Of course, he didn't doubt that she was an attractive girl. Even he could see that with a proper wardrobe, and some care, she could have been quite appealing to a lot of guys. However, she was also silent almost to the point of being mute in a lot of ways. That made it hard to make a connection with her, and he didn't particularly understand why she'd seemed to take an interest in him. Still, it seemed that she was turning out to be rather nice, all things considered, even if he didn't know what she wanted.
He did think that she had complete access to electricity though. "Ummm.... What's with all the candles?"
"They have been placed here to improve the 'atmosphere'," Rei admitted, her expression matter of fact as she led him inside. Candles sat on every available horizontal surface, save for the bed and the floor, and their flickering light set the whole room in a warm glow. "From what I understand, this is one of the approved ways of decorating when a girl and a boy are to spend time alone together, especially in a personal space."
"Hold on.... Ya did all this cause ya thought that I was comin'?"
"That was the idea."
"So, from the start, ya planned on havin' me come here."
"Such a consideration was included in my initial advance."
"Gotcha. Didn't think that'd be the case, 'xcept...." He raised his head a bit and took a couple of quick sniffs. "I ain't all that sure that this is for the best."
"And why would that be?"
"Smells like smoke's comin' from over there."
Rei's eyes widened just a bit, and she quickly twisted to look at where he'd indicated. Just like he'd said, there was a scent of burning materials, and when she moved just a bit closer to look, she saw a lick of flames come out as the room started to burn freely.
"Okay, that's not good.... HEY!"
Rather than discuss things with him, she merely pushed the surprised boy out the door, and from the apartment. However, the creak of the structure gave her a bit of warning before the ceiling just before the exit crashed down to the floor, blocking her way out. At the same time, she fell to her knees from the surprise.
A glimpse of that was the last look he got of her before the smoke and debris blocked his vision. Not that it was particularly heartening to see something like that, as it meant that she was in mortal danger, and he had a distinct urge to do something to save her.
Though, oddly enough, he couldn't ignore the part of him that was noticing that, for a dump, someone had really designed the place well, considering that the fire was contained only in her place.
Normally Gendo was unflappable, but even he was unable to ignore the situation at the moment, as was shown by the way that he looked at his second in command. "There was a fire at the First Child's quarters?"
One that rendered the place uninhabitable," the Vice Commander confirmed. "Even by her."
"And that means...."
"That her simple needs and lack of decorating won't be satisfied by staying there."
"Which means that she will have to be moved," the Commander grunted.
"Perhaps we could move her in with Captain Katsuragi."
She wasn't one for any show of 'drama', but Rei found it hard to get up from her seated position, and that had nothing to do with any more injuries to her person. In fact, other than the singed nature of her clothing, the smudges on her cheeks, and the wisps of smoke rising from her person, there was no mark on her that hadn't been there before. Basically, she was fine, which was odd, considering the fact that she'd just come up against a rather sizable fire.
"This is most... fortunate," she murmured to herself, putting aside her earlier thoughts of being replaced by another clone.
Since she was going to be dead, that made it clear that she wouldn't need a replacement for herself. Still, she was going to need to get a number of other things, and that didn't just include her personal care items. As it was, her apartment was no longer an actual structure, what with the currently empty nature of it. Even the walls themselves hadn't survived, as they were black and charred where they still stood, having gaping holes in spots. Light fixtures creaked as they swung barely attached to the remnants of the ceiling. Her books were now burnt bits of paper, and what little furniture was now merely blackened skeletons of their former selves. And about the only thing that had survived, albeit in a rather dirty form, was her kitchen sink.
"Okay, this place isn't going to be usable," Misato Katsuragi muttered as she tried to step where the heel of her boot wouldn't slip on the debris on the floor. "Looks like a total loss...."
"Which begs the question, how did this happen?" Ritsuko Akagi idly asked as she tried to maneuver in her own high heels.
"You're the scientist. I'd thought that you'd know. There's a fire, things burn, and you wind up with an extra crispy room."
"Ha, ha. Very funny. What I meant was that she shouldn't even be here. 'Alive', that is. And it shouldn't have gone out so easily."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes, and I'd like to know how the fire just went out like that. Doesn't seem like falling pieces of the apartment should have smothered it enough...."
"Maybe it's divine intervention. Or magic," Ranma drawled, grinning at the scientist. "Could be that some tanuki or a kitsune decided to help her. Hey, it might have been aliens!"
"Really."
"Little animal friends joining together for a common cause?"
The look that the woman with the falsely blonde hair gave him was icy at best.
Ranma just let his smile grow that much larger.
"In any case, she can't stay here," Misato put in, dragging the conversation back to the matter at hand. "In the mean time, do you have even any clothes saved?"
"My only set of street clothes is what I am wearing," Rei reveled, looking steadily at the Operations Director.
Taking in the state of the clothes, which happened to smell like smoke, the officer shook her head. "That simply won't do at all."
For once, both Ranma and Ritsuko both were left wondering if they should be concerned about the same thing, while:
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(Posted Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:55)
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