From: Scriviner <ebon@i-manila.com.ph>

        Okay folks. This is a really odd one for me. I'd just 
finished a marathon session of Neon Genesis Evangelion (Vol 1-5, 
& 7) and I felt like I really needed to write a fic about this 
series because it's so GREAT! 
        So for some odd reason, I ended up writing something where 
I tried to keep within the boundaries of the original series. 
Which is really unusual for me because my work is largely 
composed of fusions, alternate universes and crossovers all 
series. Of course, I think I've gone pretty off tangent by around 
the end, but I hope people can tell me what they think. 
        This work doesn't necessarily require familiarity with 
Evangelion, but it'd really help. This occurs between episodes 14 
and 15.
        C&C can be public or private (ebon@i-manila.com.ph) any of 
it would be appreciated.

Two Hearts of One Mind.
A Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfic by the Scriviner 

        It has to be admitted that piloting an Eva, a multi-ton, 
several story high, semi-biological mecha designed for killing 
angels (which it must be noted are nothing at all like the winged 
humanoid figures one expects from the New Testament, but more 
like the Old Testament angels, swift and terrible), would be a 
very dangerous job. Especially for fourteen-year-olds, who 
incidentally were the only ones who could mentally interface with 
the Evas to control them in the first place. So it's hardly 
surprising that the pilots get injured as a matter of course. 
This can range anywhere from getting slightly banged up when the 
Eva gets knocked into a wall, all the way up to brain death as 
the pilot's mind gets fried by the feedback from the Eva's nerve 
linkages. And that's just during training. Actual combat was far 
worse.
        These however were not the thoughts going through Shinji 
Ikari's head at the moment. He was mostly annoyed at the dull 
ringing in aforementioned head and wondering why the painkillers 
they'd issued him hadn't taken effect yet. It wasn't anything 
really serious... it was more embarrassing than anything else. He 
hadn't paid too much attention when he was stepping out of the 
entry plug and has managed to trip, incidentally fetching him a 
good hard smack upside the head. Which wouldn't really have been 
all that bad, since it was several hours ago and most of the pain 
had faded, but that wasn't the worst part of it, actually.
        It was his fellow Eva pilot, sometime combat backup and 
roommate (though not by choice) Asuka Langley Soryu who was 
driving him nuts. The two of them were sprawled on the two 
couches in almost identical positions watching TV. Asuka, 
however, hadn't stopped yammering about how stupid he'd been and 
how she'd never have made such a dumb mistake, since the two of 
them had gotten home and it was really, really, REALLY annoying. 
Then again, he had to admit she probably was doing it to annoy 
him in the first place. Trouble was it was working. On the 
upshot, she was too busy ranting to pay attention to what was on 
the TV, so Shinji was watching the program of his choice.
        Both of them were fairly slender fourteen year-olds. 
Shinji's face was entirely too serious for someone his age and he 
had a thoughtful quiet air about him. Asuka, who was already 
starting to fill out and was showing definite signs of becoming 
devastatingly gorgeous when the time came, on the other hand gave 
the impression that as far as she was concerned, the whole world 
was a stage and she was the female lead. It's not surprising that 
the phrase 'best of terms' could hardly be applied to them.
        Shinji kept his attention focused on the TV, using it 
mostly to help him tune Asuka out. He raised his remote to change 
the channel just as Asuka raised her own remote. The screen 
flickered briefly between a history documentary and a soap opera 
then back. Shinji didn't have the energy to even turn to glare at 
her. She however obviously did.
        "Hey! Are you even listening to me?" She asked, exasperated 
at Shinji's utter lack of reaction.
        Three hours straight of constant insults and put-downs were 
more than enough to wear away at his considerable reserves of 
patience. The headache wasn't helping much either. Shinji didn't 
even turn to look at her but replied in a bored tone, "Actually, 
no. I just didn't have the heart to tell you to stop. You seemed 
like you were enjoying listening to yourself rant."             
        "You lousy idiot!" Asuka fumed, changing the channel back 
to her soap, "I don't know why they bother keeping your around!"
        "The feeling's mutual!" He shot back, bringing the 
documentary back on the screen.
        "Do you mind?! I'm trying to watch!" Asuka yelled at him, 
switching back to the soap opera.
        "So am I!" he flicked the channel change button on his 
remote at the exact moment Asuka flicked her own. The result was 
a cooking show with a man with a fake moustache and a fake 
Italian accent showing people what to do with synthetic meatballs 
and instant sauce.
        "That reminds me..." Both said at the same time. They 
glared at each other for a moment.
        Asuka continued, "Where is Misato anyway? It's her turn to 
cook dinner. Not that I'm really looking forward to it." She 
added in a low mutter.
        Major Misato Kitsuragi was Asuka and Shinji's token 'adult-
in-charge' who paid the rent and also lived in that apartment. 
She was Director of Operations for NERV, the organization which 
created, owned and maintained the Evas. NERV, through judicious 
political maneuvering was in fact largely in charge of the war 
against the angels, despite the UN's preferences.
        By the mere fact that Misato had managed to attain her 
position was proof enough that she was a very competent and 
intelligent woman. Publicly at least. At home she had beer for 
breakfast, she was sloppy and lived off of instant food or 
takeout more often than not. As a result, both Shinji and Asuka 
suffered because of it. Someone who belches loudly, drinks beer 
as if it were water and scratches herself during dinner was not 
exactly an ideal companion, but it beat eating alone.
        Shinji shrugged and turned to look at his watch, an 
expression of concern on his face, "She usually calls if she's 
going to be this late... maybe I ought to call her office..."
        "Idiot!" Asuka roared at him from across the living room, 
"They haven't restored phone service to our celphones or this 
district since last week's battle."
        Shinji frowned at her. She always knew the right thing to 
say to annoy him. "There's no need to shout about it." He 
replied, raising his voice a little.
        Asuka merely glared at him disapprovingly. Shinji glared 
back for a moment, but he didn't really have the energy for it. 
He collapsed back onto the counch and muttered, "She's probably 
got some extra work to do."
        "You don't suppose there's another angel attack?" Asuka 
asked, her voice oddly enthusiastic. She wants another chance to 
show off what a hot-shot pilot she is, Shinji thought with a 
sigh.
        "I think we'd have heard the alarms already." Shinji 
replied.
        Asuka sighed, "Well, I'm starving, I don't think I can wait 
for her much longer. I think there's still two TV dinners in the 
back of the freezer." Her expression became thoughtful, 
"Actually, I think that's all we've got left..."
        "Are you sure they're not the ones that Misato stuck in 
there?" Shinji asked tentatively.
        "The ones from three weeks ago?" Asuka asked, pulling a 
face, "No I don't think so. These ones are still in their 
wrappers."
        "Oh. Good." Shinji replied, a look of distaste on his face, 
"Well, they've got to be better than the stuff Misato tried to 
feed us last night."
        His companion grimaced openly, "Her pseudo-spaghetti? The 
instant beef stew she added tomato paste and wasabe flavored 
potato chips to before she spread it on the instant soba noddles? 
Yuk... Even Pen-Pen wouldn't eat it."
        Shinji smiled slightly. Pen-Pen was their fellow roommate, 
even if he slept in the fridge. He was a hot spring penguin whom 
Misato had acquired through circumstances neither of them had 
bothered to ask about. While Pen-Pen had developed a cast iron 
stomach from all of Misato's various culinary disasters, even he 
had his limits.
        "I can't understand how she manages to make instant food 
taste bad. It's incredible." Asuka continued. Her stomach gave a 
warning grumble causing her to wince. "I am starving..."
        "Uh huh." Shinji replied absently, and without too much 
sympathy. He turned his attention back to the TV.
        "So what are you waiting for Shinji?" Asuka demanded, "Why 
don't you go pop those dinners in the microwave?"
        "Me?" Shinji frowned, turning to face Asuka, "You're closer 
to the kitchen."
        "By all of five feet!" Asuka shot back, "I'm too weak from 
hunger to move..." She groaned dramatically.
        "You're the one who's so hungry." Shinji pointed out. 
Almost as if on cue, his own stomach gave a rumble.
        Asuka laughed and pointed at Shinji's midsection, "Looks 
like I'm not the only one!"
        Shinji sighed and got up off the couch, "Fine. I'm getting 
my dinner."
        "Make sure you keep mine in for an extra fifteen seconds! I 
want to make sure it gets heated through!" Asuka called after him 
as he passed through the doorway.
        "Who said anything about your dinner? I'm just getting 
mine." Shinji muttered as he walked away. He was still annoyed at 
her. 
        "Why you..!" Asuka cried, hurling a throw pillow at him as 
he ducked into the hallway. Asuka held out for all of thirty 
seconds before the various warning noises her digestive system 
was giving her spurred her out of her comfortable sprawl.
        
        The two of them were in the process of chipping away at the 
ice in the freezer which held their TV dinners. Pen Pen, the 
penguin looked at the two of them curiously. He was just waiting 
for his two human roommates to get HIS dinner ready so he could 
take a nap, when the doorbell rang.
        "I'll get it." Shinji said wiping some sweat away from his 
forehead. 
        Asuka glared at him for a moment as though he were using 
the doorbell as an excuse to slack off, then went back to work on 
the ice with the knife.
        He opened the door and found to his surprise Rei standing 
outside with a neutral expression on her face. Rei was the first 
of the Eva pilots that NERV found... or perhaps not. The 
situation was terribly complicated. To put it bluntly, Rei, in 
most people's opinions was a decidedly strange girl. There was 
something strangely intense and at the same time resigned about 
her which made her very difficult to approach. Shinji knew it 
well.
        She had an overnight bag on one shoulder. He wasn't all too 
surprised that  she was still wearing her school uniform. He'd 
never seen her in anything but that outside of the base or PE 
class.
        "Ayanami, this is a surprise."
        Rei glanced down for a moment, noting the knife which 
Shinji still held in hand without expression before saying in a 
soft monotone, "Major Katsuragi said something came up at the 
office. She won't be home until early tomorrow morning. I've been 
ordered to keep you and Soryu company."
        That was another surprise. Shinji stepped away from the 
door and made a vague gesture to come in, "Oh. Um... sure."
        Rei stepped into the house without acknowledging him 
further. Shinji watched her walk past him, wondering why Misato 
told her to stay with them tonight... his mind wandered a bit on 
that topic, before he realized he was gawking at Rei who was now 
looking back at him.
        "Better close the door." She told him.
        "Er... right..." Shinji replied, embarrassed at having been 
caught staring.
        "Ah-HAH!" Asuka's voice cried out from the kitchen. "I got 
em free, Shinji! Dinner in a minute or so!"
        "Have you eaten yet, Rei?" Shinji asked tentatively. She 
was still staring at him and he growing very uncomfortable.
        "No." Rei said softly.
        Shinji's reply was lost as Asuka burst in.
        "So who was it?" Asuka inquired. She caught sight of Rei, 
who seemed to be watching a mildly squirming Shinji. She rolled 
her eyes and sighed. Boys, constantly thinking with their 
hormones.
        "Oh. It's you." Asuka said without much enthusiasm.
        Rei told her almost exactly the same message she gave 
Shinji, in the same monotone, "Major Katsuragi said something 
came up at the office. She won't be home until tomorrow at noon. 
I've been ordered to keep you and Ikari company."
        Asuka sniffed and raised an eyebrow, "Oh... I guess Misato 
doesn't trust Shinji anymore after what happened the last time we 
got left alone together so she sent a chaperone!"
        Shinji blushed and frowned at Asuka, "Nothing happened!"
        "You still tried to kiss me, you lech!" Asuka shot back.
        "I am not a lech!"
        "Yes you are!"
        Shinji gave a disgusted snort, dropping the knife on the 
counter next to the door. He blushed even more furiously as he 
stalked off to the kitchen.
        "Where do you think you're going, pervert?" Asuka demanded. 
"The food's not ready yet!" 
        "I'm heating up some water for instant ramen. Give the 
other TV dinner to Rei." Shinji replied.
        Asuka jerked a thumb at the impassive Rei, as she called 
back. "Miss Picky here doesn't eat meat! Those're Salisbury steak 
TV dinners!"
        "It's not like there's any real meat in those things." 
Shinji explained.
        Rei merely gave a tiny shrug, watching Shinji leave.
        Asuka turned to look at Rei, whose expression hadn't 
changed during the entire exchange. Asuka's mouth quirked... 
she'd had her suspicions regarding Shinji and Rei for a while 
now... she was pretty sure the Shinji had a thing for Rei. It was 
hard for someone as empathic as an Eva pilot to live with someone 
and NOT pick up a little on what they thought about. Rei hadn't 
shown any sort of interest in Shinji, but she was always like 
that... her train of thought got derailed suddenly.
        "Why did you call him a pervert?" Rei asked, her tone still 
soft and expressionless save for a mild puzzlement.
        "Well, Duh!" Asuka replied, "Weren't you listening? He 
tried to kiss me!"
        "So?" Rei persisted.
        "SO?! What do you mean so?! Who knows what else he would've 
done to me in my sleep if he'd succeeded in kissing me?!!" Asuka 
gesticulated wildly.
        Rei replied, "I'm sure he would know." As she followed 
Shinji to the kitchen.
        "Oooooh!" Asuka groaned angrily. Rei was simply impossible 
to talk to. Sometimes she thought that Rei and Shinji were 
conspiring against her... after all, they knew that SHE was 
better then both of them combined. She gave herself a little 
grin, satisfied that the explanation for their rude behavior was 
simply jealousy and followed her fellow pilots to have dinner.

        "Well..." Asuka said as she sprawled on the couch again, 
dinner being happily digested, "That wasn't too bad..." 
        Shinji lounged on the other couch, also somewhat full, "I 
guess."
        Rei sat primly on the easy chair and didn't say anything. 
The food they'd given her had not only tasted like cardboard, it 
had looked a bit like it too, so she'd mostly given the hamburger 
to Shinji and eaten around the peas and carrots. He had offered 
her some of the ramen, which promptly set Asuka off on another 
rant about the two of them sharing food, which the two pointedly 
ignored.
        Rei kept her eyes on the TV show the three of them were 
watching. It was some sort of game show. It wasn't particularly 
good, but none of them particularly felt like changing the 
channel. All three sighed at the same time.
        "This is boring..." Asuka said after a few moments.
        "It's nearly over anyway..." Shinji replied.
        "I can't work up any enthusiasm over whether or not this 
guy manages to win the damn house or not. Why are we even 
watching this?" Asuka complained.
        "There's nothing better on."
        "That does it then, I'm sleeping." Asuka announced as she 
got up off the couch and stretched. Shinji glanced at her quickly 
without really thinking about it. She might be annoying, but he 
had to admit she was definitely pretty.
        "And don't get any ideas about following me into my room, 
Ikari!" Asuka added, waggling a finger in his general direction.
        Shinji rolled his eyes, "I wasn't planning on it." He made 
it sound as if wild horses couldn't drag him into that room.
        She turned her nose up at him and with a flip of her hair 
she was out the doorway.
        Shinji muttered, "Sometimes I wish NERV never found her."
        Rei asked suddenly, still in her soft voice, "Would you 
rather it had been just the two of us?"
        He turned to face her, a little surprised not only at how 
the question was worded, but that Rei was showing signs of 
curiosity at all, "Um... that's not quite what I meant I guess... 
I just wish they'd gotten someone more... I don't know... um... 
easy to get along with?"
        Shinji noted the subtle change in Rei. He was one of a very 
short list of people who'd spent any considerable amount of time 
with Rei and it was possible for him to read some of her moods, 
difficult though it was. Her eyes brightened slightly and the 
corners of her mouth almost curled up. She asked in her same 
quiet monotone, but Shinji thought he heard a hint of amusement, 
"Someone like me?"
        "Er..." Shinji had no reply for that. He stretched his arms 
out for a moment at the precise moment that Rei did too. He felt 
the oddest sensation... it almost felt like the sensations he'd 
received when he was inside her Eva and trying to synchronize 
with it... the way it felt just before her Eva had gone 
berserk... 
        That had been one of the less pleasant instances during the 
testing they'd had to endure as pilots... they tried to match 
their thought patterns to the other pilot's Eva as a precaution, 
in case one of them had to take the other's mecha. Oddly enough 
they called it the 'mutual compatibility' experiment. Rei had 
synchronized with almost no trouble at all with Shinji's Eva, 
with an unexpected side effect of opening Shinji's memories to 
her, through the Eva... Shinji, however, did not prove quite so 
lucky in Her Eva and ended up suffering a mental backlash which 
wiped out all impressions he'd gotten from her...
        "Well?" Rei persisted. Shinji's eyes widened somewhat... 
Rei's behavior was definitely starting to make him uneasy.
        Asuka ducked her head into the living room again... jolting 
Shinji out of whatever state he was in. She had changed into a 
long T-shirt and she was frowning suspiciously, "I don't believe 
my ears... are you two flirting?"
        "Hey! That's not it at all!" Shinji cried. Rei's expression 
neither confirmed nor denied.
        "Trust me, Ayanami... You're better off without this guy. 
He's probably just waiting for you to doze off so he can rip your 
clothes off or something..." Asuka said viciously.
        "Would you quit that, Asuka?!" Shinji yelled at her.
        "Why would he do that?" Rei inquired quietly.
        Asuka rolled her eyes, "What planet are you from, Ayanami? 
So he can see your naked body! That's what all of these perverts 
think about all the time."
        Rei's expression had slipped back to neutral as she 
replied, "But he's already seen me without clothes on. Why should 
it matter if he sees it again?" Asuka's jaw dropped. Shinji's 
face reddened considerably. Asuka marched over to the couch, 
grabbing a throw pillow on her way with which she began to beat 
on Shinji's head, "You lecherous, perverted, filthy minded... 
BOY!"
        "OW! Hey, cut that out! Stop! It was an... OW! Accident! 
Argh!" Shinji held his hands up to try and ward Asuka off.
        "I don't believe it! You pervert!! Take this! And THIS!" 
she proceeded to brutally beat on his still ringing head with the 
throw pillow, "How dare you try to take advantage of a woman?! 
Even if it is Ayanami!"
        Rei watched, mildly confused at it all. Interaction with 
other people and understanding them were never her strong suits, 
"What are you doing?"
        Asuka stopped long enough to give Rei a puzzled glance, 
"Wha? Doesn't it bother you that he looked at you while you were 
naked?!"
        Rei gave her head a very small shake, "No."
        Asuka's eyes grew wide as she passed her gaze from Rei to 
Shinji then back, "You don't mean to say that the two of you've 
been sleeping toge...?" She couldn't bring herself to complete 
the sentence... she couldn't really understand why... it wasn't 
even as if she was getting jealous at all... not that she'd admit 
it if she were. Which she wasn't... really... and if she said it 
to herself often enough she might believe it. It was the fact 
that Ayanami was taking it all so ridiculously calmly that Asuka 
felt she had to get mad on Ayanami's behalf... which made her 
feel twice as weird since she was now trying to stand up for a 
girl she disliked intensely... 
        "That's not it either, Asuka..." Shinji grumbled from the 
couch, still blushing furiously, but now rubbing his head. His 
headache wasn't helping him think clearly, "It was an accident, 
really..."
        "It wasn't his fault he lost his balance and landed on me." 
Rei volunteered quietly. Shinji acked as Asuka glared at him and 
reached for the remote control, holding it threateningly.
        "This was while you were naked?" Asuka asked, still very 
much confused, but quite ready to beat the daylights out of 
Shinji regardless.
        Shinji looked as if he wanted to crawl under a rock 
somewhere... he'd hoped that she wouldn't talk about the 
incident, but here she was actually telling Asuka! Asuka of all 
people! It was almost as if Rei was trying to cause trouble!
        Rei nodded, expression still totally neutral, but her eyes 
had fallen on Shinji again.
        Asuka whirled to face the cringing Shinji, "What the heck 
were you doing with Ayanami while she was naked?!"
        Shinji... pushed to the limit, snapped back, "What business 
is it of yours if I was naked with Ayanami?! Er... I mean... she 
was... er..." Unfortunately... anger and a nasty headache also 
have the tendency to make people slip their words up sometimes...
        Asuka's jaw dropped. Again. "Well... I don't care how you 
two are going to go around denying this." She threw the remote 
over her shoulder and looked down her nose at the two of them, 
"It's none of my business if you and Rei are going to do some 
perverse, disgusting and utterly immoral act. Why am I even 
bothering?"
        Rei was suspiciously silent.
        "But..." Shinji tried to explain... if any of this got back 
to Misato... or worse to his father. This would not be good...
        Asuka coolly walked out of the room, overdramatically 
muttering and posing, "Don't mind me... Get yourself in trouble 
why don't you..? What an idiot... what a pair of idiots... What a 
pair of weirdoes."
        Shinji's mouth worked uselessly as he tried to figure out 
what else to say... not that he had anything left to say, since 
his only company was Rei and the TV.
        Asuka ducked her head into the room one last time and 
called out, "You two deserve each other!"
        Rei regarded her with a flat expression as Asuka stormed 
off to her room, "I'm going to sleep now." Rei said flatly as she 
walked from the easy chair to the couch, unbuttoning her shirt as 
she walked. She had her back to Shinji as she did it, and he was 
staring blankly at the TV. Her shirt was already totally 
unbuttoned when Shinji turned to face her.
        "Um... maybe you'd like to stay in my room instead? You can 
use the bed. I can stay on the couch." He paused for a moment as 
he realized what he was staring at... again... he turned to one 
side quickly. She didn't seem to notice at all.
        Rei seemed to consider his question for a moment longer 
than necessary before replying, "Yes."
        Shinji kept his face turned away, "Um... w-w-why is your 
shirt unbuttoned?"
        Asuka's eyes widened. She'd been eavesdropping just in case 
the two of them started talking about her behind her back or 
something... but THIS was worse than she expected! She rolled up 
her sleeve preparing to rush in and... something... she wasn't 
too sure about that herself.
        Rei stood up and walked calmly to the doorway, "I was 
undressing to sleep." She took her shirt off entirely, stuffing 
it into the overnight bag which she heaved over one shoulder. 
        Shinji's eyes bugged out when he realized that she was down 
to just her bra and skirt... and whatever she had under the 
skirt... he kept his gaze directly opposite her, but didn't shut 
his eyes... Rei didn't really seem to care... he asked in a 
strained voice, "Do you have to do that while you're still 
here?!"
        "You haven't shown me where your room is." She replied 
matter-of-factly. Shinji was surprised to hear a very tiny note 
of exasperation in her tone.
        "Um... it's... er... down the... hall... um... right... 
third door on the right... yeah, that's it." Shinji rattled off 
with difficulty. He kept his eyes firmly planted on an 
uninteresting spot of wall, but his peripheral vision was pretty 
good. Rei walked purposefully towards the doorway once Shinji had 
completed the directions.
        Asuka ducked into her room quickly to keep Rei from 
spotting her. Asuka closed the door as she breathed a sigh of 
relief. Interestingly enough. She sighed simultaneously with 
Shinji who was pulling on the collar of his shirt and fanning 
himself unconsciously...
        She'd never affected him like this before. Even from that 
distance he was starting to feel something oddly familiar and not 
familiar... he was receiving the odd phantom sensation the same 
as before... he took a deep breath and he could almost swear he 
could feel her in the air around him. Her presence. Like a 
scent... almost exactly like the time he was in her Eva. 
        Normally, Shinji would've listened to his walkman until he 
would finally allow himself to drift off to sleep... but he 
wasn't risking going into his room to look for it. Certainly not 
if there was a possibility that Rei's idea of sleepwear was bare 
skin, which was entirely possible...
        He settled down on the couch to rest at the precise moment 
Rei did the same on his bed, twelve feet away. They both breathed 
a heavy sigh as they both turned over to their left side, each 
tucking a hand under their heads before finally drifting off.

        Shinji woke up softly to the strains of "Fly me to The 
Moon" being sung by Megumi Hayashibara. He blinked his eyes 
slowly open... it was still dark... he felt a rather familiar 
pressure in one of his ears and there was some sort of shadowy 
figure obscuring his vision as he tried to focus.
        "Wha..?" he asked, still dazed from his awakening.
        He felt a warm breath of air touch face lightly. A scent he 
recognized... "Ayanami?" he whispered.
        She moved her face slightly closer to his, her features 
becoming clearer as she shifted. She had an earphone fitted into 
her left ear and it took him a moment to realize that the other 
end of the earphone was in his right ear. He was aware of her 
breathing. The movement of air across his face... the gentle rise 
and fall of her chest. Thank goodness she was wearing a shirt at 
least... he thought to himself.
        She was most definitely not sleepwalking. She was kneeling 
to one side of the couch and looking down at him intently. Her 
eyes were obscured in part by her hair and by the shadows, so he 
couldn't see any more of her expression, than the fact that she 
wore an impassive face. She reached out and gently ran her 
fingertips across his cheek.
        "I thought you would want something to listen to. To help 
you sleep." She answered quietly.
        "It's my favorite tape... how did you know?" he asked, 
trying to mask his nervousness with small talk.
        "I just did. It felt right."
        "Oh. I... um... I see..." Shinji frantically fished for 
something... anything to say to her... "What are you trying to 
do?"
        "What do you mean?" Rei asked softly, almost as if she 
didn't care whether or not she was answered.
        "I was already sleeping fine... why the..."
        "I don't know."
        "Huh?"
        "I do not understand it either. Major Katsuragi didn't 
really order me to keep you and Asuka company... she just 
mentioned offhand that I could come here if I wanted to. Which I 
did."
        Shinji gulped nervously.
        Rei's hand brushed lightly against Shinji's cheek again, "I 
am not asking for anything from you. Just let me be nearby. I 
won't do anything. Just let me stay with you." Her voice was 
still soft... but the tiny hint of pleading was almost impossible 
to ignore.
        "Rei, this is so sudden..." Shinji tried to say.
        "No, it's not." Rei said, her voice gathering strength, 
"When I synchronized with your Eva... I felt you through it... 
the pattern of your thoughts that you left in it was there for me 
to read... and I know what it's like to be you... I've been 
inside your head... and I know you experienced the same when you 
synchronized with my Eva, even if only for a moment..."
        "But... I forgot everything that I learned about you from 
the synchronization... My mind couldn't handle them I guess... I 
told the doctors..."
        She smiled at him... warmly. It was a smile he'd only seen 
on her twice before in all the time they'd known each other. "I 
know... my Eva went berserk. Perhaps you may not remember them 
consciously... but you know them. You know me... "
        "But I don't..." Shinji protested.
        "... just like I know you." She continued, despite his 
interruption. "I... I think I know what it's like to feel... when 
I felt what you did... I know what you were thinking when you 
first looked at me..." She touched his cheek again.
        Despite the darkness, Shinji was sure she could see his 
face turn red.
        "We are probably the two closest human beings on the 
planet... we have seen the world through each other's eyes..."
        "Maybe..." Shinji hazarded.
        "What do I want now?" Rei asked quietly.
        "To lie down and get some sleep." Shinji answered without 
thinking.
        "Good." Rei said. Shinji, without realizing it, moved aside 
allowing Rei to lie down next to him on the narrow sofa.
        Rei snuggled quietly up to Shinji's side. The two of them 
lying quietly. Shinji did not understand what was happening, but 
he followed what he felt. "Is this such a good idea?" Shinji 
asked finally, "I mean my bed's got more room than this... and 
Asuka's going to find us like this tomorrow morning..."
        "Just get some sleep. Don't worry about her." She murmured 
softly.
        Shinji smiled a little as he felt both of them begin to 
drift off to sleep... perhaps this wouldn't be so bad.
        Rei echoed his smile... Asuka was hardly going to disturb 
them... she remembered one of Shinji's memories of Asuka 
complaining how Japanese doors didn't have locks and how little 
privacy there was in a Japanese home... she was only too happy to 
give Asuka the privacy she asked for.
        Asuka slept soundly behind her closed door... come morning, 
she would no doubt experience a considerable degree of trouble 
leaving her room, though. Having your door epoxied shut could do 
that.
        
End.