Chapter Text
The hot bath that Asuka took made her body feel limp and her eyes tired. Rei had already made her breakfast, which meant she should prepare dinner. Asuka was in no mood to prepare a meal, especially after an agonizingly long first day at work. She decided to take it upon herself to get takeout, and made her way to the living room where Rei was sitting on the couch. She was reading, and Asuka couldn't recognize the cover from the way Rei was holding it. It seemed she had not noticed Asuka watching her yet, so Asuka continued to look. She focused on the look in Rei's ruby eyes as she scanned each page, and the tentative flipping her fingers seemed programmed to do. Rei was arythmetic, taking basically the exact same amount of time to read each page. Asuka felt particularly keen on watching the way Rei lifted her hand to gracefully tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, just for it to fall back onto her face. She found it endearing, like watching a dog chasing its own tail.
Rei had decided to read on the couch, where she would be easily located by Asuka, until the two of them decided what they were doing for dinner. The clock was reaching later and later times, as Rei finally heard Asuka leave after her long bath. She decided not to look up, and slowly grew more impatient as the sound of Asuka fully stopped. It's as if she was standing still, doing what? Rei looked up from her book and down the hall, seeing a pair of blue eyes returning her glance. But soon enough, Asuka had disappeared back into her room. It was a strange exchange, and even stranger that it meant Asuka was probably... staring at Rei? For such a long amount of time, as well. But once Rei's stomach began to ache, she decided to go to Asuka to ask instead of waiting for her. She hovered in front of Asuka's door and knocked.
Rei had seen Asuka staring at her. That was the most embarrassing situation of her life! Even worse, she merely had a towel wrapped around her when she left the bathroom that time! Asuka brooded in her room whilst getting changed, cursing herself for getting carried away like that. Suddenly, she heard a light knock on her door. Before Asuka really thought much of anything, she replied with the usual "Come in!", forgetting the fact she was only almost dressed, still shirtless. It was too late until she realized this, though. She only came to thinking fully about what she said when Rei had only slightly opened the door, squealed an "Eeep!" and promptly closed the door again. Asuka was wearing a bra, which was better than nothing, but her entire body felt like it was going to combust. She knew it was her fault for saying "come in", so it's not even like she could chew out her roommate for being a perv.
Rei felt electricity sear through her nerves before she yelped and quickly closed Asuka's door. Why did she say "Come in!" while still only in a bra? There were so many thoughts swimming around in her mind, but it was mostly the image of Asuka. She leaned against the wall beside her door and tried to regain her composure. It was only Monday, and she had seen her new roommate shirtless. Rei noticed, though, that Asuka had a plethora of freckles dotted along her back and shoulders. Rei liked that, and hoped that when summer rolled around, Asuka would wear tank tops more often.
About ten minutes later, Rei returned to Asuka's door. Instead of coming in, she simply discussed dinner with Asuka through the barrier of the door. Asuka explained that she didn't want Rei to make dinner, because she had already made breakfast for Asuka unprompted. At the same time, Asuka complained of being tired from work. It was strange, how Asuka was full of energy when she came home, but was now "exhausted". Now here Rei found herself, coddling over Asuka's work like she's her wife or something.
Asuka left to get takeout from a restaurant that was still open despite the time, which was strangely difficult, for a city. Rei had ordered garlic ramen with no pork, and Asuka had ordered shark fin soup. It was a steep contrast between the two, especially since Asuka knows just exactly how shark fin soup is made. She went alone, since Rei was planning to continue her painting late into the night. The car ride felt strangely empty without a stoic blue haired girl next to her. Asuka got the food and left, she'd paid in advance. She said she would pay in advance since the place was usually crammed with customers, but in reality she just didn't want to be gone longer than she had to. On the way home, Asuka impulsively decided to stop at the nearby 7/11 to buy a case of beer. She had just turned 20, which was the legal drinking age in Japan, so she felt like she deserved it. Afterwards, Asuka parked in her same parking space of the last four days, and she walked into the same apartment of the last four days, and she ate with the same girl she's known for the last five days. It felt comforting to finally have a sense of stability.
Rei felt like a dog rushing to its owner when she heard the front door click and open, she abandoned what she was doing and quickly came to greet Asuka. Maybe she was just hungry, or maybe she was excited that Asuka was home already. Rei washed her paint-stained hands in the kitchen sink before sitting across Asuka, who was already digging into her soup. Asuka did look tired, but it looked more as if there was something holding her down emotionally. Rei didn't want to press Asuka on anything with a fear of making her feel even more burdened or stressed, whatever the issue was. Rei was surprised to see a case of beer on the table as well, it seemed Asuka wanted to really wind down after her long day. Rei wasn't a fan of beer, or any alcohol for that matter, so she refrained from drinking.
Asuka saw that Rei was not interested in the beer she brought home, either because she was still 19 or she didn't like beer. Whichever it was, Asuka wasn't gonna force her. She grabbed a bottle and motioned towards Rei, and her small head shake was enough of an answer. Asuka took the bottle she had grabbed and swiftly drank most of it. She didn't really bother to care about what hangover she might have, or if she'd make herself a fool in front of sober Rei. Asuka just wanted to distract herself from anything happening. Not that the meal was stressful, but Asuka was burdened by her increasing confusion. Her confusion about her feelings towards Rei, that is.
Rei watched Asuka pound three more beers where her first came from, and was slightly concerned for her roommate. Asuka's face was becoming increasingly reddened with drunkenness, her speech was becoming more sporadic and slurred. Rei cleaned up after they had finished eating, and sat back down at the couch with her book. She was surprised to see Asuka follow her onto the couch, sitting beside her. Rei could tell Asuka was incredibly drunk, and she had to swiftly move her book out of the way when Asuka flopped her head down onto Rei's lap. Asuka wasn't asleep, or passed out. She was fully conscious, and she turned her head to look up at Rei. It seemed the alcohol may have had too strong of an impact on Asuka, because the next thing she said left Rei unable to think.
"Shinji, your brother. He had a boyfriend, didn't he? How'd he know he felt that way? You know, for guys?" Asuka's eyes seemed clouded and unfocused, which meant she was probably seeing double at this point.
"I don't really know how he did. I guess you just figure it out some day, naturally."
"Did you ever figure it out? Like, how you feel..." Asuka was beginning to trail off during sentences now, and she tried to paw at Rei playfully and had completely missed.
"I think I did. Have you?"
"Maybe. It started with you."
Rei had officially gauged just how intoxicated Asuka was, blackout level. It was getting quite late as well, so Rei helped lift and guide Asuka to bed. Asuka fell face first onto her bed, still holding onto Rei's arm, subsequently dragging her with. Rei could smell the stench of beer on Asuka, and carefully slided from under her before muttering a "Good night, Asuka." And going to bed herself. Rei still didn't know exactly what Asuka meant, but it didn't matter. Asuka wouldn't remember this, so maybe their fragile game of "House" could continue.