So, he stood there as the door opened, and swallowed hard as he tried to figure out what he would be facing.
"Well, hello there," said an immediately recognizable Ritsuko Akagi. "You must be Shinji."
"Uhhh.... That's me...." he murmured.
"Interesting.... But...."
"What?"
"Are you nervous, or something?"
"Actually... yeah...." he admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was kind of expecting you to be... older."
"You were?"
"You're supposed to be someone important here, right?"
The faux blonde woman gave him a nod. "That's right. I'm the head of the Research Division."
"Well, I'd thought that you were supposed to be older. But you look really young...."
"Do you really think so?"
"Actually...." He looked her over, from the smooth skin of her face and hands, to the short skirt that showed off the long length of her legs, to the lab coat that she wore over her tight top. All of it was familiar, but was on a woman who didn't look like she'd really gotten past being a teenager. "Uh-huh. You look young."
"I like this boy, Misato. Not only can he drive around better than you can, he's a charmer!"
"Put a sock in it, would you?" Misato muttered out of the side of her mouth.
"Feeling a little put down, are we?"
"I'm fine, thank you very much."
"But I'm your old college roommate, remember? I can sense these things. What is it? He didn't tell you how pretty you were?"
The Operations director sniffed. "No, he did not."
"Ahh...."
"But... but.... I didn't realize that I had to point that out," Shinji commented.
"Oh?"
"Miss Misato is really quite pretty, you know. It just didn't come up in conversation, so I didn't mention it...."
"I guess that I can understand that," Misato said, and waggled a finger at him. "Just don't forget to be nice from now on."
"Oh... okay...."
"Ah HA! Trolling for compliments?" Ritsuko asked.
Her friend scowled at her. "What are you talking about?"
"I can see what you're doing. Are you seeing our new pilot as being 'cute'?"
"I am not looking for a date!"
"Who said anything about a 'date'? Though, if you bring it up in reference to Ikari here, I'd have to say that it makes it even more unlikely that our old friend from college will have any chance with you."
Misato immediately started giving the other woman a dark glare. "Never bring that up again."
"Or what?"
"I will not only not give you the special cat statue that I had imported from Kenya, but I'll have to tell everyone about the 'cuddly kitty' incident."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
The scientist growled under her breath for a moment before giving in. "Well, I guess that I can let it slide for now."
"That's good to hear."
"Of course you'd say that."
"What was that?"
"Nothing...."
"Ummm.... Excuse me...." a hesitant Shinji began.
"Yes?"
"Aren't we supposed to have you lead us to where we're supposed to go?"
"That's right! Let's forget the small talk, and go to see the masterwork of human technology and know how!" Ritsuko said in as dramatic a tone as she could manage, turning to the side and pointing with one outstretched arm. "You'll see just what genius can do!"
Shinji pulled his eyes away from the sight of where Ritsuko's bosom had been bouncing a lot, and looked at the proud gleam in her eyes said that she was focusing on something else. Thanking whatever it was that had kept her from noticing that she was rather well endowed, he sighed. "That's all really well and good, but...."
"What is it?"
"You're supposed to be leading us, right?"
"Right. And that's the direction that you need to start in."
"But we don't only go in that single direction, right?"
"That's correct," the scientist confirmed with a nod of her head.
"Then there's just one problem."
"What's that?"
"How can you lead us to where we're going if you're standing here, behind us?"
"Oh. Right," Ritsuko murmured, and hurried over to lead the way.
"Same old Ritsuko," Misato sighed. "Get her focused on one thing, and she doesn't always notice anything else."
Blinking slightly, Shinji hoped that Ritsuko's 'forgetfulness' would not extend to a moment of crisis, while:
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(Posted Fri, 09 Jun 2006 09:49)
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