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[imusntrunaway]

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[Beeeeeeeeeeeep.]

Comments

[imusntrunaway]

That wasn't a good warning at all.

[substitutable]

Setting appointments is kind of... weird, though.

[imusntrunaway]

It's polite.

[substitutable]

[Shinji doesn't get a response for a few seconds.]

Sorry. I'll tell you before midnight next time.

[imusntrunaway]

... a few minutes before midnight won't count.

[substitutable]

[Shintaro glances at him, and then he watches him. He's not saying anything.

The kid looks annoyed, and a part of Shintaro feels bad about that. A part of him is confused. Usually he would be on the other side of this interaction, being irritated at Ene or Kano or whatnot for bothering him when he was trying to do something else.

He wonders what got into him, and the discomfort strikes immediately.]

... Sorry.

[imusntrunaway]

[Shinji can feel Shintaro watching. He averts his eyes, purposefully fixing them on something that isn't Shintaro, though he glances to see the expression on his face.

Did he say something strange? Maybe he was being too cold to someone who wanted to visit him. But dropping by in the middle of the night... as someone he didn't know too well... when was the last time he let someone intrude in his life like that?]

... you don't have to apologize so much about it. I'm not mad.

[substitutable]

If you say so.

[He doesn't laugh, but he makes a slightly nervous, slightly amused sound as he leans forward against the counter.]

Aah, but it's probably the first time I really talked to anyone this late at night, too.

[imusntrunaway]

[He tilts his head at that.] Really? You acted like you do this a lot.

[substitutable]

N-not really. Before here, the only people I really talked to were my sister and mom...

[imusntrunaway]

[... the fact that Shintaro's a tiny bit more of a loser than Shinji makes him smile a little.]

So you didn't get along well with anyone at school...?

[substitutable]

[This is either a positive development or sort of sad.]

... I didn't. Go to school, I mean.

[imusntrunaway]

[Oh. That's. Sorta awkward. His voice dwindles in embarrassment he's being rude right now isn't he.]

... oh. Um... were you homeschooled?

[substitutable]

Nah. I went to middle school, but I quit after that. [Not that he had many friends back then, anyway.]

[imusntrunaway]

[This was a touchy subject wasn't it? He shouldn't have asked that question in the first place. His gaze slides down.]

Sorry. For bringing it up.

[substitutable]

[Shintaro looks at him with a nonchalant air though. Not going to high school was a thing people did, and he doesn't have to tell Shinji the why anyway -- he waves a hand dismissively.]

You don't have to apologize. It's not a big deal. Ah, but you should keep up with school. You're still in middle school, right?

[imusntrunaway]

[School had always been a secondary concern for pilots, even though he diligently attended all classes. It's slipped off his list of priorities once he got here.]

Yeah. I'm... I haven't studied in a while. [It's admitted with some guilt.]

[substitutable]

[!!!]

... Do you need some help? I don't mind, and there were some textbook-sorta things at the library.

[imusntrunaway]

[He didn't expect help to be offered in the first place.]

I'm fine... I don't think it's important in a place like this anyway...

[substitutable]

Are you sure? If you go back and you end up being like, way behind...

[imusntrunaway]

[That earns a pause. Then, an emotionless answer:]

That's okay. My world is gone.

[substitutable]

[He jumps, drops his spoon.

He suddenly wonders if "Elmer C. Albatross" and "Shinji Ikari" might be from the same world.]

I-Ikari...?

[imusntrunaway]

[He looks up at that. Did he deliver it too bluntly...?]

It's fine. I knew when I got here.

[substitutable]

... You're not from that place, a few days ago, are you?

[imusntrunaway]

[Ah. That's what he assumed. He shakes his head.]

That wasn't my Earth.