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It was past 3 in the morning at NERV headquarters, and the only sign of life in the expansive layout was a thin stripe of fluorescent light leaking from underneath the door of Break Room 03. Inside the room were two girls who looked like teenagers, but weren't quite that.
One had maroon hair, the other had blue. The maroon was lying splayed out on the couch, one leg hooked over the back. The blue was by the coffeemaker, holding onto a steaming drink but not seeming to notice it in her hand.
The maroon was talking, and had been for the past 34 minutes and 29 seconds according to the clock on the wall. The blue had not been listening for any of it.
"...And what's the deal with sweatervests? Are they for when your chest is cold but your arms aren't? Anyway, back to what I was saying about burritos..." Mari chattered, rhythmically drumming her fingers against the arm of the worn plaid couch.
Rei stared silently into the murky black coffee swirling in the chipped mug. She tilted her head back and gulped down the steaming liquid, either not noticing or not caring about the way it scorched her tongue and throat.
Coffee contained caffeine. Caffeine meant energy and alertness, even after another grueling day of piloting the EVA. Energy and alertness meant being awake in the wee hours of the morning to meet this girl with red glasses, who for some reason looked so familiar to Rei, even though the clone knew she had never seen her before.
“Hey, gimme a sip?” Mari's voice suddenly came from directly behind her. Rei did not jump, she had been well-trained not to. She silently passed the mug over to the girl, a small part of her observing how close she was, (that was another strange thing about her, how close she got when no one else would touch her,) and how warm her hand was when they brushed against each other's. The ocean-red eyes finally travelled up to the other girl's face, which had pulled into a pinched expression.
“Jesus, you drink this stuff? Tastes awful.” the girl snorted as she handed back the offending drink. Rei's face remained blank as she nodded once. Rei normally consumed whatever she was given, she had never thought about how it tasted.
“Needs about 20 more sugars to be bearable, at least for me.” Mari chuckled, turning and heading for the door. “Good night, Yui.”
Rei's eyes widened, her face showing the barest hint of expression. “What did you say?”
Mari's face did the same as she looked over her shoulder, but the expression quickly vanished into her usual smirk, the only sign it had been there was a pink tinge to her cheeks. Rei wasn't good with facial expressions, but thought the bright blue eyes behind the red frames might have looked a little sad, just for a second.
“Nothing. Good night, Rei. Thanks for talking with me.” The door closed behind her as she crept quietly down the darkened hallway.
“Goodnight.” came a small voice from behind the door.
The next night Rei was absent from the break room, but a hot mug of coffee and exactly 20 emptied sugar packets were waiting for Mari behind the door.