curve slightly up. "Yeah, but you don't cook," he points out. "Oh well, it's fine once in a while... I'd like to look around a little longer anyway. Let's take a look..."
And onwards they'll search the market, until Shinji finds a bag of breadcrumbs. It won't take too long, but he does seem in slightly better spirits afterwards, whether Anita heads back to the Ra Mari II with him or parts ways there.