Not that he was about to ask someone to give him something to keep himself busy as he wandered about. To do that would simply get them annoyed at him, and so he wasn't about to push his luck. No, it was better to find his own way about, and keep out of their way. After all, he knew from experience that his two familiars would stick with him as much as they could, so at least he had company... at least as much as a penguin and a quiet girl could be 'company'.
This place was like most of the labs that he'd been in before, so he wasn't expecting much of anything from it. Perhaps he could find a television in a break room, or find a computer that he could play solitaire on. His needs were simple, and his desires had never been important to anyone, so he didn't express them.
Then again, he did have to admit the latest room he'd found was kind of neat. It was big enough to not feel boxed in, and did seem like it had some space for relaxation. Finding such a place being empty was a pleasant surprise for him... until he realized that he could hear breathing nearby. Peering about, he saw a figure huddled in a corner, looking rather miserable, and he felt bad for the poor kid. But he had little desire to go bother the person, as trying to be friendly hadn't worked for him before.
Unfortunately, Pen Pen had no such compunctions, and quickly waddled to poke his beak into the personal space of that figure.
"What the heck is this thing?" came the low growl of the hunched over kid.
"Oops. Sorry," Shinji apologized, hurrying over to catch the errant bird. "He tends to go wherever he wants."
"Looks that way. He's yours."
"Well... yeah."
"How nice for you. It even looks like you brought your own company," the redheaded figure grumbled, looking up just long enough to see who was there.
"I did?"
"You got your friend there."
"My... oh, that's Rei. She's my... familiar," he bashfully admitted.
"You have a girl as your familiar?"
"And him too."
"Wow," the redhead bit out. "You're really a freak, aren't you?"
"Come on. It's not like I went to make it like this."
"But you lucked out, right?"
"Something like that...."
"How great for you," the human girl scoffed, glaring right at him.
"You don't like me, do you?"
"Whatever gives you that idea? I don't even know you... save for one thing."
"And what's that?"
"I honestly think that you're an idiot."
Initially stung by her words, Shinji stepped back a bit, but then began to rethink as the 'honestly' part sank in. Here was someone that he knew wasn't going to play games with him, and would not be looking to pander to him so that she could use him for what she wanted. These were her true feelings, and he knew that she wasn't going to treat him any way other than the way that she really felt.
Knowing that this admittedly pretty girl was not going to use him and drop him, he gave a rueful smile. "Thanks for letting me know that at least."
"You really are an idiot, aren't you? Or do you just like being hurt?" the human girl asked as she pulled herself to her feet.
"There's no way that I'd want to get hurt. It's just... I... figured that it's nice to know what you really think."
"Oh, so you want to know what I think, huh?"
"I didn't ask...."
"But you tried to get it. Probably looking to see what you can get."
"Didn't even think that I could get anything."
The redhead snorted. "Pheh. Must be nice to be you. Everyone else seems to think that they should get what they want from me. They want to get so much from me, but I don't even get to choose."
"Why don't you?"
"Why don't I... what?"
"'Choose'? Pick what you want to do, and show that you can be really good at it?"
"Right, that's just a... good idea. I'm surprised that you came up with it moron," the redhead stated airily.
"Hey!"
"Well, you can see where I'd get doubts from. You seem to be keen on girls that act like dolls, like your little friend there."
"She's not a doll," Shinji protested, wilting a little as he realized that Rei was still looking unperturbed at the moment. "She's just... quiet."
"Just like how everyone wants us to be. Stupid, huh?"
"Sure, but why not prove them wrong then? If its so important to you, make them know what you can do."
"That's just... brilliant. Damned straight I can do that. I'm not going to let them keep Asuka Sohryu Langley down! I'll make sure that they know how great I am!" the human girl declared
"Who?"
"Me, fool. That's my name."
"Ah. Okay," he choked, and then gestured at his companions. "Her name is Rei, and his is Pen Pen. Mine is Shinji."
"I'm sure that you are happy to meet me... though, I'm still not sure that you don't like pain."
"How could you even think that?!"
"You've been sticking around."
"That's only because I figured that you might like having company. And anyway, nothing seems wrong with letting you take the lead."
Asuka froze for a little bit as she began to realize that this boy was not only unassuming towards her, but was actually willing to believe in her personal abilities. Every adult that she met ignored her as a person, and yet he was treating her like a leader. And on top of it all, he didn't seem to have some sort of scheme going along, but was rather interested in her as a person.
Nearly letting her eyes cross as she wondered where the hell the warm feeling that she felt towards him had come from, the redhead coughed into her hand before straightening up, while:
(Posted Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:35)
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